OregOn...The Stand AlOne State

Okay, kids, ready for a rousing game of Oregon State Trivia? I knew you were.
I love collecting random facts and figures. It's part of my Rainmannish charm. Whenever I read about an honor or a distinction bestowed upon our grand state, I feel all tingly inside. So here are just a few of Oregon's unique claims.
First off, and certainly most important, did you know that Oregon shares the distinction of full-service-only gas stations with just one other state? Can you guess which state that is? Yes, that's right! New Jersey. Because, in New Jersey, getting out of your car could mean getting caught in a mafia crossfire. Here, it just means you will be accosted by numerous panhandlers, petitioners and Street Roots sellers.
I learned a new one just the other day. Oregon and Louisiana (?) are the only two states that do NOT require a unanimous jury verdict on felony cases (exception: murder). Whether you find this favorable or detestable is not the point. It's certainly unique and random.
It warms the cockles of my heart, or the heart of my cockles, I'm undecided, to announce that Mt Hood National Forest has been chosen to be the fifth honored on a series of new US Mint America the Beautiful commemorative quarters. I have only been half-way to Mt Hood, but now I am itchier than ever to get out there. Actually, I'm just itchy. It's because I sweated this morning. On that note, can we talk about the treadmill in my gym?
Every morning, I select random mode because I like to be surprised. Lately, it seems the treadmill is trying to kill me. It has me on a steep incline almost the entire time. When I select random, I then enter my weight, time and age. Now, as most of you know, my age is now in the double digits. I am not a young man anymore, not in comparison to the likes of Zac Efron and the Jonas Brothers. By the way, should that B be capitalized? Anyway, even after I enter my age, it sends me running up a hill. By the time I finish, I feel I've engaged in a hot pursuit of Krispy Kremes up Kilimanjaro. Or perhaps pursued BY a Krispy Kreme. In any case, there were many Ks involved.
Back to distinctions, our latest brag is for the fabulous Multnomah County Library system. You may not know this - in fact, why would you? - but I love libraries. Libraries and bookstores can swallow me up for hours on end. The Central library downtown is a glorious structure with wide marble stairwells connecting their three voluminous floors. The theater and music section is unmatched, at least in Oregon I'm sure. Well, and I am getting a little butterfly even as I type, the Multnomah County Library is set to receive a National Medal for Museum and Library Service, the nation's highest honor for museums and libraries! It is one of ten agencies to receive the award this year and the only library in Oregon ever to receive it. The award is being given in recognition of the library's efforts to serve the Spanish, Russian, Chinese and Vietnamese speakers by hiring a busload of bilingual employees (see kids, taking those language courses paid off after all) AND for the library's leadership in early education services like Raising a Reader, which provides literacy services to more than 30,000 children a year. Bravo, MultCoLib! Bravo!
Suffice to say (which is how an employer of mine used to begin all his sentences - but unfortunately he had nothing to say after that. And neither have I).