Not so Random Rant

Incompetence exhausts me.

- b

An Encore

Tuesday night Jen came home to more of this.

I was lucky. I ended up working 13 hours on Tuesday so I missed it.

Wednesday was movie night. We were supposed to climb, but neither one of us wanted to go too far beyond the couch. The movie was Hostage with Bruce Willis. Eh. Just another Die Hard.

Thursday night Jen made me leave work and go climb. That was good. I felt a lot more relaxed afterwords.

Friday night was work.

Today is work.

I blame my parents for teaching me to do work I hate. I hated cutting the grass - had to do it anyway. Hated picking up the dog poop - had to do it anyway. Hated raking the grass - had to do it anyway - so on and so forth.

- b

Last Night Sucked

We've been climbing with some friends and their wives the last couple of Saturday nights. When the arm pump and burning hands gets to be too much, we all head out to dinner. It's enough fun, I've almost gotten to the point of looking forward to Saturday nights.

Unless they're going to be like last night.

Rolling home from the restaurant, Jen and I were really looking forward to getting to bed at 10pm. Both of us had a long Sunday of work (work-work, not house work) planned, so it would be good to end a great night with some great sleep.

Not last night.

We pull the car into the garage, open the door to the basement and step over the first puddle of what turns out to be copious amounts of smelly diarrhea. There were explosive puddles the length of the hall. It wasn't hard to see where they hit the floor and splashed the walls.

They went all the way onto the carpet and couch downstairs.

"Holy Crap!" I said. "No Shit!" without pun Jen replied.

"Wonder who's sick?"

We'd seen this sort of thing twice in CJ's 13 year history, though Gretchen's the one that eats everything in the yard that's not nailed down or running away.

Neither dog gave any indication they were sick.

Upstairs there was more. It was in the hall and eat in Kitchen. It looked like whoever it was, was trying to get to the outside doors and left explosions everywhere in between. Luckily the doors to the bedrooms and bathroom had been closed.

We started the clean up. I got the wet/first pass and Jen followed through for the dry concrete like stuff with clorax cleaner. In an hour we filled two kitchen trash bags with paper towels and still didn't have it complete.

Standing downstairs exhausted and disgusted I rolled my head back to stretch my neck. Right there above me on the ceiling was a brown spot in the ceiling tiles.

"Are you kidding?" I touched the spot with my finger. It was wet. Had something soaked through from upstairs - something we hadn't seen? I pushed the tile out of the way to see this.

On top of everything else, the water line to the fridge decided to start leaking tonight.

We went to bed after 11pm wishing our whole house was linoleum.

3:20am I wake up to hear some pacing and panting then what sounds like wet pasta being dumped onto the floor.

It was Gretchen. She had let out one last huge explosion in the doorway to our bedroom. It was on the floor, door, trim, walls, dresser and electrical socket.

Finally cleaned up, we confined her to the downstairs hall to keep from making any more messes.

5:15am she wakes me with whining and her claws clicking on the floor downstairs. I go down to check on her and let her outside. In the dark I can hear the wet pasta hitting the grass. She comes back in and goes back downstairs whining.

6:30am Jen gets up to go to work. Gretchen's so far ok. Jen cooks a pot of rice, defrosts some chicken and heads off to work.

9:30am I get up, make some coffee and bacon for myself, then start boiling chicken for Gretchen.

Chicken and rice is supposed to be the toast and ginger ale for dog stomachs. She houses it like she hasn't eaten in a week.

Noon:30 I go and rent a steam cleaner.

I swear dog ownership would cease to exist if these things weren't so readily available.

It works wonders on the carpets except for the little throw rug that was by the sliding glass doors. Little guy appears to have taken the brunt of it.

Once the carpets were done it was time to hit the hardwood floors and chairs.

The only real way to get the floors clean was on your hands and knees scrubbing and scrubbing.

Took all afternoon, but now it's done. Whole house smells clean and bleachy and things are back to normal for some of us.

- b

Deja Vu

Since owning a home, the seasons for me have become more pronounced and routine.

