Wow, over a year since I've posted anything on here. Lots has happened since then. If you've read my Myspace blog, you'll be up to speed on what's been going on.

But the whole reason I moved my blogging from Grab to Myspace was because Myspace offered SOO many more features that I wanted in a blog. Still, it was slightly lacking, and with a few tweaks, Blogger now provides everything I want in a blogging service.

So, feel free to have a gander:

http://hellykwee.blogspot.com

You rel="nofollow"don't have to be logged in to leave a comment (you can simply leave a name or nickname), you can subscribe via RSS feed or via email, and you can even subscribe to receive notifications of comments!

A lot of things have happened within the past couple of years:

It was a little over 2.5 years ago, in January 2005, that I first signed up for a site called grab.com, initially playing games and then branching out to boards and chat.

A little over 2 years ago, in June 2005, I received the privilege of being offered a spot on the moderator team. It was in my heyday of being very active on the boards and all but forgetting why I initially came here-- the games ;-)

Almost exactly 2 years ago, in August 2005, Grab rolled out blogs. It revolutionized my online activity. I had never regularly kept any kind of online journal before that, but being able to blog on Grab, receive feedback from my friends and read what they themselves wrote, opened up all kinds of doors that I didn't even know were there! I am forever indebted to Lex for making his brainchild a reality.

Since then, I've written over 300 blog entries, all with the intent to either provide little glimpses into the life of Helly, or share some amusement with my friends about life's foibles.

In this past 2.5 years of being on Grab, I've met and made many friends, not all at once. In due course, as is true in "real life", I've lost several of those friendships. Some were falling outs. Some simply fell by the wayside and atrophied. And I still keep in touch with only a mere handful of those I met in the very early days of Grab... but rarely on here anymore.

I've truly enjoyed my time here. I still do, from time to time. Unfortunately those times are growing less and less frequent and when I find myself with a story to share, it is growing increasingly difficult to answer the question: "Where shall I blog it?"

So it is with a bit of nostalgia and wistfulness that I close this post with a link to the answer that keeps coming up more frequently too that question-- my Myspace blog:

http://blog.myspace.com/hellykwee

See you around on the other side ;-)

I listened to a fascinating and hilarious dialogue on the radio this morning, and thought I'd share it here, along with shaking my head in amazement.

A bit of background: the station I was listening to holds these "Singing Bees" in the morning, where the DJ plays a bit of a song, and when he stops it, the selected caller has to continue singing the rest of the verse on their own. Prizes are things like free tickets (typically 2-- you and a guest) to local concerts or free dinners or whatever. You know-- your usual radio contest fare.

This morning, I tuned in to hear a woman calling in, I didn't know who she was but the DJ recognized her as the woman who had just minutes earlier won today's Singing Bee and 2 tickets to see Lyle Lovett and kd lang in concert. The following conversation (paraphrased from the best of my memory, and pared down to the important parts) ensued:

Woman: (realizing she's on the air) Uh.... am I on the air? No, I can't say this...
DJ: Aww come on, it's okay!
Woman: Well, um... I need 1 more ticket.
DJ: (in disbelief) One more ticket! You know, they're still on sale. You can buy one at the ticket office.
Woman: I know, I know, I feel bad asking... but... can I get one more ticket?
DJ: Isn't this typical American? Always asking for something, always wanting something for free
Woman: (Embarrassed chuckle)
DJ: (Trying to make her feel better) Well, that's okay, if you don't ask, you don't know if you'll get it right? Oh, all right... we'll get you another ticket... BUT! You have to work for it!

So they decided to set up another Singing Bee for her to try to earn another pair of tickets:

DJ: Who's your favorite singer?
Woman: Lyle Lovett!
DJ: Well, we don't play Lyle Lovett on this station, so you'll have to pick someone else
Woman: Okay... Patsy Cline
DJ: Patsy Cline! Alright, when we get back from the commercial break, we'll hold another Singing Bee and play a Patsy Cline song!
Woman: (whiny voice) You mean I have to be on hold?
DJ: Uh... yes
Woman: (whinier voice) For what-- FIVE minutes!?

