The Third Shift

Rainbow over the Steel Bridge. (at TriMet MAX Red Line)

Fri, 24 May 2013 20:01:31 -0700

Rainbow over the Steel Bridge. (at TriMet MAX Red Line)

It’s been a long week. I’ve earned this. (at Bakery...

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:17:50 -0700

It’s been a long week. I’ve earned this. (at Bakery Bar)

shorterexcerpts: party-wok: got tired of mixing on the new...

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:17:02 -0700

shorterexcerpts:

party-wok:

got tired of mixing on the new songs and wanted to do something quick and fun so i remixed this one that i did last summer.

Power Pop Punk Prince? Okay.

This is phenomenal

saying no to fluoride in the water supply is not just another case of Portland keeping itself weird.

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:51:28 -0700

So yes, the city electorate voted it down again, and by very large margins. 20% is nothing to sneeze at.

I’m not particularly interested in having a science argument about it. It makes my head hurt trying to read through, and I’ve done enough of it . The established health & medical authorities, whom I generally trust on publishing studies and such, are generally in favor of it. And it’s true that there’s overlap between the anti-fluoride camp and the growing contingent of anti-vaccination folk (the latter of which I have nothing but contempt for, because the more they grow, the more herd immunity is endangered.)

But to reduce the fluoride vote to “those crazy hippies and lefties up in Portland” misses all the interesting context of this story, which is:

the contempt city voters already have for the city’s Water Bureau, which has raised water & sewer rates every year, and the City Council in general, which has used water bill payments and directed them to other projects.
Last fall, then-mayor Sam Adams and then-city commissioner Randy Leonard (who headed the Water Bureau) declared they were in favor of fluoridation after two weeks of low-level murmurs about a campaign and no public hearings. The council had three votes in favor without any public hearings or input and wound up voting unanimously to fluoridate the water without asking the public to vote on it.
After opponents gathered the signatures to put fluoridation on the ballot in May 2014, the council again voted (not unanimously this time) to move the election up to May 2013 — in part because the Water Bureau’s planned fluoridation would have started later this year, but also likely to give opponents less of a chance to raise money and campaign.
the fact that the Water Bureau has agreements with several suburban cities in the metro area to provide water from the Portland reservoirs and those contracts say those residents don’t get a say in what goes in it. There was animosity from outside because there are hundreds of thousands of people who receive Portland water and didn’t get a vote — and some of those outer city and county officials objected.
the failure of the pro-fluoride side to recognize ANY of this context in campaigning. Basically, the coalition known as “Healthy Kids Healthy Portland” decided to rely solely on the Logical Appeal school of rhetoric, thinking solid science alone still wins when anyone who’s paid attention to say, climate change, knows that isn’t the case in the political arena at all. Essentially, the pro-fluoride coalition botched the politics from the beginning because it charmed the politicians in the city rather than the voters who lived there. It is truly political malpractice.
the power of the anti-fluoride group’s Emotional Appeal: understanding the sense of not wanting unnecessary things in water or food, despising a liberal yet technocratic city government that works top-down instead of progressive consultation and consensus
the state released a study saying rates of childhood tooth decay had been on the decline for the past decade, and with that came accusations of tampering or attempts to influence that study by pro-fluoridation folks and accusations of state employees politicking for fluoride on the state’s time and dime

You can find reports about much of that stuff here.

So while I’m OK with fluoridated water in general, I can understand why others here were anywhere from really reluctant to outright opposed.

right, well, I know I'm supposed to write something.

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:11:39 -0700

Here’s what happened: I got shifted back to overnights and left no time to write anything for myself, including here. So I’ll work on fixing that.

But for now, everything else not-work-related feels all right. It is a profound sort of odd to go attend the going away party of your ex with your current SO’s blessing and apology for being unable to make it, but this is at least happy odd.

R. and I are about 2 months away from the longest relationship I’ve had in my life. We are debating over getaway plans; where we want to go, who has to take days off and which ones to do it, etc. It may help that we have had to work harder to see each other because of my job; we are forced to give each other space and lament not being able to see each other more.

I am in the process of bike shopping. I need to buy one so I can ride with R. and cut down on certain short car trips, replace them with bike trips.

Work = meh. It is what it is, insert yr preferred cliche here. Fucks given are in the negative integers, if that is even possible. There are better things to care about.

This thing should dispense “I Voted!” stickers.

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:40:57 -0700

This thing should dispense “I Voted!” stickers.

This theater has Ottomans. (at Cinetopia)

Sat, 18 May 2013 16:00:10 -0700

This theater has Ottomans. (at Cinetopia)

I’d forgotten what my chin looked like before...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:51:24 -0700

I’d forgotten what my chin looked like before today’s haircut and hot towel shave.

Now I know why the cat wanted to snuggle — so he could...

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:07:08 -0700

Now I know why the cat wanted to snuggle — so he could steal my viewing spot.

Bunk Sandwiches has a truck out here. (at WhiskeyFest NorthWest)

Sat, 11 May 2013 14:19:49 -0700

Bunk Sandwiches has a truck out here. (at WhiskeyFest NorthWest)

Only in Portland would someone put a flyer up to brag about his...

Fri, 10 May 2013 18:08:53 -0700

Only in Portland would someone put a flyer up to brag about his dog.

If the place is called Lucky Labrador, dogs are welcome. (at...

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:56:19 -0700

If the place is called Lucky Labrador, dogs are welcome. (at Lucky Labrador Brew Pub)

No Pity Pale Ale. (at Lucky Labrador Brew Pub)

Fri, 10 May 2013 16:00:03 -0700

No Pity Pale Ale. (at Lucky Labrador Brew Pub)

Friday afternoon beverage time. (at Lucky Labrador Brew Pub)

Fri, 10 May 2013 15:51:06 -0700

Friday afternoon beverage time. (at Lucky Labrador Brew Pub)

An interesting collage of images here. THIS IS WATER (by...

Thu, 09 May 2013 21:51:29 -0700

An interesting collage of images here.

THIS IS WATER (by SeeTheGlossary)

Don't even care.

Thu, 09 May 2013 10:20:11 -0700

Got home from work, my mom called. Asked how I was doing, told her I didn’t give much of a fuck outside of my friends and girlfriend. Everything else felt like bullshit.

“That’s what happens when you have things you really care about in your life; you have less time for the stuff you once cared about because it was all you had.”

I understand why people gripe about work and other things a lot more now. We’re less willing to tolerate things when we have people we care about nearby and are sacrificing for them.

Gorgeous.

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:58:39 -0700

Gorgeous.

Nice crowd at the farmers market. (at Olympia Farmers Market)

Sat, 04 May 2013 13:24:16 -0700

Nice crowd at the farmers market. (at Olympia Farmers Market)

Step into the light.

Thu, 02 May 2013 09:21:44 -0700

Step into the light.

race relations on Mad Men.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:51:28 -0700

White people awkwardly hugging black secretaries.