The Bri-onic Man

Random review . . .

2010-09-26T20:22:00.001-07:00

So after unwillingly donating blood at the wildlife refuge, we restored our strength at Quiznos in Moses Lake on the way home. I was pretty excited to see that they now have a buffalo chicken sub, so of course I got it. Disappointing, I've got to say.

Many moons ago, I had this idea myself and crafted such a sandwich. I put a chicken patty on a bun, added blue cheese crumbles, blue cheese dressing, small-sliced celery sticks, and Frank's Red Hot Buffalo Sauce. It was deeeelicious, and genuine chicken would've made it even better.

The Quiznos version . . . well, I liked the bread. Otherwise, though, the chicken was kind of boiled and mushy, the sauce was spicy but not really buffalo-y, and there was no form of blue cheese on it anywhere (they used ranch dressing and some kind of white cheese . . . provolone?). Kind of a stretch, in my opinion, to say it was a true buffalo chicken sandwich.

I still dig Quiznos. There will always be a warm spot in my heart since I first went there the night my daughter was born. I appreciated the yummy sandwich that night and also the fact that they helped me avoid hospital food.

Columbia National Wildlife Refuge

2010-09-26T19:50:00.000-07:00

South of Moses Lake and northwest of Othello is a large area of land that was scoured in a major way by prehistoric flooding. On Google Maps it looks like:

According to Wikipedia, the area is:
"an extensively eroded channeled scablands landscape, characterized by hundreds of isolated, steep-sided hills (buttes) surrounded by a braided network of numerous channels. All but the channel through which Crab Creek flows are currently dry. It is a classic example of the tremendous erosive powers of extremely large floods such as those that reformed the Columbia Plateau volcanic terrain during the late Pleistocene glacial Missoula Floods."

It really is a weird landscape. Since we'd already spent a good chunk of time at the playground (see previous entry), the temperature was up closer to 80 and, as you can guess from the image above, there isn't much in the way of shade.

I checked some maps in advance and the marquee trail seemed to be the one along Crab Creek. Unfortunately, the mosquitoes over here hadn't gotten the word that it's near the end of September and they're supposed to be done munching on people. I got EATEN alive and had trouble sleeping last night from all the bites on my legs. Also, it turns out the rattlesnakes have not gotten the message either, seeing as we did have a little run-in with one (who rattled a lot but was happy to escape into the brush). I also saw a reddish brown/black snake that was really fast (thankfully heading away from us). Wasps/hornets were in abundance too, although thankfully not aggressive either.

So maybe this is a good hike to do in a month or two in the morning if you really like birds. As it was, I have no desire to do it anytime soon. (Man, I ITCH!) The kids did NOT dig it either and L soon took them back to the car. My 2 year old was in the backpack, so he had to come with me.

Perhaps I'd be game for going back, though, with a mountain bike to do some exploring. Or the paved route through the heart of the park with be good to work into a road bike loop.

You can really get the idea that a LOT of water has poured through here in the past. From this angle, it seems there wouldn't be any mosquitoes, right?

Ah, but now that you see this angle . . . "riparian habitat" . . . "ripe" for breeding blood-suckers!

Potholes State Park

2010-09-26T19:37:00.000-07:00

Summer is not quite going away yet, so we headed down south of Moses Lake yesterday to do some exploring. We were heading to a wildlife refuge mostly, but along the way I saw a turnoff for Potholes State Park.
Since I enjoy exploring, we detoured in to have a look around. Quickly, my playground junkie kids spotted a nice, huge, new-looking piece of equipment. The whining began. Eventually we relented to let them "play for a few minutes".
The park was pretty and the weather was 70-ish degrees. We found lots of wide open space with green lawn and pretty trees. If I had a boat, this would be a really fun place to put in and head up to explore the Pothole lakes to the northwest.
Signs posed a FAQ including "Why are there so many mosquitoes?", which wasn't a concern for us but hey, it's nearing the end of September.
OK, now for some photos!

Cheeeeeeeeese! Looks like he wore his crash pants . . .

The joy of going down himself!

He's freaking out not because the slide was so high but because he wanted to go down himself. Ah, the joys of being 2.

Like I said, pretty grass and trees along the reservoir.

Trip to Winthrop and North Cascades National Park

2010-09-05T20:30:00.001-07:00

We drove a whole lot yesterday and I put together a little slideshow because I wanted to play with Aperture 3. The audio I used got axed by YouTube but I still went with them anyway because I was able to upload the show in HD.

Super Bike Train!!!

2009-08-07T23:07:00.001-07:00

I borrowed an additional tagalong bike (thanks Dave and Michelle!) so now the three kids and I can go bike together (and make Laura look lonely on her bike :-)

We rode into Ft. Stevens and over to see some of Laura's family who were camping. So we rode this contraption for about 6-7 miles. It's fun, but not very stable. The kids like to lean to see around me, and I was concerned for the safety of people passing us going the other way on the bike trails. Everybody came through it well, though, and it was fun getting honks, pointing, and waves from people as we passed!

The Rest of the Story . . .

2009-08-07T23:04:00.001-07:00

I later found out that I was running on a stress-fractured tibia. Y'ouch!

Still hurts a bit . . . the orthopedic doctor had me get off of it for a couple months. Now that it's OK for me to bike, I've gone every morning for almost 3 weeks straight! I've got a lot of catching up to do. I did get over-eager, though, and was hammering too hard out of the seat. Then my leg got sore again. So, I'm still going but kicking it down a couple notches. Anyway, I love it. It's a GREAT way to start the day and get me awake and fired up.

Marathon Photos

2009-04-11T20:40:00.000-07:00

Go Team Jacobsen!!! (Ty and Andy are buddies :-)

The Bri-onic Fam!

The Jacobsen guys and our hero Mike Brooks.

William watching his daddy suffer . . . and thinking he wins!

Yakima River Canyon Marathon

2009-04-11T18:40:00.000-07:00

A week ago, my brother Eric and I were among the roughly 500 people who ran the Yakima River Canyon Marathon. Yes, it was 26.2 miles (surprising how many people ask me that!). It was my first and his second, and I wasn't really ready but I did it anyway.
You see, I got pretty enthusiastic back in February. I'd been using my elliptical trainer some, so I figured I'd be able to do some running. There is this thing, though, called the 10 percent rule. It's simple: when running, don't increase your weekly mileage more than 10 percent per week. I'm sure I was doing more like the 40 percent rule, which it turns out is a nice recipe for shin issues. Mine got pretty bad, so I eased off on the running for 3 weeks prior to the race and only did cycling and elliptical training.
Thus it was, then, that I knew things might not go very well last Saturday. It was a brisk morning (30 degrees at start time) and it was nice to get started running. My legs hurt from the get-go, but I was optimistic I would warm up. I did, but I was back on the way to pain by about the 3-4 mile mark.
This marathon has a lot of cool people and a nice low-key vibe. I ran with one guy (who was in the Marathon Maniacs club) for a few miles and we chatted about his job overseas and how he does electronic stuff for the Navy. Then, he pulled away around 8 miles and I never saw him again. I was on my own for the next 10 miles. My iPod would've really come in handy through there, but I made the mistake of believing the registration paperwork that said they were forbidden. It turns out it would've been fine.
It was a beautiful, sunny day to be in the canyon, though, and I had a lot of time to look at it. There were food/drink stations roughly every 2 miles, and eventually I got smart enough to take full advantage of them (hint: drink 2 of the 1/2 full cups at each stop and down all the carbs you can stomach).
I pressed onward and met some other interesting people. I passed an older guy wearing stars and stripes and carrying the American flag. As a couple passed him, he said, "God bless America!" They didn't respond much . . . turns out they were from Japan. As they talked a bit more, he explained that he's originally from the Philippines. So, this marathon gets people from all over the place.
The first big hill is 14 miles into the race. I got some extra motivation and a chuckle from the booming music I could hear as I ascended. Some guys with trucks had loudspeakers at the top of the hill blaring AC/DC and they were dancing and encouraging runners as they passed. It was unexpected to hear AC/DC echoing through the canyon.
Miles 14-18 took some serious resolve. Those mile markers started to come really slowly, and I could tell my pace was lagging. Frankly, I prayed and did a lot of staring at the next reflector alongside the road telling myself I could run as far as the next one. My shins were getting absolutely destroyed by the vicious side-slope of the road. Yet, I knew that Laura and the kids would be waiting at the finish line and I really wanted that awesome moment of happiness and self-triumph.
Spencer W. Kimball once said that, "God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other . . ." I believe God answered my prayers using Mike and his willingness to serve others. He came alongside me somewhere around the 19-mile mark. In all my efforts to keep kids under control at the spaghetti dinner the night before, he was one of about 3 runners I'd met. My bro Eric had talked to him more and told him it was my first marathon, and Mike had said that if he found me struggling, he'd be sure I finished.
And that's exactly what happened for the next 6-7 miles. He said I could set the pace and he stuck with me until the very end. (In fact, the results say I beat him by 2 seconds :-) There's a rather large hill (400 vertical feet) at the 22 mile mark, and it sailed by because Mike was there and he can talk non-stop. In fact, he can talk that much just about running because he's done around 250 marathons. He also does ultra-endurance events (like Badwater) and is in a club for people who have done marathons in all 50 states (turns out he's done this like 3 times over . . .). Knowing this, I looked at the club's webpage when I got home and there was a note from him right on their intro screen saying he's doing a 10-day, 500 mile event to raise money for Camp Sunshine (more on that here). Turns out he's a pretty extraordinary guy who's 63-years-old, a retired firefighter, and an ex-smoker. He started running marathons in his 40's and did his first 100 marathons in 8 years.
Needless to say, I very much appreciated Mike and all the inspiration and motivation he provided me. In turn, I provided a donation to Camp Sunshine, which I'm betting is how he'd like to be repaid. That, and returning the favor to some hapless first-timer someday.
When I crossed the finish line, I was overcome with a mix of emotions. For the first time I can remember since William was born 6 1/2 years ago, I cried. It was grueling and seemed like I'd never make it, but I kept my faith and I believe that God provided a way.
Laura and the kids were there and they cheered loudly. They all had "Team Jacobsen" shirts emblazoned with Go Dad Go! on the front and numbers 1-6 on the back. Very cute and fun and cool. My wife rocks. :-)
I got a finisher's medal, and the kids exclaimed excitedly, "Daddy, you WON!" Funny thing is, even though my time of 5:42 was like 3 hours from a win by the clock, it felt like a win to me. I was in it to finish, and I did. I defeated my doubts, my lack of training, and my screaming shins. And yes, I will do it again. Mark my words: I'll knock 2 hours off that finish time.

