The Mount Tamalpais Life

Double Test

2011-03-18T23:18:00.001-07:00

Double Test, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I picked up a new 47-year-old camera from Easy-bay this past week. It's a Yashica Minister D. It has a meter, but this is one Yashica that works fine w/o that. It's all mechanical.

This is my second Minister D. The first one was in a bit better condition than this one. But I'm hoping this one will clean up... and that the light meter will work (unlike my first one). I wanted to check for light leaks before fixing the rest. Looks okay there, so some cleaning and battery testing comes next.

So, the first test was to see if the camera was light tight... The second test was to develop the c-41 film using caffenol. Caffenol C-L to be exact. This was my first attempt at using caffenol, and since I have a freezer full of c41 film, I swung for the fences and started with that.

I mixed up the brew, sloshed it around for 45 seconds or so on the film, then took off for a run in the rain. 70 minutes later (workout complete) I dumped out the brew, stopped, fixed, washed, dried.

The negatives are a bit dense, so some bleach is on the horizon, but I'm happy w/ the first try.

Oh yeah, it rained cats and dogs today. This pic was the best I could do until late this afternoon. I didn't want the new-old camera to melt in the rain! :)

Waking Up to Ironman Training

2009-12-27T07:56:00.001-08:00

Waking Up to Ironman Training, originally uploaded by panodanno.

12/26/09

I'm posting this using Flickr's email posting system. We'll see if it
works. I wrote this last night but couldn't get the email to post due to
poor cell coverage.

Good thing we have four more months… Today was rough. Even if this picture
of Lori hammering up the steepest, longest climb of the day doesn’t show
that.

Today Lori and I rode the Ironman St. George bike “loop” that she will have
to ride twice during her race in May. It was a beautiful, crisp day in the
low 40s when we started out from Snow Canyon. I think it made it up to the
high 40s, but it was still pretty cold for us.

And the course is a real challenge. The west side of the loop is a steady
climb with about three challenging (though short) climbs in it. The east
side is relatively flat or just flat-out downhill. We flew down that part
of the course. Even with full-length tights, long-sleeve jerseys,
wind-resistant hats, gloves, and shoe-covers, it was very cold on the fast
sections.

We only rode 50 miles, but it was enough. The scenery was super, and the
riding was fine. Lori was loving her bike, and Eddy was way into riding
with his new friend. And my knee worked out its issues (I adjusted my cleat
after the difficult pains of Christmas Eve). It was a lot of fun. Now we
are tire

Tonight we caught up our bodies w/ yummy steak at the Anasazi Steakhouse &
Gallery in St. George. It’s time for some sleep. Tomorrow we get to do
more Ironman training! Can’t wait. ;-)

352/365 Golden Gate Bridge

2009-12-19T09:27:00.001-08:00

352/365 Golden Gate Bridge, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Another late night shot coming home from the airport. It was a rough week... Last trip of the year though!

181/365 - Don't sit on this fence.

2009-06-30T23:10:00.001-07:00

181/365 - Don't sit on this fence., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Posting for fun from flicker here. www.mymountaintrail.com is still the place to be...

Today was my first shift as a Mt. Tamalpais lookout. No fires today and nice weather. It was a great way to start.

The view is to the ENE. This razor wire surrounds the lookout to keep people from trying to climb into the building when it is not occupied. Or, maybe it is to keep lookouts from trying to escape... Maybe both!

Blog Migration...

2009-06-19T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am moving my blog to a new server. This is an experiment for the moment, but if I can get the new format cleaned up, I will probably stay with it. Here is the link: My Mountain Trail

If things don't work out, I'll just move back here. After all, I just figured out how to add a small border around my photos, which is a nice improvement. Anyway, see you on the new trail!

168/365 - Resilience

2009-06-17T22:13:00.000-07:00

There is a seam of serpentine rock cutting through Mt. Tam. It usually results in sparse vegitation and rugged, (green) rocky terrain. This tree has taken on the challenge to survive here. So far, so good.

167/365 - Ah, the Tree!

2009-06-17T09:29:00.001-07:00

167/365 - Ah, the Tree!, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Guess where I ended up while hiking on Mt. Tamalpais yesterday evening? It was quite windy, and I wanted to show the action. It's a bit hard to see at this size, but you may see some if you look close.

162/365 - Foggy Start

2009-06-16T20:50:00.001-07:00

162/365 - Foggy in the Morning, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Here's Hal at about 5:45 a.m. last Thursday morning in Thomas, OK. Packing up for another day in the saddle...

The Pursuit of Happiness

2009-06-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a link about the pursuit of happiness from the blog of Steve C., one of my shave-brush customers. It's worth taking a look at.

Cookie!

2009-06-16T08:38:00.001-07:00

Cookie!, originally uploaded by panodanno.

166/365 - Cookie Sleeps (Finally! :-)

2009-06-15T21:55:00.001-07:00

166/365 - Cookie Sleeps (Finally! :-), originally uploaded by panodanno.

165/365 - Another Dipsea in the Books

2009-06-14T14:27:00.001-07:00

165/365 - Another Dipsea in the Books, originally uploaded by panodanno.

1:05:25 actual, and 1:01:25 adjusted. No injuries, though I am very sore now and tomorrow and Tuesday will be worse. I am now 47 in Dipsea years. One more year and I age up again. Can't wait!

A Better Day

2009-06-10T18:19:00.001-07:00

A Better Day, originally uploaded by panodanno.

From Cordell. Dad felt much better after day 2, and is doing just as well now after Day 4.

157/365 - Taking One for the Team

2009-06-07T16:53:00.001-07:00

20090606dcapshaw-81, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Mom and Amber drove us to the start of OKFree. 8 hours, round trip, of driving. Then they toughed out our big wind storm over night. I thought our tent would come down during the biggest gusts (>50 mph I think), But we, and our tent, survived.

Thanks Mom! We couldn't have gotten rolling w/o you! And now, we are counting on seeing you soon in KS!

156/365 - Our Adventure Begins

2009-06-07T16:43:00.001-07:00

20090605dcapshaw-34, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This, not very clear picture, is the last 11 minutes of our flight in to Tulsa. Those are the most 11 of the 14 most dangerous minutes of a flight. Me, I had to take a picture of the city.

We made it safe and sound. Time to ride our bikes.

OKay to be Free

2009-06-05T00:34:00.001-07:00

155/365, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Last week my client changed our timeline... on Thursday. That means this week was completely unfillable. When you work for yourself that means that you either get caught up in the office (which I did), or take some vacation (which I also did).

Where did I go on my vacation, you ask? Balconville. Well, actually, Yardville which is a hamlet just below Balconville. As a result, my house is much more fire safe than it was. I still need a couple of more days to get all of the way there. But at least I made some progress.

Before I do that though, I just need a bike ride I think.

154/365 - '69 Ford

2009-06-03T09:16:00.001-07:00

154/365 - '69 Ford, originally uploaded by panodanno.

153/365 - Climbing Rose

2009-06-02T22:47:00.001-07:00

153/365 - Climbing Rose, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This is one of our climbing roses. It is an amazing display to see in real life.

This photo is actually a double exposure. It's a bit confusing to look at I guess, but I was just experimenting with the effect.

Three days to OK. Four to be Free. OK.

151/365 - Lori

2009-05-31T20:52:00.001-07:00

151/365 - Lori, originally uploaded by panodanno.

We rode our bikes through Muir Woods/Beach, Stiinson Beach, and up over Mt. Tamalpais today. It was cold for all except the first 5 minutes and last 15 minutes of the ride. Bolinas ridge was a solid wall of rushing fog.

Lori schooled me on the flats from Stinson to the Mt. Tam climb. I hung on for a while, but gave up for the last 1.5 miles. If she rides like that in OK, her responsibility is going to be to get us a good campsite. I'll be riding w/ the Phat Phorties group. :-)

I'm just glad she isn't seriously training for something right now!

Boy, I can't wait to get out of these temperate temperatures. 90/90 is going to be so awesome, and so OKFree!

Reaching for the Sun

2009-05-29T18:50:00.001-07:00

Reaching for the Sun, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I visited the tree today. This is a picture from below the tree. The sun is trying to burn through the fog on the right, and the tree is reaching for the sun. They never quite met while I was there, but it was fun to see some of the action.

