Date: Thu, 03 Apr 1997 08:52:14 -0800

Subject: Postcard from Portland

Dear Family and Friends,

Greetings! We'll dispense with any foolin' 'round and jump right into
the tales of March madness...

Last month's calendar was marked by three main events:

Home at Last
------------

We are now home owners! (Okay, technically, the mortgage company owns it
and will let us live there :-) We conducted the walk-through last Monday
(3/31). I showed up two hours early and did my own investigation to
assure that nothing would be overlooked. I even tested each electrical
outlet with a night light - a tip we picked up from another happy DMH
home owner we bumped into while selecting our lighting. I found a dozen
or so very minor items needing correction. These were all fixed on the
spot when we conducted our formal walk-through with Jim Delmore of Don
Morissette Homes, Inc. There are five other items I found which require
repair that will be fixed before we actually move in on 4/12: (1)
missing flashing under one of the eaves, (2) two short lengths of 2x4's
on the roof which had been used as steps by the roofers, (3) a chipped
tile on the center island in the kitchen, (4) missing glass on two light
fixtures, and (5) a slightly bent light fixture in the downstairs
bathroom. We fared very well judging from what I've heard from friends
who have closed on homes which were far less complete. Brent Landels
(and a new DMH employee, whose name I can't recall) stopped by during
the walk through and presented us with a house plant and two DMH coffee
mugs.

On April Fools Day we surrendered scads of cash and signed gobs of forms
at the closing. Thank God Uncle Jule was able and willing to preview
this mass of mumbo jumbo and spare us a Maalox moment! Altogether it
went smoothly, but took an hour and a half nonetheless. We were rewarded
with key chains (sans keys), pocket knives (for opening cartons), and a
bottle of wine (specially labeled for the momentous occasion). The deed
was recorded yesterday, and today I'll be picking up the keys and garage
door opener. We still can't believe our dream has come true! I think it
will take waking up in our new home for that realization to truly sink
in.

Birth Mirth
-----------

The first day of spring marked my half century milestone. Most people
tell me, "You don't look fifty!", which I appreciate. I'm not certain
what fifty is supposed to feel like, not having previously had the
experience (I'm not in the Shirley Mac Laine camp :). Other people tell
me, "So, it's the big one, huh?" Well, I figure it'll be the BIG one
when Willard Scott plasters my mug on a jar of Smuckers (if he's still
around). My birthday fell on a Thursday, which gave my ADP associates a
chance to have some fun at my expense. During the afternoon staff
meeting they brought in a wonderful cake concocted of coffee and
chocolate . After the meeting ended, I found that other (still unknown)
coworkers had decorated my cube with black streamers, the requisite
R.I.P. over-the-hill tombstone, balloons and tiny plastic "50"s strewn
everywhere - even inside my water bottle! I'm still discovering them.

Liz and I had a small mid-week celebration at home and deferred the real
festivity for the weekend. I had requested dinner at Jake's for my
birthday treat. And what a treat it was. Jake's has never failed to live
up to its reputation as *the* place to have seafood in Portland. The
table at which we were seated had an interesting wooden plaque
commemorating the three millionth oyster served at the Portland area
McCormick & Schmicks restaurants (which includes Jake's). The couple who
was served the oyster had a bay named after them and were treated to a
limousine ride to see it and accommodations for a weekend stay. The
plaque showed they were engaged at the time. Liz and I mused that they
should be married now and have two daughters - Pearl and Shelly.


There's more birthday brouhaha, but I'll save that for the third
event...

Easter in Surf City
-------------------

Liz and I flew down to Orange County last Thursday to spend Easter with
her folks. Liz and her Mom got a chance to have a lot of Mother-Daughter
time together (translated: they went shopping ;-). Bill and I had fun
tearing apart his computer, installing a Ditto tape drive, and then
tearing the computer apart again to remove it. His multi I/O function
card wouldn't keep up with the 1 Mb/sec. required by the tape drive and
he doesn't have a spare ISA slot for the accelerator card which would
solve the problem *sigh*. We also went to early Easter services at their
Church. I've exposed Liz to a lot of Judaism, which she has enjoyed
learning - so it's only natural that the equation be balanced. The
sermon was the highlight of the service. Minister Rogne has a deep,
almost hypnotic voice and delivered a message of compassion which
transcended religious disciplines.

