1/1/07

Sunrises.

Beginning the new year with sunrises.

(OK, it’s cliched, but there ya go)

Things do have a way of working out.

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For example:

For years I have had on my balcony a chair – a school kind of chair, made out of fiberglass.  It sat out in the weather all the time.  The fiberglass was breaking down.

The chair was getting itch-y.  It hadda go.

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This year there was a good sunrise:

                      

This was kind of a sunrise for Oregon and Washington.  It turns out that for-profit companies using nuclear energy to make money power were not the most conscientious guardians of the atom, and Trojan Nuclear Power plant was not, ahem, the safest of civilian nuclear power stations.  It was shut down in the early 90’s and finally torn down last year.

Bye bye, Trojan.  Good riddance.

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From my balcony facing southwest.

Anyway, about that chair on the balcony.  Perfect place to sit and smoke a cigar and watch the day go by.  Niiice in the summer months, when I can sit out there at night comfortably (you know – Comfortably.  It is the top floor of the tallest building around – who’s to see.  You know, wink)

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Looking out my window from my desk at a new day dawning.

I was gonna steal a new chair.

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For a Gorge Sunrise, I think this is one of my best:

I got rid of that old fiberglass one, cuz, you know, that fiberglass shit ITCHES.

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(Better than last New Year’s Day….)

I drove two newspaper routes, doing commercial deliveries to businesses and street racks.  I had several places that had chairs out in the open, unsecured.  Last week, I made a shopping trip out of it and compared chairs at two places, one on the south route and one on the SE PDX route.  I was driving the white stepvan – plenty of room to like, hide the chair as I smuggled it home.

Why not?

So, on my last night of delivering the dailies, I thought, well, this is it.  I’ll get me a chair for the balcony.  I really miss it.

I didn’t really like the ones at a big manufacturer I deliver a rack full of papers to.  They looked like school chairs – no the most comfy of chairs, you know.  I drove away feeling kind of virtuous.

On the second route, I knew of a 24 hr. cyber coffee shop which had a few of those white plastic armchairs that no one sells in the winter around the back of the shop.  Just sitting there.  Waiting to be used.

Eh.  I chickened out. 

I guess I’ll keep that record.  You know, as a familiar delivery guy, I could shoplift at places and steal chairs virtually unnoticed.  Everyone’s used to seeing me so doesn’t pay much attention.  But,

Just cuz you "can" do something doesn’t mean you should.  Gave me a sense of pride – resisting the temptation.

I came home Saturday morning, done for good with the da

ilies deliveries and no work until Tuesday morning, when school’s back in session and there’s school bus drivin’ to be done.  I was kinda sad though, not to have a chair for my balcony.

Under my building, people put things they don’t want, that would clutter up the apartment floors above.  Last week, I found a nearly complete 21 speed bike, one that’s much newer than my old Huffy.  Bikes are pretty standardized, so I can strip the Huffy and rebuild the "new" bike and get to riding again, something I haven’t done for a long time, cuz one of the shifters on the Huffy was broken, and the 18 speed was now a six speed – no fun.

Saturday morning, I found a white plastic armchair down there, just like the kind they don’t sell around here in the winter.  The kind I wanted.  Free to a good home.

Mine.

Things have way of working out, and I don’t have to look bad doing it.

icbw

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