Took my first trip to the Olympic Penninsula today and I happened up on the neatest little seaside state park: Shine Tidelands State Park, right near the Hood Canal Floating Bridge between the Kitsap and Olympic penninsulae.  I just saw a sign for a state park and pulled off the highway to check it out..  Boy was I in for a neat treat.  It's really made up of just the area next to the water and there is a sheer cliff that is very highly vegetated  (one of the pics shows the density..)  But the narrow tidal flats are filled with life: interesting plants, animals, rocks, shells, old pieces of wood, dead trees.  I could have taken hundreds of pictures there, really.

 

Oh yes.  In case you didn't already - look at the album I posted shortly before composings this:

If this doesn't work, just click on the thing to the right.  Make sure you use the Full View button - it does a full page slide show rather than the little one and it does it near full resolution and loads really fast.  I hate to think of people looking at my pictures in tiny form!

 

I found some lovely critters, plant and animal both, which proved highly photogenic :)  If you come to visit and we have the time, I'll take you up there... and on the way back, you can drive on North 101... goings south.  That's right, the end of the 101 actually comes back down south to Olympia.

 

So, bad news.  I found out I can't drive back to CA next week - my car just won't make it reasonable.  Today's trip was just around 190 miles.. I had to add power steering fluid 4 times (I figure it empties the resevoir about every 40 miles) - This would require, in a trip to home and back, just north of 60 stops for adding fluid in an otherwise uncomfortable and not terribly enjoyable or fuel efficient vehicles.  Further, I was figuring on about $400 for gas, $100 for food, and about $150 for lodging (just for transportation), where I can get a flight from SeaTac for $202... after taxes.  I guess I'm flying.

 

I got my official membership cards from the WSBA (get to know this abbreviation: Washington State Bar Association) .  I'm WA Bar member #40229.  This means I've been sworn in, certified, given a bar number and anything else they can do to get in my way before letting me practice... which means now I can walk out into the street and start given legal advice as I please.  Be warned.

 

Actually attended my first bar social event on Thursday, too.. a little evening social sponsored by the Young Lawyers division of the Pierce County Bar Association (PCBA).    Got to meet some of the younger and older members of the bar too.  It was fun.  And they paid for drinks (microbrew beers for me!) and bought gourmet pizzas as appetizers from the place it was held at.  It was fun.

 

Let's see.  I've started a little tradition on Saturday mornings.  Nothing serious.. but I sit around and listen to Car Talk, Wait-Wait-Don't-Tell-Me, and This American Life while playing Puzzle Quest, preparing breakfast and drinking coffee.  Considering I'm nearly done with what I want from Puzzle Quest, my guess is the tradition will be short lived.

 

Okay.. I'm going to study some Japanese and then figure out some din.  Enjoy your weekends!

 

 

Okay okay.. so I guess I'm not all bad.  In a recent gesture, the crazy downstairs neighbors gave me a dresser.  They came up one afternoon and knocked on my door like they were trying to knock it over.  I thought the police had come for me.. but I opened the door and there was all 4'11" of punchy old lady with a big smile on her face.

 

"You wanna dresser?  We got one we're just gonna throw away."

 

"Sure!  I'll take it!"

 

It sure ain't pretty.  Dark green, cheap veneered wood with drawers that are falling apart.  And the bottoms of one of the drawers looked like it sat under my car for 10 minutes (puddle of oily stuff... <sigh>)  But I'm happy to have a big dresser thing.  Makes my room look at least 3x less empty.  It's pretty big mofo.. had to carry it up the stairs on end 'bout 5 1/2' wide x 3' tall and maybe 2' deep.  But it's an improvement! 

And it meant that I could reconfigure the ugly wire storage racks I got from Target for $12 into some 'computer accessory tables'.  It's pretty clever, really...

 

 

 

And it meant I could use my "printer table" as a handy new "notebook/bedside table".

And then she brought me a small vacuum cleaner.  And a broom.  And left a plastic footstool outside my door one night (currently sitting awkwardly in my living room).

A lady at work, Jackie, also provided me with some hand-me-downs.  A crock pot and a set of ceramic jars :)

 

Okay... so what else?

