End of October

I finally got to painting the hole in the hallway that I patched the week I moved in, over 5 years ago. And some picture molding went up along with more paint. Ingrid got some new hats and walked them up Mt. Tabor with her ma.

Garden Potatos

I saw we had actual potatos in the yard after throwing a few spuds in the ground instead of the compost. I tried out making Spanish Tortilla with them. The potatos resisted being dug up, but in the end the oil, the knife and I won out and a Tortilla was made.

Home in October

Rocky decided to roll around in composted animal scat so we washed him twice. I was mean and washed him outside in the cold and rubbed the shampoo in with ice. Ingrid did the second clean with warm water - no wonder he yaps at me. After losing a tug-of-war match with Tabitha I went outside and scared myself with a new dado blade while making a new bookshelf.

Morning on Hawthorne Bridge

Keevin & Sylvia

Keevin and Sylvia are leaving for Kentucky for medical school. They will be missed, and they will be back.

May at home

We had a kickass rainstorm with thunder and lightning (which dogs don't seem to like.)

Rainstorm.

Bday

For my birthday Ingrid invited some friends over and we grubbed on pizza and cakes from Saint Cupcake. I got a new cherry tree and a new Japanese maple as well. Plus Keevin and I drank some nasty year old champagne.

Bulged Disc

Last year I injured my back while running stairs. I got an MRI and it showed I had a bulged disc at L1-S5 (whatever that means.) I went through a few months of physical therapy and then talked to a neurosurgeon about it. He said the MRI showed significant disc matter and that I could get a surgery, but as my symptoms were very small at that point, that I shouldn't get surgery. So I called it good.

Over the last year the back had felt pretty good and I hadn't had many issues. Last week it decided to kick in again. I've been taking various drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, some P drug and Tylenol with codine and they aren't helping too much. I'm not able to walk much, sleep or sit upright for very long. So I'm actually out of work for a few weeks and lying on my side.

This time I decided I don't want to go through PT and go for surgery. I just got the results back from yesterdays MRI and it shows the same issue as last year. I meet with the neurosurgeon on Tuesday and hopefully we get the surgery right afterwords.

Picture of last years MRI:

New Years

For our ultra exciting New Years we went over to Matt's and played poker until 12:01 when we all bailed and went home to sleep.

Christmas

Christmas was over at my parents again. Simone, Mary and Trey came up to eat all the cinammon rolls and pork loin. Simone liked her new cape after I wore it and showed her how cool capes really are.

Walk downtown

After 2 weeks of being stuck at home I walked down to work to pick up Christmas packages. There was still a lot of snow and I used my shoes with screws on the bottom which worked out pretty nicely.

Snow

We finally got some snow in Portland that shut the city down for 2 weeks.

Forest Park Hikes

I've been continuing my weekly hikes in Forest Park to try and get in some sembalance of shapeness. As it is I just see joggers who keep flying by me.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was spent at the beach and I'm proud to say we ate 5 pies in 1 1/2 days.

Macleay Park

I've been hiking on Tabor and in Forest Park to get back into shape. Well, round is a shape but I want to avoid that shape. I went in search of the tree house above Hoyt Arboretum but couldn't find it. Lame.

Skank of Mt. Tabor

The Skank of Mt. Tabor is the southern trail on Tabor that really sucks.

Barlow Cyclocross

Today's race was at Barlow High school. It was a lot warmer than last year so that made it hard. If it was wet I would say the mud made it hard.

New poptop for van

We finally got around to taking the old musty pop top from the van and installed the new 3 window deluxe non moldy tent. It took about an hour to get the tent off, and about 6 to put it all back together.

Softball

After SF Ingrid had a softball game over in Westmoreland. It was uber hot and all the spectators were sticking to the shade like cockroaches. They won 11-10.

4th July

We went down to Gearhart for the 4th again. The rest of the family was there and Trey made some carmel corn with peanut butter. A sure sign the diet was on hold. The parade wasn't as exciting as last year, but that's because we didn't get any candy. The F-15 flyover was cool though, it was about 150' above us as it did a few banked turns. So maybe the parade was more exciting than last year.

We went down to the ocean to look at the fireworks and the fires. We decided to leave when one group fired their fireworks into the grasses near the beach. Next time I'll have to bring the tripod down so shots aren't so hazy looking.

I got a tattoo.

Home

Mom came over and helped me turn the ground over, kill some weeds and get the backyard ready to fend off the birds from the blueberry bushes. We replanted some strawberries, but they are dead now. As dead as the damned scale now that the Fit/Fatbowl is over.

New Van

On Saturday, Ingrid and I went up to Olympia to check out an '85 VW Westfalia Weekender. It looked pretty solid with a newly rebuilt engine and a few issues that come with 20 year old cars. We got the Weekender as it does't have the kitchen sink and such, as we don't see ourselves cooking that much and it'd be nice to have the extra room instead. It's a pretty nice rig and actually goes freeway speeds. It's going to the shop for a few days to get things touched up. I just ordered a new poptop tent and hangers for the curtains that are being drycleaned. We also got a new futon ordered to replace the old bed in back.

Pulled back

Last Wednesday I tweaked my back running stairs at lunch. I thought it was pretty dumb to hurt yourself running up stairs so I didn't do anything about it until this week. I went back to PT and got checked out.

PT gal said my pelvis was out of alignment from all of the left turns, and she pulled my leg to get it back straight(ish). The pain in my back kinda went away and turned into a leg pain, which she attributed to the inflamed muscles pushing on the nerves. So that's cool.

On Monday I go to a Doctor to hopefully get some anti inflamatory medicine so I don't have to take my gangster walk down to Mexico.

Jeremy out of Army

We went over to Matt's to celebrate Jeremy officially getting out of the Army. We looked for some games to play and came up with Taboo. After a lot of yelling we went out back to burn his fatigues.

