STOP READING THIS BLOG!

2011-02-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

Vest of Dork +1

2010-08-24T22:18:00.001-07:00

Amateur Radio Vest

2010-05-13T22:07:00.000-07:00

Rig

2009-09-24T09:31:00.001-07:00

Chanterelle soup

2009-09-14T18:40:00.001-07:00

From the last of last seasons mushrooms and the first of this seasons.

2009-08-05T22:22:00.001-07:00

Environmental Toxicity (UNECE GHS)
Environmental Zombicity, by Noah on my direction.

Update: the taxpayers On TV

2007-10-06T14:47:00.000-07:00

We played a week or so ago at the Red and Black Cafe's last night ever/anti-racist support meeting. That event and the taxpayers made it onto KGW's evening newscast. We're the band in the first part of the piece, with a great shot of rob taxpayer screaming into the mic (at the actual event you could see his spittle spraying the poor camera-dude's lens).
Also: For anyone with a Viking 6000 series machine, there is a second belt length adjustment. Two screws behind the large indexed drive pulley (accessible by holes in said pulley) will allow you to adjust the belt tighter. Loosen the screws, pull the belt tight and then re-tighten the screws, behind the large white pulley seen here.

2007-10-06T08:48:00.001-07:00

Winter has come early to Portland this year. We had two days of fall and then it turned 50-ish and rainy for weeks. Not that I'd have has any time lately to do anything but school work and band. School's going great, I really enjoy Microbiology. The professor really digs her subject and it shows in her teaching style. My A&P professor seems to have set up thorough study materials in the form of in depth question sets, and he's always quizzing/handing out extra questions. This should focus my study time, thereby minimizing wasted time. For my last A&P there was truckloads of material, which led to hundreds of hours of necessary study prior to exams. I also think that the material in A&P III may be nowhere nearly as difficult after the first two classes in the sequence. Food and Nutrition should go well enough, but I'm expecting curve balls on the midterm, and a lack of quizzes or homework always make it difficult to judge what material is the most important.
On Thursday, The Taxpayers played with Bomb the Music Industry. They were one of the most fun bands we've played with in quite some time. All there material is available on their website, so check them out!

Husqvarna Manufacturing Concern, Viking Branch

2007-09-24T17:00:00.001-07:00

Sewing machine repair doesn't seem very daunting when the cover is on.
Take off the first cover and the genius that is Howe, Hunt and Singer becomes apparent.
This is the lower arm with the backside of the gearing that rotates the bobbin. This was where the majority of the machine clogging lint was found.
This is the front side of the lower arm, with the bobbin assembly removed.
The power plant. It was bogged down by an accumulation of lint and lack of lube.
The belt was loose and the tensioner spring was weak. When I applied more tension by pushing against the tensioner arm with a screwdriver the motor had enough power to make the machine go.

I got some fabric in from Seattle Fabrics in the mail last week. Those cats have a great selection of hard to find materials, but it took over a week for my order to arrive. I broke out the sewing machine, only to find it wasn't in working order. The local Sew N Vac wanted $200 USD to do a clean and inspect, not including any parts. I figured for 200 dollars I could fix it my darn self. I tore it down, cleaned it up with a toothbrush and lubed everything up with some silicon spray. It runs much smoother, but the drive belt and the tensioner spring need to be replaced. I thought that these would be no big deal to procure, this being 'merica and all, but I'm having no luck finding a V belt for a 20 year old Swedish rig.
Today was the first day of class. It feels good to be back in class after a long summer off. I'm at a campus I've never had day classes at. The scene is a lot different on the main campus during the day as opposed to a satellite campus at night, but I still have a night class at the local campus on Tuesday and Thursday nights to keep me sane.

Hops

2007-09-12T10:00:00.001-07:00

Some Hops from my garden. These are drying on a screen. I got about 12 ounces or so this year, enough for about 4 batches of beer.

Smoked Out

2007-09-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

Literally, but we'll get to that.
We've had quite the weekend. I knew it was gonna be busy, but a few of my planned events didn't go according to plan.
On Friday night the taxpayers were supposed to play a date with The Seditionists (from Portland) and Lunacy (from Eugene). Unfortunately the managers of the anarcho-bookstore/warehouse space we were going to play at never showed to open it up. Lunacy felt that since they drove up here, with their van breaking down en route, they were going to play come hell or high water. Rob Taxpayer offered up his garage, but in transferring locations of the show we lost most of the crowd and The Seditionists. Since The Seditionists planned the show I was a little disappointed they didn't come to Rob's place to show support for the band that drove up here on their invitation. It was a giant clusterf*ck, and I really hope the kids in Lunacy aren't pissed at Portland for sucking, because they rock and we'd like to play with them again.
On Saturday we bought a new Hyundai Accent. Buying a car is always a giant hassle, but hopefully this one will be breakdown-free for the remainder of my undergraduate studies. It's the SE model with a 5 speed, and even though it's a hatchback it will fit me, the Wifey, Max and all our camping gear just fine.
Saturday night we played the Red Room with Prohibition and The Seditionists. Rob broke 2 strings, Noah's snare exploded off its stand and due to Robs equipment meltdown we wound up playing half a set, which was ended with a guitar-less sing along.
Sunday we went camping along the Pacific Crest Trail north of the Bridge of the Gods. We hiked in about 3 miles and got the camp all set up by about 3:30pm. We were about to walk to Gillete Lake to swim and refill our water bottles when I noticed the faint smell of smoke in the air. At first my brain didn't register that this was odd. I'm quite used to everyone having campfires in the woods. Five minutes later the wind shifted and the sky grew dim. I looked up to see the woods filling with smoke. Then I realized that this was not coming from campfires, but rather that we were within spitting distance of a forest fire. Visibility decreased to about 100 yards, so we contacted the county fire district dispatcher, who told us that 5 acres near Kidney Lake (about .25 miles from us at the time) were burning and that the fire was traveling south. This gave us the possible risk of being cut off from the trail by the fire, so we packed up and left. I don't think this left a good impression on the girls who were with us that aren't used to camping, but I hope they aren't turned off of the wilderness by this experience.
Having been smoked out of our campsite we headed home and roasted weenies and had S'mores in my backyard, where the party set up their tents and salvaged some outdoors time.

Cobbler....Now In Marionberry!

2007-08-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-18T08:54:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-08-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

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.

32 Ounces Of Little Green Cross

2007-07-25T13:07:00.000-07:00

I decided I too long been going into the forest without a first aid kit. Being dissatisfied with the options on the market I made one up with a trip to the drug store and a lexan bottle. I didn't like the small sizes of ointment and drugs offered in the ready made kits, and felt as though a trillion different sized band-aids was pointless. The lexan bottle should keep everything dry and clean. My kit includes:
-2 gauze bandages
-large and small band-aids
-adhesive bandage tape (the roll wouldn't fit through he mouth of the bottle so I re-rolled it around a Tylenol bottle)
-1 oz tube of H2O2 (antiseptic)
-ibuprofen
-acetaminophen
-benezthonium/lidocain ointment (for burns)
-hydrocortisone (rash cream)
-1 ounce triple antibiotic ointment
-chewable pepto
-fake sudafed (in case someone gets the sniffles)
If anyone can think of anything I missed please leave a comment.

Campin', Fishin', Jammin'

2007-07-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

CK and I spent the weekend with Flint, Steph and the Dylan-meister camping and fishing at the Gifford Pinchot national forest. We had a nice hike on Saturday, the weather was cool and a little drizzly. On Sunday we tried to pull some trout out of the Cowlitz river, to no avail. We tried earthworms, powerbait, lures, spinners, salmon eggs and verbal chastisement, but nothing could coax the clearly visible schools of fish onto the hooks. The only hit I had all day came when my line was wrapped around my reel, and the little bastard got free while I was attempting to reroute it properly. I still enjoyed myself, but I imagine 5 year old Dylan would have come away with a better opinion of angling if he'd have at least caught a pan fish.
Last night the Taxpayers played on a radio program that started at midnight, so I didn't go to bed 'til 3:30. I had a good time, but CK sys the guitar wasn't loud enough and our sound was less than ideal. C'est la vie.

death hot

2007-07-10T17:56:00.000-07:00

My menu bar read 39 degrees earlier today. At this temp I can barely move. I've had a few garage projects that have been on my plate for weeks now, the house is a mess and the dog needs a walk; but all that can't be done from the hours of about 11 to 7 when the temp is above 32 or so. Ck is digging the weather, but my Nordic blood just can't handle it.
The Taxpayers played about 4 times over the holiday week. We also play on Thursday and next Wednesday at the Satyricon, downtown. I have a stack of CDs to mail out, so I'll get on that tomorrow.

