More Guiding Eyes

Miss Caitlyn visited us this past weekend. She is a doll baby! We loved having her, although she sure wore Ella out! Caitlyn has the basics down; she is fine with staying in her crate off and on during the day and all night; she knows the basic commands; she let us know when she wanted to go out. We worked on manners but clearly more work in indicated. Poor Ella got the brunt of it; she had her ears and tail pulled, her lips bitten, and she was rarely able to catch a nap. She was a trooper, though, and never fought back. She did hold Caitlyn down to the ground a couple of times. She actually laid her own head across Caitlyn's neck, forced her to the ground, and held her there. Caitlyn never complained or got upset; Ella would hold her until she calmed down.
This weekend, we will sit the older pup, Eric. Maybe he will pull Ella out of the funk she has been in since Caitlyn left!

Guiding Eyes for the Blind

We have just become involved in the Guiding Eyes for the Blind program. It is an organization that raises puppies to become guide dogs. I was doing a routine Internet search and came across it by accident. Imagine my surprise/delight to find out they had a training center just across the river from me!

They have several levels of volunteers; you can start a puppy (6 weeks to 8 weeks), raise a puppy (8 weeks to 18 months), be a puppy sitter, or work with whelping mothers. Of course, I want to raise a puppy. Virginia and I attended a training class (more on that later) and will be puppy-sitting a little darlin' named Caitlyn. We will have a home visit and then we will get a puppy! I can't wait!

At the training class, three new volunteers brought their "babies" to class with them. Two were yellow labs like in the above picture. (In fact, Virginia, who does a lot better at human socializing than I ever will, found out that this particular branch uses 80% labs; the others are German Shepherds or GSDs to you dog people.) The third was a Golden-Lab cross. Her name is Blanche and she was solid black. That would have surprised me except for the fact that I have seen black Labradoodles. Trivia time: for those of you who do not know, a Labradoodle is a cross between a Lab and a Poodle. The thought was to get that sweet, accepting Lab behavior with the Poodle's non-shedding qualities. Sounds great, but sometimes the worst parts of both breeds comes out. Patti has told me that her Poodles can be very strong-willed, as many intelligent breeds are. So you can imagine what it might be like, trying to raise a very strong in body and strong in spirit dog that will eat anything (worst trait of a Lab). At any rate, this little Glab (as I was told it was called) was a cutie. All three puppies were fearless. The instructor told us that they are bred for confidence. Makes sense, if the dog is literally going to act as someone's eyes.

In the class, we went over a few hand commands. I thought, I've got these down. Turns out that the hand command for "sit" is very specifc. All commands are done with an open palm. In "sit," you begin with your open palm down then flip your hand over so that the palm is facing up while saying "Sit." She did some instructing for us new folks (there were four or five of us there who are in training for puppies) like how to crate train (got it down) and how long to train (short bursts; these little guys truly are like babies) and how to baby-proof your home. I have always had it easy with Saints. They may be food-motivated, but I have never had one that was a big chewer. Cheryl says that Denver, the first Saint I ever met, was a big chewer, but none of the ones I had ever did that. My outdoor Saints were bad about digging holes. Ella doesn't do that, but then she is never outside long enough to dig.

The instructor's name is Cheryl L. Since my sister's name is Cheryl I figure I better use the initial. Cheryl L. conducted class while the puppies played. Every now and then, the trainers were to call the puppies out of play and reward them. I can see how very important this must be for a guide dog: you get to play, but when it's time to work, it's time to work.

Gee loved the puppies and got right down on the ground with them. Ok, yes, I did too. Who can resist puppy breath?

At the end of the class, Cheryl L. brought out the two labs she has been training. One of them, named King, actually made it all the way through training and was placed with a blind person. He developed hip displaysia and was released. Those of you who have read The Giver: in the GEB program, "released" means "released from the program and put up for adoption." So King is 4, well-trained and very happy. He just wanted people to scratch his butt. Then she brought out her Wild Child, named Eric. Eric is a year old and full of PnV. GEB dogs are not altered. If they don't make it as a GEB (over 60% do make it) then they may become police dogs (drug dogs, bomb dogs, etc.) or they are adopted out within the network. So here is Eric, raring to go. He was a very happy boy, and seeing the puppies was almost too much for him. I know why she brought Eric out; you could see it on the newbies' faces that some of them didn't realize those sweet little balls of fur rolling around could grow so large and strong. I knew it; I have seen it happen to my sweet little Saints between the third and fourth months.

Another piece of trivia: the GEB puppies are named after a letter of the alphabet. The first litter is the A litter, and all the puppies are named beginning with the letter A. The two yellow labs were from the same litter and were C puppies, the second time around the alphabet. Carlton (like Fresh Prince, you know?) was the little boy. His trainers are on their 6th GEB puppy, and you could tell it. Caitlyn's trainers are both teachers and this is their first puppy. What really cracked me up was that when they found out Virginia was 14 (someone thought she was my sister; I did have my sunglasses on at the time so I guess that helped) they totally ignored me and talked to Virginia about school. She was wearing her Beauty & The Beast t-shirt and that got some attention as well. Another woman, also a teacher, talked to her about her shirt and acting. Gee was in Hog Heaven.

