The Meat President

So we go to the MSFT Christmas party. The pre-party dinner was @ the Metropolitan Grill in downtown. Nice place. Best place in Seattle for Steak. I decide I'm gonna order the big boy of the selection. 50 ounces of bone in Rib Eye. It came on it's own platter, fit for a king!

There were some table skeptics, however I proved them wrong by completely devouring the steak and I also wiped out the potato, AND a spinach salad before! Wait staff shook my hand. Head waiter said it was impressive. More impressive? I ate about 10 desserts @ the Xmas party 1 hour later.

HOWEVER, I AM NOT READY FOR THIS...

http://www.bigtexan.com/

Guerciotti On The Way

I found (what I think) is a 10 year old Guerciotti frame that is really clean and nice as a project bike. It's nice columbus tubing and hopefully is really nice and straight.

I've also started building out my Colnago Master. This was my first "real" frame, and although I had it repainted, it's still super sweet. I should have left it alone, but the repaint was at least 10 years ago.

Goodbye Litespeed

Litespeed found a new home today. Guy's gonna use it as a rain bike. He got a fantastic deal on a really decent frame. Fix the paint gashes and she's a pretty decent looking bike.

Nice Day!

3 hours on the nice bike today.....Excellent ride

Alpinist is no more

All good things must come to an end. My favorite magazine, a monument to the climbing world and probably one of the best publications (for tons of reasons) has ended.

http://www.alpinist.com/

Alpinist LLC to Suspend Operations
Jackson, Wyoming — October 16, 2008 — Alpinist LLC, which publishes the climbing magazine Alpinist, runs the website www.alpinist.com and produces The Alpinist Film Festival, announced today that the October 2008 financial crisis has forced them to suspend operations.

Founded in 2002 by Marc Ewing and Christian Beckwith, Alpinist began in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, as an archival-quality publication dedicated to world alpinism and adventure climbing. The quarterly quickly gained a reputation for both superior writing and beautiful photography; by 2004, Italian climbing legend Reinhold Messner called it, "The best climbing magazine in the world today." Alpinist went on to win numerous awards; in March 2005 it was featured in a seven-page article in Outside Magazine ("The Purists") that explored its impact on American climbing.

Bummer.

No 5 Hour Drive

Turkey day was so excellent. Me, Mrs Dirtbagger, and Dirtbagger's Mom. No 5 hour drive to Spokane. No horrible weather. OK, it was raining, hard but no problem with that shit.

Here's the Skinny

Well, one month later, here is the drama.

My calorie difference didn't equal my weight difference. That meant that my basal rate, which was an estimate was incorrect. I initially had 2250, now adjusted down to 1983.
Based upon that, redid my spreadsheet. Here is the run down.

During this month of October I rode 19 times, for a total of 50 hours. Longest ride was 5 hours.
Calorie burn / calorie intake was about the same @ 86,000.

• Best - 10/25 - 157.2 - 4.6
• Worse - 10/9 - 160.6 - 8.2
• End - 10/31 - 161.2 - 6.4

I appear to have difficulty getting my body below 160. I would dip near and then feel completely ravished and would gorge on just about anything. Gonna keep pushing and see if I can get below 160.

Happy Halloween

Punk'in

44 - Wow

OK, Big Fucking News. Today I am 44 years old.

HA!

Back to MSFT??

Job Front

So I'm not really making progress looking for a job outside of MSFT. It taught me several things.
1. I don't and have not networked well.
2. I've not kept up on what's going on in the business world like I used to.
3. Finding a job outside of MSFT channels is much much harder than I thought.
4. Contactor/Vendor jobs are pretty limited in their scope, scale and influence.

So about a week ago I sat down and reviewed all the positions I thought were of interest. I then asked Noah to email each of the hiring managers and send my resume. She sent a total of 22.

I got 3 responses all of which said they had filled the position.

HOWEVER, one shiny glimmer of hope. I did get a phone interview last Friday. I think it went well. This last Monday I received an email that I would be contacted by human resources to schedule a full interview loop.

Well, I hope it goes well as it's the only sincere thing I've got in the queue right now.

Back Fat

Oh, today I was @ 158.6 weight, with 7.1% body fat. My goal is by 10/20 be below 160. At the end of the month, I want to hold BELOW 160 and at Christmas still be below 160, and carry that through the new year into this next summer.

Bike Ride

I've been riding 2-4 hours almost every day. I let the air out of the tires of the Colnago and put it up for the winter, convinced we would not see any nice days. Then we had yesterday. Spectacular. Pumped the the tires and did a nice 4+ hour ride.

Oh yesterday, I got in an arguement with a CADMAN (local trucking company) dump truck driver and he pissed me off so much I noted is truck number, called his company and complained about his lack of professionalism. I had to leave a voice mail, but I basically told him, I ride a lot. I have a lot of experience on Washington roads, I encounter their trucks EVERYWHERE, and I have never ever in all my years encountered what I thought was such outside of the norm, extra ordinary, lack of professionalism, ever.

Less than 1 hour later, the supervisor's supervisor called me back took down the facts and told me he would follow up on the episode and then contact me this next week to let me know how it went. Wow.

Mom is Moving HERE!

Mom's moving over here and we've been helping her look at houses. Her qualifications are so rare that she has 3 companies (in this uncertain economy) wanting her to come for interviews. One place in downtown said that she should NOT accept a job with anybody UNTIL she interviewed with them. Wow. That has certainly NEVER happened to me! Way to go MOM.

FUNNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI8kv4pSxa8

Fucking Mandelbrot?

Ok I got nothing to say.

Back on the WAGON

Yep, 10/1 time to start tracking calories, again.

Gotta get sub 160 before the end of the month.

Work Out

OK this thing was brutal....One hour work out in the morning was pretty damned hard. Then the rest of the class was chalk sessions.I learned lots of great things on lifting, methodology, training. Good session. Here I'm hauling around a 40 lbs medicine ball.

Here was their blog on our workout.

http://www.recreatefitness.com/blog/

Lucky Lab Brew

I'm sitting here in the alphabetic district of Portland @ the Lucky Lab Brewery, drinking beer, eating pizza and chilling. Everything (except my wife, my dog, and my dorky cat) are here. Well, OK, I only have once bicycle, no climbing gear. But shit, I'm close....OK, not really even close, but it's cool, nonetheless.

Did I mention I have a buzz?

Blast from the Past - 4 Years Ago

This might make you laugh.... Me @ the Argentina/Chile border guard station, January 2004.

.

.

.

.

Almost 6 months later

Prepped for 4 hours of surgery, July 6th 2004.

.

.

.

.

Two months later, second chemo session.
I got a huge gash in my neck, I've got a big ass needle poked into my chest. I have a plastic device embedded into my chest about the size of a chestnut, my whole face is puffy from chemo. Oh and I suspect I puked up my lunch from earlier today.

What a horrible experience.

Today, I weigh about the same I did 4 years ago, after 4 rounds of chemo therapy....Therapy....that word makes me laugh when used in conjunction with chemo.

Just like when people say "when you got sick." Funny...I felt fine.

Cancer is full of funny contradictions.

Being alive vs. being dead is one, I guess.

I did it.

9/11 - 160 - But that was after a four hour bike ride.

If I can hold it for a week then, I really did it.

On 9/11, my career crumbles just like the twin towers

My professional career is over. I couldn't even get hired here:

> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:15:36 -0400
> From: VirtualEdge@safeco.com
> To: xxxx
> Subject: Safeco Insurance – Proj Mgr Sr, IT #3806
>
> xxxx,>

> After carefully reviewing your qualifications for this position, we have decided to pursue other candidates. Our Career Center is updated as new positions become available. I invite you to visit Safeco.com frequently to apply for opportunities, maintain your profile, check your application status and set up job agents to receive new job postings by email.

> Thank you for participating in our process and for considering Safeco as an employer. Best wishes in your job search.

> Safeco Recruiting

Turned down by a machine at a lame insurance company.

Seminar Agenda

Got the agenda for our weekend mountain athlete lifting seminar....Looks painful.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

0730-0900 Strength Training Session
In this hands-on session attendees will experience first hand a training session which includes a 1-RM strength test, complex work and strongman training.

0900-0930 Mountain Athlete Training Philosophy & Goals of Gym Training
Our approach. What we feel is important, lessons learned, and the drive for continuous improvement. The transferable goals and attributes of gym training as they relate to mountain, industrial and tactical athletes.

0930-1000 Basic Training Concepts
Fundamentals of strength and conditioning will be explained and discussed: Adaptation, Progression, Accommodation, Specificity, and Individualization.

1000-1130 Periodization Basics
Discussion of differences between Linear, Undulating and Conjugate periodization, periodization cycles (macro, meso, micro), and applying periodization principals to a yearly calendar. Periodization for hybrid gym training, and integrating hybrid gym training with program design for sports and activities outside the gym will be covered.

1130-1200 What athletes need. How we train it.
A nuts and bolts discussion of how gym training can complement the performance and out-of-the gym training and practice for mountain, industrial and tactical athletes.

1200-1300 Lunch Break

1300-1400 Training Strength
Different types of strength, types that are important for mountain/industrial/tactical athletes and how to train them will be covered.

1400-1430 Core Strength
A strong core is key to durability, especially in mature athletes. Discussion will include static versus dynamic core training, loaded core training, and strength endurance.

1430-1500 Power Endurance & Metabolic Conditioning
Power endurance - or the ability to deliver power over extended periods is perhaps the most important physiological attribute to hybrid athletes. The principals behind power endurance will be discussed. Training sessions to train and evaluate power endurance will be demonstrated and discussed.

1500 - ?? Programing Basics (Lecture)
Conjugate periodization to train in the gym for maximal strength, explosive power, power endurance, strength endurance and metabolic conditioning will be covered. Lecture will include programming for an example month.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

0800-0900 Core Strength Training Session
In this hands-on session attendees will experience first hand an intense, core training session.

0900-1000 Sport Specific (Climbing) Training & Periodization
Physical attributes and how to train them for climbing will be covered, including how to incorporate sport specific training with hybrid gym training.

1000-1100 Training Session Design
This is where the rubber hits the road. Designing daily workouts which meet conjugate periodization goals, yet take into account athlete physical and mental fatigue, movement and muscle balance, and time restrictions is as much art as science. Learn the approach we use.

1100-1130 Professional Development Strategies
Developing a strategy for continuous learning and professional development which pays attention to time and cost restriction will be discussed.

1130-1200 Final Q&A
An open question and answer period to address any lingering questions.

Tim is Back!

My friend Tim is back from living in China for 4 months. Now somebody to go run with. He's a good guy and helped me a bunch when I was sick...

We went for a 40 minute run. Back felt OK. Legs felt really good. I think I need some new running shoes.

Saddle Time: 4.5 Hours

I rode 4.5 hours today, on the new bike of course. I really like that bike.

• It rides really well.
• It fits me really well.
• It looks cool.

What more could you ask of a 9K dollar bicycle? :)

Job FIRST, Hypermotard SECOND

Nuff Said.

The GYM is working

Back if feeling better than it has in weeks! Its working.

Back STILL hurts

So after 8+ weeks of 2x a week chiropractor, and 2x a week naturopath, I'm done. Time to take the situation into my own hands.

Go the the gym and pulverize my back until it gets in line!

Best Rap Song Ever

i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop,
a you dont stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie, say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

now what you hear is not a test--i'm rappin to the beat and me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet

see i am wonder mike and i like to say hello to the black, to the white, the red, and the brown, the purple and yellow

but first i gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie

let's rock, you dont stoprock the riddle that will make your body rock

well so far you've heard my voice but i brought two friends along and next on the mike is my man hank come on, hank, sing that song....

Just say No to back fat

Getting Skinny

165.0 - 5.6% body fat. I need to try much harder if I'm gonna get to 160 by the end of the month.

No Job

Didn't work out as I expected. Not really what I wanted to do. Oh well, time to start looking again.

Prep

So, how do you prep for an interview with a company that has NO public information? Uh you don't, really. That's OK. My answers are the same as they always are.

Blah Blah Blah.....

I get my references updated. Print a couple extra copies of that and my resume.

My buddy Matt says, "there is a game @ Safeco today, which means NO parking." Ouch, I better go early.

The offfice is in pioneer square, so I head out super early to scope it out and make sure I know where I'm going and where I can park.

OK that was much easier than I thought it was gonna be. I now have 1.5 hours to kill. Hmmm. How about the world famous Elliot Bay Books? What are all these people doing in pioneer square? I guess this is the place you hang out if you don't have a job. Oh well....Off to EB books!!

I find an interesting book. I look through it. It makes me laugh. I buy it.

OK it's interview time.

I walk through the door. 10 or so people all sitting @ desks.....somebody in the back behind a desk gets up.

I am assuming you're Alan?
I am.
Hi Alan, I'm _______. Let's see if we can find a place to chat.

We head to the snack room.

He asks me some questions. Since they do lots of work for MSFT he likes that I have some experience there.

I ask some questions about the company, the direction, the niche.

We finish in 45 minutes. Clearly this was not a MSFT drill. God that gets really really old. He says HR person will be back.

She comes back. Asks how the interview went. I tell her well and I like what they are doing. I ask her what she thinks of how it went. She says. I think it went really well. We chat about some details and then she leaves to go get someone else that I should meet.

She and guy #2 sit down and we chat informally. He says he just wanted to come in say Hi and meet me. He leaves.

Somewhere along the line, she says, we'll provide you with a laptop and if you want to use your cell phone, we'll take care of that too.

I ask if I'll be joining them, and she smiles and says, Yea, I think so.

We talked about salary and vacation time and etc. Seems OK to me.

So, for the record, I found a job making pretty good money, doing development project work, in less than 72 hours. Not bad.

Later talking to my buddy Jim who works for Ebay.

Dude, you already took the job?
Yep
They hired you on the spot?
Yep, pretty much. They might check my references, but I think it's a done deal.
Awesome.

Yea, I say it's pretty awesome.

Interview Confirmed

I get an email mid day.

"Hi Alan, you're confirmed with your interview with _____ at 2pm, tomorrow August 6th. Here are directions to our office."

Cool.

Later in the day, I go for a late afternoon ride with my friend Roger. It ain't so cool. In fact it's fucking hot. Real hot. I hope we don't ride too hard. Roger's done STP in one day, and RAMROD this year. I've done NOTHING.

He takes me on a tour of the Kenmore/Lake Forest Park area. We ride lots of hills. Good thing I had the 34 on front. Damn. 2 hours later I get home and I'm pretty blasted. Not from the ride but really the heat. Remember hotter than 80 is REALLY hot here.

A stab in the dark?

I decide I need to start looking for a job.

http://www.dice.com/ - Not bad but mostly contract positions. Contract jobs aren't all that bad, but when you know the contract company is billing you at twice what they are PAYING you, ya gotta wonder......

MS.com - Too much crap. Do I really want to work @ MS again? Maybe I should consider somewhere new?

Hmmm....I'm a pretty huge fan of ol craigslist. I've sold good shit, I've bought good shit. My friend Brian says all the hip kids are using craigslist.

So I do some searching. I see a listing. Description looks interesting. Kinda vague, not much detail. No doubt I can do it. I'll send of an email off Monday AM and see what happens. It's a legit company (or at least they have a website) so....

Monday. Send off the email. Say I'm interested in the job. Attach my resume. Expectations. NONE.

Weather looks really nice today. I think I'll go for a longish bike ride......

Damn, I forgot my phone.....No biggie....I'll be home in a couple of hours.

Huh, somebody called and left VM.

"Hi Alan, My name is ______ and I would like to talk to you about what kind of role you're looking for, blah blah blah. Please call me at xxx-xxx-xxxx."

Holy Shit. Did I even expect a response? No.

I collect some notes and prepare to call her back. We chat and long story short, she wants to know if I would like to come in. Of course I would. She'll send me interview details tomorrow (Tuesday)

Squamish

GO GO GO

Sweeeet

Italy Pics To Come

TBD

Goodbye MS

My contract ended yesterday. I am officially unemployed again. That's good since I plan on taking the entire month of July off. We leave in 2 hours. Excellent!

I busted my back

Long story short, on Saturday I fell while climbing. Brian carried me out. Compound fracture of the L2 vertebrea. Totally my fault and I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing.

Since I walked up to the emergency room, I guess I wasn't an emergency, therefore I got to wait 3+ hours before I saw a doctor. Better yet, we were there a total of 8.5 hours. I can't wait to see what the bill is.

For the first couple of days, I've been in some pretty good pain. How to you spell relief? P-E-R-C-O-C-E-T!!

It's healing fine, thank you.

Boxes

Boxes full of wonderful goodies have begun arriving @ my door step.

JUICY!!!

8,420

In 2008 Melanoma will be diagnosed in 62,480 Americans and will kill 8,420, according to the American Cancer Society.

6/10/2004 = 4 Years Ago.

SKINNY!

So, before I started actually tracking my weight via a spreadsheet, I blogged that I was @ 182. Today, I'm @ 165. 17 lbs..... http://midlife-dirtbagging.blogspot.com/2008/04/im-fat-for-me.html

So on Sunday I decide to go for a ride. As I take off up Market street, I cannot believe the difference in how much lighter I feel. I don't feel super strong, but I certainly do notice the difference in weight. In just over 7 weeks, I've lost 17 lbs and now am at 8.5% body fat in the morning (worst time to measure) and about 6.5% in the evening. Crazy.

For comparison....

• When racing cross, that was 5 years ago, I weighed about 168.
• When I started working a year ago, I was @ 170 ish.
• In college I weighed 160.
• When I finished chemo, in October of 2004, I was @ 159.

I read this recently and was completely blown away.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24670307/

Roughly 15 percent to 19 percent were eating at least five servings of fruit and vegetables daily, the researchers found, while 30 percent to 47 percent were getting the recommended amount of exercise. From 83 percent to 92 percent had quit smoking.

Overall, 5 percent were meeting all three requirements, while 12.5 percent were meeting none. Fewer than 10 percent of survivors of any of the six cancer types were meeting two or more recommendations.

Among breast, prostate, colorectal, bladder, uterine and melanoma survivors — all of the cancer types the researchers looked at — health-related quality of life rose steadily with the number of lifestyle recommendations met.

I need to do the best job I can to take care of myself. Shouldn't you?

Mercury is no longer in retrograde, I think.

6/7 - Stereo guy came and worked on my truck. Fixed.
6/6 - Get invited for a informal interview. Good.
6/5 - Swap road Dura Ace cranks and put in a 118 BB. Solid.
6/1 - Geek Dudes replace hard drive and get Vista Ultimate installed. OK.

I lost my weight tracking spreasheet on my failed laptop hard drive. So I took a two day break and started again.

6 weeks later

Wow.

I'm 13 lbs lighter....Body fat @ 9.5% in the morning, 6.6% in the evening.

