Fall 2008
  
 
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With Nancy at Bellevue Square Mall...
 
Saturday, October 4
An RV Show at the Tacoma Dome with Chunhee...
 
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fall_2008_015.JPG (84863 bytes) fall_2008_016.JPG (342682 bytes) fall_2008_017.JPG (334765 bytes) Saturday, October 11
Ai and Mamasan at Mamasan's new (not yet open) restaurant in downtown Bellevue...
 
fall_2008_018.JPG (288239 bytes) Friday, October 17
Nancy... Bellevue Square Mall... Nine West..
 
Friday, October 24
Halloween shopping with Nancy in Redmond...
 
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Saturday, October 25
Hiking with Chunhee at the Iron Horse State Park / Cedar Falls Trailhead... part of the John Wayne Pioneer Trail...
 
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fall_2008_038.JPG (471425 bytes) fall_2008_040.JPG (411507 bytes) fall_2008_041.JPG (365277 bytes) We came upon a garter snake...
 
fall_2008_042.JPG (314575 bytes) fall_2008_043.jpg (66222 bytes) fall_2008_044.JPG (247387 bytes) Sunday, October 26
Michiko Iwaya and Ai at Mamasan's new (almost open) restaurant, Osaka Kitchen, in downtown Bellevue...
 
Sunday, October 26
Korean Art Festival at the University of Washington with Chunhee and a couple of her friends...
 
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Friday, October 31 - Halloween
 
fall_2008_062.JPG (329538 bytes) fall_2008_063.JPG (340938 bytes) At Avocent... My workmate Craig Van Hook facing the zombie in the first shot (with his back to the camera), and our boss Eric Bisset attempting to reason with the same zombie in the second shot...
 
fall_2008_064.JPG (373291 bytes) Nancy...
 
fall_2008_065.JPG (219680 bytes) fall_2008_0666.JPG (155897 bytes) fall_2008_067.JPG (268353 bytes) With Michiko Iwaya and her host sister at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, and in Bigfoot...
 
fall_2008_068.JPG (311305 bytes) fall_2008_069.JPG (191518 bytes) Saturday Morning, November 1
I slipped and buckled my left knee walking into the garage area of Camping World in Fife/Tacoma. And I was just getting over having done the same thing 3 weeks earlier at the Bridle Trails Bally Gym Bellevue. An acupuncture session Saturday evening with Chunhee provided relief...
 
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In the morning I observed this mushroom pushing up from the ground beside my daytime parking spot at Advanta, and in the late afternoon a rainbow was visible during my short drive from Avocent to Bally Gym at Bridle Trails. And in the evening, more acupuncture for my sore knee...
 
Tuesday, November 4
 
fall_2008_074.JPG (367602 bytes) fall_2008_075.JPG (323682 bytes) Bally Gym, at Bridle Trails in Bellevue. The 2008 presidential election was being called at about the time I pulled into the parking lot. It had been obvious for some time that a great fraud was being perpetrated on a large swath of the American people, so Obama's win was hardly a surprise. Still, it was sadly shocking to see it actually unfold...
 
fall_2008_076.JPG (471610 bytes) fall_2008_077.JPG (458609 bytes) This was a bad day for America.
Back at Avocent I removed the McCain and Rossi bumper stickers from Bigfoot. Dino Rossi, candidate for governor of Washington State, is a good man and I thought he had a chance at winning, but the prevalence of leftwing nonsense along the I-5 corridor gave the win to his opponent. John McCain is also a decent man, and a man who sacrificed greatly for his country during wartime - and I appreciate that - but his "moderate" approach was doomed to fail. And now we're going to have a Marxist as President of the United States of America.
 
Yes, Obama is a Marxist. His mother was a Marxist, his father was a Marxist, and his mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, was a Marxist. His preacher, Jeremiah Wright, is a Marxist. His political "coming out" party was hosted by Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, both unrepentant Marxist terrorists. It goes on and on and Obama has disavowed none of it. While only a small number of those who voted for Obama would consider themselves a Marxist, or Marxist sympathizer, they did in fact vote for a Marxist.
 
I despise Barak Hussein Obama, but I vowed on this night to be civil (as always) and respectful of the office of the President of the United States. I will oppose Obama's collectivist, "fundamental transformation" of America at every step, but I will not act as so many leftwing nuts did in their opposition to George Bush.
 
