It is interesting not having to drive anywhere.
I wake up, shower, breakfast, then it's a short 10 min walk to work.
At lunch I walk another 5-10 min to a different part of town, grab a sandwich or burrito and head back to work.
After work, walk home, cook dinner, then Allison and I walk to run errands - grocery store, or to try out one of the dozen coffee shops around us.
Weekends we've been figuring out the bus system to get to other parts of the city. 10 min to Uwajimaya market and Pioneer Square, 10 min to Fremont and this tasty organic coffee/bakery place, a 15 min walk and 30 mins on the ferry to get to Bainbridge Island and a bunch of other stuff.
However sometimes the car has a purpose
In order to get way out into the suburbs last night we rented a car - $30 for a day, well, 6 hours of running to Ikea so that Allison can put her clothes in a 'normal' dresser instead of baskets on shelves in the closet, and then way north to pick up a great deal on a bicycle.
Ever how convenient it was to use a car instead of the bus, it appears to be rare that we'll actually need it. I'm wondering now what the cost of owning a car (even one fully paid for and cheap insurance) is compared to renting, and if it is worth it.
This is a foreign idea for someone that finds the engineering that goes into certain cars as fascinating and who likes to drive. However in this city, it does work to live mostly car free.
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In other news - all this talk of the rainy season has been just that thus far - today it's sunny and in the high 50's - perfect fall day in my opinion.
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Also in other news - after trying out 3 different types of bike and finding them ill suited to my purposes, I've come full circle back to a basic Trek mountain bike. They're simple, durable, and comfortable, not to mention affordable new and exceptionally cheap used.
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Finally- the parents and grandparents are visiting this weekend - should be fun.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Thursday, October 25, 2007
boo
So the local cable internet provider blocks incoming port 80 requests. Bastards.
Time to get nerdy and think of another way to serve content to my friends/ family.
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In other news - still finding lots of good stuff to eat in this city.
The current good things are almond cookies from Nielsen's Danish Bakery and the locally grown pears and apple cider available at the Metropolitan Market.
We're also out of Chukar cherries - I need a constant supply of those things.
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Pics of the apartment are here: Facebook link.
I'll add pics of the scenery along the daily commute and office tomorrow in the same folder.
Time to get nerdy and think of another way to serve content to my friends/ family.
----------------------------------
In other news - still finding lots of good stuff to eat in this city.
The current good things are almond cookies from Nielsen's Danish Bakery and the locally grown pears and apple cider available at the Metropolitan Market.
We're also out of Chukar cherries - I need a constant supply of those things.
----------------------------------
Pics of the apartment are here: Facebook link.
I'll add pics of the scenery along the daily commute and office tomorrow in the same folder.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Um, I should be able to figure this out
maslows.net appears to be inaccessible to the outside world - as such the pictures that were in my last post probably did not show up.
I'm not sure if this is a routing issue or an issue with the ISP port limiting/filtering.
will update as I fix it.
I'm not sure if this is a routing issue or an issue with the ISP port limiting/filtering.
will update as I fix it.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Back online, after lots of happenings.
Wow, it has been a while. What's happened?
0) The Miata was sold to a car nerd in Greensboro. I'll miss it - cheap, lots of fun, proper driver's car. And with the hard top it looks pretty damn good imo (pic taken right after we delivered it to the guy).
1) The modernist barn. It is now empty. And will be up for sale shortly. At least I finished the bathroom, a week before leaving. It looked and worked great, imo - classy modern. Here are a couple of pics where everything was finished except the small piece of trim on the floor edge. The Kohler faucets are definitely worth the extra money over more standard bits - smooth operation and laminar flow design - made by engineers, for engineers, the way I see it.
2) The drive. This is a big country. With lots of nothingness in the middle of it. Ok, lots of nothingness between St. Louis and Seattle. A few highlights:
NC: leaving it behind.
