8/8/13, Day Four: Pretty good day. Though traffic in Seattle can suck a big bag of gooey dicks. I don't understand traffic. There's no rhyme or reason to it. It's just black magic.

  So I was a bit late to my first appt in Redmond WA. But the buyer, K, was very nice. A little frazzled, and in a hurry, but still bought around $1200 of stuff. I went off to the next in Monroe, WA, about an hour north. It seemed like a might suck when the buyer, L, instructed me to cart my dolly full of beads through the giant store (a Jo-Ann type place) to the back corner, then take the elevator up to the second floor. But in the end it wasn't so bad, and she and I hit it off, easily chatting the whole time. She told me that her husband was going on a rafting trip this weekend, and I asked what she was going to do, adding that maybe just getting a bottle of wine and relaxing would be nice.

  She informed me, mournfully, that due to some migraine pills she just started taking, she can't drink anymore, at all. And it makes her favorite soda, Dr. Pepper, taste like shit (she had to give up an eight can a day habit: too bad for you, diabetes!). But with migraines so bad she's ended up in the ER for meeds, it might be worth it. I find I'm getting pretty good at chit chat, and at times can lay on the subtle flirting. Not obvious "wanna fuck?" sleaze action. Just little ego strokes here, and light teasing. It gets their attention, and makes them want to look at beads longer. And, I'll admit that as I was carting all my shit back to my van, I found myself hoping that L rubbed one out thinking of me this weekend. What? I'm a dude.

  After that, I booked it up to Bellingham, which is almost right at the border of USA, and Canada. A friend who lived there said I could crash at her place, but she wasn't going to be there. Her boyfriend would, though. I stopped by and he wasn't there, so I drove around town until I found a BevMo to buy some "thank you" beer at, then ate dinner at a so-so Mexican restaurant. I went to the friend's (Cat) house, and found her man, Nick, hanging out. We cracked some beers, and ended up chatting for a few hours until he had to go to sleep. He has to be at work at six: he works for the largest solar panel company in WA. I think if we'd made it one more beer in, we'd have gotten downright buddy buddy. But he was tired, plus when he asked how I knew Cat, I awkwardly danced around the fact that we'd had a one night stand in Humboldt, years ago. Bit of an elephant in the room, but whatever. He's a nice dude.

  What else? I've been listening to way too much soft rock (Richard Marx themed Pandora station). All the songs are sung a half step above my range, but that doesn't stop me from trying. It's my goal to be able to nail "Hold on to the Night" by October.

  I could probably blab on some more, but I have to sleep. Tomorrow is gonna be an ass dragger.