plugged in PDX !

Finally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Please excuse us for not updating the blog sooner!  We have been using our hour-a-day computer time at the Portland Public Library to scour craigslist for jobs, tables, and desks.  But now...ta da!...we have our computers!

Finally !!!!!!  Plugged in!  ...at around 2:30 today six boxes arrived at #406 via UPS.  Christmas in October!  It was my turn to wait at home to buzz the UPS person in; Dan was at the library applying to be a soupcycler extraordinaire.  I hauled the boxes up 4 flights and opened box One.  Box One contained some of Dan's clothes and a couple of bath towels (how did Leslie know that blue and green match our decor?), a dish towel, and a dish cloth.  Box Two contained the espresso machine and coffee grinder!  I quickly set it up in the kitchen, plugged it in, and made an Americano.  AHhh!  Box Three contained my Vitamix, which I also set up in the kitchen.  Box Four was my computer and a couple of "important documents" and dear mementos from *sigh* the past.  Box Five and Six I left for Daniel to open when he returned; they contained his computer and monitor.  

Oh my MacBook!  I didn't have the internet for about an hour so I made toast with the handy stove-top camping toaster that we bought at the conveniently located Goodwill down the street, and settled down to watch some old videos of Nick's cat Oliver that were on my computer for some reason.  Cute cat.  Glad he's not here to fuzz up my life.  

Our new friend Jacob, who lives in 403, kindly let us share internet with him, so that's how I happen to be here on the interwebs at the moment.  It isn't a super strong signal, so we'll see how it goes.  It just doesn't make sense for Comcast to make a killing by having every single unit sign up for their own internet!  

That's life for the past two hours.  Let me back up, moving backwards:

Yesterday Dan and I went to the library to job search, found the closest Whole-Foods store (nutritional yeast in bulk!) and bought 300 thread-count sheets, bath towels, and a sharp knife that doesn't fold and is not plastic.  Last night I took a shower and actually dried myself with something other than a ShamWow!  (Shamwows, contrary to the popular infomercial, do NOT work.  They do NOT dry as well as a towel, nor do they themselves dry by simply wringing them out.  Shamwows are a sham.  I do not recommend.)

Yesterday morning, Dan and I lived out a dream by finally making french-toasted peanut butter sandwiches smothered in oatmeal.  Delicious.  Almost as delicious as I thought they would be a few weeks ago when we, completely loopy from burning about 5,000 calories the day before and about ready to do it again, were eating breakfast on a cold morning in North Dakota and dreaming of the perfect breakfast.  Someday you will be able to try them at our bike shop bakery, where they will be served as your choice of either a neatly wrapped snack or full-on sit-down breakfast.  

On Wednesday our gas was turned on sometime after 6 pm (Dan had to stay home all day and wait for the gas man) and we were finally able to cook our spaghetti that we bought 4 days earlier.  Boy that tasted good!  Wednesday was a funny day.  I left our place in the morning to try out a new job: canvassing for a campaigning organization that works on behalf of the ACLU.  I had replied to a newspaper ad, and was going back for a 2nd "interview" or a "day in the field".  We had to memorize this spiel about protecting women's rights (which I am totally for) and tell it to people on the street to try to get them to donate money.  What a horrible job!  I did it for....like 30 minutes before I decided that there is almost no worse job than harassing people as they try to do their midday grocery shopping.  I'd rather move back to Champaign; I'd rather move to Montana; I'd rather do almost any job than that!  I told the people who were training us that it "just wasn't for me" and copped out early.  I mean, I know the job market isn't good and all...but there are jobs out there.  I've done some searching and found jobs which I am probably qualified to do and would probably enjoy, I just have to get a good resume and cover letter together.  After all, I do  have a degree and some job experience and I'm not an addict and I am personable, etc.  Receiving the computers in the mail was the first step.  

Tuesday:  Tuesday?  I can't remember!  We'd been in PDX (Portland) a week on Tuesday.  Maybe that was the day that we went thrifting for some necessities.  Dan and I are both pretty particular about our kitchen utensils.  We were both looking forward to picking out a few drinking glasses.  I emphasize glasses because we hate drinking out of plastic  if we can help it.  Camping is a different story; it becomes sporting, but in everyday living glasses are a must!  We also bought a $6 set of utensils.  They were mostly spoons; 4 forks and 2 knives, but these also were not plastic.  We got a saucepan and wok, and a colander with pineapples on it.  (The straining holes are pineapples.)  Good finds.

Monday...Sunday....Saturday we moved into our new place!  It's a 4th floor studio apartment in a 1910'2 or 20's building.  It's got new bamboo floors, a small kitchen, a small bathroom with a claw-foot bathtub, and a Murphy bed.  A Murphy bed folds into the wall, or in our case, slides into the wall like a big drawer.  Ours slides right under the bathroom floor, which is raised.  It saves a lot of space and is hella convenient if you want to put 8 bicycles in your studio apartment.  (OUR BIKES HAVE NOT ARRIVED YET!!!!)  The apartment is located near the stadium and convention center and some hotels; not really a cute or fun neighborhood, but it is a really close bike ride to anyplace in downtown Portland.  A good find for the 2nd day in town I'd say.  

Tonight we are having dinner guests!  They are bringing pillows to sit on because we don't have chairs yet.  Ryan and Ashley are also from Champaign and moved here a couple of weeks ago.  Ryan used to work at Cafe Kopi, which is how I know him.  We bumped into them at the Goodwill.  Friends!

OK!