Frustration and Jehovah's Witnesses

Frustration is a funny thing. It can be as gnawing as anger, but tends to be much more subdued-until a breaking point is reached. As such:

Apparently Seattle was the host to an international Jehovah's Witness convention this past Friday through today (Sunday). The article states that the convention (not usually an international convention) is usually held in Tacoma, but was held in Seattle due to the sheer number (as can be seen here). Apparently over 38,000 (yes, thousand) of them from 4 states and 40 countries descended upon Seattle and the UW campus, taking over the football stadium and bringing traffic to a standstill on and around campus before and after their events each day, and that's where the frustration begins to set in.

Usually the drive from my place to the airport takes about 20-25 minutes. Instead, I got caught in the traffic leaving campus Friday evening and I was stuck in the same spot for 30 minutes before I somehow took a turn onto a side road and drove around the entire standstill to reach the airport. Needless to say the bad driving habits of many of these individuals (including but not limited to not signaling while trying to cross two lanes to make a right turn at the next intersection less than 10 feet in front of you...and doing the same thing at the next intersection). Also, it took me half an hour to drive to work today (usually a 10-minute drive) and it seems like they took every last parking space on campus. UW is not really well-designed to host any large event, including their own home football games...

Moved In!

So I've been a little busy but now I've moved into a new apartment in a much quieter side of town (thank goodness for that). In the meanwhile some interesting sights:

There was a metro bus with a Dianetics advertisement (on the inside). For those of you that are unfamiliar, Dianetics is the book written by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology about the metaphysical relationship between mind and body (or at least in his mind). I've had the "opportunity" to visit the L. Ron Hubbard Museum in Hollywood and I spent most of the time trying not to laugh at the poor guide, who was utterly brainwashed in the workings of the cult.

IKEA now stocks the Daim candies again-there was a period of several years (up until a few weeks ago) that the candies were not sold. As an IKEA fan, I was glad they brought them back. Now if they would only restock the dessert cakes that had broken Daim pieces in them. Speaking of random foreign foods, I'm half-tempted to order a case of Guarana soda.

"Let Your Best Photo Travel The World"

I know a fair number of people who really like to take pictures, and I figured this contest might be interesting for a few of you. Basically the contest, run through Flying Blue (the frequent flyer program for Air France, Air Europe, Kenya Airways, Aircalin, and Tarom), consists of uploading (up to 10) travel photos to the site and the judging panel will select three winners. The winners will have their photos used on luggage tags that are given to elite members for up to two years. Additionally, winners will receive a one-year membership to Flying Blue's platinum status (which includes SkyTeam Elite+), 200,000 Flying Blue miles, and a luggage tag with their winning photo. The contest is available here and runs until midnight on July 9 (it says inclusive, so I'm assuming at the end of the 9th) Paris time (GMT+2). Currently one of my pictures is featured in the gallery. :)

For those of you that are concerned about rights and licensing (which of course is a legitimate concern):
Flying Blue only has the rights to display your photograph in the gallery during the contest period. If you don't win nothing else will happen. If you do win, in exchange for the prize, Flying Blue is essentially granted irrevocable rights to your photo for the luggage tags and for use on its website and social media pages for two years. This also includes image modification and text overlay for purposes including advertisements.

Taking The Bus

My bus rides are never as weird or interesting as the one depicted by Cyanide and Happiness, but I tend to find that riding the bus exposes me to the greatest range of people around, ranging from the downtrodden castaways to the clean and well-dressed. Since it is a means of public transportation, however, there have been a fair share of uneasy times.

A few weeks ago I was taking the bus to Northgate Mall on a weekend and a (somewhat not right in the head) gentleman gets on at the same stop at which I'm getting on the bus. However he starts to have a long discussion with the driver, and soon enough, our bus gets stopped by the police and the man is escorted off the bus and detained. I'm not sure what was going on, but my guess was that the driver was not happy for some reason to have the police come on the bus and physically remove the passenger. Several months ago I was also on a bus downtown with a belligerent passenger who kept cussing out the driver before getting off after being on the bus for only one stop.

