Goodbye Blogger, hello .Mac

I have a new iMac, and, unfortunately, Blogger doesn't support Safari yet, so this format is pretty useless to me now. But I do have iLife on the Mac, which includes iWeb, a great web-site-making app. And I have a .Mac account. So I'm moving my blog over to .Mac. Here's my new blog address:

http://web.mac.com/jukief/iWeb/Site/Blog/BLog.html

I haven't had time to do much set up on it. I'll add photo albums and other stuff later. Too much work to do today.

Portland's Hawthorne District

I wanted to post some pictures of Christopher's neighborhood--the Hawthorne District. But I can't post them from my iMac, and I'll be damned if I'll resort to using the PC again. So here's a link that tells about his neighborhood:

http://www.portlandguide.com/neighborhoods/hawthorne-district.php

This is a great place to live, especially if, like Christopher, you don't own a car. He doesn't really need one. It's nice for him not to have the expense and worry of owning a car. And why would he need to own one? Everything he needs is just a few blocks away. Fred Meyers (a local chain that contains groceries, clothing, housewares, etc.) is just a few blocks away on Hawthorne. The bus runs up and down Hawthorne every few minutes (Christopher is two blocks from Hawthorne). This is just the type of neighborhood I'd love to live in. Everything within walking distance. The houses are beautiful, too. Lots of older craftsmans-type homes. I bet they go for a pretty penny, although real estate here, like everywhere is the country, is taking a downturn.

The Bagdad Theater, which is pictured in the link above, is where Christopher and I went for a movie last week. We just walked down and felt a bit sorry for the poor folks who had to drive from elsewhere around town and find a parking place. :-) The Hawthorne District has tons of good restaurants and bars and even a Powell's Bookstore. Lots of great coffee places with free Wi-Fi, the best of which is Stumptown Coffee, which owns some really old roasting machines and roasts all its coffee beans onsite. Christopher is going to get rid of his broadband when he gets home and just walk down to a coffee place with his laptop when he wants to use the Internet. Portland has plans to make the entire downtown area a free Wi-Fi zone, anyway. What a forward-thinking city. It also has a great light rail system that goes out to the burbs and to the airport, with a free-riding zone downtown.

This is my last full day in Portland; we leave tomorrow morning. Christopher should be home soon. He has an appointment for a tattoo this afternoon. Then he's going to cook dinner for his girlfriend and me. Then we'll pack and get ready for the drive tomorrow. Our stop tomorrow night is Logan, Utah--about a 10-hour drive from here, plus we lose an hour when we cross from the Pacific into the Mountain time zone. The first part of the drive seems to go so much slower because of Oregon's silly 65mph speed limit (even lower in many places). But it's the most scenic part of the drive, so that's OK. I'm going to ask Christopher to snap pictures out the window while we're driving. Then I'll post pictures on my Photobucket account when I get home.

Next post from Colorado...

Blogger doesn't support Safari

I go a new iMac and am in love with it. But it seems that Blogger doesn't fully support Safari. I can create posts, but I can't upload pictures. Looks like I will switch over to iWeb when I get home and have time to learn to use it. I have a .Mac account, so I can host my web site there. Too bad. I was going to post some cool pictures of Brian and Christopher using iChat. Oh well...

Issues, the cat with an attitude

Issues seems to have accepted me a bit more. She didn't attack me once yesterday! We're making progress. :-) Maybe by the time I leave she'll even like me a little bit.

She really is a cute little thing. I decided to take a few pictures of her for mom and Rella to see. Check her out.

Portland

I arrived in Portland last night after a long drive from Logan, Utah, where I spent the night at good friend David's house. Logan is less than half way, but it's a good stopping point and a nice excuse to see David. And a free place to stay. :-) David will be gone when Christopher and I head back in two weeks, so he gave me a key to his house. What a great guy.

I made good time the first day. Woke up at 4:00 that morning and couldn't go back to sleep (what else is new?), so I ended up just packing up the car and getting on the road early. Think I left about 6:00. So I got to David's in the early afternoon. We sat around chatting and drinking beer, went to the grocery and liquor stores (David's truck is in California, so we took advantage of my having a car to get some stuff), went to dinner, and then watched a couple of movies. It was a nice day.

I left Sunday morning about 8:30 Mountain and arrived in Portland about 5:30 Pacific. The only times I stopped were for gas and one pit stop. That's a lot of driving. I was very good, too; used the cruise control so I wouldn't speed. I got a big speeding ticket last time I drove to Portland. They get you right when you cross over the Idaho/Oregon border and the speed limit drops 10mph. Why does Oregon have to have 65mph speed limits? On sections of I-84 it makes sense (where there are mountain twisties), but in other spots you could easily drive 95mph and have no problem. But at least the traffic was moving fast. I stayed at the back or middle of packs, where I wouldn't attract attention to myself, and went the speed they were going. Most of the way through I-84 that was about 75mph, thank goodness. Even through the Columbia Gorge traffic was moving pretty fast.

A lot of the scenery between Fort Collins and Portland is pretty unattractive, but it's all worthwhile when you enter the Columbia Gorge. I had a huge smile on my face from that point of the drive on. I've been on the Columbia River many times (well, not on it, but on its banks), and I never get over my amazement at its beauty and the sheer magnitude of what nature is capable of. And then there's that moment when you come around a curve and there's Mt. Hood in all its glory directly in front of you. It doesn't last long because the sides of the gorge soon block your view, but for those few moments, when it's clear and you can actually see the mountain, it's spectacular.

Anyway, I'm happy to be here. I miss Christopher a lot, and it's nice to be able to spend time with him. I feel guilty because he gives me his bedroom and sleeps on his really uncomfortable futon couch. But I'll treat him good when I get him back home. He'll have a nice bed there. Several to choose from, actually. :-)

I brought some green chile for him. I'll make one nice Mexican dinner this week, and the rest he can keep in the freezer for later. This fall we have to buy chile (we didn't last year because we still had a lot left over). But we're down to just a few containers now. Looks like we'll have to spend a couple of days peeling chile next month. I can think of worse things to do.

I'll try to post some pictures while I'm here. I have to get some of Christopher's cat, Issues, who definitely lives up to her name. She attacked me twice yesterday. :-) Of course, I was a stranger in her house and Christopher wasn't home, so maybe she was doing what she was supposed to.

Here's something you don't see every day

I posted earlier today about how our street is closed for repaving (actually, it's a "slurry" topping, not new asphalt). I decided to get a few pictures of the street, since we probably won't see it looking like this again for a good long time. Empty. No cars. On our street and the cul-de-sacs off our street, that is. But the street on the other side of our house--wow! It looks like someone's having a party. Everyone has to park there and walk to their houses. I'm glad we're on the corner. No matter which street they close (and they'll be closing the other one next), we're in good shape. :-)

I'm trapped!

They're resurfacing our street today. The only notice we got was a rolled-up piece of paper stuck in the screen door handle. Alan brought it in yesterday and plopped it down on the kitchen counter along with the mail. I was going through the mail, sorting out the junk mail to throw away, and just happened to spot this red piece of rolled up paper. We get a lot of junk in our door, and I just about tossed it without looking at it. Good thing I decided to read it. It was a notice telling us that they'd be surfacing the street today (lots of advance notice, eh?) and that we wouldn't have access to our driveway. It was a good thing I read the notice because otherwise Alan would have been trapped this morning. Last night he moved his car onto the street on the side of our house, where every other car from the entire neighborhood seemed to be parked. By the time he got up and went to work this morning, our street was already closed to traffic and had a lot of heavy equipment on it.

So I'm trapped. :-) My car's in the driveway, and my bike is in the garage, so if I go anywhere today it'll be on foot. And who wants to do that? It's supposed to be 95 degrees today. I'll just stay inside the cool house.

I HATE WINDOWS!!!

I've spent the last several days trying to find out why my computer's so messed up. Windows does the stupidest things. It's unbelievable. I hardly did any work yesterday because I was trying to debug the computer and was running all kinds of diagnostic checks and rebooting over and over again. And Brian has already reinstalled Windows on this computer a couple of times. I can't believe how many web sites I found that gave the solution to problems as, always, reinstall Windows. WTF? How many times do people who run Mac OS X or UNIX or Linux have to reinstall the OS? Geesh.

This is a new computer; I got it when I started my new job in October. I got a PC because that's what 99% of the people at work are running and the software I had access to at work is all PC-based (like Microsoft Office). If the new Intel duo core iMacs had been available when I bought this computer, I'd have bought an iMac. Too bad it hadn't been released at that point. When I saw Brian's, I was just sick at the thought that if it had been a few months later I could have had a new iMac for just about the same amount of money I paid for this piece of crap.

Last night, when Alan came home from work, I let out all my pent-up frustration about Windows and all the time I'd lost in the past few days. I think that I might just break down and buy an iMac. Alan's all for it. I often disagree with him when it comes to spending money, but one thing I'll say for him is that he believes in spending money when it comes to your work. He doesn't want me to skimp, either, but to upgrade the computer as much as I need to. The company paid for this computer, so it's not like the money came out of my pocket. We don't have the funds to buy a new computer right now, and I hate to charge it, but I need something reliable for work, so it's almost a necessity.

Anyway, I'll be in Portland next week. If I decide to go ahead and buy an iMac, I'll get it from the Apple Store in Pioneer Square. No sales tax! So we'll see what happens. I'm going to give this computer another week and then decide what to do.

I hate Windows. Really, really hate it.

Fender tips!!

A friend from my motorcycle forum was selling his fender tips, so I picked them up. I've been wanting some for a long time, but just couldn't bring myself to buy them new. So getting them "slightly used" was a great deal. Not only do they look nice, they'll help protect the fenders from rock chips.

Plans for the next month

It looks like I'm going to take the day after Labor Day off. We're going to head over to the western slope--to Crawford, to be exact. One of Alan's co-workers is having a get-together in Crawford on September 2, and we thought we'd take advantage of the opportunity to check out the area. Alan can take his retirement funds out of Tektronix this month (now that he's turning the big 55), and we're trying to think about a good place to invest the money. I definitely want to take it out of the stock market. Right now, every cent of our retirement funds is in stocks, and that scares the hell out of me. I recently read an article about Delta County and how they think it's going to be the "next Aspen," so we thought investing in some land might be a good idea. Alan is going to find out about the tax ramifications, and in the meantime we're going to see if we can even afford to buy some land with the amount of money we'll have, which isn't going to be all that much.

So we're going to spend four days in the area. My parents lived in a nearby town, Paonia, for a few months, so I've spent some time in the area. It really does have a lot going for it. The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park is nearby (http://www.nps.gov/blca). That's absolutely stunning scenery. Grand Mesa is also very close (http://www.grandmesabyway.org). Then there's the Great Sand Dunes National Monument (http://www.cyberwest.com/cw05/v5adwst2.html). It would be a fantastic place to own some land. Even if it didn't appreciate in value enough to make it a major investment, it would be a nice place to retire to. Delta County is a big fruit-growing region; it's famous for its cherries and peaches. It's also where most of the winemaking in Colorado is taking place (that still has a way to go, I'm afraid).

So Friday night, September 1, we'll head out and stop in Glenwood Springs for the night. I remember Glenwood from my childhood, when dad took us there one summer while he was on strike. He found a temporary job there, so the family went along. Glenwood is best known for its hot springs and pool (http://www.hotspringspool.com). I remember how much I loved the hot springs.

We'll leave Glenwood the next morning and head to Crawford. We'll drive over the beautiful McClure pass (http://www.allaspen.com/attractions/mcclure_pass.php). We'll spend that day with Alan's coworkers, and on Sunday and Monday we'll explore the area. Alan's never been there before. We're going to try to meet up with a real estate agent a friend told us about to see what kind of land is available in the area. Then we'll head home on Tuesday. My birthday is Wednesday, so this will be a nice birthday trip for me, and it's the only vacation Alan and I will take together this year. We had thought about going on our bikes, but after we discussed that this morning, we thought better of it. We might end up doing some driving in the dark, and I never, ever ride after dark. My night vision is just too bad to take a chance. So we'll take the car. That's OK.

I'm heading to Portland next weekend to spend two weeks with Christopher. I'm driving out (again in the car, although I was very tempted to ride out). While I'm there I'll have several meetings with some of my clients. I just got assigned a new duty--account manager for one of our Microsoft accounts. This is a whole new area for me, and I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm going to meet with the team I'll be working with. It'll be my first trip to the Redmond campus. One of the other account managers I work with a lot is going to be in Portland at the same time I am (that's why I timed my trip the way I did), and I'll get to meet him for the first time. The weird thing about working remotely is that you never get to meet your coworkers in person. We have another employee in Portland and one in Seattle. I'll get to meet both of them for the first time, too.

I'm looking forward to spending time with Christopher. He's going to drive back with me and spend about 10 days here, although most of it will be in Pueblo, visiting his dad and his grandparents.

I also hope to see some friends while I'm in the area. Since I have to go to Seattle on a Friday, I'm going to try to spend the weekend in northern Washington. I have a good friend in Mount Vernon, and he's invited me to spend some time up there. It's a good drive--almost to Vancouver, BC. But I haven't been up that way for a long time, so I think I'll try to take advantage of it of being in the area and having the time.

I'm also hoping to meet my friend Al for the first and probably only time, since he's moving to Maui next year. We'll see. He lives quite a distance from Portland, and I can't take time off during the week to meet him halfway. So the poor guy will have to drive all the way to Portland if we're to meet. I'm not sure that meeting me is worth all that trouble, but I do hope I get to see him.

I'll also get to see our good friend David on the way out and back. His house in Logan, Utah, is the perfect stopping place on the two-day drive, and he's graciously offered to let me/us stay there coming and going, even if he isn't home. But I hope he will be, since I haven't seen him since last spring. He's in England now, but I think he'll be home in time.

So those are the plans for the next month or so. If I can, I'll try to update this blog with some photos from my trip to Oregon. So stay tuned...