Did I say snow? I meant ice. . .

I'm detecting a heading pattern here... a...weather...pattern? Maybe the subjects of these posts should be related to something else, like, I dunno, cars or science fiction? I used to really love science fiction, but in the last few years it seems to take effort to follow it for any length of time. Same with epic fantasy novels and such - I used to be able to focus on them for days and weeks, but these days I am lucky if my focus lasts for more than a few minutes. Take this paragraph for example. I have now jumped from a stupid weather joke to cars, and then science fiction/fantasy, and now I am thinking of velvet painting. Oswald is on the television. But growing up as a TV kid has not impacted my focus in the least. Are you going to eat that?

We are scheduled to drive out to the house today to do some measuring, which we are both really excited about. We may also pick up the car today, but that is yet to be determined. The snow from yesterday is ice on the roads this morning, so everyone is taking it a bit easier I think. I have to say - Portland as a city is really impressing us during this whole snow and ice thing. The Portland area has about 1 million people, with around 500,000 in Portland proper (not an official count). Even with that size population, they do some really cool things. For example, if you abandon your car on the side of the road due to snow, the city will tow your car to clear the road, but you can pick it up at a pickup location for FREE. On snow days here, they do not collect fares on public transportation to encourage people to take the bus instead of driving a car. Even Seattle doesn't offer such common-sense options - in fact, when we were just up there, the number of people who's cars were towed and given a $200 bill for it made the news. Why are most cities run with a complete lack of common sense? Portland is a lot like New Zealand metro areas in that way - Kiwis have not forgotten the common sense approach to coexisting with a large number of people, and Portland seems to be operating in the same spirit.

The dogs are bored. Last night after we went to bed we heard some rustling in the kitchen, which was most likely the dogs getting into something. When I came out to check, Cleo immediately hid, which is a sure-fire indicator that she is into something that she shouldn't be. I suppose because of the delightful aroma that eminates from diapers, Cleo thought it would be a good idea to shred one of Jonah's diapers just for kicks. Yeah, she's bored. And as much as they like walks, Cleo, our prima donna, does not like stepping in the snow. She drags behind on walks (which she never does when the sidewalk is dry), and can't wait to get back inside, out of the cold, hunting for fresh diapers. I can't blame her - its been in the mid-20's at night during their final walk of the day. Sparticus however loves it - he acts like a puppy, bounding from one yellow snow spot to the next, contributing his signature scent in an effort to dominate the street upon which he walks, always trying to take an alternate route from the one we're on so that he can further canvas the neighborhood. It suddenly occurs to me how much this is like teenage boys and their discovery of cologne and the wonder and deep reverence for their own odor. If you wear enough Drakkar Noir you will choke out every other scent in the building, thus dominance through smell. Or, if you wear no deodorant and do not shower with any sort of regularity, it is dominance through smell. Either way, its a lot like dogs peeing on trees. What a satisfying metaphor (Ok so maybe not technically a metaphor, but this paragraph has been a real dog anyway. Now that, oh Literati, is top-notch comedy.).