I live up by the airport and the jets have been a lot more active the last few days. It's not uncommon to hear them once a day or so, but it's been several times a day that I've heard them. Anyone know what's up?

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Found a sweet kitty on SW Green (right near W Burnside, SW Vista and SW 23rd) crying in some bushes and acting frightened.

She is mostly crème colored with brown markings (kinda siamese pattern), long haired, blue eyes. She has a collar with a bow on it and tag, but no info on the tag at all. She is very clean and docile, so I assume she’s an indoor cat that accidentally got out.

Any info on who this cat’s owner might be would be majorly appreciated! I can likely keep her in my home for a few days, but may have to pass her off to a friend if no one can claim her. She’s a very sweet and friendly cat, and I’d love to return her to her home!

Please send photos of the cat so I can make sure she’s going to the right place!

At approximately 5:55 PM today, December 6, 2024, on the corner of SE 45th and Main, I was jerk. If you're the driver of the darkish, smallish, SUVish vehicle that kindly waited at the intersection while a father caught up with his son at the corner, and kindly told that father you think he should consider using lights, and that father was then a jerk to you, then this apology is for you. You were kind in your request, and when you said "we're all just trying to help each other out", you were right. We are, and that's the kind of attitude we need more of. I was unkind in my response---I was defensive, deflective, and dismissive, and for that I'm sorry.

Here's my side. It's a classic slippery-slope argument. When do we stop with the lights? It seems like, if we really wanted to help each other out, there would be fewer lights in our cars and on our roads, not more.

I'm sure you remember what it was like to drive before all our cars had giant screens in them, when the only lights were the soft orange (or green or blue or whatever) glow of the knobs and buttons and odometers. When driving with your car's interior lights on was possibly illegal and universally rude. Why was it possibly illegal, and why did good drivers not tolerate interior lights at night? Because lights inside the car made it harder to see what was happening outside, thereby increasing the likelihood of accidents. Now we all drive around with giant lights on in our cars all the time. No wonder you're asking pedestrians to carry lights.

But, as the pedestrian in this situation, I see no need for more lights. I can see all I need to see. In fact, using a light makes it harder to see what's happening around me---of course seeing what's directly in the light is easier, but it's harder to see everything else. The soft ambient glow from streetlights and porch lights (and, right now, Christmas lights) is enough to see all I need to see around me. For night, that's all right.

Putting more lights on the roads---whether they're in the cars, on the cars, or on the people---is optimizing for the wrong thing. Like when PGE came through the neighborhood cutting trees to make way for the power lines. Cutting away our trees to make room for our power lines is doing it wrong---we want more big trees in our neighborhoods, and power lines would be better placed underground anyway. We should be improving conditions for our trees by removing power lines, and improving conditions for our power lines by putting them underground.

How did we end up here, improving the wrong conditions? I don't blame you---you didn't decide to add the giant light panel in your car. But here we are, and we're going to help each other out. For my part, I've taught my son to stop at corners---he can zoom his little strider bike down the sidewalk all he wants, and he'll stop at the corner and wait for me. That you saw him standing at the corner without me for so long is the product of months of practice. So we'll help you not run into us by not diving out in front of you. But we're not going to worsen our walk by wearing headlamps. For your part, you can continue to do what you did. And maybe consider turning off the lights in your car.

Sorry I didn't say all this to you there in the middle of the road. And I'm sorry I'm now putting this on the internet, which of course is super great at fair and balanced thought. But I don't know a better way get this to you.

Does anyone know why I would have gotten this?

I grew up during the Drexler years so maybe I’m biased, but I love the fact that I can watch any Blazers game at home for free with just an HD antenna. Good season, bad season, whatever, it doesn’t matter. With all the chaos of the world, it’s a really nice thing to be able to settle in, forget about everything, and just cheer on my team. It’s just…comforting.

That’s all, just wanted to share.

Edit: Even with a loss like that. Oof.

I want to stay unequivocally that I do not have a problem with the dog department, they are good folks.

The problem is that the QR code on the letters takes you to a site where you think you are paying for your tags, but you are actually paying for some weird media service.

My bank blocked the charge as fraud and I ordered a new card. Don't use the QR code. I tried on several devices to check it out and all took my browser to the same scam place.

If you’ve been cited to repair the sidewalk, do you need a permit if you’re doing the work yourself and you’re just grinding down edges with a grinder?

But as always, terrible traffic.

My husband uses this in the morning while eating his breakfast. After he turned it off our cat continued to sit by it, so I turned it on for her and she settled down for a warm cat nap 😻💤