Put the Oki in Okinawa

So, to say a lot has gone on since my last post would be a bigger understatement than saying Asange leaked a little information.

At the end of November 2010, Amy and I went on an adventure to Okinawa to see our good friends, Josh and Jenn. We had been planning on making this trip ever since Josh and Jenn left Klamath for Okinawa. Let me make my best attempt at summarizing the timeline of this crazy-awesome time. Take a breath before reading the following:

Last day at old job, finish packing for move to Salt Lake City, get on airplane bound for Okinawa Japan, fly/layover for 20hrs, arrive in Okinawa, have an absolutely incredible time (see slideshow), fly/layover for 18hrs, arrive in Portland, load Penske truck and clean rental home, start drive to SLC with intent of making it to Boise but only make it to La Grande due to road closures, make it the rest of the way to SLC, Unload Penske truck, start new job in SLC.

In case you were wondering, that covered about 18 days.

As for the new job, it has started out great! I have a large project for this next year and will be doing some travelling. I feel blessed to have a job like this in a down economy.

I had the full week before Christmas off so Amy and I drove from SLC to Merrill and Medford. As always, we had a great time with our family. It was very nice to see everyone and we got SPOILED with gifts!

My best friend got engaged over the holiday, and I will be his best man. I am thrilled for him, his wife-to-be is truly great and I am proud to be his best man. Best man means one major responsibility: The Bachelor Party. Don’t worry buddy, I am on it.

So, in the past each one of these life events would have been an entire post, but as you can see, I have been busy. I hope to get back to posting with something resembling consistency. If only there was a time coming up where it was customary to make resolutions…

Happy New Year!

Cheers to 2011, you have big shoes to fill!

The Hood

Saturday I helped a co-worker move into a new place. I really enjoyed the day as I got to see some new parts of the region. The country outside of Washougal is beautiful, especially up on the hill with jaw dropping views of Mt. Hood. My co-worker moved to a small town in the Northeast Vancouver area, which was really cool too. Being a newbie to the area it was refreshing to get out of town and see the beautiful surrounding area. After moving, we enjoyed steak, brew, and BS which is a combination of quality you would be troubled to surpass.


We went on a small day trip Sunday to Multnomah Falls and Hood River. We met up with our friends Kacy and Jennifer for the hike to the top of the falls. We also were all able to take our dogs, which is always nice. The hike was really pleasant, paved all the way to the top with plenty of switchbacks with some area to stop, turn around, and take in the Columbia River.


A few pics of the falls.

After we finished the hike and got back to the cars, we hit 84 East towards Hood River. By this time, the dogs needed a toilet break so we pulled into the waterfront park on the Columbia. This small park has a really cool swimming beach we will have to try out when the water temperature creeps somewhere above “arctic summer”.

Hood River is a really cool little town, with an interesting layout and great vistas. As enjoyable as the town is to look at, I was there for one reason: Full Sail Brewery. Their pale remains my favorite pale ale, so I was pumped to check the place out. It did not disappoint! We arrived twenty minutes before the tour was supposed to start, plenty of time to go through a sampler tray. The tray was full of treats, but the biggest surprise is their dark lager, Session. This is a fantastic dark lager they are apparently struggling to keep up on production. They aren’t even kegging this beer yet and it is winning medals all over the world. If you get a chance to try this stuff, check it out.

Great Motto!

The tour was very high quality. The tour guide was funny, informative, and very interactive. He covered all the basics and really drew the crowd in. Full Sail is a cool company. The 47 employees mentioned on all of their merchandise represent the 47 employees who bought the company to make it employee owned. They actually have somewhere around 80 employees now and are hiring more in March as they tool up to make more Session. The facility was in tiptop shape, with high quality manual equipment and minimal automation. They still hand craft all of their brew, which is crazy when you see the throughput they require.


The restaurant also exceeded expectations. Everyone enjoyed their meal, and my beer battered halibut sandwich was so good when paired with some of their restaurant exclusive porter my waistline is thankful we do not live closer.


We keep trying new things up here, and the Portland area keeps on delivering. We are lucky to live in a place like this!

