Letter from Dad

Dad has been writing to his cousin about some property in New Brunswick. This is his letter:

Dear George,

I have been wanting to write to you for some time. You overcame my procrastination. Of course I will sign the course of action you advise. In fact I hope I have remembered to include it with this correspondence of June 20.

It brings to mind a wonderful summer I spent in New Brunswick with Grampy at his house there. It sat on a corner of a graveled road that had no junction with another regular road for another forty miles (?) after passing Grampy‘s house. Just before Grampy‘s house a dirt road went up to the McCutcheon farm. Chester and his brother Ralph lived with their parents there. All of the McCutcheons were great friends of Grampy. Chester visited us in Cornish for Sandra’s wedding.

For fun Ralph and Chester took me deer hunting one late evening. That involved a rifle, a large flashlight, and a drive past a game warden‘s house and a detour through large areas of sloping fields fronting his house. The pick up truck was parked some walking distance back past the warden’s house and we walked back to jacklight some deer below his house. A deer was lighted, a shot was fired with no resulting joy, we heard a vehicle start up near the warden’s house and consequently we ran towards where the pick up was parked. The rifle was hidden in one stone wall and the flashlight in another. Arriving at our transport we drove circuitously back to Grampy‘s and continued our evening conversation there. Soon a car drove up and the driver stopped to chat knowingly with Ralph and Chester and courteously with Grampy. He even kindly said he hoped I was enjoying New Brunswick. Definitely New Brunswick had exemplary people.

My routine there was to visit the outhouse upon awakening. It was a short walk there and each morning I would pass a steaming pile of bear droppings. Then I would wash up and Grampy would start to make his delicious sourdough biscuits telling me to go catch breakfast (trout) in the stream in back of the house. In a few minutes I would have three to five brook trout and return to the house. Grampy and I would prepare the trout for pan frying and a fantastic breakfast would be ready in minutes.

The neighbors would always include Grampy and I in their baking each week so we had fresh bread and sometimes cookies or a cake. One neighbor added me to his family for a blueberry picking trip. We went there in a horse and wagon. I hope I turned in more than I ate but it was a long time ago (sixty + years) so my memory fails me on that issue.

Another time some friends of Grampy took us on a day trip to a remote lake. We had to take a motor boat to the island they lived on. I saw and heard loons on that trip. This trip was up the road past Grampy’s.
Mention of Chester certainly evokes pleasant memories.

However a correspondence from you brings forth even more and greater memories of the most wonderful family I have ever known, the WALKER’S. Your mother and father were exceptional, and their children Betty, George, Tom, Kathy, Dorothy all contributed to my ideas of what people
should be like. Each of you were different but with your own admirable qualities. For all of the terrific things each of you did for me, huge THANKS!

Sick Cat Slightly Better

This morning he was begging for food around 4:30 am. Normally I ignore this as it is TOO EARLY! In fact, one of the first commands I taught him was, "Cats who meow at 4 am go outside and stay outside no matter how cold it is."

I digress. I put some Fancy Feast Turkey and Giblets down for him and he gobbled it up as fast as he could. I waited a little bit, and put some more down and he munched that down also. I didn't give him anymore because he tends to throw up easily.

Here's the funny bit...it's time to go to bed and I'm showing my mother (who's staying with me this week) how to give him the pain medication. I haven't given him any because he's not in pain anymore. As soon as he saw the medicine bottle he got very excited and begged for some. He hopped up on the dining room table and nearly knocked me down getting it.

Now I just have to find out what substance the vet flavored the medicine with and put it in his food and maybe I can get him to eat more.

So, today was a good day for the cat.

Sick Cat

Well, my beloved, ancient cat is really on his last legs perhaps. I took him in for a regular checkup about a month ago and everything seemed fine except for his kidney disease. Almost immediately though, he started drooling when he napped and then began drooling even more. On Friday, it didn't look like he'd eaten anything all day so I took him into SAMG on Saturday.

The news isn't good. The vet found a mass, most likely cancer, on his tongue. It's possible that it's an ulcer from the kidney disease so the vet wasn't sure. They did a biopsy on Saturday and he's home here with some pain medication.

Well, he's clearly in pain now. He isn't eating much and I haven't seen him drink either. He's spends most of his time in his basket (unusual). It could be the pain of having the biopsy done, or it could be the cancer, or it could be the kidney disease.

Obviously, I just don't know. He just ate a tiny bit of food and went back to his hut. He normally welcomes petting but when I pet him, he doesn't seek out more so clearly he is in a lot of pain.

I really love this cat and will be very sorry to see him go. I'm so glad that I bought this house and that he welcomed me as his companion for these many years. I wish we could have many more years but it's not looking good now.

Hell Hole Again

Drove to Hell Hole for a quick kayak trip. The rains over the winter really did a number on Mosquito Ridge road and whatever road leaves HH for Georgetown. Lots of slides, big and small. Some slides were just dirt, but plenty were dirt mixed with giant several ton boulders. In one place, you could see the dent where the boulder landed, then the scrape marks on the pavement as the boulder was dragged to the shoulder.

The water was not as cold as I thought it would be although it was plenty high. The waterfalls were tame but still flowing. Lots of debris (logs, logs, logs, sticks. twigs, branches, and bark) in the water.

My arms are a bit sore.

Tomorrow it's another bike ride with Jodi.

Lake Natoma Wind

Drove up after work for a quick workout. Jodi went with to rollerblade. I kayaked across, then cut back and went to the ranger point. It was a little windy and cold but still very relaxing and pleasant. There were a ton of other boats, kayaks, canoes, crew rowers, outriggers, single and double rowers, sail boats, sail boards, and surf skis. As I was leaving, a kayak class was starting.

Post Repair Bike Ride

Should have taken the bike in much, much sooner. Just got back from the ride and we went faster and didn't take the bus on the way home. It's amazing how having all of the gears available helps!

Nice and cool with a stiff breeze...why is it always a headwind though? The turtle pond is drying out and the grass is turning crispy colored.

Bad argument

I'm reading Fark and go to ahapless pundit's blog article.

The guy makes the stupidest argument I've ever seen, and he's getting attention for it. Bizarre.

He argues that there are dead people on the voter rolls in West Virginia and that they are Democrats, and that Democrats support that dead people are on the rolls, and only the recently elected Republican is purging the rolls.

Now let's break down the argument.

He starts with a charming story about the ancient Greek battle at Thermopylae and several hundred thousand soldiers dying of plague. Doesn't seem too relevant to dead people on voter rolls, but I suppose it could be considered catchy.

He compares the plague deaths in ancient Greece affecting the battle with the purging of the 6000 from WV rolls affecting elections. He must be assuming that all the dead people are Democrats, and all of the dead people's registration was used in election fraud.

From the orginal article, there's a bit less to the story than our hapless pundit believes.

There are indeed an alleged 6000 dead on the rolls (give or take). It's been difficult to purge them in the past, not because of a giant Democratic plot, but because

"This year, for the first time, the secretary of state has been able to cross-reference voter registration lists with death statistics provided by the state Bureau of Vital Statistics."

There's a little math to the story too. I did the math with handy dandy Excel, the numbers are from the article. WV's total registered voter population is 1130088. From the article, 57% of those are Democrats, or 644150. That leaves 485937 as registered Republicans. If we assume that all of the 6000 are Democrat and subtract them, that leaves the Democrats with 638150 remaining (presumably) live voters. That still leaves the Democrats with a comfortable margin of 152212 to swing any election, so I'm not sure there is much of a motive for widespread zombie voting unless, due to gerrymandering, there is some other dynamic involved.

