Joshua Tree

I finally got some pictures up for you to view. Here are the pictures from Joshua Tree 2006.

Happy Holidays!

Sara and I returned from a trip to Joshua Tree, where we climbed for five days. It was an amazing trip. We are both completely worn out though. We'll likely have more pictures up later. We wish you all happy holidays. I know for some this time of year is difficult, but I hope your families bring you happiness.

Going Public

A company I used to work for went public on Friday. I now have 180 days to wait until I can sell the shares I own. If it stays in the $20 range it won't be much but it will give me some seed money for additional investments. The initial offering of $13 opened at $25, if fell to $23/share but that is still nice. I have to admit I'm dreaming about selling at $100, but the reality of that happening is pretty slim. I will likely be lucky to sell for $5.

The unfortunate thing is that my few shares have already been cut in a 1/2 reverse split. Even though, I'm happy to see potential. Life could be much worse...

Meeting Fred Beckey

Fred Beckey was at a holiday party that Sara and I attended. I don't have much to say about him. He actually didn't say much. His attention was easily distracted, but he was friendly and kind.

I guess I'm suppose to be in awe. To some extent I am, but really I'm just thankful for people like him who pioneered the sport I've come to cherish. Without them we would have bulldozed this country flat. I guess I'm just lucky. It isn't often we are in the presence of a legend.

Honda's 2.2 i-CTDi

Have you ever heard of it? That is because you cannot get it in the United States, or in all of North America. What is that? It is a cleaner, quieter diesel engine. It can run on biodiesel. It can get 40+ mpg (some reports are as high as 70+ mpg), and it has a hauling capacity so you could even hook up your boat. Why don't we have it in North America? Probably because Americans are stupid.

I'm tired of hearing that the market place doesn't support bringing these vehicles to the U.S.A. I think that is out right bull sh!t. If you marketed a vehicle that would get 40+ miles per gallon, and is cleaner, and can run on renewable fuel that is cheap to make -- no, no, not likely the market would survive. We Americans are so stupid we couldn't possibly have want a vehicle that would be better for the environment, better on our pocket books, and better for our economy. Yes, better for our economy -- we'd finally be pushing our local companies to compete with the worlds great manufactures.

LAME!

Snow!

We are having our first snow of the season at sea level. It has been coming down all day really, and has sure been messing up my satellite television. Sara is making bread and soup and Hana is begging for outside time. With the way things are going it doesn't look like tomorrow will be a day for working at the office.

We have had a fairly nice four day weekend. Sara and I hung out at the gym and even took her parents and sister climbing. Her mom and dad did excellent, I hope we get a chance to bring them outside in the spring.

What's a philosophy?

I have an eight year old nephew (well not yet eight, but soon) who likes to ask big questions. I was a bit stumped when he asked "What does philosophy mean?" We pulled out a dictionary and went about trying to explain it. Not easy when every word you want to use has to be explained as well.

Sara and I had a nice visit with the family in Denver. The nephews were more than a handful on Saturday, but they shaped up pretty quickly. After some sassing back to grandma the older nephew got the shake down from Uncle Chris. The boys were very well behaved after that and we had a very good time with a quick science project. We went into the bathroom and the boys looked at their eyes in the mirror. I turned off the light for 30 seconds and then turned it back on. This of course causes the pupil to constrict and the boys thought that was cool.

We visited Breckenridge, which is a nice ski resort/tourist trap. We would have liked to spend more time but such is the way things go. We also had a great time on the way to the airport. There is this monster store called Outdoor World, and it had a shooting range (with lasers, not bullets) and the boys also got to climb the indoor rock wall. That was pretty neat. We probably could have played for a few hours. Even Sara had fun in there shooting at the range.

We had a bit of excitement at the airport in Denver. Going through security we got pulled aside. Sara apparently had our Leatherman in her purse. Why this wasn't caught at Sea-Tac we have no idea, but none-the-less it was a big surprise that we had this knife with us on the plane to Denver. So $8 and three to six weeks later we'll get our Leatherman back. Fun stuff to have security going through your purse. We cannot remember why the Leatherman was in Sara's purse though...we figure it must have been from our camping trip to Redwood National Forest.

So the family is well, and the nephews are growing tall. Mom has settled into Denver, and seems to be very happy with the weather and altitude. Sara and I just need to become wealthy enough to visit more often. Colorado is a great place to visit.

Hmmm, interesting results.

I didn't see that coming. Seriously, I was almost 99.9% certain that the GOP would hold the Senate. And seriously, I figured Missouri would be much closer than it turned out to be...I mean despite the exit polls and weekly trends showing a Dem win there...didn't expect that it would actually hold to reality.

So, I hope that now there is a clear change of power in our political system, we don't fall asleep and let the Dem's become as corrupt and dirty as the GOP's became. My hope is that both parties do some serious work on setting the ethical standards of our politicians. And I hope that the GOP can find its way back from the lunacy that has gripped them for such a long time. Focus on politics that actually impacts the people, not this gay bashing, tax cutting for the rich, anti-abortion stand. Middle class America needs to focus on keeping our civil liberties, providing education so we can compete in this global economy, keeping people employed with good paying jobs, and making sure we can have reasonable health needs met.

And hopefully we can get away from these bills that amount to doing nothing. It makes no sense to say we are going to "leave no child behind" if we are not going to fund these bills.

Okay, it is nice to see the bully humbled.

Keep your video camera's powered on.

Holy Cow! Thank you all who have taken your video cameras and focused them on the polls, and have made it next to impossible for the election to be twisted and undermined. Yes, there are some very, very close races and we will likely have to wait until the morning to see the end results, if not longer. However keep your eyes on Missouri and Virginia. The weekly polling, the exit polling show there is a favorite, and so far it is looking suspicious. We knew Virginia would be tight, but Missouri ... well 60% of the votes are counted and it should be much closer than it currently is being reported.

Earn your citizenship!

Go and Vote. If the odds are overwhelming they can try to cheat all they want...

Prepare to have your Democracy undermined...again.

Well there are really only two and a half days left until the votes are cast and counted. If you are paying attention, the media is already minimizing the position of the Democratic party. My first thought was "This cannot be right!" So I started doing my research, and sure enough it looks like the media is reporting on selective polling that shows the Democratic Party to not have the leads that weekly polling has been showing.

Why is this important? Well most polling has a plus or minus three percent. So if you put the Republican candidate within that 3% then you flip the results so the Republican wins and then you can say it was within the margin of error.

So the media is preparing the Democrats for disappointment. This is what they did in 2004, 2002, and 2000. The pattern of deception continues. The media claims to be "impartial" but they fail to report the facts, or if they do they minimize the time of presenting factual information. If you pay close attention you'll catch a few comments like "This is the only poll that shows the tightening of the race, but no other polls are showing that. (paraphrased)"

And then they keep playing up the John Kerry comments which if you actually watch the video, the whole video, it is clear and the audience knows it is clear who the jab was directed at -- George Bush. People who claim otherwise are lying to themselves.

So just pay attention. The deception before us is not well hidden, but so many choose to ignore the truth.

Dogs Dogs Dogs

I'm waiting for it to be November 1st in Korea. That is about three hours away, and while I wait for the seconds to pass, I sit and watch Vertical Frontier while Hana stares at me, Leroy watches the yard outside (certianly dreaming of having someone scratch his bum), and Apple is curled up sleeping. It is a great day to hang with the puppy dogs, and watch some interesting history of climbing. I've watched it before but somethings never get old.

I should probably get my chores done for the day...

Justifying the Right

So, all over the news is this slander from Rush Limbaugh about Michael J. Fox. What surprises me, and I'm really surprised, is that some media outlets are siding with Rush. They are justifying his vicious words, and Rush himself has said he stands by what he said and wouldn't put it any other way.

Why would anyone, and I mean anyone think that the opinions of Rush are worth listening too? He's a drug addicted, hooker chasing, lying, disgusting, right-wing apologist.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh! And I stand by that description of Rush.

I feel better. Better than my friend Heather who hurt herself climbing at Elwah this past week. I don't know all the details but I do know she pulled a rock from the wall and tumbled. Apparently, she hurt herself enough to need crutches.

Sara and I haven't had much time to climb lately. I've been putting in extra hours in the office to get a product delivered by the 1st of November. There is always lots to get done and never enough time to do it all. I have a chore list that hasn't budged in weeks. Oh well.

That is just so weird.

I didn't know you could smile with your cheeks and frown with your mouth. I've been married to Sara for eight years and I just noticed that she smiles with a frown. I didn't even know that was possible.

Why am I so tired?

This fall is just killing me. I cannot seem to get motivated. I need to do so many tasks. I've even started keeping track of them in my google page. I was hoping to get outside for one last climbing opportunity but I'm too tired. I've even had a hard time getting motivated about the gym. Though I have had a great time every time I've been in the gym.

This weekend I'll likely have to work. That kind of sucks too. I'm too tired to really care though.

Straw Men

You are either with us or against us.

If you don't support the war, you support the terrorist.

If you vote for a Republican, you vote for a pedophile.

Isn't that how straw men arguments work? Two options neither one really providing the whole picture? I'm certain that not all Republicans are bad. Although, it is very interesting to me how there is this rally to minimize the actions of one very bad individual, and the cover-up by other members of the GOP Party. The press secretary, Tony Snow, referred to the behavior as "naughty" and Fox tried to represent Mark Foley as a member of the Democratic Party, and other GOP members tried to make it out as a Democratic conspiracy (failing to recognize that the information was leaked via a Republican staffer.) What is wrong with the world? Since when do we support and justify the actions of those that cause our society harm? The so called "moral" party seems awfully thin on actual morals. I'm just amazed, dumb struck, confused.

Well, you'll only have to listen to my voting rants for a few more weeks...November 7th is approaching quickly. On a final note ... Vote. However it is that you vote, you should vote. This country doesn't ask much of its citizens -- the least you can do is vote.

My Party Princess

So I managed to throw a party for Sara. I tried to throw a 30th surprise birthday party for her, but she opened some mail and found out. So my little party princess had a Not-So-Surprise Party at the park. Both our families and our friends joined us and we bbq'd burgers and dogs. I think about 60 people joined us throughout the afternoon. Sara had a very good time and I think got to chat with everyone.

I finally surprised her though. I placed several Cam's on her seat in the car. I place a pillow over them, so she'd have to move the pillow before sitting. She was on the phone when she finally moved the "metal," and her surprise was very convincing. She knows I'm terrible at keeping things a secret so she played the part very well.

So now, with a few pieces our friend gave as gifts, and the new cam's we have a great start on our trad rack. It is kind of exciting. It would be nice if we had a chance to get out and start testing things. We'll probably have to wait though.

We'll see. Climbing is adictive.

How Prophetic

"Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true."

--Martin Luther King Jr.

Well, that clears up what is wrong with those who support this Administration.

The President Was Right!

Extra, Extra, Read All About!

Mr. Bush has finally spoken the truth!

He used to say that in time the truth will prevail and that history will show the truth. Well, we are finally starting to see some of that truth, that those of us who actually think and read have known for the last several years.

CIA Learned in '02 That Bin Laden Had No Iraq Ties, Report Says

It is curious that so many people have avoided seeing the truth for all these years -- including the "left-wing media."

I gave her the boot.

Yes, this used to be about what is up with both Sara and myself. The reality is that I mostly rant about politics, religion, and occassionally my own general thoughts. Besides, Sara has her own blog these days, so go there if you want to read her thoughts.

Can you see the difference?

I came across this article from the AP. As I read this article and the quotes from Ahmadinejad, I could not help but notice that his comments are very similar to those of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity and others.

This vitriol talk about the "Liberals" is the same from both groups. Funny, how the radical "Liberals" -- well they just want to have peace, prosperity, social fairness and yet are hated by both our right-wing and Ahmadinejad's right-wing. Oh, what's that you say? "But, they are terrorists!" Oh, I can see the difference now.

She stole my story.

We spent the weekend at Squamish again. We were suppose to take a class in Leavenworth but that was canceled and so we found some friends to meet up with. Our friends were on a different schedule than Sara and me. Saturday we ran into them in the afternoon. They had just arrived and we were finishing our day. We only had a short day with them, but we hung on their ropes and got our butts kicked. On Sunday we spent the morning bouldering, and oh my heck that was a whoopin. I finally got a couple a problems finished, but there where several that once on the holds I couldn't make the next move. I would have liked to stay longer. Especially because this next month I'm doing so much that I don't have much free time. I'm being shipped off to Georgia in a couple of weeks on business, and then there is the whole anniversary and birthday stuff that goes on at the end of September. And then, October hits and there are only a couple weekends left...to get Sara up more than one pitch.

If you want to read more on our latest Squamish trip you can read it over at Sara's Squamish Redux.

No Intelligence Here.

In the Washington Post, Dafna Linzer writes, "...a Republican staff member on the House intelligence committee who holds a hard-line view on Iran, fully backs the White House position that the Islamic republic is moving forward with a nuclear weapons program and that it poses a significant danger to the United States. But it chides the intelligence community for not providing enough direct evidence to support that assertion."

He continues writing, "Its authors did not interview intelligence officials." "It" being a 29-paged report from a House intelligence committee.

Clearly, the White House has no intelligence, and it neither cares nor wants to be intelligent. If you would like to read the entire article you can find it here. These people are so completely psychopathic.

In the meantime, Sara and I are off to do some climbing. I think we are going to camp out and climb some boulders in Squamish. We originally were planning on taking a Self-Rescue class in Leavenworth but that fell through and the class was canceled. Fortunately, we have options.

Growing Up.

You know I find it absolutely hilarious. I never wanted to grow up. Now I have responsibility. It seems to find us when we don't want it, and then you never seem to shake it off.

So what can you do? I know this couple who every five years re-evaluates their lives. If all is not well...well I don't know what happens. But if it were me I would never have the courage to do anything too dramatic. I'd wish I could just quit, I'd wish I could just pack up my wife, my dog, my cats and just ... I don't know.

Most likely, I'd just keep paying the bills, buying too much crap, and supporting a system that I don't believe in.

Yep, it is hilarious. Fricken hilarious.

Are you a fool?

How can you identify a fool?

The definition of fool is "one destitute of reason", "A person deficient in intellect", "one without judgment".

I think it is fairly easy to identify a fool. First you look at the mistakes of the fool, then you look at how often the fool repeats those mistakes.

Once again this administration is falling back to old behaviors. We are all the sudden painfully aware that we can never be 100% safe. And this administration has done nothing but play on those fears.

Wouldn't it be funny if ...

the Christian's right got what they want and our democracy fell to a christian theocracy? But instead of getting a Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran christianity they got a Mormon christianity? Or Worse?

No, that wouldn't be funny. Just like it isn't funny that we have a presidant that doesn't understand what it means to be moral. As he bombs and kills thousands upon thousands of civilians -- killing women and children and old men -- he denies people the hope of new cures for diseases.

Why?

Ignorance, Arrogance, Pride.

How to celebrate your Independence

Every year the Tumalo family gathers at Tumalo State Park in Bend, Oregon. This year was no exception. Sara and I joined this gathering last year with a desire to climb at Smith Rock which is 25 minutes away. It is really too hot to climb at Smith during this time of year, but if you are determined and stubborn you can get up super early and climb until the sun melts your shoes. Which is what we did -- up at five AM, climbing by six-thirty, then cleaning up our routes and walking back by eleven. Then we'd hang out at camp or by the river. It was great.

We had a couple of friends join us, both celebrating their independence. One was recently laid-off from her job, and the other had completed a divorce process. So we had fun celebrating with lots of climber talk, lots of teasing eachother, and our divorcee even made her own bouldering problem that we named "Just Divorced" - V0.

