Tag: Work

Categories
Travel Work

Edgefield & Manzanita

Way behind on my blogging duties again, so here goes…

April 20, 2009 – Last week my company sent the engineering team out to McMenamins Edgefield for the day as our reward for all our hard work on the latest successful software release. We met out there on a beautiful sunny Monday morning, were given food, beer and (for those who wanted) golfing, cigars, and then more food. One of the highlights for me was the rental of five Segways for us to scoot around the property with. Despite how dorky of a toy they are, they were quite a lot of fun to ride around on. Especially once we figured out how to disable the speed governor. I got a bit of a sunburn that day.

April 25-26 – This last Saturday Kelly and I drove to the coast to stay with friends at a rental house in Manzanita. I’d never been there before, and it’s a pretty nice spot and the beach is great (a 4+ mile stretch of a long sandy beach, the southern half of which edges along Nehalem Bay State Park). Had a great time, even though we were only there for one night. On Sunday Kelly and I took a long walk down the beach (my goal was to reach the end of the cape). We got 3 miles down, realized we had another mile or so to go, and decided to turn back. Great beach, and a great time. More photos in my gallery.

Other than the above bits of goodness, been continuing my yardwork (the lawn is finally growing in, though still not as full as I’d hoped) and keeping hard at work (up till 1:30am last night trying to get some designs wrapped up). That’s all for now.

Categories
Beer Food Television Work

Leverage, Lolo, Lompoc

After the KABOOM on Wednesday, Kelly and I saw a bit more Leverage filming Thursday on our way to work. They were filming outside the US Bank on Broadway. Nothing too exciting, loads of people, filming gear, etc, but I caught a glimpse of two of the actors I recognized from what little I’ve seen of the show (Christian Kane and Aldis Hodge).

Yesterday after work Kelly and I went to a tapas restaurant near our house for dinner called Lolo for dinner. Good food, good service, and a good atmosphere. Granted, it wasn’t massively busy (it was a Thursday after all) but the happy hour prices are worth the visit alone.

Today I worked from home since I needed to take Kelly and one of her coworkers to the airport at 10am. During the day a friend arranged a meet-up at the New Old Lompoc on NE Williams for some after-work drinks. I decided to walk the 3.25 miles there to get a bit of exercise in. After a couple beers and some good conversation with friends, I hit the streets for the walk home. Good amount of walking. My feets are now sore. Good thing I have Guinness on tap to help soothe the pain. đŸ™‚

Categories
News Television Work

The sudden ‘KABOOM’

While at the office today, I think I found Marvin the Martian’s KABOOM.

There I was, sitting at my desk working away in peace and quiet, when suddenly came a very loud and earth shaking explosion somewhere nearby. The east-facing windows were instantly lined with coworkers, watching a tall stream of black smoke that was steadily rising a couple blocks away. About a minute later, white vapor and then nothing.

Then I recalled what some coworkers had said earlier in the day; there was some kind of filming going on at the corner of Burnside and Broadway. A-ha! (and whew)

I later learned that the hubbub was apparently for the TNT show Leverage, which recently moved it’s production to Portland. It’s a pretty decent show actually, and now I’m kind of excited to watch some episodes filmed in and around my hometown. Including the one with the KABOOM.

Categories
Beer Technology Work

Guinness. Yes, again.

Well, I went and did it. I got yet another keg of Guinness. I know I’ve said it before, but I swear this is the last one. I swear! Honest!

Looking through my blog, it appears I’ve been pouring Guinness from my kegerator since October. I think it’s been 6 kegs (roughly one per month), with several little gatherings and nights with friends to help me polish each of ’em off. Worth every penny.

I debated getting Trumer Pils or Amstel Light, but the weather just isn’t quite warm enough yet to warrant such summery beers. Though I suspect that by the time this keg of Guinness runs dry, it’ll be about that time.

Ă˜ther news: Work is keeping me busy

Ă˜ther øther news: Yardwork is coming along, the place is starting to look somewhat decent again. Still a lot to do, but it’s getting there. I’ve also continued my picture scanning extravaganza with my new scanner. Being able to scan negatives rocks, and makes the process so much faster. That’s about it for now.

Categories
Beer Food Work

Henry’s, Montage, Mash, Thatch and Rose

It’s been a crazy weekend so far.

Yesterday, to celebrate the end of a busy week at the work, I joined a few coworkers at Henry’s Tavern for some happy hour drinks and grub.

Later last night, Kelly and I met up with several friends at the Montage for dinner. The primary reason for the dinner was to meet up with our friend C, who was in town from New Jersey looking at some houses here in Portland (looking to move back after spending several years on the east coast). I hadn’t been to the Montage in many years, but their spicy mac & cheese is still utterly nummerific. The portion was quite small (smaller than I remember), but that’s probably a good thing, considering I could easily eat my weight of the stuff, and then die from a heart-attack. It would, however, be a very happy death.

C stayed with us last night and left early this morning (shortly after Kelly, who sadly had to work today). After the house was emptied, I sat and sipped coffee, tried to get caught up on all my blog reading, and played a bit of Call of Duty 4. At around 1pm I took advantage of the sunny (if cold) day and got a 2+ mile walk in, just wandering around the neighborhood. Felt pretty good to just get out in the sun for a bit.

Tonight Kelly and I had dinner plans with our friends Jason and Jen. Prior to meeting them we stopped in the Mash Tun for a beer. I hadn’t been there for a few months, and they redecorated the inside. It looks very nice, and it’s much more warm and inviting than the warehouse feel it had before. Plus, when we were there it was very empty and mellow, which suited my mood.

We met up with J & J at a tiki bar called Thatch at 7pm. Tiki bars aren’t typically my ‘thing’, as they tend to be places for fufu drinks and a brand of kitsch that I don’t typically find appealing, but this place (despite the street-side appearance) was pretty fun. It had a cozy and ‘warm’ feeling, with the right music and food options that made it feel like an escape from the usual (which is, I suppose, a must for any themed bar/restaurant). I will say, however, that the service was less-than-warm (the server seemed a bit ‘too cool for school’ and at one point was kind of rude to Kelly, which automatically made me hate the wench), and the food was pretty spendy for the portions. However, overall, it was a good time.

After leaving Thatch, the four of us headed down the street to the Rose & Thistle for another round of drinks and some more grub.

Had a good couple nights out. Now, if only I could spend tomorrow in solitude, but alas, we have dinner plans with my folks. Oh well.