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Monthly Archives: July 2008

Marginally Improved Fan

28 Monday Jul 2008

Posted by rajalary in Home Improvement

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The day our Kirkland house closed, Rich and I ripped out the carpeting upstairs and proceeded to remove the doors, molding… and dated light fixtures. Several months ago, we started to replace the light, including the amazing bat fan in our master bedroom.

Bat fanAmazingly engineered, the bat fan consisted of a light bulb and two bats. To cool the room, you simply turned on the light and the bats madly flapped their wings.

Adding to the elegance of the design was the open wiring in the ceiling and stunning black fixture.

With great sadness, and just in time for the warm weather, we replaced this fan with another…

New fan

Going from Fresh to Salty

28 Monday Jul 2008

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

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The day after my Cruise-and-Learn, Chris (Rich’s son) and his wife, Shawnie, came down from Camas, Washington to visit with us and several of their friends. Stacey (Chris’ sister) who works for Argosy Cruises, offered to get us tickets for the locks cruise. What she didn’t say was that the locks cruise is fabulous. There aren’t even words to describe the wonderment and enjoyment of tWizard and Northwesternhis cruise!

Everyone had an amazing time!

We initially took a bus from downtown Seattle (Pier 56) to Lake Union, a few miles north. We then cruises through the lake and see many wonderful shoreline neighborhoods, house boats (including the one from the movie Sleepless in Seattle), and historical sites. There were also fishing boats of varying sizes, including the Wizard and Northwestern from the TV series Deadliest Catch.  

We then went through the locks, in Ballard, which consisted of tying off to the walls of the locks Locksand descending until we were level with the salty water of the Puget Sound. Many other boats were in the locks and rafted (tied) together — small power boats tied to large yachts, sailboats tied to fishing boats.

Once out of the locks, we circle to the west then south back to downtown Seattle.

Check out the panoramic pictures I stitched together!

Locks tour.pano2 Locks tour.pano1

Rich as My Ballast

26 Saturday Jul 2008

Posted by rajalary in Sailing

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In April, Rich signed me up for a Cruise-and-Learn trip with San Juan Sailing in Bellingham. A charter and sailing school, San Juan routinely offers week-long trips in which participants earn their Bare Boats Certification afterwards… all but me.

While I’ve sailed with Rich in the past, I’ve never gotten the hang of which way the wind is blowing, whether to turn up or bear off, how to trim the sails, and a myriad of other details that somewhat intuitive for most of mankind, but elusive to me. I simply don’t have a “feel” for sailing.

Rich, therefore, when he learned of an all-woman’s Cruise-and-Learn. Certainly a professional instructor could figure out how to teach me to sail. He couldn’t be more wrong!

After months of studying sailing books, tying knots, getting quizzed by Rich, and observing sailboats as we cross over waterways, I felt somewhat confident with my knowledge of sailing. And sure enough, I got 93% on the initial certification test I took prior to getting on the boat on Saturday morning. My confidence quickly petered away after I took the wheel of Kookaburra, a luxurious 37-foot Island Packet sailboat.

Once again, I was completed lost when it came to adjusting to the wind. I over steered. I under steered. I turned the wrong direction then the right way. Desperately, I tried to make sense of everything and write formulas in my head… if the sails are on starboard (right), turn to the right to fill the sail then back off. Do the opposite for port (left). It worked great for sailing long runs, but failed miserably when I had to do figure-8 man-overboard skills. And forget about jibbing (when the wind is at the back of the boat). 

The tears came quickly and didn’t diminish for seveKukkaborran days!

Adding to the angst was the less then charming behavior of my friend who joined me on the boat, as one of the four students. While formerly a minister, she was challenged by the concept of compassionately reaching out to help others. By day two, she was angry that she wasn’t getting enough instruction and others were now “allowing” her to do her job.

