Brain Barrel

Orienteering I.U.P. Co-op Park 2011

2011-09-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

I decided to volunteer to help out at this event and got scheduled to do the time keeping for the afternoon shift. I got there early to get started on the red course and finish before my shift. I thought that running all summer was going to put me in good shape to run the course, maybe get a better time than last time, but the truth is that this course kicked my butt. Compared with the last event at Blue Spruce Park this course was longer, hillier, and I think the navigation was more difficult. I only got half way through before I was going to be late, so I bailed and came back.

I made two small navigational errors right away, and then a big one. On the second leg, a long leg up a big hill, I didn't watch the compass and in trying to not drift downhill I overcompensated and ended up too far uphill and at the wrong control. Then, a couple of controls later, I didn't notice a powerlines right of way on the map that should have been a big landmark. Instead, I guessed on where to head downhill off the trail, and ended up below the control. The big mistake I made was coming up on the sixth control, which I could see was on the side of a very steep knoll. I got to the knoll, but I didn't check which direction to go down and ended up in very rough terrain with poor visibility looking for a control in a pit that I couldn't see until right on top of it. That cost me a lot of time.

The next three controls were fine, and more or less downhill, but when I came to the ninth control (at the bottom of a steep hill) I found I had lost my control card! These are supposed to be stapled to the map inside the plastic bag, and punched through the plastic, but I had been carrying mine in my pocket. In my other shorts this was never a problem, but in the running shorts I wore that day the pockets rode up and ejected the control card. Demoralized, I walked back up the hill and found the control card not too far up the trail. I went back down, punched the control, went back up, and determined that I couldn't finish the course in time. Jogging back on the most direct route I lost the control card again!

The error was embarrassing, but I reminded myself that I had gotten some good exercise and gotten out in the woods, so it was still worthwhile. It was also good to work as the time keeper and to help pick up controls afterwards. I got a better sense of how the event was run, and I had a chance to talk to the other participants.

Orienteering Blue Spruce Park 2011

2011-09-16T22:01:00.000-04:00

This was the first WPOC orienteering event I had to drive a significant distance to get to, and the first time I tried the red course (the longest and most difficult). This was the first time I didn't feel like "well,it's in the neighborhood, so I might as well go". It was also the day of the Pittsburgh Marathon, and Frances and I got up early to cheer on our friend who was participating.

The park is located a little north of Indiana, PA, home of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, whose orienteering club formed the basis of the WPOC. It's a county park centered on a small reservoir, which was brim full after heavy rains overnight.

The red course ran counter clockwise around the lake from the shelter on the south side. Highlights of the course included some very rocky ground. Between the soccer ball size stones and the fallen tree limbs I had serious concerns for my ankles. I lost my shoe in a muddy grassy patch. I found one control when I heard the bubbling spring it was hanging over. I made a wrong turn when I mistook an oil tank for a gas well. I wiped out a couple of times slipping in mud. I got turned around in a large open field and had to reorient to figure out which corner I was in. Another competitor passed me. I was totally exhausted and dragging when I had to get up the last big hill, but coming back down it I was able to get back up to speed and finished strong on last downhill and flat legs.

I was very happy with the day. The course was difficult but I got through it. I made some navigational errors, but nothing embarrassing. I got passed, but I came in very close to most of the other runners.

Lightweight Backpacking Gear - Summer 2011

2011-09-10T17:33:00.000-04:00

After far too much thought, and definitely not enough actual practice, here is the collection of stuff I used to go camping this summer. This is meant to be for one overnight trip in warm, but not necessarily dry, weather. Below is the whole kit, spread out.

Sleeping bag (REI Travel Down) and bivy sack (REI Minimalist). Blue sleeping pad, orange dry sack.

Beat up running shoes, hood of big green poncho with tarp tieouts, one liter waterbottles, backpack (REI Flash 18).

Trail clothes: running shirt, cargo shorts for trail, adventure undies. Running shorts for camp.

Warm clothes: windbreaker, long underwear, heavy socks, hat. Light socks for trail.

Food: dehydrated meal, beef jerky, energy bars First aid, book.

Cooking: pot, alcohol stove, wind screen, triangular pot stand (sits on stove), lighter, spoon, bandana, sponge (not needed). Hygiene: soap, towel, toothbrush, toothpaste. Wallet: phone, key, ID, map, cash, emergency medical and contact info.

Miscellaneous stuff: head light, cord, sharpie, tent stakes, water tablets (chlorine dioxide), safety pin, glue, tape, matches fire starters, disinfectant wipe.

Pocket items: monocular telescope, pocket knife, emergency whistle (Coghlan's) with matches, fire starter, compass, mirror.

Hygiene and cooking items fit nicely inside cooking pot.

Miscellaneous stuff fits in ditty sack.

Almost forgot my hat! Keeps sweat, rain, and branches off my glasses and sun off of, ahem, vulnerable areas.

Pad, sleeping bag, clothes, and first aid go inside dry bag.

Leaving a little room on top for food and miscellaneous stuff.

Remaining items attach to outside.

Everything else goes on me, or in my pockets.

Total weight, including food and water, just under 14 pounds.

The gear in action.

Backpacking Raccoon Creek State Park, July 16, 2011

2011-09-10T17:32:00.000-04:00

Two backpacking trips in two weeks! Must be some kind of a record, and definitely an excellent birthday present from A. Having had such a good time on the previous trip, and constrained by the same considerations of time and planning, I had no choice but to return to the regular R.C.S.P. loop. Differences from last time: warm up activity, shoes, heat, wildlife.

R.C.S.P. is a twenty mile loop, but I upped the ante that morning by running a 5k race held by the YMCA in our neighborhood. Thanks to our friends for helping out with moral support, technical advice, and babysitting! We've been practicing on the 5k route, but this was the first time we ran a race on a official timer and without the baby, stroller, dog, poop breaks, stop lights, pedestrian traffic, etc. We squashed our previous time into pulp. A. and I are doing this as a team sport, so we stick together even though she's working harder at it. The upshot is that I had some energy left over, and plenty of time to rest and eat before making a late start on hiking.

On the second day of the last trip I kicked a big pointy stick and tore a big hole between the sole and fabric of my right shoe. It didn't stop me from finishing the walk, but the shoe was pretty badly damaged and I didn't trust it to hold together for another 20 miles. Just to be clear, I've been using two pairs of running shoes, the newer comfier ones on concrete, and the cheaper thinner older ones on trails. I could probably get away with just one multi-use pair, but I don't spend a lot on shoes, so I think it's ok. The newer ones have nice support and padding, which is good for jogging pace on hard concrete, and I don't want to get them torn, scratched, and muddied on the trail. The older ones were super cheap, so I don't mind punishing them on rough terrain, and I don't think I need as much foot protection going at a walking pace. In any case, I'm now down a pair of sneakers, and I decided to go with the medium hiking boots I got last year.

The boots definitely didn't slow me down the first day. I didn't feel quite as light on my feet as on the last trip, but I didn't have any trouble keeping up a good pace, and didn't have any discomfort. I do think that everything was a little more damp by the end of the day, and I don't think they dried out as well as the smaller shoes did. The second day I was little slower, but that probably wasn't the boots' fault.

The weather was not any hotter than the previous trip, but it was a little more humid. I definitely felt it on the trail, ended up drinking some more water than before, and had a much harder time cooling down and drying off in camp. Last time I slept really well and was comfortable inside my bivy and under (not in) my light sleeping bag, but this time I was too hot. I'm ok without a tent, but I'm scared enough of bugs and critters that I really want the bivy zipped closed, and with the small mesh face panel it doesn't ventilate well. I'm thinking that a bug bivy with a waterproof floor might be an appropriate choice for this warm weather. I was not as well rested as last time, but I did get to bed early, and I was ready to get up at 5:00 AM.

