Observations from an IRWS owner living in Oregon.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 31
Final post for this exercise. I'm pleased with what I've learned doing this. I will probably do this again when I have acquired a more sophisticated camera. Whether that's a DSLR, or a mirrorless, I don't know.
Visit to Austin
This past week my family went to Austin, TX. My wife was invited to be a part of her company's recruiting efforts at the SWE conference, and The Pup and I joined her. We went a day earlier than she was required to be there so we could have some time to enjoy the trip together.
So, early Tuesday morning (well before any reasonable person is up and about) we got up and headed across town to PDX. We flew Delta to Austin with a layover in Salt Lake. Thankfully, our 13 month old little boy handled the flights well. We had a nice person sitting in the window seat next to us on the initial 737 flight to Salt Lake. She mostly slept, but was quite kind to us during our brief interaction with her. She did have ear plugs, but they weren't necessary, because The Pup didn't cry much, if at all. Our flight to Austin was on a smaller plane, and I forget the designation Boeing assigned that model. We were again in a row of three seats with another passenger in the window seat next to us. The Pup was not quite as well behaved on this flight, but several of the other passengers said he did quite well, and we didn't hear any complaints or muttering.
On arrival in Austin we proceeded to the rental car facility. I had reserved a mid sized car at one of the budget car rental outfits there. I had hoped to receive the Toyota Camry that was used as the exemplar of the class, but we received a 2017 Kia Soul instead. It was nice for what it was, but there was very little cargo space. I have much more room in my 2010 Sonata than this vehicle had. We had to place some of our luggage in the rear seat with the carseat.
From there we proceeded to the Hotel we had booked for our initial night in Austin, the Crowne Plaza Austin, with a small stopover to eat lunch at Whataburger. This was my first trip to Texas, and I was determined to try it while I was there. I had booked the room through Priceline as a generic 3 1/2 star hotel. The room was quite nice, if a bit dated. The staff was very helpful and remembered our son's name and interacted with him when they saw him in the lobby.
On Wednesday we decided to go to Longhorn Cavern State Park. Or rather, my wife decided that she wanted to go, and so I obliged. Texas has many toll roads, and I had declined the activation of a toll pass with the rental vehicle, so we ended up taking a scenic route that avoided toll roads. It was a bit perplexing for me to travel through the rolling hills with no mountains anywhere in sight. I grew up in the Salt Lake area, and got my bearings from the mountains surrounding the valley. Even here in Forest Grove (Portland area) I use Mount Hood as a reference point to help me find my way. It was disconcerting not to immediately know which way I was traveling just based on what was around.
We paid for the tour at the cave. There's no other way to get inside to see the cave. Here are few pics from inside. Not everything came out as I had hoped it would
The cave was quite interesting, and the young woman that we had as a guide obviously knew the cave and its history quite well. She related events from the period when American Indians used the cave, American Civil War era history through to Prohibition era events, and what the men of the CCC (who had cleaned the cave out of debris) thought of various portions of the cave. It was an enjoyable time.
We went back to Austin a different way than we had come. And stopped for lunch at a place that did burgers and chicken wings. I had a barbecue cheddar burger that was quite good.
Arriving in Austin we checked in to the Hyatt Place Hotel near the convention center. This is the first time I've stayed at a place that had only valet parking. I'm not a fan. I prefer to have ready access to my vehicle, and to be able to come and go as I please without checking with anyone else first.
Thursday turned out to be a recovery day for The Pup. He slept most of the day when he wasn't being fed by his Mommy. She was busy at the convention center, and could get away for brief periods to care for him. I did make an attempt to go out for lunch when he woke up from one nap, but the place I had chosen closed at 3 pm, and that's when he had woken up.
Friday was more eventful. The Pup and I walked the several blocks to the State Capitol just before noon. We had to be back by 1, so we didn't go inside to take the tour. Instead we walked the grounds, and enjoyed the pleasant day.
It is a nice building.
Later on, when my wife had completed her obligations at the convention, we went to see the famous Austin bats. But as it was well before sunset, we walked along the river first. (We passed through the Chive's headquarters outdoor area to access it.) As we did so, we saw some interesting things.
Sadly, the bats didn't emerge until about half an hour after sunset, and I didn't have a camera able to handle the lighting conditions when they came out.
After this, we walked to the Capital again, and this time we went inside. I had left the camera at the hotel room when we picked up our jackets, so I have no images from inside the building. But I was generally impressed. I don't enjoy heights, so I didn't spend much time around the fourth floor rotunda rail.
