I would be remiss if I did not mention my recent weekend trip to San Diego. This will be my last trip there until Christmas, but I must admit I'm starting to like the place more and more. I shall call it, "the city of eternal summer". While fall has definitely arrived in the Pacific Northwest, temperatures in "America's Finest City" hovered around 80 degrees most of the weekend.
After an early night on Friday, we went to San Diego's Wild Animal Park on Saturday. I was hoping Tracy would publish the pictures, but she's now back into that whole "work" routine and I know how valuable time can be. The park was good but not great -- it was more a big zoo than a real "safari". We learned that greater San Diego has more endangered plant and animal species than any area of its size in the country, and I'd guess that many of them were roaming the open areas of the park ;-). I definitely enjoyed the train ride around the entire park, including the various African habitats where animals I had never heard of lived in harmony with other animals I had never heard of. That evening, we met up with Tracy's friend Emily for drinks in La Jolla after dinner at an Old Town Mexican restaurant. Eating out seemed to be the theme for the weekend.
Sunday was kind of a free-for-all, since we didn't have any concrete plans. We ended up going for breakfast in Mission Beach, followed by a driving tour of Ocean Beach and Point Loma, eventually ending up at the Cabrillo National Monument at the tip of Point Loma. Besides being an excellent viewpoint for gray whale migrations, it is also an ideal place to watch sailboats (a favorite pastime of mine, needless to say). On the way back into town, Tracy humored me by stopping by Harbor and Shelter Islands, where hundreds (thousands?) of boats are moored, and we even stopped into a club that allegedly is partners with my boat club here in Seattle. I think I'm really going to like the water sports available in San Diego. Aside from big boat sailing here and there, I intend to learn to windsurf and sail small Hobie cats, and possibly even get back in rowing or learn to scull. I'm thinking more and more that I've got to live as close to these facilities as possible!
In the afternoon, we did some more driving through neighborhoods we might like to call home once I move down, before dropping me off at the airport for my flight back. Upon arrival in Seattle, I was greeted with see-your-breath weather in the gangway, as temperatures were on their way to sub-freezing levels. While I love fall for all it's worth, it's still nice to be able to dial up summer at the end of October!
(11/2 update: Tracy has added this link to the photos she took at the Wild Animal Park)
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Colors
Ok, so I think I actually need some feedback on this one. I'm at the point in my basement remodel where I'm painting walls. Anybody who has ever seen the colors of paint I pick out knows that my tastes are...well...strange. After painting two walls, I asked my roommate to take a look and let's just say he wasn't a fan of the colors. So, I've posted some pictures of the walls, and I'd like to know what my avid readers think. Too dark? Too dated? Just right? Bear in mind, these pictures were taken after dark in a basement with a flash, so they might seem just a little more washed out than they really are. Click on the image to enlarge.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Autumn in New York
This past weekend was a fun-filled, whirlwind 3 days in NYC. Friday night, I took the red-eye to Newark, arriving at 6am. I was planning on staying with my friend Lisa, in Manhattan, but since she was going to be out of town, she sent me her keys and let me stay in her place anyway. It turned out to be a very nice gesture, since a hotel would've cost me in excess of $300!
After checking in to Lisa's apartment, I tried to find my way down to Ellis Island. Even though I had never really navigated the city on my own, it seemed to be easy enough -- just take a green train to Battery Park. Of course, there was construction on that line, and I ended up having to do a few transfers to get to my destination. Fortunately, I ran across a family from Haverhill, MA, who was in town to visit their daughter at St. John's for freshman parents weekend. They also happened to be getting on at the same stop, and were also bound for Ellis Island, so at least I had some company. Turned out to be a good thing, since the lines to get on the ferry were about an hour and a half long. I was fortunate to be the last one on the 11:30 ferry, although it didn't look like my adopted family had made it. Ellis Island was a real treat. Given my late start, I didn't have nearly enough time to spend there. It was filled with history, pictures, and relics from the great wave of immigration, and I will have to come back sometime to see it in its entirety. After Ellis Island, I rushed uptown to grab a quick lunch with Jenn, who was in town for a job interview. From there, I made it back to Lisa's apartment to shower and change into formal wedding attire.