Summertime = Honey Brown Ale

2007-06-27T10:21:00.000-07:00

Sunday I spent the day brewing 2 batches of honey brown ale. When I went to pitch the yeast my sense was something wasn't right. It being Sunday, and the brewing supply house being closed, I pitched the questionably alive/ possibly contaminated yeast I had on hand. Yesterday I checked the progress and it didn't seem as if it was going too well, but this morning the fermenting vessels were bubbling away. I'm worried that this batch might be contaminated with wild yeast doing the fermenting, instead of the 5 dollar a vial (edit) California yeast I normally use. Until I draw off the first pint I won't know for sure.

Cherry

2007-06-24T09:06:00.000-07:00

I bought some Cherry plywood, so all the raw materials for my speaker cabinets are in. I should have pics by the end of the week. The Taxpayers show on the 17th of July at the Satyricon will be with Whole Wheat Bread. Their the best thing to ever come out of Jacksonville, FL. CK and I saw them when they opened up for The Bouncing Souls (or Flogging Molly, I can't remember). I'm really looking forward to that one.
Ck and I went out to see Knocked Up last night. It was funny, but I'd wait for video unless you have a date for it. Unfortunately it gave away my secret, I too have been sneaking out for fantasy baseball league to avoid my overbearing spouse.

Summer Time, and the Meth Heads are Crazy

2007-06-16T10:58:00.000-07:00

I dragged CK out on a late evening bike ride to the mount Tabor area. We visited my drummer and scoped out his Segway Cop video, among others. On the way home we hopped on the Max. It's summertime and all the country's homeless have migrated to Portland, to ride our public transit at 1am on Saturday mornings. They closed down Dammasch, and the displaced patients all wound up wierding up th place as I try to make my way about town.
In better news, the quarter is finally OVER! Finals were rough, but I pulled it out and got my As. I ordered the tweed grill cloth above in order to make some speaker cabinets, of which I'll post pics when they are available.

Taxpayers Live

2007-06-04T21:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday's show was late, we didn't play till 1am. The 15 people that stuck it out that late got a hella abbreviated set list. We cut it in half for times sake. This kid jumped up on stage to hug me midway thru the set. I couldn't place the smell of hs shirt until he clued me in later. That shirt had been in the Willamette river earlier the day before. It was Superfund level stinky. The album is pretty much done. I'll burn some copies, and if you'd like one drop me an email: natehersey at gmail dot com.

Taxpayers on the Radio

2007-05-30T13:45:00.000-07:00

Monday nights radio show went well. We were on KPSU's Aloud to Get Loud. Click on the May 28th podcast to give us a listen. I totally miffed the bass line on the first song, and my incompetance has been recorded for posterity. Our Myspace is comming along, but our best stuff still isn't on there. We have better recorded versions of Everybody does a little C*ck S*ckin and Zombie Lesbian Stripper Cops, and Devil Town is a cover, so I'm gonna talk the boys into replacing those tracks soon.
The semester is comming to a close, and things will get hectic, school-wise, for the next couple of weeks. After that its SUMMERTIME!

8 Years

2007-05-25T19:55:00.001-07:00

Today, my obligations to the U.S. Navy for my 8 year enlistment are up! Hooray for me.
The Taxpayers are playing some houseparty tonight, as well as possibly Sunday too. Monday we will be on Aloud to be Loud with Terri on KPSU, AM college radio, Woohoo! Next weekend we are playing with The Ergs at the Tonic Lounge.
Work is nearly complete on our first album, Exhilarating News. It sounds pretty good, and I'll get it posted for download as soon as its done. We had to let our trumpet player go, so there 'prolly won't be any horn on this album. It was an unfortunate scene booting that kid from the band, but he was not the right temperment/personality type for us.

Ron Paul is My Adult Screen-Name

2007-05-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you speak the truth in the Republican party.
I may not agree with the man on everything, but for the most part his strong libertarian ideals make him the only decent Republican candidate.

Peachy Cobbler Goodness

2007-05-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Flint, Steph, Dylan and Steph's Family were down to visit the Oregon Zoo yesterday. We also went to the St. John's parade, were there was an utter dearth of CANDY! I saw one dude throwing candy to the kiddies in a parade that prolly lasted an hour and a half. I wasn't expecting moonpies, but is penny candy too much to ask?
I also scraped off last years carbon layer off my grill and fired her up for the first time this year. I baked the summers first peach cobbler, of which CK didn't partake. If you want fruit around here you gotta scrounge it up yourself, even in cobbler format.

When Underwear Models Attack

2007-05-01T16:16:00.000-07:00

I went to see the new Mark Wahlberg flick yesterday. It is basically a 2 hours of pandering to the juvenile fantasies of mountain west conspiracy crazies, which put me in a great May Day anti-fed mood. It's unfortunate that anti-government types are always looking for some deep dark plot to fight against. It seems to me the open air agenda of war mongers and corporate thieves would be more than enough to boil the blood of libertarians and the working class.
I then awoke to this piece of propaganda. Seems "May Day" and "International Workers Day" are just a little too leftist for the current regime. Your president wants to reconfigure May first as "Loyalty Day". That's right, "Loyalty Day". I think this might be a little over the top even for them. The labor movement in this country is almost non-existent. If you can find ten people on the evening train that can tell me in what decade the Haymarket Riots occured, I'll eat my hat. The Right won by forfeit, the proletariat decided they like TV, BarcaLoungers and cheap beer more than social justice.
By co-opting this day for their own, the administration is denying legitimacy to the complaints of immigrants and workers. The question must then be asked, to whom does one owe their loyalty? Certainly not to those that would deny your past struggles.

Virginia Tech

2007-04-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

First of all, my condolences to the victims and their families. Although I find it in somewhat poor taste to use a tragedy as a political tool, it seems as if this Virginia Tech incident has brought about gun policy discussion. At the risk of hypocrisy, I'll add my two cents.
When I was young my father told me something that has stuck with me to this day: guns are not shields, and more and larger straps do not correlate to added security.
Point two: this is not Die Hard, and you are not Bruce Willis. As Pat Tillman's death demonstrated, even trained uniformed men are capable of friendly fire. In discussing the prospect of armed people in civilian settings with Ben, he points out that if you come upon a situation in which two civilians have their guns drawn, it is difficult to determine the antagonist.
Lastly, concealed carry is a pain in the ass. Guns are heavy, odd bulges worry people, and keeping track of one's Glock all day wears on the psyche. I can't think of a safer place than an on-campus class in the middle of the day. To think that anyone with a CCL would have been actually carrying is a stretch.
I wouldn't take your guns away if I could, but to claim that any specific tragedy could have been avoided by armed civilians is a disrespectful and malicious statement. For uninvolved parties to blame the victim disgusts me.

TriMet

2007-04-10T19:49:00.000-07:00

Five hours on the bus today, to get to and from three hours of class. That just doesn't make strategic sense. By the time I was sardined onto a rail car at rush hour this afternoon I was wondering why I hadn't just rented a car for the day. On the way to class the bus driver booted two obnoxiously loud and profane youths. He warned them a couple times to quit swearing. They did quiet down and stopped using the big 7. However their conversation continued with liberal use of G.D. this and G.D. that. I guess if you're wondering if the public servant who just asked you to quit swearing considers taking the Lord's name in vain to be profanity, the answer is automatically yes. On the way home a couple of white teenage banger's were on the train talking smack. Nothing major, just teenagers talking themselves up to each other. The crazy lady sitting next to them reprimanded them for frontin'. This turned into a terse and altogether unfriendly discussion on who had spent more time in the county lockup. Testosterone and schzophrenia don't mix well.
The Chevy is getting the clutch replaced and should be out of the shop tomorrow. None too soon either, as I think my lack of time in the penal system has left me unprepared for use of public transportation.

On the Road Again

2007-03-31T17:01:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday night I went to see the Red Headed Stranger at the Rosemont in Chicago. We must have bought some of the last available tickets, as we were seated in the very last row. I've had an altitude nosebleed ever since. The concert was Ray Price, Merle and Willie in a very large concert theater. It was quite commercial, with Merle and Willie running through their popular hits for the crowd. They were very polished in their performance. I'd've liked to see him in a bar in Austin, instead of on commercial tour, but we take what we can get. I just think Willie would have been more entertaining if he wasn't restrained by the venue and crowd.
On Monday my old man sent me on the weirdest errand ever. He wanted me to fetch drinking water from a forest preserve well. Seems to me most people would kill for American tap water, but whatever. Not just any well would do, I was given specific instructions to proceed to Schiller Park in the NW part of the city and to pump from the well west of the model airfield. Needless to say I was pretty skeptical, but when I arrived there was QUEUE! While I was there, half a dozen people showed up with water recepticles to fill at this specific pump. Wierdest thing I'd ever seen. It was alright water, but I'm told it has to settle a day or two before its full potential is realized.
On Tuesday I started home. By Wednesday midday I made it to Cheyenne, and saw ominous clouds in the distance. By the time I hit Laramie the snow started. The radio informed me that the NW portion of WY was in a blizzard, with I-90 shut down. No biggie, I thought, I'm way south of there on I-80. Nothing to worry about.
As I continued the road got slick, and then it got icy. I slowed down to about 45mph. Crossing over a bridge the trailer I was pulling bounced on the potholes formed where the asphalt meets the concrete. I know I wasn't braking (NEVER brake when crossing an icy bridge, and keep that wheel straight) but I must have been slowing down. The trailer had its own inertia and swung the back end of my truck around. At first I was travelling sideways down the interstate, then sideways down the shoulder and finally sideways down into the ditch. There was nothing to be done but drive out of the ditch and continue on. I slowed down to 35mph.
Further west there had been an accident involving a hill, 2.5 inches of ice and 7 tractor-trailers. The last 35 miles of the day to Rock Springs, Wyoming, took me 9 hours. We sat on the expressway until WYDOT cleared the accident from one lane. After I broke my frozen brakes free, I started rolling again. A few miles up the road I got to the hill that caused th initial problem. In five hours the truckers hadn't managed to chain up. The highway patrol was displeased with this (I had been listening to them chatter over the radio), but I was moreso. It was getting cold, and each time traffic stopped because the trucks had no traction, my rear brakes froze again. Then the hydraulics in my transmission started to freeze, and stranded in the middle of Wyoming in a blizzard is no place to be. When I reached the top of the troubled pass traffic thinned out. It was 3 o'clock in the morning by the time I got to a hotel room. It was by far the worst day of driving in my life. Between the weather, mechanical difficulties and crazy truckers I was absolutely exhausted from the stress of it by the time my head hit the pillow. The only way it could've been worse is if I had had an nervous passenger to deal with. A Mom, CK or in-law type personality in the passenger seat ratcheting up the anxiety level would've made it absolutely unbearable. They'd've wound up walking home.

I want my 12 Dollars

2007-03-23T20:47:00.000-07:00

I don't care what Don says, bureaucracy is for liberals and other assorted scum. As soon as I crossed into the Land of Lincoln, the tolls started. After enjoying the use of the federal interstate system for 2100 miles without interruption, in easy motoring bliss as Kunstler would say, I racked up over $12.00 in tolls for the last 60 miles of corn fields. Nathan, you might say, you just spent $350 on gas, why complain about $12 in tolls? Because federal dollars built I-90 darn it, and if Cook county's suburbs want money: let 'em raise property taxes.
First person who points out my past support of user fees as a tax collection modality gets the boot. First person to point out the incredible jump in pavement quality from Wisconsin to Illinois gets deported to a North Dakota Gulag for insolence.

300 (Volts)

2007-03-20T20:18:00.000-07:00

Finals are over! I had given up on recieving an A in anatomy, but it turns out I did much better on the final lab test than I thought. I owned todays written final to the tune of 97%, so when grades are recorded next week I'm expecting another excellent quarter.
Last friday I planted 11 more rose bushes in the front yard. I'm looking forward to those to grow well this year, and if they bloom at all I'll get some pics posted.
Tomorrow I'm driving to Chicago, to hand deliver Ben's 300VDC(no load) power supply, displayed above.

Science Faire

2007-03-12T15:43:00.000-07:00

The Eco-Roof won a $50 prize on saturday. I was impressed with the groups performance, they were a bunch of on the ball kids who managed their portions of the project well. Now that that's done the finals crunch can begin. My civil liberties research paper took up most of my weekend, but with that done I can concentrate on other classes. Final Bio Lab test is thursday, and it promises to be a bear. Point and name cat and human musculature, YEAH! Monday and Tuesday of next week is written chem and bio finals, which should be less difficult than the project and lab portions. After that I can travel to Chicago to clean out Don's garage, after which I will be up to full capability at Hersey Machine Works West in the machining department.

Taxpayers 2

2007-03-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

Seedlings in the GreenhouseBusy Hands Building the Green Roof

The band played friday night at a house party up the street. This time we managed to play 8/9 of the set darn near perfectly. We skipped the slow song, which is prolly for the best, since we were opening for a metal band. After we played things began to get rowdy, so I bagged ass. I don't want anything to do with house party shenanagins, I'm too old and too conservative for that stuff.
Saturday I set up the greenhouse and planted some seedlings. I've started some early greens, brocolli and cauliflower outside under a glass cold frame (to trap heat to promote germination). Inside the greenhouse I've planted pea and bean seeds, and I'll transfer them outside when it's time.
Today my chemistry class group came over to build an eco-roof. We hadn't had any luck with outside sites needing our help building one. In order to provide an "experiential" portion of our eco-roof class project, we built a small scale one over my compost reactor to prevent leeching of my valuable nitrogen into the Willamette river. It was a good day to be working outside, and it only illustrated how much more garden work I've got to do to get the yard in order.

Your Industrial Art For The Day

2007-02-25T13:19:00.000-08:00

Turns out it wasn't the filter on Nancy that was the problem. Not willing to undergo more petrol exposure, I took it to the dealer for them to mess with. Hopefully they'll have it fixed by Tuesday. I rented a Chevy Cobalt in the mean time. When I picked the old Lady up from work on Friday I told her I had traded Nancy in for the new Chevy. I though she was going to have a breakdown right then and there.

Car Culture: Like Lining Up to Get Kicked in the Pubic Symphysis

2007-02-22T18:26:00.000-08:00

I decided to drive CK to work on my way to campus to study diligently and take my Bio Lab Practical. Four blocks up the road, on the St John's bridge, I lost all power at anything greater than idle speed. I managed to make it home after dropping the wife at the bus stop. The truck was hopeless and I needed to get to class, so I bummed a ride from our neighbor.
The test went well, and I'll get the results Tuesday or so. Afterward, unable to hitch a ride back over the west hills, I had to take the Green Limousine (they aren't really green here, but they aren't green in Chicago anymore either). Normally it takes me 10 minutes to drive the 6 miles to class. Two buses, two trains, two missed transfers, 2 hours and 38 miles later I was home. I don't exagerate one bit. There is no direct bus from that campus over the West Hills to St John's, so I had to go alll the way around through the Sunset Highway tunnel to get home.
Tomorrow I get to fix the fuel system on Nancy. I wonder if Chevy was nice enough to put isolation valves on either side of the fuel filter for a drip free change out? I think we all know the answer to that, even without looking.

Real A's vs Community College A's

2007-02-20T21:43:00.000-08:00

I've two giant A&P tests this week. The integument and skeleton/osseous tissue lab and written tests. The written was today, and I got a 62 out of 70. In most classes this would not be an A, however the standard is only 85% for a 4.0 in this particular class. I was really feeling it for this test, and am a little disappointed. I needed the real A (90+ percent if you will) in order to take some pressure off of the lab test on Thursday. Point and Name for the Appendicular and Axial skeleton might be a little tough.

Taxpayers

2007-02-10T10:34:00.000-08:00

My band played for peeps last night for the first time. It was a trainwreck.
Hopefully it was just the jitters on the part of the lead vocalist and can be fixed. We're better than we played last night, but I'm not willing to spend time while singer boy figures out how to transfer his natural charisma into stage presence. He's got to get that in line pronto.
The Mello Outs where great, they had a great surf/ surf punk mix. The Decliners lead singer was doing his best Greg Graffin impression, which always gets high marks in my book, I'm a giant Bad Religion fan. Pi, the chicka that is Heartache Pagoda is a noise artist, and she played the steel bowl of water and copper pipe, YAY! We collected a couple of boxes of food, but next time I'm backing Dustin's (from the Mello Outs) plan and holding a Bombs Not Food benefit.