Saturday was our last day, but we still managed a bit of fun before checking out of the hotel. We went to The Escape Game, Austin and went through their Gold Rush escape room. This was the third escape room I've done, and by far the highest quality (though also most expensive.) I was very impressed. This is the first time I've escaped (came very close both previous times, but didn't quite make it.) The variety of puzzles was very good, and most things worked fairly well. I would have preferred a letter combination lock instead of a direction lock with letter stickers on it in one location, and one of the mechanisms didn't quite work as intended. But otherwise it was a very good room.
After this, I finally had an opportunity to find a barbecue lunch. I didn't feel the need to go to one of the more famous places, so we found a smaller location without a line. I do miss good barbecue. There is none close by.
Our flights back were uneventful. They were sparse, and so we got a row of seats to ourselves on both legs of the trip back. The Pup was quite cute on the first flight, but by the second he was tired, and needed a nap but wouldn't take one. It required a lot more effort to keep him from being a big disruption to the surrounding passengers on this flight.
All in all, I am very pleased with our trip. We got to have a good time. I'm glad we went.
So, early Tuesday morning (well before any reasonable person is up and about) we got up and headed across town to PDX. We flew Delta to Austin with a layover in Salt Lake. Thankfully, our 13 month old little boy handled the flights well. We had a nice person sitting in the window seat next to us on the initial 737 flight to Salt Lake. She mostly slept, but was quite kind to us during our brief interaction with her. She did have ear plugs, but they weren't necessary, because The Pup didn't cry much, if at all. Our flight to Austin was on a smaller plane, and I forget the designation Boeing assigned that model. We were again in a row of three seats with another passenger in the window seat next to us. The Pup was not quite as well behaved on this flight, but several of the other passengers said he did quite well, and we didn't hear any complaints or muttering.
On arrival in Austin we proceeded to the rental car facility. I had reserved a mid sized car at one of the budget car rental outfits there. I had hoped to receive the Toyota Camry that was used as the exemplar of the class, but we received a 2017 Kia Soul instead. It was nice for what it was, but there was very little cargo space. I have much more room in my 2010 Sonata than this vehicle had. We had to place some of our luggage in the rear seat with the carseat.
From there we proceeded to the Hotel we had booked for our initial night in Austin, the Crowne Plaza Austin, with a small stopover to eat lunch at Whataburger. This was my first trip to Texas, and I was determined to try it while I was there. I had booked the room through Priceline as a generic 3 1/2 star hotel. The room was quite nice, if a bit dated. The staff was very helpful and remembered our son's name and interacted with him when they saw him in the lobby.
On Wednesday we decided to go to Longhorn Cavern State Park. Or rather, my wife decided that she wanted to go, and so I obliged. Texas has many toll roads, and I had declined the activation of a toll pass with the rental vehicle, so we ended up taking a scenic route that avoided toll roads. It was a bit perplexing for me to travel through the rolling hills with no mountains anywhere in sight. I grew up in the Salt Lake area, and got my bearings from the mountains surrounding the valley. Even here in Forest Grove (Portland area) I use Mount Hood as a reference point to help me find my way. It was disconcerting not to immediately know which way I was traveling just based on what was around.
We paid for the tour at the cave. There's no other way to get inside to see the cave. Here are few pics from inside. Not everything came out as I had hoped it would
 |
| At the entrance, waiting for the tour group to reassemble |
 |
| Calcite crystals |
 |
| More crystals |
 |
| Yet more crystals |
 |
| One of the residents of the cave |
 |
| Looking up into the "attic" of the cave |
 |
| Stalactites |
 |
| A flowstone formation |
 |
| Calcite crystals in another portion of the cave |
 |
| Larger crystals |
 |
| Crystals under red and green lights |
The cave was quite interesting, and the young woman that we had as a guide obviously knew the cave and its history quite well. She related events from the period when American Indians used the cave, American Civil War era history through to Prohibition era events, and what the men of the CCC (who had cleaned the cave out of debris) thought of various portions of the cave. It was an enjoyable time.
We went back to Austin a different way than we had come. And stopped for lunch at a place that did burgers and chicken wings. I had a barbecue cheddar burger that was quite good.
Arriving in Austin we checked in to the Hyatt Place Hotel near the convention center. This is the first time I've stayed at a place that had only valet parking. I'm not a fan. I prefer to have ready access to my vehicle, and to be able to come and go as I please without checking with anyone else first.
Thursday turned out to be a recovery day for The Pup. He slept most of the day when he wasn't being fed by his Mommy. She was busy at the convention center, and could get away for brief periods to care for him. I did make an attempt to go out for lunch when he woke up from one nap, but the place I had chosen closed at 3 pm, and that's when he had woken up.
Friday was more eventful. The Pup and I walked the several blocks to the State Capitol just before noon. We had to be back by 1, so we didn't go inside to take the tour. Instead we walked the grounds, and enjoyed the pleasant day.
It is a nice building.
