Cocks in the Henhouse

Originally uploaded by dieselboii.

We’re here at Amnesia Brewing on N Mississippi and have been enjoying the music of Cocks in the Henhouse, a local hilbilly/bluegrass band. I love being able to walk a few blocks, grab a great beer- Sunshine Wheat- and just hang out with the dogs and listen to live music. The crowd is great and always changing. Amnesia has an outdoor area where you can enjoy their brew and nosh on the sausages and listen to the music. Oh, and it’t doggy friendly. I love forgetting where I put my beer.

Sent from my phone, probably while hiding from the man.

Do you live in North Portland? Do you need to borrow a branch saw to finish that pruning job? A grading rake to get further on the walking path project you keep putting off? A circuit tester to make sure you’re not overloading your power with that new big screen TV? Well, you are in luck.

North Portland has its own tool lending library and it is celebrating it’s one year anniversery with over 300 brand new tools it will lend out to residents for free. Yes people, FREE! The brainchild of Jason Hatch, Matt Moritz, Laura Dalton, and Jason Henshaw, the tool library is there to help maintain affordability and build community by providing these free resources to residents of North Portland. The library also offers different hands on workshops to the community to instruct people on the proper use of tools and tool safety.

The North Portland Tool Library is open to any resident of North Portland. Tool checkout is free and tools can be checked out for up to 10 days. That is a great deal for someone needing something small.

Come celebrate the NPTL’s 1 year anniversary on October 29 at their facility on 2209 N. Schofield, Portland.

Lastly, the NPTL is featured in October’s issue of This Old House magazine. Way to go Portland.

Leaf blowers. They are everywhere it seems. And even though I’m a member of the White Headphone Legion, I can’t seem to escape them.

I guess I only kind of understand the advantages. I know there’s that stretch of time here where the leaves fall and THEN we get a lot of rain so the gutters can get stopped up and cause trouble, but do they really need to be blowing leaves off sidewalks into the street, where cars go by and the wind they generate blows them back onto the sidewalk? Isn’t it just shuffling off the issue on someone else?

All I really see Portland gaining from this is noise and exhaust. Not jobs, those same people could rake or sweep I’m guessing. There are a number of ways to get leaves off the ground, and I think only one of them is gas-powered. And since gas prices continually spiral upward, it isn’t like this is cheap, either. (I’ve walked by them and they smell like car exhaust so I’m guessing they’re gas powered.)

I know there are places which banned them outright.

I don’t believe there to be any appreciable use for them. But then, that guy who is powerwashing the sidewalk in front of Pioneer Place every morning doesn’t seem to gain anything either, and it never stops him.

Personally I wish they’d stop or at least invest in something less loud. When I have headphones actually IN my ears (not resting out the outside of them) rockin “Back In Black” and I can’t hear it because the leafblower across the street is louder than Angus, it seems like there must be a better system for leaf management. And in such a forward thinking city, I’d think if anyone could find it, we could.

This just in. The O reported it this morning and just now, the PDC put out a press release, so I guess it’s pretty official. We’re getting an IKEA out at Cascade Station, a development by the airport. This has been talked about for years and is finally coming to fruition. Slated to be around 280,000 square feet, the store will open in 2007.

UPDATE: This just in: All of Portland is asked to come down to Cascade Station to start unpacking our new Ikea. The boxes are here and the directions are in multiple languages. See you there.

It’s amazing (and maybe a slightly sad) the little things that excite me from day to day; snuggling with the dogs, sushi, bubble tea, coming to work in the morning and finding I have no voicemails… I think you get the idea. Sometimes, however, while I’m grappling with the stress and boredom of my status quo existence, I partake in some retail therapy. Don’t tell me you haven’t succumbed to the impulsive & compelling temptation of a new pair of shoes, a cd (or five), or rhinestone collar for your dog when you’re feeling a bit off!

Granted, I’m not proud of my retail therapy forays for the most part. If anything, they’re just a temporary distraction to the much larger issues that swirl around my life with predictable regularity. I mean, how many rhinestone-studded collars do each of my dogs need after all? I usually feel immediately guilty after I purchase frivolous items while I’m in that frenetic and obsessive state (usually as I’m purchasing said frivolous items).

Yet tonight I felt proudly justified in my purchases, seeing that my birthday is right around the corner. So I did a little pre-birthday shopping for myself.

Tonight I had the great fortune of happening upon a Motokitty sale! Cari Carter recently started this handmade, completely one-of-a-kind handbag and jewelry business after working for years in high tech. I’m tickled with my purchase, a bag similar to this one. Cari can custom a bag specifically for you, for any occasion in a myriad of fabrics, colors and sizes. And even more attractive, her prices are extremely reasonable.

