I was just thinking: If

I was just thinking: If the US Constitution doesn't mean anything anymore, then neither do any of our laws. So go break some laws while you can.

Oregon Lottery

(Pictured: Kathy & Frank at The Meet Market.) Upon finishing my salmon & shrimp, I dumped a little cash into one of the 6 Oregon Lottery video slots near the bar, hoping to either make a few bucks or take only a small loss. (I guess there are a handful of these machines in about every bar in Oregon.) Yeah, I know, that was not necessarily a bright move on my part, but gaming machines possess some kind of mysterious attraction. Although I told myself I wouldn't allow myself to lose a bunch of money, I soon found myself with considerably less money than when I entered the bar. Starting to feel like a total idiot, the machine hit a small jackpot and I had all my money back. Of course, I moved to another machine and lost another big chunk of cash. Then it hit and I got most of it back. The next machine did the same thing, except when it hit, it hit again... and again. Soon I was up $55,
which made me happy. I cashed out with $40 more than I'd started with, and I gave the barkeep Josh $10.

The mete market

It's now clear why my backpack has become so burdensome lately: The thing weighs 66 lbs! Well, it did yesterday morning, anyway. Fortunately I was able to unload 4 lbs of stuff at Kathy's house, which she is going to send home for me. My gear ended up about 63 lbs when I left her house because I left out the stove and sternos when I weighed everything. That included 2 18-oz cans of clam chowder, a can of tuna, a can of salmon, 2 apples, and a full supply of water. Unfortunately I was unable to take the sleeping bag because it was just too big to store either on or in my backpack. When I left, Kathy and Frank took me to the north end of Madras, outside a bar/restaurant called The Meet Market. (It used to be a real meat market.) They invited me in for a beer, which became 2 beers. They left before I did. I ended up with a free meal because the cook was bored and experimented with a new
dish. She made salmon and shrimp with an alfredo/garlic sauce, then offered it to me. It was very good.