I worked in the library at both colleges I attended for undergraduate work. UMass is pretty persistent in the fundraising, despite the fact that I only made one donation once, to the history department. It was weird to see the tagline “Happiness is…a job at the library.”
Yes it is, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to give you any money.
The Friday Project this week was hemming two pair of new pants I bought. I found great tutorials here and here. I also took up the shoulders in a shirt I purchased. 
It’s hot, especially for Portland. If I can keep the heat out, our house is pretty okay. Here’s how I attempted to keep it at bay.
This is the only south-facing window in our house. If I close the curtains, it helps a lot. Antares doesn’t mind the heat, though. He will happily sleep on the sunny side of the curtain. 
Why heat up the big oven to cook your pie crust, when you can instead use your toaster oven? 
Laundry! Dried outside. In about 10 minutes. I washed ALL of my bedding. 
“What is this place?” I wondered as I wandered by. Not having to be anywhere at any time, I checked it out. 
Ah, it’s one of those places that takes a big space and then makes smaller spaces available to small businesses. These seem to be a very 80s concept to me.
I enjoyed looking at the different businesses and stopped in the restaurant to have a sandwich before heading home.
There was a deli counter and also a bar. I was offered a free Keno play, which I took. It was not a winner. (Surprise!)
My egg salad sandwich and water. 
I stopped in the bathroom on the way out and was interested to see this random room of antiques in the hallway near the bathrooms. There wasn’t a sign telling me what it was and there wasn’t a person to ask.
For some time now I’ve wanted to crunch the numbers on this equation. The avocado on the left costs $1.25. The one on the right costs $0.99. Let’s break this down. 
Here we can see that the pits are similarly sized.
The large is 2.75 ounces bigger than the small.
Overall, the large avocado gives us 6.5 ounces for $1.25, while the small gives us 4 ounces for $0.99.
Crunching the numbers: Large is $0.19/oz
Small is: $0.25/oz.
Large is the better deal.
However, I also conducted a taste test, and I liked the taste of the smaller avocado better. Someday I should do a blind taste test.
Matt participated in the Rugged Maniac at Portland International Raceway. As that location is close to our house, we walked. Here are some things I saw.
Interstate Ave north of Argyle is experiencing road construction. This here is a new sidewalk added to the viaduct. I was interested to note the random fencing that is nowhere else along this section of sidewalk. My guess is that some sort of law says it has to be above rail road tracks, to keep shenanigans to a minimum.
Along this walk is a junk place. With some butterfly bush looking pretty. Butterfly Bush is classified as invasive, but I do appreciate how pretty it is as it takes over.
Cacophony of junk. 
From one point on the sidewalk you can see two mountains. Here is St. Helens, with a topper of electric wire.
And here is Mt. Hood with a swallow cooperating with me and agreeing to be in my picture. It only took 10 or so tries. 
Did Ramod send her packing, or did she leave on her own? Either way, Ramod wasn’t into shelling out for a new sign.
I already had a basic sketch of when we would be where. Now I know where we will stay in our travels outside of Minneapolis. And I have interesting things marked onto index cards in the towns we will travel through. It’s time to get excited about vacation!
Think about it. Every stop in the metro area has at least a piece of paper saying what routes service the stop and the stop ID number. Bigger stops have a full poster including bus schedules for all routes. Train stops and some transit centers have multiple posters with schedules. Who are the people who are always making sure these are up-to-date? Today, I caught a picture of one of them.
I’ve long enjoyed walking past this lot at 1536 N Schofield St. It’s a little bit overgrown, but has some great mature trees on it. Portland Maps tells me it’s currently owned by the Frank A Morse Family Trust and was purchased for $22,500 in 1997. If I wanted to buy it and keep it a fun little hideaway, I’d have to pony up $210,000. I just ran some mortgage numbers and with a $5000.00 down payment and a 15 year fixed rate mortgage, I would have to pay $1900.00 per month. So I’m guessing this will be a large infill house very soon.
Ooooooooo! I said as I caught my first glimpse of the stucco siding. So pretty! And it will look great against the grey skies of winter. Assuming it ever rains again in Portland, Oregon.
The other thing I have noticed is that all the windows have been installed except for this set. I assume they are leaving them open for easier access.
