Budget woes

Matt Taibbi has a wonderful screed about jacked up priorities in the press. And he works to confirm the truism that we get the government we deserve.

Favorite quotes:

I awoke this morning in New York City to find Britney Spears plastered all over the cover of two gigantic daily newspapers, simply because she cut her hair off over the weekend. To me, this crosses a line. My definition of a news story involves something happening. If nothing happens, then you can't have "news," because nothing has changed since the day before. Britney Spears was an idiot last Thursday, an idiot on Friday, and an idiot on both Saturday and Sunday. She was, shockingly, also an idiot on Monday. It will be news when she stops being an idiot, and we'll know when that happens, because she'll have shot herself for the good of the planet. Britney Spears cutting her hair off is the least-worthy front page news story in the history of humanity.

and

Even if you're a traditional, Barry Goldwater conservative, the kinds of budgets that Bush has sent to the hill not only this year but this whole century are the worst-case scenario; they increase spending generally while cutting taxes and social programming. They commit taxpayers to giant subsidies of already Croseus-rich energy corporations, pharmaceutical companies and defense manufacturers while simultaneously cutting taxes on those who most directly benefit from those subsidies. Thus you're not cutting spending -- you're just cutting spending on people who actually need the money. (According to the Washington Times, which in a supremely ironic twist of fate did one of the better analyses of the budget, spending will be 1.6 percent of GDP higher in the 2008 budget than in was in 2000, while revenues will be 2.6 percent of GDP lower). This is something different from traditional conservatism and something different from big-government liberalism; this is a new kind of politics that transforms the state into a huge, ever-expanding instrument for converting private savings into corporate profit.

That's not only bad government, it's bad capitalism. It makes legalized bribery and political connections more important factors than performance and competition in the corporate marketplace. Beyond that, it's just plain fucking offensive to ordinary people. It's one thing to complain about paying taxes when those taxes are buying a bag of groceries once a month for some struggling single mom in eastern Kentucky. But when your taxes are buying a yacht for some asshole who hires African eight year-olds to pick cocoa beans for two cents an hour ... I sure don't remember reading an excuse for that anywhere in the Federalist Papers.

Meet the new boss

Same as the old boss.

(with apologies to The Who)

Do the Dems really think they can ignore scandal in their own house just because they won the midterms?

Their terrorists support our fascists

Big surprise:

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A New York man accused of trying to help terrorists in Afghanistan has donated some $15,000 to the House Republicans' campaign committee over three years.

Read the whole story here.

Irony really isn't dead.

Cheney's other offfspring

Well, kind of. His son in law has been working overtime in the DOJ and and the Office of Budget and Management and the Department of Homeland Security to help corporate interests dodge the necessity of increasing security at their facilities.

Salon paints a good (or bad) picture here.

While the press salivated about Mary Cheney's new infant, they ignored this fun information;

As the Washington Monthly reveals in its current issue, Perry has
spent the past few years at DHS obstructing federal and state
regulation of the nation's chemical industry, which still remains
vulnerable to a devastating terrorist attack -- and which has paid
millions of dollars to Latham & Watkins, the Washington law firm
where he has been a partner and lobbyist, earning as much as $700,000
a year. (Having just resigned from Homeland Security last month,
Perry could soon return to Latham, thus completing his third circuit
through the revolving door.)

Perry's crowning achievement in the months before he quit the federal
government is a set of laws and regulations that permit chemical
manufacturers to decide whether and how to improve the notoriously
lax security at their plants. Last fall, with Perry overseeing the
legislative process, Congress passed a feeble bill that was supposed
to force reform before a disaster occurs. The hardworking Perry made
sure that the bill was rendered even more toothless when he and his
staff set up the regulations to enforce it. Those rules include a
special provision designed to frustrate vulnerable states such as New
Jersey from passing stronger regulations, which will be preempted by
the weak federal law.

In an interview with the Washington Monthly, Sen. Frank Lautenberg,
D-N.J., furiously excoriated the Bush administration for coddling its
corporate friends. "In order to please their cronies in the chemical
industry, the Bush administration is willing to put the health and
safety of millions of people at risk," he said of Perry's handiwork.

The new McCarthy-ism

Simply amazing.

The face of blacklisting.

Another new toy

Powells Books here in Portland has a blog with daily updates. They link to reviews of current releases. They provide commentary on the show Lost. They have op-ed pieces by their staff. I linked up to the RSS feed and now I have one more really informative time-sink in my repertoire. Hours lost. Hours.

The "new" idolatry

This article in Counterpunch raises some good points. I think one of the most important quotes comes towards the end:

There is a sharp divide between a "deep green" look at the social nature of ecological problems and the "shallow green" approach of corporate environmentalism. Deep greens emphasize that America can improve its health and quality of life while manufacturing fewer objects and shortening the work week. Shallow greens are loathe to say anything about the need to produce less and flee from addressing moral and political dilemmas of a growth economy.

Shallow greens often accuse deeps of being uncompromising and refusing to accept small steps in the right direction. Mass transit shows the opposite to be true. While mass transit has negative aspects, it is a step in the right direction because it reduces the number of cars.

Don Fitz manages to express succinctly some of the main things that have been knocking around in my head about this topic. But his article raises a few very important questions. Primarily, how do we change the social landscape of the consumer-capitalist economy of the United States of America (or the entire first world even) by opting out of it's norms?

Examples of how you can live life without an automobile help illustrate the point, but they do little to actually reshape the communities where we live until more than the early adopters join in. How do we help people transition from car-dependency to pedestrian/bicycle-riding freedom? And a lower speed lifestyle inherently means a lower material wealth lifestyle by our current standards. Many people balk at the very suggestion that they give up the shiny toys even with the proof of very real health benefits from eschewing techno-wizardry.

And the science behind many of these diversions provides very real benefits in materials technology, deeper understanding of physical mechanics and medical advances. If we remove the consumer sector, how does the current technology development model adapt? Do we accept slower advances as part of the price?

Fun new car

This new car/cycle/trike hybrid doesn't solve the problem of everyone wanting their own auto, but it does reduce the amount of space needed for parking and operation.

More depressing thoughts

Found this on Daily Kos.

Really?

I thought Tommy Franks was one of the good guys?

From the BBC:

Iraq invasion plan 'delusional'

The US invasion plan for Iraq envisaged that only
5,000 US troops would remain in Iraq by December
2006, declassified Central Command documents show.

The material also shows that the US military
projected a stable, pro-US and democratic Iraq by
that time.

The August 2002 material was obtained by the
National Security Archive (NSA). Its officials
said the plans were based on delusional
assumptions.

The US currently has some 132,000 troops in the violence-torn state.

'Completely unrealistic'

The documents - in the form of PowerPoint slides
- were prepared by the now-retired Gen Tommy
Franks and other top commanders at the time.

The documents were presented at a briefing in
August 2002 - less than a year before the US
invasion of Iraq in April 2003.

