Busy Week, Dust Storm Subsides...finally
More of a catch-up posting than anything
specific, although I did discover a neat Port of Seattle park, took lots of
pictures, and have started a new feature which I call
"Overheard."
Wow, it's been such a busy week that I can hardly
remember what all I've done. Got Adam off to Washington in the early part of
the week. He arrived okay but his luggage apparently took a turn somewhere else
in Chicago. Southwest promised to find and deliver to Leif's townhouse in
Capitol Hill. That would be a good thing since the bag contained all Adam's
clothes for his summer stay in DC. Meanwhile, the very next day Leif left for
Minnesota to go on a Boundary Waters canoe camping trip for five days, leaving
Adam essentially on his own.
Since Adam is 20 and Leif is 27, I shouldn't have any real concerns about either of them. They've both proven they can master pretty much any random event thrown their way and they are both fairly substantially equipped with both common sense and intuitive sense. Still, as a parent, I have these lingering worries. I suppose that's the nature of being a parent. I can remember when my Mom expressed worry over some summertime jaunt I might have been planning and also remember thinking "now what's she worried about." And I was anywhere from 18 through 21 during those jaunts and felt pretty much like the master of my own fate. Of course logic never really dispelled any parent's worry and my own logic and remembrance of my own youth does little to dispell my concerns. However, I can actually hear Adam and Leif telling me to "get over it," so I will.
Then comes the house, next on my list of worries. The "mud" crew, the wet spackle guys, were brutal. Putting the stuff up, letting it dry, sanding it flat, filling in the spaces and making the corners square by filling in with more mud and letting that dry and then sanding it again. They were finally gone Thursday afternoon. They started Thursday a week ago. That means that for the past week, every day, we've had to endure yet another coating of fine white powder which has infused itself into every crevice in the front of the house. The back, the bedrooms and Katherine's office, we could seal off with doors. And, I'd just dusted our entire book library after the framers had gotten through with all their sawdust. Oh well, one could argue that this is only a "once in a great while" kind of thing and it will be worth it when it's all done with. Of course part of the angst was that we couldn't use the kitchen for the entire week either. Part of the kitchen was being added to the dining room and stairwell area and that meant sheetrock and mud. Gypsum dust! Just because I was so annoyed I looked up the toxicity of gypsum dust on the net and found it was only a "1." That means annoyance more than anything. Not really bad for you unless you breathe it all the time and then it's like any dust, it bothers your lungs. I suppose that wouldn't have been all that bad except that I was in the throes of a nasal and head sinus infection the entire week. Not really sure whether that was the result of the gypsum dust or was just left over from all the pollen and the gypsum dust aggravated it.
Needless to say, the drywall and mud crew are now my absolutely least favorite component of this house work. And, those two sets of crews - even through they work for the same firm they're separate crews - don't really seem to understand clean up. Maybe that's the beast and there really is no clean up, but I honestly felt this past week like I lived in an open tent in a windy desert somewhere and that I was, in fact, a primitive. So, you get the picture, I hated this episode of the house work and were it not the case that I'm no longer a child, I'm sure I would have a lifelong psychosis as a result of it.
But, it's done with so I can move on. Grrrrrr!
In the middle of all this I abandoned ship and went for an entire day's exploration. First on my bike. Discovered a relatively flat way to circumnavigate the peninsula and went down 35th Avenue to Harbor Drive and then around Alki to the Coast Guard Station and then back Harbor drive where I discovered the most amazing Port of Seattle Park. The port here has been on a campaign to re-introduce some of its land to the public by creating these waterfront parks and by establishing bike trails through areas which are heavily industrial. I'd discovered the Port's new Interbay and Elliot Bay trails last year and hadn't even thought about the possibilities of such a new public space in the actual harbor area. Yet, there it was, Jack Block Park, named after a former Port Commissioner, and set inside the actual working port area of Harbor Island. At the end of the trail is a series of hillsides and tall view structures which give stunning, center-of-the-port, views of the harbor, of downtown, and of West Seattle. I lingered and read all the signboards and ran across a few families on outings and a few other cyclists doing the same thing I was - just wandering all over the place.
It's a great spot for someone who likes to see industry at work since you can climb up on this tall, 60-foot-high, view platform and watch the cranes unload the boats and other cranes move the containers around the railroad yards and yet more cranes load up the flatbed rail cars with the containers. That's on one side, on the other side you can watch all the harbor traffic since the park is dead-center in the space between downtown and the opening to Elliott Bay from Puget Sound. Oh, and it has great views of West Seattle, Alki Beach, Magnolia, Interbay, Queen Anne and the Seattle Center.