TN: took a 15 mile detour through the Oak Ridge grounds - I guess it is fitting that facility is in the middle of nowhere given the work that goes on there.
KY: Still a surprisingly beautiful state - rolling hills, vibrant and green.
IL: Well, southern Illinois is pretty much nothingness - lots of farm land.
MO: St Louis - the southernmost Midwestern city - it has that immigrant character missing from lots of newer cities. We stayed at a hotel in the Italian district, walked a few blocks to great dinner at an Italian/Spanish cafe (Chorizo/Red Onion Pizza), then picked up some of the best donuts I've ever tasted in the morning. World's Fair donuts were a little bit heavier on the glaze (about one tenth the Krispy Kreme amount) but had sweeter frosting. My preference was for Donut Drive In however. Very light glazing, soft and cakey center, perfect amount of frosting to complement it. I could live in that neighborhood, though I'd probably not live as long.
Kansas City- best radio stations of the trip - some independent station tied to a University there entertained on the way into town - interesting mix, which transitioned to a Reggae station as we were leaving town.
KS: I was surprised that there were hills, for the first 3 hours. Then it was exceptionally flat for another 3 hours. Not much there to miss.
CO: We didn't give this state a fair chance. We arrived late in the night, and left early in the morning. The high plains were dark and boring, but the stars were bright at least. Leaving the sprawl of Denver in the early morning, with the Rockies in the distance, was less than enthralling as well.
WY: The route basically dealt with the Rocky Mountains by driving around them, as such we spent many hours in the high plains and hills of Wyoming. This was very beige and boring, as there is approximately nothing for 7 hours. The town of Green River, WY was neat though. It's in the southwestern part of the state, with towering buttes above the downtown area, and green! due to the river. Very pretty place imo.
UT: More mountain passes and high plains - more scenic as the road followed a river through the northern part of the state. No real cities to speak of.
ID: Flat, flat, and more flat. The road essentially split two mountain ranges, which made for interesting scenery to the sides of the truck, but nothing in front:
This continued for 6 or 7 hours.
Boise was a nice and quiet town. Nothing much to say about it.
WA: Grape Vines/Wineries! Rivers! Mountains! Scenic Valleys! After the sheer boredom of the previous two days it was awe inspiring to drive through this state. Lots to see, lots to explore. The mountains a half hour outside Seattle are stunning to say the least. Steep cliffs covered in tall pine trees, the clouds filtering up through the mountain passes. I'll have to go back and take pics.
On to the apartment, it's nice, everything you could ever want is within walking distance, or internet ordering distance. Check the view from the patio/garden on top of the parking deck:
0) The Miata was sold to a car nerd in Greensboro. I'll miss it - cheap, lots of fun, proper driver's car. And with the hard top it looks pretty damn good imo (pic taken right after we delivered it to the guy).
1) The modernist barn. It is now empty. And will be up for sale shortly. At least I finished the bathroom, a week before leaving. It looked and worked great, imo - classy modern. Here are a couple of pics where everything was finished except the small piece of trim on the floor edge. The Kohler faucets are definitely worth the extra money over more standard bits - smooth operation and laminar flow design - made by engineers, for engineers, the way I see it.
2) The drive. This is a big country. With lots of nothingness in the middle of it. Ok, lots of nothingness between St. Louis and Seattle. A few highlights:
NC: leaving it behind.
TN: took a 15 mile detour through the Oak Ridge grounds - I guess it is fitting that facility is in the middle of nowhere given the work that goes on there.
KY: Still a surprisingly beautiful state - rolling hills, vibrant and green.
IL: Well, southern Illinois is pretty much nothingness - lots of farm land.
MO: St Louis - the southernmost Midwestern city - it has that immigrant character missing from lots of newer cities. We stayed at a hotel in the Italian district, walked a few blocks to great dinner at an Italian/Spanish cafe (Chorizo/Red Onion Pizza), then picked up some of the best donuts I've ever tasted in the morning. World's Fair donuts were a little bit heavier on the glaze (about one tenth the Krispy Kreme amount) but had sweeter frosting. My preference was for Donut Drive In however. Very light glazing, soft and cakey center, perfect amount of frosting to complement it. I could live in that neighborhood, though I'd probably not live as long.
