David's PDX Post

Just in time for winter

2011-10-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

Question: How does someone spend an hour of their fall break from school in Portland, Oregon?

Answer: see the picture!

I found the pattern an recipe online. The crooked mounting and off center reflective tape were my additions.

Mmmmm

2011-07-11T20:10:00.001-07:00

Fresh corn on the con!!!!

"Go Fly a Kite"

2011-06-27T06:13:00.001-07:00

Okay.

Happy Father's Day to me!

2011-06-19T08:06:00.001-07:00

From my very talented daughter!

Evil in a snack tin

2011-06-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

How can robots make you cry?

2010-11-12T22:21:00.001-08:00

This is how....

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/movies-free-online/im-here-a-short-fim-by-spike-j.html

First shot in the Holiday Music Wars

2010-10-26T06:59:00.000-07:00

Brilliant!

Things I use everyday: Shoulder Bag

2010-10-15T08:23:00.000-07:00

Simple. Durable. Useful. And cheap to boot. Sometimes I wish it had more space but then I'd just throw too much stuff into it.

UPDATE:
I clearly forgot a few important things about the bag (as Jamie pointed out)!

It's a Manhattan Portage Reflective Strip DJ Bag. It retails for $49, but I found it for a lot less locally here in Portland at Adorn. They don't have a storefront but they have good prices! The sale price was only for a brown version of the bag, but since that was the color I would have chosen it worked out okay.

I really, really like the simplicity of the bag. The durability of Cordura is a bonus.

I saw a Bear Today

2010-08-20T18:07:00.000-07:00

Not in a cage.

Not in an exhibit. Not traveling with gypsies.

Like, in the wild.

I was nearing the end of my Table Mountain hike in Washington State in the Columbia River Gorge. I heard something big in the brush moving fast. The bear crashed away and stopped about a hundred yards off and turned and looked at me. I said "Hey bear!" He was unimpressed. I started moving and he turned away and booked it across the ravine.

Dev hates it when the bears hike with me.

Wow!

2010-06-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

This activity is not on my life list, but I'm glad to see that someone loves to do it. And then films it so we can see it.

Marching technology backwards?

2010-04-26T13:05:00.001-07:00

I bought my first fountain pen on Sunday. From computer repair to old
school writing utensils. I'm regressing. Maybe I'll start using
cuneiform next!

Free shoes rock!

2010-04-16T07:15:00.001-07:00

Sent in my worn out Chucks and got these in exchange from Chrome!

Birthday haul

2010-04-15T08:02:00.001-07:00

Good haul this year. Cool bookmarks. Leather journal that can be
refilled. New watchband. A couple of books. Yay for 38!

Have you ever loved doing something so much...

2010-04-02T07:28:00.001-07:00

that nothing could stop you from doing it?

Michael has.

BIRTHRIGHT from Sean Mullens on Vimeo.

File this under...

2010-04-01T07:44:00.001-07:00

Things I would never buy for myself. These little metal bookmarks are
pretty awesome.

What I'm writing in....

2010-03-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

On a day to day basis, I use a couple of different vessels for thought, to-do lists, appointments, and so on (just like most of you.)

Journal:

I'm writing my journal-type stuff in a Moleskine Large ruled notebook. I'm not partial to the advertising and marketing, but I am a sucker for it. The book has a nice heft and fits in a bag pretty easily. The 240 page count gives the journal a pretty good duration, though I find that I'm burning through leaves faster than I thought. The oilskin cover has a nice retro feel to it and seems to age pretty well. The paper writes nicely for me, but I'm not yet an expert pen/paper-ista. I haven't really found a good use for the pocket that Moleskine puts in the back cover, but I haven't got out for much traveling or sight-seeing. If I was out and about more, I could use it as a memento pouch.

I'm not sure if the next journal I make or buy is going to be a lined journal. I had an unlined journal for my last book but I used a lined sheet behind my current page (which got annoying). I want to try and free hand my handwriting in my next journal.

Calendar:

I received a a Moleskine Pocket 12-Month Daily Planner for a present last Christmas. Awesome. 400 pages of awesome. Same nice paper and cover as the Moleskine notebooks. It has a lot of neat reference pages like a time zone chart, an international area code and internet domain list, an address book insert at the back. I definitely use this one daily. I go back and forth on whether my next planner is going to be weekly or daily.

As a quick aside: why would I buy a paper planner when I have a computer and an iphone? The calendar on the computer is free. It synchronizes with my iphone. Kinda. I had the syncing between my computer calendar and my mac calendar break 3 times in 90 days. Three different reasons. I got tired of troubleshooting it. Have I mentioned how much I hate troubleshooting my own tech kit?

I don't have to troubleshoot my daily planner. It doesn't crash. It doesn't run out of batteries. It's an archaic way to track my appointments and classes and life, but it's one less thing I have to *maintain*.

To-do:

I use a Moleskine Cahier book for a rolling to-do list right now. I got a set of three a few years ago and haven't used them up yet. I'm almost done with this one and then I have a couple of different notebooks to use for my rolling list of "executables." I switched to a pocket list after I tried one of the to-do apps on my iphone. The iphone had to be reset. All my to-do lists = gone. The app was still there on the iphone back up, but my to-dos weren't.

I know I could pay for a program that would sync between the computer and the iphone, or I could use google tasks. Really, I just like the tactile feel of striking off a to do on a piece of paper.

Note taking/ Handwriting practice/ Temporary working space:

I use a generic 8.5 x 11 inch legal pad as a "temporary working space." It's cheap, large, portable. I started using it for notes in my classes. I'd take notes on the pad and then copy them over to my class notebook at home. It gives me a way to review the notes at least once within a week of taking them. But I used a legal pad to work on my math review a few weeks ago. I'm using the backs of the pages to practice my cursive writing - which is really quite atrocious (the handwriting, not the backs of the pages). Sometimes the cheap solution is the right one.

So that's what I use every day. How about you guys?

Hit Parade 1: Moleskine Journals

2010-03-13T07:27:00.000-08:00

So I finally started journaling a couple of years ago. I'd always wanted to keep a journal even when I was in high school. It seemed like anyone who had ever done anything interesting kept a journal or diary of some sort. I made several attempts over the years to write my thoughts down every night, and I failed consistently. I felt foolish and self-conscious. I felt like I had to write down something that was "worth" writing down. So my words came out maudlin or bombastic or empty. I tried in college. I tried in early adulthood. I tried in notebooks. I tried on the computer. Writing always just felt forced and awkward and lame.

I finally realized I could just write down what happened that day. Just that and nothing more. No pressure to be brilliant or artful. I could write down what I obsessed over. And I could write down my then-current goals. Right then I started writing pages of stuff. It's all crap. Boring as boring could be and certainly not art or artful. But it 's nice to read back through the book and remember what I thought as I wrote the words on the page. So now iI have an easy time writing in my journal. I'm kind of obsessive about it. It's a mini-catharsis at the end of the day.

