secretreality

Hot out there

2008-07-10T15:11:00.000-07:00

It's not as bad today as yesterday's over 110deg temps were, but when I saw the weather.com "Feels Like" spot, I just had to make a little correction.

Enhancing Visual Basic scripts with Microsoft Excel - Part 1

2008-07-10T14:54:00.000-07:00

“Things alter for the worse spontaneously, if they be not altered for the better designedly.” -Francis Bacon

Effectively working with and administering a Microsoft Windows based enterprise environment, let alone any other, requires making full use of all the tools that are made available to you and more often than not, making do with whatever is freely available. In the open source world of Linux this is generally not a problem as just about anything you could come up with a need for has not only already been created but is freely available and the things that aren’t, you can create yourself using any of the many free tools for scripting and programming that are available to fill those voids.

When it comes to system automation in a closed source environment such as Microsoft’s, the Visual Basic Scripting host is an invaluable tool that will let you handle just about every administrative task possible from mass updates to Active Directory to extensive data gathering and reporting; best of all, it is not only free, but it is already integrated into every Windows desktop. Of course, when it comes to automation you’re generally dealing with decently large amounts of data, either coming in, going out, or both; and while you can use simple text files for many things, it often makes more sense to leverage the power of a spreadsheet for both input and reported data.

I’m not looking to write the definitive article on how you can best use Excel with VBS, but my goal is to provide a good starting point, with a decent selection of sample source code to get the beginner or intermediate VBscripter up to speed and hopefully, leveraging Excel spreadsheets in no time, so let’s get started.

Lesson 1: Getting started
Let’s create a real simple script that simply shows us Excel.

DIM objExcel
DIM objTestSheet

Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
objExcel.Visible = True
objExcel.WorkBooks.Add
objExcel.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets.Add

Set objTestSheet = objExcel.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
objTestSheet.Name = “Test Sheet”

Well that was easy, not much to it is there? Well go ahead and save the script and run it and you should see results like those below.

Ok let’s now take a look at the script and see what is going on.

After 1) declaring variables we 4) create the Excel object and bind it to objExcel, calling the application forward. We then 5) set Excel to be visible and 6-7) add a workbook and a worksheet inside of that. Once we’ve got the basic spreadsheet created, we then 9) bind an object to the first worksheet and we 10) give it a name. Pretty simple, but that doesn’t really do much for us does it? So let’s see what we need to do to actually put data inside that spreadsheet.

To “setup” the sheet to the spec we want, we’d like to do things like define column width, setup some header rows and maybe even freeze panes and add an autofilter, let’s see what we can do.

DIM objExcel
DIM objTestSheet

Set objExcel = CreateObject("Excel.Application")
objExcel.Visible = True
objExcel.WorkBooks.Add
objExcel.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets.Add

Set objTestSheet = objExcel.ActiveWorkbook.Worksheets(1)
objTestSheet.Name = “Test Sheet”

For i = 1 to 6
objTestSheet.Cells(1, i).Font.Bold = TRUE
Next

objTestSheet.columns(1).columnWidth = 10
objTestSheet.columns(2).columnWidth = 20
objTestSheet.columns(3).columnWidth = 20
objTestSheet.columns(4).columnWidth = 6
objTestSheet.columns(5).columnWidth = 30
objTestSheet.columns(6).columnWidth = 15

objTestSheet.Cells(1, 1).Value = "Status"
objTestSheet.Cells(1, 2).Value = "Test"
objTestSheet.Cells(1, 3).Value = "Department"
objTestSheet.Cells(1, 4).Value = "Floor"
objTestSheet.Cells(1, 5).Value = "Room/Area"
objTestSheet.Cells(1, 6).Value = "Room #"

objTestSheet.activate
objTestSheet.Rows.item(2).select

objExcel.ActiveWindow.FreezePanes = True

And here’s the results we’ll see if we run that script.

Pretty cool, we can see that we’ve got the row headers in place and bolded, the sheet is labeled and we’ve even applied a freeze pane affecting the 2nd row and down. Let’s take a look at the new piece of code we’ve added and see how it works.

Though you don’t have to, I used a short little for loop to 12-14) set the first 6 columns to be font.bold. In 16-21) we’re setting the columnwidth to varying sizes based on the type of information we will hold and in 23-28) we are setting the value of the cells to be equal to what we want as column headings. As you can see, assigning data to a cell is pretty easy, you simply specify the object variable you used to bind to the spreadsheet in this case objTestSheet, with .cells(x,y) at the end where x and y are the row and column followed by .value = “xxx” to set that data. In this case we’re obviously setting it manually, but from a scripting point of view, the resultant data from your scriptwork will simply be put into these areas. On 30) we are activating the sheet we were writing data to and then 31) we are selecting row two so that we can 33) FreezePanes on everything below that.

Two other neat little commands I didn’t use yet but that I’ll throw in for you to tinker with until the next lesson are:

a) objTestSheet.Cells(1, 1).Font.ColorIndex = 3
b) objTestSheet.Cells.autofilter 1, "DOWN"

Where a) sets the color of the text in the cell(1,1) which is equal to A:1 to red and b) creates an autofilter, specifically setting it to row 1 and filtering for “DOWN”. You won’t be able to use b) if you don’t have any data to filter, so keep that in mind while you’re playing with it. If that’s not entirely clear don’t worry, as I will cover it in detail next time.

Anyway this gives us a good starting point to begin working with Excel output from VBS direct to the screen. Is this the best way to have your script output data to Excel? Well, not really, but I guess that depends on whether or not you want to watch the results as they happen. There are many ways to use Excel with VBS as we’ll see in the next couple of lessons, but this should get you headed in the right direction. In later tutorials I will cover Excel spreadsheets as input, writing data to spreadsheets entirely in the background and more. For now, play around with Excel as an output medium, writing your results to cells in your loops instead of writing to text files. What’s cool about vbscript’s manipulation of Excel is that not only can you output direct to a spreadsheet, visibly on the screen or entirely silently in the background, but that you can also format that data so completely that there is nothing left to do other than to interpret the results. (Though I’m working on a script for that too btw, lol)

Incidentally for your automated scripts that you’d like to have write to excel spreadsheets in the background, don’t forget you can have vbs send you an email with the results, attaching the spreadsheet to the message, of course, you could also write it to only email you if there is a problem, etc. but that’s a topic for a separate tutorial altogether.

Bunnyhop vs Jet Hop or J-Hop

2008-07-01T11:46:00.000-07:00

I thought I would eliminate a little confusion over some of the terms that are floating around with regard to the infamous bunnyhop.

A bunnyhop is executed by pulling your front tire up first.

