No picture today...

I don't have a picture (because I'm still waiting for my camera) however, maybe I can describe it for you...

Anyway, I have been waking up just before the sun rises to the point it would be visible if the clouds weren't hanging around.  In fact, the clouds are right on top of me most mornings, and even below me as I walk my lap around the river.  Along Riverside Drive, across the bridge at Wells, backtrack through Jones Park, and cross the river again at Bronson.  It's a short walk, maybe a quarter mile at best, but it is just enough to help wake me up and make sure Jaani can do his morning business.

I fill up Jaani's dish with food, and then I dump out, rinse, and refill his water dish with nice cool water from my filtered pitcher in the fridge.  This time of day, my phone keeps my rhythm for me... Cock-a-doodle-doo marks the time to wake up.  I need to get up for my morning eat and clean... Beep-beep, Beep-beep and it's time to take the dog for his walk.  Usually I get the early 1900's phone noise before making it back to the apartment, which means I need to check his food and water.  Honk honk means the bus is about 15 minutes out.  However, the bus alarm isn't just based on a specific time.  Sometimes it comes earlier than I expect... This alarm is from an App on my phone (other than the default clock app).  It updates the bus schedule in real time. I can pick up my phone and see how many minutes I have until the bus gets there.  It is handy.  (One Bus Away is the name of the app FYI.)

My phone is my master of scheduling.  Something that makes me very nervous to tinker with now that I use it for more than just fun and games.  A feeling that makes me a little nervous about the idea of getting the latest and greatest new gadget on release day; however, I suspect it still won't stop me.

So, this marks the time when I start heading toward the bus.  I need to allow about 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop in order to get there in time.  Sometimes I can wait a couple minutes because I time the lights just right, but usually the bus is pulling up just after I arrive at the terminal.  I usually manage to get a seat toward the back, but today I actually had to sit near the front (in the sideways seats that are reserved for elderly and handicap people (usually that just means I need to sit sideways and can't lean my head back.

Although I wouldn't lean back if I could.  I break out my tablet, plug in my headphones, and watch a video lecture.  I have about 30 minutes to watch lectures before I arrive at Overlake Transit Center.  I am excited about this bus ride in the summer.  The view of Mt Rainier from 520 East while leaving Bellevue is an excellent way to start your day off.  The fog is usually below the horizon.  The sun is behind the Cascade range to the East... Rainier to the South.  The left side of the mountain glows, the glacier on top can even blind you on a sunny morning when the sun hits it just right.  The right side of the mountain is dark and takes on a blue tint from the shade.  Sometimes the mountain wears a white fedora, almost as if it was lifting it's hat to say good morning.  For this, and only this, reason I almost always sit on the right side of the bus in the morning.

Once I arrive at Overlake, I am just across the street from the Studios West Campus. Well, across 520, which is a six lane road with two additional exit lanes on each side... So the bridge is like a small city block.  Then I cut between Studio A and the Commons... across to the far side of the campus, where I get to Studio C.  Once in the building, I take the stairs to the fourth floor and get my coffee before heading into the lab.

Things are a little different in the lab.  The teams have become adjusted to the new space.  Every part and tool has found it's home.  It's time for new developments; this is the story in the tech industry.  Stay competitive... be adaptable... do what the lab needs you to do.  This sometimes forces me to step slightly outside my Test Engineer role, but doubling as a part time Network Engineer... Software Architect... or miscellaneous grunt is something that just needs to be done from time to time.  You just read a few articles about what you are trying to get done... find someone who can give you practical advice... get-r-done!

I came back at a time where several teams need a little help.  All the new products that were put out this past year have created some interesting challenges, and new tests need to be run... test results from the summer need to be analyzed to make sure we learn from our failures and successes.  My boss likes it when I can point out things we could have done better, and how to ensure it really gets done better next time.  Even though that sometimes means making a plan for something we will never do again.  That's just the nature of being on the bleeding edge.  If one and three ideas pans out, we are making progress;  However, if one and six pan out... well, it's epic... whether win or fail.

