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Ralph's and Bob's Excellent Adventures (with Sam) - a Dog-o-Logue


This is the public web diary of me, Ralph Gregory Johnson, and Bob the Dog and his pet Sam.

Wherein various observations and opinions are intermingled with even more various facts and events.

Go right to the big trip.
2003

Jan 1 Decision to Downsize is Final. Postcard announcing blowout sale mailed. Sale lasts from mid-January to Feb 3?

Feb 7 Downsizing complete. Nostalgia Zone has taken over the Sudetenland, approx the back half of the Old College.

Early March - Bob Borden asks whether my store is still open and am I interested in moving what's left (mainly website) to CA.

Early April - Multi-level negotiations begin - Bob the Human and Ralph, Ralph and Tim, Tim and Chris, Ralph and Chris, Ralph and Tim and Chris.

Sun 4/29 Tim pulls the trigger and it's all downhill from here. Slap together fliers for Microcon the next day.

Sun 4/30 MCBA Microcon in Maplewood. Announce "New Dean" - it's a secret!

Wed 5/7 "Hand Keys" to Tim

Sat 5/10 Meet the New Dean, and faculty re-union party

Wed 5/14 Last day at NRG

I started writing this on 5/15/03, and announced its presence to the world and my friends and relatives on 5/22. By definition, a work in progress, I intend to not only log events and observations going forward, but also to work backwards, to fill in a few gaps between the beginning of time and now.

May 11, 2003 - The Big News at Comic College

This is the actual "center" of this time line, the point at which it began.
The writing proceeds in both directions from here.


May 15, 2003 - Howlin' at the Moon



Sat 6/7 ECCO Neighborhood Yard Sale

Wed 6/11 Fly to SFO to hammer out business deal with Bob, the human. Radical haircut.

Thu-Fri 6/12-13 Initial meets with Bob at store in Livermore - start working - rental car is weak.

Sat 6/14 Marshall in Banda Italiana at San Rafael Street Painting Festival.

Sun-Mon 6/15-16 Crazy days with Steph's relly's - trade rental car, twice!

Tue-Fri 6/17-20 Work at store in Livermore.

Sat-Sun 6/21-22 Driving tour through wine country etc.

Mon-Tue 6/23-24 Work at store - final (?) negotiations.

Wed 6/25 Final negotiations - Fly home.

Sun 6/29 One more Nostalgia Con in St.Paul.

Thu 7/24 Return to SFO to find residence. Visit Eric and Philip in Castro Valley.

Fri 7/25 Visits 2 other homes. See Marshall & others play Beatles in San Anselmo.

Sat 7/26 Decide on Castro Valley home and sign lease.

Sun-Mon 7/27-28 Work at Store in Livermore.

Tue 7/29 Fly home.

Fri-Sun 8/1-3 Uptown Art Fair, total bust except for parking lot sales.

Wed-Sun 8/6-10 Chicago Comic Con, stay with Kathy and Dick and talk used cars.

Fri-Sun 8/15 Moving sale review party. Sold keyboard to Max, and several shirts.

Fri-Sun 8/16-17 Moving sale. Pretty worthless. I should have been cleaning and throwing stuff out.

Wed 8/20 2 hours sleep, up at 5, Amtrak at 7:35. Chi 4:45. Elgin 7:30. Kathy drives me home.

Thu 8/21 Drive plush new (to me!) LeSabre north. A/C quits in Madison. Nice man bypasses it with short belt for cheap.

Sun 8/24 Lunch with Irene, Joanne, and Stefan.

Mon 8/25 Fix A/C, buy CD player for tape deck in car, other stuff.

Click the picture below to see the actual trip!!!
Wed 8/27 Final preps and leave for first night in Wall, SD.

Thu 8/28 Rapid City, Mt. Rushmore, stop in Rock Springs, WY.

Fri 8/29 Salt Lake City, stop in Winnemucca, NV.

Sat 8/30 Reno, Tahoe, Sierras, Livermore and our New Home in Castro Valley, CA.

Tue 9/2 - 10/1 Start work - orders are waiting to be packed!

Thu 10/2 - Fly with Bob to Mpls for next wave of insanity

Fri 10/3 - Get ready for Fallcon

Sat, Sun 10/4-5 Fallcon. Minnesota auctions end Sunday

Mon-Sat 10/6-11 Take care of business and take out the trash

Sun 10/12 Another long strange trip begins

Wed 10/15 Expected Arrival in Golden State

Sun 10/19 Supercon in Hayward, right around the corner

November Sales are up but not enough. Start realizing that a job is needed.
Hmm, what kind? They don't smoke in bars and restaurants here....

November Attend 2 week course at San Francisco School of Bartending

December Sales are up but not nearly enough

Spend Christmas with Marshall, Stephanie and Mia. Take a walk up the hill on the other side of valley on Christmas Day.

