Mariners game, and even went up the Space Needle. We had
one of these toasters when we went camping as kids and it ruled, we had to splurge and spend the $3.50 to get one for our next outing.
I can say that we both know how to get around in that city better than we do in the
town we live in now. Without question we felt more comfortable there than we have since leaving Rochester, it really felt like it could
be home. We got back Monday morning on the redeye and found the Hyundai with a dead battery, looks like I left the domelight on when
we parked it there on Wednesday at 4am. Airport security came by and gave us a jump and off we went to pick up Isis at the kennel.
She was pretty good but as always so tired she could barely get to her bed when we got home. We were having the same problem, it was a
little after noon and we had been awake since 7am west coast time the day before! Lisa crashed pretty soon after and I went out to the
garage to take the trailer apart and deliver it to the fabrication shop down the road that is going to fix it for me. They had some great
ideas to make it better and said they would have it done by the weekend no problem. We are going to take mine and my father's up the
Mount Washington auto road either Sunday or Monday after camping. Lisa has never been to the summit and this is really the best way to
see it other than hiking, which we don't have enough time to do. I'll be sure to get some pictures of Lisa riding the Rincon, it will
probably be the first and last time it ever happens! We are leaving Friday afternoon for the camping trip on the lake. Kevin and
his girlfriend will be joining us Saturday morning and staying until Sunday so that will be a lot of fun. So far it looks like the rain
will be finished by the time the weekend gets here, hopefully we have a dry trip, camping is fun but not so much in the rain. Lisa left
to drive to Watertown today to visit her parents, they are flying in later from Florida for the long weekend. She is only going to get to
hang out until tomorrow night before she has to drive back home to get ready for our trip. Tonight I'm going to get groceries and gather
up the rest of the camping and kayaking gear we need for the trip, that should keep me busy for the evening. Isis is going to the kennel
again, she's so tired from last time that she'll probably not even know the difference. You can check out the pictures of the trip in the
'Adventures' section to the left. The 'ATV Log' and 'Kayak Log' under 'Other Stuff' will be updated when we return from the camping trip.
Have a safe and fun holiday weekend.
August 22, 2005: She is done! Finals are over, grades are in, and its time to move on to the next step,
rotations. She has about a month to catch her breath, and hang out with me, before that all starts though. We really need it too.
The rest of the week wasn't much to talk about for me. I finished up the last few CVS cameras I had to do on Thursday and Friday so I was
able to clean up that mess and hopefully be done with those for a while. Everyone seemed very happy with the job I did and liked how
the camera works. I have a couple of the connectors left so I will most likely end up modifying a couple more in the next few weeks.
While I was typing this another person asked me if I would make them another one, it's never going to end! We had a pretty nice
weekend, Lisa worked Saturday and I did my normal Saturday
chores. I also finished the work on the trailer, I promise I'll add pictures to the 'Projects' page soon. It still needs to be
welded but that should be happening in the next couple weeks. I strapped one of the CVS cameras on the front of my electric RC truck and
drove it around the yard, that was pretty cool, the videos make you a little queasy though. I got one of the fuel powered trucks ready to
go but couldn't find a hobby shop within 40 miles that carries the fuel I need to get it going, this state sucks. The weather looked like
rain for most of the day but before it started Isis and I went for a quick bike ride in Quabbin Reservoir Park, which is totally illegal.
Actually, pretty much everything is illegal in that place, I'll have to get a picture of the sign that they have at every gate, to sum it up
it says "You aren't allowed to do anything in this park so don't waste your time coming in". Am I bitter you ask, yes, yes I am.
We live a couple miles from this lake that covers 39 square miles and has 181 miles of shorline, that we are barely allowed to look at,
nevermind kayak in. What is allowed you ask, fishing and boating, in boats with 2 stroke engines that leave a nice rainbow trail of
oil on the top of the water. Kayaks, cross country skis, canoes, and mountain bikes all must pollute way more than a 35 year old
outboard motor I guess. Sometimes it feels like we live in the twilight zone or something, things just aren't right here.
Yesterday we did a little shopping for the trip and Lisa started packing her stuff, I'll wait until tomorrow night when it's too late and I end
up forgetting half the stuff I need, that's just how I roll. We get back next week and only have a couple days before we go on our camping
trip up north with the kayaks, I'll try to get the Seattle pictures posted but can't promise they will be up until we get back from the second
trip. We're still waiting on any of our friends to give us a straight answer about the camping trip, so far we are going to be alone, maybe
some friends of mine from up north might join us but we haven't heard anything for sure yet. Anyway, have a great week, we'll talk sometime
soon.
