Home is Where All Your Stuff Is

Gosh it is difficult trying to catch up on this blog. While today was actually my first day of work, I still haven't written about everything getting moved in. And if you're tired of reading, don't worry: this one is mostly pictures. Here goes...


The movers' timing was perfect. They got here on Friday morning and it was really easy for them to bring everyone over. I'll let the pictures do most of the talking:

My stuff - it arrives.

They even rolled out the blue carpet for me.

My job was to just cross off boxes as they came in to make sure everything was there.

After the first load.

...the 2nd load...

...and the final one.

Overall it really only took about 1.5 hours from start to finish. I really didn't have to lift a finger during all this which was probably the first time that's ever happened when I've been moving. The people from the moving company were really nice. When they were packing stuff up back in NJ, my mom was taking pictures and commiserating with the woman who had also had children move away. The woman ended up taking a picture of me next to the moving truck and said she would sent it to my mom. Not sure if it ever made it...

Now that I had all this stuff, I needed to start doing something with it. The first order of business was constructing my bed so that I had somewhere to sleep that night. Again, pictures will speak louder than words here:

Getting the layout right.

Is this how it goes?

Now for the slats (box-spring replacement)

I've done it!

...with my desk and chair too!

So now I had a basic layout of my room. That meant I could start focussing on filling it in more, as well as just dealing with everything that was in the living room. At some point, the cable guy showed up so I also had TV and internet. While I had access to internet previously at my temporary apartment, the lobby of this one, and the Safeway/Subway/Starbucks downstairs, it was so much better to have entertainment on while unpacking.

My little entertainment center (currently watching Ace Ventura) that closely resembles this xkcd comic.

Room no longer empty.

I spent good portions of the rest of the weekend unpacking boxes, setting up the kitchen, and basic things like that. I was unbelievable exhausted on Friday, so I didn't do much of anything. Saturday was my day to explore so I walked around the area surrounding my apartment. I accidentally stumbled upon probably my greatest find - Cal Anderson park. Named after Seattle's first openly gay state legislator, it received renovations according to my brief research on the internet. It has tennis and basketball courts, a turf field, water fountains, and big open grass areas.

I wish I had my camera with me because it was absurdly picturesque. People were playing all sorts of sports while others just laid on the grass reading. Circles of people who knew each other were scattered around. At one point, 1 of the circles got up and started a coordinated hula-hoop performance to the soundtrack of Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. If you've ever wondered what hipsters actually do in their free time, this is a perfect example. I will definitely be back here in the future, and will have plenty of pictures to show then.

Sunday was spent on a few more errands. I got word of a used furniture sale that happens once a year at a big warehouse, so I decided to just check it out. As soon as I got there, I knew I'd be buying stuff. For $35, I got a bedside table, media center stand/shelving unit, circular coffee table, lamp, and 2 pillows. I would have gotten more, but I could barely fit all of that in the tiny sedan I had. I even had to secure the table to the trunk with twine, and worried about it falling out the whole way back. Everything went pretty well, though, so now there's even furniture in the living room too!

That night, I decided to treat myself and see "The Dark Knight Rises" in IMAX. If you have the chance to do this and can spare the money, do it. I had already seen the movie once on a regular screen, and this was still worth it. All the epic scenes are filmed in IMAX and look amazing. The theater was surprisingly packed, but I had a good time. I got home around 10:45pm and got ready to head to work the following day. I'll have plenty to talk about work in the coming days, but figure that deserves a dedicated post.

Becoming a Seattleite (Seattleon? Seattion?)

Yes, the title is an Anchorman reference. And the correct term is "Seattleite".

Tuesday was the big day for me to pick up the keys and check out the apartment. I arrived around noon and after wandering around for a bit, finally went in. We had the floor-plan already, so I kind of knew what to expect, but it's always a little different seeing it in person. One of the first things I did was go out onto the balcony to see what our view looked like:

We're on the 5th floor (out of 6) so we have decent elevation. Off to the left is Southeast, where Mt. Rainier is. On a clear day, we may be able to see it. And while that view is good enough for me, we have access to another awesome one. There's a rooftop with chair and a grill, just a couple stories up:

Here you can actually start to make out Lake Washington and the Eastside. This will make for awesome views at night, and is a great space if we have a bunch of people over. While our apartment is fairly spacious, I can imagine it getting packed quickly.

