I don't think we've ever posted video of our apartment in Seattle, so here's a video that Troy took as he walked around the apartment and talked about each room. It looks small on video and in pictures, but it's enough space for us right now. If the bedroom area was a little bigger and we had room for a kitchen table it would be almost perfect. I really like our green curtains and the fact that we have a washer and dryer in our unit. The kitchen also has nice new appliances and nice flooring. Not to mention our awesome view. Hope you enjoy this video of our apartment.

A few years ago when we first started talking about moving somewhere, we spent a lot of time thinking about where we might want to move to. While it might just seem like we moved as far away from Texas as possible on a whim, a lot of analysis went into choosing Seattle.

At the time, we knew we were bored with D/FW and wanted to live somewhere different, but we didn't really have any preconceptions about where we'd like to live. We both wanted better weather and I wanted to live somewhere I could walk, but we were pretty open to options. So, we decided to look at quite a few of our options, gathering statistics from Sperling's Best Places (bestplaces.net) on 46 different cities. This information was divided into different categories, like population, including city size, and density, race, family (married, single, divorced, etc.), economy (unemployment, job growth, taxes), housing (home cost, rent rate), crime, climate (average temperatures and precipitation), education, transportation and commuting, cost of living, religion (percentage of people in each religion), and voting (democratic, liberal, etc.).

From there, we figured out which stats were most important. Many of the stats we gathered weren't used, but all of this was done in a spreadsheet and most of these stats were weighted slightly and contributed somewhat to our final results. We determined the most important statistics to be the percentage of people commuting by mass transit, the average high temperature in July, the population density, and the temperature comfort index.

From here, since some categories, like temperature, had multiple statistics to consider, whereas we only considered one statistic in the commute mode category, each category was averaged and then weighted individually. The three most important main categories were transportation (mostly including the percentage of people using mass transit), health/climate (mostly focusing on climate), and people (including density - the higher the better - and size - the more the better).

The point of all this wasn't to have the numbers tell us which city to move to, but to guide us in identifying some potential cities that we might like. We tinkered with our weights for each category a few times, but one of our top eleven lists included:

1. San Francisco
   
2. Washington DC
   
3. Boston
   
4. New York
   
5. Philadelphia
   
6. Chicago
   
7. Seattle
   
8. Newark
   
9. Pittsburgh
   
10. Oakland
    
11. Portland

For what it's worth, Dallas appeared 20th in our list and Fort Worth appeared 44th.

It's kind of interesting that Seattle was 7th on our list but we moved there anyway. However, we looked at each city individually to see if there was anything that might be significant enough to rule it out. For example, while San Francisco rated very well in transportation, climate, and city size/density, its high cost of living and secular culture (while not weighted heavily by us) were undesirable enough to make us want to look down the list. Boston might have been nice, too, but the cold winters ruled it out.

All of these other highly-ranked cities had significant flaws. We looked at the lowest-rated categories of each city, and it turned out that Seattle was rated well in every category. Whereas San Francisco's cost of living earned a 25% in our arcane rating system and Pittsburgh's economy/crime earned a 16%, for example, the lowest rated thing in Seattle was 52%, which was for the cost of living. So, there wasn't really anything to push us away from Seattle. It's size and density weren't as high as I would've liked and the percentage of people using public transportation was second lowest in our top 10, but our statistics combined with the details we'd read about online, including the many things to do outdoors and the scenery made Seattle sound like a good fit. When we visited in Seattle, we both liked it in a way that we hadn't liked any other city. Since Portland also appeared somewhat high on our list (it was hurt mostly by its small size), we visited there too, since it was near Seattle, and really liked it as well. After this, we had made up our minds to move to one or the other.

While there may have been some flaws in our analysis, we think looking at the details first really helped us to find a livable home city that we really enjoy. So far what our research told us has been true, and thinking about the other options that appeared, I don't think there's anywhere I'd rather be right now.

After visiting Seattle twice and living here more than 3 months, we finally went up in the Space Needle for the first time last night. My parents gave us a gift card for Sky City, the restaurant that slowly revolves around the top (it takes 47 minutes for one complete rotation). On Sunday we looked at the forecast and saw that it was supposed to be sunny with a high of close to 70 on Monday, so we decided to try and make a reservation. The only opening they had was at 8:45, so we decided to take it. The sun doesn't set until 9:15, so we thought that we'd have plenty of time before dinner to see the view during the day and then be able to see the sunset and the view at night. Unfortunately they don't allow you to go up to the observation deck until 15 minutes before your scheduled reservation, so we didn't have as much time to take pictures and video with daylight as we would have liked. Also, a lot of the mountain ranges were already hidden by light cloud cover, so we couldn't see them that well by the time we got up there. But the view was still very beautiful and we got some good pictures before we were called to go eat.

We sat at a table right by the window and started out with a view of Lake Union and then the restaurant continued to slowly rotate clockwise. Our waiter was rather slow and forgot our bread, so we had to ask him for it. We waited almost 15 minutes for our bread from the time we sat down to the time he brought it. Anyway, I ordered the honey and peppercorn crusted smoked king salmon and Troy ordered the Jidori chicken. My salmon was cooked pretty well, it just had too much pepper on it. Troy's chicken was a little dry, but his asparagus was pretty good. Overall the food was okay, but the view made up for it. Most of it was free to us, so that was very nice of my parents.

After dinner we went back down to the observation level and took some pictures and video at night. Going to the Space Needle was cool and it was nice to finally do that since we hadn't done it before. The view was great and it was something we'll certainly remember for a while.

Distance in Seattle is different from distance in Fort Worth. No, we don't use the metric system here, but miles just seem longer. Of course, Lesley and I do walk more and take the bus more, so it can take longer to get as far here. And, since the city is denser, we often don't need to go as far to get to where we need. Still, it's just kind of interesting how we so rarely travel as far as we used to travel regularly in Dallas.

For example, we used to drive between our apartment in Irving and our parents' houses in Southwest Fort Worth once or twice a month, and while it was far, it didn't really seem that far. From here to Tacoma is about as far away, but it seemed like a pretty long drive. From our apartment in Irving, we also used to go to NorthPark Center in Dallas on occasion. In Seattle, Lesley driving me to the airpot was the longest we'd driven in a long time, and it still wasn't as long a drive as it was to NorthPark. The most striking example to me is that Lesley walks every day to work about half a mile, which seems like a decent walk and passes quite a few intersections and buildings. However, walking that far from my parents hosue wouldn't even get us out of the neighborhood.

I guess a lot of this comes back to how we just don't drive as much, but it also means that we don't have to drive as far, which seems to make distances feel a little different.

One of the things I love about Seattle is that I can walk so many more places and it feels like a much more active city because there are always people out walking around. However, along with the high number of people walking to work, to eat, or to the store, there are also quite a few people asking for money, digging through the trash, or sleeping on a bench. You can't really walk downtown without being asked for money and seeing several homeless people. However, since there are so many other people walking around, you're never alone on a street with a beggar. In fact, there are probably more regular people walking around per homeless person than in Dallas or Fort Worth. And, unlike some agressive homeless people in other places, like Chicago, the people here won't give you a hard time if you don't give them money. And, while there are more homeless people, there are also more street performers, homeless or not, which makes for a more enjoyable street scene. And that's how it is, homeless people here are just part of the fabric of the city. People don't feel like they have to avoid them or feel uncomfortable around them, they're just a part of every city.

One of our friends goes to college in San Francisco and we've been wanting to go visit him while he's there for a few years. So, we finally made plans to go see him in a few months at the end of August. We'll be there for 5 nights, from Wednesday the 27th to September 1st. We got a really good deal on airfare and hotel and we won't be renting a car since the public transit system is pretty good there. Since San Francisco is a lot closer to us now, the airfare doesn't cost as much as it would if we were flying out of DFW and we're actually flying into Oakland instead of San Francisco, which saved us about $75 a person. Our total airfare was $170 a person roundtrip. Driving there would be very scenic and cool, but it would take up too much time - almost 13 hours to drive over 800 miles.

I'm really excited, it'll be my third trip there and I haven't been in 10 years, so it'll be nice to go again now that I'm older. We'll probably do a few touristy things, but we'll also spend time with our friend and hang out with him and do the things he does around his neighborhood. I'm looking forward to going to the Marin Hills, Ghirardelli Square, and riding a cable car. We also got tickets to a Giants game in the relatively new stadium, AT&T park. The last time I was there, the Giants played at Candlestick Park (3COM, whatever), so it'll be fun to see a new stadium. I think AT&T park has a great view of the bay. Anyway, I'm really looking forward to our trip, San Francisco is a beautiful city.

I've talked at length before about how much I like walking, but as walking has become a regular part of our lifestyle, I haven't mentioned it as much. However, we probably walked more than we ever have this past week. After getting back from Texas on the 6th, I wanted to try to get some more exercise. While Lesley doesn't like to walk as much as I do, she put up with it this past week and especially this weekend.