The DJ didn't even deign an answer to that, at least not on the air. They went straight to the commercial break. When they came back, the DJ played a few lines of a popular Patsy Cline song, stopped the CD, and the woman immediately chimed in (with a great singing voice, I might add!) with the rest of the verse.

Unfortunately! She got ONE single word wrong. I laughed out loud, because it seemed like such poetic (musical?) justice! The DJ pondered what to do, whether to award her the tickets or not, and the last thing I heard before they cut to playing music, was that he'd take this to an off-air vote. Alas, I arrived at work before they could come back on the air with their decision (if they even did). So whether or not the woman got her coveted tickets remains a mystery.

I thought it was amusing enough to blog because I just could not believe this woman's audacity and greed! Let's see:

1. She had the nerve to beg for the tickets. She's already won 2 free tickets to the concert. Would it kill her to go out and BUY the third ticket? It's like getting 3 tickets for the price of one! That's a bargain in its own right!
2. They made it easier for her by not only giving her another chance at a second Singing Bee, but by giving her the CHOICE as to which artist's music to play! Can you say: unfair advantage!?
3. She moaned about being put on hold for so long while they cut to a commercial. Assuming it was costing her minutes on her cell phone, I say: what, you can't spare a few minutes of your time and airtime to get a FREE ticket!?
4. As if that weren't enough, she still wanted the tickets even though she hadn't sung the verse 100% correctly.

I am impressed at the DJ's cool and patience with her, throughout all of that. If I were him I would've been rolling my eyes (ah, the joys of not having your face seen, through radio!) and thinking "Is this woman for real? Can anyone truly be that shameless and greedy!?"

I wish they would've returned on the air sooner with their verdict, but maybe it's best if I don't know. I can make the outcome anything I want in my mind, depending on my mood ;-)

Really gives added meaning to the term "Only in America", doesn't it?

I had great fun playing around with the Simpsonize Me! website, which creates Simpson-like versions of photos you upload. Here, for example, are the Simpsonized versions of me and Allan (that's supposed to be a five o'clock shadow, too bad it turned out a little too Homer-like. D'oh!):



I tried to do one of Todd, but babies and little kids just don't come out well, as there are fewer options when it comes to refining things like facial features and hair.

But in the midst of all of it, I had an idea for some fun: Simpsonize some of the Grabbers and see if my blog readers can guess who they are! So, here goes:

EDIT: Okay, all the guesses have been made in the comments section, so I guess I can put the correct answers in, now:

1. Lisa (whose plaits, scrubs and "Don't mess with me" look should give it away)

2. Fuzzy (with his new glasses!)

3. Willow (this was the hardest to do and to guess)

4. Kendra (with her brand new kitten in tow)

5. Jenna (with that mop of beautiful auburn hair, and green shirt that I think she wears so well)

6. Scot (with his infamous Spiderman glasses, and Myspace red shirt)

BONUS: You should be able to figure out who this next one is, if you've read my travel blog entries from my recent vacation, and paid attention to the pictures I posted. Who is this famous Grabber:


That's right, it's Michael (dieSprout), whom I had the honor of meeting when I visited the Case's Ladder HQ in Washington on June 25 :-)

Good luck, and have fun Simpsonizing your own pictures! I'd love to see the results, so post your pics in the comments! :-)

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What fashion trend you followed was very cool then, but now looks ridiculous?

This BID caught my attention and I thought I would blog, I feel a bit rusty and feel like I need to get my creative juices flowing again :-) This was a simple enough topic to start with, so here goes.

In a nutshell, anyone that knows me knows that I am more likely to buck the trend than follow the masses. This is especially true of fashion. I know my body type and complexion, I know what looks good on me and what I cannot wear without looking incredibly stupid, so I stick to what works.

I tend to be a minimalist and typically go for comfort and simplicity over any trendy styles. And the majority of the time? That comfort and minimalism transcends any fashion trends, as it will never go out of style!

But, to answer the question: the one thing I do remember wearing in junior high school (in the late 80s) was leggings under denim skirts. Hey-- it was GREAT for keeping me warm on cooler days while enabling me to still wear skirts. But yeah, looking back, it was definitely one of those "stereotypical 80s" fashion trends, many of which need to die a permanent death :-P

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A year ago this past weekend, Allan and Todd and I were braving record-breaking heat and humidity while enjoying Summerfest '06. This year, with temperatures over 20 degrees cooler, we enjoyed Summerfest '07.

