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JohnPierre	Senseless Ramblings Vol. 9

johnpierre
read my profile sign my guestbook Name: John Gender: Male Interests: Photography, Architecture, History, Volleyball, Running, Eating, Books. Occupation: Sales Industry: Retail Message: message meEmail: email me Member Since: 5/8/2004

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Wednesday, May 07, 2008

	Stuff I bought a bunch of stuff today. 8:43 p.m. update: I also had a good idea.
	8:41 PM - 2 eprops - 2 comments - email it

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

B & B

On the subject of Buttes, I snapped a picture this evening of Skinner Butte as viewed from the West, just one street over from my house (there are too many street trees on my street to get a good view):

Those are bike lanes on either side of the car lanes. And here's a great circa 1910 photo of the butte viewed from the South:

Here is the old building whose porch has the bench on which I've been enjoying my late afternoon sits:

The building is just a block from the train station--the tracks run along the south side of the Butte. My bench is between the first and second columns. The building to the left is the one at which I make my copies of my old Tillamook views. And here's the view from the bench:

Fridays and Saturdays are a little more active than a cool Wednesday afternoon at this intersection. The building to the right is the downtown branch of the post office, built in the 1930s. It's just a side view--the front is a little more impressive looking. And visible in the background just to the left of the P.O. is the Hilton Hotel. Fifth street is also on a bike route and has bike lanes between the car lanes and the parking spaces.

I decided to take three days off this week just because I could.

I'll have Thursday, Saturday and Sunday off--and all three days are supposed to be sunny.

Tomorrow's activities will include a trip to the dump

and hopefully a renewed effort in my gutted big bathroom. The whole kitchen window thing was a pleasant diversion, but it is time to get serious about my bathroom again.

9:21 PM - 6 eprops - 8 comments - email it

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Walkin' & Sittin' (Simple Pleasures)

I've been meaning to write for about a week and a half now, but the evenings just seem to slip away from me. I wrapped up my window project a while ago:

First I replaced the thin wood trim that holds the lens in place above my sink. It is about half an inch lower than it had been. I found a simple white translucent plastic lens at Home Depot for $1.85 and cut it down to size. I'm happy with how it turned out.

I finally bought a sectional wall unit I've been eying at a resale office furniture place for months now. It is big (8 feet wide, 7 feet tall) and colorful and fits really nicely on the north wall of my bedroom. I'll be fitting more shelves into the big empty spots and I hope to put a small LCD television in the blue section. And after twenty or so years of living with piles of shoes here and therre, I FINALLY have a convenient home for my shoes!

It is right along side my bed (where my nightly shoe removal takes place). It is a far cry from the crude plywood shelves that occupied that very same wall a few years back:

Also from a previous post my collection of shoes under my desk in a less organized time:

We're starting to have more and more mild, dry days and though it hasn't been warm and dry long enough for me to get back into running, I have been taking some nice, long walks in the evenings and I've found the most wonderful spot to sit and watch the world go by. It is at the corner of Fifth and Willamette a couple steps up from the sidewalk on a narrow porch of an old hotel. There are a bunch of retail spaces along this narrow porch, but they're all closed by 5:00 or so and there are a couple nice benches to sit on. There is a four way stop at that intersection with lots of cards and bikes going by and with restaurants, bars and theaters near by, there is also a lot of foot traffic. I really like the anonymity of it all and not having to interact or even really acknowledge anybody if I'm careful not to make eye contact.

And I think it looks like I might be waiting for somebody, so hopefully I don't look like too much of a freak just sitting there by myself. I walked for about an hour and sat for about an hour tonight.

11:14 PM - 6 eprops - 7 comments - email it

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Inside Job

I've had a chance to pretty much finish up inside:

The trim is a bright white--not the pinkish color in the last photo. I'm really happy with how it turned out. All that is left to do is to replace the trim that holds up a translucent panel that covers the fluorescent fixture above the window. I've added a "during" photo to my last post that shows how much work I really had to do. Even I'm impressed by the job I did.

I also switched out the last of the switches/plugs in my kitchen tonight--a cluster of three switches and a plug just to the right of the window. And this afternoon I FINALLY had chance to mow my lawn and trim along the sidewalk. It had become unbelievably shaggy and long in places and I doubted whether my reel mower would do the job (it has trouble with long grass), but I'm really pleased with how it looks. I spent about two or three hours on it, first pulling weeds, then mowing in both directions, then edging and sweeping. One of my coworkers was laid off last week. It was the woman who lives near me and the one to whom I would give rides to and from work several times a week. She has a chocolate business with her husband and was going to be quitting in a few month anyway to open up a retail store for their chocolates. Rumors are flying that one other person may be let go and it really shouldn't be me, but the woman who should be the next to go is old friends with the manager and a few other employees, which has me worried a bit. The whole store is like an inbred small town and I'm one of the few employees with no connection to any other employees.

9:56 PM - 4 eprops - 3 comments - email it

Friday, April 11, 2008

My window project is almost done! I worked on it a bit more yesterday afternoon and except for a second coat of paint in a few spots, the outside is pretty much complete:

Those wires used to lead to a fluorescent fixture that was mounted right outside the window to light up that stained glass portion...and then back into the house to the light above my sink. So for now I may just cover that box, or maybe I'll put a little light there so I can light up the patio at night while I'm standing at the kitchen window. I was really happy with how good I was able to patch the old wood siding where pieces had been cut around the window, or were missing altogether. Here's what an original window on the other side of my house looks like:

I'm going to see about getting a wood-framed storm window made to match the originals. I should be able to wrap things up on the inside tomorrow night or Sunday.

8:53 PM - 6 eprops - 4 comments - email it

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Stuff

B & B

Walkin' & Sittin' (Simple Pleasures)

The Inside Job