Eugene

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Finally Working; Visiting Eugene

February 23, 2004 in Life, Travel, Work | No comments

After four weeks, the reality of living as a regular working stiff is beginning to set in. Sure, I was going to work daily before I left for Seattle, but I wasn’t really working. Now, I am actually doing something- talking to people on the phone, listening to the various excuses people give in an attempt to let me know that it’s not really their fault for hitting that car that was parked and minding its own business on the side of the street… it’s gone quite well so far- I’ve only been cussed at a few times, been hung up on twice, and heard one lecture on Benny Hinn. Then again, I’m only getting a paltry three claims a day, so I still may crack when I’m upped to unlimited.

Normally I would have started a post with something non-work related, but really my life has been consumed with work of late. I leave the house in McMinnville at 6:40am, arrive in Lake Oswego at about 7:45, work until 4:30pm, hit the road immediately and arrive back at home in McMinnville anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30pm, depending on traffic. In other words, I don’t do a whole lot more than work during the week. As a testament to this, I have gone out precisely six times on weeknights since starting my job on December 15 (not counting the Seattle excursions). This must change- and to facilitate change, I must move out of McMinnville. This would free up the roughly three hours I spend in my car each day for fun stuff, like Blazer games, riding bikes, looking at stuff, and most importantly, NOT cursing at the jackass trying to merge into the right quarter panel of my car on highway 99w east of Dundee every night at 5:15pm. What a life it would be… hopefully it will be a reality by March 1.

Despite my commute, I have managed to have a pretty good time the last couple of weekends. Two weekends ago I traveled to Eugene with Derek and went out with Miller, Wells, Autumn, and last but certainly not least, Gio. We didn’t do too much- hit a few bars, talked a lot, and I lost my requisite three games of pool, but it was great to see Gio again. That Saturday was Valentine’s day, and the evening was spent by first going to ice cream with Vanessa, then picking up my honorary Valentine Leah and going to Sam Bond’s Garage to see one of her co-workers’ bands. It was pretty fun, but I didn’t know anyone so I was a little on the quiet side… but it was live music, and Leah, so I had fun nonetheless.

There have been a few adventures, I guess… traveling to Portland one Sunday with Miller to partake in “Sunday Sportsday,” for instance. We first saw the Blazers beat the Seattle Supersonics at the Rose Garden in what was to be Rasheed Wallace’s last game as a Blazer, then we walked over to Memorial Coliseum where we purchased tickets to the Portland Winterhawks game against Moose Jaw. In other words, we saw two sporting events in the span of six hours, interrupted only by the hour or so we had to kill by walking around the Oregon Convention Center and MLK Boulevard. It was a busy, full day that in turn led to a couple hundred miles of driving over the weekend, but it was really fun, and I got to buy my discounted Bonzi Wells #6 jersey at the Blazer team store.

Aside from that, I’ve really accomplished very little in the last month. I went out with Bambi on Saturday (nothing beats the McMinnville club scene… sigh.) and I saw Neil Young with Wells and Ma and Pa Wells on Friday, but aside from those outings, it’s really been a so-so couple of weeks in the northern Willamette Valley. I guess that’s the reason I’ve chosen the picture that I have for this update. I snapped it out the passenger side window of the Bimmer one morning on my way to work. Really, it’s not all the good of a picture- it’s all blurry, and the colors aren’t quite as brilliant as they were in person. However, it’s a good reminder of what it is to live here. However little a photo of Mt. Hood against a sunrise may mean in the scheme of things, it’s something that you just can’t see in Eugene, and it’s just one little reason why I’m glad to be back in the Portland area.

Sorry- no introspective diatribe on this round of Saturatedpratt… I guess I’ll save that for the next time, although I have appreciated the feedback from the last update. As for the things I am working on for this site- I’ve been gradually adding to three major projects, and I think I’m beginning another… the only question is whether or not I will actually progress far enough in any of them to put anything online. I suspect I will, at least with two of them. So in case you‘re at all interested, feel free to check the writings page for one short story, and possibly a longer story, or series of stories in the near future… I don’t know what it is really, it’s still taking shape. That’s it for now.

Snowed In

January 12, 2004 in Life, Travel, Work | No comments

It’s been a little while since my last post, and really it’s been a rather eventful couple of weeks. First was the snowstorm, or rather, snowstorms. You see, it all begins with the simple fact that really, I’m not very smart. As a consequence, I decided that it would be nice to go down to Eugene for New Year’s Eve, seeing as I didn’t have to work the next day.

It had been cold for a couple days, but the freeze had for the most part passed, and it had been raining all day throughout the Willamette Valley. I picked up Wells, and we headed to Eugene to possibly go out with Leah and her friends. Upon arriving in Eugene at about 11:30, I decided that I was really too tired to out, and instead decided to go to bed. In actuality, I ended up talking to Kayla for about an hour and a half on the phone, but that doesn’t matter- I was still tired and that didn’t require much energy. Anyway, that’s beside the point. The real issue here is that I drove to Eugene to go out for the night, and I ended up staying in. That’s what I get for getting an office job with regular hours, I guess.

Any other time, this would have been fine- just a road trip that didn’t really have to happen- no big deal. This time, the sky opened and God himself decided to screw me… at least that’s how my version goes.

At some point between midnight and 7:00am, a typical misty 43 degree Oregon night turned in to eight inches of snow, at least at the elevation of my house in Eugene. As a consequence, Wells and I were stranded. In my infinite wisdom, I had turned down my dad’s offer of the use of his pickup for the trip and had instead made the trek in my Bimmer, which was now buried, with no chains, and absolutely no traction in my neighborhood. Attempt upon attempt was made to try to get the car out of the neighborhood, each one ending with the car threatening to slide perilously to the bottom of the hill in front of our house.

