Category: Leisure

June 26, 2025 – Finding Something New

June 26, 2025 /

Touring out of town visitors can sometimes be a boon for local discoveries.  We took a Portland day on our recent vacation to see some of the local sights.  It is not that I didn’t know about the Portland Japanese Garden, it is just that we don’t go up that often.  Probably the bigger thing is that at $22 per person, it is something that you want to commit to.

One of the things that we take for granted on the west coast is our proximity to Asia, relatively speaking.  What seems relatively foreign in say the Midwest is everyday normal here. Of course, I am speaking primarily of things like food and culture and not so much ‘Made in …’.  Even so, I think that goods like cars were much earlier accepted here than in other areas of the country.

What binds us and Japan is multi-pronged.  One of which is a very similar maritime climate.  It makes the vegetation and the landscape look very familiar in both.  The wood-built society resonates strongly with both and the evergreen backdrop that is carpeted with moss is our world.

What I respect about Japanese culture is the attention to detail.  It seems like many things are specifically deliberate.  It could be things such as tea or calligraphy or food preparation or gardens.  The idea of efficiency is to make sure that everything has a purpose versus our idea of efficiency is to get more with less.  It is no wonder that they invented concepts like Lean Manufacturing and total quality management.

I am not necessarily in love with everything Japanese.  For instance, they have a wood working culture that is every bit as deep and respectable as the western one but I find myself always leaning more European than Asian in tooling, methods and design.  I know that my thoughts are biased from a lifetime of cheap, mass produced junk rather than the respect that a true artisan can muster.  When I see great execution, then I acquire a newfound respect and seeking more inspiration in far eastern techniques.

The gardens are beautiful.  They were created in the 1960s as homage to our connections that I talked about above.  The thing that I will say about it is don’t expect to get the full experience as intended.  I found that there were just too many people running around to get into a zen state.  That probably says something about my westerness as well that I am unable to fully block out distractions. 

When you enter the gardens, there is a short walk up the hill into a faux, simulated village.  There is a gift shop, concessions, offices and conference rooms and a small art exhibition.  The gift shop was closed due to a technical, card processing glitch.  The art display was pretty minimal with dyed textiles and finely cut paper stencils.  Leaving the village was a bonsai display which was very cool but the volunteer could literally answer no questions about the art.  I was starting to feel pretty underwhelmed at that point.

Leaving the village takes you into the garden proper.  There are five distinct rooms or gardens each with their own focus on landscape, plants and features.  In some ways, I feel kind of bad because a lot of what is used is native or common but just pruned to look good and fit in with the vibe.  It makes me feel like this type of environment could be affordably achieved if I just put in some effort.  

One time, I purchased what was labelled as a Japanese Maple at a local plant sale for $0.50 and it just kept growing and growing.  Talking with a local landscaper, he told me it was actually a sweet gum tree.  Now it is too big for where it is placed.  I am kind of in a dilemma of whacking it extremely and trying to keep it small or taking it out completely.  So much for my tip of the hat to the Asian garden.

About five years ago, I purchased a bonsai tree at a local nursery, it was some kind of elm variation.  I placed it in a terrarium for my touch to our home décor as Asian in a Victorian go well together.  It looked great for about a month and then it started to die.  My theory was that the humidity level was whacked due to the enclosure.  But, this trip has inspired me to try again.   Amazon seed kits start at $25 and you get at least five different chances.

End Your Programming Routine: According to Trip Advisor, the Japanese Garden is the #9 attraction in Portland.  It is beautiful and it is expensive.  I would say that if you could get in relatively alone and take your time then it would be worth it.  If you are in Portland for a week and looking for things to fill up the time, it is probably worth it.  My bottom line is that if you cannot meet those criteria, then I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to squeeze it in.  To that end, if you live relatively close to Portland and haven’t done it make time to see what it is all about because it is pretty inspirational.

June 25, 2025 – Who Doesn’t Like Orcas?

June 25, 2025 /

I have recently been taking a required leadership course. As these things do, a seemingly random collection of individuals are put into a small group. With these situations, it is common to have an icebreaker question that everybody would answer. In my last session, the question was ‘if you were a tour guide for visitors, what would you show them about your home territory’?

