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HOW TO BUSY SATURDAY AUGUST 8, 2026

Focus on a busy Saturday starts Friday night. I’m looking at you, baby boomer: Go to bed early Friday night and get up refreshed and enthusiastic, instead of hungover and droopy. No one needs to see that beyond the mirror, and your spouse. Get up early, hustle through the routine, and get out the door. […]

FROM CENTRAL OREGON SMOKE TO PORTLAND AIR

To anyone who has gone over the mountain from the valley to Central Oregon, this is the last thing you ever want to see. It’s forest fire smoke, brush fire smoke, doing its scorched earth best to show the power of fire. Not fire-power, the sort of thing you can start and end, but Mother […]

WHEN YOU NEED A FATHER FIGURE

This is my latest new mug, the Father Figure, and it’s my favorite of all time. The handle is right. The size is right. It holds so much ice water I don’t need to refill it during my workout routine and lose focus. But there’s so much more.

MUSEUM COLLECTIONS: WE’LL TAKE IT ALL?

What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words ‘museum collections?’ Priceless artifacts? You wouldn’t ‘t be wrong. Unique objects? Right on track. But all the other stuff is confusing. Is it all special? Noooo. But . . .

YAMHILL COUNTY FAIR 2026, THE OLDEST COUNTY FAIR IN OREGON

I went to the Yamhill County Fair for the rides? Noooo. Luckily I went with my wife and our friend (hey Josette) and they weren’t jumping in line. Neither was anyone else since we were there early. It opens at 10. So why drive out into the farmland past towns and graveyards full of pioneers? […]

JAKE’S WALL OF FAME FOR NOTABLE OREGONIANS

If you’re a notable Oregonian your picture is in Jake’s Famous Crawfish. They they are, senators, governors, a president. Who’s missing? Mayors, councilmen and women, maybe a famous chef or two. If you’re going to have a can kicking Hemingway on board, why not reach out for others?

EXPERT OPINIONS? CHECK REFERENCES

Before you act on expert opinions, do one thing first. Check references? Nooo, not yet. First, ask why you need to trust someone when they ask. After you’ve got trust locked in, be a good listener. Believe them when they tell you who they are, after checking references.

THE BIGGER WORLD AT YOUR DOORSTEP

With the question in my last post answered so soundly, I think I’m on a roll to solve problems, shed light in the darkness, and make the world a better place for others to roam freely. Just between us, how does this work? My wife. Marry the right woman and the clouds part, the sun shines, […]

OLD PORTLAND, NEW PORTLAND, TODAY PORTLAND WITH MARK ROTHKO

This is a scene of old Portland, a painting by Mark Rothko, hanging in new Portland. A single bridge, a barren Eastside, a cloudy sky. Yep, looks like Portland. Here’s how I know:

ADULTISM: JUST DO IT?

Adultism: making mistakes and passing the knowledge on without admitting how you learned it. “Mistakes? Not me. I just know things because I’m smarter than you.” If you haven’t said those words, you’ve heard them and thought, ‘this is what smart people say?’ And we wonder why young people don’t respect their elders any more […]