very curious about what the weather might bring us here in the southwest especially in the gulf region.
We just hit rain.

Jenny has been keeping tab

h Texas warn of blowing dust storms and high winds
We watched a lightining storm from our tent last night with a little trepidation and much awe. We are

les


About the dust devils, I've trying to photgraph them for the last 100 miles or so. Not easy to do.
Many signs along I-10 from New Mexico throug

s mounted on the side of the freeway marking the places people have died
One guy walking down the center median
Birds of prey flying in big gentla circ

We are now about 165 miles into Texas on I-10 East.
Some of the things we've seen are:
Great road signs
Semi trucks
Annoying drivers
Dust devils
M

Bridges Cafe - catfish hash!

Need I even say anything else???

The day before we leave.

Well it's the day before we leave on our trip. We're at bridges with my mom having breakfast. Good times!
Mom just reminded me that her old hair dresser Charlene used to work out of this same building a few doors down. Funny how I remember it better with her here.

I'm getting the catfish hash, mom is having gronola and fruit, and Jenny is having the salmon benedict.

Bleech on the drip coffee, but the food is great here. I guess we are spoiled having an espresso maker at home.

Last Thursday at Radio Room

This time around they have a band playing right in front of the firepit. Great atmosphere, temperatures cooling, and the crowd is thick, but mild.
Another one of the great things about Portland at it's best :)

I'm here with my best friend Andy and great friend Terri.

Tonight is Jenny's last night working at Good Samaritan Hospital This is a good time!

The dinner after

Finally time for some food!

I fasted today since today I had an appointment with an examiner, so that I could progress towards life insurance.

They take vials of blood, a pee sample, your blood pressure (3 times - not in a row), and your height and weight. Combined with a few questions about any nasty habits (do you smoke), you feel a little less than violated, but feeling judged will definitely be one of your emotions.

This is the second time I've subjected myself to this process. The first time was last year around June. Unfortunately my brother had died not long before of what the med examiner could only write up as a heart attack, and that bumped me down two levels and considerably increased my premiums.

Hopefully we get better results this time.

I'm applying for less insurance and for a shorter term of ten years.
My theory is that I really don't want to bet that I will be dying soon, and I wouldn't even bother except that I would leave my lovely Jenny in a lurch if the unfortunate did happen.

Anyhow, I'm having something eat since my fast started at 8 am. I didn't intend to fast for this many hours, but circumstances prevented me from eating lunch (griss for another blog entry!).
I decided Chinese food would be the perfect placator for my growling stomach.
Lucky House (5905 NE Halsey) was the last place Jenny and I had good Chinese food, so it readily came to mind. Tonigt I'm getting the #7 - General Tso's Chicken, Fried Shrimp, BBQ Pork, and Pork Fried Rice! I'msalivating just typing that out :)
It also so happens to be all night happy hour (a much loved Portland event) so I was convinced to get a rum and coke while I waited - it didn't take much. I'm smartly letting the alcohol process out of my system, while writing this wonderful blog.

Come check the place out sometime.

Hey asshole! Shut the fuckup!

This asshole doesn't know the meaning of speak quietly on public transportation. Everyone within 20 feet now knows that his custody papers are at his mom's house.

His girlfriend on the left is making a sound like a fucking cricket!

It's to hot for this shit!

For the love of public transportation...

...would you look at that traffic!

This was yesterday evening. This is the reason i love Portland's great public transportation system. I would annoyed to road rage if i had to drive that daily.

It's also the primary reason I have for buying a hous where i did Close to public transit, close to stores (New Seasons and Fred Meyer), and close enough to work that I can get there in 5 minutes by car if I need to drive.
This also means I can go home and get something if I've forgotten it at home. I've even done this by bus.

Today I decided not to start work early. I've worked early (6 or 6:30 am) every day. Because we have such a great public transit system, I was able to hope on the number 4 bus around 7 am and know that I would stil get to work well before 7:30 am.
I didn't even get up until 6:20 am this morning. Still had time to shower and make a nice rice milk ice coffee with the esspresso maker (more on that later).

Sidewalk version of true love?

Maybe.

Stumptown - nothing more needsto be said

But I'll say more anyhow. This place rocks! Best tasting coffee in Portland. The rice lattes here are the best you can get in this town.

Pacific rice milk steamed to about 145 degress. Coffee ground to perfection and tamped properly.

And the usual morning crew are the nicest people around.

Get me outta here!

"It's a hard knock life.....!"

