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turns out this is a brand new, never before offered class and the required course list I was looking at was, in fact, outdated.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 »

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 »

So, thanks to Joe Dolan and his advice/not wanting me to be able to sit home while he has to work, I’ve gone and got myself an interview with the Portland Development Commission on Thursday.  I’m not entirely sure what the job is, but it seems to be part admin, part coordinating, part technical.  Which could be right up my alley.  Apparently it’s the sort of place where it would behoove me to wear a jacket and tie for the interview.  And you all know my wardrobe :-/

I’ll let you know how it goes.  And I’ll leave you with a comic I thought fitting.  To wit:

Posted in The Great Recession, leisure suits, photos, work | Comments Off

Yesterday I received my official “displacement” notice.  I also figured out who stole my job.  My poor bosses… this person really can’t do the job, nor will she do it well.  Which is why I thought it humorous that HR tried to convince me that I was being displaced by a “more senior, more qualified” person.  Just because because she’s older than dirt doesn’t mean she’s more qualified.  I bit my tongue.

I have seven days from yesterday (19/02) to decide which layoff option I’m going to take, and then an additional eight days beyond that (27/02) will be my last day in my current role of “That Guy”.  I technically have six choices.  Eliminating the ones that are not relevant or bad choices, I’m down to two: take the severance and run or try to steal someone else’s job.

If I decide to take the severance I would get 4 weeks pay plus accumulated vacation and one month of COBRA.
Pro: I get money… money is good
Con: I have no job.

If I decide to try and steal someone’s job, it would be a lower position and a pay cut.  Plus there’s no guarantee there is a position.  Additionally, there’s no guarantee I wouldn’t get “displaced” again.
Pro: I would potentially still be employed.
Cons: If I do steal someone’s job, my new co-workers will hate me, just as I’ve made sure my current co-workers hate the Usurper.  Pay cut. If they can’t find a job for me, I get no severance.  They basically wash their hands of me.  I could be displaced again.

I’m leaning toward taking the money and running at the moment.  I really don’t like the idea of stealing someone else’s job and making them unemployed.  And the jobs I would be taking aren’t exactly difficult to fill, which means everyone would be vying for them.  Plus, being easy to fill means I fear for future displacing.  There are a lot of people who have been here a lot longer than I.

Now granted, four weeks of severance is nothing, but I do have a hope.  My current boss and a co-worker and I have been scheming.  My co-worker used to work as a web administrator in DCH (children’s hospital on the hill).  He said it was an awesome job and the person he trained to replace him a year and a half ago, just left.  The position hasn’t been filled yet.  It’s also paid for by a private fund, not OHSU money.  He also has an in with the manager who would most likely hire me on his recommendation.

The only obstacle… THE UNION! (bastards)

But, the minimum requirements aren’t something that just anyone can fill.  They require HTML knowledge, programming, that kind of stuff.  So it narrows the field.  Plus it’s in the HemOnc ward, so we’re trying to angle it as someone needing to be okay around really sick children (heart of stone for the win!).  And if we make the position .5 or .7 FTE instead of full time, I think less people would be interested in it.

The reason I’d be okay with the fact that it’s not full time is that being displaced has helped me get motivated to go back to school.  It’s too late to matriculate, so I’d be taking classes on the side. And if I work at OHSU at least .5 FTE, I still get tuition discounts at any school in the Oregon University System.  It’ll still be expensive, but it’ll be $450 a class cheaper at least.  I’ll just have to see how I can survive on that salary.

So, I need to make a choice.  Any thoughts?  Oh, and happy long weekend if you get one.

Posted in The Great Recession, The Union (bastards), education, holiday, ineptitude, photos, work | Comments Off

Jan 13

I bought a fedora. There. I said it. But not a felted fedora. More of a linen one. Rather stylish.  Looks awesome.  Keeping with current trends, there are no photos posted of it.

In other news, the economy finally came to Portland and OHSU had to make significant changes and layoffs. As a result I no longer work for ITG, but instead for the newly created Clinical Informatics department. The director of this department is the doctor I’ve been work with basically since I’ve started, so basically little real change. Oh, and I didn’t lose my job. That rocks.

Jan 30

I wrote the previous bit about two weeks ago, with the intentions of finishing it.  That obviously never happened.  And a few things have happened since then.  Like I said, not losing my job was one of them.

With the enonomy as it is, the healthcare industry had to make some cut backs as well.  My department had to lay off a large number of people.  Thankfully, I was not one of them.  I did get my job shifted a bit.  I no longer work in ITG, but for the newly created Clinical Informatics Department.  And my boss switched to the doctor for whom I had been loaned out to since I had started working.  So at the moment, very little has changed for me in that respect.

OH! And the humidity thing.  I had almost forgotten about that.  My apartment has basically been like living in a rainforest.  It was horrid.  It got so bad that mold started growing in the window sills and doors.  So I bought a dehumidifier.  In 72 hours, that sucker pumped out a whopping 6.25 gallons of water.  And it continues today.  I can’t wait to see what it’s going to do to my electric bill.

Lame excuses time.  I had thought about blogging the past two weeks.  Two weeks ago I traipsed about Forest Park and last week was an ad hoc trip to the coast.  I took some photos on my phone, and they exist somewhere, but not on the interwebs at the moment.

In other news, I finished my Smokin’ Jacket (the photo is the original by the designer… mine’s blue).  I should say it’s mostly finished.  I need to attach the second pocket and go shopping for buttons.  I still wear it in its almost complete state, but I’m not calling it until then.  As a result, pictures of that are scarce too.  I really should work on my pigritude.  My next project is a pullover.  We’ll see how that goes.

I don’t think there’s anything else of interest to report.  I’ll try and be a little more diligent about updating my life for the edification of all.  And then there is always Twitter…

Cheers.

Posted in coast, downtown, friends, hats, lame excuses, obscure words, photos, work | 7 Comments »

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!

Posted in downtown, holiday, jPhone, knitting, mt tabor, pdx, photos, weather, work | Comments Off

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 »

Happy No One’s at Work Because It’s a Long Weekend Day!

It’s 11am and I so don’t want to be at work.  Especially because everyone else is out not being at work, enjoying the last vestiges of summer.  But I suppose that’s neither here nor there.

It’s been a bit of a busy week.  I tried to recover from last weekend on Sunday, but that didn’t happen nearly as much as I had hoped.  And then there were dinners with friends, crochet class–a friend suggested, so I figured why not. Turns out I’m not that good at it–a concert at the waterfront, finishing with the 1812 overture, real cannons and fireworks, games with friends tonight and Phantom of the Opera tomorrow.  I think this weekend I’m just going to do nothing.  Sit and relax.

But you’re not here for that.  I promised pictures, and here they are.  They’re mostly Susan’s doing, but there are a handful from my camera.  So without ado:

Suz y Q

The Gorge, Part Deux

Posted in columbia river, falls, friends, gorge, holiday, photos, work | 2 Comments »