ivan opalka

I met Ivan tonight. He was actually staying in Daniel Spils’s house when I got in last night, but then was out of there by the time I woke up. I met him at the terminal of the Bainbridge Island Ferry and then took it over to Bainbridge Island.

He’s got a great house with chickens in the back, a great family and the house used to be used to make wine! How cool is that?

True friend. There is no more that can describe it.

I met my friend Todd about six years ago on a day when I was going home for my father’s funeral. It all happened quickly. I had scheduled interview for my new job that day and since I was leaving for Europe I took it. Todd was the guy who was interviewing me. I think what I heard later was, that he was wondering if I really wanted the job since I came across as not really interested in it. My mind was just in a different place that day. He made a mistake of hiring me anyway, and here we are 6 years later still working together. He was cool. I love him.

accordion, biker, slovakia, tea, tasmania, etcetcetc

Anyone who can play the accordian is worth meeting.

He gave me some great advice about sorting out my priorities. I’ve taken it and I’m pleased to say my health situation is improving rapidly. Thanks, man.

...at a work-related dinner party that he got suckered into (?) attending by Christina. I strategically sat at the same table, put on my devil’s advocate cap, and proceeded to rant about why Linux sucks.

I remember being impressed by the coolness in which he engaged my brattiness.

Ivan has one track in the iTunes library on his laptop. One track: Death Cab for Cutie’s “Soul Meets Body”. I don’t know how it got there and I don’t know why it’s all alone. But because he has only this one track, when Ivan has his headphones on for an entire workday, it means that he’s listened to “Soul Meets Body” on repeat for several hours straight. I am not making this up. It goes on so long that I start tiring of this perfectly good song just from the interludes where he has to open up his headphones to talk to someone, and I can hear that same song playing, yet again.

But it speaks to Ivan’s character that he’s the only person I know who would “work within the given limitations” in this way, grinning and bearing one song in eternal repetition, simply because that’s all there is.

Ivan is a devotee Home Depot aficionado. And he always eats a hot dog there.