Reservations are Made

Climbing @ the end of the summer in July!!

• http://www.squamishrockguides.com/
• I sent an email and got a response from Marc, the owner.
• We talked for a while and then I made the reservations.
• Colin Moorhead is gonna be our guide.
• I can barely wait...2+ weeks in Italy.
• Then a little break, then 4 days on the rock with a professional instructor!

Amazing Man....Amazing

WikiLeaks

The Wikimedia Foundation has received a copyright infringement claim from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon Church or LDS Church. The infringement claim is in reference to a URL used as a source in a Wikinews article about Mormon Church documents leaked to the website Wikileaks, titled "Copy of handbook for leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints obtained by Wikinews". The URL was originally cited as a link in the sources subsection of the article. The Wikimedia Foundation is a donor-supported non-profit organization which runs Wikipedia and Wikinews. This is the first time that the Wikimedia Foundation has received a copyright infringement claim regarding an article published by Wikinews.

The Mo's bring the heat.

How much?

So on 4/26, I started tracking everything I ate, with the goal of losing 10 lbs by the end of the month. For example an egg is 74 calories. A large avacado, 300, a tablespoon of my favorite salsa, 20. Non fat milk, 110, a cup of museli, 440.

Here is what I learned:

1. If you track everything you eat, and write it down each and every day, you really begin to pay attention to each and every thing you put in your nasty little mouth.

2. Calculation your basal rate is kinda hard because it's how much it takes you to be alive, plus some extra wild ass guessing factor. I originally estimated I burned 2250 calories a day. Three weeks in, my weight loss was much more than my calorie loss, so somewhere my calc was screwed up. So, I now think my basal rate is more like 2500 a day.

3. If I ate well (no ice cream or cookies or stuff like that) I was pretty easy to stay below 2500. I averaged a net 900 calorie difference.

4. On big exercize days, I allowed myself another 300-500 calories. Big days were in excess of 2500 calorie burn days.

5. I averaged 400 calories @ each meal and another 400 calories in snacks.

When I started working again a year ago, I was 172 ish. A month ago, I was more than 180. Today, I weighed 167.7, with less than 10% body fat.

In another month I plan on being below 160.

Italy - 1 Month

Day 1 Rome
Days 2-3 Florence
Days 4-6 Lucca and Pisa
Days 7-8 Cinque Terre
Days 9-10 Piedmont
Days 11-12 Milan and Italian Lakes
Days 13-15 Venice

OK enough.

5/24 - XM radio in truck stops working. Bummer
5/25 - Cranks fail on Bianchi bike. Bummer
5/26 - Hard drive fails on laptop computer. Bummer.
5/26 - Bail on 7 Hills of Kirkland. Bummer.
5/27 - Get told they probably won't renew my contract. I gotta look for a job. Bummer.

Mrs Dirtbagger sends me this.


General influence of Mercury retrograde

Mercury rules over the mind's processes, studying, communication, businesses, travels and the like. When Mercury reverses its direction, all these areas are affected as well.

This is an excellent time to work on old projects that never got to be finished. So, think about the things you started and never finalized.

Next, you might wish to prevent any bad things to happen to you: so double-check your agenda, call your business partners to confirm that everything goes as planned, have everything ready before the deadline and leave some extra time for unexpected events. Make copies of your important files and documents, save your work more often.

The other solution is to go on vacation or at least slow down the pace of your projects. You will find that going slowly during the Mercury retrograde period will spare you many efforts of redoing the same action that wasn't performed right the first time.

7 Hills of Kirkland

So I've wanted to ride this damned thing on my singlespeed so bad. Last year I couldn't because of my stupid ritchey cranks kept giving me problems. Read that is the damned left crank arm kept falling off. Fucking thing.

So Fabien helped me a ton by getting it replaced on warranty and Ritchey sent me a brand new pair. Excellent. We got the bike in his shop and we install the 2nd set of cranks 9 months or so ago.

All was just fine and dandy until about 6 weeks ago. I had gone off on a 5+ hour ride on the single speed. Left foot felt squirrely. Hmmm...Cleat? Pedal? Nope left crank arm.

So I have Mrs Dirtbagger come get me in the super Toyota. The 7 hills is only a couple of weeks away. I've ridden a little so I can do the 62 easy. If I take it slow I'm sure I can do the 100.

I take the bike over to Sammamish Valley Cycle. They will do a good job. I've got a week to go.

Work was busy as hell and I didn't get to ride the bike at all. Saturday comes, the 7 is in 2 days. I get on the bike and it sounds like the bottom bracket is gonna totally explode. SHIT.

I blast over to Samm Cycles. Alvin was there and super helpful....We talked about options, and he was willing to fix the bike right there. I eventually decided to by the tools and tear apart my litespeed 9 speed dura ace and use that crank since I knew it was bomber.

I get the Ritchey off the Bianchi, and get Dura Ace off the Litespeed. Oh guess what, the first generation of bearings on the Dura Ace is a round bearing and a needle bearing. Take them apart and bearings go everywhere. Great, guess I'll be using the Shimano Bianchi bottom bracket, since the Dura Ace one just became toast. One of the mechanics said "Oh they don't make that bottom bracket for that crank any longer." Now I sure as fuck know why.

So i proced to use Saturday and most of Sunday trying to get the bike together. When all is said and done, I'm not happy. I destroyed one crank arm to put together another and in the end wasn't even confident about it. So that night, the bike was together and I asked myself? Was this worth all that? Isn't this trying to tell you something? What do you need to learn here? I could easily imagine being in Carnation or MONroe or some craphole like that and having the Crank arm spin off, wondering how many hours it would take the sag wagon to get to me. Shit.

So what did I do? I bailed big time. 7 Hills got my 70 bucks. Oh well.

So 2 years in a row, 2 missed 7 Hills for 2 Ritchey Cranksets is just 2 fucking much.

Next year, I'm gonna ride 7 Hills on a Unicycle.

Hmmm

I see a new bike in my future.


This one is quite nice. I dig the blue.


This one is super nice. Neuvo-retro. Very cool...

62

Rode the singlespeed 62 miles...

Happy Birthday Bunny

I'm Fat (for me...)

182 Damn. 10.2% Body Fat.

Goals
5-31 170
6-30 165

Best of Craigslist

three pink plastic lawn flamingos, the momma, the daddy and two
babies. in good shape except the momma has a bullet hole. will
trade for a good dog or weed eater, will also consider any kind
of alcohol as long as it ain't been opened up.