I'll Give you Lamina Propria

2007-02-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

What a week. Mondays are always difficult, since my once a week research paper class is in the evenings. Tuesday Wednesday and Thursday I had a test each day. Tuesday went well, except for one question I misread. Although N doesn't account for 96 of one's body weight alone, C, N H and O do. It is just a very rare occurrence that I misread a question, and to miss such a 'gimme' is a shame. Tuesday was Chemistry, which was fine except for a dozen points worth of questions on Dalton. I wish the instructor would cover some useful material so she'd have real questions to ask. If the material is difficult it tends to grab my attention. Following along to a lecture when I'm all over the material is more of an exercise in self discipline. Thursday was Bio Lab practical test, which I felt much more prepared for than the written test, and I should have those grades by Tuesday since that proffessor is Johnny on the Spot when it comes to grading.
At last Friday is here. I'll spend some time with Esmerelda today, write some research paper tomorrow and watch the game on Sunday. Go Bears!

Snow Day

2007-01-17T14:39:00.000-08:00

It has been quite the lax week. With the holiday Monday and 2 snow days with class canceled I have been bumming around the house, up to no good. I used my new found time to finish mounting Ben's DRO to his Ball Screw. It was more difficult than it appears, the first attempt at mounting brackets failed due to design and measurement errors. You're actually looking at Version 3 of those particular pieces of Aluminium.

McNaught-Hartley

2007-01-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

(It's the white dot in the upper left hand corner.)

Science, science everywhere. Yesterday we had rat dissection in Anat& Phys lab. It was much less disturbing than I thought it was going to be. They must have changed the type of fluid used to preserve them because the smell was much less offensive than I remembered.
This evening I dragged CK out of work early to travel to the top of the west hills. We got a great vantage point from Council Crest park to view the comet. I'd say there were about 300 other people braving the cold like troopers. CK didn't say one word about the cold until the comet disappeared behind the horizon, then she made a bee-line towards the truck and turned the heater on full blast. Comet viewing taught me I need some better optics. My field glasses are woefully insufficient in their magnification and resolution and I don't have a telephoto lense for the Canon. Wifey's gonna have to get another job.
Edit: Maybe not. I've got a machine shop. Large mirrors aren't too expensive. I could design a mid sized reflecting telescope to be optimized for astrophotography at my camera's sensor size. Esmerelda, get cutting!

Water Pump, Circa 1955

2007-01-09T17:48:00.000-08:00

I'll never understand Cast Steel as an acceptable material for applications involving water immersion.

CK's clamp continues to take shape.

2007-01-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

I'll have completed pics when I get a 3/8" center cutting end mill with 2 inches of flute length.

Making Shavings

2007-01-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

That's CK's drum clamp taking shape.

Graphite Packing

2007-01-09T16:58:00.000-08:00

I've got aluminium to cut, but Shars hasn't gotten my cutting tools I ordered early last week to me yet. I need a to find a large machining supply close to the Portland, but I don't think we have a Shars or J&L type supply house. We do have a couple of local guys, but they are much smaller. From now on I'll get any supplies I can from Hall Tool since they are close and not too pricey. The only reason I ordered from Shars was the extremely discounted rotary table price. For end mills and other low price items it doesn't seem the savings are worth the wait.
The neighbor brought over a water pump I assume was originally from a tractor that was leaking where the shaft penetrates the pump body/housing. I can fix that, I told him. I proceeded to attempt to remove the entire shaft to get to the packing material around the shaft, only to realize that was wholly unnecessary. Instead it was as simple as removing the old packing material with a machinist's scribe and replacing it with new graphite packing and tightening down the gland/packing nut. Unfortunately I had already seperated the two halves of the body, and the replacement gasket for this union failed the first time. Hopefully the RTV he used the second time worked for him as a leak free alternative to cork.
The new quarter has started, and I am taking Writing 3 (writing reaserch papers), Anat&Phy 1 and Chem 1. The first day of the writing class the Professor discussed heavily language and Rhetoric (as a classical art, not as perjorative term). As a nod to our classical teachers I've decided to discontinue use of all profanity. As CK and the rhetoricians point out it is useless as a tool of persuasion, and Ma rightly thinks it's unbecoming. We'll see how it goes. First person to turn in front of me while I'm crossing the street may get an ear full anyway.

Edit: Part of my delivery came. The cutting tools, tailpiece and chuck vise, but no rotary table. Now I ask, what good is a tailpiece and rotary chuck vise without a rotary table?

Machined Aluminium Is the New Injection Molded Plastic

2006-12-31T12:36:00.000-08:00

After 2 days of spending almost every waking hour with my new mistress, Esmerelda, I've learned a few things:
-Always choose the softest material that will do the job. I'm using some harder 6061 Al when a softer alloy would have saved time, tool life and actually work better in its application.
-Watch the direction of feed. The cutting head should make contact with the material opposite the direction of the feed, otherwise you are asking for trouble.
-One can't have enough different clamping options. It's like Ben says, the difference between a pleasant machining experience and a lousy day is the proper clamp.
I need to order a few end mills, clamps and machinists squares from Shars, but CK didn't need those new shoes anyway.

View From the top of Clevland Dam

2006-12-28T09:36:00.000-08:00

BC is so photogenic.

Declan MacManus is My Guardian Limey

2006-12-28T08:42:00.000-08:00

Mom is in town, so we made a road trip from PDX to Vancouver BC by way of Seattle. We rented a car Wednesday morning and headed north. We stopped for lunch at Elliot's on The Sound, and then continued up I-5. Around Everrett we stopped for gas. I was going to have ma pump while I went to the restroom, but then Alison came on the radio. Since that's about a once in a decade occurence I decided to pump instead of ma so I could listen. I did a quick walk around and noticed the right rear tire in the rental car was looking a little low. Sure enough, when I checked the pressure it was at 0 pounds and a nail was sticking out of the tread. I didn't get the flat tire idiot light, and the 'run-flat' didn't sound or feel like a flat normally would. If I hadn't of caught it then I'm afraid we'd have been in the middle of no where Canuckistan trying to change a flat.
After getting it fixed it was later than I thought it was going to be getting to Vancouver, so I had Ben rustle me up the number to a hotel. When our hotel didn't have WiFi I began to worry my brother had led me wrong, but if he'd have sent me to any other hotel I'd have never found the greatest Indian restaurant EVER. Yankee Indian pales in comparison to the feast we were able to procure for fake Canadian money. The Naan, Tandoori Chicken and Mulligatawny were outstanding, service good (we where one of only 2 parties there) and the waiter told us about Stanley Park and Grouse Mountain.
The recent wind storm had closed the ring road in Stanley park and Grouse mountain was too overcast, but we did find the dam and reservoir that stores Vancouver's drinking water and had a beautiful hike complete with really tall tree and fish hatchery in Lynn Canyon Park.
It was great, and Ma's good to travel with because everythings exciting for her and she is full of enthusiasm, but next time she should visit in the summer when the weather and views are better and the rain is gone!

It's bigger than MA!

2006-12-24T14:20:00.000-08:00

Lining it up on its stand.

2006-12-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Clearing the Tailgate

2006-12-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

That's Jim helping.

SCORE!

2006-12-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

650 pound of steel goodness. It was a bear to move, but luckily my neighbor Jim, CK and Ma where there to help. I need to wire up a 220 outlet to power it up, and then get some material to start making shavings!
I'm heating up a ham for Christmas dinner and some yams, potatoes and green beans. It better be done soon cause it's time to eat!

Fabrique NoPo

2006-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

I talked the old lady into signing off on the purchase of the machine tools of my choice the other day (at least that's how I remember the conversation going). In no particular order I plan to procure the following:
-table saw
-router
-bench grinder
-milling machine.
I saw an ad on CL for a Jet JMD 18, which should do the trick. I've already have my first three fabs planned out. CK's drum set has these crappy injection molded clamps to attach the drums to the stand, those should really be aluminium. I've never found an acceptable rack for my tourer, and an external frame daypack should be part of my new rack as one of the panniers.
Although she's prolly never seen a milling machine I'll have CK machining away in no time.

You're on the Short List for Excommunication, so Watch Your Ass.

2006-12-19T14:18:00.000-08:00

I spent all day yesterday baking three delicious loaves of honey wheat bread. This morning I have half a loaf with doggie teeth marks in it. That dog is gonna get excommunicated from the family, and I don't think he can survive long on the streets. In order to prevent further kitchen incursions I placed a baby gate at the entrance to the kitchen, but if that doesn't deter him I'm going to give him the boot. If his owner complains she can join him. I'll be lonely, but my kitchen counters will be unmolested.
Final grades were recorded and I scored a 4.0. Woohoo!

That's That

2006-12-13T15:05:00.000-08:00

I just finished my last final, and boy is my brain fried. Hopefully I'm looking at a 4.0, but the grades won't be recorded until the 18th. I registered for next semester, and will have a sucky Monday schedule, as well as well as one class way down south at Sylvania campus. That means no riding to class. I'll have to change the serpentine belt and the oil in Nancy so she won't leave me stranded on the interstate, but that needed done anyway.
I have tons of stuff to do around the house such as cleaning, furniture re-arranging and computer backup data creating. Now that finals are done I need to hop-to and get on that stuff.