If all goes well, we will be babysitting Caitlyn at the end of the month. We may even have our own puppy before August is out. Look for more pictures soon!

http://volunteer.guidingeyes.org/bin/homepage

Graduation

The graduates throw their mortarboards
Man, I am uber-emo about graduation. I had to sit in the nose-bleeds from being so late. Never drove before! Got to see all the guys as they walked, but only saw a few afterwards. It took me forever to get down to the ground, and by then, many had left. I saw quite a few, though, including Pounders (although not nearly as long as I would have liked) and Haynes and Sumler and KC and Hess and and Bo and RV and Kimmel and Jar and Myers...I also spent quite a bit of time unloading my emo-ness on Preston's family....but somehow I missed Maulden and Spradlin and Jor-Dog and Steve-o and Winkie and Gouch and Carlito and Roger and Slim Jim and even Bob for crying out loud...lots more I missed, and I may never see them again...MEZSH.

Lake Moreau 2

We went back to Lake Moreau today. It's close to the house and I wanted to try to find the waterfall.

Never found "the" waterfall, it cost me six bucks to get in, and I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. All in all, a good hike.

Apparently, weekends late in the day are not a good time to go, since the guard shack is manned. The six bucks is per car, so really not that bad. I was just miffed that I had to pay to hike. But by the time I went home, mapped a route, etc., I would spend more than that in gas. So it was worth it to just do the hike.

Another 45 degree angle hike. Well maybe not 45 degrees, but it sure felt like it. I still can't believe how bad the mosquitoes were. My hands and arms were sticky with blood by the end of the hike. One of the pictures above has two markers on it. One is the typical disks used here. The other is a splash of red. I believe that isn't a trail marker at all; it's where someone wiped the blood off their hands after being eaten alive by mosquitoes. I used to brag that mosquitoes never bother me. I won't be saying that again any time soon.

The view, which was so not great I didn't even bother to post a picture here, was blocked by trees. You couldn't see the lake, but you could see some mountains in Vermont. I knew my house was out there somewhere; I could see the Northway and I recognized a field I pass every day. Ella was happy. She got her walk in; that's pretty much all she cares about. Today was the first time she actually ate some of the trail mix I offered her. The mosquitoes left her alone; she has been debugged and is on heartworm prevention, so no problems there.

The Dog Whisperer

I was embarrassed a few weeks ago in Baltimore when we were at one of those dinners where we have to socialize. I don't do that well. A few 7&7's help, but they also boost my confidence, something I really don't need. One guy asked what I thought of Cesar, since the talk always gets to dogs or Star Trek with me. Rather than just admit I had never watched him, I explained my views on dogs. "That's what Cesar says," the guest told me. Oh great. Mark one up for Beej. I was surfing channels the other day and it happened to be on. I now watch him every chance I get, not just because some of his cases are hysterical but also I agree with him on a lot of things. He also has that elusive quality of Charisma that can't be purchased anywhere, not even Wally World. I've seen four or five episodes so far. He works with every breed of dog imaginable (and I think he owns most, as well) and has handled every problem I have ever seen and some I never knew existed. In one ep, a woman had "gotten her son" (read "herself") a chihuahua. She treated it like a baby and the damn thing was savage. As savage as those can be, anyway. Her son could not touch it or her without being attacked. I loved it when Cesar said to her, "You take the dog's side over your son?" It was awesome. I know a lot of Dog People don't have kids, and I used to be one of those people that believed that if a kid got bit, he deserved it, but common sense (and having kids) have changed my viewpoint. I am the Captain of the ship called Ella, and as I learned in Star Trek (I had to work it in there somewhere) a captain is responsible for everything that happens on the ship. EVERYTHING. So if my dog bites someone, it is my fault. There are some instances where that is not always true, but I believe that it usually is. In this case, this kid was just trying to pet the little yappy mutt. He was not being aggressive at all. You could tell the kid was scared to death. (The kid in question was 14.) Cesar almost walked away because when he disciplined the dog, the woman started to cry and told him no. But he stuck it out and showed the woman that just like kids, undisciplined dogs are horrible to be around. My problem was the other way. I had no problem disciplining the dog, but had trouble saying No to the kids. I know dogs act on instincts, but kids have thought, feeling, emotion, memory, etc., and one wrong word can scar.

Star Wars

I see that Star Wars has a new movie coming out this summer. Well, not a real movie; a CGI thing. Of course I will see it. That's one of the conditions of lifetime membership. Besides, John Williams provides the music, so it will at least sound phenomenal. And maybe Yoda will be a more believable fighter instead of looking ridiculous as he did against Dooku. I remember sitting in a packed theater as we all laughed during this serious battle. It was too funny not to laugh.

Math

As I hike, I sometimes do math. You know, like, what is my angle of elevation? Us geeks are like that. I could, of course, bring a pedometer and actually do the math, but when I am in the woods, I like to be as far from technology as I can. Someone told me there are a lot of osprey in Moreau park. What's an osprey? Some kind of bird, is all I know. I kept hearing birds, songs with which I am not familiar, and I wondered if that was them. I could Google it, but that cheapens it somehow. If someone tells me or shows me, that doesn't seem like cheating. I know, I know, I am psychotic. For some reason, the phrase "vacuously obvious" keeps coming to my mind. It was a favorite phrase of my gender bender professor from UCA. Shim said it all the time. (Shim is a pronoun that Gee and I made up to stand for gender benders. I won't share the one my dad uses...) I think that phrase is all I can remember of my college math. All the math I use now is related to high school. The most useful information I possess are the math standards; what they really mean, what each level is expected to know, what each level is capable of, that kind of thing. I'm going to a math conference in San Diego later this month. I am not thrilled at the thought of flying there from here, but I do enjoy a good math conference. I've been to a few.

