Category: blahblah

For some reason, Michelle signed herself up for the Portland to Coast team at work. She also signed me up. I figured it’d be a walk in the park, figuratively. Now, 36 sleepless hours later, having walked, shuttled, and water-boy’ed for the team, I’m not sure how I’m going to stand back up.

I felt pretty good until about an hour ago, when for some reason I dozed off while reading. I awoke a short time later with afternoon nap headache, and need to shake it before dinner with the in-laws.

My two walking legs were pretty tough. The first was leg 15, a 7.4 mile stretch along the lovely and serene Highway 30. I wasn’t at the hand-off in time because I didn’t change from driving to walking mode quickly enough and sprinted from the car to meet Michelle, who made quick work of the previous leg. So I started my leg without stretching or a bathroom break. Actually, the large trucks did create a nice breeze as they blew by me in the heat. I felt pretty good about the leg – I averaged 4.82 mph and passed 6 people and was only passed by 2.

Once our team finished our first half, we crashed at a small campground for a couple hours. Those in the group who had done the race before took the opportunity to actually sleep. I showered and read. Michelle read and we complained about our blisters together before mole-skinning up.

The second half was a little easier – Michelle led off with a ~ 4 mile leg in the dark. The temperature had dropped considerably and the Natal area was quite lovely in the transition from evening to dusk and finally into darkness. It’s nice to see stars, but as Michelle put it – looking at them messes up your stride.

My second leg was 29, a 4 mile climb over a summit then 2 miles back down towards the coast. The temperature was perfect, it was dark, and I kicked ass. I passed 16 people and was only passed by 2 walkers (and 2 runners, but they don’t count) just as I was reaching the summit. They must have been freakin’ animals because was keeping a 4.6 mph pace, which I am reminded of each time I move. It was a total buzz and easily kept me going through the last of our team’s legs and down to Seaside, where we crashed in a parking lot until we were kicked out. Several people had reported a guy in a sleeping bag in the lot and thought he might be a vagrant. Nope, just an attorney.

When the second half of our team came in just after 1, I was pleased to find we’d managed to finish ahead of the only team I recognized from our starting position and had thus become my nemesis. I don’t think anyone on the team cared, but we’d been behind them since the first leg, and I blew by them on the hill climb. It was satisfying to pass the 50+ year old woman.

Seriously – walking with all these people was very humbling. I was clearly an amateur compared to most of these people, and having someone your grandparents’ age blast by you is a completely new way of getting schooled. It was fun too, and my team, may they all get some real sleep tonight, was awesome and really trucked. I’m already considering doing it next year – but that might be the sheer exhaustion talking.

Last night we were sitting in bed reading when something started chirping. not like electrical chirping, but like cricket chirping. We both looked at each other puzzled – it was clearly in the room, but what could it be?

Oh yeah – the night before we’d found a katydid crammed between the window molding and the crown molding. Tonight he was actually perched on the curtain rod and putting his one leg to its best. Kind of weird, but the noise was a reminder of how creepy it would feel to have a katydid land on your face during the night. So I put him out the window. Oddly enough, my mom had done the same thing just a night or two before which I think is how he lost his leg. I expect him to return tonight.

Wanted to pass along a link to Alan’s latest instigation project – FauxDaddy.org, where he chronicles his troubles with his registrar GoDaddy.com and DomainsByProxy, who divulged his information without due process, violating their contract, and exposing his and his wife’s identity to a seething tangle of upset poets.

Michelle and I spent a relaxing (though somewhat laborious in the oompa-loompa sense) weekend with Meghan and Troy on the Oregon Coast. The only real objective – make chocolates for their upcoming wedding. We managed that in fine form – and Troy and I actually did help – both in cutting and forming caramel, but also in quality control – by which I mean eating the chocolates that the girls deemed not of sufficient quality.

And speaking of “not of sufficient quality”, has anyone seen The Terminator lately? It sucks! They had the original VHS tape which we watched on what must have been a VCR from that same era. We also ate well, let the dog swim in the water, and relaxed. This is in stark contrast to what Matt’s just posted, but it’s really nice to see friends in smaller groups even when you really can catch up. OBF and the 4th were great, but there are so many people and so much has happened.

