Where the Road Ends...

...A new beginning is presented.

This is the last post of this blog. I will no longer write here about climbing, or my political rants, or any basics of life and family.

You can read more about me at here.

May you find your peace and happiness.

Great Improbabilities

Do you ever have those moments in your life where nothing seems good, you feel you are trapped by the bad, and there is no way out? Then all the sudden the world flips on its head and you can see the light at the end of the tunnel? Well, today I think good things will happen. I'm 100% positive. This morning, I arrived at work. I set off the building alarm and had to call the boss at 7:30 AM. More bad things to add to the heap. Apparently, my alarm code was removed for a generic one. Unfortunately, I had forgotten the generic code, and didn't realize that my default code had been removed. I got the code and turned off the alarm, I put my lunch in the fridge, and then I went to my desk. I threw my keys on the desk, unloaded a few things from my pack, and got to work. About an hour an a half later, I notice my keys. Now, the picture isn't great, but you can see that my keys are all balanced on the key tips. There are five keys, and the tags, and remote are all balanced on top of the keys.

I think this is truly one of the most improbable things I have ever seen. It is as exciting when I was dealt a Royal Flush and a Straight Flush, all in the same night of playing poker. I think things maybe looking up for me. I'll still keep my fingers crossed...I need all the luck I can get.

Seoul long

Well, it has been a couple of days since I returned from Seoul, Korea.  It was an amazing adventure, that I am very thankful and glad to have been there to visit.  I decided it was okay to take some pictures.

I actually ended my day with a picture of the Archway of Itaewon.  It is much prettier in the night all lit up.  You have to be careful taking pictures at night in Itaewon.  If you get a picture of a prostitute they will start to yell at you and be very vicious.  

I took several pictures down the streets, and they aren't much to look at but you can see that the place is kind of similar to any city town in the U.S.A.

The Friday nightlife was much more packed with people.  The streets had lots of activity and the bars were worth every moment.  I don't smoke, and I usually don't like bars because of the smoke.  In Korea, you can still smoke in the bars, and it is disgusting, but the activities really are entertainment.

Laura again joined us at the Seoul Pub, and we had fun watching the young guys picking up on the girls in the bar.  Strategizing about their pickup lines and how they were getting all cozy with the babes.

We also stopped at the Hard Rock and saw these amazing girls rocking out with their electric trio of violin, chelo, and viola.  It was loud, and so it made it difficult to have a conversation, but it was fun all the same.  I find it difficult to focus on a conversation, so as 11:30 rolled around, I got myself out of there, and took a few more pictures of the walk home.  It was a nice walk, and not long at all.  Most people grab a cab, but I found that the streets were safe.  I had to dodge a few cars, but that isn't any different than during the day time.

I look forward to my next trip to Seoul, but I think it will be great to visit other area's of the world too.  I mean, I have yet to even be to the east-coast.  I have lots more adventure in me.

Seoul Long!

Seoul Secrets

Ugh.  What is it about alcohol and me?  I had four beers, over four hours and I feel like I've been hit by a truck.  Seriously, I have not had that much to drink in one night in years and the lesson is well learned.

Of course, it simply could be that I haven't had enough sleep.  I have yet to sleep in and get on Korea time.   I usually am asleep by eight or nine, and up by four.   Last night I pushed myself to stay up until after eleven.  I still got up at 5:30 AM.

And then it might be a hangover.  As I said, I don't usually drink much, so four beers in a single night is a lot for me.  I'm chugging water as I hope my eye balls will stop feeling like they want to jump out of my head.  I think this is the real reason I usually only have one drink in any given night.  My poor liver.

So about last night -- One of my co-workers who I have never met but have had a very long phone relationship with asks me to join him and his buddies at the bar.  It is Thursday night and I figure I should see the night life here at least once, and I decide I will have some fun too.  I meet up the group and we are in this little shack of a bar.  The beer is like $2 and crappy, but we sit around chat, get a bit inebriated, shoot darts (or watch in my case), and have a bit of food.  Now, I say something to the affect of "Where is everyone?"  Apparently, people are responsible sometimes, and when they are it seems to happen as a group effort.  So really the streets where not that crowded.  Usually, or so I'm told, on the weekend (Thursday is the start of the weekend -- didn't you know that?) it gets much more crowded.

The group thought it would be "fun" to show the darker side of Seoul.  They wanted me to meet the "Juicy Girls" who come over and "talk" with you if you buy them a 20,000 won drink.  Fortunately, that didn't happen.  If you have a woman in your group they tend to leave you alone.  Thank God for Laura.  I think just walking down the alley of "bars" where these girls hid behind not so tinted glass with a not so hidden agenda was enough of the seedy side.  I felt thankful that one of the guys in the group who had no girlfriend was drawing a line in what bars he was comfortable with, and that made it easier to walk away from the "peer pressure."  must have though my discomfort would be entertaining.  It probably could have been.  They were a nice group of people for sure.

After four hours of drinking and checking out the local night life I was ready to go back to my room and get some sleep.  You already know how that worked out for me.   I think tonight, I will probably put on my camera and go take some pictures, avoid alcohol, and watch the people.  One of the guys in the group had a Nikon D300 which took some pretty nice looking pictures.  I didn't take it last night, and I would have liked to get some additional pictures before heading home.

So maybe there will be one more Seoul Adventure.

Satisfied Seoul

I did it.  I finally tried the local cuisine.  However, I made a mistake.  I was told not to eat the chicken.  So I didn't order chicken, but I did order a dish that had an egg on top.  Cross your fingers I don't get the Avian Flu.  Fortunately, I was in Itaewon which is basically like going to Capital Hill.  It is very hip and trendy.  Many shop owners were very nice to me and wanted me to sell me a nice suit.  I kind of wish I wore fancy clothes.  Apparently, I need to dress a bit nicer though.

So the dinner was "ok."  The food was fine, and the over all experience was pleasant enough.  I think I will forever regret not sitting down in Namdaemun when the lady said to me "American Friend!"  I should have sat down and let her serve me food, and just had a nice local lunch.  Instead, I let my fear of not knowing what I could order stop me.  I did finally do it though.  Tomorrow, I will try to bulgogi.  It is a beef BBQ, and I should have tried it tonight.  I only had a few thousand on me, so I limited my meal to what I had on hand.

I only have a few days left, and I'm looking forward to fitting a couple more adventures into my trip.  Hopefully, there will be more to come. 

Seoul Sacrifice

Today was a work day.  No pictures to share, no grand adventure into the city.  In fact, today was just any other day.  It was coming and I knew it would, but somehow I didn't expect that I would be so disappointed to not have another day around the city.

The good news is that my feet were in great need of some rest.  So tonight it is about a classic Robin Williams movie "Club Paradise" some chocolate and sweets.  Of course, I had a nice dinner with $0.99 beers.   I cannot remember the last time I had a beer for $0.99.  That made the dinner worth it.

So not a lot to say about Korea today, except I wish I had more time here to visit the place.  I look at my pictures and I feel I did pretty good.  I just hope I have more time to take pictures.  This country is really wonderful, and I think there is so much to be learned in places like Korea.  I'm very tempted to stay for a bit longer, but at the same time -- I miss my family.

Seoul Survivor

Day 2

I made my way out to Namdaemun Market today. It was something else. The crowds were pushing and filling every space open. On a few occassions an opening would become available, but it never lasted.
I wandered all around the Market, until my feet became too sore and tired to continue.

The shops are litterally this tiny little stalls. Even in the builds an empty stall is about the size of your average closet without the doors. I actually had to stop taking pictures, because at one point I took a step back and a stick fell and landed on a poor girls head. I felt bad but apparently that isn't all that uncommon as no one seemed to mind.

