Project complete

This was my life for the past six months: I talked to more than 40 people. Wrote more than 20 pages. Had three of my major sources back out. Went through edits and reedits.

This is why this post is devoted to a little shameless self promotion. My project on seniors in isolation ran on yesterday. It's about the the mental health impacts of seniors who are secluded from social contact.

There is a limited edition that ran online. (If you know me, you can find it. Just go to my paper's Web site and click on "search this site," enter seniors and isolation ... or just e-mail me for the link). My blood, sweat and tears went into this.

I was on vacation and haven't even seen the real thing. I'll wait until I do to celebrate too much, but needless to say, it's a relief.

Lesson learned: Some projects come easier than others.

Out at sea

My uncles have the hook up on this island. Today, they were able to con three captains with three different boats to take us out on a tour of the islands nearby. It was the warmest day yet, with temperatures at 80 degrees at 10 a.m.

We all piled aboard at about 1 p.m. Amanda and I paired up with our aunts Anne and Joy, toasting our departure with a glass of wine. We cruised across a channel to an island, where we had a picnic lunch.

We also made a stop at another island, called Cabbage Key, where there is a restaurant with hundreds of thousands of dollar bills taped on the wall. People write their names on them with permanent marker. We, of course, had to make a Wyman wall. This is the place that the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was inspired.


To top off the day, we watched another sunset, with the pelicans diving for fish.

Lesson learned: Oceans and pelicans make for great sunsets.

The family goes to coffee

Our family has the reputation for being incessantly late. My dad grew up in a family of nine kids, and it takes awhile to get that many people together. I have noticed that this is a genetic characteristic that gets passed down the generations.

Case in point: At about four p.m. yesterday Amanda asked me if I wanted to go into downtown Boca for a coffee. She was lagging a little bit after staying up for 36 hours straight the day before. My aunt Anne and uncle Dale decided to go along. When we finally got rounded up and out the door, we decided to take a golf cart (the traditional form of transportation on the island). But of course, we had to make a stop at the other house, where we just happened to arrive in time for the sunset.

We all piled back onto the cart, but only made it a block before we saw Grandpa and Grandpa driving the opposite direction. They were just arriving, so we had to get in the hugs.

At this point, the golf cart was about to die, so we headed to Uncle Jimbo's, who owns the cart. There we ran into some old friends of the family, who we updated on all of the family's whereabouts.

After that, we walked to the restaurant/coffee house. But they don't serve espresso. Our only shot was a bar called "The Temptation," the waitress told us.

This is a popular place my uncle used to work at for years, with numerous liquor bottles and signs lining the walls, including one that said "I can resist everything but temptation." When we asked the bar tender (whose name is "Snake") for a latte, he gave us a withering look and said "Keep on looking." Then he served up four gin and tonics. This was about 8 p.m., four hours after the expedition began.

So much for coffee.

Lesson learned: It's not possible to find a drink like a latte on this island, especially at the rate we move.

Arriving in paradise

I have arrived in Florida and am now officially living it up. It is beautiful here on Boca Grande, an island off the Gulf Coast near Tampa. Two of my uncles and their families live here. The rest of us have rented two houses and a condo to stay at.

I met up with a group at the airport, and we arrived to a large greeting committee on Tuesday night. The next morning a bunch of us went for a run/walk/bike ride. There is no shortage of white sand, palm trees or flowers.


That afternoon, Amanda, my cousin Nick and I made an attempt to go to the beach, but it was a little chilly with the wind. We were more successful today, and spent the afternoon in the sun, swimming and playing frisbee.

Lesson learned: I could get used to this.

Mayday, mayday, we're going down

I am sitting on an airplane right now. Thankfully, this one is not trying to buck us off like the plane I was in during my last flight. Seriously, I have never been more scared on an airplane in my life.

We were taking off when it started sliding back and forth. It took some big drops, until the nose of the airplane was pointing downward as we were making a steep left turn. One particularly sharp drop, everyone on the plane screamed. I was clutching onto the arm rests with both hands (as if that would save me if we crashed). By the time things smoothed out, I was shaking. The guy next to me asked me if I was OK, then consoled me my saying "That freaked me out, too." No kidding?

It was all made okay though, when the flight attendant sang a tribute song to Southwest to the tune of My Girl once we landed.

I'm just glad it's over. I'll feel better when I'm sitting on the beach in Florida.

Lesson learned: Though airplane travel may be safer than driving, its capacity to terrify just doesn't compare. A car can't free fall 50 feet and still be okay.

A Merry Christmas

Merry belated Christmas. I was at my mom's in Truckee this weekend. As usually, she had our activities packed into the weekend. We started off with yen yoga — which is just a slower practice concentrating on relaxing and holding yoga poses — and continued with skate skiing both Christmas Eve and Christmas day.

Saturday, we went to a course called Royal Gorge. It was beautiful. We got there pretty early, just enough to see the sun rising over the mountains that circle the meadow the tracks cross. Mom met up with a bunch of her racing buddies, and they did a time trial.

I was content to plod along alone. Skate skiing is one of the best cardio workouts you can get. It uses a mix of muscle groups, and you have to try to balance on a pencil this ski all the while. Needless to say, I was less than graceful. Every once and while, though, everything would start to come together, and I would get into a rhythm. That would last about five seconds.

It was fun to be outside getting worked.

We spent Christmas skiing again and cooking. Mom got me a sweet canon digital camera. That means there will be more photos on this blog. Yeah!