The commanders predicted that after the fighting
was over there would be a two- to three-month
"stabilisation" phase, followed by an 18- to
24-month "recovery" stage.

They projected that the US forces would be almost
completely "re-deployed" out of Iraq at the end
of the "transition" phase - within 45 months of
invasion.

"Completely unrealistic assumptions about a
post-Saddam Iraq permeate these war plans," NSA
executive director Thomas Blanton said in a
statement posted on the organisation's website.

"First, they assumed that a provisional
government would be in place by 'D-Day', then
that the Iraqis would stay in their garrisons and
be reliable partners, and finally that the
post-hostilities phase would be a matter of mere
months'," Mr Blanton said.

"All of these were delusions," he added.

The NSA said it received the documents last
month, after making a request in 2004.

The NSA is an independent research institute at George Washington University.

It obtained the papers under the Freedom of Information Act.

Published: 2007/02/15 12:41:14 GMT

© BBC MMVII

Just found my dream commuter

I found it at REI of all places. Novarra made the Fusion new for 2007. This bike has most of the items I want on a daily rider:

-7- or 8-gear internal hub on rear wheel
-fenders - though this can be added to most any bike)
-cargo rack - again, this can be added to most bikes)
-road tires - many hybrid bikes have the fatter mountain bike style tires. I like the lower rolling resistance of road tires that run about 80 psi inflation.
-internal brakes - so I don't have to clean the rims every night when it rains.

Had I great riches, I would buy the Opa from Jorg & Olif. The bike has style and practicality. And allure. But the price tag weighs in at more than twice what I'll pay for the Fusion.

What he said!

This rant by Joel Johnson over at Gizmodo hits the nail on the ever-so-obvious head.

Best quote:

Stop buying this crap. Just stop it. You don't need it. Wait a year until the reviews come out and the other suckers too addicted to having the very latest and greatest buy it, put up a review, and have moved on to something else. Stop buying broken products and then shrugging your shoulders when it doesn't do what it is supposed to. Stop buying products that serve any other master than you. Use older stuff that works. Make it yourself. Only buy new stuff from companies that have proven themselves good servants of their customers in the past. Complaining online about this stuff helps, but really, just stop buying it.

Not just a good idea...

Let's make it law. Sign MoveOn.org's petition to Congress asking that they ban paperless voting machines in time for the 2008 elections. Takes 2 seconds.

Post a comment once you sign the petition, that way I can keep track. :)

Frickin' Unbelievable...

So the last renewal of that masterpiece of civil rights detroying legislation, The Patriot (Unpatriotic) Act includes an interesting amendment. The amendment inserted by Arlen Specter (who denies ever having seen it prior to the interview asking about it!!!) moves the power of appointment of U.S. Attorneys from the Senate to the White House and removes the need for Senate confirmation.

U.S. Attorneys investigate and prosecute government malfeasance. They follow up on whistle blowing. They find out who got bribed by who or who leaked what and so on. And now they can be appointed by the President without Senate confirmation. I wonder who exactly benefits from this arrangement. Not the taxpayers. Not the Senate. Hmmmm.

See this Salon.com article for more details.

Then go to the Senate page with contact forms for your Senators and send them an email or call them about this amazing travesty. Urge them to revoke this transfer of powers as rapidly as possible.

And then email everyone you know to do the same thing.

This is really big. This provision undermines one of the most fundamental safeguards to the integrity of government. Even if you don't believe that an email can make a difference, spend 5 minutes and send one anyway. Here's a sample letter you can use:

The hidden clause in the Patriot Act that transfers power of appointment for US Attorneys to the White House is unconscionable. I urge you to introduce a bill to revoke this usurpation of Senate authority. The ability to pack US Attorney positions with partisan hacks backing the White House agenda subverts the entire legal process in the government. Appointment of handpicked cronies to a position that monitors and polices the government for abuse of power and corruption leaves our entire Republic vulnerable. Please make the reversal of this tragic provision one of your highest priorities in the coming months.

Thank you,
Your constituent,

We can take our government back.

Late start

Rolled out of bed a little bit late this morning. Even with that, I managed to eat breakfast, walk the dogs (a 30 to 40 minute process) and get out the door on my bike by 8:15. Then I nearly set a personal record for my commute to work - 37 minutes. I was just screamin' along. Good way to start the morning. A little cardio. A little adrenaline. A little movement.

Tastes like chicken

Sunday night I bought an 8 piece box of fried chicken. I haven't had fried chicken for 3 or 4 years now. Generally I eat a pretty balanced diet. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Pasta and beans and rice as starches. Lean meats. And I like the way I eat.

I took 3 days to polish off the box. I enjoyed every second of picking the bones clean and gnawing at bits of fried flour and meat, and I'm set for another 3 or 4 years. But really, fried chicken tastes so good and is so bad for you I really don't see how it ain't illegal yet.

Layout changes

I'm playing around with some new templates and layouts in Blogger. If you really like or absolutely despise any of the changes then let me know. If I value your opinion then it might impact my changes. Cheers!

Oh fluffy powder!

Devon and I went to Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood to take the third and final lesson of our snowboard lesson package. My friends Chris and Espy came up from San Jose to hang out and go snowboarding for their first time ever. Dev and I warmed up for about an hour on the bunny slope while Chris and Espy took their lesson.

Snow kept falling from the sky. The wind kept throwing loose snow into our faces. And the sun occasionally peeked through the clouds. And the cycle repeated over and over all day long. This cycle deposited a ton of fluffy white soft powdery snow on the runs.

Dev and I managed to wrangle our instructor (he goes by "DC") from a few weeks ago into teaching our last lesson. Since only we two registered for the advanced beginner lesson, it was like we were getting a private snowboard lesson. He's a great instructor. Completely psyched about snowboarding. Completely psyched to be out teaching people to snowboard. Positive. Upbeat. Flexible. And he really pays attention. (Can you tell that Dev and I enjoyed his teaching style?)

He took us down the bunny slope one more time to evaluate our riding. Then he took us down the Pucci run. Our first time on a long open run. We got to do some straight downhill riding. We got to practice heel edge riding. We got to practice impromptu braking (crashing). But the soft powdery snow was fun to fall into. We even had to practice our balance on a level section on West End Road. DC had us strap in only one foot and practice placing our weight on that foot and balancing over that foot. Then we pushed off with our free foot and had to stomp our free foot on the board as many times as we could before falling. This exercise really worked at focusing our balance and body position - the practice graphically illustrated how we should be standing and balancing.

So we look forward to getting back up to the mountain. Dev has to travel this week and next week so we probably won't go back for at least two weeks. But we are chomping at the bit to get back up there.

