My Fabulous Four-Hour Vacation

in exotic Tacoma! I visited the Museum of Glass.

The day I was there, they were making single-color cake stands. Boring! On the plus side, the Hot Shop is inside a volcano (-shaped part of the building) and it's toasty warm.

Here's a close-up view of the outside of the volcano:

And here's the inside, looking up:

Part of the ceiling of the pedestrian bridge to the museum (all glass) :

The wall of the pedestrian bridge over the interstate:

A fountain in the plaza:

An efficient mode of transportation:

House of Respect

On Saturday I went to the grand opening for the Puyallup Tribe's new elder center, which they call the "House of Respect" rather than the "Old Geezer Hangout." I designed the building's lateral system and foundations, none of which can be seen. You can't see the green roof in these pictures, either, but the flowers haven't really grown in yet anyway. I think it turned out pretty nice. It has classrooms, a banquet facility, arts and crafts, a health clinic with a therapy pool, a hair salon, and a gym, plus offices and a garden.

Fortunately, the congressman didn't show up in time to give his speech, so they just went ahead with the ribbon cutting and we didn't have to stand around in the cold longer listening to him blather.