The wedding, for my friends Brett and Liz (from Dartmouth), was quite nice, held at the Union Theological Seminary near the Columbia University campus. The building reminded me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter -- very dimly lit and gothic architecture. Even the reception seating was a long, cafeteria-style tables. I saw a lot of familiar faces from my Dartmouth days, including many I hadn't seen since graduation. There was a strong Seattle contingent there as well, as Brett worked at Amazon for about five years after graduation.
Sunday morning, I met up with another Dartmouth connection, my friend Tracy, who was a freshman of mine when I was a UGA. Shortly thereafter, I met up with the rest of my family who came into town for a de facto reunion: Mom, Cari and Matt (and their children), Aunt M., Devin, Devin's girlfriend Kate, and Devin's friend Aly. We decided not to ascend the Empire State Building as first planned, as the lines were long, and instead headed up to Central Park and the zoo. Connor was very interested in finding the Balto statue, and the photo album below has several pictures taken there. After the zoo, we briefly headed down to Battery Park so that everyone could get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, and then headed to Little Italy for a sumptuous and filling meal. I returned to Lisa's apartment and, later that night, finally got to see her briefly once she got back from her trip to Vermont.
Monday was a short day, since I had a 3pm flight, but I managed to spend some more time with Lisa, and also got to have lunch with my friend Umesh, who recently moved to New York to work at Google. All in all, I managed to see numerous friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as hang out with the fam. What a weekend!
Here are some pictures...
After checking in to Lisa's apartment, I tried to find my way down to Ellis Island. Even though I had never really navigated the city on my own, it seemed to be easy enough -- just take a green train to Battery Park. Of course, there was construction on that line, and I ended up having to do a few transfers to get to my destination. Fortunately, I ran across a family from Haverhill, MA, who was in town to visit their daughter at St. John's for freshman parents weekend. They also happened to be getting on at the same stop, and were also bound for Ellis Island, so at least I had some company. Turned out to be a good thing, since the lines to get on the ferry were about an hour and a half long. I was fortunate to be the last one on the 11:30 ferry, although it didn't look like my adopted family had made it. Ellis Island was a real treat. Given my late start, I didn't have nearly enough time to spend there. It was filled with history, pictures, and relics from the great wave of immigration, and I will have to come back sometime to see it in its entirety. After Ellis Island, I rushed uptown to grab a quick lunch with Jenn, who was in town for a job interview. From there, I made it back to Lisa's apartment to shower and change into formal wedding attire.
The wedding, for my friends Brett and Liz (from Dartmouth), was quite nice, held at the Union Theological Seminary near the Columbia University campus. The building reminded me of Hogwarts from Harry Potter -- very dimly lit and gothic architecture. Even the reception seating was a long, cafeteria-style tables. I saw a lot of familiar faces from my Dartmouth days, including many I hadn't seen since graduation. There was a strong Seattle contingent there as well, as Brett worked at Amazon for about five years after graduation.
Sunday morning, I met up with another Dartmouth connection, my friend Tracy, who was a freshman of mine when I was a UGA. Shortly thereafter, I met up with the rest of my family who came into town for a de facto reunion: Mom, Cari and Matt (and their children), Aunt M., Devin, Devin's girlfriend Kate, and Devin's friend Aly. We decided not to ascend the Empire State Building as first planned, as the lines were long, and instead headed up to Central Park and the zoo. Connor was very interested in finding the Balto statue, and the photo album below has several pictures taken there. After the zoo, we briefly headed down to Battery Park so that everyone could get a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty, and then headed to Little Italy for a sumptuous and filling meal. I returned to Lisa's apartment and, later that night, finally got to see her briefly once she got back from her trip to Vermont.
Monday was a short day, since I had a 3pm flight, but I managed to spend some more time with Lisa, and also got to have lunch with my friend Umesh, who recently moved to New York to work at Google. All in all, I managed to see numerous friends that I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as hang out with the fam. What a weekend!
Here are some pictures...
Monday, October 16, 2006
Why I love it here...
...even the bad-weather days are reason to get out an live a little.