Ms. Alaynious

Well here at Engineering, Film, Music, Books, and Brew it has mostly been engineering and a little film for the past month. I am enjoying my new job and I am thankful to be in an environment that is pushing me to learn new things and practice a little outside of the usual for me. Most of my experience over the past five+ years has been in machine design. Granted, I have ventured into some process design and evaluation, but the majority of my work has been in machine design and automation. For my new position, that is just part of the job. In my first few months I have done heat transfer, building ventilation and temperature control, Air duct sizing for pressure drop at elevated temperatures, thermal expansion analysis, AISC Structural Design, and more. It has been a nerd’s delight. A career in engineering, it would seem, is anything but predictable.

Vancouver/PDX area has been great for Amy and me. We have enjoyed downtown Portland on the weekends, hitting the Pearl for some brew and dining at some killer spots. We went to a great brewpub in East Portland called Hopworks, which has arguably the best black IPA around. For some reason, all I want to drink now is IPA. Maybe it’s just is a phase.

There is a theater in Vancouver, Cinetopia, which has theaters for adults only (wow, that sounds really bad. It is adults only because they serve alcohol there… perverts). This place is awesome! The chairs are comfortable, the screens are the latest and greatest, they have ottomans to put your feet up, and a pretty good beer selection. My favorite feature though, is the theater is 21 and over. I realize and embrace the fact that I am turning into a crotchety elder (I am 25 this coming week after all), but the theater was not filled with people texting and whispering to one another. There was, of course, the staple “Johnny Commentary” as I call people with brilliant in-movie color commentary such as: That was funny, Oh no!, Did you see that?, Oh jeeze!, etc. The length of the cord connecting their brain to the mouth must be short and filterless.

Beer at a theater seems out of place (well it does when it is not snuck in), but it is awesome! Rather spendy though, I didn’t think they could sell something that makes theater popcorn seem like a bargain; they pulled it off.

Movie Reviews:
Amy and I watch a ton of movies, especially lately. The more movies we watch, the crappier most of them seem. It has made it something special when a good one comes along. This last month, we watched two memorable movies: Up in the Air and 500 Days of Summer. When reading below, bear in mind that I am NOT a movie critic; just wanted to mention these.

Up in the Air was a great find. We ended up seeing this in the theater simply because it was playing at the right time and was in a 21+ theater. This is the best acting I have ever seen from George Clooney. I liked him in Burn after Reading, but this performance trumped. Basic story is a middle-aged man, portrayed by George, is a professional hatchet-man flying about the country firing people for companies lacking stomach for the task. This part of the story lands because of the economic sitch, but it is just part of the stories framework. Clooney’s character is a professional business traveler, and is written so perfectly I could not help but think of the three people I know who behave the same way. With these people it’s all about flyer miles, knowing which airline to fly with, which airport to fly into, which rewards program you are on, etc. This is spot on stuff. The story is excellent and I won’t go into detail in case you want to see it. I recommend this movie.

500 Days of Summer: I had no idea what to expect when I got this movie in the mail. Amy had wisely moved it to the top of our queue, and I sat down to watch it with no idea what it was about. This movie is a keeper. It doesn’t ever feel predictable or formulaic. If you feel like watching something entertaining that will draw you in, check this one out. The leading man, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, should be a star. I really liked the writing, sort of bizarre and doesn’t cram romantic garbage down your throat.

We went to Bend last weekend and visited G-man. Good time had by all. What did we do? Not a whole lot; and it ruled. Movies, beer, food, repeat. (Order varies)

New category for EFMBB is titled OOK, short for Oregon Outside of Klamath.
OOK:

The Costco up here had tables full of designer jeans. I found this hilarious.

In downtown Portland, you either need to ride an awesome new bike or the crappiest, most bizarre bike you can find. The middle ground is unacceptable.

If you do not wear a funny hat in downtown Portland, you do yourself, in fact, look funny.

Hope all is well with everyone. We miss you all (well, most of you (you know who you are)).

Northern Exposure

I have started my new job, and have been at it for three weeks now. I am thrilled with how things are going; it has been quite the ride!  Amy and I have been apart for this stretch as she finished out her contract in Klamath.   I have been putting in some solid hours at work and doing my best to get up to speed on all there is to know about my new field.  I am thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to expand my knowledge.  So much fun, but it has been exhausting too!

Tomorrow I will be moving all of our stuff out of a storage unit and into the house Amy and I are renting.  It is a really cool, old house located redonkulously close to work (seven minute walk (like old guy walking, not jazzersize powerwalk or anything)).  I cannot wait to live so close to work.  I am going to enjoy the proximity and visiting Amy and the dogs at lunch.

