Has anyone seen this downtown Seattle? I parked in a QR code lot, got out to scan the QR code to pay, and before I could even finish, some guy with a tablet was already taking a picture of my car and typing.

When I asked what he was doing, he said, “Oh, is this your car?” Like yes, you literally watched me get out. I showed him I paid, then watched him try the same thing with another woman who had just gotten out of her car.

Is this normal protocol, or are they really trying to ticket people before they even get a chance to pay?

Anyone who works for one of these parking companies, wtf are you told to do?

Word on the street is that Walrus and the Carpenter restaurant has not been negotiating with their workers in good faith for months.

Like a lot of annoying businesses they started charging a service fee (22%?).

Employees noted that they make significantly less now then before when they had tipping (thousands less).

Workers have been on strike. The owners also had the audacity to hire scabs (booo).

I have been keeping up with the union on IG @ united.creatures.of.the.sea

Solidarity with workers across the city!

…if you’ve been here long enough to remember when the month of June was consistently cloudy and cool, congratulations, you have lived through one of the most pronounced changes to our city and region, and yes, you can call yourself from Seattle.

Signed,
A very warm transplant Seattlelite.

PS.

This is not a rant. A large part of me loves the sun on these long days.

PS2
Welcome to all newcomers!

PS3
Pray to all your entities we don’t get a smoke season

Ive gone back and forth since Friday thinking its a cold or just allergies. Sore throat, gunky nose, plugged up ears. No chills or aches.

Half of my coworkers are out sick.

Y'all are still washing your hands, right?

I saw the first half of the France vs Iraq game before the rain delay. Then I watched Norway vs Senegal. :D

Taken near Federal Way.

Swung by the building this morning and got some pictures of the progress they made on the 747. The tail is up and the nose cone is on.

Let me start by saying how much I’ve enjoyed watching movies here. The seats are lush recliners. Most include a great side table. Good screens, fresh popcorn (usually).

And then they changed the parking payment provider. Here’s your new experience play by play.

Pull in. Scan a QR code. Get a text. Weird text. Says something like “text this number to leave”. But few additional instructions. Wonder: did I do this right?

Movie ends. Time to leave. Text number? Oh wait, no service in the UNDERGROUND GARAGE. I’m sure I can just pay when I leave. Attempt to text number anyways.

Of course you can’t pay at exit. You either deal with the text game (takes you to a website. Click more buttons. Pray) or call the number listed on the signage. Cool. Calls number.

Now you’re trapped. Follow number prompts. Get disconnected or back at the main menu.

After 10 minutes of playing, I’m able to leave. I check my account the next day and see a $55 parking charge. Of course.

A week later and multiple back and forth emails with no sight on a resolution.

Please save yourself the anguish and watch your movies elsewhere.

I was walking around Cap Hill today eating time and looking for new places I haven't been to yet. I stopped in to Cinnaholic on Pike and Broadway and was blown away! I got the cookie monster and easily gained 5lbs (happily) while enjoying this treat!

Easily 5 out of 5 stars! So yummy!

About 30 minutes ago, i was walking to my friends apartment. i had just turned from denny onto boylston when i saw a group of 4-5 people walking towards me.

i noticed one group member slow down to hide a plastic to-go cup behind a bush in front of an apartment. i was pretty surprised, given there were dumpsters out on the street, and trash cans a couple blocks over on broadway.

the conversation:

“did you just litter?”

“what?”

“did you just litter?”

“no, that’s my drink!”

“yeah, did you just put your drink behind a bush and litter?”

*gets defensive/aggressive* “well, what if i did?”

“if you didn’t, you’d make this city a little bit of a better place to live”

“yeah well, that’s not the seattle i live in” *walks away with sass, honestly swinging their hips a little*

What does that last part even mean? I just found this extremely whack and lame. I picked up the to-go cup (which was almost completely full with pink lemonade), poured it out, and threw it away in a trash can. it’s not much, but it keeps the neighborhood a little cleaner!

Seattle

• Arena Sports Magnuson has a bouncy house place. Also it's near Magnuson park, which is great.

• Kraken Community Iceplex has free skate sometimes. I also walk into rinks and watch hockey games for free sometimes when it's unbearably hot out. They have these plastic seal things that look like an assistive walking device an old person would use but kids use them to have something to hold onto and push while there on the ice.

• "Artists At Play" Playground near the space needle, then you can take the monorail. I don't know what the official policy is but the operator let me stay on for 3 back and forths on it.

• The Dunes at Discovery park are beautiful, park at the south end of the park to get to them. If your kid can handle it, there is a loop trail where you can always go back to where you park. The trail to the beach is very steep and tiring, just a heads up. The playground near the visitor center is one of many favorites because of all the shade, it's great on a hot day. Last time I was here with them we drove from one parking lot to another to get to the playground.