What is Summerfest? It's basically a work-sponsored festival/carnival, right on company grounds. Free food, beer, games, music, shows, and rides. Because of last year's heat wave and the coincidence of Summerfest with the hottest day of the year, it was held in the evening rather than in the early afternoon this year.

We started off the late afternoon with an early dinner-- apparently we arrived just in time to avoid the lines at the cafeteria. There was a bit of a line indoors, but it wasn't too bad, and we got our food within 10 minutes, making our way back outdoors to grab a seat. While sitting there eating, we observed the line get longer and longer. First it started spilling outdoors. Then it started snaking clear around the other side of the building! Considering all we had to contend with was an indoor line and THAT took 10 minutes, I hate to think how long the folks lined up outdoors had to wait until they got their food. 30 minutes? Maybe more? Yikes!

After dinner we enjoyed a magician's show, where the jokes were corny and the tricks old hat, but still entertaining nevertheless. We then made our way to the midway, where we took in the sights of all the rides, almost all of which had lines a mile long, even the little kiddie rides. We ended up going on the Merry-Go-Round, and even managed to secure the same dragon that Todd and I rode on last year!

Here we are LAST year, can you see us sweltering in the heat?



And here we are THIS year, same dragon, Todd a bit bigger (and yes, I'm wearing the same shirt. Don't worry, I've washed it a few times since last year :-P)



Afterward, we made our way back to the stage area, where none other than Little Texas (one of my favorite country bands!) was playing. They played one of my favorites "My Love" (that sparked a discussion amongst my friends about how much they loathe country music), but unfortunately we didn't stick around long enough for me to get to hear them break out their famous tune "God Blessed Texas" :-) I tried to get up close and capture a shot, but it was too dark by then. This is my attempt at getting a pic of Little Texas on stage:



I was hoping to get Todd's face painted but alas, the lines for that were just as long as the lines for anything else, and I didn't have the patience to wait. So we settled for temporary tattoos. Todd got a happy face sporting a football helmet, and I got a rose. He picked mine out for me :-) Here we are showing off our leg artwork (don't ask me what Todd's expression is supposed to mean, my son's just a ham):



We grabbed another quick bite to eat (some fruit, shrimp salad and nachos) before making our way back home. All in all, a very fun day. It helped loads that not only was this event in the evening, but it was nowhere near as hot as it was last year (as you can see by the pic of me and Todd, both clad in our sweaters, brrr!). No potential sunburn or heat exhaustion to contend with. Another memorable summer day! :-)

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I was idly clicking around Grab, marveling in the little changes and fixes that seemed to appear before my eyes like magic. Then I went to the main Blogs page. And this is what I saw:



I had to blink and make sure my eyes weren't playing tricks on me. I'd long since lost any hope of ever making the "Most Popular Blog" spot, as it was consistently overrun with the cutesy-email-forward-pics blogs that had become, quite, frankly, predictable.

In fact, I captured a screenshot of what I thought would be the last time I ever made the top 10 list, and that was in April 2006, well over a year ago! (the screenshot is in my photo album)

I guess there's something to be said for the bug that's preventing people from leaving comments very easily, LOL!

EDIT: Haha, I just looked again and it seems that not only have they updated the featured blogs, but the Most Popular list is back to being filled with the usual suspects. Ah well, it was fun while it lasted :-D

EDIT again: Or not, LMFAO... well, I for one am not gonna complain about the wishy-washiness of blogs, whether it be the ever-changing Top 10 or the countless server errors, BECAUSE I take it as a good sign that they're working on fixing the blog-related bugs. And you all know where those lie on Helly's bug priority list :-D

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It's been a while since I've blogged on here. I even got the "You haven't blogged in a while" email that we all get after not blogging for 10 days. And I think I've only gotten that maybe once or twice in the past, and I've been blogging faithfully on here for nearly 2 years!

The past few weeks provided no shortage of material to blog about, as I was on vacation and had lots to tell. So today I perused the BIDs and discovered a treasure trove of things to blog about. That should keep me busy for a while ;-)

Here is yesterday's Blog Idea of the Day:
What kind of business would you love to start?

