oneguyinportland

Back After Semester Finals and Sickness

It has been a couple weeks. I am still alive. Although a lot has happened. First, finals always tends to be something that takes extra energy from me and I have done well in my classes, and that makes me happy. There has been some health issues that took some time of course, when your body runs on caffeine and spite sometimes you need to recharge every so often. That or the nerve damage gets the better of me sometimes.

The city is still a shit show, and while I can tell you how, there are others who do it better then me just look up on twitter PDXReal1 does a lot of good work showing how things are, People4Portland on twitter and now it seems more and more that people are getting the word out that we do have a problem in the city. So people are knowing, but now we have to make some impact, and that is been something that I have mused for the past few weeks.

Portland business journal recently had a survey of businesses where no one, I am sorry “99% do not feel supported by the city’s elected officials.” Damning by any count when almost every business believes they are not being supported by the city. That means you could go and throw a rock in the air and the sidewalk it lands on you got almost 100% chance that the business closest to it thinks they got no help from the city. Not like anything has been done to change that, Measure 110 has gone a major calamity because the government has not been fast enough to get the support out there. ( Big shocker, it is almost like someone called it.)

The city is in rough shape and the state is worse, but you know what sometimes it just takes a spark, a chance to get things rolling in the right direction. While the more well known businesses are running away from the city there is a chance to make it better, and if you can survive in the harshest conditions then it should be able to survive in friendlier conditions. It may be looked at as a bit of trying to find the sunshine in the dark clouds, but there is something to be looked at when bad things happen. One can always look at it more as a challenge to be overcome. Just seems honestly, that there are a lot more challenges then times of smooth sailing. These times will test those of the city I love, because there is a lot that seems to be wrong.

Try and stay healthy and hopefully I don’t need to do this again this week. I am sick as a dog.

Stay Strong.

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Choppy Waters

Welp, it’s been a couple of weeks again. Sorry about that. Unfortunately, some numbers have come out based on the city where it has to be said. Portland is now in a position where the problems they have constructed for themselves will be fixed slowly, which is unfortunate. This was brought up by KOIN 6 news and reported on by the News for Reasonable People channel( A name I get a giggle from whenever I watch their videos). Also, they are a channel with a view on more of the business and property lens. However, human issues make enough appearances to be counted on being shown.

So, what am I talking about? Currently, the violence in Portland has been growing, and the cost of living has been rising throughout the country, even more so in Portland. More drugs, less quality public education, and less business have been happening. Now we have a business vacancy rate getting close to a third. That means that about 73% of spaces are filled. Which would be good, except most people need to learn that cities account for something like 95% to be filled on a bad year for tax reasons. If businesses are not in buildings, they aren’t making money, no money, no tax, and the budget is reduced, and while a lot of places have had to deal with many of these things, Portland has been ranked third last in recovering from the pandemic. We are ranked 60 out of 62, with a wild guess being able to figure out the two below us.

This has now reached a point that, save for a miracle of high-class thought and action from our city commissioners, this will not be good for a while. Five years, maybe ten, maybe thirty. The time frame depends on how shit others are after this. What will be something is that now we are in a position where it will most likely be this way for quite a while, and a lot of Portlanders are okay with that.

Not because there is a wealth of ideas or thoughts. Actually, it’s because most Portlanders only know or care to know once they have to. As a result, portlanders generally boil down into two groups.

  1. They are in a position to ignore everything until something happens, as they get robbed, their children are in danger, or their life’s work is destroyed.
  2. They are so poor and just trying to hold it together; unfortunately, they just had to get used to it.

This is sad because what comes next is not going to be fun for a lot of people. It will not be able to be fixed quickly because people do not want to see it. It won’t be the end of the world, but for those who think Portland is going back to the 2000’s era dominance, this will be bad news.

Good times will come at some point, but we have some choppy waters.

Stay Strong and Carry On.

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2023 Goals

Something I hope to look back on and see a bunch of things crossed off, and if I remember it an easy and entertaining call back at the end of the year.

