Celeste's Breadbox

Heatwave

It's only about 87° or so on Friday afternoon when the electrical substation by my house blows, resulting in a fried Airport. (This just a week after I had to replace my keyboard). I had been planning on getting an Airport Extreme anyway, those 200 MB FTP uploads were more than a little slow over the old Airport. So had to go all the way out to the actual Portland Airport, to get a new Airport (ha ha). I'm just glad none of the cards got hosed, I've already had to replace the one in my laptop after a power surge. New one works great, though. Followed that afternoon by a pleasant BBQ, day 1 of the heatwave was not so bad.

To escape the heat yesterday we went to see X-Men 3 in the AC. The movie was actually better than I had been lead to believe. Theatre experience though, was crappy as usual. Instead of having someone's cell phone ring during the film, we had a guy in front of us flip open his xtra-bright cell phone to check his oh-so-important messages about 10 times during the film. Then the hilarious R. Lee Ermey voice-over made me laugh so hard I choked on a Spree. Totally embarassing.

It's 95° now, forecasting 104°, which it totally unheard-of around here. Actually glad to have a whole crapload of work to do today, to keep me chained to my desk in the cool, dark basement. Got a sort-of new client today, I've actually been working with them for years, but as a sub-contractor through my old agency. Now I'm doing the work directly, which will be great. They're very nice folks to work with.

Oh, and I'm totally stoked about Alex Tanguay coming to the Flames. The whole fanbase was doing the happy dance about that one. Only three more months 'til next season!

Another coast trip

Had another lovely trip to the coast this past weekend, Aaron's birthday present from his mom (thanks again, Kathleen). We deviated a little bit from our usual routine this time, and took some new side trips, which were all very rewarding.

On the way down we stopped at the new Tillamook Forest Center on the Wilson River Highway. The building and the suspension bridge over the river are gorgeous, and the exhibits are very well done and highly educational. They are really out to prove to the public that you can maintain a sustainable forest and harvest lumber at the same time. I'm not 100% convinced, but at least they're making an effort in Tillamook. If only they'd get rid of the stupid off-road vehicles in the forest... At least timber harvesting gives something back, off-roading has no practical purpose, and is just as destructive to the environment. Sightings at the Forest Center included Swainson's Thrush, Belted Kingfisher and Common Merganser, all spotted from the bridge.

On a whim we turned off at the sign for Munson Falls, a sign we'd passed by countless times. It's small park a few miles up a gravel road, and the falls are a short hike from the trailhead, but it's pretty impressive. The guidebook says it's the highest falls in the Oregon Coast Range.

Stayed at the Overleaf Lodge in Yachats, as usual. They've finished an addition on the hotel, and the improved lobby/breakfast area is much better than before. They've made some other minor improvements to the amenities (Aveda products, CD alarm clock, DVD player) that make an already very nice hotel that much better. Still the best hotel I've stayed at on the coast. Sightings from Yachats included a family of Killdeer living on the rocks in front of the hotel who chattered hysterically at everything that walked by, Brown Pelicans cruising the surf, and a very late Gray Whale making her way up north.

Saturday we made the annual pilgrimage to the Oregon Coast Aquarium, one of my favorite places on Earth. Got to see the sea otter and bird feedings, the octopus was out and active, and the new crustaceans exhibit was awesome. I especially loved seeing the Mantis Shrimp. The Horseshoe Crabs exhibit wasn't ready yet, though, which was a little disappointing. They're also working on a new exhibit of Snowy Plovers, who are endangered by ATVs on the dunes. (see rant about off-road vehicles, above).

Just down the road from the Aquarium is the Hatfield Marine Science Center, part of Oregon State University. I hadn't been there in probably 5 years, and I was happy to see that they've made a lot of improvements. It's a much more nerdy companion to the Aquarium, with exhibits about real research that they're doing at the University. They also have great bookstore. They have an octi, too, but he was asleep when we were there.

