I should confess right up front that I am definitely, absolutely, positively 100% in the ‘Out’ camp. (Yes, I am a Scrooge.) My kids get plenty during the course of the year. We don’t really celebrate Christmas, and Chanukah is also really de-gift-emphasized. And, finally - I am lazy. After years of scrounging for just the right gift, scrambling to create festive occasions, well — I decided to opt out a few years ago, and haven’t ever regretted the decision.

I’m not totally anti-consumer, though. While I’ve cocked an eye at the Fred Meyer early-morning sock sale (I do love me some bargains) and don’t much mind crazy deals on electronics from the brand name stores, if I’m going to buy something — I’m going to buy local.

Which explains why this avowed “don’t leave the house on Black Friday” will be venturing out at some point to New Seasons to get the turkey she wants to roast (to make up for the carcass she doesn’t get when she’s a guest at someone else’s house.) I’ll be grabbing my coupons for next week’s Choose Local event while I’m at it. (Choose local starts November 29th and runs through December 7th.) And then, I’ll be dropping by MacForce.

See, they’re having a Black Friday Garage Sale. My daughter’s old G3 laptop has been acting up; it’s time to see if it can be fixed, or if I need to consider a replacement. If I have to spring for something else? I’ll check out MacForce. Or FreeGeek. Or Craigslist.

What shopping choices are you making this holiday season? Are they influenced by the sour economic climate? Do you make conscious choices about where you’re buying from? Or is this the kickoff to some well-deserved rewards for having survived the year thus far?

The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Portland’s West End.

On election night, as people celebrated a young man went around starting fires in garbage cans and dumpsters. One of those fires destroyed the front of Julia’s Specialty Gifts. The young man who allegedly started the fires is locked up, but there was the problem of what to do about the shop. This is Julia’s busiest time of year.

Neighbors came together, and a storefront across the street was made available to Julia’s, next door to Ray’s Ragtime. They’ve been busy carting stuff across the MAX tracks and are back in business. They will be opening at noon on Friday with a full-on Christmas blitz!

I know the turkey isn’t even in the oven for most of y’all, but it’s not too early to think about helping a neighbor who has been dealt a dirty hand. If you need Christmas ornaments and other goodies, stop by and say hi. They are on SW Morrison Street, four blocks west of Pioneer Square, where the Holiday Tree will be lit by KGW’s news team at 6 PM Friday.

But, first things first. It’s turkey time!

(Although the title of this could be a sign in local gym locker rooms, if you pay attention to Craigslist Missed Connections, it’s not. It’s about the mail our postal system delivers.)

As I read Sunday’s Oregonian, (from the LA Times, sorry OregonLive…) I came across an article about a postal delivery person in Apex, North Carolina. Instead of delivering coupons, election porn and other mail deemed “junk”, he stockpiled it at his house. He’s been busted, and duly chastised. Now, I’m not a big fan of junk mail, but *I* like to choose what I throw away. This case hits especially close to home: I have a cousin who lives in Apex, NC, and we correspond all the time.

She has mentioned her “lazy mailman.” I’ve sent her movies, and as far as I know she’s always gotten them. When I saw this, I sent her an e-mail. Here’s her response:

“Now THAT’S funny!!! Here I live in Apex and haven’t heard it. Yes, my mailman (if it’s the same guy) still does the same thing with packages. He drives directly up to the mailbox and anything too big I think he stockpiles and delivers a couple times a week. I KNOW he still does this as I checked the status of a package online and it said “out for delivery” and he didn’t deliver it for 2 days! Lazy bum!!!”

She has sent me numerous packages, and all have gotten through, AFAIK. A few years back we went through a Blue Velvet phase. The movie was set in Lumberton NC, and filmed in Wilmington. After seeing the movie, she went on a road trip. While the real Lumberton was nothing like in the movie, a lot of the spots in the film still exist in Wilmington. She took pictures, and even got a tour of the ‘Deep River Apartments’ where Dorothy Vallens lived. She sent me the pictures, and a very special can of Pabst Blue Ribbon.

PBR isn’t nearly as fashionable back east.

I have excellent mail service in my neighborhood. Sometimes I get two deliveries a day. I don’t know why this is, it doesn’t happen often, but we will get an early delivery and then a second one later in the day from a different mail carrier. (And yes, they are legit. I live in Felony Flats and can sniff out a fake mailman a mile away.) It’s not bothersome, unless I haven’t put out the outgoing mail. Double “D’oh!”

I think the USPS does a wonderful job, especially this time of year. I still marvel that for less than fifty cents you can get a guy in uniform to carry a piece of paper across the country for you. Thank you, postal carriers and delivery people, for hauling all that stuff around!

Even the junk…

I had the good fortune to attend a ship launching this last weekend. Gunderson LLC, located along the Willamette off Hwy 30, is well-known for manufacturing railcars, but they also manufacture marine barges. We drove to Gunderson to watch the launch of their new barge the “E.P. Paup”, a massive derrick platform that is destined for service in the Gulf of Mexico.

The E.P. Paup was ordered by Manson Construction, and once towed to the Gulf the deck will be outfitted with a 1,000 ton crane and a multi-story residence structure topped with a helipad. The derrick barge will then join the Manson fleet, for use in servicing oil platforms, or aiding in disaster recovery.

As is traditional at ship launches, several executives got to make speeches. This may not sound too exciting, but it was just a little heartwarming to hear about a partnership that had lasted for several years, and was successfully producing these amazing vessels. It was also more than a little heartwarming to realize that, at a time when so much heavy construction is being moved overseas, this was a case of two U.S. companies choosing to do their construction in the U.S., creating jobs in Portland when jobs are getting hard to find.

The launch was spectacular, and I’ll leave you with a video I shot of the whole thing, from the christening to seeing the barge in the water with a Portland Fireboat spraying red, white and blue jets into the air.

You can also see a set of still photos from the event in this flickr set.

view larger on Flickr

Did you notice a peculiar locomotive today? Wondering WTF was up with a locomotive painted with the name of our 41st president? As a railfan and a photographer, I’m always on the looking to point my camera in the direction of interesting railroad subjects. While out and about yesterday morning I heard through the grapevine that this locomotive was in town and if I got on the road, I might be able to catch it for a photo before it headed south.

This is Union Pacific locomotive 4141, painted in 2005 into a special color scheme (inspired by the colors of Air Force One) for the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library. It’s one of a kind, and it’s a rare catch in this part of the country since this unit is typically in service in the southern part of the country.

No, our rails haven’t been taken over by ex-presidents. Despite the fact that the elder George Bush wasn’t a big fan of Portland, I found this to be a refreshing treat from the usual motive power seen on northwest rails. I shot this photo at Willsburg Junction, between Brooklyn and Milwaukie.