Start finding hills in Castro Valley to walk with Bob and start jogging by the end of the week.

2004

January - Sales fall off a cliff. The future is impossible to ignore, but I'm a little slow to react.
Start hitting Craigs List for Jobs, Personals, Rentals (you never know), entertainment etc. Concentrate on running and get pretty good.
Decide Pool Hall in Berkeley named Thalassa is the place for me and go there to hang and get in with staff.

February - Start to get back into corporate thinking, and apply at 4 temp agencies for Admin or Bookkeeping jobs.
The silence on my phone is deafening. Then I lost the phone on a run and had to buy another one.

March - More disappointment in the job search. Dozens of resumes sent to bars, and firms downtown.
Consider tutoring, waiting, catering, car parking, limousine driving, and....

Sight-seeing tour driving. Contact Extranomical Adventures because they go to Muir Woods and Yosemite in Vans that I can drive with my eyes closed (but wouldn't, of course).
Yosemite is a 16 hour day and the other tour is a 12 hour day, counting commuting 27 miles each way .

April - Get California license and fail the commercial/passenger written test.
Pass the test 30 minutes later. Schedule behind the wheel and INSPECTION exam for 4/26
Ride along with 2 tours to each location and start writing what I will say. Lots of research.
Someone cancels on 4/19 and I fail the inspection (me, not the vehicle). Schedule the next one for 5/15
Meanwhile, I'm very frustrated about not earning any money for several months! Get another cancelled appointment.
Erik the Roommate says he might sell the house and move to Pasadena. Back on Craigslist.

May - I passed! And my spiel (Yosemite only) is ready enough for a PAID test run on May 8.
Finally on the road to just getting by again!
May 30th, I'm finally ready for the other tour, Muir Woods and WINE COUNTRY. Y'see, that was my weak spot.

June - I worked a lot, and on my days off I help Bob the human pack up and palletize a gazillion comics and other flotsam in his warehouse and we sell 600,000 to someone in Michigan. We get half of it done and he saves half the rent each month, but there is another half waiting for us.
It's difficult to find an established residence that wants to rent one room to me and Bob and Sam.

July - Erik, the roommate, tells me the house is selling for sure on 7/25, so the crunch is in.
I love this 3 BR in SF, but I don't have the other roomies. Start to contact singles looking. No luck
Time is running out. I rent a storage in Castro Valley, and get everything that won't fit into my car in there.
Bob gets into trouble constantly with no supervision. Nick the Neighbor (kid) saves our bacon, but just.
Eats an entire chicken in the garbage and explodes from both ends while I'm gone for 17 hours. He is hobbling.
Moving in 2 days. 5 days off to find home for all, clean room, make sure he won't die, and/or move into the car.
Vet boards him for $22. Cindy mentions she might get a kitten, and I say, Oh, no you won't - you'll get Sammy back.
His constitution is not up to the move, and he throws up 3 times on the way to the professional cat boarder in SF.
My car is filled with belongings, clothes, to move into a hotel, and he throws up on everything.
I'm staying in hotels for about $75 a night. I pick up Sam the next night. He pukes bigger than Billy Crystal on the way to the airport.
Idiot boarder was told not to feed him past noon. Finally get him on the plane and I have one less burden.
No luck finding housing on Friday, and my cell phone is cancelled, and I go to Yosemite Saturday.
I'm on for Monday, too, so I have Sunday free and go to my favorite internet cafe, and make contact with a lead from 2 weeks ago that got lost in my inbox. Mary is home and NOW has 2 kids with her, but still game. I move in that night.
What else am I going to do?

August - Driving and not much else. I was a little spent. Make plans for trip to Minnesota.

September - Driving and helping Bob the human move the second half, including more of my stuff into storage.
I got sick the second week, probably from sleep deficit, dust inhalalation, and carrying sick passengers from around the world.
Still feeling the wheeze just a little on 9/28.

October 5th - fly to MSP by way of Midway, with Bob in a bag under the seat. Stay with Sister Joanne and Stefan in St. Paul.
6th Wed - Drop Bob off at store for nostalgic day with old friends. Drive to Sister Karin's for one night.
7th Thu - Drive to Mt Ayr to be with Ralph, Sr, until lunch Friday.
8th Fri - Drive back to St. Paul to start helping Nostalgia Zone's Chris with 2 day show.
9th Sat - Work the show. Evening free?
10th Sun - Work the show. Break it down, Evening free? Comic Con bowling?
11th Mon - Unscheduled at this writing. Evening at Niece Cara's
12th Tue - Cara and kids and I visit Aunt Irene in AM
13th Wed - Fly back at noon.

14th Thu - Drive to Yosemite. Back at the grind.