Habitat Progress Update

The time has come, the time is now, another Habitat update is here! (Dr. Suess was a great rhymer.)

It has been a couple of months since the last update, and a lot has happened. Good things.

The foundation has been poured on Lot 1, and the framing for the first floor, and the sheathing is all done. The sub-floor is currently being put in place.

Houses 2 and 3 have the roofing done, a fair amount of the plumbing is taken care of, the wiring is being put in place, windows and doors are in place, and siding is currently being put up.

Houses 4 and 5 have the foundations dug out, with all the form boards in place. The in-ground plumbing on house 4 passed the inspection, and house 5 was pressure tested today. It looked pretty good. After the plumbing passes inspection, the trenches around have to be filled in with sand. In addition to filling the plumbing trenches, gravel has to be laid, then tarp over the top, then sand on top of the tarp, and then finally the rebar.

House 6 (my house) has the trenches dug out, but not much really starting up yet.

It was pretty hot today, and a lot of this summer is going to be pretty rough. I'm excited to keep working out on the site, and learning stuff. I'll post some pictures that were taken at a Hays family and friends day.

That's it for today!

The Fragmentation of Society

I just finished a great book, and it had a lot of interesting themes, which I felt like sharing. The book was John Barleycorn, by Jack London. The closest Jack London ever came to writing an autobiography, a story that follows a man from his early life, until his mid-adulthood, with a focus on the role that alcohol played in his life. A fascinating story, with the classic London touch.

The beginning the story details his first few encounters with alcohol, most of which were accidental, but did allow him to learn that he was the possessor of an incredible physical tolerance when it came to alcohol. As time progressed, and he struck out on his own at a very young age, he learned the value of alcohol in a social context. He writes at some great length about the gathering of men in bars, and how the purchasing of drinks proves generosity, and the consumption of drinks proves a manliness, without a doubt. He also writes about the role of alcohol when he was traveling. Go into any town, walk into any bar, talk with the other men, move to another bar, and after just a couple bars, you would know every important person, the editor of the newspaper, the lawyer, doctor, every person worth knowing. Bars are where men congregate, and socialize with an ease that is rarely seen elsewhere. And this, right here, this is what got me thinking.

Obviously, bar culture, and drinking culture has changed from the pre-Prohibition times that London lived and wrote in. Alcohol has always been a destructive force in society, and will remain so, but the redemptive factors of socializing with peers and social networking have been diminished, to the point that it no longer seems worth the physical damage. But why isn't it worth it anymore?

It used to be that your friends were the people you saw everyday, the people you worked with, but now, we have friends that are hundreds of miles away, sometimes people we haven't even met. The social circle has gotten so wide that meeting a friend, regardless of the place isn't that hard. It used to be that if you wanted to meet with someone from more than 50 miles away, it would take weeks of planning, and at least a day of travel. Now, a cell phone call, a little over an hour of driving, and there you are, chatting away.

Good, bad, I'm not sure. What do you all think?
By the way, I'm sorry it has been so long between posts. I haven't had the time, energy, and topic all at the same time.

Habitat For Humanity, Progress, and Volunteers

I spent yesterday out on the Habitat site, with one of my good friends, Josh K, and about 20 other volunteers. This was a very different experience from what I'm used to on the site, because Thursday, when I usually go out, it is almost entirely regular volunteers, who are very experienced with construction work. This puts me in the less-experienced catagory. I do things like pound nails, and carry stuff. Sometimes I will work with someone who actually understands what is happening, but I'm rarely the person who knows the most about what is happening. Yesterday, I was actually one of the more clued-in people. It felt nice. Saturday had at best, 6 regulars. And that is counting Dad and I as regulars.  Dad is far closer to the regular category than I am.

Enough about regularity. I feel like a progress update is in order. The two houses that are currently in the process are coming along quite nicely. All the OSB is up, and most of the windows and doors,  have been routered out, so are now open, looking remarkably like real doors and windows. The roof trusses (the things that give the roof something to be built on top of, think of them as the roofing equivalent of studs.) are in place, and some plumbing is starting to go in place. Some of the walls also have something called "one-hour firewall". Wikipedia has a pretty good explanation of firewall, and fire partition, here, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(construction). Yesterday, I was putting on the roof sheathing, which is some pretty cool stuff (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiant_barrier). This will keep attic heat down by up to 20 percent in the summertime. I was doing a lot of the measurement work, and got to work with some good people on my roof. We got half of one the roofs done. So that was fun. There was also an excavator on site, preparing the two-bedroom lot foundation for the forms, and all that follows. Pretty cool to see the form of the house starting to take form, out of the ground. Cool!

On Thursday (this was written a week and a half ago) , the day that I am usually out on the site, we were putting on something called fascia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascia_(architecture) We were attaching the fascia to the rafters, where they projected past the walls. This serves the dual purpose of providing a nailing surface for the roof sheathing, as well as a nailing surface for the gutters. I had a lot of fun doing this. I'm getting pretty confident when it comes to leaning out to nail things, or cut things, and also just moving around on the trusses, and the roof and scaffolding. It was pretty intimidating at first, but I'm getting more comfortable.

