decidedlyodd

Well, I finished my first week of work. Overall, I think it went pretty well. It’s a lot to take in a very large piece of software with a collective codebase stretching back about 20 years, but I’m making slow but steady process on understanding (parts of) it. In the course of a few days, I managed to fix three bugs in Word, which is definitely a good start. The work environment both wrt to people, equipment, location, etc. has also been very good. I have my own office and although it doesn’t have a window or anything, it’s still all my own. On the floor, there’s a kitchen stocked with various kinds of coffee, soda, juice and other beverages for free use by employees. Downstairs, there’s a cafeteria where a sizeable chunk of my group eats lunch every day. The campus is large, so to eat elsewhere you’ve got to walk or drive a bit. Still, the prices aren’t too bad and for cafeteria food it’s decent. From a certain side of the building on a clear day, there’s a magnificent view of the Cascades through the forest. My coworkers all seem like pretty decent, interesting and friendly people for the most part. Most of them seem to be about my age or maybe a few years older, which makes the atmosphere resemble that of graduate school in certain ways.

Except for one day last week, I took the Sound Transit express bus over to work. The bus stop near home is close–about a 5 minute walk. On the other side it’s a little longer–probably about 10 minutes. The bus ride itself varies depending on traffic. All told it’s about 10 miles, but during morning rush hour it takes about 30 minutes. One night during evening rush hour, I think it took nearly an hour. Still, the bus was able to drive in the carpool lane, passing cars stuck in stop and go.

Over the past couple days, I’ve been accumulating various things for my apartment. However, because of work, my ability to procure certain things has been limited. Fortunately, last night I made it to Sleep Country in downtown and bought a mattress. It was expensive, but hopefully it will be worth it. I keep telling myself it’s important and I can afford it, yet I’m pretty sure it’s the most expensive non-computer, non-automobile thing I’ve ever bought. Also good is that they’re delivering it Sunday afternoon, which means just one more bedless night. After buying the mattress, I noticed there was a Bed, Bath and Beyond nearby. There I picked up a toaster and some other odds and ends for the kitchen like potholders and a dish rack.

This morning, I got up and made a quick trip on foot to the post office (about 5 minutes from home). I bought some new 39 cent stamps and mailed a CD of the Nicaragua photos off to Sarah for official SHI use. After that, I drove over to check out the Pro Club, which is near work. I pay a little bit of money and Microsoft pays for the rest of my membership at this mega gym. According to their website, they’re the largest gym in the United States in terms of the size of their main building in Bellevue. The place is quite large. I had to park on the third level of the underground parking structure. Additionally, there was valet parking available, which was the frist sign that this place was going to be swank. Upon walking in, the place was crowded with lots and lots of families with children running every which way. I guess Saturday around 11am is a busy time. None the less, I was able to get my membership card without waiting more than a minute. The locker room was also interesting. It was almost but not entirely unlike a locker room (bonus points to people who get that reference). It was very swank. Hard wood lockers with fancy electronic combination locks and get this–the whole thing was *carpeted*! The place was much more like the lobby of a fancy hotel than a dank locker room. I felt very outclassed, but at the same time managed to enjoy the bounty Microsoft has bestowed upon me. After a five week break (at least), I got back in the pool and managed to swim 1650 yards in about 50 minutes. My arms are a bit sore, but otherwise it wasn’t too bad to get back into the swim of things. Although there were tons of loud children and their parents in a nearby pool, there was a dedicated lap pool which was really, really nice. After showering, I weighed myself and realized I’d lost weight over the past few weeks. Being on the road and in Nicaragua, my consumption of junk food has gone WAY down while the amount of walking I do every day has gone up. Still, I think I might want to make a concerted effort to eat more (nutritious) food. 155 pounds is below where I want to be in general.

I spent almost the rest of the day shopping at various places on the Eastside and in Seattle. My first stop was Bear Creek Shopping Center. There’s supposed to be a Linens and Things there, but I couldn’t find it. Instead, I managed to go to Target (where I bought more crap), Mervyns (got new bed sheets for my bigger bed) and Fred Meyer. Fred Meyer is worth discussing in its own right. It’s the Pacific Northwest store that has everything. Essentially, it’s a full grocery store, a hardware store, a bed and bath store, and a clothing store all rolled into one. Imagine Walmart, but with many of the sections turned into full-blown stores. The place was HUGE and two stories.

After that I went in search of BestBuy. After driving around in circles trying to find the address I had found through Google Local in my cell phone, I realized the place was “Best Buy Co Inc” which isn’t an actual BestBuy. I went to the next place listed in the phone and it was a normal BestBuy. I meandered around for a while. Originally, I had intended to buy just a microwave, but soon I found myself over the TV section. A TV and DVD player, what a great idea! I thought. I could while away these boring nights of no internet watching VCD movies I have. A ton of money later, I found myself in the not so good situation of not being able to fit the TV in my car. Doh! I had to go back inside and return it like a goof. The sad part is that nobody batted an eye. That sort of thing must happen all the time. I found out I could have it delivered for $50, but it would take a few days. I opted to just return it and straighten things out later. Hence, I have a new DVD player but nothing to hook it up to. I also got a microwave, so it wasn’t a total loss.

Then I drove back to the area where I was lost before to check out Levitz Furniture. Everything there seemed kind of old and frumpy, although I did find a bedroom set I liked enough to measure for. Maybe if I don’t see anything soon, I’ll go back and order at least a chest of drawers or dresser and a night stand. I’m still conflicted about buying an actual wooden bed. I haven’t had one of those since I was in high school. It seems kind of superfluous, but I imagine it would make the room look nicer and more complete. Levitz wasn’t a bad place pricewise though. It’s more than Mor, but the stuff was also nicer. Most everything at Levitz was either too big, too ugly or too modern though. They did have a good selection of reasonably priced couches and easy chairs, so I might go back for that. Kitchen tables were a total failure for what I need.

Then I drove back into the city and ended up at Northgate Mall, which is probably the closest mall to where I live (about 7 miles or so away in north Seattle). I went to all of the department stores and bought some clothes here and there. At JCPenney (of all places) they actually had a small kitchen table with chairs that I liked. It wasn’t TOO expensive, but not super cheap either (I think about $500 for the table and four chairs). I got a wild hair and thought maybe I’d buy some Chuck Taylor’s while I was there too. However, every place wanted $40 (plus the 8.8% WA sales tax), which is just too much to pay for those shoes. Maybe zappos.com will have better pricing.

After that I went across the street to a new shopping center that’s been built. I went to Target (to buy a navy bed skirt that no other store seemed to have), BestBuy (to see if they sold projectors–they don’t), and Basset Furniture direct. Basset furniture was really expensive ($2000+ kitchen tables) and definitely out of my league at this point. Then I went to get in my car and go home. But I couldn’t my car. Then I realized I was on level “2a” and I must have parked on level 2. But my car wasn’t there either! I kinda started to freak out, but first walked the rest of the way through the parking structure. I guess I was parked on the first level after all (whew).

Right now, I’m at home just finishing up eating my dinner of chicken, rice and chayote (Safeway sells ones imported from Costa Rica). Tomorrow, maybe I’ll go look at some more furniture and see if I can’t get some more stuff delivered on Wednesday. The DSL people are coming that day anyways, so I’m going to probably end up working from 4pm to midnight that night anyways. Maybe I can kill two delivery birds with one stone. I may also investigate buying a projector. It would be space saving and not require delivery. Some friends in Chapel Hill had one and it was pretty cool. Unfortunately, my walls are beige, so I’d probably need to get a screen (or at least a white sheet). We’ll see though. I know they’re pricey