In a roundabout way, this brings me to the Moleskine. They have great branding. They talk about Hemingway and Chatwin using notebooks that inspired the current brand. They talk about creativity and inspiration and have some great galleries of the kind of art and writing people do in their books. They have a plain black cover. They lay flat when you open them. The paper is nice and works well as a writing surface. And they're even moderately priced (as you'll see in some subsequent posts).

I'm a sucker for good, premium branding. So I bought one. It's got a really nice feel. The problem is that I hesitated to just *use* the damn thing. Would my mundanity live up to the legacy of the notebook?

Here's where my ridiculousness comes in. Is it the best journal I could use? Are they wasteful? Shouldn't I buy a journal with a nice cover that takes refills? Could I possibly get a better journal for a lower price? (Answers are, in order: How do I define "best journal"? Any paper journal is wasteful to some degree, but if I use it then it's not wasted. I could buy a nicer journal with refills, but it won't improve my writing. Not really, any journal with decent paper in a 5 x 8ish size will cost $10-$20 for roughly 200 pages.)

So, this is all a way of leading into a baseline comparison for the other journal-type items I'm going to list up here. This way you can see where I'm starting from when I talk about the other items.

Ratings -

Ridiculousness of actual item: low

Ridiculousness of marketing: high

Cost: $16 for a 240 page 5.5 x 8.5 hardbound journal

Coffee/ Plane ticket equivalence: 16 coffees from 7 Eleven or 8 from Starbucks

Captain Ridiculous

2010-03-10T20:03:00.000-08:00

"Hello, this is your Captain speaking..."

So I stopped posting almost exactly 3 months ago. It depends on whether you count months as "blocks of 30 days" (in which case, I last posted slightly less than 3 months ago) or whether you count months as calendar months (in which case, I last posted 3 months and one day ago). In any case, life has kept me busy busy busy. Mostly I've taking care of little miss Elliot, who has been nothing but a joy and a blessing. Okay. Maybe she's been a pooper and a barfer, too. But hey it's cute when kids do it, right?

I've been taking some classes to get some prerequisites done. What kind of prerequisites you say? The kind of prerequisites necessary for a health care-related job. The kind that involve labs and maybe cadavers (except at my school) and microscopes. Those kind of prerequisites. They are fun.

And in the little time that I have left over after Elliot and school, I don't get to do much adventuring. So I mostly obsess. I get downright monomaniacal about trivial stuff. I have a hard time channeling my imagination properly. I invent fantastic scenarios for the most mundane items on the little big-screen projected on the inside of my forehead. Most recently, those items have been journals, bags and (to some extent) pens. In an semi-cathartic and wholly, publicly narcissistic sort of self-expository therapy, I'm going to share some of the items that I came across in my mad window-shopping spree on the internet. The best part is that I am going to try and post things that I actually like (and want) and that have some real function but still express sort of ridiculousness.

Like being way overpriced.

Or maybe a little goofy.

Or a profound mismatch to my lifestyle.

Mixed in to this menagerie will be some items that I own that may not be ridiculous in and of themselves. They might be ridiculous because of the amount of time I spent thinking about them. Or they might just be illustrative of why I have gear lust for some of the other things I plan to parade through here in the next several postings.

Mocking comments are expected and deserved in most instances. I know this isn't the sort of adventure travelogue, fun time story I usually dish out, but bear with me. It could still be pretty entertaining.

"Please make sure your tray tables are secured and seat backs are in their upright positions. Welcome to crazy land. Flight crew prepare for landing."

Still one of the best desserts ever!

2009-12-09T19:06:00.001-08:00

Oh Hell Ya!

2009-11-25T16:20:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites movies from childhood, remade....

Clash of the Titans

Winter is coming 5

2009-11-10T13:02:00.000-08:00

Winter is coming 4

2009-11-05T08:21:00.001-08:00

Evil Punkin'

2009-10-31T17:39:00.000-07:00

Winter is coming 3

2009-10-28T08:30:00.000-07:00

SKIPOPOW - Teaser HD Ski Freeride Film from TKB Films on Vimeo.

Sickness.

Boo!

2009-10-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

An Awesome 5 Minutes of Congress

2009-10-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is why YouTube is awesome!

Word of the day

2009-10-09T12:26:00.000-07:00

Doff.

That is all.

You're here!

2009-09-30T18:52:00.001-07:00

Wonderland Gear List (partial)

2009-09-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Funny thing about my Wonderland trip; I was almost completely satisfied by the performance of everything I took with me. The notable exception was my shoulder soreness on days 3 and 4 (since I exceeded the weight recommendation for my backpack.) I really have no major problems with any of the gear I took.

Here's the list (with some brief comments):
END Stumptown high-top trail runners Great shoes. 96 miles and only one tiny blister.

Tilley Airflo LT-6 hat - portable shade. Nice styling. Great hat.

Smartwool long sleeve microweight crew - I never believed all the marketing jazz about wool keeping you warm when it's cold and cool when it's warm. I'm a believer after this trip. In fact, I went out and bought a microweight short sleeve wool shirt almost as soon as I got home for summer hiking.

Mountain Hardwear Canyon pants

Platypus bottles (one 1-liter, one 2-liter)

Jetboil PCS - I'm constantly amazed by this gadget. Three of us shared one stove for five days and didn't even kill one fuel canister.

Rain Gear (Patagonia Rain Shadow jacket and REI Ultralight rain pants) - Didn't need them on this trip. I would have needed them if I didn't take them. Such is life.

Sea to Summit bugnet - I bought this bugnet for the trip. Worth every dime for the two hours a day that the bugs swarmed us at camp.

REI Minimalist bivy sack

Integral Designs 8x10 siltarp

Golite Adrenaline 40 sleeping bag

Katadyn Hiker water filter

Rite in the Rain mini journal and Inka pen

Maps printed on Adventure Paper

Light My Fire Spork - too short to eat out of the dehydrated backpacking food pouches. I've replaced it with a long-handled spoon.

Thermarest Trail sleeping pad - heavy but worth it. At least until I feel like spending 150 bills on a Neo Air.

Bandanas (x2) - I always carry bandanas. So many uses.

Contacts (as in corrective eyewear) - I'm mixed on contacts. I wore them for this trip and they were great. I've switched back to glasses, but that's a topic for a different, separate post.

Winter is Coming 2

2009-09-14T08:22:00.001-07:00

BD athlete Zack Giffin's POV ski video from Black Diamond Equipment on Vimeo.

From Black Diamond's athlete journal page.