Climb High, Clmb Hard, Live Free

Sharma
Others
Linder
BIG
KING
MORE
NICE
Mother Fucker

47 Miles

Went for a little ride today.
Kirkland
Juanita
Kenmore
Puddinville
Snoqualmie Valley
Ames Lake
Marymoor
Old Red Road
Kirkland

Golf scoring wins again!

Yet another reason to hate GOLF. What a self absorbed horse's ass. I outta mail this fucker a letter bomb.

Yahoo Link

Another Link

Another Post

Kinda fitting since his goose is cooked. :)

I have no question mark.

So my keyboard in Husband Land aka Cubby Land quit working. Bizzare....Think about that one for a while. Take off a punctuation from your keyboard. What would you miss. The question mark. Everything else you could just get by if you just spaced between words folks would get it Eventually Right Maybe Not.

So what do I do with a keyboard who's question mark doesn't work.....question mark...

Try it. Take a key off your keyboard and they write around the fact that you don't have that letter. Where would you get so furstrated that you couldn't communicate I'm really high so that doesn't matter much to me right now. Isn't that kinda cool.....question mark...

You're at work. On email, How long would you function with no question mark
.....question mark........question mark........question mark...

Now take that a step further. Can you think of someone who if their keyboard question mark quit working, how long would it be before they even noticed.....question mark........question mark...

You think wild stuff when you're high. I guess this counts. The Rastafarians believe that the smoking of ganja puts you closer to your true self as you question many things. Do you need to be high to be aware.....question mark........question mark........question mark........question mark........question mark...

Think THAT. Could you train your brain to achieve the feeling from being high.....question mark...Is that possible.....question mark...Bizarre.....question mark...

AND NOW...Think THAT. Holy Shit, I just forgot what I was going to type.

How could that be anymore beautiful.....question mark...

WTF

Last weekend, I noticed my upper gluets were really sore. That night I went to bed and was in pain. I couldn't figure it out why or how. I hadn't gone for a ride, or a run in a couple of weeks. Certainly wasn't unloading a truck load of floor dry....college....long ago.

I just realized...I smoked a joint and ended up dancing to reggae music for a couple of hours easy. I guess dancing for two hours is hard. Now. For Me. Weird.... I'm pretty sure I've never had those words come across my vocabulary. Ever.

Think about it. When is the last time you danced for an extended time period. Seriously....

I could run 5 miles tomorrow and not be as sore as I was two hours of dancing. Dancing is harder. Dunno. Whatcha think......

A Table....

I'm trying to build a table in blogger. Wow....I don't know how to do this. Something probably pretty simple. Maybe this is this a sign of my age, and that technology is passing me by...

Check it out. A modern Jesus....

Marley was born in the small village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley. A Jamaican passport official would later swap his first and middle names. Norval was a Marine officer and captain, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, a black Jamaican then eighteen years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. He once reflected:

.

I don't have prejudice against himself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.

Husky is Here

Yep, the Husky bike showed up this last week, Friday I think...Yea. Pics to follow.

DO NOT WATCH

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/

Worst President Ever....Really...

An Event Filled Day

6:07 am - Awake. I was worried about getting out of bed early enough. I guess that isn't a problem
6:21 am - Out of bed, but my brain is a litte foggy
6:25 am - Feed the best dog in the work, Fish Sauce
6:30 am - Put in contact lense
6:42 am - Get CD's ready for drive to Portland
6:45 am - Sit in hot tub...Hmm...
6:55 am - Exit hot tub...Brrr....
6:57 am - Get dressed
7:05 am - Get truck loaded

7:09 am - Leave house, Fish Sauce and I are Big Tundra Riding Dirty
7:12 am - QFC donut purchase :)
7:18 am - Starbucks non fat double tall latte
7:20 am - Southbound Road Bound
10:30 am - Hillsboro area
10:45 am - Arrive Beta bike house
10:47 am - Leave Beta bike house for auto parts store for receiver hitch pin
11:08 am - Reciever hitch pin purchase. Met Richard @ the auto parts store. He liked my truck.
11:25 am - Return to Beta bike house, meet seller
11:35 am - Chitty chat motorcycles
11:55 am - Quick 20 yard ride on Beta bike. Looks good. No blue engine smoke, starts right up.
12:10 pm - Load trailer into receiver
12:25 pm - Load Beta bike onto trailer
12:30 pm - Chat motorcycles again, and buy Gary's trials boots for 20 bucks
12:40 pm - Have no cash, return from Well Fargo ATM
12:42 pm - Chat motorcycle straps

12:45 pm - Say Goodbye
12:50 pm - Arbys Turkey/Swiss sandwich order
12:55 pm - Northbound road bound
4:00 pm - Kekland

4:15 pm - Unload stuff from truck
4:30 pm - Clean up Gaerne http://www.gaerne.com/ boots. (pronounced gah-earn-ah)
5:20 pm - Power nap
6:00 pm - Animal feeds
6:04 pm - Dinner prep begins
6:25 pm - Eat Dinner
6:45 pm - Watch movie http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Yes_Men/70000103?trkid=222336&lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1742694367_0_0
8:30 pm - Watch DVR recorded HBO show, Flight of the Conchords
9:02 pm - Tub time
9:35 pm - Exit tub time
10:10 - Lights out
10:15 - Post movie blog http://suckymovies.blogspot.com/2008/03/yes-men.html
10:23 - Blog about movie blog

So overall, not a bad drive to Portland. Met some really nice people who've decided to get rid of a couple of their motorcycle toys. Mostly hers not his. Fish Sauce always loves a road trip.

The Beta bike is nice. It started right up and is in really good shape. I gave them their asking price as that was more than reasonable. What benefit to I really gain in haggling? None.

Loading the bike was pretty easy, and even with my cheapy straps (not really heavy duty motorcycle straps) the bike sat back on the trailer really well. That trailer is another great Craigslist purchase!

The boots were a total surprise. I didn't really even know what I was buying, as I'd never seen a trials boot. They appear softer and more wearable than an MX or Road boot. Nice rubber platform for your feet. Honestly they looked as if they've only been worn a couple of times, max.

Once I got them home and really inpected them, it was clear they were a little dried out (since they had sat from unuse) but with some light Simple Green scrubbing and a good application of mink oil really cleaned up nice. All leather Italian made trials riding boots? What a huge score! They are the balance oiled model. Very classic.

