What’s Happening Now? Update Part III

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Interlude – Got in a run yesterday – 2 miles, pace 8’39”

I had to run through two walls of discomfort, but all-in-all it felt good and I felt super after the run. Some Wolfmother and RPG were right there to pick me back up when I needed it. I am still anti-shuffle in normal life, but I am digging it for running. I do still have the same thing that happens every time I am not listening to an album – I start to hear/sing the next track – but for running, those mental jolts can be good.

Hiking Part II –
Bag –

I have had the same bag since about 1996. It has been great, but there are issues – which are my fault. In the category of “you don’t know stuff until people tell you” – I have always kept my bag stored in it’s stuff sack inside my pack. Sure, it wasn’t a compression sack, and the bag is synthetic – but 14 years of storage in a small sack will take it out of any bag. The bag still works, in fact it has been an integral part of my nightly bedding since at least October 2010. But it is rated 20 degrees and it no longer performs anywhere near that level. I can’t sleep in it just in shorts even inside the house.

I still have to decide for the next bag – down vs synthetic.  I think I will stay in the same temp zone since I don’t do snow camping on purpose, but do encounter near and below freezing temps. Hopefully I can get a lighter and better performing new bag and
maintain the current bag for a loaner.

Tent –

Frontal - the one stage right

I have a great two-man tent. My only issue with it is that it too is from 1996. It works great, is fairly light, and it has as much no-see-um netting on the walls as a tent could back then. The newer tents can have almost all no see-um netting so that you have an unobstructed view (and airflow) in all directions until you put up the rainfly. That issue alone would not get me to replace my tent. But I am looking into one-man options.

Side View - the green one

I have done and probably will continue to do a lot of solo hiking. Also, most of the folks that I know have their own gear. While I will keep and maintain the two-man for the right time, I think I can lose weight and volume and gain some features in a one-man set-up.

I am definitely going to see if I can be happy in a biv sac. I have been researching them and the next step is to try them out in the store and then on the trail. I am not worried about feeling confined as I have slept in mummy bags since I can remember. Some models require many extra steps to secure from the rain, and some require you to rig up lines to hold the netting off your face. More importantly, some take a little while to get in and out of. The simple fact is, I pee a lot – especially at night. If I can’t easily get in and out of whatever it is, it ain’t going to work.

I do like the freestanding tents and there are several good one-man options out now also. I am very excited about the designs that have the door in the side instead of at the end!

Pack –

I have not done much on the pack research yet, but I may have to step that up. I remember really hating my pack the last two times I went out. I have researched enough to know that the GoLite packs will not work for me. I believe I need more support and padding than they offer. Other than that, I don’t know yet. While I will still be researching packs, I do need to get a few more things nailed down before I can make a great decision there.

My hope is that new job comes through and I can replace/supplement all my equipment at one time. We shall see…  Don’t scramble your eggs before you get chickens and all that…

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I have been to the local shop (EMS) for some hands-on gear time and talks with the clerks since I started writing this, as well as having spent loads of time reading reviews.

The stove is settled.  I am going to get a pocket rocket. I probably will still build and play with denatured alcohol stoves, but that is more to satisfy my curiosity and internal tinkerer.

A better shot of the DragonFly in action

Bag – Part II
I still need more intel and some product testing (part of which is on my docket for this weekend in NOVA being near to REI!).

That said, I am really interested in GoLite’s 3-Season UltraLite. It looks like a good fit. The specs are good.  The weight is intense at less than 2 pounds! And it gets great reviews. But I am concerned.  I would prefer to find one in-stock somewhere so I could actually get in it and see how it feels. If that proves difficult to impossible, I am not sure what I will do. Similar bags by other manufacturers are generally at least 1 pound heavier. This is why I need to go talk to the experts.

