Cancer Defeater MT

Not much interesting, so I default to Nonsequiter.

Posted by Pants at 8:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This from Apple's recent statement on a review of working conditions at the factory where iPods are made:

employees worked longer hours than permitted by our Code of Conduct, which limits normal workweeks to 60 hours and requires at least one day off each week. ...we believe in the importance of a healthy work-life balance...

Whoa. 10 hours x 6 days = “healthy work-life balance”?!? Not in my accounting system!

Technorati Tags: Apple Computer

Posted by Pants at 9:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I am now in Portland (well, actually, Tigard). Genoveva and I have almost become unpacked. We have civilized services, like power and water and 6Mbps cable internet. For your information: Never rely on Verizon to complete your DSL order. They lost mine. My business subsequently went to Comcast.

I set out yesterday to see “The Bite of Oregon,” which is an outdoor festival in Portland's McCall Waterfront Park. It was a great day outside -- sunny, upper 70s, with a light breeze. I went to see Tracy Grammer, a musician I was looking forward to seeing more of, since she lives in Portland. Well, it turns out she up and moved to Western Massachusetts. The nerve! Anyway, the show was good. The food was good also; I had a bread-bowl of salmon & corn chowder from the Tamástslikt Cultural Center's cafe. YUM!

I also decided to try out the Portland bus system. TriMet is the local rapid transit provider - bus, light rail, and streetcar. The bus runs up 121st Ave, about 4/10ths of a mile walk from my house. Then it's about an hour ride into downtown. The trip goes through a couple of very interesting neighborhoods: Multnomah Village, and Hillsdale. Both are very nice neighborhoods with vibrant commercial districts of smallish shops and services.

The bus drops you in downtown Portland, and you can hoof it (or take your bike) to elsewhere. I hoofed it down to the waterfront, and after the concert, hoofed it back up to Stumptown Coffee on 3rd Ave for a half pound of Hairbender. Then hoofed it over to 5th Ave to catch the bus back home. I had to wait about a half hour, so headed into Ross Dress For Less, and found a utensil holder. Yippee. Caught the bus back here, stopped for groceries at Lamb's Thriftway, and got home about 8 hours after I started. What a pleasant way to spend a Saturday.

Posted by Pants at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am driving cross-country from South Carolina to my new home in Portland, Oregon. I decided to load everything I own into a U-Haul truck, load my car onto a trailer, and hit the road. The truck turned out to be just large enough, stacked high, but everything's in there. It is a bit underpowered, as I ply the interstates over the Rocky Mountains, and I find myself in the right lane at 40 MPH trying to summit the higher peaks.

My fiancé, Genoveva, is driving along with me. She is a huge help, taking driving shifts, and generally being a good sport about being stuck in a truck cab with me for 10 hours a day. We rise early, have breakfast, and drive, stop for gas, drive, stop for gas, drive, stop for gas, etc. until we've put about 5-600 miles under us. We find ourselves stopping for fuel every 200 miles or so, considering the truck gets 5-8 MPG (depending on the headwind and how steep the hills are). That's mighty expensive for a trip of 3,000 miles.

It is Thursday, so this must be Salt Lake City, Utah. We stayed over last night, with plans to see some sights around here. Genoveva woke with a debilitating migrane, so we've hung out all day. It was a welcome rest from the sleep-drive-eat-sleep routine we've had since leaving South Carolina on Monday.

We'll hit the road tomorrow again (assuming Genoveva is well), bound for Eastern Oregon. We'll stay overnight, and arrive in Portland on Sunday.

Posted by Pants at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)