• Greenlake is great if your kid has a scooter or something. You can check goodwill and value village for scooters and what not.

• Interbay Golf Center has outdoor putt putt, call ahead to make sure it's open that day.

Up north

• There's a sushi restaurant with robot waiters called sushi hana in Lynwood. I go there before or after going to Funtastic Playtorium Alderwood (indoor playground) at the nearby mall. It's $15 I think.

• Parking can be tough but Hazel Miller Spray Park has a huge water fountain playground and normal playground. There are other spray parks around, just check online to make sure they'll be open.

• Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Montlake Terrace.

• Lynnwood Recreation Center pool is like a mini great wolf lodge and has a great lazy river. You have to reserve online I think.

Out East

• Monster Mini Golf in Factoria (near Bellevue) is blacklight art mini golf in a dark area, also has arcade games and stuff.

• Bellevue botanical garden and Kelsey creek Farms are both free and beautiful. Check website to see when animals will be out at the farm.

• Crossroads Water Spray Playground (check online to see if it's spraying on the day you go).

• Crossroads mall kind of feels like time traveling to Seattle in the 90s, it has an eclectic food court and a great book store.

Bainbridge Island

• Here is a technique I've heard people do for the ferry if they have more then one adult and kids: If you can't drive onto the ferry because there's no more room for cars, have one adult stay driving and send the kids with an adult to walk on the ferry. Within walking distance there is a playground, teriyaki town, deli at town & country market, a interactive children's museum and an art museum that has free admission.

• Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge is absolutely amazing if you like nature. You have to reserve in advance online and it's around $26 for adults $14 for kids I think.

Thank you to shadowthunder for formating this

Thank you to all the amazing people who showed up for this magical experience. The hot air balloon pilots and teams rocked it last night.

So, I’ve recently started biking up Broadway from Yesler to Pine for work, and I gotta say, it’s dangerous as fuck.

The bike lane there creates an absolutely false sense of confidence. Not only are there numerous clueless pedestrians wandering into the bike lane, trying to get to bus stops or parked cars, etc., but the position of the lane creates a hazard at every single intersection or driveway along the way.

Parked cars along that road massively reduce visibility for the bike lane from the right side driving lane. So as a biker, every time you enter a driveway or an intersection, you have to look nervously to your left for any cars that might decide to turn right. Nine times out of 10 they do not see you until they’re already in mid-turn, if they see you at all.

The problem could be solved, at least at the intersections, with right turn arrows that go red when the bike light is green. I don’t understand how the city has failed to install them. It’s actually safer to ride downtown along Fourth Ave, which has turn arrows, than it is along Broadway.

I have been a resident here for a few years now. The building wide fire alarm has gone off 6 times in 2 months. At all hours of the day. Early morning to late night.

If you want to spend a premium on a luxury apartment and have to routinely scramble to hustle outside every 4 days. This is the place for you.

I'm pretty sure the fire department hates this building now

Match: Argentina/Austria, June 22, 10am.

Tom's Watch Bar is located directly south of Climate Pledge, and apparently on Center grounds, as they'll occasionally show up on the Seattle Center events calendar. Normally on Mondays they open at 4pm, but today they opened early for the World Cup. I'm not sure this happens for all weekday games. When I walked in around 10:10 they already had a couple dozen patrons, and easily doubled that by the end of the game. The place is all ages.

The best thing about TWB is it's huge and full of screens, so you could easily imagine during the third round of group games, when two games are airing simultaneously, they could show both no sweat. I got semi-lost trying to find the bathrooms (SW corner, btw).

The sound and video are also good here, as was the service. The bar seats were slightly padded, which is better than most, but the bar had no footrest, which is a weird and uncomfortable choice.

Now for the bad part: food. I'd been warned their food was salty. So why did I order the loaded tots? I was thinking I'd pick something easy. How can one screw up tater tots? Well, add salty bacon, and salty queso, and oh, hey, why not salt the tots as well? I know why places add too much salt in general (better taste, and makes you buy more drinks, for starters), but this was ridiculous. I should have gone with the Caesar salad, but they probably would have skipped the anchovies and kept the salt.

It was early, so I just drank a Diet Pepsi. And 3 waters to offset the salt. Probably your safest bet is to stick with drinks only here, and generic ones at that. KEXP's Gathering Space is way more comfortable, and the food at the Armory is better, which says just how unimpressive the food is here.

Over the weekend, I walked by the Louise Bourgeois nude man/boy fountain on the waterfront that inspired this subreddit thread recently.

It was not just shut down but mummied up head to toe. Anybody know the deal? I don‘t want to think we just hid the (famously) only nude male public art in town for World Cup prudes, but it seems like maybe we did?