Our recent string of sunny weather came to a close this weekend. I had reserved the boat for Saturday in hopes of heading to some other port for lunch, but a dense fog stubbornly refused to lift, and so I rescheduled for Sunday. The forecast for Sunday was a wet one. When the forecasters actually agree on RAIN (and not showers), it generally does rain. Sunday morning I awoke to pretty heavy (for here) rain, and a small craft advisory for marine traffic (which means over 20 knots of wind). Perfect day for sailing, right? As long as I was able to coerce people to join me, absolutely!
I found two hardy souls willing to venture out into the inclement conditions. By the time we got to the boat, it had turned to a light drizzle. Shortly after launching, though, a steadier rain returned, and with it, some fog. No worry, we had our sails set for Eagle Harbor, and the strong wind promised to get us there without delay. By the time we approached Bainbridge Island, the rain had stopped altogether, and sun actually peeped out along with a narrow patch of blue sky. All the while, we were cruising along as max hull speed.
After lunch, we had even better conditions -- 20 to 25 knots of wind from the south. This allowed us to reach 7.3 knots of boat speed (anything over 6.0 is very fast), and we made it back to port in just over an hour (record time)! The next day at work, I was reliving my splendid Sunday with people who couldn't even fathom going outside. Their loss!
Our recent string of sunny weather came to a close this weekend. I had reserved the boat for Saturday in hopes of heading to some other port for lunch, but a dense fog stubbornly refused to lift, and so I rescheduled for Sunday. The forecast for Sunday was a wet one. When the forecasters actually agree on RAIN (and not showers), it generally does rain. Sunday morning I awoke to pretty heavy (for here) rain, and a small craft advisory for marine traffic (which means over 20 knots of wind). Perfect day for sailing, right? As long as I was able to coerce people to join me, absolutely!
I found two hardy souls willing to venture out into the inclement conditions. By the time we got to the boat, it had turned to a light drizzle. Shortly after launching, though, a steadier rain returned, and with it, some fog. No worry, we had our sails set for Eagle Harbor, and the strong wind promised to get us there without delay. By the time we approached Bainbridge Island, the rain had stopped altogether, and sun actually peeped out along with a narrow patch of blue sky. All the while, we were cruising along as max hull speed.
After lunch, we had even better conditions -- 20 to 25 knots of wind from the south. This allowed us to reach 7.3 knots of boat speed (anything over 6.0 is very fast), and we made it back to port in just over an hour (record time)! The next day at work, I was reliving my splendid Sunday with people who couldn't even fathom going outside. Their loss!
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Random musings about gas on a Saturday
I was at a gas station this afternoon and had a very strange series of experiences. First, I pulled in to find a traffic jam in the area of the pumps, perhaps because of the $245.9 (why always .9?) price. I tried to maneuver my car near a pump and got out to pump my gas. After inserting my credit card and selecting my grade, I tried to stretch the hose to my gas tank. No luck. So I had to cancel the transaction and was told to see an attendant inside. However, the doors to the inside were locked (strangeness #1). Then I went back to the pump, repositioned my car so the hose *barely* reached, and swiped my card again. By now, the price had gone up to $249.9 per gallon (strangeness #2). I, who always wondered who the unlucky people were that are at a pump when the prices change, learned first hand. Then I pumped my gas. A short time later, I noticed it spilling out my gas tank (strangeness #3). Since I was unaware of how the auto-stop mechanism works on gas pumps, I took Dr. Tylee's advice and looked it up. Here is the answer. Apparently, by inserting the nozzle at an awkward angle, I lost its ability to create a vacuum, and therefore got "hosed" by the gas pump. Haha.
The above link also provided a related link to how gas prices are determined. This is another informative read, especially for those who still continue to believe that those greedy oil companies are boosting the gas prices to whatever they see fit, at the public's expense. A friend of mine has shown me data that President Bush's approval ratings are directly correlated with gas prices, and he further opines that the most people's opinion of the economy is inversely proportionate to the price of gas. But I'd like to keep politics out of this blog as much as possible. If you're interested in reading more about gas prices, follow this link.
The above link also provided a related link to how gas prices are determined. This is another informative read, especially for those who still continue to believe that those greedy oil companies are boosting the gas prices to whatever they see fit, at the public's expense. A friend of mine has shown me data that President Bush's approval ratings are directly correlated with gas prices, and he further opines that the most people's opinion of the economy is inversely proportionate to the price of gas. But I'd like to keep politics out of this blog as much as possible. If you're interested in reading more about gas prices, follow this link.