Well, gotta get back to painting. Furniture arrives Tuesday. We might try Blue Mountain next...er wait, I'll be in Arkansas attending graduation next weekend. Guess it will be the weekend after that.

Lake Moreau

Wish I had my camera, but no, I left it at the office so I "borrowed" this picture from another website. I was utterly stunned at how much landscapes can change in two weeks. Apparently, it rained a lot here in Moreau while I was off in Rochester. Everything is green. Bright green. You know how the cars get covered with a yellow film in the spring? Well, here it is so thick you could make a snowball...er, pollenball out of it. It's funny how sometimes what surprises me most are the similarities.

Had a little trouble finding the trail, because it is in the middle of this tourist trap. It's not in my guidebook; I just saw the sign and said to Ella, "Wanna go for a hike?" She always says yes. The park has a big sandy beach with life guard towers and tons of camping spots. Full service bathrooms, too, although everything is buttoned up due to the fact that it is still "off season." It was a little early for a Sunday when we got there, around 9, and no one was around. So, I broke my rule of never letting Ella off her leash. Signs everywhere, I had just read Katz book about how he threw a ball for one of his labs onto a frozen pond and almost lost both his life and the dog's, but I still make a stupid mistake. I hadn't planned to (Oh that's great. Like anyone ever says, "Hey, I think I will make a stupid mistake today.") but there was no one around and this great big squirrel was teasing her, and well, you know. She was also wearing her prong collar and 6-foot leash, which I hate having on her in the woods, but I had forgotten the flexi. Add to that the fact that she has been in prison, er, I mean, a boarding kennel for two weeks and you get a measure of my state of mind. (Which reminds me, I knew nothing of the tornadoes until I got an e-mail from my dad stating, 'Don't worry; we're fine." I showed my colleagues the e-mail and one said, 'Great. Guilt and relief all in one e-mail.')
So after all this lead up, it's rather anti-climatic because nothing bad happened. Ella just went cracker dog. She ran and ran and ran, around this tree with the squirrel, in huge loops, her ears flopping in the breeze. I clucked to her once and she ignored me. I knew better than to make matters worse by yelling at her (thank you, Jon Katz) so I just hunkered down on the trail and waited for the storm to subside. After a few minutes, I decided the storm wasn't going to subside so I began to backtrack slowly, nonchalantly. I heard her before I saw her; running as hard as she could straight at me. She would have hit me in the middle if I hadn't seen her in time and ducked down. She still knocked me on my ass, but I got lots of cushion so that was no big deal. It was literally the first time she actually showed me she'd missed me. She'd been ignoring me since I picked her up and quite frankly, I was worried. So maybe cracker dog (aka The Zoomies in agility and obedience circles) is what she needed.
We'd already gone about a mile so I decided it was time to head back. As we joined the main trail, I saw a man with bright green pants on heading down the main trail away from us. Phew, I thought, got her leashed just in time. Then we met a couple with dogs. One was an Australian Cattle Dog and the other was a PRT. The dogs, not the people. A PRT is Parson Russell terrier, the "new" name of JRT which I think was changed years ago but still hasn't caught on yet with the general public.
Just about the time we made it to the parking area, we met up with Mr. Green Jeans again. I said, "Hey, is this thing a loop?" (I know; here's your sign.) He said it was, and asked if this was my first visit. We got to talking and he told me quite a bit about the trails of Lake Moreau (sorry; I keep thinking of the Island of Dr. Moreau, the one from the 70s with Burt Lancaster, Michael York, and Richard Basehart as the Sayer of the Law) and told me there is actually a very nice waterfall and how to get there. Gotta try that one soon before "season" opens and the beach makes it an undesirable place to be.

Another great hike for the record book, and one we will go to over and over again. I guess it will become my new Petit Jean.

I'd love to ramble on about work but a) I probably shouldn't and b) We go to publish in less than two weeks and I really want to keep my job. Suffice it to say that things are going well. I had to give a talk on gender equity both weekends (we saw two different groups of teachers) and I began each with my Arkansas Computer Literacy Exam, always a big hit. (See last blog if you aren't familiar with it.)

Hope you folks in AR survived the storm; I've heard nothing to the contrary so I will assume the best. Dad did send me a picture of Toad Suck Daze (can't wait to pass THAT around the office tomorrow) so looks like things are ok in the central region. My best to everyone; until next week!

Arkansas Computer Literacy Exam

MRWINNDERS
MRNOTWINNDERS
OSMR
CMICONS
LIBMRWINNDERS

Peer Pressure, the DMV, and Motorcycle Maintenance

Peer Pressure. It isn't just for secondary students any more.

