jfin is here…

Change in hosting setup and lazy me equals blog outage.

Listening to: Josh Rouse - Italian Dry Ice

Shopping at Whole Foods in Redmond this evening, I had the option of several NZ wines. From what I remember, one of them was a Villa Maria ‘06 Sauvignon Blanc for $10.24 and another was an Oyster Bay Chardonnay for $9.99.

I’m thinking that this is maybe less than I used to pay for it back at home.  Anyone care to provide the current price of these in NZ?

Listening to: Alien Ant Farm - Movies

Five minutes late for my flight on Friday meant for about 3 hours of delays as I flew back to Seattle via Portland rather than direct.  Most airlines seem to be running their flights at capacity or oversold at the moment, so could have been a whole lot worse.  No luggage to check definitely makes things easier.  Was late, but not too late, meeting up with Mike and Kirsty in Kirkland.

Some good views … a foggy San Francisco (Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge both pretty obvious in this shot), and then sunset over Oregon.  At the end of a busy week it is quite nice to just relax in a (cramped economy) window seat with the ipod.  Especially on the last leg, where Horizon provide a complimentary beer-y beverage. :)

It’s a nice sunny Monday in Seattle and looking like I’m here for the week … procrastination is the word of the day.

Listening to: Foo Fighters - The Pretender (leaked new single .. new album in September) 

Up at 4am on Friday for an early flight with Hill to Sin City. Three words to describe the Strip? Crowded, excessive, and sexy. If I could do four words, I’d probably make it “yucky sexy”. Still do like the Paris fake sky roof and the Bellagio fountains though. People-watching is highly entertaining. And I got to stay in a castle again.

Saturday night dinner with workmates was great. Even better was catching the taxi afterwards .. more specifically, seeing Ronnie bypass the long line of people waiting by working his magic (and his twenty dollar bill). Suddenly he was very sick and we were all rushed to into the cab to head off to ‘the hospital’.

Flagged the conference (Defcon) early on the Sunday. Picked up a rental car and drove north, towards Salt Lake City. Found a state park called the VALLEY OF FIRE (!!!!!) so drove east through there, then back to Vegas via the Hoover Dam. Pretty scenic, quite different to Washington. The dam is very impressive .. huuuuge.

Photos here.

Listening to: San Francisco street noise

.. my first job that involves traveling, after moving to Seattle, is based in some offices approximately 3 minutes drive down the same street that I lived on before I left San Jose.

Monday was work in Seattle. Monday night flew to San Jose. Tuesday and Wednesday work in San Jose, two 14 hours days at the client. It’s now Wednesday night and I’m at the airport waiting for my flight back to Seattle. Will be working in Seattle for the day Thursday. Fly to Las Vegas early Friday morning. Do the Defcon thing. Fly back to Seattle late on Sunday night. Then down to San Francisco on Monday morning.

Good for the air miles I guess, if nothing else.

I’ve hit the wall a little bit as far as email goes.  So my apologies if I’m not quite as communicative as usual.  I assume the motivation will return at some point.  :)

Listening to: Cheesy airport background music

For the Fourth of July (Wednesday) I had the day off work and Hillary had the day off school, and we were going to go hiking up around Mt Baker.  I drove up to Bellingham on the Tuesday evening with my backpack loaded… ring, champagne, strawberries, and camera.  Plan A was to hike until we found a nice lake with a good view of Mt Baker, and get down on one knee.

Wednesday morning arrives and Hill really does need to get some more study done before school starts back, so we decide that we can’t spend the whole day hiking.  Spend the morning at Hill’s house, pretending to read while she studies.  We then go for a walk in the sun, through the university campus and down to Fairhaven - a nice little 19th-century-style waterfront town at the south side of Bellingham.  I take my backpack along, telling Hill that it is for my camera .. neglecting to mention the other vital ingredients.

Plan B was a nice little wharf down by the sea in Fairhaven .. we’d had a few strolls along it earlier in the year.  In the middle of winter of course, when nobody else was around .. it’s now a sunny 4th of July, and every man and his dog (or dogs) is around.   Nope, I wanted something a little quieter.

Plan C involved a bench with a view over the sea that was further along the walkway, which we’d sat on and talked for a while the last time we were down here.  Foiled again .. the building has been remodeled and the bench has gone.  Plus there are still people everywhere.

