New Job and Apartment Search

I've been at my new job for a week now and so far things are going well. I'm working for Siemens, which is a huge engineering company (over 400,000 employees worldwide). I'm working in the light rail electrification group which has about 15 employees, so it feels like working for a small company. Most of the other engineers (including my boss) are electrical. I'm one of three mechanical engineers in the group.

I've already learned a lot about light rail systems, especially the overhead contact lines (which are way more complex than I though). So far, I enjoy the work I'm doing and like the the people I work with. I've been doing 3D modeling in SolidWorks and stress analysis on overhead contact line components (we're getting a license for ANSYS which I'll probably be using early next year). So, I'm actually using some stuff I learned in school, which is cool.

Right now, I'm staying in an EconoLodge. I spent most of my free time last week researching apartments and went to see a few after work. I found a duplex on Thursday and put a deposit down for it. It's got a garage, two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a wood burning fireplace. I'm pretty excited to move into it, but won't be able to until next weekend. They are replacing the carpet in the living and dining room areas with engineered wood (similar to what I put down in the cabin, for those of you that have seen it).

As for living in Portland... it's different. From what I've seen so far, it's a very pretty city. There are massive trees and parks everywhere. It doesn't really feel like living in a city. The weather has actually been pretty good since I got here. We've had several days with sunshine (uncommon for this time of year) and not much rain. It is overcast a lot, but it's a different kind of overcast. It's more of an all-encompassing fog, which is actually kind of cool.

It's very green here. We're at the tail end of fall now with leaves still falling off some trees. The grass is all still very green, and vines or moss grow on almost everything. Roofs, sidewalks, and even some roads have moss growing on them. I definitely miss living in the mountains, but am looking forward to the new challenges and adventures of living on the west coast.

Drive to Oregon

I picked up my mom from the airport Tuesday evening. We finished cleaning the cabin and loaded the 4-wheeler into the back of the truck, then attached the trailer and loaded my Jeep onto it.

 

We were on I-70 heading west by 9.30 am, hurrying to beat a winter storm that was headed to the central Rockies that night. It was slow going (we averaged 50 mph through the central Rockies), but we made it to Salt Lake City around 8 pm. We spent the night there and woke up to to flickering lights and high winds. 

The winds were gusting up to 90 mph in SLC and had caused power outages throughout the city and had blown over several semis. The highway just south of where we stayed was closed because a semi was on its side, blocking the highway. The winds were predicted to get worse before they got better, so we ate a quick breakfast then headed north. I was pretty nervous driving the big U-haul truck, towing my jeep because the wind was mostly perpendicular to the highway. I could feel the gusts tipping the truck and blowing it left and right. After a strenuous hour, we made it out of the gusty winds. Luckily, it wasn't snowing during all this. The rest of the drive went pretty smoothly. After two-and-a-half days and 24 hours of driving, we made it to Portland (and averaged about 10 mpg).

Portland had unusually good weather and for the whole weekend. The sun was out and we got great views of Mt. Hood on our drive in.