We were on our way to Rochester for some meetings. I got to drive (yes, that is got to drive; I cannot stand to be in a vehicle that I am not driving...control freak, anyone?) and was driving at my typical speed limit - 5 mph (that's five miles an hour under the speed limit for you non math people) and my passengers were less than thrilled. "C'mon, BJ. Can't you at least go 61?" they whined. After half an hour, I relented: "Ok, guys, but if I get a speeding ticket, you're paying it."

Right.

Of course I got a ticket. It's my first ticket in 20 years. Did the gang jump to my rescue? Sort of. One passenger yelled at the cop as he was turning to leave: "C'mon, no warning?"

At this point, I was convinced I was going to jail. Luckily, he had gotten his quota and he kept walking.

So, kids, don't give in to peer pressure. You are the one who has to pay the fiddler.

The DMV

I really wanted to get that last name problem cleared up. The best way to do that was to get my new driver's license. I think the way they interview people for DMV jobs is they treat them as badly as possible. Anyone who sticks around gets the job. All I know is, they are in a very bad mood. I am not sure, but I suspect they don't like anyone with an accent.

They wouldn't let me get my license. Not with my real name, anyway. I was told I didn't have permission on the divorce decree. PERMISSION?!? WTF?!? It is the first time in my memory that I have yelled at a CSR in public. I yelled at her. No satisfaction, though. I called Arkansas, thinking that I would just get my name changed down there then transfer it. No dice. Looks like a lawyer is about to make some money. So a warning, ladies. Consider getting that hypenated name, or at least remember this should you ever get divorced. I assume the lawyer could have written that in.

Motorcycle Maintenance

When I was a student at AGS (yes, they actually had AGS way back then) we were required to read the book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I only remember one point from the book. The guy was talking about being out in the world, and how people in cars are watching the world go by, as if watching a television set. Your window, he said, is the screen. If you are on a motorcycle, though, you are no longer merely watching; you are a part of it. That is how I feel about hiking. When you're hiking, you're a part of it. You're touching the world.

Mt Hadley and Alabama

We got up early this morning to hike Mount Hadley. It is about 25 miles west of here. My guide book says that the trail head is hard to find. It took me an hour and half, so I guess that's true. Of course, it would have helped if I had actually followed her directions. I like to think I have this sixth sense that lets me know where the trail head is. As a result, I sometimes wind up hiking a trail not in the guide book. Just ask my kids; we've been 'lost' numerous times. It doesn't bother me, getting lost in the Rotarran. Getting lost on the trail would suck, though. Like last week, when I got all turned around because some moron had stolen the trail markers. Why do people do that? Why do they steal the cock a-doody trail markers? Oh wait, someone told me the answer to this one recently....Teen Angst.
Anyway, we found the trail head and signed in. I never signed in while hiking in Arkansas. The reasons are twofold: usually, I had told someone where was I going so that if I didn't turn up, they would know where to look. Also, I usually hiked Pettit Jean or Pinnacle, since they were the only two good trails that weren't more than 2 hours from home. Ok, three fold. I don't think I ever found pencils at the trail heads. Here, there are always pencils.
It continues to amaze me, how close these great trails are to my house. We had left the house at 6:45 am, the temp standing at 45 degrees. We got to the trail head at 8:15 and I think it was a bit cooler. There was still snow on the ground up there. Wow. It was in the high 80s on Saturday, but there is still snow this close to my house.
I let Ella off her leash, a huge no-no but there was no other idiot awake at that hour. Ended up I didn't have to leash her until after we reached the summit. The trail was very easy to follow but man, was it steep! My guide book gives it a rating of 2 out of 5 for difficulty. In other words, little kids can do this hike. Great. That pumped up the confidence as I stopped for the umpteenth time to catch my breath.
At the top of Mt. Hadley is a fire tower. You mean someone didn't just haul wood up this thing, they hauled steel?!? There was also a cabin, so maybe there is a back road to the top that's on state land.
We got up there and I looked up at the top of the tower. I was reminded of looking at the top of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. And we wonder why the locals call us Flatlanders. Anyway, I started up the steps, thinking about my sister who is deathly afraid of heights. This fire tower had no side rails; if you fell, you fell. I got about halfway up when I heard Ella crying. I figured she was just being a spoiled brat and was mad that I left her alone down there. But it was as good an excuse as any, so I started back down. Then I saw Ella in the middle of the first flight of stairs, all four feet dug in, shaking all over. She was scared to death. I had to laugh a little, but then I saw that she could still fall so I sat at the top of the flight and grabbed her by the collar. That gave her enough confidence to get to me and turn around. Once back down, I took some pictures. You can see forever up there, although it isn't too pretty right now. I have heard that the fall views are unbelievable. You can see Great Sacandaga Lake and Lake George from the 2700' summit. The guide book says you can also play "Name that peak," and then she proceeds to do so: West, Baldhead, Moose, Crane, Bearpen, Blue, Snowy, Nippletop (I swear I am just copying these out of the guide book), Dix, and Pharaoh Mountains are just a few of the ones you can see.
Ella stood up and began growling, so I knew a dog was coming. I put her leash on her and we started down. Coming up the trail was the kid with the terrier that we had seen last week. We both laughed at the coincidence. His tiny terrier wanted to play with Ella but I was afraid she might get too crazy.
The kid said his terrier usually jumped on big dogs and that they wouldn't put him in his place. The little terrier's name is Tiger. He had tortoise-shell markings. I'll probably never know the kid's name, although I could easily have found out by looking at the sign-in book. Just didn't think about it. I had to sign out, too.So we had a good hike but it wore us both out.

