outside of the bubble

Tree skiing

2012-02-06T20:13:00.000-08:00

One thing about skiing, it gets me outside in the mountains in the winter, and that's a nice place to be on a sunny day. Can be anyway.. I usually like to ski fast on the groomers but now and then I ski in the trees when the snow is fresh and the sun is out.

Hobie 16 on Flathead Lake

2012-01-30T08:28:00.000-08:00

I guess about half way through the winter I start thinking about summer things again. I was going through the card on this little camera and found this one of my Hobie 16 on Flathead Lake and thought I'd post I little bit of summer here in the dead of winter. Don't get me wrong,.. I'm enjoying the season and whatever else.., but I'm looking forward to sailing and camping in the Aristocrat too.

New Years resolution

2012-01-29T19:20:00.000-08:00

Man,.. I hate having my desktop cluttered,.. so today I spent a little time sorting things out. I know,.. I should have been skiing but it looked nasty on the mountain today. At the end of the day yesterday the snow came in and it was pretty much a blizzard up there and so today I decided to be domestic. The snow was hitting me in the face and it wasn't pleasant. Anyway today I cleaned up the house and this sort of thing. So when I turned on my computer and saw all of these icons on my desktop screen I decided to extend my cleaning to my computer.

So there's that.. I realize I haven't been blogging that much lately. Haven't been doing that much photography either. I think part of that is because it's winter and sometimes that doesn't always make for the best pictures. I did go to Walmart today and bought some NiMH batteries for an old Nikon 5600 point and shoot that I've been wanting to use. So I'll carry that camera around with me and perhaps it will motivate me to take more pictures. Great little camera... They just don't make em like that anymore... (who would have ever thought I'd say that about a digital camera..?) Things change so quickly these days,. or so it seems.

Some things don't really change that much. Guitars and mandolins haven't changed that much over the years. I spent a little time playing today. Not at all enough but it was something. I really need to set aside x amount of time to practice without distraction each day but who can find the time?.. So maybe that's my new year's resolution,. set aside some time to practice each day. No way could it be to keep my house uncluttered.. That's just not going to happen.

Jake Shimabukuro concert

2012-01-18T20:19:00.000-08:00

A while back I came across a youtube video of Jake Shimabukuro playing George Harrison's As My Guitar Gently Weeps on a ukulele and it totally rocked! It's a song I've never been that crazy about even though George was always my favorite Beatle. I knew that George was into the Ukulele from watching videos of him. Anyway when Jake Shimabukuro came to the Bing Crosby Theater in Spokane yesterday I decided that I must go. It was a great concert in a cool venue. For such a small instrument he gets a ton of range out of it. If he comes to your town you should go and see him. My only regrets are that Queenie wasn't here to enjoy it with me and that Jake didn't play Over The Rainbow as his final encore, so here it is.

Guess I'll have to get a ukulele now...

Equal time for the Snark Tuner

2012-01-11T19:48:00.000-08:00

So my mom and my girlfriend both bought me the same Christmas present.. A guitar headstock tuner.. Mom bought me a Crafter, and Queenie bought me a Snark. I've blogged about the Crafter so this is equal time for the Snark.

I love them both. They each have features I like. The Snark seems to have better display resolution when you are on a note, and it also seems to have a quicker response time to each note. It also has a metronome, which keeps you on time. The Crafters displays the frequencey and also has some pre-sets for guitar and bass as well as cromatic. They both have capo features and allow you to alter the pitch. (I think they both do anyway)

All in all I'm very happy to have them both. I have more than one guitar so why not have more than one tuner hey? This way I can have one tuner on my mandolin and one on my guitar and that sort of thing.

I've found that my Seagull mini jumbo guitar has the best intonation of all of my guitars up and down the neck. Even better than my Martin (not counting the telecaster as it has an adjustable bridge) I sort of knew this Seagull was good that way when I first picked it up as I knew I had to have it. It doesn't have the full tone of the Martin though as it doesn't have solid back and sides, but still for the money the low end Seagulls are nice guitars if you are picky about intonation and don't have a lot of money. I haven't played any solid wood Seagulls, but I'm pretty sure they must be good. Plus they are made in Canada!

Skiing in Kootenay National Park

2012-01-03T19:44:00.000-08:00

I went for a quick ski along the Simpson River in Kootenay National Park on my way back home from Canada today. It's a bit of a long drive so it was nice to get out and stretch my legs. It was a little colder than I thought it would be however. The temps were above freezing in Calgary and also in Cranbrook but back there in the parks it can be pretty darn wintery.

I've been really enjoying my trips to Canada. The people have been really friendly especially when they find out I'm from the states. It's a different culture than here in the states though for sure. Different holidays, different ways of doing things, saying things and looking at things. It's the same but different. I'm enjoying that difference.

But the Northern Rockies are pretty much the same. The animals and the trees don't know that they are Canadian,.. and as I skied along in Kootenay National Park I saw some rather big looking dog tracks back in there.. They weren't fresh but they didn't look domestic. Let me put it this way, I didn't see them in the parking area, only way back in there... Made me watch my back a little.

Still it was nice to be on my skis out there all alone in the wilderness.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all. I brought it in with Queenie in Canada and went ice skating for the first time since I was a kid. We used to have a pond like this to skate on in Montana where I grew up, so this was a real flash back. I fell once but then started to get the hang of it after a few laps. We rented skates, and I had to give my driver's license number as a deposit. The rental guy was a little short with me until he saw that I was from Washington state, then he's like, wow you're a long way from home and wanted to talk. I've never used hockey skates so that was also a new experience. They turn really quickly and I really enjoyed how they felt, almost like little slalom skis. Guess I'll have to get my own skates now.. Queenie is a good skater too even though she said she wasn't. Then we roasted some "smokies" (hot dogs) at a fire pit next to the pond. It was a very nice family experience on a beautiful winter day and something I'll long remember. I have to admit though that I probably should wear a helmet when I skate..

Oh,. that's not us by the way,.. we were just skating behind these guys.

Headstock tuner

2011-12-26T19:20:00.000-08:00

Well I got what I wanted for Christmas,.. A head stock tuner.. A pretty cool little thing. Man I wish I'd had one of these back when I was out on the road, but the technology just didn't exist. When I was in orchestra the conductor would tune us all to an old strobe. I can see why he did that now.

A 440... and for my Canadian friends, 440, A?

Pine Cone Christmas Wreath

2011-12-15T14:41:00.000-08:00

I made myself this pine cone Christmas wreath thing for above my door. Well I just found it in the forest and thought it would show some holiday spirit. I put a screw in the back and I tied an old guitar string on to hang it up with.

New ski race boots

2011-12-14T20:20:00.000-08:00

So My friend Rog, who is a masters ski racer turned me on to a pair of Lange World Cup 150 race boots, and he pointed me in the right direction as far as size and fit. My old boots are getting packed out. The new ones are new old stock. I've always been a Lange guy when it comes to ski boots. So I've been wearing these around in my house to try and get used to how they fit. Race boots have to be really tight because if your foot is moving around in them you loose control, or have less control of the ski. At first I had trouble even getting them on. They do fit BTW, but they are screaming tight. Tonight I decided to put my custom foot beds (which were sculpted to the bottom of my foot) and that made a huge difference for the better. I thought there wouldn't be room for those in there but it totally improved the fit of the boot. So now my next step is to put them on with some very thin ski socks. And then after that I'll set up a pair of GS skis and ski with them for a while this weekend. I can tell that these are really going to improve my racing. My other boots were too sloppy.

Ask first

2011-12-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

Back in 2006 I went out on the bay as the sun came up and took this pic with my little point and shoot as I drank coffee and fished and made this THIS POST as a result. Someone used the pic on their blog without my permission and didn't give me credit. So I thought I'd share it again with you. I do reserve the rights to all of my pictures, and I have a vast archive.

I also had Seeing Bears on my side bar for a long time and due to this I'm going to put it back up over there.

I don't mind at all if people open up the pics and look at them, that's what I post them for, but please ask first if you want to use one for something or if you want to post it online. I'll leave it there for now and stop short of linking to the blog that used my picture until they have a chance to remove it.

I've been in kind of a bad mood lately and this isn't helping..

***

The blogger removed my pic at my request. And the water calms...

Carhartt art

2011-12-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

My friend's father in law painted these pictures on the back of his jacket. (believe it or not I do have a friend) I thought it was pretty cool.

Banff National Park photo

2011-12-01T09:53:00.001-08:00

Here's a picture I took in Banff National Park between Banff and Lake Louise last week.

Lookout Pass photos

2011-11-30T15:22:00.000-08:00

Ok, now I'm getting excited to go skiing myself. Here are a couple of pictures I took at Lookout Pass last year.

Lake Louise World Cup ski race

2011-11-28T16:22:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to go up to Lake Louise and see a World Cup ski race for a long time now, and since I was going up to Canada to spend thanksgiving with Queenie, I decided to stop by and check out the Super G race on Sunday and take some pictures. I think this is Natko Zrncic-Dim of Croatia above. Below is Ivica Kostelic, one of my favorites to watch on TV, and this time I was right behind the CBC TV crew.

Bodie Miller got 9th and is amazing to watch and great with his fans. I love his attitude about skiing and winning. He says he just wants to ski his best, and winning the race is secondary. I think that's totally healthy when it comes to sport. Anyone else can say they don't care about beating out the other guy and just want to ski their best, but he can really get away with it as he's one of the best ski racers in U.S. history. I thought the media was totally unfair with him in Torino. He can't win any time he wants, as ski racing just isn't like that. It totally depends on the conditions and when you start. I think if he'd started late in the day on this race he probably would have won. Anyway he seems to be outside of the bubble and I like that.

Didier Cuche, on the other hand, wants to win and always does it with style. He was also great with us fans. He got second and won the downhill the day before. It was great to be able to see him in person. I got a picture of him doing his famous ski flip but this one was much better.

All in all it was great to see these guys do their thing in person. Having said that, It was nice to watch the downhill on TV too the day before from the comfort of Queenie's sofa...

Forest pictures

2011-11-20T16:21:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of more pictures from hunting camp. A brief break in the weather allowed the sun to shine. It made for a pretty morning in the forest, but it wasn't long before the next weather system moved in.

I like to walk up this trail. It used to be used as survival training, then it became an ATV trail. Now that ATVs are banned from this area, it's just a trail that I like to hunt on. That big tree in the foreground is a cedar. There's a creek below to the right. There wasn't much color in the forest here when I took this picture so I removed what what color was left.

Retro camper pictures

2011-11-15T21:03:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post a couple of more pictures from my weekend at the late hunting camp. It was really cozy in my 1974 Bell slide in camper as the snow closed in. I could hear the snow coming down and hitting the side of the camper and like I said I was snug as a bug in a rug in there. (and there were probably a few real bugs in there too..) Now the camper is off of the truck in my back yard and covered with a tarp, and my hunting buddies are still up at that camp in the snow.. Wish I was there with them. I might drive back up with the truck for the last day of hunting season, but we will see. If my guitar is ready I might drive back to Montana and spend the night at the cabin on Flathead Lake. I'll sit by the fire and play my guitar as winter closes in. It doesn't get much better than that.

Below is a picture of the forest view outside the back door of my camper the next morning as the sun came up. It was really something as I drank my morning coffee. Nabob coffee from Canada BTW...

Vintage Camper

2011-11-14T20:03:00.000-08:00

Don't you wish that some things would never change?.. I love to camp, but I'm not a big tent camper. Don't get me wrong I have a small tent, and I like it unless it rains. What I really like is camping in a vintage camper, from the 60s or 70s. There's just something about them that is different than the new campers. There was an economy about them and well, the price is a lot lower now than a new camper, I couldn't begin to justify the cost of a new camper or a new pickup truck for that matter, but I don't think I'd enjoy a new one any more actually. The systems in the old campers are simple and work well. Of course nothing lasts forever.

Last weekend I took my pickup camper hunting and I was snug as a bug in a rug in there as the weather closed in around me. The sun came out after the storm and it was beautiful in the woods for a while. But another weather system moved in and I think winter is starting to take hold of the mountains in the northwest. I really like the way the picture above captures the snow coming down. I was looking through all of the pictures I took on this trip and this one really stood out to me.

The sun came out the next morning and it was really beautiful in the forest. But the weather didn't last very long and another storm system moved in.

Vintage camper countertop repair

2011-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've been spending all of my free time building a new countertop for my 1974 Bell slide in pickup camper.

To avoid confusion, now I have two vintage campers, the 1968 Aristocrat travel trailer, and the 1974 Bell pickup slide in camper. I got the Aristocrat travel trailer, because the countertop on the Bell was falling a part, and I wanted something nice to take Queenie camping in,.. (so I got an even older trailer house..) Anyway I decided that I needed to fix the counter top in the Bell as I figured no body would buy it, and I'd keep it for the time being to take hunting, as I don't want to abuse the Aristocrat on hunting trips in the snow.

So here is the result of my countertop work on the Bell. My friend gave me the teal oven out of his old Eldorado slide in when the roof on that old camper finally gave up the ghost. But the oven was too nice to just throw away so he took it out and gave it to me. All I had was a cook top, and since I like to bake bread and such, I wanted an oven. I've made a table top to match and still have to trim the formica on that and install the metal edging. Then I should be good to go hunting, and I'll save the Aristocrat for smoother roads.

Bone nut for my Martin D16

2011-11-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Last week I drained the water in the cabin so the pipes wouldn't freeze this winter. Then I stopped at Paradise Montana to meet with Rick who agreed to put a new bone nut on my Martin D16 guitar. I don't think he usually does this sort of work as he's busy building beautiful guitars, but a rancher friend of mine turned me on to him, so I think he's doing me a favor. Anyway, it was making a weird sound on the high E string when played open. So a new bone nut is in order. I can't wait to get the darn thing back as this issue was keeping me from playing that guitar, and it's really my best guitar. You'd think that Martin would have cut the nut better on this level of guitar but I guess nut.,, I mean not..

***
Got my guitar back and the problem is solved. So now I can get to know that guitar better as it pretty much sucked before Rick fixed it.

Fall at Flathead

2011-10-29T20:46:00.000-07:00

I love being at Flathead Lake any time of the year but fall is really nice. It's like a breath of fresh air after a hot dry summer. Those picnic tables are going to be vacant for several months now. How I wish I could transport myself there at lunch on any given day. There's just never enough time to be all the places you want to be.

Birthday and work station

2011-10-27T19:34:00.000-07:00

We've been having a remod here at work and I ended up with a pretty nice work station. And for my birthday, and Queenie sent me a very nice fruit selection covered in chocolate! Well it is pretty darn good! I'm tempted to eat the whole thing but I'm going to have to measure my effort. Has my favorite apples (granny smith) covered in chocolate. Doesn't get much better than that!

Giant slalom ski rule change

2011-10-26T20:42:00.000-07:00

It was hard taking pictures last weekend in British Columbia as it was overcast most of the time we were there. Hree is a picture I took of the call colors near Wasa B.C. just outside of Cranbrook. Panorama is getting some snow though.

Well I'm looking forward to skiing as winter nears. And I've got a hot pair of Volkl race skis to do the recreational racing with. Now they've changed the rules on giant slalom for the world cup so that GS skis have to have a long radius side cut. But I got some new old stock women's world cup skis that have the shorter radius that used to be allowed for men. Without going into the whole legacy of rule changes that have taken place lately, these women's world cup race stock skis are fully powerful and still have the shorter radius racers like. Of course I could buy some "cheater" race skis but they aren't powerful like the "race stock" skis are.

Bodie Miller spoke out about the rule change that bumped the radius of GS skis up from the 20m range to the mid 30m range. He said that he wasn't out to win over another racer, he just wanted to ski as well has he could and the new rules for GS ski radius don't allow that. It will force everyone to skid turns instead of carving clean turns, and that's a step backwards. He went on to say he could go to the ski shop and buy recreational skis that he could ski on better than the World Cup skis Head could provid him with. And that's really sad.

For someone like me at the bottom of the ski racing food chain it just means, yes I can still get cheater skis, but I can't get powerful race skis that will carve well. So the rule change to Giant Slalom skis sucks all the way around. Going to have to hang on to all of those old race skis..

Canned Ham

2011-10-23T20:41:00.000-07:00

Since I got the Aristocrat, I've taken more of an interest vintage travel trailers. I always had one actually. They are so cool! I just want to live in one.. I want to hear the rain on the metal roof.. I want to play my telecaster and hear the natural reverb.. I want to wake up in the morning and smell the propane burning as I perk my coffee. I want to eat spam for breakfast in a canned ham!

And I want an aluminum Christmas tree too..

Fall mornings and GOP politics

2011-10-21T08:25:00.000-07:00

I wish spring and fall would last longer. I love the crisp fall mornings along the river. Here's a picture of the valley as the sun came up. I work over there in the distance. There's actually a river between me and the mountains in the background but it's out of view. Soon the state line bridge will be open and that will make my commute to work much better. I might even put the headlight back on my bike as it's going to be dark after work soon. I find myself trying to finish up things I should have done during the summer, but then it was too hot and now it's too cold. I did crawl up on the roof and paint my chimney at lunch though.

