Jefferson Ohio From My Window

Two Cadillacs and a Chrysler

A Season of Evenings

Walking through town just as the light began to fade, I had one of those odd moments when everything falls into a rhythm. A woman in very high heels had just unlocked her bicycle from a pole and began rolling it down the sidewalk toward me, her shoes clicking on the bricks and the hem of her coat fluttering in the breeze. At the same time a second-story window opened and there was the late Jim Morrison's drunken baritone singing "come on now touch me baby." The sound warped a little, carried sideways by the breeze. Just then someone down the street slammed their car door and the alarm went off, a persistent beeping without that edge of harshness it would have had, had it been closer. As I stood still for some seconds, letting the woman in the heels and coat maneuver her bike around me, all of these events became harmonised. Click-click, beep-beep, what was that promise that you made? Click-click, beep-beep, why won't you tell me what she said? The woman looked up toward the open window as she passed me, and suddenly I was flooded with a sense of deja-vu.




In the Russian language there is a word - a verb - to describe the onset of evening: "vechereyet" (вечереет). It's an archaic word, but still used on occasion. The closest English translation would be something like "evening is coming," but the mood is not the same. And it's the mood of that word that's important. You hear it, and you feel an "eveningness" gently setting in. It's an anticipatory state, fostering expectations of moonlight, cricket sounds, a chill in the air, perhaps peals of laugher in the dark. I remembered this word on my way home today. The sun had nearly set and when I looked at the time I saw it was 5:35pm. "This is the last week of October," I thought. A season of early evenings awaits.

Big Water Santee

Obviously, we've stayed at a campground or two over the past eighteen months. They tend to blur together after a bit. The one we are at now is one I think will continue to stand out in our minds. The sites are pull through and level and big enough to park our rig and truck on. We have full hook ups with 50 amps. The campground is pretty and on a lake. All good stuff.

What had my heart singing with glee though was the pool area. There is a fish shaped pool. There is a pool that has the baby pool built into one end so you can watch your little one play while being in the deeper end yourself. There is a splash zone. And there is my all time favorite water park feature: a lazy river. I think I spent three or four heavenly hours in this part of the campground. With an hour or so of that time including me reading a book while floating on the lazy river. I may want to stay here forever.





Living the life in South Carolina!

Not the Moon

The big white spot is not the moon. It is a snowflake as it comes down. The other dots are not stars but more snowflakes.

Crushing It

Last week was warm on the mountain - and the forecast is for record temps early next week. Climbing on the mountain has been heating up too. A former climbing ranger, Chad Kellogg, was seen mashing up and down the mountain - three times in a row. His earlier tour this summer (climbing from White River up and over the summit, down to Paradise, and back in less than 24 hours) was just the beginning of the triple header throw down. Round three has yet to be rung in.

A helicopter was up on the mountain Wednesday afternoon for what was thought to be a climber with a broken leg. The injury occurred at 12,800' on the Emmons Glacier and the patient was flown from a flat spot just below. All rescuers and the patient made it down safe and sound.

Check out the recent updates on both the DC and Muir Snowfield. While skiing conditions have gotten worse, climbing conditions have improved.

Back from Bantayan Island!

Hi! I'm just back today from Bantayan Island in the north of Cebu, Philippines.


Dutchman and I stayed there for a week and my family also stayed there for a long weekend. After the laid back snail pace island life I am now again caught in the chaotic mess (read: traffic and just disorganization on the streets) in Cebu. I don't think I can ever live again in Cebu... but oh well you never know...

Anywho, here are some teaser fotos we took in Bantayan Island. The island is gorgeous! It takes about 3 hours drive to Hagnaya Port from Cebu City and then 1 hour boat ride to Sta. Fe, Bantayan Island. A total of 4 hours travel time to get there from Cebu City.

To check out where Bantayan Island is situated in the Visayas Region (central part of the Philippines), go here: Bantayan Island

I will post more beautiful fotos of Bantayan Island and more stories too when I am back in the Netherlands.

Outerbanks of North Carolina

Last night we arrived at our destination. It was late so we didn't really have a chance to see anything. Ava woke us up at 6 am so we could see everything very well this morning. Since we were up and anxious to see the beach, we hurried out there. Good Morning Beach!

Adventures with Padded Cycling Shorts

"Should I wear padded bicycle shorts?" is one question I get asked a lot by women, especially since photos occasionally reveal my wearing them. As with most comfort issues, there is no straight answer here. Everybody is different, and the best I can do is provide feedback about my own experience.

When I cycle casually or for transportation I do not wear cycling shorts. It is crucial to me that my transportation bikes be comfortable and upright enough to ride in regular clothing, and I do not ride them strenuously. I also do not find that padded shorts are a solution for saddle discomfort. If a saddle causes me pain, the shorts can at best mask it for a brief time, but the saddle itself will still need to be addressed.