Of course I got soaked by the thick fog and wet grass. So from here, I drove up Middle Peak above the fog and soaked up some of that sun too. It was glorious!

148/365 - Fog Line

2009-05-28T22:21:00.001-07:00

148/365 - Fog Line, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This morning it was 46 degrees, very foggy, and the wind was blowing 12-15 mph. That means that there is lots of what I call "fog rain" under all the trees. Fog rain feels like real rain -- just to be clear.

Those are not fun cycling conditions, and it is even harder to get out there after spending 6.5 hours riding to/from work over the previous two days. I knew it would be warmer once I got above the fog, I just wasn't too excited about getting there.

After 500' of climbing I hit the fog line. Then, another 500' and it was 70 degrees with just a light breeze. Ah, Paradise again! This was the view before I dropped off the ridge back into the 50 degree fog.

There was lots of fog rain, it was cold, it was warm. It was a great ride.

Last night we dropped Lori's car off for service, so after work I rode over to pick it up. It saved me 12 miles and 2500' of climbing. I can't say that I needed the break, but I didn't compain either.

So, 132 miles of riding, about 14,000' of climbing, and most importantly, 9 hours of saddle time these last three days. Am I ready for OKFree? Probably not, but I'm going to survive.

Good news (sort of) today. My Memphis client changed our timeline. This means I don't have to travel next week. At least not to Memphis. Anyway, it also means I can travel to OK from home. This will be much better for us here, and lowers the risk of problems (due to misconnects) on the OK end. Cool.

Can't wait for some heat and humidity. I hope OK doesn't let us down! :-)

146/365 - San Francisco Looks Cold To Me

2009-05-26T21:50:00.001-07:00

146/365 - San Francisco Looks Cold To Me, originally uploaded by panodanno.

When I ride to work, I'm almost always compelled to take a picture of SF as I climb Mt. Tam. This was today's view.

48 miles w/ 5466 ft. of climbing invested towards being free in OK. Oh, and some more stats: 228 watts average, 261 watts normalized. Min temp, 49 degrees, max 100, 2600 calories burned, and I'm tired.

But will it be enough? Guess I will ride to work tomorrow too.

145/365 - The Gardener

2009-05-25T17:18:00.001-07:00

145/365 - The Gardener, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Lori has been working hard in the yard this weekend, and she has made some amazing progress.

Note the cherries above her head too! They're yummy!

141/365 - Old is Good

2009-05-21T20:36:00.001-07:00

141/365 - Old is Good, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Steve Larsen, a very talented cyclist and mult-sport athlete from Bend, OR died during a workout this past Tuesday. He was 39. The cause is not known yet, but it apparently was more than just a heart attack.

We're talking one super fit individual here. He placed as high as 9th in the Ironman world championships in Hawaii. But that was not enough.

Steve's death is a loss to the community and devastating for his family (including five children). Our hearts and prayers go out to/for them.

So, on reflection, I'm good with these wrinkles. No botox or face lifts needed here. Old is definitely good.

I'm not too sure I'm happy with those crazy eyebrows though...

139/365 - Going Gold

2009-05-19T21:14:00.001-07:00

139/365 - Going Gold, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I finished my run at the peak of the "golden hour" of the day. 8.2 miles in Memphis at a perfect 72 degrees. It would only be better if I had been home on the Mountain with Lori and Cookie.

Ouch!

2009-05-17T18:41:00.000-07:00

Physically, this has been a hard weekend. Yesterday I had planned to run a bit on the Dipsea to scout the trail and measure a couple of possible shortcuts (it's a point to point race with some flexibility in the course you run). But I didn't do that.

Lori had a 3-hour bike ride she needed to do (her coach is demanding isn't he?). She was struggling to find the right ride, so I decided to help her out by suggesting a bombastic ride through Central and Western Marin. I couldn't do that without agreeing to join her.

The course turned out to be 55 miles with 5500 feet of climbing. Oh yeah, and the temperature ranged from 90 degrees at home to 100 degrees on the last climb back up the mountain. Lori did great.

I got dehydrated and started feeling like I was going to cramp in both quads and/or hamstrings (depending on how I was pedaling) with about 10 miles to go. I never fully locked into a cramp, but it was touchy. Lori ended up dropping me and then waiting for me in Stinson. I managed to keep up with her on that last climb (but had to bum a water bottle from her), and survived the last few miles to home. I was whipped for sure.

So, today I still needed to do my Dipsea preps. We had to give Cookie a little run (and she is not allowed in the state and national parks which is where the Dipsea is), so we did a quick 3 miles with her. Then it took 11 more miles of slogging up and down the hills of Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais State Park to accomplish my goals. Plus, Lori spanked me for a while on the last leg to home before letting up. I got the last laugh though and didn't slow down -- trying to maintain some self-respect after letting a girl make me hurt like that! Oh boy, were we ever tired when we got home.

As a result of all that fun, the yard work plans were scaled back. The jeep got washed (tons of red sand and gray mud from our trip is now in the driveway), but that was about it this afternoon.

Lastly, a picture of the cherry tree. Another couple of weeks and we will be Bing city. That's good because I'm out of homemade cherry jam. Nice thing about the Bings is it takes almost no sugar to make the jam. Oh yeah, and their a blast to pick. "One for the bowl, one for me, and every other one for Cookie". Cookie is funny because she runs around and eats all the cherries that I accidentally drop. You can imagine what happens to a little dog's stomach after she eats her weight in cherries! That's not the funny part -- just ask Cookie!

134/365 - Old Mine Trail

2009-05-14T21:00:00.001-07:00

134/365 - Old Mine Trail, originally uploaded by panodanno.

From my run this evening.

My favorite spot on the mountain...

133/365 - Take a Hack!

2009-05-13T23:03:00.001-07:00

133/365 - Take a Hack!, originally uploaded by panodanno.

After working a couple of hours this morning (see the pic), I got back to finishing some of the post-vacation chores. Lori and I offloaded the camper -- and Lori started scaling a mountain of laundry. After carting my stuff from the camper, putting the bikes away, cleaning out the cooler, unloading the Jeep (no small task), trimming some hedges (for better access to the camper/jeep -- always practical w/ yardwork), and working on Eddy (new computer), I managed to put in 27 miles of bike riding.

It was very windy, which should be good training for OKfree. The thousands of feet of climbing confuse the issue, but why worry about that? Oh, that Brooks saddle is the cat's meow let me tell you!

129/365 - Stairs

2009-05-12T22:13:00.001-07:00

129/365 - Stairs, originally uploaded by panodanno.

132/365 - Home at last

2009-05-12T21:19:00.001-07:00

132/365 - Home at last, originally uploaded by panodanno.

We negotiated the last 500 miles today. No adventures to speak of, and that is good.

131/365 Sunrise at the second-to-last campsite

2009-05-12T21:18:00.001-07:00

131/365 Sunrise at the second-to-last campsite, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Cookie is checking the Jeep over to make sure it is ready to go. Gas cans, check. Bike rack, check. Shovel, check (needed later that day to save the Mothership). Mud, dirt, and sand everywhere, check...

126/365 - You talkin' to me?

2009-05-09T20:41:00.001-07:00

126/365 - You talkin' to me?, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Did a 10-mile run in the middle of nowhere on this day. These guys were at the turnaround point. This is one hard place to live. One of the ranches around here is at Poverty Flat. It's abandoned (as was this one), but is aptly named.

128/365 - Not quite yet...

2009-05-08T23:15:00.001-07:00

128/365 - Not quite yet..., originally uploaded by panodanno.

One day short of a full moon.

We have been on vacation for the last week. So between work and our vacation, I am way behind on my 365 project. Plus, no internet for the last few days... Much to do.

This is the view from our campsite tonight. Yeah, it's amazing. And we are glad to be here enjoying it too. Good to have a Jeep, let me tell you.

Oh, and a four-wheel drive camper too. The sand was pretty deep driving here, but as long as you keep your speed up, you are probably okay. At least that has been our experience.

We have many other pictures of other views/things. I wish I could remember where we have been! Ha, ha! Life is good. It takes some work to get it right, and that's good.

122/365 Wildflower Power!

2009-05-03T10:11:00.001-07:00

122/365 Wildflower Power!, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Yesterday Lori competed in the Wildflower long course (70.3) triathlon. She has trained very consistently and hard for this race. As a result, she had to make a trip to the podium for some hardware. Oh yeah!!!!!!!!!

She was given the runner-up trophy last night at the awards ceremony. Today, they show her in third place. Either way, this is an amazing result in a very, very competitive field. Wow! WOW! That is the word.

Here is a picture of Lori and Dorette after their successful race. They both PRed, which was super cool.

116/365 -- Luxury

2009-04-26T19:24:00.001-07:00

116/365 -- Luxury, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Eddy got some new summer shoes today, but wanted to show off the saddle instead. Go figure...

I ran 13.5 miles instead of riding today. Takes less time.

I travel to Memphis tomorrow for a couple of days. Then we leave for Wildflower.

Lori is ready for her race but the taper is mentally difficult. It just doesn't feel right after all that work.

115/365 - OKFree

2009-04-25T20:13:00.001-07:00

115/365, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Training for OK Free today my back tire blew off the rim. I thought I had been shot! If only I had been packin'!

Anyway, my tire was trashed because I couldn't stop fast enough. Lori had to ride home and get the car to come rescue me. In the mean time, I passed the 1:40 waiting for her by taking pictures of the cars, bikes, and motorcycles going by. This was one of those shots.

I went for a run this evening to make up for my lack of game on the bike. I only rode about 14 miles, so the run was definitely needed.

112/365 - This glass is full.

2009-04-25T09:18:00.001-07:00

112/365 - This glass is full., originally uploaded by panodanno.

111/365 - Same view different day.

2009-04-25T09:09:00.001-07:00

111/365 - Same view different day., originally uploaded by panodanno.

The only picture I took this day. Very busy w/ work in Savannah. Glad this week is over...

110/365 - It's all about work.

2009-04-25T08:37:00.001-07:00

110/365 - It's all about work., originally uploaded by panodanno.

A picture from earlier this week...

107/365 - Luigi

2009-04-24T19:26:00.001-07:00

107/365 - Luigi, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I'm a bit behind on posting. Very, very busy. And it won't let up for another... hmmm, I'm not sure at the moment. Let's say two months.

In this photo Luigi Bialla shows demonstrates the finer points of the water fetch during the golden hour.

106/365 - Birds, but not of a feather.

2009-04-16T22:33:00.001-07:00

106/365 - Birds, but not of a feather., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Spent some time at the firehouse getting trained on emergency communications. I'm a RACES elf because I'm too stubborn to meet the county's ridiculous requirements to be official. Finger prints, lie detector test, background check, wind humidity test. Hey, I'm just volunteering to pass along emergency communication when no one else can do it. It's not like I was offering to drive a ballistic missle submarine, for crying out loud.

I digress. Sorry.

Anyway, this cool scene of the hawk, ravens, and airplane is such a good represntation of today's world. I saw them while I was walking home from the firehouse.

By the way, our firefighters are very engaged in their jobs. They actually care about our little neighberhood up here. That's really great for us, but I guess in retrospect, not real surprising.

Living in the Lee

2009-04-15T20:22:00.001-07:00

Living in the Lee, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Location is everything on the mountain. This tree lives the good life in the lee of the ridge. Oh yeah, but it still has a view of San Francisco and the Farallon Islands.

Today was a very windy day, but this tree just enjoyed the fresh breeze.

This was taken on my run this evening.

Bolinas Lagoon

2009-04-15T00:02:00.001-07:00

Bolinas Lagoon, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Some sunset pictures on film.

Muir Beach Sunset

2009-04-15T00:01:00.001-07:00

Muir Beach Sunset, originally uploaded by panodanno.

104/365

2009-04-14T17:44:00.001-07:00

104/365, originally uploaded by panodanno.

From a short morning hike on Mt. Tam.

102/365 - Easter Sunrise

2009-04-13T19:00:00.001-07:00

102/365 - Easter Sunrise, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Every year on Easter Sunday morning about 250 motorcycles fly by our house; some at very high speeds. They have an informal meet-up at the top of Mt. Tamalpais for the sunrise.

I got the chance to talk w/ one of the park rangers about it. He says that if the gate to the top is locked, the bikers cut the locks and go anyway. So, instead of making a big deal out of it, the park now unlocks the gate at about 5:30 a.m. and then charges them all $6 to park in the parking lot at the top (which is the normal fee). The park makes a bunch of money, and the bikers watch their sunrise...

I figured I would get up and photograph them. If you can't beat em' join them, right? I should work for the park...

I missed the photo of the biggest group. They were on both sides of the road. Not the sharpest tools in the ol' shed.

And we don't have to set an alarm clock. A half hour of noise-pollution takes care of that task for us.

97/365 - A Park Built for Battle

2009-04-07T17:36:00.001-07:00

97/365 - A Park Built for Battle, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Savannah's downtown parks.

96/365 - Very Fine Powder (Gate 4E)

2009-04-07T17:35:00.001-07:00

96/365 - Very Fine Powder (Gate 4E), originally uploaded by panodanno.

At my grindstone. 96 days, 50,000 miles.

95/365 Cherry Blossom Update

2009-04-07T17:34:00.001-07:00

95/365 Cherry Blossom Update, originally uploaded by panodanno.

94/365 - No Guessing Required

2009-04-04T23:11:00.001-07:00

94/365 - No Guessing Required, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Just another reason why we love living here. This is the view of Stinson Beach from Mt. Tamalpais, taken while we were out on the bikes today.

93/365 - Time to get out of Dodge

2009-04-04T22:56:00.001-07:00

93/365 - Time to get out of Dodge, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Or in this case, Denver. Snow was rolling in -- and lightning with it. If you are flying, you don't want to be in Denver when there is lightning. It is an automatic 30 minute ground hold w/o lightning before crews get back out on the tarmac to move planes.

We made it out. It was a bit rough in the air (the passenger next to me stripped their sweater and turned on the air vent to combat the motion sickness), but it smoothed out eventually.

92/365 - Hotels

2009-04-04T22:46:00.001-07:00

92/365 - Hotels, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This captures my mood on the evening I took this picture perfectly. Plastic wrapped, monochrome, and in the ether.

The hotel was fine, but I sure wished I was at home.

89/365 - Luxury?

2009-03-30T18:28:00.001-07:00

89/365 - Luxury?, originally uploaded by panodanno.

How many pillows equals luxury? At Homewood Suites, 6 seems to be the standard.

For me, it just means 5 pillows on the floor to trip over and one on the bed.

I'm in Memphis tonight w/ an early morning tomorrow. Night, night!

Light Painting

2009-03-29T20:10:00.001-07:00

87/365, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Suprisingly, I didn't end up w/ any real interesting photography from Lake San Antonio. We were too early for the flowers (they will be there next month for sure), and we were too busy w/ other stuff to search out the real opportunities.

This morning while we were running along the lake I saw "the picture". There was fog in the oak trees across the lake. The trees are spread out a bit, so there were lots of composition opportunities. Of course, I left my camera behind. We were running w/ a bunch of triathletes so I knew it would be competitive. The last thing I needed was to lug along my G9. Can't let those kids think they've can school you, you know.

Anyway, this shot was from last night after dinner. We hiked up the hill to see if there was anything interseting. Naw. So I took this night sky shot and painted the tree with my headlamp

Here is a picture of the sky from Friday night. No light painting though.

Yesterday afternoon this jet flew over. Just a little reminder of the work to come tomorrow morning.

It looks like a ghost, but like work, it is very real. 500 new shiftworkers this week. I'm sure it will be interesting. Oh yeah, back to Memphis, and I'm not even done in Savannah.

Outrage of the Day

2009-03-27T09:21:00.000-07:00

Today we are honored to have a guest post from my Dad! Here goes!:

The Department to the Navy has decided to give Rep. "Fightin'" John Murtha (D-PA) its Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest public service recognition given to a non-employee by the Department of the Navy. This would be the same John Murtha who, in May 2006, slandered U.S. Marines by accusing them of war crimes, saying they were nothing but "cold-blooded killers" who "murdered innocent civilians."

That is the biggest demonstration of pandering that I can recall since John Glenn got a ride in space as a US Senator.This guy has proven where his loyalties lie and it is NOT with the Military!