Alabama
We went to Alabama's Redstone Armory last week. We checked into the hotel and got in the elevator at the same time as one of the employees. "Y'all doing all right?" he asked. "Sure are," I replied, "how about y'all?" After he got off the elevator, Sam said, "Well you just fit right in, don't you?"
On Friday morning, a Colonel something or other met us at the hotel. When he came over to shake hands, the first thing I noticed was his jump pin. We got the pleasantries out of the way and then we walked over to our car to put our stuff in it. He had already told us: no cameras, no laptops, no cell phones, no jump drives. As we de-technologized ourselves, I mentioned the jump pin. The guys didn't know what I was talking about. Apparently, they were not military brats as I had been. On the way out to the armory, I said, "So Colonel, I noticed you have a jump pin. How many jumps did you make?" He said, "I'm a Cherry Jumper. I only got to do 5 jumps."
"Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane?" I asked. The guys laughed and Da Boss said, "Evidently you didn't hear him say he only got to make 5 jumps." Men. They are completely nuts.
We showed our ids at the guard shack, as I knew we would have to, then we had to surrender them when we got to the building. I've been on bases before, but this was a little weird. We couldn't go anywhere - and I do mean anywhere - without escort. Da Boss leaned over and said, "So what do you think they would do if I just wandered into one of these offices?" I told him, "You'd probably find yourself eating rug within 10 seconds." The Colonel had grey hair and could whip my butt easily. I wasn't going to give him any trouble at all.
They had a room set up for us and gave us a little presentation. The speaker, a native Alabaman, was talking when I looked over at Sam. I swear, I don't think he understood a word. I leaned over and whispered, "Hey Chief or Sir, I will translate for you later." I've started calling him that since his promotion last week. He didn't like it when I used the title, as in, "Yo, Director, so what time are we meeting this afternoon?" So I started calling him Chief or Sir. From the 70s tv show Hec Ramsey.
After the little presentation, we got to go Upstairs. I guess Upstairs is a big deal, the way they practically whispered the word. Now I know why.
I figure I am safe to talk about these things for two reasons: 1)an internet search found it easily and 2)everything we saw had a huge "Unclassified" sticker on it.My favorite room was Robotics. I actually got to operate a TALON. How cool is that? The "remote" is a 45-lb suitcase. They are working to make that smaller. One of the R&D items they were using was a PSP game. The guy held it up and I said, "PSP!" Everyone in the group turned around and looked at me. Jeez, doesn't anybody play video games? Anyway, they said one of the problems with the PSP is that the screen is very hard to see in direct sunlight. I guess that would be a problem in Iraq. The TALON's remote had to be completely sealed to protect it from the sand and I assume bullet proof as well. The war has never been closer to me than it was in that room. Up until then, it was just something they talked about on the news all the time. You can see a video of a TALON that was destroyed in Iraq here:http://www.foster-miller.com/lemming.htm
The TALON has several joints, a gripper, and a couple of cameras. When they asked for volunteers to operate it, I was the only one that moved. After I started playing, Da Boss came over and started playing with it. We had it walk over to a filing cabinet and were in the process of trying to figure out how to get the gripper to open in when one of the operators walked over. He said, "It takes weeks to get good at it. Our guys usually ram it into walls and rip doors off their hinges." He sped the motor up for us so we could play with the gripper. I got bored with that and put it back into movement mode. I forgot the motor was sped up. It shot out a few feet when I touched the button. "It can chase you down," the operator said. We went into another room where they had a simulator set up. Evidently, they have traveling simulators like this all over the country. I had never seen one. Three walls were movie screens and an Army vehicle was in the middle. It was sort of like a jeep, but there was a gun on top of it. Da Boss operated the gun while Chief or Sir grabbed another weapon and they shot at some bad guys. When they were finished playing, I looked at some of the weapons up close. They were real. I mean really real. They had been altered to shoot laser beams instead of bullets, but other than that they were the genuine article. One gun had an air compressor attached to it. The guys took turns then handed it to me. Stupid me, I put it up to my shoulder and fired. Now I know why it had an air compressor attached to it. It kicked like a real gun. I jumped out of my skin and the guys laughed.
Later, we were standing around chatting when I mentioned something about IED. The Colonel's eyebrows raised and I said, "Not your kind of IED, Colonel."
That was the first time I had been to Huntsville and didn't go to space camp. I never even knew that place existed.Well, I rambled on a lot today but there will be no posting for the next two weeks. The MTs are coming to Rochester and we will be over there. Ella has to stay with a boarder. Look for my next entry on the weekend of May 10.

Mount Buck

What a day for a hike! Weather forecasters said it would be a wet weekend, but thank goodness, they were wrong!

We drove out highway 9 only 15 miles from home to get to the trailhead. The trail was 3.3 miles to the peak with an elevation change of 2000 ft. (Yes, I can make that into a math problem. Simple geometry.) It was much tougher than anything I have hiked before. We had to cross creeks several times, and my Sorels are not tall enough. When we reached the summit, I took the boots and socks off and laid them out to dry while I took in the view.

