Geomatic Guy

Let's Talk About Quitting

2010-10-11T18:36:00.000-07:00

I have done a lot of things that I really wish that I hadn't. I've taken on a lot of commitments that I really shouldn't have followed through on. I have NEVER actually not followed through on one of these though..... until now.

Sunday I was supposed to run the Portland Marathon. I paid for the privilege, I kind of trained for it, I made the commitment, but I did not follow through. I made up a bunch of excuses at the last minute and bailed on my commitment. "Soy un perdedor" I'm a loser baby, why don't ya' kill me.

I probably shouldn't be beating myself up over this. I know I can finish a marathon and this was going to turn into a "no time goal" marathon. I was under trained and had no chance of a Boston qualification or "personal best". I could have driven down to Portland, hauled my ass out of bed at an ungodly hour, made the trek to the start in a pouring rain, froze my ass off waiting for the start, and then trudged along at something close to a sub-4 hour time (which would have been my slowest marathon of all times), crossed the finish line, and got my medal and finishers shirt. I could have then limped my shivering, cold, glycogen depleted, cramping muscled, barely alive body back to the hotel room to get showered so I could limp my way to the nearest bar to drown the pain in a heavy internal alcohol rub.

Yeah, I really shouldn't be beating myself up. But damn, I'm not a quitter and I am having a lot of trouble dealing with this whole quitting thing. I'm going to sign up for the Seattle Marathon, to be run in late November, and see if I can't redeem my sorry ass.

A little guilt? Maybe?

Until next time.

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Climbing the Volcano.

2010-07-14T20:46:00.000-07:00

Mount Baker 10,778', in the North Cascades, is the most shoreward mountain in the cascade range. Because of that it gets the most snowfall and holds the record for the highest annual snowfall (95 feet) of any mountain in the contiguous US. Another interesting fact is that Mount Baker is the second most active volcano and the most heavily crevassed mountain in the contiguous US.

This is an interesting mountain and this past weekend I led a small, but dedicated, team to the summit.

Originally I had planned on driving up to the trailhead and meeting my 2 climbing partners on Thursday evening, sleeping in the vehicle, and then hitting the trail around 7AM. Busy schedule and unanticipated commitments caused me to have to leave out on Friday morning. This meant that I had to get out of bed at 3:30AM to get ready and drive up to the trailhead for our meet. I did a good job of getting things ready the night before and made my schedules, meeting my team at roughly 6:30AM.

The trailhead elevation is at about 3,100', the hike in was relatively uneventful and the trail was quite easy. We even had a couple of beautiful waterfalls to distract us from the effort of carrying our over loaded backpacks up the hill.

The crossing of Kulshan Creek was a little tricky but it looked worse than it actually was and we barely got our feet wet.

We worked our way up and onto the glacier, finding a nice camping area at the Black Buttes. Camping was on the glacier at an elevation of approximately 7,200' with wonderful weather and good visibility of the route to the summit.

Some cloudiness did come in overnight but the temps were quite mild and the clouds were high so I wasn't worried about conditions being poor for our summit attempt. As is the tradition, we arose at around 2:00AM to prepare for an early start for the summit. This is generally done in order to do most of your climb under favorable cold conditions while the snow is much more solid. I really think this was unnecessary on this climb because of the warm conditions even at this early hour. Besides, this is what a climbing camp looks like at 2:00AM:

We left our glacier camp at around 3:00AM. As the weather had been quite nice for the past week and many climbers had summitted over the preceding days, the route up the glacier was quite easy to follow. The glacier was in prime condition with the crevasses all well covered and having very solid snow bridges. The lower portion of the glacier has a fairly low angle slope and the early evidence of the sun made for a spectacular horizon.

There is a steep step of about 100' to gain the Pumice Ridge which is snow covered. The climbers that I was leading to the summit did a great job of not complaining and holding a nice steady pace up and onto the ridge.

From the ridge you work your way up and onto the Roman Wall, the steepest portion of the climb. The snow conditions were poor, to say the least, with knee deep postholing on the way up the Wall. As hard as this was for travel, it was probably good for my inexperienced climbers because it feels much more secure than icy conditions through this very steep portion of the climb.

We made our way up over the top of the Roman Wall where the slope becomes less steep and less of an effort.

And a little above this you reach the broad summit plateau. A short hike across the Plateau brings you to a summit cone. We reached the top of the Summit Cone 10,778', at around 7:30AM, not bad considering the experience of the couple I was leading. We met up with another group up there and spent a few minutes talking, getting some pics;

and then promptly headed down. What you can't gather from this summit photo was that the wind was blowing at around 35 knots and freezing sleet started moments after the shot.

The trip down the mountain was quite uneventful other than even worse conditions on the Roman Wall where, if you got off the packed snow, you would sink to your crotch. We were able to get off the wall, down the ridge, and off the step without incident though and made it back to our camp right at noon. We broke camp, loading all of our stuff in our packs, and headed down the trail, making it out to our vehicles by 3:00PM.

Overall, this was a great climb and I considered it a huge success simply because the couple I was guiding thoroughly enjoyed themselves and didn't seem to have any moments where they were wishing they weren't on the mountain. Best of all, Bruce had a nice cold Mike's Hard Lemonade for me at the truck!

Great climb and a great time with some great friends!

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Some S'plainin' To Do

2010-07-02T18:15:00.000-07:00

This whole motorcycle swapping, buying, selling, trading, acquiring.... thing has really started to make my head spin. I think it's time to try to get things typed up and documented so I don't get confused and ride the wrong motorcycle home from the next gathering.

Two main bikes at this moment are the:

2009 R1200RT

And the F800GS

And both of these are excellent motorcycles, but.....

Let's start with the R1200RT -

The R1200RT is arguably the best sport touring motorcycle on the market. It is absolutely amazing as a 2-up touring motorcycle that still has plenty of performance. This baby has heated seats, heated grips, electronic cruise control, electronic suspension adjustments, adjustable windscreen, traction control, and the list goes on. It cruises beautifully at 80mph and, with the windscreen raised, is almost as quiet as riding in the cage. To ride this gal in the rain is something one has to do to understand the environmental protection this bike provides. Amazing!

But..... it just doesn't light my fire. It's great 2-up but it's doesn't fit my riding style when I'm alone. And I'm alone a lot. I have always been the kind of guy who likes to look on a map and pick the tiniest squiggly line on it and head for it. Therein lies the problem. Lots of those little squiggly lines turn out to be dirt roads, and sometimes really rough dirt roads. The RT isn't really an appropriate bike for that kind of riding.

Next up, the F800GS

The F800GS is another amazing bike but completely on the other end of the spectrum from the R1200RT. This has been a fun bike, to say the least. This is the kind of place this bike feels most at home.

This bike will take you places that just beg for adventure! I originally purchased this for my solo touring bike to complement the R1200RT. Didn't work.

The F800GS excels in the dirt road environment but not so much when you are on the big freeway slab. It has gotten better and I think it could be made even better with the addition of a larger windscreen. I do really like this bike and would keep it under different conditions.... still might.

Bikes recently purged (last 6mos):

Buell 1125R - Sport bike extraordinair

BMW G650 X-Challenge - hard core dirt bike

Now try to keep up here, this is where things begin to get complicated.

Casey bought my X-Challenge to compliment his R1200GS Adventure (the same one that I totaled in a confrontation with a guardrail) and for more serious dirt riding. Well, the X-Challenge didn't work out to his liking and some of his priorities got changed up for him so he started really lusting for his dream bike, the BMW HP2 Super Enduro.

About this same time BMW introduced the 30th Anniversary Edition of the R1200GS Adventure. The 2008 GS Adventure is what I traded for the RT and have regretted it ever since.

I had been half-heartedly attempting to find someone to trade my RT for a GS adventure for several months without any luck so I had been thinking selling the RT outright and just purchasing a USED GS Adventure. BMW did introduce a new motor for the GS this year and it really is "all that" so I was beginning to wonder if maybe I could rationalize the 2010 model somehow and then..... BMW introduced that damn 30th Anniversary Edition.

Casey put the X-Challenge up for sell and began looking in ernest for an HP2. He didn't have much luck selling the X-Challenge but he did find his HP2, set up perfectly, and close by.

He makes himself a deal on this HP2, picks it up and brings it home, and promptly finds a guy that wants to trade a wrecked HP2 for the X-Challenge. Hmmmm...... the X-Challenge cost me $5K as a brand new 07, the HP2 was selling at $20K in 2006. Damage looked pretty minor so, what the heck, let's make this trade deal.

Yeah, the beak is a little busted up, the head guards are a little scraped, and the handlebars are a bit buggered, but nothing a little elbow grease and a little BMW cash can't fix! :-)

Same time all of this is going on I'm down talking to the fine salesmen at Ride West BMW about this new 2010 Anniversary GS Adventure. Yeah, we're talking about how there are only supposed to around 38 of these guys coming to the states with each dealer only allocated one. I'm telling him how lucky I am that I couldn't get one even if I wanted because, surely the one they had coming in was already spoken for. "Oh no" Mr. salesman says, "we just got the word that ours is on the way so, no one has had a chance to put their name on it yet." Damn, these BMW guys are tricky!

OK, I give Mr. salesman $500 to hold the bike for me so I can get a gander at it before giving it up to someone else. About 2 weeks later I go down to look this new bike in the eye and see if she's for me. Wow, she was pretty!

But, it didn't have a couple of safety options I was looking for so, as hard as it was, I turned my back on her. I look to the salesman and say "as much as I am enamored by her looks, she is lacking some key features, sorry." He says that isn't a problem, he has several other interested buyers and my $500 deposit will be refunded. So how about a non-Anniversary model? Well, that could work if we can find one set up the way I want. We get on his computer and start doing some searching. Nothing in his inventory. Hmmmm..... nothing in the western US. Oh well, just wasn't meant to be. I'll wait for the 2011's coming this fall. "But wait!" says Mr. salesman. "I think someone said we had made a trade deal with another dealer to allow us another Anniversary model". Cool, let's see what it's equipped with. Darn, still missing my key safety features. "But wait!" "It hasn't gone into production yet so WE can add whatever options we want." Oh, really!? "Let's get these changes made and get 'er ordered up!"

Born on my lovely wife's birthday:

And scheduled to arrive at the dealer during the first week of August and it has all of the options that I wanted. :-)

This is the motorcycle that I wanted to replace the RT with so the RT goes up for sale in ernest. The dealer has offered me a really good trade deal (might be because of all the money they have already made off of me over the years) so if it doesn't sell I'll just trade her in when the new GS comes in. I do have a very interested party from down in So Cal that is scheming on coming up to pick up the RT though, but I don't consider it sold until I have the money in my hands.

Now the new dilemma, the F800GS. The HP2 is a far superior off-road bike to the 800 and will probably be superior on-road too. I'm thinking the 800 will have to go. I will wait until the HP2 is fully repaired before making the decision but, my guess is that it will end up being a rarely ridden bike and it is just too fine a machine to relegate to garage art duty.

So, this is where we stand..... I think.

R1200RT - To be sold, gone.

F800GS - To be sold, gone (maybe)

R1200GS Adventure 30th Anniversary Edition - coming to a garage near you soon.

R1200 HP2 Super Enduro - Broken but fixable, hopefully in my garage within a week.

I still have some time to let all of this shake out and, who knows? I may end up turning down the GS Adventure (I still can), keeping the RT and 800, and fixing up the HP2 and selling it...... Yeah - right!!!! hahaha!

Cheers all!

Of Marathon Training, Automobiles, and Dogs

2010-04-04T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today I went out for my 'Long Run' and noted a couple of things worthy of discussion. First, Long Runs are stupid, especially when 'long' is over 20 miles. Who the hell decided that marathon training should include ridiculously long runs in the first place? Anyway, I digress, the topics I was speaking of are autos and dogs.

Autos:

Why is it that right turners never look right? I know the AUTO traffic is coming from the left but what if??? Say there was a construction zone to your right that was funneling traffic into your lane? Or maybe, just maybe, a pedestrian or runner was coming from your right? Wouldn't it be good to know these things before pulling into the oncoming traffic's lane (don't laugh, I saw it happen) or running over the poor pedestrian or runner who may be coming from your right? Are we so 'anti alternative transportation' that we don't care? "Nothing could be coming from the right besides a stupid pedestrian or even more stupid runner after all", cars are way more important.

Another thing, there are no sidewalks, or even wide shoulders, on any of the rural roads. Don't people in the suburbs walk? Well no, of course they don't walk! There is no damn place for them to walk! My run today involved running on a lot of 'fog lines' through these areas and autos were honking and folks in their F150's were leaning out yelling at me to "get the hell off the road".... WTF? I pay as much, or more, road taxes as anyone, why shouldn't my needs be just as important as anyone else's?

From the United States Department of Transportation:

"It is the policy of the USDOT to consider walking and bicycling as equals with other transportation modes: The primary goal of a transportation system is to safely and efficiently move people and goods. Walking and bicycling are efficient transportation modes for most short trips and, where convenient intermodal systems exist, these nonmotorized trips can easily be linked with transit to significantly increase trip distance. Because of the benefits they provide, transportation agencies should give the same priority to walking and bicycling as is given to other transportation modes. Walking and bicycling should not be an afterthought in roadway design."

My feelings? It's about damn time! This means that new transportation projects that receive federal funding will have to put just as much emphasis on foot and bicycle traffic as the automobiles. Thank you USDOT. Maybe this could be catalyst for change that we need to encourage folks to get out of those cars and do a little walking or maybe get on a bike.

Dogs:

OK, I love dogs, I even have 3 of them myself, but why is it that people can't understand that dogs treat runners different than walkers? A walker comes by and maybe the dog sniffs his/her leg but a runner comes by and as soon as the runner passes the dog bolts for the runner, attempting to immobilize the runner with a quick bite to the hamstring. Come on people! This is a natural instinct of dogs to catch prey. They haven't always been fed "Wagon Train", these critters were once very effective hunters. I really don't appreciate that rush of adrenaline that I get every time I pass you and your dog and he, unconsciously, decides to go for my hamstring. Not his fault but it's still going to hurt mightily if he ever actually connects. Hold that leash tightly please.

Thank you for your time and please look right before turning right and hold that leash tightly as I pass. ;-)

Cheers!

Random Musings:

2010-02-14T10:25:00.000-08:00

Homes and Financing

Over the past year we completed the construction of our beautiful Edmonds home. It is absolutely amazing with a view to die for and a price tag that I almost died because of.

Immediately after completing construction on the new home, we had the comps done on the old Lynnwood home and, based on those comps, did a near complete remodel. Well, in that short time span of construction, the value of the Lynnwood home has fallen about $60K due to short sells and foreclosures in the area.

All of this was done in a struggling economy with a business that definitely suffered from the effects of the poor economy. Try getting financing for a jumbo loan with all of this hanging over your head! Yep, very challenging indeed. I am really looking forward to things actually getting back to normal.

Business

PGS has actually done quite well over the past 8 months, considering. Profits are challenging but we are eking out small ones. We had gotten so far behind financially that it will take years to fully recover but we are, at least, in recovery mode. This has been a very difficult time and our good fortune is no indicator of the state of economy for our industry.

We are doing well because of extremely hard work combined with the fact that we are the best at mapping in our niche market. We can’t relax though….. we are just the loss of a job or 2 away from another collapse and we don’t have the reserves to survive another so soon.

Leisure

What I miss most right now is leisure time.

The ability to take off and do a trip on a whim. Even 3-day weekends are hard to come by these days. The effects of all of my personal projects combined with the challenges of running a business at this time, just doesn’t leave any time for play. Not that I could afford to do much anyhow.

Running

Training for the Vancouver Marathon on May 2 in Vancouver, BC.

Training has been going extremely well and I am at least a month ahead of my training schedule right now. This week has been a very short mileage week for me due to my hectic schedule but I’ll up the mileage again next week. I want to take it a little easy for the rest of February anyhow, just to make sure I don’t peak to early. The goal is first, to qualify for Boston, 3:35:59, with a secondary goal of finishing in under 3:30. I’ve been working on speed much more in this program than past and am feeling pretty confident right now. It helps that I have completed 3 runs in excess of 18 miles, with 2 in the 20-mile range, and haven’t bonked yet.

Motorcycles

It is really hard to find the right one (ones). In the past 5 years I have gone through no less than 15 motorcycles. Of course 1 of those was due to a catastrophic failure (mine) resulting in the destruction of the motorcycle and a few personal structural features. It’s good to have a dedicated small dirt bike, big dirt bike, sport tourer, performance sport, and adventure tourer. I do believe that I am finally at the point where 3 bikes should be enough and have pretty much decided what those bikes should be:

BMW R1200GS Adventure –

This bike is the Swiss Army Knife of bikes. It will do anything you ask of it and do it well. You can head off cross-country with it and ride in total comfort, carrying enough gear for months of living off of the bike, humbling sport bike riders in the twisties, all while not worrying whether the road is dirt or asphalt.

BMW F800GS –

Great for around town and commuting but also makes an excellent big off-road bike capable of long days of asphalt to get to the dirt exploring. It has just enough of a hooligan tilt to satisfy the non-conforming side in us all.

Performance Sport Bike –

This is probably the only bike that I’m going to have to accept as an ever changing desire depending on the latest/greatest in go-fast technology. Right now my dream bike would be the HP 2 Sport:

This bike is sooooo expensive though that it isn’t even on the list of possibilities.

The BMW S1000RR sure looks amazing:

I have got to get down and test ride this bike!

And the older BMW R1100S Boxer Cup Replica would be really cool garage art:

Any one of these would be a welcome addition to my garage.

You will probably note that all of these bikes are BMW models. Yes, I have drunk from the BMW cool-aid. It’s just that once you have driven the BMW’s everything else just isn’t as inspiring. Kind of like driving a Porsche. If you don’t get it….. you never will.

Automobiles

The lease term on the Jeep that I use as a business vehicle ends next month so I will be car-less. I have made the decision, in the interest of finances, to borrow Sue’s Smart Car to use as transportation in the short term. After the business finances improve I will need to come up with a different option, as the Smart will not be great for doing project recon…. Sue will shoot me if I damage that little guy! I’m not sure if I want to go with a pickup or a car right now. I do know that I hate the motor in the new Jeeps and would not go that direction again.

I really want to do a full rally conversion on a classic mini if I could find a project car.

That would make a really cool car to show up at client meetings with. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what the year brings.

Enough rambling for now. I wish everyone a happy and prosperous year!

Cheers!

Questions…..

2010-01-17T19:39:00.001-08:00

Seems I have a lot of queries concerning the whys of my life of late so I thought this might be a good blog subject. I’m kind of a dense guy, might be senility, not sure because I wasn’t real bright even back when I had a memory…. What were we discussing? Oh right, brain density. Anyway, since I can’t seem to answer my own questions I thought I would throw it out to both, OK fine, my only follower and see if you can answer these deeply puzzling questions.

1.) Why do I run? Not only, why do I run, but why do I run far?

Here I am, once again, training for one of these blasted marathons. On 1-10 I went out and ran 19.3 miles on the Sammamish Trail (at least it was flat). It felt pretty good so, instead of finishing off feeling all strong and stuff, I decided to push the last 2 miles at race pace. Yeah, that was smart. Heart rate shot through the roof and I ended the run feeling completely spent. Damn!

This morning 1-17, I decided to drop a little mileage off and limit myself to 18 miles. Seemed like a good idea, right? The route I chose was challenging, lots of big hills, but I thought I could just take it easy and run something in the 9:30 range. Yeah, right….. What I ended up doing was running this hilly route at only 1 second per mile slower than my 19.3 mile run on the really flat trail last weekend. Dense.

2.) Why isn’t it OK for a run to just be fun and not push my limits?