Sabala's

2006-12-03T09:13:00.000-08:00

CK took me out to see Mudhoney Friday night. Mudhoney rocked as always, but the club had insufficient ventilation and the smoke killed me. From now on Sabala's is off the list of accceptible venues. Mudhoney didn't come on 'til 12:40, so technically it was my birthday, YEAH!
I wanted to throw cards for my birthday, so CK and I headed north. We drove to the 'Couv and had a great Italian dinner. We then drove to La Center, where the wait was like 2 hours for a spot at a table, which I was unwilling to do. Cards was a bust, so we tried to find a movie theater. We had no luck there so we came home and watched Transamerica. I had a hard time not imagining the pain of sexual reassignment surgery, so it was tough for me to watch.
In Review: Italian= Good, Indian Casinos= Suck, MudHoney = Rock, Sabala's =Suck, Outty into Inny= ouch.

Oncologist Needed

2006-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

Take a minute to take a look at the new Eyesore of the Month (December 2006). After taking my Oncology terminology test yesterday it is quite fortuitous to come across this abomination. It is definately a metastasizing neoplasm. I want to know what this architect was thinking. He has managed to ruin a perfectly respectable structure. The board of directors for this museum deserve jail time, but Daniel Libeskind is going to have to report in person for his beats.

Why.

2006-11-21T21:03:00.000-08:00

Biff wrote: "Suits aren't comfy, nor are they practical everday attire...unless you do nothing but order TEDs around.
Thanks, but I think I'll remain a proletarian."

You missed the point of my post, and your gut reaction ('fuck that shit, I'm a proletarian') is exactly the response those with the power want you to have. When people think back to the late 60's early 70's they don't immediately remember the struggle for civil rights, anti-war demonstrations, women's liberation, gay rights or early environmentalism. Their first thoughts are of dirty hippies getting high and dancing in muddy fields like assholes. This is a cultivated image. Poor dirty leftists as laughable is an image meant to undermine their message. The worst thing a young proggressive like yourself can do is fall so easily into this trap.
Do you think I've gone GQ, sipping pink martinis on the 35th floor of the bank tower after a hard day of enslaving the masses through consumer-based capitalism? Obviously you've mistaken me for someone else.
There are many issues that I have thoughts on that need to be shared with people, including but not limited to peak oil, global climate change, homogenous monolithic private media, public healthcare, and public higher education. These are all issues that we have a duty to address and change. This means you too, bike hippy. If you address your fellow man in a brazing apron, you may come off as a wierdo in a brazing apron. Other leftists may hear you out, but these are not the individuals you need to convince. It is those lost in a sea of rampant consumerism that need your words to guide them.
You are an articulate, bright dude. You can change peoples minds, but you must get them to listen to you first. Take a cue from the Nation of Islam. Adopting the style of dress of the ruling class is a way to avoid getting ignored out of hand. By insisting on ostracizing yourself you are ultimately doing the proletariat a disservice.

Now who's with me?

2006-11-16T12:04:00.000-08:00

I've decided to bring back the suit as the default garment for mens dress in public. Jeans are great for fishing or hiking, t-shirts are good for working out or gardening, but quite frankly we are too casual a society. I blame this overall laissez fair attitude towards dress on the downfall of western society. Reality TV, Hippies and Glam Rock are all outgrowths of the accepted action of men dressing like boys (sure I don't have a causal link, but I don't need one, I'm on a rant). As Carl Larson posted here, wearing a tie to court is a good step towards not getting BS fines. This year at the war demonstration most people were dressed as though they were headed to the woods, not as if they were marching for peace and social justice. The PoPo are less likely to club you in the head if you look like you can afford a lawyer (again, idle speculation but bear with me). Damned if anyone wants to hear a C students opinion on anything, but put him in a suit and he could become president.
If one is to participate in society it must necessarily be on societies terms, and if your leather jacket wearing blue haired self has complaints about being kept down by the man then get a haircut hippy.
(Except Sean, he rocks out with his c*ck out.)

Sprock Spalding

2006-11-10T22:34:00.000-08:00

I answered a CL add for a bassist yesterday, and got a call back from these guys. They have an interesting sound, like halfway to experimental from indie rock. CK hated them, so I knew they had potential. They were trying out another bassist tonight as well, but they decided I was probably going to work out better. They asked me back to jam, and I told 'em next week sometime. Some of their work is in crazy ass time signatures, specifically half a song that seems to be in 7/8 time and they are chock full of ritardondo and all other manner of tempo changes. I blame the drummer for not putting the smack down on the guitarist, but I'll be able to pick it up.

Political Jiu Jitsu

2006-11-08T22:29:00.000-08:00

Most of the results are in but not formal. I don't think anyone harbored hope of a result like this in their deepest heart of hearts. The Lower House is certainly Democratic and the Upper House is also likely to be controlled by the Democratic Caucus. This is amazing, and I guess Rove didn't have The Math afterall.
This news led to the ouster of Rumsfeld, which is a great piece of political jiu jitsu. Given the force of the Democratic tide this was a beautiful move on the part of the president's team. One can only hope that Rumsfeld would have been sitting in a front of a Senate sub-commitee getting grilled over the mismanagement of Iraq by the middle of January. There would have been a lot of questions asked that the executive branch isn't prepared to answer. There will still be questions about the cash that is being lost to the contractors, but with a new Secretary of Defense it won't be the same bloodbath it could have been. Although I'd have loved to have seen Donny get his, his removal by the President is good for the Dems too. Running Rumsfeld up the flagpole would have been seen as partisan and divisive, costing a lot of political capital. This way they have the possibility getting work done without the battle that would have ensued when taking down a high-ranking cabinet member.
I hope this new batch of middle of the road Dems can plug the leak in the financing of this war if nothing else in these next two years.

D^2

2006-11-03T00:20:00.000-08:00

I drove down to the Sylvania campus to take my math midterm tonight. I hope I caught all the minor points for full credit, other than that I smoked it. On the way home the I listened to the Philosophy Talk Guys. They were talking existence of God, and what I brought away from the discussion was the fact I couldn't be a philospher. I'd wind up laying the smack down on some east coast button down types. I'll re-listen to the program when they put it up on their website, and hopefully I'll make coherent post on the subject. Math midterm+Philosophy Talk=Charred Brainstem.
I was supposed to meet this guy who wants to start a Political Punk Folk band. He said he had a vocalist who could play fiddle, and all he needed was another guitarist. Sweet, thinks the Nate, just what I'm looking for. In our E-mail communications he then indicated that he would not play for money, for he thought music should be free. Crap, thinks the Nate, this guys is obviously a D^2 hippy trustafarian. I tried to explain the capatilist monetary system to him while not coming off like a young Republican, but I can't imagine this project will get off the ground for me.

If you're problem is everybody thinks you're a east coast elitist....

2006-11-01T08:18:00.000-08:00

Then keep your fucking mouth shut about the fact they send the poor to die. That's unspoken on both sides for a reason. It's certainly true, that if you're broke and uneducated you have a good chance of winding up with a gun in your hand in some shithole part of the world. That's why the war mongers don't say it, it makes them seem like the users they are. If they opened up their mouths they could foment revolution.
But if you are not a member of the proletariat you keep your mouth shut about it because nobody likes to be called stupid. It opens up the defensive contrarian reflex that runs through people who know they are broke as fuck. It allows your opponent to put on his southern drawl and pretend they are the blue collar mans buddy and protector.
You never start a dialogue by questioning the worth of the other party. First you have to earn their trust, make them understand their worth and validity. Then you can bring up difficult facts about their role in society and how they might better that role. It's like Don says, Willie Nelson understands how to get the farmers to accept Farm Aid because he first builds up their confidence and lets them know they matter and that he is their guy. Nobody want's to hear it from the Senator from Massachusetts.

mmm...tastes like democracy...

2006-10-24T14:02:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day? Yes. Why? Because I said so.
I got my ballot in the mail this morning. I've changed my mind and decided I do like this vote by mail method. I can do all the candidate research I need to do in my house slippers and I get to lick an envelope. It's win-win!
The County Commish candidates where the toughest decision. Both seemed very worthy, had all the right supporters, had decent stances on the issues. It seemed odd that instead of holding my nose to vote I had a tough time choosing between two legitimate candidates. I thought the primarys where supposed to polarize the choices in November, making it an easy call. I can't lose for winning. Whichever guy wins they'd better fix my street so the trucks stop rattling my house!
The only bad thing is I have to wait for results. I remember as a kid staying up late on election night waiting for concession speeches. I need my fast resolution damn it!