The rest of the week was spent becoming a full-blown resident of Seattle. I got my temporary Washington license, set up utilities, got a bunch of stuff at IKEA and Bed, Bath, & Beyond, and explored things around here. Less than a mile away are open tennis courts and a turf field with nets. All of us play soccer and tennis, so we'll definitely be utilizing that. Our apartment complex also sits right on top of a Safeway, a grocery store seemingly everywhere except the east coast. There's a Starbuck and Subway attached to it, so food is very close-by. Until the movers arrived at the end of the week, though, I was pretty much ordering food with more fast-food than I would have liked.

Overall, things were pretty uneventful until the movers arrived (next blog post). I spent a lot of time in the car going from place to place. It is through this that I dealt firsthand with Seattle traffic. No matter what direction I was going during any time of the day, there always seemed to be traffic. While obviously frustrating, it did give me a good chance to become familiar with the highways.

There are also a lot of different traffic conventions out here. For instance, the speed limit is pretty much 60mph, and so that's how fast people drive. Nobody is going over 70, or even above 65, which makes it hard to rationalize doing it yourself. Additionally, some of the on-ramps are "metered", which means there's effectively a stoplight for the ramp except that it quickly alternates between red and green. Only 1 car is allowed to enter for each green light. Not a bad way to regulate traffic entering the highway, but just a little strange to me. Lastly, there's the HOV (high-occupancy vehicle, meaning you need at least 2 people in your car) lane. While in general this is not new, it's taken to a whole new level here. There's a separate HOV lane for the on-ramp that doesn't need to wait for the metered light. Exits also have HOV lanes. It may not seem like much, been when you're sitting in traffic watching the HOV lane fly by (i.e. this week for me), you'll wish you could use it. Luckily I only have the car for another week or so, and won't be doing much more driving anyway.

Wherein I Walk Into a Stranger's Apartment

I left for Seattle on Monday, July 23rd and arrived that same day. Although it's a 6-hour flight, I've done it at least a few times before and gaining 3 hours on the way makes it seem shorter. There was just a small delay in Newark because of weather, but from then on it was smooth sailing. I had loaded my iPad with plenty of stuff to keep me occupied, and have also been reading Richard Branson's autobiography which came in handy when you couldn't use any electronics. His life is actually incredibly interesting - I highly recommend at least reading his Wikipedia page.

Once at the Seattle airport, I waited for my bag, took a shuttle to the rental car facility, and drove to pickup the keys for my temporary apartment. With the keys in hand, I set off to find the location I'd be staying for the majority of the week until the moving company delivered all my stuff. Up until this point, everything was going very well. I may have been tired and a little hungry, but smooth and safe travels are often taken for granted, so I was happy.

Now the location I was initially given (note the wording here) for my temporary residence is in Issaquah, WA, pretty far Southeast of Redmond. After I got the key, which I picked up near Seattle, I headed over there. I wasn't thrilled with how far away the place was, but it was a place to sleep, shower, and access the internet. I located the complex, and tried looking at the map that came with the key to figure out where my unit was. For the life of me, I could not figure out where to go. The map seemed nothing like the location I was in, and I was totally lost. I circled around the apartment community a few times before finally finding my building number. I was supposed to park in a specific, numbered spot, which was nowhere to be found, so I just parked close to the building. I wandered around the building until finally locating what I thought was where I'd be staying. I turned the doorknob without even trying the key, and the door opens to reveal a man preparing dinner for his family. As soon as I realized someone was there, I knocked on the door - a moot action since the door was open already.

I could not believe what I was seeing. Here I was, looking forward to getting some much needed sleep, and there's someone in that apartment. The guy came over to the door, understandably upset that a stranger had just opened his door and then knocked. I apologized profusely, saying I assumed the place would be empty considering I thought I was staying here. I think he could see the shock on my face, and explained to me that his family has been using this for temporary residence as well. They recently decided to extend their stay while they look for more permanent residence, and notified the relocation company. Apparently, someone had missed something along the way. I apologized again many times over, saying that I would call them and figure it out. He seemed to sympathize with my situation (he made sure I had a way to contact someone), and I was glad he didn't just go off on me for intruding on his home. Never again will I let something like this happen.

