Shooting stars

Every spring the wild flowers bloom in the mountains. These little flowers are called shooting stars. They are very small and perhpas you've seen them. They bloom in the grass behind the Gouchenour cabin where I took this photo. You usually see them in an alpine area, but you have to be there at just the right time. I think they must have come in with a bird. There are some very big mountains only a few miles away. Every year they come back about this time for a week or two and then they are gone without a trace. I've kind of cultivated them by not mowing until they go to seed and I don't use any weed killer, and each year we get more and more, but nobody else has them where we are. I've never seen so many in one place. Now and then there will be a white one. Click on the photo to get a better look. (I really think you should!)

Perfume

It's a strange thing and a difficult thing for me. Sometimes perfume smells good to me. Scented things like lotion. Other times it honestly gives me what is like an alergic reaction. The tricky thing about it is that women are just trying to smell good. So if you tell them that you can't stand their perfume they take it as an insult.

Some of these things go into my nose, up into my sinus, give me a headache and make me feel sick. It's one of those things that if it doesn't happen to you then you can't realate to it. Perhaps like RLS.

In the mornings if I can't sleep I have a great big old vintage Zenith trans-oceanic radio next to my bed. I can get the CBC from Calgary on it. It's pretty cool. They have some good programing including Polish radio. I can get KSL out of Salt Lake and a number of other radio stations from places pretty far away. But on the CBC There was recently a situation in which a Calgary bus driver refused to allow one woman to ride due to her perfume. To my surprise, they found in favor of the bus driver.

When I was at MSU in Bozeman I had a pretty girlfriend. She was sweet and I really liked her. But she was over the top with this perfume that really irritated me. To the point of an alergic reaction. It was hard for me to be around her when she had this on and that was all of the time. So I decided to bring up the issue with her. Well she dropped me for a football player.

It's strange because not all perfume does that to me. It isn't just women's perfume. Some of the men's products do it too. There was this one guy in a design class that wore something every day that I had a problem with. This guy had a big adam's apple and a really bad overbite. It was the worst smell to me. Horrible. I tried to get as far away from him as I could. But clearly he thought it was good.

I think there are a few factors. The perfume is old. It doesn't match the person. They use too much. Or it comes from an animal product that I can't tolerate. I suspect that there is one ingredient that I can't deal with, because when it bothers me it always smells the same. It acutally hurts when I breath in.

There's more to this story but I have to end it here.

Becoming Mr. Gouchenour

I'm going to head up to the cabin in Montana. Turn the water on and de-winterize. Mow if I need to. There are two "cabins", and usually I stay in the so called "Gouchenour Cabin". Shown in this photo. Pronounced "gook-en-our". It has lake frontage with a pier and a boathouse. That is my Hyundai next to it. There is also another cabin that is more like what you would expect a cabin to look like.

It's kind of funny. When my brother-in-law first heard about the "Gouchenour Cabin" he pictured a great big barvarian timber framed structure in the mountains, and guys standing around in lederhosen with mugs of beer. I got a kick out of that.

The "cabin" gets it's name from Mr. Gouchenour who first built it/ put it together. He was an old rancher from over by Great Falls. He got two shacks from the Libby Dam project and put them next to eachother for the back half of the building. It was a time whe a modest house to get away on the weekends was the norm. Now people are making these great big mansions, and pushing the prices of lake frontage beyond the reach of a regular guy. My father built the room on the front when he bought it and also the deck. He put in a bathroom and plumbing. It's really cute inside. It has a really old stove and fridge both from the 40s or 50s. It's one of my favorite places to be. I need to find someone to share it with. I guess I can share it here a little. The view of the bay from it is really nice.

If someone bought this property I'm sure they would just tear this little house down. Even if I could afford to build a great big house here I don't think I would. I wonder what Mr. Gouchenour would think about that. If he were still alive he would sit down in the kitchen with me and have a cup of coffee. We'd go out fishing in the morning. I liked Mr. Gouchenour. Mr. Gouchenour was a friend of mine. I'm tempted to say that I'm no Mr. Gouchenour, but I'm kind of becoming him.

Until next season

I'm going through ski withdrawl. I told myself that I could never live too far from a ski lift. Just one of those quality of life things. Skiing is kind of huge to me. Thankfully there are five places that I can drive to from were I live here. This is a shot from the top. Every day when I get off of the lift on my first run, I ski off in this direction like this guy. I can drop in or take it easy and warm up. But I always feel good when I get off of the lift and ski. It's the first thing I'll do next season. But until then I can only dream about it. Click on the photo to make it bigger.

Another Flathead Lake photo added.

I've added another Flathead Lake photo. I left it bigger than usual so if you click on it, it will give you an idea of how things look up there. I tried to post it here but it wouldn't work for some reason. I really need to work on my html. Veronica has posted a bunch of photos of Moscow at Neeka's Backlog. I love looking at her pictures.

15%

I heard on the TV that only 15% of people do their own taxes by hand like I do. Curious. I'm such an idiot when it comes to working with numbers, Most people use a program, e-file or have someone else do it. It used to be more complicated when I had more deductions and my first time home buyer credit, but now my standard deduction is more than if I itemize. The only thing I don't know right now is how much my phone excize tax credit is, and by gosh, I'm going to take it! I suspect it is only about $30. $30. will fill the gas tank of my Hundai once. That would last me almost a month if I don't go on a road trip.

***
You guys are all done, but I found out that my standard phone deduction is $30, and it ranges from $30 to $60 depending on exemptions. If you use actual phone records then you have to use form 8913.

Broken

I think I broke a bone in my foot. I can hardly walk on it. I don't know how I did it.

I was driving home from work yesterday stressed out. I had an SUV right on my butt. The road goes through a cut in the rocks where the mountain comes down. A MARMOT ran across the road right infront of me. I swerved and hit the brakes and just missed killing it. My tires screeched. The SUV behind me backed off then. Its driver must have seen the whole thing and then cut me a little slack. I looked in my mirror and saw the animal scamper back to the other side of the road but it was close. It was really close.

The last thing I needed was to kill an animal on my way home yesterday. I would have seen it's body for many days back and forth to work and just I don't need that.

I've added Flathead Lake photos

I've added a couple of Flathead Lake photos. Click on the link on my side bar to see them.

Local cyclist dies/ Brandenburg gets 3rd in GS

A local cyclist was killed last Thursday night when he ran into a Dodge Ram pickup on a ride I often do above a local lake where I work. The same road that I took my friend Yulia down to a windsurfing lesson, if you are reading Yulia. It was a beautiful evening and I did notice lots of cyclists out after work. I thought about going out but had to get ready to ski the next day, plus it was a little windy.

I don't know too many details about the accident except that the cyclist was coming down hill and the truck couldn't avoid him. He was wearing a helmet. Usually I would question the the car/ truck as I've been struck by a car as has most of the serious cyclists that I know. When I got hit I was in the right and this person turned into me. Didn't see me.

I don't know who is at fault in this case. If this guy does this ride like I do, then I suspect that the cyclist is at fault. I haul ass down that hill and around those corners. I try to stay in my lane but it is a narrow twisting road. A big truck coming up at any rate of speed would probably be impossible to avoid. I'll have to re-think that ride.

On a brighter note, a young guy from Spokane, Will Brandenburg, and from where I ski has made the US Ski Team development team and just got third in the US championships Giant Slalom in Alaska.

Ligety, who has been the men's combined gold medalist for three straight years (and slalom champion in 2005 and a year ago), led the first run and had the second-fastest final run to win in 2:22.34. He caught a break of sorts in the second run when defending GS champion Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH), second in the first run, became sick and didn't race to defend his title, while Erik Fisher (Middleton, ID) - third in the first run - was a DNF in his second run.

Junior Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA), named earlier in the week as the Ski Racing Alpine Junior of the Year, was silver medalist in 2:24.66. Cody Marshall (Pittsfield, VT) had the fastest second run to move up five places as he completed the podium (2:24.78).

So that is really cool. The first kid from SARS (Schweitzer Alpine Racing School) to get onto the US Ski Team. I haven't seen him ski but I did talk to one of his coaches a couple of weeks ago about it. I have seen Bodie Miller ski. Something to behold. Bodie didn't actually become sick on the second run. From what I understand the snow became mushy and he decided to not risk an injury. I can totally relate to that. Anyway if Brandenburg is getting times up with those guys then he has to be awesome. Pretty exciting for Spokane and SARS. It sounds like they are going to put him on the "B" Team. That is huge! I set my VCR to record the race and I actually got it right so I will get to see his runs.

Another look

The organist played Bach for the prelude on the old pipe organ this morning at the Easter service. I don't know how many ranks that organ has, but in her hands it is really something to experience. I'm amazed how people don't notice the things around them. That organ is kind of hard to not notice, and yet people are talking and laughing as if this is background music in a department store. The skill level of this lady is, and the quality of the instrument is about as good as it gets. There was a time when the prelude to the service was a time to be quiet and get in the right mindset for what was about to come. I don't know what to think about these people now. It's friendly and everything, but it's a little disrespectful at the same time. What they should have for some of these people is "Easter Lite." Half the calories of the regular service for those who are on a diet.

My mind wandered after that. I kept looking at three pretty girls seated in pews in front of me. Other than the prelude, they were more interesting than the service. They were all charming in different ways. The one directly in front of me was beautiful in a very plain way. She came in late and took one empty seat. She must have been in college. Her hair was brunette, long and straight. It looked kind of greasy, but in a healthy way. The back of one of her ears stuck out of it from time to time. It looked to me like she didn't fuss too much over her hair. One time she pulled her hair to one side and I could see her neck. She had a long lavender skirt and a cashmere sweater on. Something I'd never think of dressing her in if I were to pick. But there was an honesty to her that I admired.

Saturday night I slept upstairs on a side of my mom's house that prevented me from hearing the party next door. The houses there are really close together compared to where I live now. People get used to being so close together. On one side of our house was a party with perhaps thirty or forty people drinking and laughing and on the other side a house with a man who was on his computer. I could see him through a window I guess he never closes. I wanted to go to the party and have a beer and then go to the other house and check my e-mail, but it had been a long day of skiing, so I read a couple of chapters in the book I'm reading, and then I zonked out.

I skied five of the last eight days. Here is a photo from Friday. Just some dead trees. They were probably in a forest fire at some point. Perhaps I'm seeing something that isn't there there anymore, the ghost of the trees, a record of two lives that once were.

After church, I started to put my skis and clothes into my car for the trip back home. A woman came down the street on a cruiser bike. It's such a cool town in a bicycle way. I really belong there. She was really pretty. I looked away as to not stare. Then after she went by I snuck another look. I caught her looking back at me. Nothing like that ever happens to me here.

Second to last day skiing

Here is a self-portrait that I took looking into my car window. You won't see too many photos of me. I'm not very photogenic. There's something about taking a self-portrait. Natalia Antonova said on her blog once that nobody could take a photo of you like you can. Or something like that. There might be something to it.

