last day before new job

today was a nice-paced day, although my wife and i started the day early in the morning by traveling to renton and then to black diamond with some of my co-workers from my last job. we had a very filling breakfast, and actually felt a little stomach ache later in the afternoon, but the food was delicious and the company was excellent! arriving home, my wife talked to her mother, and it appears that we may not see her for the entire period of time in which we'll be in brazil, which made her sad, because the point of our trip is not site-seeing, rather being with the whole family, and her mother is the keystone of the family. we went to pick up some 300 photos that we picked for an album to illustrate our year here in seattle, and watched office space.

i believe that i forgot to mention that friday morning i sent out a massive email to friends, just to give them a heads-up on how my life is going, what news and events have passed. turned out to be rather large, but few people responded, we'll see if maybe more respond later. i am anxious and eager for tomorrow, being my first day at a consistent workplace. i really think it'll be an environment where i'll be able to grow, and i want to focus and hone my skills from the beginning, i want to seek to impress beyond expectations. that is my goal.

on thursday night, as i had already commented, i saw galen play some songs, and i really must say that i admire his brutal honesty and storytelling, it's like he's ripping himself open on the stage in front of everyone, and i think that is very very bold, and something that most people couldn't do. i think it embues a certain quality in all of his songs that make them have an impact on the listener, rather than sing about some abstract ideas.

last night, my wife and I, along with john and meg, went out to the "six arms" bar. we enjoyed the mcmenamin's ales that they offer, drinking two pitchers of the "rubinator", a combination of a stout, and a raspberry tinged lighter ale. however, the real party started after we had finished drinking, and were paying our bill. suddenly, a "balkan brass band" (which we later found out about), entered, and it was as if a parade had entered the bar. we could tell it was impromptu, or the first time they'd done anything like it, as a massive group of people following the band came into the bar, some even asked if they were in the way of our waitress! they played about 5-6 songs, which our table accompanied with loud clapping and whistles, and they took off, leaving some czech republic and euro coins on the ground, and handing us their card. we walked along with the band in the street, to get back to the way to our place, but it was almost like carnaval, simply amazing the energy that the band generated, and everyone watching was drawn towards it like moths to a bright light. i think that really topped the evening off in a fantastic manner!

so, that's a better recap than i have been posting recently, and i have high hopes about a great day tomorrow!