These journal entries were originally posted by my good friend Sam on his “What’s New” journal at sam.woojae.com between June 2001 and January 2002, and were recovered from the Wayback Machine. Each entry links to its archived original.
June 3, 2001
Well, since today’s Sunday, I slept till about noon, then went to Arby’s. I had their chicken club, with jalapeno poppers. I like their jalapeno poppers. Since I got a $25 gift certificate to SportMart, I decided to see what they had. (I got the gift certificate at work, for doing good work, like that’ll keep me there!) Looking around, I saw a cool Coleman camp stove and grill. I decided to get it, even though it was $100. My rationale for purchasing it was that in case there were rolling blackouts during dinnertime, I could cook my dinner on it. Here’s what it looks like:
Looking on-line, I realized that I got ripped off. The same stove costs $80 on-line. But with the $25 gift certificate, I paid $75, so I guess I still came out ahead.
June 4, 2001
Another Monday, which means back to work. I haven’t started on the new project yet, since the program manager hasn’t gotten everything straightened out yet. So, I pretended to work today.
I found a good article in the San Jose Mercury Newspaper, which tells about all the people leaving Silicon Valley. Here’s the link:
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/premium/front/docs/moving04.htm
I got my hair cut today after work. I got it cut short, so that I wouldn’t have to comb it in the morning.
I got the following postcard in the local Long’s Drugstore several months ago. I’ve had it posted in my office for quite awhile. At least it gets some laughs…
June 5, 2001
Not much new today.
June 6, 2001
In researching my future move to Montana, I tried looking for the nearest Saturn dealer to Glasgow. To my amazement, the closest Saturn dealer is in Fargo, ND! In fact, there are NO Saturn dealers in the entire state of Montana! I may have to sell my car and buy a Chevy or Ford pickup truck! I mapped out how long it would take to drive from Glasgow to Fargo, and it’ll take approximately 10 hours!!!
June 7, 2001
I’ve added some Magna, UT info that is accessible from the main page (click the back button on your browser to get there). Of interest is an overhead view of the area where my Dad grew up (I think).
June 8, 2001
I had a pretty good day today. Since I have accumulated about 80 hours of sick time, and since I’m not really doing a lot at work, I called in sick today and slept in. I did the wash, ate lunch at Quizno’s (it was OK, but I like Schlotzsky’s better, only there aren’t any close by), and went to Costco . I think I was just about the only person in the store that spoke English! I also got a surprise in the mail today… That’s right, the FREE Montana Highway Map. It has a nice map of the state of Montana, as well as lots of tidbits of the state. I didn’t realize they had a Granny for the governor (that’s her, below). Also, they actually have a state dinosaur (no, not the governor).
June 9, 2001
Today felt like Sunday, since I had yesterday off. I went to Arby’s, then went to Albertson’s for grocery shopping. I decided to spice things up, so I bought a bread mix, along with a bread pan, and made some bread. It turned out OK, but I had a hard time controlling the temperature of my crappy apartment oven, so the bread burned a little on the outside. I’m inserting a mp3 that should play automatically. It is the theme song from “All in the Family”, which ran from 1971-1979. I currently own three volumes of “Television’s Greatest Hits”. When I showed Changjae, he had this expression, like, what a weirdo…
All in the Family
June 10, 2001
Well, today is the one week anniversary of my new website. I didn’t do much today. I went to lunch at KFC. I wasn’t really hungry, but I just couldn’t stay inside the apartment all day. I also walked to the post office to mail my electric bill. The post office isn’t too far, and the weather was nice. Unlike most people, I am not having a problem with outrageous electric bills. My bill came to $14.37.
June 11, 2001
Not much went on today, just “back to work.” I was checking out the local networks that broadcast in Glasgow. At least I got the big three:
CBS - KRTV Great Falls Channel 3
NBC - KTGF Great Falls Channel 16
ABC - KFBB Great Falls Channel 5
Of course, they have all the usual cable channels…
June 12, 2001
I ordered a iPAQ Pocket PC from Changjae. It came today. It is like a Palm Organizer, but it is Microsoft based. I got it because I figured I should familiarize myself with the computer, since we’re trying to sell people on developing a device based on this at work. I’ve attached a pic of it.
