water, water, everywhere!

what a day! after i got off work that is. work was blah. the first ever monday hike was awesome! the picture on the right was the tree in the stream that i specifically went back for today, at the spot where i took a break / nap yesterday. the same spot where i got sunburnt at, i assume. there were better pics of this, but i thought this was the best 'introductory' one. then there is the sun-lost-in-the-clouds pic i took on the way home. all told, i took 68 pics today. all were great.

heading out there, it was clearly evident that by 6:15 AM, it was already the wettest july 31st in tucson history. trails yesterday were mostly dry. today they doubled as streams. the streams were minor, but still wet as opposed to dry. the creek areas i crossed yesterday were all deeper and more 'persuasively' flowing. this did not thwart my picture taking pursuit. i don't call myself H.M. for nothing. :)

so, i did not meet the love of my life out there. i did pass a cutie hiking by herself. we politely said 'hi' as we crossed the first stream bed into the canyon, using a different rock 'path' as we went our opposite directions. she was headed in, i was headed out. i did get 68 photos, most that i deem uberly awesome. i should go on monday hikes more often! :)

speaking of....

this is exactly what i was referring to:

monday story

so, it is a beautiful and very wet morning. hence my first work day morning post. at least i won't have to worry about the creek drying up at pima canyon trail when i go back for my pics.
:)

T.M.W.

= too much water
that is what i discovered at ventana canyon trailhead. the creek was raging! there were three signs that all stated that the trail crosses ventana creek numerous times, do not enter when flooded. i ignored the first sign, and hopped around the raging creek bed egdes right by the trail entrance. no problem, i continue on dry trail for awhile. i do pass two more signs warning me to stay away. i think, signs, schmigns, and start singing in my head the old song 'signs, signs, everywhere a sign'song i normally dislike. i come to the next creek crossing area. i preceed thru with extreme caution, only because i saw a dude who had just crossed himself. even despite the dude, i was extermely pessimistic about what i was doing, until i reached safely on the other side. HA, i think. the currents are very 'persuasive', but it wasn't bad. the worst part was u could not see the creek floor because the water was soo turbulent. i go on until the next creek crossing. i see the dude from the previous crossing. he is standing on a big rock in the very narrow and raging creek bed. we start bs'ing. we agree we have gone far enough. we did NOT want to be the 'idiots' u hear about in the news who had to be helicoptered out of a canyon for foolishly ignoring the perils of mother nature. so we turn around and head back together. all told, i maybe went 1/2 -3/4 mile in.

i wanted more, so i went to pima canyon. there i hiked about two to three miles. there were a few stream crossings required here, but the creeks here are much wider. there was always total visibility, and almost always rocks that could be used as stepping stones, crossing frogger style. i stopped at a huge rock / bed rock outcropping right by the stream. there was a huge tree that was in the creek bed. the roots and rock itself created cool waterfalls all the way around. unfortunately, my digital camera battery had already died by this point. i guess i am 'old school'. i do not recharge a battery until it dies. that is why my battery died today, despite using my camera all week on vacation, and to do a big photo shoot for work, and some other pics taken here and there. if i get off work tomorrow at a descent time, i will go back out there, just to take those pics. i think it would be worth it. besides, u never know, maybe i will meet the love of my life out there. :) so, anyway, i 'camp out' here, eat a little snack, and take a 'nap / break' for about an hour or so.
the picture posted here is looking back at the last stream bed i croosed at ventana. it was the last picture taken before the battery died. there were ten others taken previously. i am having problems posting the pic. hmmm.
this is why i have not told my mom about this site, because if she did read this, i would not have been able to 'tell' about this event.

so, remember how i said it was rare for a rookie picher to hurl back to back shutouts? just how rare is it, u probably have been pulling out your hair wonderring. it is so rare, that it hasn't happenned in the majors since dontrelle willis did it back in 2003. dontrelle is now a perenial all star. the last indians pitcher to accomplish the feat was dick tidrow. he did this a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far away back in 1972, before i was even born.

ok, got some calls to make. then work tomorrow, ugh.

gooooooooooddddddddd

morning VIETNAM, er every body,

just listenning to pink floyd and eating my pre hike breakfast. it is much later than planned. but it has been so cool here lately, sleeping in (till 8:45) will not ruin my scheduled day.

