Mass Transit Echoes

Yesterday, Renee and I took the bus (and the Max light rail) to Lloyd Center Mall, and back home. Why? Because she'll be turning 18 this coming summer, and doesn't yet have a driver's license. This was a dry run for what her life will be like when the mom-pop express closes its doors.

Many years ago, when we first came here and my workplace was in Beaverton, I used to commute by bus, and I told Renee that my solution to the monotony of riding the bus was to bring a really difficult book along (I distinctly remember struggling through this book, and this one -- I still have both of them!). Sinking into the books made it possible to wait at a bus stop in whatever weather and not fret as to whether the bus would show up on time or not.

And now, a slight diversion... A few years ago, I took Renee to Kumoricon, and we attended a concert by some knockoff Asian pop band. The music was loud, so much so that I really couldn't tell what they were playing. But I was amused when I discovered that the old tradition of holding a lighter aloft had been updated: now everyone was holding up cellphones with their backlights turned on. Très amusant.

Back to the present! So we are sitting at the bus stop at Martinazzi and Mohawk, and I'm reading the poster in the back of the shelter. It tells me what phone number to call, and what code to enter, to determine when my bus will next arrive at my stop. What a difference a decade makes! That really improves the mass transit experience for me. Kudos, Trimet!

Oh, and the trip was uneventful. Renee didn't really want to be there, but we both got there and back safely.

New Everything (Renee)

I recently uploaded a bunch of photos Jean snapped of Renee to record her new (glasses|hairstyle|dress). I appended them to the existing Renee's New Glasses photoset, in case you're curious.

Heron

My workplace campus maintains a pretty nice water feature, and it is home to a variety of wildlife. We get lots of ducks and geese, and have a number of nutria waddling about. But over the last few years, we've become a summer home for a handsome Heron. I recently took to parking my car at the far end of the campus from my building, to force myself to walk a bit more at the end of the day. This has had the side benefit that I often see Mr. Heron.

I've begun snapping him when I can, first with the joke camera in my iPod Touch, then with my P&S, which I've started taking to work for just this purpose. He wasn't there this weekend, but I plan to try to grab him with my D70 and my 70-200mm lens some weekend, and I'll add any results to this photo set.

Paris

Before I left for work this morning, I queued up an upload of the first batch of photos from our trip to Paris, which happened last week. The first batch I managed to work through since our return home amounts to around eighty pics. When I'm finished, however long that takes, it should be around 300 photos, some interesting to the general public, some only to me. You can watch the evolving photoset here.

And for the record, I am a bad person. I did not get anybody souvenirs. This is partly because we packed a single carry-on each (even going so far as to hand wash a pair of pants in the hotel tub during the trip). The only 'souvenir' I got myself was a museum shirt so that I had something to wear one day, and I wore it home on the plane.

Sorry friends, I am a bad friend. If I ever go on another trans-continental trip, I'll try to mail things back home...

On a lighter note, I discovered that my stabbing sinus flight malady can be greatly reduced by applying saline nasal sprays every half hour during the trip, and taking a vicodin about an hour before the final descent. This is a single data point, so it may have been just luck, but the landing in Paris was nasty, and the landing in Sea-Tac was merely unpleasant, so I'll be trying that drill again if ever forced aboard another jet.

Haircut

Funny world. I put up a photoset of Renee's summer haircut (taken at her request), and within hours someone had added several of the photos to their favorites. Said person seems to specialize in hairstyle photos/images...

Twenty-two Years Ago

This time the banner samples a mere twenty-two years ago (February of 1989). I was working at what was then called the NASA Lewis Research Center (it was rechristened the Glenn Research Center in 1999). I really can't recall anymore where this picture was taken. Truth to tell, I look a little stoned, holding my precious lab notebook. Perhaps I'd been working to hard (I was known to take classes and work fulltime in those days).

Odds are this was somewhere in the microgravity research labs, where I worked for Arnon Chait. The dude next to me is Mike Fuller. I have no idea what he went on to do.

Sorry, no long hair this time. I was trying to pass as a normal. Still am...

First Post!

...of 2011, that is.