I want to talk a little bit about the other people that are helping my family, and 5 others build their future houses. The site manager, Brent, and the two Americorps (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americorps) volunteers, John and Matt are great young guys. Brent started as an Americorps volunteer, and then got hired recently. All those guys are out on the site everyday. It is their job. But there is another group of people, volunteers, who come out on a semi-regular basis, and have a lot, lot, lot of skills. A bulk of this group are male, Caucasian retirees, who have some kind of experience in construction or engineering. They are also some of the nicest guys I've ever worked with. Occasionally a little frustrated with those that aren't as skilled (me), they are still great guys, and all very good at whatever it is they are doing. Whenever I try to describe one of the volunteers to my family, unless everyone knows their name, it is virtually impossible. It seems like a whole 1/3 of the men have 3 letter names. Hal, Tom, Jim, Les, etc. So confusing!! I'm going to highlight a few of volunteers that I particularly like, and enjoy working with. Carter used to be in the medical field, and is a very smart guy, who has retired from that, and now is immersing himself in the world of building houses. He is out on the site every day, and is really learning a lot. I admit, I am a little jealous that he gets to spend all his time learning this really cool thing. There is also Hal, who used to be a general contractor for 20 years. Kinda knows what he is doing. Frank, who used to be a roofing and siding contractor. And Mike, the unemployed, waiting for work, journeyman carpenter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journeyman. He is awesome. Much more spry than some of the older volunteers, and pretty impressive with the math and figuring he does in his head. I can see why some people would spend a career doing things like this. It really can be a challenge, and enjoyable, if you engage with it on a level past "I just hit nails."

Anyway, it's pretty late, and I need to get up at a decent time in the morning. I'll have more later. Good night!

The Cutest Bus Riding Partner

Hey there readers!
I just wanted to share a slice of my day with you all.

Yes, that is me and Beth on the bus today. She was my "Bus Riding Partner". I imagine you are wondering, why exactly we were riding the bus. Well....our family care recently had some serious problems diagnosed, and we were told that driving it would be a serious hazard. So, we rode the bus to church, both last week, and this week. If you can't see, in this picture, I'm reading, and Beth and I are listening to music on my iPod. She was being so cute, clapping, and tapping her feet on the window. ADORABLE!

Eventually she started to get tired, and fell asleep on me. No offense intended to anyone I've ever ridden public transit with, but Beth blew you all out of the water. She was cuddly, with out stifling me, she didn't complain about the music, or really cause any kind of problems at all.

That's it for tonight!

Go Team!

This post is going to have a couple different segments, so just read them and then stop reading when you finish it.

I've been thinking a lot about teams recently. Thought (perhaps wrongly) that it was worth sharing. I would love to hear what y'all think as well. Dad, I know you've got a fair amount of experience, and I would like hear what you in particular think.

Part of what started this train of thought was a casual study that was done on basketball teams recently. The study showed that physical contact between team members correlated with an increased quality of play. Just to make it clear, they can't PROVE the link. Correlation, not causation. Ok? Ok. It made me think back to all the teams I've been a part of, from the same group of guys playing basketball, football, and baseball together for 3 years, to a pickup soccer game with strangers, there is something about your teammates touching you. It is a very specific kind of touch that makes a difference too. High fives, back slaps, etc. It is a "positive, energetic, complimentary" contact. This totally makes sense to me. A high five isn't just a way of saying "Nice job!", but it is a way of saying "You are part of our group, and we value you, and what you just did." What is great is that it is so elegantly simple. The economy of communication in this example is brilliant. All those team-building experts can be replaced by a few more hugs and high-fiving. Actions do speak louder than words.

I've been enjoying my time out on the Habitat site (small side note, for those of you who might care, been working on my farmer tan. It's coming nicely.) and been learning a lot. Also getting a lot better at what seems to be the main skill on a construction site (not leaning on shovels), hammering nails. Tips for nail hammering. When you are "setting" the nail, getting it in place in the wood, make sure to keep it straight and try and avoid hitting your fingers. Always try to avoid hitting your fingers. Bigger backstrokes and more follow-through equals less strokes, which results in less possible bending of the nails. Don't give up the moment that your nail starts to bend. You can tap it back into shape, or at least something workable. Use gravity as frequently possible. Nailing upwards, or at an angle is a pain, and puts you a more of a risk bending the nail, or hitting your hand. Try and be hitting the head of the nail directly. That's kind of it for now.

On a final note, I want to proclaim my love for casual sports games, and nice weather. I particularly love those two in combination. Hopefully followed by some kind of food.

That's it! Thanks for reading.

My Favorite Podcasts

So, I said I would post the names, and perhaps links to my favorite podcasts. Here they are! I'm going to put them in list format, with a little explanation of the format of the show, and then why I like them.