During the week, I met Lesley after work tree times, which was at least a mile walk for me each time. On Wednesday after work, we walked up a steep hill nearby for me to get my hair cut and then walked around that neighborhood for a little while. On Friday, I met her for lunch, which was a few blocks away from her office. Then, after that, I walked down to the library and then back to the apartment. That night, we walked a mile to a movie theater up a steep hill and then later that night we walked half as far up the same steep hill for dessert. Yesterday, we walked all around downtown and up to another movie theater and then back to the apartment. Then, today, we went to a park and walked two-and-a-half miles there.

In total, we probably walked more than 20 miles over the past week. I don't think we'll keep walking at that pace, and I don't think Lesley would want to, but it feels good to have spent so much time outdoors getting exercise.

My parents will be visiting us in two weeks and this will be their first visit to Seattle. I'm looking forward to getting to spend time with them again and hope that we can do a good job of showing them around the city. There are plenty of things to do here, so I want to make sure that they get to enjoy a lot of things while spending plenty of quality time with Lesley and me. Since we'll be working during the day, we only need to worry about planning what to do in the evenings and just provide a few suggestions for things my parents can do during the day.

My parents asked about day trips they could take around here. They were interested in going to Vancouver for a day, but that was a little far. I'm sure there are plenty of places nearby that they could go to during the day. I thought that they could go to Snoqualmie Falls, which isn't really that far away. Another good place for them to go would be where we went for our anniversary. Deception Pass is beautiful and I think the small towns of La Conner and Anacortes are popular with tourists. They might also enjoy going to Tacoma to the glass museum, though I don't know what else there is to do there.

As for things to do in the city during the day, they want to do the popular things, like go to the Space Needle and ride the monorail. I'm going to recommend that they go to Pike Place Market as well and check out the shopping downtown. Visiting Pioneer Square would be a good idea, too, though I'm not sure if the Underground Tour that we took would be worthwhile to them. Aside from that, there are other things they could do during the day, like go to the locks, visit UW, or maybe go to Gas Works Park. I don't know what else they could do, though, since they don't like parks as much as we do. I'm not sure if they would want to take a tour bus around the city. Like any other city, there's a zoo, an aquarium, and art museums, but I don't know if that would be that worthwhile. Maybe there are some other things that they can do that I haven't thought about.

As far as things to do during the evening, I think riding a ferry would be a pretty cool thing to do. We could also go to Kerry Park and check out the view. I don't think they'll want to do a lot of walking in the evenings, but we might be able to go to a nice park, like Volunteer Park, and take a stroll. We could also drive them around the city, showing them different parts of town and places we've been.

I'm also not really sure where we'll eat dinner since we haven't tried enough places to have good recommendations of all types of food in all parts of the city. So, hopefully we can find some good places to eat.

I'm sure they'll have a good time here, but I'm going to see what other ideas I can come up with of things to do and places to eat so that they have an even better time.

Update: I posted about this topic in much more detail in my How Expensive it is to Live in Seattle post.

One of the most annoying differences about Seattle and Texas is that things here are more expensive.

For example, our apartment costs 64% more than our apartment did in Irving. Of course, we also get in-unit washer & dryer, a spectacular view, getting to live in an actual city, and the convenience of not having to drive everywhere, but that's still a much larger chunk of money to have to go toward rent each month. And it wouldn't be much better if we decided to buy a condo - $300,000 is where the least expensive condos seem to start, and home prices start in the same range.

While our rent cost has added more to our monthly expenses than anything else, it's not the only thing that has gone up. We've been eating out less than we used to and we're spending a little more than we used to each month. Restauarants just seem more expensive here. Sure, there are fast food places and other inexpensive chain restaurants whose prices are about the same, but you don't find as many restaurants where entrees are under $10. On top of that, things are more expensive at the grocery store, too. Surprisingly, milk is cheaper than it was when we left Texas (we pay $2.69/gallon, rather than the $4 we were paying in Texas), but that's the only bargain we've found. Things like Dr Pepper, which we could find on sale for $2/12-pack are never on sale that cheap, the cheapest we've found is $2.75/12-pack. Oatmeal was occasionally $2/box in Irving, but we hardly ever see it for less than $4/box here. A lot of things are priced pretty similarly to what we paid in Texas, and things don't cost twice as much here, but we've been spending about twice as much money on groceries since we've been here.

Of course we do save some money on automobile ownership. While having only one car hasn't saved as much in insurance costs as we'd hoped, we save a lot of money by driving so much less. In Texas we paid more than $150 per month for gas, now we pay less than $50 per month, and that's with gas prices going up by 1/3. Plus, driving less means that we don't have to get the car serviced as often. Sure, we have to pay $125/month to park at our apartment, but that's about what it cost Lesley to park at work in downtown Dallas.

So, overall, we are spending a bit more than what we were spending in Dallas, with the biggest increases coming from rent and food. But, in this case I believe that it's true that you get what you pay for.

I noticed quite a few differences when I visited D/FW this time. Click here to view my previous post about things I noticed when driving around. Below I talk about some climate differences and some of my thoughts:

Weather

• I noticed flying in that everywhere in the west part of the county has mountains. Then, suddenly, somewhere in New Mexico it gets really flat. Texas has hills, but it's a big change from the landscapes west of there, which have tall mountains in the background.


• The weather was in the 90s in Texas. I don't like hot weather, but I managed to get through a week of temperatures in the 90s in Texas without much discomfort. Still, it sure was great to come back to the refreshingly crisp, clean, and cool Seattle air.


• Since it is so green here and there are so many lakes, I tend to think of Texas as dry and brown, but it was a pretty time of year for me to visit; all the trees were green and I noticed more lakes and rivers than I expected. With the abundant sunshine bringing out the bright green in the grass and trees, it was kind of pretty. The difference is that nobody goes outside to enjoy the outdoors in Texas. There's lots of land in Texas, but not many parks.


• It was super duper windy in Texas for the entire week I was there, windier than I can remember, blowing the car and gusting against the hotel building.


• The warm weather in Texas means that there are more bugs. I had one crawl on my leg when I was outside last week. I don't miss that.

Other

• I had forgotten how professional and sterile my company office is. Everything looks so plain and corporate. Every office is so "nice" looking and nobody really has anything very interesting on their walls. Each office has its own boring plant, and everything's just so standard and office-y looking. I'm sure a lot of places are that way, but it would be nice to work somewhere more fun and laid-back.


• The people looked more Texan than I had noticed before. There were makeup-laden blondes and people dressed more Texan, somehow.

Thoughts

• I feel bad traveling so much because it's so wasteful. It's not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things, but I just don't like being wasteful. It's nice to visit D/FW, but each time I fly, even though it's free to me, it's not free to the Earth. Jet pollution not only contributes to global warming, but is also just more pollution in the air that we have to breathe. Also, hotels waste a lot of things by replacing my individually-sized soaps before they have to be and washing the sheets and towels prematurely.


• It felt kind of sad when I was leaving D/FW. D/FW is where I grew up and have made so many good memories, and it is also where most of my family is. D/FW is always going to be a special place and I'm always going to have a connection to it. Plus, it's hard to leave family when they want to see me and I want to see them. It was very nice being back and I do miss Texas. But, I definitely don't miss the lifestyle in Texas and I have been very happy here so far. I was happy to be returning to Lesley and to Seattle, where I can walk places, live healthier and more sustainably, and have so much to do. But, I am torn about it all.

One of the big reasons why we moved here was so that we would be able to walk more, and we definitely can walk more than we did in Irving. Seattle is a pretty walkable place overall, and today a list of Seattle's Most Walkable Neighborhoods was released. Here's a snippet from the article in the Seattle Times:

A new Web site, walkscore.com, today is releasing its first ranking of 77 Seattle neighborhoods, according to how close residents are to stores, restaurants, schools and other destinations.

Not surprisingly, more densely developed neighborhoods rank higher than less dense ones, with seven of the top 10 most walkable Seattle neighborhoods in or near downtown.

"Freedom is not having to get into the car," said Mike Mathieu, founder of Front Seat Management, a Seattle company that developed the software program, Walk Score.

According to that list, our neighborhood was the 7th most walkable (out of 77) in Seattle, which is pretty good. I was originally interested in moving to one of the neighborhoods ranked 2nd, 3rd, or 4th on the list, but I'm happy here for now. If you go to the Seattle's Most Walkable Neighborhoods page, there is a very cool interactive map that shows how walkable different neighborhoods are.

The company that provided this list of walkable neighborhoods in Seattle also lets you type in your address at WalkScore.com and it will tell you how easily you can get by without a car, considering the number of restaurants, stores, and other establishments within walking distance. So far, Seattle is the only city that has neighborhood-by-neighborhood analysis of walkability, but it would be neat if they did one of D/FW someday.