Signs from Above

This year for my birthday we decided to take a weekend class on gear placement and crack climbing techniques. It was really a great time. I will need a lot of practice before I can lead a trad climb, but at least I have a place to start.

Now I need to figure out what gear I want to buy...yeah...that's going to take some time since a Cam will cost anywhere from $45 to $100. Ouch, my pocketbook is already empty.

Back to the weekend -- Our first day was warm and nice, we sat and talked mostly. The best part was learning the anchors and practicing placing gear while on the ground, which covered the whole day. We did a mock climb where we were on top rope and got to faux lead the climb and place our gear. Then one of our instructors would tell us how unsafe the placement was -- they were very kind, but it let me know that I need much more practice. It was a lot of fun.

Day two was all climbing. The point wasn't to send the climb as much as practice the movements, and figure out other techniques. I really struggled with that until the end of the day, but I'm starting to figure it out. At one point of the day, I was walking over to belay for a climber that was going to clean the anchor. As we were walking, a huge boulder crashed right next to us. If I had been moving a little faster it could possibly have crushed my head.

The sign from above reads -- "Watch for falling rocks."

Dinner with Dad's

Sara and I took our fathers out to dinner last night. We would have done this on Father's Day, but that also happens to be my birthday and we will be doing a outing to learn some traditional climbing skills. I know -- selfish me.

Anyway, we had a very nice dinner and conversation. I learned something about myself during that dinner. My awkward connections to a conversation are not unique to me. My Dad does the same thing...Go figure. I think it is that we, my dad and I, try to relate our own experiences into a conversation. Now that doesn't seem out of the ordinary, but the way we do it makes other people pause and think -- "Where's he going with this comment?"

I noticed it when I was talking about a lead route I had set in the local climbing gym, and I was explaining that I wanted to force left handed clipping, and moving beyond the anchor before actually clipping the rope. Well, this lead to my dad bringing up handball. It took a moment before his comments came around to dexterity and the skills required to be a good player. Thus the connection -- dexterity of climbing and handball.

Yep, we are the products of our parents.

Me and my tinfoil hat

Sara and I participated in the Election Protection, that totally failed. We thought that if we watched we could prevent the election of 2004 from being stolen. We failed to do our job. Interestingly, we talked to so many people of what we saw, and what we knew to be true. Some said we were nut-cases, and tinfoil hat wearer's, and other such names.

I chose to live with the names. I know what I saw, and the evidence has always been there. Not to mention that as the Republican party self destructs more and more of the truth is starting to show.

Well, it has only taken a year and a half since our democracy was undermined and now we have a reporter taking the time to document, with references and all, the fraud that leads all the way to the Bush administration. For those brave enough to read the truth, there is much to sift through. Take your time. The truth is almost never easy to find.

High on Krack

We spent the weekend in Squamish, B.C. which was just perfect and wonderful. The weather was warm but rainy the first day. We found a nice crag that had a high overhanging cliffs that left the walls dry enough to get in a day of some spectacular routes.

At the end of the day, everyone left for bouldering at the Chief, and Mac and I did a two pitch climb. That was a high point for me and climbing. I did my first multipitch, and it included a short bit of crack climbing. I hadn't done that yet.

Day two was just as spectacular. We found a handful of slab climbs and put a young climber on his first lead. He did just fine, though he had to overcome a bit of nervousness. In the afternoon, Mac took Sara and I over to a 5.10a five star classic crack climb called "The Zip". He lead the climb and put up a top rope for Sara and me. Crack climbing is addictive, and super exhilarating. I can hardly wait to do it again.

Thank you for nothing

The other day I read about this article and I was just stunned.

Can you believe this so called "tax relief"? If you make between 10 to 100 thousand you will save $2-$400 dollars. If you make over a million you will save $41977. Now, I'm not a super math genius or anything, but shouldn't that number be $4,198? Why is it that if you make ten times as much money you get a hundred times the savings? And that is on the high end, on the low end you make 21 thousand times the savings instead of one thousand times the savings. Is that right? Maybe my math is wrong...I mentioned I'm not a math genius right?