That is easy, I am already doing that. I would take them to the beach. They live 5 miles from the Mediterranean. The Oregon coast is nothing like that. While you are at the beach, besides getting wind whipped flying kites, beach combing or chartering a fishing boat, whale watching is a low barrier of entry for guests.

That was the Seattle area. We have our own whale watching culture in Oregon. We did also have a trip booked to see gray whales. If you have never seen whales or been to the ocean, I highly recommend doing it. I suppose it is our version of a safari.

I have done it a number of times. Don’t get me wrong, I was looking forward to the trip. But, I happen to know that it is not quite the serendipitous discovery to see whales. Operators report in to each other and keep track of what is out there. They pretty much know where they are before they leave the dock. I suppose that I would hate to go on a four hour boat ride and not see anything. But, it does make me feel like the boat operators kind of phone in the trip.

In today’s day and age, many of these trips are prepaid or purchased online. It is customary for a fishing guide or whale boat captain to ask for tips at the end. If you bought the trip online, many of them have a tip line included which is what we typically do. But that also leads to the malaise of the trip. I definitely do not mind tipping, but on this trip I heard the hand speak two times in the whole four hours. The point is, if you want to leave a tip, make sure to have cash on hand as you leave the boat.

If you are in Seattle, there are numerous outfits to do something like this. We of course chose to do things the hard way. We drove from south of Seattle to Anacortes. We took the ferry to Orcas Island where we met up with the tour. The whole point of that was to make sure we were providing an extensive tour of the Seattle area, including the ferry experience and the San Juan Islands. But it definitely took a toll. It was an eight hour round trip.

The last Orca trip we took was about six years ago. What I heard then was that the Orca population was in serious jeopardy following the decline in salmon population. I suppose that remains to be seen if salmon will be saved. On this trip, we were told that they were eating harbor seals. In the picture above, there was a harbor seal in the vicinity that probably didn’t make it. There was some serious circling of the five whales. I cannot confirm that they were successful, it just felt like the odds were on the whales.

It was a blue bird day in Seattle as you can see from the picture. Much of the year, this is an iffy proposition. Tours operate rain or shine. Pacific Northwesterners like to say that if you don’t do things in the rain, then you might not do them at all. I would highly recommend appropriate rain gear if you are going to go in those conditions. For all of our posturing, it is a miserable experience to be wet for hours in the rain. Likewise, it would be no fun to be in the cabin during the whole trip.

One other thing to watch for is sea sickness. If you get motion sickness in the car, you will more than likely get sea sickness. Unfortunately, my wife gets sick almost every time. It seems to disproportionately strike kids and females. She takes Dramamine with little success. If there is any silver lining, days of small craft warnings will keep the boats in the harbor. They are not going to go out in rough seas but almost anyone will get sick if it gets rough enough.

End Your Programming Routine: I highly recommend taking out of towners on a whale watching tour, especially if it is a beautiful day. We have taken exchange students from Spain, Taiwan and Japan. The sea life is different from Asia and the Mediterranean. Because the operators follow the whales all day everyday, it is almost a guarantee you will see something.

June 24, 2025 – Would You Believe That I Was In the ‘No Kings’ Protest?

June 24, 2025 /

I almost cannot believe it either. It is probably the last place that I ever wanted to be. I won’t lie that it was kind of interesting. Trust me, it was a necessary evil for what we were doing that day and at least everything turned out alright.

We drove up to Seattle to meet our Spanish family. They flew into Sea-Tac. As a result, we spent a couple of beautiful days in the surrounding area. Seattle is a great hidden treasure if you have not been there. It is a lot like Portland and San Francisco but kind of a better version of both (politics and nonsense aside).

We already had our tickets booked for the next day so this was the day that to go to the waterfront, Pikes Market, the Space Needle and all of the typical Seattle things to do. Unfortunately, it was also the day for the No Kings march. Doubly unfortunate was that some of that was happening right where we wanted to be.

Our first stop was what was called the Smith Tower. We had a reservation for 12pm. As we got out of the car and around the homeless passed out on the sidewalk, I also saw people carrying signs. As a result, I knew that we were going to be close. I would describe the individuals as old hippies. I am guessing that they drove in from the suburbs in their Prius, parked somewhere sensible and then walked to the assembly point.

As we were waiting for our time to go up in the tower, I observed two classes of people carrying signs. They old hippies and the yuppies. These were the rubes that this kind of event appealed to. It also told me that it was likely that this march was going to be relatively calm. I will talk about the after party later.