I went back to my car to try and figure out what to do. I was a little worried, but knew that in the worst case, the relocation company would just book a hotel for me while they figured something else out. I called them up, and as I was waiting to talk to someone, I went through the materials that came with the key I picked up. Something looked a little off... I didn't recognize the address on the forms that came in the packet. I compared it to the printout that I had, and sure enough they were different. Almost immediately, I realized what happened: I was the one that dropped the ball in this situation. It seems that because this guy and his family extended their stay, I was put in a different location (specifically Bothell, WA). I'm sure it says that can happen in the fine print, and if I had read what they gave me with the key, this could have been avoided. I wasn't thrilled about trying to find my way to this new location without the help of internet (I don't have a smartphone), and I had gotten even more hungry, I stopped somewhere to eat and cool off.

The directions to the new apartment originated in the key pickup location, which I was nowhere near, I could, theoretically, reverse the directions I had just followed to go back there, and then start following the new ones. That seemed like quite a waste, so I read more closely. The directions said to get on 405N at some point, and I remember taking 405S to get to where I was. Even though I was in unfamiliar territory, I have a good sense of direction. I was able to get back to the highway without any problems, and made it to my actual temporary apartment around 10pm Pacific time. Wanna take a guess as to what I did when I first got there? I knocked on the door and waited for a good 2 minutes just to be sure...

Clearly, this apartment was meant for more than just myself. I walked in, and saw the following:

I'm not even gonna use this.

2 of 3 beds in the place. I will sleep in each one.

Oh Colbert, you so silly.

Now that I was here, I took a shower and did a long-overdue check of my email. Sure enough, there was one telling me the location of the temporary apartment had changed. Off to sleep, for a long week ahead.

Moving (or, UPS Logistics Got Nuthin' on Me)

Disclaimer: what you're about to read is a post in which I brag about my accomplishments. If you're not interested in reading, feel free to skip this one - I don't blame you. It's here because it is still a relevant part of my experience being out west.

Over the last 4 years, I've essentially moved quite a few times as outlined below:

1. NJ to freshman-year dorm (August 2008)
2. Freshman-year dorm to NJ (May 2009)
3. NJ to sophomore-year dorm (August 2009)
4. Sophomore-year dorm to junior-year off-campus apartment (May 2010)
5. Junior-year off-campus apartment to CA (June 2011)
6. CA to senior-year off-campus apartment (August 2011)

Some people may not consider moving in and out of dorms as "moving" because you're not really dealing with furniture, signing up for utilities, etc. I include it because it still requires one to deal with all logistical hassles that accompany any relocation (figuring out where you're going, how and when you're getting there, and more). Additionally, I've helped many friends and roommates (even my landlord) move over the years, even if it only consisted of maneuvering furniture up/down stairs and around tight corners. My point is that I feel I have a decent amount of experience in dealing with moves, and that is shows in how I planned things for this move - my 7th in 4 years.

Finding an Apartment

Looking for a new place to live is pretty much the first step in any moving process. Without it, you will arrive in your destination city essentially homeless. Some people can do this and find a place they like within 30 days of arriving. I didn't like this prospect, and given how difficult it is to find a 3BR that fit all of our criteria, I decided to do things my way (read: control freak).

In early June, I contacted the realty company helping my roommates and me find a new place. I told them what I was looking for, as well as when I wanted to physically look at the options. We scheduled tours for June 26th, and ended up with a place where the lease started July 14th (read more here, same as the previous link). All we had to do was get the lease signed and returned to them by 5pm on that day. Easier said than done...

Moving... Everything

Next up was scheduling the movers. First, one guy came to the house to get a feel for what would be getting moved, what rooms it was in, and where the easiest place would be to get it to the truck. That was easy enough, but next we have to schedule packing and loading - 2 separate events. The moving company gives you a 5-day window (somewhat of your choice) during which people will show up to pack all your stuff in boxes and (not necessarily the same day) load everything into their truck. There is then another week-long window a couple weeks later when they will deliver everything to your new address. When scheduling this, I had to take the following into account:

• My roommate (Calvin) did not return from Asia until July 12th and would not have his stuff here before then
• I wanted to go to IKEA in NJ to get some basic furniture (also required borrowing a family friend's minivan) to have the movers take and needed to go in between various trips
• I start working July 30th and wanted everything to arrive before then so I wouldn't have to "move" once work started.
• The later I waited to schedule this, the less likely I would be able to get the timeframe I want.

