Returning to Post

I've finally figured out how to keep my igoogle settings on one program and post on the other which should increase my incentive to post. (Before I had to log out of igoogle which always left me lost reading news headlines when I went to post). Good thing we got that clarified! :o)

I've taken a bit of an unintentional break from blogging lately partly because I forget that people are out there and partly because I've just been having too many adventures. One recent one involved my car deciding Starbucks would be its semi-permaent stopping place for the journey and having to be towed to the middle-of-no-where Washington to catch a train after the depot/ticket counter was closed and where the car rental places dont actually like to rent to you unless you live there. However, thanks to good adventures with Jen and some local friends, the car is now home and trying its best to behave. It has certainly been an adventure!


This was the best place to have my car worked on. If you are ever near Centralia, WA and needing car repair, I highly recommend them. It was a great group of people who did an awesome job at a time when I was highly stressed.



While I didn't have to ride a freight train to get back to Eugene (Amtrak passenger service dropped me off around midnight), I did have to wait for a few trains to pass while I was stranded in Centralia.

On the way to pickup my car, some friends from Eugene dropped me off and Jen took the train down to meet me at the Olympic Club -a McMenamins hotel which was very quaint and the cafe had good breakfast!

Inside the hall of the Olympic Club there are lots of murals and cool things. It had a very 1890's feel but was a lot of fun.

We drove home by way of a very foggy coast and then went to the fair the next day (no idea why I picked this random picture... we had lots but apparently I liked this one to post).

In the rest of life... I'm currently working on studying for a work test and also getting more details sorted out in my regular life. Its been good to be here and have time away to rest but it really does just feel like a prolonged vacation from Seattle at this point. I keep expecting to "go home" any day.

It does look like I am getting sent to Coos Bay for a few days in September for work, however. Some of the people in my office keep telling me I'm never there which makes me laugh because I have really only taken "vacation" for two friend visits (four days total) and three orthodontist appts. Its a great office though and I find myself somewhere between content and confused most of the time. The confusion generally comes when I find out something has been done "forever" and I can't figure out why. Keeps me entertained (although I'm not sure that they all like explaining "why" things happen the way they do) :o)