They call me 'Ace'

2006-10-24T11:07:00.000-07:00

I finished the outside of my greenhouse. The first test for its weatherproofness came with the rain today, and it past with flying colors. $100 worth of silicon and polyurethane sealants will keep out a drizzle. the true test will come with the worsening of the weather later on this fall.
My violin teacher gave me the most frustrating excercise last week, and it demoralized me. I barely practiced at all, but the excercises I have this week should be more up my alley. Even though my bowing is what needs the most work I prefer to practice my fingerboard work. They say the key is to practice what you are poor at, not what you have mastered, but I say who asked 'em.
My first Bio test got graded. I blew a couple simple questions, but made it up on the extra credit for an overall %100. This is an acceptable outcome, since I really need top marks when I apply for the radiography program.

21 days

2006-10-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

We vote by mail in this state, and should be receiving our ballots soon. Even my wife is registered this year(talk about a pain in the ass, it involved 2 weekends at the DMV). On the national front the progressives need to turn out the vote sumthin' fierce and every last conservative needs to sit on their hands come the first Tuesday in November. We really need a mild early November so the poor don't get shut in by the weather. If the progressives can pull off one house I'm hoping they can make some heads role for some of the corruption and deception by the ruling party of the past 6 years. If they don't it will be time for a new progressive party.
I've looked at the voter guide (Volume 1) for our ballot measures. The only one that is worth voting for is a state prescription drug measure. The rest are either too invasive (parental notification) or worthless and won't achieve their stated purpose (campaign finance reform). People always trying to make things more difficult. If you want me to vote for your ballot measure I'd better be able to see a direct benefit and no drawbacks, otherwise my inner conservative resists change.

The glass could be half full...

2006-10-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

I got a construction staple stuck in my rear tire causing a flat tire on the way to school today. Luckily, the 40 bus was about a minute behind me. So I hopped on and reached into my wallet for my bus fare, only to realize I was $1.00 short. But the dude just let me pay the dollar I had and ride on my merry way. I figure it's karma for all the times I paid $1.95 when the fare was really only $1.65. Good on the dude for not being a dick and letting me ride anyway.
On Saturday, I tried to stab my thumb through my fingernail with a screw-gun. Luckily it was my left hand, so I'm still able to hold the bow and practice my fiddle. Speaking of which, it turns out my $350 rental fiddle is woefully inadequate. I'm getting wicked bow-bounce, which my instructor ascribes to the horribly substandard bow; and there's a rattle at the low end, somewhere in the bridge area. But since today's post is on the glass half full, the upscale luthier in town will rent me a better instrument for only a modest upcharge that he'll apply to the purchase price of a better violin, thereby allowing me to play another year without having to plunk down the purchase price of another instrument. That works out well since the wife's begun to beat me for spending all her beer money.

The Four Fat Groups

2006-10-06T18:10:00.000-07:00

CK is having eye problems. This translates into heartburn for my uninsured a$$. It be great if we had public healthcare like other first word countries such as Canada or Cuba.
To take my mind off it I made a bacon avacado cheeseburger. That runs the gambit with pig fat, cow fat*two and avacado fat. Mmm mmm.

Girl Looking at River

2006-10-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

Beatitiudes

2006-10-04T13:28:00.000-07:00

I was reading this Vonnegut article when he mentioned the Beatitudes. Needing a refresher I did some googling and came up with a minor translational/ recording difference:
Matthew 5:3( the one which everyone likes): Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Luke 6:20 (not quoted quite as often for some reason): Looking at his disciples, he said: "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
Not being a follower of the teachings of Jesus myself I am under no direction to be poor, poor in spirit, hunger nor be hungry or to have any characteristics of asceticism. I do find the fact that Mattew's recording of events require less actual suffering and are therefore more oft quoted. Being poor in spirit is a whole lot easier than being actually poor.
On the lighter less sacrilegious side of life, Lou and Senia were up this weekend. We had a good time, and we made CK and Lou tag along as we went out looking for night time photo ops. I got some ok shots, but nothing worth writing home about. The Murphys put on a good show Monday night at the Crystal Ballroom. This venue has some kind of springs underneath the floor, so lay off the booze when visiting because you might not like the jostling when the crowd gets to jumping.

2006-09-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

It's been a decent week of class so far. I've discovered I prefer a brick and mortar classroom to online instruction. Luckily both of my online classes will be doable in their medium. My bio professor seems like an easy going guy who has mastery of the spoken English language. Nothing worse than a stuffy dude who mutters his lectures into his podium.
Ck has been dragging me out to concerts every Sunday night. Two weeks ago it was the Casualties, last Sunday it was Flogging Molly. Next weekend is Pennywise on Sunday (who I think we'll skip) and Dropkick Murphys on Monday.
Flogging Molly almost got fired for Sunday's fiasco. First off, what kind of punk show has a corporate sponsor (don't get me started on the Warped Tour). The corporate sponsor was Fuse, which could explain the overall Canadian suckiness of the first two thirds of the show. Strike one was their first opener ZOX, who seemed to be a bunch of east coast college boys on tour before going into their dads' law practices. Strike two was the second opener Bedouin Soundclash, who did a U2 cover medley in between attempts to pull at yuppie heartstrings with Canadian Reggae. Neither of these bands got me warmed up and, moreover, left me wanting to self mutilate due to boredom. Strike 2.5 was the corporate sponsor of the show wheeling out a giant screen on which to broadcast advertisements in between sets. This only gets .5 strikes due to the unobjectionable content of said advertisements (sketch comedy clips from some new show).
Luckily Bridget Regan is still a goddess, otherwise they'd be hella fired.

Fall Has Arrived

2006-09-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

The rain has started here in the Pac NW. I am trying to finish my greenhouse before the rain hampers my efforts too much. I 've only been able to work about half the day the past couple of days, which is a sure way to let the project drag out forever. I should have worked on it before I left for my trip to Chicago and Mobile, but hindsight is 20/20 isn't it.
Autumn is usually a good time of year for me. My physiology is better suited to cooler weather, and I dig hiking through the woods when the colors change. Unfortunately there are too few deciduous trees and too much percipitation in this part of the country to have a good fall hiking season.
Class starts next Monday, and I'm feeling slightly apprehensive. Last time I was in a proper classroom was 8 years ago, and I'm afraid I've forgotten more than I ever learned in the first place. What worries me mostly is the complete change in job field. Hopefully the challenges will keep me interested and focused.
I paid my tuition and bought my books. Community college is cheap but still not free, and on top of that I had to cut the IRS a check for two grand in back taxes. Even though my cash reserves are shrinking, I plan on looking for work after the first week of classes. I'm already getting acid reflux from the thought of school, I'll wait to add on the stress of the job hunt until next week.

2006-09-12T08:59:00.000-07:00

City of New Orleans

2006-09-12T08:28:00.000-07:00

I flew south yesterday. When I got to N.O. we stopped at cafe Dumond and walk on the Moonwalk by the river. This guy was syphoning some of the Mississippi into a Gatorade bottle. When asked why he replied 'I am headed to Maryland tomorrow, and I want to take some of it with me'. He seemed heartbroken to leave the Quarter, and said he felt as though he was abandoning his city. He related his tale of how he had stayed during and after the hurricane to assist his elderly neighbors. When the looters came for his house he dropped a flowerpot on their head, and they promptly left. His friend had left him a firearm, but he said he couldn't pull the trigger. He didn't seem to be the guy who could shoot another person, and I'm glad he didn't have that to weigh on his soul.
They seem to be having a trash collection problem in the city. The piles on Canal street are 8 feet high. Rue Bourbon seems somehow skeezier than when I was last there. I was informed that the sewers where all broken, adding the smell of shit to the normal urine and booze smell. Great swaths of the eastern parts of the city are still abandoned, the brick shells of ranch houses empty and dark. They say 9 out of ten people had no flood insurance. Faced with the prospect of trying to capitalize a repair on a house in a neighborhood without civic services, especially if the mortgage is higher than the house is now worth, people have been abandoning the city. I'm not about to question that move. People are rational.

ooohhhh shiny

2006-09-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Bean

2006-09-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

I've been in Chicago for past few days. Ma shanghaied me for garage painting duty while the sun was shining, but we went downtown to the Art Institute on Saturday. Daley has torn down the rail switching yard on the north end of Grant Park and put up some god awful Frank Gehry concert pavillion. Project Mayhem has some serious work to do.
I was impressed with Cloud Gate. Modern statuary often fails its task of enhancing public space, but the design and implementation of this piece works well. Crown Fountain, on the other hand, fails the enhancing public space metric. Its design clashes with the the rest of Millenium Park and 50 foot faces of Chicagoans spitting on the crowds really doesn't float my boat.
Ben and I had some brew friday night at the Bierstube. It seemed as though it was built and owned by old German dudes, but Daley has succesfully purged the city of anything but twentysomething Cornhuskers and Hawkeyes, therefore it was overrun by yuppies. Daley can't be all bad, he did have the sack to unilaterly close down Meigs field, for which he'll always have a spot in my anti-Federalist heart.

