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