I saw a lot of wildlife on this trip. At the beginning of the hike there is a stream and marshy area below the dam. I saw some enormous fish swimming in the shallows of the stream, and I saw a largish bird swoop out of a tree. A birdwatcher I talked to later suggested it might have been a green heron. Later on I watched a family of raccoons cavorting around a tree a little way off the trail. At dinner a deer walked slowly through the campsite, 20' from where I was sitting. At night I heard something scratching in the bushes and scared it off by rustling my sleeping bag. The next morning I surprised an owl that had been munching on something on the ground, and it took off noisily before gliding silently away.

Backpacking Raccoon Creek State Park, July 2, 2011

2011-09-07T21:48:00.000-04:00

Here's a trip report from a camping trip earlier this summer (my first in a while!). I also have some reports queuing up for the second camping trip, some orienteering, and some discussion of lightweight camping gear.

Planning for this trip came about suddenly, when it became clear we would celebrate Baby's first birthday next weekend, not the same weekend as the Fourth of July. Luckily, I've been experimenting with how to cram enough stuff for an overnight trip into a ridiculously tiny backpack, and I was already pretty much packed up to go.

I considered trying a longer trip at Oil Creek State Park, or on the Laurel Highlands trail, but I thought, given the short prep time, the long gap since my last trip, the hot temperatures, the experimental gear, and the fear of shirking from my parental responsibilities, that I would stick with the well practiced itinerary at Raccoon Creek State Park.

The main goal of my trip (after the main purposes of exercise, solitude, and exposure to trees and fresh air) was to test out my best try at lightweight backpacking. I started that with my trip last year, trading in my tent for a poncho and a bivy sack, but I did my best this time to really minimize my equipment. The three biggest changes from my trip last year were to my backpack, my water, and my shoes.

Backpack

The back pack I used was an REI Flash 18 day pack. The "18" is for the liters of volume it can contain. Using such a small bag makes bulk almost as big of an issue as weight, but it was an important concession because the other backpacks I have are more than five pounds and way too big for what I need. I got the Flash 18 on the theory that I might be able to get enough into it for an overnight, and if I couldn't it would still be useful as a day pack or a holder for a water pouch (and it has been serving those purposes admirably). After a little testing earlier this year I got it to work. Almost.

I couldn't quite get everything I need IN the pack, but with a little tinkering I was able to get it ON the pack. I know, I know, it's bad form to have stuff lashed onto the outside of the backpack, but it's the best I could do. The items attached to the outside were (1) a ditty sack with my cooking pot and its contents, (2) my poncho, and (3) two water bottles. I'm particularly proud of the water bottle holders that I fashioned, passing some velcro straps through the daisy-chain loops on the backpack. I also strung the daisy chain with elastic cord which I used to cinch down the poncho. The ditty sack was held under the elastic, but secured by a carabiner to a loop.

Water

For water bottles I used two one-liter gatorade bottles. They're tougher than most plastic water bottles, but not as heavy as nalgene. They have a nice wide mouth, not too hard to fill up at a hand pump, and enough shaping to the body that they won't slide out from my home-made holders. I was worried about whether this would be enough in the heat. The first time I went out on this trail in the heat of July I really suffered carrying just two liters of water. On some subsequent trips, carrying the water pouch and two bottles I've been able to get through 10 liters per day! So I was a little worried about that, but I knew that water would be available at the halfway mark on both days, and there are lots of streams I could use for water (after treatment) if I really needed to. Luckily, I didn't have to. Temperatures were 85-90 degrees and the humidity was moderate but not stifling. I didn't have to work as hard, carrying a lighter load, and I've been doing some running so I'm in a little better shape than on past trips. In fact, I only drank one liter per day on the trail (more in camp).

Shoes

I skipped out on hiking boots this time and wore my beat up running shoes. I've been wearing them for orienteering, and they're not perfect, but I figured if I could wear them running through open woods I could wear them on the trail. They worked just fine. I wore some light smartwool socks with them, also fine. There was one misstep where I got close to twisting my ankle, but no harm done. I was slipping a little on the muddiest sections of the horse trail. Also, I did damage the shoes when I kicked the pointy end of a stick. It went between the sole of the shoe and the fabric of the toe and poked me pretty hard, but didn't break the skin. The verdict is that they worked, but probably aren't durable enough for extended or repeated abuse. Hopefully there is a pair of trail runners or lighter hiking shoes in my future. I've gotten a bit of use out of the last pair of hiking boots, but I may have to promote them to general purpose winter footwear if they aren't going to be dedicated adventure gear.

On the trail

It worked! Carrying a little under 14 pounds, including food and water, I really bounced along. I even jogged on some of the downhill sections. The day was warm but not humid. Thunderstorms were forecast, and one passed nearby but all I got was a nice breeze and a few big raindrops coming through the canopy. Actually, I didn't spend much time on the trail. I skipped along for nine or ten miles and got into camp well before dinner, and not completely exhausted.

In camp

I had a tricky time finding two trees exactly where I wanted them for the tarp, and the length of cord I had was probably a little too short. When I got the tarp up it was probably a little too low. I didn't get much breeze underneath, which was too warm late in the evening, but helped when the rain came later on. I propped up one edge with a stick, which helped keep things ventilated. I ate dinner early, lay down early, read for a few hours, and went to sleep. I woke up to the sounds of incredible thunder and deafening rain coming down on the tarp. After determining that everything was staying dry under the low pitched tarp and inside the bivy I listened to the storm and then fell back asleep. A few hours later and several hundred miles away, lightening from that same storm would injure five Civil War reenactors camped out at Gettysburg

At 4AM I woke up again, a little sore where I had been laying on my hips, needing to pee, and completely rested and awake. Having strong motivation to get up and no need to stay asleep I decided to pack up and hit the trail early. Another nice thing about not having too much stuff is that it's easy to pack. Less than an hour after waking up I was up, packed, and on the trail.

Second day

The only trouble I had hiking in the dark before dawn was finding the trail the first time. The little paths around the tent camp site are not well used, and actually a tree had fallen across one of them so I had pretty much just been picking my way through the bushes. I actually made a point coming back from the pump to be able to locate the campsite relative to the camping shelters that were on a bigger path and were easier to find. After a few minutes I couldn't find the trail I wanted, so I got out my dinky emergency compass, and headed in a direction I thought would take me to the trail, with the idea that if I didn't see it right away I could turn around and come back. Luckily I found it right away.

Hiking at dawn was a lot of fun. The leaves, covered in rain or dew, looked like little pieces of foil scattered across the ground. Mist rose up through the trees and morning light slowly brought color to everything. The dampness and fog in one of the ferniest sections of the park gave a much more ancient and exotic feel to the Pennsylvania woodlands, which have begun to feel a little "back yard" to me.

After the early start I had no problem getting back to the car well before lunch, and was back home before noon. All around it was a very quick, but very satisfying trip. The gear worked, the running helped, and the short duration of the trip made it very easy to fit into a busy schedule. I also feel like I'm outgrowing Raccoon Creek and I feel like I've built up enough experience to consider trying some more challenging locations.

Stay tuned for details from the follow up trip I made to this same location two weeks later, and for photographic evidence that I own camping equipment.

Orienteering Hartwood Acres 2011

2011-04-12T21:13:00.006-04:00

Last weekend I got to participate in the Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club's 2011 Hartwood Acres event. I ran (trudged) the orange course, which was 4.5 km long with 175 meters of climb and 11 controls. Out of the nine teams and fourteen participants on that course I am proud to say that I turned in the fastest time by a good margin. If you don't believe me, the results of the meet are posted here. I was also relieved that the control I couldn't initially find turns out to have been misplaced. There was, of course, a much longer and harder course available, which I will have to try next year.

Here are my notes about the course. I also tried to sketch out and annotate the route in google maps. All point and lines are very approximate. Zigzagging lines are are meant to indicate that I was not strictly following the compass.

View Hartwood Acres 2011 in a larger map

Background:

I stumbled on WPOC's 2010 Racoongaine event while on an overnight backpacking trip. Map and compass navigation is a backpacking skill that, as a trail bound hiker, I hadn't had a chance to practice. I went to the 2010 Hartwood Acre event and did the second level of difficulty (yellow?), and had a good time, but didn't feel challenged by the mostly on-trail navigation.

Objective:

My main goal in doing the orange course was to practice with the map and compass. I'm not in enough shape to make good time trail running, but I do have some experience with uphill trudging. Taking these factors into consideration I planned to take more or less direct routes from control to control, without too much concern for difficult intervening terrain.

Results:

Navigationally this was a big success. On leg four I was going at a walking pace up hill using the compass from tree to tree, and I kept right on course. The best validation was walking right up to (and then respectfully around) the gravesite directly on the leg four line. Other successful sections were the straight bits of legs nine and ten where I dashed off into the woods and ended up right where I expected to.

I experienced a big trade off between pace and navigation. At a jogging pace with quick bearing checks, but without going carefully from landmark to landmark, I still kept pretty well on track. But at a running pace or when going through (under, around) underbrush I was not able to keep on course and had to reorient myself. Also, on leg eleven, when it was easier running, I didn’t do a good job of spotting the faint paths that I was looking for.

Something that happened several times was that as I got close to the control and started recognizing landmarks I would head towards the landmark without regard for where the control was relative to it. That always got me pretty close but I sometimes ended up standing on a log looking around in every direction to find the control.

The biggest lesson learned about reading the map was about the precision of the “fight” designation. Compared to the sharp border between clear and woods, the border between woods and fight is very fuzzy. My impression now is that a fight marking on the map is a vague “here be dragons” kind of thing, which I should pretty much just keep away from. Another thing with the map is that I still have a hard time visualizing the orange areas as clear and the white areas as open woods.

There were two places where I definitely made the wrong decision about which route to take. On leg 8 I should have followed the trails on the contour instead of climbing over the hill and then struggling back down through thick forest. On leg 11 when I found the right of way I should have followed it south to the field and then followed the treeline west to the control instead of getting lost on the faint bike trails in the pine forest.

Overall it was a lot of fun, good practice navigating, good exercise, and I hope to make it to another event soon.

Springtime rebirth

2011-04-12T16:40:00.006-04:00

This blog is supposed to be about me, but parenting, as it turns out, is not. I haven't posted in forever because (a) I've had more important things to do, (b) my computer time has been spent keeping family and friends up to date with baby photos on Picasa, and (c) I don't feel like sharing detailed parenting stories on the open internet.

We have been super lucky with our baby. I'm scared to even describe how easy it has been for fear of jinxing it. She is a great sleeper, has never been really sick, and is happy and fun almost all the time. That being said, it has been a long, cold, indoor winter. Now that spring is here, it's not freezing cold all the time, and the baby is sturdy enough to be taken outside without getting broken, we are starting to have some more Nick style fun and I may manage to put up a few posts in this space.

Never put anything on the internet that you don't want to be held responsible for a year later

2010-07-16T11:59:00.002-04:00

"I see from your diet you haven't taken to heart my opinions and facts about foods with high glycemic index such as high fructose corn syrup, refined wheat products, potatoes and white rice. Perhaps I should send you a copy of "Good Calorie, Bad Calorie" and a copy of the dvd of Food, Inc. when it is available."

--Dad, July 28, 2009

From the archives

2010-07-14T10:15:00.001-04:00

Mom and Dad brought over the summer/fall 1983 album with my baby photos. A few weeks after my birth, my Dad and sister were already so fed up with my whining and crying that they decided to escape into the wilderness. They brought back this Jem, er, gem, of a photo.

Check the size of that pack! I wonder if Dad carried any of the gear, or if he just dumped it all on his offspring?

Welcome, Baby!

2010-07-14T09:59:00.003-04:00

Our new favorite subject has been covered more extensively on Facebook and e-mails, but this seems like an appropriate platform to at least announce the arrival of our new baby. She is not a boy, despite ancient oriental wisdom.

Congratulations to Mom, and thanks to the grandparents for hanging out and helping out.

A sign?

2010-06-15T12:42:00.003-04:00

Normally I don't put much trust in fortune cookies, especially relative to sonograms, but today, after Ashley said "maybe this will tell us if it's a boy or a girl" we opened one to find an unusually unambiguous message:

So there you go. We've also met a little baby with our top-secret boy name, and the consensus of people evaluating the size and shape of the bump has also been toward a boy.

I know there hasn't been too much going on around here online, but that's partly because of all the cool stuff happening in the real world. I hope to get in a few more updates before it becomes 24-7 baby around here.

Told ya!

2010-05-17T23:32:00.000-04:00

I swear we had these on a CD and posted them at one point. But here's the scan as proof.

In memory of Willow

2010-05-09T20:01:00.000-04:00

This is a belated post in memory of Willow, our ancestral cat. We got Willow a day or two after the death of Mom's last cat, Jasper, from my sister's friend two doors down. They had a giant willow tree in their front yard and that's how Willow got her name. That was about 1990.

I was the one who got to bring Willow home for the first time, just a bit before the earlier picture was taken. She would chase us up and down the stairs, clawing and biting (adorably) at our heels. At night as a kitten she would hunker down on my toes, quivering in anticipation until I made the slightest movement under the blanket for her to pounce at, her little claws barely piercing the comforter. After she got tired she would come under the blankets and curl up behind my knees to sleep. Getting older and grumpier she learned advanced techniques in nighttime single claw nose poking and high pitched breakfast meows, but we forgive her.

In the garden she was an expert hunter of birds, mice, and moles. When she saw a bird she couldn't catch she would make chirping sounds and try to look feathery. At the cabin she decimated the chipmunk population and climbed 30 feet into the pine trees. She learned to climb vertical wooden ladders into the loft using a technique like an arborist with a climbing belt and spurs.

I lobbied against getting Bhu because I thought he would upset her, but eventually I think they got along. I think the tipping point was when she talked him into jumping on the table and knocking the pork loin onto the floor. He was scared by the shattering platter and clattering silverware and slunk off while she feasted.

After Catie and I moved out Mom and Dad convinced us for about 5 minutes that they had given the dog and cat our places at the dinner table. It seemed disturbingly plausible.

She slowed down a lot in the last few years, but thanks to unlimited food and careful attention from Mom and Dad she managed to keep getting up and down the stairs, up and down from the bed, and out into the garden right up to the end.

She was nearly 20 years old. She outlived the tree she was named after.

My sympathies

2010-05-09T19:14:00.002-04:00

The other day I had to pee a lot for some reason. Ashley joked that it was sympathy bladder.

Today we got a watermelon for dinner so we decided to pose together. I think mine is bigger: I almost lost a button off my shirt.

Ashley's Mom's reaction was priceless.

Wanna come hang at my crib?

2010-05-08T21:22:00.002-04:00

Here's an update on the baby prep.

We've been registering for baby stuff the last few days (registry links coming). Today we went to Baby Land to check out some of the Big Stuff. This is a great local store that has been there forever. Ashley's mom got baby stuff there, and her mom probably went there too. We got some good suggestions from the saleswoman, a recent mother herself, and were able to pick out some stuff we really like. Ashley's mom and Auntie came along too, and couldn't wait for the shower to purchase some gifts for the baby, including the crib.

This picture also shows off the minty fresh paint Ashley and her dad put up (thanks to Vince for the Sherman Williams discount), and the new carpeting.

I hope this is the grossest picture I ever post on the internet.

2010-04-27T23:13:00.004-04:00

Steve Prefontaine said "Somebody may beat me, but they are going to have to bleed to do it."

I don't think this is what he meant:

(scroll down because I don't know how to make a jump)

Everyone seems to be running these days, and last Saturday I felt pretty good, so I decided to see the absolute farthest I could go (about nine miles out, then I limped home). Between the cramps and thigh chafing I didn't realize extent of these particular abrasions until the hot water hit me in the shower the next morning.

30 Weeks

2010-04-27T23:07:00.001-04:00

By popular demand:

Ashley and the baby got an A+ on the latest checkup for weight, belly size, blood pressure, glucose, iron, and baby activity. The heartbeat has changed in character with a distinctive thump to go along with all the whooshing.

