20 years!?

I met someone today who was born in 1990.  Normally, I would not think too much about this, but then I realized that he will turn 20 this year.  That, to me, is crazy.  It is not really fair or accurate to say that it just feels like yesterday, but it does seem like 20 years has gone by quickly.  The craziest part, perhaps, is that I actually can remember things that happened 20 years ago.  If I can remember something from 20 years ago, that means time, as it always does, is passing quickly.  When I was thinking about it, I remembered some events and milestones.  But, when I looked up other events that happened in 1990, I was amazed at how much stuff there was in that year, and how much the events of 1990 still resonate, even if it was quite a while ago.

It was essentially the end of the cold war, which was a HUGE event, for obvious reasons.  The world would not be what it is today without the cold war ending the way that it did, clearly.  Things could easily have been much much different, to use a major understatement.

1990 was also the year Nelson Mandela was released.  It was when Germany  re-unified.  It was the year that saw the beginnings of the gulf war, another event we are still experiencing fall out from.  It was the year the trial for the captain of the Exxon Valdez began.  President Bush (the first one - can you believe there have been two of them???) and Gorbachev agree to end production of chemical weapons.   The ADA was passed, which allowed everyone with disabilities access to the same stuff as everyone else.  So many major events, and still 20 years later, we still feel their effects.

The 49ers beat the Broncos 55-10 in the Super Bowl XXIV.  The "Bad Boy" Pistons beat the awesome Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA finals (ouch, still).  Driving Miss Daisy won Best Picture, beating such classics (now) as The Godfather part III, Home Alone, Pretty Woman, Dances With Wolves, Edward Scissorhands, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  Tears for Fears, Vanilla Ice, the B52s, and Cher were on the radio.  We still listened to the radio, and when not the radio, we used cassettes.  Microsoft released windows 3.0.  The world wide web didn't really exist - the first web page was written in 1990.  No one had computers to look at the web page, so no one saw it until later.  The three tenors sang for the first time the night before he final match of the world cup (West Germany beat Argentina 1-0).  The Simpsons aired it's very first episode.  The tunnel between France and England was completed.

I guess this is all to say that time sure does pass quickly, and it is amazing how fast.  It is also amazing how long the effects of these things can last.  I don't know if 1990 was a particularly important or eventful year - that comparison will have to happen at another time - or if every year has this many important events.  I would love to hear thoughts and memories from those who do remember the beginning of the 90s decade, which can only happen if I ever decide to send out the link.

Maybe soon we will look back to that whole Y2K fiasco - believe it or not, that was 10 years ago.  That one does seem like it was just yesterday, but I am sure if I look back at it some more, I will find that life was a lot different back then as well.

Genius of the month award

The award goes to whoever drew up the plans for this house. In some ways it looks like a nice enough house. It looks like there will be stairs up to the main level and an attached garage. There appears to be a fair amount of space and rooms and all that good stuff too. But the problem would be getting the car in and out of the garage. Not only do the driveway and garage not line up with the cut in the curb (which is over by the dumpster and that white paint on the street), but it goes straight into the power pole! I assume that they would not have you make two drastic, sharp turns to get into the garage, but they will be moving the pole. I am no architect or engineer, but it looks like if they had only flipped the plans and put the driveway on the right side instead of the left, it would have all worked fine.

This house is pretty close to mine, and since this picture I have looked again. Last time I was over there, the post was still in this same spot. I hope that they don't get the house done, and they first realize the problem when they go to sell the house to someone.

Just in case . . .

. . . we need more proof that portland is a unique place. I saw this a while back, and just HAD to snap the photo of it.

New stuff!

I don't know why people will suddenly become interested in my life, as I usually go to work, come home, hang out with baby Elizabeth, and routine stuff like going grocery shopping and stuff like that. It does not seem too exciting. But baby is one of the major reasons for writing this, as there are plenty of people who live far away and don't get to see her very often, so I imagine it will be heavy in content catered to that objective. If she reaches major milestones, I will try to add those, for example.

However, I hope to also provide some levity and entertainment, and will be working out parts of this to meet that goal as well. As awesome as the little one is, there are a few other things in the world, and I will add things of interest to me. These general topics, I imagine, will become clear as time passes, but will likely include music and movies, as well as sports, books, history, and others.

All I got for now - as I think of new features to try, I will add them. So far I am thinking of having Foto Friday. Of maybe it will be Photo Phriday. To be determined, hopefully in time to begin this week.