Winter is coming

2009-09-12T17:24:00.000-07:00

Film from Sweet Grass Productions with the help of Patagonia

Unsupported Pacific Crest Trail thru-hike record

2009-09-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

Truly inspiring. These guys did the whole trail from Mexico to Canada in 65 days and change. They essentially did it trail runner style, but they did it as backpackers (albeit very light-weight ones). They needed a tick over 40 miles a day EVERY DAY to pull this off. Crazy. I'll never be that fast, but I love it that someone is.

Quote of note:

In the end it is a very old thing we are doing, walking vast distances along the surface of the earth, drinking from streams, and laying under a pine tree on thick duff. What could be better than this simple life?

Wonderland Trail Gear-trospective: Backpack

2009-09-08T12:01:00.000-07:00

I bought a Jam 2 almost 3 years ago. It is pretty close to my perfect pack. It has stretchy side pockets that hold a 1 liter water bottle in easy reach. I can shrink it down to a 20 liter day pack with the compression strap system. It'll carry 50 liters of gear easy; it feels large for the size rating. It weighs almost nothing - one pound 10 ounces for the large model. And when my first one (2008 model) started fraying a little, GoLite replaced my pack under warranty with the new 2010 model. The new model was a little heavier but had waist belt pockets. These pockets let me carry almost all my snack food for the day in easy reach without having to dip into the main bag at all. This convenience lets me move a little faster all day long sine I don't have to stop, drop the bag, grab a snack, put the pack back on, cinch the straps and then start moving again. In short, I have loved this pack since the day I bought it.

Only one problem, it doesn't carry quite enough weight for me to be comfortable all day on a big multi-day trip. Now, I try for a very lightweight style in my backpacking and climbing. I carry less and lighter stuff but I still stay in the bounds of safety and the conditions which I expect to encounter. The problem comes from the fact that some of my camping gear comes from my pre-"lighter is better" days. And I'd have to replace a lot of gear to get really, really light.

Some examples:

-I have a headlamp that weighs 3 oz. I can buy a 0.9 oz headlamp that would be perfectly adequate for backpacking. It won't work for my alpine adventures. So then I'd have to own two pieces of gear. Duplicate gear bugs me. I hate spending money twice. So I'll keep the heavier headlamp.

-My sleeping pad weighs a lot. I have an older Thermarest Trail. It weighs almost 2 pounds all by itself. Now, I've spent the last year and a half sleeping on a closed cell foam pad that was virtually free and only weighs 9 oz. The problem is that I sleep very very poorly on this foam pad. So I switched back to the Thermarest pad and I sleep much better. So that adds 1.5 pounds to my pack weight.

I could give more examples, but I want to stay focused on the backpack. Since I'm not going to go out and replace all my gear, I'm at a pretty stable pack weight of 20-ish pounds (sans food but with 1 liter of water). My total pack weight for Wonderland pushed 30 pounds when I had all my food loaded up. Now GoLite only rates the pack for a max of 25 pounds with a recommended max carry of 20 pounds. My shoulders can testify to the weight limit. Days 3 and 4 on Wonderland gave me really sore shoulders by the end of the day's march. So while I love the features of the backpack, I am going to switch back to a slightly heavier backpack that has a frame so it can carry more weight in greater comfort.

That's a long friggin' climb....

2009-09-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

From Daily Motion:

Infinity Lane - Petzl Roctrip 09
by Petzl-crew

Wonderland Trail: Day 5

2009-08-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Day 5

Friday, August 21

Projected mileage: 18.9 miles

Elevation gain/loss: 5500 feet gain/1600 feet loss

Dan and I both woke up before his alarm actually sounded. Dawn hadn't broken yet, but that didn't matter. I'd had a good night of sleep. Even though my knee was really stiff from the day before, I was ready to hit the trail and get to Sunrise. Dan made a desultory attempt to wake Jason and decided to let him sleep since Jason still slumbered quite soundly. Dan and I ate breakfast by headlamp. We started breaking camp around Jason, quietly. Jason woke up about 45 minutes after us and started a pot of coffee. After coffee and breakfast and pumping water, we got on trail just before 7 a.m.

We headed up the trail along the Carbon River towards the Carbon Glacier viewpoint. Some clouds had rolled in overnight and they obscured any views we might have had along the way. I thought the clouds might presage a storm around Rainier. Walking 18 miles through a rainstorm and whiteout on the north side of a mountain famed for "making its own weather" held little appeal. We all had decent rain gear. Dan had his GPS. I had a full set of maps and a compass. The trail was well marked and easy to follow. I had no doubt we'd make it to Sunrise today, I had just hoped to have some more of the great, sunny weather we had enjoyed for this last leg.

We marched along in the mist towards Carbon River camp. Around 7:30 we hit a trail detour that pushed us left across the river. Apparently the trail had washed out further north from us. We picked our way across the wide stony river bed and kept walking up the ridge. We shortly found another suspension bridge leading back across the river (to our right) towards Carbon River camp. We thought about playing on the bridge and getting some pictures, but a large group of backpackers was coming across. And we wanted to get to Sunrise. So we kept trucking up the trail toward Dick Creek Camp. We filled our water bottles again just after 9 a.m. And we rinsed some of the sweat off. And Dan finally cajoled me into a muscle pose.

And the clouds still hadn't lifted.

We did break out above the clouds by 10 a.m. on the ridge to the east of Carbon Glacier. The marine layer filled the valley below us, so we missed seeing the biggest glacier in the lower 48.

We did see some marmots though. Bold as brass, too. They just sat there 10 feet from the trail on a big boulder and watched us. They seemed to say, "Why are you here. This is our meadow. You should be moving on now." The marmots were the biggest wildlife we saw the whole trip.

We made Mystic Lake in good time around 11 a.m. We ate lunch by the river. We lounged around (as usual) but we didn't soak our feet today. Or our shirts. The temperature felt cooler than it had the last few days. The breeze moved air as we walked through the trees. Even on the sun exposed portions of the trail we felt comfortable. Shortly after Mystic Lake, we strode along on huge moraine-like ridges on the west side of the Winthrop Glacier. Less than an hour after leaving Mystic Lake camp we crossed Winthrop Creek and started climbing up towards Granite Creek camp.

The trail gave us five or six places where we could witness Winthrop Creek being born from a hollow in the Winthrop Glacier. We stopped every time and marveled. I mean, how many times do you see a river springing to life from its source?

Barely an hour after that we climbed into Granite Creek camp. The trees gave us lots of shade. The breeze kept us cool and hadn't failed since we broke out of the cloud cover. The sun had dried us out and gave us clear views all the way round. We paused only to fill our water bottles and then continued upward. We stopped for a longer break at a saddle at just over 7000 feet and looked around. In a scant 200 or 300 vertical feet (at most), we'd gone from woods to exposed grassy slope to bare rocky ridge. We sat on stone bleached to a gleaming white by the sun every summer and scrubbed by snow every winter.

