Next Stop Mars
Monday, May 14, 2012
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Posted byUnknown at 8:39 AM 0 comments
My First Day at School
Monday, July 11, 2011
Posted byUnknown at 10:29 PM 0 comments
Mississippi Street Fair 2011
Posted byUnknown at 10:27 PM 0 comments
Cloud 9 - Map and Directions
Monday, May 30, 2011
This is where the boat is. We are out near the tip by the large white floating tug boat. Walk down the ramp and then ahead. 2nd dock on left. We are just past the floating bar on the left side.
View Cloud 9 J24 Sail Boat Location in a larger map
Posted byUnknown at 11:30 AM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Cloud9 Crewlist
Friday, May 6, 2011
The following is the signup list. This is what we use to know who is signed up. To edit this you need to know the link. Contact us for that information.
The boat is located at McCuddy's.
Posted byUnknown at 11:23 PM 0 comments
California Dolls House
Friday, December 24, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 6:34 PM 0 comments
Riverboat on the Columbia
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 10:53 AM 0 comments
Portland, Labor Day Weekend 2010
Friday, November 5, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 9:46 PM 0 comments
$3 Can of Soup - Low Priced Every Day.
Posted byUnknown at 8:30 PM 0 comments
Swings are Fun
Posted byUnknown at 8:24 PM 0 comments
Fried GreenTomatoes
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 9:47 PM 0 comments
All My Animals
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 10:09 PM 0 comments
3 Boat Jam at the Bridge
Friday, August 27, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 8:20 PM 0 comments
Cupcake Hair Clip
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 9:20 AM 0 comments
Italian J24 Nationals
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Great racing in a great setting.
Note to the crew - watch the crews in the last 20 seconds getting the spinnaker to the pole fast!
Posted byUnknown at 9:06 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Columbia Crossing Marina from the Sky
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Posted byPam at 8:29 PM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
Dandilion for you!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Posted byPam at 10:06 PM 0 comments
Pam Skippers Cloud 9
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 3:21 PM 0 comments
spent the morning gently moving our fingers in and out of the sunlight. Seeing the world through Evie's eyes is simply magic.
Posted byUnknown at 8:25 AM 0 comments
CrazyTurtles
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 7:31 AM 1 comments
Cool Caravan
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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Roadside Wildlife
Friday, June 18, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 6:09 PM 0 comments
Eating from a spoon.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Posted byUnknown at 7:17 PM 0 comments
Join Our Crew on J24 Sailing Boat Cloud9
Thursday, June 3, 2010
If you are interested in racing a J24 on the Columbia then Pam and I would be glad to put your name on our crew list. We race Thursdays and some weekends in the summer. Casual and happy crew. Sign up and I will contact you with more information.
Posted byUnknown at 7:43 PM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
Knitted bumpers on bike stand on Belmont
Posted byUnknown at 5:59 PM 0 comments
Jingzi takes Evelyn's Picture
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Jingzi took our wonderful wedding pictures. Since then she and Chris have had a beautiful baby Audrey Zhao Perkins. Congratulations to them both! And now she has taken some pictures of Evelyn. They are fantastic. For those of you with Facebook accounts you can see them here.
Pam and I love her work and suggest you all hire her to take photos often. More information at http://www.jingziphotography.com/.
Posted byUnknown at 1:28 PM 1 comments
Labels: Baby
Time flys when you're having fun
Friday, October 9, 2009
We celebrated Evie's one month birthday on Sunday with a road trip to Hood River and the Fruit Loop. Pumpkin Funland was a hit as was the hike along the Hood River, but discovering pear road kill took the prize.
What is pear road kill? It's what happens when a harvest truck looses a box load of fruit on the side of the Hwy and your husband stops to help clean up the mess. Clean up entailed filling our trunk with slightly bruised but otherwise delicious pears.Evelyn suggests you come on by anytime for some pear butter, poached pears, or just plain old pear sauce. If you don't eat it, she will.
All is well in the Neild household. Evelyn is a terrific baby and we're doing fine. In case it didn't make your inbox, here's the story on Evelyn's name.
Evelyn Cadence Neild was born 100 years to the day of her great grandma Evelyn Mae Kussatz (Pam's wonderful grandma). Since Evelyn Kussatz was such a terrific person and taught Pam so much, we thought it a fitting name for our daughter. Cadence, Latin for rhythmic, came about after seeing a few bicycles ride past the cafe window at Powell's Books on Burnside one evening when we were reading baby name books. We like the sentiment.
Look for more pictures coming soon!
