Where does the time go? Well…

I am still working on getting the rest of the A Week in the Woods, Volume Three story together. Combine that with another writing project and a web-app/database I am trying to put together for a friend, it seems I don’t have enough non-work “computer time” to take care of all of these projects. But I won’t let that stop me.

My son is off to Boy Scout camp. I’m jealous. I remember some real fun times at Scout Camp. When he gets back we’ll be off for some family camping. I’m really looking forward to that, the kids are getting old enough that they can really appreciate it.

I’m in the middle of a huge rollout of new computers at work. We have contracted an outside company to take care of it, but the whole things still has to be managed, plus everything else I do, still needs to be done.

Oh, and I cleaned out my basement. Now I just need to do something with the rest of the house. And the yard. I have so many home improvement projects I’m putting off that HGTV should run a show on the projects the Geek should be doing. Like While You Were Out, but on a smaller and less interesting scale. Paint. Mow. Spray for crabgrass. Paint. Build Shed. And on and on.

On a completely unrelated note, I picked up a cheapo mp3 player. It is no iPod, but at least it gives something to listen to while I’m running. Which I’ve been trying to do in the morning before work.

That’s your quick update of the Jeckles Geek world. I’ll try to get the backpacking story done and maybe another post or two up before I’m off in the woods again.

Volume Three? Yes, Volume Three. I spend a week or so back packing every year, and this is the third year I’ve done it. I will, probably, at some point document Volumes One and Two. But until I do think of it as a Travelling Wilburys Thing.

Picture, if you can, a field. With tall grass and ferns. It is framed by trees. It is still night, but you can see clearly in the pre-dawn light. At the edge of the field is a small structure, an Adirondack shelter. And a picnic table. That’s where I am. At the picnic table, cooking my coffee and waiting for the sun to come up. I don’t usually get up this early, but we’ll get to that later. I’m at the end of my hike, the beginning of my last day on the trail. As a sip my coffee I reflect on the five days that have passed on the trail with my dad.

Excerpt from my trail journal:

Got on the trail at Saw Mill Run. Only had to walk about 3 miles but that could have killed us. It is hot. Probably in the 80’s… The climb up to the Calf Mtn Shelter is brutal. Rocky and steep. Even though we’ve only gone a few miles we [are] beat.
It was only a three mile (or so) hike, but it did wipe us out. The humidity was unreal, and after sleeping in an air conditioned house and driving in an air conditioned car, the humidity was overwhelming to us.

We hadn’t been at the shelter long before two other hikers rolled in. Two guys, John and Alan. They were very nice guys. Alan was as quiet as John was talkative. And John was very talkative. He was from the Atlanta area and had a very pleasing accent, it made everything he said sound like it belonged in a story. He told us about how had recently gone to the Everest Base Camp, and at age 63. He told us about the his trips to Grand Tetons. Before long some other hikers rolled in, but it made no difference, John kept us his friendly chatter with them as though they were old friends who had dropped in for coffee.

He teased me a bit, in a very good natured way. Calling me a ‘flat bellied, young dude.’ And giving me a hard time for being such a know it all at such a young age. And I gave him a hard time about how his stories got better with each telling. It was enjoyable evening and an excellent way to start the hike. In the morning we all parted ways, everyone headed northbound, but us. So we hit the trail and headed south, for Rockfish Gap and Paul Wolf Shelter beyond.

Excerpt from my trail journal:

Beatiful [sic] trail yesterday. Fields on top a mountain hill, McCormick’s Fields, I think, wildflowers, but lots of prickles too. Had lunch at Rockfish Gap. While we were eating I could feel the humidity increasing… Lovely trail from Rockfish Gap to shelter. Saw a bright red salamander. Got rained on but why not. I am the Rain King!

It had seemed to me that it took forever to get to Rockfish Gap. And to be honest I was becoming anxious that we would not be able to keep up with our itinerary. When I got to the Gap I pulled out my map and saw that I had under estimated how far it was to Rockfish Gap. I had already walked seven miles and it was only one o’clock. With that revelation I was able to relax a bit. Dad and I stopped for lunch under a shade tree by the side of the road. We walked down to the convenience store that was there to get drinks. We came back with our Powerades, plus dad had gotten himself an ice cream. We ate and relaxed.

My dad seems to be prone to leg cramps when we hike. Luckily, he’s found that about 8 ounces of Gatorade will prevent them completely. You would have though that after downing a 32 ounce bottle of Powerade, he would be fine. You would be wrong. After we’d been sitting there for a while he cramped up. It was painful to watch and sure it worse than that for him. I was powerless to do much but wait for it to pass. Once the worst of it was out of the way, he asked me mix up some powdered Gatorade for him. I did, and within moments of drinking in it, the cramp went away completely. There is a lesson there folks, only Gatorade is Gatorade. Maybe it was just a coincidence or maybe just enough time had passed, but we’ll stick with Gatorade just to be safe, thanks just the same.