Ink

I went with Ingrid to her tattoo appointment to realize yet again that I'm too much of a nancie boy to get a tattoo myself. But her tattoo looks badass so that's good.

Moving Ron

Ron finally wised up and moved back to Portland.

New Years

Our exciting New Years consisted of having a fire in the cold and then going inside to watch The Departed after we ran out of flammable chain lube.

80s Skating

Ingrid had the idea of going Skating but also thought we should dress up in 80's outfits as we had missed Halloween. So we looked like dorks while at a Japanese restaurant but we fit in with the people who skate at Oaks Park.

Visitors

Alex came out to Portland for work and stayed at our place for two nights. This is his out of focus picture. We took him to see Blade Runner, which bored everyone but me and Keevin, and for some beer afterwords at a "Portlandy" place.

On Saturday morning Clif decided to come over and hang out for a little bit before I went to run stairs on Mt. Tabor with May, Jami and Mo. Clif has put on a little winter weight but is still a cute little fucker.

Ding in the fall

Ding decided to make a pile of leaves and do some pile jumping

Cyclecross Barton

Today's cyclecross was out past Clackamas at a quarry. It was super nice out and cool run ups and hills. Keevin did really well and probably came in 3rd. Ingrid did good and took those chicks on the run ups.

Mr. Goobs

Socks

After my boot issue I thought I'd write to the wigwam people as their socks helped me get out without sore feet.

On their site they put up my email and pictures, just scroll down to June.

Peaches

Ding and I went to get peaches at Sauvie's Island this weekend. There were a lot still on the trees but they weren't as tasty as I remembered. They all went mushy and moldy in a few days so Ding was a little sad.

Cob

On Sunday Ingrid and I went down to help out Trey, Mary and Simone make some cob for a new fireplace. It was pretty fun to much around w/ the mud and straw. My bricks were the ugly strawie ones, while Miles and Ingrid made really nice ones.

Videos

I decided to try out vimeo youtube to host little videos I've taken. I put up the Keevin zipline awesomeness. I also took a video of my glissade down the upper part of Mt. Hood.

Boot Recovery

On Saturday I went back to the Gorge to get my damn boots back. As I'm paranoid, I brought up some rope and cordlette to help me get the boots out, as they were stuck fast last time I saw them. I got down to where the boots were and was ready to rig up an elaborate system (maybe a 5:1 Z-C pulley system I learned in crevase rescue or some such). There was only one boot and it was just lying there under a small waterfall and I could pull it out with little effort. It came out unattached and with not much in the way of shoelaces. I threw it to shore (which could have gone bad again I realized while it was in midair). I tried to search around in the pool of water for the other one, but the water is too damn cold.

I got out of the water with help from my really unnecessary rope and carabineers. I didn't biff it into the water, so I guess it was all helpful. I walked down the stream, I mean river, for a ways and couldn't see my other boot. I think it was hiding from me under a rock or a branch, probably thinking I wasn't worthy of wearing it. I got back to my bag and solitary boot and packed out to the car. At least I have one boot to add to my growing collection of crap on my front porch

Rock Of Ages - or how I lost my boots

On Saturday Dan and I went up the Rock Of Ages trail in the Gorge. It was pretty muddy and a pain to go up, but the Devil's Backbone is super cool. It was cool out and we had fog, which made it like Mordor or something. For once I didn't bring too much food and I was eyeing my advil as a source of food. Not that I'd really starve, but once you think about air dropped Philly CheeseSteaks (Dan's idea), it's hard to not get hungry.

While crossing one of the larger streams I thought I'd make it an easier crossing by chucking my boots across.

Bad Idea

As soon as the boots left my hand I knew it was going bad. They might have made it 2/3rds of the way across before landing in the fast part of the stream. As opposed to rushing to where they plopped in the stream, I stared at them in disbelief and thought "I used to throw in High School, how did they not make it?". Dan pointed out where they floated to and I moved there to snag them. They fell under a waterfall and got stuck. I tried grabbing the one boot and yanking on it, but the other boot was stuck somewhere. I regretted leaving my knife at home (I looked at it twice and thought "Why would I need a knife?"). I also regretted using 200lbs tensile strength cord for shoelaces as it's next to impossible to break with one arm.

I saw it getting worse instead of better, so I decided it was time to get heading back to the quasi warm confines of the Van. I had some duct tape and put it on my feet for the 3 mile hike out. After a while Dan pointed out I could put on my socks, so I did that and added more tape. Dan headed out faster to get my sandals from the car and brought them back to me about 2 miles later. A few people hiked by and wondered what the deal was. The deal is I can't throw two boots across a stream.

New toilet and door latch

Today Ron came over to help fix my door latch. After the door was fixed and the door knob didn't actually come out in your hand we moved on to the toilet. After some nasty cleaning and looking into the bowels of hell we got the new one tightened down and ready for use. Then I tried to get rid of a bunch of cardboard by pouring gasoline on them in the pig pit and lighting it. Needless to say, there was huge amounts of smoke and ash which took 10 minutes to put out.

Snow

We finally got snow in Portland, two separate times even.

Training

I just started my training for spring's climbing season. I decided to stop running (a while ago) as it kills my heel and didn't help hiking anyway. So I've been doing stairs at my work with a pack full of kitty litter (40lbs) and rice (15lbs) and magazines (5ish). According to the scale at work it weighs in at 75lbs.

I was going up and down the stairs but switched to taking the elevator down from the 9th floor. I've been doing 60-70 flights and am aiming for 100 now that I'm using the elevator

Keevin's Birthday

For Keevin's 26th birthday we all went over to his house to pre-funk it and then over to Montage for some grub. Afterwords we swung by Voodoo Donuts. Keevin had a good time running around as The Dude in the Big Lebowski.

Halloween Hippo

My buddy Ron just sent me this.