Snowbound no more

The white stuff has finally melted. The ice is nearly gone. I rode my bike in to work for the first time in 4 days (Tuesday was a snow day, and I rode in cars Wednesday and Thursday). The rain started again though, reminding us all that we live in Oregon in winter. :)

My friends Chris and Espy are coming up from the San Francisco bay area this weekend. They fly in tonight. We go snowboarding tomorrow at Mt Hood. It will be a good weekend.

Snow at home

I woke up to snow falling from the sky in Portland. Falling snow still entrances me.

XC

Not Roman Numerals.

Cross country. As in cross country skiing. Sue took me out for my first time on touring skis. 3 hours. 8 miles. One good view of Mt Hood. One very sore and tired David at the end of the day.

But I had a lot of fun. Initially I had some trouble with descents (as in 8 falls). That ongoing misfortune was mostly fixed with some spot-on advice from a passing stranger (who obviously knows how to coach a newbie.) Aside from that, I feel like I caught on pretty well. I worked hard, but it happened in a relaxed pace. I had a chance to ride boards over hard pack groomed track, flattened but no-track snow, and on untouched powder. So I tried out a variety of styles in one afternoon.

The weather was outstanding. It never went above freezing the whole day, but the sun graced us for almost the entire trip. And Sue and I both had to shed layers of clothing to stay comfortable. At least until we got back to the parking lot - the wind by the car was evil.

Glorious sun!

The sun came out today in time for my morning ride to work. The sub-30 degree temperature still ranks as bitter cold, but riding in bright sunny clear weather more than made up for it.

Now I have to go defrost my toes. :)

Pictures posted

I posted pictures from New Years weekend for your viewing pleasure.

New Year on the Left Coast

Dev and I retreated to the coast of Oregon for the long weekend. We took the dogs with us and rented a house right on the beach bluffs with a coupe of friends (Nate and Sue). We spent all weekend do not a whole lot at a very slow pace. Walked up and down the beach. Read a little bit. Played Scrabble and Taboo. And watched the ball drop in New York's Time Square. And then we moseyed home pretty easily too.

Happy New Years!

Oi, this blows

The wind was extra-ordinarily high this morning. I mean, dang. The hard bike ride gave me a good boost though. Turned the volume down on the day.

Climbing Like Stinky Patootie

I mean really. I lay off top-roped route climbing for a month and I can't finish off a single route in an entire night of gym climbing! Gah!!! I mean, ok, I really got two routes finished. But I spent the rest of the night falling. Repeatedly. And hanging in my harness. Very disheartening.

And of course Nate just cruised 5.11's all night. Grrrrr.

-sigh-

Daddy Long-Legs

So Dev and I went snowboarding at Timberline lodge on Saturday with our friends Warren and Toni. Snow kept falling all morning. The temperature hovered in the 20's. Our instructor rocked the slope. And Devon and I feel like we can ride a snowboard now. We still need more practice and we have one more lesson in our package, but we definitely can ride a snowboard now. I need a lot of practice riding the toe edge but it really is just practice at this point.

Warren and Toni suffered through the first day of snowboarding. Which is normal. I have not talked with a single person yet who had a good first day on a snowboard. But everyone I've talked to about boarding has had a good second day. Like Dev and I. -grin-

And apparently I kept rushing ahead of our crew on the slope and in the lodge. Finally Toni asked Dev where her husband Daddy Long-Legs was going so fast. So Dev has been calling me Daddy Long-Legs ever since and chuckling to herself every time.

Snowboarding tomorrow

The weather on Mt Hood has been right for the last week. So it looks like Dev and I will be going to Timberline Lodge for the second of our three lessons tomorrow. I'm so ready. -grin-

Flat tire yesterday

Went out to the garage. Started wheeling my bike out. Found I had a flat. Curses flowed like beer at a frat party. Tried to find the puncture agent - no dice. Wasn't going to put a new tube into the tire if I can't find the thorn or wire or shank or shard of glass that rendered my tube deflated.

-sigh-

I was really looking forward to the ride yesterday.
I fixed the tube last night. Still couldn't find a cause. So we'll see if the tube stands up to the ride to work today.

Still rolling it around in my head

I haven't posted my Mt Hood climb report yet because I'm still rolling it around in my head. Which is probably a mistake - I should have written my experience down more fully when it was still fresh. And now three climbers have been stuck on the mountain for over a week. Their ordeal stands in stark relief to my climb. We had perfect weather, they got stormy conditions; we had less than really complete gear lists, they had a text-book and almost professional approach to the climb.

I've been glued to the news about their misadventure. And I've been replying the day of my summit attempt. And it makes for good thinking, but not for good writing.

Last Week

Last week rolled by pretty quick and with little fanfare. I rolled through a 40 hour grind to reach Friday. Dev worked a few more hours.

Saturday changed the complexion of things. Dev and I went snowboarding at Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood. The weather looked a little dodgy on the weather reports, but we woke up early and gambled that rain would in fact be snow at 5000 feet on the mountain. And we won the bet. Snow dusted the slope all day long with brief breaks and the temp stayed well within the range of comfortable.

I had a lot of fun in the snowboard lesson. I've only been snowboarding one time before. I went up to Tahoe with some friends from work back when I lived in the San Francisco bay area. The day at Tahoe was warm and the slope icy. I had a terrible time. This weekend at Mt Hood I felt like I had better control of the board and the snow conditions were better for a novice learning how to control a waxed piece of wood on a steeply sloped surface of low friction material.

Dev had a harder time of it. She left the slope exhausted shortly after the lesson ended. Our first ski lesson treated her better last season. But we have two more lessons, so there remains a good chance that she might convert. She likes the style and weight of the gear better than snow skiing gear. -grin-

Can't wait for our next trip to the mountain.

Pictures from Hood yesterday

Here's the pictures I took yesterday. I hope to have a more detailed trip report up sometime this week.

Not quite there

I climbed up the side of Mt Hood today with Nate, Sue and Aaron. We fell short of the summit by a thousand feet. I'm beat and will post more details later. I'm off to bed now. -grin-

Brrrrrrr

Below freezing last night here in PDX. No precipitation though. The ride in to work was chilly but dry. And I even broke a little bit of a sweat even though the mercury floated right around 30 degrees Fahrenheit (yay layers!).

The forecast says freezing rain overnight tonight. I'm hoping either a) enough to shut Portland down for the day (so I don't have to go to work) or b) not very much (so I don't have to ride through slush tomorrow).

Pics from Thanksgiving

Ann and Scott posted pics from our visit on Thanksgiving here. Fun pics for everyone.

And she also posted pictures of real snow at their house. Crazy deep snow. Looks like Dev and I chose the right day to leave for home!

Working off the turkey

And the potatoes. And the sweet potatoes. And the stuffing. And the pie. And the ice cream.

And you get the point.

Dev and Scott and I tripped up to Deception Pass for a little hike this morning.

