Life is riddled with a procession of minor impediments

[radiator]

We're supposed to be moving here for work in the summer, and we came here to check it out, but now we're starting to desperately back-pedal on that idea.

I've actually always wanted to visit Portland though as I've long been interested in the alternative scene and people seem to really love the city. Plus I like rain, coffee, beer and indie music which the city is famous for. The fact that its a hours drive from both mountains and coast is also a massive bonus.

I really wasn't expecting it turn out to be a slightly depressing ghost town, but that's exactly what it feels like, especially compared to East London, which genuinely is vibrant and bustling and trendy. As I said, we're checking out some of the trendier parts and surrounding areas the next few days, but they're going to have to be pretty damn spectacular to win us round now.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

Plus I like rain, coffee, beer and indie music which the city is famous for.

Oddly enough I recently met a chap from Seattle who claimed that his city was famous for exactly the same reasons :O

[Dark Jimbo]

It's hard to describe, but everything feels a bit off, a bit unreal. The streets are wide but largely deserted, in a slightly unsettling 28 Days Later kind of way. The buildings are huge but I'm beginning to suspect they're all made of MDF and hollow inside. There are a million little things, really.

That's exactly how I've felt every time I've been to America. Whole place seems like a semi-abandoned industrial estate!

[Frank]

That's exactly how I've felt every time I've been to America. Whole place seems like a semi-abandoned industrial estate!

My brother spent months riding greyhound buses around America and said that long stretches of his trip - especially in The South - felt like touring a third world nation, which made for a profoundly depressing experience. He also hooked up with a former stripper, whose previous employment was in a joint called BAZOOKAS, and gave the free all-you-can-eat buffets in Las Vegas a run for their money. Swings and roundabouts, I suppose.

[radiator]

Ha, yeah.

What's weird is that there are plenty of wrong 'uns in London, but as it's always so busy you don't really notice them or feel threatened, but here, if you encounter a dodgy type in the street it feels quite threatening because there's usually not many other people around.

That and the possibility that they might have a gun of course.

I'm also really staggered by the inequality on show. Extravagant wealth living literally a block or two away from real poverty and deprivation. I know London can be a bit like that but in my personal experience it usually looks a lot worse than it is, and even 'poor' or 'rough' areas are generally very culturally and socially diverse. Here it seems almost segregated - poor areas are just cut off and no one goes there if they can avoid it.

I'm sorry to the US boarders, I don't mean to disrespect, I'm sure there are a lot of great qualities too. Just being honest about my first impressions, and they are just that.

[blackmocco]

Ha! When I first moved to the US, I spent eleven months in Phoenix, AZ. The biggest shithole I've ever been to. If anything, it helped me out with living somewhere else because wherever else I lived, it couldn't be as utterly shite as Phoenix was. LA's way more my scene but even then, it's not always obvious entertainment. You do have to scratch the surface a little to find the things you like.

What everyone needs to understand about the US is that people's entertainment here isn't localized like it is back home. People have no problem driving big distances just for a night out and rarely stay in just one place even then. I've always found it quite maddening myself.

Unfortunately Radiator, I think you've been a little misinformed about Portland. Portland's a pretty quiet city and it's a place people tend to move to when they want to get away from noisy big cities like Los Angeles or San Francisco.

I would say come back for the summer by all means. Just go to a different city. You'll have a far different experience.

[radiator]

We've explored a bit more of the city now, including the upmarket and shabby/trendy districts, and though these areas are really nice (and are much more of what I thought it would be like here) they represent tiny pockets of civilisation in what is mostly quite a drab place, and the roving packs of homeless people and crackheads (of which there are many) kind of take the shine off the nice parts tbh.

To clarify, I knew Portland wouldn't be as vibrant as London, I knew it would be much smaller. But I did think it would be a lot nicer!

[mogzilla]

...cos i spent last night in a & e thinking i was having a heart attack but lucily im not, hearts fine so's i can carry on abusing it and i dont haqve a blood clot in my lung so apart from the white hot pain keeping me awakes im fine! yay!








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[Link Prime]

...cos i spent last night in a & e thinking i was having a heart attack but lucily im not, hearts fine so's i can carry on abusing it and i dont haqve a blood clot in my lung so apart from the white hot pain keeping me awakes im fine! yay!








...

Jeez Mogzilla...hardly one for the '...minor impediments' thread.
Get well soon dude.

[CrazyFoxMachine]

...cos i spent last night in a & e thinking i was having a heart attack but lucily im not, hearts fine so's i can carry on abusing it and i dont haqve a blood clot in my lung so apart from the white hot pain keeping me awakes im fine! yay!

Bloody hell Mogzilla glad you're okay :O Frustrating to be told "it's nowt go away and suffer" but surely much better than actually having a buggered heart - !

[von Boom]

Scary stuff mogz. Be well.

[judda fett]

'kin 'ell Mogz they tell you what was up with you before they sent you packin? I thought I was having a heart attack once, it was pleurisy.

[Professor Bear]

...cos i spent last night in a & e thinking i was having a heart attack but lucily im not, hearts fine so's i can carry on abusing it and i dont haqve a blood clot in my lung so apart from the white hot pain keeping me awakes im fine! yay!

Scarey shit, Mogz.  Stay well.

If it helps, I don't think your doctors are being callous or anything, it's just that stomach problems from acid reflux to stress pains can cause pain all over the body that borders on unreal, and they're hard to call because there's technically not anything wrong with you as it's just the body doing what it does normally,  only turned up to 11.  A mate had symptoms that mirrored a heart attack but it was just trapped wind - it might feel like hell but you should try to relax if you can.

[Hawkmumbler]

This thread got dark. Hope you get well Mogz. 

[Spikes]

Aye take it easy, and get well soon Fella.