Seattle Day One

Managed to get up good and early ('natch, Seattle is only three hours behind my natural time) and failed to get a good head start on things because I was happily chatting away at the Girlfriend.

After that, I spent some time with the wonderful toy...

To be specific, I was raised right so I try not to arrive someplace empty handed. And so, I arrived bearing a super tiny, remote control helicopter.

Super tiny, remote control helicopters are by the way the way to terrorize cats.

Eventually, I headed out. Here were the things I felt like wanted/needed to do.

Buy a lighter.
Get a memory card for my camera.
Go to the science fiction museum.

This was a little bit daunting for me because it's a new city and even after some thoughtful prep work by Geoff and his lovely wife, I still wasn't entirely sure how to manage the citys public transport.

But I are brave.

So bravely, I ventured forth and PURCHASED A LIGHTER! At this point, I realized that I'd forgotten the camera I needed to show to the people at Radio Shack so I bravely ventured back and heroically GOT MY CAMERA!

And then in a fit of courage, bought a memory card for it.

I'd like to say that I also saved a dragon and killed a unicorn.

After that, I decided to grab a bite to eat before heading into the city proper. Nobody should manage public transportation on an empty stomach. It's not civilized.

And so I found a place where old people were drinking beer with their eggs and hashbrowns. My type of place.

And then after a bloody mary and a not bad BLT, I headed off into the city.

And promptly got completely lost.

I tried. Really. I had looked at a map and researched it on Google and everything. It didn't help.

The bus drivers in Seattle are very helpful. They call out every stop over an intercom.

On my bus it sounded like:

"KrrrssssshSnapplegggggghpluuuurgh Way at Wssssssssshhhhhhhhhppbbbbbbllllllllp Street"

So I just got off where everybody else seemed to be going off. I figured they were probably going where I was going anyways.

And then I wandered around for three hours trying to figure out where the Science Fiction Museum was.

Eventually, realizing that I was hopelessly lost, I decided that the best way to fix my problem was to get on a monorail.

And it worked! Pow! There I was! Right by the Space Needle and minutes from all sorts of nerdery. I immediately started snapping pictures!

At this point, I dropped my camera and evidently broke it...

So um..."Here I am next to a collection of Star Trek phasers!" and "Here I am next to a couple of Vipers from Battlestar Galactica" and "Hey look: Ittsa Space Needle!"

Let's just pretend that I'm painting an adequate picture with my words shall we? Even better than pictures!

So after that, I managed to find my way home, decided that I had enough time to grab a beer or two before my friend got off of work and here I am.

And I'm thining that I haven't seen his one cat since he left in the morning. And I'm begining to get a bit alarmed. And I don't think this is my fault but I worry that I'm going to get blamed...

I really didn't lose the cat. I'm sure it's around somewhere. This is totally not my fault.