Before Robb and I even decided to move to Washington, we determined that in our next home we would not pay for cable. One reason was to save a little bit of money. But more importantly, we thought it would be nice to break our addiction to television. I was tired of being tied down to the television, worrying about getting back in time to make a favorite TV show, choosing not to go out or exercise because something interesting (or more likely, addicting, stupid and pointless) was going to be on. I was tired of having the television on all the time, just for background noise. So we decided not to hook up our cable. We have hundreds of movies and dozens of television shows on DVD. So if we get bored we just pop in something we already own (and chances are, I haven't even watched yet.) If we want some news, we go to cnn.com.
But, now that the fall television shows are debuting, it's a little bittersweet to not watch them. And, I hate to admit it, but I miss local news. It's nice to turn on the TV and see what's happening in our community (even if the reporting is pathetic and laughable). So sometimes when I go to the gym at our apartment complex, I turn on the TV there and head straight for local news. I think it will be difficult to not watch the Superbowl so maybe we'll head to a bar that day. But really, I don't miss TV that much. And I think I'll miss it even less once I have a job and I'm not sitting around the house all day. I encourage others to consider breaking the addiction.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Grown-up Furniture
Last week our new bedroom furniture and mattress was delivered. Yup, we keep spending money while not making it! This is our last purchase for awhile. (This is a pic of our furniture; this is not our room, our furniture is a lot closer together in our tiny bedroom.) This is our first real 'grown-up' furniture; it feels really great to have furniture that will hopefully last us a lifetime. And the more I look at it, the more I love it. The dark brown wood is beautiful and the furniture "lines" are classic and non-frilly. We even have a TV stand for our bedroom, which seems really unusual, but is very convenient. And it's really nice to have a mattress that's not a hand-me-down. So yeah, for me, being grown-up doesn't mean that you're done with school or married or moving across country. It means buying coordinating grown-up furniture that is not from Target, Wal-Mart, or relatives!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Weekend in Virginia/Maryland
Since I am still unemployed, I was able to take a long weekend to go to my friend Christine's wedding in Virginia. To save money (and because he's not the biggest fan of weddings or flying) Robb stayed in Seattle this weekend and worked on the apartment; we are now officially done unpacking. Flying out of Seattle early Thursday morning was beautiful. It's the first time I've flown in the area and as we came out of the morning fog we were hit with spectacular views of the mountains including Mount Rainer and several other snow capped peaks. And when I eventually made it to Reagan National Airport (after many delays and missed connections due to bad weather) at 11:30 at night I saw the Capitol building and Washington Monument lit by spotlights.
I spent the weekend with my sister and her boyfriend in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is going to start an incredible new job at the Pentagon in a week, so she was in desperate need of professional clothes. I helped her pick out some amazing pieces and a beautiful suit on Friday. That evening Christine invited to me to join her and the bridesmaids at her beautifully renovated condo. I spent a couple of hours catching up with my college friends. On Saturday I met my good friend Michelle for lunch (at a vegetarian restaurant where I ate, and enjoyed, soy protein for the first time) and then joined Christine and the girls at the mall while they were getting their make-up finished. They were so nice to include me in the entire day, even though I wasn't a bridesmaid. So I helped transport them from place to place, took some lovely pictures, and then watched the beautiful wedding ceremony and observed a very happy couple at the gorgeous reception.
On Sunday I didn't have to catch my flight until the evening, so my sis, her boyfriend, and I spent the morning eating breakfast, playing Wii, and Scattergories. In the afternoon we headed to the Gaitherburg Festival (which was a lot better than Federal Way's Festival Days) and saw Sister Hazel play.
Now that I'm back in Washington State, I'm going to concentrate again on applying for jobs. Last week I had an interview for a Project Coordinator with a local nonprofit, which I think went fairly well. I should hear back next week from them. And I have an interview lined up for this upcoming Friday for a Management Analyst for the state of Washington. So, slowly but surely, I'm starting to have hope that I will be employed before October.
