Zyttende Mai

One of many reasons for living in the PNW is the great celebration of Syttende Mai in Ballard. This year was no different with wonderful weather, an active parade and just a festive atmosphere, surrounded by friends and Norwegians...?!

Beth and I decided to bike and got there just as the parade started. A good 25 mile ride along Lake Washington under sunny skies. Sort of does not get better.

The celebration of Syttende Mai is what the celebration of June 6th should have been in Sweden all along. A fun day of partying and just being happy for ones heritage/nationality. At least when I lived in Sweden, June 6th passed pretty silently and those who wanted to celebrate "I'm Swedish and I'm proud of it" sort of got labeled nationalist and not in the good sense of the word. Hopefully that have changed, but few places are as "happy" as Ballard on Syttende Mai!

Kirkland 5K and Half-Marathon

Very late we decided to join the "race" down at Juanita Beach. Since I wanted to bring Phoebe (dog) the 5K was the most suitable distance and she did really well, even at the start where it was crowded and tons of people with dogs (she can get a tad nervous when there's too much action/crowds).

Just upon entering 98th Avenue I stumbled - badly - fell flat on my stomach, and ripped open my left little finger as well as scraped my right hand and the watch band. But, this caused a small delay and the reward was the priceless showing of an "aerial fight" between a Bald Eagle and a Heron, just over our heads as we ran down Juanita Park Bridge. Had I not fallen, I would have been far past this spot and missed it all.

Truly amazing and yet another reason we we love this place!

Finished in a decent time, pulling dog the last mile, and realized that my finger had been bleeding all the time. My racing bib was nicely blood stained!

All in all, a good Sunday in Kirkland!

More Znow -> a bamboo emergenZy

Woke up this morning to more snow. What's really up with the weather? But after over two weeks with really sunny and warm weather, maybe it was payback time...

Every snow fall puts stress on the bamboo. See before and after (shaking off) resuce here below. It has been much worse, but these "grass" are obviously very resilient to stress, and always recover after having been squshed down.





But why does this little snow force closure of schools? Or cancellation of garbage pickup? Can this be a "regional" emergency (apart from for the bamboo, of course)?

A New PreZident - a Good Man

Today was a good day - in many ways. The eight years of Bush Jr. finally ended. Not a day too late. He should never have been elected to the office, but one can only say that "a people get the politicians it deserves"...

That statement is certainly still true, so what a difference only 8 years can make. Today was a big day, for the US, and for the World. Probably no inauguration of a head of state has ever gotten so much attention from around the globe. And, it is not just because Bush is history, or that this is the first African-American elected to the highest office, it because finally a "good man" finally has taken the oath.

I do not know Obama, never met him, but based on what I've seen so far, he is smart, intelligent, well educated, well articulated, supposedly a good listener, engaging, and we just have to hope that he will use all his "skills" to "stand his ground", make a lot of "correct" decisions, and get people engaged and interested in the running of this nation - a nation that still has a huge impact on the rest of the globe.

The expectations on his presidency are sky high, but I think he will work hard - and it started in his speach - to get them down to a more realistic level and get people to gather around both the problems as well as the solutions. If the solutions are the "right" ones, well, only time will tell!!!

From my little cocoon out on the West Coast, I did get a chance to watch some of the day's events, and the day was "sealed" with a glass of good Single Malt. It was truly a day to remember!

To be noted as well: The White House web page has been completely overhauled and open to search engines like Google and MSN Live. The Administration really has taken a step into the 21st century - literally over night.

Finally - a TUNNEL deciZion

Puget Sound leaders today took the only sensible decision for the future: A Tunnel!

A tunnel is the ONLY sensible alternative in a region where natural beauty and access to the water literally is worth millions - if not billions. Seattle only has one waterfront and we'd do a disservice to future generations if we blocked it off with new construction - be it viaduct, condos, or warehouses.

As for the cost - yes a tunnel does cost money - now it is time go overseas and truly LEARN from what has been done on similar projects in cities around the globe (Oslo, Norway and Gothenburg, Sweden are two similar and recent project that directly comes to mind). Tunnels CAN be built wisely and cost effectively. Well managed projects do not turn in to another "Big Dig" a la Boston.
Hence, there is no reason a tunnel in Seattle should cost 8 to 10 times the cost of a recent - and similarly sized - tunnel along the waterfront in Gothenburg.

