The last time I ate was 1:30pm Pacific time... yesterday. It is not because I have an eating disorder... it is just bad timing and lame cities.

I am in Coral Springs... land of old people, golf courses, and of course, convention centers. I got in late last night and couldn't eat during my connection in Atlanta because I did not have time, because my plane was late (probably because so many people carried their bag on!). So, I get to my hotel around 1:15am, and everything is closed. It looks like a ghost town, and I am in the middle of nowhere, not even a 7-11!!! I ask the front desk clerk if there is any food anywhere... she conjures up some boxes of honey nut cheerios, no milk. I eat some, I am not going to go into shock from hunger now... I was in too late to order room service for breakfast, but figured no big deal, I would go to the restaurant when I wake up.

I wake up at 8:45am from housekeeping. I forgot to put the do not disturb. That was so early, 5:45am my time... I couldn't really fall back asleep because the hotel is atrium style and the door to my room has a 1 inch crack between the door and the floor... so I can hear everything in the lounge. Stupid design.

So, I shower, go downstairs to the lounge... no one helps me. I go to the restaurant... no one is there!!! There was a buffet out and I almost just stole food I am dying of hunger. I go to the front desk, who originally told me about the food options.. I ask, do you really have food here... I plead my case, how I haven't eaten in hours... They have to call a server.. who then says, you want coffee? I say, no food, as I have little energy to say much else. She tells me I have to go to the restaurant, not the lounge. I say they told me I could order here, and I went to the restaurant and no one was working. She then gives me a menu, and lets me order... right away, while standing there. I tried to order a salad and then have her put that in while I decided on a meal, but she wasn't having that... so I just ordered the first thing that looked decent...

I ordered food at 8:14... It's been 15 mins, and I have only a water at my table... with a lemon... I am thinking about eating the lemon...

Oh, and I do not have a rental car and I am about 3 miles away from civilization... just Everglades and Golf Courses....

Update, it's now 8:37am PST... no food...

Update, I might die of starvation soon... 8:51... no food.... and no people that apparently work here to ask where the hell my food is...

Update... 8:57... FINALLY!

Eww, I went to the Shell Station on Denny and Wall.. and regular unleaded... $4.15 a gallon. Are you kidding me? I know I filled up in the city and it's more expensive, but $4.15? Analysts say $5.00 by end of June and $6.00 by end of July? Seriously?

I wish I felt safe walking in Belltown by myself. Instead I drive to, like, Dan's house, 8 blocks away.

Speaking of which... Dan and I went to Whole Foods last night. They had 50 cent oysters on the half shell and $2 beers. Yeah, our new plan to save money is just eat at Whole Foods. I am kidding, but they had some happy hour special. Then we shopped, bought everything we needed for dinner, and went back to Dan's house played Grand Theft Auto 4, had a late dinner, and went to bed semi early.

I also went to the Post Office today. I waited like 30 mins in line, but there was only one person working and she was super slow. I do not get why the post office is always SO SLOW. Usually I just mail from my place and call them to pick it up, but this package went to Canada.

And now, work...

On of the funny things about Seattle is - when there is a nice day, take advantage of it, because you do not know when another one will come around!

I did just that. I went to Charlie's apartment in Leschi and after a few hours, we went out on the boat into Lake Washington. Mike and Chelsea were there and it was odd (in a good way) to hang out with a bunch of Michigan people again. Also odd that a lot of Jeff's friends live out here. It was so warm and sunny, the lake was cold but people were still jumping in and cooling off. I did not. We went back in about 6:15pm and I took off and picked Dan up on my way home. To get from Leschi to Downtown you have to go through some weird areas on Yesler, it was a warm day and everyone was out in and it was just... weird.

After getting Dan we drove to my house, approached my alley to get into my garage and this cracked out hooker - who was wearing very little clothing (in fact I don't think she was really wearing a shirt) - walked infront on my car as I was pulling into the garage. I stopped so I didn't hit her, she approached my car, knocked on my window and I think she was asking to perform a sex act for $2 dollars? I freaked out, honked my horn, she wouldn't get away, I yelled, she finally backed up and I went into my garage and called the police. They did not come. In reality, I probably should have said she needed medical attention, because she was so cracked out. We went up to my apartment and when we went to the balcony to see if she was still there, and she was for quite awhile, acting crazy, putting on tons of clothes, taking all the stuff out of her bag and stacking it in piles on the ground. Weird. Drugs and mental illness is a bad combination and I cannot understand why this goes on in every alley and street in Downtown and Belltown.