There is a petition at http://www.petitiononline.com/usmc2009/petition.html where you can tell the Navy leadership your feelings about this outrage. Also if you want to read more about it is on the Patriot Post article entitled - Department of Military Correctness: Murtha's Award - http://PatriotPost.US

Hal Capshaw

________________________

First of all, Dad's post is proof that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree.

Secondly, this goes to show that the politicians don't have a monopoly on being political. Then again, any junior officer can tell you that military "leadership" (at the top that is) is 90% politics. That said, the commanding officers I worked for were some of the smartest, most able people and leaders I've known.

Headed to Lake San Antonio today for Wildflower and OKFree training. Yipee!!! And of course, there will be wildflowers posted here soon as a result.

And, just to share, here is this morning's sunrise:

85/365 - West Point Inn

2009-03-26T22:22:00.001-07:00

85/365 - West Point Inn, originally uploaded by panodanno.

On my run today I stopped for a couple of minutes at the West Point Inn on Mt. Tam. Here's the dining room. The view was reflected in the window since I was shooting from outside in.

At first I went for the shot because I liked the shadows and furniture. The reflection was a big bonus. I'll take it!

84/365 - Handsome Tom

2009-03-25T10:55:00.001-07:00

84/365 - Handsome Tom, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This morning's commute was fantastic. I felt good on the bike, and I was in a hurry to get to work. Perfect fit.

That also meant that I put the camera in my back pocket and didn't plan to take any pictures. Well, maybe only if I saw a turkey doing the mating dance.

Well, just as I topped out on Bolinas ridge I saw a bobcat. He/she leisurely trotted across the road and down the hill. No time to stop, but cool.

Next I saw a group of four deer. They walked off the road, but then watched me ride by like so many domestic animals. No time to stop, but again cool.

Then I saw the coyote as I was barreling down a steep section. He was also on the road. He dashed off the road and turned around and stared. Hmm, cats and dogs today. Very cool.

Next up, a tom turkey cruising the road. No females about, so he was just being... cool. Finally I pulled out the camera.

And then I saw this guy. He was in full dance mode. As long as the girls were about, he wasn't going anywhere. He fluffed and strutted until the hens moved off the road and into the woods. (The hens were around the bend, so I couldn't get their picture.) Then it was time to move on and let the cyclist pass.

From there I re-entered civilization and just had to avoid all the turkeys in their cars and trucks.

Yep, quite a commute this morning.

83/365 - Lupine for Dinner

2009-03-24T19:57:00.001-07:00

83/365 - Lupine for Dinner, originally uploaded by panodanno.

The first of the lupine are starting to bloom. It is very sparse right now, but will be getting better fast I'm sure.

82/365 - Exploring the Jungle

2009-03-23T22:09:00.001-07:00

82/365 - Exploring the Jungle, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Tonight I went for a little expedition in my backyard. My neighbors know it as "the jungle". Hey, my philosophy for gardening and yard work is if it grows on its own, and I can live with it, it should live.

So, no poison oak, and those ticks' days are numbered, but if you are aloe, or camelia, or asian pear, or cherry, or orange, or plum, or apple, or onion grass (for crying outloud!), you're good to go as far as I'm concerned.

The black acacia's on my blacklist though. One of these days...

Tonight I went for a little run, but tomorrow it's back to OKFree training. The plan is to ride to work. It's 48 degrees now (7 degrees warmer than this morning), so hopefully it won't be too cold. No rain to worry about though, so that is good.

I had a short chat w/ Eddy tonight. He said it was time to go find some more turkeys. He's probably right. Sunrise comes early enough (7:08 a.m.) to get me in to work in time to be productive. Okay. Free.

81/365 - Rain Forest

2009-03-22T18:58:00.001-07:00

81/365 - Rain Forest, originally uploaded by panodanno.

When it rains here, the "moss" on the trees springs to life and becomes a vibrant garden of ferns. It's just amazing to see, and really only like this during or just after a rain.

Yesterday and today we had what may be our last rain for many months. Hopefully not, but there is no rain expected for the rest of the week. The more days that pass, the less chance there is of rain.

Anyway, I have been wanting to photograph these mini-rain forests all winter, but just haven't taken the time to do it. Today, on our run to the top of Middle Peak, I stopped for a few shots with my old Canon S400. I left the G9 at work last week, so I had to run with my backup.

These trees were on Fern Creek trail, but there were many others out there. It was cold (for us), windy, and sunny on our run. Oh yeah, and amazingly beautiful.

Investing for OKFree

2009-03-21T16:47:00.000-07:00

Today was a training day. The original plan was for me to drive to Stinson Beach, park the Jeep, and then run home. The idea was to put the jeep at the bottom of the hill so that Lori wouldn't have to ride over the mountain at the end of her ride. I was going to take a short detour on the trip home to create a 10-11 mile run. It's only 6.5 miles by road, but by trail it is 8.5 miles. I needed 10 or so for my Dipsea training. Then, I was going to ride with Lori (after her swim) along the coast for a while and then back up over the mountain for a 30 mile ride.

Yesterday evening (after another 11 mile run), my left knee was tired. Not really sore, just tired -- which is a sure sign that it will be sore if you aren't careful. Anyway, I woke up this morning and the knee was a little stiff. I decided I shouldn't run.

So, I drove the Jeep down to Stinson, as planned, and rode my bike back up over the mountain to the house. I got back home shortly after Lori had returned from her masters swimming program. We jumped on our bikes and took off, but now I was committed to the whole (50 or so miles) ride with her.

It rained a bit as we rode along the coast, but then the sun popped out in Olema. Things started looking nice, and it warmed up a bit. We stopped in Pt. Reyes Station for bakery goodies, and then headed back home... into a big, black cloud. It rained for most of the ride back to the jeep. At least we didn't have to climb and descend the mountain in those terrible conditions. We were pretty cold and miserable, but the miles were logged. I even rode hard the last 5 miles or so so I could warm the jeep up for Lori.

Unfortunately for her, I didn't beat her to the jeep. As I was riding along Bolinas Lagoon, I saw a kingfisher sitting on the power line. I had to stop and look because I've never seen one before. It was very cool (despite the rain!). We also saw a great horned owl in a big cypress tree. Also cool.

So, OKFree fast approaches. I feel reasonably good about my training, but I still have a lot of work to do. A few rides to work next week will help. It's, apparently, as safer bet to invest in OKFree than most other places, so that's what I did today.

Brother, can you spare a dime?

2009-03-20T14:33:00.001-07:00

Brother, can you spare a dime?, originally uploaded by panodanno.

A picture from Stinson Beach from a couple of months ago. Sometimes the sand dollars are 3+" in diameter. Sometimes they are smaller like these. Usually they are about 1.5" in diameter.

It's not a compact camera...

2009-03-20T01:20:00.001-07:00

It's not a compact camera..., originally uploaded by panodanno.

If I look like I'm straining here, well, you try and hold one of these cameras at arm's length...

At my age more than a few ounces start to add up. Make me push a button too? All bets are off.

Today I found myself ranting about politicians. I almost wrote a post about it, but managed to dodge the bullet. Not guarantees that I can avoid it in the future though...

Okay. My question is: When will politicians stop pandering to their polling machines and start doing their jobs? I don't care what your party is. Your representative only cares about votes, and they make decisions based on polls. That way they don't need to think and do their job. Represent our best interests.

75/365 - Rain and green go together.

2009-03-16T19:23:00.001-07:00

75/365 - Rain and green go together., originally uploaded by panodanno.

It has been another rainy day. Over .65 inches here on Mt. Tam today. That is good. Tomorrow is a travel day, so hopefully it will rain a bunch more!

It looks like it is supposed to be nice in Savannah when I get there. It's a short trip, but good weather makes it even better...

74/365 - Yes!

2009-03-15T19:06:00.001-07:00

74/365 - Yes!, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Our weather is cold, foggy, and raining today. Very winter like for us. But Spring is here!

This picture shows one of the most exciting moments of the year. Cherry blossoms! Soon my beloved cherry trees will be covered with them. 2.5 months from now, they will be the most delicious Bing cherries you can imagine. YUMMY!

