No such thing as a free lunch or a free ride: a $124 lesson

I returned to Seattle today after a very short-lived trip to Los Angeles and what may be my last trip for a long while. I never really thought of Seattle as my home, but today a feeling of permanence is settling in and I cannot help but feel as though Seattle's grip on me is stronger than I imagined.

Riding the new Light Rail today, I saw the Emerald City from a completely different vantage point. In addition to being a convenient mode of transport from the SeaTac Airport to Downtown, the Light Rail passes through the industrial hubbubs and blue-collar havens I rarely consider when I think of Washington. I passed by a meat factory called MacDonalds (not to be confused with McDonalds), tiny restaurants serving food from nearly every region of the world that I have yet to visit, and blocks of track townhouses indistinguishable from one another. Parts of the track looked like a different country, with shanty homes and angry graffiti art creating a gripping "Welcome Home" mat for me, as if to remind me that my life is only one-part merit and two-parts dumb luck.

Abruptly, my trance was broken by the emergence of two burly security guards checking tickets. In the haste of my departure from the airport, I neglected to purchase a ticket to board the train. Hoping that the guards would view me as a kindred spirit once they saw my misshapen King County identification (which doubles as my bus pass), I realized that somewhere between the airport bus and the Light Rail my card was lost...again. Even though I am responsible in all other areas of my life, securing my personal possessions has always been a challenge. I pleaded with the guards to believe my story and, thankfully, I left with only a disheveled bag and a stern warning that I'm told saved me a $124 fine. Now I just need to figure out how to tell my boss that I lost yet another county item. This should be a great way to start my first day as a full time employee next week. So far, my county I.D. has been like a boomerang. I send it out into the universe and it comes back in due time. Let's see if this boomerang theory holds true once again.

Rather than providing a long, boring introduction to this blog, I decided to just get on with the show and hope it speaks for itself. My past attempts to blog have been failures, but I feel rejuvenated by my recent graduation from undergraduate life and a calling to begin leaving my mark on this world. I hope that this blog will continually mature and eventually grow old with me. As I enter a new chapter in my life, I hope to chronicle the events of my days, from the shockingly mundane to the wildly absurd.

Stay tuned.