We kept hearing noises that were quite bothersome. They were very loud at the trailhead, which wasn't too bad, but once we were out in the middle of the woods, they were quite creepy. If you have seen TNG's Season Six episode Schisms, then you would know exactly the sound I heard. It was a bunch of fast clicks, out of sync with one another. Very creepy out on the trail. I finally decided that they were a bunch of Yankee frogs that really do not know the proper way to predict rain. They need to go south for a while; Arkansas frogs sound pretty when they sing. These guys just scared the daylights out of me.

I didn't see a lot of wildlife this trip. Just several chipmunks and a few woodpeckers. I tried to make myself see like Brian Robeson (of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet and its many sequels) to see the wildlife I know is out there.

Speaking of Paulsen, thank you Daltons for introducing me to him. They bought me the book Harris & Me. It is one of the funniest books I have read. If you've never read it, let me just tell you that there is a chapter called Harris Fries His Business and they ain't talking about a lemonade stand.

For you dog lovers, if you are looking for a book to read, I highly recommend Paulsen's Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers. It only has like 70 pages in it, and each one is a pure delight.

Anyway, back on the trail...

A couple of years ago, Brad and I went to Utah to attend training. We call it a boot camp, but it's only two weeks long, so how bad could it be? :) There is a weekend between where Brad and I went sightseeing. We stopped to take a little walk and Brad saw some elk or deer up on a hill. I would never have seen them if he hadn't pointed them out. That ability is one I want. Maybe only men have it....more research is clearly indicated...

It took 7 hours for me to make that hike. Yes, we stopped often, and sometimes it was to let people pass. There was a school bus of kids there, high schoolers, and they were as polite and kind as they could be. Maybe it was the presence of Ella, or maybe they were just that kind of kids. It reminded me of a hike I took with Patti Benight with her science group one year. We went to a part of Pinnacle that I had never seen. Some of the kids had obviously never hiked before. I saw open-toed sandals, and even flip-flops (the kind you wear on your feet, not the electronics). Several did not pack water. The kids I saw yesterday all looked like seasoned hikers: good footwear, packs with water bottles, head cover. The whole nine yards.

So it was an uneventful hike, but the views were the best. See more pictures here:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Aat3DZu2cOGL3o&notag=1

The drive, now, was a little different. Glens Falls and South Glens Falls are in different counties. They are separated by the Hudson River. Glens Falls has these lovely things that folks up here call "roundabouts." Ever see European Vacation with Chevy Chase? Remember how he drives around that traffic circle for hours? ("Look kids, it's Big Ben!") That is a roundabout. I pretty much hate them and wish they did not exist. There are none in my town, but every town south of me has them. I am starting to get the hang of them, though. That is, I avoid them.

Ella went to the vet yesterday. Just wanted to shake hands and meet the guy and hope he was better than what I had down south. He is much better. First, Ella ran right to him and gave him kisses. That is the very first time I have ever seen her do that with someone she didn't know well. He told me she is the friendliest Saint he has ever met. And he kept remarking about how beautiful she is. Yes, sucking up is good for business.

It's raining today, so I guess I will work on my robot. Tom, our computer guru, found a kit that included a remote. He threw away the remote, dissected the robot, then set about wiring and programming it. He then handed it to me to write lessons around. Being the type of learner I am, I dissected the robot and am starting all over again. The wiring was easy, once I remembered that black is NEGATIVE and red is POSITIVE (exactly the opposite of what we taught in 7th grade math) and the programming, well, you know, programming is programming. If you've written one program the rest are easy. The hard part is the math: how far can the robot move before he rips his arm off? Stuff like that.

We go to Alabama this week (I tole 'em and I tole 'em: you don't go South in tornado season. But did they listen?) for some reason that I can't disclose. All the schools up here are on spring break so all the good dog kennels are full. I finally found one that is only a mile from work. I just hope Ella is ok. Remember (those of you who have kids) when your kids were little and you put them in day care? You just wanted them to survive until they could talk. Then they could tell you what was really going on. She'll be fine.

Next week's hike is going to be Hadley Mountain.

Our First Hike - Sunday, April 6

Wow, what a great day for a hike! We got up and it was about 35 degrees out. I had my requisite two cups of coffee and we left around 9 this morning. Our first stop was Target in Queensbury, to stock up on hiking equipment. I bought some water, trail mix for me, and chicken strips for Ella. Then I went to Dick's Sporting Goods (seems like everywhere I look up here, I meet a Dick) and bought myself a pair of Sorels. I chose Sorels mostly due to Nostalgia, since they are what Cheryl wore 30 years ago in Colorado when she went hiking.

We had planned to go to Buck Mountain, but due to driver error we ended up at Pilot Knob Preserve instead. No big deal; a hike is a hike is a hike, especially if you do not know the area at all. This was a good starter trail anyway, only about 3 miles round trip.

At the trail head, there was very little snow but a lot of deer scat. First indication that Ella is NOT a lab: she did not show any interest in ingesting or rolling in said scat.

The trail went straight up. Luckily, it was clearly marked with 3" in diameter orange medallions. I say "luckily" because the trail soon became snow covered and I was thankful I had bought the Sorels. Had it not been for the trail markers, I would have been hopelessly lost.

