An Expat's Life: How To Make Friends

Childhood friend

When I moved to Seattle in 1999, having only ever lived in the house where I was born and raised in West Valley City, Utah (represent!), I had a hard time making friends. It was the first time I realized both how important friends are as well as the fact that I had no idea how one goes about making them.

Being born and raised in one place, I'd never grappled with the need to make friends because it had always just happened (plus, with no internet, my options were fairly limited). As a kid it's easy and, as you grow, when you don't have to start from scratch, you never really recognize when you're making friends. One day you just have a new person to call or hangout with. But, when you don't know anyone, and everything is new, making friends becomes a deliberate activity.

Seattle friends

In Seattle, making friends was hard. Without any experience, Mike & I faltered and failed more than once. Eventually, however, we wound up with an amazing group of friends. It took about two years before we had any real friends though, and we met those almost exclusively through our various jobs.

In 2010, when we moved to Dundee, we encountered the same conundrum. We went back to our notes from our early days in Seattle, hoping to duplicate our successes and minimize our failures, desperate for immediate results as we didn't have 11 years to cultivate friendships, as we had in Seattle. We were on an accelerated timeline and wanted friends NOW! And, looking back, we were fairly successful. We still have friends from our early days in Dundee, both from my various jobs as well as Mike's school. But, we weren't really successful until we moved to London in 2012.

London friends

In London we discovered the magic of the Yelp community and, with it, our first expat community. Since Yelp was still in its early days in London, most in the community were expats and expats, as we found, are instant friends. Additionally, I wound up working at a stellar organization with topnotch colleagues and became fast friends with most of them too. Within weeks of arriving in London we had an amazing group of friends, both locals and expats.

In New York City we attempted all the tricks we'd picked up in London and prior. Unfortunately, like we've been saying, New York City was hard and what worked for us previously wasn't really working for us there. But, since we maintained our expat skills, and expats are usually open to new experiences, I persevered and eventually discovered the HarlemGo Meetup Group.

NYC friends

Meetup is very popular in New York City and HarlemGo, though not providing us with any long-term friends, provided us with some much needed socialization. Eventually, we also wound up crafting a really good group of friends through our jobs.

When we moved to Taiwan last year we were immediately greeted by a large group of expats, instant friends, because Mike's new colleagues, native English speaking teachers, are all expats. But, we're also keen to make friends with some locals, though our inability to speak the local language is proving a difficult obstacle. Still, as expats we persevere.

Kaohsiung friends

Earlier this month, while revisiting some of our old tricks, I came across Conversation Kaohsiung, a Meetup group of mostly locals wanting to practice their language skills. This group has already proven quite fruitful as we've already gone to multiple events with them or those we've met through them. It's a very promising start.

Additionally, last week Yelp announced their expansion into Taiwan and, though the community is in its infancy, I'm optimistic that it might be able to play a similar role for us here as it did in London. We're also set to begin Chinese lessons in April, which will hopefully help us overcome that pesky language issue.

Our time in Taiwan has already been exceptional and these new developments will hopefully only add to our experience here, no doubt making it that much harder to leave when the time comes. But, if and when we do leave, making friends is no longer the obstacle it once was because of the lessons we've learned from the trials and tribulations we've faced in the past. By being open to new experiences and not afraid of trying new things, we're meeting new people from all around the world and getting to call them friends. Our friends enrich our lives exponentially. We only hope they're getting something out of it too.

Council Tax

I got my council tax bill yesterday; £800 for the year (including student discount).  Council tax is one of these cultural differences that I'm having a really hard time with.  For those uninitiated, council tax is a local government charge on all domestic properties. In my head, I've equated council tax with property tax in the States; "it helps to fund local services such as schools, libraries, and refuse collection".  But, the issue I'm having a hard time accepting/understanding is the fact that, as a renter, I'm responsible for any tax at all that is associated with the property.

According to a friend (who owns her flat), everyone pays council tax.  Rather than it being strictly the responsibility of the property owner, renters pay the council tax associated with the flat they're occupying whilst the property owner pays the council tax for wherever they might be living (if in the UK).  If the property is unoccupied, the cost reverts to the property owner but at a 50% discount.  Other discounts can apply, including for single occupants and students.