I seem to distinctly recall having some wacky, crazy ideas for a business, one that would be highly successful if it were possible to sell the product/service I was joking about. Unfortunately, I can't remember what it was. So I'll discuss the next best options I can currently think of.

One would be to start up a computer repair business. Now, you may think: why is that so unusual, there's tons of those all over the place. Well, for those of you who don't know: I possess the unique ability to bring down and crash every computer I come into contact with. Doesn't matter what kind, or what OS. Windows, Mac, Linux, Solaris, you name it, I've crashed it. I've managed to bring about the "blue screen of death" on my own laptop, which runs WindowsXP. Anyway-- I could go around applying my magic touch to computers, which could then be brought into our shop for hubby to repair ;-)

But an even better, and possibly more lucrative business idea is one that has been bandied about amongst me and some close friends for nearly 2 years now. And that's to compile all the dramas we've ever encountered here on Grab, and sell them to television networks. Not only could you not make some of this [censored] up, but it'd make for some entertaining soap operas! And they'd be never-ending, because there never seems to be a shortage of new dramas cropping up on here. A mere website-- who'da thunk it!?

So, those are my business ideas. Hey-- the BID never said they had to be *serious* ideas! :-D

p.s. Until they fix it so you can actually leave a comment by clicking on the "add comment" link, you can leave one by using this URL: http://blogs.grab.com/AddComment.aspx?entry_id=420691&blog_id=18 . Thanks!

We're home! Hallelujah, we're home at last! Arrived in Santa Barbara at around 5pm, put away our stuff, returned the rental car, and kicked back and relaxed. I've spent the better part of the past couple hours sorting out photos. So I've decided to dedicate this blog entry to catching up on all the photos that I haven't been able to post, here. To keep it from getting too cluttered up, I'm putting up one representative photo from each key event, and then linking to an online photo album I set up that houses the rest. The album I chose has sub-album, picture info and even comment capabilities :-)

Here goes:

First up, a shot of the monument in Peace Arch Park, the beautiful bit of greenery on the border between the USA and Canada.

More shots of sights along the way can be found here.

Next, here's the staffers I got to meet while visiting the Case's Ladder office in Mt Vernon, WA. From left to right: Sprouty, Christy, Kate, me and Case.

More shots of Washington here.

Here's one of the shots of our suite in Vancouver, just a small sampling of the many photos I took of the inside of the room and of the views from the windows:

And here's Allan and Todd at Dinotown:

More shots of Vancouver here.

Here's Todd and his new friend in Salem, OR:

More Oregon shots here.

So there you have it. Tons more photos to enjoy in the album.
And although I've linked to individual albums, you can find the entire album at the parent folder here:

http://hellykwee.myphotoalbum.com

EDIT: Okay, it appears that links aren't getting parsed correctly on Grab blogs at the moment, so if you're having trouble getting to the photo album by clicking on any of the links, just copy and paste the above bold URL and open it in your browser, and it should work!

Today things finally started looking up for me, health-wise. I got a good night's sleep and woke up feeling much better. Of course, I was still weak and even a chore as simple as dressing myself and washing up left me feeling exhausted and beat, but at least I had a bit more energy and a bit more of an appetite. I still can't eat full-sized meals but I'm eating more than I was this entire week. I'm sure I've lost a few pounds from not being able to eat much all week.

I slept in while Allan and Todd walked around the hotel grounds and hung out in the hotel room this morning, then rested while they went to lunch and brought me back a to-go box from IHOP. Then naptime yet again before getting ready to head to San Rafael and meet Allan's old high school friend, Benn, for dinner with his wife.

Whereas we crossed the Bay Bridge last night on our way into SF, this time we went across the Golden Gate Bridge. Of course, it was typical SF weather and too foggy at the bay to really see much. We drove through parts of downtown on Lombard St (not the winding parts, though!), and passed by the most beautiful and ornate City Hall I'd ever seen.

We met Benn and Kristin for dinner at a Chinese restaurant, where the boys promptly bored the girls to death with endless geeky chatter about computers and code and whatnot. Our server was a sweet lady who took to Todd as if he were her grandson, and really doted on him. Luckily he wasn't too shy and responded to her all on his own when she came by and asked him questions :-) I managed to eat a fair bit of dinner, too, not as much as I usually do, but more than before, so it's an improvement.