I spent the weekend with my sister and her boyfriend in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is going to start an incredible new job at the Pentagon in a week, so she was in desperate need of professional clothes. I helped her pick out some amazing pieces and a beautiful suit on Friday. That evening Christine invited to me to join her and the bridesmaids at her beautifully renovated condo. I spent a couple of hours catching up with my college friends. On Saturday I met my good friend Michelle for lunch (at a vegetarian restaurant where I ate, and enjoyed, soy protein for the first time) and then joined Christine and the girls at the mall while they were getting their make-up finished. They were so nice to include me in the entire day, even though I wasn't a bridesmaid. So I helped transport them from place to place, took some lovely pictures, and then watched the beautiful wedding ceremony and observed a very happy couple at the gorgeous reception.On Sunday I didn't have to catch my flight until the evening, so my sis, her boyfriend, and I spent the morning eating breakfast, playing Wii, and Scattergories. In the afternoon we headed to the Gaitherburg Festival (which was a lot better than Federal Way's Festival Days) and saw Sister Hazel play.
Now that I'm back in Washington State, I'm going to concentrate again on applying for jobs. Last week I had an interview for a Project Coordinator with a local nonprofit, which I think went fairly well. I should hear back next week from them. And I have an interview lined up for this upcoming Friday for a Management Analyst for the state of Washington. So, slowly but surely, I'm starting to have hope that I will be employed before October.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Unbelievably Weird Interview
Yesterday I went to one of the strangest interviews for the most bizarre organization I've ever seen. The company (I'll call it AS) is a sales company that sells giant tents to private companies, the military, etc. The CEO of AS is a very rich man and has a foundation; he is the only contributor to the foundation and the foundation's purpose is to reduce homelessness. The primary way they do this is enter countries that have had disasters and massive amounts of displacement and provide tents and money to help alleviate the problem. They're especially proud of their work in Pakistan after the earthquakes a few years ago. I applied for a job as a foundation assistant. I was grossly overqualified for the position. It sounded a bit like a secretary, but there were also key words in the job description that made it sound as some strategic planning and programming might be involved. So I applied and was excited to be called for an interview to at least learn more about the position.
Before the interview I first tried to research the foundation. There was no website and really no record of the foundation in a typical google search. I then decided to research the company AS. Their website didn't provide a lot of information and there wasn't much information about them. However, I came across a search engine for jobs that allowed for people to ask questions about companies and how to best interview for them. I found the blog/commentary for AS and read the 76 comments with amusement and a little incredulation. This company sounds insane. There was information about the CEO being rude and crazy (acting drunk during the interview process to see people's reactions), being required to work from 6am-4pm, and 6-12 on Saturdays, employees being required to sell products without knowing anything about the product, etc. So, I decided even before the interview that I would probably not work for this organization, but I'd still go to the interview for the practice and so that I could see if these comments were true.
I searched for the 990 forms for the foundation (the most basic tax forms that are required to be a nonprofit organization). 990's show the assets of the organization, who contributes to them, how much they spend money on, etc. The 990's showed that they only had about $800,000 worth of assets and donated about $20,000 in 2005. That's not really a large amount of money in the foundation world. So I decided I would ask them about this in the interview. I was hoping that they were wanting to grow the foundation and make it better, and that's why they were hiring a new position.
The interview was on Friday, originally scheduled for 8am, but the day before pushed to 7am. (Good to miss most of rush hour, but bad because this place is about an hour away from me.) I get to the AS offices and find that there are a total of 7 people being interviewed for various positions (sales, IT, etc.) at the same time. As we're waiting for the interview to start, we are handed a printout of the blog/comments that I had read in the previous days. We were then shown into a conference room and everything I read in the blog/comments comes true. Three interviewers sit on the other side of a conference table with their mac laptops open and do not introduce themselves. One of the other interviewee's asked for their names and they seemed to reluctantly give them to us. They then asked us one by one what we thought of the strange blog/comments we had read. Most people said that it was concerning, but they like to form their own opinions about the organization and don't take a lot of stock in the Internet comments. However, the interviewers kept asking if we had more questions about the blog and we must have concerns about what it says. At one point another AS man came into the interview and began explaining how the company worked. He said that they are so successful because they do the opposite of what every other sales company does. Their turnover rate is 96%. They want it to be at 99% because then that shows they weeded out the weaklings. The salespeople do not know anything about the products they are selling. They are supposed to be rude to the customers. It was obvious to me (after reading the blog/comments) that this man was the CEO of the company. However, at one point someone asked him who he was and he said he was just a salesman who had worked there for a few years. He didn't give out his name. He kept talking about how great the CEO was, what a wonderful businessman he was and how much he just wanted to help people. It was actually quite amusing.