Sunday, October 08, 2006
A week with Tracy
It's been a whirlwind week for me, starting it out by flying to Chicago to meet up with Tracy for one of her best friends' wedding, and then having her come back to Seattle with me and doing weird, date-like stuff for a change. We culminated the week with a backpacking trip to Mt. Baker (we did the north route last year, and the south route this year).
The wedding was quite fun. It was held at the Chicago Cultural Center, a former library located right near Millennium Park. It was moderately sized, and pretty fancy compared to the ones I've been going to in Seattle. Tracy was the Maid of Honor, the only female in the bridal party, and also got to give a speech at the reception (which was received very fondly).
While last weekend was more of a Tracy weekend, this weekend was definitely more of an Adam weekend. We went up to Mt. Baker Saturday morning with our camping gear, although the hike we planned was technically a day-hike. Mother Nature was shining on us, as we had a clear blue sky throughout the day -- up to the end when some storm clouds blew in. There were actually two arms of the hike, one (Railroad Grade) which went right up to the Easton Glacier on the face of Mt. Baker, and another that went up Park Butte, where there was a lookout tower and geocache which caught out interest. Railroad grade climbed quickly along the edge of a glacial ravine (or whatever they're called) up to about 6000 feet, where the glacier took over. Apparently it is a common route for summit attempts. We were entertained by some hedgehogs or marmots, who didn't seem to mind our presence at all. The other route, up Park Butte, was also pretty steep, but rewarding us with a lookout tower complete with big views and a bed to sleep in (if we so chose to stay there). As it was getting late in the afternoon, and fatigue was setting in, we decided to go back to our camp (halfway in between the two arms), and spend the night. Before we hit the hay, we were treated to a bear sighting a few hundred yards off the trail. Unlike many of the trails we've hiked, this one wasn't as deeply forested and allowed us quite a bit of visibility among the endless blueberry bushes.
With it being light out only till about 7pm, it was an early bedtime for us. Shortly after we zipped up, a light rain began falling which ended up lasting the whole evening. When we woke up, we were pleasantly surprised to find a fresh dusting of snow at our campsite. Only hours before, it had been about 70 degrees with clear blue skies (just look at the pictures for proof!).
The wedding was quite fun. It was held at the Chicago Cultural Center, a former library located right near Millennium Park. It was moderately sized, and pretty fancy compared to the ones I've been going to in Seattle. Tracy was the Maid of Honor, the only female in the bridal party, and also got to give a speech at the reception (which was received very fondly).
While last weekend was more of a Tracy weekend, this weekend was definitely more of an Adam weekend. We went up to Mt. Baker Saturday morning with our camping gear, although the hike we planned was technically a day-hike. Mother Nature was shining on us, as we had a clear blue sky throughout the day -- up to the end when some storm clouds blew in. There were actually two arms of the hike, one (Railroad Grade) which went right up to the Easton Glacier on the face of Mt. Baker, and another that went up Park Butte, where there was a lookout tower and geocache which caught out interest. Railroad grade climbed quickly along the edge of a glacial ravine (or whatever they're called) up to about 6000 feet, where the glacier took over. Apparently it is a common route for summit attempts. We were entertained by some hedgehogs or marmots, who didn't seem to mind our presence at all. The other route, up Park Butte, was also pretty steep, but rewarding us with a lookout tower complete with big views and a bed to sleep in (if we so chose to stay there). As it was getting late in the afternoon, and fatigue was setting in, we decided to go back to our camp (halfway in between the two arms), and spend the night. Before we hit the hay, we were treated to a bear sighting a few hundred yards off the trail. Unlike many of the trails we've hiked, this one wasn't as deeply forested and allowed us quite a bit of visibility among the endless blueberry bushes.
With it being light out only till about 7pm, it was an early bedtime for us. Shortly after we zipped up, a light rain began falling which ended up lasting the whole evening. When we woke up, we were pleasantly surprised to find a fresh dusting of snow at our campsite. Only hours before, it had been about 70 degrees with clear blue skies (just look at the pictures for proof!).
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