After dinner we headed back to our hotel and collapsed, too tired to do much else but relax and watch some TV. Tomorrow we are heading back to Santa Barbara, thankfully it's only a 6-hour drive. And I am sooooo looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again!

It's been 2 days since I blogged, not much to tell, I'm afraid. Felt poorly all day yesterday, so Allan took Todd by himself to go see his cousin in Salem. I'm bummed out that I didn't get to meet Jason and his family, especially his doggie-- they have a sweet ol' Rottweiler, and you all know how much I love Rottweilers :-D

Today wasn't much better. I was still terribly fatigued and weak when I woke up this morning, and every slight exertion left me feeling exhausted. Something simple like brushing my teeth made me feel like I'd just worked my arm out on some heavy-duty weights.

It was like this all during the drive from Salem to San Francisco, which took us about 11 hours including some leisurely stops along the way for meals and gas and whatnot. I ended up sleeping most of the way. I had hoped to try to drive by Kendra's house along the way, but because I was feeling so poorly this morning, we got a later start than intended, and couldn't make the visit without arriving in SF super late :-( Not to mention thatI was in no condition to share the driving with Allan. But I did get to chat with her on the phone, that was pretty cool! :-D

We got here at around 10pm, checked in, and collapsed. It is waaayyyy colder here than in any of the other places we've been so far-- that's SF for ya!

Tomorrow Allan hopes to meet up with an old high school friend of his. I am hoping to feel well enough to join them, but the way things have been going lately, it's not looking likely :-/ I'm just grateful to be back in California and only 6 hours from Santa Barbara... and for the time being, resting in a hotel room for the next couple of nights :-)

I went to sleep not long after writing the last post, and was feeling terrible when I woke up this morning-- fever, chills, aches and nausea were still there. With a little help, I managed to drag myself out of bed and into the car, where Allan drove me to the ER of Salem Hospital just a couple miles away.

I wanted very much to take an ibuprofen or Tylenol so I could managed to sit upright in the waiting room, but didn't want to reduce my fever and end up giving a false reading on my vitals.

We arrived a little after 10am and were checked in efficiently and speedily. As soon as I got called by the nurse, everything moved on rapidly. I registered a temperature of 101.9 degrees, whew! I was taken to an examination room, whisked to X-ray for some chest x-rays to rule out pneumonia, and then finally saw the doctor, who prescribed me some azythromycin, an antibiotic.

It wasn't even 12pm by the time I was discharged, prescription in hand. And I have to say-- it was the smoothest and fastest process I'd ever seen, not to mention the friendliest service. Everyone we encountered along the way was very friendly and courteous. So it was quite a change from the typical experience in LA, with hours of waiting and unfriendly, sometimes downright rude service.

We hit the local Wal-Mart Supercenter along the way to get lunch, fill my prescription and re-stock our supply of fruit, since I still don't have much of an appetite for anything. And even there, everyone was friendly, from the pharmacy to the checkout lines.

We got back to the hotel and I took a nap before Allan took Todd to the seafood cafe next door, watched a bit of TV, and then slept some more... let's hope I can get to sleep at a decent hour after this ;-)

I'm faring a bit better now. I am still exhausted and weak, mostly from not eating much all day, but I've been staying well hydrated and I think my first dose of medication is starting to kick in. We've decided that, rather than battle 4th of July traffic to San Francisco tomorrow, we are going to stay yet another night here in Salem. Allan's cousin managed to get a hold of him earlier today, and we'll be going to a BBQ at his house tomorrow. Guess this town is really growing on us ;-) Hopefully I'll be doing well enough tomorrow evening to make it to the BBQ with the boys!

It is late at night and I am still sick as a dog :-( It is only the Day-Quil with its heavy duty dose of Tylenol that is enabling me to actually sit up in bed and type this. I am still feverish, chilled, achy-muscled, congested, nauseous and exhausted. But I had a GREAT time today!