I stopped off at the Uptown Espresso shop in Delridge on the way home. This will be a very popular coffee shop once the Monorail gets it's Delridge station up and running since it's really the only coffee shop in this part of West Seattle. And, like all the other Uptown Espresso shops I've been in, it has great public spaces and these huge chalkboard signs hanging from the ceiling with a local artist's really fine chalk art. It seems to me from the three Uptown shops I've been to (they only have three, West Seattle, Lower Queen Anne, and Belltown) that the artist changes his chalkboard artwork on a regular basis. Next time I'm in one of these I'll get the artist's name on a piece of paper so I can look him up. He signs each of the two or three artworks he has in each of the shops and has his phone number on them. His style seems to be local scenes in a mildly impressionistic manner with a pallet of maybe 16 different colors. They look like really well done pastels (and maybe he uses pastel-style chalk) and so far not a single Uptown staffer I've talked to seems to have much of a clue about this very obvious element of where they work. That just means that I'll have to do the legwork and track this guy down somehow and see what else he's done and just exactly what his gig really is. I'll also get a few photos of these to post.
So I've learned these easy, shallow slope, ways to get around the Peninsula and extended my bike riding from the 12 miles I'd previously ridden to 18 this time out. That's getting back to where I was on a normal DC bike run - which was from 20 to 30 on any given day - granted, the slopes in DC are not nearly as steep and there aren't nearly as many of them. My rear end - the pelvic bones - actually felt much better; I didn't feel the necessity of biking standing up so I guess I'm getting back in shape. The leg muscles have always been up to the task and my new bike is a joy to ride. I love the disk brakes - they don't squeal and they work exactly as advertised.
Got home and - still wanting to avoid the gypsum dust - immediately set out for what turned out to be a four mile walk. Near the end I stopped at a local Starbucks and had what seems to be my treat of the season - a croissant with double shot mocha. The croissant I break into dip size pieces and dunk it into the mocha and then slurp the resulting mess in my mouth, leaving bits of croissant in the drink. By the time I've finished with the croissant, the mocha has all these little bits of the pastry floating and then I drink that and am on my way. I think there are folks like me, who grew up dunking donuts in hot chocolate or coffee with cream and sugar, who just really like dunking things in a drink. I know there are people who can't eat an Oreo without dunking it in milk and I totally sympathize with their craving.
Friday we ate at the Alhadeff Grill again, at South Seattle Community College. Another fine meal for cheap. Earlier, Katherine and I had decided to take up one of Todd's crew's (Rick) advice and eat at La Rustica on the western portion of Alki Avenue. It is a really fine Italian restaurant which occupies the space where a former corner market used to be. The chef, previously one of the city's better known and regarded Italian chefs, had given up his restaurant and retired to Italy. A local recounting of his history tells how he was back home in Italy for about two years and just couldn't get the restaurant business out of his system. He relocated to Seattle (again) and bought this old store location and outfitted it in the manner of an Italian country inn and opened what is a fabulous new restaurant. Of course he makes his own pastry and pasta and sauces and only uses fresh ingredients, heavy on the fish choices, but he also stocks an amazing amount of wine. The entire upper area in his restaurant is one huge set of wine racks, annotated in his wine listing. The wine listing is about two times as many pages as his menu and were I the kind to blow a paycheck on a dinner this would be the place to do it. The food was simply fine, easily four-star, but I decided I could only afford a glass of wine, which was the house recommended cabernet and it was outstanding. I'd like to go back there with about $50 to spend just on wine and saturate my senses with his food and wine. Of course, afterwards one can wander across the street and step down to the beach at the original landing point for the Denny Party, the founders of the city. It's a great location and dining there offers some really sweet views of the Sound and the Olympics. Highly recommended, bring your American Express card.
So, we should get use of our kitchen, dining room, living room and new alcove space (to use to store my bike) back this weekend. The outside of the house has been getting siding work done and things are shaping up nicely from the streetview side. The fiberglass deck treatment was done and the deck is now ready for its railing. Out electricity was changed over today. We're now going through the new main 200 amp breaker box which has a 125 amp breaker to tie in the existing box. Tuesday we need to get the city out here to inspect the two new breaker boxes, now that they're tied in and providing the power, and then we need City Light to make the changeover permanent - right now we're connected to the electric company through temporary stub connections but everything is in place for them to use the new conduit hanging form the back of the house up near the roof. For the modest fee of $200 (just kidding, that's highway robbery) City Light will make the connection permanent. Now, the interesting thing about all this is that the electricity was live when Chris and Danny (the electricians) made the temporary changeover. We lost power in the house while they tied in the existing breaker box to the new box, but the changeover from the old box to the new box was performed while the street power lines were live. Just make sure everything is insulated and it'll be fine - or so said Chris at the start of this operation. That's actually really cool to have a new, present generation, electric system. We should be so well protected as to be insane. The new box has a mains breaker. There are two 125-amp breakers which tie in the old box. The old box has a mains breaker. That's three breakers for the downstairs circuitry. Almost as redundant as a space vehicle. Upstairs the box has appropriate 15 and 20 amp breakers for the circuits in the two rooms and for the lights and fire detectors. And, because of the plenum area, if I need a new circuit anywhere it should be a piece of cake to add another breaker and string the wire to wherever I need an additional outlet. There are about 10 free spots in the Square-D box. Expansion capability for us or any subsequent owner!