These are my last turns from old chair 1 as they are going to remove it. I try to make clean railroad track turns when I free ski. That is the way to be fast in the race course. It's easy to do with shaped skis. Instead of lifting up the inside ski and skidding the downhill one, you just keep both skis on the snow, lean forward and roll the skis over into the turn. The shape of the ski will make the turn. Practice this on the bunny hill and once you get it you will never want to skid your skis again. Unless of course it is really steep. You do need to have shaped skis to do it however. I'm not sure if some of the park and pipe skis will do this. I've never skied on any of them. Probably never will.

Then I faked an injury to get this ski patrol's attention. There's something about a nurse outfit....

So she called in the med star chopper to have me hauled away.

New side bar things

I've added a couple of things to my side bar.

I've added a cyber tree museum. Kind of been working on that one for a while as it evolved over time. Now I'm going to add a tree each month. There are a few of reasons for the tree museum and I'll share two of them. It has been said that taking photos of trees is easy and not a very serious or valid subject matter for photography. I don't know where I read that or heard it but I don't subscribe to that viewpoint. Probably that school I went to that did everything they could to turn me off to photography and art in general. And one of other reasons for the cyber tree museum is that it is based on Joni Mitchell's Big Yellow Taxi song, of which I really like the Amy Grant version. So sing that song to yourself when and if you go there. they paved paradise and put up a parking lot...

I've also added a place on my side bar for photos that I take. I started with ones that I've already posted of Flathead Lake in Montana and I will add to that one as I take lots of photos of that lake. The lake and the sky always change so it is and endless subject matter. It is really an interesting place. When I'm there, the lake is like the center of everything and it constantly draws my attention. It draws me out onto it and into it. The light up there is different than other places I've been. The lake is so big and the sky so big that colors are different. I've heard that said about other places around the world, but the light at Flathead lake is special. It's a great place for an artist to work. I'll add other catagories there also.

I'm going skiing tomorrow for the last time at my regular resort. I couldn't resist as it will be eight months before it all starts over again. Then on Saturday I'll ski at another place on the way to Montana. It's smaller so I'll just use my little slalom skis and get as many turns as possible in. And that will end my ski season unless I go XC skiing. I did loose count a while back, but I think I've skied about 45 days this year. Thankfully I did not get hurt. I crashed twice racing and did not get hurt, but I banged up my right elbo pretty bad and might have cracked it from just clearing the gates over and over. It's been better now that I haven't been running gates, but sometimes it really hurts to straighten my arm out. No big deal.

Flathead Lake Photos

My photos of Flathead Lake
I reserve all rights to my photos, please ask before using

Dayton Bay left and Skeeko Bay center from Wild Horse Island

The view from Wild Horse Island

Sunrise on Big Arm Bay

Big Arm Bay
October sundown, Elmo Montana

Morning breaks over Big Arm bay as Canada geese fly over their winter home.
Wild Horse Island

Coming out of Skeeko bay, Wild Horse Island
Looking west into Big Arm bay and towards Elmo where the cabin is. The orange on the horizon is forest fire smoke.

Looking north towards Glacier Park.

Looking east towards the Mission Mountains in the distance as the moon rises over the lake. The lake goes behind the mountains in the foreground.
A Thistle class sailboat moored along the shore of Wild Horse Island.
A girl windsurfing on a longboard in Big Arm Bay.

Looking east out of Big Arm Bay.

Sailing to Skeeko bay to spend the night

Big Arm bay as you approach the lake from the west.

The view from my morning bike ride.

Cromwell Island and Dayton Bay.

Sometimes the sky is filled with forest fire smoke. This is Dayton bay.

The west shore of Wild Horse Island in the morning

You can see other photos of the lake and read about my bike ride around the lake last year HERE

Cyber tree museum

I took all my trees and put them in a tree museum. And I don't even charge twenty five bucks just to see them.

Click on the cyber tree label link to see them.

A carrot for the Easter Bunny

I rode the bunny hill chair with a little ski school kid today as they always try to get adults go with them. It sort of turned into the Easter Bunny hill chair. And now I think I sort of understand this whole Easter Bunny thing. I've been wondering about it for years.

So my little kid, Wil, was four years old and a blue bib. Second to the best skill level. I asked the instructor if he could get off of the chair ok at the top, and the response was sort of mixed. That meant be ready to grab him and haul him off. His legs stuck straight out. One of those. The lift operator had to place him on the chair and then I put my poles infront of him and grabbed the back of his jacket.

Wil struck up a conversation the moment we left the ground. Told me about his skate board that has fire on the bottom of it. Complimented me on my ski poles, and told me black was his favorite color. So I asked him if he was going to hunt for Easter eggs. He was, and he had done it before so he knew what he was doing. I said he would be good at it then, and he agreed.

Then he told me that he had put out a carrot for the Easter Bunny but some animal had eaten it. "What kind of animal?" I asked. "I don't know." he said. "Was it a gopher?" I asked. "No." "Well, was it a squirrel then?" "No it wasn't a squirrel." He said. "Was it a bird?" "No,.. it was a chicken." Wil Said. "A chicken!?" I questioned. "A scary wild chicken." He responded. A scary wild chicken had eaten the carrot that he had left out for the Easter Bunny.

I did notice a few rabbit tracks in the snow looking down from another chair. So I'm thinking that perahps rabbits come out onto the snow about this time of year. And this gave rise to the whole Easter Bunny thing. I just never put the whole thing together until today.

Nice day

I don't know what happened to the comment section of my last post. Perhaps I goofed around with it too much. What a nice day to not be at work!

They lie

I was wrong,.. This is the last week of ski season. They advertised that they would be open another week but they are going back on their word. They lie. Everyone says, "Well nobody is coming up so they have to close." And everyone thinks it's ok! Well what about me? I have a season pass! I guess they don't care now that they have my money. I'm just getting the hang of it!

Having said that, It snowed today and was cold. Cold is the main thing but it was really snowing. When it's cold the snow stays nice and fast to ski on. So I checked the NOAA weather and here is what it said,...

TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY...SHORT TERM MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN REGARD TO THE LONG-WAVE PATTERN EVOLUTION...AND ARE IN FAIR AGREEMENT IN THE SYNOPTIC SCALE. IN THE BIG PICTURE THE LONG-WAVE TROUGH OVER THE REGION MIGRATES ENE AS A RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE PAC NW. THIS WILL END SHOWERS OVER THE REGION TONIGHT...BUT A SHORT-WAVE SYSTEM MOVES IN ON WEDNESDAY TO INCREASE PRECIP
CHANCES AGAIN.

Um... That means it's going to be nice tomorrow so I'm going skiing.

April cyber tree

Here is Miss April cyber tree. I took this photo last Wednesday. The snow conditions have depreciated quite a bit in the last few days, but it was trying to snow yesterday when I left the mountain. Today is a blue bird day and much cooler so the skiing will be better. I found $10 on the ground on Friday so that paid for my gas yesterday. Only 2 weeks of skiing left.

No more hostages for gas

Hostages are no longer allowed as a deposit at this North Idaho gas station. That's going to be inconvenient for some of the rednecks, but at least I don't have to worry so much about being taken hostage.

Wolf people

This place is called Wolf People. It's on the way to were I ski in North Idaho. I've always wanted to stop and go in there but I've never been quite sure about it. There is a wolf guy coming out the front door in this photo.

He had a leash and went around back and brought out this wolf. Wolves are pretty big. I was on the other side of the highway and thought about going over there but I didn't want to freak out the wolf. I don't think it would have but you never know. He put the wolf in a chain link cage that was in the back of a pickup and took it home. I've seen one of the wolves in that cage before and was impressed by how big it was. This wolf is a beauty. I don't think it's a hybrid. I suspect that this is a full on wolf. It's pretty impressive, but I think Spunky could take him.... When she was younger. :)

Not long ago, when there was still snow on the ground, I was in the woods a couple of miles from here and took this photo of these tracks. (It's where I make a pit stop half way to the ski hill in the mornings) These tracks were too big to be a regular dog. And they followed along a fresh set of deer tracks. I know how old the tracks were because I was there the day before and they weren't there then. I notice these things when I'm out and about. All of the hunting I do. I wonder if the wolf people are promoting a pack of wolves in this area.

There's a controversy about the grey wolf population in Idaho right now. The govenor of Idaho, Butch Otter wants to open up hunting on wolves. I would never shoot one unless I had to, and I just can't see having to. I know a rancher in south central Montana. I'll have to see what his thoughts are on this.

Waxing

It's going to be sunny on Wednesday so I'm going skiing. Another mid-week ski day. Last weekend got washed out. It was raining on Saturday and on Sunday they only had a few lifts running so it wasn't worth the drive up. Sadly, Monday was beautiful, but everyone had to go back to work.

I have three pairs of skis waxed up for tomorrow. All giant slalom skis. One pair of Volkls and two pairs of Atomics. I won't use my race stock skis. I have been neglecting one pair of Atomics so I decided to tune them. I filed them flat while watching TV and then I took them into my "race room" and set the edge angles with my Swix tool then I polished the edges with a stone. Then I put a new structure on the bases with my rilling tool and then I waxed with my new red wax. Then I brushed it down. So I'll be curious to see how they work. I suspect they will be nice. But who knows. I have two identical pairs of these skis and the new pair has been way better than the old pair. So perhaps now the old pair will be better now as the edges are so sharp.

Here is a photo of me waxing. We are not talking my chest hair or my back, both of those could use some waxing also. That would hurt! :) First you melt the wax on with the iron. Then you iron it out. Then you scrape it off. Then you polish it with the brush. I do this every day I ski the night before.

Dropped my camera

The other day I dropped my little Nikon Cool Pix 5600 handing it of to one of the artists at work. It was my fault. It landed on the lens as it was extended. I was sure it was done for. The second section of the lens was bent at an extreme angle. It wouldn't turn off and it said lens error on the display. So I grabbed it and tried to straighten it back out. It looked to be clearly screwed up and no doubt beyond repair. But I tried to straighten it anyway, and I really forced it. I had given up hope. But then it snapped back into position and then I was able to turn the camera off and it retracted and the lens cover shut. It was fine. I took a few photos and it worked. Then I downloaded the photos to see if they were in focus and they were. Thank goodness. I honestly can't believe I fixed it.

I love this little camera. Nikon quit making it. One of the things I like about it is the optical viewfinder. It zooms in combination with the lens. Many of the new little digital cameras don't have a viewfinder anymore. They are too complicated. But in bright light situations it is often hard to see the screen and compose. I'd rather use the viewfinder except for macro photography. That's the only time I use the display due to the parallax, or the difference of the angle of the lens to the view finder. Something that doesn't happen when you look through the lens.

I've been thinking that this camera might konk out soon anyway as I use it so much. So I've been thinking about finding another one before you can't get them. Not something I would have ever thought about in the past with digital cameras. But the new ones are starting to be not as good even though they have more mps. Nikon is making a new little camera P5000 that looks like it would be great. It has a hot shoe for a flash and a few advanced features. If it takes as good of pictures as the 5600 does then it will be with the extra controls and resolution. But it is kind of spendy at $400. You can get a D40 for just a couple hundred more. But the SLRs are just too big for most of the time.

Two-in-one convenience

Last night I met my mom and sister for dinner at Bostons. I honestly don't like eating at places like that but what the heck, we had fun and were together. Then after that I went to Macy's to exchange the blender I got for Christmas which was chrome for a white one. I hadn't taken it out of the box yet. I know what you are thinking.. , but all of the rest of my stuff is white. I wanted a white one. I think a chrome one would always look dirty if I had it.

Anyway, I took it back and the guy was cool about it but they didn't have one that was just a blender. They had the same thing but it had a food processor top part also. Smart Power Duet. "Two-in-one Convenience". And they were on sale so the guy said I could up-grade for a little over $10. Well I use my food processor a lot, so I'm like, heck yes!

When I got my food processor (another Cuisinart) I had to take it back twice until I got one that wasn't damaged or didn't have parts missing. I told the salesman that I had a problem when I got my Cuisinart food processor and had to return it twice. Well he assured me that this new blender/ food processor had not been opened and would be fine so I chose not to look at it very close. They are really hard to get back in the box, so I took it home with just a glance inside the box.

I got it home and looked it over to make sure all the parts were there and then I noticed that the base of the food processor part was cracked! So today I had to take it back. So out of two new Cuisinart products I've gotten, I've had to go back to the store three times! The service at Macy's has been great, but the Cuisinart has some quality issues. Once you get one home with all of the parts and no defects they are great. The trick is to do your own QC while you are at the store.

Good mom form

It's raining here today so I decided to stay home. I'll go skiing tomorrow. My mom drove over fom Montana and is staying with my sister. They are going shopping for shoes. My mom is in good health and displayed good mom form by presenting me with this jar of dill pickles. So she's back on her game.

My mom makes really good dill pickles. I remember one time we were up in the cabin and we sad down for dinner when one of the neighbors showed up. We asked him to join us for dinner but he refused and said he'd just have a pickle. Mom had several of them sliced and on a dish. So he ate one pickle. Then another, and another until he had eaten all of the pickles on the dish. Complimenting my mom the whole time. This was starting to get to me because he was eating all of the dill pickles! What the heck, I figured we still had some left in the jar. But what does my mom do? She get's more out of the jar slices them up and places the dish infront of him! I'm like No! No! Give him the meatloaf!

He ate almost a whole jar of dill pickles! She did hold back a couple for us in the jar. We laughed about it after he left.

Day off to ski

I woke up this morning and the sky was clear and blue with not a cloud in sight. I thought, "You know don, it's pretty nice out and cold. Skiing isn't going to get any better!" So I called in to work and off I went to the mountain. It might just be the last cold and fast snow I'll get this season and I had time left to take off. Plus I had all of my work done! For the most part. This weekend we are expecting warm temps and perhaps rain. That will slow things down. Today was exactly what I've been waiting for. Nobody in my way and I could go as fast as I wanted. There was even some fresh snow. Man it was a treat! I took this photo of myself riding the chair up. My shadow on the snow below anyway.

Cat food recall

Thankfully I did not feed my cat Spunky any of the food on the recall list. I did recently buy a package of Iams dry food, but I went to the Iams website and none if it's dry food was on the recall list. And the Prescription Diet Hills food that I get from the vet, and pay and arm and a leg for is not on the list as I'm also only feeding Spunky dry food. I did notice that the hills wet sliced food was on the list. I do give her a treat now and then but it is Friskies wet cat food and it wasn't on the list. So who knows, perhaps the cheapest food is the best. The cat might get a bladder infection eating it but at least it won't die.

They put something in that food that the cats like. But what I don't get is why they have Beef, Chicken Turkey and Liver flavors? Why don't they have flavors that cats really like,.. Mouse or just Bird ? Swallow or something.

Retro camping

My friend from hunt club and I took our campers up to the resort for a weekend of skiing. It's kind of cool camping in the parking lot up there as it is so high up in the mountains. We got there late on Friday night. The photo above is how the parking lot looked after people showed up on Saturday. It was nice and sunny that day. But then Saturday night the weather moved in and it rained heavy at night with high winds. The wind blew out the pilot lite on my furnace so I just turned it off. The wind was so strong that it shook the camper all night. Good thing I had a comfy sleeping bag. The wind kind of rocked me to sleep.Sunday morning this is what it looked like after the storm as the sun came up, and before everyone showed back up. I got up and made some coffee and then went for a walk about. It was a beautiful morning. My camper is the yellow one on the right. We were sitting there at noon Saturday cooking some brats on the BBQ and this guy went by and complimented me on my "retro" camper. What the heck?! I'm not kidding, that's what the guy said! I honestly did not expect anyone to make a point of how old my camper was. :) I should have invited him in to look at the stove!

Bulldogs are out

The Gonzaga Bulldogs are out of the NCAA tournament in the first round. Washington State is still in. I can't get as excited about the Washington State Cougars as I do about Gonzaga. The season has been such a disaster for Gonzaga, with two of the Buldogs getting busted for mushrooms and pot. I think everyone just want's it behind them.

I'm just going to go skiing.

It's about the bike

So MEGAN asked me what road bike I would buy if I could buy any bike I wanted and I told her a PINARELLO PARIS CARBON, I suspect that the Pinarello Dogma is,, well,, a little too dogmatic for me, but Megan might like a brown dogma :) But keep watching the page, as they show the Paris. It's Italian and beautiful, but America is making some great road bikes. Trek, Cannondale, Litespeed and others.

