QE's Babble
News, Blather & Yap

The Portland Trials

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September 30, 2000 11:22 PM

The end of the story...
So today I moved into my new apartment. Its right next door to Po, a nice big 2 bedroom apartment, tons of closet space, dishwasher...all for $525....$200 less than I was paying for my 1-bedroom in Arlington. Still getting a kick out of my job. It gets a little slow and boring from time to time, but the odd thing is that I always find myself leaving at the end of the day with a smile, and I still get a kick out of the thought that they're really paying me for this stuph. The most amazing thing is that, for once, I don't feel some overwhealming feeling of dread every Sunday night.
So, a little over 3 months ago, I left DC. From unemployment and eviction to a great job and sweet apartment. Has it all been worth it? Probably, considering moving to Portland was only one out of a very few ways out of the position I had put myself in. I still think about going across the street and having a game of vodka shot pokemon monopoly with Nut, though, still miss playing a game of bumper pool with Henry over at the Holiday Inn, still miss Gabriel asking me to play a game of Mario Bros again. But, I guess in the end, life's about change huh?
I remember, ages ago, back when I was workin' up in Burlington Vermont, a woman came into where I was working and started to talk with me. Turns out she was visiting from California, and one of the things that amazed her so much was the older buildings around. "You guys have so much history out here" she said. Meanwhile, out here, I keep getting to talk with the property manager for the apartments here...he keeps telling me of when he was younger and a bit of a beat, hi stories of playing keyboards in a band, when his kids were growing up and now his grandchildren. All kinds of stories. Its just kinda struck me that in the east, the buildings had the history, here the people do.
OTOH, don't get me wrong, I love Portland, but I'll always be a yankee at heart.
Probably appropriate, considering the city was almost named Boston. :)

September 9, 2000 2:44 AM

As many of you who have ever talked to me online probably know, I seldom, if ever roflmao. Its fairly undignified and unsightly frankly. When I ran across this site though, I was pretty darn close though...at least giggling uproarously...

Tamagothi

cleeeck
Obviously someone who's a little too into animated gifs....when you're done with that giggle-fest, check out the Punkemon homepage, and then go download yerself a real live beta version of the Tamagothi here. You KNOW Danny Ash has a copy....SO SHOULD YOU!!!
September 7, 2000 9:43 PM

Alright, I have now been an official real-life web designer (well..."web producer" actually) so I'm thinking that's enough creds to really start letting the rants fly....and, so:

  • Adopey PhotoCrud
    God what a steaming pile of bloody, mucousey bile. AHH!!! I hates it and it hates me. Its funny, because before I got this job I was a little worried about PhotoCrud since I really hadn't used it to any major extent before. PFFFFT. What absolute shit it is. The features are limited, the jpg compression is atrocious, and its got a fnucking MAC interface fer chrissakes. Really not bringing my hate of Macs to bare hear, just saying, ferjebus'sake kids....designing a UI isn't all that fucking tough....if you're going to bring a piece of software to a certain platform, use the damn standard UI interface....don't design Mac things for Windoze or vice versa for that matter. Put a little pride in your work....shee.
  • Innerned Icksploder
    Ok, this is only currently a single issue gripe, but, man, is it pissing me off. So MS is actually finally putting out a half-way worthwhile product, and what do they do?? Change the fucking color-handling scheme. Oh, fucking brilliant kids. No....no-one will notice that shit. Boobs.
  • Netscab (aka Mozillacrapshit)
    What the fuck??? That is seriously all I can really say about this piece of ofal. What the FUCK are people doing still using this absolute dung pile??? And don't give me this bullshit about open-source, free BS....its fucking owned by AOL, ok kids?? You KNOW they have Punk Walrus working on it. Even the W3 is calling it a piece of crap these days. Grow up!!! Quit your little MS bitch fest and start using IE, or AT LEAST Oprah....time to die Netscape.
  • Redhead
    Whoops....this isn't actually part of the rant...just noticed that Red mentioned she's taking advanced html classes....sweet. Got me to wondering which one of us is gonna get to be the CSS Queen first. :) We don't really do classes at my office....more of a case of "don't know cold fusion?...eh, ok, learn....by tomorrow....". Actually, despite how that may sound, its the way I tend to prefer it...for some reason I just don't really do well in classes. (*shurg*).
Anyway.....'nuff bitchin' from me. Coolness....I actually had someone I did not know complement me on this site from out of the blue. Heyas Kristy! Left coast peoples have good taste. :)
September 4, 2000 12:52 PM