On the way back to Yachats we stopped at Seal Rocks State Park, which neither of us had been to before. There was a cool ranger on duty, and we geeked out about birds for a while before heading down to the beach. It was a high low-tide when we were there, so not much tidepooling, but lots and lots of birds. Pelagic Cormorants were nesting on the big rock, and I got to see my first Harlequin Duck. Also a bunch of Pigeon Guillemots, Black Oystercatchers, fur seals, and an Osprey making some dives (didn't catch anything, though). Very nice park, and certain to become a regular stop on our coast trips.

Sunday morning we got up super early to catch one of the lowest tides of year at Neptune State Park. My knees were feeling a little too shakey to go too far out on the wet rocks, but we did get to see several Opalescent Nudibranchs and Sea Mice (another nudibranch). Also a lot of harbor and fur seals splashing around in the shallow pools, and some more Pigeon Guillemots flying in and out of their burrows in the cliffs.

On the way back home we stopped in Pacific City and walked down the spit at Bob Straub State Park. The low tides had stranded a lot of sand shrimp and jellyfish on the beach, much to the delight of the gulls. We also stopped at Whalen Island State Park on the Three Capes Scenic Route. The last time we had been there they hadn't quite finished the trail, but now there's a nice 1.5 mile loop all the way around the island, through dense rhododendron, salal and lodgepole pine forest. Sightings at Whalen Island included a male Rufous Hummingbird, Hutton's Vireo, Bald Eagle, American Goldfinches, Yellow Warbler, White-crowned Sparrows and a young Douglas Squirrel who didn't quite know what to think of us. I really like this park, but its beauty is sadly marred by the nearby ATV area at Sand Lake (see rant about off-road vehicles, above). You want to enjoy the sound of the ocean, the birds, and the forest, but all you get is the constant roar of horrid two-stroke engines and shouting. I'll never understand the impulse people have to tear up the landscape on those things, to no practical purpose. When I am the Commissar...

All in all it was a very pleasant trip. But you really can't go wrong on the Oregon Coast. Even when the weather is really crappy, it's always interesting.

Flames Kitty!

Now I have proof that the baby jerseys fit on cats. Look out Sesame, you're going to be Maple Leafs goalie Mikael Tellqvist for Halloween next year.

Property Value Rant

The cute little bungalow across the street from my house has just been put on the market. The current owners have been there for two years, and haven't done that much to it, other than to destroy the nice cottage garden that was there by spreading bark dust over everything. They bought it for $165K, which was probably a good price at the time, a little less than I paid for my house (larger lot, more sq. ft.) in 2001. The owners are selling because they feel they can't afford it (granted, inner SE is more expensive than, say, Boring, but it's not like NW or Alberta has become), and they want to get away from the tweakers. Uh, sorry, if you're going to live in Oregon, you're going to have tweakers in your neighborhood, and we've actually managed to get rid of most of them around here.

So this morning the "for sale" gibbet and flyers are out, so I have to go see what they're asking for it. I've become a bit of a real estate speculator for the neighborhood, and it has a lot of bearing on what my house is worth, so I have reason to be interested. $219K!!!!! Uh, sorry folks, your little 600 sq. ft. house is NOT worth over $50,000 (33%) more now than when you bought it two years ago. Portland Maps has the house's real market value at $162K, which is a little low, but come on! My house's "real market" value is listed at $219, and when I had it actually appraised last year when I was thinking of re-finanacing they only valued it at $205K.

I can't believe that that house is going to sell for over $200K, but if it does, I guess I really should re-finance mine. Just running numbers, by the way they have estimated the value of their house compared to what the city has appraised it at, my house should be worth almost $300K on the open market. That's almost twice what I paid for it 5 years ago. And with a couple hundred dollars in paint I can probably increase the value even more.

This all kind of stinks, though. I don't want my nice quiet little neighborhood to become overpriced. I don't want Brooklyn to start attracting the element who overpay for property just to be close to downtown. I hate thinking about Portland becoming the next San Francisco. In the long run, it can't be good to overvalue our property. I don't care what people are willing to pay, it all just contributes to the eventual collapse of the market, which no one wants.

Yeah, so good luck selling your house. And don't think I won't check to see the actual price it went for. I hope you're not going to get what you're asking.