Doing Time in Bellevue

It's been a Bellevue kind of week.  Wednesday we took the truck in to Bellevue Chevrolet for an oil change and to check the battery.  Good thing, the battery was on its lips.  I hate it when a vehicle won't start, it just makes me crazy.

While we were waiting to get the truck back we walked through Bellevue and looked at stuff.  These are sunflowers in front of Trader Joe's.  A huge building was built to house a Home Goods, REI and a Trader Joe's.  It's the worst looking Home Goods I have ever seen.  The one in Tucson is neat and orderly, like items are grouped together and prices are clearly marked.  The Bellevue store looks like bored teenagers with a "what ever" attitude just piled stuff randomly on the shelves.  It was so visually distracting we had to leave.  The REI, on the other hand, is a thing of beauty.  They gave up their space in Redmond to move there.  It's a big store with a huge shoe department.  We tried on shoes, but my feet would not approve anything.

This is a bridge across the freeway.  That wood structure is for the light rail that is being built.  It will go into a tunnel and emerge somewhere near the Bellevue Transit Center.  I'm not sure we're going to live long enough to see it finished.  Look at the color of the sky - there was a lot of smoke from the fires.

Bellevue is landscaped within an inch of its life.  There are planters with mass plantings everywhere.  We stopped for food and then hung out for a little bit in a trendy looking office building's first floor.  They had some decent furniture, unlike the place where we had a nosh.  Bad furniture, loud music; I guess they are discouraging people from setting up their offices there.

A fire alarm guy was testing the fire alarms in an abandoned church.  He neglected to inform the fire department of said activity.  They came rolling up with lights and sirens.  We watched him come running out, waving his arms.  After a brief chat, they put their stuff away and left.

More construction.  I feel bad for the people in the low rise that will be having their sunlight cut off by the new tall building that's going up.  Bellevue is rapidly developing lightless canyons.

More light rail.  The building with the curved roof is the Cadillac dealer.  They will be having tracks running over their parking lot.

Wednesday was a trip to the dermatologist (also in Bellevue) for Jim.  The dermo dude did not spare the liquid nitrogen.  Jim looks, as always, like he was attacked by a cheese grater.

My feet have been worse as of late.  Yesterday Jim had to come get me on the three mile loop.  I was limping with both feet, it was just sad.  I have a new pair of really ugly shoes, that have decreased the pain in my toes, but seem to have shifted pain elsewhere.  I was afraid to set out on a long walk today with Jim, because then there would not have been anyone to pick me up.  So we went back to Bellevue for urban walking.  Worse case, I could sit down with a coffee and he could go get the truck.  It was better today than yesterday.  It's always something with the feet.

Even more light rail.  This is running along Bellevue way.  Someday it will connect to Isaaquah, but not for 23 years.  That's not a typo - twenty three years!

So that's been this week.  Feet and liquid nitrogen.