The mental hurdle I'm encountering is the fact that I'm a renter and, as such, I believe I shouldn't have to pay taxes for a property I don't own.  If I was renting in Seattle, the city would bill me for my personal garbage collection and utilities (including sewage, electricity, and water) but I would not have to pay any tax associated with the property I was occupying or for city maintenance (one of the perks of renting).

An equally maddening issue is what this city does with these funds.  Some of the more egregious offences, as I see them, are as follows:

1. The city owns the waste management services; rather than contracting to a private company, the city owns the trucks and machinery and all waste management staff are city employees. 
2. There is a 'leisure centre' with a swimming pool and water slides (the Brits love their water parks) though the University of Dundee is less than a mile away with a pool of its own (though no slides).  Why are there two pools within a mile of each other, both of which I have to pay to use (if I wanted to, which I don't), and at least one of which I'm paying for with my council taxes?
3. I've just visited the Leisure website for Dundee and am even further offended by Dundee Ice Arena, Indoor Sports Centres, and Lochee Swim Centre (another one?).  Why are my tax dollars paying for an ice arena or indoor sports centre (or additional pool)?

Perhaps if I had purchased property in Dundee these expenses would be reasonable; as a property owner, I would want to invest in my neighbourhood to assist the appreciation of my personal property.  But, as both a renter and a foreigner, I'm having a hard time coming to terms with this concept of forcing the transient populations to invest in a city of which they have no vested interest.  Am I wrong?

As an aside, I had wondered if perhaps this method of collecting taxes was an incentive to purchase property (if the owner isn't responsible for the taxes, perhaps it becomes more financially feasible for some to purchase income properties) but, after speaking with my friend, she doesn't believe that's the case.  In fact, there doesn't appear to be any incentive for home ownership here (i.e. no tax breaks).  Apparently, the only incentive for home ownership is the investment, or perceived investment.  My friend answered, "if you're renting, you're throwing your money away".  Of course, the same argument can be said for home ownership, especially in this housing climate and especially if you don't get an annual tax break.

November

Not much to report for the month of November.  Stateside, our Seattle house should close early next week.  We had to short sell, which wasn't ideal but, with our reduced circumstances, necessary.  Although we'll miss our first house, we're actually thrilled to be rid of it.  We're still going through a period of shedding adult responsibilities and living simply with the goal of no monthly payments and no financial responsibilities.  Of course, we still have council tax, rent, mobiles, and internet, and probably always will, but nothing we can't just walk away from.  We have a bit more Stateside debt to shed before we're where we want to be but soon we'll begin to resemble the financially carefree souls we were in our youth (but, hopefully, a bit wiser).

On this side of the pond, November proved to be relatively quiet.  We didn't do anything for bonfire night (Guy Fawkes Night, 5 Nov) nor the Christmas lighting celebration in the city centre this past Friday.  We did, however, venture out for the NEoN Digital Arts Festival where we enjoyed a PechaKucha night and I got to volunteer as a photographer at the debating event.  We also headed out to explore Blair Atholl and Glen Tilt for our November ramble.

As we were reminded recently, last week was Thanksgiving back in the States.  We haven't started celebrating American holidays over here yet and, consequently, it almost completely went unnoticed.  Celebrating American holidays abroad is perhaps something people do when they have children or a larger ex-pat community or perhaps if they're longing for 'home' but, since we're none of the above, we haven't yet felt the need to export any of those celebrations or traditions.  Besides, Thanksgiving is kind of a bullshit holiday.

Forgetting the bullshit origin stories about the harvest or pilgrims and indians and just looking at what Thanksgiving has become, I get that it provides a chance to give thanks and blah blah blah but doesn't the existence of a day to give thanks allow for the option to not give thanks the rest of the year?  Shouldn't one always be giving thanks?  Like the signs I see on public transportation labelling a few seats as priority for the disabled or pregnant; shouldn't all seats be priority seats?  Shouldn't everyone be empowered to offer their seat to anyone who might need it?  The existence of those signs seemingly absolves those sitting elsewhere of the moral obligation to offer their seat when necessary.  I reject the idea that being nice requires a sign or a holiday.  Just be nice.

If you did celebrate Thanksgiving, however, we hope you had a happy one.  And, if you didn't, we hope you enjoyed your Thursday.