A quote from the article, "evidence shows the possibility that more than one voted in the recent May primary." Wow, out of 6000 more than 1 may have voted in the primary. Of course, the primary is party-centric (at least, I'm assuming it is in WV) so no damage to the Republicans here. Call in the FBI!

Another quote,

"While saying Ireland’s office will aggressively pursue such offenses, Beakes said some of those marked as voting might be simple clerical mistakes.

We cannot disenfranchise any voter that may be'" erroneously flagged as deceased,” he said."

After reading the article, I'm convinced that WV may have a few dead people voting, perhaps, but that they are few and far between and unlikely to sway an election. I would be astonished if there weren't a few dead people (and pets, and children, and mentally incompetent, and space aliens) voting in all sorts of elections everywhere during all times and all centuries. I would also be astonished if this practice were restricted to one party. Show me some evidence of wide spread voter fraud that affects an election and I'll be the first one to show up, pitchfork in hand, with the other townsfolk.

To return briefly to the blog from the guy making the outlandish and paranoid claims for one last bad argument.

He seems to think the NYTimes is in on the scam. He refers to an editorial piece about Republicans in Ohio and Florida who are (allegedly) trying to "shut down voter registration drives." Ohio and Florida both had issues with votes that did affect an election! I'll let you read the NYTimes article yourself and judge whether or not the evidence presented there is more or less credible than our man from WV.

Lake Natoma Nursery

Took my kayak out for the 1st time this year, finally! The lake was cold, but not bone chilling and the water is nice and high. I cut directly across the lake at Nimbus Flats to the water through the culvert under the bike trail. I didn't see the beavers and don't know if they moved, or are sleeping, or I just didn't see them. Saw plenty of geese, ducks, waterfowl, hawks, and osprey. I also saw some turtles summing themsleves on the logs.

The water back here is mucky and filled with plants. There are also some huge fish, a foot or longer and very fat. It was a little startling for both of us!

I also had to buy new cam straps. As I was putting the old ones on, two of the four just crumbled! Yikes! Had to make a trip to REI to get some new ones, snazzy red and yellow!

My blog is fine

Don't know what all of the complaining is about.

Long drive to Grover Hot Springs

Took Friday off work after deciding it had been too many days since I'd been over 5000 feet! Drove over Highway 4 and Ebbetts Pass. The snow is still very high although it's melting fast!

There's a short (3 miles round trip) hike to some falls at Grover Hot Spring SP which is very pleasant. I saw a juvenile blond bear within a 1/2 mile of the start. I'm not completely sure what size bears are when they leave their mothers so I spent some time scanning the forest for a protective mama. Once the teenager spied me though she scampered away as fast as her bear legs could go (which is pretty fast!). On the way back saw 3 deer.

The drive home was long but saw plenty of the gold country and spied a few places to hike (or kayak) this summer.

Weekend Activity

Saturday cleaned and did chores.

Sunday went for a bike ride with Jodi along the American River. It was a good trip, especially because we stopped at 16th street and took the bus home. It reminded me of when I lived in SF and was jogging. I used to jog from Laguna to Baker Beach and then walk up and catch the 38-Geary home.

Monday I drove up near Cool and Foresthill. I hiked along the Middle Fork of the American River near the Ruck a Chucky camp. The road down was a little fierce for my car, but no broken tie rods and no fluids leaking from holes poked in the bottom by serpentine rock.

Then I drove back and across to the other side of the river. I took Sliger Mine road and exercised my cars suspension system until a dried up mud bed that was way too bumpy stopped me. I did see some sedan type cars below and I'm not sure how they negotiated the obstacle. I guess they just have bigger balls!

I walked down the road a ways to a curve and an abandoned cinder block structure (Sliger Mine?), then headed back.

On the way down I passed two women on the way up. One said to me, "Hiking alone?"

I wanted to give a snarky answer, "No, Harry the Rabbit is hiking with me." But I didn't, I just said yes.

She then said, "Well good for you."

WTF? Usually the conversation is more along the lines of "nice day" and "great day for a hike" or something equally tame. I got the sense too that she was a little critical, that I shouldn't be hiking alone. Yes, well, that's just the way it is. The humans I encountered (several cars passed me on my way up) all waved cheerfully, or, asked if I needed help. I suppose it's statistically possible that a mountain lion could attack me, a jogger was eaten 5 or so years ago...but I think I took my life in my hands much more on the drive on I-80 to and from the hike.

I also sort of wanted to point out that the deep tan they had now looked fine but once they got over 50 they'd look a lot more like leather (and not fine Corintian leather!) than they might prefer. Ooh, snarky!

Good weekend!

Retirement

I can leave the state at 50 and not draw retirement and get the age factor. I will lose health insurance though. I can come back to work though for even 1 day and then retire and get the health benefits.

I'm at a retirement function.

Sick leave credit is by contract. 250 hours of SL equals 1 year of service credit. Days of SL / 250

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Too bad my brother is getting so old

This is a quote from His Oldness:

The actor who plays Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter
movies is exactly three days younger than me.

* And by fun I mean totally dispiriting.

If I weren't his sister, I would have sympathy. Since I'm his sister, I can just say HA HA! (Note: It might be a jollier HA HA if I weren't older)

Notes from GTC West-Gopal Kapur

The instructor was Gopal Kapur from the Center for Project Management. www.center4pm.com. He’s a great speaker so if you ever have a chance to listen to him, take it.

A. One of the analogies was good…PMO as air traffic control. Here’s a quote as he expands the analogy:

Announcement in an airport lounge: Attention all passengers, all flights are delayed today, possibly cancelled. We are experiencing technical difficulties. Some of the pilots and cabin crew are still in transit. We do not have the right staff to service the planes. There is no one in the air traffic control tower,
and we cannot give you any gate arrival or departure information. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Have a nice day.

This got a big laugh from all of us as possibly somewhat reflective of some of our IT and PM experiences.

He further outlined the analogy: Can the organization answer questions about its projects? How many are underway? What is their status? What is our capacity for projects? Imagine if the airport could not answer those types of questions about planes.

It drives home how important a PMO (or something that replaces the functions of a PMO) is.

B. He talked too about the common statistics about project failures (Cedars-Sinai, FBI, Hershey Foods, HP, Tri-Valley Growers---at least we’re in good company when a project fails). He recommended that execs fund a PMO, "You’re going to waste the money anyway, why not waste some of it on a project office?"

Where is your PMO Charter?

C. He validated that our PMO is in line with others (in a good way). Many of the things he said we are doing, or are planning on doing.

D. I’m not sure our agency is quite ready for this, but he recommended that we include shutdown conditions in the project charter. Shutdown conditions mean that if the project gets to this state (so much over budget/cost/schedule, or requirements, or technical issues), we’re going to quit the project and close it down as it will no longer make business sense. It’s sort of a prenuptial agreement for projects (kinda).

E. He also talked about making the PMO an attractive place to hang out to comfortably relax and share information so that PM’s are eager to come to the PMO. We may need a library for example.

Nalu goes home

A great young couple came in and fell in love and took him home! Yeah!

He's relaxing here at the entrance to the shelter after a busy morning leaping after the ball and being charming to those around him. I spent several mobiles with him (Petsmart, Starbuck's Dog Fashion Show, and Family Fitness in Folsom) and then today's adoptathon.

