Something I Ate?
Jan. 18th, 2009 10:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeLisa and I went into Salem yesterday to do a whole bunch of errands and shopping. Fortunately for my bank balance, many of the things were not available or didn't suit Lisa. However, it was a nice clear sunny (although somewhat chilly) day, and we took some time to stop in downtown Salem walk around Riverfront Park. Just as we headed across the railroad grade crossing into the park and were deciding which direction to walk, we heard a train whistle to the north. We waited a few minutes, and saw come slowly into view a southbound Portland & Western freight train. It moves slow in these parts because the railroad runs down the middle of a street in these parts -- the line is formerly an Oregon Electric interurban line, you see.
After watching the train pass, we made a complete loop of the park area, stopping to look at the EcoEarth globe that they built over the "acid ball" that was part of the paper mill that once occupied the site of the park. After that, we walked up beyond the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village before heading back to the van and resuming our travels. By then we were getting hungry, so we went to the Mongolian BBQ that we'd originally intended to visit the night before. Two generous helpings of Mongolian BBQ later, I needed a walk, so we spent an hour walking from store to store, thinking about buying things but not actually getting anything, before returning to the van. My blood sugar thanked me for the walk, and it was good to get Lisa out in the sun -- there's little enough of it in foggy and gloomy Mehama.
The day seemed to be slipping by pretty quickly, and Lisa and I were both facing early, but there were still things to try and find. She wants 3/4-inch straps to have if she needs to repair her new backpack. Surprisingly, black 3/4-inch webbing was very difficult to find at any of the places we would expect. The fabric store didn't have that size (they had others), nor did several camping/outdoors stores in the area. Then it was over to Home Depot. She wanted to get a replacement light fixture for her father's front porch, but the only ones they had were either made in China or used only Chinese-made light bulbs, so she gave it up as a bad job. She did find boards of the right size and quality to use as bases should she be able to get back to work on her project to build "stations" for Match Game SF. She's been working her way through how she would wire set-ups that would have the lights for the circle, triangle, and panelist name. It's a bit complicated, so don't expect it to happen soon, if ever. Besides, there are many other projects that need completing first.
Then it was over to the grocery store for the groceries we should have bought the first night I was here, and then back home, where Lisa made shrimp pan roast, took a bath, and went to bed early. She's still not feeling well, and has developed a sore throat on top of her general malaise. I'm not spared, either. I still don't understand why my stomach started bothering me last night and this morning -- Lisa and I have been eating substantially the same things for the past two days, and it hasn't made her sick in the same way.
Anyway, in a few minutes I will shut down the computer and Lisa will take me back to PDX. When I can find a period where my management is willing to do so, possibly in late February, she wants me to come back up here for an extended period --- maybe as much as two weeks. It would be handier to errands if I drove, but right now it's cheaper to fly than to drive, especially if I buy the airline ticket this next week while Alaska's fare sale continues.
After watching the train pass, we made a complete loop of the park area, stopping to look at the EcoEarth globe that they built over the "acid ball" that was part of the paper mill that once occupied the site of the park. After that, we walked up beyond the A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village before heading back to the van and resuming our travels. By then we were getting hungry, so we went to the Mongolian BBQ that we'd originally intended to visit the night before. Two generous helpings of Mongolian BBQ later, I needed a walk, so we spent an hour walking from store to store, thinking about buying things but not actually getting anything, before returning to the van. My blood sugar thanked me for the walk, and it was good to get Lisa out in the sun -- there's little enough of it in foggy and gloomy Mehama.
The day seemed to be slipping by pretty quickly, and Lisa and I were both facing early, but there were still things to try and find. She wants 3/4-inch straps to have if she needs to repair her new backpack. Surprisingly, black 3/4-inch webbing was very difficult to find at any of the places we would expect. The fabric store didn't have that size (they had others), nor did several camping/outdoors stores in the area. Then it was over to Home Depot. She wanted to get a replacement light fixture for her father's front porch, but the only ones they had were either made in China or used only Chinese-made light bulbs, so she gave it up as a bad job. She did find boards of the right size and quality to use as bases should she be able to get back to work on her project to build "stations" for Match Game SF. She's been working her way through how she would wire set-ups that would have the lights for the circle, triangle, and panelist name. It's a bit complicated, so don't expect it to happen soon, if ever. Besides, there are many other projects that need completing first.
Then it was over to the grocery store for the groceries we should have bought the first night I was here, and then back home, where Lisa made shrimp pan roast, took a bath, and went to bed early. She's still not feeling well, and has developed a sore throat on top of her general malaise. I'm not spared, either. I still don't understand why my stomach started bothering me last night and this morning -- Lisa and I have been eating substantially the same things for the past two days, and it hasn't made her sick in the same way.
Anyway, in a few minutes I will shut down the computer and Lisa will take me back to PDX. When I can find a period where my management is willing to do so, possibly in late February, she wants me to come back up here for an extended period --- maybe as much as two weeks. It would be handier to errands if I drove, but right now it's cheaper to fly than to drive, especially if I buy the airline ticket this next week while Alaska's fare sale continues.
