Archive for General
08.29.10
Posted in General at 9:27 am by terip
I’ve always been big on appropriate technology. And I feel that we are losing a lot to our digital life. Think of all those digital pictures that are not priinted out, sometimes lost during a computer crash. I once talked to someone that lost pictures of her grandmother’s 102nd birthday that way.
So I love the idea of someone promoting letter writing. There’s even a website that has letterheads by famous people. So I was thrilled to find this blog: Art of the Letter . She’s making custom letterheads for a limited time. Stop by and get yours.
Permalink
07.27.10
Posted in General at 11:58 am by terip
So, as always, it’s been really busy around here. I’ve been using Ubuntu mostly on my laptop (it’s dual boot). I like the fact that I don’t have to worry about viruses. And I like messing around with Linux. I’ve been using Ubuntu through several versions. It seems that about every other version has issues. I’ve had to spend a bit of time trying to sort out all these issues and get things up and working again. I loved the latest update but it broke things again. I read through the forum and discovered that some folks were starting to get fed up too. So I started looking around for a different distro. I tried a few and then found Open SUSE. I’ve always like Novell, so thought I’d try the live CD. I was amazed at how fast it was. It seemed like a regular operating system, not just a collection of various programs. I wiped the disk, after making a backup and installed it. I’m very impressed. I love using it.
My boyfriend has been having issues with the desktop. It’s been running slow, even though I can’t find anything wrong with it. I think that it’s just the anti-virus program slowing things down. I popped the live CD into the desktop and booted it up. It worked fine, faster running from the CD than Windows runs from the hard drive. And he liked using it, didn’t really notice the difference. This weekend, I’m going to turn the desktop into a dual boot machine. He can use Linux for most of the things he does, but will still have Windows for those few things he can’t do in Linux.
I have some recent pictures of the river that I’ll be uploading in a day or so. The river is very low and we are trying to get ready to lift up a sunken boat.
Permalink
06.28.10
Posted in General at 8:38 am by terip
So we had our Messabout, our wooden boat festival. It was a bit of a bust, due to the cloudy weather. The river was way up, so the guys couldn’t camp on the beach. We did have a nice potluck, but I didn’t get any pictures this time. We are talking about doing it again in August, but can’t agree on a date just yet.
We went to Aberdeen this weekend. Still trying to figure out a way to get the boat back home. It’s another Chris-Craft, this one about 26 feet long. We have boat trailers, but nothing quite the right size. It will need work, of course. We have just a couple more weeks to pull this off, as the owner needs the garage space. We have plans to go to the ocean on Fourth of July weekend. I think the weather is going to be cloudy again, so maybe it won’t be too cloudy. We went out there last Fourth as the kids had other plans. We’ll be meeting Lon’s sister there this year. Quinn is off to Seattle, to visit a friend. So many changes this year and there’s a lot still to come.
Permalink
05.31.10
Posted in General at 6:59 pm by terip
at the river. We have been driving around Portland a lot lately, getting some inspiration for the place that we want to live in at the river. We will be remodeling the double-wide trailer on the lot. One can still dream of having a fine old Victorian. The water is still pretty high and there are nests on the power poles. Lots of birds out this time of year. It will be nice to move down to the river and settle in. Mostly, it will be nice to have time off and be able to relax more. We have been working on the engines of the Aqua Home and now have a motor for the sailboat. I think we just might take that out this year. It would be fun to finally go out in a boat, instead of just looking at them.
Permalink
04.28.10
Posted in General at 10:15 am by terip
Not a lot of new things to report. We are still trying to get the house ready to sell. We will be moving down to the river when that happens. So there is a lot of work still to be done. I’ll try and post more fully in a few days.
Permalink
02.07.10
Posted in General at 12:21 pm by terip
This is how things looked down on the river the other day. For some reason, I remembered to take a picture during the cloudy day, but not during the sunny days. Anyway, you can see that we cleared out a lot of boats and junk. The Aqua Home is still there in the distance. The floating house in the front was full of garbage, which our friends helped up load and haul to the dump.
