Pipecleaner man is the reason flash was invented.

davidbessler.com
purt near the only good reason.

Where are the outlets in the airport? Check here while you still have battery life.

AirPower Wiki

Whoa!

Boing Boing: A Directory of Wonderful Things: "According to Mary Roach, author of Stiff, men 70-80 years old, on death’s doorstep anyway, would cease to eat food, instead partaking solely of honey. Pretty soon, they would be mellified, that is, “he excretes honey (the urine and feces are entirely honey).” Soon he dies and is placed in a honey-filled coffin which is then sealed for 100 years. At the end of the 100 years, the goop is eaten up."

Like to knit? check it:

MAKE: Blog: LED knitting needles and crochet hooks

Jane, I found you a puppy!

6 Year Old Great Dane

The 'hoff

You guessed it, David Hasselhoff. I shouldn't encourage this, but it is pretty funny. I like that he can kinda make fun of himself. But I don't like how he acts and he's kinda fat. Ohhh, that's mean. thehoff.mov (video/quicktime Object)

where does all the time go?

I eat lunch at my desk and try really hard to get out of work at a reasonable time, but goodness knows how hard that is. I've even brought work home tonight. I keep getting more and more projects, which is good, and kinda stressful. I know to say no when it is too much, but often I make it harder on myself by putzing around until the deadline is imminent, mostly because I'm unsure of my position on things.

Sunday night I was up until 2:00, then a nap and up again at 6:00, having slept very little due to nightmares. I was able to catch an hour or so of peaceful sleep when a guy in my dreams stuck a nail in the clock and stopped time at 4:45, so that I could take as long as I wanted to get the project done. I was VERY sad when I awoke to realize it wasn't true.

Now, I've approx 5 more. The worst are the ones that only take a minute of data entry, but because I'm not sure if I have to change other things, I have to look it all up. Yes, part of learning, but it takes forever.

Anyway, I'm home and that's pretty cool.

Sadly, no time to really enjoy much of it, or do the things I want.

Soon, I'll figure it out.

phone service

I am tired of paying $45 a month for a phone that I just loathe to use.

So I think I'm gonna go the route of VOIP. Anyone have any experience with any of the carriers? I think I might just go Vonage, 500 minutes a month for $19 or something.

I have a phone at work and with computers galore at home, I'll get back that eagerness to check messages again.

Speaking of boobs

The world record holder, on Japanese TV. Thanks to TV in Japan.



And you thought YouTube was silly!

Can you tell I'm trying to work. I know, on a Sunday night. You didn't think I would actually be getting sleep did you?

Mormons are wack AWESOME!

I don't like to censor myself, but sometimes you bite the bullet for a cause.

And my newest cause. (Though that picture looks like something dirty is going on. Hands on the table guys.)

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that the video that I had up, while funny, was not accurate. The first minute anyway. IT was wack, not Mormons.

I take back the comment about crazy, but I would still like to say that Catholics ARE wack. That's just to alienate my other reader.



I think that is Jesus in the middle. And by Jesus, I mean the Mormon Jesus (he's a tricky one, making the Catholics look pretty silly).

And here is a better version of what MY truth is:


Cuz Starbuck is HOT.

check it...

Plaintiff's reply to Defendant's response to Plaintiff's motion for leave to file second amended complaint. And you thought science titles were long and boring. Thank Jesus for cut and paste. Sad part is I think I left a phrase out. HAHAHAHAHA. Sometimes, it is hard not to crawl under my desk for a nap. I think I'll bring an old Thermarest and a pillow tomorrow.

Things are mostly good. Hardest part is the adjustment, esp. at home. But beer calms the savage beast, scotch even more so.

I'm done apologizing for the way I do things. Yep, I like Scotch. And I like Sleep. And I really like SEX. Yeay. Suck that, you prude!

I sound like Crap.

Bush gets sweet with Merkel

Click on the words under the video box, left side. Bild.T-Online.de

Human Space Invaders - WOW, this is pretty cool, if just for the logistics of the thing

Workin in a coal mine

And if you didn't get your overtime, I'd be suing someone for you.

Work is hard. Staying awake at work is even harder. So I went to bed at 11:30ish last night, and today was a heck of a lot easier. I'm happier even. So, that's the lesson, learned once again.