I always liked going to the symphony at the Bass Hall in Fort Worth and the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas. We went to several symphonies, usually for a special occasion like Valentine's Day or our anniversary. Sometime soon I'd like to go see the Seattle symphony at Benaroya Hall in downtown. Maybe they'll have a series on Mozart sometime, he's my favorite classical composer.

I like cool weather, but Monday it was in the 50s, very windy, and very rainy. It was the coldest first week of June in the history of Seattle. I don't mind the wintry-like weather, but it would be kind of nice if summer would get here.

Last time I visited Texas, I noticed a few things that I hadn't really noticed before. This time, since I'd been gone for longer, I noticed even more differences - so many that I'll have to split it up into two posts. Below is a list of things I noticed when driving around:

• There are so many more big neon signs for restaurants and stores in Texas. There are also tons of billboards, especially advertising home developments and fast food. I hardly ever see big neon signs signs and billboards in Seattle.


• I forgot how prevalent drive-thrus are. I never did use the drive-thrus much when I lived in Texas because I didn’t like spending the gas and polluting the air, but since I was driving a Prius this time, I went through the drive-thru at Taco Bueno. I usually get water wherever I go, but it was easier to get the combo meal this time (and they gave me such a big drink). With all the drive-thrus and fast food areas, I can see why D/FW is considered one of the fattest parts of the country.


• I’ve also never before noticed how many Whataburgers there are in Texas. They’re all over the place.


• Almost everything in D/FW that I saw from the freeway was a chain restaurant or chain store. I saw so many chain restaurants in Texas that I haven’t ever seen in Seattle. When I drove down Camp Bowie in Fort Worth, I noticed a lot of small shops that I always used to ignore on my way to some chain place. Seattle, though, is made up of a lot of those little shops and much fewer chain establishments.


• There are so many gas stations in Texas, they are all over the place.


• There are also so many car dealerships along the freeway in D/FW.


• I haven’t seen that much asphalt and concrete in ages - two months to be more exact. D/FW probably has three times more square feet of asphalt per person than Seattle does. There was also a ton of grass. I noticed that they were always mowing or watering the grass in Texas. It’s as if everyone in Texas can’t shake their farming heritage and they take care of grass as if it were a crop. I guess there are lots of trees here so people don’t pay attention to grass, but I just thought it was remarkable how much concrete and grass there was.


• I forgot about the problem of trying to get to places. When I wanted to go to Taco Bueno, I had to figure out which driveway to turn into, and then when I wanted to get to the street, I had to figure out how to get back - whether I could drive half a mile through the enormous parking lot or if I would have to go back out on the access road. I can’t say I’ve had that problem here, but I remember it being pretty common in D/FW.


• All the types of buildings are so segregated in D/FW. I guess it’s like that in any suburb, but I’d kind of gotten used to Seattle where you’d see an apartment, a restaurant, an office, a condo, and a hotel all next to each other.


• Another thing about the suburbs is that every building is isolated by a moat of parking lot and grass, whereas here you can just walk up to it and it’s right along the street, but it’s kind of crazy that almost every single building outside of downtown is surrounded by parking lot, which is then surrounded by grass, I guess that’s just a specific example of how D/FW is designed much more for drivers than Seattle is.


• Some buildings and stores in D/FW look pretty, with bushes, fountains, and rocks, making for a nice composition, but it’s just to look at, it takes up a ton of space, which isn’t used; you can’t walk around it or interact with it. It just seems to me that buildings there were made to be looked at whereas buildings here were made to be used.


• There are so many traffic lights in D/FW that change for no reason or stay red for too long. I haven’t noticed that as much here.


• It wasn't that late when I flew into Dallas, but when I was driving around looking for food, there was almost nobody out. I drove down a wide three-lane road and I was the only one. It happened multiple times on the trip that I was on a wide road along with very few other people. D/FW is a much more populous metropolitan area than Seattle, but it never really seemed that way since I saw so few people driving around.


• Whenever I saw people out walking in D/FW, it was kind of strange, because walking is commonplace here, but in D/FW, anyone who is out walking is either exercising or assumed to be poor.

I'll post again later with more differences I noticed and some thoughts from the trip.

This past weekend was really fun because Troy had gotten back from Texas and it was nice to be together again. We didn't do much Friday night, but Saturday was pretty cool. We woke up fairly late and walked to Noah's Bagels on Capitol Hill for breakfast. Then we got a few groceries from the nearby QFC and walked back to our apartment. We had been wanting to go to Tacoma for a little while and so we decided to go Saturday afternoon. We went to the Museum of Glass and saw several pieces of really cool looking glass art. It's amazing that the artists can make so many different shapes and use so many colors and patterns. It made us wish we had a piece to display in our apartment. The Museum of Glass also has a glass making facility fully equipped with furnaces that get as hot as 2,400 degrees. The facility itself is in the shape of a lop-sided cone for ventilation purposes. We were able to watch an artist make a piece of glass artwork that took more than an hour. There was also a small theater in the museum that was showing a film about the artist whose work is on display and how he made some of the pieces. There is also a bridge over the freeway that has glass art in it. Anyway, the Museum of Glass was really cool, we're definitely glad we went.

After the museum we drove around looking for food in Tacoma. We couldn't find much at all in downtown, maybe we were just in the wrong area, but we ended up eating at a sports bar pizza place and it was pretty good. The bread sticks were really good and the pizza was filling. After that we drove to Point Defiance Park and drove on 5-mile road, which winds around through the heavily forested area. It was really pretty going through the shaded forest. We'll have to go back and walk through the park.

Tacoma is about the same distance from Seattle as Fort Worth is from Dallas, but it seems farther away now than Fort Worth did when we were living in Dallas. I guess that's because we don't drive long distances much any more. Tacoma seems a lot less crowded and more suburban than Seattle. We hardly saw any people in downtown and it was a Saturday night, which seems odd. It reminded me of how downtown Dallas was on the weekends - deserted. I also noticed a lot of really old buildings that seemed like they had been there since the 1800's. So, it was an interesting old city, but not that exciting and not nearly as big as Seattle. After seeing the Museum of Glass, I don't see much of a reason to go back except to walk through Point Defiance park sometime.

Click here for pictures from Tacoma:

Since I mentioned this in my previous post, I should probably go into more detail about the career management company that contacted me. I originally got a call from someone there about a month ago and she wanted to meet with me. She explained that her company helps people in their job searches through counseling on self-marketing, interview skills, by their connections with employers, and by helping me negotiate better to get a better fitting, better paying job. I knew that services like that would cost money that I probably wouldn't want to spend on something like that, but she said that meeting with her was free with no strings attached and that I might get some resume tips out of it. So, I figured, why not, it couldn't hurt.

So, I met with her that first time and spent some time filling out a questionnaire and she asked me a bunch of questions about what type of job I was looking for. Then, she read a spiel off of a piece of paper about what their company would do for me. I wasn't really interested, and I was a little disappointed that we were running out of time and she hadn't really offered any feedback or resume tips, but I was also a little curious, so I asked if she could give a rough idea of what these services might cost. She hesitated to give any kind of estimate, wanting to save that for the next meeting. I just wanted a rough idea, and she gave some kind of estimate, but said that they'd work with me to come up with an affordable package, but that wouldn't be done until the second meeting. Okay, whatever, I knew I didn't want to work with them and I didn't get any resume tips either. She kept pressing me to set up a second meeting, but I didn't want to waste any more time with them. I didn't really think about it at the time, but I don't think she ever had any intention of giving me resume advice, she just wanted me in the door.

Anyway, so I was done with them. I was curious, though, so I looked up information about them online and found quite a few complaints about them. But, then, Lesley encouraged me to go ahead and set up the second meeting with them to make sure that we were exploring all of our options. So, I emailed the lady last night and she called me today to set up another meeting. When I got there, she skimmed another piece of paper to reiterate what their company would do for me. Then, she mentioned that it would cost $5,400 and set down a contract and almost asked me to sign it before she gave me a book of previous clients and left the room to give me a few minutes to read it. I probably should've just walked out then, but decided to stick around. I was a little surprised that when she came back in the room she didn't push me too hard to sign the contract. I said that I'd have to talk it over with my wife (a polite way of saying "hell no").

Anyway, I was glad to be out of there. I'm sure that kind of service would be useful for some people, but it wasn't worth that kind of money to me. Plus, it just seemed a little shady to me, with her saying that she'd work with me on the cost, then suddenly at the second meeting the cost was a fixed amount. Well, whatever, I don't really regret meeting with her, it's just another experience to have.

All the electricity in the building turned off today. In fact, the outage affected a few blocks around here. It had been quite a while since I had to deal with a power outage. Fortunately the water stayed warm enough so I could finish showering and the batteries on my electric razor and toothbrush were charged enough to work for me. After a few minutes, I figured the power wasn't coming back on anytime soon, but I had a phone interview coming up and didn't want to go anywhere.