Lesson learned: I need to get a pair of skate skies. Maybe then I would have a chance at keeping my mom in the line of sight.

Weeklong headaches

Ever have one of those days where every little thing seems to go wrong? I had one of those days — every single day this week. From losing an hour's work due to our new computer program's glitches to delays with the project I'm working on to forgetting my tennis shoes when I went to the gym, I just couldn't seem to kick this string of bad luck.

I was hoping to have an easy week, then slip off for two weeks of vacation. But that was before I agreed to write two large-scale stories, have my project run while I'm gone and write daily stories on top of that. I finally finished everything at about 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Now it's on to packing.

Lesson learned: Don't agree to large stories before vacation.

Almost there

I've scrambling lately to get ready for vacation. After Friday, I'm headed to my mom's for Christmas. Then I fly to Florida to meet up with my Dad and his side of the family. It's a wacky group so I'm excited. It doesn't hurt that it's in a warm place with sunshine. It's been especially cold here the past few days.

After I fly back, I'm going on a cruise with some friends from Long Beach to Baja.

That all sounds just dreamy, but very far away. I have two large stories, the wrap up of my project, and two daily stories to finish up before then, not to mention all the packing and other chores I have at home.

Lessons learned: You pay for vacation.

Eating beans and singing

We have two traditions here called Mut's Bean Feed and the Annual Christmas Sing. This is the stuff that makes me love small towns. One day, someone decided it would be a great tradition to feed the entire town beans, then march them up to the park for a round of Christmas Carols.

It was raining today, but that didn't stop a crowd from lining up for two blocks for Mut's famous beans. There was also a sizable turn out for the Christmas Sing, which our paper sets up each year right after the feed. Various businesses and organizations have sung the same Christmas carols for decades. We haven't changed them for copyright reasons.

The best part is we get paid to do this, and then everyone goes home early.

Lesson learned: The mics at the Christmas Sing are much more powerful than people realize, meaning, you get to hear all the before and after comments people make without them knowing.

Dull men as dating potential

Yesterday at work, I came across an article in the Modesto Bee about a Web site for the Dull Men's Club. This bland grey page is dedicated solely to men who drive under the speed limit, like to watch paint dry and have a certain obsession with cataloguing completely irrelevant facts, such as the number of airport baggage carousels that go clockwise versus counterclockwise. One the site, dull men around the world can add a comment about how to fully take advantage of this insipid lifestyle. If you check it out, read the "a dull man's way of enjoying his new Jag" or the one about liking to download large files on ridiculously slow servers so he can see the status bar creep across the screen.

This seriously cracks me up.

I've always liked a little spice in my men, but this got me thinking that maybe I should change my tactics. There are certain advantages to dull men. You — directed at all my female peers — certainly wouldn't have to worry about a dull man cheating on you. (An affair would be way to stressful for a dull man). Their aversion to conflict would mean that you could always be right. (Women like to always be right). And you'd really never have to agonize over what is going on in his head, because the answer would likely be nothing much. Don't worry, you too would eventually start seeing the fun in watching batteries charge or reading statistics about roundabouts.

So for anyone who thinks these advantages are worth it, this Web site could double as an online dating tool. Have at it ladies.

Lesson learned: Since my friend Sarah has taken to call me an extreme dater — meaning I like my men extreme — something tells me dull men wouldn't work for me, despite the many problems it would solve.

Let winter begin

It is pouring rain outside right now, which means, hopefully, it is dumping snow up high. Last night the shear volume of the water coming out of the sky woke me up. I was worried I would look out side and see my car floating away. But it would be worth it if it meant there was enough snow for Dodge to open. I really want to snowboard right now. I'm about to layer up, strap in and hop around my living room.

It doesn't help that, miraculously, my iPod started working again. I charged it up and now its playing Coldplay like it never quit. I think if I were to turn it off, though, it might not turn back on.

Lesson learned: I'm all ready for snowboarding season, maybe now the weather is too?

Ski movie music

So I have this friend — okay, ex-boyfriend — who is prolific in terms of setting up Web sites (see Nifty Tricks). Jesse's latest is called Ski Movie Music. He has compiled all the sound tracks to ski movies for your listening pleasure while you are making turns on the hill. I asked him why not snowboard video music, since he is a snowboarder. Apparently, that's been done before, so he thought he'd delve into a more uncharted territory. Snowboard video music is to come, though, so just hold on.

And hey Lakes, hope you're having fun in Costa Rica.

Lesson learned: I just might use this. I'm a much better snowboarder to Sweatshop Union or The Roots than if I just go it in silence.

Starting out the season

Last year I decided not to get a Christmas tree because I wasn't going to be here for the holidays. This year, I'm not going to be here either, but I was determined to get one anyway. So last night Sarah and I hauled a tree from the local hardware store into my little apartment. It was supposed to be a small one, but that's what I always say, and this one is probably seven or eight feet.

Today Jenn and Sarah came over, and we had hot chocolate, decorated and listened to Christmas music. It was a great way to get in the mood for the season.

The only problem was that one of the string of white lights I had didn't work. So I ran to Wal-Mart and bought two strings of colored, only to find out when I got back that one of the strings I bought didn't work either.

Jenn's solution was to alternated white and colored lights on my tree. It's no designer tree, but it has character at least.

Lesson learned: Check the lights even at the store — no matter what.

Oops

I was getting out of the gym today after work when I noticed that I had a missed call from my boss. I thought that was strange, because they usually only have license to call after-hours if you have a story that is running in the following day's paper. I didn't. Somehow I had magically slipped through today and just worked on other stuff.