I began wearing bicycle shorts when I got into roadcycling. In that context, I find them beneficial, in that they provide just the right amount of compression and cushioning. It is difficult to explain why this is necessary, until you yourself get to the point where it makes sense. For a while I rode wearing non-cycling-specific leggings, but ultimately did not find them sufficient. The tight, stretchy fabric of bicycle shorts - unflattering as it may be - makes the muscles in my legs feel better when I pedal vigorously. The slight padding (and minimalism is key here) creates just enough of a buffer zone between me and the saddle during active rides.



I have owned several pairs of cycling shorts so far. The first one I bought was by Pearl Izumi. Everyone kept saying to me "But how do you know that you can't wear synthetics? These high-tech fabrics have come so far!" And so I tried. You won't see a picture of the Pearl Izumi shorts here, because they made my legs look like overstuffed sausages and it's just too traumatic for me to share that. But the bigger problem is that I really do have a sensitivity to polyester and wearing these things gave me a disgusting rash along the back of my legs. Also, despite Pearl Izumi's promises of being wicking and temperature regulating, they were nothing of the sort. Sweat pooled in every skin fold, and words can't describe what an unpleasant experience it was to wear this garment. I got rid of them a month later, struggled with my cotton leggings again for a bit, and then finally bit the bullet and bought a pair of wool Ibex cycling knickers.



I have been happily wearing the IbexEl Fito wool cycling knickers since last August, and have since also bought a pair of their Seree shorts.I think the version of the knickers I have is last year's model or older (I bought it from a discount retailer), because the currently produced version features a new pad design that is less noticeable from the back. In both the new and the older design, the padding is minimalistic and feels comfortable. Overall, I am happy with theIbexshorts and knickers, and I alternate between them depending on the weather and on which pair is clean.



Now let's be honest: no cycling shorts are flattering unless you are super-slender with sinewy thigh muscles. But all in all, these are not nearly as horrific as other cycling shorts I've tried and the "sausaging" effect is very slight. At least I am willing to post pictures. A wider and softer waistband would make them more comfortable around the middle, but that is my only real complaint. The wool does not feel especially thin to the touch, but I can wear these things in 95F heat and they feel wonderful. No skin sensitivity, no pooled sweat.



More recently, I got a pair of Harlot Scarlet X Tech knickers via a trade with the manufacturer. These knickers are stretchy nylon and spandex (to which I am not sensitive), and are meant mostly for mountain biking. I thought they could work nicely for touring because of all the pockets and the relaxed tailoring.



The elasticised waistband is soft and comfortable and the styling is that of casual capri pants. They are formfitting throughout the hips and upper thighs and loose around the knees.



The padding is not visible. There is a meshy panel that runs along the inseam, providing ventilation. Decorative white piping runs along the outside seam (more pictures here).



While the Harlot knickers are well-made, flattering, and do a good job disguising the padding, I have not been wearing them much after the initial "Oh, neat" reaction. I think the reason is that I have no need for this particular style of cycling shorts. If I am going to wear something padded, then I am going to be roadcycling and I want the shorts to be tighter, more stretchy, less constricting, and without any extras such as pockets. Likewise, if I am commuting or just cycling with a friend in the park, then I don't need cycling-specific attire at all. But if you can use cycling shorts that are made like regular capri pants, only with padding, knickers such as these andthe ones by Chrome I wrote about earlier, could work nicely.



As I see it, padded cycling shorts and knickers are one of those "If you need them, you'll know it" things. If you are comfortable without them, I think that's just fine and there is no need to question yourself just because other cyclists are wearing them. And while cycling shorts can look silly, they are designed that way (tight, padded) for a reason, and changing that design in order to make them look like regular pants can also reduce their functionality. That's my take on it at least, for the time being.



Do you wear padded cycling shorts? What kind and for what type of cycling? I am especially curious about any experiences with Smartwool, Icebreaker, and other wool cycling shorts - particularly for women.

Taking Down Sunflowers

My neighbor had a huge bunch of wild sunflowers in her yard that had about bloomed theirselves out. She asked my son to take them down with his tractor as it was such a big job to do by hand. So down came the sunflowers. It was even a job for the tractor. But it did displace one little cottontail rabbit. I am sure it was able to find a new home out in the desert under a sagebush.

Swimming With the Manatees

There simply aren't enough hours in the day

For some time, I've been contemplating creating a Public Member Tree on ancestry.com. Yesterday I uploaded a small gedcom file to use as a little test. It was created from Legacy using the default options, which essentially means everything would be included, except what was marked as private. Basically, I was trying to determine, and understand, how the data gets parsed and how it displays on a person's profile page.



The file consisted of just a few generations of Mom's ancestors and contained 58 people. Within seconds of uploading the gedcom there appeared 57 ancestry hints! A few minutes later 21 of those people had a total of 194 hints. What is that figure going to be if I upload a database of 5000 dead people? More than a little overwhelming, I think.








