Ugh. Sounds like you have a crappy landlord. Since you've been leasing, I don't know if you have the same rights as month-to-month tenants. You should call the DPD Code Compliance Line - they might be able to tell you whether the notice and rent increases are legal. The number is 206-615-0808.

Unfortunately besides telling you whether the notice is valid or not they won't help you for a rent increase - they only assist with unlawful eviction attempts or violations of the Just Cause Eviction Ordinance. You'll need to send your landlord a letter informing them that the notice is not valid because it is a violation of Seattle Municipal Code 7.24.030 requiring 60 days notice (which should have been given no later than Jan 1st for a March 1st increase).

This is from a DPD Client Assistance Memo:

"In Seattle, if a landlord wishes to increase housing costs by 10 percent or more over the level of housing costs during the preceding 12-month period, the landlord must give written notice of the increase at least 60 days in advance. The term "housing costs" means rent and other periodic or monthly fees for other services which are paid to a landlord by a tenant, but does not include utility charges that are based on usage and that a tenant is obligated to pay under the existing terms of a rental agreement.

"Potential remedies for violations of this provision: If a landlord initiates a lawsuit for unlawful detainer (eviction lawsuit) or to enforce a rent increase which violates this requirement, it is a defense that the rent increase violates this law. A landlord can be found liable to a tenant
for any actual damages from attempting to enforce a rent or other housing cost increase that violates this law, plus double the amount of any penalties imposed, as well as reasonable attorney fees and costs."

The Tenants Union of Washington has some helpful information here: 60-Days Notice of Large Rent Increases. They have a Tenant Rights Hotline, but it's only staffed part-time so check their site for details. They also have some sample letters that might be useful.

You'll want to save all written correspondence just in case, and when you move out document the condition of your apartment if you think the landlord will try to withhold your deposit without having a valid reason. If the landlord tries to evict you illegally the DPD might help, but otherwise you'll need to find an attorney or sue them in small claims court. It's a pain in the ass but I've known people who won cases against bad landlords. Good luck!

Are you aware of or have you tried these products?
They are both forms of tubing that is extra tough and infused with bad tasting compounds and a citrus scent that cats don't like (so you are not having to continually re-apply a repellent).

CritterCord
http://www.crittercord.com/

Chewsafe
http://www.cabletiesandmore.com/Chewsafe.php

Kegger on a boat, Kegger on a boat, Kegger on a boat!! You can rent the MV Skansonia on Lake Union for about $2600 for a 5 hour party http://skansonia.com/#2 I don't know if anybody really wants to front the cash for that though.

Alternatively, we could all show up at Colman Dock at an agreed-upon time and take the ferry to Bremerton together, have a beverage and mingle onboard during the 1 hour cruise, turn around and come back. All that costs is $7.50 per person round trip, plus the cost of your beverage of choice (Coffee is about $2, beer/wine is $5 or $6). The schedule for April 1 isn't published yet, but when it is it will be here: http://wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

I'm a saltwater kid. My first instinct is always to party on a boat.

Rinse them well (even soak them a bit) to get rid of the salt and use them as a decorative mulch on top of the soil of your household plants. If they ever look tired or ugly you can scoop them off easily and recycle them with your yard waste (if you have that option), or put them in your own compost pile (washed, of course).

Also if you have the option, buy them plain (unsalted). Pistachios have a wonderful flavor that can be overwhelmed by the amount of salt some processors apply to them. I now buy them plain (yeah, of course, because of my parrots eating them also) and the taste is great!

I called Seattle Powder Coat and talked to Sharon.
She said that sandblasting the frame (and fork) and powder coating them would cost between 125-165 dollars, not including taxes, with the variation being if the frame was previously painted (lower cost, blasting) or powder coated (higher cost needing a chemical strip as part of the process).

Having the finish removed only would be $40 for blasting, and $65 if they had to remove a powder coat finish. Certainly an easier step than renting equipment and going through the hassle yourself. Seems like it might be worth considering.

She says they do a lot of bicycle frames. You could always ask for some satisfied customer reports or bike shops they have dealt with for references.

