Posted inSalem

2009 Salem Tour of Homes photos — million dollar house & condos

Yesterday Laurel and I took a look at three of the 24 properties featured in the 2009 Salem Tour of Homes -- the two most expensive homes, and The Meridian condos. First stop was the $1,065,000 house built by Kaufman Homes at Sahelee Court, SE. (3,849 sq. ft.). Now, a million dollar home is no big deal in southern California. At least, it wasn't before the housing boom went bust down there.But up here in sleepy Salem, a million bucks should buy you some pretty damn impressive lodging. And from what we saw, it does. The kitchen was impressive. We…
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Posted inScootering

After three days on my Suzuki Burgman 650, I’m smiling

Defying those who told me, when I mentioned my upcoming maxi-scooter purchase, "But motorcycles are so dangerous!," I am still alive -- and indeed thriving -- after three days of riding my Suzuki Burgman 650 (Executive version).Credit goes to me, some great Team Oregon safety/skills training, and a terrific scooter. Which I've managed to cram into our carport along with two cars, some garbage cans, and a bunch of firewood (one pile had to be moved to accommodate the Burgman).As shown, the mirrors can be folded in with a touch of a button. Handy for darting between lanes of stopped…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Rising health insurance premiums are a “tax boost” also

Go figure -- not that this is easy to do when what I'm trying to figure out is right-wing platitudes.Like, tax increases always are bad.Which makes sense. Except when it doesn't. Like when a tax increase is needed to provide essential services for the least fortunate and most vulnerable in Oregon -- the elderly, sick, poor, unemployed, children.Yet reflexive anti-tax types like Russ Walker already are threatening to put a couple of tax increases on the ballot, if, as expected, they get through both houses of the state legislature.Download Oregon tax boostWhat ever happened to compassionate conservatism? Republicans talk a…
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Posted inScootering

Team Oregon motorcycling class has me ready to ride

I just spent fifteen hours learning how to operate a motorcycle safely and skillfully. And enjoying the company of these soon-to-be biker babes, four women who comprised the more attractive side of the ten person class.The three day Team Oregon Basic Rider Training is terrific -- highly recommended for both new riders and those, like me, who are getting back into motorcycling/scootering after a long absence.Here's some advice if you think your motorcycle skills will revive instantly if you hop back on your Harley, or whatever, after several years (in my case, it was about fifteen years).You're wrong. I'd taken…
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Posted inSustainability

Oregon land use news: Metolius and Measure 49

A thumbs-up and a thumbs-down on the land use front this blogging day...On the positive side, we just got the Spring 2009 "View from the Summit" Crag Law Center newsletter. Our neighborhood has gotten terrific legal support from Ralph Bloemers and other Crag staff in our fight against a Measure 37 subdivision that threatened to dry up wells and a community lake in this groundwater limited area.Ralph and fellow attorney Courtney Johnson wrote an excellent piece, "Learning Lessons from Oregon's Experiment with Measure 37." It focuses on how Measure 49, which restored much-needed fairness and balance to the state's land…
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Posted inSalem

2009 Salem Dog Days — a downtown canine carnival

Yesterday Salem engaged in a search for the area's cutest dog. June's First Wednesday downtown event featured canines of all shapes, sizes, and breeds, wandering the sidewalks, owners in tow.Download Salem Dog Days articleNaturally Serena and I took part, though as I say on my You Tube video of the event, we declined to enter the most adorable dog contest.Not that I doubted Serena's chances in a fair cuteness fight. Obviously she is the most beautiful dog in the world. I just figured that the little white fuzzy dog lobby would have biased the judges against 65 pound Shepherd/Lab mixes.Here's…
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Posted inRecreation