I want a pocket full of these

2010-03-26T12:36:00.004-04:00

Behold the design of one of the new National Parks and federally protected areas quarters:

I remember one of those "you know you're from Portland if..." e-mails where one of the criteria was "you can point out where Mount Hood is on the horizon, even though it's covered by clouds".

Sigh.

Ivy League Pop

2010-03-24T16:37:00.003-04:00

Researchers at Princeton have found that rats whose diet included high fructose corn syrup gained more weight and had higher concentrations of triglycerides in their blood than other rats whose diet included equivalent calories of sucrose solution.

Meanwhile at Yale Pepsi is opening an independent research laboratory in New Haven and funding a research fellowship at the university to research nutrition and obesity.

2010 Inaugural Camping Trip

2010-03-21T13:10:00.003-04:00

In observance of the first day of spring, and anticipating many busy non-camping weekends soon to come, I set out yesterday for my first overnight backpacking trip of 2010. I'm getting over a cold, so I planned on doing just half of my regular loop at Raccoon Creek State Park.

Having grown up amidst the evergreen forests of the pacific northwest, where winter in the woods is marked mostly by the absence of flowers and a slight thinning of the undergrowth, I am always impressed by the degree to which the eastern deciduous forests vary throughout the year. The trees were still as gray as they were last month when I walked the same route with Otto and there were still patches of snow, but the ground cover is beginning to show signs of life.

There was one exactly one dense patch of what must have been snow-drops. In one spot there were several great big circles of mysterious green sprouts coming up through last year's leaves. Next to the streams and right in the middle of the damper stretches of trail purple lobes of skunk cabbage were pushing up through the mud.

With the clear skies and bare trees the park was as bright and clear as I've ever seen in the last few years. It was dry and cool, perfect weather for hiking, and despite the sniffles I made good time and felt great. I felt so good I thought about pressing on and extending the trip to a full loop, but I decided to take it easy and just enjoy hanging out outside.

I am pleased to report that the new boots I got are working great. They're midweight hiking boots with waterproof breathable goretex and nice stiff thick soles. The beat the heck out of the old freebies I used the last two years. My socks stayed pretty dry, and I had no discomfort or blisters all day. I've been carrying extra socks to be able to change at lunch if I need to, but I think with the new boots I can cut back on those.

There was no rain forecast overnight and none showed up. I experimented with a lean-to style tarp set up, which was mostly useful for privacy from the other group on the other side of the campground. I hit on a good way to tighten a cord between two trees, which I won't attempt to describe and probably already has a name. I'll probably ditch the tent poles next time.

One mistake I made was not putting on my fleece, socks, and long underwear before going to bed. When it got colder in the night I had to get out of the sleeping bag to put them on, and never quite got warmed back up. Also, the bivy sack ended up a little damper than on previous trips, but I'm not sure why. Possibly the cooler temperatures on this trip (compared to summer nights) caused more moisture to precipitate out before escaping through the fabric.

It was a short hike out this morning. I decided not to extend to the whole loop because the last leg is long and hilly, I'm still feeling sniffly, and it's supposed to start raining. Better to end on a high note and enjoy the rest of the weekend in more civilized ways.

I ran into some people doing orienteering, which looks really fun. I spotted one of their markers near the campsite last night, and thought it was a bug trap until I read the tag. I've put off buying a compass (other than the little emergency one) because I stick to well traveled trails that aren't ever far from a road. But I've been reading a little about land navigation and it looks like the Western Pennsylvania Orienteering Club might offer some opportunities to practice doing cross country hiking with map and compass.

Happy Spring!

2010-03-13T11:23:00.001-05:00

I am pleased to announce the departure of this:

And the arrival of this:

Sonograms

2010-02-13T21:27:00.003-05:00

These pictures are also belated from the 13 week screening. In fact we're due for the next batch of images next week for the 20 week check up. The first image is my favorite. I used the photocopier and the measurement marks on the picture to enlarge it to life size.

Geocaching

2010-02-13T12:45:00.002-05:00

A few weekends ago, with bit of snow on the ground but not during our current massive snow dump, I went out with Mark for some GPS assisted exploration. We identified the day's geohash coordinates not far from Moraine Lake State Park. We did a drive-by of the geohash site which was visible from the road but deep in snowy farm field.

We headed back to the state park. We drove out of the trees and out onto a stretch of highway surrounded by a particularly large, flat field. It took me about 15 seconds to realize that this was the lake, frozen!

And out on the lake were a bunch of guys para-skiing, or something like that, I don't remember exactly what they called it.

We found where they had parked and hesitantly made our way out onto the ice. We didn't fall in, although apparently you're not supposed to walk onto ice off of a pier because they get warm in the sun and melt the ice thinner than on a shore. Who knew?

I found some weeds and included my toe in the shot to demonstrate that I wasn't just walking on an icy parking lot.

We departed from the kite-skiers and Mark's device identified a nearby cache site. We went over to the Sunken Garden Trail and tromped off into the snow. The last time I was on this trail with A. we had to cover our heads and run to avoid the swarms of flies. By Sunken Garden they really mean "swamp". But in the ice and snow it was much nicer. It took us a few minutes to spot the geocache, and a lot more minutes to get to it, and even longer to get it back. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but let's just say that I have some concerns over erosion for that location.

Here's a close up of where it was hidden.

Obligatory snow pictures.

2010-02-13T12:39:00.002-05:00

We had three significant winter events this year. The first one was an ice storm that Ashley and I drove through. We past 20 cars stuck off the side of the road, but we took it slow and steady and avoided the worst sections. It took us an hour and a half to get fifteen minutes across town. I'm no expert yet, but I'm building up a little experience with winter driving.

The second event was a nice snow storm that left everything very pretty for a couple of days without messing anything up too much.

Actually, I think there was a fourth snow storm that we missed when we went out of town for new years. I was grousing for a little more snow, and boy did we get it.

We didn't lose power, burst any pipes, crash any cars, or get an ice dam building up on our roof, so for us this latest snow emergency has pretty much just been a bunch of fun (and good exercise).

This is what we had the first day.

It kept coming. This is what we had after a couple of days. Dog included for scale.

I made half an igloo using the traditional Inuit tupperware method. Then I got cold and went inside.

Remember the holidays?

2010-02-13T12:27:00.003-05:00

To briefly break my internet hibernation I thought I'd go back and say a super belated thanks to Mom for the Saint Nicholas day package.

And a belated happy birthday to Catie. Fun party. There was food too.

Thanks everyone!

2010-01-01T14:57:00.002-05:00

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Thanks to everyone in Pittsburgh for a good Christmas and everyone in Portland for a Happy New Year. Thanks Mom and Dad for picking us up in the unexpected snow, putting us up in the princess suite and throwing a great New Years party. Congratulations C & D for surviving your belated honeymoon adventure in the lawless waters of the Caribbean. Let us know when you get your pictures up. Thanks J & S for the beer and bag and good job digging your way out of the snow.

A preview of coming attractions

2009-12-13T11:59:00.002-05:00

Coming up, possibly with photo documentation: Christmas strikes; the icy fist of winter grips Pittsburgh for exactly 90 knuckle whitening minutes of driving this morning; I make my paid singing debut.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T10:59:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween, everyone! This year we are, collectively, the act of kicking a field goal.

Ashley is the goal posts, Otto is the ball, and I am the unerring field goal kicker.

Write your representatives

2009-10-03T11:20:00.000-04:00

Add a drop to the bucket.

Senator Casey, Senator Specter, and Representative Doyle,

I am writing to express support for reform of the health insurance industry. On this issue I trust the judgment of my father, an emergency room physician, and his conclusion after significant research that a single payer health care system would be the best way to cut costs and ensure basic care for everyone in this country who needs it. Unfortunately, a single payer system does not appear to an option at this time, nor does a government run health insurance option. Of the remaining reforms on the table, I wish to express my support for the following requirements for private health insurance coverage:

1) Mandatory minimum benefits that guarantee anyone with health insurance easy access to basic preventative care;

2) Elimination of denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions.

Additionally, I wish to express my support for the establishment of a national standard for digital medical records.