I don't think I'll be posting much this year, just too busy. But I got tired of staring at the banner picture. I mean, the woman is cute, but the guy? Creepin' me out! So I dug this picture out of Easter 2006 (see if your kids are that 'happy' on Easter).

Anyway, I also missed posting about the tenth anniversary of this weblog, which was in October. Given my general absence, it seems appropriate.

Twenty-Eight Years of Clean Livin'!

If you ever want to be reminded what 28 years does to a body, go check out this Flickr set. In it, you will see a scan of three photos from a photobooth that Jean and I took after seeing Tron (our first movie together). Then for good measure, two photos in a similar pose taken today after seeing Tron: Legacy. Oof I feel old!

Thanksgiving at the Beach

From Halloween to the second Titan, Thanksgiving! This year we had no relatives visiting, and no plans to reciprocate. We'd spent the last few Thanksgivings at home, so Jean came up with the brilliant idea to hit the coast! She did all the work of finding a place and booking it (and tons more).

We left on Thanksgiving morning in my car, with Renee driving. I knew that the passes over the Coast Range would be somewhat snowy, so I brought the snow chains. It was touch and go, but Renee made it with flying colors. Google Maps sent us to the wrong side of a river in Cannon Beach, but we found our way to the hotel with a little difficulty. It was actually nice to drive around at random checking out the main drag.

We stayed at the Schooner's Cove Inn, which backed right on the beach. It was very nice. Only two complaints: the wireless Internet was very spotty, and the staff seemed a little surly (I guess I would be surly working the holidays too). Every morning and evening, Jean and I would step out the back patio and walk down the beach to Haystack Rock and back. I took lots of pictures, some of which are in this photoset.

Part of the reason we went to the coast in November was that we wanted to watch winter storms. The weather was pretty mild most of the time we were there, but there was one storm that really kicked ass. Jean and I walked around in it for about ten minutes and got absolutely soaked.

This was a great holiday idea! I hope we do it again.

Halloween Retrospective

I just wanted to get off my butt and change the banner for one day to a Halloween banner! That's because, once I finish uploading all my Thanksgiving photos to Flickr, I'll want to select one of them and discuss the trip.

In the meantime, the trio of photos of Renee dressed up to hand out candy are available in this set. Halloween turned out to be nice, over the course of a few days. Recall my three legs:

For the first leg, I watched the Rocky Horror tribute on Glee!, and had a lot of fun. For kicks and nostalgia, I watched Rocky Horror itself, on Netflix, and arrived at the usual conclusion: it is a lot of fun in the beginning, the music is great, but the story runs about a half hour too long.

As for the second leg, Renee dressed up and gave out the candy, so I had the fun of working with her, even if the population of candy beggars was quite thin. Thanks, Renee.

The third leg actually came the weekend before Halloween. Alan and Pia hosted a gathering at their house, and it was as usual very enjoyable. So I got a pseudo-Halloween party even if no one came in costume. The gathering with friends is what is important.

So all in all, a good Halloween, and still my favorite holiday.

Come the next post or two, I'll write up our Thanksgiving trip...

Update

One more Halloween item. I bought the Angry Birds Halloween Edition app from the App Store. It was a lot of fun.

I remember this now, because now they are downloading a free update with a Christmas theme!

Thinking About the Holidays

It's Labor Day weekend, which to me is the 'starting flag' holiday for the real, holiday triple play of Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas. For most people, especially families with young children, I think the three holidays occur in order of importance. Halloween is a childrens' holiday, but the ramp up is pretty one-note, and the actual holiday lasts a single night, with business as usual the next day. Thanksgiving is for the whole family and includes activities for grownups (food, sports), as well as stretching for more than one day (for many people at least). And Christmas is both a childrens' holiday and a religious marker. Santa and Jesus in one basket!

For myself, Halloween has always been the most fun of the three, and for a decade or so was unsurpassed using any criteria I chose to apply. Halloween looked down on the holidays to come, standing firm atop three legs.

The First Leg

For most of my childhood, and a fair portion of my adult life, Halloween's approach was a signal to the various television stations to begin airing more offbeat programming. Sci-fi movies saw an undeniable uptick, and in later years, some of the goofier horror movies joined the stable.

