Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail

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My go-to semi-daily walking path has recently put up some signage, and this is how I found out it has a specific name, the Ch’ak Ch’ak Trail. I knew it as a part of Portland’s famous 40-mile trail system that sort of circles the entire city, but the name was new. I usually park either the one closest to me or I take a drive to the other end near the Troutdale Airport and walk to a middle point, then turn around. This nets a nice 3-mile trek.

My usual “exercise” routine is one day a bike ride and the other a walk. The walking happens on non-rainy days, while the cycling happens indoors except for whichever weekend day is the non-walking one. Last week it was on Sunday, so this week it was today. The above photo is the trail’s underpass of the eastbound lanes of I-84.

The photo below is from yesterday’s walk along the trail at the Troutdale end. Where from the parking area when you start out by crossing under the landing path. It seems like there are always a couple folks out flying or requalifying, and sometimes the planes pass right over you.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 42.6%

 

Bye Bye #15

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I have been fighting with my last upper molar on the left, probably for a couple years. Last April I had a root canal done on it. But even a couple rounds of antibiotics haven’t cleared an infection in the tooth. At my semi-annual cleaning, I asked the dentist if he could refer me to an endodontist so they could re-do the root canal.

The endodontist’s high-tech, super-powerful x-ray allowed him to have what looked like an MRI image. He basically 3D-rendered my skull and, along with the imaging software, could zero in on the offending tooth, then show any cross-section of it, both vertically & horizontally. It found zero evidence of nerve, but it did look like it had a crack in it. His recommendation was to pull it.

Today, a nice young doctor grabbed a rusty pair of pliers, and while his even younger assistant held my jaws apart with his hands, he yanked out the offending tooth.

I used to get a shiny nickel from the Tooth Fairy for every baby tooth I lost. Today that nickel has the buying power of 55-cents, but the tooth has a crown of gold. With the current price of gold, that tooth is worth almost $500. I’ll let you know how much I find under my pillow tomorrow morning.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 44.1%

 

They Showed Me

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I don’t know what has come over me. For the 2 springs I’ve lived here, I have outsourced the weeding and tidying up of the yards surrounding the house. This year I’m doing it myself. Donna was the yard person, and I’d just come in at the end with the whipper-snipper 1 and tidy the edges. Here in Portland, where the winter is nothing but rain, the weeds here are hardy, to say the least. I have spent a couple hours a day starting on Sunday, and I’ve sprayed weed killer over everything that is unsightly and have one half of one side yard done. I’ve yanked out all the dead stuff, and I put down weed-blocking fabric and mulch, so next year it should be easier. The second half is pretty easy because it is more mature; that should be one more day. In the other side yard the previous owners put down a layer of small gravel, which looked really nice, but they didn’t put down any weed block, so it is filled with hundreds of invasive sprouting things. I have got 25 or so thistle plants there. Some are as tall as 4′ high. That side will probably take me all next week…

The Sox did beat the Detroit Tigers today. It’s the first time this year they have won three in a row and swept a series. This weekend is a big test; they are home for a four-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Tampa is only a half game behind the Yankees in the division and are 8.5 games ahead of the Sox. The Rays are hot right now; they’ve won 6 in a row and 12 of their last 13 games.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 37.9%

 

On a Roll Now

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The Red Sox have now won 2 games in a row and seem like they have righted the ship with the new manager and staff thing. Those wins bring their record all the way up to 15-21, and they are now a mere 10 games behind the dreaded Yankees in the division. Baseball Reference predicts their best record possible is 90-72. I say, “Ha,” they have one more game with Detroit tomorrow, and I’m predicting they lose, and their Wild Card chance will be right back down to 30% again.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 31.7%

 

Track, Daily, Crush

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Track Daily Crush
2022 Ford Shelby GT500 2006 Honda S2000 2024 GMC Hummer EV
Last week a Chevy Camaro, this week a Ford Mustang. I wonder what bright-colored vinyl I’d wrap it in? Have to remove the batteries before the crush.

Here is what last week’s cars sold for or were bid to (if the reserve was not met):
Track: 2020 Chevrolet Camaro Bid to USD $63,500 04/29/2026
Daily: 2013 Porsche Boxster Sold for USD $36,000 04/29/2026
Crush: 1969 Jeep Jeepster Sold for USD $5,500 04/29/2026

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 29.2%

 

Man of Science Fiction, Man of No Faith

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Saturday was another “date night” with my neighbor. After last month’s surprise dancing incident, we just went out for a meal. There is a place I have been driving by a couple times a week to get to one of my go-to walking paths. There are always a lot of cars parked there, and on summer nights they have outdoor concerts with B-list bands that pack ’em in. There are several restaurants/bars on the property, and we went to the Power Station Pub. We split a Grateful Veg Mezza because the place was busy, and we were warned that our meals would be longer than a 30-minute wait. She ordered the Aztec Salad with chicken, and I had the Dockside Fish Soft Tacos. One blackberry seltzer each, so there was to be zero dancing.

This morning was a bicycle ride ending at Stomping Grounds for a latte and a muffin. Afterwards, I yanked the dead weeds I sprayed with killer a couple days ago. The afternoon was spent watching the last two episodes of season one of LOST. In the last one Locke tells Jack that he is a man of faith and Jack is a man of science. The title of episode one of season two is “Man of Science, Man of Faith.” I’ll start with that one tomorrow.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 31.1%

 

Back Home I’m Worth $149 Million

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Mega Lotto Jackpot

Since Tuesday’s Little Toy Airplane post I have chewed through seven more episodes and only have the final 2 episode of Season 1 left. The only other LOST action figure bonus item that I have is Hurley’s Mega Lotto Jackpot ticket. He used the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 that frequently recurred in LOST and winning brought him nothing but bad luck.

You can still get that full 6-figure set of the McFarland Series 1 action figures on eBay for $210.00. I’m hoping that one of my thousands of readers will buy them, so I can’t.

Red Sox chances of making the Wild Card round in the 2026 playoffs: 36.6%