Monthly Archive for November, 2007

Where are you Bevan? Stephen?

Published on November 25, 2007 in Friends and Long Ago & Far Away. Closed

This post by Walt, about losing contact with a childhood buddy, and a recent email from a grade school classmate has got me really wondering about several childhood friends that I’ve lost contact with over the years.

I got the email from Rondo several weeks ago. Wow, I was stunned! Rondo and I were in the 3rd-5th grades together at the American Cooperative School, in La Paz, Bolivia, from 1969 to 1972. We are now beginning to get reacquainted by email, thanks to the new contact made possible by the internet.

It has made me really wonder about some of my other buddies from those days, and other chapters of my life too.

I emailed my parents and brothers to see where the yearbooks from ACS were. Ken had one, and brought it to our Thanksgiving gathering. It was a thrill to look at those still-familiar faces again. It has been 35 years since I was in the 5th grade, and it has been at least 25 years since I looked at that yearbook. It really made me wonder again where in the world my old friends are, what are they doing, and what have they been through in their lives.

5thgrade

buddies

With the internet and email, reconnecting is more possible than ever!

Thanksgiving

Published on November 24, 2007 in Family. 1 Comment

What a nice day. I like Thanksgiving better than Christmas in some ways. There seem to be fewer stresses and there is a lot less distraction from the real reason for the holiday. It is just a day to be thankful, and to spend some time with some of the special people we have around us, and eat really tasty food. I do have a lot to be thankful for!

Thanksgiving
One of the special guests at our house on Thanksgiving was my Grandma Ruth. She is 97 years old (really that means she’s in her 98th year!), and she is doing remarkably well. She is still very sharp playing speed-scrabble, and she sets a good example with her always-pleasant personality!

Lead on, Grandma!

Grandma Ruth

Dundee Traffic

Published on November 12, 2007 in Dundee Traffic and Rants. 3 Comments

Friday afternoon before a 3-day weekend… the worst time for traffic back-ups between Newberg and Dundee, my hometown.

I decided to make a map to illustrate why Dundee, Oregon is the bottleneck that it is.

It’s pretty simple. Our little town is located right between the most populated area of the state and some of the most popular places in the state to visit. To get from the Portland metro area to wine country, the Central Oregon Coast, the Spruce Goose, or Spirit Mountain Casino (the most visited tourist destination in the state), you have to go through Dundee… unless you want to go the long way around!

Dundee traffic map

(Click on the map to enlarge it)

The transportation planners of the state of Oregon just haven’t put a very high priority on funding the roads that this area needs. On Highway 99W in Dundee, traffic jams are a daily occurance. Cars, trucks and RVs are quite often lined up for a mile and sometimes two. It happens on both ends of town too—depending on the time of day.

Time spent waiting is just one of the problems: police officers and EMT’s are kept busy with the very frequent “rear-enders” that happen on this stretch of roadway; businesses are reluctant to set up shop here since drivers don’t want to lose their place in line; tempers sometimes flare as drivers cut in instead of politely merge; and an awful lot of fuel gets burned while people idle along at walking speed.

On the upside, since I work in Newberg (a 5 mile commute), it does give me a little more time to relax before I get home!

I got the idea to make this map from a very interesting blog that I follow called strange maps.