Well I found out why when I listened to by boss' message: Because I am stupid. I accidently slated my story for Thursday for tomorrow. Seeing that, Craig didn't need to ask me for a story. Since I thought I had one more day, I hadn't written it.

Right now, I'm sitting at home wrapping it up so there isn't a big white hole on the page tomorrow.

Lesson learned: Pay attention to the days on your weekly schedule.

Call for tech support

I have two problems I thought all you brilliant friends out there might be able to help me with:

First, my iPod — which is only about six months old — won't hold a charge. I'll plug it in for hours before it's done charging, then when I go to use it it won't turn on. Is there anything to be done before I either throw it across the room or take it in to a store miles and miles away?

Second, every time I try to log into MSN instant messenger, it tells me I need to update to the newest version. I've done it twice already, but it's getting old. I've opted just to stop using it altogether. Any ideas?

Thanks.

Bonding time

You know what I love about Sarah? She has the wisdom of a 50-year-old in a 27-year-old's body — which is very useful for me with all the drama I stir up. She is battling a disease that makes her very tired and chronically sick, yet she faces life with tireless bravery and strength. And she has this relationship with God that I admire and aspire to.

Sarah and I met about a year ago. I had been going to church for about six months and was convinced that there were no young people there. Then one day she came and sat by me. We started talking and eventually she invited me to a Bible study.

Things have been so crazy for us both this fall that we haven't had much time to really hang out. This weekend we made up for that, albeit accidentally. Saturday we were supposed to go help Jenn and Paul renovate their house. We were all dressed up in our grungiest clothes when we found out neither Jenn nor Paul were in town. Paul was returning from an unexpected trip out of state, and Jenn was going to pick him up at the airport.

So instead, Sarah and I went Christmas shopping, went to dinner (mainly for dessert) and then rented a movie. Today she picked me up for church, then we went to lunch with a couple friends. We did some errands together afterwards.

Anyway, I was fun to spend some time with her. Just her.

Lesson learned: I need to hang out with Sarah more often.

Thanksgiving marathon

Sarah's family does Thanksgiving right. Instead of a sprint, they make it a marathon. We had "dinner" at noon, with crystal, table cloths, and every traditional Thanksgiving side ever thought of. (I must say one of my favorites was the sweet potatoes with marshmallows. This was never a dish on my family's holiday table when I was growing up, and I had a hard time believing it wasn't a dessert.) Then we took a half-time — enough for after dinner conversation, a movie and a walk down to the park — before eating a dinner of leftovers again. We played the game "Deal or No Deal," then we had a schmorgasbord of desserts.

So this is what I'm saying. Instead of gorging on one meal, eating until you are too stuffed to sit up, why not spread it across the entire day. It's like a sporting event. Those who can't hang slip off into a turkey-induced slumber. The rest of us are there till the bitter end, and there were prizes. Okay, not for being able to eat all day, but Sarah's mom, Sue, always seems to have gifts.

Lessons learned: Turkey sandwiches are great on Thanksgiving too.

Stir crazy

I wish I had something new and exciting to report. But in order for that to be, I would have had to leave my couch in the past four days. I'm getting over the incapacitated feeling of my cold/flu, and now I'm just stir crazy.

I'm going back to work tomorrow no matter what.

Lesson learned: You can only watch so much TV and sleep so much before you want to go insane.

So much for flu shots

Usually you get a flu shot to try and prevent the flu during the winter. Apparently, my body is a little confused about that notion. The newspaper I work for had visiting nurses come give us free shots on Friday. (Notice the timing — that way if you get sick, you have the weekend to recover.)

Well, that's exactly what happened to me — although they say it's impossible for the vaccines to cause the full-blown flu. Whatever I've got, I've been camped out with it on my couch the entire weekend with an assembly of cough drops, tissue, soup and tea on my coffee table. But this bug seems to want to foil my employer's plans: It's Sunday night and I feel worse than I did yesterday.

I woke up yesterday morning with the standard swollen glands, headache and achy muscles. I felt sick enough to cancel plans with Steve to go for a bike ride, but I didn't really take it seriously. I thought the feeling would pass if I just took it easy and watched Grey's Anatomy all day. So I did — no kidding, I watched seven episodes — but this morning I woke up feeling worse.

I had a meeting with the team I am going to Japan with this afternoon. Fortunately, I was in Sonora. It was difficult to get up, but I downed some cold medicine and went anyway. The medicine worked enough to fool me into thinking that I was getting better. Nope. Right now I'm in that between time where the DayQuil has worn off, but it's too early to take the night time stuff. I haven't felt this achy since I had malaria in Africa.

Lesson learned: I will never get a flu shot again.

Seeking winter clothes

It's getting cold here, and I came to realize that my collection of winter attire is scant, especially what I can wear to work. Tonight after the gym I decided to go shopping.

I'm not much of a shopper. In fact, I really hate it. I've been doing it too much lately. I also don't like to spend the little money I have on clothes. Most of the clothes I have now I bought in college. Just how long it has been came to my attention the other day when I looked down and saw I had a hole in my shirt.

So I thought it was time I replaced some of my wardrobe.

Tonight I made a trip to the dressing room with an armful of clothes. After narrowing them down, I realized something else. I had in my hands a skirt, a pair of high heals, and a t-shirt — nothing that will keep me remotely warm and nothing I can wear to work. Just to make myself feel better, I bought a jacket too.

I have about eight jackets.