I met with Josh Stepherson for coffee today to go over the latest buzz in the world of Monorail. Josh is the Monorail Project's representative for West Seattle and he and I meet occasionally so I can get ideas for additional ways that I might be able to help push the politics of this project along. There's a powerful obstructionist group in town (at least two of them but they have so many members in common it seems like a game of duplicity). They don't want the Monorail and now they're throwing another ringer into the mix with a new player who claims to be a well-respected engineer who "has questions" about the engineering. Except in this instance and with this individual and what he's claiming, it's about as transparent a set of lies as could be made. Oh, he also has ties with property owners along Second Avenue, who, it just so happens, have some problems with the Monorail going down their street. Hmmmm. Sounds like the usual set of moneyed players who might just not get their way crying foul again. I do get so tired of people or organizations with money always expecting that they will get what they want and just screw the public at large. Hopefully this current obstructionist move will be seen through and the citizens of Seattle will move forwards and actually get a mass transit system they can use.
It's only times like these when I wish I did have great chunks of dough so that I could buy the same set of lawyers these obstructionist types can afford and duke it out in some courtroom - wasting everyone's time and money. Instead I'll probably write a series of tailored letters to the four papers here and express a logical, well-thought-out and compelling case on the other side - and do it from the "ordinary citizen" perspective. At least in Seattle there's a reasonable undercurrent of support for the underdog versus the big corporation so this approach has some merit and better-than-average chance of actually working.
If it seems like I'm expressing more frustration than usual, blame it on sinus infections and gypsum dust because other than that things have been going as planned. Got out and into town for a few meetups this past week and had a great time doing that and seeing some of the other folks I've come to meet out here. Seattle's annual International Film Festival kicks off next week and I'm going over the hundreds of flicks to see which ones and how many I might like to catch. At ten bucks a pop, that's more than the charge for the Hollywood blockbusters but some seem to be of a nature that it might just be worth the cash to see them. The schedule, like all film fests everywhere, is all over the map and all over the set of theaters in town, so I'll actually have to plan and plot my choices so I can get to them efficiently. There are day and evening showings for most of the flicks - though not all - so I'll probably be one of the daytime audience members. I'll post short reviews of the ones I catch in the odd event they show in your town or in the more likely event that Netflix has them.
I've also decided to add a regular feature to the journal. Something I've been thinking about for a while now and which I was able to actually put in practice this past week with all the time I've spent away from the house. This new feature is called "Overheard," and is a short overheard conversation snippet which I picked up on during a walk or jaunt somewhere away from home. What I've tried to do is set the context and then record the actual "overheard" conversation. Think of it as little slices of someone else's time...
Overheard:
Tuesday
Walking west along Barton St., heading down the hill from Delridge Way, about two blocks west of Delridge I hear this guy crying. As I approach the corner of the street I see this Gen-X guy sitting on concrete steps in front of a house, head in hands, crying loudly and saying, "But I love you. What am I going to do?"
Standing in front of him on the sidewalk, hands on hips, legs spread in a dominant stance, is a Gen-X gal who looks over at me walking by and then says to the guy, "I said I'm going to leave you." Which causes the guy to cry even harder.
I looked at them, the guy looks up at me and at the woman and then puts his head back in his hands and continues crying. I walked down the hill on Barton heading toward Westwood Village where I was going to get a croissant and mocha at the Starbucks there. Wonder what went on between them?
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Thursday
Walking west along Trenton Street towards 35th, passing the baseball field at Highland Park Elementary School, I overhear the coach of one of the high school teams talking to his crew in the dugout, "These guys have a strong outfield, I want you to just chase every ball, get it and follow through. Just chase them."
Further along I see a guy who had been walking from the midfield approaching the sidewalk. I see further west a small, five-year-old boy walking toward us and away from a parked car which had the two passenger-side doors open. I get to the boy just as what turns out to be his dad does. The dad says, "what were you doing in that car. Do you know that person?" The kid replies, "no." "Talking to strangers again?" the dad says.
Just about that time I pass the car, there's a golden retriever getting into the rear door and a lady sitting in the driver's seat. Not sure whether she's a baseball mom or a kidnapper. Couldn't explain why the front seat passenger door was open.
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And like that. Lots of pictures in a variety of configurations follow...
One of the fiberglss deck guys working on sanding the fiberglasss treatment for the balcony. He
was wearing a full body suit plus hair cover plus dual port face mask, and, the fiberglass had
to be protected from wind, rain, and sun while it cured, hence the tent around the balcony.
Another look at the sanding job for the edge of the fiberglass. There is an initial layer, which
uses the fiberglass cloth and resin, which he's sanding, then comes a final coat which has the
color and the embedded pebbles or whatever they are to give it a no-slip surface effect.
More downtown neon art masquerading as signage. This was along Second Avenue.
More neon art, this was the logo of a firm with offices in Belltown, never
could figure out what the firm actually did or whether it was actually a bar
or restaurant - the sign was next to two entrances - one a bar-restaurant, and
the other what looked like some kind of service office. Belltown condos are
reflected in the glass in front of the art.
