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All posts for the month December, 2012

Home is where and what you make of it

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 16, 2012
Posted in: Life in the Pacific Northwest. Leave a comment

I have come to some conclusions recently and I have been battling some decisions on where I wanted to live. There are times in our lives when we struggle with such things and I have been going through the battle of deciding on the best place to live as a technical service worker. It’s difficult to find the perfect place and I suppose that if my career field of choice was in some other venue, the Seattle area might not be my best choice. I have voiced my negative thoughts on the area and there are countless sites dedicated to the same things. What I have realiized is that the Seattle Area is going to be covered with considerably more commentary both good and bad on the internet because of the high volume of technically competent people in the area. It’s been said that you can find people who don’t like McDonald’s hamburgers and someone will have a blog or a comment about it. I found one once that showed a normal burger and a McDonald’s hamburger and the rate of decay. The McDonald’s hamburger survived long after the regular burger had turned to almost dust. People still eat the decay resistant burger. Why isn’t for me to figure out. It’s just a fact. Just like the facts about the Seattle area that I am never sure are 100% but they are my best guess.
One of the hardest things I had to learn is that there are reasons that the Seattle area is known for some of the best technological innovation and design. It’s grey outside and the people of the area have simply adapted. They spend their time indoors thinking stuff up. The area is a bit of a technology think tank of sorts. Who would want to stay indoors if it was nice outside all the time? I sure wouldn’t. The rainy grey weather lends itself to the creamy freakishly white skinned nerd types because of the lack of proper sunlight. It’s true that many people in Seattle have little social skills and it’s true that it comes off as an unfriendly place to live. The self serving a-holes are abundant there but that’s not all of what the area is full of. There are many who just haven’t figured this place out and grouped together and made thier own friends…and it’s really hard to do that because the rainy weather will eventually get to you. Newcomers are also often put off by the piss poor social skills of many of the locals and I don’t fault either of them these days.
If you were living in a place that has little in the way of true outdoor entertainment/activities and the weather didn’t supply you with enough sunlight and vitamin D to stay healthy, I suppose you would become like so many have complained about. It’s true that there are a huge volume of adult online game players and that they have more interaction with people just like them. They are shut-ins because of the crappy weather and lack of good strong sunlight. They don’t really learn how to interact with people on a person to person basis and it would be safe to say that technology has been the reason for the locals to be connected if only online and the same reason that they often don’t interact well in person and exhibit such bad manners.
When I used to commute, I was on a tight schedule to catch the right bus or ferry so I wouldn’t get home just in time to go to bed only to get up and do it again. In the winter it was dark when I left home and dark when I arrived back home. What a crappy way to spend your time. Fighting traffic in the rainy dark mornings to get to work, slaving away at work and then fighting your way back home in the rainy dark night, all the while, hoping that the public transportation system would not fail you badly. If anything, you could miss a ride by a minute and be delayed for at the very least, an additional hour. This is just an example of the kinds of reasons that the people are pressed and do not stop to chat with others when the opportunity presents itself. The transportation system sucks and the topographical layout of the area is not easy to traverse. This makes it more difficult to stop and take time to chat. Not a great reason but it is a fact. I can say this with great authority because I was just such a subject when dealing with the same conditions.
Are there simple ways to improve this area for better living? I suppose so but the most difficult thing to do is create a change in the minds of the people to get them to see that the old ways of getting to and from work are limiting the quality of life we want to have. I personally have been someone who never liked the idea of giving up what I thought was freedom behind the wheel of my car because I could come and go as I pleased. I have been living on a city that has 20,000 Taxi’s and it is easy to catch one at almost any time of the day. I like the freedom that this offers because I can still come and go as I please and parking is no longer an issue, I have less vehicle maintenance to pay for and in general, I still can get to where I need to go. I do understand the love affair we have with our cars and I don’t ever want to not have my own wheels but for the sake of getting around easier and having less stress, I get it. Leave the car at home unless you absolutley need it.
This is where the problem comes in. we often do need our cars because the transportation system is actually not very good. The buses are nasty when you consider the bum who just soiled himself and is sitting on the seat next to you as if nothing has happened or the person who hasn’t showered for days is stinking up the air and your only option is to sit next to this dirtbag and get the off-gas effect on you so now you feel like you need a shower all day while you are at work. Not exactly the best solution. Then there is the bicyclist…oh the self inportant bicyclist who sneers at you because you are driving a car and they are saving the world. Sorry Mr. Body Odor man, I would rather show up to work not smelling like a beast, thank you. I have decided that one of the best ways to get to and from work in my case is by motorcycle. It’s a small ride, takes up less space, it’s cheap to get around and the performance is like a sportscar and then some and the carpool lanes are free for taking. This has been my best option for many years and I am thinking that I will be needing another weather sheding motorcycle when I return and begin the commuter shuffle.
Have I admitted defeat? Have I decided where to live? Can I enjoy the Pacific Northwest with a new attitude and a years experience away from there? I think the answers are yes to all but the first question.

I also have decided that the reason I couldn’t figure out where to move to is because I have a love hate relationship with the Pacific Northwest. I love the high tech jobs and the scenery is second to none…when you can see it. I hate the crappy weather and attitudes of people whom I have come to realize are just handicapped when they don’t understand how to be nice to people or they don’t care. It’s a bit of a disease that they have and the cure is recognition and acceptance and adaptability. I also now understand why there are many people in the state who want nothing to do with the cities where these problems are prevelant. Unfortunatley my work will often take me into that rat race and as long as I can keep in mind the fact that it’s not the way of the entire world, I should be able to survive and survive well.

I hope that if you are stuck in this rut out there and are trying to make sense of the overall climate of Seattle that you realize that it is a technical hub to a high degree and the weather does suck for the most part. It’s why there are big homes that people have built for themselves to try to cope by not being trapped indoors in a crackerbox home and they try to find happiness in the toys and useless crap they think they just gotta have to make them happy. It’s a sad part of the way life is there. If you realize this and refocus on what is important, living in the rainly pacific northwest can be a decent place to live but you have GOT to accept the rain and grey or it will kill your soul.

A Bridge to the Island to help all of Kitsap

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 12, 2012
Posted in: General Ramblings, Life in the Pacific Northwest. Leave a comment

As a long time resident of Kitsap County and a past long time commuter to Seattle, I have been watching the insanity surrounding the Ferry System and I still cannot understand why some of the most logical solutions are never publicly examined. WSF likes to say that the only self sustaining system is the Bainbridge run so it makes sense to conclude that the shortened run and high capacity boats are the way to go. The unfortunate issue here is that the island holds the keys to unlock and resolve the problem faced by the WSF. The tiny two way road of the Agate Pass Bridge just isn’t a feasible route to take for an effective method of managing the traffic loads but a shortened route between East Bremerton and the Bainbridge Ferry run would be. The current route from the Bremerton Terminal and the Bainbridge terminal is time prohibitive when considering a drive to the self sustaining Bainbridge run from Bremerton. As a result, it made sense to spend the extra 30 minutes riding the Bremerton boats. As it is now, the Bremerton boats are broken, nasty and often staffed by ferry workers who appear to hate what they do for work. Based on what we are told, the Bremerton route pulls the WSF into the RED anyway. Why not increase the Bainbridge route to a 3 or 4 boat run filled with travelers/commuters from the entire Kitsap peninsula and shut the Bremerton Route down? This would easily be accomplished with a short floating bridge between Bremerton and Bainbridge. A fast foot Ferry could be implemented between Bainbridge and Seattle as well. This would eliminate the Rich Passage trouble we faced years ago over a fast boat and shore erosion. It would drastically improve the revenue stream into Kitsap county as more people would see Kitsap and a realistic community to live in. It would cut down on the Kitsap Brain Drain and might actually help bring money and talent into Kitsap County. As it is now, who wants to live in Kitsap County and use a Ferry System that is falling apart or fight traffic by driving south and then north to get to Seattle or pay the extortion fee to cross the toll bridge? The job market in Kitsap County is terrible and when you can’t find a job locally you must either move or commute. I for one decided to move to the Middle East for a good job for a year as a result of this ridiculous yet easily resolvable transportation issue faced in Kitsap. I am considering returning but I am not so sure I want to after discovering what is happening there. Yes, it’s that bad and you just don’t know it until you have tried something that actually works.