I've been watching the Republican debates. I honestly don't understand the popularity of Rick Perry. He seems to have absolutely nothing to offer except that his campaign has a lot of money. He wants to be president but didn't enter the race with an economic plan as he admitted in one debate. He criticized Cain's 9 9 9, but it seems that what Perry offers so far is 0 0 0... It makes me think that even if he does have a plan now on his website or something it's an afterthought or something one of his staffers came up with.. Donald Trump said of Cain's 9 9 9, that it favored the rich like himself, and not the lower and middle class but "at least it's something".. I guess people are starting to figured it out though. Since they've seen Perry in action he's dropped to 3rd in the poles behind Romney and Cain. It frightens me that Rumsfeld advised Perry, and makes me wonder if we really need another governor from Texas as president until the country recovers from the last one.

Cab Driver, Daryl Hall

2011-10-17T16:44:00.000-07:00

A song to chill out with for a while. I've been listening to nothing but bluegrass for a while. I forgot how much I like his music. I'm going to have to buy his new album.

Hunting camp with the Aristocrat

2011-10-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the Aristocrat travel trailer and the old Ford F250 up at hunting camp. It was a good first test of the trailer. It got down below freezing at night and I stayed warm thanks to my Hydroflame furnace which worked perfect. My friend helped me start the propane fridge and that also worked great. Those things if working are worth more than what I had to pay for this whole trailer. So everything works except the tail lights. I used some magnetic trailer lights for towing a vehicle and just stuck them to the bumper of the trailer for this trip. And below is a shot of my bunk. Since it was just me in the Aristocrat, there was no need to make down the table.

Travel trailer interior pictures

2011-10-14T15:30:00.000-07:00

Here are interior pictures of the new/ old Aristocrat travel trailer. I took them when I first went to look at it so the owner had a bunch of stuff in it. The dinette is in the front with bunk above, and the kitchen in the rear with toilet room on the right. I wanted a dinette in the front or rear with windows all the way around because when you are inside it's a great view of the forest or whatever and it makes a great place to sit and sleep. That was a major priority for me.

There's a small toilet in the bathroom but no sink in there, and the toilet works so that's a bonus. There's a little water damage in the corners but it isn't leaking now and it's pretty minor. It's not enough for me to want to tear into it. The stove works as does the furnace. I haven't tried the fridge yet but I suspect it will work also. It runs on propane only.

Vintage Travel Trailer

2011-10-10T10:25:00.000-07:00

Queenie and I took the 1968 Aristocrat travel trailer out for its first road trip over the weekend. We made a tour of a couple of the little lakes here in eastern Washington and had lunch in it along the shore of Hauser Lake in Idaho. We are going to have fun with this! I got a screaming deal on it too ($450) and it really doesn't need much work inside. The paneling and cabinets are nice, the upholstrey has been re-done and it has new curtains. It's not perfect, but It's very clean for how old it is and I found that they can be advertised as clean and be totally filthy. The wiring needs some work and it has one broken window but other than a few minor things it's good to go.

I've been wanting one of these trailers for years and have looked at quite a few. I looked at various brands, but I really wanted the same thing my parents used to own, and this is almost exactly the same except it has a different floor plan. Theirs was an Aristocrat Lo Liner, and this one doesn't have the Lo Liner logo on it but the shape is the same. I wanted something light vintage and small. I also bought the same vintage tow vehicle my parents use have, an old International Scout. It's also slightly different than the one they had but about as close as you can get. It's the same color and everything. They had a Scout 800A and this one is a Scout 800B. It has a tow package on it too. The Scout needs a little more work to take it on long road trips but should be fine for day trips or short overnighters.

It's funny how we become our parents.. In some ways anyway..

The holiday season

2011-10-07T09:05:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about not looking forward to the holiday season again. I've written about it before. The party at work, the insanity at all of the stores. If I hear that consumers aren't spending enough one more time I think I'll barf.

I'm always happy when the whole mess is over. Here's what I wrote about going to church and I talked about church hymns being some sort of honesty test. Like if you're not singing with enough conviction, a trap door might open and you'd fall straight into hell. Well I guess church tends to bring out the guilt in me...

***

I had to fake my way through a few church hymns. I'm a pretty good faker. I have a pretty small singing range. Three or four notes.. They had the words to the music printed in the hand out they give you to let you know what's going on. But you could also look the hymns up in the hymnal if you wanted to read the music. One of the hymns was really complicated. I was looking at the score in the hymnal thinking, how do people fake something this complicated? So then I faked it with a thoughtful confused look on my face because the choir is up there looking straight back at all of the people in the congregation and probably trying to decide who is faking it. That's what I'd do if I were in the choir... Then I got to thinking how church hymns might just be some sort of honesty test...

There were the usual people at church. The young and the old. A pastor with a peaceful smile. I'm sure he knows who's faking it... A little girl with a battery powered candle who stood a the pew in front of us and then just dropped onto her bottom in a seated position with the weight of a bird. It gave me cause to think,.. If I stood on the pew and just and just dropped onto my butt I'd probably throw my back out...

But there was one older lady who really stood out. She had a red sweater on with a red flashing Christmas light necklace. I had to admire her courage for wearing that. This was after all a candle light service and they were going to turn the lights off at some point... Then I thought what if I wore a necklace like that?... What would people think? What if we all did? What if 17% of the population wore flashing light necklaces?..

As usual it was hard for me to keep my mind on the service, but I'm sort of glad I went.

Wild Horse Island Pine Tree

2011-10-03T16:32:00.001-07:00

Here's a vertical version of a tree I took a pic of on Wild Horse Island. I'm using three different browsers and they seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to blogger.

But yes, and duh.. I did have my editor set on medium picture size and didn't notice. Well the wheel's going around but there aint no hamster...

Hey that could be a country and western song..

Pictures from my trip to Canada

2011-09-28T07:06:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from my recent trip to Canada.

Abraham Lake

A vintage Chrysler. (Most people had nice new cars actually, I just liked the way this one looked.)

The view from East Glacier Lodge. You can't tell how windy it was in this picture, but it was really a blow.

Cycling in Red Deer Alberta

2011-09-25T17:36:00.000-07:00

I finally got to cycle in Red Deer Alberta with Queenie which is something I've been wanting to do for some time now. It's the farthest north I've ever cycled, and we had very warm weather for September almost 29 degrees, (whatever that is...?) There are lots of bike paths that are part of the Trans Canada Trail System, and they are really beautiful this time of year with the leaves changing. I was really impressed with quality and quantity the trails.

Here's a picture of Queenie at McKenzie Trails. I got her into cycling and now she's hooked! She might as well be as Red Deer is a very bike friendly city. You can get a map of the trails at Kerrywood Nature Center, and if you come to Red Deer, bring your bike!

Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake

2011-09-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Not very many sailboats spending the night in Skeeko Bay these days as summer comes to an end on Flathead Lake. I anchored my boat and went for a hike on Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake as the sun went down.

I sat up on the top and enjoyed the cool wind and clear air for a change. Other people can have summer. Spring and Fall are my favorite times of year.

Coffee's hot and the beer's cold

2011-09-17T11:11:00.000-07:00

I thought the pattern on grandpa's old chair matched the curves on my mandolin as the sun peeked into the cabin. Corned beef hash and eggs for breakfast with plenty of hot sauce. Fall seems to have found its way into Montana now. Might be a good day to just sit around and play the darn thing. It's not quite cold enough for me to want a fire, but maybe later. Coffee's hot and the beer's cold..

Hey, that would be a good title for a song..

Coffee's hot and the beer's cold,
I just wish I'd never get old..

Um,.. well something like that..

Chief Cliff and Flathead Lake

2011-09-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Chief Cliff above Flathead Lake in Montana. I only say all of that because someone might see this and not know what they are looking at. Anyway, I have this bad habit of taking pictures when there isn't enough light, but I thought the sky was interesting that night.

Summer has gone by all too quickly. Soon I'll drain the water pumps and winterize the cabin so the pipes won't freeze and get into the plumbing mind of my old man. I don't remember too many hot days at Flathead Lake when I was a kid. I don't remember the lake being warm very often either. Most of the warmth came from inside the cabin. Maybe that's why I long for cool weather anyway.

Soon all of the McMansions that now line the shores of Flathead Lake will stand vacant. I doubt very many of them will be winterized. I bet most of them will be heated all winter for no other reason than to keep their pipes from freezing.

The Purcell Trench

2011-09-11T20:13:00.000-07:00

When I go north to Canada I drive through the Purcell Trench which is a vast valley going north and south in the Idaho Panhandle. It's pretty amazing and these pictures don't really do it justice. Today there was a forest fire burning just to the west and it was creating a lot of forest fire smoke that was filling the valley.