Mt. Rainier Flight

2009-01-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday, I got a call from a friend (Dan) who has this plane (a beautiful twin-engine Cessna). The weather has been sunny lately, and we HAD TO go flying!

Due to the fact I'd grabbed camera batteries that were dead, I had to shoot all the photos with my iPhone. The artifact in this one is the propeller. Anyway, you can see Mt. St. Helens in the foreground and I like how the blast zone's treelessness is shown by the snow.

Then we flew on up to Mt. Rainier. We flew up around 16,000 feet, so it's a good thing his plane's pressurized. I'd like to climb this mountain . . . someday. ;-)

Well, this is about as up-close-and-personal as I've been with Rainier's summit. The air was glassy. We didn't even have updrafts coming off the slopes. It was great!

We finished by flying in over Astoria. What a fun way to spend an afternoon. Call me anytime, Dan!

Photos for Christmas 2008

2008-12-17T16:48:00.000-08:00

The little guy looks pretty grown-up here with his big sis.

He very much likes to decorate the tree!

Thanksgiving 2008, etc.

2008-12-17T16:32:00.000-08:00

L and the kids went to some friends' to see baby bunnies.

Grandpa and Grandma Z came with Jordan for Thanksgiving. Lots of food and fun!

W and his Grandma Z with the hemisphere.

The whole crowd and a nice wacky face from W.

Big bday number 4. It was a Little Mermaid theme and we made a mermaid cake. It was rather large and there was no way we could eat it all!

A Joyful Little Dude

2008-12-17T16:17:00.000-08:00

As long as you pick him up, he's a pleasure. ;-)

He can open his mouth reeeaaaallllllyyyy wide to eat!

Awwwwww . . . She loves her little bro!

Ready to chow!

Halloween 2008

2008-12-17T15:53:00.000-08:00

Our little pumpkin!

. . . and our little Princess!

So we had some cinnamon rolls and some leftover frosting from the Halloween gingerbread house. A good thing to eat before going to the dentist . . . I'd laugh, actually.

In fact, I had to give it a try! Now if THAT isn't a scary smile . . .

Our scary Halloween house my severed-headed ladies.

For you Google Earth fans . . .

2008-09-21T21:30:00.000-07:00

Here's a GPS-based track of the ride. It's a kml file you can open in Google Earth. And, Mt. St. Helens is impressively hi-resolution, which makes it all extra neat to see. You can get the file by clicking HERE.

More Mt. St. Helens Ride Photos . . .

2008-09-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

It just blows me away (no pun intended :-) to envision how high the mudflow (and some blast maybe?) must have been right here to break trees this high up on the ridge. It's also weird to see the mix of dead/damaged/living trees so close together.

By here, you're pretty much at the top of Ape Canyon. Also, my legs were wrecked and I was running short on time. So, I just followed the trail up around the corner and called it good.

This is the top of Ape Canyon. It goes clear down to Smith Creek and I have no idea if you can get into it. Alan, Justin and I were pretty disappointed the first time we laid eyes on it back in the day.

It's cool to see some amount of regrowth and also how the knoll shielded some of the trees from the blast and mud/ice/rocks.

The trail really was the epic great descent I'd imagined. So, I didn't stop much on the way down to take photos. And, as the changing leaves tell you, I doubt I had much more time this year before it would've only been accessible with skis and snowmobiles.

What do you 4AM love?

2008-09-21T20:43:00.000-07:00

It seems to me that everyone has something they love doing enough to wake up at 4 AM. For a lot of people, fishing/hunting fits the bill. If stores open that early (like the day after Thanksgiving or something), shopping could be it for others. For me, mountain biking is one of those things. OK, and I've gotten up that early to road bike too.
About 7 or 8 years ago, I led a somewhat ill-fated circuit of about 25 miles on the Southeast side of Mt. St. Helens. We began by ascending to Ape Canyon, crossed the Plains of Abraham, passed by Windy Ridge, descended the trail to Smith Creek, followed (and repeatedly crossed) the creek, and ascended the Lava Canyon road to the car (except Mike, who eventually realized he'd taken a wrong turn in his effort to go ahead and get the car . . .). It was really really brutal and only sort of fun.
But I discovered one cool thing. As we ascended the 5 miles of singletrack trail to Ape Canyon, I told myself that it would be very cool to descend that route someday. And, with summer waning, I decided this was the year to satisfy that dream.
So it was, then, that I arose at 4 AM, started driving around 4:30, and started riding around 7 AM.

I'd done enough homework to know Road 83 had been washed out. As you can see, it's actually pretty close to being fixed. But they still won't let you drive on it. We non-construction people had to park our cars 5 miles from the Ape Canyon trailhead. So, the first 5 miles of my "mountain bike ride" didn't really require one.

The mountain, the man, and the machine.

Mt. St. Helens looks good by the dawn's early light! This is looking up a mudflow path ("Lahar") from the 1980 eruption.

It's cool to see this and visualize the path of destruction.

One thing I LOVE about the trail is all the HUGE old trees (they obviously didn't get swept away in the mudflows in 1980). And, they make for handy bike stands!

Savoring the Last Shreds of Summer

2008-09-21T20:26:00.000-07:00

I ducked out early on a Wednesday recently so we could pick W up from school and head south to Oswald West State Park. It's one of my favorite hikes. You go down from 101, past Short Sands beach, and out to the end of Cape Falcon. It's 2 1/2 miles each way, and probably the farthest E or W (or AC sort of . . .) have hiked.

Who loves hiking?!

Looks like I'm pulling his ears out. Really, it was just windy and that hat kept flying off.

We're a happy cozy family . . . and we're holding the kids to keep them from running off down that cliff. :-) E recruited some kind people out at the end of Cape Falcon for the picture.

Pretty sure that's Neahkahnie Mountain.

I love Bowpicker Fish and Chips . . .

2008-08-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

. . . but it kind of freaks me out when they throw in a human heart!

New Kid Photos!

2008-08-24T18:41:00.001-07:00

Note that I mean the photos are new, not that these are photos of the "New Kids" (on the Block). (Sorry if I got you excited, Chrissy.)

Yay! Bubble beard the pirate!

Still has less hair than his old man.

Help Warrenton Trails!

2008-08-07T08:40:00.000-07:00

I just filled out a survey to help Warrenton get grant money to pave 2 new miles of a waterfront trail. It will be absolutely beautiful and help shorten my bike commute to work. It'll make it safer too. So if you don't want me to die cycling to work, please fill it out. :-) The email I got from Warrenton Trails says:

The Airport Dike - Multiuse Path Transportation Enhancement Grant Proposal is open for Public Comment! The more positive public comment we get on this project the better our chances of winning the grant money - so get online and fill out the survey today! Please encourage your friends and family to fill out the survey as well - your comments will make a huge difference in this competitive grant process! The public comment period is only open until September 15!

Here's a link straight to the survey:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=OhAnaQVGfedm9vEx8TTomQ_3d_3d

It took me, like, 3 minutes. Please help!

Money Matters . . .

2008-07-31T12:13:00.000-07:00

Just posted a comment on my friend Sans Auto's blog after reading his post "The All Mighty Dollar".
I just read a book that talks a lot about living simply and saving money. The authors are very much not into the stock market, and instead favor fixed-rate investments (CDs, quality bonds, etc.) and frugality. It makes for a potentially lower return over time, but also a lot less stress and worry. They don't say "never buy anything", but they do say "only buy things that really add meaning to your life".
I think that one of the most awesome feelings I could have in this life would be to save enough (and simplify enough) that I no longer HAVE TO work. It would feel like when you were a kid and summer break was just starting. With cars/house/student loan paid off and enough money saved to get by on the interest, a person can work as much or as little as they feel like. Just as important, a person would be less-compelled to compromise their principles for that "all mighty" dollar.
I watched a couple things lately that really motivated me to get as financially secure as possible. On the National Geographic Channel they were interviewing a poor lady (one of many) in India who sold one of her kidneys on the black market (to be subsequently placed in the child of a wealthy foreigner) for about $700. She had been told she'd receive $3500, of course, but that didn't happen. That same night, we also finished watching a documentary called "Deep Water". It's about a British man who entered a sailing competition to circle the globe without ever stopping in port. He had very little experience but acted like he did, spent a LOT of time by himself out there in the ocean, faked his progress over the radio, basically went crazy (partly driven by having to own up to his dishonesty on returning to port), and committed suicide. He needed the money too.
So all I can say is, be smart about what you buy, get out of debt, and make your money serve you (and not the other way around).

Bike Train!

2008-07-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Dave, whose kids have outgrown the Gary Fisher Freeloader Trailer Bike, we were able to realize my dream of the "Bike Train"! W and E really enjoy it, and both of them like being the biker.