The History of the World In 100 Objects. A great BBC podcast, with each episode revolving around one particular object in the history of the world. A few examples would be an Olmec stone mask, a Minoan bull leaping sculpture, and an Indus seal. Neal McGregor, Director of the British Museum goes through the events that surrounded this item. He sometimes talks with experts, but always makes this interesting, and informative. I haven't been listen to a lot recently, but every time I listen, I love it.

The Moth. A podcast of true stories told live. The Moth is actually a group that started in New York, and has now spread to several large cities. The stories are sometimes profound, sometimes profane, sometimes funny, and always interesting.

Planet Money-An NPR podcast that is entirely economics. It started as the economy was beginning to go down the tubes, and for a long time was focused on the crisis, and making it understandable. Sometimes with recurring guests, such as Russ Roberts, head of the school of economics at George Mason University, and Simeon Johnson, former head of the IMF. It has now expanded to cover the crisis in Haiti, and is starting to look at what makes poor countries poor, and rich countries rich. A really enjoyable podcast, assuming you enjoy podcasts.

Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me-A great news contest show, with some good guests, and really funny jokes. Long time listener.

Slate Political Gabfest, Slate Cultural Gabfest, and Hang Up and Listen-All great podcasts from the online magazine, Slate. All filled with expert commentary, and some funny takes on current events, be it political, cultural, or sports. I usually finish these podcasts feeling like I learned a lot of really useful things. Good explanations of details and smaller storylines that I would miss otherwise. Also hear about some really interesting things in the "Cocktail Chatter" portion, where the three hosts of whatever podcast talk about something they are going to be sharing with their friends.

This American Life-Well done stories. A classic of podcasts, and radio.

The Sporkful-A podcast entirely about being really obsessive about food. The PB&J episode was amazing.

Stuff They Don't Want You To Know-A video podcast, about conspiracy theories. I actually suggested one of the topics for an episode. "Did the U.S. Government Steal Tesla's Technology?" That was me. Pretty interesting, and funny to think that people actually believe these things.

Stuff You Should Know-The most personable podcast on the list, with two bearded, lovable hosts, explaining various things, from ninja, to carbon trading, to scabies. Always interesting. Most How Stuff Works podcasts are pretty good, and very well researched.

Radiolab-From WYNC, like This American Life, which is also a favorite, but with science. The hosts do an amazing job of making science make sense. Some of the most interesting things I have ever heard have been on this podcast. The episode titled "The (Multi) Universe(s)" was fascinating.

And that's pretty much it. There are others I listen to, but these are my absolute favorites. Bonus, for all of you who made it to the bottom, is this. http://picasaweb.google.com/Iskid2astop/CellPhonePictures# Pictures I have collected with my phone, with a short explanation. They make me laugh so much.
I'm sorry this has taken me so long, but enjoy!

OSB, NBC, and SPG

Oriented Strand Board, National Broadcasting Corporation, and Slate's Political Gabfest.
With that out of the way, let me explain the probable form of this post. It might change half-way through. Or not. I'm not sure yet.

Today was my day at the Habitat site, working an 8 hour day, and having a lot of fun. A lot of what I did was putting up OSB, which, as I briefly explained, stands for Oriented Strand Board. Basically, little scraps of wood, all pointing in the same direction, which are pressurized, and more sturdy than plywood, while easier to nail into than some other of the treated and pressurized woods. What we were doing was taking big boards of this, (side note-These boards are about 1/4 of an inch thick. Half the size of a piece of toast.), and then putting them up on the outside of the framed walls. They were flush with the bottom, or mud sill, and nailed into the top plate, mudsill, and studs. Basically, we were nailing into the top, bottom, sides, and the lines between the top and bottom. But the wood isn't the easiest to nail, and is sometimes flopping around, and needs to be really pounded into the wood, particularly for the first few, we were using nail guns. Oh boy! Excitement! I was working with a team of 3 adults who were all willing to let me do more than a fair share of the nailing. My shoulder is pretty tired now.  Air-powered, with some serious heft. These guns drive the nails right through the OSB, and solidly into the studs. That's a fair amount of wood. I enjoyed it for a while, but eventually, I got tired, and it got a little monotonous. All in all, it was still pretty interesting, and enjoyable. The most interesting part of the day was the weather. No joke. It must have been getting close to 70, which, if you notice the date, is not exactly the kind of weather we expect the 25th of February. My face has that borderline sunburned feeling. Good times.

Now NBC. The Olympics are still happening. I'm starting to get bored. I'm not an ice skating fan, and cross-country skiing is like watching a marathon. A snail marathon. On snow. So now I'm falling back to my default, mocking, sarcasm, and pointing out stupidity. Case in stupid point. We were watching the women's ice skating, and the commentators were talking about one of the skaters, Turkish lady. The female commentator remarked "She is a very exotic skater." She wasn't skating differently, she was just dark. She had darker skin, darker hair, nice brown eyes. She was still beautiful, a great skater, but I just found myself noticing that there aren't a lot of dark skaters. Why? And why did the commentator feel the need to say that?

