Nerd Day: Valve and Microsoft

When he cuts his hair and grows a goatee, Ben actually looks a lot like Gordon Freeman.

Do you play Half Life?  Portal?  Left 4 Dead?  Do you sometimes find yourself wondering what Bill Gates was like in high school?  Really?  Then you might just enjoy these pictures.  Others may feel free to skip on to the next day, but Ben sure enjoyed Nerd Day, even though I've never once seen him with a pocket protector.

TRush and Tonjon

At least I'm game enough to wear a Portal Tshirt, even if I've never played the game.

 Valve was actually a really cool place.  What, you haven't seen enough?  O.K., fine.

After we spent the morning at Valve and had lunch there, we hopped on a city bus and made our way over to the Microsoft campus--and it is a campus.  Huge.  This was a more conventional corporate working environment than Valve, of course, but Ben enjoyed it nevertheless--although I think his heart will always be with those Valve guys.

 

I didn't realize Ben was so historically influential...

Gift shop smack

After a long day of geekiness, we decided we needed a different kind of culture (or maybe I decided...) so we took the bus back to Seattle and spent the evening at the art museum.

We weren't allowed to take photographs past the lobby, but we loved this cool car exhibit.  After going through the museum, we wandered through town for awhile in the dark, looking into interesting shop windows, then ended up at a dark Brazilian-style steak house.  Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture of the name of the place, and it was too dark inside to get good pictures of the food, but it was delicious.

Sea breeze

Wat?

And none too soon!

Tempting nap spot...

Want that chair.  Why can't I have it?

Finally, exhausted after another huge day, we headed back to the Red Lion hotel and donned our fancy complimentary bathrobes. Since we'd been nerdy all day, we figured we might as well keep it up.

Tomorrow, it's off to Port Townsend.