This is part of the pile driver. The guys that raised the sunken boat asked if they could move it to make it easier to raise the boat. They promised to move it back into place, but here it still sits. This is the second time they’ve pulled this. Yet the local paper makes them sound like heroes, even though DNR is trying to evict them as well (with a lot more reason than they went after us.)
And this boat belongs to the son of the guy that owned the sunken boat. They just drug it up on county land and left it. They also left us a bunch of barrels with diesel mixed with water, which we got to pay to have properly disposed of. Yet the local paper made us out to be the bad guys, even though we had nothing to do with the boat sinking. People lose their boats by the dock and just walk away from it. We get stuck with the bill to have them raised and disposed of, yet the paper called us “the apocolyto marina.” I guess there is a reason why people don’t read newspapers these days. When they consider it reporting to write up a lot of malicious, unfounded gossip and call it a news story, they deserve to go out of business.
Permalink
01.17.10
Posted in General at 11:22 pm by terip
This weekend was a successful cleanup of our place on the river. A lot of good people showed up to help. Took out two pickup loads of garbage, left behind by some fishermen who’d been using one of the houseboats without permission. Took three boats out of the water. Best of all is that the tug is out of the water. It needs work and so we can finally start to make it functional again.
We had some bad publicity lately, caused when a friend’s boat sank while moored. He gave to boat away to someone who is currently trying to get it back up. So it seemed like a good time to clean things up. We have the lawsuit from DNR hanging over our heads. We feel that we have a good case against them, but it will likely be several more months before we go to court.
Lon is still making progress after his surgery. He’s starting to move beyond using the walker. We’ve both gone on a diet of sorts, to try and get back into shape for warm weather. Feels good to be eating right again.
Permalink
01.03.10
Posted in General at 12:06 pm by terip
Well, we’ve survived the holidays. It’s been pretty quiet. The kids have moved out, into their own apartment. My cats have been learning to rule the house. We had a nice river cruise on the Portland Spirit.
We weren’t able to do much as we are currently fighting a lawsuit from Dept of Natural Resources. They want us to remove the dock and the houseboats. They refused to renew the lease back in 2002, even though they said that the family had done a lot of good work on the place. They gave us a deadline to do a bunch of stuff, even though we couldn’t get the permits until after their deadline. So, for now, our money goes to lawyers. If we lose this, the public will lose access to the river at that point.
Our life together is good. This new year will see a lot of changes as we are going to sell the house and move to the river. I hope I can make some progress on the Aqua Home, maybe get the engines working. I hope 2010 turns out to be a good year for all.
Permalink
11.20.09
Posted in General at 1:53 am by terip
So Lon is safely back home and continuing to heal. We are going to have to do battle with DNR as they are denying renewal of his lease. So we have lawyers in our future. It’s ridiculous, as they don’t pull this with the other people on this stretch of the river. So life has been very busy as of late. Will try and do more of an update this weekend.
Permalink
10.31.09
Posted in General at 9:58 am by terip
I am finally through with the hospital. Lon is at a rehab facility for awhile, as we get him ready to finally come home. I am glad that this surgery happened after they updated the hospital. There were not as bad memories as I feared. I reminded myself at one point that this was the place where I met Lon and that put a different spin on it. I think my saddest memory there was of Pastor George, when we had lunch together in the cafeteria. It was when Jeffrey was first there. Pastor gave me money out of his own pocket so that I could travel back and forth to be with Jeffrey. I still miss Pastor. He was a sweet, kind man, the sort of Christian where his faith really shines forth.
I also lost Wallace this week, my lab. I don’t think he really recovered from Tessie or Jeffrey’s deaths. He came down with pneumonia during all of this. He was such a good dog, if a bit solemn. Now, it’s just me and Loretta with all the cats. I am going to spread Wallace’s ashes at the same place I spread the ones from Tessie and Jeffrey. I know he’d be happy to be reunited with them.
Permalink
10.24.09
Posted in General at 9:00 am by terip
Lon has gone through hip replacement surgery again. The replacement he did 15 years ago has failed. It’s been pretty stressful. He wound up in the ICU for a day after the operation. The good news is that they have a new ICU so it did not bring back too many memories. I have seen a few of the doctors that worked on Jeffrey and Lon had one nurse that worked on his wife Kate. Mostly, it’s just been hard to deal with being back here at the hospital again. The good news is that he came through the surgery okay. I am hoping to have him home soon.
