R.I.P. "Kadoka" - Our Family Dog: Sept. '94-Aug. '08

With appropriate apologies for dominating this infrequently-used personal blog with memorials (previously on this blog), I regret to inform of the passing of my family's first canine: Kadoka. My parents called to share that she had been laid to rest today after prolonged illness and deteriorating health.

"Kadoka" was fourteen years old.

South Dakota Roots
Shortly after graduating High School, the remaining members of my family (with Sister in college and Dad already there) packed the (ugly) green Ford Taurus, the pop-up tent trailer (yes, we were *that* family) and headed East from Vancouver, WA. Destination: Homestead, AFB, Florida.

Years later, I've blocked out most of the trip (as you can imagine) ... but one memory remains vivid: South Dakota. At the time, the State's tourism board offered cassette tapes explaining the various sites and history along Interstate 90. The "rental" was free, so we picked up a set. Along the way we learned more interesting facts about South Dakota than any of us ever thought possible. (Seriously, South Dakota?!)

Among the many factoids: The City of Kadoka, South Dakota is famous (again, we're talking South Dakota here) for it's annual International Outhouse Race (sorry couldn't find a link). After the obligatory round of jokes, puns, and amusements that would make our cassette-tape narrator proud, we collectively came to the conclusion that "Kadoka" would make a great name for our dog. (We liked the name and the story, without trying to extract any symbolism or create correlations between dogs and outhouses.)

Meanwhile, Back in "The 'Couve"
It wasn't until we (to be fair, I flew ahead) trekked back to Vancouver, WA later that Fall (having deemed the Florida experiment a humid disappointment) that we found the family's first canine. A newborn Shetland Sheepdog puppy.

Kadoka was a playful dog, happy and content. Never argued with you, always enjoying company and great with kids. Kadoka was well-traveled and has left her mark on more States than many humans can claim to visit. Kadoka is survived by her two cocker spaniel siblings and a family that misses her already.

I learned a lot from that dog... patience, appreciation, and most importantly, an extended appreciation for our 40th State.

Next time you find yourself in South Dakota (after accepting my apologies), think of Kadoka...


Yes, I'll post photos when I can find some...

Update: Thanks to a reader I'm reminded that Tom Brokaw is from South Dakota. Brokaw, as you may know, is something of a hero of mine. I watched him nightly on NBC growing up and he tops he list of "people I'd like to meet". And, for the record, I enjoyed South Dakota -- I've been there a few times... just, well, you know: a bit of a "flyover State". Ehh? ;-)

Vote For Me! Washington PCO for 37-1895

UPDATE 11/12: I won... but didn't... but... Read MORE here.


I'm pleased to officially announce my write-in candidacy for position of Precinct Committee Officer for Washington State Precint #37-1895.

Now, since it's past the deadline for me to have my name on the ballot (dammit!) I'm asking everyone in my neighbourhood to write-in my name and party affiliation ("Prefers Democratic party").

Please tell everyone you know in the 12 square block area in the map shown here to add my name ("Brian M. Westbrook") to the ballot as-shown.
Your assistance in helping me be elected during the August 19th primary is appreciated.

If you would like to help with my campaign, door-to-door efforts, or have ideas that can help me get elected -- please send them to: elect AT brianwestbrook DOT com.

For more information on the position of Precinct Committee Officer, view:

• Wikipedia: Precinct Committee Officer

R.I.P. Northwest Afternoon (1984-2008)

Word today is that KOMO TV's Northwest Afternoon will soon end its 24-year run. A local talk show produced by Fisher-owned KOMO (Ch. 4 / ABC), "NWA" featured a 15-20 minute "Soap Report" by anchor Cindi Rinehart followed by variety topics ranging from "Ambush Makeovers" to interviews with celebrities, authors and experts.

As you've no doubt learned from my countless shameless plugs and blog posts, I've been a regular guest covering gadgets, websites, and technology for the show. Each time, the entire gang at Northwest Afternoon has been very enthusiastic, supportive and a pleasure to work with -- a far cry from the fake "made-for-TV" pleasantries you might expect.

View some of my past appearances on NWA here.

The show wraps in August to be replaced by the nationally syndicated show "The Doctors," this Fall.

Northwest Afternoon: Gadgets for Gals - Video Replay!

As-promised, video of Monday's show.

For the full recap and product information, view the original blog posting
here.

Internet Party: When Google's parents leave town...

Check this out and let me know if you can identify all the partygoers. ;-)

My Campaign for One Page Trip Results

I need a haircut.

Many "Green" initiatives are complex, involved projects that span multiple agencies and take months to complete. Here's one tip for the Metro KC website that can save precious resources with a few lines of code (or, more likely, a few *less* code).

My mother is in town. I lent her my vehicle today so she could trek out to Bellevue Square in (as my friends and I refer to the other side of the lake) "Eastern Washington". Hopefully she'll return with plenty of expensive gifts for me. Meanwhile, back to that haircut... I'm heading out of town for the weekend and have a busy week next week. Fortunately, I was able to schedule an appointment with Liana @ noon today. Without my car... I'll be taking the bus. Yay, fun!

