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The year 2008 in review

January 24, 2009 in Life, Politics, Travel, Work | 3 comments

The people (specifically, two people) have spoken, and as a result I bring you this non-sports related update.  After all, this isn’t a sports blog, it’s supposed to be about my life, and a clearinghouse for my thoughts, adventures, misstatements and awkward encounters.  It just so happens that the last several posts have been about sports… well, this one will bring us current on my life and times.

With a new year comes reflection on the past year - so with that, I will bring you a look back at my 2008, and a brief look to the future…

The Texas Schoolbook Depository

The Texas Schoolbook Depository

The year began like many others - in January.  At the beginning of the month I was asked to travel to Dallas, Texas by work to attend a series of meetings aimed at improving the way large loss property claims were handled.  The meetings were successful, and resulted in the creation of a position I would assume in March, however the real story is that I got to explore the city of Dallas, including the former Texas Schoolbook Depository - the site of the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  As a history and politics geek, and as a kid who grew up idolizing Kennedy, this was a very special trip for me.  What’s strange is that through all the television shows and movies documenting the assassination, it seemed as though I’d already been there.  They’ve done a masterful job of creating a museum documenting the President’s trip to Dallas, the events leading up to it, and of course, the events of November 22, 1963.  I was surprised at the impact that the visit had on me, and I’m very thankful for having gone.

Nothing happened in February.  Literally.  March saw my second trip to Arizona for Spring Training.  This has already been documented, and it’s sports-related, so never mind.

April saw the first full month in my new position at work.  This was significant because it meant I was no longer traveling for work - everything (in theory) was now being handled from my desk, and specifically, from my dining room.  I still have mixed feelings on this transition, as I really enjoyed seeing the western US on the company’s dime, but I felt a responsibility to take the position that was offered to me, as I was instrumental in its creation.  I took the position after I was assured that I would still get to travel on occasion and would still have the ability to go into the field on my old claims, which I was keeping.

President Bill Clinton in McMinnville, OR

President Bill Clinton in McMinnville, OR

April also saw the visit of former President Bill Clinton to my former high school to campaign for his wife, then-Senator Hillary Clinton.  Although I was already an avowed supporter of Barack Obama, the prospect of seeing a President in the McMinnville High School gymnasium was too much to pass up.  I attended with my mom and seemingly the rest of the town.  As a liberal who grew up in a rather conservative area of Oregon, it was very encouraging to see a line wrapping around the entire school waiting patiently to be led into the gym.  It was during this campaign rally that it really began to sink in that the Democrats may actually win the election in November (foreshadowing!!!).  It was also encouraging to see that although the rally was a Hillary Clinton event, it became clear through talking to most of those in attendance, they planned to support the Democratic candidate - whether it was Clinton or Obama.  It was also encouraging to hear the little girl in front of me chant “O-Bam-A” when the crowd was instructed to chant the name of Hillary Clinton.

Sen. Barack Obama in Portland, 5/18/08

Sen. Barack Obama in Portland, 5/18/08

May saw another campaign visit - this one almost epic in scope, as Barack Obama packed an estimated 72,000 supporters into and around Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland.  I attended with Wells and his family, and braved the sun and 90 degree temperatures (as well as the horrible sunburn I picked up the previous day during a cleanup of the Willamette River with my dad) to be among the throngs welcoming Senator Obama to Portland.  The crowd was like nothing I’ve ever experienced in person - literally people filling every possible area, including the boats on the Willamette.  The official estimates were that 60,000 people were actually in the bowl area watching Obama, and another 12,000 filled the streets around the park.  It was here where I became certain Obama would easily carry the Oregon primary election two days later, which he did.  The future President did not disappoint, delivering the standard campaign speech, punctuated by exclamations of “wow” when face to face with the crowd.  The biggest takeaway from the event wasn’t in anything Obama said, but rather the enthusiasm for the candidate, and for the democratic process as a whole.  Never in my life had I experienced anything like this in a political campaign, and it is doubtful that this type of enthusiasm will be matched in the near future (now that the inauguration has passed).  More than anything, it was extremely refreshing to see the type of hope and promise for the future that was encapsulated by crowd - especially after the last eight years.