Permalink
10.12.09
Posted in General at 7:55 am by terip
Saturday, we drove to the Gorge and scattered Jeffrey’s ashes. I’d decided to scatter them over the Wind River Bridge in Carson. Local call this the High Bridge, since it’s a long way down to the river. The view is spectacular.
Lon scattered Tessie’s ashes first. Tessie was my old Rottweiler and maybe one of Jeffrey’s favorite dogs of all time. She had cancer and I had her put down a few weeks ago. Her ashes went straight down. Then I scattered Jeffrey’s. There was a mist of ashes that hung in the air. In the light, you could see them trending upwards. It was very beautiful. Then the air cleared and they were gone.
I knew these were just the shell of Jeffrey and that his soul had departed October 13th of last year. But this ritual felt right and I’m glad I decided to place his ashes at this location. Lon and I went to the local Mexican restaurant afterwards. We had nachos and margaritas. Lon asked me to tell him about when I first met Jeffrey, back in college. It felt good to tell those stories again.
Today is the anniversary of the death of Lon’s wife, Kate. He’d planned to spread her ashes in the ocean, but that has been put on hold for awhile. He’s going in for hip surgery on the 22nd. He had hip replacement surgery 15 years ago, but one of the joints disintegrated. He won’t be able to put weight on that leg for three months. I suspect we’ll do the trip to the coast this coming spring.
The new job is going okay. I start my new shift tonight, 4:30 pm to 1 am. Maybe I’ll sleep better on this one. I don’t seem to be able to handle getting up at 5 in the morning any more.
Permalink
08.31.09
Posted in General at 4:44 pm by terip
It’s one of those times of change, where the door to the old life closes and I move forward. I’ve been hired at a new job. I will be working for Netflix. I think it’s going to be fabulous and I am truly looking forward to it. It means that I am almost done with the Gorge. I will miss some of my co-workers at the old job. With three years there, I can see that it is going nowhere. And the hour and a half commute is just too much. I have really had so many changes since October. Most have been good ones. I am really looking forward to this one.
Boat projects continue. The boyfriend bought a boat trailer to haul his new project boat over from Aberdeen. I suspect we will be doing that soon. First, we will have his 87 year old mother down for a week. I’ll be working during the week, so he has a friend coming over to help. I do have that weekend off. Then the new job starts and I have a few things in the works for September, including Oregon Flock and Fiber. I am going to get back into knitting and want to do some lace projects soon. Fall always does that to me.
Permalink
07.03.09
Posted in General at 11:02 am by terip
I have pictures of our Summer Solstice Messabout, which I hope to post this weekend. It’s just been too hectic this week to deal with it. I had something, possibly a bite, become infected with a bad staph strain. I’m on antibiotics and it does seem to be healing. I am just dealing with a two inch deep hole in my thigh. So I didn’t do a lot this last weekend, except sleep and put heat on the bite.
We actually watched a renovation show on the tv, where they did a renovation on an Aqua Home! It seemed to be a newer one. The problem is that they did a pretty lousy job of it and they removed the fly bridge for no particular reason. It did not seem like the way to fix things.
The baby kittens are adjusting to life in the bedroom with the other cats. I will be glad when we have more space for them. I’ve never had Scottish Folds, but they seem to be sweet. Of course, I like kittens, even when their little claws wake you up early in the morning 
The short story is that I am happy. It’s difficult to sort out a new relationship. And it’s also difficult to adjust to living with so many people. But change is part of life. There are triumphs to go with the difficulties. Having a baby in my life is fun. But mostly, the new guy in my life makes me very happy. I just wish I could spend a little more time on the water, but that day will come.
Permalink
06.21.09
Posted in General at 7:38 pm by terip
Well, yes, it seems that we do! This is a picture of the latest, two Scottish fold kittens. This is a strain of the folds that Lon’s family has been raising for some time. We do have one old male, but no new kittens. No names just yet.
No, they don't need to be washed!