After the Smith tower, we walked down to the piers. That was fortunately in the opposite direction of where we saw the protestors going. My kids had 3pm tickets to the Space Needle. So after lunch, we started walking to Centennial Park. It turns out, so were the protesters. It appeared that the march ended at the park so I do not believe that it would have been possible to avoid in any capacity. We tried to skirt the march for many blocks. Ultimately, we all kind of looked at each other and I said ‘well, we are going to have to go through it or not go’. That is exactly what we did.

I didn’t want to call too much attention to myself and so I just snapped a quick picture. What you couldn’t see was that in the middle of the street but it was a young woman with a bull horn. She was yelling out chants that all the drones were repeating. She was clearly the plant in my section of the crowd because you could hear others up and down the line.

There were a lot of people on the sidewalks, probably in similar situations such as ours. Eating lunch and then a protest came by. People were on their balconies watching. It all seemed fairly benign minus the non-family friendly signs and shirts. We walked a couple of blocks until we could peel off for a straight shot to the park which was just packed with finished protesters.

The kids went off to the Space Needle and us adults went to the Chihuly Art Museum. We did our thing and nothing that I could see happened as a result of the march. As we were walking back to the pier we started running across people with shields, gas masks and full kit. Fortunately, 70,000 protesters where nothing happened.

The one thing that I cannot figure out is one of the chants started with “Down with Trump and Democrats too…” It was the only mention of political parties that I heard in the ten minutes we were in the march. I don’t know if it was actually a red herring or the fact that just like Oregon, Washington is overrun with Democrats. There cannot be any other party at fault.

End Your Programming Routine: When we drove home, there was some medical tests that needed to be done. The hardcore protesters were camped out in Portland still, days later. As luck would have it, the hospital area is ground zero for tear gas and rubber bullets because there is an ICE facility three blocks down. I guess this was something that I didn’t have to deal with last year and I sure hope that this is not a sign of things to come.

June 12, 2025 – Convalescence, For the Body and Soul

June 12, 2025 /

In the days before modern medicine, treatment used to involve avoidance and to a large degree living with chronic diseases. I trace my recent family roots to convalescence in fact. My great-great grandfather came to Salem, Oregon to live out his life in a Tuberculosis home. As fate would have it, it wasn’t very long and my great-great grandmother was a single mother of some young children.

You know that I am a sentimental sucker. Why else would I keep, let alone write about 30 year old boots and batteries? When I read a book or see a movie talking about sitting on the front porch every night, it sounds so appealing. And yet I have a hard time sitting still. It is not that I am not patient but that I am always worried about the efficiency of doing nothing.

One of the reasons I love audio is that I can be listening and doing something else at the same time. That makes it doubly difficult for me to just sit and listen to music or a ball game. And yet, radio is my favorite way of taking in sports. It reminds me of a life that I do not lead, a life of leisure and nothing better to do.

One of the things that I have been trying to do this year is go back to my roots and following OSU Beavers sports primarily football, basketball and baseball and largely on the radio. As luck would have it, the Beavers have a pretty good baseball team and were hosting a regional College World Series tournament. As luck (unlucky) would also have it, I got knocked down with some kind of sickness that had me in bed all weekend.

We have had significantly better than average spring weather this year. I decided that I would sit in the sun on the front porch with the radio on listening to the final game of the Corvallis regional. It was win or go home. I had listened to other games in the tournament, but this was the one. I was going to dedicate the time to a game, this is the one to pick.

I did feel guilty that I was just sitting there so I brought my laptop out thinking that I would write with the game on. But, as luck would have it, the laptop was causing electromagnetic interference with the AM signal reception. The signal was clear as day until I flipped the screen open. I repeated this test twenty times or so just to definitively prove the point.

I know, I will move the radio away and turn up the volume. But, I couldn’t find a way to use the computer and have the game on with clear reception, so I gave up. I had to make a choice, listen to the game or work on the computer. I went into the house and grabbed an old bag of sunflower seeds that were stale and enjoyed the Beavers cruise to victory and on to hosting a super regional.

That mid-seventies sun was a good contrast to laying in bed watching television. Both were comfortable but there was something about the fresh air that felt cleaner and invigorating. I hardly had had a cough while I was sitting there. As I was sitting there just being, I thought to myself that I do not know how to relax. To me, relaxing is for when all the work is done. But when is it ever done?