Also along Second Avenue, this hummer with three Segways stashed on its rear. The inset
is a close up of the license plate. It seems the vehicles are part of the fleet of a firm which
rents Segways. It was in a parking lot on Second in the stretch of Belltown which has one
restaurant after another. Excess hits the mark in terms of descriptions.
A triptych of images along Wall Street of alleys between 2nd and 3rd, right, 3rd and 4th, center, and 4th and 5th, left.
A sad commentary on the life of an earthworm. Top left view shows the earthworm trying to
wriggle its way across a sidewalk to escape the claws of an earwig. Each successive view
shows the further drainage and damage to the earthworm which the earwig was undertaking.
The final bottom right (left of enlarged view) shows the earwig dining on the last dregs of the
earthworm's juices, which at that point is long dead. The enlargement shows how the earwig
digs into the earthworm in between its rings and sucks out the vital fluids. Entire time for the
drama was about 15 minutes.
Panorama of the dock and fishing pier at Seacrest Park along West Seattle's Alki Beach. The water taxi to the downtown ferry dock is on the
left and downtown itself is on the far left. The tiny hill on the right is Magnolia with Bainbridge Island to its left.
Downtown from the beginning of the fishing pier and water taxi dock at Seacrest Park.
This is the view from one of the landings a bit further east from the Seacrest Ferry dock and shows more of West Seattle with Bainbridge
Island and Magnolia on the right and downtown to the far right. Lots of old, wooden, piers jutting out from the water in this area.
From the shoreline, the water taxi is seen in its entirety. The upper dock is the fishing
pier and the lower dock is the landing and departure point for the water ferry. It makes
a round trip once an hour - on the hour on the West Seattle side and on the half-hour on
the downtown side. Last ferry on any given day is the 7:00 pm run except for Friday and
Saturday which has runs until 11:00 pm.
Panorama of the view (downtown on left, West Seattle center-right, Magnolia and Bainbridge Island right) from one of the overpasses
at Jack Block Park, a relatively new addition to the Port of Seattle parks system. The port authority has been returning some of its
waterfront property to public use in the past few years which has resulted in a great new set of parks, many of which have unusual
views of both the surroundings and of the port activity in that area.
The view above is in the middle of the previous view and the one after and shows a bit of the progression of the trail as it meanders
around the furthest north point in this area of Harbor Island. This area used to be one of the original, wooden, wharves, replaced in
the last several decades by the more efficient crane systems. Elliott Bay is on the right with Puget Sound just past the middle light
standard.
Another panorama further along the path at Jack Block Park. This is right at the point of Harbor Island, jutting out into Elliot Bay and shows
the city (left,) and the cranes along the waterfront (center) as well as the previous overlook from which the image above was taken.
This is a normal view (slightly wide angle) which shows the view across Elliott Bay toward
downtown with the Space Needle just to the right of the orange standard. My new bike
is leaning against the rail and the yellow item is the ABS plastic case I got to hold the camera
and keep it somewhat shockproof and entirely waterproof.
To one side of the park is this - now ancient - harbor beach. More of the old wooden
wharves are seen jutting out in the harbor area. The red vessel in the distance is a Coast
Guard cutter docked at one of the shipyard facilities - presumably because it has work needed.
One of the information signs at the overlook at Jack Block Park, this one showing the overall
view of the Cascade Range, Olympic Range and the many fingers and inlets of Puget Sound,
with Seattle city limits outlined in orange. Map view is taken from a globe view of the Earth
and shows some perspective - i.e., distances are greater on the left side of the map.
Closer look at the same information board and map with the sea routes to Harbor Island
identified by dashed lines. Again, Seattle city is filled in with orange.
Another information panel outlining the different cranes used in Seattle harbor by the Port
Authority and their function in moving cargo to and from ships, boats and trains.
A view across portions of the active port area to the West Seattle Bridge. The higher arching
structure is the "high" bridge and the one just beneath it is the "low" bridge, which is a
drawbridge to allow ships into the Duwamish River portion of the port. This view is looking
Southeast towards Mt. Rainier, which was not visible on this day. The green promontory
on the right is the beginning of Puget Ridge, the easterly of several ridges which run
north-south along the West Seattle peninsula.
A wide shot of the general Elliott Bay area, with Queen Anne hill on the left, Seattle Center in the left center, Belltown and downtown in
the center, the eastern harbor area and stadium complex (SODO) on the right.
A somewhat closer view of the same view as above with ship and ferry wakes visible in the waters of Elliott Bay. The red ship on the
right is a Coast Guard vessel in one of the many shipyards located in the harbor area. Barely visible to the right of the Space Needle
as a white line on the water is a cruise ship at one of three cruise ship terminals lining the waterfront area north and south of downtown.
It was such a pretty day and the colors were so clear that I decided to play with this image
in Photoshop to create a reflection on Elliott Bay which would never exist in reality. The
magic of smoke (in this case clouds) and mirrors.
The end of a perfect day from my rooftop looking west at the Olympic Range outlined by the already-set sun.
