Mountain Climbing
Watching the Today show and following Ann Curry up Mount Kilimanjaro has been fascinating. See is really struggling with the altitude. She is at 15,ooo feet and still has a few thousand feet higher up to go.
When I was a teenager, I camped on the side of Pike’s Peak in Colorado. We camped at about 7500 feet with the peak at a little over 14,000 feet. Now you can drive up Pikes Peak, but my friends and I left our camp and decided we could climb it.
Many things went wrong that day. We didn’t bring any supplies and we split up. I climbed by myself. I eventually found the road and almost made it to the stop. I think I started feeling altitude sickness after hiking for several hours with no nourishment. So I realized my predicament and turned around just a few hundred feet shy of the summit. I was so tired all I wanted to do was lie down and sleep, but if I did I realized I might freeze to death at night. So I don’t know how I did it but I found our camp site, drank and ate all the food I could and crashed in our tent.
The next morning I felt fine and we decided to get in the car and drive up to the top! It was beautiful up there!
Selling Pinestraw To Myself
Not only did the weekend wind bring down most of the leaves; pine needles came down too. In my back yard I have 3 pine-trees than shed some of their needles throughout the year. But the biggest time in now. The pine tree turns some of its needles brown and with strong wind those pile up under the trees.
I realize that that is nature’s way of telling me that the area under these trees should be natural. That area in my yard, however, is one of the easiest places for me to grow grass. So every year I get the rake out and take the needles up front to add to my landscaping there.
I spent an hour or so raking yesterday, and now I have 3 big piles in my back yard. Today’s goal is to get them moved and placed into my natural areas up front. I figure at $5 a bale, I should charge myself about $75 for what looks like the equivalent of 15 bales raked up in my back yard.
Healthy Oats
I have read how oatmeal is a super food that is good for you. However, I don’t know if it is laziness or what, but I like oatmeal uncooked better than cooked. I always eat the old fashioned kind.
I have always wondered if you get the same health benefits from oatmeal by not cooking it. I have only read about cooking it. I couldn’t find any information on the Internet about not cooking it.
My colleague, Donald Jones, suggested I just call the Quaker Oats company and ask them. Now why didn’t I think of that? I got through and talked to a nice lady, who assured me, that it’s the same nutrition cooked or uncooked.
This made me happy, except for the fact that those oats tend to scatter everywhere when you try to eat them out of your hand. Mmm, maybe that’s why they invented oatmeal bars!
Roller Coaster Temps. But No Snow
Normally our high this time of year is 63. We will have a low of that number Friday night into Saturday morning. So it is going to be very mild. But….it is November….so next week with a pattern change temperatures will stay below normal, it might stay in the 40s Tuesday and or Wednesday.
The one thing missing: snow. Now snow is rare in November, but I remember back in 1987 on Veteran’s Day; we had over 1/2″ of snow. I went out to the Durham Post Office to interview people on their thoughts. Most thought it was fun.
We could use some of that fun this year, well maybe, as long as we wouldn’t have to drive in it!
Shopping For A New TV
My Sony television is almost 20 years old and is starting to go. So I have been looking into getting a new flat screen television.
The first thing I have to decide is plasma or lcd. The plasma would be cheaper than a comparable sized LCD. The plasma shows motion better and has deeper colors. Anytime I look at a television in a store, a LCD or plasma, they both look great to me, especially compared to my older Sony.
The deciding factor though for me will be that the television will be in a bright room. Therefore, and I have seen this myself, the LCD is brighter than a plasma and doesn’t show room reflections.
So now that I have that settled, it is time to start looking at the brands…can you say hello Consumer Reports. Also, I heard the prices are going to drop some more before Christmas so bring on the sales!
2008 US Temps Mostly Below Normal
At least in our part of the world, this past summer didn’t seem as hot as previous summers. I remember the spring was cool for awhile. We did get record heat the second week of June and we didn’t have much snow, just a bit on January, however on the most part it doesn’t surprise me to see that North Carolina is at or below normal for temperatures so far in 2008.
What does it all mean? Probably just a normal variation of what is normal.
Failed Car Inspection
Took my car to get its annual inspection. Since my car is old, or as I like to say, vintage, all I have to get is a safety inspection for $13.
Well I was shocked when my car failed the inspection. I have never failed one; although going in I new I needed tires, but….
One of my tires was showing some metal, like I said, I knew I needed tires; but I was hoping to get a little more mileage out of them before winter. I also had a cracked tail light, that according to state law is illegal if water could get in. Well, the tail light had my head swimming, because they are hard to find for a 1993 Camry wagon. My mechanic said it could cost over $200 to get one from the dealer. Fortunately, he suggested a clear epoxy that he skillfully put on the cracks and sealed up the light.
I still had to deal with the tire. I would buy a nice set of tires for my car if I knew I was going to keep it. But it has 252,000 miles on it; and even though it runs well, everybody keeps telling me to sell it. I am not exactly sure when I will sell it, but I know I didn’t want to spend $500 on a new set of tires. The set on my car got me 98,000 (see I was going for 100,000!). My mechanic told me about a place that sells used tires. They have a sign in front of their place: “4 tires for $80 and up”. They found me a nice set of Michelin’s with 70% tread life left. I got a set of four, including mounting etc., for $161. Deal done.
Now my car will pass inspection and it is ready to sell…..however, I am sure I could get another 25 to 30 thousand miles out of my new used tires, mmmm. Can’t you tell, I love driving my car?
November Blizzard Versus Our 70s
As we bask in record warmth today with highs in the mid to upper 70s, I still look at the calendar and realize it is November, so there has got to be someplace paying for our warmth.
I found it in North & South Dakota, where a blizzard has produced 20 to 40 mph winds, drifting snow and cold temperatures. Deadwood in the northern Black Hills has had over 45″ of snow. Drifts in Bismarck, ND reached over 10 feet. What a mess.
Here is link to a photo gallery of storm pictures. They are quite pretty.
Despite this severe early season storm, folks up there knew it was coming and got prepared. This wasn’t the case in March 1941, when a blizzard hit and 151 people died, all because they weren’t ready. Here is a link to that story, quite interesting reading.
Leftover Halloween Candy
We still have leftover candy from Halloween. It is still sitting out and very tempting to grab one here and there. There is nothing wrong with the candy, so I thought it could be put to good use for Christmas.
Our packs of M & M’s and 3 Musketeers could be put in stockings. Would that be like re-gifting? I would hope not, just an idea to save a few bucks during the holiday season.
I know my wife won’t go for it, after all the candy isn’t shaped like a snowman or like Santa Claus. Oh well!
North Carolina Apples
I enjoy a crisp apple. Red delicious, Granny Smith, and Pink Lady’s are my current favorites. They all tend to stay crisp. A couple of days ago, my coworker, Donald Jones, brought me an apple that was just picked off a tree in western North Carolina. Oh my it was tasty.
I have a new appreciation for locally grown and freshly picked apples. I guess it’s time to visit the local farmer’s market. mmm