Vacation?

I need to learn not to fly anywhere on vacations - there are too many sick people that are just so happy to transfer their hacking cough to everyone within 5 rows of their seat on the plane.

And to make the experience more enjoyable is the inevitable 2 year old that will not stop screaming at a level that drowns out generally loud music from in-ear earphones.

So after I got to Wisconsin, I spent a day carrying around a box of Kleenex, then another day drugged up, then another two days finishing up the box of Kleenex as well as randomly coughing.

At least Allison was able to experience some of the small town Wisconsin lifestyle.

It snowed. And wasn't too cold - so we were able to walk around in the snow - and there was a full moon, so the shadows of the leafless trees on the snow were rather pretty as well.

We also were able to walk out on a frozen lake, and head up north to the formerly Norwegian area to see Green Bay, Sturgeon Bay and the snowy state parks up there.

And had Kopps frozen custard (yes, they still have lines when it is under 20 degrees outside - it's that good) on a snowy day.

Generally a good trip - perhaps I'll not have a cold next time we go there.

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Due to said cold and my east coast schedule, I slept through new years.

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Four matching new tires work wonders for a car's ride and handling.

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Sound Tribe Sector 9 concert coming up in a couple weeks - looking forward to that

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Things to do this year: get back to an MBA program and finish the degree... sell the house... lose the last 10 pounds I want to lose...

Upcoming vacation

Wow - sun - that has become somewhat rare here in the last couple weeks!

Cloudy is generally fine with me though - it feels like winter at least - and everything's still green - so it's not like there's the winter 'dead season' like in NC.

Allison and I are headed to Wisconsin to meet my family for Christmas - it looks like temperatures there will be moderate - highs near 30, lows in the upper teens. I was kinda hoping for single digits :-p The warmer weather means good odds of snow at least. The really cold air is typically very dry as well.

Last weekend we took the 'new' car out to the foothills east of the city - absolutely stunning scenery from sweeping twisty roads - followed by green tea frozen yogurt at Red Mango (yes, it's in a huge suburban mall). The Merc is definitely no Porsche, but it provides good feedback, and the engine goes from silent to muted-roar when called upon. Hopefully it will be easy to live with in the longer term.

Thinking ahead to the next vacation - odds are that will be to NC at the end of May for my brother's wedding.

However I'm already figuring out a way to get to the other side of the Pacific for a couple weeks. Still undecided on Japan, Hong Kong, Australia or New Zealand. Japan seems to be the most easily accessible, as it is only a 10 hour flight. Australia is 18 hours - that is near insane. I was looking forward to being closer to that half of the world from here, but it's still rather far away.

Well that was quick.

Didn't really mean to jump back into car ownership so quickly, but I found another exceptionally mint old Mercedes and took the jump.

This one is half as old as the previous Merc (1995 vs. 1980) and is powered by gas instead of diesel, so that it will actually start in the winter. Otherwise it's pretty similar: imperial ride quality, quiet, understated and well cared for appearance, 4 comfy seats, entertaining rear wheel drive handling dynamics, lots of torque from 3L inline engines.

However the extra few grand over the older one brings modern electrics, antilock brakes, and effective HVAC - so hopefully it will not meet the same end as the old one (rain, old tires, pickup truck)

Barring any accidents this is it for a while. I've seen the world, car wise, and it's time to settle down.

Social stuff.

The Moore - a local theater a few blocks down from the apartment - celebrated it's 100th anniversary last night - and threw a great free party to celebrate - free food/drink from local businesses along with a completely random assemblage of entertainment, from jazz saxophone to opera to juggling to burlesque to a guy playing spoons with the end of the show being an audience sing along to 'Age of Aquarius' - and the ability to wander around an old theater at will. Great way to spend an evening.

The GTI sold. It ran exceptionally well and to the normal observer, looked fine, however I am a bit of a perfectionist, so I couldn't live with it. I'll find a car eventually, though it is somewhat nice to know that I don't really need one and can really evaluate what it will be used for and find the perfect replacement.

Other notes from the weekend - Allison and I walked around Capitol Hill - it's a bit the Myers Park of Seattle - some parts have aged more gracefully than others, but still there are many streets of grandiose old homes (though the activist groups in the city spray paint "Capitalist" on the sidewalk in front of the larger ones). In any case it would be a neat place to live - esp. due to Dilettante Chocolates. It's very much a small (eastern) European cafe - truffles and cakes, soups and sandwiches, excellent coffee.

Other things coming up: some graphic designy thing that Allison signed us up for, and a bit over a week from now, a Winter Solstice festival, followed by a week in Wisconsin.

switch

out with pc, in with mac - it's nice - vista was at least a bit annoying, and xp was old - too many patches to get it stable

Odds are I'll pick up a cheap storage computer and put linux on it, as the mini doesn't have expandable storage space, however considering I haven't played a game on a computer in a year or so, this seems like the way to go.

