Where Everybody Knows Your Name

OK, so I like to make and drink beer. Not as much since I've been doing all this running and trying to lose weight, but I still partake from time to time. Depending upon the day, I will make it a choice to indulge. My choice is definitely one of the best lunch places in Tacoma, The Harmon. It's not just about the $8.88 specials (very good and fast) or the $1 10 oz. beer (cheaper than iced tea and much better) it's also about the best server around, Vanessa.

If you ever had lunch there you know who I'm talking about. She is pleasant to all her fellow teammates and greets everyone with a cheerful hello and great attitude.

I'm sure every day is not great, but you wouldn't know it by the way she personifies service.

She knows what I order and usually an IPA is delivered just a second after I find my seat. Quick Sidebar: If I'm with someone she doesn't recognize, she plays dumb and asks if we'd like anything to drink - something I appreciate. She remembers that I like to substitute salad for fries (the weight watching thing again) and even gets the dressing just right.

It would be easy for her to just take the orders and deliver the food, but she does more than that and for that she's worth so much more to The Harmon. Making customers feel valued, listening and learning preferences, and all the little things make the lunchtime rush feel more like a welcome retreat.

Excellence at the Edge of a Continent

Moclips is a sleepy town 15 miles north on Scenic 109 from the quiet seaside town of Ocean Shores. It is approximately 3 1/2 hours from Seattle and Portland on Washington's Hidden Coast - the North Beach area. Until recently (creation of Seabrook in 2005) the big cities in the area were Pacific Beach, Moclips and Tahola (the seat of the Quinault Nation). The area boasts gorgeous beaches and tidal pools, is minutes from the grandeur of Olympic National Park and has a small unassuming (from the outside) restaurant that features in the words of my recent guest "The best WA wine list I have EVER seen, ANYWHERE". As a side note, this guy is no slouch when it comes to drinking/enjoying fine wine. Have a look at the wine list.

Where do you find it? Ocean Crest Resort. The wine list has been awarded a level of Excellence every year starting with 2004.

Why the big deal?

The big deal is passion. The big deal is making a choice to be the best whether in a bustling downtown or 150 miles from the nearest downtown. You see Ocean Crest made the choice to be excellent when it would've been very easy to just be small or average. Expectations out there tend to not range on the very high side. Despite this, Ocean Crest staff committed to greatness way back when no one was watching.

There is a lesson here for all of us.

No Frontrunners

I came back from a long run this morning to find my Zags being shellacked by The Orange. This will be the end of my bracket. Prior to yesterday's action I was in the top 99% (click on the screen shot to see) at the end of the day I will likely be OUT. (Barring a Zag miracle)

Every year I pick the Zags to win it. Sometimes against my better judgement, but if you're going to pull for a team, then go big and pull for them all the way.

I'm disappointed as a fan because I know they are capable of so much more. It's funny it's the same way I feel about my kids or our company when the A-Game gets left at home replaced by "good enough".

Bottom line: Show Up Ready to Play - in some cases you only get one shot.

A Perfect Day for Fishing - Not so for Catching!

It's rare to summer steelhead fish on the Olympic Peninsula on 65+ degree days. I'm certain I've NEVER winter steelhead fished on a string of days as beautiful as it was Thursday and Friday. The fish of 1000 casts (if using bait), 100,000 casts if swinging a fly - is nearly impossible to catch when conditions are perfect (perfect water flow, good cover, cloudy 0r drizzling skies, freezing temperatures). In fact, it is alway too cold/hot, water is too high/low, fish are too skittish/lethargic - most of these explanations from a guide ends with the statement "You should've been here yesterday."

We had a few things working against us

• Lots of boats (it was the annual Hohdown - more info here)
• A front page article about the Queets (my favorite river) in the Seattle Times
• Did I mention the sun? It's hard to catch a ghost in bright daylight.

We had a fantastic day with our guide - author and friend - Doug Rose. He literally wrote the book on flyfishing for steelhead on the Olympic Peninsula.

I've left my gear out on the coast since I'll be back in a couple of weeks, hopefully it will be drizzly, freezing, cloudy, with perfect water flows. It'll be a crappy day for fishing and a great one for catching - that's winter steelhead for ya.

Spring into Action

It's all about responsiveness.

Bottom line things go wrong, or communication gets missed. When it does there are two ways to go.

1. Call to Action
2. Deny and/or Blame

May you always acknowledge the issue, leap to action, admit when you are wrong and chart a course for correction.

Today's example comes from Smith Brother's Farm. I was under the impression my first delivery was to come this past Monday. I posted a tweet about needing help, instant response. When I got home my milk was already here and they reminded me my day was going to be Wednesday. :)

Oh, and the milk is fantastic! AND I'm blogging about them.

It matters how you respond.

Ghost Hunting - The Search for Wild Steelhead

So, tomorrow evening I will head West. I will ply my trade on the rivers of the Olympic Peninsula, swinging flies waiting for the tug. They call it the fish of 1000 casts and goodness knows if it was that easy I'd have gotten bored and given up already. Others just call it "the ghost".

Unfortunately with each year that passes the quarry becomes more and more elusive as the wild rivers of the peninsula become less and less so. Horrible resource management (dams, logging, hatcheries - read Mountains in the Clouds ) have pushed wild steelhead and salmon populations to the brink of extinction. I've packed my 8wt, DryFly whiskey, warm clothes, and great friends.

So I embark on another quest in search of my own "white whale". Last year the rivers were blown out and my trip ended with an unexpected trip into a ditch after avoiding a deer on my way home. This year all I'm looking for is a tug and a photo of a wild steelhead.

Alter Ego

There's a lot to say inside my head and sometimes I struggle to figure out what is personal (thus for this blog) vs. what is SitecCrafting which is this blog. I put so much of myself and who I am into the personality of SiteCrafting it seems that everything over there is personal to me.

I will continue to try and figure out where it goes, and for the most part all hobby stuff (beer brewing, fishing) will live here, the rest over there.