Posts — Page 937

Question for anyone who lives in Seattle. The hubby and I are visiting for a couple days this week and our friends who visited over the summer told me of a place with a bunch of claw machines. I asked them and they can't remember the name or where it was ,other then in downtown Seattle lol. I know it's a long shot, but thought id see if anyone here had any info they would share 😁 Thank you

Today was the first mandatory day back for all educators. We work today, tomorrow, and then the kids arrive on Wednesday. At least, that's the usual plan. But this year is a contract negotiation year. Our collective contracts between Seattle Public Schools (the district; SPS) and the Seattle Education Association (our union; SEA), have expired, and it's up to both parties to come to terms before the students arrive, or we quite literally can't do our jobs. The district (as it does) claims the union to be at fault for there not being a contract yet, but the district also walked out of negotiations yesterday, as we're nearing the zeroth hour. Additionally, the union is very stuck: it cannot accept what the district is putting down, without axing nearly half of special education. And as the union is beholden to its own membership, that's something it really can't do. Seems extreme, yeah? It is, and the district is just as stuck. See, things being as they are with federal education cuts and the world being, well, kind of a shitshow, the district is over-budget by about $70 million dollars. Now, there are plenty of places they can go for this money (state loans, taxes against big Seattle businesses and billionaires, their own executive salaries), but they all have caveats and strings attached (the state has requirements that tie the district's hands until the loans are paid off; you have to vote on these taxes and big businesses will get all weepy about it; and they don't wanna, respectively). So, naturally, the only place they can turn to is to axe their own services, supporting their own most vulnerable, at-risk students. Let me explain a little more about what the district has on the table. Right now, we functionally have four special education programs. Here's what they look like at (for example) an elementary level: • Resource : Think of this as the shallow end of the needs pool. It has many, many kids, but they all have only one or two classes in the area(s) of their greatest need(s). Things like extra reading lessons for dyslexia, that sort of stuff. You have a very small number of adults, but it usually works out because the large number of kids involved each individually don't require much. • Extended Resource : Here you have kids who can spend maybe half their day in their regular classes, and half in a specialized learning environment. You get kiddos with mild-moderate autism, some social-emotional learning kids with challenging behaviors, a lot of very funny and interesting characters, each with some pretty extensive needs. This is where I work and live. • Focus : This is for kids who can be in class *some* of the time. Think moderate-severe autism, intellectual disability, stuff like that. Communication issues (in terms of generating communication or appropriate communication) are often common here. Classes tend to focus on the basics as much as possible. I've worked here as well, and have some pretty fond memories. • Distinct : These kids can't be in their normative classrooms *at all*, for any number of reasons. Sometimes it's extreme behaviors, sometimes it's deeply severe autism, but kiddos in Distinct require a 100% specialized learning environment to get through their day in any shape or form. It's a very tough job, but I've met people who are quite happy doing it. TL;DR : You can break it down roughly as: Resource is for kids who need 25% specialized education, Extended is for 50% specialized education, Focus is 75%, and Distinct is 100%. Not entirely accurate, but that's the general idea. The district wants to smash those programs together. They want to combine Resource and Extended into a single program, and Focus and Distinct into a single program, to only have two tiers of special education. And, they want to eliminate about half the special education jobs in the district by doing so. This means every special educator will have to juggle twice as much work, when the current workload is already crushing. This also means dedicated special education teachers and instructional assistants (such as myself) will be out of a job and likely out of the city, as we will all be competing with one another for whatever scraps remain. I see it as similar to what happened to tech, albeit on an already smaller pay scale: because the competition for jobs theoretically will be fierce, people will accept worse jobs and worse conditions, because it beats having no job at all. Which of course weakens the union, which of course the district knows. So, this leaves us at the start of the school year terrified. We can't plan schedules, because we don't know what our programs will even be in a week. We can't know if our veteran special education teams will be there to welcome the kids who have grown with their sped programs. We literally are forced into a likely strike, because our kids, jobs, communities, lives and livelihoods depend on it. I don't want to be on the picket line, but I almost certainly will have to be there. I'm just glad my fellow educators are willing to stand in solidarity for special education. I'm honestly writing this post as a form of therapy, simply because I'm so afraid of what's to come if the union fails, and the district gets its way. For legal purposes and for clarity: I don't claim to represent the union, it represents itself. My opinions and words are my own.

Don't do this. When a few vehicles with boats show up to unload, you're a problem. Also, there's a sign right at the rocks that states not to park beyond them.