A j-hop is not a new trick, it is simply what people started calling a bunnyhop when people started incorrectly calling it a bunnyhop when someone clipped into a mountain bike would lift the whole bike straight up at once.

Technically speaking, since it is not a new trick and simply a renamed existing trick, there really is no such thing as a j-hop.

2008-06-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Got a few people asking about the authenticity of the photo above which I had posted in a while back when I first redid my site. It is indeed real and the full story is here.

Here's a sample:

When this photograph was first published in Africa Geographic, BBC Wildlife and later in Paris Match and the Daily Mail (London) it resulted in a flurry of e-mails, phone calls and letters from around the world asking if the image was a fake. Following publication no less than 50 websites were hosting colorful discussions about the authenticity of this photograph. The image became probably the most talked about of shark photograph ever and has become my undisputed best seller.

The photograph is real, no photoshop, no digital manipulation, no nothing, in fact it was shot on slide film Fuji Provia 100 using a Nikon F5 Camera and 17-35 mm lens. For those conspiracy fans who still doubt its authenticity please read how I took the photograph.

To capture this image I tied myself to the tower of the research boat Lamnidae and leaned into the void, precariously hanging over the ocean while waiting patiently for a white shark to come along. I wanted to shot a photograph that would tell the story of our research efforts to track white sharks using kayaks. When the first shark of the day came across our sea kayak it dove to the seabed and inspected it from below. I quickly trained my camera on the dark shadow which slowly transformed from diffuse shape into the sleek outline of a large great white. When the shark’s dorsal fin broke the surface I thought I had the shot, but hesitated a fraction of a second and was rewarded with marine biologist Trey Snow in the kayak turning around to look behind him. I pressed the shutter and the rest was history. Throughout the day I shot many more images, most showing the kayak following the shark, but all lacked the power of that first image of the great white tracking the kayak.

Sierras and Rubicon trail, street, dirt and rocks

2008-06-24T19:46:00.000-07:00

I had been wanting to do an adventure touring ride since before I got my dual sport bike last October and while I’ve put quite a few miles on it since then, including my current 900 mile per week commute, I’ve sadly only had the opportunity to take her off road twice. Being a smaller bike, it gets excellent fuel economy, averaging 80-85 mpg, with a low in the 70-75mpg range if I run her into the red for long periods of time. In that regard, this makes her a great touring bike because I can go such long distances on so little fuel. The downside is that the bike only has a 2.3 gallon tank, though I resolved that with the fuel can rack I made. Of course to achieve that great fuel economy, this means my average speed is 55-60mph which I’ve actually come to enjoy, if you’re not in a hurry to outrun the rest of the world, it works out just fine. Over time I had slowly added on the proper outfitting for a dual sport touring ride, the requisite rear rack, hand-guards and RAM GPS holder, the later of which I will unfortunately not be using as 2 days ago I accidentally ran my Explorist through the washing machine with a load of laundry. DOH!

While I have plenty of miles under my belt on the street, I do have to admit that I am somewhat green off-road, having only taken my XT225 out twice, once to Forest Hill and once to Hollister. Of course, I did want something that would offer a decent challenge and would add significant value as a portion of the overall loop so I chose the Rubicon Trail. In researching what it is like to ride this trail I’ve heard everything from “have a great time, it’s a lot of fun” to things like “have you made out a will yet” and my personal favorite was that I’ll be an “inexperienced rider on a marginally adequate bike for the task.” In all fairness to myself, I’ve run that trail yearly in my Jeep for years so the terrain is familiar and prior to getting into motorcycles I was a semi-pro level downhill mountain biker having spent the majority of my recreational life on two wheels. Maybe I was just trying to convince myself it would work out fine, maybe not, but in either case, the plan was in motion and I was rearing to go with my only real concern being ascending Cadillac Hill with a bunch of weight on the back of the bike.

Being my first real, albeit short, adventure ride, I wanted a decent mix of street, dirt, camping as well as the requisite remote and somewhat strange hotel experience in addition to keeping the mileage reasonable as time and my own constitution are the limiting factors. The plan was to head out Friday, ride to and mostly through the Rubicon trail camping out partway through Friday night, then Sat finish up the trail and head into South Lake Tahoe where I’d stay at a local motel, finally heading home late Sunday morning taking the long scenic route back.

The route headed to the trail was roughly 160mi, the trail and back to the road is around 18-20 and the return route was about 190mi for a total of around 370 miles round trip had everything gone according to plan. Alas, the trail did best me partway through and one of my contingency plans was called into action.

Five days a week my ride is about reaching a destination, this time; it was just about the ride.

----

As far as my gear, I was trying to keep it real simple, here's pictures of what was mounted to the bike and what I was actually wearing.

- Sleeping pad
- 5 degree bag
- Softside cooler
- Rucksack
- 4hr firelog (not pictured)

Inside the cooler was my food and cooking gear, coffee and some light first aid supplies, including a whistle should things go badly. The cooler had rope on top that was for both the hammock and for winching the bike should the need arise. Rucksack had the hammock, change of clothes, toiletries, book, etc.

In addition to the load the bike was carrying, I was wearing a camel back and a military style "gun belt" that held a canteen full of water. Boots, knee/shin guards and my jacket rounded out the rest.

Inside the camelback aside from water were a few small tools, lighter, pump and of course a BFK.

While a decent focus of the ride I had planned was the Rubicon itself, the trail was actually just a section of an overall ride, that would end up taking me through some of the most beautiful scenery California has to offer with a total trip distance of 424 miles, 15 of which were some of the most difficult I had ever ridden. Reading through tips and advice from forums and people who ride, in addition to my own experience on the trail, I had a good picture of what to expect from the Rubicon and what challenges I would face. While I like to think on the positive side with that old saying of, “you can accomplish anything if you put your mind to it”, I did have a couple of contingency plans should something go awry and in the end, I ended up putting one into action as the trail did best me midway through; this time at least. And while in theory I think I could have pushed on and made it further if not all the way through, I do try to think with safety first and by that point I had gone so far past what any reasonable person would consider safe it was time to take the alternate route.

I’ve put many miles on the Serow on the street and with a 170+ mile daily commute including a good stretch of interstate, I have shamefully logged very few off road miles and this in fact would be not only her first long distance ride at over 400 miles (ok it is to me at least) but only her third time in the dirt with me at the helm. One day I’ll work up to some of those long distance runs I love to read about on ADVrider.com, but I suppose you do have to crawl before you can walk and for me it started out with figuring out how to load that little bike up with all my gear. I had installed a Turbo City rack on the back which is quite stout and is what I used to mount the gas can racks I fabricated to, which I’ll get into more detail on later. Even packing minimally, I still had to contend with a major lack of space; at a minimum I needed my sleeping bag, cooler with food and some sort of tank bag for spare tubes etc.