We have bright engineers, good workers, and construction companies that ought to be very interested in a project like this. On the other hand, we need regulation - yes, that pesky word - to ensure that there is ample competition for this project and not only one or two overpriced bidders (like for the recent ferry bid), or worse, like on the EastCoast, the mob and paybacks drive up the cost of construction.

And, while at it, I'd encourage WSDOT engineers to go to both Oslo and Gothenburg and see how these cities totally have changed the waterfront for something "better" - not an area that is jammed with traffic, or filled with dilapidated warehouses. Oslo is already successfully done, Gothenburg (tunnel completed in June 2006) is in the midst of the transformation process. Even if we spend a few millions on sending people on "study" trips, in the end it is worth every penny, assuming they truly learn and apply practices deployed in other successful projects.

Another project that is worth while visiting, even though it is "across the water" is the bridge/tunnel combination that connects the southern Swedish city of Malmoe with Copenhagen. A massive project, where the tunnel is 2.5 miles long (out of a total of over 9 miles for the entire link across the Oresund Strait).

Paris, France, is another example where tunnels have been both dug and "lidded" for everything from massive freeways, via high-speed rail links, to pedestrian connections.

Oslo is not stopping with traffic tunnels, but also has other project "going underwater", where parking structures with 800 stalls will be submerged to allow for housing developments go on top.

For those who are scared about the "Big One", it might be best to leave the region since really no area is "safe". Living in an earthquake prone area is a risk we are sort of willing to take (just as we take a flooding risk living close to sometimes raging rivers). But, on the other hand, BART (SF Bay Area) has several underwater tunnels, even though they are "tubes", resting on top of the seafloor, that managed extremely well in the last "big one" in 1989. Look at Japan as well. Earthquakes and long underwater tunnels move massive amounts of people. In a more geologically stable area, we have the the "Chunnel" (yes at great expense but also lenght), a working and vital link between the UK and the European continent.

What I am trying to say is that there are ways to do this right from the get go. Tunnels do not have to be that pricey, nor unsafe. If I have a small concern about this project, it is that it does not seem to include any provision for future transit. As many have stated, the additional cost for building a tunnel that can accommodate three lane in each direction is likely wise. Now or in the future, those added lanes can support some type of mass transit.

All that said, I do not think the final drawings are anywhere close to be presented. If it'll be one BIG "tube" with traffic stacked, or two smaller tubes side-by-side, or if there will be some extra "access" tubes for traffic to/from Magnolia/Queen Anne Hill, it is likely still far to early to tell.

But, all in all, a good comprise has been decided upon; tunnel, surface improvements, transit improvements, should provide ample capacity for everyone that needs to travel through our beautiful city. The leadership did what was needed - they did dare to make a decision for the future! Just too bad it took so many years.

Flooding follows Znow

First a lot of snow, then warm weather, and then rain, tons of it. The weather "stream" is referred to as the "Pineapple Express" since it originates in the waters around Hawaii - warm, moist air - and the end of this firehose is normally the Olympic Mountains or the Cascades. But all water that ends up there has to come down. And with warm weather, add to that a lot of melting snow.

So, here it resulted in amazing (and for many surprising) flooding. All passes were closed, I-5 closed south of Olympia, and only way out of state is driving into Canada or flying. Sort of strange, living in one of the most high-tech hubs on the planet.
Today could not sit home and just watch it all on TV - especially not after that some areas SW of Seattle got over 16 inches - that is more than 400 mm... - of rain over the past two days. So Aksel and I decided to drive up to Snoqualmie Falls and City, one of few areas one could actually still get to, to get a close up encounter of the disaster.
Despite weather report talking about clearing, it started raining heavily and later even snowing, wet, very damp snow. Snow that sticks like wet wool gloves...