Any errors in the above should be blamed on my reporting accurately what I was told and not the actual information I got from Sharon.

http://www.seattlepowdercoat.com/

Seattle Powder Coat
4025 Leary Way NW
Seattle, WA 98107
ph: (206) 297-1029

info@seattlepowdercoat.com

O My Captain is correct that he joined Questionland shortly after it was released in April of 2009.

In January of 2009, 3 guys from a fledgling Seattle based technology company approached Tim Keck of The Stranger to see if he wanted to use their technology on his website. Well, he didn't really like what they were selling but he really did like the 3 guys and they made him really delicious coffee so he decided to hang out with them for a few hours and see if they could come up with something that he did like. That day, Questionland was born as the place Seattlite's would go to ask all their difficult questions like "Where can I find a good plumber?" or "Who's got a good selection of women's boots?" or "Where can I get a good Falafel in this town?".

While the 3 technology guys were building Questionland, Tim and his colleague Anthony set to working on Questionland's style and character which they described as a "Broken Down Theme Park". Enter the Mushroom and Gnome. Discovered from the last page of Google images, cleaned up, and given center stage of Questionland.com.

On April 1st, 2009, Questionland.theStranger.com was born and took off wildly. About a year later, Questionland took on a new home at Questionland.com and a new "woodsy" design. Then, in October of 2011, Questionland decided to take itself a little more seriously, moved the Mushroom and Gnome from the front office to the back and redesigned with a cleaner, more polished look and feel. The rest, as they say, is history.

I don't know, but since YouTube is a Google company I can take a pretty good guess:

1. Google's search algorithms are extremely complex and sophisticated. Furthermore they are designed to try and ensure that no one can figure them out easily enough to game them.

2. Google typically ranks results based on the behavior of viewers and site owners. So if a lot of people link to a given video or embed it then each of those instances is considered a "vote" for that video.

3. They will also incorporate things like actual votes, views, keywords/tags, etc.

4. I'm sure they also rank videos based on how much of the video was watched. Did people abandon it after a 30 seconds or watch the whole thing.

So the short answer is that it is designed so that you cannot easily figure it out and it incorporates every bit of data about the video that is available - esp. the behavior of other sites and people watching.

Hope that helps a little.

Always brown the meat when using a crock-pot. The pot never gets quite hot enough to cook the meat right. By the time it reaches a safe temp the meat will have been sitting at dangerous temps for a long time.

Whenever I get my Vitamin D levels checked (which is annually, as I tend to be deficient), I have to have a single vial of blood drawn. Finger pricks are good for blood sugar and white cell counts, but not so good for quantitative assays, especially if you need several different tests.

What do you mean by having a hard time with blood tests? You faint, or your veins are tricky, or you have a needle phobia? If you tell your doctor, s/he can usually help you with those concerns.

Tiredness can also be environmental (new street light or loud apartment mate) or a hormonal problem (hypothyroidism). You need to go to a doctor, be upfront about your problem, whatever it may be, with blood draws, and potentially get prescribed a multivitamin and a chat with a nutritionist.

Little, Brown Handbook (11th Edition), by H. Ramsey Fowler.
Also Exercises to Accompany the Little, Brown Compact Handbook.
By Jane E. Aaron

I used a library copy of the Fowler book when I practiced my English composition. King County Library System has some copies in its outlying branches. The LB Handbook is expensive, though: maybe some secondhand bookstores, university textbook resellers or Half-Price Book outlets will have discounted, used copies. The Exercises book retails for under $20.

Well, if you need a red colored cheese: Cheese made with port wine is red.

Other than that a little more info about size and scope would be useful.

Maybe ask everyone to wear red, it'd make photos fairly nostalgic if people dressed to a theme. Ladies in red, gentlemen in black w/ red accents?

One of the symptoms of depression is disturbed sleep. However, disturbed sleep can also lead to depression. Do you snore or thrash, by chance? If so, tell your primary care provider as you might have a sleep disorder. Also, does your doctor know about your use of melatonin? It can interact in weird ways with antidepressants, so please discuss with your doctor to make sure that you aren't experiencing side effects.

Do you exercise? If not, you should, and if so, do it earlier in the day, like right when you wake up. It'll temporarily wake you up, but you'll be more tired by the end of the day and in theory better able to sleep. If you exercise hard enough, you'll be too tired to ruminate, which is probably what you do before you go to sleep.