After a day and a half, and after missing my Friday at work, my dad finally came and towed us out using the pickup that I previously decided I wouldn’t need. There was more involved in the story, for example, a set of new chains that didn’t actually fit, a pizza delivery dude who wouldn’t actually deliver our pizza, and a fridge that was more or less empty, but writing in greater detail would simply anger me again, so I won’t. Besides, there’s more stuff to write about.

On Monday, I made the trip to Seattle for three weeks of claims school. Upon arriving in town, I went out to Pizza with Lauren, shared stories, and generally made her miss me… I think. Again, that’s just how my version goes. That night I returned home on what was now a 40 degree Seattle night. Of course, I awoke to find some four inches of snow the next morning. My hotel is located atop a big hill, and, you guessed it, I was again stranded. At least they cancelled the first day of claims school, so I didn’t miss work this time. Most of the snow was gone by the next day, and having no transportation to dinner forced me to get to know my fellow stranded classmates, which was probably a good thing anyway. In addition to making new friends, it’s good that I was in Seattle, as the thaw didn’t reach the Portland area until Friday morning.

The next day class started, and so far it has gone well. I have passed all of my tests, and I’ve had a really good time with the people. We go out as a group to dinner almost every night, and the week was capped by a trip out on the town Friday night. Today the same eight who went out on the town also went tubing on the nearby mountain pass (Snoqualmie?). It was very fun, though now I am sore in muscles I forgot I had. It’s really weird, but in many ways it’s like being back in the dorms, as the group of us all live in the same building and always eat and go do stuff together.

Well, that’s a fairly decent summary of the past week. As far as the coming week is concerned, I’ll be attending more classes, and hopefully passing more tests. On Tuesday I’ll be seeing LeBron James play against the Sonics, and on Saturday I may be going to Canada with the claims school people. That is if I can get a copy of my birth certificate up here.

RA Training - Eugene, Again

September 17, 2000 in School, Work | No comments

Another few weeks without an update and I suddenly find myself in Eugene, thoroughly immersed in the ways of RA-dom. That being the case, this will be a very short update of an update, mainly intended to say that I am indeed alive (though tired)

As for updates, I’ve posted a new journal entry on my writings page. That’s the only bonafide update on this round, so I guess that I should have said “update.” Oh well. I plan to make a more in depth update to the page over the next few nights, as RA training is finally winding to a close.

Wedding with Lauren

August 21, 2000 in Life, Travel | No comments

On Saturday I went to Roseburg for Vicki’s wedding. Along the way, I acquired a Lauren for company. It was quite fun, as she turned out to be a good conversation partner- something sorely needed following a nearly two and a half hour trip from McMinnville to Eugene.

However, we must not forget the important event of the weekend- Vicky must now obey and serve Ben, as stated in the church-certified contractual agreement to which we bore witness.

It was an overall nice ceremony, though not exactly the type that I would choose for my wedding. But the important thing is that the couple seemed genuinely happy, which in the end is all that you can ask for. Following the reception, Lauren and I took our time travelling up I-5, eventually stopping at a drive-in cafe. There we ordered ice cream and gazed with amazement at the proliferation of gay youth.

It was everywhere, but no amount of school-sanctioned homosexuality could taint the overall pleasant feeling of a sunny day and singing along to songs from “Please Please Me”; nor could it foul the taste of my espresso madness (which was delicious).

That aside, it is days like these that tend to leave a lasting impression on me. For instance, while reflecting on the day’s happenings on my drive home, I couldn’t help but think of my own life and loves both past and present. However, these thoughts were interrupted by what I can only describe as a striking sunset. The sky was filled with a palette of colors, from a rich purple in the east to a glimmering orange in the west, creating a perfect silhouette of the coast range and offering only a glimpse of light to the few clouds that remained above. It was one of those moments in a western where you know that the good guy had won, or that the story was simply over. At the same time, it was a sight that if not seen by eyes that had experience the day, could have easily been mistaken for an equally striking sunrise. At once, everything seemed to be a little more poetic than it had been. What was once known was fading away in the most beautiful way imaginable, and a light was being cast on the unknown in a fashion that I had rarely seen of late.

In a few moments the light was gone and I was once again only one of a myriad of cars moving north at seventy miles an hour, but the feeling remained. I wasn’t quite sure if my car was representative of that proverbial cowboy in the sunset, or if the image had simply faded to signify the end. But it now seemed that the darkness on the horizon could peel back to reveal something wonderful, if only I chose to see it as beginning. It’s funny what a wedding can do to a person- or maybe it’s just a good day.

Trip to Eugene

July 30, 2000 in Life, Politics, Travel | No comments

I got back from Eugene today, driving in 95 degree heat with no a/c. I had both windows and my sunroof open, but it was still well beyond uncomfortable. But I guess it was bearable as this weekend was very fun & complete.

On Friday Lauren, Karen, Emily, Arlie and I watched MST3K & some weird Indian movie until about 1:00am, when I proceeded to keep Lauren up until 2:30 complaining about various things (sorry, and I’ll get to work on that story soon =) Saturday was spent in Florence seeking salvation from the heat of the Willamette Valley. The coast was very fun- the sand was warm and we found a clean beach to play on, so it made the trip even more relaxing. Later Lauren and I went to a College Dems meeting at Coutney’s where we ate pizza and watched “Election”. On the way home from there, we frolicked through the sprinklers at 11:00 in front of Hendricks Hall. My adventure to Eugene came to an end today following lunch at the Glenwood with Vanessa. It was good, and we had fun listening to a guy behind us who was pretending to be a theology expert. His date didn’t seem very impressed though.