I then asked about the foundation. I asked if they donated more than $20,000 in 2005, as their 990 said. They said that they gave away millions. I persisted and asked why it wasn't listed on their 990. They said they didn't know what a 990 was. After I explained it and it's importance, the CEO said that they don't waste time on paperwork because that means you're not spending time helping people. And it's especially stupid to waste time on government paperwork, because the government is terrible and doesn't really care about helping people at all. I later asked if the foundation had a strategic plan or goals and I got the same type of answer. Working on a strategic plan or writing out goals means you're not spending time getting into the nitty-gritty of helping people. To me, that implies that because I would be interested in filing the correct tax forms and consider working on a strategic plan, means that I don't truly care about helping people. At this point I was truly convinced that this foundation might even be a complete scam and a way for the CEO to get massive tax breaks.
Never during this interview did they ask us about our skills and our qualifications. They just talked about their organization and asked us to react to that. At the end of the interview we were told that after hearing about how different AS was,we needed to decide if we were still interested in working for them. If we were, then we would have to call back AS and set up another interview. I will not be calling them back. And I'm even contemplating reporting them to the IRS or something of the sort. At least the interview was entertaining.
On another note, I went to a temp agency the other day and hopefully I'll be getting called next week to do some temp work. I'm very proud of my typing score at above 70 words a minute!
(Well, alright, I was going to be discrete about this company, but I think they're so weird you have the right to know about them if you want. Here's the link to the blog/comments I was telling you about. They're obviously proud of themselves if they feel they can print out negative comments and tell the interviewees to read them. http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/Alaska-Structures/05390c183c137e1b77704503 )
Before the interview I first tried to research the foundation. There was no website and really no record of the foundation in a typical google search. I then decided to research the company AS. Their website didn't provide a lot of information and there wasn't much information about them. However, I came across a search engine for jobs that allowed for people to ask questions about companies and how to best interview for them. I found the blog/commentary for AS and read the 76 comments with amusement and a little incredulation. This company sounds insane. There was information about the CEO being rude and crazy (acting drunk during the interview process to see people's reactions), being required to work from 6am-4pm, and 6-12 on Saturdays, employees being required to sell products without knowing anything about the product, etc. So, I decided even before the interview that I would probably not work for this organization, but I'd still go to the interview for the practice and so that I could see if these comments were true.
I searched for the 990 forms for the foundation (the most basic tax forms that are required to be a nonprofit organization). 990's show the assets of the organization, who contributes to them, how much they spend money on, etc. The 990's showed that they only had about $800,000 worth of assets and donated about $20,000 in 2005. That's not really a large amount of money in the foundation world. So I decided I would ask them about this in the interview. I was hoping that they were wanting to grow the foundation and make it better, and that's why they were hiring a new position.
The interview was on Friday, originally scheduled for 8am, but the day before pushed to 7am. (Good to miss most of rush hour, but bad because this place is about an hour away from me.) I get to the AS offices and find that there are a total of 7 people being interviewed for various positions (sales, IT, etc.) at the same time. As we're waiting for the interview to start, we are handed a printout of the blog/comments that I had read in the previous days. We were then shown into a conference room and everything I read in the blog/comments comes true. Three interviewers sit on the other side of a conference table with their mac laptops open and do not introduce themselves. One of the other interviewee's asked for their names and they seemed to reluctantly give them to us. They then asked us one by one what we thought of the strange blog/comments we had read. Most people said that it was concerning, but they like to form their own opinions about the organization and don't take a lot of stock in the Internet comments. However, the interviewers kept asking if we had more questions about the blog and we must have concerns about what it says. At one point another AS man came into the interview and began explaining how the company worked. He said that they are so successful because they do the opposite of what every other sales company does. Their turnover rate is 96%. They want it to be at 99% because then that shows they weeded out the weaklings. The salespeople do not know anything about the products they are selling. They are supposed to be rude to the customers. It was obvious to me (after reading the blog/comments) that this man was the CEO of the company. However, at one point someone asked him who he was and he said he was just a salesman who had worked there for a few years. He didn't give out his name. He kept talking about how great the CEO was, what a wonderful businessman he was and how much he just wanted to help people. It was actually quite amusing.