On a sailboat, teamwork is essential. One person can’t possibly pull up and trim the sails and also steer by themselves on a 37-foot boat. More importantly, because it was a cruise-and-learn, everyone was trying to learn from each other and help out where necessary. After all, you’re only as good as your weakest member. My ex-friend, while smiley and nice, ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed. She barely passed the first exam and could only tie a handful of the knots when she showed up at our Mount Vernon house the evening before the cruise.

Not only did she not want anyone to help her, she didn’t want to help anyone else. That meant, when it came time to pitch in and help cook the meals, clean up, make sure everything was in shipshape, she did little to nothing. Her key focus was on her needs and only doing a job when it was her turn.

The day we were in Friday Harbor, I was the chef. I got up at 6 a.m., went ashore, took a shower then returned to the boat to cook eggs, hash browns and fruit salad. I put the dishes in the middle of the table thinking my friend would spread them out. Nope. She was the skipper for the day and it wasn’t her job! She was more interested in taking her shower (everyone else had gotten up early to shower), washing her clothes, and buying a pair of sailing gloves.

When we walked to the store, everyone had something in their hand like bags of trash and recycling. Not her. Throughout the day, she did as little as possible, at one point, telling me that I had to fetch someone a Coke because it was my job as the chef.

By the time we tied up to a mooring ball at 8 o’clock, I was exhausted and in tears. Nevertheless, I started to cook dinner… spaghetti sauce with sausage, left-over steak (mine because I don’t eat beef) and chopped up vegetables. She washed up, brushed her hair, took a seat at the table then wanted to know if I was cooking with the wine because she wanted a glass.

Need I say anymore?

Also contributing to my angst was severe Rich-withdrawals. On several days, I didn’t have cell phone reception so we couldn’t talk. Rich has an amazing way of calming me down and putting situations into perspective. After a few days, I longed for Rich so much (or maybe just opportunity to be by myself and regroup) that I didn’t want to eat and could barely sleep for more than a few hours.

By the time we got back to Bellingham, earlier Friday afternoon, I had reached the fruit loop stage. I questioned my ability to do anything, including helping clean up the boat. Happily, Rich was at the dock when we arrived… he is my ballast, my courage, my life… and within a few hours, I stopped crying and felt like I might be able to one day master sailing.

Was the trip all bad? No!!

Highlights included:

  • Six days of amazing weather
  • Amazing wind, the boat skated across the water for much of the trip
  • Outrageous scenery along the Puget Sound
  • Fabulous evening and morning in Friday Harbor
  • Three pods of orca whales with two of the whales surfacing six feet or so off the stern of the boat
  • Dolphins!
  • Great and understanding instructor, Mary Ross
  • The other two students – Peggy and Sheri – were fabulous. Sheri is an event florist (how could she not be great?) and Peggy is a counselor with Chehalis Community College (near Olympia). Both of the woman own boats in the San Juan Charter fleet and were the type of woman that I’d like to keep in contact with forever!
  • Gorgeous boat with top-of-the-line furnishings, instrumentation, and features
  • Good food supplied by the charter company… lots of healthy fruit and vegetables, seedy breads, variety of cheeses and meats for sandwiches, Odawalla orange juice, salmon, chicken, steak (eck for me), crackers, and cookies (very important)
  • Wonderful woman on another Cruise-and-Learn with whom we rafted (tied) up with twice to socialize and share appetizers (i.e. brie, crackers, brie, wine, fruit, brie, olives, and brie)
  • I actually learned some stuff… I got a 95% on my second test… and plan to ace my third test
  • I learned navigation, how to plot a course, take compass readings, etc. Navigation is so much fun!

What’s next?

The day after the cruise, Saturday, we signed up with the Island Sailing Club in Kirkland… a few miles from our house. We’ll be able to sail after work and on weekends on Lake Washington. The boats are fairly small so it’ll be easier for me to grasp basic sailing concepts and hopefully get a better feel for the wind and steering challenges.

Rich and I will be chartering a 34-foot boat from San Juan Sailing in late September. We’re making arrangements for my instructor to come on board on the last day for a few hours and verify that I’ve “mastered” (cough, cough) basic bareboat sailing skills. Rich will also be on the boat… trimming sails and following my commands.