June 13, 2001
Not much happened today. I went to Barnes and Noble after work to try to find a book on programming for Pocket PCs, which is that device I got yesterday. I guess they were restocking or doing inventory, because their computer book section was all messed up. Also there were tons of loser programmers like myself jammed into the computer book section. I got disgusted (literally, some of them [fellow programmers] smelled bad) and left. I think I’ll just order online from Barnes and Noble. I saw one I liked in the Burbank store, but wouldn’t you know it, they didn’t have it at the store here.
June 15, 2001
Another Friday, which means doing the wash after work. All the washing machines were being used in the wash room closest to my apartment, so I walked over to the other wash room. I don’t like having to lug my wash to a central washing facility. In my apartment in Tucson, which I paid $520/mo for, it had it’s own washing machine and dryer in the apartment. Much better than my current apartment, which I pay $1520/mo for. Ridiculous. I walked to the Wendy’s and bought a hamburger combo, and chicken nuggets for dinner. I had it ordered “to go”, because I refuse to degrade myself by eating alone at a fast food restaurant on a Friday night. So, I setup my TV dinner table, and watched the news while I ate in the dark (to conserve electricity). I’m not sure what I’ll do this weekend, but I have a feeling it’ll have something to do with going to Arby’s.
June 16, 2001
Not much happened today. I made chili using one of those kits. I used ground turkey instead of beef. It really isn’t too bad.
June 18, 2001
Well, I got a jury summons today. It is for the week of August 6 through 10. That’s the week right after I get back from vacation, which isn’t good timing. I put in a request to postpone it one week. Hopefully, they’ll let me do it. They do things differently here. You’re supposed to call in the weekend before you are to start serving, then you’ll find out where you are supposed to go. If you go to court, and aren’t selected that day, then you are finished. Hopefully, I won’t have to go to the San Jose court. I hope I’ll have to go to Sunnyvale court.
June 20, 2001
I got the visit Montana stuff in the mail today. It basically consists of a bunch of ads for stuff in Montana. There’s some good info, like Motels, campsites, etc. It also has lots of nice pictures.
June 23, 2001
Not much new today. I got out of bed around 12:30pm, had leftover Chinese food, then went grocery shopping. I came back home, and watched “Hometime” and “This Old House” for several hours, then had dinner. I had baked beans. I like Bush’s Baked Beans, Country Style. I didn’t win the lotto either. I only got one number + the mega number. Maybe that’s worth a buck or two.
Jay and Duke make Bush’s Beans Famous!
June 25, 2001
It rained today, which is unusual.
June 27, 2001
I found an interesting website about the Fort Peck dam construction. It has lots of neat pictures. It’s at: www.fortpeckdam.com . Speaking of pictures, I found several neat ones of the Glasgow area. I put them in their own new place on my website. Click here to see them!
June 28, 2001
I replaced the large areal view of Glasgow with an annotated one showing some streets and other landmarks. Click here to see them!
June 30, 2001
It’s that time of the month… That’s right! I’ve updated the temperature plot for my apartment in Sunnnnnnnnyvillage! It’s passed it’s one year anniversary (June 5, 2000 to June 5, 2001). Check it out ! I went to the grocery store today. I didn’t buy too much, but I did buy some Smirnoff Ice. It is a premixed vodka drink that is very sweet. I guess it is supposed to get the youngin’s to like to drink booze. They probably figure it’s a good stepping stone to the real stuff… Those crafty Canadians. Check out their website .
Drink vodka drinks! It doesn’t even taste like vodka! When you can handle these, you can moooove to the real stuff…
July 9, 2001
Not much happened today. United Insurance and Realty of Glasgow has updated their real estate website. They have added some nice looking places! It’s pretty crazy to think that in about three weeks, I’ll be going on a road trip to Montana. Changjae is definately going, I’m still trying to convince Woojae to go to.
There is an effort underway to expand Hwy 2 in Montana from two to four lanes. The argument behind this is the economic survival of the communities that it passes through, which includes Glasgow. To find out how YOU can add YOUR support for this effort, click here !
Join us in our SUPPORT, 4 for !
