Seattle folk seem to be the friendly sort

[Tobin S.]

I'm on a two day layover here in Auburn, a Seattle suburb, and last night I decided to catch the Monday night NFL game at a sports bar that's close to the motel I'm staying in. I was having some beers and I got to talking to several of the people there and I had a good time. I was amused to hear them complaining about the weather. It was in the 70s and a little humid. As I was standing outside and having a smoke a guy came out and said, "Damn! It feels like a sauna out here!" I smiled at him and he said, "You aren't from around here are you?" :) I told him where I was from and what I was doing here.

It was a pleasant evening and I have another good memory to refer to from my time out here on the road. I've got a decade full of bad memories in my past and each new good experience puts a little distance between me and that time. I'm learning to live with myself and I thank the kind people who I meet out here for helping me out in that regard.

Be good to each other. You never know how much it might mean to someone.

[gratuitous]

1. Run! It's a trap!

You haven't drunk the coffee yet, have you? Flee!

[MadMaddie]

12. Ha..ha.. that's how

we draw them in.....

[foxfeet]

2. It was hideously humid, for us,

Believe me, we in Seattle can make fine distinctions among degrees of dampness. We just lack the heat that, in combination with the humidity, makes the East, Southeast and Midwest damn near suffocating. I know whereof I speak, having grown up in the Ohio River valley. Since moving to Seattle, I've become a complete heat wimp. Hope it was pleasant for you, though.

[Tobin S.]

3. Where at in Ohio are you from?

I've lived in the Dayton area for most of my life, but I know the rest of the state pretty good.

[foxfeet]

6. Actually, we lived in WV-- I was born in Ohio because that's where the hospital was.

My mom's side of the family are from Lawrence County and have been there since the late 1700's. The family farm "home place" was on Buck Creek between Galiipolis and Ironton.

[Tobin S.]

7. I know where Gallipolis is

I used to run a southeast Ohio route that took me over into West Virginia for one stop in Parkersburg. Beautiful country down that way, but, unfortunately, it's one of the poorest areas of America.

[foxfeet]

8. Yep, although I used to get a lot of mileage in college

out of telling people that I had to walk six miles to school because the mule had died. Not true-- but I enjoyed puncturing the hillbilly stereotype.

[LaurenG]

4. Be good to each other. You never know how much it might mean to someone.

That reminded me of a time I was so lost and full of dispair and a stranger walking down the street smiled at me and I was so grateful I nearly burst into tears.
So yeah, at least try to be good to each other, things aren't always what they seem. You never know how hard things are for people.

I'm glad you're enjoying yourself. When are you coming back home?

[Tobin S.]

5. The next time I'll be home for more than a day will be mid October

One of my sisters is getting married on 10/16, so I'll be home for a little bit then to celebrate.

[Tobin S.]

9. Kick for my Seattle friends

:dem:

[UTUSN]

10. My 2nd ship was built in Bremerton & we got per diem to live in Seattle

November '68 to April '69. How's that, getting paid to live as civilians in Seattle. The ferry ride between Bremerton and Seattle. The monorail to the ex-World's Fair grounds for events. The bookstores and junk/antiques stores. The SCHOONERS!1 Saw my first snowfall there. Top of the Space Needle. My first and only opera and ballet, where I was shocked-SHOCKED because all I had ever heard were vinyls of the music and was totally unprepared to hear the troops of these doll-like ballet creatures CLATTERING and CLOMPING across the stage!1

I was totally clueless about how to handle snow, and during our day work, our laboring sailor stuff, we made snowballs and I assumed the baseball catching stance and the shipmate got a look like, "Well, O.K., if that's what you think!" and threw it and it splattered in my hands and into my face.

Four of us rented a car once and drove to Vancouver. Asked for directions over there and were told, "Where are you FROM? Seattle? Well, why don't you go back to Seattle, there's nothing to see here." Hmmm.

And, yes, the Seattle people were super friendly. The schooners, the schooners!1 Sigh for it all. And by the bye, this ship that was BRAND NEW has already been de-commissioned and scrapped. Sigh for my old age!1

[elleng]

11. Happy to hear of your good memories, Tobin!

:hi: