Quick Financial Article

Usually I won't give financial advice, and today is no exception, but this article was so along the lines of my thoughts, that it just has to be right. LOL, okay I'm kidding but, its either a diamond, or at least a few jewels worth of great information and logic. Thanks Jan for sending this to me!

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/0081908

Enjoy

Another week in the SEA

What's up all? Nothing much happening up here. Its been a slow week but a great one.
But it wasn't so slow for some parts of the company. Boeing rolled out the new 777 freighter. LOL, you can tell its a freighter because there are no windows. Here's one in the production facility. They're manufactured on a moving line just like cars. Three are produced every month. The first is for Air France!!! Now if Air France is buying Boeing...then who is buying Airbus? Anyway I'm already brainwashed as a pro-Boeing junkie. Nah...but it does raise an eyebrow.

Here's a photo at the unveiling ceremony

Don't ask me any specifications. I do not know. I didn't even know they were building a 777 freighter, but it was a great reason to get out of the office. What was crazy was 30 minutes after the ceremony ended, we were chased out the bay, and back to work, and the airplane was taken right back into the factory for the final touches. It wasn't making money just looking pretty. All the pomp and screens and carpet were packed up half hour later. One of the major reasons for this airplane is that 747 freighters may be banned at a few airports in Europe due to noise restrictions. The improved 777 has excellent noise reduction features. Ironically I while we were driving back to work, a 777 for Air India was performing a touch and go at the Paine Field airport right in front of us. It must have passed overhead at about 200ft, and did the touch and go 0.5 miles away and for about 20 seconds of that whole event it just sounded like the passing drone of a semi trailer. The 787 is supposed to be even quieter.

Tom and Shelly visited with their daughter Avery. Avery is cute as hell !!! I managed to catch up with Tom for dinner, and took him to the Thaiger Room for dinner. Now when you say Thaiger Room it sounds like a Thai strip club. Riiiight. Check out the website at http://www.thaigerroom.com/home/ its some of the best food ever! Speaking of food, I found one great Trinidadian restaurant called Pam's kitchen in downtown UW. Some of the best curry I have ever eaten, here are some reviews

http://www.yelp.com/biz/pams-trinidadian-caribbean-kitchen-seattle

I'll be talking a LOT more about this place!

So last weekend it was 85 degrees so we took a hike...as usual. Its our new pass-time. This time we went to Twin Falls. It was our intention to go up Highway 2 in the north of Washington, but the road was closed for the weekend...the snow was melting and that made it prone to avalanches. So we went south, where the majority of the snow was gone.

The hike was 3 miles long and we expected it to be easy. At least that's what the book said. There were little kids on the hike, so how bad could it be. Well when you're out of shape, approaching 30 and extremely naive things catch you by surprise. It was some serious uphill trekking.

So here we are near the base of the hike. Happy, smiling, not knowing what we were in for. The river is actually 3 times bigger than what it normally is in the summer. The melting snow causes it to swell. In Washington last weekend 11 people died from drowning in rivers like this. The water is cold, so even though its 90 degrees...it feels like you're standing next to an air conditioner.

I took this primarily to show how dense the forest in the area is. Its really temperate forest, but its called a rainforest for obvious reasons. The trail is well maintained for this hike.

After 1.5 hours of trekking, and resting and wondering why we were here:

This is the 2nd of the "twin" falls.
Here is the main waterfall, plunging 75ft at many gallons a minute.
So this was one of the easy hikes in the book. Actually it is probably the 2nd easiest. But we picked it because of the prize near the end. Pris and I work on a risk/reward basis when it comes to everything. Anway the hike was stunning as usual, but I learnt that I need to get in shape haha.

Warmth?

Sorry for not posting in so long, and hello

Had a family issue and a bit of a frustrating setback so I am going to post what I should have posted sometime ago. Just really a few descriptions and of course photos. One major event happened last week with my wife's family. They are okay but very shaken from a robbery, so my wife flew back home to spend some time with them. In addition to which WATER spilled on my camera and it no longer takes pictures. It'll cost $160 to fix, and I can probably get one from ebay for that price. Yet until I get our house in Florida rented, and Priscilla starts working I'm not spending a penny. Luckily she has a nice Casio....a pink Casio, so I'll have to be really discreet.