Spring - yard clean-up, summer preparation.
Summer - cut the grass over and over again.
Fall - mulch the leaves over and over again, close everything up for the winter.
Winter - snow removal.

At least with Global Warming, it's nicer earlier to get started on the spring work.

Though like I said, it's starting to feel like a routine.

I suppose I should be happy. At least I didn't spend the entire day inside and working for the man.

- b

First Spring Ride

Alarm goes off at 5am.

Thermometer says it's a little over 30°F. Not bad, but it's dark as night.

Hit the trail with Gretchen by 5:30am. The air is dark, cold, and damp. The trails are wet and slick - not muddy, but sluggish in places.

I'm not doing so well. I haven't ridden in weeks. I can't make the turns, see the rocks or judge the log-overs. I'm out of practice and it's foggy. My light creates more glare then sight.

I plod along suffering the necessary. Gretchen is running and having a blast.

First climb I expect to warm up - get the fingers somewhere on the nicer side of numb - doesn't really happen.

Keep plodding along.

Hit the downhills, stop at the creek for a drink, then make the long flat traverse past the coldest parts of the abandoned quarry.

Climb the slime up the back, down and out and into the fields. There's some kind of newly dug trench running the perimeter of the field. Gretchen decides to investigate. It's only as deep as she is tall, so she's having fun running along side of me in the muddy hole.

Rocky decent to the barn ruins and ruin the finish over the last roots and rocks. Start to climb up and out.

Gretchen scents a rabbit, sprints ahead, then off into the brush. I ride by her point of exit and keep going. She needs to learn I'm the rabbit. Chase another rabbit, you may not get home. Down the trail a ways, but behind me, she pops out and sprints to catch up. As if to show me she's cool, she sprints ahead of me and stays out front for a while.

Back to the car by 6:30am. Only the glow of the sunrise has peaked above the horizon. My light was required for the entire ride.

Home by 6:45am. Back in bed and sleep till 8:30am.

I'm not ready for spring.

- b

Tasty Beer

This brewer gets three bottles on my scale.

- b

Herding Cats

Another hike. More dogs (4 total). More people, and more space to run.

- b

Look Ma! No Ropes!

- b

Two Tons Done

This year we passed the two ton mark of burning pellets and we're still going.

Jen says we kept the house warmer longer.

I'm not really sure what it was. Could have been the different pellets. The ones for this year (Lignetics) seem to clinker and create more ash, though all the reviews I've read for them say otherwise.

The P.A. Pellets I had last year didn't do this (clinker) as much. It could also be the stove needs maintenance or that it was simply colder this winter.

- b

What I'm Missing

Chaos Crew

- b

Pain in the Butt

I should just stop trying.

I make an effort to reduce our energy consumption/carbon footprint/etc. by finding, buying and attempting to install dimmable fluorescent recessed lights.

Cool huh? Being fluorescent they use less energy. Being dimmable they're more controllable in creating the right kind of light.

I ordered two fixtures from HomeDepot.com. Jen was ready to replace all our recessed lights with them, but I decided to just add two for now and see how they perform. A week later they come in and I head to the store (i.e. Home Depot) to get the bulbs and a dimmer switch.

We found some bulbs and a switch Jen liked, then I made a fatal mistake. I asked one of the sales people if the stuff I had was the right stuff. He looked at me like I was from outer space.

"You can't dim fluorescent." was basically the gist of what he had to say.

"I bought the light from Home Depot.com. It says I can dim it." was my reply. The guy actually went to the trouble of cutting open one of the sealed switch packages and showing me that it said it could not be used with fluorescent. "Yes I know, but the fixture I have has a dimmable ballast. The light itself takes care of it. I just need a switch to control it."

"I don't know about that. You should probably try an electrical contractor supply place like Yale in West Chester. They'll be better at helping you out." was the best he could offer.

Of course Yale doesn't open till 7am Monday morning. This was Saturday afternoon.

I decided to proceed with installing the fixtures anyway and deal with the switch later.

Holy crap! It took three hours to get just one light in the ceiling. I've installed this type/style before with very little problem, and still have no idea why this one took so long. It was late Sunday, so I quit for the weekend.

