I decided today that it would be fun to do some feature posts on some of my favorite bloggers from Portland. What better way to spread the news by doing an occasional “shout out” here on metroblogging..

Today I’m sending a shout out to DeAnn over at TV Goddess. The name of it pretty much says everything. DeAnn is a self proclaimed know it all when it comes to Television. I know.. There are probably some haters that will claim TV to be a waste of time but I know there are a lot of crazy people with tivo’s out there who will watch anything.. If you are one of those people you will love reading her stuff. So go on and check it out. You now have a safe place to proclaim your love for Big Brother, American Idol or whatever your television weakness is..

Soo-prise, soo-prise, soo-prise. A new report (as reported by TheO yesterday) says that moving PIR will cost more than the city probably wants to spend. Mayor Potter’s on vacation, so hasn’t seen the report yet – but the at-least $35 million price tag (before you buy the non-existent land, no less) had two city councilmen – Adams and Saltzman – shaking their heads no (in that kind of bobbly way most politicians invoke, of course):

“That’s a big number,” Adams said Thursday. “This doesn’t lead me to believe that it’s possible.”

We’ve ranted and raved about this before – Jonpaul, Aaron and I have all had things to say about the idiocy involved in moving an existing racetrack, in fact. And Jonpaul pegged it earlier when he wrote “How about instead of spending money to find out we’re not going to move PIR…”

To celebrate, I’m heading to a dirt track way out in the boonies to watch racing (while benefiting a good cause…)

We aren’t getting any cooler here in Portland. Forbes recently announced their top 50 list for cities to be single in with Portland dropping 7 spots to #26 this year. The article suggests that the ratio of hipsters to other Portlanders is really high and that women say these hipster men are “shy” and “too cool for school”.. Keep up the good work Forbes.. Maybe by this time next year all the “hipsters” will have jumped ship for Austin or something.

You can view the full list here.

Would you like to meet Wil Wheaton? Now you can!
It’s his birthday, why not show him some love by demanding that he come visit us.

Today is Wil Wheaton’s birthday and though I’ve never met the man, I owe him a huge debt of gratitude for introducing me to the world of blogging. I am far from techno geek and don’t really know shit when it comes to computers, but the blog-o-sphere has enriched my life in ways I never expected.

It all started about four years ago when I first came across Wil’s blog. Back then I didn’t even know it was called a blog. One day while wasting time surfing, I came across this website run by the guy who used to be Wesley Crusher. Before I knew it I was hooked and checking his site everyday for a new post.

I never even considered starting my own blog until a surgery left me house bound for a few weeks. I didn’t have a lot to do except surf the web and read a copy of “Just a Geek” that a friend had given to me.

“Just a Geek“, Wil’s blog, and the painkillers I was taking after my surgery are what made me decide I should start my own blog. Sure I still cringe when I read my first dozen or so posts, but in general my life has become better since I started blogging. My writing skills are improving, (At least, I like to think so.) I’ve become more introspective, and I’ve started to view the world as a place with a story everywhere.

The greatest thing of all that blogging has brought me though, is a friend and family member I thought were lost forever who saw my name on metroblogs. We have since gotten back in touch and I can’t begin to tell you the joy this has brought into my life.

Blogging is making me a better person and I owe it all to Wil Wheaton. I know he didn’t invent the blog, but he sure helped make it cool and as far as I’m concerned Wil Wheaton is the Godfather of blogging.

I propose that Wil’s birthday be deemed the blogger’s holiday. From now on every July 29 I will blog, play a little poker and raise my favorite beer in a toast to Wil.

Here’s to you Wil, may your fingers fly across the keyboard like they were greased in butter and may your comments be free of haters. Thanks for helping to make my life a better one.

A few weeks ago I posted a semi-rant about assorted things that went wrong as my wife and I were searching for a car. Fortunately, after things went wrong, things started going right. Here’s how to earn my respect as a buyer, and consequently get my money, and future business:

• We found a salesman who didn’t try to talk us into another car. We told him what we wanted, and that’s what he sold us.
• The particular model we wanted to buy was sold out (entirely in the area), but we test drove one of the demonstrators. Even though they didn’t have any cars to sell, this particular dealership had the brains to keep around a car or two for test drives (others had sold their demonstrators).
• When done with the test drive, the salesman simply shook our hands, and told us to think about things, and if we wanted to order a car, to give him a call. No pressure.
• We called him a few days later to order. We made an appointment and he was there at the scheduled time. He asked us what options we wanted, and we told him. He didn’t try to sell us any other options we didn’t want.
• He called with an estimated delivery date once the car was on a ship from Japan. The car arrived a little early. It’s good to underpromise and overdeliver.
• The car was ready at the delivery time. He offered us some extra options like an extended warranty, LoJack, etc. but didn’t pressure us and didn’t argue when we said no.

The whole process was pressure-free. There was no haggling, no financing negotiations, and no lies. We told him what we wanted and he delivered it. That’s how to keep a customer happy and earn their business.

If you’re looking for a Toyota or Scion, I’d recommend talking to Amon at Ron Tonkin Toyota/Scion on 122nd.

Too Much Coffee Man was a one-off strip by local Shannon Wheeler, which became a comic, which became a magazine, is now going to be an opera, and tickets are now on sale! You can keep up with the progress of said opera on his blog, and you can get tickets from Ticketmaster. It runs in September, the 22-23, and 29-30. Since the good seats are $25, and the cheap seats are $20, it’s easy to fit some opera into your budget. What are you waiting for?

Do you know? Do you want to find out? Tuesday is National Night Out, designed with the express purpose of getting people out of the house to meet the people in their neighborhood, in their neighborhood, in their neighborhood, yes who are the people in your neighborhood….sorry. There was a LOT of Sesame Street in my childhood.

I wish all the neighborhood associations had websites. You may remember a previous post where I pointed out Neighborhood Link, but you may also remember that it didn’t have a whole lot of info. Seriously, jump in and help. Wouldn’t it be cool to have a great website for your ‘hood with useful info like the schools nearby, maybe links to Tri-Met schedules for routes through the neighborhood, and some good info about the upcoming National Night Out? (I’m not kidding about the upcoming part, it’s on TUESDAY.)

If you want to get even MORE into this whole “neighbor” thing, I found a cool site with some tips on how to meet your neighbors even if it isn’t National Night Out.

So say hi the people in your neighborhood. They’re the people that you meet when you’re walkin down the street, they’re the people that you meet each day.

Big book sale @ Title Wave

Originally uploaded by dieselboii.

All day today, Title Wave, Multnomah Co. Library’s used book store is having a sale. Everything is 55 percent off.

Title Wave

216 NE Knott

Portland

How well do you navigate Portland? I was thinking about this the other day when a friend picked me up in NoPo and I directed him to SE Hawthorne. He’s new to the city, so I had to provide “lefts” and “rights” and “turn here” along the way. I don’t mind that, I just had to pay attention because I usually drive through the city knowing exactly which road to take and where to turn etc. At dinner, someone commented on him being new and asked me if I had explained the Burnside/Willamette connection and Portland. I had not, so on the way home I did and it got me to thinking – who else doesn’t know the Burnside/Willamette connection?
If you’ve lived here long enough, you probably know your way around Portland, but may not know some of the nuggets that get you there. I’m a born eastsider, so my view is skewed a bit. I do get lost west of the hills, so I won’t be commenting on that area much.

Burnside- Burnside separates Portland proper North and South. You will never find a N. or an S. associated with a Burnside address unless you are in Gresham. It’s always East Burnside or West Burnside. Also, if you get on Burnside in downtown and never take a left or a right, you will end up in Bend, OR. There’s more…
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