Chapman Kids Blog

"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." –John 16:33

San Pedro Garza Garcia

Tag: Portland

Kelly rides the train back to Seattle

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On Monday, July 20, 2015

In Education, Family, Work

Kelly goes back to Seattle on the trainKelly’s whirlwind visit ended yesterday afternoon when Lorena took her up to Vancouver to catch the train back to Seattle. This week has turned into a big week for both Kelly and Christian. I already spoke about Christian’s trip back east to present his research results for the year. Kelly is in the middle of a smaller, but still big chunk of research she needs to show to her boss when he arrives back to Seattle from a month or so away in Europe of some such thing. The upshot is there has been a lot of pressure and angst that should see some relief this week.

What better way to relieve angst and get some office work done than go on a train ride with great Wifi and coffee products. Kelly has now taken the round trip train ride between Seattle and Vancouver, Washington (the Vancouver around these parts). Christian has taken it once. Both of them love it. Last night, the train took an extra couple of hours for some reason. My understanding was that had something to do with the heat, but that does not make sense to me. The good part was that it gave Kelly an extra couple of hours of quality time with her research so she was able to get it mostly ready to show to her boss tomorrow morning.

I love train travel. Part of it is the feeling of travel without care of time restrictions. I have only taken a train ride one time to a business meeting. That was between Raleigh and Charlotte in North Carolina and I enjoyed it a lot, but it arrived a couple of hours late. On the few other times I have taken a train it was for vacation and I was able to plan for the possibility of lateness which happened all too frequently. I know some train systems are punctual, but I have not often been fortunate in that regard.

It all kind of fits into the Environmentalist Wacko theme that has crept into this blog, too. It feels like I am saving the planet when I ride the train. Don’t tell any Democrats, but I kind of like that.

Betty Blonde #375 – 12/23/2009
Betty Blonde #375
Click here or on the image to see full size strip.

Should we move to Portland

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On Tuesday, September 16, 2014

In General

Our last visit to Oregon gave us great pause about whether or not we should move back there. We have been gone for seven years now. We felt somewhat estranged from Oregon in general and Portland in particular. It has been difficult to put our finger on the reticence we feel about moving back, but it is definitely there. There are several smaller things that, on the surface might give us reason to prefer where we are now over Oregon. The reality is that, for us, they are minor considerations. The weather is a lot better in Raleigh–mild all year long (like Portland), but with many more days of sunshine.  The metropolitan area around Raleigh features three truly superior National Research Universities while Portland features a pretty good, not great, but pretty good Regional University.  All of the ones listed are better than any universities Oregon has to offer. There are lots of little things like that, but they are not the reasons that hold the most sway.

I am pretty sure both the culture in Oregon has shifted as have our cultural preferences. For all its hipness, Portland just seems more intolerant and coarse than other places where we have an opportunity live. I do not really believe the quality of writing or the truth of the content in the New York Times is very high, but they recently published an article about Portland titled Will Portland Always Be a Retirement Community for the Young?  It captures a view of a part of the Portland reality that rings true. The certainly did not capture the whole reality, the nuances of old Oregon culture being so divorced from contemporary Portland culture, it would be hard for anyone to understand. Still, it is quite a good article that I recommend to anyone considering a move to, not just Portland, but Oregon in general. The description of Portland in this article is probably quite attractive to many, but does a good job of explaining why we are not so interested in moving back.

We are still in the throes of making a decision. We know we have to move West both for family and work. We are just happy that Raleigh, North Carolina is such an awesome place to live while we work through it.

Betty Blonde #164 – 03/03/2009
Betty Blonde #164
Click here or on the image to see full size strip.

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