I found most everything there not worth purchasing. The clothing was so small. A size 15 in women's jeans were like a size zero in the U.S. And the men's suits were fantastic like 40000 won, but again I couldn't fit anything.

I almost tried some of the food.  I didn't do it though.  I couldn't bring myself to eat alone.  I read that Korean's like to eat with family and friends, and seldom eat alone.  Ever since I read that I just have been afraid.  I had an opportunity from a nice woman that invited me into her restaurant and I said no.  I regret that on hind sight, but I I will get other chances to eat the local cuisine.  Honestly, the local food looks better than the pictures that the show the items they serve.  I find the idea of eating live "mini octopi" is very weird.  Apparently, some people actually do eat them alive.  The grilled food smells so wonderful too.  I guess I will just have to be brave and eat alone.  We'll do that tomorrow.  I will let you know how that works out.

Seoul Searching

As you might have guess, from the title. I got lost in Seoul. Without my trusty navigator, Sara, I managed to think I could walk 55km, and could use a subway map for riding the buses.

Yes, I'm a genius.

My travels began Friday morning, and Ended Saturday evening. The trip wasn't too bad even with crossing the International Date line. My first stop was in Tokyo. After ten hours of flying all I wanted was something to sleep on. Unfortunately, Air Ports are not made for sleeping. And I seem to always get stuck with the guy who wants to share with me how much he loves Jesus. I was worried that he'd want to talk for the whole flight, as he mentioned that the personal video screens and headphones were a way to make it so people didn't have to communicate. Fortunately, he fell asleep pretty quickly, and I had the opportunity to grab some shuteye as well.

I did manage to watch three movies in the ten hours of travel to Tokyo. I watched Jumper, The Golden Compass, and 27 Dresses. All of these movies sucked. Ever single one. Jumper was boring, The Golden Compass ends incomplete, and 27 Dresses -- well, I fell asleep through it, twice.

I finally got to Korea, and was fortunate enough to meet someone who was going to the same place as me. It made getting to the destination after nearly 20 hours of travel very easy. When I got to my room, I sent Sara a quick e-mail, and then fell asleep. When I woke up six hours later, I took a quick picture of the view from my window. I was pretty anxious to get out and start seeing the place, since I probably won't get much time to see Seoul during the day time. I ended up walking off to Samgakchi, where I stopped at the Korean War Museum. I didn't actually go inside, but I did walk around much of the open space that is free. There was plenty to see and I managed to take numerous pictures.

After wondering around the parameter of the Museum, I began walking to Namsan. This is where the Seoul Tower is located, and the walk is all up hill, but it was beautiful. This is where I spent most of my day, and I enjoyed taking pictures. The weather was overcast, and the temperature was very warm so as I walked I was sweating up a lake. As you walk along there are small shops everywhere. You literally can walk just about anywhere and you can get a snack, and water. My first won spent was 700 won for a bottle of water.

Along the way to Namsan there were a couple of things that stood out. One is the fact that on some of the buildings there were these huge televisions, which are used to advertise. They literally distract their driving population with television. The driving population is very angry too. It is almost like there is a war between the different public transportation drivers. The other thing I noticed is that they have live animals along the way. One such thing was an aquarium filled with these tiny little octopi. Sad that they were going to be turned into a meal for a customer. There was also an area of like five blocks of puppies being sold. They were very cute, but it was also extremely sad.

When I got to Namsan, it became clear that I should have taken the public transportation. Many locals use the hike to the top as an opportunity to exercise. Along the way there are several areas where you can stand on a plate that swivels and you can rotate back and forth. You can also do pull ups, and even lift weights with a bench press, or arm curl.  As you walk up a series of steps you get an opportunity to relax as well.  There are more vendors to buy things from, and many people will bring along a picnic, or watch one of the many events that is going on.  As I was walking up I noticed the voices.  People in Korea like to sing.  Some of it is good, and some is bad.  All of it is entertaining.

