Home Again

I think I'm still recovering from our two week vacation on the east coast, not because the trip was taxing, but getting back to normal life was quite a shock. I had a bunch of things I needed to accomplish right when we got home -- taxes, doctors appointments, expired car registration, work, etc. -- and it seemed as if the universe was plotting against me. The car battery died so hard that we had to have it taken out of the car and charged. Then, when I went to have the car tested at DEQ to get our expired registration renewed, I found out that the computer system was reset as a result of a dead battery and their monitors couldn't read our emissions. We have been charged with driving our car around town and logging some highway miles this weekend before I can take it back. Seriously, I could not wait for this week to end. I was not my best, but I think it might be behind me now. 

The one thing that didn't stress me out this week was Little. He's been awesome now that he's perfected crawling and climbing and general romping around. We straightened up the living room enough to let him roam while supervised and he thinks it's the coolest thing ever. J also set up a bit of an obstacle course in the play pen, so he's been practicing his maneuvering skills. His endless curiosity has been pretty amazing to experience, definitely a bright spot in this gloomy week. Also, the fact that he's been napping and sleeping like a champ doesn't hurt either. I looking forward to whipping up a few new foods for him to try this weekend and maybe making some frozen treats in a new ice pop tray that I got this week.

Snow Snow Snow!

About 2 months ago, a rock hit our windshield and created a little itty-bitty starburst down near the passenger side windshield wiper. After watching a late night infomercial on a giant hotel TV in D.C., I discovered the wonders of windshield repair. I sat, slack-jawed, watching the magic that took place and vowed to get our windshield fixed as soon as we returned home. Well, the holidays happened and I never got around to it. As it turns out, one of our headlights just burned out and we need an oil change, so my job this week was to focus on the car. I guess the Mazda decided that I wasn't really going to live up to my promises, so on Christmas Eve she got all uppity and decided to crack the windshield nearly in two as we were driving home from picking up some packages. I guess I shouldn't blame this entirely on the car, since it was about 18 degrees out and we were blasting the defroster at full speed. But come on? Really?

Yesterday, I spent a large portion of the morning on the phone with our auto insurance company and local glass shops because driving around with a cracked windshield is terrifying. Also, we were having a stretch of unusually dry weather, so I wanted to take care of the problem before we had a soggy interior to deal with as well. I was feeling a little gloomy about having to drop off the car, take the bus home, and then haul my butt over to the repair shop again in the afternoon to pick it up.

Around 2pm, Jesse sent me a text message -- It's Snowing! I didn't believe him, because while it's been bitterly cold (and dry) lately, when there is precipitation, it always comes in the form of rain. Lots and lots of rain. I was so delighted when I looked out the window to find big puffy snowflakes pouring down on 21st Avenue. I quickly put on my coat and walked down to the bus station so I could pick up the car. I lucked out and got home just in time -- the roads looked like this just after I parked the car. Over the next hour or so, they continued to get worse. Jesse rode his bike home and came back looking like an ice monster, coated from head to toe in wet, dripping snow.

We walked over to one of our favorite happy hour spots to get nachos with a friend and by 4pm there was probably about an inch on the ground. It was beautiful and white (with the sounds of spinning tires in the background). I don't think a lot of people were prepared for the rush hour storm and ended up abandoning cars on some of the main roads leading out of Portland. They're calling it the worst commute in 20 years. I'd like them to rethink that declaration, since I personally experienced the worst commute in the history of the world last Christmas, but I will concede that a 25-mile backup on I-5 is pretty harrowing.

Today, the snow is almost all melted and we have a 10-day forecast of steady rain. That's how Portland winter should be, but I'm always happy for a snowy afternoon to break up the monotony.

A Pretty Good Week

Wow, it's been a whole week since I posted last. Despite my days of leisure (still not gainfully employed), I can still manage to not write a darn thing for seven whole days. Way to go Brasilliant! In the past seven days, very exciting things have taken place. First, someone put carved pumpkins outside of our apartment building and they haven't been smashed to pieces. I love our neighborhood and can't wait for Halloween.