Astoria

Over the weekend Jill and I went down to the beach to hang out. I'd never driven around the town itself so we went off in search of the house and cool bridge in the movie. We found neither but went over the Astoria Bridge and up to the Astoria Column (with its $1 seasonal parking pass.) After having some kickass fish&chips and chowder we browsed a cool bookstore and an art gallery with Halloween themed paintings. I was going to get one but it was pretty spendy. I made up for it by getting The Hobbit for $2.

Root Canal II

After my last root canal the dentist called to tell me he had gone over the x-rays and was concerned with how the digging went. I figured if he's worried, then I'm concerned. He said he wanted to get back in there and try again.

As I enjoy drooling and having sharp things poked into my head I said yes.

I went in yesterday and got the nitrous. I was going to pass on it until we started as I figured I should man up and take the shots without it. The nice assistant said I might as well use the nitrous.

So I got the nitrous and even had the nice assistant turn it up. And that was the end of feeling anything. It was like last time except I was at the bottom of a well and didn't really experience too much (besides the assitant hitting on me again.) I did take a gander at the drill bit they used - either the nitrous makes things seem larger or it really is 2 feet long.

In the end nothing new was done on the tooth. But I didn't care too much as I was high on nitrous. They just need nitrous bars and I'd be a happy man.

Root Canal

I got my first root canal yesterday. Half of the people I talked to said it wouldn't hurt, the other half said it was painful. So I took the offer for nitrous oxide.

It took a bit for the gas to kick in and have any affect and I thought it was kinda lame. Then it felt like I was drunk - and that was good. Except I thought the dental assistant was hitting on me. But that happens when they see how hot I am with a dental dam covering my face.

The Dr came in and started excavating my jaw. That's what it seems like at any rate. I heard them talking but things went in and out as I can't hold my NOS. The Dr. said 'No, the longshank' and the longest bit I've seen since I drilled holes for the hot tub conduit passed in front of my face. I thought it'd be a good time to breath deeper and get all numblike. 10 minutes later we were all done and I was just drooling out of the side of my mouth.

Jill was nice enough to drive me to and from the appointment and deal with my bitching. She even got me peaches which I ate while chewing on the side of my mouth.

Motivational Posters

Not to knock the Mazamas too much, but I thought this was too funny to not make.

I'm an uncle

Trey and Mary had a baby a few weeks ago. Check her out. She kicks ass. Her name is Simone.

Are women evil?

I don't think so, but Einstien seems to. I created, I mean, found this on the web:

Suck Ass Weekend

I have to say this weekend blew. We went for our training hike up Mt. Defiance and I was so tired I was resting on trees on the way up. Matt and Keevin had to wait a half hour at the bottom I was so slow.

On the drive home I wanted to get to my hot tub, so I drove a little faster than usual. I saw the police lights behind me and thought "Hah! Some asshole is getting pulled over." Oh wait, he's following me into the other lane. I'm the asshole. $427 ticket.

That night Keevin and I watched Aliens in the tub until we were like Jello. In the morning I got ready to go out and rent some more 24, cos like you, I like to watch Jack Bauer kick some ass. I go out my door and notice my car locks are up. "That'd be funny if my car was broken into" I thought to myself.

I got to the door and saw the broken window. Not so funny. They cracked my dash ripping out the stereo (the one night I didn't bring in the faceplate), stole the amps, bent the window trim, and lastly - stole my backup milkshake money from the glove box.

Achilles Tendon

I pulled my achilles tendon a little over a week ago while running Mt. Tabor. I just got into the doctor today and he told me to ease back into running and to stretch. So I'll stop running hills and stick to flats and doing hikes on hills. That's not too exciting, but an x-ray of my foot is:

Sheet metal screws = easy mini-crampons

I've wanted to get crampon type deals for my shoes in case it gets icy - like last night. I was going to get Yak Tracks but they looked hokey. I read that you can put sheet metal screws into your shoes and still go running on ice and snow. That seemed like an easy solution so I put in twenty screws in each shoe.

I tried them out last night and they were fine on the ice, I didn't slip once. This morning I was going to run to work but after getting up to Division I realized it was just wet out, not icy, I went back home and drove in.

Shoes

Snowy

I'm a putz

There are a few homeless folks who hang out in Holliday Park across from work during the day. I've been talking to one of them - Echo, for a few months now. When I go on jogs she always asks how far I'm planning on going and on my way back she asks how far I went. She's pretty cool and gets excited if I go over 4 miles.

So today I walk out and she asks "How far?" And I go "Oh, just 3 miles, it's f****** cold out." Who says that to someone who is outside all the time? I shoulda made it more clear I'm a putz and finish with "But then I'm going inside my comfy heated work and have a hot cocoa."

Popcorn Genius

I saw a guy cut out the top of his popcorn bag a few weeks ago and finally tried it out.

Zach's Shack

I just got back from a dining experiene at Zach's Shack (they've moved down Hawthorne a bit) with my buddy Chris.

Chris and I went climbing at the gym for a few hours. My last climb was up the stupid *** 5.11- that I keep failing on. So I was a few moves above what I normally do and I stepped up on a large hold which spun and I fell. I was thinking of beer so I didn't try again.

Anyhoo, Chris and I rolled over to Zach's Shack on Hawthorne to grab a few hot dogs. I got 3 dogs, french fries and 3 beer (not all at once). We're sitting outside next so a group of people and having a good time talking about whatever overweight balding white guys talk about.

Then I felt something hit my back. I stood up and looked at the guys behind us. They were looking at me so I figured *they* threw some crap at me. So I yelled at them "What the hell was that?!?" They said "an egg" and pointed to the egg on my back and the wall.

Some ********* **tard through an egg at me on Hawthorne! I couldn't believe it. So It took off my shirt to show off the middle-agenish and get egg off of me.

The waitress came out and said "So, you have to wear your shirt." Like I was doing it to impress everyone on Hawthorne that I have love handles. I told her I got egged and she was all apologetic - not like it was her fault.