Now, I suppose it’s possible you’ve never heard of Motokitty before this moment, but I’m sure it won’t be long before you start seeing her stuff all over town.

Got to go see my first Blazer game of the season last night. As such, I felt the urge to write a post about it. I threw it up on my own blog, but if you want to read my thoughts on our team this year, and maybe throw out some of your own, you can read my post here.

So I was just speaking with a co-worker who is a recent transplant to the area. She had a hard time with getting around and doesn’t know a lot of people or a lot of good places to go. Once you get past the ‘touristy’ stuff (gardens, omsi, multnomah falls) what do you *do* when you live in Stumptown?

Me? Being a recent purchaser of my first digital camera I spend some of my free time out looking at things differently to see if there’s a good photo to be had. I have a friend who throws a party about once a month, and one night a week I have another friend who hosts a Game Night at his house where we play some variety of card game (usually) and catch up without having to talk over loud music and when I get home I don’t have to wash the bar stank out of my hair.

Wow, when I put it like that I seem really busy!

What do you do? I want to put together a list and maybe this thread can be the Nearly Definitive Guide To Cool Things To Do (And Know) In Portland.

Linfield College has an amazing football team. Their program has been a becon of success in the national spotlight for the past 50 years. Indeed, with Saturday’s win over Southern Oregon (49-14), Linfield is now 5-0 and has clinched it’s 50th winning season. This sets yet another record nationally with the most winning seasons for any division of the NCAA. (Linfield plays NCAA Division III)
I attended Linfield in the 80’s and 90’s when Ad Rutschman was the coach. He led the Wildcats to national championships 3 times in the 80’s. In the 90’s new coaching kept a strong team, but there were always stronger programs out there to beat us. Now in the 00’s, we’re taking names! Linfield went undefeated last year to win the National Championship and this year so far, there’s nothing out there to stop them.
Linfield’s QB, Brett Elliot is averaging 309 yards per game, no small feat. He’s thrown for 20 touchdowns so far this season, on the roll to break last season’s record of 61 (a record for all college sports, no matter the division.)
If you love football and want to see a great team play a great game in a great venue, head down to McMinnville to see the Linfield Wildcats. The scoreboard even has a replay screen. Can’t beat that.

Next game: October 22 vs. Puget Sound (3-3)

btw, Linfield is ranked #1 in all polls at the moment.

The City of Portlandís E-Government initiative recently received accolades at the Center for Digital Governmentís 2005 Best of the Web Award Banquet in Las Vegas. North Portland Online (eVolvement), a pilot project that is using the Internet to increase community interaction and involvement both with City government and between neighbors took first prize in the Digital Government Achievement Award citizen-to-government category. PortlandOnline, the Cityís two-year old Internet portal, was a finalist this year for the Best of the Web in the city portal category.

I use PortlandOnline regularly to catch up on neighborhood news. There is also a forum specifically for North Portland that is extremely helpful in keeping up with happenings. Our Neighborhood SERT team are regular posters on the Police Activity portion of the forum, keeping the neighborhood apprised of ongoing challenges.

www.portlandonline.com ñ Official City of Portland web portal
www.portlandonline.com/northportland – North Portland Online, eVolvement website

I bought $5 worth of Powerball tix today at the local supermarket. Bought them from one of those lottery machines.

Is it just me, or are these Oregon Lottery machines poorly laid out, with non-sequential instructions?

I don’t think it is me. Listen, I make a living using and describing non-iterative technology as well as tech steps that tend to jump around. I have written seven tech books and am working on an eighth, so I don’t think it is my fault I am not with the program.

But if I were programming these machines, I would:

Incorporate a large viewscreen with guided steps;
Eliminate error messages (i.e., “Invalid Choice”) that don’t offer any explanation of the error or way to retrieve said explanation;
Make the screen touch-screen kiosk model, with an optional Help screen you can call up by touching a Help icon;
Lay out the buttons sequentially with relation to the steps you need to take, and:
Not bury the “Print Ticket” button at knee level, where you have to look way down on the device to find it.

Of course if I win the $340 million, then I’ll change my tune. Write the instructions in Quechuan or Sanskrit, and see if I give a shittake mushroom. I’ll have mine.

Yes, I’ll have mine, but I will stay the way I am. Yesterday, I did donate an old sleeper sofa to a chap who recently lost his home in a fire. Are you listening, ye forces of Karma?