A week or so ago I stopped into Shinka Tea for the first time. Smack dab in the middle of my commute, it's a cute little tea shop that also has a couple kinds of humbow, vietnamese coffee, and maybe a dozen types of pocky (including mens pocky!).
Getting take away pork buns and coffee took about 10-15 minutes, so I probably wont make it an every morning stop, but I do have to say it was a nice break from my routine. It's definitely going into the rotation.
If you haven't seen the news, and I can't see how being as it's national now, a pair of charter buses slid down East Thomas and busted through the guardrail on Melrose Avenue and hung over I5. I used to live on this corner (seriously awesome view), and the Seattle Times article doesn't mention this, but East Thomas is one of the few cobblestone streets left on the hill and it's dangerous when it's wet, let alone covered in ice and snow.
The fact that one bus driver turned down this obviously dangerous street is one thing, but that the next followed just blows me away. No chains, icy roads, and a turn down a steep grade that ends in a guardrail. Seriously folks. wth.
Update: I saw a woman on the local news say she was de-icing the sidewalk when the buses started their turn. She waved at them and told them to stop, and they just kept going. Awesome.
If you want Vietnamese food on the hill, it doesn't seem like it should be a problem.
There's Than Bros, Pho 900, Phocyclo, The place in "The Alley", Ballet, Pho Tai and Broadway Cafe. Broadway Cafe also carries Humbow. Shinka has humbow, but no Pho. I never make it up to the "fancy pants" parts, so I don't know if this exists already, but who has the best pastries, and are they open in the morning? Inquiring minds want to know.
My current vietnamese sandwich haunt is the Broadway Cafe, and it hurts me to let you know, because I don't like it when the place is full, but I have to say, it's the biggest bestest (and jalepeno-est) on the hill. The captothehill girls also agree, so you dont have to take my word alone.
It's cold out, and it's slippery business walkin. I've heard that it'll be 3-6 inches of snow soon, and looking at the grey grey skies, I believe it. Windy, cold, snowy. Brr.
It's also the last hacknight of the year at Metrix tonight. I'd link to the SeattleWireless site, but it's down due to DDOS. Blah.
Cold, snowy, box is down, last hacknight of the year. Tonight could be trouble.
There's a 2 pound box of chocolate in the office too.
Walking in today, I got to see a bunch of people who usually accost me with a survey or a cause (they all had their clipboards down and I didn't catch which group they were with) doing a rendition of "I'm a little teapot" on Broadway.
Team building exercise or just a tad of whimsy, I'm not complaining. I was amused...
Today was the day to vote, and the last chance we get to vote at our local polls.
I'm bothered about the move to mail-in only ballots. Voting is one of those things that I remember my parents doing when I was young, and bringing my son to the polls is something that I enjoy and looked forward to in the future.
Voting shouldn't be like sending in a bill, or filling out a survey.
There's something special about going to vote, filling in the bubbles and watching your vote go into the machine. You're there with your neighbors, you talk with the volunteers. You leave feeling like you've taken part in the process, and I just don't understand how this mail-in thing is going to give me that same feeling. Will this move really improve turnout?
I understand that it's cheaper to do mail in voting, and I understand that the only inevitable thing in this life is change. But it saddens me to see this piece of our democracy go away.
Friday was Park(ing) day, and a park was set up right out in front of the office. An already unproductive day, and lured by the live music, I decided to head on down and see if I could learn the rules of cribbage through observation, and drink a little coffee.
Turns out I can drink coffee. I'm a pro at that.
