Unmarked Obstacles Exist

This morning I was doing a little reading when a tweet from @planetski announced: Wild boars cause disruption in Austria. 

Curiously, there's been a little Wild Boar Buzz on @CorduroyPlanet's horizons this week.TV Chef Anthony Bourdain's Travel Channel Show began airing new episodes this week, and I stumbled upon an episode of "Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern" devoted entirely to the feral pigs. I heard a wild boar recipe on the KFBK Outdoor Show recently. You could say there's been wild boar background noise on CorduroyPlanet lately.

So I clicked on the Austrian Wild Boars story...that's where I found the Bears and Wolves in Switzerland story, and that lead me to the Skier Falls Into Bear's Den story.

Say what? You're skiing along, minding your own business, and wham! you fall through the piste onto a hibernating bear? Talk about bad luck! We're gonna need a sign for that...

My Mountain has a couple of bears. We see them, or rather their paw prints early in the season before winter really sets in and the bears retire to their dens to hibernate. We see them again in the Spring when they wake up and set out for breakfast. Again we usually know they're about when we happen upon their tracks. It seems to me that it's been at least five years since I've seen a bear in the flesh...um, fur.

Back then it was a Winter that was having trouble getting started...we were still making snow into January for the terrain parks and super pipe. The local bruins were taking their damn sweet time bedding down for their hibernation. My Mountain has a day lodge midway up the mountain where there's a small dumpster that serves the cafeteria kitchen and bar.

On the night in question, as I was passing the midway lodge, the lid of the little dumpster blew open, and Mama Bear with a cub exploded out of the dumpster, and they hightailed it down the hill and into the woods. They are surprisingly fast, but now that I give it a little thought, they were running on groomed man-made snow, not squeaky freshly fallen wild snow.

Jamaican World and Olympic Record Holder in the 100M and 200M, Usain Bolt could outrun mama bear for a few hundred meters, but I'm pretty sure that bears are more like Endurance Athletes...think The Tortoise and The Hare. I couldn't gain on the bear at full stick in my BR350...top speed, what? 12mph?

Over the years I have seen a fair amount of wildlife on My Mountain...coyotes are the most common, of course. Squirrels, porcupines, I saw a weasel in it's winter coat, white fur with black tips on his tail and ears. One of my guys saw a mountain lion or bobcat once, he couldn't be sure which.

The Austrian Wild Boar story didn't give me any idea of what elevation the feral pigs were diggin'. Just know this...as exotic interlopers, should a wild tusker root it's way outta the woods onto My Mountain, I'd find a way to waylay it and turn the tusky tourist into the main course of a slopeside luau! Break out the CP Beach Balls!

Zimmern said the wild boar are much tastier than the domestic porkers...pass the poi and pupus. Mahalo.

What Did I Just Hear?

I'm busy downloading my latest photos to the computer and renumbering them. The 6 O'clock news is on, but I'm not watching...my attention is on the photo files, and my renumbering scheme. I'm typing away, Columbus-Style, and I thought I heard a Weather Teaser say showers Thursday and Friday!?

My chest tightened as I raced to click on the Reno AFD. Not much there.

I clicked on the SFO/Monterey AFD...they say:
"Thursday and Friday remain tricky as the models are having a difficult time with the Southern extent of rain"

What a relief! That's a lot of hype for a couple of ratings points!

Hey Media-Types! There's plenty of weather-weary people out there with raw nerves when it comes to continued cold wet weather, and you are exploiting their sensitivities without grace! Shame on you!

Whew! Sorry to be such a Scold!

OK, I'm better now.

Monday was Memorial Day. It was warm and felt like Summer.

Tuesday the clouds scudded in, and the afternoon was 15F cooler than Monday. I picked up some groceries and cut up the Privet branches and got the pieces into the Garden Recycling Bin. Wednesday's Garbage Day here in the Inland Valley.

I made my first beach ball impression with the new CorduroyPlanet Linoleum Block pictured in progress above. All in all it was a nice weekend.

Perks/Inside Baseball

Here's a little Inside Baseball for you regular readers...

I've been working on a Logo for CorduroyPlanet. Doing a Branding Project Study is a better description. You've seen the First Round's efforts posted atop the blog. Click on the CP Beach Ball label at the bottom of this post to see them all.

Last Fall, I found the World Globe Beach Balls on Amazon...I think I paid roughly 50 cents a piece, because I bought a dozen. The first version was just letters I printed on colored paper, cut with scissors, and affixed with Packing Tape to the Equatorial Region of the Beach Ball..."Ransom Note Style". This worked great for Still Photos indoors. Out in the Elements? Not so much...

