Chevy Volt

I had the incredible opportunity to drive a Chevy Volt, the new electric car from GM, while visiting the Detroit facilities for interviews. My day started early, as I was personally picked up from the airport by Mike and as we approached an unfamiliar car, I rubbed my eyes thinking that red eye flight I just took was causing me to see things. After an enthusiastic inquiry, I was proudly told that the car was a Volt!

I jumped in the car and was immediately surrounded by the futuristic interior. Mike then hit the ignition button, there was no key but instead a fob that he kept in his pocket, when the car senses the fob, it will unlock/start at the press of button. Even though no engine started, the car roared to life as lights flashed and video screens came on, punctuated with a simulated start up sound that resembled an engine but had a computerized enhancement that clearly left an impression that "this is the future".

The car cruised along the highways to the Volt manufacturing facility where we parked it under a solar canopy and plugged it into the charger. As a passenger, the car was comfortable, smooth and silent!!! A very enjoyable ride! There was plenty of room for four people!

After a tour of the Volt manufacturing facility, I was figuratively thrown the keys (remember, there's no key!). I couldn't believe it! I was about to drive a Volt!

The car was very smooth to operate and drove... well... just like a car. I would have had no idea that the car was electric based on it's performances. There were subtle details that discerned the Volt from a typical automatic transmission on an internal combustion engine (ie, no shifting, no torque converter, etc). These details were no more significant than the difference between a manual and automatic. On top of it all, the car had been averaging 80+ miles per gallon of gas put into the car!!!

Overall, awesome car! I commend GM for pushing the consumer automobile past the typical hybrid into the next generation of propulsion. This is a much needed investment and I'm happy to see it coming from Detroit. Combine the Volt with the recently launched OnStar Mobile App and you have a serious technology combination that brings the future to your finger tips today.

If you are looking to buy a new car, I would highly advise you check out the Volt!

Getting Wiggy With It

I was invited to my friend Allison's Birthday Pub Crawl on Saturday. But this was no ordinary Pub Crawl... or the famed Red Line Pub Crawl... she had the genius idea to make it a wig pub crawl. Everyone was responsible for securing and wearing a wig for the duration of the evening. As you can see from the picture below, the styles and colors (and facial expressions) varied tremendously, making our group VERY easy to find.

Due to the large number of people who turned out for this spectacle (30+), the pub crawl turned into more of a pub stall. Not that I'm complaining because the company was great and the beers were MUCH cheaper than Boston ($2 vs $5-6). Looking back at the pictures, I find it hilarious to see how many times people switched wigs. I'm pretty sure I saw my friend Nicole in 3 or 4 different wigs throughout the evening.

While a wig would be fun, I opted to use this opportunity to cut my annual mohawk. I needed a hair cut and a wig, why not both?!? The only problem... no wig switching for me.
Who knows what will bring out the mohawk next year.

***Please note, the title of this blog "Getting Wiggy With It" is not my original work. I stole it from from the title of Kristina's online photo album for the evening.

Sunday Hike

Wallace falls was the destination for a Sunday Hike... rain or shine. Weather this time of year in Seattle is hit or miss, and that Sunday it hit! The sun was out, the temperature was perfect, and I was pumped for a hike.

Wallace falls reminded me much of Multnomah Falls in Oregon, but not quite as good. Regardless, I enjoyed the hike! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

A Happy Stump!

Water running through a very green forest.
More waterfalls.
A small caterpillar on the path covered in dew.
One of the falls that makes up Wallace Falls.
The view of the valley below!

Gas Works Park

Sometimes a camera can't quite capture a scene as well as what you see with your eyes... and sometimes it does better. I don't recall seeing the stunning colors and contrast of this old coal gasification equipment (ie. Clean Coal Technology) at Seattle's Gas Works Park located north of Lake Union and site of a few scenes in the movie "10 Things I hate about You". Looking at this picture, I must say it's probably one of the better ones I have taken. Enjoy!

Salmon!

Warning... This post contains pictures of dead fish. But it's ok... I promise.

Living in Boston, it was all about lobster. Here in Seattle, it's all about the salmon. A while back, I posted a picture of the fish ladder found at lock at Salmon Bay. This was just the beginning of my education on salmon. The locks/dam/fish ladder represent the barrier between the freshwater inland and the seawater in Puget Sound.

While at the locks, I learned that every year, salmon ready to spawn smell the freshwater pouring down the fish ladder and are attracted to it. They then jump up the ladder and head to the water they were born (they somehow remember the smell) and find a mate to spawn. After spawning the salmon guard the eggs. They end up guarding the eggs until they die (once they get to freshwater they stop eating). The dead fish then feed an entire ecosystem. If salmon were to die off, many other species of wildlife would be greatly affected.

Until a few weeks ago, I had only seen the fish jumping up the ladder. Then, I was walking toward a plane on the flight line at Boeing the other day and stopped on the bridge that separates the storage area from the airport. I smelled something terrible and looked down into the water only to see a bunch of dead fish! I was at first very alarmed to see so many dead fish, assuming something disastrous had happened.

I then remembered what I had learned at the fish locks. This was the natural cycle of salmon. I then looked more closely and saw several live salmon spawning (look for the red fish in the lower right corner).

For someone who has never seen salmon in the wild prior to August, this was a very interesting experience. I feel as though I have now seen the entire salmon life cycle... except for all of the fun they get to have swimming around the ocean.