Brittany and I near Sedona, AZ

Brittany and I near Sedona, AZ

June passed by like an old man in his slumber as I waited for my July vacation, a second trip to Arizona for 2008 - this one to spend time with Brittany, who I reconnected with during my Spring Training visit.  Most of the trip was spent just going around town.  We visited with Vanessa, Eddy, and North, and went to her brother’s place for the 4th of July.  While attempting to jump into a swimming pool that evening I managed to knock my leg against a submerged rung of a pool ladder, causing a massive gash in my right leg, just below the knee.  As a result, I spent about 6 hours in the ER, received eight stitches, and now sport a wicked scar.  Following the debacle with my leg, Brittany and I took off for the cooler climate of beautiful northern Arizona, specifically Sedona.  I was able to find a timeshare that provided us with a deeply discounted room and dinner (we only had to pretend that we were a young about to be married couple interested in a timeshare…  the ruse worked perfectly - we are apparently good actors), and the rest of the time was spent hiking a few trails around Sedona and visiting shops - all the while trying to keep my bandage clean.  Despite the leg debacle, it was a great trip and one that made me realize I could in fact live in Arizona, if I wanted to.  I later decided that was probably a vacation high, but then again, housing prices are great near Phoenix…

Me and the Bean, Millennium Park, Chicago

Me and the Bean, Millennium Park, Chicago

In early August I visited Kayla in Chicago, however much of this visit was centered around various baseball road-tripping, so I will briefly cover where that aspect of the visit took us - Wrigley Field and US Cellular (New Comiskey) Park in Chicago to see the Cubs play the Astros and the White Sox host the Tigers respectively, Elfstrom Stadium in Geneva, Il where we saw the Kane County Cougars play the Beloit Snappers, Alexian Field in Schaumburg, Il to see the Schaumburg Flyers play the Kansas City T-Bones, and Miller Park in Milwaukee, WI to see the Brewers play the Nationals.

We also spent time enjoying some of the other things the city had to offer.  For instance, we took in our first day at the races at Arlington Downs, where we won about $20 combined on the ponies.  A day was also spent wandering the city, specifically the loop, Millennium Park and the generally everything that downtown had to offer.  This included, of course, pizza followed by drinks at Harry Carey’s.  If it weren’t for the extreme humidity in the summer, and the extreme cold in the winter, I would love to live in Chicago.

Just prior to my trip to Chicago, Miller arrived in Portland.  As such, he was allowed to “house sit” my apartment - basically, move in for a month.  It was great - we went to games, hung out like we did in college, and I got to witness a budding romance between he and Meredith (otherwise known as “Team Wilt”).  Unfortunately, he had to return to New York for the start of the school year, but if everything goes according to plan, he’ll be coming back permanently sometime later this year.

Las Vegas (file photo)

Las Vegas Strip (file photo)

With September came MusicFest NW, and four days of live music at various venues throughout Portland.  During the event, I was able to see Norfolk & Western, the Old 97s, Britt Daniel, Built to Spill, Nick Jaina, the Builders and the Butchers, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, and many other less impressive bands.  I was also able to spend some quality time with my pal Sarah, and reconnect with Julie as well as meet a few new people.  September also saw a trip to Las Vegas with Derek, Esther, and Patrick during which I won $200 playing War (who knew that was a casino game?), $250 on a slot machine, and about $50 on college football games.  In short, I became a gambling degenerate.

