Polly quote of the week:
"the thing about bathrooms is if you have a light-colored floor, you see all the hair. If you have dark colors, you see all the after-shower-powder. The only options are to shave my head or quit using powder, neither of which are of particular interest."

A lot to report from Portland:

I have been very busy with work. There is the eight to five at PGE making clips from newspaper articles and doing other office busywork and then there is the retail job at Patagonia.

Both have advantages.

At PGE I get to spend the majority of the morning skimming through the major and not so major newspapers from the area while I drink a cup of coffee. So I feel really up on my current events, especially those in Portland. Did you know a local surgeon removed a woman's diseased gall bladder through her mouth...just opened up her stomach, snagged it and closed up the hole. All this to avoid a painful incision in the abdomen. It was the first of its kind in America.

The Bonneville Power Authority lost at the ninth circuit on the issue of providing cheap, subsidized power to privately held utilities...like PGE. The result is a 13 percent, which took effect June 1. PGE also just put a new LNG generator online which means another 2.5 percent on top of that.

But still, I think people like PGE because they support a lot NFP organizations in the city. I also think people are sympathetic because of Enron. There are plenty of employees still running around who are old enough to retire but can't so they stay at the company. I saw some relics in the basement from the old Enron days. My office-mates want me to include clips in the daily distribution about former Enron Execs getting sentenced. I usually skip them. I think they have heard enough.

The Grand Floral Parade...the Mardi Gras of Portland...although, with out the heavy drinking and beads and public exposure.

It seems liek the weathermen were all wrong this week. The rains did not wait until the end of the parade. However, I am sure they were handy when the Fred Myer float caught on fire at the end.

Although C&D and the M&Ms were in town, I volunteered to work. I figured Polly and Natasha would be so busy with the twins they wouldn't even miss me. At the last minute on Friday I was asked if I could take a picture of one particular guy who works at PGE for an internal publication. He would be volunteering, handing out trashbags along the route prior to the start of the parade. I said "of course." I brought out my big camera and lens and the results were a big success on Monday. I also took pictures of other volunteers and the PGE float.

I was a pretty cheap date as professional photographers go, but it was nice to make a good impression. Today I was promised to be paid more the next time they hire me as a photographer. My boss also gave me a Starbucks gift card. My office mates gave me a bottle of wine and tickets to tonight's baseball game. Those weren't really a reward, I was just a way to get extra stuff off their hands...but I think my work has helped me cross a bridge into acceptance.

The first week, I felt overlooked. People were curious and nice, but a little stand-offish. One example: I wasn't asked to lunch. Just a little thing, but I felt a bit on the fringe. I feel more in the mix now. Needed that.

This is great. One week in Portland and I am hired!

I am working at the local electric utility (Portland General Electric which is generally considered one of the best places to work around here) in the Corporate Communications department. Today was getting introduced around and learning the ropes. Tomorrow I get to read all the area newspapers, New York Times and Wall Street Journal to look for PGE-related stories. This will be a daily chore. It is only supposed to take a couple of hours in the morning, but we shall see on our first few times.

I heard it is not a good idea to mix the things you love to do with what you get paid to do, but who knows.

Then I get to copy them all into a packet and distribute them to everyone in the department...including the VP. After that I get to do some assorted data entry.

Patagonia has called back about a weekend sales associate.

Tonight, leftover Indian Curry stir fry.
On the menu for tomorrow night's dinner...apple and almond stuffed pork loin chops on the grill