I continued to drink my beer with Chris and then Zach came out and apologized for the egg. I said it wasn't his fault and he said, "How about I buy you a shirt?" Who am I to say no to a free Zach's Shack t-shirt.

So now I'm a proud owner of an egg soaked climbing shirt (you want it?) and a new Zach's Shack T-Shirt. I am now a devoted customer to that place.

Egg

New Shirt!

Dentist trip

So I made another trip to the dentist down south. I had some fillings put in on the sides of my chompers. This is what I get for brushing too hard when I was younger. I think they need to have proper tooth maintainence classes when we're young so we don't screw it up by the time we're old and crusty.

Anyhoo, here is a pic of the flouride crap they put on my tooth. It looks like I do chew. How cool is that?

epiphany

I've known for a while that biking won't carry over to hiking or carry to running. While this is uncool that being in shape at one thing doesn't help with another, I just realized that getting sore from one activity will affect the other. You'd think that if running doesn't get you in shape for biking that being sore from running wouldn't hurt your biking. But it does. Sometimes I wonder why I even continue to exercise. I guess it's so I'm not that fat guy who breathes hard walking to the elevator.

Red vs. Blue

I saw this yesterday from craigslist. Talks about the difference between the "red" and the "blue" states.
red vs. blue

Weekends

Two weekends ago I went up to north to hang out with my buddy Sara on the Olympic penninsula. We did a little ride around Crescent Lake where we saw a bunch of kids jumping into the lake from a rock. Crazy I think. Sara was a tad sick but we had a good time relaxing in the trees. I had a horrible time starting a fire that night and Sara showed me up the next morning with some paper towels. So I'm off to Man School.

Last weekend I went up to Twin Lakes with Aimee and her dog. It was a nice little hike and we had the upper lake all to ourselves. I tried to take naps on the ground but the dog decided to shake off the water on me. So I threw it into the lake. Hahahha.

Then on Sunday Aimee, her buddy Kim, Scott and I headed up to Hood again and went to Salmon Bluff for some climbing. We did a few climbs that ranged from 5.7 to 5.9. Ok, one was rated a 5.3, but I call BS on that because it had a traverse and the rock moved when I touched it.

Anyoo, here are some pictures from those weekends.

Dig.

Sara's and my feet on the ferry	Olympic Peninsula
Sara on ride	Trail
Bridge	Crazy
Camp	Ancient Grove
Ancient Grove II	My cooking lamb burgers waiting for the ferry
Lower Twin Lake	Upper Twin Lake
Log	Salmon River
Scott Belaying Aimee	Kim
Scott clipping (Copyright Kim)	Kim and other gal getting ready to rappel

Wedding Picture

I just got a picture from when I was at a friend's wedding a few years ago and was told I should share. I don't normally put on makeup.

New Crown

I got myself a new crown today. Here's my tooth pre-crown.

Ghetto Tooth

Last week I realized one of my molars was hurting me. I was thinking it was a cavity or something - it hurt to eat french fries and drink beer at the same time. Which is totally unacceptable.

So I rolled down to my dentist in Corvallis today. And I have broken my molar by grinding my teeth at night. It was a "virgin tooth" and it's rare to break one like this. I'm getting a crown, nothing like Trey cos I don't want gold.

This blows. Now I have to wear my nightguard. Which if I had been wearing it before I wouldn't have gotten this damn crack in my tooth.

So I'm going to drink beer until my tooth is fixed. Advil is bad for your stomach I think, so this is a better approach.

Triathalon

So this weekend was the Beaver Freezer down in Corvallis. I was pretty psyched cos Trey and I had wanted to do it before, but forgot to sign up. So this year we signed up.

I did extensive training for the race, lots of pizza, steak and beer. I've been biking to work and running at lunch, so I figured I didn't have to really do any more training. Except for the swim, so I hopped in the pool twice to make sure I wouldn't drown.

I had signed up for the swim with a 500 yard time of 9:40, but in my two swims at the gym I did about 8:30, so I knew I'd have to pass people in the triathalon.

On Saturday my heat was about an hour before Trey's because he signed up with a 8 minute time. When the swim started I went out a bit too fast and was way out in the lead. I ended up lapping the people in my lane 2 times. And then I was the first one out of the pool. But I felt like dying so I slowly jogged to the bike and hopped on.

I rode about 3 miles and got a flat. I thought that since I had my super tire and the green slime in the tube that I'd be ok. But the slime didn't stop the flat. I kept trying to pump it up but it sounded like the valve was broken. I went for my spare tube in my saddle bag. And it wasn't there. So I sat for a few minutes and swore at everyone who rode by.

I walked back to the last intersection and got a ride from a lady in her truck. We picked up another biker who got a flat and we walked back to the beginning of the race. I stuck around to take pictures of Trey in his transition and finish of the jog. He kicked some ass and finished in 1 hour 15 minutes.

What the hell?

I was taking a break from my gruling job and came across this on craigslist. That is fricking disturbing.

New Poop Law

There should be a new law that deals with people coming into locker rooms and leaving stinky presents. If you come in and someone is taking a shower and you do your business and it's so terrible that the mold dies, you should be forced to stay there until the other people in the locker room leave.

Why is this? Because I was taking a shower today when I got into work and someone came in to use the toilet. And it was awful, I almost threw up and started huffing shampoo. And then he left and I was stuck with the stink.

If my poop law were to be enacted then situations like this wouldn't happen as often. The stinker would go to another bathroom and defile it, but no one would be stuck there for 5 minutes with the aftermath.

Hair Cut

My buddy Ron bought me a hair cut at this place called Hair M. I know that sounds a little chick-like, but they give you a beer when you go in. Who am I to argue with that?

I've only paid for one hair cut in the last 4 years, and that was for my friend Moo's wedding. I guess I'm not really paying for this, but it'll be strange to have someone else (besides me) cut my hair. I bet they'll do a better job than me.

I'll take before and after pictures for ya'll.

