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.

November 8th, 2021 Q8

Hey there,

Day 8.  Cresting the ridge and can see the end from here.  Here is something that has become a trend in quarantine...not needing full sleep.  Have been going to bed late-ish, like 11pm, but keep waking up at 3am.  I was attributing it to jet-lag, and it might still be cause it feels like that, but am thinking that since I am getting almost zero exercise, really no movement at all, that the body doesn't require as much sleep.  Tonight, am gonna bust out the sleeping aids and force sleep.  I mean, now is the worst time to have more conscious hours, and it is days like today when there is no NFL that I look ahead at the itinerary and taking a shower is the highlight.  I looked at ESPN+ and turned on college women's volleyball (American @ Bucknell).  Haven't heard about this feature from any of the other detainees, but will investigate.

OK, confession time.  I wrote the above at breakfast then tried to do some writing, read a book, and the normal q-tine routine.  But after breakfast, turned on the TV and cracked open the Johnnie.  Then, I watched shows, got drunk (not just tipsy) and then passed out.  Woke up late afternoon with a hangover and then needed a pizza..  The young ones out there, that is the definition of old school.  

Day 8...not my finest day.

 

November 5th, 2021 Q7

 Hey there,

Day 7.  Had Italian food delivered last night and after a week of the local slop, it might have been the tastiest meal I've ever had.  And there is enough for round two today, so feeling positive.   I was really gonna try to not constantly share food stuff, but have got to show this morning's breakfast.

Maybe 1/2 a scrambled egg, piece of pig, sad limp broccoli, and in almost every box, a piece of corn that is also soggy and unbuttered/flavored.  It is the main course of two giant mushrooms that was baffling.  They are pretty to be sure, and if they were psychedelic it would make my week.  Was talking to Betty when it arrived and showed it to her.  Now, she'll regularly defend these crimes against humanity, probably just to irritate me, which I respect, but even she said 'you can't eat that!'

A thing I have tried to do ever since I stopped the 9-5 is to not turn on the TV until after dinner cause I know I'd just lie there.  Sports excepted of course.  The show I am savoring in quarantine is Money Heist, which is a bankrobber show from Spain.  If that's your bag, you'll like this.  

Continuing the catch up from the summer, after I dropped B-doll off at school, Boy-o drove home and I trained it up to DC.  When possible, always stay with our family friend Laurie, who is more family than friend.  She always looked after the Boy during his time there and has already hosted Babydoll for a long weekend.  We were talking in advance and we wanted to do something and landed on a road trip to Pittsburgh.  I loved it when we had a quick visit (and famous rental car key drowning in the sewer) a handful of years ago and Laurie had never been but was on her list.  She's also a baseball fan and the Pirates were in town, so off we went. 

Western PA is an area I haven't spent much time in and both times ended in disaster, so was apprehensive.  On the way to Pittsburgh, we stopped at Polymath Park, which has a collection of Frank Lloyd Wright houses.  No photos from that but it was cool.  The real FLW highlight in the area is Fallingwater, but we planned too late and they were booked solid through October.  A good reason to go back that way but plan ahead.  We stayed at a hotel across the river from the baseball stadium and the thing to do is to walk across the Roberto Clemente Bridge into the stadium.  Such great scenery and atmosphere.  The stadium itself is lovely and the views great.  Is in my top 3 baseball places and could be #1 if they figured out their food choices.  Stupid would be the word I'd use for those.

The Pirates stink and didn't know much about their team.  There were a couple of very Japanese guys near us with a sign welcoming Yoshi.  Apparently, they had just acquired Yoshi Tsutsugo and it was his first night on the team.  He didn't start, but came up as a pinch hitter in the 7th and knocked a homerun.  The  smiles on those fans faces were priceless.

Did the Hop On/Off bus thing the next day and always love those.  They uniformly do a nice job of showing you the stuff and then giving some local flavor and history around it.  It was not hard to imagine the place caked in coal dust.  Pittsburgh has some interesting architecture, both old and new, has the arts and sports, and with the confluence of the the three rivers, views are always framed with water and hills.  

One afternoon around sundown, we walked to that point with the fountain (Point State Park) and it is a great outdoor meeting space for the town.

We rode up one of the inclines, which are old cable cars to take the coal workers up to the cheap housing on the steep hills that surround the city.  The three bridges that are of same construction that line up in a row are the Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson bridges.  Rachel Carson wrote the book Silent Spring which detailed how the use of DDT was going through the food chain and causing bird eggs to not fully form, so there were no birds chirping in the Spring, hence the title of the book.  And Andy Warhol was a Pittsburgh native and there is an excellent museum of his stuff.  Everyone knows the Soup Cans, but there was so much more to his life.  I like his stuff, but gained a new and deep appreciation of his life and highly recommend a trip there.

This isn't the Warhol, but rather Randyland, which is a colorful junk art masterpiece that is filled with bugs that bite.  

We were gonna head home, but we didn't need to and started looking around the area for other things to do and landed on going to Punxsutawney.  Of course we had to look for a BnB like Phil Conners and found one that was a Groundhog Day as you could imagine.  Right across the street from the town square where you can visit Phil and his lady friend Phyllis' burrow.  

