The good news is that my boxes arrived on schedule yesterday. The bad news is that they were pretty bashed about, and a couple of seams were starting to split. However nothing seems to be lost or damaged. The contents were mostly clothes, books, DVDs, and electronic miscellania The only items I’m really worried about are three external hard disk enclosures; everything else is replaceable.
I now have high-speed internet access in the apartment. A Comcast self-installation kit appeared yesterday – coax cables, splitter, cable modem, and software. The latter was the only real problem. First, it insisted on installing Internet Explorer on my Mac. (How retro.) Most of the installation process ran fine, but right at the end it started reporting a “communication error”. Since it had been chattering away to Comcast’s backend systems quite happily, I called customer support, and a technician completed the provisioning in a couple of minutes. I haven’t tested the bandwidth yet, but Skype works beautifully.
I’ve now got to the point where this place feels like an apartment rather than a hotel: I cooked my favourite dish last night. Nothing too fancy: chicken thighs and mushrooms in white wine, lemon juice, garlic, and tarragon. It’s a checkpoint that my larder is stocked with the bare necessities.
And finally, in response to Jon’s plea, he and I will be getting together for drinks at McNenamins on Roy Street, at 5 o’clock this afternoon. If you’re in the area…..
Apartment
As I hinted a couple of days ago, I’ve found myself an apartment. It’s in Uwajimaya Village, an apartment complex built over the locally famous Uwajimaya Asian food market. The location is perfect:
- It’s just across the street from the Amazon.com facility where I’ll be working.
- It’s 10 minutes walk to Pioneer Square or Qwest field, and 15-20 minutes walk to the heart of downtown Seattle.
- King Street Amtrak station and a big bus interchange are also right there.
- And the pièce de résistance: when they finish the light rail project through the city and out to the airport in 2010, I’ll be a block from the station.
My idea of going car-less is looking more and more promising.
I’ll be signing the lease on Monday (the same day I start at Amazon.com), and I expect to take a couple of weeks to furnish it before I move in.
Football fever
I went to the Real Madrid-DC United match at Qwest field yesterday. The attendance was 66K+, which made it the largest soccer crowd ever in the Pacific northwest. I enjoyed myself, even though it wasn’t a particularly good game. One thing about exhibition matches is that all of the tackles are about 80%: nobody wants to risk injury. Some of the Real Madrid players looked a little jet-lagged – Van Nistelrooy was walking (well offside) most of the time, and received some “generous” treatment by the linesmen. Beckham played OK, not great: like a couple of his team-mates, he seemed to have trouble with the relatively narrow pitch. He was subbed at half-time; another aspect of the “exhibition match” is that unlimited substitutions are allowed, which meant that we got to see more of the Real Madrid players but that the team had difficulty settling in to a pattern. DC United played well, but their finishing was very weak. The final score was 1-1, which seemed fair.
Oh, and I may have found an apartment. More anon.
Well-travelled boxes
I love the weird world of logistics. On Saturday I shipped 7 boxes from Chestnut Hill to be delivered here in Seattle tomorrow, Thursday August 10. I just checked on how they were doing:
Those boxes are visiting cities that I’ve never seen….
Arrived
I’ve arrived in Seattle.
Everything worked pretty much the way it was supposed to, with a few glitches that turned out to be unimportant. The car to the airport was late… but I still got there in time. The BOS-ORD flight was 35 minutes late, but it was OK, because it turned out that the ORD-SEA flight was on the same aircraft, from the same gate! At SEA, Avis couldn’t find me a car, and so they had to give me an SUV. Ugh…. but I guess it may prove useful. And then I had no trouble getting to the office to pick up my keys, and driving across town to the Centennial Towers where I’m staying.
The view from the balcony of my (temporary) apartment is… well, judge for yourself. (Sorry about the image quality.)
I’ve unpacked, walked downtown to a Starbucks to get WiFi and caffeine, and in a few minutes I’ll grab some dinner. Tomorrow I need to find a supermarket, sort out the high-speed internet service that I ordered for the apartment, and explore the neighbourhood (with my camera). In the evening it’s Real Madrid vs. DC United. And then on Thursday my boxes should arrive…..
Hatred in the name of religion
You may remember that right after 9/11, when people were trying to come to grips with what could motivate suicidal jihadis, we heard a lot about madrassas, Islamic schools in Pakistan and elsewhere, usually paid for by Saudi oil money. Do these descriptions sound familiar?
… political agendas and slogans are mixed with [religious] rituals that end with most of the kids in tears. Tears of release and joy, they would claim — the children are not physically abused. The kids are around 9 or 10 years old… and are pliant willing receptacles. They are instructed… that we must form an “army†to defeat the Godless influences….
