Close your eyes. Breath.
There. There it is. Emotion.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Time suck
O.k., guy's, look to the right upper corner of this page. Do you see me? It's just like I'm right there next to you, laughing at one of my jokes that no one else gets. (just smile and nod)
I've spent countless hours uploading and organizing photos on Flicker, or is it down loading? Either way, countless hours of wasted time was spent on making my life completely visible for you guys- and there's more to come. Except for the naked pictures, those I did not upload/download. And I've got some great ones, boy howdy! The one I'm thinking of was used for Chris's 30th birthday party invite. I'll just say that he won't be vacuuming in his birthday suit anymore when I'm around. Too bad.
So this is how you see them. Click on my face. Easy-cheesy. It will send you to my flicker page with all of my 'Sets' visible. Click on a set that interests you and there you go- My life! Yup, You'll see that I hardly went to school and used most of my student loans for traveling, but think of the life experience that I've gained. That ought to land me a high paying job for my next career. My resume will read something like this:
"Personal interests and skills: Taco Stand guru, able to adapt to a variety of languages with the aid of charades and no bathing required."
On a more serious note, I read the story below on Dooce's blog. It's my favorite blog, other than mine of course. The story is pretty intense and might make you cry. But please read it, and if you have the heart, become a foster parent or adopt a child.
Disclaimer: What you're going to read next is a little touchy feel-y. Please bare with me.
Some one told me recently that they believe the Bible was written from a Socialist perspective. I've been struggling with the meaning of this for a while now. All religion aside, I think that their statement presents a solid lesson to be learned. This is what I've taken from it:
Open up your heart and find your talent. Use it. You owe it to those around you- your community. It's the least that you can do.
Thanks for reading that. I won't get mushy again, promise, at least not for a while.
Here's the story, get a cup of coffee and a box of tissue.
"The authorities had discovered the rarest and most pitiable of creatures: a feral child."
I've spent countless hours uploading and organizing photos on Flicker, or is it down loading? Either way, countless hours of wasted time was spent on making my life completely visible for you guys- and there's more to come. Except for the naked pictures, those I did not upload/download. And I've got some great ones, boy howdy! The one I'm thinking of was used for Chris's 30th birthday party invite. I'll just say that he won't be vacuuming in his birthday suit anymore when I'm around. Too bad.
So this is how you see them. Click on my face. Easy-cheesy. It will send you to my flicker page with all of my 'Sets' visible. Click on a set that interests you and there you go- My life! Yup, You'll see that I hardly went to school and used most of my student loans for traveling, but think of the life experience that I've gained. That ought to land me a high paying job for my next career. My resume will read something like this:
"Personal interests and skills: Taco Stand guru, able to adapt to a variety of languages with the aid of charades and no bathing required."
On a more serious note, I read the story below on Dooce's blog. It's my favorite blog, other than mine of course. The story is pretty intense and might make you cry. But please read it, and if you have the heart, become a foster parent or adopt a child.
Disclaimer: What you're going to read next is a little touchy feel-y. Please bare with me.
Some one told me recently that they believe the Bible was written from a Socialist perspective. I've been struggling with the meaning of this for a while now. All religion aside, I think that their statement presents a solid lesson to be learned. This is what I've taken from it:
Open up your heart and find your talent. Use it. You owe it to those around you- your community. It's the least that you can do.
Thanks for reading that. I won't get mushy again, promise, at least not for a while.
Here's the story, get a cup of coffee and a box of tissue.
"The authorities had discovered the rarest and most pitiable of creatures: a feral child."
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
This guy makes me feel a little normal
Monday, August 4, 2008
back to reality
After a week of bliss, the vacation has ended. I knew it would happen eventually, but it still stings a little, feels kinda like shampoo in the eye.
All mourning aside, I've deemed the week a complete success! I'm basing my declaration on very narrow parameters. Really, there are only three of them. They are as follows in the order of most to least importance:
Those of you who've read the 'about me' section of this blog (it's conveniently placed at the top right of the page where studies show that your eyes are instinctively drawn to), know that my husband is quite the computer nerd. He's been working on a soaring forecast model, XCskies.com, for the past three years. He's spent many-a late nights in front of his computer, causing me to damn the entire project and demand that he come to bed on more than one occasion, possibly closer to the double digit range of damning. I run a tight ship. O.k., my point is that both The Rat Race, and the XC Open/ Canadian Nationals used XCskies.com to predict the weather for competition task setting and guess what? It was dead on! every day!
Every morning this past week that I was sent out on the 'Team Dirty Mouth' coffee run, the cafe was illuminated with laptops, sleep glazed pilots hovering over them, pouring over the pages of xcskies. Chris has been asked to forecast for the Canadian Nationals of 2009 in addition to the U.S. Nationals coming up this September. I know I'm bragging- But Wait! I'm building up to my final brag.
Here it is:
This morning, still clad in our pj's, we rushed to the p.o. box to get the latest issue of the USHPA, Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine. And right there in front of the Fort Collins Post Office, with a bench as my stage, I read, out loud, to every passer by the entirety of a 4 page article titled "XCSKIES.com"!!!
The following few paragraphs are for those of you that have requested more specifics about our flying tasks. The rest of you should skim the words and enjoy the pictures.
The last day of the competition we were presented with incredible weather, and I'm not using that description lightly. This is what "incredible weather" looks like:
If you're wondering how clouds can possibly be good for flying, remember that thermals create cumulus clouds making up cloud base which was perfectly positioned for us at 10,500 feet. It's cloud base that pilots want to be at and fly directly under. These are also commonly termed 'cloud streets'. A good pilot will follow the 'street' all the way to goal. Or at least that's their plan.
A ton of people made it to goal. But, dare I type the following? Chris did not make it to goal (sorry baby for announcing it to the internet). He broke his most important rule: fly slow and deliberate.
Chris was on his way back from Leahy, heading towards goal when he spotted this yahoo:
Mr. Pete Schaefer, fellow member of the 'Dirty Mouth club' and Overall Winner of the Serial Class. Pete came up behind Chris, climbing in the same thermal and.. all I can sum it up to is greed. Chris got greedy. He tried to beat Pete by leaving the thermal and going on glide too early and too low. Chris landed short of goal. Pete, on the other hand, climbed higher, went on glide and made it to goal. He was greeted with a beer and took #1 place in the Serial Class. Congrats Pete! It's time for you to get a comp glider and quit your day job!
All mourning aside, I've deemed the week a complete success! I'm basing my declaration on very narrow parameters. Really, there are only three of them. They are as follows in the order of most to least importance:
- Did the baggage claim take our gear as offerings to the airline Gods?
- Was there any vomiting at all, for any reason imaginable? and lastly,
- Was there anytime spent in a hospital waiting room?
Those of you who've read the 'about me' section of this blog (it's conveniently placed at the top right of the page where studies show that your eyes are instinctively drawn to), know that my husband is quite the computer nerd. He's been working on a soaring forecast model, XCskies.com, for the past three years. He's spent many-a late nights in front of his computer, causing me to damn the entire project and demand that he come to bed on more than one occasion, possibly closer to the double digit range of damning. I run a tight ship. O.k., my point is that both The Rat Race, and the XC Open/ Canadian Nationals used XCskies.com to predict the weather for competition task setting and guess what? It was dead on! every day!
Every morning this past week that I was sent out on the 'Team Dirty Mouth' coffee run, the cafe was illuminated with laptops, sleep glazed pilots hovering over them, pouring over the pages of xcskies. Chris has been asked to forecast for the Canadian Nationals of 2009 in addition to the U.S. Nationals coming up this September. I know I'm bragging- But Wait! I'm building up to my final brag.
Here it is:
This morning, still clad in our pj's, we rushed to the p.o. box to get the latest issue of the USHPA, Hang Gliding and Paragliding Magazine. And right there in front of the Fort Collins Post Office, with a bench as my stage, I read, out loud, to every passer by the entirety of a 4 page article titled "XCSKIES.com"!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following few paragraphs are for those of you that have requested more specifics about our flying tasks. The rest of you should skim the words and enjoy the pictures.
The last day of the competition we were presented with incredible weather, and I'm not using that description lightly. This is what "incredible weather" looks like:
If you're wondering how clouds can possibly be good for flying, remember that thermals create cumulus clouds making up cloud base which was perfectly positioned for us at 10,500 feet. It's cloud base that pilots want to be at and fly directly under. These are also commonly termed 'cloud streets'. A good pilot will follow the 'street' all the way to goal. Or at least that's their plan.
Task was 115 kilometers, a giant triangle from Chelan Butte, across the Columbia River Gorge out over the flats to Farmer (approximately 16 miles), on to Leahy (29 Miles) and back to finish/goal, which was at the soccer field right below the butte (58 miles). Task committee likes to keep goal on the final day close to headquarters so that the partying can begin promptly.
A ton of people made it to goal. But, dare I type the following? Chris did not make it to goal (sorry baby for announcing it to the internet). He broke his most important rule: fly slow and deliberate.
Chris was on his way back from Leahy, heading towards goal when he spotted this yahoo:
Mr. Pete Schaefer, fellow member of the 'Dirty Mouth club' and Overall Winner of the Serial Class. Pete came up behind Chris, climbing in the same thermal and.. all I can sum it up to is greed. Chris got greedy. He tried to beat Pete by leaving the thermal and going on glide too early and too low. Chris landed short of goal. Pete, on the other hand, climbed higher, went on glide and made it to goal. He was greeted with a beer and took #1 place in the Serial Class. Congrats Pete! It's time for you to get a comp glider and quit your day job!