I'll have a movie review from Seattle International Film Festival and more pictures soon - went downtown this evening
to catch "Dig," a documentary about the Brian Jonestown Massacre (band from LA) and its interplay with the Dandy Warhols
(band from Portland, OR). And, many more night shots of the town.
Chas
Since Adam is 20 and Leif is 27, I shouldn't have any real concerns about either of them. They've both proven they can master pretty much any random event thrown their way and they are both fairly substantially equipped with both common sense and intuitive sense. Still, as a parent, I have these lingering worries. I suppose that's the nature of being a parent. I can remember when my Mom expressed worry over some summertime jaunt I might have been planning and also remember thinking "now what's she worried about." And I was anywhere from 18 through 21 during those jaunts and felt pretty much like the master of my own fate. Of course logic never really dispelled any parent's worry and my own logic and remembrance of my own youth does little to dispell my concerns. However, I can actually hear Adam and Leif telling me to "get over it," so I will.
Then comes the house, next on my list of worries. The "mud" crew, the wet spackle guys, were brutal. Putting the stuff up, letting it dry, sanding it flat, filling in the spaces and making the corners square by filling in with more mud and letting that dry and then sanding it again. They were finally gone Thursday afternoon. They started Thursday a week ago. That means that for the past week, every day, we've had to endure yet another coating of fine white powder which has infused itself into every crevice in the front of the house. The back, the bedrooms and Katherine's office, we could seal off with doors. And, I'd just dusted our entire book library after the framers had gotten through with all their sawdust. Oh well, one could argue that this is only a "once in a great while" kind of thing and it will be worth it when it's all done with. Of course part of the angst was that we couldn't use the kitchen for the entire week either. Part of the kitchen was being added to the dining room and stairwell area and that meant sheetrock and mud. Gypsum dust! Just because I was so annoyed I looked up the toxicity of gypsum dust on the net and found it was only a "1." That means annoyance more than anything. Not really bad for you unless you breathe it all the time and then it's like any dust, it bothers your lungs. I suppose that wouldn't have been all that bad except that I was in the throes of a nasal and head sinus infection the entire week. Not really sure whether that was the result of the gypsum dust or was just left over from all the pollen and the gypsum dust aggravated it.
Needless to say, the drywall and mud crew are now my absolutely least favorite component of this house work. And, those two sets of crews - even through they work for the same firm they're separate crews - don't really seem to understand clean up. Maybe that's the beast and there really is no clean up, but I honestly felt this past week like I lived in an open tent in a windy desert somewhere and that I was, in fact, a primitive. So, you get the picture, I hated this episode of the house work and were it not the case that I'm no longer a child, I'm sure I would have a lifelong psychosis as a result of it.
But, it's done with so I can move on. Grrrrrr!
In the middle of all this I abandoned ship and went for an entire day's exploration. First on my bike. Discovered a relatively flat way to circumnavigate the peninsula and went down 35th Avenue to Harbor Drive and then around Alki to the Coast Guard Station and then back Harbor drive where I discovered the most amazing Port of Seattle Park. The port here has been on a campaign to re-introduce some of its land to the public by creating these waterfront parks and by establishing bike trails through areas which are heavily industrial. I'd discovered the Port's new Interbay and Elliot Bay trails last year and hadn't even thought about the possibilities of such a new public space in the actual harbor area. Yet, there it was, Jack Block Park, named after a former Port Commissioner, and set inside the actual working port area of Harbor Island. At the end of the trail is a series of hillsides and tall view structures which give stunning, center-of-the-port, views of the harbor, of downtown, and of West Seattle. I lingered and read all the signboards and ran across a few families on outings and a few other cyclists doing the same thing I was - just wandering all over the place.
It's a great spot for someone who likes to see industry at work since you can climb up on this tall, 60-foot-high, view platform and watch the cranes unload the boats and other cranes move the containers around the railroad yards and yet more cranes load up the flatbed rail cars with the containers. That's on one side, on the other side you can watch all the harbor traffic since the park is dead-center in the space between downtown and the opening to Elliott Bay from Puget Sound. Oh, and it has great views of West Seattle, Alki Beach, Magnolia, Interbay, Queen Anne and the Seattle Center.
I stopped off at the Uptown Espresso shop in Delridge on the way home. This will be a very popular coffee shop once the Monorail gets it's Delridge station up and running since it's really the only coffee shop in this part of West Seattle. And, like all the other Uptown Espresso shops I've been in, it has great public spaces and these huge chalkboard signs hanging from the ceiling with a local artist's really fine chalk art. It seems to me from the three Uptown shops I've been to (they only have three, West Seattle, Lower Queen Anne, and Belltown) that the artist changes his chalkboard artwork on a regular basis. Next time I'm in one of these I'll get the artist's name on a piece of paper so I can look him up. He signs each of the two or three artworks he has in each of the shops and has his phone number on them. His style seems to be local scenes in a mildly impressionistic manner with a pallet of maybe 16 different colors. They look like really well done pastels (and maybe he uses pastel-style chalk) and so far not a single Uptown staffer I've talked to seems to have much of a clue about this very obvious element of where they work. That just means that I'll have to do the legwork and track this guy down somehow and see what else he's done and just exactly what his gig really is. I'll also get a few photos of these to post.