Fun on five wheels! We recently pedaled it on over to the new stretch of the Warrenton trail from Tansy Point to the Baptist Church. It's super smooth and paved now, and I'm going to use it on my way to work from now on. It'll be SO nice to get away from traffic, gravel, chunky pavement, etc.

Utah Trip: Heading Home

2008-07-20T18:43:00.000-07:00

We stopped at Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls on the way home. It was a really long day of driving but definitely worth the stop!

They have effective guardrails with beautiful views.

Our little dude got VERY tired of his carseat!

The scene over my shoulder between Baker City and LaGrande. We were REALLY tired!

Mount Emily, near LaGrande. Also, the back of a semi. Everything was surprisingly green out that way. I think I'll move to North Powder. :-)

Utah Trip: Friends and Fun

2008-07-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

We paid a visit to my old friend Ernie (who hasn't aged a day!), one of my college roommates. He lives in Lindon, UT, programs computers, and has goats, chickens, and kids.

And here's Jeremy. He's the guy the bank pays to do repo stuff on houses so, as you might imagine, he's pretty busy these days. I hadn't seen him since my church mission about 12 years ago. We worked together in Arizona, and it was great to catch up. He's doing well and is married and has a son and lots of RC cars (his favorite hobby).

We took the kids to Thanksgiving Point, where W, Lindsay, E, and Will got to ride a (fake) cow!

Let's hope this is as close as we ever get to owning a horse. :-)

We enjoyed a fine traditional Provo meal at Los Hermanos. W and E ate a LOT of chips and salsa and the service was excellent!

Utah Trip: Discovery Gateway

2008-07-13T18:12:00.001-07:00

We went to Discovery Gateway in Salt Lake and the kids had a great time!

W was the master of the water area. Turn that wheel!

E did some "shopping" . . . imagine that! :-)

They had a LifeFlight-type helicopter out on the roof with realistic noises. W hopped right in and then started getting pretty distraught trying to get me to jump in (while I was mostly interested in snapping pictures). I then realized he was convinced he was about to get to go for a ride and he wanted me to come. The little girl's expression shows she knows something he doesn't. :-)

They had a large wall with magnetic letters. W loved that, of course!

He used EVERY suitable piece in the bin to build his masterpiece as high as possible.

Utah Trip: Salt Lake City

2008-07-06T21:31:00.001-07:00

We took a fun day trip up to Salt Lake basically to see the Conference Center. It's an amazing place and a worthy use of my tithing dollars. I guess the Tabernacle organ has more pipes, actually. W kept saying "There's 6100 seats" . . . the place seats about 21,000. Then I got to thinking, maybe he's just counting one of the three levels.

A First Vision statue that I thought was really cool. They have tons of great artwork in the areas around the auditorium including the Friberg originals that are now in the Book of Mormon.

E with the Salt Lake Temple behind her.

The top of the Conference Center is a huge terraced garden with fountains and stuff. Our fifth member was dozing in a stroller nearby . . .

Utah Trip: Byu Visit p. 2

2008-07-06T21:21:00.000-07:00

BYU is awesome . . . some of the posters you see up around campus are a little different though . . . the "police beat" in the school paper is similarly funny. Anyway, I guess some of those clever BYU ladies were trying to outsmart the Honor Code. Nice try.

The pain came back just looking at Organic Chemistry test answers! Man I hated that stuff.

I spent some quality time in some dorms called Deseret Towers, which are now apparently Deseret Dirt. They're making way for new housing that will be more apartment-like. To think some poor future students will miss out on the important experience of a whole floor of guys trying to get showers in before church on Sundays. One piece of advice: get up EARLY!

Utah Trip: BYU Visit

2008-07-06T20:52:00.001-07:00

I took W along and we went to visit my alma mater. It was the first time I'd been back there since about '99 I think. Some things were different, and many were the same (the landscaping is still amazing and the bathrooms are very very clean).

A funny boy and a funny sculpture in the Lee Library. As we went in many buildings, he commented, "Daddy has 30 schools!" and "Are we going to see your teacher?"

We went to see my pseudonymous friend Sans Auto and his fun toys like this Bod Pod.

Mr. Sans and his beloved "fixie", which is so called because it has a fixed gear. So, you don't shift, and if you want to slow down you provide the resistance yourself (no coaster brake even!). He's also set with a generating hub, so his lights will run on his own power as well. And if you saw his calves you'd know he's got plenty of that!

BYU recently built an indoor training facility. That's sure got to be handy when it's either blazing hot outside or freezing cold. Helps to have wealthy alumni! :-)

Utah Trip: Zundel Reunion

2008-07-06T19:52:00.000-07:00

L's people had a big shindig in Willard, UT. Here are her bro Jeff and his wife Dana. They were borrowing our son A. They look so comfy, especially considering it was about 95 degrees out. We coastal Oregonians pretty much melted!

Food, sprinklers, races, wiffle ball bats, footballs, toys . . . I know, let's play in the mud! This appears to be E and her cousins Will and Talon.

3 of L's 4 bros, Jeff, Brian, and Jordan (in the super 80's shades)

L's sister Kim and their newest Adam, Dana (borrowing ours), Nancy (sis in law), and L, again looking remarkably well considering the heat.

Nightmare Inbox

2008-06-04T17:04:00.001-07:00

L wanted to be able to search her Gmail on our Mail application. That's because she belonged to a email list related to Gluten/Casein-free eating and wants to find info. So, we downloaded all the mail, about 200 at a time. It was running a LOT in the background. Now it's all done, and seeing that number gives me a glimpse of what it must be like to be famous. I will now click the "mark all as read" and see if the computer overheats. :-)

Photo Booth is FUN!

2008-05-31T12:23:00.000-07:00

One good way to get W to ham it up (and me too, for that matter) is to put a camera in front of us. This was the first time we've tried Photo Booth. I'm finding so much to love on the Mac!

My Naughty Little Clicky Girl

2008-05-31T11:51:00.000-07:00

(Regarding the above . . . I just had to play with the Photo Booth App)

So I went to the mailbox today and found these surprises. Now, I like to get stuff from Netflix, but these were in the hard DVD cases, which means somebody at my house has been buying used DVDs. I came in and told my wife, "Please tell me you've purchased some used movies from Netflix." Nope, she hadn't. Not knowing what they were for sure, and not wanting to void my chances of being able to return them, I checked my account online. I had received Disturbia, Superbad, and Surf's Up!. Well, 1 out of 3 ain't bad (we actually thought Surf's Up was pretty good . . . it's got Napoleon's voice, which is flippin' sweet!). Superbad is too super-bad for my viewing pleasure . . . not too stoked on Disturbia either.

So anyway, how did this happen? Well, Netflix has a cool thing (sort of?) where you can watch lots of movies online. I hooked up one of our computers to a TV and E likes to watch cheesy Scooby Doo and animated Zelda episodes that way. Evidently, she's become a little click happy, and since you have to be logged in to Netflix to use the view-on-demand, she had the ability to buy things. I should have seen this coming . . . we already recently discovered that the Spongebob Squarepants Movie had mysteriously appeared at the top of our Queue.

So I called Netflix about it. I got a real person in the United States within about 5 minutes, and she was very helpful. I told her we were cool with paying and just keeping Surf's Up (it was 6 bucks) but that I'd like to return the other 2 (unopened). She said they'll actually just let me keep the other two, so they get credit from me for good customer service. Not quite as good as Apple, but still I'm pleased. Anybody want a copy of Superbad or Disturbia?

So, obviously we need to be more vigilant now that E has had some online shenanigans. Immediately, we will turn off/unplug the monitor as the streaming cartoons are playing, but longer-term she will figure that out. Suggestions are welcome!

North Head Lighthouse

2008-05-11T17:46:00.000-07:00

This is the best I could get asking her to smile nicely. Not bad . . .

The lighthouse is in pretty rough shape when you get up close, but the texture is cool. It was a really pretty day.

It'll always be my favorite lighthouse because I asked L to marry me in its top.

I liked the way the light, shadows, colors, and perspective work together in this one.

My kids do things . . .

2008-05-11T17:39:00.000-07:00

The joys of potty training! L found her like this the other day . . .

W is not impressed . . . and he's waaaaay into 80's fashion. Little Pat(rick) Benatar or something.

He's Growin' Up!

2008-05-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

Takin' a snooze.

Sister with little bro.

It's hard to get him to smile, but she's workin' hard at it.

Sometimes I get to hold him too! He's my little cuddle friend.

Long Beach Boardwalk Run

2008-04-27T21:42:00.001-07:00

It's especially good nowadays to get the kids out of the house. After a quick call to Surfer Sands in Long Beach, WA to confirm sandwich availability (they were in fact running low), we headed out. L and AC stayed in the van and I ran the kids. I captured the footage with my new Flip Video Ultra, which is a flash-memory-based handheld camera. So far I really dig it and feel like it was a good investment of my American Express Costco rebate. I am NOT digging how it works with my Windows machine. It was halfway decent until I tried to load Adobe Premiere Elements program, which now (coincidentally?) ceases to work. I ran the repair utility to no avail. So, I'm a step of frustration closer to getting my Mac . . .

More Baby Photos

2008-04-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

He's back by popular demand . . .

. . . and still sleepy and not looking very impressed by you. I'd imagine he'll strike this pose a lot on his desk in school.

Hey, he DOES have eyes! "You wanna piece of me?"

More big eyes! He's a cool little man.

It's Aliiiiiiive!

2008-04-19T13:10:00.000-07:00

Special thanks to Barry Z, the laptop rides again with a new Western
Digital Scorpio 120 gig hard drive. $69.99 from Newegg.com with free
3-day shipping. It's like having a new (slow and pre-sticky-kid-
fingerprinted) laptop and it comes with the fun of re-installing all
the programs. Yay!

The Bri-onic Man at 33!

