April is coming to an end

Last weekend, Joy and I took a drive up to Longview on I-5 and then back down the Oregon side of the Columbia. The weather was a mixture of pouring rain and sunshine--thus rainbows, too. We ended up at Bald Peak State Park just about sunset; we need to go visit there again sometime.

This is the start of the last weekend in April, 2010. John and I have multimedia duty tomorrow and then he is having some friends come over for a late birthday party--lots of video games, I'm sure. Joy is baking him a cake, so they will all be having sugar highs.

I'm ready for a weekend off for another photography excursion! Maybe, next weekend...

A nice weekend!

On Saturday afternoon, we went up the Columbia Gorge with our friends Les & Keri. At Mosier, we got off of the freeway and took the old highway. We stopped frequently so that Les and I could take pictures while Joy and Keri chatted away in the car. One of the places was at the Memaloose Overlook, where I took a series of pictures to make a panorama. We then proceeded to Rowena Crest before getting back on I-84 heading west. After a stop for ice cream in Cascade Locks, we stopped at Horsetail and Bridal Veil Falls. It was nice to be able walk mostly normally again!

On Sunday, even though rain had been forecast, the weather turned out nice. I took a walk in Mount Talbert Nature Park, where there were lots of flowers.

http://picasaweb.google.com/rickh57/ColumbiaGorgeSpring2010#5458899480209431410

A Fun Easter Weekend

Thursday after work, I stopped off at the Oregon Zoo for a quick visit to see the lions and cheetahs. It was clear, but cool. I got many good pictures.

Yesterday, after a Son Rise service at PVC, I drove up into the lower Columbia Gorge and took some pictures. This was the first time that I've ever been to Crown Point when there wasn't even one other car in the parking lot. The wind was whipping past, though. I then took pictures at Latourell Falls and Shepperd's Dell. (Pictures)

In the afternoon, we got together for an Easter lunch with Joy's family--ate good food and visited.

Now, it's back to work Monday...

Happy April Fools Day

April 2010 is already here. It seems like time is racing by.

The weather in Portland has been cool, cloudy, and rainy. The forecast for today is for a somewhat nicer day; if it is accurate, I'm going to stop at the Oregon Zoo on my way home and take some pictures at the new Predators of Serengeti exhibit.

I'm ready for some nicer weekend weather so we can get out and photograph some more of the Northwest's scenery.

A Quiet Spring Break

Joy and I had last week off for her Spring break. We did some yard work and organizing in the house, but also relaxed quite a bit.

We took a couple of trips to Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden (pictures), plus a Saturday afternoon excursion to Moulton Falls (pictures), near Battle Ground in Washington. It has been fun learning to use some of the features of our DSLR.

Now, it's back to work time on a very rainy Monday. Driving to work this morning, I had a couple of unpleasant encounters with other motorists. You'd think that people that live in Oregon would know how to drive in the rain, but apparently they don't; driving too fast and changing lanes on very wet roads is just crazy!

New Camera!

We bought the Nikon D5000 camera at Costco. It came with two lenses, one a wide-angle to short telephoto, the other short-telephoto to medium telephoto. It has been fun to get out and take pictures of animals, birds, and scenery.

We have next week off for Joy's spring break. There is a lot of spring cleaning and organizing to be done around the house, but we'll have a chance to get out and enjoy some spring weather and take some neat photographs.

A great weekend--and now rain

On Saturday, we went on a very nice drive up the Columbia River Gorge with our friends Les & Keri. The temperature was in the 60s and the sky and river were very blue. We saw wild flowers and waterfalls and mountains. The only problem I had was that I couldn't walk to see some of the waterfalls, so I had to stay close to the car. Oh well, at least I'm not still on crutches. A photograph from the trip. That evening, we watched The Ugly Truth with them, a funny movie.

By Monday, the weather had turned back to more normal Oregon weather, cloudy, rainy and cool. There was actually some snow on the hilltops for the first time since December.

I've pretty much settled on buying a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera. The reviews on it are very good and the price is significantly lower than the Canon I was looking at, especially with an instant rebate available through the end of March.

March is here

It was a nice weekend for the end of February. I'm no longer using my crutches, which is a good thing. It is wonderful to be able to walk, using both hands to carry things.

Yesterday, there was a gorgeous sunrise here at work (picture) and this morning, the almost full moon was shining brightly as I was leaving home to come to work (picture).

Today, they are having snow in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where my brothers live. What weird weather! At least for this "winter", I am glad to live in Oregon! :-)

Joy and I are trying to plan some vacation time for the summer. With her back in school, the available times are limited. I'm sure that we'll come up with somewhere fun to visit.

February is almost over

It is Wednesday, February 24. Our spell of unusual, sunny weather came to an end. Yesterday, it was cloudy and rainy, and today is more of the same. I guess that I can't complain too much--we had a week of awesome weather for this time of year in Portland.

I had a doctor's appointment on Monday. I'm now allowed to put full weight on my ankle and am down to only using one crutch. Hopefully, within a month I should be able to get rid of the boot and the crutch and just walk normally.

Wonderful Weather for February

The weather this week has been very nice; it is sunny outside and is supposed to get up to around 60 degrees. Some of the trees are starting to blossom--and it is still over a month until Spring officially arrives. Some of my Facebook friends live back in the middle Atlantic states and are still digging out from last week's blizzards; it has been fun to tease them about our nice weather.

I'm getting an itchy camera trigger finger; I want to get out and take some pictures of the gorgeous Oregon scenery; of course, I need my ankle to be fully healed, so that I can walk easily! We're thinking of buying a DSLR camera to go with our Canon point and shoot cameras. The one we're leaning towards is the Canon T2i, with 18 megapixels, but may consider other Canon models, or possibly a Nikon.

A Great Valentine's Weekend

Joy and I had a great weekend over in Long Beach, Washington. Our motel was about a block from the beach--but too far to hobble on my crutches. For lunch Saturday, we had some great calzone at Bluto's Pizza--I think it's the best that I've had on the west coast! Saturday evening, we ate some ice cream, then drove to the beach and walked on the boardwalk. We followed up with our Valentine's dinner at the Hungry Harbor Grill, right by our motel.

On Sunday, after our return to Portland, we went to see Valentine's Day with our friends Les & Keri. It was a fun and funny movie to watch on Valentine's Day.

Yesterday was Presidents Day. It was nice to be able to relax at home one more day--although Joy didn't have it off, unfortunately.

The Saints Won!

I went to my friend Les' house to watch the Super Bowl on Sunday. We were both cheering for New Orleans, since they'd never been to the game before, so were were happy with the outcome. It was a good game, not really decided until late in the fourth quarter. We were both browsing the web during the game on our netbooks. According to yesterday's Nearly Impossible Question on K103, 15% of Americans were doing that during the game, so we weren't alone.

Next weekend is Valentine's Weekend. Joy and I are going to get away to the coast for a couple of days. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate; the weekend forecast is for showers and temps in the 50s. It would be better if it was sunny, but for February on the coast, we can't complain.

I can now put some weight on my ankle.

I went to the doctor yesterday. They did an x-ray of my ankle and it is healing well, but not fully, yet. So, now, I can put some weight on it, but I still have to use my crutches to help support. That is still an improvement over no weight!

It has been rather warm for February in Portland. Today is supposed to get up to around 55. They are already talking of a drought this summer. The snow pack on the mountains is a third less than normal. Although Punxsutawney Phil predicted 6 more weeks of winter, I wouldn't complain if spring came early to Oregon.

This weekend, Super Bowl XLIV will be played. We're having a smaller party this year at a friend's house. I'm not a big fan--or foe--of either the Colts or the Saints, but since the Saints haven't ever been to the game, I'll be cheering for them. Go New Orleans!

February is here.

We had a pretty nice weekend, even though it was pretty rainy. On Saturday, Joy and I took a drive down the Washington side of Columbia River, crossing back into Oregon via the Astoria-Megler Bridge. We then went down through Seaside and back across the coast range, eating a nice meal at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Back at home we laughed together as we watched The Proposal with Sandra Bullock.

Yesterday morning, I watched Inglourious Basterds--very violent, but an interesting perspective on WW II. Last evening, I went to eat with my oldest daughter V and we had a good father daughter visit.

Now, it's back to work Monday.

January is almost over

It's the last Friday in January, 2010. The weather has been pretty nice--for Portland.

My ankle is doing good; very little pain. I'm looking forward to being able to walk on it. Hopefully, that'll start next week, although I imagine that I'll still need to use a crutch or cane for a while.

I'm experimenting with the next version of Ubuntu, Lucid Lynx, in a vmware image. I won't install it on my linux machines at home, yet. I've been using Ubuntu Netbook Remix on my netbook most of the time, only occasionally rebooting into Windows XP. If my network printer, a Panasonic KX-MB781, supported Linux, I'd be very tempted to just wipe out the Windows partition and just run it as a linux only machine.

I got my staples out.

I went to the orthopedic office yesterday and they removed the staples from my ankle. The length of my incision is longer than I expected--around 2 inches. It stung when the staples were coming out and I had some pain later in the evening. Instead of a plaster cast, they gave me a boot to wear. It is nice--I can now remove the boot to take showers, etc. Also, they said that I should be able to put some weight on the ankle in a couple of weeks--which is a good thing.

Three Day Weekend

It's the Friday before a 3 day weekend. I think that my ankle is draining me--even though my activity level has dropped significantly, I'm more tired. During the night, it was aching in spasms, so my sleep wasn't as sound as it'd normally be. I'll be glad for when I can just walk to the break room/bath room/etc., without having to worry about crutches, or falling.

With my ankle injury, my goal of taking a picture a day hasn't worked out. It is just too hard to get out to take a picture--and would have ended up as just the same scenes from inside the house. When I can maneuver myself safely and easily, I'll start it back up again.

We're talking of going to the theater to see Sherlock Holmes this weekend. Hopefully, the crowds have died down enough that my foot won't be trampled getting in and out.

Surgery went fine

My ankle surgery went fine. I was in quite a bit of pain Sunday through Tuesday, but didn't have any other side effects. I spent a lot of time watching Netflix videos.

I'll be very glad to get rid of the cast and crutches and just be able to walk normally again. I'm getting a little more competent at maneuvering using the crutches, but they are still a pain.

I'm working from home today; if my ankle doesn't get any worse, I plan to drive to the office for work tomorrow.

Ankle Surgery

I went to the orthopedic doctor yesterday to get a cast put on. They did an x-ray before hand, and even though I haven't injured the ankle further, the chip of my tibia has moved away from the main bone. If they were to just put a cast on, they estimated that it would take over 4 months before the ankle would heal. So they, are going to put a screw in, attaching the chip. With the surgery, it should only be 4-6 weeks before I am out of the cast.

The surgery will be under general anesthesia, and I'm not looking forward to it--or the recuperation afterward. I'm glad that I have my netbook computer and Roku box (for streaming Netflix videos) to keep me entertained.

1st Work Day of 2010

Because of my broken ankle, I'm having to work from home for the first few days this week, at least until I get my cast put on. I'm getting tired of being a couch potato! The pain isn't too bad, but I still have to be careful and make sure that I don't put any weight on the ankle; if I injure it further, I'd need to have surgery--which is something that I don't want.

I am glad that I have my netbook and Roku box to help give me some distractions. I've been able to watch some old episodes of Columbo, one of my favorite TV detectives, using Netflix streaming.