I've always enjoyed that sort of goofy storytelling, so it reinforced my anticipation of Halloween. However, in the intervening years, various botique channels such as the Sci-Fi network, took to showing these kinds of movies year round, and if that doesn't supply your fix, you can subscribe to Netflix, or visit any of a number of Internet venues. So the first leg of the tripod is shorter than it used to be.

I still make a point of 'observing' this aspect of Halloween, watching one or more cheesy horror or sci-fi movies in the run-up to the holiday.

The Second Leg

Can you say "Trick or Treat?" I knew that you could. I have enjoyed this part of the holiday both as a child on the receiving end, and as an adult on the giving end.

Add to this that for about a decade I was able to take my own daughter in tow and wander around the neighborhood extorting candy from strangers, and you may begin to understand my appreciation. I have very fond memories of my daughter learning the ritual, and selecting her costumes. Some years it was just the two of us, others we had one of her friends in our gang. Early on she was unclear on the concept, yelling "I want candy!" instead of "trick or treat."

Now Renee has outgrown this aspect of the holiday, and except for a few sporadic parties, she hasn't really replaced it with anything else (when she returns to formal parties with her friends, I won't be invited in any case). We hand out candy together, but the walk around the neighborhood doesn't happen any more. So the second leg of the tripod is also shorter...

The Third Leg

For many years, I attended meetings of an anime club, NOVA. This club met twice a month, and we gathered to watch anime and socialize. I met most of my friends there. And every year, NOVA had a Halloween party. This was like regular meetings in that there were showings of anime and socializing. But it included snacks, and members who were handy with needle and thread would show up in costumes. Often these were costumes they had worn to anime conventions, so it was sort of a mini-cosplay. Lots of fun.

Eventually, my friends and I realized that we were coming to meetings mainly to see each other, and were less interested in the club. So we stopped going to NOVA meetings, and began meeting at Tom's place, or Alan's. But I don't think we've generally acknowledged Halloween in October the way we generally acknowledge Christmas in December.

So this leg of the tripod is a tad shorter as well.

Still King

But even though all legs of the tripod are shorter, they still seem to be balanced, and Halloween hasn't been toppled from its top spot for me. It would be neat if October had a monthly gathering, and if some of the handier friends showed off a costume (Valeska... )

But either way, I'm still enjoying Halloween more than the other members of the holiday triple-play.

But What About...

Yes, New Year's Day is a winter holiday too. But let's face it. This holiday is just a checkered flag, letting us know that the fun is over and it's time to hunker down until the snow passes.

Anyway, whichever holiday tickles your fancy, happy holidays.

Alan and Pia

Okay, my least fuzzy photos from Alan and Pia's wedding are up on my Flickr account, in this photoset. Many more are on the 'cutting room floor', believe me.

It was a lot of fun going over them, recalling the day. Good luck, you two!

Anything to Get Out of a Wedding

Renee just must not want to hit the road with me this Saturday. She was up all night sick. She thinks it was due to 'bad cherries', but Jean The Nurse mentions that there's been a bad summer stomach flu going around too.

Anyone else been having stomach illnesses?

Update(s)

Renee recovered with time to spare, and drove us to Welches for the wedding, which was great. I'm really happy for Alan and Pia.

As for the stomach illness, Jean stayed home from work to help Renee, and the next day she was at work, her boss told her that several parents were out for the same reason. Weird!

New Driver

Just a quick note, as I'm at work. I took Renee in to the DMV this morning, and she took her test for a learner's permit. She passed and is now 'in the chute' for driver's training this summer. Another rite of passage, yay!

Vancouver

Update

I'm pinning this post to the top of the weblog for a few days until I have a chance to complete my photo kibutzing. The biggest delay to getting them online is that Jean wanted my most recent photo on Flickr! to be a clue in Renee's Easter Egg Hunt. Since my bundle of trip photos amounts to 221 photos (out of a total of 558 taken), that would have been quite the Easter Egg hunt!

Anyway, the banner photo commemorates our trip, with Jean and Renee posing at the entrance to Granville Island market. You can find the complete photo set labelled Spring Break 2010. I hope to create a number of subsets for the various attractions we visited. Given how long it took to get this set together, don't hold your breath...

