i tried to ford the river, but my oxen died

Well after much ado, I’ve finally become a college student. Again.

First off, how did we graduate five (plus or minus depending on who you are) years ago? When did that happen? And it’s probably going to take me another four to five years to get this degree, despite being a post bac and going full time. Well, starting next term.

Seeing how my illustrious institution did not accept me until a few weeks ago, very few classes were still actually open. The math classes I had planned on taking were full, so in the effort to have something to show for myself I signed up for ECE 101: Intro to Electrical Engineering. It wasn’t on the list of required classes, coupled with being a first year class, I was scared. Scared it would be horrifically boring.

“These are wire cutters. They cut wires!”

But it turns out this is a brand new, never before offered class and the required course list I was looking at was, in fact, outdated. I <b>do</b> need to take this class and it’s not nearly as simple as I had feared. There are no tests (yea!) but a number of projects and presentations. Our term project is to design and construct a Rube Goldberg machine, but with the use of electrical devices. That, I think, will be fun. Except that it’s a group project. And who wants to play nicely with others.

This is the only class I could find worth taking this term that was still open, so I’m really only busy on Mondays and Wednesdays from 12:00 – 1:30. Not exactly a strenuous schedule. Though they do suggest taking only one course when starting school after a long absence. You know, to get back into the swing of things. I’ll just have to figure out what to do with the rest of my time. Probably re-remember my high school math.

In other news, I’ve moved. I think many of you knew that. I’m still in Portland, but I’ve moved from close-in Southest, down to Sellwood. Which is also in the Southeast quadrant, but not really close-in. Especially not by bike. I think it’s about five miles from my apartment to school. So nothing hard to do, but nothing to laugh at either since I commute by bike.

If you want my addy and/or any other info, it’s on my Google profile. You’ll have to be logged into Google to see the good stuff. At least I’m pretty sure that’s how it works.

Oh, photos! So my friend Keith and I frequently go on hill walks throughout Portland. We try to go every weekend, but that doesn’t usually work out. It started because neither of us wanted to be as lazy as we were, plus I knew there were a lot of places in my own city that I just haven’t seen yet. So Portland Hill Walks it was. It’s a great book with some very excellent hikes. And some hikes we will never speak of again…. HILLSDALE!! *shakes fist violently* But all in all, a good time.

The last walk we went on was nice, but not that photographically inspiring. The one before that was from Willamette Park to Terwilliger Loop…. which means nothing to 99.9% of the people reading this. Go with it. It was a nice walk. And I’ve linked the photos below.  Nothing spectacular, mind, just a large number of photos of the river.

Enjoy, and don’t forget to tip your server:

Hill Walk

Posted in bridges, education, geek, hiking, moving, photos, walking | 2 Comments »

So I finally got my college acceptance letter in the mail. So now I have 17 days before classes start to get everything in order and register for classes. Assuming I can afford them.

I’m currently without Internet at my new place. We actually have to wait for comcast to show up an install it for us (assinine), and that happens next Thursday. Maybe by then I’ll have some photos of the new place to show you.

Cheers!

Posted in education, moving, unemployed | 3 Comments »

Welp, today’s my last day of work. Again. Although this time it’s of my own choosing. Originally the plan was to get my old job back and go to school part time. But then they downgraded my old job, so I’m just going back full time now. I think this is a much better idea.

So today I’m done with OHSU, probably for the last time. I’m also moving to the Sellwood area of Portland. It’s about four miles south of downtown on the other side of the river. I’m going to be rooming with a girl name Fiona that I was going to meet when I posted back in May. I don’t k ow her that well, but I feel better about her than I do about someone random off of Craigslist.

My move-in day is the first, and classes start on the 28th. Now I just have to focus on cleaning, packing, moving, studying and, oh yeah, actually getting accepted.

One hurdle at a time.

Posted in moving, southeast, unemployed, work | Comments Off

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.

Posted in education, jPhone, moving, work | Comments Off

Can you believe it’s been one year already since I first set foot in Portland?  Time flies like an arrow.  Fruit flies like a banana.  Wise words, those.

I was trying to think of something exciting in my life to write about, but like so often, nothing comes to mind.  Most of the chatter these days is about the upcoming elections.  I’ve voted already, so that’s done with.  And if you know me at all, you shouldn’t have to think too hard about who I guessed for.

But I’ll give you a hint: I could never vote for someone with the IQ of a box of rocks, who in all seriousness is just a few heartbeats away from presidency.  And that whole “but she’s just like us” tripe?  People, this is presidency here… we don’t want someone like us.  We want someone better than us.  Someone who knows what they’re doing.  Someone who’s actually read the job description, for that matter.