Bob Costas. One of the main NBC guys working the Olympics, and he still can't get a tie that doesn't clash with his shirt and jacket. Why can't newscasters just look classy, and stop trying to be fashionable?

Mary Castillo continues to irritate and inform me through the Games. Yes, she is doing cool stuff, and telling people all the cool things about Canada, blah blah blah. But its like a commercial that NBC is paying for, and there isn't really any substance. I mean, how important is a blind sled dog? Seriously?

Some of the events don't really need an explanation. We can see what the figure skaters are doing, we don't need a explanation and parsing of every little triple this backwards that. It is like sports spam. Just be quiet! When you have something worthwhile saying, say it, otherwise, just be quiet! There are other events where we do need some explaination. I have no clue what is happening in curling, or ski jumping. Please, explain why that dude went farther, but snowboard cross needs no explaining. It is a race! They race, and what order you cross the finish line, that is the order of the medals, or advancements or whatever. The Olympics always have this cocktail of effects on me. And I always find myself a little surprised by it. Grr!

One final Olympic thought. Everyone is comparing Apolo Ono to Michael Phelps, but I think that is actually the wrong comparison. It should be Ono to Usein Bolt, the sprinter. Much more similar sports, still the same kind of movement, just different strategies.

All right, the Slate Political Gabfest. I am actually going to add to this, with a few other podcasts, but let me just say, if you are interested in understand the big political events, and don't mind some liberals having a good time, and being pretty irrevent on occasion, listen to this podcast. Slate has put up a nice little post about how to subscribe to podcasts, in all the variety of wats that it is possible. It's right here. http://www.slate.com/id/2244964/
That's all for now, but I am going to try and post some catching up stories.
Night!

Guess Who's Back

Hello Dear Readers!
It has been far, far too long since I wrote something for you all. I would like to point out that I have still had the thoughts in my head, but I haven't had the time, or sometimes the equipment to actually get one those thoughts down. First the equipment. My computer broke, like, smoke smells broke, so that was a downer. Fortunately, one of the awesome families in my church had an extra laptop, which they very kindly gave to me. Thank you Myers family! Only in Silicon Valley do people have "extra" laptops. I have also been insanely busy since the roadtrip, and sick a couple of times, so it has taken me a while to get back into a somewhat regular life. But now, here we are. I'm sitting on the couch, watching the Olympics, still a little sweaty from playing some football. Good times!

So, I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but there is this international sporting thing happening. Apparently it happens every four years. Whatever that is about. Anyway, I've been watching, and it is pretty interesting. Short track speedskating, snowboard cross, snowboarding, and some of the skiing sports are pretty interesting. The sport of games, the sport that is totally amazing, and really engaging....CURLING! I know, I know, that's so white. And geeky. But whatever. It is amazing! So stragetic. I was watching with Jack and Tama, the couple I sometimes stay with in Pacific Grove, and Jack and I were amazed. Tama was distracted, and she kept looking up curling related questions on her laptop. Jack and I alternated between amazement at the play, the accuracy, the teamwork, the stratagy, and frustration at the commentators. One had obviously lost the drawing, and was being forced to cover curling. He knew so little, he didn't even know what questions he needed to ask. The other was a curler, and had been for 50 years. He knew tons, and didn't do even close to enough explaining. He was using all these curling words, and going on about tactics, while the rest of us were still trying to figure out the scoring and who gets to go when. It was nuts. There have also been tons of stirring Olympics storylines. Married ice skaters, fathers and the redemptive qualities of their children, the motivational effect of handicapped brothers, etc, etc. This is why we love the Olympics.

 I've also been spending a fair amount of time working at the Habitat site, which has been a lot of fun. My hammering skills have gotten a heck of a lot better, and I'm starting to pick up the lingo. Last time I was out there, I got to put a header in for one of the garages. For those of you who don't know what a header is, it is a very big piece of wood, and it is the primary load-bearer for any opening. Because any opening doesn't have the studs in place that are needed, the header takes that weight, and transfers it to the studs that are next to it. Doors, windows, openings, they all get headers. Anyway, I'm learning some good stuff, and some of the guys have been teaching me some really helpful stuff. I have my own hardhat, and I'm looking for some stickers to put on it. If you have a sticker you would care to donate to the Chris Hardhat Project, let me know!

That has been a fair amount of my life recently, but I am going to do my best to stay up on things now.
One other thing that happened recently was my 18th birthday two days ago. Guess that is kind of significant. I have heard from a few of you about how absurd my lackluster celebration was. It is one day. A difference of one day, and now my country and society sees me as an "adult" while the day before I was similar in pretty much every way. Physically, mentally, emotionally, there were minuscule, if any changes over the course of that night. Its not that I don't like celebrating, getting presents, etc. I really enjoyed getting congratulated, and getting raspberry tart for dessert, and having corn dogs and tater tots for dinner, but I don't think the clear line between adulthood was actually meaningful. Its not like there was some kind of rite of passage, some test of manhood, and all the privileges that I now have that I didn't before were all granted to me by my government or society. People that know me aren't really going to change how they treat me because I am a day older. Or  two days older.