"Queer Night" at Club Ohm is very un-queer.
Yeah, went out on the town last night on my own. Not much of one to typically go out to bars on my own, but I figured it was high time to get out and really explore Portland. So, Club Ohm has been boasting a queer night on Sundays and I figured, hey, got Monday off, why not? About the queerest folks there was a gaggle of butch dykes holding court and not talking to anyone, and desperate to relive Leslie Feinberg's "Stone Butch Blues". (*shurg*) Overall though, had a fairly good time, got talked up by one chyck who ended up leaving with a bunch of frat boys (they're all rats and super-rats) but, eh, good for me getting out and about.

Y'know....I still catch myself gigling to myself from time to time thinking: "I still can't believe they're paying me for this." Ha. I mean, it is a job and gets boring from time to time, but, pff....its doing about the same thing I'd be doing at home anyway...just different sites.
August 25, 2000 12:06 AM

Farewell Henry V...we hardly knew ye...

When womyn become The Man: Two ironic supporters of the "don't ask don't tell" policy, the US Army and the Michigan Womyn's Festival (sorry, couldn't find the original to the article).
Other than that....not much new, after all, I'm a workin' stiff now. The job's going real well. The other night I found myself thinking on my way home "I can't believe they pay me for doing this....suckers." :) Its not a ton of fun, its a job after all, but it is a kick-ass cool job. We're discovering that Po has one comparitively cushy-ass office. Not that my office is a dump or anything, but web-devs aren't all martinis and nerf guns. Actually, I'm kinda into the fact that my "desk" is one of those fold-out conference tables...I always kind of like the "rustic geek" style.
August 21, 2000 9:42 PM

I got to see my first, like, real live like rad valley girls today....like reeeeally!!!
I swear, I joked about this before I moved out here because I honestly believed these creatures went extinct somewhere around 1987...but no, two prime specimens sitting directly behind me on the bus....
"Do you, like, like Ziggy Stardust?"
"No...I like never really like listened to him...is he, like, classic?"
"No...he's like, glam-like"
"Like....rad."

Really....I'm not foolin'. I got to snicker at this for about 30 blocks growing more and more incredulous....little did I know that what will undoubtedly remain one of the best overheard non-sequiters of my life was yet to come...

"Like...I don't like, like going to bars just to drink. Like, there's the karaioke too..."

So how was my day today??? What can I say? I'm a hired geek (one of the friendlies). :)
August 14, 2000 2:48 PM

(*sigh*)
After all this....8 friggin' months of unemployment...moving all the way across the country...worrying....bugging everyone I know...going through hell and back just to find a job...all I can say is:

I WIN!!!!!! =)

Yes....I got a job. No, I didn't get just any job, I got the kr@d-way-cool job. Yes, I am finally a 100% official web developer, officially working for Inherent.com....eh heh heh heh heh. Wheeeee!!! Yes, this is essentially the job I've been waiting for for about 5 years now. Yes!!!

And yes, also there's a LOT of people I owe tons of thanks too....obviously everyone at Crunchland...Peanut and Henry for puttin' up with me and all the words of encouragement, but very very most importantly, Po for taking a chance and shipping my ass out here. Thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you all!!!!!!

And yes.....I *am* happy.

