It's DAMN HOT!
How hot is it?
I'll tell you how hot it is:
It's a heat wave!
Saturday, July 24, 2004
HOT!!!!
It's hot. It's freakin' hot
It's DAMN HOT!
How hot is it?
I'll tell you how hot it is:
It's a heat wave!
It's DAMN HOT!
How hot is it?
I'll tell you how hot it is:
It's a heat wave!
Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Waltzing to Work
Had a very nice, long weekend. Took MAX (the local Light Rail) to the Exposition Center for the largest Antique Show west of the Mississippi if not the whole country. We (P, Fred and Diana) had to switch from the Red to the Yellow line when we got downtown. While we were waiting we scoped out the Sand Castle building competition at the Pioneer Courthouse Square. Amazing what can be done with a little water and TONs of sand. Diana has a cell phone with a camera in it she got from her daughter, but doesn't know how to take pictures on purpose. Apparently she has taken some inadvertent pictures of tabletops, the floor and odd cornors, but never of something she wanted to take a picture of... yet. Shes still getting comfortable with the whole technology thing.
We proceeded to the Antique Show. Acres and acres of antiques, treasures and some just plain junk. We didn't even see the half of it before we gave up. We went through most of the outside areas and then discovered that the exhibit halls were full of booths too! Lots and lots of people. Very few places to rest. Thats what finally convinced us to call it quits: we couldn't find any place to sit and rest. Next time we will get some of those folding chairs that break down into a little cylinder that you can sling over your shoulder. Then we will be able to "take a load off" when ever we want. For all the stuff there I was the only one to purchase anything. I found Parker 21 fountain pen for $5. So we headed back to the MAX train just to sit. And it was air conditioned too. Saturday it was suppose to get into the 90's but I don't think that happened. It was overcast and we actually felt a few rain drops walking back to the train. The train line went through neighborhoods that both P and Diana had lived in when they were younger. P shortly after she got married and had her children, Diana grew up there. They talked about all the "good old days" and the way things had changed. Landmarks missing or moved, business changed and new buildings and developments. You can't go home again. We refueled at a resturant downtown before heading to the first ever Portland Pen Show. The first pen show I ever attended! Pretty cool! 50 tables full of pen: new pens, old pens, (vintage) pens, pen parts, books about pens, books to write in with pens, tools to work on pens, inks of every sort and color. It was great! I was able to see and handle pens I'd only looked at on-line or in the catalogs I get from the big pen stores. I was able to show P some of the pens I'd been drooling over. Theres nothing like holding a limited edition pen worth thousands of dollars, seeing it up close in all its detail and beauty, to realize that the price may not be all that unreasonable. There were some good deals there, and we took advantage. I got an Pelican GO pen for everyday, knock about use, a lipstick pen (ballpoint) for P, a couple of bamboo looking pens (one for P, one for me) because they were half price, and I got an Aurora Talantum, again for half price. Very nice! Writes like a dream. A big pen.
Also got some dark brown ink to use in these new writing instruments. (Right! got all these nice pens and what am I doing? Writing about them on the computer!)
************************************************************************************************
I gotta start sooner when I want to write a lot. Here it is Friday, three days later and I haven't been able to get back to finish this.
So, the point of the title to this entry goes like this:
It was a good weekend.
I was up later than I'm used to Sunday night.
I was not fully awake and alert when I got into my truck for the drive to work.
Apparently I'd turned the radio up a little louder than normal on my way home the previous Friday because when I turned on the vehicle the very beginning of the Blue Danube Waltz came from the radio. Not blasting, but loud enough to occupy the space between my ears for the ride to work. A beautiful piece of music! I remembered the use of it as part of the sound track to the movie 2001. The ride from Earth to the Moon: slowly drifting in space in a graceful, elegant manner, the music pushing you forward, onward.
The song lasted right up to my arriving at work. It was the only song I heard, not even an announcers voice, just the song.
It was a great way to reset my mind and attitude for work. It clearly separated home, and the weekend from the pressures and personalities I would have to deal with once I crossed the parking lot and went into work.
