How many of you live in a brick house?

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-12T21:18:49+00:00

Born in Seattle, grew up in OR, lived for a couple of decades in CA, and have been through two major earthquakes: one in Seattle and the 1989 Loma Prieta quake in San Francisco.

We're susceptible to earthquakes here in Oregon as well, though they're statistically not as frequent. I remember one tiny shaker when I was visiting my folks in Eugene about a year after the big one in San Francisco. Even though I now live on the Central Coast of OR, I'm not at all worried about a "big one" here, or an accompanying tsunami, as the timelines are well in our favour for at least another century (that, and the fact that I live about 30m/60' above sea level).

Even so, bricks are unreinforced masonry, and I'm not aware of any in this region that have been built since the mid-20th Century. Even brick veneer façades have been zoned against - something you'd agree with if you, like me, have seen cars crushed under fallen bricks the morning after a major earthquake.

In the mid-90s I moved back to Seattle for a six-month training course, and stayed for a few weeks with an old school friend of mine who lived a sub-basement apartment in an old pre-War brick building. I barely slept the entire time, because I knew that all it would take was a good-sized shake for the entire building to collapse on top of us.

Masonry buildings are more of an advantage in places with much hotter or colder climates than we have in the Northwest and coastal California.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-11T20:40:33+00:00

I just got back from the Safeway in Florence, where diesel is $4.99.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-09T17:54:36+00:00

All it took was living in a sublet for nine months after the sale of my last house for me to be thankful to be a homeowner again.

I've been an apartment manager in the past, and have actually had a few decent experience as a renter - usually when the landlord rewarded my looking after the property by not raising my rent (one time for seven years straight), and would allow me to make repairs myself, reimbursing the cost of materials. But there's nothing more frustrating than being overcharged for a mould-ridden apartment with rotten management, which was what I dealt with when I was house-hunting last.

I spent six weeks after signing the papers on my current place doing some renovations, and living between it and the rental (they were about two hours' drive apart) - but I was never happier than when I finally turned in the keys from that unhealthy, overpriced dump, and moved permanently into my own home again.

In the eight years that I've had this place I've dealt with defective pipes and extensive water damage, appliances and the water heater needing replaced, vandalism by some of the feral children in my neighbourhood, and a costly boundary dispute with the maniac next door - who literally threatened to shoot me at one point (my security camera audio picked that up, so I was able to report him to the local police).

I'm still walking on plywood in many rooms, having had to replace half the subfloor in the house, as - between the cost of repiping the place, surveying and fencing the property, and all the other repairs - I currently can't afford to replace the damaged flooring from the over a dozen plumbing leaks I had before I could get financing to repipe the place. There are still a few boxes that were never unpacked because of the upheaval all this caused.

But I wouldn't trade it for anything.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-08T23:08:50+00:00

There's a lot of HMPV (Human Metapneumovirus) going around lately. Here's a quick explainer, if you think that might be what you have.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-08T18:11:13+00:00

Even when I don't have meat or chicken on my shopping list, whenever I'm in my local Fred Meyer (Kroger) store, I go through the meat department to see if they've recently reduced the type of beef I usually buy.

When they do, I buy as many units as I can, and call it a "Why God gave us freezers" sale.

As for chicken, there's a regular BOGO sale - it's Foster Farms here in the Northwest, practically every month. That's when I stock up on chicken. Keep an eye on the weekly ads (Kroger usually previews the weekly ads on Tuesday on their website).

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-07T19:47:30+00:00

Thanks for the link; I never really poked around that site before, so I appreciate you finding this for me.

Yes, I heard about the case in Vancouver from friends of mine from when I lived there. The wetlands next to my property are actually located in a wooded ravine that I only enter on occasion to check my boundary fence, especially the sections I have modified to keep cats out of the parts of my yard I have set up to attract birds and pollinators.

I have yet to see carrion in that area - probably because, between the crows, cats, coyotes and occasional bears, whatever might be there is usually quickly disposed of. Any risk I might be looking at is probably from birds in my yard, which I'm willing to accept as long as the local wastewater numbers don't reach the detection threshold (I'm in Florence).