July 12, 2001
Not much happened here today. Currently, the folks in Nemont (that’s short for North East Montana) are having some severe (aka my kind of) weather. Here’s an excerpt of the AFD (Area Forecast Discussion) for the GGW (Glasgow) NWS (National Weather Service) office.
AFDGGW NORTHEAST MONTANA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GLASGOW MT 845 PM MDT THU JUL 12 2001
…SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ALL CWA EXCEPT EXTREME NORTHEASTERN COUNTIES… …UPDATED TO BETTER DEFINE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT… SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FORMING MAINLY ALONG A MOIST AXIS STRETCHING N-S THROUGH OUR WRN COUNTIES THEN EAST ACROSS CENTRAL MT. HAVE HAD NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HAIL UP TO GOLFBALL SIZE…FLASH FLOODING…HAIL PILING UP TO DEPTHS OF 4 FEET…FUNNEL CLOUDS…THE WORKS. WORST SEEMS TO BE YET TO COME. SQUALL LINE(S) NOW APPROACHING WRN ZONES AS UPR DYNAMICS MOVE INTO CWA. THE FAR NERN ZONES WILL PROBABLY BE SPARED FROM THE SEVERE WX AS THERE IS COOLER AIR IN PLACE THERE AND MAIN DYNAMICS WILL WEAKEN AND DIVE SE AS IT MOVES THROUGH ERN MONTANA. ZONES BROAD-BRUSHED AND HAVE SITUATION COVERED. WILL BE UPDATING ZONES WHEN THERE IS ANY CHANGE IN WATCH STATUS. WRIGHT
July 14, 2001
Another Saturday pretty much wasted. I went to Taco Bell, then grocery shopping at Albertsons. I found a storm damage report from the series of storms that moved through Nemont on the 12th. If you didn’t see the radar from that time, you can check it out in the archive below. Anybody know where Bjorborg/Bjorberg/Bjornborg is? Notice they spelled it differently each time below. It looks like they got hit pretty hard. The 1.75 inch hail is actually larger in diameter than a golf ball, which is only 1.6875 inches in diameter. Imagine golf balls falling from the sky… Ouch! The local Glasgow reporter captured this tragic photo of a victim of the storm: a cuddly teddy bear out for a stroll at the time of the storm. How disturbing!
Poor teddy!
Local Storm Report
07/12/01 0905 pm
Bjorborg Bridge, Valley county
1.75 inch hail. Crops completely hailed out
07/12/01 0908 pm
Bjorberg, Valley County
1.50 inch hail. Crops damaged.
07/12/01 0806 pm
2 miles N of bjornborg, Valley County
1.50 inch hail.
July 16, 2001
As a service to those visiting Glasgow, MT, I’ve compiled a list of well known fast food joints, and their closest locations to Glasgow. If they don’t exist in MT, I don’t list em!
505 FIRST AVENUE NORTH GLASGOW, MT 59230 Map It!
No Carl’s Jr. in MT, but they do have Hardee’s, which is now owned by Carl’s Jr.
1220 N MERRILL GLENDIVE , MT 59330 (116 miles from Glasgow)
619 1ST AVE N GLASGOW MT Map It!
1507 Main St Billings, MT 59105 (186 miles from Glasgow)
HWY 2 WEST & 6TH AV WOLF POINT MT, 59201 (46 miles from Glasgow)
541 1st Ave N Glasgow, MT
919 Main St, Roundup, MT 59072 (226 miles from Glasgow)
2813 Old Hardin Road Billings, MT 59101 (192 miles from Glasgow)
July 19, 2001
Wow, I don’t have much to talk about. I bought a hot chocolate mix at the Albertson’s this past weekend. It is made in Utah. I think a Mormon guy runs the company. It’s pretty good hot chocolate. I think the Mormons have good experience making wholesome caffeine free drinks. You probably heard that Alberston’s is going to close several of their stores. I wonder if they’ll close the one in Glasgow? I think they will probably close the Albertson’s I go to. That place is never crowded.
Mmmm…. Have a hot steaming cup of good old Mormon wholesomeness.