And what a week it's been.....
Can you say preparing for an ISO audit only two weeks away?
We proceeded to the Antique Show. Acres and acres of antiques, treasures and some just plain junk. We didn't even see the half of it before we gave up. We went through most of the outside areas and then discovered that the exhibit halls were full of booths too! Lots and lots of people. Very few places to rest. Thats what finally convinced us to call it quits: we couldn't find any place to sit and rest. Next time we will get some of those folding chairs that break down into a little cylinder that you can sling over your shoulder. Then we will be able to "take a load off" when ever we want. For all the stuff there I was the only one to purchase anything. I found Parker 21 fountain pen for $5. So we headed back to the MAX train just to sit. And it was air conditioned too. Saturday it was suppose to get into the 90's but I don't think that happened. It was overcast and we actually felt a few rain drops walking back to the train. The train line went through neighborhoods that both P and Diana had lived in when they were younger. P shortly after she got married and had her children, Diana grew up there. They talked about all the "good old days" and the way things had changed. Landmarks missing or moved, business changed and new buildings and developments. You can't go home again. We refueled at a resturant downtown before heading to the first ever Portland Pen Show. The first pen show I ever attended! Pretty cool! 50 tables full of pen: new pens, old pens, (vintage) pens, pen parts, books about pens, books to write in with pens, tools to work on pens, inks of every sort and color. It was great! I was able to see and handle pens I'd only looked at on-line or in the catalogs I get from the big pen stores. I was able to show P some of the pens I'd been drooling over. Theres nothing like holding a limited edition pen worth thousands of dollars, seeing it up close in all its detail and beauty, to realize that the price may not be all that unreasonable. There were some good deals there, and we took advantage. I got an Pelican GO pen for everyday, knock about use, a lipstick pen (ballpoint) for P, a couple of bamboo looking pens (one for P, one for me) because they were half price, and I got an Aurora Talantum, again for half price. Very nice! Writes like a dream. A big pen.
Also got some dark brown ink to use in these new writing instruments. (Right! got all these nice pens and what am I doing? Writing about them on the computer!)
************************************************************************************************
I gotta start sooner when I want to write a lot. Here it is Friday, three days later and I haven't been able to get back to finish this.
So, the point of the title to this entry goes like this:
It was a good weekend.
I was up later than I'm used to Sunday night.
I was not fully awake and alert when I got into my truck for the drive to work.
Apparently I'd turned the radio up a little louder than normal on my way home the previous Friday because when I turned on the vehicle the very beginning of the Blue Danube Waltz came from the radio. Not blasting, but loud enough to occupy the space between my ears for the ride to work. A beautiful piece of music! I remembered the use of it as part of the sound track to the movie 2001. The ride from Earth to the Moon: slowly drifting in space in a graceful, elegant manner, the music pushing you forward, onward.
The song lasted right up to my arriving at work. It was the only song I heard, not even an announcers voice, just the song.
It was a great way to reset my mind and attitude for work. It clearly separated home, and the weekend from the pressures and personalities I would have to deal with once I crossed the parking lot and went into work.
And what a week it's been.....
Can you say preparing for an ISO audit only two weeks away?
Monday, July 05, 2004
The Fifth of July
Sure, the Fourth is great, fireworks, cook outs, all the rest of the hoopla, but what the majority of Americans are REALLY looking forward to is the extra day off from work!
At least, that's the consensus around this household. And not just an extra day to do chores! I mean, a feet up, porch swing, lemonade sipping, watching the world go by relaxin' kind of a day.
Saturday was a full day for us. We drove to Salem with friends. Had lunch at a "Tea House", a bit of England transplanted in Oregon. Walked it off by browsing through some of the antique malls and shops. Lots of interesting junk. And every place had the same smell to it. Old stuff smell. After several hours of walking up and down all the aisles I found a Parker challenger fountain pen that looked like it belonged in my collection. A button filler. It doesn't have a clip and almost looks like it never did. Have to check into that. It's going to take some cleaning. I'll have to figure out how to include pictures in this blog now to show you what it looks like.
Lets see if this works....
Parker Challenger
Cool! Watch out, I'm dangerous now!!
The obligatory nib close up. More fine than medium.
More dangerous than you could ever imagine......
Some front porch flowers!
Threw that last one in just because I could. I've been practicing my picture taking technique on anything that will hold still. It took me a while, some explaining from P and a bit of the Users Manual to figure out how to get a half-way decent closeup.
Ok, one blogger trick/technique down..... Many to go!
Once I made my purchase the wind seemed to go out of everyone's sails. Tired, but not quite cranky, we made the long walk back to the cars. Sure didn't seem that long going the other way! We stopped a Wal-Mart on the way back to town. This is one of their SuperStores with the grocery store too. We wandered around for a while trying to remember what was on our list and looking for anything we simply could not live without. Must have been an off day for us.... We got out of there for under $100. From there it was back home to sit back, take the shoes off and put the feet up. Whew! It took a while to catch my second wind. I had one more job for the day: mow the lawns. A job that should have been done last Tuesday. It was so long (how long was it?) that it was tickling the dogs whizzer when he ventured across the back lawn. After cleaning up the lawn mower and then myself, I was pooped! A long, busy day but I got it all out of the way. It's celebrating and relaxing for the rest of the weekend. The weather has been very nice as of late. Lots of sunshine. Our tomato plants have responded nicely:
The tomato plants
They were planted too close together. But they are all doing quite well now. Almost too well. We are going to have a LOT of tomatoes in three or four weeks.
Some beefsteaks
And the first roma
There will be plenty for lots of Bloody Marys!
At least, that's the consensus around this household. And not just an extra day to do chores! I mean, a feet up, porch swing, lemonade sipping, watching the world go by relaxin' kind of a day.
Saturday was a full day for us. We drove to Salem with friends. Had lunch at a "Tea House", a bit of England transplanted in Oregon. Walked it off by browsing through some of the antique malls and shops. Lots of interesting junk. And every place had the same smell to it. Old stuff smell. After several hours of walking up and down all the aisles I found a Parker challenger fountain pen that looked like it belonged in my collection. A button filler. It doesn't have a clip and almost looks like it never did. Have to check into that. It's going to take some cleaning. I'll have to figure out how to include pictures in this blog now to show you what it looks like.
Lets see if this works....
Parker Challenger
Cool! Watch out, I'm dangerous now!!
The obligatory nib close up. More fine than medium.
More dangerous than you could ever imagine......
Some front porch flowers!
Threw that last one in just because I could. I've been practicing my picture taking technique on anything that will hold still. It took me a while, some explaining from P and a bit of the Users Manual to figure out how to get a half-way decent closeup.
Ok, one blogger trick/technique down..... Many to go!
Once I made my purchase the wind seemed to go out of everyone's sails. Tired, but not quite cranky, we made the long walk back to the cars. Sure didn't seem that long going the other way! We stopped a Wal-Mart on the way back to town. This is one of their SuperStores with the grocery store too. We wandered around for a while trying to remember what was on our list and looking for anything we simply could not live without. Must have been an off day for us.... We got out of there for under $100. From there it was back home to sit back, take the shoes off and put the feet up. Whew! It took a while to catch my second wind. I had one more job for the day: mow the lawns. A job that should have been done last Tuesday. It was so long (how long was it?) that it was tickling the dogs whizzer when he ventured across the back lawn. After cleaning up the lawn mower and then myself, I was pooped! A long, busy day but I got it all out of the way. It's celebrating and relaxing for the rest of the weekend. The weather has been very nice as of late. Lots of sunshine. Our tomato plants have responded nicely:
The tomato plants
They were planted too close together. But they are all doing quite well now. Almost too well. We are going to have a LOT of tomatoes in three or four weeks.
Some beefsteaks
And the first roma
There will be plenty for lots of Bloody Marys!
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