The Second Setback

The last week went by pretty fast.  Cristina had an interview with her new boss and started work.  I've been called back for an interview at Harry & David on Monday.  And I saw the Space Needle for the first time!  I also took a picture with the wife's camera phone just to show what downtown Seattle is actually like:

You'll have to forgive the quality of the picture, but I think it illustrates that there are trees everywhere.  There's a corner downtown, not far from Pike Place Market, with a 40 foot pine tree in the middle of an intersection.  I bet they dress it up all pretty at Christmas... I'll try to remember to take a picture.

A pretty cool thing about the area is that it's like a bunch of small cities that kind of connect.  And because each one is a self-contained entity, there aren't really districts here, which is a refreshing change from Michigan.  No place has that steam smell that factory districts have because they don't exist.  I've also learned, from first hand experience, that because the city spends a lot of money on its public transportation the buses are both very clean and kept in good condition.

This morning, we kind of ran into our second setback.  We were getting ready to leave for work when I noticed one of my tires was flat.  I'll note here that this particular time, which shall remain nameless, has had an unidentifiable slow leak since before I left Michigan.  Oops.  Anyway, because I'm always prepared for every vehicular emergency, I used a can of Fix-A-Flat to get the tire pumped back up so I could at least get the wife to Bellevue Square on time.  Luckily for me, as it turns out, Discount Tire fixes flat tires for free!  The guy there actually talked me out of getting a new tire because even though it has a slow leak (it turned out to be a screw in the tire... how the hell did that happen? - ed) the treads are still in great condition; he did put the tire under a warranty so that if it does break, I can get a new one at discount...

The major drawback right now is our commute.  We happen to live almost directly diagonally across Lake Washington from Bellevue, which means that we have to go all the way around north or south.  We elect the northern route across I-90 East because we get to cross Mercer Island and see this view everyday.  The picture does not do it justice: