September is Near! And So...I Flail!

It's the last day of August. We had a cold front move in overnight, and it feels downright chilly outside right now. Forecast highs for tomorrow are only in the sixties.

I'd mentioned earlier that for the past few years I approach autumn with some trepidation. This year seems a little easier for me. I'm ready. I'm also hoping that nothing happens along the way to knock me down.

Starting five years ago, I went through a series of disasters, some big and some small, that got me feeling pretty low. It was as if I fell down, and the kicking continued. For the next week or two, I'm going to be dedicating a bunch of posts to these events. I'm not doing this for sympathy, more for documentation. I'd like to get it all written out in black and white for myself. Not pleasant, but I think it has to happen.

I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to work this. It might be a whole bunch of consecutive posts, or I may have a few regularly scheduled ones interspersed throughout. We shall see.


So. How many of you have stuck your thumb up your nose lately?

Picking Some Winners

The people who recently moved into the house across the street from ours continue to wow me.

Last week, my wife saw their daughter (I'd say she's about 10 or 11) sitting on the curb, mining a nostril and feasting on its contents.

Today, the father was standing in the driveway surrounded by no less than 5 neighborhood children, picking his nose WITH HIS THUMB.


You can't pay for this kind of entertainment.

Marital Friction

Dear friends of ours are on a rocket-train to Divorceville. It seems that last month one member of the couple "crossed a line."

I know what the line was. In my mind, it was more of a "you sleep on the couch for a week and get 75 filthy looks" sort of line rather than a "get out of my f'ing house" kind of line.

It brings to mind an interesting question, though. Where is THE LINE? Obviously, it differs from one couple to the next.

After thinking about it, it would take one hell of a crossed line for me to have a falling-out with my wife. For one, I'm no good at dating. She, for whatever reason, approached me first. That means I'll follow her just about anywhere.

I mean, for crying out loud, the woman has tried to kill me on multiple occasions and I still hang out with her. Sure, you laugh. There was the one time that she nearly electrocuted me while I was rewiring a swamp cooler motor while perched on the roof of the house. Then there's the habit of leaving the laundry or other household detritus at the foot of the stairs for me to trip over when I'm knocking about at 4:30 in the morning.

But she's cute, so I'll keep her.

The Sunny Side of Pessimism

Do you ever have those days when you wake up in a good mood? Do you have days when everything seems to be going just fine? Are things looking up? Is life, in general, pretty good?


Does it make you nervous?

Inventory

Let's see

9 bikers
31 miles
1 gazillion minor wrecks
1 concussion (thankfully not in my noggin)


Folks, it was beautiful. Other than a few minor logistical problems (never rely on others for help), I couldn't possibly have had more fun.

My friend and I got to our campsite about 8 PM Friday, set up camp and waited for the 2 guys who were supposed to camp with us and give us a ride to the trailhead Saturday morning. They never showed. We ended up biking to the trailhead about 5 miles up the mountain. Not the way I wanted to start, but it was a pretty ride.

We met up with the 7 others who were to be joining us on the ride at about 9 AM and set off. Morrison Trail is not an easy ride. If I'd have know just how hairy it was, I might have chickened out. I'm really glad I didn't know.

The first few miles were almost completely uphill. At the top, there was an amazing panaramic view of 12,000 foot mountain peaks in all directions. On the way down, it was many miles of white-knuckle, brake lever squeezing, rock dodging, hold on for dear life as you barrel down the side of the mountain. Near the end was a set of switchbacks that drops some 1200 feet of elevation in roughly a mile. That's as near to vertical as I ever care to walk down, much less ride a bike.

My bike chain broke with about 4 1/2 miles to go, but the last 4 miles were covered in river rock an nearly unrideable. I ended up walking the bike out almost as fast as others rode it.

The biggest downside was that one member of our party hit a rock about 10 miles in, and took the impact with his head. Unfortunately, he was also the only member of the party who chose not to wear a helmet. He got up and continued riding, but after an hour or so, he was overcome by nausea. We helped him along for a while and eventually found some people on a 4-wheeler who took him and his bike to the end of the trail where he had a ride waiting. Lesson? Wear a damn helmet.

I was on a bicycle from about 7:30 yesterday morning until 5:30 PM. We then had to drive back to pick up our camping gear and drive back home. We arrived back about 1 AM this morning, so it was a long day. Worth it? You betcha.