What We'll Miss

It goes without saying that we'll miss our friends.  But, our colleagues and jobs are definitely high on our list, too.  Both of us have great jobs, ones that we enjoy and that we're good at.  We both have great coworkers, people who make our jobs that much more enjoyable.  They will be missed.

We'll miss the Pacific Northwest.  We didn't get to explore as much as 11 years might suggest.  We should have spent more time in Canada and on the Olympic Peninsula.  We should have explored the eastern side of the mountains more and other parts of Oregon and Montana.  We should have spent more time on the coast.

We'll miss Shiku's Honey Roll and Joey's Blue Cheese Fries.

We'll miss our little Columbia City house.

Columbia City, You Were Good To Us

On June 26th, Mike and I begin our move to Scotland with a short detour to the west side of Queen Anne.  We have to be out of our cute little 1931 Columbia City bungalow by June 28th, when our new tenants will be moving in.  Expecting a 4-12 week vacancy, we were planning on remaining in our house until our August move to Scotland.  But, because our house rented in, what we believe to be, record time (less than two weeks), we've had to make alternative arrangements.

Our closest Seattle friends are allowing us to squat in their mother-in-law apartment on Queen Anne for six weeks.  This arrangement will allow us to spend more time with them than ever before which, we hope, will provide for fond memories of our last weeks in Seattle.  Additionally, in our 11 years in Seattle we have never lived on Queen Anne.  So, not only will this experience provide us with more time with friends but it will also allow us an opportunity to explore Seattle further before leaving it.

We don't foresee ever moving back to our Columbia City bungalow, or to Seattle for that matter.  And, realistically, we may never see our first home again.  It has been good to us though, especially these last few years, and we count ourselves lucky that we bought it when we did.  Even the bad times - no heat, no hot water, flooded basement, broken sewage pipes - are turning into good memories and we will, no doubt, look back on these years quite fondly.

Burgers, Bingo, and Brews

Not sure what possessed us, but last night we took advantage of a community benefit for the local senior center: "Burgers, Bingo & Brews."  This is something that is completely out of character for us, especially due to Desi's fear of the elderly, but there was no fighting her genetic addiction to bingo.  Plus, for only $52 (for both of us) we received entertainment (in the form of playing bingo and also watching people play bingo), food, and beer.  

Many quotable lines from the night, including "You only need to fill one box on your special" and "it's not a REAL bingo," the latter yelled by one of the senior players regarding the late call of "Bingo!" from one of the newbies.  Apparently, you have to call "bingo" before the next number is called.  Who knew?

Honestly, this was a great night!  And, we especially enjoyed getting to share it with our good friend T-Bird, who we were all sure was going to win the final blackout.  Unfortunately, none of us got to scream out the magic word but that has not prevented the bingo bug from biting us.  Sadly, the next round isn't until late August, and we hope to be nestling into our Dundee digs by that time.  Anyone know if bingo is big in Scotland?

Car-less In Seattle

In May 2004 we decided to buy a car that we would keep forever.  We were tired of the car buying experience and wanted something that we would love, and that would last, longer than it took to pay off the car loan.  Mike did hours of research, including reading articles, attending the International Car Show, visiting a couple car dealerships to speak directly with salesmen, and then finally making the purchase.  We put a lot of effort into making an educated and responsible decision and we wound up buying a gorgeous and fun 2004 Acura RSX Type-S.  This was Mike's dream car and he loved it. 

We sold Mike's dream car yesterday.

The selling of Mike's dream car makes us car-less in Seattle, changing our day-to-day life and affecting us more acutely than anything we've done thus far in our preparations for relocation.  We felt it's loss almost immediately, after just selling it and wanting to run to the ATM to deposit the money we had just received we realized that there would be no more "running" anywhere. 

Going car-less is a life changing event.  We have to change our mindset and it won't happen overnight.  But, because we don't plan on having a car again, at least not while we're abroad, we'll have plenty of time to get used to our new state of being.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

For most of our years in Seattle we've been going down to Desi's uncle's place in Dallas, Oregon for Thanksgiving. They put on this fantastic feast every year. But, this year, having never spent a Thanksgiving by ourselves in Seattle, we wanted what may be our last Thanksgiving in Seattle to be a Thanksgiving spent in Seattle. So, we made reservations at Salty's on Alki, a restaurant renowned for it's amazing view of Seattle and pretty good food. They provide a Thanksgiving Day buffet that includes the traditional turkey and ham options but also offers oysters on the half shell, Dungeness crab legs, and prime rib, plus all the sides and a variety of desserts. Rather than just treating it like any other meal out, we decided to make a Seattle day of it, using public transportation. What would've only been a two hour meal turned into a five hour adventure. We had so much fun waiting for the buses and walking the nearly 4 miles from our bus stops to our destinations. Rather than just having a memorable meal we had a memorable experience. And, that's exactly what we wanted.