  1. Release something, now with projects going on what I have and if it may be under my name will be something different. As long as it came from me, under whatever name I use for different reasons I hope to release something like a book, program or something.
  2. I would like to live on my own. Currently I have been living with a roommate and have been doing it long enough, I need my space.
  3. Continue doing well in school, at this point I have had a problem in just one class and I am still on honor roll despite it.
  4. I would like for the blog to do better, although granted to define it as off the rails from original purposes is an understatement of the greatest caliber.
  5. Do a physical event again. Despite being disabled I feel I have been getting much better health wise especially over the last twelve months.
  6. Get my teeth fixed. Unfortunately why my body does not use some minerals despite ingesting them, like calcium is something we are still trying to figure out. Luckily we caught it before bones went fell osteoporosis.
  7. I want to do more on twitch, and been trying to push it further. Currently the goal is to get to 500 followers but I need to work on being more entertaining.
  8. I would like to travel to another country finally. I have never been to another country and there are a few places on my list. I would count something out of state or going to conventions again
  9. Start a successful business. Pretty simple as to why.
  10. Be happier then I was last year.

If I remember this I hope to go back and see how many of these got knocked off the list.

Stay Strong and Happy New Year

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Three Tips For Your Future

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Pexels.com

Back in college, for the first time, I went to the Art Institute of Portland for a double degree program of video game art and design and media art and design. Considering what I have done since then, the things I picked up definitely helped, but unfortunately, I also had to pay my way then, which led me to work full-time at a gas station between short cooking jobs. Accelerated double degree with a full-time job is the fastest way to go from a thinking human being to something short of a crash test dummy without the impact.

Then it was not about staying up all night. There was one day a week that it had to be done because transit, work, and otherwise would not allow me to sleep. I got through a year, and when I had to stay up a week to study more, it all ended with a moment when I passed out in class. The teacher, after hearing about how there was no rest between classes ( which was once a week), called my roommates to take me back home and gave me a B for the course. Despite being three years with everything, I had only made it through one. My family didn’t want to help, and my roommates thought they would bury me if, for one reason or another, something didn’t stop.

Out of all the faults, I never wanted it to be known that I did not try. Often there would even be a point where people would get nervous if their body would break down. There was never enough backup to get enough rest, and there has been more than one doctor that past sins have come due, and my body is now footing the bill for it. With things going, there is always stuff to do and not enough energy, so if someone out there is maybe realizing the things-to-do list is getting a bit big, this post is for you.

Call it the learning of someone who crashed into a lot more times. Some hints from someone who may have walked down different roads.

  1. Find the value (in time) of what you are doing. We have all been in places where we have to do one thing after another, and the energy is just running out. There are times when you need to push on being tired and times when you will need to force yourself to rest because that will get you the greatest return. Look to what you need to and find at what point your time gets rewarded. If you need four more hours but can only muster two, you may be able to get to four, but after a certain point, the time you take for today will be taken out of tomorrow resting up.
  2. No one can go forever. Rest is not something that is needed just for the weak. Where people often forget in trying to act tough is that even machines will need some upkeep and often have people around them to make sure things are at peak efficiency. Rest is not a weakness. It is something to make sure your time working on things is going to be as close to a hundred percent as possible. 
  3. Never stop learning. One of those fortune cookie lines that touch on something people seem to still forget. When you stop learning, you stop growing. Does not matter if you are six or sixty, powerhouse or paraplegic. The moment you stop learning about something is when you need to figure out the exit strategy. Sometimes you will find things that may not give you value right after you put in. Sometimes, you will discover new ways to act in certain situations. Learning isn’t something that will provide a direct response. After you learn, you need to give it a couple tries. Other times what you know may not work for your situation. 

We will keep the pearls there for now, but I do hope this year you have made a lot of progress, and hopefully, I will see you in the next one. We still got a few posts before the year ends, though. 

Stay strong. 

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Unfashionably Late

I had plans to get something out talking about the progress on projects and about how it all was building to seemingly more and more and it was going to be very warm and fuzzy. Except for those why may know the history of this blog may remember that this was originally established when due to family issues I was forced out with very little notice.

Then the plan was to do a pat on the back because despite learning of the homeless situation and learning what has built into it, there really wasn’t much to crow about. I was right. There are problems and people really dragged their heels to work on it. I will however still post this gif because some people really wanted to argue about how right I was.

Sometimes it does help when some people actually listen to what is being said.

With that out of the way now we have some issues, I have been trying to stay away from the homeless situation to some degree because I am no longer homeless, except something that has been sticking in my craw has come to be a full-blown annoyance and I feel I have to write about it here and that is I would expect someone from the portland scene to write about the situation and nothing has been done of it since then. I did not want to be the loudest voice trying to talk about my home city on this subject but it has been two full years since I wrote more in-depth on it and I feel that I need to again, especially with how the city has failed its citizens both in housing and not.

