of our move.  Our plan is to have everything pack, loaded and moved over to Friday Harbor by the end of today.  And to take a ton of junk/garbage to the transfer station to be delivered to some place on the mainland.  What a deal.

I am so ready for this move to finally be over, much like an expectant father waiting for triplets to be born.  We were going to catch the 5:25 am boat over to Orcas and back on the 12:30 boat, but we came to our senses and will be on the 8:45 and back on the 4:45. 

Next Tuesday, the 5th, I will be moving Sarah over to Bellingham with most of her stuff to begin her life of being on her own.  The good thing about going to Bellingham is the Mongolian Grill which serves some tasty chow.

I feel like I should have a pair of cover-alls, faded dark blue, with ACME MOVERS on the back and the name "Bud" stitched on the front - over the left chest.  Samantha has her over-alls on and is very equipped and ready for this move today. 

Today is also her birthday and it would be most inappropriate if I wrote her age here, but I wouldn't do that, but I could hint that it's some kind of a mile-stone along the road of life.  Not to be confused with the mile-stones that includes obtaining ones drivers license, voting, drinking or being able to enter a strip club.  And not where AARP will start sending enrollement forms, but somewhere in between. 

PABS

You will start noticing PABS at the end of each of my postings.  This stands for Posting Approved By Samantha.  Since I write about home and stuff that goes on at home, she reads the post before posting to make sure that the content would not embarrass or humiliate anyone at home.  If you don't see PABS she didn't look it over before hand.

Here is an example.   If I should say someone is lazy and messy, which I would never do, she would delete that out.  Protecting against any possible hurt feelings.  Her acts are not censorship, but more so to ensure that I am not making a big butt out of myself.  Sometimes I don't have a clue and she provides me with the clue.

Remove hanging wind chimes outside of bedroom window before another breezy night.

When we lived on top of the Mother of All Hills we did not watch TV.  We couldn't get good TV receiption, even though we lived some five miles up this hill I have spoken about.  Now, if one of the girls wore their ear rings which looked more like basketball hoopes than jewery, and stood on one leg and leaned against the wall behind the TV, then we could get some Canadian TV, nothing US.  The picture wasn't all that great, but it was TV.  The programming was less then desireable.  We chose to do Netflix, you know where you receive DVDs in the mail to watch and then you send them back.  Since we lived ten miles from the video store and since that ten miles was in the wrong direction we were spending a small fortune in late fees.  I go to the Post Office once a day and the video store, well not often enough.  Netflix made sense to us and worked for us as well. 

Now that we live on a small hill overlooking Friday Harbor we have cable with it's 9 million channels.  How many channels does a human being really need to have access to?  In my book I could live on two or three channels as long as those channels had science fiction and a couple of crime solving shows like CSI.  Maybe one or two of those new hosptial shows like House MD or Gray's Antomy.  I could live with those.  Now I have seen the Lost series on DVD so I guess I would need to have a channel with that on.  Come to think about it I would need a channel with reruns of Gilligan's Island and Batman - the TV series from the 60's.  Because I am one who is interested in world affairs I would need CNN, but not Fox.  I suppose  an old movies channel would be good and educational for the girls. 

Tonight the girls watched some teenage drama with young actors being cool and worried about what their friends were doing in there lives.  I couldn't watch that teenage drama stuff so I went out for a run out Turn Point and back.  As I think about it Teenage Drama shows are the best TV for me because it gets my butt out the door and I can get a run in.  Very cool.

PABS

Friday.  One of the things that I began to notice during the day Friday was the little prickly sensations going up my back, which is an indicator of me coming down with the flu or a bad cold.  Not a good way to be feeling on the eve of Moving Day.  By the time we arrived home from work I was extremely exhausted and very warm.  Samantha determined that I had a fever.  Then I suffered from the chills and felt like crap.  I went to sleep, hoping I would feel better when I woke up and Saturday morning I felt better.