I was able to cleverly, in my mind at least, rig up a mil-spec rucksack as a tank bag, which in the end worked out extremely well and when I got off to hike around, doubled as its intended function of a backpack. With clever lashing, straps, a net and a couple bungee cords, I was able to mount up the rest of my gear on my little mule and head for the hills. After filling up my gas cans, which saved my bacon in more ways than one and on more than one occasion, I rode around a little bit to get used to the new distribution of weight, which on the street proved to be negligible; the trail however is another story. :)

One of the first things in order, aside from food prep, was to make sure I had at least some sort of first aid kit. Amazing what $5 will get you at Wal-Mart, this little kit had all sorts of things in it and once I bolstered its contents with some upgrades of my own, it makde a perfect bike first aid kit that found a permanent place attached to my camelback. With the addition of the supercompact deet spray, I was ready for the mosquito infested trail.

Of course let's not forget the important stuff and for portable food storage, I've found nothing near as good as my vacuum sealer. You don't actually need to suck the air out, you can just use it to create an airtight sealed bag, which will sit on top of you cooler ice just fine keeping your food fresh and safe from cooler water. I don't know how I got by without one before.

All loaded up, I am ready to hit the road. Amazing how much crap you can cram onto such a little bike. While I could in theory have gone ultralight, ie, hammock and bag, no cooler, no pad, etc. I figured I might as well be comfortable. :)

Taking the long scenic route to get to the trail, I hit a stretch of HWY50 in the Sacramento area that proved to be less than fun. Some 'tard with a shortbed pickup truck full of what seemed to be sawdust merged onto the freeway right in front of me, a thick cloud of dark brown dust billowing out from behind his truck, leaving me in the wake of his dirty exhaust and carpentry waste. After stopping at the side of the freeway to let him get far ahead of me, which was no great feat as I cruise at 55-60mph, I pulled off to stop at a gas station and eat lunch before making my final ascent into the hills.

And up Icehouse Road.

The ride going up Icehouse Road was awesome, I’d made the trip in my Jeep many times but from a bike you just experience more of the world, taking in more of the view than any enclosed car could provide, the feeling of the road and the smell of the trees. Lazily winding up the hill the smooth road twists and turns offering a new vista at every bend as you leave the rest of the world behind you finally reaching the Ranger station where you can check in and get your fire permit.

Incidentally, for anyone considering having a campfire without a permit, don’t. The fine is enormous while the permit is free, there is absolutely no reason not to get one and they are good for the whole year.

I stopped for a moment to look at the memorial plaque for Air Tanker 6 and in spite of the fact I had no one to talk to anyway, offered them a moment of silence in thanks for their service. Though once I got to the part that says “erected by…” I couldn’t help but remember this classic line “Behold, rising before you, the greatest erection on the continent... the greatest erection of the age... the greatest erection on the planet!” A quote which is actually in reference to a bridge and if you can name the movie that came from (without cheating), first round is on me. (click here for the answer)

Heading down Icehouse Road for the trailhead.

And finally after cresting the rise and following the smooth winding road as I descended down towards Loon Lake, I reached water, the signal that I had reached the Rubicon trail.

The dam before reaching the spillway

And the Loon Lake entrance to the Rubicon trail, which upon sight did make me a little nervous. Suddenly self doubts started to rush into my stream of conciousness; I mean, I really have essentially no off road experience on a bike, wtf am I doing here, can I even run this trail and make it out in one piece?

I quickly ushered these doubts to the sidelines as I fired up my trusty steed and began my descent into the inferno.

After riding down the gravel trail that leads to the top of the rock slab from the picture above, I got stuck behind a Jeep for a bit before passing him on the ascent up the rock face where I was greeted with this view before heading down and to the gatekeeper below.

Once I hit the actual trail and started riding the dirt and rocks I quickly realized two things, 1- that as much as I wanted to see how far I could push the bike with the stock 15/45 gearing, I really wanted to put that 13 tooth countershaft sprocket in that I was carrying in my tankbag and 2- manhandling the bike through those rock gardens at 6000ft was one hell of an upper body workout and I was already starting to feel it in my forearms, which made me nervous as I really hadn’t gone anywhere yet. Alas, like the first 15 minutes back in a gym after a long hiatus, the fatigue wore off, at least to some degree and I pressed on, riding up and over the rocks and pushing the bike through sections of trail I was only able to dream about until this moment.

Eventually working my way past the gatekeeper I reached the climb to the slabs, a multiple stage step up section with large rocks and loose dirt. Unfortunately some of the more challenging and very interesting sections of the trail I did not get photos of, largely because I was just too busy enjoying the ride and trying to make it through in one piece. Honestly when I reached the bottom of the climb I looked at it and quickly picked the line I thought was right, but before attempting it thought about it for a minute or two as failure to make it to the top would not end well and I was somewhat concerned. I quickly dismissed my fears and decided I had the right line, leaned far forward on the bike and hit the throttle. With all the finesse of a car accident I led my bouncing, sliding bike up the climb, her front wheel rising the whole way up threatening to buck me from my steed.

And when I crested the top in one piece, wildly throwing my legs out in an attempt to make contact with solid earth, I was congratulated by the trail with this view of the slabs

Riding down to the base of the slabs was fairly simple, though some care was needed when approaching some of the cracks as they are literally large enough to swallow a bike whole should you let your mind wander and partway down the main path is a rather large junction, that on the bike with a little balance and a touch of throttle proved to be handled with ease, while those with four wheels clearly had some trepidation upon approach. From the bottom of the slabs looking up the selection of lines was somewhat abundant, however as I climbed each new step and crack presented a new challenge that needed to be handled.

Alas as I neared the top of the slabs and reached the launchpad I decided that I would not attempt the climb due to the lack of traction on that rock, my weighted bike and the fact that a crash there would end… shall we say, not well.

Like Dr. Jones however I’ve found that if I just sit back a solution will usually present itself and indeed it did as I was eyeballing the landscape I spotted my easier to crest step up that really only a bike should attempt and I was able to circumvent this little section of the trail before being presented with one field of rocks after another. :)

The trail proved to be everything I thought it would be and more, the rocks were a challenge though it was a welcome one and the bike in spite of her overloaded top and rear heavy payload handled the trail amazingly well. A pronounced lack of rider skill however had us on our sides more than once. If you look back to one of the first pictures in this thread you’ll notice that I’m wearing a canteen on my left side. In theory it was a good idea, I mean, a Camelback is great but you really have no idea how much water is left, I look at a canteen as the “reserve” so to speak, much like I treat my cage water bottle on mountain bike rides. At any rate, that thing must have broken my fall at one point because when I went to take a swig from it after exhausting the Camelback, I realized I had crushed it at some point on the trail.