And of course, a visit to Gobbler's Knob. 

The BnB had a TV and one DVD, which we watched of course.  Not much there in the non-Groundhog Day season, so the BnB was just us, but a lady comes in the morning and made us a feast for breakfast.  We learned a lot about the area from her...like how she has to fight the anti-vaxxers and that her son was into taxidermy. She called us 'Yinz', which is the local version of Y'all, as in, Where yinz all heading to today?  Can now check that off my bucket list.

Our last day was to head back to DC, but on the way we made a couple of stops.  That area is big with the Amish and there were buggies all over the roads.  

We popped into a couple of their shops in the town of Smicksberg and one of them was at an Amish couple's house where they made and sold quilts.  We spent some time talking to the wife who was the sales lady while her husband was working the loom.  As cliche a pair as you could hope for and of course we had to buy something.  I got a pillow that unfolds into a quilt that is cleverly named a quillow.  The lady told us that a widow makes them to make some scratch.  The best part was the names of this couple...Fanny and Enis.  Could not make those up nor think of a better pair of names for them.  One thing the obviously don't make is soap cause they smelled awful.

Our other stop that day was at the Flight 93 Memorial.  Very solemn and well done.  The memorial details the events of the day and it overlooks the field where the plane went down.  They have a gift shop and I could not understand why someone would by a hat or hoodie from it, although not much about Americans surprises me.

The Little League World Series was going on but they weren't allowing non-family in.  Think that'd be a hoot to check out one of these years.   

November 4th, 2021 Q6

 Hiya...Day 6.

Should I be showering every day?  I haven't.  I've been every other day, mainly as I didn't pack a ton of clothes so needed to stretch them out a bit.  Am on track now and I feel way better after, so am gonna start the daily ritual.

Bet you're wondering what he can possibly say that's new.  Think I've made it clear just how awful the food is, but think I may be losing weight, so that's good.  And I am getting my favorite Taiwan Italian food delivered tonight, so that should be a treat.  But you want new, so here it is.

Have documented how great the toilet is and have mastered it.  Can push the 'open all' button in the dark and pee in the middle of the night in a semi-conscious state, and have dialed in the temperature, both seat and spray, to perfection for my body's needs.  I have avoided one button so far and decided to give it a try today.  There are three nether region sprays.  The butt spray, the butt stream, and one that I had yet to try that is in pink with a flat chested lady on it.

I'm no dummy and understand this is for the lady bits, but after 6 days in isolation, am looking for something new.  It did not disappoint.  Am usually glad to give details, but this time, am gonna let your imagination run wild.  

I love comedy.  Was raised by TV and my earliest memories include watching things like Johnny Carson, Laugh In and the Dean Martin Roasts.  I listen regularly to podcasts from folks like Marc Maron and Gilbert Gottfried and my favorite ones are always with other comedians talking about their art.  It is rare that comedians come from stable families and it is clear that dysfunction is to comedy is like hand/eye coordination is to an athlete.  Basically a prerequisite to start.

Of course everyone has some weirdness in their families but I would rate mine low on that totem pole, but have realized that in every interaction with another person, no matter if it is the kids, a good friend or a total stranger, I am searching to make a comment or joke in every utterance.  I cannot help it.  And I am certainly not saying that I am Rodney Dangerfield, but have this subconscious need to try to get the other person to laugh. And am self aware enough to know that turns a lot of people off and that I have strained relationships cause sometimes, I make the crack about that person.  That, or will take the gag to lower/dirtier levels until the audience is disgusted.  I have tried to not do this and simply cannot.

Which is why I complain.  The food or the weather here.  Driving is another good one...these are always rich veins of gold.  I bitch hard about the heat in Taiwan and guess what...I whined hard during the heat dome in Seattle and then when the temps when down to 40 degrees (4 celsius), I complained about that too  It is a place to start and tell my chambered jokes and then try to improvise new ones.  What I am saying is that I know you probably love me because of this trait and also know I have hurt your feelings somewhere along the line too.  It is always in the spirit of trying to make you laugh and always feel bad when it goes over the line and makes people feel bad.  This is not an apology...snakes don't apologize for biting people.  It's just what they do.

OK...dinner time.  So excited.

November 3rd, 2021 Q5

 Hey there,

Day 5.  This blogspot doesn't have a font that looks like I'm scratching how many days I've been in prison so you just have to imagine.  

Here is a picture of last night's meat.

At minimum, that is 75% fat.  But it's pork belly!  How that got to be a food fad, along with poke I will never understand.   I ate the veggies and put it directly back into the hall and will make myself a PB&J.  And I know the Chinese dude in the room across the hall is slobbering that down like a starving dog.  I love PB&J so much.  My mom made me one of them for lunch every day for school and I never complained once.  The only problem with PB&J is that it doesn't go with Scotch.

I got a call this afternoon from the quarantine police.  Am sure they are making sure that we are still in captivity, but they asked if I have any questions.  I do...how will I know if I have a loss of taste when the food being served has no flavor?  