Bright and early Monday morning I'm at Yale getting the same outer space stares from the sales guys that I got at Home Depot. They literally have no idea what I'm talking about. With just a little research on my part, I've completely surpassed the dimmable fluorescents knowledge of the sales guys at an electrical contractor supply. For them the catalogs from which they order is their only realm of knowledge. In the catalog before me they point to the note that references a catalog they don't have regarding dimmable fluorescents.

Really? I mean really? Is this really happening?

I left, went to work, called the dimmer switch manufacturer, got a SKU, googled the SKU, and ordered the damn thing myself.

Now we'll wait and see. I still have to install the second fixture, and I'm not looking forward to it.

- b

History Hike

Today Gretchen and I went east to do some hiking with Sean, his son, and Yoshi at Valley Forge NP. Gretchen had never been to VF, so we were happy to make the journey. CJ, on the other hand, was still feeling the effects of yesterdays hike, so he stayed home to rest.

We (and everybody else around) decided to do the Mt. Misery trail. From the parking lot on Yellow Springs rd., we went north on the Valley Creek Trail and came back around on the Horse Shoe and Mount Misery trails.

Things started out a little rough. Yoshi was obviously excited to see Gretchen and go hiking again, but still felt some competition. There were some scuffles, but things eventually settled down - sort of.

We tried some fetch in the creek, but found out it was too deep for Yoshi. She ended up on the far side and ran up to the road - a busy road. To get her back we tossed another stick. Luckily she decided, though deep, the stick in the creek was more fun then the road. Catastrophe averted.

With that experience in mind, we decided to keep to the trail till the road got farther away from the creek. We hiked a ways throwing a ball down the path for the dogs to chase and fetch. They were running all over the place chasing the ball and each other. At some point they ran towards the creek again with Yoshi in the lead. At the edge Yoshi stopped. Gretchen tried, but didn't make it. You could see her squatting and pushing into the ground to slow down, but she had too much speed. The soft ground gave way and she literally popped over the bank and into the creek - 4' below! We couldn't hear it or see it. She just disappeared over the bank. It was kind of funny, but kind of scary. She was still scrambling up the vertical bank by the time we got over to her. Maybe next time she won't run so hard toward an edge like that.

We finished up the Valley Creek trail and started up the Horseshoe trail to the summit of Mt. Misery. There were dogs and people all over the place making us kind of nervous about Yoshi and how she would react. She did great! She was actually happy and making every attempt to be social, though sometimes too social. If she saw other dogs before we did, she was off to greet them - much like CJ still does.

About halfway up the Horseshoe trail is the ruins of what I was always told was "The Rootbeer factory."

After doing a little research, I'm still not totally convinced, but it's likely this was the first Hires Rootbeer facility from the late 1800's. It's built into the side of the mountain over a spring, so it's certainly possible I guess.

The dogs getting a factory tour.

Overall it was definitely a good hike. The dogs thoroughly wore themselves out with two deer chasing adventures and all their friendly play.

I'm tempted to do French Creek (quiet and remote) next week, but the socialization aspect of Valley Forge really seemed beneficial. Maybe we'll do something like Ridley Creek State Park to get the best of both worlds.

- b

70° and Snow

Went for a hike Saturday at Marsh Creek. The weather was kind of odd - beginning of March, snow on the ground and 70°F.

There was even ice on the lake in some places.

Besides Gretchen being afraid of the ice it was cool to hear it whispering on the waves.

Then in some places there was no ice and Gretchen played fetch in the chilly water.

It was a good long hike - nice to be outside in the warm sun for a few hours.

- b

Litter Slug

Green bullets aside, I've never understood the general idea of littering. Do people think this sort of thing will just go away on its own?

Upside is I learned a little about shotgun shells, and no they're not biodegradable.

- b

The Whigs

I gotta text message from a friend to go see The Whigs.

I have no idea who they are, but what the hell.

We all meet at a Mexican joint for dinner and beers. Mmmmmm good beers, then off to the show.

Good gig. Lots of energy and musically inclined (not so much for the opening act).

The singer crashed into the amps and cut his head pretty bad. Kept playing anyway. Nice!

11pm show was done. With our ears ringing it was time to find our way home.

- b

XC Ski

Swish, swoosh, swish, swoosh.

All my concentration was on the rhythmic slide of my skis.

Swish, swoosh, swish. "Whaaa! Keep it in line." Occasionally for reasons my lack of experience doesn't understand, one of my skis glides out to the side.

Swish, swoosh, keep the knees bent, weight centered and slide. The farther and more efficiently you slide the less work you're doing overall.

With all my concentration on my technique, I nearly missed the turn off.

Now it's time to climb, but how? The trail is narrow and steep. No room to position your skis in a V and clamber up.

Expecting to see Chris taking off his skis, instead I see him marching up the trail.

Swish, swoosh is now stomp, stomp, stomp.

Literally he's doing a little march so that the center of skis (the area with the most traction) is firmly planted, then lifted and moved forward ever so slightly. It's tedious and strenuous, but it works. In quick successive stomps, the skis grab and you climb.

Lacking his endurance and getting sloppy (i.e. falling), I had to stop and rest. Relieved, it's back to stomp, stomp, stomp until the trail levels off and I can glide again.

XC skiing at Marsh at night was definitely fun. Learning from someone who knows a total bonus. Too bad it's something we can only do around here every few years.

- b

Winter Storm Dud

It snowed.

The wind blew. Our power went out and snow drifts formed, but nothing too much for the plow.

Hell. It was so easy, I wished I'd dressed up like a fool and did donuts in the last storm.

- b

Yoshi and Friends

Sundays Marsh Creek hike included Sean, his kids and their one year old Australian Cattle Dog named Yoshi. Sean also has a Rhodesian Ridgeback named Zephyr, but Zephyr recently went blind. Until Zephyr gets his bearings back, Yoshi has no one to play with.

What a better way to get new dogs acquainted then to take them hiking?

As you can see Yoshi is quite cute and very smart. It didn't take her long to pick up on the treat trick - if you're called and you come and sit, you get a treat.

Besides a few scuffles (dogs will be dogs), all got along splendidly. It was almost cute to watch the dominance challenges. Yoshi was clearly more aggressive, but Gretchen was clearly bigger. And CJ? He just didn't care.

Sean's kids had fun too. There are always plenty of things to explore in the woods. Here Sean's daughter passes under the old rail road bed through a culvert made in 1916.

Sean appeared to be having a good time as well watching his kids explore the woods and his dog running herself silly.

Things went so well, we're likely to be seeing a lot more of Yoshi and her family on our hikes in the coming weeks.


- b

Winter Storm Warning

From NOAA:

Tonight: Snow and sleet, becoming all snow after 10pm. The snow could be heavy at times. Low around 22. Blustery, with a north wind 11 to 14 mph increasing to between 20 and 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New snow and sleet accumulation of 5 to 9 inches possible.

Monday: Snow, mainly before 1pm. High near 25. Blustery, with a north wind between 18 and 23 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New snow accumulation of 3 to 5 inches possible.

From Weather.com:

Issued by The National Weather Service

Philadelphia, PA
5:30 am EST, Sun., Mar. 1, 2009

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM EST MONDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 600 PM THIS EVENING UNTIL 400 PM ON MONDAY.

MORE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO SPREAD UP INTO OUR REGION FROM THE SOUTH THIS EVENING. THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH A LITTLE SLEET AT THE ONSET. THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT AND INTO MONDAY, AND IT WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES.

BASED ON THE LATEST FORECAST TRACK OF THE STORM, IT APPEARS AS THOUGH 8 TO 14 INCHES OF SNOW WILL FALL IN THE PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES OF...

From the AP:

The weather service said winter storm warnings are in effect from northern Georgia and the Carolinas through the Mid-Atlantic states into New England. Forecasters warn that eight to 14 inches of snow are possible in the Philadelphia area.

Hmmmm. Maybe it's time to convert the mower?

Into a mega snow removal machine!

Eh. Gotta get excited somehow. Sounds like I'm going to spend most of tomorrow on the silly thing.

- b