"I mean, both candidates wear pleated-front pants! But I just have to remind myself that this election is bigger than pleats." - Julie trying not to loose respect ('04 election)
My four year vacation in Washington is coming to a close. The house closes on the 31st and Allison and I are moving back to Louisiana. We actually don't move back until September, so we are trying to cram in as much Pacific Northwest as we can before we go. Top 10 Things left to do before we do set out:
1. Camp on ocean beach again
2. Hike to another Rainier Glacier
3. Watch the Mariners lose #100
4. Weekend in Portland
5. Seattle Art Museum
6. Biking in the San Juans
7. Climb Hurrican Ridge
8. Mt. St. Helens
9. Fishing in the Columbia River
10. Eat more Dungeness Crab
I was kind of depressed about the whole thing for a while, but I am starting to get into it. Yeah Louisiana is hot and humid and kind of stupid in some ways, but the food is good. Plus I plan on getting a sailboat, which should be a good distraction from the worst of the heat. Also, I want to grow things. Especially asparagus. and I want to keep honeybees. and build a kayak. and maybe have some chickens. all things that would not go over so well in downtown tacoma.
craig [email] said at 4:32 PM 07-21-2008: A solid gig one day can quickly turn sour when an industry takes a nosedive. My company is in the semiconductor industry and it seems that all manufacturing is going to Asia. Our company was acquired early this year by another company and that coupled with a sour economy has led to layoffs. I have survived two layoffs because they have needed me, but they are ultimately closing this office, consolidating back office skills, and firing people who are "redundant". I guess the parent company has enough IT people.
myriam [email] said at 12:36 AM 07-21-2008: What is wrong with you people, everyone moves back while talking about how they totally don't want to move back. I'm beginning to wonder what's up with Louisiana.
But not enough to move there.
Good luck with the move! I can't imagine a worse place to beat the heat than on a boat... but I've always assumed there is something I'm missing about boats.
brandon [email] said at 10:52 AM 07-21-2008: I've always wanted to take a sailboat out on Lake Pontchartrain/Maurepas, and then copulate upon the prow as if mounting some kind of moist figurehead from behind as we glided past the powerlines. Perhaps the resident pod of porpi would leap across our wake. I wouldn't say it, and I doubt anyone else would acknowledge it, but then I would truly feel like I were King of the World.
brandonA [email] said at 1:36 PM 07-21-2008: I'm climbing St Helens for the second time next month. I recommend it if you haven't done it, but it's probably too late to get passes for this season...
I'll probably never move back to LA, but I don't know how much longer we'll live in the NW.
anotherben [email] said at 2:38 PM 07-21-2008: i think just checking it out from one of the vantage points will be enough to satisfy my curiousity. at one point i wanted to climb rainier, but then i figured out that i was mistaken.
anotherben [email] said at 2:37 PM 07-21-2008: Part of moving back is to be closer to the fam. Part of it is for free day care when we make babies. It sucks to leave Washington, but it is a looong way from both of those things and I don't know, priorities change as we rack up trips around the sun. The job i have here is awesome and it is going to suck to leave that behind (i still haven't told them, but i will when the closing papers are signed.. and that will still be 6 weeks notice). The nw is a very relaxed place. i dread having to wear something other than bluejeans and a t-shirt to work.
it is exciting times in louisiana though. rebuilding of new orleans, the panama canal will be wider in a couple more years, which, coupled with the big expansion of the new orleans port complex... before you know it we will have high speed trains zipping from new orleans to points north and east and west. there is a rumor of disney buying a big chunk of land in livingston to build a movie studio. huey long was exhumed and some lsu students used his DNA to recreate him for a new television show to be filmed about how huey would react if he saw louisiana today. the lsu tigers football team is going to go pro. the mariners are going to be bought by The Shaw group and moved to Denham Springs. Exciting times indeed!
shelly [email] said at 3:07 PM 07-21-2008: Good luck to both of you! I'm sorry I didn't get to see more of you when you were just down the highway. I hear the siren song as well, but I can have asparagus and bees and chickens here so I'm staying put for now.
kiche [email] said at 3:12 PM 07-21-2008: i understand the first two sentences and really feel you on those points. but i would still council you against this.
i often feel the pull of new orleans. but i doubt i would be happy if ilived there. also, i don't think that's where you're moving because you can't keep honey bees or chickens there. and you wouldn't get the free daycare.
also, the only two things that will come true in that last paragraph are that the tigers will go pro and they will clone huey p. long. that last point, though isn't a good thing because long is a better politician dead than he was alive.
jennyjams said at 7:36 PM 07-22-2008: untrue. i keep chickens in NOLA, and it's totally fine/legal with the city. hell, there are WILD chickens all over the neighborhood. they roost in the abandoned spca. i'm pretty sure i would get away with keeping bees here too. my dad keeps bees on the west bank. they are pretty self-contained, and aren't remotely as disturbing to neighbors as the barkingest outdoor dogs on the planet that live near us. probably no one would ever even notice they were here unless they saw me out and about with the big puffy white spacesuit. even then, they probably wouldn't think twice of it.
amanda [email] said at 8:18 PM 07-22-2008: In addition to keeping bees being legal in some towns/cities, it's pretty easy to keep bees on farms. It's a service to the farmers and they're usually more than happy to have a stranger put some boxes up on their property.
Once you're set up with some hives and comfortable dealing with them, I'd advise submitting your contact info to the local fire departments such that they can call you when they encounter a swarm. It's a great way to snag some free bees (heh...freebees...) and help out the bees and the community.
shelly [email] said at 12:04 PM 07-26-2008: My next door neighbor when I was growing up in New Orleans kept bees. I don't know whether it is actually legal or not. Both are legal in Seattle.
brianbibbly [email] said at 11:48 AM 07-22-2008: Now, are you saying NO becuase you don't want him to be a Saint, or NO becuase you are mad that he is leaving the Giants?
I, as a lifelong Saints fan, am extremely happy that he is on our team. Our offense in now SICK!!!!!!!
andrew [email] said at 11:33 PM 07-22-2008: actually the giants played better without him. not that big of a deal. the saints should pick up favre or somebody like that.
brianbibbly [email] said at 9:22 AM 07-23-2008: Now come on Andrew, you know the Saints have no use for Favre. Drew Brees is the MAN! God Bless Farve, but if I had to guess, he will be a Tampa Bay Buccaneer soon. Much to my chagrin.
milky [email] said at 4:16 PM 07-21-2008: Well, my sister moved back for similar reasons which I can totally understand. If my mother and his mother weren't around to help out, my sister would be cutting it close, money-wise.
And you've been married nearly 4 years (or more than 4), which seems like the time people of reasonable means wait after marriage to have kids.
Good luck...and bring plenty of sunscreen and bug repellant.
boudet [email] said at 4:25 PM 07-21-2008: South Louisiana is not all bad. It's just harder to enjoy being outside all the time in the wet heat. The sailboat is a great idea. Does your new house have a pool?
brandon [email] said at 12:19 AM 07-22-2008: You might want to consider one thing, though.
Bull Sharks. Zambezi. The Lake Nicaraga Shark. The Shark whose attacks on the Jersey Shore in 1916 inspired th e story "Jaws". Immature Bull Sharks estuarate in the Pontchartrain. 4-6 feet in length. They become the apex predator in that ecosystem.
Another reason, John, if you're reading, that I do not go in the water. Bull sharks have been found as far North as Illinois in the Mississippi.
Bull Sharks will ruin sailing if you give them a chance.
If you want to enjoy good sailing, start a family, be guaranteed a decent job and a nice home where you can grow asparagus and keep bees (etc.), live in an area that provides good public education, I'd suggest the Midwest and Wisconsin in particular.
brandon [email] said at 7:13 PM 07-22-2008: If you enjoyed the Univision charcharavanza, then you will probably dig Steve Altin's MEG series which I am well read in, because I received the entire series for my birthday a few years past. Because my relatives hate me. It's the best writing about giant, prehistoric sharks living deep in the Mariana trench (or some analogue) corralled into a seaworld like exhibit and witness to money poorly spent on mini-submarines, giant yachts, monomaniacal billionaires, off-shore banking schemes, infidelity, and giant sulfur vent tube worms ever.
myriam [email] said at 10:54 PM 07-22-2008: Well I can understand moving for family. I want to be close(r) to my family when I have kids, eventually. Also I miss them a lot more as the years go by, of course. Good luck with house-buying! The good news is, now is a good time to buy... :) Good luck with the move and all that as well.
brianbibbly [email] said at 9:21 AM 07-23-2008: Well Ben, when you get back, give me a call. I'd love to knock a few beers back with you. Welcome back!
angele [email] said at 12:39 PM 07-23-2008: I recently moved to Louisiana and bought a house. I married and shipped my sweetheart down from DC and we're very happy here. New Orleans is definitely not the same place I left behind. It's probably me that's changed more than my surroundings, but I'm pretty certain you will love it here more than you will pine for the NW.
brianbibbly [email] said at 2:39 PM 07-23-2008: I second this viewpoint. Although I didn't marry or ship anyone anywhere, I a very much happy in Louisiana, even in Baton Rouge! While I appreciate the Kiches Viewpoint (I'm not slogging on Kiche, but he really hates it down here), I think that most of the anger toward a place like New Orleans is just residual angst from when we were young and pretty much everyone wanted out. As an older man, I appreciate much more about the city and what it has to offer. Hell, I appreciate much more about myself and what I desire and can tolerate. I'm not always looking for the next best thing. I've calmed down a bunch and am satisfied with what I am achieving and satisfied with the "little things." It will never be perfect, nor will it ever have everything I want, but I'm not looking for perfect anymore. That is an idealists dream. I'm happy with the dirt and the problems and the issues becuase it's mixed with a whole lot of hope and culture and good stuff along with it (food! Saints! Hornets! Boobies! Ok, boobies are not exclusive to Louisiana, but they are always included on any list i make of things I like).
Ben, I think you will have a fine life back down here with your wife and eventual children and family.
kiche [email] said at 3:41 PM 07-23-2008: i definitely don't hate new orleans. and as i said, i often feel it's pull.
i just think i'd be miserable if i lived there.
it's hard to explain. a lot of the misery would likely be around not being able to find suitable employment opportunities. also, i don't think n.o. fits my temperament at this stage in my life.
brandon [email] said at 10:35 PM 07-23-2008: On the gripping hand, I was checking my mail at my old apartment today, and, DHH posted a flyer.
A rabid bat bit a girl in our neighborhood. If we see any bats acting strangely we are advised to
1) Get as far away from the bats as possible
2) Call DHH
3) Duck and Cover.
I need to go back and get a picture of the flyer. It's awesome. It has a clip-art bat, like, having rabid bats flittering around the premises is something to crack a wan smile about.
Louisiana: We've got Bats; some of them are rabid.
Texas Frank said at 4:20 PM 07-24-2008: Please stop by Fisk ? Street market and pick up ole texas frank some ranier cherries and drop them of as you go by>
