Author: Andy

Early Results at Oregon Academy of Science

This past Saturday morning I presented the early findings of my thesis work at the Oregon Academy of Science annual meeting. Despite the 8am presentation, the whole thing went well. My advisor encouraged me to do the presentation, not because he’s the section chair, but to give me an opportunity to practice for my coming defense this Spring. Also, it forced me to prepare a consumable explanation of what I’ve been doing the last couple years.

The presentation was a quick 15 minutes, but I think I was able to distill the results so far in to something that made sense to the audience. I received a number of great followup questions, and was happily able to respond to all of them. My advisor later said he was impressed at the presentation which in some way could be taken as a jab, but he’s not seen my findings yet. The draft I have now (and should be working on) is rather crude. But I should get back to that.

Eblen Freed goes live

Michelle Freed of Eblen Freed LLP
For those who haven’t heard, my wife is starting her own law practice. She and her friend Tim are Eblen Freed LLP, a Portland firm that works with families and small businesses. Now they’ve the website to prove it. I know this reads like a plug because it is. But I’m also very happy for my wife who is excited to return to family law and hopes to develop a collaborative practice. Currently, she and Tim are winding down full time employment at their previous firm and doing contract work with the firm while they grow the new practice.

So, if you know of anyone in need of legal services, feel free to give them my wife’s name. She’s damn good.

Madeline is 2 (officially)

It’s no secret that Madeline is a toddler, but today, at 8:50 am, we made it official. She and her sister are in the next room “bowling.” I’m not sure MG is in to it though, and Ella is trying to engage her. MG is in fact, now very clear that she wants to be doing something else, and is happy to tell Ella as much.

I’m amazed at what a little child she’s become. Chatty, clever, goofy, and cute as hell. Happy birthday little girl.

Sill face MG

Maui 2010

In Napili BayBack in the wet, dark spring of 2010, Madeline’s first birthday still fresh in our minds, Alaska Airline had a promotion where we could fly to Maui direct from Portland for $147 a ticket. It was too good to pass up, and Maddie was so small, she wouldn’t need a seat. So we planned for another November escape, though this time with just the immediate clan. Both for expediency’s sake, and for the chance to test out this whole “family travelling” thing. November however arrived, and Madeline is much more of a 2 year old than a 1 year old, and we were starting to question our decision to fly her as a lap infant.

The good news is that the flight, while it seemed longer than 5 1/2 hours, ended without any disasters. And then we were in Maui. We picked up our miniature rental car, picked up some groceries, then traversed the island to north of Lahaina on the west coast where we picked up a screaming deal on a condo. The condo was at Paki Maui, which was an excellent place for the girls. Playground and park next door, pool, and easy access to a gentle wading pool with a sand beach. It was also close enough to food and entertainment. The first night, after a wind-down on the playground, we visited Maui Brewing for dinner. The Island Hopper Red was a terrific way to start the decompression.

I’ll spare all the specific details of each day, but we found a pretty good formula that worked for us. Get up at 4-5am (DST and time-zone change are rough), Watch some sesame street, drink some cocoa and coffee, breakfast and pack a lunch. Lather up in sunscreen, put on suits, and head to the beach. Vary the beach, but enjoy it, eat lunch by 11am, play some more, then venture back to the condo to clean up a bit, relax, then start looking for food.

The beach that was most popular with the girls was Baby Beach just north of Lahaina’s waterfront. It’s protected by a reef, and even when the tide is up, the waves are miniscule. The sand is pretty good, there’s some shade, and the girls could play without a single worry. We even met a family from Beaverton with whom the girls played. It was fine, and I saw a squid, but probably wasn’t either Michelle or my favorite.

My favorite was Napili Beach, which was about 7 minutes north of our condo. The beach is much steeper, and the waves were pretty consistent and of enough size for adults to enjoy. That kind of wave isn’t much for for squirts though unless you’ve got your hands on them the whole time. Still, you could literally lay in the sand and let the water wash you 20-30 feet up the beach then back in to the ocean. Plus, the winter beach had a great drop that meant you could run and dive in to the water.

Michelle’s favorite was probably Po Olenalena Beach because it was the ultimate compromise beach. Great sand, gentle surf, no crowd, and even some snorkeling with turtles. It was about an hour drive from our condo, so we only made the trip once, but it really was delightful. We squatted at the south end near the rocks for about 5 hours and thoroughly enjoyed the place until the girls ran out of energy.

We visited Lahaina a couple times for dinner and to explore. I think everyone agrees that the giant banyan tree on the waterfront is the coolest thing in Lahaina. The food was mediocre and overpriced (Maui factor already included), but the Banyan was just an incredible thing. Giant swooping branches, tendrils reaching to lend a hand, and massive spans of tree that are unlike anything we have here. Michelle pointed out a branch that had the same girth, color, angle and texture of what we imagine a Brachiosauruses neck to be like. The girls loved frollicking under the massive canopy, and it took every ounce of rule following in my body to not only keep the girls from climbing, but to not climb the tree myself. (I added Swiss Family Robinson to the Netflix queue immediately after we got home).