2008-04-13T21:09:00.000-07:00

This will highlight how far behind I've gotten on this blog, but here are some pictures from my birthday back on Feb. 22!

E chose some presents from me, including this Spongebob balloon!

Here I'm very very excited because I'm pretty sure my sister got me a MacBook Air . . . this is the container they come in, right? :-)

Here are some things I actually received that are a lot of fun. The frame has cards representing different adventures I've had like biking and climbing mountains and stuff. Also, I got a really sweet Pedro card! I, unlike Pedro, do not have to shave my head because it's feeling too hot! Thanks everybody!

I got to choose the birthday dessert, so I chose chocolate pudding cake. YUM! You just throw a bunch of stuff in a cake pan and it looks like a big watery chocolatey puddle, you put it in the oven, and it sorts itself out. Really! It's miraculous.

My Poor Laptop

2008-04-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

As I allude to below, my 80 gig hard drive in my laptop failed. I have tried many things (short of spraying WD-40 in there :-) like whacking it, dropping it, and freezing it, with no luck, So, I had the joy of re-doing my taxes I had just done the weekend before (and not backed up yet). I'm very good at backing up the tax files once they're done, but since I wasn't done yet I hadn't. That pretty much killed a couple Saturdays. Interestingly, my taxes worked out a little better when I re-did them. Weird.
I can't hate HP. This laptop is like 3 to 3 1/2 years old and this is the first hardware problem. It's slower than slow, but I suppose that's because it's running at 1.4 ghz Centrino.
Techno lesson learned: if a file exists in only one place, it doesn't exist.

It's Baby Time!

2008-04-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

My apologies to all who've wanted to see this little guy sooner. I had the unfortunate occurrence of the hard drive on my laptop catastrophically failing, so I don't spend much time on the computer these days. Maybe I'll do a blog post about that . . .

Our new son, who for the purposes of this blog will be AC, came amazingly quickly. I'd just given anesthetic to a patient at work when L called and said her water had broken. So, I apologized to the patient (who was very understanding) and scurried home. After loading up, I got to use some GTI power and we hauled to Seaside Providence. Of course, we ran into road construction on the way . . .
We arrived at the hospital around 4 and he was born at 5:45. They didn't have time to get the epidural in, so L did it all-natural. We feel like he was more responsive right off the bat without all the drugs to him (via mom) and also that L is on the mend faster than she would've been also. The fact that her mom is here is also a huge help too!

Tuesday, we brought E and W to see their new baby bro. E liked to stand on a chair by him and was very careful to pat him nicely. Wonder how long that'll last. :-)

Paternity Test is Back . . .

2008-04-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

. . . yep, he's mine. Like father, like son. ;-)

Also, his mom loves frogs, and you can see that he does a mean impersonation!

One relaxed kid

2008-03-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

E was in for cleaning and exam today. Think she's nervous? :-)
Guess that would be bad if my kid freaked out at the dentist. We
counted her teeth and they were very shiny! And, no cavities
(although I probably wouldn't admit it if she did . . .)

Weezer - Buddy Holly (as featured on Windows '95!)

2008-03-29T11:03:00.000-07:00

Just watched this. It's got to be one of my all-time favorite videos!
What are yours?

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEg95LwYvoE

Started late but going strong

2008-03-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

An hour late, actually. Whatcha gonna do? He's the boss. I'm pretty
sure this IS Bruce's cardio. They keep rockin' nonstop! Everybody in
the E Street Band really gets into it, and the crowd consistently goes
wild for the sax player. The pop music scene is a bit devoid of the
sax nowadays . . .

We're here 40 minutes early . . .

2008-03-28T18:58:00.001-07:00

. . . we're full, we paid 13 bucks to park, and Matt's betting we
won't see anyone younger than him all night! There is a middle-aged
guy in a black biker jacket on my right with a star-spangled do
rag . . . Interesting to see who shows up at a Springsteen concert.
Not as interesting as who shows up at a Weird Al concert, I'm sure.
Now THAT'S an interesting crowd!

A Thing of Beauty

2008-03-28T17:36:00.001-07:00

Matt's declared that working at Chang's is his new life dream.

Rock on!

2008-03-28T17:18:00.000-07:00

My bro Matt and I are enjoying a trip to take advantage of the
Springsteen tickets (I feel so Alyssa Milano being stoked about
Springsteen tickets) L got me for Christmas. We looooove Chang's
Mongolian Grill.

U2 in 3D on IMAX

2008-02-09T19:20:00.000-08:00

The official review: 8.5/10. (9.25/10 if you're purely looking for a straight-up concert film)
It's running 94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes (link to that here)
Highs: Super-huge IMAX screen with such clarity that I thought I should smell sweaty concertgoers, 3D that didn't make my head hurt even after 1 1/2 hours, the thrill of seeing Bono reaching out for me (OK, this was a tad creepy), virtually no one else in the theater (Tuesday at 2:45, baby!), U2 is a cool band and Bono is going to bring world peace (via his song-intermingled ramblings and his "COEXIST" headband . . . his fans among the Israelis, Palistinians, radical Islamists, etc. are sure to respond with a collective slap to their own foreheads and exclamations of "Why didn't I think of that!?! We can just COEXIST!).
Lows: U2's songs are great, but they are not that complex. That's why I'd like to see something like Rush in IMAX 3D. THEY would really work the heck out of their instruments and it would be even more amazing on the huge screen. Also, this film is really just a concert film. They vary the camera angles, but that's about it. I would've liked to have seen some intermixed footage of the band around the world, interviews, video clips, etc.
Verdict: if you like or love U2, FOR SURE GO SEE IT (this means you, Will Z. and everyone else in Utah) If you're only ok with U2, it still might be worth it to see the cool 3D effects.

Down in front! Without the glasses, everything on the screen looks fuzzy and twitchy (and FLAT!)

I tried hard to resist the temptation to pocket the glasses. Also, the temptation to not post this picture. I'm preferring to delude myself into thinking I'm not THAT fat and not THAT bald!
All-in-all, a great day to not be at work! And, I wandered into the nearby Apple store and handled the MacBook Air. That thing is awesome! Knock $500 off the price and I'm all over it . . .

U2 in 3D trailer

2008-02-09T17:57:00.001-08:00

Leadbetter Farms

2008-02-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

One of the cool things about my job is getting to meet lots of people. And, if you help them well (in this case, removing a painful tooth with minimal discomfort), they'll help you well too. Such is the case with a man I helped dentally recently. He told me he's in the area working for Jacobsen Construction (link to their website) on a big lighthouse project north of Ocean Park. I know that Jacobsen does major projects like the Olympic stuff in Salt Lake/Park City and the underground library addition at BYU, but I had no idea they did anything residential. And this is only sort of residential. I guess it's actually going to be used for corporate retreats and stuff. Each floor will be a suite with an elevator stop, a bathroom, and so on. And, panoramic views, of course. I'd never heard of this project and had no idea anybody was doing anything this over-the-top so close to home. So, I gave him a call and he showed us around. I don't have much in the way of interior photos since it's all still just framed out in metal. Leadbetter Farms has their own blog, which we will now be following to watch the construction progress (link to that blog here).

My wife appreciated the fact that I cropped out her belly. Being due in April, she's feeling large right about now and has become determined to never get fat in the future because it's hard to get around and it weirds her out to have her belly touch her legs when she sits down.

The garage has a living area above it that's all oak and very gorgeous, according to our tour guide. We wish the caretaker would've been around so we could get in past the alarms to see it.

The kids really got a kick out of the dragon.

The treehouse is pretty serious. Unfortunately, we couldn't go up into it either because of alarms. In the past, it wasn't alarmed, but people went up and stole thousands of dollars worth of portholes. So, they had to. Still, it's pretty cool in a Swiss Family Robinson sort of way.

Leadbetter Farms

2008-02-05T10:56:00.000-08:00

Cool iron dragon sculpture.

Sculpture made of iron and driftwood. Definitely reminds me of someting Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. I think he's measuring the lighthouse . . . he must be 200 feet tall!

The "barn" doors are really cool and old (some 600-years-old from Europe, we were told)

The Captain and E-nille.

Leadbetter Farms

2008-02-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

The "barn" has stall doors you can see here that are the split-type. I guess the rooms inside are pretty drafty, but hey, it's cool. The owner (who still remains a bit of a mystery to me, but I think they have something to do with NuSkin), likes Pirates of the Caribbean and Harry Potter, as you can tell from some of the design elements.

The dragon was crafted from a piece of driftwood. My kids sat on and expected it to DO something.

"Give me a big fat wet lickery kiss!" (shout out to all the Goonies fans . . .)

Yes, I asked before I put the kids on the horse. :-) Awwwwww, cute. You'll also notice I'm wearing a jacket from my extensive Mountain Hardwear collection (thanks to my friend Jane . . . one of my early blog posts was about how we met and stuff (click here for a link to it).

Leadbetter Farms

2008-02-05T10:37:00.000-08:00

The view southward from the top of the lighthouse.

A close up of the boathouse, which was originally an actual boat and now has a nice living space inside it. Looks like you can have a campfire out front now, too.

Yes, those are full-size boats. And, we were told Eagles sometimes come sit on the totem poles (topped with eagle carvings, incidentally). It's no wonder . . . we watched as the fish were fed. Moments after the food hits the water, it starts to boil with 12-14 inch trout. Apparently there are some really large sturgeon in there too (it's 45 feet deep!)

It's about 12 feet from one floor to the next in the lighhouse, and you can see how it dwarfs the truck and van parked at the base.

Leadbetter Farms Lighthouse

2008-02-05T10:27:00.000-08:00

The kids motored up all those stairs and had plenty of energy to do laps around the top. And, they would've stayed as long as we let them in spite of the numbing cold.

