Coming Attractions

So I know it has been a little while since I have dropped a post. Honestly there really hasn't been a whole lot going on to talk about. I haven't taken up a new sport/turned Canadian, or climbed a mountain, or even returned from two years abroad like many of my friends. Sam and I are just continuing our quiet but quite enjoyable time out here on the coast.

That said, I am working on (or at least thinking about) a couple of posts that I hope to have finished soon. One is (predictably) sports related, the other is (probably just as predictably) related to a recent ruling from the US Supreme Court on free speech/governmental speech issues.

I am also working on my over-use of parentheticals, but that is another topic for another day. I hope you all are well out there.

This is not a Blazers Post

In fact, I thought I would give a little update about how things have been going on the coast out here. So here we go:

Holidays:

I am sure most of you have heard we had a bought of winter weather out here in Oregon around the holidays. Sam and I went to Portland on the 20^th to try and finish some Christmas shopping. We knew it was snowy and going to snow more. What we hadn't heard was it was going to snow a foot on Saturday. On top of that the freezing rain came in 36 hours earlier then I had been told it would. This is long way of saying that Sam and I wound up snowed in in Portland for a few days. However, come Monday we had to try and fight our way out of the city and over the passes since we were supposed to both be at work that day (luckily we have understanding bosses). So, we dug her Beetle out of the snow and we chained it up, and dug a ramp through the drifts to the hard pack snow. We loaded up, and I gave it good hard run. We made it some 250 feet to where my parents cul-de-sac runs into the main road. From there it took about an hour to get unstuck and heading home again. But after some working, some sand and some digging we were on our way again. And he made it a little over a half a mile. At the intersection of Pinehurst and Oatfield Rd. we hit another heavy bit in the road and it pushed us wide. By wide I mean we ran into a 3.5 foot snow bank on the far side of Oatfield. And we were stuck again. I was about to throw in the towel and walk back to my parents house when a very nice fellow (in shorts no less) pulled us out with a winch. From there we were able to make it on main roads and the free way all the way home. All told it took us about 4.5 hours. Sam held up like a champ though, and we played a rousing game of chain counting. This consists of counting peoples lost chains on the side of the road. He saw 27 of them between Portland and Astoria. Probably should have picked them up, I could have made a fortune reselling them.

Given the weather Sam and I spent a rather nice Christmas at home together in Portland. It was the first time I had ever spent Christmas without my family. It was a little strange but nice. There is something to be said for having a quite, stress-free holiday. After Christmas and with the weather thawing I headed for Portland for my vacation (I took a good 11 days off, counting holidays and weekends). I hit up Powell's and Everyday Music as well as hung out with some friends. (Note, to those friends I missed, I am sorry... perhaps we can try to grab lunch next time I am in town w/ free time.)

Back on the home-front as it were. Things in Astoria are good. Sam seems to like her job, (She has been blogging again, for those that might be interested). And 2 years in I still like mine. I have a nice routine, but there is a good deal of variation week to week. I started off he year with a trial and a good win over a rather good attorney. I have a few more trials coming up this month and next. If one of them turns out interesting I may toss out a post on that.

I am looking forward to this coming weekend. I have Monday off for President's Day (thank you government work...) and Friday night I am going to Fountains of Wayne concert with Paul in Portland. That should be awesome.

That is about it for now. Sorry, nothing so interesting as an abandoned dildo in an alleyway.

Two links before I go though:

1. Stuff White People Like – Damn funny, worth a browse.

2. Paul has started to use his blog it would seem. Holler.

Exciting Saturday Night

Exciting! By which I mean sitting at my dinning room table writing a post while my girlfriend sits at the other end play World of Warcraft. I do have cookies though. And cookies are awesome. Alright, so I am figuring this post will be mostly an update as to what we have been up to. After that I will probably go back to intermittent silence punctuated with some rambling sports posts and other half formed thoughts.

First, Work!

I am still with the DA's office. If I haven't mentioned it, we recently (within a couple of months) moved into completely remodeled offices. It hard to describe the improvement, but let me try. When I started I had an 8x6 (give or take) office with a window. Pretty swank! Until you realize it wasn't in the DA's office. It was out the back door, kind of set off from everything else. It looked a lot like a broom closet door. Then the workers got started remodeling the 3rd floor of the courthouse where our offices had been. So we moved into some temporary digs on the 2nd floor (near the elk and deer heads). My "office" was a former file room that I shared with 2 other people. It was narrow enough I could touch both walls when I stood in the middle, and maybe 15 feet long. Anyway, short story long, my new office is awesome.

Really, work in general is pretty good. I have a pretty good handle on my caseload at this point and it feels easier and easier to keep all the strands in the old duder's head. This month is pretty light. It doesn't look like I have any trials set this month. I am going to a DUII enforcement conference at the end of the month. Being the giant dork that I am that should be pretty fun. March is shaping into a busy month on the trial calender. I will try to let you all know how that goes when I can.

Side note: The Girlfriend is starting a new job on Friday. We are excited. There may even be covert jig dancing. (Free associated note: An undercover officer infiltrating the mob actually used the last name of Covert. And they never suspected him...)

Second: Non-Work! (A broad topic, but I couldn't really think of other ways to break it down.)

I am working my way through FF XII when the mood strikes me. I am fairly impressed with it. I like it more than FF X to be sure. I never could get into that one.

I am also doing a bit of reading. I got started on the Three Kingdoms thanks to an awesome Christmas gift from Paul. It is fairly dense and it is taking time to make a dent. But it is good so far. I have also been reading my way through the entire transcript of the Rosenberg trial. I am not sure why I decided to do it. I remember reading a short news article about a motion (Petition actually,) to unseal the Grand Jury records on the case. Then I just decided, what the hell, the transcript is available in a nice handy .pdf, why not read it.

That is about it for leisurely pursuits at the moment. The weather hasn't been good enough for much outdoor activity out here. I don't mind getting wet, but when its wet, cold and windy I tend to stay inside. I watch a little TV, but nothing to exciting.

I think I want to subscribe to a couple of the criminal law journals that are out there. I have had a couple of ideas for scholarly articles, but nothing with any real creative/scholarly force behind it. I have been thinking maybe if I dig into some of the literature that is out there I might find a little more energy for it.

Closing - The house.

I will spare you a lengthy discussion of the plumbing ordeal from the last 2 weeks. The important thing is that now we can do dishes.

But maybe even better then the clean dishes: The house is, for all intents and purposes DONE!
There will always be a couple of little projects to attack, but it is done. Feel free to check out the pictures below. Also, if any of you (that is the "yous" that I actually know) want to come for a visit there is a functional and furnished guest bedroom. Day visits also rock.