Sami Summary

Ant season just started, I found out. I woke up today to see the little bastards running around the dirty dishes in my kitchen sink. Guess it's time to keep up on my dishes.

Ron and I found out that it's actually difficult to break TV screens. We took a load of concrete, dirt and assorted junk to the dump on Saturday, where a few TVs were hanging out - waiting for us. So we chucked large rocks and chunks of concrete at the screens. And they wouldn't break. It took on average 15 good shots to break a screen. I bet the TV sitting in my room would shatter if I threw a sock at it though.

Sunday we tried to go mountain biking and saw my frame had a crack in the paint. Well, I thought it was paint, turned out my swing arm has a crack in it. Which wouldn't be too great for biking hard, I'd rather not walk out from a ride.

So we picked up a 6 pack of beer at 7-11. A few minutes later we were dry again and Ron made another run. The next 6 pack seemed to disappear (apparently someone [me] was chugging the beer, but [I] don't remember that.) So Ron and I walked back down to 7-11 to clear out the store of Fat Tire beer.

Last night after climbing I did some bench to work out some stuff. About 2 months ago I would struggle with 135 lbs (2 45 plates and the bar.) Then somehow it jumped up to 185 (45s with 25s - almost looks cool.) Last night I tried out 225 (45s 35s and 10s as my gym doesn't have 4 plates) and actually squeeked out one on my own. I think it took about 30 seconds to do one rep, but it counts. It's strange because when I was lifting after college I would work out all the time and never got one rep of 225 in, and I thought I was pretty strong. So now I'm drinking beer and eating pizza almost every night and can do it. I had a beer last night to celebrate. I'll be sure to have one tomorrow when the soreness kicks in.

HOT tub

The hot tub is now finally hot and bubbly. And the GFCI hasn't been tripped for like a week and a half - so all is well in the tub.

High School

So I was scanning some pictures from the beach and came across some pictures I scanned from high school.

Arm wrestling Mr. Pinder

My buddy Conni and me at my locker

Karma

Last night I was looking around my house and couldn't find my car keys. I usually leave them by the door - like most people. But they were no where to be found. I had the idea I might have left them in the car, which doesn't make sense because how would I have gotten *into* my house? So I open the front door and see my keys dangling from my lock. I had left them in since the previous night. Either I live in the best neighborhood or I just used up all of my good karma.

Nastiness

Ever get anything stuck in your teeth or gums? I'm sure it happens to everyone. I started flossing my teeth regularly a month or so ago (after the hygenist showed me what my gums were like and I got scared) but yet today I got a popcorn kernel shell out of my gum. That'd be ok, except I don't think I've had popcorn in the last 4 days.

My weekend

This last weekend seemed to involve drinking and Maalox. I went out with Ron on Friday night to Hawthorne and got some pizza and a beer or two. We were accosted by a petition lady wanting us to sign some deal to get Nader on a ticket.

Immediately we started arguing with her about politics and the war. I'm not for the war, not for Dubya and would be for Nader. Except the fact that one of the reasons Bush is in office is people "making a point" and voting for a third party candidate - Nader. I think there is too much at risk to let that happen again. The petition lady told us that we were stifiling the democratic process and was a little beligerant about it. I was being a pain just to be a pain. What got my goat was after she left, the people next to us said to her "Sorry you couldn't convince those guys." I hate it when people apologize for what I've done like that. I'm exercising my right as an American to not sign the petition and vote how I want to.

We bailed to get some whiskey sours down the street. If that doesn't make you forget about politics, not much will. Ron and I were joking about who we could "take" at the bar. I figured most everyone in there would be fair game. A biker guy sat next to us and we chatted about travel and Asia. He was a Sergant in the Rangers and the Marines and was a bodyguard for an Admiral. We decided we'd want him on our side in a fight. He looked pretty frickin' tough, nice guy though.

On Saturday I decided it was time to get out to the Gorge again and get in a little hike. I went up towards Horsetail Falls and took the little trail up to Devil's Backbone. I had forgotten how steep the trail was. I really think it's 2 feet up for each foot forward. The views from the Backbone are pretty cool, especially when you feel you've earned it. The down was a little more painful, my knees must be getting older.

That night I went drinking with my climbing buddies at Henry's on Burnside. It's a pretty trendy place, I felt a little out of place with my shorts and Chacos. They had a very large screen with the Olympics playing and mojitos kept streaming to my table, so it was all good.

I was smart and went climbing the next day. No good. I brought in my bottle of Maalox and drank that inbetween attempts to crawl up the walls. After helping Brynne move some stuff to her new apartment (that's larger than my house) I went home and slept.

Until going to Faustina's and watching the scariest movie I've seen in like 8 years: Ju-on. This is a Japanese made for TV movie that was freakishly scary. Even in the parts that looked a little cheesy scared the crap out of me. If you need a scary movie, this is it. We had some cranberry vodka drinks to make it easier, but it didn't really help.

Visiting friends

This seems to be the time of friends popping into Portland. Three weeks ago my buddy Sara came into town for a conference and we hung out at my house placing frozen wet towels on our necks to cool off. And of course ate at Stanich's.

A few days later my buddy Molly came into Portland for a conference. I took her around town, through the Gorge (where we hiked Triple Falls) and Mt. Hood. While she was in town, Michael was in town for a conference. So we had some beer after work and before I swerved home on my bike before rock climbing (not a good combonation.)

Then last Friday my buddy Bethany was in town on vacation from Illinois while her hubby Alex was in Russia. We had some beer in the Pearl while I limped around cos I tweeked my back while lifting a burning car off of a flock of children.

Now this week my buddy Apurva and some other friends are going to Vancouver BC and coming through Portland on their way up north.

I'm sure no one I know will visit Portland for like two years, but it's been neat to catch up with people.

And here is the funniest stuff I've read in a long time. It's humor from this guy named Mitch Hedberg.