The picture above is looking north into British Columbia, and the picture below is looking south into Idaho. That is forest fire smoke in the lower picture, not clouds. I had to drive into that and I'm getting over a cold. You should have heard me coughing! To get the full effect you can click on the pictures to make them bigger, but they still don't do that valley justice.

Wild Horse Island Juniper

2011-09-08T09:18:00.001-07:00

This is the view from our recent hike on Wild Horse Island. We sat in the shade of the ubiquitous juniper tree at the top of the west side of the island.

And I recently had an encounter with the newest little wild horse on Wild Horse Island. They transplanted a mare on the island that was pregnant and this is the result. I think Juniper would be a good name for it.

Hobie sailing on Flathead Lake

2011-08-27T23:17:00.000-07:00

This Hobie 16 was getting good speed on Flathead Lake. This boat looks great with its colored sails. I love it when the spray is washing across the boat like this. It feels good on a hot day like it has been in Montana recently. At one point there were 5 Hobie Cats on the bay, and one larger catamaran. It's been great sailing lately.

Wild Horse Island Flathead Lake picture

2011-08-22T09:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture I took from Wild Horse Island the other night with Flathead Lake in the background. I actually saw the wild horses. Well the aren't too wild as they will walk right up to you. I saw the new baby horse too that is so well known now in these parts. They recently put some new horses on the island not realizing that one of them was pregnant. I got a snap shot of it and might post that later.

Click on this picture and make it bigger. It will make you feel like you're up there with me.

Tree family

2011-08-18T14:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry for not posting lately. Or something.. Why am I apologizing for that? It isn't like I don't have anything to post or say.. I have to admit that I haven't taken the best pictures or anything lately even though I have gone to Canada and it's always nice up there. I did run across this picture from a set that I took going up there last year. I posted a horizontal version of it and I remember at the time thinking I should have posted this one instead. So here it is. The vertical picture.

Gosh that last post below about the Garmin GPS wasn't very uplifting.. It does suck though that it konked out. But I need to let it go.. My mom gave me this carpet cleaner thing. You put hot water in it and carpet soap and it scrubs the carpet. It's like big vacuum cleaner. It did a pretty good job. New carpet is nice, and old carpet is dirty and not so nice.

I went and looked at an old travel trailer to buy last week. It was a good deal and would have been nice after it was fixed up but I want one that is old but looks like new. This one was old and looked old. I guess I'll squeeze a little more life out of my camper. When I find the right trailer I'll get it. Then I'll go out and camp somewhere with a view.

Garmin GPS quailty issue

2011-08-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

My Garmin GPS is a dead soldier. I'm very disappointed with the Garmin GPS I purchased. It konked out just a few months after the "Limited one year Warranty" expired.

This isn't a product I use every day. This is a product I expect to work when I turn it on even a few months after the "limited warranty expires" This is a product I never abused. This is a product that I expect and rely on when I'm in the wilderness, and I'm a person who does go into the forest a lot. (I also use a boy scout compass that I've owned my whole life but that's not my point.) My point is that you can't rely on a Garmin GPS, and you can't count on the company to support and replace it if you own it for more than a year, at least not yet. I"m going to see what they will do and let you know.

So I have a few choices to make, and I've already made one. I bought a new Tomtom Nav system for my car. I could have bought a Garmin but there was just no way I could bring myself to buy another Garmin product right now. And I could and am going to send this product back to Garmin and see what they will do for me. If they refuse to help me I'll be sure to blab it all over my blog... For everyone in the world to read... I think that's fair.

They don't put the warranty info on the outside of the box, you only get to read that affter you buy the product and open the box. I don't think that's right, not that it makes a difference, so they deserve this bad review in my opinion. The Garmin xTrex Venture isn't something you can count on for more than a year and I'm not really confident that it won't konk out when you need it. That's been my experience, and that just isn't good enough for this sort of product. If you think it is, then that's your problem when your Garmin konks out on you. If you own a Garmin, then don't forget to bring your compass.

***

don said:

I guess I'm just upset about it because it was quite a bit of money. I understand that most products like this are only covered for 1 year, and I'm sure I got a lemon. But still, I think they ought to cover something like this for at least 4 years and make the thing more reliable in the first place.

Boating on Flathead Lake

2011-08-07T19:21:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of boating on Flathead Lake over the weekend. It's like summer just got started and it's already two thirds over.. So I took my big boat out for the first time this summer. Queenie says I'm a "water baby".. Well she might be right. What I don't understand is why all of those mornings fishing at Flathead Lake with my dad seemed to be hours and hours long? These days it feels like I never get enought time to enjoy the lake in the morning. But I did get to launch my 1976 Cruisers Bonanza (cool retro boat BTW if I do say so myself..) and take a tour of the bay as I drank my Tim Hortons coffee. It was a real treat. You can see Wild Horse Island on the left in the distance and Melita Island on the right with "mac alley" inbetween. That's were we used to fish for the big Lake Trout. Ok I realize you aren't supposed to take pictures into the sun but what the heck, that's what it looked like! (I always take picutres into the sun.. cause I just don't care, and I hate rules like that.)

Here is a picture of Melita Island on the right and Wild Horse Island on the left in the distance. There were scouts on the island just getting up and it reminded me of my time on the island all of those years ago. What a great experience for those kids to spend time camping on the island like I did. Scouting has changed a lot since I was there.

Dog Lake in Kootenay National Park

2011-08-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from our hike to Dog Lake in Kootenay National Park British Columbia. Above is Dog Lake (AKA Lac Dog..) It could be named Lac Mud on the bottom, but you'd never know as it's so beautiful on the surface. Queenie and I went for a dip and you sink way in to sediment at least on the west side. I don't get the whole dog thing. Not one thing about this lake reminded me of a dog except for the dog we saw while we were hiking in.. It slobbered on my hand BTW, and I didn't get an alergic reaction to that. The dog wasn't native to the lake however.

We had to cross over the Kootenay River with two different bridges. That was kind of fun actually. Then the trail starts to climb over a ridge and decends on the other side to Dog Lake where this moss was in the forest. It was really pretty there.

It's only a few kilometers but kind of a steep climb both in and out. I think it took us about an hour each direction. Of course we were taking our time taking pictures of everything we saw as usual.. I think it's totally worth it if you want a short hike while in the park. You'll most likey have the lake to yourself and it doesn't get much better than that.

Kootenay River Photo

2011-07-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of the Kootenay River in Kootenay National Park BC in Canada. Queenie and I spent a day hiking in the park. The river has a beautiful creamy mineral color. It really looks like bear country, but so far the only bear we've seen in this area was right in the town of Radium Hot Springs.

Logan Pass photo

2011-07-22T10:11:00.001-07:00

I don't remember this rock being where it is above Logan Pass back when we used ski up here in the spring. It must have fallen off of the hill above and come to rest in this location. If you click on it and make it bigger just to the left of the rock are some little things that look like sticks. Those are people on the snow field below.

Glacier Park vacation pictures

2011-07-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture Queenie took of me at Logan Pass in Glacier Park. She usually takes better pictures than I do. They have just opened the Going to the Sun Highway so there's lots of snow on Logan Pass. Fact is, some of the trails are closed due to snow cover, and someone died recently sliding off of the trail. We actually saw someone fall and slide a long way. They were ok but it had to smart. We didn't get on anything too steep but we did go to the foot of where I used to ski.
Here is a picture of Queenie kayaking on Lake McDonald. We stayed in Apgar campground which is on the right in this picture. We enjoyed the kayaks on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho at Farragut State park too. We were out on three of the most beautiful lakes in the northwest this vacation. Pend Oreille, Flathead and Lake McDonald.

Lake McDonald

2011-07-19T15:08:00.000-07:00

A picture of Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park. I slipped away from the evening program to get this picture as the sun went down at Apgar campground.

Chief Cliff at Flathead Lake

2011-07-19T10:39:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Chief Cliff above Flathead Lake in Montana taken from the canoe one evening. It's hard being off of vacation now. It seems like I don't get enough vacation time. Well we have a lot of pictures to go through and it won't be long until I'm back at Flathead Lake anyway.

Wild Horse Island and Flathead Lake

2011-07-17T20:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture taken from Wild Horse Island in Flathead Lake. This will make a nice addition to my Flathead Lake photos on the side bar. Queenie and I had an amazing vacation in Washington state, Idaho and ended up in Montana where we went out on Flathead Lake and then up to Glacier National Park. We went camping, hiking, sailing, cycling, kayaking and you name it. Well we didn't go to Vegas,.. but who needs it!? Of course we took many of the same pictures, but they are all slightly different. More pictures to follow.

Paradise Montana

2011-07-10T23:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture not far outside of Paradise Montana. Queenie and I stopped to take pictures along the Flathead River. It's a beautiful drive but there are quite a few mosquitos in that area right now,. not right here where I took this picture but along the river and also in the forest along the Clark Fork. It would have really been paradise except for them.

Lake McDonald Lodge Auditorium

2011-07-03T23:50:00.000-07:00

Directly across Snyder Creek from Lake McDonald Lodge in Glacier National Park is a building called the Auditorium. At least that's what I think it's called. I'm fascinated with these old buildings in the park. They are sort of like a window into the past. So I walked up to this building and look in the window since I've never really noticed it before. It was locked up and like a dance hall with a dusty old pool table off in its own wing with sunlight filtering in. I had to wonder the if the walls could talk, what would they say? It was dreamy actually.. All of the tourists were walking around outside looking at the lake and I was pointing my camera into this old building trying to pull something out of someone's past vacation. Maybe when I die I'll come back here in the dead of winter and haunt these rooms. I'll float up and down the stairs in Lake McDonald Lodge and sit by the empty cold fire place and have it all to myself.

I like this picture anyway. You can see my reflection taking the picture, some tourists and trees behind me, and the inside of the auditorium and outside of it beyond. I think it's kind of cool. Click on the picture to make it bigger.

This is a picture of the Auditorium with Snyder Creek between it and Lake McDonald Lodge. The pool table is in the wing with the row of windows.

Here are interior photos that I took of Lake McDonald Lodge

The Flathead River

2011-06-25T22:10:00.000-07:00

The Flathead River is as high as I've ever seen it. There's still a ton of snow up in Glacier Park too. The good news is that Flathead Lake hasn't flooded yet. Not yet anyway.. And heck,.. I got a mosquito bite while taking this picture. The darn bug.. Now it bugs me.. I guess I've figured out where that term came from. I wonder where the term cute as a bug came from? They're really not that cute.

I did see two ladybugs copulating the other day. That was kind of cute.. They must enjoy it or they wouldn't do it. I guess the one behind was actually a gentleman bug.. I heard on TV that reptiles don't have emotions. All they think about is food and getting warm. I'm not sure about insects. I did hear that the oxygen content in the air is why insects aren't giant. It has to do with the way they breathe and get oxygen into their body. They just can't get any bigger and still get enough oxygen. If there were more oxygen in the air they could get bigger.. So there's that.

Canadian doll

2011-06-23T10:45:00.000-07:00

Some little Canadian girl left her doll on the window sill at the wildly popular (in Canada) Tim Hortons. The line in the morning often goes out the door, and the drive through line is long as well. The little girl must have been from Calgary I thought as I took this snap.. The doll has the Calgary Stampede thing going on. When we went back the next day it was gone.

I wish we had Tim Hortons here as I'm sure it would be very popular. I like the coffee and usually bring a can back with me to the states.

Kootany National Park picture

2011-06-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

I've been in Canada the past few days and on my way home I got a little lost taking pictures in Kootenay National Park. I always feel sorry for people who are on vacation and don't get a pretty day to be in the parks. I always want to tell them to just hang around for a nice day as it's totally worth it. There are vast areas of recent forest fires, and it's really interesting to walk around in it. There are plenty of green areas too as this is a really big space.

I'll post more pictures soon.

Cromwell island in Flathead Lake

2011-06-17T16:14:00.000-07:00

I don't remember when I took this picture from Wild Horse Island looking west to Cromwell Island. I gave my sister a ride around Cromwell Island the last time I was at Flathead Lake. She told me that one time the water was really low when we were young and there was hardly any water between Wild Horse and Cromwell. I find that hard to believe but I know it's really shallow to the south end of Cromwell.

***
UPDATE 6-17-11 the Codger of Cromwell

Well well well.. The Missoulian reported that the codger (sportsman as the Missoulian called him) who owns Cromwell Island has groped one of his nurses.. According to the report when she told him not to do it again he reportedly said he could do anything he wanted because it was on his airplane.. Good Grief..

This is what I was getting at in the post below. Gone are the days of modesty and decency. I liked what one Missoulian commenter said:

This man is not in a nursing home and not senile. His comments make it pretty clear that his mind is working just fine. He's a rich pr##k with a major entitlement problem. I'd sue his #### too.

***

UPDATE: 1-12-12

The codger was sentenced to 180 days of probation, 30 days of home confinement, 60 hours of community service at the humane society, received a $5000 fine and had to pay $431.25 in restitution and issue a letter of apology.

His republican Nevada state senator friend among others issued letters of support... (one of them describing him as a "stately gentel man"..)

After all, care givers are pretty much just servants right..

Hey, I wonder if he knows Haley Barbour..?

Flathead Lake morning

2011-06-06T09:21:00.000-07:00

A spring picture of Flathead Lake. I like this time of year. The air is cool in the mornings and somehow that improves the coffee.

I rode my bike along the shore after breakfast. It felt good to be on a bike again. I rode past many new large expensive homes. I guess I should admire their size and the wealth of their owners, but it just made me sad. One guy had a yard fitting of the finest neighborhood in town. Many places had fine green lawns actually, but this guy was spreading fertilizer or weed killer on his perfect lawn. All I could think was how out of place it seemed. How the fertilizer would end up in the lake. How no average guy would ever be able to afford to live there after this old codger croaked.

Well I guess that's just the way it is. Flathead Lake is going to end up being one big expensive front yard for the wealthy. I guess it already is. Gone are the days of Aunt Mildred in her little modest cabin throwing pots on her potter's wheel. Gone are the days of modesty.

Flathead Lake picture

2011-05-30T18:17:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of Flathead Lake from my morning kayak outing the other day. I think it was one of the only moments I was actually calm and not in too much motion this weekend. Got to hang on to that moment... Live in that moment when you're in that place where you want to be.

That's kind of a hard thing to do actually. It's sort of a moving target..

Cedar trees

2011-05-28T00:46:00.000-07:00

Here's a picture of some Cedar trees in Idaho. They usually aren't in the water like this but it's been raining a lot lately.

Kootenay National Park photos

2011-05-22T21:29:00.000-07:00

Queenie and I went to Kootenay National Park to see the "Paint Pots" It's really beautiful there. The actual paint pots are pretty cool too.. or something... They are more yellow than Yellowstone.. But they're not exactly like Yellowstone.. More like yellow mud. Stay on the trail,.. that's all I have to say.

In contrast here is a picture of Queenie's foot taken at our Inn after a long day of paint potting.. You're probably not supposed to get IN the paint pots like I did..

The view as we hiked out of the paint pot area. It's only a 20 minute hike in to the three "pots". They don't exactly tell you that.

I liked this picture because it showed the color of the dirt/ mud... It's totally worth checking this out if you are in the park.

End times

2011-05-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

If tomorrow is the last day on earth,as some are saying, then I'm going to be a little upset that I went to work today.. Well if I get sent to hell tomorrow at least I won't have to go back to work on Monday..

And with all of this "modern" music in church these days I think more than a few people are going to be disappointed when they get to heaven and have to sit and listen to harp music for eternity.. Cause there aint no electric guitars in heaven my friends..

Hey, that could be a country and western song!..

There aint no guitars in heaven..
Don't let them tell you there is..
If you want to crank up the volume..
Get off that that no fly list..

Um.. or something like that.. maybe it should be get ON the that no fly list..

UPDATE:

It's Monday... Stan says there's accordion music in hell so I guess I'm just back at work..

Spokane Bike to Work Week

2011-05-18T08:51:00.000-07:00

So I figured I'd better ride my bike to work during the actual Bike to Work Week here in Spokane. It turned out to be a very nice morning ride. There wasn't too much traffic until I got into the community where I work, and then the insanity of everyone driving cars or should I say great big trucks to work started to sink in again.

Lately there are more small cars on the road, but there are also a lot of people who drive trucks big enough to haul freight with to and from work. That's just insane.

Police report

2011-05-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

This is why I love Montana. I picked out a few entries from the local police report. The names and places have been removed to protect the innocent..

Apparently, but not surprisingly, there was a creepy short man with missing teeth at a bar.

A resident reported that the neighbor’s rabbits are out of control “again.”

A woman on reported that a man is holding her lawn mower hostage because her niece owes him money.

A 19-year-old male admitted to driving like an “idiot” after a fellow driver tattled on him.

A cow, a red Angus to be exact, was standing in the middle of the Road. Deputies were unable to find the cow.

Two big Burmese Mountain dogs, according to a resident, are always standing around in traffic.

A man reported that he left his camera on the top of one of his vehicles and now it's gone.