the big news from yesterday: I GOT MY TOOL TICKETS! they went on sale yesterday at 10:00 AM. i was on ticketmasters site at 10:00 AM exactly. i got one ticket in the pavalion section, one lawn. they are playing at cricket pavalion (sept 9). i have never been there. the diagram made the lawn look far away. but i do love lawn 'seats'. hopefully i can talk to some people who have been there before so i can sell off the undesirable ticket, or trade it for another if someone would end up going with me. i have never been to a concert by myself before, but this is TOOL, therefore i do not care. i saw them twice back in 2002 as part of the laterallus tour. those were the two best concerts i have ever been to. their newest album, 10000 days (it came out on jun 06) rocks! every album they have come out with is better than the one before, and 10000 days is no exception. it did take a couple times thru the cd for me come to this conclusion. my instincts told me it followed suit right away, but for some reason, i was skeptical. there is no doubt now, 10000 days is their best album yet!

ok, i need to get hiking. the cool temps and all the water we have been getting should make hiking sweet. well, hiking is always sweet, but today it should be even better. it has been since may 14th, gosh darn danged heat. i am going to ventana canyon trailhead. there are a pools areas about two miles in that i haven't seen flow in years. probably will get some groceries after that. then i need to call some friends with whom it has been awhile. especially my one buddy's wife. he has left her her and their four children, to go out to iraq, again. can not balme uncle sam too much. he re-upped six months before 9/11. they only had two children at the time. that contract had expired, but he has decided he wants to retire from the military. they are now living in HW now, and loving it. probably till about one week ago.

rain on me

1. lyrics to a (kick arse) song by the who.
2. what i would be experiencing if i were outside now.
i like the rain, now that i live in arizona. when i was in ohio (where it rained like every frickin day, at least it seemed like it) i despised it. that is unless lightning and thunder were involved. that's always cool. lightning and thunder rule!

so, just having 'fun' on a friday night. got some coffee, kicked back. i am enjoying a pete's wicked rally cap ale right now. it rules! and it has a drawing of a basebal picher on the label to boot.

i was watching top gun. then goose died. i don't like the movie after goose dies. so apollo 13 is on right now. it is a good flick. a buddy from college called it a 'feel good' movie for engineers. something to make all of us engineering nerds be proud of.

ok, things are tense in the movie now. time to turn off the 'puter for the day.

friday stuff

been a pretty good day. got alot of stuff done, including dropping off my digital camera photos to be developed and buying, not one, but two photo albums. i could not decide between two albums, they were 40% off, so i just bought both. i am sure the 'looser' of the sunset battle will be used for something else. i never did make albums from my hawaii or grand canyon trips.

also, i have an appointment next F R I D A Y to meet with a school official about getting into architecture school! i may be able to get straight into the masters program due to my mechanical engineering degree. i would have never dreamt that was possible, but how frickin sweet would that be?! it doesn't even seem right. the biggest thing that scares me: my own dreams. they are almost always wild. one consistent type i have had since i graduated way back in the day.
i am back in school. i am always blowing it off though, not even going to classes. the reasons are many and varied, but never justifiable.
i haven't had one of these dreams in awhile though.

the indians won an awesome game today, 1-0. baseball games DO NOT get any better than that. the scary thing about it. our starting pitcher, jeremy sowers, today is a rookie. he just pitched a complete game shut out. his last game, he also pitched a complete game shutout. that very rarely happens, and almost never to a rookie. what this means. he is probably a good young future star. what that means. he will get hurt in a freak offseason accident. probably something involving a rhinocerus at a zoo, a family boche ball game, or a runaway piano barrelling down a street. if u think i am being paranoid or crazy, this just means u are NOT from cleveland. see yesterdays post for more proof.

it's been awhile...

since i posted anything. last night was blogger's fault. i could not get on at all.

i am sooooooooo tired right now. first week back at work wasn't too bad, but i did have trouble being on time all week. not that i have a set time to be there, and i did make ALL my appointments on time all week, so i guess it didn't really matter. just that i never showed up when i expected i would. as tired as i am now, i am glad.