I then asked about the foundation. I asked if they donated more than $20,000 in 2005, as their 990 said. They said that they gave away millions. I persisted and asked why it wasn't listed on their 990. They said they didn't know what a 990 was. After I explained it and it's importance, the CEO said that they don't waste time on paperwork because that means you're not spending time helping people. And it's especially stupid to waste time on government paperwork, because the government is terrible and doesn't really care about helping people at all. I later asked if the foundation had a strategic plan or goals and I got the same type of answer. Working on a strategic plan or writing out goals means you're not spending time getting into the nitty-gritty of helping people. To me, that implies that because I would be interested in filing the correct tax forms and consider working on a strategic plan, means that I don't truly care about helping people. At this point I was truly convinced that this foundation might even be a complete scam and a way for the CEO to get massive tax breaks.
Never during this interview did they ask us about our skills and our qualifications. They just talked about their organization and asked us to react to that. At the end of the interview we were told that after hearing about how different AS was,we needed to decide if we were still interested in working for them. If we were, then we would have to call back AS and set up another interview. I will not be calling them back. And I'm even contemplating reporting them to the IRS or something of the sort. At least the interview was entertaining.
On another note, I went to a temp agency the other day and hopefully I'll be getting called next week to do some temp work. I'm very proud of my typing score at above 70 words a minute!
(Well, alright, I was going to be discrete about this company, but I think they're so weird you have the right to know about them if you want. Here's the link to the blog/comments I was telling you about. They're obviously proud of themselves if they feel they can print out negative comments and tell the interviewees to read them. http://www.indeed.com/forum/cmp/Alaska-Structures/05390c183c137e1b77704503 )
Friday, August 31, 2007
Mt. Rainer - Skyline Trail
Yesterday we went on one of the most spectacular hikes I've ever been on. Skyline Trail is in a section of Mt. Rainer park called Paradise. After driving 2 hours to get to the trail head, we reached the 5.2 mile loop. It ascended 1500 feet in the first 2 miles and is considered a moderate level hike. We were literally right next to Mt. Rainer. Many hikers who summit Mt. Rainer use this trail to begin their climb. We passed many of these hikers and their huge backpacks of gear going both up and down. We saw pheasants, chipmunks, marmots, and deer. We hiked above the treeline to see uninterrupted views of the mountains and alpine meadows. At the end of our hike was a beautiful little waterfall with Rainer in the backdrop. (Special note, if you plan to hike this high up and above the treeline, don't forget sunscreen. I now have a very red farmer's tan.) I've posted tons of pictures below, but really you should just plan on visiting me next summer so that I can take you there personally.
Deer at the beginning of our hike
The ice flow coming down behind us is Nisqually Glacier.
Deer at the beginning of our hike 
Mt. Rainer at the beginning of our hike.
Mt. Rainer at the beginning of our hike.
The ice flow coming down behind us is Nisqually Glacier. Marmot sunning on the rocks.
Me and Mt. Rainer near the top of our hike.
Mt. Rainer (notice again the glacier).
Mt. Rainer as we are coming down the mountain, notice the terrain changing.
Alpine Meadows
Alpine Stream
This bench is a monument to the men who first made a successful summit of Mt. Rainer.
Myrtle Falls
This is a view of Mt. Rainer towards the end of our hike.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Job Hunting Woes
For those that are interested, I have been applying for jobs. I think I'm averaging about 10 job applications a week. Granted, since moving here I've only been doing this hardcore for a week and a half. (I applied for several jobs before I moved here, but had little luck. Whether or not it's the reason, I choose to blame the Florida address.) But I've been applying mostly for jobs with local nonprofits and the state of Washington. Most of the jobs for the state of Washington are based in/around Olympia, which is an hour commute, but these jobs just sound too good to pass up. I continue to look at the cities and counties around here for local government positions, but haven't found much that I can apply for (or would want to apply for). Need a program director, development assistant, or management analyst...I'm your girl.