As we rested, Dan barely choked down an energy bar. He sounded like he wanted to throw it up. So we talked about food. Fantasized, really. Mexican food. Greasy and full of cheese and guacamole and sour cream. Huge, sizzling platters of it. And accompanied by beer. Dan said something about "frolicking with tacos" before he trailed off into incoherent mumbling. We started down from the saddle toward the last valley between us and Sunrise. We dropped 500 feet into a bowl that would lead us to Berkley Park (to our North) if we chose. We chose not to go that way. We hit the trail to Frozen Lake about 20 minutes after leaving the saddle. The sign there gave us great news: 2.3 miles to Sunrise.

We moved along at a good clip from there. Dan led the way, literally running for 15 minutes. We topped our last rise of the trip and saw Sunrise below us, with cars and buildings and day-hikers and tourists.

We stumbled down the last incline and lined up shoulder to shoulder for the last 10 feet. Dan and Jason and I crossed from the trail to the parking lot together, simultaneously. Dan howled out a primal yell to celebrate. Jason gave a little whoop and crouched down and kissed the pavement. I just smiled and shook hands with the boys.

We did it.

Just like we said.

One step at a time.

Wonderland Trail: Day 4

2009-08-27T19:24:00.001-07:00

Day 4

Thursday, August 20

Projected mileage: 15.8 miles

Elevation gain/loss: 2400 feet gain/4800 feet loss

I am always amazed at how much better I feel after a good night's sleep. We woke up late-ish for us somewhere in the 6 a.m. hour as the bugs started making themselves known. I felt energetic and ready. Despite the buzzing squadrons of bloodsuckers, we took our time with breakfast and packing and getting ready to walk. Dan had a heel blister on one foot that decided to peel open when he checked on it. He taped it up with some neosporin and bandaids and duct tape followed by moleskin and more duct tape. The patch job took about 10 minutes to perform and lasted two days.

We started walking about 8:20 and almost immediately started a 2000 foot drop toward the South Mowich River. My left knee started complaining towards the end of this descent and didn't shut up for the rest of the trip. Apparently all this descending did not agree with it. We took a longish break before the South Mowich and got some fresh water and chatted with another hiker. He was heading for Mowich Lake and then he was out. He'd made it round the mountain in 7 days. He was sporting a pack even smaller and lighter than ours.

We arrived at the South Mowich about a quarter to 11 a.m. The river had a lot of sass and the log bridges seemed pretty low compared to the volume of water flowing. The last footbridge we crossed actually had the current washing against it and occasionally slapping over it. A tongue of water licked out and soaked my right foot as I crossed, almost like a reminder that we don't control the rivers any more than we control the glaciers or the rocks.

Then we started the "death march to Mowich." We started a 2000 foot climb on a wooded slope to reach Mowich Lake. As usual, the trees kept the air still which kept the air moist which made us feel sticky. Mowich Lake and it's campsites and parking lot greeted us at 1:40 in the afternoon. A real building for toilets. Trash cans. A parking lot. And a lake. We hopped into the lake and cooled off and ate some snacks. We soaked our feet. We drenched our shirts, as usual, for extra cooling on the hike. We got to lose our trash from the last two and a half days. We lounged around for almost an hour before we left the lake and headed up to Ipsut Pass.

The pictures of the trail descending from Ipsut pass can absolutely not give you an idea of how steeply the trail drops into this drainage. The trail had good tread but it was very steep. My knee started complaining again and proceeded to yell at me all the way to camp two hours later. After we dropped 2000 feet into the valley, the angle of the trail slacked off to a quite pleasant grade. We tracked along this until about 5:30 when we rolled into Ipsut Creek camp.

(Castle Rock)

Ipsut Creek camp is a little odd. It used to be a car camp until a big storm washed out the road just past the bridge and (maybe at the same time) a sinkhole took down the stone building used by the rangers. The camp still has post for garbage cans with the animal proof lids, but no actual garbage cans. Water faucets sprout out of the ground in a few places but they don't give any water when the handles turn. The pit toilet building is fully stocked with toilet paper and hand sanitizer. Weeds are taking over the parking lot. Moss grows on some of the former amenities of the park. It's creepy. Dan said he got the heebie jeebies here.

We did play some rummy. And we did get to sit at an actual table to eat our dinner. Dan ate two mountain house meals (about 1600 calories for those of you at home) because he felt like he was running low on energy. We each had two good pulls from Jason's flask and finished off the Tuaca he brought.

Then we sacked out early.

Wonderland Trail: Day 3

2009-08-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Day 3

Wednesday, August 19

Projected mileage: 19.8 miles

Elevation gain/loss: 6000 feet gain/4700 feet loss

Wednesday started well. We all slept well and had a good breakfast. Camp came down quickly and efficiently. Once we had pumped our water for the first leg, we got on the trail by 7:15 a.m. We made it to the next camp two miles up the hill named Devil's Dream by 8:15. Soon after, the close forest of the ridge opened up to meadows and meadows of alpine wildflowers. And marshy ground. And so, lots of mosquitoes and biting flies. The bugs kept us moving quickly past Indian Henry's Cabin (now a Ranger Patrol Cabin).

After Indian Henry's Cabin, we ducked back into the forest for almost an hour until we got to Tahoma Creek and the suspension bridge. Concrete pilings. Metal bars holding wooden slats in place all suspended by two towers and lots and lots of cable. This was cool as hell! We took turns marching across. I went first and enjoyed the bridge bouncing with each stride. My steps seems to create more bounce at either end and to have less wiggle in the center. I stopped and let Jason take my picture. Then Dan tromped across and gave a double biceps "pump" pose. The Jason started across. I had forgotten that he was afraid of heights until right now. He took a step and stopped. He waited for the bounce to dissipate and then took another step. He got faster as he crossed and became confident that the bridge would not, in fact, drop him into the river below. He even handed off his camera to Dan and marched back to the center of the bridge to get his picture taken. This moment really got us stoked.

We marched back into the trees for a little longer and climbed up to a ridge-line. The ridge-line trail turned rocky. The trees grew smaller. Soon, we strode along an old moraine towards Emerald Ridge. The sun had started cooking us as soon as we popped out of the trees. We started moving a little slower as we got closer to the toe of the Tahoma glacier. We made it up and over one last rise and started trucking down the "backside" of the Emerald Ridge. We had more and more shade. We had good views of the end of the glacier and the very, very orange rocks piled up on it's end. Soon we found a great shady spot with big rocks and cold water for lunch about 12:25 p.m.