Crashes were semi-frequent and the bike held up amazingly well, a credit to both the bike and the one skill I am proud of being excellent at, crashing. Now I mentioned previously that the gas cans I had saved my bacon more than once and here’s how. The NATO style cans are quite stout, I can say this with authority because I can tell you I put them to the test. They were beaten on, banged on, bounced around and had to support the full weight of the bike on the rocks, not to mention the full weight of the bike impacting the rocks. The held up well and while looking a bit more battered, they did not once leak. In addition to holding up well, both the cans and the gas rack served a dual purpose. They not only held the bike off the ground and consequently the rocks, thereby saving the engine from many, many impacts that would surely have split a case sooner or later, they also helped keep the bike from crushing my legs into the rocks on more than one occasion and of course, their true purpose, they got me back to civilization when I later ran out of gas entirely; between burning fuel on the street, the trail and whatever dumped out when crashing. In spite of their weight, I was glad to have them.

Pressing on I passed through several water crossings and fields of boulders eventually working my way through Ellis Creek and up to Walker Hill. Having run this trail many times over the last 11 years I have to admit that from a four wheeling, let alone dual sport perspective, the trail appeared to have gotten significantly more challenging in some areas, one of which was Walker Hill. As we know pictures have a tendency to do the real thing no justice and flatten things out, but the rocks were large with not a lot of gap between them providing uneven footing and whatever lines could be spotted were quite difficult to maneuver. The penalty for not making some of the climbs on the route was steep and just about every line threatened to launch me backwards.

I crashed a few times heading up the trail, most of which were slow speed loss of balance related, but by this point in the ride the altitude and weariness had started to get to me and it was becoming quite difficult to lift my bike and I had resorted to the method of back to the bike and lifting it with a squat.

I had selected what seemed to be the only reasonable line up the hill, rolled back a bit, got a little rolling momentum and started my assault, weighting the front of the bike as much as I could when she started to climb high throwing me back on the bike and unfortunately hard on the throttle. The bike launched out from under me and straight up into the air, both tires leaving the ground throwing us both backward into the rock pile. As I was falling backwards with the bike I pushed the bike with all my might hard to the left of me as I tried to roll to the right and it seemed to hit the rocks at the same time as I did with a thundering train wreck sound of a crash. I got banged up somewhat by that crash and once I had regained my composure I feebly attempted to roll my bike back upright so I could see what damage had been done. Aside from slightly bent bars, or possibly very lightly twisted tubes in the triple, the bike appeared to be fine not mentioning the rashed plastics and newly cracked hand-guard, without which my levers would not have made it this far.

While this was the most challenging thing I would endure until reaching Cadillac Hill, both my level of fatigue and fear of injury since I was alone started to set in after that crash, as if I had not rolled out in time the bike would surely have crushed my chest with ease and a helicopter ride out would be my only option. Erring on the side of caution, I decided this would be a safe time to run the remainder of my trip in reverse out the way I came in, a decision which I do not regret in the least. The ride out was just as fun as the ride in, including getting lost a few times since I’d never run the trail in reverse everything looked foreign.

All of the step ups and climbs that were brutal coming in were cake going out. With little more than some body English and a bit of light throttle control; they were all bested with minimal effort, while the rock gardens still proved to be a good challenge.

The ride wasn’t just about the Rubicon however and the scenery and fun did not stop one I had made it back off the trail as my adventure continued on my ride into South Lake Tahoe.

Once I was back on the streets again I continued en route to South Lake Tahoe however after reaching the main road it wasn’t far before I was out of gas having tapped both the main and reserve. As luck would have it I had a spare gas can and used it to top off the tank with enough to get me comfortably into Lake Tahoe. Had I been without it, I’d have been waiting on AAA so needless to say, I was glad I roughed it with the extra weight.

Once I rolled into the Tahoe area and reached the main drag, I approached a Howard Johnsons motel on the left side of the street that I gladly rode towards. Pulling into the check in parking area, I could hear the pack of obnoxious, very drunk guys hanging out in the spa. “That sucks” I thought to myself, so much for that much needed soak in the spa. In the end it turned out it was a pack of middle aged guys riding Harleys that for one reason or another decided to get completely wasted and go soak in the spa. Though they were harassing people that walked by, I was outnumbered by a lot, but not outgunned. Not one to look for trouble, I quietly made my way to my room, unloaded my bike and prepped for a nice hot shower where I was greeted with this nice glove tan.

After the shower however I was feeling so much better and ready to get into dinner and throw back those 2 ice cold Fosters that I had been carting around.

In the morning I made myself a nice pot of coffee, got in another nice hot shower and busted out my cream cheesed bagels for b-fast… hard to beat it. But before I could sink my chomps into the morning’s grub I decided to allow myself one of my few and far between vices of a cigarette and while outside a guy from one of the rooms upstairs started to approach me. As he got closer I said “good morning” to which he replied “this place is harder to get out of than it was to get out of prison.” Lol nice… I guess I got my requisite creepy dude for the trip to top off my 1.5 star hotel.

Before heading out I had to swap that 13 tooth countershaft sprocket back out with the 15 tooth standard as my top speed was currently about 45mph. I’ve got to tell you, once I got that baby back in there it felt like I was on a freakin sport bike, at least for a while. :)

Headed out 89 was one of the more scenic routes while 88 had its own level of beauty. If you look in the second picture below, partway out you’ll notice a guy fishing out there. Looks like great country to backpack in and I think I’ll be investigating what is allowed out there soon. :)

Heading up and out of the valley I took the Serow up to a maximum elevation of just over 8500ft and since I never changed the jetting I was concerned I could make it. Although she performed find at around 7000 with the occasional hiccup, at 8500 I was a bit concerned as to whether or not I would even make it. Slowly but surely however, she pulled me up, over and through the range eventually dropping me off back in the Stockton area, with a short 40mi jaunt to home.

But before getting out of that area, I was first treated to these views.

And finally, my favorite of them all: (Which looks much better full size)

In the end I clocked 424mi. I had a great time and I can't wait to go back. :D :D

Death of a GPS

2008-06-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Well I misplaced my Magellan Explorist 200 GPS a few days ago and I'd been searching high and low for the thing as I'd really have liked to use it on my upcoming Rubicon trip.

Alas, it didn't turn up until I was emptying a load of laundry from my washing machine, where I found it in its dead state under my clothes. I guess I left it in a pocket and just tossed it in there, man... My last GPS lasted about 12 years, this one < 6 months.