Lesson learned: I guess this means I should go shopping tomorrow, too.

Just charge it

I had the closest thing I've ever had to a shopping spree this afternoon. The Rotary is giving us $500 to buy "uniforms" for the trip to Japan I'm going on next spring with a team of regional professionals. It was my job to pick out basic items, like a suit, kaki pants and a variety of shirts that we will all wear while we are there.

I had to drive to Modesto today to try on and pick up some of the big ticket items. It was crazy to just run my card for hundreds of dollars of clothing — knowing I don't have to pay for any of it. Thanks to the Sunrise Rotary for that.

The best part is that we get to keep all of this stuff. I'm sure I will be able to find a use for it, even though my newsroom is pretty casual.

Lesson learned: It's not cheap to dress up.

As the snow flies

As if to take some of the monotony out of Dodge Ridge orientation Saturday, it actually snowed. It made the season seem a little closer. Lately I have been wondering if it winter was coming at all this year. Fall seems to be resisting its departure.

But we got to watch the swirl of the snow flakes outside the windows of the main lodge at the ski resort, where I am planning to teach snowboard lessons again this year. Last year was my first year teaching, and I had such a good time that I thought I would come back. This year though, I am promising myself that I won't pull up any more students who can't get up, especially ones twice my size. Why do I have a feeling I won't be able to stick to that resolution for long?

Steve is also teaching again, so we went up to orientation together. We brought our bikes thinking we would go for a ride afterwards. When we saw the snow, we decided maybe we would need to drive to a lower elevation, where it would be raining. Then orientation went late and it was pretty cold and wet by that time, so we scraped the whole idea and went for a drink instead.

Lesson learned: Biking season may be coming to an end.

Sleeping in on a weekday

I woke up this morning feeling strangely refreshed considering that I stayed up later than I'd planned. When I rolled over and looked at the clock I found out why. It was 7:30 a.m., which coincidentally is the time I have to be at work. I have very vague memories of my alarm going off, but I don't remember what happened after that.

I made it there only 15 minutes late, feeling a little groggy and out of it. I don't even think my bosses noticed since having reporters come it late is nothing new.

It took me about an hour and some caffeine to start feeling normal.

It's funny, but I think I may be starting to have an addiction. For the longest time, I would go for a couple months drinking coffee, then abruptly stop. I never had any problems with withdrawals when I did, and always wondered why. It turns out black tea is the gateway drug for me. I started drinking that just because I like something warm in the morning. Now I have a hard time functioning without it, which is funny because it really doesn't have that much caffeine in it.

Anyway, I'm just glad it's Friday.

Lesson learned: I need to hide the off button on my alarm.

Time for plan C

Yesterday was a million things packed into one day. Today it kind of crumpled apart.

Last night was, of course, election night, so we had the morning off. Steve and I took the bus up to Sierra Village, then did a long ride down the ditch. There is something about that place in the fall. The leaves are all a collage of colors, some still hanging stubbornly to the trees, some in a rainbow on the ground. The water in the culvert (a.k.a. the ditch) that the path runs along makes for a peaceful soundtrack. At the end, it comes out on a long, paved roller coaster ride down to town with a panoramic view.

There are a couple sections we have to walk our bikes on their back tires across the culverts on thin planks. Some extend for at least an eighth of a mile. There is one Steve calls "the canopy walk" - for good reason.

So after 30 miles, I headed into work for a 10-hour shift. There is something about covering elections. It's long. It's a lot of waiting. Of course the results never come in on time. Then we have the awkward job of calling people and waking them up to tell them they've won or lost. And then there's the rush of deadline when your bed is calling from home. But there it's exciting about finding out the outcome of these races first after all the campaigning. It's one of the rare times we keep the TV on the whole time, and we get free pizza.

Then there was today. Already I was tired, drawing my energy from a latte and a banana. So I was browsing through the paper checking the stories about the other races when I realized something was missing: my story. The page designer had just forgot to put it in. How does that happen?

So much for staying up till midnight the night before and waking candidates up in the name of the "deadline." Oh well, we all make mistakes.

Then I had plan B — the second source to replace the first one who backed out for my seniors in isolation project — cancel as well. My solution: I came home and slept for three hours.

Well there is always tomorrow.

Lesson learned: There are going to be some curious school board members today.

I vote no

I'm just sitting here staring at my mail-in ballot, as my eyes glaze over. That's pretty much all I have done for the past half hour: look.

Lucky I have my voter guide handy though. I've read about a half page of the 188 page book. It has some pretty fascinating stuff, like "The department may promulgate and adopt regulations to implement, interpret and make specific the provisions of this Article pursuant to the provisions ..."

The ballot isn't really helping a lot either.

The whole thing contains an awful lot of zeros that come behind dollar signs. I did the math. If Californians passed all of these initiatives and propositions, it would allow the state to spend $758.9 kajillion dollars. That's way more than I make in a year.

Lesson learned: I have some tough decisions to make tonight. Thank God for the Internet.

Get your own street cleaner

Can anyone tell me what use you could find in a giant army vehicle with a trailer? I ask this because the neighbor at the end of the block just got one.

This is really just the newest addition to her collection. She also has a beat up police car, the front of a semi truck, a street cleaner, a trailer and electric van that doesn't work — I know this because "Does not run" is written on side door in crayon. Where does one find this stuff?

And what is the motivation? "Wow, that's a great deal on a street cleaner"?

So I was walking home for lunch the other day when I noticed the army truck. It's one of those boxy ones with a pull-down door in the back, something you would see in MASH. I can't figure it out.