I don’t know what makes us tick. I know that my dad enjoyed sports even though he never really ever sat down to watch or listen. I am sure that is where my behavior came from. My kids could care less about sports even though my wife and I fans. It is more likely she will watch a game with me than they will. I just don’t make the time unless I can find something else to do at the same time.

Even reading is not the same. While reading I am interacting with a book or magazine while the world drives by. It is different than watching the constant stream of cars and wondering who is listening like me as I pump my fist for the double play or home run. Since I am never out there, I am just a crazy guy watching everyone go by.

End Your Programming Routine: I know that I have problems with resting. But, I really enjoyed sitting on the front porch going through a bag of sunflower seeds and cheering on my team. It makes me think that I need to do more of it be it a beer or iced tea. It made me forget that I was sick for a couple of hours and I feel a tiny bit better than I did before I went outside. I probably would have never done it had I not been sick.

May 29, 2025 – Doing My Duty

May 29, 2025 /

We have probably had more than the average number of exchange students. Since I have been married, we have hosted four. When I was a kid, we had two. I guess that I cannot technically count those two but I can add those to the numbers that I have been exposed to. With the exception of one, the rest have been very positive experiences.

My very first exchange student was Japanese and he was a year or two older than me. This was a short term exchange which I think that it lasted three weeks. One of the things having a short term exchange does is kind of move you to bring out your best. That means travelling to see the local sights, festivals and all the things that you wouldn’t normally try to do in a condensed time frame.

I distinctly remember going to visit my grandfather. He was going to be in the local parade with his 1957 convertible Ford Thunderbird. We didn’t visit that often and we rarely went to the local lamb festival. I think that we went twice in my lifetime, both of them as a child. But, we happened to have our exchange student with us when we went.

As I said above, we didn’t visit often maybe once or twice a year was pretty typical. His house happened to be adjacent to the main North/South rail line. Consequently, my most favorite thing to do when we visited was to put pennies on the rail for when the train came by. Most of them flew off somewhere never to be found again but usually we would get a couple smashed flat.

My grandfather knew how to show a good time. Our exchange student got to drive his Thunderbird in the pasture for ten minutes. Then he broke out his 22 revolver. We all got to shoot a couple of shots but none of us got to shoot much. That was my first time shooting a handgun. My father did not own any, nobody did as far as I remember. Come to find out that those were all violations of the hosting rules.

I knew better, so that when we went to the informational meeting for our year long student (2019), I asked. No risky behavior is permitted and shooting is considered risky behavior. That was the year that I got involved in trap shooting, so that was going to be off the table.

In my experience, that general rule of no risky behavior is pretty par for the course with most exchange programs. Ironically, it is not the case with Rotary. They allow culturally acceptable alcohol use and shooting as examples. Many of the students end up going back to their country and going back to school with this year not counted whatsoever in their education pathway. My experience with Rotary is that they don’t even really get involved when the student is failing classes.

We have had a very busy spring. Myself, I didn’t even get to the range for the first time this year until late April. It is not like I didn’t want to go but I was hyper-focused on my hiking earlier so I deprioritized potential range time. But, we are staring down the barrel of my exchange student’s departure within less than thirty days. So, I wanted to take him while there was still time.

One thing that is quintessential American is recreational shooting. Many countries have some sort of mechanism to own firearms. In most cases, owners need to fulfill very stringent requirements such a by permit only. Firearms need to be stored at a range or hunting club that you belong to and to be used at said facility. To top that off, many have a quota for the numbers that can be in your possession.

At least there is a way but lets say that you were a target shooter, it is not likely then that could both target shoot and hunt. The freedom to have 22LR for target shooting and a 22LR for small game hunting and a 22LR handgun for shooting cans in three different settings is almost impossible. Hence, I have not been exposed to an exchange student that comes themselves from a ‘gun culture’. Even if I did, I would still probably take them to the range just so that they see the differences.

We had a fun couple of hours. I had made some repairs to a revolver from my last trip. I wanted to see how I did and I am happy to report that the repairs were solid. I also took a rifle to get just plink away at ground spinning targets just for fun. There were a lot of smiles and a lot of videos that got made that day. One thing that I didn’t want to do was punish with a lot of recoil.

End Your Programming Routine: I guess that I am getting older. I enjoy going out and shooting but it is almost more fun to introduce someone to something new. Since I can shoot almost any time, I just sat back on a chair and watched as he and my son shot and reloaded and shot and reloaded. Don’t get me wrong, doing stuff repetitively can get a little boring. This is why I have introduced the chronographs and testing that I do. But when I get a chance to watch someone have some fun, maybe for the only time in their lives, that is priceless.

May 1, 2025 – Putting the Pieces Together

May 1, 2025 /

It is time for my first multi-day trip. I cajoled my son to go with my with my plan. I was going to pick out a camp site. Then I would drive the car to the starting point. From there, we would hike back to the campground and spend the night. The next day I would pack up camp and hike back to the car. The plan was 10 miles there and 10 miles back.

This is a relatively new trail called Corvallis to Sea. Part of it we ran in a relay race called Barrel to Keg back in my half marathon days (2016). It is close to me, so it a perfect place to test things out. There are actually two routes, one is for bicycles and the other is for hikers.

This trip tested my limits. And if I am to be honest, I am not ready physically for the PCT. The first day we clocked 10.5 miles with the last 2.5 on the road (bike route). We got a late start and we were running out of daylight. I was worried that we would run out of daylight on the trail. I wanted to be in camp so I could setup my tent for the first time.

It didn’t help that the first five miles were uphill. I was out of gas by the time we reached the summit. By the time we got to camp, I could barely walk. Since my son changed his plans and was going to leave the next morning, I changed my plans. There was no way I could do this again. After we ate, we went back up to the car and brought it to the campsite for a new plan tomorrow.

I slept terribly because I was so tired and sore. When I woke up the next day it was difficult to move but I resolved to do something. I decided to go back up the road and finish what we didn’t do the night before. That was about a 5.5 mile loop. And by the time I got back to the car, I had enough. Saturday was a day of moving for survival and Sunday, I have a lot of soreness.

My tent was great and so was my pad and my sleeping bag. The tent wasn’t too difficult to setup and there was plenty of space for one person. I don’t know about two, it would be pretty tight. My pack worked great and I never ran out of water. The fundamentals are solid. We had a some freeze dried meals out of my stash for dinner and breakfast. That was fun and my stove worked perfectly.

There wasn’t anything that I thought, I wish that I had brought… There were things that I brought that I didn’t use. Granted, this was only an overnight so I didn’t use a change of clothing, I didn’t use my stainless steel cup, I didn’t use that celebratory flask filled with Pendleton whisky or that roll of TP. I also didn’t use my spare water bladder or my pouring attachment because we had water at the camp site.

Part of why I was gasping for air on the uphill was because I was carrying extra weight. Trust me, I can still feel it. But, there are storage sacks and things that are adding a pound here and there that need to go. This is why I tested these things. More so than the weight, I am very worried about volume.

I carried water and both of our food for overnight on this trip (on purpose). But, that bulk equated to a completely full pack. Even with only one complete change of clothes, I don’t think that I have the space to carry what I need. Because I was so bushed, I didn’t eat replacement calories in food. I declined the extras out of exhaustion. Not to say I am going to starve as my weight has remained the same over this process but at some point if my weight, metabolism and hunger ever intersect, I am going to have problems with the volume I can carry. More testing is necessary.

I really wanted to drive home Saturday morning. But, I knew that I needed to push myself. Truthfully, it wasn’t as bad as I was expecting even though my body was at it’s end by the time 5.5 miles were logged. It told me that despite being sore, exhausted and low motivation, I could push into the ‘have to’ zone (to some degree). I think that future me needs to do this kind of trip multiple times and probably a two night trip included to feel confident that a week is survivable.

End Your Programming Routine: This is what we call fun. Despite the suck, I am proud of what I did. I enjoyed the one on one time with my son, something we rarely have done. I loved seeing elk on the trail and it gets me excited that this is excellent training for the hunting season. My gear worked great, my body not as much. With so little time before my planned trip, I don’t feel shame in saying that I am not ready. What I am now thinking is that this will be another year of training. Remember, what I believe is that achieving the goal is not the joy, it is the journey that is the true prize.

