Saturday, February 21, 2009

Up in Scappoose Oregon

Snow in Scappoose from Dec. 2008

I went to Scappoose today to look at the room for rent. Here is part of the back yard and the frozen white snow/ice combo still laying about since the first snow fall back in Dec. 2008.

The creek goes by on the right and straight ahead. She said it floods on occasion and then she referred to it as a river.

This is the house where the room is located, on the bottom to the left of the door. It only has one window which I only show part of. The rest of the basment is shop on the right and a ping pong table further back in.

House in Scappoose

I'm considering this situation seriously since the whole rent including the utilities is $600 a month. It is 45 minutes from Portland and 35 miles on state non divided highway. She says about 80 of the residents commute to Portland, but not at the time I would be driving.

The Highway

Looking toward Portland on Highway 30

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Everyone of us wants our life to mean something

I have had to evaluate and re-evaluate the meaning of my life and never really have been able to find much value, at least in todays or societies standards.

I don't own a home along with the bank, I have no children. I knew at 12 that I didn't want to bring any into this world from my own experiences.

Yet, my life has value.

I still have bunch of things that only have value to me, nuts and bolds, some tools, some photographs a computer program full of unfinished writings.

I have two old pets, the cat for as long as I've owned her has never had any shots. The dog is due soon.

The DSL modem I purchased from the phone company for $65 is now worth about $10-$15. I saw some on Craig's list.

The CD's I've purchased over the years are worth from $1-$2 each at the music store and I have some albums that are worth very little.

My bank is disturbed that I haven't contacted them after they notified me of my over drawn account status, sending me threatening emails even though I had a conversation with them on the phone last month about my finances.

I am looking for a new living situation. I can't afford my rent and have found something 45 minutes from Portland that might work. The rent is cheaper and it includes all utilities. I'm going to check in out on Sat. after I get paid and the bank rips me off again for over draft fees. One of the fees, $33 is for a $0.99 overdraft!

They treat me like I haven't been regularly depositing money into my account. They treat me like they have never had problems, good old Washington Mutual! There problems were so bad, the government came in and put them up for purchase by another bank. They are all the same.

I'm going to close my account soon which is going to be difficult because I opened it in California and kept it there when I moved hoping it would reflect better instead of opening a new account up here. If they don't close my account, I"m going to be in trouble again with them and I don't have the money to sue them to close my account, Catch 22. It is a bad situation getting worse.

Oh, yeah, credit union is what I hope to open an account with.

Part of the reason to close my account is I have an automatic payment with Sallie Mae, who I can't make unautomatic. They won't let me, tried a couple years ago. I'm etting the feeling that they are not only robbing me of my money, but they are robbing me of my free will to decide who I can pay when.

Sunday, February 15, 2009

As you can see, I've taken a little time to change my blog page.

the other one was kind of done with little consideration. I'm fine with this now, took some time with the colors. I like colors and use them frequently when I am writing for myself, much as one would using highlighters.

I'm including a link to my computer home page, the weather for Portland. I had it somewhere on my js page.

Speaking of js, i visited there the other day and have been won over by blogger and have no desire to flirt with their system again. You know that old saying. "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!"

Well that is what I think, because while writing there, they lost their server once and recovered, lost their server that last time and everyone had to make decisions on what we all wanted to do. I choose not to go back even though it has its pluses. I feel that change is in the air. It is and it is change for the better! Almost all of it.

A response to my craigslist ad asking for a rental situation

Here is a copy of a response I got for a craigs list ad I posted seeking to rent a room. I am seriously considering even though the commute is more than twice as long as current commute. What do you think? I have asked the person if I can come look next weekend, try out the drive etc.

Hello.

I read your ad on craigslist, and while I'm not sure exactly what you're seeking, I thought I'd send along the link to an ad I'm currently running for a room rental/house share. I'm 53, and an empty-nester single mom of three. I just earned my B.S. in Natural Resources this past June, and work for the State of Oregon as a secretary. I have a room available for rent in the Chapman area about 6 miles outside of Scappoose, OR - it's about a 45-minute drive from everywhere: Portland, Vancouver, Beaverton, Longview, etc. (Just a note based on some of the responses I've received with my ad - I am not looking for a relationship - just a housemate.) If you think you might be interested, here's the link:

room for rent!

I have never had a pro photo bucket account yet

I once was able to keep my albums at photo bucket private, but when I click on pictures on my blog here, I seem to get access to the whole album. Of course, I don't have anything to hide, but that is not the point. Apparently, something has changed. Tell me what you see when you click on my posted pictures. Tell me if you can see all 30 something of my photo bucket albums or if I am entering the twighlight zone.

Results of car blowing through stop sign, into traffic

Car pushed into pole by bus!

This was once a car with a driver who apparently thought that the traffic laws didn't apply to him. He disregarded the stop sign and tried to cross 4 lanes of traffic. This is the result of his mistake. fortunately no one was killed, there were no children on the bus.

This is part of the damage to the bus. The bus doesn't look so bad, but the mechanic says it is totaled. The inertia applied to the car and bus resulted in pushing the frame of the bus back by about 1/2 to 1 inch. The bus was traveling between 25 and 30 mph. The posted speed on that stretch of street is 30 mph.

The bus driver applied the brakes when she saw the car, she apparently wasn't able to keep the bus straight and it veered to the right on impact and pushed the car into the pole.

Bus, car and pole with 1st responders