Rooftop

If you’ve watched the Simpsons, you’ve probably seen the episode where Sideshow Bob keeps stepping on rakes. The groan of defeat he utters is very similar to what I feel when I return my bottles and cans. Surely there’s another way to do this.

Here’s my proposal:
1) Continue with the current system. It encourages a couple dozen people who might not recycle to recycle. Its also a great social welfare program hidden in a environmental/state revenue scheme.
2) Let people pay for curbside recycling. When they pay for cubside, the waste management company gives them a small barcode that they can put on their grocery card (almost all grocers shove them at you anyway) so when they purchase bottles and cans, they can scan the barcode, and it waives the 5 cent deposit, knowing that you’re paying for curbside already.
3) charge deposits for fast food packaging. Maybe this will encourage the grillers & fryers to pick up their junk, so less of it ends up in my yard. I picked up the packaging today, but if its windy, it’ll be back tomorrow. (insert Sideshow Bob groan)

While its convenient weather for having a dog, it really worries me that its warm and dry during the winter here in Portland. Remember last year when all those Salmon died? Things were supposed to be better for both farmers, fish, and the rest of us this year. There’s no snow pack to speak of, which will probably reduce the revenue from sno-park permits; and there’ll be no snow days to save Portland schools money. This could be a bad summer.

Every term starts off with a flurry of people who haven’t read the instructions, or didn’t take their caps-lock off, or can’t connect from work. Its somewhat invigorating to talk to that many people that quickly.

The second week slows way down, and you start to get calls from the truely hopeless, ingorant, and mean people. This term, the second week was busy. We’re having students take the WebCT calls and such, but I think the volume was higher. Not sure why yet. But I’m exhausted. Oh, and the entire network is down because a router crashed, though its been acting up all day. Sadly, no one cares when its not your fault.

Joe and Lindsay were kind enough to drive down to Portland and see us while they’re back home. It was great to see them and hear about life out east. They spoke of how self-absorbed people on the east coast were, and feel like yelling “be happy!” It would be rough to be surrounded by fearful drones.

Joe, Scott and I played a round of disc golf at Dabney St. Park. It was very nice, though muddy. I left my discs at home, so I played 9 holes with Scott’s putter, then used a discarded “chauncy shit disc” someone hadn’t wanted to keep. It helped but not much.

Here’s my year in Music:

• Busta Rhymes: Genesis – “My vernacular is spectacular”
• Doc Watson: Misc – “There’s a dark and a stormy side of life; there’s a bright and a sunny side too”
• Red Hot Chili Peppers: By The Way – “I’m a notion, in your bedroom, make you feel, make you want to reassume.”
• John Hartford: Morning Bugle – I can’t think of any words because Michelle is listening to freakin’ George Michael. Who got her that CD, anyway?
• Bud Powell: The Genius of Bud Powell – um, there aren’t any words.