 

Oh yeah - I'm a lawyer now.  I had my swearing-in ceremony last Thursday.  Went down to courthouse in my fancy suit and tie and swore an oath, had a reception, and was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association, entitled to practice law.  Kinda crazy really: someone like me <wink>

 

I got to interview my first witness last Friday, too.. that was kinda fun.

 

And my car is still broken.  I went, on the same day I was being sworn in, to install the part I had gotten from Audi.  They looked at the car some more and said, "Oh.. this isn't the problem.  You need something much more expensive ($1500)"  So I returned the part and ate the 15% restocking fee.  And am continuing to feed my car power steering fluid in roughly equal amounts as gas (well maybe not that bad).  As long as it gets me down to California and back, I suppose it's done okay.  I may really consider getting rid of it then.

 

Japanese study is going very well. I'm far exceeding my 1 hour a day requirement (probably closer to 2 hours/day).  It's fun.. some parts are really hard, but others I'm getting along very well with. 

 

I just finished another Jdrama called Galileo which I really enjoyed (see my jdorama profile for a review.. if you care) and before that a great one called Koi ni Ochitara.  I'm about to start one called Seikei Bijin (Artificial Beauty).

 

Been gyming a lot.  The temp gym is okay.. but the new one is going to be spectacular.  They say it'll be open by the end of July.. but I don't believe them.  And on the days I don't gym, I'm taking long walks around Tacoma, trying to get to know all the nooks and crannies worth knowing in my immediate area.  Checking out the cool local stores.. you know, coffee places, barbers, produce and meat sellers, home decorators.. I've seen everything.

 

I've actually got a wonderful Etheopian Harrar I purchased from a local roaster (Origin 23° - http://www.yelp.com/biz/origin-23-tacoma) I'm currently treating (not currently currently - I'm actually have a glass of 2002 Sockeye Merlot as I write tonight - not recommended - overly tanic, thin flavor) my sorrows with :)  It's a nice coffee place and they have an indonesian I'm going to be getting at my next visit which is truly wonderful.  They're also reasonably priced - like just around $10/lb.

 

And I got my hair cut from a local barber (he's about 3 blocks away).

 

The area is really lovely to walk in.  Very interest variety of houses and people are super friendly.  It's pretty this evening.. but it hasn't been pretty the last couple of days.  Dreary, really.  It stays light until after 9:30.. and really doesn't get to be "night" until like 10:45.  It's kinda crazy.

 

Okay.. enough - time to study!  Besides.. I'm tired of listening to Berlioz now.

I've now been in WA for 5 months and today I am officially an enemy of the community.  A threat.  A terror.  A deliquent.  A hooligan. 

 

My landlady called me this evening and told me that two people complained about my loud music yesterday.  The funny thing: I didn't listen to music yesterday.  In fact, I wasn't home much of the day.  And when I was home, I played Puzzle Quest (and much of the time, the audio was muted because I was on the phone).  There was a cleaning lady cleaning out the apartment next door who was playing a loud radio with the door open.  Grr. 

 

Now there are times I've played my music loudish (nothing approaching remotely offensive and just barely audible outside the window - I stood outside and listened from different points) and there is a couple I already found out to be ultrasensitive (my guess is both complaints were from husband and wife (they live next door to each other in two different studios - the man has a scary security camera in his window and he told me that the lady beneath me was a meth-head and that he was glad there was finally a normal, decent person moving in.  He also sits in a chair just inside his place right in front of the window.)) 

 

Now I know this place is older.  And I know it's built with nearly zero sound insulation (I hear my neighbors regular voice conversations).  But I listen to my music at a level barely what most people would consider normal television viewing.  In fact, when I'm in the kitchen, it is barely audible.  Now, to be a good citizen, I've not only turned down my subwoofer control to the lowest level, but I've actively reduced the bass (31, 62, 125hz to -10.6, -10.3, -6.8 db, respectively) in my sound card's control panel .  Basically that means, for those of you who aren't audiology experts, that means the sound pressure between the lowest key on the average piano (Sub-contra A - around 27.5 hz) to the next two octaves up (great A - 110 hz) is being muted by a factor of 10.  I've toyed with the graphic equalizer to make it as limited an impact as possible.. but it makes music sound funny, no matter what you do.  Fortunately my speaker system overcompensates that range some, so it isn't as catastrophic a loss.. but it's still very noticible. 

