Am I Having Fun Yet?

Here I am at the Mailbox. But this is no ordinary mailbox. This is the mailbox at the summit of a local peak known as ... wait for it... Mailbox! I am exhausted and dripping wet from sweat, but for good reason. This is no ordinary hike. Remember Mt. Si, my last excursion into the wild? The Mt. Si trail is four miles long and rises 3150 feet in elevation. At an average 15% grade, it's a pretty good hike. It took me 1:52 to get to the top. The Mailbox trail is 2.25 miles long and rises 4000! By my math, that makes for a 34% grade! So even though the hike is half as long as Mt. Si, it's more than twice as steep. (For the mathematically-challenged among you, a 34% grade means that for every 100' you go horizontally, you go up 34.' (Actually the grade is a bit more than that because the 2.25 miles is the hypotenuse, not the horizontal leg of the triangle, but that's way too nit-pickingly complicated for this post)) It took me 2:20 to get up, and 1:40 to get down. My climbing buddy Lee smoked me totally, making it to the top in1:59. In our continued preparation for our August 15th assault on Mt. Rainier, we're talking about hiking Tiger Mountain tomorrow. It's a relatively easy hike on a good trail, but we'll be doing it with 50lb packs on our backs. Am I having fun yet?




It's a long way to the top. This shot was taken on the last leg where the trail emerges from the forest.











It's a long way down. Unfortunately, it was a foggy, dreary day (typical for this year's so-called summer), so the views from the top were less than spectacular.

Going up is hard work, but going down can be hard on the quads and the knees. Surprisingly enough I'm not suffering any significant ill effects today. I am pleased that my long-abused body is hanging in there as well as it is.







I went to a podiatrist on Tuesday, fully expecting to get fitted for a set of orthotics in an attempt to fix my on-going ankle and knee problems. The Doc took some x-rays, poked around a bit and told me I didn't need orthotics. Instead, he gave me a couple of ankle braces and prescribed an NSAID (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug) called Diclofen. I hate being part of the pharmaceutical-industrial establishment, but this stuff is truly magic! After taking two pills on Tuesday, I woke up on Wednesday for the first time in ages without any ankle stiffness. And as an extra added bonus, the intermittent pain in my left elbow is gone!

Hallelujah, Praise the Lord. I'm cured!

Race Week Boat-Bites and More

Who says that sailing is a non-contact sport? As shown in these pictures, there was lots of contact between various body parts and various boat parts. The boat usually won.

The week started off on Sunday with the usual kick-off party. We got to see a bunch of old friends and make some new ones. Monday came early enough, and even though with a crew of seven we were short-handed, and even though Jeff, my partner in foredeck crime, wouldn't be in Oak Harbor till Wednesday, the day started off with a lot of optimism. When we left Oak Harbor, the winds were light, but more than sufficient for racing. On the way to the racecourse, we talked about our positions and what we'd be doing. Even though we were short-handed, Lezlie was filling in for a couple of days, and the rest of us had raced together in the Friday Night Series all summer. I thought I could handle the foredeck with help from Lezlie, and I could help out in the back when running upwind. I was confident that we would do at least OK.

Well, as the winds came up, my confidence rapidly disappeared. We ran aground (temporarily), missed a finish line completely, and I screwed up a jibe so badly that I just about fell overboard getting it unscrewed. By the time the two races were over, we were all bruised, battered, bewildered, and solidly in second-last place.

Tuesday was better. The winds weren't quite a strong, we got a little extra help from Chris' dad, and from Herb who helped out a bit in the cockpit. Lezlie and I stayed on the foredeck. But even though we didn't make any major mistakes, we couldn't beat anyone except Good as Gold.

Wednesday was a day off due to no wind. 120 boats milled around the committee boat, waiting for the postponement flag to come down. It never did come down, so the boats ended up rafted-up at the small dock in Coupeville. I suspect that the ice cream parlor there set a new one-day sales record.

Thursday and Friday, we had our full crew in place. Jeff and I had our usual spots on the foredeck, and Kelly took over grinding chores in the cockpit. It all came together pretty well. We had a few minor foul-ups, but nothing came close to the various messes on Monday. It was still somewhat disappointing that in spite of our best efforts, and even though we weren't always last across the line, by the time the PHRF adjustments were made, we were still at the hind end of our class.

I think that this year, the boats and crews were better than last year. Last year, we could look at a couple of the boats, and could say that if we hadn't screwed up, we would have beaten them. This year, other than Good as Gold, there was really no one within reach. For full race results, check out this link. We were racing on Surt in the P3 fleet.

For your sadistic viewing pleasure, here are some boat-bites, and more.

Jeff had the good sense to wear knee and shin pads, but they weren't enough.














Here's the Dolly Mama showing off her otherwise fine legs.













And a good one on the forearm!


















And to add insult to injury, it was cold out there! Here we are, mostly bundled up and ready to race. From left to right, Larry, Kelly, Dolly, Skipper Mike, Chris, Me, Connie, and Jeff.











It's quite a sight to see 120 boats milling around before the first starts.













The wind was blowing back in Oak Harbor.


















Here's the crew on after the final day of racing. From left to right, Mike, Kathleen, Chris, Steve, Kelly, Dolly, Connie, and Jeff. (I was taking the picture)











Here we are, waiting for wind.













All-in-all, it was a great week, and masochists that we are, we're looking forward to next year!

Race Week

Blogging will probably be light this week since I'll be up in Oak Harbor. Once again it's time for Whidbey Island Race Week, also known to the sailing community as Summer Camp for Adults. If the setup is the same as last year, we'll have two races per day for four days, with one longer race on Friday. Due to popular demand, Surt's crew from last year has been reunited for a return engagement. Last year we tied for last in our division, so there is considerable room for improvement.

If there is a good Wi-Fi signal at the marina, I might make a quick post or two, but otherwise don't expect to hear from me until next weekend.

Mt. Si

Yesterday Lee and I hiked up Mt. Si. We had done a couple of lesser hikes in the last month or two, and even though Mt. Si is one of the most popular hikes in the Seattle area, it is longer and higher and tougher than anything we'd previously done. The trail up is four miles long with an elevation change of about 3500 feet.

It was a gorgeous, absolutely perfect day. We had previously heard that getting to the top of Mt. Si in two hours with a 40 pound pack is a good time to shoot for. Caroline did it last week in 1:58, but with no pack. We loaded our packs with about 20 pounds of stuff, including water, cameras, spare socks, etc., and left the parking lot at 7:51AM. We made it to the top at 9:45AM, giving us an elapsed time of 1:54. Not bad for a couple of guys twice Caroline's age!


The climb is certainly a good workout. I was concerned that my left ankle (which I strained playing volleyball a couple of weeks ago) might give me problems, and I was also concerned that my level of aerobic fitness would have me gasping and wheezing while Lee, my much older (57) hiking partner would leave me in the dust. My ankle held up fine, as did my heart and lungs. I certainly did sweat though. At one point about a mile from the top, I took off my pack to get a drink. When I put it back on, I realized the pack was soaking wet. I took it off again thinking I'd dumped my water in the pack. The water jug was fine. The sweat had soaked through my T-shirt, my shirt, and soaked the back of the pack!


The views of the Snoqualmie Valley and Mt. Rainier are spectacular!













You may have noticed several shots of Mr. Rainier in this and other posts. And you may be wondering why a couple of old boating farts like Lee and me are doing all these hikes. Did you think we were turning into a couple of earth muffins? Well, not actually. Lee, Caroline and I, and possibly one or two others plan on climbing Mt. Rainier sometime in August. Last night, over sausages and beer at Lee's place, we met River Joiner, a gnarly young man who has climbed Rainier 41 times, and who will be our guide.

Remember how I was bragging about our time of 1:54 up Mt. Si with 20 pound packs? River (isn't that a great name for a mountain guide!) deflated our egos by saying that we should be able to make it up there in an hour and a half, with a 50 pound pack! And just in the last few days, a local climber made it from Paradise (the common starting point for Rainier climbs) to the summit and back in 4:49! The typical elapsed time for a "normal" summit from there is three days, even though fitness freaks sometimes do it in one day. 4:49 is pretty much unbelievable to a recovering couch potato like me.