Saturday.   After getting the day started by coffee I moved over to pick-up a packed box and strained my lower back.  This first day of moving was not going to be fun.  Add to the fact that the U-haul truck we were going to use was not available.  We spent the morning, packing and loading our beds in the Rock Island Van as well as boxes in the X-Terra and headed down the Mother of All Hills to make the 12:30 ferry over the Friday Harbor.  Both vehicles were filled to the brim.  After arriving in Friday Harbor we unloaded the beds and boxes.  I called M&W Autos, here in Friday Harbor, and they had a fourteen foot mover that had come back a day early.  Yea!!!  We arranged for the moving van, had dinner and then went to the movies and watch "Snakes on the Plane" or "How Many Times Can Clark Jump In A Movie".  I only jumped a few times, well more than a few times to be honest.  After the movie we headed home for a restful night of snake dreams.  We must have walked by a dozen snakes on the way home.

Sunday.  Up at 4:15.  Yes, 4:15 in the freaking morning.  Ate some chow, drank some joe and caught the 5:25 boat over to Orcas.  Arrived on Orcas and headed to the house to begin the moving process all over again.  Sarah had stayed on Orcas to get her gear ready and was asleep when we arrived.  We packed both the moving van and the Rock Island Van - thank you very much Mike Greene for allowing us to use this van - to the brim, again, and headed off to catch the 12:30 boat back to Orcas.  The four of us slept on the boat and upon arriving back at home began the task of unloading every thing.  The sad part is we STILL have stuff to pack and load back at the house.  We ran out of boxes and room and ended up leaving stuff.  This move is beginning to sound like a horror movie.  It could be called "Stuff on the Moving Van" or "Moving Trek".

Now, here is our plan.  Samantha and I will go back on Thursday on the 5:25 ferry, finish packing and loading all of our remaining stuff and head back to Friday Harbor on the 12:30 and unload the crap.  How much stuff can four people and one dog have?  I feel like we could clothe and furnish a small third world country.  It's amazing, simply amazing.

On a positive note.  Our new house in Friday House is really nice.  The girls took the lead in setting up the living room, which looks good.  Things are looking up, making all this hassel, frustration and fear of snakes all worth while.

Stay tuned.

PABS

and some day the bear eats you.  That is how I am feeling tonight.  This has been a busy week for me at work and at home.  Jen, Samantha and I have been doing cleaning at our new house and painting Jen's bedroom as well.  On those days where we stay late at Friday Harbor and take the 10 PM boat back to Orcas our day goes like this:

5:15 am  Wake-up and, Buddha willing, get out of bed and take a shower.  With one shower for four people it's best to be the first one in the stall.  If one likes hot water or even luke-warm water, that is.
6:00 am Start getting the three other people up and watch the show as they position themselves for the shower.
7:00 am Leave the house and drive to the ferry landing some 8 miles away.
7:20 am Purchase coffee and tea.  Maybe a scone or muffin or banana.  Never the bacon, cheese croissant.  Never.
7:35 am Ferry leaves the dock, hopefully we are all on the boat.
8:20 am Walk off the ferry boat and walk across town to our various works, except Sarah who works across the street from the ferry landing.
12:30 pm Lunch time
5:00 Work over.  Play the theme song to the "Flintstones" cartoon show
5:30 pm Run for 45 minutes with out having to curse the Mother of All Hills (See, there is a Buddha!)
6:30 pm Paint, clean etc at new house.
9:00 pm Drive and wait for ferry to arrive and load.
10:00 pm Ferry leaves the dock for Orcas.  Hopefully we didn't fall asleep in the car waiting for the boat.
10:35 pm Arrive on Orcas.  Wake-up.  Samantha will drive us home
11:00 pm Fall into bed, counting many blessings and fall to sleep.

5:15 am  Repeat

Our plan is to have everything ready so we can make the move over to Friday Harbor this weekend.  May the blessing of the Buddha be on us.

I posted this morning that Jen was going to school on Orcas.  She informed me that by flipping a coin for ten different times that the toss said Friday Harbor.  So, now, she will be attending school on San Juan Island at Friday Harbor High School.  No early ferries for her.

My buddy, Ian Byington, has posted an article, results and photos from The Loop run this past weekend.

Ian is a web designer here on San Juan Island and does our www.sanjuanislandmarathon.com page.

Thanks Ian!!