Oooo...Soon

I've been looking for nearly a month and a half, every day.

I found this just a few days ago. ROAD TRIP!

Gimpy Sauce

Well, we're @ over 2 months since Fish Sauce got her knee worked on. I am happy to say she's not limping anywhere NEAR what she did, and frankly we're a little bummed since her attitude is much much improved. She plays more, runs more and is much more active. Obviously she was really in pain.

Go Fish Sauce, Go. You're the best dog there is, and ever could be.

What will you change?

Are you the best person you can be?

.

1361 days, 9 hours, 58 minutes and 10 seconds ago, cancer changed many aspects of my life.

.

What would you change, what will you change?

.

http://video.stumbleupon.com/#p=ithct48cqw

.

Think about it.

Fish Sauce

Fish Sauce

The Best Dog in the WORLD.

Dixie Dog in Spookaloo Snow

She's a sweet dog, too bad she's such a chucklehead.I'm pretty sure Mom's healer isn't supposed to be up to her knees in snow.

9,028 Feet To Go

A little trip down memory lane. September 2006

Me at advanced base camp, 21,000 feet, Everest in the background.

I hope to get in some good climbing this year. I think it will be tons of fun.

Trials. VERY COOL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCy9nrchqFI&NR=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qod4yw24U5k&NR=1

http://www.dailymotion.com/related/4103441/video/x125dj_indoor-de-toulouse-toni-bou-adam-ra_sport

C and R

Cute!

This is after they won some piano competition thing.

Bike Being Picked Up

So I just talked to the shipping company. He's in Connecticut right now, he'll pick up the bike tomorrow.

7 Hills

I missed this last year. I'm doing it. AND, full century. http://www.7hillskirkland.com/index.htm

Climb Trip

Making plans for a localish climbing trip.

• Idaho - Sawtooth Wilderness - Alpine
• Wyoming - Teton Range - Alpine
• Idaho - City of Rocks - Near Twin Falls - Sport/Trad
• Utah - Moab - Sport/Trad
• Other Utah - Sport/Trad
• Wyoming - Lander area - Sport/Trad/Alpine

More details later

Moto Cool

I love motorcycles

OK, somebody built an enduro-ish Monster. Very cool
But this is super hawt.

So far, So Good

Kuri had surgery, it went well and a week later, she's only limping a little. Here is a pretty representative picture of what was removed. The doc said it was about half the size of a pea.




Hopefully she'll be back to somewhat normal in 4-6 weeks. Go Kur Dog Go.

Duke Did It

Very good friends of mine who live in San Fran have had a very sick dog. His kidneys aren't great and they don't function so well. He's been in poor health for quite a while and they weren't sure he was gonna make it through Xmas. Well son of a bitch, he did.

Duke essentially rallied back quite a bit. In fact he rallied, had a little bit of a relapse over the last few weeks, and has been better again since the end of last week. His levels are down, he eats, and he's put some of his weigh back on. So his quality of life is pretty good really, definitely worth continuing on.

Way to go Duke!!!

Nice

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his wife, Lisa and their little boy, Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle. I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn't do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life -- like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?" The six-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Trouble

Trouble

Oh trouble set me free

I have seen your face

And it's too much too much for me

.

Trouble

Oh trouble can't you see

You're eating my heart away

And there's nothing much left of me

.

I've drunk your wine

You have made your world mine

So won't you be fair

So won't you be fair

.

I don't want no more of you

So won't you be kind to me

Just let me go where

I'll have to go there

.

Trouble

Oh trouble move away

I have seen your face

and it's too much for me today

.

Trouble

Oh trouble can't you see

You have made me a wreck

Now won't you leave me in my misery

.

I've seen your eyes

and I can see death's disguise

Hangin' on me

Hangin' on me

.

I'm beat, I'm torn

Shattered and tossed and worn

Too shocking to see

Too shocking to see

.

Trouble

Oh trouble move from me

I have paid my debt

Now won't you leave me in my misery

.

Trouble

Oh trouble please be kind

I don't want no fight

And I haven't got a lot of time
.
http://stumpjumpers.org/desert-100/

Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

My friend Michelle is off her rocker once again...

(Adapted from Jimmy Cliff Tune)

Hey

Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam.

Yesterday I got a letter

from my friend racing in Vietnam

and this is what she had to say:

'tell all my friends

that I'll be coming home soon

....

Good Luck Michelle. Race Hard. Have Fun. Don't Get Lost.

Happy Birthday Bob

You are the natural mystic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VRGANguGQE&feature=related

Give thanks and praises!

Chippy 'Bow

So everybody knows that Kuri's been limping for a while and we've been trying to figure out what's been going on. A year ago, we took her to the vet and he didn't/couldn't see anything via X-rays. Now, she really favors her left front leg. So we took her back to the Vet for another X-ray. He said he thought I saw a chip in her elbow, but wasn't sure. He suspected arthritis, so as an older dog, we just dealt with it. She started getting MSM and glucosamine.

Another visit to the same vet, a specialist. He took Xrays again, and found she's got a fracture in her left leg. He suggested the radiologist for a better look and to be sure of what he now suspected.

So we went to the radiologist yesterday, and Kur dog got a CT scan. Kinda interesting, the doc bought an older technology scanner and uses it on animals now. Pretty cool....So they let me sit there while they did the scan, and then to doc showed me the results and talked me through what he saw.

Basically, Kuri has a fracture running up the inside of her "arm" at the elbow joint. Now we go back to the surgeon. More details later.

What?

No winter climbing!

We've had such huge weather in the Cascades that it's downright dangerous. Snow, Rain, Snow, Rain. Mountain snow doesn't like huge variablity. Bummer....Oh well, I have other plans until the summer comes.

Found one

2007 Husqvarna in Vermont. Looks like this.

It's got only 800 miles on it. I will have to have it shipped from Vermont to here...I'm psyched.

ADV Rider Rulz

So there is a forum site http://www.advrider.com/ (adventure rider) that has all these bozo talking about their adventure motorcycles. Bimmers, Pumpkins, Jap Bikes, and everything in between. Well I've been toying with the idea of a dirt capable motorcycle. There are so many nice logging and forest and fire roads here. Sure would be fun.

I've been trying to decide what kind of motorcycle I want, but there is so much to choose from. I eventually came to the conclusion I want a Mcycle that is trail capable, but that I can ride on public roads to get to where I'm going.

