I've had the news on since I got back home from Ikea. In some ways it's a sad day, but because of his age (he was 93), it's more a celebration of his life. He had Alzheimer's disease, just like my Grandfather. I was informed this week that my Grandfather has maybe 2 to 3 weeks remaining before he dies primarily from Alzheimer's. He's been suffering from it for most of my adult life, so at least as long as Reagan has. Fortunately, I think that I'll be able to drop everything and head down to South Carolina when he dies. Because he has Alzheimer's I don't really feel the need to run down there before he dies. I would rather remember him like he was a couple of years ago. I know it sounds selfish, and maybe it is, but I can't see how either of us would benefit from a visit from me. The only reason that I would have made a visit would be if I were planning on getting married and I wanted to have my prospective wife see him before he passed away.

    Back to Reagan for a few more minutes. I totally appreciate that ESPN.com runs a headline every time that something bigger than sports occurs. 9-11 was the last time that I remember that it happened, and I thought it was wonderful that they didn't pretend like nothing had happened. In the case of Reagan it's a lot less dramatic, and (dare I say) a lot less important, but he was one of our presidents and, I believe, he was one of our best. Many will disagree about how good a president he was and the final answer is still being debated. I think that he will be remembered well because the world he left behind is better than the world that he entered. You can debate whether or not he hastened the fall of communism, but you can't debate which side he was on, and he pushed hard to have that wall come down. I have a piece of it my living room, and I think it's kind of cool, but I often forget that people were shot trying to get over that little piece of history. Here at home, he cut taxes. Once again, you can debate whether or not his tax cuts hastened the economy, but you can't debate that the economy boomed during his presidency and has been stronger through the last 16 years than it was before he took office in 1980. Had things remained as they did during the Carter administration, I wouldn't own this home. The interest rates were somewhere around 13% and I know that my parents bought homes and paid a ton more in interest than I am today. He has his critics and I'm sure that he couldn't do everything for everyone, but I don't think he had many miss steps globally. His actions against the Soviet Union worked and we never fired a shot. His economic vision created 19 million jobs in 8 years. That is astounding. He left us with deficit though and that remains a bat that his detractors beat him with. I still think that if you grow the economy by a certain amount, it doesn't make sense to grow programs to catch up with it. I'm for limited government and I think he was a great president and a great leader, both home and abroad. May he rest in peace. Oh, I wanted to say one last thing. I think that Nancy Reagan should be commended and honored for her commitment to the man. Based on what I've seen, the Reagan's embodied the type of love and commitment that we all should emulate when we get married. It is clear that he adored her, and it is clear that she respected him. It's clear that they were tight and best friends. Who could ask for me. What a great example for the rest of us. Well, I still haven't gotten the pictures out yet from my Northwest trip. Tomorrow, I promise!

    He was finally laid to rest today. I considered going to Washington to see his body lying in state, but I had to work and although I would have liked to have honored him in that way, I was just happy to see the incredible outpour of support for him and his presidency. Like I mentioned earlier, he has his detractors, but everything that I read this week convinces me that he's even more amazing than I previously thought. He was right on all of the important issues. And he was right in the face of so much opposition. I don't quite else what to say, but I'm grateful that he was our president.

    Given that Reagan is so much more revered now than when he was in office, it begs the question about Clinton's Legacy and whether or not it will be similar to Reagan's. The answer is, of course no, but I also think that Clinton will probably have fewer detractors when he dies. Mostly because it's loudest during the storm, and the storm is over. He, that is Clinton, will probably just recede into history. In many ways he didn't change much while in office. He rode everything, good and bad. Take that as you will. He rode the good economy, he rode out terrorist attacks and ultimately did little to prepare our country for the war on terror that we are in now. Sometimes hindsight is 20/20, but if you step a bit further back the sweet tinge of rose begins to ring around the edges of history. I think that all of our president's will benefit from that, it is a very difficult job after all.

    OK, back to more pedestrian news. I never did catch you up on my Portland / Seattle Trip. I guess now is a good time to attempt to recollect.

