Last day in Bell Plaza

 Ok, so it hasn’t been called Bell Plaza since Nordstrom’s bought the building a decade or so a go. But it still has the bell logo on top of building.   

I started in this building in 1999. I was on floor 21 I think, or maybe 23.  Most of our people were in the third basement    I worked upstairs with Larry Jacobsen and our US West sponsor, Brian Vallene.   There were a few others too.  Oh, Steve Douville. 

It wasn’t long before I moved to 3b   We eventually moved out of the upper floor completely.  I sat in the middle of the room   Only one wall, to the south   Jeff Reynolds sat behind me.  Rick Wangen sat in the front, facing us   He and Jeff often had games going on, shooting rubber bands or hurling objects at each other   I was in the crossfire a lot  

I eventually moved to the Northeast corner, taking Ruth Anne’s desk when she left. I had a big space with walls  there was a creepy service door behind me.   Whitney Frasier  sat in front of me .

Memories of 3b in random order

Day after thanksgiving. It wasn’t a Peak holiday, but it was a Lumen holiday.   I would bring the kids with me   We’d watch the Macys Santa Parade   Then go to Torrafozziane for hot cocoa.  I would bring the kids into the office for a few hours   They would spin in the desk chairs and run up and down the long hallway while I did some work   

Brad Colling coming into our room,visibly shaken.  He asked for everyone’s attention, then told us our boss, John Sloat, had suffered a heart attack. 

The Nisqually earthquake.   It felt very strong underground.  When it hit,most of us froze. Whitney climbed under her desk.  Kyle ran for the stairs.    Eventually when it ended, Larry and I went up the stairs and outside.   I expected to see destruction.   Everything looked normal.  The building closed.  I lived in Queeen Anne so Sherri and I walked to my house.  We stopped at Zeeks pizza on Denny to get lunch and I saw John Webster there. 

When I lived North, staying at Sherri’s or a co worker in north gate, I’d park in bell town for a few bucks a day.   Now it’s all Amazon towers .  I would often stop at McDonalds acrosss from Westin (now a Chase bank) for breakfast .   I remember they had a bagel sandwich I would get. 

Another breakfast spot and lunch spot was Tower Deli   This is in the building on 7the and Olive, kitty corner to our office.  When I was a kid, my mom worked in that building for Skoglund advertising.  I would take the ferry by myself and take a taxi from ferry to meet her after work once in a while .  El Gaucho was in this building originally.   We ate there a few times. 

Tower deli was a favorite lunch spot for our office. I remember they had gyozas that was popular. 

Vons restaurant and bar was a regular after hours place.  We had many after work parties there.  After Sherri moved back to Denver, I had a big party   I called it my “Sherri left me party”   Nearly everyone in the company attended.  I didn’t invite John Sloat.   As the party was winding down, he showed up and paid the entire check.  

We got out of hand there a few times.  We’d smoke inside.   I was finally told our business was no longer welcome there.  

We moved to the bar in the Vance hotel on olive.  We also went to Bernard’s on Seneca. Bernard’s became a regular hangout. 

Every Friday we got Bagels from Seattle Bagel (closed) .  At first they would be served for the manager meeting in the lower studio.  The studio was a tv studio originally used to make tv commercials for USWest . The rest of us would get the bagels after the manager meeting.  When I became a manager, they stopped the Friday manager meeting and we all got bagels at the same time .  I used to get their hummus spread.  Homemade and delicious.  It was the first hummus I tried.  Their veggie cream cheese spread was good too.

I discovered Falafel. Zainas was on Third and Pine below Macys garage.  It was really good .   They moved to Second ave.  The building eventually was turned into a hotel.  The pioneer square location closed too.  There was one in U district. 

Noodle zone was in food court in Westlake mall.  Daily specials. 

Bell plaza had a cafeteria.  I would occasionally get breakfast there.  Cheap and big portions.  It closed when Nordstrom’s bought building.  They eventually opened a cafe.  It was higher scale.   Not open for breakfast. I would get the salad bar sometimes.

World Fresh Asian Eatery.  Kevin Kim turned me on to this buffet in two Union Square.

Not long after I started, we got a big project to build the kiosk app for the new Pepsi Center arena in Denver.  We worked late every day.  John would buy us dinner.  Usually from Blowfish which became Dragonfish in Paramount hotel.  

Sherri wasn’t part of this project.  We had bought tickets to see Chibo Mato which was part of bumbershoot festival. We had to work again.   I went to the bathroom, then snuck out and went to the show.  John wasn’t happy. I had hoped he wouldn’t notice. 

As we grew, newer people were not fond of our basement dwelling.   Moving wasn’t an option at that time   .   John gave us all a couple hundred bucks to spend to upgrade our cubicle.   I bought an old window frame and a picture of the beach and ocean and mounted it on my wall. 

Birthday shakes or smoothies.

Pizza from Romeos i think   Or pagliacci

When I was stressed or upset, I would go to the convention center and look at the art on display.   They updated it a few times a year .   When my long time client and friend, Carrie Bell, left, I was very upset.  I spent a few hours looking at the art. 

One morning, I got an early phone call before work    It was Sherri in Denver    She told me to turn on the news   It was 9/11     The office did not open that day  

After Nordstrom’s bought the building, they told us we had to move out   They planned on expanding the garage   We moved to Rainier tower.   I still came back to Bell plaza occasionally to meet with clients Wendy Ayres and Paulette Hauck  

SE Alaska. August 9-14

Keksey and I took the ferry to Alaska!

Christmas 2019

On Christmas Eve, I went and visited cousin Mike at her house.   She was having a late dinner.  I didn’t stay since I had to be up early the next day.

We brought Macrina pastries.  Bronwen and I drove through Tacoma and we met Jessica and Kelsey there.  

Kelsey and Jessica put together a cool collage of our Jingle Bell teams over the years.

Vancouver BC December 7-9

we returned to Vancouver again in the late fall.

We stayed at the Shangri la just like last time but we didn’t get a suite this time.  The regular room was just fine.  Very nice rooms.

We arrived late afternoon on Friday.  Bronwen picked me up at work and we headed north.  We went bsck to the Chinese region Robson, but this time it wasn’t as good.

On Saturday, we went for breakfast at a White Spot.   I had a Bloody Caesar.   It was fabulous.   We then headed. North to Lynn Canyon.  First we stopped at a mall for Christmas shopping.  It was an odd mall, most of the stores were discount stores.   The food court looked great, but we weren’t hungry.

We then went to Lynn Canyon park and walked over the suspension bridge and then did the lloop   It was light rain.  Beautiful area though.

That night we ate dinner at an Italian restaurant right on Robson.  It was packed.  We got in at the bar.  It was good.  We have not been out for Italian in a long while and usually we eat mostly Chinese when inVancouver because they have so many great Chinese places.

We stopped for a beer after dinner and then walked around to see the lights.

Sunday a:I got up and headedit to see the Olympic  Cauldron. they once again set up a Christmas markey in the park that the cauldron lives I.  The market costs ten bucks cash to enter and its mostly German fare

New apartment as of August

I finally snapped.     One day, the apartment filled with paint fumes from the neighborhood auto body shop, I said enough is enough.   I looked at Craigslist and found a place right next to Lincoln Park!  We looked at it.  It seemed good, except it faces East.   Behind us, is an older two story apartment in between two brand new 4stort units. I told B that I bet they will tear down that place behind us.  That would make this place unlivable for us.   We drove around the block to the old place.  No sign of construction or planning.    A guy walked by with a dog.  I asked him about it.  He told us everything we wanted to know.  The place was just sold.  New owner is remodeling.  

We called and told the owner we will take the apartment!

I won’t miss much about the old place on the corner of 38th and Oregon. But so much happened in the short 16 months we lived there.  My car was stolen. Recovered.  I got cancer.  I beat cancer.  We went to Vegas to get married.  We went to China.   I quit my job.  I got a new job. 

I’m sooooo happy in the new place.  We love the park!

Jingle bell Run. #8

our eight straight appearance!  Baby Mavrik joined us on his first Jingle bell walk.

Mathew ran.  The rest of us walked.   Weather was decent.  A few sprinkles but mostly dry.

Before the walk, mom, Jess, Kelsey and I had breakfast at the Garage.

Thanksgiving 2018

I drove to Cristas for Thanksgiving dinner.  Two hours driving around.    Everyone was there.  We had a nice dinner then l drove home and had dinner with Bronwen, King, Gabbi and Ben.

Skate America

I’ve been watching Olympic ice skating for years with B.   I grew to understand the sport, but then along came Nathan Chen which made me love the sport

After the 2018 winter games, we saw an ad for Skate America.  It was in Everett.   I decided to buy session passes for us.  We had no idea what it even was.