After my interview, though, I went across the street to a cafe and coffee bar to have lunch and to use their wireless internet. I normally just work from home, but I've been wanting to work somewhere else, so I'm thankful that the power outage finally made me do that. While working and enjoying my lunch, I got a call from a career counselor type company. They invited me to meet that afternoon, so since I didn't want to hang out in the coffee shop all afternoon, I set up a meeting with them.

I went back to the apartment to change. Before I ate, on the way out of the building, the stairs were lit up by some auxiliary lighting. However, the lights were out when I went back up. And, since I didn't bring a flashlight with me, I had to get around with my cell phone light. That was actually kind of fun because I couldn't see anything at all and I still managed to find my way to our unit. The meeting I went to took more than an hour of my time, and once I got back I was just about to head out again to have my hair cut when the power came back on.

I think all of our food is okay, so it wasn't a big deal. It was kind of funny that the power was out, since it took a few times of me trying to turn on a light or thinking about using the microwave before I realized that I couldn't do a whole lot without electricity. I'm also really glad that it got me out of the house to visit the cafe across the street.

Today I realized, about halfway through my mid-morning shower, that electricity is really nice to have. Perhaps it was the lights going out that paradoxically illuminated the importance of electricity to me. Or, maybe it was the fact that I was unable to do pretty much anything since the electricity went out. At least the sun didn't go out, so I could still see, but everything else I tried to do was quite difficult. I wanted to make some hot tea, but I couldn't really do that without a working microwave or oven. My desktop computer turned off, but fortunately my laptop stayed on. I was just going to browse the internet for a while, waiting for the electricity to come back on, when I realized that the DSL modem uses electricity. I wanted to walk into the kitchen and check the time, but, right, yeah, the oven and microwave weren't working still. So, I sat, unable to do much of anything, except wait for a phone interview and try to figure out where I would go afterward so I could do work on my computer. But, after a few minutes, I realized it wasn't so bad not having electricity. I could still eat a banana. And I realized what a luxury it is. I mean, sure the bathroom is dark, but it just took a few moments of fumbling around to find whatever I needed. I could go without electricity for days if I had to. But, it sure is nice to have. And I'm definitely glad that it's back on now.

I think it's interesting that the vast majority of people we've met here aren't native to the area. It could be because we're living in a redeveloping neighborhood and going to a church in the middle of the city where more people are moving to, people who are more likely to be new to the area than people living in more stable areas. I don't think that explains all of it though. The first people we met here moved here from Indianapolis. We've hung out with a group of about 10 people from church and only 1 is a native Seattlite. Of Lesley's 4 close co-workers, only one was raised here, and just over half of the 30 people in her office are native to this area. The guy working at the nearby auto service place was also from Indiana. In fact, it seems like only the tour guides are strictly Seattle natives. It seems like there are a lot of people here that have moved here. Of course when I lived in Texas, I wasn't really paying attention to that, and I think that a lot of people in Frisco, for example, are not Texans. Still, it's kind of interesting that the vast majority of the people our age that we've met aren't from here.

The reason for my trip, again, was because my job asked me to come back. They didn't give me much notice this time, emailing me about 11 days before they wanted me to be in town. While Lesley was originally thinking of flying back with me, her lack of time off of work and the cost of airfare prevented that from happening. My job actually wanted me to come in the office for a full week, like I did, and for Monday and Tuesday of the following week. However, they really didn't need me there that long and I didn't want to be away from my new home and from Lesley for that long, or have to block out my interview calendar for that long in case I had any requests for interviews. So, I ended up booking my return flight for Friday.

I was actually needed at work this time, moreso than I was needed last time, as one of the people working on a project with me was out of town and since they did not want to let the project stall for a week, they wanted me to come in and work on-site doing some things I couldn't do remotely. That part went okay, and while the first part of the week started slowly, it got busier toward the end of the week. I got a decent amount of work done and enjoyed seeing some people and saying goodbye to a friend whose last day was on Tuesday.

However, it's been time for a while for me to find another job. I've learned alot, had some accomplishments, and gained a lot of valuable experience, but all of that has been much reduced since I've started working from home. The things I've been working on haven't been the same things I've been working on for weeks, and none of it is particularly interesting. I'd much rather work somewhere else where I could learn more, be challenged, and actually get to see people during the day. Plus, considering how poorly my company plans things and how understaffed we are, while I've been relatively unaffected by the numerous major crises and issues in the office during my stint working from home, I expect to be pulled into some more stressful crises if I keep my job for too long. While getting free trips back to see family and friends is a very nice luxury to have, it doesn't warrant me trying to hang on to this job as long as possible, though it does put me in a good position so that I don't have to accept the first job offered to me. My boss has already mentioned that he would like me to come back next month. Aside from the fact that there's no good business reason for me to come back, I don't like leaving Lesley alone so frequently and keeping myself from fully settling into life in Seattle. I don't know when I'll end up going back for work next, but I intend on it being the last time.

One of the coolest things about flying back to D/FW this time was that I got to rent a Toyota Prius, which is the most fuel-efficient car in North America. It's a gasoline-electric hybrid, which means that it has a lot of neat technology not found in other cars.

When I first got into the car, I had a hard time figuring out how to start it. The fob to unlock the doors doesn't come with a key, so once I got in the car I just stuck the fob into a slot in the car. Then, to start it, I just pushed the power button. Unfortunately, though, it wasn't as easy as that, at least the first couple times I drove it. After I pressed the start button, the car still wouldn't go. I kept trying over and over, trying to figure out how I could possibly be pressing the start button incorrectly. I was about to go back to the rental car counter and tell them that it didn't work, but then I somehow got it to start. The next time I stopped the car, I had the same problem, but I figured out that I had to put my foot on the brake when pressing the power button so that the car would be ready to drive.

The car isn't really that much different than other cars, except it has an electric motor in addition to a gas motor. At low speeds, the electric motor powers the car and the gas engine stays off, so the car can be almost silent and use less fuel. While coasting or braking, the electric motor regenerates electricity that is stored in the car's battery.

Everyone thought the car was really neat, and it was. I ended up driving around 5 people at work, 4 family members, Lesley's dad, and 3 friends for a total of 13 different people, and all of them were fairly impressed. It was definitely a neat car and it goes a lot farther than any other car does toward polluting less, saving gas, and reducing our dependence on foreign oil. It does still use gas, though, so it's not the answer to all of our problems. But, I got 48 miles per gallon, and it shows the kind of progress that automakers can make when they try.

I flew into Dallas Sunday night on Southwest Airlines and after a short walk to the shuttle and a short shuttle ride to the car rental place at Love Field, I figured out how to start my Prius and then picked up some dinner at Taco Bueno and ate it at my hotel in Irving. I arrived close to 9:00, so I didn't have much time before bed. That was the night I couldn't sleep, but I wasn't too tired the next morning.

I worked a little later each night this week than I did the last time I was here, but was still able to see plenty of people after work. Monday after work, I went to visit my parents. They made dinner for me and we hung out. I took them for a drive in the Prius and we went to Dairy Queen for some dessert. After that, I hung out with my friend Adam for a little while and played a video game with him and his brother. The next night, I met my parents at Uncle Julio's for dinner and then visited Lesley's parents. We talked for a while and then I headed back to my hotel. On Wednesday, I went to my grandmother's house for dinner and chocolate pudding with whipped cream for dessert. After that, I visited my friend Andy and his girlfriend, who was visiting, and we got some ice cream and then drove around and checked out some of the new construction in Fort Worth. The next night, I visited my parents, who picked up Cousin's Barbeque for dinner, which was very good. We hung out and played some games and I talked to my mom for a while. After that, I met my friend Bryan for milkshakes.

Anyway, I'm really glad I got to see so many people while I was back. It didn't seem like quite as big of a deal as the first time I came back, and I didn't wear myself out as much trying to spend so much time with people, but I still got to spend a lot of time with people and ended up driving 450 miles back and forth between Irving and Fort Worth. It's nice coming back to visit people and I'm glad I could do it.

I made it back safely and have been enjoying being with Lesley again. She had made me lasagna and cake for me when I got back yesterday. I'm going to post a few posts about my time in Texas.

I've been wanting to eat at KFC for a few weeks since we drove by one close to our apartment. So, since Troy has been gone this week, here was my chance to go eat at KFC. He basically refuses to eat at chains, although he's never actually said he refuses, he really does. So, I left the apartment last night expecting to return with some yummy fried chicken and potato wedges. Unfortunately, in a matter of weeks, the KFC we drove by has closed. Since I didn't know where the next closest one is, I just gave up and drove home. Actually I got gas first because the light was on and I got about 12.5 gallons for $54, which is about $4.35 a gallon. Man, am I glad we don't drive nearly as much as we used to. Anyway, the point is, KFC should still be open so I could have a chance to eat there. Instead I went to Taco del Mar to get some food. So, I'm sorry Troy, but I'm afraid you'll have to go with me to the next closest KFC when you get back.

