Cobbler....Now In Marionberry!

Kirsten and Chris were in from the ATL this weekend, and Kira and Barry were in from Upstate NY last weekend, so we've been busy. Two Sundays in a row we've gone all out. Last weekend was Warped Tour, where we saw Tiger Army, The Unseen, Lower Class Brats, Flogging Molly, Bad Religion, K-OS and Oreska Band. I'd have totally missed K-OS if it wasn't for Barry, and the NPR turned me on to Oreska Band. The weather was way nicer this year than last, overcast and about 78F. The agreeable weather, along with trying to cram less bands in, made for an enjoyable show.
Yesterday went wine tasting. We called it good after 2 vineyards and then picnicked next to the Willamette river. The park we were at sucked as a lunch spot because there were no tables. This park did have 400 feet of accessible blackberry bushes that produced 6 cups in about 10 minutes of picking. We then drove to Multnomah Falls and climbed to the top. By then exhaustion was setting in, so we drove home, were we ended the day munching down on some grade A cobbler.

Long Term Fiscal Solvency In North Portland: A Case Study

I be Broke (note the capital B). For CK's Birthday I got her what she always wanted: household budget spreadsheets. This exercise was none too soon in coming. After months of net negative cash flow, I can expect to be back in the black sometime in November, if no one needs major surgery not covered by the insurance and the roof doesn't collapse. This assumes I continue to work part time when I go back to school. To add to my budgetary woes, the truck is acting up and the fridge clonked out. It'll be $240 for the fridge parts and labor and the truck repair cost is unknown. It could be a timing issue plus a sticky throttle or it could need an engine rebuild. Either way I can't continue to throw good money after bad to keep it running perfectly. Since my classes are across town I need to know I can get to them every day without fail. For this reason the purchase of a new car is in the previously mentioned budgets.
CK's Birthday was fun times. Since we are so broke, I made dinner instead of going out, then we sat next to the fire pit in the backyard instead of going dancing. I brought home an ice cream cake, only to find the freezer wasn't freezing. Luckily a neighbor had room in their fridge to store it, thereby avoiding melted ice cream tragedy.

The NSA wants to know your favorite Souvlaki recipe.

I was a little worried when the Feds decided they could pick and choose to whom section one of article nine applied to. The Military Commissions Act was all kinds of unconstitutional, in that it directly contradicts the Constitution. Now it seems as if the Fourth Amendment isn't worth the paper its written on. With Passage of the Protect America Act of 2007 (S.1927, I love it when they name 'em like that) CK can be assured that her leftist government bashing conversations are being monitored when she's on the phone with her mother in Greece. Thing is, it was the Dems that allowed this bill to go up for a vote and passed it. I've felt betrayed by and disgusted by the Democrat's two faced war mongering (H.R. 2206) and unwillingness to stand up for civil liberties(MCA, S. 1927). All I can say about Wyden and Blumenauer is that they both opposed S. 1927, but Gordon Smith needs to go. He says the right things to ensure his constituency won't dump him, but his voting record is abhorrent.
Enough complaining about what cannot be changed.
I've been working in the local Trimet (Portland's light rail) office for about a week now. It goes alright, if not moderately boring. On Saturday CK, Los Moustachios, the taxpayers, and our buddy John all loaded up and went backpacking to Burnt Lake. The bridge over the Sandy River was out, so we had to leave our cars and ford it to get to the trailhead. This added about 3.5 miles onto the trek, making it right around 8 miles each way. We swam and camped out Saturday night and then walked back Sunday. Sunday night the taxpayers played a house show with The Pussy Pirates, Hey There Cowboy and Fixed Gears Are For Jerks And Lesbians. It was great, the bands had just come from Queeruption in Vancouver and were on there way to Helena, on their way back to the Great Lakes Region they all call home. We were really glad they could stop buy to rock us out.