August 8, 2000 1:12 PM

Update:
Just got a postcard from the aforementioned temp agency in the mail reading:

Dear Applicant:
Thank you for applying for employment with (-Name of Company-).
We do not have an appropriate assignment available. We encourage you to apply with other services.
[emphasis added]

Boy, if that's not a "kindly fuck-off" message. First time I've ever been rejected by a temp agency. "Dear Temp Agency: Kindly consider investing in some couth."

WTF? When the hell did I become such an employee pariah?? I have sterling references...granted, I may not have the total soopah-krad-m@d-web-sk1llz that some people are looking for, but this is temping fer chrissakes...I've had 7 years of experience putting MS Office to every kind of use imagineable. I was a fucking Research Associate for a leading investment consulting firm and they don't think I can do office work?????

August 8, 2000 11:05 AM

Well, I have attained gainful employment....well, sort of. Its just a weekend job at Mailboxes, Etc., but, fuck, its a positive cashflow. Odd as it may seem, it'll be nice to get back to workin' (that'll last about a week, I'm sure). Anyway, not that exciting, but at least this week is already starting to look a lot better than the past two. Got a grade A rejection last week from a software company that Po was helping me out with, that went something like this:

Me: Well, my PERL skills aren't necessarily that strong...
Lead Web Developer: No, no, that's ok...what we really need is someone good at hand coding HTML.
Me: Oh, ok, I'll send you my resume...
(one week silence)
HR Person: We're looking for someone with good HTML skills and maybe some basic knowledge of PERL.
Me: Ok, I'll send you my resume.
(later) HR Person: I talked to our web developer and what we're really looking for is someone with very strong PERL skills.

Pffft.....what-ever.

Oh well, it was kinda fun for awhile because Po's contact in the company is the CIO so I got to feel all important when I called in....y'know "oh, yeah, I was talking to so-an-so the other day, y'know....THE CIO OF YOUR COMPANY??"

Giggle of the day:
Bartender
F/T Nights/Wknds. Exp. Req'd.
Apply 2-4PM
Drug Screen Required


(*snort*) Everyone catch the irony?
It is a bit depressing, actually. For such a very cool town, Portland employers are absolutely obsessed with drug screening. I'm sure everyone around here has heard me rant on endlessly about that subject, so I probably don't really need to go into it. Its really hit me with some ethical dilemmas though while job searching. On the one hand, I can easily pass the damn thing and I really really really need a job. On the other, drug screening is a major violation of ethics in my little world view. I mean, Gateway Computers requires drug screens of their sales people....WTF??? What the hell are they afraid of? That someone will come to work stoned and spend the whole day staring at the screensaver?? Gateway sux0rz. I also had an interview at a temp agency last week where I had to sign over permission for them to do a drug screen if required, as well as a credit check. Then they made you take a "personality test" that essentially consisted of questions about what illegal drugs you use, if you steal office supplies, if you get in fights at work, and more questions about what illegal drugs you are using. I had about 5 separate times that I was just on the verge of walking out. All that for $10-$14 and hour? I don't think so. Note to Portland employers: cut out the paranoia trip, its seriously unbecoming.
I've been getting really into mp3.com lately for some reason. I dunno, I just really like the whole idea. The "you can listen to your music on any computer" side of it is just kinda, eh, for me, but the side of promoting and providing a distribution network to independent bands is very cool IMHO. Granted, you have to wade through a lot of half-wit bar bands (actually, that part sort of reminded me of working in college radio when we'd get stacks of promo albums from record labels...oddly enough we had to wade through TONS more shit sent in by established labels than I do on mp3.com), but its cool when you find a gem or a little oddity. And, hey, the bands sell their full albums for only $5-$8. "Course, the only problem is that I have a hard time getting the time to really give a lot of it a proper listen since my computer hangs whenever I try to run music and a browser at the same time. What'd be way cool is if I had a burner....and dammit, I'm gonna get one as soon as the price comes down to $10!!!