During my series of snowfall and snow melt photos, the melt-water found it's way to the paper with predictable results. I began seeking a way to print directly on the Beach Ball with waterproof colors. Let's just say: "It's a work in progress"

I've been doing silkscreen prints for nearly 40 years, but pulling a print on an 11 inch diameter squishy Beach Ball is testing my cleverness to be sure. I haven't actually made a stencil yet...lets say I've been Conceptualizing... What is it the Elite Athletes do to prepare for Record Attempts or difficult new moves? Visualization...yeah, that's the ticket.

I've been a carpenter for 36 years. I've built plenty of Round Things large and small. I built a beautiful 18ft mahogany Sea Kayak in my garage at the DaveCave, so I know a thing or two about making lumber and plywood do compound curves. I was letting the little pliable globes get the better of me!

I can't remember the exact second of my Epiphany...it may have been more Evolution than Epiphany, because I don't remember any Lightning Strike Moment.

Rubber Stamp! I'll make a rubber stamp or two, and ink it with paint rolled on like a block print.

I set out to find a real Artist Supply Shop in the area, and found one in North Oakland, right near the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Last week I visited the Art Shop, found what I wanted and went to the register to check out. The salesperson asked if I had their Discount Card, and went on to say: "They're free for Teachers and Students, for everybody else they're $10 a year. You get 10% off everything..." No thanks" I replied. "Better to do it when you're spending hundreds" replied the salesperson.

Today I made my second shopping trip to that Art Shop. This time the fellow behind the cash register started the Discount Card spiel, and I said "I teach people how to drive Grooming Machines, but not in a School Situation" "We can give you one! What's your first name?"

Waddya know. A Perk! We groomers never get enough perks. And never in Summertime!

See that? One nice day here in the Inland Valley, and it's Summertime...Simple me...

Still Life With Image

Tuesday Doin's
Yesterday, I made a photo with the New2Me camera of my original camera's broken LCD screen..."it was kinda like a Yin/Yang thing" I wrote...the circle IS completed...everything old is new again...yada, yada,yada...

Well today, I actually did close the circle. I made some photos of the New2Me digicam with the old broken screen model, though the circle was a little out of round...lots of snapping, downloading, viewing, deleting, and repeating!

Tonight, it's seasonably warm here in the Inland Valley. A perfect evening for watching some Giants baseball in HD! San Francisco's AT&T Park is a beautiful park, but on HDTV it's all Eye Candy, All the Time!

Earlier, I accompanied my Mom to the monthly Church Luncheon. We had a lovely time, and talked with Firecracker Jackie's daughter for a long time about this blog, staking out your claim on the internet, travel, sewing and cooking. Dessert was an awesome home baked, beautifully decorated double-decker cake paired with "White Chocolate/Raspberry Swirl Ice Cream" One of the "Regulars" in the group made the cake for everyone. Good Show! Back at home, we just noshed on leftovers out of the fridge in lieu of dinner...

After lunch I hit the Post Office, and tried to make a quick shopping foray into the grocery store, but the usual Monday Rush had stayed home during yesterday's deluge, and were out in force today. As an inveterate shopper of some years standing, I've learned that not finding a parking spot even remotely close to the front door is a good indicator that the store is gonna be just too damn crowded! Score one for the Home Team!

Speaking of the Home Team...the Giants just lost to the Padres...they took all nine innings to do it, they were threatening right up 'till the last strike. 3-2 Pods You win some, you lose some...

Wednesday Afternoon
I'm just back from an afternoon of errands...I should have been hauling the new camera around! Here in the Inland Valley, the hills are still bright green with new shoots of grass, and the wild mustard is in bloom. I've never seen such tall mustard...most of the fields were over four feet tall, with several rafts of mustard over six feet tall!

Everybody's landscapeslocally are in fine shape, too. Spiky gray plants showing their luscious lavender blooms, bordered with California Golden Poppies is a very popular planting around these parts!

I was pleasantly surprised to find many heirloom tomato varieties at our local Medium Box Home Improvement Store..."Mortgage Lifter", "Yellow Brandywine", "Abe Lincoln", and more. Gonna have to look elsewhere for some "Ancho Chili" plants and "Habenero Chili" plants...gotta find "Hillbilly Tomato" plants too.

I'm Back, Baby!

Here it is nine days since I last strapped on my BR350 for an All Night Flight. I'm still using my alarm clock to wake up, but I'm sleeping through the night...no naps for the last few days either.

I'm feeling all smug tonight...with time on hand, and my newly rested brain and body, I've been catching up with some of my more vexatious tech problems.

I finally restored my iPod Touch to a tool rather than an annoying, ongoing hassle. I found a website with Old Versions of iTunes, removed the source of my misery, the troublesome iTunes 9.1.1 and replaced it with iTunes 9.0.3. After about three hours of fussing, iTunes and my iPod Touch are playin' nice together, all my Apps are behaving, and I even got back a banned "sexy" App that Apple doesn't offer anymore! ("sexy"=bikini photos)

Feeling like Maximus in the Great Arena, I next braved Samsung Support...My new Samsung Blu-ray player isn't talking to my Subwoofer...In about an hour, I made it all the way to "Level 3 Support" They did their best, but they will have an Engineer call me back in the next 24-48 hours...I just need to know where to send this faulty unit to get one that works...I did World Class Triage on this machine before I called, and it's defective...period.

I can't wait for this to be resolved, the Video from Blu-ray is nothing short of Stunning! I'll probably die and go to Heaven when the audio catches up! Oh yeah, this unit (Samsung BD-C6500) will solve my TV/Internet Connectivity lust, too...streaming HDTV, here I come!

For all my bravado today, there is a downside to ponder...I may not make it down to the Ancestral Digs before Jerry Otto's Fish Camp...oh, and the Reno NWS office is calling for a chance of snow showers about the time SturgeUrge and I get to Fish Camp! You know me, eternally optimistic, I'm sure it won't snow...but if it does, it won't put the kibosh on Fish Camp! For sure it won't dump...flurries I can enjoy (read Photo Ops!)

So, while I await Samsung's call-back, there's floors to strip and wax, the pickup is due for an oil change, and maybe I'll get in a little trout fishing at Donner Lake...I won't lie, this new Fishing License is burning a hole in my pocket!

Rollin' Along

Sunday 5/2/10 8:10AM
I might jinx things if I do my "Mission Accomplished" speech too soon, but I did sleep through the night again last night! The alarm jangled me awake at 0600...just in time to watch the DVR turn itself off after recording the Spanish GP for MotoGP Motorcycles...formerly known as "Formula One Motorcycles"

For me, Spring really begins when my two favorite Motorsports Series begin their European Swings. F1 and MotoGP begin their respective seasons in Asia before returning to Europe for the Summer. Today the motorcycles raced in Jerez Spain, next Sunday Formula One visits Catalunya in Spain as well.

The cars race nearly every weekend through October, save for a breather in August, before taking their show to Singapore, Japan, Korea, Brazil, and finishing the season in Abu Dhabi.

Formula One's European Swing is where Bleeding Edge Technology meets Motorsports History and Tradition. Monte Carlo, Spa-Francorchamps, Monza...all names from motor racing's Mt Olympus.

In American Motorsports, May means Indy. The Month Of May at the Brickyard was The motorsports Event of Summer ever since I got infected with Gearhead's Syndrome via the Slot Car Racing mania of the early Sixties. Every day news would emanate from the track...stories of daring-do, new speed records, setbacks and sometimes tragedy. The Indianapolis 500 used to be so big that it took two weekends to set the field in qualifying...four days filled with thrills and drama.

Indy still has it's hold on The Month Of May, but it's not a stranglehold these days. Economic Reality, the rise of NASCAR, and the Split in American Open Wheel Racing have taken their toll, but I still give myself totally to May and Indy.

Sadly, this year Race Day is gonna seem a little thin...Formula One, adjusting to their new economic reality, have moved the Monaco Grand Prix (Monte Carlo) to a different weekend than Indy...destroying my Memorial Day Motorsports Marathon!

It used to go something like this:
1) Alarm goes off at 0400...fire up TV and watch the Monte Carlo PreRace and then the Race, LIVE. Next, more coffee and/or Bloody Marys and breakfast while watching the Indy PreRace Hype.
2) Ladies and Gentlemen, START...YOUR...ENGINES! The biggest spectacle in sports from where IndyCars got their name.
3) Stock Cars finish the day at Charlotte, NC...NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600
4) SpeedTV's Windtunnel Racing Highlights, Race Talk and Interviews

For a couple of years back in the 90's I hosted a small Ice Cream Social...cocktails and a couple of batches of Homemade Ice Cream...mmm, mmm, mmm! And plenty of racing on TV!

As May marches on, my other Wheeled Passion takes center stage: Bicycle Racing! I may get to take in a stage of Amgen's Tour of California. With a little luck, I'll find myself on the coast at Pacifica to watch Lance Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and the rest contend for the Herbalife Sprint during Stage 3, before retiring to Pacifica Pier to angle for Dungeness Crabs...tides do look a little severe for crabbing though...maybe Striped Bass from the beach?

Summer proper means one thing in bike racing, The Grand Tours! 4th of July Weekend heralds the start of le Tour de France. Three weeks of racing, jaw dropping scenery, suffering, teamwork and triumph...throw in a finish in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe on Paris' Champs-Élysées, and you've got your Epic Sporting Event, much more Human than Indy or Monte Carlo, but just as exciting!

I'm sure my newly arrived replacement camera will be comfortable in my hands by the time the Amgen ToC peloton breezes by me out at Pacifica... It still irks me that I broke the camera's screen at work. A simple screw-up when a one quart stainless steel thermos full of coffee pile-drives a delicate camera in it's padded case as their Backpack home drops onto the floor of my BR350. I'm still feeling the loss of all those Photo-Ops on My Mountain.

Flip Side? I've already got plenty of photography to look forward to!

Taking Stock

Here I am nearly one week into my Summer Phase. I'm still futzin' around the DaveCave, knocking out chores and finding more in need of my attention. The weather has finally taken a turn for the better...save for the forecast winds out of the north...still they play havoc with my sturgeon fishing plans.

In the minutes and hours where I'm between chores or rewarding myself for a chore well done by lazing about, I've been taking stock of the season just ended...weighing the pluses and minuses, the highs and lows...on my way to filing the season into my pantheon of Seasons Past.

The verdict is still out...it's still too soon to make an honest judgment. Eventually 2009/2010 will drift into it's place. Today, I'm leaning towards remembering 09/10 when I remember "The Good Old Days". I haven't found many negatives that matter. Don't get me wrong, there's a passel of little negatives...that's why it's called work. If you have a Work Ethic, these are minor annoyances taken in stride, forgotten by the time next season rolls around.

There is one thing...it's my own fault, but it still irks me. I broke the LCD screen on my digital camera. Thursday night, while lazing about with the internet, I won an eBay auction to replace the camera! Last summer at the Ancestral Digs, I finally made the quantum leap that enabled me to wield the Canon Point and Shoot with the facility of a Real Camera. I learned to control the flash. In photography, using natural light and properly controlling artificial light is everything.

This pocket-sized shooter has a half dozen flash modes, but doesn't accept filters because the lens retracts fully into the body when it shuts down. This camera came out in 2003, I bought mine in the Spring of 2004 for $260 online. It's taken thousands of photos, several good ones too. Still, I was beginning to entertain the idea of splurging on a Nikon Digital SLR when I hit upon the secret to the little Canon's flash.

I was taking a series of "Obscured Self Portraits" for Facebook and Twitter profile use, featuring my unshaven mug half hidden behind different 22oz bottles of Commemorative Craft Brewed Ales and Beers. All this fuss began when Facebook added that facial recognition "feature" that was "ON" by default! The dang flash was too hot, held at arm's length, so trying to salvage my idea, I took a white PostIt©, and held it over the flash, and Voilà instant, cheap Flash Diffuser! The reflection of the flash on the bottles and my sunglasses didn't jump out of the photo anymore!

This little epiphany turned the Point & Shoot into a bona fide tool to express myself with, though I do have to wonder about my creative side when I named one of my photo files, "Snarky One 2009"

Back to the eBay deal, if the replacement camera works as advertised, I will have replaced my original $260 camera with a used, $37 duplicate, while still lusting for the Nikon DSLR...not bad...rearmed I can play the wait-it-out game on the DSLR...the price will come to me, it always has.

Now, back to the Post Season Ledger...the broken camera cost me $37 in real world funds...but it cost way more in my way of thinking. I broke the screen just as we were getting the season under control. I'd been cataloging a number of photos I wanted to make for CorduroyPlanet once I could get ahead of the nightly grind's demands. I bought a dozen of the Beachballs to photo in every possible grooming context I could think of..either .as Logos, or just props.

Modern Groomers are a wonderland of angles, textures, colors and shapes. I could spend hours snapping pictures of just nuts and bolts...then there's the hoses, hydraulics, combs, mirrors, rams, tracks, blades, tillers...and on and on...next year.

Not having the LCD makes just about everything about making photos four times the trouble. This week's series of Beachball Logo pix would have been impossible if I had to adhere to Bedtime and Work Nights.

