Month: November 2015

Here is one of my all time favorite movie clips:

And another.

Enjoy!

Daniel has a passion in life:  Collecting bottles and cans for the five cent Oregon redemption payment. He trolls the neighborhood on recycling day looking for discarded bottles and cans.  He wonders whether there will be more bottles and cans on mornings after a big TV event, like the World Series.  A neighbor held a wedding reception so he was keen to get the empty bottles from that event.

This isn’t one of the more glamorous pastimes one could have.  And it isn’t all that lucrative, relative to the hassle and time required.  Nor is it convenient for us parents to drive him and his cache to the store to redeem them, often leaving the car smelling like beer afterwards.  While his inventory builds up the side yards gets pretty junky looking.

Still, it is a good thing that Daniel is excited about something productive he can engage in.  He even has a growing clientele that feeds him a regular supply of bottles and cans each week.  Here he is at the neighborhood grocery store ready to redeem his supply.  He has four large shopping carts full.

I think on average he pulls in $25 to $30 every other week.  It’s not a big financial reward but he takes pride in the accomplishment.

Here is the wagon we bought him for his birthday a few months ago.  He uses this on his collection rounds and it works well.

Sometimes we’ll wonder where he is, and discover he is in the side yard counting and sorting his inventory.  We think this is not a bad alternative to traditional employment, which hasn’t worked out for him.  Nice job, Daniel!

I chuckle when I remember that Simpsons episode when they go to the DMV where Homer’s sisters in law, Patty and Selma, work.  Patty and Selma are portrayed as lazy, unpleasant deadbeats, and one of them remarks she has developed repetitive stress disorder from scratching her bum all day at work.

Which of us hasn’t experienced the unpleasant task of visiting the DMV to renew a drivers license, or register a car?  The usual experience is you take a number upon entering, take a seat (if they aren’t all occupied), and wait up to an hour or more to be helped.  If you are fortunate your case will be straightforward and you won’t have to fill out a different form or return later with missing information.  You may also be lucky to be helped by a friendly and competent attendant.

I had to renew my drivers license so steeled myself on Friday morning and went to the closest DMV office.  Upon entering I was notified that their computer system was down and I would need to return a different day, or visit a DMV office in a neighboring city.  Hmmm.  Well, I was already in the mindset to get this done, so I went online on my iPhone to find the address of another DMV office.  I found one in Sherwood that was indicating a 45 minute wait.

After a 25 minute drive on freeway and some country roads, I arrived.

The parking lot was pretty full and I approached the front door.

I will sidebar for a moment.  Notice the automatic door on the left entry?  I grabbed the handle to open that door and about pulled my shoulder out of its socket trying to open it, and it banged against me as I tried to squeeze through.  The same thing happened to the guy after me.

Here was the scene inside.

A large seating area is off camera to the left, and it was totally occupied, with numerous customers standing and waiting.  They were currently serving number 167, and I got number 223.  No problem, I did bring a book to read.  And figured the wait was long enough I could just go sit in my car for a few chapters.

I wasn’t able to use the facilities, though.

My turn came after about an hour’s wait, and everything went smoothly, including passing the eye exam without my progressive lens glasses.  I had a 30 minute drive home through mostly country roads, so it was pleasant enough.  All told, it was a three hour adventure, and I’m good for another eight years.

A year ago I wrote this post about my weight loss.  At that time I was very pleased to drop below 180 pounds.  I had fears that, with the winter season coming on, with holiday feasting and reduced outdoor activity, that perhaps my weight would drift back up and I might lose motivation to continue my healthier eating habits.

Well, good news!  I continue to waste away.  Nothing dramatic, mind you.  The best part is that my weight has remained low all year long, and even drifted lower.  I typically weigh in around 177, and have drifted as low as 175.4.  So I’m anticipating that magical morning when the scale will read below 175.

I don’t really have a goal to stay below 175.  I think staying below 180 is more than fine, and I feel really good about that, and love how my clothes fit.  If anything many of my clothes have the waist too large.

During most of my corporate working life my “office” at work has consisted of a smallish rectangular cubicle with 5 foot high partitions in a large open area.  The cubicle would house my desk, some shelving, and cabinets.  I often had space to park my bicycle in it.  It was perhaps 8 feet by 10 feet.