Light therapy is another option. If you get a therapy light on a timer, you can get some more sun-like light, which should help you adjust your schedule back to a more normal one, and it'll also help with SAD.

You're getting your 8 hours, just not in the best time of day to sleep. Transitioning to an earlier bedtime and waking time shouldn't be done abruptly, but you don't want to get to the point that you're naturally on 3rd shift if you can avoid it.

Oooh, my favorite is the Stars' album, Heart.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_(Stars_album)

I listened to it non-stop the year I was in grad school in a very snowy place, and it will always remind me of the snow.

I will speak to the possibility of how to handle it you decide to allow him to come to stay with you short term.

Make a formal agreement with him on the parameters of his stay, length of time he has there, expectations on his participation in household chores and duties and deference to your lifestyle (hours of sleep, friend visits, etc.), and what is expected of him monetarily. There should be a scheduled "family meeting" once a week (or whatever you decide) for him to report what he has done to secure work and income and move on with his life. Make it clear that you are being the supportive brother, but have no plans to have him be a long term resident. Taking him in is a stopover to another destination. All of this should be written down and formally signed. You could control his access and feeling like he is "at home" in your place by not giving him a key. He might have to wait for you to come home and be out the next day when you leave (or something like that).

If, ultimately, you feel you do have to assist him, do it for a defined short term and help him move along in life but setting it up with clear expectations on his part.

Rather than going to a lighting-specific store, try a modern-oriented furniture store; they'll usually have a fixture or three along with the sofas, rugs and tables - although standard and table lamps tend to feature more so than pendant ones. But you might find one or two, or if nothing else, the staff there may have some ideas on where to look. There's a bunch along Western Ave in downtown Seattle, from Kasala at Pike Place Market (they also have an outlet store in SODO) down to Dania at Columbia St. Some of the stores are on the high-end spendy side, though.

It might be worth also considering a retro store: a lot of mid-century modern designs - notably the Scandinavian folded paper globes - have something of a timeless appeal to them.

Or you could go to IKEA, buy some inexpensive fixtures, and mod them.

No. It's too early to pop the champagne cork.

It takes three things to pass a law in this state, sometimes four.

1) it has to pass the House (we already had the votes lined up)

2) it has to pass the Senate (we didn't have the votes lined up until today)

3) it has to be signed by the Governor (she already promised to sign it as soon as she gets it)

4) SOMETIMES, it has to be approved by the voters before it goes into law. If the House or Senate feels that the people of the State should have a say, they can refer it to the voters for final approval or rejection. This is called a REFERENDUM. (root word refer). This is what happened with R-71. The Legislature referred it to the voters.

Keep in mind that none of these actions, 1, 2, 3 or 4 have taken place yet. What happened today is that we lined up enough PROMISES to vote yes for step number 2, that everything can move forward.

It will be voted on in the House, and enough Representatives have promised to vote Yes, that it will make it through when the vote is taken. But the vote hasn't been taken yet, we just have the promises of yes votes in the House.

Then it will go to the Senate. Today, we secured the promise of a yes vote from Sen. Haugen which means there are enough promises of yes votes that it will pass the Senate, when the day of that vote comes, and it hasn't yet.

And the governor has promised to sign it, but she hasn't yet, because she can't until the Senate and House vote yes on it and hand it to her. It is still possible that it could be referred to the voters

It is possible that it will have to go to a vote of the people. The House or Senate could still vote to approve it, on condition the voters agree, and force a referendum.

It could also pass steps 1-3, become a law, and then have enough signatures filed by the anti-gay groups to force it onto the ballot in an INITIATIVE trying to repeal it.

Today we secured the necessary 25th vote for it to pass step 2 (the Senate), WHEN THAT DAY COMES, but that day has not yet come. And we still don't know if this is a case where there will be a step 4.

Further, when all is said and done, it will take several months for the law to take effect. Laws don't kick in right away, there is always a waiting period of a few months.

Bottom line, nobody is getting married this weekend because of what happened today. All that happened today is that we got the promise of the needed 25th vote from Senator Haugen to get it through the Senate.

