5 Things I Hate About Oregon

My family and I recently took a short trip to Utah and Idaho. Both fine states. Unfortunately, we have to drive through Oregon to get there. Oregon is not my favorite place. Below are the five things I hate about Oregon:

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1. Could we go any faster?

During the oil embargo in the 1970s the government reduced the speed limits in states in an effort to use less gasoline. When that law was rescinded, most states increased their speed limits in order to allow weary travelers quicker passage through their respective states. Oregon only increased their speed limit to 65 miles per hour. This is not a bad speed to travel through highly congested areas, but for those of you who haven't been there, Oregon is mostly small towns and open spaces especially in the eastern part of the state. So as you pass through farmlands and barren wilderness you can only do so at 65 miles per hour. This would not be as bad if the enforcement was not there, but of course patrols are always vigilant.

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2. Full Service Gas...

I grew up in New Jersey which is the only other state besides Oregon that requires full service gas attendants. Growing up, I didn't mind other people pumping my gas. But, now with the use of credit cards at the pump etc. it just makes more sense to do it yourself especially when most stations have only one attendant. This weekend, in who knows where, Oregon, the attendant had me hold the pump myself because it wouldn't stay on automatically. I'm surprised I didn't get cited.

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3. What's this barren wasteland? Oh, its eastern Oregon.

Whenever I drive through certain parts of eastern Oregon, I almost expect to see caravans of nomads a la Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, or hillbilly, backwoods militia men high jacking people on the freeway. To date, I have not seen this first hand, but expect to any time now.

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4. Oregon stinks so bad I could only think of three things I really hate about it.

Well, this just goes to show how crappy it is. Since I live in Washington, I have an automatic distaste for Oregon. I'm not a fan.

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2 Things I Like About Oregon...

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1. No Sales Tax.

That's pretty good. They must go through a lot of pennies though. If I didn't charge sales tax,

I would round things so there wouldn't be so much change involved. Typical Oregon.

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2. Pancakes.

There's a restaurant in Portland called the Byways Cafe that makes great breakfast. Especially the pancakes. Though they have great scrambles etc. as well. Thanks Oregon.

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Thanks for checking me out this week. Come back later for more great posts. Also, vote on the poll. Please? Don't make me beg... Hey, and if you follow me regularly why don't you get up on this crazy train?

Mike or Ike?

Thanks to the democratic way that I allow the viewers of this blog to dictate post topics, today we will discuss Mike and Ikes. Or Mike and Ike. If you don't know the candy, go get some.




I like Mike and Ikes. Mostly at the movies. Sometimes at home. Rarely at work. Actually never at work. Maybe that's why work isn't that fun. I'll note that for later, but for now, our topic.




So, to start, there was never a Mike or an Ike. Never. There really isn't a good story or anything to go with it. That's what they tell us at least. Here's what Just Born, the company that manufactures Mike and Ikes, as well as many other fine candies, says about possible origins of the name: that it was a result of a company-wide contest, was named after a 1937 song titled "Mike and Ike (The Twins)" and/or after a Vaudeville act "Mike and Ike, We're Just Alike". Obviously none of those are suitable for such a delicious candy. So, I thought I would do some digging. As many of my long time followers know, my research team always excels in this type of situation.


Take a look at this picture from the early designs of their box:

It appears that Ike, on the right, was the son of an immigrant chocolatier. Determined to get out on his own, he came up with an idea for a soft chew candy, the opposite of something his father would favor. He slowly introduced the candy to his friends and family. As word spread, demand increased and Ike had difficulty satisfying the many new orders.

Conversely, it appears from the picture that Mike was from a wealthy family and, like Ike, was looking to make his own mark. They met after Ike's uncle met Mike at a mutual friend's party and told him about Ike's fledgling candy.

When they met, they didn't immediately hit it off, but Mike agreed to front Ike the money to expand the business. Mike got first billing. He had the money after all.

The business quickly took off from there. My research team tells me that though Ike had creative control of the candy, Mike exerted significant pressure on him. This led Ike to step away from the business for months and sometimes years at a time. Little did anyone know that Ike's initial rebellion against his father was caused by this same type of pressure. Ike'd go on long trips throughout the world to clear his mind and sometimes sample new fruits. This led to the introduction of new flavors to the series. Other times, he spent time at recuperative facilities.