(The toe of the Tahoma glacier)

We all felt a little dehydrated from the last three hours of effort so we lingered over lunch. We soaked our feet and our shirts. I drank almost two liters of water just during lunch. We got moving again at 1:15 p.m. and dropped down to the big rapids of the South Puyallup river. We crossed the river and started climbing once more. The landscape changed again. We could see tree-covered ridges running away west of us. Wide open meadows ran down to tree line from where we walked. The air didn't move, though, and the moisture from the grasses and flowers turned into stifling humidity. After more climbing and more traversing over the verdant sights for two and a half hours, we reached St Andrews lake. It was smallish, but clear and cool and wet. We pumped some water. We jumped in and went swimming.

After St Andrews lake, we had a short rise and then started dropping again towards the North Puyallup. This felt like a long three and a half miles. We didn't actually reach North Puyallup until 6 p.m. Dan's GPS read 18 miles so far. That couldn't possibly be right. Eighteen miles meant that we should almost be to camp, and we were staring at a trail sign that told us we had five more miles to go to reach Golden Lakes. At least two hours to camp with a climb the whole way and the sun fading.

(Pumping water before hitting the North Puyallup)

(Looking down into the North Puyallup from the bridge)

We started moving up the slope. I put Dan in front and he set a fast pace. We moved fast. And made good time. But we were back into the trees and the air was still and humid and stifling again. We had to stop frequently to mop up sweat and catch our breath. We finally broke out of the forest sometime after 7 p.m. We felt close to our campsite, Golden Lakes, but we weren't. Dan's GPS said we were close to camp, but (except in that weird scale of maps on GPS screens) we weren't. We kept hiking up a ridge for what felt like another hour. We would top a rise and find more rise. We would turn a corner and find another bend.

My shoulders hurt from the heavy load of food. My feet hurt from the almost 60 miles we had walked. I was sweaty. And tired. And ready for my dehydrated chicken fettucini alfredo dinner. And the trail kept winding to the right as the sun kept falling on our left. And finally we topped a rise and found no more "up" on the other side. A lake glinted in the trees just a little way down from us. Almost there! But no. They named the camp Golden Lakes (plural) for a reason. We passed five lakes on the final leg to camp. But finally, finally, finally at 8:18 p.m. we rolled into Golden Lakes campsite and threw down our bags and started setting camp. I was truly bone weary that night when I finally crawled into my sleeping back and stared at the stars for many minutes, almost too tired to fall asleep immediately.

(As a quick aside, Dan's GPS showed 24.8 miles of travel for Wednesday. So surely I had miscounted the miles on the trail map when I did my figures, right? I'm not so sure now. I checked the trail map again and get the same 19.6 miles. The national parks service elevation profile map makes the distance to be a bit longer, but still not 25 miles. Even better, on day 5 we compared the mileages on trail signs to the recorded mileage on Dan's GPS. We found that the GPS was adding about 25% to the distance travelled, but not entirely consistently. So I'm not sure how many miles we did on the 19th, but I am positive that it was the single hardest day of hiking/climbing that I've ever experienced!)

Wonderland Trail: Day 2

2009-08-25T18:02:00.001-07:00

Day 2

Tuesday, August 18

Projected mileage: 14.4 miles

Elevation gain/loss: 3200 feet gain/2500 feet loss

We slept in on Tuesday and took our time breaking camp. We didn't get on trail and marching until 8:30 a.m. We planned Tuesday as a short day anyway; we needed to stop in at Longmire Wilderness Info center to grab our cached food before we headed on to Pyramid creek to camp for the night. We made good time all morning and hit Reflection lake at about 10:30 a.m.

We didn't stay long and kept trucking down the trail until we hit Narada Falls. Neither Jason or I had ever seen Narada Falls, and it's one of Dan's favorite waterfalls. So we took a little 0.1 mile detour to hit the viewpoint. Now there's a parking lot at the top of the falls so people can just drive in and walk down the the falls. The viewpoint had a lot of people and a couple of young children shouted "Look! Hikers!" as we came up the trail. This amused Jason greatly.

After Narada Falls we stepped down the trail and got to Longmire about 1:45 p.m.. We'd done about two thirds of our daily mileage and didn't have far to go to reach camp (3.5 miles and 1500 feet). So we spent some time at Longmire snacking and napping and drinking lots of water. Dan and I soaked our shirts through with water from the faucet. That wet wool shirt felt so good as it went on!

After almost two hours of immobility, we strapped up and headed up the trail. Again, we made good time. We crossed Kautz creek and made camp at Pyramid Creek by 5 p.m.

(The last three pictures are Jason and Dan and I crossing Kautz Creek)

The biting flies and mosquitos came out in force. Despite them, we had a relaxing dinner and even had some time to play rummy. We had started a game on Sunday night. At the end of three hands, we decided that the winner carried the cards and the loser bought the first round of beer when we finished the trip. Jason won.

Every hand.

So Jason got to carry the cards. Dan had one really bad hand at Pyramid Creek. He got stuck in last place and faced the possibility of buying beer for me and Jason on Friday.

Wonderland Trail: Days 0 and 1

2009-08-25T16:58:00.000-07:00

I'll try to make this brief and entertaining. I'm not the best action writer but I hope to share a little bit of the fun that Dan, Jason and I had walking the Wonderland Trail.

Day 0

Sunday, August 16

Dan and Jason roll up to my house about 6:30 in the morning. We load up my stuff and goof off for a little bit before we hit the road. I kiss Dev goodbye, pat the dogs one last time and then we roll out of town in Dan's car. The drive is uneventful. We're all relaxed since we don't start hiking until tomorrow (Monday). We chat about our gear and set up. We speculate on the hardest day. I bet that Day 1 is going to be the worst. Dan and Jason both vote for Day 3. We keep running over the gear list and itinerary as we roll up I-5 and near our turn off.

Finally we get to the park. No fee. It's the last no fee day for the fee free weekend on National Parks. Excellent. We drive up to Longmire Wilderness Information Center. The patient ranger helps us sort through our paperwork. Jason doesn't have his paperwork. No permit. We're sweating it. The ranger and Jason keep going through the book looking for his permit. And they don't find it. So they check the computer (which had been down to this point) and don't find him there either. They had rejected his permit application so he wasn't on file. The ranger added him to Dan and my permit since each camp would easily fit all three of us. So we logged in our cache and left three and a half days worth of food at the ranger station.

We started the long drive to Sunrise for our first camp. Generally this takes about two hours. We didn't feel rushed and kind of moseyed along. We wanted to stop at Paradise but there was no parking and the crowds were crazy. Instead of waiting for the shuttle we just kept driving. We stopped for a couple of view on the way to Sunrise. There was no parking at Sunrise either. So once again we got back into the car and drove. This time we went to White River Campground and established our last civilized night for five days.