We showed up Friday night and took our seats 6 rows back for the ice.  It was amazing being that close.
We spent most the weekend in Everett.  After Saturday day session, we met cousin Mikey for dinner. She drive us a few blocks to a Mexican restaurant. It was very busy. It was great to catch up with Mike since Danika cancelled her wedding which was supposed to have been this fall.

We learned a great deal about the event and were thrilled to see Johnny Weir and Tara Lipisky there!

We learned that this was the first of seven events.  It’s the top skaters in the world.

Nathan Chen was amazing.  He easily won gold.  Brady Tennel took 5th. Both compete again, all skaters compete at two events to qualify for the finals.

We bought the NBC skating package to watch all the events.   I have learned so much now.   So much now that I now know the Americans have their work cut out to medal in 2022

Spokane, Couer D’Alene and Crescent Bar Sept 13-16

Busy summer but we finally found time to get away.  We were going to go se Dan and Tony’s new place in Crescent Bar, but first a detour to Spokane.  Kelsey and I stayed at the new Davenport Grand a few years ago.  It’s a really nice, 4 star hotel, and it’s reasonably priced!

We arrived in early afternoon and  had lunch at Dicks.   It’s the same original owner as the Seattle chain, but somewhere along the way, they broke off and now it’s independent.   It was a hoot.  Cheapest food I have ever seen.  They have everything.  Hamburgers of course.  Hot dogs. Pizza. Fried chicken fish and chips. The food was as good as it cost.

After we checked in, we went across the street to the Riverfront Park.  A lot of construction going on.  We rode the gondola over the falls.

For dinner we went to Chili’s just because.   We don’t live near any Chili’s.   It was decent.  Not great but affordable and the service was good.

The next day we drive out to a little cafe that was highly rated.   It was good, but our favorite part was  the local hot sauce! We tried to buy some before we left but couldn’t find it.

We drive to Lake Couer DeAlene.   We walked around a bit, then boarded a tour boat to cruise the lake.   When I planned the trip, I assumed the weather would be better and I was going to rent jet skis.  

That evening back in Spokane, we went to a trendy ramen house downtown.  B liked hers more than I liked mine, but neither of us was impressed.

The next day we drove to Crescent bar to see Dan and Tonys new place.   Wow! It’s huge and right on the river.   Since weather wasn’t great, we didn’t take the boat out.   We went to go have dinner at the new place which I can’t recall the name of, but it was closed for a private party.  Tower pizza was packed.   We had pizza

We went to breakfast in Quincy the next am.   Then we headed home.  

New Orleans July 4th

This year we decided to travel to New Orleans to see Grayson, Kevin's son .  I have never met him. 

We booked a trip for the Fourth Of July week.   It was hard to find a place we liked to rent, so I finally chose a place right on Bourbon Street.  Immersion, I called it. 

The first night we got in around 7 and got ready to head out.  We went to go see some music.   The bands were fun and when they take a break,  another performer, a DJ with tricks, comes out to entertain.  They are almost as fun as the bands.  Doing funny Karaoke sets and silly tricks like Hula Hoops.

It was getting late and getting really crowded with young drunk kids.   We decided to head  back towards our Hotel.  Across the street from our hotel was a park that featured music.  We went there and watched Steamboat Willy perform .

The next morning, we went back to the park for breakfast, and to watch Steamboat Willy play!  They start live music at 9 am.    The breakfast was ok, nothing special.  I had a bignet too. Too sweet for me, but it was good.  The place had green tea too!  I was surprised at how much green tea I saw in this city.  Perhaps from old trade routes?

Later that day, Kevin and Lulu arrived.  We all went to go get Grayson.  We missed his mom, who had left for work, but spent some time talking to the step dad. He was a good guy, he has a lot to do with three kids, Grayson being the oldest.   The kids seemed well behaved and the house looked well kept.

We headed into New Orleans again for food. Lulu had a groupon for a New Orleans style restaurant. ; We went there .It was fancy but not too fancy.   The food was good.

After that we went to Kevins Air B and B to let their dog out and check out the local park.  We stopped at a mini mart right by their place.  There was a security guard at the door.  We saw funny stuff like these potato chips with Rap stars on the label .I think we ended up getting some Little Yachty chips!  We also loaded up on beer and vodka.  We went to Kevin's place .It was a small ground floor unit.  Buddy was in his cage and very excited to see  us.  They let him out, he charged B and scratched her arm and made it bleed.    Grayson ran to the bathroom and shut the door!