One Year Later

Posted by wcrowlandksr on December 8, 2012
Posted in: Life In The Sandbox. 4 Comments

A year ago, I began this blog for the purpose of looking back and also sharing some of my experiences with you, my readers. I know that I likley do not have many if any reading my blog here but the truth is, it is OK. I have a place to connect to from most anywhere in the world and document my experiences so I may one day look back and see where I have come from and gone to. This adventurous job I have taken on along with some good advice on life has helped me grow so much that without them I’m not sure where I’d be in the process of understanding things the way I do now but looking back I can see the some of the changes.

It was this time last year that I was nearing a completed a contract at my favorite company ever with a really great manager whom I truly miss working for. He had an outlook that was inspiring in many ways. I used to tell my friends that I worked in the happiest place on earth and they would guess Disney most every time. They were right and I truly miss it.
One of my favorite managers at Disney before he left Disney.


While I have enjoyed living in the desert, I am ready to come back for a while. Not really sure if one can actually come back “home” because some things change…even if it’s just the person returning. Someone who once told me that you can’t really survive here in the desert until you make the move in your mind. I found that to be true because for many months, I kept thinking about how life was when I left and I had forgotten a very critical element of life. It keeps changing things even when you aren’t there. This was witnessed when I went back home for a vacation. With the exception of a select few, did anyone appear to want to connect since they all had lives to live and other places to be. This was a painful lesson because for a long time I held on to these friendships in my mind but they had let go many months ago. It’s the out of sight out of mind thing. Sadly I have found that people these days just don’t have time to spend with others because they are so busy doing something else. I still haven’t quite figured out what is so much more important than friends that causes this draw but it appears to be a reality.
Some of them just aren’t close enough both in distance or connection so I do understand that…the rest…I just don’t.

I also learned that you shouldn’t live your life fast forwarding or waiting until the next big moment where you do meet some goal that you have set for yourself. I did that for a while and have since learned that you must live your life along the route rather than racing from one goal to the next all the while missing the journey along the way. It’s good to have goals but it’s also good to enjoy and learn from the route getting to them.

Other changes on viewpoints:
If you have seen the Matrix, this will make more sense. It’s a great movie to watch…well the first one is the best and what I am basing what I write about here.
I have been extracted from a life and for 20 years, it had become all I had known. I went to work each day and like a good worker bee, fell into the machine that is devised to allow us to fall under heavy control. I followed the steps of being on a regular work schedule and used the mass transit as much as possible to get to work and become a part of that corporate machine. I didn’t travel freely and I was on a schedule…and it wasn’t mine. While it paid enough to survive, the entire system is configured so that you can end up barely making a living wage if you aren’t careful. I used to think I was free.
I have been working in a different system of control and it mostly because I have changed it for myself. I don’t have the looming debt I had before, I don’t have the fear of not being able to afford shelter, I don’t feel like I have to stay at this job anymore but I do because I like the wage and the work. I know that when I go back to the workforce at home I will be able to take on work that I really like rather than what’s available me because I need to funds to keep the creditors happy.