PURE SPECULATION: I'll bet Senator Haugen was planning to vote yes all along, but knew her vote would get more and more valuable the closer it got down to the wire. I'll bet she "traded" her promise to vote yes for a promise from some other Senators to vote yes on something she wants. Don't be surprised if you see a new bridge built to Camano Island (her home) or one of the many transportation projects she supports moved ahead all of a sudden. She is a savvy politician. She knew that vote was worth solid gold, and I'll bet she horse traded to get something she wanted for it. I kind of hope she did. She's a pistol, and one of the smartest people in our State Government today.

I'm a cellist amongst other things. In my experience, a 4x6 low platform would be on the small side of reasonable for an acoustic performance (no mics, speakers, amps, etc.) of a solo musician. 5x5 would be even better.

Is this space supposed to host the musician and all his/her kit (cases, coats, etc.)? If so, make it as big as you can. Also, make a ramp to get on the stage. Some instruments are heavy and valuable and negotiating high steps is tricky. Is your venue rather dark? Put your stage near an outlet so your musician can have a small light.

There are many great works of historical non-fiction written to be accessible to a general audience. Probably a good idea to get one that is time/place/subject relevant, but some stand out for making a seemingly tough subject fascinating and simple.

One example would be Longitude by Dava Sobel.

Hey Griffin,

Ok,
Protestant is a hard one - (for me especially). Episc & Baptists; you can always get them music and make them happy ;). I take issue with the protestants' Sola Scriptura doctrine especially (as much as Catholics were wrong to sell salvation, protestantism hasn't really righted all the wrongs that the 5 Pillars are supposed to)- Sola Scripture is, roughly, the idea that holy books are to be the law of the religion, and interpretations are suspect. Yet Sola Fide, the other prime protesant rule, says faith alone saves you - not works. Sola Fide doesn't reconcile if you a) believe the bible is the only law or literal law, - and b) read Matthew 25:31 through about 46 to see that Doing Good Works is absolutely essential to performing the essence of 'good' and getting the fastpass to the Disneyland Heaven Adventure.

Sorry, I digress, sorry... Gift! yes, well:

Every pastor needs vestments. They are damn expensive and ,well, what good pastor is secretly a stock broker, right?? (A good alb alone runs about 100 bucks!) So vestments, or a gift certificate for Kaufers.com at the bare minimum are good. You could also get a liturgical book, like 'Pastoral Care of the Sick' (depressing but perhaps useful if she somehow doesn't already have one).
But then you're in danger of just getting a gift for the sake of getting a gift. Give your sis something for HER, from the heart, and everybody wins.

A thought: being as she's working the VA (damn hard job to do btw, send her kudos for that choice alone), a selection of warrior's prayers might be fitting... or even something like a piece of art with proper soldiers-in-mind inspiring words.

The soldiers of old (I mean, like, Crusades-era old) used to inscribe Loricas on their shields - little songs/prayers/chants to recite before battle. Soldiers recovering in VA hospitals are in many ways 'battling' still, each day they try and heal: A lorica-inscribed shield for her office, (or even a customized plexi/clear clipboard? to take on rounds?) with a lorica printed on it would be a thoughtful way to go, if I were in your shoes.

St Patric's Lorica was/is particularly well known as a soldier's incantation. http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/patrick.htm

Note; some pastors will frown on it, as incantations are, to some eyes, spells/enchantments... To them I say: prayers are as well. So are Hymns. And no woman or man of the cloth should have shame in singing hymns. And besides, The Lorica of St Patrick was made into a hymn, conveniently enough.

But go from the heart. It doesn't have to be a present catering to her profession/calling. It can just be something for Your Sis.

My recommendations:

- A couple of giant pots of stew, soup, chili, or curry, portioned into small plastic containers
- Bean or meat burritos, without the cheese (you can put cheese on top when you heat them up), wrapped individually
- Shepherd's pie
- Bags of frozen vegetables and fruit
- Meat or tempeh cut into cubes before freezing, for easy stir-fry
- Bagels, sliced before freezing so they can be warmed up in a toaster

Bike Works Annual Warehouse Sale
January 29th, 12-4pm
3709 S. Ferdinand St.
Just east of Rainier in Colombia City
Bring cash.
I haven't been to the sale, but I've seen the warehouse and it is chock full of used bikes and salvaged bike parts.

