User:Wac~enwiki

I am a software engineer for a medium-sized publicly traded company in Kirkland, Washington that runs a search engine you've probably used recently. I've been using wikipedia for a while now, and want to help fill in some of the blanks around where I live, and in areas where I have at least a slight modicum of expertise. Aside from the brief introduction, I use this page to remember things that I want to work on so I don't forget later. As such, it may get a bit verbose at times. Feel free to comment on the items listed on the talk page.

I presently live in the Snoqualmie Valley, 30 miles east of Seattle, a short walk downstream from Snoqualmie Falls and within view of Mount Si. I was born in Seattle and lived around the outskirts for most of my life. I'm a graduate of Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington and had occasion to live in Lübeck, Germany for a period of time.

Things to contribute
I have a very nasty photography habit which comes in fits and starts which I am trying to use to contribute some photos. I also know some people with a historical society up in Sammamish who have a variety of interesting information about the logging and tourist industry in the Cascade foothills and the Eastside in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

WikiProject Seattle has a list of things to do that may intersect my list here.

Pictures I contribute are licensed as cc-by-sa. I'm not sure what the politics are between this and the GFDL might be, but I don't see anything that would immediately interfere. This is somewhat of a break for me as I typically share my private software work under a BSD license agreement.

Take pictures around Seattle and King County

 * Find a PD photograph of Ivar Haglund
 * Snoqualmie Falls
 * I have a great picture of the falls during the snow storm that hit in early January, 2004 although it needs a releveling love from Photoshop
 * Will have to wait until fall when the rain starts to pick up for a good shot of the full falls
 * Article should mention that 80% of the river water goes through the hydro plant rather than the falls nowadays
 * I've gotten the impression that the Snoqualmie (tribe) may have some amount of anomosity towards Puget Sound Energy w.r.t. how much flow is being diverted these days. I'll have to find some citable sources for that though.
 * Seattle Waterfront Streetcar
 * Colman Dock
 * Sound Transit
 * Sounder train
 * ST Express bus
 * Qwest Field
 * University District, Seattle, Washington
 * University of Washington
 * The fountain out to Mt. Rainier picture
 * The Suzzallo Library
 * Outside façade
 * Graduate reading room
 * Seattle as seen from the Bremerton ferry (or the Vashon passenger ferry)
 * Experience Music Project
 * I should find the quote from the New York Times architecture critic who described the EMP as something that crawled out Puget Sound and died.

Take pictures of other things not too far away

 * Mount St. Helens
 * I'd like to see more coverage in that article of the natural recovery of the nearby flora and fauna which is one of the most spectacular features of the area nowadays.
 * Mount Rainier
 * Get a shot with the Seattle skyline in it
 * I'd like to see some coverage of the native mythology surrounding the mountain.
 * I'd like to see reference to the way some locals tell the weather by looking for the cap on the mountain.
 * Western Washington University
 * I've got to have a picture of Red Square somewhere...
 * Show Jumping

More text oriented work

 * Add an entry for Pasado's Safe Haven, a sanctuary for abused animals near Seattle. They are notable for their lobbying work for stronger laws against animal cruelty, frequent rewards for information leading to arrests in animal cruelty cases, and their work rehabilitating abused animals.
 * An entry about Pasado the donkey might be a follow up. His beating and hanging death in Bellevue, Washington led to public outcry and stronger laws in Washington state.
 * Does Snoqualmie Ridge business park really employ 1000 people? Is it for certain that isn't the population that live in the houses up there?
 * Add some information about the concept car that preceded the Audi TT to that page.
 * Make sure there is some reference to liquefaction and the fill conditions in SoDo for the 2001 Nisqually earthquake entry.
 * It was all once part of Elliott Bay down there, and it was filled using some of the dirt from the Denny Regrade among other things IIRC. The land down there is very susceptible to liquefaction as a result.  Reports from some of the buildings down by Boeing Field (KBFI) said that mud seeped quickly into a number of below ground rooms during the earthquake and some buildings subsided into the soil rather dramatically.
 * Generate some stubs for the various other mountain passes in Washington state that aren't already covered.
 * Cayuse Pass
 * Chinook Pass
 * Be sure that the appropriate entries are listed in Cascade Range as well.
 * Include recreation details in the Cascade Range entry about the mountain pass ski areas that dot the Cascades and the Pacific Crest Trail.
 * The green shuksan rock near Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan
 * Add external links to the WSDOT traffic flow pictures from the various floating bridge pages
 * Add external link to the Ave business alliance or whatever they are to University District, Seattle, Washington
 * There's a University (or maybe it's U. District) Chamber of Commerce. I think there's also a "Merchants' Association". There used to be a U. District Round Table, but I think it's dead. -- Jmabel 20:12, Aug 11, 2004 (UTC)