BTW, the robins and ravens feel similarly. It's always a race to see who gets the most cherries. Me or the birds. I count on our local semi-wild tomcat to help keep the birds in check, but he has to sleep sometime... Besides, w/ 4 trees, there are enough for everyone.

Of course, I always get the most blackberries...

73/365 - Natural Order of Things

2009-03-14T08:10:00.001-07:00

73/365 - Natural Order of Things, originally uploaded by panodanno.

1. Wake up. (Not shown)
2. Sun rises. (Shown)
3. Roast coffee for tomorrow. (Shown)
4. Drink today's brew. (Not Shown)
5. Post to Flickr. (Shown)
6. Blog. (Shown).
7. Train for OKFree. (Not Shown)

Sometimes you have get above the fog.

2009-03-13T12:00:00.001-07:00

72/365 - No Bay Area, originally uploaded by panodanno.

From Middle Peak on Mt. Tamalpais this morning. The sun was just about to peek over Mt. Diablo. East Peak is in the foreground.

When the fog covers the bay and surrounding cityscape, it makes you feel like you are in the wilderness - though there are actually millions of people within the viewable surroundings.

I've tried to add to this post twice and it won't save what I have to say. Anyway, it was a nice morning. Here's one more pic. Hopefully it will save.

Summarizing the lost posts: Life is very good on the Mountain.

71/365 - Spring Bloom

2009-03-13T11:43:00.001-07:00

71/365 - Spring Bloom, originally uploaded by panodanno.

The bees are going crazy on the mountain right now. Everything, including the manzanita is in bloom. I shot this little combo of pictures on my run last night. Look one way, flowers, the other way, amazing views. Life is good.

Alpine Reservoir is full.

2009-03-11T20:13:00.001-07:00

Alpine Reservoir is full., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Alpine Reservoir is on my way to work when I ride my bike. It is often just as still as can be early in the morning.

Yesterday it was smokey with fog, but my battery was dead. Should have had the Minister D with me. But I digress...

There may be a drought in California (or at least fear of one), but this reservoir is full. That doesn't mean they all are of course, but there was a lot of water flowing over the dam towards Kent Reservoir. So, Marin County is moving the water around, and hopefully we will get close to full.

This was just one turkey of many I had to deal with on my commute today. This time of year the big toms strut their stuff for the ladies. This guy was fully fluffed and fanned when I rode by. Since I was going down a pretty steep hill, I had to stop, pull out my camera, and ride back up. By the time I got there, he was folding up shop and heading for the weeds for breakfast w/ the girls.

I saw another bunch of toms on top of Mt. Tamalpais, but they were just doing the tom-thing, trying to figure out who was going to be Top Tom. Hopefully I'll catch them strutting on another day.

Let's Ride!

2009-03-10T22:24:00.000-07:00

Finally! I rode to work today. It's been months since I have had the time to ride and the weather has been reasonable on the same day. It was actually pretty cold at 34 degrees with frost on the cars. Fortunately, Eddy was in the garage and raring to go. I dressed up in a bunch of polypro lined Lycra and windstopper to survive the cold. I looked like a giant black and blue sausage. It was much warmer coming home so I shed most of that gear and transformed myself into a red sausage. Hey, how can you ride like Lance unless you dress like him?

Here is a picture from the ride in. It was a bit hazy, but that just adds to the depth of the photo. My camera battery died right after this, so there were no other photo ops.

So, that gives me a couple of good training days for OKFree in the last 4 days (yesterday was a rest day). I felt good today. Not super strong, but not suffering either. 46.6 miles and 5000' of climbing. That makes for a good commute and it means that I didn't loose as much as I thought I did when I was sick.

I am planning to ride tomorrow too. I doubt it will be quite as easy, but that is okay. OKFree will be easier. I don't want those Okies making too much fun of me in my California Kit. :-)

Today was another full moon. Of course I had to take a photo, so here it is:

The color comes from our smog (or other particulate matter) low on the horizon. I shot this while the moon was still pretty low in the sky.

Marco

2009-03-09T22:32:00.001-07:00

Marco, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Our friend, Marcus, moved back to California from Denver last week. He came up for a visit w/ his new BMW motorcycle. Very nice, and you can see he is lovin' it.

He came back for the triathlon lifestyle. He has a back issue to work out, but I'm sure he will be a regular sight to see on his Seven as soon as possible.

Me, personnally, I don't see the draw of the triathlon lifestyle. I'd just as soon run and bike as swim. Swimming is all about survival. Ya know what I mean? :-)

68/365 - Monday morning sunrise.

2009-03-09T08:46:00.001-07:00

68/365 - Monday morning sunrise., originally uploaded by panodanno.

67/365 - Springing

2009-03-08T22:13:00.001-07:00

67/365 - Springing, originally uploaded by panodanno.

66/365 - Break time.

2009-03-07T19:04:00.001-08:00

66/365 - Break time., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Here is a picture of the cycling scene in Pt. Reyes Station today. What do you suppose a cyclist on a 60 mile ride through the coastal California hills does when they get a break in a town with an awesome bakery. The bakery is the Bovine Bakery. My favorite is a Blondie. Others like the morning buns. We all like the coffee.

BTW, I only rode 53 miles. Lori rode w/ her friends through all the little towns going out to the coast. I don't really like all the traffic and wasted time at red lights, so I rode up the coast and met them. We timed it perfectly which was great.

I felt fine, Lori was super strong. Her friends bonked at Stinson Beach and she ended up driving back to pick them up. That under 40 crowd just can't keep up w/ us oldies.

Oh yeah, my Brooks saddle is the bomb. Nicely broken in, let me tell you.

65/365 - Mountain Waters

2009-03-06T21:32:00.001-08:00

65/365 - Mountain Waters, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I went for a little hike today on Mt. Tamalpais. You can see the rain has filled the streams...

But the forecast for the next week is dry. We need at least a few more inches of rain. We are up to 25" or so, which is low for the whole year. It's pretty average for this time of year though. Given the dry week ahead, we may or may not make it back into a wet cycle. I hope we do.

In addition to my hike, I managed to get a short run in. I would have liked to go for a bike ride, but didn't want to take the time. Tomorrow will be a 50-miler though.

64/365 - Clearing at last.

2009-03-06T07:47:00.001-08:00

64/365 - Clearing at last., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Met a friend for dinner on the Peninsula. On the way I stopped at the bridge for a few quick pics. The storms were finally clearing just in time for the sunset.

Our weather is shifting in to a dry spell (so they say), so it will be nice this weekend. Time to get back on the bike. OKFree is coming...

63/365 - View from the top

2009-03-04T18:26:00.001-08:00

63/365 - View from the top, originally uploaded by panodanno.

I rode my mountain bike to the top of Mt. Tam during lunch today. The weather was pretty mixed, but it was nice when I arrived.

I'm home this week. It sure is nice.

Went to the doctor today for my final Hep B boster (now I'm imune), and he gave me a prescription for an antibiotic for the tick bite. Just in case.

61/365 - Stormin'

2009-03-02T20:47:00.001-08:00

61/365 - Stormin', originally uploaded by panodanno.

We are getting plenty of rain and wind right now. Max wind today is 39mph. The plum trees are dancing.

We are up to around 24" of rain for the year now. About normal. The newspaper wants to hold on to the drought, but it's not going to be this year. They just couldn't be patient and let the storms come in to fill our reservoirs. I guess that wouldn't sell papers...

60/365 - Alien Invader from the planet Lyme

2009-03-01T16:33:00.001-08:00

60/365 - Alien Invader, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This tick bit me early this morning (4:30 a.m.) -- with intent to infect me with Lyme Disease. I wasn't having it. Now he is a specimen that will get trotted out if I show any adverse effects to his breakfast choice.

These small guys are the dangerous ones too. We think Cookie picked him up across the street when we went over to feed the neighbor's dog last night. They get a lot of deer around their yard (no other houses and on California Parks land) and their yard has a full crop of these little guys. Very dangerous actually.

I have our friend's list of Bay Area doctors that understand Lyme disease. I will post them soon...

59/365 - Ethiopia Kembata Grade 4 Dry Process

2009-02-28T19:08:00.001-08:00

59/365 - Ethiopia Kembata Grade 4 Dry Process, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Today's roast at Full City+. I stopped just as second crack got going. Again. It's good, though not my favorite. Central America seems to be "my" region.