Rain!

Well, it has rained for 2 days in a row now, this must be that rainy season thing they're talking about. It's just kinda a persistent light rain - not really even enough for a heavy rain coat - the soft shell wool fabric seems to do well enough - just need a waterproof hat - still deciding between the alpine wool style and the OR Seattle Sombrero style.

At least when it is clear the mountains are now nearly uniformly white - neat change of scenery - snow levels were down to 1200ft overnight according to the weather - it doesn't seem like it will snow in the city - the Puget sound heat sink keeps temperatures above freezing it seems. The wind gets cold, so I could see ice being an issue, but I may have to drive a half hour to see snow this winter - or go skiing - for the first time in er 4 years now - that could be humorous.

I, consumer

While I did not attend the Macy's Holiday Parade (yes, they have one in Seattle as well as NYC) today, I did walk over to the Metropolitan Market and saw they had fresh small fir trees, in water no less. So I bought one and carried it home. On the way, a girl remarked 'one holiday to the next eh?' and I just laughed it off, but I should have explained, it's not that simple.

1) I'm not used to this idea of buying a tree without cutting it first - usually the first or second weekend of December the family, or later, Allison and I, would drive up to the mountains, find a tree, cut the tree, have a nice lunch at Our Daily Bread or Mellow Mushroom, get some candy from Mast general store, then head home. Which leads to...

2) I don't know what selection is like here - do fresh trees sell out and then you get brown dying trees, or is the fresh tree supply constantly replenished?

3) It's not like the tree will be an orgy of presents anyway - for one because it is about a meter and a half tall, the other because we'll be in Wisconsin for the week of Christmas, with family, who also cannot really give us presents, because we have to fly back. The actual holiday will be more about family and food, which is how it should be. We're mainly giving local foods as presents - to share some of the neat stuff that exists out here. And we'll probably get some Wisconsin made chocolates and Usinger's sausage in return.

4) The evergreen was just sorta adopted by Christmas anyway - it's a much older symbol of winter and the birth of the new year. From the Roman Saturnalia to the Yule celebrations of the Northern European peoples... it's just kinda what to put in your dwelling at this time of year, historically. There won't be little Disney or Biblical characters hanging from the tree or anything - just some lights, and a star on top.

In any case... I appeared to fulfill someone's stereotype, and even though it wasn't the case in reality, that annoyed me.

loose ends

yes, the new job, the new apartment, new city... all great.

too much NC baggage still remains though
- the car is still not fixed from the accident over a month and a half ago, and the insurance company is getting bitchy...
- the house is not sold... no offers... this is frustrating... want to lower the price just to get rid of it...
- I can't close my bb&t bank account remotely, even if it is empty

it's odd that i can become stressed in the new environment - everything is very good in day to day life, but just the time to deal with all of the crap that was left behind... takes a toll.

financially I have stabilized from the move though... minor victory... just need to get rid of the small remaining amount of student loans that I took out... if the house would ever sell I'll be back to zero debt of any kind status by the end of the year... this is a goal - then it's back to growing assets - a more comfortable place to be.

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oh - new to me music - two bands - the first one found painted on the side of a local record shop - Minus the Bear - apparently I'm late to the party and they're semi-popular - bought a couple albums (Highly Refined Pirates and Planet of Ice) - both are a similar mix - a couple tracks are too pop-ish, but each have 3-4 track sequences that have great flow and some really interesting sound.

the other one - Dungen - specifically the album Tio Batar - it's stoner rock - from a Swedish band - in Swedish - this is a match that actually does work - interesting    

Weekend with the relatives

Well, I think we have the whole taste of Seattle tour down for visiting friends and family.

Though it is easy in fall - the markets have all kinds of fresh apples and pears and cider and such.

The parents and grandparents seemed thoroughly impressed with the city and area. Between the market, wineries, the ferry over to Bainbridge Island, the view from Queen Anne and some history in the Pioneer Square area we definitely packed a lot of travel into 3 days.

In other news - the Vespa has been sold, and the GTI finally arrived from NC after being 'fixed' and 'shipped' after the accident. I put those in quotes because the bumper is not appended properly, the taillight is still cracked, and there's a huge scratch down the side from shipping. I'm hoping they'll give up and write me a check for the car at this point so I can move on.  It won't be titled here in any case - even if they make it look right the back of that car is decidedly bent. It will be traded in on anything else.

Current transportation includes shoes and bicycle, which are about all you need here.

The modernist barn is also on the market - hopefully that will sell in the next month or so - paying both rent and mortgage is a fair amount of outgoing money. I have mixed feelings about giving up on that so soon - it was a neat place, though something in my mind rejected the house in the suburbs lifestyle.

A new routine

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.