Above is a photo of my regular road bike. I got it in 97 I think. It's a Trek 5000 fully carbon bike and the frame is exactly like the one Lance Armstrong rode to his first couple of Tours de France wins. Then after that they started to improve them. But at the time it was one of the best frames you could buy and it only weighs 2.8 lbs. They honestly haven't improved them all that much more. My bike has Campagnolo/ Italian parts on it. The one Lance rode had Shimano/ Japanese parts on it, and here is a bit of trivia; Lance's bike was the first bike equiped with Japanese parts on it to ever win the Tour de France. And correct me if I'm wrong, it was the first American bike to win the Tour de France.

This Trek sucks up road shock like other bikes don't and believe me after riding 60 or 70 miles, with 30 miles left to go, that is a very good thing. There are two things that can take away your energy you when you distance ride. Time in the saddle, and fatigue from the bike. Riding slow can be a problem as you don't get the ride over with soon enough. And I've had bikes that would burn out my body at shorter distances because they just hurt too much. That's what is so cool about this bike and why it fits my needs for touring so well. It's stiff, light and also quick. It's just a great design even though it's not the latest thing anymore. For Lance, it's not about the bike. I think that was the title of his book, but I noticed he was kind of particicular about his bikes. (?) For me well,...

But I didn't buy my Trek because of Lance. Riis won on a Pinarello in '96, and Jan Ulrich won on another Pinarello in '97. Just for the record I bought my bike right before Lance won on one. It was just the best full carbon bike at the time. It was a good investment as I still don't feel the need to get anything better. Man, I can't believe that was 10 years ago!

Realistically, if I were going to buy a new road bike I'd probably get a Cannondale since a Pinarello Paris would cost more than I'm willing to spend on a car. So a Cannondale will probably be my next road bike if I ever think I need one. I love the way they feel. I did buy a cheap Motobecane single speed road bike off of e-bay to have a backup road bike and I ride it to work all of the time. It only cost $350, but it only has 1 gear. Here is a photo of that, and also me last summer when I only weighed 175 lbs. The photo makes me look like I shave my legs but I don't. Racers shave their legs not for speed, but to be able to apply and remove bandages, and to keep wounds clean.

Yes I'm wearing a mountain bike helmet but it was sunny out and I wanted the visor! It's bad form to wear a mountain bike helmet on a road bike. Also kind of bad form to not shave your legs.

New CD, the Wailin' Jennys

Curt turned me on to this CD, The Wailin' Jennys Firecracker *

* This webisite has pop ups. My computer blocked them, and I don't think they are the bad kind, but be advised. I try not to link to websites that have pop ups, or any website that I think is suspect.

This would be a good one for someone to warm up to country with although it's not really country. There's almost a celtic feel to some of it. Three gals, and they have beautiful voices and harmonies. The journal on their website is a good read. Looks like they've been all over the world. I see that they are going to be in Hamilton MT next month That would be a good concert. My grandmother used to live there. I don't get the name of the album Firecracker though. It's kind of mellow.

It's a great CD. Thanks Curt.

Cycling season starts

I wrote a post about road bike riders (bicycle racers) shaving their legs last night and I'll re-visit that subject when I start riding more. I decided to delete that post. Cycling season has started and the spring classics are getting underway in Europe. I haven't made any goals yet except body weight ones. The first would be to get my weight down to 185. And if I can do that then I might set it lower.

I've been riding on the rollers just enough to get my backside used to the saddle again. The problem is that I've got two different bikes and they have different saddles. I pumped up the tires in my regular road bike so I could roll on my regular saddle and I flatted the front tire trying to get it up to pressure. So I'll have to repair that. It's been cool enough to make it very uncomfortable on the bike with any wind right now. I did see a group of riders last night on my way home. One guy and several girls all probably in their 20s. All on very nice bikes, one I noticed in the $2k to $3k range or more. There was a time when I wouldn't ever see anything like that. Thank you Lance.

Being there

I've had a few things kind of heavy on my heart.

My mom is getting up there in years and lives in Montana and I live here in Washington. It's not that far away but it's not all that close either. She had me somewhat late in life as she and my dad had other marriages before the one they had with me. My dad was older than my mom and he was in his 40s when he had me. My dad already died as he got cancer. My mom sings in the church choir and when she was singing Sunday morning she got faint, so she sat down. Well they called 911 and hauled her off to the hospital. They did all kinds of tests and found nothing wrong with her. It was her blood pressure medication and her blood pressure got low. It happened when she went on a trip to Russia once also and the Russian doctor took away her pills then. Anyway nobody called me to let me know this was going on, and I only found out when I called her Sunday night. One of her friends is a doctor and he and his wife stayed with her the rest of the afternoon. They elderly also. The preacher came to see her after the service and when she got home there was a big bouquet of flowers from the church. I called her this morning and she was fine.

Sometimes you can't be as close as you'd like to be to the people that you care about. I don't know if I put that the right way.

I have a good friend from Iran. One of my best friends ever. His parents sent him here to get an education. But then they wanted him to return. I met his parents when they came over here once. They were wonderful people. They had a beautiful loving family. So my friend eventually did return to Iran. I told him before he left that we would always be this close no matter how far apart, and I put my thumb and index finger together. I didn't know if I would ever see him again. He married a woman in Tehran. But they weren't happy in Iran as he got used to being free. But there is a lot more to the story than just that. To make the long story short, he and his wife returned to the states without even telling his parents and are both citizens now living in Seattle. I can't imagine how it must be for him to be that far away from his parents.

I promise that my next post will be more happy.

Miss March cyber tree

Here is Miss March cyber tree. Yes that is a red bra on her, and various beads. She's really letting her branches down, but at least she still has her bra on. She's the underwear tree where I ski. Girls, I suspect, (I hope) go by this tree on on one of the chair lifts and throw their undies on it. I think there is some significance to this but I can't really be sure. It is a tradition however. One time I was riding that chair and there was a ski instructor ahead of me with a little girl/ student. And I had a little girl next to me on my chair that I was taking up. I wasn't too crazy about this because this chair moves fast for a little kid like that. Anyway all of the kids were getting a kick out of this tree. I was kind of wondering how to explain it if the subject came up, but they all just laughed about it.

I went skiing today. I rode up the bunny hill chair from the lower parking lot to the main resort area. A little girl skied up next to me in the lift line and asked if I was single, so she got on the chair with me on that ride. She was a cool little kid but not as small as the last one I rode with. She was probably about 10. She said she was skiing alone today because her friend couldn't go. We had a nice conversation, mostly about wearing helmets and the rain. That chair goes by some condos and she told me that she wished she lived in one of them and would go skiing out the door every day. I told her I'd like to do the same thing. Later in the day I was waiting at the top of the bunny hill for a person I work with who was told me she would be there. I never found her but this little girl got off of the chair. She smiled at me and then off she went. She skied down a ways and then looked back to see if I was watching. She was a pretty good little skier in her second year. She is going to be a great skier. Her form was really good for her age and her second year. She carved some nice turns and then looked back. I was impressed.

I went to the recreational race course which was totally fogged in. The fog was really thick. On my first run I fell. At first I thought it wasn't so bad but then I got tangled up and felt one of my skis load up to an uncomfortable level. Thankfully that ski came off and I was ok. So I skied down and got on the chair and went back to the start again. I was hard to even find the start in the fog. One time I skied too low and had to climb back up to it. I ended up getting the fastest time of the day and I think that is a first for me. I even beat Bonnie who is a 16 year old girl, and one of the fastest girls for her age in the country. She beats me all the time. Her dad is a coach and they probably run more gates in a week than I do all year. She and her brother are home schooled so they have plenty of time off to ski race. I don't think she was trying that hard today however, and probably didn't want to get hurt in the fog. I didn't hold anything back however.

After doing that I got on the highspeed chair with a safety patrol woman. She was cool and had an eastern European accent. I totally melt if a woman has an accent like that. I find it so sexy! I found out that she was from Hungary. I would have liked to spend more time with her. I ask her if it wasn't foggy on the back and she told me that it was clear down below but raining. So I went to the back. It wasn't bad and I got some good turns in and managed to stay somewhat dry.

Tomorrow I think I'll hunker down and make a batch of jerky. It is supposed to rain with high winds.

First bike ride

I went for my first bike ride of the year today. I came home today at lunch and decided to spin on the rollers and watch the Charlie Rose show which they replay from the night before. Yesterday Rose had Brian Schweitzer the govener of Montana on. He was impressive. Has spent time in Saudi and speaks arabic. Something I didn't know. I'm not crazy about his advocation of using coal for production of fuel for cars and to gain energy independence. I just think there must be other answers to our energy needs other than everyone driving cars to and from work.

People say nobody ever goes out to eastern Montana but that's not really the point. I've spent time out there and it is beautiful and unique. It wouldn't be the same if we processed it, dug it up removed the coal and then smoothed it all out and re-planted it. It would be a shame and something that we could never un-do. We need to learn that we can't un-do things.

Don't get me wrong. I love my car and truck. I'm a product of this car culture. But even if we dig up all of the coal in Montana, at some point we will have to find another way for people to get around other than everyone driving to work in a 3000 lb people mover.

People here are driving to work in great big pickups that have dual wheels on the back and are big enough to haul freight. Seriously. That just doesn't make sense. And yes I have an old Ford F250, But I don't drive it back and forth to work. I drive my little Hundai or ride my bike. But I've digressed.

I put on my cycling kit and got on the rollers and started to watch Charlie Rose. He had the second part of an interview with Martha Radatz about Iraq. It's all so very sad on so many levels. Check out hnk's RECENT POST. She is an Iraqi girl living in Mosul. I've been reading her blog for a long time as well as her sister's blog, A STAR FROM MOSUL

Radatz is right. Nobody except the military, their families and the Iraqi people make the sacrifice. Every night on the News Hour on PBS they list the names and show the photos of soldiers who have died in Iraq. There were 14 last night and 15 tonight. I'm sure there are countless Iraqi people also. It's such a shame.

So after about 10 minutes of warming up on the rollers I decided to take the bike outside. It was somewhat warm outside. About 50 degrees. But the moment I started moving it got really cold. At first, it felt really good to be back in the saddle of a road bike, but it wasn't long before I started to suffer. I only rode a few miles.

Betty and Wilma

I've got a little bit of a sore throat but it's not from skiing. It's from going to work and being around sick infected people. You don't get a virus from going out in to the cold you get it through contact with someone who has it. There's one person at work who has what I think is chronic bronchitis. She coughs at just about every word she speaks even when she is "healthy". She used to be a heavy smoker but now just smokes a little. She's always coughs when she laughs. When she does, I want to clear my throat for no reason. She recently has a sinus infection, so she comes in and blows her nose, and I'm like, could you please go to the bathroom to do that! "Oh don't worry I have a sinus infection" and I'm like, well in that case it's ok. I guess infection is safe. I can't possibly get infected with your infection!

Anyway when she laughs and coughs, it brings to mind something Wilma Flintstone once said. (the woman who was the voice of Wilma Flintstone actually) She died a few years ago from cancer if I remember. But in this interview she said that when Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble would laugh "Ha Ha Ha" with their mouths open, they would cough as they were both smokers. So they decided that when they laughed they would go "Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm Hmm." in fast order. That way they could laugh for the soundtrack with their mouths closed and wouldn't cough.

How sad.

New Casio

I went to Sports Outlet tonight and bought a new watch. I was prepared to spend about $60. The thing I like about Sports Outlet is they do have decent stuff but they don't manage their inventory very well and they seem to care. They are kids for the most part who don't seem to care about their jobs. Not enought to come and assist me anyway.

Everything was in a state of chaos in the watch department. There was a sign that said 20% off all Casios. So first I looked at them. Then I worked my way around the display which was pretty large. Many had been marked down. Some two and three times, probably because they'd been there too long and the battery is probably getting old. I found one casio that had been marked down several times. I liked the model. It was just analog but with a digital date and also a light. I wanted an analog watch. I'm not sure if it was marked correctly. It had the following prices on it. $59.99, $34.99, $29.99, $17.49, and finally $9.47 I found the exact same watch with only the $34.99 price on it. I didn't like any of the watches I looked at any better at any of the prices, so I took the $9.47 watch to the counter and got it for $4.73 with the 20% off deal.

But there is another side to this story. It makes me wonder about the production of this watch. Here we have these things piling up in the stores and nobody really cares about or values them. I now have a Casio, big deal. It's such a consumer driven world that we live in. This watch was "cased" in China. It's actually a pretty nice looking thing. It's well made and useful. I'm glad I didn't have to pay $59.99 for it. But I would actually. Especially if there wasn't such a glut on them. And if there wasn't a glut then perhaps the people who made this in China, or whatever country might make a little more money and the value of their money might be higher. I can't help but think that things might change if things continue like they are. There might be a day when we won't have over stocked stores like this, or we won't have the money to buy the way we do now.

On another note, my shoulder has been bothering me the last few days. Not really hurting but just bothering me. I was thinking what the heck? Then I remembered my crash on Saturday. That must have been it. It was a pretty violent crash. I'm fine now. And my hip/ butt issue went away by the next day. I'm kind of amazed about that as it hurt so much that day. But now I'm whole again and feel great.

The hills are alive

I went skiing today. It was sunny for once, and I got a good workout. I skied hard for about five hours, first on my slalom skis and then on my giant slalom skis. Usually I do that in the other order, starting with the long radius ski and then going to the short one as I burn out and I bring the speeds down. Since I expected the snow to warm up and get sticky it helps to have a long stiff ski to cut through the wet snow and keep the speeds up in the warm afternoon. But despite the temps getting warm it never really got sticky on the backside. The Holmenkol red wax worked well. So I made rail road track turn after turn and it was a great day to practice with nobody in the way. The forecast is for overcast and rain for the next week. :(

I took the photo from a chair on the back. The trees and the mountains smelled so good! The hills are coming back to life.

Pulsar

I guess I'll have to buy a new watch. I must have bumped my watch on that gate when I fell. Now the last digit on the display doesn't work. Instead of reading 5:26 it reads 5:2. You would think they could make a better watch than this. I expect more anyway. I did pay $7.50 for this at Walmart last summer. And you might think that isn't much, but that's about a dollar a month to own this watch. I'm thinking my theory that cheap watches are just as good as expensive ones isn't true.

I love watches. Jane bought me a Pulsar. She really couldn't afford it at the time. I know she must have gone in debt over it and I didn't want her to do that. We were at a mall and she was looking at jewelry and so I was checking out the Pulsars. I saw one I thought was really cool. She asked me what I was looking at and I pointed at this watch in the case and said I really like that one. So what did I get for Christmas? A Pulsar. But it wasn't the one I was pointing at. It was the one next to it. I like it anyway as it is a cool watch. It was just an example of how out of touch we were to eachother despite how hard we tried. She's gone and I still have the Pulsar to remind me.

It's a dress watch. I'm kind of a sporty guy, (or at least I'd like to think so). But I can't take this Pulsar skiing. I'll have to go shopping for another watch.

More ski photos

Got up this morning, sorted out my body after my crash yesterday, and to my surprise I didn't feel too bad. Almost no pain. So after breakfast Curt packed up his gear and went back to his loving wife in Montana. I threw a couple of pairs of skis in my car and off I went back to the ski resort. We should have gone skiing on the Montana Idaho border, but what the heck. We will probably ski in western Montana in a couple of weeks.

Here are two more of Curt's photos. There is a little bar on the bottom of the backside called the "Outback" It's pretty cool. They have a fire pit outside and you can get burgers and chili and such. (My chili is far better however!) The wood smoke back there smells really good as you ski up to the little lodge. I thought this photo that Curt took was really cool. He has an eye for the lens. You can see it was a foggy day.

This photo is one Curt took of me skiing down through some trees on the backside. There was nobody back there, and it's one of my favorite runs. We had it all to ourselves and it's really long. It's called "have fun", and we did have fun skiing it!

Race form

We survived our ski trip today with only a few minor bumps and bruises. I threw myself down the race course a few times. Curt captured my race form in this photo as I skillfully worked my way trough the gates. I realize this looks like I'm out of control,.. but I actually planned it like this. I made a great recovery and went on to win the race.

Not really. I got pretty tangled up. I smashed into this gate with my hip then I slid down the hill and took out the next gate as well. Gives new meaning to skiing the backside as mine is in a little bit of bother tonight.

Beautiful day

It's a beautiful day here today. Sun is up and the sky is clear. A friend is coming over from Montana for some skiing this weekend so I'll post some photos of our adventure when I get some. I should have gone skiing today as they are saying that the clouds will roll back in tonight. There is plenty of snow now. We could use some sun and cold weather.