By the end of the day I'm usually beat.  Half the time I can hardly make it through more than five or six minutes of lecture before I need to close my eyes and lean back.  I open my eyes to find I'm back at the Renton Transit Center... I walk home... get Jaani... walk him for a mile or two... then get dinner and relax for another couple hours.

I spend from 07:30 to 18:30 away from the house.  Which makes me feel really bad for Jaani.  All alone for 11 hours a day... although, I need to go to work.  Plus, I try to make it up to him on the weekends by not leaving him alone at all.

Anyway... That's the story with my work life right now.  It's not bad.  I get a sense of fulfillment form my work... a sense of greater being than just fending for myself in the wilderness... a sense of belonging somewhere that only comes from working with a great team of people.

So, that's all for now.  It's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Later,

     SteveO

Yooperland Vacation!

So, I have been neglecting my blog again... I guess I have been up to a lot of stuff.

Jaani has been enjoying 3 walks a day in his own private 1.5 acre dog park... sometimes when the neighbors are around, I'll put him on a leash because I don't think they would like it if he went running up to them...


I have been spending a lot of time entertaining my nieces and nephews.  They are all at the point where they want lots and lots of attention, so it's a good thing I'm here to give it to them.

I went to the renaissance festival where I enjoyed a turkey leg, a pickle, lots of beer, and a show at the smoker.  Then we went to a near by bar for more beer and pizza.  It was good to see my cousin the Amazing Flec perform his fire show at the smoker, although it was weird that there is no smoking in the smoker... at least not sense they passed that non-smoking law...

Next, I went around visiting old friends from high school... just dropping in and getting a beer at the local bars, but this past weekend, we went out for a Yooperland Adventure of sorts.  (Jaani stayed with my parents...)

We went to Craig Lake which is just north of Michigamme, Michigan (which is in Michigan's upper peninsula SW of Marquette.)  The way to the lake is to drive into Michigamme, where you will find a small one lane dirt road (craig lake rd)... take that road about 6 or 7 miles in (following the signs to craig lake)... then you will find a small parking lot... from there, you will have to carry your boat about 1/2 a mile down a dirt road to the water.  From there, we traveled across the water for about 1.5 miles by boat (1 canoe, 1 kayak, 1 row boat)...

While there, we polished off about 168 beers, 5 fifths of liquor, and a half gallon of 5 o'clock vodka... we didn't bring much booze back with us... it was a good time.

Speaking of drinking... it seems that after spending a few weeks in Michigan, I find that I have greatly increased my capacity for alcohol.  Funny how that works...

Anyway, now, I think I will spend the weekend going to East Lansing, Royal Oak, and possibly Duck Lake for another relaxing vacation.

Maybe I'll write more later, but that's all for now.

Later,

     SteveO

So, I've made it about 1,420 miles, and that puts me at over half way.

I drove through Sturgis, but most of the bikers were out on the Interstate... but you can really tell that nearly everyone here has come for the festival.

Anyway, I'm pretty tired.  I got on the road at about 7:30 this morning.  I Filed an insurance claim for my camera, and they are sending return addressed box for me to return the camera in.  It really is too bad that I have to deal with my phone camera.  I have just been letting my phone upload new photos as I take them, then I move the photos over to the album when I am sitting around.

I have mixed feelings about using my phone camera.  For the first leg of my trip, I had a tripod that I was using to take pictures, but with my phone, it already has a dashboard mount.  That means I can just hit the button every once and a while to snap a photo.

Anyway, I still have a camera to use, but I don't think I'll take any more picture with Jaani and I in them... oh well.

So, once arriving in Wall, I still had some sunlight to take advantage of.  I didn't realize how much earlier the sky gets black in the mountains.  Here on the plains, I feel like I get an extra couple hours of sunlight.  Anyway, I decided to walk over to the giant dinosaur. I have seen it several time from the road, but I wanted to stand next to it.  So, Jaani and I walked over there from the motel room, and looked around for a while before I realized how hungry I was.  I guess when you drive all day...  anyway, I left Jaani in the room while I went over to Wall Drug to take a peek and got something to eat.  I might go back over there again, but I am feeling pretty tired.  I might just lay down and go to bed then start going early in the morning.