Second, Jesse brought the car in to have the oil changed and asked the mechanics to look at our stuck temperature knob. I was terrified when we got a phone call about 2 hours later and Jesse started laughing on the phone. I thought maybe the repair was so insanely expensive that he was going into hysterics to deal with the pain. In reality, he was laughing because the problem was so ridiculous. Remember that digital conversion box that I installed way back in 2008? Well, somehow from moving the cord around to plug in our iPods, it had wrapped itself around the internal gears, causing the knob to get stuck. It cost $80 in labor to have them pull out our stereo unit and unwrap the cord, but it was worth every dime for the relief I felt knowing that we wouldn't have to sell all of our possessions to pay for the fix.

Third, I tagged along with Jesse for a business trip in Seattle on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately, it poured for 48 solid hours and I didn't feel like taking any photos. I did get to hang out with Jesse's cousin and his wife in their new neighborhood -- I'd totally live in the Fremont area if we moved to Seattle -- and Jeremiah made a tasty tortilla soup that he shared with me for lunch. On the Seattle trip, I also found out that our cruise control was actually not broken. The secret-hidden-bonus cruise control button had just been turned off for 10 months. I think this confirms that I am not worthy of owning a car. (Neither is Jesse, since his knee turned the dimmer knob for the interior lights all the way down and we both thought the electrical system in the car had failed for a couple of hours while driving around town.)

Fourth, I went to look at a 2-bedroom apartment yesterday and submitted a rental application. I didn't mention it to anyone (except my Mom) until after I put in the application, for fear that I would jinx the whole thing. The apartment building is only about 4 blocks from where we live, which is perfect because, again, I love our neighborhood. We contemplated renting a house on the east side, but after looking at several places, nothing seemed quite right. It's one thing to buy a fixer-upper, it's another thing entirely to rent one. Also, I would truly miss having our grocery store, PGE Park, and favorite bars all within a 10 minute walk. Exciting things about this apartment? It's twice as big as the one we have now. It has a hallway (yes this may seem minor, but it makes me want to jump for joy). And it has a washer/dryer AND a dishwasher. We might actually get to live like real live grownups. You know, with a living room that doesn't also double as an office and guest bedroom. Perhaps this is fate's way of lessening my disappointment over the fact that we truly won't be able to afford to buy a house for another year or two.

I'm trying not to get too excited about things looking up, but I have to admit. It was a pretty good week.

Cloudy wtih a Chance of Icicles

Okay, fine. I exaggerate, but it is 44º outside and raining. And my toes feel like icicles. It's the first morning that I didn't want to get out of bed without a winter coat, due largely to the fact that we still had the bedroom window wide open. All windows in our apartment are officially closed! And I took my coffee hot this morning instead of iced, something that rarely occurs (even in the winter).

A recent addition to our household is a giant french press. It is my new love. I have a smaller version that makes exactly 8oz., but it was intended for a pick-me-up at the office. Given that I haven't had an office in over a year, coffee is always made for two (or three or four). I had forgotten how much different coffee tastes when made with the french press -- it's creamy and delicious, kind of like hot chocolate. However, I have yet to brew anything other than Stumptown coffee since we got it, so the marginal stuff might taste just as mediocre. I'll have to run a comparison in the future.

Today calls for a healthy serving of coffee, as neither Jesse or I were as productive yesterday as we had hoped. I set out to finish reading for my class and writing a short paper, but ended up taking care of a few phone calls, messing around on the internet looking for rental houses, finding excuses to not cook dinner, and generally being lazy. However, this morning we are off to a good start. Jesse took the car in for an oil change and to have them check out our temperature knob that will not turn to heat. Given the recent cold snap, I think a defroster will be necessary very soon. (As a side note, I had a slight flush to my cheeks when I realized that out heater has been broken for nearly a year. Oops. Where did all of that time go?) I'm already getting started on my paper outline and will be cooking up a tasty pot of potato leek soup for dinner. I'm determined to have a better day than yesterday!

Reading in the Car

I'm a bit embarrassed to say that we haven't yet changed over our car registration from California to Oregon. I nearly got busted for it when I was pulled over in January for my broken headlight, but the police officer let that part of my violation slide. You'd think that after an event like that I would have rushed out to rectify the situation. Nope.

In the spirit of being productive during my economy-imposed hiatus, I decided that I'd go ahead and take the first step -- having the emissions tested and VIN inspected. I think one of the reasons that I have continued to drag my heels on this issue is that we just paid to have the emissions tested in California in August (in addition for two years of registration fees). California is one of the strictest states as far as environmental quality goes, but Oregon will not accept our test data. But, enough is enough. I need to be an adult about this whole thing and just suck it up. So that's exactly what I'm doing today, sitting in line at Oregon DEQ in order to have my squeaky clean emissions given the thumbs up.

I have to admit, sitting in the car with nothing else to do will be a nice break from the chores I've imposed on myself around the house. I only made it outside briefly yesterday for some fresh air, so hopefully the sun will shine all morning while I'm in the car inspection line. The potential wait will also give me the chance to finish up In Defense of Food so I can move on to The Omnivores' Dilemma and finish another book I started this week. After talking with Jesse on the phone yesterday, I picked up Calvin Trillin's The Tummy Trilogy in search for an essay about a tour through a town in Germany that involved lots of sausage and beer. I haven't yet found the essay he referenced, but as I was flipping through, I found quite a few others that sparked my interest -- one about the Breaux Bridge Crawfish festival in Louisiana, another entitled "Spaghetti Carbonara Day," and a third "Fried-Chicken War." We're a carbonara-loving household, so a day full of the stuff sounds amazing. I'll likely read these essays first and then make my way through the rest of the collection from start to finish. Who knew this great book was sitting on our shelf for ages and I never bothered to pick it up!

No Heat

We took our car in for its regularly-scheduled service last week and it is in tip top condition. That is, except for two things. For some reason, our cruise control stopped working sometime while we were driving down to California at Christmas. Also, on Sunday the little thermostat knob that controls the a/c and heat got stuck (of course it did this AFTER we had it serviced).

It's the little knob on the bottom left with the blue and red half-circles. Our knob turns freely from very cold to the middle point where the red meets the blue. Then it stops and will not budge anymore to the right. Since it never fully engages the heat, it shoots out a temperature very similar to outside (around 50 degrees), which is neither hot, nor cold, but somehow uncomfortable. On my way to Salem yesterday I put on my scarf, which helped. What cannot be easily managed is when Jesse gets into the car and fogs up the windows on his side. It's times like that when I feel as though our car is giving us the middle finger.

I tried Googling our problem, but most diagnostics only deal with the dial still moving freely, but not adjusting the temperature. I even downloaded a workshop manual for the car, but again, doesn't mention "stuck temperature dial" in the troubleshooting diagnostics. I have a feeling this is not a good thing -- or a really simple fix. However, I am too busy this week to even think about it.

Today is my last day researching in Salem and then I'll probably be able to finish up my first consulting job in Portland! Maybe I'll try and pull off the knob when I get home tonight and see what's going on in there.

Christmas Eve

About 20 minutes after this post, I crawled in bed and passed out. I think it was a combination of the beer, stress, and constant squeezing of my butt cheeks for nearly eight hours on the drive down to Grants Pass. Even after we had cleared the snow and ice, I was still on the edge of my seat. I didn't have the strength to think about what we were going to do next. I just wanted sleep.

Then, at 3am I woke up and my brain started spinning. I thought about our ride the previous day and what we might have to go through again to get over the Siskiyou Pass. The thought of driving for another 4 hours in ice and snow terrified me. I woke up J (after rolling around) and told him that I didn't think I could do it. We agreed then and there that we wouldn't go through the pass unless it was relatively clear and realized that we might not make it to California after all. Then, I realized that I was starving (probably why I woke up in the first place), so we had snacks in bed and went back to sleep around 5am.

J woke up around 8am and went to get a new tires and to call his parents to tell them the bad news. The worst part of all was that we couldn't make it to California, but we also couldn't go back home to Portland because of another front that was dumping snow on the city again. The thought of spending Christmas in Grants Pass, Oregon made me cry, but the alternative (driving over the pass) made me cry even harder.

We had to check out at 11am, so we nibbled at breakfast, did a lot of sighing, and decided to drive around town a bit before making our final decision. While I was checking out, the lady at the front desk asked where we were headed and tears welled up in my eyes. (I'm sure I looked like death since I had only slept about 4 hours the night before and spent most of my morning in tears.) I told her our situation and she immediately started searching on the internet for alternate routes and weather conditions. She found that U.S. Route 199 was pretty clear and a little warmer and travels through the valley so was relatively flat. I thanked her profusely and ran out to the parking lot to tell J that we might have a chance.

He was on the phone with his mom and told her he had to go because we were going to try once again. We hopped in the car and were on the road again, this time heading west towards the coast. US 199 didn't feel unsafe at all and was quite a beautiful drive. The area had gotten snow overnight, but the temperatures were high enough to prevent it from sticking on the road.

Once we reached California, the snow vanished and we were feeling pretty good. I had never really seen giant Redwood trees before, so when we entered into the Redwood State Park I made J pull over. They probably come close to some of the most glorious things I have ever seen (or ever will see). Given our day with the snow, it was also amazing to finally see grass, and dirt, and pools of water! We took a brief moment to walk around and have a mini celebration for making it out of Grants Pass. At that point, I knew we would make it to Santa Cruz in time for Christmas, and even if we didn't, I was so glad that we wouldn't spend another night in the snow.

The rest of the drive was long and tedious. The sky dumped rain all the way from Eureka to Ukiah, which consisted of nearly all two-lane winding roads. Past Ukiah, the rain didn't really let up, but at least we hit the freeway and had a buffer from the oncoming traffic's lights. At least we didn't have to think once about having to use our "ice scraper" or the rest of the kitty litter in our back seat at any point on the second half of our journey. We arrived in Santa Cruz around 11:30pm on Christmas Eve, bringing our total driving time to around 17 hours over the course of two harrowing days. However, we were greeted by the whole family with smiles and a warm fire and delicious crab cakes made fresh for our hungry bellies.

On the Road Again With Snacks

If you are reading this post (unless you work the early morning shift) we are on our way to California to kick off the Thanksgiving festivities. It seems like we were just making the reverse trip way back in September to settle into our apartment in our new city. Thanksgiving seemed like an eon away and I still can't believe that it's already almost here. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon packing and planning the menu for our near twelve hour drive. Menu you ask? Well, yes, we have a menu and thought quite a bit about it. Jesse and I have traveled together enough to know that full bellies make for a happy marriage.

I remember the first fight we had at an airport when I refused to take off my flip flops (I forgot socks) at the security line and the TSA employee made me step into the plexiglass room to be patted down. Jesse was quite embarrassed and refused to talk to me for at least an hour. (For the record, it is not illegal to refuse to remove your shoes, you just have to go through the extra steps of having all your stuff searched and your body checked for explosives. I gladly chose the long route in lieu of a rare foot malady from the thousands of bare feet that walk on those mats every day.) Anyway, ever since we have packed lots of food, which usually consists of turkey sandwiches, nuts, fruit, M&M's for emergencies, as well as four mini-bottles of gin or bourbon for long layovers (all TSA approved of course). This time though, we won't have the turkey sandwiches.

Since we are driving this time, we left behind the bourbon shooters, but put together an array of snacks (both substantial and light) to fuel the trip. Last night we made vegetarian Runsas for dinner with plenty of leftovers for the trip. Nightrain was worried about the lack of meat, but they are actually quite hearty and delicious. The wild rice has a nice chew and the mushrooms make everything delicious. It took a lot longer to make the vegetarian version, since I had to cook all the veggies in different stages to ensure the right texture and prevent the ending mixture from being too soupy to be contained within the delicate dough. Unfortunately, I forgot to put in the cheese, but they are tasty even without.

In addition to the Runsas, we have Pirate's Booty, Cheetos, mixed nuts, bananas, apples, some seltzer water, and of course, we brewed iced coffee last night to make sure we got out of the door with partially functioning brains. In addition to snacks, we have over 30 hours of audiobooks on our iPod, so I think we're set. If all goes as planned, we should arrive in Santa Cruz just around dinner time!

Weekend Update

This weekend was rather uneventful. We didn't make it out for Halloween this year, something that has not occurred since we both moved to D.C. It was a little sad not dressing up and going out with all of our friends, but we don't really have many friends in Portland yet. It was pretty cold and a little rainy, so I was very happy hanging out in our warm, dry apartment watching an old movie.

We did start thinking about our holiday cards on Friday night and by Saturday afternoon we had finalized a design and started production. I'm not going to give away much, but these are some of the tools that we used. I convinced Jesse to come with me to the Paper Source to pick out colors and supplies. We did a test run yesterday and I am pretty excited about the results.

Since we moved this year and never managed to send out new address cards, our holiday cards will have to suffice. For this reason, our list of people is surprisingly large. Starting to make holiday cards on November 3rd probably sounds a little crazy, but I think we might actually need the entire month to complete them all!

I woke up this morning and was all set to get our car inspected for emissions again (Oregon will not accept our 2-month-old inspection from California). We need the inspection in order to register our car and get Oregon license plates. Oh and also, our car needs a "VIN Inspection" were we get to pay someone $21 to look at the VIN number on our car and write it down on a piece of paper. Anyway, I went online to find the nearest inspection station only to find that they aren't open on Mondays.

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to work on other fun projects today.

Finally On Our Way

We embarked on the final leg of our epic trip across the country this Friday. Neither of us slept much on Thursday night - we were way too excited. Jesse finally got up at 6am to take a run and I rolled out of bed not much later to wash our sheets, make sandwiches for the road, and stuff everything back into my suitcase. We were on the road by 9:30 (with 6 Emily's muffins for emergencies).

There was hardly any traffic, so we made awesome time. I drove for approximately an hour on the highway and nearly had a nervous breakdown. I think I did fine, but was white-knuckling the steering wheel all the way. By the time we were past Redding, CA, I was back in the passenger seat with my camera in hand. Despite the fact that Highway 5 is pretty boring for a major stretch throughout California, it provides spectacular views on its northern-most section through the Oregon border. We passed by an amazing group of lakes on the way to Mt. Shasta and for miles the mountain peeked over the surrounding hills. I'm glad we got on the road so early that we could pass through this part of the trip while the sun was still up.

We arrived in Ashland, OR (just a few miles over the California/Oregon border) right around 5:00pm and decided to stop for dinner. Even though we weren't very hungry in the car, by the time we sat down at Greenleaf Restaurant we were ready to gnaw off our own arms. I got a fresh fish sandwich and Jesse had a delicious Thai chicken wrap. I'm so glad that we didn't press on for another 20 or 50 miles. After dinner and a coffee, we decided to head to Roseburg, OR to stay for the night - putting us just three hours from Portland for the Saturday morning drive.

This morning we were on the road again at 8am, both ready to finally be home. Since our Super 8 motel had coffee that looked like weak tea, we decided to take to the highway without a morning brew. Bad idea. One exit later we stopped at Dutch Bros. Coffee. It was also a bad idea - with very weak coffee - but there was an open road calling. We landed in Portland around 10:45am and were standing in our very empty apartment just a few minutes later.

It's great. We're extremely excited. It will be interesting living for the next week (or so) without any furniture. Or internet. But it will be fun!

Tomorrow We Can Drive Around This Town (and be the worst car stereo thieves around)

Aside from the free Gin Blossoms concert we attended on Friday, this past week was all about learning to drive (and tinkering with) the car. I'm trying to get all things car related accomplished while I have a driveway at my disposal. Larson came over on Sunday and tried to help us remove our stereo so we could wire it for our IPod.

We fashioned a sweet sweet stereo removal tool from coat hangers and some nails, but no luck. It wouldn't budge. I think at some point (as we were all sweating and getting quite smelly in the hot California sun), Larson remarked that we sucked as car stereo thieves - if only we could have been as stealth as the butthead who ripped out the Crane Wife's while she was on vacation.

As it turns out, even if we had been able to remove the stereo, there's nothing back there to accommodate a RC cable. After mulling it over, we broke down and went to a local stereo shop, where they removed our stereo in a matter of seconds and had us sold on a little digital conversion box - that cost more than our car battery, but less than a new stereo. I installed it in about 5 minutes and we sat in the driveway marvelling at what we had accomplished. We're ready to rock the 14 hour drive home to Portland!

Also on the car accomplishments list this week: removing the big, black, scratch down the driver's side of the car. As a parting gift from Boston, someone sideswiped Nightrain's (now our) car while it was parked on the street. Luckily, I found out that the damage was mostly on the surface. I was able to remove a lot of the leftover black paint with some polishing compound and a little elbow grease.

I wish I had taken a more comprehensive shot to show the black streak that ran just about the entire length of the car. Now, it's gone and looking (almost) as good as new.

Of course, my days haven't revolved entirely around the car. We've had great food, lots of relaxing, and a nice trip to San Francisco. However, that will have to wait for another post. I have errands to run and need to work on my tan - even after 3 weeks in California, my legs still look like they've been living on the East Coast.

Day of the Mazda

Last year, Nightrain decided to forgo his wheels to pursue a more urban lifestyle. We are the lucky recipients of his zippy little car. On Monday, we cracked open the garage door, pulled off the blue tarp covering the Mazda, and turned the key to start her up. Not surprisingly, the battery was dead (it had been sitting in there for over a year). So, Jesse removed the battery and we took it down to the auto parts store where they determined that it was "too hot" and "bad". Uh, ok? We bought a new one.

Tuesday morning, Jesse woke up bright and early to transfer the car title and renew the registration. Afterward, we installed the new car battery and killed a family of spiders that was living in the hood. J hopped in the car, turned the key, and the lights came on. YAY! Success! But the engine didn't start, just the noise of fans blowing. Hmm. Try again. Nope, nothing. Damn.

Totally sad and defeated, we decided that we would give it a good cleaning before calling AAA for a tow. We rolled it out of the garage and realized that there wasn't enough room for a proper cleaning (Bob and Mary Ann were having new windows installed, so the driveway was occupied by a workbench and truck). So, back to the garage for our little dead car. I pushed, J steered. This time though, I needed a little momentum to get the car over the garage bump. Every time I would rock the car, J would put on the brakes thinking that I was about to get rolled over - totally halting my momentum. I yelled and he got frustrated, but the car made it back it the garage and we both got a snack.

Since I know very little about cars, I googled "new battery, but car still won't start" and found troubleshooting guide. One of the first things it asked was, "did you press down the clutch when starting?" I had no idea, since Jesse was the driver, so I asked. And he hadn't. So we ran to the garage, he threw open the door and hopped in, and I held my breath. J pressed down the clutch, put in the key, and turned. I closed my eyes and heard the engine cough and sputter. I opened my eyes and saw some dark-looking exhaust, but it was running. Triumph!

We quickly checked the oil and took it for a drive around the neighborhood. That drive lasted longer than I expected and we ended up going straight to lunch with Larson and Serena for his birthday. After lunch, Serena came over and we went to the auto parts store (for the third time in two days) and purchased items for the car wash that never happened. I did some vacuuming, and she is quite the abled scrubber. In no time the interior shined like new.

I still haven't gotten around to the outside, but maybe when it comes back from its tune-up and smog check today I'll give it a good scrub.