This one seems like it should be a simple question. It eludes me though.

3.) What’s this whole ‘over-achiever vs beach bum’ thing I’ve got going on about?

I don’t believe I have ever come across someone who was as conflicted over these two traits as I am. I tell you, all I want to do is go play but yet I seem to take on more responsibilities than Mother Theresa. If I’m not excelling at something I feel lost but if I’m not lazing around shirking my responsibilities I feel cheated. What’s up?

4.) Why isn’t one motorcycle enough?

OK, easy…. See number 3.

5.) Why don’t I ‘get me’?

Obviously if I did, I wouldn’t be asking these stupid questions…..

‘Till next time,

Cheers!

Ron

A New Year, a New Opportunity

2010-01-08T09:46:00.001-08:00

Good bye and good riddance to 2009. I don't regret having to endure calendar year 2009 but I am sure glad it is over.

2009 was both challenging and rewarding and, while financially difficult, it has been a year of learning and building for PGS, creating a much more secure business. I still have a lot of learning to do to understand why I was hit so hard by the current recession. It is so easy to just say "we have had a hard time because we are in a recession" but that is only partially true and does nothing to help move us forward. I really believe that a good business plan adapts to conditions rapidly and finds new opportunities in challenging economic times, foregoing the big financial hits. It took longer than it should have for PGS to adapt and find these new opportunities causing me to think that some revisions to the business plan are in order.

Things really have improved considerably over the past 5 to 6 months for the business. We are working with a reduced staff but easily keeping everyone busy and chargeable. Profits are still really meager and I need to do more to reduce operating expenses and to improve revenue generation. At this point I am really optimistic about the upcoming year but very cautious at the same time. That is the great thing about the New Year, it gives us hope and a whole new year of opportunities.

And I'm ready for it!

2009 was such a challenging year on so many levels and it is a wonder I came through mentally as well as I did. I don't even think I developed any new ulcers from all of the stress. Here's a quick recap;

The worst financial year since starting the business…. Let's just say that I don't have to worry about an income tax this year.
Investment portfolio was a complete disaster…. The losses would make a nice deduction on my income, if I needed it, which I don't.
Constructed the mega-home 'El Edmonds Castillo' in the midst of my financial collapse.
Did a full remodel of the Lynnwood home to prepare it to sell for far less than it was worth a year ago without the remodel.
I am boatless in Seattle because I sold Allegro, my sailboat and refuge from reality, to reduce my monthly expenses.

On the other hand there were many very positive aspects to the past year and, in some ways, it has been one of my most productive years. Here's a little recap of the positives:

It is 2010 and I am not bankrupt.
PGS has actually been profitable since August, albeit on a very meager basis.
PGS has developed relationships with some fantastic new clients.
PGS has entered 2010 with the largest backlog of work in the past 2 years.
My investment portfolio still has 'some' money in it and it is slowly getting better.
I completed the construction of 'El Edmonds Castillo' and now live in an absolutely fabulous home with a view to die for.
The bank may even be convinced to convert my construction loan to an actual mortgage on the new home.
I got to do some really fun exploring via motorcycle travels.
I am married to the love of my life…. And have been for over 30 years…. And she still likes me!
It is 2010 and I am not bankrupt!

2010! And I am ready for the voyage. I will not allow this year to be negative and I will not dwell on my past failures. What a wonderful, privileged life I have been afforded. 2010, one more chance to get it right!!!

Happy New Year and cheers to all!

Don't Delete Those Links Yet!

2009-11-15T14:11:00.000-08:00

I got to thinking last night, "what if some errant reader, who had saved a link to this blog back when I kept it updated, accidentally clicked on that link and happened by". Would they think the blog had been abandoned? Or maybe that the blogger had passed in some gruesome manner via a mad adventure? Well, just to keep someone from wondering what on earth may have happened, I have decided to attempt typing up some coherent update.

I am still running:

I did have to back off considerably for a while due to nagging issues from my little "get off" and subsequent collision with a guardrail at speed. Fun stuff but I digress. So, for the past couple of months I have been trying to rebuild the base miles and seem to have finally gotten over the hump. Now begins the fun of building up to the really big miles in preparation for a spring marathon. Not sure why I do these damn marathons. No matter how much I train they just plain hurt. I use the excuse that it forces me to stay in shape but guess what? I could do just as well holding a steady 30 mile per week base and lifting a few weights. I damn sure don't need to run 26.2 miles in one effort to stay in shape. Stupid, I say.

PGS is still in business:

As a matter of fact, things are actually looking fairly promising for the winter. We have a bigger backlog of work for this winter than we have had in several years. We are a smaller group so it does take less work to create a backlog but we have a backlog none the less. The work we are doing these days is really interesting and ties into our niche market more than in the past. The projects are also larger than they were in the past. What is missing from our work load is the smaller private clients that we used to do a lot of work for and without their return it is going to be hard to truly stabilize for the long term. On another bright note, we have actually been profitable again for the past few months. It is nice to see the bank account balance rising rather than being on the steady decline that we had become accustomed to. Yep, things are looking promising indeed.

El Edmonds Castillo:

Finished! And we have moved in.... well at least mostly moved in. We still have a lot of organizing and figuring out what to do with things and I'm still working on the whole permanent financing thing, but we do live here now. The house really is a work of art and I have come to respect my architect more and more. He and I worked hard to make this house what it is and I believe that there is a big piece of both of our souls in the finished structure. It is so wonderful to wake up in the morning and look out upon the Puget sound and the Olympic mountains from my bed. Everything about this house is just relaxed and peaceful...... finally!

Motorcycle travels:

I was able to get a couple of really fun motorcycle trips in this fall. The first was a birthday trip with my son and Steve over the mountains and a lot of dirt between Leavenworth and Winthrop. Let's just say wet and cold is an understatement but an absolute fun trip with some amazing roads I didn't even know existed. The next one was a 5 state trip I did with a really good buddy, Steve. We covered a good part of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, and Oregon and a good part of that on dirt, A stretch across Idaho and into Montana called the Magruder Corridor which is one of the most remote and longest continuos dirt roads in the US and a big part of the Oregon Desert that was the most deserted piece of road I have ever experienced..... and rough! Another trip was with my son. We used the excuse of picking up a motorcycle lift from my pal JW at the Bearcat lodge to haul the dirt bikes down to Seneca for some dirt exploring. And explore we did! I had a great time just trying to keep that kid in sight. Not an easy task.

Well those are the highlights of my life for the time being. Not much but enough to keep this old dog happy.

Until next time,

Cheers!

Blog Discussion Thwarted

2009-10-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I begin a Blog discussion that I realize is probably best not discussed. I just spent an hour putting together a somewhat coherent post only to realize that my thoughts were a little too personal to air on the WWW. Yep, sometimes the thoughts in my head are best left deep within the dark crevices of what little brain matter remains in my skull and not shared. Sorry!? I probably shouldn't have teased both of my loyal readers, (OK, really there's only one) with a post at all but after all that work I couldn't just delete everything..... now could I?

'till next time,

Cheers!

Hmmmm.... 50

2009-09-08T21:45:00.000-07:00

So this is what it feels like to be 50. I would say it's a little anti-climatic, really not much different from being 49, to be honest with you.

Yeah, I turned 50 over the weekend. You know, today's 50 is a lot like last years 50. I don't know but maybe I just built it up to something more than it is. Everyone talks like it is such a big turning point in your life but I was a little under-whelmed by it all. Is it because we expect to live longer than our predecessors? Maybe, but all I would have to make it to is the mid 50's genetically, to out live my immediate predecessors so I'm pretty damn near that now.

I'm a little surprised that I don't feel an urge to outdo some past achievement in some way. Or maybe go explore something I've never explored before. Nope.... I would like to do some of the things I was really planning to do sometime in the near future anyway. Maybe sail across the pacific in a little sailboat, or spend a little more time in the canyon lands of southern Utah, or maybe stand atop another high mountain peak, or maybe...... just continue to do what I have always done.... explore!?

50's not any different than any other age at this point.....

Cheers!!!!

Ron

A New Chapter

2009-08-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

This past week has brought PGS and myself to a new chapter. One of my key employees and, more importantly, a key friend is expanding and moving on. Bob has been with my company for almost 7 years and has played a key role in many successful projects. We have relied on him when we knew that the job just had to get done. He has always been there for us which we always appreciated but sometimes forgot to make sure he knew (OK, we almost always forgot to make sure he knew).

I know that this new chapter doesn't change anything for PGS other than a few adjustments to the allocations of responsibility but for me it will be quite a different chapter. Certainly, we didn't always agree, as a matter of fact, we seldom agreed but we did compliment each other. I will miss the interaction, the self questioning of ideas brought on by someone who viewed life from a slightly different perspective. As much as we disagreed we also held very similar basic beliefs and always wanted the same end result.... to be our very best at whatever we were doing. In this chapter I will need to remember to question my ideas and beliefs without the gut checks that intelligent questioning brings. I will also need to adjust to managing a business without Bob, knowing that I still have more talent in my office than damn near any company on the west coast!

Bob has a new opportunity for growth with new challenges and I wish him nothing but the best. I have the highest regard and believe that he will be successful in his new endeavors. We will miss him and he knows that he will always be welcome in my office as a friend and colleague!

Adios Bob! Go get 'em!!!

Cheers to all!

Peeking Out From My Cave!

2009-08-15T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hello my reluctantly loyal reading fan! Think I had passed? Nope.... still kicking but procrastinating at a level never before achieved. As a matter of fact, I am coming up with excuses to not finish this post already! It will be almost amusing to follow along and see if the "publish post" button gets hit. With that being said, let's give 'er a shot!

First, let's explore my extraordinary procrastination skills and the possible causes. Apparently, I am a perfectionist. Who would have guessed!? Anyhow, because of this, I have no less than 8 blog update posts saved for editing. I seem to get started on posting an update, get most of the way completed, and then find myself being critical of the writing and never go back to finish. Therefore, I get a little anxious to start a new post update for fear of not being able to complete it to my satisfaction. Enough explanation? Are you totally turned off this blog yet? Well, if you have the courage, read on.....

In my last post I promised you some updates that I will try to address in this post and hopefully bring you up to date.

La Nueva Casa (the new house)

We are literally in the final week of construction now. Really it is mostly just cleanup and a few finishes left. We still need to get the fireplace finished, verizon needs to remove that damn pole from the middle of my driveway (apparently a year isn't enough lead time), and we still need to pour the driveway. We are hoping to have a certificate of occupancy issued before the end of next week and start moving in by next weekend.

This house is absolutely stunning, in my opinion. The view, the architecture, the site, the materials, the craftsmanship, the"whole" package is absolutely beautiful.

And I really hope I can like it.

The process of constructing this home has been the most stressful endeavor I have ever thrown myself into. I can very honestly say that if ANYONE involved in the design and construction of this home had been honest I would have never started it. I definitely learned that I have a problem with my voice.... no one can hear what I say! The cost over runs and difficulty in getting the contractor to do what I asked has been trying to say the least. At this point I'm just hoping to get it all behind me and forget about all the stress the process has brought me so I can just enjoy what I worked so hard to build.

And build I did!

My wife will no longer complain about her small kitchen.

The great room is cavernous.

The wavy panel railings we designed have a very nice feel.

Colors seem to work well.

The Patio is going to be wonderful.

The water feature that we fought a huge battle for has a wonderful feel and sound.

And who could ever get tired of this view?

I think that once I get moved in and am able to forget about all of the trials and challenges that have gone into this home maybe I can really begin to enjoy it for what it is, our dream home.

PGS Review and Outlook

Wow! What a year this has been, talk about challenges! Definitely the worst year since starting the business. It has been interesting though.

Things started to really pick up late in June and we've been very busy ever since. This year has brought some of the most interesting work yet, just not enough of it. I have had crews doing some of the most fun projects you could imagine. The guys are coming back with stories of adventure and photos to prove it. It has been a year where when people who are on vacation are asking what you are doing you just exclaim "working! what are you doing?". Every thing we do lately seems to be more like a vacation than work.... and we get paid to do this!!!

With this business I am blessed with the best group of customers anyone could ever hope for. These clients have been so good to us and have done their very best to keep us working in a very trying time and, for that, I am forever in debt! This has also been a year of developing new clients and getting to know old clients better. The efforts of a targeted approach to marketing has gone a long ways towards creating a new and improved PGS!

Things are looking very good for the short term and we are hoping to keep the momentum running right through to winter. We have some very good on-call services agreements with several public agencies and some high potential proposals out there. Billings are back into the respectable range (at least not in a deficit anymore) and should get even better before things slow down for the winter. Cash flow has been a challenge especially with us getting busy and working out of town so much. The cost of doing business has increased but it will be another month before the cash starts flowing in at a rate that will offset these extra costs.

I think this is probably enough rambling for one post (I really don't want to overwhelm my reader). I will do my best to follow through on updating the other items from my previous post in a timely fashion. I think I will just hit that "publish post" button now without proof reading before I get cold feet, so don't judge me too harshly.....

Cheers!!!

Ron

Time For an Update!

2009-06-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

Coming soon to a blog near you.....

What to expect?

El Edmonds Castillo; details concerning finishes and new challenges.
PGS Economics; information on hope and challenges.
Smart Car; an exchange and long term review.
Travels; reports from a few very different motorcycle trips.
Motorcycles; a weeding of the herd.
Sailing; Boatless in Seattle.

Yep, I'll be providing updates soon. :-)

Cheers to all!

Ron

My Mama Always Said......

2009-05-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all.....

There has been a long silence with a purpose. I made the assumption that nobody wanted to hear anything negative such as:

Marathon training turned into hell.
I became plagued with ankle injuries due to totally ignoring my body and adding miles way too fast.
El Edmonds Castillo has been nothing but a pit of stress for the last few months and construction has been moving along at a snails pace.
The construction delays are going to cost me a fortune due to being forced to get an extension on the construction loan.
The beautiful water feature that we spent a ton of money on has to be ripped out because of an obscure code that an over zealous inspector was aware of.
My business lost more money in the first quarter of 2009 than it made the entire year of 2008.
Finding a steady load of projects has been unbelievably challenging.

Nah, no one would want to hear any of the negative crap that has been going on in my life so I waited until I had something good to say. Yep, there has been quite a bit of that if you look just a little deeper. Things such as:

1.) I had decided to bail on the Vancouver Marathon but then they gave me the opportunity to change events so I decided to go ahead and run the half marathon instead of the full. It was a good move.

After I blew up the tendon in my ankle I finally wised up and started working on healing instead of training. I began a routine of cycling to give the tendon a break from the stress and mixed in some very short runs just to keep the muscle memory. About a week before the Half I did a test run of about 6 miles that went very well. I could tell the tendon still needed some time to heal but I also felt that I could do the 13.1 miles without hurting anything as long as I ran conservatively. I spent that last week doing some very short runs to keep the muscles loose and also give the muscles a chance to fully recover from some of the heavier workouts from the previous week. By Saturday I was feeling rested and really wanted to run.

Sue and I drove up to Vancouver on Saturday and got a most excellent room at the Pan Pacific. We had to walk all the way across town to pick up my race packet and it felt good to be out stretching the legs. Vancouver was beautiful, as usual, and we spent some time visiting shops along the way. After I picked up my race packet we headed back to the water front to grab a bite to eat. We ended up in the Gastown region and grabbed dinner at the Steamworks Brewpub. They have excellent food and even more excellent beer. If you are ever in Vancouver be sure and look the place up.

I got a good night's sleep in the ultra comfortable bed in our hotel room and awoke at the ungodly hour of 5AM to start my preparation for the 7AM start. I really do wish they would start these races a little later, even 8 would be more realistic. Oh well, I got to the start area about 15 minutes before the start and worked my way through the crowd to the 2 hour pacers. I was thinking that an easy 9:00 pace would be plenty conservative and if I felt good I could pick up in the final miles. This turned out to be a mistake, not the 9:00 goal but the running with the 9:00 pace group.

As the starting gun marked the beginning of the race we slowly shuffled our way to the start.... and continued shuffling for the next half mile or so. I couldn't believe how crowded it was. I was being bumped and stepped on constantly. The first mile was done at an almost 10 minute pace and then the group stopped and walked. I said "what the hell" and walked with them, couldn't hurt. Right?

Mile 2 was only slightly better than mile 1 and was still extremely crowded and I was beginning to get a bit frustrated. At the water break at around 2.5 miles in I had enough of the extremely crowded conditions and decided to attempt to break out of it. I picked up my pace just a bit to get in front of the pace group but not so much as to put me under my 9:00 goal. I had no intention of leaving the group but just to get out of the congestion. It took a while but things did finally start to get a little better by mile 4.

My pace was picking up to more in the 8:30 range and I was feeling pretty good. I breezed through the miles between 4 and 7 stopping to walk through the water breaks just to let the heart rate drop and be sure to hydrate. At around 7.5 miles in you hit a big hill and I took advantage of that to start knocking off runners. I would pick out a runner up ahead and just focus on catching and passing them and then I would select another. I actually kept up this game all the way through the rest of the race. Pick out a shirt, focus on it, and slowly real them in.

Miles 10, 11, and 12 were done at approximately 8:00 pace and mile 13 was done at close to 7:40 pace. I was feeling real good in the final miles and felt I could have held an 8:00 pace through the whole race without much trouble. I did start having trouble with the tendon in my ankle by around mile 10 but the pain was manageable and I feel it didn't slow me down. I finished the final push through to the finish line at an all out sprint and hit my stop watch at 1:53:50 or an 8:37 average. Not bad for an old, broke guy.

The race was great, the weather was great, the city was great, and the event was great. No complaints at all!

2.) El Edmonds Castillo construction has begun to get back on track. Due to all of the delays on the interior, the contractor has been focusing on finishing up as much as possible on the exterior. The house is looking absolutely exquisite. I am continually amazed by the fact that I am going to be living in this house and still have trouble dealing with it's presence of elegance. I just never pictured myself living in a home that showed such wealth. A couple of glasses of wine on the deck looking out over the Sound will probably help me get over that!

They have finished building the retaining walls that hold up the patio and they look great. The decks have been finished using manufactured wood decking. We picked out a color that had been discontinued, saving us a lot of money on the material, and it turned out to be the perfect color for blending with the cedar and red metal siding.

Plumbing is mostly finished now and the inspector gave the contractor the Ok to start insulating which was done over the weekend. We should get the final inspection OK on the plumbing, mechanical, and framing so insulating can be finished by midweek. We should be sheet rocking by the end of the week and the rest of interior walls the following week. We are pretty excited to see things moving rapidly forward again.

3.) Business is beginning to finally pick up. All of our hard work in marketing is finally beginning to pay off with some projects. That combined with the better weather has generated work for the crews and office personnel. April's billing shows real promise and an actual profit for the first time since October. Looking at historical dat shows that this April was actually better than last April. This is a good sign and brings me hope that the remainder of the year has the possibility of being better than '08. All I have to do now is manage our receivables to the point of not totally running out of money before more money starts coming in. Much better than worrying if anymore money was even going to be coming in! I feel confidnet that things are coming back in my favor at this point.

Overall, my whole attitude is getting better. I hate to toot my own horn but I think I have dealt with an amazing stress load fairly well. I think I even have areas of my stomach that don't have oozing ulcer sores on it! Just kidding about the ulcer sores..... I don't think I have any..... yet. So everyone can rest easy and be certain that PGS will be around long into the future especially with the amazing team of employees that work there! I owe those guys a lot after this one!

Until next time,

Cheers!

Ron

Of Economic Conditions, House Construction, and Running....