Tent – Part II

Tent talk is another reason for the research trip to REI. I want to get inside a few Biv Sacks like this one and I want to check out and talk about these:

Big Agnes Copper Spur – GoLite Eden – MSR Hubba – Big Agnes Seedhouse – Big Agnes Fly Creek
Just looking and reading specs – the Seedhouse and the Fly Creek seemed most appealing. But after loads of reviews, it seems that these two are more cramped inside in practice for those over 5’10”. Reviews for the Copper Spur and of course The GoLite indicate that these actually perform as advertised. But, can I find a GoLite to test out? And the door design on the Copper Spur does look appallingly stupid for such an otherwise well designed tent. There is no zipper across the bottom so the door must fold on the ground inside or on the ground outside for you to get in/out. This does appear to be the only drawback to the tent however.

I am also surprised by the number of outstanding reviews of the MSR Hubba. I have heard that they are good tents, but by the specs they are both heavier and have less floorspace than all the others listed above. But it seems that in use, they are less cramped than some other models because of better design. Also, they have a nice vestibule and the door is designed better than the door on the Copper Spur.

Again – I need testing and experts!

Next Up in Update IV:

The Weekend trip to NOVA

Hiking part III – the tent of Lucas

Tent of Lucas

What’s happening Hot Stuff? – Update Part II

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Random Goodie –

I decided to search again and I found the version of my favorite opera that I have been looking for on and off for years. I had one of those awesome “greatest moments from” $3.99 tapes from a bargain bin and I have wanted to get the full recording ever since. This is Verdi’s La Traviata – Pavarotti, Sutherland, Bonygne, New York Met Orchestra and Chorus.

iTunes and amazon US only have the version with the London Opera Chorus and Orchestra.  That one is good too, but the recording is not as clear, and I came across the other one first and it simply moves me more both for its own sake and for associations I have with that version.  Amazon UK has dispatched (which does not mean killed) this version right on out to me and it should be here in early April (for less money than the download of the version I did not want…)

Hiking Part I –

I have gone back through my gear the past week.  Cleaning this, re-organizing that, and tightening up my list of required goods and desired goods. I got 2 new stuff sacks, a collapsible lightweight trowel, a tiny swiss army knife, and my first Nalgene bottle (and yes I did get the orange). After some mishaps and some advice from my hiker pals, I only use Sea to Summit stuff sacks. I generally buy the compression sacks, but the other models have their uses as well.

I am stoked about the knife and the Nalgene. I love knives. I have loved knives for as long as I can remember. But, I am trying to adapt and learn newer ways of being in the woods and carrying less weight. I came up in the climate of metal frame packs, hiking in with axes, canned goods and freakin’ potatoes – so I am definitely making progress. This allows me to have a knife, scissors, and tweezers – all of which are regularly useful, without carrying a giant leatherman or other assortment of tools.

The Nalegene is also great. I have never had one. I use Gatorade or Powerade 32 oz jugs in my daily life for water. For hiking, I take my 3 liter camelback, another 1 liter bladder and round out the supplies (when necessary) with my daily jugs (simmer down).  Part of the whole “lightweight” hiking thing involves food and cooking.  I don’t measure at home, but if you are on limited water and gas resources, you want to get your food right the first time, so I measure when I hike. I have used the Nalgene of my hiking companions to measure in the past, but now I have my own.

I also noted that many folks use their Nalgenes as a place to carry a few feet/meters of Duct tape. The folks at GSI noticed that too, and designed that into this bottle.  Since I have already loaded mine up with about 2 meters I can tell you – it works great! The tape wraps in that recess (they call it a “dog-bone” design) and then you slide that mesh thingy overtop for added protection and grip.  I am also pleased with the lid design. Easy to open even in gloves and uses nice (and replaceable) cord instead of plastic as a lanyard.

This is all exciting. It gets me excited to go out backpacking again. It also is exciting that I am nearing the goal I set that must be met before I get a new pack!

A good buddy and AT through-hiker advised me about pack replacement – if you want a new pack, first replace everything else that you think you might replace. Then take all that crap with you to the store and buy the smallest pack all that stuff will fit into.

Good rule of thumb I believe.

So I am close. I have to do some more experiments with stoves/cooking/eating gear. What I have now works great, but it is bulkier and heavier than I need, and difficult to gauge for fuel consumption.

Dragonfly in action at The Priest shelter

Also, I have given up coffee and not replaced it with other hot beverages since I last did a trip. My needs have simplified.  I am thinking of moving into a self-made denatured alcohol stove (just one of many info sources out there, but I like the Pirsig reference)- but I am also looking at Jetboil,  the pocket rocket (simmer down), and other stoves.

I have always been an “eat from the pot” guy in the woods. Without the need for hot beverages, I think I can get this down to a much simpler, more compact, and lighter system.

After that – it is time for the big three: bag, tent, pack.

Note – there are some better hiking and equipment pics coming in Hiking Part II – i can’t find them on my computer (grrr) and Facebook totally changed the image download rules and procedures (grrr) so i have to figure out how to use photo grabber or some such to get the darn pics back onto my computer. If you are burning with desire and cannot wait – check out my Facebook album “Little Sluice Mountain”.

What has been happening? – Part I

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Here is a relatively brief update given the preceding period of silence –

I had a little alone time here in PA as my folks and grandpa went to Florida for Spring Break! It was an up and down week for me.  It should have started with a phone interview with “Big Consulting Firm”, but that did not happen, which made me less than positive feeling. I fell off of the regular exercise, I did not run for about a week, the weather went into the cold cold place again with touches of snow, and I got a little cold that I am still fighting off. I almost never get sick so I tend to fight sickness with denial!

Odd timing – my folks came home and I had the phone interview the next day.  That went very well and has my spirits lifted. I am still pursuing some other leads, but I would really be pleased if this one worked out.  I should know more within two weeks or so. I am still a bit under the weather, but I am doing my stretching and exercises and running again.

Running –

That week long break is going to disrupt my first set of goals, but I will keep going and simply make new ones after the 20th.  It is now impractical to meet my frequency goal, and my distance goal, but I might still make the pace goal.  The pace goal was simply 5 runs at or under 9’00/mile pace by 3/20. I got my first one on a two mile run about 11 days ago. Last night I ran 1.4 at a 9’00 pace.  I did not quite make it up the hill after the break and with the sicky feeling, but it was awesome to get out there and run through the first wall of discomfort.  But that gives me two runs towards the goal of 5 at that pace.  I walked for awhile and then ran the last .5 back to my house when “For Whom the Bell Tolls” kicked in.

Tech goodness –

My Lacie 2TB firewire 800 drive arrived and I am very pleased with it.

Lil' Lacie

This allowed me to move all of my data off of the Seagates and reformat those.  They were still formatted for Windows, and had some suspect sectors as well.  Now all my data is not just stored, but actually backed-up. I have not gone to the next next level with off-site back-up but this is good enough for now.

In honor of the new drive, I decided to take the time to learn how to rip my dvds. I am not interested in piracy or anything like that – I just wanted to back-up my tv shows and movies as i already have several damaged disks, and I would like to be able to watch my collections without carrying the disks, and being able to watch on the iPhone and (one day) iPad is also a plus.

I knew that I had the software to do this as I have started this process several times, but got confused and quit.  You need Handbrake, which is free (or something similar).

I finally found a decent enough step-by-step guide online to help me have the “Ah-Ha” moment. For me, the problem was looking at all the files on a dvd and trying to figure out “where is the movie, or episode”.  Even in Handbrake, with a dvd inserted, then mashing “source” you get the same kind of view as in Finder or Windows Explorer – what files to choose?

The “Ah-Ha” moment came in realizing that all I had to do in the source window was select the DVD and click OK.  Then Handbrake would read the DVD and give me new options. For movies, it is pretty simple, you select the longest unit.  For TV shows, you have to do a little leg-work.  Note the total time of the individual eps, then you can select them and get the right names or ep numbers with the right episodes.

Smart folks can probably do cool stuff with all the options, I just left the stock settings and mashed the iPod 5 support button and hit start.  Voila!

These import into iTunes as movies and thus are under the movies tab instead of the TV tab (another good reason for giving your new files good names.) But that is a small issue and they move right on over to the iPhone – which is lovely.