Here is his link:  http://www.sanjuanupdate.com/

Our work day commute is almost over.  Beginning on September 1 we will be living on San Juan Island, right in town, about a five or ten minute walk from downtown.  If we plan it right, we could be to Kings, purchase a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Ice cream, and be back home by the end of the commercial break.  Not that we would actually do something like that, but knowing we could presents all sorts of opportunities.

 As far as schooling goes for Jen, it would appear today that she has made the choice to attend school on Orcas.  We spent some time exploring the high school in Friday Harbor – we actually met the new principle and talked to her about the various class offerings – but Jen feels that being with her friends is more important to her.  She will get up at the crack of dawn, get herself ready, walk down and take the ferry over to Orcas, catch the school bus, attend school, catch the school bus and then the ferry back to Friday Harbor and then walk home.  At least she will have study time on the boat coming and going.

 Sarah informed us on Sunday night that she is moving to Bellingham with some of her friends to find work and live on her own.  Her larger dream is to move down to Texas, which she plans to do by year end.  Sarah and her group of friends have a rental apartment just south of Western’s campus.  She will be moving over there on September 5^th.

 I remember when I left home.  I graduated on a Sunday and I moved down to Salt Lake City from Worland the very next day.  I think I had $100 in my pocket, if I was lucky, but those days one could purchase a gallon of gas for .32 cents per gallon.  The local fast food chain in the Salt Lake area, Dees, sold hamburger for .15 cents.  My hourly wage at a book wholesaler was $1.70 and I thought I was making some pretty good dough.  There were times that my after work activities took most of my money and paying rent was a challenge.  I found it amazing all the different types of dishes one could make with pasta and a bottle of ketchup. 

 Not having the commute back and forth to and from Orcas will give us between 3 to 4 hours of time per day to go and run, relax, cook and all sorts of fun stuff.  We will be able to sleep in until 7 without the stress of missing the ferry and we can linger after work with friends without missing the boat home.

 The present chore we are doing is painting Jen’s bedroom at the new rental.  She has chosen Tulip Red for the walls and white ceiling and trim.  Her room is starting to look like a Victoria’s Secret store.  Oh joy.   Jen has turned out to be a pretty good painter. 

 This weekend is planned to be a packing day and getting everything ready to load into a U-haul on the 31^st and off we go.  Packing is not my most favorite thing to do and I have reduced my stuff down to storage bins, as it seems that I move more than I really care to.  This move will be my 56^th move since I moved out at high school graduation.  If we were smart we would reduce our stuff down to one bag and live the simple life.  Maybe we can get there by next move.

 

 

I have been blogging now for close to three weeks.  I started this whole process as a way to keep friends and family updated on my trip to Wyoming.  I had sent an email out to staff members of Rock Island saying something like, “If you need me try www.whereinthehellami.com”.  As a joke.  Mike Roling, who I work with, later that day, told me that the domain address was not taken and available.  The next morning I asked Mike Greene, owner/operator of Rock Island, if he would register the site for me and Mike R. then set-up my site with the Presstopia Blogging software.  The rest is history.

While I was on my trip, by motorcycle - with no radio, I thought about what business opportunities were available for us at Rock Island and Blogging.  I could see how a blog would be good way to reach out to the runners I coach, with a way to get information out and feedback in – in a very simple and easy process.  I thought Rock Island could offer the same service for customers who may want to communicate with family and friends.  Or businesses who may want an interactive means to communicate to their customers.  Blogging creates a huge avenue for most people to share their thoughts, family stories, etc, in a simple and secure way.

 Rock Island will be making BlogWare, the program I currently use, available for customers in the very near future.  We are currently looking at offerings to develop a price list.  I am excited about this.

 I like Blogging for the ability to write.  I am a writer and I would love to make a living by writing down various things that pop out of my head.  Not many people are willing to pay for this.  Blogging allows me a creative outlet to share some of the things I have written and receive feed back as well.  I have already listed a blog with an article I had written for ”Marathon and Beyond”.  I think it is both good and humorous.  They have asked me to continue to write for them in the future.  I plan to do so, when I can think something up.