Here are a few photos that I snapped with my camera phone. Unfortunately, the photos show in reverse order of the trail. I didn't get as many as I would have liked, but my friend took several hundred with his digital SLR, so there may be more show and tell later.

Gone Bikin'

I'm taking off this afternoon for my bicycle excursion into the high country. From the looks of the weather forecast, it might be a bit on the chilly side for this evening's camping. There's a fair chance that we might get snowed on early tomorrow morning. It's not exactly what I wanted while sleeping in a tent.

All in all, I think it will be worth it. I've never been through the area before, and everyone I've talked to says it's spectacular. I don't know if I'll be able to take a camera along for the ride (other than my phone cam). If I do, I'll make sure to post some photos.

As a sidenote, kids entertain me to no end. Last night, I watched the three year old wandering around the house with a pair of headphones on. Periodically, she would stop and stick the headphone jack into random objects. Just checking what they sound like, I guess. I never did ask.

Coming to Terms With My Addiction

After lunch today, I did a quick mental tally and was disturbed when I figured out that I've had this stuff with something like 6 of my last 7 meals. I didn't put it on the Pop Tart that I had for breakfast yesterday, but now that I'm thinking about it...

I think I have a problem. Does anyone know of a 12 step program for chili sauce addiction?

Flying Solo

The wife and kids headed to Denver this morning with my mom to go school shopping. They plan on visiting some sort of butterfly pavillion (a zoo for butterflies?!) and poking around various malls and whatnot.

This leaves me alone with the dogs. As much as I miss having the house full of noise and chatter, sometimes it's nice to be alone. I should be able to get a bit more work done on the shower and I've got to pick tomatoes. There should be time for a stupid horror movie as well. That's my ritual when I'm alone in the house. I have a weakness for cheeseball horror movies, and my wife can't stand them. The only real hurdle is deciding which one to watch. Decisions, decisions.

I'm also preparing for a bit of an excursion this weekend. Saturday, a friend and I are going mountain biking with a few other people. We're going to ride a two-track dirt road over Beartooth pass straddling the Wyoming and Montana borders. It's a shade less than a 30 mile ride. I've been looking forward to this for most of the summer, and now it's crunch time. It's a shame that I have hardly ridden my bike at all for the last few months. I'm setting myself up for a good bout of saddle-soreness, but I think it'll be worth it. We'll leave early Friday afternoon and camp at the trailhead. Ahh, a night in a tent and then a day on a bike. I should be feelin' GOOD by Sunday!

Me So Sleepy

The fire is, for all practical intents and purposes, out. There were 5 cabins lost, 4 outbuildings and a barn also burned. Considering the fire and the proximity to homes, it's amazing there weren't many more.

On a completely unrelated note, I didn't sleep well last night. I woke up at a little before 3 AM and couldn't get back to sleep. I'm up by 4:30 most mornings, so you wouldn't think it would be that big a deal. But I'll be lucky to make it through the day with my eyes open.

The weekend was busy. Apparently, we felt like compensating for last weekend's slow pace and relative slothfulness. The basement shower is grouted. I'm going to have a bit of taping and texturing before I can paint and get the thing usable, but it's close now.

I'm too sleepy to write anything interesting.

*yawn*

Sweet Wewief

It's cloudy and cool today. The mountain is covered in fog/mist. I would guess that will probably help the firefighting efforts a great deal. Apparently there have been a total of 4 cabins burned, all of them were seasonal use only. They've lifted the evacuation order for quite a bit of the area, so things are looking up.

We went to a baseball game last night. It will probably be the last one we'll make it to for this year. I just don't know where the time goes.

So far, no big weekend plans. I may try to get some tile grout in the shower enclosure of our basement bathroom project from Hell. I've been fiddling with this bathroom for four years now, it might be time to finish the stupid thing.

Most Peculiar, Mama

What a week.

Looks like the fire has subsided a bit, for the time being. I can't even see much smoke this morning. Yesterday, the leading eastern edge of the blaze more or less fizzled. The main focus of the firefighting is now on the western edge of the mountain. They evacuated a different subdivision and have periodically closed the highway along the foot of the mountain.

I spoke with a coworker who lives across the highway from the western foot of the mountain, and she said she could actually hear the fire yesterday afternoon. Disconcerting, I would think.