April 24, 2025 – The Tide Has Definitely Turned

April 24, 2025 /

I recently took my inaugural hike with my new pack full of all that shiny gear that has never been used. I am happy to report that I did not have any straps slip and everything was great. I probably need to add some more weight because I didn’t have anything representing food or clothing in my pack for realistic weight. A large part of this trip was also gear shake out so I wasn’t pushing distance or speed.

The day was a sunny, low seventies day. It was the first that I have seen here this year. I think that there was one in February that I was sick and in bed all day. There was also one last weekend when we were in North Carolina. But the forecast had low seventies all week long. The tide has definitely turned on the weather. It also appears that there is no frost danger in the forecast.

Along this trail system, there are several places marked as viewpoints. I set a goal to hike to the closest viewpoint testing my satellite communicator. I forgot my map so I wasn’t totally sure where it was. But, after a couple of miles I got a good view of Mt. Jefferson and the Three Sisters. I figured that this is good enough.

Mt. Jefferson is the second tallest peak in Oregon. I have grown up within view my whole life. Yes, Mt. Hood gets all the press as it is the tallest and closer to Portland than Mt Jefferson. But still it is an impressive sight. Typically, Mt Jefferson can’t be seen in the Summer or Fall due to air pollution, largely agricultural dust. We all know how many sunny days there are in the Winter and Spring in the Pacific Northwest. It is a special day when it can be seen.

Recently, I was sitting around thinking, I wonder how the mountain got one of the most coveted names of American history? Then it came to me, Jefferson sponsored Lewis and Clark. Of course, but wait they didn’t come through here they would have passed Mt Hood on the Columbia river. Jefferson wasn’t the first name of course, turns out that the natives called it Seekseekqua.

Lewis and Clark did see Mt Jefferson on their journey. The story goes that due to its distance and proximity to Mt Hood, they felt it held a reserved status compared to the other things that they have seen. Those in the know recognize that there is a Mt. Washington and a Mt. Adams as well in the Cascade mountain range. There are places in this state where you can catch many of these mountains from the same viewpoint.

The weather was great, my pack was staying put, how about the satellite communicator? The instructions say that it should be used in a clear and open area. How realistic is that in western Oregon? I wanted to see how would function under typical conditions. After all, how often is an emergency in ideal conditions? The things I was interested in are battery life and effectiveness.

My plan allows for both text messages and pictures as well as periodic bread crumb tracking. The preprogrammed messages are (paraphrased) 1. I am starting, 2. Checking in, all OK, 3. I am done. Those all tested fine. I also successfully sent several free form messages. I made sure that my phone was in airplane mode so that it was not mistakenly communicating in cellular mode.

The picture did not send. More troubleshooting will be necessary. Probably since messages went but pictures no I am thinking that the message size is a problem. I assume that the device will do what it is supposed to do, something that was more potentially concerning was the battery life.

I am not planning on taking a battery or charging capability. In my two hour hike, I used 3% of battery capacity of the inReach. This was leaving breadcrumbs once every 30 minutes. It also requires the phone app to compose and read messages and my phone was about 10% down after the hike. My next test will be just having the communicator on. I think that in order to make it a week, I am going to have to use them somewhat sparingly.

The last thing that I wanted to do was to check the breadcrumbs. Everything worked like it was supposed to. A position once every 30 minutes is not terribly helpful on a 2 hour back and forth hike. I might turn up the frequency just to see it work on the next hike. But, I can say that it works.

End Your Programming Routine: I am definitely checking things off. With Easter last weekend and family obligations next weekend, I have to find some time for some overnights. This weekend seems to be an opportunity that might be too good to pass up for an out and back. Then I can try out my new tent and actually cook as well as do my first consecutive days.

April 17, 2025 – It’s Been a Good Run

April 17, 2025 /

I read an article recently that said that the iPhone Xr (10th generation) was not going to support iOS 19. The current operating system version is 18.4 which means that it is still a viable product but I wondered what that meant to me. I remember vividly December 7, 2018. That was the day that my iPhone 6 just stopped working.

I remember it because I was on call for my job. I had received a call about midnight and worked several hours to resolve the issue. I tried to call back stating my position on the issue and my phone didn’t work. Several hours later, my phone was still not working. Several hours later again, a trip to the Apple store confirmed that my phone was bricked. The answer was some phones just do that when they get old. What a crappy answer.

