Weekend in Portland Part 1

On a bit of a whim, I had the opportunity to go to Portland, Oregon, one of my favorite cities. So I took it. I flew out the afternoon of Friday, February 28th.

That night I had no plans. A particular ramen restaurant, Kayo’s Ramen Bar, was recommended to me, so I went there. The ramen I ordered was possibly the best I’ve ever had, and very spicy, just what the doctor ordered on a cold, wet night after a day of travel.

After ramen, I had pie back in Alberta–I was again staying in the Alberta neighborhood. I met some new friends and ended up hanging out with them until late that night. I had a second dessert of cheesecake. I returned to my Airbnb and slept great.

The next morning I had an early breakfast planned with an old friend. Before breakfast I walked to Case Study Coffee for my first coffee of the day. My barista was covered in beautiful tattoos and wore a peach-colored jumpsuit. As you do.

A short walk followed, to Pine State Biscuits, for breakfast. It was tasty and company was delightful. More coffee was consumed.

My next event was lunch with a coworker, who lives in Beaverton. He came into Portland with his family and friend and we ate Mediterranean food at Nicholas. I had toum, Lebanese garlic aioli, for the first time. It was delicious. I was regaled with the history of Intergalactic Digital Research and CP/M, specifically details around what Wikipedia simply describes:

In 1980 IBM approached Digital Research, at Bill Gates’ suggestion, to license a forthcoming version of CP/M for its new product, the IBM Personal Computer. Upon the failure to obtain a signed non-disclosure agreement, the talks failed, and IBM instead contracted with Microsoft to provide an operating system. The resulting product, MS-DOS, soon began outselling CP/M.

The version I heard was much more interesting. We finished off lunch with some Turkish coffee. We all observed the lack of sludge in what is normally a very gritty brew.

I went straight from lunch to Breadwinner Cycles, not knowing if anyone would be there. I found the door open and a single soul inside. The resulting experience will begin Part 2…

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