If you where any further Northwest you'd be wet by now.

2006-09-05T19:29:00.000-07:00

Mt. Muller Death March

2006-09-04T16:36:00.000-07:00

Ck and I spent the weekend on the Olympic Peninsula. We visited Cape Flattery, where my camera promptly killed it's battery. My theory is that the switch was stuck in an intermediate postition that drained the battery on the drive up. Good news, I didn't have to carry it the remainder of the weekend. Steph and Flint showed up and we went to Lake Crescent and had a great afternoon swim.
On Sunday CK forced us on a death march up Mount Muller. It was 13 miles of muscle burning death. I failed to bring enough water, expecting to filter some on the hike. It is dry this time of year up there and when we finally came across a stream at the 10 mile point I was so happy I darn near cried. Steph was in wicked pain by this time and I think we were all ready for this hike to end. All said it was about 7 hours worth.
I'm flying to Chicago this week to see me ma. I hope my toe blisters heal by then.

My Girl Hates the IRA

2006-08-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

I've been attempting to further understand Jihad, Islam and why exactly there is a massive backlash aginst the west. In doing so I hoped to find a way to extricate this country from its military fiascos (not that I actually could, but it be nice to know if there were a way). This is obviously a difficult issue to grasp, and there is never absolute truth to be found in issues like these. I have changed my thinking somewhat, and here's why.
I find it easy to empathize with the downtrodden. A large part of my upbringing was a training against the Man in order to avoid becomming a tool. This obviously didn't work (6 years in the service really chapped my old man's ass), but a hatred of the establishment stuck. Usually when I hear about peasant revolt I'm inclined to feel for the peasants i.e.:
-'Cute little Bolshevics, they want to kill the rich, Yipee!' or
-'Cute little Rastas, they want to kill whitey, tehehe' or
-'Cute little Sadinistas, they want to kill capitalists, God be with their Catholic souls'.
It's easy to see why. Western culture subjegates the poor so that the rich may live in luxury. We take an inordinate amount of resources to build a culture of consumerism that is worthless and ugly. We allow the arms makers control of our warriors, the corrupt control of our law making bodies and we are blind to their collusion. We have sent our companies and spies to ensure the resources of our neighbors made it onto our porch.
Another facet of my thinking is a deep distrust of religous fundamentalists of all varieties. Claiming to know the exact nature of God scares me, how one decides that God is talking to him is beyond me, and convincing people to do a man's will in the name of God seems quite dangerous. Some common threads I have noticed in religous fundamentalist movements of the big three:
-Chicks are subordinate 2nd class citizens (on its surface a good plan, but this thought process has drawbacks).
-We are God's choosen. The heathens are not up to our level so F#ck 'em.
-The guy with the open phone line to God runs the show and is infallible. If a group cannot have a rational discussion about it's stances then it has a good chance of keeping some inefficacious and detrimental policies.
So here I have a dilema. A struggle between the Man and religous fundamentalist militias. My first thought is to the underdog. The Palestinians certainly got the raw deal when the Zionists inhabited Israel. The citizens of Iraq have a bombed out hellhole of a country thanks to LMT, NOC and KBR.
But something stuck in my craw about the whole Islamic Jihad thing, namely religously motivated suicide bombers. What kind of movment considers this tactic. There weren't any IRA suicide bombers, no Yankee suicide attacks on Cornwallis' motorcade. Now here would be my response when the boss came to me with his suicide bomber plan:
'Nate, we need you to strap on this TNT and blow yourself up on that bus over there'
'Why commander? Can we not expect a sucessful campaign without this tactic? I think you need to rethink your military planning. This strategy has too many drawbacks to my health.'
'No Nate, it's just that you'll move on to a better place after you die for our God.'
'But aren't we fighting for a brave new world? I'd hate to miss out on the paradise we will build after our military sucess.'
'No Nate, we are fighting for full length burkas and no booze.'
'I'm outta here.'
I'm therefore withdrawing support of any peasant revolution that supports removal of booze and addition of clothing. Spring break in Rasht must suck.

PEDAL WENCH!

2006-08-13T10:50:00.000-07:00

Thursday I signed CK an myself up for the Portland Bridge Pedal. We did the 8 bridge ride, because I feared mutiny if I tacked on an extra 10 miles to ride down to the Sellwood bridge after waking her at 5:30 on a Sunday. CK bailed on me after the St. John's bridge and rode home. Still in all she did most of the ride, and I was quite proud of her pedaling stamina.
Normally this type of group ride would not be my thing, but the chance to ride the Fremont and Marquam bridges was too good to pass up. Paying someone to ride my bike makes me feel like a schmuck, and all the pricks in pro team kits kinda got on my nerves. Anything to get the wifey up extra early on a weekend though!
I also rented a violin, and will begin lessons on Monday. I'm pretty darn excited, and I hope to be playing jigs and reels in no time.

If it quacks like a duck...

2006-08-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

Pro war Dem defeated in Vermont and the next day the terror alert is at red. Quite the coincidence. I'm no conspiracy theorist, but that stinks of political wrangling. If 4 years of 'war on terror' hasn't made us any safer from disgruntled kids with bombs on planes then it seems clear we have taken the wrong tack.

If you can't call it pie, call it cobbler.

2006-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

We have some house guests. They seem nice. Certainly bubbly and happy to be on vacation! I made up a welcoming cobbler, which at first was going to be pie, but the crust wouldn't roll right. It worked perfectly when I made it to take to Steph's over the weekend. I made up the dough and stuck it in the fridge to cool while I made up the filling. If the fridge makes it roll better, thought I, then the freezer must do wonders! This time I made up the dough and stuck it in the freezer. This did not have the desired effect, and after cursing the pie gods I decided cobbler was the answer. Sure 'nuff it was delicious. Mmmmm. Cobbler...

Do You Flick your Boogers at My Peaches?

2006-08-04T18:41:00.000-07:00

Peaches

2006-08-03T22:17:00.000-07:00

So I'm at the store on Monday and I ask the produce lady what she has deals on, things that will can well. She has just the thing, she tells me, peaches $5.95 a case. Wow, I think to myself, that's 33 cents a pound. Can't beat that with a stick. I got 3 cases worth. Turns out that 54 pounds of peaches is a bigger pain in the ass than one might imagine.
It took me 2 nights of canning to get them all done. I did 19 quarts of peach halves, and when I was sick of halving them I did 11 quarts of peach preserves. I don't know how one consumes peach preserves, but I imagine I'll find out. Finally, by hour 3 on the second day, I was so sick of peaches I had CK bring all my neighbors a half dozen apiece. Tomorrow I'll take a picture to illustrate what 30 quarts of peaches truly looks like.

CK with the Haul

2006-07-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Blueberries

2006-07-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

CK woke me from my Saturday morning snooze fest to put me to work. We drove down south to pick blueberries and came back with quite the haul. 16 pounds of berries, 6 pints of which I turned into jam with my new pressure cooker. The tomatoes out back are begining to make fruit, which I'll turn into marinara when the time comes. The neighbors across the street have blackberries coming in, so I'll collect those for jam as well. I love canning, harvest time makes me all giddy.

The Mighty Pressure Cooker

2006-07-29T19:42:00.000-07:00

Bling!

What A Day

2006-07-23T00:16:00.000-07:00

The wife beat me well today. This morning she dragged me into Washington to jam with her band, then Flint called. Turns out he was in town, so CK made me drive her to the coast (Tillamook) and climb 2.5 miles straight down the cliffs to the beach. This, of course, wasn't difficult; however the 2.5 miles back to the car were quite invigorating.
By this time we were running short on time to make the Unseen show at the Hawthorne, so I opened up the throttle and we made it back for an evening of hardcore street punk. This douche was pushing kids smaller than him down in the pit, but after he got handled it was all good. Now I'm going to collapse into a sweaty heap, with only another record hot day to look forward to tomorrow. I'll wake CK up extra early to clean and we'll sit around sweating to death all afternoon.

