Working

Yes, I had a lot of time on my hands when I was unemployed, looking for jobs & feeling worthless. It has been more than a year now since I started a real job which has been both challenging & satisfying. During that time I've been tinkering a bit with my typewriters, taking up a new hobby of painting toy soldiers, and enjoying the company of the beautiful woman I live with & our two cats.

New News

CAT CUTS JOBS IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS (oh, and the governor is boycotting his impeachment hearings)

Well, I don't miss that Midwestern winter weather, and with the news of job cuts at Caterpillar I'm not feeling so bad about my own position here in Virginia. In addition to the hilarious escapades of Gov. Blagojevich, there's the more sobering news of CAT projections for 2009:

http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1278517331/Cat-has-record-quarter-and-year-but-forecasts-drop-in-2009

But I'm working these days. I started a postion with the floor maintenance team at my friendly, local Wal*Mart. Yes, the place where most Cascadians refuse to shop--I'm actually working for them. But I've abandoned many of my corporate prejudices in recent months, even patronizing the local Starbucks for hot coffee. In part, of course, because these places are nearly the only places to shop in town, and--when living on savings while unemployed--Wal*Mart does offer inexpensive prices on a wide range of grocery items. Also, the place reminds me a lot of Fred Meyer, and I've been enjoying the experience of working in the midst of a big grocery department, cleaning floors with a machine while stockers break open big boxes of canned & boxed food items while the folks in the produce department wheel in pallets of fresh fruit & vegetables. My wife loves mangoes, and I bring one home for her after work now & again, not for a bad price either; amazing, really, to be in the middle of Virginia in January, temperatures below freezing, with access to fresh tropical fruit. As a new acquaintence I made here recentlly said, "God bless Wal*Mart." (And since most Cascadians don't generally believe in God, I suppose they won't consider this statement entirely blasphemous.) Yes, I work for Wal*Mart, and I'm almost proud to make it public now. Really, I think a decade spent living downtown or in the Southeast side of Portland (west of 39th except for my last year when many proclaimed I had moved to Gresham while I insisted SE 139th was still, technically, in Portland)... well, considering I shopped for books at Powell's, went for coffee at the Flying Saucer & then when it changed to the Red & Black or at anyplace which served Stumptown (still my favorite roaster), I succumbed to the bohemian vibe in that part of town, spending my day after Thanksgiving not buying anything on principle, recycling everything in my apartment but the kitchen sink, eating Sunday breakfast out at the vegan diner on Belmont.... At first I felt ashamed for shopping at Wal*Mart, this when I first relocated to Illinois, but then I met a wonderful woman & we bonded over the shared feeling that we both felt something like relief to shop at Wal*Mart without shame. Now, a year later, I'm married to that woman & working at Wal*Mart. In the words of Kurt Vonnegut (I've been reading a lot of his essays lately): So it goes. But my new favorite quote: "We are here on Earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you any different." So, the practical Cascadian in my mind tells me not to worry so much about the big picture; it's tough times, and it's important to remember I have a job. But there's still that annoying guy with the bullhorn wearing hemp shirt & trousers, yelling at me about submitting to the system....

Snow in Portland

I listened to the podcast of Monday's Rick Emerson Show while working last night, and this morning I've been checking out pictures of the snow in the city. In the decade I spent in Portland I only remember once when enough snow fell to cover everything for more than a day. But this time it seems to be big time, at least for Portland, the place where usually you go to the mountains for the snow rather than having the snow come to you. (Photo borrowed from the Oregonian on oregonlive.com)

Things to do when Unemployed

My list of things I now can fully enjoy while unemployed:

-Listening to the Rick Emerson Show out of Portland in real time on the 970 am website.

-Washing all glass & metal containers before taking them to the recycling site in town.

-Finally reading the tattered copy of Sometimes A Great Notion which I bought used from Powell's so many years ago.

