Where am I? Where am I going?

There is a view from the top of Capitol Hill looking west that may confuse the casual viewer, especially if it is me. To the west is mountains, with the sun setting behind them, and a downtown hodgepodge of high rises in the foreground. That is a picture of home for me, in more ways then one. Not prescribing to regular sleep patterns, I became very disoriented and thought I was somewhere else. It caused me to remember what a friend of mine had said on a recent layover in the Emerald City: "This place is just like a part of Denver I haven't explored yet." I feel this way very often. The only problem is there is a sense in my gut that I'm here only to explore. That at the end of the day I'm going to go home. But this is my home now...I think. Seattle is only a physical place. A cold indifferent geographical point. Same as Denver too. Maybe that is why after awhile all these places feel the same, from Seattle to Denver, Denver to Denmark, and back again. It's only those friends and loved ones that make a place feel like home. Not to sound too emo but I don't have any of that quite yet. I was hoping to make some kind of connection with people by now but that has been a bust. Since there is no funds for school the only social outlet I have is work but thats as far as it goes. I have a friend who did very much the same thing and somehow she survived. I wonder what her strategy was? Mhmm.....I am probably sure it differed a lot from mine: when not occupied by work drinking a few cups of wine then contemplating service to one's country while listening to a lot of garage rock. At last it has come down to this: the Army or boredom?

Imaginary Conversation That Really Happened

7:28pmJoshua

Whats the itinerary?

7:31pmKaty

not sure yet. Driving north from Cali up into canada with stops along the way... and then east and down to colorado.

7:32pmJoshua

I am not sure a care full of Halls will make it across the border.

7:32pmKaty

ha ha. thanks

7:33pmJoshua

Well its not my fault that Canadians are threatened by you.

7:33pmKaty

ha ha, you know this? from experience

7:35pmJoshua

It is a pretty known fact especially around these parts being as we're so close to the border. I'm sure that as soon as you made it to Seattle CIA agents (and thats Canadian Intelligence not Central) would put a stop to you going any further north.

7:36pmKaty

wow, you are so well connected. Or maybe I just have a "whore-like" rep where everyone knows me

ha

7:39pmJoshua

Well it is just Canada. Nobody really wants to go there anyways. I hear Botswana is really nice and would welcome someone like you with open arms or at the very least with indifference.

7:39pmKaty

ha ha, indifference! That is more my breed.

7:42pmJoshua

Yeah. I think it was the Botswanies that came up with indifference. Before they came up with the "who gives a fuck I've got things to do" attitude everybody was over-reacting and worrying way too much about the little things and weather or not they had their fly down and if their friends would tell them if they did.

Indifference is something that can be welcomed or unwanted. It really depends on ones mood. So far, Seattle has treated me with indifference which has been alright with me. I've been busy with work, exploring this town, and trying to get this apartment in order so that when I break through the wall of indifference and make some friends they won't wonder why I still have boxes stacked to the ceiling. I've almost reached that point where everything is set up and I am finally organized enough to make new friends and acquaintances in this town and get out there into the real world. Until then lets hope I don't get too comfortable in my little zone of indifference.

Busy, busy, and maybe a little lazy too.

Just like most places in the world, a majority of Seattle's landlords are lowlifes trying to squeeze as many people as possible into the dinkiest of apartments for way too much money. Forget about friendliness, or even a small bit of token customer service, it's "here's the apartment, do you want it or not?" However I was informed by one nice realtor the situation in Seattle really should be different. With a 10% vacancy rate, with an unemployment rate just as high, landlord's should be kissing the renter's butt. There were a couple of nice landlords I came across and they had the apartments to match. One of these people I eventually landed an apartment with. It would of been nice, though, to have had the vacancy rate information sooner and a little more time to find a place. I could of used that to strong arm some landlords myself instead of the other way around. Eh...live and learn.

My complaints aside, the apartment I got was big, decently priced, clean, bright and well located in Capitol Hill. The apartment manager is very nice and the place came with a little welcome package of TP (an essential), soap, paper towels, and bottles of water. A welcome package is a first for me. So far so good.

Finding the apartment was the (relatively) easy part. It was all the things that needed to be done, once I got back home, to ready for the move. Having spent more money then planned on the deposit (and perhaps some boots and a leather jacket as well) I was in dire straights in actually getting back to Seattle with more than just the shirt on my back. Luckily my family came to my aid. My brother agreed to pay for a trailer and my dad agreed to drive out there. All I had to do was pay for gas and food which turns out to be a lot of money.

They say "saying goodbye is the hardest part" but truth be told its a lot harder to find and connect with the people you need to say goodbye to. There were some missed connections and some anti-climactic moments. Safe to say there were a few people whose lack of thought made it easier for me to leave. I know though I'll see most of these people again so my heart was not too heavy at my departure.

Its weird but the hardest place to leave was my store. I had really enjoyed the people that worked there and wished I could of taken them with me. I was also scared of who I'd have to work with next.

Now a word to the wise for anyone who plans on moving across the country. If you are traveling more than 1000 miles take your time and spend the night somewhere. My dad and I drove over 1300 miles and took 31 hours to get to Seattle most of which was spent on the road and in the cab of the truck. It was an exhausting experience and both of us strained to stay awake at the end of the trip which is very dangerous. To top it off we had to unload the trailer as soon as we got there, drop it off at the rental place, and then drive to my uncle's house an hour down the road from Seattle. I think this trip might of aged my dad more than he already is after staying up for more 40 hours.

The easiest thing about moving was having a store lined up for me. I was able to go back to work right away. Which was a great thing considering I had exhausted all my funds to get to Seattle and pay my first months rent. Another great thing is that they pay very well here compared to Colorado and the price of living is about the same so I won't be living the poor life for long.

Making such drastic move like this one learns things very quickly. Things such as there are only a few bike lanes in Seattle and the car lanes go right to the curb. This makes it very dangerous for bicyclists like myself which is probably why one can be fined a lot of money if one isn't wearing their helmet (which I lack.) I've also learned that working downtown may not be the best place to be. It's full of business people who don't know that when someone says hello that they're supposed to respond with an equal gesture of greeting not "Triple tall latte." This are busy busy people who can be bothered with hellos and goodbyes but they do have 15 minutes to buy coffee. Then again I was already aware of these people its just that I work where they are amassed now. Lastly, and this is a big one, there are a lot of beautiful woman who fit my ideal type (indie girl with black framed glasses, cool boots and jacket to match) walking all over Seattle but I have at yet not figured out how to talk to them let alone get them to have coffee with me. I think that has more to do with me than Seattle though.

Perhaps if I am more diligent then my next post won't be so long. It's hard to keep up with doing a daily post but not that I am more settled maybe I can keep it up to at least an ever other daily post.

Overture

I am in mid-flight between Denver and Seattle on a plane full of screaming children and I am at peace. Thanks of course to modern technology that can drown out the noise with “Transatlanticism” and the gentle hum of the engines lull me to sleep for the first half of the flight. I wake for my ‘cinnamon roll thin crisps’ and coffee rations dulled out mechanically by the crew. Exhausted, sick, and a little hung-over, my friend’s challenge rings through my ears or is that just the remnants of last night? Excited over his recent viewing of “Jules & Julia” he has challenged me to blog about my experiences of moving to Seattle for my first 365 days of living there. This is the preamble.

It’s January 6^th and I am going to Seattle for 5 days to find a place to live. Everybody is tense once again and security is tight, as another failed attack has attempted to destroy our sense of security. I am more worried that I forgot to pack an umbrella and create a gameplan in tracking down apartments then potential terrorists. In reality due to bad planning on my part I only have three days to find a place since most offices are not open on the weekends, which is fine with me. It will be nice to have the weekend to enjoy the city.

So what is this blog going to be about? Why am I doing it? Why should anyone else care? Well its going to be about a young man, not unlike many young men these days, who is leaving the only home he’s ever known in Colorado to move far away to lush, strange, and unknown land of Seattle, Washington. This is where he has no friends, very few acquaintances, and Mom and Dad are too far away to raid the fridge at their house when he runs out of pocket money. It will be about personal growth, self-reliance, and the will to do something different as I learn what it takes to make it in the real world, in the big city, where the only person I can rely on is myself. At least that’s what I hope it’s about. It could just end up being a place for me to whine and complain about how lonely, grey, and wet it is out here. Hopefully it’s the prior one though.

No. This is not a story about some young bright-eyed kid who moves to Manhattan and gets in with all the right crowds and becomes the wunderkind novelist. I am on the verge of turning 24, still have yet to attain a degree, and I am moving to city only a little bit bigger than my native Denver. I have been playing it easy with my life and at school the past five years or as some say, “screwing around,” but I am moving out west far away from my comfort zone for the challenge and to prove to myself that I can take the bull by the horns.