Seattle

Got about a month under our belts in a new city. It’s been a whirlwind for Ash and me over the past few months. I graduated from medical school at the end of May and a week later, Ash and I got married. We went to Costa Rica for our honeymoon, came home and packed for a week, and then moved to Seattle. Just a couple of minor milestones for one month.

My parents helped us pack up the ole U-Haul and Ash's parents were an enormous help with the actual move. They drove our car up and helped us unload and get settled in. Pretty lucky to have supportive families.

I started residency at UW at the end of June and so far so good. I love Seattle. The Seattle summer temperatures are much more suited to my taste than Utah summers. It doesn’t get so bloody hot here. We live about 3 blocks away from Lake Union, for those of you who know the area. We’ve got a little view of the lake from our balcony and we’re loving living this close to water. We often walk down to the marina and sit on the bench and read while we watch all the boats and the seaplanes that come and go. We’ve become friendly with a couple of the neighborhood drunks that hang out on the benches at the dock. They complimented me on my sunglasses the last time we saw them. We’re hoping that if we go to the marina often enough some of the people with boats there will befriend us and take us sailing.

The city is beautiful, but there are a few things that we’ve noticed that will taking some getting used to. There isn’t a lot of space. You notice this the most when you’re driving. Roads here certainly weren’t built wide enough for a horse and buggy to make a U-turn like good ole SLC. In fact, most of the roads in our neighborhood are not wide enough for two cars traveling in opposite directions to pass each other. If you see another car coming down the road, one of you has to find a driveway, or an empty parking slot (a rare thing) to pull into so the other car can pass. I often find myself looking around for ONE WAY signs, convinced that I’m going the wrong way on a one-way street—nope. Quite a feat of civil engineering. Addresses are also neat here. As is the case in many cities, different streets can share the same name. There is a cockamamie quadrant system that is apparently “pretty easy, once you get used to it”. I don’t buy it yet. We’ll see.

Whoever is in charge of the street signs in the city should unquestionably be fired. The signs are small, usually posted to low, at angles not conducive to reading, and in locations that ensure that you will not be to see the sign in time to be able to change lanes to make your turn. I seem to cuss more than usual when I drive here.

People don’t really speed here. On the freeway you rarely see people going more than 65 mph (speed limit is 60). When I was at home, I felt that I wasn’t speeding until I was doing at least 10 over on the freeway. Perhaps the lack of speeding is due to the higher volume of cars. Traffic sucks here, but we’re fortunate to live very close to where I work so I can avoid most of the really congested roads. I’m close enough to ride my bike to all three hospitals I’ll be working at.

That brings me to another cool thing about Seattle. People ride their bikes a lot here. Bike lanes are far more abundant than most other cities I’ve been to and there are a lot of trails and paved bike paths (most of which I haven’t had time to explore yet…someday). And drivers are much more aware of cyclists and pedestrians than what I’m used to.

Apparently Seattle is considered the most literate city in the US with a higher percentage of college grads than any other major city in the US. It’s an interesting dichotomy because there’s a decent-sized homeless population as well which makes for a rather interesting juxtaposition. We've already identified a few of the guys that crash in our neighborhood in the park nearby or in front of some office buildings. It's pretty heartbreaking to see.

In our outings around town to stores, shops, parks, etc, I’ve noticed a far more liberal standard of what’s considered an acceptable level of B.O. than what I’m used to. Maybe it’s that people bike more here, but I’ve definitely encountered many a funk on some people who seemed hygienic from a distance, but have been quickly disabused of that notion when I’ve wandered into their waft zone. Deodorant folks.

I’ve been pretty busy working in the ER this month so we haven’t had a ton of time to go exploring but there is a lot of cool things to do close by. When I’m not at work, I pretty much feel like loafing and sleeping. We did rent a canoe last week and paddled around Lake Washington for a couple of hours, which was awesome. Ash is a good sport about my crappy schedule and general lethargy. She has been taking excellent care of me and is pretty much dominating at being a wife—not a surprise to those that know her.

We like our apartment cause it’s fairly roomy for these parts. We have a guest room and a guest bathroom if anyone is interested in visiting Seattle for any reason, we’d be happy to put you up. We live about 2 miles from downtown and about two miles from the UW campus and we have great access to public transit from our neighborhood. You can make a quick weekend trip out of it. Our first guests arrived yesterday. Ash's sister, Chrissi, and her adorable daughter, Ali, flew in last night. It's nice to have familiar faces around so when I say that we'd be happy to put you up, I sincerely mean it--call me if you'll be in the area or if you want a relatively cheap get away.

I hope to get more stuff up at some point—from the wedding and honeymoon, but who knows what my schedule will allow, so it may be awhile. In short, we're alive and well enjoying married life and a new city.