Later on, when my wife had completed her obligations at the convention, we went to see the famous Austin bats. But as it was well before sunset, we walked along the river first. (We passed through the Chive's headquarters outdoor area to access it.) As we did so, we saw some interesting things.
 |
| An egret |
 |
| Turtles |
 |
| And a very large carp |
 |
| Sunset from under the Congress Avenue Bridge |
After this, we walked to the Capital again, and this time we went inside. I had left the camera at the hotel room when we picked up our jackets, so I have no images from inside the building. But I was generally impressed. I don't enjoy heights, so I didn't spend much time around the fourth floor rotunda rail.
Saturday was our last day, but we still managed a bit of fun before checking out of the hotel. We went to The Escape Game, Austin and went through their Gold Rush escape room. This was the third escape room I've done, and by far the highest quality (though also most expensive.) I was very impressed. This is the first time I've escaped (came very close both previous times, but didn't quite make it.) The variety of puzzles was very good, and most things worked fairly well. I would have preferred a letter combination lock instead of a direction lock with letter stickers on it in one location, and one of the mechanisms didn't quite work as intended. But otherwise it was a very good room.
After this, I finally had an opportunity to find a barbecue lunch. I didn't feel the need to go to one of the more famous places, so we found a smaller location without a line. I do miss good barbecue. There is none close by.
Our flights back were uneventful. They were sparse, and so we got a row of seats to ourselves on both legs of the trip back. The Pup was quite cute on the first flight, but by the second he was tired, and needed a nap but wouldn't take one. It required a lot more effort to keep him from being a big disruption to the surrounding passengers on this flight.
All in all, I am very pleased with our trip. We got to have a good time. I'm glad we went.
Quote of the Day: 31 October 2017
“Happy Halloween to all of you who are enjoying the one night you can be yourself and nobody stops you to check to see if you’re OK.” -Daddybear71
[There's more truth to this than many would care to admit.]
Monday, October 30, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 30
I probably should have selected a 30 day month to do this exercise, because then I'd be done now. Oh well. I'll have an extra day of practice.
Fall may be here, but that doesn't mean we're done with flowers. At least here in the PNW.
Fall may be here, but that doesn't mean we're done with flowers. At least here in the PNW.
Quote of the Day: 30 October 2017
“Free speech must either be thought of as a value in itself, or there is no use in thinking of it at all.” -H. L. Mencken
[For all the time spent discussing free speech, too few are willing to accept all that it means. Including some of its most vociferous and ardent supposed supporters.]
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Quote of the Day: 29 October 2017
“In God’s plan of happiness, we are not so much looking for someone perfect but for a person with whom, throughout a lifetime, we can join efforts to create a loving, lasting, and more perfect relationship. That is the goal.” -Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Saturday, October 28, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 28
The past few days I've been picking things that aren't very identifiable, because we've been out of town. Today's shot comes from the location we had lunch in Austin, TX.
Quote of the Day: 28 October 2017
“[T]hose who have never gone through the receiving-line meat grinder of Gulag cannot grasp the true possibilities of interrogation.” -Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
[It is difficult, if not impossible, to convey the horrors of communism to those of us who have not experienced it. I thank Mr. Solzhenitsyn for his attempt to do so.]
Friday, October 27, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 27
I took a walk today, just to see what I could find that might me interesting to take a picture of. This is what I landed on.
Quote of the Day: 27 October 2017
“The first care of despotism seems to be to control the school and the press. Where the mind is free it turns not to force but to reason for the source of authority. Men submit to a government of force as we are doing now when they believe it is necessary for their security, necessary to protect them from the imposition of force from without.” -Calvin Coolidge
[Mr. Coolidge was wise. Certainly more wise than he is often credited with being.]
Thursday, October 26, 2017
Quote of the Day: 26 October 2017
“Successful people who earn their wealth through free and peaceful exchange may choose to give some of it away, but they'd be no less moral and no less debt-free if they gave away nothing. It cheapens the powerful charitable impulse that all but a few people possess to suggest that charity is equivalent to debt service or that it should be motivated by any degree of guilt or self-flagellation.” -Lawrence W. Reed
[This is another concept some people struggle with. Charity, to be true charity, must be motivated by love of fellow-men; it must not be given from a sense of obligation.]
Wednesday, October 25, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 25
My family explored a cave system this afternoon. This gave me a whole new set of challenges in getting good shots. Anyway, this was the one I decided was going to be "the shot" of the day. So, here it is. I needed to hold still just a bit longer than I actually did.
Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 25 October 2017
Here is a snippet from the log of local police activity for the week.
Oct. 13I like pickles as much as the next guy, maybe more. I'm not as big a fan of sprinkles. However, you won't catch me screaming about either late in the evening.
- Swing shift officers received a report of a person screaming the words "pickles" and "sprinkles" nonsensically late in the evening. Officers were unable to locate anyone causing a disturbance.
