Life of Late

Wow, I haven't posted for a whole week! That's gotta be some kind of record.

It's dark at 5:30PM, now. That feels weird. It's been rather balmy lately, but I believe that's going to change soon. The legendary November rains should be kicking in any time now.

It's been interesting starting a new project in the lab. I'm enjoying it, so far. My lab mates are an interesting bunch, and the lab dynamic is very different than in my last lab. Everyone here is in his own orbit around the basic theme of the lab, with very little overlap or crossed paths. As a result, the environment is collegial, but not as collaborative. I'm not saying that cross-pollination of projects cannot occur, but the healthy space between projects is definitely by design, and fosters a DIY attitude. I'm pretty happy about my early experiences, since I had some apprehension about going back into the lab. We all went out for beers last Friday, and it turns out that you can order German beer by the liter quite close to where I work. Interesting...

In other news, some stuff happened, I drank some beer (nothing new), played some games (new titles: Terakh and Wealth of Nations), got out for a few runs, and read a whole bunch of science. I got sciences coming out the ying yang, y'all!

Weather's turning

Summer was a bit shorter here in the higher latitudes. I'm sure that our Edinburgh friends can relate. Of course, it's been officially Fall for over 3 weeks now, so there should be a change in the weather. Perhaps the temperature hasn't fallen much where you live, but I'm sure that the leaves are changing colors and winding up on the ground. Fall in Seattle means more rain and cloudiness. We've also had a drop in temperatures for the past month, to the point where 60 degrees F is a warm day. Fortunately, I can count on a relatively temperate winter, so I'm not in the near state of dread that I always had in Michigan this time of year.

And now, Elaine Pictures With a Vague Fall Theme!

First walk in the rain



Elaine adopts a worm



A leash makes things a bit easier on me

Happy Earth Day

Earth Day is a great time to make a lasting change in our lives. We can use less energy, reduce pollution, resolve to vote for officials who have green voting records, contribute funds to worthwhile organizations, and even take steps to make our own properties less of a problem for the local ecosystem. Jill and I are planning to install a porous driveway and patio using interlocking stones and to convert a large portion of the property to "natural" area, in order to reduce the amount of mowing and to better control runoff. We have checked into solar panels and are probably going to go for it next year. The state of Washington offers tax breaks for homeowners who install solar panels from in-state manufacturers.

The city of Seattle is known for it's progressive legislation, which can lead to much-needed reforms as often as well-meaning debacles. In regards to trash collection, they have provided homeowners with 4 different choices of trash container sizes. There are penalties for having a large proportion of recyclables in your trash. That's the stick; the carrot is the difference in cost to recycle versus waste disposal: a large bag of garbage costs around $6, the same volume of recycling costs a little over $3, and it's just over $2 for yard waste/composting pickup.

We have a large trash roller bin, a large yard waste roller bin, a paper/cans/plastic recycling roller bin, and a smaller recycling bin for bottles. Food waste, excepting meats and dairy, can go into the yard waste bin, which is sent to a composting yard. As I've said before, I don't mind this kind of trash policing, although it forces you to make a trip to the dump if you have an excess of trash. We had about 15 bags of styrofoam packing board from furniture purchases, and it would have been quite expensive to leave them out by the trash cans. It cost me 30 minutes and $10 to take them to the transfer station myself.

In most household trash, about 1/3 is compostable table scraps, including coffee grounds, all veggie scraps, nuts, eggshells, and cereals, such as rice. We've noticed a huge reduction in our weekly trash output since we started separating out these items. We're going to get a composting tumbler for the yard sometime soon, instead of sending our scraps off to the city.

Our countertop composter


Get out there and be a hero!

That 'n This

Okay, time to cover a few items from Monday's post:

1) Why am I the world's worst Puerto Rico player? Could it be because I lose all the time? Like, last place losing, with remarkable consistency. I realize that my argument is a bit circular, but there you have it. Next time I play, it will be opposite day. Then they'll see.

2) What is Seattle's one, true cuisine? If you count coffee, which I don't, then it's coffee. A decent cup can be had at many a venue, but the answer to my query is actually...there isn't one. There isn't a Seattle Dog, or a Seattle Chili, or Seattle Barbecue. No one flocks in to visit the world famous Seattle Deli, or to snap up loaves of that awesome Seattle bread. The famed Cascades and their namesake hops have not inspired much in the way of great beer, at least here in town. I haven't even had a decent cake donut since moving here, but I'm still searching.

One could argue that the fish market is a huge destination, so fish must be the answer. However, you can't pop into a little place in any given neighborhood and get an order of Seattle Fish. There's some good and some bad sushi restaurants. I'm sure that there's some world class seafood to be had downtown, but the same could be said for any number of cities NOT bordering a major port. People go to the market because of the entertainment value of people throwing large fish to one another, and to eat Chinese and Japanese food and buy cheese and souvenirs.



3) What's this about a new couch? Stay tuned.

(see what I did? that's a great example of a "teaser". you have to know what's the deal with the couch, and so you have to come back monday to find out. delicious...)

So what's it like in Seattle?

General
After years of living in a small town like Ann Arbor, it's a little overwhelming to be back in a real city. Here in Seattle, you're never far from a ridge or other vista that lets you get a glimpse of the miles of neighborhoods and businesses all around. Fortunately, that view also includes a lot of trees and parks!