You probably already know this but there is not a single standard width for bike chain, it is wider for rear cogs with less gears and narrower for more gears. Make sure what you get is all the same width or it probably won't work. Bike chains (of the same width) can be linked together using a simple, cheap chain breaker tool, you can probably get that at BikeWorks too. I got mine at 20/20 Cycle and the nice guy there showed me how to use it.

As far as grease...I can't imagine a chain lasting very long without lube, but you can clean it well and put a light coat of fresh lube on it; I find when I do this my bike leaves no chain dirt on my pants for at least a couple of weeks.

My wife and I just discovered "La Bete" on Capitol Hill. Delicious food and very romantic atmosphere. http://labeteseattle.com/

Actually, a TON of people went around on ferry system. Vashon was jammed. Ferries running 2 hrs late by end of day on both ends-- Southworth and Pt. Defiance routes. Traffic from Pt. Defiance terminal had traffic backed up Pearl St. all the away to Hwy 16. As a Vashon resident, I actually avoided going home til long after 6:30 when Narrows Bridge re-opened. Sorry, but ferry system can't handle all the traffic delayed, we're not equipped on Vashon Highway to be the alternate route either!

Bernie Whitebear

http://www.unitedindians.org/about_history.html

Denver, Colorado has a comparable population to Seattle (between 500K and 600K) and they have 68 heavy duty snow plows, with additional capacity to deploy 4x4s with plow blades.

http://www.denversnowplan.com/resources.htm#fleet

Exude friendliness, confidence, flexibility and a yearn to learn. You want your potential employer to feel they might really miss out if they let you walk out the door without hiring you. Use gentle humor and a winning smile to cajole your potential boss to give you a chance to show how great you can be working there.

I know you are discouraged and want to 'work anywhere', but really try to look for work at places you are really interested in being. Observe people working in your area and ask how they enjoy what they do and how they came to work there.

Be ready to be your own best advocate. You need to think about any skills you have developed in your life that would apply to a given workplace. So you have no experience, you are ready to learn how your new employer wants a job done.

Everyone is a potential source of referral to a job. If someone says that they don't have work to offer, ask them if they know of another business that they could refer you to. If you feel a good connection with the person you are talking to, ask for feedback on if there was any way you could have improved in your interview or personal presentation.

Be totally honest about your availability. Don't accept a job from someone who thinks you will learn a job and stay on for an extended time and then quit two months later. Perhaps job hours can be modified so you can work and go to school come the fall.

When you get a job, be on time, respect the workplace by your behavior and your dedication to your work when you are there.

Congrats to your Hubby on his new job, reduced commute, and resolve to join the dashing, intrepid, healthy, eco-conscious, and yes, occasionally smug ranks of Seattle cyclists. I have been commuting to work exclusively by bicycle starting this past summer and have been dealing with the question of what bike is right for me and where do I get it from since then.

One thing I have discovered, both through experience and an obsessive reading of bike blogs, is that people often buy a bike and then figure out that it’s not quite right for them, therefore, buying a used bike is a good idea even if saving money isn’t a primary consideration. Basically, you buy a used bike that should be right for you, you ride it a while, you figure out where it doesn’t work for you after a couple of months riding, and you make a much more informed decision when you go to buy the perfect bike .

Craigslist is full of good deals; it is also full of people who don’t know how to measure their bike, or how to properly describe it, so what you save in money you can often lose in time and just general fussing. A store that sells used bikes on consignment is often a good idea, though I would question the motivations of any used bike store that has more new bikes than used, or that devotes as much floor space to spandex clothing as they do to their spare parts section. Certain bike shops in town seem to have a condescending attitude towards anyone who has a pussy, luckily this should not be a problem for your husband. Bikeworks is a non-profit in Columbia City that sells refurbished donated bikes, I 110% support their mission but unfortunately haven’t been able to find the “just right bike” there (but my needs are very specific at this point.)