The next day which was a Sunday, I picked up a Red, iPhone Xr that I have used every since. I was still on-call until the next Thursday but at least I had a working device. As a result of running around I decided to skip the company Christmas party due to lack of sleep and a lot of frustration. It didn’t take a lot for me to not want to go to the party but my wife was very disappointed. This was her Christmas bonus for putting up with me travelling on a dime and being on-call every three weeks.

In retrospect, I was being a little cheap and didn’t want to pay the extra money for the smaller Xs model. I regretted that since the day that I made the decision. One of the primary drivers I wanted in a new phone was a smaller format. I am tired of the the bulk of large phones. I have other devices to watch video and or type. But, it turns out that Apple discontinued the smaller format phones with the 13 model.

Of all of the latest iPhone 16 models, at least the 16 and 16e are the same size as my old Xr. It turns out the more expensive models are larger than what I got which is the 16e. So, I couldn’t get a smaller phone but at least it is not any bigger.

Let me tell you that I think I am fairly tech savvy. I run my own website, I am a software programmer by trade. Swapping data from the old phone to the new phone was not easy. Neither my iPhone nor my wife’s Galaxy were able to activate and required going to the factory store. Fortunately, I took a back-up before I started doing all of the work so I was able to start from ground zero.

Since my iPhone Xr was running iOS 18, most everything seems familiar. There is one feature that I wish I knew a few weeks ago however. It turns out that since the iPhone 14, they have the capability to make satellite phone calls in case of emergency. This relegates my brand new, not even activated yet Garmin inReach significantly less valuable.

Don’t get me wrong, the inReach is not obsolete. I have decided on the plan that I want and the strategy that I want to use. It will allow breadcrumb style tracking as well as periodic messages and pictures included in the plan. But, one of the primary justifications for buying it was ‘In Case of Emergency’.

I am probably not a typical user. I barely touch social media and my phone remains almost charged most days. I can typically last two days without charging due to minimal use when travelling. As a result, my phone has lasted six and a half years and was running fine by all accounts. My kids and wife in contrast have all had at least two phones each since I got this phone in 2018.

The one thing I have noticed lately is the battery draining much quicker. I blamed it on the other devices connected. It seemed to me the battery life started to drain much quicker when I added the Garmin Instinct 2 watch. Then when I paired the inReach it was if the phone would lose about 5% per hour. My quick research on the subject seems to debunk that theory so maybe the battery is just losing steam.

For a lot of people, getting a new phone is a status symbol and not an obstacle. My little observations today may seem ignorant, putting me as a technological rube. Notice I didn’t get the most high powered device that I see so prevalent when I am out and about. That is OK because to me it is a tool that I applied my requirements before purchasing and size was more important than the best camera and the most storage. I learned my lesson from the last time and would have gladly paid more for a smaller format if available.

End Your Programming Routine: I am not a iPhone snob but I have used both Apple and android. I much prefer the iOS experience to android. Since my wife has a Samsung phone, I frequently have occasion to use that operating system. As a result, I have made my preference. I wouldn’t be surprised if my next phone is an iPhone as well. Look for an update in six plus years if things hold true this round.

April 10, 2025 – A New Year New Gear, Part 8

April 10, 2025 /

Whoa. It has been a busy period. I have been waiting for a long time to pull the trigger on my next purchases because of cost. Recently, I bought my tent, a satellite tracker and a new head lamp. Not only is this a big purchase but it represents a significant change to my strategy in training. I am shifting from my training pack to my new trail pack. I will also be moving from day hikes only to include overnights.

After these purchases, I have a few other things that I want to buy but they are truly optional. There are a few things that are possible as well. For instance, I may or may not buy new shoes. Right now it seems like they are holding up just fine but my actual hike is still a ways away. The last expensive and necessary purchase is going to be my food,

This tent is incredible. I have yet to set it up but I will of course test it out. I researched features and made some optional choices like doors that open to the side so each doesn’t have to climb over to get out. I decided on a two person tent rather than a one person tent. This is because it only added three ounces. I figured the versatility of possibly allowing another person and certainly more space was worth the weight.

The tent itself is only two pounds and eight ounces. It feels like nothing. I have seen bread loaves that are bigger than everything when it is packed up. There is one optional accessory which is called a footprint that I would like to buy. It’s purpose is to add a second layer to the bottom and prevent moisture coming through. But it also adds more resiliency to prevent tears in the fabric. I sure don’t want a $400 tent with a rip in the bottom.