2009-04-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Economy/Marketing:
Damn.... I am having a heck of a time figuring out the new rules. I'm sure our new President feels that he is doing the right things for our economy, and maybe he is, but his policies are killing me. My market sector has totally disappeared due to the 'Government' deciding that they can do the work themselves. Again, maybe they can, but not as efficiently as we in the private sector can and especially with the 'government employees' that I have experience with. And, why in the hell have they decided to hire additional incompetent personnel to do it?

I don't even mind having to readjust and find a new market but it sure would have been nice if the powers in charge would have at least warned me that my "existing" contracts were not going to be honored. I would also really like a little help in figuring out the new rules of engagement since there isn't any kind of playbook printed out there anywhere.

House Construction:
The new Casa is looking fantastic but the schedule is slipping. Exterior work is getting finished before the interior and that is very unusual. Seems a long list of poor decisions has led to a delay in the plumbing getting finished on time. As a matter of fact.... interior work has come to a complete and total standstill for the past month! Get to work guys.... this is costing all of us a lot of money and we are beginning to push our loan maturity.

The home really is going to be stunning. We stopped by tonight at near sunset and it was absolutely beautiful. Our Architect did an absolutely fantastic job of designing exactly what we had dreamed. The more time I spend at the house the more I come to realize just how perfect the design is. Rooms are exactly in the right position and size to take advantage of the view while at the same time blending wonderfully with the site. Brilliant! Thanks Steve!

Marathon Training:
I have been having a little trouble with my left foot especially since my last long run so I ended up taking a full week off to try to let it recover from my training. Today was my first run since my break and it was a big one, 24.7 miles. The run went well in the early stages but I had a pretty good indication at about mile 13 that it wasn't going to end well. The route ran along the Burke-Gilman trail from Log Boom park in Kenmore to Gas Works park in Seattle.... and back. I was trying to hold to my SO succesful 21 mile run a couple of weeks ago and holding an approximate 9:30 pace but, unlike my last long run, by mile 13 I was noticing that I was having trouble keeping my HR under 160 compare to my usual 140'ish at this pace. Well, by mile 18 I was feeling the bonk and by mile 20 I was a total wreck.

The last 4 miles was a constant transition between running and walking. Walking hurt just as much as running but took longer to cover the same distance but running would lead to cramping. I ended up running until the cramping would kick in and then walking until the cramping subsided and then back to running. That was one of the longest 4 miles I have covered in my life! I ended up with a somewhat respectable training run of 24.7 miles at a 10:03 pace. I guess that isn't bad considering but I hate having tragic runs like this one so close to my marathon date!

Until next time,

Cheers!

Ron

Marathon Training Enters New Stage.....

2009-03-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

18 miles is my mental threshold for when the marathon training actually becomes serious. Today was my 18 miler. I was a little torn as to a route and decided the safest plan would be an out-and-back. You know, run 9 miles - turn around - run the same route back. Pretty hard to mess that up.

So, with this in mind, I headed out along a well worn route picking up the Interurban trail at around mile 2. The Interurban is a paved trail that disappears amongst the streets and mysteriously reappears now and then as a trail. For some dumb reason I kind of like the stretch from the Alderwood Mall to Lake Ballinger. It's not flat but the hills are all pretty easy and the grades are minimal. The trail ends on the north end of Lake Ballinger.... I think it continues south but I certainly don't have any clue where the route goes once I get to the Lake.

I know this trail very well because most of my lunch runs follow this route and today's run was very familiar. It was easy to control my speed and I was holding a slow 9:30ish pace and I'm feeling pretty good. My ankles are sore and I'm still having trouble with a fairly painful forefoot on my left foot. Seems that crashing a motorcycle, breaking your leg, damaging ligaments in both ankles, and fracturing 2 vertabrae may not be good for training plans. I don't have a clue what the pain in the forefoot is but it doesn't seem to get worse on my long runs so I'm just going to go with that as a sign that I'm not making it worse.

I reached the end of the trail at the lake at around mile 6.5 and had to make a decision where to go from there and chose to tie into Meridian and continue south towards Shoreline. I'm still holding a 9:30ish pace with a few faster ones thrown in now and then on the declines and feeling pretty good. Well I got to Ballinger Way at the King County line and was still only at around 7.5 miles in. Damn! I didn't think I would still have 1.5 miles to go once I reached this point so I need to make another decision. I decided at that point to wing it and head down Ballinger Way for Lake Washington and the Burke-Gilman Trail.

The run down Ballinger Way was a nice break since it is a long downhill grade to the lake and I just kept holding the pace somewhere just shy of 9:30. I was thinking that I would get to the B-G Trail at around mile 12 but, once again, I missed the estimated distance and was only just past mile 11. (Hey, just because I'm supposed to be a professional at this stuff doesn't mean that I don't get a little overly optimistic just like everyone else when estimating distances in running!) I decided that if I stayed on the trail beyond Log Boom Park to 68th I should be able to make up the shortage. At 68th I thought about just heading north on 68th to Locust and then home from there but I knew this would put me short of my 18 mile goal so I headed back west on 181st to pick up 61st and deal with the hill. Damn, I didn't realize how big of a climb you do on 181st before you drop back down to 61st! This is now just short of mile 13 and that little hill caused my heart rate to shoot way up but I was still feeling fairly good and the HR dropped right back down on the downhill section to 61st.

The Lake is at around 30 feet elevation and you do a pretty good climb up 61st, not steep but steady and I just took a little off the effort to keep the HR manageable. While running up 61st I was trying to do some more estimating and I was pretty sure that if I just stayed on 61st I was still going to be short of my goal distance. Hmmmm. Options..... Well, I could do the big hill, 30th through Brier, that seemed most certain that it would put me at my 18 mile goal. I was feeling fairly good still and felt like I was still up to the sustained effort of a big hill climb so at the Y I headed west once again to tackle the hill.

Damn! That hill is amazingly sustained. The grade just keeps taking you up and up with very minimal short flat breaks. By mile 15, after 2 full miles of continuous uphill running I was beginning to think that this may have been a really stupid decision. I could see the summit of the hill though and just kept a steady 10:00ish pace up the steeper part and finally made it over the top of that damn hill. The downhill was a nice break but it was still steep and wasn't feeling real good on the quads. When I'm fatigued I really don't care for running down hill, I should probably work on that.

After 30th turns into Poplar I picked up Larch way for the final 1 mile stretch home. I picked up the pace a bit and finished the last mile feeling that I had done a pretty good job of hydrating and fueling because I didn't do my usual bonk in the last couple of miles. Even though I was excited to see that I had just busted the 18 mile mark according to my watch when I got home I noticed that I was actually short by .08 miles on the download. Oh well, close enough.

I decided to call the route my "5 City Tour" since the route went through the cities of Lynnwood, Mountlake Terrace, Lake Forrest Park, Kenmore, and Brier. I am always amazed at how far these long runs are on the ground. Before I started this run I would have never guessed that this particular route would only be 18 miles. But, then again, 18 miles is a friggin' long ways!

Here is a map of today's little run. Isn't technology amazing?

As always, until next time....

Cheers all!

My, How Things Change......

2009-02-27T07:50:00.000-08:00

It's always nice to post something when I am in a better mood and not stressed to the max. Why am I in a better mood, you might ask?

Well here are 10 reasons:

1.) Yesterday it snowed - Today it's sunny!
2.) The days are soooo much longer now!
3.) Even though it is cold, I can feel spring is on it's way!
4.) I have been able to go more than a full week without having to make a critical decision on the construction of El Edmonds Castillo.
5.) Even though the econcomy sucks, we are beginning to really pick up momentum at PGS.
6.) I now have the largest backlog of work for the crews since the fall of 2007.
7.) Even though I have lost a fortune in this slowdown I feel that I am a very fortunate man to have my team still intact at PGS.
8.) I am blessed with the most caring woman in the world to call my life partner!
9.) My children have all become amazing adults!
10.) I can run!!!!

I could continue but then it wouldn't be 10 reasons would it.

Cheers!!!

A Bit of Musing……

2009-02-23T16:29:00.001-08:00

I've got a lot on my mind these days and thought I would muse a little on the ol' blog.

El Edmonds Castillo:

The house is coming along great. The metal siding mixed with the natural cedar shakes and cedar soffits combined with the mass of the concrete makes for a beautiful visual impression.

Interior finishing's should be getting started any time now. It will be interesting to see how each of the rooms feels once you can no longer see through the walls. The fireplace looks like it is going to be massive now that they have the basic framing for it completed. It didn't look nearly so large in the drawings. It will be an interesting feature and the focal point of the great room. Rock, glass, and copper…..

I'm still struggling with whether I want to add a steamer shower or not. I think if I had one I would use it but, if I didn't I wouldn't miss it. Adding the steamer would change the whole feel of the shower, it was designed as an open shower and if I add the steamer I will have to add a door. ??? I just don't know, but I need to decide soon.

We have settled on the Control4 whole house electronics control system. This will allow us to start with a fairly simple audio-electronics control system that can be upgraded in the future and still give us some pretty cool features right now. This system will allow us to control music/lights/thermostat/security for each room individually from anywhere in the house and eventually from remote locations through the internet.

We visited with the water feature contractor who will also be designing/building our patio fire pit. This guy is quite the artist with natural stone. His work looks so natural. He is working on putting together final costs for the pondless waterfall and the fire pit. Lucky for us, he is slow right now and is going to give us some price breaks from his initial estimates.

Allegro:

I got all of the new instruments installed. I washed the decks. I began doing a deep cleaning of the interior. My back hurts! One more long day on the boat and she should be ready for cruising once again. It is amazing how much less stressful it is to sit in the cockpit of a well sorted boat!

The Economy:

It sucks…. For me anyhow.

Business:

It is SLOW! I have got to figure out a better marketing plan. Mine doesn't work anymore. I'm not worried about staying in business but I am worried about how much more of a hit I'm going to have to take financially. I am also worried about how negatively my employees have been, and are going to be, affected and when they will give up and bail. At least I do have a couple of decent projects that kick off next week that will keep most of the guys busy for close to 2 months. Maybe in that time I can get some back log worked in and that will help carry us into the summer and busier times.

Personal Finances:

No…. Let's just not go there. In a word: Ugly.

Until next time:

CHEERS!

Touching the High Points

2009-02-07T19:51:00.000-08:00

Damn! Has it really been a month since I have updated this Blog thingy? Hmmm..... Let's just hit some high points that have occured over the last month.

1. PGS, Inc. is slow. I'm doing everything I can to bring in work to keep the guys from losing too many hours. It's hit and miss. Someone said it might be tied to this sucky economy.... maybe?

There were 121,000 job losses among professional and business services providers
in January on top of 106,000 that were eliminated in December.

That's even more jobs than the construction industries lost in the same time period.

Or maybe I just need to take responsibility and work harder at bringing in business through creativity and superior service.

2. Casa Edmonds is coming along nicely. We now have the home fully enclosed with all of the windows and exterior doors installed including those fancy glass garage doors. The mechanical ducting is completed, most of the electrical wires are run, and plumbing should be finished with the roughing by the end of next week. Exterior siding and soffits are going up and is looking fabulous. The flat portion of the roof is finished and they flooded it yesterday to check for any leaks. It passed.

We should be getting started on the large retaining wall extending north from the house for the patio area next week. The PUD will start removing the power pole and dropping the lines underground in the next week or so. And no, they don't do that for free! As a matter of fact, it costs way more than if you were to hire a private contractor to do it but they won't let you do that. Gotta keep all those PUD workers employed. Insulation will be going in and interior walls should be getting their finishes soon.

3. The KTM 990 and 530EXCR are gone

and are now replaced with the BMW F800 GS and G650 X-Challenge

Got a good sell on the KTMs and got a really good deal on the BMWs. Hopefully my stable of motorcycles is now complete, especially since I couldn't find enough money to buy a bicycle much less a motorcycle at this point.

4. Marathon training is still moving forward albeit not at the level that it should be. I've been definitely fending off injuries and I am still not totally healed from the little "incident" that took me out last year. I really do need to get serious about the miles now or I will have to blow off the Vancouver Marathon in May. It would help to shed a few pounds too but that would require a decrease in alcohol consumption..... damn, that's some kind of drastic options.

5. I can feel the days getting longer once again. That helps keep the blue periods shorter. I can't wait for summer.

I probably should spend some more time getting everyone up to date on my life happenings but it has been a long day and I'm going to have to work tomorrow so I think I'll just call it a night.

Cheers!

Ron

Marathon Training!

2009-01-09T18:49:00.000-08:00

Sucks!

Not really.... ;-)

I've actually begun a real training program a mere 7 months after destroying my major pedal structure. After spending several months struggling toward building a decent base mileage the time has come for focus on the big miles once again. I am actually looking forward to the buildup over the next few months and plan a Boston qualifier at Vancouver in early May. Not so much to the plans for a long run in the range of 30 miles in March.

I am going to take a training plan that I have always resisted, running further than the goal race distance in training. I have always been one to take the stand that if you can run 80+% of your race distance you can certainly run the full distance with the added motivation of race conditions. The problem is, I keep running into the 'Wall' at around mile 22 and I want to try to break this block. I keep thinking that if I can run a bigger distance in training maybe I will have the confidence of breaking through that 'wall'. I guess we'll have to see if I can actually survive a 30 mile run before I can actually cross the confidence barrier. We'll see.... good training or just stupid? Tough call.

Stay tuned!

Recap of 2008

2008-12-26T17:27:00.000-08:00

Well.... the end of 2008 draws near and I am compelled to reflect upon my achievements and shortcomings of the past 12 months.

2007 was a fantastic year for PGS. 2008? Well, it pretty much sucked. We finished the year with some money left in the bank accounts and most of our team still intact, so you can't say it was a failure. Other than that? Let's just say we are looking forward to a much better '09.

On a personal level? Even that was a bit negative on the financial side. Seems like everything I invested in during the year went bad. I had a couple of gems, like betting on crude oil prices falling (made good money on that one), but most were like my bets on grains (lost a lot of really good money on that one) and just left my accounts drained. I did have a busy year on the personal level and I would have to call the year a success on the personal growth and experience front.

Let's recap:

January - Purchased a really cool (read - expensive) new piece of survey equipment elevating us to a level of technology that very few small business ever achieve! The 3-d, High Definition, Laser Scanner is probably the coolest piece of equipment to come along in surveying since GPS.
February - Sent 2 of my employees to sunny California for advanced training in the Laser Scanning technology. It was actually sunny for them!
March - I took 9 days with my best friend to explore the desert southwest by motorcycle. I went to enjoy the camaraderie of a friend and absorb some warmth and sunshine while enjoying life on 2-wheels. The camaraderie worked out just fine but I definitely got cheated in the warmth and sunshine part of the trip. We froze our butts off.
April - Kokua! Where I got cheated of the warmth and sunshine in SoCal I definitely made up for it in Honolulu. I also got to enjoy the likes of Dave Matthews and Jack Johnson in concert at one of the coolest venues possible. And all for a good cause! (As if I needed an excuse!)
May (early) - A failed attempt at qualifying for the Boston Marathon but a valiant attempt none the less.
May (late)- A trip to Infineon Raceway for Superbike racing with the greatest group of friends possible. These crude, rude, insensitive, redneck.... (you get the picture) bunch of guys are probably the most sincere bunch of people you will ever meet. We got to experience partying at a level that few college students ever achieve. Complete with scantily clad (sometimes unclad) girls, unrecognizable alcoholic concoctions, a swimming pool, an unbelievable estate in the hills overlooking SanFran, sleeping on floors, and not-sleeping. Wow! This ultra-married OLD man was a little overwhelmed by it all (scared!).
June - A crash and a wedding in Mexico! The crash was somewhat tied to the wedding. My son decided that he wanted a motorcycle trip in lieu of a bachelor party. I gave him the added excitement of watching his pops do a high speed, low side, in a sharp corner in heavy rain. "Limit of Traction". A broken back and leg was the final cost of that little "hey, watch this" incident. My son was married to our absolutely beautiful daughter-in-law in Puerto Vallarta later in that same month. Spending a long week in the sunny warmth of Mexico with the 2 families in a single villa was priceless! I now see why our new daughter is so special.... her whole family is!!!!
July - Recovery and healing from my accident and the joys of Mexico! We get building permits for Casa Edmonds! We begin construction on the home we began the permitting process on 3 years ago. Unbelievable! Oh, and another trip to California. This time to bring back the replacement GS and enjoy Moto GP at Laguna Seca.
August - More recovery and some good work from the Bureau of Reclamation and Olympic Pipeline.
September (early)- A fantastic trip covering Washington and Oregon with my wife, son and his wife, Mike and Melissa, on motorcycle. What a wonderful chance to spend time with the people I love dearly.
September (late) - A solo trip covering 5 states in 5 days on a new motorcycle! Wow! Some absolutely beautiful country under absolutely beautiful conditions. There is something about traveling alone on a motorcycle that very few understand. My time!
October - A missed marathon but running actually begins in earnest! Construction continues on the Casa el Edmonds and a home begins to take shape.
November - Wow! Another anniversary, another year with my very best friend! My wife is everything that makes me what I am. My soul mate! Another trip to Infineon, this time with my son and some really crazy motorcycle friends to attack the track on a personal level. Very fast - very fun!
December - The year draws to an end. Very little work and lots of really bad weather.

All of this bad news at the end of the year pales in comparison to the positive aspects of the amazing people that make up my life and my team at PGS. We enter the New Year with more positive contracts and more of a backlog of work than we started this past year. The home in Edmonds is really beginning to look like a home and we are a little overwhelmed with the sheer elegance of the home we will soon be living in. It's a long ways from the migrant worker camps I lived in as a kid. Life looks good!

I love my family! I love my friends! I love living!

Cheers to all!!!

Casa Update and Request for Opinions

2008-12-20T16:01:00.000-08:00

Casa Update:

We are nearly dried in.

The doors and windows have been ordered, colors for the metal siding and roofing have been chosen. We went through the house with the electrician to review lighting and outlet requirements. We have selected all of our plumbing fixtures - what a nightmare that was! Wood flooring has been chosen, still working on tile and carpet. We also need to finalize a selection for kitchen cabinets, we had the appliances chosen long ago.... did you know you can spend $10K on a simple fridge? It doesn't even have fancy controls on the outside of the door! Completely floored me!

Of course, everything we picked out has caused us to be over budget in almost every category. I keep blaming the builder for not allowing for quality materials but in actuality, maybe I should be blaming the builder for not allowing for my wife's good taste? We did do OK on our wood flooring selection and, after brow beating the builder, it looks like my garage door selection is going to just fit in the budget.

The house is going to be beautiful though!

I really don't think our neighbor to the north (Snohomish County Parks) is going to be much of a problem.

Request for Opinions (I know, none of my friends have opinions!)

The garage doors is what I am soliciting opinions for. Narrowed down to one of these 2 doors:

I think the tempered glass would look really cool but I wonder if the paneled door wouldn't be a more practical door? What say ye?

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Was GS Now RT

2008-12-13T20:53:00.000-08:00

Damn.... I sure hope I didn't make a mistake.

I went from this:

To this:

Looking at the RT I already feel older..... it's a pretty bike but doesn't have the youthful energy of the GS.

Let me explain the rationale; My wife and I have found that she really enjoys accompanying me on long, multi-day, road trips on the motorcycle. While the big GS is a beautiful bike for solo touring and not bad for 2-up travel, there is no way it can compare to the RT for eating big miles in real comfort for driver and passenger. I mean, the RT actually has real cruise control and heated seats! I also recently picked up the KTM 990 Adventure which gave me a huge overlap in capabilities with the big GS.

So, I guess if I need to get my 'youthful energy' feelings I'll just have to jump on this bike:

Or maybe this:

I think I'll still be able to get into trouble and not act my age.... just sayin'

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Of Bikes, Race Tracks, Speed, and Longevity

2008-11-21T08:55:00.000-08:00

Twenty-nine years on Nov. 17; That's how long ago my spouse and I were married. I would have to venture that I am one lucky SOB to have found someone who would put up with my moody ass for this long. My wife is one of the best people I know and she accepts my shortcomings with such grace. She is what defines who I am. God I love her.

