Ned Luce

Whilst waiting for a meeting in downtown Port Townsend I ambled into the Bishop Hotel.

The new proprietors as of last summer were there and engaged me in conversation about the hotel. At the time I was there the lobby had been stripped to the bare brick walls with only a check-in desk at the back of the room. Eric and Jessica Wennburg shared their plans to refurbish the lobby and then look at adding a food service adjacent to the lobby. It was great to talk with them and sense their enthusiasm for the project.

The Port Ludlow Yacht Club just finished the annual “Wake up Cruise” with 24 boats heading to Alderbook Lodge at the south end of the Hood Canal.

There was a stop at Pleasant Harbor going down and coming back. I have heard of no shipwrecks, sinkings or drownings.

BJ and I have considered going on one of the club’s cruises for years but we think we might have trouble keeping up in our kayaks.

The club has reopened the “Wreck Room” on a limited, COVID guidelines inspired basis and initial reports are of greater than expected success.

Traditionally the opening-day ceremonies are this coming weekend but the christening of the boats of new members and the boat parade in Ludlow Bay are the only activities scheduled for Saturday morning.

Just as we do not really own a boat yet we belong to the Yacht Club, we also do not golf anymore yet we enjoy going to the “Dusty Green” for lunch at the Port Ludlow Golf Club.

Last week we had great service and food capped off with a conversation with the delightful “Cass” who owns the business.

She recently bought a new oven which yielded two fine cookies she gave to us “gratis.” Actually she was using us a test subjects since the cookies were presented as the first items out of the new oven so it was no wonder they were free. I suspect you will have more trouble getting free cookies from Cass as the oven gets “broken in.”

She spent a few minutes telling us about the monthly wine dinners on the patio featuring her food and local wines. This month’s dinner is on the 15th and highlights Harbinger Wines out near Sequim.

Yep, we signed up.

Last Saturday was the annual stockholders’ meeting for Berkshire Hathaway, the multinational conglomerate holding company, known mostly for the company’s leaders Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. Watching and listening to these two guys at ages 90 and 97 respectively gives you a feel for their intelligence, sense of decency and commitment to the U.S. without any appearance of superiority or bravado.

They were candid about the economy today when Warren says, “If you are not confused by what is going on today, you just don’t understand.”

When talking about the various companies Berkshire owns and his opinion of them he advises that, “If you expect perfection in your wife, your friends or your companies, you will be disappointed.”

On the subject of perfection my friend Skip Owen encouraged me to watch Jay Leno’s YouTube episode featuring the new Porsche 911 GT3. I have never seen Jay use the glowing adjectives he uses to describe this car.

BJ and I often discuss the concept of “need” versus “want” in our household, particularly when it comes to potential purchases for me or activities by me. I have assured her that this car falls into the category of “need” for Ned. “Whoo Lawdy!”

Thanks to all of you who ordered roses from the East Jefferson Rotary Club. You will see how much nicer it looks around here the afternoon of June 9.

Even Dick Durand, my nominee for “King of the Curmudgeons,” ordered a dozen.

Actually, Dick is one of my favorite people because when I started to play poker with a group of guys including him, for the first year I played he assured me that if I did not show up for a game he would send a car to pick me up.

I have never figured out whether he just enjoyed my sparkling personality or the money I lost.

Love a curmudgeon, get vaccinated and have a great week.

(Ned “Wild Card” Luce is a retired IBM executive and Port Ludlow resident. Reach Ned at ned@ptleader.com.)