Sunday, April 23, 2006
My first rattlesnake
OK, I'm going to try this one more time with a smaller image, and if Blogger still chokes I'm going to assume that it's scared of snakes.
This guy, hiding under a bush and waiting for the tourists to go away, is my first rattler! Well, first wild rattler. For years I've felt shut out of the cool crowd because all the hikers I know had seen at least one rattlesnake on the trail and I hadn't. Well now I have! This was Saturday, on the McDowell Mountain Preserve.
....Meh. Blogger is definitely afraid of snakes. Well, take my word for it, there was a rattlesnake, and I have a picture of it, which I'll try to post later.
0 comments
OK, I'm going to try this one more time with a smaller image, and if Blogger still chokes I'm going to assume that it's scared of snakes.
This guy, hiding under a bush and waiting for the tourists to go away, is my first rattler! Well, first wild rattler. For years I've felt shut out of the cool crowd because all the hikers I know had seen at least one rattlesnake on the trail and I hadn't. Well now I have! This was Saturday, on the McDowell Mountain Preserve.
....Meh. Blogger is definitely afraid of snakes. Well, take my word for it, there was a rattlesnake, and I have a picture of it, which I'll try to post later.
0 comments
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Where are the cairns when you need them?
I spent a furstrating morning bushwhacking along a barely-marked trail through the Supes, which finally dead-ended in an impenetrable bosque. I could see the two guys who'd passed me earlier on the trail on the other side of Barks Canyon, but no idea how they got there so I turned around and headed back. (Ever since that time I got lost in Ramsey Canyon and ended up on the Fort Huachuca base I've been chary about cutting cross-country without markers.) Lost the trail on the way back, too, but since I could see where it picked up again in the distance I wasn't too worried, just annoyed as there was a whole lotta cactus on the hillside I was blundering through.
Well, the guys who'd preceded me turned back shortly after I did, so we caught up with each other in the parking lot. Turns out when you get to the wash you're not supposed to cross over to the cairn on the opposite bank, but turn right and follow the cairns down the wash until the trail re-appears on the right bank. Oh. "We did the same thing as you last weekend, and wound up sunburned in the middle of nowhere." OK, now I don't feel quite so dumb.
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Stucco on You
What is up with this popsicle stand? The place that screened my porch can't even get someone out to give me an estimate on the stucco job until the 20th. The guy who left a flyer on my door never returned my call. Turning to the phone book, I called a stucco place that doesn't do residential, but referred me to another guy who didn't return my call. Finally I got hold of a mom-and-pop place that came out the same day, said they could get it done by this weekend - then didn't get me the written estimate until last Thursday. WTF?
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Do I sound just a tad bit cranky?
0 comments
I spent a furstrating morning bushwhacking along a barely-marked trail through the Supes, which finally dead-ended in an impenetrable bosque. I could see the two guys who'd passed me earlier on the trail on the other side of Barks Canyon, but no idea how they got there so I turned around and headed back. (Ever since that time I got lost in Ramsey Canyon and ended up on the Fort Huachuca base I've been chary about cutting cross-country without markers.) Lost the trail on the way back, too, but since I could see where it picked up again in the distance I wasn't too worried, just annoyed as there was a whole lotta cactus on the hillside I was blundering through.
Well, the guys who'd preceded me turned back shortly after I did, so we caught up with each other in the parking lot. Turns out when you get to the wash you're not supposed to cross over to the cairn on the opposite bank, but turn right and follow the cairns down the wash until the trail re-appears on the right bank. Oh. "We did the same thing as you last weekend, and wound up sunburned in the middle of nowhere." OK, now I don't feel quite so dumb.
------
Stucco on You
What is up with this popsicle stand? The place that screened my porch can't even get someone out to give me an estimate on the stucco job until the 20th. The guy who left a flyer on my door never returned my call. Turning to the phone book, I called a stucco place that doesn't do residential, but referred me to another guy who didn't return my call. Finally I got hold of a mom-and-pop place that came out the same day, said they could get it done by this weekend - then didn't get me the written estimate until last Thursday. WTF?
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Do I sound just a tad bit cranky?
0 comments
Saturday, April 08, 2006
How I set out to stucco the back porch and wound up buying a Martin instead of hiking Bark's Canyon
I'm tempted to leave that headline dangling, because it's much more interesting than what actually happened. Suffice to say, I hired a carpenter through a handyman service to screen in the back patio, and made a certain amount of progress into stucco-ing the exterior wall before deciding I'd have to hire another handyman to complete the job. My hands are bleeding, my back aches, and I've had my fill of DIY jobs. Especially on a beautiful day like today, I'd rather be (A) hiking or (B) relaxing on the patio with the newspaper or a book.
So, having blown a day and a half on the never-ending project, I decided this would be a good time to head over to Milano's to pick up a metronome and look at their guitars. I've actually thinking about getting a standard-body guitar for awhile, since I'll be playing Jeff's Taylor for the album and my own acoustic, the Epiphone Songwriter, is a parlor guitar with a wider-than-standard neck. The salesguy had me try out a Seagull to start with, then handed me a Martin DCX1RE, which sold itself within the first minute. Super-responsive action, deep, mellow tone, and the price was really reasonable for a Martin. Jury's still out on whether I'll be taking it to Concertino or not. Don't know if I want the new baby knocking around inside an airplane just yet.
1 comments
I'm tempted to leave that headline dangling, because it's much more interesting than what actually happened. Suffice to say, I hired a carpenter through a handyman service to screen in the back patio, and made a certain amount of progress into stucco-ing the exterior wall before deciding I'd have to hire another handyman to complete the job. My hands are bleeding, my back aches, and I've had my fill of DIY jobs. Especially on a beautiful day like today, I'd rather be (A) hiking or (B) relaxing on the patio with the newspaper or a book.
So, having blown a day and a half on the never-ending project, I decided this would be a good time to head over to Milano's to pick up a metronome and look at their guitars. I've actually thinking about getting a standard-body guitar for awhile, since I'll be playing Jeff's Taylor for the album and my own acoustic, the Epiphone Songwriter, is a parlor guitar with a wider-than-standard neck. The salesguy had me try out a Seagull to start with, then handed me a Martin DCX1RE, which sold itself within the first minute. Super-responsive action, deep, mellow tone, and the price was really reasonable for a Martin. Jury's still out on whether I'll be taking it to Concertino or not. Don't know if I want the new baby knocking around inside an airplane just yet.
1 comments