As a testament to how generous and accommodating this woman is, she gave me the opportunity to spend a day racing my motorcycle at Infineon Raceway on our Anniversary! Not only that, she also put up with traveling almost 2000 in the company of 2 of my crude riding buddies (love you dopes!). My son and his lovely bride also accompanied us on the trip and my son joined me on the track.

The Bike:

is the Buell 1125R. The only real American made sportbike. A full 145 horse power Superbike capable of racing, in stock form, against the best bikes in the world. The first non-Harley and water cooled engine used by Buell. A wicked, fast machine!

The Track:

Infineon Raceway in Sanoma California at the south end of Napa Valley and just north of San Francisco. This is a very technical track with lots of elevation changes and tight, blind corners.

To say we had a good time would be a complete understatement. The weather was beautiful, the track was clean, the event was very well organized, and I didn't crash!

The track was set up with a tightening of turn 1 to keep speeds down just a tad so the track run was something like this:

Turn 1 set up as a sharp right-hander then a hard acceleration uphill into a blind right-hander that you start your turn before even seeing it. You are also cresting a hill so your tires are a little unweighted so you have to be gentle with your braking. Out of turn 2 accelerate hard into turns 3 and 3A, a fast left-right chicane where knee dragging is easy. Hard acceleration and then hard braking at turn 4, a hard right-hander. This corner was giving me trouble the whole day, I kept entering way to slow which led to a bad line. Accelerate hard out of turn 4 through a very fast turn 5, up hill into turn 6 'the carousel'.

Turns that have a name always have a bit of fame attached to them. They are either dangerous, technical, fast, fun, or all of the above. The Carousel is a hard downhill left-hander that is taken at very high speeds with an extremely wide exit. It is a great place to pass but it is also a little unnerving to be doing nearly 100mph leaned over so far that your knee is almost scraping the pavement. I loved that turn!

Accelerate very hard coming out of turn 6 up to turn 7. Turn 7 is a double apex corner that can be taken as a single radius or, a little faster, 2 hard radius turn. I always came into this one a bit hot and had to work hard late braking. the curves making up turns 8 and 8A are mostly straightened out apex to apex and are very fast. Out of 8A you accelerate hard and the track drops leaving you with the front wheel off the ground accelerating at over 100mph. You brake hard coming into the chicane at 9A causing the back end of the bike to fishtail like mad! Lay the bike over hard right and flop over to a hard left. This is a really fun chicane that if properly executed you can carry pretty good speed through it.

Then it is hard on the throttle through turn 10 and, once again hard on the brakes for the hairpin right-hander at turn 11. Turn 12 is taken on hard acceleration and as you shift up through the gears in the front straight you are generally wheelying as you pass the grandstands. Then you're hard on the brakes again to come into turn 1 and do it all over again..... but faster!

At the start:

Coming into turn 3:

The Carousel:

My lovely wife here to watch ME have a good time:

Coming out of turn 9A, the chicane:

Accelerating in turn 10:

A happy kid:

A fried tire:

Yep, a good time was had!

Cheers!

Ron

Casa Edmonds Part Deux!

2008-11-13T14:44:00.000-08:00

OK, here we go again…..

Construction continues. We went from nothing but concrete foundations and walls in my last post to actual wood walls and floors being erected.

First they add some floors:

And you can actually see a garage taking form!

This will be our new dining room.... someday.

Next, they add some walls:

Then, they add some more walls:

And then, some more walls:

And, Wow! This thing is beginning to look like a house!

The peeled log beams in this picture are going to look nice in the entry!

I doubt I'll ever get bored of this view - from my future living room:

I think I'm actually beginning to accept that this thing is really going to be built. I am also finally beginning to actually get excited about making this place my home. It has been such a long process and on so many occasions I really thought we would never be able to see the project through fruition. To see this home take shape and to be able to stand in what will soon be actual rooms really brings it all to life. About 7 more months from now I'll actually be having dinner in this room:

Until next time,

Cheers!

Ron

The Decision Has Been Made!

2008-11-05T15:00:00.000-08:00

President Elect Barack Obama.....

Wow!

Stop and reflect for just a moment on the significance. This truely feels like a handoff of power from the older generation to the youth of America. I am hopeful and confident that they are up to the task presented to them in these historical times.

"a new dawn of American leadership is at hand."

"America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much
more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves - if our children should live to
see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann
Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our
time - to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our
kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the
American Dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth - that out of many, we are
one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and
doubt, and those who tell us that we cant, we will respond with that timeless
creed that sums up the spirit of a people:

Yes We Can."

Yep, change is good.

Can we get back to work now?

Cheers!

Cap'n

VOTE TODAY!!!

2008-11-04T07:49:00.000-08:00

Today is the day.

Everyone needs to get out and vote. This is your opportunity to make a difference and have your voice heard. Make sure that you and everyone you know takes part in this historical election. Be a part of it. Be proud to tell everyone around you that you voted.

Never before have we seen the opportunities that are presented to us today in the choices for President. No matter who you choose, now is a time for change. A time for the leaders of our nation to represent US. Let them know how we feel.

Change is good.....

Cheers!

Cap'n

Casa Edmonds!

2008-10-14T09:57:00.001-07:00

Three years. That's how long it took us to get building permits to build the new casa in Edmonds. It was a long and trying experience not to mention expensive. At one point, when we lost our variance and had to go through the whole variance process over again, we actually came close to giving up and selling the property. But, we stuck it out and finally received our permits to begin construction in mid July. Woohooo!

The Humble Abode as-designed:

And the property it is to be constructed on:

Since we already had construction funding in place and the contractor lined up, we began construction almost immediately. And, almost immediately, we recognized just how challenging this project was going to be. The home site butts up against a steep slope (yes, we have designed in protection for slide risks) and there is very little room for staging the work. The result of this is that excavation, footings, and foundation work all had to be done in stages and we are now almost a month behind on our schedule. The budget, of course, has taken a big hit also.

The start of excavation:

The house is going to sit on the nice little shelf that the hoe is parked on. Those power lines that you see above the hoe will be dropped and routed underground…. Not cheap, by the way.

Here, they have begun work on the footings and you can see that they have excavated away a large portion of the bench:

I really thought that there would be less cutting into that steep slope. I sure hope the architect and engineers did their calculations right. It is exciting to begin to actually see a structure taking shape after all this time looking at nothing but lines on paper.

In this photo the forms for the foundation walls are going up.

Using the 'Honey Bucket' for reference you can see just how massive the foundation walls are. The walls were designed by a structural engineer to be able to withstand the forces of a slide…. Hopefully that will never be tested.

The foundation walls are all up and the front pillars are being formed:

The workers really look small in this photo and you can see just a part of the view that we will have. This photo was taken from about the finished elevation of the living room.

This is another photo with lots of reference points to give some idea of the massive size of the concrete walls. You see this stuff on paper but until it starts going up you really aren't able to get a feel for the size of things.

The guys on the blue boom are taking out the larger trees on the slope that might pose a falling hazard. All of this work is being done in a manner to minimally impact all of the undergrowth on the slope, hence the boom.

Our views from the living room will be magnificent:

This one is looking straight west just past 'Point No Point' and 'Foul Weather Bluff'.

And another:

Looking southerly down the 'Puget Sound' past the Edmonds ferry dock.

To say we are excited would be an understatement but I am also massively stressed over this whole thing. Between trying to keep the budgets under control, constant 'out of scope' items to take care of, and the time constraints, I feel like I am constantly in a battle with the 'team'. I don't think they believe that we are working with real money. I do!

Until next time, cheers!

Ron

Autumn Series Fun

2008-09-21T19:14:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast is calling for cold rain and flukey winds. Hmmmm..... must be time for Fall sailboat racing in Port Gardner Bay.

Yep, I drug myself out into the morning rain and headed north to the Everett Marina stopping at the grocery store to pick up beer along the way. The beer is an offering to our overly dominating skipper in an attempt to limit the f-bombs emitted during the inevitable tangled spinnaker sheet. I think the skipper thinks we (the crew) do this in a thinly veiled attempt at sabotage. Nope, we're just incompetent, sorry skipper.

When you bring up discussions of sailboat racing most people conjure up images like this:

I wish racing was that sexy. Nope. Racing in Port Gardner Bay in the fall and winter series looks much more like this:

It rains a lot, the winds very seldom blow with any authority, and the crews are generally inept. That's OK though because we all have fun and after the skipper calms down a bit and consumes a few beers we think he does too.

Today we were short handed, expecting a very poor showing, and generally taking things less than serious. All the makings for a very fine finish, which we had. I'm sure we corrected up over all the J-boats finishing 1st overall. Good job crew (Miller and I). Oh, you did OK too Skipper.

Cheers!

Smart Update - Sue's Smart!

2008-09-07T08:51:00.000-07:00

Well, it certainly didn't take long for SuzyQ's little Smart car to get from 'Build' status to 'In Port' status and then to 'Arrived' status. Almost too fast, in fact. We only had the 'Orphan' Smart for about 4 weeks and was barely able to run mileage up to around 1300 before returning her to the dealer.

I did get to drive the 'Orphan' enough to be able to give somewhat of a review of the car and it's characteristics.

First off economy: Sue is a bit of a lead foot and drives the Smart as if it were a little sports car so I was expecting less than stellar fuel economy. The Smart surprised me though. So far we are averaging just over 40 MPG in around town driving. Sue is planning a trip to Leavenworth this week so we will get to evaluate both, highway MPG and power going over a mountain pass. Should be interesting.... I warned her friend that she might want to be prepared to get out and push to help get the little girl over the top. :-)

Driving: The first thing you will notice is the shifting of the "automatic" transmission. Really sucks at first but it gets better with time. The reason for this is because it is not an automatic transmission but a standard transmission that shifts automatically. Once you realize this, the shifting suddenly feels much more ordinary, like a standard shift with a clutch. Also, as you drive the car, the car 'learns' driving habits and begins to anticipate shifts much better and it gets smoother. Don't ever expect it to shift like the Audi DSG though.

The car scoots around town with grace. It's kind of like having a motorcycle when it comes to parking, you just don't worry about it. Seems there is always a little hole to fit this little girl in. The acceleration is sufficient to keep up with the flow of traffic and hills are not a problem. Freeway driving is far better than one would expect and cruising along at 70 MPH is extremely easy. It has enough acceleration to merge with traffic on the freeway just fine too.

The car is much bigger inside than it's small exterior leads you to believe. Leg and head room is sufficient even for the tallest drivers. Seats are firm but comfortable and controls are easily reached. My only complaint, as far as controls are concerned, is that the hazard flasher is easy to accidentally bump when adjusting the radio. Once I was aware of the problem it was no longer an issue though. The ride is stiff, as would be expected from a car with such a short wheel base, but not excessively.

The Smart attracts a LOT of attention and you feel like a bit of a freak driving it around. Maybe I'm a little sexist but I think where a guy looks like a bit of a dork driving it girls just look plain cute in it. Luckily, I don't have any trouble with looking like a dork. I've kinda gotten used to it and have fun whenever I do drive it.

Back to my story:

Sue seemed a little sad as we headed south to the Smart Center. She had gotten pretty attached to the little black beauty, I even thought she was going to change her mind and keep the 'Orphan'. That all changed once we arrived at the Smart Center and she got to see her new little 'Tux' (the white with black trim kind of looks like a tuxedo) with the bright red interior. 'Tux' even had Sue's name on the window sticker. Sue completely forgot about the 'Orphan'.... abandoning the little black beauty. Kinda' sad, I say.

I did make one last attempt in the dealings to keep the 'Orphan' and buy 'Tux' outright. No go. Only one Smart at a time, it seems. The dealer did treat me right and stood up to their original offer of crediting me everything I had spent on the 'Orphan', including optional add ons, towards the reserved Smart. We actually got money back since we didn't add as much stuff on this one as compared to the 'Orphan'. I was really impressed with how simple the whole thing was.

Sue is really enjoying her new Smart and she looks so cute driving it around. She does seem to have a bit of a 'chihuahua' syndrom driving it around though. She gets aggressive and 'snaps' at other drivers, always racing to get ahead of them. Kind of defeats the whole purpose of having a tiny car and leaving a small foot print in my opinion. I do believe that I have hit a home run in giving the car to her as a gift though. She sure appreciates it.

Cheers all!

Cap'n Ron

Sexy? Fast? Decisions....

2008-09-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hmmmm.....

I've got a decision to make. It seems that in my quest for the perfect motorcycle I may have acquired too many motorcycles. I am now in the process of eliminating motorcycles that may be redundant or unnecessary. Two bikes that fall a little into the redundant category are the:

Ducati Paul Smart 1000 Limited Edition -

There were only 2000 of these bikes made and only approximately 200 were shipped to the US. This bike falls into the category of a 'Sport Classic' and is plenty fast but I mostly just think of it as sexy. It is an aggressive bike that requires technical skill to ride properly and isn't what I would consider 'forgiving' of mistakes. The Paul Smart has an aggressive seating position with a long reach to the bars and is uncomfortable for long rides. But, all of this said, I have never had a bike that garnishes as much attention as the Paul Smart does.

Buell 1125R -

Fast! Powerful! Precise handling! The 1125 is a sport bike pure and simple. The Buell is an American made bike, the only American made sport bike. This bike just begs to be ridden hard and fast. Give the 1125 a twisty section of asphalt and I dare you to try to hold it back. Acceleration is smooth and unbelievably fast but the 1125 is also comfortable. The 1125 was designed to be able to ride in a very aggressive, laid out position or in a more relaxed, upright position. It also does a good job of wind protection and creates a 'quite zone' for the rider.

So the decision I have to make is:

The 1125R which would be able to satisfy my need for speed while giving me a nice comfortable cockpit worthy of multi day rides and would make a great track day bike.

Or:

The Ducati Paul Smart which is fast enough, sexy enough, will hold it's resell value much better, and, with proper riding technique, will make a very capable track bike.

Decisions.... Decisions....

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Idiot? Genius?

2008-08-24T17:15:00.000-07:00

Woohoo! Two straight days of doing continuous running for 4 miles! I think I might be becoming a runner once again. Hmmmmm, so what's next?

Well..... before you start yelling obscenities and declaring me mentally incapable of caring for myself, I have already entered and paid for the event. From my April 29 post "I just signed up for the Portland Marathon in October". Oh, and since I've already paid for the event and can't cancel, I might as well go down and pick up the t-shirt. Right? Not enough to convince you yet? Well, what if I were to say that I was thinking of taking a run/walk approach to the whole thing? Still not enough? I've got, like.... 6 whole weeks to train. Nothing? Not convinced? Hmmmmm...... I'll think of some more rationalization later.

Now hear me out - I'm thinking I can work hard to get at least one long run of 18+ miles, taking the run/walk approach, before the marathon. I'll have to totally skip the taper period, of course. :-) I tested the pace at the track today. If I run a 9 minute pace for 8 minutes and then walk for 2 minutes I get a 10 minute mile. Now, if I just do that 26 times I would get to the finish line with a time of 4:22:00. Not quite a BQ but, under the circumstances, not a total bust either.

Crazy? Maybe.

Cheers all,

The Cap'n

Recovery Blows

2008-08-09T20:04:00.000-07:00

On May 29 I did a short 'post marathon' run of 6.3 miles at just over 8:30 pace average. The average heart rate during that run was something in the mid 150's, a little high but certainly not bad. 3 days later I crashed my bike, severely sprained both ankles, broke my right fibula, and fractured the L2 and L4 vertebrae. Running seized and healing ensued.

Fast Forward -

On Sunday August 3rd, I convinced my wife that I would join her for daily run at the local track and take it 'easy' just to 'test' the legs.

Content: My wife went from a couch potato to dedicated runner over the past year. She runs a slow 10:30 to 11:00 pace but she does this 5 to 6 days a week and does about 6 miles each day.

Back to the story at hand: Damn, my wife runs FAST! She also runs for a LONG time! I ended up doing a run/walk thing for just over an hour. Every once in a while I would run along with her for a short distance. What I found was that at an 11:00 pace my heart rate runs up in the high 160's. I also found that my knee, where the fibula joins, gets very sore with repetitive motion. Oh, and my fibula, where the break occurred, doesn't really like impact. I do think that running may include repetitive motion and some high impact as witnessed by the sore knee and throbbing fibula. I ended up doing approximately 5 miles at an average 12:52 pace with an average heart rate of 144. Not exactly the picture of fitness.

All last week my right quad was sore as hell. Not the 'injury' kind of soreness but the 'holy cow, I did too much' kind of soreness. By the way my legs felt you would have thought I had just done another marathon. I only did a 'short' 5 miler and a good part of that was walking.... Recovery is going to be a long, slow process.

I started the physical therapy thing last week. Therapy is going good but having sore quads certainly didn't help anything. I did 2 sessions last week and after each session I was unable to walk without a limp again. Those PT guys must have special training in torture techniques. Between bending joints into positions they are unaccustomed to and the physical demands they place on muscles you just have no chance of leaving there without intense pain. Oh, joy. I get to see them twice next week!

I finally got the courage to try the track thing again today. According to the PT, probably not a real good idea. What does he know? He causes more pain than that damn track does. Anyway, The track thing went slightly better today than the previous attempt. I was even able to do a lap now and then at a 9:30 pace, blazingly fast! Again, I did a bit more than 5 miles of the walk/run thing with an average pace of 12:20 and a heart rate of 147. I even did a continuous 1.5 miles at an average of 10:40 pace holding my heart rate in the low 160's.

Yep, I'm on the road to recovery and becoming a runner once again but it's going to be a long road and a frustrating one to boot. It is hard to believe just how much fitness you can lose in a very short time. Barely more than 3 months ago I ran 26.2 miles averaging just over 8 minutes per mile. It's a little overwhelming to think about all the hard work I have ahead of me to get back to that level of running.

I guess if you are going to take part in risky activities you had better be prepared to deal with the consequences. I am.

Cheers!

Smart Anyone?

2008-07-31T19:00:00.000-07:00

In March of 2007 my wife paid $99 and got on the reservation list for the new Smart Car. About every 3 months or so we get an email giving us some Smart news and an update on our status. Well, last week I got a notice that her Smart was built and ready for shipping and should be on our door step in 45 to 60 days. Wow, a new car.

The car she ordered is a white cabriolet with black trim and red interior. It should look something like this:

Right after I get the announcement that her car was built and soon to be delivered I get an email from the local SmartCenter offering us an 'Orphan' Cabrio. I email the local SmartCenter informing them that, since her Smart was already built, that we would be passing on the 'Orphan' and waiting for hers. The next day I get a call from the 'Smart Rep', conversation ensues:

SR - "Mr. H, since you have such an early reservation number, I'd like to make you an offer on the 'Orphan'. If you are interested, I'd like to offer you the Cabrio we have at MSRP, no markups. Your wife drives it for the next couple of months while you are waiting for her Smart. When her Smart arrives, she brings the 'Orphan' back and we give you full price, including any fees, towards her Smart."

Mr. H - "Are you on crack?"

SR - "No, What do you mean?"

Mr. H - "I have never received an offer to, basically, drive a new car for a couple of months for free. You are going to give me every dime I put into this 'Orphan' back after my wife's Smart comes in? Taxes, fees,.... everything?"

SR - "Yep."

Mr. H - "So, how do you get away with that without losing your proverbial butt?"

SR - "Well, Smart requires, by contract, that I sell all new Smarts at MSRP. Not so with used Smarts. With a wait of 1.5 years for a new Smart I can easily sell the 'Orphan' for 10 to 15 percent over MSRP even after you have driven it for a couple of months."

