8 posts from August 2009

What a great weekend!  Since nothing is moving with our house (it's only a couple days behind schedule) we ran up to Eugene on Saturday.  We'd never been to their farmer's market, but we'd heard good things about it.

It was absoluteley amazing.  Three city blocks were cordoned off; one for arts and crafts, another for fruits and vegetables and another for prepared food.  The arts and crafts were neat, but nothing extraordinary.  The produce, however, was unparalleled.  Truckloads upon truckloads of fruits and vegetables that were on the stalk only hours earlier.  It felt like a European street fair or something; there were crowds of people swarming everywhere, and you had to shout at the booth's owner to get what you wanted.  Since we knew we were going to a farmer's market we made a separate "produce list" when making our grocery list and we literally got everything at the farmer's market - all the way down to the fresh goat cheese (feta) for a Mediteranean salad Dohnele made for dinner tonight!  Everything was soooo fresh, beautiful, flavorful and smelled teriffic!  Not to mention it was an absolute blast.  We were completely taken back by not only the diversity of food available, but the quantity!  It was more than just a few ears of corn and a few peaches; they had fresh fish from the coast and local, organic, grassfed beef!  A million types of tomatoes, corns, onions, potatoes...  The list literally goes on and on!  I would have taken more pictures, but everything is so fast paced!
We also ran into Todd and Casey there with their brand new baby whom we had been wanting to see since she was born a couple weeks ago.  So we all sat down and ate some Thai food in the "food block."  Scrumptious!  The last stop of the day was World Market where we managed to get ourselves really anxious to decorate our house.  So many neat ideas there!
Today we slept in a bit and then took off for a place I figured there'd be lots of blackberries ready for the picking.  I was right!  Tons of berries - literally weighting the bushes down in some cases.  We picked a couple gallons of berries and then decided we were too hot to pick any more, so we went swimming in nearby Miner Creek.  Emma had soooo much fun today.  She ate a ton of berries and had fun clambering over logs and wading in the creek

Tomorrow it's back to work.  Tomorrow is also the day we were supposed to close on the house.  Because of several minor appraisal issues, (the fault of the lender) that's been pushed back a couple days.  However, I imagine that sometime this week we'll be signing papers!

Earlier this week, I took some impressive (for better or worse) pictures while at work.  I was working in the Middle Creek Watershed conducting some stream cross sections and snapped some pictures of some gigantic clearcuts on private property.  The cuts open up the view a lot and you can really see a chronology of timber management; there are a few sticks of old growth (left on BLM land) and there are some old clearcuts, some new clearcuts and some really fresh clearcuts.  There's also a picture of Keith, a guy I work with, who found a great deer skull.  The guy was walking only 5 feet in front of me!  When we spotted it, he got so excited he dropped his equipment and said "WHOA!"  I thought for sure he had stepped on a bee hive or something!

Speaking of neat little creatures, I spotted my first rattlesnake in Oregon yesterday!  Myself, Keith and an engineer were standing on a big pile of rock waste from a bridge installation and I spotted the snake curcled up onter a rock.  It was early in the morning and it was cold and not moving fast.  We poked him a bit trying to get a good picture, but he just crawled off.  He was just a baby - only about 10 inches long.  He was so cold that even though his rattle was shaking it wasn't shaking fast enough to make the rattling noise.
Here's also a cute picture of Emma in a new sweater we bought her last weekend.  It was cool then (down into the upper 60s) and everyone was walking around with jackets on!

Honestly, how can anyone say that the current system (or lack thereof) is a good thing?!  What's so good about it?!  Let me count the ways:

1. most people don't have it
2. it's unaffordable to attain
3. you can be denied coverage at any time - even if you're a paying customer
4. you have little to no control about what benefits are afforded to you in a given medical situation
5. it's confusing
6. there's almost always a co-payment or some excuse as to why 100% coverage is never afforded
   
7. there's always a delay between the medical provider and the insurer
8. small businesses struggle to provide coverage to employees
9. it's always a losing financial prospect - unless you're a stockholder in an insurance company
10. many necessary medical procedures are not covered

The fact that hundreds of people are waiting in line for days for free medical work right now should say something to politicians and tax payers!  THE STATUS QUO IS BROKEN!!!  It may be good for business and profits, but it's not good for the consumer!

The broken status quo is also evident in opponents to Obama's proposed health care reform.  Instead of defending the status quo, critics are hell-bent on inventing lies and spreading untrue rumors about the reform.

I challenge you: give me one good reason why health care should not be reformed.  I'm not saying I support Obama's specific plan persay (in case you were wondering, I do support it), I just challenge you to give me one good reason why REFORM is a bad idea in the case of health care.

How can anyone in good conscience support anti-reformation of a system that systematically denies coverage to the underprivalleged in this country.

I have good health insurance for my entire family, but it's so cumbersome, confusing and frustrating that I try to never use it!  It's easier for me to have a chunk of my paycheck get flushed down the toilet every pay period then to try and battle hospital billing departments and health insurance providers.  It's not worth my time!

I can't stress enough that we all should urge our local representatives to support Obama's proposed health care reform!  If you want to know more about the proposed bill, HR 3200, click here.

