Reb MacRath's Seattle Rock: V. 12: 09/01/15

Nuts and Bolts

It's time, at last. You know it. But are you prepared for September and the frightening chance for rebirth?



The year's fourth quarter now begins. I began with a series of steps: some small, some not--all decisive. I began, Seattle-style: with a fine-tuned blend of passion, strategy and faith. The fourth quarter is the time for bigger and bolder decisions. And so...
--I dealt a major blow to one personal flaw that disgusts me: a tendency to surrender when dreams begin drifting away. Now, it's good to be a dreamer--but not a wan and listless one, the kind that used to populate bad 19th Century romances. The slipping dream that most tormented me was my plan to re--begin traveling by train as often as I can. Though I moved cross-country last autumn by train, I'd traveled in coach and had been anxiety-ridden. The last time I'd traveled properly--and I mean first class--on a train? Almost thirty years ago. Soooo...last month, like Caesar, I did it: made reservations for a first-class, cross-country trip next year. Destination: Buffalo. My first visit there since...I cannot recall. Next: I'm looking into a visit to L.A. Another dream I've drifted from: a reunion with an old school friend. Reb MacRath, train travelin' man.



--I manned up and admitted that my vaunted, self-made daily planner wasn't working for me: too bulky and too high-maintenance: the blank journal required designing the pages for each new week. Since I hate admitting that I'm wrong, I admitted I was wrong. Proof: I hardly looked at it. I need something I can carry and look at through the day. And so this sometimes penny-pinching honorary Scot paid the bucks required for the planner he'd come to love best:



--I decided to stop stalling and begin exploring other employment opportunities. Goal: to reach the salary I'd had in mind when I moved here (at least $15 an hour), plus holidays and Sundays free--in a less stressful, non-call center setting. Secondary goal: to work fewer hours a week. Through a coworker on the present job I learned that the Mayor's office has a program devoted to finding work for Slightly Older Guys and Gals. Am filling out the forms required prior to my meeting them.
Seeking a far better balance between:




City Beats

Seattle is:

--Walgreens. The legendary 3rd and Pike location.

The country's grungiest Walgreens has had a major face lift this year. Two floors now instead of one, with an escalator and an elevator. Hardwood floors instead of filthy, cracked linoleum. And a layout less conducive to smash-and-grab gangs of thieves. The corner itself is undergoing major reconstruction: sidewalks closed, bus stops moved further south, alleys closed or monitored, newspaper boxes (drug drop-offs) removed, etc. But is the city's favorite steal-from store really now predator-free? Not likely, since the staff are forbidden to stop known thieves or even demand return of clearly boosted merchandise. Anyone who's worked there will tell you their own stories: violent brawls at the entrance, a female security guard who was shoved and then fired for daring to hit back, an assistant manager punched in the face, cashiers receiving death threats, huge men snatching shopping bags and loading them up with high-end merch, then threatening to kill anyone who stood in their way...Good luck to Walgreens in its effort to transform this location from a dangerous hole in the wall to a toney site with sushi bar. It may prevail. But thieves who've been looting the store for years won't give up easily, though they may have to wait a while. The safe money's on betting that the tough cops now manning the entrance won't be there forever or even day and night. Not unless the face lift is something more than a face lift: say, a step up from exclusive thoughts about the bottom line.

*****************************BONUS*********************************************

If you think I'm joking about the massive 'shrinkage' at the store, check out the following link to theft deterrent procedures at a branch store in San Francisco's Haight. At Third and Pike, thieves wouldn't care--they'd smash the cases, load up and run.
http://hoodline.com/2010/05/8-things-people-steal-from-walgreens

*********************************************************************************

--Barnes & Noble, 600 Pine Street, has earned its place a second time in the Seattle Hall of Shame.

Their official listing is as impressive as its location, near the ritzy Pike Place pavilion: The world’s largest bookseller offers a vast selection of titles, with more than 10,000 publishers. Shop here for an variety of books, NOOK and the new NOOKcolor, NOOKbooks™, eclectic accessories and gifts to enhance any book lover’s collection and reflect on their personal style. Barnes & Noble is a great place to relax and read, with a comfortable cafe, unique children’s section, and calendars of events featuring author appearances and discussion groups.  We have free Wi-Fi, allowing customers to surf the web. 

BUT...Huge BUT: As mentioned in a previous edition, their really huge cafe has just two pairs of outlets--on a single post. Others who need to plug in for Wi-Fi are just plumb out of luck. AND: The bastards have walled off their washrooms. That's right: not restricted their use to paying customers or required tokens for their usage--no, they have completely walled them off, as in a tale by Poe. So shop and spend hundreds...savor the cafe's delicacies...and enjoy the Wi-Fi if your battery still has some juice. But if you or your kids need to pee? Hit the road.