If I pass (I need a miracle), I’ll take the third written test (much easer than demonstrating sailing skills)… and then I’ll be bareboat certified. Being certified will allow Rich and I to charter a boat in the Greek Islands, which requires that at least two people be certified. In the meanwhile, I look forward to sailing in the Puget Sound for the next 6-7 years!

Perfect Weather for Fort Vancouver Show

08 Tuesday Jul 2008

Posted by rajalary in Hobbies

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The last weekend of June, Rich went to Portland to oversee the initial set-up for the Fort Vancouver Fireworks Show, which is shot from two barges in the Columbia River, opposite historical Fort Vancouver. While Rich and a crew of 20 volunteers set up mortars and piled up sand in nearly 100-degree weather, I spent the weekend, running errands, sewing, hanging pictures, and trying to stay cool in more temperate Seattle. Happily, Rich and his team only had to suffer for five hours before they could jump in their cars and head home… or in Rich’s case to his motel room…
 
… and clean clothes that were slightly hairy from the cats who helped pack his suitcase.
 
The following Thursday, July 3rd, the weather was much more reasonable. Rich’s team, which consisted of men, women, and five 18-year old boys and a 19-year old Pu'Yi and Lunetta packing for Fourth of Julygirl, zipped through loading, wiring and tin-foiling the show by early afternoon. Meanwhile, I worked from home then jumped on a bus in Kirkland to downtown Seattle. From there, I boarded the Amtrak Cascade for a 3.5 hour trip to Portland. It was a splendid trip in a comfy, leather seat next to the window so I could see the Puget Sound, downtown Seattle, Tacoma, and many other cities along they way
 
As we crossed the Columbia River, the dividing line between Oregon and Washington, I thought, "I’m so over Portland," but the truth is that I love Portland. It’s the perfect place to live with a great downtown, beautiful scenery, and just large enough without being overwhelming.
 
The next morning, I dropped Rich off at Swan Island where the fireworks barges were tied up. Northeast of downtown Portland, Swan Island hosted Portland’s first airport, dedicated by Charles Lindbergh in 1927, and was later used for naval shipbuilding during World War II. It’s now a major corporate center and hub for distribution, warehousing and manufacturing activities. 
 
I spent most of the day with my mother who lives in  Sherwood (south of Portland) then changed my clothes  and joined Rich and his team on the two barges going to Fort Vancouver. Next Fireworks barges for Blues Festival and Oaks Park on the Willamette Riverto his barges were three other barges, intended for the Blues Festival in downtown Portland and Oaks Park, a little further south.
 
It took nearly two and a half hours for the tugboat to push the barges down the Willamette River onto the Columbia, opposite the Fort. Rich and six of his volunteers stayed on the barges while everyGoing under the St. John's Bridgeone else piled on the tug boat. I climbed to the topmost part of the tug for the best view. You can see the tug in the picture below. It’s white and very tall and skinny. there are three decks on which you can stand.
 
At 10:10 p.m. the show started with a loud boom and continued for 31 minutes, concluding with hundreds of shells in the last minute.
 
After several volunteers put out several small fires on cardboard boxes and logFort Vancouver fireworks barges, getting ready to leave Swan Islands, the tug turned around and headed back to Swan Island. As soon as the tug starts back, everyone starts to disassemble the show… picking up the firing blocks, hundreds of feet of wire, dozens of trash bags of foil, cardboard, bits of shells, and other riff-raff, pilling up the "cake" boxes, and raking the barges. Whatever isn’t raked and picked up can blow into the water. 
 
At first, the task seems daunting, but with 20 people working at a ferocious pace, the show is somewhat taken apart by the time we returned to Swan Island, around midnight.
 
The next day, Saturday, the racks of mortars, empty boxes, bags of trash, firing blocks, and other "stuff" from the five barges were lifted off the barges using a crane and either loaded into trucks or placed in a large dumpster. By 3:00, Rich was done and we headed back to Seattle!Oil and gas barge next to the fireworks barges (eck!)
 