I have not done my whole collection (much of it is still in India) but I did a few seasons of TV and some movies and some comedy shows. Not since the era of cassette tapes and Walkmen have I been able to listen to the comedy stylings of Chris Rock while out walking, but now I can – again!

Lil' Lacie playing with all her Apple buddies

The new iPad has been released and I did have to fight the urge to go get it.  Several things made that simple to do.  That’s a lot of loot to put on credit without a better paying job than the ones I have now. They two key elements I was most excited about did not materialize – the bigger 128 GB HD (which is still very small to me, but much better than 64GB, and a method to access a USB external drive to move data without needing a computer.  That second part was not in the official plans, but I can’t be the only one who is excited about moving into a “Post-PC” world (to quote Steve Jobs).  I can’t go on the road for very long with just a 64 GB HD.  I can go longer with a 128, but it would be best if they just built/released/fixed the interface to allow something like Finder to work on the iPad to move stuff on and off via the USB kit.

And finally, the Otterbox defender case will not be ready for a while yet. As cool as the new little magnetic cover they built is – that is not enough protection to me. I am not sure for whom that would be enough protection.  So, hopefully the universe will align and I will get a new job and Otterbox will release the defender case at about the same time!

Let’s here it for the Goals!

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(If you read that to the tune of a little song from Footloose, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa – we are simpatico!)

Last night’s run was awesome.  I had another tech sort of day, followed by some job-hunting tech issues, some more networking, filing some applications, lots of dog walking

Lucas ready for the ride to Hotlanta for T-day 2010

(my normal walks with Lucas and some extras to help a neighbor), and despite the dark and the temp (28!) it was super to finally be free and run at the end of the day.

2.04 miles, 8’55” pace

Iron Maiden, another Ratt two-fer, and then RPG “Paralyzed” to get me into the neighborhood, and T-Rex to smooth me on past the two-mile mark.

The conditioning, regular running schedule, incremental but steady increases in reps and distance, is definitely beginning to pay off. I felt stronger while running, and i felt better after the run. I could feel my muscles working, and i do believe that there is less jiggly stuff on my frame already. I will wait at least a month to do the next set of photos for comparison, but i can tell you that i am feeling good.

I am on track to at least meet, if not overcome my frequency goal – only 9 more runs by 3/20.

I am a little behind on the distance right now, but i calculated for 2 mile runs, 14 times by 3/20. This was my first 2+ mile run since i began these challenges.  Perhaps i will make up the difference, perhaps not. I do think i can meet the goal, but not exactly as planned. I will probably have to do at least one extra run to close the gap. We shall see…

Probably my favorite milestone is the pace. I set a goal of 5 runs at 9’/mile pace or better by 3/20 and this is my first notch on that post. I am not doing anything intentional pace-wise during the runs. I do what feels good, and i do try to keep it somewhat even on the hills. But the rest is just instinct.

I want to keep up the program and build steadily and sustainably – but i think i am nearing one of the key goals: at least 20 minutes of cardio exercise at my active heart rate. This last run was about 18 minutes. I was probably at the target heart rate for 12-15 minutes of that. Based on that, it looks like i need to build to at least 3-4 miles at a pace between 8’45”-9’00” to really hit the zone.

Anyway, it feels good and i feel good too.

User Error, or Eat Your Words Fool!

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Voice Over on the Shuffle – it works great.  I was terribly wrong.

You know what really helps hardware work correctly? Downloading and installing the proper software!

Somehow, i did not fully activate Voice Control before i dissed it as having a limited capability.

I fixed that and it works great.

In my defense, i did fix the printer yesterday…

I have uploaded the new version of the resume to RAI for view and download. Yesterday’s task – struggling with the one remaining “working” Windows system we have at RAI to review the MINDS and RAI websites.

The Last RAI Windows machine

I never use Internet Explorer, not even when i only had Windows computers, but loads of the people will view these sites that way, so it is potentially worthwhile to ensure that the sites do not look too bad.

