Stolen were a SOBE energy drink and a vibrating condom, according to a report.
Also on their shopping list:
Seriously though, a vibrating condom? At Wal-Mart? Who knew?
A new bridge over the Columbia will be there for the next 100 years, it needs to function like it.
If the bridge can symbolize the best and greenest thinking of our region, that would be a fine thing, too. And some brainstorming along this line has begun. One architect, for instance, recently proposed wind turbines on the bridge, possibly to power tollbooths or bridge lights — an intriguing idea.But would it be timeless enough? Any too-faddish design could be as instantly obsolete as Disneyland’s Tomorrowland was, from the minute it opened.
Bingo. Saddling future generations with technology like wind turbines or solar panels, both of which will surely be outdated early in the bridge’s lifetime, is no way to go. The current bridge is a product of a by-gone era that couldn’t have possibly forseen the Interstate Highway System and we’ve been dealing with that problem for over a half century.
A new crossing needs to be utilitarian, period. We’re not building it for today. We’re building it for the year 2090. Let’s make sure it will still be functional then.
The Columbian has an amazing picture of state and federal regulators descending on Clark County Bank after it was closed and seized by the government last night. It’s a scene that will no doubt be played out dozens of more times over the coming months and years.
Up here in the 360, they’re getting ready to make it illegal to wash your car in your driveway or on the lawn.
“You and I would not go down over Burnt Bridge Creek and wash our car,” Kim Schmanke, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Ecology, said Tuesday. “Anything other than rainwater is in fact a pollutant.”
Errr…right. So by this logic, watering your lawn would be causing pollution because you’re using tap water which is chlorinated. And fluoridated, too.
Whoever it is that came up with this rule should either rescind it or be dismissed. There’s being green and there’s being over-the-top. There are much bigger fish to fry, environmentally speaking, than washing my car in the driveway.
Hey! I haven’t done one of these for a while. Must be an autumn/football thing.
Oregon City Pioneers: What are they, like the fifth largest high school in the state? And the demographics haven’t changed that much since I was there two decades ago. Yet somehow they manage to perennially suck. At least since Coach Burton retured a decade ago. I don’t get it. They kept it close against Canby, but in the end they succumbed 21-6. Someone should explain how this happens.
Oregon State Beavers: Offensively they’re at their best in the no-huddle. Who not just run that? Defensively they’re a trainwreck. I thought this was supposed to be their strength this season! They can’t tackle to save their lives. And the punting game is laughable. They gave up a block against Stanford and nearly had another, then this week Hekker swallowed one snap, and had another one nearly blocked. The 45-14 loss, though, was a team effort. Next up is 1-1 Hawai’i then a killer stretch at home against USC and at Utah. 0-5 and 1-6 is a distinct possibility. Then the Fire Riley talk will start. Blah.
The search for a decent sports bar: I caught the first half of the Oregon State game at Fuddruckers down in Lake Oswego. I was trying to find Players but had zero luck. Turns out they’re on the other side of the freeway. Next time, I’ll know. Back to Fuddruckers. I chose them because I dig their burgers and the game is usually on. I’d forgotten, however, what a crappy experience it is watching a game in a restaurant on a 32″ tube TV. No flat screens anywhere. But the service was quick and attentive. So they have that going for them. My next stop Saturday night was the Hideaway in Hazel Dell to watch the UFC fight. I settled in for a beer and some chicken strips when the waitress came by to ask me for a $5 cover. I asked her to put it on my tab and I would pay for everything on my card. She said cash only and pointed me to the ATM. Right. Now my cover becomes $8 instead of $5. No thank you. I dug a couple bucks out of my pocket for my beer and walked out. Assholish? Maybe, but seriously…how hard is it to put the cover on the tab once you have my card? I ended up driving around for a bit before settling on Pal’s Shanty for dinner. Open-faced crab and shrimp sandwich. Mmmmm….. Yesterday I joined Gavin Dawson and the 95.5 The Game morning crew down at Grand Central Bowl for a little brunch and a full slate of the NFL Sunday ticket. I may have found my new home. Flat screens everywhere, good food, and attentive service! I parked at the bar for close to six hours and never went thirsty once. Try that at Claudia’s. And no smoke! I’ll try it again next weekend.
Arizona Cardinals: I watched all 16 of their games last season and don’t recall a single Sunday when I didn’t want to tear my hair out while watching them. Today, I got a little queazy early (stupid goal line penalties will do that to you), but that second half was a delight. They had the ball for nearly 22 minutes in the second half, including a 10-minute fourth quarter drive that was the death blow to the Niners. The Cardinals went out and won that game, there’s no other way to put it. Can they do that consistently? Ah, that’s the question. Oh! And if you’re looking for a good back-up fantasy running back, may I recommend Tim Hightower. He’ll be starting by Week 9. You watch.
