Cross State Commuting

Well, week two is in the books and I have survived another fun filled drive from Pullman to Bothell. I make a big deal about my (daily) commute being only 15 minutes. What I fail to mention is that I get to spend 5 hours on Fridays and Sundays commuting back to Bothell. The thing that hits me, as I hit Issaquah, is just how much I dislike Seattle drivers and traffic. I cannot wait until we are all moved over there and I can stop this madness.

That said, I will miss Seattle radio quite a lot. Radio, as a general rule, is pretty terrible everywhere. Good radio programs are few and far between, especially on the commerical side of the fence. But, you quickly forget just how lucky we are in the Seattle market to have so many 'quality' stations to choose from. In Pullman, I have found three and two of those are broadcasting from Spokane. I am quite happy that I get to listen to the RadioMen program on KKZX in mornings. This is a quality radio show that reminds me what morning drive radio can be, without all the crap you find littering most markets. Between RadioMen and the KPBX broadcast of NPR, my 15 minute commute isn't too bad.

More on all the other stuff that's happening around here later in the weekend...

Back to Pullman for week #2

Well, the first weekend home is (nearly) in the books and I am getting ready to head back to Pullman on the LAST Horizon flight of the night...We got a little bit done around the place but, more importantly, we got Max to ride his bike around the back yard without training wheels! This is the first time he has successfully ridden his bike with the trainers. It was awesome, and he was more excited than I think I have ever seen him.

Next weekend will be the first time I'll be driving back and forth, which will be good since we have so much stuff in the garage that needs to find it's way to our storage unit. I'll also be taking the laptop back with me, so that I'll have a PC over there and I will be upgrading it to Vista and monkeying with that OS on a machine that can handle it. The desktop that I installed it on here is a little on the slow side.

Next week is also Rebuilding Day for Amy's organization, Rebuilding Together Eastside. This is a great organization and it is a great day for all involved. For the first time, I will be volunteering at a house for the day. The house is one that is kind of near our place and it will great to see how it all come together.

Thanks for reading, and drop me a line when you have a sec...

What a difference a week makes...

My apologies for not posting sooner, but it has been a week that I won't soon forget.

I spent 5+ hours driving to Pullman last Sunday, nearly getting nabbed for speeding near Khalotus, and fighting all the Mom's Weekend traffic on Highway 26. That was fun. Then I had to stumble around the town finding mini storage and the house I am living in. That last bit was a challenge since I had written down the address wrong. Fortunately, the guy that I am renting from saw me wandering about and came out in the driveway to flag me down.

The first week of work was excellent. I really enjoy the work and the people are great. The town is nice and quiet, and the scenery in the area is really something. Especially for a kid whose always lived in the Seattle area.

It really hit me that I was in a TOTALLY different place as I was walking across campus on Monday or Tuesday and there was Martin Stadium and, next to that, there was the WSU track team practicing. That really drove the point home that I wasn't Kansas anymore.

There will be more later this weekend. Posting during the week is a little difficult as I don't have a PC or a net connection where I am living. I'll figure something out.

And so it goes...

Well, we have arrived at that time in the story where I leave for Pullman. I will be heading over tomorrow morning; finding our mini-storage, finding the the townhouse I'm renting a room in, and getting my bearings in Pullman. I cannot believe that this time has passed by so quickly, this has been an amazingly fast time to me. It seriously seems like just yesterday I was heading out of town on a Sunday afternoon to head over for my interview, and that was over a month ago. I am really excited about this opportunity and this change in our lives. I mean, who from the Seattle area can't get excited about the prospect of a 5-10 minute commute?

Both Amy and I had the chance to volunteer at Woodside this week. It was really great to be able to see Max in that environment and to finally meet all the kids he's been talking about for the past months.

I also had the distinct pleasure, with my friends Tom and Mike, of replacing a fence post yesterday in the rain. The best part was when we had to move the shed in order to get the post, that was awesome. In our new house, I think I am going to subscribe to the 'free-range' kid theory. No fences mean no fence posts to replace.

All Hail King Felix

17 IP
4 H
0 R
4 BB
18 K

I know that it's early, but let's be honest, this is the only thing that the M's have cooking this season.

Garages and Mini-Storage

We got started on the garage today, it's funny what you can collect over the course of seven and a half years in one place. One of the first things I will need to do when I get to Pullman is to find a mini-storage place. We will have too much stuff that we have to shuffle around to keep it all in one place before we move.

Less than a week now, until I have to report to work. It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting down to tell Nintendo that I was leaving. Time flies when you are having fun!

Who is this guy?

It's funny what you find buried in desk drawers...

So much work and so little time...

For every project that I finish, two more pop up that need my 'immediate attention'. I finished the main bathroom, got the floor down, the toilet installed, it's painted, and the ceiling looks acceptable. I move on to the other bathroom, which just needed painting, and find the the 'simple' overflow fix I was going to do, is a whole lot more complex. The only way I see to install the washer that I need to is to get at the plumbing from behind the tub. Which, in this case invlolved coming up from from the laundry room. Heavy sigh.

Tonight and tomorrow are devoted to cleaning up all the stuff so that Amy and kids don't have to deal with it and next week is tackling the garage.

Have a great weekend!

Two Good (and very different) Movies

So, after laying a new floor in the main bathroom, putting all the moulding back, and tehn breaking one of the toilet bolts, I decided it was time to watch some movies.

Casino Royale - This is the one starring Daniel Craig. This is the first Bond file I have watched since Timothy Dalton was 007. I thought that it was really good. They didn't spend an inordinate amount of time on the gadgets, although I can't help but wonder if the defibrillator comes standard in the Aston Martin DBS, and actually spent developing the story. Don't get me wrong, it's still a Bond film (with all that that implies) but it was a very well put together piece of story telling.

Stranger Than Fiction - I really liked this movie. I've read a couple of reviews that said it was trying too hard to be a Charlie Kauffman film, and failed at that. I disagree. I thought it was an interesting premise that gave Will Ferrell a chance to do something other be Will Ferrell. All the supporting cast was great, and I really liked the overlays they used to get you inside Harold's head.

Okay, enough chit-chat...Time to go and find new toilet bolts and get me a pressure washer...

What I'll miss the most...

...the dugout seats...

I was able to go to the M's game last night and sit in the the first row dugout seats. There is no better seat for a professional sporting event in Seattle than those seats, except for maybe courtside at a Sonics game. Being able to watch them beat the A's was just the icing on the cake. It was a nice break from tearing apart bathrooms and repainting stuff.

I should have the bathrooms done tonight and then get on to the power washing everything outside tomorrow.

See, isn't this phlogging thing exciting!?!