On a related note, if you're ever in a position to hire people, for the good of humanity and just to be a professional person, please acknowledge when you receive a resume. I know that these organizations are probably receiving dozens or hundreds of applications, but it would be nice to know if my email was received and not sent into the Internet void or junk mail box. At the end of every day you could send a mass email to those people who you've received resumes from to let them know that theirs got in. Just be courteous and think about all those people who took the time to write great cover letters and resumes.
Starting next week I plan to look into temp agencies. I'm getting antsy sitting at home (or spending money touring the Puget Sound area) and not working/making at least some money. So while I continue on the career hunt, it'd be nice to have a temporary job.
On a related note, if you're ever in a position to hire people, for the good of humanity and just to be a professional person, please acknowledge when you receive a resume. I know that these organizations are probably receiving dozens or hundreds of applications, but it would be nice to know if my email was received and not sent into the Internet void or junk mail box. At the end of every day you could send a mass email to those people who you've received resumes from to let them know that theirs got in. Just be courteous and think about all those people who took the time to write great cover letters and resumes.
Starting next week I plan to look into temp agencies. I'm getting antsy sitting at home (or spending money touring the Puget Sound area) and not working/making at least some money. So while I continue on the career hunt, it'd be nice to have a temporary job.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Ballard Exploration
On Saturday we decided to stick around Federal Way for the Federal Way Festival Days. The town closed down one of the main roads for a parade, festival rides were set up in the mall parking lot, and booths of food were set up. It was one of the most pathetic festivals I've ever seen. So to make up for out terrible local disappointment, we decided to head to Ballard on Sunday for a day of exploration.
Ballard is a neighborhood in Seattle that seems to have a little bit of everything. After spending the day there, it is one of my favorite places so far. We started our day at the Farmer's Market, which we first visited last weekend. (Well on our way to Ballard we tried going to Red Mill Burgers to get some amazing onion rings, but they don't open until 12 on Sunday and we were there at 11:15. So no onion rings this week. It's interesting to know that I will never be able to eat onion rings anywhere else again. If I do I'll be so disappointed!) So we bought some veggies for the week at the farmer's market (Farmer's Market pictured below) and stepped into a couple of local boutiques. We went to the Chai House to get some chai tea. I've been on a mission to find the best chai, since I don't like coffee. It's a really cool looking place, and while Robb liked his chai, I wasn't a huge fan of mine.
We ate lunch at Hi-Life. I think it's known for it's breakfast and wood-fired pizza. However, I got a tostada and Robb got a chicken sandwich. My tostada was wonderful. Robb's sandwich was horrible. However, we will go back at some point and try the breakfast and/or pizza. The restaurant was very busy and the breakfast platters did look delicious.
After lunch we walked down Market Street, popping into local shops; but out true destination was Archie McPhee's (http://www.mcphee.com/). When researching what to do in Ballard I came across this store and thought it sounded perfect for Robb. Little did I know that since he was a kid, Robb has been ordering toys from Archie McPhee's. When I told him where we were going, he was very excited. This store has the weirdest items: boxing nuns, bacon flavored candy, librarian action figures, pink flamingos, etc. Robb resisted buying the kitsch crap and just looked around in childhood glee.
Next we headed further down the street to visit Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. The locks allow boats to pass from Lake Washington into Puget Sound (think of the Panama Canal when imagining locks.) We took a free tour and learned a lot about how to keep the salt water and fresh water from really mixing, saw the water levels rise and fall as boats passed through, and most interestingly, saw migrating salmon. This is the season when salmon go back to their breeding grounds in fresh water after spending years in the ocean. We saw salmon jumping over the steps in the lock and fighting against the current. I'm not going to bore you with everything I know about salmon now, but, believe it or not the whole process is fascinating.
After that we headed back to the car, stopping at Cupcake Royale to try the yummy cupcakes. We then drove a few miles to Golden Gardens Park. This Ballard park has a beach with beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains (although cloudy yesterday, you could still just make them out) and Puget Sound. It was already early evening, but the park was crowded, but still felt intimate. We sat on the beach and looked at the water and mountains. Have I mentioned how much I love it here yet?