Liz's Mom prepared a wonderful birthday dinner for me Friday night
including her special cherry pie for dessert... yummmm! Among the gifts
they selected for me was a truly unique pen made of snake wood. Liz and
I inaugurated it during our 'book signing' last Tuesday.

My wonderfully devious wife had also conspired with the Denney's,
Hildebrand's, Robert Murray and his fiancee of long-standing <grin>,
Deirdre Longobardi to throw me a surprise birthday bash. I suspected
something was afoot since there had been a flurry of email between Liz
and jd to which I was not privy. We spent Saturday night of Easter
weekend feasting on turkey (jd's very special recipe) and other
delectables, and basking in the glow of our friendship. We've all been
in touch daily via email. But electrons are a poor substitute for the
magnetism of hugs, the spontaneity of speech, and the fraternity of
friends and family. I can't express how much we miss everyone we left
behind when we moved to Portland, and how precious to us is the time we
are able to spend together on all too rare occasions like last weekend.
We love you all.

[insert Kleenex break here :-(  ]

Before we leave you this month I'm pleased to relate that Liz was, in
fact, offered (and she has accepted) the position of Rehabilitation
Director.

[insert applause here :-)  ]

Oh! Before I forget (signs of aging already?), we had a truly cosmic
experience last month. The clouds parted just enough for us to witness
the lunar eclipse as well as the passing of comet Hale-Bopp. Liz and I
stood in awe, tongues stilled by the realization that the earth is a
mere hadron in the cosmos, and we are but quarks. The moon was
transformed by the eerie glow from a dimensionless disk into an embossed
orb. And with the aid of binoculars we witnessed the heavenly peacock in
all her splendor. We had another glimpse of the comet on the way back
from Orange County. The Alaska Air pilot announced where it could be
seen relative to the plane and changed his heading to allow views from
both port and starboard!

Our plans for April include packing, moving, unpacking and a trip to
Florida to spend Passover with the Herring/Woldoff/Pregel/Frank clan.

The next PfP you receive should have a revised .sig showing it's origin
is Tigard! Until then...

with love,
Sandy & Liz
     _________________________________________________________________

climatic summary for portland oregon     
national weather service portland oregon               
449 am pst tue apr 01 1997

 ...temperature...

high yesterday... 50 
 low yesterday... 38 
mean temp........ 44   departure from normal...   -5

normal high for today... 58
normal  low for today... 40
record high for today...  79 set in 1987
record  low for today...  30 set in 1971

...degree day data...

heating
yesterday...     21 departure...     5
month.......    563 departure...    14
season......   3682 departure...   -80

cooling
yesterday...      0 departure...     0
month.......      0 departure...     0
season......      0 departure...     0

...precipitation...

yesterday.............   0.08
total for the month...   7.14
normal month to date..   3.56
total for the year....  16.22   total since oct 1...  44.68
normal year to date...  12.76   normal from oct 1...  26.90

...wind data in mph...

average wind speed yesterday... 10.5 
fastest 2-min wind yesterday... 23 from 240 degrees
peak wind gust yesterday....... 25 from 250 degrees

...astronomical data...

sunrise today...550 am    pst
sunset  today...638 pm    pst
sunrise tomorrow...548 am    pst
sunset  tomorrow...639 pm    pst

-- 
Sandy & Liz Herring        Portland, Oregon        Peck of Pickled Pisces
webfeet@herring.org     bigfish@sns-access.com     http://www.herring.org/

                  And that's the news from Portland
       where everything is green, rolling stones gather moss,
              and the rainfall is always above average.

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