The end of October saw the return of Peter from his six months spent wandering Europe and Africa, so a lot of time was spent hanging out with him and hearing stories of the adventures he experienced.  It also brought the beginning of the Blazers season and the heart of the Ducks football season, but again, this is not a post about sports.  The fall was actually quite relaxing - most of my vacation was spent with my earlier travels, so the daily routine really took hold during this time…  in other words, I spent a lot of time working.  When I wasn’t working, I was either at a Blazers or Ducks game, a concert, or hanging out with Peter, for the most part.  There were a few hikes, a few short road trips to see Wells or go to the coast, but aside from those, and the election of Barack Obama, it really was the dog days of fall.  One definite plus what that I was once again promoted at work, attaining the level of Large Loss Property Claims Specialist, which is pretty much as high as I can get for the foreseeable future (or unless I go for a management position) - this is assuming we all still have jobs in the foreseeable future, since the company was recently purchased by Liberty Mutual.  I’m not too concerned though.

My car, buried.

My car, buried.

December brought the holidays and a MASSIVE (6-8 inches) of snow and ice in the Portland area.  I spent the time wandering around the town, taking photos, and thinking of how to dislodge my car from its wintry, plowed-in grave.  For a while it looked as though I wouldn’t be able to make it home for Christmas due tot he fact that my car was still buried under a foot of snow and ice, however my dad came to the rescue and helped me big out the car.  Maddie the dog even came along for moral support.  Although the car eventually got stuck several more times in my parents’ neighborhood, at the end of the day, I was able to spend Christmas with the family, eat too much ham, and make it back home safely.

So that was 2008 - hopefully 2009 will be as eventful, but I have the distinct feeling it will involve much less travel.  Check back soon - this should be the last massive update, as I’ll be making more frequent contributions now that the site is re-designed and more user friendly.

Spring Training, 2008

April 23, 2008 in Random, Sports | No comments

Giovanni and I; Phoenix Memorial Stadium

Keeping with this line of thought, I repeated the Spring Training trip last month, this time bringing Giovanni along on the road portion with Miller joining us mid-week in Phoenix. This year’s takeaways: I will never, ever make this drive again - all subsequent trips to the desert southwest will be made in the air; game tickets will be purchased no later than the end of January; and more sights will be seen around the town and state on scheduled days off, gained from the lack of four travel days. Among the sights yet to be seen – The Grand Canyon, Barringer Meteorite Crater, Sedona, Saguaro National Park, and the ghost town where the Brady Bunch was wrongly jailed on their way to the canyon (I know, this was filmed on a set… but how cool would that be?).

Jack Cust's 2007 Portland Beavers Jersey

But enough of that – the last month has seen a few other items worthy of note. The most significant has been a change to my role at work. I am no longer traveling in my claims adjusting duties, rather, I will be controlling my files and conducting coverage investigations from the comfort of my northwest Portland apartment, which means less work travel, more freedom to make plans outside of work, and hopefully, the ability to advance myself a little further in my career in the not so distant future… hopefully.

If the insurance thing doesn’t work out… (I’ve only been doing it for five years now) I’ve always got minor league basketball to fall back on. That’s right, I served as an official scorer a few weeks ago for the Portland Chinooks of the International Basketball League. Sadly, this was even more stressful than my day job, as it was the first game I have scored since at least high school, and the final score ended up being 125-112. That’s a lot of points, by the way. I didn’t screw up too badly… at least not in the end. After the first half I failed to calibrate my mind to the fact that the teams do in fact switch hoops, something that resulted in my scoring the teams exactly opposite what they should have been for the first half of the third quarter. After a brief panic attack, I figured it out and corrected my error… good thing no one reads this website…

Speaking of this website, I am currently sketching out some ideas for the first major overhaul since adopting the Saturatedpratt name nearly six years ago. Hopefully the coming months will bring a better overall design, working comments, a dedicated sports page, and possibly even a pod cast covering news, commentary, an attempt at humor, and of course, music. This is pretty ambitious, and I make no promises, but I do hope to have all of this (or at least the pieces I decide to keep) online in the coming months. Stay tuned for more details.