New job is tough, everything I'm assigned takes about 4 times longer than it should, 3 times longer than I want it to, and 2 times as long as the assignor wants it to take. Frustrating, but I do know from experience that if a job is too easy, I'll quit to find something more challenging. For now, I am being challenged. Luckily, the one that would have me do mindless work is gone for two weeks and I'm allying myself with the two lead attorneys that actually give me hard assignments. Really hard.

Good stuff. I almost wanted to take some home today. But I'm trying to make the rule be only 9-10 hours of work a day. What, with 8 hours of sleep, that only leaves me ~ 5 hours to play, eat and shit. And let me tell you, this job, and waking at 6:45 every morning has realllllly messed up my digestive system.

But I'm happy. First two and a half days have already been direct deposited in my account. Some to S, some for my sushi lunch today, some for new shoes, shirts and pants and well, that will likely take care of that bit of fun.

Too bad I don't make more money, but for now, I'm doing pretty well.

Keep an eye out for that tax gig, I'll be ready in about 2 years. I need some litigatin' experience first. In the meantime, perhaps some pro bono work can be tossed my way....anyone?

Stupid fickin forwards

I'll spare you the details, but I wanted to share with you the best part of this forward. This ones not only wants you to read and deal with sending out some shitty poem, but they also have listed examples of those that have not done so.

This one is expecially horrible, because though whe wanted to send the poem on, she didn't know enough people to email. That is so sad. I think her survivor, if there is one, should go and kill the person that sent her the forward. At the very least, someone should be sued. That would be justice:

CASE 2: Take Katie Robinson. She received this poem and being the believer that she was, she sent it to a few of her friends but didn't have enough e-mail addresses to send out the full 5 that you must. Three days later, Katie went to a masquerade ball. Later that night when she left to get to her car, she was killed in that spot by a hit-and-run drunk driver.

The tag line is also wonderful . . . "SMILE, even through your tears!!!!!"

You love me like a Muppet loves another Muppet

Watch this, thanks to Nightsoil and panopticist:



Funny stuff. Though it's really funny in a 'char' sort of way. Which means it is not so much funny as it is horrific and gut wrenching.

Comedy of errors

First day of work that I have to be in at 8:00. I'm planning on being there around 8:30 -9:00 in the coming weeks, but want to be all prompt and proper this week.

So, I throw hissy fits about getting to bed at a reasonable hour and rebuff assistance in the form of two alarms being set. Mine, I think, is plenty.

Except I set it for 6:45 PM. I awake at 7:30, and OH CRAP. Ain't nothing that starts the day better than the adrenline rush from being late.

S helps by getting my coffee and lunch together, I shower and am out the door at 7:45 with the ability to make it there on time.

Except I notice just before I get on the highway that I am driving Steve's car. Habit. But he needs it today and I have the only key to my car on my person. So turn around.

Then, as I'm almost there, driving my car, I miss my exit, so I have to take the next one and turn around.

I get there about 10 minutes late, and because I don't yet have to do any time reporting, I sneak in the back door near my office and no one really notices. Except the partners.

Today I learned that they like to kid around. A lot. And scare me. It's gonna be a couple of weeks of tolerance, before I figure out how to respond without offending anyone.

Tomorrow, hopefully, will go better.

Employed!

Though my blog evidently needs some work.

I'll be back.

Update: well, I tried to fix the issues that made my blog go down in the first place, but then it fixed itself. I need to come up with a design that is wholly my own, but I'm missing something vital, and without quite a bit of trial and error, I'm not gonna figure it out.

So, for now, I'll keep relying on someone, somewhere, having part of this on the internet.

And yes, I am employed. I went in for a follow up interview today and started right then and there. I have an huge office, two monitors (!), support staff, and work with which to start proving myself. Not much money, few benes, and a drive to Camas everyday (only 15 minutes), but I'm pretty optimistic. Good thing I didn't sell my car. I reworked my budget, and lean times are ahead but at least I can pay rent again.

Likely this blog will be now involve the trials and tribulations of working every day. But, because it is work, and I don't want to get fired, you'll have to talk to me in person to get the good stuff.

