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Plucky Tree

It’s the plucky ones that surprise you most

Portland has its “Cracker Barrel moment”

Portland has its “Cracker Barrel moment”

2022-08-15

As you may know, Portland is a liberal city. And we all know what that means: crime and drugs are rampant, homeless people stubbornly refuse to take advantage of tax credits, trans people regularly urinate in the same zip code as us, and people sometimes show compassion for those less fortunate than themselves.…

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The upside of accidental violence

The upside of accidental violence

2022-07-26

I’m one of those naïve people that doesn’t believe violence should be used to solve problems. However, I was involved in three “violent” incidents in grade school, which were embellished and re-told. This gave me an inaccurate but possibly useful reputation.

“Beating up a teacher”

What happened

One day I got up from my desk and ran out of my 3rd-grade classroom.…

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Bookseller with many hats (1990-1996)

Bookseller with many hats (1990-1996)

2022-07-13

This is the job title I use on my résume for this part of my working life. 🙂 I wrote up similar articles about various jobs I held at Apple over the years.

Summer 1990

I was one of those people you read about in history books that basically worked his way through college.…

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Our “groundbreaking” garden

Our “groundbreaking” garden

2022-06-06

Get it? Ground-breaking?

So we bought this house in Portland, Oregon with audaciously bland landscaping. I know, first-world problems and all.

Since we were spending most of our time at home due to COVID, we decided to burn the existing yard to the ground and start fresh. We had a few stakes in the ground:

  • Grass be gone!
…

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A very long review of Portland

A very long review of Portland

2022-04-27

I moved to Portland in June 2020, relocating from the San Francisco Bay Area where I lived for 24 years. I was never particularly happy there, but my job at Apple was a great distraction. When I retired in 2019, my dislike of the area came boiling to the surface.

Having lived in Portland for 2 years now, I’ve fielded the inevitable questions about living here.…

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Burger King realizations

Burger King realizations

2022-04-25

One day when I was in college, I glanced up at a Burger King sign while I was driving. Then I looked at it again. It felt like something was new about it. Did they redesign it?

Their logo at the time.

And I had a realization so powerful that I nearly drove my car over the curb.…

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Tennis meteors

Tennis meteors

2022-04-25

I often back the underdogs and tennis is no exception. In the past ten years, there have been 3 male newcomers that impressed me enormously the first time I saw them play. I would have put significant sums of money on them reaching the upper ranks, barring injuries. The last of the three, Carlos Alcaraz, entered the Top 10 for the first time today, one of the fastest rises in history.…

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2021 in words, pictures, and movies

2021 in words, pictures, and movies

2022-04-12

Looking back at my photo library from 2021 is a great way to remember all the good times and conveniently ignore the bad ones. Here are the broad highlights of the year. ⬇

  • We got fully settled into Portland and put the finishing* touches on the house and yard.
  • We endured the second hottest summer in Portland history, hitting an all-time high of 116º (the average summer high is 81º)
  • I started doing intensive training with the birds, which has been more successful than I expected.
…

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When I became a Springsteen fan

When I became a Springsteen fan

2022-01-17

I had a job at a concert arena in college. I worked only before and after the concert (sometimes until 6am!), so I was free to watch any of the shows if I wanted. Since the venue seated about 21,000 people, we tended to only get huge acts that were all pretty disappointing.…

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1,000 (great) songs in my pocket

1,000 (great) songs in my pocket

2021-03-06

The iPod was released on October 23, 2001 with the catchy slogan of 1,000 songs in your pocket.

  • My first thought: Wow, that’s a lot of songs!
  • My second thought: Do I even have that many songs?
  • My third thought: Even if I did, would they be songs I actually want to listen to?
…

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About Me


I’ve been a bird breeder, a bicycle mechanic, bookseller, and a Software Engineer at Apple for 20 years.

Friends tell me I have interesting things to say.

You be the judge.

My Other Blogs

  • Free Range Parrots
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