Enough ranting. I'm going to bed now.
Its good to be back!

Road Trip-Orick and Coos Bay

After a conteintal breakfast at the Best Western in Garberville, we continued North. A large amount of the journey was through the redwood forests, which was absolutely beautiful. The trees were crowded right to up the road, and towered above. The river (Eel River perhaps?) wuond along with the road, sometimes disappearing behind the trees, other times coming close enough for me to see large rocks and logs sitting in the river.

We stopped at a Park Station, learned a little about the history of the redwoods, the biology of the trees, the ecology of the forest, and dashed about madly in an attempt to stay dry. We then took a little hike into the woods. Little. Like 10 minutes. Very short. We saw the Founder's Tree, which was, in rough numbers, ginormous. Also saw a few hollows in trees, or as Nick insisted on calling them "caves". Nick and I climbed on the remains of a huge fallen tree, and then jumped off because the car was threatening to leave without us.

'Round 'bout lunch time we started looking at the casinos we were passing, to see if we could find a good deal. We were not fated to dine at a casino this particular day though, and ended up instead, at the Palm Cafe, in the town of Orick, population approximately 500. The Palm Cafe was a diner, perhaps even a greasy-spoon, but I find that classification too harsh. It was iconic. Dining counter, one cook, one waiter/host/cashier, swivel stools at the counter, uncomfortable chairs at the tables, classic American food. I'll admit, there were a few elements that threw things off for me, but if I managed to ignore those, I could just imagine Sam Spade walking in the door, shaking the rain off his coat. Yes, it was raining hard outside, cloudy, that kind of weather that seems to appear entirely in noir works.

The food was amazing. I was pretty hungry, so I ordered the double cheeseburger, expecting something halfway decent. It was outstanding. No frills, no fancy bun, no Dijon mustard. Bun, cheese, patties, tomato, lettuce, onion, and pickles. I added plain yellow mustard. It was delicious! The meat was real beef, freshly cooked, not greasy, but not dry and flavorless either. The fries were perhaps the best fries I have ever had. Long-time readers will remember my raves about the fries at King Burger in Liberia. These gave them a serious run for their money. The meal, considered in its entirity, had a quiet digenity. It knew it was good, and didn't need any fancy culinary doo-dads. Everyone else enjoyed their meals equally, though not quite as intensely as I did. I took pictures. Jerry, the one-man show that equaled half of the Palm Cafe was bemused at my efforts to document the meal. It is a compliment Jerry! I rarely take pictures of food. Most of the time, it is food I made, so taking pictures of food other people made is high praise. Jerry wasn't actually the cook. She remained sequestered by the cooking area. Jerry did provide plenty of interesting mealtime conversation. I learned some about the history of Orick. At one time it was home to a whopping 1500 people. I learned a little about Jerry. He was a foster child, worked at a health food store in Oregon for a time, and then moved back to Orick to work at the Palm. He hardly knows his Native American biological family. He has no kids, but enjoys helping other raise their children. I have to say, Jerry reminded me of a good friend who lives in our apartment complex. Their way of speaking, what they talk about, how they treat us, almost creepily similar. Full disclosure, to make it clear I have nothing against either of these men, the one who lives in our complex is one of my favorite people to talk with.

I have a thing about cake. I don't like it very much. America is a fairly cake-centric culture, causing considerable chaos when I am offered cake. Its not that I hate cake, that's too strong. There are even times when I enjoy the cake I am given. Those are rare occasions. As a result, I have been forced to find an equivalent. I can't be just a cake-disliker, I need an alternative. I have two. Cheesecake and pie. I love both with equal passion. So, when Mom said we could get a slice of pie at the Palm, I was thrilled. (If I didn't show it, Mom, that was probably due to the early onset of the coming food coma.) I love berry pies particularly. Cold, warm, lukewarm, just plain good. Ice cream, by themselves. Marionberry, blueberry, mixed berry, raspberry, huckleberry, blackberry, I'll take them all. I cannot remember at the moment which kind of berry my slice was, but I think it was blackberry, judging from the coloration and flavor. I had it warmed, ala mode. Toppers! Turned out Jerry's mother handmakes the pies, with berries she hires the local children to pick for her. It made sense. The pie was that good. Mandy had the same kind as I did. Alex had butterscotch, Mom and Beth had banana cream, and Nick and Dad had chocolate. Also took pictures of those. The coffee was fair, surprisingly. I throughly enjoyed the experience. I don't think I could eat like that every day though.