Meanwhile, the weather is not cooperating in the slightest. The National Weather Service has issued what they call a red flag warning, meaning that fire danger is extremely high. It's supposed to be warm, very windy, with very low humidity and a chance of dry thunderstorms in the afternoon. It really wouldn't help to have any new fires sparked.


And what of this whole JonBenet Ramsey thing? That dude they arrested appears (to me, at least) to be pegging out the creepometer.

*poof* Gone

Years of drought and questionable land management are taking their toll this week. As of yesterday evening, the wildfire on the mountain had burned over 8000 acres. So far, they've only reported damage to one structure. But there are hundreds more in the area. There will be more homes lost.

Casper Mountain is unusual for this area, in that it is mostly privately owned. This presents a unique set of circumstances, in that different properties are cared for to different degrees. Unfortunately, many of the landowners have not cleared timber from their land as they should have. There are a lot of dead trees up there due to a pine beetle infestation. That, and the unusually dry weather over the last decade have made the whole place into a frightening tinderbox. Many of the officials are saying that it was only a matter of time. They estimate that over a third of the mountain has burned. It's nowhere near done yet.

The smoke here in town is incredibly thick and choking. Visibility is affected at times, and the winds here (though almost omnipresent) are really putting on a show. Our house is in no danger, but I know at least one couple who will probably lose their house. Interestingly enough, most of the communications towers for the city are on the peak of the mountain. Last night around 10PM, the fire had reached one group of these towers. Among those are several cellular towers, television towers, and the radio system for the emergency responders. They say that it's very possible that the entire eastern half of the state could lose emergency 911 service today.

That being said, I may be incommunicado for a while. I guess it all depends on which way the wind blows.

Fire BAD

The trouble with living relatively close to a foresty-type area is that sometimes things like this happen. This one is a biggie. Apparently, it originally started from a lightning strike Friday afternoon. It burned 400 or so acres, and was thought to be out. Yesterday afternoon it flared up. It's hard to get any information because the people who know about the fire are the ones who are fighting, and they've got better things to do than keep the media posted.

What I do know is that the fire has now burned somewhere around 800-1000 acres beyond what it had Friday, and all of the residences on the mountain itself have been evacuated. They've also evacuated several subdivisions on the southern edge of town.

Today's weather forecast calls for hot temperatures and possible wind gusts up to 45 mph. Not what one would consider good firefighting weather.

Our house is 6 or 7 miles away from the mess right now, but I have two friends whose houses are currently in trouble. Let's hope they get this thing contained soon, and that the firefighters stay safe.

Primal Urges

Autumn comes early here in Wyoming. Sometimes it doesn't last too long, either. We were puttering down around the river yesterday morning and I noticed that some of the cottonwood leaves are starting to turn yellow already.

This year, I think I'm ready for fall. This hasn't been the case for several years (the reasons will almost certainly be explained - extensively- in the not too distant future). But I think I'm tired of the heat, and I'm looking forward to stomping around in the piles of leaves and drinking hot apple cider.

I find it funny that autumn's approach causes such a sense of urgency. I used to think that it might be holdovers from BACK TO SCHOOL times, but now I wonder if it isn't a bit more primal than that. Basically, for all of our supposed evolution, we're still controlled by things as fundamental as the changing of the seasons. Perhaps I'm too sensitive to it, but this time of year always makes me feel like I've got way too much to do and way too little time. I've got to get firewood, I've got to paint the fender on my truck, I've got to dismantle and cover the swamp cooler, I've got to get the snow tires mounted, I've got to do a million other little things to get the house ready for winter...pant, pant, pant.

I've got to gather and store nuts before the snow flies.

Piece of Cake

C ran 3.1 miles in 38 minutes, 25 seconds. Pretty darned good. She was a little tired afterward, but now she wants to go ride her scooter!

C Hits the Road

Our oldest daughter, C, is going to run her first 5k road race tomorrow. She's all of 6 years old.

Yeah, yeah, I know...too young. In most cases, I'd agree. C is a different sort of animal with regard to athletics. She's got the most unbelievable energy level, she excels at nearly any physical activity she tries out, and she's competitive to the point of irritation at times. She NEEDS to have some sort of physical activity to do, and she's been practically begging us to let her run in one of these races. So whatchagonnado?