i have been doing alot of post vacation work since i got back. downloading, naming, and passing on via e-mail digital photos. cleaning off shells. unpacking my bags. working on a 'behind the numbers' thang that i will include with the photo album i will make later. for now, i am doing it on excel. later, i hope to make a 'handmade' version. then this project morphed into a sorely needed and long overdue friends and family birthday listing. who knew vacations could be so much work :)

one weird thing that stood out from my vacation. make up. i never was a 'big fan' of it to begin with. that is such a turn off to me when a chick overdoes it on the make up side. and when old women look like clowns (dora roberts from everybody loves raymond and the old boss lady from the drew carey show are prime examples), UGHHHH YUCK phoey! anywho, during my uber long delay in philly on the way out to the sunset, i see a cutie sit down nearby me. she almost immediately goes to her purse / bag / tote / whatever. she pulls out a compact and goes to work. then another. then yet another. then the lips, with the tube and brush thingy. seemingly 20 minutes later, she is done, looks almost the same, and i am totally turned off.
we then have to switch gates as part of another delay. i sit down on the floor. nearby is a mexican woman talking on her cell. she has two daughters. both very young. two to three years for the youngest, four to six for the older one, i would venture to guess. the youngest one is playing with her mom's blush, getting it allover her face. the older one is playing with lipstick. the mom could care less, gibber jabberring on the phone the whole time. i was aghast. i wanted to say something, but held my tongue. then when we went to t-bonz for steaks later in the week, a mom is putting lipstick on her also very young daughter. aye carumba. make up and kids should not be.

so, despite my extreme tiredness, which did not hit me till about 15:00, i had a pretty good day. then a buddy from OH called me. i thought it was weird he was calling so 'early'. he is like 'dude, i have to tell u something'. i start thinking bad things. then he precedes to tell me that le charles bentley, the cleveland browns biggest free agent signing, the dude everyone in cleveland thought would be a huge 'difference maker' this year and turn us into a playoff team, blew out his knee and probably will be out for the season. D'OH! on the first day of practice, to boot. double D'OH! oh well, guess we will have to wait till '08. btw, my buddy is a pittsburgh steeler fan, the brown's HATED division rival. other than that, my buddy is a really cool dude. and cleveland fans (of all sports) have been subject to sooo much bad luck, it really didn't ruin my day. we are accustomed to bad things happenning.

tomorrow, i may go and check out the u of a's architecture program. i have been thinking alot lately that is the route i should have taken after high school. instead i went for mechanical engineering, despite not being 'strong' in math or physics. but i love drawing, design, and CAD. for five years after i graduated, i excelled (i say this based on the raises i constantly recieved, along with the additional responsibilities i was given) in a design job that was NOT strongly math or physics based. then i moved to AZ (sept 2002), and have not been back in an office since.

ok, that's all i got for today.

peace

V.R.D.

note: V.R.D. = V acation R ecap D ay

day one, sat 15: the venture begins
THIS DAY SUCKED! it started early: 4:30 AM, after my (slightly more than usual for the night before travelling) 4 hours of sleep. the travels were ok, until philly. multiple long delays there, which were due to earlier storms. this of course, kept increasing my arrival at the beach later and later, from saturday night to sunday morning. all day, i only ate a $10 philly cheasesteak, appropriately enough, in philly. it was ok, but not worth that much. i even bought a philly's hat!??? what was that all about? i hate airline delays! and travelling all day. and being hungry. and when i buy other teams baseball hats. so, my dad and cousin pick me up at the airport, and we start my final leg of the journey.

day two, sun 16:
finally i arrive at the perfect daze, the beach house i will be living in till friday with my mom, dad, cousin, his wife, and their two daughters, ages 8 months and soon to be 8 years. i sleep for a very little again, get up, visit another house full of relatives, drink the pot of coffee they made for me, and hit the beach! the beach is awesome! love the beach! love it, or else. there is an apples to apples break out shortly after dinner. drinks with the cuz's at their place ends the night, sorta late.