So compliments of Amanda who, as a going away present paid for my wife and I to visit the Seattle Aquarium...here are some photos of the exhibits. Thank you Amanda






I have to admit, that's the first time I saw a seal, the aquarium must have been created a long time ago, and it must have been quite an experience, but now with mega aquariums like Atlanta's this one is still nice but not exceptional. Kids frequently camp out in the aquarium, there are shows from time to time and you can touch and play with the starfish in the exhibits. The variety is small but nevertheless its still an interesting visit. It aquarium does an excellent job of giving the history of Seattle's ocean and river ecology and there are many guides there to give interesting facts about the specimens along the way.

We also took the time to visit the Seattle art museum which has an exhibit called "The Roman's are coming", where Roman art from the Louvre was flown here. It was $10 to get in and we spent 3 hours browsing through the exhibit and only got 1/2 way done! Its was absolutely amazing, unfortunately no pictures are allowed. Get this though, the museum is about 5 stories tall, and we were on 1 floor in one wing. So to tour the whole thing takes a few days, AND the museum is free every 1st Thursday of the month, which means something to do for free.

One thing Pris and I tried to do recently was try to take a drive down the North Cascades Highway. LOL we did about 20 miles of the drive. We heard it was an amazing thing. Well needless to say, I didn't get very far, we must have only gotten to the beginning of the scenery, but the road got lonely fast and it as getting dark. I don't like lonely dark roads in the middle of nowhere. So with the pink camera I took a couple shots.

LOL one day we'll do the whole road, until them I'm going to leave the Cascades to the coyotes and bears.

And yes, this place does get more and more beautiful, but the cold never seems to go away. I was told, I have to wait until the 4th of July and take up skiing if I was going to survive 3 years or more here. I believe that I'll be buying myself some ski equipment very soon. Take it easy for now, will post again soon

Summer for a day

Hi everyone. Its been a while since I last posted. We were in the middle of a move and many more adjustments. I'll explain some later on. However, our latest was that we moved from beloved Belltown (Downtown Seattle) to Lynnwood. Lynnwood is about 10 miles south of Everett which is where I work. I am currently 7 miles from my job, which is awesome.

First let me just say that I'll probably be in the Florida area sometime next month to take care of some real estate stuff. So maybe I can get to see some of you all while I am there. I haven't set a date for my return, but it will most likely be for a week or so.

So Seattle's weather has not disappointed me. Its been as rainy and overcast as it gets. I suppose I am a bit bitter because last week Saturday the temperature was 80 degrees and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I was celebrating the beginning of spring. People were out everywhere buying plants, hiking, and sight seeing. It really felt like a big party. So we decided to take my wife's two cousins hiking. We did a 3 mile hike called the Bluff Loop, which is just east of Issaquah. Issaquah is about 30 miles east of Seattle off I-90. During the hike we came across a tree estimated to be 400 years old. Exciting huh? In any case, it was great to get out and see nature. The area actually consisted of several trails, and we did a combination of 4 trails that day.


We swung back around that day to my favorite spot, Kelly or Kerry whatever the name is, Park. Probably the most spectacular view of the city with Rainier in the background. It was awesome, and there were many people like myself there to see it.

So you see I wasn't lying. It was an amazing day LOL. It may be everyday in Florida, but Florida doesn't look like this. So I mean that weekend I was absolutely fired up. I told Priscilla we're going to go hiking every weekend, and do a different trail etc. Should have kept my mouth shut, because that Sunday the weather changed. The cold and clouds came back. This time though I felt okay, because the sun had made a breakthrough and I was certain that the worst was over.

But then the weather people started to talk about a storm heading this way. Okay, how bad? Maybe an inch of snow. The guys assured me that the weatherman always exaggerates, that we'd see a few flakes and it would be over. After all it is SPRING. Well that Friday before I left work, the snow began. I kept hearing people saying..."Is it sticking?" Sticking to what?....the road....What does that mean?......Your car doesn't get traction. OHHH
That was not fun. But I made it home safely thank God. But here's the deal, that one inch, turned into 6 inches overnight. Not only that, like my friend Daryl said once, I saw hail, sleet, snow and rain, all in one day, repeatedly. We went from summer to winter in one week. Trees were falling, cars were crashing and all the while at work, they just keep saying..."Its not always like this!" LOL. I remember when I started working on the tank and things got busy, they said the same thing, up to the point we were working 50 hours/wk for a year.