Hot Yoga

The first and last time Desi experienced hot (Bikram) yoga was in 2002 when we lived in Belltown. She walked away from her first hot yoga experience with a distaste for the practice because the studio she had chosen, Belltown Yoga (no longer in business), had locked her in the 90-110 degree room for the entire 90 minute class. Not expecting to be locked in a hot room for 90 minutes, and also not truly comprehending what 90-110 degrees would feel like, Desi had not mentally prepared herself for the experience and did not find it relaxing nor beneficial. In fact, it may have traumatized her.

Recently, however, Desi has been struggling with a few issues where the idea of hot yoga as the solution has proved intriguing. First, she hurt her back while renovating the second bedroom this past weekend. Probably nothing too serious, but enough pain to cause her to want to begin strengthening her core and lower back muscles. Plus, she still worries that her shoulder muscles aren't strong enough to prevent another injury similar to the one she experienced while snowboarding in early 2008.

Second, the lethargy that comes with the Seattle winters is settling in upon her regardless of how hard she tries to prevent it. The rain and darkness are preventing her from commuting to work via bicycle and her intention to join a gym to combat the lethargy is met with the reality of her laziness, which won't even allow her to get to the gym to sign up let alone go regularly to exercise.

Surprisingly, 7 years after a very bad first impression, these recent issues have led her back to hot yoga. The idea of being in a hot room practicing yoga seems almost comforting to her now. And, having tested this theory this past Tuesday, she enjoyed herself so much that she has even convinced Mike to join her on occasion.

Being in a room that hot for 60-90 minutes during these winter days is like being wrapped in a warm blanket and sitting next to a fireplace. Hopefully, the infusion of heat and the regular sessions will prove enough of a distraction to get us through these next few months of dark and wet days and also provide Desi with the core building she needs to prevent further injuries.

October Blues

October is a sad month in Seattle. Phrases like, "I can't believe it's still this dark at 9AM," or "I come to work in the dark and I leave for home in the dark," are common conversation starters and stoppers at this time of year. A gloom begins to settle over the city and her people, replacing the radiant glow that was another long and lovely Seattle summer.

As dreary and as long as Seattle's winters are, October is the worst of it. Although the weather in October does begin to deteriorate, getting colder, wetter and darker, it's the fact that this weather trend is just beginning, coupled with the anticipation of the long, dark winter ahead, that makes October so unbearable. 

When we first moved to Seattle the dreariness of the Seattle winters didn't affect us, not until our 3rd year. Once the winters started to have a negative affect on us we decided "Winter Sun" vacations were in order. In the winter of 2003 we initiated what we had hoped would be an annual tradition of chasing the sun.

Unfortunately, though our initial trip to Zihuatenejo, Mexico was amazing, this idea hasn't happened regularly enough to be a reliable defense against Seattle's winters.

Next, we tried to work with the elements rather than against them and took up snowboarding. Although she lived in Salt Lake City, UT for 21 years, Desi had never learned how to ski or snowboard. Starting from scratch, she took lessons at Mount Baker and we both got fully outfitted. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the minimum 2 hour one way drive to decent snow or to the high ski lift ticket prices, snowboarding has not become the escape we initially predicted nor the distraction we require.

Now, in 2009, with the idea that this may be our last winter in Seattle, we need to develop a new strategy for getting through these next few months. Winter doesn't end in Seattle until May. Though there may be some nice days, and even some warm ones, beginning in February, those respites are surrounded by dreariness until near the end of May and sometimes into June.

With some "Winter Sun" trips already planned, and one trip dedicated to snowboarding, we hope this season will pass quickly. However, when it eventually does pass, we'll undoubtedly become sentimental about the passing of our last winter in Seattle, regardless of how miserable it actually was.

