The Menagerie

Matthew vs. Tri-Met

Background: Matthew takes MAX into Portland each morning to work.  (For out-of-towners, MAX is a light rail system in Portland and the burbs, part of the Tri-Met transportation empire, er, government agency.  We're fans, usually.)  The way the ticket thing works on MAX is that you can hop on and off, and you only have to show a ticket if an inspector asks you to while on the train.  If you don't, then there's a ticket for no ticket.  Usually you ride without seeing an inspector for weeks.   

More background: The inspectors aren't always pleasant.  Matthew gets an annual pass gratis from his federal employer, and he has it right behind the federal ID he has to wear to get in and out of his building. 

The morning email from Matthew (in addition to having not fed the dog yet and a smoke alarm was chirping):

They did a ticket check this morning; I refused to show the inspector my identification until he showed me his. He became belligerent and started to point out his jump suit and safety vest. He started to tell me that he wasn't going to show his ID until I produced mine and I explained that unless I was sure that he represented Trimet, that I wasn't going to produce my badge. He finally presented it but complained that it wasn't required.

So, at least I made one person's day.

Actually, I'm guessing that he entertained the entire car.  Good for him!

Beach Blogging

Matthew and I are in a not-quite-undisclosed-location along with our trusty sidekick, Norris, celebrating our 14th wedding anniversary (yesterday).  Today we had some blue skies in the morning and early afternoon, so we took our three-legged-monster to the beach.  (You can't tell from the pictures, but so did everyone else -- there were more dogs than people, it seemed!)

Waking up in Reno

Again. This marks my fourth trip to my "home" state of Nevada this year.*

January 2006: Sarah's engagement party.
February 2006: Mom's 60th birthday.
September 2006: Sarah's wedding.
October 2006: Dad's engagement party.

Lots of time in Reno this year.

*Longest time I've ever lived in one place: 8 years. Nevada. Home until June 2007, when I'll have lived in Oregon just as long. Know how you recognize a native Nevadan? They drive by a three-story image of a woman in bondage gear and don't even notice. (I'm not kidding.)