As I made the final approach to the top of Namsan, I noticed this drumming sound. Thump, Thump thump, Thump, Thump thump. It made the walk up all these stairs doable. The stairs seemed to climb for a very long time, and each step was actually larger than one would hope for during a hike. Many of the older folks had actually picked up walking sticks to make their way up the steps.

I approached the top and noticed that the singing seemed to be more radio pop than actual drums. Fortunately, there were actual drums, but for a brief moment the sound I heard was pop Korean music. Soon after passing the radio, I came to the top and there was a plaza that had a bunch of very happy youth drumming and dancing and banging on cymbals. I stopped to watch and take pictures for about an hour. I needed the time to rest too. I think the best part was the number of people who saw me with a camera, and wanted me to take a family picture of them with their own cameras. In Korea, at least in Seoul, everyone has a camera. Most are on their phones, but they use the camera all the time.

I finished resting and I began to wander down the hill.
On the way down, I chose to walk the other side. There were a couple of neat stacks of rocks that I found to be amazing looking and reminded me of Goldsworth. I ended up walking down to the bus stop. This is where I got on a bus, and rode around for a short while. I eventually got off the bus as I thought it was going back to the top of the hill. Really it was a mountain, as it even had a area that you could rock climb if it were not a national park. I ended up hoping off the bus, and wandering around downtown Seoul. I ran into a number of things, but I found it almost too unbelievable that at home in Washington there has been an effort to get light rail, improve schools, and all sorts of other social programs with little or no success. In Korea, they have amazing parks all over the place, and they have a day to celebrate the children. One of the parks was a baseball park for the youth games. I have never seen a baseball field this nice for the kids anywhere in the U.S. It just goes to show that socialism can work with democracy. Capitalism can even work with socialism and democracy. The capitalism here is very present, and the people have embraced it alone with American television.

As I was lost and looking for a bus to get me back to my hotel, a very nice guy named Enroh, "Roh" offered help. We talked quite a bit and he showed me how to use the Subway. The Subway is a bit difficult because there isn't as much English to help guide you. In Korea, the people have embraced English, and often long after their education has finished they will spend time studying and improving their english skills. Roh told me that CSI is very popular here and when he heard I was from Seattle, he mentioned that he like Grey's Anatomy as well.

I managed to get back to the hotel, with a blister on my little toe, and just tired feet altogether. Tomorrow will be much of the same, as it is the national holiday to celebrate children here, and I don't have any work to do yet. So I will post more pictures, and please check out the other images in my album

Obama '08

My sister-in-law participated in a fantastic ad for the Obama campaign...enjoy.

No Signs of Intelligence here.

I got a wonderful response from Susannity about an earlier post I made on the topic of media reproducibility. It was a very common response,

"If someone creates intellectual property that can be copied easily, then why would folks pay money if there were no [ramifications?]"

I think people will pay for what they perceive as valuable, and I believe that currently our perceived value of some items is skewed. However, the very idea of "intellectual property" is silly. If you can show me an original idea, I will be very very surprised. I remember sitting watching a movie with my English major spouse who had gotten up early in the movie and said "You can keep watching, I'm not interested." I, of course, wondered why. She responded, "The brunette is going to die." I finished the movie, and my dear spouse explained how in literature there is a bit of formula, which she applied to the movie and identified the story type, and thus concluded the ending of the movie. So really, there are no original ideas, and thus "intellectual property" is bogus. It is a farce, a scam, a trick to keep money centralized.

What? You believe patents are to prevent someone from stealing your product and getting it to market first? I laugh at you. Don't be so naive. Large corporations have people who literally sit and write patents all year long to protect "ideas." Which I will point out are not patentable. I once came across a patent for a dog toy -- It was a stick of wood. I'm not kidding. That system is broken.

So, again, I'm not saying one should take someones movie and turn around and sell it for money. That would mean you are a fool for stealing. However, if I buy a $20 for a DVD, and copy it and give it to my friend, who intern gives it to a friend ... to the Nth. Well suffice it to say, I believe I was ripped off by at least $19 for that DVD, and should be able to give away -- no, "donate", my $20 copy of a DVD to my friends. If a movie were hard to get, if it required the producers of the DVD more than $0.01 per 1000 copies of a DVD, then maybe $20 would be worth it. These corporations are making billions, when they are only producing something that is worth pennies -- and you are being robbed. You are so used to being robbed you've accepted it as the price of entertainment.

"Piracy discounts everything - time, education, talent, and money - that goes into making a product."

This is probably true, but I also believe that piracy discounts the cost of things that are over priced. If you buy something that you know is stolen, you are doing so in part because you feel that the full price is not of value, or you believe the "knock-off" value is more appropriate. I said originally "How much would you pay for a blade of grass?" Maybe you'd respond that it depends on the quality of the grass?

If I steal your food, I'm a thief -- I've deprived you of your food. If you give me some seed and pollen so I can make my own food, will you starve? If I play your song you can still sing it and make money, you have not lost your voice. If I play it better, I will have earned the money I make from playing your song, but you are not deprived of your song or your ability.

As someone who works in technology, I believe what I provide is a service to my corporation and for those that I produce software. I am simply a story teller, retelling the story I learned, twisting the plot, changing the landscape, mixing stories together. I'm getting paid for retelling the story, not for the story itself. Once you've learned my story, feel free to tell it to your friends and your children. And please, put your pennies in my tin if I tell the story better than someone else.

A friend once said to me -- "Quit thinking outside of the box. We have enough boxes. Lets put something together with what we've got."

Dino Rossi is an Idiot

In my last post I mentioned that I think the GOP is more about "me" instead of "we" and/or "us." In today's Seattle Times, an interview with Dino Rossi has demonstrated the usual lack of fore thought we expect from the Repugnant Party. The article quotes Rossi as saying, "Our state is experiencing a transportation crisis that is impacting our quality of life and hindering economic growth... My vision for transportation is rooted in freedom and the ability of people to make good choices for themselves."

Now, I agree, I want freedom and the ability to make good choices for myself, but building a new Viaduct tunnel, widening I-405, and replacing the 520 is not a good choice for myself, nor does it give me the ability to make good choices. In fact, it isn't a good choice for any person in any county, including King, in Washington. With the money that they want to spend to do all those projects, they could put in a light rail system that runs the length of each of these highway systems and reduce the number of cars so new wider roads are not required. Not to mention that gas costs four dollars per gallon, or maybe you didn't notice. It costs me eight dollars each day to drive to and from work. Now I have no problem with gas costing so much money, but then we have the GOP who want to continue subsidies to the oil industry, with CEO's getting 40 million in bonuses.

We could, oh, I don't know, tax the windfall of these corporations and say, build a light rail system that connects up with Portland, and Vancouver B.C. It could probably even run from Seattle to Spokane. I am seriously disappointed that people are upset about $4 gas and they would even pause to consider voting Republican. I mean at $4 for gas, can you afford to drive on the new roads Rossi wants you to have so you can make choices freely?

We all know that when we are free to make choices for ourselves, we make the most selfish choice. That is why we have government "for the people and by the people," so we ensure that some choices are for the benefit of our community and our society.

Move on, yourself.

As you might have guessed by previous posts, I don't think too highly of the Repugnant Party as I find their politics more about "me" instead of "us" or "we." Every time I hear some moron say, "vote republican if you don't want your taxes to go up," I think "you, sir/madame, are a moron." I know some people who label themselves as republican, but when you speak with them you realize quickly they don't pay attention to politics because if they did they wouldn't be voting republican. The truth about the GOP is they are the party of disfigured truth. And I could go on, but I actually wanted to say something else.

I often get messages from different political groups. One is Move On.org which recently started a new campaign against McCain. And so here is that ad --


However, it is just a dumb ad. It isn't compelling. At least not to me. There are so many other things about why this man should not be president. Like his not following the rules of public financing, or his record on torture, or his record on choice, or his record on the war, and on and on.

Anyway, I don't find the video compelling at all...so there you have it, and you can make your own opinion.

I'll get back to the deception of the GOP in the future...I need to get back to my day job now.

Yes, I would steal your car.

You know that little blip at the start of a movie that says "You wouldn't steal a car...Buying Pirated Movies is Stealing." The question I have to ask is this -- If you could quickly, easily, copy the car you wanted from your neighbor and at the same time didn't deprive your neighbor of the vehicle or any functionality, have you stolen anything? More importantly, if your neighbor came out and saw you coping the car and said, "Hey, I paid good money for that car, stop copying it." Would you care? I'd probably look at my neighbor and think he was a fool for spending so much money on something that is so readily available and copyable. How much would you pay for a blade of grass?

I have been told that I'm drawing an arbitrary moral boundary. I think that if I can pull TV off an antenna and watch my show at any time, I can also take a copy of that show, and hand it off to my neighbor. And further more, my neighbor should be able to take the copy received from me and give it to another neighbor. I should identify that I think "antenna" is a broad term. I don't mean just off the roof top, but also over cable, or satellite, or even ethernet/WiFi.

Now, I have heard the argument that this is stealing from some company here or there, but what has been deprive to them? Money? They broadcast it over the air waves, so what if you got it off cable or satellite?

In fact, they should be paying you money because you have given a copy of their show to someone who might not otherwise have even seen their presentation.

Now, you might think I condone taking something/anything without permission. I do not. My point is simple. In our current economy I think it is vitally important that we re-evaluate what is important and how much we are willing to pay for "things." As a society we will pay billions of dollars for things we don't need, and at the same time we complain that our roads are poor, our gas costs too much, there isn't enough time in the day, etc. Do you think the $60 a month you are paying for television is worth it? Market demands that you stop being stupid, and you evaluate the value of your television (or other crap you spend your money on besides food and shelter,) and demand that price be reasonable and affordable.

Capitalism without conscience is simply greed.

Everybody loves Robin Hood, and he was a pirate.

Short on Time

OMG, I cannot believe I'm going to say this...I'm so glad the weather is suppose to be crappy this weekend. We had plans to go climbing and I'm just too tired to make the trip.

I'm certain I would have fun if we were to get out and climb outside, but we've been burning the candle at both ends -- we're almost out of wax. In fact, we have not grocery shopped in probably three weeks. I'm serious...three weeks. Our pantry is even starting to look empty. While we could probably make something to feed us if we had no money or other food resources, there is diminishing items of nutritional value in the cupboards.

Okay, now for my end-of-the-world story. I finally contacted a company that will install Solar Panels. Sara got me a subscription to Home Power and now I want to get a solar water heater, and electricity. You are probably wondering what does getting solar power have to do with the end-of-the-world? Well, unlike Y2K were I wasn't even remotely concerned about it, with the rising cost of gas, fresh produce, and even getting to work, I've come to believe that thanks to the <sarcasm>great leadership</sarcasm> of George W. Bush and his faithful band of idiots, we are doomed to suffer another Great Depression.

Sara thinks that we are fortunate that there is going to be a change of leadership soon that will help to alleviate a major depression. And of course we are so certain that only the most extremely zealous and thoughtless are going to vote for McCain and another four years of a war that should never have been.

Okay...that is my interpretation of what Sara thinks -- she'd be a lot more elegant in her choice of words. Anyway, I need to get the ivy cleared from my yard, and cut back a few more car loads of blackberry bushes, and then maybe I can start my garden. Oh and we are trying to buy a climbing gym, and we have a couple of businesses running, and I am also trying to master my new hobby of Spanish.

Huh...when you write it all down, it almost seems like I need to cut back a bit.

Sooo Sore

While Sara was out climbing I decided to stay home and do some yard work. I started at 7:30 in the morning by starting a small fire (my fire permit only allows for a four foot diameter fire) which burned very hot and in a counter clockwise path burned the two year old yard waste. I actually had to pull some dried alder from our wood pile to get the fire to burn because the moisture was still very high.

