Shining Silver

Astoria, Oregon ~ February 7, 2010

I've had this one in my "to post" file for awhile. I like it because it shows something I mentioned in my "Downtown Astoria" post the other day. I've never seen anyplace that is as shimmery and shiny as Astoria is when the rain stops for awhile and the sun comes out.

I took this photo from the River Walk looking up 15th Street. The street in the immediate foreground is Marine Drive. On the other side of the big intersection Commercial Avenue is about ready to merge with Marine on the left. Area Properties is in the downstairs portion of the building on the right. Beyond the empty space on the right is The Blue Scorcher along with Fort George, a very popular and growing brewpub.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

There Goes the Couch

After shouting about this dumped couch on the blog and on Facebook, making phone calls, and finally putting it on craigslist (with no calls and no takers, but then it had a broken leg and didn't smell that good), Lee finally paid Don Sparks to come and haul it away. It was cheaper than paying the waste management company, but it also should not have been our problem. Francisca was right in her comment. Someone needs to re-think the incentives (or lack of) and the process of disposing of these cast-offs. (Maybe someday they will all be made of recyclable modules, but that's another story.) There was another interesting comment about thrift stores going out of business because they also have to find a way to dispose of the junk that is pawned off on them rather than only the things someone would want to buy. I've noticed that it's very hard to get thrift stores around here to take anything, because they are overloaded anyway.

By the way, this intersection is 15th Street and Marine Drive. The lower part of the building on the right is Area Properties. Lee owned the business before he retired, and it's now owned by mother-daughter team Barb and Meagan.

Don's truck is not going the wrong way (see the sign), but the block is only a few yards long here, as Commercial and Marine Drive converge going opposite directions. The "One Way sign is for Commercial Street. Here's a view of that short block from the east with Marine Drive on the right and Commercial on the left. The building in the middle is Area Properties.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.