Author: Hunter Maltais

2017 – Day 163

Monday, June 12, 2017

It was another gorgeous drive down to Moses Lake this morning.  This is the last week of the school year which means bus inspections, riled children and probably some drama all mixed in together.  I’m looking forwarding to being on the summer schedule next week and putting in 4, 10-hour shifts, and having Fridays off.

Last night Tiago and I went out to meet friends at the Old School House Brewery in Winthrop.  Our friend, Bernie, has been on a 3,000 mile solo trek across the Southwest and stopped at the halfway mark to come home and recuperate for a couple of weeks before starting the second half.  We were joined by his girlfriend Stacey and our friends John and Penelope.  It was a great night with great friends.

I’ve completed one sock and will start the other sometime this week.  I really enjoyed knitting toe-up socks and think I may be a convert.  I’m not too happy with the heel technique on this sock and will explore the other heels to find one that appeals to my aesthetic.  I think I’ll also explore knitting socks “two-at-a-time” on a longer circular needle.

2017 – Day 162

Sunday, June 11, 2017

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon.

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My boss told me a new way to go home.  Instead of taking Highway 17 from Moses Lake, through Soap Lake and by Dry Falls, I followed Stratford Road for around 25 miles and then got onto Pinto Ridge Road NE and followed that all the way to Coulee City and then get back onto Highway 17.  

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What a lovely drive home on a Friday evening.  I was able to bypass all the tourists with their fifth wheels and campers.  There wasn’t another soul on these roads at 6:00 PM on a Friday night.

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Once I got home, I dropped off Buddy and Little Miss and went to met Tiago and some friends at Copper Glance for a piece of chocolate cake and a cocktail.  It was a wonderful way to kick-off my weekend.

House chores on Saturday.  We were expecting a couple friends over; we had reservations for the Arrowleaf Bistro in Winthrop, but one of them had to cancel so we ended up meeting our friend in Omak and had dinner at the 13 Tribes Casino.

Loup Loup Pass

The Loup Loup Pass is still closed so we had to take the long way around, all the way down the Methow Valley, through Pateros and Brewster, up Highway 97 to Omak.  Still, we had a great time with our friend Sheila.

Sunday’s been a day for some more chores around the house.  While Tiago was busying organizing the garage and cleaning up the guest bedroom, I organized and ironed my clothes for the week and made three loaves of bread.

2017 – Day 157

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

I encountered this little fellow on my way to shower this morning.  Spring’s officially arrived.

Here’s the progress of a toe-up sock I’m knitting.  I’ve only knitted a couple toe-up socks; I’ve always been a top-down sock knitter, but I’m beginning to see some real advantages to this type of knitting, namely, not having to pick-up gusset stitches or close the toe.  I’m using “Judy’s Magic Cast On” for the toe and I’m very pleased with the results.  I just have to finish this sock and knit its twin before I can move onto knitting myself a sweater.

2017 – Day 156

Monday, June 5, 2017

This year is flying by.  It only seems like yesterday when I posted “Day 1” for the new year and here it is “Day 156” already.  

Monday morning, up at 4:00 AM, showered and out of the house by 4:30 AM for my 2 1/2 hour drive down to Moses Lake.  This morning was an especially nice drive down; the sun rose about the time I reached Brewster and I rolled into town just a couple minutes past 7:00 AM and dropped Buddy and Little Miss off at the Taj Mahtrailer before stopping at Starbucks to enjoy an iced coffee and a chorizo breakfast sandwich and knit on a sock for half an hour before going into work.

I haven’t dedicated much time over the last couple of months to learning more about web development, but last week I took and passed my assessment for “Principals of Accounting” and “Marketing Fundamentals”.  

I’m 59% of the way through my B.A. and I plan on taking “Spreadsheets” sometime this week. 

My goal is to complete the remaining 16 courses before September 1, 2017 and thereby finishing my studies in two years.  

 

2017 – Day 128

Monday, May 8, 2017

My tendency to procrastination is becoming apparent with my half-hearted attempts at maintaining a blog.  I seem to vacillate between really wanting to keep an online journal and wanting to binge watch “Big Little Lies”. 😉

I’ve let my studies go to pot over the last month and decided that I need to keep the distractions to a minimum and get at least 3-5 hours of studying in daily.  I’ve still got the ambition to complete my B.B.A. before August 1st.

Last Saturday and Sunday were gorgeous in the Methow.  Boo and I went bike riding both days.  On Saturday we biked a little over 12 miles around Bear Creek Rd. and Pearrygin Lake and Sunday I biked 15 miles to Mazama while Tiago met a friend in Mazama and they biked 20 miles up to Rainy Pass.

 

 

2017 – Day 120

Sunday, April 30, 2017

The close of another good weekend.  Last Friday was my mom’s 70th birthday and Tiago met me in Brewster to take my mom and dad out to dinner.  I had dad called family members and around 14 people showed up to help celebrate mom’s birthday dinner at Los Comparos.  My dinner was great, but mom said her vegetarian enchiladas kept her up all night.