Permalink
06.11.09
Posted in General at 11:43 am by terip
We had a run in with pirates from Monrovia yesterday. They didn’t look like the sort of pirates you might expect, just a younger and older man out on the river. The problem is that they were in our boats, or at least boats belonging to people who have moorage with us. So Lon went down and barked at them, telling them to get the boats back where they belonged. The younger man was apologetic, claiming that he had been told by someone there that he could use the boat. The older man did apologize, but also took longer to bring the canoe back in. We did not call the sherrif, but the threat was made.
Lon has already lost a boat motor to them, which was “borrowed” to move another boat. They are supposed to replace it, but who knows? Things do turn up missing at the river. And I’m sure it made perfect sense to them to grab a boat just sitting there. It’s still piracy.
Permalink
05.30.09
Posted in General at 2:16 pm by terip
It’s been wonderfully warm this week. We drove out to Stabler Thursday (my day off this week) and moved my old Mazda and a load of stuff. I am getting close to closing things out there. I suspect there’s a pickup load still at the house. I closed my post office box out and set my mail to forward. It looks like that chapter of my life is about to be closed. I also noticed a funeral notice for a church member. She was a older lady with health problems, so it wasn’t totally unexpected. I always enjoyed talking to her.
I think we are going to try and go out this coming Sunday to finish things up. Lon has asked to go to the church with me. He is a bit concerned about how he’ll be received but I think that will go just fine. I am so grateful to the folks at that church, the support and love they’ve given me. I worry about how they are going to carry on. I just don’t know how I can help.
We are trying to get some of my stuff ready to sell. The pickup and trailer are going. I was going to sell my old Mazda, but am now thinking about selling the little Mazda instead. I bought it as a backup car. It’s not bad, but it’s just not as good as the old Mazda. (It’s funny that I call them that. The little Mazda is an ’87. The old Mazda is a ’95.) Plus, there are so many memories tied up with the old Mazda. It’s just hard for me to let go of it. I guess I’ll see what happens. We are not making a lot of progress on the boat right now. I am still hopeful that we can get some improvements in place and maybe move out to the river over the summer. I’m just happy to finally get moved out of the woods.
Permalink
05.25.09
Posted in General at 9:06 pm by terip
I guess, in a way, I spent the day appropriately I went through the trailer, to try and take out everything that I want to keep. We are going to clean it up and sell it. I couldn’t bear to live in it again. Even now, with things in a mess and most of my stuff moved out, it still has too many memories. The new relationship is strong and I am working on building a new life. Some days are more difficult than others.
Since I was down at the river, I took some pictures.
From the dock
Lon on the dock
Top of the dock
It was beautiful today on the river
More decorations at the top of the dock
Looking out towards the river
Yet another picture of the dock
Looking down the dock towards the houseboats
Picture of the 2 story houseboat, river side
The 2 story house boat from the other side
The river, from the deck of the 2 story houseboat
The Aqua Home still needs a bath
The West Wind belongs to Lon's son
Looking up the drive from the dock to the trailer
Permalink
05.24.09
Posted in General at 10:05 am by terip
We went to the Depoe Bay Wooden Boat Festival a few weeks ago. I posted the pictures of the boats to the Yahoo Group for the Coots, but had these personal pictures that didn’t get posted. These were taken at Boiler Bay, which is near Depoe Bay. It’s just a nice view of part of the Oregon coast. So here you go.
This is called Boiler Bay
Another picture of Boiler Bay
Third view of Boiler Bay
Last view of Boiler Bay
Me, at the beach
Lon, at the beach
Permalink
05.23.09
Posted in General at 8:55 am by terip
These were taken the day after we moved the boat, on April 5th. Sorry for the long delay.
The dock at the river place
View from the flying bridge
Along the riverside
The deck just below the flying bridge
View of the top of the two story houseboat
View from the flying bridge toward the front
From the side, looking towards the West Wind
From the front deck
From the front, towards the river
Inside, looking towards the front deck
The galley section
More galley
Aft, where the repairs must be made
Me, taking a picture of me in the head
The aft area
Looking out the back window
Picture of one engine, just because
closet in the aft
The bilge
Permalink
« Previous entries
