September 2024 Check-In's

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Shelli's Birthday Celebration At
Margarita Factory, Vancouver, Washington
Sunday, September 1, 2024

Jam Night Sundays 8-11 PM At
M&M Restaurant & Lounge, Gresham, Oregon
Sunday, September 1, 2024

Our Free Wine Flights & Club Pickup With Live Music At
Maryhill Winery Tasting Room & Bistro, Vancouver Waterfront, Washington
Monday, September 2, 2024

Ben Rice & The Hustle At
Billy Blues Bar & Grill, Vancouver, Washington
Tuesday, September 3, 2024

The Fabulous Bad Cats Music Jam
Every Wednesday 7-11 PM At
The Dublin Pub, Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, September 4, 2024

Weather Forcast For Vancouver, Washington
If I Liked It Hot
I Could Have Stayed In Southern California
Thursday, September 5, 2024

NW Legacy Law
Hosts 10th Anniversy Celebration At
Willful Wine at The Grant House
Vancouver, Washington
Thursday, September 5, 2024

Latin Jazz At
The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Friday, September 6, 2024

I really wanted to see this performance as it featured a saxophone and a trumpet, but the two performances were totally sold out by the time I found out about it. But at the last moment they added a late 9:45 PM performance and I was able to book our favorite table #12.

The Backyard At Our Home
Vancouver, Washington
Saturday, September 7, 2024

In the above left photo you can see the trees that we planted about 2 years ago except for the really tall two on the far left that were already in our yard when we moved in 4 years ago. We expect all of these trees to grow tall and fill out to become similar in size to the tall trees. Our backyard is very private with no neighbors having a view into it except one house that can see into our backyard just during the winter when seasonal trees lose their leaves. Once the trees we planted grow taller and fill in, they should completely block any view of our backyard year-round. In the above right photo is the house across the street from us that recently planted the same trees. Eventually these trees will give their front yard a lot of privacy. When we planted our trees about 2 years ago, they were as small as the trees at this house across the street.

The "Great Room" In Our Home
Vancouver, Washington
Saturday, September 7, 2024

Like many homes today, we have a "great room" that combiines the Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen including the table area, and the Front Hall into one connected great open space.

Matt Sazima Band At
The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Saturday, September 7, 2024

Join Matt Sazima's all-star cast for an unforgettable night of unique and expressive original music. Each member, a heavyweight of the PDX jazz scene and leaders in their own right. Come sit, listen, and catch the good vibes! Matt Sazima: Vibraphone Noah Simpson: Trumpet Charlie Brown III: Piano Garrett Baxter: Bass Dae Bryant: Drums

Our Free Wine Flights and Dinner At
Maryhill Winery Tasting Room & Bistro,
With Live Music
Vancouver Waterfront, Washington
Monday, September 9, 2024

SpaceX Polaris Dawn Launch
Tuesday, September 10, 2024

The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, September 11, 2024

Fenix Rising Blues Band At
Blue Diamond, Portland, Oregon
Shelli, Barbara & Me
Thursday, September 12, 2024

Chuck Israels Sextet at
Jack London Revue, Portland, Oregon
Shelli, Barbara & Me
Friday, September 13, 2024

The Bloody Mary Festival
Benefiting St. Johns Food Share At
The Redd on Salmon Street
Portland, Oregon
Saturday, September 14, 2024

Am I Racist? Movie By Matt Walsh At
Cinemark Clackamus Town Center, Oregon
Saturday, September 14, 2024

Opening Weekend (Sep 12-14): $4,750,000 Theater Counts: 1,517

"Daily Wire's 'Am I Racist?' opens as third-highest grossing film in country.
The Matt Walsh comedy is the top 2024 documentary debut." - JustTheNews.com

"Matt Walsh goes deep undercover in the world of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Prepare to be shocked by how far race hustlers will go and how much further Matt Walsh will go to expose the grift, uncovering absurdities that will leave you laughing." - MovieFone.com

Our Free Wine Flights and Dinner At
Maryhill Winery Tasting Room & Bistro,
With Live Music
Vancouver Waterfront, Washington
Monday, September 16, 2024

Legacy Devers Eye Institue
Glaucoma Associates & Consultation LLC
Vancouver, Washington
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

Olivia Fields on Saxophone at
The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

First Time At McDonald's
In Maybe 30 Years
Vancouver, Washington
Wednesday, September 18, 2024

I generally avoid both red meat and fast food but could not resist $8 worth of Double Cheeseburgers for $1 on National Cheeseburger Day.

This is our Tesla Cybertruck Order.
Tesla is ready to deliver it to us but
we are going to wait on this.
Friday, September 20, 2024

Whiskey & Meat Pairing Class
Westward Whiskey, Portland, Oregon
Friday, September 20, 2024

A few months ago we cancelled our membership in the Westward Whiskey Club because we have a huge backlog of bottles of whiskey that we have as yet to open, including 7 bottles from Westward Whiskey. On a cruise around the British Isles in September of 2017, Barbara and I visited the Scotch Whisky Experience (Click here to see photos from that visit) in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the end of a tour of how scotch is made, we were given a tasting flight of Scotch from different regions of Scotland. Barbara and I both agreed that our favorite was the Scotch from Islay. It was very smokey and peaty. Before this tasting, neither Barbara nor I were very fond of any kind of spirits. Both of us were, and still are, more wine drinkers than spirit drinkers. But 2 years later, for my birthday present, I asked Barbara that we go on an Islay Scotch tasting tour. So in August of 2019, we went on the "4 Day Islay Whisky Tour" by Scottish Routes. This including tours and tastings from 7 different distilleries. We loved the Scotch from pretty much all of them. Over the next 4 years I started buying just about every new Scotch release from Islay. So now I have about 30 bottles of Islay Scotch.

