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!

Coastal Tidings

Amy and I took a short trip to Newport Oregon this last weekend where we met up with my parents. Our hotel allowed dogs, so we brought Ruger and Riley along with us. This was the first time we had taken dogs with us to a hotel, and as we are weird dog people now, we really enjoyed that. The weather was great, a real rarity for the Oregon coast. With only a few shots of that famous coastal rain and a large share of sunshine, we were able to enjoy quality views of the rugged coast line. The dogs enjoyed the sand and let their humans enjoy some sweet barley nectar.

Speaking of barley nectar, you didn’t think I would go to Newport without visiting one of the world’s top breweries, did you? Well, I didn’t miss this opportunity. We toured the Rogue brewery on Sunday. The tour wasn’t the greatest, pretty quick and dirty, but I guess not everyone in the group was an engineer wanting to climb in to tanks and discuss their material handling. The beer we bought from their store however, was top shelf. My mom bought a Mom hefeweizen, dad bought some John John beer aged in a bourbon barrel, and I had some of their mocha porter as well as some Double Dead Guy Ale. I think I might have succeeded in turning my parents into beer snobs! Well, they have at least passed “Intro to Brew Snobbery”.

Touring Rogue brewery made me think a little bit about engineering philosophy. This brewery was not high tech, using a lot of repurposed equipment and in some cases insulating tanks with non-clad foam. The plant layout appeared to have been given little thought. Despite all of this, they produce some of the finest, award-winningest beer around. This focus on product quality is something I think some of the biggest companies have lost. Product quality is your public face, and regardless of how good you are at making a bad product it is still a bad product. Now, couple this quality with solid manufacturing technique and you really have something.

Another stop on our trip was the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Being the nerd that I am, I was uber-stoked to walk amongst some of the strange creatures of the ocean. This is the closest I will ever get to these animals though. SCUBA is not for me, something that is reinforced with every episode of Shark Week and every visit to an aquarium. You can tell me odds all day for getting attacked/bothered by a sea creature, but I prefer land. Humans swimming was obviously a design afterthought, added at the last minute. Probably at the last human design review someone said “oh, and we should probably give them some way to get back into the boats they will build” with the lead designer saying something along the lines of “web their hands a little bit and call it good”. The best among us, Michael Phelps, would become a nice treat for a fat, full, and lazy shark.

Engineering seems to be integrating more with architecture at a crazy pace. Lately it has been a hot topic here at work. Has anyone else in the field experienced this? BIM, Integrated Project Delivery, AIC, other three letter acronyms. Anyone digging into this stuff? I wonder…

Cycle Oregon 2010

Cycle Oregon Weekend ride location has been announced!

Cycle Oregon Weekend

The routes are shown below:


Looking forward to another great time! Bill, I can help you develop a wine budget if you want; just let me know.

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.

Itzbinawile

It has been way too long since my last post. My only excuse is that I have been suffering a paralyzing fear induced by the prospect of a Yankees vs. Dodgers World Series. Thanks to the Phillies for putting an end to my worries. I have never been a fan of the Red-hat Philadelphians but they are an endlessly better alternative to the Dodgers. The cause for my distaste for both the Yanks and the Dodgers is easily ascertained when you look at my favorite teams:

NL: San Francisco Giants
AL: Boston Red Sox

The Giants had a great season all things considered, especially when viewed alongside last years dismal performance. The Red Sox season ended in disappointment, but I am ultimately pleased with their success considering they were more injury prone than the Ducks’ quarterbacks. Enough baseball for now, go Phillies!

Cutting the Cable Update: The experiment can be considered a success so far, as we are happily rolling along without TV. Four years ago I would have cut internet before cable, and now I cannot imagine cutting internet. It has left me wondering; what did we do before the internet? Newspapers? Magazines? Their news is so yesterday or last month. Also, you can now watch TV on the internet, including sports, by using streaming sites like Justin.tv. Maybe this crazy World Wide Web thing has potential.

We made a trip last weekend to visit Ryan and Amy (yes, my good friend also married an Amy) up in Oregon City. It was nice to catch up with Ryan and Amy. It had been something like 2 years (minimum). It was a great trip and another reminder of what a nice city we have at the top of our state: Portland. We rode into town on MAX and walked through Pearl District, grabbed a beer at Life of Riley’s, and some good noodles at a restaurant with a name that has slipped my mind. Portland really needs a professional baseball team to usurp San Francisco as my favorite west coast city, but it is getting close.

Amy and I are still crazy busy. Hopefully I can get some time to update my blog more often! Later…