A bit of a milestone today in seeing that both of the kiddies voted in person today.  B-doll apparently couldn't single handily turn the tide in Virginia. Glad they are both participants in democracy...or what is left of it anyway.  Big in the news here today is the election of Taiwanese-American Michelle Wu as the new mayor of Boston.  

Just killed a mosquito in the room.  My fault as I leave the windows open.  Since moving to Taiwan and only going to the States in the summer months, I have had a mosquito bite on my body constantly since 2011. Again, probably my fault as I'm a scab scratcher.  The last month or so spent in Seattle this year, my body was bite free.  That run ends now as the little effer I just killed was loaded down with some of that sweet Imbro sangre.  Every prisoner on death row gets a last meal of his choice.

I had some other writing to do today for another project, so gonna call it a day.  

November 2nd, 2021 Q4

Hey there,

Day 4.  Breakfast was a repeat of day 1, so maybe meals are in a 4 day rotation?  Will be sure to share.  A regular feature of breakfast here is congee.  They love it.  Betty loves it.  It is odor and flavorless and simply do not understand the appeal, but it has to be similar to American prisoners of the Vietnam War craving a soup they ate in captivity made of fish, vegetables, shrimp, coconut milk and 4 kinds of rice.  "They just can't get the spices right!  Let Seymour Skinner explain.

The rest of the breakfast was edible after it was doused in ghost pepper sauce.  Last night's dinner on the other hand was the epitome of all that is wrong with Taiwanese food.  I think they think that this was the grand meal as it had all of the things they love.  Wet fatty slivers of pork over plain rice and a pile of completely flavorless tofu and veggies.  I'd say they taste bad, but they taste like nothing and all of it has that chewy oily texture.  One thing that I should have expected is that my farts smell different.  All those trips on the crowded subway here make a lot more sense now. 

Moving on...this summer was a pretty big year of transitions for our clan.  Betty and I bought a condo in the States and our situation is evolving.  More on that another day.  The Boy graduated from UVA in May and Babydoll entered the same Uni in August.  I made two trips back there this year...one to drop her off at school and the second for Parent's Weekend in October.  This entry is an amalgamation of those two visits.

For both visits, flew to Raleigh, North Carolina as The Boy lives in Durham and works for Big Pharma.  I tell people he's building a better dick pill but is really doing something with a new production line of some vaccine.  HPV I think.  By all measure, he's got it good.  A job he likes, things to do in a city that is young and growing and he has some fun hobbies.  We went there first to see him but also that he wanted to come up for the UVA trips to show Babydoll around and just hang in his old stomping grounds.  

Babydoll struck gold with her dorm assignment.  She is in the athlete's dorm, so they take good care of the building.  Not only that, but for some reason we could not discern, she got into a handicap room.  Not only is the room itself a bit wider to accommodate a wheelchair, but they have their own on suite bathroom for just her and her roommate, and the bathroom is almost as big as their room.  I geeked out about it more than her, but not having to use a community bathroom, especially at a college where weekly puke fests are common, is gonna be a godsend.  Her roommate seems OK and is a neat freak.  B-doll is neat and organized, but this roommate is next level.  Liked her immediately as she insists on people taking off their shoes before entering, but she exhibits OCD traits like wiping everything down with bleach regularly.  I've heard of worse characteristics in a roommate.  

Our time at drop off weekend was spent shopping and eating.  The Boy has places he likes to eat and made reservations for us.  As for shopping, Betty had pre-ordered bedding and some things, but I was there basically to fill in the blanks.  I bought her some booze and some school supplies, but by far the worst for this dad was the trip to Costco.  I like to think that I have a decent rapport with her and have had talks about the opposite sex.  We're at the Costco and I'm pushing the cart (cart pushing and card swiping were my only two responsibilities).  She disappears for a bit and comes back and tosses a box of condoms into the cart.  I mentioned this was Costco, right?  A box of condoms there is mega and comes in a variety pack.  Ribbed, extra large, etc.  What can I say at that point?  The answer to that is absolutely nothing but to suffer in silence.

On Sunday morning, I am up early as usual , and the kids had gone out the night before so we were getting a late start.  I thought that since I had time, B-doll needed some stamps so went to the CVS to buy some.  I haven't bought stamps in ages but used to get them at the drug store.  It's empty and I'm walking to the register and stop for 5 seconds to look at something.  In that instant, a lady walks in and gets in front of me at the register.  She is making a return, which flumoxes the cashier.  That painful transaction over, the lady then asks if she can update her on-line CVS account with a new email or something, and the lady says that needs to be done on line.  The lady is crushed and says "So I need a login?" except this is the South, so she drawls it out as lah-geen.  I know, funny just for me, but still...say it in your thickest Southern accent and tell me it's not funny.  And she's not done...next she needs some nicorette, but not just any nicorrette, she wants the blue kind.  Of course that is behind the counter in a locked case and of course, where is the fuckin' key?  It is in one of the 3 cash registers and I can smell an episode of Let's Make A Deal breaking out.  It's not in the one she is working with, so she had to lah-geen to the next one.  No dice.  Lah-geen to number 3 does the trick and then we get a tour through all the kinds of nicorette that CVS sells.  You would not believe how many shades of blue nicorette comes in but we went through the whole color wheel with the intensity one might buy a wedding ring.   I was looking at my watch since I was to meet the kids in a bit and this all took 15 minutes.  Well at least I am gonna get some stamps.  The cashier lifts up the cash drawer where they keep the stamps and of course...no stamps.  We then go through another round of Let's Make A Deal,  looking behind drawer #'s 2 and 3 and they were all Zonks.  No stamps.  The cashier, as well as the people in the now long line behind me, are surprised at my exhortation of "You have got to be shitting me".

