Snow Biking

I explored the trails at Holmberg Park this morning. What a workout. The paths had compressed snow from hikers and were 6-12 inches wide which meant I swerved into the deep snow quite often. I rode back and forth on the trails for an hour. There are some trails that are quite steep. I avoided them but I may go back in the summer when it's much more navigable. The studded tires performed well. Going uphill was a challenge because the rear wheel would spin out. I found I could power out of that situation most of the time, hence the great workout. I kept the bike in 2nd gear the entire time. I found that gear with a 90-120 cadence kept me in motion well enough and allowed me to really hammer the pedals when I needed to.

Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid.

An excerpt from the Department of Homeland Security web site:

"While there continues to be no credible information at this time warning of an imminent threat to the homeland, the department's strategic threat perspective is that we are in a period of increased risk. All Americans should continue to be vigilant, take notice of their surroundings, and report suspicious items or activities to local authorities immediately."


Our National Threat Advisory has been elevated since its inception and has only bumped up from Elevated (yellow) to High (orange) once or twice. We have a separate and higher threat advisory for just domestic and international flights. And all while there continues to be no credible information. How are we supposed to deal with that besides remaining incredibly frightened?

About once every 100 million years an asteroid hits Earth and wipes everything out. The last one hit about 60 million years ago. Holy shit! Do you realize our Death from Unknown Masses, Bodies, Asteroids and Spherical Structures threat advisory is elevated? Please join me in getting a hard hat and binoculars and vigilantly watching the skies for suspicious signs of big frickin' asteroids headed our way. Then we call the local authorities. And if they call us "dumbass", we'll be comforted in knowing that they know exactly what we're talking about.

Psyche!

I am never surprised, but continually amazed, at religion's claim to hold dominion over what I call The Way Things Came To Be. (I'm referring specifically to Christianity, but others apply as well.) You'd think that what we've learned about our physical universe would have resulted in a very enlightened mankind, but even today we have people who believe the world is only five or six thousand years old. Science perseveres despite the "truth" found in the Bible and other religious texts and stories, yet it still takes a beating even today. I think the greatest disservice religion does to itself is promoting ignorance by putting faith over fact. And that's why I'm not surprised. Scientific discoveries diminish religion's significance by providing solid evidence over a text of myths, legends and history. Religion puts up an awesome fight. Why? Because we think our intelligence makes us special. So it follows that we were specially made by something so special we can't comprehend it like we can everything else. How ironic that the very thing that makes us special holds us back. Nice move, evolution!

Kids Say the Funniest Things (The hazards of surfing)

A couple days ago Stephanie and I were sitting on the couch channel surfing. Of course, there's rarely anything good on television and I only get the limited basic cable service anyway but sometimes we get lucky on one of the PBS channels. Anyway, I stopped on the AMC channel because it was a movie I didn't recognize. We were just in time to see the character played by Steve Martin get startled by someone and say, "Fuck, man, you scared the shit out of me." Hmmm, not age appropriate for Steph so I continue surfing. Steph gives me this look and says in a mischievous sing-song voice, "I can tell Mom I learned a new word today." It was a great belly laugh for both of us.

'Tis The season

Here it is Christmas morning culminating another season of buying more stuff. How difficult we find it as a consumerist society to question exactly what we do every day, but especially between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This year, beginning back in September, I decided to remind myself every day that the purpose of Christmas was to buy stuff. While we had the occasional feel-good human interest story in the paper or on the news, the stories I noticed more often were the ones about smart shopping, how stores were doing, safe shopping, protecting the stuff you bought while shopping, and how sales were compared to this time last year. Combined with seeing the crowds in the stores--I'm just as guilty as the next consumer--made the whole idea more and more repulsive. Even at Christmas Eve Mass, our priest talked of the importance of Christ and then reminded the children about presents. Remembering way back, as a child I knew the importance of Christmas. Getting presents. This year I got a dose of reality that I feel powerless against. What'd you get?

Homemade Studded Bike Tires

Using directions I found on an Edmonton bike club site a few years ago, I made my own studded tires using sheet metal screws and a couple of old tires. They look pretty wicked. I used an old tube as a liner to protect the tube with the air from the screw heads. If you use a tube that contains the goo for sealing flats you have a pretty disgusting mess to clean up.


Since we have enough snow I thought I give 'em a spin. They worked pretty good. Got a great workout just going down to the store to get a gallon of milk--surprisingly more in the upper body than I expected. You're not getting anywhere quickly and you have to go easy on the front brake. The tires hold very well on ice and fresh snow, especially fresh snow on grass. The biggest challenge was loose, crushed snow. The front tire moved side to side from irregularly displaced snow. The back tire spun every once in a while. Overall, it was pretty manageable and very enjoyable. I hope to get a longer ride in tomorrow.

Drivin' Dad

I took Josh out in the Honda Civic to practice driving a manual transmission. We used a large parking lot at a now-closed movie theater where there's plenty of room and very few obstacles. Josh (and I) suffered through lots of herky-jerky whiplashing and engine kills. Josh said it was scary, like the car was having seizures and he couldn't control it. Perhaps it would be easier if he could drive using a game controller. But then I would have to learn THOSE controls. "R2, square button, L1. No, not L2! L-ONE!!! Gawd!"

Random Bizarre Thoughts

Familiarity breeds contempt so let's cut to the chase, asshole.

What you don't know won't hurt you. I guess I live a painless life.

Head and Heart

A fascinating history of our religious roots and the path we have taken as a nation. One bit of irony that struck me. The predecessors of today's Baptists were persecuted for their faith by the very Christians today's Baptists claim founded this nation as a Christian one. You can read more about the book here.

Fun Stuff

Somebody's Home?

I've seen this car parked in various places downtown for a little over a week now. There's never any time on the parking meter. And there's never a parking ticket on the dash. An exercise in futility perhaps? The car is so packed with newspapers and "stuff" that the only place you can sit--not that I'd want to--is in the driver's seat. No shortage of unusual sights in Spokane.

Anti-Abortion "Movement" in Spokane?

Lately I've noticed the odd person standing or walking about wearing black sweatshirts. One had "Abortion is Homicide" on the front and lots more on the back that I couldn't make out. Another had what appeared to be a drawing of a fetal skeleton and "Killed at Birth". I wonder if something is going on. I'll ask one when I have the opportunity.

The Patriot's Dream

I found a record a couple years ago that included a song entitled "The Patriot's Dream" by Arlo Guthrie. I never heard the song before--the 70's are such a blur--but I find it poignant, especially in our current times. I put images of the Iraq war together with the song. Be warned. This contains some very graphic images.

Shannon Curtis

Kathy and I got to see and hear Shannon Curtis at the Caterina Winery. She's very good. Wonderful voice. She's from Los Angeles and this is the second time she's played in Spokane. There were maybe 30 people in the place--not that it could hold many more. I bought her CD and it turns out her music is licensed under Creative Commons and we are free to copy and share. Awesome!

A Well Developed Bedside Manner

So I go see a doctor about an unusual crusty bit of skin on my stomach. She looks at it and declares it seborrheic keratosis, a benign form of skin tumor. "They're also called age barnacles," she says. And then with a smile full of pity that only a young person can afford to wear, "Saw-reeee." She enthusiastically retrieved "the nitro" and informed me she could freeze it. "It'll slough off in a couple of weeks." What the heck. I've never had anything frozen off before although I thought I came close when I was stationed at Minot. So I stood and raised my shirt. And with no warning about how this was going to feel like a zillion needle sticks she gives me a zillion needle sticks. "The first one is the worst. I have to do this three times." No, pretty much all three hurt just as much as the other. No warning either about the huge blister that arose the following day. And two weeks later the angry looking, scarlet-faced age barnacle has yet to slough off. All in all a most satisfying medical
experience.

Last Day of Pool

The days of summer are waning and the weather is cooling off. So I heated the pool until the water got to 85 degrees and Josh and Steph had their cousins Trevor and Parker over for the last day of pool. What a bunch of fun-loving, goofy kids. I burned some burgers and dogs and we had a great afternoon.

Lost in Spokane

I was really looking forward to my Orienteering class. But I couldn't find it.

The Last Report OnThe Miracles At Little No Horse

A wonderfully complex story. I especially appreciated the character Nanapush; his wit, wisdom, and a remarkably and unusually humorous story of his death. The switching between Agnes and Father Damien was confusing, but I guess that would be expected of a woman in a man's role. Her spiritual life is a mixture of religion, secrets, sex, deception and humor. Nanapush's use of Father Damien's secret just to win a chess game speaks volumes about his character.
And then what better revenge (and insurance?) for an Ojibwe as that of Fleur Pillager patiently working her way into the life of the man responsible for exploiting the people of the reservation, becoming his wife, leaving him after getting pregnant, and forcing his child to be born and raised on the reservation.

Well, There's Yer Problem...

For the last ten days I've been having one flat after another on my rear tire. It began with a couple of industrial-sized staples that put several holes in the tube. Rather than patch it, I replaced it. Then the real trouble started. I kept getting flats and three times the hole in the tube was in the same spot. No matter how closely I examined the inside of the tire, I couldn't find any reason for the punctures. So I thought I had some bad tubes. Bought new tubes. Still got flats. Sometimes I'd go for two days. Sometimes I'd go for two hours. Very frustrating. Finally took the wheel into the bike shop. The experienced mechanic quickly showed me the glass embedded in the outside of the tire that would slowly work in and puncture the tube. Since I had so much glass he recommended a new tire. So happy now...

Pig Out In The Park

Took the kids to Riverfront Park and the annual Pig Out in the Park celebration held over the Labor Day weekend. Caught the Shook Twins. They were very good. I was especially impressed with their use of loops, i.e., recording short instrumental and vocal parts, looping them so they're in time with the song and then playing over them.

Dum-dee-dum-dee-dum. Wonder why nobody's at this booth.

Take a Stand Day - Spokane

Had a good sized crowd--by Spokane standards--at the rally outside my workplace. I'm not allowed to participate in partisan political events so I took pictures.

Not many young people at the rally. I bet if there was a draft we'd have tons of young people show up.

Gotta love the Ragin' Grannies.

Lunar Eclipse

Stephanie and her cousin, Kalilah, visiting from Illinois agreed beforehand to be awakened at 3:00 am so they could see the eclipse in its totality phase. Josh was understandably not keen on that since he had done the one-hour run and was pretty tired. The girls thought it was worth it. The moon was a copper color. I tried to take some pictures with a 300mm lense and the ISO set to 1600, but the exposure time still allowed for the moon to move ever so slightly. Oh, for some really high-end equipment. Maybe when I win the lottery--but I have to buy a ticket which only slightly increases my odds of winning, eh?

Moonlight Hour Run

Josh is running cross country for Mead High School again. Tonight was the annual one hour long Moonlight Run. They count how many laps they can get around the track within 60 minutes. Josh did 35-1/4 laps--just shy of nine miles. Pretty awesome!

From Where I Sit

In today's homily, Monsignor Ribble talked about how the second largest group of Christians in the U.S. are former Catholics. He said it pained him to see people lose their faith. But the part I found most interesting was that he said that former Catholics refuse to admit they might be wrong. The question for the priest that came to my mind: Can you admit that you might be wrong? It seems that when it comes to matters of faith there is no room for reason. When you are among the faithful, regardless of religion, you are right. If you are not of the faith, then you cannot admit you are wrong. I'll go out on a limb here. I am willing to admit I'm wrong. But it's a decision I make for myself and I'm okay with that.

Remember Gopher?

I was going through some old manuals and stacking them for the recycle bin when I discovered a copy of the Mar/Apr 1994 issue of Internet World. Remember when gopher was big?

Just Foolin' Around

A Freethinker's Lament

All manners of faith
Bring out both love and hate
As they try to explain what life means.
I look and I see
They make no sense to me.
They don't answer much of life's schemes.

If you live by these rules
Then everything's cool
Yet many of us can't agree.
Were they given in love
From a power above
Or were they some leader's decrees?

Many people of science
Who put their reliance
On what they have learned to be true
Set aside what they know
For the "truth" they are told
Lies in Genesis 1 and 2.

I know I'd appreciate
If you people of faith
Worry not that I'll go to hell.
Sure, pray and sing songs
But we'd all get along
If you'd accept that I think for myself.

We live and we die
And there's no reason why
And there are plenty of faiths for your choosin'.
But I think that it's odd
That you think there's a god
Who gave us some brains to not use 'em.

Not as polished as I'd like it to be, but it gets the point across.

More Scary Stuff

I'm not expert but the damaged tiles on the space shuttle look pretty scary to me.

A Travesty of our Justice System

Jose Padilla (the much-hyped dirty bomber) was found guilty of supporting terrorist organizations. The fact that he was held incommunicado, without access to legal counsel, and without human interaction was not allowed to be mentioned in his trial. Regardless of whether he's guilty or not, the way our administration has treated him is abominable. Declaring him an enemy combatant and locking him away in a military prison with no access to legal representation and no means for him to challenge is imprisonment is unconscionable. The Fourth Circuit upheld his imprisonment without writ of habeas corpus and just before the Supreme Court was to rule, presumably against the administration, he's released to civil authorities and charged in Federal Court with aiding terrorists. Since the case is moot, the Supreme Court doesn't make a ruling which it also a travesty since the administration can do this again since the Fourth Circuit's ruling is the current law. The system has been gamed mightily and we are the losers. We've since learned that Padilla was the victim of sleep and sensory deprivation which made a huge psychological impact on him and he's essentially unfit to do anything. But since what was done to him doesn't fit the current administration's definition of torture--physical injury that leads to organ failure or death--it can claim he wasn't tortured. And since it only happened to one US citizen who is certainly a terrorist who planned to explode a dirty bomb, the evil we have committed in order to fight Evil is acceptable.

Riverfront Park Pavilion

Walked around Riverfront Park and got some shots of the pavilion. I uploaded the photo to www.picnik.com and played around with the effects that are offered for free. Not bad.

Great Kids

On Sunday we stopped by a park in Medical Lake where the Bluegrass Festival was taking place. I took some shots of Josh and Steph. Josh is rarely without his trademark well-worn St Patrick's Day Boston Red Sox cap. They're great kids.

CEO Suicide

A Chinese company executive reportedly committed suicide after toys he made were recalled for having lead in the paint. The Chinese government subsequently cut him off from the lucrative US market, idling his factories. Not that I condone the practice but I was musing that if American CEOs committed suicide after failing, we'd have quite of bit of turnover.

Meteor Shower

The family and I wrapped ourselves in blankets and sat out on the deck to watch the falling stars. It was awesome. In between some very impressive meteors burning through the atmosphere we saw some satellites going by.

Barry Bonds...

...sets a new record by hitting home run number 756. But let's focus on what's important here. Who caught the ball and how much is it worth?

Just Havin' Some Fun

I took Josh and Steph to the driving range to hit some balls. It's funny because we don't play golf.

It didn't matter if the ball went straight, far, or anywhere at all. They had a blast. And it didn't matter that the serious golfers looked down their nose at us. Who cares? We had fun.

Cycling the Trail of the Coeur d'Alenes

I dropped the stoker seat down on the Burley so Steph could ride with me.

Josh rode my Trek and Kathy rode her Giant.

We started in Plummer and rode to Harrison and back. It was a beautiful ride.

Crossing the lake on the old railroad bridge was a treat. We saw numerous osprey and a couple of bald eagles. One osprey hit the water right next to us but came up empty taloned.

Along the way we discovered this interesting piece of art along side the lake. Cool!

We found a great ice cream shop in Harrison. A single scoop in a waffle cone costs a little over three bucks. But the waffle cone is packed with ice cream. This was the high point of the ride for the kids. And we needed the energy boost because we had a headwind the entire 15 miles back.

Terrorists Not Welcome at Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center

Josh and I stopped by the Grand Coulee Dam while returning from Ross Lake. This sign in the parking lot caught my attention. Welcome, but leave your shit in the car. Thank you.

I guess if I was a determined Taliban-Islamofascist-Shiite-Sunni or other of the innumerable possibilities that would be characterized as an Al-Qaeda-type terrorist, I would be a female with a newborn in an explosive-laden child carrier. Come on, it's a visitor center. If they have anti-aircraft missiles they are well hidden. Say, maybe those lasers for the laser show are actually dual purpose.

Ross Lake

Josh and I went to Ross Lake last Wednesday. We canoed six miles along calm waters to our first camp site at Rainbow Point. The mountains surrounding the lake are beautiful. Rainbow Point has three camp sites so we shared the spot with several other people.

The next morning we hiked along the East Bank Trail to May's Creek.

Later the wind kicked up pretty strong and we had to paddle three miles over rough waters to Devil's Junction. The wind, although coming from behind, kept catching the canoe and trying to turn us sideways. Every once in a while a big wave would splash us. It was just a little frightening for both of us. Along the way we stopped in at Devil's Creek. The waters were calm there so we rested and glided up the creek. It was awesome. After a snack we headed back out on the lake and went the last mile to Devil's Junction. It's a single camp site so we had the place to ourselves. The next day we paddled nine miles back. Fortunately the winds were calm so it was an easy three-hour paddle.

God's Love

I strap on explosives,
Go to a crowded marketplace
And martyr myself.
All in the name of God.

I demonize all who oppose me
And claim to fight against Evil.
Thousands of deaths
All in the name of God.

I separate them from us
And make their life miserable
For they must be punished.
All in the name of God.

I seek war in the Promised Land.
Christ will return to save us
And Evil will be defeated.
All in the name of God.

I fire rockets at unbelievers
Sending them to a fiery Hell
That is rightfully theirs.
All in the name of God.

Come, let us all share in God's love.

An admittedly dark poem on extreme faith.

Bush's Use of Crippled GIs

The presidential panel on military and veterans health care released its report yesterday. The report recommends a lot of changes to improve health care. Bush got his picture taken jogging with a couple of GIs wearing prosthetic legs. I saw them running together for about 100 feet on the news. It looks like (sorry the link is gone now) they ran a short distance right outside the White House and then walked back. I wonder how the two GIs were selected. And I wonder how they feel about being used as PR fodder.

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A story full of sadness and tragedy well inter weaved with historical facts. There's still a happy ending but you wish for so much more.

Impeach 'Em All

After Alberto Gonzales's dismal performance today can you imagine an administration more corrupt, more incompetent, more inept, and more damaging to America? Hey, they have 18 more months to wreak their havoc. It's going to take a long time to restore our country--if it happens at all.

RTFM

We have HP ProCurve network switches at work. I tried using the ProCurve Manager software and it was a real pain to use. So I uninstalled it. Recently, I posted a question on a listserv asking what people were using to manage their ProCurves. The answer that came back informed me that ProCurve Manager gave them fits, too, but all was well once they read the manual.

Yesterday I reinstalled the management software and this morning I noticed that the switches needed a software upgrade. Not only that, but I had the capability to schedule the upgrade after hours so nobody's work would be affected. Whoo-hoo! I scheduled five of the switches to upgrade at ten minute intervals beginning at 7:15 pm tonight. One of the switches then went "red" in the display and was offline. It had updated its software and rebooted. Ten minutes later another switch did the same thing. Ten minutes later a third switch followed suit. Each one knocked anywhere from 20-40 people off the network. So I scrambled around and hurriedly explained to everyone what I had done.

Hmmm, I wonder if it would have gone better if I had read the manual first.

Bomb, Bomb, Bomb. Bomb, Bomb Iran.

It seems to me the purpose of latest diplomatic talks with Iran is to further raise America's ire with another member of what Bush declared the "Axis of Evil" back in 2002. How ironic that we, who invaded Iraq under false pretenses, accuse Iraq's neighbor of meddling in Iraq. When will the world learn that no one is allowed to meddle except us? We now have a third carrier group in the Persian Gulf. We don't have the military forces to invade Iran, but we have plenty of air attack forces. It won't be long now and we'll send cruise missiles or bombs to selected targets in Iran. Iran has a larger and more powerful military than Iraq did. One can only guess what their response would be. The bombing will certainly unite the people behind the mullahs who actually lead the country. For all his bluster, Ahmadinejad is a figurehead with no real political power. I fear our military forces in Iraq may be at greater risk. What if Iran's army invaded Iraq to attack us? How many Shiites in Iraq would join in? Regardless of the possibilities I fear an escalation that will prompt Bush to authorized the use of a nuclear weapon. After all, anything you do to fight Evil is Good and that fight against Evil will be his legacy.

It's True If It's On The Internet

http://www.xkcd.org/250/   Don't forgot to view the mouseover.

Would You Like to Bureaucratize That?

I work in a federal building in downtown Spokane.  Recently I went to the General Services Administration office to get the key to a phone closet that houses a backup server that had crashed.  There are two customer service counters in the office.  Nobody was behind either one.  The far counter had a sign next to a bell that said to ring the bell for customer service.  A woman sitting at a computer in a cubicle behind the counter looked at me when I walked in and then went back to her computer screen.  I could hear voices in the back so I assumed the person at the front desk had stepped into the back for something and would return shortly.  After a minute passed I didn't think anyone was returning shortly.  I looked at the woman who saw me come in and then I looked at the bell.  I thought, "No, this is not going to happen.  Someone is going to help me any second now." Another minute passed.  Defeated, I walked over to the other counter and rang the bell.  The woman behind the computer immediately jumped up, "Can I help you?"  Pavlov must be in charge of their training.

Oh, The Glory Days

Josh and I played softball last night for a rec league team that was short a couple of players. It brought back memories of things I used to do well thirty years ago. It was fun, but I still have to work at not competing so hard. I'm too Type A for just having fun. Fortunately no injuries. Josh played well for only playing in his second game ever. He has a lot of natural talent. It's fun to watch him play anything.

Religious Harry Potter Fan

Today during Mass at the Fairchild Chapel a young woman in one of the back pews read the latest Harry Potter book. I forgot to see if she took the book with her when she went up for communion.

Homemade Gelato

Last night Stephanie and I took a stab at making our own chocolate gelato. This morning we pulled it out of the freezer and taste tested. The texture was very good but the chocolate was overpowering. It was easy to see that my guesstimate of six ounces was way too high. Dry ounces? Fluid ounces? Avoirdupois? Troy? It's as confusing as metric vise grips. Now had the recipe called for scruples of chocolate...

Morning Hike

Bought a new pair of hiking boots yesterday and went for a hike to start breaking them in. I parked at the Indian Painted Rocks at the Little Spokane River. I brought the Nikon along just in case a photo opportunity presented itself.

Wouldn't it be funny if this was some early form of tagging?


Wildlife abounds and I take pictures of trees.


A dragon? A warthog? Every time I stopped to take a photo the mosquitoes reminded me that I forgot the Deet. Two of the bloodsuckers got me so I guess I got off lucky.


But I love the texture and contrast.


Okay, here's some wildlife. I walked for about an hour and a half. The boots felt good but my right heel started feeling tender. No blisters. Next time I'll try the Body Glide. Next time I'll wear the Deet. Next time I'll wear a hat. Oh what an outdoorsman I am!

Creationism and Evolution

A guest contributor for the Spokesman Review wrote about the "religion" of evolution in today's issue. I would post a link to the article but the Review didn't deem it fit enough to include it on their web site. Go figure.

The contributor was the Reverend Stan Hudson of the Moscow/Pullman Seventh-Day Adventist churches. In the article he claims evolution states there is no god. But since he's framing evolution as a religion that's an understandable claim to make. He even described Charles Darwin as a founding prophet. And better yet:

If you were to go to the Field Museum in Chicago, you would see a bust of Darwin, with a first-edition "Origin of Species" reverently displayed beneath him (as "The Word").

I didn't know. Well, I guess it's time for a pilgrimage.

A Senator's Sexual Hypocrisy

Cal Thomas's recent opinion article (I would post a link to the Spokesman Review but you have to register and pay--bummer!) about Senator Vitter's hypocrisy was somehow off target. Understandably our first reaction should be sadness. But should our second reaction really be, "How could he be so stupid?" What about, how could he be so immoral? Or perhaps, how could he be so hypocritical? Nope, the problem was stupidity because the senator from Mississippi did not think that in the future the madame would publish her phone records including the ones that would implicate him. Stupid is as stupid does, eh?

Christian Supply Store

I've driven by this store hundreds of times. So today I wondered what an Atheist Supply Store would sell.

Early Morning Ride on Rutter Parkway to Nine Mile Dam

I got up early (for a Saturday), put my camera in the pannier and took a leisurely ride on Rutter Parkway traveling alongside the Little Spokane River.

What a treat to have a natural resource like this so close to home.

It was a cool, quiet ride. Saw some wild turkeys with their young.

And while I was checking out the turkeys a chipmunk came out to have a look at me.

I rode on to Nine Mile Dam where several ospreys have nests. Even though I was a good distance away, this one didn't care for my presence.

One the way home I saw a peacock in front of a residence on the parkway. He worked the camera for me a little and then I headed on home.