I proceeded to start cutting out large sections of blackberry bushes. I swear I burned down a pile of vines that was a couple cars large. I had dreamed that I would get all the blackberry bushes in the front yard and it wouldn't be too much work. Well after six hours I can hardly tell that I did any work at all. It is really just depressing. , and my body is still sore two days later.

I figured being the kind of person that likes to hike, and rock climb I should be in pretty good shape for the yard work. Apparently that is just not the case, and I'm looking forward to more rest. The last time I was this sore, I road my bike 110 miles from Bellingham to Bellevue.

InDirecTv

I have found that companies that try playing games with me is simply unacceptable. For years Sara and I paid a monthly bill to a satellite television corporation. In June of 2007 I called to cancel my programming. As is the custom of these corporations they want to keep you as a customer. I said I just wanted to cancel the account, but they persistent and I finally let them "Park" my account for six months. What I didn't know was that they would reactivate my account without contacting me, and start billing me for the service after that period.

This weekend I happened to open a letter from this television distribution corporation and saw a bill for $125. My first thought was, "What the Hell?" I was certain that I closed that account, and I had no intention of continuing service. My second thought was, "Good thing I didn't just dump this in the recycling like I usually do." I proceeded to call the service center to find out what was going on.

A very nice and polite lady took my call. She was more than willing to help me but she said I either owed them $125, or I had to pay back a $150 credit that they gave to me. They gave me $150? I don't remember cashing that check, and my bill was paid up when I closed my account. I didn't use the service that they were charging me for so how could I owe them any money? I was a bit irritated, and told her I didn't owe them anything, but could she please get a supervisor. I didn't feel the service rep was responsible for such poor business practices and I didn't want to be yelling at her. Already my voice had been getting harsh.

After making me wait for nearly five minutes, "Chris" my service rep supervisor got on the line. Now, "Chris" didn't sound to be the brightest bulb, but I suppose he could have been educated thru high school. He tried, as the service rep did, to convince me that I owed them money. I let him speak his bit, and then responded, "Look, the only reason I let you 'Park' my account was because I was being badgered and I just wanted to get off the phone and get on with my life, and as for the 'credits' you gave me, I received no money or check from you. Now, you know I'm never going to pay you for something I didn't use, and I'm not going to pay back a credit I never received. You can either continue to waste our time or you can clear and close the account." To which "Chris" responded that he had closed the account and reversed the charges -- just like that. That was very smart as I was about to reach through the phone line and knock him upside the head with the receiver. I have to admit, I was very surprised, and kind of delighted that he resolved that situation so promptly after my spiel.

I think it is amazing how difficult corporations have become and the tactics that they use. If I agree to put something in "Park" or on hold or however you want to describe it, and I don't return the call to continue service the account should just be closed. Or if they are determined to keep my service, they should be required to gain my okay to continue the service. This process of resuming billing without a verbal acknowledgement is unacceptable. Now some might say I received a bill from them, but I also receive tons of junk from them and most of it went directly to the recycle bin. Anyway...the lesson is don't be nice to these corporations, it will only allow them to take advantage of you.

Too Busy.

Sara and I have been burning the candle at both ends lately. It is starting to effect my work, and play. I'm, personally, going through one of those stages where I want to do too many things. I want to be a programmer, run my own business, keep my day job, start a climbing gym, go out climbing, read books, do more photography, clean my house, clean my yard, fix my roof, install solar panels, install solar water heater, send my nephews grandpa's laptop, visit friends who just had a baby, and the list goes on.

Sara isn't doing much better. We did get out for some climbing that Sara blogged and it has been restless since. In fact, now we are just bidding our time until we get out to our next trip.

*Yawn*

Yep, I'm tired -- we are both tired, and Sara made me clean up so the house cleaner could get to all the counter tops and the rug, and it turns out I have another week to clean up. That kind of sucked, but it wasn't too bad since we've had help keeping the house clean.

