i tried to ford the river, but my oxen died

Once again I am guilty of not having posted more frequently. The last time I wrote it was for the start of the term. Maybe it’s fitting that I not write again until the end of the term? At any rate, this term is basically over for me. We presented our final project on Wednesday, and all I really have to do is show up and watch the rest of the presentations. So by this Wednesday I will be officially done. Yeah!

For my ECE 101 class, half of our grade was to make a Rube Goldberg machine (think Mousetrap the game), but we had to use at least three electrical components. Sadly, my group was a waste, and I ended up doing most of the work. At any rate, the gist of it is as follows: There is an electromagnet holding up a ball bearing at the top of the ramp. When the door opens, the circuit is broken and the electromagnet fails releasing the ball bearing. The ball rolls down the ramp and at the bottom completes the circuit to a DC motor. The motor lowers a cup on to a photoresistor on the ground. When the photoresistor is covered, it turns on the LED on the table. Voila! Door opens, light goes on.

Ours may not have been as flashy as some of the other groups, but it had more electrical know-how than what was taught in class. Plus if my group had actually contributed any ideas who knows what we could have done. As it stands, I’m pretty happy with the end result.

I’ve uploaded the video to YouTube, so it should be viewable below.

Posted in education, ee, geek, jPhone, video, youtube | 3 Comments »

After being laid off, I have been going back and forth trying to decide what to do with my life. I knew I didn’t just want to go back to what I was doing as it wasn’t challenging, nor interesting. And at the same time, I didn’t have any qualifications for what did interest me.

So last weekend I finally decided that I am going back to school, this time for my degree in Computer Science. My plan is to get a Masters, though unfortunately I don’t have enough background for that. This leaves me with two options. I can either teach myself everything I missed and then prove to them that I know what I’m talking about, or I have to go for a post-bac degree. I’ve chosen the latter.

This of course means another couple of years getting a second bachelor’s before I can go on to my Master’s. This also means a lot more debt. Because of this, and because I’m going to need to pay rent and tuition, I can’t afford to live in my nice one-bedroom by the park. So I am planning on moving yet again and getting a roommate as well.

I’m actually on my way to meet a potential right now, and I’ve already started filling out forms for school. Now I just need a job and a place fairly cheap to live. Well, cheap and not scary.

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After a particularly rainy week, it became decidedly warm and not rainy out. So my friend Keith and I decided we had been indoors long enough and drove up to Mt Hood (our local volcano) and attempted to go hiking.

We planned everything except for the where on the mountain we were going part. After a gorgeous drive out, we started ascending the mountain, but failed to find a suitable trail head. Pressing on we quickly found ourselves high above the timber line. There *is* something fun about snow at the end of April.

The snow on the side of the road was higher than the car itself, so it got to the point where there was no possibility of getting out. We thought about heading back down the mountain and trying again, but decided to stop at Timberline to see if they had any maps we could snag.

Timberline, as you may know, was the exterior of The Overlook in The Shining (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timberline_Lodge). Yeah, Oregon’s famous like that.  However, as with most movies, or Cheers, very little of what you remember from the movie actually exists at the lodge. Like the hedge maze. Sadly that was fabricated.

Anyway, we got out of the car in our shorts and realized how warm it was, even that far up, so instead of driving about we decided to start walking up into the snow.  We didn’t climb that high up the mountain, but trudging the the snow is tiresome.  Thankfully the snow was packed so as to be mostly solid as opposed to 12 foot snow drifts.

The novelty of walking in the snow in shorts and tee-shirts not lost to us, we snapped a few photos.  Sadly, the jPhone not being a real camera, couldn’t compensate for the glare of the sun off the snow and as I guesseed, all my photos turned blue.  Keith had a real camera and snapped a few that turned out much better.  I’ve linked to the photos at the bottom.  I think I removed most of the ones I took as the blue tint is rather annoying.

We only stayed in the snow for about an hour before getting back to the car, and it wasn’t what we had planned, but it was still a rather fun day as a result.  And I know I definitely got snowburned as a result; my face was quite red when I got home.

