July 23, 2007
Bird Spotting
We’ve been in our new house about a week now, and things have finally calmed down to the point where I can actually think about blogging again (occasionally, at least).
One of the first tasks in the new home was to put out seed to see if we can attract some birds. We had a window feeder at the apartment that never got even a single taker.
I put out some mixed seed that the Capitol Hill birds had disdained and within hours had a flock of sparrows gorging themselves (not to mention a couple of chubby squirrels). We upgraded to a feeder over the weekend and thus far have had the following sightings:
- house sparrows (about a zillion)
- chickadee
- house finch (just one, hanging with the sparrows. Is he confused?)
- hummingbirds (feeding on the fuchsia immediately outside my office window. Cool!)
I know, this was a boring post. I’m easing into it gently.
June 13, 2007
Welcome to Seattle…
…now go away!
I think we’re now officially Seattleites, because one of our cars got broken into last weekend. It doesn’t appear that anything was actually stolen, but unfortunately they broke a window to get in. I am more irritated about the cost and inconvenience of replacing the window than anything else, actually. Ironically, we’re not actually sure exactly when it happened, because we hadn’t driven the car in about 10 days. (Please don’t tell the parking police that we haven’t been moving it every 72 hours like we’re supposed to…)
Apparently car-related crime is a real problem in the city. One post I read on a blog recommended removing all things of value from the car and simply leaving it unlocked. At least that way no vandalism is necessary to get in and rifle your glove box. However, I’m pretty sure that neither the police nor the insurance company would be impressed with this argument if the car wound up getting stolen.
The Hub did a masterful job of wrapping the window and door in saran wrap to keep the rain out, and also did something magical to the engine to prevent the car from starting. (Don’t ask me what, I have no idea.) He also took care of the hassle of filing the police report. Thanks, Hub!
May 29, 2007
Spring in Seattle Sucks.
I was just looking back and noticed I posted about the beginning of spring back in February. Well, it’s now nearly June, and as far as I can tell spring still isn’t here yet. I guess we’ll just leap straight into summer some time around mid-July.
I’ve been greatly surprised that Seattle spring is much harder to cope with than Seattle winter. Who’d've thunk? Sure, winter was gray and rainy, but you kind of expect it. Unfortunately, spring’s a tease; a few beautiful days here and there interspersed with lousy days followed by crummy days, capped off with yucky days. Just when you think the weather has truly turned nice, the clouds close in again.
It’s also weird that even the Seattlites don’t know what’s normal. In the last few days I’ve had people tell me that this is normal, that it’s been unusually nice, and that it’s been unusually gloomy. C’mon, people, make up your minds! I need to know which it is so that I know whether or not I should move back to Florida.
February 10, 2007
Spring is sprunging
Snowdrops are popping up all over the place and the cherry trees are starting to bloom, too.
I hope spring is here for real!
December 18, 2006
Towards a philosophy of parking
So when we first got here, I totally didn’t understand about parking. I mean, you drive around, find a space, put your car in it – what’s the big deal? Granted, I was accustomed to a home with a 2-car garage and room for 4 more cars in the driveway – so I was a little bit naive about the whole parking “situation”.
I turned to my old pal Google to get some education. I soon learned that we needed to get a “Residential Zone Permit” that would let us park for longer than the 2 hour limit. Even with that permit, though, we need to move our cars every 72 hours. When you work from home and never drive, this is harder to remember than you might think. Each time I park my car I think, “Ah, I can remember where I’m parked and when I need to move the car – no need to write it down”. And I do remember, for about a day – and then sometime around 10 pm on Thursday night I think “Yikes, I was supposed to move the car on Monday!” So I get up Friday morning and – hopefully remembering my late-night revelation – run down to move the car. I go to where I park it 90% of the time, on Federal between Roy and Aloha. At first I think I’m successful – but no, that’s the other silver Honda civic in the neighborhood that looks just like ours. So I wander over to Federal between Roy and Mercer – well, that’s where the Saturn is parked, but no Honda. Ok, it must be behind the school. Hike up the dirt path, because Roy doesn’t go through to 11th, and finally – victory! Now, to find a new parking space…
Lather, rinse, and repeat every 72 hours. Or so.
Times two. Because now my husband has started taking the bus to work, so he never drives his car, either.
Anyway, amidst all these challenges of memory, there is also the challenge of finding a “good” parking space. And good doesn’t just mean “close to home” by any means! There are all sorts of other considerations that may outweigh “close”:
- On a driveway (this is probably my favorite)
- A space you can drive into, without really having to parallel park
- Near our other car (double points for being immediately in front of or behind the other car)
- Near the beginning of the street (increases the chances that you can just slide up a space or two when you have to move the car…)
- Not on a curve
- Not too close to a fire hydrant or intersection
- Not the last spot before one of those stupid roundabouts that are everywhere on Capitol Hill
- And, of course, close does count for something
Now I know why when my friend A was looking for a home he insisted on having off-street parking. It sure would make life easier.
December 15, 2006
You can afford to be picky?
So last night C and I were walking home from Osteria La Spiga in Capitol Hill. I was carrying a small box containing the remains of my Tortelli di Zucca (butternut squash ravioli…mmmm). We were stopped by a pretty rough-looking homeless guy who kept pointing at the box and saying “Food? Food?”. I was delighted that I actually had something relatively beneficial to give this guy, so I went to hand it to him. He was about to take it when he stopped and said, “Meat? Animal?”. I told him that it was pasta, and he was apparently no longer interested.