There is lots going on in the world right now, and I just want to sit and watch it go by for a bit.

Yes, We Can.

A number of people have asked me who I support and why.

Now that the candidates have been narrowed down, I support Barak Obama. I believe, despite some policies I disagree with, he inspires something more of America, of U.S. Citizens, that the other candidates (right or left) have not and cannot inspire in the people of this Nation.

McCain is a disappointment. Eight years ago I thought he was someone different, but after watching his actions, his votes along partly lines despite policies he openly disagreed with, his idle response to illegal signing statements, his weak response to veto's that he knows are wrong, I simply cannot support him.

Hillary simply does too much double speak for my taste. I think she is more than capable, and would actually do a lot to repair the foreign policies that have been so diminished, as well as bring the return of checks and balances to our political system. However, she simply does not make me believe that a change to our lobby and PAC system can be repaired to do what is right for the people of the country (I simply do not believe that corporations are people.)

But Barak -- He inspires. He brings people both young and old, male and female together. I believe with Barak we can do great things. I believe with Barak we can see a return to a strong stable economy. I believe that Barak will return to caring for our neighbors all around the world. I believe Barak will bring a return to wanting to achieve great things.

Be a Patriot

Tell your senators to stop any attempt to give telecom companies immunity for illegal wiretapping.

It's here, It arrived!

I'm so excited to get home...omg, omg, omg. My first ever

Watch for Feral Asses

 It begins with a very long trip from Poulsbo, to Las Vegas. We left on the 26th, and the 19 hour drive took a little over 25 hours (including a stop at Denny's). But we soon arrived at our destination of Red Rocks Canyon, where we spent the next seven days climbing as hard as we could. There were six in the group and despite the cold nights, the days were pretty spectacular. Our first day we spent up at Moderate Mecca and despite a two hour belay, we had a pretty good time until the wind kicked up and we had to head for shelter. We ended up going to the boulder fields where we played on the smaller stone until it got late and we had to head back to camp.

Camp was pretty baron and not much shelter was provided from the wind. We were all pretty tired from the drive and decided to eat and hit the sacks for another day.

Oh, and if you are wondering what "Feral Asses" have to do with anything, in the canyon there are apparently Feral Donkeys that roam the desert range. We didn't see any though, otherwise there'd be a picture to share.

 
Day two was spent at Cannibal crag and while much of it was out of my climbing level I did manage to run up a nice little 5.4 that super easy and provided a little confidence building. I also managed to climb a 5.8 that was hiding in the shade, and while my fingers were too numb to actually feel anything, I am sure it could have been a fun climb.

Alas, the sun didn't provide enough to keep us there all day. Again we ended our day in the boulder fields and lots of pictures were taken of some valiant attempts at very difficult problems.

  Day three Sara and I were on our own while our friends did an epic climbing day. Sara and I went about climbing the Solar Slab Gully. I'm certain it could have been a lot of fun, but we were having a learning experience and as it went we did pretty well. We came away with some things to remember for future climbs -- like optimizing our activities so we move quicker, and making sure that we double and triple check before we do something potentially stupid -- and we had a number of successes that made the learning experience worth it.

Unfortunately, it got cold and as the name implies "Gully" doesn't allow for as much of the "Solar" that we were hoping for while climbing. Though we did get back to the car before sun down, unlike our fellow climbers.

 The fourth, fifth, and sixth days we spent in the Calico Hills at Panty Wall, The Gallery and Stratocaster Wall, and Dog Wall. I managed to get a couple more leads in, and worked on a few harder problems, but ultimately was pretty burned out by the prior days and needed to rest. I have a lot of work to do so I can do multiple days in a row and keep up with our younger friends. My excuse is that I have put on some muscle and now have more to haul up the wall...but really I just need to work on my endurance.

Our last day was just hanging in the boulder field, and I tried to work on a few problems but I really just didn't have anything left. Endurance. That is the goal for this spring.