The best part of starting work right away is that I don't have any nervous energy about tomorrow. I'm all set up and all the awkwardness in meeting 20 new people is gone. Yeay.

Look what popped up this AM:

ON the Law School's job postings:

"Hanaway Ross
345 South Jefferson Street
Green Bay, WI 54301

Description:

Hanaway Ross, an AV rated, 9-attorney law firm with a business transaction, general business and real estate practice, seeks a business/real estate attorney. See employer's website at: www.hanaway.com.

Qualifications:

JD; 1 yr. experience or accounting or business background preferred."

Ahhhh, and it all comes back around.

F you Westlaw and Lexis

Dumb.

I felt like I was limited in my options. I know I can go to the law library and look things up the old fashioned way. In fact, my first year of law school, I decided that I was only going to use books to research topics of law. My second year, that quickly changed, and I do believe I never set foot in the "no talking" part of the library again (except once, when I needed to look up some legislative history from 1950-something, but that was on the shelves just inside the glass doors).

Instead of actual books, I've since used the wonder that is the internet. There are limitations however, and for school and work I used Lexis (an on-line database) to research case law. The (free) internet is still the best for actual law (esp. the IRC), and nothing beats actual paper books to view state and local law.

So, I have felt at a distinct disadvantage in my research abilities since graduating from law school, as Lexis and Westlaw are both extremely expensive and you all know my financial situation.

Now, YEAY, I've found that through my local bar association, I have a search engine at my disposal for free. I say free, though it is paid for by my bar dues. Nice stuff. And aren't I silly for not having noticed it earlier? It is about time my head comes out of my arse.

And I found out earlier this week that my malpractice insurance is almost TWICE as much as a doctor has to pay. WTF?

Movies

Superman Returns: good entertainment value. Might suggest watching Superman III first, because there were somethings I didn't understand, having not seen III in 20 years (my am I getting old). Go to the non-McMinniman's in St. John's. They are showing it upstairs. Lovely theater.

Truffaut's 400 Blows: lovely film. Beautiful and captivating. The cinematography is what always gets me in a film, and this one looks like Jules et Jim and Delicatessen all wrapped up in black and white. T. has an eye for black and white film the likes of which I've rarely seen.

Chicago: enough to seal the deal for me on musicals. Nevermore. I thought it was merely annoying and then Richard Gere showed up. I couldn't finish it without fastforwarding through most of it.

Magnificent Seven: I recently watched the very long Seven Samaurai on which the Magnificent Seven is based. And you can't keep me away from my boy, Steve McQueen. Also, James Coburn is wonderful (watch Charade if you haven't, wonderful suspense). In short, a great western and a good adaptation of the original. Looks like they might be remaking it again. Watch the extras on the MS DVD.

Possible employ. I'll let you know tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Into the Wild, the film

I just finished reading Into Thin Air, also by Krakauer, and loved it. I had read Into the Wild about 10 years ago and it captured my imagination, especially since I was living in the woods at the time. Check it out

Full Cast and Crew for Into the Wild (2007)

Calling all Tintin fans....

Boing Boing: To watch: "Tintin and I" PBS doc on Hergé, Tue. July 11.

Not you, you're a Smurf.

Pro-life? Seems not.

BBC NEWS | Health | Woman, 63, is mother to baby boy: "She has been branded 'selfish' by pro-life groups for having a child at such an advanced stage in her life."

For your viewing pleasure

Me trail blazing, second run of the day, I show this one mostly for the scenery at the end. Any tips on lighting for video?


Steve riding it down:


Me, again, but running into the camera man. I like how puppa waits until we are half-way down and then runs with us.

one of the best web zen's I've seen in a while

web zen: "celebrity fun zen"

Part 4. Tuesday at home

We took most of the day to get back home, 7 hours, after the 3 miles out of Strawberry Lake. We were showered and ready to head back out though by 8:00. Plans fell through, but others became what was meant to be. Headed over to Stephen's house for some grub and to hopefully allow two very scared dogs to console each other. They didn't and the neighbors all around his house were continuously sending off fireworks.