A mom reported that her neighbor was filming her kids. He claimed he wanted to record them doing annoying things.

A woman complained of a local stray cat that has attacked her cats twice in the last year.

Someone said they saw a mustached man who smelled like pot riding a bicycle that was too small for him.

Someone reported hearing screaming and yelling. The disturbance turned out to be a man talking loudly on his cell phone.

A man in possession of a pot pipe explained that he did not have a medical marijuana card yet but was anticipating getting one soon.

A pack of feral teenage boys were excessively rude to the mother of one of their friends.

A 14-year-old in a purple halter top yelled and cussed at her mom.

People on Main Street were mooned by a man in a white truck.

A man reported that his wife’s intrusive mother was at his home, refusing to leave and threatening to take his T.V.

A scruffy-haired, toothless drunk was spotted driving his Buick through town.

(Hey, I wonder if that was the same toothless drunk who was seen at the bar!?. If they catch him they'll have to rush him off to the barber and dentist for treatment..)

Mini Cooper eyelashes

2011-05-13T13:16:00.000-07:00

It turns out I know the woman who owns this mini! I'm a little gealous too except if I owned it I'd have to take off the eyelashes, as well,. I wouldn't be able to drive it up to hunting camp like that..

Old lady perfume

2011-05-13T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. I've had a lot going on. I removed some old shrubs from the front of my house and have been mowing lawns and bla bla bla..

Yesterday, I went and got my hair cut because my hair was growing like my lawn and getting out of control. So I go to my hair stylist gal, who is moving out of town BTW which sucks for me because I liked her so much. She just seemed to know what to do with my hair without me having to tell her and I was always really happy with the way she cut it.. Anyway I go there and she was busy cutting some old lady's hair so I had to wait.

Well the old lady (bless her heart) had old lady perfume on creating a strong old lady smell. My hair stylist gal got the smell on her and transfered the smell to me when she cut my hair.. I went home after I got my hair cut and washed my hair, mainly to get all of the little cut hairs off of me because that drives me nuts, but I coudln't get the smell off and had to deal with it for the rest of the day.

So there's that.. I always wonder what poor labratory animal they squeezed to make that perfume..? I think there are two kinds of perfume.. The kind that they squeeze the gland of a small animal to make, and the kind that they make out of leftover chemicals from the chemical factory. Some of it smells a lot like what I spray on my lawn to kill weeds, and some of it smells like insecticide. I noticed that mom had this sunscreen/ insect repellent. I suspect that it was made to be just sunscreen but they figured out it would also kill insects so they just advertised it as sunscreen/ insect repellent. They should make a perfume/ herbicide ..

***

Picture of the pictures in my hair salon above. And the message in that picture is that if your worried about getting your hair cut, bring a hat with you..? I might have to do that now that my gal's leaving..

Flathead Lake picture

2011-05-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yet another morning picture of Flathead Lake. I always take the same picture over and over. It's always a little different though. It's finally starting to warm up. Grass is growing, weeds are growing, lawn needs mowing... I'd better get going.

Calm morning on the lake

2011-05-02T09:37:00.001-07:00

I usually like at least one cloud in the ski, and there's one about to come up in the distance.

Canoe on Flathead Lake

2011-04-30T21:54:00.000-07:00

A picture of my canoe on Flathead Lake. The lake could actually flood this year. There's a lot of snow in the mountains and it keeps snowing.

Shooting Stars, wild flowers

2011-04-24T18:26:00.000-07:00

I have my own little patch of shooting star wild flowers at Flathead Lake in Montana. Well my mom and I do.. She said a bird must have brought the seed in because they aren't anywhere else around there that I've seen. None of the neighbors have them. They're sort of out of place there anyway. I've taken ownership of them because one time I mowed them down before they went to seed and my mom said that they might not come back as a result. So now every year make sure that they have gone to seed before I mow in that spot. Each year they come back to greet me, so each year I take their picture. They mark the arival of spring for me, at least in Montana at Flathead Lake.

This picture doesn't show how big the patch is. It's huge by shooting star standards, as they are very small flowers.

Mandolin set up part 2

2011-04-19T20:10:00.000-07:00

Ok so the first time I changed the strings on my mandolin, I decided to flatten out the bottom of the top part of the bridge as it didn't mate right and I knew it would lower the action. So I did that. But the action was still on the high side so I did some surfing and found that I should remove material from the bottom of the bridge where it meets the face of the mandolin and raise the turn wheels up until I had the right string height. Well I found out that it is a lot harder to do. But none the less I was determined to do it.

So first I marked the position of the bridge with a piece of electrical tape on the body forward of the bridge, and I lowered the tension on the strings so that I could flip the bridge forward onto the tape and remove it without scratching the finish. Then I scribed along the bottom of each foot on the bridge a mark of how much material I wanted to remove. slowly with some sand paper on the edge of a table I sanded until I met the mark and matched the radius of the face. But I had to keep working it until I couldn't see any gap on either side. I didn't want the bridge to put uneven pressure on the face of the mandolin. That process took over 2 hours.

Then I used the turn wheels to raise the top part of the bridge until there wasn't any fret buzz. I was getting just a little on the D string. I had to bring the strings up to pitch and back down again a couple of times and turn the wheels. I coudln't turn the wheels with the strings under tension. I finally got the height to what I read online was ok. .070 inch on the G string above the fret at the octave and .060 on the E string.

Now this cheap import is about as good as it's going to get. There's no fret buzz and it really did improve the intonation. Over the weekend I replaced the strings with D'Addario J73 Phosphor Bronze Light ones. That seemed to help the intonation a little too because I could hear the harmonic overtones better and that helped tuning.

(photo will get bigger if you click on it)

April showers

2011-04-17T21:42:00.000-07:00

I went skiing on Saturday, which could have been my last day of the season and it was my 32nd day of alpine skiing for this season. I guess the pictures tell the story. I got soaked in the the morning but then I rode the gondola down to the parking lot and changed my jacket and then it cleared off so the afternoon was somewhat decent. Plus it didn't cost me anything because when I was standing in line to get my lift ticket this guy asked if I wanted a "free" lift ticket, and of course I did.. So bonus!

A picture from inside the gondola. Got to get every turn in I can at this point..

Barry Bonds and Lance Armstrong

2011-04-14T09:34:00.000-07:00

Ok I'm going to try this one last time! They changed the code or something and now for the life of me I can't make a paragraph. Even the tag Jules sent me doesn't stick..

Anyway there's an article called Lance Armstrong's Endgame in Bicycling by Bill Strickland in which he suspects that Armstrong did use performance enhancing drugs. He didn't have any evidence BTW or even anything new, just a feeling about it. They were talking about this and the Barry Bonds trial on NPR the other day. One caller asked why they are spending so much money on Bonds,. as if it didn't matter. Another caller thought they should leave Armstrong alone because he's done so much good for cancer patients..

Well here's why I think it matters.. If someone like Marrion Jones wins a gold medal in the Olympics by cheating she has denied someone else who might have been clean the honest fame wealth and career, and they might never get another chance.

If we have to cheat at sports, then heaven help us. It goes to the core of our morality as a society.

Certificate of Live Birth

2011-04-07T18:12:00.000-07:00

Donald Trump was on TV this morning doubting Obama's citizenship saying that a Certificate of Live Birth isn't the same as a Birth Certificate..

Ok so here's a picture of what I always thought was my "Birth Certificate". Gosh I wonder if The Donald is going to fire me, and kick me out of the country if he becomes president.. Take away the passport I got with this.. It's reason enough for me not to vote for him anyway.

(I was actually born in Kenya but don't tell The Donald.. They gave us all these phoney birth certificates.. and the way you can tell they are phoney,.. they say "Certificate of Live Birth", not "Birth Certificate"...)

Good grief.. Can you imagine if Trump actually became president..?

Bike to Work Spokane

2011-04-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

outside of the bubble has been listed on the Bike to Work Spokane website. I suspect Bike to Work Barb is behind this.. :) but I'm guessing. That's cool as I do try and bike to work at least some of the time and with gas prices going up every morning it is going to make a lot of sense for me. Now if they'd ever finish the bridge I usually use to cross the river I'd have a pretty safe commute, and about half of my commute would be on a bike path.

Well there's always some reason not to ride a bike to work. But there seems to be more and more reasons to try and make it work. (picture of me last summer on one of my old bikes)

All these worlds are yours except Europa

2011-04-02T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was in Walmart today and they have these flat screens that sense when you walk by, they come on and try and sell you stuff. It's kind of surreal. This is a new store so it's always kind of empty for a Walmart and I get a sense of isolation and space in there. I always feel like I'm in a movie myself or something.