My Views...
 
fall_2008_078.JPG (352668 bytes) fall_2008_079.JPG (283973 bytes) Wednesday, November 5
Mushrooms at Avocent... life goes on...
 
fall_2008_080.JPG (353383 bytes) fall_2008_081.JPG (517776 bytes) fall_2008_082.JPG (294845 bytes) Saturday, November 8
With Chunhee at Cabela's in Lacey, WA...
 
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With Ai at Bellevue Square Mall... Ai found a guitar she liked!
 
Tuesday, November 11
The Rancilio Epoca espresso machine at Avocent...
 
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Saturday, November 15
The pre-opening of Mamasan's new restaurant, Osaka Kitchen, in downtown Bellevue...
 
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fall_2008_103.JPG (416863 bytes) fall_2008_104.JPG (286995 bytes) fall_2008_105.JPG (517483 bytes) fall_2008_106.JPG (254436 bytes) Ai and Yuki outside Osaka Kitchen at Bigfoot, and back inside...
 

 
A sad email from Sister Jan...
 
From: Jan Hamilton
Sent: Tuesday, November 18, 2008 11:23 AM
To: 'Steve Thompson'
Subject: RE: DrawPlus

Thank you for sending the link. We are trying to get Will to wait on downloading it though. Our computer is so slow, but Marda and Bill are planning to buy us a new one for Christmas. The boys don’t know that, so he does not understand why we want him to wait. I am hoping he will forget about it for a while. It sounds like it will be just what he wants. He is practicing for his career in video game design. How many boys hope to do that when they grow up I wonder??

We have had a very very sad morning. At about 6:00 AM Slash made a strange crying noise. Matt went right to him outside of our bedroom and he was starched out and not breathing. It must have been a heart attack or brain problem. He was just fine and even running around playing during the night. Just yesterday we all commented on how great Izzy and Slash were doing together and we said it would not be long before they were friends. Ryan and Will always gave Slash so much attention, Ryan even tried taking him for a walk last week (that did not go so well, but he was determined to try). Will is the biggest cat lover in this house and this will be very hard for him. I let them stay home from school today and have a family day because we were all very upset this morning. As you know, cats are truly family members so our hearts are very sad to have lost such a funny and cool cat like Slash. You know he took very good care of Smithers also - I don’t think Smithers realizes slash is gone yet. Oh, I could just go on and on ….

I hope you have a good day and we will talk to you soon.

Jan
 
nc_july_2007_003.JPG (232170 bytes) nc_july_2007_005.JPG (379479 bytes) nc_july_2007_004.JPG (333082 bytes) Looking back - July 3, 2006
Will and the young Slash...
 
nc_july_2007_013.JPG (283193 bytes) nc_july_2007_014.JPG (538333 bytes) nc_july_2007_015.jpg (485181 bytes) Looking back - July 3, 2006
Slash was a patriotic young kitty...
 
 
fall_2008_107.JPG (305441 bytes) fall_2008_108.JPG (285137 bytes) Tuesday Evening, November 18
More acupuncture with Chunhee...
 
fall_2008_109.JPG (273243 bytes) Thursday, November 20
Lunchtime gathering at Avocent...
 

 
An email from Brother Brian...
 
From: Brian
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2008 10:13 AM
To: Steve
Subject: Howdy
 
Hope you're doing well, I wanted to drop you a line with a little update. Yesterday was my last day at the ol' General Tire. Me and about 100 others were able to hang around for the last 2 and a half years and watch as they tore all the machinery out and transform the place into a warehouse. I had a good run of it out there for over 28 years and feel blessed and a little bit lucky through it all. My official lay-off date is my 49th birthday. After that I will be able to get signed up with a federal program that allows for people losing their jobs due to outsourcing to go to "school" to learn something new. It pays for training and unemployment insurance for up to 2 years for qualified programs. There are a lot of qualifications and stipulations involved so I will be making an appointment for a "one on one" with them soon. We all knew it was coming for a long time and I am much better off than most, I most definitely realize this. New chapters can be better chapters... Take it easy and let me hear from ya soon...
 
Sad news. Working at General Tire (later Continental Tire) in Charlotte was very important to Brother Brian...
 

 
Wednesday, November 26
With Nancy at Crossroads...
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