First we rolled down to Rosario Beach and had a very short hike along the beach bluffs. Classic Pacific Coast beach bluffs. Vertical drop. Jagged rocky face. Kelp swaying in the waves breaking on shore below. Wind whipping you back from the ledge. The same wind that twists the trees brave enough or unlucky enough to grow on top of the cliff. We spent a few minutes staring at the trees in the sun and the wind with the dogs and then tromped back to the car to go to Deception Pass State Park proper.

Once at the park, we unloaded the dogs and proceeded to the bottom of the stairs at the end of the parking lot. These stairs lead to a great view of the underpinnings of the bridge that crosses Deception Pass waterway. We snapped a couple of pics of the green-painted steel trestles. Then we started off down the path through some lush northwest rain forest. After less than half a mile of hiking we topped out on the north east summit of Goose Rock. Enjoyed the view for a few minutes and then skedaddled back to the car for the ride back to Scott and Ann's house.

For more turkey and pie. -grin-

Happy Turkey Day!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all recover from your food comas soon!

(And, yes, I know this post is one day late. The Turkey won yesterday.)

Short week jubilation

Feeling so much better after my bout with the not-quite-flu. I can breathe again though I am snorting a lot of snot. Sniffling accompanies me everywhere right now.

But I am well enough to ride my bike to work again. And that 45 minutes every morning and another 45 minutes at night provides me so much sanity. I work out my workday crunchiness. I resolve any issues with the repeating revolutions of my feet. I expiate my workaday ennui with my peregrinatory exertions.

In short, (to borrow the motorcycling phrase) I ride to live. (Well, that *and* climbing.)

New Jacket seems to work

So the new Spraymaster jacket I bought from the Patagonia store seems to work pretty well. I rode home in an insanely windy deluge Wednesday night. I scarcely had to pedal because the wind blew from the south end of the river towards north Portland. At one point I realized that I had traveled from one stoplight to the next at the speed of traffic without pedaling a stroke. And the jacket held up pretty well.

I need to futz with adjusting the neck and hood. The only leak I had was rain running down my face and onto my chest. Brrrrr. But I think I have devised a trick or two to prevent a recurrence of that leak.

Reading a lot

Well whatever crud has been creeping around the office finally took me down yesterday and laid me up today. The weather turned nice yesterday too. So I miss the first good weather in two weeks because I don't feel well.

The upside is that I had a chance to finish reading Into Thin Air by Krakauer and Over the Edge by Child. I burned through these two books.

Big Blow

The rain started in earnest Monday night.
Tuesday night had me wishing for pontoons on my bicycle.
Wednesday and Thursday slackened on the rain with sporadic outbursts of liquid gloom.
Friday unleashed new precipitative fury that had me swimming from curb to curb as I crossed the street to get to a movie theater.

Yesterday I purchased a new rain jacket (the Patagonia Spraymaster) as a new refuge from the weather on my commute. The sales associate Tom at Patagonia rides in to the Pearl District from Vancouver every day on his bicycle - more mileage than my daily commute. This shared distance under glowering skies on a daily basis convinced me that he knows what he's talking about. And I like Patagonia and their values. And their line of goods. Just about everything but their price. -sigh-

So I'm hoping to stay dry. This week has a forecast only slightly drier than last week. I hope to post a glowing review of my new equipment soon.

Basking in the glow of victory

Haven't written much this week. Too busy being happy with the Democrat insurgency in Washington. The real work begins in January (even thought the spin started Tuesday night).

So once again:
YAY DEMOCRATS!!!!
YAY DEMOCRACY!!!!

Go Dems!!!!

CNN has called the House of Representatives for the Democrats. Can we get the Senate too? Only a few more hours will tell us for sure!

Final Stretch

Today through Tuesday is the single most important stretch to get voters out. Join me in calling voters through MoveOn.org's Call For Change program. It's fast. It's easy. It's a no brainer if you are angry about the Republican control of our government.

Call for Change

This is really a brilliant way to help the center and the left and the working poor and minorities and the middle class and pretty much anyone who is NOT a right-wing wingnut get control of our government. If you have a cell phone, a calling plan with free evening minutes and an internet connection then you can help out. Follow the link above and get involved.

And if you actually followed the link from my page and signed up to make calls, comment on your experience below. I want to hear the stories.

Happy Birthday MOM!!!!!!

She can't read this because her computer is broken, but yesterday was my mom's birthday.

Happy birthday mom!!!!!

Pea soup

Thick fog the last two mornings here in Bridge City. I had fun riding to work in the wet white cloudy stuff.

My lies killed the pumpkin

Apparently I was lying about posting pictures of pumpkin carving. Clearly I have not made it a priority. And the universe has punished me. My pumpkin, my beautiful orange gourdly masterpiece collapsed in on itself yesterday. -sigh-

I really will post pics soon. Promise.

Ratcheting it up

Sue took me out to Broughton Bluff on Sunday morning, just according to plan. We warmed up on a fun route (I'm not sure the name) that Sue thinks is a 5.8. The route has a funny side pull crux that lands you in a kind of "hands-free" pod. You have one or two balance moves (depending on your height) and then pull yourself up to what feels like a staircase. A great warm up route.

Then Sue put me on Classic Crack. Classic Crack is evil. Incarnate. Made manifest in rock. I barely made it up the route and take a short rest. Then I throw myself at Red Eye a few hundred times. I scramble up Red Eye, but I wore myself out on Classic Crack. Even with the rest, I have a hard time holding onto Red Eye's very positive handholds. I like the route but I just need to go up it when I have more energy. which means I have to get better at crack climbing. Which means fighting evil on it's own terms, i.e. climbing Classic Crack.

Pumpkin patch

Despite beautiful weather here in Portland, I worked on Saturday. Once Macforce closed up, Dev and I headed over to Woodsy's place for her annual pumpkin carving party. We carved some pretty cool pumpkins this year, especially considering how we waited to the last minute for our pumpkin purchase and pattern selection. I'll post pics sometime tonight. Don't blame me if you get nightmares though! -grin-

Still truckin along

I'm ambling through this week soooooo slowly. I have to work tomorrow (Saturday) and that always stretches the week just a little bit. Luckily, weekends at Macforce stay relatively low key. And the day generally passes quickly.

Still.

It *is* work after all. And the weather turned nice just in time for the weekend. Even though I'll be indoors all day Saturday, I'll get a little climbing in Sunday morning. Sue will be taking me out to Brought Bluff for some quick routes in the morning prior to Nate's return from California (at least that's the plan). And then I have all Sunday afternoon to spend with Dev.

At least that's the plan. -wink-

Whether the Tempest

A sonnet by Bobby Joel Warren
Dedicated to, well, she knows who she is.

Whether the Tempest

The hardest gales present the direst choice:
Confront their onslaught, risking ruins wrack,
Or heed the hurricanes high volume voice,
And flee forth wisely from its fierce attack.

The lightnings lance can cause the mast to crack,
Or swells unsound ships sink beneath the waves.
The faint of heart or humour, driven back,
Succumb to slumber in their sodden graves.

