The second hand unwinds

2004-11-02 - 12:32 p.m.

So much has happened since I wrote in here last! Things are moving along very nicely in just about every way. I guess I should just start at the beginning. A warning though, this'll probably be long and I probably won't be able to resist peppering it with pictures.

Last Wednesday I got up early and my dad dropped me off at the airport on his way to work. I flew to Seattle and rented a car. I had several hours to kill before I could check in to my hotel so I drove around and explored. I stopped for bubble tea on Alki Beach in West Seattle. It was so beautiful there. I couldn't ask for better weather. I finally got checked in to my hotel and then I drove around some more. I watched the sun set over Elliott Bay and watched the lunar eclipse from Queen Anne.

The next day I had to check out of my hotel by noon but the interview with Hospital #1 didn't start until two, so I drove around some more. I ended up at a Half Price Books where I browsed for quite some time before ending up with just one book and two CDs.

The interview went well. I had no trouble finding the place and when I got there ten minutes early, they took me right in and got started. There were three pharmacists and the inpatient pharmacy manager asking me questions in a little room. The first question I was asked was from one of the pharmacists who asked, "How do you feel about working with a long-haired eskimo who wears cowboy boots?" thus describing himself. This was after the first part of the interview which I guess I was too nervous to realize was a joke and part of the interview to see how I handle...being teased and odd stuff. The eskimo guy came into the room, introduced himself, coughed into his hand, then put that same hand out for me to shake. They asked me normal interview questions too and then one of them took me on a tour of the hospital. She was a woman in her late twenties or so and she was really nice. While we were on the floor we met another pharmacist who was up there working and she was really nice too. Afterwards I had to go over to the human resources department to fill out some paperwork, but during the interview the eskimo guy had asked me to compare their pharmacy department to others that I had seen. Since at that point I hadn't seen their pharmacy department yet, I told him I'd tell him after the interview. So after paperwork at HR I went back to the pharmacy and found him and we had a discussion about various pharmacies. I think he was impressed that I followed through with that.

After the interview I checked into the hotel that Hospital #3 was paying for. Then I decided to go for a walk. I originally planned on walking down to the international district and seeing if I could find myself some bubble tea. But as I walked closer to that area it was seeming more and more like an area a girl shouldn't be walking by herself so I veered away and ended up walking along the waterfront until I got to Pike's Place Market. It wasn't very late, but it was completely shut down already. I walked back up the hill and past my hotel up Broadway towards Washington's answer to In-n-Out, Dick's Drive In. On my way there I passed through a "Stop the draft, vote for Nader" rally. At Dick's I embarrassed myself by attempting to order a burger without pickles when everyone knows you can't special order anything at Dick's. I walked back to my hotel and hung out there the rest of the night.

The next morning I had my interview at Hospital #3. I was supposed to meet a guy from their human resouces department in the main hospital lobby. I walked to the interview and I didn't know how long it would take so I gave myself plenty of time and ended up getting there way early. I walked around the hospital several times and then came inside to wait in the lobby twenty minutes early. I waited and waited and finally the human resources guy came twenty minutes late. He took me over to their outpatient pharmacy where I met the pharmacy manager. The pharmacy manager took me to a little room for the interview with just the two of us. He asked me one question and I wasn't even finished answering it when he interrupted me and started talking. That was it. No more questions for me. We spent the next two hours touring the hospital during which he talked non-stop. The pharmacists we met up on the floor basically ignored me. He took me back down to the outpatient pharmacy and all the pharmacists in there ignored me too. Then he took me over to the human resources department to fill out some paperwork and there he offered me the job. I just wasn't impressed.

While I was doing this interview, Hospital #1 called and left a message on my cell phone offering me a job with them. So I got two job offers, yahoo! For me it was pretty much a no brainer to figure out which hospital I'd prefer to work for. Their benefits seemed to be pretty much comparable and Hospital #1 is paying five dollars more per hour than Hospital #3 so I accepted a job with them. OK, so I didn't actually accept it until yesterday, but it wasn't a tough decision for me. I have a real job! Well, I will after my background check is done, but I don't exactly have a sordid background so I think that shouldn't be a problem.