In addition to the belligerent, there are the passengers who try to talk to everyone about their lives and their inflated sense of self-worth (or perhaps they just like to hear themselves talk). Most notable was several weeks ago on the light rail to the airport during the afternoon rush there was a fellow who tried to have conversations with everyone about their private lives. I can understand a little bit of small talk, but on a jam-packed train that's carrying twice as many passengers as usual due to a bus breakdown in a tunnel station preventing traffic for 20 minutes? I think talking to a stranger who likes to hear himself talk is the last thing anyone wants to do.

No Limits

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Seattle Restaurant Week

This past evening wrapped up this edition of Seattle Restaurant Week. Now, before I continue, I'm not the person who takes pictures of all their food to share on Instagram (I don't even have one).

A friend of mine and I had dinner at The Georgian at The Fairmont Olympic Hotel. This was the first restaurant that I went to that had a dress code since I ate at Lung King Heen in Hong Kong last summer. Since it was restaurant week, there was a three-course prix fixe menu.

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After the duck liver amuse bouche and bread offering (including four kinds of butter), I started with the Caesar salad, which was presented in a most interesting way. On the bottom was a rectangular sheet of cheese, with a long bundle of lettuce leaves on top of the cheese. The crouton (yes, singular) was also a thin rectangular slice. This was definitely the first salad I had that required a fork and knife. The salad was followed by the cod, which was flavorful and not dry, which tends to happen a lot when I order it at restaurants. Dinner was finished with the lomoncello and lemon drop (which was a piece of shortbread topped with lemon sorbet and toasted meringue). Overall, other than the presentation of the salad, there wasn't too much to write home about (though of course there wasn't anything detracting from the experience). I suppose the restaurant week selection is just a taste of what the standard (and pricier) menu offers, and helps get diners through the door.

We'll Leave The Light On For You

Unfortunately, my apartment is not a Motel 6. However, all of my roommates have this bad habit of leaving the lights on. The roommate I share a bathroom with never turns the light off after using the bathroom, and all of my roommates leave all the kitchen lights on. They even leave their lights on when they go home for vacation. I don't understand how it can be such a difficult concept for them to keep the lights off and not waste power. Also, sometimes they forget to lock the windows in their rooms.

I know it's a small sample size (n=3), but from my experiences white people don't seem to be aware of their resource usage as they should be. Is this a general trend across the population, or did I just get three roommates who can't keep anything clean and always have a case of bad body odor?

Poke...In A Wrap?

Today my apartment complex has its big open house to try to attract students to move in next year, and in addition to balloons and cheap swag, there was a food truck they catered for the day. Of all the things I have seen on food trucks, this was the first time I say poke served on a food truck. This particular food truck, Sam Choy's Poke, operates multiple food trucks in Seattle and surrounding areas most days, and offers poke (in addition to other options) served over rice, on a salad, or in a wrap. Since it was free, I obviously had to try it.

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I tried the spicy salmon wrap with a spicy aioli sauce (the little container in the back). Overall the concept of the wrap wasn't bad (rice + greens + slaw + wasabi aioli + poke) and there was a good amount of poke. What I didn't particularly like was how the rice was warm while everything else was cold, sometimes creating areas of different temperature in my mouth. The poke itself was pretty good, though. Would I pay $9.50 for one of those? Probably not, but it's still decently good such that I could enjoy it for free.

The Love Song

Of course, this is already more complex than today's love songs...

Flirting With Spring

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It almost felt like spring, or at least it did for a few days. A nice lunchtime stroll through campus, a walk away from the lab and from my work, serves as a reminder that there is life outside of work (and that it can be nice). It seemed that spring was around the corner.

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Of course, this is the pacific northwest, and as immediately as this weather appeared, it reverted back to the typical clouds and rain. Alas, it will be a while before it approaches the majestic conditions of a typical summer.

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