So today is Monday and its still cold. But for a reprieve and a nearly involuntary one, we did an activity that brought the beauty of nature back into our lives. In Skagit County, pronounced Ska-jit....I keep messing it up, there is a Tulip festival all month. The weather was frightful but the tulips were delightful, and besides the cops giving out tickets it was a great experience. Sunday morning, our two friends from Florida, Cindy and Marcos called us up asking us if we wanted to go to the festival. It was about 45 minutes north of us, and something we'd never seen, so we decided to brave the weather and go. Well there are no GPS coordinates for this place because its a bunch of farms. So soon Pris and I were lost in the middle of farmtown Washington without technological help. Luckily the gas station we stopped at had a map of the area, since the festival was such a money maker for the town, and we were able to find our way. It was definitely worth it.




Hey and listen I suppose as a side note I'd like to say my job is going fine. I can't give details, because honestly I am absolutely ignorant about what details are proprietary and which ones aren't. Real engineering does exist even if you have to go to a 6 hour meeting to see it. On the other hand, KSC taught me some skills that are invaluable and can be used in the real world. Boeing can pump out 3 airplanes a month on one of its lines and their crane crew is as screwed up as KSC's was LOL, so they both still manage to do amazing stuff. Here's a picture of the Dreamlifter. Since Boeing is now a global company, they obtain many of their parts from overseas suppliers. This airplane (I think bigger than a Guppy) was designed to do just that. Also I posted a picture of the facility with a complete 777 outside, since we are not allowed to use cameras inside. Enjoy.

Well guys take care. Talk to you all soon. By the way, I did go to the Seattle Aquarium. I'll be posting photos and commentary on that soon!!!



Please checkout my photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/Jamel.Bland/Seattle

They can be downloaded and shared...

A Couple Photos

Really I wanted this to be more of a photo blog. Maybe I should make one? So here are some photos of Seattle. I tried to make one artistic so don't laugh. Don't forget to click on the image to see it better. Enjoy

The Olympic Mountain Rage from Queen Anne Seattle

Wider Panoramic with bridges to the city and the local city Marina on the bottom left.

This guy was feeding over 100 pigeons at the park. I snuck this photo of him.

Pike's Place

Hi everyone. Sorry about the long delay in posts. I've been in class, looking for places and taking care of other business. I wanted to talk about Pike's Place Market a little and some of the other things we've found here.

Pike's Place was interesting and lively, but the fish market was a bit disappointing. I've been there about 5 or 6 times now, because its a great place for food, and chillin out. When everyone thinks of Pike's place, they think of the fish market. There are actually 3 fish markets there. Only one of them throws fish. Maybe I am just not there at the right time, but Priscilla and I have only seen about one fish fly there. Even that wasn't so impressive. I even thought, I'd buy a big fish, just so I could photograph the throw....but at 24.99 a pound, I would be a sucker to do such a thing.


This is a little snapshot of the Pike's Place Fish Co. which is the major toursit attraction at the market. It is extremely expensive, I saw some type of crab priced for $190, which is why a lot of people stand around waiting to take photos and not buying much. But the variety and quality of the seafood is exceptional. Here's a really great looking selection at one of the other fish markets. The fish market prices vary by 3-4 dollars, but they all emphasize their ability to ship your selection anywhere, within two days.




One way in which the market's management has been able to rip people off, I mean make money is that they sell the tiles on the market floor. For a fair price, you can have your name engraved into one of the tiles on the market floor, and then have thousands of people step all over it. I suppose the selling point is that its forever. Maybe 10,000 years from now, when they excavate the place, they'll think you were someone important. It may have romantic potential though. LOL or not.