In recent years it seems the cubes have been downsizing, until this year at my workplace the standard cube was reduced to 6 feet square, with 4 foot high partitions, and very minimal furniture (desk, chair, and small rolling file cabinet).

The downsides of the downsizing are reduced personal space and privacy, fewer places to store your stuff, and more distractions from those talking nearby.  I’ve noticed the higher occupant density also puts strain on the restrooms, with stalls frequently fully occupied.

The modern technical office doesn’t need as much space for books and paperwork.  And it is true that the open space with the lower partitions does yield a brighter environment.  Especially so for those too short to see over the previous 5 foot partitions.  An effort has been made to provide more informal meeting space and some private small rooms for phone calls and small meetings.  And we have ample separate lab space for working on computers and other equipment.

This photo was taken during the construction of the new office space.

And the finished product, including my personal cube.

I’ve coined a new description for our typical November weather here in the Pacific Northwest.  3D.  For dreary, dark, and damp.

The change is made all the more stark because it comes after a usually marvelous Indian summer of October (especially this year), and ushers in the early darkness of Pacific Standard Time all at once.  On November 2 this year I left work in the dark, instead of the daylight of the previous week.

It can also be disheartening to think this is only the beginning of the winter season, with lots more 3D to come for four months.

But November is not without its merits.  I don’t mind the cool, relatively modest temperatures in November.  And I love the fall colors.  Here is a 3D view out my window at work.

Truth be told, I really like our climate here.  We have four seasons, but the temperatures are very moderate.  The moisture gives life to the bounteous plant and tree life.  If you set your mind to it, and dress appropriately, there is still so much you can do outdoors.  It is rarely so cold you dread going outside, nor so hot it saps all your energy when you go outdoors.

 

Each June we visit a local u-pick field several times get our fill of delicious Oregon strawberries.  When we have them fresh I love putting them in my breakfast cereal each morning.

We also maintain a small strawberry patch on the side of our yard.  We planted a Day Neutral variety, which bears all summer, and especially late summer, so we continue to have a few fresh berries until well into October.  This is how it looks this week.

I think I gathered our last crop this week.  There are numerous berries trying to grow but just not enough warmth and sunlight now to get them ripe.

I spent many of my growing up years in southern California, where earthquakes were not uncommon.  Numerous times I would feel the earth shake, and wait fearfully to see if it would get stronger and wonder how long it would last.  I never experienced any of the very large California quakes, but it was still reassuring to live in places that were free from earthquakes.  Like Oregon.

Or so I thought.  In recent years we have learned much more about the risk of a very large earthquake all along the coastline in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps magnitude 9 or higher.  This “fault” is known as the Cascadia subduction zone, and has been the site of very powerful earthquakes every few hundred years.  The most recent was in January, 1700.  So one might say we are due anytime.

Here is a link to the very interesting and informative article in the New Yorker on the topic:

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/07/20/the-really-big-one

This article seems to have galvanized awareness and reaction here in the Pacific Northwest, which, though disconcerting, is a good thing.  Because we are woefully unprepared, since we have long thought earthquake risk was minimal.

I’ll share more thoughts in subsequent posts.

For Halloween yesterday, Daniel and I dressed in our costumes and headed over to Chipotle for our annual $3 “booritos”.  But when we got there we found a sign on the door that they were closed due to “supply issues”.  There was a news report that they found an instance of ecoli, so just as well.  We headed over to Spaghetti Factory.  We weren’t the only ones in costume.

It was raining cats and dogs during the afternoon and early evening hours.  So that might have cut into the trick or treat traffic.  I think we had only six kids come to our door, just ones from our neighborhood.  It dried up by around 7:30 and was a calm, balmy evening.  I headed over to Blair’s to check out the costumes for the grandkids (and Jack Jack the dog).  

The Blairs live in a great neighborhood for trick or treating, as evidenced by Eli’s haul.  I got our usual several bags of Snickers, and also scored some Almond Joy bags on sale.  So we have plenty of leftovers to continue enjoying Halloween.