Oct. 14I am glad that the police here have the time to spend investigating heated games of tag amongst second graders. It means that they aren't overwhelmed with actual crimes that need attention.
- Officers received a call about a tense game of tag between second graders, which escalated to the point of name-calling, sending one boy home in tears. The boy's older sisters ended up confronting one of the children. Officers determined that no crime had been committed.
Oct. 18
- A pizza delivery man called police about a couple who seemed agitated, and were screaming back and forth. Officers contacted the couple who were fine but were just speaking loudly in German.
This is just funny. I have nothing important to add.
This week's collection was pretty good.
Quote of the Day: 25 October 2017
“Maxim 29: The enemy of my enemy is my enemy's enemy, no more, no less.” -Howard Tayler
[I have tried to explain this to people before. Most of them get it, but a few cannot grasp that it is insufficient to have the right enemies.]
Tuesday, October 24, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 24
It took some finagling to get a shot in today. In the end, I found a tree with a light under its canopy and shot along the crook of a limb.
Quote of the Day: 24 October 2017
“Western civilization is not built on race. There have been lots of countries all over Europe that were not particularly civilized and were quite white. Freedom, personal responsibility, separation of powers, God-given rights protected by a government elected with the consent of the governed — these are the values of Western civilization.” -Ben Shapiro
[Every white supremacist must come up against the horrors of the several European nations.]
Monday, October 23, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 23
I took a little walk with the pup this afternoon. I needed to get more steps in, and I knew this shot was out there waiting for me. (I actually could have taken a number of different angles, there's another four or five trees off to the left that I could have tried to get in frame.) I passed up several other shots I would have liked to take as well. But part of this exercise is being deliberate about the shot.
Quote of the Day: 23 October 2017
“Red Delicious apples. The crappy fruit whose name is a lie.” -Scott Meyer
[I've long felt this way about those apples. I wish I'd had the wit to put it this succinctly.]
Sunday, October 22, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 22
A little more fall color. I love this time of year, and the explosion of color that comes with it.
Quote of the Day: 22 October 2017
“[N]ow more than ever, we cannot be a ‘part-time disciple’! We cannot be a disciple on just one point of doctrine or another. The constellation of characteristics that result from faith in Christ ... are all necessary to our standing strong in these last days.” -Robert D. Hales
Saturday, October 21, 2017
Quote of the Day: 21 October 2017
“For now, at least we can all agree that our symbolic gesture is righteous, and anyone who doesn't participate must be driven by hate” -David Burge
[And in doing so, we will further the divisions that will keep us from making progress to understanding.]
Friday, October 20, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 20
Closing in on the end here. These are some of the several mineral samples my wife has hanging on one of our walls. I seem to like getting up close to my subjects. Anyway, not displeased with the results.
Quote of the Day: 20 October 2017
“Politics is complaining about the monkey with a gun & voting for a different monkey rather than doing what's right & taking away the gun.” -Robb Allen
[I'm not sure that's a fully accurate definition, but it does seem to be the prevailing approach to politics these days.]
Thursday, October 19, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 19
Rain keeps me in the house, and it's getting harder to find interesting subjects to get pictures of. I think I did OK today.
Quote of the Day: 19 October 2017
“If this spirit shall ever be so far debased, as to tolerate a law not obligatory on the legislature, as well as on the people, the people will be prepared to tolerate anything but liberty.” -James Madison, The Federalist No. 57
[The founders were aware from the beginning that it would be necessary to keep the congress on equal footing with the people. Sadly, we have not done so.]
Wednesday, October 18, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 18
I think I pushed the lens a little too close to the subject today. (At least for this camera.) It could have been a good shot, but I was impatient, and didn't take the time I really should have framing and focusing.
All quilt work done by my mother in law.
All quilt work done by my mother in law.
Forest Grove Police Log excerpt, 18 October 2017
Here is the excerpt from the local log of police activity for this week.
October 7* Officers responded to a pizza delivery service where a vehicle had crashed through a wall and halfway through the business. No one was injured in the crash. No word as to whether the restaurant plans on adding a drive-thru.The situation was serious, but it is good to know that, the police at least, can keep a sense of humor about it.
Quote of the Day: 18 October 2017
Tuesday, October 17, 2017
#APicADay 2017: Day 17
Major foulup today. I forgot to account for the longer exposure time necessary in low light conditions, and I didn't hold still long enough. I may have to repeat the attempt another day, but for today, you get this mess.
Quote of the Day: 17 October 2017
“To finish the moment, to find the journey’s end in every step of the road, to live the greatest number of good hours, is wisdom.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
[The more we find enjoyment in the process of doing, in the moment we inhabit, the easier it will be to choose happiness.]
Monday, October 16, 2017
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