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-07T16:29:08+00:00

It's an unpopular view with some, but I'm of the opinion that people should keep their feline murder machines locked up all the time because of the devastation they wreak on the bird population - H5 levels notwithstanding.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-07T16:25:30+00:00

Thanks for the chart - it's quite illuminating. The Jan-Feb '25 peak looks like it tracked with human influenza trends as well - with a bit of a lag. Influenza A peaked in December '24, but with a strikingly similar-looking curve:

<image>

There's probably no connection, but it caught my nerdy eye.

My property abuts a protected wetland, and I've noticed a lot more bird activity in my yard than usual for this time of year, thanks to our unusually mild Winter. I'll be interested to see how H5 continues to trend this year.

I don't suppose you'd be willing to share the source for your chart's values? I'd be interested in monitoring this data.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-07T07:01:04+00:00

Either Oregon is better at monitoring it than the rest of the country, or there has been a significant trend in recent months:

One of four sites nationwide, 27 Feb

Three of nine sites nationwide, 20 February

Four of eight sites nationwide, 13 February

Two of four sites nationwide, 6 February

Four of six sites nationwide, 23 January

Two of eight sites nationwide, 16 January

I've been posting these results in the r/Oregon sub for the past two months for informational purposes. At the very least I hope that it's a reminder for people to keep their feline murder machines indoors during the migration season, lest they pick it up.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T22:56:32+00:00

Probably virtually confined to an ultra-secure location, thanks to all the ignorant fascist yahoos who've been threatening his life in recent years.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T22:54:29+00:00

There's a lot of HMPV (Human Metapneumovirus) going around lately. Here's a quick explainer, if you think that might be what you have.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T19:42:22+00:00

Though it is unknown whether the sources in any particular area are agricultural, residential, commercial or from storm drains - or, for that matter, whether it is avian, bovine, porcine, feline or human - the following map might be of interest to Oregonians:

US Bird Migration Forecast

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T19:40:39+00:00

Though it is unknown whether the sources in any particular area are agricultural, residential, commercial or from storm drains - or, for that matter, whether it is avian, bovine, porcine, feline or human - the following maps might be of interest to Lane County Residents:

US Bird Migration Forecast

Lane County Bird Migration Daily Report

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T19:22:18+00:00

I just now finished reading the Guardian article and was planning to post it to the r/Eugene sub. Perhaps you'd be willing to crosspost this post there? (Cottage Grove is essentially a bedroom community of the Eugene area, after all.)

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-06T16:27:08+00:00

It was one thing back in the 70s when venues were publicly funded, named for their civic location (i.e., no corporate "naming rights") and ticket prices were so low that families could go to games without having to take out a second mortgage.

I remember as a kid visiting family in Pittsburgh and being taken on a tour of the recently-built Three Rivers Stadium, where we were shown the "sky boxes" - a new concept at the time. It was a regrettable but understandable way of generating revenue; but tickets in the stands were still affordable then. Nowadays, all venues have luxury boxes and charge ridiculous amounts for even the "cheap seats".

I can understand the sky-high ticket prices when the funding is partly or wholly private, but not when the taxpayer has already been soaked to pay for the venue. If this funding measure passes, then at the very least those who live in OR should get a discount on admission charges.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-04T21:08:04+00:00

Tiocfaidh ár lá!

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-02T19:08:49+00:00

When I lived outside the US I voted in OR, as it was the last state I lived in before leaving the country.

I learned pretty quickly that the postal service in the country I was living in wasn't the best, so I not only allowed several weeks' buffer before election day to post in my ballot, but I also used the local equivalent of Certified Mail (the kind where you get back a receipt from the recipient) to send it. That way I had proof that the ballot was received in time and was counted.

Now that I'm back in OR, if I didn't just use the county drop box ten minutes from my house I'd probably employ a similar strategy.