Sadly, my old Dell died so i have to use my dad’s which has his customizations and the system hog Norton/Symantec suite and a bunch of other less than useful Windows garbage clogging up the works…

A terrible thought has been in the back of my mind for almost two years now, as the Dells began to die and we began to move to Apple. It is possible that i may have to buy another damn Windows computer just for checking out website designs! I know about some of the alternatives, but i am not putting Windows on my Mac, it is bad enough that i am forced to use Word and occasionally PowerPoint.

Pardon my frustration release but i fought with this half of the day.  One of the little things that just pisses me off royally about Microsoft is their total lack of responsibility or acceptance of the issues they refuse to fix. Without getting into that whole can of worms, here is an example of the attitude to which i refer by way of a brief story.

The only reason i needed to do so much web work is because Internet Explorer does not display webpages/code the same way every other browser i am aware of does.  I commonly check my work in at least three browsers – firefox, safari, opera and/or chrome. So far, things always look the same in each of these, but something is always off when i check IE. Granted, i am a much better developer than designer, but if i can make it look right in 3 or 4 others what’s the problem over in Microsoft town? So, i am reviewing lines of code trying to see if i can even figure out why things are mussed and i notice this little button on iE i have never seen before. I hover over it and it says something like “Compatibility mode – websites designed to look good in older browsers may not look right in IE.”

The balls on these frackin’ guys! Older Browsers! The other guys’ old products just can’t keep pace with the innovators over at Microsoft! I hear that the crack team of code monkeys over there are about to fix some of the security flaws in Windows 3.1!!! Seriously, IE is one of the oldest browsers on our planet. Sure, they do update it, but so does everyone else.  Firefox, Chrome – older than IE?  I don’t think so you bullet dodging, pass the buck, we hide our code so you can’t see how terrible it is…people.

I don’t bag on Microsoft just because it is easy, or because i am a Mac guy, or because it is popular, or anything like that. They have all the money in the world and still refuse – simply refuse – to make software and particularly Operating Systems that work.  If you are one of the people who thinks vista or “7” is great and finally has Windows on-track – let me ask you this? Have you been able to replace the sound card on a one-year old system without fighting IRQ problems for hours or weeks? OK – i am done for now.

GRRRRRRRR!

Anyway – i finished (for now) with the RAI site. There are still some tweaks i would like to do (that list never ends) but i did clean things up a good deal and updated some info. It looks pretty good on “older browsers”.

The left-hand menu spacing is still fracked up in IE, but it does look better over there than it did before…

Running into Fire(wire)

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We have cold, rain, and snow in the local forecast this week.  Yesterday was chilly, but sunny and i decided to sneak in another run.  Three days in a row at this stage is probably not the best idea, but i did ok and feel fine. I did have to stop a little shy of the mark i hit the previous two runs, but all-in-all, a good run.

1.83 miles, pace 9’04” – these numbers mean i am making good progress towards the goals i set.

Techwise, i am up against a space crunch, an improper/incomplete back-up system, and a sincere desire to take advantage of the speed and capabilities offered by my Mac.

My 1TB external Seagate drive is full. My 500GB external Seagate drive is about half full.  My 320 GB external Seagate drive is full (and still in India). The 1TB is all movies and tv shows, and it is not backed-up, it is simply storage. The 500GB does replicate critical stuff from my HD so it does serve as a backup.  Both of these are USB 2.0 drives.  Not the fastest things out there and they take 2 USB ports. While i do/have travel/ed with one or both of these, they are not the most portable things out there.  I usually wrap them in towels inside my luggage.

I have never played with firewire before, but i do know a little about it and what has always been the most attractive feature to me – even more than the fast transfer speeds – is the ability to daisy chain the drives together.  You plug your first firewire drive into your computer’s firewire port, and the next drive gets plugged into the first drive and so forth

After loads of research, i have this drive from iomega on the wish list.  It got super reviews and survived amazing amounts of damage and still functioned. Seriously, watch the video on that link. The firewire 800 version is almost $200 for a 1TB model. That is a big chunk of change to throw down to not meet my back-up needs.