Yet raging storms the strong and firm man braves,
And, resolute, the wild winds will withstand.
Relenting not he wins the eye that saves,
Or fills his sails with gusts and gains the land.

To tame the tempest one must to her bind,
In meeting both of body and of mind.

Current reading project

So I finally have some momentum on a reading project that I started after watching the movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. For those not familiar with the movie, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen takes place in the late Victorian era. Characters from 19th century literature all co-exist in the same world simultaneously; so Dr Jekyll can meet Captain Nemo and Dr Moriarty can plague the world freely after the death of Sherlock Holmes. Wikipedia has a fairly in-depth article here for those wanting a more comprehensive review.

After seeing the movie, I decided I wanted to read the source material for the main characters. I purchased Oscar Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray and tried to start reading it a couple of years ago. Wilde's wit was a loss for me for over a year because professional reading took too much of my time and attention for me to focus on pleasure reading. I picked the book up about a week ago and sped through it, apparently I'm in a better place for sardonic, cynical commentary on British "Society."

Next up, King Solomon's Mines by M Haggard Rider (it's waiting for me at the library).

What did you do last weekend?

While I partied in Chicago with the in-laws, my buddy Nate climbed two summits in Washington state. Killer weekend. Oh how I wish I could have gone! Except for the sleeping outside with no tent when it snowed a little. Egads.

Anyway, check out the pictures.

Radio silence

I'm much worse at this blogging thing than I should be. Five minutes a day is all it takes right? -grin-

I'll break uyp all the fun stuff from the past week into a series of posts for easier reading. Dev left for Chivcago last Tuesday (10/3). I took off for Chicago on Friday night. I had a fun weekend kicking around with Devon's Chicago crew. I got back Sunday night and crawled into bed. And then this week has entailed much dog-walking and house-cleaning. So enough excuses. That's what I've been doing. Makes for great television. -grin-

Celebrate good times

Oh yeah! The party is funded!

So now we just need democracy and happiness to attend. Now let's see. Where did we leave their number...

Oh yeah! We need to call late 2000. October-ish. You know, before the neo-cons stole the election, shattered the peace, lost a major city to a hurricane and spent our country's budgetary surplus.

I *swear* do-dos run this country!

Good wind-down weekend

I spent this entire weekend taking it easy.

Dev and I had dinner with two of our friends from the dog park, Matt and Tommy. They treated us to a great fish dinner with some delicious mashed potatoes and lots of really good white wine. We stayed late into the evening talking about cool trips they've taken and watching bad video content on YouTube.

Dev and I lolly-gagged on Saturday morning. Got up late. Wandered over to the dog park with the poochies. Strolled slowly. Enjoyed the sunny morning. Took a slow hot shower. Had a nice, big cup of hot coffee. Then I went out for a short climbing trip to Rocky Butte (close in Portland) with my buddies Tom and Nat and Tasha. We all had low key energy and climbed casual for a bit (except for Tasha who forgot her shoes and was a good sport about belaying us). And hung out for a bit. And then split about 3:30 pm for home. Satisfying without overdoing it.

Dev went to a baby shower for our friend Stacey. She seemed to have a good time but the details are hazy for me (since I wasn't there) -grin-

She got home and we headed out the door one more time. We needed to pay our farewells to Jason (my former co-worker) and his girlfriend Lucy - this will be their last weekend in Portland. We stopped at Nicholas' Restaurant and grabbed some mezza plates and pita bread on the way. Unemployment (temporary) agrees with Jason. He seemed really at ease in a way that I rarely saw while he was working at MacForce. And Lucy was a gracious host as usual, even with packing boxes and disarrayed furniture strewn about the place. Dev and I are gonna miss those guys. But between Scott and Ann, and Jason and Lucy, and Jess and Julie, we won't have any reason not to spend time in Seattle.

Dev and I kept it low key today too. We tromped out the door mid-morning to cheer a pair of friends who ran in the Portland Marathon today. And then we biked over to the grocery store for provisioning. We got to soak up some of the last sun of the season before Portland turns rainy for 6 months. We kinda bopped along on our bikes rather than riding arrow-straight with purpose-driven pedaling to our destination.

Dev had to work for a little while this afternoon and I spent a few hours on stripping paint off of cabinet doors (in between other chores like mowing the lawn). And now we are getting ready to have friends over for an informal dinner of mediteranean chicken and assorted other goodies.

When I type it all up, it sounds like a lot. But this weekend just flowed along without hurry or intensity. A nice end to the summer season.

All quiet on the David front

I've been quiet this last week because I've been busy. -grin-

My partner in crime and fellow service tech, Jason Wolford, had his last day on Friday of last week. He's going to Seattle, or someplace known as "not here." I know that his girl, Lucy, scored a great gig in Seattle. A dream job even. That does not mean that he gets to pull up stakes and follow her (does it?). Especially when we were just getting on a heavy roll here at Macforce. I mean we were really running strong. But he gave all that up. -sigh-

This week has been busy at work. My boss Sean has been helping out and carrying a lot of the load with me. And, I might add, in addition to his regular set of job duties (if I were feeling charitable). -grin- But I've still had to keep my head down and march double time to keep up.

And then I was gone all last weekend with no internet access. Yay! Of course that limited my ability to post news and happenings.

And then there've been household chores to do (I had to pay for the weekend off from chores somehow!).

And I'm going through a friend's sonnets and editing them for him. Maybe he'll do me the honor of letting me post his work here for perusal. Bobby did a good job crafting them and I'd like it if he showed them off a little bit.

So that's that. More soon.

Update

I thinned out the photos from last weekend. I tried to reduce the number of pics so that the non-climbers wouldn't get bored, but I tried to leave enough images to give a sense of flow between shots.

Tell me if I missed the mark. And enjoy the pictures.

Outstanding weekend

I spent the weekend camping and rock climbing with my friends Jon, Nate and Sue out at Smith Rock State Park. I did some sport (or bolted) climbing for the first time ever this weekend. And I spent some time on some slightly harder routes than I have tried climbing before. As usual, the rock humbled me on more than one occasion, but the effort paid off many times over. I've posted pictures, though only a few are of me *and* I went a little crazy on the flip-book style sequence for some of the pictures.

Yay! Activist Judges!

Turns out that another Judge has denied the Bush Administration its preference in handling important national matters. This time a judge reinstated Clinton era roadless rules for National Forest areas. Hopefully this judgement will stand and keep our national treasures from being logged and mined into oblivion.

How is this still ok?

Virginia Senator Allen (of the "Macaca" comment fame) has said some dismaying things in the last few days, as per article all over the blogoshpere. But this link to kos's posting of the the Council for Concerned Conservatives (or KKK's) list of principles really scares me.