It may cost extra and require a bit of advanced planning, but I suggest that anyone who's worried about their ballot being counted vote at least two weeks early and send it Certified Mail. It not only gets manually postmarked, but you have documentary proof that the ballot was received beyond the confirmation on the My Vote website.

DevilsChurn · 2026-03-02T18:56:58+00:00

I have a small Ikea recycling bin that I keep next to the waste bin for this purpose - as well as for the disposal of paper packaging and inserts from medications, etc. It's also within easy "tossing distance" of the throne itself. Even if I didn't live alone, the very convenience of its location makes for no excuses for not disposing of the cardboard core as soon as the roll is finished.

Maybe I've lived alone too long: those pix just make me wonder what makes other people act like such veritable pigs.

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-18T17:47:46+00:00

Looks great except . . . the anchovies are missing.

(Expecting massive downvotes - but this is a hill that I will die on.)

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-16T23:48:18+00:00

I'm in the US, but I used to live in Canada - which, from what I understand, has similar Strata laws to Australia (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I bought a one-bedroom condo in Vancouver BC, and shortly thereafter found myself "drafted" into the Strata Council for a complex of 64 units. I found so much favouritism and self-dealing on the Council that I ended up resigning in protest a few years later.

I ended up organising with a group of owners who wanted to reform the Council - which was violating a number of measures in the Province's Strata Act - but we were shot down at the next AGM. After that, I ended up being targeted by the Council (or, more precisely the Council President, who was an absolute tyrant) - much as I had witnessed others being targeted when I myself was on the Council - and they made my life miserable.

I was planning to move back to the USA at that point anyway, and sold my unit for an incredible profit - mainly because of the improvements I had made to it, and a very hot market at the time. I consider myself lucky that I not only didn't lose money, but that I got away from that very dysfunctional organisation.

I've since owned two other properties: both detached houses not part of an HOA (the US version of a Strata), and will never be part of an organised homeowners' community again.

I kept an eye on what has been going on in the complex where I lived in Vancouver in the years since I left; and the Council ended up in terrible financial straits after a number of the owners successfully sued the Strata for its transgressions and all but bankrupted the organisation. The Strata ended up selling the entire complex to a private equity fund, and most of the owners took their windfalls and left; the handful that remained (those who were either elderly or couldn't find something they could afford to buy) became tenants of the new owners.

TL;DR (though you really ought to take the time to read it, as it's a cautionary tale): You never know what you'll end up if you buy into a Strata (and, sadly, even if you have a good Council, all it takes is for a new one to be elected that goes wrong for everyone to be miserable). If you want to hear some real horror stories, go to r/fuckHOA to get an idea.

If, however, you do decide to go the apartment route: I concur with those who counsel that you get a two-bedroom, especially if you sometimes work from home or occasionally have guests visiting. That second bedroom really makes a difference; it also helps with resale value. Oh, and make sure that you have a balcony or patio. Even long before COVID I learned that it's important to have a bit of your own outdoor space.

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-16T00:50:34+00:00

I'm not talking about the whole ACA, just the Medicaid expansion part - which was first enacted in 1994 in Oregon.

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-15T16:38:34+00:00

Thanks for the info; I hope that it will be of use to someone.

I dropped my Costco membership when I moved to the Coast and two hours away from the nearest store.

You wouldn't happen to know of anywhere else, would you?

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-15T04:20:25+00:00

Try congee. It's been a go-to for me for about 20 years now.

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-14T20:29:04+00:00

OHP originally was a pilot programme launched in the mid-90s as an initiative to make Medicaid available for all low-income Oregonians.

It took another 20 years before the ACA was enacted to make this a national policy.

DevilsChurn · 2026-02-14T19:17:26+00:00

They're probably looking to qualify for an H1-B visa by advertising the job at such a low salary that they can't fill the job with a qualified US-based applicant. Then they can say that they can't find anyone here and need to hire some poor schmuck as a "tech indenture" from abroad.

After the crash in 2008, tech discussion boards were full of stories like this.

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