One interesting thing that I learned was that after the  Exxon Valdez accident, all vessels carrying oil or gas must be double-hauled. It’s less expensive to build double-hauled barges than ships. Many of these barges are built by Gunderson Marine in Portland builds many of these barges… one of which was "parked" next to the firework barges. Pipes on oil and gas barge
 
The top is a labyrinth of pipes, valves, lines, and wires. These barges are filled with gas, oil and lubricants; large, sea-going tugboats are then used to push them to Hawaii and other destinations.
 
The pictures don’t do justice to the size of one of these barges!

Amazing Year

02 Wednesday Jul 2008

Posted by rajalary in Seattle

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It’s been a year since I left Texas. On Friday afternoon, June 29, 2007, I said my "good-byes" at Dell then jumped on a non-stop plane to Seattle the next morning. After getting to Seattle, I got a rental car, drove to Microsoft to get the keys to my corporate apartment, unpacked my two large duffle bags of clothes and personal "stuff," bought food and other necessities, spent Sunday with Rich (he drove up from Portland where he was setting up for the Fort Vancouver Fireworks Show) then started my first day at work on Monday morning, July 2nd.
 
A week later, teary-eyed, I drove Rich to the airport to fly back to Texas. At the time, I didn’t know when I’d see him again. Ahead of us was selling our Texas house, moving the rest of our furniture and belongings to Mount Vernon, buying a house, doing major remodeling, living apart for four more months, moving in together then finally moving everything from Mount Vernon to Kirkland… a few boxes at a time.
 
And of course, there was the challenge of learning a new job and getting acclimated at Microsoft and the surrounding area.
 
In retrospect, we had exceptional luck, selling our Texas house the day it was placed on the market, finding a house that’s an easy commute to Microsoft, and my landing a job on the main campus within walking distance of the Microsoft Conference Center. Being so close to the Center, I’ve been able to attend dozens of events and brown bags (Microsoft usually provides fabulous box lunches).
 
On Monday, I attended a brown bag for Washington Congressman, David Reichert. Other people that I’ve heard speak include Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed, NBC’s Middle East chief correspondent Richard Engel, political reporter and commentator Howard Fineman, and the Irish National debate champions. Hilllary and Bill Clinton also spoke at Microsoft this year.
 
The other day, I added up the number of hours of training that I’ve taken; it’s nearly 80 with many of the classes a day or more in length and highly specific to my job. At Dell, I doubt that I had more than twenty hours of training in four years. My first year at Dell, I wanted to take a series of six classes that cost $35 each. My manager said that there was only budget for three classes.
 
Every aspect of Microsoft is superior to what Dell offered from job opportunities to focus on customer requirements and satisfaction, emphasis on analysis and monthly calibrations to obtain desired results, employee benefits, and work environment. Even though I haven’t been elated with my job, I’ve enjoyed working for Microsoft and learned a tremendous amount. Plus, because I’ve completed a year, I can now look for another position. My top choices are Windows Live or the Health Solutions Group.
 
Equally rewarding has been a year of seasons in the Pacific Northwest from warm summer months to turning leaves in the fall, snowy days in the winter, the spectacular colors of spring. Washington is much greener than Oregon with temperatures 5-10 degrees cooler on most days. It also has many more mountains and the key population areas are significantly impacted by the Puget Sound and surrounding waterways. The water influences the weather and where communities can be built, starting in the middle of the state (Olympia) up to Canada.
 
We live on the "east side" of Lake Washington. Seattle is to the west, sandwiched between the Puget Sound and the Lake. It therefore tends to be more overcast and colder in Seattle than in Redmond and Kirkland.
 
This year was also an opportunity for Rich and me to deeper our relationship. We seemed to be at odds earlier in the year with the stress of my trying to get a job at Microsoft, Rich wondering whether he’d be able to keep his job and work from home, the unknowns of the move, and my accident, which left me in a wheelchair and dependent on Rich for two months.
 
It’s truly been an amazing year! Best of all, we’re back in the Pacific Northwest and intend to never, ever leave again!

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