Stories

The bus pass experience - Having to walk all over in the rain to get the wrong pass replaced.
The truck being burgled - A visit from Poppa Lock yielded no stereo, no GPS.
Dining Out - Eating at Fremont Dock, Nickersons, and Bubba's BBQ.
Finding a way - Venturing off to St Marks Cathedral across the lake.
Gaining New Friends - Its hard here, but its happening. Progress is extremely slow.

This BBQ take out place is smaller than our apartment. It looks like a simple business to manage. Really easy!

They sell sodas, 4 sides, and 4 types of BBQ sandwiches that they smother.

They have a heat rack, a cooler, sink, fridge and POS cash register..

Seattle is a lonely place with lots of people. We are just passing through it.

We take things one day at a time here. We've seen no cheering crowds.

At the end of the day, we roll the credits, and fade off into the next day.

Some times it's to deep for me :-) but i miss ya! it sucks that you have been burglared twice never hapen where i live.. Hey maybe you should come back!

It would have been a great day for walking.
But it drizzled all day.
I started to hop the bus this morning, and was surprised when the bus driver told me my pass wasn't good enough. I needed a quarter more. OUCH!!! He let me on though. These bus drivers a pretty cool.
So, now, the problem was exchanging my pass
I had just purchased my pass Friday from Bartell's for $54. I guess they didn't know the rates had changed March 1st. hmmm.
I walked to Bartells.
They had to get the manager and I waited. She told me they don't do exchanges or refunds, and that I'd have to go to the Transit Station on University and 4th. Its in a mall.
I walked the Transit Station.
I went through a long line, but it moved quickly. They told me that they didn't do exchanges or refunds either! I'd have to go to the bus station on the other side of town. They could, however, sell me a booklet of 25 cent passes...hahahaha....The booklet was twice the size of a quarter! I'd bet it expires too!
I hopped a bus to the Bus Station at 201 Jackson Street off 2nd and Main.
The bus dropped me off at a 5 way intersection. There was a bus depot two blocks away, but it was vacant. What I was looking for was a building that wasn't even marked, at least, I didn't see a sign on the building.
So, I went inside and there was the line from hell.
It wound back and forth, ending up at three windows. I had plenty of time while standing in line, to contemplate what I may be doing wrong, (did theyt take Visa, did I need a receipt, did they do exchanges at this building).
I finally got to the window.
The clerk said she didn't do exchanges. She said I'd have to see the manager at another window. Wow. I did, and he had me fill out a form that I had to return to the first window.
Well, I finally got the pass for $63. Did I mention its only live 2.6 miles from my apartment to work? It costs about about 63 cents a mile to ride the bus. Toss in that it cost $150 a month to park my truck at the apartment and I'm paying a lot to get around here.
Leaving the bus station/whatever they call it, I couldn't find a bus back to work.
The street I came down (3rd Street) turns into a one way street, which means there was no bus stop on the other side from where the first bus dropped me off. Now, I'm thinking, I could gamble, and wait at any bus stop to ask the drivers if they came close to 3rd and Madison, or I could walk down 3rd street until it turned back into a two way street. I decided to walk.
On my walk back, I noticed there were two 2nd and Main Streets.
I'm serious!!! One is 2nd Avenue, the other is 2nd Street....I still don't know the technical difference.
I always thought that avenues were short and streets were long. Its reversed here. Maybe thats normal...hmmm.
The worse thing about this whole experience wasn't walking up the steep hills.
When I got up this morning, I got dressed in the dark and I put on a mismatched pair of shoes.

I did enjoy the walk from the station.
The timing could have better though. Its alway amazed me how essential public customer services are always open when the majority of the public is working.
These shots were taken with gray skies. It looked gloomy so, I jazzed them up a little.

I bought a Kodak Z712 IS a while back. Its got some really great features. I was checking out its panorama feature.

This camera lets you take 3 shots R2L or L2R. When you are done, the camera stitches them together. This is the first digital camera I've seen that does that.

Others, you upload your pictures, run some software and it stitches the pictures together, so you never really know what you've got until you've left the scene.

If anyone's interested...give me a ding dong.

What be happening with those opportunities you were looking at?

Sorry, had to take a quick break to eat some corn.

Howl...

One of the things I like to do when I'm around Seagulls, is teach them to catch. This one is starting to get the idea.

They have an excellent memory and are extremely easy to train. They cock their heads when their learning. You can almost hear them say "huh?".

This little fellow never quite got it together. Our balcony is too high.

Jimmy... Jimmy... Jimmy...

Evenings are for staying home, under a comforter, watching reruns of "I love Lucy" and "Leave it to Beaver".

HAHA..

They Skylark Cafe and Club. Its on 3803 Delridge Way SW, West Seattle, WA 98106.
The downside is, even though its only 4 miles away
Its a 40 minute ride on the bus. Its a 13 minute drive, if you can find a place to park.
-- REVIEWS --
According to the Stranger - It is Seattle's night life's saving grace.
Editorial Review for Skylark Cafe & Club – by Hannah Levin
West Seattle has long struggled to find a solid, attractive spot to function as a live music destination, and Skylark proprietress Jessie Summa-Kusiak has finally nailed it with this café's cozy, neighborhood vibe. The diner-style food is a top-notch combination of the comforting (homade meatloaf with all the trimmings) and the sophisticated (penne with vodka sauce), while the high quality, free-of-charge live music draws appreciate crowds with a mix of indie, rock, and alt-country acts, and the occasional singer-songwriter.