Anyway I was walking by the cereal department, and of course I was thinking about, well,.. cereal because that's all I saw, and suddenly this screen comes to life and this woman starts telling me all of the things I could do with Frosted Flakes.. Very strange..

So I stopped and watched the program about cereal. After a while I expected her to say, "All these worlds are yours execpt Europa. Attempt no landings there.."

Flathead Lake spring picture

2011-03-26T19:59:00.000-07:00

I decided to add this photo (above) to this post. I took it from out in the canoe as night fell on Flathead Lake. My hands got cold as I made my way back to the cabin.

Since the doctor said I can't ski this weekend due to my thumb injury, I decided to go to the lake and take the canoe out for the first time this year. It was supposed to rain and be nasty but it was clear and nice out. Here's a picture of the bay on Flathead Lake as the sun went down. He was a great doctor BTW. Didn't charge me to look at it again after he sewed it all up. That meant a lot to me. I'm already playing the mandolin again. (not very well..) Hey, I need my thumb for that!.. and many other things actually.

Freak skiing injury

2011-03-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

This was one of the last pictures I took before disaster struck.. I was down in this bowl taking pictures yesterday, did a step turn to get a different view, and my ski came off. I fell into the ski with my gloves off and it sliced my thumb open down to the bone with the sharp edge. Then I started to slide down into the bowl. I pushed my arm into the snow and came to a stop but realized I was cut pretty bad and my day was over.

I had a bunch of tissue in my coat pocket so I used that to stop the bleeding. I got my ski back on (no small feat when it's so steep and with the snow so soft). You couldn't stand up without skis on but I didn't get seperated from the ski so that helped.

Then I still had to ski out of the bowl. I put my wounded hand in my coat pocket and I made a traverse over to a groomed run falling once along the way. I skied down to the bottom of the backside where I cleaned the wound in a bathroom then I rode lift up, and skied to the front and to the ski patrol who dressed the wound proper. Then off I went to the doctor who had to sew it up inside and out. It didn't cut the tendon or joint so if it doesn't get infected I should be ok. They gave me a shot in the hip and put me on antibiotics.

I guess there won't be any skiing for me this weekend.

Spring skiing

2011-03-22T08:47:00.000-07:00

The ski searon is coming to an end, but it continues to snow. There's enough snow now and I just wish the sun would come out again. Here are a couple of pictures from Lookout Pass. I guess they had the most snow at any ski area in the world for a period of a week. Over six feet of new snow.

I raced, and I got third (out of three in my catagory..) but I was only out of second place by .5 second, so I didn't fee too bad about it and they gave me a medal.. My bronze medal looks exactly like my gold medal from last year.. (exactly..) So last year I got the gold (because the only other guy fell.) And this year I got the bronze (because there were only three of us)... Hmm...

Well it was a beautiful day to be skiing anyway, and I didn't get hurt.. that's always a bonus.

Bitterroot Valley picture

2011-03-14T08:36:00.000-07:00

I took these pictures down the Bitterroot Valley in Montana a while back.

My uncles horse, or one they take care of.

Ski chair

2011-03-11T09:25:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to make a couple of ski chairs like this. I have a bunch of old skis and I've been wanting to do something with them. I recently saw this chair at Blacktail in Montana. I like the design except for the seat. I think I'd use flat boards for that. Curt said to use Lodgepole pine for it. There's plenty of that around. I'd probably bark it and seal it and make it look more finished. Then I can put a couple of these down by the lake.

Heck, I have enough skis to make all of my furniture!

Hauling water

2011-03-07T11:45:00.000-08:00

Decided to go on a ski trip to Montana. Here's a picture of my friend Curt going down to the lake to get some water. (Yes,.. I have a friend..) The bay was frozen over in places. I haven't seen that for a while. I've been wanting to go out on the canoe but that will have to wait I guess.

Montana Highway 382

2011-03-06T18:29:00.000-08:00

Here's what Montana Highway 382 looked like today. It's not far from the road pictured below. I wonder how many times I've gone down this road?.. Quite a few.. It's a great road because the best thing about it is going down it. You go down it, the view changes and you leave. There's really no place to stop and stay for a while. I guess that's a good thing. If too many people stopped and stayed that would change it.

Montana Highway 28

2011-03-04T15:16:00.000-08:00

When I was a kid I used to hate going down Montana Highway 28 in the backseat of the family car. It was usually hot and dusty, and my sister was back there too. For the most part it went like this,. Dad drove. Mom rode shotgun,. I sat behind mom and my sister sat behind Dad. Good thing there were only four of us..

I don't mind driving down that road now but they recently improved the highway around Niarada. It's kind of sad in a way, and I miss that old road. It had more character. Felt more like Montana should..

Here's a picture I took of Highway 28 before they changed it.

Long cold winter

2011-02-28T19:42:00.001-08:00

I keep thinking that if I can just get through this winter... And then the rest of the year I long for winter again.. That's just a little crazy..

It was cold on the hill this weekend.. And those hand warmer things don't seem to work when it's 0 deg F.. They heated right up when I got in my warm car.. They should put more stuff in them or something.. (Just a suggestion hand warmer guys..) I guess I was expecting them to be warm.. Maybe they don't work so well when it's cold out?..

Snowboarders in the wind

2011-02-19T20:14:00.000-08:00

It was windy on the top of the ski hill today. (or should I say snowboard hill..) Made it hard to keep your balance at times.

Picture from Wild Horse Island

2011-02-18T13:52:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture I took of Skeeko Bay and Dayton Bay from my last hike in the fall on Wild Horse Island. I don't think I posted it before although I did post some pictures from that morning. I like to hike up there on the island and watch the sun come up over Flathead Lake. I've been looking through pictures and dreaming about summer once again.. Not that I'm done skiing yet..

***
I noticed a couple of spots on this picture so I repaired it. You couldn't see them unless you clicked on the photo and enlarged it but it bothered me. I guess there's something to be said for keeping your lens clean.. My cameras get a lot of abuse.

Pot Hole road

2011-02-14T19:02:00.000-08:00

I tend to find and go down roads like this. As much as I try not to be a redneck, I guess I just can't hep it..

A room with a view

2011-02-08T16:54:00.000-08:00

This is the view from the last hospital room. A room with a view.. It really wasn't a bad view considering, and at night you could see the whole beautiful city of Spokanistan.

I've been spending quite a bit of time in hospital rooms with famliy members lately. Everyone is ok by the way, but there's always that uncertainty.. Like, when is the doctor coming today?.. Are they going to let us out or want another test?.. So you wait and wait and wait.. They even have rooms just for waiting in.. Are you waiting for something?. I guess I'm waiting for test results, or paperwork to get done but I'm not sure.. Why don't you wait in the waiting room?.. There's more of the same uncomfortable chairs in there.. Will I wait faster in there?.. I'm thinking, why don't they make some of these waiting rooms into task accomplishing rooms?.. If they'd get things done faster we wouldn't have to sit around waiting so much..

***
Or put the people waiting to work.. Put a sign on the wall,.. If you have typing skills report to the blood lab.. Handyman with plumbing experience needed in hydrotherapy, floor 8...
***

I always wonder when I see a patient walking down the hall,. Gosh, I wonder what's wrong with that guy?.. I wonder if he even knows? Nobody seems to know what's going on. I'm not even sure the doctor knows what's going on because the tests results never seem to come back. He's like a substitute doctor anyway,.. only there for the day and tomorrow you get a new doctor who doesn't seem to know what's going on. Maybe they know and just don't want to tell you.

People in the hospital always feel trapped and want to get out. I always sort of feel like that,. like the whole world is moving along outside while you are sitting around waiting. Even if it's a town like this, it's still better than being in the hospital. When they built this town they managed to make the maximum congested mess in the smallest space possible.. I guess being in the hospital isn't too bad here when you actually think about leaving..

Camera phone pictures

2011-02-02T09:02:00.000-08:00

I guess I'm the last person on the planet to get a phone with a camera on it.. And of course I got a really bad one, so I guess I'll go around and take lots of bad pictures.. (I'll convince myself that bad is the new good..)

First bike ride of 2011

2011-01-27T13:37:00.000-08:00

I decided to go on my first bike ride of 2011 since the snow has all melted in town for the time being. This was a job for the old Schwinn Traveler with its chrome fenders and big tires. And this was what it looked like as I rode in the bike lane.

I've been wanting ride my bike since the snow melted in town and it was very nice. I rode past the golf course and ended up at a park across from a school. I sat on a park bench and watched the kids play while I listened to the radio in my ear buds. Some of the kids were playing football and some were playing soccer.. Various groups around the field all running in different directions. Their motions as they ran reminded me of birds flying around somewhat at random but following a lead. A bell must of rang and they all started to run away, to line up in the distance and go back to class.