We took out one of The Boy's buddies for dinner one of the nights (tacos...I ate a ton of tacos this summer), and got loose with a couple of margaritas and we shared some college stories for B-dolls benefit.  The Boy and his buddy shared a couple that were entertaining, but they can put those in their own memoirs.  I shared my graduation day story.

Due to being in a study abroad my senior year of high school, I started university in January and graduated in 4 years, so my ceremony was in January as well.  

Quick seque...when I left for school, my folks put me on an airplane with my suitcase (they didn't come with wheels in those days, and a stale bag of chips.  Not only that, but to save on airfare, my flight was into BWI, which is a good hour north of DC, so had to manage an Amtrak train and then the fuckin' metro bus to school by myself.  No internet in those days and I have no recollection as to how I actually did it.  All these kid drop-off rituals are therefore a bit over the top in my opinion.  I checked with my sister, who went to my dad's beloved Princeton, and they didn't accompany her to drop-off either...she still has ill feelings about that.  The joke is that they didn't even give me a bag of chips. 

So my graduation is in January and most kids don't graduate then.  I did have a friend that took 4.5 years to finish, so we went to the ceremony together and our friends all came along to support us.  Side note, my folks didn't come to that either.  I was already living back in LA by this time and had to get back to work, so I had a flight outta town the next morning, and that night we all went out to booze it up.  Many drinks were had.  I found some photos in storage this summer from that night and it is as ugly as I remembered.  Conga lines, necktie used as headband, all of it.  The next morning I was so sick and spent nearly the entire flight puking in the toilet.  Some would call it a successful send off.

About 6 months later I get a call from my friend Laurie.  We had gone back to her house on graduation night to finish the party and she tells me that she just got the pictures back from that night.  Do I need to mention we took photos on film in 1988 and that they had to be developed, etc.?  She says, "That night of the party, why did you pee on my vacuum?"  I saw the photo later and I am in her bathtub, wearing no pants, and you can clearly see my pee stream arcing onto her vacuum.  All I could offer as an explanation or apology was that I was blind drunk.  Then she screams, "I've been using that vacuum for 6 months!"  Ah...college life.

Have been asked a few times if it was hard to say goodbye to B-doll at the end of the weekend, and our hug was nice but didn't get all teary eyed.  After the weekend, I took the train up to DC, and as I'm sitting in the station waiting room, a couple comes in with their little girl.  3-4ish.  Watching them entertain her and such and thinking about those days with mine, that was when I lost it.  

Parent's weekend was two months later and was a good chance to see how she has adapted.  In a word, great..  Friends, activities, parties...she had never been to a football game and before the first one she tells me she got invited to a Gate party or something.  "A tailgate?" I ask.  When I ask her about parties and such she says that due to Covid, or maybe due to some drugging of underclassmen scandals, that frat parties are now invite only..."not everyone gets invited" she says but that she has been a few times.  Gee, a cute girl got invited to a frat party?  Shocker

Took one of her new buddies out for breakfast one of the morning.  Nice girl from Richmond (1/2 Malaysian and 1/2 Taiwanese), we liked her immediately.  Talking to the kids alone, they don't share stuff, but get them with a friend or two and all the info gets shared.  I asked the friend if she had a boyfriend and she said no, and then asked if B-doll had one and she hesitated before saying/asking the crowd "Not yet?".  Apparently Zach and B-doll are circling one another and I heard just this morning that they are attending some formal together.  The good news is that she didn't buy any more condoms at the Costco.  Or is that bad news.  

For better or worse, The Boy has some of my traits.  He talked of having a "vendetta" against some restaurant or something.  The sad part for him is that he bristles when I express vendetta like tendencies.  At dinner at a fancy place that served southern food, we order and the lady goes away.  She comes back and says they don't have any more of the jalepeno corn bread.  A bit sad as that sounded delicious, but whatevs.  Then she comes back and they don't have one of our entrees too.  Humph.  Me and a friend of Paul's that joined us both order the hot chicken sandwich that comes with Dynamite sauce.  This sandwich has all the spice of a Taiwanese congee...none.  It wasn't necessarily bad, just not what was advertised.  I could tell the waitress had had enough of us as I may have made some wisecrack about her not having the food on the menu, so I sent the place a note about it later.  But don't you think they should have comped our desert or something?  

The next night we are at a place and the Boy swears he knows the waitress and never does figure out from where.  She is one of those that spews their restaurants philosophy during the ordering process.  Like, "this is our chef's take on shrimp and grits".  Do people really want a dialogue with the waitress?  I order a Jameson on the rocks and they serve it with crushed ice?  I ask if this is the bartender's take on 'the rocks'?  She doesn't get it.  