He's a great, great dog and I almost took him home with me.

Vaya con Dios, Nalu!

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Chuy's

We ate at this regional chain. The picture represents their cute idea of how to find us to give us our food.
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Pitbull, grenade, Florida

said Rogers, 30. Fifty, named after famous rapper 50 Cent, is an 8-month-old

"called her father to make sure. Using expertise developed through years of viewing war movies, he surmised it was a grenade"

"The kids were still wearing their pajamas as they drove to the home of Rogers' grandmother."

Writer Willoughby Mariano

Reuters, roadkill, and NASA

NASA fears collisions with the large, carrion-eating birds could damage shuttle

Roseann was adopted!

The dog I took to the Earth Day festival was adopted. She went home to a close to retired couple and will get plenty of attention.

It's funny, I wouldn't have taken her but Stan picked her out and I said sure. She was also close to not making it to the adoption floor but another volunteer lobbied for her. Then of course the couple who adopted her had to show up at the right time to see her. Serendipity.

Missed Intentions

For some reason, I intend to exercise (or clean, or do something productive) a lot more than I actually do. I can find myself thinking, just about as fast as I can think, "I should go for a walk, I should clean my bathroom, I should do dishes, etc, etc). And yet, I'll find another game of solitaire to play, or perhaps another time wasting fark.com article.

At Trader Joe's I managed to used the power in a good way. I intended to get ice cream but they didn't have anything I liked. I then intended to go next door to Brrr's for their superior ice cream. I treated it like exercise and just didn't do it.

The mind is fascinating.

Earth Day Dog Mobile

No pics of dogs this time, although Coco was the most attractive. She was a big shepherd mix with a reddish coat. Her face was the best, she had a lighter golden face with arches of brown fur over the eyes. I swear one of the early Mickey Mouses looks just like that. Adorable!

I had Roseanne, a salt and pepper Australian cattle dog mix. She was very interested in everything and wanted to be the center of attention. We worked on her sitting instead of jumping up for a treat and by the end of the day she had a nice sit. Two people asked for cards on her so I hope she gets to go home with one of them.

I found the Earth Day surprisingly interesting. There were the usual "prayer chanting" and incense burning activities. I'm sorry, smelly incense is really stupid when you're outdoors under redwood trees. How about just having some pine branches around the house if you want a nice smell. I only saw one scientific exhibit and would have liked to have seen more.

There were some capoeira dancers and that's fascinating. Only a few were really good and it seems like it's a better show for late at night during Carnival. Still, cool drumming.

By the end of the day I was wiped out and I'm relaxing with a few Aleve and trying to get hydrated.

Go dogs!

Echo Summit Again

Took a quick trip up to Echo Summit for a short snow shoe experience at the sno park. I had to break trail in heavy, wet snow with a slushy middle layer. It was a beautiful day though and once I'd spent my billion calories I headed home. I am so glad I bought those Cabela's pants, warm and cozy (and cheap!).

Dell Problems

I had some problems this morning with a video driver. Calling Dell was very irritating, especially the voice response system. Tonight a dll file was corrupted and I had to reinstall windows. Another couple hours down the drain. The giant screen is fabulous though. I'm assuming that I'll get used to the scratchpad instead of the trackball (or whatever).

New Dell

My new Dell arrived today after 5:30. Those poor UPS guys work much too hard!

I've got it mostly set up, I still can't send email. I can receive it, but not send it. I sure wish I could get on my old laptop to see what the magic setting is!

The screen is gi-normous on this thing...love it. It's a little more comfortable too. On the other hand, I hate the mouse pad device. There's only the pad which I've always thought was a lame way to navigate...unless you like flicking your finger 3 thousand times to move across the screen. Can't believe I missed that in the specs. I can always buy a wireless mouse though.

It's so clean and shiny too!

I've installed Firefox and Thunderbird and Google Earth. I need to find Solitaire and recreate my many, many bookmarks too.

Still, I'm glad I got it and it was all ready to go out of the box. I probably won't try my TV and remote control till the weekend when I have more time to futz around with everything.

Biking in San Jose

In spite of the rainy weather Donna and I headed out about mid-morning on Friday to bike along the Guadalupe River Park Trail in downtown San Jose. The city has certainly gotten much more dynamic and interesting since I lived there. The downtown city hall is beautiful too, especially the pillars lining the surrounding streets.

We headed north along the Guadalupe River and saw mallards galore. The water was high, but didn't threaten the trail at all. It was also cold and overcast, with no real sun. We made it as far as the airport and then headed back against a nasty headwind for home.

On Saturday, we went to the Berryessa Flea Market on our bikes and did a hour or so of shopping. Donna wanted to get a decorative hanging pink flamingo for her yard. They had parrots, but no flamingos. At the same stall, I bought a gift for Andy and Ira's Sonoma house. I can't wait until they see what it is!

Sunday was get away day and I headed back in time to go to the SPCA for a King's game dog mobile adoption. Fortunately, we have almost no dogs so with 5 volunteers and only 2 dogs I "volunteered" to go home and get my chores done.

black metal pots 50 and 75
san jose marbury

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Why the dog pictures?

On Saturday the SPCA had another dog mobile at the Sacramento Fine Arts in Carmichael. It was their first year of the "Animal House" exhibit. It was fun, all of the dogs were mellow and relaxed. There weren't many people, however, we got donations and people were interested in the pooches.

Paris and Her Beloved Toy

She carried around a little stuffed animal all day. Who would not want to adopt this cutie!

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Tara Sitting Up

I just could not get the excellent shot as she was lying down on her back with all four of her paws curled up getting her spa full body massage. She'll be flying out of the shelter so if you want a loving and mellow pooch act fast!

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Bridget the Boxer

Very sweet brindle boxer. This doesn't quite capture her sweet expression, but she enjoyed her mellow, relaxing day napping on the stage.

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Angel Reluctantly Poses with Cat Painting

This mobile was at an art gallery so at least one of the dogs should pose with the art. Angel was the favorite with many people coming over to visit her. She also enjoyed exploring the area around the art center and was just a joy. She's 2 years old and is part chihuahua.

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Irritability

Why do people stand in front of a door chatting? Step aside and chat, there's a whole sidewalk available, leave space for people to use the door as nature intended it to be used. Ditto for escalator exits.

Why don't dishes rinse themselves and spring into the dishwasher? Why do people with dishwashers whine about doing dishes? Why do you have to clean the counter more than once? Why doesn't it just stay clean?

Why am I not independently wealthy, or perhaps a trust fund recipient?

Emigrant Gap

Now that I'm finally over the horrible sickness, I went snowshoeing off highway 20 (near Emigrant Gap on 80) for a mere hour. This is a view across upper Bear Valley. The snow is not very compacted so I'm having to break trail and it's slow going. I'm aiming for the two stripes you can see in hopes that it's an old, snowed over packed trail. It turns out to be just as soft as the rest, I'm not sure what it was. It was a great trip and I think I'll go tomorrow too. Life is short!

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Foot, shoe, pole

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Becoming a man

I just finished reading an article about the movie "Americanese" in sfgate. There's a lot in the article, and apparently in the movie, about what it means to "become a man," particularly from an Asian perspective.