--Then again, there is a choice.



The world-famous Elliott Bay Book Company, in Capitol Hill, has a superior assortment of books, staff who really love their jobs, a terrific cafe--and bathrooms. Keys for these are obtained at the cafe register.


SOS's of the Soul




September is the time to listen to SOS's of the Soul. Spring and summer have left us again, as they do every year, bringing us annually closer to the winter of our lives. This year we have the short stretch of this fall to get it right while there's still time.

My own SOS's are legion: terrifying thoughts of losses that might become fatal if I quit on my dreams or give less than my best...or simply drift too far from goals. Financial SOS's. Creative SOS's. Social SOS's.

For me, in the fall of 2015, the greatest SOS is this: the fear that, unless I am careful right now, the sense of romance will be squeezed from my soul by new practical concerns. And so I focus with all of my might on images like these that help me stay on track:

Entertainment Kick of the Month
Eureka! New DVD tactic. To keep up with the movies I've already bought, I'd have to watch one a night for a while. But I don't have the time to watch more for than an hour a night, sometimes less, whereas some of the films run to three hours--and contain hours of extras. Sad to say, but some evenings I can only afford half an hour.

Weekly combination strategy:
1) Watch two 2-hour film per week, each film broken down into two viewings.
2) Select two fave TV shows. Night 5: one episode from #1. Night 6: #2. Running time per episode should be about 45 minutes.
3) On my Tired Night, one episode of a classic half-hour show.

Starting September lineup:

Week one's movie:



TV shows: one episode of each per week:

  

Am nearly through each of these. So will need replacements in October.

Tired Night's half-hour classic:



I own several seasons. And they'll last me a long time at one show a week!


Litrachoor
Finished reading: Darkness by Bill Kirton. Very aptly named. A riveting, gut-wrenching mystery that's left me in need of a break. No more reading till October.
In the works: Caesar's Ghost, the novel that came to me on my March visit to San Francisco. I've just begun the third draft of this real genre blender. Or let's call it a Mhistory that's also a tale of possession. And then repossession. Oh hell, enough of that, Let's just call it Caesar's Ghost


Deep Thoughts
--I like even a bad book that is what it is. But when a bad book seems not what it isn't--watch out.
--Abstinence makes the fond grow harder.
--Poverty ennobles the spirit, they say...between sales of Florida swamp land.
--And:

--

Block 3: Working Seattle Cross-Country: Part 1

All big goals are cross-country moves in their way. Each involves planning and timing and pluck--whether you move to Seattle or set out to write your great novel or break free of a dead-end job or quit smoking or lose weight. Agreed? And we know that luck's winds may abandon our sails, compelling us to row for life.  Hard times await, but I have some fine news. Two powerful tools can sustain you and help you stay on course. 

The first tool is a mantra to be repeated as required:

                                    PTP!

The letters stand for Protect the Plan. And how can those three words assist you? Like this:

Picture a thousand decisions you may be forced to make each day. Reinventing the wheel with each choice you make is bound to overwhelm you. But now picture the umbrella of this three-word mantra, under which all decisions may fall.

My Plan: to get to Seattle this fall, work at least part-time in Elliott Bay Book Store, create a cool lifestyle on Capitol Hill...and succeed as an ebook novelist. How do I Protect the Plan?
--I did not hit Snooze this morning because I knew I'd need the time to: write a letter of introduction to Elliott Bay Book Company, work on my latest novel for a June release, contact my second job to set up an appointment over some scheduling conflicts with my full-time job.
--In the meantime, I make a decision: I'll work the hours if I must to raise the money for the move. But I'll quit if my health starts to suffer.
--I stay calm with abusive thugs on my third shift full-time job. To Protect the Plan, I need to leave the job with a first-rate reference...which I won't get if I lose my cool.
--I work out twice a day, three times a week and run on a couple of off days. To Protect the Plan, I need to hit Seattle like a lion: trimmer, better toned and more gracefully coiled.
--To Protect the Plan, I need to toss anything that won't fit inside of one trunk and four boxes, as planned.
--I need to start networking now, not a month before I leave.

And so on and so on. As I get better at this, I find more of my decisions contained with the mantra. And I do what needs doing, when it needs doing, to Protect the Plan.

As good as it is, though, PTP has a flaw if it is used by its lonesome. Some of history's greatest villains have protected their own Plans, whatever it took: to rule the world, to quash their foes, to make another trillion...And the most heartless son of a bitch of a boss is just Looking Out for Number One and Taking Care of Business.