Parent's weekend was fine but too many parents.  We went to a football game and that was a hoot.  Seeing them sing their songs and all the pageantry.  During the Good Ol' Song (UVA's theme song), which they sing after every score, at one point everyone says "Fuck Tech".  They are playing Georgia Tech that night and I ask what do they say when they play Clemson or something, and they always say Fuck Tech for Virginia Tech...just a happy coincidence that they are playing another Tech.  At the east end of the stadium, there are no seats, just this huge steep lawn where the students go to mingle.  We went there for a while to see the shenanegins and it is a meat market.  So fun...  

The best moment of the weekend for me was the last day when all of the errands were done, the three of us got family pedicures.  

One more story to share.  The Boy and I drive back to Durham Sunday evening and my plane out is Monday AM.  We're in his pad and his roommate is there too.  He is living with a guy that he's been friends with since Freshman dorm that also got a job at the same Big Pharma place as he and they got this place together.  We're talking about apartments at UVA since B-doll is in the stage of looking for one for next year, and the roommate tells us about their group house Senior year.  There was no doubt in my mind that it was a shit hole, and he tells us about the rats.  Some of the people in their group house, there were 6 or 8 of them, all guys, thought they can just put dishes into the dishwasher without rinsing them off.  The rats would chew through the drain line to get at the tasty bolognese sauce in the dishwasher trap.  The food waste water would then leak into the basement room that one of the guys had and by second semester, black mold had covered one of the walls.  He said they went through 3 dishwashers that year.  Gross.  But then he tells us that they once caught a rat on one of those glue traps.  I ask if it was a mouse or a rat and they both emphatically said in unison with hands about a foot apart, "It was a rat".  Roommate says that The Boy put it in a bag but it started thrashing about violently, so The Boy goes and puts on his boots and stomps on the rat till it thrashed no more.  Ah, college life.  

November 1st, 2021 Q3

 Hey there,

Day 3 is here, and as it is a Monday in Taiwan, that means NFL is on all day.  I always forget that it is the second night of jetlag when sleep is the worst and didn't take enough of my special pills to knock me out, so an early start to the day.  

Here is a fun tip for those with the special electronic toilets.  First thing in the AM, even before things have worked their way down for the morning constitution, sit down and let it splash your privates.  Instant refreshment.  I learn something new every time I use the thing and feel like an explorer who is documenting this new world for y'all.  Kind of like Magellan except instead of circumnavigating the globe, the water is circumnavigating my globes.

They deliver three meals a day, from 8-8:30, 12-12:30 and 6-6:30.  Whether I'm hungry or not, my belly starts grumbling at exactly at 7:30/11:30/5:30 and I react to the doorbell like Pavlov's dog.  Breakfast this morning was two mini-croissants (slightly stale), two pieces of smoked salmon, a hard boiled egg and salad.  And they always give a juice box...this morning was grape.  Sorry, eating, sleeping and pooping are about all I got.

Gotta tell you about lunch today.  It was in 3 containers.  One had some fruit (orange slices, 1/2 a kiwi and 3 cherry tomatoes.  Another had soup.  The third was a cup of noodles (no liquid) with a single piece of cabbage on top.   I ate the cabbage and added hot sauce to the noodles but they had no flavoring at all, so thought they'd be better in the soup.  Rather plain broth and when digging into this mixture, found chunks of meat in it.   It was that chewy wet flavorless texture that does not do it for me so I plucked them out.  Here they are:

That's some good lighting cause they look like some yummy tenders.  I was never pre-med but have seen enough TV shows to be somewhat of an expert and these bad boys looked like appendix (appendices?).  OK, I dumbed that down for those of you not as well versed medically as I.  What they really looked like were duodenums from cadavers of the people from season 1 of My 600-lb Life.  When they take your order, they ask how hot and wet do you like it. 

Finally for today, they had the annual Halloween spooktacular around our neighborhood yesterday.  Missed it obviously, but saw this article that has pix of a couple kids...one dressed up as the locally famous Covid Health Minister and the other as President Tsai.  So effin' clever and cute.  Check it.

October 31st, 2021 Q2

 Hey there,

Day two is here.  Starting this after lunch, which was quite good.  I know.  It was a cup of fruit and veggies, and then there was a hot and sour soup and then a fried cutlet.  Looked like one of their pork specials, but was filled with ham and cheese.  I would actively seek it out on the outside.  So far so good on that.  Betty loaded me up with PB&J fixins but have to open those up as of yet.  If I come out the other end liking Taiwanese food, I just don't know what that'll mean.

Speaking of coming out the other end, the toilet in this place is how I imagine those in heaven working.  

Looks like a normal toilet, but lemme share some of its features.  The lid/seat opens when you walk near it, and will flush and close itself should you leave something in the bowl.  Weird to have it reacting to your presence, but that just makes it my best friend right now.  Will get close to it sometimes just to have it acknowledge my presence.  But that is not what makes it special.  On the wall next to it is the control pad.