We went strolling down the waterfront walkway last night.
What can I say...most of it was closed at 7pm. Lots of piers. Little on them.
I keep expecting to see a little bit of San Francisco in Seattle, but its just not here.
Every town I've seen has a party district.
I'd describe a party district as a fun place to go at night after you get off of work. It has dance joints, bars, bands, street entertainment and shops. Most towns these days have place area where you can ride in a horse drawn buggy after dark. Its usually safe, with police walking the beat.
I think every major city in the US has a Hard Rock Hotel . Portland and Seattle don't.
Lets see:
Louisville had its Fourth Street Live Orlando had its Universal City, and downtown area. San Francisco has its piers, downtown and China Town. San Diego has its Gas Light District. Los Angeles has Universal City, piers, marinas. Las Vegas has its Strip. Nashville has its Strip. Sacremento has Old Sac. Omaha has its Gas Light District.
Even Bowling Green has a Strip
Seattle has Pioneer Square, but its scary at night.
If you had a carton of cigarettes, you'd be a celebrity there for 5 minutes.
Seattle has its scattered party areas.
Pikes street is okay. Its got some cool malls and shops.
Fremont is okay. Its got quite a few restaurants lined up.
I think the most pressing problem this town has is, there is no place ot park.
You have to ride the bus or take a cab.
You can't say, hey, I have got $20. I'm going out to have some fun here.
You need that to get where ever you are going, and it is going to take awhile for you to get there, and you are going to do a lot of walking. You will run into some pretty strange people on your trip. Its just not worth going out.
There are no convenient places to go (that I've found).

You remember Enrique at work, here? His wife died a week ago, yesterday, (Friday the 8th) of leukemia. She had "beat it" once before, in 2001, and it returned in mid January, this year. So a few of us, went to the funeral this morning at the church, and a couple of us (me included) went to the burial at the cemetery in the afternoon. Very depressing. She was 3 days younger than me.

Its early in the morning here.
I wasn't feeling very good.(its probably just a nasty leftover from that terrible flu/cold)
Anyway, I woke up swetting and feeling unconfortable, and yucky in an overall kind of way.
Somewhere along the line, I decided having a beer wouldn't hurt.
Why not ? I've been curious about SEATTLE'S WILD NIGHTLIFE.
I went out at 2:40 am, and discovered something quite interesting.
There's a law in the state of Washington, that after 2 am (even on a Friday), you can't order a beer anywhere.
I guess thats a good idea, sort of, if you don't mind the government dictating your business hours.
Maybe its because I'm still a Las Vegan.
I liked being able to go out at 3 am, play some quarters and say howdy to the neighbors.
Maybe I assumed Seattle would be a lot like Louisville or Memphis.
But Seattle doesn't seem to have a night life district, unless you consider eating to be nightlife.
There really aren't any dance joints here to speak of.
I haven't found any real amusement parks either.
There are no Six Flags, Universal Studios, Planet Hollywoods or Hard Rock Cafe's.
I can see now why they sell coffee on every street corner. Its too keep you from falling asleep everywhere.
I know how a lake the size of Lake Union can have a glass like water suface.
There's nothing happening in this state after 2 am !
So after 2 am, in Seattle, its lights out.
ITS THE LAW!

Jimmy... I'd probably have to say, the "No alcohol purchases between 2am and 6am - EVERYDAY (Why would Friday or Saturday nights be any different?)" is pretty normal. California, Washington State, Florida, Massachusetts, New York State... Those are where I have personally seen it, but suspect it's the norm in most states.

Sorry to hear you aren't feeling well and couldn't get your beer. But life will go on. How about a nice cup of java?

To the man of my life. I Love You.

we had a pretty good snow/ice storm, but it is supposed to reach 50 on Friday. Short lived in this neck of the woods. we rarely get to many cold days in a row

I see its SNOWING in Louisville...
Yeah!
Its a beautiful 47 degrees outside in Seattle.
That feels warm to me these days.
Las Vegas is enjoying a brisk 63 degrees.
Its hot chocolate time in the desert.
Orlando seems to have the best of it all.
Its 72 degrees there.

[Click here - Game of Love
Tell me Just what you want me to be
One kiss, And boom you're the only one for me
So please tell me
Why don't you come around no more
Cause right now I'm crying
Outside the door of your candy store

[Chorus]
It just takes a little bit of this A little bit of that.
It started with a kiss Now we we're up to bat
A little bit of laughs A little bit of pain,
I'm telling you, my babe It's all in the game of love....

..Is whatever you make it to be. Sunshine, set on this cold lonely sea
So please baby try and use me, for what I'm good for
It ain't sayin' goodbye, it's knocking, down the door, of your candy store

[Chorus] It's all in this game of love
You roll me, Control me, Console me, Please hold me
You guide me, Divide me, Into two...
[Guitar solo]
So please tell me why don't you come around no more
Cause right now I'm dying outside the door of your loving store

[Repeat Chorus]
It's all in this game of love. It's all in the game of love,Yeah, in the game of love
Roll me, Control me, Please hold me (Make me feel good, yeah) I'm out here on my own, On my own...