Something

I was told to post "something" so there it is.

Long time no post. I don't know, I haven't been into it lately and that's the entire battle. I got out of whatever routine I had and I didn't have the motivation to start up again. Don't have it now either to be honest but I figured what the heck here goes.

Here is the trip to Vancouver from January. There are some funny photo's in there but I didn't really do anything with them. There are lots of randoms.



Here is a Curling adventure in March. Some blurry ones - the ice was slippery.



My birthday was not all that long ago and some friends gave me 30 balloons for some reason. Here is the adventures the balloons went on.



The waterfall was really fun.

Enjoy.

Throwback

Last weekend I was in Bellingham WA for a BBQ at my cousins place. She finished up her second year of Law School and decided to throw a little shindig at her place about 90 minutes north of Seattle. It was excellent times and I saw some wildlife, stars, and got annoyed with a 9 year old.

My car had an issue with a low tire and I screwed around and didn't air it up as soon as I noticed it. Big Mistake. I took it in after a little while and ended up buying $900 worth of tires and alignment. Stupid Subaru with their all wheel drive and fragile transmissions. Grrrrrr. Mostly I'm just annoyed with myself though.

Right now I'm in Scranton PA (actually Hazleton PA but who's gonna notice, right?) drinking a "throwback" Mt. Dew, which means they are using real sugar instead of High Fructose Corn Syrup because people thinks a real sugar will end up making you less fat than a processed sugar. Mmmmm, sugar. There is not a lot to eat in Hazleton PA but we ended up with Chicken Wings and Yuengling beer. Now I'm doing work in a hotel room and watching the NBA conference finals. Blah.

I'm back in PA in just a few weeks too; double blah.

I turned 30

As a reward for turning 30 a few of my friends sent 30 balloons to my office to make sure people knew it was my special day. Well, the balloons got a tour of the town and saw quite a few funny things. Here is a small sample of the larger series of pictures to follow.








Balloons on the march.
















Watching the Space Needle













This random guy was going to turn 30 too!













His wife really liked the balloons - that's why he ended up with them
















Japanese tourists LOVE balloons - she didn't speak English

















Purple and Shadows!


















I sold a balloon for a quarter




















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Mmmmm Bacon

I have Bacon Lip Balm on my desk at the moment. Maybe I'm way to big of fan of Bacon Salt related products but I think this stuff is hilarious. I have no intention of using this stuff but it's a logical extension if you love the taste of bacon that much.

In case people have forgot, I went to a Baconaise wrestling event not to long ago so you can see this not just a passing fad for me.

I sent some Bacon Salt to Afghanistan around the same time to a relative in the military. It goes well on popcorn I was told. Mmmmmmmm Bacon.

34 Cards, 30 ballons, 1 party,

Priceless.

That's what turning 30 was to me. To date I've received 34 birthday cards from a variety of people ranging from my 3rd grade superintendent (maybe principal I'm not sure), middle school gym teacher, various relatives, people I've never met, and one card with no signature and no return address from somewhere in New Hampshire. My mother claims not to know the origins of these cards but I don't really believe her on this one. Thank you to everybody who sent a card. I intend to send thank you notes, which is very rare for me, but I think people deserve it for the effort they put into this exercise. I don't believe you mom.

I did get 30 Balloons sent to me a work as well. Friends from college got together and conspired with friends from Seattle to figure out my work address. There was a singing princess balloon, which was a popular thing to set off at work during the course of the day. Tomorrow I intend to walk around with the balloons and have people take pictures of me in front of Seattle landmarks. It should be fun times and similar to Amelie.

When I got home I went over to my friends place thinking it was to meet up for drinks before dinner and heading to dinner. I was wrong on that count too. It was a surprise party and I was 100% oblivious even though the receptionist was trying to ruin it by asking me "are you here for the surprise party?" I still had no clue. It was well played by many people so it truly was a surprise. After heading to a bar and getting a few shots and and drinking a fair amount of beer it was an excellent birthday. I didn't do 30 shots before you ask.

May 2nd was the first Saturday in May and that means the Kentucky Derby is being run. As a random event a few of us went down to Emerald Downs, the Seattle horse track, to play the ponies and watch the Simulcast of the Derby. I didn't win any big money on the Derby but I did hit a Trifecta Box on a race in Seattle that payed out over 40 to 1 so most of my random bets were covered. It was a good way to spend my birthday weekend. A little sushi and some kickball rounded out my weekend.

I'm 30 and, frankly, it doesn't feel any different that 29 and 360 days old felt. 30 was a hell of a lot scarier when I was 18, 21 or maybe even 25 than has been for a very long time. I think 40 is a lot scarier than 30 and I'm sure once 40 starts to approach on the horizon I'll push the scary age out even further. Whatever, age is all relative. I'm still one of the youngest people at work and I can do plenty of fun stuff without having to worry about the repercussions. I'm not that old.

Good times were had by all. I did overhear a good conversation today at breakfast about a neighbor kid stealing Oxycodone from the medicine cabinet. People watching at its finest.

"This is an earthquake"

So Seattle is in earthquake country. It's not like Northern California with tons of active plates and the "fall into the ocean" scenario but since I've lived here there have been small quakes up and down the coast. Not the kind that you notice or would wake you up if you were asleep but still quakes nonetheless. A few years back, in 2001 I believe, there was a pretty serious quake called the Nisqually earthquake, which was nearly a 7.0 on the scale, which is getting pretty far on the shaking and banging scale and it did some serious damage.

I'm not scared though. My building just had it's annual earthquake simulation at work. I work on the 13th floor of a 80 story building that reaches nearly 1000ft up so practicing for various emergencies truly makes sense... but I'm not sure this test was the best example. The intercom starts clicking and goes static-y for a second which is weird because the intercom is never used, so something is up. A creepy voice comes over the air stating,

"This is an earthquake. The building has just started shaking, you realize what is happening and you crawl under your desk or find a doorway if you are away from your desk. BANG! A book has fallen of a shelf and crashed onto the floor. Eeeeeeeekk! People are screaming. CRASH! Someone's monitor just fell over a smashed the glass. Dust is everywhere AND the building is still shaking. Pause for a few seconds. It has only been 20 seconds and the average earthquake lasts 30 seconds, can you handle the stress for that long? 5 second left. 3 seconds left. The earthquake is over. In the event of a real earthquake, you should find your floor captain and begin to evacuate the building in an orderly fashion. Thank you participating in our annual earthquake preparedness test."

Nothing like dialog to simulate an earthquake. I know they have to do it that way but people didn't follow any of the guidelines AND when people were "screaming" people started screaming in jest on our floor, well, actually I started running around screaming "it's an earthquake, the rapture is upon us, repent sinners, we're all going to perish." I enjoyed this way more than everybody else in the office I think.

RIP

Bea Arthur