So I've learned these easy, shallow slope, ways to get around the Peninsula and extended my bike riding from the 12 miles I'd previously ridden to 18 this time out. That's getting back to where I was on a normal DC bike run - which was from 20 to 30 on any given day - granted, the slopes in DC are not nearly as steep and there aren't nearly as many of them. My rear end - the pelvic bones - actually felt much better; I didn't feel the necessity of biking standing up so I guess I'm getting back in shape. The leg muscles have always been up to the task and my new bike is a joy to ride. I love the disk brakes - they don't squeal and they work exactly as advertised.
Got home and - still wanting to avoid the gypsum dust - immediately set out for what turned out to be a four mile walk. Near the end I stopped at a local Starbucks and had what seems to be my treat of the season - a croissant with double shot mocha. The croissant I break into dip size pieces and dunk it into the mocha and then slurp the resulting mess in my mouth, leaving bits of croissant in the drink. By the time I've finished with the croissant, the mocha has all these little bits of the pastry floating and then I drink that and am on my way. I think there are folks like me, who grew up dunking donuts in hot chocolate or coffee with cream and sugar, who just really like dunking things in a drink. I know there are people who can't eat an Oreo without dunking it in milk and I totally sympathize with their craving.
Friday we ate at the Alhadeff Grill again, at South Seattle Community College. Another fine meal for cheap. Earlier, Katherine and I had decided to take up one of Todd's crew's (Rick) advice and eat at La Rustica on the western portion of Alki Avenue. It is a really fine Italian restaurant which occupies the space where a former corner market used to be. The chef, previously one of the city's better known and regarded Italian chefs, had given up his restaurant and retired to Italy. A local recounting of his history tells how he was back home in Italy for about two years and just couldn't get the restaurant business out of his system. He relocated to Seattle (again) and bought this old store location and outfitted it in the manner of an Italian country inn and opened what is a fabulous new restaurant. Of course he makes his own pastry and pasta and sauces and only uses fresh ingredients, heavy on the fish choices, but he also stocks an amazing amount of wine. The entire upper area in his restaurant is one huge set of wine racks, annotated in his wine listing. The wine listing is about two times as many pages as his menu and were I the kind to blow a paycheck on a dinner this would be the place to do it. The food was simply fine, easily four-star, but I decided I could only afford a glass of wine, which was the house recommended cabernet and it was outstanding. I'd like to go back there with about $50 to spend just on wine and saturate my senses with his food and wine. Of course, afterwards one can wander across the street and step down to the beach at the original landing point for the Denny Party, the founders of the city. It's a great location and dining there offers some really sweet views of the Sound and the Olympics. Highly recommended, bring your American Express card.
So, we should get use of our kitchen, dining room, living room and new alcove space (to use to store my bike) back this weekend. The outside of the house has been getting siding work done and things are shaping up nicely from the streetview side. The fiberglass deck treatment was done and the deck is now ready for its railing. Out electricity was changed over today. We're now going through the new main 200 amp breaker box which has a 125 amp breaker to tie in the existing box. Tuesday we need to get the city out here to inspect the two new breaker boxes, now that they're tied in and providing the power, and then we need City Light to make the changeover permanent - right now we're connected to the electric company through temporary stub connections but everything is in place for them to use the new conduit hanging form the back of the house up near the roof. For the modest fee of $200 (just kidding, that's highway robbery) City Light will make the connection permanent. Now, the interesting thing about all this is that the electricity was live when Chris and Danny (the electricians) made the temporary changeover. We lost power in the house while they tied in the existing breaker box to the new box, but the changeover from the old box to the new box was performed while the street power lines were live. Just make sure everything is insulated and it'll be fine - or so said Chris at the start of this operation. That's actually really cool to have a new, present generation, electric system. We should be so well protected as to be insane. The new box has a mains breaker. There are two 125-amp breakers which tie in the old box. The old box has a mains breaker. That's three breakers for the downstairs circuitry. Almost as redundant as a space vehicle. Upstairs the box has appropriate 15 and 20 amp breakers for the circuits in the two rooms and for the lights and fire detectors. And, because of the plenum area, if I need a new circuit anywhere it should be a piece of cake to add another breaker and string the wire to wherever I need an additional outlet. There are about 10 free spots in the Square-D box. Expansion capability for us or any subsequent owner!