The PDX area is incredibly fun.  I am learning how to get around quickly – well at least around Vancouver.  I have only been lost in downtown Portland once since I have been here… not bad when you consider I have gone down there a grand total of one time.  Three things from back home that are not true up here:

1. Back home, when you drive on train tracks, it is a bad thing and something to be remedied as quickly as possible.  In downtown Portland, it is apparently normal.
2. Back home, when you see a sign that points to a Freeway, that means that you can get to the freeway and go either direction on it.  Not so in downtown PDX.  These signs apparently arbitrarily point towards a single on-ramp that, depending on your magic 8-ball, will take you one direction.  In my case, I went South when I wanted to go North.  I got off the freeway ASAP and made a highly legal (unlikely) u-turn.
3. Back home, there are basically two types of lanes: those going one way and those going the other.  Here they have bike lanes, carpool lanes, train lanes, lanes you can sometimes park in, etc..  They are so specific on lane type that I am continuously looking for the ‘93 single-cab GMC lane.

Other than coming up to speed on these must-knows, it has been a great experience.  There is an absolute ton to do up here.  I have had meals on the river several times, enjoyed a number of fine beverages, and met some great people.  My coworkers are great!  I am very thankful for this.

Amy and I attended the company Christmas party this last weekend.  It took place at the Heathman Lodge here in Vancouver.  The food was top notch and it was nice to meet more people from the company; and for Amy to be able to put some faces to names.  A good time was had by all!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Rip City and the Couve

So I have been hiding some news here on the blog, news that has now become public (flattering myself). I have accepted an engineering position at a different company up in Vancouver, Washington! Amy and I are really excited for this new adventure and moving to a new city, especially one so close to the always fun Portland. This company is involved in alternative energy, something I have always wanted to be a part of. I feel that it is a good fit for me, and look forward to starting there!

Amy and I are starting the moving process, which is as much fun as walking through gravel barefooted. Our excitement for the move is motivating us , but it is still not easy to make the move happen. We will be renting our house in Klamath. If anyone knows of someone needing to rent a house, let us know!

As for the move to Portland, there are many things we are looking forward to: concerts, sports, bicycling, beer (300 microbrews in Portland, more than any city in the world), and of course the awesome food. Having said that, we will really miss all of our good friends and our family here in southern Oregon. Please come visit us!

I know I keep writing about sports on my blog, but this truly is my favorite sports season. I am extremely displeased that the Wal-Mart of baseball has won another World Series. This will surely increase the cloud of smug that hangs over New York sports. Forget baseball until next year when the Giants face off against the Red Sox in the World Series. I know it is about as likely as Madonna joining the NRA, but wouldn’t it be awesome? Who would I be pulling for? Who knows, but I will probably look like someone with multiple personalities watching the game. Simultaneously cheering for Matt Cain and Jason Bay (this is not healthy).

Maybe it is good that I haven’t updated in a while. I have saved myself from making a prediction that has since been proven impossible. For the sake of limited disclosure, that prediction might have had something to do with a certain Oregon school having a shot at a certain national championship. Loud noises!

I attended the USC v Oregon game on Halloween. What a game! Autzen was so loud we all left without a voice and with ringing ears. The ducks broke the Trojans’ defense (insert condom joke), leaving no doubt who had the better team. I admit that, had Oregon been a publicly traded stock, I would have bought many shares. Then came Stanford… Oregon was heavily favored to win that match, but someone forgot to tell the Cardinal. Oregon lost the shootout and any hopes at a national championship. To quote an ESPN writer: “there are still some mathematical possibilities for U of O to go to the BCS title game, but I can’t figure them out, I didn’t go to Stanford.” He said something like that.

Even worse: losing to a school with a tree for a mascot. Ouch! Those evergreen needles are sharp and a nuisance to rake!

This brings up something that I think all west-coasties can agree on: The PAC-10 is tough. Every year we do this to ourselves. Someone is on top of the world after a huge conference win, only to be torn down the next week by one of the other conference teams. Your team is never safe in this conference. Now if we could just get the BCS respect we deserve and get people to stop thinking of us as “USC and everyone else”.

I also just wanted to say thank you to everyone who serves or has served in America’s armed forces. Your courage and dedication are a huge part of what makes me say I am proud to be from the United States. I know that a thank you from someone who cannot understand the sacrifice involved might appear incomplete, but know that even though I cannot fully comprehend the scale of sacrifice I do fully appreciate all the things you have done and continue to do for the U.S. God bless.