They say that there is more technology in your (fill in the blank) than they had in the Apollo missions, and I swear that this thing could easily direct you to the Sea of Tranquility and back.  There are buttons on the top that you can push for a pee or poop depending on what you have deposited, and then buttons that will raise/lower the lid and one for the lid and seat if you are a dude and just need to pee.  The buttons yo see here starting from the left are Off, then two speeds of water to wash your rectum (Rectum? Damn near killed 'em.).  Next to that is one for the lady parts.  I haven't tried that one yet, but it's only day two and you know I'm gonna get in touch with my feminine side soon enough.  And finally, a warm air dryer.  Still working on the buttons below that but suspect they regulate the temperature of the water/air).  I could Google translate the buttons, but it is the mystery of what could happen that is the spice of life.  Air travel, especially a 12 hour jaunt from the States to Taiwan, typically does a number on my bowel movements.  I now put a couple of prune juice cans in my luggage to jump start the flow if needed.  But so far, it is all systems go and in fact have pooped 5 times in the last 24 hours.  Maybe there is some hidden ingredient in this Taiwan chow that they keep a secret...ancient Chinese secret perhaps.

Way too early to complain about the isolation, and with the technology can chat with you all.  What gets me at this point is not being able to go for a walk.  I should be doing some stretching and resistance work...maybe tomorrow.  OK, not tomorrow cause football is gonna be on all day, so the next day.  

Where to start on America this summer.  I went back and looked at the thing I wrote after a couple weeks and those observations held true.  Traffic was markedly better.  All the locals bitch about how lanes were cut back to add bicycle only spaces, but the shit ran smoother.  I wanted to tell these folks that there are people out there that study traffic flows and that sometimes what works is counterintuitive, but like with some of this stuff, getting people to challenge their long held beliefs is not gonna happen.  

With that in mind, want to share my feelings on Jon Gruden.  As a Raider fan since January 1976, he has been part of my experience for a long time.  It was funny when they likened him to Chucky, and he had a moment with us that saw Raider Nation rise to some prominence (until the Tuck Rule).  NFL announcer and back to the Raiders for a contract that was stupid from its conception.  I wasn't a fan of that deal nor of him.  Great brain for offensive schemes, but blind to defense and it was obvious that his interpersonal relationships with the players blew.  I was hardly surprised when the vile crap he spewed came out and good riddance is how I feel.  Here is the thing.  I am a privileged white boy from the valley, and everything that guy said in those emails was the language of my youth.  Walk off a concussion, women's legs are mere pedestals for their titties, and the black shit all were familiar.  Things from your childhood get baked in for better or worse, but then what happens?  For me, I got out.  Study abroads, school in DC and then these last few years traveling everywhere, it is seeing how others live and love and hate.  Not that you can't do that if you never leave home, but suspect it is harder..  I fight the thoughts ingrained in me all the time and it leaks out more than I care to admit and the kids are right there to point it out when it does.  

What the whole affair shows though is that the groups on the bottom are right when they complain the game is rigged.  Gruden coached a group that is wildly black yet he not only skated through, but was promoted to upper management where his take on race was so reprehensible and his power to hire/fire absolute.  When blacks, or women or whomever says the game is stacked against them, believe it.  It's a good place to start. .

October 30th, 2021 Q1

Hey there,

It's been a while.  It is October 30th and I just arrived back in Taiwan.  The rules here are that any arrival into the country must be under strict quarantine for 2 weeks.  Not only that, but you must quarantine in a government authorized location and Betty booked me at the Tango Nanshi, which is located in downtown Taipei.

My thought is to write a daily entry to document my fortitude in handling this isolation, or to give you a peek as someone slowly loses their mind.  

The flight from Seattle to here was quite good.  I think.  Plane left at one in the morning, so was tired to start, but with a Zanax, a stiff whisky (Kavalan...Taiwan style) or two, and a couple/three of the PNW's finest edibles, I slept a good 8-9 hours of the 12 hour flight.  My flight attendant (Vivian) commented that I was a good sleeper.  Vivian also offered at the beginning of the trip that there were two bathrooms for us to use in Biz class, but the one on the left is bigger and would be good for me.  Damn.  There is a matter of fact honesty that some would call brutal in these types, but as a dealer in brutal honesty, have to take it in the spirit in which it was intended.  In this case, so fatty can take a dump in comfort.  

Don't know how many places have this level of quarantine, but there can't be many.  They are getting their vaccination rates up, but not yet to the level where they are willing to let down their guard and have seen next February as the date where enough will have received the shot to let down this particular restriction.  

Upon arrival in Taiwan, you first hit a group of folks right outside the jetway in full hazmat gear that confirms your documents.  This group does not mess around either.  The form I completed in Seattle was on-line to them and they didn't like something, so had to renter it all again.  I'm hungover/jetlagged and am obviously lost, so a dude comes up to help.  He has similar problems with the data entry, going 'huh' several times before calling in the supervisor.  She takes another good 10 minutes and several 'huh's before it finally clicks.  Then onto the regular Customs people.  The locals love telling me what to do...which bathroom to use, what line to go in, etc.  Nothing gets under my skin more than being micromanaged, but this is the land of it.  Baggage carousel is next and they take longer than usual to come out as they spray them all down with disinfectant.  Next, you follow the ropes to a covid test...this one is a spit kind.  Betty had been through this before and she was parched and it took her a while to cough up enough luggies to satisfy the tester.  I stayed fully hydrated and have never had a problem dredging up a good spit.  The test people were a little impressed.

