numbers

• Between Monday night and Tuesday morning, King County troopers responded to 653 calls for assistance, 242 of those because of collisions.
  
• Troopers impounded more than 40 abandoned cars.
• In Snohomish, Skagit and Whatcom counties, troopers responded to 687 collisions between Sunday and Tuesday.
• At 4 a.m. today, the temperature at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport plunged to 18 degrees, breaking a 31-year-old record of 22 degrees, making it the coldest Nov. 29 in Seattle history.
• November's precipitation tally at Seattle Tacoma International Airport stands at 15.26 inches, just shy of the 15.33 inches of rain that made December 1933 the wettest month since weather record-keeping began in the 1890s. The 1933 record was set at the Federal Building in Seattle, where rain was measured until the 1960s. The National Weather Service began measuring rainfall at the airport in 1945.

White Powder

I was never one to monitor weather reports or traffic reports.
I've lived in the Bay Area for most of my life. My 4.5 yrs worth of vacation being spent in San Luis Obispo.....but note, I'm still in California. Extreme temperatures aren't in my radar. They never have been. Extreme traffic - eh, I usually just start the cussing when I get there instead of before.

Sunday I looked out the window while we watched "Happiness" (awesome movie!~) and thought - omigod - it's snowing! so....pretty....*sigh. click click click - (that's my camera)*
Then the movie finished and immediately I thought I should go home to ensure I could....well, get there safely in the white pretty powdery pretty snow. Thankful that I only lived about 5 min away.
And I went.

Without another thought I drove into work on Monday.
Working in Renton there's a slight difference in temperature - always cooler.
About 20 min south of downtown Seattle (on I-5).
By about 3pm Monday it started to snow. 'Omigosh - look outside!' so pretty - I thought as I turned back to my keyboard and continued to type. And again, without a thought I went on the treadmill as the clock turned 5pm. Not wanting to jump into traffic. I'll wait it off. As my coworker came into the makeshift gym and mentioned that we were risking it cuz it's still snowing outside......"snowing!?" "yup".......I calculated and got off the treadmill within the next 5 min still undermining the real commute home. But it gets dark by 5pm. And on Monday it was dark and completely deserted by the time I walked out the door into a blanket of white powder. There weren't even any tire tracks, it looked as if no one had ever been there. Even my Sauconys were slipping and sliding. I was all alone in the parking lot as I brushed off the snow on my windshield with a leftover McDonalds napkin from the passenger floormat. I got behind the wheel and started the car. "I think I can I think I can". I hadn't even gone more than a foot or two before the fishtailing started. It takes me about 5 min to get to the freeway and about 30 min door-to-door. Monday took me less than 1.5 hrs. within the first 2 blocks I was about to pull over to the side of the curb and cry. I could not drive. My car would not do anything. *stop. go. stop. go* I wasn't moving more than 2 miles an hr but with every stop I swerved even more. I wasn't driving my car and I wasn't sure how I was going to make it home. 14 miles. I wanted to call my friends or my family. pick me up. I can't do this. I wanted to sleep in my car so I wouldn't have to do this again the next day. But it was me. Only me. I think I can I think I can. It may sound silly but last night was my first time driving in snow and I never want to do it again.

This morning, I looked out the window and saw the snow still on my car but the parking lot ground was clear. 33 degrees. low 18 degrees. I will be fine. But....again, by the time I got to Renton, still covered in snow. still icy. And! and! still deserted.......little did I know, today was *at your own discretion*.....so I didn't have to cuss at my car when I continued to fishtail at the stoplights this morning! Not too thrilled about living up on that hill now. I could've stayed home - safely. dangit.

The next potential snow is tomorrow afternoon. And I'm debating.
commute --> 1.5 hrs w/3 buses (if they're even running). or 30 min scary jo-driving? or just not getting paid.

Omg. this is the bottom of the hill where I used to live. That could've been me!










oh the options are endless.....Seattle and Jo are not equipped for snow. Seattle shuts down. Abandoned cars, stalled buses, traffic into the night. Jo could too. it's definitely prettier - in pictures. or at least stationary. Pretty much anywhere except behind the wheel.