At times, it felt like we weren’t seizing the trip by the horns and dashing out to see things like Hana, Haleakala, the Io Valley and so forth. But the girls couldn’t care less, and frankly, for this trip, neither could we. This was a perfect trip with the family and we hope to return again.

Here’s a slideshow:

Electrostatic precipitator

When we purchased our current home, the furnace situation was a bit of a mess. The furnace was an old oil-burning monster that had been converted to burn natural gas. The exhaust running through the crawl space was full of holes, and instead of a fabric air filter, it had an electrostatic precipitator. In theory, this was cool – precipitators use a negative charge on large plates to effectively remove particles from the air.

However, the precipitator didn’t work, and when we replaced the furnace with a much newer gas furnace, we asked the installer to remove the precipitator. He didn’t, saying it still worked and was good thing to have. Sadly, he was wrong about it working. So air just passed through it to a reusable filter below.

Then, when we remodled the basement, we built a wall around the entire unit to quiet the whole operation down. I left access panels on both sides for the filter and to access the furnace proper. It really quieted things down, which made the basement a much more pleasant place to be. Then, last winter, the furnace started acting up. Twice, the unit died. Once, the ignition element cracked, and the second time, the board died. On the service visit, Todd Morrison (who is awesome) recommended removing the precipitator because he felt there was some restriction on the airflow. I cleaned out what I could in the precipitator from below, but the top portion was now closed in by the wall. (whoops)

Yesterday I pulled out the fabric filter, grabbed the sawzall, a drill, and some tin snips and started taking apart the precipitator plates. It was dirty and slow. But then I hit the motherload. Atop the two metal plates (the positive then the negatively charged panels), I found a screen mesh that was clogged with suety, gross lint and nastiness. See.

I fired up the furnace, and the airflow was immediately improved. The air stunk of burnt oil, so I ran the unit for a while while everyone was gone with all the windows open. Now we should be in for a cheaper, warmer winter.

Chicago surprise

Andy and Michelle at Wrigley FieldA week before my birthday, I received an e-mail from my wife at work saying “don’t plan on being at work from Sept22-24.” I snapped back “I can’t miss work during the first week of the term with all that is going on. Plus, my dad and I are going to Primus on the 22nd.” A few minutes later, an annoyed e-mail came in that said (paraphrasing): “Primus was a ruse, your boss and coworkers have known about this for months, and they just want to make sure your desk is clean before you go. The only reason I’m telling you is because a lot has changed since the plans were originally made.”

Well, the morning of my birthday, I walked the girls and dogs around the block and got back to find my mom and wife getting the car ready, and my mom started driving us in the direction of the airport. I hadn’t seen the luggage or anything, but when we pulled up to the airport, Michelle was crying and telling the girls she’d miss them and call them. Surprise number 2 – the trip would be sans children! (try not to sound too excited…) Then, as we were self-checking in for the flight, Michelle implored me to check my wallet. It seemed a little fatter, but as I opened it, right in front were 2 tickets to that night’s Cubs game vs. San Francisco… At Wrigley Field.

I’ll spare you the travel details (no kid!) but we arrived in Chicago, took the train to the hotel, got back on a train to Wrigley, and had just bought some ball park sausages when the game-related events started to wind up. My wife the birthday ninja pulled of another big surprise, and here we were just a few hours later sitting in Wrigley Field watching the Cubs. And as an added bonus – they actually won. It was surreal – genuine harvest moon rising from behind the rooftop bleachers behind right field, Buddy Guy throwing out the pitch and leading the 7th inning stretch, drinking Old Style and eating polish sausage, and watching my first Cubs game and game at Wrigley. It was awesome.

And that was only the first day. (Though we were up pretty late that night exploring, then trying to find some food.) Day 2 we took a boat tour put on by the architectural society, walked to Millenium park, hit the top of the Willis (aka Sears) tower, walked back uptown, then met Hilary (yes, my sister was there too) and Avery for dinner in Wrigleyville at a burger bar. Then, we grabbed a beer at the Map Room before heading separate ways.

The architectural boat tour was very entertaining and very satisfying. I consider myself a bit of an armchair architectural critic, and Portland largely doesn’t cut it when it comes to major architectural developments of the last century. Sure, we have some wonderful buildings, and we have what is considered to be the first (rhymes with worst) postmodern building, but so much of the Art Deco styling can only be found as facades on smaller buildings, many on the east sider of the river along Sandy. I’ve never been too keen on Modernist architecture. I get it, and seeing it done well certainly helps. In fact, it’s hard not to see the lobby of some of these massive buildings and not imagine the clothing and conversation of people walking to and from the elevator when these buildings were new. And, more recently, I’ve discovered that I like what a modernist building does to a skyline when compared to the overly busy and detailed facades of the post-modern stuff coming up now. Anyway, it was wonderful to see the birthplace of the skyscraper and see the history as it solidly sits above the river. And then to go to the top of buildings that stand nearly twice as tall as ours in Portland, a freshman of a city by comparison.