After that, you go to the taxi stand.  No other choice as you gotta go directly to the hotel as shown in your docs.  Before getting in the cab, they spray everyone down with more disinfectant.  Neck to shoes.  Front then back.  And then lift up the shoes so they can spray the bottom of your feet.  What about my balls dude? Something is always incubating down there.  

Taxi ride was uneventful.  Many of the drivers here outfit their rides with shrines to whatever.  Usually it is some stuffed animals, religious medalions, and at least 3 screens.  This driver had three gorillas above her navigation screen that I originally thought were the See/Hear/Speak no evil, but on closer inspection, they were Think/Pray/Hear.  I wanted to know more but alas...translation difficulties.

The hotel room is fine.  Am sure I will document it more later, but it has a balcony, so that helps.  No one ever quite understands me when I tell them how shitty Taiwanese food is.  I can tell they think I'm just crazy cause "Asian food is so good".  They bring you three meals a day to the room...there is a 30 minute delivery window, they drop it off on a table outside the door and ring the bell.  They must ding dong ditch cause the hallway is empty by the time you get to the door.  

Have had three meals delivered today.  The first thing to note about them is that they are all cold.  I get it...boxed meal from somewhere outside the hotel it is gonna be cold.  There is a microwave in the room, so that helps.  Here is a picture of dinner.

Some root veggies bottom right, three cherry tomatoes and half a golden potato bottom left, and then three chunks of white meat chicken over a bet of angel hair pasta with maybe some butter on it.  Flavorless all but not entirely inedible thanks to the Ghost Pepper sauce I packed.

I went to our PO mailbox one last time yesterday and they were selling sauces and had a rare stroke of brilliance to buy the hottest one they had.  And this shit is H-O-T.  Instant nose run.  Made that chicken go from Taiwan bland to ass kickin' with a couple drops.  

Oh yeah...that brown stuff at the top was a mystery at first but was the famous red bean soup.  Sounds good, but the only thing worse than the blind leading the blind is the bland leading the bland.  I'd eat it if I was starving, but it has the taste and consistency of rainwater filtered through a nearly clogged drain.  

I haven't seen the requirement myself, but am told that you can't have booze in the quarantine, and I am not a big drinker so thought it'd be fine without, but at the gate in Seattle was a duty free store so I figured that was a sign.  Took a bottle of Johnnie Black to the counter and the lady said $42, but tells me they are having a special on the Johnnie where two bottles only cost $58.  I mean, would you say no?  So I have my precious brown, which I am enjoying now.  Hotel is very responsive to my request for ice, so I got that going for me.  

OK...that's enough for today.  Am in that part of the jetlag where things are just not all firing.  And I just finished my second stiff pour and am feeling it.  Will try again tomorrow.  Have all kinds of notes about the 5 months spent in the States to share and have the time, so we'll see ya manana.

June 9th, 2021

Hey there,

We made it.  To the States, off of Covid Island, into our new Condo, etc.  I did not want to count any chickens until we hit the ground as there were rumors (mostly spread by the group of Latina women Betty is on a group chat with in Taiwan), that we couldn't get a Covid test needed to get on the plane, and they started canceling flights.  And the flight to Seattle had a stretch of as bad turbulence to the point it felt the plane was gonna come apart.  For some reason that must have a scientific answer, there is always a stretch over Japan where the air masses meet in some way to really shake things up.  

Was weird being on a plane and just traveling  The airport out was eerily quiet and we got through all the checkpoints with no lines.  Whenever you get into lines at the airport, immediately do social profiling of those in front to see who is gonna be slow through security.  Kids, old people and Asians are typically the red flags, but in Taiwan, it is all Asian, so what to do?  In these times, we learned to stay away from getting in line behind the HazMat crews.  So many, 20% I'd estimate, of the people in the airport and on our flight had full contagion gear.  Double masked, face shield and the suit that covers the feet all the way to a hood.  I bit disconcerting to see, but even more of a pain as manipulating the TSA checkpoint becomes a 10 step process.

Everyone in Seattle seems to be good about masks, both in the transport nodes and around town. It's only been a couple days but it doesn't feel like this is our town anymore.  10+ years away will do that...not sure about what road to take, shocked at seeing big asses crammed into stretch pants, and as our little corner of Taipei is full of (white) people from the American school, it was a good 3 days before I looked at every white person here and assumed I knew them.  