On the way back from the beach, Michelle and I applied steady pressure regarding the awesomeness that is Portland in an attempt to counter the pro-Bellingham arguments. I’m not sure if it worked, but never-the-less, we tried.

Today is Michelle and my 4th anniversary. Or our 9th, if you add the 5 pre-marriage. Either way – it’s a longish period of time that we’ve hardly noticed passing.

And speaking of passing – for dinner we went to Concordia Ale House and I had the Firehouse garden burger. It was the first time since 7th grade that a restaurant prepared meal has kicked my ass. I finished it, but had to know why it was so hot. The owner said i was the sauce – a honey, thai red chili, sweet chili and habenero reduction. Ok – that explains it. But for the record, I finished it.

My mother and Grandparents stopped in to visit yesterday and my grandmother was relieved to see that her dining set actually did fit and was in good shape (excepting for one chair that was somewhat loose). I showed my grandfather the gluten-free section at New Seasons, and I’m not sure if he was impressed or not – but I think i get my suppression of being impressed from him, so maybe they were. Either way, my mom was, and picked up some rice/tapioca flour hamburger buns and pizza crusts. It’ll make life easier for her when she’s cooking dinner.

Speaking of dinner, we tried out Halo Thai down on 16th and Alberta. The day we’d placed a bid on the house, we came back that evening and walked the street to get a feel for it – you know – reality check for whether or not we’d made a huge mistake. We spoke with two women and their kids about the neighborhood and they suggested that Halo was better than the place down our alley. I’m not sure it was better or worse because the two were quite different. The owner of Halo is Laotian, and I tried the fried catfish with red chili sauce on his recommendation, and it was excellent. The pad thai – the american litmus test for thai food – was quite different from most places I’ve had. Good in it’s own right, but different.

Now my mom is headed back to Yakima (which will be the same temperature today at 98F – why am I riding my bike?) to get my grandparents back for some appointments. It was a nice quick visit – and excellent to have them see the place (and approve of it, I think).

We just completed a massive weekend, and though I’m quite exhausted, we had a blast. For me, the weekend started with dinner at Lagniappe’s (awesome) at their new location on 19th and Alberta and a walk up and down the street for Last Thursday. Although hotter than usual, it was still a hoot excepting for the challenge of parking. I took Friday off to clean and complete errands before the weekend. Friday Michelle and I attended a wedding for one of her co-workers at the Adrianna Hill Grand Ballroom on the second floor of a building on the corner of Yamhill and THE SUN. It was kind of hot, and while wool does have excellent wicking properties, the phrase “cool wool” is still a misnomer. Afterwards we headed over to Scott & Stephanie’s immensely transformed back yard and caught up with friend from Bellingham.

Saturday we started with breakfast at the Vita Cafe then headed out towards Estacada for some refreshing cliff jumping and swimming in the Clackamas River. I love the small section of river and Barley couldn’t get enough swimming. I have a wolverine-like scratch on my chest to prove it. Sadly, it’s hard to get pictures while you’re swimming so hopefully Justin and Matt got some good shots. Then it was back to Portland for some food and then down to OBF for an evening of beer and reverie.

Sunday was a little slower – for me anyway, and most everyone got a surprisingly early start. Michelle and I met Hilary and Fletcher at Aja for some breakfast and then picked up a Holboellia (or china blue) vine for one side of the arbor. Tommy stopped by again before heading home because traffic sucked and who really wants to sit on an idling engine in all black clothing at the hottest part of the day? So we checked the video store for Faster and ended up instead getting some ice cream. It’s been ages since we’ve done that.

Naturally, this is the short summary.

Happy Birthday mom, and welcome back!

I have trouble sleeping when it’s this hot. So tonight I stayed up so we could force more cool air in to the house, and I knocked off a few items from my massive to-do list. (i.e. – IBU/ABV calculators fixed on rooftopbrew…)

Because we’re trying to get outside air, we’re also bringing along with it some foul smell that seems to have come out of nowhere. It’s like a blend of backed up sewer, vinegar, and gun powder. It’s rather wretched, and I’d like it to go away. I want my thai food smell back.

Call me crazy, but due to the recent lack of comment spam, I’m turning on anonymous comments. This means you won’t have to enter your email address. Let’s see how it works. I give it 3 days.