My current fave is an Australian band called "Poets of the Machine", who, unfortunately only have one song: "Mayakovsky". It does kinda fall flat in spots, but the backup chant of "oo-ess-ess-ah" kinda gets under your skin after awhile.
Wow....long entry....(*shurg*)
August 1, 2000 10:56 PM

Its one thing to have weird dreams.
Its another to have weird dreams of being drunk or on drugs.
Its an entirely different thing to have a weird dream that you and Henry V are on acid, hanging out in some NY/Philadelphia type place with people like Peanut, Red, Johnny, & Gigi...oh and the vampire from your last dream....and the lead singer of the band seems to know you even though you have no idea who she is...and then you have a remote control car that's a real car and you run it too fast and crack it up in the middle of the street and need to sneak away before the cops get there...(because you're on acid, remember?)
Entirely different.

Thanks mucho much Red for the free advertising! :)
July 27, 2000 1:28 PM

If you haven't caught up with the latest saga of life in a near-life....well, its here. Yes its all true, yes I was there, yes I spilled a full pint of beer (I was drinking Pabst...a certain amount of stumbling and clumsiness is to be expected).
Anyway, I did want to note that someone reading this account may have gotten the impression that I spent the entire evening oggling Po and his new squeezable smooching away all night...this is not the case! (ok, it was for a little bit, but that's only 'cause everyone else in the bar had gone home!!) For the most part I left them alone to get better acquainted while I pestered all of the musicians demanding to know WHY they hadn't played "Queen Elvis", WHO had put them up to not playing it, WHAT part they had in this little conspiracy to never properly HONOR the Queen, which undoubtedly originated from the Robyn himself.
On the whole though, the show was excellent. Really talented singers and musicians, some phenomenal renditions of "Raining Twilight Coast", "Madonna of the Wasps", "Serpent at the Gates of Wisdom", and even "Uncorrected Personality Traits". Portland music rocks.
Oh, and Po got smooches. :)

July 26, 2000 12:17 AM

Launched!!!
Yep, Fuzzygender.com has launched (well, ok, its not quite "fuzzygender.com"...though the domain has been registered....working on getting on an independent server....anyway), my very own little piece of the web where, damn it, I'm in control now!!!! :) Anyway, if you haven't taken a look at it yet, its a community/weblog sort of site geared to discussions and news about gender (and the transgendered) in society, philosophy, yadda yadda ya...etc etc. And yes, anyone and everyone is welcome to participate. (Disclaimer: I am, of course completely lying about this, since we all know there are no other BBSs besides Crunchland....)

Actually, that isn't even the first site I've technically launched since getting out here to Portland. There's also my portfolio site with all kinds of goodies on it. Basically, one of my interviewers was interested in seeing some of my other work (like the mega-pika-flash movie) so I had to toss tons of stuph up on the web within about 2 days. As you can see I've been a bizzy bizzy bizzy little QE....
Two down...two to go...
July 16, 2000 3:56 PM

The time has come, I think, for a complete re-apraisal of my fears. They're weighing me down.

Went to Sea (part of SeaTac...if you want to be k-rad in the PacNW you gotta refer to your town by the airport call letters...ie, me and Po live in PDX...just to clarify for all you back in the WAS-BWI area...) this weekend. Cool town. Think I gotta stop visiting places on the weekend though, seems to give me an impression of the place being far more hip than it tends to be on the weekdays (at least that's what I found with Portland...mebbe Seattle really is that hip). Got to meet the illustrious Thantos, a very very cool individual. Definitely someone who can be trusted when the revolution comes. Got to have a delectable Breakfast Burger (1/3lb ground beef, ham, egg, am. cheese, bacon, & mayo) and see all the various fabled items of Seattle. Despite my warning to Po ("we can't stop here, this is Gates country") we did stop and had a rockin good time. Thanks again to Derrek & L^2, our hosts with the mosts and Thantos for the yum breakie and the concert!
Good god....is it the 16th already?? Phoo. I keep getting The Fear about not having a job yet. Po, bless his soul, has been extremely supportive and usually shurgs and says "usually takes at least a month". Yah....I know, I just think I would've been ready to kick me out by now. :)
Visited some channels on Undernet last night for no apparent good reason. Jeeb, those people continue to be the most catty, unfriendly bunch of sux0rz. Pfft, screw 'em.
July 11, 2000 2:42 PM

l33t p0k3pr0n!!!!2!