On How “easy” it’s been for me to just pay all my bills off.
Some people I know just say to me that it has been easy for me to take this job here and that I have skills that I can market and make a good wage and getting out of debt is so easy for a person like me and they get tired of reading the “same story over and over again”.
I laugh because they don’t understand or see…or care that I packed all my things that I might have needed into a few bags and one box, hopped on a airplane and left everything I ever knew and and everyone I ever met and left them all behind in an effort to get this goal of debt freedom accomplished. Easy!? Please! It’s hotter than hell here in the summer and there are so many things that you can’t even begin to imagine that you will experience that aren’t really enjoyable unless you have lived here. Try leaving your entire family and all your friends behind only to watch the friendships whither away because you were gone. Try eating the food here and sometimes it feels like Gastronial Intestinal Russian Roulette when you find out that one of your peers almost died because of major food poisoning and what your eating today tastes a bit “off”. Try working in a warehouse setting with pretend cubicles and lights that you could grow some awesome weed under. That light is like sitting by the light of a welder for 12 hours at a time because that’s your workday. Think about the last time you had a new job and the stress was high because you didn’t know the ropes yet. Now throw a curve ball in there and instead…take on a new boss and he is hell bent on changing everything in order to make his mark and it throws the system that everyone had figured out into a tailspin. Yippie…it’s like getting a new job every year…want it or not. Here’s one, spend 48 hours of your meager 3 weeks vacation getting to and from your home. This is also combined with the fact that 3 weeks is an abnormally long vacation and typicall you must break it down into two segments….this means your 48 hours of travel just doubled and you lost a total of 4 days to traveling on your now roughly 8 to 10 days off in a row and let’s not talk about the jetlag where you lose more time because you are trying to adjust to the new timezone you find yourself in. In a vain attempt to stay somewhat synchronized with my hometowm clocks, I have been working the night shift for nearly a year now and that’s a joy unto itself. You walk outside in the morning and the beautifully lit sky is yours for the taking and your internal devices tell you it’s daytime and you shouldn’t be sleeping but rather, wide awake. Now that this mechanism is running full throttle you go home after being up for 15 hours and now you gotta sleep. Good luck with that one. Oh let’s talk about maid service…yeah, they work in the day and don’t often speak much english so you will have trouble getting them to understand “no ringie ringie doorbell in the day, just come in quietly and clean everything but my room cause I am sleeping”. Guaranteed….the doorbell WILL ring and wake you and now you have been awakened in the middle of your night because housekeeping can’t understand you. Here’s more, you get to pick what holiday you want to spend with your family and friends and this year but it cannot be all of them….(See travel and jetlag comments). How about a crappy internet service that take you an hour and a half to watch an hour long movie because of dust storms…or just poor internet service in the first place….why yes sir we have Internet service, it’s a 1.44 meg connection and it’s shared with 70 other tennants. Yes we know that they are streaming movies and using Skype but at least we can tell you that we have the service. Enjoy! You will also need a vpn link out of the country because the movie pirates here can’t get access to Netflix…they would just pirate it all. The VPN…well that is encapsulating technology so you get the pleasure of even slower speeds because of the encrypt and decrypt activities. Thanks firewall guys! You guys rock at blocking my favorite stuph! NOT! You are just an annoying speedbump on the information superhighway!
You will notice that I am not taking issue with the people of this country. It is me who doesn’t understand them and each day I make attempts to do so. Like the guy today who wanted to occupy the same lane on the freeway as I did and forgot about the whole separate matter occupying the same space at the same time thing or neglected to learn or perhaps thought that it was birthright to be there in my position on the road and not me. I really tried to understand this but I am not that capable of understanding how an intelegent society could actually drive in a manner that says they do not understand basic physics.
Back to the point. It’s not easy to do what I have done and I challenge anyone who thinks I am in some sort of priviledged situation to just drop on over and try it. You will likley make more money than you did at home doing the same thing you can do here and according to some, it’s easy. So if you think that after reading my posts about getting out of debt and think here we go again, I challenge you to try it.

Am I bitter about this job and the place I live, not really. Am I glad I did it? Without question, yes! Would I do it again? Probably. Do I want to poke the next person in the eye who says it was so easy for a guy like me and that I am somehow privledged? YES! Was it easy? No, not really. Was it worth it? Absolutley!
I have had an excellent experience here because of what I made of it. I have learned things about myself and would not trade this for the world. I just might look back and wish I had traveled more of it while I was here but this round was mostly for debt payoff.