There's also a huge assorment of dried wild flowers at several spots in the market. Apparently you don't have to throw them away. I mentioned this because when I think of dry I think brown and brittle, but these flowers are full of color and don't seem to be wilting. Personally I would have done a crazy thing like put them in water. Luckily I know someone who already tried that.

One quality I like about it, is its diversity. On one end I can get a Japanese calligrapher to paint me a personalized picture, on another end I can get a homemade donut and pickup some almond honey to go with it. Honey is very plentiful in the market, and as my mind wandered, I couldn't help but ask myself the question, is honey a bee's ____? So is the honeycomb just a large bee toilet?

Pike's is really a great place to just visit a few times. As a tourist attraction, one visit is probably enough. If I were living in the city, I'd probably visit it often, since it can be a great place to just hang out.

Seattle is big on public transportation. They are also big on hippies and as a result the green movement. One of things which is really impressive, is that they were able to integrate hybrid technology into their public transportation system. Some of the buses that run local routes in the city run right off the power grid. The buses have these massive antenna that can rotate, which are connected to the powerlines over the whole route of the bus. I don't know how much energy it saves, but I'm guessing it saves on emissions and fuel costs in the long term. With rising gas prices, someone must be getting a few pats on the back for making this move prior to the oil price spike.



Well that's it for now, I'll post two or three other photos on here that I took over the last two weeks. I hope everyone is doing well. Take it easy.

Oh by the way I think you can click on most pictures I post for a better view

Here's the deal. Almost three weeks into this new adventure I'm beginning to see that we as people, have no reason to stay penned up as we are, if we're unhappy or just feel the need to change. That'll hopefully explain itself somewhere in my blog.
Last week I saw with my own eyes, snow caped mountains. I really cannot explain how beautiful they were, but what's remarkable is that I was driving down that same road everyday for 1 week and and I didn't see the mountains right in front my face. Then one day it was clear enough, and I saw that we were surrounded by them. It can be sunny in the city and you still won't be able to see them. The moisture from the Puget Sound rises quickly and masks them from sight.
But on that day, the big daddy of them all, Mount Rainier showed its face






It was an extremely impressive sight. We took this from the park on the north side of the Boeing Field. We only stood there for 10 minutes in awe. Mount Rainier by the Indians is called mother earth. They believed that she watched over them and followed them. According to the locals the mountain looks closer or further away depending on atmospheric conditions in different areas, which may be why the Indians thought the mountain was following them. As sweet as the story is, and as beautiful as this natural wonder is, I'll be living 150 miles north of this volcano, so no matter what mother nature decides to do, it won't include me.

One night while we were settled at home, we decided to check out the best view in Seattle, what else but Seattle itself. So I searched on the internet for the best views of the city. We found a place called Kelly Park which promised to offer us a classic view of the city, especially at night. I plugged it into my trusty GPS and it was only 1.6 miles away!!! What? Two blocks away from me is the Puget Sound, which means I'm almost at sea level, and 1.6 miles away is the best view in Seattle? Well they weren't lying and again we were awestruck by the view.








Nice huh, and the people up here, we're told don't lock their doors, because its a mean hill to get up here as you can imagine.

One interesting and cool thing about Seattle is that the buses run partly off the powergrid. One day I'll post a photo but their are two large moving polls that connect to the powergrid and turn and twist as the bus moves. Now only local buses have this capability, the interstate buses do not.

I've been harping about a few things in the city but I should mention a few things about Boeing. Honestly almost anything I can say about my job in particular is proprietory. I'm probably going to have to give the tourist version later on with lots of photos. So far I'm spending a lot of time in meetings and working on Catia. Catia for those who don't know is a 3D modelling program for engineers. I've got a lot of classes next week, which I look forward to, and a composite course at the University of Washington next semester. Its basically the same as most jobs where I'm assigned a mentor and I have to work out my own learning plan despite their best intentions.

On a side note, yesterday I finally invested in two companies that I have been following for some time, Alibaba.com, the largest asian business to business website, cost me $1.75 per share, and Activision at $26.60 per share, the soon to be leader in pc and console video games. We'll see wht the market has in store for us, these are long term stocks for me.

Well Everyone take care, thanks for reading, and I'll be keeping in touch.