July 20, 2001
Tornados in Valley county today! I wonder what we’ll do if there is a tornado when we’re camping at Fort Peck. I guess we could jump in the lake… They’ve had some pretty heavy weather recently. Check out KLTZ’s weather wrapup . It doesn’t include today’s events. We had our annual company picnic today. It was pretty depressing, considering that we had a layoff of 10 yesterday. Things are not looking up…
Storm reports for today’s storms…
At 500 pm MDT…a trained weather spotter reported golf Ball size hail that lasted for 20 minutes at The Pines.
0515 pm, Opheim, Valley County: Tornado . Funnel clouds spotted by public
0400 pm, 20 miles S of Glasgow, Valley County: Tornado . Heading toward Fort Peck
0340 pm, 35 miles SW of Hinsdale, Valley County: Tornado . Spotted by NWS personnel in Glasgow
07/20/01 0430 pm 10 miles S of Hinsdale, Valley County: Tornado . Crossed county line
07/20/01 0555 pm 12 miles SE of Fort Peck, Valley County: 4.50 inch hail (OUCH!!!) .
07/20/01 0500 pm 24 miles S of Glasgow, Valley County: 1.75 inch hail.
You can just make out the classic “hook echo” on the first few frames of the above radar loop as the possible tornado moves into southwestern Valley county.
Here, you can see that the computer has identified the possible tornado on this radar (as indicated by the MESO, or mesocyclone designation). You can also see where the computer thinks that hail producing thunderstorms are occurring, as well as their direction and speed. The numbers in 100’s are the cloud heights of the storms in hundreds of feet. Higher cloud tops usually indicate a more intense thunderstorm. The Red boxes indicate where a tornado watch was currently in effect. (Image copyright WSI Corporation)
July 25, 2001
What the heck is Fry Sauce? According to an article I found somewhere online. It originated in Utah of all places. Here’s the article. Incidentally, there is another storm report from Nemont . There’s some pics of a funnel cloud there. They had 112mph winds at the Circle airport!
What the Heck is Fry Sauce?!?!
Being from Utah, I have grown up with fry sauce as a regular part of my life. However, since moving to Michigan, I have been ridiculed for asking for it at restaurants. Apparently, no one outside of Utah has heard of it. So for those of you that don’t have a clue, I have prepared this article to help explain the magical wonder that is fry sauce. It is an article from the Ogden Standard Examiner (a Utah newspaper.)–The statements in parenthesis are my personal additions.
Utah’s Fry Sauce Phenomenon
By Michael Burkett
September 17, 1996
It is Utah’s tastiest institution. It’s as beloved to this state’s natives as lobster is to Mainers, as Cajun spices are to Naw’leaners, as Mickey Mouse-shaped flapjacks are to Disney Worldians. But it is so unique to this area and it’s people that virtually all visiting outsiders can be counted upon to utter the old, familiar tourist-diner’s battle cry: “Fry sauce? What the heck is fry sauce?!?!” …At which point the locally-born-and-bred food server will eye her customer with an expression that seems to say, “Ha ha ha ha ha. You dolt. What corner of Outer Slobovia are you from, anyway?” That’s how deeply fry sauce has seeped into the collective Utah consiousness. All over North America, of course, you can slather your french fries with ketchup. In various regions, you can drown them in gravy, melted processed cheese or vinegar. But “fry sauce?” What’s going on here? How did a mere condiment, of all foodstuff’s, manage to insinuate itself into the very lifestyle of one entire United State while remaining completely unknown to the rest or the world? And what in blazes is “fry sauce,” anyway? It’s just Thousand Island salad dressing, right? (NOT!)
The Fry Sauce Champion
When you have hardball questions like these, there’s only onnly one place to go: the very top of the food chain. Or, more specifically, to the very top of the Arctic Circle fast-food chain–where fry sauce was invented over 45 years ago, and where you can actually hear Gary J. Roberts, the corperation’s affable president and CEO, actually exclaim, “I’ve got fry sauce in my veins!” He laughs when he says it. But it would not be at all surprising to find out that it’s true. Like the condiment that has brought both of them glory, Arctic Circle and Gary Roberts are products of Utah. The 44-year-old Roberts was born upstate in the farming community of Tremonton (Near my hometown of Brigham!!!), where his favorite childhood restaurant was the local Arctic Circle. He went to college in Logan, where his favorite restaurant was the local Arctic Circle. And as soon as he graduated, he went to work for…awww, you’re way ahead of Roberts’ classic burger-flipping-to-success story. Now, almost 20 years later, Roberts is Utah’s very own burger king. there are 97 Arctic Circle franchises in operation across the country, and 45 of them - two more than McDonald’s, by Roberts’ last count - are right here in the beehive state. The company’s corperate office building is just south of Salt Lake City, in Midvale, and the first thing passersby notice is that (gasp!) it stands directly between a McDonald’s and a Denny’s. “This way we can keep an eye on the competition,” Roberts says, laughing.