We have talk of bringing a tarp next time and putting a blanket down and having a picnic in the snow.  Ah Oregon, how I love thee.  OH! And today is Star Wars Day!  May the 4th be with you!

Timberline Lodge

Posted in friends, hiking, jPhone, mt hood, photos, weather | Comments Off

Well, I’m back. Have been for a little over a week now. Rome was a great break from the reality of not having a job. Chris and I saw tons, some I hadn’t seen before, some revisited. We also at mass quantities of gelato and pizza. Pizza by the weight. By far the best idea ever. I have pictures on the Internet. I’m still debating whether to link to them or not. It’s almost entirely old churches and ruins with no captions. But I’m afraid if I wait until I do label them, it’ll never happen.

So right now i’m sitting by the Salmon Street foutain, typing this on my jPhone watching the Williamette. It’s a beautiful day (after many rainy) and I’m just enjoying it.

I’ve been job searching, but nothing looks promising. Thankfully, I have unemployment this time. And a nice bit of saving. So I’m not hurting. While I really don’t want to deplete my savings, I’m also not pressured to jump at the first job I find out of desperation. That’s somewhat comforting.

In the meantime I’ve been doing a lot of knitting. I’m making a sweater just in time for summer, but it’s coming along a lot quicker than I anticipated. This past Saturday I went to the Gorge to hike only to find it rainly only there and only while hiking. Those photos I’ll post.

So there that is. Here’s to a quick end to the Great Recession.

Posted in coffee, downtown, falls, friends, geek, gorge, jPhone, knitting, photos, unemployed, walking, weather | 1 Comment »

I thought the fact that it snowed last week to be of note. It remained peculiar all week and the snow all but disappeared by Friday. They talked of some more snow over the weekend.

I didn’t take them seriously. I’ve also been wearing the same pair of clothes since Friday as a result.

By Saturday morning there was already a good amount of snow on the ground. We were over at Chris’s parents, making the annual 50 dozen cookies (no exaggeration) and it was a good day for snow. Saturday night, very few people were on the roads. I went with Chris’s dad to pick him up from work in their 4×4, and while we had to drive slowly, it wasn’t bad.

The next morning went from Chris’s back to his parents’ to finish making the cookies. Now the roads were getting bad. Yet it kept snowing.

Keep in mind this is a city that has about five plows just in case we get that odd inch or two. When we get the fourteen inches that we did, they’re in over their heads. Most of the busses have shut down, and the roads are barely plowed, if at all. I’ve heard downtown is a little better, but that hardly helps all the way out in Mt Tabor.

It’s funny that one of the reasons I moved to pdx was because it almost never snows here. Now they’re not sure when it’ll stop. It’s not coming down heavy, just very steady. And it doesn’t help that I also don’t own the appropriate clothing for the snow. Assuming I can get downtown in the next day or so I’m going to try to take advantage of the sale at REI. We’ll see how that works out.

I’ve thrown in two photos. The night time photo was taken Saturday night. The daytime photo was taken this morning. It’s probably hard to see much as they were taken through the front window, but trust me. Mondo snow.

Okay, enough complaining about the snow. It’s a few days to Christmas, maybe it’ll be white this year. I’m pretty sure my package won’t make it to my parents’ house on time. But that could be because I haven’t mailed it yet. Oh well.

Be safe and warm!

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It’s snowing in Portland…

I know it looks like just a dusting, but that’s because it really is. It’s also a big deal for the area and drivers get petrified of it. Which makes them idiots because they still drive in it.

I, however, don’t have a vehicle and so have no option of going anywhere. What’s worse is that I really don’t have suitable shoes for wandering out and about in it. And I so do love a good wander.

All joking about the weather aside, it is supposed to be in the teens/twenties for a good portion of the week, so the snow we get will be sticking around for a bit. That should make commuting tomorrow fun.

I’m still without an Internet provider, so I’m writing all this from my phone, lovely thing. I had plans to do some errands, but that’s unlikely in today’s weather. And as I write this ambulance are screaming past. Silky people. Anyway, I’ll likely be sitting about knitting last minute gifts, trying desperately to get them out before the big day.

So until next time, be well!