I perused about half of those hints and didn't discover any new information. In fact, the stories and photos that I viewed were from my blog or stuff I've shared over the years with other people. The record hints were mostly census records.




As far as how the data displayed - at first it didn't make a lot of sense. I may not like it, but I think I now understand why it is done the way it is.




I was somewhat concerned about the General Notes and Research Notes that I've got in my Legacy file. There's stuff in those Notes that I don't particularly want to share just yet. In the past that was where I put "temporary" information. When I had access to the internet for research and I'd find something it would go there until I got around to reviewing it and entering it into the events or facts for the individual. I've just never gotten back to it. Notes are also where I put the stuff that has not been "proven" to my satisfaction along with thoughts and analysis. Rather like a "holding bin" of sorts. Where other people might have piles of paper on their desk, I've got bunches of notes. The result is the same, it all just sits there waiting for that wonderful time called "round-toit" to show up.




Thankfully, the General Notes and Research Notes in Legacy went into a "Notes" area on the ancestry online tree that appears to be hidden. There is a notation on that screen that "Notes can only be viewed by the owner and by those invited to the tree as an "Editor."




Handling of events was a little strange, I thought.




Events were added to the online tree using the Event Name, Description, Date, and Place as they were in Legacy, which is good. But the "Notes" that I've added for each Legacy event went into an area that is available only by clicking on the "Unsourced Citations" link.






After clicking on the name of the Source Citation another screen displays and you have to click on "(view source details)" to see the entire citation.






This is where the detail information for the source is displayed. If any "Comments" have been added in Legacy regarding the source, they are included in the "Notes" area of the "Source Information" screen.








This is the screen that displays when you click on the "Unsourced Citations" link of an event. The text in the "Other Information" area is the notes that were entered in Legacy for that particular event.




That's a lot of clicking... will anyone click through all those screens to see the details or additional information? Doubtful.




After 2 hours of viewing various people and screens, the test tree was deleted. It had been a long time since I had created a gedcom from Legacy so I spent a little time looking at the options. In the test gedcom, I left the options at the default, which basically means everything would be included, except that marked as private. But there is a little button in the lower right corner that says "customize." Clicking on that button brings up a screen that looks rather intimidating at first.




What's cool is that it allows you to exclude "groups" of items such as Events, Medical Notes, Regular Notes, Research Notes, To-Do Items, and (gasp) even Sources.








The "Customize" screen for exporting a gedcom from Legacy.


I have so many events for some individuals that their profile screen in the online tree was extremely cluttered. I also have a lot of "special" or custom events created for my own use. In addition, I already have a lot of "Census" events so if I were to add the hints for census records as an event in the online tree, there would be a lot of duplication.



What I am now considering is uploading a rather "bare bones" file without events and notes but including sources. Such as they are. Then, I will selectively add "stories" from blog posts (as suggested by Apple) as well as adding "stories" as explanations for some of my conclusions regarding certain relationships.



My database is not perfect. It's not done. It never will be. There are some relationships entered that are purely speculation on my part, and some that are probably outright wrong. But if I wait until everything is "right" it won't ever get put online. On the one hand, I may be adding more misinformation to the multitude of misinformation already out there. Will that come back to haunt me some day? On the other hand, I know I have information that could resolve some of the misinformation on certain families.



So I'm still in a state of flux in deciding whether to put my database online, and if so, how much of it to share. Do I include events and sources? I don't particularly like how the events get imported but I also don't want to spend a lot of time adding things to the online tree. Do I put up a tree with just the ancestors? Or do I include all 5000 deceased persons in the database? Decisions. Decisions.

Wordless Wednesday - facebook

first impressions

Thug life and ice conditions!

I'm sure my skis have been feeling neglected due to all the ice climbing, so with miserable ice conditions I decided to treat them to some time on the snow.I spent the last week hanging out in the Terrain Parks at Seven SpringsWe went up for some sessions of body battering and severe pain infliction a.k.a. (Jibbing) For those not in the know jibbing is freestyle skiing (doing stunts) on man made obstacles like hand rails, boxes and many other items.Similar to what skateboarders do in thecitys, but on snow skis at ski resorts see the link.Fun Stuff!Skiing was cold and windy most days, but with the recentbuild of The Spot, it was worth cold digits.They'vebuilt the half pipe, jump line and set up two tiers of new rails. What can I say... They did a great job and things are sweet. Each day the weather was foul on one side of the mountain or other. So we got to spend a couple days eachsessioning The Alley and The Spot. Today with seriously sore legs and many other body parts, I decided it was time to take a break from the parks andcheckconditionsto see how the ice rebuild was going. I can happily report that the ice has rebonded to the walls in most places and is looking good for the weekend. Here are some photosof current conditons.