We drink a couple of beers. We cook up some spaghetti and beef and sauce. We gorge ourselves. We sleep. in a big tent on air mattresses.

Day 1

Monday, August 17

Projected mileage: 24.8 miles

Elevation gain/loss: 4400 feet gain/7830 feet loss

Morning rolls around too soon. The sun's not up yet but the alarm rings us out of our slumber. We pack up camp by the light of headlamps and drive back to Sunrise at 6400 feet on the northeast side of Mount Rainier. It's not crowded this morning. We can find parking. We sort our gear again. Jason brews up a tub of coffee in his Jetboil. We look at each other and the mountain and our coffee. We swallow the last but of caffeinated goodness, rinse our cups and strap in.

6:45 am and we are finally doing this. Months of anticipation building to this moment. Planning, obsessing even, for this trek. And it starts with a step. One step. Anticlimactic and momentous. We decide that the motto for this trip is "One step at a time." Trying to wrap or heads around 93 miles of walking is just too hard. One step at a time. We'll get there bit by bit. One step at a time.

So every trip has at least one piece of gear break or malfunction. It's sort of a law of outdoor adventure. And it keeps things interesting. Not even one hour into our trip, we pull up to the junction that puts us on the Wonderland Trail for real. It's 7:22 am. I pull the camera out of my waist pack and fumble it while trying to turn it on. And I drop it.

I drop it onto the extended lens.

The camera's out of commission. "Dev always hated this camera anyway," I say to myself after I finish cussing a blue streak. At least we have Jason's camera still. So we can keep taking pictures. And the added bonus is that we got the major gear failure out of the way very early in the trip.

We make pretty good time after the breaking of the camera. We stride right along and through Sunrise Camp around 7:45 am. We circle back down the White River Campground about 8:55 am and took a break.

Side note: We didn't just start at White River for the loop because there was no long term car parking like there is at Sunrise.

Then we really got into our stride. We crossed the White River over a couple of log bridges and then made a long traverse around Goat Island Mountain. After the traverse we made it into the drainage for Fryingpan creek and started climbing up and up. We passed through Summerland Camp and hit Fryingpan Creek at 12:30 p.m.. We sat in the sun soaking our feet in the frigid glacial melt. I can only keep my feet in for 30 seconds or so at a stretch and then I have to pull them out of the water. After they warm up, then they go back into the water for another dousing. I did this cycle for about 20 minutes. It felt so good. And during this process, I reach into my pack and pull out a 9 ounce summer sausage to share with Dan and Jason. Dan looks ecstatic as he eats his portion. Jason counters my luxury with some mini cheese wheels. Yum!

We suit up about 1:05 p.m. and start the march to our high point for the day: Panhandle Gap at 6445 feet above sea level. And we get there only 30 minutes after lunch. We're marching through bare rock swept clean by wind and snow. Beautiful and barren. Stunning landscapes and awesome views roll out from under our feet on the ridge. We ride the ribbon of trail up and down through several dished basins. We come out of the last depression onto a ridge where we can see the five huge waterfalls that start the Ohanapecosh River by dropping thousands of feet down sheer cliffs from the Ohanapecosh Glacier.

The Wonderland Trail winds down the ridge to Indian Bar Camp, dropping elevation quickly and without much shade. The sunny 1600 foot descent drains all three of us. We hit the camp and drop our packs and find some shade. As Dan wanders off to find the camp toilet, Jason pulls out his Jetboil stove and brews up a triple serving of coffee (he brought a full half pound of fresh ground coffee in his pack!). We sit on the wood bridge overlooking the hydraulics of Waulaukaupauken Falls and drink our coffee and chat with another Wonderland hiker for most of an hour.

The other hiker has been on the trails for 10 days and expects he'll finish in two more. He's on a three month leave of absence from some cubicle farm in Riverside, California. He won't be more specific about his job so I can only assume he doesn't particularly care for his current career all that much. He does tell us that he endured an epic 5 day rain storm the previous week on the trail. He described a heavy, cold and soaking rain that lasted all day and stopped him from most of the side trips. He's happy for the hot and sunny weather we now enjoy on the trail.

Invigorated by almost an hour of rest and a cup of coffee, we jump back on the trail about 4 p.m. and leave Indian Bar behind. We still have a long way to go to make Maple Creek before sun down. We finally reach Nickel Creek camp at 7, and then Box Canyon shortly after that. We've dropped another 2500 feet since INdian Bar. Deep in the Canyon and in the trees, we start to lose our light. Maple Creek sits about two and a half miles away. Dan's starting to slow a little from the long day. So we come up with a stupid plan. Dan has his GPS and will roll into camp at his pace after he rests some more at Box Canyon. Jason and I will hot foot our way down the trail to hit camp, grab a spot, filter some water and get dinner ready for when Dan shows up.

I don't recommend this plan ever. In my D&D days, this was called "splitting the party" and was a big no-no. Turns out, it feels even worse in the real world. Especially when that real world is dusk in the woods in bear country.

Jason and I hit camp after the longest mile and a half I've ever experienced (up to that point). I was cursing under my breath trying top set my tarp up. Once I had that done I was going to take a liter of water and a headlamp and head back down the trail for Dan. Jason had pumped some water and started dinner. I only had the tarp halfway up when we heard a creak-clank noise. A noise like Dan's coffee mug on the outside of his pack. I see a headlamp coming. It's Dan! He flew down the trail and got to camp about 10 minutes after we got there.

So here comes the big confession. When we started out from Sunrise that morning, we headed west out to the Frozen Lake intersection. When we hit the Wonderland Trail and headed south we soon hit another trail junction with a sign pointed to Sunrise... 0.5 miles away. ARRRRGH! We added three miles and an hour of hiking to our day because a stupid navigational error on my part. We really could have used that extra hour of daylight at the end of the day!

Wonderland Trip report: Short form

2009-08-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

Dan, Jason and I hiked the Wonderland Trail last week. Unsorted, un-winnowed, and unedited pictures can be found here. I'll be choosing the good ones and reorganizing the order as the week goes on.

Vital stats for the trail and trip:
Length: 93 miles
Accumulated elevation gain: 20,000 feet
Time to finish: 5 days
Start: Monday August 17, 2009 at 6:45 am
Finish: Friday August 21, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Average pack weight without food: 21 pounds

We had so much fun on the trip. The weather was perfect and the scenery absolutely stunning. I'll post a longer more detailed report this week.

Reframing the argument

2009-08-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

An eloquent counterpoint to the "death panel" statements coming from Palin and her ilk.

New favorite website

2009-08-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

Teton Gravity Research
Awww Yeah.
Git after it.....

