Laurin Girgis reporting for the Seattle Times:
Friday’s rain and gusty winds will continue through the weekend, with somewhere between half an inch to 1 ½ inches of precipitation accumulating in Seattle over Saturday and Sunday.
National Weather Service meteorologist Dev McMillian said Friday’s torrent of rain and wind came from an atmospheric river: a long band of moisture stretching across the Pacific Ocean and resulting in large amounts of precipitation. Saturday and Sunday, despite more precipitation coming in, will not be an atmospheric river, McMillian said. Rainfall rates Saturday through Monday are expected to be less than Friday.
Happy Friday from a very wet Seattle.
The city had about one inch of rain today, with windy weather and more on the way tomorrow. We also had the last 6 pm sunset for the year (but we could not see the sun at all today 😉).
The three US stock market indexes are again at a record high, even though it’s still October (many years past, a volatile time for the markets).
I do not understand why this is the case.
From what I glean on YouTube and elsewhere, lots of other bad numbers are also at a record high (or close to it, compared to the last 10 years or so): the gold price, bitcoin, credit card debt, student loan debt, the US national debt, mortgage rates.
The US government has now been shut down for 25 days. Hello?
Uncertainly over tariffs with America’s largest trading partners (China, Canada) drags on, unresolved.
About 1.9 million Americans have been looking for employment for 27 weeks or longer now— and we’re told that AI is soon going to kill millions of entry-level jobs for humans.
The Sep. 2025 inflation number that came out today (3%) is actually the highest since January.
Reuters calls the 3% inflation ‘cool’ just because it came in below the 3.1% that was expected. At 3%, inflation is actually the highest it has been since January. What also gets lost in a headline of ‘cool inflation’ that is that nothing is cheaper (of course) —and some staple items are up by a LOT more, depending where you are and where you shop (orange juice 10%, coffee 19%, beef 7%, pet food 8%).
The Halloween decoration in the window of the Pacific Supply hardware store on Capitol Hill’s 12th Avenue is nicely done.
Newspaper headlines of world news and the scandals and corruption of the Trump administration adorn the white folds of the mantle on the ghost’s arms. Today’s corruption scandal (it seems there is one every day), as reported by Associate Press: President Donald Trump has pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who created the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange and served prison time for failing to stop criminals from using the platform to move money connected to child sex abuse, drug trafficking and terrorism. The pardon caps a monthslong effort by Zhao, a billionaire commonly known as CZ in the crypto world and one of the biggest names in the industry. He and Binance have been key supporters of some of the Trump family’s crypto enterprises.
Jess Bidgood writes for the New York Times, referring to the destruction of the East Wing of the White House:
It wasn’t so long ago that Trump was promising his plan to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom on the grounds “won’t interfere with the current building.” In fact, my colleague Luke Broadwater reported today that the entire wing, which is historically the domain of the first lady, will be razed in the project.
Images of the demolition, which began on Monday as a precursor to the construction of a $200 million ballroom, have rocketed around the globe, swiftly becoming political fodder and a perfect Rorschach test for a deeply polarizing presidency.
Jess Bidgood writing for the New York Times: Trump, ever the developer, has certainly spent a lot of time building things at the White House. He paved over the lawn in the Rose Garden to create a patio. He has added gold filigree to the Oval Office and ornate chandeliers to the Cabinet Room, remaking the White House with an indelible imprint of Mar-a-Lago maximalism that is all but certain to outlast his presidency.
Here is the other sheet of 2025 stamps that I bought at the post office on Friday.