A Condiment is Born
In the History of Arctic Circle According to Gary Roberts, the company’s founder was one Don Carlos Edwards, who developed the original, still-unchanged fry sauce recipe sometime between 1924 and 1950 for some carnival hamburger stands he operated. His first stand-alone restaurant, at 9th South and Main in Salt Lake, was first called Don Carlos’ Bar-Be-Q. In 1950, it became the world’s first Arctic Circle. “The way I understand it, Don Carlos wanted to be different,” says Roberts. “McDonald’s was starting out about the same time, plus there were a growing number of local independents. All of them were selling hamburgers, and he wanted something that would make his burgers unique. Back then, hamburgers came with pickles, ketchup, lettuce and onion and that was it. So he started experimenting. He decided to put ketchup and mayonnaise on it. He got the taste he was looking for, but he thought, ‘Gee, this is awful hard. You gotta put the ketchup on, then the mayonnaise. If we combined them, we could make one sauce out of it!’” What Don Carlos ended up with, says his professional heir, was a substance he called “pink sauce,” to which he added garlic and onion and mustard and “all kinds of spices.” But Utah’s fast-food history was not forever altered until - in one of those inexplicable, serendipitous happenstances that often papass for miracles - Don Carlos picked up a french fry and dipped it into the pink sauce! After taste-testing this never-before-tried combination, Don Carlos uttered five words that have yet to go down in history nex to “Eureka, I have found it!” “Watson, come here, I need you,” or “That’s one small step for man, one giant step for mankind.” According to Roberts, what Don Carlos said was, and we quote: “This is pretty good stuff!” That’s not to say Don Carlos would settle for “pretty good.” He though some folks might like a little more bite to their fry sauce, so he poured some pickle juice into a second batch to give it a “vinegary flavor.” He started mass-producing the stuff, bottling it by the gallon, selling it on the street and to al of his Arctic Circle franchises.
Imitation and Flattery
Flash forward to the present. Fry sauce is offered in nearly every eatery within Utah’s borders. McDonald’s and Burger King were incapable of ignoring the phenomenon; they now produce their own versions. You can even find various brand of bottled “fry sauce” on grocery store shelves. “But,” says Roberts with a grin, “it isn’t the same. Everyone is trying to duplicate our fry sauce, and they haven’t even come close. We haven’t changed our recipe for 45 years. Heck, we get letters from all over - Florida, New York, even Korea - - from former Utahn’s who want us to send them cases of our fry sauce. And we do!” One problem with his imitators’ fry sauce, he says, is that “their product has to sit there for three months, six months, who knows? They have to add so many preservatives that it really changes the color, the flavor and the texture. Ours has an expiration date of about three weeks. We use it up, and our local manufacturer makes more - fresh.”
Another Secret Sauce
Clearly, it is time to toss out one of those aforementioned hardball questions: What’s the big deal about fry sauce? Come on. Isn’t it just Thousand Island salad dressing served in a little cup? “No, it is not,” laughs Roberts, who has been asked this question before. “It’s got secret ingredients. And I’m not gonna tell you what they are.” O.K. then. on a scale of 1 to 10, with Thousand Island being a 10, how close is fry sauce? “It’s a 1. There’s a real big difference. They both have the ketchup-mayonnaise base, but Thousand Island has pickles and relish and a lot of spices that aren’t in our fry sauce. We don’t have any relish, so it’s just smooth and creamy.” (Things that make you go) Hmmm. Food scientists around the globe might like to debate that “real big difference.”