Food and Shopping
The other aspect of city living that takes some adjusting is the amount of choices. We were really lucky in Ann Arbor, in that there were enough palatable restaurants to provide a variety of dining choices (although when you're keeping to a budget, those choices drop off rapidly). I mean, the food wasn't world-beating, but you could get a great breakfast at Zola's, decent middle eastern at Jerusalem Garden, and, most of all, a reasonable price on pizza. I don't know what they pay for cheese and dough in this town, but they charge $17-22 for a basic one-topping large (14") pie here. And it's not really any better than the two large gourmet pizzas we'd get from Cottage Inn for $26 delivered, including tip.

But here, we have experienced the wonder of decent Thai food, DELIVERED AT A REASONABLE PRICE. Yes, please! And there's usually enough for leftovers. Seattle is loaded with restaurants, coffee shops, and bakeries, separated into distinct neighborhoods. Downtown is like most downtowns that have decent shopping and attractions--parking is expensive. Ballard is a large neighborhood that is also tricky for finding cheap parking, but, again, there's a lot of shopping and eating. Most of the other neighborhoods are very convenient. Simply park, and enjoy several blocks of stores and restaurants.

Driving in Seattle
We live north of the canal that connects Lake Washington to Lake Union and the Sound. Most of the streets up here are a grid, although there's just enough tricky geography to force some weird angles and confuse a newbie. Many of the intersections are unregulated: that is, no signs of any kind. You just sort of slow down a bit, look, say a little prayer and zoom on through. There's also no regulations in many places on how closely you can park to the corner, so visibility in these intersections can be quite atrocious. To slow traffic and reduce accidents, the city has installed many so-called roundabouts. These are not the traffic circles of Europe or the East coast. These are simply a circular island in the middle of the intersection that forces a driver to go around in a counter-clockwise direction, yielding to traffic in the intersection or to the right. I call them "Polish stop signs", but Jill thinks that makes me a smaller person, despite the well-known fact that I was raised Polish. If I can't even make Polish jokes, all I have left is bad beer, unhealthy food, passive-aggressiveness, and Polka music. I'm keeping the jokes!

A "roundabout" behind our house




Fun Stuff
In terms of recreation and culture, it appears that many people go skiing on a regular basis. There are many slopes within an hour's drive of here, and apparently it's decent downhill skiing. My only skiing experience has been skittering over the man-made snow and icy patches (and sometimes muddy or grassy patches) of the North Carolina resorts, so I'd be curious to see what powder is like.

More locally, Green Lake, two short blocks from our house, is completely surrounded by a park that includes a swimming pool, 3-mile lakeside path, community theatre, and various ballfields. We've seen lots of grebes, coots, boffleheads, shovelers, mallards and a hooded merganser paddling around the lake, which is closed to motorized vehicles. When the sun comes out, the path fills up quickly with cyclists, rollerbladers, strollers and joggers, and there's a great vibe in the park. We were on the trail this morning when it was just below freezing at mid-morning, and it was packed with people.

On a clear day, you can get a glimpse of the Cascades from the lakeside


A somewhat better view from a ways up the ridge...


...and over the other side of the ridge, you have the Olympic Mountains


Seattle is legendary for its music scene that shows great support for emerging talent. Unfortunately, I doubt that I'll be experiencing that anytime soon, since we're so busy with everything, and can't really afford to invest the time and money into live music (or even recorded music *sniff*) Especially when that's pretty much just my thing. We do hope to get out to the community theaters in the area, to maybe see the symphony, and to hit some galleries. As a center of intelligentsia, there's a lot of support for the arts here. Of course, that means that there's going to be a lot of C-R-A-P out there to wade through, but it also increases the chance of running across something truly transcendent. I think that the varied geography and that aspect of exposure to arts is the main reason that I'm excited to be able to raise Elaine here.

The community theatre on the lake, centered, is right where we get on the path from our house. Phinney Ridge rises in the background, separating us from Ballard and the Sound


Beer (it's fun stuff, but also serious business)
I live within two minutes walking distance of no less than 4 bars and a 24-hour breakfast place. Come visit!

Here is a picture of the local homebrew supply, as of this morning.


It rains in Seattle
So, the weather: It rains every day, just like everyone says. What they don't say is that it just barely rains from pre-dawn to sunrise, at which point it dries up. If there's a system overhead, then of course it will keep raining until that passes, but on any given day, you will get extremely light rain in the morning during the winter, enough to dampen the pavement. On many days, rain will sweep over the city in waves from the Olympic mountains to the west. So most days, there are 2-3 hour windows for going out for a walk in the sun. You just have to watch the sky for a change. And most of the rain is very soft, so that you can get by with a knit cap and a light jacket. There's only been a few days where the rain kept me inside, and I have yet to see a downpour. In the summer, the monthly rainfall drops to an average of 0.9", so this is only a temporary thing.

A dreary day on the lake doesn't mean a day off for the coots (and the hooded merganser)


On an unrelated note...
My DOD-level spy software detected a number of hits from Serbia-Montenegro yesterday. Could it be that Nestor and Ivana have visited these unremarkable halls of perfidy? Please, do speak up and say "Yes, Hello!" if you come back! I hope the move went well, and give Maria a hug for Jill and I.