Nightmare in the Emerald City

ESPN: "The thing is, though, Seattle's sports year isn't even that bad yet as Big Lo lies in the hospital with summer approaching. The Mariners aren't even halfway to becoming the first team to lose 100 games with a payroll of more than $100 million, nor have they fired their first manager of the season, let alone their second. The Washington Huskies have yet to suffer a single one of their historic 12 losses or fire their coach or get called for delay of game on their first play from scrimmage. (Delay of game on your first offensive play of a game -- how is that possible? What, did Kenny G play the national anthem?) The preseason magazines hitting the newsstands are picking the Seahawks to win the NFC West for the fifth straight year, not lose 11 games (and counting) on the way to saying goodbye to their coach, Mike Holmgren. And most importantly, the SuperSonics trial over their lease has yet to begin, so there still is hope they will remain in Seattle rather than move to Oklahoma @$&%ing City." - Maybe 2009 will be better.

Labels: Baseball, Football, Hoops, Seattle, Sports

Rob's Seattle Favorites

So, for all those participating in GTAC, in beautiful Seattle, here are some of my favorites. Steve, you'd better hit a few while you're there. The maps below begin at the W Hotel, which is the conference venue according to the GTAC weblog entry.

For morning coffee you have to visit Monorail Espresso, it's on 5th and Pike, in the side of Banana Republic. Awesome coffee. Please remember, every shot is a double! Map.

We used to eat quite a bit at a joint called Happy Teriyaki. I loved their Teriyaki Chicken and Gyoza, with extra rice. Map.

Down in The Market you can find World Class Chili, awesome chili. Your chili is custom built. Order your size, bean type, meat type, and hotness. I probably miss this the most. Map.

Before Microsoft decided to move the Visio team from Seattle we used to visit Typhoon as often as we could. Map.

If I sat and though for a while I'm sure I could come up with a BUNCH more. Anywho, enjoy.

Oh, if you make it down to The Market, make sure you look for the Pigtograph.

Labels: food, Fun, Seattle

Neat idea

Seattle PI: "The idea is the brainchild of Brian Dorsey and Anders Conbere, two Seattle software developers who were looking for a laid back environment in which to interact with other creative people. They also wanted some cheap office space from which to work." - If you're a freelancer this is a neat idea, and to top it off they have a Walk Score of 100 out of 100! Ahhh, Pioneer Square, I miss you.

Labels: Life, Seattle

Sonics move to Okie-City?

ESPN: "As a result, the SuperSonics are headed to Oklahoma City with Bennett leading the way, leaving behind the team name, colors and 41 years of history." - Bennett had zero intention of keeping the team in Seattle, he just went through the motions. It's a sad, sad, day in Seattle.

Labels: Hoops, Seattle

Wish I could be there

This week, February 5th and 6th, is the Visio Conference in Redmond. I'd like to go just to see the new application in action. I don't own a copy of Visio 2007 and I haven't seen what you can do with the new features built around Databases, and random data in general. Heck, I haven't even seen the new AutoConnect in action!

Labels: Friends, Graphics, Seattle, Visio

Job of the week

jobs.joelonsoftware.com: "As a Software Engineer with Tableau Software you will be working with the leading provider of fast analytics and visualization software. Our award winning products make it easy for business people in every country and every industry to rapidly transform their data into smart, visual analytics via a drag-and-drop interface." - I know of at least three Visio'ites at Tableau, two in development, one executive. I'd put money on it being a great place to hang your hat. If I were in Seattle I'd be all over it.

Labels: Seattle

I miss Seattle

Tommy Williams: "Midway through the first half of the SEC Championship game, it started snowing again and didn’t stop until the game was nearly over." - This is one of the things I miss about Seattle. Yes, I LOVE the snow, and I miss the snow. Here in California's Central Valley it doesn't get cold, it's gets cool, but not cold. That's just one of many things I miss about the Northwest.

My brother was in Bellevue all week hoping he'd catch a bit of snow, he missed it by a day.

Labels: Seattle

I know a team that'll volunteer!

Seattle Times [hat tip Tommy Williams]: "It would be the company's first significant presence on the west side of Lake Washington, not counting office space it gained by acquiring Visio in 1999 and, more recently, Pioneer Square-based aQuantive." - I have no doubt that the remaining Visio "old timers" would love to be back in downtown Seattle. The move to Redmond ruffled a bunch of feathers back when it happened, especially for those that lived in Seattle, or worse yet, on one of the islands in the sound. Strange how this is playing out. They had World Trade Center 1 and an option on World Trade Center 2, and gave them away. Those two buildings were absolutely beautiful, and had fantastic views of the Puget Sound.

I miss Seattle.

Labels: Microsoft, Seattle