Toadfish Monastery

Quote from: Darlica on May 23, 2010, 11:01:54 PM
Nah. No need for that, she's been there for me so many times over the years. By now I just cover her back when needed, I'll know she'll cover mine next time I need it.

IMHO, among good friends there is no need to count the favours.

Yeah, but only seriously deep friendship can survive being asked to help you move.....

Agreed, Darli,  I was only joking.  I work on the same principle. 

My younger niece got baptized yesterday. That provided the occasion for a (though limited) family reunion. I was surprised to learn just how long I had not seen some people.

It's good to reconnect. Family is important.

I've got three out of ten days worth of lesson plans written for my theater workshop this July. It's really nerve wracking getting started, but I think they're pretty good and the kids will have a blast.

I have written so much my essay needs cutting. It is significant in that if I go away I will not have to take hundreds of heavy text books, as they are not needed in a slashing exercize. The other significant thing is that I was able to bully myself into finishing the first complete draft by making it the highest priority for the day, which is rarely possible.

I do however question whether one should go in for self-bullying?

Well, it got results!  But I'd draw the line at flagellation.   

Anyway, well done for actually getting the essay to where it needs pruning.  I don't think I ever managed that.

I voted in Colombia's presidential election. For the very first time in our history there is a chance that a palpable honest man gets the job and as a green party no less. Quite likely the election will require a runoff but the chances of my man Antanas Mockus are as good as they get.

Finished a fourth consecutive day of cold-turkey caffeine withdrawal (save a cup of green tea or decaf coffee in the morning).  This while working 13+ hour field days, mind.

We'll keep our fingers crossed for Mockus and for Aggie's heroic caffeine withdrawal! 

Quote from: Sibling Zono (anon1mat0) on May 30, 2010, 08:41:56 PM
I voted in Colombia's presidential election. For the very first time in our history there is a chance that a palpable honest man gets the job and as a green party no less. Quite likely the election will require a runoff but the chances of my man Antanas Mockus are as good as they get.

I can't dislike a politician that is willing to don a superhero costume, or moon students (IIRC) to make his point.

That's the man. He changed the face of Bogotá when he was the major, but more importantly he changed the attitude of the citizens towards the city making it more livable, under him there were significantly less violent deaths, a diminution of drunk driving, very few burned children (due to misuse of pyrotechnics), and balanced the budget among other things. Now he has three weeks to convince the rest of the country (who didn't vote for the supposed heir of Uribe).

I hiked the Harney Peak Trail* with Hasan on Sunday.

None of my so-called friends told me what the trail is *really* like, nor did they know that recent treefalls -- especially across the trail -- (from invasive beetles, serious logging to fight the beetles, washouts from tree loss, ankle-deep brackish ponds studded with heavy vehicle tracks where trail used to be but is no more, and loss of anything even remotely resembling a trail in places) made the long-way-option leg back *down* a Truly Bad Idea.

Of course, he is 17 and was still bounding around like a mountain sheep while I plotted creative excuses to sink onto handy boulders and catch my breath now and then.   



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
*Note: "easy" trail head starts at Sylvan Lake, 2-3 hours southwest from the tower (doesn't look like much until you enlarge it, but quite a pretty and popular spot). You can see bits of the "easy" trail snaking up (and up, and up, and up, and up...) northeast of the lake, appearing at intervals in the trees. Now see the godforsaken mountainous landscape due east of the lake, and winding up? The one with no visiable path, even on this satellite photo?
Yeah, that was the path he wanted to take back... 


click "start slideshow" to see more area photos.

Well done you for tackling that!

Wrote a chunk of essay, small but a chunk. The days are slipping away, speeding towards the deadline.

I have again shown my inhumane self-control by not committing the great innocent railway employee massacre or sending mail bombs to their superiors for the utter incompetence in coming up with a working rail replacement bus service. They way it is handled currently costs me 2.5 hours of my precious overtime per week and cuts into my life expectancy in a significant way through induced stress. What should take just ten minutes takes half an hour due to the road parallel to the railway being renewed at the same time => stop and go. But the timetable assumes that this is not the case, the buses depart late (if they are there at all) and the trains do not wait. Don't hand me a bazooka.