It's Sinking In

lenore and i painted the trim and minishelf in my new bathroom tonight. or i should say, i tried to paint it and she fixed it. there was no painter's tape and i don't have the skills she does. so i retreated to the kitchen to wash the dishes. later, i held the screws while she put the hinges back onto the doorpost. thank you, lenore!

anyway, the bathroom and kitchen are now mostly in place and i'm starting to feel like i have an apartment. but it's sinking in slowly. tonight i asked my guests/helpers if they minded if i put the leftover pizza away in the fridge. they laughed at me for asking for permission in my own place. i'm so used to tiptoeing around others' sensibilities. it's been so long since i've been a real person; i don't know if i'll be able to acclimate back into life in the wild. but move in day is in a week: april 2. i"m sure i'll be ok once i spend a night there.

meanwhile, my parents are out on the town: dancing to live music, celebrating their freedom. i guess a new day is dawning for everyone.

The Big News

my apologies to the blogosphere for not posting recently. i'm finding it easy to get busy and not have time to post, yet when i have spare time, it seems there is nothing going on to write about. it's tragically ironic.

but i have set aside time to post today, because i have big news: i am moving back out of my parents' house--only 3 years behind the planned schedule. i'm taking a basement apartment in coventry below dan and julie larrivee. it's a great apartment; about 1000 sq. ft with a lot of working kitchen space. and although it is legally a guest suite within dan's house, i have my own private, lockable entrances.

of course there are drawbacks: it's in the woods, and i keep expecting to find a decomposing person hanging from a tree one day on the way home (i just freaked my mother out), but i know it's just my sheltered suburban imagination. and it's at the bottom of a dirt driveway on a poorly paved road; certainly a far cry from a Pearl District loft. for those--or other reasons--i know some of you will be hesitant to come visit me, and i understand. i do. it makes me sad, but i understand, and won't take it personally. but i hope most of you will come. i'll have 1000 sq. ft and a meal to share.

i dropped off my first month's rent tonight, and i have the place as of april 1. as soon as i can get in there, i'll take pics so that i can post them. i know a lot of you like picture books.

Good Day, Good Day

yesterday was most satisfactory. it started off rough when i was 20 minutes late to the service group after zoning out on the highway, missing my exit and driving all the way to colchester. but service--when i got there--was nice. we had a good group, including ian and jonathan, who are pioneering this month (!) i worked with joe and becky and diana. we had a decent conversation with a householder who was already chris beaudoin's call, but i'll still take the joy.

in the afternoon i worked with lenore, jonathan, cheyenne and dave. jonathan and i swapped our favorite scriptures of righteous indignation (job 38 and 39, psalm 50). and i finally got my houlihan's W2!!!

i would have been content with that for a tuesday, but then dave, cris, lenore and i went out to dinner at dish. i hadn't been to a nice dinner in a while; the nominal reason was to celebrate dave's having fixed my car's serpentine belt. it was really just an excuse to have cheesy boursin bread, lobster and short rib dumplings, crab cakes, ahi tuna, diver scallops, hangar steak frites, pork shank with risotto and apple butter, chocolate fondant, alcoholic coffees and a couple bottles of wine. in the end, the dinner was

delectable and the conversation was engaging.

plug: http://www.dishbarandgrill.com/dishhome.html

after such a good day yesterday, i'm presently at the house, locked inside my room. outside my door, maya has been sick all night and my mother is now feeling nauseated. maybe i'll finally do my taxes. wish me well.

Big Shout Out to JackRabbits!

today, after a less than arduous morning of field service, we went to try the new burger place on 195, jackrabbits. (it's where blimpie's used to be, next to starbucks.) two thumbs up!

i tried the pepe le pew (not pictured): a burger with caramelized apple slices, brie cheese and bacon. good stuff--the burger was cooked properly to order, and they didn't skimp on the brie. my apples weren't truly caramelized, but they worked. tally wasn't impressed, but she eats neither hamburgers nor hot dogs. i'll be back!

http://www.jackrabbitsburgers.com/

Don't Be Alarmed, It's Just A Fissure (in the earth)

i'm presently laying in bed, where i've been for most of the past 24 hours after being sent home from work for what was probably a panic attack. i thought i was bleeding internally (i wasn't), and the next thing i knew i was prostate on the bathroom floor, nauseated and in a cold sweat. i'm feeling better but i've been unusually tired since said event. i went to sleep after my father brought me home, woke up long enough to watch tuesday's lost episode, and went back to sleep.

now it's 3 30, and i've found enough energy to post a few more pics form portland.

these are from monday morning, when i drove out to the columbia river gorge and then hood river, before looping around mt. hood. the columbia river forms a gorge as it approaches portland and the confluence of the willamette. I-84 runs right along the river, but the scenic byway follows the bluffs above, where you can get these kinds of views.

the waterfall is multnomah falls, one of a handful of falls descending into the columbia just east of portland. in fact, all of these pics were taken less than an hour out of the city. multnomah falls is the second highest falls (six hundred something feet) in the US, second only to niagara.

the little red barn is in the orchard country near hood river. hood river is known for windsurfing and apple orchards, and it wasn't windsurfing season. (plenty of wind, just too cold). just behind the orchards is mt. hood, at 11,ooo feet, but the sun was positioned so that i couldn't get any good pics. sorry. . .