Summer Travels, Vacation

December 5, 2007 in Sports, Travel, Website | No comments

As the seasons once again change, with (albeit mild) hurricane force winds blowing the Pacific Northwest headfirst into winter, I turn back to the pages of Saturatedpratt – the silent companion to literally tens of readers throughout the dark months.  Its been a rather fast four months and change since my last update, so as always, a quick re-cap should brings us up to speed. 

August and September were filled with, as has become the norm for summer, work and baseball.  Unlike the first half of the year, the late summer and early fall found me working fairly close to home – the longest work trip being a brief two-day jaunt to Klamath Falls.  This being the case, I had to augment my relatively light work travel with a baseball-centered road trip with Miller to Vancouver, B.C. and all stops in between. 

On this trip, I completed my second complete tour of a professional baseball circuit, adding the last two Northwest League parks I had yet to visit (Vancouver’s Nat Bailey Field and Everett’s Memorial Stadium) to my collection.  The Northwest League now joins the Cactus as the two I have completed with no realistic successor in sight, barring a move to another geographic region.  I will likely focus my efforts next year on seeing the Dodgers’ last spring training in Vero Beach, followed by hopefully being able to get some tickets to the their two-game exhibition series against the Red Sox at the L.A. Coliseum, where they played their first two seasons on the west coast.  The big trip for the year will probably be New York sometime in spring or early summer to see Yankee Stadium in its final season – I think it’s a must for any true baseball fan to see the house that Ruth built before Steinbrenner knocks it down.

But wait – this update isn’t about the future, it’s about the past four months.  After the September trip, the next big event was a quick weekend trip in October to Seattle to see Karen & Emily’s wedding.  I don’t get to see them very often (or anyone who doesn’t live in the Portland area, for that matter) so it was great to catch up them, as it was with Brunner and Megan, and Lauren and Garth, who once again volunteered their extra bedroom for the night.  I always have a great time whenever I see my friends from my Carson days, and I hope to see them a lot more often than the once every two years at someone’s wedding plan I’ve been on of late, especially with all the sports-related travel… (well, except for the Yankee Stadium trip – that is a necessity.)

The rest of the time from October until the present has been spent dividing time between work, Ducks football, Blazers basketball, and going to the gym.  As always, the colder months are bringing with them a lot more work for me, so I’ve been doing more traveling of late.  Last week’s work-related adventuring took me to Aberdeen, Washington, one of the last places in the state of Washington I had not seen on the company dime. 

Between making visits to agents, lining up contractors, and conducting interviews, I found a little time to poke around town.  My findings are as follows: it is very gray and damp, the area is in serious need of an economic kick-start if the vacancy rate downtown is any indication, and I can totally see how the region would rear a kid like Kurt Cobain.  I wandered the downtown and snapped a few pictures, including some of what I am sure was a spectacular electric company building in it’s time – a stocky two level structure speckled with hundreds of sockets that were once filled with lights lining the windows and nearly every other architectural line on the building’s façade.

After taking in civic utility buildings of a bygone era, I went to see the historic bridge crossing the Wishkah river, the same river by which Cobain myth dictates he slept while periodically homeless in Aberdeen.  After being there at high tide, I agree with Krist Novoselic’s assertion that this myth was only that – a myth.

So, that basically catches us up to the present.  Next week I will be taking a week off for a random “use it or lose it” vacation – I will probably spend most of the week wandering around town taking pictures, going to the gym, and just relaxing before what is shaping up to be a very busy next couple of months at work.  If I find enough time, I just may throw a couple updates online, as well as a story or two.  Stay tuned.

Assorted Travels, Spring-Summer 2007

July 26, 2007 in Sports, Travel | No comments

Oh, the places I have been! Since I last graced this site with an update, I have experienced Spring Training, visited Denver twice, driven through Wyoming and into South Dakota, seen Albuquerque, flown into Las Vegas for the NBA Summer League and ventured into Montana, then Wyoming for a second time. (Technically, the Spring Training and Dakota trips occurred prior to the last post, but since I wrote the post before I took the trips, I’m counting it… sue me.)