I guess Troy's trip to Texas is more than halfway over. I guess it hasn't been too bad for me here. I've had a chance to watch the commentary for all three LOTR movies and I watched Rocky Balboa tonight. I've had a chance to talk to some family members on the phone, which is nice. Tomorrow I'm going to Woodland Park Zoo to see a National Geographic photographer talk about his experiences with snow leopards and how he photographed them in their natural habitat last year. I'll have to pick up a copy of the June 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine because some of his photos will appear in a 24-page snow leopard expose.

Anyway, I've also had a chance to do some cleaning around the house and play some video games. I'm really glad that he's coming home soon, because it's pretty lonely here by myself. I've missed him even more this time.

A few weeks ago Troy and I decided to go to McCormick & Schmick's to use the $50 that guy gave us when we went hiking. It's a pretty expensive place, so we probably wouldn't have gone there any time soon if we had to pay for all of it ourselves. It was really nice inside with dim lighting and nice furniture. We got some crab cakes for an appetizer (for like $12) and they were really really good. Some of the best I've ever had. Then the main course came and oh man, it was so good. I got salmon stuffed with baby shrimp, crab meat, and some kind of cheese sauce and it came with garlic mashed potatoes and buttered green beans and carrots on the side. It was one of the best meals I have ever had. The salmon was cooked perfectly and flaked apart really easily. The stuffing was really good too and the veggies and mashed potatoes were awesome. My main course cost like $25, but it was well worth it. Troy got coconut Mahi Mahi, but I think he was jealous of what I got. After tax and tip, we ended up spending about $25 of our own money, which wasn't bad at all for what we got. If you're ever in the mood to spend money on a nice meal, you should definitely give McCormick & Schmick's a try. I would definitely go back.

Last week Troy and I went to see the new Indiana Jones movie at the Seattle Cinerama in downtown. It's a really old theater at 4th & Lenora, originally built in 1963 and renovated in 1997. It was going to be torn down for something else to be built, but Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, saved it from demolition. It's close enough to where we could walk there from our apartment, which was nice. It is currently one of only three movie theaters in the world still capable of showing three-panel Cinerama films. There are 808 seats, including a balcony and the screen is a gigantic 90 feet long by 30 feet high. There are stars on the ceiling and a huge lavender drape that covers the screen. The sound system was really good too. I knew it would be crowded, so we bought tickets a few hours ahead of time and then we arrived at the theater about 35 minutes before it was supposed to start. If we'd gotten there any later, we would've had a hard time finding a good seat. We'll probably go again soon if The Dark Knight is showing there. If you're going to see a movie in Seattle, you should definitely see it at the Cinerama, it was an awesome theater.

I flew into Dallas today and checked into my hotel. I had a good flight. I flew on Southwest Airlines because there weren't any non-stop flights available from any other airline during the times I wanted for a price I felt my company should pay, plus I like Southwest as a company, so I decided to take them. There were a couple stops on the way, but the last flight was probably the most enjoyable flight I've ever had, as the main flight attendant was hilarious. He was making all kinds of jokes about the flotation device and the aircraft and even took a couple shots at D/FW airport and American Airlines. So, that was a good flight.

At the car rental counter, I decided to rent a Toyota Prius. Since I figured I'd be doing a lot of driving during my trip, I wanted to try to help keep everyone's air a little less dirty by getting the most fuel-efficient car available, plus I just thought it'd be a cool car to drive. Well, it took me five minutes to figure out how to start it, but it's a pretty cool car.

I picked up some Taco Bueno on the way to the hotel, since that's something I can't have in Seattle. The hotel I'm staying at is in the middle of a renovation, which is kind of weird because it looks like it's under construction, but it's no big deal really.

Anyway, just like the last time I flew back here for work, I can't sleep on my first night. I guess it was a fairly exciting day and I'm excited to be here, plus it's only 10:41 right now in Seattle (though I would still be in bed now), but I still can't fall asleep.

Troy had to go back to Texas today for work for the second time in less than 3 months. He'll be coming back home this Friday afternoon. Less than 2 weeks ago, his work told him he'd have to go back for a project that's going on, so they didn't give us much notice at all. It's kind of disappointing that his work keeps making him go back. It almost feels like we haven't really completely moved here since Troy isn't working for a company in Seattle. Hopefully that will change soon though when he gets a job here so he won't have to keep leaving me so much by myself. It's not much fun being here by myself and this time it's made worse by the fact that I have a cold that started yesterday. I just wish I could go back with him every time he goes back but I don't have the vacation hours to do that and plane tickets aren't cheap. I wish I could have gone back this time to spend time with my parents, especially my mom since her father died recently and the sister of one of their friends also died a few weeks ago. Hopefully the next time Troy goes back for work will be the last and maybe I'll be able to go with him, because being here alone for more than a day or two just really sucks.

Until now, throughout my life I've done practically all of my driving in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. There have been a couple trips out of town, but otherwise I've had plenty of time to familiarize myself with the way roads are arranged in Texas. Now that I'm in a totally different city in another part of the country, it means that I have to not only learn all the specific roads and routes to take, but I also have to learn how roads are laid out differently here and re-learn how to get around.

Overall, in my limited driving experience here, I'd say the differences between roads in Texas and in Seattle are relatively minimal. One thing I immediately noticed, though, was that the freeways here aren't as smooth as in Texas. Since Texas' economy depends tremendously on commercial trucking and most people there depend on the freeways to get to work and get around the state needs to put a lot of money into building flat, straight, smooth and quiet roads. Here, the geography prevents the roads from being too flat or straight but for some reason the roads just aren't very smooth or quiet either. I'm not sure if they use a special pavement here that can handle snow and ice better or if they just haven't repaved the roads in a long time, but most of the freeways here are very loud - louder than any others we drove on throughout our entire road trip up here. They're not really uneven or bumpy, they just have a loud pavement.

Another aspect of the freeways here that isn't as common in Texas is the use of express lanes. I-5 north of Seattle is 4 lanes wide, both ways. In addition to that, there is a separate 4-lane set of express lanes that anyone can use to bypass a lot of the exits near downtown. The closest thing to this that I can think of in D/FW is the new managed HOV lane on I-30, which seemed kind of strange to me when it first opened.

Most of the freeways here (I think there are only 8, compared to 16 or so in the Metroplex) have HOV lanes. And, strangely, some of these HOV lanes have their own set of exits, so whereas on 635 in Dallas, you have to exit the HOV lane to get to the right exit, here, from some of the HOV lanes you can stay in your lane and take your exit which is entirely separate from the exit that everyone else has to take. This seems like a much more expensive way to build exits, but I think it's because the HOV lanes here are often separate from the freeway, whereas in Dallas they're mostly just made by narrowing the rest of the lanes and adding an extra lane.

There does seem to be a lot more left exits here. Now that the Fort Worth mixmaster is long gone, there are only a few interchanges in D/FW that I can think of that have a left exit. However, here, a few of the regular street exits are left exits, especially near downtown. Also, as you might expect, most of the exits and on-ramps here, have shorter deceleration/acceleration lanes. And, since there are no access roads, you have to turn at least 90 degrees after you exit to intersect with the nearest street, and you have to stop, you can't keep going 60 miles per hour after you exit like everyone does in Texas.

The lack of access roads is probably the biggest overall difference between the freeways here and in Texas. Without access roads, it's a little harder to find alternate routes. Whereas in Texas I might stay on the access road and turn on the next street, here I have to cross over the freeway and hope that I find another major street and that it parallels the freeway. However, the lack of access roads here doesn't make as significant of a difference as you might expect, the difference in road layout has caused each metropolitan area to develop a lot differently (I'll talk about this in more detail in another post).

Another thing I've noticed is that people get around much more leisurely here. When I'm driving in Texas, it's pretty common for quite a few people to be going 70 mph or more. However, here when I've gone 65 it seems like I've been passing everyone.

The differences in surface streets likewise aren't that significant. One thing that I've noticed is that the major arterial streets here aren't that wide. The most major street in our area has only two lanes in each direction with no center turn lane. It does get quite busy during rush hour and it does back up, but there are no wider streets anywhere nearby. In fact, I can't think of any streets that have three lanes in each direction. I'm sure my perspective is somewhat skewed because I haven't spent as much time in the suburbs here as I have spent in the suburbs in Texas. Still, in Texas most arterial streets have three lanes in each direction, plus a median with turn lanes, and sometimes even turn ins for slowing down to turn right. The roads here are much smaller in comparison.