SUP With You

A few weeks ago, my summer 2009 goal of Stand Up Paddle boarding became a reality when Tanya and I hit Shilshole Bay with a couple of rented SUP boards from Cheka Looka Surf Shop. The rental was $25 for 2 hours.

There were many things that intimidated me about my first SUP trip. First of all, large bodies of water scare me, especially those that contain orcas and other man eating wildlife. Secondly, the waters of the Puget Sound are freezing, and I don't like being wet or cold and definitely not both at the same time. And, finally, there is a scene in one of the Gidget movies, where Gidget gets tangled in seaweed while surfing with the boys and almost drowns, that has always haunted me. But, having made mental peace with the assumption that I'd be spending the whole of those 2 hours in the water (plus, having confirmed with the surf shop dude that he hadn't lost any customers to orcas), I was up for this challenge.

Of course, the surf shop dude created a new fear when he said there was a sea lion nosing people's boards. As a fan of Arrested Development, the idea of a loose seal in the water had me scared of losing a hand. But, a few Buster references later and I was back in the game.

Upon hitting the water, armed with my mental preparedness for being an utter failure, I didn't spend much time on my knees, in the beginners pose. Instead, I jumped right up on my board and began to paddle around like a pro. Surprisingly, I spent the whole 2 hours mostly upright and didn't fall into the water once.

We saw the sea lion almost immediately upon entering the water but it didn't nose either of our boards. It did, however, get uncomfortably close and it wasn't responding to either the cougar defense (big and loud) or the bear defense (play dead). But, it did get bored with us and move on rather quickly, though we kept an eye out for it the whole time.

Undoubtedly, my first SUP experience was one of the best times on the water I've ever had. Tanya & I couldn't stop laughing. Plus, given much more practice, I feel like this is definitely a sport I could master.

Noodle Ranch

The Noodle Ranch is located on 2nd & Bell in Belltown. It is one of a string of cheap eateries that fill this block, next to Lava Lounge, Mama's Mexican Kitchen, and Shorty's. Mike & I were never regulars here when we lived in Belltown but we always wanted to be.

Recently I was reminded of the awesomeness that is the Noodle Ranch happy hour. They're "happy hour size" offerings are generous and their drinks are cheap. Plus, with their location near other cheap eateries, when happy hour ends at the Noodle Ranch one can simply stumble into the neighboring establishment to continue the revelry for basically happy hour prices.

Discovery Park

Yesterday, in another attempt to add more activity into her life, Desi commuted via bicycle to work (5.1 miles) and to Discovery Park (5.0 miles), where she and a friend hiked for 2 hours.

Discovery Park, located along Elliott Bay near downtown Seattle, is an oasis for city dwellers, encapsulating the varying ecosystems available throughout the Pacific Northwest within one small area. The plan is to continue hiking after work, at least once a week, until it starts getting dark at 3PM, as it does here in Seattle during the winter months. Once those months roll around, though, she'll have to develop a new plan for combating lethargy.

Seattle Happy Hour Favorites

Recent favorites include any place with drink specials and at least one food item containing truffle oil and/or salt.

Troiani - located in downtown Seattle, this lovely new experience includes $5 truffle French fries, $3 flat bread pizzas, and $5 lemon drops. On a recent trip we also discovered their free WiFi. Happy hour is from 1PM to close (seriously!) M-F and 5PM to close on Saturdays, which is perfect for post-show libations. The only downside is the parking situation. But, on a recent weekday visit, street parking was eventually found.

Smash - located in Wallingford, this neighborhood spot has sidewalk dining available, $9 truffled white cheddar macaroni and cheese, $6 fruity martinis, and $5 sangrias. Happy hour is from 5-6:30PM. Besides being in Wallingford (nightmare traffic situation), the only downside to this spot is the duration of it's happy hour.

Noc Noc - located in the seedy part of downtown Seattle, this old standby has no food specials containing truffled anything. In fact, I'm pretty sure if you asked for anything truffled you might get your ass handed to you by both the staff as well as the clientele, as it should be. With $5 PBR 40's, $3 food specials (including tater tots), and $10 bottles of wine, you don't really come here for the class. It's a good time, plain and simple. Huge, comfy booths and amazing people watching. Downside? There is no downside.