This is Melanie, scoping out the cycles right before piloting a flawless launch. She landed just short of goal because of a bladder emergency. I won't get too detailed, but there are methods that both men and women use as, shall we say, bathroom breaks at 9000 feet. The design of these 'methods' differ in order to cater to anatomical differences (this is where you read between the lines, or take a peak down your pants, then a friends of the opposite sex. Now, note the major difference). Melanie claims not to be a 'comp' pilot, and has not, as of yet, taken part in the 'method'. But after landing so that she could squat in a farmers field short of goal, I'm willing to bet that she'll think twice about adult bladder control.
Beautiful
Friday, August 1, 2008
Cheers from Chelan
Literally, cheers from Chelan, WA.
If you have any interest in watching me nerd out with fun facts left over from my unused education, then catch me now. I'm not sure that I have ever drank as much gin in my entire life as I have this week.
The weather here has been unbearably windy, which does not make for good flying conditions. So that leaves us to some creative time filling activities. Let's see, we've played Bocce Ball, miniature golf, go-carting, swimming, mastering the art of the wave runner, and binge drinking. Oh, and a massive amount of trashy talk (I'll withhold examples- although, if you want to here some completely mortifying jokes that break every social and moral guideline, just ask me- I'm rooming with a ex-lawyer turned Alta ski junky).
The group of us staying here at Moms Motel, which is the perfect example of a dive motel, have set up a permanent camp in the dirt in front of our rooms. It's from this post that we have sunken deep into the socially derelict. Our title has become the 'Dirty Mouths.' We have hopes of gaining sponsorship from Orbit Gum. So far we've succeeded only in mortifying our fellow pilots, but for some reason, they keep coming back for more.
Chris is currently in first place in the Serial Class, which is the non-comp glider class. (A comp glider is a very fast, twitchy glider that has no DHV rating that most wives don't let their husbands fly). He's flying great, but it looks like we won't have enough fly days (because of the bad weather) for this competition to be fully valid. The up side is that XC Skies has forecasted flawlessly for each day's conditions! There's a saying that goes "Pilots spend more time looking at the weather than they do actually flying" and with all these no fly days people have been gathered in front of their laptops mastering XC Skies. This is good for us, and very good for our hopes of a vagabond's life.
This is Melanie, or as we call Mal-on-y. She's a retired smoke jumper- and Cliff, the ex-lawyer turned ski bum. This is the start line, look at the determination. I'm sure that there was some serious trash talking happening here that couldn't be caught with a camera. This is a no-nonsense group of athletes- otherwise known as "World Class Ass-leats".
Utter Chaos. This is a race track, we are supposed to be moving together in a forward motion. I guess Mel-on-y got confused and thought that it was a left turn day.
Check out the look on Chris's face. Priceless.
The Dive, and the 'Dirty Mouth' post, pre-camp assembly.
One of my swimming holes.
Yes, I'm working on my courage to jump off the bridge. I have two more days.
Waiting...
How high do you think they are?
7200 feet, over the Chelan Butte.
Goal. A school playground- a tight squeeze.
Chris' landing, perfect.
These are local daycare kids collecting autographs from the pilots. This pilot is Brian Webb, an awesome pilot from Australia. I don't think that they will ever forget the day that 40+ people rained from the sky onto their playground.
If you have any interest in watching me nerd out with fun facts left over from my unused education, then catch me now. I'm not sure that I have ever drank as much gin in my entire life as I have this week.
The weather here has been unbearably windy, which does not make for good flying conditions. So that leaves us to some creative time filling activities. Let's see, we've played Bocce Ball, miniature golf, go-carting, swimming, mastering the art of the wave runner, and binge drinking. Oh, and a massive amount of trashy talk (I'll withhold examples- although, if you want to here some completely mortifying jokes that break every social and moral guideline, just ask me- I'm rooming with a ex-lawyer turned Alta ski junky).
The group of us staying here at Moms Motel, which is the perfect example of a dive motel, have set up a permanent camp in the dirt in front of our rooms. It's from this post that we have sunken deep into the socially derelict. Our title has become the 'Dirty Mouths.' We have hopes of gaining sponsorship from Orbit Gum. So far we've succeeded only in mortifying our fellow pilots, but for some reason, they keep coming back for more.
Chris is currently in first place in the Serial Class, which is the non-comp glider class. (A comp glider is a very fast, twitchy glider that has no DHV rating that most wives don't let their husbands fly). He's flying great, but it looks like we won't have enough fly days (because of the bad weather) for this competition to be fully valid. The up side is that XC Skies has forecasted flawlessly for each day's conditions! There's a saying that goes "Pilots spend more time looking at the weather than they do actually flying" and with all these no fly days people have been gathered in front of their laptops mastering XC Skies. This is good for us, and very good for our hopes of a vagabond's life.