Apologies are probably due for my laziness in updating lately, but the Great Job Search has had me scrambling lately, not to mention working on 2-3 new sites (more on that later), trying to find the win32 version of mySQL, playing with Flash 4, and trying to help Po decompress during these dark Checkpoint days (apparently consuming his vodka isn't the way to do this...d'oh!). Not much else, have some promising job leads coming up soon. Been some mighty mighty dismal gray Portland mornings lately....which clear up around 10am into lovely sunniness with high temps in the low 80s....jealous? You know you are. :)
July 5, 2000 8:42 PM

That's right.....get cranky and get results goddammit!! Finally got my first phone call today at about 4. Granted, it was just a recruiter looking to pick me up, but hell, it was something!

Now all I gotta do is stress out until the interview on Friday.....

BTW Henry....thanks for the encouragement....definitely helped.

July 5, 2000 11:38 AM

And the stress begins to return....
Kinda interesting having sceriosis...sort of like one of those stick-on thermometers except this measures the stress of the system. No where near as bad as before but definitely poking its ugly little neck up again.
Not that its any big suprise...stressing out over employment as usual. Why yes, officer, of course I will take advantage of a $50 pager account that no employer will bother using to give me a call. Geez, did I miss something or did I accidentally put "have horrid, highly-contageous, flesh-eating bacteria" on my resume? Ok, maybe I'm just getting way too impatient, but a little call, a little nibble of interest would be nice here or there.

No no. Calm down. Learn to like losing.

July 1, 2000 12:34 PM

Five disc cd player...loaded with Bjork "Debut", Grateful Dead "Aoxomoxoa", Robyn Hitchcock "Eye", No Doubt "Tragic Kingdom", Oranj Symphonette plays Mancini, and set on full random. What does it play first? "Queen Elvis". Coincidence? Special message from Robyn?? Fuck if I know.

Still digging Portland. The other day I found (and applied to) a job ad for web design at Dark Horse Comics which has just been tickling me. The only "fun" type of place I ever really found to apply to in DC was The Motley Fool...which wasn't all *that* much fun...working for a comic book company would just be cool.
Portland doesn't seem to be quite as full of freaks as I originally thought (still tons more than DC though). One thing I've noticed though, is that the freaks seem to have been pretty much accepted by the larger population. Very few people seem to give you a second look if you look or dress somewhat different. Definitely can appreciate that.
In the words of Doc Gonzo "ee-heh-hee-hee"
June 27, 2000 5:27 PM

Ok....finally updated and all typed up. And that was the trip. Will be getting the pictures developed and posted as soon as possible.

I'm finally settling down to the fact that I really am in Portland...really somewhere other than DC. I've been doing a lot of thinking today about the concept of "its the person not the place" and, well, I think its the place (and the person) in this instance. So far Portland just seems like a huge relief after DC (except for Crunchland). Portlanders just seem to have a lot of "style" to them...granted, pretty varied, from redneck to goth to punk to yupp, but shee, shore beats DC's 90% yupp population (except for Crunchland). I dunno....but so far I just have a vague feeling of being very comfortable here...something I never really felt 100% in DC...except, of course, when with Crunchland.
Simpson streets found so far (mostly through Po):
Quimby St
Lovejoy St
Flanders St
Greenleaf Terrace
Terwilliger Blvd
Simpson St
Carl St
June 26, 2000 1:30 PM Portland, OR

Gah, Portland's a big-ass city. Been spending the morning trying to get some bearings on the city. Walked so far from Po's to attempt to get downtown. Made it down to the river...60 blocks and still not really downtown (though within city limits the whole time). Though, hm, guess there is parts of DC like that too....not so different from trying to get from Glover Park to the White House. Lots of used book stores, thrift shops, bars, and coffee shops. No banks.