Metolius River photos, iPhone style

Here's some photos that I took during a recent visit to our cabin on the beautiful Metolius River in Camp Sherman (central Oregon). I usually use an Olympus Stylus, which can do all kinds of stuff: zoom, adjust for different photographic conditions, and whatnot. All of these shots were taken with my iPhone's camera, which can do exactly one thing: take a photo. When I first got my iPhone, I was frustrated with the lack of photo options. Now, I'm appreciating the Zen'ish simplicity of pulling it out, choosing the camera icon, pressing the "take photo" button, and seeing what…
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Posted inHome life

Qwest technical support produces gripes…then grins

I've had an interesting relationship with my off-and-on friend, Qwest. Back in August 2007 I was writing an irritated blog post, "Qwest, I'm waiting for DSL...still waiting...," about how the communications company was stiffing my efforts to get broadband to our neighborhood.Then in January 2008, after writing a pleading letter to the Qwest CEO, I got all ecstatic in "I'm the DSL King of the World!" I'd managed to get DSL installed in our rural south Salem area, freeing myself -- and many others -- from the frustrations of dial-up and satellite Internet.I'm still going through Qwest ups and downs.…
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Posted inSalem

Wings of Wonder — beautiful butterflies in Independence, Oregon

First off, if you're looking for a video that shows butterfly sex (and why wouldn't you be?) -- you've found it!Disclaimer: there is a human variety of "butterfly sex," and there is the authentic kind, what butterflies themselves do. This blog post is all about authenticity.Yesterday my wife and I took visiting relatives, my sister and brother-in-law, to a wonderful local attraction that we'd never been to before: Wings of Wonder in Independence, Oregon. If you love butterflies (and who doesn't?) this is a must-see if you're in the area.For us rural south Salemites, getting to Wings of Wonder was…
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Posted inSalem

Salem to Silverton: a trip from boring to charming

It's only about 28 miles from my house in rural south Salem to Silverton. But it seemed like light years yesterday, as we traveled from Oregon's stodgy conservative capital to a charming progressive small town.Amazingly, Laurel and I had never been to the Oregon Garden, which opened ten years ago. With my sister and brother-in-law visiting from California, we were finally drawn to check out Silverton's prime attraction. Well, let's say #2 attraction. Because Silverton's Stu Rasmussen is the first openly transgender mayor in the United States, and he's gotten a lot of attention since being elected last November.Including the…
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Posted inScootering

Motorcycling is as dangerous as you make it

As noted before, when people hear that I'm getting a Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter, the response often is: "But motorcycles are so dangerous!" (The Burgman is as big and powerful as a mid-sized motorcycle, so I'll refrain from saying scootering in this post and stick with "motorcycling.") Danger needs to be a consideration in everything we do in life. The risk of motorcycling certainly has to be taken into account by both aspiring riders and those who care about them. But here's why I believe it's truer to say, "Motorcycling is as dangerous as you make it." Before deciding to…
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Posted inScootering

Let loose the person you really are

I want to get as much mileage as possible out of the Suzuki Burgman 650 scooter that will be coming my way in a few weeks. And I'm not just talking about how much gasoline I put in the tank.There's a lot of blogging possibilities with motorized two-wheeling. So I've added a "scootering" category to HinesSight in anticipation of sharing fresh views of life as it will appear through my Shoei helmet.Presently I'm in a philosophizing mode, because my main reason for wanting a maxi-scooter (meaning, a big one) is pretty darn profound: I want to let loose the Brian…
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Posted inHealth

Quality of life in allocating health care resources

Imposing title for a blog post. It may sound kind of boring, but before we die each of us -- more than likely -- is going to face the bioethical question, "What kind of life is worth living, and at what cost?"Back in the 1980s I lived and breathed health policy issues. That was my job. Also, my passion. Recently I got to reminiscing about the days when I worked with Portland psychiatrist Ralph Crawshaw and Senate president John Kitzhaber (who later became Oregon's governor) on a project that laid the foundation for the Oregon Health Plan. Getting into spring…
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Posted inScience