I want something powerful, but not ridiculous. Plus, like the Ducati, it has to be unique and different. Lastly, it has to be a good deal. Not spending a fortune, certainly not on a motorcycle that is gonna get bounced off a tree or two.

Dogs Dogs Dogs

Dogs! KurDog, RedDog, Dixie Dog
Skeet

Pep

Mac

Another Moto?

I've been thinking about another motorcycle. This time, I want a dirt bike. Well I guess now they are called a "dual sport." In the olden days, we knew them as enduros.

Let's see what happens....

Not Much

I got nothing to report. Fabien and Michelle did a "blog tag" thing but they are the only two people I know who actually HAVE a blog, so I would just tag them back, and where is the fun in that?

Oh I did buy a new truck. Care to guess which brand?

Got the bed sprayed.
Got the canopy, to protect my stuff.
First is a 2.5 inch lift kit.
Then new wheels.
Then some knarly tires.
Then the nerf bars.
Then the bumper.
Last the lights.

Random Photos

Kur Dog
Mac A Doodle
Pepper
Skid Mark
Kuri, Red, Dixie

You've got to be kidding!

Check this out. http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/bearledge.asp

This too! http://thegoat.backcountry.com/blog/2007/09/18/cougar-hunting-2/

In fact, I love this BLOG. It is classic. Rocky's got it nailed. http://thegoat.backcountry.com/

Unicat Americas

Longing...
Freedom...
The forces of nature
Horizons...
Dreams...

Welcome to our world.
Travel off the road,
off the beaten track.
Travel to the end of the earth,
and to your own center.

Travel to discover the world anew,
On the way you will experience the unforeseen,
Come up against new situations,
Make decisions again and again
And though you really have no idea now what it will really be like
It is exactly what you anticipate

Smacks of high adventure,
And it is a great adventure
You therefore need a vehicle that offers dependability and safety on route
A vehicle that affords well being and quality of life,
even under extreme conditions
A vehicle tailored to your personal requirements
This is the standard every Unicat vehicle meets.

Mature engineering which shows also in the details ensures your safety
Customized solutions realize individual needs
An integrated vehicle concept satisfies highest demands
No matter where the journey takes you

Achieving this quality level calls for intelligent structures and a broad based approach
Specialized staff from various departments work hand in hand
Utilize synergies and constantly devise new solutions
State of the art machinery and equipment
Facilities like our own testing grounds simply expect them
Knowhow and competence built upon technical superiority
Plus experience, experience, experience

You wish to travel cross frontiers
Break new ground
Marvel at unspoiled nature
Master extreme situations
You set off and already have reached your destination

Unicat wishes you a good journey

UNICAT

Have you ever wondered? We have. A lot.

Oh, this is happy news

We're doomed. If we can't take care of the animals, how can we be expected to take care of ourselves?

Slippery Slab

North Cascades, kinda near Steven Pass

Camera Phone video before we start.

We later had to change routes since I couldn't lead the mossy second pitch.

This was the first part of the climb, just a scramble. I'm hauling a full rack and a 70m climbing rope.

This was the first and only pitch, and it was kinda a combo of a slab/ramp and a chimney. The tough part was a small finger width crack I had to do my best to cram my fingers in. I sketched out a couple of times, as it was pretty damned hard to get decent foot placement. I damn near peeled off.

Brian and I on the top of slippery slab tower, about 2:30pm. We signed the summit register and headed home.

Not a great shot, but the tower in the background is what we climbed. We were back at the car in 1.5 hours and home by 7pm.

Yoga GOOD

So, we do Yoga 2x a week. Been going about 2 months now. Man, I really like it. Good for stretching, good for muscle work. Little bit of Meditation. Yoga has it all. Most importantly I am climbing better than I ever have before and my calves no longer ache in pain because they are so tight.

These are the Yoga poses I know:

Froggie - Pigeon - Crow - Side Crow - Bird of Paradise - Down Dog - Up Dog - Baby Cobra - Happy Baby - Warrior 1, 2 and 3 - Boat Pose - Plank - Childs Pose.

There are others, but that is ALL I can think of now. I can almost do this:

Thompson - Again

So last weekend, Brian and I decided we would try Thompson again. This attempt would be different:

• Leave from his cabin @ Alpinetal
• Leave super early
• Go as light as we can
• Go as fast as we can

As we're unloading things from my truck, I lock the keys in the cab. Nice. Not a big deal as most of my climbing gear is in the shell, and it is unlocked. So it looks like we will walk to the trail head. No biggie, maybe half a mile.

Brian and I drink a beer and relax. Try to get to bed early since it is an early rise. At 12:15 I wake up and remember I have a special credit card key in my wallet. How could I be so stupid as to not remember that? Jesus, am an idiot. I lay awake for the next 3+ hours waiting for the alarm. It doesn't go off and finally I get up @ 4am.

I eat a big bowl of Museli, as I'm not gonna bonk on this epic SOB. We're on the trail @ 5. Not bad, actually 5:02. An hour or so up the trail, we're making good time, but I'm hearing voices...Shit, somebody is on the trail behind us? Hell. An hour or so later, they pass us. Climbers. Where they headed? They say Thompson. Shit. Shit. Shit. It could be a problem. If they get on the rock BEFORE us, then we have to wait for them. Thompson is a long approach in and out. Last time (about 2 months ago) it was a 17 hour day. We were back at the car at midnight. Brutal. I have never been so completely wiped out.

So we press on. As we get near the lakes area of PCT they stop and chat with a couple of folks who spent the night near the lakes. It's 7:30 in the AM, who wants to chitty chat? I see that as our opportunity. We pass the 4 of them and I pick up the pace. I want us on the rock ASAP. Brian was on his toes as in the fog we nearly miss the left hand turn to scramble up what is called Bumblebee Pass. We hear voices behind us and really start moving. We get to the top and it's wet and cloudy and foggy and looking really bad. Shit. Shit. Now the weather is gonna keep us from attempt number 4? Shit. We eat a bite and take a breather trying to decide what to do next. I'm about 50/50 on bailing. Brian says, lets at least get to the other side of the bowl. We push on. The fog is super thick as it's really difficult to see where the notch is on the other side. None of the snow is left from our attempt 2 months ago. Where is that notch? We know where it is in general as we've been there 3 times before, but pretty hard to make out when you can barely see 100 feet in front of you. Then, the sky breaks for a minute, and we see the notch. We are so psyched. Hell maybe the weather will let up.