I have no doubt she can do it. She's already done a relatively vigorous 10k hike this summer to the top of Crazy Horse monument in South Dakota. My wife and I are going to run along with her tomorrow and have told her that she needs to stop and walk during the race if she gets tired. It should be fun.

I worry sometimes about her competitive nature. You see it all too often; parents pushing their kids too hard to live vicariously through them. I'd be perfectly happy if she chose not to participate in sports at all, but she seems to crave the competition. It's just a fundamental part of her personality. I think the best we can do, as parents, is to support her interests and try to make her understand that she doesn't always have to win (or that not everything is a competition).

I'll let you know how her first road race goes.

I'll Show You Mine if...

I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but I'm a music nut. It's not unusual for me to be listening to music 12 to 14 hours a day. I live for it.

One of the things that frustrates me is that there is so much good stuff out there that I'll never get to hear because of the limitations of distribution or geographical isolation. I've got a lot of CDs by great bands that had a short run locally, or that I just heard about by random happenstance.

I thought it might be fun to put a couple of links out there, so here goes -

Rexway/Mike Mitchell - heavy metal cowpunks. The songs Thursday and The Owl are downloadable and are very good.

More from Rexway - Christmas for Cowboys is downloadable. Kinda hokey, but catchy.

Janitor Bob and the Armchair Cowboys - lots of hidden treasures on this site. There are links to live videos on the front page and if you hit the discography section and hit "Live in Pieces" there are several free mp3s. I highly recommend their Happy Song from Love Your Mind

There. Anyone got anything cool to share?

Geeklife v1.0

Last week, my wife and I each got new cellular phones. This time around, it was a major event for me. This thing is wicked bitchin'.

About 6 years ago, we decided to ditch our landline and go cellular only. Our landline had become so problematic that it was essentially unusable. The phones would crackle with static, rendering conversation difficult or impossible. Worse yet, our dialup internet connection was having a fit with the poor signal quality. When we called the phone company to fix the lines, they'd say something like "Damn squirrels." They'd jiggle a few connections on the black box on the telephone pole, climb down and leave. Most of the time the signal would improve for a day or so, then right back to square one (damn squirrels!). We decided that it wasn't worth paying for the service, so we each got a cell phone and we signed up for cable internet access (bonus!).

We started out with very utilitarian phones and thought they were just fine. Two years ago, we got LG VX6000s. They came equipped with a camera and with a bit of hacking, I was able to use them to check our e-mail and upload photos to the computer. These things were great as phones. Tough as nails, and completely reliable. The image quality of the pictures left a lot to be desired, but the cameras got used far more than I would have expected.

Our service provider allows us $100 to upgrade phones every 2 years. In the past, I would have shrugged it off and continued with my VX6000. I saw the replacement model available (the VX8300) and its feature list a couple of months ago and decided that I wanted one.

The phone comes with a 1.3 MP camera (with video capability) that takes reasonably decent photos, a built-in mp3 player, and expandable memory. It's just so neat I want to caress it constantly. I bought a little adapter that allows me to listen to the mp3s from the phone in my car. It's got tiny stereo speakers, so I can fire it up and listen to music wherever and whenever I want. I've got a data cable now so I can transfer photos from it to the computer or use the phone to connect my laptop to the internet. With a little more hacking, I'm able to access the 'net from the phone. I've ordered 1 GB memory cards for mine and the wife's. I'm in love.

The irony? I hate telephones. I don't like to talk on them much at all. I need to have one, so I got me an mp3 player that surfs the net and takes pictures. Oh, and sometimes my wife calls me on it.

Semantics

Recently, the Hell's Angels held their yearly gathering in a little town in Northwest Wyoming. The local newspaper had been gearing up for this to be one of the year's biggest news events and ran daily features on the preparations the town was making, the increased law enforcement, and the anticipated troubles the scary biker dudes were going to cause.

In short, the bikers came, they behaved themselves, then they left. The local police claim there were a total of two arrests during the time the Angels were there. Two. Apparently, there were more complaints from the locals about the increased police presence than about the bikers themselves.

The newspaper here in town seems unwilling to drop the subject. A couple of days ago, they ran ANOTHER story about it in which the county sheriff claimed one of the Angels had "intimidated" his 9 year old daughter. The guy came up to the little girl and asked if she was the sheriff's daughter. Then, he showed her the patches on his jacket that showed he was a Hell's Angel.