Tablecloth complements of my mother. She is very crafty. She has made 26 quilts (just finished another one!).

I've been sick and working hard. Not sure if that is the same thing. But it was two different things for me. Both were difficult. At least I was in Savannah, which is nice.

Today, I'm home and feeling better. I worked on preparing the camper for a trip. I guess the next one is the Wildflower triathlon training weekend at Lake San Antonio. It's a great place to camp and work out. It's not Oklahoma though, so I'm not sure it will count for OKFree training.

I'm hoping to ride my bike to work a few days this week for OKFree. It's supposed to rain though. I think pretty hard. We'll see.

Time to go make a fire and cook some din-din!

55/365 - Savannah Sky

2009-02-24T17:17:00.001-08:00

55/365 - Savannah Sky, originally uploaded by panodanno.

From Staples. Tired tonight...

53/365 Launch me.

2009-02-22T19:19:00.001-08:00

53/365 Launch me., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Friday evening I started coming down with a bad stomach ailment. We thought it might be food poisoning, but it still persists. I had two very bad days, but this afternoon I'm coming around.

I ate my first real meal this evening since Friday breakfast. It was small, and bland, but it was food. Capped it w/ a swig of Immodium AD for desert. So far, so good.

I'm going to bed early again tonight. I think I have had 24 hours of sleep in the last 48. Still, I have a long week in... a warm place... Savannah. That's right, no snow this week.

Night night.

49/365 -- Distortion

2009-02-18T21:21:00.001-08:00

49/365 -- Distortion, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Working late in Bradford. This is the view out of my meeting room while I wait for my midnight-crew audience. I suppose this could be the shiftworker's view...

It snowed hard for a while today. Wet, big flakes. Now it is raining. Hopefully it won't freeze again right away, because it is crazy slick already.

One way to know if it is raining...

2009-02-17T19:15:00.001-08:00

47/365 -- It's been rainy., originally uploaded by panodanno.

We have had about 4" of rain in last couple of days and over 8" in the last twelve days. Two of those days were clear. This morning we had .75" since Midnight.

The vases above are actually full of rain water from these storms. It's good that we are getting some rain, but we still need another 25" of rain before May to be close to normal.

This picture is from yesterday.

I drove to the airport through the storm this morning. No problems, other than being almost blown off the road a couple of times. No delays flying out, and the weather is nice (though 19 degrees) here in Bradford.

Lyme Disease is Serious Business - Part 3

2009-02-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here.

And now, finally, part 3... This is the second half of our friend's email about her Lyme Disease.

______________________________

Below, more detailed information about the disease and some links but I want to stop here to share these few conclusions and say this:

I don’t want anyone to be paranoid or sound excessively alarmist but the disproportionateness of the risk of getting Lyme disease because of being uninformed and unaware, possibly resulting in years of disability, versus a few easy precautions taken, makes sharing this information seem warranted and worthy.

1. Take a thorough shower after you have been in a forest, on grass, on Mount Tam or wherever you suspect deer hanging out, even if you have never seen them there. Check your skin. I even go as far as washing my hair now every time and don’t find that the least bit paranoid, considering the amount of people in Marin alone that I know who have been battling Lyme disease in some cases for up to 20 years. And it is difficult to spot them on the head or back of the neck.

2. If you know you have a tick bite, or even merely have a strong suspicion, contact a Lyme literate doctor *) immediately. Forget the GP, most of them don’t run the right tests, and don’t know much about the illness. There are differing opinions about how long it takes the tick to transmit the spirochete (bacteria), but it can be anywhere from a few to 48 hours. If you have the typical first symptoms of infection, fevers, chills, stiff neck within 2 weeks of the bite you should most definitely go on antibiotics and Lyme experts say for at least 4-6 weeks (doxycycline), not the standard insurance covered 2 weeks.

*) I have several names if needed

3. Check your dogs and wash them thoroughly after hikes and/or if they hang out in your garden, they can carry the ticks into your house.

4. Be careful when you remove the tick, if done inaccurately, your chances of getting the bacteria might be higher. Refer to information by www.ILADS.org

More info:

There are many myths and faulty notions surrounding Lyme disease, including the idea that everyone bitten has either a visible tick stuck to them and/or have a bulls eye rash at the site of the bite, neither of which has to be true.

There are two main opinions about diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease and two camps of medical practitioners divided by the diverging beliefs. This has gone so far that well regarded doctors, who have treated patients with long-term antibiotics until the patient got better, have been prosecuted and their licenses removed, in spite of evidence of the need of long-term treatment. So, on top of being a complex disease itself for doctor and patient, it has further been complicated by being turned into a highly politicized issue with the insurance companies right in the middle of it all, stoking the fire and not paying for treatments.

The CDC (Center for Disease Control=federal agency) mentioned before, stubbornly holds on to old guidelines that stipulate that a 2-week course, up to one month is appropriate and sufficient to treat the disease, absurd in the face of research and clinical evidence.
This is great for insurances of course.

ILADS (International Lyme and associated Diseases Society, not a federal agency) on the other hand, being the most credible organization dedicated to research and information about Lyme disease supports the idea of the necessity of long-term treatment to eradicate the infection.

It estimates further that up to 65-80% of infected people never saw a bite or the tick for that matter (I did not) and, almost as an inevitable result of that matter don’t know that they are infected until they, already in a later stage of the disease, start to have a multitude of unexplained physical issues at which point the treatment requirements have increased dramatically.
Consequently, for most people it takes an average of 22 months and 7 different doctors (which is exactly what happened to me) until they are finally correctly diagnosed for the following reasons:

• Very few doctors are literate in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease so misdiagnosis becomes almost inevitable. Very few doctors want to deal with Lyme disease because it is a frustrating, long term ordeal with uncertain outcome and insurances do not cover most of the treatments because as mentioned above, the CDC’s guidelines do not recognize long term antibiotic treatment as necessary for Lyme. Insurances find their safe haven in those indisputably wrong guidelines.

• Symptoms of the disease mimic several other illnesses including but not limited to Multiple Sclerosis, Arthritis, Fibromayalgia, Alzheimer’s disease, Lupus, endogenic depression and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

• Because the symptoms are so wide ranging and regular blood tests don’t normally show anything unusual, patients are not so rarely sent home with the remark (thinly veiling the doctor’s conviction that they are hypochondriacs) to cut out stress in their lives.

• Even the best blood tests (Western Blot, IGENEX Labs) don’t always capture the infection because the bacteria is able and prefers to lodge and hide in poorly oxygenized tissues, such as bone marrow, brain tissue and cartilage, so it tends to avoid blood for that very reason thus making it hard to pick up in a test.

So, in short, it is complicated and certainly better to not get it in the first place!

Best wishes to you all!

____________________________________

45/365 - Bye bye Kitty

2009-02-15T00:22:00.001-08:00

45/365 - Bye bye Kitty, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This kitty was a piñata that gave it up at Lori's 43rd birthday party. It's 18 months older now, and finally gets sent to a decent burial at the recycle bin. It's sad, but it's also good to have some closure... ;-)

This was shot on the first test roll through my Yashica GSN. "Minister D AND GSN?" you ask? Well, yes. See, originally I bought the GSN for about $15 off of ebay. Unfortunately the original battery required is not available and the “replacement” battery didn't seem to work. I decided to buy an MD since they work fine without the battery. Good thing too because I can't get that "replacement" battery to work in the MD either. Anyway, the MD just becomes your basic manual camera without a battery.

So last night, as I was thinking about the camera stuff I'm not using and should be selling, I pointed the GSN at something and composed and fired the shot (no film). The light meter and shutter worked. Hmm, another test firing worked too. It seems that the “replacement” did work, but the battery check switch is faulty.

Today I ran a roll of expired 75c/roll ebay film through the camera. This was one of the shots. Looks like life is good for the GSN. Actually, very good. And the f1.7 lens is fast and fine. Life couldn't be better in the budget rangefinder world after all

44/365 - Fireside

2009-02-13T22:08:00.001-08:00

44/365 - Fireside, originally uploaded by panodanno.

It's cold (for us) on the Mountain tonight. I even had a bit of hail on my run this evening. A cozy fire in the fireplace makes all the difference.

Tomorrow I will finish up the Lyme Disease posts. Tonight, I will read a book...