Posted in jPhone, knitting, pdx, photos, weather, work | 6 Comments »

I’m sure having a late Thanksgiving didn’t help matters, but the close of this year has snuck up on me.  For whatever reason, I’m still back at the end of Septemberish.  So the fact that it’s already Christmas still confuses me.

Thanksgiving was a nice relaxing four-day weekend.  We had dinner over at Chris’s aunt’s house with his family and then played cards into the evening.  Lots o’ good food.  Pretty low-key next few days.  More eating, more food.

And then Sunday.  Sunday we went hunting for Christmas trees in Pleasant Valley.  After about an hour searching I found a beautiful little Nobel that was just asking to be cut down.  That night I was the proud owner of a newly decorated, freshly cut Christmas tree.  It looks better in real life than it does in the photo.  You know how camera phones are.  Even the jPhone.

Let the holidays commence!

Posted in friends, holiday, jPhone, pdx, photos | 2 Comments »

I love technology. I’m currently on the bus as I write this. It’s not actually thanksgiving yet, but I thought I’d write before I got too busy not working.

Right now it’s cold, rainy and dark. And it’s not even five pm yet. Such is life in the northern latitudes. Don’t forget, I’m about the same as southern Maine.

In other semi-exciting news, I’ve almost finished my kick ass tweed jacket. I just have to finish the button bands and collar, do a little tidying, and then it’s all mine to parade around in. I’m rather excited.

That’s really all I’ve got for now. Enjoy the holiday!

Posted in holiday, jPhone, pdx | Comments Off

There are a number of cool things to do in Portland that locals don’t often get to.  You know how it is, you drive past it every now and again and think “I really should go see that.” But inevitably you never do.  There’s a museum in Milford that has the flag that cradled Lincoln’s head after he was shot.  We all knew that.  Everyone in Milford knows that.  But it wasn’t until the end of High School, having taken the bus past it daily, that I finally decided to visit.  It’s just how these things go.

At any rate, the Pittock Mansion is, I would wager, one of those places.  Every Portlander knows about it.  The ones who have lived her longer may have even visited it back in the day.  But it’s not a place one just goes to out of the blue.  And then we forget how cool it is.

Last night was Open Door night at the Pittock.  While I’m still shakey (read: know almost nothing) on its history, suffice it to say that it’s a big ole’ mansion on top a great big hill.  Kinda like Grey Towers.  Except with a better view.  And yesterday was one of those “hot” days in Portland.  I put quotes around it because it’s like summer in the east coast, minus the humidity and condensed into four days spread throughout the warmer months.  So it’s tolerable.  Except Portlanders are wusses when it comes to weather

Anyway, being that the mansion is high up in the West Hills, it was significantly cooler.  So my friend Kimmet, her boyfriend Bryan and I decided to stop at Whole Foods on the way up and grab some delicious food for a picnic dinner on the lawn.  It was a gorgeous night, and so much better than sweating in our respective apartments.  As it got darker, the somewhat-full moon rose over the city and Mt Hood was on fire from the setting sun.  It was excellent.

The jPhone is good for a great many things, but its camera is sometimes lacking. Even still, the photos didn’t turn out too poorly.  I do wish I could crop some of them in magnify what’s left, but the resolution isn’t that great.  Okay, enough rambling.  The five or six pictures that I actually kept in all their technological glory:

Pittock Mansion

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So I think I may have forgotten to mention that I picked up the new 3G
iPhone last week. BEST PHONE EVER. Seriously.
Although to be honest this isn’t just a really fancy phone. Oh no.
It’s really a small computer that happens to be able to make phone
calls. Which is awesome. And then some. In fact, I’m blogging from my
phone as we speak. But you know me and gadgets.
So other than really loving my new phone, I’m also going to the coast
for a bit of a holiday. I’m going with my friend Christopher to his
family’s beach house in Pacific City until Tuesday, then back to work
for two days, then leaving early on Friday to go back to the coast
(this time Canon Beach) with Kimmey and her boyfriend. It’ll be a good
time, I’m excited.
So there that is. Enjoy the beautiful weather!

Posted in canon beach, coast, holiday, jPhone | Comments Off