Walking is still badass

2009-08-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

I love climbing. I love snowboarding. I love riding my bicycle; around town and across the state. But it's funny that the videos and stories that hit me the hardest involve the most basic movement that humans know: walking. It's simple. It's slow. It can be boring or it can be a path to enlightenment. However, I don't think that it's an accident that so many great stories of discovery (internal or external) start with walking. It's something that almost all of us have in common. It's something we can all do. It's the ultimate power of self determination because if you don't like where you are then you can grab a bag full of stuff and start walking.

This following video is stunning. You can see more about Christoph Rehage's trip here.

The Longest Way 1.0 - one year walk/beard grow time lapse from Christoph Rehage on Vimeo.

A Hessian by any other name

2009-08-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

(Image from Washington Crossing Historic Park)

I still remember the dim view that my American history texts took of the use of Hessian "mercenaries" by the Brits during the Revolutionary War. Xe, formerly Blackwater, is now being investigated *again* for murder, arms smuggling and other crimes. I really hope Erik Prince fries for all the evil he's done. He's drained the U.S. military of talent by paying soldiers money to work for him as mercenaries and he's used our tax dollars to spread death and fear overseas.

I really wanted to like it

2009-08-04T08:23:00.000-07:00

I got a great deal on a Ex Officio Air Strip Lite shirt at REI on Sunday. Quick dry fabric. Nice texture. Great venting. Old school explorer sachet. Only one problem; the shirt is designed for average or stocky built men. I am not. Not stocky. Not average build. I'm a stick. Sadly, the shirt drapes on me like Old Glory on a flagpole in still air. And if there's a breeze, well, then it billows out like a muumuu.

Sigh.

In the name of "balance"

2009-07-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

This guy just nails it!

If you watch ONLY ONE discussion about health care reform...

2009-07-22T13:02:00.001-07:00

Then watch this one. The gentleman interviewed was an executive in the industry for over a decade (? I gotta double check this because I can't remember right now). Really interesting stuff.

Balanced Lunch

2009-07-22T11:38:00.001-07:00

3 guys, 9 hours, 26 miles

2009-07-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

Dan and Jason and I hiked the Wildwood Trail in Forest Park from Germantown Road to the Portland Zoo. We rolled along pretty well until the very last part of the hike. At about 3 miles from the end of the trail we all slowed down just a wee bit. Overall, it was a good training hike for the Wonderland Trail. We got through the mental barrier of doing 25 miles in a day even if we had virtually no elevation gain.

Don't know why Brian thought this was a good idea

2009-07-16T11:21:00.000-07:00

How far we've come....

2009-07-16T08:33:00.000-07:00

From Poor Man's Heli (Jeremy Jones' blog)

Holy Crap + Way Cool

2009-07-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

= Bear.

As in, I saw one today from less than 20 yards away. (Please note the invisible and numerous exclamation points on the end of that sentence.)

I did a quick overnight backpack trip this weekend. (I'll try to post maps and a trip report later). And I'm rolling along this morning on the Eagle Creek trail. It's not the touristy and well travelled part of the trail though. This is the section of trail used to connect to the Pacific Crest Trail or to go to Wahtum Lake the hard way.

So this section of trail gets a little less traffic than the part with all the pretty waterfalls. It's pretty bushy. Almost overgrown. Very pretty and a little wild. As I was about to see.

I'm rolling along (like I said) at a good pace and come around this bend on the trail. Not 50 feet away something cracks some branches in the underbrush. I look over and see black fur cavorting around. I think "Someone brought their dog out pretty far." And I start to lift my eyes to scan for the owner.

My eyes never get up the the trail. I'm already whispering "oh shit" as my eyes swing back and confirm that I'm looking at a bear.

That doesn't know I'm there.

I turn around and walk five paces back up the trail before I remember that you never run or retreat from black bears. So I spin around again and lift up my trekking poles (to make me look bigger) and I say "Hello bear!"

He musta been pretty startled. It took him (or her) about 15 seconds to cross the drainage and go up and over the lip on the other side. He might still be running, he took off so fast.

So. I'm glad I remebered the right approach for an encounter with a black bear. I'm glad outdoor magazines publish those articles about once a year.

But mostly I'm glad that a black bear's initial response to surprise is to run away.

Oh, and it's really freakin' cool that I saw a real live wild bear today.

Reason 864 to love Portland

2009-07-08T16:38:00.001-07:00

I can get up early on July 4th.
Drive out to Mt Hood.
Hike for an hour and 45 minutes with my snowboard.
Strap into my snowboard.
Ride down a groomed slope for 20 minutes.
Unstrap from my snowboard.
Hop in the car and go to a cabin by the river and swill beer all afternoon.

All before lunch.
Yeah.

Great finish to July 4

2009-07-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

Dev sitting in front of the Sandy River at Erica and Jefferson's
family cabin. Awesome.

What a way to start the 4th

2009-07-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

This was a huge book for me in my teens

2009-07-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

Amazing how much of what Gibson described actually worked out....

Neuromancer turns 25: What it got right, what it got wrong

Nursery set up

2009-06-29T10:57:00.001-07:00

Look at the awesome job that Dev and Erica did on the nursery. And it
only took a day!!!

Can this guy slog 6600 feet on one day?

2009-06-29T10:53:00.001-07:00

Why yes, yes he can.

It's almost the weekend

2009-06-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

From the club

To the Caddy

To the Holiday Inn,

From the dusk to the dawn,

We gonna do it again.

"Last Call" by Outkast

TGID

2009-06-26T10:04:00.001-07:00

Thank God it's donuts!!!!

Happy Anniversary Dev!

2009-06-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Three great years.
Feels like forever. -grin-

Too funny...

2009-06-23T08:14:00.001-07:00

No attribution, but it's awesome....

Picture links are broken

2009-06-22T10:15:00.000-07:00

Google's Picasa service had a hiccup last week. For security reasons, Google change the web addresses for all the Picasa albums of it's users. I haven't decided if I'm gonna fix it yet.

Apologies to anyone who wants to see the pictures.

Talk about too much money

2009-06-18T08:10:00.001-07:00

Looks who's docked outside downtown Portland.

Healthcare CEOs and Recission

2009-06-17T16:31:00.001-07:00

Seriously!?

Sent to you by David via Google Reader:

Healthcare CEOs and Recission

via Daring Fireball by John Gruber on 6/17/09

U.S. health insurance executives are simply evil bastards:

The sister of an Illinois man who died of lymphoma said his policy was rescinded for the failure to report a possible aneurysm and gallstones that his physician noted in his chart but did not discuss with him. […] Late in the hearing, [Bart] Stupak, the committee chairman, put the executives on the spot. Stupak asked each of them whether he would at least commit his company to immediately stop rescissions except where they could show "intentional fraud".