We're Gonna Tarantino It

(hey, if dane cook can bite off everybody, why can't i bite off him?)

for those of you missing the reference, that means i'm gonna tell you the end of the trip first, and then i'll backtrack and explain how i came to my conclusions. after all, my narrative has only reached saturday afternoon, despite it presently being a wethersfield wednesday.

so the end: i loved portland. . .

and i plan to move there--in a year.

i wouldn't stand a chance of finding a job unless i moved by april, when the restaurants begin hiring up for the busy summer. and i can't afford that. so i'm going to visit again sometime around junish (maybe when there's a good show playing), and meanwhile cultivate my nascent social contacts.

it was really a great city; anyone want to come along to visit this summer?

i haven't transferred any pics to my desktop yet, i'll try and post some--with accompanying stories--tomorrow.

meanwhile, i'll see some of you in person tomorrow. k & c, i have your rapidly stalefying donuts. when are we transferring? at my meeting?

Exploring North and Northeast

saturday i drove around exploring neighborhoods in north and northeast portland. one observation i have is the lack of obvious poverty. i drove through one development of neat two story houses, all sided in complementary colors. the street was full of older cars parked on and around frequent speed bumps. i saw a community center, little kids playing at a playground while their older sibs played a pick up game of basketball, a mural--hold on a minute! this was the projects!

i tell you, these were the most beautiful projects i had ever seen. i saw no graffiti, couldn't smell any urine--i would live here! i wish i had pics, but i was driving. if i had pulled over, someone would have sold me drugs. nonetheless, they were really well done. i found out later they have a community garden so that the underprivileged kids can 'see good for the work of their hands.' every week, anyone can go there and help themselves to fresh organic produce. why don't they have that in ivy gardens?

later, i drove to N mississippi ave for lunch. i parked my car and strolled around. i really appreciate the unseasonably dry, sunny weather at times like this.

besides numerous shops and regular restaurants and coffespots, the neighborhood had its own outside food court. it was set up between a brewpub and a handful of food trailers and street vendors. on the left is one of the pretty housing developments--"the mississippi treehouse". lofts above, shops at street level.

to the right is the neighborhood version of home depot--"the rebuilding center". it only sells reclaimed materials.

over a lunch of smoked salmon eggs benedict and a nice salty bloody mary, i asked my bartender about job prospects. more bad news. she advised me to frequent a place until they needed help. basically, be a stalker.

after lunch, i went looking for an internet cafe to post, but could not find one to save my life. on an impulse, i went to the mall and bought a netbook laptop at radio shack. hey--i saved myself the sales tax by buying here. i ended up having difficulty using it, but. . .whatever.

ttyl

Apologies for the Delay--I'm an Idiot

sorry it's taken me so long to contact the blogosphere. i've had spotty wifi access; that, combined with my lack of common sense, has hampered my ability to post. (I spent a full half day "charging" my new laptop, only to realize the battery was still in the box. that's pretty pathetic.)

anyway, rather than overload you with all my experiences of the last few days, i'll dole out details piecemeal over a series of posts.

my trip here was pleasant enough: two three-hour flights with an hour layover in between. i did almost miss the second flight when they changed my gate, and i almost noticed too late. but they were kind enough to let me on the plane after they had already cancelled my ticket and closed the doors. i apologized to the flight attendants for being "that guy", and dashed the dreams of my two seat mates, who thought they had extra space for the flight.

but picking up my car and checking into the hotel were uneventful affairs. i did get my first glimpse of the city by taking the city streets rather than the highway from the airport to the hotel. the city was hillier than i expected, which was a happy thing. i like hills. i passsed lots of bungalows and craftsman style houses--with few apartment buildings. most of the apartments i saw were low, courtyard style affairs comprising maybe 8 units, like the complex in the movie Singles.

so portland is divided into four quadrants (NW, SW, SE, and NE).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Portland.png

burnside ave. divides the north from the south quadrants. i'm staying a block off burnside, just inside of SW. i parked my car for the night and walked to NW23rd st, which, along with NW 21st, are trendy shopping and eating strips. I chose a spot called 23 Hoyt, which looked straight out of Brooklyn. in fact, the whole neighborhood did. the martini menu was impressive; i drank a couple of Salvador Dalis (gin, muddled ginger, lime, honey and cayenne). delicious.

over an appetizer of goat cheese ravioli, ciabatta and tempranillo i asked the bartender about job prospects. he wasn't that encouraging. after that i hit a few more places, for dinner and then dessert. each bartender confirmed what the last said: jobs were tough to find, and knowing someone on the inside was the best bet. of course, i know no one. (sigh) still, they each told me it was worth the try, and that my best chances would be in the spring, when restaurants were hiring up for their busy season in the summer. one note of promise: one of the waiters at Wildwood was from Old Saybrook, and he was working. i guess that's something.

the next morning, i drove out to the kingdom hall to check the meeting times, and then to Fred Meyer to pick up a few things I needed. Fred Meyer is amazing--it's like WalMart without the trash. they have a coffeeshop, a decent grocery store, an elevator, and a jewelry store. i just needed deodorant, lotion and a map.

afterwards i drove around north and northeast portland looking at neighborhoods until i was hungry. but i'll tell you more about that later because i'm presently typing this at a coffeshop and my scone arrived.

later. . .

I Just Don't Like Facebook

many of you know i'm going out to portland this coming weekend on a scouting expedition: to determine if i would indeed enjoy living there. so that i could share my thoughts and pics, both while i'm away this weekend, and also if i eventually relocate, i joined facebook. but i hate it so so much.

i've been on it one day and i'm already overwhelmed. just to set it up i had to fill out a big questionnaire about my interests, activities, movies, etc. it asked me where i lived, which i thought was a cheap shot. now i'm getting emails from people that want to be my "friend", which is making me anxious. there is some kind of farmplace, and people want me to give them eggs. the whole thing just makes me feel dirty and guilty.

so i'm going back to what i know: a good old blog. like i said, its immediate purpose is for this oregon trip, but i plan to keep it going with random entries once i return. feel free to stop in whenever you want; i'll do my best to share enough of myself to keep it interesting, but not scary.