It was sad to see the state in downtown Snoqualmie, with belongings thrown out of flooded houses into the front yard, but at the same time, living close to sometimes "raging rivers" (as the amptly named tavern in Fall City), you actually do take a risk (just as we do living in an earthquake prone area...). A river that is beautiful and calm in late summer, can quickly turn wild and raging with some precip up in the mountains.

WSDOT has posted some truly amazing photos of the damage at their Flickr site. There is a lot of destruction, or should we say evidence of Mother Nature's Fury, but check especially the ones taken up on Snoqualmie Pass.

If interested in some stuff from last winter, there are "true" winter pictures in WSDOT's Winter 2008 Flickr archive

FoZter a Dog?

Wife thought it'd be a good idea to foster a German Shepherd pup for a few days. One of her colleagues at the hospital is very active in the Northwest German Shepherd Rescue, a great organization that rescues and cares for GSDs that people - for whatever strange reason - do not care for.

Met the wonderful and beautiful pups "Hans" and "Hummel" last night at Amy's house. It is hard NOT to take these guys in, but it is also easy to forget what it takes to take on another dog, especially a roudy puppy.

We in any case decided to have these two guys meet Phoebe tonight up at the AG Bell schoolyard. Hummel was a lot of fun, and followed me around allover, almost tehtered to me, just as if I was his dad. Phoebe did not really care much for him, wanted to play a little bit, but mainly just did not care. Decided to take Hummel to our house home and have him meet Phoebe on her "home turf". In my view it went OK, even though she once sort of told Hummel, "hey, this is my spot, back off", but wife was a tad pessimistic and also sad, since she decided that Phoebe can not be trusted with other dogs in the house. I think it was more of a case that "Hummel" was a tad too old (about 5 months) and large, and no longer just a small "pup", just behaving like one. A younger dog would probably have worked great.

All that said, one could see in Phoebe's face that she really questioned WHY we would take in another dog when we have HER! "I am not good enough?". Once Hummel was gone, she returned to her favorite postion as the biggest couch potato around... Peace in the house.

Neighbors are back - and so is the Znow!

Sort of hard to imagine. When we dropped off our neighbors at SeaTac for their winter trip to Europe, it started snowing when we were driving through Bellevue.

Today, two weeks later, we were driving towards the airport to pick them up, and even though most snow has melted/rained away, it started SNOWING as we were driving through Bellevue. What's up with that town?

Later in the evening, when everyone was safely home, I took Phoebe for a late night walk, and it was almost prettier than during our very heavy snowfall around Christmas. The snow tonight was so wet and heavy, but it was also very "untouched" due to the late hour, and one realizes how much "dampening effect" the snow has on sound/noises. Snow just makes everything so very peaceful.

Back home after the walk, I peaked out into the backyard, and our poor bamboo was probably in worse condition tonight, than after the Christmas snowfalls. The bushes are supposed to be some 30+ feet tall, but were weighed down so much by the vet snow that they did not reach to more than maybe 5 feet. But, bamboo's been through this before and it must be a very resilient plant, or rather grass, so it'll recover. Note to self: Go out early Monday morning and shake off as much of the heavy stuff as possible to help the bamboo recover!

LutefiZk and a very true Christmas dinner in Ballard

Kristine hinted in early December that we'd be invited to a "LuteFisk" party on December 28th at her house. An honor in itself, but due to snow in Seattle some other stuff got in the way, and she rescheduled for tonight.

But what an Amazing Party in Ballard! We expected only a small dinner, with some fish that taste like "snot" (quoted from a good friend), but upon arriving we entered in to something that much better can be described as a Scandinavian cabin at Christmas - with the bonus of being filled with fun and interesting people!

After a few hours of mingling, hanging around the wonderful woodstove (there is NO BETTER heat than the one generated by a wood stove - I don't care what others say), we eventually got seated.

And, expecting "just" lutefisk" we were treated to a full Scandinavian "julmiddag" with not much missing. I am NO FAN of lutefisk (memories of grandma's tasty but a fish so bony you could not eat it still hangs around), but was positively surprised when having a really good bite of this "sloppy" fish in early December at Sons of Norway up in Bothell. Kristine was up for a challenge, especially when declaring she had never cooked lutefisk before...