P.S.:While not being much of a photographer, I still got a lot of pictures I really enjoyed. The aquarium was a real pleasure, so besides some neat images of Jean and Renee, is possibly my favorite photo of the trip (until I change my mind). You can click through to here for larger versions.

Original Post

I'm gonna put a placeholder here for notes on our trip to Vancouver. When I get a bit more time I'll try to cull through some of our photos and get them up online.

We went for a whirlwind tour over Spring Break with Renee. We actually had to produce passports, though they don't stamp them for crossings to and from Canada. The border agent told me we could get a stamp in the visitor center. Went in and they said "they always say that!" Bastards!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun, and stopped by Seattle on the way home. Now it's back to work, so pictures will probably be awhile coming.

Raw Photo Dump

I've dumped three new batches of photos onto Flickr:

• Llloyd Center Diabetes Convention


• H-Mart Food Prep


• Portland Coliseum Home Show

I uploaded them raw/unedited (I think they're pretty much all from the P&S, hence originally JPEGs), then did some brief touch-ups using the online Picnic photo editor. I chose this route rather than the more time consuming local Photoshop routine, because they've been sitting on my computer for two or three weeks, and I have a new batch of photos that I want to spend a little more time tweaking. More on that later.

Christmas 2009

A selection of photos from today are now up on my Flickr account. See the Christmas 2009 set.

Shirts from Afar

A couple of weeks ago I got a package from Nami, my onetime penpal. I still hear from her, obviously, but I've moved on to email, and I've failed her as a penpal. She shames me occasionally with a package like this, yet I remain a bad person.

Anyway, as has been my experience, an XL tshirt from Japan is actually a large or medium in America, so I was unable to wear any of the three she sent. Renee, however, is the perfect build for the XL, and she models it in the latest banner. There's a second photo on my Flickr account.

Next time I go to Tom's, I plan to take the remaining two shirts to his place, and see if any of the petite members of his entourage want them.

By the way, Nami, thanks for the shirts. Even if I cannot wear them, it is neat to see shirts "made in Japan". Renee says thanks, also!

The Night Watch

I woke up at 1:20 a.m. this morning and kept 'hearing' low-frequency sounds, sort of beat-harmonic, like distant, heavy equipment operation. It would manifest for a few minutes, then silence itself. A few minutes later, it would start up again. I began to wonder if I would get to sleep again, which would have been a problem, since I had unrelated problems sleeping the previous night.

Fortunately I drifted off again and got a full night's sleep. But I was really curious, and asked Jean if she had heard it anytime during the night. She says no, but will often sleep through things that wake me up, despite claims that she is a light sleeper.

So this morning I followed my hunches, and found this link, with the key phrase,

In general, work hours will be Monday through Friday nights, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

There is also a section on "nighttime noise", as well as a notice that they're building a new stretch of "soundwall", starting around SW Ponca Ct., which is just South of Umatilla, where we live. Ironically, it may be preparations for this sound-deadening wall that I was hearing last night.

Supposedly this has been going on for months, and only gets suspended in the winter, so I don't know why I didn't hear it before. But I feel this is the source of my mystery sounds.

Nasty Little Crittersesssss!

A few weeks back, Jean was taking a nap in the bedroom. It was a quite weekend afternoon, and she kept hearing what she thought was the gentle dropping of pine needles on the roof. But there's no tree on that side of the house (now of course, no tree on any side, boo hoo!). So she went outside and had a look, and saw a steady stream of wasps flying up to a hole under the eaves, disappearing inside. Occasionally one would pop out again and fly on it's merry way.

We had The Bug Man! come out, and he put on his space suit, crawled up into the attic with a garbage bag and some poison, and came out minutes later with the nest. We got ninety days of active poison. Anything flies in, it dies. But they would most likely not want to.

So I look outside at the back yard the other day (already outside of my habit zone ) and what do I see, but a stinking huge wasp nest in the tree just outside the bedroom window. Bastards couldn't use our attic, so they decided to set up shop right outside! Damn them nasty little crittersesss!

Oh Bug Man!!!!