 If you have questions on Blogging and how it can help or work for you, leave a comment or give me a call at work at 378-5884.

sanjuanislander.com has the results of The Loop Run.  You can find age results here:  http://www.sanjuanislander.com/events/races/loop-run-2006.shtml and men/women results are here:  http://www.sanjuanislander.com/events/races/loop-run-2006-by-sex.shtml.

Local runners did a good job with some fast times.  Ross Lockwood ran a 37:28 with Paul Hopkins running 37:41.  Paul leaves on Wednesday to compete in the Canadian Iron Man event this coming weekend.  He told me he was going to run this race slowly and at 37:41 I would say that his definition of slow is different than mine.

Jane Hutchinson did well as always finishing in 43:50 and Boo Boo Keane finished in 48:06.  Jen Fleming arrived in 50:09.

I think having so many local runners running fast is very cool.  Congrats to everyone who participated.

The Loop Run is now history.  I have had better runs and better races in the past, but today was a nice and slow run with a few buddies.  Well, at least at the strart I had buddies, but after the race started I was on my own, until I met up with Brian Calvert.  He asked me what kind of finishing time I was hopeing for and I told him that the ferry left at 5:35 and I needed to be on that boat.  He thought that was good enough. 

Brian has been of friend of mine since I moved to the island.  I traveled up the West Coast in a Selene 42' with him a few years ago.  Brian always runs from Roche Harbor to town on his birthday, which is in November, and the route is close to 10 miles.  I have run with him on a few of those birthday runs.  We also have run together over in Port Townsend for the Rhody Run - the same year as the comet Hale Bopp.  The t-shirt was a cool design with the comet on it.  We have had many runs together over the years.

We moved through the race course and talked about things that have happened in our lives over the past year.  Brian sells boats and spends part of his time in Friday Harbor and some of his time in the Seattle area with his wife, Sasha.  We had a nice visit and a nice run.

Just short of the finish line I met up with my friend Paul, who asked me if the Argyle Hill has as bad being out of shape.  I flipped him off.  Samanta and Jen were there giving high fives. 

Finishing time 1:04.  Last years time 41:48.  Some twenty-three minutes slower.  Almost a minute a pound, since I am close to 30 pounds heavier than last year's race.

Next year is the 30th!!!

And I am up.  Something wrong with that, especially when Monday through Friday we are up by this time of the day and today is a non-work day.  Not that there is something wrong with getting up early.  I enjoy it, I actually do, but some mornings, like Saturday for instance, the mornings should be enjoyed best when the time is 8:00 or so.

Last week I wrote about the joys of sleeping in some on Saturdays, but today I have no luxury.  We need to catch the 7:35 ferry, as we normally do for work, to travel over to Friday Harbor for The Loop Run, which is the 29th running.  I got to run it, I mean this is a tradition.  It's County Fair week and The Loop Run, formally called the Journal Run, is apart of it.  Like Ginger Rogers was to Fred Astaire.  Like McCartney was to Lennen.  Like 500 is to Indy.  Any one who has ever thought of running, let alone runs, should toe the starting line and run this 8.8K race. 

Now there will be some racers, but most of us will take our sweet time and enjoy the views and the course as it winds around Turn Point and the water.  The Turn Point Loop is one of my all time favourites, like the trail run up Mt. Helena.  Couldn't beat that run.  Beautiful, even in January, is the term for it.

At 9:15 am close to 125 runners will be lining up at the cross walk in Front of the movie theatre, and once started we will gleefully head down Spring Street take a right turn on First Street, then a left on Warbass and follow the road until we curse the big hill on the back side, slip past the gavel pit down to Argyle, really curse the Argyle Hill and then into the Fair grounds to be cheered and treated as heroes.  Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning.  Well worth getting up at 5:30 for.

I received an email from my baby sister Merit this morning.  Baby in terms of family birth order and not age.  She had just endured having her car stolen from the back of her house.  Oh dear!  Though the thief(s) only needed to look as far as the glove compartment to find her almost well hidden keys.  It was a clean steal.

