SwimFinsSF

Progress

Oven Wall

Originally uploaded by SwimFinsSF.

So this remodel is still making me a little bit nuts but i’m starting to see progress… The oven wall went up late last week and they ran the electrical yesterday so we now are ready to drop the appliances in… And… they hooked up the new spiffy fridge… Glass door sub zero fridge which is SUPER cool – little small and the glass door will force us to be a little more tidy about whats in the fridge but DAMN it looks cool… Convection microwave is hooked up too… So its starting to get livable – at least for a bachelor.. No oven or sink yet but least there is a place to put leftover takeout!… Perfect for my working weekends! wee ha!

Heimat

When I was studying German at the Goethe Institut a while back we got into a long discussion of the German word Heimat. If you look it up in a German / English dictionary the definition is Home / Homeland / Country. But the discussion around it was that the meaning was a far less tangible thing that is farily deep seeded and important to Germans. It is a sense of center and a sense of where you come from and where you live. There is a definition on Wikipedia that is interesting but that didn’t even quite cover it. Its a little hard to describe but I think the english word home has some of the same connotations but we tend to discount it much more and overload the term with ‘the place where you sleep at night’. I like Heimat better..

So I’ve been feeling a bit lost lately for a variety of reasons that really aren’t a big deal but as I got to work today that term popped into my head and I started to understand it. There are a lot of things that are rather topsey turvey in my life – for good reasons but still upside down for various reasons. I woke up in a cold empty house with Kevin thousands of miles away. I took a bath in a tub with no shower, leaky fixtures, and construction all around (don’t get me started). I’ve been drinking warm soda and eating in restaurants cuz of the lack of a fridge. November and December always suck at work cuz of performance reviews and deadlines. I’m trying to take care of all my Christmas shopping in time and find gifts for family that are meaningful. Oh.. and all my favorite shows are on their winter break so i’m stuck with re-runs.

All of this kinda makes me understand more clearly what they mean by Heimat and why its so important. Its your center and the keel that keeps your boat upright. Its a sense of whats truely ‘home’ in your life. Where you come from, who you are, and what you hold to be sacred. When those things get jostled its more unsettling and makes it harder to deal with the other things that don’t matter so much.

But this really isn’t a weepy or upset post or anything. All of these things will be fine and I just gotta muscle through them. House will be GREAT – Kevin’s learning good stuff – and Lost and Battlestar Galactica will return! :):). Its just the typical engineer / scientist analyzing touchey feely shit that I usually just ignore. All’s good – just doin a little self discovery! 🙂

Anyway – thats a long enough break – got bugs to fix… Hasta pasta! 🙂

Oh my god…

IMG_3887

Originally uploaded by sawyers_kevin.

Check it out…Kevin has mastered the art of Flickr and has started posting a bunch of pictures from his trip… So now i’m living vicariously through him and i’m crazy jealous – looks so damn fun… Cute town… Cool hikes.. technicolor churches… and Jerry Blank… who’d a thunk!

A new toy

I got my new toy today – all Apple Employees are getting ’em… and DAMN They’re cute. Can’t wait to get it home and loaded up with my tunes!. Was just needing this at the gym this morning!

He made it there

Celas Maya Courtyard

Originally uploaded by SwimFinsSF.

Kevin made it to Guatemala safely and now is dealing with a little bit of culture shock. I’ve been swapping text messages with him yesterday and today (which will no doubt cost us a fortune) and he’s sent a couple of pictures which I’ve posted to my flickr account… I’ll let him describe the details on his blog (yes – he has one. Matt says kevin getting a blog may be a sign of the Apocalypse – we’ll see). But had to share a few pictures.

Now back to writing reviews… more later..

Family turkey day

Family turkey day

Originally uploaded by SwimFinsSF.

Before Kevin jetted off on his big adventure (sniff sniff) we went out to Sacramento for Thanksgiving with my family which was a lot of fun. My mom and step-dad live out there and my little sis and her fiance were in town visiting. Kevin and I braved the traffic from hell and drove out on Wed afternoon and stayed through Thursday night. Had a great time just relaxing and as usual mom whomped up an amazing meal… Wish we could have stayed longer but kevin had to get home and pack (he was up till 1am getting ready as it was)..