Now I’m desperate.  Hill is suggesting that we may like to turn around and head back toward town, but I’m not going to have a bar of that. I’ve decided I’m going to do it and that is that.  Plan D … hmmmm, Plan D? I don’t have a Plan D.

Plan D.  Those rocks, sitting above the beach / sea.  They look okay.  I drag Hill over in their direction, and we perch somewhat-comfortably on them for 10 minutes - talking.  I decide this is as good as Plan D is going to get, so tell Hill that I’m going to take a photo of us.  She isn’t too keen, but obliges graciously.  I walk away slightly, reaching into my bag .. stealthily collecting the ring along with the camera.

I crouch by the rock, pretending to set up the timer on the camera. Little does Hill know, I’ve set the camera to video mode.  I push ‘record’, and walk back to in front of Hillary.  Taking a knee, I forget everything I had planned to say and (with every ounce of romance that is in me) rapidly blurt out “Hillary … I talked to your parents last week.  Will you marry me?  I love you very much!”

She said yes (after a little reminder that I needed an answer), and the ring fit. :)

Listening to: Spoon - Stay Don’t Go

Went hiking on Saturday, up in the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest Alpine Lakes Wilderness Area. Started up Bandera Mountain, enjoying view of Rainier in the not-too-distance, then shot through to Mason Lake, Rainbow Lake, and Island Lake. A warm day, and the water in Island Lake was mighty refreshing. :) Beautiful area .. pics (some by me, some by Owen - he took the stunner to the right) are here.

Played with the iPhone for a while the other day. It’s pretty sweet .. very different to any other phone I’ve used .. but not for me just yet. Picked up a Samsung Blackjack for one-sixth of the price instead. 3G data is speedy goodness (at least in the metro areas that have coverage).

It’s a cracker day here .. sunny and still. They’re predicting 90 - 95 degree (fahrenheit .. approx 35 celsius) temperatures over the next few days. I’ve made it in to my actual Seattle office (as opposed to my clients office) for the second time since moving up here, so am making the most of the view and the *real coffee mugs* instead of cardboard / styrofoam. Mmmm, coffee.

Speaking of temperature conversions, I’ve used two not-so-well-known functions of Google today … try searching for “95 fahrenheit to celsius”, “12 miles to kilometers”, “20 gigabytes to petabytes”, “time seattle”, and “time auckland”. Handy. :)

Hehe .. how to capture the airplane armrest.

Listening to: Incubus - Blood On The Ground

Visited Hill up in Bellingham for the 4th of July - after a sneaky chat to her parents the week before - and phew, she said yes! Although she tells me there wasn’t really any question about it. :)

Somewhat against the spirit of Independence Day, but I can live with that.

Blessed.

Listening to: RED - Breathe Into Me

Looks like it’s summer in Seattle .. sunny days, and long evenings.

Instead of pulling on plastic at the climbing gym, we’ve been getting outside. The Exit 38 climbing area is about 30 minutes drive east from Seattle. Spent Saturday up at Bobs (the Peannacle Wall) with Hill and Owen, and then Monday evening at We Did Rock with Tim.

I’m starting to lead some of the climbs .. did a 5.9 on Monday which was fun. It’s definitely a bit of a rush when you’re standing above your last piece of protection, hanging on with one hand and stretching to reach the next bolt with the quickdraw before clipping the rope.

Going back to the gym isn’t quite the same, although seem to get a better workout there. Slowly starting to feel like I’m getting stronger, and more comfortable on a wall .. very much a good thing.

Photos (some by me, some by Owen) are here.

Listening to: The Raconteurs - Steady As She Goes

Watch the judges reaction in this clip. Awesome.

More on the story here:

Potts is an average-looking bloke whose teeth aren’t straight, and he admits to having battled self-confidence issues his whole life. Still, he decided to audition for a television show called “Britain’s Got Talent.”

On his first night, Potts took to the stage and sang that famous aria from “Turnadot,” after telling judge Simon Cowell that he felt he needed to pursue his first love, opera.

You could hear the snickers from the crowd, see Simon’s telltale eye roll, and practically feel the flop sweat rolling down Potts’ brow.

But then he sang.

He went on to win.  It’s enough to cause goosebumps…

Listening to: Nessun Dorma (Turandot)