I met with Josh Stepherson for coffee today to go over the latest buzz in the world of Monorail. Josh is the Monorail Project's representative for West Seattle and he and I meet occasionally so I can get ideas for additional ways that I might be able to help push the politics of this project along. There's a powerful obstructionist group in town (at least two of them but they have so many members in common it seems like a game of duplicity). They don't want the Monorail and now they're throwing another ringer into the mix with a new player who claims to be a well-respected engineer who "has questions" about the engineering. Except in this instance and with this individual and what he's claiming, it's about as transparent a set of lies as could be made. Oh, he also has ties with property owners along Second Avenue, who, it just so happens, have some problems with the Monorail going down their street. Hmmmm. Sounds like the usual set of moneyed players who might just not get their way crying foul again. I do get so tired of people or organizations with money always expecting that they will get what they want and just screw the public at large. Hopefully this current obstructionist move will be seen through and the citizens of Seattle will move forwards and actually get a mass transit system they can use.
It's only times like these when I wish I did have great chunks of dough so that I could buy the same set of lawyers these obstructionist types can afford and duke it out in some courtroom - wasting everyone's time and money. Instead I'll probably write a series of tailored letters to the four papers here and express a logical, well-thought-out and compelling case on the other side - and do it from the "ordinary citizen" perspective. At least in Seattle there's a reasonable undercurrent of support for the underdog versus the big corporation so this approach has some merit and better-than-average chance of actually working.
If it seems like I'm expressing more frustration than usual, blame it on sinus infections and gypsum dust because other than that things have been going as planned. Got out and into town for a few meetups this past week and had a great time doing that and seeing some of the other folks I've come to meet out here. Seattle's annual International Film Festival kicks off next week and I'm going over the hundreds of flicks to see which ones and how many I might like to catch. At ten bucks a pop, that's more than the charge for the Hollywood blockbusters but some seem to be of a nature that it might just be worth the cash to see them. The schedule, like all film fests everywhere, is all over the map and all over the set of theaters in town, so I'll actually have to plan and plot my choices so I can get to them efficiently. There are day and evening showings for most of the flicks - though not all - so I'll probably be one of the daytime audience members. I'll post short reviews of the ones I catch in the odd event they show in your town or in the more likely event that Netflix has them.
I've also decided to add a regular feature to the journal. Something I've been thinking about for a while now and which I was able to actually put in practice this past week with all the time I've spent away from the house. This new feature is called "Overheard," and is a short overheard conversation snippet which I picked up on during a walk or jaunt somewhere away from home. What I've tried to do is set the context and then record the actual "overheard" conversation. Think of it as little slices of someone else's time...
Overheard:
Tuesday
Walking west along Barton St., heading down the hill from Delridge Way, about two blocks west of Delridge I hear this guy crying. As I approach the corner of the street I see this Gen-X guy sitting on concrete steps in front of a house, head in hands, crying loudly and saying, "But I love you. What am I going to do?"
Standing in front of him on the sidewalk, hands on hips, legs spread in a dominant stance, is a Gen-X gal who looks over at me walking by and then says to the guy, "I said I'm going to leave you." Which causes the guy to cry even harder.
I looked at them, the guy looks up at me and at the woman and then puts his head back in his hands and continues crying. I walked down the hill on Barton heading toward Westwood Village where I was going to get a croissant and mocha at the Starbucks there. Wonder what went on between them?
------------
Thursday
Walking west along Trenton Street towards 35th, passing the baseball field at Highland Park Elementary School, I overhear the coach of one of the high school teams talking to his crew in the dugout, "These guys have a strong outfield, I want you to just chase every ball, get it and follow through. Just chase them."
Further along I see a guy who had been walking from the midfield approaching the sidewalk. I see further west a small, five-year-old boy walking toward us and away from a parked car which had the two passenger-side doors open. I get to the boy just as what turns out to be his dad does. The dad says, "what were you doing in that car. Do you know that person?" The kid replies, "no." "Talking to strangers again?" the dad says.
Just about that time I pass the car, there's a golden retriever getting into the rear door and a lady sitting in the driver's seat. Not sure whether she's a baseball mom or a kidnapper. Couldn't explain why the front seat passenger door was open.
------------
And like that. Lots of pictures in a variety of configurations follow...
One of the fiberglss deck guys working on sanding the fiberglasss treatment for the balcony. He
was wearing a full body suit plus hair cover plus dual port face mask, and, the fiberglass had
to be protected from wind, rain, and sun while it cured, hence the tent around the balcony.
Another look at the sanding job for the edge of the fiberglass. There is an initial layer, which
uses the fiberglass cloth and resin, which he's sanding, then comes a final coat which has the
color and the embedded pebbles or whatever they are to give it a no-slip surface effect.
More downtown neon art masquerading as signage. This was along Second Avenue.
More neon art, this was the logo of a firm with offices in Belltown, never
could figure out what the firm actually did or whether it was actually a bar
or restaurant - the sign was next to two entrances - one a bar-restaurant, and
the other what looked like some kind of service office. Belltown condos are
reflected in the glass in front of the art.
Also along Second Avenue, this hummer with three Segways stashed on its rear. The inset
is a close up of the license plate. It seems the vehicles are part of the fleet of a firm which
rents Segways. It was in a parking lot on Second in the stretch of Belltown which has one
restaurant after another. Excess hits the mark in terms of descriptions.
A triptych of images along Wall Street of alleys between 2nd and 3rd, right, 3rd and 4th, center, and 4th and 5th, left.
