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. . .