Driving North on 509 just 7 miles North of Tacoma... 27 Miles South of Seattle... and 10 miles away from my house... I could see that it is a clear and sunny day in the Olympic Mountains (West of here), but I'm not in the Olympic Mountains... Earlier this morning I could see it was a cloudy and snowy day in the Cascade Mountains (East of here)... Mt Rainier (In the Cascade Mountains) went away today; it's been out for almost a whole week now ('cept for Saturday)... clear as can see. I am driving North, on 509... admiring the sunshine over in the Olympics, but not too much... the roads are icy. I decided that on my way home from an interview in Tacoma this morning, I would try to take 509 home... It is an express way leaving the city... and the part of it that I drive South out of Seattle is an express way... so I figured it would be more direct than I5... and probably less traveled...
It turns out that yes, 509 is less travelled... however there is a good reason. 7 miles North of Tacoma, I feel like I'm on an old mountain road, and that civilization must be miles and miles away. I can see that the Puget Sound is about 200 or 300 feet down on the left side of the road. Just on the other side of that metal barrier, the hill slopes down almost vertically to the water. To my right, a wall of rock and dirt that stretches nearly another 300 feet above me. In the back of my mind, I know there is probably a shopping center or a neighbourhood right at the top of the hill (this is the Suburbs after all) however, if I didn't know that, I wouldn't be able to tell. From here, you can't see the city. You can't see houses. You can only see the water, then hills, and finally the mountains on the horizon. The sky is cloudy here, the snow is falling lightly, but the clouds stop not more than a dozen or so miles away, and the sun is out there.
I change the track on my CD to a song by MXPX called "Move to Bremerton"... This is because I know that it is sunny in Bremerton, I can see it! James moved out there, and Bri (his girlfriend) is having a birthday party out there tomorrow. Which means that I am going to pack up my rain gear and head to the Olympics! I did the math, and it is cheaper to drive than to take the ferry. Even with the $3 fee coming back over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge (Successor to the infamous "Galloping Gurty") . There wasn't always a fee, until just a few months ago, when they completed a toll bridge next to the stable Tacoma Narrows bridge. Now there are two nearly identical bridges spanning the narrows right next to each other... it really is kinda interesting when you think about it. So many people travel across the bridges, that they need 4 lanes in each direction... crazy.
Anyway... The job search continues. I wish Volt would speed things up a little. I had an interview through Parker Staffing today, it is a tech support position in Tacoma. I guess the nice part is that Tacoma is a cheaper area to live in than Seattle. However, I really do want to move toward the Redmond/Bellevue area. Most of the people I work with live in that area, so obviously they must make enough to live there. I hear that some areas up there are really cheap, and others are ridiculously expensive. Any away you look at it though, it would make my commute so much easier.
So... I just looked outside. It is snowing. It has snowed a lot this year. I am glad that I have fire wood, and a fire place. I heard that last year the power went out for two weeks. I am not too concerned about that though. I have a charcoal grill, charcoal, a fireplace, and firewood. Plus, a lot of canned food, Mac and cheese, and a little bit of frozen food... And if the power goes out, I can just put most of that stuff outside in the storage shed.
Anyway, I'm going to make a few calls... make some coffee... then probably brave the snow to walk the dog.
Later,
SteveO