Which led me to the old stand-by – Lacie. After some interwebs research, and then a check on all the local stores, i made an online purchase last night that gives me great pleasure – the Lacie 2TB Quadra External Hard Disk Drive!

I will be able to back-up all my current files, and have a little room to grow as well. By the time i need more space, i should be able to get another 2TB for less than $100, or 4TB or more for about the same price. And hopefully, by the time i am in need of a small, portable, rugged external drive for travel, the iomega w/firewire will have a larger storage capacity.  If not, 1TB to travel with should be fine, and it can plug into the Lacie Quadra!

I hope to transition into a true desktop system at home and an iPad on the road with no laptop.  The jury (and the capability) is not yet in for how the iPad will be able to interact with portable external storage without recourse to another computer. Maybe that issue will be resolved before it comes up for me as well.

I will be listening for official news about the iPad2, which should come out today! (The official news, not the device)

Sultry Spam

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“You really touch me when i read your entries on gaming” – from Josecasions!!

I almost approved this one, but thought a reprint would be safer for us all.

Let me take this time to say, “Thanks Josecasions! The whole point is for me to touch you. Don’t even get me started on my gamey entries!”

Thanksgiving Scrabble with Jake in AZ - 2008

(Insert your own photo – the possibilities are many, various, and entertaining!)

Who loves the Postman?

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I DO!!

The goodies from Emirates Air arrived today (Monday Feb 28)! The umbrella is surprisingly cool, but the highlight is definitely the two iPod Shuffles!

I showed my pop how to set his up and reviewed playlist creation best practices – manual and “smart”.

I went through the same thing with mine and tested it out on a dog walk. So far mixed feelings about the “voice over” feature. I guess tech has to start somewhere and it can’t know the names of all my playlists, but having a computer say to me “playlist 1, playlist 2…” and so forth, was less than helpful. This is my first iPod that does not have a visual interface for data selection, and I imagine that this “voice control” is the first way that “works” that they came up with to help you have any navigation options at all. I will probably stick with one giant “running” playlist and leave it on shuffle.

Dog walk you say? I could not let that stand. I went for a dark and damp run about 9 pm. Sweats, light rain jacket, headband thingy and headlamp – and the new shuffle.

The thing is so tiny you forget it is there.  Once you get used to how to attach it to your clothes without mashing all the buttons, it is simple to use. Running hands-free was great and eliminated any unwanted cord movement problems as well. I really enjoyed this vs carrying my iPod classic. I got hit with a little Sabbath during my stretches, Pixies, back-to-back Ratt, RPG, and Nirvana for the cool-down.

I made it back into the neighborhood and a little further than yesterday. I did feel like i could easily make it to 2 miles+, but i was beginning to have some heat in my legs and i decided to hold back.  Hopefully this means that tomorrow i will feel as awesome as i felt today and be able to run again instead of being laid out from overreaching…

1.89 miles, pace 9’12”

The Pretty Lil' Devil

Who Loves The Sandman? Me, me!

Lil’ Agnes (the new thermarest) is really super. I had some minor hesitation when i had to buy this instead of simply replacing Big Agnes. Yesterday before sleep-time i had a brief email chat with my dear bud (and personal AT through-hiker) Jake. Jake was excited that i was done with Big A and into the thermarest.  How much more of an endorsement do you need than a vote of confidence from someone who walks most of the AT every summer? How about a second commendation from a professional caver?! Rene gave thermarest the big thumbs up and praised its endurance.

I not only felt great stretched out on it for some pre-sleep reading, i had fantastic dreams and woke up refreshed and excited.

One more piece of the puzzle may be the addition of one of these bad boys. This product is so simple, but what an awesome idea!

If you have a sleeping pad, or other inflatable gear, watch this demo!

Someone killed all the birds…

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…and it was me.

I have already deactivated my Twitter account.

I can respect folks who like it, but it is just not a medium or a concept that i enjoy.

I do still see the value for specific kinds of groups, businesses, charities, public figures, and so forth, but for me – not so much.