I spent the rest of the day walking around the area looking at apartments in the area. I just looked from the outside and didn't knock on any doors. My brother and sister-in-law flew in that evening and I picked them up at the airport and dropped them off at their hotel.

The next morning was Saturday. I walked over to my brother's hotel and then the three of us walked down to Pike's Place Market for breakfast. There were hardly any people there, but everything was open at least.

We spent the rest of the day walking around apartment hunting. My brother brought a notebook and acted as my scribe, taking awesome notes on everything. We attempted to look at 27 different apartment buildings, but since it was Saturday we only talked to the managers of 7. I found one apartment that had everything I wanted (including stuff I wanted but didn't really expect to get) except a view. It looks out into a grassy courtyard, which while it may not be a view, is definitely not unpleasant. The other apartments were all nice too, but I decided on that one and put a deposit down on it. So now I have a job and an apartment in Seattle! I'm very excited about all this.

When that was done we drove around a bit and then ended up down by the waterfront where we had dinner at Red Robin. We went to a dessert place back on Broadway and then I dropped them off at their hotel.

Sunday morning I walked to their hotel and then we walked to a Starbucks at Westlake Mall for breakfast. They checked out of their hotel and then we walked back to my hotel to get my car. My sister-in-law had a flight back to Houston fairly early in the morning so we drove her to the airport to drop her off. Afterwards I drove my brother over to West Seattle to show him the view from there and it was actually clear enough to see Mt. Rainier swathed in clouds.

Then we took a ferry over to Bremerton and back. It's about an hour-long ride each way and it costs less than six dollars to walk on. I'll have to keep that in mind as cheap entertainment for guests in the future. My brother and I rode the whole way to Bremerton standing on the outside deck. It was so beautiful. The trip kind of weaves in and out past Bainbridge Island and other places that my Washington geography is not good enough to let me name. Here are some pictures of Bainbridge Island (with the Olympic Mountains in the background) and Seattle from the Bremerton ferry.

After the ferry we had lunch at Steamers on the waterfront, walked around Pike's Place Market again (this time it was crowded), then drove over to Gas Works Park where neither my brother nor I have been before. It's a park made on the place of an old coal refinery or something like that. A lot of the equipment is left in place and there's a sign on the entrance asking that you not dig in the dirt and that you wash your hands when you're done playing there. Interesting. But beautiful! It's right on the shore of Lake Union and it has a beautiful view of downtown Seattle.

Afterwards we went to REI (where I practiced my parallel parking) and we looked at the cool stuff and dreamed of things we'd like to do someday (a hike around the base of Mt. Rainier, anybody?). My brother's flight to Minneapolis was several hours after my flight back to Sacramento, so after REI I dropped him off at a friend's house (my brother used to live in Seattle) and went to the airport and flew home.

While I was gone my parents actually bought a new car. My dad was wanting a used car exactly like the one we had before--a Subaru Legacy Outback with a stick shift. My mom was wanting a new Nissan Murano with an automatic transmission. So they compromised and got a new 2005 Subaru Outback with an automatic. It's really nice. I drove it last night for the first time and it was a lot of fun. It was like driving a sports car but it's a station wagon. Very cool.

Yesterday I accepted the job at Hospital #1. It looks like I'm going to start work in about two weeks.

And yesterday evening I went to volleyball open gym. My shoulder is all better from last week. I'm still crushing on the buff guy. Not that it matters since I'm leaving in two weeks, but I wonder if he feels anything for me? Last night we actually had real conversations and I found out a bit more about him. Once during a game between plays he came up behind me, put his hands on my shoulders and leaned over to whisper in my ear. I swear I just about melted right there. I have absolutely no idea now what he said to me. I spent all last night having not-quite-X-rated dreams.

And today I voted. It's annoying to know that who I vote for doesn't really matter. Kerry takes California no matter which way I vote, but I voted anyway. It also seemed odd to vote on propositions that aren't going to affect me since I'm leaving. Anyway, not much longer until we find out who we get to hear everyone complain about for the next four years.