November 7th, 2021 Q9

Hey there,

Well now.   Yesterday was not my finest moment, but it broke things up.   I got the full night's sleep and feel rejuvenated today, so maybe just what the doctor ordered?  I also met my neighbors yesterday...above me is Yvonne.  She moved to NYC in '95 and works as an accountant.  She came home to visit her folks.  To my left is Eldwin, who is a Filipino doctor specializing in liver something-or-other.  They both seem nice enough.  We had our group chat yesterday at the peak of my boozing, so hope I didn't do anything to untoward.  As part of my day drinking evening hangover, I had to order a pizza last night.  Meat lovers...it was real good.  And tonight is Indian food from the place I like, so things are looking up.'

Have four themes to share from summer and will get through them this week.  Today, I wanna tell you about our new abode and neighborhood.  This is a longer one, and I don't complain once, so not a ton of jokes.  There is at least one though...tell me when you see it.  Tomorrow is football day, so is the one time a week when I am perfectly happy watching Red Zone inside for 7 hours, which also means that it'll be a short entry, so you know.

OK.

This is where I update you on where we are at regarding our future.  Since we pulled up stakes, it has been relatively fluid as to where we are to live.  Short recap...it's around Christmas in 2011 when Betty gets her wish.  They want to send her to Asia for a job she has been advocating for for a few years.  It is presented to me at the time as a two year stint.  I think it is her dream gig and I'm all for the world traveler thing, so fine by me.  By the time it comes to fill in the kids (7th and 3rd grade at the time), it somehow changed to 3 years, but sure.  Next, they want her longer and she agrees to another 2 years to get The Boy through High School and B-doll through Middle School.  And finally, another 4 years to get our youngest through High School.  Am on board with all of it as the school is fantastic, it is a great deal for our finances, and Betty seems to still love her gig.  That her work loves what she is doing, saying yes to all is a no brainer, and so we are booked till June 2021, when both kids will be ensconced in the States.

So this summer has been a target and we had been slowly looking at the Seattle housing scene cause we are gonna need a place.  Our net was cast wide cause we had no base and could really pick anywhere.  We loved our old neighborhood in Ballard, but the logistics of getting to Betty's work from there was always a pain and one that made no sense in continuing.  Another consideration was what kind of place did we want.  House, condo, even houseboats were mentioned.  Having it be in a place that had places to walk to, access to civilization, etc. was another must.  We were not gonna live in the boonies.  So we hit Zillow and started tossing back ideas to each other.  We soon narrowed it down to Kirkland, downtown Bellevue and Seattle on the east side of town.  And one more thing that became a must as we started looking was a view, preferably of some water.

Kirkland seemed to be the leader to start cause it was on Lake Washington and has a nice downtown core with shops and places to eat that seemed nice.  We sorta focused on that for a period, but the inventory was limited and what we did like seemed old and tired, or too cookie cutter.  

Downtown Bellevue became the next area we focused on.  It is blowing up there with new places going up all over to satisfy the growing businesses (like Google) and their new workers.  We looked at a ton of them, even had our real estate person go in and video tour it for us, but the word we kept hearing from folks in town was that downtown Bellevue isn't really great for pedestrians and very antiseptic.  Upon spending time there this last summer, could not agree more with them.  It was in my mind that with all the people living there, it would have to have the feel of a New York City.  Maybe one day, but today it is like Disneyland's take on NYC.

I should mention here that it had always been in the back of our mind to get a condo in downtown Seattle once the kids were gone cause in those days, Seattle was the shit.  The walking, the vibe, all of it was just what we wanted, but as will be detailed later, downtown Seattle has become unlivable.

Also around this time, we're talking pretty much all through Covid, they tell Betty they would love for her to stay longer in Taiwan.  During the initial stages of the pandemic, I could tell Betty was worried about her gig cause it entails a ton of travel, which had instantly vanished, so why keep her there?  To her credit, she pivoted her team's focus and kept up a level of work that the company loved.