Mr. H - "Oh. How about I just sell it then?"

SR - "You lose your reservation spot if you do that. You don't get the one your wife ordered. Got it?"

Mr. H - "Hmmm. OK. Sign me up."

So, after a trip to the SmartCenter and some exchange of moneys, my wife is now driving her new 'Orphan' Smart. Looks something like this:

Sure is a tiny little sucker. But, my wife really seems to like driving it around. I've driven it a couple of times and it really isn't bad to drive, I just don't like all the attention you get. People staring at you while you drive down the road, coming over and talking to you when you stop, asking all sorts of questions, exclaiming how cute it looks.... OK, can't deal with the 'cute' remarks. I am, after all, of male persuasion and do have a trace of testosterone. Maybe after the novelty wears off I'll like it more. It is one hell of an urban commuter vehicle and will help us to do our little bit to lessen our carbon foot print. Hopefully, even cut into Exxon's 3rd quarter profits.... maybe?

Cheers!

Time for an Update!

2008-07-15T09:42:00.000-07:00

Checking the ol' blog, it appears that I have not posted anything since my accident, so.....

First; Six weeks and I am beginning to heal quite well. I am no longer on crutches and I have tossed the boot. Pain in my lower back is minimal and bothers me far less now. The broken fibula is healing and I am dealing with only minor pain in the region of the break. The bruising and hematoma on the left hip is almost gone, I can finally sleep on my left side!!!! The left ankle has healed pretty good and range of motion is almost back to normal. Right ankle, well that's a different story. It is beginning to feel better and swelling is not as dramatic but it does swell with use and is still quite painful. Range of motion is slowly getting better with a lot of effort on my part. I was getting on the bike trainer for a bit and I thought that it was going well but, once again, I over did it. I have had to back off for a bit but I'll start trying it again next week. I promise to take it a little easier. I still have hopes of returning to running by early in August.

Not so good news about the big GS. Insurance has declared it a total loss. (big sigh) I spent a lot of time and energy, not to mention money, getting that bike set up exactly the way I wanted it. I am going to miss it a lot. My son has bought it from the insurance as salvage and is going to rebuild it and return her to her former glory.

Me, well I have found a replacement for the beast:

Welcome the new Beast! This is the newly updated 2008 version of the R1200 GS Adventure. The new version comes with 105 HP, an enduro transmission with a lower first gear, On-Board Computer, ASC (automatic stability control), ESA (electronic suspension adjustment), TPM (tire pressure monitoring), and some styling changes. It will take me a little time, but I will get this bike as well sorted as the previous one. I am definitely eager to begin the break-in process and get some miles racked up.

I will get a good start on this right away since the bike is in Sacramento. I'm flying down to Sac to pick up the bike and then I'll ride to Monterey for MotoGP. Nothing more exciting than watching Casey Stoner tear up the track!

This year I happened to get really good tickets that include the flag room! Free food and booze while watching the races in air conditioned comfort. Life doesn't suck!

Work is picking up and we are busy once again which means that we should start actually making money soon! We have some really interesting work to keep the guys from getting bored and no one is going to miss any hours on the near term. It shouldn't be too much of a stretch to keep the momentum going into the fall, and hopefully, winter.

Thanks for your time!

Cheers!

The GS is Down One More Time

2008-06-03T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's been a while since I made a post on the ol' blog and this is not the subject that I expected to be my next.

First off - I am not a squid on the motorcycle - I sometimes ride a bit spirited in the corners but I ride responsibly and avoid putting others at risk while on the bike. I wear proper gear ALL THE TIME even when people are asking "aren't you hot wearing all of that?" Yes, I am hot, but good gear saves lives. This brings me to the post at hand.

From the Okanogan Chronical:

"Lynnwood man injured in motorcycle crash east of Tonasket

     A Lynnwood man was injured June 1 in a motorcycle accident 17 miles east of Tonasket on Highway 20, according to the Washington State Patrol.
     Ronnie G. Hilliard, 48, was westbound about 11:20 a.m. when his motorcycle skidded on a curve and slid across the road, striking a guardrail on the eastbound shoulder, according to the patrol report.
     Hilliard was ejected; the motorcycle came to rest in the road.
     He was taken by aid car to North Valley Hospital, Tonasket, for treatment of lower back and right leg injuries, according to the report. Hilliard was wearing a helmet.
     About $2,000 damage was done to the motorcycle."

What this article so carelessly omitted from their article is that it was raining heavily at the time of the accident. I also don't understand how they have an estimate of damage when I don't. I do know that the damage is primarily cosmetic and the bike is ride-able as proven by the fact that my son has ridden the bike a total of nearly 50 miles since the accident including the trip from the accident scene to the hospital and then from his home to mine to drop it off once I made it home from the hospital. Another point of note is that the WSP has informed me that I will receive a citation for 'excessive speed for conditions'. Again, I'm not sure what kind of telepathic powers they have, seeing as they told me this even before visiting the scene of the accident, and what, exactly defines 'excessive speed for conditions' when the conditions are such that you could not have known they exist before encountering them?

Oh well, on to the 'Rest of the Story':

This past weekend my son Casey, his future father-in-law Doug, best friend Mike, and myself all went on a motorcycle trip through Southern BC and Northern Washington as a pseudo 'Bachelor Party' for my son. Seemed like a much better option than going out drinking and watching scantily clad women pretending to like you. (another sign of the level of maturity)

The first 2 days were absolutely glorious! Full of beautiful scenery, great weather, and even greater roads. We headed north from Lynnwood on Friday morning crossing over into Canada at Sumas and continuing north to intersect Hwy 7 on the north side of the great Frasier River. We took 7 east to Hope as a better option than a 4-lane drone down 3. At Hope we picked up Hwy 3 east through Manning Park to Osoyoos. From there we continued east on 3 through the gloriously tight twisty road up the hill and through the farming communities to Hwy 33. We turned north on 33 for more delightful high speed sweepers up to Vernon where we got a hotel for the evening.

On Saturday we headed east on Hwy 6 from Vernon to the ferry that takes you over to Faquire. Hwy 6 from Vernon to the ferry ranks as the number 2 motorcycle highway by 'Destination Highways' in BC. The road is remote, full of well engineered curves, and beautiful scenery. It is worthy of the ranking.

From Faquire we continued on 6, first northerly to Nakusp and then southerly to New Denver where we turned, once again, east on Hwy 31A. 31A from New Denver to Kaslo is a short but beautiful stretch of highway through another remote and beautiful region with fantastic road conditions allowing for a very spirited riding pace. The highway ends in the wonderful little town of Kaslo where we had our lunch. What a lunch! I would have never expected such a culinary treasure in such a remote local. It really was tough deciding what to eat from the large and varied menu.... everything looked great and the soup and veggie sandwich that I ended up with was absolutely delicious.

After lunch we headed south on Hwy 3 to Balfour where we caught another ferry to cross Kootenay Lake and the little town of Crawford Bay. We continued south from Crawford on Hwy 3A, ranked number 1 in 'Destination Highways' list of BC highways. It was a great road but I'm not sure it was worthy of a #1 ranking. After our run down 3A we headed east on 3 to Hwy 6 and south to Ione Washington where we got another hotel for the night. As good as the food was in Kaslo was as bad as the food was in Ione. Old, cold chicken and beef enchiladas. Yum.....

As good as the weather was on Friday and Saturday was as bad as the weather was on Sunday. We gassed up in Ione under heavy rain and chilly temps. We headed east on 20 through Colville and Kettle Falls under heavy rain, stopping in Republic for a cup of coffee and to warm our chilled bones. As we left Republic the rain had eased to almost nothing and our attitudes improved dramatically. This was a short lived improvement. At about Waconda the skies began to dump a deluge upon our small group of motorcyclists. I have to admit that at this point I was a little tired of the cold rain and just wanted to get east to the Okanogan Valley and the hope of drier riding. Just a few miles past Waconda is a nice group of curves and the conditions warranted a conservative pace through the corners. One particular curve is especially sweet under nice conditions. Nice tight, right sweeper, sloping downhill with a really good camber to it. I entered the curve with plenty of reserve feeling conservative and as I came around the the curve and saw the corner exit I began to increase throttle as is the normal process for exiting corners. I felt that traction was excellent and had no doubt that I was well within speed for the conditions - right up until the moment that I felt the bike loose traction and fall on it's side! I must have hit an oily slick or something as the bike completely lost all traction without warning.

At this point the bike and I began our journey into the realm of slow motion, surrealism. As I was sliding along with my bike just ahead of me I was thinking "this isn't so bad" very non-violent and non-painful. Smooth, would be a good adjective. As I went down I knew that I would be crossing the oncoming lane but I could see that the way was clear of oncoming traffic. I also knew that I was sliding toward a guardrail and that I would impact it at some point but, due to the slow motion effect, I began to think that by the time I hit it I may have slowed down to the point that it would be a minor impact.... but then I heard the impact of the BMW hitting the guardrail and from that sound knew that we were still moving quite fast. Then the impact!

Violent, that would be a good adjective to describe the events that followed. While I was sliding along smoothly prior to the impact, tumbling and rolling ensued from impact on. The bike and I collided first and somewhere near that point I certainly collided with one of the guardrail posts. Another collision with the bike? Certainly more collisions with the guardrail and pain was a part of these impacts. I finally rolled to a stop, lying there for a moment trying to collect myself. I was lying in the road and I knew that it was a bit of a blind curve so I thought it might be a good idea to get out of it. I sat up - OK - I stand up - ouch - pain in both lower legs and my back. I am able to walk to the guardrail and sit on it. Casey runs up yelling "are you alright?" "damn it, talk to me, please". Shit! Poor kid got to see his dad biff it good and he was scared bad by it, you could see it.

I assured him I was fine but I hurt. At this point I could feel myself going into shock so I told Casey that I needed to lie back down for a few minutes. I was really feeling bad for my son knowing that it had to be traumatic and I was also trying to take stock of my injuries. I knew that my lower legs were injured but it was hard to tell how badly. I also knew that my lower back was very painful but I really thought that was just muscle wrenching from being tossed around. By this point a few vehicles had stopped and were coming to my aid with very concerned looks on their faces. I could see my BMW in the middle of the road and remember someone saying that we needed to get it out of the road. I was relieved to see that someone had moved up the road to warn drivers of the accident ahead in the blind curve. Good, I was definitely aware of my surroundings and the activities going on.

At some point I must have got back up and sat on the guardrail again because I remember a couple of my attendants asking me if I could walk while I was sitting there. I remember that one of the groups was a caravan of 3 vehicles from Canada on a Boy Scout outing. A lady from the group was talking to a local rancher asking if he would drive me down to Tonasket and the hospital in his suburban as their vehicles were full of camping gear. I told them I could probably walk but that both my ankles were hurting pretty bad so they helped me across the road to the suburban and loaded me in the back. Lots of people yelling instruction and advice concerning my care but my head was spinning. I remember yelling at everyone to just give me a few moments to collect my head and really take stock of the injuries. "Come on, give me a few minutes!" They thought I was trying to tell them I was fine and that I could just ride off and I understand their disbelief but all I really wanted to do was get my head clear and regain control of my consciousness.

At this point I was really beginning to come out of the shock and aware of all that was going on. I'm now lying on my back in the rear of a filthy suburban complete with wet saddle blankets and coils of chain for company. It didn't matter though because I also noticed that I was filthy, dirty from the wreck. Must have been the dirt along the guardrail. I remember Doug coming to the back of the suburban and I gave him a big thumbs up. Some dude ran up asking if any of the attendees had EMT training, trying to take over the whole event saying he had 15 years experience as an EMT. Started asking all sorts of questions to check to see if I was aware and shouting more orders at people.... go away! Where is that nice Canadian lady? Ahhh, there she is, helping me remove my helmet and gloves. As Keith (the owner of the ranch suburban) helped her get me as comfortable as possible for the trip down to the hospital I heard her say she was going to stay with me on the ride. Thankfully not Mr. EMT!

Things just got clearer from there on as we talked and joked all the way down to Tonasket. I remember talking about her kids, my kids, the fact that my son saw the accident, and how traumatic that must have been for him. She said "just think how you would feel if the rolls were switched", I said "let's just not even go there"! I talked about how this was definitely going to upset my marathon training plan and hopes for a BQ at Portland. She listened intently and even laughed at my stupid attempts at humor. I tell you, them Canucks are the friendliest and most helpful people I have ever met.

Damn, I sure did mess up our trip schedule. When I arrived at the hospital the staff got me on a back board, strapped me to it, and put this contraption on my head to keep me from moving my neck. I heard Casey outside giving them information about me and I yelled at him that he should get Doug and Mike out of there before it got late and they would have to ride in the dark. I was feeling really angry with myself at messing up what had been a totally fun trip right up to the point where I crashed. It was hard to focus on that though when all these medical personnel were having arguments over how to get me out of the suburban. It was almost comical.

In the hospital things got much better and more professional. The nurses were very attentive and took great care in removing my gear without destroying anything. My only complaint was the backboard and neck/head brace contraption. For a short time those things wouldn't be so bad but after almost 7 hours they become a torture device, slowing time to a mere crawl. My fault though for choosing to crash on a Sunday, in a small town, with no radiologist so all of the decisions had to be backed up by one in Seattle. Of course, I wasn't Seattle's high priority patient so this all took a lot of time. Amazingly through all of this I really didn't have all that much pain. Discomfort? Sure, but no real pain. As a matter of fact, I mentioned several times during the waiting that the pain I was feeling wasn't as bad as the pain I felt in the final miles of my last marathon and I did that for FUN!

Many X-rays and a CT scan later it was determined that I had broken my tibia and had compression fractures of the L2 and L4 vertebrae. All of these breaks and fractures appeared to be of minor concern to the doctor and apparently would heal without much attention from a physician and time alone was to be the prescription for recovery. They almost released me that evening but due to the distance from the hospital to my home they decided that they didn't like the idea of me traveling that distance so soon after the accident and decided to keep me over night for observations. Casey accompanied me to my new digs at the Tonasket Hospital and offered to stay there with me for the night. I convinced him that he was not going to be of any help to me there and that he should just get his butt home before it got too late. Since Doug and Mike had already left he finally agreed to leave too. God, I felt bad for that kid. He's definitely one of the best a dad could ask for.

Sue came over on Monday and picked me up for the long ride home. I was really worried about being stuck in a car for a 5 hour trip but I shouldn't have been. I really endured the trip with very minimal discomfort and I was still not taking any real pain medication other than Ibuprofen. We arrived at home at around 5PM and I was more than happy to be there! What a long couple of days.

Looking back I have a few observations:

First - When traveling on rain slick roads you had better be riding VERY conservatively, almost expecting conditions to change immediately. When I hit that slick spot there was absolutely no time for me to react.

Second - Proper gear and good fitness will save you and your family a lot of grief in even some of the worst of accidents. My riding pants were absolutely destroyed in the area where I impacted the guardrail post, If that had been of lesser armor my left hip would have been destroyed. No telling what else my gear protected me from.

Third - Family and friends are irreplaceable! Ride carefully out there!

Cheers all!

Ron

Kerrel: The French Connection - Stage III

2008-05-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

Stage III The French Connection began on Sunday 4-27-08 with an early start, and a 20 minute speed walk (with two very large suit cases in tow) from my daughter’s apartment to the rendezvous point for the volleyball team’s departure from Niort, France to Albi, France for her last regular season game.

Personally my estimation of the total distance covered in 20 minutes was approximately 27 Kilometers, but I am sure that total may be slightly exaggerated. Try chasing my daughter the professional athlete down the street sometime and you will know how I felt!

During the 5 hour trek by van southerly to our destination I got the pleasure of viewing some of the prettiest country I have ever seen, and the transition for the middle portion of France to the terrain typical for southern France.

Although southern France (like northern France) is rolling hills covered with well kept farms, cattle/sheep operations and crops ranging from vineyards to wheat fields, the vertical change from valley bottom to the top of each hill is far less in the south and the valleys much wider.

Upon arriving in Albi, we found ourselves downtown in the middle of some sort of cross-country running race. I was unable to find out just how far these people were running (due to my inadequate knowledge of the French Language I am sure), but the total number of participants made navigation to the site of the volleyball game a little difficult.

Game Time!

Some months ago I made the statement that my daughter’s team was the “New England Patriots” of France (I meant still undefeated). At the time I did not know just how prophetic that statement was going to be. Unfortunately, the girls from Niort fell to Albi in their last regular season game and ended with an overall record of 19-1.

The contest was hard fought on both sides, but this was simply Albi’s day! Regardless of the outcome of this contest, my daughters team from Niort has won their region and will begin the playoffs to determine the French overall champion of their division on Sunday May 11.

Below is a picture of the 3 foreign players (non-french) on my daughter’s team preparing to receive serve from Albi in game 4. On the left daughter Lacey (USA), Middle Amsetou (Cameroon), and right Anne (Germany).

Following the contest my daughter and I were fortunate enough to get transportation from the coach of the Albi team and his wife and the President of the Albi Volleyball Club to the hotel we had reserved for the night.

Just more proof of what a small world we live in, the coaches’ wife is from Wichita, Kansas and the two of us were born approximately 50 miles apart!

My original plan had been to depart Albi the day following the game with luggage and fly fishing gear in hand (yes I always take my fly gear with me!) and head for the Pyrenees for fly fishing and exploring. Due to weather and more importantly a limited opportunity for suitable transportation the decision was made to forego the fly fishing expedition and spend the next day touring Albi.

Below is a picture of downtown Albi with the cathedral in the background (this is a massive structure) and the Tarn River. The bridge in the foreground is the Le Pont Neuf which was originally constructed on 1866, and the bridge further down stream, the Le Pont Vieux originally constructed sometime in the 11th Century! Apparently the Pont Vieux has been damaged due to high flood waters, but never completely destroyed since originally completed!

And during our walking tour of Albi I found the location for a branch office of PGS, Inc. A little modification to the sign and we are set. Ron, I think you should allow me to handle the operation of this branch of your firm.

Following a day of touring Albi, it was time to get some sleep, and start the next day on our long train/bus/taxi ride back to Paris and my return to the US on Wednesday.

Wednesday, April 30 in Paris, and it is time for me to return home. A little excitement at the airport as a bomb scare near my check-in station with Air Canada caused a few delays, but I did manage to get luggage checked, navigate my way through security. I found out later that the bomb scare had actually been real. Luckily I had made it through security before the real excitement started. Apparently the French military took control of that section of the airport for a time to dispose of the “bomb”.

As I prepare for the long plane ride home (17 plus hours) my thoughts about this particular adventure and France in general are:

Paris is gigantic, and way too big of a place for me to spend much time,
France is loaded with beautiful scenery and friendly people………….and YES the local wines are fantastic!

I have had a wonderful time on this trip to France, however, it will really feel good to be home!

If, no let me say WHEN, I travel here again I want to spend more time at Normandy, visit the Pyrenees for some fly fishing (I know fly fishing is a dirty thankless job but someone has to do it!), and if possible check out the Alps.

Lift off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport was successful and on time and with12 more hours of flight travel (while writing this I am somewhere over the Atlantic), it is home sweet home for me.

Cheers!

Vancouver Marathon in Eight Easy Steps

2008-05-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

Step 1: The Lapse in Judgment

After running the Portland Marathon in October of '07 and failing to qualify for Boston I signed up to run the Vancouver International Marathon slated for May '08.

Step 2: Train Well

After taking most of November off and gaining almost 10 pounds after the October Portland Marathon it was time to get serious about training….. well, maybe. Shin problems in December forced me to take a break from running and use the bike for cardio. January and February went well but when I added speed work in late February the shin problems resurfaced. Training would be on again – off again up until taper time late in April.