So this Summer I'll be snapping away with the CorduroyPlanet Beachballs in tow...I'm already wondering if they still sell kid's kites in toy stores anymore...I'm gonna need some aerial shots!

I Win

OK, here's the Wednesday Night/Thursday Morning After Action Report.

I did it! I puttered about the DaveCave all day, stayed awake all afternoon, and fell asleep sometime during the 11 O'clock News! I did not wake up at 0300...instead I was roused by the alarm clock at 0600!

The snow stopped falling and the skies parted, revealing bright blue hues that illuminated the new snow and began the thawing/melting cycle. All this before noon.

All morning I toiled away...picking up, doing dishes, recycling, snapping a few more pictures of the CorduroyPlanet Beachball. For lunch I made Sausage, Olive and Mushroom Pizza (with homemade crust, natch). I heard the Truckee snowplows go by twice, so there's another berm to blow.

The weather continues to throw monkey wrenches into my well oiled plans. SturgeUrge and I were going to Plan B Friday...the tides were ripe for sturgeon fishing...the weather? More suited to World Championship Kite Flying!

I've been trying to gather some fishing intel since Sunday. It's been a frustrating, fruitless task because nobody is going out fishing because the winds have been off the hook, Small Craft Warnings for everywhere we'd like to fish...and the forecast says they'll stay off the hook through Saturday.

Making the most of it all, I'll get the chores done around the DaveCave before I head down to the Ancestral Digs. I'll spend the week catching up with chores down there, before heading back uphill for Jerry's Fish Camp-Take Two. SturgeUrge and I plan on sturgeon fishing Monday.

This year, I'm planting some tomatoes, squash, and melons at the Ancestral Digs. Basil and arugula lead the parade of herbs. Also on the docket...building a new center console and bait tank/reversible pilot's seat for my Boston Whaler. More camping at the coast means more time in the boat...and more dungeness crab on the table! Halibut fishing should bust open in San Francisco Bay in May. We're hoping we'll see the winds abate in May and June so we can get out on the Pacific for some Wild Chinook Salmon, too.

There's plenty of carpentry to do as well. SturgeUrge is overdue for a new front deck, some kitchen cabinetry tweaking, and some siding on the back of the house...and a new parking space is called for, too.

At the Ancestral Digs, there's some electrical to upgrade, some phone and data lines to upgrade, plumbing, irrigation, and some fence repairs...drywall...painting...

Gee, I'm already tired just writing it down! I need a nap!

D'oh! I'm not going there...none of this "one step forward, two steps back" stuff this year. I'm going to win the BodyClock War! This year, I've gone with "Shock and Awe", and I'm rallying from my early setbacks...I won my first skirmish last night, I'm gonna ride the momentum into Victory Circle!

Props and thanks to my Landlord, who blew the berm when he got home from skiing while I finished writing today's post! Thanks Mr Conductor!

Circadian Rhythm Method

The Circadian Rhythm is the clockwork of mammalian life. This 24 hour cycle of endocrine secretions runs the body for maximum efficiency...hormone levels rising and falling in harmony to guide the body to meet the day's demands as well as keep the body ready to reproduce for the survival of the species.

There's plenty of complex stuff going on inside us all to keep us running like a well tuned machine. This is why I have such a hard time resetting my BodyClock every spring, even though eons of evolution want my body to be in step with the Sun. Doing a little light research (read Wikipedia), I haven't been able to find any helpful hints for the task at hand...one factoid did jump off the page however!

In 2007, the World Health Organization announced that working the graveyard shift would be listed as a 'probable' cause of cancer! Whoa Nelly!

Scary stuff! Still I'm making progress now. Last week I was going to bed before noon and waking up at 7 or 8PM, and taking a power nap at 3 or 4AM. The past few nights, I've been waking up later. 3:30 AM and 1:30AM (thanks to the new winter storm blowing in!) Even though my body's telling me it's Nap Time at 10:45AM, I'm calling this a move in the desired direction.

I'll win this war, I always do. This year I want to wrap it up in a week...not the month I usually take to get right.

After Action Report

0530 Tuesday
Well, if you consider layin' about surfing the 'Net for weather data to be actual action...

I've lost last night's skirmish in the BodyClock Reset War. Gusty winds woke me from my unplanned nap. The winds freshened for three hours after I awoke at 0130, then the power flickered four times in two minutes around 0440...amazingly it stayed on!

