— पांच हजार आठ सौ निन्यानवे —
We had our Office Relocation Team Happy Hour at the end of the work day yesterday. This was intended to be the final, celebratory event that wrapped up our work on this team—although the move itself happened on September 2; the last time the team met for any reason was October 1; and the last time I met with the team was September 24.
The meeting on October 1 was a thank-you lunch hosted by Krish, our CEO, and I didn't make it because Shobhit had covid. The Happy Hour had been scheduled for that same afternoon after work, but that got canceled when our CEO went home that afternoon and tested positive for covid. It was later rescheduled for yesterday; Sara sent out a poll, just like she did the first time around, to find out what day might work for all of us. In the end she sent the invite for October 22.
There were eight of us on the team, and I had
really hoped there could be one final meeting of all of us together so we could get a photo. But, Jami from Store Operations was not in-office yesterday and lives too far away; Katie from Finance and Accounting wound up behind on her work and let us know about an hour into our Happy Hour that she would not make it; and Chris L from Information Systems (IT) just never showed without aby comment. So, five of us (that's 62.5%)
did go: Sara from Human Resources (who basically served as de facto Chair of the team and probably did more work than any of us); Lori from Store Development (she just celebrated her
fortieth anniversary with PCC this year); Lexis from Marketing and Purpose; and Grant the Office Administrator.
Sara made a 4:15 p.m. reservation at
Yard House Seattle, a block and a half north on 4th Avenue, right next to Century Square. I didn't even know this place existed, and it was basically a sports bar I would never think to go into anyway—but every single thing I had there was delicious, including the two "Hawaiian Mules" (Moscow Mule using pineapple vodka) I ordered, which might now be my favorite Mule variety. Anyway, I totally assumed it opened there recently, but it's been there
since 2013, in the site formerly occupied by Borders Books. I can't believe it was that long ago now; the Borders closed in 2011.
Sara wound up unable to leave until 4:15 itself, so Lori, Grant and I walked ahead; Lexis arrived shortly after; then Sara arrived several minutes later.
I didn't order any food for myself, rightly figuring I'd get more than enough from any shareables that got ordered. It turns out Yard House has a
pretty great Happy Hour, Monday-Friday 3-6pm, with half off several of the appetizers; half off pizzas; $2 off cocktails; $3 off 9oz wine; and $4 off "Half Yards." I was shocked by how busy it was, particularly at 4:15. It was rather loud in there and that alone would make it less desirable a choice to me, especially going with a group. But: the food was great, and PCC paid the bill, so I'm not complaining. (This was also why I didn't hesitate to get a second of those delicious cocktails.)
Lori was very kind and made sure to get vegetarian appetizers so I could eat them. We got Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds and Spicy Za'atar Hummus, both delicious. When Sara arrived, she ordered a Truffled Mushroom Pizza, which I figured she would not be able to eat all of. I waited patiently until she offered me a slice and then I took one—it was amazing; the best out of all the food. I later had a second slice, and Lexis has a slice too. Honestly I would come back just for the food; the cocktail Happy Hour deal isn't as great ($2 off $12.29 in the case of my particular cocktail) but the food deals alone make it worth it.
I ate a
lot of the cheese curds. I had maybe three slices of bread with the hummus. And I had two slices of the pizza—relatively small slices, but still.
I didn't take any pictures at all. I suppose I should have. I was bummed about three people not making it, and so didn't feel like the group photo was much of a priority anymore. Maybe one day.
I was happy those who made it did, though. Lori told me all sorts of things still scheduled for the office: painting a different color on one wall of all the conference rooms; finding places to hang old PCC store signs; adding a few things to
the CEO area to give it more privacy—and to put some color on the tile wall over there. Apparently Krish has complained that the tile background when he's on a Zoom call makes it look like he's in a shower. Ha!
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— पांच हजार आठ सौ निन्यानवे —
There was also some discussion about what we'll do for our "Foraged Feast" around Thanksgiving this year—something that probably should have started in discussions much earlier than this, but whatever. Somewhat to my surprise, it was suggested we still have it in the office space itself. Lori suggested we could set up communal tables down
the path through the center of the room, which actually is wide enough to make it work, as long as the path along the north side of the room is still kept open, which it always is anyway. The kitchen here is much smaller than it was at the old office but still workable; in fact it's still notably larger than the one at the Roosevelt Way location had been.
The challenge now would be to secure a date. A Wednesday seems to be the most logical choice, and I was quick to say that my personal preference is that it be in November because this was long a Thanksgiving tradition—I bristle a little at scheduling it in December (when traditionally we have some other holiday social event anyway) and calling it a "Holiday Potluck." More recent years have called it a "Foraged Feast" and I like that a little better.
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I just spent a somewhat inordinate amount of time writing up a detailed email to both Grand and Lexis, noting when we scheduled the Thanksgiving potluck almost every year since 2002, and adding some other notes that may be useful for pulling something off this year. I should really save it for future reference, actually.
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The other news from yesterday was that Sachin arrived. He'll be staying in our guest room for about two weeks, it appears. I don't know if he's even booked his flight back to Nashville yet.
He owns a house he rents out here in Seattle, though, and there was a major fire among several neighoring houses. His house did not burn down, but it did catch fire apparently; Sachin told us last night that a neighbor got a hose and managed to put it out. But, there was still damage, and I guess Sachin is here to assess it.
Sachin arrived in the afternoon, and I guess they walked downtown to get drinks at Old Stove Brewing at Pike Place Market. They were there while I was at Yard House—and these are pretty similar places. Yard House has the far better Happy Hour, I can tell you that.
When my group finished at Yard House, Shobhit and Sachin were already walking home. I called him as I stood on the corner of 4th and Pine, and he said they were passing VooDoo Doughnuts, which meant they were 7 blocks ahead of me on Pine. So, I just turned my podcast on and headed toward Capitol Hill.
By the time I was closer to Broadway, they had gone over to the QFC on Pike. So, I went over there, and when I arrived they were just finishing at self-checkout. So, we all walked the rest of the way home together. Sachin gave me a hug and said, "I saw you a couple month ago." (Actually it was nearly four months; he last stayed with us in early July.)
Shobhit made dinner, and between him and Sachin, I swear I had to say over and over that I could not possibly eat any more, I was so stuffed from the eating I did at Happy Hour.
We watched the final two episodes of season three of
The Diplomat on Netflix—it didn't end nearly as exciting as it began, even though it ended with a couple cliffhangers of sorts. I really, really love that show; it might be my favorite thing currently getting annual productions on Netflix—it's one of the few things worth renewing a subscription for. I just checked
the MetaCritic page for this show, and its separate ratings by season: 74 for season 1; 76 for season 2; 84 for season 3! That totally tracks—although it's also relevant to note that it aggregates 23 reviews for season 1; 23 again for season 2; and only 13 reviews (so far) for season 3.
I did have to stop and start a lot though, due to lots of chatting between Shobhit and Sachin. That was annoying, but something I'll just have to deal with for the next couple of weeks. Sachin had gotten up super early for his flight and was still acclimated to Central Time, so he went to bed early. Shobhit and I finally got back to catching up with the episodes of
As Time Goes By that aired last Saturday night, and we were able to watch those in peace. And there were other new episodes of shows last night we didn't even get to, and will have to wait on until further into the weekend:
The Lowdown,
Only Murders in the Building,
Abbott Elementary. Ugh, all these watch commitments! Our life is so hard!
— पांच हजार आठ सौ निन्यानवे —
[posted 12:36pm]