One of the many pleasures of my time working out in Camas was the morning drive out SR-14. Fantastic views of the Columbia and Mt Hood. Toward the end of the drive, as the Camas paper mill comes into sight, you cross two bridges. The first, a two-lane bridge in desperate need of replacement, takes you over a channel of the Columbia River, used by the mill to move wood pulp and such up and down the river by barge. You’ll spend several seconds on Lady Island before crossing another bridge and continuing on to Camas and Washougal.
It was in one of those channels where a 69-year-old man from Yakima had a heart attack and collapsed while fishing.
Just after 7 a.m., a fellow fisherman noticed the man fall over from where he was wading in several feet of water, said Camas Fire Department Capt. Cliff Free. The fisherman called 911.
The man sank to his neck into a deeper portion of the water, but treaded water until he reached the shore.
Then, he collapsed on the island bank.
Yikes!!! I think it was on the old O-Live blog where I talked about the extremely low rate of survival for folks who require chest compressions. I hope the guy made it.
Failing to replace that load bearing wall after your remodel is asking for trouble.
So that’s why the architect put that there.
Maybe this only interests me, but whatever. Penny’s was all but left for dead a decade ago, and now they seem to be mounting a resurgence. How did they do it? Who knows. I do know I’m glad they’re still around.
It’s also interesting to note the store manager is only 32. Aren’t managers of anchor stores supposed to be grissled veterans of the industry? Or was my perception of the store manager tarnished by those summers two decades ago at the Clackamas Target and their cavalcade of inept old men? Steve B. and Dave M. excepted.
Have you heard about this couple up here in The Couv who had their car keyed in response to displaying an Obama sign on their front lawn? I must confess, I missed it. Shame on me. It’s never occurred to me to take action against anyone displaying a sign, or bumper sticker, espousing a view different than my own. Not even conversation. The closest I came was at a Winter Hawks game a few seasons back when they held an Army induction between periods. I made a quip about how inappropriate I thought it was and was immediately set upon by a veteran who questioned my patriotism. I simply told him I didn’t think a break in a hockey game provided the dignity and solemnity required for such a ceremony. I’m all for greater public participation in such events, but I don’t believe they should be immediately followed by t-shirt cannons and prize blimps. After a moment’s pause, the guy saw my point and we left it at that.
Anyway, the keying incident reminds me of an incident at our house when I was growing up. I didnt think much of it at the time, but over the years, I’ve occassionally stopped to wonder who did it and why. It was sometime during one summer in the late-80s. The Oregon Citizens Alliance was just starting to get going. This was before the Internet and Rush Limbaugh, so the only way to get their stuff out was through mailings and the hated news media. Anyway, one day I walked across the road to get the mail when I found in the mailbox a little cartoon flyer. It depicted a Jewish gay puppet master controlling everything from politicians to the media to whatever. I can’t remember the exact verbiage, I just remember the cartoon and the message. Gays were bad.
Like I said, I didn’t think much of it at the time. I mean, yeah, it was some pretty scarry stuff, but to me it was no different than any other advertising. Just a guy (I guess) trying to get his message out. It was dumb and obviously he’d picked the wrong house to drop off that piece of filth. I round filed it.
At the time, I figured whoever it was who’d placed that leaflet in our mailbox had leafletted the entire neighborhood. And he might well have. But looking back, I wonder if it was a specific message aimed at our house. At our family. I mean none of us were/are gay or Jewish, but that doesn’t stop someone from believeing we were. A fascinating thought, for a young Butterbean.
I’ve never quite resolved to my satisfaction whether those were delivered to everyone or just us. Whether there was someone in the neighborhood with a printing press and an undying hatred for a group of people. That was what scared me the most. Even more than the guy who moved in up the street and set up a firing range in his back yard for his cache of automatic weapons. And wasn’t he a special neighbor for a few months.
Dunno.
I do know that the way to end this crap is to stand up to it. To wit, Horse’s Ass has a link to a Pay Pal account where you can donate to get the vehicle in question fixed and help make our corner of the world just a little brighter.
Fun reading in The O this morning as the CEO of the company which operates the Amphitheater at Clark County bemoaned the state of his building. It all goes back to that very first Jimmy Buffett show five years ago, which was a disaster. Not that he didn’t have a bunch of neighbors and such warning him about the traffic problems which would be created when you try and jam 10,000 vehicles through a two-lane road at rush hour. The parking situation hasn’t improved much since.
Now as part of the agreement to lower the rent on the building, the operators are going to construct a floding partition which will seal in the covered part of the building, allowing them to stage shows during the fall and winter months. Given how absolutely crappy the parking is now, I can’t wait to see how they handle shepherding folks around the fairgrounds when its 40-degrees and raining sideways in November. As it is, it’s at least a ten minute walk, and frequently longer than that, to get from your car to the gates of the theater, and another five minutes (at least) to get from the gate to your seat. Why on Earth would you want to subject your customers to this in the rain?