So, we decided about 12:00 to head out to Lewis and Clark and see if we could find the site of the treehouse. Well, we didn't at first, and thought we were being followed by the security. I ended up with one leg fully wet from falling into a creek somewhere and my hand is bloody from some plant attacking me. We went back to the car, regrouped, and headed out again, and found it. There are some tarps still there, seemingly the place is being used for some activity still, but the area down there really is a jungle. I had no idea where I was most of the time, and spent a lot of it just trying to keep the boys and the dogs together. It was a lot of fun, but I didn't get to bed until 4:00.

And oy vey, was I hungover on Wednesday, when I had to meet several of Steve's co-workers at the Bombay Cricket Club for dinner. I should have eaten something less spicy on my irritated stomach, as I'm still recovering.

That's it for the posts for now. Today, Thursday, was non-exciting, as I tried to get all this written and the photos up. The house is still a mess from all the camping gear. I still don't have a job, and we have a house guest for the weekend coming tomorrow.

It doesn't stop, but I still feel like I don't do very much.

Part 3. Monday at Little Strawberry Lake

AM, lets make coffee. The sun is shining, the air is crisp and we have coffee to make. I find a lovely flat spot on the lake and we do our thing. We look at the lake trout and the landscape and thank whomever (I did refer a lot to God on this trip, as Sunday could have been much, much worse) for being in the most beautiful spot I've ever camped. I don't think I have one photo that captures the true magnificence of the place, it was just too much for one photo. Here is the view at our breakfast spot:


That first night we were camped pretty close to this spot. To the right, were a bunch of huge boulders, that we climbed on and played around after coffee.

On a dare, trying to break a bit of the glacier off, and thinking I would only break off a piece about a foot at most, I ended up causing an 8 x 3 piece to crash into the lake. It was pretty cool.

Then I knew that this was going to be the best day of the trip when I saw, and exclaimed: "There are beers in the snow." Sure enough, a bottle of Jubuale and Black Butte Porter were sitting there for us to drink. I have recently learned the trick of how to open a beer bottle with another one and gave it a try. Worked like a charm. Breakfast was now beer on top of the coffee. We drank them rather quickly and with gusto.

When we were done, we decided to play it safe and move our camp over to a dryer location, and one that I prefered for the view. It was set above the lake a bit, but afforded an amazing scene with the mountains surrounding us and the lake below.

We made camp and then realized there wasn't much to do. We weren't hiking anywhere that day. We were just too sore. We kept looking at the clouds and I became an amateur meteorologist, having scrutinized the sky yesterday, I was ready to detect any similar patterns.

Needing something to do, and still a bit buzzed from the beer, we decided to climb the hill behind our camp. Not a small feat. If you look closely, in the middle of this photo, you'll see a waterfall, which came from another lake on the mountain. It was draining down the side into our lake. The photo was taken about half-way up from camp:


It was really bloody steep, though not covered in snow, and dangerous. We almost stopped several times and turned back, but as you get closer to a goal, it becomes harder to resist. So here's the view:



If you click on the photo above, you'll see where everything happened explained in notes.

So, it was hot and we wanted to get a swim in before the weather turned bad. We started back down the mountain and that's when I was inattentive at the wrong time and took a tumble. I have huge, baseball sized bruises on my left leg from that fall. Nasty. Then, we were walking on the snow again and Steve was showing me some shoe skiing moves. I decided it was too steep for that and sat down and proceeded to slide the length of that glacier. We ended up doing it again and again, causing our asses to be sore and wet, but it was the most fun thing we did on that entire trip. Check above for video.



Then, we were back at camp and the decision was made to swim in this lake. If you'll notice, the glaciers are touching the lake. There isn't much colder water anywhere in the world, I'd imagine. To make it better, we went to the edge of the glacier and jumped off of it to swim. Invigorating. Most of you that know me well, know that I am not a swimmer. But I'm improving, see?



Not much else happened that day. We explored the section that remained, an area full of huge, 8 foot boulders. I dared Steve to jump from one to another and he made it. I hesitated a moment too long and missed. My other leg took the brunt. I won't be wearing a skirt for a long time.

We started a fire around 7:00, made dinner and went to bed soon after the stars came out. We were brave and put the tent in the clearing to have a nice view, but became a bit more apprehensive in the night as clouds moved in. We were up early enough and hiked back out 3 miles to the car, where all sorts of good and decadent food awaited us in our still cold cooler.