Dubya

If you want to make Bush speak your words, try out this site.

Elk Calls

I wish I could claim credit for finding this, but I can't. My buddy Faustina was looking through the paper this morning and found this ad for an elk call doohickey.

I'm old

I went to the beach house this weekend for the 4th of July. They have a neat little parade every 4th down the main street that ends at the Firehouse for free hot dogs and root beer.

My cousin Joy and her family came out and stayed at our house for the weekend. We had fun playing Connect Four and nerts (maybe it was snerts, I'm not quite sure.) I grilled a lot of burgers and hot dogs, which is what the 4th seems to be about.

I realized I'm old when Hanna-Joy said she was born in 1991. I get a little weirded out when I know people who were born in years that I can remember.

And I knew I was old when I got sunburned only on my receding hair line. What the hell is that about? Where did it go? I looked in a reflection today and saw more skin than hair. It's like George Costanza, "She saw the shine on my forehead and kept on truckin'!" Super.

While I was getting schooled in basketball by Harmony (4' 8") and Seth (4' 6"), I saw a lot of high school kids. I made a comment to Trey and he said, "Dude, they're in college." It's just sad that college kids look so young.

The last thing that made me realize I was getting old was the fireworks show. I saw some people shooting their little shooter sticks in the air, but they weren't shooting straight up, they were shooting like at 45 degrees towards people. I mean, some one could get hurt. And who thinks about that? Old people.

It got to be around 10ish and as I was looking at the fireworks up and down the coast (which looked like anti-aircraft fire in the movies) I thought to myself "Man, I sure am tired, I should go home, sit in the chair and read a good book."

damnit.

Live Strong

I was climbing at the gym last night and noticed a couple that I talk to occasionally had on the yellow wrist bands for the Lance Armstrong Foundation. I talked to them a bit about the bands and it turns out the woman had actually designed them. I thought that was pretty cool. I'm gonna probably pick one up soon.

Cleaning house

Over the weekend I went over to my parents house and went through the last few boxes that I've kept there. I came across a few boxes of notes, letters and cards from high school and college. I was debating about carrying all of those things to my new house that I hadn't looked at since I put them away years ago.

My buddy Ron said I should just get rid of all that stuff, no need to keep it all. So I took his advice and spent a few hours looking through birthday cards, neatly folded notes with SSL (sorry so long) written over them. Then I made a fire in the basement (fireplace, I don't just burn stuff on the floor) and started throwing in the papers. The fire got so strong I had to back off about 6 feet and throw the paper in from a distance.

I did keep my ream of auto repair slips. It was interesting to look at all of the things I've done to (for?) my car. Funny, she's in the shop now.

I have a few shoe boxes full of pictures and negatives from all over the place. Last night I went through and organized all of them. I came across some old pictures my grandfather took on the East Coast. I scanned in a dozen of them and put them up on my photos site. It's neat to look at 60 year old pictures, to see how New York looked. We have a wooden box with all of his negatives. I'll have to go through and scan in those pictures and see how they look. Like a little time capsule.

New York Pictures

Unfriendly Waterfront People

The last few times I've been jogging down on the waterfront and esplande I've noticed that no one makes eye contact. When I go jogging I try to wave to people and say "hi" (it usually comes out as "ughhhii") but nobody waves or says anything. A lady today did say "you're on the wrong side" when I was jogging over the Hawthorne bridge. I try and stay to the river side of the walkway so bikers can get around me. She didn't move to the river side so I did (to make room ya know.) I was going to jog back to her and tell her my reasoning, but I ended up having to rest and cough up a lung instead.

When I was at Brown I got used to people not saying "hi" or waving or being social at all. Then I came back to Portland and people were a lot more friendly. That seems to have changed lately (maybe it's the Californians?) and it's too bad. It's like the gym I go to (ok, used to go to) where no one looks at anyone else.

Maybe the guys outside ignore me cos, well, I'm a guy. And the women probably just see me as a sweaty guy who's breathing heavily and get scared off.

Dumba$$

I've been a nail biter since I stopped sucking my thumb last year - just kidding, it's been at least 5 years. :) I seem to only do it when I'm at work, when I'm on vacation I don't touch the nails.

This last year I got my front teeth fixed at my dentist down in Corvallis. I was very careful with my new chompers, until lately. So yesterday at work I started working on a nail (kinda gross, I know) and snap, a section of the cement on my right big tooth broke. Super.

I ran to the bathroom and saw I had a chunk of my tooth missing and a nice jagged edge to attack people on the street with. I hurriedly called Tina in Corvallis and begged to get in an appointment to fix my grill.

This morning I got my tooth fixed and asked if I was pretty again. The response I got was "Well, we fixed your tooth, how's that?" Can't argue with someone who has a laser.

You know you're having a tough day when

you have to use the computer's calculator to figure out what 7 times 8 is. It's 56 by the way.

Stuff learned

While on my Moab trip with Ron and Henry I started listing off the top 10 things I learned while at school. The list actually expanded to 20 when I included things since school. Of course I don't remember them now. So I'm gonna try and get one by one and put them here.

The first, and most important:
When you see bird droppings on the ground beneath your feet, don't look up to see where they come from.

This explains a lot

I think that this explains some issues from my drinking days.

Ticket III

Last night I received a response from the Lewis County District Court stating that I only owe $300 now. So it was better that I wrote a little letter explaining my actions.

Ticket II

I was talking with my buddy at work Dipesh about my ticket today. He said I should try and get it reduced, as it's a very large fine. So I called up to the state of Washington and asked if it's possible to get it reduced somehow. The nice lady on the phone said I could have a "Mitigation Hearing", and since I'm over 30 miles away I can do it by mail.

So I get to fill out some papers later and try and explain the circumstances of the ticket. I'm thinking I'll say that I was speeding but that I changed lanes to pass the guy in the left lane because they don't move to the right.