I might start before the sun... that way I can make some progress before it starts to really heat up outside...

I guess tomorrow will come soon enough.

Later,

     SteveO

A quick update this morning.  I did a lot of driving yesterday, and I made it to Bozeman Montana.  Although, as was meant to be... because I was on a trip where one of my main focuses was to take a ton of pictures... I dropped my camera.

It was crazy... on the Hotel room, I was going to take a picture and say goodnight, and it slipped out of my hand. It landed on the lens, and now it gets a lens error.  I guess the good news is that I purchased accidental damage insurance, but the bad part is I lost my super awesome camera.

I'll post a picture later, but it's a little bit of a bummer to loose the camera.  Hopefully, SquareTrade will make the warranty claims process really easy.

Later,

     SteveO

I think it's Day 2? I'm calling it two.

So, It's day two of my journey... or lack there of.  I've traveled 119.8 miles, and I'm right back where I started.  Today I (and by I... I mean Anthony...) changed my break pads, and then I got an oil change.  I stopped by Eric's storage unit to leave his key there and drop something off... I also went to my storage unit to leave a couple things there and to pick up a couple little items that I put away by mistake.

After all that, I tried to go to the Mac and Jack Brewery, but they had closed 20 minutes early today, so I just missed them.  So, because it's just next door, I went over to take Jaani for a last run over at Marymoor Off-Leash dog park (as seen in the photo...).

I did stop by one last time at Jet City earlier in the day for some coffee, and then I was going to meet up with a few guys from work earlier today, but that didn't quite work out... or at least it seems that way.  I will either hear back in the next 20 minutes from someone, or I will start driving (because rush-hour traffic will be over...)

Anyway.  That's all for today.  I don't think I will be going south to Portland anymore.  My timing is just off, and I guess it would be neat to see Wall Drug during the peak season. On that note, my thought is that it would be nice to make it over the mountains today.

The outcome from that will be revealed tomorrow... so, until then.

Later

     SteveO

So, my trip begins with a frantic rush to empty my apartment.  It's down to the wire... I've been cleaning for two and a half days, and in four hours I have my move out inspection.  I am scrubbing everything... If it is off white, rub it a few times with a cloth...

The few remaining signs that I lived in this apartment are gathered near the door.  My car is packed, and my instruments are ready to be taken away for storage.  However, the instruments are too delicate for a storage unit, I am taking those to my friends Anthony and Brandy, who will watch over them while I'm traveling.

I have a half hour left until my move out inspection, and my top-down cleaning process has left me with some dirty floors to clean up.  I scrub and scrub... and then finally 30 some of square feet of floor later, I declare that if it aint clean, then I aint cleaning it.  I toss all of my cleaning supplies into a cardboard box that I have left over, and I cram it into the remaining space left in the car.

The moment of truth is here at last.  I finally open up the door to take out my last bag of trash, and there is the guy coming up the stairs to inspect my apartment.  Perfect timing!  We spent about 20 minutes looking at the apartment and making small talk; in the end, he tells me it will cost me $5 for a small hole that my couch made in the wall.

I'm happy.  All that effort, and now he tells me that the apartment is just how they want it, and the worrying about nightmarish stories people have written about $2,000 move out fees, ridiculous inspections, and all that seem unwarranted.  Who would have known you can't believe everything you read on the Internet...

Anyway, that was yesterday.  Rush rush rush rush rush.  Then, after the whole move out thing, I had a relaxing cup of coffee at Jet City... and now I'm down in Spanaway.  Where I have the above shown view of Mt Rainier, and I don't really have much of a care in the world.

This morning, I washed the car, and then we went to a diner for breakfast... at some point today, I plan on replacing my front breaks; however, for now I have a beer.  Jaani and I have found a cool shady spot to hang out and relax.  Tomorrow I keep moving, so I'll probably write something about that in a bit.

Until then, Later,

     SteveO

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