-Typing long personal letters to all of my friends in Washington state & using my collection of postage stamps as they were intended (and recycling paper by typing on the blank side of outdated resume' pages).

-Tending houseplants so they don't shrivel up from neglect.

-Memorizing the Latin names of all Native Cascadian Evergreens.

-Drinking more coffee than I should while researching methods to brew my own beer.

-Brainstorming ways to start a compost pile in the laundry room.

-Putting together a cache of survivalist supplies under the bed in case of a zombie apocalypse.

-Securing bookshelves to the walls in case of earthquake (well, disaster preparedness habits die hard).

-Wondering if I actually have a Cascadian accent when I hear native Virginians talk.

-Looking for ways to promote equal rights in the aftermath of the passage of prop. 8 in California.

-Feeling smug about not living in California, insisting I was born in NORTHERN California & explaining how the northern third is not really California.

-Cleaning the apartment using only baking soda, vinegar, or alcohol.

Tewsdeigh

I slept in late this morning, preparing myself for my new work schedule. Yes, I have a job, but it's second shift. At least it's a job I should be able to keep for more than a few weeks without worry about a layoff.

Anyway, I was reading the Chicago Tribune (online, of course, which is a blessing for this particular Cascadian expat), drinking my coffee & following the story about the Illinois governor going to jail, etc. The doorbell rang & I found a special package from the USPS just outside the apartment door. From my friend Keith back in River City. I tore it open, excited at the prospect of items from my home town. Yes, first was an actual copy of one of Portland's weekly papers, the Mercury, which I will be able to savor without reading it online, then a box of chocolates (for my wife, the accompanying card specified--fine with me considering the other contents), hazelnuts & smoked salmon as well! Oh, and a package of fine coffee from a renowned Oregon roaster. Truly a care package for this homsesick lad. Thanks, Keith!

Oregon Native

My wife & I are preparing to head out for a night on the town, so to speak. We're actually planning to drive 20 miles south to the town of Orange where there's a coffee shop which is open past 8 p.m. on a Saturday night AND hosts an open mic event. I already showered & chose my "people's republic of portland" t-shirt to wear; I've been checking out the selection, online, of other Oregon themed t-shirts while she is getting herself ready.

I can't remember which friend gave me this t-shirt, black with "people's republic of portland" in red, lower-case letters across the front. I enjoy the joke associated with this shirt, the way it pokes fun at the often raical liberal atmosphere which drapes over Portland like a April morning rain. I'm wondering where I might find a replacement for when this one wears out (and I might want to still wear it), so I took a look & found an assortment of Oregon shirts. All I own, really, is this black one & the other red one which features the Powell's City of Books logo my friend Keith gave for me at Christmas a few years back. (I'm drinking from my favored Powell's coffee mug while writing this.) Anyway, I want to push my Cascadian homesickness beyond what it is, to show it up a bit, make it more dramatic, as is the custom for Portlanders as I remember them. So, I'm going to take this blog in that direction, see where I can go with it. Why not? At least it might be more funny.

Nutty Squirrels

I put up a bird feeder in the tree outside our apartment where the cats can sit in the windowsill & watch for hours. But these squirrels have been coming around, doing what squirrels do, and I've been going out to make adjustments, sometimes several times a day (I just can't manage to do nothing but search for jobs all day online, so this game with the squirrels is a welcome distraction). Anyway, the squirrel is still getting down to the bird feeder, spilling seeds down on the ground, despite having fallen at least twice. I snapped some pictures of the cats watching the squirrel, but haven't managed to catch one of his acrobatic fall. The feeder is only about four feet above the ground, and after each fall the little gray guy figuratively dusts himself off & climbs right back up the tree. He's more fun to watch than a variety of beautiful birds just coming around to eat seeds. His companion seems content to remain earthbound & sample the seeds he manages to spill, but he really has no fear of falling, doing it time & again. Anyway, the squirrels remind me of home.

I'm thinking about posting some pictures, but I need to figure out how.