And it really doesn't feel like Covid is a big thing anymore.  Everyone wears the masks, but all the stores are full and our friends don't seem to have much concern about getting together.  Many of them said this was the first or second time they'd been out with friends in a restaurant since March last year.    Am sure that is not how it felt pre-vaccine and it is hard for us to grasp all of what y'all went through, and we know how fortunate we are to have dodged the mess last year, and to have a place to go now that Taiwan has succumbed   Feel bad for Taiwan as they are not vaccinated and in full blown outbreak after not having it at all till now.  1200 cases and 8 deaths through May 18th, 2021, and 12K cases and 300 dead since.  

Keeping an eye on our news sources, a couple of articles stood out.  Here is one about your typical butt hole getting hassled for not wearing a mask at the 7-11 and doing some weird dance at the automatic door.  Being a tool regarding masks is hardly an American quality.  

Then there was this story.  A local man who was wanted by police was identified at the train station and when cops went to arrest him, he pulled out a machete and attacked them.  They were ultimately OK and the dude was arrested, but what jumped off the page was the headline...Unmasked Man Attacks Police With Machete leading an avid reader like me to think that being unmasked was the worst part of the offense.

A couple of initial thoughts on America,  First, there is no traffic.  Everyone says people are going back to work and that a lot more have September as the time they all go back, but I know several people whose jobs have moved on-line permanently.  Whatevs...it is great not having traffic to deal with.  It could be that there is just less volume, but it feels like there are less a-holes on the road.  You see them of course, but they stick out like sore thumbs.  Have been doing a lot of comparisons between the States and Taiwan and driving seems better here now.  One thing that is annoying is that here, Betty knows where she is and likes to provide opinions on routes to take.  I prefer her being a passenger in Taiwan where she has no idea where she is.

Even if most people go back to work, they sure as hell ain't going back to downtown Seattle en masse as it has become a ghost town.  OR maybe zombieville as it seems that the downtown core has been completely abandoned to the homeless  So many closed businesses and with few office workers, no foot traffic to revitalize the businesses that have made it this far once they reopen.  I can't comprehend how my old office at Nordstrom has made it through.  We've been downtown a few times for haircuts and doctors appointments, and what would have taken 20 minutes to navigate through now takes 5, which is a good thing as the entire area smells like piss.  It was bad with the homeless last time we were here two years ago, but the transformation is stunning and depressing, and still do not really understand where they all came from.  A buddy says the root cause is the 2008 housing crash as so many people lost their homes and while they rallied for a while, the money ran out.  Maybe...it is an explanation I hadn't heard before but I do know that it'll take years for it to come back to life.

Another thing that feels different is that customer service has totally tanked.  Stores that used to be fun to go shopping, like Bed, Bath and Beyond, have little inventory and selection, and the folks working there are unknowledgeable and uninterested in becoming more invested in their workplace.  Even have found fault with my bread and butter's service level. I keep hearing complaints from businesses that they can't find workers cause they make more money being on unemployment with the implication that the people are sponging off 'us taxpayers'.  Perhaps the shitty wages you were paying could use a bump?

What isn't a surprise but is so welcome is that the weather is ideal.  It hit the 90's for a couple days, but it changes every day and has dipped into the low 50's.  Every day is great, the skies are blue and clouds puffy.  I hummed Everybody's Talkin' for days..."I'm going where the sun keeps shining, through the pouring rain.  Going where the weather suits my clothes" Indeed.

We are quite happy with our new place.  Was nervous as we had never seen it till we walked in, and while I can now see the imperfections, it is in a great spot.  We can drive to everything in 30 minutes or less.  The little market next door sells everything...not gonna do all our shopping there as it is more expensive, but for a last minute ingredient, it has it all.  And not only do they have a great wine selection, but they butcher their own meat and have things that Betty loves, like corned beef and pastrami...and prime rib on Friday and Saturday.  One of the restaurants across the street serves booze till 2am and the kitchen is open until 1am.  The late night restaurant runs are fewer for us these days, but still nice to have.  

It is smaller than our Taipei place by a little bit, but feels big enough.  Betty is having a hard time with it though...she has been fully absorbed by the Costco hive and so buys in bulk and there just isn't the room for all the giant sized everything.  To her credit, she realizes it, but still cannot resist.

We sorta joked that this place was the bridge from a big place with kids to the old folks home.  Was not unfounded as the residents here are all our age to their 70's and we already feel like the young blood.  We drove into the place for the first time and when we got into the elevator, this was taped above the buttons.

A hearing aid.  My and my cane feel right at home.  Speaking of which, my repaired knee feels fantastic.  It is 5 months in as of yesterday I don't even think about it and caught myself the other day going down stairs in a way I haven't in decades

It is the view that takes it over the top.  We have a full Rainier view and while it is obscured a lot of the time, when it is out it never looks the same.  Have taken some photos but the camera on the phone doesn't do it justice.  At dawn and dusk, it turns all the shades of pink and orange and purple.  Sometimes the clouds cover the bottom and only the peak sticks out, and sometimes the top is covered and you can only see the middle.  The clouds themselves have been interesting too.  I like 'em puffy, but think that when they are streaked with some sunset glow that it looks like a Monet painting.   I like Monet.

Not sure how often I will post in this space...has been hard as we have been constantly shopping or having people come in to measure this or deliver that, but intend to try.  And now that the former Prez had abandoned his blog, I may be the last man standing.