Well, Duh!

For some time I have known about the existence of a hiking/mountain bike trail that runs between Ft. Tuthill and highway 89A south of Pine Dell, but have never found it. I knew where the trail entered Ft. Tuthill from the North, but never had the time to follow it from there. I also knew it took off from somewhere near the Pine Mountain Amphitheater. I would usually find myself at Ft. Tuthill only 1-2 times a year, but would take the opportunity to search for it when there. Today was one of those days. As I ventured toward the amphitheater, I noticed small black arrows on small yellow square signs attached to trees. These are type used to mark nordic ski trails. I decided to take a gamble by following the arrows and was soon on a bona fide trail that connected to other bona fide trails. I folowed one till it crossed highway 89A just south of Pine Dell. Exactly as the maps showed (except for showing just where the trail hits the amphitheater) All I had to do was follow the arrows. It just goes to show - I can earn an advanced degree in chemistry, but arrows escape me. The "Pinky and the Brain" theme fills my head. Now the real scary part - I Vote!

Road Trip Recap

So after decompressing for a week I finally decided to recap our trip to visit my parents in Boulder. It was kind of nice being in a population center despite the lower air quality, crowds and traffic. This is partly due to having a 11 year old daughter who is very much into Titanic stuff. Given this fact, we took a trip to downtown Denver to tour the Molly Brown Home, which wound up to be interesting. Another day and another trip to Denver so our daughter could experience some of the worst Mexican food available, but in one of the weirdest restaurants on the planet. Yes, Casa Bonita. Waterfalls, cliff divers, slapstick "gun fights"/archaeologist / pirate shows. Black Bart's hideout and free (and actually good) sopapillas. Again, REALLY REALLY BAD food. I thought it might have improved in the past 30 some years, but no. We also took another trip to downtown Denver to see the Egypt/King Tut exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. This was way cool, awesome, impressive, neat, keen, amazing, inspiring, and exciting. In uncivilized company, I sum it up in two words that can not be repeated here. Even the kids at the museum were into the artifacts.
My brother came in from Reno and we took a hike up Shadow Canyon while my dad and the women folk toured the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory. We also visited nearly every camping/bicycle shop in the area to find a "super visible" bicycle jacket for my bro'.
Overall a great trip even with the drive with an 11 year-old and two dogs. On the trip there we let the dogs determine the breaks and stops so it took over 14 hours. The trip back, the humans ruled - 12 hours 40 minutes. Both ways via Moab.
Did I mention the King Tut exhibit was COOL? Seriously - these artifacts were on display in Denver! Yes, Denver (FINALLY)

O Canada We Stand On Guard For Thee

Some men call their former girl friends when they get drunk, others call for help.

I ran across a news item about a man in Manitoba who dialed 911 (sometime last year) to demand the return of the Winnipeg Jets. Although I empathize with the man, he needs to realize 1: The Jets left Winnipeg about 14 years ago. 2: As witnessed during the last two weeks of the 2009-2010 season, Phoenicians will venture out to the worst named arena on the planet to watch hockey if the team wins a few games. 3: If the Coyotes move back north of the border, they are far more likely to land in Hamilton than Winnipeg. 4: He is lucky to have done this in Canuckistan where people understand what alcoholic beverages do to hockey fans. 5: Glendale is home to the WORST NAMED ARENA in the universe. I don't know what that has to do with the other 4, but "Jobing.com Arena?" The naming committee needs to present possible names to a group of 11-111 year old males before final approval. If there are snickers, guffaws, chortles, or laughs, the suggested name fails. Even a well-bred proper Mormon mom would shoot green Jell-O from her nose on that one.

I hope Manitoba does land a team in the future, but for now I am (Deleted Expletive) glad there is a team within 224km (metric as a nod to the denizens of "the True North strong and free") of where I live. If (when?) they leave I am likely to emulate the puck-head and dial 911 demanding the return of the team. Nobody ever said one needed to be smart to be a hockey fan. And for me even a fan of teams formerly known as the North Stars, or Colorado Rockies is a hockey fan. And as with firefighters, a brother is a brother, even if they like Dallas, or New Jersey.

Forget 12 step programs, try my 15 step program!

1) Get annoyed with dripping kitchen faucet and go to hardware store and buy appropriate cartridge/stem units.
2) Come home and replace units
3) Notice faucet still drips and go to same store and buy replacement spring/seat units
4) Replace seat/springs.
5) Readjust/tighten faucet handle/stem/spring-seat units when faucet still drips.
6) Remove "bonnet" to repeat step 5, realizing I forgot to make sure water was turned off.
7) Clean up water from ceiling/floor/self. (if you think this was stupid, wait till step 8)
8) Repeat steps 5,6,and 7. (with emphasis on steps 6 and 7) Tighten everything.
9) Dance around when there are no drips.
10) Stop dancing when water leaks from every possible place - including under sink.
11) Call friend for help.
12) Mess around with the whole thing repeating the steps, but making sure water is off.
13)Finally remove faucet from sink.
14) Discover why dripping stopped, but leaking started.






15) Go to different store to spend money on new faucet, because I don't want to play with solder. (Given my talent with step 8.)
15) Install new faucet. (it probably need replacing anyway)

Fun With Construction Stuff

While Flagstaff slept, alien conehead lumberjacks attacked!

Doubling Up On Typing Exercizes

As the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog, I packed my box with five dozen liquor jugs. All right, all right, I know I took some liberties here, but I have fake poetic license. I also am seeing double, and then some. Well, letters anyway.

WAAAAAAAAH! The Season Is Over

Well, it wasn't the team I wanted, (at least not publicly) but Chicago has won the Stanley Cup. The Cup, The Dominion Hockey Challenge Cup, The Holy Grail, The Meaning of Life, Life of Brian. Oops I digress. After a dismal third period, and even worse start of the overtime period for the Blackhawks, Chi town finally figured out that if they score, they win. Even in slo-mo that winning goal was damn fast. Marilee, did you have something to do with it? The good thing is that I like the Hawks and am happy to have seen them win. This hasn't happened since my older brother was a toddler. Congrats boys, and thanks to Marilee. I hope you had fun watching.