day three, mon 17:
i sleep in. then i hit the beach. boche ball wars start on this day, taking away from H2O time. my 22 year old female cuz is the champ today. d'oh! after grilling out at the daze, EVERYONE meets at an aunt and uncles house for drinks. upon getting back, i introduce south park to my cuz's soon to be 8 year old. this episode has characters who only have butts for faces. :)

day four, tue 18:
my cuz and i are up early. me, him, and his 8 month old hike out the south end of the island. she is in a 'chest harness' contraption. this end of the island used to have a mini island that was only accessible at low tide, where whole sand dollars could somewhat regularly be found. it is low tide now. my cuz and his companion only make it about 3/4 of the way. i press on, only to find: the island is gone! the whole place is 'reconfigured'. i do get some cool shells though. back on the beach, i win the days boche war! t bonz at night rocks! got me a big ole steak. EVERYONE (except for those deep sea fishing, which did NOT include me) meets at grammy's place that night for drinks and ankle bracelot making, if one desired. the 'fishers' do stop by to show off their catches, then leave. oh yeah, almost EVERYONE hears about the 'butt faces' from south park :) surprisingly, i am NOT reprimanded or mamed.

day five, weds 19
up early again, go out again with the cuz who this time has both of his kids. we head to the north end of the island. this experience was later dubbed nature hike morning by us. bunny rabbits, a puffer fish (more on that later), dolphins, crabs, hermit crabs, pelicans, terns, gulls, a living starfish (the first one i had ever seen alive, in nature), among others made this 'hike' awesome. my cuz once again can not make it all the way because of his children. on his way back to the daze, he picks up the dead pufferfish from the spot we moved him to in the dunes. he takes some pics. when i get back, i do also. then a ceremony was held for Puff (naming rights were bestowed upon the soon to be 8 year old), and he/she was ritually cast back into the abyss. the abyss being the canal behind our house. back on the beach again, i finish third out of eight in the boche tourny. EVERYONE heads over to another aunt and uncles house for hors dervs (i know, sp) and drinks and to celebrate grammy's 85th birthday that was almost 2 months ago, and to watch the special dvd made by a family member for the occasion. MAD picture taking commenced afterwards. then Everyone heads to the daze for more drinks and the sundae assembly line of goodness. then i head back with my cuz's to their house for more drinks, and shots. and some more drinks. now it is very late, and ALL but one of the cuz's have had MANY drinks.

day six, thurs 20:
i get up early, all thanks to my non-drinking roomy cuz. we head the same way this morning, just me and my cuz. we get to the end of the island. we don't find any shells of any significance along the way or back. we are mostly observing, and talking, and having a good time. we saw another live starfish. this one had really thin, 'snake skin patterned' arms. we also came across a lady doing turtle nest test on fake 'turtle nests'. later, i am back at the beach for my final time, this year. no time for boche today. not EVERYONE is there anyway. the sun was too much for many by this point. sand castles were attempted, but mostly unsuccessful due to time constraints and the 'help' of a 4 year old. heated 4 person putt putt matches followed. i finished third both times. my cuz's wife and my cuz were the two victors. double d'oh! the putt putters get back, some dinner is consumed, then almost EVERYONE stops by the daze for a few drinks and to say goodbye to me. when all have left, and the rest gone to bed, i start packing / watching tv.

day seven, fri 21: the venture ends
i go to bed. i get up shortly afterward. i travel by car, by plane, by bus (inbetween terminals), by plane, by foot, by plane, by bus again (to the parking lot), by my jeep. feet everywhere in between. you get the point. i get my cat. i am home! i am tired, but happy!

in conclusion, i had a great time. i forgot how much i loved the beach. and for the records, EVERYONE = 37 people total. in six beach houses. 27 adults (greather than 20 yeards old), 10 kids. 17 males, 20 females. 27 family members, 10 friends of family. theorectically, pictures are to be posted later.

kcab ma i

i am back.
i am tired.
i am soooo very tired.
i will tell all about my uberly awesome week, tomorrow.
it is good to be back, 110 degree weather and all.

another sighting

OK, my final post for a week, i am assuming.

been a hectic week, getting stuff wrapped up at work and all.

another 'sighting': wednesday AM, i am getting ready for work. it is somewhere between 4:30 and 5:00 in the frickin AM. out of the corner of my ojo, i see the full moon, which had been brilliant all week. i see four distinct, bright rays eminating from it. they form a cross, rotated 45 degrees from the horizontal. i excitedly grab my digital camera and rush outside. what do i see, u ask? nothing. just a 'normal' full moon. i am disappointed, but since i am out here already, i figure i might as well take some pics. on the third picture, i thought i saw something. i go inside and download them. the third picture did indeed have something else in it, another orb. yes, i am fascinated by orbs, if u can't tell.

ok, i must finalize my packing, then hit the sack. must be at the airport at 7:15. i go from tucson, to phoenix, to philly, to wilmington, oh my!