I am not going to say that I will be doing so many articles a day but there are some things I think need to be looked at and my place is as good as any. On top of all that it seems that no one really wants to talk about how the problem will need to be handled for the sake of as many people as possible. Right now, what I am worried about is a group of people in Portland trying to make decisions quickly to make up for years of inactivity and going too far on it making their efforts that much of complete failure.

Does this mean that I am stopping anything? Nope, in fact, provided I can get my list of smaller things done I will see how people can just be subbed to that as it seems some of you really like to hear about that subject.

You know the drill, stay strong.

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Metal Gear Survive -Dead On Arrival?

So anyone even listening to game news over the past week has heard of what has happened to the Metal Gear series has heard what has happened with the new game announced with trailer Metal Gear Survive. For those who do not know let me give you the short version.

Game company did well for a while. Wanted to make money easier. Decided to put all their Ip’s (intellectual properties) in pachinko machines while showing a lot of venom to the average gamer. Pachinko laws get passed where it may be more scrutinaized and taxed and Konami wants to come back to games like nothing has happened for the sake of a better business model. Now, one way to do that is to really come back after all this and make something people want to see.

From the view of the trailer it is a game with zombies and four player co-op possibility with little flavor from the series beforehand. Which is sad considering the series itself despite its flaws had a fan base that was willing to back a release. It is most likely going to disappoint unless Konami has a major set of aces up their sleeve which it could very well be the point. Take the series somewhere it would not normally go so you can really push it in a new direction, but given the company’s actions it will be something where they will need to prove it before anyone takes their word at face value.

This game could very well be the game that gets them a second chance as a good gaming company, and if it does it would still have work to do. Konami has made enough enemies with their actions against the previous designers and employees, disrespected the fans, and overall turned in to a company where the stereotype of the money grubbing company is closer to people’s views then one with a vision and purpose. Either way I do hope they take the time to make this a good one otherwise the market just begin to turn more toxic to their products. Keeping in mind where they started coming back to gamers, that is not a good thing.

 

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Not the most tech savvy – Update

So I do not know if this is WordPress or Windows updating but the theme on my blog does not come through on my screen. While I am working on that there are few other things that are getting some steam rolling and although each one doesn’t deserve its own post yet it is still enough for an all round update.

I am still learning the ins and outs of this wordpress deal. I don’t think I will ever stop learning, but if anyone else is having little problems with their blog then let me know. Did you get it fixed? Was it something that just took time to handle?

Anyway, on the books the editing has begun. Slow going just on the fact that I get an hour in here and there after work.

The card game has been paused for a moment because for the ones where rough sketches are needed it just does not feel right whenever one is atrempted.

Business wise there will be some small sales of the bath salts and a couple other products. Packaging is being a little difficult, and after looking some different designs there may be more on that coming.

Got ten writing contests  of which that I either have writing projects that already work for entry or create from scratch. The first one is a life lesson in 1500 words or less and mine will be to “learn to fight”.

Gotten some advertising for different projects coming up, but as Jim Carrey said ” Can’t make the scene if you don’t have the green.”

Otherwise it may be slow but it is gonna go and I hope you all have a good week. .

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Dear Twitter

Dear Twitter,

You will have never heard of me, but I am just one of the many people that tried to make a little bit of home on your site. Guessing at the prior sentence can lead one to believe that I am not having the greatest of luck with it, and that is correct. Why, though baffled me because it seemed to me so many people were able to use it for all their projects. I even took classes to brush up until a sudden though caught me.

The physical processes of Twitter is not the problem. I cannot communicate effectively in the 150 characters to make any point I want to make a waste of all the time put in.  Some people can do it well, others need to be more freely to form their statements and that’s okay.

Some of the people you have though are the exact kind of people I just do not want to associate with on a scale that makes me think that being a true to form super villain actually seems like a sensical route. Once again, some does not mean all.  I would like to talk with some of the people on there as it would a nice way to open your mind further.

Just though, the majority of people on your website from my own experience have to be some of the most idiotic subjects in the history of failed lab experiments. Trying not to say anything about it would not make much difference, and I could do something a little bit more positive. Business plans, editing, writing, making my games, and anything else I may want to do.