Totally miss everyone from Crunchland...thanks so much to everyone who came out for the happy hour. You guys have all made living in DC totally worthwhile.
Note to Henry: Found at a place called Niki's--1/3 pound hamburger, cheese, ham, egg (with Mayo). The Good Morning Burger? This is Groening's city after all.....
June 24, 2000 8:00 AM Outside of Portland

Not sure if I'm heading into the final 2nd, 3rd, or 4th hour on this thing...they really don't tend to like to announce how late they're running. Figured I'd take this time to do a little reflecting....

(a) If I never again hear the old guy behind me bitch about how late we are, or his knife, or his sneakers...too soon for me.

(b) All of America can be represented by a game. Washington and Oregon definitely have a Half-Life palatte going on, as does West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Minnesota is definitely Unreal...lots of greens, blues, and purples. The rockies and Montana somewhat Q2. North Dakota--pure Daikatana.

(c) What's the score here? What's next?

(d) The rockies were pretty cool but, eh, there was something awfully "egotistical" about them. Yah, sure, they're bigger and all, etc....the Appalacians are older though.

(e) I could really get into having a beer....mmmm, beer.

(f) The world does appear to be at least partially round. Didn't fall off the edge anywhere. Though one would certainly doubt roundness in North Dakota.

(g) I think I did spot 2 beefalos in Montana. Two big, orange fuzzy cows. Not 100% sure and they went by too quick to get a photo. People on the other side of the train got all excited when they saw a bear through the Rockies....pfft, bear.

(h) People in Portland share. Well, maybe not, but the guy I've been sitting next to shared his breakfast with me which was kinda cool of him. Mmmmm.....ham.

Overall, the final observation is that I don't think I'd do this again without going first class. Then again, I probably still wouldn't be happy since I prefer a daily shower. Maybe if it was a train going across Australia...hmmm.

June 24, 2000 7:11 AM Washington

And I wake up...in Washington. Thought for a bit that I might be in Oregon by now, but turns out the train follows the Washington side of the Columbia all the way until Portland. So I won't actually be in Oregon til I'm in Portland also.

Columbia? Washington? What's their naming problem out here? Even Portland was supposedly named in honor of Portland, Maine.

Landscapes sorta odd here...hills with weird rocks, weird scrubby bushes, weird scrubby scrub....think I like it.

June 23, 2000 6:56 PM Montana

Heading into the Rockies...real slow like. The smoking lounge is now filled with a bunch of drunken hicks making fag jokes. Not the kind of scene I'm really into tonight.

First Wile E Coyote style cliff has been spotted.

June 23, 2000 1:02 PM ND/Montana

Well, the scenery's gotten a little better heading into Montana. Still sorta flat, but broken up by ridges of sandstone(? I guess). Weird...having grown up in New England I'm so used to cutaways of granate with streaks of rusty iron. Now its all sandstone(?I think) with black stripes running through em. Oh, and the wild life's gotten a little more diverse. Instead of cows with occasional deer, seeing more horses and buffalo. No spottings of the elusive beefalo yet though.

Yokels on the train, unfortunately, have gotten worse. Sports talk is giving way to injun and chyck jokes. Oh, and the old guy behind me's telling his damn lost jacknife story for the fifth time.