I guess its not washing machine proof.

Extending my dual sporting range

2008-06-07T23:36:00.000-07:00

So while I'd like a little more umph, I do find my little XT225 to be a veritable mountain goat of a bike that really seems to be screaming "throw everything you've got at me." And though I've only had her off road twice, any shortcomings I ran into were mostly my own. So with a Rubicon trip coming up next weekend, I knew I'd need to do something about the puny 2.3 gallon factory tank. Unfortunately Clarke does not make a larger XT tank, so most XT owners end up with some mickey mouse version of a strapped down milk jug, or one of the Kolpin jugs (which can no longer be shipped to CA, which is ironic as with the emission friendly style ones we are sold locally I typically end up spilling gas all over the place lol)

I had spied some spiffy little NATO 5L gas tanks some time ago that I've been meaning to mount up in some way or another and when I recently saw some mounted on a TW200 I was inspired to get off my ass and fab something up for myself. Not perfect by any means and I'm surely more critical of my own work than someone else might be, but with some basic hand tools (and no vice, long story) I bent up and welded these together with about $12 of u-bolts and $19 worth of metal from Home Depot.

I do need to add some sort of rubber on the inside edges to prevent rattling, but otherwise they are quite stout. I can grab hold of one side and lift the bike off the ground with almost no flex, so I think they'll be safe when I lay it over. :) If you're wondering, 10 liters = 2.64 gallons so I've got more than a full fill-up. If I was only getting 75mpg, my range just shot up to roughly 370 miles before I need a fuel station.

It will really make me feel more comfortable going on longer trips and on far backwoods trips without the fear that I might run out of fuel and I've got to admit, I'm really happy with how well it came out.

Camera happenings

2008-05-07T10:36:00.000-07:00

So my awesome little Canon SD600 finally bit the dust, reaching its eventual demise after a careless misstep on my part, concluding a downward spiral that started for the poor beast last December. I'm a big fan of Canon cameras, both my film SLR's are Canons as is my digital SLR (a Canon D60) and my last 2 point and shoots, an SD200 and an SD600 which both gave me great service throughout my ownership. The SD200 was alas liberated from my possession by an unscrupulous auto repair shop and the SD600 suffered some damage while on an off road motorcycle trip last December, crippling the LCD when in picture taking mode, although it still functioned for movie and review modes; that is, until I inadvertently left it on the floor near my backpack and took a backwards step onto it crushing the LCD. And while the camera still functions, it is a sad shadow of its former self in need of retiring.

Thankfully my brother had an Olympus 720SW that he no longer found a need for, which has now taken a place among my collection. While the 720SW pictures are nowhere near the quality of the Canon cameras, I have been an Olympus fan ever since I had purchased my C3000Z way back when. Though the picture quality is not at the same level as the Canon, they are hardly bad pictures and in the end, the shock and waterproof features of the camera make up for this giving me a durable camera that is overall not bad and at the end of the day, the one that survives will still be there to take the shot that the one that failed would not. Unfortunately the data cable was lost and until the one I ordered arrives, my point and shoot duties have been relegated to using the camera feature of my little VuPoint digital video recorder, a device which excel at video, but leaves much to be desired with regard to its photo capabilities.

Now that the weather is warming up and more waterbound kayak trips are in store, it will be good to have a point and shoot camera that can not only survive a bit of water, but a little knocking around from time to time.

Etymotic Research ER6i headphones update

2008-05-07T08:25:00.000-07:00

Well I've been using my Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones for a few weeks now and I can report back with some longer term opinions. First off, as far as sound suppression goes, they work just as well as earplugs at keeping the wind and road noise out and as long as you don't have the music cranked, you'll hear what's going on around you just fine.

Now with regard to sound quality, it is absolutely top notch. Because outside sounds are essentially eliminated, you get clean, clear audio with crisp highs and nice deep lows. The earphones themselves fit comfortably into the ear canal and the rubber baffle piece slips off with ease for cleaning under warm water. And while inserting them into the ear is as easy and straightforward as inserting earplugs, a fairly obvious design flaw however, is that no provision is made for getting them back out, with specific warning to not remove them by pulling on the cord. Once inserted into the ear, they go in deep enough that you cannot realistically grab the body of the headphones to pull them out. I have discovered a little trick however, by using the end of my fingernail I grab the edge of the rubber plug and I'm able to extract the headphone with some downward motion. I did however read one user's solution, which was to make a loop from some fishing line to hook over the body of the plug, so they can be removed by simply pulling on the line, something which I will employ soon.

Otherwise they are relatively comfortable as long as they are not inadvertently inserted too deeply and they provide excellent sound. While somewhat expensive for headphones at $75, they prove their worth on the first ride.

NIN delivers

2008-05-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Get the awesome new album "The Slip" for free here. Hard hitting tunes as well as some of the softer overtones from Ghosts, this album blends it all together offering some of the two styles but clearly mixed in a way that everything is connected from start to finish.

You've got to love a guy like Trent Reznor, who said on his website: "Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me." That is just damn cool.

When I saw NIN at the Oakland Arena on the With Teeth tour they put on one hell of a show, now that the US tour dates are up, I can't wait to go back.

Freedom of Speech

2008-04-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

Pastor Martin Niemöller

You've probably heard his poem First They Came... in original or modified form at some point or another. I had seen a version of it in reverse order of losing our Bill of Rights, something along the lines of:

When they took the 4th Amendment, I was silent because I didn't deal drugs.
When they took the 6th Amendment, I was silent because I am innocent.
When they took the 2nd Amendment, I was silent because I don't own a gun.
Now they have taken the 1st Amendment and I can say nothing about it.

While the original obviously has much more impact both in verse and when you take into account the history of the author and reason he wrote it, the amendments version does illustrate a good point.

As we slowly lose our rights (just Google American loss of liberty or anything like that and you'll find plenty of shocking results aside from warrantless wiretaps and opening of postal mail as well watch lists among many other things), this poem reminds us that the loss of liberty does not come overnight, it is a slow but steady process until one day it is too late. Hopefully the Supreme Court will start the ball rolling in the right direction with their pending decision on the 2nd Amendment.

People often forget, that while the 1st Amendment is at the very core of America, so is the 2nd and without it, the 1st is worthless.

And people also sometimes forget that the Bill of Rights is about individual rights. Don't take my word for it, Thomas Jefferson wrote it himself "A bill of rights, is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference."

Jefferson's position gained advocates, and a compromise was reached. State legislatures agreed to ratify the draft document with the understanding that the first national legislature meeting under the new constitution would pass amendments guaranteeing individual liberties. That is precisely what occurred. By 1791, these 10 amendments, known as the Bill of Rights, had become part of the supreme law of the land.