• For those of you living in Oregon's 4th Congressional District, U.S. Representative DeFazio will be holding one of many townhall meetings at the Douglas County Fairgrounds on August 19th from 5pm - 6pm.  Be there!
  

Work this past week was good.  Nothing too exciting.  I did get a chance to go out and take a look at a recovering debris torrent which cut loose a few years ago.  The torrent (landslide) started on steep ground on private property following a clearcut.  The torrent then rushed 1,000 vertical feet (over 1 mile horizontally) through public land, took out a road and finally stopped on a private ranch where the ground levels out.  The slide scoured out about 30 vertical feet of debris and the path is still almost entirely bedrock!

Yesterday was a ton of fun...  We woke up early and drove down to Medford.  Emma had her three year old checkup which lasted an hour.  Emma hated the nurse, but was OK with her doctor whom she likes.  She's in the 50th
percentile for weight and 74th percentile for height.  In other words, she's tall and skinny and really adorable!

We stopped by the Sportsman's Warehouse to see if there were a pair of cheap Keen's for Dohnele, but there weren't so we drove down to Ashland and met up with our friend Jessy from Gold Hill.  It was supposed to be Jessy and her husband, Chris (whom I worked with in Medford), but Chris was out fighting fire.  We played around downtown Ashland for a while and then drove to the Paschal Winery in Talent.  None of us had ever been there before and it was pretty hoity-toity, but still fun - and tasty!

Then it was off to Costco and then to dinner at Kaleidescope Pizza which we had been to before (when we lived there).  Absoluteley scrumptious pizza!  We put down the "wild mushroom" and the "chicken picante" pizzas (actually there are still quite a bit of leftovers in the fridge).  We also had an oven-roasted head of garlic which was equally delicious and is something that we're going to have to duplicate!

After that we went over to Cold Stone Creamery where we had promised to take Emma if she behaved at the doctor's office.  We figured she had done alright, but mostly I just wanted a cream de menthe milkshake.  We said "bye" to Jessy, topped off our tanks with Costco gas and started the two hour drive back home.  Definitely worth the trip!

Today we woke up early again and drove to Roseburg for the farmer's market which he so enjoyed last week.  We got a ton of stuff; peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, garlic, lemon mint, chives and some homemade bread.

After the farmer's market we went to the Douglas County Fair which was in its last day of showing.  We had low expectation since the Jackson County Fair was so weak when we went to it a couple years ago.  However, this fair was really nice!  We (Emma) spent most of the time looking at cows, horses and pigs, but we also paid homage to the fair's food court which is a lovely, however expensive, indulgence of food that we normally don't eat (hand dipped corn dogs and fried bread).  Emma found out quickly that all she had to do was go up to a cowboy and state: "I want to pet a cow!"  Nobody turned her down and she had a blast petting them all.

After the fair we picked up a few essentials at the grocery store and then drove out to Sterken Farm that we visited last week.  This time around we knew where all the fruit and vegetables were located and we got some great stuff.  The purple plums had mostly passed their prime, but the yellow plums were amazing.  The nectarines, pears and apples were mostly still pretty hard, but the peaches were fantastic!  The figs are really starting to come in and we (Dohnele) went crazy picking them!  The corn is also coming in and we got a few ears for dinner (we're thinking about cooking them on the grill).  Finally, we got a bunch of carrots which Emma and Dohnele loved finding and picking.  All the produce is so amazingly good, it's hard to believe!  The guy in charge only asked for $11 for everything and we gave him $15, because we felt guilty!  We couldn't leave without visiting the goats which Emma fed corn husks to.
The last two days have been so much fun!!!  All these outdoors activities has given us all a bit of a sunburn - not bad - but just enough to feel still warm even after the sun has set!
Tomorrow we're thinking about going out and picking blackberries!  In the meantime I'm going to go eat some leftover pizza!

Another good move by the Obama Administration.  Start consolidating the most unproductive arm of the federal government.

The reasons I say this are two fold:

First of all, I think it's ridiculous that some communities with a population of ten have their own post office (I can think of at least two within 15 miles of Roseburg, OR).  What a waste!  If you want to live in the boondocks, you should be prepared to deal without a few necessities including daily mail service.  Unfortunately, of the approximately 1,000 post offices that are shutting down, almost all of them are redundant metropolitan locations which is fine too.  Close some unnecessary offices and then hire more employees where offices remain!

The second reason I think it's great that these post offices are closing is that it will make Americans think a bit harder about services that the government provides for its citizens.  All of this talk as of late referring to Obama as a socialist is so ridiculous and infuriating.  Let's shut down a few post offices and watch people start to squirm!  Go wait in a longer line or go pay an arm and a leg for FedEx or UPS.  Have fun with that!  Compliments of government reductions!  Unfortunately, the low and middle class of this country will face the greatest burden because of these reductions.  Rich shmucks will just get in their gas guzzling SUVs and drive with their A/C on to the other side of town to another post office.  And why do I think taxes should be higher on these rich folk?  Hmmmm...  Let me think!

