The Hellish Handbasket

Today was a day of glorious sunshine. Tomorrow we return to clouds and rain. It is summer in Portland. We don't tan in Oregon, we rust....

 As I grind my teeth and wait for a chat rep from the phone company to magically fix my billing issue, I thought I could use the time to cat...

One of life's perplexing questions, right up there with why men spit, is how every day, I somehow manage to get a blob of toothpaste on ...

I like to scan my own groceries. Call me a control freak, but I feel empowered when I'm the one moving my broccoli from basket to bag. I...

Yesterday I braved impending wind and rain to slog around the reservoir. It wasn't terribly cold; I had no good excuse to stay home exce...

My sister has been challenging me since she first appeared on the scene as a rival to my position as the only girl in the family hierarchy. ...

Winter came late to Portland this year. As I wait for the snow to melt (again), I crank up the bass on my old New Order CD so I don't ha...

A summons to jury duty arrived in the mail a couple weeks ago. I had no good excuse, so I checked the "count me in" box on the car...

As most of the rest of our beleaguered nation shudders in single digit temperatures, we here in the Pacific Northwest (or as I like to call ...

Merry happy, Blogbots. An inch and a half of snow has shut down the city and trapped me (well, my car) on this hill. What else is there to d...

The care facility called me tonight to tell me my mother was “confused.” I wasn't sure what that meant. The nurse's aide said, “Can ...

We are cruising toward winter here in the Pacific Northwest. It's dark by 4:30 now. At the care facility where my mother lives, the admi...

Howdy, Blogbots. Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you are fortunate enough to spend the day doing something you love with people you love. Here ...

My shrimpy maternal parental unit braves the wind, rain, and cold multiple times a day to indulge her nicotine habit. She likes being outsid...

I let a friend read my anonymous blog. The next time I saw her she said, “I have a challenge for you.” I thought she was going to ask me how...

You know things are heading south when feng shui-ing your desk seems like a solution. Today as I was avoiding writing an article I'm not...

Howdy, Blogbots. How's it going? Are we there yet? Where's there? I mean, have we made it to hell yet? Sure feels like we'll be ...

The wind turned again and brought the pall of smoke from the Eagle Creek Fire back to Portland. Last night the smell of smoke woke me. I got...

Howdy, Blogbots. What's new? Yesterday I dropped by my mother's former condo to tell the new owners where they could find the remote...