The nice old man from the third floor died on Monday. I don't know what he died from but he's gone.

I liked Mike. I mostly saw him in the elevator. He wasn't a quiet elevator companion. He was one of those old guys who'd talk to you about stuff. I always assumed he'd been around the block a few times and had some stories to tell.

I'll never know.

Talk now, people. Death doesn't do free long distance.

The fleet came in today for SeaFair. Well, we got three ships from a battle group and three more from our Canadian friends. We used to have a carrier anchored off shore from which all sorts of airborne things would fly and land and entertain.

But those guys are fighting Gorge Bush's war so we - and their families - won't be seeing them this year.

The ships come into Elliott Bay about mid-bay and they head south, looping to the north and running right along the ends of the central waterfront piers. My colleague, myself and Summer Help were checking a problem out in one of the offices on my pier when everyone started talking excitedly about the fleet so we went out and stood on the end of the pier to watch them pass.

It's awfully nice to see the three ships from Canada. They fly the US Flag under theirs and I thinks it's just nice that they extend us that courtesy.

There's a lot of fake brotherhood with Canada here in Seattle, being as close to Canada as we are.

Personally, I'll never forget that Canada took in all of those international flights after our airspace was closed on 9/11 without being able to know whether there was a threat to herself.

I'll also never forget how wonderfully they treated my countrymen who were stranded in Canada in the days after the attack.

Lastly, I'll never forget seeing thousands of Canadians with tears staining their faces at the memorial they held outside of their Parliament. They did for us what brothers do when things suddenly go very bad. They took us in, took care of us and cried with us.

So it's always good to see her navy in our waters. Unless they're trying to take the San Juans back... :)

The Blue Angels are due in town tomorrow and I should get several good glimpses of them as they practice and do their landmarking fro the shows on Saturday and Sunday at SeaFair.