So, after a very tasty "sill sallad" (once again, a first since I never liked this dish at home), the fish came out and it was GOOD! I even had a few extra servings, on top of the meatballs, the beer and the wine. Coffee, prinsesstarta, an excellent selection of schnapps, and great friendship made this a night to remember.

(all photos are a tad "retouched" due to the dark environs, resulting in more visible images but pretty poor photo quality)

Winter DrivingZ

These past couple of days, or should we say last week, some residents and media has been very vocal over the state - or maybe lack thereof - of snow and ice removal on our wintry roads. People complain that is it bumpy, that they get stuck, that they can't go anywhere, etc, etc. But, based on the crowds out in the malls and grocery stores, I doubt the (fun) snow really had any real dampening effect on most peoples' driving.

For us used to driving in this "stuff", it has just been fun and interesting. Feeling a big 4x4 slowly tug its way through gigantic snow drifts is an amazing feeling. Why spend tons (literally) on salt and other environment (not to neglect the impact on the cars) damaging chemicals, when we all know the snow will be gone in a few days? Just roll with it.

And, so yesterday morning, it really started to get wet, wet, wet, and much warmer. Whatever snow is left by tomorrow will only be in piles, if even that. Seattlites have gotten a few days of rest - we do not need to rush around EVERY day - and more importantly, we have again been taught a lesson not to mess with mother nature. When it snows, sit tight, or know what you are doing before you go out, instead of complaining about the winter weather's effects.

I could have lots more of this (snow). It just makes everything so amazingly beautiful!

Winter PictureZ

Sort of hard to imagine that this is Kirkland, WA, in December. We NEVER have it this nice (in the winter that is...)!


Click here for better resolution photos.

2008 Yearly ChriZtmas photo

Due to Herbie's unexpected passing (link), Christmas was put on the backburner a bit this year, and everything got delayed. But sooner or later, even Christmas catches up to you. This is what we managed to compile this year:



If you like to see what it took to only get this far, embedded slide show might highlight the efforts in getting these guys (and girls) to fit inside a tiny frame...



Better resolution

Do not really understand how we only a few years ago (link) could get all seven into one frame...

All that said, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Very Happy New Year to all family, friends, and others scattered around the globe!

And for the ones getting a link to this posting a tad late, apologies will not help, but I guess better late than never...

Lake Washington CruiZe

One of Beth colleagues, Anne and her husband John, invited us out for a winter cruise on Lake Washington to follow the Christmas ships as they "charoled" on Montlake and Lake Union. It was sort of "perfect" since we bailed out on the ships when they were passing Juanita Beach just on Friday night (after an hour Beth was too cold to stand out and wait for them). Many times I've planned to put the boat in the water just for this (wintry) event, but sort of glad I haven't.

John has a huge Viking 40 SportFisher, and even onboard this one, with hot chocolate, food, and dessert, some were still a tad chilly.

Apart from the amazing charoling from the "Peace" ship (Argosy Cruises), the decorated vessels are truly awesome. Taking photos in the dark night, from a moving vessel, of other moving vessels, is no child's play so you just have to imagine what it really looked like. Beautiful is probably the best word in any case! My guess is that there were some 100+ boats/yachts/ships/kayaks (yes, even kayaks) out on this white and wintry evening. An evening with the lake flat like a mirror!


This one followed us in from Lake Washington, other decortated ships behind.


View of Montlake with the amrada in the background.


Two frozen babes onboard Viking...


Maybe the BEST Christmas sign I ever seen: "NO L"! - Awesome!

Znow in Zeattle - but no Znow Ztorm

Wow, what wonderful weather. We are actually getting snow in Seattle! It started Thursday morning and we got a good few inches - enough to really make it a true joy to drive! The LandCruiser - even though far too heavy for spirited snow driving - showed its class and we got everywhere and more where we needed to go. Even took a few neighbors out and made sure they got groceries, got to the bank, the post office, etc. All in the spirit of Christmas!

One of our distant neighhbors was not so lucky. she did a nice slide down the hill, firmly planting the right front fender into a tree. Picture to follow...