Eventually we arrived in Coos Bay, Oregon. There was much excitement for about 10 seconds when we entered Oregon, but then that kind of petered off when the car realized we still had a fair amount of driving to do. Darn. We enjoyed the heated, indoor pool, and hottub. I would like to rant about a TV show I caught the end of as Dad and I returned from getting Taco Bell for dinner. Platinum Weddings. Anyone heard of it? It involves a couple, with an outrageously expensive wedding. In the 5 minutes I saw, the small portion ran dangerously close to a million dollars. The bridegroom rented an ELEPHANT!! A real, live, elephant!! Seriously! I don't have a very high value for ceremony, and this especially disgusted me. That money could have given an entire village in India adequate sanitation infrastrucre, with plenty to spare. It could have innoculated hundreds, thousands of children against an huge array of preventible diseases. They had a thousand guests!! Dad agrees with me.

Here is the link to the pictures from the diner in Orick. http://picasaweb.google.com/Iskid2astop/RoadTripDiner

Anyway, we are now in Seaside, OR, staying at a hostel. We will be here two days.
I'll have a post later on our time here, and what we do.
Chris

Road Trip-Garberville

That little "A" on the map, that's where we stayed in Garberville. Where's Garberville, you ask.



That's where Garberville is. I would have zoomed out more, but it just vanishes. Garberville is in the middle of the redwood forests. About 250 miles north of San Fransisco, surrounded by trees, and nothing. The stay was lovely. I actually typed this post last night, but I'm posting it tonight. Minutes after I post this one, I will post the next post, which was also typed last night. Double!



After leaving Pigeon Point, we drove to Garberville. Mom had a journal entery that she wanted me to post for my readers. Here goes!

After we checked out of the youth hostel, we looked around the lighthouse and bought some postcards. We drove North up Highway 1 to Half Moon Bay. Stopped for Starbucks (coffee and hot chocolate), while Alex went to Jamba Juice. Back on the road going North through San Francisco and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge. We stopped again in Mill Valley, home of B.J. Hunnicut from M*A*S*H*, for Alex. After our potty break, Elaine drove, and Steve made pita sandwiches for lunch. Again heading North on 1/101 we stopped again to go the the Pomo "rancheria" and check out the casino. We drove around the small reservation, saw some of the track housing and community living area, and went up the casino. We took the kids in to use the restroom and to see the inside of a casino. This provided us a good opportunity to how the Native Americans and specifically the California people were treated. We went into the smoke shop.mini mart and Roneta, a Pomo woman. She was very gracious and answered all of ourquestions. She was in her 40's, with a Winnebago husband and 17 yearold son. The son dances in a Pomo dance troop and has performed in a couple of a pow-wows in Gilroy, CA. Her grandmother was part of the group that was moved up from the Russian River area to their current location, far away form the river. Roneta went down to Riverside for High School and then came back to the Pomo "rancheria" with her jusband. She is 1/2 Pomo and 1/2 Mexican. After we left there we continued heading North. We kept driving until we reached Garberville in time for wine and cheese hour at the hotel, a short walk, and delicious dinner across the parking lot at the pizzaria. A couple we met here at the Best Western paid for $20 of our meal. Thank you, God for a good day!
A few little notes Mom made in the margins. We saw a lot of rainbows, and Rainbow Bridge.

I like Mom's summary of the events. She covered the stops nicely, and did a swell job of being more detail and education oriented than I. I guess I could talk about the books I read, but that would probably fall into the boring and not of general interest catagory. Perhaps later! There is just a little color commentary I would add.

The casino was interesting, the drive was nice, Mill Valley was filled with rich snobs, San Francisco had interesting houses. The part of the journey that really grabbed my attention was Garberville. Every person there creeped me out in some way. I spent a fair amount of the walk paranoidly looking down sidestreets and around corners. The grocery store was filled with a group that was just slightly less worrisome than the people who were living on the street. Lots of facial hair, flannel plaid, and crazy eyes! Typed words don't do that justice. I did crazy eyes and voice. Just imagine it. I'll show you next time I see you, assuming I do see you. It was pretty interesting. As I walked from the pizza place to the hotel, to use the bathroom in our room, there was a group of loud puesdo-adults who were drunkly "playing" in the parking lot. They pulled off, running over the curb, and roaring down the street. The decor of the pizza place was......different. Lots of print ads, and signs, and magazine covers, just bits of history, put up all over the walls. It wasn't bad as a whole, but if you looked at one little bit,  it was outrageous. Racism, sexism, the most condescending advertising I have ever seen. There were truly interesting ads, novel ads, products I had never heard of. One little piece I thought was interesting was a comic strip, which featured a character named "Google". No kidding. Sometime later, I'll have a few more I remember, and things that the rest of the family remember. They were super interesting.

That's it for now!
Chris

ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP! ROAD TRIP!

