I’ve been keeping my head down and charging through things over the past six months or so.  I took a full load of courses over the summer session, and again in fall.  With the winter break finally staring down the barrel at me, I find myself looking forward to a few weeks of not studying reaction mechanisms or memorizing reagents.

Last month sometime I finally pulled the trigger on declaring myself as a chemistry major (again).  The last time I did this, life threw me a curveball and pulled me off target.  With 6 years behind me and a good deal of growing up having been accomplished since then, this will not be happening again.  I have roughly four semesters worth of work left to get it all done.  I’m hoping I can finish it in two years and manage to take some interesting looking biology classes.

The BS was my best choice, given the alternatives and my previous history in school.  It was a choice between throwing my previously earned math credits away and having to take some language classes, or just sticking it out with a few more chemistry courses.  Bring on more atomic studies, I guess.   Luckily this choice allows me to take biochemistry, which I’m really looking forward to.  I’m not sure exactly where this degree is going to take me at the moment, but I have some hopes. It all depends on how long I can keep up this studying thing.  So far, so good.

I’m also trying to kill some time at the moment before I go to the hospital for today’s shift.  I’ve been volunteering at the local uberhospital for nearly a month now, and enjoy it.  The patient contact has me appreciating my good health, as well as building up a better understanding of the fragile human condition.  This [volunteering] has been something that’s been on my to-do list for quite some time, and with the free time that comes with being unemployed, I figured now was as good a time as any.  I also did a free clinic in town last weekend where I was one of 1200 volunteers for a clinic that helped over a thousand people.  I’m on a real humanitarian bend lately; it seems I’ve taken the “be the change you wish to see” maxim to heart.  Combining that with the economic straits that we’re all in makes me feel like now is the time to give and serve.

I think this is enough for now. I’m going to go load up and head to ‘work’ before spending my evening back in a book.  Three exams to prep for this week.

To be sure, I’ll definitely miss Portland.  I’ve been here just over 7 months, and have found myself adjusting well to the lifestyle of the PNW.  Strangely, I find myself quite happy with my collection of wool socks, stretched out comfy hat, and insulated hoody.  My sister got me some fingerless gloves to add to the collection, which will have limited use in the south. I’m a bit disappointed by that.

My mission now is to finish school and make some major changes in life.  It’s a strategic decision, brought upon by some future economic opportunities I see coming, as well as a need to be close to family.  And a need to have some sunlight during winter.

It’s been a tough decision to make, having put me through a week of agonizing soul searching and decision making before finally allowing myself to commit to it.. but here I am, moving back to Little Rock.

I told myself and others at one point that I couldn’t see myself ending back up there, but time changes all things.  It’s a means to an end of some things I want to do, and gives me some permanence and stability while I do them.

I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I’m excited about it.  I’ve got a new camera, new destinations, and an exciting array of opportunities.

A few samples, to make you want to look at the others:

The trial started Monday, and today a verdict was announced that cleared him of all charges!

I’m sure this is a great weight lifted from my friend Jon (see birthday greetings in a previous post), and I’m very happy that it’s come to this.

Welcome home, Gary!

At today’s coffee house, I’m situated between three rail lines.. two streetcar lines run N/S on either side of the block that I’m currently on, and the MAX line has been running all day behind me. I didn’t count the number of trains that have gone by, but there have been quite a few.

And it’s really cool. (My phone’s camera was smudged, so the quality here sucks..)

Here’s a better one of a train that just came by, too..

Today’s Coffee Shop: Coffee Crutch
Yesterday’s: Broadway Coffee
Monday: Portland Coffee House

I did manage to find a home, thanks to Craig and his List. I’m living in a hundred year old house with 3 other people and a dog.  My roommates are turning out to be pretty cool.  The location is perfect – about three blocks from Portland State University, and a five minute bike ride from most things.  I’ve obtained most of the furniture I want/need.  I’m trying to take a less-cluttered approach to my living area.  I want to keep things simple.

It’s funny.. I’ve spent the past 4 months or so selling off everything I owned through Craigslist, and now I’m on the complete other side of the concept.. now it’s been my turn to seek out what I need, and coordinate the logistics. Thankfully, I got my furniture from the same guy who is selling off most of what he owns to move to London.

All I need now is an office chair to make my desk a bit more comfortable, but I haven’t found what I want yet.  There was a pretty cool vintage type chair that would have lasted absolutely forever, but I didn’t want to pay $125 for it, and I bet it wouldn’t have been that comfortable anyway.

Even if I did want it, I can’t go pick it up at the moment anyway.. the car’s back in the shop. The VW dealership told me my belts were loose, so I had them tighten them up to spec. Either they did a horrible job, or something else got mangled in the process.  I was going to go to Seattle this weekend to see an old friend, but I only got about 60 miles into Washington before I decided to see what the deal was with the solid battery light:  The alternator belt had come off completely and wedged itself where it wasn’t supposed to go, and half melted in the process; and the A/C compressor was bouncing around damn near freely.

They better warranty their work, because they charged me for the tightening in the first place.

Regardless, I do believe my experiment with old VW diesels will soon be coming to an end.  Apparently diesel cars are in demand up here, so I’m hoping that will inflate the price I can ask quite a bit, considering the amount of work that’s been done on the car.  Recouping some of that would be great. It did the job I needed it to do, that being to get me here with all my stuff.. but the break-downs have me not wanting to deal with it anymore.  Besides, I can survive in Portland pretty easily without a car.  Camping without a car might be a bit of a bitch though, so I’m considering picking up some other small (cheap) vehicle to get me places since I won’t use it a lot, and I want to use the extra money to pick up a nice road bike.

I’ve biked around town so much lately that my legs have hurt for the past two days straight.  My favorite coffee place is less than 5 minutes away, and mostly downhill or flat on the way in.. the ride home sucks, however.  After my 8 mile walk today, it’s going to be even more difficult tonight.

I’ve been putting off going out and taking pictures of Portland for a while.  I don’t really have a good excuse, other than wanting to be able to go places without taking the camera.. which I guess does qualify as an pretty good excuse, anyway.

Here are a few shots from my expedition into town today…

Next time I do this, I’m going to ride the streetcar and the max a bit more.

Why post these? Cuz I can..

Today the reality set in that for all intents and purposes, I’m homeless.  Thankfully I have the capacity to rent a hotel room for a while, but that’s far from an ideal situation.

It is however, kind of freeing.  As of this moment, I have the freedom to do whatever I want.  What I don’t have however, is the energy.  I want something a bit more permanent.. a home base, if you will.

Part of the problem is the fact that all my stuff is still in my car.  If my car was empty and a bit lighter, it would be a lot easier to be more of a vagrant.  At this point, 11 days into this, I’ve gotten pretty clausterphobic while I’m driving around.  If I could find a place that would only charge me by the day for storage, I’d jump on it.

Anyway, I’ve been working on this whole situation.  I spent a bit of time today trolling around the different neighborhoods in the area (SE, NE, Alberta, NW) looking for places, as well as scouring craigslist for the perfect place.  It wasn’t until not too long ago that I found what appears to be perfect.. some other East Coast transplant who got here a month ago is looking for a roommate..

This could work out well.. now I just have to wait.

Also, I’ve collected some pictures from Yellowstone.  View them here.

Here are some of my favorites (Not all are from yellowstone.. captions indicate which is which):

This morning I decided to get to Portland by nightfall.. and I did.

I’ll post more in the coming days, I need a break and to figure out the lay of the land here in PDX.