Signed a one-year lease on a new place. Way phat. The kitchen appliances talk — they don't always talk, just tell you the vitals: "door is open," "temperature is…" Pretty trippy. The view is the best thing: a complete overlook of Puget Sound. I can sit in my not-yet-moved easy chair and watch the ferries go back and forth, plus whatever strange ships come into town. On Saturday there were 30 tugboats racing around outside, and a giant freighter came in and they all went out to meet it — like little dogs chasing a big car.
Also had tickets to see Archbishop Desmond Tutu speak at UW, but moving logistics intervened. A wise man. I will catch the webcast.
Back online. That was the longest time without the internet since about 1994. Even in the middle of rural Iceland I was able to find internet. Good to see the world outside Seattle is still there. All moved in. Business at the hotel is slow, should have gone on holiday to California. Still — Monday and Tuesday are my weekend, so that's a start.
Birthday was like yesterday. Went to work, and it was kind of an off day. I don't have a sign that says it's my birthday, so how can anybody know. Just another day in a cast of thousands. On the bright side, got back to running — a calm 8.5km after work. There is a fair amount of winter blubber that must come off. It has been a long winter.
New geocaching dimension: survey markers and benchmarks. Those strange metal disks on top of mountains, buildings, and sidewalks. You find them, photograph the area, log it on the site. Found one today — the Space Needle, so fairly easy. Technically it's the little red light on top, but you know how it goes. Need a digital camera to put things up faster. Some of these markers are described as "a crooked tree from 1889." That tree isn't there anymore — so things change.
At the hotel someone spotted a strange-looking bug from a pile of apple wood on a pallet. I took a specimen home to identify — preliminary study suggests Phyllonorycter blancardella, the Spotted Tentiform Leafminer. I informed the managers, took more specimens to the engineering department, and told the cooks. Washington apples generate millions of dollars for our state's economy. The pile of wood was gone by the time I got back.
Went to Bikram Yoga with Stacy. 26 positions, two breathing exercises, 100 degrees in the room. I had never done this before. Strange but interesting. She isn't my girlfriend, but I spend a lot of time with her just the same. A crazy world it really is.
India and Pakistan rattling sabres. Iran confirmed nuclear status by Monday. I wish I didn't have to live during this time but nothing I can do about it. Meanwhile on the scanner: high-speed chase on the freeway, helicopters, state patrol, dogs. The guy went to his house of course. Such a story he will have.
Scientists confirmed ice oceans on Mars. One good thing about being awake all night is that you get the good stories first. Life on Mars. You heard it here first.
A few days off — reading Sylvia Plath's journals, learning Russian, geeking out on maps and charts. Tomorrow heading to Whidbey Island for geocaches. One is at a lighthouse where I need to time the tides correctly. Need to be there at about 1:30pm.
Whidbey was excellent. Found caches at the lighthouse (tides timed perfectly, crazy metal ladder with broken rungs bouncing around in the middle), around Deception Pass, at a mountain with rock climbing opportunities, and at a small airport. Also went to La Conner and Milltown — crazy old pioneer towns with more dogs than people. Met another geocacher looking for the same cache that wasn't there. We decided together it just wasn't there, then went and found an easy one together instead. Drove home with a few Tinkoff Russian beers. Today was the last day of my week off. Full of stories. That should keep me going for a few days at least.
Native American protesters outside this morning. They woke me up. There is some sort of Seahawk sign, and something about Thunderbirds — copyright or trademark infringement perhaps. I considered taking my white ferret outside and telling them I was the Kushtakas, just to make things interesting. I bet they would all run away. Instead I went back to sleep.
As for the India-Pakistan situation — if this thing gets all crazy, I don't even know. It sounds like this could ruin everybody's day, to say the least.
And that is where the archive ends. The Wayback Machine captured no further entries after June 2002. What came next — Yosemite in July, wherever the road went from there — is lost to time.