But..........I did it. Monday about 6pm I didn't think I could - but I did it. =)

MADD

yesterday i made it over to M.A.D.D. slightly after 530pm.
i found them on craigslist.org and then again 5 min away from my work.
we slipped ribbons in flyers they're going to hand out at the seahawks game on monday.
i did 500 in 2.5hrs. (my fingers hurt so much that when i came home to knit, i was like - what the heck am i doing!? those carpal tunnel exercises don't seem too silly now!)
did i pick them on purpose?
considering i couldn't even count how many times i got busted and scolded for driving buzzed - no.
but i do feel like i got something out of it.
i got to hear some lady ask me if i was also in high school (3 other volunteers were in high school)........!?
i got to hear stories swapped of ppl. w/alcoholic family members and i got to see a really strong lady who was a survivor. she was one of their outreach reps. i'm going to go in to help them with a project - i'm estimating a few more times throughout this yr. i like to avg closer to 1/wk. i'm hoping that in working with them that i'll think twice about driving buzzed esp on the slick roads.

it was hard requesting to come into work on wednesday and friday considering the office would be closed but.....oh well..............*sighhhhhhhh* wish you could read my mind.

winter

with the newly anticipated "seattle winter" - i've been attempting to find activities to keep me out of hibernation mode.

i am at the Central Library right now. recently finished my volunteer orientation and signed up for 3 saturdays in Dec to volunteer. I signed up for the Info Desk because I thought it would be a good kick in the rear to get to know the Library and Seattle. The Info Desk is asked to provide direction/information on not only the Library but random details and reference info on seattle sites.

My goal is to not stay at home - just because it's raining or hailing or storming - whatever.
I guess this is why I still don't have tv set up - the bunny ears or cable. I have my Beginning Knitting class tomorrow morning - Aileen decided to join. If I like it, I'm also going to sign up for a Crochet Class on Tuesday (how awesome would that be to make all of my own scarves & blankets!). Monday after work I'm doing a data entry volunteer gig at MADD in Kent. I also signed up for a Winters Brew Festival on the 2nd & A Jingle Bell Walkathon @ Westlake on the 10th.

I'll be spending Thanksgiving/Xmas/NYE in Seattle - being away from the family routines, it's going to be interesting. Not too sure when I'll be going back to CA - which will be interesting for my parents.

I also had to pass on the nanowrimo for this year. I started out with the best intentions but the more I did it, the more I really came to understand why authors buried themselves in No Man's Land to finish a book. I buried myself for a couple of days and got to the 5K mark. I did not have the mental clarity I needed to dive into 1,000+ words/day.

I've also decided to start job searching again which will be interesting. My 6 months on the contract will hit in January. I really want to start the HR classes for the UW Extension course this winter. Gotta have all my ducks lined up!

90 days

S left for timbuk2 today.
We woke up early and had breakfast for 3 @ Beth's Cafe this morning. Driving past Greenlake at the crack of dawn felt odd to say the least. But it worked, saying goodbye while still comatose did make things easier.

I was fascinated with Mookie for some reason (i still don't like cats) because her world was turning upside down and we couldn't tell her what was going on. "she's used to me leaving" even so - still sucks for her! Her safety / hiding place under the futon - gone. Her father - gone. Her comfy sleeping spot on top of the futon - gone. Her alternate spot on the trunk - gone. Her bookcase - space - eh, maybe gone. but not a kid nonetheless, can't sit her down and make her listen. she'll need to figure things out on her own. she's not getting a heads-up. I kept staring at her throughout the night - i wonder what she's thinking? as she would look around, look at me, look around, look at her father "what's going on? what's happening? where's my safety spot? where's my food? where's my trunk?" =/ i felt bad. don't worry Mookie - it's only 90 days.

Train Man

Just watched Train Man with Denise. She watched it for the third time and it was my first. I thought it was an awesome theater too. Grand Illusion Cinema
in the U-District. It seated about 50 ppl. and the walls were covered with red velvet curtain. The seats were a deep patterned red as well and the ceiling was so low that so boys had to be careful when walking. Denise had met me with her friend right before the movie started but all of the other patrons had also come by themselves, surprisingly they were all (about 5) white males - 20's --> 30's. odd? Brian you'll fit right in! (things that make you go hmmm.....) Overall entertaining movie for me but not too crazy on the ending.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809766942/info

writers block

i've had a project scattered over my living room floor all week.
and i have writers block.
i know part of it is trying to make sense of something that doesn't.
i know part of it is prolonging the inevitable.