June 23, 2000 8:50 AM North Dakota

Woke up today to dead cows. Most of North Dakota is flooded out from Fargo on. Huge fields and farms just completely flooded out. Train has apparently been re-routed slightly because the main track is completely under water. Traveling slow in case of washed out tracks. Geez. So this is America. I remember growing up, we'd bitch if there was 6 inches of water in the basement. Hoo-boy.

People are bitching endlessly about delays. (*shurg*)...plus/minus two hours on a 60+ hour trip seems reasonable to me.

Oh, people are catching on to the Top Secret guy....he's become the #1 giggle of the smoking car. Latest story...heard him telling a bunch of people he's getting engaged in 2 days and has a $18,000 ring in his bag. Uh-huh....that's why you're riding coach...

June 22, 2000 6:42 PM Wisconsin(still)

One thing that's been bothering me....which side is "over the rainbow"?? Like I said, saw a huge rainbow while heading through the appalacians during sunset. Am I heading "over the rainbow"? or was DC on the "over" side?? DC sorta almost seems sorta Oz-like...then again, does heading in the direction of Australia mean I'm heading in a more Oz-like direction? (Holey crap! Its the US UFO and SciFi museum in Wisconsin Dells, WI....sounds almost as fun as Daikatana)

June 22, 2000 5:30 PM Wisconsin

Least, I think its still Wisconsin. Fell asleep right out of Chicago and woke up in Milwaukee (home of Shotz beer). Wisconsin seems to look an awful lot like Indiana which looked an awful lot like Ohio...er, except maybe for this big flood plain we're currently passing.

The train's getting fairly full of folks who look like Drew Carey, folks who talk funny (we're heading for Fargo after all), sacharinne sweet innocent things doing needlepoint, and liars. Jebus, there must be something about being on a train that causes people to overinflate their life's story. Maybe I'm jaded, but I'm just not buying the guy in the smoking room's stories of high adventure when he was a top secret op for the navy, or the guy behind me's story about being scouted for professional baseball when he was 15....yah yah (*shurg*) oh, yep, still in Wisconsin. Think I'll let Pikachu sleep 'til Montana.

June 22, 2000 11:08 AM Chicago

Well, made it to the, er, third of the way point or so. Stopover in Chicago. Already went out, ate some chicago-style chicago pizza, took some Pokepics (I think the people on the train were starting to suspect I was a little nutty everytime I pulled out my big yaller picachu camera....(*shurg*) who cares (thanks again Jo)). Fell asleep sometime last night right before Pittsburg (the last previously visited city before heading into completely new territory), and woke up somewhere some time after Toledo, OH (half the passengers got off there....fuck if I know what's in Toledo).

Gorgeous sunset last night over the Appalacians in West Virginia (complete with a rainbow....symbolism?) and nice sunrise over the farms of Ohio. So far the scenery has been mostly pretty cliche...trailor parks and dark hollows through WV, flat farmlands and dull farmboys through Indiana.

Hm, just remembered that I forgot to go look at that big lake they have around here...(*shurg*)

June 21, 2000 12:51 PM

Bags packed, loaded, carted and checked. Ticket purchased. Big McMac lunch eaten. Nothing left to do but wait now. Got to the station today way early (why not? (*shurg*) nothing else to do) so now I'm in the middle of a 5 hour wait for the train to pull in.

Interesting route...DC to Maryland to West Virginia to Maryland(?) to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania (gateway to the west indeed) to Ohio to Indiana and more waiting in Chicago. Illinois to Wisconsin (mmmm....cheese) to Minnesota to North Dakota (Fargo....woohoo!) to Montana to Idaho (mmmmm....potatoes) to Washington to Oregon. Phew, quite a hike. But now nothing to do but hang out and oggle train station chycks (hey, who needs decorum? I'll just pretend I'm from Portage, WI).

June 20, 2000 4:26 PM

Good god, I have to get out of Maryland. I mean, I love Henry and all, and I endlessly appreciate his hospitality, but I think I just paid as much for a pack of Marlboro lights as I did for a six of Budweiser.