'see ya all' in a week. hopefully, i won't be talking / typing like that after i get back.

WEIRD, NORMAL DAY

YES, TODAY WAS WEIRD, BECAUSE IT WAS NORMAL. it had been raining here, alot lately. when u live in a deseret, one tends to notice these things. especially when u had lived the first 28 years of your life in dreary-always-raining-or-snowing-or-threatening-to-do-one-of-the-two Ohio. but today was different. for almost two weeks, it was always 'cloudy'. today there was hardly any clouds in the sky. roads had flooded friday, and cars were were stalled in the streets. never would have guessed that today. the humidity had been 30-50%. today the humidity was much lower, but the heat was back up to just over 100. it was a normal, summer day in tucson. but after the weather we had been experiencing, it felt like i was visiting a new city. driving around (and almost running out of gas thanks to my non functional gas gauge in my work truck) on roads i had been on many times before, yet seemed totally unfamiliar.
the conclusion i can draw from this:
a) either tucson has REALLY spoiled me weather-wise
b) i really do notice and appreciate things in general more as a non smoker.
[i had always theorized that nicotine does dull one's senses. it makes sense: why else wousd someone spend so much money on something pointless that will only cause them and their loved ones pain and agony later in life??? if one's senses, including common, especialy common, were not being MASSIVELY manipulated.]
c) some funky combination of both.

ok, it is WAY late, especially when one has to get up at 4:30 and is trying to accomplish 20 bajillion things (both job and non job related, but all requiring work) all before my departure day this sat!

if you build it, they will come.

angry inch

ok, confession time: i hate typing this, but it is true. i had started smoking cigs again. :( it started back in OH. i had 3 at a friend's house wednesday night before i left. none on thursday, but i kept walking back and forth by the smoking lounge in the atlanta airport during my long, frustrating delay. contemplating going in and bumming a smoke with each and every pass. the smell kept me from going in though, each and every time. it smelled so horrible, just passing by. but then came friday, my first full day back in AZ. i had a horrible morning. i bought a pack shortly after leaving for my first job. since, i went one day without smoking, but 'caved' shortly after getting off work. now here i sit. having just crushed and threw away 12 smokes. i also threw away my ash tray 'cup'. this 'cup' originated in my jet black 2000 pontiac grand am gt, but made the move into my jeep. i do miss that car :( it even got good gas mileage. anywho, the 'cup' had reemerged, it will not have the oppurtunity to do so again. now here i sit. i have failed. the only thing that would make it worse, is to keep failing. days of the new's enemy is playing right now. a refrain is 'it is something you need to change' followed by a background dude doing a weird 'yeah'-like call. how true, days of the new and background dude, how true. so, tonight starts back to the way i was, from june 8th thru june 20th.

so, what else? this week has FLOWN by. in 3 hours, it will be one week into july. dude!

in 8 days, i will most likely be offline for a week. i will be in sunset beach, on a family reunion vacation. new hampshire, vermont, new york, massachusetts, ohio, and arizona will all be represented in south carolina. ages will vary from less than a year old all the way up to my grandma's age.

ok, time to finish up some 'projects'. i have sorta been sick all week, and probably should get some decent sleep. but then again, tomorrow is friday. saturday i can sleep in :)

'yeah'

Shower in the dark day
Clean sparks diving down
Cool in the waterway
Where the baptized drown
Naked in the cold sun
Breathing life like fire
Thought I was the only one
But that was just a lie
Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July
Pale in the flare light
The scared light cracks & disappears
And leads the scorched ones here
And everywhere no one cares
The fire is spreading
And no one wants to speak about it
Down in the hole Jesus tries to crack a smile
Beneath another shovel load
And I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July
Now I'm in control
Now I'm in the fall out
Once asleep but now I stand
And I still remember your sweet everything
Light a Roman candle
And hold it in your hand
Cause I heard it in the wind
And I saw it in the sky
And I thought it was the end
And I thought it was the 4th of July

not sure what chris cornell is getting to here, but a good tune none the less.
HAPPY 4th of JULY!!!