Oregon City Day 3

I had so much to say about Day 2, I forgot to point out that these factories is where the Leverage episode The Last Dam Job was filmed. And hey all of OG Leverage is on youtube now so I can link it. Some of it is filmed inside the factories, but starting at about 34:25, it's all a different view of the same places I am shooting. A really good view, damn I wish I could get access. But, the hydro plant there is actually still running. It's one of the oldest still working power plants in the world.

Old metal coal company sign embedded in a tree:


There are a lot of small hikes I wanted to do in the area, but I kinda wanted to get back to Portland and my indoor shower. Also, I had to check out of the room and didn't want to hike with my computer on my back. So, I went for a short ramble. I kinda wanted to check out the Amtrak station for the area, just a silly little thing to go see. Oregon City's station is a whistlestop, the trains only stop if there is a ticked passenger for that station. But, it's got an actual station building because this was supposed to be the big city for the entire region. So I go and see that the station building is now a brewpub. And I didn't know? I seriously considered staying until they opened, but I'd had a beer the previous day so I just kept wandering. But, next time station-turned-brewpub, next time.

I then saw shapes that looked like the frames of covered wagons. I went over to see the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. So, I kind of hate covered wagon imagery because most colonists came by settler train and we just pretend it was pioneers who can't go back, are now trapped and must go on once they've started blah blah blah. So I went in very leery. Turns out the center nearly closed during covid, but they got some major grants and are in the middle of a project to redo the center showing the actual history, bring in indigenous and other voices, update the language and more. It's on a good piece of land and they grow crops using heirloom seeds. The current center does address the impact of Black exclusion laws, but the lady told me they are going to do a much better job of it in the remodel.

Also, the center has a pet chicken:


I don't know when/if the Willamette Falls redo project is going to pick up steam, but the area has two major projects that are expected to bring in tourists and address the colonization aspect of the area. Could be really interesting. But, uh, they really, really need to do something about how people drive through there. Even the most car-loving tourist expects to walk around the downtown with it's historic buildings, tons of cafes, bars serving solid menus of bar food and surprising amount of tattoo parlors for such a small area.

And cute thrift stores:


I mentioned the problem in my 2018 post as well. I am not shy about asserting my pedestrian rights, but I am also not an idiot an just don't fuck with some of the intersections there.

(no subject)

The good news -

* While I don't want to go to Connecticut, and I'm not going to go, I am apparently very excited to be seeing NYC again. I keep singing the NYC song from the OST to Annie.

The bad news -

* The physical object I am the most emotionally attached to, my camera bag, got stuffed in a re-purposed Amazon box and mailed back to the company today. Hopefully, the new one will be here soon. My old bag will be refurbished and resold, and will become someone else's camera bag.

* I went to start cooking what I planned for my holiday week dinners and I thought the burning smell was some residue on the cooktop. Nope, it was the material on the outside of the pan burning and bubbling off. I don't think pans should do that. Also, one of the ingredients I bought turned out to be... let's go with 'off'. So, it's all the in the trash now and I need to clean pan goo off the stove.

The mixed -

* I am nowhere near where I want to be in terms of typing all these handwritten pages over, but I've got a lot done on this project. It's currently going well.

When my writing laptop died I started writing something new. When I realized I wasn't going to be able to get the data pulled before my Truckee trip, I just kept focusing on it. I've got a lot of projects I want to finish, but it's hard to focus because which do I really want to be my first big finished original fic project? My laptop dying sort of cleared the decks and I just started something new and have just keep focusing on that. I will get back to my other projects, but for now this is it, this is the project.

I still have a lot to do, though, and while I will not have a first draft done this year I hope to have a lot more words down.

Honey

There is a video about a day old with six million views already on Honey, the free browser extension that saves you money. The video is here and I highly recommend it. I clicking it knowing, of course, that Honey has to be a scam. I was prepared for the major revelation being stuff I'd assumed. I am smart and know things about scams and internet browsers! I was so wrong. It's so much more. I did not feel smart and validated by this, I felt the opposite because I'd have never have guessed.

Though, all that aside, how bad is basic internet literacy that people bought the idea that a free browser extension that has money for ads could be anything but a scam? They sponsored Mr Beast videos, not just with ad reads but full on skits and those cost more. One reason why Mr Beast started selling food was because he's so big that a fair payment for him accepting a sponsorship is more than most companies can afford. Beast Burger, those chocolate bars and now Lunchly come directly out of the fact that he's so big that it's almost never worth it for him to do an ad for any company where he's not getting a taste of the backend.

The video is short and explains stuff very nicely, but if you want a super short summary

The main thing is that it's replacing creator referral codes with one for Paypal. So, you go and watch a tech review, use the creator link but paypal nabs a cut of the sales instead of the creator.

There is a lot more to it and also the product was not working as stated, since Honey does it's thing after you've decided to check out, it only applies coupons that site owner approves of, not the biggest deal out there. And sometimes it finds no coupons and tells you to be confident that you are still getting the best price.

So they pay creators to promote Honey, and then Honey takes over one of their income streams.