Sitting in Traffic

Most mornings I, along with most of the Eastside, sit in some sort of traffic somewhere along the interstates and byways that lead to paycheck land. Yes, I get frustrated just like everyone else, but there's one thing I am passionately devoted to - that's obeying both the official and "unofficial" traffic rules.

My traffic clog happens along 202 as it merges with E. Lake Sammamish Pkwy and 520, where things slow down to a crawl. Most folks dutifully start lining up for the 520 ramp at that triple junction by the Shell station and Les Schwab, and the backup is typically from a quarter to third of a mile. The line moves, but I guess not fast enough for some. There's a certain breed of driver that will knowingly and intentionally swerve out into the less congested lane that is intended to allow folks to continue on 202, only to cut back into the 520 access lane up ahead. I loathe these people - the "cutter inners."

I see this play out every morning and surprisingly there's hardly ever any honking, cursing, finger waving or bickering. I'm thankful that most folks still line up dutifully, and either ignore the "cutter inners" or silently curse them like I do.

Now I know in the grand measure of good and evil, "cutter inners" are barely north of bad tippers, but here's how I see it. There's no shortage of places in this world where people are mean and obnoxious in the way they deal with others. Where rampant competitiveness, illusions of entitlement, and inattention to the common good foster stress and strife. I came from such a place, and I am fortunate enough to be able to choose to live here. So I'll do everything I can to pay homage to the quality of life here. The price of doing less is just too darn high.

Damn you Drinkslinger!

Uh oh...I'm officially in trouble. I'm at work one day last week and Megan, who sits in the next cube over, tells me she loved the picture of Jack on the blog. I smile and thank her and wonder, "how the hell...?" I didn't tell her about this blog, and I'm still in the prototyping phase before distributing to a wider group of friends and near friends. I've only told 4 people about this thing. Then I realize that she must have found it through Robin's blog.

NOW, I get an email from Drew - ex-Boranger, blogger nonpareil, independent non-profit music critic, tequila connoisseur, currently living it up in sunny SD.

"C'mon Dave, you can't stop now..."

Oh my gawd, now I have to actually lead an interesting life, or make one up. Not that I don't enjoy my life, but I'm not the kind of guy who people call "Wildman". I'm lucky if I can make it through a day without someone calling me "sir". And lately my life's been work, get home, play with the dog, have some dinner, sort through mail, do some more work, have a beer, go to bed. C'mon, people don't want to read about that - sheesh, I don't want to read about that! But now I'm going to have to get a little creative...oh the pressure...

Damn you Drinkslinger!

People are amazing!

Check out this guy - the strength is unreal! Download the clip here.

And he corners like a dream!

I have to admit that I'm secretly addicted to Robin's blog. Robin is a former co-worker who has moved on to bigger and better things. While she was in the land of Borange (as she calls it), Robin was one of those people who you could just tell wasn't concerned about faking it. Let me explain -- you know how for most of us, there's the work you, and there's the non-work you. Robin doesn't suffer from that corporate multiple personality disorder that most of us do...and in the land of Borange, it was pretty refreshing.

Anyhoo, Robin's been dating, as single folk in Seattle in their 30's tend to do, and she's been describing her adventures in her blog. The freakiest thing was when she went on a Steve streak - I believe she dated 5 different Steves in a few months! So over the course of the past few months I'd dive in and read all about S1, S2, S3, S4 and S5. The abbreviations always make me think of them as cars:

S3 - gets great mileage, but doesn't come with power windows
S1 - awesome braking power, but stalls on hills
S5 - good acceleration off the line, but has a tendency to pull to the left

Dating...it's like being in a foreign country. A foreign country I haven't been to in a looooong time. Helen and I have been together for like 12 years. WOW! 12 years! And almost all of our friends have been married for awhile, most have kids, and some are even divorced. Ah well, I'll just keep tuning in and root for Robin in her quest.

By the way...this is Jack...

...when he was just a young pup 

Okay, I'm a goofball...

I set up this blog and sent out a few invites last night, and today I must have checked 10 times to see if anyone's posted any comments...and nada. Then I find out that I've set up the blog with restricted commenting --- DUH! 

Hello from the wonderful Pacific Northwest 

leeaison: the blog begins

Since Helen and I moved to the beautiful state of Washington 3 years ago, I can't tell you how many times we've been asked - "do you miss the east coast?" I can honestly tell you that there aren't many things we miss...but the one thing we do miss are our friends and family. Every time I happen to talk to or hear from someone we haven't kept in touch with in awhile it makes me a little homesick. So Helen, Jack and I were talking the other day and we decided to start a blog. It's our get-off-our-butts attempt to keep in touch with all the dear friends and family who are so far away. We hope you'll use this to find out what's developing with the "fami-lee", comment, post your own happenings, and keep us updated on your lives.