I had also joined The Scotch Malt Whisky Society (SMWS) which offers a few different bottles, not just of Scotch, but some other whiskeys. Every bottle I got was absolutely excellent. But the problem with SMWS is that everything they sell is custom bottled for them in limited amounts and they never tell you what distillery it came from. I had also subscribed to the Flaviar Spirits Tasting Boxes that sends out 3 shot tastings along with a full bottle of spirits a few times each year. So maybe we have a backlog of more than 50 bottles of spirits.

After it seemed like we might have enough bottles of spirits to last the rest of our lives, I quit all of the above spirits clubs, including Westward Whiskey. However, Westward Whiskey is planning on a smokey whiskey in 2025 and we are both curious. We also like the various whiskey educational classes and tasting experiences that they offer periodically. They told us if we rejoin the club, we can just decline any upcomming release and still retain all the discounts and benefits of club membership. So we did rejoin, but with plans to decline all future releases except those we are really interested in.

BrandonLee Cierley At
The 1905, Portland, Oregon
Saturday, September 21, 2024

The Newly Remodeled Portland Airport Lobby
Monday, September 23, 2024

The main concourse of the airport if beautiful and very spacious. However, I think the passenger experience is much worse. Since portions of the airport are still under construction, I just have to assume it will be better after all of the construction is completed.

Your ride used to drop you off at a door closest to your airline's ticket counters. You would just walk in the door, walk up to your airline's ticket counter or kiosks and then check in your bags. Now, instead of the ticket counters being spread out all along the drop off area, they are all concentrated in one small area together. We got dropped off at the curb in front of the door marked "Southwest" but then had to find and walk a long way to the Southwest ticket counters. All the ticket counters of all the airlines were located in one small central area. The area allocated for ticketing, bag drop, etc., is much smaller than what it used to be. I am thinking that maybe the current location of all the ticket counters are just temporary until construction is completed and then they will be relocated back to their original roomy locations spread out all along the passenger drop off area.

There are still portions of the airport under construction, especially around Terminals D and E. They have blocked off a large section of the airport that now requires us to take a very long walk to where we usually board our Southwest Airline flights at Terminal E. I'm assuming that once all construction has been finished that the short walk from the ticketing area to Terminals D and E will be restored.

Other than the open spaces and beauty of the new Portland Airport, I'm not sure they have enhanced the passenger experience, even if they resolve the problem of the long walk to Terminals D and E. There are just a handful of shops and one restaurant before security. My own opinion is that most people when they get to the airport just want to check their bags and get through security. You never know how long it might take to get through security, so most people want to get that over with as soon as they get to the airport. Besides, there are plenty of restaurants and shops on the other side of security. While we were there we saw a few people at the restaurant and a few milling about the shops and open area, but not that many. We had to intentionally arrive an hour before our usual early airport arrival to ensure we had time to explore the new grand concourse and had time to eat at the restaurant prior to security. Most likely in the future we will ignore these pre-security venues and head straight to security after checking our bags.

It isn't like the old days where friends and family would accompany you to the boarding gate and hang around with you until they boarded the plane. Today, friends and family usually just drop you off at the curb and take off. What about arriving passengers? If they have checked baggage, they want to immediately head to baggage claim. Once they have their bags, they are right by transportation and nowhere near the shops and restaurant. Even passengers without checked baggage generally just want to head out of the airport and not hang around. So, I really don't know who this grand concourse is supposed to serve.

Trailer Park Flamingos Country Rock Band At
The Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Tuesday, September 24, 2024

Weekly Wine Flights At
The Twisted Vine, Fullerton, California
Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Stan O'Kane Classic Rock Cover Singer & Player At
The Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Portugal Wine Tasting At
OC Wine Mart, Orange, California
Thursday, September 26, 2024

Sonoramics Classic Rock & Blues Cover Band at
The Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Thursday, September 26, 2024

UCLA Stein Eye Institute, Los Angeles, California
Friday, September 27, 2024

We went to the UCLA Stein Eye Institute to get a second opinion regarding glaucoma in my right eye. They did extensive tests on both my eyes and found that I had lost 70% of my vision in my right eye. Fortunately, I have not lost vision of the focal point of my right eye and should be able to preserve that vision by stopping the spread of glaucoma. They also discovered that I had a small retina tare in my right eye and performed a laser procedure on it right there and then to anchor it and prevent it from causing future problems. The glaucoma doctor at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute agreed with my Vancouver glaucoma doctor about the procedure we have scheduled for November 4, 2024 with him in Vancouver. Actually, my Vancouver glaucoma doctor is well known and respected by the glaucoma doctors at the UCLA Stein Eye Institute.

Scott Kessler Playing Base Guitar For
Cooter Brown Band At
Garden Amphitheatre, Garden Grove, California
Saturday, September 28, 2024

Going Out For Pizza After The Garden Amp Concert At
Carolina's Italian Restaurant, Garden Grove, California
Saturday, September 28, 2024

Citizen O'Kane Classic Rock Cover Band At
The Fling Cocktail Lounge, Santa Ana, California
Saturday, September 28, 2024

Wine Club Pick-Up Party - Levendi Wines At
OC Wine Mart, Yorba Linda, California
Sunday, September 29, 2024