We went to the roof and grilled out dinner and ate up there, too. I tried beef. It was a piece of Porterhouse cut into small pieces on a skewer and it was honestly pretty good. I ended up having two pieces. I have not had steak in forever, but Dan was all about me trying it. I do not think I would ever order it at a restaurant, but he thinks I will - we'll see.

We then went to Blockbuster, where we rented Charlie Wilson's War, and when I was driving back - another street person is knocking on my window! I pull into the parking lot on 1st to get into my alley and my garage a lot and what the bums do is get a credit card (I am assuming stolen?), and buys parking, gives it to you and they you give them a few bucks cash. I told him like 4 times I was not parking there and he is still knocking on my window, as I am waiting for the cab to move out of the way so I can get home.

We watched the movie and passed out about midnight...

Dan and I woke up this morning, and I got the idea that we should go fishing. So, we make breakfast (ate it on the balcony - I love warm weather!), showered, went to Dan's got the fishing stuff, and we were on our way. We actually got fishing licenses, lunch and random stuff at the Fred Meyer in Issaquah, and then we went to the mountains, to this "good fishing spot" that we found online.

First we drive to Lake Alice by Fall City, which is a very cute non motor lake, but not a good place to fish unless you had a canoe or boat of some sort. Then we drive to this spot on the Snoqualmie River, it's beautiful, here are pictures. The river was very high and flowing very very fast...

We started fishing, and maybe fished about 4-5 minutes and then a Washington Dept. of Wildlife Officer came down. We thought he just wanted to check our license, but he made us stop fishing. We went back up to the car, and low and behold, we were totally fishing illegally! Well, first, we were not just on the Snoqualmie River, we were at the part where Tokul Creek empties into Snoqualmie River, and second we were fishing illegally, because we had bait and we were a few weeks early as you cannot fish the Snoqualmie in that area until June 1.

Officer Chandler was his name, and he was great. He told us how to read the Washington fishing guide, and told us where to go, and that the State stocks local lakes with trout?? He said Green Lake and Pine Lake in the Seattle area were just stocked with trout. We still cannot use bait, I think, I do not really know I will have to look at the guide. So many rules, so confusing!! Dan is used to Florida and I am used to Michigan where you just get a license, you can fish where you want and you can fish like up to 10 fish a day. But like I said, no tickets, the Officer was great and now we know where we can fish legally, but again, no bait??

We were very close to Snoqualmie Falls and I had never been there, so we went there for a few minutes. It was packed with people today, but it was beautiful. There is a gazebo that comes out a bit over the cliff and if you look down, it is very scary. There were too many people, and I cannot handle huge crowds, so we took off.

Well, after our run in, we went to Pine Lake in Sammamish. There were so many kids swimming, but we put our feet in and it was semi warm. We sat down, ate our sandwiches, watched a bunch of dogs play with each other and swim, then walked to the fishing pier. A lot of people were fishing and we saw at least one person catch a fish, so there must be fish in the lake. We'll go back this week one day, when it isn't so busy.

One last thing before going to bed - it is nice out in Belltown, the bars have outdoor seating... But I must ask, why do people feel the need to yell "Wooooo"? I do not think I have ever been to a bar that is not in like, Cancun, where I have ever felt the need to scream "Woooooo". Seriously, it is Sunday night in Seattle and I hear a Woooo every 2 minutes or so. I just do not get it.

My phone calls about the crack smoking people from yesterday are getting a bit of buzz in my neighborhood, apparently. Hopefully they will help make a difference and get more police presence on my block. I love my apartment and where I live and do not want to be forced to move to Queen Anne or Cap Hill just to escape the bums and feel safe in my own neighborhood...

Last night, after work, I picked up Dan and we went to Whole Foods on Westlake. I like how that Whole Foods is merchandised, it is very new and very clean. We purchased a bunch of food and went back to Dan's apartment and I cooked dinner. Then we watched Forrest Gump, which I have never seen... I know, who has not seen Forrest Gump? It was late and I slept there last night and then woke up, drove home and now taking a quick break from work to write this.

It is pretty sunny out today, but with clouds. I love the clouds over the bay because they are always bright and puffy. I think I might go to a free Wi-Fi place today and finish some work...

And a side note, I often watch the local news on KING 5... and they had two Michigan stories (both involving fires, ironically), including the story of a fire at a senior citizen complex in WB, I am assuming the JCC senior apartments based on where it was located... Even though generally only bad news travels fast - and far - it is still semi comforting to see a story from my local area... and makes me that maybe "home" is not really that far away...