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Copyright © 1992 by Manfred P.. All rights reserved.

Mar 15, 1992

Silicon Rainforest

First Impressions of Life in Oregon

by

Manfred P.

Keywords: U.S.A., USA, Oregon, Portland, tourist, travel trip report, travel log, travelogue.

Days ago I relocated from California to Oregon. The trip from UCI in Southern California to Portland was shorter than I thought. Without detours it would have been only 1050 miles, all on just two freeways, 405, I-5. So, Los Angeles to Portland seems to be exactly 1000 miles.

Now, the first week in Oregon is over. Actually I came here about 10 days ago in order to pick up an INS document. First question you might ask is "Well, how are you doing?". Good. I settled in quickly after staying only one night in a motel. I moved into a house in Beaverton (Bvtn for short) where I am renting a room. I am not sure how long I'll stay here. People recommended that I should stay in Portland rather than Bvtn. After a few weeks when I know the area better I might be moving again. The house in Beaverton is just 4.6 miles (12 min drive) from work. Sooner or later I might be moving again but for the initial period it's nice to live close to work.

Beaverton and vicinity is called the Silicon Rainforest. This is a word play hinting at "Silicon Valley". Silicin Rainforest, the Beaverton suburbs west of Portland, contains a large number of high-tech companies like Intel, Sequent and Tektronix. Add the constant rain and the lush green forests to the high-tech employers and you get Silicon Rainforest. I not only have a new place to live, but also a new job at a new company. Tektronix is my new employer. I wasn't supposed to be working before Monday (3/9/92). But on Friday (3/6/92) I was already hacking away ... No, seriously. I had to be in Portland by Thursday to be able to obtain my EAD card (Employment Authorization Document). It took only 3 hours (unlike 9 weeks as in LA) and it was a big relief to walk out of the Federal Building with that tiny yellow piece of plastic.

As you can expect, I wasn't fully productive in the first week on the new job. Most of time I spent on reading documentation, going to presentations to get an overview of the big project that I will be working on, and joining in-house-customer/developer discussions. The Software Technology Research Lab is split into multiple groups (Reusable Software, Tools, Host-Based Instrumentation, etc.). I work for the Software Architecture group. The official title of the project is Frameworks. It's a huge project (10 man-years went already into it and the management just recently decided to put another 10 man-years into it). The subpart on which the smallest amount of work has been done is called "Instrument Control Framework" or ICF for short. ICF contains a lot of comp. science issues: starting from concurrency control, process migration, logical shared memory implementation in a distributed system, task synchronization, mutual exclusion, real-time programming, and much more. So there are a lot of challenges, so far I don't know which particular problem I'll be working on. So much about work.

I didn't really get any private life, i.e. time to enjoy, yet. My email-box is clogged and it will take me a while to catch up, but most of the time right now goes into the GMAT preparation. In a month maybe I'll be ready to start exploring Portland's night life. Beaverton seems to be like Irvine, peaceful and quiet after 10 pm. When I drive home after midnight I'm always one of the very few cars on the road. In short there isn't any exciting news to tell about my private life.

It really seems to rain at least once a day in Portland. On my way north I had quit a few nice and exciting experiences. It's the first time that I saw northern CA. A little bit hillier, a little bit greener than S.CA, but nothing that is really outstanding. I couldn't go to Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park, because the roads were closed (and will be closed until May 1). I spent an afternoon on Shasta Lake. There I took a tour across the lake and a trip into the Shasta Lake Caves. Interesting stuff.

In southern Oregon (OR) I went to Crater Lake Nat'l Park. Even though chains or traction devices were recommended I took the chance and attempted to climb the mountain with my summer tires. The pass is more than 6000 ft high, it was also getting dark and it started to snow. Nevertheless, tough mountains seem to be no match for my car :-). I was praying all the way up the mountain. Once I was on top, I found out that all services are closed. Camps, lodge, and gas station were closed for the season, even though I was told by the State Police whom I asked for road conditions that the lodge is open. (Never trust a state official.) I had the choice to drive all the way back and return the next morning or to stay in the car for this nite. After having a decent dinner, I put on all my sweaters and made myself comfortable in the car using the sleeping bag as a blanket. I got up sometime around 6:30am and watched the sun come up behind the crater. Low clouds were hanging around the north rim of the crater. The lake and the whole vicinity were calm, quiet, and peaceful. I was the only tourist. A huge parking lot with only one car. Everything covered with the new snow. A marvelous winter-wonderland, really enjoyable. After "inhaling" the view for 3 hours I got ready for the trip back.

The sight seeing wasn't over yet. I stopped at several places on my way back towards I-5, worth mentioning are Rogue Gorge and the Natural Bridge on Rogue Gorge. I also stopped at a Ranger station. There it was recommended not to drive directly to I-5, but to turn around, and make a detour through 4 National Forests. Plenty of water falls, and again, wherever I went I was the only person. The area was somewhat comparable with Yosemite Nat'l Park. However, El Capitan is missing.

The first thing I'll have to buy is an umbrella, a necessity here. The rain will make it hard to ride the bike to work. In summer it will get better I heard.

Other randomly ordered impressions of my first week in Oregon are:

The WEATHER: Well, it's the second warmest winter ever in recorded history. Nevertheless, I had to scrap the ice from my windshield this morning when I left my house at 7am to head for the Aquatic Center for my morning work-out. During daytime it can be warm (65 record highs). Also, there are days where it doesn't rain, last sunday was one of them.