43/365 - Dinner w/ my bro'

2009-02-12T23:23:00.001-08:00

43/365 - Dinner w/ my bro', originally uploaded by panodanno.

My brother, Hal, is in town (for work) from Oklahoma. Since I made it back from Winnipeg late last night, we managed to fit dinner in to tonight. It was great to see him. It's been a little over a year.

We made a quick trip up to the Golden Gate Bridge for a looky see. It was pretty nice. We both had our pocket cameras handy, and here is my shot. Not bad, considering.

Oh yeah, those clouds are, as I type, whipping themselves up into a nice little winter storm. Mt. Tamalpais may even see some snow tonight.

Lyme Disease is Serious Business - Part 2

2009-02-12T09:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I described a conversation that I had with a stranger in the parking lot across from our house. That was when the danger of Lyme Disease started to dawn on me. Today, I will post a note from our friend who has Lyme Disease. She was diagnosed shortly before my real introduction (as described yesterday). You don't realize how bad this disease is until you hear the details, so read all of this. That's an order.
______________________________

Hello to friends, family, clients-friends, and everyone who has touched my life in the last years,

For weeks now I have been intending to write this to you all. It is the story of a very healthy, active athlete (me), who, over the course of 2 years mysteriously dropped, free fall style, into a maze of wide ranging health problems that, to me seems (on a micro level of course) about as puzzling as the current economic bail out situation. Luckily I don’t have to overcome stubborn bipartisanship. Thing to be grateful for…

I want to prefix this following account with a few brief thoughts:
This is a bit lengthy, I know. And I understand if you don’t have the time or interest to read it but I did not know how to make it shorter without losing substance.

The reason why I share this information is to raise awareness, particularly, but not exclusively, among my athletic, outdoorsy friends who, like me, think that their real home is not their apartment or house but the trails of Mount Tam and who rely not least for their sanity on physical activity, thus a body, functioning at a pretty high level. I DON’T WANT YOU TO GET THIS, IT IS AVOIDABLE!!!

The second thought is motivated by a heartfelt sense of gratitude for living in the best possible and most beautiful place, with the best possible care, the best possible workplace (Presidio Sport Medicine), and the best possible support of my spiritual needs in facing this long term crisis.
And, last but not at all least, to all my good friends that I have neglected and not been very responsive to and in touch with over the course of the last 2 years, this has a lot to do with why….

….in summary, this is not at all intended to invite you onto the bandwagon of my ‘misery’ (I am not ‘miserable’ and trust that I have the spirit it takes to make it through this), but to let you know where I have been and to raise awareness about an underestimated, unbelievably under diagnosed AND hard to diagnose and treat illness, that can be crippling and fatal at worst and an extremely disruptive and challenging ordeal on all life levels at best. In all cases, however, (except for the ones discovered immediately after infection) it is certainly long term, expensive to the point of leading to bankruptcy for some.
So, thank you all for taking the time to read this, for your caring and your thoughts. I am convinced that what life is bringing to our gate does not exceed our capacity to deal with it. In that spirit wishes for peace and health to all of you!

*******

I have had this infection for at least 2 years before I finally found out what all the weird stuff was that was going on with my body. Why it felt like I had an alien living inside of me, tucking and pulling, stabbing and shooting and eating away at my memory and my joie de vivre.
I am talking about an illness brought to humans courtesy of the stupidest little critter imaginable: the deer tick: Lyme disease, or in medical terms: Borreliosis. Humans are accidental hosts to this uninvited party of miniature monsters, mostly because of the spread of ticks to urban areas via a growing deer population that has correctly identified the rose gardens of urban and suburban neighborhoods to be nutritionally more lucrative than your run of the mill, potentially dangerous wild forest.

The ‘otherwise’ so adorable and innocent looking deer carry ticks often in the hundreds or thousands nestled into the fur of their bodies. Some of them attached to the deer skin and feeding and some of them not. The ones not attached can fall off and migrate to other objects. They cannot fly or jump but can hang out on branches, grass and bushes and then end up on an unsuspecting human that happens to stride by, touching the lounging tick with a part of their body at which point the tick might be stuck to the person instead of the plant. (And, yes, there are unfortunately plenty of ticks on Mount Tam) It would be great if all ticks looked the way we see them in pictures: small, yes, but with a fat body. Except that they don’t, in fact the ones that carry the bacteria are the smallest and barely visible to the eye. They are about the size of a poppy seed or smaller. Now, not all ticks carry the various bacteria. If infected, the ones that do are the nymphs, i.e. teenager ticks, i.e. the small ones.

Lyme disease used to be mostly an unfortunate privilege of the East Coast population. That has changed. Most recent estimates show, that anywhere between 30-50% of the ticks in Northern California are infected with at least the borrelia bacteria, which includes Marin County ticks.
It is estimated to be the fastest growing epidemic, surpassing the spread of Aids, with the difference that Aids is recognized and accepted as a serious disease on all levels and funded by research, etc, whereas Lyme disease is not.That is changing, but very slowly, too slowly.
There is an incredible documentary about Lyme disease coming to movie theaters in March, called ‘Under our skin’. (Trailer at www.underourskin.com )It received several awards and recently played to a large audience at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

You might be understandably wondering: What is the big deal about Lymes? And what are the symptoms that are so bad, you seem to look OK…?

Ticks can transmit one or several bacteria and often do transmit more than one, which complicates treatment.With that, symptoms vary greatly depending on the type of infection and where it has chosen to travel to in the body, and not everyone with any or all of these symptoms has Lyme disease, of course.

I have Neuroborreliosis, which means that the buggers are camping out in my central nervous system (bone marrow), brain, eyes and probably in my joints as well.So basically, for the worst of it, (and frankly there are many more freakish symptoms but not as difficult to handle as these following) I deal with this: Some more and some less severe cognitive issues (some of them frankly scary), vision loss and eye pain (never thought that possible), memory loss, constant muscle twitching, trembling and involuntary muscle jerking, migraine head aches, tendonitis, digestive dysfunction, arthritic joint pain and stiffness migrating from one joint to the next, back pain that often keeps me in bed over the weekend and hormonal imbalances due to the immune system gone haywire.

The symptoms of the illness would be easier to manage if they had a pattern, actually they do have a pattern (in that they for sure always come back) but it is about as irregular and erratic as the behavior witnessed on Capitol Hill these days. This fact has made it sometimes tough for me to perform my work as a motivating, health inspiring, and energetic trainer with consistency. I am so grateful that my wonderful clients have accepted me even in my lesser states when I was struggling and have stuck with me through it all. So to all of you: THANK YOU!!!!!And while sometimes it is difficult, I know it is better to ‘fake’ it, instead of staying home and wallowing in self-pity, because it feeds back into having some sense of normalcy in my life.

Treatment:

Currently I am in the care of what is coined a Lyme literate doctor and I started a very intense treatment which, for the moment, includes mega doses of two oral antibiotics that I will be on for a minimum of 6 months to a year. They will be alternated with intravenous antibiotics, consistent with the findings that the bacteria, being the scary cousin of syphilis, i.e. same in shape, intelligence and properties, can morph into different shapes, hide and become resistant to treatment. All of this comes with risks and effects of course, as it always is with strong medications and to mitigate some of it, I have replaced my breakfast items in my kitchen pantry with at least 25 supplements and other medications that I take several times on a daily basis. I have considered making this a fulltime job…hahaha (-:

The antibiotics cause a toxic bacterial die-off (hopefully) and produce thereby, in unpredictable intervals a reaction called ‘Herxheimer reaction’ (mostly called a Herx), which basically makes you want to crawl underground and hang out with gofers. They can be very bad, definitely debilitating and last from 2 days to weeks. It is however a sign that the treatment is working, so it’s a bit like chemotherapy for Lymes.

My doctor is unable to specify or even ball park the impending annual cost of this which could be ranging from $30,000 to $100,000, since insurance does not feel responsible for what they consider experimental treatments, leaning on the guidelines of the CDC (more on that below for who is interested).I am lucky that I have work that carries me through this at least in part as long as I am able to perform it (so far so good), especially in this economy and I am very aware that things could be worse, I could be without a job, not get treatment, etc. So, thanks to the universe for that.
__________________________________

Dan here again. Tomorrow, I will post the rest of our friend's message. It includes some links to more information about Lyme Disease, and some good advice for avoiding the infection.