August 16, 2005: ONLY 2 MORE DAYS until Lisa is done school! She had a final today and has one tomorrow
and Thursday but after that school is no more. She get's about a month off but then starts rotations until late April of next year. The
next few months should be a lot less stressfull than the last 2 years have been, that's for sure. She has plans to go out and party like a
rockstar with her girls from class on Thursday, they deserve it so I hope they have a lot of fun. The weekend was extremely boring for me, Lisa
worked all day Saturday and Sunday and I was on call so I stayed home with the dog the entire time. I put my kayak in the pool on Saturday and
finally figured out self rescue, how to get back in the boat after capsizing. With a paddle float attached it was actually a lot easier than I
expected, still tricky though. I finished up most of the work on the trailer and cleaned it up after, some pictures are posted but more to come
when it's complete. Sunday was more of the same, hot as hell and even less to do, I watched TV most of the time and messed around in the garage
a bit. Late last week it was brought to my attention that the CVS single use digital camcorders that have been out for a few months were
successfully hacked so that the video can be downloaded to your home computer and the camera reused. I ordered some mini USB connectors and
picked up a few cameras, they arrived yesterday and my this morning we had a working camera with a USB interface. The guys at work figured out what
needed to be installed to download the video we were done. I know have more connectors on the way and a handfull of cameras to build over the
next few nights. I added a page to the 'Projects' section with a quick overview of the process, some pictures, and links to the software you need
to install. I have a couple more pictures to add after I finish a couple more cameras tonight, I'm refining the process to make it look a little
better and take less time. My hopes are to have one on the front of one of the radio controlled trucks by the end of the week, should look pretty
crazy going 50 mph down the road, only 6 inches off the pavement. You will definetely see more videos of our adventures posted now, less
worries about the camera getting trashed. Our trip to Seattle starts a week from today, we need a vacation so bad, it's going to be a lot of fun
and hopefully we like it so much we can decide for sure that we want to move there next year. If that's the case, then the fun begins, finding jobs,
place to live, and a plan to move everything out there. Anyway, lots to do this week, have a good one.
August 10, 2005: Hello again, not a whole lot to report but I'm sure I can ramble on about "boy stuff" as Lisa
calls it. The weekend was pretty crazy, Saturday's trip to Rochester took about 5 hours longer than planned so I didn't end up going
to NH when I got back. It turned out that Eric was busy on Sunday so we couldn't go riding or work on the trailer anyway, so I stayed home and
messed around in the garage. It was actually a somewhat relaxing day, I fixed the phone wiring in the basement apartment for my landlord
in the morning, went to Home Depot to get some hardware for the trailer project, and spent a few hours installing some of the plywood we picked
up the day before. It is some strange stuff, seems to be very flexible so we'll see if it will support the Rincon like it's supposed to.
A few of our friends came over for a swim in the afternoon, the pool barely gets used so we tell all of our friends to stop by anytime, even if we
aren't home, that way at least someone is getting some use out of it. Lisa has been working on a presentation that she has to do today, after that
she just has finals to study for and she is done! She has about 4 weeks until her internship starts so we are going to do our best to enjoy
what's left of the summer. We rounded up a couple more items for our camping trip, some very small, light, folding chairs that we can strap to
the decks of the boats so we will actually have something to sit on, novel idea huh? We have extended an invitation to all of our friends that
are into camping but haven't gotten a confirmed yes from anyone yet. Some have good excuses, in school, making a baby, but others are just
blowing us off after initially expressing a lot of interest in the idea, bastards. It will be a lot of fun either way, as long as the weather
is on our side. We're still hoping that someone comes through or changes their minds, if we move out west next Spring it could be the last time
for a while that we get to do anything cool like this with our friends. This week at work has been interesting, for the most part everyone but
me is on vacation, even the boss. That means that people come to me with questions that I could NEVER answer, I usually just make something up,
they can deal with the fallout next week when they come back! We are still searching for someone to add to the network team, it seems like
we are getting piles and piles of resumes that stink and no good ones at all. I submitted a friend from my last job's resume this week and they
are going to interview her next week, if she gets hired and stays I get a big fat check after 3 months and another after 6 months, pretty psyched
about that. Well, I should find something to do, I'll probably get a bunch of work on the trailer done this weekend and maybe post some pictures
in the 'Projects' section, we'll see, Lisa will be studying for finals so their will be no good reason for me to be in the house, that's for
sure! Have a great rest of the week.
August 5, 2005: Finally a week comes and goes without feeling like three. Lisa got through her last
two exams before the last week of class and finals. It almost doesn't feel real that she will be done class in two weeks! We're not
going to know what to do with ourselves, all that free time, crazy. It was a pretty quiet week really, I came home each night and sat on
my ass watching TV, which was even more awesome than it sounds. We started to figure out some plans for the Seattle trip, things we want to
see, areas we want to scope out for a possible move next year. Part of that was deciding that we are going to do our best to move from here
to our OWN house in Seattle or where ever we end up, no more paying someone else's mortgage. Things are also starting to come together for
our camping trip Labor Day weekend, we just ordered a couple more things, a small folding sink, new cooking utensils because the others melted,
two lexan plates and a 2 gallon folding water jug. This trip will be for 3 nights instead of the 1 night we did last time so water will be
more of a pain than last time, firewood will be too. The fact that we are only going to be about 2 miles by water from where the Element
will be parked means we can make a trip over each day if we run low on firewood or food. My friend Kevin and his girlfriend might be joining
us and getting there by canoe so we will be able to pack a lot more stuff in that, things like a larger cooler and a big stack of firewood.