We started off with breakfast at 8:30, followed by leisurely packing. We made it out the door and out of Seattle before 10:30, where I collapsed, drained, into the car and tried in vain to sleep. But I couldn't get to sleep, and ended up dozing off just when Allan pulled over 2 hours later for lunch. We saved time by getting our food to go and eating on the road, and made it to our hotel in Salem by 2pm.

What energy I had left was quickly consumed by unpacking what we needed, and I collapsed into bed for a nap before we headed out to Carl's house for a BBQ. Unfortunately I only managed about a half hour snooze, and I took some Day-Quil to help me survive the evening, intending to stay only a couple hours.

We arrived at Carl and Katharine's house around 5:30pm, and about an hour later, more of their friends started trickling in. Allan had a great time chatting away with Dave, one of Carl's partners, and his wife Kim. Me, I was my usual quiet self as I ate brisket, chicken and a burger, but the real fun started when Brian arrived with his daughter Molly, who is 6 months younger than Todd. She's adorable in the pictures I've seen of her, but is an absolute doll in person!

To my utter surprise, Todd actually wandered away from Mommy and Daddy by himself (something he NEVER does, he usually has to drag one of us along when he wants to explore another corner of wherever we are) and played with Molly! I turned around and the two little toddlers were actually engrossed in conversation! I was so fascinated I lost all interest in the adult conversation taking place at our table, and turned my attention (and camera) to the two little kids.

Now, you might not think that this is a very spectacular occurrence, but Todd is a very shy child when around new people, and this is the first time he's ever hung around another kid near his age, so it was fascinating to see him shed his shyness and actually talk to her and play with her! Just like parents get excited and crow over baby's first steps, first words, first tooth, etc... I was bowled over with excitement at seeing Todd's first real socialization.

Todd observed Molly's shoes lighting up when she walked, he showed her the sticks he was collecting for the fire, and they wandered the yard looking for more. Then she wandered inside the house and after some encouragement from me, he followed her inside, where they played in the living room, and where he told her that the remote control she held in her hand was "not a toy." She placed it on the coffee table and said "put it here?" to which he replied "yeah!". I also had to laugh at how much Todd took to her like a big brother, showing her things and practically bossing her around "come here!" and the like. Molly had ideas of her own, though, and just did her own thing when she didn't feel like going along with Todd :-) And when her Daddy admonished her to hold her milk cup with 2 hands so she wouldn't spill it, Todd listened attentively and then turned to me and repeated the lesson learned, LOL.

A hilarious moment occurred when Molly reached out to give Todd a hug. This surprised him, and he didn't know how to respond. So we encouraged him to give her a hug back. He stretched his arms out... and Molly backed away! He took a step towards her... and she backed away some more! Apparently Todd found it funny because he started laughing hard. Both fathers dissolved in a fit of giggles as Brian praised his daughter for giving the proper reaction, and Allan teased his son to get used to this and to take such rejection in stride with laughter ;-)

It was also funny when Allan and Brian got to talking and discovered just how many similarities they had-- growing up in adjacent towns, attending adjacent (and rival) high schools at roughly the same time, same college connections... talk about small world!

I got to meet Ryan and his wife briefly at the end of the evening, as they stopped by for a few minutes to say hello. And of course, tons of other friends of Carl and Katharine, the BBQ turned out to be a real huge shindig! :-) All in all-- good food, good beer, good company, good weather... I couldn't ask for a more fun evening (well, aside from no allergies and good health :-P)!

Alas, I started feeling a little unwell towards the end of the evening. Not only did it start getting chilly after the sun went down, but my allergies were kicking in full force. I was shivering and thoroughly chilled by the time we left, and we barely made it back to our hotel room before I crawled into bed and took some more Day-Quil, waiting for it to take effect so I could actually get some sleep in relative comfort. And here I am now. First thing tomorrow? Visit the hospital in town and see a doctor about this illness that has dragged on nearly a week. We're also staying an extra night here tonight, so we can all rest and recuperate.

Well, today doesn't have much for me to blog about, as I spent most of it in bed, sick. I'd started doing better since my brief bout of feeling poorly in Vancouver, but I think yesterday's long trip across the border, accompanied by dehydration, only compounded things. I slept fitfully last night, completely congested and with a persistent cough bothering me. When I awoke at 8:30 this morning I thought about going downstairs for breakfast (which ends at 9am), but when I got out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom, I realized it was a bad idea. My head and muscles ached, I was as stuffy as ever, and was running a fever. So I crawled back into bed, where I remained until about 2pm today.