Apparently the Cheyenne, Wyoming Police were able to find the car minus (1) her ashtray, (2) her polishing rag and (3) her keys with the garage door opener.  I thought the fact the ashtray was listed as number one was interesting.  She now will go through the motions of re-keying her house, etc.  Then she will move into the emotional feelings of violation and shock.  I wish her well.  I am also at a lose of why she had a polishing rag.  She doesn't drive a limo.  I am baffle by this case.

Merit is no stranger to crime.  For many years Merit worked at the Wyoming Boys School as a counsellor/case worker/big sister.  In her job at the school Merit learned a wide variety of "tools" that were taught to her by the inmates.  Then Merit turned bad and starting using these tools of the criminal trade; like the time she would steal my car - oh wait, that was when she was in high school.  Merit bounced from shady motels to shady motels, always keeping a step or two ahead of the law that were trying their earnest to capture her.  Then out of the blue she went back to State Government and remains employed there to this date.  I have always wondered about that girl.

Yesterday, I paid $3.94 a gallon for premium fuel at the Country Corners Gas Mart on Orcas.  I put close to 4.5 gallons of fuel and filled-up my motorcycle at a total cost of $16.50.  For a motorcycle.  I can't believe it.  Now, I do realize that I could have used just plain regular un-leaded, at $3.74 a gallong, saving me some 84 cents, but the bike seems to run and perform better on the higher octane fuel. 

I remember the first time I spent over $10.00 to fill up my motorcycle tank, and it wasn't very long ago.  I thought that a fuel line had come un-done and fuel was spilling over the ground, but no it was just the price.  Freaked me out though.

The Annual 8.8K Loop Run, formally known as the Journal Run and is always a part of Fair Week will happen this coming Saturday, August 19th with start time 9:15 a.m..  I am planning on running again this year, but I won't be winning any medals this year.

The running route is similar to the last miles of the San Juan Island Marathon, where it winds around Turn and Pear Point.  Great views!

For more information download the registration form at:  http://www.islandrec.org/forms/88krun2006.pdf

Fair Week is one of my favorate times here in the islands.  Great exhibits, great food, great rides.  Nothing better.

Check out Rock Island's Fair Cam at http://www.rockisland.com/sjcfair/sjcfair.jpg.  Not only do we have a camera in operation but we are providing a free Internet Hot Spot for those who need to have their computers or PDA's up at the Fair.  Just think, one could check email while riding the Roller Coaster.

And some are not.  Tonight is one of those nights.  Instead of watching some cool SciFi show like Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1 or some other battle driven, light sabres flashing and aliens galore movie we are watching "How To Deal".  This flick was picked by Jen, the fifteen year old.  I guess I would refer it as a teenage drama.

According to Rotten Tomatoes: 

"Sometimes life gets turned upside down. And maybe that’s why it’s so hard to believe that anyone, especially 17 year-old Halley Martin (Mandy Moore), could actually experience that thing called love.

The people closest to Halley are in the midst of major upheavals in their love lives. Her mother, Lydia (Allison Janney), is embittered by her recently finalized divorce. Her sister, Ashley (Mary Catherine Garrison), is marrying a guy with whom she is constantly fighting. Her best friend, Scarlett (Alexandra Holden), can’t keep her hands off of her first serious boyfriend. Most distressingly for Halley, her father, Len (Peter Gallagher), who is a DJ at a local radio station, combats his midlife crisis with a stereotypically boyish elopement to the station’s much-younger traffic reporter.

So how’s Halley supposed to deal? She isn’t about to let herself succumb to the pipe dream of storybook romance, and Macon Forrester (Trent Ford) is the one guy who challenges her idea that love just complicates a perfectly good friendship. As Halley’s life grows more and more complicated, she finds a friend in Macon, but when she feels herself falling for him, will Halley move beyond her fears and disappointments to experience real love?"

Sometimes living in a family, with one TV/DVD player, one doesn't get to watch what they might and tonight would be one of those nights for me.  And that is OK.  Giving and taking is what family unity is about.  The thing is, Jen is enjoying this movie (why is way beyond me) and I am happy to be here for that.

I will say the scene where the Grandma smokes some pot and then goes to an important dinner high is pretty good.