I really don't know how it is okay for one of our congressmen to seek out a picture with the leaders of a group who adhere to backwards sentiments like this:

"We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind, to promote non-white races over the European-American people through so-called "affirmative action" and similar measures, to destroy or denigrate the European-American heritage, including the heritage of the Southern people, and to force the integration of the races [...]"

Once again, I hope Allen fries. I hope he and all his ilk fry.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend?

This chart over at Daily Kos poses an interesting question; are our "allies" really our allies? Or are they like the enabling spouse of an alcoholic bully, constantly telling us how we really are a good person. That they still love us even if we drank too much and acted the ass last night. That the foreigner down the street provoked us and deserved what he got.

I'm gonna stop that analogy before it gets *too* creepy.


cheers!

Hidden away

Nate and Sue took me out climbing Sunday (yesterday) to a little crag hidden away and not yet well known in the portland area. (Don't ask me for directions - they swore me to secrecy.)

Nate and Sue, their friends Aaron and Bill, and I all tromped down to this set of rocks that looks just marvelous. I only climbed three routes the whole day. The first route was apparently rated a 5.10b - and I only climb 5.9 right now. But Sue was very patient with me; she belayed me, yelled encouragement and provided great advice. I reached the anchors after what seemed like an eternity, but I *did* reach them.

I don't remember what the second route ranks, but I did get about two thirds of the way up before a slightly overhung arete stymied me. I threw myself at that section 18 times and just could not get past the bulge. I've replayed it in my head a lot in the last day and I look forward to trying that section again.

My last route of the day weighed in at a 5.4. It certainly felt a lot scarier than 5.4 and the top of the route had a strangely set up top out arrangement. Once at the top of the route, the climber needs to place an anchor in a crack system. Then the climber moves up a short and easy overhang onto a "plank" of stone. The climber then needs to edge left past a large pine tree and then has a nice large ledge with two bolted anchors in the wall. So Nate went up first, set the protection and got to the anchors.

He then belayed me from the top of the route. I apparently forgot everything I know about climbing gracefully on the way up. I never came close to falling or losing my grip, but I certainly did not climb with grace or precision. Then we rappelled down to the base and packed up and tromped on back out to the car.

I spent a lot of time taking pictures of everyone else climbing. I forgot to hand off the camera to someone else when my turn to climb rolled around. Thus, no pictures of me climbing. Next time.

I'm heading to Smith Rock this coming weekend to do some climbing, so I'll try to get some good shots of the landscape and of me climbing. I promise. To try.

cheers!

Fun little toy

Here's a fun little web toy that my boss forwarded to all of us: Mr Picassohead

It's great working for a company that really loves even the frivolous applications of technology.

I shoulda watched this one first

Unbelievable. Truly. Literally. I don't believe a single word Bush says in this clip.

But it's soooooo depressing because there are many Americans who think that he is talking sense and doing the right thing.

I really, really should've watched the Olbermann piece after this one.

Truer words never....

This scathing editorial by Keith Olbermann puts in consice and riveting terms every important indictment of the moral and ideological bankruptcy of the Bush Administration in its misuse of 9/11. Mr Olbermann is shaping up to be one of the most important shining stars of the editorial apparatus of the so-called Main Stream Media.

Watch the video.

Pass it on

To every one you know.

Jon Stewart Quote of the Day

Say what you will about his speech, his presidency is now 15 minutes shorter.
-Stewart commenting on Bush's brief speech to the public on Monday night

Five years ago today

Five years ago today was the first day that my lovely wife and I said those three words "I love you" to each other. We were on the phone at mid-morning; she was in Los Angeles and I was in Cupertino (near San Francisco). And as we said good-bye "I love you" slipped out on my end, followed by the same words on hers. The words surprised both of us (we had only been dating for 3 months at the time). Dev had to go but said we'd talk about it later.

She was right, five years later we still talk about it.
-grin-
Happy anniversary, baby.

Home improvement Sunday

Our Sunday did not prove as interesting as our Saturday, but we did get a lot done. Dev ran lots of chores. And I discovered why people will spend $2000 on new cabinets and installation instead of refinishing their old ones. The math is simple: paint is *much* harder to remove from a surface than to add to a surface.

That's right! I got to strip the paint from a couple of kitchen cabinet doors today. Five decades of paint takes more than a few minutes and a la-de-da to strip off. I used some paint stripper, a power sander, a jackhammer and a "bunker buster" cluster bomb. I think the jackhammer *actually* managed to knock the paint off, but I was so tired of the whole process by that point that I threw the bomb in out of sheer frustration.

Hope you all had a good weekend too!

She rocks

Here is photographic evidence of Devon topping out on her first ever rock climb. She did great. She got to the top once and then repeated the feat a few minutes later.

We went back out to Bulo Point this weekend and took Nate and Sue with us. They provided the gear and expertise and we provided the transportation. We actually got some pictures at the crag this time, though most of the actual action and climbing shots feature Nate and Sue. That works better anyway, because they climb with a great deal more grace than Dev and I. -grin-

Enjoy the pictures!

Better fire?

"Apple has issued a recall on several models of Mac laptops because the battery can overheat and catch fire. Experts say a Mac fire is just like a PC fire, except it's more hip and condescending."
---Conan O'Brien

ABC's ongoing rightwing lovefest

And yet more on the unfolding drama concerning ABC's 9/11 mockumentary.

Why tell the truth when legend is so much easier

Apparently ABC will air a docudrama on 9/11 that portrays the destruction of the twin towers as President Clinton's fault. This must be like that story that the Clintons and their staff ransacked the White House when they left office. Except to combat this falsehood there's a high profile analyst in Roger Cressy who points out that Clinton never had a clear shot at Osama.

-sigh-

She said it!

Came across an good diary on DailyKos the other day about Libertarianism. I'd been uncomfortable with Libertarianism for a while even though many of the end points of their agenda seem to mesh with a progressive agenda. She kinda sums up why the ideology of legislation matters. A good think piece, for me anyway.

No climbing pics yet

I still don't have photos from this weekend so I'll just have to post two new pictures of Bojangles.

Bulo Point Climbing

Dev and I just got home from an overnight camping trip to the Mt Hood National Forest. We camped at Eightmile Crossing Campground with a few friends and fellow rock climbers (Tom and Nat and Tasha and Tracy and Christy) and all of the dogs. And while we camped at Eightmile Crossing, we drove a few miles away into the forest to the little rocky crag of Bulo Point.

For such a smallish area, Bulo Point has a nice variety of climb styles and difficulties. The beginners like Tasha and I had a number of easy and moderate routes to try. And the more advanced climbers (everyone else listed above) could choose from a nice variety of styles and difficulties.

We spent yesterday climbing the upper portion of the crag. Today we spent more time in the lower portion of climbing area. Tom and Tracy got to run up a few routes in "traditional" style (placing their own anchors as opposed to using bolts pre-drilled into the rocks). And we all stopped other activities and watched Nat make a dramatic run up a difficult (5.10) route. And he did not disappoint. He had a few moments of drama at the very top and pulled through it and we all cheered him on.