Craziness of creationists shown by 47-million-year-old fossil

Oh, Ida, it's so nice to meet a relative -- albeit a distant one. Really distant. As in 47 million years ago. Scientists hailed Tuesday a 47-million-year-old fossil of an ancient "small cat"-sized primate as a possible common ancestor of monkeys, primates and humans.Scientists say the fossil, dubbed "Ida," is a transitional species, living around the time the primate lineage split into two groups: A line that would eventually produce humans, primates and monkeys, and another that would give rise to lemurs and other primates.I love the idea, better termed "reality," that my ancestors include all sorts of other creatures.…
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Posted inEntertainment

Coach — the biggest jerk ever on Survivor

I was so happy Coach (real name, Benjamin Wade) got voted off Survivor Tocantins this week. My wife and I have watched every episode of Survivor over the years. We've seen some real jerks, such as the infamous Jonny Fairplay and Randy Bailey.But I've never screamed so often at the TV, Vote him off! Get rid of him! Don't trust him! My wife and I couldn't stand Coach from the beginning. He's the most irritating sort of person: someone who blabs on and on about how truthful, upright, honest, courageous, and strong he is. I wouldn't be surprised if Coach…
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Posted inHome life

Jet lagging my way through post-vacation blues

I realize that life can't be arithmetic'ized. Still, every time we come home from a vacation I mentally calculate the value of a numberless equation:All the rushing around to get ready to leave + dealing with all that has to be done when we get back - the relaxation of the vacation = how much reduction in stress? I'm pretty sure the value to the right of the equals sign is positive. Meaning, the psychological benefit of a vacation is worth all the work involved in the pre- and post- days. But leaving Maui and returning to Oregon last Wednesday…
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Posted inRecreation

Our gripes about Maui

Sure, we've been on Maui for ten days, enjoying the great mid- 80's weather on Napili Bay while Portland, Oregon is 54 degrees and rainy today -- according to the Honolulu paper. We check the mainland weather report daily, because our friends always lie about how nice it was back home while we were gone. "Oh, you missed some great weather. Sunny every day, didn't rain a bit." Yeah, right, I think to myself, not wanting to let them know that I'm on to their Hawaii vacation envy.But things are definitely not totally paradisaical here. We've accumulated some pretty serious…
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Posted inRecreation

Meaningful Maui musings

I can't believe that I called a post from three years ago, "Meaningless Maui musings." I'm rectifying this error now with a change from "less" to "ful" in the title.Because sitting on Napili Beach -- the lovely crescent in the middle of the photo -- for several hours each day offers plenty of time for deeply important ponderings about life.Some of which, I'm pleased to see, are the same as my 2006 musings. I say "pleased" because doing the same things is a big part of what I love about returning to Napili Bay almost every year.I call this an…
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Posted inFamily

More granddaughter photos — can’t help it!

OK, I've hit the blog post trifecta: three consecutive days of Maui granddaughter photos. Each evening I sit down at my laptop and think, "Really should write about something significant."Then a voice inside my head screams, What's more significant than an oh-so-cute two year old girl who is the one and only offspring of your one and only child?At which point I bow to inevitability, plug my camera's card into a USB port, and start downloading the newest pictures. Here they are... Me and Evelyn waiting to board the Sugar Cane Train. The Hawaiian fashion police weren't able to give…
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Posted inFamily

Photos of Maui maiden and grizzled Granddad

I'm powerless. Am in the grip of an irresistible force of nature. Must obey! Cannot blog about anything else until I post more photos of my oh-so-cute granddaughter, Evelyn. It's what grandfathers are drawn to do by karma, destiny, kismet, fate. And especially... love. I haven't seen Evelyn for more than twelve months. So it's been great to spend some Maui time with Celeste and Patrick's engaging two year old. Usually being the doting granddad camera-wielder, I don't appear in many shots. But here's an iPhone photo of my daughter, Evelyn, and me. This is Evelyn's first time at a…
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