I should point out that my dog has been over-trained. It is true. I worked and worked to get a good, leash-trained dog, and what happened? I lost my ride up the mountain. Every time the leash went taut (I had her on a 20-foot flexi) she would sit down. If I pulled REALLY hard, she would immediately run back to me, run around me, and sit down. In obedience, we call that a Finish, and they really SUCK on the hiking trail. I had on my new Eddie Bauer back pack, loaded with goodies. Every time Ella circled me, the flexi got tangled in it. I found myself doing "spin outs." A "spin out" is a drama term that indicates the action you take when doing a multi-character piece and have to change characters. You spin in a circle to become a new person. After this hike, I am very schizophrenic.

We did not see any people on our way up the mountain (I think we were still on Buck Mountain, just not at the summit part). There were waterfalls everywhere, which meant that I did not have to pack the 6 16-ounce bottles of water for Ella. Oh well. At the top of our hike, there was a pavilion. Yes, somebody actually hauled a butt-load of lumber up that mountain to build a pavilion on which I could take a break. I sure needed it by then. But oh the view. The pavilion sits in an open space, not unlike the top of Mt. Pinnacle, and you can see forever. Lake George stretches out before you. It was like a Currier and Ives postcard, since the lake is still frozen. Mountains reach up on all sides. To the north, I saw a snow-covered summit that I assume is in the Lake Placid area. More mountains to the west have snow on them, but are not completely covered. I am still mad at myself for leaving my camera at the office.

After a quick snack, we started on another trail. We went about halfway down when I realized we were going down and I would have to go back up. So we turned around and took another short break to enjoy the view.

As we started back down the trail toward the parking area, Ella realized that I wanted her to pull. Why she didn't realize this on the way up, I will never know. Have you ever tried to walk down a mountain with a 115-pound dog pulling you? It is not a pleasant experience. Every few feet, the line would get taut and I would have to do another spin out.

Then we saw The Other Dog coming. I saw them way down the trail below us, so I pulled Ella off the trail a few yards, found a good rock, and put her in a Down Stay. Ha! What a laugh! It should be called a Down Pause Until The Time Is Right. Anyway, the people with The Other Dog reached us and Ella broke her Down Stay. I had a hold of her collar so she wasn't going anywhere, but I saw the looks on those people's faces. They clearly read "Cujo is here and he is going to eat us!" I smiled and pulled on Ella's collar to try to coax her back into a down stay, but she had puffed herself all up and had added her bass drum bark just for good measure. The people practically ran up the trail, muttering something. Hey, I wanted to tell them, she's a nice dog! No, really! Even if she had gotten loose, that small black lab-mix they had would have scared her to death. Just ask Eileen, who owns small, brown Summer who once put Ella in her place for trying to steal cheese.

After the people left, I stood to leave and Ella pulled hard, thinking I had signaled, "Ok, go get them." I ended up on my butt and slid about thirty yards. I was muddy and wet and had snow in my pants. It was clearly time to go home.

After another ten minutes or so, I had calmed down some and let down my guard when a very fast chipmunk ran across our feet. "Leave it!" I growled, and something in my voice worked, because Ella took a seat and waited for me to start moving again.

You know, there is a huge difference between hiking in Arkansas and hiking in the Adirondacks. It isn't the steepness; Pinnacle and Petit Jean have spots equally as steep, and Pinnacle has the rock slide. No, it's all about my friend, the snow. We reached a spot in the trail that was completely ice covered (maybe there was snow under there somewhere). Hm. I didn't remember that on that way up. Oh well, I just started down. I felt myself begin to fall and remembered, if you start to fall, sit down. Guess what! That doesn't work too well on ice, especially if you have on rubber-bottomed boots! Ella chose that moment to go "cracker dog" and took off at top speed. I was basically down hill skiing on my boots. The leash jerked out of my hand and I fell over on my face. Nothing broken. I called, and much to my surprise, Ella was back with me in a flash.

We ended our hike and got back in the car. For fun, I drove on down to find the Buck Mountain trail. It was three miles on down the road. That's where we are headed next week. Yes, I actually want to go again.

"Cracker dog" is a phrase I picked up from reading James Herriot. He used it to describe one of his patients, a Pekingese named Tricki Woo.

This hike wore Ella completely out. She is stretched across my bed, snoring.

What a Week - Sunday, March 30

Our first week in New York has been very educational, exciting, and exhausting.

We (that's Ella and I) arrived Easter Sunday around 6:30 in the morning, having driven all night from Harrisburg, PA. After a quick nap, we went for a walk around the neighborhood.

There is this stuff called snow that I thought I understood. I used to think that those Yankees thought we didn't understand but by golly, we get a good snow about once a decade so heck yes, I knew about snow.

Turns out, I was wrong.

That very first hour in New York, I learned a lot about snow. Albany is one of the least snowy areas of the state. I actually live in the Adirondacks, and we get more snow than they do. Not a ton more, but more. They get two to three big dumps each winter, each one consisting of one to two feet. People snow blow their driveways and the city plows. This snow is dumped into their yards and on the edge of the street. It doesn't get below 25, so it just stays there, not melting. (At least, not much.) Then they get another dump and more snow is added. That means there are these mountains of snow in each person's yard and all along the street.