Day 3 we started the morning at Shedd Aquarium, which I must say has one of the most amazing grand hallways anywhere. The marble on the walls looks like waves and sea foam, the ornamentation around the room and on the light fixtures was all decorated to resemble or show sea life, and it certainly made waiting to buy tickets much easier. The museum’s Amazon/Freshwater displays were probably my favorite part because they were so unlike any of the aquariums I’d been to before. The pacific northwest display was a good attempt, but we’ve been spoiled by the Newport and Seattle aquariums. And the Invasive Species room was a treat for me. I only wish they could have and some lamprey’s in the tank.

After a short lunch we immersed ourselves in the Field Museum. Again, there’s a sense of paternalism that permeates this place, especially among the older exhibits that fits the era, but now seems kind of, well, bully-ish. That being said, I appreciate their work and their absconding away from around the world with fascinating (I’m sorry, they purchased their collection, right) relics, animals, and information. Some of the animal displays were similar to those in the Hastings Museum that I loved to visit with my grandparents growing up, but the scale and variety of the field museum is, frankly, overwhelming. Five hours was not enough, and after several hours, you’re kind of saturated. I’d love to come back again – if only to stand in the great hall. It’s amazing. Even without the 67 million year old broad menacing everyone.

The afternoon was sunny and surprisingly clear considering what was supposed to be a rainy day. We decided to grab drinks in the Hancock building and even got window seats on the west side. It was a great place to watch the sun set, and frankly, the drinks weren’t as expensive as I had expected. We had sushi for dinner (I know, what were we thinking?) and tried to clean our palates afterwords with some lovely Two-hearted ale.

The 4th day was our last, so we wandered by foot out to the waterfront, down to the Navy Pier, then in to town for a last stroll through. We tried to do some shopping but realized that all the stores were the same, prices were the same, and at home, we could skip sales tax. Yeah homogeneity.

I managed to squeeze a lunch trip to Big Star for our departing lunch. It was most excellent, and was a great thing to have in our bellies before the flight home. Plus, getting there was a little indirect because of a failed address lookup in Google maps, not that I’m complaining, which allowed us to walk through some more marginal and nice neighborhoods, something that was a treat for me.

I’m kind of amazed that all this actually happened, and having worked on this post over the last couple weeks, it already seems so long ago. I’m fortunate to have such a wonderful wife and friend to give me such an awesome birthday, and to arrange it so far in advance with my boss and coworkers. Thanks.

Chicken Experiment ends

Hens in a pen
Hens in a pen

On the afternoon of September 6th we disassembled the chicken coop (don’t build a coop with a green roof if you need to move it) and helped move it to it’s new home with a nice lady who love animals and wants to stop participating in the chicken-machine. I followed the new owner of the hens and coop to her house and watched the heads of the nervous (and panting) chickens in the back of her wagon. The comical lift of the head, quick turn, and slight movement of the comb as it catches up was always one of my favorite things about the animals. Besides the eggs of course.

Over the summer, we had been compiling a list of pros and cons, mostly around 5am when I was going outside to throw them some scratch to keep them quiet. I had tremendous guilt about the noise they made, mostly because they were so close to the neighbor’s bedroom window. And the neighbor liked to keep late hours.

Anyway, here’s a list of the pros and cons, possibly for consideration for other folks:

Pros:

  • Funny pets
  • Wonderful, wonderful eggs
  • Eat kitchen scraps
  • The funny cocked-head look through the basement window at the TV
  • Emergency food source
  • I’m sure there’s more

Cons:

  • Messy
  • The ecosystem that develops around the mess (flies, mice, rats, possums
  • Predators
  • Getting woken up during the night by attempts made by predators
  • The noise
  • Guilt associated with the noise (Andy only)
  • Getting up at 5am to feed them to keep them quiet, because the neighbors just went to bed an hour ago
  • Occasional escapes meant a back yard disaster
  • Loss of yard space and vegetation
  • I’m not sure the whole fertilizer thing actually ever works

The funny thing is that Michelle had been listening to me complain about them all summer (literally bolting out of bed at 5am, cursing them) so she was certain I’d want rid of them. Unbeknownst to her, I’d actually decided to try an make it another year with them at the same time she’d put them on craigslist. The coop of course is so self-evidently awesome that they got snatched up immediately. I was kind of shocked by the whole thing and was kind of moody for a day or two, though Michelle is the one who actually cried when they drove away.

Now, a couple weeks later, I don’t think either of us regrets the decision much. Michelle found a source for eggs, and I’m less irritable at 5am, though with the darkening sky, it’s been more like 6am. We’re still not entirely certain what we’re going to do with the surprisingly large area they’d taken over, but come next year, the soil will probably be ready to go.