Warts and All

Tomorrow I leave for a long weekend in Seattle to negotiate a summer job offer with Boeing. Seattle is one of the most physically beautiful cities I've ever been to, on par with San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, and Honolulu. Two summers ago I lived there for ten weeks while I interned at Blue Origin, and I feel in love with the endless sunshine, the quirky downtown and museums, and the Puget Sound area's epically good Thai food scene. Boeing is one of the giants of the aerospace industry, and after working at a small company in one of the more esoteric niches of the business (a wonderful experience, by the way), I'm looking forward to learning how its big brothers are operated firsthand.

Still, Seattle in January is a different beast from Seattle in July. The forecast is cold by my Arizona/Texas standards and rainy all weekend, and this is pretty typical weather throughout the winter months. My summer with Blue Origin gave me the best possible introduction to the city, and made me want to come back as often as I could. The net three days will be a good way to calibrate my enthusiasm for the Pacific Northwest against its drearier side. For a little while at least, I'll be able to soak up the rain, meet some amazing people a little bit like me, and watch airplanes get made. This should be a good weekend.