We won't do much cooking with the fire but it helps keep the bugs away and what would camping be without a fire? Lame is what it would be,
just lame. It's going to be a crazy weekend around here. Lisa is working 10 hours both Saturday and Sunday and I will be driving all
over the place. Saturday I'm driving out to Rochester to do a run to Beers of the World with a guy from work and to pick up a sheet of plastic
plywood to replace the trailer deck on the way back. When I get back to the house I have to unload the plywood, load the Rincon, and drive up
to NH before dark so I can go riding with a friend. Sunday morning Eric and I are going to fix all the broken welds on the trailer before it
gets too much worse. I'll drive back home Sunday afternoon and hopefully have time to sit and catch my breath before bedtime. I will be
on call for the next two weekends and will have plenty of time to install that plywood, paint the spots we welded and just give the
trailer a once over to be sure everything is lubricated and in good shape. Before we know it we will be getting on a plane in Hartford to fly
to Seattle and we can't wait! I added a section under 'Projects' for the trailer, watch it for pictures of the work I'll be doing on it over
the next couple of weekends. Enjoy!
August 1, 2005: Another long week but great weekend, only a handfull more of those and summer is over. So
far we really can't complain about the weather we have had, a little bit of rain but a lot of really nice days with lots of real hot ones.
Lisa had a long stressful week at school with a big exam on Friday. I spent the week getting the house and yard ready for 40 people
from work to show up with kids and all to party down Friday afternoon. Everything worked out, Lisa did very well on her exam and
everyone had a great time at the party. We didn't finish the keg but put as good a hurting on it as we could with the families around.
I only burned a few burgers and hotdogs but we had enough to turn a couple into charcoal. I was on call and of course got paged right
in the middle of cooking, which explains the burning food. I had to check a couple things online but didn't have to drive in to work
to fix it, which was really cool because I had at least two beers and no food by then so I was on the edge of not really being able to drive.
They got a picture of me trying to explain to the guy that the problem was caused by him and not us and that there was nothing we could do to fix it
until next week, that wasn't going over all that well but he eventually got it and let me get back to the party.
Lisa got home around 4pm and joined in. It was nice to have her be able to meet pretty much everyone I work with, they aren't a very social
group so this kind of thing doesn't happen that much. One of the people that came is always showing up to these things with a camera and
taking lots of pictures, actually, he's pretty good at it too. He took the two you see here, that is most of us around the pool, a few people
were in the shade of the garage drinking some cold ones but most people hung around the pool. Isis even had lots of fun, almost too much fun. She loves to play fetch, tennis
balls, golf balls, soccer balls, and so it would happen beach balls too. She also loves the water, biting at splashes is her favorite. She
also has a weird issue with anyone swimming, she is very protective of them, she runs around the pool whining and sometimes barking when you go
under water for more than a second or two. In the lake she will go after Lisa if she dunks under and we've even seen her dive under
looking for us. If you combine all these things together and add in a bunch of kids things could get ugly. A couple of the
boys that were in the pool realized that she liked this stuff pretty quick so they starting teasing her a bit. After she popped two of
the beach balls she grabbed one of them by the arm when he went under, I didn't see it but people that did said it really looked like she was
trying to pull him out of the pool. He has a dog and wasn't scared by it, and she didn't even hurt him but after that we tried to keep her out
of the pool area. Saturday she had trouble following me around to the yard and garage when I was cleaning up, all that running around really
took a lot out of her. Lisa worked Saturday and I cleaned up the party stuff, which was so easy compared to the Halloween party clean up that
usually took a day or two. I changed the jetting on the Rincon yet again, hopefully this will solve the problem I had last time with overheating,
it might not be adjusted perfectly but it's gotta be better than it was before, I went up 4 sizes on the main jet, I'm hoping to get back up north to
do some more riding next weekend, we'll see how it works then. We went out and did some shopping that night, got a few things for our camping trip coming up at the end of the
month and just spent a little time hanging out. Yesterday we dropped Lisa's new skis off to have the bindings mounted, figured we would beat
the fall rush and get it done early. Lisa has two exams on Tuesday and is working both next Saturday and Sunday so I'm going to try to catch up with
Eric and see if he can give me a hand fixing some broken welds on my trailer. Hopefully it will be a quiet week, have fun.