Fans of the Stuff
But one fact that can not be dismi dismissed is that, whatever the difference may or may not be, Utahns are nuts about fry sauce. Just get a load of these endorsements from randomly queried costumers at an Ogden Arctic Circle:
“I love fry sauce,” gushed Mary Welling of Ogden. “I’ve tried others, but they’re usually real light in color, and they don’t taste as good.”
“I’ll take fry sauce over ketchup any day,” chimed her husband, Lavere.
“Ewwwwww, Ketchup?!” opined 7-year-old Amanda Bierce of North Ogden. “Blecch!”
“Fry sauce? What’s that?” asked Martin Wyman, who turned out to be visiting from Ohio.
And finally, this unsolicited observation from an esteemed collegue, who recently moved here from Florida:
“I can’t eat anything that looks like it came out of a wound.”
However unattractively the point is made, you couldn’t separate Utahns from their fry sauce with a crow bar. But…why?
Now, the World!
Now that it has conquered Utah, Roberts doesn’t have any trouble at all imagining fry sauce becoming nationally beloved. “It’s already starting to catch on at our franchised in Oregon.” McDonald’s is now offering fry sauce there, too, so other companies may look at it as a catch for them in New York of Florida or wherever. Chili’s restaurants, a national chain, offers a spicy fry sauce with their onion rings. “So it’s defo it’s definately catching on - which isn’t something I really like to see, because now everbody’s got something similar to what made us unique. But at least we started it, we know it’s the original, they know it’s the original. And, ours is still the best. See? I told you. I’ve got fry sauce in my veins!”
For Those Who Want (or Need) Fry Sauce
If you are a transplanted Utahn going through fry sauce withdrawal (or a curious outsider), the real and original McCoy can be obtained by writing to:
Arctic Circle
411 West 7200 South, Suite 200
Midvale, Utah 84047
August 5, 2001
I completed the journey from Sunnyvale to Glasgow and back. It took approximately 3700 miles to complete. Scroll down to see all the pics. It’ll take awhile for them all to load.
Me in front of the capitol building in Helena.
A stop in Great Falls for gas before the trek to Glasgow.
In Great Falls, looking at the road to Havre, and eventually Glasgow.
In Glasgow, here’s the world-famous Clansman Casino and Restaurant.
Here’s a pic of the house where my Mom grew up in Glasgow.
Here’s another pic of the same house, with someone in the shot…
Here I am at the Fort Peck Lake.
Here I am on the Salt Flats just off of I-80 West of Salt Lake City.
Here’s that other dude again.
August 16, 2001
Man, I’ve been lazy. I haven’t done anything with my webpage for a couple of weeks. Even though I said I wouldn’t do it, today I applied for a job with the National Weather Service in Glasgow, MT. It is for a position called “Computer Specialist.” It doesn’t sound too hard, but the pay grade indicates that I need to have more experience before I could apply for it. I applied for it anyway, just for the hell of it. It pays in the upper $50’s per year, which would make me a very wealthy person in Glasgow, where homes can be found in the $30’s to low $100’s.
I tried the Carl’s Jr. “Six Dollar Burger” today. It was introduced in Southern California about a month ago and has spread to Northern California as of this week. It wasn’t that great. The “Six Dollar Burger” actually sells for about $3.95. It is supposed to be like a burger you’d get at Chili’s, or TGI Friday’s.
In my desperation at quick and easy money, I’ve started buying Lottery Tickets on-and-off lately. If I win the lottery, I’llottery, I’ll move to a cabin at “The Pine’s” on Fort Peck and fish for a living.
The Six Dollar Burger.
My latest attempt at an early retirement. The biggest “jackpot” I’ve won so far is $2, which isn’t enough for a Six Dollar Burger.
September 9, 2001
I haven’t been doing much lately, so I thought I’d update my “What’s new” page. I was thinking about a way to go to Glasgow, other than flying there, which is quite expensive. I realized that Amtrak goes right through Glasgow, so I thought I’d see what a trip from San Jose to Glasgow would look like and more importantly, cost.
The trip from San Jose to Glasgow costs about $1000 for three adults (that’s just one way). It goes from San Jose to Portland, then from Portland to Glasgow. The trip takes three days, two nights. For the leg from San Jose to Portland, I figured a standard coach reservation would be sufficient, since it is a shorter leg. For the leg from Portland to Glasgow, I put on the “reservation” two Superliner Standard Bedrooms.