Dragonfish - located in downtown Seattle, this is an amazing happy hour spot for sushi lovers. However, there are several downsides. First of all, this place is very popular and there is limited seating. There is often a wait list for happy hour seats. Secondly, happy hour ends at 6PM so it's possible to still be waiting for a table when happy hour ends. Additionally, parking is terrible and the location, right next to the Paramount Theatre, is great for the restaurant but horrible for the customers because show nights make it ridiculously crowded.

Happy Anniversary!

We celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary this past Thursday, June 25. We had a small celebration at The Local Vine post-work but saved the bulk of the celebration for the weekend when we would be celebrating in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

After 10 years of living in Seattle, it feels as though we have been woefully neglectful of our neighbor to the north. We have only been to Vancouver thrice before and anywhere in British Columbia only 3 additional times (Whistler once, Victoria twice). Six times in 10 years, when less than 3 hours away from Seattle, is a sad commentary on our weekend priorities. What have we been doing with our time?

We left Seattle leisurely on Saturday morning and arrived at our hotel mid-afternoon. We were staying right on Robson Street, the main arterial north/south through downtown, at The Blue Horizon. We had dinner reservations at The William Tell and then strolled through the city for the remainder of the evening.
On Sunday we had breakfast at the crepes restaurant next to our hotel, did some shopping, and then jumped in the car to explore some of North Vancouver's parks. We drove through Mt Seymour Provincial Park and Lynn Canyon Park. We stopped in the former for a few pictures and just drove through the latter due to crowds. No hiking for us this time around.
After a sushi lunch outside of Lynn Canyon, we started States bound. We had such a great time on this trip that we've already got our next Vancouver weekend planned. It'll consist of Rodney's Oyster House in Yaletown, probably the same hotel, and a bike ride through Stanley Park. Plus, there was this restaurant that served only desserts that Desi really wanted to try but the timing just didn't work out. Next time, though, we'll be sure to plan around it.

I Remember This Being Easier

Saturday morning we decided to ride our bicycles around Lake Washington. Desi did this last year and found the ride to be really nice, though she got stung by a bee along West Lake Sammamish and was caught in a freak downpour during the last quarter of the 55 mile ride. Still, she recommended the ride highly and said it would be relatively easy, especially after all our experience on organized rides thus far this year.

The ride turned out to be the most difficult of all rides so far this year, including both the challenging Portland ride in February and the Camano Climb from earlier this month. The difficulty was mostly due to the fact that we weren't prepared for the distance combined with the heat (it reached around 80 degrees) so we didn't have enough water. Additionally, perhaps we've begun to rely too heavily upon supported rides and their conveniences because we didn't have rest stops planned and we hadn't eaten before departing the house at 11AM, perhaps expecting to find free food randomly provided along the route.

The elevation gain was probably equivalent to the Camano Climb ride. The first half of the ride, from Columbia City along the Burke-Gilman Trail to Woodinville, was flat and fantastic. It winds along Lake Washington and connects to the Sammamish River Trail, bringing us to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery (below, our first rest stop) without traffic or difficulty. But, the second half, from Woodinville along Lake Sammamish and across Lake Washington via I-90, was disastrous! Almost all uphill along West Lake Sammamish, a very busy road and with no designated rest stops. We ran out of water along this part and the only park we found was private property with an entrance fee.

In the pictures below you see us resting on a small patch of grass on the side of West Lake Sammamish (where Desi has depleted both water supplies and is very near tears), at a rest stop on Mercer Island, and overlooking I-90 (the bike trail is on the left). Once we got back onto the trail, along I-90, we were still out of water and Desi had almost given up totally. We finally found a place to fill up our water bottles in Bellevue, with approximately 10 miles left before home.

We got home around 4:30PM. We're both amazed that we did the ride but Desi is perplexed regarding the increased difficulty this time around. She's in better shape this year, with more miles under her belt, so she doesn't understand the difference between how easy she remembers the ride from last year and the ride she barely survived yesterday. She's absolutely stunned by the difficulty and yet we'll most likely do the ride a few more times this year because it is such a lovely ride. But, next time, we'll plan for a hard, unsupported ride to help alleviate any of the self-induced difficulties we encountered this time around.

Good Times Together

After much pressure, Mike finally agreed to participate in a supported bike ride with Desi as long as 1) the route was flat, and 2) there were no hills.  The McClinchy Mile offered a 34-mile, flat option that seemed to meet both of Mike's requirements.  Thus, Mike completed his first supported bike ride with Desi yesterday morning.