I'm wiped out, so I'm not going to write a lot more. But have a great Labor Day. Dev and I will talk to you soon.

Oh, and I'll post pictures as soon as I get them from our campmates - we forgot our camera. -sigh-

He only needs sixty seconds

The really sad part about this article at The Onion (America's Finest News Source) is that I can really see Bushie-boy saying those things.

My favorite quote:
"I just—Christ, I just need a goddamn minute, you know?"

A little bit of Friday fun before a long weekend away from the computer.

And on the depressing news front

This article about Senator Allen on Daily Kos shows how little progress has been made since, I dunno, *ever* on the racism front in America. I followed some of the side conversations and comment threads on the various stories; the vile hatred and ignorance contained in some of the comments turns my stomach and makes me weep for our future.

I hope Senator Allen and his ilk fry. I hope they lose everything to someone smarter and more tolerant than themselves. I hope their hatred and sneering disrespect for difference earns them a penury and poverty in their financial/material life to match that of their spiritual life.

Wild eyed bandit

On my way to the climbing gym at way-to-early-to-have-no-coffee AM this morning, I saw a raccoon. Not just a glimpse or a flash. I got to watch him trundle along and then disappear after about 20 seconds. He's been eating well, too. Big boy.

I know that raccoons are vermin animals in urban areas, but I still think it's cool to see wildlife even in the city.

Updated my links

Updated the links in the sidebar to reflect the pages I visit on a regular basis.
(And yes, I'm *still* reading American Theocracy).

New online photo toy

So my sister-in-law introduced me to a new online photo album site: Picasa Web Albums

I've played around with Flickr and I like it's interface. But it has a monthly upload limit to the tune of 20 MB. So that really limits how many pictures I can post in a given month. But Flickr has no limit on the total data you keep on their server - so you never have to remove an album to make way for a new one.

Picasa Web Albums has no monthly upload limit. They do have a total data limit of 250 MB on their server (for a free account). Of course, photos optimized for web access are pretty small, so that 's still a lot of photos.

Here's me on Picasa Web Albums.

Wow, that's a little scary

I'm so glad I don't live near yellow jacket country anymore.

Too much going on

Sorry about the lack of recent posts. Been busy. Found two new rock climbing partners, so I've been spending more time at the climbing gym (and more on real rock soon during the week and on the weekends). And our neighbors and friends Sara Ryan and Terry Allen got married up at Cooper Spur on Mount Hood last weekend (congrats guys!). And I've reconnected with a couple of old high school friends recently. And Dev and I are in the middle of 5 billion home improvement projects.

And really, it's summer; who wants to spend more time than necessary in front of the computer in the summer.

But I promise I'll try to post more often. I even have some good political diatribes brewing. -grin-

Nailed on the Bridge Pedal

Dev and I rode the 8 bridge route (out of a possible 10 bridge route) on the 11th Annual Providence Bridge Pedal. It was only our second year to ride in it, and the organizers did a phenomenal job of fixing last year's flaws. They managed to reduce the bottlenecks to one (from about 4 last year) AND they managed to keep their rest stops well stocked with food and drink (they ran out last year because of record attendance). And they managed to order perfect weather - sunny, light breeze and about 88 degrees faranheit.

But, as you all know, there has to be a hitch if Devon and I tried to attend an event.

First mistake, we only allowed an hour time to get ready. Even without showers (come on, it's an *athletic* event), that time frame turns into a pretty close shave with a real breakfast, bike checks, stretching and dog maintenance. So until we actually made it out the door and started pedaling, Devon was pretty cranky.

Then it was my turn.

Literally two blocks from the house I pick up a nail in my rear tire. A fence nail. And it didn't just poke through the tread and clip a small piece of my inner-tube. No. This nail tore through the tread, and then ripped sideways through my sidewall! So it was my turn to be grumpy. I had a spare tube, so I swapped out the tubes, aired the tire up and we loaded up the bikes in the truck and raced down to the start line and managed to finish the Bridge Pedal and have a good time doing it.

As a quick aside, am I the only person who demolishes bicycle tires on a REGULAR BASIS? I mean, I've chewed up a tire every six months minimum. Not that I really think that's a lot for the mileage I run. Still. It seems excessive to me.

Frankenbike gets a new cassette - no not music!

Scene: Monday morning commute

Set up: Bike in 3rd sprocket in back, 2nd chain ring on front.
David stands on the pedals to start moving from an intersection.

Bike: *pop* *pop* *pop pop*

David: -expletive-

The pair slows for another stop, then accelerates

Bike: *pop* *pop* *pop pop*

David: -double expletive-

End Scene


Scene: Macforce Parking Lot

Set up: David is bentover adjusting the cable tension nut on the rear gear shift.
After each adjustment he tests to see if it works better.

Bike: *pop* *pop* *pop pop*

David: -expletive- -expletive- stupid -double expletive-

End Scene


Scene: River City Bikes

Setup: David is speaking with bike mechanic about the problem with Frankenbike.

Mechanic: You need a new cassette (set of gears on the rear wheel).

David: -sigh-

End Scene

Frankenbike rises

So I just got my Volpe back from the bike shop. From a tune up.

And a fork replacement.

And a chain replacement.

And a wheel replacement.

Seems like the last 19 months haven't been kind to my bicycle. I took the bike to River City bikes for a tune up - it's been over a year since my last one. First thing the mechanic says is that my fork is bent and I need a new one.

I know when that happened. I just didn't know that it had wrecked my fork. About two months after I bought the bike I took it out for a training ride. I was approaching an intersection with a stoplight and was moving quickly. A pickup going the other way decided that he needed to beat me through the light and turned left in front of me.

I did not grab enough brake and bagged into the side of his pickup. We're both stopped. I'm okay and he's okay. And the bike needs the handlebars straightened, but seems okay otherwise. Guess not.

The mechanic kindly demonstrates the difference between a proper fork and my fork using a new model Volpe. OK. So I'm getting a new fork. At least they're comping the labor since I have it in for a tune up. So I sign the paperwork, hand over my steed, and go back to work.

That was Wednesday. Thursday I get a call from the bike shop. My chain is worn out. I already knew that it was close to it's death rattle, I just hadn't made the preparations. So fine. Apparently my rear wheel has some chewed up spokes too.

-sigh-

So I get a new wheel too. Which does not color match my front wheel. And my new front fork - chrome - doesn't match the rest of the bike either. So now my bike has indivduality. I'll be able to pick it out in a crowd.

Into the wild...

Or not so much. Dev and I just returned from a weekend camput with our neighbors Terry and Sara in the Diamond Mill OHV area in the Tillamook State Forest. We camped about 3 miles in, on the less popular section of off-highway vehicle road (read: dirt bikes and ATVs) that winds it's way through the state forest. So the day stayed mostly quiet and we felt like we were pretty remote. (Cheers to Jake and Sarah and Warren and Toni for finding this really awesome spot last year.)