As you can see, it's pretty darn close to the beach. The easiest way to get a peek at the lighthouse is to drive up the beach from the south (when the tide is friendly, I suppose), and a lot of people do.

The 1000+ acres of the property border right on Leadbetter State Park. This is looking northward toward the tip of the Long Beach Peninsula.

Back on terra firma, E found a cute little bronze horse friend down by "the barn".

Parable of a Cherokee Chief

2008-02-03T19:23:00.000-08:00

As is probably obvious (from the really tiny print), this is Chief Dragging Canoe. He was Cherokee, and I'm long-ago related to him (which probably accounts for any athletic endurance prowess I could claim). You can learn more about him, purchase this drawing, and so on at a website I found here.

So I was listening to a BYU devotional recently, and the speaker mentioned a parable of a Cherokee Chief. It struck me enough that I didn't even watch the Super Bowl today and instead did some churchy reading and spent some time being more engaged with my family than I often am. It was much less chaotic than having the TV blaring (except for the kids jumping off the ottoman and chasing each other on hoppity hops) and it was nice. So here's the parable from the speech:

Some years ago I heard of a parable told by an old Cherokee chief who was trying to teach his grandson this principle (moral agency). “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight at times, and the fight is between two wolves. One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, jealousy, and ego. The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside of you—and inside every other person too.”
The grandson thought about what his grandfather had said to him for a minute and then asked, “Grandfather, which wolf will win?”The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I feel like I fed the right wolf (and not my stomach) today.

It's Only Taken Me 32 Years to Figure Out Fasting

2008-02-03T19:12:00.000-08:00

Above lies the most delicious sandwich in the world. I do believe my wife and I are in agreement on this matter. It's pretty darn close anyway. It's the South Shore Cheese Steak (all Hoagied up) from Surfer Sands in Long Beach, Washington. And, if you can believe it, I'm typing this entry thinking about it and the last time I had food or drink was about 23 hours ago.
I'm not usually Mr. Bri-onic fasting champion. My church is really into doing it once a month, though, and you may have seen the results of the recent study in the media. Apparently, it's good for my heart to do it. What's really interesting to me, though, on a personal level is how this fast was different from my previous one (which actually was a special fast a week ago, but that makes it even more interesting). This fast was easier, and I felt like my energy and mental status were better throughout versus a week ago.
So what changed during the week that made it easier? One big thing, I believe, is that I've gotten back to dialing my sugar way down (hey, it only took a year :-). I stepped on the scale and was 172, which matches the heaviest I've ever been. Too much "eating the Philly", I suppose . . . :-) One thing that's helped is a new tool I've been using on gyminee.com that allows you to track servings and calories and keeps a running total so you can see where you are throughout the day (it's especially easy on fast days) Ever notice that when you track things, they improve? It's certainly true for food and me. It really reduces my snacking if for no other reason than that it really raises the hassle of eating. Thus, I believe that fasting is substantially easier when my preceding diet is lower-calorie, healthier, and low-sugar.
My energy level and mood are a lot more steady without all those sugar highs and lows, and I find I sleep better too. This feeds a really positive feedback loop that looks something like: less sugar-->feeling better (after a little withdrawal)-->sleeping better-->easier to get up early and exercise-->feeling even better, etc. onward and upward.
So, getting back to that sandwich in the picture above, I'll point out that I really enjoyed it and we all had a good time chowing in the van in Long Beach. Unfortunately, sitting there for 20-30 minutes with the electronics, fans, and seat heaters on (and not the engine) is bad for Mr. Battery. Obviously, I'm alluding to the fact that the van wouldn't start. A quick check of the headlights outside (they were dim) told me a jump was a good idea, and the happy Surfer Sands guy was willing to pull right over. I whipped my jumper cables out of the Odyssey's handy lazy susan and we were started in no time. Then, though, we were running on fumes but didn't want to stop and turn it off to get gas. And, gas over there is like 20 cents a gallon more, to boot. So, we took our chances coming back. This got especially interesting, then, when it was snowing heavily and we had to cross the Astoria bridge. I was already a bit nervous coming up the steep span, and then we spied that a car ahead of us had stalled there. I was glad that the truck a vehicle or two in front of me stopped to assist and waved us by, because I almost didn't dare stop. Anyway, we made it to a gas station, and by this point the battery was charged enough that it started again. It's been fine ever since.

Fun at Dance Class and with Pull-ups!

2008-02-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

It was fun to start a little dance class recently with a friend (Megan).

Think she's enjoying it? Watch it, though . . . those posts'll getcha!

So let's say you've got to head out into the snow, you don't have a hat, and you want to keep your ears warm. E's got your solution!

It's a fancy Disney Princess hat! (and standing right beside me looking at the picture, she's saying, "Like Daddy's hat!" because I kind of created this wacky idea . . .)

Church was cancelled, so . . .

2008-01-27T11:40:00.000-08:00

Everybody at our house was all dressed up with no place to go today. I had early meetings, so I briefly went to church. I found the largest hazard to be all the rock they put down on the roads, but it was pretty cold/frosty/snowy too. Anyway, after I got back home, hilarity soon ensued. Before long, we had glasses-trading going on between Grandma Z and little E. Whoa guys, take it easy!

So young and studious!

L recently made a cool Valentine's scrapbooky fold book thing, and it has several pictures of us together in it. This helped her realize that we need to more frequently get pictures of just us. Today was a good opportunity.

Grandma and Grandpa Z taking advantage of the photo op with the kids.

Frigid Beach Getaway

2008-01-27T11:27:00.000-08:00

My older sis and E cozy up in the kitchen.

This follows "don't touch the sand!"

My sis and W pose near the Peter Iredale.

Never turn your back on the ocean, even for pictures!

Evergreen Aviation Museum

2008-01-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

Three other leaders and I took 6 members of our Venturing crew to the Evergreen Aviation Museum. Although we met early (6 AM on a Saturday), it was well worth it. I was surprised at how many really cool planes they had other than the Spruce Goose. They also have a separate IMAX building and are constructing a new space museum, too. For many more photos of this little trip, check out the Venturing blog here.

You Know Your Camera's Getting Old When . . .

2008-01-06T21:05:00.000-08:00

Our 3-year-old daughter got ahold of the camera (and we didn't stop her) on Christmas day. She's got some pretty good little photo skills, and she did a nice job of capturing the true flavor of our low-key family Christmas.

It was great to not really do a lot all day and not feel like you had places to go and stuff to do. Here's the day's version of multitasking: talking on the phone AND playing my new Lego Star Wars game on the Wii (and probably eating chocolate). Two of my favorite toys growing up were Legos and Star Wars, so this was absolutely something I had to partake in. And yes, those are my pajama bottoms, thus revealing that I kept them on for quite some time and just put on the new sweatshirt of my favorite Las Vegas Bowl-winning Cougars over them.

W got a new book of Thomas the Tank Engine stickers, and here he is in action. He didn't much get into opening presents this year, and was very insistent on first eating his cereal. E, however, was happy to open his presents for him in the meantime.

E took a LOT of pictures (like maybe 40) and a great many of them were of her new (imaginary, but I'm sure herbal) tea set.

The co-Santas stayed up late the night before doing things like putting together that little trike. Here's a nice off-kilter "Hi" from L and I'm sure also from the unborn/unnamed (but I'm voting for Cordelia :-) child. L's very happy because I went all-out this year and got her (among other things) SIX tubes of her favorite Listerine Tartar Control Essential Care toothpaste (gold in gel form and priced accordingly . . . even for people with dental connections, dang it!). She, in turn, went correspondingly over-the-top and (again, among other things) purchased me a jar of Burgerville Spread (seen in the picture where I'm on the couch in all my slobby glory).

A Little Indigestion . . .

2007-12-24T14:45:00.000-08:00

So yes, I still claim I will eat the Philly. However, it's really got to be an intermittent thing, otherwise I will be too fat and lethargic to escape the floodwaters. Then again, I'll float better and be better-insulated against hypothermia . . . so much to consider. :-)

Seriously, though, I'm kind of an exercise nut at heart, and I like doing extreme cycling distance events, Hood to Coast, etc. Mr. Sans Auto and I still need to finish his cross-USA ride. That's why this blog is called "The Bri-onic Man" (although the topics have drifted from my fitness exploits . . . note to self: fix that) Thus, long-term I'll keep Philly consumption intermittent and I can even see myself getting back to my sugar-free ways (believe it or not, I did it for a while and actually slept better, got leaner, and felt better too!).

BUT, I can also see myself staying in line with the "Eat the Philly" philosophy. We had plenty of warning that this storm was approaching, and so I can use that opportunity to eat deadly food before I face the deadly elements. This circumstance of looming death storms has typically been rare (but as I said before, my prediction is that it'll become more frequent). When I'm warned, I'll chow! :-)

Thanks to all for slogging through the huge post, by the way. It was something that I needed to get down on (virtual) paper because it had been stewing inside me. I was most nervous about what kind of comments I might get from Sans. I've gotta say, you handled it with level-headedness and poise, and I think you might even let me ride with you again. Although I am not likely to ever match your enviro or blogging zeal, I admire your tenacity in both. I agree with you and dmo that focusing on the right priorities is going to tend to help the environment, too.

In light of the recent disaster here, my focus has mostly been on short-term preparedness. And, that's the best place to start for just about anybody, I suppose. Once that's solid, though, then I think you do need to get more into the "gray area" Sans was talking about. Self-sufficiency (bike prowess, being efficient, growing food, etc.) is certainly about the best kind of long-term preparedness. And, it's great insulation against price swings in oil and food. So, although I might lack confidence that mother nature will allow solar panels to stay on my roof, it's still a great idea to have efficient/passive lighting as a matter of cost savings. And who knows, it might even help us teeter at the "tipping point" a little longer before we take the plunge down our environmental Splash Mountain.