Also, people here are more conscious of pedestrians. In Dallas, I was always looking over my shoulder when crossing a street, but here (while I still often look over my shoulder), there are other pedestrians and drivers expect there to be pedestrians before they turn. Also, the streets aren't as wide and fast, so walking alongside the streets isn't as intimidating.

Overall the differences in roads aren't very significant, but I think they're interesting and reflective of the culture of each area, and they do make a slight difference in how I get around.

At our apartment in Irving we paid like $60/month for electricity and then another $40/month or so for gas to heat our water. However, here we don't use natural gas and we pay way less for electricity. Our last bill (for two months of service) was only $23.12. That's it. Only $23.12 for electricity.

I'd suspect that a lot of this is because we haven't used a heater or air conditioner since we've been here. But, it also looks like the price is a lot cheaper, it's only 3.76 cents/KWH, which seems a lot less than what we used to pay. There are a lot of things here that are more expensive than in Texas, but electricity isn't one of them.

I've been at my job almost three months now and I like my company pretty well. It's a fairly small company (about 30 employees), but not too small to be really stressful with too wide a range of responsibilities like one of my previous jobs. It's not as big as my job at First Southwest either, where, at least outside of my immediate co-workers, it felt like I was just one of the hundreds that worked in that big corporate environment.

We get free tea every day and free food once a month for birthdays. Just being in downtown Seattle on the 28th floor is cool. The view is one of the coolest things about my job. I've never had this great of a view at work and few people I know have. I can see so much water, tons of ships, mountains, and other downtown buildings.

My job is a little slow right now and not the most interesting, but I like my co-workers a lot. They're very friendly and talkative and a lot of them are around my age, which is nice. In fact, a group of us is going to a Mariners game in mid-July, which will be fun.

I also like the laid-back culture, which includes casual Fridays, and the fact that I don't have wear a suit or work any overtime at all. I also get a good amount of vacation and personal days, which I can start using after I've worked there for three months. So far, I don't really have any complaints at all. I'm really glad I was able to find my company and I like my job.

Blogger allows us to add labels to our posts to categorize what type of post it is. We hadn't really used this feature before, but I thought it might be helpful, so we've labeled pretty much all of our posts. For example, this post has a "blog" label, so if you click on it, you can view all posts we've written about this blog. There are others, so if you want, you can view all posts with pictures, or all posts that talk about the differences between here and Texas. Anyway, I'm not sure if it will be that useful, but I just thought I'd let everyone know.

It's kind of strange that we only have to dial 7 digits to reach anyone in Seattle from our apartment. Back in D/FW, 10 digit dialing had been in effect for a while, so I'd gotten pretty used to dialing 10 digits to reach anyone. There are multiple area codes here, but, smartly, they're divided by area. So, whereas a 214, 469, or 972 number could reach someone anywhere in Dallas county, here 206 is only for Seattle, 425 is only for the Eastside, and 253 is only for south of the city. Since we only have to dial 7 digits, it almost feels like we're living in a small town or that we're stepping back in time. It's one of the smaller differences I've noticed, but it's kind of nice.

One of the main reasons why I wanted to live in Seattle was because of how the city is laid out and how land is used here. Seattle is not the only scenic city with good weather, but it's one of the ones that is developed well, meaning that there's more city than suburbs and you don't have to use a car to get everywhere. Seattle isn't as car-friendly as Dallas, but that's part of what makes it into such a great place to live.

Transportation is strongly related to how a city develops - not how quickly or profitably - but what type of development there is and in what direction the momentum is - out or up. The way Dallas and Seattle are built is very different, with development in Texas being very spaced out and spread out. The way the cities' transportation systems have developed complements how the cities themselves have developed. Seattle is rather dense so public transportation is common and the choice of 18% of the city's commuters. By contrast D/FW is very spread out, so getting around by car is vastly the common choice, and only 5.5% of people in Dallas and 1.5% in Fort Worth use mass transit for their daily commute.

You could say that D/FW just has bad public transportation, but that doesn't tell the whole story. Seattle's public transportation system is so effective because the city is denser. Buses can carry a lot more people when more people live closer together and close to a stop. People in Fort Worth would have to walk farther to a bus stop or the buses would have to stop a lot more often to carry the same amount of people. Also, while Seattle's mass transit system is good, it doesn't even include light rail, yet still carries more than three times (proportionally) the commuters of DART buses and light rail.

While density contributes to the success of public transportation, roads contribute to the failure of density. In Texas, whenever traffic is bad, common knowledge says that the roads just need to be expanded, that if the freeway were a little wider, or if they just build more roads, that it would solve the problem. However, that's almost never the case, as expanded roads normally fill up with more traffic and in fact encourage traffic and low density development. Freeways in the Metroplex are quite wide, but they still get busy. Contrast Austin with D/FW. Austin has bad traffic and there haven't been many roads built in a while. If Austin suddenly doubled their road capacity, then there wouldn't be that disincentive against building a house with a big yard way in the suburbs. In that case, traffic in Austin would still likely be just as bad in several years. Adding more roads is a temporary fix and results in a constant battle with traffic. In Seattle, the public transportation is so good partly because the roads haven't been expanded as much, so more people live in the city to avoid traffic. However, that doesn't mean that the city suffers, in fact, quite the opposite, while Seattle does get bad traffic, the average commute time - at 25 minutes - is still less than in both Dallas and Fort Worth.

All cities have traffic, but being able to provide people with a variety of ways to get around - not just by car - results in a better transportation system. Here, there are multiple ways to get around, fewer drivers, less pollution caused by traffic, and a shorter average commute time and all of this is made possible by density. Even though the Seattle metro area is about half the size of D/FW, there is a lot more city here, and that's what I like about it. I like the freedom to not have to use my car to get everywhere, having a diversity of transportation options, and having the convenience of living within a short walk of commercial establishments. While this is something that few people in Texas understand and fewer still enjoy, it's something that really differentiates Seattle from my former home and one of the reasons why we wanted to live here.

It's been three months since we drove 2,600 miles and arrived in Seattle to start a new chapter in our lives. In these past several weeks, we've adjusted from being lifetime Texans to becoming familiar with and appreciative of the Pacific Northwest. It's been a big adjustment, but we've handled it well and have enjoyed doing so many new things. We've really liked Seattle so far and are glad to be here.

Thinking back to our lifestyle 4 months ago and comparing it to now makes me wonder how we were able to make such a big adjustment. Whereas we both used to work outside of the home and drive a combined 30 miles each day, now Lesley walks to work and I work from home and we walk or take the bus to get places the majority of the time, as I've mentioned before. It's also been a bit of a change to be living in the city instead of the suburbs, which is part of the reason why we can walk so many places. The weather has been great, too, so we've been able to keep our windows open. Plus, with all of the beautiful parks, we've been enjoying the outdoors and getting exercise.

Also, everything is new to us here, so there's been so much more that we've wanted to see and do on the weekends. It has almost seemed like a three-month vacation, since we've been busy doing so many different things. We've posted on this blog about almost everything that we've done, and we enjoyed pretty much all of it, so it's hard to choose highlights. While we've done a lot of cool things in Seattle, some of the most enjoyable things were outside the city. I'd say that our anniversary weekend trip to the tulip festival and Deception Pass was the best thing we've done (click for part 1, part 2, part 3, or video). Snoqualmie Falls was pretty cool, too.

As for things in Seattle, the Savor Seattle food tour was pretty cool and helped us get more acquainted with Pike Place Market. Kerry Park was awesome. The Ferry Boat ride was great, too. And, we both enjoyed Olympic Sculpture Park and the Underground Tour. Also, we've enjoyed going to sporting events (Sonics game, 1st Mariners game, 2nd Mariners game).

While the highlights have been great, there's a lot more to the city that affects our daily lives, but in that regard, too, we've both been very happy. Overall, the city is more nature-oriented, which makes sense, since the rain contributes to lush greenery and natural diversity and the temperatures are moderate enough to let you enjoy the outdoors. There is so much more natural beauty, including several bodies of water, tons of tall trees, and accordingly, there are just so many more parks. It's not just parks, though, there are just more things to do outside; Seattle is a lot less oriented to allowing people to stay inside buildings and stay in their cars, which leads to the city feeling more active, since there are so many people out and about. It's also been nice that we've met some people and attended some social events.

There are numerous other cultural differences between here and Texas that I'm still trying to fully understand, but have already widened our perspective. We're looking forward to doing more new things in the city, and visiting some of the nearby cities and beautiful natural areas. So far it's been a great experience and we're glad to be living here. It would be nice to be closer to family and friends, but this is a special experience for however long we'll live here - whether it will only be a few years or forever, we don't know, but we'll enjoy it while we're here.

There are numerous small cultural differences between here and Texas and one of the differences that we've noticed is that despite being one of the more remote cities in the US, the culture here seems less insular.

