I came across this great site with photos from Asia. You should check it out.
I've been slowly getting new housemates this past month. They're pretty quiet but they are everywhere. I was ok with them being in my bathroom, I'd just kill them and shower off.
Then they took to my kitchen. I'm not a slob or anything, but apparently they've found out there is food residue in the sink from time to time. My spiders seem to be sissys and don't do anything about the ants. So I got some ant traps and put them in my cupboards and under the sink. I even taped up some areas to see if that'd help. It doesn't.
My boss at work reminded me that ants leave a pheremone trail. I'll have to do some serious cleaning to make sure the little bastards can't figure out where to go so easily.
Now I do my dishes within a few minutes of using them, so that's good. They crossed the line when I saw one in the top of my Britta jug. It's in the fridge now.
I'm going to open one of the ant traps and take the gunk out and mix it with some syrup. The gunk is supposed to kill the ants later back in the nest/hive/scary place. But they don't like the gunk. They'll like it with some syrup mixed in it. I forget that I can't kill all the ants because then they can't take the gunk back to the queen - who needs to die.
This last weekend seemed to involve drinking and Maalox. I went out with Ron on Friday night to Hawthorne and got some pizza and a beer or two. We were accosted by a petition lady wanting us to sign some deal to get Nader on a ticket.
Immediately we started arguing with her about politics and the war. I'm not for the war, not for Dubya and would be for Nader. Except the fact that one of the reasons Bush is in office is people "making a point" and voting for a third party candidate - Nader. I think there is too much at risk to let that happen again. The petition lady told us that we were stifiling the democratic process and was a little beligerant about it. I was being a pain just to be a pain. What got my goat was after she left, the people next to us said to her "Sorry you couldn't convince those guys." I hate it when people apologize for what I've done like that. I'm exercising my right as an American to not sign the petition and vote how I want to.
We bailed to get some whiskey sours down the street. If that doesn't make you forget about politics, not much will. Ron and I were joking about who we could "take" at the bar. I figured most everyone in there would be fair game. A biker guy sat next to us and we chatted about travel and Asia. He was a Sergant in the Rangers and the Marines and was a bodyguard for an Admiral. We decided we'd want him on our side in a fight. He looked pretty frickin' tough, nice guy though.
On Saturday I decided it was time to get out to the Gorge again and get in a little hike. I went up towards Horsetail Falls and took the little trail up to Devil's Backbone. I had forgotten how steep the trail was. I really think it's 2 feet up for each foot forward. The views from the Backbone are pretty cool, especially when you feel you've earned it. The down was a little more painful, my knees must be getting older.
That night I went drinking with my climbing buddies at Henry's on Burnside. It's a pretty trendy place, I felt a little out of place with my shorts and Chacos. They had a very large screen with the Olympics playing and mojitos kept streaming to my table, so it was all good.
I was smart and went climbing the next day. No good. I brought in my bottle of Maalox and drank that inbetween attempts to crawl up the walls. After helping Brynne move some stuff to her new apartment (that's larger than my house) I went home and slept.
Until going to Faustina's and watching the scariest movie I've seen in like 8 years: Ju-on. This is a Japanese made for TV movie that was freakishly scary. Even in the parts that looked a little cheesy scared the crap out of me. If you need a scary movie, this is it. We had some cranberry vodka drinks to make it easier, but it didn't really help.
This seems to be the time of friends popping into Portland. Three weeks ago my buddy Sara came into town for a conference and we hung out at my house placing frozen wet towels on our necks to cool off. And of course ate at Stanich's.
A few days later my buddy Molly came into Portland for a conference. I took her around town, through the Gorge (where we hiked Triple Falls) and Mt. Hood. While she was in town, Michael was in town for a conference. So we had some beer after work and before I swerved home on my bike before rock climbing (not a good combonation.)
Then last Friday my buddy Bethany was in town on vacation from Illinois while her hubby Alex was in Russia. We had some beer in the Pearl while I limped around cos I tweeked my back while lifting a burning car off of a flock of children.
Now this week my buddy Apurva and some other friends are going to Vancouver BC and coming through Portland on their way up north.
I'm sure no one I know will visit Portland for like two years, but it's been neat to catch up with people.
And here is the funniest stuff I've read in a long time. It's humor from this guy named Mitch Hedberg.