Old But Interesting News …

Probably one of the nicer things of being on vacation and being detached from the world was being ignorant of what was happening in the world.  Granted, that’s probably how most of America is. 

• Sadly, one of the more generous sports owners, Abe Pollin past away on November 24, 2009.  He showed great loyalty to those he loved which was one of his greatest strengths and one of his greatest weaknesses.  I only say that as a slight since he let Wes Unseld coach the Bullets for way too long and then allowed him that same overstay when he was the General Manager.  Mr. Pollin showed great compassion to the needy though as a devout Jew that unfortunately does nothing for ones eternal salvation.
• Hackers stole data about how some of the climate data was misrepresented.  Sorta makes you wonder now doesn’t it?
• NOT BUTTERSTICK!!!!  Oh yes, our little Butterstick panda has grown up and needs to head back to China.
• Funny how Saturday was this area’s first snow day and just before that there was an article on OPM’s procedure on how to determine snow closures.
• Finally, technological improvements to the standard wall socket … USB Ports!

10.5 Hours …

That’s about how long it took to drive from Portland, OR to Sacramento, CA on Thanksgiving Day.  See a cousin of Chewy’s was getting married on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  We figured with air flights costing more because of it being a premium holiday weekend we’d go out to Portland early to spend time with Chewy’s brother and wife.  Then we drive down to Sacramento for some extended family gatherings and the wedding.  Once that was done we’d head back north to hit a few National Parks and spend more time with her brother before heading back home. 

Pretty much we stuck to the plan.  Overall even though we were in the car for a decent portion of our vacation it was still nice to be away from work.  Though Chewy had to get a bunch of stuff done while on the trip and flights I think she enjoyed the time with her family.  For me it was nice to spend time with her side of the family since I’m still getting to know them for the most part.

Other than sitting in a car or plane for copious amounts of time we ate a lot, saw California’s State Capitol building and the door to Governor Swartzenager’s office, ate more food, went to Oregon Caves National Monument and outlet shopping!!!  (no sales tax)

I can’t recall all the places we ate at but here are a few that I do remember.  Unfortunately, I only remembered about Voodoo Donuts right before leaving Portland.  I guess we’ll have to go there next time.  Besides the below we were able to go to a Carl’s Jr. and a Sizzler.  Everyone say it with me S-i-z-z-ler.  Just like the commerical, S-i-z-z-ler.  Yeah, it wasn’t as good as I remembered but it was still better than fast food.

• Bunk Sandwiches – not a bad place.  Food quality was pretty good.  Fancy sandwiches to say the least.  It’s a hole-in-the-wall that everyone seems to know about as the line to get inside to order was out the door.  There were a few line cutters which I guess by Portland standards is fine.  I guess Guy Fieri from Food Network did a show there since there was stencil of his mug on the wall.  I think Potbelly or Roy’s is better.
• Bijou Cafe – a breakfast place that uses organic and I think local ingredients.  The omelet that I got wasn’t bad.  It was fluffy like scrambled eggs should be and the cornmeal muffin was good.  Definitely frou-frou.  I think I like The Original Pancake House better.
• Nostrana – A cozy Italian place where we had dinner at.  Menu was short, seasonal and local.  Food was of quality and definitely frou-frou.  The panna cotta that I had was extremely good.
• Danielle’s Creperie – a nice crepe place in downtown Sacramento.  Service was extremely good as well as the food.  Simple and yet flavorful.
• New Canton Restaurant – we had dim sum in Sacramento here.  Some of the dim sum was microwaved so the dishes weren’t uniformly hot.  Overall, the food was decent.

After Sacramento we had to rush to get to Oregon Caves since we wanted to make the last cave tour of the season.  Winding roads, possibility of driving off the side of the mountain is the way to these caves.  There’s a small single lane road that one could take to get to the Caves that a GPS will tell you to take.  Apparently, this is the same road that an asian couple got stuck on last year where the father died.  We were told not to take it and was given all the precautionary equipment to weather any unexpected snow while going to the caves.  It turned out to be a nice day in the low 40′s.

The caves and tour were great.  Though they say the tour is strenuous it wasn’t that bad.  Lots of interesting formations and history.  I know I’ve been to Luray Caverns in VA but I don’t really remember it. Since we got to the site somewhat late in the day we were only able to hike for about 20-30 minutes before our tour started and then by the time it ended it was already night.

As Chewy would say it was sad that we spent 4 hours at an outlet mall and only 3 hours at the caves.   As outlet malls go it wasn’t bad since they had a Northface and a Columbia store.  Not much at the Northface one but there the Columbia store was pretty large.  On the plus side we were able to find our yearly vacation Christmas ornament from a place called Garden Gallery Iron Works where the works boasted about low prices.  And yes, the prices were pretty good.

Finally, we were able to get a nice steep hike up to Multnomah Falls with Chewy’s brother.  The falls were beautiful but the hike was hard.  Even though it was only just over a mile hike there were 11 switchbacks and pretty much a constant 15-40% incline.  I was tired. 

Sorta Felt Like Princess Peach Waiting for Mario and Luigi …

Earlier this year the pipe that leads to the front hose bibb burst as if there was frozen water inside.  I thought that was funny, in a not-so-funny way, since I always turn off the outside water to avoid situations like that one I had.  Being the person that I am, I’ve already turned off the water to that hose bibb but every so often I’ll turn the bibb on to see if there’s any water sitting in the pipe.    And would you guess there is!  I can’t figure that out since the turn-off valve is in the off position and I drained the pipe.  So where is this extra water coming from?  I traced the pipe as best as I could and could only come up with that there’s a leak in the ball socket portion of the turn-off valve.

After using the Sharkbite system to fix my previous pipe issues I figured I could do the same since they make a replacement 1/2″ valve that I could use.  I go to Home Depot get the parts that I need (basically the valve and another coupler since I want to replace about a foot of piping because of a previous pipe repair on the old pipe).  Since this pipe is close to the water main shutoff I figure I gotta be prepared.  I have my pencil, my tape measure, a towel to wipe down any water, pipe cutter, spare pipe and Sharkbite parts.  I turn off the water main and start to drain the water in the house by turn on faucets.  Water stops so I begin.

I cut above the old valve thinking that if it’s in the off position it’s better to start there.  Water starts to gush out of the pipe I just cut.  Not that much that the towel can’t suck up.  I should have gotten my Shamwow.  More water is gushing out.  I need to find a bucket.  I need to find a bucket FAST!  This makes no sense to me.  The valve is in the off position, at most if there’s a leak there shouldn’t be this much water.  I find a bucket and it begins to fill at a slow pace.  I then proceed to cut the bottom portion of the pipe that has the valve on it.  As soon as that’s cut there’s more water coming out.  The bucket is filling pretty fast.  Faster than before.  I may need a second bucket and then thoughts of Mickey Mouse and the bucket and mop scene from Fantasia comes to mind.  I quickly just stick on the new valve.  Whatcha know.  The water stopped.  I then proceed to replace the rest of the pipe and seemingly everything is OK now.

So what’s the lesson here?  Hire a plumber?  Maybe.  Or remember a bucket next time you’re cutting water pipes?  Maybe.  What about our friend “Mr. Gravity”?  Yes, Mr. Gravity.  Even though I turned off the water main since this pipe was so close to the main and though I thought I drained all the water in the pipes it was only the water that pressure could bring to the faucets.  Anything else will just sit in the pipes and when I made the second cut to the pipe all that water found a way out through our friend Mr. Gravity and the new hole I made.   ooooh Mr. Gravity you are a tricky one. 

Hopefully this fixes the leaking hose bibb problem and this repair works. 

I really hate plumbing …