Getting to Chicago

Janel and I had a tough time getting to Chicago this year, and almost decided to cancel our trip altogether. We were planning on flying out on Sunday, but a bad storm was in the forcast. This was similar to the prior week, during which time the roads were in terrible condition but PDX (our airport) was working without a hitch. So, Allen gave us a ride to the airport before the storm hit hard on Saturday, and we stayed in a hotel.

Sunday morning we got up to the sound of our phones getting text messages to discover that our flight was cancelled. We called United, and the first flight we could get out was on Christmas day. This would have only left us 4 days in Chicago, and we could not push our return date because of my surgery. Luckily we were able to bypass the massive line of people (only 4 customer service people had made it to the airport that day) and cut to the front because of my Premier status on United. This allowed us to get Standbye tickets for Monday.

Our next step was getting home. Allen had brought us to the airport, and we did not want to trouble anyone to pick us up because the weather was terrible. So, we rode the Max home, planning on getting a taxi from one of the stops to our house. When we were almost home, we had to bail on the max (temporarily) because Janel had to go to the bathroom really bad. As we were tromping through the foot of un-shoveled snow, a couple stopped and offered to give us a ride (which we thankfully accepted).

That pretty much brought us to the end of day 1. Before I tell the rest of the story, how about a couple of photos?

Here is one from our driveway showing a thick layer of ice between two layers of snow.

From Christmas 2008 Portland

Here is one of me holding two of the pieces of ice that were embedded in the snow.

From Christmas 2008 Portland

We decided to get up on Monday morning and try standbye (after checking the airport to make sure no flights had been cancelled yet). We hopped in the car (which already had chains on it) and drove through snowy Portland to the airport. Unlike in Chicago, Portland is not really equipped to deal with this sort of snow storm. So, you can't even see pavement on the major highways, while the local roads are NEVER plowed. My parents were discussing about how Western Springs decided to not salt the local roads this year. Portland never salts anything!

After about 1:15 ride to the airport (not bad actually), we parked the car and headed in. We discovered that despite the fact that the system had reported that the 6:15am flight to Chicago was "On Time" ... this turned out to be a bit of a lie since it was 9:00am and the flight still had not taken off. So, I talked to an agent and had them add us to standbye for that flight. We got really lucky. There was one open seat, and another seat where the person had not shown up yet. Since I was Premier, I got to bypass everyone else and move to the front of the standbye list. So, assuming that the random guy did not show up AND the flight actually did not get cancelled, we had a flight home.

After waiting until about noon, they finally boarded the airplane. The fun was not over yet. First they had to finish clearing the "big" runway so that we could take off. Then they had to de-ice the plane. Then I heard on the ground-control radio that one of the United de-icers was on fire. Then they announced that all their de-icers were broken but one, and it was sorta on the fritz. After about 3 hours of sitting there, we were finally able to take off.

So, we made it home! I never expected Portland weather to be the cause of flight delays at Christmas time. The last storm that was this big in December in Portland was over 40 years ago. So, hopefully this means we won't have to deal with anything like this after we have kids :).

Wedding Registry Suggestions

Back when Rohini and Steve got married, Janel and I put together a list of the stuff that we registered for and actually use AND the stuff we wished we registered for. Mariko wanted the same thing, so I thought I would just post it here.

"Cuisinart DLC-2ABC Mini Prep Plus, Brushed Chrome" (link)
- I thought ours was a bit cheaper than this one ... there might be a cheaper version ... but you get the idea

Zojirushi CD-LCC30 Micom 3.0-Liter Electric Dispensing Pot (link)
- Hot water heater ... we use this every day for tea and making oatmeal or just getting a jump on boiling small amounts of water on the stove

Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 12-Inch Everyday Pan with Lid (link)
- We use this all the time ... really cheap on Amazon

Schott Zwiesel Forte Burgundy/Pinot Glass
- This is the brand that makes the wine glasses that use titanium instead of lead. I really like them ... and would scope it out. They are really nice, but also very sturdy. You can put them in the dishwasher and such. Janel and I got a larger (12?) set of cheaper wine glasses (and water glasses) for if we are ever entertaining, and have a set of 4 of these which we basically just use all the time.

Nested Glass Bowls (link)
- I can't find a name to search for ... but we have a set of like 8 nested glass bowls that we use all the time. The take up relatively no space which is really handy

Set of Corning Ware

Nice Knives
- If you are going to get knives, I would recommend the Wusthof Classic line. The Wüsthof Classic 8-Piece Block Set (link) is good. They are quality knives and not *too* expensive.