Ballard is a neighborhood in Seattle that seems to have a little bit of everything. After spending the day there, it is one of my favorite places so far. We started our day at the Farmer's Market, which we first visited last weekend. (Well on our way to Ballard we tried going to Red Mill Burgers to get some amazing onion rings, but they don't open until 12 on Sunday and we were there at 11:15. So no onion rings this week. It's interesting to know that I will never be able to eat onion rings anywhere else again. If I do I'll be so disappointed!) So we bought some veggies for the week at the farmer's market (Farmer's Market pictured below) and stepped into a couple of local boutiques. We went to the Chai House to get some chai tea. I've been on a mission to find the best chai, since I don't like coffee. It's a really cool looking place, and while Robb liked his chai, I wasn't a huge fan of mine.
We ate lunch at Hi-Life. I think it's known for it's breakfast and wood-fired pizza. However, I got a tostada and Robb got a chicken sandwich. My tostada was wonderful. Robb's sandwich was horrible. However, we will go back at some point and try the breakfast and/or pizza. The restaurant was very busy and the breakfast platters did look delicious.After lunch we walked down Market Street, popping into local shops; but out true destination was Archie McPhee's (http://www.mcphee.com/). When researching what to do in Ballard I came across this store and thought it sounded perfect for Robb. Little did I know that since he was a kid, Robb has been ordering toys from Archie McPhee's. When I told him where we were going, he was very excited. This store has the weirdest items: boxing nuns, bacon flavored candy, librarian action figures, pink flamingos, etc. Robb resisted buying the kitsch crap and just looked around in childhood glee.
Next we headed further down the street to visit Hiram M. Chittenden Locks. The locks allow boats to pass from Lake Washington into Puget Sound (think of the Panama Canal when imagining locks.) We took a free tour and learned a lot about how to keep the salt water and fresh water from really mixing, saw the water levels rise and fall as boats passed through, and most interestingly, saw migrating salmon. This is the season when salmon go back to their breeding grounds in fresh water after spending years in the ocean. We saw salmon jumping over the steps in the lock and fighting against the current. I'm not going to bore you with everything I know about salmon now, but, believe it or not the whole process is fascinating.After that we headed back to the car, stopping at Cupcake Royale to try the yummy cupcakes. We then drove a few miles to Golden Gardens Park. This Ballard park has a beach with beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains (although cloudy yesterday, you could still just make them out) and Puget Sound. It was already early evening, but the park was crowded, but still felt intimate. We sat on the beach and looked at the water and mountains. Have I mentioned how much I love it here yet?
Mt. Rainer - Carbon River Entrance
On Thursday Robb and I set out to Mt. Rainer to hike Skyline Trail. Our Hiking Mt. Rainer book said Skyline Trail would have a beautiful view of Mt. Rainer, glaciers, a waterfall, hiking above the treeline, and a good chance of seeing deer. I decided to drive and pointed out our directions to Robb so he could navigate. Well after driving for a couple of hours I really felt that we should have arrived. I asked Robb what was going on and it came out that we were looking at two different set of directions. We were a good couple of hours away from where we should've been and it was already early afternoon, so we decided to head to the Carbon River Park Entrance, which we were fairly close to and the entrance we went to last time we hiked with my Dad.
The Carbon River Entrance is closed to cars right now because of massive flash flooding in November 2006. We decided to park outside the entrance and walk through the area to see the flood damage. When we first started walking along the road we saw a few potholes in the paved road, but nothing special. I told Robb if they closed the road because of a few large potholes, that would be pretty pathetic. We took some pictures of the trees. It's a little scary to hear the creaking of the trees as they sway in the wind in the quiet of the forest. The creaking is sometimes so loud it sounds like someone is taking a small chainsaw to the forest. Below Robb is pictured sitting between a couple to give you an idea of their size. They go quite a bit higher than where the picture stops too. 
Then we finally came across the real flood damage. The road was completely gone. A little walking pathway was created by the park rangers alongside where the road used to be. It was hard to decide if the former road was actually a road, there were tons of river rocks, broken trees, giant gashes, etc. No road was left. Below you see the rocks on the left. That used to be where some of the road was. To the right of me is an uprooted tree. That's right, that's a tree trunk/root system. I'm 5'5'' for those that don't know. Obviously the flood damage was pretty impressive. 