A tent is potentially optional. I could have chosen a bivy bag or hammock or even toughed it out under the stars. I wanted a tent for two reasons. If the bugs get crazy, I want to get away from them, especially as I sleep. Also, if the heavens open up I want to be able to get away from rain if I have to. A tent is peace of mind for me and it is something I can use for years to come.

The satellite communicator is definitely a luxury. What it is supposed to do is send periodic GPS coordinates to somebody as well as contact emergency services when summoned. I don’t think that it is strictly necessary and wouldn’t have one if I hadn’t fought with my wife for the last twenty years about going into the woods alone.

I am looking at this device as an opportunity to be able to do some more back country hunting and fishing. Year over year, I have held back because I didn’t have a partner to go with me. Even this trip, I am supposed to be lining up some fellow travelers (which I do not really want). This of course requires a subscription service that can be turned on and off. I am planning on turning it while I train and probably leave it on until hunting season is over.

I would have gone on the trip without the satellite communicator but it happened to be 25% off this month. When the stars align with income and sales, it is time to act. More on how this works as I do more testing with it.

Finally, I really did not need a new headlamp. However, there were some new features that this has that I wanted. First of all, the other headlamp I have is in my hunting pack. I used it on my fishing trip last year and it worked fine. I didn’t really like how it accidentally would go to the red light when the button sequence was not pushed correctly. Plus, it is good to have some redundancy.

But more so than that, this new headlamp has a rechargeable battery pack that can also take alkaline batteries. Hopefully using rechargeable, batteries will never explode in the device and when it becomes discharged, I can replace with alkaline batteries until I get the point to charge again. It also has a nice carrying bag that will turn the lamp into a lantern by the light reflecting inside the bag. Pretty cool.

End Your Programming Routine: What started as a desperate search for topic ideas has now gone eight versions. As I said, I am not likely done buying things but this topic has run it’s course. It definitely wont be the end of my hiking topics. I plan on doing a whole pack-out before I leave. I am going to talk about lessons learned from my training as I get through them but the strictly buying gear posts are done. You probably didn’t enjoy them as much as I enjoyed planning and buying the stuff but more hiking coming on Thursdays.

April 9, 2025 – I’m a Lumberjack and I’m OK

April 9, 2025 /

You may have seen the Stihl Timbersports competition on ESPN. This is the logging related competition where competitors cut through a log the fastest called ‘hot saw’ with souped up chainsaws. They also chop through telephone pole thickness poles with an ax in less than 20 seconds. Like other competitions, rodeo as an example, timber sports have their origins in practical skills.

When I was a kid growing up, our town hosted the biggest timber sports competition in the world and the competitors reflected that. It was called the Albany Timber Carnival. As with the fall of timber in the mid 1990s, so too went the Timber Carnival. But the lasting tradition of the competition and quietly preserved skills can still be found, if you know where to look.

I shouldn’t be surprised but I ran across the Oregon State University’s competition area when I was doing some of my practice hikes. One of OSU’s foundations is a strong forestry school. The hiking I have been doing is in the forest owned and managed by the college for teaching purposes. Why wouldn’t they have a competition program and the facilities to perform?

Ultimately, these competitors have to come from somewhere. My cousin competed on a team in high school in the late 1990s. I remember asking what the secret was to chopping with an axe. He said that there is definitely technique but a lot of it is how you sharpen your tools. That part I don’t quite know but I spent a couple of days sharpening my ax one time. I put a whole new bevel on the blade that was much sleeker. That thing definitely cuts like a house of fire.

I am no expert in this by any means. I have never competed or trained let alone barely watched one of these competitions on TV. I just think it is pretty cool to see this of throwback activity (to me and my past) is still alive. I takes me back to when I was a kid and timber was king. It was a time when my town crowned the world champion in each of these events.

End Your Programming Routine: I would love to be able to climb up a pole and know how to sharpen an ax so that I could whack a giant log in less than ten swings. Even more than my sentimental pride, the point of my writing today is you never know what you are going to find in the world. You have to get out there and explore that world to find it. TV and internet can expose and publicize things but when you just run across it incidentally, it is pretty neat.