In short, a lot has happened. So in lieu of making an in-depth post about each of the individual trips, I will burn through them at a rapid-fire pace so I can get on with making a real update… look at this as a sort of “here’s what happened last season on…” portion of a television show, except instead of some actor named Chris Pratt, you get me. Speaking of lawsuits, I’ve got to go after that guy.

Our journey begins on Wednesday, March 8, 2007 when I set off in my Honda Civic Hybrid for the sunny southwest and the six-week orgy of baseball that signals the actually new year – Spring Training. On the way I went through Idaho (Saw the Blue Turf), Utah (saw the Mormon Temple… impressive, and a little scary), Las Vegas (got frustrated by traffic, then gave up and went to Hoover Dam), and finally all nine Cactus League ballparks. Miller joined me on the 15th and stayed through the weekend. I caught a foul ball off the bat of Chicago Cub Ronnie Cedeno, while sitting in the first row of Tuscon Electric Park, and was horribly sun burnt. In addition, I saw the best scoreboard announcement ever – skeptics may say I only caught a small segment of scrolling text, but that’s why they are skeptics. Personally, I can’t agree more with the scoreboard operator.

Upon returning to Oregon, I was immediately sent off to South Dakota for work, after first flying into Denver and driving through Wyoming to reach my destination. While there, I visited Mount Rushmore, and the Crazy Horse Memorial, which has been under construction for a ridiculous 59 years I would have contributed to the construction effort with a donation had the visitor’s center been open when I arrived… instead, I simply stole a look at the sculpture… I’m sure that’s a theme the Lakota are used to. On my way back to Denver, I found myself stuck in the heaviest snowstorm I have ever experienced, complete with freeway driving in complete whiteout conditions. I have a feeling Crazy Horse intended on getting his revenge.

April was relatively quiet, consisting mainly of attempting to recover from the month of constant travel that March brought.

With May came yet another trip to Denver, this time for a meeting after which I took a few personal days, saw the Denver Mint and the Rockies beat the Giants, and ventured into New Mexico to catch an Albuquerque Isotopes game. While I did not enjoy a hot dog brimming with southwestern flavors, I did enjoy the victory the Portland Beavers achieved over the ‘Topes. Oddly though, I ended up being seated next to a Portlander who is currently living in Albuquerque, which meant that the two people wearing Portland Beavers garb in a crowd of several thousand were sitting right next to each other, and had never before met. It was a little strange, but it seemed to make sense. Isotopes Stadium was by far the best minor league facility I have seen yet in my travels, easily eclipsing the next night’s stop, Colorado Springs’ Security Service Field. My takeaways from this trip: Jesus is HUGE in Colorado Springs, as are many of the women; and the omnipresent hold the military has on this region is simply unbearable. I could never live there.

Early July saw a quick three-day jaunt to Las Vegas to witness the beginning of Greg Oden’s career as a Portland Trailblazer, facing off against the once-great Boston Celtics. In fact, I sat courtside for Oden’s first game, which would have been nice on its own. However, my attempt to slum-up the normal haunts of the beautiful people brought with it the somewhat surreal experience of sitting right next to the Celtics’ brain trust of GM Danny Ainge and head coach Doc Rivers, who were joined by onetime wunderkind Sebastian Telfair. In all, it was a little awkward when Telfair sat down… I mean, aside from maybe Pacman Jones, there really isn’t anyone with whom I have less in common. On top of that, he was absolutely swimming in some sort of cologne.

When he arrived, I simply gave him a welcoming “hey”, to which he responded with a nod. It was a good enough response for me. The Celtics ended up blowing out Greg Oden and the Blazers, but not before I exchanged comments with Telfair over a few horrible calls, and had a conversation with Rivers about Portland and how great the fans are, and how Rivers would kill to have two bigs like those gracing the Blazers’ roster. The guy sitting next to me caught the scene on my camera, but I think he had a case of the shakes, judging by the blurriness of the photo. Giovanni came down that evening and we spent the rest of the weekend taking in games, people watching, and losing a small amount of money in penny slots while stocking up on complimentary drinks.