We finally got Buddy calmed down and we loaded  up some beverages and headed for the park.  Grayson played while we had a cold beverage and talked .

There is a street car that runs by the park .  I looked at a map and it goes right to Bourbon Street!  We crafted a plan.  When park time was over, B and I hopped on board the Street car and left them for the night.   The street car went through the garden district.  It was very pretty.

We got off at the end of the line, a few blocks from our place .We watched a band perform and then headed up to the room .  For dinner, we didn't know what to do,  so we ended up going to a bar across the street.  I had an amazing Po Boy and B had some good gumbo.

The next am we went to breakfast across the street at this place that does a huge dinner business. Long lines down the block to get in.  No problem at breakfast and the breakfast was simply amazing. I can only imagine what dinner must be like.

Grayson and fam showed up and we spent the afternoon in the pool .  Grayson doesn't know how to swim yet and there was no shallow end.  he stayed clinging to the side of the pool most of the time.   A group from Essence magazine had most of the pool side suites, they set up speakers and were blasting old school hip hop and R&B.  It was awesome.   We met many of them and Grayson met all of them.   Very nice group, they come yearly for the Essence Festival,  this year featuring Janet Jackson.

Kevin needed to go check on Buddy, so they left.  I warned him to get back early, since it was 4th of July.      It was time to go watch fireworks over the Mississippi,  no sign of Kevin,

We headed out to the River.  It wasn't nearly as crowded as I thought it would be. I guess in this town, fireworks are just one of many things happening,

The show was cool with two barges on opposite sides of the river, shooting their displays.

After the show we met up with Grayson.   They caught the last bit of the show.  They took the street car down and it was super crowded and slow.    We went back to our room and relaxed ., Grayson quickly fell asleep.   We stayed up and talked, I finally ran across the street and got more food to go from the same bar we ate at the night before!   Kevin and Lulu stayed till after midnight before heading out for some fun on their own.

The next morning we got up and found breakfast and started our day ., We took Grayson to the Vans store to get him a new pair of shoes he needed .  He talked to every employee for a long time.  One employee was into Pokemon as Grayson is ,but was blown away by Graysons knowledge of Pokemon!

We had lunch, then back to the pool . This time Grayson really put on the charm and had all the ladies at the pool swooning over him!  We spent hours at the pool.  We had to get out once when we heard thunder near by, but then it cleared up and we were good to go.

We finally headed back to the room .,As soon as we got there, Kevin and Lulu showed up ready to swim!   Too late .,

We went next door and had a piece of pizza and the girls got Daiquiris.    We checked out all the shops and bought Grayson a harmonica ., Grayson says " I used to have a harmonica but my parents lost it"  LOL!

We ended up down at the river.   Kevin and Grayson were sitting by the water, when suddenly, someone started playing harmonica!  Grayson ran to the man, who appeared to be homeless.   The man was veryt gracious, stopped playing and spoke to the boy.   Grayson showed him his harmonica.,  the man said you are about to get  your first lesson, but not before coming and getting a handful of bills from me.

He started to play, but Grayson had questions! He again stopped and explained stuff to Grayson, then he finally got to playing.   A crowd gathered.  He was good! 

We got back to the room, Kevin and family left for the night.  Grayson wanted to stay with us again in the hotel but we had made dinner plans.  Poor planning, we could have worked it out.  Oh well, he was fine to go back to his dads place for the night.

We went to one of only a couple of Mexican restaurants in New Orleans.  OMG it was amazing.  Heck,  nearly all the food we ate in New orleans was amazing.    this place was spectacular .,We had guacomole and then I had three tacos,  Cactus, Poblano ans Shrimp.  All were awesome but the Poblano was best .

On the last day, we went to Waffle House!   It was surprisingly good.   They have many different types of hashbrowns ,I feel silly for ordering regular hashbrowns,

We went to another park and rented a Surrey. It was just too dang hot to pedal.  We didn't last long.

After the park, we went to get a snack, then we went to get a drive through Daquari!  I had a margarita ,it was really good!

We got to the airport and I was very sad to say goodbye to Grayson.   We spent a while hugging and saying bye. 

We absolutely loved New Orleans.  The people are so dang nice!  We actually had a service industry guy come up to us on the street and thank us for coming to New Orleans!   I assumed he was up to something but he was truly thanking us.

We are now considering making it a yearly trip!