The weekend

Sorry guys, I forgot my camera at home this morning :-/

Today I'm taking off work a little early for two reasons:

1. Katie left her car at my house and it has a flat tire that I want to replace
2. We're heading up North, and I need to finish packing

So, Katie has been out of town all week, and she left her car at my house. She seems to have a slow leak on the back passenger side tire (which she had repaired, but that apparently didn't work). Anyway, she's getting home today, and I just noticed that it was completely flat. :( I really don't want her to come home to a flat tire, so I'm going to either get it repaired/replaced, or just put the donut on, depending on time. I'm guessing I'll be pushing it, so it will probably be the donut.

After I take care of that, I'm packing up and heading up to flagstaff. Me, my dad, and my brother John are going up to hike Humphreys peak, via Humphrey's Trail at Snow bowl. I originally wanted to make it a 2 day hike, going through the wilderness area from the other side via Weatherford Trail, but time didn't allow for it, and people didn't want to carry that much gear. For this hike, I will plan to carry water, snacks, lunch, a jacket, some hiking poles, and a beanie. I really think hiking poles are dorky, but I've been repeatedly told that they are a necessity, so I'm going to try to get used to them on this trail ans see if they help much.

I had a really hard time finding good trail data for this hike, so I decided I would have to record our trip, and publish it online. You should be able to see it online before Monday. I'll post a link by then. Here are the four sites I'm working off of:

• http://www.fs.fed.us/r3/coconino/recreation/peaks/humphreys-tr.shtml
• http://www.toddshikingguide.com/Hikes/Arizona/Coconino/Coconino6.htm
• http://www.surgent.net/highpoints/az/coconino.html
• http://americasroof.com/az.shtml

If all goes well with this hike, and if time allows, I think I'm going to try to do a follow up trip and hike to the summit again via Weatherford Trail.

Pretty Random: Misc/Knees/Root Canal

Sticking with the idea of posting a photo daily, Here is one for today:

Taken at the office
June 28, 2007

There is nothing interesting about this photo... it's of a fountain in front of the office, because I forgot my camera at the office and couldn't take a photo of anything better :-p I'm really starting to get boring with my photos. I will plan to get much more interesting next week. :-p

The idea of the photo-a-day thing is not really about the photo, it's about forcing a routine. Tricking myself into continuing to write a blog for anyone who happens to be bored enough to read it :)

On another note, I started using the workout room at Al's condo, and I did like 40 minutes on the stair machine, followed by stretches, followed by a lot of leg extensions on a small weight, and today my knees are really feeling a lot better. I'm going to try to do it a little more often and see if the problem goes away. My theory is that your quadriceps have four muscles, and some of those parts don't get isolated in your natural workouts. I'm hoping that if I isolate them in the gym, they will do a better job of holding my knee together the rest of the time. :) I'll keep you posted on the results.

As a follow up to the Root Canal, I have nothing to report... I'm really feeling fine so far. I can't really put a lot of pressure on the tooth yet, but it doesn't hurt if I don't chew on it. So far, so good.

CDT: Rough Route

Last week, I got the rough start and stop points for the CDT hike I'll be doing.

Here are the details:

Start: Cottonwood Pass Road
End: South Clear Creek TH
Distance: 45 miles
total elevation gain: 9,790 ft

I did a quick rough trace of the route we're taking, from a book I'm reading. I think everything should be within a few hundred feet. The switchbacks look pretty awful, but the book claims to have them wrong anyway.

Map of our route
Elevation Profile of the route
Google Earth file (kml) of the route
*you do need to sign up for a free account to download the kml though.

This could be a tough little hike... the elevation is the scariest part :-)

Root Canal

Sorry I'm late on my post this morning... I was at the dentist, and it went a little longer than expected.

In 1998, I had a deep cavity on my number 14 tooth (one of the top left molars), and when it was drilled, a nerve was exposed. That tooth has been trouble ever since.

The original plan for today was to go in, and redo the filling, as a new cavity was starting to emerge where the old one had filled. But after taking X-rays, my dentist decided it would be best to do a root canal, since one of the nerves appeared to be infected.

Root Canals are not as painful as they depict them on T.V., though I suppose the drugs might not have worn off yet. Also, I suppose some people get them when the problem is worse, and it probably hurts a lot more.

Anyway, Since I was late on my post, I decided I would have to get something real good... so I got this:

Taken at Mountain Park Dentistry (on 48th st and Chandler)
By Doctor Randy Mow, using a small optical camera
June 27, 2008

What you are looking at, is my number 14 tooth, hollowed out. Each of the dark spots is where they drilled deep into the tooth to remove the nerves of the tooth.

Unfortunately there were some time issues due to a file breaking while inside of the tooth, and needing to be removed. Near the end the drugs started to wear off, and the open tooth started to cause some major pain. Due to time constraints, they have temporarily filled it, and will need to follow up to remove the temporary filling, and do the permanent one.

Thanks to the crew at Mountain Park Dentistry, and Dr. Mow for this super cool view of the tooth that most of us never get to see.

I'm Tired

I don't know if it's the heat, something health-related, or what, but I've been so tired the last few weeks...

Maybe it's all of this:

Taken at the Office
June 26, 2007

Maybe I should take a break from the coffee, and see if that does anything. I think I should plan to wait a week or two after my current stash runs out, before I buy more. Maybe that will make a difference.

In other news. Al turned 26 yesterday. I was over at his house for the first time in a long while, and it looks great. It's come quite a long way from where it was in august. He should be proud of what he's been able to do to that place.

Last night Lucy made diner at Al's place, and all the family came over. It was pretty nice. I took off early to catch up on sleep, but it didn't seem to do a lot of good. :)

Wienermobile

So I was driving into work today, because through some fluke, both of my bikes are at the office now :) On my way in though, I saw a funny sign in my rear-view mirror... Check it out.

Taken on Priest, South of Southern
June 25, 2007

Photos from June 22, 2007

Last night, at the brew conference, the Goo Goo Dolls played on the runway of an aircraft carrier. It was pretty cool, but it was really weird. Everyone there just kinda stood still. It was a little weird...

Anyway, here are some photos

The Goo Goo Dolls
Taken one the USS Midway
June 21, 2007

Also, I was impressed how well my sprint card was working at the hotel... then I saw this, and I left Tricked:

Taken at the hotel
June 22, 2007

Photo from June 21, 2007

San Diego is very pretty... I wish I had a little more time to explore. I'll try to get out of the hotel a little bit today, and tomorrow morning.

For today, here is a quick shot from the balcony I'm sitting at, drinking coffee.

Taken at the Hyatt in San Diego
June 21, 2007

Photos from June 20, 2007

Today, I caught a flight out of phoenix to San Diego at 7:00am. The economy parking took a little longer than I expected, so I was running a little late. I had no problem making my flight, but apparently my bag did :)

Right now I'm sitting outside in b beautiful San Diego, CA, but I'm stuck here waiting for the next flight in from phoenix which should have my bag.

Airports really bring out the best and worst in people. You should see some of these over-privileged people forced to wait in endless lines... It's a riot. Some people are so relaxed, and loving, but some are totally anxious, and are horrible to each other.

In an effort to keep up with my daily blogs, I snagged a few photos. Nothing great, but something to look at.

...OK... I'm stuck on this Sprint card, and I didn't have software to resize, so I'll add them as soon as they upload :-/

Sorry about that

Sorry about that :)

Taken at the San Diego Airport
June 20, 2007

Taken from a taxi in front of the hotel
June 20, 2007

So instead of using the web uploader for my picasa web albumn, I downloaded picasa. It's great, it resizes for me (so this sprint card can handle it) and it auto-connect to my online stuff for me. It's really pretty nice. I just wish their web stuff would get as good as gallery2 :)

Introduction to the CDT Project

As some of you know, I'm going to be hiking a small portion of the CDT (continental divide trail) in July. Last night I finally received Colorado's Continental Divide Trail: The Official Guide
It's very exciting, but a little scary.

The hike will be through about 50 miles of wilderness, but will be fairly strenuous. I normally wouldn't be too worried about it... you have to deal with the wildlife, weather, and altitude, but none of that is too much of a concern for a 50 mile hike. The problem, and the biggest concerns come from my knees. Recently I took a shorter hike, and one of my knees started to hurt. which makes me worry a bit about the longer hike. I hope that a little stretching and training will take care of that problem.

I'll be meeting later this week to get more details on the start and stop points, and then I should have a better idea of what to expect.

More to come on this one.... I'll label them "CDT"

Photos from June 19, 2007

Gas at the QT on priest, south of southern was $2.91 today. I think thats the best price I've seen in over a month. I was thinking about how that was a good price, and then I kicked myself and took it back. When did 2.91 become a good price?

On the note of gas, I almost drove today. As I drove up 48th st, I was thrilled that I didn't. Traffic was such a mess the whole way in. 48th st, priest, the whole way. I think there may be too many people for the streets to support them all :-/

Taken on Priest North of Southern
June 19, 2007

The Alternative? Yea... I need to stop this promotion of bikes. But they are defiantly more peaceful (and yes more sweaty)

Taken on Priest North of Southern
June 19, 2007

Photo from June 18, 2007

In phoenix, there is a service called "Bulk Trash". Four times a year, they will come through the neighborhoods of phoenix, and pickup any trash you have. All you have to do is figure out when it is and make sure to put it in a neat pile in front of your house.

I love this service, because my plants grow like crazy, and they drop a metric ton of leaves every quarter... (OK, maybe not a metric ton, but it seems like it)

So I usually end up having a small pile in the backyard just waiting for the window of time, when I can leave it on the curb. This morning, I started moving the little pile out to the front, and I unearthed a little nest. The nest had no living creatures, but did have a series of eggs. I'm guessing that these are either the eggs of a roadrunner that hangs out around my house, or of a lizard that I see from time to time.

Hidden Nest
Taken in my backyard
June 18, 2007

Unfortunately, now that the leaves and stuff aren't providing shade, I suspect they will over heat and die. The nest may also be abandoned because of the human scent all around it :-/

Hypocrite?

It is much easier to condemn someone else than to take a good look in the mirror; doubly so when you are predisposed to judge them because the opinions of the company you keep.

How can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove that splinter from your eye,' while the wooden beam is in your eye?

-Matthew 7:4

Photo from June17, 2007

This is a quick photo of one randomly selected flower on plant in my backyard. It is one of hundreds, and it it not better or worse than any of them. There is nothing special about it... It is just one part of a big system that makes up this plant. But if you look at it alone, it looks amazing anyway.

Many Parts - One Body
Taken in my backyard
June 17, 2007

Bowen Baby

Well this morning, I'm going to be late to work (waiting for the Terminex guy), and I still haven't really left my house. But I do have big news. Jonas Bowen was born yesterday.

Jonas Bowen
Taken at Desert Samaritan Hospital
June 14, 2007

Congratulations to Dad, Mom, and Grandpa. They looked so happy to have a new baby in their lives.

Photos from June 14, 2007

Apparently someone has something worth protecting :-p I thought this was a cool little gate/fence. It is really funny to me for some reason; it looks so cute and friendly, but the sign says, "BEWARE OF THE DOG" and the fence is clearly designed to injure anyone who tries to get over it :)

Taken on 48th st, south of Broadway
June 14, 2007

It seems weird to me that we spend so much time trying to grow plants that shouldn't naturally exist here, then we need to water them heavily, and spend all our time cleaning up after them. Then weeds start to grow because we spend so much time making it easy to grow things there, and we spend all our time removing them.

Taken on 48th st, south of Broadway
June 14, 2007

Photo from June 13, 2007

Today was a busy morning, I recently had a friend, Jason Farrier, help me out with a little dry rot issue. He is a home inspector with a history in the construction business, so I figured he was perfect for the job.

I'm feeling pretty good about what we've accomplished so far, but what's more important, is that he took a look at the house, and pointed out a number of other issues that he recommended I fix before I sell.

Here is a photo of the repairs that we did this morning:

Taken at my house
June 13, 2008

I need to finish it up (caulk, primer, etc) in the next few days, but at least the hard part is done.

Other upcoming projects that this has brought into light:

• Potential Termite issues
• Fixing additional trim that has rotted
• Fixing the leaky chimney
• Fixing some insulation issues in the attic
• Fixing the duct work for the AC system, and potentially removing the evap. cooler
  
• Fixing the pool's electrical system
• Landscaping the areas that touch the house to avoid bugs, and further rot.
• Finishing the master bath/closet leak
  

Its a long list, and it I'm not sure how much it will all cost, but I think it will be fun, and I think that its a great opportunity to learn. The current plan was to sell in January, when I get married, but I might try to convince Katie to do it in May to give me more time to repair, and one more spring to play with the landscaping.

A Special thanks to Tom and Jason Farrier, and Elite Home Inspections for their help so far. Jason is Great, and I would recommend Elite Home Inspections to anyone buying a house. He is way more thorough than the guy that did mine last time.

Photos from June 12, 2007

Today I had to drive to work again, but it wasn't all that bad... I was intent on taking a photo of something other than the rear end of a car, so I made a few turns that I normally wouldn't make, and I even got out of my car at one point to snag this photo:

RIP Trimble
Taken at the Double Butte Cemetery
June 12, 2007

For those of you who know me, this photos seems pretty ironic. When I saw the tombstone I couldn't help but snag a photo.

I also had one photo that I took while stuck in traffic turn out alright, so I've included that here:

Fairway
Taken on 48th st, North of Guadalupe
June 12, 2007

Photo from June 11, 2007

I had to drive to work today because I have an appointment at 11. So instead of being outside, enjoying the morning, I was stuck in this:

Taken on 48th st, south of baseline
June 11, 2007

When you ride your bike in the morning, you wake up during the ride. When you get to work, you're ready to go. Today when I got in I was dragging my feet, and really didn't feel much like doing anything. O well. I'm cleaning to coffee pot right now, hopefully some coffee will fill the gap this morning. :-p

Tomorrow I have to drive again, for an knee doctor appointment :-/ Maybe I'll get creative tomorrow, and come up with a photo of something other than a car's rear end :-p

Photo from June 8 2007

Nothing too great today... I was riding on the Guadalupe/I10 overpass, and I stopped for a second to watch the traffic. As I looked off in the distance, I could see a brown haze on the horizon, and the traffic was pretty solid for 7:00. It would be cool if the world cut back on driving, but that's never going too happen. We all live a million miles from where we work, so we are locked in :-p

Taken from the Guadalupe/I-10 overpass

June 8, 2007

Photos from June 7 2007

I'm going to start trying to do a daily post with one or two photos, actually taken that day. I've been trying to wake up earlier, and I've also been riding my bike in to work... Gas prices, Global Warming, Getting out of shape, etc :-/

Anyway, I've decided that since I am already out and about in the morning, I should try to make a daily post of photos, actually taken that day.

Enjoy! Check back in from time to time!

This is the Point South Mountain Golf Course, taken from the bike path on 48th st.
June 7, 2007

This is the Church in Guadalupe, taken from Priest
June 7, 2007

People are funny

Saw this on the way to work today... People are funny... I'm sure the author of this one was justified in being upset, but the message is lost in the absurd text that he put on this sign.

If you want to be successful in changing the world, make sure your efforts are fueled by Love, and not Hate. Hate will only make people resist you. (and probably make them think that you are silly).

Taken on 48th street, south of baseline
June 5, 2007