Women don't obsess in the same way about becoming a woman. Sure, it's a phrase in the middle school pamphlets (if they still have those quaint handouts) when discussing starting your period. It's maybe also assumed, or discussed, or giggled about when you lose your virginity. But I can't even begin to imagine having a conversation with any woman anywhere, "Say, do you feel like a real, womanly woman yet?" Any such conversation would end with gales of laughter...or even girlish giggling.

I guess I don't understand what the issue is. After a certain age, somewhere in the late teens, you're definitely no longer a child. You're sexually mature. I can remember seeing how my brother's faces hardened and became clearly man faces instead of boy faces. There you go, men!

Ritual is I suppose nice enough, but hardly necessary. Is the mythic tale of dad taking his son to the whorehouse really an entry to adulthood? I shudder and hope not (not that there's anything wrong with the sex trade per se). In cultures I'm familiar with, there are many ceremonies that celebrate the boy into man passage, but far fewer that celebrate the girl into woman passage. Of course, I'm no expert on culture.

Anyway, for the men I have this unwanted advice. Get over it. If you're over 20, you're definitely a man, a manly man, and completely male.

Death Valley Thoughts

Young spring wind in the mountain shadow loses the will to blow and moan and hum, stunned by the heat, even now, late in the evening. Stars showing, dying wind flicks tails of white sand too heavy to lift hissing across the road. Deeper in the darkening valley the wind gains will and over the tops of the dunes hurls powdery sand high in the air, a scouring curtain obscuring the dark Amargosa range with alkali sand.

Unicorns and rainbows

Or some kind of crap like that. We've been having a lot of storms and my brother snapped this picture of two actual rainbows over my house. I'll be digging the backyard up for the gold any day now.

Andy also knocked down the cottage cheese ceiling in my dining room. He is such a good brother!

Beauty secrets of the slovenly

I cut my own hair. It's true. I care so little about appearance that I periodiacally just whack at my hair. Fortunately it's curly so mistakes are easy to hide..

I decided to splurge and get a cut at a new shop near work. Plus, it's hip and filled with people who could be my children. I'll be the one in the nursing home wearing the stretch metallic jumpsuit the kids will all be wearing in the future.

The cut was fabulous and I even enjoyed the conversation with the cat owning, sushi bar owner's girlfriend, grew up in the country stylist.

She listened, my hair looks good, and she even taught me something new about styling my hair.

Now I'm at the allergy doctors.

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Buying a book at a big box store

The hypothesis is that big box store employees are know nothings. I went to big box bookstore to buy Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer's book. The clerk who helped me did know where the legal section was and even searched for the book for me. He didn't recognize the author's name. Also, he couldn't find the book.

He went off to help someone else and the book was right on the shelf where it was supposed to be. The clerk had nearly had his hand on it but was confused, or couldn't read, or something.

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Medical Experimentation

Our tax dollars are at work with a visit from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005-2006. They took blood and are going to store some for DNA analysis. There goes my life of crime! I passed on the treadmill test because I am still so sick, but got to join the "take my blood pressure" a thousand times test. Apparently they are testing various methods of taking BP. They also measured some joints (like the length of my leg from the hip to the knee is) but not others (no interest in the knee to the ground). Or perhaps I missed one of the tests.

The bonus is that they pay actual cash money for the pleasure. "Ask not what your country...." my ass, I took the money and will enjoy spending it unwisely.

Sickness Sucks!

Every day it's a different sucky symptom. Thankfully, my cough is better. I'm only coughing a few times an hour and it's just one or two dainty little *hacks* instead of the rib breaking monsters from last week. On the other hand, why do my sinuses taste like blood...rotten blood at that? There is no blood, no green goo, just this really vile, spongy taste/sensation. Yummy.

IKEA, IKEA, IKEA

Ikea

In spite of my illness, I couldn't resist and drove to the new IKEA (have I mentioned the name yet?) to look around. I escaped with a new doormat, a new teapot, and 4 new pillows. I may be buying new sofa and recliner after checking out the offerings. I also liked the bathroom fixtures which will come in handy for the possible bathroom mini-remodel. I was looking forward to the wardrobe systems, but they weren't as great as I'd hoped.

It was fun to join the other zombies driving into the parking lot, following the billions of workers in day-glo yellow rain gear waving us on and on and on until we finally reached empty part of the parking lot about 20 minutes into our journey.

The local polizei had a huge presence and were clearly prepared for virtually any disaster short of running out of the teeny tiny little pencils. When I left, they were helping some woman who had tripped and fallen. I didn't think she looked that hurt myself, but then, I'm not a medical professional.

It's always funny too when people try to be independent. Follow the arrows. Don't try and take a cart to the 2nd floor. Take a pencil and a piece of paper. Trust Ikea, they have clearly discovered a legal form of crack-eration and you should not try to out think them. All you need to decide is if you want the item or not.

Anyway, I'm a fan and am thrilled that Sacramento finally has a civilized store. I look forward to making many purchases of bargain items in the years to come.

Almost fainting

This was fun. I was at the allergy doctor's doing a test where I blow as hard as I can. Apparently, I blew too hard and actually almost blacked out. I certainly lost most consciousness as it is known. I remember almost feeling weird and dreamlike with thoughts that I now can't remember. Then there was a period where the nurse and I talked, "What happened?" "Yes, I feel really weird." "Were you asking me something? Was I alright?" Hmmm I don't remember that. Did two more tests but stopped blowing as soon as felt the blacking out sensation and I was fine.

It was irritating though because darn it I'm in control of my consciousness!

Update: I'm writing this in 2025. This doctor cured my year long bout of coughing with a month of antibiotics. He tested for allergies. Surprise, I have them, and we were going to start the shots. Before the shots he decided to go all in with the antibiotics. Yeah! Cured.

Prednisone

I'm still feeling much, much better. Took my first 8 pills of prednisone tonight and I see I really should have waited till tomorrow morning. One of the side effects is insomnia and I really don't feel all that sleepy here at 10 pm-ish. The codeine cough syrup has got me feeling a little calm. I definitely would not get behind the wheel of a car right now.

The COUGH is still with me although less persistent. I have something going on in the lungs that's very wheezy sounding. Not much mucus (I know you've been clamoring for that statistic) but lots of wheezing. The cough syrup definitely cuts the coughing.

I went to the RiteAid to pick up the meds and stopped to rake up the oranges that had blown down in yesterday's storm. It was maybe a 5 minute light raking job. The lungs did not like that and the COUGH said you will now go in the house and lie down. The lungs felt like they were on fire.

Still, I'm a little worried about the prednisone...it suppresses the immune system which I need to fight off infection? I'm sure my doctor has carefully considered that, but maybe I should ask him. Maybe I should ask him for no other reason than that I can then explain why I trusted him. He is a good doctor. I have my personal experience as weak anecdotal evidence. He was also featured in a local magazine as a noted doctor which is stronger evidence. One of his diplomas is from Stanford, so if he's really bad, he's at least somewhat smart.

STILL sick, maybe hope is at hand though

It's been about 5 weeks and I've still got paroxysmal coughing, haven't slept in I don't know how long and I just generally feel sick. Went to the doctor again yesterday morning because I developed an earache. He prescribed an antibiotic that I think is going to kick this bug's ass! I finally slept last night and only woke up maybe 2 or 3 times. I did have a lot of weird, weird sensations. I could hear myself breathing (like Darth Vader) because of all the goo in my ear. I also imagined that I could hear birds chirping (a LOT of birds) sometime in the early, early am. Then I seemed to hear some kind of loud thumping or booming (probably me snoring) and the cat decided it would be a good time to come sleep on top of me. No.

Anyway, I'll be off work for at least 2 days and that hopefully will be it. Is it wrong to go to the IKEA opening when I'm off sick? Yeah, it is.

Home improvement wish list

1. Paint front and side
2. Pull carpets, refinish floors
3. Landscape? Weed front flower bed, prune orange tree, make back patio off of bedroom, make raised flower beds, remove more of the pink stick bushes, remove trees, make patio area by back fence.
4. Replace gate
5. Replace roof of shed
6. Fix bathroom
7. Renovate bathroom with new tile, toilet, sink, possible framing
8. Remove cottage cheese ceilings This is in progress as of March 4
   
9. Paint inside (geez, pick a damn color already)
10. Remove problem addition and move sliding door and windows to dining room
11. Install IKEA closet in bedroom
12. New mattress
13. Remove blow in insulation in attice, replace with pink roll out insulation
14. Remove gutters? replace gutters with ones I don't have to clean leaves out of?
15. New roof (well, about 1/2 a new roof)
16. Replace those spinning things on the roof
17. Pest control inspection for rats and termites
18. New sheetrock in dining room area
19. Fix areas of hardwood floor that have termite damage and where the old, old heater unit is
20. Covered patio over problem addition area
21. Move front door and slightly reconfigure living room
22. Strip paint from fireplace
23. Paint or cover front cement with dark gray tiles
24. Molding in bedroom and kitchen, finish painting trim in new construction including door
25. Organize and clean garage, paint white, install shelving, etc.
    

Still freaking sick

I'm taking some antibiotic (Biaxin) and it's making me nauseous, especially if I take codeine cough syrup with it. Still have the cough too. This cold has now blown 3 (THREE) weekends including a 3 day weekend. I am not a happy camper.

Sick again

Started feeling bad Friday night, another weekend ruined. The cold started when I was in a meeting with my boss and she coughed about every 5 minutes. Bummer. I'll be doing the same when I go in tomorrow. There has to be a better plan.

PMO talk by Thom Pryor- Notes

Background:

• EDD PMO (IT)
• 6 PMPs, 10 staff
  

Comment: Wow! That's a lot of staff. Why does BOE have so few IT staff in comparison?

He recommends the local MPA Association.

PMO must prove value of PMO staff and for PMO methodology
Methods should be scalable both up and down
Only need to use what's helpful
Enhance org's PM capability

Comment: We struggle with these same issues in our PMO

Tools and Maybe Stuff to Steal?

What's the context to frame portfolio reports?
They have MS Project 2003 and have some training.
He's going to CHP
Customer Service Eval of the PMO help as part of lessons learned
He loves ESI

QA
How many schedules can a scheduler handle? 2 to 4. A large project is 3000 lines

Governance? Yes. It's new. Ha ha. Same story. Execs want control for others but not for their pet project.

Lessons learned DB? No but working on it

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standing on the lake it looks like water but it is ice in the shade of the mountain behind ready to head back wow fabulous sunny weather snow is a little soft trail is great though

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Google Earth

My world has been rocked and is forever changed! I bow down to our new Google Earth overlords!

Thermodynamics

0. If A and B are in thermodynamic equilibrium and B and C are in thermodynamic equilibrium then A and C are in T.E. Well, this isn't such an exciting law if you ask me.

1. Conservation of energy: can be transferred, can't be created. Mass and energy related.

2. Entropy increases and heat only flows one way (from hot to cold): clocks wind down and you have to add energy (wind them back up) for them to work again.

3. Absolute zero: Remove all kinetic energy from particles and they are at A.Z which is 0 Kelvins. Who was Kelvin?

Brings back some fond memories!

I did find a hint to remind me.

Happy

Finally got my new DSL up and running so I can waste time on teh internets faster.

My brother will be so happy.

Sad

CNN's list of the soldiers killed in Iraq since the war began. Very, very sad.

Thrilling day so far

I've had coffee, breakfast, and have killed brain cells reading fark.com. I SHOULD be doing some other things (snowshoeing, fixing my curtains) but I have yet to motivate myself to move.

Yesterday went to a dog mobile at the fairgrounds at the KCRA Health Expo. We took Dixie and Sargeant. Although I gave Sarge many, many opportunities to relieve himself, he chose to do it inside on the carpet. It was a little runny, very smelly, copious, and he's one of those dogs who walk around while dropping it so it was arranged in a somewhat deranged semi-circle.

I did my best picking it up with my plastic bags, but it was hideous. I apologized profusely to the staff but was too chicken shit to avoid taking the long way past the small army of people scrubbing the carpet on their hands and knees later. I may never go back!

Power still out

The trees are still down on Elvas. My power is still out and I'm at Tupelo's coffee shop on Elvas because they have free wireless. Yeah.

I've been trying to find out how long the power will be out and I'm not having any luck. SMUD, KCRA, and sacbee have no information that isn't old. Oh well, I can only assume it won't be too long.

I also have to say, it is just too fuckin' cool that I can just boot up and click my browser and *boom* I'm on the net. This kind of thing makes me wish I was born now instead of then.

Sacramento storms and power out

Fortunately my phone line still works. The power has been out most of the day. I left around noon-ish (give or take a couple of hours) and came back around 630-ish and it's still dark. Across the street it's fine.

There are many branches down from the eucalyptus trees on Elvas. Apparently there's a levee break on Twitchell Island in the delta. With no power, I don't know much more about it.

It's cold in the house with the heater off, and I'm a little afraid to go to sleep with the candles lit.

So that's the news from Lake Sacramento.

Last snowshoe trip of 2005

There are huge storms forecast for No Cal and it's been raining almost non-stop for all of December. It's all been a warm rain, so there's not too much snow yet and it's mostly above 6000 feet.

I went last weekend to Yuba Pass and it was okay, not great. With a few more feet of snow the boulder fields and clear cut areas will be fun. Also, there was still plenty of liquid water in the meadows so until they freeze over, access is denied.

This weekend I went up to the snow park on Highway 88 where the Mormon Emigrant Trail road meets 88. There's plenty of snow, maybe 3-4 feet and it's wet and packed. Unfortunately, it was raining fairly heavily. I went for a short hike, but it's not as fun when all you can hear is the patter of rain on your hood.

I will give props to my gloves. I bought them at the end of last year in Soda Springs and they are great! They aren't too puffy so I can do some work with them (like fastening my snowshoes), although I can't operate my car key buttons with them. My one hand was aching with cold and both gloves were pretty wet just from getting ready. Within about 10 minutes, my hands were warm as toast...almost so warm I was tempted to take my gloves off. I think the brand is Seirus or something like that. Great buy!

I'd like to go up again and probably will, but it's more fun when it storms during the week, leaving nice fresh snow for the weekend. Also sun, don't forget to mention that the sun is nice too.

Holiday coffee art

Once again, Infusion makes my day.

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Drain going the opposite way

Apparently my drain is having some gender identity issues because instead of draining, it's spewing. Well, that's a tortured metaphor, but I like it anyway.

I'm sitting at home waiting for Roto-Rooter to arrive and flush all of my troubles away.

Ha, ha, ha. Geez, I'm cracking myself up here!

"Terrorism" bad

I was driving home from work last night around 6 pm-ish. I'm approaching an intersection which is very small retail on one corner, a small office building on the other corner, a park, and an office duplex with some kind of medical office. There's a big white delivery truck (like a UHaul) in front of me. He pulls to the curb and I find it a little irritating because he's blocking the right turn lane which means I might have to sit through the light waiting for the left turners. It's a small street so there's no left turn lane.

I sort of wonder about the truck because it's a little late to be making deliveries. The driver gets down out of the cab and hurries around the front to the medical building. I'm right next to the truck, to its left.

Suddenly I get this bizarre thought. What if the truck contains a bomb and the driver is getting away before it goes off? I realize that it's a stupid idea because there's really no one to kill here and no particular infrastructure damage to be done. Still, I actually feel a rush of fear and (it's safe to do this) I immediately turn left into the small retail parking lot and then out the other side to the cross street.

No explosion, just some guy trying to make a late delivery.

Sigh.

I'm not even sure what to think. Was it stupid to have turned left? Isn't it a good idea to act on your gut instinct? I read other stories about people panicking because of some "stupid" fear and I think they're lame. Of course, usually they're still frightened days later. I had a rush of fear that left almost instantly when there was no big bang.

Still. Was I stupid? or did I demonstrate good survival skills?

Snowshoe at Donner Summit Redux-dux-dux

There's finally enough snow on the ground to snowshoe so I geared up and headed up 80.

I stopped at Cisco Grove again but the road was too bad for my little sedan. A higher clearance vehicle (and maybe one with snow tires) would have been fine.

I looked briefly at the Lola Montez trailhead, but I just wasn't up for a steep climb.

So I drove to Donner Summit and did my usual route from the sno-park to the entry to the Florence and Aloha lakes area. Castle Crags were fabulous with a dusting of white snow in the sun.

I didn't even really need the snowshoes for most of the trip because the trail was so packed. Still, I hate falling through a hole and the grippers kept me from slipping on some of the icy sections.

I also wore my new water proof overalls from Cabela's. They were great! I was toasty on the bottom for a change and it was nice to be dry at the end of the trip. I could have used an extra sweater on the trail (I had one in the car) but as long as I kept moving it wasn't too, too cold.

I'll be back though because this is a pretty hike.

NBA Kings and SPCA Dogs

Last night took 3 dogs to the King's game for one of our very popular mobile adoption events. This evening was special because it was hosted by a very generous Adriennne Maloof and her Camp Kindness sponsorship.

I must confess I'm not much of a basketball fan but the Kings do put on an exciting game and the fans are always generous when we attend a game.

So, it's all good!

See the photos of the pups in the posts below.

Soko

Soko is a 6 year old rottweiler mix male who is shown here in his favorite pose...lying down getting a belly rub from adoring humans. He's relaxed and mellow and gets along well with humans and canines. He needs a home so hurry to the SPCA if you need a furry couch companion!

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Rocky

Rocky is a 3 and 1/2 year old german shepherd chow mix. He is shown here wondering when I'm going to give him the treat in my hand while simultaneously enjoying some ear stroking by a smitten human. He's waiting to be adopted and lots of people were ready to take him home!

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Besse at the King's Mobile

This is my favorite picture. This is Besse, a 1 and 1/2 year old female boxer. She's looking up hopefully waiting for me to give her the treat I'm using to get that soulful look from her. She's lively without being too hyper and she just might be going home with a lucky guy on 1/4 acre who was very, very interested. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

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Lola Montez Again

Drove up 80, took the Cisco Grove exit, crossed over the Yuba River and turned left at the Forest Service road. There was about 2 inches of snow everywhere with some mud and runoff. The road was good and my Jetta had no problems except when I had to stop on an uphill for some ATV riders. I just canted the front wheels and kept spinning till I got traction and then was on my way again. There's a turn off to Lakes Sterling and Fordyce and I parked there. The road to LM was just not as good as I could have like and I decided I'd dared the elements enough.

I hiked up the S and F road and up is the operative word. Still, I love snow and the elevation. I just took it slow and stopped often. The ATV riders passed me twice as did a white pickup. I hiked for only about an hour and a half and that was it.

Very relaxing, cleared my head and reminded me how satisfying I find the outdoors.

Interesting ideas

One of the things I like about blogger.com is the header which clicks through to a random blog. Here are some interesting thoughts I ran across today:

Comparison of Che Guevara and Osama Bin Laden--They're very similar, yet Che is revered as a leftist icon while Osama is reviled. (written by Gaurav Sabnis from Mumbai, India).

He makes an excellent or interesting point. I would also add, how do we properly respect those who fight for a cause we support, even if their methods aren't good? Or perhaps the method is everything?

More about Pineros

Well, I've done two things. I've sent some email to a forester at and sent email to the reporters at the sacbee.

It seems like a boot, or first aid kit, or safety goggle drive could help. There might be acceptable boots hanging around (people who decided that hard work wasn't for them) or safety goggles or money for first aid kits. I could contact the contractors who hire the workers and distribute the proceeds.

We'll see if I get any responses and if they think it's a good idea.

What's the Spanish word for work boot?

Pineros

The sacbee story about the guest workers who clear and replant our national (and state?) forests is pretty compelling.

I do a lot of hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing and camping in those forests and I like to think that the humans who make them happen are treated well. Apparently not.

I'll have to do some thinking about what my response will be.

Computer problems and frustration

I've been having a few computer problems lately...lost my website cgbikes.com...accidentally erased my internet settings and couldn't log on...installed new antivirus software and now have some lingering bad memory or hard drive sectors that means it sometimes takes 30 minutes to boot up. I usually respond to frustration by quitting. In this case, I kept pig headedly moving forward and now all of the problems seem to be fixed.

Dr Kerzner Best Practices in PM

BP-Stop light control
Earned Value-Difference between managing a project and just monitoring a project. EV is the tool.
2008 PMBOK-Are you managing a single project or a core part of the core business.

How would ADP define project success?

BP in methodology is based on forms, templates, and checklists not policies and procedures.

"The primary benefit of NOT planning is that failue will then come as a surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression." Slide 89 page 45.

How to calculate ROI for PM training classes.

Estimates of report cost per page: 800 to 1200 dollars.

Should the PMO help to set corporate culture? For example, what about ADP's somewhat laissez faire attitude to completing assignments on time.

Email PM best practices

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PMO Forum-Portfolio Mgt

Portfolio Project Ranking
Even big companies do “nice to have” projects instead of strategic projects
At initiation you've spent less money and resources so this phase is most important. If you can kill a non-essential project here, you’ve saved the most (or avoided spending the most).
Cute reference to the Alice in Wonderland Cheshire cat scene where he asks her where she’s going and she says she doesn’t care and he says well then it doesn’t make any difference what direction you go. That’s an excellent reason for planning!

Mo Kanaan was the speaker and he was engaging and VERY passionate about his subject. It was particularly noticeable because his focus was mathematical and we could have all been snoring through the presentation as he presented the matrixes.

There was an interesting question and I’m not sure that Kanaan really had a good answer to it. I’m sure he’s not really naïve, but people can be evil and manipulative. Q what about people gaming the system? A Assume there's consensus
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Fall Bike Ride Home

It's finally turning to fall here in Central California. It's been hot for the past few days and today was cooler. On the ride home the wind was swirling around, coming from the south and then from the west. When I turned onto my street, the wind was at my back and I rode with a yellow leaf stampede to home. Git along little doggies!

Brother Andy and the 18-34 demographic

Andy is down in LA working at LTN TV (Local Television Network) and they've just launched their site. I was disconcerted to note that my poll answer was the least favorite. And by the way, what's an "ab?" If it's what I think it is, I haven't seen mine since I WAS 34.

Congratulations Andy!

Pumpkins aweigh!

This looks like too much fun!

Bark in the Park-Cheyenne

This is Cheyenne, a 1 and 1/2 year old staffie available for adoption at the Sacramento SPCA. She's a sweet, loveable lap dog who did enjoy her day at the mobile adoption in El Dorado Hills. She definitely wanted to be in the center of everything! I took her for a little walk in a quiet area nearby and she kept looking off to the music. She walks very well on the leash too, even when she wants to go somewhere she doesn't pull at all.

This was a fun mobile with lots and lots of dogs to see. I didn't manage to get a picture of the "pink poodle" or the shepherd in a grass skirt. We raised some good money here which was also very nice. One VERY generous donor gave us $100. That will buy some good kibble, especially with the Katrina (and Rita) dogs.

Plus, I just love saying "bark in the park, bark in the park, bark in the park!"

I hiked the PCT yesterday!

Well, I hiked about 4 miles of it anyway, from Highway 80 near the Boreal Ski area to Donner Summit. I was (once again) trying to hike the route I did last winter on snowshoes so I could get a sense of the topography without 10' of snow.

It was late in the day when I started, so when the PCT diverged from my route, I stayed on it. The PCT will be impassable once snow hits (at least for me) as a lot of it goes across steepish faces. Once buried in snow, the PCT looks like an avalanche waiting to happen. I haven't found that snowshoes are very good at traversing steep slopes, although again, it could just be me.

It was a great fall hike. I saw almost no one on the trail. It was crisp and clear and cool. I could see Donner Lake from many places and the granite cliffs are always looming. The leaves had turned on the underlying brush (most of the trees are evergreen) so the forest was carpeted in yellow and red.

I will have to go back before it snows and do "my" trail again.

Bike to work

The NY times has an article about it, seems that more people are trying it to combat high gas prices. I've been biking, or walking, or taking the bus, or taking the cable car, or even driving for some time. It helps to live within 4 miles of work, although I know one guy who has an 11 mile one way trip. Another friend was roller blading until she changed jobs and her work is now too far away (and not very easy to get to without a car).

There are challenges: safety (all of us have been damaged), getting the right gear together at the right time (damn I forgot my damn nylons is not a good feeling at the work end), and staying dry during rainy season (nothing like wet, dank, clothes at the end of the workday to really fill you with joy--forget the shower, put in a dryer!) are the main ones. The beauty of it is, you don't need to do it everyday, if it's cold or hot or you're late, you can drive instead. Also, the buses have bike racks and that can cut some time if you're in a hurry too.

Oh, I forgot to mention route planning. That's important too. I want quiet, residential streets with either 4 way stops (I can run them when there's no cars) or stops for the other way and not mine and lights at major intersections. My roller blading friend also wanted less leaves and sticks and potholes.

Some good Sacramento biking sites:
http://www.sacbike.org/sacbiking/ (the best really)
http://citybicycleworks.com/site/intro.cfm (great, great, great service)

Clark Kelso Strategic planning notes

Strategic plan draft
Best of CA on 12-15
Mission and Goals the same

55 Action items

Web services best practices State of WA ATOM is a model. Applications Template and Outfitting Model

DOJ working on how to share common info with other stakeholders. Is ADP one of them?

New GIS officer

Include privacy considerations as a matter of course.

ORP, DRP are important

Is this a good idea? Require everyone to take a class on laptop security before they get to use one. Yes, it is a good idea.

IT Succession Planning

By June 2006 have a PM center of excellence (there were others but I'm a PM)

More editing needed and it will be implemented late in 2005.

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Private sector Q&A

Q: Does IT still provide competitive advantage?
No, it's a commodity. We just expect it to work. Why is it so expensive? (fits with Susan's efforts). May be yes with recruitment. Younger workers will want access everywhere. Yes, reduces complexity.

Q: Other than savings and simplicity what is the benefit of CSSI?
Closer relationship without competitive fears. Go from refresh mentality to change mngmnt mentality.

Q: Pitfalls of CSSI and how to avoid them?
It's not a panacea.
Hardware is only 30 percent of the cost. More training (wow, sounds like he's hinting we're not qualified)

Q: Hype of service oriented architecture SOA?
old wine new bottle
reusable code. Interoperability. Layers workflows and ID common entities. There are new tools. Web xml.

Q: Can SOA help with legacy code?
Yes. It depends. Why? Augment the existing working system, wrap it with SOA.

Q: Where can key efficiencies occur in asset management?
Bar code. Save staff time. Equip tracked as it's logged on the network automagically.

Q: Open source?
Open office. JAVA. Star office. They work.

Audience questions
Q: What is the state going to do about open source?
Explore the options. Some departments are already experimenting.

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Q&A

Will we have to switch hardware too soon when the contracts expire?
3-5 years

Why can we buy any type of UNIX server but only one type of PC server?
PC servers are more of a commodity.

Is Verizon ready for thousands of state employees signing on?
Yes. It's ok to stick with the existing contract. You can keep your existing phone number.

Are the efforts coordinated?
Yes. Although it's somewhat informal.

Who were the beneficiaries of the data center rate reduction?
Mainly HHSDC customers.

CSSI has saved 20 percent for one department. What about leasing?
Existing programs, also there will be some leasing contracts.

CSSI pricing available for state employees?
No. It's not legal. Companies can just offer discounts. (Hmmm, is this legal?)

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21st Century J Harrigan SCO

Improve state's HR systems. YES!

SAP is the software.

May cost around $100 million

They're planning to implement Phase 1 in early FY07-08

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CSSI T Butler

Almost 100 million saved?

No additional quotes. No maximum dollar limit although there are other limiting factors (FSR, DOF)

Can subscribe to get updated information.

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Roundtable discussion

Bob Austin: DTS Consolidation, NOT just a bigger data center, Necessary because they are competitive not because it's mandated to use them.

There have been 10 million in rate reductions. Round of applause generated by C Kelso. (Does this mean BOE can have PSM2 back?)

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Intro C Kelso: megatrends

Preserve contingency resources

Megatrends: Baby boom retirement, old people will outnumber young people, world population will grow, immigrants big, west and south will grow, new economy, globalization, convenience, security, privacy, environmental issues, link to sacbee banking article, political polarization, confused governance

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Intro remarks C Kelso

Need to improve state web pages
FTB got a nod for something
DOJ got a nod for their site
Usability! Thank you!!!

DTS: Bob Austin (my old boss) got a nod.

SOSOIT is strong.

Doing IT right is proper risk management. He thinks state does better than average in IT project success.

He's finally gone to slide 2.

Dexterity: rapidly and expertly manage change. Adapt or die. He's prophesying the demise of FEMA.

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Intro remarks Clark Kelso

He's doing an interactive survey and I wish I'd gotten here earlier to get a box.

Survey SAYS...(skipping boring questions)
People are caustiously optimistic. They are most concerned with budget constraints and retiring workforce.

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Linn's lunch

Here's the gang chatting away at Linn's going away lunch. You can't see three of us at my end of the table. Linn and I did nothing for retention and recruitment at our old work because we are both very happy with our changes. Several people had just done some promotional interviews (and one attempting to be a traitor) so we should hear some word soon.

A word on the technical issue of posting this. I took the picture and emailed from my Treo. However, the first several times I tried to email it, it just didn't go through. There was no error message, just didn't go through. Anyway, I resent the picture from the start and bingo, it was sweet as pie.

Let's hope to hear some comments about the results of interviews.

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Great Katrina coverage

BeachAV8R posts on paddling.net, a kayak site not a kinky site. In his real life, he is a pilot and has posted some excellent stories about flying various missions to Katrina. Here is one with Katrina pictures.

Here is what coffee art looks like after I've walked back to my cubicle, sweet cubicle.

"Eagles" and the New York Times

It's Sunday afternoon and I'm resting from a hard ten minutes of weeding with a brief hour long session of solitaire and surfing the internet.

A few months ago I finally managed to play at least one game of all of the possible games. And don't think it wasn't hard to do what with revisiting old friends and re-playing those games. I'm hoping that at some point the game counter for "Waning Moon" will be full and the whole app will crash.

Well, I digress. I'm reading an article about Napa Valley on $250 bucks a day and the traveler is sitting in a winery and observes two "eagles" soaring in a circle over the vineyard. I realize to someone from "new york city" (use inflection from the Pace Picante sauce ad) that the West must be home to many exotic critters and eagles are as common as pigeons...HOWEVER, the birds seen were most likely common turkey vultures or even perhaps red tailed hawks...NOT eagles.

Just to set the record straight because I have another 120 minutes of rest time before I go back to my next 10 minutes of labor with the Bermuda grass in the front "flower" bed.

I wonder if there's an award for the most use of ironic quote marks in a blog?

Lunch

I'm sitting here on J Street waiting for my orange chicken. Work is still going well and I'm meeting rational people with a sense of humor. Lunch is here.

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Laptop version of Wawona camping

Although the Treo is fun, the keyboard is a little small for a really long post.

Our sites were great, probably some of the best we've stayed at. The campground is just not as crowded and we had plenty of space, even for 11 people. The river was right there and we all spent time lying on the granite erratics in the morning to catch some sun. A duck demonstrated its whitewater skills by paddling up and down the current bobbing its head under rocks to eat whatever it is that ducks eat.

We toured Glacier Point first. Wow. Magnificent. Astounding. I've made many visits to Yosemite and according to my mother I've even been at GP, but I just don't remember it. I know I've tried to go, but past trips have been in winter and the road is closed.

I had thought about hiking the Illiouette Trail down to the Nevada Falls and down into the Valley with someone from the group picking us up. You can see the entire trail spread out before you.

We toured the Valley next doing the tourist thing and then it was off to the Sugar Pine railroad for a steak dinner, train ride, and campfire sing-a-long. It's not really my "thing" but it was good and people who do like that kind of "thing" seemed to enjoy it. We were also "robbed" by two gunman on some well trained horses. The white horse had the most adorable red bandana mask on too. The bay horse stuck his head into all of the train cars to make sure and catch all of the booty. I don't know if tipping was supposed to happen, but someone did tip the bay horse rider and he stuck the dollar bill under the headstall by the bay's ears. It was precious!

The next day we went up to the Mariposa Grove and took the tram ride. Those who know me know how much I love the sequoia tree! I abandoned the tram at the museum at the top and hiked the 6.5 miles back to Wawona. I only saw 2 people the whole way and 4 deer. It's a nice trail, 99% downhill, but not too steep. Most of the trail is wooded, the upper mile with redwood forest, then pine, then pine and chaparral. It was probably about 2 miles too far for me, but still, I loved it.

I'm leaving out the campfire conversations...because what happens at camp stays at camp!

We will continue with our meal planning...take LESS food...take MORE coffee (poor Kathleen the coffee queen-may her descendants people the earth-was forced to buy more coffee to satisfy the hordes)...and never, ever have any bylaws!

Final night at Wawona

Great day on the tram at mariposa grove. I hiked back to wawona and donna left my car in the lot. The hike was all downhill so no cardio but killer on the knees.

Fun stories and jokes around the fire. It will probably be the last time I joke about the end of the FY and other reporting basis hijinks.

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Weird things at Yosemite

LB changed shirts in the car at Bridalveil Falls in front of god and everybody. VW was known as Fats as a child.

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First night at Wawona

It's much warmer here at 5000 ft than at 8000 ft. We're next to the Merced river under some anciemt old oaks.

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The Final T.M. Camping Post

Well, another great, great trip. The weather was very cold, dipping below freezing at night. On the second night I had left my towel out to dry and was surprised to find it stiff in the morning...until I saw that the temperature was 33 degrees F.

There were 4 bears that came through camp and we saw two of them. Or perhaps there was some combination of less than 4 bears seen multiple times. The bears we saw were just passing through shortly after it was fully dark but not quite middle of the night pitch dark. We also heard someone calling "bear" to alert other campers and heard some ruckus because a bear had snatched some eggs mistakenly left out by a nearby campsite. I was fast asleep during this latter incident, but Donna heard it all.

We hiked to the top of Lembert Dome. Donna had gone ahead with the kids and was feeling fine until Kayla's hat blew off and she started to chase it risking a 1,000 foot tumble to the bottom of the cliff. Oops. I caught up with them at the base of the highest little knob (9300 feet) and wasn't going to go any further.

Apparently I'm now "saddle shy" after my broken wrist of a year ago because once I started scrambling up the granite parts I was scared! I kept picturing myself tripping and hitting the hard granite like a ton of bricks and breaking my arm or hand or wrist again. Still, I made it almost to the top and enjoyed the magnificent views and the howling wind.

We also had a great, but short hike at Saddleback Lake getting up to about 10,500 feet and viewing only 3 or so of the 20 lakes. Mt. Conness and North Peak were spectacular frames for the whole lake bowl. I would have loved to have seen Conness glacier, but from the map, it looks pretty inaccessible, at least to someone of my physical ability.

We also hiked across Tuolumne Meadows that same night. After our granite climbs earlier, it was a pleasure to walk on soft, level meadow soil. We hiked almost to the Parsons Memorial Lodge, stopping at the scenic bridge over the Tuolumne River to sit and view the peaceful evening river (me) and run around chasing each other and climbing rocks and screaming (the children) until it got a little chilly (me again) so we headed back to camp. Just before reaching camp, we saw a deer in the woods and watched him circle us warily before deciding we weren't a threat. He ambled quietly along, occasionally reaching down to sample a little grass while the girls put sticks on their heads to imitate his horns.

As we left Yosemite, we stopped for a short excursion to Pothole Dome (8771 feet). Donna and the kids tried to steep route and were forced back. I went up a more gradual slope and then found my way down the backside and along a little pond back to the meadow. Donna and kids eventually went up a more gradual route and also summited.

We were happy that the kids slept most of the way home. It's always satisfying to know that finally, after 3 days of lack of good sleep, poor food, and lots of physical activity we were just barely able to outlast the kids.

Happy camping to all!

More Tuolumne Meadows fun

We treated ourselved to breakfast at the Lodge. One of our breakfast companions had gone to Saddleback Lake and taken the ferry across to hike the 20 lakes area. We chose that and it was brilliant. Conness and North peaks dominate the view. Except for being at 10000 feet the hiking is not too difficult. We finished later in the meadow.
Tomorrow is our last day.

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Vacation in Yosemite

Right now, Saturday around 6 pm we're having a great time shivering on the sandy beach at Tenaya Lake. Kayla and I swam. No signal will send later.

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