I feel that the Democratic party, with control of both houses of congress and the support of the President has no excuse not to implement these badly needed reforms.

That you for your consideration.

Nick McCullar

At the beach

2009-10-03T11:15:00.002-04:00

We had a great family trip to the beach in North Carolina. I didn't get the best pictures, but I thought I thought these were worth sharing.

Someone, not us, made this fantastic sand sculpture of a beach dog. The collar is decorated with shells. After a day at the beach Otto had just about the same amount of sand in his fur as this dog did.

The water was beautiful five of the six days we were there and everyone got to get out various distances in the waves.

We didn't take the camera on the sailboat, so I didn't get any pictures of Mom and Dad introducing Ashley and I to sailing, but I did get a shot of Ashley getting ready to go. I wouldn't want to try to cross the Atlantic, but we were able to go out in the sound, come back, turn, go into the wind, out of the wind...all sorts of things. We didn't even capsize! We went back a few days later to try a catamaran, but the wind was up, they were doing a race, all the boats were out, and they were afraid that we would get capsized or swept to the mainland.

Not sure what to make of this

2009-10-03T10:47:00.003-04:00

Here's a bottle of hot sauce I found in a grocery store in North Carolina.

The back says:

"Democrats have caught fire under Barack Obama and it is a well-known fact that Democrats love hot and spicy food. They will be building bridges, highways, tunnels, & new schools all across our nation. Join this heat wave of historic proportion by enjoying as much of the Democrats on Fire Hot sauce as you can. Do your part by adding fuel to the fire in this great cause!"

If I were a hyper-sensitive Democrat I might think that this was an inside joke between conservatives trying to suggest that the Democratic leadership ought to be in hell, or at least on their way there by way of a large publicly fueled fire. Of course, the language on the label is really pretty mild and even the charicatures on the front are pretty complimentary, except for Pelosi. So for now I'm pretty sure this is just trying to take advantage of the Obama brand.

Summer Adventures

2009-10-03T10:29:00.003-04:00

Phew, what a busy few months. The sisters have better more scenic pictures, but I thought this posed photo properly conveys how it feels to have your butt simultaneously kicked by (1) your little sister, (2) a 7,984' hill, and (3) a cold. We were supposed to do some backpacking, but when we went up to the lake and I was hacking and sniffling and it was raining slush, well, the older and wiser among us put the kibosh on those plans and we ended up just chilling at the cabin.

Thanks to J&S for lots of driving, cooking, and scrabble. Sorry I didn't get any equivalently cute shots of you in the woods, but you were too well camouflaged in your coordinated green, black and tan outfits. And really really really sorry about giving you that cold.

C. was supposed to be taking pictures of me, but she got distracted and took this one instead.

And here is me in a precipitous pose upon Paulina Peak.

I was supposed to stand up, but my knees got all wobbly, probably a delayed reaction from the climb.

Enormous Insects

2009-08-23T12:03:00.001-04:00

I know that Portland has been hit by some crazy 100F+ weather this summer, but generally the climate is cool and not particularly humid - the water tends to remain is just the liquid phase year round - which is not conducive to breeding large or venemous insects. Hallelujah. Pittsburgh is not exactly a fetid rainforest itself, but remember that we're not to many miles north of the Mason Dixon line. Mom and I were terrified by the mouse sized spider we saw hanging out in southern Indiana, and I continue to be shocked when I meet insects larger than an inch. This seems to be the time of year when they start to be around.

The shadow of this two inch grasshopper was projected and enlarged onto the sheer curtain in our front hall.

A half dozen husks of these inch long cicadas (right?) are clustered on the trunk of our maple tree.

Every couple of years I spot a preying mantis or too, and hopefully I'll have a camera handy.

New York Adventures

2009-08-23T11:22:00.002-04:00

Ashley and Auntie went to New York! Ashley and I have been planning to go forever, and people I know keep moving there, but with her working weekends and me working weeks we've never been able to put together a couple of days to make a visit. Finally we decided that even if I couldn't make it, that shouldn't keep Ashley away and planned a semi-impromptu trip. Thanks to Auntie for going with her.

They met a member of the local constabulary, woefully underequipped to deal with today's automotive criminals.

They went out to dinner with Val, one of the first of our friends to move to New York. Congratulations to Val and Jeff one the purchase of their new place! Good luck moving in, unpacking, etc.

They took a boat tour of the local waterways. They saw this tacky french doodad.

They also saw this important link in the solid waste "treatment" process.

But most interestingly they saw this enormous box of netting. Ashley hypothesized that this is where they pen the giant psychic moths that will be deployed to defend the city from attack by enormous radioactive iguana or enormous prehistoric ape. My theory is that it's a golf driving range. Further research may be necessary.

Chores

2009-08-09T10:18:00.002-04:00

We've done some work around the house and the yard in the last week or two, and of course we've had plenty of help from the pooch.

Here he is helping out with our tree cleanup, detailed in previous posts. That particular piece of tree was probably "recycled" to the back yard after a day or two.

Our friend Alison just got a new appartment, and we were happy to contribute our futon to the cause. It has been taking up space in our basement for a long time and getting it out has seriously cleared up space that we will soon need as we begin to reconfigure the house for a new occupant. Anyway, while we were securing the frame of the futon to the top of the car, Otto found a snack in the bushes and took it over to the comfiest spot he could find to enjoy it. For a closeup on what he is chewing, see the previous post.

Some recent eating

2009-08-09T10:16:00.001-04:00

It always seems to make the parents happy when I reassure them that I'm eating well. I think any recent picture of me should be plenty of evidence of that, but here are some more specific details.

Our tomatoes flourish. The vines drip with fruit and ripen one by one, outward along the stem. I'm now getting about a dozen ripe ones every couple of days with what looks like hundreds on deck.

We've also been getting massive cucumbers from Auntie's garden. For a salad we chopped up cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and some of the mint that grows like a weed along the side of the house and makes that section of lawn my favorite to mow. We also had some fancy shmancy cheeses, greek olives, baguette, and conventional salad.

Just yesterday I harvested a few more cherry tomatoes along with a pile of of basil and oregano from Ashley's herb garden to put on some pizza. We like our pizza crispy and it's always a pain when the yummy toppings slide off, so I took a few precautions against sogginess.

The tomatoes are seedy and juicy, but they are too small to seed individually. What I did was I sliced each one into three pieces and collected them in a medium mixing bowl. I filled the bowl and massaged and swirled the sliced tomatoes under the water. I transferred the tomatoes to a smaller bowl and found the bottom of the larger bowl filled with seeds and gunk. I let the tomatoes drip for a while, drained off the water again and wrapped them in paper towels to absorb what was left.

For the crust I use a just-add-water mix, but I add a little olive oil, and when the ball of dough is formed I toss it in some additional flour. I grease the cookie sheet we use with plenty of olive oil, which adds to the crispiness when its finished, but more importantly acts as a lubricant when I spread out the dough, which helps to get the dough thinner, better distributed, and prevents tears and holes.

For the toppings I use the bare minimum of tomato sauce, then mozzarella and peperoni, then the tomatoes, some onion, and the herbs. Having the veggies on top and not under the cheese helps to evaporate off the extra water and cook the veggies a little better.

Finally, I bake the pizza for twenty minutes at 450, which is much longer than recommended.

The tomatoes on our pizza were a little sour this time, but overall really tasty.

Brigid and Dan made dinner for us for Ashley's birthday. I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures, but I was too busy eating. They grilled marinated salmon, which was very tasty, but probably only about a two on the scale of manly grilling, a boar on a spear over a bonfire of your enemies' longboats being a ten, and a garden burger in the microwave being a one. They also made gazpacho, which we had to restrain Ashley from reheating, and they got this nice tiramisu, which we were unable to restrain Ashly from decorating. Thanks guys!

The dog also got a chance to taste some delicacies yesterday. We think it may have been fermented rabbit on the bone, which is best enjoyed al fresco with a salad of mixed garden greens and a pairing of eau de toilette.