An important consideration is fit, here is a chart http://bicycling.about.com/od/howtoride/a/bike_sizing.htm
You will note that inseam is a key measurement, as leg length can vary greatly among individuals of the same height. Here is an article about bike fit with good instructions for measuring inseam (they call it PBH or Pubic Bone Height) somewhere about the middle of the page. http://www.rivbike.com/Articles.asp?ID=247. I have a long torso for my height and I have found the bigger bikes keep me from having that “my knees will bump into my chin” sensation. Here is a good video on basic bike sizing, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6pUGA1mtTo. I have found bikes designed to be touring bikes tend to have a long wheelbase and long rear stays which leaves a lot of room in back so your heels don’t bump into your panniers, which drives me nuts.

As far as equipment: I have read that two front white lights are safer than one because it allows the viewer better comparative information on the bike’s speed and direction; a rear red light is required by law after dark but I put one on each pannier, too, to indicate the width of the whole package when riding at night; he will NEED fenders unless he just loves getting wet; for 2 1/2 miles no special clothing should be necessary, although jeans get uncomfortable because of the mega-seam at the crotch; any old breathable waterproof jacket is good enough, many people favor the safety colors; he will need a rack for panniers, which are more useful and flexible than baskets. Ortlieb Back Rollers are the king of panniers, waterproof, adjustable sized, adjustable connections, durable and they tend to stay upright, which is great when you are loading them. Pricey, though.

Some good local bike blogs: Seattle Bike Blog http://seattlebikeblog.com/ Kent’s Bike Blog
http://kentsbike.blogspot.com/ Velo Bus Driver
http://velobusdriver.com/And of course, if you ride in this town, sooner or later you will need something Cascade Bicycle Club offers, they have all sorts of classes and all sorts of rides.
http://www.cbcef.org/classes-bike.html

You say you've done system restores but have you simply formatted the disk and installed a fresh OS? That is the next thing you need to do if it is an option for you. Remember formatting deletes ALL data so make a backup of the files you care about.

Make sure you've got a good view of what is actually using your CPU. Open the Task Manager and try to account for all % used and have a valid explanation for each process running. Take this information with a huge grain of salt because viruses can hide themselves from this list and appear to be legitimate processes when they aren't.

High CPU can be caused by a lot of things (viruses included), but it can also be caused by hardware problems. If you format/install and still have 90% CPU usage on your first boot of a fresh install of Windows, I'd start leaning towards hardware problems (and would be surprised it even made it through an install).

How's your memory usage look in Task Manager? I wouldn't expect it to cause high CPU usage, but your memory could be having issues which has caused some of it to not be used, which is causing the computer to use the hard drive for memory (aka swapping), which is extremely slow and will bog down your computer immensely. You should see 90%+ memory usage if this is happening. Memtest86 is a great (free) program that searches out buggy RAM in your computer; let it run overnight.

Finally, going after things that bog down entire computers quickly, it could be the thing most likely to fail in your laptop (IMO): your hard drive. The easiest way to diagnose a bad drive is to remove it and test it in a known-good computer.

Anyway, definitely FORMAT and reinstall (if you can handle a format without losing anything).

And degragging is the most overrated fix to anything in the history of computing. Hard drive fragmentation is not causing your problem, nor will it ever in home computing. I don't remember the last time I defragged anything, and I've never seen defragging fix anything.

Defragging's main purpose is to get users like yourself off of the phone for a few hours when you're out of troubleshooting ideas. Linux/Unix doesn't even have a concept of defragging in the majority of their native filesystems.

I agree with Dan. Don't put your GPA on your resume and don't bring it up and you probably won't be asked.

Also, don't volunteer any information about your mental illness during an interview. I've tried that and it is a bad idea. It is sad but true that people just don't understand mental illness and they will automatically think you can't do the job because of it. If they ask about your GPA (which is unlikely) just tell them that you had a lot of outside distractions or issues or something like that and point them in the direction of your other credentials.

And, after some experience I'd have to say that you probably shouldn't reveal at work that you have any kind of mental illness. People treat you differently...unless it must come up because it is causing a problem or something or you feel close enough to tell people. Even supposedly hip or progressive people can be less than supportive of mental illness issues.

They make it really clear, if you're up and out of your seat. They also direct people into cars according to their destinations when they board, so you won't have to move when the train splits--so if you're in your assigned seat, you'll end up where you should be.