Next, I think the DOT should take a year-long break from all work and see where we're all at after that!  Or maybe the BLM and USFS should take a break from firefighting.  I bet all those rich idiots living out in the woods and on top of mountains would be begging for taxpayer-subsidized fire fighting efforts then!  Dang hypocrites!

I also think that this warmer weather is making me cranky.  Time to go watch "The Simpsons"!  Have a nice night!

Can I just say that this plan of Obama's was ingenious?!  For more information on this plan, click here.

Think about it, it helps the environment, stimulates the economy, helps the automakers without direct government involvement (i.e. here's a blank check for GM, Ford...), helps unemployment just a tiny bit, but above all promotes capitalism!

This is a wonderful way to spend tax dollars, because the money ends up right back in the hands of the taxpayer.  And the best part about it, is that the people who stand to benefit the most from this program are those in the low and middle income brackets.  As consumer confidence builds through programs like this, the country gradually moves out of the recession.  Ingenious!!!  I for one hope that re-authorization of this plan continues - even at the cost of billions of dollars.

This should be a lesson to fiscal conservatives across the country...  The economy does not get stimulated from saving, but rather from spending and re-investing!

Let's compare: Bush brought (not single-handedly) the US economy to the lowest levels in nearly a century and Obama (not single-handedly) has brought the US economy to the best gains in two decades and he's only been in office seven months!  Imagine what he'll accomplish in the next seven years!!!  Ha, ha!  That's right, this guy is going to be around for two full terms and is going to do great things for us!

So the title pretty much sums up the whole week.  Dohnele and Emma caught a cute little frog hanging out in our basil which isn't surprising since it's been so long without rain, that what we water ourselves comprises the only wet area around!  They also got some great shots of deer eating grass in the backyard.

Yesterday we set the alarm and got up at the ridiculous hour of 8am - which on a weekend is unheard of in this household!  We had wanted to go to the Farmer's Market in Roseburg which happens once a week.  We hadn't ever been before and I had low expectations, but it was a great experience.  Tons of fresh fruit and vegetables all grown here in the Land of the Umpqua!  We bought some yellow tomatoes, homemade bread, a Big Daddy Sweet onion, carrots, honeycomb, sunflower sprouts, nectarines, peaches and some plums.  The stuff was so delicious that we ate most of it for breakfast.  Something about eating sun-warmed tomatoes that were on the vine only hours before is really fun!
We were so inspired by all this readily available, delicious and cheap produce that we drove out to [aptly named] Garden Valley to a U-Pick farm.  Much smaller than their commercial counterparts, these small mom-and-pop farms cater to the consume who come out and picks the fruit for personal use.  It's great!  This sweet old man gave us a bucket and walked us across every inch of his property showing us all the different types of fruit trees he had and insisted on having us try one of each.  We were soooo full from eating peaches, nectarines and figs!  But in any case, we picked a bucket full of pears, plums, peaches, nectarines, figs and mullberries for which we were only charged 50 cents a pound.  And he rounded down.  So for one whole bucket he only asked for $3.  I gave hime $5 and still felt poorly about it!  We also picked up some freshly steamed cherry, pear, peach, plum, apple and Asian pear juice and a jar of pear jam all for another $12.  The guy was so nice that he insisted on giving us a tour of the livestock part of the farm as well.  Emma was thrilled about seeing all the goats, chicken, turkey and ducks and didn't want to leave.  Finally we pealed ourselves away (we'll be back next week) and went home to play in the sprinkler.  We didn't stay outside too long since it was so smoky out, however.
We did re-emerge for a bit to take pictures of me in my new uniform!  I'm a little disappointed, because the uniform no longer comes with the American flag on the opposite shoulder.  Plus, the pants are so thick and heavy they feel like they could double as snow pants.  And on top of it all half the material is polyester, so it's just hot, thick and sticky to wear.  I'll probably go find myself a pair of chocolate-colored Dockers or something.  But the shirt is cool...  I got this one and a long-sleeved version for winter.  Also note the name badge!  All of this excitement comes on the heals of receiving a new (going back to the old) land management plan.  Here's an article explaining the situation.  Keep in mind that the article is from an incredibly liberal source and should be read with a grain of salt.  I was actually looking forward to working with the new land management plan (it's acronym, Western Oregon Plan Revision, aside) which would have governed BLM timber lands in western Oregon, but it was not to be.
All this smoke in the air has made for some wildly colored sunrises and sunsets, but none quite as interesting as what we saw last night.  All of a sudden it was like the world had a yellow filter placed on it.  And then these weird clouds formed that of course got more and more dramatic as the sun set lower and lower.

Today we slept in until noon to make up for lost time and are just puttering around the house.  The A/C will probably come on in a little bit as it's already 100 degrees outsite.  Sprinklers here we come.  Dohnele made yogurt panna cotta this afternoon which is a scrumptious little treat and tonight I'm making basil-lime smoothies; a new recipe we have yet to try out.

Oh my gosh, we can hardly wait to move into our new house!  The more we think about it and the longer we wait, the harder it gets!  The seller's are fixing the leaky drain and in the mean time we're just waiting to get the appraisal done on the house.  Only a couple weeks left until closing!!!