Resurfacing

Sorry to all you devoted readers out there for the absence lately, life gets busy. I'm finally back on the radar.

So, Portland was a great time had by all. I figured out a key difference between the cheap (think Motel 6) motels and expensive (Marriott) hotels. They gouge you for everything in the latter because they can - the business travelers and rich folks who typically stay there can drop $10/day on wifi without being too worried about the bottom line. The frugal types look for the most bang for their buck in choosing lodging, so the cheaper places offer as many freebies as they can to get your business, from internet to continental breakfast. That's why there were no postings from Portland - we did spring for one day's wifi but the rest of our access was in brief visits to Maggie's apartment and writing was not in the cards.

We did have a grand old time, from the little carnival set up for the Rose Festival to the Body Worlds exhibit at OMSI. Our zoo visit got rained out, but the Portland Children's Museum proved a worthy substitute for a little while. We ate well, from Rock Bottom Brewery to Kell's for breakfast. Saturday Market was nice too, despite the rain, and I picked up a bottle of Rogue that I've never seen before to drink on Father's Day. A longer visit would have been nice, as would the absence of rain the whole time, but genuinely, a great trip, and Lola was a great traveler both ways and throughout our stay. Photos are coming soon, I promise.

In other news, perhaps most notably of all, we've (more or less) sold our house!! After initially deciding that perhaps selling to a friend wasn't best and telling Jack as much, his other options didn't pan out, we reconsidered, and we've come to a good agreement. As long as the appraiser and inspector agree, we're good! Next up, confirming that we definitely want the other house, putting in a offer and closing that deal.

Finally, a bit of social commentary by Marc...what the hell is going on this country? Three stories that make me feel like North Korea or East Germany are our models for justice. Airport fiasco, beer-providing mom doing time, and teen sex ruins kid's life. Whatever happened to letting the punishment fit the crime? Link one really steams me, as a parent I can completely put myself in that woman's shoes. She's a former Secret Service for cryin' out loud. If it happened to her, it could happen to any one of us. If our country wasn't so dang big, I'd swear off flying completely.

The other two stories are similar in our tendency to just lock people up. Did the mom do wrong? Of course. Fine her, put her on probation, make her pick up trash by the roadside, send her to parenting classes. Two years in jail? I'm sure that's good for the family. And the kid in Georgia...I'm sure a former honor student and athlete will be better off in society having done time for the crime of oral sex. Can't vote, nobody wants to hire him or rent him a house. Ex-cons don't have it easy, and while I don't necessarily think that they should, this kid's life is probably shot because he did something that goes on every day in every city in the country without penalty. What a load.

And just so as not to end this post and launch the weekend on a completely down note, two of my aides at work just gave me a $10 Starbucks card just because I'm a nice boss. Sure can't beat that.