Posted byPam at 9:39 PM 1 comments
Labels: Baby
Pictures of Evelyn
Saturday, September 19, 2009
I will add photos to the following slideshow. Click it to see full screen.
Posted byUnknown at 1:39 PM 0 comments
Labels: Baby
Pictures of Evelyn
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Hello all. Pam here. I'm finally online for the first time since Sept. 3rd. I came straight to the blog. It's silly I know, but I just can't stop staring at this little girl. Happy, happy me! Thanks so much for all the cards, gifts and calls. I really appreciate it all. I can't wait for you to meet Evelyn in person! She's super.
Posted byUnknown at 9:54 AM 2 comments
Labels: Baby
Evelyn Cadence Neild
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Welcome home Evelyn Cadence Neild. Named in honor of her Great Grandma (on Pam's mother's side) who was born on 6th of September 1909, 100 years to the day before her birth. And Cadence because we like the name, the meaning and the sentiment.
Posted byUnknown at 4:05 PM 3 comments
Baby Time
Thursday, September 3, 2009
And ...... we have a little baby girl! Yipppeee.
Pam was a hero and with the help of the great staff here made all the right choices. And the result is a perfect little baby girl. Kicking and healthy. 6'4 oz. About 1AM Monday 6th September.
We very much look forward to meeting her today, picking the right name from our shortlist, and then to introducing her to you all.
Thanks to all the staff here for their help and to you out there for your interest and support.
The Happy Parents,
Rob and Pam.
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| 2009_09_06_Baby Girl |
Click the above picture for more. More to follow.
Posted byUnknown at 10:29 AM 13 comments
Labels: Baby
Baby Neild
Monday, August 31, 2009
Baby by moonlight.
Posted byUnknown at 1:09 PM 0 comments
Labels: Baby
Our wedding recaptured at Style Unveiled
Friday, June 12, 2009
When I look at this it brings back all the memories of one completely spectacular day (weekend!). All the friends and family that attended and made it happen are so near and dear to me. Big cyber hugs to you all!
http://portlandstyleunveiled.com/pamandrob/
Posted byPam at 3:15 PM 0 comments
Baby Neild
Friday, May 22, 2009
No name and gender unknown, baby Neild (aka Ember) is due in mid September. More to come! Oh yes, much more!!
Posted byPam at 1:39 PM 2 comments
Labels: Baby
Crash!
One of my biggest fears was realized last night and it wasn't anything to fear after all. Cloud 9 lost her mast on a good 12 knot day on the Columbia. Members of the fleet considered stopping, but hey, it was race day and the wind was up. I wouldn't have stopped, so I'm glad they didn't! By the time we motored in and got all the rigging sorted they were back and offering a replacement mast and all the help we need to get back on the water fast. What a seriously amazing group of sailors. Cloud 9 won't float in the clouds for long. We're anxious to get back on the river!
Posted byPam at 1:27 PM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
Test results for Clear WIMAX (Clearwire) in Portland
Monday, April 6, 2009
DO NOT USE CLEAR (CLEARWIRE) WIMAX service if you need more than 3MBPS because the even the company engineers, using new branded company equipment, can not get more than that on the 6MPS service.
JAN 2009 - I am testing out Clear's new Wimax home service in Portland Oregon. I really wanted it to work because I am no fan of Qwest - but so far I am not impressed. The Netflix on-demand video comes though in lower resolution and for the first time in ages I am looking at squares until the images load. I walked around the house with the antenna as directed. I get 4 of the 5 bars in signal strength and am in a 'qualifying area'. I was told that if you get 2 bars or more you should be fine. But I am paying for 6 and only getting 3 mbps. I get 50% of the service so shall I send them just 50% of the monthly cost? I expect they would complain. Which is what I think I will need to do before the end of my 5 day trial period.
UPDATE FEB 2009 - I now get a better signal and the bandwidth approaches the advertised speed when I am hard wired but I get only 2.5 MBPS when using WIMAX + WIFI.
UPDATE APRIL 2009 - I have long thought that the problem was with my equipment but an upgrade to every part and subsequent tests with new and branded equipment in the CLEAR stores tells me that it is not my fault! I have been on the phone for hours with the help line challenging them to set up the system in the store with anything approaching the advertised speed when using WIMAX + WIFI and they admit that they can not. I suspect that this is why the stores do not have WIFI on demo. CLEAR claim that there is no problem but the engineers on the phone and the guys in the store see that there is. I have been promised a site visit but they are (surprise surprise) late to follow up on that despite several calls to remind them.
