Well! What a kettle of fish
I found myself in this morning Mr. Blog!
I was sitting in my green Lazy-Boy recliner,
drinking coffee and looking online for sub jobs,
and an icky one for senior high English
at Bothell High School popped up and I
was just about to take it when
I looked at the date.
November 17th.
A bell went off in my head and I looked over my
shoulder at my giant calendar at the 17th and it
said, "TWIC 11:00AM."
I jumped up and realized that
I thought it was tomorrow and panicked.
I called Brenny and she said I'd be just fine
and that the drive would be safe and easy.
Thank goodness I had all my documents ready.
I jumped in and out of the shower and
started working on my hair to get it cute
for the picture with my curling iron
and burned a big spot on my forehead.
It took a few minutes to curl my hair
over the burn mark and my scalp was killing
me from having the curling iron too close to it with the
hair dryer on high at the same time.
I fried my brain.
Literally.
I was all ready to go when I looked down and realized in my haste
that I had on two left shoes!
I KNEW they felt weird.
I solved that problem and shot out the door.
It was cold and rainy and I told myself to remain calm
as I drove up Lake City to 145th and cut over to highway 99.
It was scary driving through the Battery Street tunnel.
Every monster from 'I Am Legend' to '28 Days'
was up in the ceiling ready to drop on me
so I had to really concentrate and be ready.
Once I got out of the tunnel it was pleasant to see
the waterfront and all the ships and ferries.
Made me thirsty for a cruise ship job for sure!
Once I got to Georgetown I had memorized the streets
to pass so I'd find my left turn.
Well, the streets didn't all go through because of the
railway yard right there,
but I noticed I was on the right hundred block and
took the next left.
I was in front of the Georgetown morgue!
It said KUBE Haunted House on the side and I thought
of Michelle Moyes. She told me at the Duchess tavern party a few
weeks ago that she went there with her son and some friends!
What a small world. I love her.
When we lived in Holly Park housing project,
there was one other white family in our little square and
the mom's name was Sandy Cole and
she had a son my age named Steven.
When she moved out in 1960 to West Seattle,
she would call my mom to meet her for bowling at the
Georgetown bowling alley. We went there for years
until we moved North to the University Village area in 1966.
So it was fun to be there in Georgetown and remember my mom.
Thank goodness I was a half hour early because the
winds were blowing about 60mph!
By the time I got inside the building from a block away,
my hair was standing straight on end from all the hairspray
I had applied to the carefully coiffed curls earlier.
THAT didn't work out too well for me Mr. Blog!
I got to the ladies room and nearly passed out when
I looked in the mirror.
Like I had stuck my finger in a socket.
I brushed like crazy to get it to lie down a little
and went and waited.
I sat next to the nicest man that had gotten hired by
Northern Pacific Railroad as a conductor!
Imagine that!
He had been and electrician twenty years and the business
moved and he needed to start a new job.
I learned that so far the trains and cruise ship people need TWIC cards
but the man, Dan, told me eventually all travel industry people
will need them.
I chatted and waited a half hour until I got my turn.
I had my $132.00 cashier's check and my passport
and had applied online in advance so it was pretty fast.
I had socks older than Dan, the TWIC man,
but he was charming and friendly as he processed me.
They had an awesome infra-red hand and finger scanning device
right out of a Star Trek episode.
I kept waiting to get beamed up but I didn't.
I hope I get my Transportation Worker Identification Credential.
There were some really weird questions on the additional
form I had to fill out there related to terrorism.
I think I'll be okay.
It was 11:30 when I cruised North on East Marginal Way
and downtown looked really dramatic with the dark purple
storm clouds behind it.
It looks nice except for all the new buildings.
They are all ugly as a baboon's backside!
The only pretty one is the Smith Tower.
When I was a kid we were so proud to have the
tallest building West of the Mississippi!
When I drove up on the Alaska Way viaduct the
view of the water was amazing!
Purple and churning and
the ferries in Elliot Bay were being tossed around
like ping pong balls out there!
All I could think about was working on a cruise ship
and sailing all over this planet.
I just love Earth.
It is SO pretty.
I got up to 80Th and was faint with hunger so I went
through the Taco Bell drive through for a few soft tacos.
I tried to eat while I was driving but got covered with
cheese shreds and tomatoes and lettuce
so I pulled into K-Mart on Aurora and 130Th.
Pam and I used to shop there years ago and I remembered
why I quit shopping there.
They have no greeters or floor sales people!
Poor K-Mart.
All they needed was floor staff instead of remodeling
and they'd be packed like Nordstroms all the time.
I had to go all the way back to lay-a-way to find out if
they still carried housecoats.
House coats were like casual dresses that snapped fast
up the front that were popular with housewives in
the fifties and sixties.
You could be dressed fast, but not dressed up enough
to go past the mailbox or anything.
Mostly for drinking coffee in and I had worn my last one
out five years ago and just been throwing on a muumuu.
Well, I decided a housecoat would be perfect for the
crew quarters on the cruise ship for lounging.
Only snag was, they were all ugly as sin.
I found the least ugly, with a paisley handkerchief
pattern but couldn't decide on salmon or turquoise.
I asked a lady nearby which on she liked better and she
said she liked the teal.
I'm not sure about teal or turquoise or how they are related
but I have no fashion sense or interest so I
took the teal.
It was an exciting thought to add that ugly housecoat
to my growing mound
of cruise ship gear in the side of my closet.
Packs of gum, snorkel gear, new shoes.
Now all I need is to get the job!
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