Refreshing

Refreshing, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

That's Little Joe loosing his sunglasses.

Fun on Trapeze

Fun on Trapeze, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Stacey hangs out while sailing during the Viper Demo Day at lake Pleasant, Arizona.

Oh Yeah

Oh Yeah, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Viper Sailing, Lake Pleasant, Arizona

Scorpion

Scorpion, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Although biologists don't know why, scorpions like this one fluoresce i UV light. Krya was holding a UV flashlight while I shot away. At first the scorpion was reluctant to raise his tail, so we had to get him a bit more awake.

Fangs a lot

Fangs a lot, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Rattlesnakes, scorpions and me!

Last week I shot the snakes and critters at the Red Mountain campus of MCC. Krya Perry was my guide, and I got to learn about the snakes.

Thanksgiving Aproaches

It's almost Turkey Day, and I've only got the faintest outlines of a plan.

So far my plan has one solid chunk and a possible second event. The main event will be family dinner with my parents at Monti's Casa Vieja. It's in the oldest standing building in the Valley, so the name fits.

The other idea would probably be either solo or with friends. I'm talking about the MADCAP Theaters' Thanksgiving Film Feast. Twelve hours of back-to back-to-back cult classic horror flicks, energy drinks, games and food. That would keep me busy well into Black Friday.

I'll be shoving some more photo's toward the internets soon, so keep a lookout posted!

This Mast's Tall

This Mast's Tall, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

Again, an old photo dug up from the recesses of my drive. The boat is a big Hunter, well suited to lake life, and yes, that is me way up there. That is Marty's mast, which I got to climb to retreive a halyard. The view up there is great.

From the Vault

At the VLA

At the VLA, originally uploaded by Gerald5970.

So I don't have new photos up yet, check this out from some time a time or two ago. Old photos from the vault that is the hidden corners of my hard drive.

Return to Phoenix and Bad Drivers

We arrived back in Phoenix earlier this evening, after getting a set of tires for Jake's van at a local tire shop.  The rest of the trip was uneventful. How is it that I can go hundreds of miles, be okay most of the time, and yet, without fail, things go south upon my return to home. I bike back home from Jake's place, and I meet a bad driver just blocks from the apartment. Meh…. I'm ok, and the bike is too.

What happened as recorded by Tempe Police follows:

I was biking back home from my trip so I had a stuffed backpack full of gear and my camera in it's bag weighing me down so I wasn't exactly fast. After crossing Mill Ave. on 6th St., I continued and turned right (northbound) on Maple Ave. I saw a car start to pull out of a parking space right in front of me, but he stopped just as I passed and I yelled, "Watch out!" When it was clear, he pulled out and drove next to me on my left. He swerved violently into me, hitting me and my bike, throwing me to the ground. He drove off and turned right onto 5th St., but I couldn't see the plate number when I got up.

———

A few other people tried to stop him because they saw what happened, and they also made statements, but none looked for or saw the plate number.

Anyway, if you are that incredibly idiotic driver who got the license in a Cracker Jack box, please stop driving. If you can't control yourself while interacting with the rest of the people on the road, you will end up taking someone out. The police informed me that what you did is a felony with guaranteed time in prison. It's serious. So if you read this and you want to apologize, you can find how to contact me through the blurb about me in the corner. Also, I need new pants. These jeans are full of holes down the right side where I slid on the asphalt. Any moist healing environment stuff would be good too.

I'm not really mad at this guy, but I am rather annoyed and somewhat disillusioned about biking in "America's Most Bicycle Friendly City." I hope that at some  point, bicycle questions will show up on driver's license tests. I don't know if they do currently, but too many drivers act like they don't have to pay attention to bikes while on the road.

The followup

Last night, driving through LA on I 10, we had a blowout on Jake's van. It was the right rear tire, but it went fast and we were in the furthest left lane on the freeway, with no breaks to get to the right. So we were stuck in the median until a highway patrol officer saw us and blocked all traffic for us by driving in a zig-zag pattern across all lanes of the freeway. That also happened at the same time that AAA's tow truck got to us. The spare is just a doughnut, so as soon as places here open, we'll be getting new tires. The tow truck guy was really helpful, and instead of just going about his business when done, he stuck around to try to get a tire for us at 8:30 on a Sunday night. After an hour of tire searching, we decided to call it a night and find a motel. So we are in Fontana, California, at a reasonable hotel by I 15, waiting for places to open. We'll be back in Phoenix soon, especially since we've already taken care of the worst few hours of our driving.

Here's where it happened, more to come…

More to come later…


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Got into Santa Barbara

No, this isn't where we're at right now, but it will be one of tomorrow's visits (I hope). Of course, it is La Super-Rica, the best little place just about anywhere. Great authentic Mexican food and reasonable prices.




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Anyway, the drive to get here from Tempe was ultimately uneventful, we left around 11, hit LA from 4:30 to 6:00, and got to the hotel around 7:15. Tomorrow is our regatta, with a pretty light forecast.

Forecast here.

Last month's sailing in San Diego

Last month's photos are sitting comfortably on my hard drive, and I think it's been time to put them online. Our hosts were UC San Diego and the Mission Bay Yacht Club, and both were very hospitable, as usual. The weather was generally unseasonable, overcast, cool and rather foggy. Fortunately, the fog wore off to a thin veil and at time was completely gone. Since we are coming from Arizona, it was a bit different for us. There was very light wind, which we found was to our advantage.

Now for the photos:

This bell came from the U.S.S. Mission Bay, and now it hangs in front of the Mission Bay Yacht Club, in Mission Bay.

So we set sail, in the very light shifty wind-like fog. Oh yeah, most of the distance shots came through Andy's 80-400 mm VR lens. So objects are not anywhere near as close as they appear. Anyway, clicking on the larger photos up there will take you to the Flickr page for each one. From there, go explore. Also, look in the top of the sidebar for the photo slideshow, which always gets the freshest pics.

Happenings and Goings On

Not too many happenings actually, but there has been constant wind at the lake for the past couple weeks. Unfortunately, it's been an even 0.2-1.6 mph wind that comes consistently from any direction it pleases. None the less, I've gotten practice launching, sailing and drifting around TTL with a minimum of wind. Coming up this weekend is the regatta in Santa Barbara, where we will probably not face this kind of light air that we've been used to drifting through. So, between studying for that and trying to Blogger's layout tool to work not much has happened today.

EDIT:

Well, I've been trying to upload this to the interwebs, but that's just not happening. Meh.

Update

Just a quickie, to explain the new little thing in the sidebar. I won a free annual membership through ASU to use the zipcar service, and referring people gets credit for both myself and whoever joins in. Now, one must have zipcar in your area in order to use the service. It's like a second car, but cheaper, and you don't have to pay for gas or insurance. Plus, they've got cool cars in the fleet.

So, yeah, good stuff.