S is leaving on Tuesday for 3 months.
to pursue one of his passions - traveling abroad.
myanmar & laos are the two biggies if i remember correctly. a layover in korea. thailand? vietnam? 3 months. 90 days. thanksgiving, his birthday and mine, christmas & new years.

you can't say - don't leave me. that we've only just met - that everything is still new. you can't say don't go.
you can say that this is one of the reasons you admire them. having passions in life and pursuing them. you can say that you admire that they have the desire and ability to literally make their world bigger. you can agree that they really are the open minded individual you hoped to come across in life.

but someone's moving my cheese and i don't know which mouse i am.

give it a break!

I don't know if I'm just completely "Harry-Potter'ed Out" but I put down Book 4 with no remorse. I'm trying to double read and nanowrimo write.

Moneyball --> Michael Lewis

Emotional Alchemy --> Tara Bennett-Goleman

NaNoWriMo.org - update

Update: 5,155 words.

only: 44,845 more to go!

NaNoWriMo.org

Man this is harder than I thought.
I just uploaded my word count and i'm only at 1523....out of the 50,000 total. Nov 30th midnight is the cutoff.

They have the top cities by word count. Seattle is Number 2 on the list, only after "England: Elsewhere". that's got to be somewhat motivating. I contributed 1523 words out of their total: 2,195,048 word count. And! I still have all night to go. The last time I checked, I believe, Thursday, they were number 3. I classified mine as Chick Lit, may change it to Romance....boy, you could even write Erotic Fiction - something for everyone!

edit - flickr

decided to change my album.
it will specifically be a non-starbucks coffee stop on my album. take out the big boys and really focus on the individuals and hopefully uncover some of the hidden treasures in seattle.

and i will want to include whether it's a drive thru or has WIFI and their business info.
so i could: use it as a resource moving fwd and really show how many coffee stops there really are in seattle. this would not be able to show how accessible WIFI though. the other day i was on my way to boba and was trying to figure out if the one i was going to had free WIFI. i've been spoiled, living across the street to one bomba$$ coffee shop in Cap Hill, but i need to venture out. so with this project, i'm hoping to do that as well. additionally, i am going to try to avoid looking up places on the web until i find at least 50 coffee stops by myself first. and - this will only be in seattle, no eastside no, lynnwood or renton or maple valley or anything else.

i'm not feeling too hot....

literally!
it's f'n freezing here!
the other day i my door listerally cracked open from all of the ice that had kept it closed all night. my windshield wipers glazed smoothly over the already thicked ice - not making a single mark.

looks like I did need that ice scraper at GI. Joe's.

when i was working in oakland and SF, my coworkers/bosses would make fun of me because i would be dressed in my ironed button shirts and skirts - with ski jackets and scarves on. but i fit the business casual dress requirement! it's just buried! the temperature of seattle was or is one of my challenges, we'll see how my first Seattle Winter goes. *crossing fingers*

it's not looking too hot for a long long while.....

October
http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/sports/monthly/98102?month=-1

November
http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/sports/monthly/98102?month=0

Writing Project

www.nanowrimo.org

Have you ever written a novel in a month? 50,000 words.

I've never. I have no idea where to start. I have no idea what it takes. I have no idea if I can.

So that's why I am.....starting now.

Crack Project

I've decided my next Project: to start a collection (flickr! album!) of coffee shops in Seattle. I wonder if I would ever finish...

Here's my first one.District: Eastlake

Address:
1500 Fairview Ave E
Seattle, WA 98102

hollow-wean

i went out for Halloween Pho - what did you do? =/

actually i should edit that: i successfully ate two dinners in one night.

Dinner 1: brown rice, fried egg, fried fish paste & mushrooms.
Dinner 2: #17, regular size (pho)

awesome.