Mike, on the other hand, was made for business. He didn't just succeed in candy, but in real estate and dance studios. Mike never married.

Ike settled into family life and found some solace there, but never found his idea of true happiness.

So: Mike. Though I do feel kind of bad for Ike.

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Thanks for checking me out. This post has been festering for more that a month, but it's here now in all its glory.

Make sure to check out the poll! It's important. Don't just lurk. Let your voice be heard. Make it known where you stand on the important issues raised here. If you don't others might. Or might not. Anyway, GO VOTE ON THE POLL!!!!! Thanks.

Name.... That.... MARSUPIAL!!!!

Who doesn't love marsupials? I sure do. Some questions: How do those little baby marsupials have the strength and determination to make it from the womb to their mommy's pouch? And, how can the mommy marsupial stand having a little slimy creature climbing all over her on its way into her pouch?

I don't know the scientific answers to these questions, but I think we all know the real answer: LOVE! Those mommy marsupials love their little slimy creatures so much they don't mind that they climb all over them on their way into their pouch. And those little slimy creatures know there's good stuff in that pouch and that the only way to get there is to bear down and go for it. That's a good lesson for all of us to learn. Thanks marsupials!

Now here are some of our heroes! All of the marsupials pictured below were once little slimy creatures that climbed into his or her mommy's pouch, so they are already very accomplished animals from day one. Let me introduce you...


This is Eugene.




Here's Paco.




We call this rascal Scamp.




Here's Nancy.

And baby Willem.

This guy's name is Harold but everyone calls him Whitey.

Watch out for this next guy. The others don't let him around much for obvious reasons.

Oh... His name is Irving.


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Well I finally did one of the coming soon posts. See... I'll get to it. What you may not realize is that the poll topics are chosen on a completely random basis which consists of me coming up with them as I contemporaneously create the new poll. It's not rocket science... Anyway, I don't usually know what I'm going to do with a topic when I make it a choice. Thus, it sometimes takes a while before I feel up to it. Thanks for understanding.

Anyway a new unscientific poll is up for your vote. Make it count!

Is this Neverland?

Sometimes I walk a few blocks up the hill from downtown Tacoma to the county courthouse. Today while I was walking I suddenly entered what appeared to be Neverland. The Mad Hatter, the queen and those twin guys were there to welcome me. Here's a glimpse.

This was real! Just like those fields full of buffalo, longhorns and emu I used to see all the time.

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Check back soon for more posts.
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Are we Human?

The term humanoid originated in the early twentieth century to describe things with human-like characteristics. I don't know what they called human-like things before 1912. Maybe they said things like: 'Boy, this here discovery reminds me of something, but I just can't place it' or 'Sure wish there was a word to describe this here fella'. You have likely deduced that the use of 'this here' was very common in the early twentieth century.

As you can imagine, humanoids come in all shapes and sizes. Well, as long as the shape has two arms, two legs, a torso and a head. I guess I should say they come in all sizes.

Early humanoids looked like this:

Hi. I'm Ardi!

and this:

I'm Lucy and Ardi ain't got nothin' on me!

Though the term fell out of favor in the scientific community after its initial introduction, the term humanoid has never fallen totally out of use. Some more recent examples of humanoids include these fine gentlemen:

They hope to one day understand you.

And these cross-over stars:

Nanu! Nanu! (some 2 year olds think the guy on the right is a cow. Be careful...)

Now... Humanoids can be man made as well. Just like these guys:

Hi there!.... Hi there!

And this gem:

Can you guess his weakness? Don't touch my handle!

Apparently, some people have trouble telling the difference between humanoids and actual humans.

Mom always said 'don't talk to strangers'

These humanoids have specialized head attire and one has a robotic arm:

But they do know how to rock!

Be particularly careful around this one:

Not sure what he's conjuring up here, but it doesn't look friendly.

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Well it's taken a while, but there you go. Was it worth the wait? I hope so. Anyway, check back in a week or so and there will likely be another post. I'm going to try to update at least two times a month. We'll see.

Check out the newest poll. This topic won the last one so the voice of the people does count for something here. Make sure to let your voice be heard!

Oh... and for those of you who regularly follow this blog, I know I have used Al Gore in a joke before in the Bankers post. He's just so versatile.