Mid summer garden cooking advice

2009-08-01T17:20:00.001-04:00

This is a request to anyone who might know: are there any culinary uses for tall, tough, bitter, flowering lettuce plants?

Go ahead and say "I told you so"

2009-08-01T17:03:00.002-04:00

This one goes out to everyone who said "Hey Nick, isn't that tree in your front yard kind of dead?" Well, it's even deader now than it was last winter. Yes, you told me so.

And to all of the people who mocked us for putting a chainsaw on our wedding registry: I told you so!

An enormous branch fell from the tree in (or, we contend, very slightly adjacent to) our front yard. There was minimal damage. The phone line came down, but we don't use that, and the cable line got stretched such that we lost exactly one channel. Electricity was not affected according to the worker from the power company who came out to check on it when Ashley called.

We think this is our neighbors tree, and we wish they had come over to talk to us about it when it fell last week, but they didn't, so today we went ahead and cleaned it up. Four bundles of sticks and branches, three garbage bags of twigs and two sizeable logs later we're back to normal.

Optimistically, the fact that this branch fell towards the house should mean that the tree is now weighted more away from the house instead. Also, we hope that being rotten will mean that it is more likely to crumble piece by piece or collapse into itself than it is to tip and fall far enough to hit the house. Practically, we have no idea. If anyone knows any arborists, maybe they could drop us a line.

We dug out our house papers from their secure and fireproof location behind the paperback sci-fi novels in the office-which-will-soon-be-a-nursery and determined that (a) homeowners insurance is written to discourage homeowners from claiming coverage, (b) the tree is not indicated on the survey drawing we have, (c) the property line is 6' 7" from the edge of the structure and (d) we are covered for the destruction of our house by aircraft, including guided missiles and spacecraft.

We will break out the tape measure and then start figuring out how to contact our neighbors to talk about this in a diplomatic way.

Dogapalooza

2009-08-01T11:28:00.004-04:00

Today I thought I would share a nice trip we had last weekend to the dog park at North Park. But first, I'll experiment with embedding a google map of the location:

View North Park Dog Park in a larger map

Did it work? By my calculations the off leash area is a little under 3.5 acres, an enclosed area of grass, mud, and other unmentionable substances that used to be a paddock for captive deer.

Otto's favorite activity at the park has varied from racing and wrestling, to ball chasing and butt sniffing, but he always likes to start off with a circuit of the perimeter fence, which is basically like Facebook for dogs. Buttbook. P-mail.

He was feeling pretty mellow that day and didn't want to do much chasing. Instead he found a shady spot in a stand of trees and made a friend. This husky was not the one that went on to take a bath in the huge mud puddle at the bottom of the hill.

We wandered over to the other stand of trees where there was a huge dog party, and a couple of other dogs were making friends as well. And who can blame him? That big red hound (not Otto, but with some resemblance) was a beautiful beast with his short shiny hair, taut physique, and friendly floppy face.

Some people didn't think that was appropriate and thought the chihuahua should make friends with a dog that was a little more...vertically compatible. The big red hound (Clifford?) didn't seem to have taken offense.

Otto started feeling the love and thought he'd jump on the table and get in on the action. But then a hawk came screaming over and the chihuahua had to leave.

Random pictures

2009-07-25T09:39:00.001-04:00

Kevin dropped some change getting out of the car. Ashley whipped out her trusty LED pig flashlight (complete with oinking sound effects) to search the gutter.

The tail lights, brake lights, and blue LED made a pretty picture, or if it uploads, video.

Otto demonstrating proper stick chewing technique for Bailey.

Ashley and Otto demonstrating their preferred car riding technique while stopped at the gas station. This technique is NOT condoned by Brain Barrel, its staff, owners, or subsidiaries.

It's on!

2009-07-25T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well, it's faint, but it's there. Just like it was on the other five that Ashley did. We know it's very early, but we're still excited.

To celebrate, we had smoothies and waffles.

Enormous moth

2009-07-25T09:30:00.001-04:00

It's hard to tell from this blurry photo, but this enormous moth had a wingspan of about 6". Ashley thought it was a bat. I jumped out of the car and grabbed a picture with my phone.

Aggressive Advertising

2009-07-19T10:49:00.002-04:00

Ashley has been enjoying the convenient location, hot and cold beverages, and friendly personal service of our local drive-through coffee hut "Mocha Mountain" (?) on Route 65. Note the tastefully subtle billboard advertisment one of their competitors purchased overlooking the hut:

GPLC

2009-07-18T22:20:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday I met with a couple of folks from the Greater Pittsburgh Literacy Council and a little community center in Coraopolis, a town just a bit down the Ohio from Bellevue. This is going to be my new volunteer activitiy, and it's not exactly what I had planned!

A couple of weeks ago I did a four day workshop on becoming a tutor for English as a Second Language (ESL) students. Normally tutors are matched with one or two students based on the information in their application and the needs and preferences of the students. The coordinator for the section of the city that I signed up for saw that I listed computers as an interest, and by chance had just received a request from the Coraopolis community center for someone to help out with the computer lab they are setting up. She asked me if I would be ok with forgoing the usual one-on-one tutoring setup and instead helping them out with basic computer classes.

The idea of a whole class (all of five or ten people, depending on who's interested) is actually pretty daunting. I'm a nerd, I explained carefully, and most weeks at work I don't actually have to interact with actual people. The idea of working with a student whose english skills were on a par with my social skills was one of the things that attracted me to the idea of ESL tutoring. A class is definitely further outside of my comfort zone than a lone student, and I couldn't guarantee I wouldn't mess it all up and scare off their clients.

That's ok, they said, a six week basic computer class hasn't ever killed anyone, to their knowledge, and they did computer classes all the time, the curriculums are all set up and ready to go, I would do fine even though it wasn't exactly what was covered in ESL class, and the students are really enthusiastic and perfectly nice people.

"Fine", I decided, and my deeply supressed inner action hero growled "let's do this thing" and pumped an enormous metaphorical shotgun. So now I just need to get my schedule sorted out, pick some days, get some material from the coordinator, and then get down to the business.

Rainbows

2009-07-18T22:09:00.003-04:00

There was a short thunderstorm yesterday, followed by an incredible rainbow over the city. Here's the saturation adjusted shot I was able to get, shooting blind with one hand out the car window while driving. Please don't tell Ashley, or she'll bring it up any time I criticize her driving.

New Office

2009-07-18T22:00:00.003-04:00

A nice change at work: I have been assigned an office! Now I have a door, a window, a light switch, twice the height of wall, and instead of elasticized carpeting material I am surrounded by blond wood paneling. For my birthday I was given a couple of plants, too, which I haven't had time to kill yet.

My old cubicle is slated for occupation by a new modeler to join us by September. It is withing yelling distance of my boss's office, which will be handy for getting up to speed on the project.

Sadly, I will no longer be able to bring you updates of the copier repair guy's nasal congestion problems.

My office

My decorations

My view

Les Mis = Iran

2009-07-18T12:00:00.000-04:00

After the 4th of July weekend Ashley and Mom and I went to see the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera's production of Les Miserables. Ashley taught "Can You Hear the People Sing" in French last year (she insists on pronouncing it "A la volonte de POOP"), and I think she's been teaching Gavroche's "Little People" song ("isn't that supposed to be sung by Napoleon?" I asked). Also, one of her co-workers was in the cast (and did a great job), so we had every excuse to go see it, and our impulsive decision was well rewarded by a great production.

Ashley said the staging was toned down a bit because they couldn't afford the expense of a rotating stage, but it was very effective nonetheless. Some of the leads were veterans of the original Broadway cast and all of the other performers lived up to their standards, I think, except for Eponine who sang a little too pop-style for my taste, and the kids, who I shouldn't be too hard on even if Cosette swapped some words around and Gavroche's song had to be abridged. Also, M. Thenardier was HUGE, easily 6' 6", towering over Jean Valjean, who was himself of appropriate size to lift carts etc.

I'd never seen a production before, but as the music started I realized that I had listened to it repeatedly on tape cassette decades back when it was one of Maya's favorites. I think she even had the poster up in her room after she came back from college.