*BIG* Pot (~12 quart)
- Lots of options here. One is the Cuisinart Classic Stockpot (link).
- Janel and I like to make a giant batch of soup about once a month which we freeze. We then have it once a week, which cuts down on the amount of cooking and is easy/healthy. We can give you some good recipes if you want. But ... I would get a big pot if you are interested in going this route. 12 quarts is a good size.

2 "Medium" pots.
- 8 quart pots are really useful. It seems obvious that you would get one ... but we have two of them and use them together all the time.

Oxo Good Grips Tongs (16in link) (9in link)
- These are really nice. They come in a variety of sizes. Even though they are not "officially" made for it, the longer ones make great grilling tongs (I was watching a grilling show and they said that they recommended them). The shorter ones we use for all kinds of stuff.

Martini Glasses -- I would almost recommend not registering for these. We registered for 4 and ended up getting 12 which is just way too much.

Matching decent luggage is also something to consider if you don't already have some decent stuff.

More Towels than you think you need.

Christmas in Portland

We had a fun December this year. We hosted a Christmas Party and had ~15 people over. At the party there was a little "outfit contest" (no theme other than Christmas). It was a close contest. Allen was dressed up as "the Holiday Tramp" wearing a ridiculous dress and some makeup. Kendra was a Christmas tree, complete with working Christmas lights. Kendra and her Christmas spirit ended up beating Allen by one vote.

The past week we got "a lot" of snow. Okay -- compared to Chicago it was basically nothing, but in Portland a few inches goes a long way. Janel ended up having the entire week of school cancelled. Anyway, here are some random photos...

Our house at night. Next year I need to do the 2nd story too.

From Christmas 2008 Portland

Our tree:

From Christmas 2008 Portland

Snow on our street:

From Christmas 2008 Portland

Beer + Bears makes a Busy weekend

Janel and I had a nice busy (yet unproductive) weekend. Saturday we headed downtown and went to the Holiday Ale Festival in Pioneer Square with Allen and Melvin. This was by far my favorite beer festival since coming to Portland (and I have been to a good number of them). For whatever reason, winter is the time for Stouts and Porters, which I am a big fan of ... while summer time is all about hops and IPAs (which do very little for me).

Some beers that I really liked ...

• Sleigh'r (Ninkasi Brewing) -- a 7.2% ABV, 50 IBU "Amber Hybrd" -- Something other than a Stout or Porter is at the top of my list.  This was good stuff.  Pretty dark for an Amber.
• Santa Baby Stout (McMenamins Thompson Brewery) -- a 5.8% ABV, 30 IBU Stout -- McMenamins is a big brewery out here in Portland, and they hold a contest across all their brewers every year for the festival entry, and this selection did not disappoint.
• Babushka's Secret (Widmere Brothers) -- a 9% ABV, 70 IBU  Stout made with KGB (one of their Stouts) along with 14lbs of local rasberries per barrel during fermentation.  I am not a big fan of "sweet" or "girly" beers, but this was good stuff. 

Some other beers of note ...

• Smoked Porter w/ Vanilla Beans (Stone Brewing Company) -- A 5.9% Smoked and Wood-Aged Porter -- This thing tasted a lot like a Root Beer Float.  Very strange.  A bit too sweet for me, but interesting
• Abbey Grand Cru (New Belgium Brewing Company) -- A 9.5% ABV, 19 IBU Belgium Strong Ale -- This was the "first" beer made by the makers of Fat Tire, and it was really really bad
• Black Pepper Chocolate Stout (Lagunitas) -- This thing was interesting because it actually tasted of pepper.  I thought it was a bit too much, but it was worth tasting

There were a lot of other good Stouts and Porters, but I won't list them all.

For dinner we went to Mio Sushi on 23rd and Johnson -- our new favorite Sushi place in Portland.

Sunday we went to watch the bears game at a new place -- Cactus Jacks.  It is a "Bears Bar" that is a bit of a drive, but it was way better than our standard Sunday hang-out of BW3s.  We will be spending our future Sundays (and next Thursday) there with all the other Bears fans.  After the game, we played in two soccer games (luckily Soccer Plex is really close to Cactus Jacks).  I will be heading to bed early tonight :).

Back Online!

OK, it looks like I am back online. I have been having some DNS troubles the last couple of days, but I think they are cleared up now so everything should be working correctly now.

I have uploaded all of my old photos, but am still going through the old albums and such, so picasa is a bit messed up. I have also imported almost all of my old posts. There are probably a few more to finish up tomorrow.