No sympathy for the devil.

June 19, 2000 11:20 AM

Out of Arlington, Chap. 4
Jebus...beware of the cheap vodka.

June 18, 2000 1:23 AM

Out of Arlington, Chap. 3
About 24 hours out now. Haven't made it far yet. Last night I transfered my residence from Peanut's to Henry V's place, though I'm guessing Columbia Md counts as being far enough out of Arlington to be out. Gah, I'm currently transcribing this with pen on paper, an experience I haven't tried in a few years. Only 24 hours and already lack of net access is taking its toll. Anyway, everything's pretty much packed and organized and ready to go now...just waiting for the train out on wednesday. Odd experience to try and pack everything down to what you can carry vs. what you might need in the next 6 months.

Anyway....said my final farewell to my kids last night...8-ball and Sam-Cat. A very God-awfull tough thing to do. There's a couple other kids who, unfortunately, I won't have the time to bid farewell to...one being my new neice Jane (though I do have another nephew due in one months time out on the west coast), the other being my quick-digited Mario Brothers buddy. To him I gotta say "keep the faith. You *can* get to the Big Castle! Your big sister loves you always."
Peace,
QE

June 16, 2000 1:05 PM

Out of Arlington, Chap. 2

And the winner is.....

Yep, after much debate and deliberation, I've decided to "turn my eyes westward" and head out to join Crunchland West in Portland. Leaving on Wednesday afternoon on the mighty Amtrak (three days in coach class...this'll be interesting...and belive me you I'll be documenting every day of it and boring y'all with it here as soon as I'm back online), and, come Saturday morning I'll, like, be, fer-shur on the, like, totally rad west coast. Pretty odd for this country boy who's never really been off of the east coast (furthest west to date: Pittsburgh), and I can't really say that I've been 100% convinced that the world really is round and that I won't fall off the edge of the earth somewhere around, say, Minnesota. Should be interesting though. Was looking through pictures of Portland yesterday and saw a skyline that reminded me that the place is overshadowed by a Big Whompin' Mountain...new experience there. :)

So what will I be missing most from the east coast? (*shurg*) Galaxy Hut probably.....and you guys, of course. Probably gonna try and toss together a last happy-hour, though might be a bit rushed....will have to see.
June 14, 2000 11:07 PM

Out of Arlington, Chap. 1
Strange thoughts on this Arlington night. What'll I do? Where should I go? Apparently when ya got nothing, there really is nothing to lose. Not that I have nothing anymore, just seems that I have no anchor anymore....no home or job holding me down in Arlington. The writing on the wall is pretty clear...need to take some skud job to make ends meet. The question comes up, though, why do it here? I remember eight years ago moving here from Burlington, Vt wondering "why the hell am I moving to DC??" (*shurg*) my sister lived here and Vermont was getting hit hard by the repression. Now I find myself wondering "why the hell am I *still* living in DC??" There's supposedly some big job boom going on working for defense contractors and others with little imagination. I haven't bothered to learn SQL or Oracle and the bottom line is I hate databases and no one's going to hire me here 'til I do learn em.

Why bother?

Crunchland. I think crunchland, the friends I've met here have been anchoring me here for years. Good quality folks. But maybe its just got to be the time to let go.

Sure, there's always Baltimore....nice cheap housing, but that just doesn't seem to be coming together, and, as one of my IRC friends said to me tonight "dude, you know Baltimore sucks".

Talked to Po earlier today...yah, the job situation's not much better out on the Left Coast, and out in Portland web designers are a dime a dozen, but phoo, maybe its just way high time to get the fuck out of Arlington. I did some poking around on the web. Portland's got a far better TG community out there going than DC ever will. Maybe its just time to go get some Left Coast 'tude going on.

(*shurg*).....maybe its just time to go.

Plus I hear they like Yello better than Kraftwerk.

Today's belly chuckle...7+ years experience with NT. Oy.








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