Now if you're still with me, read this:

The Right to Keep and Bear Arms REPORT
of the SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE CONSTITUTION
of the UNITED STATES SENATE NINETY-SEVENTH CONGRESS
Second Session

From the preface:

We did not guess at the purpose of the British 1689 Declaration of Rights; we located the Journals of the House of Commons and private notes of the Declaration's sponsors, now dead for two centuries. We did not make suppositions as to colonial interpretations of that Declaration's right to keep arms; we examined colonial newspapers which discussed it. We did not speculate as to the intent of the framers of the second amendment; we examined James Madison's drafts for it, his handwritten outlines of speeches upon the Bill of Rights, and discussions of the second amendment by early scholars who were personal friends of Madison, Jefferson, and Washington while these still lived. What the Subcommittee on the Constitution uncovered was clear — and long lost — proof that the second amendment to our Constitution was intended as an individual right of the American citizen to keep and carry arms in a peaceful manner, for protection of himself, his family, and his freedoms. The summary of our research and findings form the first portion of this report.

...

Both as an American citizen and as a United States Senator I repudiate this view. I likewise repudiate the approach of those who believe to solve American problems you simply become something other than American. To my mind, the uniqueness of our free institutions, the fact that an American citizen can boast freedoms unknown in any other land, is all the more reason to resist any erosion of our individual rights. When our ancestors forged a land "conceived in liberty", they did so with musket and rifle. When they reacted to attempts to dissolve their free institutions, and established their identity as a free nation, they did so as a nation of armed freemen. When they sought to record forever a guarantee of their rights, they devoted one full amendment out of ten to nothing but the protection of their right to keep and bear arms against governmental interference. Under my chairmanship the Subcommittee on the Constitution will concern itself with a proper recognition of, and respect for, this right most valued by free men.

Orrin G. Hatch, Chairman
Subcommittee on the Constitution
January 20, 1982

Fuel crisis? What fuel crisis?

2008-04-18T09:54:00.000-07:00

While riding the XT, I'm relegated to a rather mediocre speed of 55-60mph as I crawl along the freeway, though I do have the occasional burst into the 65-75mph range when congested traffic dictates. I can live with the slower speed, although not every day, so I do occasionally throw the old FZR into the mix for some more spirited jaunts down the superslab. Anyway, on yesterday's commute it seemed like I went for ages and never hit my reserve and in fact didn't, until this morning at the 163 mile mark. Why that is significant is that when I topped her off today, I only put in 1.7 gallons.

Some quick math will tell you that at 1.7 gallons and 163 traveled miles I got 95.88mpg or 96-freakin-miles-per-gallon! So while generally Americans laugh at less fortunate countries where it is the norm to see most people riding mopeds and scooters at 90+mpg, here we're content to bitch about paying $4 for a gallon gas, while sucking down 8 miles per gallon as we bomb down our freeways at 80mph so that we can spend an extra 15 minutes laying in bed before work.

So to you Mrs. Yukon driving lady that was yapping on the phone and tailgating me before tearing off down the freeway at a likely 10mpg on your solitary commute to work in a vehicle designed to carry 8, I say I will have the last laugh... when I see you at the pump. ;)

Etymotic Research ER6i Isolator In-Ear Earphones

2008-04-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

Wow I love these things. For years I had been putting off getting a set because I just couldn't bring myself to spend $130+ on headphones. Of course, for riding, regular ear buds sortof work, but between the road noise and the increased volume levels you are quickly headed for deafness if you do it for very long. Earplugs are fine for normal riding when you've got some scenery to deal with, but the long commute I'm doing down I5 was getting to me. I mean, after 3hrs a day of nothing but road noise, you start talking singing and to yourself in your helmet... well, at least I was. Anyway, when I recently priced these out again it turned out they'd come down in price to the somewhat reasonable amount of $75 which coming from Amazon also yielded free shipping.

I've been using them for about a week now and I can definitely say they are worth every penny. They keep the road noise out just as well as flanged earplugs and they let you listen to music or audio books at a respectable volume. So why waste all that commute time listening to road noise, listen to music or buy some audio books and learn another language. At the rate I'm going, I've got 15hrs a week of time I can use for learning something.

The little bike that could

2008-04-07T10:23:00.000-07:00

So I accepted a great new job working with awesome people in an area we both want to move to, largely for personal reasons such as great housing opportunities and the area is like a giant playground when it comes to the hobbies we enjoy. The catch is that we won't be moving for another six months or so and until that time I've got a nice long 170mi round trip daily commute. In passing a friend of mine brought up the commute and inquired as to how terrible it must be to deal with every day, I suppose to some that could be the case. Personally, I think it is all about how you look at it. I mean, I get to ride my bike for a few hours 5 days a week and I get to see the sunrise and sunset every day, it's hard to look at that with a frown. Though now I do mildly regret selling my F4i, that sure was a nice bike and would have made the commute much smoother, but everything happens for a reason and I was just going too damn fast on that thing.

I started out doing the commute on my FZR, a ratty bike for sure, but the 600 definitely makes quick work of the ride. At roughly 50mpg, it certainly beats the drive in any car, esp my trucks which get 12-15mpg. Of course, the downside to doing a long daily commute on a sportbike is most certainly due to the riding position, hunched over and looking up. After a few hundred miles of that, your neck and lower back start to pay the price.

Enter the 225; I can sit upright, it has nice soft suspension and it gets a whopping 84mpg allowing me to do a full 170mi ride on 2 gallons of gas, something which would set me back about $50 to do in the Rover, costs a mere $7 on the bike. Of course, the bike only weighs about 260lbs so in addition to limits of the smaller sized air cooled motor that means my top speed really should hover around 55-60mph, lest I be fighting the northwesterly demons for my life. Having done the ride many times I can honestly say that it is actually not as bad as I would have thought and it does force me to chill out on the streets, another reason for getting the little bike.

I've got to say, this bike is just awesome. Great on the trails, decent on the street and easy on the wallet. When I eventually run this one into the ground, I foresee the newer 250cc version finding a spot in my garage. Of course, that might be some ways off however, as with proper maintenance, this single cylinder 4 stroke can run for decades. :)

2008-04-01T22:40:00.001-07:00

the me that you know doesn't come around much
that part of me isn't here anymore

Seeing the forest through the trees

2008-03-26T08:50:00.000-07:00

You know it seems like it was yesterday, but really this took place about ten years ago. I was working for Clorox at the time and was fairly heavy into "tech" stuff. I got a call from a friend who asked me for my US mail address, to which I was dumbfounded. I sort of paused and started running through my head US address... US address... WTF is that? Could she mean IMAP, POP? She wanted to send me something so it couldn't be SMTP, what was she talking about. As I asked what the hell a US mail address was it hit me. What a dork. lol

It is the year 1984

2008-03-21T09:26:00.001-07:00

Like the MTV ad I mentioned previously illustrates, we're living in dark times. I could honestly care less what the governor does with his personal time and personal bank account, if he's not abusing tax dollars for his entertainment, then that is his business. It is the simple fact that the government is spying on us and keeping tabs on our spending habits that scares me.