I'm sure that is helping our economy...Greedy bastards.

What makes you tick?

Lately, I've felt very crowded. I am not enjoying working indoors. Don't get me wrong, I have a great job that is not too demanding, pays well, and leaves lots of time to do other things. However, I want to be outside. I want to go spend a few months traveling (if only I could afford the fuel.) I would spend some time revisiting places I saw last summer, only camping around more and hiking. I'd go visit many of the places I didn't get a chance to visit.

There is this article in the February-March issue of Gripped and it is about a husband and wife, with their dog and cat, living on the road: "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly. Reflections on Four Years of Climbing and Living on the Road." It's got some gross stuff, but only because modern conveyances are not readily available. Anyway, this couple spent four years (as you might have guessed from the title) out camping, climbing, meeting new people, and enjoying most of the things we neglect. There is this picture where they are at a open market in Mexico shopping for fresh food, and all I can think is how wonderful it would be if I could "afford" this kind of life. I don't know that I'd really want it all, but at the same time I fondly remember being at the Grand Canyon and a huge thunder and lighting storm was going on outside the tent, and while Sara didn't sleep a wink, the last thing I remember hearing was ... "You've got to be kidding me, you are not already asleep." Certainly not at that specific moment, but just as certainly within a few seconds ;)

Fortunately, I'm dragging Sara around outside. I've become a bit pushy and not really giving her much say, yet she isn't fighting really either. I take that as a compliment -- She could just put her foot down and be difficult, but really she just has trusted me to be extra safe and doubled checked my work. I say this hoping that we'll get our first multipitch adventure in a couple weeks. Speaking of which, I have some research to do...

Finally! Climbing outdoors.

Well, Sara and I finally got outside to climb. We went to Vantage and had a wonderful time at the Feathers. The first part of our day was climbing on ropes placed by people we'd never met before -- Ilee, Lea, Salus, and Alexa and husband/boyfriend (sorry I forgot his name), and Jessica and Kari. I should have gotten emails or something...But I guess being random is just fine too.

Our crew totally bailed on us, so Sara wasn't too sure about going all three plus hours. Fortunately, we went the whole way because back at North Bend it was raining and snowing. I'm very excited about our trips coming up. Late May we are headed up to Squamish B.C. for some bouldering and hopefully I'll get to do a mulitpitch (Sara isn't sure about doing that yet). I'm really excited about that.

Our Adventures Continue

We have not had a nice weekend yet that allowed us to climb outside. It has been a bit of a bummer, but I'm sure things will change soon. Sara will be making some changes too. It is a bit scary but I'm certain we'll survive.

Hana recently hurt her back. She jumped off the couch to go play ball, and something happened that made her very sore. We've been keeping her calm (as far as Labrador's are calm) for the last two weeks, and now it is all about working up to her full play potential. She thinks it is time right now.

I keep meaning to setup a big party but that just hasn't happened. Life keeps getting in the way. I think I may just start inviting people to meet us at a park and we can do a potluck and bbq...hmmm, I'll look into that.

What is you soul worth?

I heard a report about how in the U.S. workers are actually putting in more time at work and producing less results. It got me thinking -- how much money would I give up to be able to play more than I work? I mean, I'm fairly productive until I get so tired that I am pretty much useless. I end up looking at the screen and struggling to do the work in my schedule. Yet, if I only work a 6 hour day, I often get more done.

It interests me that companies in this country which are all about the bottom line, are not interested in an increase in productivity. I wonder how much companies lose because of a lack of productive work?

I wonder how much people lose because they waste their lives being unproductive at work?

I really need a weekend without rain so I can get out to the crag with my lovely Sara.

We're going Climbing...

It is our first weekend outside this season. Hopefully the weather will hold long enough to make the trip worth while. We are heading east to Vantage for some fun at the Feathers. It is a bit of a trip but has been mostly dry these last few weeks.