A lovely trip. Oh, and on the trip out, I jumped into Strawberry Lake without any clothes on. I ended my virgin backpacking and virgin skinny-dipping in one trip.

Tuesday was another story.

Part 2. Last Sunday, or Hell with a backpack strapped on

Though there was an abundance of snow, this was a very hot and sweaty day.

We started out from Strawberry Lake, quickly coming to Strawberry Falls. Beautiful, and not too far into the hike to have us remotely exhausted yet. We decided to stop there for some breakfast.



From there, we continued our endless ascent into the hills. Here's Strawberry Lake in the background:



We were still pretty happy at this point, talking about how we'd set up camp at the top of the ridge, and climb the mountain and then either go on to the next lake or set up camp along the way. Heck, there were springs everywhere up here. No.

Instead, after several hours of walking, we hit some serious snow. The stuff on the level areas wasn't too bad, but I was exhausted. The packs were heavy, I'm not in the best of shape, nor have I done this before. Our elevation gain was pretty intense, as well as mileage. The snow made the trail impossible to find except for the footprints of someone that had come down off the mountain earlier. So onward, and upward. To this:



You can't really see the ledge from which I am ascending, because I am climbing a near vertical wall of snow. It was do-able on the way UP.

So, we made it to the ridge line, only to see nothing but a barren wasteland. A fire had ravaged this area and nothing had yet grown back. UGLY. It was now 12:30 (we got up hella early), and we were exhausted. We found a little spot and dropped our bags, planning to come back and camp there. And those springs, well, we looked for them, and couldn't find them. There was snow, but that was all. The view was expansive, if nothing else:




Well, we had found out that the way into High Lake, where we wanted to go to continue the loop was quite a hike on the ridgeline to an area that was likely impossible to traverse. And puppa was likely not going to have any of it. So, in an effort to regroup, and to avoid the swarms of black flies, we set up the tent to take a nap, read or something. Then smarty-pants spilled a beer in the tent (we had brought 4 with us). Now all bear precautions were to the wind, and we were on a ridgeline that offered little shelter. We couldn't go on, nor did we have the inclination, nor energy to climb Strawberry Mountain (which looked like a big dirtpile). It was at least 100 degrees and we were done. What to do. Then we saw some dark clouds. This was not where we wanted to spend the night. So, tired and weary though we were, we were going to climb down, and once back at Strawberrry Falls, were going to make a shortcut to Little Strawberry Lake. That was the best decision we could have made. But the day (and ensuing hell) wasn't over.

So, we started to climb down. Problem was, the sun had turned the snow to mush. Not a problem on the flat parts, but that verticle incline seemed to be impossible to descend. So, Steve tried to find a way down the scree. We walked a bit, but when I realized that we would have to climb a hell of a long way and then a long way down perilous scree, I made the decision that we had to come down the snow.

And we did, but it took forever. I took off my pack and headed down, using my hands as claws and stopping every five feet to warm them. The entire perilous part may only have been 40 feet high, but it seemed like much more. Then Steve tried to lower the packs to me, as I was on a ledge that ended the most dangerous part. The first was lowered with some string, but when the string was let go, the pack stayed put. Which meant I had to climb up and get it. I almost lost it and myself in the process, because it had slid away from the protection of the ledge. Next, to keep my pack from sticking this time, S decided to give the pack a push. Which then came at me at a speed which caused an impact that I thought was the end of me. In addition, my hiking stick was still in the side and I am lucky that I am alive.

Getting Fife down was hard too, as he was having nothing of it. Basically, he had to be pushed over the edge. Then Steve came down, and I took this:



The rest was not so difficult, we were happy to be alive. But those dark clouds? They were starting to let go some seriously large drops. At one point we took shelter in the trees, trying to remain dry. The rain abated somewhat and we hiked on. Hard hiking, sore and tired, hungry and too many bugs.

But YEAY, we made it to camp, and just in time. We walked around, and tried to find a dry spot. I was distracted as I found a spot where the thunder was reverbrating throught the valley and making an amazing noise. One of the best thunderstorms of all time. The lake is most amazing, with a sheer rock face on one side and glaciers down to the very surface of the lake.