Something Strange: After 9/11, Treasury issued stringent new regulations that required banks to look for unusual transactions
By Mark Hosenball and Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
Mar 24, 2008 Issue

When Congress passed the Patriot Act in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, law-enforcement agencies hailed it as a powerful tool to help track down the confederates of Osama bin Laden. No one expected it would end up helping to snag the likes of Eliot Spitzer. The odd connection between the antiterror law and Spitzer's trysts with call girls illustrates how laws enacted for one purpose often end up being used very differently once they're on the books.

The Patriot Act gave the FBI new powers to snoop on suspected terrorists. In the fine print were provisions that gave the Treasury Department authority to demand more information from banks about their customers' financial transactions. Congress wanted to help the Feds identify terrorist money launderers. But Treasury went further. It issued stringent new regulations that required banks themselves to look for unusual transactions (such as odd patterns of cash withdrawals or wire transfers) and submit SARs—Suspicious Activity Reports—to the government. Facing potentially stiff penalties if they didn't comply, banks and other financial institutions installed sophisticated software to detect anomalies among millions of daily transactions. They began ranking the risk levels of their customers—on a scale of zero to 100—based on complex formulas that included the credit rating, assets and profession of the account holder.

Another element of the formulas: whether an account holder was a "politically exposed person." At first focused on potentially crooked foreign officials, the PEP lists expanded to include many U.S. politicians and public officials who were conceivably vulnerable to corruption.

The new scrutiny resulted in an explosion of SARs, from 204,915 in 2001 to 1.23 million last year. The data, stored in an IRS computer in Detroit, are accessible by law-enforcement agencies nationwide. "Terrorism has virtually nothing to do with it," says Peter Djinis, a former top Treasury lawyer. "The vast majority of SARs filed today involve garden-variety forms of white-collar crime." Federal prosecutors around the country routinely scour the SARs for potential leads.

One of those leads led to Spitzer. Last summer New York's North Fork Bank, where Spitzer had an account, filed a SAR about unusual money transfers he had made, say law-enforcement and industry sources who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the probe. One of the sources tells NEWSWEEK that Spitzer wasn't flagged because of his public position. Instead, the governor called attention to himself by asking the bank to transfer money in someone else's name. (A North Fork spokesperson says the bank does not discuss its customers.) The SAR was not itself evidence that Spitzer had committed a crime. But it made the Feds curious enough to follow the money.

Reinventing the wheel

2008-03-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

... and bringing back the sail lol albeit in a different form.

Kite-Assisted Cargo Ship Successfully Completes Maiden Voyage

Back in December, we told you of a new company called Skysails that was reintroducing the concept of harnessing the wind on the open seas to save fuel for cargo ships. For its maiden voyage, it would travel from Germany to Venezuela, the United States and Norway under the assistance of a $725,000 computer-controlled kite. Now, after two months, the trip has been achieved — and according to all those involved, a complete success. From the article,

“With that [trip] we impressively validated the original expectations we had for the system“, was how SkySails managing director Stephan Wrage assessed the first practical trials aboard the Beluga ship. “In the future, depending on the route and weather conditions, we’ll be able to post fuel savings of between 10% and 35% using wind power.”

During its time at sea, the kite-assisted ship traveled a total of 11,952 nautical miles. During the time that the kite was deployed — which lasted anywhere from a few minutes to up to 8 hours — it pulled the ship with up to 5 tons of power at force 5 winds — a relief of more than 20% on the ship’s engines. Projected onto an entire day, this performance by the “Beluga SkySails” represents savings of about 2.5 tons of fuel and more than $1,000 a day.

As this is just the initial stage of a pilot program expected to last 12 months, company officials are gearing up for more ambitious testing in future trips. A kite that is twice the size of the original will soon be deployed for double the energy productions and cost savings. The Beluga shipping company is even considering passing on these savings to the crew as an incentive. Nice!

For more on this successful voyage — the future plans for kite-assisted ships, jump here.

Instead of reaching for a phone, she should have been reaching for a shotgun

2008-03-20T23:55:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but 1) I've called 911 and gotten a busy signal and 2) even if you got someone, you think it might take more than 1 minute for help to arrive?

Why is it people feel that their personal safety and well being should be someone else's responsibility? Without a doubt it is a horrible thing that happened here, something that could have been prevented if she had a firearm and knew how to use it; and at the very least she could have fought back.

Calif. Woman Slain While Calling 911
By RAQUEL MARIA DILLON, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, March 20, 2008

(03-20) 18:52 PDT West Covina, Calif. (AP) --

A woman made a 911 call from her suburban mansion to report an attempted break-in, but her pleas were interrupted by gunshots, then silence: She had been shot to death.

The woman told the dispatcher late Wednesday morning that someone was trying to break into her home in upscale West Covina, Los Angeles County sheriff's Lt. Dan Rosenberg said.

"Deputies heard gunshots followed by silence and an open phone line," he said.

Investigators combed the neighborhood Thursday outside the three-story house with a tennis court, pool and four-car garage. Investigators examined the opening mechanism of the driveway's black iron gates, and later a repairman worked on the gates.

The victim was identified as Hsiao Hsu, 45, said Sheriff's Department spokesman Ed Hernandez.

Sheriff's deputies responding to the call entered the home and found the victim. She was pronounced dead at the scene. One or more males were reported seen running away from the house, the Sheriff's Department said.

The San Gabriel Valley Tribune carried a report describing a man who came to the scene about an hour after the shooting and asked deputies, "Is my wife OK? Did you find the guy?"

The man collapsed and cried out, "No! No! No! She just called me, you lie," the newspaper said. A patrol car drove the man away.

A KABC-TV report showed an investigator in the neighborhood examining what appeared to be a handgun under a shrub.

The house is east of Los Angeles in an unincorporated area where many homes stand well back from roads, with tall hedges and gates. Horses stood quietly in a corral at one neighborhood home Thursday.

A neighbor said a couple recently occupied the home, described on real estate Web sites as being nearly 6,000 square feet and having recently sold for more than $2 million.

"They moved in only about six months ago. I've only seen them drive in and out," said Ronald Wheeler, 57, who lives across the street.

Irene and Jesus Marquez, who live nearby, said the family has two children.

"They were really nice, good people," said Irene Marquez.

1984ish MTV ad

2008-03-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Funny, some might see it is a realistic depiction of a possible future, while it is in fact the present state of affairs. Warrantless wiretaps, reading of our postal mail, filtering email, no knock raids based on pretty much any sort of tip from just about anyone. I mean, coffee shops have been given instructions to report people based on what they are reading! So some $7 an hour high schooler sees me reading "Mohammed: The Founder of the World's Most Intolerant Religion" and only notices the main title "Mohammed" and next thing I know the FBI is calling me. Dark days indeed.

Brilliant!

2008-03-07T15:09:00.001-08:00

A programmer started to cuss
Because getting to sleep was a fuss
As he lay there in bed
Looping 'round in his head
was: while(!asleep()) sheep++;

NIN GHOSTS: I-IV

2008-03-04T09:24:00.000-08:00

This album was quietly released online this weekend and it has had a massive response. NIN fans you know what to do, go BUY a copy of it which you can download. Get it via Amazon mp3 download for $5, or on the NIN.com website. For $10 + shipping, I ordered the 2 disc hardcopy which will ship in April I think and a link to the high quality download of the full album as well as the images that go along with it.

Other than the free download, the $5 download and the $10 2-Disc album + download, a very sweet limited edition package and a deluxe edition package were made available as well. Unfortunately the 2500 signed limited edition packages sold out already.

Captain's log, stardate um...

2008-03-03T09:44:00.000-08:00

I've probably watched too much Star Trek over the years and while I'd like to believe that the majority of people out there instantly get the aural imagery of Patrick Stewart's voice as Captain Picard, as I do, whenever they hear a monologue starting with "captain's log...", I have a feeling I'm relegated to the minority of the general populace on that one, but don't mention that to the Trekkies. But hey, the tie-in isn't just there for the Trek fans, a real quick little bit of association, six degrees of separation or whatever you'd like to call it ties things together neatly just the same. I named my kayak the Pequod after the whaling ship in Moby Dick and Patrick Stewart played Ahab in the 1998 TV movie of Moby Dick, which I unfortunately never did get to see.

The Pequod is an Ocean Kayak Prowler 15; the 15 in the title is also the designation of length as she's a 15 foot vessel. While her actual dimensions are an excellent touring length of 15'5", she's a bit on the "portly" side as far as kayaks are concerned at 28.5" wide, but that provides her with excellent overall stability and the ability to carry a massive 450lb overall load with a good deal of available space in both the large rear tankwell and the spacious front hatch. With the large hatch and tankwell, excellent load carrying capacity and stability, all I had to do was toss in a fishing pole and this sit on top was the perfect kayak for me.

Make no mistake, she's no racing skeg by any means, but she is indeed a pretty fast kayak once you've got her going, plus I'm a huge fan of the SOT (Sit On Top) design. I'd gone on a few rafting and canoing trips over the years and as someone who really enjoys getting out and away from the crazy life in the urban sprawl, I had always carried a secret lust for a kayak or canoe of my own for not only day trips, but weekend overnighters and eventually week-long river camping expeditions. As luck would have it, late last year it turned out that the perfect kayak for me was just on the horizon.

As winter approached last season, I happened to be perusing the REI outlet website looking for hiking/camping gear when I stumbled into the water sports section. When I saw the specs and price on the Prowler 15 "seconds" (which turned out to be nothing more than some black scuff marks which I wiped off the day I brought her home) they had listed, I did some research of user reviews and confirmed that it was indeed the ship I had been waiting for. With the price being less than half of the regular cost it and with the ability to not pay shipping by having it trucked to the local REI made this more than just a great deal and the money I saved on the overall price paid for things like a PFD and paddle.

I remember when I first picked her up, what a fiasco that was. I showed up with my Jeep Cherokee with the plan to just throw her on the factory rack upside down and lash her down well with rope. After a lot of pressure and persuading from the local REI staff I purchased some foam blocks to cradle the yak right side up on the roof (still in the cardboard and plastic wrapping), turning out to be a total mistake, which lead to a somewhat eventful ride home that was both unpleasant and unnerving to say the least. I of course found some amusement when it came time to move the yak again to our new house as loading it on the roof of the Cherokee with a couple pool noodles on the crossbars and simply lashing it down proved to be an extremely stable (and essentially free) method of transportation.

With the Cherokee on the way out and the Rover being the new mode of transportation I had to look into commercial carriers and settled on the Thule system. Strong and stable, it carries the yak well, though the overall height does make it a little bit of a challenge to load and unload however I'm working out a system fashioned out of PVC pipes to resolve that issue, so I'll hopefully have more on that topic later.

Finally a warm weekend was in sight while rain clouds were not so it was time to get her out on the water. With wife in hand, we headed for the local lake to get in some boating and fishing time, but alas as we arrived quite early, the kayak rental shop was not yet open. The bait shop however did have canoes and paddle boats for rent and while my recommendation was to go with the canoe, my wife wanted to try a paddle boat. Big, stable and unfortunately insanely slow, she did still have a great time on the water. I'd never actually ridden one of those myself and I knew they were slow, but I had no idea just how slow. Though she was pedaling away and likely going as fast as the boat could take her, a few gentle paddle strokes had me surging 15, then 20 then 30 yards away. I slowed my pace so we could stay near each other and even tried attaching her to my yak so I could tow her for a bit, but that was just too much work. After unhooking I decided to paddle out a ways and see what was ahead, before coming back I hooked up my rod & line so I could troll as I returned. Staying by her side I eyeballed her paddle boat a bit closer and while not the greatest watercraft out there, it certainly looked like it would also be fun. There was a large platform on the back that the dog could sit on and it was designed for two, I'll have to keep that in mind for future play around trips.

While fishing as the day progressed, the Northwesterly winds started to pick up and I realized just how much I was going to need to make some sort of drift anchor. No problem, just added that to the list of things I'd like to add/design/buy for the yak, that and a sail. It sure would have been nice to take advantage of that wind on the return trip to the docks. Make that 10001 things you can do with PVC pipe, design is in progress. Anyway, all in all it was a great day out and I was glad to get a chance to do a little fishing, even if the only thing I actually got was wet. :)

SF Examiner, July 21, 1969

2008-02-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

I acquired this paper last night at a charity auction and while it has little actual value, it is absolutely fascinating to read and see pictures from not only the obvious story, but just about every article in there. It's pretty amazing how in 40 years that while we're practically from another world, some things are still the same.