I've never really seen what flash flooding can do before. Even though we didn't make it to Skyline Trail (we will be trying again for that this upcoming week) this hike was very worth the trip.
The Carbon River Entrance is closed to cars right now because of massive flash flooding in November 2006. We decided to park outside the entrance and walk through the area to see the flood damage. When we first started walking along the road we saw a few potholes in the paved road, but nothing special. I told Robb if they closed the road because of a few large potholes, that would be pretty pathetic. We took some pictures of the trees. It's a little scary to hear the creaking of the trees as they sway in the wind in the quiet of the forest. The creaking is sometimes so loud it sounds like someone is taking a small chainsaw to the forest. Below Robb is pictured sitting between a couple to give you an idea of their size. They go quite a bit higher than where the picture stops too. Then we finally came across the real flood damage. The road was completely gone. A little walking pathway was created by the park rangers alongside where the road used to be. It was hard to decide if the former road was actually a road, there were tons of river rocks, broken trees, giant gashes, etc. No road was left. Below you see the rocks on the left. That used to be where some of the road was. To the right of me is an uprooted tree. That's right, that's a tree trunk/root system. I'm 5'5'' for those that don't know. Obviously the flood damage was pretty impressive. I've never really seen what flash flooding can do before. Even though we didn't make it to Skyline Trail (we will be trying again for that this upcoming week) this hike was very worth the trip.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Weather And Flannel Sheets
I finally get to use my flannel sheets. I love flannel sheets and piles of blankets. Robb did not appreciate the flannel sheets in Florida (I suppose with good reason), but I finally get to use them here and it's not even winter yet! Keeping the windows open at night, with temperatures dipping into the low 50s means lots of blankets and snuggling.
The highs have been in the 60s and 70s lately. Tomorrow the high is supposed to get up to 78, a positive heat wave. A couple of weeks before I arrived in Washington the temps. got up to the 80s and it was an honest-to-goodness heat wave here. People are still talking about it. It has rained a few times, but nothing extraordinarily Seattle-like yet. When it does rain, it rains during the night and the mornings and usually tapers off by the afternoon to become real sunny.
I do NOT miss the Florida heat, maybe I will when my tan goes away. But I LIKE wearing jeans and long sleeve t-shirts. I LIKE snuggling under the blankets. And I definitely LIKE being able to step outside and not immediately start sweating.
I will resist using my electric blanket until the winter. And we haven't tried out the fireplace yet. After all, we don't want our neighbors to think we're crazy.
The highs have been in the 60s and 70s lately. Tomorrow the high is supposed to get up to 78, a positive heat wave. A couple of weeks before I arrived in Washington the temps. got up to the 80s and it was an honest-to-goodness heat wave here. People are still talking about it. It has rained a few times, but nothing extraordinarily Seattle-like yet. When it does rain, it rains during the night and the mornings and usually tapers off by the afternoon to become real sunny.
I do NOT miss the Florida heat, maybe I will when my tan goes away. But I LIKE wearing jeans and long sleeve t-shirts. I LIKE snuggling under the blankets. And I definitely LIKE being able to step outside and not immediately start sweating.
I will resist using my electric blanket until the winter. And we haven't tried out the fireplace yet. After all, we don't want our neighbors to think we're crazy.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Seattle Neighborhood Tour
For all intents and purposes we are done unpacking. A few odds and ends need to be put away in the office, but it's going to take some time to finish that up. We chose not to bring our desk from Florida, so we have a lot of those desk drawer items lying around the room in piles. We intend to buy some real bedroom furniture by the end of September, so some of our mismatched dressers will be transfered to the office in the fall.
So on Sunday we celebrated our unpacking accomplishments by going into Seattle to check out a farmer's market and some of Robb's favorite foods he tried while I was still in Florida. The high that day was about 65 and was supposed to rain most of the day. We were very disappointed that by the time we got to Seattle it had stopped raining. Both of us have new raincoats and have been looking forward to trying them out. I'm sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for us to break in our raincoats. It just wasn't yesterday.
