Keepin' it Real

A friend recently asked me for info on spas nearby. Here is the list I created and some brief notes:

Dosha: Brandy and I have been before – it’s nice, hot tubs etc. Local.
http://www.dosha.org/locations.html

Avalon – Haven’t used it myself – but will soon. Many friends have and said they liked it.
http://www.avalonhotelandspa.com/

Breitenbush Hot Springs – Local – different style. (Hippyish) Cost effective and away from PDX – I like it.
http://www.breitenbush.com/

Skamania – Been here multiple times. I like it. In mountains, hot springs outside. I think you can use fitness center and outdoor hot springs for cheap.
http://www.skamania.com/portland-spa-reservations.php

I went to the Express DMV at the Lloyd Center this morning to renew my drivers license. Online the address says 990 Lloyd Center. Once inside the mall, it is a bloody maze. I asked a vendor and they said, it ain’t there anymore. The security guy did guide me in the right direction after looking for 5+ minutes.

Some mall in Brisbane, Oz – the Queen Street Mall. Odd angles all over the place, easy to get lost etc. Someone told me they built it that way on purpose so people would get lost and have to walk by more stores when looking for what they wanted. Is that the way they build all these things?

I think I like online shopping better.

I went to get my neck hair trimmed at HairmGrooming this morning and Heather at the front desk told me that the Portland Public Schools cancelled classes today. At least in the city and NE, there was not what I’d call snow on the ground…maybe I’d call it a little bit of slice (slush/ice).

Being from Chicago, it was funnny to see what it takes to get a “snow day” here. I’m sure the kids are happy today. Good memories for me on those as well. Enjoy young ones!

A tree trimming company hired by the power company to trim the trees away from the power lines on Fremont Ave came by today. Not a big deal. My colleague watched them just outside his window and told me the following:

Thursday 21 December

• 9:00am Men Arrived and asked to have a car moved. Car was moved in 1 minute
• 10:25 am Men position truck and start work.
• 11:25 am Men leave for lunch
• 1:00 pm Men position truck and continue trimming tree
• 2:00 pm Men clean up and leave.

Work accomplished: 2 trees trimmed.
Work to still left to complete job on property: 1 tree.

Wow – nothing like a full days work. I imagine we are paying for this type of work ethic and giterdone attitude via our fees.

It saddens me to see such half assness.

(Posted this a day late – left it in drafts for a day)As I awoke this morning and took Mr. Bogart (I’m dogsitting) for a walk at around 5:30 am – there was a touch of snow on the ground. As I got ready to come to the office, all the local news stations were rattling on about the snow and how one bus line was shut down because of it. “Let’s interview the locals and see what they think about the snow!” were some of the features of this morn.

It cracks me up, and I like it. It is neat to live in a town/city like this that interprets this as the news of the day.

In other news, BootsnAll is throwing a kegger this Saturday.

I was lucky enough to participate in Cedar Park Middle School Career day last friday.  About 5 classes of 8th graders came through and I talked a bit about my “career” and discussed travel, passion, blogging, and school with them.  It was fun and exciting to be around their energy.

Gotta get moblogging set-up on this blog for now – check it out over here. LG got his afro chopped on Friday…I’ll miss it.  That thing had a mind of its own.

I got to goto the last Blazers game of the year thanks to LG (cheers mate!) Most might say, “who cares” with the losing season they have had. It was super interesting to see how they are dealing with Fan Appreciation night while finishing with the worst record in the league. Job well done.

At Acadia Bistro on Fremont and 13th.

Great week mate – rock and roll in Phoenix.

Victoria, one of BnA’s inagural Rogue Travelers visited with us yesterday.