This has been a pet peeve of mine for some time now - people in the left lane going slower than normal traffic. They have large signs all over the place that state "Stay Right Except To Pass". And these people aren't passing anyone, they just stay in the left lane.

I doubt my line of attack being "I admit I was speeding and just went around this person because they don't pay attention to signs and are unaware of traffic flow" will get me anywhere, but it can't hurt. Unless they say "You sir, are a dumbass," and double my ticket.

I'm not looking to get the ticket dropped, just changed to a speeding ticket instead of "negligent driving." I have visions of my insurance company calling me and saying "You sir, are a dumbass," and double my premiums.

Frank

My buddy Frank has put together a webpage where he's spreading his knowledge and wisdom about the world. Well, his wife made it really, but I'm pretty sure it's his words. So unless you're late for a meeting, go and read it.

Ticket

I was driving back from visiting Sara and her buddies up on Puget Sound near Tacoma last night. So I'm driving a bit over the limit and get tired of people in the left lane going slow and not moving over, so I hop to the right lane to pass them. I look behind me and a burnt orange Impala is behind me, whatever. There was plenty of space so I hop back to the left lane and keep going.

I look back again and see the Impala gun it and weave inbetween the two last cars with his car rollling from the swerve. I thought to myself, "What an asshole, what's his rush?"

Cue lights. Oh, he's a trooper and his rush is to give my dumb ass a ticket. Shit.

So I start to pull over to the left median and notice it is all gravely and has junk everywhere. So I go to the right median (signaling like a good driver.)

'You know why I pulled you over?'
I thought I should say "Cos I'm an ass?", but decided just to say "Yes, sir"
'How fast did you think you were going?'
"A little over 80?", as opposed to saying "Well, ya see, I was doing 110 on that last uphill."
'I got you at 86 [in a 70 zone].'
I nodded.
'I radioed my dispatcher I was going to pull you over and then you weaved in front of that car.'
Swerve? Man, I just changed lanes. I nodded again.
He left and came back with a ticket, 'After seeing your record I'm just going to give you this infraction ticket.'
538. That must be the time I thought to myself. Crap! That's dollars, not even like pesos or anything!

I figure it's been about 3 years, so it's time to get a ticket.

As I slowly drove home I stayed in the right lane at about 70 and noticed people whipping by. "Where's the police now?"

So, word to the wise, don't speed, and don't pass people on the right up in Washington. They're sneaky and drive in unmarked cars that roll when trying to catch you on I-5.

Craigslist

So I'm killing time waiting for compiles by reading the Best of Craigslist. There is some funny shit in there. The one I like the most is this one, about going bald.

No House

Well, I'm 0-2 for houses. I got outbid, again. This was the house I tried to buy.

House offer

This Wednesday I made an offer on a house over on the east side of Mt. Tabor. They're waiting until Saturday to review offers. I'm hoping it's not like the last offer where I make a pretty good bid and then someone out bids me by many thousand dollars.

Some A$$hole

Someone took the opportunity Tuesday morning to break into my car and steal all of my stereo equipment. I was heading out last night to Bubba Ho-tep when I noticed my car was unlocked and the lights were off.

So today I've spent a fair amount of time talking to window people, tinting people (as my windows were tinted by the previous ownder), radio people, police people and my mechanic.

It's kinda funny cos of my amps didn't work, so hopefully someone will get shafted with that.

Joke for the day

I was looking over at meish.org, having a look see and came across her bus sketch Kinda funny.

Ship of Gold

I was at the gym, getting in my 30 mile jog and was watching the TV. They had a commercial for gold coins from the Gold Rush of the 1850s. It turns out it was the gold from the Central America, the steamer that went down in the 1800s written about in Ship Of Gold.
I just started rereading Ship Of Gold. It was interesting to see the gold for sale on TV. They had a website for the gold at shipofgoldinfo.com (doesn't seem to be currently working.)

Stuff

I got some Hokey Spokes for Christmas. I put them on my bike and rode on into work today (through the snow) and they seem to work just right. I have them saying "Merry X Mas" to anyone on the left side of my bike.

I also finally saw a good movie, Lost in Translation. It was really well done and Murray did an excellent job, so did Johansson. It was nice to see a well done movie that wasn't just about CG and a crappy storyline.

TV

I'm house sitting for my buddies Dan and Kirsten while they're away in Mexico enjoying the sun and surf. I was relaxing after settling in and watched some MTV and their show rich girls It was pretty funny to see these high school girls running around spending money and being in a completely different world.

They flew down to their estate in the Caribbean. They were trying to decide if they were worthy of their life while they sat in a huge pool in front of a little mansion.

One girl said to the owner of the estate, "You deserve this because you don't take it for granted, or say 'hey, look at all of my stuff.'"

Hey, I can say that too, but that doesn't mean I deserve it.

Later they were talking about life and the girl said "I think we're old souls." They're freaking 18!

Needless to say, I'm hooked.

Movies

I broke down and saw Bend It Like Beckham over the weekend. I know it's a chick flick, but it had soccer, which is always good. Then we saw 28 Days Later, that horror movie about zombies and viruses. It wasn't as scary as The Exorcist, but it was really good. I liked how it was shot and directed.

And on Saturday I saw Matrix Revolutions. It was better than the second, but not near as good as the first. Just seemed to lack something. But the graphics where better than the second, big CGI scenes looked real and not hokey like the burley brawl in the second.

Diet II

Well, 16 hours after starting the diet, I'm off of it. After going to the gym yesterday and sitting down to a hunk of meatloaf, I decided this wasn't for me. Maybe some people can go without fruit and bread, but not me.

First day

Well, today is the first day of my diet. Over the weekend I ate a lot of popcorn and pancakes to get ready for not eating them for the next few weeks.

I bought $30 worth of meat on Sunday and cooked most of it up into meat loaves and egg scrambles. I read part of the Atkins book and saw you can't eat over 20 grams of carbs. That means no fruit and not too much salad.

