Big surf

Wow. 6-8 foot waves today, with some 10-15 on the reefs. That just doesn’t happen very often in San Diego. I’m going to head down to the cove at lunch to check it out. If it looks as good as it sounds, I’ll have to run home and get my boogie board & suit.

Bhutan banned tobacco. As if I didn’t have enough reasons to visit the country. At $200/day, I’m going to be saving my pennies for a while though.

The Sustainable Condo is a great site for anyone who is looking at doing a green remodeling or purchasing appliances.

Shag, the modernist/tiki illustrator, shows off his home.

Boo! I wanted the collision of the century: Largest iceberg on Earth runs aground instead of crashing

INS pain

The INS, sorry, USCIS, accepted our paperwork and our money. So I guess that’s a good thing. I have a fancy employment card, a travel document on the way (4-6 weeks), digital fingerprinting at the end of the month, and an interview in 6-8 months (though if I was a betting man I would say 8+). All for a super steal of a deal – $910. Ouch. That hurts. I don’t even get a free potato peeler. That price hurts for me, but how would someone on a low income ever manage it?

I went out for a morning run on Monday, fantastic weather we are having. I like the mild Santa Anas – not too dry, but it clears everything up. I did a run through Florida canyon, up around the end of the golf course, and through the other canyons in South Park on my way back to Golden Hill. The rains have made it a really nice run. There were so many bees on trees and shrubs that they almost had a harmonic quality to their shake.

Travel Gear

I thought I would write a little bit on some of the hiking/travel gear I love, since it is part of year-end sales right now.

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Mountainsmith Ghost Pack – 3000ci (49L), full suspension, weighs 2 lbs. 1 oz (0.94KG). On sale at Backcountry Gear and Campmor.

I wanted a bag that could be used for travel (local and world, carry-on), as well as hiking. As long as you don’t over-stuff the bag, and have stuff hanging off it, you should have no trouble sticking it in overhead compartments or under a bus seat. But more importantly, it can also be stuffed into the metal baggage size tester at the airport. It is well shaped, and I don’t have to worry about bumping into anyone when I have it on. Side straps and a bungee on the back let you compact the pack even further when you have a smaller load. It has bottom bag straps and side pouches to easily fit tents/rolls/odd shaped items for camping. The panel loading is handy.

Unlike a lot of bags in the 2lb range, the Ghost has a great waist belt and strap system. My shoulders don’t fit very well in V strap systems (like the Granite Gear Vapor Trail), the minute I put a Ghost on, I knew it was for me. I usually try to go fairly light, but even water heavy loads were easy with the suspension system.

The bag is made out of a pretty tough sail material. I’ve smacked it around and there are no signs of wear on the bag. The material is also quite water repellant. We got rained on a few times on the Inka trail, but there was almost no moisture in the bag. The waterproof zipper is a bit sticky, but does the job. The waist and shoulder straps are made of a tough outer mesh, with a bunch of small foam tubes inside. They are comfortable and don’t hold moisture.

I love this pack. I tried a lot of other lightweight packs (most of the Golight brand, Granite Gear packs, MEC, REI brands, etc) before I settled on this one, and I have no regrets. Mountainsmith is also a great company, we managed to loose a sternum strap on our Wraith pack, and they sent us a new one, no charge.

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SmartWool/Icebreaker – I own shirts, long underwear, boxers, and lots of socks. Smartwool sale at Backcountry Gear

SmartWool and Icebreaker are made with Merino wool. The smaller, longer fibers of this wool are quite soft and stretchy (no itch). They are great in hot and cold environments (perfect for Peru, freezing nights 13k feet, and boiling in dry desert) and all the technical info on Merino can be found on the Icebreaker site.

Besides being sustainable, warm when wet, etc, they also have another huge advantage over synthetics. No smell. A couple hours in coolmax or polyprop and I stink, badly. Some of the newer synthetics will let me last a day or two before they have a funk. But I wore the same shirt, socks, and underwear for 4 days on the Inka trail with no funk. How? Merino fibers absorb water and are naturally antibacterial. Merino doesn’t dry as quickly as some of the synthetics, but that doesn’t bother me too much. I can wear wet merino if I have to, it will be dry quickly and I will still be warm. In short, I love this stuff for hiking and travel.

The INS wants avocadoes, BORG2

Today is INS day for us. Happy bureaucracy everyone!

I woke up at about 4am this morning. Picked up the cat off the bed, and put him outside. Anna said “What are you doing?” I replied, “He wants avocadoes”.

I have no idea what the hell my dream was about.

I was just thinking about Burning Man the other day. We have been the last three years, and enjoyed it every time. However, I was feeling like this year might be the year to take it off. It costs a lot of money and time. Tickets went on sale early this year, so we are already in the higher ticket price. Anna and I were feeling that maybe this year we spend that money and time on a different trip.

People go to Burning Man for different reasons. Some go to party. Some go to be freaky. Some go for the community. And some (myself included) go to be blown away by the art. I received an email that pointed me towards the bet. This year BORG2 will try to match BM’s art budget, and set up inside the event. Intriguing? Yes. Will we go? Dunno, but it gives me something to chew on.

Xmas in Cuzco, Peru

Ah hah! Finally managed to get the Cuzco Xmas vids published. I had to upload them to an empty, accessible directory, then set Gallery loose on them via URL add photos method. I assume this doesn’t use the php max_post_size value, because it is a pull rather than a push to the server.

The 3 vids are not super high quality, and I’m a bit shaky on them. They were taken from this camera, so no complaints. The sounds add a lot to the atmosphere that I felt was missing from the pictures. Though it is always tough to tell if the video is actually translating a small part of that experience, or just triggering my own memories.