Today in Portland

 My job today was to pick up people employed across the nation by a local shoes and sports manufacturer (no, not Nike) and take them downtown to a big hotel.  (yeah, no names, but the founding family has a famous offspring).  Two of us drove minibuses to pick up the people and another one was on duty at arrivals at the airport to direct "our" people to our buses.  We were leaving just about every half hour, from the airport to downtown and back again, and with two of us, it worked out so that each of us had about a 45 minute round-trip, so after we saw each other at the beginning, we never met again.

Well, I did see her again, the other driver, when she passed me on the freeway around 3:30.

I was very glad to be on the freeway then, because Occupy Portland had come back to life in the afternoon and had completely (no, I can’t think of a polite word for it) completely fucked up traffic downtown, and it had taken me almost an hour to go the length of less than two miles to get onto I-84 to go back to the airport.  I guess I shouldn’t complain – the normal 20 minute drive only took twice as long, but o.m.g.

The first time I went by the former camps on 4th Ave. it had been cleaned out – I could see GRASS again – omg, not blue plastic tarps!  News trucks were there, and a dozen cops, and Taylor St. was blocked going by the parks that had been occupied, but city crews were out cleaning the parks and other than the crowd of Television News trucks, it looked like a – well, no, not a normal Portland day, unless you’re thinking of the last few weeks, but I got by ok and without trouble.

The next time I went downtown, an hour later, somebody was being arrested and everybody HAD to slow down and watch – it took me three signal changes to get through that light.  Various naval phrases went through my mind, but ok, I got through it and back to the airport in time to pick up the next batch of people.  I dropped ’em off at the hotel and made the left turn onto Salmon… and sat there for a half hour as traffic was diverted onto 5th Ave. – two lanes into one and _&)(*&)*&(*&&*^^ it took a long time and people were idiots about it and I was driving a minibus and… it sucked.  The dozen cops had been replaced by hundreds (I wonder what cops make for "overtime").  Streets were blocked all around the two parks and traffic was (still can’t think of another word) FUCKED UP. It took me almost an hour to get the airport and of course, it took even longer to get to the airport, because some dumbass had driven his piece of shit Honda into someone else on I-205 and had traffic backed up onto I-84, because EVERYONE had to slooow down and looook, even though both wrecked cars were far over on the side of the freeway.

I was stuck in the right lane when the other driver passed me and waved – she had taken a full mini-bus of people into downtown AFTER ME and had beaten me back to the airport, and gaily waved as she went past to pick up another busload of people stuck waiting while I TRIED to get back to the airport.

#&%#%*&%^&

I got to kill 20 minutes in Holding, with all the taxis, out on the edges of the airport (which was kind of ok – I had been driving pretty solidly for hours by then anyway and needed a pit-stop).  I went to the Departures area and picked up… two passengers.  It was 4:30, and I had been told that they were the last ones to pick up – after them, I was done, go refuel my bus and take it back to the lot and check out.

This time, I dropped off my passengers right on Broadway – I could just go straight on Broadway and get on the freeway and not go past the parks the protesters occupied … and not by Pioneer Courthouse Square, where the protest has moved to and is now – in Pioneer Square, Portland’s "Living Room".  They marched through downtown a couple of times, but the parks are fenced off now and the Police are out in force to keep them closed

Overtime for the cops – tired cops with tasers and guns and pepper spray, and it could get worse.  I wonder what overtime for cops pays.

I guess, all in all, not much really happened – no real violence and no paramilitary action here in Portland.  Just traffic tied up, on a Sunday, and not many working people (except ME) inconvienced.  It’s not over, they say, just going into another phase.

Tomorrow, I’ll be driving the 12 bus again, one of eight going to that shoe maker’s headquarters and taking people downtown to that famous name hotel….right by the protestors, or near enough to them for it to be… exciting? worrisome to think about.  I guess I’m kind of grateful that my High School take-home run doesn’t go through downtown – it’s all out on the east side of the city, far from the drama, if there is any.

Another long day tomorrow, but that next paycheck will look much better than the last one did.  Maybe I really will buy those Michelin tires for my car, and not some cheapo Korean tires instead.

*****