Turning 31

31.

Yep. That's me.

My birthday was a weekend of family togetherness. We went out to the coast because the house is DONE (well, there's only one working toilet and some of the sinks aren't hooked up yet, but still DONE).

We decided that we'd spend the night out there, which was a pretty big decision to make. The last time we slept there was Mom's birthday in 2006. Dad had just been diagnosed, but things weren't terrible yet. I don't think we knew that it'd be 14 months before we spent the night again.

And now... now the house is done. It's been slept in. We laughed, we cried, we got bruises and scrapes and Peter dirtied up the kitchen magnificently.

We broke it in.

And it was a wonderful way to spend my birthday. We couldn't have had a nice, restful weekend out there- we needed to be busy and industrious. And working on the house was perfect. Peter and Mom and I cleaned and organized and moved furniture in from the garage Friday night. Mom treated us to dinner and beer at the tavern in town.

Saturday was an early wakeup call and a drive down to Tillamook to get the Uhaul and load the other half of the furniture out of our storage unit. Sis and Boyfriend as well as my unofficial Aunt D and Uncle B joined us at the house, cleaning, moving, and generally making the place habitable. We worked and worked and worked, managing to avoid serious harm to anyone.

Peter made dinner- beautiful calzones and pizza. Wine was drunk, food was eaten, company was good. Then we had presents and cake. (yay presents!)

Sunday was a half day of work (it's amazing how much dust renovation creates) and then our drives home.

That's how I spent 31. With the people who love me, at a place I love, working on a project that would make my Dad so proud. We did good.

Oh, and Dad- I blame you for all the gray hair. thanks.

you know what rules...the internet

Besides email, playing games on-line, and some other small things, I always felt the internets were kind of over-rated. This thing was supposed to revolutionize everything, but really, is reading the newspaper on-line better than reading it on the paper (well, except for the newsprint rubbing off onto your fingers). The World Wide Web was kind of boring.

But in the last few years, the internets has finally become what I always expected it to become. I guess it took some time for people to figure things out.

Here are some of the things that have made the internets better, in my opinion:

1) Google Earth: you can fly around the world and zoom in to amazing levels, with amazing resolution: if you zoom in on my old address in Cambridge, you can individually pick out all the cars of all the roommates. Thats both awesome and scary. Also, check out Mt St Helens in Washington some time; you can fly into the crater virtually.

1b) Portland Maps on Google Earth: Portland has maybe the best on-line municipal GIS system ever. Someone over there created an overlay for Google Earth, and now I can basically do my entire jb without leaving my desk

2) Blogs: ours is kind of boring, but there are some pretty awesome ones out there, for everything from weird-sports stuff to how to write a thesis to hollywood paparazzi glorification. I've recently found a few that make work more tolerable. But I think my boss is getting suspicious.

3) On-Line Streaming Video/Radio: While a site like YouTube is fun for posting your home recorded version of "Dust in the Wind" or searching for old episodes of the Electric Company, and iTunes let you download new music, I'm particularly impressed with the streaming media. Barely a day goes by that I'm not streaming radio at work. And today, on the holiest of sports days, I'm streaming the NCAA Basketball Tournament. With like a million other people. And it's pretty seamless. Productivity is trending downwards.

4) The Apple AirPort: this sleek litle device lets you play music over your home stereo wirelessly from your computer. I don't own one, but I wish I did. It would solve a lot of radio issues. Apple is doing the same thing, but with video; I'm pretty sure that will be fun too.

I guess what it comes down to it that the internets is finally becoming interactive, with all sorts of mixed media in the same place. I guess this is what i thought it would become back in college when I was first introduced to the web.

Fake Spring- a definition

Peter discusses Fake Spring in the post down below, but neglected to define and emphasize the importance of Fake Spring.