The end result was that I schedule the pack and load from July 13th - July 18th, with a delivery anywhere from July 24th - August 4th. This would, worst case, give Calvin at least some time to get home, pack, and bring everything to my house (but would likely require my help to have it done on time). Additionally, there was a decent chance everything would arrive in Seattle before I started work. Lastly, it set July 23rd as a natural day for my departure since I needed to make sure I would be there for the first possible day the movers could arrive.

I also needed to reserve the moving elevator

One thing I didn't get at IKEA in NJ for the movers was a mattress. The reason for that was that I didn't want to give them one and risk it not getting to Seattle before I started working, thus leaving me essentially nothing to sleep on. Even though I had temporary housing for a month, I wanted to be commuting from my actual apartment and not straddle 2 while getting used to a completely new routine. So, once in Seattle (today, actually) I got a ZipCar large enough to hold the mattress and picked it up. That was a little scary since when I went to get it, they didn't have any in the pickup area. I had to ask one of the workers, and they luckily had just gotten a shipment of them that day, so I just had to wait for them to get me one. I didn't really have the flexibility to come back another time, so I was really appreciate of how helpful they were.

Paperwork

We received the lease on July 10th, and had to have it returned by the end of the day on the 14th (a Saturday). All 3 of us had to initial and sign numerous times throughout the 40+ page contract, and that was going to be no easy feat. My other roommate (Andrew) was scheduled to bring all his stuff to my house on July 13th, the day Calvin got back. The sequence of events would be as follows:

1. Andrew arrives, unloads his stuff, and signs the lease
2. Andrew & I drive to Calvin's to help him pack and have him sign the lease
3. Calvin & Andrew pack while I drive to a FedEx place open late enough to overnight the package
4. Andrew & I return and unload Calvin's stuff

Keep in mind this all happened the day Calvin got back from a vast time difference with extreme jet-lag over I don't even know how many hours. What a trooper.

The Payoff

In the end, it was all worth it, if for no other reason than the fact that things have unfolded in the "worst-case" scenario. That's not to say things went poorly, though. In fact, they've gone better than expected.

I received a call on the 12th that the packers would arrive the following day, so it was imperative we have everything at my house by then. The people actually taking away the stuff would come the following day. Later on, the final delivery would occur on Friday July 27th, perfectly in the middle of when I arrived and when I started work. Utilities started on time, and our internet would also be installed the 27th. Internet, or lack thereof, is literally the last thing preventing me from staying in my actual apartment. It's almost more important than having a mattress to sleep on (the floors are carpeted so I could deal with that). Randall Munroe knows what I'm talking about.

What all this means is that all the planning paid off, and my incessant nagging of my roommates was vindicated. I've learned that practically nothing ever goes according to plan, and so when something like this does work out, it's that much better.

On The Hunt

I haven't really had to look for a new place to live since the fall of 2009. My freshman and sophomore years of school I lived in the dorms, and the only thing to do then was figure out which room in which dorm to live in. I didn't even have to figure out who to live with those years because my randomly chosen freshman year roommate is awesome so it made complete sense to live with him again the year after. He was also a big part of how I found my off-campus apartment for junior and senior year; his sister lived in an apartment with her friends who were all graduating at the end of the year. Their apartment had a good location, lots of space, not too expensive, etc. They put in a good word with the landlord, and the next thing I know, the lease was signed. We ended up moving to the downstairs apartment in the same townhouse for our senior year when the landlord moved out because it was MUCH nicer, huge kitchen, etc. So the point is, I'm used to things just kind of working out without much effort when looking for a home. This time, things weren't so simple.

Part of my relocation package for work includes assistance from a local realtor. Basically I got to tell her what we wanted in an apartment, the areas we were considering, how much we wanted to pay, and basically anything else that we cared about. She would then head off to find anything that matched our criteria and give us a list of places to consider. My roommates and I also did some searching on our own just to get a good idea for ourselves what was available.

One thing I did not anticipate was the scarcity of places we were looking for. I'm living with 2 other friends from college, so we naturally looked for 3-bedroom apartments. It turns out these are a rare commodity in the downtown Seattle apartment complexes. Even the more expensive places had no vacancies, and we were forced to expand our search to include areas further from the city as well as townhouses. I remember getting an email from the realtor saying how a vast majority of the places she'd been calling had no 3BR apartments, and that we may want to consider a 2BR where 2 of us live in 1 room. In a word - nope.

