"The internet is a place where absolutely nothing happens. You need to take advantage of that." ~ Strong Bad

That was an awfully busy Labor Day weekend for as little as I actually got done.

To start out, I had promised to watch my sister's dog while she was out of town. That complicated everything beginning with it escaping the yard and disappearing for 15 minutes as I was getting ready for work. In the evening I left to join Kerry's family camping and planned to arrive late, so they were going leave a campground pass at the guard shack. When I got there, however, they said there wasn't one and it was past check-in time. Unless I could contact them, I'd have to wait until the morning. So I ask if I can just drive in and find them then come back. However, the gatekeeper was adament that he "got off at 10" and wasn't going to wait around to deal with this. "Check-in is at 8 AM tommorrow." Thanks.

So I get back in my car and head up the road to find cell-phone reception, noticing that it was only 9:45 (got off at 10?). I ended up driving for 45 minutes before I finally got reception. By that time I was pretty much ready to go home, but Kerry insisted that she'd seen the pass hanging in plain view. Grrr! So I drive back and the night security guard hands me the pass without a hassle. The gatekeeper still insisted the next day there was no pass (gee, what's that hanging from my rearview mirror?).

I had to leave the lake early (but not before ending up adrift in the middle of the lake briefly on a boat with a finicky starter) because I'd promised to drive out with my brother to Ft. Stevens to join the family for the rest of the weekend and my dad's civil war re-enacting. Unfortunately, I'd misunderstood the plans. My family wasn't going to be there until the next day. The cabin I planned to spend the night in was occupied for the weekend, and all the campgrounds were full. The end result was I still had to drive him to meet his girlfriend and then went back home for the night.

This brings us up to Sunday with me actually on my way to Ft. Stevens. As a forklift being tested for one of my projects at a customer site had developed an issue, I'd offered to take a look at it over the holiday since it was on the way. Between computer issues and a few other problems what I had planned on taking half an hour took over 2 hours and I got to the fort barely in time for the last event of the day. At least then I could relax and enjoy the re-enactment, but one more (admittedly minor) folly awaited. Apparently I accidently bumped one of the dials on my camera and didn't realize I shot the entire event in shutter priority mode. In some situations shutter priority is very useful, but the effect in this situation was soft and slightly blurry pictures.

After that I decided to be a couch potato for Monday.

The time has finally come for me to buy a house. Or perhaps it hasn't. I haven't decided.

Something unfortunate has happened to Brandon. He's gotten engaged. He's moving out at the end of this month and getting married. The extra space in the fridge will be nice, but we haven't found a replacement yet to pick up his share of the rent. At the same time, it would be nice to cut some time off the 30 minute commute to work, not be restricted by lease terms, and gain real value from my rent dollars.

On the flip side, I'm not at all easy about taking on 20-30 years worth of debt at a rate twice what I will be paying in rent after Brandon leaves. I'm not even sure I can get the debt in the first place, since credit companies consider the fact that I've never needed a loan before to be a sign of my fiscal incompetence (or low profit potential, you guess which one).

Naturally the professionals, who have a vested interest in saying so, are exclaiming that low prices make this a great time to buy. However, the measly 3% drop in prices in the Portland area year-to-year pales in comparison to the cost growth of 38% (inflation-adjusted, mind you...84% non-adjusted) over the last decade. Furthermore, the present inflation has led to a definite rise in interest rates over the last 18 months, reducing the size of mortgage I can afford by about 10%.

The other major factor is indecision about my job. If I knew for sure I wanted to stay with NMHG for the foreseeable future, the decision would be much easier. However, my contract still officially ends with this year's budget (again), and I'm frequently interested in other industries and career paths. Moving to another city too soon after paying closing costs and the lopsided early-term interest would leave me with very little or even negative equity to fall back on. I've got no good reason to leave, but the consideration is still there.

I had a wonderful moment this morning when, instead of being pestered by the blare of my alarm clock, I awoke to the treat of a house-shaking thunderclap. I've missed the rain.

It hasn't been all bad. I had a really good Saturday out on Riffe Lake swimming and boating. We also had good weather last weekend for the Portland Bridge Pedal, which is a leisurely 37 mile ride across all the Willamette River bridges in Portland except the Steel Bridge, which is being overhauled.