I shouldn't be surprised. I can't really figure the lady who lives there out either. She's actually kind of young — I would guess early 40s. I see her out there all the time gardening — all the time, once at like 2 a.m. She has been doing a major overhaul of her expansive yard, throwing brush into a pile out front and putting up fencing. The funny thing is, nothing ever seems to change. It looks the same as when she started at least 2 and half years ago — when I first noticed.

Anyway, it makes for thought provoking lunch time walks.

Lesson Learned: A street cleaner doesn't help with gardening.

Sugar high

It's that time of year again. I'm not talking about fall. Nor the cold. And I don't mean Christmas either, though I do blame that holiday to some extent. I mean the time of year we all get a renewed sweet tooth and gorge on everything made with 50 grams of sugar or more. For some reason lately, little bowls of candy are popping up like wildflowers on everyone's desks. My mom has gotten that bug again — the one where she must feverishly bake until all the chocolate chips in her house are gone, then she graciously sends her products my way. (By the way mom, thanks for the banana bread, it's delicious). And today was cake day at our office. The first of the month our company buys one of those sheet cakes big enough to serve as a table cloth and with enough frosting to coat a small car. Right now, I actually feel like I have a sugar hang over.

Lesson learned: I need a salad.

How to throw a Halloween party

I woke up this morning with a tattoo on my arm and my apartment completely trashed.

I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, I didn't drink too much Tequila, get kidnapped by a motorcycle band, who forced me to get a tattoo and took over my apartment for the after party.

Close, except the tattoo is not real, and my alcohol consumption last night was far from epic. We had the ultimate Halloween party last night. Four of us who live in the apartment complex we have nicknamed the UD Dorms each picked a different theme. The hosts of the party dressed up in that theme, then we moved from apartment to apartment as the night progressed.

We started at Jenn's pirate party, where she had gone all out with black lights, a pirate cage and a poster from Pirates of the Caribbean. An hour later, we moved to Cameron and Krystal's, who had a witch theme. They served witch's brew (Sangria) under a large spider web. Chris' apartment was a western saloon. His girlfriend, Jenn, greeted us at the door with shots of Jim Beam. Chris even had poker and a real saddle.

My theme was a fitting one for the last one of the night. Yes, that's right. It was white trash.


Decorating for this required tearing down everything cute in my apartment and redoing it with a coffee table made of plywood and beer boxes, lawn chairs, hunting magazines, pizza boxes and other cardboard waste strewn about, a Budwiser tapestry, a plastic table cloth with cigarette burns, romance novels and much more. I served Twinkies, powdered donuts, Easy Cheese and jello. For a game, we played, "Pin the axsesoryz on the Redneck."

Someone once told me that having a cocktail party is a good way to make sure your house doesn't get destroyed. People tend to act more civilized when they're dressed up and in a luxurious environment. It works the other way too.

We went from being a sophisticated group of reporters to trying to throw candy corn into each others mouths. Pretty soon the candy corn was whizzing by my head. I of course had to take it to the next level by lobbing a twinkie at Josh. Fortunately, it didn't escalate into an all out food fight. But it was fun.

The only problem was, I spent the morning hopping around my apartment trying to avoid swishing the candy into my carpet. With the help of Gabe, Chris and his girlfriend Jenn, my apartment is now back to normal. It feels good to have my Van Gogh's "Les Irises" back up instead of an "Easy Rider" poster.

Lesson learned: When left in their package, twinkies make a fun, yet apartment safe, food fight material.

Working at home

Today my editors finally made good on the promise to let me take a work day for my project. In order for this really to happen — so that they wouldn't be tempted to sidetrack me every five minutes with a new story idea — I worked from home. I've only done this a few times, but I must say, it works well. I got more done in the six hours I worked on it today then I have in the past two weeks.

So now two of the stories running are mostly done. I just have a few touch ups and lots of editing.

I'll be holding a celebration when this is through.

Lesson learned: Food in my fridge, a television and DVD player, a stereo and a piano are less distracting then my office.

Apples to Cajun to climbing

It's been a full weekend. Days like the last two make me want the Indian fall we've been having to stay forever. That and make me never want to go back to work.

Here's a quick recap:

• Friday night I went out to dinner with Gabe and some of his friends. The group met up with Jenn and Paul later for a spirited game of Apples to Apples. It's where you put one card in the center with an adjective on it. Then everyone places one of their seven cards down with nouns on them that best matches it. The judge position rotates among the players. My best was "colorful." I laid down "barf."

• Saturday I had a meeting with all the members of my Rotary exchange team in Yosemite. It was a beautiful day and all the trees are starting to turn orange and yellow, making the drive a collage of colors. And of course the Valley floor was stunning. We had lunch at the Awahnee, an old and luxurious hotel there.

• I had tickets to a Cajun Festival, so I went with Gabe. We stayed long enough for a free dinner and then rented a movie. I don't really remember the name of it, or much else for that matter. It was one of deep, convoluted films about oil and corruption. I was asleep for much of it.

• Paul, Gabe, kid from church named Andrew and I met up with our paper's photographer, Amy, and some of her friends to go climbing. I surprised myself by pulling my 117 pounds up some pretty crazy cracks. I can't feel my arms. I'm typing with my nose right now.

• Gabe and I made dinner and my place tonight.

Starting to see a theme here? Me too. :)

Lesson learned: I think I may be seeing someone.

