Duff (2000-2009)

With great sadness, Duff went to his final resting place last Monday, June 22. He developed a tumor on the outside of his intestines which caused tremendous pain and made it difficult to have a bowel movement. The vet didn’t recommend surgery because of his age, breed/size, and the size of the tumor. It was an extremely difficult decision for Laura and me to make, but we had always told ourselves that our dogs will not suffer in these type of situations.

Duff was a 9 year old black lab that I adopted in September 2001 while living in Burns, Oregon. He was a little over a year old and had already been with two other owners. His mild temperament and easy going manners made him a keeper, and over the years, made dog lovers out of people who didn’t like dogs. He was loyal, loved to wander, and gave great wet kisses!

The name Duff came with him. I’m told he was named after Duff beer on the Simpsons. Not being a fan of the Simpsons or cheap beer, I like to say he was named after the duff layer found in the forest. Either way, it was a unique name for a unique dog.

When I got him, I had just started a long distance relationship with Laura, who was living in Spokane, WA. Duff became my travel companion for those 9 hour drives to see her, which became the start of his traveling adventures with Laura and me. He traveled to mountains and the beaches; ran along our sides on trails and roads; visited Glacier, Yellowstone, Lassen, and Yosemite National Parks; visited or lived in Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, and California; and loved to play in rivers and sit in the rain. He probably experienced more than many Americans.

While we were in the Peace Corps (2004-2005), he and Skylee easily transitioned to living with my mom (Grandma) where they were spoiled. He loved sleeping on her bed, running around the large yard, eating “special” food, and receiving her undivided attention. He loved being with my mom!

Though Ethan may not remember him, he will always have pictures, videos, and wonderful stories for us to share with him. We will all miss him very much.

I love D.I.Y. (Do It Yourself). There is nothing more satisfying than being able to solve a problem, quickly, efficiently, and, best of all, cheaply.

So when we moved in our home last August, we had a couple issues we needed to resolve. The first was organizing our kitchen, and the second was keeping Ethan out of our kitchen island cupboard. Here’s the story.

SMALL KITCHEN: Our last home in Eugene was filled with kitchen storage space. It was wonderful. You could pack in the bread machine, mixers, salad shooter, pots, pans, dogs, drums, whatever you needed. It was wonderful. This kitchen is the opposite. We were able to maneuver a pizza pan and two sets of kitchen towels before we filled up. It’s horrible. The worst was where to put our pots and pans. They are bulky, the lids are awkward and Ethan loves to play with them. I did some research on the internet, found some options that may help us, and then went to work.

For our pots and pans, we chose to hang them on the wall. We looked at hanging racks, but they’re expensive! Also, not readily available. Our friends Matt and Sophie had a great layout in their Eugene home. The first lesson in life is “Don’t reinvent the wheel” and I didn’t plan on it. I stole the idea. I bought some hooks, threw ‘em on the wall and, presto, worked like magic.

LIDS: Once the pots were hanging, the lids were just piled into a cabinet…horizontal. Lids are useless, and terrible to organize when they are horizontal. The only time a lid is good horizontal is when it’s on top the pot or pan. That’s it! So what to do? I have to thank the great contributors at Lifehacker.com. Someone posted their idea about purchasing a desk organizer and using it for lids. “Bling!” What a great idea. I had Laura run down to Office Depot, find one and come back. Unfortunately, the width of space was too small…so I had her run back to Office Dept, return that organizer, head to Office Max, and buy a different one. Blam! This one works like a charm. Thanks Laura! We can put our lids and extra pans in the organizer and keep them organized. I love it when an organizer actually organizers. It’s awesome.

CHILD: Ethan, Ethan, Ethan..my son…I love you buddy, but daddy does not like it when you open up the kitchen island cabinets and pull out everything. Everything! Some of you may say, “Hey buddy, let the kid do whatever, he’s 18 months!” To that I say, “Hey buddy, come clean up my kitchen 10 times day.” Someone else may say, “Hey buddy, buy those latches so he can’t open up the door.” To that I say, “Hey buddy, I did for the others, because they had a piece of wood to latch them on. The island doesn’t.” What to do. Laura rummaged through some baby stuff donated to us and pulled out some device for us to use. As you can tell, that device took two hands, set of feet, and pliers to open. Postive side: Easy to close. Back to the drawing board. Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. No wait, actually it was 4 days later I was in the garage, rummaging through my rock climbing gear, thinking “I never use this stuff these days, what should I do with it”. Then it hit me. “Blam!” Carabiner! I grabbed the golden latch, raced into the house, threw off the middle evil latch device and threw on the carabiner. Ahhhh….it’s beautiful. And so easy to use.

Enjoy.

John Lennon had a good message that is as relevant today as it was then (or anytime in the world’s history).

Ethan at the Nature Park in Beaverton, Oregon

Here’s our little guy doing some of his first steps while hiking near our home.

“Common Current recently released a report ranking U.S. cities on their ability to deal with a peak oil crisis. San Francisco comes out on top, with Oklahoma City ranks last.” Read the rest of the article at Planetizen.

What I find intriguing is the location of the Top 10 and Bottom 10 cities. Look at the locations and think about the politics. Then think about who is currently and soon-to-be leading our country. I think this country is in a great position to begin to design and plan communities that are energy efficient and improve our quality of life, not degrade it.

As a Portlander, I’m glad to see us at #7. Of course, with all great cities there is room for improvement. Portland recognizes this and continues to make strides. I just the bottom 50 recognizes it because the ones paying for it are the citizens.

Top 10
1. San Francisco
2. New York
3. Washington, DC
4. Seattle
5. Oakland
6. Chicago
7. Portland, OR
8. Philadelphia
9. Baltimore
10. Boston

Bottom 50
41. Louisville, KY
42. Omaha, NE
43. El Paso, TX
44. Nashville, TN
45. Memphis, TN (tie)
45. Fort Worth, TX (tie)
47. Tulsa, OK
48. Indianapolis, IN
49. Jacksonville, FL
50. Oklahoma City, OK

Couple Shots of the Little Guy!

I’m told that I need to post more photos of our son. For now on, I will be sure to include at least a couple photos in my posts. Also, if you are on Facebook, we post a bunch of him on there. You have to be added as a friend though.

That's my boy!

Family hike

You’ve probably noticed that none of the videos on our Media page work. It’s because we’ve been transfering and uploading new ones on our YouTube Channel. Until we decide to embed on our site, you can catch all the wonderful action of our lives over on YouTube. Our current videos include a Willie Nelson concert we attended, Peace Corps experiences in Armenia, and lots of our little guy Ethan.Go view all of them and more at http://www.youtube.com/resqbrett

Most of you know that I work in the planning profession. Specifically, I’m involved in parks and natural resource planning. The funny thing is that I wasn’t aware of the value or the profession of planning until I was in my 20’s. I believe my Peace Corps experience made me realize the value of civic engagement and that citizens need be involved in the development of their neighborhoods, which is one aspect of planning.

Now I look back and realize that I should have thought about what shapes the development or lack of development in the communities that I live. I’m not sure what age I should have been more aware, but my 20’s seems a little late. Of course I don’t expect a 6-year old child to say, “Daddy (or mommy), when I grow up I want to be a planner”. Actually, that would be pretty nerdy if your 6 year old said that. But the point is that our lives are tremendously influenced by the profession of planners and it isn’t too early to learn how our communities are developed. After all, the youth are the future!

I want to introduce you to some great resources that the American Planning Association (national organization for planners) offers to teach youth about planning. The website is found here: http://www.planning.org/education/youth . As you’ll notice with the topics of the lesson plans, it seems that planners are involved in everything.

If you have questions, comments, or whatever, then feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Brett

WARNING: Computer Nerd Alert!

As information inquirers, Laura and I read The Oregonian on a daily basis. While Ethan yacks away and plays with his oatmeal each morning, we share the front page and discuss the local news. It’s a great way to learn a little more about our community and the world we live in.

But for many of us out there, the morning newspaper just doesn’t cut it. We need MORE information. Not just any ‘ol information, but information that is up-to-date, relevant to our interests, and easy to access. This is why I love Really Simple Syndication or RSS feeds.

RSS feeds allow me to subscribe to a page and get the latest news. There are thousands of websites/blogs that provide these links. Even our website, actually this page that you are reading right now, allows this. But the beauty of an RSS feed isn’t that you can subscribe to it, but in the application that allows this to happen. In my case, I use Google Reader to subscribe to all my RSS feeds. Gathered on one page are up-to-date headlines from all the websites I subscribe to. Now I don’t have to click on a link to each website to see what’s new. It’s gathered all in one place

I’m not going to describe all the nuts and bolts of how to use Google Reader and RSS feeds, there is plenty of information on the web to do that. I just wanted to share the sites that I subscribe to and to make sure that you know you can always subscribe to our website. This page is the only dynamic page, hence, the only one that will be updated in your RSS feed. Hope you find a new feed to subscribe too. Remember to look for the orange image in your URL bar and click it to subscribe.

Brett’s RSS Subscriptions on his Google Reader

• First I have a whole list of friend’s websites that I subscribe to. Great way to stay in touch.
• BBC World News: Allows me to learn more about news from around the world (http://news.bbc.co.uk/)
• Foreign Policy Association: This organization offers a lot of blogs to subscribe to. Here are my favorites: Caucasus (http://caucasus.foreignpolicyblogs.com/); Central Asia (http://centralasia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/); Election 2008 (http://election.foreignpolicyblogs.com/); Russia (http://russia.foreignpolicyblogs.com/); U.S. Diplomacy (http://diplomacy.foreignpolicyblogs.com/); U.S. Role in the World (http://usrole.foreignpolicyblogs.com/)
• Fat Wreck Chords: One of my favorite punk rock record labels (http://www.fatwreck.com/)
• Lifehacker: All things computer and nerdy, but very useful (http://lifehacker.com/)
• MadConomist: Economics anyone? (http://madconomist.com/)
• The Positivity Blog: Fluffy but very optimistic (http://www.positivityblog.com/)
• Planetizen: All things planning and more (http://www.planetizen.com/)
• Politico: Politics, Political News, Campaign 2008 and on and on (http://www.politico.com/)
• PunkNews.org: My lifeline to the latest tours, breakups, record releases, tragedies and other shenanigans in the punk rock world (http://www.punknews.org/)
• Woodworking Magazine: I love to build things (http://blog.woodworking-magazine.com/blog/)

That’s my list. Feel free to share yours.