This is Melanie, or as we call Mal-on-y. She's a retired smoke jumper- and Cliff, the ex-lawyer turned ski bum. This is the start line, look at the determination. I'm sure that there was some serious trash talking happening here that couldn't be caught with a camera. This is a no-nonsense group of athletes- otherwise known as "World Class Ass-leats".
Utter Chaos. This is a race track, we are supposed to be moving together in a forward motion. I guess Mel-on-y got confused and thought that it was a left turn day.
Check out the look on Chris's face. Priceless.
The Dive, and the 'Dirty Mouth' post, pre-camp assembly.
One of my swimming holes.
Yes, I'm working on my courage to jump off the bridge. I have two more days.
Waiting...
How high do you think they are?
7200 feet, over the Chelan Butte.
Goal. A school playground- a tight squeeze.
Chris' landing, perfect.
These are local daycare kids collecting autographs from the pilots. This pilot is Brian Webb, an awesome pilot from Australia. I don't think that they will ever forget the day that 40+ people rained from the sky onto their playground.
Here's something that will blow your mind. The guy in this video made me a 'Speed Jacket' for flying. It says 'Team Galli' on the back and it's blue and has stars! I know, you can't wait til I post a picture of it. This video of him is incredible: Mike Sandberg, otherwise know as Michigan Mike. He parachuted into the 1988 Olympic games in Seoul, Korea.
And thats all for now. Until I have something more of interest to share with you, it's Sarah G., signing off.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Happy Days
Have you ever seen him look so happy? I can't believe that I caught it on camera. This is the first day of the competition, Chris at goal. 62.2 Kilometers. Wow. That's my man.
Stellar Sky. Otherwise known as great conditions. This is the vantage point from launch, the Chelan Butte, coming it at 3825 Feet of elevation.
The chaos of launch. Lots of adrenalin and pending egos.
The flying secret service, air patrol. It's amazing how beautiful they look when they're in the air flying, given how messy, wrinkled and foul smelling they are when on the ground. This is a new class of people: We call them 'The Pilot'.
If I recall correctly, I'm heckling Chris. Power overtakes me when I'm given too much control.
It's a right turn day. First day of the comp- they're still a little weary of each other and are keeping they're distance, but you can still make out a very vague, wide thermal that they're climbing in.
Just so you know what we do when we're not in the air. It's a blur of ruckus. Dirty mouthed, and funky smelling. At least we make sure to tip well.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Apples
There are about one million of these in our back yard, on the ground. They are much prettier and definitely more desirable when still attached to the tree. But inevitably, they end up on the ground, in the grass, decaying to mush. The back yard has started to give off a stench not unlike what I imagine a bootleg brewery to smell like, in the 1920's, before the invention of air conditioning.
Am I complaining? Maybe a little. I've always wanted a fruit tree. As a kid I use to imagine waking up in the morning, walking to my backyard and picking fruit from one of my many and diverse trees that would be swaying in the breeze, waiting for my arrival. I would then carry my choice picks to my kitchen, cut them to fine strips and feed them into my Jack Lalanne Power Juicer. I would sit, with my dog and drink my fresh, sweet, perfect juice. Then, in my imagination, I would lift my shirt to see a beautiful 4-pack appear. The skin on my face would clear up to be a flawless, rosy completion and a twinkle of my perfectly straight, white teeth would catch the eye of my imaginary boyfriend, luke, beckoning him to greet me with a good morning kiss.
But this is not how having a fruit tree is going down in reality. It has been a messy, smelly and dangerous (another story for another blog) experience. Mother Nature sensed my aggravation and created a gust front that resulted in one half of the apple tree laying over a power line- dispersing apples everywhere. After It was all cleaned up, which entailed a morning of me imitating Mike Rowe (yes you missed it, I'll show you when I see you next), with power tools and one big a$$ truck.
I feel bad for hating the apple tree, because now it looks so sad, one half of a tree standing alone in the backyard, with rotting fruit all around its feet. I'm almost compelled to dig out my favorite children's book The Giving Tree to gain some perspective, or maybe I should write my own book about my tree. Maybe not.
So, if any of you know where I live, and need some extra sour green apples, feel free to pick them and take them home to your own juicer. Maybe I should have you sign a waiver first just in case you break your leg by falling out of my tree, we have nothing for you to win in a settlement, unless of course, you want half of an apple tree.
---------------------------------------------------------------
We're heading to Chelan, Washington in the morning for the XC Open and the Canadian Nationals Paragliding Competition. It'll be a blast. I'll post pictures for you all to see. I'm hoping that it won't be 100+ degrees like it was last time we were out there. If it is, I'll ditch to comp and spend the week in the river. Rivers are so good.
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