So I go on to the Metro KC Transit Planner ("Plan Trip" @ transit.metrokc.gov) and enter the address of my office (1501 4th Avenue) and that of Liana’s Hair Salon (1125 E Olive Street) with an arrive-by time of 12:00 Noon. The trip results suggest three single-bus itineraries on routes 11, 10 and 49. Sorted! I print the results to take with me… two pages spit out of the printer behind my desk. (See PDF)

The second page is merely footer information and links to "plan a new trip" and invitations to "investigate alternatives". All the essentials are on the first page.

Suggestion: Compress the trip results page so that most single-bus itineraries print on one page. I suspect I'm not alone in printing my results – and all those extra wasted pages throughout the Metro transit system could be conserved. A few minutes of simply eliminating line breaks (do we need a solid bar at the top of the results?), reducing font size, or merging some results to one line (could "send feedback", "plan return trip" and "revise original entries" be place on the same line?).

Now with page two in the blue bin for each of my outbound and return trips – I'm ready to get my haircut and the world will no longer be subject to my shaggy do.

Thanks for listening and joining me in the fight for single-page transit results!

KATU Blogger Meetup: Recap & Photos

Syndicated from: blog.brianwestbrook.net

KATU invited nearly 100 local bloggers to the studios in Southeast Portland for a "meetup". While met with initial skepticism, conspiracy, and as many theories as there were invites, the event was an amazing success! Thanks to the team at KATU for reaching out to the blogging community in stumptown -- for trusting me with the task of corralling the masses and hosting the meetup, the great food and drink, the clever (and useful!) thumb drive-containing gift bags and of course for letting us invade your studios for the evening! (I hope we didn't leave a mess?) More "Thank You" notes in a bit, but for now...

The Details
Arriving at the KATU Studios just before 6:30pm, my parking concerns eased with a spot across the street from the Portland Mercury offices, and -- more importantly -- the much-anticipated 4-Square tournament (good thing it wasn't a beer-tossing contest!).

Across the street, bloggers from all genres were shuffling in, registering and receiving name tags. My first impression was that the KATU staff was warm and welcoming -- working wonders at setting any tension or awkwardness at ease (thanks Kristen!). I exchanged greetings with the now-familiar Rob and Terry and made my way back to the studio.

What the room lacked in size, the buffet table redeemed in selection. The traditional fried finger foods were paired with an assortment of meats, cheeses, shrimp, even sushi (though I've never quite been able to stomach the idea of party sushi). KATU's staff of bartenders (perhaps explaining how they get through long wall-to-wall coverage of Pacific Northwest storms?) served up a selection of area wines and Widmer beer. I suspect we made friends among the engineering staff by leaving behind the leftover keg.

It's at this point we learn there's an interview for KATU's sister station in the news studio. This temporarily deflates hopes of a group photo on the anchor chair and quality time in Helen and Dave's AM Northwest living room. Fortunately, hope was restored in the form of a quick interviewer and we filed in to the primary broadcast studio.

You've certainly heard about tiny news sets -- this was no exception or surprise. I didn't realize they used the same room for both the local news AND the AM Northwest program. Props to the engineers for making that work every day!

I put on my headset for the group photo and more mingling / networking before the night came to a close. I regret that I didn't get to meet everyone, and I won't even *try* to recount all the faces and names I did chat with (with some exception below) -- hopefully you had as good a time as I did and, well ...until we meet again!

Shout-Outs:

• Matt & Scott at Portland Mercury - thanks for the 4-square, next time I promise I'll even play! (if you'll forgive me for the invite snafu?)
  
• Rich - hopefuly you got at least one decent shot? (I went back to the mic so you could have a second chance. ;-) )
  
• Dieselboii - Thanks for inviting fellow bloggers and the great chat.
  
• LynnS - You were as insightful and friendly in person as you appear on your blog - thanks for coming!
  
• Athena - I look forward to the Portland version - where can I get the Seattle book about ghosts? You're brave heading to the basement!
  
• J.D. - when I win the MegaMillions ($325 million!!) on Friday, I'll come to you for advice!
  
• Samuel John Klein (and the WifeTM) - You looked like a natural at the anchor chair, did you drop off a resume?
  
• Aaron (a fellow "RCG") - thanks for reconnecting even though you couldn't make it (congrats on the newborn!). Let's get together soon?
  
• To Rob, Terry, John, Julie, Kristen, Steve, Deb, and the rest of the KATU staff that made the event possible -- thank you! You were excellent hosts.

With that, I say... Let the conversation continue!

For more coverage of KATU's Blogger Meetup, visit:

Brian M. Westbrook's photo gallery (including the "group photo")

Portland Bloggers Flickr group (join the group, share your photos!)

Blogtown PDX Four-Square game highlights (bonus: animated photo)

Terry Heaton's PoMo Blog: Bloggers Meet in Portland

Oregon Media Insiders declares: "KATU Is My New Best Friend" (Can I have your energy drink? ;-) )

...did you write about the meetup? Tag your post "katumeetup" so we can all find it. Drop me a note and I'll add to this list. Unless you have bad photos of me, then tag your post "awfulphotoofbmw" so I can filter out the horror. :-p

Thanks again to everyone who came out -- it was a pleasure to meet such a diverse and passionate group of bloggers.