So, in case the title was too subtle, I thought I should make clear the fact that the Hays Family is on a road trip. Spontaneous road trip. My dad has left the ranks of the unemployed, and to celebrate, and take advantage of the fact that being unemployed is like a huge vacation without pay, the Hays' are taking a road trip from Morgan Hill, up to Kirkland, WA, with several stops along the way. We left Friday evening, after I returned from the Aquarium, and we will be back home Saturday the 30th, in time for Mandy to be at one of her friend's birthday party. Hopefully I will be posting semi-regularly throughout the trip, and also uploading pictures to the Picasa Web Album.

The drive to our first stop, Pigeon Point Lighthouse was remarkably uneventful.
As I'm blogging this, there was a remark made about the name of Pigeon Point. I happen to know. There was a boat that wrecked on the Point, one of the first boats to do so. (Is ship the proper word? What is the difference between ship and boat?) That boat was named The Pigeon. Dad, in a particularly droll moment, thought it was because they found a yellow-skinned guy on the point dancing. This made no sense, until Dad reminded me of this golden oldie. Vintage Sesame Street!

We spent a lovely night at the Youth Hostel at the Point. If you are traveling, but want to traveling affordably, and support a great movement, hosteling is the way to go. (Almost put in a Reading Rainbow "But you don't have to take my word for it" clip there, but didn't want to go to the bother of finding a few hosteling books.) Dinner and breakfast were both prepared and consumed in the full kitchen that was part of the cabin, which we shared with a German couple and a retired hiker couple. (Similar to biker couple.) I enjoyed scouting out the surrounding area with Nick at 9:30, while dinner was being prepared, running around in the darkness. Almost ran smack into a couple puddles and stair steps a few times. The next morning, we spent some educational time at the Lighthouse, which has been closed for a few years now, due to budget decreases and the deterioration of the structure itself. I enjoyed the art, by a long-deceased local artist, Galen Wolf, and seeing the interpretive work that was done on a fairly low budget. The rest of the family had a good time as well. Mandy picked up a few postcards, Nick and Beth mostly ran around and made noise.

We then got in the car, and drove to Garberville. But, seeing as it is past midnight, that can wait. I'm going to bed. But, to be fair, here is the link to the pictures from Pigeon Point. A few were taken by Nick or Mandy, and some of them have almost nothing to do with the trip, but help give the atmosphere wonderfully. http://picasaweb.google.com/Iskid2astop/RoadTripPigeonPoint#

I would like to thank Best Western, Coos Bay, for the wonderful internet connection they have provided, which allowed me to upload my pictures in a flash.

Have a great day, and stay tuned for more dispatches.
Chris

Haiti, Jay, and Conan

There are two really big stories of the moment it seems. Some news stories come and go, and some claw for a few moments more in the spotlight, and then some demand our attention. When two come into the public eye at the same time, it is like heaven and hell combined. So many interesting things, and still we need to focus on one. Do we choose to marginalize our time, and learn a little about both, or focus on one, to the detriment of the other?

At the moment, the two competing stories are the disaster in Haiti, and the disaster on late-night television. Wait! One story is about the disaster that has devastated the lives of millions, and brought an already heartbreakingly poor nation to unthinkable depths of misery, and the other is about rich, popular men squabbling pettily about who gets to make people laugh at what time.

There is something that feels absurd about it, and I give some points to Jimmy Kimmel for bringing up this absurdity. Play nicely, shut up, whatever works! Leno is worth at least $100 million.  He doesn't need to have a show. He already is established as a great comic, and doesn't need to worry about his legacy anymore.

Enough of my ranting. I'm just trying to say, I think there should be more serious stories, less stupid, trivial, shallow nonsense. I understand, the latter is a lot easier to write, but reporters get paid, and not for the stupid stuff.

Security

(Note:The bulk of this post was written shortly after the underwear bombing, when the topic was on my mind. It is being posted sometime later, as I got amazingly busy.)
A lot of my posts are about me, and things happening with me. This is an exception, and, at the same time, not an exception. I've been doing a lot of thinking on this topic, but this topic is being nationally discussed at the moment. I should probably get to the topic itself. Airport security, terrorism, underwear, body scanners, privacy. Run all those together in your head, and the idea that comes out, that's what I'm talking about today.

To really do this right, we have to go back. I know, its a cliche, but we never will forget. I remember where I was on 9/11, as I'm sure we all do. The aftermath was filled with lots of fear, worry, and wanting some kind of response, something that would make us feel safe again. There were responses, and they filled that need, we felt a little safer. This feels like an appropriate time to bring up an old Ben Franklin quote. (Short aside. Is there another kind of Ben Franklin quote? They are all at least 200-something years old. And still, if I hadn't put that "old" in there, it would have felt odd.) "Any society that would give up a little liberty, to gain a little safety, would deserve neither, and lose both." Nice rhetoric there Mr. Franklin! Classic use of a chiasm. (Go look it up!) Living in the time and place I live in today, Mr. Franklin's point feels a little offhand, and not entirely true. One, how does a society come to earn deserving freedom, or security? Two, I think we are living in a time where giving up a little liberty has resulted in gaining some security.