Kansas City- best radio stations of the trip - some independent station tied to a University there entertained on the way into town - interesting mix, which transitioned to a Reggae station as we were leaving town.
KS: I was surprised that there were hills, for the first 3 hours. Then it was exceptionally flat for another 3 hours. Not much there to miss.
CO: We didn't give this state a fair chance. We arrived late in the night, and left early in the morning. The high plains were dark and boring, but the stars were bright at least. Leaving the sprawl of Denver in the early morning, with the Rockies in the distance, was less than enthralling as well.
WY: The route basically dealt with the Rocky Mountains by driving around them, as such we spent many hours in the high plains and hills of Wyoming. This was very beige and boring, as there is approximately nothing for 7 hours. The town of Green River, WY was neat though. It's in the southwestern part of the state, with towering buttes above the downtown area, and green! due to the river. Very pretty place imo.
UT: More mountain passes and high plains - more scenic as the road followed a river through the northern part of the state. No real cities to speak of.
ID: Flat, flat, and more flat. The road essentially split two mountain ranges, which made for interesting scenery to the sides of the truck, but nothing in front:
This continued for 6 or 7 hours.
Boise was a nice and quiet town. Nothing much to say about it.
WA: Grape Vines/Wineries! Rivers! Mountains! Scenic Valleys! After the sheer boredom of the previous two days it was awe inspiring to drive through this state. Lots to see, lots to explore. The mountains a half hour outside Seattle are stunning to say the least. Steep cliffs covered in tall pine trees, the clouds filtering up through the mountain passes. I'll have to go back and take pics.
On to the apartment, it's nice, everything you could ever want is within walking distance, or internet ordering distance. Check the view from the patio/garden on top of the parking deck:
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Where does it all come from?!
An entire SUV load of stuff to Goodwill, and about a dozen bags of stuff thrown away, and most of the furniture sold, and there are still tons of boxes here. Stuff just accumulates. Need to fix that in the future.
Picking up the truck tomorrow morning, then loading, and the rest of the week is driving. I'll post daily updates from the iphone though.
Auf wieder sehen NC.It's been fun. Thanks for the cheap and appreciating real estate. I used this city for an entry level job. Eh, I'll be back for Christmas.
Picking up the truck tomorrow morning, then loading, and the rest of the week is driving. I'll post daily updates from the iphone though.
Auf wieder sehen NC.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Too much stuff
After many variations on having multiple computers, I am once again down to only one computer in the house, with only a few parts laying around. This is a positive development.
Also, I sold the lawn mower today, and hope that I will never own another one.
Still need to divest much furniture, and one more car.
What do I really need - clothes, books, music, a computer, a chair to sit on, a bed to sleep in, some cooking stuff. Having a house has caused me to lose simplicity.
It's along the same lines of the camping gear dilemma - don't use a larger backpack, you'll just carry more stuff. Which slows you down. I need to get back to the philosophy of when I carried a hammock and mylar blanket to go hiking for a week in the summer. There is a certain level of what is really needed, stuff wise.
It's really easy to get out of focus.
Also, I sold the lawn mower today, and hope that I will never own another one.
Still need to divest much furniture, and one more car.
What do I really need - clothes, books, music, a computer, a chair to sit on, a bed to sleep in, some cooking stuff. Having a house has caused me to lose simplicity.
It's along the same lines of the camping gear dilemma - don't use a larger backpack, you'll just carry more stuff. Which slows you down. I need to get back to the philosophy of when I carried a hammock and mylar blanket to go hiking for a week in the summer. There is a certain level of what is really needed, stuff wise.
It's really easy to get out of focus.
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