The walk that afternoon went by quickly, only four miles. I did get rained on a bit, but it stopped raining before I reached the shelter. I was able to walk a lot of the moisture out. When I arrived at the shelter, I was pleasantly surprised t find that it was one of the nicest shelters I’d been to. Big and spacious, with a a roof that covered the ‘porch’ area and the picnic table. A small stream ran just beyond it. It was nice and tranquil. Some hikers did stop in for dinner, but then they were gone again. We enjoyed a quiet night and settled in for good night’s sleep, since the next day would be one of our longest.

Ok. Maybe conquer is a bit much, but it was a successful trip. I’ll get around to documenting it shortly. Thanks for your kind comments. I’m sure you missed me while I was gone, but now I’m back and better than ever. Or at least no worse for wear.

I walked 48 miles starting Saturday and finishing yesterday. I saw many beautiful things, I experienced extreme heat and humidity, and I thought. I spent hours walking, and my mind wandered. I thought about many things: my job and my family, nature and human nature, my misspent youth, the state of the nation and the state of man. If I get these thoughts in order, I’ll try to put them out there for you to chew on.

I’ll also try to get the story of my week together before too long. Until I do, here are some of the highlights. I met some interesting folks my fist night, I had a huge (2000 Ft) descent followed by a bigger (3000 Ft) ascent. I saw some interesting creatures: a salamander, a toad, a deer, some songbirds, some hawks and vultures, and some mice.

Yes. I am taking a vacation. I deserve it too. I will be backpacking about 45 miles on the Appalachian Trail next week with my father. My brother and the dog can’t make it this time. (OK, my brother said I could bring the dog if I wanted to, but let’s face it the dog is a lot more fun when some one else has to sleep with him.) We’ll miss them, but I’m sure we’ll manage to have some fun anyway.

As many of you know there aren’t internet cafes set up along the Trail, so I will be incommunicado for a week or so. Don’t panic. I’ll be back. You know, like, better than ever. Hmmm. Scratch that. I’ll be back beat up and bruised with blisters and aching feet, sore legs and a stiff back. Hopefully, I’ll feel recharged mentally, too. Getting away from home, from work, from (although I love them dearly) the wife and kids, from computers, hell even from blogging. For a week, my only concerns will be keeping dry, surviving the trudging, and avoiding the mice in the shelters. Pretty simple really. And simple is nice for a little bit. Helps me to handle the complexity of the real world when I get back.

If you feel left out, while I’m gone, you can read about some of my other backpacking trips here:

On the Trail
The Long Walk
but next time… I’ll have snowshoes
The Rain King
Almost Soaked

If backpacking isn’t your thing, but you are still missing me try one of these Each one oozing with geeky goodness, kind of a best of:

About my Summer Vacation …
The week that was
Cat Stevens where have you gone
You’d be Lucky to Get Fired Like This
I need to get this off my chest
The Ups and Downs of Mountain Biking
A Requiem (of sorts) for WHFS
The Elvis Bar
Reflection, Or the best car accident I ever had
I’m not a writer, just a blogger
Of Bullwinkle and Baseball
Looking Back Across Burning Bridges
Rare Mental Silence
Just Me Against the White Space

I am impressed. With me. Those of you who have read much of what I’ve written , know that I am one of my biggest critics. Imagine how surprised I was to compile a list of posts I like that was this long. When I started writing this, I figured I’d find 3 or 4.

Have a nice weekend and a good week next week. I’ll be back with more geeky goodness when I return.

Blogging milestones that is.

Not too long ago I passed the 10,000 hits milestone. The ole statcounter sits at 10470 at this very moment. I cant get too excited about this however. Most of my daily traffic comes from folks search for information on the “illuminanti.” These people probably think that they have uncovered a very very secret society since even google returns only a few hits on this word. The truth is quite different, the word they should be searching is “Illuminati,” that will give them all kinds of information. So why are they coming to my site? Am I a secret overseer in some worldwide conspiracy? Wouldn’t you like to know. Or maybe I wrote about the Illuminati and consistently misspelled the word in that post. I’ve been tempted to edit it, since I figured out my error, but I figure I’m helping others with the same spelling challenges as myself. So I leave it as written.

A fair percentage of my hits came through the Blog Explosion. I gave that up. It was kind of nice to watch the hit counter move, but I prefer to have people actually read this thing. I have a few regular readers, you know who you are, and you should be ashamed. (For the uninitiated, that was my feeble attempt at humor, there’s a lot of that here.) So the 10,000 hit mark is meaningless, but it’s human nature to eye up a nice round number like that call it meaningful.

The Milestone that has much more significance for me is the fact that as of right now, I have been blogging for over a year. When I started this, I didn’t really know anything about it. I’d read WWdN and a few other blogs. I didn’t have any “blogging friends” I had no one really interested in reading my site. I had some notions about what I would write about. Most of them were wrong. I found that writing was different than I thought it would be. i also found that it was very important to me. So I write and I write, sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s not.

When I started I did not know if I would have it in me to stick with it. I think that will not be a problem. And to those of you who happen by… Thanks. It somehow means more to know that someone is reading what I am writing.

I drive in my car today. The air conditioner running full blast. The A/C is powerless against the heat of summer. My prescription sunglasses are powerless to stop the bright sunlight from making squint just a bit.