Here's a zoomed-in shot of Rainier. The route we'll be taking is on the other side of the mountain, so you can't see it from here. We'll be taking a slightly longer and less-traveled route up the mountain that should take us three days for the round trip. We'll have to buy, rent or borrow a bunch of gear to do this, and unfortunately there are no yaks or Sherpas on the mountain, so we'll have to haul it all up ourselves.

Our expedition is currently scheduled to start August 15th, or a week later if the weather is crappy. I will keep you posted.

The Onion was right on January 17, 2001

I tried to post the whole page from The Onion, but Blogger is one of strangest and most difficult programs to make do what you want it to do. I think the program must have been written by Microsoft. So instead, to see what I'm writing about, you'll have to check out this link.

I think it's amazing that in this day and age of instant information and a zillion news sources, the most prescient commentary comes from faux-news, satire, and comedy. Between The Onion and The Daily Show, you'll get all the news you'll ever need.

Tamales and Obama

I am going to finish my thoughts on the aborted "What's With Obama" post, but first I wanted to brag about the tamales I made last night. I've always liked them and order them regularly when I'm eating at a Mexican restaurant, but I'd never tried to make them before. They are a bit of work to prepare, but I think they turned out pretty good for a first try. Next time I'll spice up the chicken filling a bit more, but all-in-all I'm happy with the results. I think that tamales are now officially a part of my cooking repertoire.

I used a spaghetti cooker with a built-in colander to steam them for an hour.




Here's the finished product (or at least what was left after Megan and Caroline and I had our fill). Note the touch of added authenticity of the corn husk ties.











And now on to Obama and his actions over the last few weeks...

I think his pivot to the center went way too far. Any one of these changes would have been no big deal, but they all happened in a couple of weeks, making him look like a typical pandering politician. But who is he pandering to? There's nothing he can do to get the McCainiacs on board, and he shouldn't even bother trying. His decision not to use public campaign financing was the only smart thing to do, and in and of itself wouldn't have caused him more than a day or two of bad press. His agreement with the Supreme Court on the DC gun ban and his disagreement with the court overturning a death penalty for child rape weren't what I would have expected. His soft-pedaling of the withdrawal of troops in Iraq wasn't really a change in policy, but it was sure played up that way in the press. At one point he even endorsed the view that the US should make it's already largest military in the world even bigger. If he had argued that troops levels should be increased but all the rest of the hi-tech toys and missile defense would be cut way back, I might have agreed with him. But his biggest blunder was reversing his view on the revised FISA bill. He had previously vowed to filibuster the bill if it contained immunity for the telecoms, but he ended up endorsing the bill.

He is rapidly starting to look like a run-of-the-mill politician with great rhetorical skills. I hope that's not the case. If he continues along this path, he won't lose my vote (I sure as hell won't vote for McCain), but he will lose my future financial contributions and he will lose my enthusiastic support. I suspect that I am not alone in this view. His early strategy called for enlisting millions of voters who otherwise would not have voted. He showed he could do this during the primaries, but if he doesn't pivot back to what brought those voters out in the first place, it's not impossible for him to lose, even to a doddering dangerous fool like McCain.

Inflation

I think the official inflation rate is currently around 4%, but somehow I find that number hard to believe. I'm not sure exactly what is in the government's basket of goods used to calculate the official numbers, but here are a few examples of staples from my basket.

Beer: Last year a six-pack of my favorite microbrew cost about $7.50. Due to a world-wide shortage of hops, that same six-pack now costs me $9.50.
One year price increase - 27%

Gasoline: The price a year ago was $3.00. Now the price is $4.40.
One year price increase - 46%

Steaks: Costco charged $6.00/lb for my favorite New York strip steaks a year ago. Today they sell for $10.00.
One year price increase - 67%

Health Care: A year ago, my minimal-coverage-catastrophic health insurance plan cost $182/month. In July, the rate went up to $269/month.
One year price increase - 48%

If this keeps up, I may have to dust off my resume and get that job as a greeter at Wal-Mart that I've been eyeing.

Happy Birthday to Me!