My own real life TV show

Have you ever noticed how there are about a million shows of every genre based on doctors? We've got ER, Scrubs, House and Grey's Anatomy to name a few. In fact, I just watched the latter, hence this post. I'd like to propose that we do one on journalists.

In our newsroom, we've got it all: the horror and violence of car wrecks, the thrills of drug busts, the drama of inter-office romances (okay ex-romances), the comedy of everyday slip ups that we make...

That five of us live in the same apartment building makes for a sort of Friends-drama hybrid. We could have the scenes from the fast-paced newsroom, with deadlines looming while fights erupt across the office from the pressure juxtaposed with relaxed barbecues where everyone has a beer and talks shop.

Chris would make that older character that everyone loves, who often passes on words of wisdom to his younger counterparts. That he just can't seem to figure out the new computer system — or any computer system for that matter — could be a recurring theme. Amy's the sort of gruff, seasoned reporter who really gets to see the inside of local law enforcement, yet has a sort of dry humor about her. Mike is the guy who gets married and has a baby (because someone always has to have a baby on TV shows.) Josh is the comedic relief — though the actor who plays his character would want to take his career to the big screen, so Josh would quit and take a trip across the country and then through Europe. Me, well there's lots of turmoil with me, between my love life and the heart wrenching health and kids stories I do, I'm sure we could get some tears out of viewers.

We could concoct Office Space-like dialogue, recreating the dilemma that comes with having three bosses. Or we could go more in new vein of modern dramas, with that one character's voice narrating life's lessons with profundity.

Yep, clear prime time, "In Print" is on its way.

Lesson learned: Maybe I've been watching too much TV.

Gold rush

Today was another one of those days I didn't work on my project.

But I got to go to a Gold Rush camp for kids. It was nice to get out of the office and drive up into the hills. I hung out with fourth graders while they dug up dirt to mine using various techniques, like gold panning, something called a cradle and another long box they use to sift out rocks.

Seeing all those kids with their little mini shovels made me want to be a forth grader again. At least then I wouldn't have to finish my project.

Lesson learned: There is a little sweat shop gold operation going on in the woods east of Sonora....Okay, I'm not serious, they plant the gold.

A girl's best friend

There are only a hand full of people that I would drive five hours for to spend that much time with. It just so happens, one of those people was in Berkeley this weekend. So I did just that.

Anna and I met in environmental science in high school. From there, we were in cross country, tennis and Precision figure skating together. We went skiing. We spent nights at each others houses, and days at the lake. Then in college, we ended up being roommates in the dorms. We've been with each other through break ups with boyfriends, family issues and health complications.

Needless to say, I was disappointed when she transferred to Bozeman, but we never stopped being best friends.

Anna is one of those friends I can go without seeing for a year, and without talking to for three months, yet when we finally do reunite, it's like we're picking up where we left off.

So when I found out Anna was in Berkeley for a wedding, I canceled all other plans. The only time that she was free was Sunday afternoon. I made it down there about 4 p.m. (after getting a little lost). We took a walk, went to coffee and had dinner, catching up as we went.

It was fun to reminisce about the joke love letter we wrote in keyboarding to this guy named Jerod and his kermit green car. Or how we used to come home to our friends in our door rooms watching TV, which we stole from Juppy by crawling through his dorm window. Or sneaking out onto the roof of our dorm room.

Yeah, we had so much fun.

Someday maybe we'll end up in the same place and can continue our adventures.

Lesson learned: I miss that girl.

Home improvement

Last night was round two of construction in flip flops. I'm becoming a pro. Okay, so I wasn't really planning to help work on Jenn and Paul's house when I went over there. I was just stopping by. I should have known better.

I actually had a great time. Jenn and I made a expedition to the hardware store first to get electrical boxes. We had to call Paul like three times to make sure we were getting the right stuff. He kept saying, "Just get the blue ones." Try saying that to girls standing in front of a wall of 50 million varieties of blue electrical boxes.

Once we got back, we went to town with the hammers. My favorite part, though, was pulling up carpet. That's where the danger of wearing flip flops comes in, will all the tacks and nails that comes up with it. Jenn and I joked that we should make a home improvement video for women — since we look the part of seasoned contractors and all.

I thought I was getting the hang of pulling up some of the wood nailed down under the carpet, until Gabe came in and did about four times what I was doing in about 4.2 seconds.

Lesson learned: It takes me about 37 strikes of a hammer to nail a nail in a 2 by 4. Gabe: 3. So I guess I will never make a successful career out of construction.

In memory of Vicki

Our publisher's wife, Vicki, died this week. I went to her memorial service today.

She was relatively young: just about to turn 60 next week. It was a sudden heart attack. The weird thing was, she was at the college when it happened. The spokesman there only knows my extension, so he called me to tell me she had collapsed and they were doing CPR. I had to pull Geoff out of a meeting. It felt strange to see his smile as he came out to talk to me, knowing what he was about to hear.

The electricity went out at the funeral home this morning, so they had the service outside. It was a beautiful message from the chaplain under a perfectly blue sky. I couldn't help but cry when he recounted some of the touching details about their relationship - how they gardened together, how they always noted the 13th of every month because that was the day they met.

We all lined up to hug Geoff after the service. What do you say to someone who just lost their life partner, companion, best friend...From the sounds of it, she was all those things to him.

This poem was in the handouts, and it sort of struck a chord with me:

God hath not promised
skies always blue,
Flower-strewn pathways
all our lives through;
God hath not promised
sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow,
peace without pain.

But God hath promised
Strength for the day,
Rest for the labor,
Light for the way
Grace for the trials
Help from above,
Unfailing sympathy
Undying love...

