A Hike and a Horror

Today Sarah, Adam, Brook and I went for a hike. We went up the Sam Merril trail to what they call the White City. It is the ruins of an old hotel that burned down three times, the last time in the thirties. It was a great hike. 2.5 miles up to the ruins and of course the same 2.5 miles back down. Great views and sunshine the whole way. Adam was sick for the hike so it was hardest on him but we all had a good time.
But Wait there's more!!!
on the last 100ft, back off of the trail, when walking back to the car I rolled my ankle. I fell to the ground gasping in pain. Some other hikers on their way to the trail stopped and asked if we needed help or a phone, but we said no. I laid there on the uneven concrete for a few minutes while the pain subsided. I sent Brook to bring the car to the park gates and Adam helped me to my feet and then to the car.
So now I have a sprained ankle. I got an old walking stick and am hobbling around as best I can. Later tonight I will be going to the Rocky Horror Picture Show for the 15th time. Sarah is performing and Adam, Charlie and possibly Brook and Zeb will be coming out. I definitely will not be dancing or anything groovy during the show.

Getting Sucked In

I have a distrust of monopoly. I keep my credit card separate from my bank, and my computer manufacturer separate from my OS programmer. I like third party additions and extensions. I feel that trusting one company to fulfill all of my needs puts me in a position of weakness. Now I am playing around with Google's various web-based services, and I have to admit that I am getting sucked in. I use Gmail as my primary e-mail (I also have Yahoo). I use Blogger as my primary online journal (I also have a myspace and used to have a LiveJournal). I sometimes use Google Documents to share important information. I am now playing with the Google Sites and Google Notebook. These services are very interesting and the primary fascination is that all of the information is available on whatever computer I happen to be on. So now I am testing the usefulness of these new (to me at least) services by inputting D&D information into them. We will see how that works out.
EDIT: I am also trying out Google SketchUp to wee what work applications it has.

Mead Move

Today I moved a batch of mead into a secondary fermentor. It was a 6 gallon batch and we split it into two glass carboys. One gallon was placed in a small one gallon jug with no additions. The other 5 gallons were moved into a 6 gallon jug with 1.5oz of freeze dried cranberries and a vanilla bean. Later I plan on racking them each separately onto some oak chips. So far this batch is very good and I must admit that I am nervous that I am messing it up with the fruit. It has a very mellow flavor yet strong taste. I think the better honey is a significant factor. I forgot to take a specific gravity reading so I don't know what the alcahol content is at this point, but at least I can still take a reading at the next stage.

Bad at mornings

My inability to wake up early strikes again.
My friend Brook works for a non-profit called Water for People, and that company is throwing a fundraiser hike. I donated and was going to do the 4 mile hike. The hike was scheduled for 9:00am. I was out of my apartment at 8:40 and quickly realized that I could'nt make to the park in time to sign in and hike. I abandoned the attempt and just came back to sullenly blog about it. It would have been a nice beautiful southern-California day, and I missed it because I can't pry my ass out of bed.

sigh

An award for nothing and a second chance

As I said earlier, the Pasadena Marathon was canceled due to unhealthy air. They had a mixer/get-together yesterday at a local restaurant called El Cholo. I didn't make it due to a D&D game, but Sarah made it out. When I got home that night Sarah gave me the finishers medal for the nonmarathon and told me that It would be rescheduled for some time in march 2009. That gives me another 4 months to train myself up. I had better get to it, not everyone gets a second chance like this.

No Marathon

Yesterday was to be the first annual Pasadena Marathon. The problem is that because of the wildfires, the air quality was too poor for such a taxing event. At 4:30am (2 hours before the scheduled start time) yesterday morning the event was canceled. I was admittedly releaved, as I have not trained nearly enough for a 26.2 mile run. As of yet they haven't come to a decision on what will be done about the cancellation. So I am off the hook for now. And I have some more time to train up. Wish me luck

Gym

Went to the gym again today. A short workout and a Weigh in. I clock in at 195lbs. Pretty good but I still want to get lower. I need to get some longer workouts in and longer runs. There is only one more full week before the Pasadena Marathon. Yikes!