Step 3: Positive Attitude

As I entered the taper phase of my training I was really feeling under trained. I just wasn't getting the big miles late in my training and yet the muscles were still feeling fatigued after even short runs. The muscles also were not recovering well and felt sore much of the time. My confidence in completing the marathon was waning and the hopes for a BQ were all but gone. Still, I kept trying to give myself pep talks and tell myself that I would be feeling strong on race morning.

Step 4: Pre-Race Prep

This I did well. The trip to Vancouver the day before the race was uneventful and relaxing. Our room at the Metropolitan was fantastic. The hotel service was great. Sue and I met up with Greg and Hayden for an early carbo load and to discuss race tactics. Mostly the talk was centered around my fear of just how bad this race was going to be for me. Sue and I later went for a lighter meal, where the talk was at least a little more positive, before retiring for the evening. I had a bit of a fitful sleep but still felt pretty rested when morning came.

Sue, Greg, Hayden, and I had a nice leisurely 1/2 mile walk to the start area and I was feeling much more positive at this point. I made some light hearted jokes about bailing but really knew that this race was going to happen and that I would finish. The starting area is such that by hanging back a ways we were able to hang with Sue and Hayden right up until just before the start. Greg and I made our way through the crowd of starters up to the 3:30 pace group for the start.

Step 5: Choose a Wise Pace – Miles 0-6

I was a bit surprised at the congestion in the first mile. There are approximately 3000 people at the start and you would expect that things would open up quicker but the first mile was slow. Once things opened up I was letting Greg set the pace and we started clipping along in the high 7's with my goal pace at 8. I was thinking that it would be nice to bank some time so I kept the pace up in the 7:50 range for these miles.

Normally I have to hold myself back early in a race but at this pace I felt like I was pushing a bit hard. My legs are feeling pretty good but I really didn't get comfortable with this pace until around mile 6. By mile 3 Greg was off on his own running something in the low to mid 7's. I really wished him a good run. The dude is fast. Somewhere in mile 3 I see the race leaders coming back towards us on the out and back stretch. This is always the highlight of Vancouver for me. Those guys are flying!

Step 6: Cruise the Middle Miles – Miles 7-20

These are always the best miles for me. I get to see Sue and Hayden cheering me on at mile 7 and I'm finally feeling good with my pace. I am actually beginning to get this small hope of actually holding this pace for the remaining 19 miles. The race winds through commercial, industrial, and residential areas, up and down hills, then along the waterfront into Stanley Park. I get to see Sue and Hayden again in mile 11. This is another cool aspect of the Vancouver Marathon; it is easy for friends and family to catch you at several locations during the race.

Mile 11 is also where the 8:30 group actually catches me. The pace groups in Vancouver do the 'Run 10 – Walk 1' thing. It works but for some reason I just don't like it. A marathon is about enduring 26.2 miles of sustained running. Not 26.2 miles of running – walking – rest breaks. I don't care how fast you run, but run damn it! Anyway, these guys really mess up my pace because when they run they run at about a 7:40 pace so that with the 1 minute of walking thrown in they end up with an average 8:00 pace. For the next few miles I was dealing with this seesaw thing where I would pass them as they stopped for their walk break and then they would pass me during their running. Every time they would pass I would end up speeding up to their pace for a while. It sucks!

I crossed the halfway point with a time of 1:44:26, which is right where I want to be. I also begin to notice blisters developing on my feet at this point. This isn't good but blisters have never really been a limiting factor, just an annoyance, so I wasn't really worried….. yet. The hills through Stanley Park are much bigger and more often than they appear on the race profile sheet but I knew this from last year's race. I continue to hold my 8:00 pace through the park and then along Pacific Ave. up to the Burrard bridge in mile 17. I get to see Sue and Hayden again here, always good to have 2 beautiful women cheering you on! Then it's up and over the bridge and into the Kitslano and Jericho Beach neighborhoods and more hills. I cross the 20 mile mark at 2:39:46, right on target!

Step 7: Reserves for a Strong Finish – Miles 21-26.2

I am really beginning to feel the effects of running 20 miles at just under an 8:00 pace average. I fight to keep my pace at or at least near 8:00 through mile 20 and the turnaround point. Just short of the turnaround I meet up with Greg coming back the other direction. We give each other high fives as we pass. Damn, I was really hoping he could hold his fast pace all the way to the finish. My legs hurt as I make the turn and head back on the last leg. I'm still on pace at mile 22 but it's getting hard to keep focus and it feels like I have to speed up just to hold the same pace. In mile 23 I begin to feel myself losing the battle to hold 8's I also see Greg up ahead. I catch Greg in mile 24 and we run together for a bit talking mostly of how much this sucks and how we just want it to be over.

Something I came to realize in this race is that I suffer way better alone. I was still holding 8-somethin's when I caught Greg but I realize that I was subconsciously thinking that once I caught him I could slow down. That was a stupid, big mental blunder. By the time I caught Greg I was off my pace though and would have to average 8:00 pace for the remaining 2 miles just to make the 3:30:59 that I would need for my Boston. I tested my legs a couple of times and there just wasn't any 8:00 miles left in them.

Mile 25 was really bad with a few episodes of full ham cramps and averaging a 10 minute pace. Interestingly, uphill wasn't as bad as downhill at this point. I did OK going up over the Burrard Bridge one last time. Loved the guy's sign that said "put your big girl panties on and deal with it"! Gave him a big thumbs up as I passed but as I started down the other side those damn hams just kept locking up. 1 mile remaining. Greg passes me on the downhill and off he goes while I struggle with my cramps. I knew I should down another gel but my stomach was warning me that it might not be a good idea. I took a Gatorade at the final aid station and pushed on. As the grade flattened my legs began to feel a little better and I was able push the pace up just a tad.

As you enter the finishing stretch you really remember why it is you torture yourself. The combination of the suffering, all the chemicals produced by the body, the crowd screaming for you to finish, the knowledge that you will soon be able to just stop, and the overwhelming sense of accomplishment all flooding the emotions is something that very few people ever get to experience. I see Sue and Hayden yelling encouragements as I near the finish. I wave and yell back at them as I fight back tears and get huge lump in my throat. I cross the finish line at 3:36:09. Damn. I lost over 6 minutes in the final 4 miles. I feel good though as they hang my finisher medal over my neck and there's Greg to meet me! We give each other a huge congratulatory hug and I feel tears well up again and run down my cheeks…. Maybe it's sweat? It's hard to tell at this point.

Step 8: The Recovery

After the finish they take the chip off your shoe and shuffle you through the chutes and into the BC Place coliseum where we get our finishers shirt and some badly needed recovery fuel. Once done here we meet with Sue and Hayden for some more congratulatory hugs and then head back to the hotel to get cleaned up and take a nap. After the nap we meet up with Greg and Hayden again to begin the real recovery process, massive amounts of beer and food! It must have worked because after only a couple of days off I am actually thinking that a nice recovery run this evening is in order. Now it's on to Portland in October for another attempt at a Boston qualifying time. Boston or bust, baby!

Cheers!

Kerrel: The French Connection - Stage II

2008-05-05T13:55:00.000-07:00

Stage II of my trip to France began with an evening dinner with Thierry Bonet and Bridgette Turgis, who are great people, and wonderful hosts. This couple is my daughter’s adopted French family, where she lived for a time.

Our evening began with an “apero” (pre-dinner drink) meaning a social time in their living room area complete with Garlic Bread for snacks and generously filled glasses of Bastilles-Ricard, Pineau and Porto, all “powerful adult beverages”. This followed by more conversation at the supper table, vegetables, and “Foie Gras” with bread (Foie being duck liver), and of course a shared bottle of Bordeaux and ???? (by now the type of wine in the second bottle we were drinking did not seem to matter!). The main course was a delicious mixture of turkey and mushrooms in a cream sauce served with rice and more vegetables, topped off by a very rich chocolate cake (gateaux in French).

Through prior arrangement with Thierry (during the “apero”) it was now time for the “Digestif”, consisting of a glass of Cognac and then some home brew Calvados (hard liquor made from apples, estimated by Thierry at 65% or 130 proof!). Believe me, the Calvados is potent stuff!

It may seem hard to believe, but I did survive it all, and arrived back at my daughter’s apartment a little after midnight amazingly feeling no ill affect of any of the evening’s festivities.

One day later I found myself off to Normandy for a visit to the invasion area and a two night stay in Bayeux, France.

Day one was traveling from Niort to Bayeux and a visit to the Tapisserie: a museum with a 70 meter long tapestry on which is the embroidered pictorial story of William the Conqueror and the before, during and after events of the Battle of Hastings, following which William became the ruler of England. Then a short night sleep and off to the Normandy invasion site.

The photo below is Omaha Beach. The rock to the left of the picture is approximately the dividing line between American Sector Easy Red and Fox Green. If any of you have seen the movies “The Longest Day” or “Saving Private Ryan” this is the spot where the actual landings portrayed in those movies took place.

In the picture below two remaining German bunkers can be seen (directly inland from the picture above) with the dunes where the American forces took cover in the foreground. I have always wondered what the distance between the opposing forces was on that day. From the American point of view, if you were lucky enough to survive crossing 200 to 300 yards of wide open beach (at low tide) under fire and make it to the dunes the distance appeared to be approximately 200 yards from the Dunes to the lower bunker, and approximately 300+ to the upper (round knob to the left of the lone tree).

Below is a picture of Point de Hoc.

For you “The Longest Day Fans” this is where the American Army Rangers shot grapples from the beach below to the top of the cliff, and then climbed the cliff with the aid of ropes. Apparently this is one of the only places where the landscape has been left completely untouched since 1944. Bomb craters from the pre-invasion naval bombardment are still visible, along with the remains of a German artillery position in this photo.

After viewing more beaches, other German positions and the locations of feats of heroism on both sides, we went to the town of Carentan. This town was of strategic importance as it was one of the few places that the forces from Utah and Omaha beaches could link up, (consequently it was of equal importance to the German forces) and was the scene of heavy fighting.

For any “Band of Brothers” fans out there, the photo below is the actual monument (in place during the invasion) where “Easy Company” finally grouped up together in France (yours truly in full re-enactment mode of that event).

For all of you aspiring “I am going to visit the Normandy invasion site” people, my recommendations are as follows:

Bayeux, France is a great launching point for your tour, with many good hotels, restaurants, and filled with friendly people. (Beware of the “here comes an American Cowboy” guy outside one of the local taverns!).

I only allowed one day for this particular part of the trip, and in hind sight should have allowed for two whole days.

Take a tour on the first day. There are many ranging from large buses to the Band of Brothers and/or the Overlord tour. The latter two being a maximum of 8 people per van, and a little more “hands on” attention from the tour guides. (I was on the Overlord tour)

Then on day two I would recommend renting a car, motorcycle, or for the ambitious a bicycle and return to the main invasion beaches of your choice to explore, take more photos, and reflect more on the total sacrifice of both sides that was experienced during this particular event in history.

Tomorrow (Sunday, 4-27-08 I think, I seem to have lost track of time), we are off to Albi, France located in the southern part of the country for my daughter’s last regular season volleyball game, more relaxation and touring, then travel north to Paris and a flight home to the U.S. via Toronto to complete this journey.

Sante!

Oh Boy! Why?

2008-04-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Why couldn't I have been more driven to more domestic deeds? Say - something like - creating the nicest yard in the neighborhood? Or - how about - one heck of a good home handy man? Sigh.....

It's not to be. These things interest me not at all. Instead my drive has always been toward endeavors of a slightly more extreme nature requiring a certain amount of physical endurance. Evidence? Professional rodeo - bareback broncs, climbing - both big wall and technical alpine, sailing - as in the mast in the water at 3AM kind of sailing, motorcycles - really fast mortorcycles, and last but not least - endurance sports, such as cycling 200 miles in a day or running marathons. Which brings us to the point of this post.

In less than 5 days I will be lacing on the racing flats and dragging my ass to the start of my 3rd marathon in 12 months. Apparently I'm not the only idiot that's going to do this, I'll be accompanied by 5,500+ runners, all with the same idotic goal; To run 26.2 miles in as short a time as their only slightly prepared bodies will let them. In all fairness, I'll only be running with a small portion of these runners situated very solidly in the middle of the pack. There will be a couple thousand running ahead of me and a couple thousand running behind me that I'll never see except maybe at the start or finish areas. The finish area won't count because I really won't be seeing anything except indescript volunteers prodding me along the finish chutes as if I were livestock. Gotta make room for that other half of the runners that are going to finish behind me you know.

I'm really not feeling very prepared for this one. I've only run ~460 miles this year in preperation of this race. My shins have been bothering me a lot and the leg muscles just never seem to fully recover. I've also been fighting a nagging cough issue since the beginning of March. My last long run was a disaster. Of course, heat, humidity, hydration, and fuel played a large part in that disaster and will be easily avoided this weekend with a little focus. But, it was a crash none the less, and these kinds of things do a lot to destroy confidence.

I will finish though. It will be painful. But I do know that my training has pretty well prepared me for a solid mid-pack finish. So now all I need to do is focus on resting for the rest of this week, get my fueling plan for the race in place, and concentrate on the positive aspects of this idiotic endeavor.

And I'll be able to add another "finisher" medal to the other sport paraphenalia hanging on the wall.

One of those positive aspects will be the calorie burn. I'm thinking 25-30 good ales worth!

So, it won't be long before you see one last post concerning this particular marathon and it will include a run report. Oh, and just to show how stupid I really am..... I just signed up for the Portland Marathon in October. Maybe I'll run it barefoot!

A picture of an actual runner from the Seattle Marathon..... Damn!

Cheers!

Kerrel: So Long Washington

2008-04-28T14:47:00.001-07:00

So Long Washington, I am on my way to France to visit with my daughter, go to a couple volleyball games, be on vacation, and open my mind up to new cultures.

After 4.5 hours flight to Toronto, CA. (2,081 miles…we could convert that to meters for you Canadians = 3, 349, 044.864 meters) I found myself eating lunch/dinner/breakfast (depending time zones) listening to the well known Candadian favorite "Do The Hustle", and multiple renditions of songs by Paula Abdul. (Pop Hits ?? Canada vs. America )

Ending in France, total travel time 16h 40 min, 30 min waiting for luggage, 1 minute for a THOROUGH investigation ("har har") by French immigration authorities (did they even look up from my passport?) and I was nervous about this part of the trip?!? ( Hey Jason, go Air Canada on time all the way!)

Thankfully relieved to see my daughter at the gate in Paris, hence "All systems were a GO for launch in France!"

While trekking through the Parisian Metro (underground rail) and intertwining streets I thought I found myself in a Motorcycle Show…in fact no, it was typical center of the street parking downtown Paris. (Ron/Bob/Casey too bad you all cannot park your motorcycle's in the street in front of the office!)

After dropping off my luggage at the hotel, I was off like "I was shot out of a gun" on a daughter-guided tour of "Centre-Ville" Paris. Here is a shot of the Champs- Elysee with the Arc-de-Triumph, my daughter and I are not sure what happened to the girl on the bicycle but we didn't hear any sirens so she must have survived.?

For all you unlucky people working in America, here's the Louvre, one of the most famous museums in the world and former living quarters of Napoleon and Louis V. If that doesn't beat your workday, I am going to have dinner with "my daughters adopted family" in Niort on Monday who's, grandfather has paintings of their family vacations in the museum on display. (Edouard Garrido for any Googler's)

Yes, they do sell Bud in France…

And YES they do sell Fords in France!! Though, both of them just a bit smaller!

Then Gameday in Niort France! Picture is of my daughter's team proclaiming on their legs "On Est En N2" (for all you none French) "We are in N2", which means to you American's that they are moving up to a higher level in the French Volleyball league after sweeping their current league and currently 19-0!

Honestly, this is the best team (men or women) I have ever witnessed in my entire life. Camaraderie, teamwork, communication between players and coach! Super star not one, but as a unit unstoppable!

Whether it was a team that I played on, coached ,or watched my kids play on, this group of girls are the Greatest! Photo Left to right "O" Raphael, "N" Aline, "E" Julie, "S" my Lacey (USA) ", "T" Aurelie, "E" Amsetou (Cameroon), "N" Juliette, "N" Anne-Laurent, "2" Anne (German).

They have one last game to stay undefeated…this coming weekend in Toulouse, lets hope for a perfect season. What a group of people in one spot at the same time from so many different corners of the world melded into one unit.

YOU GO GIRLS! ALLEZ LES FILLES!

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Two days from now off to Normandy to achieve a life time goal of mine to view the beaches where the Allied invasion occurred during WWII.

End of Stage 1 "THE FRENCH CONNECTION"

Cheers,

Kerrel!!!!

Sunny Skies... In California

2008-04-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Now that we are rolling headlong into spring, we’ve not only had over three months to “play” with our new Leica HDS Laser Scanner, but we now have two of our top guys with a full week of intense training under their belts. Casey and Jason spent a week at Leica Geosystems HDS USA Headquarters in sunny San Ramon, California during March for their in-house training program. The guys were most impressed by the mid-70s weather and the catered meals for breakfast and lunch… but I think they learned a few things as well.

We have all been impressed by the capabilities of the scanner ever since we purchased it at the beginning of the year. However, what our scanning crew has brought back from California is the incredible power of Leica’s software. The bulk of the training was centered on Leica’s Cyclone and CloudWorx software, both impressive programs in their own rights.

Cyclone is a massive program that is not only the interface for operating the ScanStation 2, but also the foundation for data processing, point cloud registration including point cloud overlap, traversing and resection functions, as well as providing a complete set of 3D modeling and topographic surveying tools. Cyclone allows us to slice and dice point clouds in any way we need to best extract the information our clients need… and then some! We can create complete and accurate 3D models of structures such as bridges, right down to the deformity of each steel beam. We can also create highly accurate Digital Terrain Models, including vertical DTMs complete with contours. The next time you’ve got an undercut cliff, a cave, or even a tunnel, and are wondering how to get that surface into CAD for your engineers, give us a call. Or, do you have a twitchy engineer demanding ground shots at 1 foot intervals and are wondering how to give them what they need without breaking the bank? We can do that too. On top of all that power, Cyclone comes with a host of publishing options to quickly deliver useful information to our clients at all stages of the project, from the afternoon we wrap up field work to the delivery of the final product. Very cool.

After processing the point clouds in Cyclone, we will most likely go to Leica’s CloudWorx software to create our AutoCAD or MicroStation deliverables. CloudWorx runs within both programs, and allows us to take advantage of the rich point clouds directly in the CAD software to create our standard 2D maps or easily draft in 3D for engineering design use. It’s a brilliantly simple concept, really. I’m sure those of you who use AutoCAD regularly are laughing… thinking of all the cursing and screen punching that would take place when we try to import millions of points into AutoCAD. But it’s not so! CloudWorx turns the point clouds into blocks, and even though we can pick on each individual node in those point clouds to create our maps and extract information, AutoCAD is tricked into thinking it’s only dealing with a few objects and speeds along quite nicely. Imagine… it’s like bringing the real world into the virtual 3D environment of CAD to use as you please. No more unclear notes to decipher, no more busted rods, no missed features… we’ve got it all. Brilliant I say!

Besides Casey and Jason, there were 3 other guys in the class: two from Southern California and one from Anchorage, Alaska. They were all involved in different types of surveying, from ALTA surveys for the private sector and mapping for the Bureau of Reclamation in California, to plant mapping for the oil industry on the North Slope of Alaska. It was interesting to hear about all the different applications scanners are being used for. Our guys also had the pleasure of meeting Joel Hurt, the Director of Business Development for Scanning, and Geoffrey Jacobs, Senior VP of Strategic Marketing for High-Definition Surveying. They both had a lot of interesting ideas and suggestions. Our guys even came back with aspirations of becoming crime fighters! See the Leica ScanStation on the A&E Real-Life Series, CRIME 360, a new series which features cutting-edge forensic technology.