Then I realized that I'm the old dude in this picture with an old bike sitting alone on a park bench watching the children play. Hmm.. I thought.. I guess that's not so bad.. Now if I just didn't have to go back to work..

Live to ski

2011-01-24T20:17:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture of me on the lift last week. It was clear out and the snow was pretty much frozen solid. It doesn't look like it under the chairlift but the snow really was rock hard. I like it like that. You can really go fast on a week day with race skis. I live for days like that as there's nothing else quite like it. Fast cars don't do it, fast motorcycles come close, but there's nothing like a pair of race skis on a sunny day like that. It's raining outside right now. I suspect it will freeze the mountains again. That's good. Some people like powder, but I like the snow firm. I like the speed and you're less likely to get hurt on firm snow.

There's something about coming up out of the valley fog as you drive up and into the sunshine that does your soul some good. This is a picture of the road up to the resort as I came out of the fog and into the sunshine. I was talking to a guy on the chairlift about this the the other day. The gloom in the valley is totally broken when you rise up and out of the fog and into the light of day. It's really an amazing transformation and it's one of the reasons I love to ski and why I feel so sorry for those who don't who live in ski country. They hate winter as they are always stuck down there in the valley fog half of the time. I know so many people like that and it's really sad..

I guess the sticker in the window of this truck says it best.. Live to ski.. I want one of those!

I'm back

2011-01-23T07:31:00.000-08:00

I'm back,.. I couldn't log in for a while. I don't know what it is with me.. First I lost my cell phone. Then I lost my battery charger to my camera.. And then I couldn't log in to blogger...

I can't think of anything else to say about this so I'll post a wierd dream I had.

Weird dream

2011-01-20T11:13:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I had a weird dream..

I dreamed that I went to my ex-girlfriend's place to stop in and see how she was doing. She hates me (for no reason) BTW, so when I got there she was less than pleased to see me. She was like,. What are you doing here?.. she said with a less than happy look on her face. Oh I just stopped in to see how you are doing. I said.

I looked around her small apartment. She had a dresser crammed full of shoes. Next to the dresser was an old green sofa, and in the corner of the sofa was a small yellow lizard that looked just like the Geico gecko except it was yellow and it had red shorts on, and a white T-shirt. It was standing there on its hind legs just like the Geico lizard.

What's this? I asked her. Oh that's my baby, she said. Really? I didn't know you were pregnant.. When did you have this? I asked as she went into the bathroom. Last Wednesday, she responded. His name's Sammy, would you mind watching him while I change. And then she shut the door.

I'm thinking,. my ex-girlf (who hates me for no reason) had a yellow lizard for a baby last Wednesday and put red shorts on him and named him Sammy?... No wonder we didn't get along..

Well there I was with Sammy, so I reached down and grabbed him around the waist with his arms arms sticking out above my fist. He just looked at me with that lizard smile. He was kind of slimy, so I put him back down on the sofa.

Then he jumped off of the sofa, ran across the room and went down the heat vent! Oh crap! I thought. She's going to kill me! I'll have to find him before she comes back. So I got my flashlight and was looking down the heat vent. Finally I saw him but it wasn't good. There were some birds down there eating him and all that was left were the red shorts and some leg bones sticking out.

That's how my dream ended.

A warmer time

2011-01-12T10:16:00.000-08:00

As the winter weather outside chills us to the bone and dampens our spirits, I think back to a warmer time, and recent trip to Radium Hot Springs in British Columbia. We'll return soon.

It seems to be a place where nothing changes... except the people who go swiming. It's exactly like it was when I was young, and I think I'm getting better at understanding the how the lockers work, and which doors to go in and out of. I'm getting better at reading the signs too, some of which are in French and some are those international picture signs. There's one sign in there that says you can't wear boots. (it had a picture of a boot with a line going through it..)

Man tracks

2011-01-09T19:24:00.000-08:00

What kind of beast made those tracks?!... I wondered as I looked at the line of tracks in my yard. Every morning there are different sets of tracks crossing my yard. Cat, dog, rabbit, bird,.. Oh,. wait a minute,. I made that one. I'd gone out to the car the other night and didn't bother to put my shoes on.

I'd blame the tracks on my ex-neighbor woman who I named Sasquatch Woman but she moved out long ago. I named her that because one night I came home in my car and caught her in the headlights and she looked just like a female bigfoot, her arms dragging with her ape like stride as she crossed the road. Only her cigarette betrayed her as a human, but I can understand why people think they've seen bigfoot.

Continental Divide Canada

2011-01-04T00:16:00.000-08:00

I brought in the new year in Canada this year and I had a really nice time. It was beautiful today on my return. Here's a picture I took on the continental divide near Banff. I kept trying to get a decent picture of the ubiquitous Candadian flag, and finally got this one one. I'm guessing the other flags are BC on the left and Alberta on the right. Jules,.. you're going to have to help me out on this.

Here's a picture in Koontenay National Park of some of the forest fire burned trees. It will enlarge if you click on it. I wish I'd had more time to just take pictures as it was really beautiful up there today.

Idaho skiing pictures

2010-12-27T18:57:00.000-08:00

It has been a pretty good ski season so far. Winter can be pretty long in the northwest so you might as well take up skiing or snowboarding if you live in snow country and make the best of it. If you can't get out, you can come here to my blog and see what it's been like. Here are some of my latest skiing pictures.

It often looks cool and I'm always getting my camera out to take pictures while I ski or ride the chairlift. Everyone enjoys the views even if they stay on the easy trails.

And everyone gets a good workout and lots of fresh air.

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas! I don't have a real Christmas Tree, but here's my Christmas Cyber tree/ trees from Lookout Pass on Christmas Eve.

I took my mom to church and she pointed out a little white angel way at the very top of the tree they had in the church. "Gertrude made that Angel." she said. (my dear old Aunt Gertrude who is no longer with us.) That was so cool to have her there in spirit like that!

I hope everyone has a great holiday season.

Chairlift photo

2010-12-16T19:37:00.000-08:00

I have a lot of photos of chairlifts. I don't really know why I take them other than they freak me out so much. I figured out that I spent over 8 hours on just one chairlift a few ski seasons ago. I'm not kidding. Plus it was only one chairlift that I rode that ski season. So I'm thinking I'm going to put my chairlift photos on my side bar. It's something to do anyway..

Last weekend I rode a chairlift exactly like this one with a little ski school kid who was only four years old. He was so small that they had to lift him up and put him on the chair. His legs stuck straight out and his skis straight up off of the end of the seat. So I put my ski poles infront of him as a restraint and I reached around and grabbed his hood with my hand. There was no way he was going to fall off of my chair while he was in my care!

I've ridden that chair with a lot of little ski school kids. Some of them will talk your ear off and some of them won't say a peep, and usually they all wiggle around. This little guy talked a little and I had a hard time hearing him because I had my helmet on and my ear buds in my ears under it. When we got to the top I asked him if he could get off by himself and he said yes, but when the moment came he seemd to say on. so I reached around and grabbed him by the hood and lifted him up and off of the chair and put him down on the snow.

When I started this blog it was going to be about conversations on the ski lift with strangers. It became clear that there wasn't going to be enough material for just that so I blogged about other things. But I still love getting on the chair with someone I don't know and having a conversation with them. It really is like a box of candy in that you never know what you're going to get.

Block heater in my ski car

2010-12-14T20:27:00.000-08:00

I read quite a few blogs as I'm sure lots of you do. Some people really have a gift for letting you know what they are doing and thinking and it draws you in. I wish I could be more like that, without totally letting the whole world know what I'm doing..

I really would love to blog about work. There's so much material there. Honestly. I could go on and on about each person, but I made a few rules when I started this blog, and one of them is to not talk about work.. stupid rule.., but a rule none the less..

And I have other blog rules, I won't go into them all. It's more of a formula actually but I guess you'd never know. Another rule is to not talk about my private life. Like my relationships with my friends and such. So I pretty much don't talk about the people in my life except for when my mom had cancer. It doesn't leave a whole lot to talk about.

Having said that, I'm going up to the far north to see my queen. It gets so cold up there that I decided to install a heater in my ski car so I could plug it in at night to keep it warm so it will start in sub whatever temps. They have a different scale to measure temperature up there and nobody can tell really how cold it is. It's sort of like the thermometer on my camper. The numbers all faded off of it so I wrote hot on the top and cold on the bottom. I still use it,.. I just look at it and think,.. well I can see that it's pretty cold.. Anyway I had to try and hunt down a heater that would work in my car. I ordered in a lower radiator hose heater, and tonight put the thing in. It took a couple of hours. So far so good but who knows how cold it will get?