Things to do in Portland: Volunteer

One thing I love about Portland is the city's dedication to the environment. While I don't have any experience with other large cities, being that Portland is the only big city I have lived in, I may have a biased view. But I feel like Portland is always a leader when it comes to being a "green" city. Sure, there are still many things that could be improved, but things like converting the Trimet buses to run on biodiesel, as well as continually developing the public transportation system in order to decrease the number of cars on the road, and building many of the large buildings downtown out of recycled materials as well as implementing creative ideas to use nature to conserve energy and water seems like a good start.

Also, Portland seems like a very volunteer friendly city. There are tons of ways you can volunteer, and again, this could be true of other big cities, but I find there's so many things I want to volunteer for that I don't have the time. But, in honor of Earth Day, Matt and I volunteered through SOLV to spend our Saturday volunteering at an elementary school in Hillsboro. We dug up weeds and planted trees, bushes, and flowers in order to boost morale and just make the elementary kiddies enjoy their school. There were many other projects going on at the school that day, but that was the part that we spent our time on.

SOLV is a great organization and I have volunteered for them before. They do things like the Oregon coast clean-up which I have yet to participate in but want to.

I think America as a whole is becoming a more environmentally conscious nation. I think we still have an incredible amount of changes to make as well as many obstacles to overcome. If you want to read more about some changes I'm making in my life and why, please go to my latest blog posting. I think if we all do one thing it is a start.

Things to do in Portland #1

Look I actually did something in Portland. It's nothing new, but I felt I should write a post irregardless.

Rock Bottom Brewery downtown. They're a chain, but it's a pretty cool pub. Also, I guess they are owned by the same company as Old Chicago, which I'm also a fan of. At Rock Bottom, I love their nachos, even though they don't love me back (they give me heartburn, just thought you should all know I'm OLD and I get heartburn). Anyhow, I met up with some of my former Intel finance interns from last summer on Thursday night and we put a hurt on two pitchers of Volksweizn Wheat. Also, I couldn't resist myself and I ordered the nachos. Miraculously, they did not cause me any agony last night. Maybe it's because I shared with four people rather than trying to eat the huge plate all to myself.

One cool thing you can get is this beer sampler thing, where you get about 6 different types of beer to try that they brew themselves. Matt has a funny story about that. If you see him you should definitely ask him about it. They have a pretty nice bar, and pool tables upstairs. I like the atmosphere there. It's pretty laid back.

I have always had pretty good service there, but Matt went with a group of people once and they had a really bad service experience. The waitress cornered them when they didn't leave her a tip because she sucked, and they had to get the manager involved. I also had them accidently charge someone else's (who was in my party but paid with a separate card) dinner to my card and it was a fiasco to get it all ironed out. Despite all this, I would recommend you go, and try the nachos.

And, I would be doing something else Portland worthy tonight, but since I have been sick with a cold all week, I made a last minute decision to bail out. Intel is taking all the Oregon interns to the season opener for the Portland Beavers tonight. In case you don't know, the Beavers (not to be confused with the OSU Beavers) is Portland's minor league baseball team. There's been talk for a long time of getting a major league baseball team in Portland, which would be so awesome, but for now, the minors will suffice. I went to like 5 or 6 games last year and didn't pay once. If you want good seats, Laurie has the hook ups. Her business has good seats, whereas Intel has not bad seats, but there definitely isn't any waiters waiting on you. I was planning on going tonight, because hello it's free! But I just decided about 10 minutes ago that I should spend my Friday night at home lazing on the couch nursing myself back to health with some bon bons. Yeah, that's how I roll.

you know me too well

So, yes, I'm listening to the Reds game right now. Reds lead the Pirates 5-1 after 7 innings. Ryan Freel tried to steal third base; the Pirates made a bad throw and he scored. Go Farney!

Anyway, I've had this whole week off work and, though I'd like to say that I've taken this opportunity to do some of the many new things I've vowed to experience in Portland, that would be a lie. I have, however, hung out in my favorite Portland places. I tell anyone who asks (and, let's be honest, many people who don't) about my favorite coffee shop. Costello's is a great little place. I love the coffee, the owners, the baristas, the little table by the window. They have live music, foreign language nights, and foreign films on Thursday nights. And they serve wine and beer, pastries, two kinds of quiche every day, soup, and --on the weekends--belgian waffles. Seriously, I love this place. You should check it out. Anyway, back in the day, I lived three blocks away from Costello's and went there almost every day. Now that I live a bit farther away and I have to leave for work before they open in the morning, I don't get to go there as often. This week, though, I got to be a regular again. Aaaah. That's nice.

I also managed to spend a lot of time walking around my neighborhood. Spring is my favorite season and I've enjoyed the tulips, daffodils, and blooming trees. Portland is pretty. I went downtown today and and had lunch at the best cart in Pioneer Square -- Honkin' Huge Burritos (I can't believe they have a website) and then hung out on the Waterfront for the afternoon with my book.

That's it. I can't say that it's very newsworthy, but Erin called me out. I had to post something.

Oh...and this one belongs to the Reds, 6-1.

Our blog title

Laurie, I know you're trying desparately to tear yourself away from whatever is going on with baseball today, particularly the Reds, to write that blog we discussed. But I just remembered something that I wanted to share.

I had my first question about our blog title. I then explained. I think she still might have been confused. I had had a few drinks. Perhaps that is where the confusion lay. What can I say? Only, this...............the employees of this blog are very gruntled. Yeppers!

Wouldn't you all like to know what the title is all about. And why yeppers and gruntled are so freaking funny. Life is full of mystery.