Lisa Albers

Freelance Experience Résumé

Documentary Media (2008-present)

corporate and institutional histories and special project publisher

Writing the book-length history of 100-year-old heavy marine, civil, and industrial construction firm General Construction Co.

FA Insight (Jan 2009-present)

consultants to the financial services industry

Writing/editing Web content (including corporate tagline), marketing materials, and research report.

Seattle Public Schools (Aug 2009-present)

K-12 school district

Copyediting disaster preparedness manual.

Cat Daddy Games / Take 2 Interactive (July-August 2009)

game software developer

Wrote two player manuals, a voice-over script, in-game text, and box package copy for two circus-themed video games for the Nintendo Wii and DS.

On moving to Seattle, part 3

This is the last post in a series in which I attempt to assess Seattle for a friend interested in moving here.

4. Cost of living

Of course it's expensive to live in Seattle. A loaf of bread might set you back $7, especially if it's gluten-free, whole-grain, organic bread handcrafted from locally grown ingredients, and if you're buying it in Seattle, chances are good that it is. Sometimes, the hub and I save money by buying fresh, locally grown produce from the farmer's market. The summer before last, we tried to replenish the pantry each week solely on farmer's market finds, and this worked for awhile. We ate a wetland succulent called "sea beans," (not to be confused with mere drift seeds), and sampled all of the cheeses from the Mt. Townsend Creamery. We bought fish regularly from an independent fisherman I had met when editing Fishermen's News, Steve Wilson, whose troll-caught halibut and salmon I can trust. It would seem that these specialty foods cost more than what you can get at the grocery store, but we found that we selected healthier items, ate more fruits and vegetables, and saved money. However, until the farmer's markets begin stocking toilet paper and other sundries, it's not a one-stop shopping experience.

On moving to Seattle

A friend asked me to tell her what I think of Seattle because she and her husband are considering a relocation and are looking for a suitable city. Here's my answer.

1. Weather.

The rain is something to seriously consider. I'm not talking deluges. Don't try to assess Seattle's rain in quantity; Miami, Florida gets more inches per year. What matters is the biblical frequency of Seattle's rain. Not too long ago, we had 40 days and 40 nights of it, followed by epic floods. Places that had never before leaked became sieves; cars were rendered inoperable. A woman was drowned in her basement apartment.

For nine months of the year, when the sky isn't subtly or not-so-subtly spitting at you, it is at least overcast, as if gearing up for the next cloud-drooling. If you are someone who cannot be happy without regular doses of sunshine, you should stay away from here. If you are someone who cannot walk in the rain without an umbrella; if you are someone who thinks you will melt if rain touches your skin; if you do not possess rain gear or the wherewithal to purchase it, I'd advise you to rethink a move to Seattle.

All we did was let it snow

My backyard is a snow globe.

Seattle continues to be in whiteout mode, with another snowfall last night pushing accumulation levels into double digits in some areas. According to University of Washington meteorologist Cliff Mass, quoted in The Seattle Times this morning, this is the worst snowstorm Seattle has seen in 12 years. He must be the only one working right now at UW; My Ballard Blog says the school is closed today.

It's a good thing the 'ol Internet connection is working, as I am day two without a paper copy of the P-I on my doorstep. Comcast customer service leaves a lot to be desired, but they aren't failing me now. Trash pick-up ain't happening, by the way, and my recycling bin is overflowing from a mass shredding event here last week that created its own snowpack.

In other news, Crosscut publisher David Brewster has picked up my "Unfortunate fashion" post (yes, the one about tube tops) and is running it there today. Looks like we need to work out a way to embed videos without creating weird clots of white space.

Apparently, this week is going to be full of weird clots of white space, as it will stay cold enough to keep the snow around for a white Christmas, with more falling possibly on Tuesday or Wednesday, or both. Time to find a sledding device ....

They can handle the snow, but St. Louis drivers are among the worst

My foot sunk deep in snow.

Seattle certainly isn't equipped to deal with this blizzard, since unlike severe-winter cities like Chicago, there just isn't the snow plow/removal crew standing by for a rare instance like this week's weather. Still, the comparisons I made to St. Louis regarding the extreme freaking out of the populace are nonetheless apt. It's often said about St. Louis that it doesn't snow enough to warrant the kind of snow-removal team that cities to the north enjoy. So unlike Chicago, in the midst of a blizzard of the proportions of Seattle's Freaksnow '08, the news teams in St. Louis would be hyping the danger just as they do here and reminding everyone about the limited snow-removal services. And unlike Chicago, motorists would have to tough it out without the benefit of robust plow and salting action. Admittedly, I'm biased, and probably overly nostalgic after being in the old burg again. But St. Louisans are some tough-driving people.

The general vehicular attitude in St. Louis is less cautious and careful than it is here. Which makes for some pretty awful driving, some of the worst I've seen anywhere, save for Miami, where it is expected, for example, that you turn left on a red light. On the bi-state highways around St. Louis, drivers speed with regularity, zip in and out of lanes without signaling, never let another driver merge into their lane, and rarely obey the two-second rule. That's the one you learned in driver's ed about leaving a two-second lag space between you and the car in front of you. No, these drivers race up behind you and ride your bumper until you move out of their way. This happened to me on a long, straight stretch of I-64 between Belleville and Mt. Vernon, Ill. I was in the passing lane, heading around two slow-moving tractor-trailers driving in tandem. A car zoomed up behind me going at least 90 miles per hour, riding my back bumper so closely, his headlights were obscured by the back end of my own car. If I'd so much as tapped my brakes, our cars would have become one. This intimidation move was repeated by other drivers several times during my stay, and it wasn't because I was poking along; I was traveling at or just above the speed limit in every case.

It was a relief to come back to Seattle, where drivers stop not only to let other drivers in, but to let pedestrians cross the road, and not just because of the snow.

A seldom snow-scene: SDOT plow.