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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Census 2010

1 comments Posted by Jonathan at 12:33 PM


I started my new job with the Census Bureau yesterday. I've worked for the government before, but they are quite serious. I'm looking forward to a few months of trailblazing. We will be the first people to ever use handheld GPS computers in the Census.

I'll be address canvasing, the most important part of the Census. The rest of the phases are predicated on us getting accurate data. Everyone that works on this after us will be using our data. Its cool to be doing something important. The Census data is used not only for history and statistics, but for assigning congressional districts, electoral votes and appropriation money.

Yesterday I spent the day taking the oath of office, (Yep, I have to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic, too.) getting fingerprinted, and learning the basics of preserving confidential information. Its a big deal there, since the Census is so important and needs the trust of the American People to succeed.

PS. That pic is my new official Census 2010 messenger bag. Its VERY heavy. I should be getting back into better shape lugging that around the neighborhoods.

Next week, training...

 

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Wednesday, March 18, 2009

St. Patrick's Day Recap

1 comments Posted by Jonathan at 10:53 PM


Took a good couple hours (and several Guinnesses) to make the Corned Beef and Cabbage. It looked great, smelled good, was a beautiful piece of meat. Unfortunately, the butcher did not cure the brisket long enough. In the center, you could see a strip where the cure didn't even make it and it looked more like a regular brisket. REALLY disappointing. It was like eating a roast more than the traditional favorite. I was/am quite upset about it. I look forward to this meal every year. Thats what I get for trying to go natural. Next year, we either are back to a conventional brisket or we cure it ourselves at home.


 

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

St. Patrick's Day Prelude

0 comments Posted by Jonathan at 11:41 AM


Just back from Ireland in time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Every year, I make Corned Beef and Cabbage. Olivia is excited because its one of the few meals that I can cook and she still be able to smile while eating.

This year, I wanted to extend my preference for humanely treated, grass fed beef to my Irish celebration. There is no way your typical Corned Beef at the store has been treated well for .39 a pound. Anyway, last week I called up our butcher and put in an order. He asked me if I wanted the whole brisket, I asked how big that was. He says "I don't know exactly but around 4 pounds or so." I reply, "So no bigger than 5 pounds?" He affirms and I make the order. Fast forward to last night. Olivia picks up the meat on the way home. She asks me how much I think its going to cost, I give a reasonable price based on 4-5 pounds. Nope, its higher, because its 8 pounds of corned beef. Ha. Thats not what I was expecting. That might actually last a day or two, even with my ravenous appetite.

I included a picture of it pre-preparation. The Guinness is there for scale, and not because I've already started drinking today.

 

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Saturday, March 14, 2009

We're Married

0 comments Posted by Jonathan at 8:59 AM


It finally happened. Olivia and I got married in Clifden, Ireland on February 28. It truly was a wonderful day and everything that people say/write/make movies about came true. We had a great time with our family and friends that made the long trip. I'm happy to report that quite a few of those people have told us how much fun the wedding/trip was and some even said it was the best wedding EVER! =)

We don't have any official photographs yet, but that's the Church we got married in. It would be too much to write of every cool/funny thing that happened in our 2 weeks in Ireland, but I think I'll try to shoot for 4 anecdotes a week for a while. There's a lot to be shared.

I feel very lucky and Olivia is excited because we might end up in an Irish Wedding Magazine.

On a Portland front, I've accepted a temporary position with the Census 2010. I start in a few weeks, so thats something.

 

Sunday, February 15, 2009

Standing up for yourself

0 comments Posted by Jonathan at 10:08 AM


Last Tuesday, Olivia and I flew back down to Los Angeles for a small claims court date. It was our second trip, the first one in December was pretty much a waste of time. Olivia doesn't have much vacation time with our Irish Wedding coming up, so we have to fly down just for the day. The short long story of it goes like this. We left the place in immaculate condition, bending over backwards for every crazy request by our living in London slumlord, and she still didn't give us our rather large security deposit back. She acts like she doesn't have to follow California Law or Human codes of moral behavior.

Result? She didn't show up, AGAIN. This time the judge gave us the maximum amount for small claims court and advised us that she'll probably appeal. Thats fine. She'll have to show up or hire someone to show up. Then it will be over.

It sucks, its time consuming, but you have to stand up for yourself.

 

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Friday, January 16, 2009

Holidays in Portland

0 comments Posted by Jonathan at 4:04 PM

Here are some pictures from the Holidays/Snow Storm!
Enjoy!















 

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Happy 2009!

2 comments Posted by Jonathan at 8:42 PM


So its been a long time since I updated. One of my NY resolutions was to get back on the ball with this.

All started getting behind because of my Awesome Bachelor Party that was thrown by Best Man Weston and Groomsman Mike D. It stalled because its pretty hard to write an interesting a fun tale without including the details that each of us will swear never happened. However, the biggest amount of time was spent trying to come up with words that would accurately describe some of the smells that none of us (including one unfortunate cab driver) will ever forget from that weekend.

The next weekend, Cousin Erica and J came out to celebrate Thanksgiving and my 30th Birthday weekend. That was a great surprise and it was great having them out here for the weekend. I wish they had stayed longer/forever.

Following that was the great Portland Snow Storm of '08. Worst snow in 40 years. I took some pictures and I'll post a seperate "remembering the snow storm" entry in a bit.

Well, that gets it started again.

 

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