In other news, sara now has her own domain Sara Lingafelter.com which currently forwards to her blog (which is also a link to the right,) but ultimately will go to hour home server (if she decides to set that up.)

I have started my sites as well. Both, yes I have two so far, are in the works but you can take a look at Left Over Comics.com and my business site Natural Fuels which I hope to in the next month or so have the money to setup our first pump. It has taken a lot longer than I had hoped but now that Sara is out of school and back to work hopefully things will pick up soon.

Just jump for it.

Sara and I did the 4th and final bouldering competition of the series they do out here. It was a blast. Sara placed 3rd in her group, and one of our local climbers, Victoria, placed 9th in the nation (though our local comp had nothing to do with her national standing.)

Sara, of course, performed methodically and made all her attempts seem simple and flawless. She really is fun to watch.

My favorite moment, was after I had achieved my goal, and was attempting climbs that were difficult either because of my skill or because my arms were all pumped out (that means they were hard as rocks and over used). I was on a climb that a number of us were having trouble (we were all tired at this point). I got on it, and made it to the last move before the final hold. Now, if I were not so tired, I would have taken my time and moved my feet to support me, but I heard the kids below me saying "jump for it" so I did.

I missed the hold and fell to the ground. I laughed and said "Oh, yeah, just jump for it." They youth that was cheering me to jump said, "Well, if you'd just jumped higher."

It was great fun, and now Sara and I are very excited to get up to Squamish B.C. for a weekend. I'll try to get a few pictures up.

Zed Foo Bonbon Zip Gow

I couldn't think of a title today, so zed foo bonbon zip gow. That means I am fully capable of speaking jibberish. Not much going on. I've been spending a bit more time in front of the computer lately as Sara has been super busy with work. We've also been preparing for our house guest, Sara did most of the work.

I've been getting my website up and running. So far it has mostly been configuring my server. But you can now get to my home server leftovercomics.com and hopefully it will improve as I learn how to web design. Something that I have never been good at is web design.

Well, I guess one thing has been going on. Sara and I have been setting routes out our local climbing gym. Apprently, I'm quite the natural route setter. I've been asked to set more and I'm looking forward to doing at least one route every couple weeks.

Okay, back to the jibberish...zing zowy whip whip dong fong.

Damn kidney stones.

I blame my father.

Fourteen or so months ago I had lithotripsy, and now I'm still having problems. Fortunately, they seem to be small and flow out pretty easily...so far.

Okay, sorry to gross you out.

Sara wrote this amazing article about Washington's new anti-discrimination law that protects individuals from "Unfair Practices Based on Sexual Orientation." It is kind of long, but Sara says it isn't a "book" and that she has proof. I'm not waiting for the proof.

In other news, Winnie's mom is coming to live with us while she finishes her thesis, or so I have heard. Winnie will be super excited. She has lost a bit of weight, so I'm certain her parents will think we've been starving her. Certainly, Winnie will agree. Yet, she'll run like crazy for the ball.

I trust him with my life.

So I have been going through a background investigation to get security clearance, and the investigators drop in on our friends. Recently, the investigator stopped by a friend of Sara's and mine, and asked if I treat Sara well, and am I trust worthy. Our friend responded to the later with "Well, I rock climb with him, so I trust him with my life."

That just made my day.

And in a slight tangent my google page has a daily quote, and this is today's: "The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on." - Joseph Heller.

In light of our Veep shooting his "acquaintance" in the chest and face...And Katrina...And Iraq...

Stepping out of the Dial-up Age

Yeah! We finally are getting DSL in our area. It is really nice that I could download a new iTunes install, update my system software and surf all at the same time. Now Sara and I will be able to do some work from home and not have to stay late at the office all the time...More time with my sweetie...Good stuff.

Climbing like a girl

Sara and I competed in our second bouldering competition. I made the mistake of not playing the game, and just trying to get the highest amount of points. The problem with doing that is you climb more climbs and the more you climb the harder it gets. So I did have some fun pushing myself, but I ended up with a much lower score because I was too weak to complete all the climbs I needed.