SUMMARY - I demonstrate to them that the service doe snot work as advertised (the engineer for 3MBPS max on my 6MBPS account) yet the billing department will not let me out of the contract without penalty. DO NOT USE CLEAR (CLEARWIRE) WIMAX service in Portland (or anywhere else for that matter) unless you have no other choices. And then if you do certainly do not get the contract.
Posted byUnknown at 11:57 PM 0 comments
Sail Trim Advice Video
Thursday, March 12, 2009
It contains info for small er boats but there is some value.
Posted byUnknown at 5:22 PM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
Congratulations to Pool Covers, Inc.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Today's Wall Street Journal ran an article about employee owned businesses and their unique way of making tough decisions. EOC, Pool Covers Inc., was featured in the article. Congratulations Mom, Dad and PCI!
Posted byPam at 1:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: family
A great weekend in Sunriver
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Thanks to Ryan for sorting this out.
Posted byUnknown at 9:49 PM 0 comments
Tuning Cloud 9
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Two good tuning sites. We've got lots to do this year!
- http://www.shoresails.com/onedesign/j24guide.htm
- http://www.northsails.com/tuningguides/TuningGuides
- http://www.myc.org/Maintenance/j24_parts.htm
Posted byPam at 1:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Arc Race Summary
Friday, December 19, 2008
Rob and I arrived in LAX on Sunday afternoon only to find the city of Portland and airport shut down. The city is in the freezer along with so much of the rest of the country. I hope you are all are staying warm and dry. We should be back in Portland by Friday evening, assuming our new flight isn't canceled. See you all again v. soon!
What was it like to sail across the Atlantic you ask? Here's my best description -- You and three others spend a week preparing for a long road trip. You buy your provisions. You check the engine. You sew some cushions for the drivers seat (cockpit). You get to know each other a bit better, since you know the next three or four weeks will be spent in close contact. You're nervous, excited and fearful of what's to come. You eat lots of fresh vegetables. You enjoy your new surroundings.
Race Day One has finally arrived. You are sent off to find some antihistamine in what is now a familiar city, but try saying "antihistamine" in Spanish! It took two hours to find a pharmicia open on Sunday with a pharmacist that could help. In the meantime, half of your water supply has burst and fallen into the sea, so your friends are back at home base scrambling like mad. The race starts just two hours from the time the water tank burst. You make it back in time for the start. You now have 200 plus gallons of water strapped around the outside of the car (boat).
The race begins. Within in 4 hours you can no longer see any signs of human life apart from your companions and your trusty new floating home.
Your life for the next 23 days is focused on driving in a straight line. "Straight" changes constantly since you are being swayed from side to side by the unstable "road" beneath you. The distance you cover is roughly equal to crossing the United States (2900 nnautical miles in the end) doing 6 miles an hour. If you get out of the "car" you'll likely die, so you do everything you can to make sure you stay inside.
You do all of your cooking and cleaning on board. You occasionally bake cakes, bread and pizza. You feel like you are eating really well and can't imagine why anyone needs more than 136 square feet to live. Your dining room (for four) is 16 square feet. It's also the cockpit and driver's seat. Your kitchen, living room and bathroom is 120 square feet. You are very happy. Life is centered around driving 24 hours a day. There are no weekends. In fact, there's "ship time" and "UTC" - which differ by a few hours and change every few days, so time doesn't really matter. What matters is sunrise and sunset and making sure you drive in a "straight" line.
By day it is like driving through a desert with no air conditioning. You see some lovely animals that make you happy. You are worried about the very large trucks (ships) that could mow you over, but none ever do. By night it is like driving on an icy road with no chains and no headlights. You drive and drive and drive, hoping you won't encounter a rain storm that could tear your home to bits and leave you stranded in a much smaller vehicle (the life raft was the size of a kids swimming pool).
You celebrate victories. Half way across you have champagne and Indian Curry - complete with a totally jaw dropping sunset.
You wonder about the first non-boat sound you will hear. You bet on this with your companions. 50% believe it will be a car engine (You debate whether this a pesimists or realists view). In the end the first sound you hear are tree frogs. Your faith in humanity is restored!
You get tired of pizza and pasta and cheese, but you are impressed that your oranges, apples and bacon have made it this far. You actually eat very well considering the heat and no air-con.
You read a lot. You play Hearts. You talk politics, nation building, and food. You sleep any chance you get. Driving can be tiring. Your muscles grow. Your muscles are sore.
You finally see land! The sun has gone down so land takes the shape of strange lights in the distance. It takes another 6 hours to actually touch land. When you do it's 12:15 am. You are greeted by smiling faces, a steel drum band and a large glass of rum punch. The ice cubes are your favorite part of the whole drink.