    I arrived in Portland on May 10th and wouldn't you know it, I took a wrong turn after getting my rental car and found myself in Washington State the first night. That really wasn't too bad, because Portland is literally on the border.

    On Tuesday we worked a full day and then went into Portland to walk about and then find a restaurant for dinner. We finally found a place called the Virginia Cafe . It actually had pretty decent ambience. I would definitely go back again if I could find it. That same night we drove around and found a few record stores. Outside one of them, my cell phone leaped from my belt and onto the pavement. Not only did it leap, it did so very quietly. I must have made him mad, because that's the 3rd time that I've lost my cell phone in the last month. The first time was in my Uncle's car, the 2nd was in the cab when I was returning home and the Coup de Gras was losing it in Portland. In some ways, my trip was an exercise in lost luggage. First, it was my laptop. It wouldn't boot, which effectively locked me out from home. On Tuesday, I accidentally left the notebook at one of the sites that I was working at, which has all the information that my laptop lacks so that I could do my job out there. One by one, I was losing everything. Well, on Wednesday, I called my cell phone and an odd fellow answered. He sounded Hispanic, with a lisp. I was grateful that he had picked it up, but I was 2 hours away from Portland, so I had to wait until I returned to pick up my cell phone. When I called him later, I discovered that he had purchased it at 10:00 that morning and had only made a few local calls. He also would appreciate a reward. I was planning on giving him a reward, but was a little miffed that he asked for it. After hearing about the shadow world of cell phone swapping and street living, I was a little concerned that something untoward would happen to me when the swap occurred. Fortunately, my two co-workers took positions to watch over the swap. A man sashayed toward me with a billowing black shirt and gypsy pants, the shirt was buttoned the 3rd from the top, so that his belly was exposed while he worked his way toward me. He was tanned and wore mesh biking gloves, ala John Bender from the Breakfast Club. When he got to me, he put this plastic bag on the trashcan and untied the top so that he could retrieve the phone, all the while telling me all about the adventures that my phone had been on. I shook his hand, gave him a $20 and beat a hasty retreat. Shortly afterward, I bought a bottle of Alcohol so that I could clean off this device that was going to be near my lips. While I was in Oregon I took a few pictures of the city, but they are so inferior. I'll let you decide if they are worth gawking at.

Views of Portland from the roof of the P&DC				Car Shot	Mail being sorted

    While I was in Oregon, we drove a round a bit and it's really green. It's pretty lush and is pretty when the sun is up. Otherwise, it's just kind of depressing. On Thursday we drove up to Seattle and as I was riding up I had the technofied version of the Cure song A Forest.

    I just received an email from Molly Faul, and she informed me that she found my site and that I am not unique. Her brother is also Tim Faul. I'm shattered! I' m collapsing! I'm kidding! As it turns out, they are from Chicago. I was there recently, but I stopped looking in phone books for my name a long time ago. I've got to be really bored to do it. I think that I did it in Oklahoma as a proof of concept. In all seriousness, I wish that I knew more about my Father's side of the family. I really don't know much beyond the last generation. Perhaps I should take a more active interest before it's too late to ask questions. Put that one on the to do list.

    Well, it's time to resume my recap of the great Northwest. Well on Thursday, we accomplished two more installations in the Seattle area, and we did more of the same on Friday. I didn't actually get to do much sightseeing until Saturday. We finished our work and then walked along the the boardwalk. I don't know what they call it. We walked for several hours, sort of drinking in the sites. It was kind of bleak because it was overcast and drizzly. We stopped at a Nautical museum of some sort before working our way up toward the Market.