For example, when people were voicing prayer concerns in church, one person mentioned the conflict in Tibet and another person mentioned struggles in Congo. From years of going to church in Texas, I can't really remember anyone praying for anything outside of the United States, other than the war in Iraq. And, when praying for the war in Iraq in Texas, the prayer was almost always for our troops to come home safely, whereas at church here, they prayed for a peaceful end to the conflict and protection for both sides. I'm not trying to say one way is right and one way is wrong - you can make your own opinion about that - I just think it's an interesting difference.

I found another couple examples at the basketball game we went to. Now, I haven't been to nearly as many basketball games as I've been to church services, so maybe these examples are a little weaker. Still, I thought it was interesting, and even a little strange, that at the game I went to the anthem was sung by a group of young adults from Uganda. It seemed a little weird to have people who could only dream about enjoying the security and freedoms that we have to be singing our anthem, and I don't know how often something like that happens here, but I couldn't really see that happening in Dallas. Another example, and this one could be common at other basketball games, too, I've just never noticed it, but there was an advertising for the Nothing But Nets Campaign, a campaign to reduce the deadly and historically unstoppable grip of malaria on millions of Africans. Maybe they advertise at Mavs games, too, but it would seem a little more out of place there than it did here.

And the final example I can think of is again just my perspective, but people here made a pretty big deal about the Dalai Lama being in town and I have a hard time imagining people in Dallas/Fort Worth having the same enthusiasm.

Those are all the examples I've noticed so far. While I may not be correct in my perspective for a couple of them, both Lesley and I have noticed the overall difference in culture, however subtle and difficult to quantify. Seattlites just seem more worldly and make Texan culture seem more insular. I just think it's interesting.

There are a lot of fairs and festivals here in the summer, and the unofficial start to the festival season is marked by the University district fair, this past weekend. We didn't have a lot going on on Sunday, so we headed down to the U District and walked along the length of the fair. It was a pretty big festival, with a lot of booths. Most of the stuff there was pretty typical stuff that I don't care too much about, like crafts, clothes, and candles. Anyway, it was kind of neat to go there. I'm not sure what other festivals will be taking place this summer, but it should be interesting.

One of the neat things about Seattle is that there are so many bodies of water. We don't normally notice it, but it is kind of neat. This past weekend we decided to walk along the waterfront, which is something that we hadn't really done much of before. The area is pretty touristy, but the weather was great and the air was clear enough so that we could see the mountains in the distance. It was very scenic and a very enjoyable area to walk.

One of the most popular parks in the city is Volunteer Park on Capitol Hill. We visited Volunteer Park the first time we came to Seattle, but hadn't been back until last week. It's a fairly small park compared to the numerous large parks in the city, but it's still a good place to go. A lot of the other parks are basically nature reserves, so they have unpaved trails and there has been little human interference into the types of plants growing. However, Volunteer Park has plenty of grass and not nearly as many trees as you'll find outside the city. Still, the trees, plants, and flowers are so varied that they make it a really pleasant place to walk. There also some really old and large trees there. Anyway, we really enjoyed our walk there and I look forward to returning.

Seattle's central public library is a relatively new building, with an unusual look that some people don't like. On Saturday, we were looking for a way to get out of the heat and decided to go to the library so I could get a library card. On the inside, the library is one of the neatest buildings I've ever been in. Behind the book return is a vertical conveyor belt that returns books to a central location. In one of the areas, the floor is a wood floor with raised text carved out of the wood. The color scheme is interesting, too, with colorful, light green escalators. Since the library's exterior is mostly glass, there is plenty of natural light inside, which makes for a comfortable environment. It's 10 stories tall, but doesn't have much of a view from the top, except for one looking all the way down at the atrium. While I definitely really liked the building itself, I also enjoyed walking around and browsing the magazine collection. I'm looking forward to going back again soon.

When we visited Seattle two years ago, we saw advertisements for the annual Seattle Cheese Festival, which was planned for sometime after our flight back to Texas. We were disappointed that we would have to miss such an event, since we both love cheese. So, when we heard of the cheese festival again this year, we were eager to attend. Since the weather was forecast to be sunny, we knew there would be a lot of people out and we wanted to get there early before it got too crowded. We weren't totally successful, though, as it was 11:45 when we got there and the place was really crowded. It was also really hot, especially under the sun. The high temperature for the day set a new record at 88 degrees, but it felt hotter than that with the heat reflecting from the concrete.

There were a lot of different kinds of cheese, both from local companies and from other countries. We were able to fight through the crowd to try a few samples of cheese, which we enjoyed. It was just too busy, though, for us to be able to stop by all the booths. We had planned to buy some cheese, but after standing in line for 5 minutes without moving, we gave up and decided to just buy some cheese at the store. Still, we had fun, though it was a little disappointing that it was so busy and the heat made it so uncomfortable. I'm looking forward to our next trip to the store so that we can buy some cheese.

About two years ago we visited Seattle for the first time. We had already started talking about wanting to live in another city someday and we thought that we might like to live in either Seattle or Portland. I wrote a few posts about our trip on my old blog. You can click here to read about what we did in Seattle the first time we visited. Anyway, it's kind of interesting that back then we were talking about moving and that I wanted to move to Portland and Lesley wanted to move to Seattle. In this post, I talked about what we were looking for in a city, including the same things we like about Seattle now:

We’d like to live in a large city milder weather than we have in Texas. I’d like to live somewhere where I don’t have to take a car to get everywhere and where I can spend more time outdoors. We thought Seattle and Portland might be two cities that would fit our interests, so we wanted to visit to get a better feel for the cities and evaluate the things that statistics don’t indicate. After visiting, I can say that both Seattle and Portland seem to do a better job of having what we want than do Dallas or Fort Worth.

So far, I don't have any regrets over living here instead of Portland, though I do wonder what it would have been like. It's interesting to look back on our thought processes on moving and the steps we took toward moving here. It's kind of neat that we both kind of knew what we wanted and were able to move here.

We went to another Mariners game on Friday night. We went to the second home game of the season also when it was still pretty cold outside. Fortunately, the weather Friday night was much nicer. This time we went with a few people from church. The game itself started badly for the M's, with 4 runs given up in the first inning. However, they came back and kept it close, but couldn't get any runs to get ahead of the Padres and ended up losing the game. Still, it was a fun game and the weather was great.

Last time we went to a game, we took a special bus after the game that went downtown, but this time we wanted to take a bus that would take us closer to our apartment. Unfortunately, the stop we were supposed to wait at was closed because of the game, so we kept walking, but never found another stop. Then, we saw a bus we needed, but missed it, twice. I think Lesley was upset about it, but I was glad because the weather was great and I really enjoyed walking through downtown.

It's been sunny and warm all day and should be for most of the evening, however there's a flood watch in effect. At first, this really confused me, but then I read that it's because of melting snow. Anyway, that's kind of interesting. It's a totally different weather world up here.

Despite living in a dense city, we can see plenty of sky from our window. Since we face west, sometimes we see some pretty sunsets. Hope you enjoy the pictures in this gallery:

We tried to make reservations to eat at the Space Needle last night because it was really clear yesterday afternoon and we still haven't gone up in it. They had an opening at 6:30, so we were going to go ahead and eat at that time even though the sun doesn't set until around 8:45 and we'd have to wait quite a while to see Seattle at night. Unfortunately, they said there was a private party going on and that the observation deck would be closed. So we decided not to go and wait until we have another clear afternoon/evening when the observation deck is open. I'm getting a little anxious and hope we can go eat there soon.

We're having an unusual heat wave today and tomorrow, with highs around 85 or higher. Record high temperatures are likely to be broken. It's so nice and clear outside right now and I can see all the mountains in the distance. It's really cool. I wish I could take the rest of the day off and go outside.

The weekend before last we decided to finally ride the Washington State Ferry to Bainbridge Island. We'd ridden it once before when we came here on vacation in May of 2006 and thought it was awesome, but we hadn't done it since we moved here. We walked all the way from our apartment down to the ferry dock and barely missed the one leaving at 3:00, so we had to wait until 3:45 to ride the next one. In the meantime, we went back down by the piers and got a cone of strawberry ice cream that was really good. I wanted mint chocolate chip, but Troy doesn't like that flavor for some reason, so I compromised and got strawberry. It was cool to watch as the cars came off the next ferry before we boarded. It was sunny and nice outside, so we could see the city and surrounding area pretty clearly.

We didn't have to wait too long before boarding the ferry. You can sit out on the deck and some people even feed the seagulls that follow the ship across the Sound. We sat outside and enjoyed the view of the city and the sound. It only took about 45 minutes to get to Bainbridge Island. Once we were there, we walked around the small town square. A lot of the shops were closed because it was Sunday, but we didn't really see anything that interested us anyway. We took the next ferry back to Seattle and went home. It was pretty fun to go out on the water like that and I'm sure we'll do it again some day.