Allan took Todd to the Port of Seattle, and went on a harbor cruise, seeing the sights of the mainland from the port. Allan even managed to capture a picture of my company's office in Seattle.

They returned at around 3:30pm, and rested a bit before trekking up north to Ballard to visit some old childhood friends of Allan's. We had dinner with them at the Lockstop Cafe, a little place near the Ballard Locks. Then it was back to our hotel, after stopping off at a Walgreen's along the way for some cough syrup and decongestant for me.

I felt better after my long rest in bed, and subsequent shower. Though I was weak from not eating much besides fruit and salad all day, I made sure to stay hydrated and drank tons of water and juice all day long. That seemed to help quite a bit in enabling me to feel well enough to join Allan's friends and their families for dinner later that evening.

And now it's off to bed-- tomorrow we have a long drive to Salem ahead of us. Better keep up my newfound good health and get plenty of rest tonight. Plus, given the luck we've been encountering with horrid traffic this past week, my fingers remain crossed that we won't have much going to Oregon!

I am typing this offline as we battle traffic along the I-5 on our way to Seattle. It is 6:30pm and despite having left Vancouver before 11am, we are just now within several miles of SEATAC.

Things were pretty smooth getting out of Vancouver-- a few congested spots here and there, but nothing too horrible. That is, until we got to within 1 mile of the Canada/USA border. The signs we encountered did not lie-- wait times of 2 or more hours were expected, and it took us just a little over 2 hours to inch through less than a mile to get through customs and immigration.

We were moving along so slowly that we even killed the engine in several spots, to save on gas, as the fuel cost for restarting the engine was less than it would've been for idling so long. We popped in "Finding Nemo" and watched about half of it on the laptop before we finally got to within 800 meters of the border. By then, I was feeling restless and took Todd out so we could walk around a bit. It was amusing-- a bit like the opening scene in "Office Space"-- despite walking as slowly as I've ever walked, we still managed to outpace Allan in the car-- by leaps and bounds!

We watched a bunch of protesters marching in protest of the embargo on Cuba, and Todd enjoyed blowing dandelion seeds before rejoining Daddy. A little while later we arrived at Peace Arch park, a large strip of greenery with a huge monument in the middle, straddling both countries. I took several pictures of the monument, which commemorated the unity between the United States and Canada, as well as flowerbed arrangements of the respective countries. I even got a picture of an obelisk marking the official international border-- just as Allan was driving our rental car past it :-)

When we finally got up to border patrol, things went smoothly from there. I couldn't understand why there was such a long delay-- there were twice as many US border patrol agents manning US entry as there were Canadians when we were going the other way last week! And last week, crossing into Canada, we only experienced about a 15-minute wait. Related to the long weekend, maybe, what with Canada Day being celebrated this weekend? What IS Canada Day anyway-- is it the equivalent of our Independence Day on July 4?

We stopped by a Super Wal-Mart to do some more shopping and replenish our grocery supplies, and now we have to return the rental car at SEATAC, and get the new contract for our new car (because this previous week's rental is being paid for by the university, and we're footing our own bill for the second week's rental). It is now 6:45pm and I am hoping to be into and out of the airport within an hour, and on the road to our hotel by 8pm, giving us just enough time to eat a quick dinner and put Todd to bed. Again, just as with the very first travel entry, the time of my actual posting this will show exactly how close I am to my time predictions ;-) At any rate, it's still loads better than a checkin of 3am at the hotel, whew! Never again! ;-P

whew, it's 10pm and we've just finished showering and eating. We tried visiting this neat looking restaurant right next door to the hotel, but were met with really high prices and really poor service-- the servers and busboys all but ignored us for about 10-15 minutes, and probably would've been longer if we hadn't given up and left. Nobody even came by to offer us water or get our drink order! We tried another restaurant on the other side of the hotel, but it was part of a casino and wouldn't admit anyone under 21. Sigh... Burger King it was :-P

And now I'm ready to wind down for the night and get some good sleep before visiting the sights of Seattle tomorrow. Good night!