“Oh yeah, that’s a text book ear infection… Nasty… Now lets talk about your colon, how long ago was your last colonoscopy? ”

There was some big news (OK, maybe not big, but certainly important to some) yesterday. The Sounders have an official beer supplier! Yes, an official beer supplier, they have teamed up with RedHook.

This is a clear win/win/win (Redhook/Sounders/Me) situation and dare we dream of getting more good beer into RBP? I do look forward to a LongHammer or Copperhook to go with the game (ignoring the $7 a time), it can only improve the stadium experience further.

So what’s the chance of some beer inspired by the team? A Sounder Stout perhaps, how about a Sigi Pilsner or maybe a Montero Marzen would be good?

This evening I was doing a little work on the deck, so far this has been the wettest April since records were started. The sun finally came out this afternoon and the green-belt  is starting to live up to it’s name.

So today I got to spend almost an hour on the home with the Verizon/Frontier Communication fraud and security people. Apparently the $500 and change collection bill that arrived last week was not for the cable bill, it was for not returning the equipment within 30 days of the service being canceled.

Service to the house was canceled on November 6^th, I was not living here then and was able to easily prove that beyond any shadow of a doubt.

The person who canceled the service, who happens to be the same person who started the cable and internet service, had to sign a contract guaranteeing that she would return the equipment within the 30 days. Given this my ex’s history, it will not come as a surprise that the equipment was not returned in the window she had signed for.

The company got the information they needed today to link the signature, to the phone number (425-XXX-9906) and person attached to the account. It’s awesome when departments titles “Fraud Protection” follow the paper trail. It’s probably just as well she has Comcast as her internet provider now, Frontier won’t be offering her services again.

I returned everything that was at the house, a couple of wall boxes and so on. But the cable top box was not here, and that’s what they want back.

I assume it’s in her storage unit, but have no idea and after today’s call it’s not my problem anymore. All I know is that it’s not in the house, and can clearly show that (photos and inventory are awesome evidence).

She spent almost 20 minutes early this afternoon sitting at home in Kirkland surfing my site. I hope you found something to keep you entertained, how about you stop being a deadbeat, it really would be better in the long term.

Update – You would have thought once a day was enough, but my ex made three visits here yesterday. The last one just after 11 last night, I really thought she would have better things to do.

The road to nowhere is a Talking Heads song (Ozzy had one with that title too) that seemed appropriate when I took the long way home tonight after work. There are some stunning roads in the foothills, and it helps me get somewhat centered in what has been a full and exciting day.

Well we know where we’re goin’
But we don’t know where we’ve been
And we know what we’re knowin’
But we can’t say what we’ve seen
And we’re not little children
And we know what we want
And the future is certain
Give us time to work it out

I think I’m working it out, thnaks guys.

I’ve not been posting so much of what I’d call heavy stuff over the last few months, there are a couple of reasons for that that I’ll get to. This weekend has sealed a few things for me. I spent some time with very old and close friends, people who tell me how thing are and don’t sugarcoat the bad, or play down the good. I feel privileged to have so many great people that I call my friends.

It’s clear that over the last couple of years I’ve been dealing with one of those hugely important moments that happen in life every now and again. In dealing with it I’ve not always been at my best and at times I’ve been somewhat self-destructive. But today I stand with my head held high, stronger, better prepared and happier than I have been for a very, very long time.

Looking at the birth or death of anything significant in my life, I think it’s the moments that lead up to these crisis points are harder than the actual passing through. I’ve come to learn a lot about myself, one of the things that surprised me is the need for a certain level of security. This is something I’ve really never understood before now.

I know people who crave control, they manipulate and bend the world around them to their will and the control that results is only illusionary. It’s something people set up for themselves, but in the end what is it? In reality it is nothing.

There have been a lot of interesting discussions about people needing that feeling of control and there are a number of threads that really resonated. People who seek that feeling, have that need typical believe their wants are not more important, but more right. It’s an interesting distinction.

These people do not trust or even particularly enjoy being with those around them. This is coming from a couple of professionals that understand this stuff way better then me.

I know he moment when it all became real for me, when I knew I had to walk. I left, I gave up and I’m not proud of that, but looking back it was the right thing to do.

In the last year I’ve discovered I have the most wonderful friends in the world, and I mean that quite literally. I have a terrific family and an extended circle of friends that is just incredible. I feel so rich, fortunate and at times humbled to have the people in my life that I do.

I’ve worked hard to be the person they deserve, and am conscious of that every day. This week I got affirmation that the work I’ve put in is making a difference. There have been some telling and important conversations, we are only as strong as the people we chose to have in our lives, and I’ve never felt more sure and stronger than I do today.

It’s stopped raining; it’s taken time, emotions and scouring deep down inside. The work is not over, but it’s stopped raining and the sun is coming out. I love my life, today and tomorrow is spectacular.

I’ve been making a lot of notes and doing a lot of writing for myself over the last few months and I’ve been trying to distill it down to a few points.

