Other!Portland

[olivermoss]

So far this Portland has a lot more brick, smells differently, and has people whose phone ringtone is Irish Trad music. I only ran into that last one a few times, but even really knowing about Irish Trad is a highly regional thing. Growing up on the New England coast I was used to it being a thing, but then found out how rare knowing about it is outside of certain areas. So just hearing random snippets of it is nice.

I walked around the city for about 7 hours today. For a lot of it my brain was playing 'how is this distinctly different from my Portland?'

The hotel internet is so bad I have problems even loading twitter, so I'll get to comments and stuff later.

I talked at the dude at the visitor's center. Apparently, most drivers of taxis and rideshares are just refusing to go back to work after this past year and the transportation problems are big and there's really no fix for them right now. Even the most reliable taxi company shouldn't be relied on. So, when I leave I am going to get the airport super early. Problems getting away from an airport is one thing, problems getting TO one is whole 'nother issue.

Looks like the heat dome got extended through Monday. I am still hoping it's not as bad as predicted, but right now it's looking like not good.

I am going to try to open Facebook for a minute. Wish me luck.

Comments

[mistressofmuses]

Oof, bad internet and struggles with transportation are both big challenges. I'm sorry that was what you were dealing with.

Portland vs. Portland seems like an interesting game to play, though, lol.

[olivermoss]

Yeah, I'll detail it more in another post but yeah, very few drivers and the restaurants had lines for hours and closed early due to people not wanting to work. Which means they should be paid more, to be clear. Labor is now a higher priced commodity and companies need to deal with that.

Actually, weirdly that trip had left me craving a nice, hot sit down restaurant meal since that was not possible all trip long.

[mistressofmuses]

More businesses definitely need to figure out how to fairly compensate their workers, because yeah, I very much understand not being willing to work for a wage that doesn't let you live.