Part of the Problem

I'm officially part of the problem!

It has been a good run... 13 years car-less! Hello Tiguan! (Not a diesel)

Bus Antics

This morning the bus was 20 minutes late. Of course. And it was made even later because of a passenger fighting with the bus driver. She wouldn't let this combative, very talkative, guy on the bus because he smelled like marijuana. He was all "civil rights" and she was all "I'm gonna call the cops." There were awkward verbal stand-offs. The passenger had a big backpack, which wasn't too well received on a crowed, Rush-hour bus. The driver kept stopping the bus and telling the guy to get off every time he started shouting things from the back of the bus. (He was sitting right next to me, of course.) Eventually the guy quieted down. Sort of. He pulled out a kindle or something and started reading out loud about democracy and oppressive police. When he finally got off the bus 15 minutes later, he shouted, "peace! And legalize LSD!"

ARGH! No more. Can't deal.

Late

In seattle some buses only run every 30 minutes (even during rush hour). So if one is running late, that could mean waiting 45 minutes or more on any given day. That makes it really tricky to plan your commute if there is such wide variation in bus arrival time. I've had my bus come at 7:35, 7:42, 7:46, 7:56 and 7:59. This is why everyone has a car in seattle! If the dept of transportation can't get its buses to run on a schedule, then they should add more buses so that they run more frequently. Decrease the number of stop locations for efficiency. Hire some smart urban planners. 

Dry

Seattle too dry? Who would have guessed! Ended up getting a cool mist humidifier today to hopefully help w sleep.

Autumn is Here

Took out the Ugg boots for the first time this season because it is a crisp 51 degrees at 9am here in Seattle.

And here is a lovely Western Cedar Tree on 2nd Avenue:

Moon

Photo doesn't do it justice.

South Lake Union, Seattle 7:27pm

A Thing

You must wear a Seahawks shirt on Friday in Seattle. It's a thing. 

Herby Bath

Poached chicken with a box of herbs... Sage, Rosemary, thyme. And garlic. And of course wine. Right now my apartment smells amazing. 

I Miss the Depths of Hell

Why do I miss the depths of hell (aka the NYC subway)? Because trains don't get stuck in horrendous traffic like seattle buses. Sure, the buses lack things like rats and mariachi bands, but they are so damn slow. 

Gerlach Swarm Today

There was a crazy swarm of earthquakes near Gerlach, NV today. 

Check out this map:

Gerlach, NV Gets a Big One 5.16

Update: was downgraded to 4.7 magnitude. 

I am so going to Gerlach on my earthquake chase vacation next summer!

Seismic History Plot

The 3.99 (or 4, pretty much) magnitude earthquake today in Snoqualmie is the largest purple circle. Definitely an outlier, wow. It was also relatively deep, which means less intense shaking. 

Seismic activity since 1990:

Quake!

3.99 magnitude earthquake happened just 31 miles away in Snoqualmie!!! I was just there a couple weeks ago, darn!

Fu Lion Rocco

My local Chinese restaurant went Korean. So they took down the Chinese fu lion statues out front. Since they left the bases, I thought it appropriate to replace them with my own little fu lion!

Service Day

Instead of walking the picket lines today, teachers did service projects in their local communities. My school went to Discovery Park to pick up trash on the trails and along the beach. Just 4.5 miles today. 

Teachers United!

Cleaning up the beach

Some weird True Detective sh*t

PA

Pistachio Addiction. It's real.

FF

Anddddd fantasy football season has started... Yeah!!!

My top players are Lynch and Rodgers. 

Marathon

Between striking/picketing yesterday and today, I'm close to walking a marathon!

Yesterday 13 miles and today 12 miles. Mostly in circle holding signs. Tomorrow we are going to do a service project... Picking up trash in a local park. 

Romp in the Park

Hanging out at Olympic Sculpture Park with Rocco.

Labor Day

For many teachers Labor Day is all about putting in the labor that goes with the first week or two of school! I've been working these past three days on classroom management posters and systems, things to hang on the wall, figuring out my first day script, redesigning my schedule in InDesign, scouring Pinterest and blogs for ideas, and figuring out when to attend the 6-hour district orientation.

Here is where I am right now:

At some point today I want to take Rocco to the park and soak up this warm air and sun. For the past week or so it has been cold and rainy so I want to get outside!

New Job

Yesterday I started working at my new job, which is teaching art to K-8. It is going to be crazy.... Crazy awesome! I'm a little nervous on how in the world I'll memorize 700-something names. And grade 700-something projects every week. The room itself needs major, major organization and order because right now it is a hot mess of junk and not of the oh-cool-recycled-art variety. Old, aging projects stacked up everywhere. Costumes and music instruments strewn about (the former teacher taught multi-arts). Books scattered all over the place. Yet hardly any paper, colored pencils, paint or markers. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed. Please be extra nice to me these next few months, okay? Thanks.