So I guess, in essence, I'm just elaborating and re-hashing what I already said: don't get so caught up with your small role in prevention (of climate disasters) that you're not prepared for your own local disasters (that are likely to happen because we're consuming like crazy, China is chopping down vast tracts of forests in Indonesia, etc.) But once one is sufficiently short-term prepared, there's a lot of wisdom to living light on the land as it pertains to long-term preparedness. The environmental ramifications of this strategy become a nice side-benefit.

Geoffrey: Glad you're using the Honda more. It's an efficiency and cost step in the right direction. Even though the mileage isn't as good as a bicycle, if you've gotta drive, a car like this would be sweet, too.

Nancy: At this point, arguing with Barry might help me sort out what the heck I even think anymore. I could really have a fine argument with myself. The fatalistic schizo part of me would say, "Go ahead and drive that Suburban (just don't complain to me about the cost of gas . . .) since we're all doomed anyway" and a different schizo part of me would say, "Well, every little bit helps. Besides, you'd be sparing a little more room on the road for bikes and I could even see when I'm backing the GTI out of parking spaces". Reminds me of a recent arrangement I hashed out with one of the nurses I work with at Tongue Point. Our parking habits made me have to pop up like a groundhog to see over her truck then hop quickly back in my car and hope to back out before anybody came up the road. Now, though, by rearranging how we park, I can see fine regardless (from a seated position) and it makes no difference to her. See, we can all live together in peace and love (until nature takes us out).

Eric: it's a little-known fact that you are funnier than I am. You'd be pleased to know I'm registered "independent". I still fear the RNC, nonetheless, and hope they will retaliate by raising taxes on gasoline.

Thanks again for all the feedback, everybody! Next time I need to float a controversial idea I'll know who to turn to.

Eat the Philly

2007-12-14T15:29:00.000-08:00

First off, I must apologize to my good friend known by the bloging moniker Sans Auto. This post is going to make you wonder who's hijacked this blog.

A little background about me: I've had a green streak for a long time. Socially/religiously, I'm quite conservative. Still, I've been drawn to those who place a high priority on being environmentally conservative. Too often, these values seem to be mutually exclusive, and that's unfortunate. I think one ought to be able to bike to work, recycle, AND be pro-traditional marriage and pro-life, but it's unusual.

As you can see by many of my recent posts, we just went through a horrific storm that caused all kinds of damage. Having four days off the grid gives you some time to think. And, you get a little messed up when the only way you can sleep is if you put an earplug in so you don't hear the awful sounds your house is making.

This storm was unprecedented. Quoting from The Office of Washington State Climatologist (full technical article with a cool map of measured windspeeds here):

"A truly historic event. Over a period of two days, two separate storms lashed the coast with an incessant onslaught of hurricane-force gusts and heavy rain. The region between approximately Newport, OR, and Hoquiam, WA, received the strongest gale since the great Columbus Day Storm of 1962. However, though the 1962 storm proves stronger in overall wind speed, the December 1-3, 2007 gale completely outclasses the Columbus Day Storm, and any other windstorm on record, in terms of the duration of high winds."

One thought really seemed to sink in for me as my family and I spent lots of unscheduled time together. Nature's fury can take every object around us away. The house, the cars, the computers . . . none of it is permanent. I realized that if the house collapsed on all of us, the only thing we'd still have is each other (like I said, I'm religious). How solid are the relationships I have with them? They're who I plan to (and will, if I'm the person God expects me to be) hang out with FOREVER. Haven't I misappropriated my time, dumping hours and hours into things that can disappear in an instant? I believe I have, and to some extent must continue to do so (somebody's got to pay the mortgage). But with this new awareness, I realize that I need to rearrange my priorities.

I believe the climate is changing (you know, the whole "global warming" thing). What changed for me with this storm, though, is my opinion as to what I can do about it. In the past I've given a lot of thought and reading time to lots of environmental topics with the thought that it would be really cool to have a wind turbine, solar panels, an electric car, and so on. But when the winds howl so hard it would break your turbine and rip the solar panels off (along with your roof), that seems less of a good investment. Plus, an electric car would not be very effective at helping you escape through floodwaters (although it might help jolt you quickly out of your misery).

One aspect of climate change theory is what's called the "tipping point". In the March 26, 2006 Time, Jeffrey Kluger put it this way (full article here):

"Environmentalists and lawmakers spent years shouting at one another about whether the grim forecasts were true, but in the past five years or so, the serious debate has quietly ended. Global warming, even most skeptics have concluded, is the real deal, and human activity has been causing it. If there was any consolation, it was that the glacial pace of nature would give us decades or even centuries to sort out the problem.
But glaciers, it turns out, can move with surprising speed, and so can nature. What few people reckoned on was that global climate systems are booby-trapped with tipping points and feedback loops, thresholds past which the slow creep of environmental decay gives way to sudden and self-perpetuating collapse. Pump enough CO2 into the sky, and that last part per million of greenhouse gas behaves like the 212th degree Fahrenheit that turns a pot of hot water into a plume of billowing steam. Melt enough Greenland ice, and you reach the point at which you're not simply dripping meltwater into the sea but dumping whole glaciers."

I think we're there. Or, if we're NOT quite there, I believe there's no way to convince enough people soon enough that it'll make a difference. Pessimistic perhaps, but it's my new fatalistic environmental outlook (remember Sans, I said sorry at the top). In short, I now feel the need to personally focus LESS on PREVENTION OF environmental crisis and more on PREPAREDNESS FOR it. It's no longer a matter if IF for me but WHEN and HOW OFTEN. Instead of springing for those solar panels, for example, I'd now spend my money on stored water, food, fuel, and so on. I plan to also invest in obtaining containers to keep important documents and photos safe, obtaining and combining emergency/camping supplies and clothing into one readily-accessible container, getting a 2-meter Ham radio (the last storm took the landlines AND the cell lines down completely for days) and so on.

Many of you out there may have heard about our area's recent mudslide (story and some photos here). Apparently it happened at about noon on Tuesday, which means my family and I drove on that stretch of road less than 48 hours prior. This has rattled me a little bit too. I'm really feeling like if nature wants me, it's going to take me out. I should try hard to be prepared, but if I'm on the list then it's over (there's my new environmentally fatalistic streak rearing it's ugly head again). And this leads me to the explanation for the title of this post. One of my favorite lunches is the grilled Philly Cheesesteak sandwich at Safeway in Astoria. If you throw them an extra buck-fifty, they'll also give you an oversized soda and a bag of chips. This meal is really good, and really NOT good (for me). Still, I crack from time to time and somewhat guiltily partake.

Now, I'm just going to enjoy it, beause I've asked myself, "Self, when you're lying under the rubble that was your house (or about to be swallowed by the tsunami, swept away by the mudflow, etc.), will you be glad you had that lettuce wrap when you could've had the Philly?" The answer, of course, is no. So, I'm going to eat the Philly.

How far am I going to go with this? Well, for starters, I'm with Sans on the idea of stewardship (some of his recent comments, partly on this topic, are here). So, I will continue to strive for fuel-efficiency, turn off lights I'm not using (and bug my kids to do so), recycle (even if I have to take the junk mail to recycle at work), sparingly water my yard strategically, keep the thermostat at 65, and use reusable shopping bags. But, I'm going to lack the urgent zeal I used to have. Now it's feeling more like straightening the deck chairs on the titanic. I mean, straight chairs are nice, but the ship's still going down.

This acceptance isn't all bad, though. I will be better prepared for the disasters that I fully expect will come. I might even move to higher ground (I live about 35 feet above sea level on sand on a peninsula . . . yikes! I expect an earthquake will cause the house to sink (liquefaction) before the tsunami and flooding wash over what's left of it). I will treasure each day more, and I will spend more time working at becoming the best husband, father, and Christian I can be. These are the attributes and people that are timeless. And, I'm still going to exercise. I just feel better when I do, and I plan to feel good and enjoy life until the time comes that nature cries "Uno!" and throws down the last card. I might even resume riding 14-18 miles to work, but I won't do it with the illusion that I'm saving much more than money.

On the other hand, I will not overstress when I hear people at work talking about shopping at WalMart or burning their trash (you Knappa people know who you are). It will elevate my blood pressure only slightly when I see that someone has thrown away a pop can. When I see the big SUVs around town, I'll still despise them to some extent. But, I'll now appreciate their horsepower, ground clearance, and four-wheel-drive for the emergency preparedness assets they are.

In short, my focus has shifted. I will enjoy my family more. I will enjoy life more. I will be an extra good person. And, I will eat the Philly.

You Can Never Be Too Careful Online

2007-12-14T12:49:00.000-08:00

Not wanting to touch the outside of the mask (I guess . . .), Dr. H
takes a brief tech break with it on. It begs captions, like:
"A Mac is STILL less likely to get a virus" OR
"Those don't prevent COMPUTER viruses." OR
"You know it's time to dump Vista when . . ."
Others?
(yes, I'm contemplating a Mac purchase)

Our Princess Sees Some Princesses

2007-12-12T22:40:00.000-08:00

This year, for her third birthday, our daughter went to see Disney Princesses on Ice. She was accompanied by her mom and her Grandma Z. They had a wonderful time!

E with her Grandma Z in a lovely parking garage in Portland. "I am the princess of concrete!" She can wave her wand and get the giant SUV crowded into the "compact" spot next to you to scoot over.

E makes a hobby of making silly faces fo pictures. Still cute, though.

Our little lady very much loves the Little Mermaid!

Man, it PAYS to Help!

