The day is sunny and warm. The surrounding marina guest slips are beginning to fill up with early arrivals for the Memorial Day weekend.
We talked with Irvin, the owner of Gallery Marine, who is completing the replacement of our engine. They received the relay which they ordered to make our Fireboy engine room fire extinguisher work properly. The relay will enable the Fireboy to automatically shut down the Yanmar diesel engine in the event of a fire in the engine room. Kevin Cullen, who installed our engine, will com this afternoon to install and test the relay. That will complete the new diesel engine install and allow us to begin our trip north.
When I attempted to power on my Dell laptop this morning, it failed to respond. The power supply appeared to be sending power to the laptop, but pushing the power on button did nothing. I have been worried about my laptop for a while. The keyboard failed a few months ago. I took it to a local computer repair store in Huntington Beach California and they replaced the keyboard. That improved the keyboard problem, but the laptop has been very sluggish ever since they worked on it. I left the laptop on the charger for a hour or more to see if that would revive it. I then tried the backup charger, but that had no effect. By the evening, I decided I needed to buy a new laptop.
Mary and I took the Lift ride service to the Best Buy at Northgate Mall in Seattle. The Lift driver, called Khoja, was from Afghanistan. He had worked as a Farsi interpreter for the US State Department. They helped him immigrate to the US. We talked about the politics of Afghanistan and the involvement of the US in Afghanistan. He explained that the Americans failed to understand the tribal politics of Afghanistan and sometimes supported the wrong factions. He was grateful to be in the US and did not blame the US for the problems in Afghanistan.
The salesman at Best Buy was very helpful and he explained the advantages and disadvantages of several laptops. I decide to buy a new HP Envy laptop with a 17" touch screen. I was worried that it would be difficult to get my files and software working on the new laptop. It was actually amazingly easy. Within a couple of hours virtually everything was working. The new laptop is a big improvement over my old laptop.
Mary and I took the Uber ride service back to Shilshole Marina. Our driver was Asad from Somalia. Fighting broke out when Asad was a child in Mogadishu Somalia. He and his entire family fled to Kenya where they spent several years. Eventually they immigrated to the US. Asad owns a Freightliner over the road truck and trailer. He drives the truck all over the US delivering goods. He spends months away from home to support his wife and five daughters. Recently, the money he is paid by the freight agents who book his deliveries, has been insufficient to even cover his expenses. He was forced to leave his truck parked idle in Texas and return home. He is now driving Uber seven days a week to support his family. He loves the United States and the opportunity it has given him. He is happy that his daughters will have a chance for a better life.
Talking with these two hard working immigrants, reminds me how lucky we are to have such people in our country. In trying to better their own lives, and the lives of their families, they are helping build a better country. We are lucky to have them.
Mary met her friend Rebecca for lunch at Unbien restaurant for lunch. They serve excellent Caribbean and Latino food. They strongly recommend the food there.
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