Power Washer Pumpkin Carving

I saw an amusing video somewhere of someone carving a jack-o-lantern with a power washer. This sounded both more convenient than laboriously sawing through a squash all night, and it also sounded very awesome. We pitched the idea to our friends Gabby and Derek as they are real adults with a house and the endless tools one needs to maintain said house, power washer included.

I made the mistake of wearing my nice Big Lebowski sweater outside and probably got pumpkin mist all over it. Sacrifices must be made for science.

I don't think it came out half bad if I do say so myself.

It was very amusing when the pumpkins became so full of pressurized water that pumpkin guts started spewing out is its eyes.

Lydia's kind of reminded me of an ogre for some reason. Or maybe even a secret scary Troll.

There was a bit of a trick to it. You had to move fast because if you lingered in one spot for too long the pressure of the water would punch a whole through the front of the pumpkin and out the back.

I think these look scarier than the normal cut pumpkins because they have an instability to them that makes them look like they were done by a scary person.

Derek and Gabby are fun because they appreciate a good beer. I like to bring weird stuff over for them to sample. This baby was hand imported by me from New Belgium brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado.

"Let the holiday festivities begin! Inspired by warm spiced apple cider on a chilly night, we brewed a brown ale with apple and cranberry juice, along with orange and lemon peel, cinnamon, clove, mace, allspice, and ginger, and finally blended with foeder-aged dark sour. Best enjoyed with family and friends... cheers!"

We then posed next to our murdered vegetables.

I was excited to crack this baby open as well. We snagged this after the ice cream tasting at Tillamook. A pommeau is an alcoholic drink made in north-western France by mixing apple juice with apple brandy

Seattle Halloween

I had the solemn honor of showing Viry and Lolo around our fair city today.

The view on the 520 floating bridge across Lake Washington can be pretty amazing. There's plenty of water, some skyline, and on a clear day you can see the mountains of Olympic National Park behind it all, and this was a very clear day.

I think we have the most rundown looking Hard Rock Cafe on the planet. Like the one in Guyana looks better than this.

We were headed to check out the space needle but we had to take quite a lot of pictures first. Tourists, I tell ya.

As you walk up to the elevators that take you to the top, there's exhibits about the history of the structure covering the walls. They are in kind of an annoying spot because I feel like I was rushed through them, and you can't go back for more afterwards.

The view is amazing anyway but today was an exceptionally clear day, especially considering that Seattle is known for its constant gloomy cloudiness. We could see Mt. Rainier clearly.

There's a little bar at the top which was fun.

This wine wasn't quite done yet.

I showed up my new night workplace, Climate Pledge Arena.

There were even a few selfie stations provided that took pictures and emailed them to you. So convenient.

Another fun part of being up here was watching the seaplanes take off and land.

One floor down from the top is fun because it has a glass floor and is rotating.

Pike Place Fish Market is well known for throwing fish at each other and other antics.

Checked out the gum wall.

It was Halloween and I think there was a bit of a shortage of costumes due to covid supply chain issues. Anyway I had nothing to wear to the costume party. I grudgingly decided to be lame and recycle a costume from a past year. I had a shark and hotdog costume to choose from... but I couldn't decide and decided to be a shark eating a hotdog. 

We did a pregame shot before going to the party. Viry already had her vampire fangs in and decided to drink hers with a straw.

It did not go well.

Our Seattle friends Andres and Marcela always have the best food spreads at their parties. 

There was pumpkin carving.

Lydia tried some fancy stuff.

I stick with the classics. Classic me.

"The great pumpkin is the world's first imperial pumpkin ale! It's packed with pumpkin and roasted pumpkin seeds, and spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice."

Afterward we popped back over to Wilde Rover Irish Pub in Kirkland. It seemed like the Halloween place to be last night.

The ladies said they'd never seen a shark eating a hotdog dance so beautifully before.

The costume... was hot at times. Peeing in it was also not fun. Luckily there was a lot of fabric to soak it all up.

There was group of girls all dressed like Mr. Clean complete with bald caps, and they had booze in a pretend bleach bottle. I don't know.