Mike was able to complete the ride in approximately 3-hours, which is super fast, especially for a newbie.  The route wasn't exactly flat either, though Desi thought it was pretty close.  The ladies staffing the finish line fawned all over Mike when they heard this was his first ride.  He's pretty proud of himself, and rightly so.

Once Again

Hey, asshole! You cut me off and then slam on your brakes. I flash my brights at you to alert you to my irritation. You DO NOT get to honk at me! I did nothing wrong. YOU DID! I hate Seattle drivers!

Seattle Drivers Suck!

Typically, the guy in the other car is the bad driver. The one that cut you off or the guy driving erratically or too fast for your taste, etc. It's always the other guy. Except when you're the other guy. When you're the other guy you justify that cut off, and you're skilled not erratic and you're not going fast but everyone else is going slow, etc. You're never the bad driver. Well, I'm often the bad driver.

I'm the guy riding too close, going too fast, weaving in and out of traffic. I'm the aggressive driver. And, I'm fully aware of it. And, I'll usually give the other guy some slack when the other guy is being the bad driver. I don't know the situation or emergency or anything, so I don't judge. I just give them plenty of room and let them be. However, there are some things I have no patience for and that's utter and complete lack of respect for the common man or acts of superiority.

For instance, when a dude is going 50 MPH on the freeway (typical min is 45 MPH and max is 55-70 MPH) in the fast lane because he thinks he's going fast enough and no one should be going faster so he's going to block everyone that wants to go faster because this douche bag thinks he knows everything. Perfect example of an act of superiority.

Another example--when some asshole wants to turn right but the right lane is backed up, so he blows down the left lane until his turn comes up and then stops and attempts a right turn from the left lane, both stopping traffic and forcing someone, who waited in line like a good citizen, to let a line jumper in. This is an example of both a lack of respect for the common man as well as an act of superiority because this douche bag thinks he was better than everyone else waiting in line.

Now, I can usually tolerate this type of behaviour on the rare day when I come across it. True, I get inordinately angry, but I don't throw eggs or bang my car into theirs, etc. However, in Seattle I'll witness this type of behaviour multiple times on any given day and my patience has now been exhausted. Yesterday, some asshole is blocking the intersection (sometimes accident, sometimes just pure lack of respect for the common man). I gently honk to let him know the light has changed, just in case he's the former (accidental blockage) versus the latter (asshole), and point to the second lane, which is not blocking the intersection. Douche bag doesn't go with the obligatory "I'm sorry" wave nor the "I'm embarrassed" shrug. Instead, loser goes with the trusty middle finger solute. Seriously!?

But, that's the default in this city. There's no obligatory "I'm sorry" waves or "I'm embarrassed" shrugs. Everything is "You're the Asshole" middle finger solute. Hey, dumb ass! You're the asshole blocking the intersection! You're not allowed to flip anyone off! You get flipped off! Douche Bag!

If this city's bad drivers exhibited any sense of remorse for their bad behaviour, than I may not want to knife any of them in the eye. Instead, I want to knife them all in the eye and egg their cars and slam my truck into their passenger door. Apparently, the guy calling attention to the bad behaviour is the bad guy and, in Seattle, that guy appears to be me. I hate Seattle drivers!

Apocalypse Now

This is Day 5 of Snow Storm 2008, otherwise known as the apocalypse. Mike's been trying to get into work but was only successful on Friday, and required assistance getting home because Seattle decided to cut bus service. Desi hasn't even tried to go to work because she's able to work from home. We walked to the grocery store a couple times for supplies, to Walgreen's for some jigsaw puzzles, and Game Crazy for an XBOX game. But, otherwise, we've stayed inside the house and just marvelled at the accumulating snow. We haven't seen snow like this since we moved to Seattle. Typically, if it snows in Seattle it only snows about an inch and then disappears within a few hours. But, this snow has been on the ground for over a week (12/13 was the first storm) with a few more snow storms on top of it. We've got more than 8 inches in our yard and we're expecting another storm tonight. Stores are running out of supplies because trucks aren't able to make deliveries and trash is piling up because trucks can't make collections. We're pretty sure this is the first sign of the apocalypse.