Lyme Disease is Serious Business

2009-02-11T10:21:00.001-08:00

Six or seven weeks ago I was just finishing a fun run on Mt. Tamalpais when a gentleman, just finishing his mountain bike ride, in the parking lot across from our house engaged me.

Him: “How far did you run?”

Me: “About 10 miles.”

Him: “Wow that’s great! I used to run a lot on the Mountain too. It was so fantastic! You are so lucky! How long have you lived up here?”

Me: “Hmm. About 4 years.” Wondering where this was going. But he seemed nice enough and friendly. And he looked reasonably healthy.

Him: “Yeah, I was a big runner. I used to do all those Envirosports trail races and run 20-30 miles at a time with my buddies. We used to run all over the place up here. But that was over 10 years ago. Then, for no good reason, my body just seemed to be breaking down. It took 9 years to diagnose my problem as Lyme Disease.”

Me: “Wow, that’s a bummer.”

Him: “It is – and I’m not feeling sorry for myself, it just is. The real travesty is it took so long to diagnose the problem. I had been bitten by a tick, but I didn’t know it, and I didn’t exhibit the classic rash (though I did have a bit of an unexplained sensitive spot on my skin). Anyway, I have been on an intense antibiotic program for almost three years and I’m getting better. Maybe I will even get cured.”

Me: “Yeah, at least you can ride your bike.”

Him: “Well, I can, but very slowly. If you were riding and saw me, you would be like. ‘What’s with that guy. His looks young but rides like he has one foot in the grave.’. And, while it’s not that bad, that is how I feel sometimes. I just can’t go any harder, no matter how much I want to.”

Me: “Ouch!”

Him: “I’m not telling you this to get sympathy. I’m saying, I went from a very healthy, active lifestyle like you live here, to a life of unexplained fatigue and pain. YOU DON”T WANT THIS. So, please, whenever you spend time on your beloved mountain trails, finish up by taking a shower. You’ve been living here for a while, running every day on the Mountain, so maybe you are not susceptible to Lyme’s Disease, but don’t take any chances. The ticks that carry the disease are the small ones and you may never know you have one on you or that you have been bit. So take 5 minutes for a shower every time. If you experience any symptoms, go to a Lyme-knowledgeable doctor.”

Me: “Don’t all doctors know about Lyme Disease?"

Him: “Well, yes and no. They know about it, but Lyme Disease symptoms present themselves in many ways. Often they are similar to other ailments. Since insurance companies don’t recognize Lyme Disease as a serious problem and provide limited coverage, many doctors don’t start there or, for some reason, give it serious consideration. Ignore their indifference. YOU need to give it serious consideration, and be willing to pay for the right tests if you have symptoms. Trust me, it is a lot easier and many many thousands of dollars cheaper than ignoring a, in your case, fairly obvious risk.”

We talked for a few more minutes and then I went in for a shower.

Needless to say, this serious conversation was very impactful on me. Maybe I do have some immunity – those Oklahoma ticks that used to make a regular meal out of me when I was a kid may have helped. But they probably didn’t help, and I may not be resistant…

Lori and I recently received an email from a friend of ours describing her battle with this very underrated, untreated disease. Her note is long, so I will break it up over a couple of days. Make sure you come back and read it. You can read it by clicking here.

Lyme Disease is Serious Business.

40/365 - Yep, it's full.

2009-02-09T19:01:00.001-08:00

40/365 - Yep, it's full., originally uploaded by panodanno.

39/365 - Nora Trail

2009-02-08T19:14:00.001-08:00

39/365 - Nora, originally uploaded by panodanno.

While running on Nora trail today I noticed this fern plastered up against a redwood tree just begging to be the photo of the day. Being a tree and fern hugger, I couldn't let it down.

38/365 - Oranges revisited.

2009-02-07T08:26:00.001-08:00

38/365 - Oranges revisited., originally uploaded by panodanno.

Yesterday I took this picture with my Yashica Minister D. This morning I noticed that the plum blossom petals had blown onto the deck and the sun was lighting the blossoms themselves. So, time for a re-take with a camera 43 years newer. Here is the picture from the Minister D:

I was a bit more careful with the towel and lighting today, and the weather was quite different. It's a beautiful morning for sure. I have some work to do in the garage, and then maybe I'll have time to get out on the bike. Lori is swimming and then riding too, but she has a seminar to go to this afternoon so her time is a bit more limited. Maybe we'll do the 30 miler along the coast... That would be fun today.

Winter is Back

2009-02-06T07:34:00.000-08:00

It was very foggy yesterday evening on my run on Mt. Tamalpais. Not too cold though, so it was still a lot of fun. The view you can't see here is of the Pacific Ocean.

Last night it rained pretty hard (.4 inches since about 3:00 a.m.), and continues to rain this morning. It looks like a running day. Tomorrow is supposed to be better, so Lori and I will probably try to get some miles in on the bikes.

Every day is a day closer to the OKFree, and there is no way to cram for that test. So, I keep telling myself that I must be consistent every day, and every week to be ready. Most of the time that gets me out there too!

Travel, romantic travel...

2009-02-03T17:39:00.000-08:00

Not a lot to offer today. I flew in to Buffalo yesterday and drove to Bradford, PA. Here's a look at Buffalo from the air:

And here is a picture of the view outside my window in Bradford. Very small-town, industrial Pensylvaniaish. Oh yeah, and it's snowing...

Cookie at the Beach

2009-02-01T18:04:00.001-08:00

Cookie at the Beach, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This photo is from yesterday.

This afternoon Lori and I rode 52 miles through Muir Beach, Stinson Beach, Pt. Reyes Station and back over the mountain. Very tired tonight, but it was the training we needed.

C U l8r

It's Saturday, Be Productive!

2009-01-31T21:47:00.000-08:00

Cookie and I sent Lori off to swim at 6:45 a.m. this morning. We prep'd her with some fresh-roasted (Full City+ yesterday morning) Brazil Ipanema "Tree Dry-Process" which we have been enjoying a bunch. I'm thinking it will be a re-buy.

From there, we messed around with some pictures, including this huge stitched together set of four medium format slides:

The full-size file is large enough to print a picture that is 30"x100". Pretty big...

After that, I went for a 30 mile ride on Eddy again. I was going to go farther, but really wanted to get home. I needed to work on a brush:

And Cookie wanted to go to the beach, as she explains to Eddy here:

And now, as I blog, I just brewed up some decaf ground in the Turkish grinder. Mmm good. Bedtime soon though...

30/365 - Bolinas Lagoon

2009-01-30T19:10:00.001-08:00

30/365 - Bolinas Lagoon, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Today was a good photo day. Lori and I went for a ride on our bikes and saw lots of deer, two hawks perched very close to the road, two (not just one!) bobcats, oh yeah and some humans. It was 60 degrees and very nice.

We had a good ride, but not far enough. 30 miles with lots of climbing etc., but we're going to have to do better. I am riding alone tomorrow I guess, so maybe I will try for 50-55 miles. I'm racing (sort of) in a half marathon on Sunday. I say sort of because it is really just a test to see how far I need to go to get ready for the Dipsea this year. My goal is top 100, and that means I have to have some serious game on Dipsea day.

Here are some more photos:

Cats know how to live...

And a random weed on a gate...

29/365 - Fresh Ground

2009-01-29T19:00:00.001-08:00

29/365 - Fresh Ground, originally uploaded by panodanno.

Having become a newby coffee geek (roasting my own beans, etc.) I needed to feed my habit while traveling. This german-made turkish grinder fills the bill. Only about 25% of the TSA security people think it is a hand grenade/pipe bomb, and it does a great job grinding my fresh-roasted beans just the way I like them...

The grinder co-starred in an earlier Polaroid shot from a few days ago, but I felt it deserved top billing at least once, so here it is!

Oh, and my very talented mother made the crochet table cloth. Thanks Mom!

27/365 - In Winnipeg

2009-01-29T14:59:00.001-08:00

27/365 - In Winnipeg, originally uploaded by panodanno.

This is from Tuesday evening in my hotel room. I took it with the Polaroid back on my Hasselblad. Instant, non-digital photography.