So, I encourage you to vote responsibly.  I hope we’ve learnt from our mistakes these past (long) eight years.  Ideology is a dangerous thing.  Especially in the hands of the incompetent.

And just a reminder what incompetency looks like:

Posted in moving, pdx, politics, video, youtube | 2 Comments »

What a rare mood I’m in.

So I’m almost entirely in my new place.  And I love the southeast.  Far superior to downtown, and so much quieter!  Walking to the grocery store the other day down tree-lined streets I realised yet again why this is called Rose City.  Aside from the crazy variety of plants people had growing in their front gardens and along the road, there were rose bushes everywhere.  The whole neighbourhood smelled so nice.  And I’m not usually one for roses.

And then today I found out that Suz y Q are coming out to visit next month!  Could this day get any better?  I won’t say no!

Cheers!

Post Script, the weather here is gorgeous.  The total lack of humidity (and apparent lack of snow) is enough to ensure that I never move eastward again.  Sorry friends.  But there’s plenty of room out here!

“Come…. Join Us….” he said eyes wide, in a deep droning tone, not unlike something you’d see on a bad made for tv movie depicting cults.  The only thing missing was the crazy spinning pinwheel overlayed on his eyes.

Posted in downtown, friends, moving, southeast, weather | 3 Comments »

It’s official Ladies & Gents!  I signed the lease today, the place is mine.  Goodbye Downtown, Hello Southeast!

Now I just have to go through the headache of disassembling furnature, packing and moving.  But at least now visiters *ahem* don’t have to try to fit inside the glofied closet that I am currently occupying.

The plan is probably to move sometime over this next long weekend (I may take Monday off too) but to be totally out by the following weekend.  I’ll let you know how that goes.

So here’s to that!

Posted in downtown, moving, southeast | Comments Off

Just got a call this afternoon that they’re going to give me the new place.  I’m going on Sunday to sign the lease and then it’ll be all mine!  Only problems are I haven’t told my current landlord that I’m trying to vacate because I didn’t want to be homeless.  So I may have more than one apartment…. that’ll be fun.

Cheers!

Posted in moving | Comments Off

This is just a quick post to say that eight months ago today I showed up in Portland for the first time ever. Eight months! Soon it’ll be a year. Who’d a thunk it?

Posted in moving, pdx | 2 Comments »

So soon since the last post. And at work! I’m actually proctoring an exam right now in one of the training rooms and am biding my time. You know I work for OHSU. And I think I’ve mentioned that the system we’ve implemented is called Epic. Well, the project team needs to be certified in the various parts of the system, and that requires taking exams. Since their headquarters is in Madison, Wisconsin, they’re not likely to fly someone out to administer a test. That’s where I come in.

So I get the task of making sure the test taker doesn’t cheat. I don’t think she would, but we need to be official nonetheless. The only problem is that I’m away from my desk and don’t have much I can be working on at the moment. Hence the post. Hence the reason no photos yet.

So what have I been up to in the past month since I last posted? I don’t know. I’ve been keeping busy with life, but nothing horribly memorable. Well, there were a few things, but they accompany the pictures I keep promising.

Oh, and house hunting. Like I said in the last post. Because the market has collapsed a bit, it isn’t quite as cutthroat as it was. I’m seeing posts on craigslist actually being re-posted or not filled days later! That = promising.

What’s more, I found the apartment I want. I actually tried to rent this one (and I think blogged about it) back in November, but someone beat me to it. So now that it’s up again, I’m going for it. Unfortunately, they posted it last night at about 4:30 and I didn’t notice until this morning. Hopefully sixteen hours isn’t too long of a wait. I’m going to call them as soon as I’m done proctoring. Oddly enough, many of the places that rent in pdx are very not pet friendly. That’s odd because so many people in Portland have pets. I say this because I’m planning on getting a cat as soon as I settle in to my new imaginary place.

I think I may also have mentioned that my friend Marla is coming out to stay with me. At first she was going to stay for a while, but she recently got a boyfriend before coming out to camp, and so now she’s planning on going back much sooner than before. So she’s more of a long-term guest than a short-term roommate. I’m still holding out for Sara Jo to move out here as she’s the only one who hasn’t given me a definitive no (you know who you are!).

That’s really all I’ve got for now. But just to throw you a bone:

It’s the apartment I’m trying to get. You can’t see much of it, but it’s the little brick part to the right of the picture. It’s cute and it’s quiet. And an excellent location. So here’s to getting it!

Posted in cats, moving, photos, work | Comments Off