So my advice to you is this: tape the three letters where you work, explaining them to no one. Or tape the letters to your desk at home. Or put them on an index card that you keep tucked in your shirt. At the same time, never lose your grip on the second tool: three equally powerful letters we'll discuss next week in Part 2:

                                 PTM

Action Log
05/02: Dove into the scariest part of my packing, purchasing 24 colored file folders to start with. Then, stomach heaving, I began to sift through the various stacks of papers I'd piled so far on the floor. Rejection slips alone, dating back to the 90's, will take 4-5 file folders at least. I was right in allowing 2 months for getting my papers in order. The disarray is appalling and shows how badly I was shattered by my divorce way back when. But when I'm done, I'll enjoy fingertip access to all that I need. Meet the reborn Reb MacRath--a tidy little package. 


05/07: Am drafting the introductory letter I plan to send to Elliott Bay Book Company next week. Meanwhile, I'm allllllmost down to one last remaining box of papers, unopened for 7-1/2 years. This one is heavy. I don't what it holds. I'm scared!

Block 2: How to See Seattle: Part 2

One by one, the pictures start to crystallize in mind. Capitol Hill. My Seattle.




I see a city brimming with brio, spunk and attitude. As I struggle with my picture of a place I've never been, I'm drawn to seek visual echoes of parts of other towns. I think of San Francisco when I view the Puget Sound, the mountains and the steeply angled streets. Capitol Hill reminds me a bit of both North Beach in San Francisco and the Village in New York. I may go on to find echoes of NY's Upper East or West Side...SF's toney Union St. This is natural enough, I'd think: a defensive mechanism against a sense of total estrangement. But I'm keeping my mind straight about this as well. For I can't see Seattle truly if I'm focused on repeating some other place I've lived.

So even while I cozy up from 3000 miles away I need to seek out the strange heart of this town. I need to draw a better bead on what makes Seattle unique. At the same time I must search for ways to best enter the life of Seattle as it really is. Just so, I may seek qualities I loved in people from my past--but I mustn't force my memories on the histories of new people I meet. Revere the best while embracing the new and living in the present.

I see Elliott Bay Book Company:

Seattle's most famous independent bookstore was founded in 1976. It relocated from Pioneer Square to Capitol Hill in May, 2010. Here it houses 150,000 titles on cedar shelves and sponsors a robust number of author readings and events. Imagine how this calls to a man living in a city without one major indie bookstore. Now imagine how this calls to a man who'd worked for ten years in the business.
    Though I've been away from the trade a long time, my two best job experiences were at world-class indie bookstores. But Atlanta's Oxford Books went bankrupt...Portland's Powell's City of Books just wasn't a good fit for me...and I drifted into dull, meaningless work, convinced that I'd run out of options. No, I'd run out of vision. Now I see a chance to rejoin the Holy War and fight on the side of the indies. I see myself surrounded not only by books but people who love reading them and people who love writing them.

--I see Vegan restaurants:

I reached peak physical condition as The San Francisco Kid in the 1980s. Moving there, I stopped drinking and began working out while I followed a mostly raw diet. Men and women whistled when I walked the streets. But a move to New York and a bad marriage sent me plummeting hard from the peak. And the South hasn't been conducive to a health nut diet. Oh, there's no going back in time--and I wouldn't if I could. But I can return to something close to S.F. Kid condition by working out and eating as I used to eat.

--I see a wealth of great cafes:

For a man who's lived and loved in two cities with wonderful indie cafes, Seattle sounds a clarion call. I dig cafe society and only now realize what I've been missing since Portland, Seattle's pretty but flat-chested sister. Go West, you laptop hobo--and be certain to always tip well. 

So, a theme's emerged in this second part: seeing in Seattle a chance to recover the best of the lost while I stay true to today.

Till part 3!

Action Log
4/17: Sometimes it helps to see Seattle by taking yourself by surprise. Today at dawn I bolted up, fearing my playbook's still not bold enough. I'm on schedule, yes, and proceeding apace. But where's the Caesar in my soul? What's with these niggling fears and doubts? Caesar crossed the Rubicon while I'm gingerly wading across a small ford. Get in gear! Act like a king to become one! I bounded up and tackled a task I'd set for May: condensing and fitting my DVDs and CDs into a single box...just as I did with my books for box one. Two boxes remain: for personal and professional papers, notebooks, manuscripts. I've been putting this task off because I know what a huge mess awaits me. But, with Caesar's help, I'll start next week. Hey, who knows, maybe Cleo will join us.