We celebrated my birthday yesterday by having a wiener roast on the beach at Golden Gardens. It was a gorgeous day, in the low 80's and without a cloud in the sky. Folks brought some salads to go along with the hot dogs, and later we had smores for dessert. A good time was had by all.



Here are a few of the well-wishers.





And a few more.














Megan and Caroline joined in after their Irish step dancing class. Yes, you read that right. An Irish step-dancing class. I'm sure their genetic link to The Mennonite Rhythm Section helps them keep up.









Here I am with my two Megans. And yes, Megan (the younger) is standing on a curb. She hasn't grown, and I haven't shrunk in my old age.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and thanks to Megan for making it all happen!

Britannia Mines

For all of you who've ever driven the road to Whistler, you've probably wondered what the massive old mine in Britannia and the Museum of Mining is all about. I know I have. My curiosity was finally satisfied on the way back from Whistler this weekend.

From 1904 to 1974 this was a huge copper mining operation. In fact, according to our somewhat goofy guide, by 1924, it was the largest copper mine in the British Commonwealth, and one of the largest in the world. There were no roads or railways into the area until the 1950's, so the people who worked there lived in isolation in the company town. Interestingly enough, in the days before mechanical loaders, a team of two muckers (the poor bastards who shoveled the ore into miniature railway cars), were expected to load 16 tons of ore per day. It brings new meaning to Tennessee Ernie Ford's big hit. The tour consisted of a short train ride into one of the shafts where the evolution of mining equipment was on display. This mine operated operated from the days when manual labor was king to modern mechanized mining. You could easily imagine John Henry (to continue my musical theme) racing a steam drill to prove he could drill a hole faster than a machine and then dropping dead after he won. Actually, the first mechanized drills were pneumatic, and were actually worse for the workers than hammering the drill bits in by hand. They were so loud that workers were soon deafened by the noise, and within a few years they could hardly breath due to silicosis from all the dust. The life expectancy of a miner wasn't very long back then.


Things did get better for the miners over the years, but it's still hard to imagine working down there for 12 hours a day, 6 days a week. And if you ever wondered about toilet facilities down in the mine, here's the original Port-a-Pot.










The inside of the the ore concentrator building (the huge building you see from the road) is something out of an apocalyptic science fiction movie. In fact, this place has quite a filmography. Everything from episodes of McGyver to Free Willy III has been filmed here. A lot of famous stars have been there, but most of the movies appear to be solidly on the "B" list.













The legacy of the mine lives (or dies) on in the toxicity of Howe Sound. Decades of toxic sludge seeping into the Sound essentially killed most of the marine life there, with contaminated water draining through the mine shafts into the Sound long after the mine ceased operation. Today, there is a water treatment plant operating there that appears to be making great strides in cleaning up the effluent.







Maybe spending my first Fourth as a US citizen back in my mother country is a bit unpatriotic, but a good time was had by all.

What's with Obama?

Happy Canada Day (the day late edition)

In hono(u)r of Canada Day, The Huffington Post listed the Ten Hottest Men and Ten Hottest Women from Canada. I guess I'm really out of touch with pop culture or with my mother country, or both, because I have no idea who six of the women and seven of the men are. Do any of you know who these people are?

Rachel McAdams
Evangeline Lilly
Elisha Cuthbert
Linda Evangelista
Emmanuelle Chriqui
Daria Werbowy

Hayden Christiansen
Ryan Reynolds
Ryan Gosling
Tom Green
Will Arnett
Joshua Jackson
Scott Speedman

The Price of Gas

I set a new record today, paying $81.45 to fill up my tank. I guess all you Canadians out there, especially those driving Suburbans and pickups are scoffing at that kind of fuel bill, but it's a bit of a shock to me to think that a $100 tank isn't too far off in the future. But wait until I fill my boat! With a 300 gallon tank and diesel over $5/gallon, $1000 won't cover it! And gas isn't the only thing getting outta sight. I buy New York strip steaks at Costco on a semi-regular basis. Six months ago, they cost about $6/lb. The last time I was Costco a few days ago, they were up to $10! I wonder what's happened to the price of bologna. There could be more of it in my future.









I took Farley back to the groomer today and had his head touched up. He looks a lot better. He does indeed have eyes!