Camp went surprisingly well, especially given the number of things that came up last minute. Arranging transportation for everyone was a real hassle. Fortunately, I didn't have to coordinate that, but I was supposed to be a part of it. I had my car mostly loaded down with supplies and was supposed to pick up another leader in Corvallis. However, I had made a commitment to get a high-priority task done at work, and when my leave-by-now-or-else time of noon rolled around and I still wasn't done, I was starting to get a little nervous. Then just when I thought I was done I found a math error that looked like it would mess everything up. However, the patron saints of geometry were smiling that day: I made another mistake further down the line that almost exactly canceled out the first one.

I got out at around 2:30, which is kind of late for getting to Roseburg by 5:00, especially when you add in rush-hour traffic. Fortunately, someone else picked up the Corvallis leader. From there, things started to smooth out, although for some reason the camp manager had turned the chapel into an office, Father Tony had injured himself running to catch his flight and was in a wheelchair, we almost didn't have anyone to cook, and we didn't have a lifeguard so no one could go swimming. Also, the guys were outnumbered 3.1 to 1.

But once things got going it was probably the best camp we've had in several years. It was pretty low-stress, too. The hardest thing I had to do was organize water-balloon volleyball. Afterwards I had all the leaders who were heading north over for a bbq, which was the most I've ever had to cook for, but it was good times. A couple leaders spent the night again. Their flight out was after I left for work, and while unsupervised they ate all my housemate's cereal. I don't think he's noticed yet.

Then this weekend I went camping with Kerry's family at Lake Merwin, which didn't give me much time to recover from MI camp. The highlight was going water-tubing for the first time ever. Yes, I'm a quarter-century old and I'd never been tubing. So what?

My site now has received over 100,000 spams since I started counting in January.

Right now I'm taking a short break from rushing to get all my stuff together for MI camp. Things never quite go smoothly for this. I had two of the other leaders stay overnight on their way down to get things prepared, and that part went ok, aside from some concern on their part that they might have lost my dog. We got that smoothed out, got a few plans taken care of, and then took some time out to see the new Batman movie, which really ended up being about two or three movies in one.

This year someone was needed to drive the priests from the airport down to the camp the night before...as in right now. That was supposed to be me, but fortunately they got someone else to do it because I've got a bunch of things I need to get finished at work before I take off. I'm actually working a half day to start off my vacation. Instead of friars I've got a carload of supplies to carry down. It also turns out four or five leaders canceled in the last week or so, putting a real squeeze on the overall resources.

Somehow though, camp always seems to work out, and the teens generally have no clue how chaotic things can get in the background.

Outside of that, things have been reasonably quiet. I went with a bunch of the family to an airshow at McChord AFB this weekend, which was awesome. I'd say the Navy's F-18 Super Hornet was putting on the best show right up until he experienced some "technical difficulties" and cut the display short.

It needs to rain. This blue sky is getting monotonous.

The fire that is currently burning on the southern flank of Mount Adams is almost exactly where my brother I started our climb. Cold Springs campground is where we intended to spend the night until we discovered the snowed-over roads.

Judging from the burn maps, it looks like that campground is probably no longer there. Pictures show a fairly solid line of smoke across the route we took up the mountain. With about 7000 acres burned, I imagine the view from the summit has changed quite a bit.

As mentioned, I went to the Cle Elum brewer's festival this past weekend. It was the best that I've been to so far. The beers were better, there was more variety, the lines were way shorter, the scenery in the middle of the Cascades was better, and the servers were a little more "approximate" about the serving sizes.

On the way back we stopped at Snoqualmie Falls, which seems to be the Seattle version of Multnomah Falls, meaning it's an impressive waterfall, but way too crowded to support the notion that one is out of the city. It was amusing, however, to see some people in hiking boots carrying hydration packs and even walking sticks for the 1/2 mile walk to the bottom of the falls on a groomed trail.

We also stopped along a park in Snoqualmie for lunch and to see the variety of old rail machinery they've collected there. I don't know about Kerry, but I thought it was pretty cool to see some of the unusual locomotives, especially the two gear driven engines. Plus we got to see one of the most easily recognizable celebrities in the country: Thomas the Tank Engine.

Our "championship" soccer game was last night. We had beaten this team in the regular season, but we weren't at the top of our game last night. However, it was a very even match regardless, right up until the linesman completely missed a painfully obvious off-sides call that resulted in a goal for the other team. But I'm not bitter...much.

