i tried to ford the river, but my oxen died

That of course is the Portland Bridge Pedal. 10 bridges, 36 miles, 20,000 people and more fun than you know what to do with.  This is only my third year participating, but it’s by far my favourite day of the year. So much so that I plan my calendar around it.

Leaving at 05:00, I rode from my place down in Sellwood up to NE Portland where I met the rest of my group. From there we headed all the way up to N Portland where we waited impatiently to start our epic journey. I won’t go into a play by play of the whole trip because I’d be rambling on and on about all the minutia that probably would bore you.  BUT, I do have photos and a map to show you where we went.
View Portland Bridge Pedal 2010 in a larger map

Portland Bridge Pedal 2010

Tags: bridge pedal, bridges, map, pdx, photos
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Not having posted since the end of fall term, I have no idea if anyone checks this anymore. Obviously that’s not stopping me from posting.

So what’s happened since? Well, nothing really. I’ve done a lot of homework. Probably more these past two terms than at any point during my tenure at Eastern. And I’m sure it’s only going to get worse. Ah, fun.

Today was my last final for spring term. I had linear algebra, calc II and engineering programming. The last had us learning to program in C. For our final project we had to write a program that would accept a string of text, translate it into Morse Code, beam it via infrared light, receive the signal, display the morse print out and then translate it back to English. Daunting, but we got it done. Our professor took the video below (with his phone, so pardon the quality). There’s not much to see, but it gives you an idea of what we did.

Exciting, no? What is exciting is that I’ll be flying to Philly this summer for anyone who happens to be in the area. I arrive on 24 August and fly out again on 31 August. So one full week for all your Donald needs. I’ve forgotten what the humidity is like on that side of the country, so I may be dead part way into the week.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for now. Hols is flying in on Saturday and spending the week here (finally!), so I may have photos of that later on.

Be seeing you!

Tags: education, ee, friends, pdx, Philly, video, youtube
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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!

Tags: downtown, holiday, jPhone, knitting, mt tabor, pdx, photos, weather, work
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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!

Tags: jPhone, knitting, pdx, photos, weather, work
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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!

Tags: friends, holiday, jPhone, pdx, photos
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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!

Tags: holiday, jPhone, pdx
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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:

Tags: moving, pdx, politics, video, youtube
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So one of the interesting aspects of moving somewhere very far away is the type of disasters that happen.  Getting a blizzard here would phenomenal.  Getting one in Pennsylvania, while not common place, wouldn’t be anything that special.

One thing that happens here with enough frequency so as not to be extremely shocking, is landslides.  On Wednesday, a house near the main campus of where I work slowly started coasting down the hill and into the neighbours’ houses.  Click the picture for a larger image, or you can read about it here.

I don’t live anywhere near any hills, so I’m in no danger of landslides.  Now if Mt Hood decided to blow, that’d be another story…

Tags: disasters, mt hood, pdx, work
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So tonight we went to watch the end of an annual event known as Chapman’s Swifts.  Every year, hundreds of Vaux’s (pron: vox’s) Swifts–Chaetura vauxi–rest on their migration to warmer climes in chimneys and other dark vertical surfaces.  Portland, as it turns out, has one of the largest populations in the country.


As a result, each year hundreds of people show up to the Chapman school before sunset, bring their picnic meals, and watch the sky fill with hundreds of birds all making their way into a rather large chimney.  It’s actually quite a spectacle.  There were literally tons of birds circling the school in a giant cyclone of swiftiness.  Very reminiscent of Hitchcock’s The Birds.


And to give you an idea of what we saw, the power of YouTube.  Mind, I didn’t take the footage, I just found it.  To wit:

Tags: birds, pdx
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So if nothing else, the weather is usually fairly predictable here.  In winter it never stops raining.  In summer, it almost never rains and gets really hot maybe four days a year.

This morning it’s actually raining.  And it’s calling for rain all week.  While I usually like the rain, and it is true that I did just the other day say I missed the rain, I definitely do not like commuting in it.

When I lived downtown, it was only a 15 minute walk, and I usually managed to stay pretty dry.  Now it’s a 40 minute walk from the other side of the river.  Or a 10 minute bike ride (which I only recently started doing… Oh yeah, I may have forgotten to mention I bought a bike).  Biking in the rain during rush hour = not fun.  I am definitely taking the bus this winter.

But on a happer note, only three days until Suz y Q arrive to take pdx by storm! Huzzah!

Tags: bike, friends, pdx, walking, weather, work
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