I had a trip to Seattle planned for the end of June to look at various places so that we would make a final decision for when I moved in late July. We managed to find a couple places with apartments, as well as some townhouses. That said, I was still a little worried about finding something that we would like. The first place we looked at was my favorite going into the trip. It was right next to one of the shuttles that I could take to work, had awesome amenities, and just seemed pretty solid overall. The problem was that there are at least 3 other groups scheduled to see that apartment later the same day. Our realtor advised that if we waited until the end of the day after the others had seen the apartment, it would likely be off the market. This was not a push for us to take this apartment, just warning that if we were going to seriously consider it, it would have to be today.

Luckily, we had a couple hours to see some other places for comparison. While there has nothing particularly bad about the other apartments, each one lacked something that the first one had. The next one we went to was not as large. The one after that was really far away. I had a gut feeling that the original place we saw was going to be our best bet, so I decided to go back there and hand in an application. I learned that part of applying for an apartment includes a monetary deposit, some of which pays for taking the apartment off the market so that others cannot apply while the management company performs background and credit checks on you. Assuming nothing goes wrong, you get the least to sign and return.

You would think that my problems were over after choosing this place. It's important to mention that, at the time, one of my roommates was on a month-long trip across Southeast Asia where his access to internet was somewhat limited. He knew that he would need to be online during those days, but it still made things a little tough at times. The first hurdle was getting him to fill out all the info for the application since each resident needs to do one. We ended up having his dad do most of it for him since it was enough for him to have internet, and there was not real way for him to print, sign, and scan it. Before I left Seattle at the end of the week, though, all the applications were in and now we just had to wait for the lease.

I planned an extra day in my trip out there in case we needed it to look at more places. Since that was no longer necessary, I got to do a little adventuring around the city. I also stopped at the University of Washington where I may take some classes over the next couple years. This is a BIG if - I want to stay as far away from school as I can for a while. I also got to see a Mariners game for $35 and was 4 rows from the field (read: they're not a very good team at the moment).

Seattle Public Library... wat.

Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering at UW

Inside the C.S. building (much nicer than I'm used to)

The view that $35 gets you at Safeco Field

Ichiro is actually no longer on the Mariners. Glad I got to see him at least once.

In the end, we signed the lease and started making plans to move. There were a few more hurdles to get over for that, but you'll hear all about that in the next post in which I display for affinity for planning.

Stay Tuned

If you're reading this, you presumably already know who I am and what this is all about. I highly doubt you're some random, bored internet lurker that happened upon this blog because you're looking for something to pass the time (if that's actually the case - welcome! I hope you enjoy your stay, but I fully expect that you'll eventually realize you've made a mistake and so I won't take it personally when you leave).

A brief synopsis wouldn't hurt, I suppose. Last summer, I got my first taste of West Coast life in California's Silicon Valley where I had an internship at an awesome startup in Palo Alto. In fact, I blogged about all of that too, so feel free to check it out. During school in the fall, I looked to find a job for after graduation, and eventually decided on one out in the Pacific Northwest. This meant I would finally move away from the East Coast where I've been pretty much my entire life. It is quite the change, but one I'm very ready and excited for. It is here that I will chronicle my journey and adventures.

Why document this in blog form? Well, I liked doing it last summer, and it's an easy way to update people interested in my experience all at once. This is especially true when those people include my parents, brother, grandparents, Emily the cat, cousins, aunts, uncles, college friends, friends from home, etc. Hopefully it won't weird-out people I meet in the Seattle area if they find it. Oh god... will this make me a social pariah in my new home? Do people out here even know about blogs like this? Will I ever be able to get over the fact that things on TV actually air 3 hours earlier than advertised? To find out the answers to these questions and more, stay tuned...

One quick programming note: I actually already have a bit of a backlog for the blog here. Truth be told, I arrived in Seattle yesterday and the first few posts will recap things that have happened in days or weeks prior. Since I don't start work for another week, I should have plenty of time to get caught all the way up the present. Pictures will be posted when possible - here's one to show you how awesome the weather will be for my first week in the area, despite the bad reputation is has: