They shake their heads really fast and we snap the shot with a flash!
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Friday, October 5, 2007
Northwest Magnets
We stopped in at Northwest Magnets on our walk this afternoon. A short, older woman with a German or Eastern European accent helped us. She gave us a lot of warnings about this and that.
I asked to take some photos and she said okay. A minute or so later I asked if I could take a look into the back work shop, which you can see from the retail area through a window in the door.
Inside the shop a nice fellow was putting together a large electromagnet to be used for scrap metal and wrecked autos. He was wrapping copper bands around and around. "There'll be 1400 turns by the time we're done," he said. He told me it would "only weigh 3,000 or 4,000 pounds" when finished. He said, "that's nothing... some of 'em we build weigh 20,000 or 22,000 pounds." He didn't seem to mind that I was taking a few photos.
But then the woman shot in there saying, "no, no... I don't think you should be taking pictures... no, no...." She seemed nervous and concerned. I apologized but didn't offer to delete the photos and she didn't ask me to. I only took four shots.
I ended up spending about $60 in there and felt like I could have spent a lot more.
I asked to take some photos and she said okay. A minute or so later I asked if I could take a look into the back work shop, which you can see from the retail area through a window in the door.
Inside the shop a nice fellow was putting together a large electromagnet to be used for scrap metal and wrecked autos. He was wrapping copper bands around and around. "There'll be 1400 turns by the time we're done," he said. He told me it would "only weigh 3,000 or 4,000 pounds" when finished. He said, "that's nothing... some of 'em we build weigh 20,000 or 22,000 pounds." He didn't seem to mind that I was taking a few photos.
But then the woman shot in there saying, "no, no... I don't think you should be taking pictures... no, no...." She seemed nervous and concerned. I apologized but didn't offer to delete the photos and she didn't ask me to. I only took four shots.
I ended up spending about $60 in there and felt like I could have spent a lot more.
Urban Walk and...
Greg and I walked around the more industrial parts of the city this afternoon. I'll post some photos.
Sassy Solicitor Pt. II
Tonight the neighbor across the street asked if we'd had a problem with a solicitor last night. I said we had. Apparently the guy was at her house also last night, hanging around on her porch and not leaving when she told him to. She lives there with her young daughter. She said the guy spit on her front door at one point and she called the cops. I don't know if they ended up tracking him down.
I guess he was spoiling for a fight last night, that feller.
I guess he was spoiling for a fight last night, that feller.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Time Flies
I had my eyes examined this morning. I need a new prescription. I've known I need a new prescription, but I had been putting off the eye exam because I wasn't sure what the status was with our Kaiser account. I knew we got a "benefit" of $150, but it's only good once every two years or so. That means they take $150 off the total cost of frames and lenses.
I was under the impression I'd had my current glasses "about two years," but finally figured I'd have to get new glasses whether it would cost the extra $150 or not.
Turns out I got my current spectacles over FOUR years ago.
Brother. I get the new ones in a week or two, I'm told.
While I was trying on frames a guy came up to me and asked me if I was a police officer.
???
I was under the impression I'd had my current glasses "about two years," but finally figured I'd have to get new glasses whether it would cost the extra $150 or not.
Turns out I got my current spectacles over FOUR years ago.
Brother. I get the new ones in a week or two, I'm told.
While I was trying on frames a guy came up to me and asked me if I was a police officer.
???
More Sassy Solicitors
We've had a flurry of door-to-door salesmen and such lately. I don't get it, given that the weather has now officially turned bad.
Last night, just as dinner was about ready, a guy came to the door. I opened the door and said hello, adding "...but I'm really not interested in anything right now, thanks."
He didn't respond right away, so I started to shut the door. I heard him mutter something. I wasn't sure what he said, but I was darn sure it was something harsh. I opened the door again and asked him if he had said something. He defiantly said, "Yeah, I said something."
"Was it kind?" I asked him.
"Were YOU kind?" he snapped.
"Well, yeah," I said. "All I said was that I don't want anything right now. I'm getting dinner ready and... I just don't want anything."
"Well," he snarled, "you've got your opinion and I've got mine!"
Are they not teaching them in door-to-door school that you have to learn to take "no" in stride? Jiminy. Do these sassy solicitors think "If I'm mean to them, they'll come around to my way of thinking and order some magazines"??
I just don't get it, man.
Last night, just as dinner was about ready, a guy came to the door. I opened the door and said hello, adding "...but I'm really not interested in anything right now, thanks."
He didn't respond right away, so I started to shut the door. I heard him mutter something. I wasn't sure what he said, but I was darn sure it was something harsh. I opened the door again and asked him if he had said something. He defiantly said, "Yeah, I said something."
"Was it kind?" I asked him.
"Were YOU kind?" he snapped.
"Well, yeah," I said. "All I said was that I don't want anything right now. I'm getting dinner ready and... I just don't want anything."
"Well," he snarled, "you've got your opinion and I've got mine!"
Are they not teaching them in door-to-door school that you have to learn to take "no" in stride? Jiminy. Do these sassy solicitors think "If I'm mean to them, they'll come around to my way of thinking and order some magazines"??
I just don't get it, man.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Dad and Uncle John
Down outside of Sutherlin, August of 2007.
Dad explains why you shouldn't try to photograph Uncle John.
Dad explains why you shouldn't try to photograph Uncle John.
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Yan Yan
These are sweet treats from the Asian market, called Yan Yan. By the makers of Hello Panda, and featuring the same biscuit-like things and same chocolate-like (dipping) "sauce" (frosting).
Monday, October 1, 2007
Movie Review: EXILED
Yesterday Amy and I went to see Exiled, a Chinese shoot-em-up, at downtown's Living Room Theaters.
Nice theaters, those. Very comfy and slick, and they use words like "cuisine" and "fusion," so you know it's upscale.
The movie was good, if not spectacular. It was very well made, but had a bit of a been-there-done-that quality. The Oregonian had me believing it would be chock-a-block with action, and it does have several gunfight scenes, but the overall mood and pacing is more subdued than I expected.
In the end I decided it was worth the trip more for the theater -- we'd never been to this place -- than for the movie.
Iris stayed home and watched Knocked Up (again) and Cleo was out with Andrea seeing Across the Universe.
It was a quiet, not very bouyant autumn Sunday, the last day of September.
Nice theaters, those. Very comfy and slick, and they use words like "cuisine" and "fusion," so you know it's upscale.
The movie was good, if not spectacular. It was very well made, but had a bit of a been-there-done-that quality. The Oregonian had me believing it would be chock-a-block with action, and it does have several gunfight scenes, but the overall mood and pacing is more subdued than I expected.
In the end I decided it was worth the trip more for the theater -- we'd never been to this place -- than for the movie.
Iris stayed home and watched Knocked Up (again) and Cleo was out with Andrea seeing Across the Universe.
It was a quiet, not very bouyant autumn Sunday, the last day of September.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The Auction
Last night Amy and I went to a charity fund raising auction for Grace Episcopal Church. Because a friend of Amy's, Carolynn Rudy, invited us.
We saw Cleo and Iris's former teacher (kindergarten and first grade), Mary Jean Ranberg, along with a couple of other teachers from Irvington Elementary. I saw Tammy English (married name Nelson), who graduated from Willamette University the same year I did.
And I saw lots of "older people" and wondered if I was now one of them. I've never been to a function like that, so it was a new experience. The auction/dinner was at the Portland Yacht Club, which I have to report was a less than impressive location, although the view of the Columbia is great and it's cool to see airplanes flying in front of the big windows. I didn't see any yachts, just lots of sailboats, mostly small.
I wore a suit and tie and was among the best-dressed men. I should have taken more photos. Here's a bad one from before we left... you can pretend it's a movie still from a movie you wish you'd seen but never got around to (and, really, you want to have seen it more than you want to see it):
It got cool and rainy yesterday. I began wearing long pants and shoes. I'm ready for the yacht club.
We saw Cleo and Iris's former teacher (kindergarten and first grade), Mary Jean Ranberg, along with a couple of other teachers from Irvington Elementary. I saw Tammy English (married name Nelson), who graduated from Willamette University the same year I did.
And I saw lots of "older people" and wondered if I was now one of them. I've never been to a function like that, so it was a new experience. The auction/dinner was at the Portland Yacht Club, which I have to report was a less than impressive location, although the view of the Columbia is great and it's cool to see airplanes flying in front of the big windows. I didn't see any yachts, just lots of sailboats, mostly small.
I wore a suit and tie and was among the best-dressed men. I should have taken more photos. Here's a bad one from before we left... you can pretend it's a movie still from a movie you wish you'd seen but never got around to (and, really, you want to have seen it more than you want to see it):
It got cool and rainy yesterday. I began wearing long pants and shoes. I'm ready for the yacht club.
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