Sara was spectacular as always. She wasn't even feeling her very best. She'd just spent the last week sick with a cold. Of course all the girls were kicking but on the problems. The best part for me was Sara telling me I climbed like a girl. It is really dificult to climb like a girl, and at the same time it is a complement to be told you can climb that gracefully.

Stupid is as stupid does.

So this young woman, Tiffany Cooper, asks the President this question:

"Recently 12.7 billion dollars was cut from education. I was just wondering how is that supposed to help our futures?"

The President, clearly confused (go watch the video clip), stumbles and responds "At the federal level?" And then proceeds to simply lie about the cuts. Now, the lie -- "Actually, I think what we did was reform the student loan program. We are not cutting money out of it. " -- is bad, but the question I have is this -- Does any state have a 12.7 billion dollar budget for education? Seriously, what state has that kind of money to cut from their education program? Most School programs are so strapped that 1.27 million would be a huge cut.

Forest Gump got it right.

100.5

It is the flu season. Last Wednesday I was at work and the day wasn't starting well. Fortunately it was one of those days we had a guest in the office. Basically, the day was going nowhere. I especially wasn't going anywhere. I apprently looked like I needed a nap. I left the office early and got home just fine. Ran the girls, and then lay myself out on the couch and took a nap.

Things seemed pretty good, until I had to drive to get Sara. I left the house and about half way there, my arms, chest, and face had gone numb. I should have stopped and called a friend of mine to go pick up Sara and drop her off at where I was parked on the side of the road. Instead, in my less than full capacity state, I drove on to meet Sara at the park and ride. I got there, and stumbled out of the car making my way over to the passanger seat. Sara was ready to take me to the ER. Yikes that was dumb. Turns out by the time we got home, I had a 100.5 degree tempurature.

I promptly crawled into bed, and slept for 14 hours. I spent the next two days laying around the house, and reading comic books. The sucky part of the flu is that you really have no energy even after you start feeling better. By Saturday all I wanted to do was sit and read comics or watch the boobtube.

Get your flu shots...

Say "no" to bad Judges...

Justice Alito ruled:

• "saw no problem with a police officer shooting and killing an unarmed 15-year-old who was fleeing from a $10 burglary" (The Supreme Court disagreed 6-3.)


• "sided with a hotel owner seeking dismissal without trial of a housekeeper's claims of illegal demotion and sexual discrimination." (He was out-voted 12-1.)


• "rejected a 17-year-old's claims that his public defenders [in a capital punishment case] had failed to use mitigating evidence of mental retardation and traumatic upbringing" (The Supreme Court reversed him.)


• "saw nothing wrong with a police strip search of a woman and her 10-year-old daughter thought there was no warrant naming them as targets of an investigation." (He was out-voted again.)

[From USA TODAY editorial, "If you cherish your rights, this nominee bears questioning," 12/26/2005]


Is this really the kind of individual you want making the rulings on the highest court?

Happy New Year!

Okay, so it has taken a few weeks to recover from the holidays. We've been running around crazy trying to remember if we actually slept the night before or not. I keep saying (mostly to myself) that I will get a location and have a big gathering. Of course I've been very slow in organizing that operation. And Sara and I both competed in our first bouldering competition. It was pretty fun.

Lot going on -- hiking, climbing, working, cleaning. Sara is getting used to her hourly requirements, which makes for a long week. She has X number of billable hours required, and then on top of that she has meetings, training, etc that she has to work in during the week. That kind of stinks. At the same time she is a super star. As though you had any doubt.

Work? I guess it is going well for us both, although as with any job there is always adjustments that are required. Actually, now we have our goddog for a lengthy stay. Yes, we have a goddog. She's a cute golden labrador mix. She's settling in fine even though her parents are moving to the eastcoast. During that transition Winnie will be Hana's playmate. Fun, fun. I like having two dogs though. Hana seems much happier too.