Fake Spring: noun. The time of year that occurs during beginning/mid-March. Typically lasts for 3-10 days. The weather dramatically shifts from rainy, rainy, rainy to beautiful blue skies and shirt-sleeve temperatures. People go from wearing lots of Gore-Tex to shorts, skirts, and tank tops. Fake Spring inevitably ends with a return to Winter (aka the Rainy Season). The Rainy Season will last until May or June.

Fake Spring is sneaky. The first time people experience Fake Spring (all those transplants), they think it is Real Spring. They pack away the rain gear and begin to work in the garden. They rejoice in the sun! Then they are devastated. Our fair city (not the Car Talk Guys City) has two main seasons- the Rainy Season lasting from October through June and the Dry-ish Season which periodically shows up during July, August, and September.

The seasons of Fall and Spring typically last for a few short weeks, if they occur at all. Often the transition is shorter. Those of you who were at our wedding in October- that was the week of fall. It started raining in earnest right after that.

Fake Spring ended today. The Rainy Season has resumed.

This one's for my Mom

There's a very good chance I'm late to the game on this one, but this website is AWESOME!

Your boss may be upset with me for providing this wonderful time killer, but you'll thank me later.

My favorite: David Hasselhoff, with Bo Bice coming in a close second. The red carpet is a good time, too.

here's a little story about a cat named miles

Here in Beertown, it was around 55 and sunny yesterday. People were out all over the place, walking the dog, walking the kid, playing hopscotch, pushing a wooden hoop down the street, etc; I even played catch with The Don during an afternoon break. And since it was supposed to be raining and 40's, it was a very nice surprise. The Fake Spring here in the Northwest is a glorious thing.

It was supposed to be rainy again today, the typical NW March weather; however, on the radio, they were saying sunny and 60. FAKE SPRING RULES!!!

So, with that back story, here's a little story about our cat, as previously told to Kimberly over Skype:



[8:16:12 AM] Peter says: i decided to open the drapes in the bedroom, since its so nice and all...

[8:16:21 AM] Peter says: miles was very excited while i was doing so, he's even doing the butt dance...

[8:16:42 AM] Peter says: he immediately jumped on the middle window pane so he could watch all the goings on outside...

[8:17:03 AM] Peter says: but the window was covered with condensation...

[8:17:14 AM] Peter says: so what does our hero miles do...?

[8:17:24 AM] Peter says: but of course, he licks the water off...

[8:17:34 AM] Peter says: and in the process solves 2 problems...

[8:17:42 AM] Peter says: his insatiable thirst...

[8:17:49 AM] Peter says: and his ability to see the outdoors

That pretty much sums up Miles. He not only licks things, he licks very strange things.

hanging out in a coffee shop

Ah the coffee shop. Before college I hadn't experienced the wonderful environment of the coffee shop (I also didn't like coffee, so that's part of it). Once in college, I discovered how much work I could get done if I left the house, and I've been going to coffee ever since.

Oddly, I haven't spent much time working in coffee shops on my thesis. Somehow it didn't seem serious enough. But, that was a mistake. I've been here since about 9:45 this morning and have had the most productive hour plus in a LONG time. Hooray for coffee!

Why is it better here? I think there are a couple reasons.

1. a new environment. There's no cat, tv, husband, or other familiar distractions.
   
2. internet. At the coffee shop next to my house, you need a password to get online. I didn't get the password from the baristas until AFTER I worked for a good hour. (yay me!)
3. tuning out. One of the BEST traits I inherited from my dad is my ability to tune things out. (just ask my mom!). If I can get engrossed in something, then the rest of the world disappears entirely. So much so that I don't hear the people next to me talking, I don't notice the people walking by, and when I was a kid- I wouldn't hear Mom calling me for dinner (when I was on the couch in the living room!). But it takes me a little while to get into this zone. I've been having a hard time finding this place recently (I've read that perhaps part of what I'm doing is self-hypnosis, interesting, huh). Today- no problem.

So, I'm feeling good! Now back to work for another 30 minutes or so and then on to the rest of the day.