A sad commentary on the life of an earthworm. Top left view shows the earthworm trying to
wriggle its way across a sidewalk to escape the claws of an earwig. Each successive view
shows the further drainage and damage to the earthworm which the earwig was undertaking.
The final bottom right (left of enlarged view) shows the earwig dining on the last dregs of the
earthworm's juices, which at that point is long dead. The enlargement shows how the earwig
digs into the earthworm in between its rings and sucks out the vital fluids. Entire time for the
drama was about 15 minutes.
Panorama of the dock and fishing pier at Seacrest Park along West Seattle's Alki Beach. The water taxi to the downtown ferry dock is on the
left and downtown itself is on the far left. The tiny hill on the right is Magnolia with Bainbridge Island to its left.
Downtown from the beginning of the fishing pier and water taxi dock at Seacrest Park.
This is the view from one of the landings a bit further east from the Seacrest Ferry dock and shows more of West Seattle with Bainbridge
Island and Magnolia on the right and downtown to the far right. Lots of old, wooden, piers jutting out from the water in this area.
From the shoreline, the water taxi is seen in its entirety. The upper dock is the fishing
pier and the lower dock is the landing and departure point for the water ferry. It makes
a round trip once an hour - on the hour on the West Seattle side and on the half-hour on
the downtown side. Last ferry on any given day is the 7:00 pm run except for Friday and
Saturday which has runs until 11:00 pm.
Panorama of the view (downtown on left, West Seattle center-right, Magnolia and Bainbridge Island right) from one of the overpasses
at Jack Block Park, a relatively new addition to the Port of Seattle parks system. The port authority has been returning some of its
waterfront property to public use in the past few years which has resulted in a great new set of parks, many of which have unusual
views of both the surroundings and of the port activity in that area.
The view above is in the middle of the previous view and the one after and shows a bit of the progression of the trail as it meanders
around the furthest north point in this area of Harbor Island. This area used to be one of the original, wooden, wharves, replaced in
the last several decades by the more efficient crane systems. Elliott Bay is on the right with Puget Sound just past the middle light
standard.
Another panorama further along the path at Jack Block Park. This is right at the point of Harbor Island, jutting out into Elliot Bay and shows
the city (left,) and the cranes along the waterfront (center) as well as the previous overlook from which the image above was taken.
This is a normal view (slightly wide angle) which shows the view across Elliott Bay toward
downtown with the Space Needle just to the right of the orange standard. My new bike
is leaning against the rail and the yellow item is the ABS plastic case I got to hold the camera
and keep it somewhat shockproof and entirely waterproof.
To one side of the park is this - now ancient - harbor beach. More of the old wooden
wharves are seen jutting out in the harbor area. The red vessel in the distance is a Coast
Guard cutter docked at one of the shipyard facilities - presumably because it has work needed.
One of the information signs at the overlook at Jack Block Park, this one showing the overall
view of the Cascade Range, Olympic Range and the many fingers and inlets of Puget Sound,
with Seattle city limits outlined in orange. Map view is taken from a globe view of the Earth
and shows some perspective - i.e., distances are greater on the left side of the map.
Closer look at the same information board and map with the sea routes to Harbor Island
identified by dashed lines. Again, Seattle city is filled in with orange.
Another information panel outlining the different cranes used in Seattle harbor by the Port
Authority and their function in moving cargo to and from ships, boats and trains.
A view across portions of the active port area to the West Seattle Bridge. The higher arching
structure is the "high" bridge and the one just beneath it is the "low" bridge, which is a
drawbridge to allow ships into the Duwamish River portion of the port. This view is looking
Southeast towards Mt. Rainier, which was not visible on this day. The green promontory
on the right is the beginning of Puget Ridge, the easterly of several ridges which run
north-south along the West Seattle peninsula.
A wide shot of the general Elliott Bay area, with Queen Anne hill on the left, Seattle Center in the left center, Belltown and downtown in
the center, the eastern harbor area and stadium complex (SODO) on the right.
A somewhat closer view of the same view as above with ship and ferry wakes visible in the waters of Elliott Bay. The red ship on the
right is a Coast Guard vessel in one of the many shipyards located in the harbor area. Barely visible to the right of the Space Needle
as a white line on the water is a cruise ship at one of three cruise ship terminals lining the waterfront area north and south of downtown.
It was such a pretty day and the colors were so clear that I decided to play with this image
in Photoshop to create a reflection on Elliott Bay which would never exist in reality. The
magic of smoke (in this case clouds) and mirrors.
The end of a perfect day from my rooftop looking west at the Olympic Range outlined by the already-set sun.
I'll have a movie review from Seattle International Film Festival and more pictures soon - went downtown this evening
to catch "Dig," a documentary about the Brian Jonestown Massacre (band from LA) and its interplay with the Dandy Warhols
(band from Portland, OR). And, many more night shots of the town.
Chas
Posted: Sat - May 22, 2004 at 06:37 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM
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Published On: Jul 04, 2005 05:41 PM