Life in Portland, 2008

Click on any of the little pictures to see it at normal size. Click on the '=0=' after the picture to see it in giant size (about 2 minutes to download on dialup connection and larger than screen size). This could be useful if you wanted to really look at one part of the picture or to make a print.

As I am unemploeed right now, I was able to staff the ReStore booth at the Clark College Volunteer Fair. It was run by Jody (above). This year it was in the main section of the Student Center and got a good deal of traffic. On Saturdays I often drive the ReStore truck pick up donations. I have always had great crews but for the last six months it has regularly Erin (shown here) and Matt. I really look forward to the chance to visit with them as we work. Erin mostly works as a temp to earn just enough to pay her bills and otherwise just involves her stuff she is more interested in. She is a long time Portland resident. Matt is newly arrived from Colorado and is an environmental engineer, now mostly working on municipal waste treatment facilities.	=0=
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Molly has left the ReStore and gone to Colorado (making it a fair trade I guess) to be with her boyfriend Jared. Jared had been a ReStore driver for a good while, but never found regular work in Portland and went back to Colorado where there were better oppotunities. November 1, 2008 was the Day of Dead and the day before Molly and Jared left (Jared came back to visit and help Molly move). They and there friends had a Day of the Dead party and this was the decoration we made. I only had my cell phone camera, but it was way cool.
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Above is a picture of Malia who is Molly's replacement. She is great, but we miss Molly too. I just learned that Tess is moving to Florida. Oh pooh! Also above is Tess using the forklift to unload the pallet of paints and such that we picked up at Metro. She is an island of calm and focus when she drives the forklift. Here is a picture of Jeff at the enhanced cash register at the ReStore (they put a roof above it so that they can heat it a little during the winter).	=0=
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In November 2008 I had an interview with VeriSign in Olympia, WA. I thought the interview went pretty well, but we will see how it turns out (there are lots of good candidates). Above is a picture of their office in Olympia which they hope to spin off as a separate company (it was separate about five years ago) that specializes in the circuit switched network (long distance voice phone calls). Later we had a major winter event with over a week of snow and ice. Also above you can see my car covered in snow. Also, my plants have been growing and growing and I had to move some out to the porch. I covered them in plastic which might have been enough in a normal winter, but I fear they are suffering with so much cold and ice. While I have been unemployeed, I have spent more time visiting prisons and working with Habitat for Humanity. I often visit with Joellen and Rick. On some weeks we have a Saturday evening program at OSP in Salem and then an afternoon program at Sheridan the next day. In that case, I sometimes just stay over at Joellen and Rick's house (shown below) in Dallas, OR. Also below is a picture of a stream and some wetlands behind there house along with a historic tannery, Muir and McDonald Leather Tannery started in 1863, which just recently was shut down.	=0=
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