First days in Seattle, first thoughts...

It's a night of firsts here, folks. It's the first night I feel like I have "living" space and not a repository for IKEA boxes. It's the first night I have been on the interwebs here bc my wifi card has been on the rag or something that prevented it from working as normal.

Incidentally, if you need some IKEA furniture built, I am your guy. Though I'm pretty sure that after the next - and last - piece there is to assemble, I never want to see a wooden dowel again for at least a good 30-day period. But I digress...

The movers arrive at 9 a.m. or so tomorrow. The next two days I am spending the bulk of time getting the place in some kind of basic shape, moving items into our storage unit and getting it ready for the arrival of the fabulous wife and dog (and Spragg!) on Saturday.

That said, I have been working full time this week and a few things that are immediately notable:

• I have a 10-minute commute. Walking. You have no idea how fantastic this is unless you've done this in a city before. But even in NYC, I had a walk to the subway, then a 20-minute ride. My walk goes like this: 1) walk out of the building, 2) look up and see the Space Needle, 3) turn left, 4) climb a big, 2-block hill and 5) go a couple more blocks and arrive. Walking home, I get the Olympic Mountains and great views of downtown.
• Neighborhoods! Oh, how I have missed this. I can walk a few blocks and feel like I'm in a whole different place. And it's all so easily accessible via mass transit. Which conveniently runs on both streets that make up the intersection where my apartment is.
• You may have heard this, but there are one or two places in Seattle where you can get a decent cup of coffee.
• I was thinking I should keep track of rainy days, but what fun is that. Instead, let's put it this way: the only day I didn't see sunshine was yesterday. This whole "all it does is rain" thing is hilarious. Seriously, come to Seattle and see. Also, the trees are already blooming here, which is just outstanding.
• The time change isn't hitting me - on my end of things. I keep forgetting the east coast is three hours ahead of me. It would be good to remember this...

And the funny story...

So, I didn't think to pack a set of bed sheets. I have no idea why. Because I am a fool.

Anyhow, night one, I slept on our new mattress alone. That... wasn't ideal. But it was less ideal when I woke at 2 a.m. and was freezing cold. I put on socks and another shirt. Woke up an hour later still freezing. I put a hoodie on. Hood UP. Even that got cold. I ended up... putting my coat on and sleeping in my coat. Like a homeless person! I never realized this, but sheets and such insulate. Fortunately, I have coworker friends who live nearby and take pity on foolish people like me (and have extra sets of queen-size bedding).

Anyhow, it's been a smooth transition overall. I only have a handful of scratches from furniture assembly. I have only walked aimlessly around my new building looking for the trash bins once. I mean, that's good!

And what I can say is that things already feel right here. I think I've been smiling every time I have started my walk to work, just looking at the new city that surrounds me.