Day Fourteen: Fauning

Exactly two weeks into my layoff and wow, I've never enjoyed a vacation more. Well that isn't really true. My worst day with my wife still beats my best day without her.

I got up even later today. It must not be the sun. I didn't even hear the roosters through the once again open door. While they could have slaughtered them, I think the trick is to be excessively tired. We stayed up until close to midnight watching Office Space. When I did get up I saw the cutest spotted faun walking with its mother. I also saw a large variety of birds. Enough so that I may have to get into bird watching, at least the next time I go up I will remember to take my own binoculars.

After breakfast and some last minute completion of the second canoe seat frame, which is still far from complete, it's just, well, framed. The edges aren't rounded the caning holes aren't drilled and won't be until they know what size caning material they will be using as the cane goes through the holes up to eight times each.

On the long ride home in reverse order, we basically split up the driving among the three of us. My daughter and son-in-law drove to their place and then I drove on to my home. We stopped in Shasta for lunch, which allowed me to leave my souvenir Liberty Island hat at the Billy Goat Cafe. I don't even know why I put it on. Anyway, the food was good and the two beers that I had were even better. After all, I had two designated drivers and drinking good beer is a worthy Life after Layoff. Maybe it was the beer that induced me to leave the hat I shouldn't have worn into the restaurant. (Can eating outside and never actually going inside be considered going into a restaurant?)

We couldn't see the smoke plumes west of Redding that were so visible going north. This doesn't mean that the fire was out. Indeed, the smoke was so bad that we couldn't see the hills west of Redding.

The rest of the trip to Davis involved me listening to my daughter's iPod music collection through the Prius' car speakers and resting in the back seat. I would rouse every so often to ask, "Are we there yet?" My children didn't to that often because they were rational people who could look out the window and see that we weren't there. Instead, they frequently asked, "How much longer before we get there?" If I hadn't be drowsing, I might have remembered to ask that more accurate historical question instead.

I discovered one significant fact riding in the back seat. Never sit behind a person who thinks that 90 degrees are cool when the only source of air conditioned air is in the front and they control the flow. I discovered that my daughter had actually closed off one of the cold air vents on our mutual side of the car. When I was driving by myself on the last leg, the trip from Davis to my home along the coast, a blessed 64 degrees when I arrived, I actually left it closed so more air would blow on me from the two driver's side vents. I also lowered the temperature from 78 to 72. Life after Layoff is and should be cool. (Two "Life after Layoff" puns in the same entry. I probably won't run out of them before I stop making entries anyway even if they get worse and repetitive.)