Mom & Dad in Seattle

My parents came to visit me & Mike for a few days before we left for Washington DC. Mike & I took them to the Seattle Cheese Festival, which was a total disaster. Seattle is completely useless regarding crowd control and this festival was showcasing that ineptness. But, M & D seemed to have a pretty good time, so that's all that matters.

Mike & I also took them to a couple of good restaurants. They wanted to hit Salty's on Alki for good food but we took them to Ponti's instead. I find Salty's is nice if you want to impress people with a nice view and mediocre food. Ponti's also has a good view, if you can get seated on the balcony, but the food is always fantastic.

We also took them to the Elysian on Cappy Hill for fish & chips but were disappointed when we found out they no longer offer fish & chips. But, we still had a nice meal and Dad enjoyed the beer sampler.

Washington DC

We're in Washington, DC this week. This is Mike's first time in the District and Desi's second. Mike is joining Desi on another business trip.

We flew into National on Tuesday, took the Metro to Lafayette Square and checked into the Hotel Sofitel. Super nice hotel right next to the White House where they greet you in French and have good humor when you attempt to respond in kind.

After putting our stuff in our room, #312 overlooking the American Bar Association building, we immediately stopped at the hotel restaurant to grab something to eat. Afterwards, we walked over to the White House so Mike could check it out in person for the first time. It was very awesome!

Desi had business meetings all day Wednesday so Mike spent the day touring the monuments and memorials. His favorite was the FDR memorial which happens to also be Desi's.

Around 4:30pm we met up and moved to our new hotel, the Intown Uptown Inn Bed & Breakfast. We're staying in the Corleone room which is super cool. We don't really have any plans for the rest of our trip. Desi's done with work, so she's officially on vacation now. Some things we have on our list of things to do: Congressional Capitol Tour, National Portrait Gallery, Spy Museum, U Street neighborhood, and Smithsonian. We're in the District until Sunday, so we should have plenty of time to do everything on our short list.

Moving & Shaking

This evening I had the opportunity to meet a number of important people at a cocktail reception being held at McCaw Hall in the Seattle Center. My first opportunity was to meet Warren Buffett. I introduced myself to him and immediately recognized him to be an awesome person. This man is not only amazingly humble but also hilarious and a bit naughty. I enjoyed our short conversation over drinks.

My second opportunity was to meet Bill Gates. Unfortunately, I thought it would be rude to interrupt my conversation with Warren to introduce myself to Bill, so I missed my chance. He was standing next to me the whole time I was talking to Warren, though, which was cool.

I did, however, introduce myself to Melinda Gates, which did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. For those of you who know my Ted Kennedy story, this went slightly worse than that. I introduced myself and then proceeded to brag that my tickets to Elton John were better than her tickets. Why I thought this would be humorous for her to hear is beyond me, though it is funny for normal people that I happen to tell anecdotally. We then bonded on our mutual respect for YouthBuild USA schools and I believe I left no worse than I began, but I'll still spend more time than necessary reflecting on how poorly I handle myself in pivotal situations. Sadly, this is not a new revelation.

When I think of my interactions with people of this caliber I'm reminded of Bridget Jones introducing Mr. Fitzherbert at the launch party for "Kafka's Motorbike". Hilarious for everyone else, but terrible for her. I'll probably laugh about this tomorrow with coworkers, or at least hide my embarrassment behind my sarcasm and self-deprecating remarks.

New York City

I'm in New York City for the weekend, killing time before my meeting in Philadelphia on Monday. I'm staying at the Hotel Newton on W 96th St & Broadway. It's right next to a subway station, so it's super convenient to everything. I've had the best time in the city today.

I took the red-eye from Seattle last night at 11:00pmPT and arrived at JFK this morning at 7:00amET. It was my first experience on a red-eye and I think I managed it rather well. I took the Long Island Railroad from JFK to Penn Station and then grabbed the subway to W 96th. It was very easy but it took me about 90 minutes. I dropped my suitcase off at the hotel before coming back at 2:00pm to check-in, when I rested until about 4:00pm.

The people in NYC are super nice. I've only encountered kind and generous people here. For example, a gentleman saw me struggling with my luggage up the subway stairs this morning and picked up my bag for me and carried it all the way up (and it was a long way) to street level. Also, no one is too busy to answer my stupid tourist questions. On the contrary, everyone I've stopped has responded kindly and then asked me where I'm from, which is super nice.

I spent this morning exploring the city and taking pictures and shopping and I spent this evening at Wicked, which is perhaps the best entertainment money I've ever spent. It was awesome! I bought a singles ticket this afternoon and wound up 4th row center orchestra. What amazing seats!

I haven't been to NYC for almost 10 years, so it's nice to be back. The last time I was here, which was also the first time, was on our honeymoon. We only spent one full day here, so it wasn't really any time at all. Of course, that's all the time I'm spending in NYC this trip, too. Hopefully we'll get back here soon for a longer trip. Perhaps next time my job sends me this way, I can extend the trip and Mike can join me, like what we're doing in Washington, DC later this month.