Saturday afternoon, we took our neighbors to the airport and snow started coming down again just south of Bellevue. Leaving the airport for Fremont and Ballard (to pick up the annual Christmas ham) made for interesting driving and wonderful sceneries through downtown Seattle. On the way home, crossing Seattle, the 520 bridge, and then up through Kirkland was like a Christmas miracle. I wish we could have this EVERY YEAR!

And I am so glad that we don't salt the roads around here. There is really nothing better to drive on than a nicely packed snow road. That and it keeps the cars "pure" - compared to many states out East where even brand new cars start to rust due to excessive salting and just "shitty" weather in general.

After checking on-line, we thought our neighbors had been able to take-off, before it got pretty bad at the airport, but turned out they endured a 5 hour delay on-board w/o anything else than water and dry pretzels. The crew visely wanted to really be on standby in case there was an opening in the weather. Smart, since there are not that many connections SEA-LHR on a daily basis, so better get out when one can. Just talked to the "touristas" and they safely arrived in Vienna, only about 4 hour late - which is nothing compared to the tons of travelers that are stranded out at SeaTac.

For us remaining here, sometime around 7 PM last night the wind started to kick up, and we had for a few hours something that - for a Seattleite - really could be called a small blizzard. We even got fairly decent snowdrifts on the roof, and it is just plain pretty. I guess you have been too long in Seattle when you start to really enjoy these small tricks by nature, tricks that were fairly common during the time in the French Alps or in Northern Sweden.

For some photos, check this post!

Bye Bye Herbie Boy!

Due to the unexpected passing of Beth's Grandfather Herbie, we had to quickly bail to a wet and wintry Michigan for the funeral. Herbie is now going to spend Christmas with Grandma Anna who passed away in the spring. They both obtained the very respectable age of 90+ years, so even though they are gone, they lived long and good lives!

These sad events has put the Christmas holidays on a delayed schedule this year, so for all of you out there waiting for cards and so on, hang tight. They will be coming - eventually and electronically!

Just another reason why we don't want a Palin in the White HouZe

All that said, Michael Palin is of course always welcome. We need more British Comedy in our lives!

Ford Zucks

I've never liked Ford, maybe with the exception of the pretty "sturdy" ones we could find in Europe back in the late 70ies (Granada, Orion, etc) - before they all rusted away...

Once on U.S. soil, I've kept the Fords at bay. Hundred of times I've rented from Hertz (then owned by Ford) for the sole reason they also provided Toyotas, Mazdas, Subarus, Volvos, and in rare cases Hondas. When renting a car, you really do not have to worry about the quality of the vehicle, but you do have to worry about driving it. Most Fords were more like "riding", while all the other cars allowed themselves to be "driven".

One trip from Lynchburg, VA, down to RTP was the nail in the coffin for Fords in my life. A brand new Taurus (or maybe it was a Taurus under the Mercury moniker, the Sable) was to be driven down the parkway down to the RTP airport. Never has a drive been so scary since not even this BRAND new car could provide illumination of the road, less any other form of "control" normally associated with "driving" a car.

So, when I stumbled over this story on Consumerist.com today, it sort of just reminded me how bad Fords are in my mind, and how crooked many car dealerships are (not only Fords, but it does not help if the dealership has to make up for poor product design). I've had Nissans, Audis, Toyotas, Hondas, even Saabs, and not one can even come close to what this poor fellow experiences with his Ford truck. On the contrary, these "import" vehicles run perfectly fine even when they pass the 100K mile marker. We should ask that from any car these days!

Why kill WolveZ?

These majestic and beautiful animals, brutally killed from the air. If you are out to hunt, at least give the animals a fair chance. Arial hunting is just slaughter, nothing else, and promoted by someone that could one day be the Prez.

Just one heartbeat away from being PreZident of the United States

If you missed this skit from Saturday's SNL, watch it here. Brilliant!



Also very scary when realizing that the message in this skit is way too close to becoming reality - "one heartbeat away...". Yikes!

Finally back HOME from "Zvenska" land

Short notice, but we are back home after two weeks in Sweden.
Probably never felt as good in coming BACK HOME as it did this time. More about that later, but there were a number of details that drove me nuts in Sweden this time.
Just needed to get a small entry in here, since it has been a tad stale lately.