For Independence Day there was a huge family gathering in Chinook. I think the intent started out relatively modest in size, but when it was all said an done, there was over 90 people there. It's always awkward talking to people who know your name when you don't even know if they're a relative or a party crasher. Heading back to Portland the next day, Kerry and I took a scenic detour to hike to the Cape Disappointment lighthouse in the rain, poke briefly around Fort Canby, then stopped at Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark expedition wintered over before returning to western civilization. The fort has been completely rebuilt since it burned down a little under 3 years ago.

This weekend we're heading up to the Rails to Ales brewfest in exciting Cle Elum, WA.

I am currently sporting the worst sunburn I've ever had.

Saturday, at my brother's suggestion, I joined him and several of his friends climbing Mt. Adams. It was an awesome experience, and while not as challenging as I might have hoped from a technical standpoint, it was definitely more physically demanding than I had prepared myself to expect.

The climb is nominally 5.7 miles and 6700 feet of vertical. Due to the late snow melt, however, the road was impassible three miles from the trailhead, making the climb over 50% longer and adding several hundred feet of elevation gain. I have to admit, I was aching long before we'd even reached "Lunch Counter," where most of the two-day climbers pitch their tents. Oddly enough, I got better as it got steeper, and we reached the top about eight hours after starting.


The descent was far easier, taking only 3-1/2 hours, and although we still pushed fairly hard, the last three miles seemed to take forever.

It also happened to be the sunniest day of the year, and after 12 hours with the sun shining both from above and reflecting from below, even the best sunscreen couldn't save me. Actually, the worst of the burn is my own fault for forgetting to protect my legs, but you know it's bright when even your septum gets burned. I also probably had over a gallon of fluids throughout the day and was still dehydrated the next day.

The outdoor soccer season is officially finished, but since we're currently at the top of our division, we will have a championship game to conclusively decide first place.

I've been busy again, hence why I haven't written. I keep thinking I will have time to squeeze in an update, but it never works out. This time:

I drove home for my brother's high school graduation, and to help do some heavy lifting work on the barn.

I've had three more soccer games, resulting in a win, a forfeit win, and our first loss of the season. The loss also earned me a beautiful set of cleat marks on my chest. They're still quite red two days after the fact. The forfeited game wasn't very fun either. First Google gave me incorrect directions to the field. Then a stranger gave me worse directions (not even the right city). Add that onto the fact that there are literally four different roads in Tualatin that intersect each other and are all named "Boones Ferry Road" and you've got a recipe for driving around in utter bewilderment for 45 minutes.

I did a networking job for a client who I've worked for several times before, but this time he was in a hurry to get the job done. Three nights of finishing up between 11 PM and 2 AM pretty effectively stifled any other plans I might have had for most of the week.

I attended a training seminar on project management. It was actually pretty interesting and moderately useful.

I went with Kerry and some friends to the Pet-Aid concert at Edgefield featuring Nada Surf, Presidents of the United States, and Spune. POTUS was by far the best act of the concert.

And lastly, I went to my cousin Greg's wedding. The reception was great, although I was guilty of sneaking off for a bit to see a historical aircraft display at Hillsboro airport, which was down the road.

Add on the usual working, eating, sleeping, laundry, and everything else, and updating my site ends up low on the priority list. I'm going to bed now.

I just got an email this week informing me that the documentary I acted in several months ago will finally be airing on the National Geographic Channel this Monday at 9 PM. It's called "Undercover Titanic with Bob Ballard." Unfortunately, I don't get the National Geographic Channel, but my friend Tom does and was nice enough to offer to record it on his DVR.

At the time of filming, I didn't know specifically what the program was going to be about. Obviously it was about the US submarines USS Thresher and USS Scorpion, lost due to accidents during the cold war with all hands. However, National Geographic had already done a documentary on those boats. The bit they didn't share with us was the new details: Bob Ballard's successful search for the wreckage of the Titanic in 1985 was a cover story for US Navy inspections of the wreckages of the Thresher and Scorpion. The Navy was certain the Soviets could learn important information about our submarines from examining the wreckage, since we had already tried doing the same with the wreckage of one of their submarines, so they wanted the locations kept secret.

I'm guessing I'll get no more than 10 seconds of exposure during the hour long program, but if you're interested in history and get the National Geographic Channel, tune in and keep and eye out for a sailor in 60's bell bottoms trying to restart a scrammed nuclear reactor.

On an unrelated note, I updated the graph below showing the spam posts per day. They're still at it pretty hard. I have over 43,000 in the database right now.