First we went to the Ballard neighborhood to catch the farmer's marker where we bought some beautiful vegetables and a tomato plant. We didn't spend a lot of time in Ballard because we were hungry and wanted to get lunch, but we'll go back soon to check out some of the local restaurants and shops. After Ballard we went to the Phinney Ridge neighborhood to eat at Red Mill Burgers (http://www.redmillburgers.com/). This little restaurant is considered one of the best places to get a burger in Seattle. Robb promised that the burgers would be good and the onion rings even better. So we shared a burger and an order of onion rings (we planned on eating at several places that day). Burger...pretty good. Onion rings...heaven on earth. I swear they were the best onion rings I've ever had and I cannot explain why. It's a good thing that Seattle is so far away from us, or else I'd be eating there every day.
After resisting ordering a second batch of onion rings we headed to the Fremont neighborhood for another farmer's market. This farmer's market was more of a flea market and was not quite as impressive as Ballard's vegetable and fruit stands. But we walked around Fremont to check out cute little independent shops (they've got some great record stores, art stores, various knick-knacks, etc.) I was really looking forward to eating at Yak's to try a hum-bow (or something of the sort.) Robb says it's like an egg roll but in a more pastry-like form. Unfortunately we found out they were closed on Sundays. We then headed to the Greenwood neighborhood and ate some tapas at Olive You, a little Greek joint. We tried some stuffed mushrooms (good, but not $7+ good) and spanakopita (wonderful!) At this point it was pretty late in the day and we decided to head back to Federal Way.
We decided to cap off our day of eating at a local restaurant in town called La Casa Bella. We are always on the hunt for good local restaurants, and Federal Way tends to be lacking in that department. But Casa Bella looks like it may be a winner. While I thought my pasta was a little boring, Robb had a beautiful seafood saffron ravioli. It was one of the most interesting and well done pasta dishes that we've tasted in a long time. And the prices were reasonable. We look forward to going back and trying more local deliciousness.
I suppose we should get jobs so we can support our eating habits.
So on Sunday we celebrated our unpacking accomplishments by going into Seattle to check out a farmer's market and some of Robb's favorite foods he tried while I was still in Florida. The high that day was about 65 and was supposed to rain most of the day. We were very disappointed that by the time we got to Seattle it had stopped raining. Both of us have new raincoats and have been looking forward to trying them out. I'm sure that there will be plenty of opportunities for us to break in our raincoats. It just wasn't yesterday.
First we went to the Ballard neighborhood to catch the farmer's marker where we bought some beautiful vegetables and a tomato plant. We didn't spend a lot of time in Ballard because we were hungry and wanted to get lunch, but we'll go back soon to check out some of the local restaurants and shops. After Ballard we went to the Phinney Ridge neighborhood to eat at Red Mill Burgers (http://www.redmillburgers.com/). This little restaurant is considered one of the best places to get a burger in Seattle. Robb promised that the burgers would be good and the onion rings even better. So we shared a burger and an order of onion rings (we planned on eating at several places that day). Burger...pretty good. Onion rings...heaven on earth. I swear they were the best onion rings I've ever had and I cannot explain why. It's a good thing that Seattle is so far away from us, or else I'd be eating there every day.
After resisting ordering a second batch of onion rings we headed to the Fremont neighborhood for another farmer's market. This farmer's market was more of a flea market and was not quite as impressive as Ballard's vegetable and fruit stands. But we walked around Fremont to check out cute little independent shops (they've got some great record stores, art stores, various knick-knacks, etc.) I was really looking forward to eating at Yak's to try a hum-bow (or something of the sort.) Robb says it's like an egg roll but in a more pastry-like form. Unfortunately we found out they were closed on Sundays. We then headed to the Greenwood neighborhood and ate some tapas at Olive You, a little Greek joint. We tried some stuffed mushrooms (good, but not $7+ good) and spanakopita (wonderful!) At this point it was pretty late in the day and we decided to head back to Federal Way.
We decided to cap off our day of eating at a local restaurant in town called La Casa Bella. We are always on the hunt for good local restaurants, and Federal Way tends to be lacking in that department. But Casa Bella looks like it may be a winner. While I thought my pasta was a little boring, Robb had a beautiful seafood saffron ravioli. It was one of the most interesting and well done pasta dishes that we've tasted in a long time. And the prices were reasonable. We look forward to going back and trying more local deliciousness.
I suppose we should get jobs so we can support our eating habits.
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