Lesson learned: Life is so short, sometimes shorter than you think it should be.

Busy having fun

It's been a record week for bike rides. I've gone Sunday, yesterday and today. I have plans to go again Saturday. Yesterday was the record milage for the season: 48. It was a nice easy ride along culvert that our drinking water runs down. We've had a few beautiful days here, and I was out on some great vantage points to take it all in. There is talk of snow at higher elevations. Everyone who snowboards is starting to get that jittery excitement.

I just need to wax my board and I'm ready.

Now if work would calm down a bit. Today was nice though. I had a split shift, so I got done about noon, went out to lunch and then on a ride with my friend Gabe. When I drove to town about an hour away to cover a school board meeting, I discovered it had been cancelled. I came back and worked for a couple hours on my project then headed home. To think I would still be working if the meeting had gone on ... I got lucky this time.

Lesson learned: The easiest meeting to cover is a cancelled one.

Second-hand hip hop

This weekend, hanging out in my apartment has been like living next to a club that never closes. The apartment next to mine has been vacant for a couple months since my coworker Mike got married and moved out. Even before he moved out, it might as well have been empty. It was simply a storage shed for his furniture while, for all practical purposes, he lived with his fiancee.

Well, my landlord found a new renter, and I'm realizing how thin my walls are. Friday night, the repeating bass lines of hip hop songs came floating through my walls until about 1 a.m. Well, at least that's when I finally drifted off to sleep. I awoke to more of the same Saturday morning at about 7 a.m. And every time I stopped by my place throughout the day.

I don't have a problem with hip hop. In fact, I love it. But not at 1 a.m. or 7 a.m. - when I am trying to sleep. And not when the only part of the song I can hear is the bass line, which just loops over and over and over. Listening to music that someone else is playing across a wall is a little like sitting next to someone smoking a cigarette: It's a lot better for them than it is for you.

I feel bad saying anything to my neighbor because she seems really nice. She just likes her music loud. I'm not really ready to go be the prudish neighbor yet. We'll see what happens tomorrow morning - my last chance to sleep in before another week starts again.

Lesson learned: I miss Mike.

Fall arrives

For the first time in about four months, it rained today - really rained. Unfortunately, I seem to have misplaced my umbrella. Rain here is not like it is in Montana. There you get a high elevation cloud cover that nestles in the Valley, and it drizzles for weeks on end. Here, we get a torrential downpour. The low spots in every road, sidewalk and any other surface become miniature rivers. You can't walk anywhere outside without drenching the hem of your pants. And cars tires kick up storms of mist, so when driving all the roads become this sort of hazy fantasy world. The fog crowds around the hills, giving them this eerie horror movie look. Eerie but dramatically beautiful.

It's nice to have a change of season. It's refreshing. I am looking forward to snowboarding. But for now, the rain meant only one thing for me: While I was tucked in my drivers seat with the heat on, all the dusty bike trails are getting packed down. Yes I have a one-track mind.

Lesson learned: The rain is nice, but I'm not ready for winter yet.

Signed up with nowhere to go

More than a month has passed since I was accepted to the Rotary exchange program to Japan, and I have yet to learn much more than a handful of words in Japanese. We signed up for this online program as a group with the idea we would learn it independently. I got an e-mail forwarded to me from our group leader confirming that he had requested an account for us. I thought I would get instructions a few days later telling me where to go and what my password was. But it never came.

A few days later, I got an e-mail from the group leader saying "Hope you are all enjoying the language instruction. I just completed the first lesson." What? So I wrote him, and apparently I never got an e-mail that told me my password.

He set me up with one, but now, ironically because my new computer is too new, I'm having problems downloading the software I need to run it.

At this rate, "Hi" and "yes" are the only words I will master in this language.

Lesson learned: There are disadvantages to being up with technology.

More extreme stuff

I meant to write a blog post about Sunday, which I spend with a group of friends going caving. I never got the chance to, but I will say, it was a perfect finish to an extreme weekend. It involved crawling through narrow holes in the ground, bouldering and bats. We all came out with mud smeared up the fronts and backs of us. In Jenn's case, the holes in the butt of her jeans just kept getting bigger the more rocks we shimmied over.

Well that was Sunday, and tonight I was off to another adventure. Steve and I decided that mountain biking in the light is just not extreme enough for us. Next time, we think we'll wait until it's dark to start. We were smart tonight and brought headlamps. We did a shorter ride than usual, but it was new territory, which can be a bit disorienting when all you have is a pen light strapped to your head.

Before it got dark, we got to catch a glimpse thick fog shrouding the hills around us as the sun turned orange. It was acutally refreshing to do a ride in the cool, damp forest surrounding a reservoir, after the many hot dusty rides we've done. But it's a sobering reminder that our biking days may be numbered.

Lesson learned: Bats in caves aren't just in the movies.

Lovin' it despite the bruises and bug bites

I think I had the most epic ride of the season today. Well guess now it would be yesterday, which is why I'm a little delirious right now. When I say epic, I mean in more than one way.

Steve and I decided to ride to Pinecrest Peak, a 20-mile ride. This is only four miles longer than the ride we usually do, so it doesn't seem like it would be that much more difficult. Of course, the first 14 miles of the other ride aren't uphill like this one was.

And the downhill section is even more challenging, with sandy sections that look like they are about to slide down the hillside, a single track trail riddled in rocks and sections with series of rock steps and obstacles.