	Battleships and boats.
	Boardwalk and Pier shots
	Space Needle and The Stairs
	Avenue Shots

    Pike Place Market was pretty neat. It's kind of hard to describe, so I'll let the pictures do it for me. I will say that the Market has more than just Seafood and fresh vegetables. If you go downstairs you'll run into a number of curio shops, selling curio stuff. Old records, and baseball cards. Crystals, fortunes, incense and everything hemp. Charlatans and Brokers, selling adornments and cures. It's fun to visit, although I found nothing that I needed to buy. The fish market puts on a whole show. They throw fish at each other across the aisle ways and tell jokes and generally entertain the crowd. Like I said, it's pretty cool stuff. I tried to get pictures of the Tub and Jug band, and the fish mongers selling their wares. One of the pictures is a split second before a girl turned around to discover a large fish in her face. She screamed. We laughed.

	Sleepless in Seattle
	Catch of the Day
	Say Hello to my little friend
	It's a good gig if you can get it.

    On Sunday, I had the day off, so I decided to take a ferry to Victoria, British Columbia. It's about a 2 and a half hour trip over there. If you don't have any coupons, it can be a little pricy to travel to Victoria. I wish that I could have been able to drive about, I would have gotten a better picture of what the town was all about. Instead I found out what all the merchants were about. Still, it was an absolutely perfect day to visit. The weather was wonderful, I had a chance to do some shopping and I was able to drink to stop at Timothy's World Coffee, I tried to convince the barista to sell me one of their mugs with my name on it, and she looked at me with a puzzled look and said "But it's been used?" I didn't care that it had been used, it had also been washed, but alas, I didn't get it. I instead bought a box of Earl Gray tea, which I will probably never use. Right now I don't even have a tea pot. I keep forgetting to buy one and hot water isn't usually needed around here. No pregnancies, nor tea, nor oatmeal in which to boil water for. As it turns out, Timothy's has branches in Canada only. So, I'm glad that I got to go. I also stopped for a Cuban cigar, just because I could. Is it manifestly better than other countries? I don't know. I only know bad cigar. Not good and better. All in all, it looks like an old British town, some of the pictures that I'll be showing you bear that out.

Views of the Inner Harbor
		The Empress
		Parliament
		Chinatown

    After returning from Victoria, I was beat. I couldn't find my car because I walked into the wrong parking garage. Trust me, it's easier than you think to do this. They don't allow entry from all sides, so I had to walk around this monolithic structure which featured multiple parking garages. When I asked the attendant, if they had Clipper Parking, he said "Yes", but he wasn't the official Clipper Ship parking. So, I was mislead, and my feet felt like lead, as I began to mutter to myself as I went from floor to floor trying to find the magic door which would lead me to the mini-van that the rental car gave me. Finally, I stumbled out of the place and found the correct parking garage. I felt stupid, but I was in a tremendous hurry when I left that morning. Despite being beat, I wanted to eat crab legs by the sea, and by God's grace I did!!! I ate at  Elliot's Oyster House and ordered up some Alaskan King Crab Legs, and I'm pretty sure that they weren't any cheaper there than it was in any other part of the country. I also ate their Clam Chowder. It was an expensive dinner for one. I know "aw". I don't really have a problem doing that on the road. I'm much more active on the road, than I am when I'm at home. In many ways I prefer to travel alone, because it means that I can set my own agenda. Then again, maybe it might be better when it's someone simpatico. I'm looking forward to having the opportunity one day. Hopefully we'll have time to travel. Wait! I just busted out laughing, because I realize that I talk about my wife, like other people talk about the Loch Ness Monster or Big Foot. It's a mythical creature that I imbue with all these wonderful qualities, like that she has alive and has been discovered, and is on her way over to go island hopping later this afternoon. It's no wonder that I got an email from an old co-worker asking if I had taken the plunge. I talk about this fantastic being as if she were really alive and within reach. Well, she's probably alive, if not, I'll be at least 48, and then subject to both ridicule and admiration when we do get married.

    On Monday I had a couple of installs to accomplish and then I was done. I had enough time to drive up to Mt. Rainier and it was another beautiful day. I'm no nature nut, but the view was spectacular and truly awe inspiring. I did get a few shots for you, some of them are very good and really put it's majesty on display. I only got to about 4000 feet or so, before I ran into snow drifts. Even though it was May 17th, there was still a great deal of snow on it. That day, there were television crews there because a couple of climbers were caught on the mountain. Sadly, one died after he was rescued. What's interesting is that 2 weeks later, another climber was killed up there as well. I don't think they lose 2 climbers a month on average, because it made national news both times.