Well, that’s it for now. I’ve got to get my guys off the sewing machines (they’re working on water-proofing their PGS crime-fighting capes) and get back out surveying.

Cheers!

Oh, I forgot I Had a Blog!

2008-04-08T08:46:00.000-07:00

Someone just mentioned that I am supposed to keep this blog thing updated. Hmmmmm. OK.

Work:

Things are moving along but we are still not running at full capacity. Things do appear to be picking up and projects are trickling in a little more consistently the past few weeks. A backlog would be nice though.

We are currently running 2 crews full time and bouncing them around all over the state. Just a small sampling of our projects:

Bellingham - Pipeline ROW retracements
Olympia - Environmental monitoring project
Port Angeles - Engineering design mapping
Kennewick - ALTA/ACSM survey
Redmond - Microsoft design surveys and construction layout
Redmond - Microsoft ALTA/ACSM

The scanner is doing it's job very well. 3D Laser Scanning or HDS (High Definition Surveying) produces a very accurate, very dense 3-dimensional collection of point data referred to as a ‘Point Cloud’. The Power of 3D laser scanning is its inherent ability to capture extraordinarily complete and accurate 3D “as-built” or “existing conditions” geometric information quickly and unobtrusively. 3D laser scanning can be used for capturing high definition data sets for almost any conceivable use. If you can see it we can scan it.

We have been marketing and are now on several teams that will require our services in the near future. We do have some gaps in the field crew schedules so if any of you need some surveying or mapping now is the time to do it as these schedule gaps have been filling up.

Marathon:

Training is still on track. The Vancouver Marathon is just over 4 weeks away and I am nearing the end of full on training. The last 3 weeks are delegated to tapering and letting the muscles mend and recover from the intense training. I have been having a lot of trouble with my shins throughout the training and am looking forward to the tapering. Hopefully the pain and tenderness will go away and I'll be in tip-top shape on race day. The biggest trick for me (at my age) is to get through the training phase and to the marathon injury free.

I have high hopes of completing the marathon in under 3:30 and qualifying for the '09 Boston Marathon. How about a little marathon info for those smart enough to not be involved in the actual running of them?

A marathon is 26 miles 385 yards. Every marathon.
Early "official" marathons were closer to 40KM or just under 25 miles. (wish they still were!)
The marathon is based on the legend of a Greek soldier who ran from the Greek city of Marathon to Athens to announce the defeat of the Persians.
It is said that after announcing "We have won" the soldier fell dead of a heart attack.
The world record of 2:04:26 was set in Berlin in 2007 by Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie.
The "Wall" is the point where easily burned glycogen stores are depleted, usually between miles 18 and 20, and a runner suffers from overwhelming fatigue. (It hurts!)

In other news:

Kerrel is headed to France next week to spend a couple of weeks with his daughter who is a superstar, professional volley ball athlete. He is excited about visiting his daughter and seeing many of the WWII battle sites. We are looking froward to all of the stories he'll be bringing back. He promised to post his experience on this blog when he returns.

That's it for today. More later.

Cheers!

Of Motorcycles, Miles, Wind, and Cool Weather

2008-03-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I somehow convinced GVB into actually doing an 8 day 'Helge' style motorcycle adventure down to the southern California desert. I think he may have been swayed by some promises of fame, grandeur, sun, and warm weather. Oh, and a beer or two may have been used in the coercion. Poor guy will never be the same again.....

The intent of the trip was to bomb down I-5 to Yreka on the first day and then on to Visalia on day 2. A total of 1000 miles for the first 2 days and then begin to explore once we had made it to the warm sunshine of the southern CA desert. There was to be much camping and much basking in the sun. So the big GS was loaded with gear and GVB and I met at a Bothell coffee house for the beginning of our big adventure.

We were actually blessed with fair weather for the first day of the trip and this was the one I was most concerned with. Of course my biggest concern was getting over Siskiyou Pass in southern Oregon without encountering snow. Bombed along I-5 at around 70-mph and we were over the pass before dark. There was some talk of trying to make Redmond on this first day but rain and darkness convinced us otherwise and we ended our day at the Best Western in Yreka. Of course, we did have to do the Mexican Dinner thing with a couple of Dos Equis and then a few Sierra Nevada's at a local pub before calling it a night.

Day 2 started with a bit of an ominous look to it but broke off nicely and became one of the nicest of the entire trip. As many times as I have driven the I-5 route I would have to say that this was one of the more scenic trips. Colors were really brilliant and the Redmond-Redbluff region was as green as I have ever seen it. As we traveled south through the Central Valley temps began to creep into the low 70's and I was thinking life is good! We made our destination of Visalia in the early evening hours. Once again, we partook of the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale in relatively massive quantities. This was to become an all too frequent event and would become the downfall of all my best laid plans for frequent morning runs during this trip.

In the morning Mr. GVB had some academic responsibilities that needed to be attended to so I decided to go for a run. It is amazing just how much the lingering effects of to many alcoholic beverages will effect your performance on a run. I did about 5.5 miles at an 8.5 minute pace and every bit of it was just plain ol' ugh.

A few points of note on the City of Visalia:

The city is far prettier than I remember as a transient kid living in a migrant workers camp.
The city is far more affluent than I remembered.
The city has a very large christian population, they even have large subdivisions dedicated to them.
The city is flat as a pancake.
The Sierras to the east are magnificent!

GVB and I were now in full on relax and take our time mode and the route out of Visalia was chosen based on its exploration value. The southern Sierras hold many tiny threads of roadways that wind their way through the foothills and canyons and the spring weather had the wildflowers in full bloom!

The roads were about as twisty as you could get. There were a couple where you needed to be practiced up on your slow speed maneuvers. Most were just right though and made for some really fun spirited riding.

The original route had to be scrapped though due to snow conditions and road closures so we ended up having to loop right back to 99 and Bakersfield. It was good to see that the oil industry was doing their job continuing to exploit and rape the earth so I can keep riding this fossil fuel burning beast.

By the way, this is about the point where the weather really decided to take a turn for the worse and never let up for the rest of the trip. As we headed east out of Bakersfield the winds began to pick up and the temps to cool down. By the time we had reached Tehachapi and stopped for a late lunch and a warming cup of coffee the winds were blowing at a steady 30-40 mph with temps in the low 40's. As we pushed on toward Barstow the winds just continued to build. I've had experience with cross winds on the bike before but this was GVB's first and it can be a bit disconcerting to say the least. By the time we reached Barstow I do believe that my traveling partner was considering hopping a plane and leaving me to figure out how to get the both bikes home. Can't say as I could blame him though.... those winds were nasty. We stayed at a hotel in Barstow hoping that the 'morrow would bring better conditions.

Why the heck does Barstow exist? I realize that it is a major coming together of several transportation lines including 2 major freeways and 2 major railways. I also know that it's a pretty big military hub with 2 bases in close proximity but, damn. This place is a real hole with not much redeeming quality to be found. Even the pub, which took some hiking to find by the way, was tough to understand. The clientele appeared to be more of a redneck bunch but the jukebox was blaring hardcore hip-hop???? Oh well, that didn't keep me from drinking more Sierra Nevada than I should have.

Another morning run skipped.

Winds were still blowing in the morning but I think my traveling mate's senses may have been dulled by the previous nights libations and we readied the bikes and headed south for J-Tree. We are now officially in the SoCal desert and, you know, it's still not warm. I'm beginning to feel a bit cheated. Temps are in the 30's and the wind is blowing friggin' sand storm! It's a short trip though and we are soon in front of our favorite desert cafe 'Crossroads Cafe' in beautiful downtown Joshua Tree.

And then after provisioning

we head up into the park proper.

After setting up camp we decided to do a bit of exploring.

What a beautiful desert.

And our little desert road seemed to wind on forever.

I was once again reminded that my big gazillion pound motorcycle does not like deep sand. Almost lost it a couple of times but somehow saved it just before the point of no return and saved face.

We played for quite some time out here but camp and beer were calling and these cravings could not go unheeded. I know it looks all warm and stuff but..... damn it was cold!

We did at least take the time to watch some of the more hardcore climbers endure the cold and do some routes.

And we did buddy up with our camping neighbors and drink more Sierra Nevada.... lots more.

Another morning run scrapped.

From J-tree we headed north through little desert towns and the Mojave Preserve on our way to Death Valley.

Did I mention it was cold?

Oh, and gas was expensive? Fighting a headwind had reduced my fuel mileage from a respectable mid 40's down to a dismal 31.

I've always wanted a picture of my bike in front of the Amargosa Opera House. You talk about the middle of nowhere!

We are definitely in the desert. It's hard to find life anywhere in these hills. At least it's dry.

It's cool to see negative numbers in the elevation column.

But the wind is blowing another sand storm up.

I think a motel in Beatty sounds better than camping in this stuff!

Guess what. They served Sierra Nevada in that joint!

Another morning run skipped.

At this point I do believe that Greg and I were both thinking that maybe the warm Pacific Northwest may be a better option for riding. So with that thought, we started heading north through the high desert of western Nevada thinking we could easily make Susanville by early evening. We stopped for a late breakfast in Tonopah at around 11:00AM and the temp gage on my bike read 29 degrees. Damn, it was cold. By the time we made it to Reno it was a balmy 57 degrees though and we were beginning to thaw out. We continued on and made it to Susanville at around 6'ish and found us another hotel for the night.

Of course, we went for dinner and, once again, found Sierra Nevada was served. So after a fine meal and several Sierra Nevadas I pretty much determined that any training while on this trip was out of the question and just gave up on that idea.

Morning broke clear and cold..... of course. Did you know that pretty much all of Nevada, a good part of northeastern California, and most of eastern Oregon are all pretty much at 5000 foot elevation? It's hard to get warm at those elevations when you've got a cold front breathing down the back of your neck.

That lake you see in the background, it's FROZEN! Yep, it was cold. We continued north and decided to take a detour and run into Lava Beds via the tiny road that enters from the south. It was a really cool road.

From there we chased little rural roads up through my old childhood stomping grounds. I found it amazing how the old routes came back to me as I went along but yet I couldn't have given anyone directions if my life depended on it. We even took the old Squaw valley short cut up to Sprague River where we just had to stop for lunch at this little joint.

Of course the food wasn't any good but the place was interesting to say the least.

We then headed west and picked up 97 at Chiloquin and made our way up to Bend for the night. Bend has a really cool little downtown area that includes the Deschutes Brewery so..... we decided maybe some food and a few beers would help take the chill out of the days ride. It worked, of course.

While we were eating breakfast in the morning the snow began to fall. Damn, we didn't beat the front. Loaded up the bikes and quickly headed north as conditions were supposed to continue to deteriorate through the day. The snow continued to come down but the temps stayed above freezing (barely).

But the farther north we got the better the weather got. By the time we reached the Columbia river the sun was shining and temps were pushing around the mid 50's. We did run into some fairly heavy rain from Kelso to pretty close to Tacoma on I-5 but all went well and we made it safely home by around 6.

All in all, it was a great trip. I of course would have preferred some warmer temps and less wind but that all just added to the adventure. I would have brought more long pants and less shorts but that made for less laundry once I made it home. Another sign that the trip was good... every time someone referenced the nasty weather and said they felt sorry for us on our bikes I immediately thought "don't". I'd still rather be on my bike than stuck in your mini van with those noisy kids and disapproving spouse.

I had an amazing time!

Cheers to all!

Get a Survey Folks!

2008-03-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

As reported by King 5 News:

DAY ISLAND, Wash. – A Pierce County family is being ordered by a judge to tear down part of their waterfront dream home because a small piece of land that runs right through the middle of the house.

"This is our dream. We've put every penny into this home," said homeowner Pamela Hubert.

A Texas-based company called Strong Capital recently bought about a 3,000-square-foot section of land from the railroad. It's covered by water half the time. Based on different surveys, the exact location of the area in question seems to move.

The Hubert's say their title company apparently cannot be held libel for the survey errors from years ago, mainly because the family does not have a special kind of insurance coverage for that. The couple says they made the Texas firm a fair offer for the land. Instead, they say the company wanted $400,000, even though the court said the muddy property is only worth about $2,500.

So why, exactly, does everyone expect me to be able to survey a parcel of land for $800? That's a lot of liability! Just something to think about.

Cheers!

It is NOT A Small World!

2008-03-02T13:18:00.000-08:00

If anyone says that it's a small world we live in tell them to try running across even a small part of it!

Today was my scheduled long, slow run day with a target distance of 20 miles. So I laced up the shoes just a little before 9AM and headed south from Lynnwood along one our suburban streets headed for Kenmore.

Note 1: Why can't our suburban communities provide pedestrian friendly streets? Really. This is a major arterial that connects south to north and it doesn't even have a shoulder. Hell, it's not even bike friendly.

At about 4 miles in I arrive in Kenmore and picked up the Burke-Gilman Trail at the north end of Lake Washington. The reason for choosing this trail is that I can generally run for great distances without having to stop and wait for cars or lights at street crossings. Generally I can run unimpeded at whatever pace I feel comfortable at without getting in anyone's way.

Note 2: Cyclist, if you are going to ride at 25MPH, ride the streets or at least a less busy family trail. Jeez, guys! And, really, do you need to ride 3 abreast giving dirty looks at little old ladies walking their dogs and generally being terrorized by speeding 'Pace Lines'. I'm a cyclist too but, I have to tell you, it annoys the crap out of me how you guys ride this trail. That's why I stay off of it on my bike.

The middle miles on a long run are the best. Everything from about mile 5 to about mile 18 just feels good. You get into a groove and run on auto pilot while your mind wanders on to far more interesting things than running. The miles click by at a very pleasing rate and it's actually easy to lose track of what mile you are on. It's a good thing those miles are so good since the trail trends upward at a very mild yet steady grade from Lake Forest Park up to Ravenna. It's not steep but if you're not careful it will kick your butt. It was about here at around mile 12 that I began to have a bit of intestinal distress. I was able to hold on down to just past mile 13 where I was able to convince the workers at the bike shop that it might be a good idea to let me use their restroom. Thanks Bike Shop guys!

Note 3: Seattle Parks, could we arrange for a few potty stations along the trail? I, for one, would really appreciate them.

At this point I am basically at the UW. Running through this stretch can be at least a little interesting. What, with all the young hard bodies (both male and female) flaunting their stuff. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I gotta say though, it seemed a bit cold for tank tops and sport bras. Just sayin'.

I made Gas Works Park at just past mile 16. I really am fortunate to live in an area that has so many cool distractions for my long runs. Ok, so maybe those fun middle miles I was talking about earlier end at around mile 16. It sure seemed to get into the 'not so fun' stuff soon after Gas Works. It is still pretty cool running through the Fremont District and along the ship canal through miles 16 and 17 but somewhere around 17.5 the scenery just gets UGLY!

The industrial zone through Ballard is just plain nasty for running. On a bike or in a car you at least get through this zone quickly enough but running..... you just gotta' endure. And of course, I'm beginning to really hurt about mile 18. This certainly doesn't help my mood.

Note 4: Why is it that I do this? Let's stop and discuss for just a moment. I have a tendency to get sick, as in 'upset stomach' kind of sick. My hips start hurting pretty bad. Oh, the soles on my feet, they really take a beating. Lower back begins to rebel. Knees and ankles.... let's just not go there. Fun? I think, not.

Somewhere in mile 19 things get better, at least in the scenery department, when you get to the Locks. If I wasn't hurting so much I would take a side trip over to watch a couple of boats get lifted from or lowered to the Puget Sound on their trip into or out of the Ship Canal and Lake Union. Pretty cool stuff. Seems like all that water being dumped through the Locks would empty that damn lake.... guess they got it figured out though, still water in the lake.

Running does hurt though but I'm beginning to feel like the end is near. It's amazing how fast miles tick by in the middle miles and how slow and grudgingly they pass in the late miles. I check my GPS watch several times just to make sure it is even working. Yep, running hurts.

Finally I begin to see my destination, the Shilshole Marina Office where my loving wife is supposed to meet me. Yea! I'm gonna survive another long run! After what seems like 3 miles I cover that last hundred yards or so and hit the stop on my watch. 21.07 miles. That's far and it would be even farther if I was running around the world. So, I have determined that the world is not such a small place after all.

At this point my loving wife has lost a little of her luster since I don't see her anywhere. My phone rings (oh yeah, I do have the phone with me....) It's the loving wife. She saw me pass her about a 1/4 mile back, she's parked at the Scandinavian Guy statue.

Damn.... you mean I have to walk back in the direction I just came? Why didn't you honk, or yell, or something.... I would have gladly stopped! Oh well, she redeemed herself by pulling out a towel, some dry clothes, and a sandwich when I got there. Wow, what a gal! Thanks babe.

Not too bad. Scheduled a 20 miler but ended up doing just a touch over 21 at a moving pace of 8:55 per mile. For those of you who want details, go here.

See, now you've gone and wasted your precious time reading about my masochistic ways. Go on now.... go play.

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Allegro!

2008-02-26T10:57:00.000-08:00

Allegro: The musical tempo meaning "quick and lively" or, literally "cheerful"

Allegro is the name of my sail boat and this definition fits her to a "T". Allegro is a 1982 Tartan 33R and the only one of her kind on the west coast that I am aware of. The 33R is the masthead version of the much more prevalent fractional rigged 33. Masthead meaning the fore sail attaches at the top of the mast rather than attaching lower or, a "fractional" distance below the top.

Well, Allegro has been a tad neglected over the past year so the decision was made to right some wrongs. Since MSC up in Anacortes did the original delivery of the boat and almost all upgrades and maintenance since new, I thought it only fitting to deliver the boat to them for some additional TLC. So, let's schedule a trip to Anacortes aboard the good ship Allegro.

Now, for those of you who are not sailors, sailboats are not known for their ability to reach high rates of speed.... about 6.5 knots is the best we can do without a gale. Allegro is moored in Everett and the distance to Anacortes via the Swinomish Channel is approximately 45 nautical miles. Since there is no possible way to do the trip without fighting some adverse currents this time of the year, you better figure an average speed of 5.5 knots. You do the math..... this trip is going to take the whole day.

Since things have been a bit stressful at PGS of late, I decided that a good managerial summit would be in order and what better place to do this than to have all my managers held captive on a boat for 9 or so hours. Allegro is all about low stress and this was probably the best leadership idea I have come up with in quite some time. As we departed Everett you could just see the stress levels begin to drop and creativity ran rampant among our little group. Lots of good discussion, both work and non-work related, flowed in generous quantities throughout the day.

The guys met up at Allegro in the early AM, we readied the boat for departure, made a stop at the pump-out, and then motored out into the bay. The morning began with a thick, soupy, fog with visibility in the 100 foot range. Thank goodness for GPS chart plotters. There be islands out there..... somewhere!

As the day wore on the sun did begin to shine and slowly burn off the fog. It really turned into a beautiful day. It would have been nice if the wind would have blown a bit so we could sail but I guess that was too much to ask for so we motored along to the sound of that little diesel engine mixed with some Jack Johnson music as backup.

It always amazes me just how relaxing it is to be on the water. For whatever reason I just never get bored. My crew commented on the exact same feeling, so it isn't just me. There is just something about bobbing along watching the sea critters, eagles, and debris all while navigating the straights, channels, and passages of the puget sound that keeps the mind occupied. Speaking of navigating, here is the entrance to the Swinomish Channel:

We got really lucky this time as the tides were fairly high and navigating the narrow channel was relatively simple. The last time I had come through this channel on my way to Succia it was at a low tide and I basically navigated by brail. I do believe that I left a bit of Allegro's keel rubbed along the bottom of the channel. The channel is always interesting as you see lots of big motor yachts moored along the waterfront in LaConnor and the narrow channel affords views of some pretty spectacular homes.