I feel beads of sweat forming at my hairline. And on my upper lip. I look around as I drive. Green plants everywhere. People everywhere. It is summer. The world is alive. The heat, while it drains me of energy, let’s me know that I am still alive. Very alive.

I turn off the A/C. I roll down my window. The hot air blows over me. I inhale the humid hot air. I smell summer.

I am alive!

Why do you blog? Why do I blog? These are questions, for me at least, are not as simple as they seem. I would like to say I blog because it gives me an opportunity to express myself and it helps me to organize my thoughts.

But that’s not quite right. A notebook would satisfy that. Blogging has the added bonus of readers and feedback. And we’re all desperate for the feedback. We want people to comment. We want people to read what are writing.

But here’s the part that makes the whole thing a little odd. Most people don’t read blogs. Most of the people who do read blogs are people who keep blogs. It becomes a bit of a mutual admiration society. You read my blog and I’ll read yours.

One day, I stumble on to this blog. And this guy is trashing some other blog. And I think to myself, how juvenile. But I kept reading. It was really funny. And kept going back. He made fun of all kinds of stuff. But mostly he made fun of himself. As I kept reading, I saw that this Mango wasn’t just a class clown. He had another side to him. He saw things around him, at work, on the news, on the street; and he found himself outraged. So he vented about it on the blog. With his usual humor.

Mango quit blogging today. And I’m a bit sad about it. But the truth is this. I’m sad and you may be sad too, but “trust me the next day you (and everyone else) would be fine. Trust me, blogs are not all that. We all have bigger things to blog about than to read about.” The quote, of course, is from Mango (from an interview Mango did on one HG’s sites.)

And he’s right. I’ve looked forward to his new posts for a while now, but my life won’t change in any real way. I’ll find something else to read. I always do. Some of favorite bloggers are gone or very inactive. Cleo Love, Surly Snobby, Reaz, and Robyn have all moved on. But I have found Ruksak and Hermes to read.

I do consider Mango a friend of sorts. Which is odd, because I wouldn’t know him if he walked past me on the street. But I’d recognize his humor and intelligence in a heartbeat. Our relationship has grown beyond simple reading each other’s blogs. (One of the biggest compliments I ever got in this blogging business was to learn that not only had I been reading Mango’s blog, he was reading mine.) I’ve listened to Mango Radio, there are a group of songs that I will always consider Mango songs. He’s contributed to the SBC. I’ve contributed to The Mangozine. And I imagine we’ll stay in touch, with or with out a Mango blog.

As a matter of fact. I’ll make a standing invitation right now. Mango next time you are in the greater Baltimore area, look me up.

Thanks for the stories, Mango! (That Minnie Mouse one maybe the single funniest thing I’ve ever read.)

I know that I am supposed to like the 4th of July. It’s one of those holiday, like Thanksgiving, that everyone likes. And I do enjoy myself, but as I look around I find that I am disturbed by what I see.

The first thing I see is the excessive jingoism. I know, I know. It’s independence day, there is supposed to be jingoism. It’s just that the Republican Party has adopted flag waving as it’s platform. As a result, being surrounded by people waving flags and chanting ‘USA,USA!’ makes me feel like I’m at the Republican National Convention. But if that was the only thing, I’d be Ok.

It’s the rest of it. Americans celebrate the Birth of their Nation by eating too much, drinking too much, and then setting off pyrotechnics, that are in most cases, highly illegal in their respective states. Let’s look at this a little closer.

We eat, we drink, we eat some more. OK. I’ll admit it. I over-eat on holidays too. So we’ll get to the part that really bugs me. The drinking. I confess, I don’t drink. I think it is a very bad idea. And trust me, I speak from experience here. This is a day set aside to mark the courage of our founding fathers. They saw inequity in British rule. And they did something about it. The put their lives at risk. They put their way of life at risk. They didn’t sit around and whine. They didn’t sue. They acted. Not just protesting what the British were doing, but saying, “Hey! Here’s a better way.” That I can be proud of. When I see some one slurring their way through Proud to be an American, I find myself feeling not so proud.

And don’t even get me started on those people who need drink, while in the company of children. I’m sure that most people who read this will simply dismiss my discomfort with that. “Hey Geek, go to a Meeting if it bothers you.” But it burns me up. If you and your friends want to drink yourselves silly, I suppose it okay with me. Promise you won’t be driving and I’ll deal with it. But if you are going to have a Family event, why bring the booze? Do you really want your kids to see you slurring and stumbling? I know I don’t want my kids to see you doing it.

And the fireworks. I’ve got nothing against fireworks per se, but the last few days, I’ve story after story about people shooting off their own illegal fireworks. And how they managed to keep the cops from catching them. I find it odd, that this seems to be universally okay with everyone. If I announced that I was going to knock over a bank for the 4th, it would raise some eyebrows. You’re right, that’s not a good comparison. The fireworks represent a victimless crime. They also represents the ‘me’ attitude that has made Americans so popular abroad. Well, it’s against the law, but I really want to shoot them off. ‘Proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free!’

And now that I’ve thought this out some more, I suppose that this is an appropriate way to celebrate America. I just wish it wasn’t.