We hiked the weekend before this last one at Cougar Mountain. We really liked it and so this past Saturday we decided to go back and hike on a different trail. Despite the name, we didn't see any predators at all. Parts of the trail we took this time were pretty steep and there wasn't much room to walk. There were a lot of fallen trees and tree roots sticking up out of the ground. Anyway, after only walking for about 10 minutes, we came across a man in his 60s coming down from the mountain. He stopped and talked to us for a little bit and mentioned some other places to go hike around Seattle. He was very friendly and towards the end of our conversation he mentioned how nice it was to see a young married couple and said "God Bless You." So, we went our separate ways, but not for long. About 30 seconds later he yelled at us to stop and so we went back down to see what he wanted. He said he wanted to buy us dinner and handed us a $50 bill! We were shocked and didn't know what to do. We said he didn't have to do that, but he said to take it. It was quite a nice surprise. That kind of thing doesn't happen very often. So we figure sometime this week we'll honor his wish and go out to a nice restaurant.

The absolute best place to go in Seattle for views of the city is Kerry Park located on Queen Anne Hill. A lot of the pictures and video clips you've seen for sporting events in Seattle are taken from Kerry Park. We've been to Kerry Park before when we visited in May of 2006, but we hadn't been there since we moved here. A few weeks ago when it was really clear outside, we went to Kerry Park close to sunset and took a bunch of video and pictures. When we left the apartment, I didn't know that it was clear enougb to see Mount Rainier in the distance, so I was really excited to see the mountain when we got there. Mount Rainier is 54 miles southeast of Seattle and it's the most prominent mountain in the contiguous 48 states with a prominence of 13,210 feet. From Kerry Park, it looks just as tall as some of the taller buildings and it really stands out behind the skyline. You can't see it that often and so it was cool to get pictures of it for the first time. After we stayed there for about 30 minutes, we decided to go home for a while and then go back when it was dark so we could take pictures of the city at night with the tripod. So, here are our pictures and video of beautiful Seattle from Kerry Park.

Since it's so hilly here, there are a several tunnels. I'm not really used to driving through tunnels, so I think they're pretty cool. Some of them are fairly long, too. Still less than a mile, but long enough to enjoy. Here's a picture:

The national stereotype of Seattle is that it rains all the time here, that it rains all day most days and when it's not raining, it's cloudy. We've been here for part of winter and spring but so far have not found that to be the case. It does rain most days, but it's more of a sprinkle than a rain and it's for only about an hour or so. It has rained heavily a few times and we might have seen a couple days where it was rainy all day. However, we've seen the sky almost every day and most days the sun has come out for several hours.

An average day starts out with some light rain in the morning, which is nothing like the heavy thunderstorms in Texas - there's no thunder, and the rain usually barely requires an umbrella. After the rain, it's cloudy for a couple more hours. Then, around lunch time the clouds start dissipating and for most of the afternoon it's fairly sunny. Actually, this pattern has seemed fairly consistent lately, which means that - just like during summer in Texas - I don't have to pay attention to the weather forecast because I know what to expect the next day, but it also means that - much unlike the summer in Texas - it stays pretty nice outside and I can enjoy the outdoors. As we get closer to summer, we're seeing less rain and more sun.

Don't tell anyone I told you all this, though, because I think the locals here like to play up the image that it rains a lot here to keep too many people from moving here. It works, I guess, because a couple people at work always ask me if it's raining and before we moved, one of Lesley's coworkers at her job in Dallas said that she couldn't live in Seattle unless she was taking anti-depressants. Still, I'd have to say that overall the level of rain has been great, enough to keep things clean and green but there's been plenty of sunshine to enjoy.

We've taken several pictures of the rain from our apartment and you can see a few below:

One of the favorite things that I can see from our apartment is the old Troy Laundry building. This has been one of my favorite parts of our neighborhood ever since I saw it when originally driving here to tour the apartment building. The building used to be a laundry building, which I guess is something that used to exist before everyone got their own washers and dryers. I think it's a neat building and the neatest thing is the old sign that says "TROY." Right now the building is just used for storage, but it would be neat if it were restored. Anyway, here are a few pictures of the building, some from our window and some from the street.

We'd been planning to sell my car for a while before we moved here. We wanted to get by with just one car and mine was the older one. I tried to talk Lesley into selling hers, saying that we'd get more money for it than we would for mine, but I knew that my car was a gonner. I really liked my car, it was a pretty good car, and I enjoyed a lot of nice drives in it (as well as enduring a lot of frustrating traffic hassles). I've been without it for a few months now and sometimes I miss it when I think about it. It's kind of silly because it's just a car, but I still kind of wish that we had it and had sold Lesley's car. Of course I also wouldn't mind still having my old Lumina, either.

I'm a huge fan of the Indiana Jones trilogy and can't wait to see the new movie, Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Only about 2 weeks to go! I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, because I know this movie is likely to be very different from the original movies and that it probably won't be as good either. I'm going to see it with the idea that this is another chance to see one of the best characters every created in movie history and a chance to see my favorite actor in a new movie. Harrison Ford doesn't make very many movies these days, and not many good ones at that. It'll be exciting to hear the famous music by John Williams one more time. If you go into the movie expecting greatness, you'll probably be disappointed. I'm just going to try to enjoy it for what it will be, another adventure for our favorite hero, Indiana Jones.

Coffee is a big deal in Seattle. There's either a Starbucks, Seattle's Best, or Tully's coffee shop on almost every corner in downtown. Unfortunately I still just can't stand the taste of coffee, even after tasting it several times. We don't have a coffee maker at home, and I just don't want to go spend $4 on a cup of coffee from Starbucks just for the sake of drinking coffee because I'm in Seattle or because everyone else drinks it.

So, instead of coffee, I've started drinking hot tea, English Breakfast tea, to be specific. It's a blend of black teas, similar to Lipton tea. People at my office drink both coffee and tea all the time and we have all we want for free in the office. I still have to use some kind of sweetener to take away the bitterness, since I'm used to my Mom's iced Lipton tea. I'll have to be careful to not drink it too often though because it has caffeine in it. One day last week I had two cups of this English Breakfast tea, along with a Dr Pepper and by mid-afternoon I had a headache, probably from all the caffeine. But, having a cup in the morning a few times a week is nice. Drinking water all the time gets boring. And as for coffee, I doubt I'll ever develop a taste for it.

I've talked before about how I really like our apartment, but that we aren't crazy about the neighborhood. After living here for a while, I'm still pretty underwhelmed by the neighborhood, outside of the few pockets of apartments, the neighborhood on the whole seems rather unpopulated and industrial. But it's not that bad, at least not in our immediate vicinity. It doesn't seem unsafe at all, and there are a few restaurants and other things around. There are sidewalks everywhere and it's quite pedestrian friendly. We're also close to other areas, like downtown and Capitol Hill, that do have more people out and more things to do. Overall it's a relatively convenient location that's still re-developing. Click on the image below for some pictures that we've taken while walking around.

We didn't really have much planned for this weekend, but we decided to go hike yesterday. It was cloudy and the weather was in the low 50s, which is great hiking weather in my opinion. We went to a mountain nearby and it wasn't very busy, I guess other people stayed indoors. This hike was a little easier than last week's because we didn't have to climb as high, but it was still a nice long hike. Toward the end it started to sprinkle a little bit, which was pretty refreshing. I got some better hiking shoes yesterday (after our hike) and can't wait to go back to that park and to others to hike more.

Bad ozone season started this week in the DFW area and is expected to be worse than in 2007.

For most of the next six months, pollution from cars and trucks, construction equipment and industry will bake in the sunlight and heat to create the ozone pollution blamed for everything from asthma attacks in children to nasal problems in healthy adults.

The nice thing about Seattle is it doesn't get nearly as hot up here and there's just less pollution overall, which means that they very rarely have ozone alert days. The daily ozone problems are something I definitely won't miss. It'll be nice to be able to actually go outside and breathe cleaner cooler air from now on.

It's hard to believe that I've been working from home almost every day for the past two months. Before I started working from home, I didn't really know what to expect but it was never really that big of an adjustment. The biggest difference is that I have missed going into work and chatting with my coworkers. I also haven't been as involved or as effective at work since the lack of presence makes it a little more difficult to keep up with what's going on and help out. I've still been able to do my job, but I've been underused and haven't really been accomplishing as much. But, on the other hand, I have enjoyed the slower pace and the extra time saved by not having to commute anywhere. Still, I am tired of the projects that I am working on. They're all things that I never wanted to work on to begin with and most of them have been going on much longer than they should have. There are things that I do that I kind of like, but working remotely was set up as a temporary arrangement and I am looking forward to the end. I'm looking forward to finding a job that fits me better and that I enjoy more and I'm looking forward to meeting more people in Seattle and getting more in touch with the local area. But, working from home has been a good experience and I'll try to enjoy the remaining weeks.