Sic Transit Bruce

Just a pun, I haven't 'passed over', but I am going to avail myself of an impressively integrated set of transit systems here. Seattle and its surrounding Metro area are served by a complex mix of buses, trollies, light rail, heavy rail and of course passenger-auto ferries operated by an equally complex set of transit agencies. But last year they introduced an electronic fare card that allows seamless transfers between systems or just within a selected one. For example I had my ORCA card loaded with an Everett Transit Pass plus a few extra cash dollars in case I needed to take a countywide Community Transit bus. In which latter case I was credited with the first 75 cents of the fare. In October I have been in transition between Everett and Seattle and just paid via the cash stored on my card, with credit for transfers within the window. Starting tomorrow I have an unlimited $2.25 card meaning I can take any number of trips per day and have the first $2.25 covered.

For example I plan to go to my old stomping grounds every Sunday to pick up mail and watch some football with Everett friends. Today that will cost me $2.00 on Seattle-Metro to get to the transfer point to the Everett Express but only $1.00 more to cover the $3.00 normal fare to Everett. And the same back for a total of $6. But next week, with the November pass enabled, the whole round trip will cost $4.25 with no extra cost if I stop somewhere in Seattle on the way back, or take a trip downtown before. Anyway once the monthly pass is paid for it is a positive incentive to play tourist, the marginal cost of visiting a new neighborhood or park within the city being zero. And ditto for the digital camera, for the price of a couple of AAs and my existing internet plans I am good to go.

Above picture also from the Pike Place Market yesterday.

Settling In

Weather has been pretty miserable even by Seattle standards but I was able to catch a brief sunbreak to take the top shot from the Montlake Bridge looking West. My new place would be just out of frame to the left (South) while the Univ of Washington campus and specifically the UW Medical Center is to the right (North). The Montlake Cut was just that, an artificial cut to join the once land-locked Lake Washington to Portage Bay and ultimately Puget Sound. It offers a near perfect location for crew racing being mostly sheltered from crosswinds.

This shot was from the Pike Street Public Market though not the actual famous fish shop where they throw fish. You don't get a good idea of scale here but the big Kings (aka Chinooks) in the lower right are easily three feet long. BTW while the first photo was from a digital camera the fish picture is from an iPhone and doesn't really do the scene justice.
Update: the Pike Street Public Market iconic Pig

The BruceWeb Has Landed

Well this has been an interesting two weeks. On October 14th I moved out of my place in Everett and on the Friday the 15th arrived in the University District of Seattle for house/room hunting. After a disappointing weekend I stumbled on a pretty nice situation. For those of you who know Everett Seattle I found a room in a shared house at the northernmost tip of the Montlake District, across the Montlake Cut from the University of Washington campus. The house, though a little shabby compared to its House Beautiful type neighbors, is warm and dry (the latter being REAL important in Seattle) and is perfectly situated on major bus runs going just about anywhere in Seattle and in fact the region you would want to go to work/play. The weather is miserable this week and my unlimited transit pass doesn't kick in until Nov 1st so I won't put up photos and such here just yet. But in my spare time I fully plan to play camera snapping tourist this winter and spring.

I am still moving some stuff in from storage and stocking the pantry and haven't ventured to explore the campus and community resources but I think this is going to be just fine. And when I hit my stride I will try to put up more topical blogging on Social Security etc.

A new phase begins.

More stuff shifted

Oddly still haven't walked around my new neighborhood, instead just shuttling between storage facilities here and there. But in a week I'm back in a college town.

And yes this blogging from iPhone thing DOES work in a pinch.

Pre-move plus one. Testing iGoogle

In theory I can post via my iPhone via IGoogle. So here goes.

Got a lot of staging done for my second stuff move this next weekend. The shift getting more real by the day.

Moving Day One: the Pre-Move Goods Shift

No turning back now. This afternoon my buddy Kip and I are going to take a van load of my stuff to a new storage unit across the street from the U of Washington campus. I'll still be sleeping in Everett for the next couple of weeks but after today my center of gravity is going to be 30 miles South. Where things actually happen. Everett is a nice enough place and downtown at least is getting nicer all the time (it was pretty gritty when I moved here and not yuppie friendly even now) but even its biggest booster would admit there is nothing there to draw people on weekends. Mostly you could shoot a cannonball the whole length of Colby Ave on Sunday (the main drag) and not risk hitting a moving object.

So big changes in store for me.

Bruce is Turning the Page/Leaving the Building

Bruce has been living and working (and then not working) in Everett Washington since 1993 but his time here is running short. Starting October 15th I will be living (and looking for work) in the University District of Seattle. The U-District being a whole lot more wired internet wise than Everett and Bruce for the time being having unlimited time on his hands means taking this blog once again live.

The Bruce Web started as a Social Security policy blog in Nov. 2004 and still serves as a resource for that. But since 2008 I have been doing my SS blogging at econoblog Angry Bear with an index here (see right side-bar). I also have a job seeking blog with my resume at The PlanWebb. But for now my plan for THIS blog is to take it back to the blogging roots, just my daily or whenever notes and observations on whatever passes my fancy.

Well it is Saturday and approaching noon. Which means college football and beer! Roll On You Bears! Cal Bears that is.

More later/tomorrow/manana/whenever.