SPORTS: There is a park right next to my house, about 2 min from it. It's about 2.5 miles long, and good enough for a 30 min run/jog. The air seems to be fairly clean (but also cooold), especially if you run at 8am. It's also impossible to run in the grass, cause that would lead to an inevitable mud-fight. Everything is soaked in water. So. I have to stay on the pavement, which is not necessarily good for my knees. So, in short I have to trade fresh air with concrete surface. But it's close and handy. Tennis courts are also only 2 min, so are the basket ball courts. All of this is free. I also checked out 2 pools so far. In the Bvtn area there are 5 indoor pools and 2 outdoor pools. The 1st one was a shock, way too crowded to do any kind of work-out. This morning I tried the 50m pool in the Aquatic Center, much better. I got my own 25m lane, but the pool is nevertheless crowded. The water temp. is just the way it should be. It's also fairly cheap. $1.5 per swim, or $50 per year. Next I have to look for a weight room. There are two in the area, but I didn't have time for to take a closer look at them. But I will soon. All in all, everything is okay. Now it's time to make those 13 missed work-outs.

TIME SCHEDULE: Most likely the days of going to bed at 3am are over. I think about switching to a morning schedule, i.e. early to bed, early out-of-the-sack. The pool opens at 5:30am. My working hours are flexible, so I can start anytime. Talking about work, my manager said that on average I'll have to work 50 hours and to relieve me added that when time schedules for projects are designed they are based on a 40 hour week not a 60 hour week. What a relieve! (I'm sarcastic here - in case you didn't notice.) If he admits 50 hours, it might be even more. Looks like they'll keep me busy. I'll know more in a few weeks.

WORK ASSIGNMENT: The official name of my job assignment and work project is Instrument Control Framework. On Friday, Jim -- my boss -- gave an overview-talk. This big project contains a lot of CS issues: starting from concurrency control, process migration, logical shared memory implementation in a distributed system, task synchronization, mutual exclusion, real-time programming (I'm not quite sure if we, Tek and I that is, have the same understanding and definition of the term "real-time" programming), and much more. So there are a lot of challenges, so far I don't know which particular problem I'll be working on. I have a stack (about a foot high) of manuals and documentation on my desk. Initial reading material, also I should have some introduction courses with customers to learn about their needs.

WORK SET-UP: I have a Unix box, Sparc1, I'll eventually get a Mac to take home (so that I can do some work at home), we have the usual items, such as color scanner, color printer, Mac's, a gateway with internet access, Tek newsgroups, STRL newsgroups, ... C++ is the main language, Interleaf the documentation tool, slides are usually produced on Mac's (I forgot the name of the software package), Motif, OpenWindows, generic X, ...

GENERAL: Recycling in general is "in". Also, for the first time in years I went to the library to check out a book that is not Computer Science related. Other than that I am spending some time preparing for GMAT.

It's now the second weekend in Bvtn. The second week didn't reveal much new in comparison to the first. So far I didn't get much rest and I didn't find any time yet (with one exception) to explore nite-life in Portland. I still have to send letters to Austria to update some friends about recent "activities", the tax forms need to be filled out, the GMAT is next Saturday, I need to do some shopping (clothes, eventually car), I should get an OR drivers license, etc. Hopefully by April, I can get all these simple but time consuming items off my list. Once that is done, I'd like to start some sight-seeing, go out, and enjoy myself (a little).

After it rained nearly every day at my arrival, there wasn't any rain drop for a week. Daytime highs around 65 with sunshine, that allows lunch to be enjoyed outdoors. I was warned, though, that this is not usual. Until June it supposedly rains a lot, it stops in July and Aug. I'll take it day by day.

Getting a Ph.D. seems to be the appropriate time for many people to get ready for marriage. I've gotten a handful of hints and people dropped some remarks. Huuu, what a topic. Let's step back first. Maybe I'm misinterpreting this but from what I've seen so far, family life and marriage has a higher value here in OR (compared to LA, where being single is attractive to quite a few people, and others are involuntarily single by divorce). Family, that's what they always end up talking about during lunch time. If I could only remember all the names, I would know by now all the children, grand-children, parents, cousins, and in-laws of all my co-workers. Needless to say that I do not contribute much to these discussions, and that "Gee, my son started reading at age 3" doesn't get me all excited. You get the drift. As most of you know, I have no plans or intentions for rushing into marriage. The women in PD (Portland) seem to be just like in California, well, maybe not quite. I haven't been to dance clubs, etc. yet, so this note is based only on what I've seen in everyday life in Bvtn. Make-up is used less, and I haven't seen anyone dressed up real sharp (high heels, eye-catching nylon, ...). In general, due to the weather, certain head-turning ways of dressing are impossible. Wearing only a tank-top a) wouldn't really look good on snow-white skin and b) the person would be freezing to death (at least right now). Women seem to be more down-to-earth. That -- of course -- doesn't say that there aren't any good looking woman around. I've seen a few cute ones while I was pursuing my weekend jogs/runs. To sum it all up, don't expect a wedding-invitation anytime soon. That would be really a big surprise (most of all for me). Marriage is something positive. But I am busy enough managing and running my own life. Doubling the responsibilities seems to be to much for me to handle right now. I don't think I'd have enough energy and time to make it work. As always in life, we have to compromise. It's "career & personal plans" vs. "marriage & family". But life doesn't serve a combination dinner with 50% "career and personal plans" and 50% "marriage and family". In order to do it right, it would have to be 100% of the selection "marriage and family", and this is not an option for me right now.

    

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