We had all five of the dogs (our three plus Conner and Lily) and lots and lots of food.We hiked. And laid around. And read. And cooked. Terry took me rock-hopping down the river which was a lot of fun. And we found a couple of really good swimming holes for future visits.

Aside from a little rain this morning and little less that optimal sun yesterday, the camping was quite satisfactory.

Someone else likes my bike!

Funny how little things can give you a lasting grin.

I went to a meeting at the Portland Building hosted by the Portland City Transportation Department last night. The Department needs volunteers to do bike traffic counts during peak traffic times on Portland's bikeways so that they can show usage numbers and justify creating more bikeways. A good cause and one for which I'm happy to volunteer.

Anyway, I came out of the meeting and was unlocking my bike. And the guy who had unlocked his bike (locked up right next to mine) commented "Nice bike." Now, he had a Bianchi Velocity that was lighter and faster. He liked mine because of the brazons that allow for mounting luggage racks and fenders. We chatted al ittle bit about different bikes and how you really can't have too many bikes. He went his way and I went mine, but his comment had me grinning for few minutes thinking about "greener grass."

Stand Down!

So paintball worked us over. The mercury hit mid 90's with a sweltering 80 something percent humidity. I felt like I had gone home to Texas to play the game. But all ten of us valiantly soldiered on and sacrificed so we could hurl little plastic pellets of dayglo paint at 200 mph at each other.

And it was worth every drop of sweat.

Splat Action Paintball has many many acres of mock-combat fun. They have some forest and thicket fighting areas. They have a place called the village with structures for cover and crossfire. They even have a fort/fortification for a game named Attack and Defend.

The defenders start out inside the fort which has 360 dgrees of walls and netting (which stymies direct hits from paint balls) and two towers (for spotting and sniping). However, the defenders cannot leave the fort at all during the course of their first life. The attackers can attack from any direction. And when they are killed, the dead attacker must trudge back to base to "respawn" and then march back in to rejoin the fray (so the attacking force never truly loses).

Here's kicker. When a defender dies, he doesn't leave the game. Instead, the defender goes to the attacking team's home base and comes back to life and joins the attacking force. So as the deaths mount inside the fortress, the press of the assault becomes heavier. The increasingly desperate situation of the defenders adds significant tension to this game and heightens the anxiety level of the scenario.

We (all ten of us) were soaked with sweat and sporting multiple welts from the paintballs by the end of the day (though Jake won the "most number of welts sustained in a single volley" award - he got hit by 9 paintballs at one time in the speed round).

Line up, Soldier!

Tomorrow is paintball.
Tomorrow is the first time I play paintball.
Tomorrow should be fun.

Even with the record heat here in the great northwest - projected to hit a hundred degrees or higher.

Council Crest Hike Pics posted

You can see them here

Council Crest Hike

Dev and I took Cowboy out on Saturday for a shortish 3.8 mile hike to the top of Council Crest in the west hills of Portland. The shady trail took us through some pretty gorgeous canyonland to the highest point in Portland. The day was crystal so we could see Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, Mt Adams, and (a big surprise to me) Mt Ranier!

I'll have pictures posted later today or tomorrow.

See "The Matador"

Really. That's all. See The Matador

Pick(axe) of the litter

Sometimes it really is the little things.

Devon and I built some garden boxes on the left side (as you face the front) of the house yesterday. We had to break up the turf over on that side. and then level it. Then build the boxes. Then fill them with bricks and dirt.

Anyway, I get ahead of myself.

I have a few garden tools, but it turns out that I don't have a mattock. And a shovel just could not efficiently break up the sod in the yard. So we had to go buy a pick yesterday. Now, I haven't used a pick since I was a teenager. I had forgotten exactly how much fun the heft of those tools provides.

*swing*
THUNK
*swing*
THUNK
*swing*
"AHHHH!!!!! My foot! My foot!"

Just kidding!
I guess I'm trying to say I like my new toy.

Beating a dead man's chest

Dev and I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest tonight.

Noisy. Fun action. Good special effects. And Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow.
Not enough Caqptain Jack for my taste, but I love the character and Depp's interpretation. -grin-

If you liked the first one, you'll like this one. We enjoyerd it immensely.

Except

We went to a 5 PM show. Don't do this unless you like kids kicking the back of your seat, pulling your hair and talking for 90 minutes of a two hour movie. Like the little blond brat behind Dev.

So go see the movie. After 8 PM. At a movie theater that serves alcohol. (Just in case).

Whale Watching in Victoria

Dev and I went whale watching in Victoria. We originally signed up for a tour with Eagle Wing Tours on some pretty cool looking speed boats. They, unfortunately, did not have enough people sign up that mornign to go out on the tour - something about gas porices being too high or something. They referred us to another company named Springtide Tours. Now, Springtide uses Zodiac Boats.

Dang.

The tour price was almost worth it to ride in those boats for 3 hours. Our skipper Mike said that we hit about 40 knots on the way back to dock. Which translates to about 45 mph. Which is pretty zippy on choppy bay waters.

Like I said: Dang!

Did I say that?

Did I say I was going to post stories about the honeymoon? -sigh-
Crazy week. I'll start cranking out some words.

Oh, and our wedding photographer Michelle Burke has a page here where you can view and order pictures from our wedding.
Go to the drop down menu and look for Devon & David
Our password is Apple

Here's Dev's comments:
"Just a quick thank you to everyone for making our wedding day such a special occasion. It was great to see everyone that made it and we hope you had as much fun as we did. For those who couldn't be here, we hope to see you soon. Below is the link to the website with all the pictures. I'll warn you now...there are a lot of them!

Feel free to browse if you're interested. You can also order pictures from this site along with a 5" x 5" coffee table book with up to 20 pictures. The books are pretty cool if you're looking to order more than just a few pictures."

Wedding Pictures are up

At least the wedding pictures from our camera. I also have pics from the hike the day before AND the hike with my groomsmen (a wicked evil hike inadvertently labeled "moderate"). And pics from the reception. And from the fun stuff on the honeymoon.

You can see them here.

Rob has his pics up here.

Ann Marie has her pics posted here.

If anyone else has some photos of the wedding, send me the link and I'll post it. Or put the url in a comment on this post.

Funny thing happened on the way to Canada...

We (Devon and I) took a right turn on Welches Road in Welches, Oregon and had a wedding. With mountains. And family members. A cake. And golf carts. Thus the hiatus in my writing (though if I were a *truly dedicated* narcissist, I would have found a way to have internet access in order to publish tales of our journey).

We should have pictures of the festivities and links to pictures and even more picture posted as the week progresses. We might even get some pictures and stories about the honeymoon posted.

To all of you who made it to the wedding - thanks again for coming and helping us have the best time of our lives!

Ciao!