But watching the show the theme that came constantly and depressingly to my mind was Iran. I need to read a little bit of the backstory for Les Miserables (actually, I just bought the whole book) before making comparisons about the actual events depicted in the story, but based on the stage production it is hard to miss the parallels.

The rebellion by the students is one thing, maybe just striking because they are starting to seem young to me. The French students drinking in the taverns is parallel to the secret parties held by Marjane Satrapi, her friends, and her parents in "Persepolis". The young and rebellious find their own space away from the government to be themselves and make their plans for life and for change.

Les Mis hints at some of the difficulties of even knowing what is going on in the chaos of a revolution. There is the infiltration of the rebels by the policeman Javert and his eventual mock execution. Who can be trusted? Who is informing on who? There is the escape of Jean Valjean through the sewers. Who really died? What happened to the body? Those are the foggy uncertainties which the twitterers were working to dispel, and which still shroud the backstage maneuvering of the political leadership in Iran.

The big difference of course is that the Iranian opposition is not violent, and doesn't hope to oppose the regime by force. The rebels in Les Mis had the violent examples of the French Revolution and American Independence as the mechanisms for change in society, while we have the more civilized examples of Gandhi, Mandela, and King. In both cases the willingness to face lethal violence, either certainly or just probably, is shared.

But the biggest parallel is between Eponine and Neda, young women carried along by the revolution but not at its heart, and killed as collateral damage of the government's suppression of dissent. In Les Mis Eponine's death is tragic because it is forgotten. The rebellion fails, and Marius runs off happily with Cosette, and Eponine lies dead and unclaimed.

Hopefully the Iranian political conflict will be decided by public opinion within Iran and without and will not be wiped out by a Stalinist purge. If it remains a primarily political conflict then hopefully Neda will be able to remain, however tragically and unintentionally, a symbol of the evils of violent repression and a tool for the reformation of Iranian government and society.

Happy Birthday to Me! And films.

2009-07-14T09:18:00.005-04:00

It's that time again, and I already got my first birthday present...a new digital camera! Thanks sweetie! That should make pictures posted here more frequent and less blurry.

I'd like to thank Ashley for enthusiastically giving Ethiopian food yet another try, despite that traumatic first exposure in the basement restaurant in D.C. It sounds like she's coming around to the food, if not to the bread, injera, which I think is a marvel of bread technology, halfway betweeen a tortilla and a crepe, and many people don't really like. Also, I could never remember what injera was called until I heard someone say the name and I tried to make a tasteless pun about assasinated Indian Prime Minister InDira Gahndi.

I'd also like to thank everyone who came to celebrate with me, and I'd like to apologize about any nightmares or epilepsy that anyone may have experienced as a result of their exposure to the experimental films I made them watch.

That being said, I am really glad that I got out to see some artsy film stuff. It's been ages since I got to see anything really weird at Cinema 21 in Portland or from Trilogy. I realized this watching the scene in the third "Pirates of the Carribean" movie, the one with the extended shot of just Johnny Depp's nose and a peanut, and then the rocks that turn into crabs and try to eat him. Delightfully weird. Anyway, at the Pittsburgh Filmmaker's film kitchen we got to see:

A behind the scenes look at a local university's production of Pinnochio, with lots of puppets and shadow puppets;
A short film about a young actress returning to Pittsburgh from L.A. and meeting a very weird ex-classmate at the bus stop;
An experimental short film trying to do something with the numbers representing the letters L-I-G-H-T and the number of frames and cuts in the film ;
A film of someones family photos and snippets of interview with family members - memorable line was "sometimes I look at a picture and I don't remember that I drew it";
A seizure inducing animation half way between "Heavy Metal" and "The Simpsons" with strong influences from "Beavis and Butthead". Memorable image was the power cord of the T.V. glowing with the same energy as the I.V. lines of the elderly couple watching it.
A kid having a bad dream about becoming prematurely old and confusing his mother for transvestite zombie naughty nurse ("someone was abused by their parents" said Ashley);
Something with a rabbit suit and a banana and a record player;
Something with a bleeding dying abused woman;
In a brief acknowledgement to the existence (if not the value) of narrative, a loosely strung together short about the Queen of Fantasy who sends her anally expulsive devil minion to a drab and dusty Pittsburgh to retrieve a depressed and dreamless damsel and bring her back to their seventies era panelled basement appartment for cake and to try on a fabulous wig, but it's really just all a drunken dream at a party, but it's actually real because the devil shows up...or something.

So...thanks to the artsy types for remaining weird and sharing it with us, and thanks to my friends for even considering coming to my party next year.

Phew

2009-06-28T09:44:00.004-04:00

Two very long weeks at work and Google effing up at home means very little web presence recently. It's Sunday and I've made it over to the coffee shop where Google works just fine. Read through 150 blog posts, sent some e-mail.

Instead of complaining about those things I thought I'd make an update highlighting some of the positives.

1) A little weeding revealed that the beans I planted in the garden, the least successful of the plants so far, actually have produced a little bit. In fact, the weight of the few beans that did grow may have been what's stopping the vines from climbing their poles. After harvesting a few handfuls of green beans, cleaning out some morning glory, and doing some encouraging pole weaving I hope they'll start doing better.

2) Another factor for the stunted beans is probably that they are resting in the shadow of the tomatoes, which are now taller than me and busting out of their cages. The lettuce are exhibiting a similar tendency and after a few brutal trimmings for salad the long lobed leaf ones are beginning to bush up instead of sprawl out.

3) My friend from work who recently lost his job has since found a new one working on similar projects at another company in the area, and after only a few months off! A big relief for him and his wife, and good news for all of us working in the industry to know that companies are still hiring.

4) Crap, I forgot. But it was good.

I'll go see if I can dig up any old stuff worth posting.

More watery adventures

2009-06-15T00:22:00.001-04:00

In honor of Ashley's Dad's birthday and taking advantage of the Memorial Day weekend, we went up to Moraine Lake State Park with the family and rented a boat for a long day of sun, water, fishing, and food.

The weather started out a bit cloudy, but it ended up being beautiful all day. It was very sunny and a little breezy, and we got a little hot by the end of the day. Some of us were a little more conscientious about sunscreen and hats, but others of us (ahem ahem) ended up with serious sunburn. And peeling.

Ashley caught some fish. Actually, everyone caught fish except for me. I did, however, learn a huge amount about spooling, unspooling, untangling, and respooling fishing line. Which was fine because I had the best hat, with the tallest crown, and with my up-to-date fishing license affixed by a genuine antique 1956 PA fishing license button. That is the hat I was wearing when I ran into (that is to say, encountered) my boss in the bathroom.

The birthday boy also caught (and released) a bushel of fish. I think they were mostly little perch and sunfish, and some of them had brilliant yellow and blue coloring. Uncle Sherm did catch a couple of bass (maybe spotted bass?) towards the end of the day.

Not having luck with the fishing I had to content myself with other tasks aboard ship. Note the loose clothing, sensible wide brimmed hat and lack of sunburn. I may have been cooking, but I wasn't getting cooked.

(thanks to Amanda for the pictures off her camera)

More puppies

2009-06-14T22:13:00.001-04:00

Here's some more pictures of the puppies.

Otto wins.

A safe place to rest.

Whining

2009-06-13T12:49:00.000-04:00

Here's the scan of the letter I referred to in the post below. I know, I'm a big fat whiner. But handwriting like this is why we invented e-mail, and putting up with whiners like me and handwriting like this is the sort of thing public utility companies have to do until they extend to their customers the same courtesy of convenient computerized communication that they do their business associates.

Dragging the West View Water Authority in to the late 20th century

2009-06-13T12:30:00.000-04:00

I was extremely annoyed a couple of weeks ago when I learned that the Westview Water Authority, the people responsible for ensuring the potability of the water that I drink, which is sucked out of the river downstream from the sewage plant where I work and the nation's largest operating coke plant, doesn't have an e-mail address.