I don't think I've seen very many bird eggshells downtown. You'd think with all the pigeons you'd see shells all over the place but nope.

I don't know if this is really the eggshell from a newly hatch baby pigeon, but I'd like to think it is.
:)

Cooool!

Cool. "Can I keep him?!?"
If i was 5 years old or less, this would hae been the typical and most dreaded question my mom would have gotten from me.

This almost looks like a toy, but yes indeed my friends, this is a bug. I don't think I've ever seen a beatle with exactly this stripping before.

Fortunately for Jenny I no longer have the desire to bring home every cool looking small creature I see

Hmmm....

These two guys are standing on the pedestrian foot bridge, every weekday evening around 4:50 pm.
Today it looks like they are sharing a couple of beers while watching traffic.

Memory is so fickle!

I seem to recall that this buffet used to be pretty good. That was before today. My new memory will say "Stay away unless you are broke!". At $5.95 for lunch (the only location hint you'll get), even the poorest can fill their gut.

I'm thinking that of the memory i have up upstairs Chinese buffets are a little messed up. Now i need to remember where the good one is. Gotta save face with Jenny after this one.

The last work day before the 4th

Do you see that little dot of light in the sky just to the left and above the tip of the tree?
I wonder if that's a planet? I think it must be. There are no other stars in the sky.

Sit Lie Law under creative attack

I took this picture last week on my way to the building I work at walking from the MAX stop.

I love the creativity of using basic construction materials and old clothing to fashion a "protest humanoid"
Very recognizable and no one risks getting arrested because they were sitting where they don't belong.

Essentially the Sit Lie Law allows the police or the Portland Business Alliance security force to tell a homeless person to move along if they feel the person is harrassing people and or disrupting business.
They aren't supposed to harrass people that aren't homeless, and those that aren't bothering people. Of course that is a matter of individual perspective now isn't it.

The sign reads "Sit Lie Law is a Lie".

Today

July 1st for those confused by the title.

Another photo of the sunrise. Looking north from the bus stop om albina and Lombard.

Right now I'm on the bus and it smells like someone farted just before I got on. Pleasant...no?
Oh well, not much to do about it but
:)

I'm really glad summer is here. I must remember to research life insurance. That is my task today. I must put Mafia Wars on the back burner.
Fortunately, I can play on the bus using my netboot :)

Ah the morning sun :)

There is something spectacular when you get up in the morning, and the air is crisp but not cold, that you chance to see a beautiful sunrise stretched across the sky.

The Monday After...

After Jenny's graduation that is.

It's back to work but I would rather be at home sleeping and relaxing right now. It's all good though. This job/career pays the bills and is generally enjoyable. Occasionally I have good reason for annoyance, but for the most part I have gotten familiar with all the potential problems that can occur and know how to handle them.

Right now I'm sitting in Obryant (Paranoia) Park eating pho' and getting ready to pay my bills. I needed some outside time and today is pretty much perfect!
Here are some photos of the park.




And these two guys were having one of the most interesting conversations I've listened to all day. It ranged from politics to music to movies to anywhere their minds could take them. They smelled a little, but they were interesting.



Ok, back to the office for me :(

My lady love the honored graduate of 2009

My lady love Jenny is graduating from PSU today. Summa Cum Laude!

She has worked had and accomplished something many never try.

Join me in celebrating Jenny.

Enjoying a strawberry lemonade and cajunized tater tots at mcmenamins @ mall 205.

Getting away for lunch.

For the last number of years I've been eating lunch at my desk. Oftentimes it's because I want to surf the web or just sit in a comfortable quiet area where I shouldn't be bothered by excess noise.
Unfortunately this usually means someone will also assume you are still on duty and they are free to ask you questions or ask for pc help.

Over the last few months I've discovered (maybe rediscovered is more appropriate) the 2nd floor eating/sitting/relaxing area on the second floor of the US Bancorp Building. You know the place, it's where the Portland City Grill is located.
Helping in this particular matter is my newest laptop. I picked up an Asus EEE PC. The thing is tiny! I pretty much take it everywhere were I might have a spare boring moment, and anywhere I may need a pc handy that isn't already in use by an end user.

So right now I'm here at my favorite seat, where there's only one other table near by, eating my Saag Chicken, writing this blog, and getting ready to watch Spiderman 3 streaming from Netflix.

It doesn't get much better than this. I even have a Blackberry that will notify me if any work emails come in. With a wireless connection, VPN FOB, laptop, and push to talk phone, I can work and play from almost anywhere.