The latest look at the Mountaintop Sensors show the peak gusts may have passed. The top of Slide Mountain El.9650, is showing 70 gusting to 95, while the top of Squaw El.8700, shows 65 with gusts to 120+

Slide's numbers are easing...down from 90 with gusts to 120, while Squaw's are still inching up from 60 with 100+ gusts. The Reno AFD says the wind will blow all day..the Wind Advisory expires at 5PM tonight, then the Winter Weather Advisory kicks in until 9AM Wednesday.

I tuned in Sacramento's CBS Television Newscast. and they're doing a bunch of live remotes of rain, wind and downed trees across the Big Valley. They opened with the Weather, it being all telegenic and all...Sacramento's NWS Office jumped the shark and issued a Winter Storm Warning through 11PM Tuesday. Reno's Office says the Eastside (venue for Jerry Otto's Fish Camp) won't get hammered, and stands pat with Advisories...check that, Reno's upgraded to High Wind Warnings 'till 5PM now (0637PDT)

0648 Tuesday
The Sun rises earlier through the miracle of Digital Video than it does for unaided human eyes...looking at the webcams around the region, shows a bunch of dry scenes...strangely, the radar says it should be falling at the DaveCave, and has for better than two hours...lookin' out the window, it's a dry front porch.

From my position as the lowly Rear Guard in the BodyClockWar, it's looking like a steep uphill battle to wind the stem back to sleeping all night...sigh...

Wow! Power's flickering again at 0700, and the Local TV News is showing live Skype Video of wet roads in Colfax...here it comes!

D'oh! The snow is starting to fall at the DaveCave...7:08AM...Good Night Dear Readers..I'll just pull the White Flag up over my head and close my eyes now...I don't have the energy to wave it this morning.

Springing Forward Again

First Night
It's Sunday night...I woke up sans alarm clock at 4PM. I didn't fret over getting a few more winks, because I don't have to work another Graveyard Shift until the 2010/2011 Ski Season begins.

On tap this week is Jerry Otto's Fish Camp. SturgeUrge and I are joining Jerry and the boys for his annual Camp-Out Kickoff near Markleeville, on the Eastern Side of the High Sierra. Typical of an El Niño year, a late Winter Storm is forecast to plague us through the week.

The inclement weather won't amount to anything compared to my battle to reset my Body Clock! Twice a year, I throw caution to the wind and voluntarily reset my body's internal clock when I opt to become a Graveyard Groomer every Winter, and a normal person every Spring. Bad weather may have us cooped up in our tents, but catching up on my reading won't be all bad...though it's just gonna be more procrastinating...

You see, resetting my body clock is easy in the Fall...go to work at midnight, and you come home and collapse...instant reset. Spring's reset has always been more dodgy...

Tuesday 0300
I was up all day Monday once the alarm got me up at 0600! I spent the day Spring Cleaning the DaveCave...I've got company coming Tuesday night, so I'm finally making time to clean up a year's worth of clutter! The DaveCave has become my "Closet Away From Home" since I've been summering at the Ancestral Digs...so easy to let stuff pile up...add a new Laundry Center Project (halfway completed) and suddenly I'm a Hoarding Reality Show on DiscoveryHealth!

I laid down with the internet and a cocktail around 7:30PM and woke up at 0130 when the wind associated with the oncoming snowstorm rattled everything on the front porch. I poured out the melted drink, and I threw on some long pants and shoes and scurried upstairs to put the pickup into the garage before the precip started. It's an hour and a half since I got up and the winds are really starting to thrash out there.

Are they ever! The top of Slide Mountain El.9650, is showing 90 gusting to 120, while the top of Squaw El.8700, shows 60 with gusts to 100+ Wild and woolly, yet still dry...aaaand this brings me to "the moral of the story" as the old cartoon chestnut used to say. It's now 0320 and I'm wide awake...alert even...

So begins my annual "Battle of the Body Clock" wherein I usually surrender going in...muddling about in my newly earned freedom, sleeping "on demand" and taking a month or so to "normalize" my sleep schedule, chalking it up to: "I earned it"

Jerry's Fish Camp starts Wednesday for us, It could be just the ticket for this BodyClock reset dealio...stay tuned.

11:30AM Tuesday
SturgeUrge called, he was just off the phone with Jerry. Wiser Heads prevailed, Jerry has been at Fish Camp all week, and has been doing tons of fishing...and zero catching, so he suggested that we come over for the week of the 9th to the 12th. I heartily agreed (anything to drag out the Spring Clean Up! I told SturgeUrge that I wouldn't be surprised to see the next El Niño -fueled winter storm to blow in about then!