I need Seattle Reddit to give me your honest take. I did a run on the Burke Gilman today. I’m coming back from an injury so prefer to run on the packed dirt parts instead of pavement if I can help it. I found myself running on a narrower part of the dirt trail with a steep bank back to the pavement. There was an older person with two golden doodles, and two kids (probably between the ages of 5-8 if I had to guess). I said “on your left” and went past them. I tried to say it loud enough and far enough away such that they didn’t feel I snuck up on them. As a dad and pedestrian, I’m quite sensitive to the feeling of someone passing by you suddenly, and even worse, your young kids. Later, while I was turned around and ready to begin my run back, the dad came up to me with a “hey next time why don’t you run on the trail instead of buzzing right past us?” I just said “ok.” He repeated that I need to be on the paved trail instead of buzzing past them on the dirt trail two more times to which I responded “okay, I understand” both times until he finally moved on. Was ITA here? If I knew that it would have been difficult to get back onto the pavement, I definitely would have stuck to the pavement so I can totally see his side. But also it’s…a public trail? What’s the proper Burke Gilman etiquette?

On Thursday, the Sound Transit Board of Directors approved the creation of a fare gate retrofit program set to use $6 million that has been queued up to design a gate pilot at 14 high-ridership Link stations. Those design and planning funds are expected to ultimately turn into an $87 million program that will get gates installed by 2029 or 2030. Sound Transit's fare ambassador program, which is based on staff members actually checking fares on trains, has measured the fare compliance rate at 85% in 2025, with a further 7.5% of fare-less riders checked being exempt youth. This discrepancy has led some transit advocates to argue the agency is overestimating fare evasion and the potential uptick in fare revenue that gates could prompt. ~ 91,000 people are enrolled in reduced fare programs in a metro area of 4 million. The gates land in 2029. The plan to actually sign people up still needs board authorization.

Late 20s male. Pretty good at taking pictures and hopefully you are too. Preferably mid-20s to mid-30s people. Single after a long relationship and my camera roll is mostly old couple pics or mediocre group shots. My friends are terrible at taking photos, and honestly asking them to do a bunch of takes until a good one lands feels weird and kinda embarrassing lmao. Looking for someone who’s down to larp a bit and go to nicer places, events, restaurants, etc. and take good pictures of each other worthy of dating app profiles and social media. This doesn’t have to be weird, romantic, or come with any expectations. If we get along great, cool, we can hang as friends. If not, also totally fine. Worst case we both went somewhere nice and got some solid pics of ourselves. I’m normal, social, decent looking, professional, and I like good conversation. Down to chat on Snapchat to make sure we’re not serial killers. If you’re local and this sounds like something you might be down for, let’s see if we can plan something. Also 420 friendly.

Does anyone have any recommendations for Apartment Locators or how to find average homes/apartments for rent? I’ve been searching various listings and websites but only ever seem to come across the typical high rise, corporate managed midrise properties. I am curious if there are any less expensive options through private landlords or locally owned complexes. Moving from DFW Texas so the pricing has been a bit of a shock, although i’m sure it will even out over time with the adjustment in salary. Currently paying 1.3k for a true 1br 1bth 700sqf~ in the heart of downtown

I have been a patron of the Westwood Village QFC basically the entire time I have lived in Seattle, coming up on 6 years. I was doing my shopping yesterday, and while I was going through the store, I couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. It didn't click until I got to the self checkout: all of the employees were all now wearing what I'm assuming is required clothing: blue shirt, black vest, both Kroger branded. While not a world ending change, I really feel like the employees being required to wear somewhat of a uniform removes part of the reason that I shopped at QFC, which was that it felt like a local grocery store instead of yet another one of the conglomerates (because it was, prior to the Kroger acquisition). Forcing employees to wear that garish shade of blue that is so at odds with the rest of the vibe of the store, and strips the employees of their uniqueness and personalities.

Wanting to expand beyond just going to Marymoor, what are your favorite spots ? So far we’ve only gone to beaver lake and Evans creek although I think both aren’t technically in Redmond. Would love to hear from others!

So I’m relocating back to Tacoma this month from out of state, I already got a job that I’m going to start at the end of September. I tried looking for apartments but it’s hard to find one and judge as I can’t do it in person, and honestly they are out of my budget. I already made a roomies account and a roomatching profile, but honestly it’s just older ppl I’m being matched with and I’m not paying $20 to see their information. I’m 22 and plan on going back to UWT this winter as well and would really like to find a roommate in the same demographic as me. I even tried looking on FB but the listings feel like scams or are already taken and FB groups as well but nobody really reaches out. So please is there any other tips and tricks to find a roommate. Thanks.