Various shots on the way up				The Lodge	Waterfall	One Of the Peaks

The peak is almost there				Beautiful!		Falls

    It was truly an exhilarating experience, I was kind of floating every time I got out of the car to take another picture, it's too bad that Mt. St. Helens couldn't keep up. I'll explain later.

    On Tuesday, I had the day to explore Seattle and if I hadn't gotten lost on foot, I ... I... OK, I'm not really this much of an idiot. I try not to fear exploring new territory. It's just that my internal compass is screwy at best, backward would be more accurate. I remember once when I was in Albany, I was supposed to be at a party, and instead of traveling west, I traveled North. My mistake. I was several hours late. They called me Wrong Way Faul. Remember this later.

    Ok, back to my story. I was looking for a record store on Broadway and the addresses didn't correspond with my address, so instead of backtracking directly to the car, I decided to walk around the block and come back. You know, like in a square. Well, it looked more like the drawing on the right. Well, As you can tell, it looks more like a picture of Arkansas than it does a perfect square. I must have caused myself a couple mile walk. I had the shin splints to prove it too. The problem was primarily that when I took that left turn, I ended up going down a hill, which caused me no end of headaches. When I finally did find Broadway it was on a section that I hadn't yet seen, so it was foreign to me. I kept scratching my head thinking that the street must have been divided into different parts of the city. This strange trip cost me a ride up the Space Needle. Instead I decided to find Fremont. After the drawbridge closed and traffic was again encouraged to drive in, I noticed a sign on the right side of the bridge. It proclaimed "Welcome to Fremont, the Center of the Universe." I was tickled that I finally made it to the center of the universe. I did a bit of shopping at the local CD and record shops there and caught lunch at a bar. The coolest store that I went to was one that was entirely underground. It was like walking into a big attic that was bisected into smaller attics, so at every turn your in someone else's kitschen. Ha Ha, I make myself laugh! Get it,  kitsch... Oh forget it. The definition is "something that appeals to popular or lowbrow taste and is often of poor quality." Well, not all of it was poor quality but a lot of it may appeal to lowbrow folks such as myself. :-) I did see a peculiar velvet Jesus, which was appealing in that it was so darned funny, and it was only $100. I didn't exactly reach for my wallet, but I did use the old mental calculator and wondered if there was any place that I put it where it wouldn't be considered bad taste. (Incidentally, just because it's velvet it doesn't mean that it's automatically in bad taste, oh who am I kidding, it was hideous!) I did think about buying it though, because it was so bad.

    After going to Fremont, I drove over to Ballard for a few minutes before heading off to the baseball game. The game was at 7:05 PM, but they were giving away a floppy hat to the first 20,000 and I wanted one. There were two strange things that occurred within the first 15 minutes of the game. The first was that while I was scanning for a hotdog and a beer, my eyes landed on an old co-worker from Albany. Talk about small world!!! He was there for a class. As it turned out, this was the 2nd time that we had seen the Orioles play. The last time was in 1998 down in Baltimore, during a business trip. My first official business trip, I might add. Anyway, it was nice to see him, and it was weird that of all the people at the game, I actually ran into him. After exchanging telephone numbers and going to our respective seats, we discovered that Randy Johnson had completed 8 innings of a perfect game. They were broadcasting the game from Atlanta on the big scoreboard. For the non baseball fan, I will try to briefly explain both what was going on and how hard it is to accomplish.

