This is the video from last year – still very cool… view it here: http://www.aroundmd.com/whitechristmas/
still a good one…
December 25th, 2009 · Uncategorized
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Merry Christmas 2009!
December 25th, 2009 · Uncategorized
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Goodbye Verizon Fios – Hello Clear!
November 10th, 2009 · Uncategorized
Verizon Fios has been our ISP since March of 2006. It has been very reliable, but when we received the notice last week that rates are increasing as of December 1st, we went looking for a new provider.
Clear wireless is finally available in our location, so we hooked up with a 48-hour trial. Faster download speeds than Fios, it works with Netflix streaming, and is cheaper. Plus, with their current promotion on the website, we get both home and mobile internet for one price – guaranteed for LIFE!
We like the idea of the provider not being able to raise the rates.
We recorded download speeds up to 10 mbps – wow!
As soon as the equipment arrives from Clear today – free shipping – we get to call Verizon Fios and tell them to come get their parasite equipment off our house.
Hooray!
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walking…
October 6th, 2009 · Uncategorized
about 2.5 miles this morning – walked for an hour.
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mailing book…
August 9th, 2009 · Uncategorized
tomorrow I mail a book to Wasilla Alaska. Nope, not to Sarah Palin. Not sure she reads.
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new TriMet trains
August 4th, 2009 · Uncategorized
from the Hard Drive blog on OregonLive.com
TriMet launches sleek Type 4 trains into regular service on Thursday
Posted by Joseph Rose, The Oregonian August 04, 2009 11:35AM
You may have already seen TriMet’s sleek, sparkling-clean “Type 4″ trains conducting test runs on the region’s MAX tracks, seemingly headed to somewhere in the future.
Well, the future is Thursday, when six of the 22 new trains will go into regular revenue service and start picking up passengers.
Mary Fetsch, a TriMet spokeswoman, said the six trains have have finished the rigorous 1,000-mile testing and burn-in phase required before entering service. The new trains were purchased as part of the MAX Green Line that opens September 12, but will operate throughout the MAX system, she said.
The train features an aerodynamic snub-nosed design that cuts a more 21st-century shape than the boxier old-school MAX trains. During the initial Type 4 test run in February, people walking out of storefronts and high rises downtown stopped in their tracks to watch the future of light rail approaching with a white-hot headlight.
Roomier and more energy efficient, the 191-foot trains are variations of light rail vehicles currently in operation in Houston, San Diego and Paris. They offer a smoother ride and more windows.
Compared to the typical Type 3 MAX trains, the Type 4 offers four more seats per vehicle for a total of 136 seats per two-car train. It also has a little more standing room with a design capacity of 344 for a two-car train, compared to 332 for the existing Type 3 trains.
Fetsch said the new trains will offer the same number of bike hooks for riders. “There are four hooks per car,” she said. “Plus, if no one in a mobility device is using the priority seating area, the bikes can go there.”
There’s only one operator cab per car compared to two cabs on existing MAX trains. The trains also feature a rearview camera system to enhance the rear field of vision for operators. The cameras include sensors that switch from color mode to black and white in low-light situations, offering increased visibility at night.
Manufactured by Siemens Transportation Systems, Inc. in Sacramento, Calif., each Type 4 vehicle costs about $3.75 million. A two-car train is seven feet longer than existing light rail vehicles, but weighs 11,000 pounds less.
Go to this handy TriMet site for information on all 127 MAX trains in service.
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Those new signs on the Sunset Hiway
August 3rd, 2009 · Uncategorized
They are white, with HM and a circle with a line through it.
Here is the explanation from Hard Drive in the Oregonian:
Sunset Highway commuter Michelle McNabb writes: “I’ve seen new signs on U.S. 26 eastbound into Portland. The signs read: ‘HM’ and then have a circle with a line through it. Any idea what the signs mean?”
A: “No Handlebar Mustaches?” “No Holding Milk?” Actually, the initials stand for hazardous materials. Basically, the Oregon Department of Transportation installed the signs as an extra reminder that explosive and toxic materials aren’t allowed between Oregon 217 and Interstate 405.
The idea is to keep them away from a possible catastrophe in the Vista Ridge Tunnel. Next time you enter the tunnel, take another gander at how many people live above it and how many drivers are using it — and you’ll understand why.
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product labels…
August 2nd, 2009 · oddities
just noticed on the tag on the sheets - “warm iron if desired”
um – no. I’m not even sure I still OWN an iron.
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August?
August 1st, 2009 · weather
August already? how is that possible? the summer is flying by.
Now if we could just break out of this infernal heat wave. Over 100 again today, forcast for the same tomorrow.
I’m melting.
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Oregonian Letter to the Editor, July 30, 2009
July 31st, 2009 · TriMet
Thank you , Katherine Dreyfus
Letters: Suffering, sarcasm in response to rising temps
Posted by Readers , July 29, 2009 8:00PM
Categories: Letters to the Editor
Print publication: Thursday, July 30, 2009
I am horrified to learn that TriMet is sending drivers out in buses without air conditioning on days when the outside temperature is in the neighborhood of 106 degrees Fahrenheit.
We all know the warnings against leaving our children or pets in such virtual cookers. And if there was any doubt, Wednesday’s Oregonian provides a recipe for baking cookies on the dashboard when the outside temperature is “at least 95 degrees.”
Yes, the air is moving — somewhat — in the buses. Yes, the passengers without underlying health conditions might not be at significant risk during a 20-minute ride.
But nothing justifies requiring workers to pull a four- or eight- or 10-hour shifts in these murderous conditions.
TriMet, please rethink this policy immediately. Please do not put these valued citizens’ lives at risk for one more day or one more hour.
KATHERINE DREYFUS
Southeast Portland
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