Maybe, I just need some time to acclimate to the new form of communication. Maybe, I need to get used to what people think is important. Probably should stop thinking I have have found the bottom of the idiot barrel on the internet because that always goes badly. No matter what the reason is. It is about the time for me to look and go is it useful enough that I should continue trying or is it something that I should fall back until either I get used to it more, smarten myself up on it, or find myself an audience that actually has enough of a spark floating between their ears to bring a double AA back to life.

Call me old fashioned. Call me a raging idiot if it makes you feel better, and that could very well be the case. I am not safe from the sheer stupidity either. In any case hope your people are brighter and your days more enjoyable.

Sincerely,
Oneguyinportland

Also, what in the flying blue circle of hell does bae mean?
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Excerpt – Life, Love, and Cooking

This was originally a project that had started years ago because I wanted to show that one could make better food by better understanding it. How knowing some of the basics could build in to masterpieces on a plate, and no matter what we all need to eat. Typing this up is just the start of another step as instead of taking that project in full (about 129k words) it will be split in half for just about 62k in words.

Revising has to be done, word choice improved, pictures put in and a whole list of things that will in complete honesty may add up to absolutely nothing financially. That wasn’t why I did this project though, as I did it so that maybe someone out there in the real world. Someone who feels like they can’t do something will read it and even if they don’t agree on anything else find solace in the point that the world can be created by those willing to work for it and make it better. Enough waxing philosophically from the sixth month here is the last excerpt of this project.

June 26th- Meat loaf

This homey American dish has been recreated in almost every house with countless different flavorings. All meat loafs do have some things in common.

First is the use of ground meat whether its pork, turkey, chicken, beef or any other meat that can be ground. Lentils are even used as the base in a vegetarian option loaf.

Vegetables are often chopped in small chunks to give the loaf more texture when it is finished as well as a bit of extra color. The most common vegetables are the three belonging to the french mirepoix celery, carrot, onion.

Next is the glue that holds the entire thing together as it cooks. Eggs are one of the most popular items whether in yolks or whites separately or together are often used to bind everything together. For those who cant use all ground meat or those who want to cut the fat will often add bread crumbs in various forms. Sometimes old bread will be soaked in milk before being added to the ground beef.

Taking your meat in a bowl you would first add the vegetables and mix before finishing with the addition of your thickener and flavorings. Mixing until everything is amalgamated you would then shape it so it can fit in a high walled dish. Before setting it in the oven it can be wrapped in bacon to provide more flavor. As it cooks a large amount of fat will be left in the bottom of the dish with which you can make a gravy.

Meat loaf works well in thin slices for sandwiches while thicker slices can work for an entree all their own. It pairs well with hearty vegetables like scalloped potatoes.

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Excerpt – Life, Love, and Cooking

In my book  is also has some pages about some of the problems come from how food gets to us. Since I have started this writing project some light has been shed on this. It still has enough issue that it should still be here.

 

May 12th- Chocoholics beware

Used since the ancient empires chocolate has always hit a sweet spot to those who can afford it. Chocolate as we know it as a labor intensive product that takes whole cocoa beans roasting them down like coffee to be made in to a liquid and from the chocolate essence added with sugars, flavorings, and other items to form candies and desserts around the world. Can you think of a world with no chocolate at all?

The problem is that as time goes on the majority of chocolate is made from a system that puts cycle after cycle of products, but does not allow the land to recuperate after growing. Cycle after cycle of growing not only drops the quality and soon after the quantity of what they can make. Less chocolate is made and companies have to bid for the mass quantities at higher prices before sending it down to the consumer. After large corporations buy their fill next the smaller companies would buy what they could often at a higher price so multiple levels of business have to raise their prices to turn the same profits. Now nothing is set by a single provider and while there are multiple suppliers the second set will not make a great amount. Instead they will make a small set of artisan level chocolate with unique beans, processes, and flavors.

The reason many companies become unique is to find a reason they can effectively market to produce a higher profit then other companies who produce more en masse. Making it across the board for chocolate price hikes to the consumer as well as your restaurants, bakers, and family run businesses. It will take time until companies can be established where a steady flow of supplies can be made in a cycle that benefits both nature and man.

Something else that may fall in to this problem later again is the coffee bean and really any thing that has been in the same farming processes in a finite amount of land.

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