As we put on our boots and start to rack up on the first pitch, we hear voices. There they are, just minutes behind us. As the four of them come around the first big rock, we're ready to go. Brian has built a rock solid (ha ha) anchor and I'm tied in and ready to try this bastard again. We brought a new 9.9 mm 70 meter dual weave dry rope, I got on sale @ backcountry.com. Those guys have good stuff at good prices.

Pitch 1 - Climb a chimney. I remember. Turn towards they north and climb another climney. I remember it too. Scramble over the burley bush. Go. I'm feeling good, but the rope drag is really starting to be burdensome. I'm near the end of the rope. I find a decent ledge and set up a belay station. I have to huff and puff to really bring in the rope. We should have used more doubles and triple runners.

Pitch 2 - Climb up and around a corner. Move up slow and steady. Ah here is the ledge I remember last time. How did I get up this? I move to the right, and put in an Alien...Hmm, I don't like it. I step down and head back to the ledge. Shit what now. Ah hell, just climb. I put in that same Alien Cam @ the ledge and hope that if I fall, it will stay stuck in the crack. It was a while ago that i put pro in...If I fall, and that Alien pulls, it's really gonna hurt. Later I get to the ridgeline. I remember this spot as my water bottle fell out of the sleeve last time. I think it went a couple hundred feet. I wonder, did it break? It was my livestrong bottle. Damn. Oh well. Better the bottle than me! I decide the rope drag is so bad that I have to belay Brian from this spot. I tug on the rope and it barely moves. Jesus. This is gonna take a while. After quite a while of tugging, and my arms are burning like hell. I get Brian up the the ledge.

Ridgeline - I bring Brian up and we're gonna protect the next slabby section. I put in a couple pieces but soon I'm out of rope. Good thing too. I was getting tired of rope drag, once again. Our climber friends are right behind us. They are proably better climbers, and they are in rock shoes, not boots. Two distinct advantages. I tell Brian, I need a break. He has to lead as the rope drag is killing me and I need just a bit of a breather.

Brian heads to the left up a little ramp and around the corner. The rope is moving pretty fast as I'm guessing, it's pretty easy climbing. It is. In a few minutes he's on the top, but this is not the summit. We walk along the top and discover a small ridge. Brian leads out, as he scrambles over and climbs an easy 4th class pitch. He brings me up and we toss the rope down and walk to the top. The sun clears up the fog and we sit for a half an hour enjoying the view.

Money Shot

Me on the top, facing north, the southern hump is just behind me.

Summit Movie

We walk north and with two rappells down, are near a meadow where we can walk down the far eastern side of Thompson. This appears to be the scramble route up. You mean we could have walked up? Jesus H?

We get down the scree/talus field and in to the bottom of the bowl. Nice snow melt water. We fill up the water bottles, eat a snack and head back up the other side of the bowl, back to bumblebee pass and PCT will take us home. Moving fast, we are back at the parking lot in 3 hours.

• Trailhead - 5:00 am
• Bumblee Pass - 8:30 am
• First Pitch - 10:00 am
• Summit - 2:00 pm
• Depart - 2:30 pm
• Bottom of bowl - 4:30 pm
• Trailside - 5:30 pm
• Trailhead - 8:30 pm
• Total Time 15:30 hours

Thompson - Denied

Tried to make an attempt on Thompson again. Damn diet foiled me as I didn't feel like I had any juice in my system. My Naturopath warned me about that. I didn't believe her. Now I do.

My Friend Tom Sent me This

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The Professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "yes."

The Professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

Now, said the Professor as the laughter subsided. I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things--your family, your children, your health, your friends and your favorite passions--and if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.

Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take up a hobby or special interest.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house and your car.

The sand is everything else--the small stuff. If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff you will never have room for the things that are important to you. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first--the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand. One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The Professor smiled. I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend.

Hello to Rabbits

So today's blog is an official hello to Rabbits. Why? Because Rabbits and I now eat the same food. Short Version: My kidneys don't process protiens very well. Therefore, as directed by my Naturopath, I'm changing some of my dietary habits to see if that makes a difference, and taking some suppliments.

• Vitamin E
• Astralagus
• Cordycep Sinensis
• Emergency C with MSM

Beginning last week, I'm on a pretty restrictive detoxification program right now. On this 3 week program:

• No meat (chicken, beef, pork, sausage) fish is OK
• No dairy (milk, cheese, ice cream) soy is OK
• No white rice (brown is OK)
• No refined sugar (Look at the ingredients. What doesn't have sugar added? Jesus H!)
• No refined flour (What doesn't have flour? No pasta, cookies, bagel, pastries, chips)
• No coffee (Ouch)
• No alcohol (Not even a beer. Double Ouch)

What can I eat? If you think about it, not much.

• Fruit - OK, I eat tons of fruit anyway. Dried fruit with no sulfates in it.
• Veggies - Eat quite a bit of those.
• Nuts - Eat some with cereal, but could eat more
• Beans - Eat some, but I could eat more
• Fish - Eat once a week but now more like 3-5
• Flourless bread - Gotta admit not bad
• Tortillas - Love those
• Water - Drink lots, could drink more
• Soy Milk - Don't like it, but now I'm learning
• Fruit Juice - Drink some, but could drink more
• Medi-Clear Suppliment Powder - Mix this in with the above

So I started on Friday the 20th. For some bizzarre reason, Saturday night my lower back and hips were killing me. Sunday same thing, but not as bad. The aches and pains have gone away, now. Monday I added the powder mix. It's not that good. Kinda caulky. Mostly rice protien. Feeling OK. Maybe my diet isn't as good as I thought?

So I asked the Doc, what was up with the lower back pain. She said some type of reaction is pretty common. Depending upon your diet, is how drastic you react. Wow. What if I was a Mr MacDonalds 3x a week kinda person? We took my blood preasure for fun.

• Two months ago: 128/80
• Now: 117/73

Oh no. It's better. I think I'm in trouble.

So I stay on this for 3 weeks (actually 18 days remaining) then I get a blood draw, then we see what my numbers are.

How do I feel? Actually I feel OK. Kinda hungry since stuff burns through me pretty quickly. I do feel "lighter" too. Yea, I'm pooping twice a day, but that's only one more than usual. Who knows, more details later.

Yoga

Yea, that's right. I'm a freak. I own a Yoga mat. Go figure. More details later.