Awareness of the rest of the world is curtailed — one can only view or read that which agrees with the agenda. Naturally, the kids being so young, there is no questioning of any kind — they simply accept what grownups say — they get pumped up, agitated, they memorize [political and religious] slogans and shout them back obediently. They become part of a support group — a warm, safe, comfortable feeling for anyone, for any social animal, for you and me. No one strays or gets out of line even the slightest bit.
…at one point [the group leader] instructs the little ones that they should be willing to die for [their religion], and the little ones obediently agree. [They] may even use the word martyr.
[A] cardboard cutout of [their charismatic political leader] is brought out and the children are urged to identify — many of the little ones come forward and reverently touch his cardboard hands.
Sounds pretty familiar, doesn’t it? And the natural reaction is anger towards the adults who would brain-wash innocent children and fill them with hatred for others. But this isn’t in Pakistan – this is in Colorado Springs. And the cardboard cut-out is of George W. Bush….
Hungarian Grand Prix
What a bizarre race. The rain, the tyre wars, Raikkonen’s early lead, Alonso’s domination of the middle period of the event. And then it all fell apart: Raikkonen’s crash, then Alonso’s wheel nut drive shaft, finally Schumacher’s steering… and Jenson Button sails through to win his first GP. Finally!
I just checked, and the last time we had a race where neither Alonso nor Michael Schumacher were on the podium was in October 2004, at the Brazilian Grand Prix. And the last time that neither Fernando nor Schumi finished a race? May 2004, at the Monaco race. Amazing – and utterly absorbing.
(Yes, I know that Michael was classified 9th. That’s just book-keeping. He was out.)
Multimedia delights
Four recent delights in four different media:
- Film: “Little Miss Sunshine”: The Fellowship had to choose a film to see before I head off to Seattle, and this proved to be a wonderful selection. No spoilers – just go and see it!
- Music: “White Bread Black Beer” by Scritti Politti: Green Gartside was responsible for two of the most perfectly crafted albums in pop history: Cupid & Psyche 85 and Provision. After the relative disappointment of Anomie and Bonhomie, he’s bounced back with another near-perfect collection of songs.
- Television: “Life On Mars” on BBC America: You can enjoy this wonderful series on three levels: as a cracking good “police procedural”, as a mystery about out-of-body (and out of time) experiences, and as a social study about how life in Britain has changed over the last 30 years. Brilliant.
- Book: “Impossible Things” by Connie Willis: I bought this collection of short stories years ago, mislaid it, and only rediscovered it as I was sorting out books for packing. I read the whole thing in two sittings. Beautifully written, thought-provoking, and above all sheer fun!!!
Counting down…
Not much blogging recently, in part because things have been very busy. With some help from Chris last week, I’ve been doing several household projects, ranging from replacing kitchen cabinet hardware, to installing new blinds in all of the basement and second floor windows, to upgrading bathroom fittings. I’ve also been sorting out what I’m taking to Seattle, what I’m leaving here, and what should be chucked out. (The third category is usually the largest.) Rather than using a moving company, I’m just packing up in boxes from the local UPS store.
We’ve also arranged numerous meetings with our financial advisor, accountant, and people from the bank, as we sort out the implications of my becoming a Washington resident. For those of you outside the US, every state is fiercely independent when it comes to taxation. Most (including Massachusetts) have a state income tax, but Washington is one of those that doesn’t. With me in Washington and Merry in Massachusetts, our tax returns are going to be complicated. (The challenge is to make sure that they don’t become “interesting”!)
So the countdown looks like this:
- Thursday: Pick up Tommy for another overnight visit. (Kate and Mark are going to see the Red Sox.) Continue packing.
- Friday: Finish packing. Take Tommy home, then meet friends for farewell drinks. [5pm, “Naked Fish” in Bedford]
- Saturday: A Fellowship day. Haul the boxes over to the UPS store and ship them for delivery in Seattle next Thursday. Lunch, then a movie. (Film not yet chosen – “Scanner Darkly” or “Prairie Home Companion”, perhaps.)
- Sunday: Cleaning up after the packing. Dinner with friends.
- Monday: Meet with accountant. Last-minute stuff.
- Tuesday: Fly to Seattle.
- Monday 14th: Start at Amazon!
Whew!
Three more photo albums
These are mostly for friends and family.
- Chris has been visiting from California for the last few days. Here are a few characteristic shots….
- Tommy stayed overnight last Friday while his father celebrated his 30th birthday. We took a few pictures of him playing, reading, bathing, etcetera. (Tommy, that is – not Mark…!)
- On Monday, Chris, Merry and I visited the Saugus Iron Works, a National Park in which one of the first wrought iron plants in North America has been painstakingly recreated. All those waterwheels, and the machinery that they drive, are in working condition. Here are some still photos; I also captured some video clips which I may upload later.
Enjoy!