Superliner Standard Bedroom
A great travel value that lets you arrive refreshed and relaxed. Our Superliner Standard Bedroom is ideal for one or two passengers, with two comfortable reclining seats on either side of a big picture window. At night, the seats convert to a very comfortable bed, and an upper berth folds out from high on the wall.
Standard Bedrooms are located on both upper and lower levels; restrooms are nearby.
Complimentary Meals are included.
The first leg, from San Jose to Portland: The second leg, from Portland to Glasgow:
Leg 1: 19 hrs. Leg 2: about 24 hrs.
(Click the above maps to see them enlarged)
September 10, 2001
Another Monday. I received something interesting in the mail today… My very own copy of the latest “Country Connection”! It a Real Estate Guide for several states in the northwest and central plains, including Montana.
October 7, 2001
It’s been awhile since I’ve updated the “what’s new” section. That’s because there really hasn’t been too much new for me to talk about. Today, I bought a fire safe, because the one that I had was too small for the wealth of important documents I’ve collected recently. I bought a rather large one on sale at home depot. Let me tell you, these things are heavy! It weighs about 175 pounds! It barely fit in my trunk. Then I realized that I’d have a hard time getting it up the few stairs to my apartment, so I decided to buy a hand truck to help me get it into the apartment. I bought the hand truck at Orchard Supply Hardware, a chain owned by Sears.
The Sentry S5310 has an electronic lock.
October 9, 2001
Today I got the US Mint 2001 Proof set, which includes this year’s state quarters. New York (1788), North Carolina (1789), Rhode Island (1790), Vermont (1791), and Kentucky (1792). The set also include the “Golden Dollar”, which I still can’t find in general circulation, unless I specifically ask for it.
October 27, 2001
I updated the plot of temperatures observed from the patio in my apartment today. Yesterday, I was looking at the housing available in Montana (Billings, the largest city in Montana) and the housing available in Sunnyvale, CA, where I currently live. You would think that with the current economic situation, housing prices would be going down in Sunnyvale. Well, actually they have gone down. A house that cost $600,000 a year ago now will go for about $565,000 or so. Here’s an example of how much house you can get in Sunnyvale, compared to Billings, if you had half a million to spend, which I currently do not have.
Sunnyvale, CA, 94087 (not too far from where I live)
Price: $560,000
3 Beds, 2 Baths, 1240 Square Feet. I’m not making this up, check out the listing for yourself !
Additional amenities:
Rooms include a living/dining room combination, foyer. Other features include fireplace(s), pantry. This home has a 2 car garage, patio. The lot is fenced.
Impressed? Scroll down to see what you can get in Billings for 5k more…
Billings, MT, 59102
Price: $565,000
5 Beds, 5.5 Baths, 8496 Square Feet. Check out the listing for yourself …
Additional amenities:
Rooms include a formal living room, master bathroom, game room. Other features include 3 fireplace(s), eating area, pantry, entertainment center, window treatments. This home has a 2 car garage. Recreation amenities include swimming pool, community swimming pool(s). The lot is fenced. The property is located on 0.88 acre(s).
January 3, 2002
Happy New Year! With a New Year upon us, I’ve decided to show some “new” ideas I plan on doing when I get a new house, if I don’t get laid off. We’ll start in the most important room of the house, the bathroom.
Bathroom mirrors are great, but don’t you hate how they always steam up after you take a shower? Well, a company in Seattle, WA called Electric Mirror has solved this problem, with a product that attaches to the rear of the mirror and heats the mirror, preventing the cursed fogging that always occurs in the colder months.
You’ll need to connect the defogger to the light circuit…
The toilet. Every (well, most) house has at least one. How many times have you dreaded that morning “ritual” because you knew the toilet seat would be cold? Have you ever been busy “on the throne” only to realize you’re out of TP? Apparently, the Japanese have been in these situations a lot, because Panasonic has a toilet seat that is heated, and a no TP required bidet style cleaner, complete with a dryer! Apparently, over 70% of the homes in Tokyo have this.
The IntiMist (that’s pronounced Inti-mist, not to be confused with intimidator)
The dryer…
The heated seat (hopefully it doesn’t actually GLOW RED!)