2007-12-10T22:00:00.000-08:00

So here's the story:

Many months ago, I was out at Fort Stevens with the kids hiking. They LOVE to do that. As we were driving the short distance home, I noticed a perplexed-looking lady in a white Odyssey with California plates. I stopped for a minute and actually photographed some elk. Let's see if I can find the picture I took. Ahhh, I had the prescience to tag it in Picasa2 . . . here it is:

As anyone who's been to parking lot B would know, you're only going further out on a peninsula in the State Park if you head to the left. After I took my photos, the lady in the van waved a bit and asked if she would find a gas station going to the left. Negatory. She explained that she'd been driving with the gas light on for a while, and she was wondering where the closest place to fuel up was. Although many local people might not want to help one of "those Californians", I see it differently. In my experience, they generally bring their teeth and their money when they move here. So, it works for me. Also, I'm nice. And, she was my Odyssey sister.

We finally decided it would be best for her to follow me to the house, where I have gas for the generator/lawnmower stuff. I told her that if she disappeared from my rearview mirror I'd come back with fuel and find her.

So, we were trusting each other a lot. She came, I poured in some gas, and we talked for a few minutes. I noticed that she was wearing several articles of clothing that were Mountain Hardwear brand, and I mentioned it. I first saw the brand in the IMAX movie Everest, because it was on their tents and stuff. Also, having just read Ed Viesturs book, "No Shortcuts to the Top", I was especially enthusiastic. (He was their first sponsored athlete, and he's basically helped design and test their stuff and taken it to top of the fourteen mountains in the world higher and 8000 meters. He climbed them all without supplemental oxygen. He is the man. More so even than Lance Armstrong, in my book, because he did it all AND has a wife and kids AND kept it TOGETHER).

Anyway, Jane had the Mountain Hardwear (more on the company here, and their website is here) because she has a friend who works for them. She's from Oakland, and the company headquarters is near there. I gave her a business card and some other info, and she said she'd likely be able to get me a good deal on a nice jacket or something.

Many many moons past, and then one day I got a call from her. My crummy doctor handwriting bit me. I'd written my home number on the card and she dialed it. But, she didn't read the number right. She'd eventually called information and gotten the right number. Over the next while, we talked about what kind of stuff I was interested in, and she said she would put together a box. I think the stuff is either last season's, returns, or maybe demos. More time went by, and then one day not one, but two BIG boxes showed up at my house. The full retail on the shirts/pants/shorts/jackets/gloves/backpacks is around $3000. NOW we're talking about trust. Whoa.

She's not asking that much money for the stuff, of course. Generally she's asking about 1/3rd the price, and she's cool with me sending back any of it that I don't want. She just erred on the side of sending a lot since she wasn't sure of my size. Some of it is too big, and some is too small. She's also very cool with me letting other people in on it if they want. So, if you're bigger or smaller than me and wanting a fleece/goretex/gore windstopper/softshell jacket/vest-type thing/base layer/gloves, contact me and beg soon!

In short, it pays to help people! (Sadly, it doesn't always pay like this.) Jane rocks, and I LOVE Mountain Hardwear!! Now if I could just get them to make scrubs . . . that would be really cool.

The following pictures . . .

2007-12-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

My cell is back up today so I thought I'd show everybody what it looks
like here. It was an extraordinarily powerful storm that raged here
Sunday/Monday. Our damage seems to be some shingles (I just crawled
up there and yay, no leaking (yet)), a windshield (the van's took a
wind-carried rock on Sunday), and missing a bunch of work/income.
After driving around, we feel pretty lucky. We were blessedly
prepared because our power out here in Hammond goes out frequently.
But, it's never been for 3 1/2 days! We already had the generator,
which we ran each day for about 6 hours, and I'd stockpiled about 25
gallons of gas. For a while you couldn't get gas in the whole county,
and once generators were hooked up, the lines were like the 70's. I
bought fridge thermometers and we didn't lose the nog, milk, or yogurt.
I did, however, lose my patience being so cooped up with whiny
electricity-addicted kids, but we did pretty well. And, the phones
were totally down here until this am (my cell came to life last
night), so this is the first time in 14 years my ham radio license
(and actually owning a radio!) would've been seriously potentially
life-savingly handy. Better get on that. It's been a good wake-up
call in a lot of ways.

Sent from my iPhone

Battery Russell parking lot

2007-12-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

Tons of trees fell between the parking lot and the main road (many
onto the bike path and the road).

A (no)bike path at Ft. Stevens

2007-12-06T12:12:00.000-08:00

I had to go over/under 11 trees to take the short trail from the north
campground to Battery Russell. Quite a mess!

Coffenbury Lake at Ft. Stevens

2007-12-06T12:09:00.000-08:00

Looking toward the main lot with the lake at my back.

Peter Iredale

2007-12-06T12:05:00.001-08:00

The shipwreck was already that way. Now the antenna matches.

Fort Stevens Jetty

2007-12-06T12:02:00.000-08:00

Tuesday. The calm after the storm. I rode my bike and saw huge piles
of seafoam on the north side of the jetty. The ocean was obviously
raging hard.

Cathedral tree trail/logging camp

2007-12-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

I thought I was going to work today (Thursday) and nobody was there
(no power either . . . Ours just came back and was down about 90
hours . . .).
I talked to a city guy who said they're likely proposing leaving the
biggest remaining trees and logging/salvaging the rest to sell to
cover the expense of repairing the water main. He said it'll look bad
for about 10 years and then be a nice (and sadly more open-sky) park.

The Cathedral tree is ok, but

2007-12-06T11:53:00.000-08:00

the city guy showed me a picture of how the huge tree next to it broke
clean off. Like I said, this was a beautiful dense forest! Reminds
me of what happened to Stanley Park.

I just about cried . . .

2007-12-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

I love(d) the dense, dark, old growth forest along the trail up to the
Cathedral Tree. Now, I was greeted by the sound of a chainsaw.
Apparently (according to a city guy I talked to) the fire control
water main for the east side of Astoria comes through here and is now
broken and exposed for about 75 feet. They're hurriedly moving the
huge fallen trees to fix it ASAP and the trail now resembles a logging
road.

Something large, aluminum, and fishing-related

2007-12-06T11:44:00.001-08:00

blew onto the tracks near Safeway.

Net drying barn by Safeway

2007-12-06T11:41:00.001-08:00

The building in the foreground lost some roof, but the big damage was
to the old net barn!

Doogers

2007-12-06T11:38:00.000-08:00

Got blasted. No more sign and they lost lots of shingles. Costco was
just closed, and Freddy's was open on generators. It was dim in there
and smelled like stuff going bad. It was weird to see the food so
picked over. We had to buy the LOW SODIUM Ritz because it was the
very last box. (poor me! :-)

No more DQ sign

2007-12-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

Several big trees down at Tapiola Park. New play structures ok.

Coast Guard housing in Astoria

2007-12-06T11:27:00.000-08:00

Just about none left . . .

2007-12-06T11:26:00.000-08:00

The trees in front of the church have been hammered by repeated
storms. Christmas party is cancelled and cleanup work party is
Saturday AM.

Big tree by church

2007-12-06T11:18:00.000-08:00

This is between the parking lots.

Peter Pan park . . .

2007-12-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

. . . used to have a shelter. 2 big trees down there.

Tongue Point

2007-12-06T10:58:00.000-08:00

About 5 cherry trees in a row are down. It's a BIG mess at TP and
they're sending the students home a week early for Cmas break. Thus,
I was also told to come back to work in January. So that's why you're
all getting socks for Christmas.

Radio Shack downtown Astoria

2007-12-06T10:54:00.000-08:00

Still no Internet . . .

2007-12-06T10:47:00.000-08:00

But the iPhone can get photos out. Thanks to all for their interest
in our safety. We lost some shingles but I see no evidence of water
getting in. I hope not, because the shingles are gone in a REALLY
hard to fix spot!

This Storm's a Rockin'

2007-12-02T13:04:00.001-08:00

. . . and it's supposed to get worse! They're saying we on the headlands could hit gusts of 100mph. Here's hoping I don't have to use the tarp we just bought to patch roof damage.
And now for a story that will seem irrelevant but isn't. Today at church, W had me take him to the bathroom twice within about half-an-hour (the usual is once). The second time was near the end of the congregational meeting, and we strolled back in just in time for the closing hymn. After the hymn, the Bishop announced that tonight's opening of the church for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Christmas special would be cancelled. As usual, W said "Time for Primary!" and we headed down to the kids meeting room. On our way, one of the librarians asked if church was cancelled, and I said, "no, the Bishop was just cancelling the Christmas broadcast." We were a bit ahead of the kid pack when we got to the Primary room, but W was content to sit there and wait. So, I left him there. Then, a few minutes later, a friend said, "Your son's down there waiting by himself. You should go down there and get him." I was a little miffed, thinking "Don't they have teachers who can show up on time?" Soon, one teacher did bring W down the hall, and I was still a but confused. Finally, someone enlightened me that the rest of church was cancelled. People were like, "The Bishop announced it. Weren't you listening?" Well, it's pretty hard to hear when you spend so much of the meeting on bathroom duty with your 5-year-old.
On the way home, we passed Tapiola Park and one of their large trees was blown down. Young's Bay was ripping worse than I've ever seen, with lots of whitecaps at unusual heights, angles, and frequencies. The bridge was exciting, as you'd expect, but it was extra fun because the rocks they put down for the recent cold snap were blowing in the wind. So even though L was going maybe 30, we now have a nice new large crack in the van windshield. Also, where the span meets the causeway, it was shooting wind and water so dramatically that I was nervous we might get some aerodynamic lift. I also heard several rocks hit the GTI but haven't checked it closely yet.
So now I'm at home blogging from my phone and taking pictures of my shed. Since the last storm put a sizeable portion of my neighbor's shed in my yard, I reinforced mine a little. Yes, Dad, that's the famous orange twine. In fact, I think it's the actual twine pieces I used camping with Justin and Alan near Mt. St. Helens when we brought the tent and the tarp poles (they don't work together so well). This twine has experience. Our power has been flickering like crazy, too. It's been off and on about 8 or 10 times in the last couple hours, but it's currently on and we're going about our business.

Adventures in Corporate Feedback! (Word Back from Holland America)

2007-12-01T22:12:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally got word back from Holland America regarding the feedback I gave them about a month ago. (Find posts on that cruise here) And, as you can see, the back surface of their letterhead is even snazzy. Anyway, maybe I get it from my mom . . . I feel the need to let a company know when they've disappointed me. I figure I should give them the opportunity to address their shortcomings. If they do a good enough job, I forgive them and continue to patronize them. I might even say nice things about them. If, however, they don't step up, then I am not likely to spend any more money with them. And, I can't be expected to say a lot of friendly things to my people about them. It's that simple.

So, here's page one of the letter. Yes, it's more than one page. My letter to them was a pretty solid couple of pages. Perhaps there's some sort of rule that says you must reply with a letter of similar length to a customer's letter.

And here's page two. After reading it, I feel somewhat pleased. It's not like they said, "Hey, have a cruise on us." But, they DID give us some incentive to sail with them again (to the tune of $150 credit between the two of us) along with a free extra-snazzy meal for us (worth about $40 or $50). This makes them fairly level with other cruises. If we're determined to cruise somewhere, we'd consider Holland America. So once again, it pays to give feedback!

Birthday Number Three

2007-11-23T15:21:00.000-08:00

L put together a lovely Cinderella party for our daughter. She smiles well, although not necessarily for the camera.

She's at the age where she LOVES wearing this dress routinely and also LOVES making weird faces.

She got presents from lots of her fans.

Security at the party was provided by Spiderman. Cousin L came appropriately-dressed for the festivities.

Thanksgiving in Portland

2007-11-23T15:11:00.000-08:00

This is the best way for W to box his cousin (also named W). The Wii gave us a good workout.

L's bro and sis have a new youngster who enjoys trying to stare me down.

Open mouth, insert turkey.

Would you could you in the dark?

2007-11-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

So it seems to be a frequent occurrence these days that we get some serious winds out here. Just this last Monday, at 4:30 in the morning, we awoke to loud whooshing, the power going out, and our daughter crying upstairs because her night lights weren't working. So nobody really got to sleep after that . . .

So then I got up and got ready. In fact, I still used my beloved elliptical trainer even though there was no power to give resistance and stuff. Hey, better than nothing. I checked in with the office and, sure enough, they had power. After I got there, Dr. H said "I've been here 8 years and we've only gone home once". So, I began a rather major project. Before doing so, though, we made sure we could back out of anything we might start (like put temporaries on and stuff). Needless to say, it was about the time the storm really seemed to be dying down that we lost power. I was basically done preparing the patient's top four front teeth for crowns, and I had begun the two canines. (we were planning to get all 6 ready) Man, we were so close. So, we worked a bit more with the remaining air in the compressor and I used my headlamp (which I recently used at Camp Meriwether :-) for some light to help us make the temporary crowns and stuff. It was pretty wacky, and hopefully we can get things finished up soon so my patient can have an awesome smile for the holidays.

Our power here in Hammond seems to have stayed out longer than anybody else's I've heard of. We were out for about 21 hours, and it became fortunate that we had the generator hookup installed a month or so ago (thanks Art!). The generator is pretty noisy, and we found out that the washer does not want to spin when you're using it. I was able to vacuum out the Scout camp debris from the GTI, though. And, I hopefully made up for the noise by letting the neighbor on that side plug in her fridge and freezer. I guess gusts were up to about 85 mph . . . I was surprised we didn't lose any shingles this time. Four or five pieces of my neighbor's shed ended up in my backyard, and their back fence is leaning a lot now. My new fence, with the 3 foot concrete post burial and 4x6 posts, held firm. Yay! One tree on our street is no more, and a large sign at a nearby intersection had its posts snap. Very exciting . . . and scary.

Camp Meriwether

2007-11-11T19:23:00.000-08:00

For the first time in about 17 years, I returned to Camp Meriwether as adult help for our Scout troop. It was really neat to go back, and although the weather was semi-cooperative, we had a lot of fun. It's a beautiful place, and you can see more pictures of us enjoying it over on the Venturing blog here.

Ultrasound Appointment

2007-11-05T13:48:00.000-08:00

Although we didn't choose to see our child's gender today, we did learn some interesting things. Like, this image shows us that our baby might enjoy spending time in a recliner watching football. I hope, though, that it's more an indication of an inclincation to enjoy riding recumbent bicycles and bigwheels.

We promise to love our child even though the nose is pretty grotesque. Yikes! Is there an Extreme Baby Makeover? ;-) Seriously, though, the tech said it's just the arm up there. Pretty funny . . . quite the little joker this one.

It's a few days after Halloween, and our youngster has yet to take the costume off. This year's outfit must have been Skeletor.

Finally, the kid put his/her foot down and said he/she'd had enough!

The Cruise (Sept. 2007)

2007-11-04T20:10:00.000-08:00

At the end of September, L and I drove up to Vancouver, B.C. and got on a 3-day Holland America cruise. It was a mixed bag . . . we're not immediate cruise lovers, but we're not so un-stoked as to never want to do it again. We'll see. If we do, I think it needs to be to someplace warm! We enjoyed wearing our life vests around for fun . . . OK, so they had a drill early in the voyage. Really sets your mind at ease. :-)

The Vancouver, B.C. memorial sulfur pile wishes you a fond farewell as you depart toward the Lion's Gate Bridge.

I also found the life vest so comfortable that I wanted to just keep wearing it and wearing it. What I was going for here was Derek Zoolander ("I'm pretty sure that there's more to life than being really really good looking"), but it looks more like Arnold Drummond ("What choo talkin' 'bout Willis?").

North Vancouver seems to be having a competition to see who can build highest on the hillside (and who needs snowmobiles to get home in the winter). I think the clump in the middle is slightly ahead . . .

The Cruise

2007-11-04T19:51:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite memories of the cruise happened the first night as we went from Vancouver, B.C. to Victoria. Over my shoulders you would see the white foamy water streaming by as we listened to this talented string quartet and it seemed like a grand Atlantic crossing from days of yore. (Yes, it's fun to say yore. Also, yonder.)

The Oosterdam is large. Holland America's info on the ship can be found here.

Welcome to the (damp) Butchart Gardens (umbrella in photo intentional).

This is the view before you descend into the sunken garden. Originally it was quarried out for rock, and you can go up by the tree in the middle (photo later).

The Cruise (Butchart Gardens)

2007-11-04T19:42:00.000-08:00

L captured this one with her super photo skills. Very arty and symmetrical and stuff.

The fall colors added some extra beauty to the gardens. L and I got all warm and fuzzy reflecting back on the dating years when we used to go to the Arboretum in the fall in Portland.

This is in the sunken garden area as you turn to ascend the path up onto the rock in the middle.

They have a large fountain and right in front of it is a big bushy green plant with really gigantic leaves. It's notable enough that when I recently had a patient into the office (who owns a nursery and landscaping business) he asked me if I'd seen it when I told him we'd gone to the Butchart Gardens.

The Cruise . . .

2007-11-04T18:56:00.000-08:00

Some of the furnishings on the ship were pretty odd. This one was so straight-out-of My Big Fat Greek wedding that we had to get a photo (and clean it with Windex).

In spite of inclement weather, we were very much impressed with the Butchart Gardens. This little high-tech contraption was some sort of device to scare wild boars. Water fills it up, it tips, water dumps out, and then it drops down and makes a thunk. Pretty sweet.

I've never considered sturgeon a majestic subject for a beautiful garden fountain . . . but this is cool.

Unfortunately, when L says I have "a body like a Greek god", she's referring to this one (the skinny one with the boyish physique). I suppose it's Hermes because I think he had wings on his feet. I believe the important message he's conveying is, "Bring an umbrella to the Butchart Gardens!"

The Cruise . . .

2007-11-04T18:39:00.000-08:00

They have a buffet on the Lido deck and you can eat pretty much any time you want. This is what I was doing when I ate this pizza. The food was good, but the main problem was that you'd end up with the "Lido Shuffle" by Boz Scaggs in your head relentlessly.

We hopped off the ship and went for a little walk in Victoria. They have this crazy crazy causeway which you can venture out on. It's like a flat jetty, and it struck me that in the US they'd have barriers to keep you off because of lawyers and stuff. In Canada, though, they just have a gate and a sign that says to keep off in stormy weather and be careful. Cool country . . . :-)

Here we are at the end of the causeway with the Oosterdam in the background. It was really windy and the hoods helped keep us a little warm.

Sometimes the waves would make things interesting. Never too interesting, but damp for sure.

The Cruise . . .

2007-11-04T18:23:00.000-08:00

I was reassured that someone would come rescue me if I became entrapped in the toilet.

(spoken in Napoleon Dynamite fashion) "This is pretty much the worst cruise of all time!" (to which Kip would reply, "Like anyone could really know that, Napoleon). Just thought I'd photodocument the fun we didn't have when we were forced to disembark in Seattle at about 8 in the morning and sit on hard chairs in a warehouse while they inspected the ship. We found this out at about 1 AM. This was a drag, and I've since let Holland America know how I felt about this and some other less-than-pleasing aspects of our cruise. I could post a link to the letter, which has more details, although I'm sure no one wants to hear me whine about this. No word back as of yet.

Here's us in our room! Whee!

The last dinner's dessert was Baked Alaska and they brought it in with sparklers. It was very dramatic. Not that delicious, but dramatic.