Then the rain started in earnest. We got everything in the tent, made ourselves reasonably comfortable (as could be with two people, a large dog, and all our gear).

But we had no water. None.

So we waited until the first opportunity for the rain to let up and Steve went out to purify some water from the lake. Most of our clothes were wet from either the rain or sweat. I felt gross. So, I took the campsuds, our dry comfy remaining clothes, towels and headed out to the lake to wash up a bit. I took off my clothes and had applied soap to my parts just as it started raining in earnest. Steve was in the same situation. First we had to rinse, then grab all of our stuff and head back into the tent. Now everything was wet. I was naked, and Fife was drenched. Not a nice moment in the trip.



A bit later, we were able to make a fire, and since most of our clothes were tech, they dried either on our bodies, or in front of the fire. The worst part was trying to get the shoes dry. Which we did, just in time, because the rain started up again and we were able to grab everything and hop into the tent, reasonably dry this time. Did I mention that earlier in the day, Steve was telling me the number one rule for backpacking? Yep, staying dry.

This time was the last. We decided, though quarters were hella cramped, that the day was done. It was only about 10:00, but having hiked over 12 miles with backpacks on, having scaled a dangerous "ice mountain" and suffered through several downpours, we were fast asleep.

Monday was a most lovely day in comparison

Part 1. Strawberry mountains - my first backpacking trip

And oddly, not much different from camping. The food was just a bit less fresh, the hike a bit more strenuous and slow, and the freedom much more delicious. I've always been one for minimalism. I know it gets old after a while, and one wants more comfortable trappings, but I like to go light and free. I was made for this backpacking stuff.

I also finally fully skinny-dipped. I've jumped in the water before, but seem to always leave on at least one article of clothing. Not this time.

So the trip was good.

Friday night we decided to stay in PDX, to not stress about getting out of town too soon, so that we would be properly prepared and wouldn't have to fight traffic. Besides, we hadn't even figured out where we were going.

Saturday morning, off to the Strawberrry Mountains. They are located in the eastern portion of Oregon, in the high desert, near Canyon City and Prairie City (also near the John Day fossil beds and river). Strawberry Mountain was the one peak in the chain that we were gonna bag.

Shopping had to be done first, some groceries and more importantly, some maps and gear from REI. We were on our way. Seven hours later (we had no idea it was that far away, nor did I know I was to get my period on the drive), we were at the campsite and trailhead. We had no intention however of camping at this place, where there were dozens of people. Instead, we loaded our packs onto our backs, and started climbing into the hills just as it was getting dark. Out came the headlamps. We hiked a mile plus a bit into the woods and found Strawberry Lake. We saw a potential nice campsite, near a creek, but would have to make a perilous crossing, we looked around, found nothing that satisified us and made the crossing, with nothing getting wet. We set up camp, broke out the scotch and beer (btw, watch that Guiness at high elevation), and made dinner. And it was good.

The next morning, we discovered that we were camping in an idyllic setting. Here is the view from the inside of the tent:




There was a beautiful lake in front of us, and the creek that the lake was using to empty out, was cold, crisp and wonderfully refreshing to wash up in.



We had a lovely breakfast, and decided to walk around the lake counter-clockwise, opposite from the night before. We discovered two other campers on the way out, but the last we were to see until coming out of the woods three days later.

The big plan was to make a loop, by hiking up to the ridgeline at 7,000 ft, dropping our bags off, climbing Strawberry Mountain at 9,000 ft, going back for our bags and then following the ridgeline to High Lake, staying there for a night and then to Slide lake for a night and back down.

It didn't happen that way, because it was not physically possible.

Next post: the hell I call last Sunday.

Photo update

I'm working on them today.

First installment: three weeks ago, Trapper Creek again (I think). Lovely hike, with more waterfalls than you could count. Pretty and lovely.

Later, a canoe/camping/bat sighting overnight, and LOTS of photos from the first backpacking trip of my life: three nights in the Strawberry Mountains.

Check back later.

Update: the canoe trip at Forlorn Lakes, where deet became our best friend. This was the trip that saved our marriage. And they say canoes and camping are divorce aids.