 

And I'm irritated about having to do it.  I don't have any entertainment in my apartment other than my kitchen, computer, and bed.  And two of those features are greatly enhanced by audible accompaniment in the form of some music.  I have precious little to be excited about when coming home and it seems they are determined to deprive me of just those amenities.  And honestly, people's kids make way more noise than I ever have - they scream all the time.

 

The reality is, that any music, even if played very softly, can be heard outside the window and if they want to make my life difficult, they can.  So I made a little change.  I'm going to continue playing my music at whatever volume I have, however.  If they really wanna complain, I'll have Helen (my landlady) come and we'll do an evaluation of exactly what is reasonable at given times of the day, given specific locations and states of the window's openness on a convenient chart I will be happy to put together in Excel.  Oh it'll be fun.  And then I'll be counting the days until November 30th and taking every opportunity to chide people taking out their garbage after 8, walking too noisily or talking at anything above a whisper.

 

<sigh>

 

So what else is new?  I joined a gym yesterday.  LA Fitness.  I prepaid 3 years membership to get a better rate and renewal rate.  It was a lot of money but it's not like it's something I'm not going to use and to pay a little more upfront means that in the long run, I can save money.  I'm okay with that kind of investment - it doesn't depreciate - it actually gets cheaper as the rates inflate and I'd have to make close to 40% per year in growth to make up the savings over 3 years, so your time-value of money argument is pretty hard to support (whoever you are!)  It's actually really great.  I got in on a great deal because they haven't opened up the new $13 million facility they're opening up next month, so I get to use the temporary location (they bought out another gym and improved it) until then.  Even the temporary facility is really nice.  I had a great workout yesterday and it was wonderful to get back to it.

 

So wonderful, in fact, I did it again today.  I went to the one in Federal Way which was just recently finished (to get an idea of what the new Tacoma one is going to be like) and it's beautiful.  It's enormous, extremely well stocked with very high quality weights, machines, and cardio equipment, very nicely appointed with wooden faced lockers and frosted glass entrances, big windows, big open spaces.  It's not too noisy, it's really clean and there is so much equipment, even if it's busy, there's plenty to use.  It's pretty cool.  Not only is it cheap, it's gonna be a great gym.  So maybe it means I have to wait 3 more months on my knives and table, but I think it was worth it.

 

I also took a couple of steps towards become more Washingtonian.  I have WA license plates now and a temporary WA driver's license (the real one is in the mail).  So, $150 later, I'm more of a resident than I was the day before :)

 

Next is health care and auto insurance.  Gotta get those, yeah.

 

I'm being sworn in as an attorney in Pierce County on Thursday of this week.  My firm said they'd give me a little bump in pay too.. that sure would be nice.

 

My car is still unhappy.  The part has been ordered (a high pressure hose for the power steering pump) and should be arriving within the next few days.  It was nearly $400 and installation will be another $100.  My car died again at idle today (with the air conditioning off) so I'm not sure I'm out of the water yet.

 

I'm learning Japanese.  I'm trying to spend an hour a day right now.  My goal is 5 years - basic ability to speak and understand Japanese and Chinese.  Reading is undecided.  I started a week ago and have been working hard.  It's been really tough at times but I'm enjoying it.

 

I went to sushi last night.  It was a gift from Aunt-Cousin Leslie given for my passing the bar.  I did a search on Yelp for Tacoma sushi places and ended up at Fujiyama.  Fish was great: super fresh, lovely selection for the sashimi plate!  Preparation was so-so.  And, it's the first time I've ever been to sushi where none of the sushi chefs were Japanese.. or even Asian.  I was served by Reyes and Juan.  Now I didn't have a huge problem with that, in and of itself, but I'm afraid my chef, Juan, just wasn't as skilled as some of the better chef's I've had.  His cuts were sloppy.  I'm not sure if I'd go back.  The price was great for what I got, but it just wasn't the same experience as that other place I've been to up in Southcenter I liked so much, Miyabi.  Fujiyama does have a really cute Japanese server .. that always helps :)

 

But now, I've gotta get started with my language lessons before bedtime!  I'll update with some of my smaller household purchases for the week in a few days. 

 

Ciao!