Here in Oregon, polling booths don’t exist. Everyone in the state will vote by a mail-in ballot. Here’s our experience. Simple, relaxing, and in the comfort of our own home.

Last week was my birthday and to celebrate it, as well as get out of the 100 degree Portland weather, we headed west to Seaside for fun and much cooler weather. This was Ethan’s first time to the beach, walking on the sand, and putting his feet in the ocean. Enjoy the video.

Ethan also has his molars coming in. So far, two have popped out and two more are making their way. Of course this means he has been a little cranky, but always a charmer. After all four arrive, he will have 11 teeth.

I’ve had a few requests from friends to make my master’s terminal project available for download. While I’m very proud of the work I did, I’d say it definitely has a specific audience. If you feel the urge to want to read it, feel free to download it. If you use it for research, please provide the proper citations.

I’m also making a PowerPoint presentation available. The PowerPoint was presented for the Willamette Valley Biomass Working Group, the client for this project. You can read more about my defense and energy planning in previous posts.

Abstract:
PERCEPTION TO INCEPTION: ASSESSING CONTRACTOR CAPACITY TO UTILIZE WOODY BIOMASS FOR ENERGY PRODUCTION IN THE SOUTHERN WILLAMETTE VALLEY, OREGON

Global warming, peak oil, and severe wildfires are leading government officials, community members, conservation organizations, timber industry officials, and other stakeholders to explore sustainable long-term solutions to create healthy and vibrant communities. The use of woody biomass provides a solution because of its ability to not only reduce the effects of these events, but also meet economic development, renewable energy, and ecological objectives. Timber companies are important to making the woody biomass industry successful because they are a key link between accessing and delivering the supply and meeting consumer demand. Though they stand to benefit economically, there are challenges they face before fully committing to utilizing woody biomass.

This study had two objectives to better understand the opportunities and challenges the timber industry faces in the southern Willamette Valley. The first was to understand the capacity of firms either engaged in or with the potential to engage in woody biomass collecting, processing, and transportation. The second was to determine the willingness and interest of firms to participate in biomass utilization and what barriers prevent them from engaging in or supporting woody biomass utilization.

As part of the study, we interviewed key individuals involved in the collection, transportation, or utilization of timber in the southern Willamette Valley. The results of the study provide an understanding of the competition for the region’s existing supply of woody biomass and the perceived challenges and limitations of increasing woody biomass opportunities for energy production. Findings suggest that the timber industry is interested in pursuing woody biomass for energy production if they can make a profit and have access to a new source of woody biomass.

Download PDF here and/or PowerPoint here.

We haven’t posted a video in quite some time so we thought you’d enjoy this one. Ethan had his first birthday a couple weeks ago. Mom and Dad gave him a Radio Flyer wagon which we just received today. Dad put it together and away we went. Ethan had a great time being able to have a 360 degree view, which the stroller did not allow.

In case the video doesn’t work, you can go here to view it.

Two years and a couple weeks, I wrote a post with this exact title. We were moving north from San Jose, California to Eugene, Oregon. At the time we were living with my mom after having finished Peace Corps service. Laura was working for Franklin-McKinley School District as a 2nd grade teacher and I did work for SUN Microsystems. We were coming to Eugene so I could begin graduate school at the University of Oregon and Laura could work for the local school districts.

Now we are continuing our journey two hours north to the wonderful city of Portland, Oregon. After submitting a plethora of employment resumes/cover letters/applications, I accepted a job about a week ago with a planning firm in downtown Portland. We drove up to Portland a few days later to view homes for rent, found one and will move in tomorrow. The best part about our home is that it has two baths. OH yeah! Our first home with two baths. This is a sign that we are moving up in the world folks.

Tonight is our last night in this great house on this street with wonderful neighbors. It has been a great two years in Eugene, Oregon. We would stay here if we could, but we have to go where the jobs are at or until we can start our own business and have more say about where we live. We are excited and apprehensive about this next step. But, as with all of our adventures, we always meet terrific people from the places with live and travel. We also have many friends and family in the Portland area and look forward to reconnecting with them.

We’re off to bed so our “Ethan Alarm Clock” can get us up at the crack of dawn for another day of loading boxes.

Farewell Eugene!