This is an article I wrote for Marathon and Beyond which was published last spring.  Click on the attached file.

From Lee Childs web site defining this first book in the Jack Reacher series.

"The electrifying debut novel which introduces Jack Reacher, a drifter and ex-military policeman; a man of action unafraid to take justice into his own hands; a man of intelligence and cunning. Shortly after Reacher arrives in the sleepy town of Margrave, Georgia he's arrested for murder. The next three days' events leave everyone stunned. Unable to walk away from the situation, Reacher must unravel the mystery before a team of killers make him the next victim."

I really enjoyed this book.  Very exciting and hard to put down.  Many twists and turns in the plot that allows for guessing what was going to happen next.

For the third time this summer I have started a running program for enjoyment, weight control and the fact that I have been a runner since 1976, OK, maybe 1977.  I can't remember that far back, though I remember I ran my first marathon in 1978, the Lake Sammanish Marathon.  It went around the lake before there were big and expensive houses.

Back to tonight.  Since living on Orcas Island my running has gone down hill and I have, embarrassing as it is for me to admit, gained closed to 35 pounds this past year.  I have nothing to blame for this except for myself and the commute to and from Friday Harbor which takes close to 3 or 4 hours out of my day.  Our day, as Samantha commutes as well.  And the stuff that I put in my mouth, I suppose that could have an effect too.  Through the winter when we were both leaving and coming home in the dark - and I mean dark as we live at the far end of a long, gravel road - I found it extremely hard to get any running in.  My lunch times are committed so before and after work are my options.

Again, back to tonight.  In my need to drop this weight of mine and feel better physically, I once again started my running program.  Simple goal:  run for 35 minutes every day.  Not that I need to run non-stop, I run till I get tired and then turn off my stop-watch, walk till I recover and then back to running.  The 35 minutes are Combined Time of Running (CTOR) or Total Time Ran (TTR).  My simple plan is just to go out and run my 35 TTR six days a week and see what goes.  Sounds simple, right?  The only thing is actually getting my now big butt out the door and put one step in front of the other in a quick fashion.

OK, back to tonight.  I leave work with this huge commitment to run tonight, but upon arriving at the ferry dock we find that the ferry was running late - again.  I think we finally arrived home around 7:00 and my determination was waning, some.  I quickly entered the house, went straight to our bedroom and changed my clothes into my running outfit.  I have learned that if I let my butt hit the couch or the bed or any of the chairs the battle is over and I don't go and run.  I need to just "Do It" as Nike would say.  After dressing I again quickly exited the house, only to sit down once to put on my running shoes and head down the  "Mother of all hills", which is our drive way, and run for 20 minutes and then turn around and head for home, only to walk some up the "Mother of all hills".  I hate that hill.  It is steep, ugly and has switch backs for heavens sake.  Total TTR:  38:24.  Total calories burned:  500.  Number of times I cursed the Mother of all hills:  32.

I was pleased with my effort and happy to get out with the late afternoon sun and smell the various smells of August.  I had a nice run and I didn't die, which is always a good thing.  Tomorrow will be a repeat, maybe a loop around the lower lake which is down the hill from where we live and yes I  have to run up and down the "Mother of all hills".

Now that I have been playing with BlogWare I am very happy with the ease it takes to change the layout.  I can choose different colors and themes as well as one, two or three columns of information.  Currently I have three.  The adminstration features are easy to use and easy to figure out.  Loading pictures is easy and I have the option of making my pictures available to the world or private.

I am liking what I am seeing.

Jack Reacher is back, but this time the story takes place earlier in his career as an Army MP Major. 

Reacher is just transferred to Fort Bird on the East Coast and is immediately draw into a triple murder.  Good story with good twist and turns.  Finished the book over a weekend.

One of the things that we do here at Rock Island is to find, develop or enhance various services to our service offerings.  One such service that we are looking at is BlogWare, which is a blogging program managed by Tucow or like I refer to them, Two cows and a milk maid. 

Any way, I am going to be experimenting with this Blog and would like your feed back as to style, ease of operation, how it looks, etc.  You can also comment on the the wisdom I will be sharing, if you like.

Clark