Another thing we came to realize during this search process was that we both had become comfortable with apartment life.  No yard work, access to all of the things we love via public transport or by foot, and that we needed life.  We've watched in the news and amongst our friends, that since going into work everyday had now become on-line, people were moving to islands or rural areas away from the urban cores.  I think I'd kill someone and on this point, Betty and I are in lock step.   Quick poll question...if Betty and I lived in rural wherever, which one of us would end up being chopped up and fed to the pigs?  

Always in our searches were the Seattle neighborhoods on the east side of the city that bordered Lake Washington.  Madison Park down to Seward Park.  Close to the city and transportation nodes, walkability, lake views and if you did it right, of Mount Rainier.  The problem was there were just not many places that ticked all our boxes.  Giant (and expensive) houses that we did not need or want, or condos too small and/or without views.  One day, one popped up that seemed to have it all.  Lakeside, little community nearby with a market and restaurants, and was appointed with all the features we wanted, one being that it was a three bedroom cause Betty wants the kids to come back and stay with us..  Our real estate person went in and we live chatted with her, and it was as great as Zillow made it look.  A bit on the high end of our price range, but we could make it work.  As the lady is walking us through, she gets to the view and says, to the left is a long apartment building that is on stilts over the lake, and it effectively cut the view in half, with the obscured half blocking Mount Rainier.  If we are gonna spend that much to live on a lake, we demand that view and not of one looking at 30 apartments (and those same looking at us).  This was in the neighborhood called Leschi.  Am sure I drove through it at some point but don't remember when.

One day, a place pops up in Leschi and our lady sends it to us.  Not sure if she sent it first or we saw it simultaneously, but it seemed to hit all the right notes.  We did the video walkthrough and both of us said yes.  The Seattle housing market has been red hot for years and good places don't last long so we agree to make an offer.  This is a condo with 16 units that had just gone through a massive remodel.  Later on when we told people where we lived, anyone that knows the area would say that it was the place covered in scaffolding for 3 years.  The problem (for them) was that the re-mod didn't go seemlessly and they had to fire the first contractor, and since everyone gets sued, this guy sued the building for wrongful termination and lost business and that it was still pending.  We learned that for any property for sale that is under litigation, banks would not finance a mortgage, so it had to be be purchased in cash.  That worked for us as we had invested the money from selling our Ballard place 10 years earlier and had the cash.  It also allowed us to offer 100K less cause the competition to buy was then almost eliminated.  So within a few days of seeing it, we were the owners of a three bedroom condo in Leschi.

The buying process was amazingly easy...Docusign a couple times and Bob's your uncle.  Was it hard buying sight unseen?  Not hard, but some apprehension.  We totally trusted our real estate lady, she's family and not the bad kind, so were comfortable that it was a decent deal.  One thing you don't get buying sight unseen is all the little flaws a place has.  Carpeting had some marks on it, there was a bad door, little shit like that, but with a full building remodel and the previous owner a single older lady, was in great shape overall.

We have been asked by just about everyone...are we living in Seattle now?  My answer every time starts with a stammer.  Kinda?  There is simply no easier answer nor one that is yes or no.  Betty likes this job.  She could probably go back to Seattle, but she worked in the office there this summer and liked it OK, but she has a lot of bosses there while in TW, she is the Queen.  One thing about Betty, she likes being the boss/bossing people around.  Her job is great for us in so many ways financially.  So she is gonna keep on with it...maybe we'll both spend more time in Seattle and since I don't have to be here for the kids at school anymore, I can extend summer, much like this year.  So yes, we do live in Seattle and no we don't.  We hope that once this quarantine crap ends, we can go back and forth easier, but we are simply gonna go with the flow and improvise when needed. 

Well, I said that it was gonna be a short recap, but what is a short recap anyway.  Now is when I get to tell you how effin' great this spot is.  

First of all...logistics.  They are important.  Almost the most important thing.  Mentioned I had never actually been to this spot that I can remember, but did a thorough review of it on Google maps.  Things like what's in the neighborhood, how to get to the freeways, work, friends, and it seemed pretty good.  Reality ended up being even better.  It is directly east of the downtown core.  We are on the equivalent of 34th street to the east.  But the part of downtown that you think of being a downtown fades away at about 20th, so residential from there.  There is a bus stop across the street that goes through downtown in about 15 minutes.  I took it a bunch...can go from door to door to the Mariners stadium in 34 minutes.  Took it to the light rail to go to/from the airport and managed to get there in under an hour (while driving takes 27 minutes with no traffic), and it cost $2.75 to get there rather than a $50+ Uber.

The other feature of this location is that it is 22-28 minutes from virtually anywhere we wanted to drive.  Why that is is that since it is downtown, you go a bit north or south to hit a freeway and by those points, have passed the typical mid-town bottlenecks.  And those little north/south routes are along the lake or arboretum, which makes them soothing.  Getting to the eastside of the lake is just as easy as we are 7 minutes from the 90 and once on that, we are cruising.  I drove Betty to/from work a lot and there was not a single day I hit traffic.  24 minutes there, 24 minutes back.  There is good shopping on the eastside too, so if we wanted a Nordstrom Rack or the nice mall, whatevs, very convenient.  And the surrounding neighborhoods were a pleasant surprise too.  We had been conditioned to think that the area between the nice lakefront stuff and downtown were a ghetto, and who wants to drive through a ghetto every day?  

That was simply not reality.  Ethnic means ghetto to some, but to us it means all the different foods.  There is easily 15 Ethiopian restaurants in a short radius and plenty of everything else to satisfy any urge  We didn't get to explore it all, but "what to have for dinner" became a question that was not easily answered.  I appreciate that this area is very mixed and you see all the colors of the rainbow all the time.  

Our immediate street is nice too.  On the first floor of our building is a Starbucks, which is nice to have.  There is very little business right on the lake, but this is one of the few spots that does, so this Starbucks is a community meeting point.  On weekends, it becomes bike mecca where clubs and people meet up before going on rides around the lake.  For example and from our balcony.

Next to that is Leschi Market.  It is small, but they have everything you could possibly need, just at prices almost double what you'd get at the Safeway, so not doing grocery shopping there, but if one needs a some broccoli or a pack of guacamole mix in a pinch, they got it.  What they do excel at are having an amazing wine selection and a quality butcher.  The wine selection is known throughout town and there is a dude that is there mainly to help you pick out something nice.  The butcher makes their own sausages and meats...Betty in particular liked that they made Prime Rib on Fri/Sat.  There are also three restaurants there too.  Daniel's Broiler is a Seattle meat lover institution.  Felt a bit dated to me and certainly not worth the money, but I'm not a steak lover.  There is a brunch joint too, one that is always full but I never went.  Betty said it was good but pricey, but to be fair, every restaurant in Seattle (and America) has gotten pricey.  Finally, there is the Blu Water Bistro.  Nice bar that has all the games on, a pool table, etc. and is always lively.  Their food leave a lot to be desired, but the kitchen stays open till 1am.  My days of 1am wing runs are in the rear view mirror, but it is nice to have and makes it a party spot.  You can hear laughter late, sometimes drunks are screaming at the bike racks at 2am, which might turn off some but I love that there is life about.  If there is a big game on TV, you can hear people cheering when something happens.  Didn't live there long enough to be regulars, but have become friendly with some of the staff and the owner.  We were having a cocktail there one evening and they had just reopened after being closed a week.  Asked the dude what was up and it was some electrical issue.  Blu Water also has an ATM so if cash was needed fast, a rarity in this era, you could get it there.  Probably should have said "had" an ATM cause it wasn't there this night.  Asked what had happened and he said that when they were closed, people had broken in and stolen their machine in the middle of the night.  He directed us to their Facebook page that had video of the incident.  Pretty entertaining...maybe you can see it at this link.  The huevos people have are amazing.  Love that their security camera is covered in spiderwebs.  Walking into a spiderweb is a daily Seattle thing.  

Our requirement that the place have a view was well informed.  Mount Rainier is a wonder.  It dominates the view, when it is out of course, but it doesn't ever look the same.  A lot of days it is cloudy so you can't see it.  Other days are clear and it feels like you can touch it.   Then it is hazy from the fires so takes on a different feel.  At times, the clouds are low, so you only see the peak and at others, they are high enough to cover the peak but you can still see the middle.  It is so big that it creates its own weather, and it'll have a little cloud wisp on the top, like a yarmulke.  Over the summer, the snow melted and there were large portions where you could see brown, and then one day it got cold and snowy so when the next clear day came, it was a brilliant white.  

The lake does stuff too.  Boats are always a feature, and we'll get the odd seaplane coming in.  I was told by a friend that lives on the lake up the street that the wind blows N-S half the day, then turns and goes S-N.  Can't remember which way, but look forward to learning more.  A lake doesn't create the weather as the ocean does, and I love ocean weather, but maybe not a bad thing as it is far more consistent.  A couple of times in October it got pretty cold, and in the morning, the water was warmer than the air so steam rose across the water like a bubbling cauldron.  We are eastern facing (hope that means positive feng shui), so the moon rises in front of us, and when it is full, it initially grows large and lights up the water as it rises.  We miss blood sunsets since we face east, but this is a nice second prize.  That doesn't mean we totally miss some sunset love as some days the sun will be almost down, but as Rainier rises so high, it will glow red/pink/orange  and be the only color in eyes view.

And speaking of red/pink/orange, while we aren't in foliage country, the trees across the street are those that turn color.  As I was fortunate enough to stay into October, was delighted to watch the change of seasons for the first time in a long time.

We were asked a few times if we were gonna get a boat and that will never happen.  Looking to have someone take us out for a day so we can see what it's all about, but no way would a purchase be considered.  But we can interact with the lake.  This might just be apocryphal, but was told that in the days where Seattle was being developed, the area agreed that the lakefront in this stretch should have public access and there are beaches up and down the line...the only area on the entire lake where this is the case.  In the summer when it got hot, they were jammed with families having picnics and younger ones sunning themselves on the piers that dot the area.  The piers have diving boards for even more play time.  The Boy said that in Middle School, he would take the bus here with his pals and hang out, and Babydoll would go with friends there this summer to do whatever kids do.  I went in a couple times but still have a problem with it as it is a lake and swimming in it makes me a bit uncomfortable as it is full of migratory birds that poop.  One day, the kids and I went over for a dip, and as we are walking home , I'm behind B-doll and she is in her bikini and can basically see 90% of her ass.  I say, "I can see your entire ass", and both she and the boy turn their heads and say in unison, 'that's the point.'  Ugh.    On all the warm weekends, the area is filled with cars and people and is a great scene.

One of my favorite features of the view is that we see almost the entirety of the 90 floating bridge.  Lake Washington is super deep due to the fact that it was carved out by glaciers, so could not have a traditional type bridge.  The bridge therefore is straight and rests at the waterline.  What I love about it is that the flow of traffic is hypnotic.  As a car guy, it does something to my soul.

Finally, my form of exercise is walking.  With my knees, I like to walk where it is flat and kinda guessed that this area was gonna be good for that, but turned out to be better than imagined.  Can walk either way, right along the water, for as long as I wanted.  I explored both ways out the door for the first few weeks.  To the north, there is an end point about 3 miles away where the lake gives way to a marshy area near the University of Washington, but could never go far enough south for the walk to diminish in enjoyment.  So started to drive a bit down and start the walk there to explore more of the trails, and they kept getting better.  One day, went far enough to see this area called Seward Park.  I thought Seward Park was a neighborhood and did not know about the park itself.  It is a peninsula that juts into the lake that is all green space.  There is a shore loop that is absolutely flat and paved and runs right along the water the entire way.  From one end to the other is 2.5 miles with posts every 1/2 mile to let you know how far you are, so a perfect walk for me is to go one way and then go back the other for a 5 mile stroll.  On a clear day, two volcanos come into view, as well as both Seattle and Bellevue skylines in parts and just green trees in most others.  It is popular with the locals as there are always people and their dogs or strollers to people watch.  Absolutely perfect set-up for yours truly.  

And then there are the birds.  The lake is home to all kinds.  The prettiest have to be the Blue Herons.  They don't seem to travel in flocks and are not high in number, but you'll catch one standing there from time to time with its long legs and colorful plumage.  Majestic they are.

Of course there are crows.  Not lake exclusive, but I learned something about them this year that I did not know.  Along with some of their other traits, like being able to recognize faces and hold grudges like they're in the mafia, but they are sometimes really loud.  For whatever reason, I noticed it even more and how they seemed to be screaming bloody murder.  It was explained to me that in the Spring, they have their babies and they make their nests low to the ground.  If you get near to the offspring, the crows will scream their lungs out.  If you happen really close to one, they will take more direct action.  Was on a trail one day and heard some crow screaming.  Then they started to fly closer and closer to the point I heard the air moving as it came so close to my head.  They were between me and my house, so looked around and found a big stick, which I waved about to get through the danger zone.  It'd be a better story if I actually hit one, but alas.  Once I was almost out of their exclusion area, a lady was walking the other way and could see some concern on her face, so offered her my stick and said 'you may need this.'

Ducks are all about all the time too.  They seem to not be concerned with humans as they will walk right next to you.  They have pretty little green and blue feathers and are quite cute.  The Boy loves himself some duck meat too.  In the Spring on my walks, saw many little momma ducks with their babies and twice stood in the middle of the road to stop traffic and allow these little families to cross the street in safety.

Geese are abundant...probably the most so.  Geese are the best when they are flying in V-formation, but when they are just in giant packs eating grass, not so adorable.  Their shits don't stink but they are prolific shitters.  They are big too.  Would be walking along and a group of 20-30 would be in front of the trail calmly eating away.  They would clear out of the path, but real slowly and it is unsettling with the 40 pound wild animals would just eye you as you'd walk by.

Lastly, there are eagles.  You don's see a ton of them, but they are there.  Gorgeous creatures...one day am strolling along and two of them are harassing a seagull.  There aren't many seagulls, but as opportunists, they will come this far inland.  

Side note...do you know why seagulls typically fly over the sea?  Cause if they flew over the bay, they'd be called bagels.  That joke courtesy of the sandwich board outside of Leschi Market.

Stop to watch this drama play out and so do all the other people walking around.  The eagles are pissed at this seagull and will not let it go.  One of them chases it towards the other one, who then goes after it with its sharp talons.  After a few of these attacks, one strikes the seagull on a wing and the gull falls to the water.  It's not dead cause it is thrashing about in the water, but it's unable to fly away.  The eagles seem satisfied and fly away, but they are not done with their victim.  Way off to the side, here comes an eagle...flying lower and lower and just gliding like a bomber on a run until it gets to the seagull in the water and takes another shot at it.  They do this 4 or 5 more times before they are done.  The seagull is still in distress and not only is the crowd on shore enthralled, but there are boats in the water watching the action too.  On the lake in the mornings there many people rowing crew.  Some of them must be from the UW, which has a world class rowing program, but there are many boats of people preparing for dragon boat races.  I know this cause I see them congregating at the pier near our place.  On this day, one of those is nearby and the lead boat, which I presume holds the coxswain, stops by the gull in an attempt to rescue the seagull.  They try everything, from scooping it up with an oar and even with the lady jumping into try and get it in the boat.  This thing is freaking out and will just not let the people get to it.  Not all days have as much high drama as this, but there is always something to look at...

There it is...my love letter to Leschi.  We hope you come and visit us one day.