It's after midnight, but no one is tired. You wander around the other floating homes that have crossed the same ocean. Everyone is happy. Many are walking with a sideways tilt -- sea legs still. When you finally sleep you wake up every three hours wandering why you aren't rising for your next shift. You realize there are no shifts. You start making plans to do it again -- next time in your own vehicle. You think about the long days and even longer nights and you think you don't really want to do it again -- not for a while yet.
You spend an amazing week in the Caribbean. It doesn't take you long to find another boat or two to sail. Your last night there is an awards party. There's lots of run punch. It's sweat and cold and delicious. Your companions are with you again. There's lots of laughter and stories.
You find out you've come in second place in your class (the slow and small boats)! SECOND PLACE! Wow, all that hand steering was worth it.
Happy end of 2008 everyone!
Posted byUnknown at 7:52 PM 0 comments
ARC Race 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Pam and I are here in Las Palmas preparing for the start of the ARC Race 2008.
You can track out progress on Ollie's (skipper) blog. Links to his posts are on the right. >>>>>
You might also find us on the fleet viewer. The boats is called 'Nutmeg of Shoreham'.
It will be a great trip. Pictures and stories when we get there.
Posted byUnknown at 10:41 AM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
Stuck on the Sand
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I guess it is hard to concentrate with such a pretty sunset going on behing you!
Posted byUnknown at 11:13 AM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Making Raised Beds
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
This advice from Mum about making raised beds in our back garden.
Choose the site:
Decide on size of beds: no wider than 4 ft if accessible only from one side, 5 ft if accessible from both. You could divide the length into two along the bathroom window wall or just have one long bed. You can still do crop rotation with one long bed.
Construct your raised bed walls: use redwood or cedar. 12 - 18' is fine. You could use posts on the inside of the corners, to which the sides are screwed. The posts could be pointed and extend 12” or so below the sides so that they can be pushed into the ground. They should not protrude much if at all above the sides.
Ground preparation:
Lightly dig over the area and remove weeds, especially long-rooted weeds. Mark out where the beds will be with string or sand.
Double dig where the beds will be. This is slightly hard work but makes a world of difference.
Double digging:
Mentally divide the bed into sections, widthways.
Using a spade dig the top soil of the first section to a spade’s depth - one spit - putting that topsoil into a barrow or onto a sheet of polythene. Save this for the end of the process.
Dig into the subsoil to one spit depth with a spade or more likely a fork. Break up into smallish clods - it doesn’t have to be fine, but it shouldn’t be in big clods.
Shovel the compost/manure on top of this layer.
Now start on the next trench, throwing the top soil onto the trench you have just manured, breaking it up with the spade to make nice, plantable soil. This will be easier if the soil is not too wet and not too dry. I find that rolling my booted foot over the clods which will not break up, seems to break them up easily. It also gives my arms a rest and must be good thigh exercise, as you MUST NOT put your weight on your boot or tread on this soil.
Break up the subsoil in this second trench and manure.
Continue until you have got to the end. Fill in this final trench with the topsoil saved from the first trench.
You will find the soil looks deeper - it will settle with time.
YOU MUST NOW NEVER TREAD ON THE BED AGAIN!
Fix your raised bed walls over the prepared area.
Make paths:
Access to the beds should be from a gravel, pebble or bark surface. Mark out the area to be gravelled with sand.
On your plan, this surface was part of the access to the patio and if I remember was of pebbles. It provided access to the gate as well as to the raised beds. You can make it the finished width now or just the width necessary for the raised beds and extend it later.
The finished level of the gravel etc should be at the same level as the lawn, so you will need to remove some of the top soil of this area to allow for this. Excavate to a depth of 6-8”. Pile the top soil onto the raised beds.
http://www.pavingexpert.com/gravel01.htm#path.
How to construct a path:
Make lawn/path boundary with the same kind of metal edging as you have between patio and border. Here it is called Everedge but I assume it is easily available there. It can be curved and has prongs which go down into the soil. It should be level with the lawn. http://www.everedge.co.uk/edging/lawn.html This is easier than laying a paved edge which needs to be set on a haunch of cement. If you do this, refer to the paving expert. He talks about edging.
I have put my horticultural membrane on top of the sub base so that the sub base doesn’t work its way up. It works fine.
Put in a layer of hard core to a depth of 4' and compact. It is best to hire a compacting plate but for a small area you can probably just trundle up and down it.
Put on a layer of horticultural membrane - it suppresses weed.
Finish off with the pebbles/gravel/bark of you choice.