The answer from all three executives: "No."

In other words, even if you pay your premiums for years, if you ever fall seriously ill, they will do their best to find a way to cancel your insurance.

★

Things you can do from here:

Subscribe to Daring Fireball using Google Reader
Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Spoiled Rotten

2009-06-17T14:33:00.001-07:00

'Nuff said...

Kris and Todd's MC club

2009-06-12T08:37:00.000-07:00

Dev with Duncan and Maverick

2009-06-12T06:59:00.000-07:00

Hanging out with Kris and Todd in Ocomonowoc.

In Chicago

2009-06-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Just landed safe and sound at O'Hare. On our way to see Dev's mom and Jason as we head over to meet Kris and Todd. Love being on vacation.

Update: scratch the part about being at O'Hare. We landed at Midway. Little bit of a difference.

Pure Awesome in Volcano form

2009-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

Climbed Mt St Helens yesterday.
The view was awesome.
The crater was spectacular.
The weather was half awesome.
Get the skinny at the link above.

Big blow coming in

2009-06-04T17:17:00.000-07:00

Took about 30 minutes to go from clear skies to this.

Oh man, do I want to do this!

2009-05-29T12:40:00.000-07:00

Riding the Spine in the Peruvian Andes from Jacob Thompson on Vimeo.

This is what happens...

2009-05-25T12:53:00.001-07:00

when it's a little bit wet at camp at 9500 foot above sea level.

In Shasta City....

2009-05-23T12:03:00.000-07:00

And on our way.

More pictures of the little girl...

2009-05-22T16:32:00.001-07:00

I'm officially in trouble now

2009-05-19T09:21:00.000-07:00

Guess I need to learn how to pick out dresses 'cuz Dev and I are having a little girl.

Eek.

Dev practicing

2009-05-17T14:23:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Hunchback Mountain hike

2009-05-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

Pictures can be seen here.

One more way that "common sense" can be wrong

2009-05-07T08:30:00.000-07:00

From The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog on why promoting helmet use aggressively and portraying cycling primarily as a sport may be counterproductive:

"Helmets and things like that do give this impression that cycling is inherently dangerous, and this whole urban warrior image is not very helpful," he said. "But of course, a lot of the aggression is also about having to compete for space and priority with cars."

From an article in the Guardian.

Books are lactose intolerant

2009-05-04T11:28:00.000-07:00

Can I cry over spilt milk now?

Fun videos for the unbeliever

2009-05-01T08:41:00.000-07:00

Via Richard Dawkin's website:

potholer54bdebunks the great flood

If I had read this in High School...

2009-04-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

I'd have a whole different career. Excellent essay on Wired about being a scientist:

To be a scientist is to commit to a life of confusion punctuated by rare moments of clarity. When I leave the office at night, the confusion comes with me. Ruminating over these equations, seeking patterns, looking for hidden relationships, trying to make contact with measured data—it's all uncertainty and possibility engaged in an endless chaotic dance. Every so often the blur resolves, but the respite is short-lived; the next puzzle demands focus. This, really, is the joy of being a scientist. Established truths are comforting, but it is the mysteries that make the soul ache and render a life of exploration worth living.

Another nail, another flat

2009-04-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

Got a flat this morning on the way to work. Still got here on time; I flatted in the Rose Quarter with 30 minutes to get to the office. Made it in plenty of time.

Fun last Sunday!

2009-04-29T08:23:00.001-07:00

Ah, spring in Oregon

2009-04-28T08:06:00.001-07:00

After a few days of nice partly sunny weather, April turned back into April here. Dev and I went to the gym last night, where they had to modify the workout due to weather. Originally the workout included two laps around the building.

The rain started in the middle of the warm up. And not your normal Oregon steady drizzle to steady rain type rain. No. Buckets of rain came down. It reminded me of Texas thunderstorms type rain. Cars floated by the gym because the water got so high so fast type rain. So we had to row 500 meters instead of the originally planned laps.

I would have preferred the run.

Tires are expensive

2009-04-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

Crazy expensive. But then this is the first full set of four new tires I've ever had to buy for a car. So I guess, on balance, that going 36 years without having to buy a full set of tires is a definite win.

That's it.

Donut Apocalypse

2009-04-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

This what's left after the first round finished. Sugar crash here I
come!

Why the process is important

2009-04-21T10:31:00.000-07:00

J.J. Abrams is able to elucidate something that is central to the way I've always played video games (or read books or watched tv shows). Excellent essay in Wired here.

Great day in Austin

2009-04-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

My niece at the Austin waterfront

2009-04-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

I need to review my German

2009-04-17T10:54:00.001-07:00

My niece

2009-04-17T09:51:00.000-07:00

Truth on the Whiteboard

2009-04-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to my Dad!

2009-04-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd say so. Though he doesn't read this. So my mom will have to tell him.

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday to me!

2009-04-04T13:30:00.000-07:00

To those who can't be with me on this most awesome of days, I miss you. I raise a toast to all my friends and family. I would not have the incredibly sweet life I now enjoy without each and every one of you. I have a beautiful wife who has enough patience to put up with me and to be pregnant at the same time. I have two brothers who helped shape my early years and make me appreciate my own space and sharing what I have. I have the whole cast of characters that makes up the motley crew that are my friends. Some of you improved me. Some of you corrupted me. Some of you were just there at the right (or wrong) time. I have my parents who launched me into this life and gave me the tools to fight back the forces that try to make it worse.

Thanks to you all. Without you guys, I would not be quite so awesome.
[grin]

Cheers!

That's right....

2009-03-31T19:43:00.001-07:00

It's trivia night at Leisure Public House!

I'm gonna start with Sunday

2009-03-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

No, this footage was not me skiing. I snowboard, remember? I just thought it was a pretty sick set of footage.

Sunday was epic. Skibowl got 13 inches of fresh snow overnight. Aaron and I headed up late in the day and got on the lift around 1 pm. By 2:30 pm we were riding black diamond runs in the upper bowl. We weren't riding them well or with style, but we were riding them. Aaron had never been on a black diamond before. And he did great. We both made it down our first no-fall black diamond run. And to top everything off, we managed to grab some untracked powder in the lower ski area along the lift line. Truly an awesome day.

And I was so tired that after we got to the run-out below the lodge, I laid down for 45 seconds and thought to myself "I could take a nap right here." My legs shook for 15 minutes while we rehydrated with a beer and talked about the day. It was, without a doubt, the best day of this season.

Just a taste...

2009-03-30T08:46:00.000-07:00

....of the fun I had this weekend. [big grin]

Happy birthday Erica!

2009-03-28T23:39:00.000-07:00

Proving once again why I read his stuff

2009-03-27T08:09:00.000-07:00

Insightful post from Gruber on Daring Fireball.