Tuesday, August 16, 2005

A taste of Seattle lifestyle



Last weekend Helen and I were among the thousands of lucky folks who were able to enjoy Seafair from Lake Washington. Helen and I, along with Rich and Holly, went aboard Hunter and Monica's boat to watch the Blue Angels. It was a gorgeous summer day and Lake Washington was packed!

I've seen the Blue Angels while visiting the Naval Academy in Annapolis, but it wasn't anything like watching from the water. They flew so close to the surface that the roar of their engines made waves, and they flew so fast that the whoosh of the jet engines would trail the planes by a few seconds. It was really awesome!

After the show we went tubing. What a blast whipping around the water bouncing over the wake. Rich and I were first up and it was my first time. I held on for dear life and if it weren't for Rich giving me advice on when to hold tight and what to do for sure I would have capsized. Later on Helen told me I was bouncing around like a rag doll. We all took turns, but Rich was the real daredevil. Hunter had him flying around -- that's Rich in the picture above -- but he held on.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Grinding it out in B-town



As y'all know, my blogging has been sporadic at best. Just wanted to share a couple of pics to show what I've been up to. A group of us have been grinding it out in Bellevue working to meet some grueling deadlines in a "war room" environment. Although it's been stressful and tiring, there's that sense of comraderie when teams are really focused on the same goals, and in many ways quite fun. As you can see we're filling the walls with our work. That's PJ on the bottom, finding a less orthodox working position than the normal desk and chair.

Friday, August 12, 2005

Dave & the giant bullfrog




Helen's been having some fun at my expense telling the story about my bullfrog encounter, so I'm here to set the record straight.

A couple of months ago I'm going through my morning routine -- feed Jack, contribute to Starbuck's quarterly profits, check daily schedule on the Blackberry -- when I notice a big green bullfrog just outside the doors of our patio. This thing was huge, and he's sitting there like he's waiting for me to invite him in for pancakes.

Of course I call for Helen to come and see the frog, and she comes running down the stairs only to chide me for scaring her half to death. Now we have a pretty big house and sometimes I have to yell if she's on the other side of the house, so I must have been bellowing somewhat excitedly. Also, I'm kinda afraid of the thing. It's big and squishy, and sits there staring at me with those droopy amphibian eyes. Meanwhile, the commotion has brought Jack over, and he's barking at the frog through the glass. I thought for sure the thing would jump away any second, but nope, he's just sitting there.

I take Jack out the front door on a leash and come around on the frog from the side of the house. Jack is barking and growling as we get about 4 feet away, but the thing never even moves. Now I'm really afraid of the thing because basically he's not afraid of me or Jack! I grab one of Jack's tennis balls and bounce it right in front of the frog...and nothing! Not even a twitch. Yeeeecch, makes me queasy just remembering it.

Of course, Helen blabs about my encounter every chance she gets, so everyone at work is teasing me about the big scary frog. So yeah, frogs aren't my favorite type of animal, especially ones the size of Shaquille O'Neill's fist.

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Try this weird effect

Just click here, and follow the instructions.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Blogging...oooh I miss that!

If you've been reading Ted's blog, you've probably gotten a sense of how busy work has been lately. Oh yeah, Ted's my boss, and we've spent the last 2 months working off site cranking out to meet one deadline after another. It's been rough. I miss blogging. I miss watching Yankee games. I miss eating lunch at a place other than the confines of my work space.

It must be showing, because today a total stranger validated it. I'm headed down the elevator around 3:00 to pick up a sandwich to bring back, and the only other passenger is a woman I don't know but who works in the building. Out of the blue, for absolutely no discernable reason, she says,

"No one who comes from the 8th floor looks happy. I'm very concerned for all of you."

WHAM!

Where did that come from???!!! She said it with a wry smile - I guess she meant it as a joke, but I could tell she was only half joking. Man, do I look like how I feel? [Sigh] Well, maybe if we tough it out, crank out our deliverables, and meet our deadline for this week, I'll be able to catch up on some sleep, TV, and blogging over the weekend. Two more days...two more days...