• You can walk away from the things, it’s tough to do, but it can be for the best.
• Inspiration comes from the strangest places; I’ve learned not to dismiss anything.
• You get to start over, you live with the consequences and that’s part of the choice.
• Life becomes simpler: I’ve learned that if I downsize the overhead, I leave more time for what’s important.
• “Less can be more” suddenly makes sense.
• I know the people that supported me when I needed it and really value what they did for me last fall and over the winter.
• It’s now possible to really understand what’s truly important in life after all.
• Surrounding myself with professionals to do what they do best takes worry away and replaces it with confidence.
• The more distance I’ve put between today and yesterday the clearer my mind has become.
• Change is good, not just in moderation, but in big important ways too. It’s scary, but exhilarating.
• Challenge inevitably follows change, and again it’s exciting.
• Being stretched forced me to grow in new ways, make discoveries about how good it can be.
• I’m not going to be a new person, that’s not real, but I can be the best Dave I know how to be.
• Every morning I wake up excited about the possibilities of today and tomorrow.

As for the big news, I’ve been approached to write a book based on my site and experiences, this is incredibly exciting and was completely unexpected. With work it’s going to be a year before anything is ready, it’s not something ever expected to have the opportunity to do. I know from the feedback that a lot of what I’ve had to say here has hit home with people while that’s never been my aim, this blog is way too selfish for that, I feel very humbled and at the same time validated.

For everyone who reads this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s a community that’s helped and at times has been part of healing me. Thank you.

After two days of watching racing and helping out the organizers a little my car was rather muddy.

By the end of two days of racing the track surface has the consistency of wet concrete with a lot of gravel in the mix. Difficult to drive on and it gets everywhere on the car. I only tootled along some of the better bits of the track in the Miata, getting out long after racing was done, and the car was packed with mud underneath. I must have washed off 25 pounds of mud today.

It was fun, and spending a few hours today with friends over lunch was telling and important. I have a very, very rich life.

I did make it out to Snoqualmie this evening for the final couple of rally-cross races. I do enjoy this sort of wheel-to-wheel racing and while it’s not rally, it does not pretend to. It’s a very accessible (for the spectator) and all happens in a compact, controlled area with whatever obstacles the organizers want to build.

The finals were excellent, close racing and very spectacular. On the first lap of the race four very fast cars went over a jump nose to tail, this will make a great money-shot for the TV show on ESPN in a few weeks. The event overall was won by Tanner Foust, well deserved with a number of cars capable of taking home the big prize this weekend.

It was fun to spend the evening with rally friends, old and new. So many great stories and experiences around whatever form of racing floats your boat. The food was a secondary thought over dinner, it was a great evening.

This was only part of a very sport-filled day. Seattle earned a 1-1 draw in Philadelphia, and really did earn it with an injury time goal from Álvaro Fernández, his first goal of the season. It was not the most entertaining game I’ve seen this year, Philadelphia plays a very defensive game and while not what I’d call attractive they were tough to break down and score on. This was one where the outcome was certainly important, and coming away with a point was a decent result for the Sounders.

Finally tonight is the Chinese Grand Prix, will Vettel continue his streak? Can McLaren challenge Red Bull? Will Ferrari finally get their stuff together? We will find out tonight.

This is a story about racing, it’s something that’s important to me and also something I think I’m pretty good at. I think I’ve proven that, and in a sport where experience is huge, I’ve got a shed load of that. And not just because I’m old either.

As much fun as getting into a race car is, it’s second to the people with in the sport. Some of my closest friendships were forged, at least in part by sharing race cars, hotels and dinners at events all over the world.

This weekend a number of my friends are hanging out just outside Seattle and invited me along for the weekend. Unfortunately I am only able to go after work today, but it was fun catching up and watching a couple of hours of head-to-head car racing in Snoqualme (or Snowquamy as ESPN had it on their website this morning).

The racing was close and very entertaining, but it’s the people, my friends that make racing so special. One thing I got today, I’ve co-driven for a lot of people, there were four of my ex-drivers there today. It was fun to catch up over dinner and a couple of drinks afterwards. Oregon Trail Rally is only 4 weeks away, I believe I will be there too.

Last night had quite incredible light, there was a huge storm rolling in the trees were thrashing and the sky was almost yellow at one point. It was a short, but very spectacular storm and quite something to watch through the patio doors.

The storm blew itself out and left today another wet spring day. I’m ready for the rain to stop, but it was spectacular last night.

Another long day at work, It is becoming something of a trend, but it’s one of those “power through it” weeks with a lot happening on a tight deadline. It’s fun to back in the middle of things, it’s so been worth the effort. On the even brighter side, my current project has given me lots of excuses to blow off meetings.

Tonight to help deal with what’s going on I threw the mountain bike in the back of the Land Rover and went to Lord Hill Park for an hour of riding. It was a beautiful evening for it, the sun was filtering through the clouds and my outlook is helped by the world looking pretty damn good today. It’s my first time going up and down hill like this in a while, it’s beautiful to have such a great riding place so close, I need to do this more regularly. Playing in the mud is way more fun than the gym and less frustrating than getting my arse kicked playing tennis.