Our friend Shane, who used to be a Marshall in Okanogan County, but now works for a Harley Davidson dealership in Renton, has a police dog, Bosco, that’s been at his house in Pateros.  Tiago stopped by to pick up Bosco and we’re going to take care of him for a bit.

On Saturday morning we took Bosco down the street to Heckendorn park to let him run around a bit.  We decided that he probably needed a good hike so we packed him up in the truck and headed outside Winthrop to climb Lewis Butte.

Today, we relaxed most of the day and then took Bosco to Big Valley and hiked 5.5 miles.  Bosco ran  around so much that we finally made a dent in his energy level and he finally got a little tired.  

Almost bedtime (7:47 PM).  I’ll be getting up at 4:00 AM to head back down to Moses Lake.  We came back after our hike and watched the last two episodes of “Big Little Lies”.  We were hooked from the beginning, but instead of binge-watching, we only watched a couple episodes each weekend.  Now Tiago’s gottem me into watching “Naked and Afraid”.  I dunno if I’m really getting into it, but it’s fun to watch these butch guys that brag about their “survival” skills tap-out after a couple of days, while the women hang in for the entire 21-day ordeal.

 

 

2017 – Day 117

Thursday, April 27, 2017

What a treat!  Last night my Boo and our friend Shane made a surprise visit to Moses Lake to take me out to dinner.

I’ve accepted the fact that my beard is becoming ungainly and I think it’s time I go to the barber shop and have the hedge trimmed back a bit.  I was thinking of going completely “bush” and seeing just how long I can grow the sucker out, but on further reflection, I don’t think I want to look like a cast member of Duck Dynasty.

I’m at a crossroads in my life.  I love my job and the people I work with, but a job opportunity in the Seattle region has become available and I have to go after it.  The pay is not only substantially more than I currently make, I would also be supervising over 200 people.  It’s scary and exciting at the same time, but I know I’m up for the challenge and the only way we grow is by continually pushing ourselves and leaving our comfort zones.   

P.S. This is why I know the beard (in it’s current state of disarray) has to be tamed down.  Grizzly Adams does not make for the best job interview.

It’s been an interesting afternoon; I told my boss that I’m applying to the position on the coast and things went very well.  I had to learn the rough way that it’s always better to be up front and tell people one’s intentions and not blindside them.  Now, I have to work on getting my reference letters and I’ve already got a commitment for a great one that I should have next Monday.  I’m going to the board meeting tonight to see about getting two more.

Since I’m pursuing a new job I can’t go on with my “bush” beard.  During lunch I went and got groomed.  It was bittersweet; I really enjoyed letting my beard grow for the last six months and was hoping to let it grow out, but I think I’ll have to keep things a bit more trimmed.

I’ve reached out to all the people I want for my reference letters and everyone of them have said “yes”.  Now I have to work on dusting off my resume and writing a cover letter.  I have a lot of mixed feelings right now.  I love my job and this community, but an opportunity like this doesn’t come along very often and I feel like I have to take it – albeit two years earlier than my original plans.  

2017 – Day 114

Monday, April 24, 2017

My Monday morning routine is waking up at 4:00 AM, showering, putting on my work clothes, gathering my remaining loose items not already stowed in my Jeep, namely my toiletry bag, computer bag, my cooler with my frozen prepped meals, and my two co-pilots, Little Miss and Buddy, toasting a bagel and be out of the house around 4:30 AM to begin the three-hour drive down to Moses Lake and be to work by 8:00 AM.

Fridays are somewhat similar; I generally gather my dirty laundry at lunch, close up my fifth-wheel and take the dogs with me to work around lunchtime.  I’m usually able to get off work around 6:00 PM and then it’s a three-hour drive home to Winthrop.  

I don’t mind this situation for the most part.  What I dislike most is being away from Tiago and our other two furry-children, but I’m back in school and all I do Monday through Friday is go to the gym, work, study, and sleep – that’s it.  No social life down here in Moses Lake whatsoever.  And, since I plan on going onto get my MBA in the fall, I expect this to be my normal routine for the next two years.

2017 – Day 113

SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2017

After spending my entire Saturday with my folks gallivanting around, I spent today catching up with my chores: washing and ironing my clothes and meal prep for the week.  But it wasn’t all work; Boo and I were able to get a nice little hike around Lewis Butte.  

Meal prep this week was four marina with mild Italian sausage with fusilli pasta, four lemongrass beef with jasmine rice and four Bun Cha with jasmine rice.

Spring has sprung

After a long and grueling winter, the narcissists and daffodils are in full bloom in our yard.  I’m on the fence about planting anything else since we’ve had years where the deer come in and eat everything in one night.  Tiago and I are talking about building a fence, but I have a lot of other projects to tackle around the house before that. 

 

Boo and I take a hike

Tiago and I made a quick jaunt up Lewis Butte this afternoon.  The hike has a little over 1000′ elevation gain and and was just over 2.5 miles.  We were able to do the hike in a little over an hour.  It was great to get out for a bit today.  The balsam root is starting to bloom and I’m looking forward to when we’ll be able to hike up Maple Pass and Cutthroat.