I'm snacking on pork rinds instead of fruit. There seems something wrong with that. You're supposed to be able to eat cheese, so I might be getting some Tillamook cheese for snacks.

Diet

I've decided to try that low carb diet. I was having a burger with my buddy Vince and he was telling me about the diet. His is a little modified, you're not supposed to have alcohol but he's having beer anyway.

I'm not thinking I'm pushing the weight envelope, but it'd be pretty cool to drop some pounds. The main problem is that I have a hankering for bread and pop corn and pancakes. I figure I can give this a whirl for a month and see what happens. This probably means I have to step on the scale to find out if I'm really losing any weight.

Elevators

You ever play around on elevators in tall buildings? I mean jump when they get to your floor and float? I've been trying to get on one certain elevator at work that is faster than the others. I've tried to jump when it's stopping going down and I don't get off the ground. I swear I float for 1/2 a second or so when it stops on my floor. Sometimes I stop on intermediate floors on the way up (to the 16th) so I can get in a few extra hops.

Nutin'

I've apparently have had nothing going on that's worth writing about. :(

I've been looking for houses online (rmls, craigslist) and then checking them out by biking or driving by. Last weekend I went into a few houses with my new realitor. None of them were super exciting, but that's ok.

Most of the houses that I've really liked (or thought I'd like) are a bit out of my range ( $210k + ). Or are in a neighborhood that will take a while to get better (from a resale point of view.)

But I bought a new rear light and head light for my bike. I have one of those white flashy lights, they don't help you see but help you be seen - which is good.

And I've started my online book/geek thing, so hopefully it'll be done soon and I can put my books up there. For what purpose, I'm not quite sure.

Moab pictures

Bad start

This morning I set the alarm before heading out and apparently took too long to get outside. As soon as I locked the back door I heard the loud annoying alarm sound. I ran inside and turned off the alarm and waited for the ADT call. It came and I gave our security code to the lady, and it was incorrect. I tried another number and that was wrong as well. She told me to call back when I found it. I looked around and the only number I had was the one I gave her. I called back and they said the security code was expired (so my code wouldn't work.) She called the police and told them it was a false alarm.

I rolled to work a little late on my bike. I got upstairs to my desk and realized I didn't have any clothes with me. I did, however, bring a little throw rug to pretty up the cube. Can't really wear that.

So I'm wearing a tank top, shorts and a too small shirt from a co-worker. And I spent all last night ironing my shirts that are sitting in the closet instead of on me.

Back pain

My lower back has been a little tight lately, but I figured it was just a temporary thing. So last night my back woke me up at 2 am to tell me it was in pain. It was tense and had started creeping into my sides and stomach. I went to the kitchen to try and stretch but it hurt so much I ended up throwing up. I've never had that before.

I guess it's time to hit the yoga place for a few weeks to get straightened out.

Bushie

Bush wants to make sure that marriage is only legal for us heterosexuals, and not them homosexuals. He talks about sinners and such in his rant. What happened to seperation of Church and State?

And to make sure we're all safe from terrorists in the sky, the government is cutting air marshals because of budget problems. Don't we have this huge department making sure we're safe? Why cut money for things that make people feel safe?

end of ranting....

Teeth

I just got my teeth cleaned today at Tina's work and while I was there I got a xray of my jaw. It looks pretty neat. So here it is.

Terminator 3

Trey and I saw T3 last night. I have to say that I'm disapointed. It just didn't have that bad-ass feeling that T2 or Aliens had. The first Terminator was even scary - at least for me in middle school it was.

One of the main problems with movies these days, IMO, is that they're relying on computer graphics way too much. There were some scenes where they used CG for Arnold and it looked cheesy, which detracted from the feel of the film. They did dumb stuff just to do it - like the Terminatrix having a flame thrower for no good reason.

It's too bad they didn't continue the dark feeling from the previous two movies. At least they didn't have the little brat from T2.

Elevator

I was taking the elevator down stairs to snag some bagel grub and a pregnant woman go on at floor 7 to go down 2 flights. She said she gets unbalanced going down stairs (because of her pregnancy) and I said "I hear ya". Like I've been pregnant and understand how it is.

Renee Zellweger

For her upcoming movie, Renee Zellweger has to add some pounds. Sounds like a job I'd like (if I could take them back off.)

From Dark Horizons: Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason: Renee Zellweger is packing on the pounds again for the role with a six-week, 4,700 calorie a day diet of donuts, burgers, pizzas and cake.

Grilling fish

I found out that you shouldn't grill Halibut on my new grill. It seems to turn into a scramble and get stuck everywhere.

Doctor visit

I've decided to take advantage of health care and get a doctor's appt. set up. I'm looking on my BlueCross/BlueShield webpage to find a traditional doctor.

Over one half of the doctors are for Mental Health and Chemical Dependency . That must say something for the area I live in.

Slow day...

Ever walk around your work for a while before realizing you have something in your teeth, or you have your fly open, or other stuff? I found out I had part of an orange peel on my forehead, and I'm not quite sure I know how it got there.

Bush vs. Environment

Gov. Bush down in Florida is pushing thru a bill that will extend the deadline for cleanup of the Everglades by 10 years.

Unless you're building a new space shuttle, it shouldn't take 10 years. Hoover dam was created in a shorter time period. I think that the sugar companies don't need 10 extra years to stop spilling phosphorus into the Everglades.

Since this is new...

Well, since this is a new thing and I don't have much to actually put up here, I thought I'd give some links to some interesting web sites.

The first is supposedly about a young European heiress who is running from her powerful family. There's debate on whether or not it's real, but it seems to be something fun to read.

Next is a couple who have just finished a lot of biking through out the world. The location I'm most interested in is the Great Divide Ride. Seems cool.

And for the programmer in you, the tinxml library is a tiny XML parser for C++ programs. I'm planning on using it for my C++ logging utility.