Monthly Archives: September 2011

I work in a large company. Very large. On top of that I know a lot of people in Portland because Portland is pretty darn small. So I saw this guy in the hallway today and I thought I knew him. But when I tried to recall how, I realized that he just kind of looked like a friend’s dad. I thought I’d double-check, though and looked at his name badge (the kind of thing you have to wear in almost every high tech company.) His name was PAUL NEWMAN. Yeah, not that Paul Newman.

I was staring at some very, very, very, very dry work documents today and I started feeling dizzy. It happens from time to time, but today it was especially bad. I got home, laid down for a while (on the floor, so I wouldn’t be asleep too long) and when I got up I just about fell over. It cleared up after I took a short nap (in the bed, I gave up) but sheesh. I’ve taken it easy the rest of the night. I didn’t sleep all that well last night either. I can usually hold it together on a Monday morning, but I was giving the opposite advice … Continue reading →

Friday turned out OK. It only took me two-and-a-half hours to make it from Portland to Seatac and the traffic was fairly light. My interview at DHS was really quick and I’m now on a special list. Whether that’s good or bad is not quite clear yet. Then I went to visit my friend in Kirkland, only 25 miles away, through hellish Seattle traffic. I’m always saying Seattle is sort of like Portland, it just sucks more and I hate to go up there and be proven correct. Again. Kirkland was an interesting beach town, though. Women in bikinis at the lakeshore and a fairly unique drive-in with passable burgers. … Continue reading →

I wasn’t feeling too good about myself, so I got an American Express Platinum Card. I figured it would make me special. $450 + $85 per year kind of special. I’ve actually been thinking about it for a while, so I went ahead and did it. I’ve had some sort of American Express card since I was at MIT, so I have some sort of misplaced loyalty to them. Anyway, it’s supposed to get me into airport lounges, and I haven’t been in one since I was 14, so I thought it was about time. I got the card and started looking through all the special perks it offers. Most … Continue reading →

So I said it on twitter and I said it on Facebook and now I’m repeating myself here. I hear Andy Ricker is a nice guy but he killed my favorite Japanese restaurant, Kappaya, to put up yet another Thai restaurant. As if Portland didn’t have enough Thai restaurants. And while my brother-in-law looked exasperated and told me, “That sounds like something a tenth-grader would say,” Andy Ricker can eat a bag of dicks. And all the goddamn hipsters who follow all his shit around anyway. Oh, and speaking of Facebook, their new redesign can bite my narrow yellow ass as well. I think I feel better now. Now if … Continue reading →

I went to see my real doctor yesterday because my ear was still feeling funny. I figured it was probably because of flying, but I’d rather get the opinion of someone I trust. My doctor is a bit of a spazzy nerd, and he had all sorts of random questions that didn’t pertain to my problem (like usual). He wanted to know if he was right about his skin cancer diagnosis, since I ended up asking two other doctors about it. He said it didn’t matter that I asked for other opinions, but that he didn’t like to be wrong. I know the feeling. Anyway, he looked in my ear, … Continue reading →

I was in San Luis Obispo for my brother-in-law’s nephew’s wedding and it was great! My sister and brother-in-law got married in SLO and then later moved to Templeton and Paso Robles, and my brother-in-law’s sister’s family moved down to Atascadero. So most of them are down there now. I got to tag along with my sister and brother-in-law for their reminiscent journey to their old neighborhood and even spent an extra day just driving around down there and spent $50 in gas. They left for home early, because they were using cheap tickets. It was fun seeing all the folks down there. Of course, I only took a couple … Continue reading →

My ear was itching last night so I stuck a Q-Tip in my ear, just like they tell you not to. I’m not sure how many people use Q-Tips for any other purpose, but there is a warning on the package, isn’t there? Anyway, I went to town on that itch, and I ended up with blood on the Q-Tip. It didn’t seem to let up much, so I went to bed sleeping on the opposite side. I woke up a couple hours into the night and had to got to the bathroom. I held my hand by my head and got up and felt something wet; when I turned … Continue reading →

I walked up to my car the other day and there was a scratch in the fender around the wheel well. It was definitely new. I rubbed on it to make sure it was a real scratch and not just some schmutz on my car. It was disconcerting to find a new scratch. I walked to the driver’s side and there was another scratch in about the same spot. Again, I rubbed on it to make sure it was a scratch. And then there was a scratch on the door, with a door ding I’d never seen before. Again, more rubbing. I figured there’s not much I can do about … Continue reading →

I remember my dad talking about being lightheaded or feeling sick to his stomach, and today I was feeling nauseous. Or is that nauseated? I think it probably doesn’t matter any more. In either case I wasn’t feeling so good. I almost felt good enough to go to the gym, but I figure I’m old and I could use the rest as well. For some reason I couldn’t get to sleep and I wasn’t at my best today. I felt a bit fuzzy. So now I may go to sleep before the fourth quarter even starts in this Denver/Oakland football game. And it’s not clear who is going to win … Continue reading →

When I was younger, I never did watch a lot of sports. Now I can’t wait for football season to start and I can’t recall doing much this weekend besides watching football. It was in the 90′s, too hot for a native Oregonian (at least one from this part of the state) so it was just as well that I stayed inside all weekend. Oh, I guess I did take some stats classes from http://www.khanacademy.org which is something you should check out. It was my brother-in-law’s birthday yesterday so I got him a present off of his “list” and after that took him out to dinner. It’s funny how a … Continue reading →

I stayed up late last night trying to figure out how to program all my shows on my blank DVR. I found shows online or on my iPad app and told it to record the series but all I would get on the DVR is an error message. Really, do they want me to get rid of my TV and just download things like a bad person? I gave up last night but tried again this afternoon and finally figured out that the DVR needed to download the TV schedule before it knew what to do. Ugh. So you can go on the intarwebs and tell the DVR all sorts … Continue reading →