On The Road again

Well, I just got the call to go to a western fire and will be heading out the door in a short bit. The name of the fire is the 'Cascade Complex' and I will be there as a Task Force Leader (TFLD) (p156) Trainee (the whole thing). This was what I went out as last year and with any luck I'll have a similarly excellent experience. I'm traveling with camera and hope to have some excellent shots to publish when I get back.

Oh bees.

It has been a long month and a half or so. After a fire tour to the U.P. and the BWCA (pix) I spent a week in Jefferson City helping teach basic wildland firefighter followed closely by a trip to Colorado Springs (pictures to come later?). Upon our return to the area I had a physical which was kinda interesting. Apparently I am only a few pounds away from being 'obese', technically speaking. I found the idea kinda laughable and easily dismissed, even when looking at this picture. Then I did a (very) little research to find out precisely what the doctors mean when they say obese. Turns out it's all about affecting health. Whilst I am currently considered overweight, I have not yet crossed the BMI threshold where my health is adversely impacted... in theory. In any instance I have decided to grow out my beard and not shave until I'm down to 200# ... or Kimberly threatens to shave it for me.

Weekender redux

Well, I put this one off for awhile... a week to be precise. This is my entry from last Monday (2007-03-05)......

Another weekend behind us, another three days of adventure for me. The original plan had been for K & I to travel to Madison on Friday for an interview then, after hooking up with K's pal Steph, we'd head on to Rib Lake for the Timm's Hill Trudge on Saturday. But poor weather forced a change of plans. I headed up north early on Friday for my interview with the Wisco DNR (which I feel like I blew. I'll hear sometime this week) after which I had lunch with my cousin Mike. After lunch I hit the road.... sorta. I went a grand total of four blocks before traffic came to a halt. It took me two hours to get to Edgerton. The fun part was talking with Mike as we drove along since he was in the same mess. It was one of the few times in my life I was happy about having a cell phone. Things got marginally better after Edgerton. ... for about two miles. Then things went to crap again. I ended up spending the night in Janesville along with a number of other travelers.

The following morning I hit a much improved road. Things went well until I came to the 90/190/294 intersection by OHare ... it always messes me up. This particular time I took 294 south, managed to grab Irving Park before I went too far astray, and made my way north on Cumberland. It was then that I made a discovery which made it all worth while. The St Joseph Ukrainian Catholic Church at 5000 North Cumberland Avenue has a breathtaking architectural style which really requires a special trip. Thirteen metal shafts of a golden hue capped with curiously -shaped slotted tips.

In lieu of the Trudge, Steph had come down and she and K cooked the day away, making Greek Meatballs and Spanakopita. Along with some home fries, the dinner on Saturday was heavenly.

Weekender

And so endth the weekend. In the three days I have had off I, along with help from my lovely assistant, completed about 90% of a set of shelves/cabinets for our garage. As you can see, it's not just for us, but for our neighbors as well. It's taken me a number of weeks to get this project to where it is, primarily because of the joint work I have put into it. I put all of the supports together with half-lap joints and since I don't have a (working) dado, I got to play a skillsaw/chisel combination. I wasn't trying for perfection, but in order to get it somewhat close I really had to fiddle with the blade depth and spend some time cleaning. Then, for the separations and end-pieces I put in OSB inserts using.... is this a basic dado or a spline joint? Regardless, when I had it at a depth of 1 inch it had my router smoking .... not the wood, the motor. So I pulled up to 1/2 inch and things worked out better. Then the ol' glue and screw. Basically I expect this to be bombproof.

Although I take some satisfaction in having built something this sturdy, particularly when looking at the end piece by the door, I wonder if I haven't come up with a two dollar solution to a one penny problem, again.

In other news, the dogs are doing well...ish. Tycho has 'eliminated' in the house a grand total of four times now, twice this past weekend. It's a little frustrating, but on the bright side I have become used to the smell of excrement. I suppose if I ever have to change a diaper that it'll be useful.

2007-02-22 - Amuse me

...which is to say I do. Amuse me. I amuse me. Yeah.

Anyway, the photo which I am using for my profile I have had for a number of years ... almost thirteen as a matter of fact. It was taken in the summer of 1994 as I was being flown off an Alaskan wildfire in the back of a Long Ranger.

In all the time I have had the photo, only this morning did it occur to me that it's similar to the cover art for The Cramps "Bad Music for Bad People". Is it a stretch? Yes. But whatever. Last time I checked this was still my blog. And I'd be willing to bet that it would work at retrievr.

In other news, my wife and I hosted a condo association meeting last night, which ended up being my second evening meeting in as many days. Isn't it strange how meetings always seems to be not so much a team of people focused on resolving a single set of concerns, but rather a collection of individuals focused on expressing their singular sets of concerns. Both the condo meeting and the VFD association meeting the night before went well and the rambling was kept to a minimum, but there is always someone who apparently feels that a) they must contribute and b) this contribution will be graded on quantity as opposed to quality. This brings to mind another observation which is that s/he who talks most has actually done the least. And people tend to rise to their level of incompetence.

2007-02-21 - Lunch

Into the blog-sphere shuffles yet another...

After exploring so many of Google's other offerings I have decided to explore Blogger as well. I'm trying to remember when I first heard the term 'blog' or weblog... I know it was from my friend Jeff B. I know we were sitting in a restaurant on the northwest side of the Twin Cities. I know it was winter. That's where the knowing ends. Maybe 2002?

IMHO it's simply a more crystalline version of the early personal web pages. Hollow autobiographies, patchwork fan sites, pointless manifestos and populist screeds. I promise that mine will be no different. Or at least not much. "I wuv me" will be my topic, my theme, guaranteed to irritate and bore even the people I mention in my irregular entries. You, dear audience member, will not be punished for reading, but you shan't be mollycoddled either. Be prepared to wade through bad spelling, poor word choice and worse grammar in pursuit of vaguely reasoned arguments and egocentric ravings. The crux of any given paragraph will be alternatively obscured, irrational, irrelevant or heavy handed, occasionally wistful and periodically preachy. It is doubtful that the sum of any given entry will culminate in anything satisfactory. You may expect to come away feeling anything from somewhat unsettled to almost insulted.

Here is a picture of my beautiful wife:

From personal001

Here is a picture of our dogs:

From Dogs

This is my weblog. Welcome, I guess.