I was already moderately annoyed by how hard it was to get in touch with somebody about a meter installation we weren't sure we had scheduled, so I was already pumped to write a letter of complaint. When I learned that that letter would have to involve paper, pen, stamps, envelope, addresses, hand writing, and spelling errors I freaked out and went completely over the top with a hand written letter including the e-mail addresses of the water utility companies for Peoria, IL, Eugene, OR, and Kathmandu Nepal. As far as I can tell from the internet, Tombouctou, Mali, does not have a water utility company worth e-mailing, or I would have included that too.

I was trying to include a scan of the scribbly hand written letter, but HP and I have a little negotiation to do first.

Anyway, last week I got a call back from someone at the Westview Water Authority apologizing for my difficulty and asking, basically, what was wrong with me that I couldn't just talk to the nice lady they pay to answer the phones. Actually, their representative was very pleasant, and acknowledged that e-mail can be more convenient and that yes, many people in our area are wedged firmly in the early 20th century. I told him I appreciated his response, and hopefully our account has not been flagged with their "whacko" code.

This week I got an e-mail from the same guy, Dan, reiterating those points. And we also got a visit from Matt, the meter installation guy, who was extremely nice and efficient, and even took the time to make friends with Otto on the way through the yard.

Puppy!

2009-06-13T12:19:00.000-04:00

Introducing...Bailey! The most recent acquisition to the in-law's menagerie is Bailey, and eight pound, six week old English Springer Spaniel puppy.

Pretty cute, and the dog isn't bad either.

Molly (right) and Peanuts (left) were still a little uncertain about the whole idea when this picture was taken on Bailey's first day, but they're getting along great.

Otto has since made Bailey's acquaintence too, but those pictures are still with Amanda (who has a real camera, not just a camera phone - another potential investment for us).

Watery adventures

2009-06-13T11:53:00.000-04:00

A couple more pictures from our kayak jaunt a few weeks ago. This was up at the lake at North Park, a nice quiet, shallow, low-current spot to try out paddling before going out on a bigger body of water or dodging coal barges on the Allegheny. The week before we rented a pontoon boat for Ashley's Dad's birthday, and that was a lot of fun too, if not as much exercise. Amanda might have those pictures and I'll see about getting them.

I told the nice Kayak Pittsburgh folks that I had been kayaking before, so they gave me a slightly narrower, tippier, faster boat than Ashley. As you can see, it didn't exactly slow her down.

We got into the muddy shallows at one end of the lake and it was a bit more like polling than paddling. This is where the catfish lived, the ones that we literally ran over.

We both had a great time, and the only disappointment was that Otto didn't come with us. Since then we have been checking out the prices for canoes, and we may soon be making a little investment in summer fun. I especially like the idea of, and Ashley is only slightly apprehensive about, going up to the bigger lake at Moraine Lake State Park, paddling across with a boat load of stuff and camping on the other side at one of the fancy campsites. A nice compromise, I think, between self powered backpacking style camping, and comfy cooler-full-of-food and showers-in-the-morning car camping. We'll keep you posted.

Single Payer Health Care

2009-06-09T00:27:00.000-04:00

Here's the e-mail Dad sent out about Single Payer Health Care

Friends,

Americans have the world’s most technically advanced hospitals, the best educated doctors and health care workers, we spend twice as much per capita on healthcare as any other nation, but we rank 37^th (same as Cuba) in overall quality of health such as life expectancy and infant mortality. We are not getting our money’s worth.

I am writing to ask you to support Single Payer Health Care as introduced in the US House of Representatives in HR 676 and in the US Congress as Senate Bill 703. These bills are similar and if passed would provide health insurance for all citizens and legal immigrants and designate Medicare to be the single payer of health care bills: Medicare for everyone. Medicare's overhead expenses are 4%. Private insurance companies overhead is between 20-30%. The change to ‘Medicare for everyone’ alone would save about $350 billion a year, more than enough to insure all the currently uninsured. Patients will still choose their own physicians as they do with Medicare now. The physicians work for themselves as they do now. The only thing that changes is that the 20% of the health care dollar that now goes to profits for private insurance companies will go instead to insuring the uninsured.

President Obama has moved away from Single Payer Health Care. He has not given his reasons but I suspect he wants to cooperate with big insurance companies rather than battle them. It is time to remind him and his administration that Single Payer health care is the best option. The majority of physicians support this plan. In March 2008, the University of Indiana Medical School surveyed physicians around the country and found 59% supported single payer health care. Many studies have shown that the majority of physicians want a change in health care insurance system as do the majority of Americans. Physicians for a National Health Plan has online resources and information to answer any questions about how this plan would work. For interviews with some of the nations top health policy thinkers please watch the informative documentary “Health, Money and Fear” available online.

Please write to your Congressman, Senator and President Obama and tell them that the American people want to join the civilized world by making affordable health care available to all Americans.

If you live in Oregon the links to our Congressmen and President Obama can be found below. For those of you in other states I have enclosed a link to help your find your Congressmen.

Please pass this letter along to others concerned about healthcare in America.

Frank McCullar

Senator Ron Wyden

Senator Jeff Merkley

Representative David Wu

Representative Greg Walden

Representative Earl Blumenauer

Representative Peter A. DeFazio

Representative Kurt Schrader

President Barack Obama

To find your Representative try this link.

To find your Senator try this link.

More wildlife

2009-06-09T00:25:00.000-04:00

Here's some more low resolution animal pictures. Wildlife as Cannon sees it at 5:00 AM before having any coffee.

It's hard to tell, but this is the wreath on our neighbor's porch, and on top of it is a nest with two baby robins. Apparently they didn't know they were supposed to use the birdhouse in the middle. I would have gotten a closer look, but the mother robin was keeping one eye on the kids while hunting for worms, and if you stepped on the porch she flew right at your head. The neighbors usually use the back door, but apparently the mailman had problems. I hope he didn't mace the bird.

These are some geese and a heron that we spotted on our recent kayaking jaunt on the lake at North Park. We didn't get any pictures of the catfish that we basically ran over in the shallows. They jumped out of the water and smacked our boats with their tails before swimming off and throwing up waves off their dorsal fins, like Jaws.

This is the toad that Ashley found on one rainy night on the way home from playing "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" at CCAC South. She really wanted to bring him/her home to live with us, but she decided that he/she was probably happier to stay put.

Wildlife

2009-06-09T00:05:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures extracted from our cell phones of local wildlife.

This little bird was stuck in Kevin's fireplace. It came down the chimney, but the opening was sensibly sealed off with plastic, and the poor little thing got trapped under the old gas stove insert. We rushed over with a box, a bucket, some towels, and one glove. It took a team effort, but he/she was safely extricated and released back to the wild.

This is one of the bunnies that live in our backyard. Normally they hang out on the grass, but this one was getting ready to make a quick escape under the fence.

This was a hawk or a falcon or something that was flying around All Saints. I tried to sneak up to get closer but it flew off.

This big old bluejay was pecking around by the shed and I took the picture blind by holding the camera around the corner. I think it may have been thinking about taking the golf balls back to the nest to sit on.

What's the point, really?

2009-06-07T14:20:00.000-04:00

I was talking with Kevin last week about what it's all about, really, and we pretty much drew a blank. Given my past abortive blog attempts, why am I even trying again?

Well, here's what I just wrote to Dad, who got back from his hike across England: coming up with good answers is unlikely, but the attempt is still fun - and important - to try. Catie and Dave didn't pedal every mile between Pacific and Atlantic, and Dad didn't walk every step from the Irish Sea to Robin Hood's Bay, but that doesn't detract from the value of their trips, and it misses the point. So here I'll try to focus on enjoying the process without necessarily worrying about the product.

More specifically, I've been writing more e-mails and blog comments and other things this year than in years past, and I'm more happy with what I've written, and I have a back log of material that I think I can pull out and put up here. So we'll see what happens.

One more time

2009-06-07T14:18:00.000-04:00

Nick's blog take IV. Every year about this time I irrevocably use up another clever blogspot URL by registering a blog with a likely lifespan of about 14 hours. So, let's try it again.