Lake Cabin

Several weeks ago, The Group made plans to rent a cabin on Lake Wenatchee near Leavenworth. There were various reasons to head to Leavenworth that weekend. There was a hilly half marathon, a big Oktoberfest celebration, and plenty climbing in the area.

Twelve of us ended up going for the weekend. We hung out in the really nice cabin, did some climbing, a few of the group ran a hilly half marathon while others enjoyed the Oktoberfest that Leavenworth had to offer.

The cooking skills that I've been developing were put to the test as I volunteered to organize/cook several meals for the entire group (with the help of many sous chefs. The cabin had a KILLER kitchen which made cooking fun for the entire group.

We had a pasta bar friday night, to prep the runners for the race. Saturday night we made shrimp or chicken tacos. Sunday morning we had breakfast burritos. I certainly enjoyed the cooking and the eating.

Here's the cabin we stayed in.

The view from the cabin looking over the lake.

Here was our view Saturday morning as the sun rose.

Here I am just before rock climbing. I decided to climb a big boulder for a cool picture, but the sun bleached out the blue sky.

Primary colors, cooking in the kitchen! I believe this was taco night! Don't mess with me while I'm cooking!

This is what happens when climbers stay in a cabin with a rock chimney.
Yes... we all took a turn, but the other pictures turned out blurry.
Sunday morning Breakfast Burritos.
Sarah was tired from the half marathon, or the late night... we'll say the half marathon.
Here's The Group on Sunday, not ready to depart!

It's people like these who have helped make my stay in Seattle one that I will never forget.

As usual, more to come.

Goodbye Seattle Summer

Hello Seattle Winter! Well, the Seattle weather up and changed to rainy and cold just in time for my out of town guests to arrive... literally 1 hour before they landed the rain started after a week of beautiful sunshine. Weather forecasts show nothing but rain for many days.

While many see this as a form of punishment, I see it as an opportunity to buy my first rain jacket. I selected the Marmot Precip, a nice inexpensive jacket on sale at REI, in my size and favorite color... RED. I'm now ready for those long walks from the parking lot in the morning rain.

I'll leave you today with the last clear view of Mt. Rainier through the Seattle skyline, as seen from my balcony. I'll be savoring this picture for a long time.

Index Climbing

I realize most of my posts have been climbing related recently. I'll try to diversify, but this is the exception. I went traditional climbing over the weekend at Mount Index. Traditional climbing is where there are no bolts pre-drilled into the rocks. Instead, you jam nuts or cams into cracks in the rock to provide the fall protection. I went with very experienced climbers who set up the routes in a safe manner. I would never do this by myself... yet.

Here's Duffy with his rack of cams and nuts. The climber must carry all of this gear because they are different sizes. You never know what size you will need when you get up there.

Here's one of the hardest routes I've ever "climbed". Climbed is in quotes because I definitely cheated to get to the top. I used some of the old bolts in the wall to climb up.

Here's the view from the tallest single route I have ever done. It was estimated to be about 180 ft tall and it was a GREAT climb. Nice holds. Tricky but doable. And really nice grippy rock.

An unexpectedly beautiful fall day in the Seattle area.

See the river below!
Ok... no more climbing pictures.... for now.

U Dub!

I went to my first non-big ten college football game over the weekend, and I went in S T Y L E. Climbing Kristina is in the alumni band and was able to take me into the game with the band.

We started the day at a tailgate in the stadium parking lot! I almost felt at home except for all of the purple!

Here's the "other" tailgating lot. You can drive a boat up to the UW stadium if you want. I have a new dream, to tailgate on a boat!
I said I was with the band! Instead of carrying an instrument, I got to carry stuff in a backpack. Just call me the sherpa. I was able to quickly snap a picture with a sousaphone (not a tuba, those look much different).
The UW campus has a small rock climbing wall. So I HAD to climb in, even though I was well weighted down with gear and not in climbing shoes.
Did I mention we went in on field level (although it was kinda weird with a track around the field, but I don't mean to complain)? We had great seats in the endzone. I even got to run down onto the track to do pushups with each touchdown. For those who followed, the Huskies won in double over time!
Pregame picture with the actual UW Husky and the marching band in the background.
Purdue, while this day was fun, UW will never replace you!

I'm BACK!

I'm sorry to say, it's been a month since my last post. In the past month, there has been a perfect storm of activity - my internship involvement has increased, my thesis work has increased, and my job search has increased (or started, that's probably more accurate). These unexpected increases combined with the desire to maintain my social life has squeezed the blog temporarily out of the picture.

Since last post, I have

• Spent a week in Boston for Midstream Review - great to see the LGO's again
• Spent a weekend in Leavenworth in an awesome lake cabin with 11 other friends
• Attended my first University of Washington Football game
• Went Traditional rock climbing (aka Trad Climbing) at Mount Index
• My parents visited Seattle and the weather cooperated

In the weeks to come, I have:

• Several friends the midwest will be visiting
• My brother will be out here for business
• Interviews in Boston
• A weekend snowboarding trip in Whistler
• A 2000+ mile drive back to Indiana, then another 1000 miles to Boston

There's a thesis and some internship in there as well.

Last night my friend and MIT classmate Avi was in town. We toured the Boeing Everett facility, ate a great dinner at Peso's, and then explored a bit of the city. We took some pretty cool pictures of "the Troll under the Bridge" in Fremont. It was a great visit with him.

The Troll! That's an actual VW Bug under the hand on the right to give you a sense of scale.

Here's a picture from the top of the troll's head looking down under the bridge. We had some fun with long exposures.
And more fun..
And even more fun.

See you soon!