An Interesting Week ... A Less Interesting Weekend

For those of you who follow the tech industry, this week was a bit interesting at Intel. After mediocre (as expected) earnings during Q2, Intel announced that it planned on trimming some of the fat off of the company. There were no major firings yet (some rumors floating around of course), but instead they plan on evaluating every aspect of the company over the next 90 days to determine how they want to proceed. Currently, we are just in a hiring freeze, in an attempt to reduce numbers through attrition. Ultimately, this is really just the standard in the tech world (and really not all that interesting) ... but it is the first such time period that I have ever experienced ... so it is kind of interesting to me. Luckily I am in a pretty well protected part of the company right now ... so I am not really worried.


This weekend was a lot more low-key than usual. Janel had some teacher's test for a lot of the day on Saturday ... and by the time she got home it was raining ... so we did not get a chance to go on a bike ride (as we had planned). Today we went on a nice 10 mile run (at a nice and slow 12 minute mile pace). My knees are not holding up to the beating too well ... I am hoping they are just getting used to it but we will see. This afternoon we had lunch at the sister-in-law of one of the prof's at UIC that Janel TA'd for. The interesting thing was that it turns out that she is the sister of David Culler (a Prof @ Berkeley in Comp Arch). Small world :).

Angel's Rest

Today Janel and I went hiking at Angel's Rest in the Gorge. It was a somewhat short hike (only ~4.5 miles) but had a lot of elevation gain and was a good hike. Janel had her Basic Skills test this morning, so we did not have too much time for a longer hike. There was a nice view at the top of the gorge, but we were unable to see Mt Hood which was too bad. The trail does go on ... so it may be that farther down the trail (more elevation) we would have made it over the ridge and been able to see Hood. Below is a picture from close to the top. All of the pictures can be seen here.





Tonight we have a soccer game, and tomorrow we are going on a 9 mile run for marathon training. Should be interesting :)

Alaska Journal Back

Sain asked me to put up the Alaska journals again. I have imported them into my new blogging tool, and have links to the posts over on the right (under "Alaska Trip"). So ... if you want to procrastinate a bit ... (re)read about our trip. My journal is the best 'cause it includes pictures :).

My Music

I added a list of all of my CD's. Check it out on the right under links.

Cameo Cafe

This week we decided to start going to brunch (a different place) once a month. I then decided that I was going to start doing some restaraunt reviews on this webage. Illinois people might not care too much, but oh well :).


Today we went to the Cameo Cafe on the West Side of Portland. All in all, this place was pretty good, but a bit expensive. I think we each payed about $15 for brunch. The pancakes here are *huge* ... one pancake is ~14" in diameter. I had a pancake, 1 egg, and 1 piece of ham, and was unable to finish all my food. I think the "1 egg" was more like 3, and the piece of ham was pretty substantial too. Good atmosphere, friendly staff. This place is supposed to get busy pretty early ... either go early or make reservations (they only allow a limitted number of these).

Marathon Training?

So I went on a nice 8 mile trail run this morning with Janel and Shelley and Amy with the Team Oregon Portland Marathon Clinic. It was a good time ... although my body is a bit displeased :). It was very muddy and raining. Last night Janel and I had a soccer game that started at 11:20 ... so I did not get as much sleep as I am accustomed to. For the second week in a row, we played a team of high school kids and won. I am not sure how we beat these kids who are in shape ... but I am pretty sure it is not my skills :). Anyway ... the rest of the weekend should be pretty packed. We are going to a beer and wine festival this afternoon, brunch tomorrow morning, and hiking tomorrow afternoon (probably a short one). Now I think I am going to go take a nap before we head downtown.

Eagle Creek

Janel and Shelley and I went hiking in the Gorge today at the Eagle Creek trail. It was a good time, despite the fact that we had to deal with a bit of rain for part of the hike. The rain was actually probably a blessing ... this trail is supposed to be quite crowded, and the so-so weather kept the numbers down. The trail follows a "creek" (which is more of a small river) up past a series of waterfalls. Instead of hiking down by the water, the trail is cut into the cliffs and follows a few hundred feet or so above the water. There were three large falls on the trail: Metlako Falls, Punchbowl Falls, and Lodwit Falls. All the other pictures can be seen here.

Driving in Portland

is not like driving in Chicago ... or California ... or New York. The people here have the serious slows. This is not necessarily a bad thing ... apparently the accident rate is pretty low ... but being someone who learned to drive in Chicago ... I just can't stand it. It is not at all uncommon here for people in the left lane to drive 50 MPH (in light/moderate traffic). Merges make them slow down ever more. Anyway ... I could rant about this more (and I do to Janel whenever I have to drive), but will close it off here. Just remember ... if you ever come to visit ... don't be surprised if you find yourself drifting into a state of road rage :).

Summer Schedule

So people have been asking what Janel and my summer schedule looks like. Here it is right now ...


o May


- 26 - 29th: Crater Lake (Memorial Day)


o June


- 9 - 11th: My parents in Town


- 16th: Janel's last day of school


- 27th - 4th: France?


o July


- 21 - 30th: Vacation (British Colombia)


o August


- 1 - 6th?: Janel's Parents visit


- End of August / Early September: Backpacking Trip


We like visitors ... so let us know if you want to come out to see us :)