The context for this topic being on my mind, in case you missed it, is the "Underwear Bomber", as he has come to be called, but his real name is Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. He attempted to blow up an airplane over Detroit, by fairly complicated means. As far as I understand, he had packets (condoms) filled with liquids, that if injected with the right reactant, would explode. The biggest hurdle to this plan actually working was getting the liquids on the plane, which means past security. Logically (illogically?) enough, he put these packets in his underwear, which worked. He got on the plane, attempted to detonate the explosives, and got caught. Bad, yes. When you start looking at the history behind this, that's when you get a picture of what a incompetent job was done that allowed Umar to get on the plane.


Umar's father, in what must have been a heartbreaking action for him, went to the U.S. embassy in Nigeria, and reported that his son had become radicalized, and was a possible danger to other people. Eventually this information got to the proper authorities, and Umar was actually going to be taken in for questioning by an FBI team that was waiting for him to land. Talk about the perfect example of "a day late and a dollar short"!  I agree, a father's warning is not enough to arrest a man. There was more! Turns out the CIA had information that there was going to be an attack, perhaps involving a Nigerian. Reasonable doubt. Sounds like enough to get something going. Homeland Security also knew that there was an increased possibility for an attack over the holiday season. And yet, somehow, he got on the plane.

One final bit of background is the ongoing battle between security and innovative terrorists. There was the shoe bomber, and now shoes must be removed. The good guys keep upping the security, and then the bad guys get even more clever, and then the good guys find a way to thwart the latest innovation. Back and forth. Some argue this piecemeal approach is a waste of time, but I feel that attempting to anticipate the next bad idea is hard, and letting the terrorists spend the time, and get frustrated keeps us safer than hundreds of security precautions.

Now the more theoretical side of this problem. How do we stay safe? What are the costs we can encounter from attempting to stay safe?

One of the biggest problems we have seen over the course of the battle with terrorism is lack of communication between various agencies. The CIA has information, and they don't share it with the FBI until its too late. The FBI gets a tip, and it goes through the buracracy, and 3 months too late, Homeland Security gets that information.  The instinctive reaction is to develop one super intelligence agency, that goes from gathering to acting on that action. The reason we don't have such an agency is to prevent a concentration of power. This make sense. What seems like a more reality based idea is developing better communication between agencies, so reliable information is shared while it is still relevant.  The thing that stands in the way of better communication, which in theory would lead to increased security, is security. The clearance levels at various agencies are different, and some information can be shared with an ordinary analyst at the CIA, but would require a senior analyst at the FBI. There is also the problem of piecing together the puzzle. If one organization was infiltrated, the unfiltered sharing of information could easily result in the compromise of a source. Deducing who shared a particular wouldn't be too hard if you knew when it was shared, how, and where it originated, geographically.

Another idea is a heavier reliance on digital storage. As the hackers in China recently showed us, even the biggest entities, such as Google, are not invulnerable. The United States has a lot of enemies, even more than Google.

What is the solution? I'm really not sure there is one answer. Do we need a solution? Undoubtedly.

It is hard to put a price on safety. Is it worth 10 extra minutes per person? That doesn't seem like a lot, but considering the millions of people who travel a year, that is actually a large economic sacrifice. And when you weigh freedom against safety, it is even harder. Can't we have our freedom and security too?? Personally, I don't see the problem with my body being scanned. If we don't want to break the rules, why should we care about the rules? I understand the words of the argument about TSA workers seeing private body parts, but that could easily be blurred enough that weapons would still be visible, but genitalia not distinguishable. I do not understand what makes this thought so utterly indigestible to the general consciousness. The person will be in another room. This could be an interesting topic for a study. Offer the choice of someone seeing you naked, and no possible danger, or not being seen naked, and the possibility of serious harm, and perhaps even death.  I know which one I would choose.

On an ideological level, I don't really see much else of a choice. Unless we respond to this newest innovation, this tactic will continue, and probably increase in efficacy as time progresses. I understand, there are other steps that can be taken. Great! Take those too! Its not like the free press is being shut down (heck, it is doing that itself), or the right to bear weapons is being taken away. If you don't want to be searched, and have your body scanned, then you can get from point A to point B in some manner besides flying on a commercial airlines. Submitting to a search is part of the conditions which must be fulfilled to fly, just like undergoing a physical is part of the conditions to go skydiving.

The "invasion" of privacy is a momentary glimpse, which would then probably be erased. No one is bugging your house, watching you 24/7, or barraging you with personal questions for no reason. Having my body seen by someone in another room is preferable to a lot of other invasions of privacy I can think of.

So, what do you guys think?
Also, speaking of my readers, I want to give a shout-out to Miki at the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Miki, you can comment too. I love to hear people are reading this. If you have been reading without tell me, please, let me know! It makes my day.
Have a great night!
Chris