The Appalachian Trail Issued Feb. 28, 2025 Perf. 11 serpentine die-cut |Self-adhesive |Design: Antonio Alcala |Sheet size: 15 stamps | First-Class Mail®’FOREVER’ stamps (75c) |Engraving: Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. | No watermark [Source: stampworld.com] From USPS.com: Take a hike from the stresses of modern life with The Appalachian Trail stamps, celebrating the century-old footpath that rambles through unspoiled nature from Maine to Georgia. The pane of stamps includes a photographic view from each of 14 states through which the trail winds. An additional stamp represents the so-called “green tunnel,” an affectionate nickname for stretches of trail through dense forest.The Appalachian Trail, also called the A.T., is a hiking trail in the Eastern United States, extending almost 2,200 miles (3,536 km) between Springer Mountain in Georgia and Mount Katahdin in Maine, and passing through 14 states. [From Wikipedia]
It was not to be— the Seattle Mariners playing in the World Series.
They lost 3-4 in Game 7 tonight against the Blue Jays, in the deciding game in the American League Championship Series (ALCS).
The Toronto Blue Jays will now take on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Beautiful fall foliage surrounds the playfields at Miller Community Center on 19th Avenue East on Capitol Hill.
I got these ‘USA forever’ stamps on Friday.
It never costs me just one stamp when I take something to the post office, because I always buy a whole sheet of stamps! 🤗
From Wikipedia:
The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which American Patriot forces organized as the Continental Army and commanded by George Washington defeated the British Army. The conflict was fought in North America, the Caribbean, and the Atlantic Ocean. The war’s outcome seemed uncertain for most of the war. But Washington and the Continental Army’s decisive victory in the Siege of Yorktown in 1781 led King George III and the Kingdom of Great Britain to negotiate an end to the war in the Treaty of Paris two years later, in 1783, in which the British monarchy acknowledged the independence of the Thirteen Colonies, leading to the establishment of the United States as an independent and sovereign nation.
Battlefields of the American Revolution (1775-1783) Issued Apr. 16, 2025 Perf. 11 serpentine die-cut |Self-adhesive |Design: Derry Noyes (from watercolor paintings by Greg Harlin) |Sheet size: 15 stamps |First-Class Mail® ‘FOREVER’ stamps (75c) | Engraving: Banknote Corporation of America | No watermark [Source: stampworld.com]
Four amigos attended the No Kings* march in Seattle today.
We walked alongside the monorail on Fifth Avenue, and the train would honk at us with a whoop! whoop! every time it passed overhead.
From local TV broadcaster King5 news:
Organizers with Seattle Indivisible reported preliminary counts of nearly 90,000 people taking part.
The demonstration began beneath the Space Needle and poured into downtown streets, part of what organizers call the largest coordinated protest in U.S. history.
*The No Kings protests is a series of demonstrations, largely in the United States, against what the organizers describe as authoritarian policies of Donald Trump and corruption in his administration.
Happy Friday.
The new pickleball court facility called Sideout Tsunami Center is open for business (but the official grand opening will be in November).
This weekend, the center is hosting the finals of the National Pickleball League team competition in the “Champions Pro” division for players aged 50 and above.
I stopped by this afternoon to check out the new courts and the action there.
P.S. A win for the Mariners in Game 5!
From the Seattle Times:
Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suárez delivered eighth-inning homers to send the Mariners to within a win of the World Series, and send T-Mobile Park into a frenzy.
A little pro shop tucked into the corner by the entrance. The facility is at 2300 26th Avenue S in Seattle, in a non-descript building (a former Pepsi bottling plant) with a large, newly-paved parking lot outside.Twelve teams from all over the USA compete for gold, silver and bronze medals. Look for the logos of the Indy Drivers, the Austin Ignite, the Kansas City Stingers, the Boca Surge, the Naples JBB United, the Princeton Bruisers, the Denver Iconics, the Houston Hammers, the Seattle Tsunami, the Coachella Valley Scorpions, the Columbus Hotshots and the OKC Punishers.A first look at the courts. There are no pavilions or bleacher seats in the spaces between the courts. Maybe some will be added later for one or two show courts.Three mixed doubles pairs make up a team. Here is the No 1 team for Austin Ignite (left) facing off against the No 1 team of Coachella Valley Scorpions. It’s best out of three sets, first to 11 by one point. Coachella Valley Scorpions won this match.Pickleball in the Pacific Northwest. (The whale is a humpback whale.)