Self Portrait With Wife

2006-07-18T22:47:00.000-07:00

St. John's Bridge Lines

2006-07-14T21:40:00.000-07:00

This is my entry into DPChallenge 'Lines 2' Competition.

...Does It?

2006-07-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day as a full time employee for the company. I got home around 1pm after finishing up some paperwork and dropping off the van. I found a door hanger on my porch, which I usually toss right away. Luckily my partner noticed it was from the city, so I took a look only to find out they had been by to turn off my water for lack of payment. As you can imagine I went to check the faucet, to find out they weren't kidding.
This sent me straight through the roof. CK has always been in charge of bill payment, since I am gone all the time. This is not the first utility they have shut off on me. I seem to recall having no gas to heat my home in Chesapeake due to the same problem. I drove downtown to pay The Man so I could continue washing and showering like a first world citizen. When I got there this dude was making the biggest scene ever in the lobby of the city building. He was screaming at the top of his lungs about how city workers had degraded him and treated him without the respect due a raving lunatic. This went on for a good ten minutes, scaring women and children, until the po-po showed up to cart him away. Quite frankly I was suprised the authorities took so long. Chicago's finest would've had him off to his own personal beating in much less time.
CK's sentence is only mitigated due to Portland's worker TEDs being Johnny on the spot with their wrenches and restoring my water prior to my arrival back home. Still in all I imagine that, although she doesn't know it yet, there will be one sore butt on my wife tonight.

It Never Ends

2006-07-12T19:39:00.000-07:00

I got another backlog delivery of mail. Looks Like the IRS wants to charge me 2 grand for a 2004 snafu. This was the year I let H&R Block do my taxes at the wifeys behest. I don't know who to beat first.
I'm thinking of doing the front yard in roses. I think they'll rock the house, but I have some researching to do on growing enough stock to plant. If it turns out the way I see it in my head I'll have the most awesome house on the block. Take that Joneses.

5 Years of Wifey Goodness

2006-07-03T14:53:00.000-07:00

Today I put in my 2 weeks at my job. I'm looking forward to going to school in the fall, and have alot to accomplish between now and then. Like finding a new job.
I know Whit and Sean were sorely disappointed in their return to school after the service. I am looking for something that I think school can provide, the certificate to enter a new career path. My criteria for this new job was stablity and decent pay. To start I am going to pursue a 2 year degree in order to become a medical radiographer. I know this doesn't sound like a glamourous or exciting career path, but International Man of Mystery wasn't really open to me. This career change will require further schooling in order to move beyond x-ray tech, but the stability of the work schedule doesn't preclude this.
Today is the Five Years of Wifey Celebration! As a hopeless romantic I've splurged on flowers and a new teapot. Woohoo! That's some anniversary haul! I'm going to cook chicken skewers and rice with broccoli for dinner. Maybe next year she'll be married to someone who pampers her, but until then she'll get the beats and like 'em.

Wear Your Glasses Nermil

2006-07-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

If there is one thing that was emphasized about dangerous work in my household growing up, it was the importance of eye protection. We had a machine tool in the garage, a World War II era aircraft parts manufacturing tool that had made parts to bomb Krauts. So there would be 6th grade Natey in the garage machining parts for this or that. Hundreds of hours on the machine tool and nothing ever went dangerously wrong. All those years of my old man espousing the benefits of lexan eyewear finally showed some dividends this week.
I had flown down to Sacramento and then driven to San Jose on Wednesday to do some battery work Thursday. Towards the end of the day I wanted to change out one of the interconnecting cables due to some bad copper corrosion where the chrome coating had worn off. I disconnected one end of the cable, and before I could get it insulated it slipped and shorted across ten 12V industrial sealed lead acid cells. With a giant bang and flash, slag went everywhere and the cables of two adjoining cells welded themselves to their posts. Luckily I was wearing my personal protective equipment, which I credit with saving my eyes.
I had to get all the destroyed batteries and cables removed from the system in order to restore the unit to service. This took several hours, which made a time crunch getting back to the airport to fly home. I made it to the airport in time to check my bags, but it turns out Southwest airlines had overbooked the flight by at least 10 tickets. So I hang around the terminal, only to be left behind by my flight. So I wound up renting a car and driving up Friday since every flight on every airline from the Bay Area to Portland was sold out until Sunday.
Good news is I get to fly to Spokane on the 4th of July to do more battery work! Yea!

Roses, Roses, Everywhere

2006-06-21T19:33:00.000-07:00

Weed Wacker at 8:45 am Guy: Why Won't You Just Die?

2006-06-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

I must admit, this morning I was that guy. It wasn't frivoulous suburban lawn care though, It was for the cause. I had to prepare the location for my new planter box. It is the first one of twelve that I have set aside space for in the backyard. Unfortuately, my ground here is clay, and what's not clay, is rocks. It took an all-day herculean gardening effort to get the first one done, but hopefully, the second and third won't take as long. I'll only do three this spring, because that's all I need with the amount of vegetables I've planted, but come fall, I'll be a busy little *beaver*.
Yesterday I released about 4500 ladybugs into the backyard in order to attempt some aphid control; but as I turned over my compost heap today in order to work it into my new raised garden, I realized the problem was much more widespread. I've sprayed Murphy's Oil Soap on the plants, but it may take drastic ant-death measures to kill the aphids.
This afternoon, I took CK up to the International Rose Test Garden like I had promised. We had a blast munching paximadia and sipping iced coffee in the late afternoon sun. I even whipped out the 35mm for the occasion. Hopefully, something I took will be worth framing, and if not, I'll use it as subjects for oil on canvass. It's like en plein air, only in the studio.

Raised Garden

2006-06-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

Wine and Roses

2006-06-19T20:27:00.000-07:00

CK's Cousin is in town, so I walked up to Washington Square park with her today. We went to the Rose Garden, which was awesome, and I intend to take CK out there on Wednesday. We kept walking up into the west hills trying to find a good shot of Mount Hood. We made it to the Japanese Garden and walked around. This one is very serene, but no where near the color of the Rose Garden. The $8 cover at the Japanese garden makes the Rose Garden (no charge/ donation accepted) the clear choice for cheap date night in the Rose City.
We still didn't get a good photo opportunity of the view from the west hills, so we started further up the hill, on a path behind the Japanese Garden. It wasn't a main path in the park, but it was marked and well used. Not twenty yards up the hill we came upon a photo shoot. A topless photo shoot. An unlicensed, low budget, hey let's get our freshman girlfriend to take her shirt off in the park so we can make 'tasteful nudes' photoshoot. A camerman and a girl with her dress pulled down, bosoms to the world, snapping away in a hardly secluded portion of the park. I was mildly shocked, but CK's cousin from Kentucky was quite aghast that the kids would chose such a conspicuous location to do their topless photo shoot. I must admit the girl seemed as though all the traffic on the trail was making her self conscious. Either the traffic, or the fact she was letting some guy take nudey pics of her in public. We continued up the trail, but when it became evident this trail wasn't going to come off a great vista I was stuck with quite the dilema. Continue on the trail through the woods knowing I wasn't going to find CK's cousin the shot she wanted, or turn around and seem like the perve who wanted to pass the naked girl twice. Then I decided: turn back. It's not my fault naked girls photog couldn't find a more secluded spot to do his 'art'. If you're going to make smut in public you're gonna get leered at, and I shouldn't have to worry about your feelings if you're the one taking your clothes off in the park. My Puritan feelings of modesty on the issue aside;
Rock On Topless-in-the-Park-Naked-Chick . You, your nice sized juggs and their soft pink nipples really made my day.

North Road

2006-06-12T19:15:00.000-07:00

3-nil

2006-06-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Talk about an ass wuppin'. It didn't even look like we were playing the same game. Now we have to beat Italia to have a chance of getting out of the round, and if we play with the same energy as today we couldn't beat the local girl's JV team.
I've decided to try North Road bars on my touring bike, but the set I got my hands on required some major modification for the shifters to fit in the bar ends. I also didn't bother finding the correct brake levers, so it's gonna look funky. Hopefully it'll ride alright. My gut's too big to bother with road drop bars anymore.

You Can't Get There From Here

2006-06-05T18:12:00.000-07:00

What a day. Cross country travel never works out for me. The plane sat on the tarmac in Cincinnatti for 2 hours while I read the Times and then I got to Newark 5 hours ahead of my bags. I only hope the bag gets delivered before morning so I can wear clean drawers tomorrow. If not then oh well. We all get what we deserve.