Once you leave the channel it's not long before you arrive at the Anacortes Marina. Some more rather tricky navigation through shallow dredged channels and we arrived at the fuel dock/haul-out for Marine Service Center. Handed over the keys to Skip, gave a few instructions, some well wishes, loaded things up into the Jeep that my wife had so graciously brought up to get us and headed home. What a great day!

Skip got Allegro hauled first thing the following morning and sent me some pics of the bottom:

Now, that don't look so bad!

Oops, I did leave some keel on the bottom of that channel last trip through!

All in all, this was one of my better trips on Allegro and I am really looking forward to getting her back all gussied up for the summer cruising season. My crew performed flawlesly and did a great job of covering some really important management subjects. I think I will have to get them to crew for me more often..... maybe a PGS racing crew! Stay tuned.....

Cheers!

Cap'n Ron

Redundancy!

2008-02-18T20:10:00.000-08:00

I'm a Surveyor. I'm a statistician. I like redundancy.

What can I say? If you don't show me more than one result, well.... I'm just going to assume the info has a blunder, I have no confidence. If my crew sets up over a known point and measures a baseline to a second known point, they had better give me a full measurement to that second point so I can compare it to previous measurements. If they don't, I'm just not really sure they know where the hell they are.... Come on guys. Check your back-sites!

I'm a runner. I like redundancy.... Yep, I like to repeat the same run so I can compare the results to previous runs. Redundancy. I get asked, on a regular basis, if I'm getting tired of my lunch run route. I've run this little 6+ mile, one-way route more times than I care to count.

The cool thing about it is that I'm so familiar with the route that I'm able to judge my performance and how I'm feeling at almost any point within the run. It's factual. I have past measurements to compare it with. Redundancy. Yeah, baby!

I'm a sailor. I like redundancy..... No, wait! I don't like redundancy on the water, at least not when racing. Sunday was a bit redundant. Like, in a no wind kind of redundant way. So little wind in fact, that we had to cancel racing because we ran out of beer under the postpone flag.

The one thing you learn by sailing in the Puget Sound is just how many light air days we get around here. I have come to the conclusion that if you can deal with the challenges of sailing here you can pretty much sail anywhere in the world with confidence.

We have big tides, big currents, big rocks, shallow deltas, rip tides like nothing you have ever seen, heavy air that makes lead feel light, navigation hazards, fog, and the list goes on. Man, do I love sailing! One day, the Pacific will be mine!

'til next time,

Cheers!

Oh my!

2008-02-13T18:45:00.000-08:00

I think I saw the sun today!!!!

I did, I did, I did saw the sun today!

Maybe we will get through this winter yet. It's been a long one but, alas, the days are getting warmer and definitely getting longer. Sun is coming up earlier and setting later each day and my nasty attitude is beginning to show signs of moderation.

Exactly 4 weeks from today I will be riding down the big concrete slab headed south on the motorcycle. I spent the eve with GVB planning the escape. We're thinking a blast down I-5, covering as many miles as possible in the fewest amount of hours, and getting to the warm desert sunshine as quickly as possible.

From there we'll begin to slow down and explore. Spending time in Joshua Tree, the Mojave Desert, Death Valley, and the eastern Sierras heading north from Death Valley. We'll determine our crossing back to the coastal deluge dependent on weather systems and temps.

Can't wait!

Cheers!

Hey, Look.... An update!

2008-02-06T16:09:00.000-08:00

Took a little time this afternoon to put together a little update. This should keep the blog police off my back for a few days!

Around the Office:
Busy, busy, busy….
There is a lot of marketing going on around here including SOQ’s, proposals, phone calls, lunches, etc. We are working hard putting together new marketing materials including information regarding the new scanner. There will be 2 of us attending a 3 day course in government contracting that spans this weekend. The main purpose of these classes is to help us better serve our public sector clients and to better market to this sector. Then, the first week of March, I’m sending a couple of my senior guys down to California for a 5 day training course for the scanner and associated software. This is some pretty intense training and should give us the technical edge needed to compete in the scanning market. This training should also help us to become more efficient in performing and processing scans. We have a new office Tech that is starting on the 3rd of March. Forrest is an LSIT and will be directly in charge of managing the field crews and helping in the field when needed. We are really looking forward to the added depth of knowledge and extra help with the office load.

Leica ScanStation 2

Cool! What else can you say when referencing a piece of equipment that gives you a 3-D scanned image of a site collecting data at a rate of approximately 50,000 points per second! We did an ALTA/Design Topo of a site in Kirkland using the scanner with astounding results. Accuracy levels are every bit as tight as expected with independent redundancy checks meeting or beating stated accuracies. Here’s a cute little image of the scan we did in Kirkland. I like!

Upcoming Projects of Note:
Nothing huge but some interesting stuff none the less. We’ll be up at Oak Harbor to do some mapping for the Marina which will include extensive bathymetry and adjacent upland topographic mapping. One of our crews is headed over to Kennewick to do an ALTA/Design survey next week. This will be another opportunity to use our High Definition Laser Scanner, especially since one of the adjoining streets is highway 395…. Talk about busy streets! We’ve got a small wetland/fish habitat mapping project to get started on up in Skagit County. This survey will include the mapping of a slough and some high detail mapping of a bridge and flood control structures, more scanning. On top of this we have a couple of construction layout projects and a scattering of small surveys. All in all, things are looking pretty good for only the first week in February.

Marathon Training:
5 weeks in and all is going well. Last week was a nearly 40 mile week with a 14 mile long run. I spent a good amount of time working on speed including some intervals and hill work. Roughly 135 miles for the month of January. Worked pretty hard leading up to that mileage and was definitely feeling the fatigue. This week is a recovery week with only about 20 miles scheduled. I’ll spend more time on strength training this week and keep the runs shorter and slower. Next week’s long run is a scheduled 16 miler…. Long runs will start hurting soon. Once I get in the 18+ mile range I find the long runs get far more mental (and boring).
Weight loss has been a tough proposition. Not sure what is going on with the body but I feel like I’m running a calorie deficit but not losing any weight? I have to be careful not to cut the calories too much during the heavy mileage weeks otherwise energy levels will crash and the chance of injury goes up. Still want to lose that weight though! 13 weeks to go….. Boston or bust, baby!

Play Time:

Got the GS wheels back from Woody. That hurt a little more than expected. He was unable to save the front rim so he ended up using the hub and spokes off the destroyed wheel and replaced just the rim. Still saved a couple hundred dollars over a new setup and it's still stronger. New header is headed my way. I was going to just upgrade the entire exhaust but I got such a good deal on the new header that I decided to just save the money for other endeavors. I still need to get those new Ohlins installed but that will have to wait until next week. As long as they are on the bike before March 12 I'll be fine.

My annual trip to J-Tree in SoCal has been turned into a combined motorcycle/climbing adventure. I'm going to take about 10 days to do the trip leaving 2 to 3 days for climbing in the park. I'm just looking forward to actually seeing the sun and feeling warm!

Until next time....

Cheers!

It's the Economy.....

2008-02-04T14:39:00.000-08:00

Oh.....

.... and I thought we were just having trouble staying busy. Yep, it's a little slow at the PGS Office. Oh, don't get me wrong, we're holding our own and keeping the crews going. It's just that we like having a bit of a backlog of work. I know, we shouldn't be greedy, but I have a tendency to stress a little when I start worrying about my guys missing work.

Things really are going nicely and I believe that some decent projects will be kicking loose soon. I guess I'm just venting a little of my stress on the ol' keyboard. We are just now finishing up a nice 35 acre topography project over on the Kitsap Penninsula. We did get to put together our first complete project using the high definition laser scanner. That was fun and interesting and I'll be putting together a write up soon on that experience. The February training class that was supposed to be going on this week got cancelled. The next available class will be the first week of March and I've got 2 guys scheduled for the 5 days of training down in California. I'm looking forward to having a more intimate knowledge of how the software works. We get by just fine with it but I know that we will be able to be more efficient once the guys are trained.

I hope everyone is enjoying the LONG - COLD winter that we have been having. This could also have something to do with the general slowdown in our industry. Maybe? Ya' think? I don't think I've ever been so eager to get away from the winter weather here. Usually much more temperate. The mountains won't be accessible until late in the summer due to the snow pack that's piled up. Our usual spring river work will probably be delayed this year due to heavy river flows from the melt off. Of course this could require additional mapping for flood prevention. Gotta' look at the bright side.

I'll try to take the time to put together a more complete update later in the week.

Cheers all!

Let's Talk About Something Different

2008-01-25T20:11:00.000-08:00

So.... How do you turn a beautiful, $20K bike like this:

Into something more like this?

By riding 900 miles of roads that look like this:

And spending way to much time with the bike in this position:

But it does give you the opportunity to experience the Oregon desert in ways that few ever get to experience such as this:

The above referenced bike is the renowned BMW R1200GS Adventure and the centerpiece of an unnecessarily large collection of bikes (Those of you who know me; yes, I have a problem....). The trip was along the Oregon Back Country Discovery Route from Walla Walla, WA to Cave Lake, CA almost entirely on dirt that was undertaken last September. A very exciting and fun trip to say the least but.... if anyone asks if you can do the trip on a big GS say "yes, but expect to be frustrated by the size and weight of the bike and expect to sustain some fairly expensive damage."

At least most of the damage was superficial and cosmetic but since I needed to instal the new Ohlins suspension I thought it would be a good time to get the bike back in order and fix all of the damage sustained on the trip. First that needed to be taken care of was the wheels that were no longer true (or round) so off to Woody's Wheel Works in Denver for a complete rebuild. Next was to replace the engine armor with a more substantial (and less dented) version from Ernie:

This setup should protect the headers much better than the stock skid plate did. Now, while the old armor is removed and the wheels are off the bike I'm going to do the suspension upgrade. I'm installing the fully adjustable Ohlins designed specifically for the adventure model GS. This should give me better on-road and off-road performance and ride characteristics. I'm still trying to decide if I'm going to replace the dented headers or just try pulling the dents out.... we'll have to wait and see how well the dented areas are hidden by the new skid plate.

The next time I do a trip as serious as this one in the back country I'll take the right tool:

Much lighter and designed more specifically for off-road.

Have fun and be safe out there!

Cheers!

What is a Datum?

2008-01-21T20:15:00.000-08:00

So what exactly is a datum? If you look in the textbooks, the official definition is:

"A geodetic datum is any numerical or geometrical quantity or set of such quantities that serves as a reference or base for other quantities." (James R. Smith, 1997, Introduction to Geodesy, page 83)

This definition basically says that datums are references. References are simply the "starting points" from which measurements are taken. A reference can be as simple as giving a friend directions to your house by saying, "I live across the street from Bob's house." These directions use "Bob's house" as their reference or datum point. Note that these directions will only make sense to someone who understands your reference: someone who didn't know where "Bob's house" was would still have no idea where you lived.

In surveying a datum is very similar to the above example: simply a point of reference. Oh, if only it were that simple....

The introduction of GPS and GIS has made this one of the most complicated issues dealt with on a regular basis by surveyors. Local jurisdictions including cities, counties, states, utility districts, etc. all require surveys to be referenced to a given datum. The problem arises in that they don't all have the same datum requirements and there are just so many to choose from. Throw on top of that different datum requirements from the multitude of federal agencies we provide surveys for and you begin to understand the confusion that can arise when the word datum is spoken.

Here is just a partial list of datums we work with on a regular basis:

First is the Horizontal datums.

North American Datum (NAD) of 1927
North American Datum (NAD) of 1983; This one is even more complicated because of continuing adjustments over the years so you get NAD83/86, NAD83/91, NAD83/97, and so on.
High Accuracy Reference Network (HARN) and High Precision Geodetic Network (HPGN)
And, of course, the always fun "Assumed"

We also have the added complication of having 2 zones within our State Plane Coordinate System. A North and South Zone that cuts through the State from west to east at about Tacoma.

Now we move on to the Vertical datums which are even more complicated and convoluted.

National Geodetic Vertical Datum (NGVD) of 1929
North American Vertical Datum (NAVD) of 1988
National Geodetic Survey Geoid-96
USACE Ballard Locks Datum
Tidal Datums (varies across the state along tidal shorelines)
And, again, "Assumed"

With GPS it gets even more complicated as you begin dealing with geoids, ellipsoids, and earth surfaces. I think another picture is the best way to get this idea across in as few words as possible:

Hopefully you get at least a concept of what we are dealing with whenever we are asked to provide our mapping on datum and why this just triggers us asking the inevitable question: What datum?

Until next time,

Cheers!

Be Careful Out There!

2008-01-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

Yep! It's winter in the Puget Sound. Be careful on them roads. We've been seeing a lot of unnecessary accidents caused by people being a bit too confident on surfaces that don't warrant it. Oh, and PLEASE watch out for the guys who make their living working along our roadways.

Surveying this time of the year can always be a bit more challenging but the guys are all doing a great job and staying safe. Of course, it does take longer to get to the projects when road conditions are poor and production drops. But all of this is to be expected and we just continuously look for creative ways to keep efficiencies up.

16 weeks! I am now back into full training mode for my next marathon. I'm going to try once again to Boston Qualify at the Vancouver BC marathon on May 4th. One of the percs of getting older is the qualifying time keeps getting higher. I now have to complete 26.2 miles in 3:30 minutes or 8 minutes per mile. Portland was close, 3:38, and I felt amazingly well in the final miles so it should be a doable goal. Of course, I would also like to lose an additional 10 pounds to help me reach that 3:30 goal a little easier. The good thing about running really long distances is that it hurts up to a point and then it doesn't get any worse! :-)

Cheers to All!

2008, It's Official!

2008-01-07T17:58:00.000-08:00

It has to be 2008 because I get corrected every time I write the date as '07.

This is a very busy time of the year for me. Between getting books and accounts in order and delivered to the accountant and getting everything put together for the employees for their taxes and doing employee performance reviews and reviewing company wide processes to look for any performance improvements we can make across the board, it's a little hard to take care of the little things, like keeping a blog updated for example.

Speaking of performance reviews, I'm once again reminded of why we are so successful. I have surrounded myself with a bunch of over achievers.

My little list:

Survey Director: Licensed in every known state in the US.... well, that is if you only know 5 of 'em. Jeremiah Dixon only wished he had known as much about surveying as this dude does. A real coach when it comes to managing people.
Senior Project Manager: Acquired his professional license at barely 30 years old. One of the most client based service oriented guys I have ever met. Give him a computer and some I's and O's and he'll have a map of something whipped out in no time.
Junior Project Manager: Every now and then you run into someone who just makes you say wow. Wow! This dude just got his Land Surveyor in Training certification this past summer. If you ever need anything, even if you don't know what that "anything" is, this guy will get it done. I don't think I have ever met anyone that was more intuitive.
Senior Field Techs: Creative! We give these dudes some maps, a few blurted instructions, and say "get 'er done" and, I'll be damn, they do just that. Me: Map that cliff... SFTs: how? Me: I don't know! SFTs: No worries, we'll figure it out.
The Rest: Dedicated to the cause and overwhelmingly accommodating.

All of this talent and we are adding yet another! This is a young Land Surveyor in Training from the Spokane area. He will give us some more depth in the technical arena especially pertaining to field crew direction. He will be able to spend more time training crews and give us more senior guys the chance to do more mentoring. He will be an exciting addition to the team.

On to other news:

This week we will do our first project using the new High Definition Mapping scanning instrument. We are pretty darn excited about how this project will go and plan on using the data and subsequent maps to educate our clients in the capabilities of this instrument. It will be a good opportunity to produce some really good marketing materials. Stay tuned.

The crews have been hard at work performing ALTA surveys, pipeline mapping, and topography for a proposed development, along with a scattering of miscellaneous small survey projects. We are expecting another good year but things have slowed down a little bit for us, as is to be expected right after the holidays, and I am hitting the marketing trail pretty hard so if you get a call from me you know the drill "PGS IS the best!"

Cheers!

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T08:24:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all!

Wow, a new year beginning already. '07 went by in a flash and was successful in so many ways both on a personal and professional level. It's hard to believe that we are now in our 7th year of business here at PGS. I would like to thank all of our Clients, Associates, Vendors, and friends for helping to make '07 another year of growth with many successful projects completed and new relationships developed.

Highlights from the year;

Personal:

Joshua Tree in Feb. Desert climbing at it's best. A good place to spend time with a great friend.
Vancouver Marathon in May. Lots of suffering. 3:42.
Swiftsure Race in May. Fast sailboats, big ocean swells, and good friends.
Moto GP at Laguna Seca in July. Faster motorcycles with fearless riders. A week of motorcycles with my son.
Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route in Sept. Dirt, rocks, large bike, lots of broken pieces. A week spent with some of the best people on earth.
Portland Marathon in Oct. Shared with a brother, best of times. 3:38
Maui in Nov. Celebrating 29 years with my very best friend. Love you Sue!

Professional:

Unbelievable depth and growth within our team.
I'm beginning to place more and more trust in my team and giving them more control of operations.
Won an on-call professional services contract with a major Federal agency.
Developed many new relationships with some wonderful firms. Big thanks for all the work.
Continued to build relationships with Associate firms allowing for sharing of resources.
Wow, some really cool projects located in some really neat locations.
A new piece of equipment putting us at the very top of the technology curve.
The BEST employees in the world!!! Thanks guys!

We are all looking forward to another year of success and continued growth. I really do appreciate all of you that have played a part in my life and wish nothing but the best for all of you in '08.

Cheers!

New Capabilities!

2007-12-27T14:07:00.000-08:00

Santa was good to us here at PGS!

Leica ScanStation 2

To say we are excited would be an understatement. The ScanStation 2 will give us the ability to provide high definition mapping -- also known as 3D Laser Scanning -- for our clients. High definition mapping captures existing conditions of the built and natural environment in minute detail and produces point cloud images and 3D models containing millions of measurements. The ScanStation 2 collects data at a rate of up to 50,000 points per second! Benefits of high definition mapping include:

Creates a model with a 360° field of view allowing visualizing from any angle
Captures intricate details in hard to access areas
Sites can be surveyed from safe distances without interrupting operations.
Data is compatible with AutoCAD and Microstation.

Here is a short clip demonstrating the use of high definition mapping on a bridge.

I'll be posting up more info on this new system soon. Hope everyone's holidays are going great!

Cheers!

Happy Holidays!!!

2007-12-25T17:10:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas to all! Hope the fat, jolly guy left you lots of great gifts and filled your stockings with many treats.

See everyone soon.

New GPS Satellites!

2007-12-25T16:24:00.000-08:00

The US has launched a new GPS satellite and Russia just sent up another 3 satellites to add to their Glonass system.

The addition of the new GPS satellite, due to be on healthy status in early January, will hopefully help with the mid-day down time we have been experiencing lately. This will be especially true once the new Glonass satellites are online since we use Glonass compatible receivers. The more satellites we can see the better the results we obtain and we are able to receive a "fix" position quicker when using RTK. More satellites also means we are able to work more efficiently in areas with limited sky visibility.

We are becoming more and more reliant on the GPS network for our everyday work here at PGS. Most all of our local jurisdictions are requiring mapping to be done on "datum" and we are finding that local control networks are less than reliable. When working on large scale projects it is very important to know and understand the datum that the mapping is on. This makes it much easier to add additional mapping as needs arise and integrate the additional mapping with the original data.

We are looking forward to having the opportunity to test the new satellites and find out exactly how they are going to effect our everyday work. We expect that there will be measurable improvements in effencies and less down time, especially on challenging projects like Boundary Dam and the Icicle Creek.

Cheers all!