Posted byUnknown at 3:07 PM 0 comments
Trip to CGOD in Cascade Locks
Friday, August 8, 2008
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| 2008_08_03 Cascade Locks Race |
Posted byUnknown at 9:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: sailing
CGOD Racing at Cascade Locks
Posted byUnknown at 6:33 AM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Cloud9 Upgrade
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
I just took delivery of the through mast spreader kit. Not much metal for $180! But it will make the mast safer and may improve speed. If that upgrade does not take us to the front of the pack then I think I will upgrade again and come back next season with one of these.
Posted byUnknown at 10:06 PM 0 comments
Free Bowl of Soup Race
Monday, July 21, 2008
Posted byUnknown at 9:28 AM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Sailing Summer Series Finale in Pictures
Friday, July 18, 2008
Great picture by Tim (Merit 25 - Kestral). Olga, Christine, Rob, Pam and Deana on board.
Posted byUnknown at 7:44 AM 0 comments
Labels: j24
До свидания Ольга! Good bye Olga!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Пэм и я имел удовольствие принимать у себя Ольгой в нашем доме в течение последних 4 недель. Она покинул Россию впервые приехать в Портланд на Всемирной Affiars Совета Орегон eduaciton и программы обмена. Она пришла узнать о устойчивой практики в Портленде. Она является наиболее совершенной гость, потому что она была страшно ничего и энтузиазмом все. Мы были горды, чтобы показать ее вокруг, рады, что она пользуется ее пребывания, и рады иметь новых друзей в Владивостока. Мы тщательно recoment опыт никому рассматривает возможность хостинга - скачок, и делать это, потому что она является очень полезным и великого веселья.
Удачи Ольга! Поддерживайте связь!
Роб и Пэм
Pam and I have had the pleasure of hosting Olga in our house for the past 4 weeks. She left Russia for the first time to come to Portland on a World Affiars Council of Oregon eduaciton and exchange program. She came to learn about sustainable practices in Portland. She was the most perfect guest because she was scared of nothing and enthusiastic about everything. We were proud to show her around, are happy that she enjoyed her stay, and are glad to have a new freind in Vladivostock. We thoroughly recoment the experience to anyone considering a hosting opportunity - jump in and do it because it is very very rewarding and great fun.
Good luck Olga! Keep in touch!
Rob and Pam.
Posted byUnknown at 12:05 PM 0 comments
Waiting for Wind
Monday, July 7, 2008
Posted byUnknown at 6:48 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
J24 Part Specification
Monday, June 16, 2008
I think that this guy must have been in the military. A full itemized list of every bit of a J24. Might be useful for lookup.
Posted byUnknown at 2:33 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Pedalpalooza Portland
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
2008 sounds like it is going to be another fun year. June 12th - 28th. The following is typical day and gives you some idea - these is not just another ride in the park.
9:00am Cycle the Well Field
9:00am Wild Plants Lore
10:00am Bike Art Show
10:00am Road Ride
11:00am Tire&Tube Recycle
11:00am Edible Garden tour
2:00pm WNBR Sunny Ride
2:00pm Tarck Bike Ride!!!
2:15pm Stumptown Joustdown
4:00pm Family Ride
5:00pm Cirque Parade
6:00pm Zombie Cycle Rampage
6:30pm Criterium Race
7:30pm RERUN Bike In Movie
9:00pm Dance Party
11:59pm Naked Ride
Event and Calendar
Posted byUnknown at 6:14 PM 0 comments
Labels: visit
J24 Training Videos
OK Cloud9 - no excuses. Just follow the 4 steps.
1. Watch this.
2. Do the good stuff.
3. Don't do the bad stuff.
4. Win win win.
Introduction
Starting
Tacking
Spinnaker Sets
Gybing.
Spinnaker Drops
Other Vidoes
The angle in this one is not good and it is one long cut not highlights but clicking through it shows you a few nice hoists and drops.
Not always pretty,. Just fast. Nothing to learn here. But it looks fun.
Posted byUnknown at 5:42 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
PYC Centennial Regatta June 6-8
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The following looks good. Cloud9 hopes to be there. 
Posted byUnknown at 3:56 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24
Kite Cam
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
This looks great. Sadly he never explains what the kite looks like.
Posted byUnknown at 1:28 PM 0 comments
Goldfrapp + CPU
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
I just thought that this was pretty. Plus I wanted to tested embedded video.
Solar, with lyrics. from flight404 on Vimeo.
Posted byUnknown at 7:37 PM 0 comments
Cloud9 Not In Last Place
By virtue of having competed we are now in 6th place. Can we do any better this season. I am not sure we can. But we will try!
Posted byUnknown at 1:31 PM 0 comments
Labels: j24