Folks, that's not intimidation. That's called small talk.

Chokecherries, Firewood, and Child-Choking

We picked the kids up from their grandparents Saturday afternoon. The grandparent hangover was horrendous. They fought and fought and fought. Lucinda the pug hid under the couch most of Saturday. It was really that bad. They seemed to have mostly recovered by yesterday afternoon.

Some friends said we could go to their property and pick chokecherries, so we went their yesterday morning. We picked over 6 pounds of the silly things. We made jelly and chokecherry syrup yesterday afternoon, as well as canning 7 pounds of mushrooms.

The aforementioned friends have a large plot of land on the face of the mountain. For the last 5 or 6 years, they've let us go up there and get firewood, so I walked around their property yesterday for quite a while. It looks like the firewood is going to be very, very tough to get at this year and I might consider some other options. It's nice to have the wood stove blasting away when it's cold outside. The reduction in utilities is a big bonus as well. But if I have to pay $110 a cord to have someone deliver, it's hard to justify the expense.

I mentioned our new neighbors a while ago. I'm afraid my first impression unfortunately may have been accurate. I watched the mom yell at their son Friday afternoon, then put her hands around his neck and shove him. The competition for Parent of the Year may be pretty tough this year.

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam

Ack. The invasion has begun already! I'm going to have to enable word verification. The spamming is pretty well getting out of control. Don't they realize that I'm really NOT interested in the links?

In other news...We're very fortunate that my father in law is a veterinarian. Ten years ago, we adopted a terrier mutt who has had a series of pretty bizarre health problems mostly related to some sort of autoimmune disorder. She's a great dog, but it's been interesting trying to keep her around. On Wednesday, she got carted off to the father in law's for what I think was her 5th or 6th surgery. This time it was to remove a stainless steel suture she had acquired when she had an umbilical hernia repaired as a puppy. The suture had begun to irritate the skin on her belly to the point where it was as thin as tissue paper. Not good. She's back now, and just as happy as can be!

We used the opportunity to drop the kiddos off at my parents' house for a visit. It's a nice break for us, the kids think it's as good as going to Disneyland, and my folks are always asking us to let the kids stay with them. We'll retrieve the little nutcases tomorrow.

What's the Point?

Someone at work had left printed out a forwarded e-mail collection of witticisms on the break room table. Really entertaining stuff like:

- "Men are just like laxatives. They irritate the crap out of you."
- "Men are just like bananas. They soften with age."
- "Men are just like mascara. They run at the first sign of emotion."

I threw it away. Not because I don't have a sense of humor, but because I feel that it's pointless for us to take these kind of swipes. A lot of what was written on that was not very creative. A lot of it was very crude. It wasn't appropriate for work.*

See, my favorite person in the whole wide world happens to be of the opposite sex. Not only do I not feel compelled to insult her, I really, genuinely like her. Also, sometimes she lets me touch her goodies.

Yes, there are differences between the sexes. Is that so bad?



*Jeebus, I have become management.

Five Songs

I've been told (however indirectly) to consider myself tagged for the following meme. Okay, here goes.


List five songs that, when you hear them now, transport you back to a specific place and time. You can explain why, or not.

James - Sometimes - Summer of 1994, driving in the red Subaru station wagon across Nebraska with my dog and the woman who would become my wife. It's hotter than the hubs of hell, but we're happy.

The Cure - entire Disintegration album - Bending the rules a bit, but I've always thought of this as one piece of music. It's a true album, and not just a collection of songs. Anyway, it will always remind me of the basement of a little house on Mary Anne Drive - and the girl with the sparkling green eyes and mischievous grin.

Fleetwood Mac - Blue Letter - Riding in the backseat of my parents' Volvo as a kid.

Bob Dylan - Forever Young - September of 2001. The beginning of what would become the most painful period in my life, and the day we watched my brother's casket lowered into the ground. I still love the song, but it hurts a bit, too.

Creed - Higher - Sure, yuk it up you jerks. This was playing on the radio when I drove my wife to the hospital the night our oldest daughter was born. Whatever stigma you want to attach to the tune, it makes me happy every single time I hear it.

Wow. Limiting it to five songs is hard.

There. Now whoever wants to be tagged is tagged by me. Hah.