Tonight was the Rose Parade in Portland. This is a huge parade (which is currently going on outside my window (at 10:10pm). We grabbed dinner at the Deschuetes Pub, and then headed over to S.W Park to catch the warm up of the parade. As the even got underway, we realized that we were about a block too far West, and decided to migrate East a bit so that we wouldn’t miss all the marching bands. The marching bands were especially important because just yesterday Ruby was telling us that she wanted one… at her birthday party. Staying up until 10pm and watching them out on the street seemed to be an acceptable consolation for her (thank goodness). Unfortunately, Miles doesn’t deal well with over stimulation and sleep deprivation, so its looking like another long bedtime for him and Vick.

Our first night here, and already I’m in love. We had to go to Whole Foods to get some diapers (see my last post for details). On the way back we decided to meander through the Pearl district. We ran into what looked like a street fair, except for that there was a man on a stage giving a pretty elaborate toast.

We asked some nearby standers-by what was up, and they gave us the full lowdown. It seems that this was a dedication for the smallest park in history. To the casual eye, this park looked like a sidewalk, but it did have a neat water feature.

In any case this momentous event was enough of an excuse for Portlandites to celebrate. And celebrate they did, in grand style. Free beer style. After our new friends got done explaining the why, and the what, I headed over to the free beer table to order up what turned out to be a very tasty local beer (name forthcoming).

I enjoyed that, while Ruby enjoyed holding her complementary Izzy (I didn’t want her getting all sugared up), and then we darted back to the car to move it.

G diapers are a tragic hybrid between the inconvenience of cloth and the ecological impact of disposable. In this aboration, the disposable bit is a ”flushable” liner, while the reusable bit is a cloth covered shower cap.

We decided to try out this unlikely setup for our Oregon trip. Our first observation was that normal nethersweat started the biodegredation, thereby limiting its use on our little EC boy.

Later when the diaper had been put through it’s paces, we saw the golden flaw of this atrocious concept. We removed the stinky thing to find that the showercap was also covered in poo… so much for the reusable part. Then upon flushage the real magic began. This biodelight backed up the toilet in a way that I never would have thought possible.

My vote, in case I haven’t been plain, skip the G

P.S. This is my first ever post via PDA

We’re packing up for Portland now. We’ll be there through Monday. I’ll be attending the RailsConf and the family will be wandering around Portland looking for fun and excitement. Expected side trips (for them at least) include the Zoo, the Children’s Museum, and at least a few local coffee houses. More, I’m sure, as the trip unfolds.

I had a good ride today. Tom P. (my boss), and Adrian B (new SETI PI) started out the ride with me from HP in Palo Alto. We made good (but not good enough) time over to Woodside where we met up with Carl P (who graciously waited 30 minutes for us to arrive). We rode Canada road to Skyline, and up Polhemus. Adrian left us at the bottom of the Polhemus loop, and Carl left 8 miles later at Woodside. Tom and I raced back to the cars at HP in what seemed like record time. Now that I’ve done the whole course, I feel quite a bit more comfortable with the upcoming ride. Here are the stats:

• Distance 43.29
• Time 3:35:31
• Avg Speed 12:05
• Max Speed 38.21
• Trip Climb 2,299’

Last year, around my birthday, Wes and I hatched a plan to go out for burgers and beer, and then catch a movie. It didn’t come together until Saturday night, and even then, the plan had to be modified. I left the house at 6:45 in order to meet Wes at Thirsty Bear by 7:30. Ruby had a total meltdown about my going out. I tried to remind her that she wanted to leave me for a sleepover the next night, but I don’t think her sense of empathy is developed enough to really appreciate the comparison. After what I thought was a successful negotiation with her, I was out the door.

At 3rd and Howard (half a block from Thirsty Bear) Wes called to get directions. As he was only a block away, I hung out on the corner to wait. Perhaps the highlight of the night was when I saw Wes barreling down the sidewalk on his unicycle. He had a big old grin on his face as he wound his way through the crowd.

We woke up to the smell of wood smoke this morning. A wild fire has been raging in the Santa Cruz mountains (where my weekend ride ends). So far its burned over 3000 acres. The ride in to work this morning was a little less pleasant than usual. The thin veil of smoke achieved maximum effect on my lungs as I huffed my way up the hills. I’m not sure if this is going to cause me to cancel my ride this weekend or not.

As soon as we told Ruby what it was, she started singing the Banana Slug’s Fire song. I’m always impressed with how quickly she relates things.

more information and photos here

I had intended to wake up with the cows this morning and get in a good long ride before the sun started to heat our little green ball up. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for me. As soon as I fired up my e-mail I noticed something distinctly wrong. The mail server was down. Way down, no ssh, no ping, no traffic through the firewall to it. DOWN.

Normally a server down doesn’t seem so scary, but this thing is built like a tank with more redundancy and power than 10 mail servers would need. So for it to be down, I thought, something really serious must have happened.

Miles has been doing this phantom movement for a few weeks. We’ll turn around and when we turn back he’s across the room. I haven’t caught him on the move, but Vick reports that he kinda rotates on his bum until he gets somewhere.

Well over the last few days I’ve witnessed something distinctly crawl like. Attached is a video of the activity.Go Miles go…. and wish us luck !

Miles Moves