As was the case in March, immediately upon my return I was sent to the Mountain Time Zone on business, this time to Billings, Montana. While there, I took in my first Pioneer League games, first in Billings where the Mustangs beat the Orem Owlz (they should have had to spot the Stangs 10 runs for the Z in their name alone), then in Casper, Wyoming, where I saw the hometown Rockies get trounced by the Missoula Osprey. More importantly, I ended up with two Pioneer League baseballs as souvenirs that night – the first a homerun ball off the bat of Osprey second baseman Taylor Harbin that came sailing toward me while I was parking my trusty rental car beyond the left field fence prior to entering the ballpark, and the second a foul ball that apparently only I noticed land while standing in line for a bratwurst. While in Casper, I struck up a conversation with the guy who was sitting behind me after he had recognized the Isotopes hat I was wearing. It turns out he also went to Spring Training, and tries to see as many ballparks as he can while traveling, including the California League and the Pacific Coast League. It was a little comforting, and at the same time a little troubling, seeing as he was praising my dedication in driving from Billings to Casper, only to turn around an return to Billings after two and a half hours of Rookie League ball. Also, he was probably in his 60s, which made me feel a bit like an RV-ing snowbird, and less like a guy who just turned 27… failing that, I should at least bring a girl along next time, so long as I don’t find her in Colorado Springs.

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.

Christmas 2003; Acclimating back to McMinnville

December 27, 2003 in Life, Sports, Work | No comments

Hey, what do you know? An update, and within a month of my last update- not too shabby considering that I have been without a sturdy internet connection since moving back home. So what’s new, you ask?

Two weeks in and everything seems to be going well. I still have a job anyway, so that’s good. Actually, I’m not all that sure that I could have done anything to get fired if I had wanted to- all I’ve really had to do is read and observe people doing my eventual job. And for someone who’s quite good at sitting, it isn’t too hard to look stellar doing just that.

The real show starts in about four weeks, but until then I’ve got one more week of reading and participating in conference call classes (ick) before taking off to Seattle (well, Redmond, actually) for three weeks of claims school.

Everyone seems to agree that claims school is typically fun, so that shouldn’t be too bad. Plus, I’ll be able to play in Seattle at night. The only downside is that the Sonics/Cavs game featuring Lebron James appears to be sold out. Guess I’ll have to buy scalped tickets.

My two weeks in McMinnville have actually been pretty good. I’ve gone out to play pool with Bambi and bugged her at work a few times (if I can’t get me fired, I can try to get <i>someone</i> fired) and I’ve seen two Blazer games with Wells. Derek was supposed to join us for both, but was unable due to unforeseen circumstances. As for other activities, I saw the Oregon men play the Portland Pilots at the Chiles Center with my mom and brother, and I enjoyed Christmas with the whole family.

Oh yes… Christmas. I received a book (Moneyball, by Michael Lewis), a bunch of clothes (which is great, since I hate clothes shopping), a Blazer ticket package, a new wallet, a piece of the Joey Harrington billboard, a picture of John Navarre being sacked by Igor Olshansky and several other Ducks, a DVD of all the Beatles’ appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show, and I’m sure any number of things that at the moment I cannot recall. In other words, I did quite well in the area of gift receiving… after all, that’s what Christmas is about, right?

In other news, I probably ate mad-cow disease meat over Christmas break, which means I will die of a brain-wasting ailment in a few years, and I seem to have hit a creative stride of late, which means that eventually more things will be appearing on this site. I’m going to try to think of a way to update this site while I’m in Seattle, which will probably consist of intruding on Lauren’s life in order to commandeer her computer for an hour or so over a couple of days. I don’t know- we’ll see. For now, I’ll leave you all to try to figure out what “go eat a corndog” means.