    A perfect game is when a pitcher faces 27 batters and gets them all out. No batter is allowed to reach base by any means. No walks, no hits, no errors no nothing. There have only been 17 Perfect Games in major league history. Add his age, and it's even more significant. He is 40 years old. Amazing! Anyway, as he worked the 9th inning, the crowd at Safeco was on the edge of their seats. Randy Johnson used to be a Mariner and so he was still loved in Seattle. After every out the crowd cheered. They gave him a standing ovation when it was completed. I got a few pictures of the scoreboard after he accomplished that amazing feat. I also sat near some Oregon natives who happened to be Oriole fans as well. The Orioles won, so I was happy. I was also delighted that I've been able to see a number of ball parks over the past month. All in all, Safeco was nice, but it lacks pizzazz. Pittsburgh and Baltimore have landmarks that you can see over the right field walls, which gives the park an old time feel. Safeco has a retractable roof and is definitely built to be modern. Nice but not really all that charming. One game note, I was only 5 feet away from this guy who caught a foul ball. He caught it after it smacked the upper deck and dropped down on us. He allowed me to handle it and it was lopsided. When the ball smacked the upper deck it collapsed under the force. Incredible! I can't believe that I don't have a foul ball yet. One of these days.

Perfect Scoreboard		Orioles best the Mariners at Safeco Field

    On Wednesday I drove back to Portland. I stopped by Mt. St Helens, but it was overcast and the pictures simply weren't there. I read about it and stopped at a memorial, but very few pictures were taken by me.57 people died that day, and as I travel about the country visiting these monuments to death, I wonder to myself what will it be like 500 years from now, when no one remembers it and is frankly unimpressed that only 57 people died. Callous? Perhaps, but I wonder if flowers will continue to be left by people once the relatives of the victims have passed on. I don't know. I can't imagine that I would be one who would visit my imaginary wife's tombstone on a regular basis. I know, I'm nostalgic and have some romantic tendencies, but I have little desire to actually spend time in a cemetery. Who knows if my feelings would change if the shoe were on the other foot. I imagine they would, I'm sure that Nancy will visit Ron as frequently as she can.

    I didn't drive very far up the mountain before realizing that it was a colossal waste of time. That, and they had special pay sections that you were on your honor to pay for. I opted to not resent them for paying for something I couldn't see, so I left.

Dismal!

    The rest of the ride back was uneventful. I ate at some local bistros, walked about town a little bit, drove into Vancouver, WA to enjoy their lighter traffic and easier roads. By the time Thursday arrived, I was ready to go home. I had been gone for 10 days and it was time to go home. I'll remember that when I plan for my illusory honeymoon. 7 or 8 days tops. It would be better for me to take two phantom honeymoons instead of one where I can't wait to get home.

    Friday, I flew back and ended up talking to the people sitting next to me. They were very nice and were from Washington State, they were flying to Colorado for a graduation. It was a mother and daughter combo and I ended up talking to the daughter for the entire flight. Unlike previous flights of fancy that I've taken, I haven't heard from them and I don't expect to unless they actually visit this site. OK, she was cute, so I gave them this web address. So sue me! What good is the site if I can't use it to keep in touch and meet people. And before you roll your eyes, I'll have you know that I also give it out to guys too. No! Not for that reason. You people suck!

    Well, it's time to close this chapter with another Wrong Way Faul story. Last weekend or so I drove up to PA to go that conference and I missed by turn by about 35 miles. It was bad enough that I missed but my co-pilot missed it as well. Backtracking had me so late that I missed my job as parking attendant. My pastor had to cover for me. I'm glad that I'm not Catholic, I might have had to do some Hale Mary's. I had a good time, but was exhausted physically by it. You tend to stay up talking about everything under the sun. Plus I played a lot of volleyball. I think I played for nearly 3 hours. I love it though. It's fun!!!

    Ok last thought on my trip, which will setup my closing song for you. While traveling on the Clipper toward Victoria, I had my walkman on, and this song came on. As the Clipper sped away from America, I just thought how wonderful I have it that I can go and see distant lands. Victoria is 2894.66 miles from my house. It would take me 46 hours of driving to arrive there. How cool is that? Thanks Map Quest! This version of the song has this Hawaiian strumming a Ukulele (Thank God for spell check), and it's really melodic. Well, that's it. It takes hour to put together an entry this long, with this many pictures. Hope you enjoy!!!