Vashon Visit - Random Pics

This past Friday I left work early, hopped on the subway and made my way to the airport to head back to Vashon for the weekend. The main reason I was flying back was for a friends wedding, but it was nice to see family and get a day on my parents deck around trees, grass, sun, mountains and no fences or other houses.

It wasn't really a lot of time to do anything but attend the wedding, but I was still able to squeeze a few small things in here and there. I had to see a doctor (surprise) because I burned my leg recently and it wasn't getting any better. I also met up with an old friend from High school whom I had not seen since graduation. Although we only had a few minutes it was still fun to chat with her and see what she has done with her life since VHS. Sunday involved packing back up again, having coffee with another friend and hopping back on the plane to head to DC. I arrive back at my apartment around 11pm Sunday night, so work today was fairly slow going.

I have included some fun random pictures I took from the visit home.

Ah. When Bryan came to visit me in Samoa, I greeted him in the airport with a sign. It said Dumb Ass. When I came up the stairs at the airport in Seattle he was standing at the top waiting for me with a like sign... I still think mine was better. (The one of me in a red dress)

Our dog Lizzy. Isn't she cute? And getting old finally. She has had the gray on her face since a puppy because she was hit by a car when she was 1 yr old and it caused some trauma like the gray hair and a permanent limp. She is a black lab, German Shepard mix.

Me and cousin Michelle. Apparently my parents threw a Myers Family Reunion (mom's side) same day as the wedding. It started after I left, but I called Michelle to come earlier since I wanted to see her and say hi.

My breakfast Sunday morning included (as you can see), a bowl of cereal, cheese cake, keylime pie and some fresh steamed crab Bryan had just caught that morning from his boat in Puget Sound. Breakfast of Champions.

For my friends on the east coast. THIS is a real mountain.

Real Mountains... see, snow year round. Not a real mountain if it doesn't have snow on it year round.

Sunrise view from my parents house. Those are the Cascade mountains as seen from the backyard.

Dad on the deck hanging a fake bees hive to keep hornets away.

The living room of my parents house. My old bedroom is the door to the right of the chimney.

My parents house from their front yard. I am standing in front of the hedge in which I cut off my finger... just in case you wanted that random bit of information...

DCs Metro

I am not sure if this is really worth a blog update, but I find it entertaining and frustrating so I thought I would share it with all who read this blog.

Last night I went out with some friends from church. We had dinner after the evening service and started making our way back to our respective homes and cars around 10:30pm. We were eating near the Orange Line, but I live off of the Red Line. It's not too hard to transfer and it is actually what I do every day during my work commute. In the evenings however, the metro trains are few and far between. So, instead of getting on the orange and transferring, one of the guys we ate with offered to drive me to a stop along the red line.

I made my way down into the underground metro stop around 10:45 that night and boarded the train almost immediately. The train was running slightly delayed for a few stops. Instead of boarding and unboarding in a timely manner we would sit at each stop for a few minutes. But, I had my music and I wasn't in too much of a hurry. I did however have to pee fairly urgently.

Then, 1 stop away from where I get off, the train stopped. The announcer said, "We will be leaving momentarily." That was it. We continued to sit. The announcer got back on the speaker and repeated what he said the first time... in fact he continued to repeat it in 5 minute intervals for a good half hour. If he had just said, "We will be here a crazy long amount of time, buckle down and get used to it" then I would have got off the metro, found a bathroom and walked home. Instead I stayed on, thinking "we will be leaving momentarily." When we did finally start to move again, everyone cheered. It was exciting. It was preemptive. We stopped yet again, this time in the middle of nowhere between the previous stop and the next one which was mine. We continued to sit here for yet another 45 minutes all the time being assured "we will be leaving momentarily." By the time we did finally start to inch forward and saw the exit approaching I was scared my bladder was going to burst. It was horrible. I got off of the train and tried to hurry as fast as my bladder allowed. The bus that I usually take once I get off of the metro wasn't swinging by our way for another 45 minutes so I elected to walk home. It was a brutal grueling trudge the 6 blocks I live away from the metro stop. No restaurants were open and there aren't really any bushes I could hide behind...

So, a hour an half after leaving dinner (usually a 20 minute commute) I arrived at my house. Exhausted and very upset it was a Sunday night.

I must add simply because I am on the subject that the Metro in DC doesn't even hold a candle to the Tokyo and Seoul metros. Although I have never been to NYC, I am sure that their metro also blows ours out of the water. Someone recently mentioned to me they think the DC Metro runs more effectively in the cold weather and seems to break down more in the heat... could be. Who knows? It's jerky as all get up, is always delayed and isn't designed to efficiently hold the most amount of people possible.

So, from Samoan buses and sitting on laps to the inner workings of the DC Metro, I hope this post finds you all well. Until next time...