Game on, and on to Game 4.
The Toronto Blue Jays rocked George Kirby and the Mariners, 13-4, in Game 3 on Wednesday night, silencing a sold-out Seattle crowd and climbing back into this best-of-seven American League Championship Series in emphatic fashion.
– Adam Jude, Seattle Times staff reporter
Western Washington’s interior lowlands got its first frost of the autumn this morning.
Here in the city of Seattle the low was still above freezing: 40°F (4°C).
On my fence this morning: Mr. Squirrel, contemplating life while catching a little sun.
Tim Booth, Seattle Times staff reporter, concludes his analysis
“ALCS: Three impressions as Mariners take 2-0 lead vs. Blue Jays” as follows (this series is best of 7 games): .. but general playoff history, momentum, belief, maybe a weird witch-induced aura are all on the side of the Mariners. The opportunity is there for Wednesday night to be one of the most important games in the history of T-Mobile Park.
Win and put a stranglehold on the series.
Lose and the Blue Jays are right back in it.
A guy takes his dog for a walk on Capitol Hill’s East Republican Street (dog jacket with a Halloween pumpkin design 🎃 ). It was clear and felt downright cold to me here— 6.00 pm (and 53°F/ 12°C) with 24 mins to go to sunset. It will be clear and cold here in the city through Thursday (‘cold’, because I’m not yet used to October’s normal highs of only 58°F/ 14°C or so).
By Jodi Rudoren reporting for the New York Times, Monday morning NY time
I am the former Jerusalem bureau chief.
They’re free. Two years — 737 days, to be exact — after the Hamas terror attack that set off the war in Gaza, the last 20 living Israeli hostages left Gaza this morning. In exchange, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are being let go; the first buses filled with them just started arriving in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The releases are part of the first phase of a cease-fire deal that took hold Friday. A triumphant President Trump, the force behind the deal, flew in Air Force One over jubilant crowds in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square and timed the plane’s touchdown to coincide exactly with the first hostages’ arrival in Israel. He is about to address Israel’s Parliament and then will head to a summit of world leaders in Egypt, where the agreement was negotiated.
It’s Monday morning in Gaza. The release of the hostages (and Palestinian prisoners) is imminent, it seems.
May the war and the destruction and the famine and the killing of civilians stop now.
Here is a very interesting analysis that appeared in the New York Times recently.
(Whoah! Electricity is very expensive in the Golden State.)
How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State
Charging an electric car battery is usually cheaper than going to the gas pump. But it depends on where you live.
– Report by Francesca Paris in the New York Times of Oct. 8
The federal subsidy for electric cars has ended, which means E.V. sales will probably fall because of simple math: Electric cars are generally more expensive than comparable gas cars. (Some automakers are offering discounts to get around that.)
But there’s one place where E.V.s are usually cheaper: the cost of filling up.
Driving 100 miles in a typical gas car that gets 25 miles per gallon costs about $13 on average.
In an E.V. you’d pay just $5, if you recharged at the average home electricity rate. (Stopping at a fast-charging station — if you couldn’t charge at home, or had to travel far — would cost quite a bit more.)
There’s also a big difference between a standard gas car and a hybrid. A typical hybrid (not the plug-in kind) is essentially a highly efficient gas car — a Toyota Prius can get more than 50 miles per gallon — and so its fill-up costs can be roughly on par with an E.V. charged at home.
It’s almost go time for Game 5.
Below is a ticket from the Mariners game against the Texas Rangers that I had attended wa-ay back in 2004. 🤗
10.30 pm:
They made it!
At the bottom of the 15th inning the score was still 2-2. Jorge Polanco delivered the walk-off* on a sharp groundball to right field to score J.P. Crawford and end the winner-take-all game 3-2 against the Tigers.
*A walk-off in baseball is a play where the home team scores the winning run in the bottom of the final inning, which immediately ends the game. The term walk-off comes from the fact that the visiting team “walks off” the field, as they have no more opportunities to bat.