The parking lots are full of these snowy mounds. As we walked around, I saw Christmas decorations that could not be removed. They were either too deep in snow or frozen to the ground. This is a new concept for me. The weather warmed into the 40s a couple of times this week. When that happened, some of the snow melted. Then it would refreeze at night. At one point, there was a strip across my back yard where I actually saw grass. Then Friday morning, we got around 5 inches of snow. The temp is currently around 20 degrees, so the snow is still there.

Driving in snow was a new experience. Everyone at the office laughed when I made that comment. They said that driving in 5 inches of snow is not driving in snow. Well, if you are a teacher and you live in Arkansas, you don't drive in snow. Period. Friday morning, I was heading to the office at about 30 miles an hour on the Northway (that's what they call I-87). I was following another car and staying in his tracks. After the first ten miles, I got brave and decided I could go faster, so I should pass. By this time, the snow was really coming down. The plows hadn't gotten out yet (it was earlier than I usually leave because we had guests at the office; more on that later) and the snow between lanes was a couple of inches deep. The speed lane was completely covered. Ever go water skiing and jump the wake? That is what this felt like. I slid back over to the slow lane and stayed there until I got to Saratoga Springs where the traffic picked up and the lanes were in good shape.

Ella loves the snow. Every time we go outside, she acts as though she's never seen it before and she goes nuts. She eats it, rolls in it, throws it in the air, just basically has a ball.

Work was interesting this week. I am currently writing the new CIM curriculum (Computer Integrated Manufacturing, for you non-PLTW folks.) We host the Master Teachers next month and I am bound and determined to have it finished by then. Our publish deadline is May 15, but I want it done for the MTs. Anyway, writing came to a screeching halt when our visitors arrived. They were the GTT (Gateway to Technology, our middle school program) Master Teachers. We are going to re-write their curriculum next year and are starting the process early. Middle school teachers are a very different group of people. You have to be, if you teach middle school. I have seen near fistfights break out at MT meetings, but the Gateway folks are all about fun and chatting. They were in the office all day Friday and half the day Saturday. Life returns to normal on Monday and I can return to the unit on which I am currently working, that of Robotics. What a fun unit it has been. I started with a history lesson, worked into a lesson on Human vs. Robotic Labor and am about to start on a project where the kids build their own robot. It reminds me a lot of the project in the movie "21." (If you haven't seen it, go see it. If you read the book, just tell yourself the two aren't related.) Now that I brought that up, I have to give my one and only complaint about the movie (aside from the fact that it is NOT the book). The mathematics in it is pathetically weak for a supposed senior class at MIT. Teaching such a class the Game Show problem should have been an embarrassment to Kevin Spacey, but maybe the man isn't a math geek. At least two of the problems he covers I did in my sophomore year at UCA. And this is a senior class at MIT?!?
Anyway, I also learned about wealth. People who have wealth are very different from the rest of us. I was invited to a party at the Veep's house (not RG; the other one) and got to see some wealth. This man owns a house in heaven. At least, it looked like heaven to me. It sits on top of a very tall hill. He has huge windows that show off the view. Out one set of windows, you can see Vermont. Another window, and there is Lake Placid. Another shows off the Catskills. During dinner, I saw the largest herd of deer I have ever seen (30+) feeding on a neighboring hill. The binoculars showed that the deer were joined by several wild turkeys. I'm telling you, the man lives in heaven. Too bad he's married to Martha Stewart. Or at least that is who she reminds me of, in every way. She got onto me at supper because I wanted to sit at one table that didn't have a place setting. I just grabbed a place setting from a different table but that was a HUGE no-no because then it didn't match. Ok. Her husband has an enormous closet that not only is bigger than my first apartment, but it also has a washer/dryer set separate from the house's. Wealth.

We went to Wal-Mart several times this week (I was joined by my daughter Virginia and niece Rebecca). On one visit, we were really laying the accent on, just to see how they would react. People in neighboring isles turned and stared. Our cashier and bag boy were suddenly all smiles and started spelling words out. Then the cashier asked, "Do they have Wal-Marts in Arkansas?" I do not know how, but none of us fell to the floor laughing. We just kept the accent going and said, "Yup. It's even where it started." Then we got to talking about bugs and asked if they had chiggers. The bag boy looked at us as if to say, "What did you just call me?"

Other fun New York facts:
- Speed limit signs are just a suggestion. Keep it at 80 and you will be ok.
- If you are going to talk on your cell phone while driving, put it on speaker and lay it on the seat.
- Everyone says they are Catholic but no one goes to church.
- Everyone claims that THEIR city has the best Italian restaurant around.
- If the restaurant you choose does not serve alcohol (and if not, it isn't Italian) then it is OK to BYOB.
- If they say they are picking you up at 7:30, be early, because they mean it.
- Coke is called Soda.
- No, you cannot borrow a snow blower. Buy your own. But anyone will loan you their skis.
- You can keep your thermostat set at 60 when you are home. If it is 15 degrees outside, 60 feels like a heat wave.
- Every four-year-old can ice skate better than me and most play hockey as well. Many play lacrosse as well, which I just saw for the first time yesterday.