What happens next?
From espn.com: Starting Sunday in Toronto, the No. 2 seed Seattle Mariners and No. 1 seed Toronto Blue Jays will clash with a trip to the World Series on the line. Seattle outlasted the Detroit Tigers in a thrilling ALDS Game 5 on Friday night, two days after Toronto dispatched the AL East rival New York Yankees to get to the ALCS.
I believe the Mariners batter pictured on the ticket is Bret Boone. The Seattle Mariners 2004 season was not a happy one. It was their 28th, and they finished last in the American League West at 63–99 (63 games won and 99 lost). P.S. Two days before, on October 1, Ichiro Suzuki set a new major league record for hits, breaking George Sisler’s 84-year-old mark with a pair of early singles. Fans in downtown Tokyo watched Suzuki in sports bars and on big-screen monitors. [Source: Wikipedia]
Whoah! was my reaction as I rounded the corner and came up against this giant Halloween skeleton with blinking eyes. It made me think of the Terminator*— even though the terminator had red eyes, and a metal skeleton.
*From the 1984 American science fiction action film directed by James Cameron. It starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, a cybernetic assassin sent back in time from 2029 to 1984 to assassinate Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), whose unborn son will one day save mankind from extinction by Skynet, a hostile artificial intelligence, in a post-apocalyptic future.
[From Wikipedia]
The entrance of The Maryland condominiums on 13th Avenue East on Seattle’s Capitol Hill.
The Mariners crashed to a 3-9 defeat in Game 4 today in Detroit.
Game 5— the deciding game— will start at 5:08 p.m. Pacific Time on Friday night in Seattle.
A picture is from yesterday. The leaves have turned golden on the trees lining Martin Luther King Jr Way in Central District.
There was a rain delay to the start of the game in Detroit.
Once the game started, though, the Mariners were the first to put several runs on the board. They held off a late attempt by the Tigers to come back in the 9th inning.
A summary of the match generated by Chat GPT.Seattle Mariners’ Randy Arozarena is tagged out at first in Game 3 of the ALDS Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025 in Detroit. [Photo by Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times, caption from The Seattle Times]
Just a small town girl Livin’ in a lonely world She took the midnight train going anywhere Just a city boy Born and raised in South Detroit He took the midnight train going anywhere
A singer in a smokey room A smell of wine and cheap perfume For a smile they can share the night It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waitin’ Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searchin’ in the night Streetlights, people
Livin’ just to find emotion Hidin’ somewhere in the night Workin’ hard to get my fill Everybody wants a thrill Payin’ anything to roll the dice Just one more time
Some’ll win, some will lose Some are born to sing the blues Whoa, the movie never ends It goes on and on and on and on
Strangers waiting Up and down the boulevard Their shadows searching in the night Streetlights, people Livin’ just to find emotion Hidin’, somewhere in the night
Don’t stop believin’ Hold on to that feeling Streetlights, people
Don’t stop believin’ Hold on Streetlights, people
Don’t stop believin’ Hold on to that feeling Streetlights, people
– Lyrics from Don’t Stop Believin’, a song by Journey from their album Escape (1981)
Go Mariners!
The Mariners* are in Detroit for the third and fourth games (Tuesday night & Wednesday night) in the playoff series against the Detroit Tigers.
The Mariners and Tigers are drawn 1-1 in the series.
*Baseball team from Seattle that competes in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) West Division.
“The M’s,” named for Seattle’s nautical heritage, have never won a World Series. They have won the AL West Division four times and appeared in the playoffs in 2000, 2022, and now this year, 2025.
A sunset picture from last night (sunset now at 6.40 pm), from where I was standing at East Mercer St & 13th Ave East. That’s the Mariners flag on the Space Needle. The graffiti on the ‘Stop Sign Ahead’ sign reads “Don’t Stop Believin’ “, likely a reference to the 1981 classic pop song with the same title, from Journey.