It was great. When we arrived at the top, we had a dramatic view of the Sierra in all directions. There are oceans of granite and spires of volcanic rock. It actually looks down on Dodge Ridge to south. We ran into a ranger up there, who told us the elevation of where we were standing was about 8,400 feet — about 3000 above where we started.

I was a little shaky when I first started down. It was the first time I have done something so technical with the clip in peddles. But I eventually started getting my confidence up, going over rocking narrow passages and off some of the steps. I was still walking some of them though. Just as I was starting to get into a rhythm, a cloud of gnats descended on my head, providing somewhat of a distraction.

A little while later, I was cruising through a smoother section when some sort of bug decided to sink its teeth into what I will call my upper left buttock region. It was such a shock I screamed. Poor Steve, who was behind me at the time, almost had a heart attack.

I managed to survive the rest of the ride without falling (though my legs look like they have been through a wringer.) I did lose some nerve after the bug attacks and ended up walking quite a bit. I think part of the reason was I got to witness Steve flying over his handlebars — twice.

Lesson learned: Gnats and bee stings won't stop me. I'm addicted.

Playing couch potato

I have been uncharacteristically lazy lately. In the past two days, I watched more TV than I do in an average month. But I have a good excuse. I woke up yesterday with swollen glands, a bad stomach ache and in total exhaustion. So I called in sick yesterday.

I have a hard time calling in sick. I'm not sure why. My step mom loves to tell the story about how I used to cry when I was little if I couldn't go to school. I could usually take it for one day, but the second I just couldn't bear sitting on the coach with a box of Kleenex while my peers played on the playground and I fell further behind in class. I liked school. I'm a dork, I know.

Yesterday, I actually got up and was going to get ready — but I couldn't take it. So I told my editor and crawled back into bed. I spent the day watching "Dickie Roberts, Former Child Star" and five episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" in a row. I loved it.

I wished I could have done it again today, especially at 6:30 p.m. when I was finishing up my second story — after my editor told me he didn't need a story from me at all today.

Oh well. Making up for lost time. I'll just work on my project later...

Lesson learned: Despite how Meredith acts, she really loves Dr. Shepherd. And Alex isn't the jerk that he acts like, even if he failed his medical exams.

Inhaling the dust

For the first time in three weeks, Steve and I did our ride at Spring Gap in the light. We also were joined by a couple other of my friends.

I was a little worried when Justin and Paul pulled out brand new bikes from Wal-Mart that they had bought within the past 24 hours. It was even more concerned when Justin's bike was a tripped out downhill bike with a kick stand.

But the boys didn't to too bad for the ride we took them on. The Spring Gap trail isn't all that technical, but it does have a few brutal hills. The three boys who came along — the two above and another friend from church, Gabe — didn't really like the hills, but they definitely left me in the dust on the downhill. They also made the 16 miles in tact. Not bad for a few rookies.

Lesson learned: There's a reason why bikes are priced cheaper at Wal-Mart.

A little girl talk

Thank God for my girls.

I've been a little overwhelmed lately with everything. Last week I wrote ten stories. Those aren't just little ten-inchers. The problem with writing that much in one week is you don't get much else done. Especially because the weekend was filled with a day-long session for my exchange and church activities.

I have a huge project I'm working on at work that I haven't even finished all the reporting (interviewing) on. It was due yesterday. I'm supposed to be learning Japanese a half an hour a day. I haven't done it at all. I had five days of homework last week for Bible study. I did one day. I could go on and on.

Today, with all the stress weighing on my shoulders, Sarah and Jenn came through. They probably don't even know it. We were supposed to have Bible study tonight, but three of the girls couldn't make it. Instead, Jenn, Sarah and I sat around and talked, venting about all our problems and frustrations. It felt good to know that others feel the pressure sometimes, too. Sometimes I feel like I'm not supposed to.

Lesson learned: There's nothing like a little girl talk as a cure for stress.

Last summer hurah

It seems that summer is coming to an end. A group of my friends and I went up to a lake to kayak this afternoon. It was sunny and nice, but definitely not as warm as it was only about a week ago. Not quite warm enough to want to jump in the water. That didn't stop one guy in our group. He tipped over his boat within about one minute of climbing in, then again about five minutes after that.

Afterwards I was so cold I wrapped up in about four layers, including my friend's sleeping-bag-like coat. It may have saved my life. We barbecued and played a game of Mow. If you don't know what that is, I can't tell you. That's part of the game.

Now I'm defrosting back home, preparing for another week.

Lessons learned: It's not to early to bring out the parka.

Lessons twice learned

Apparently, Steve and I didn't learn our lesson. Tonight we went for the same ride we did last time, and you can guess how it ended.

For those of you who didn't read that post, Steve is my mountain bike riding buddy and a couple weeks ago we miscalculated how early the sun goes down now and ended up riding half of the loop we were doing in the dark.

Tonight we did start earlier and end earlier. In fact, we did a lot better. We didn't have to walk the last few miles. When we got on the final stretch it was pretty dim though. I think because we had done it before, we both realized that it is worse to walk your bike in complete, dead-of-night darkness than to ride in dim light, so we picked up the pace. The key is just to stay loose. That way you can absorb the bumps, rocks and dips that you can't see. It was actually kind of fun. Luckily the last stretch isn't that treacherous. There were a few tricky spots, only because we couldn't see them.

My trick was just to watch Steve. I figured if he all of a sudden fell over, I should slow down.

The only downside was that we are experiencing a little bit of a cold snap. By the end of the ride, I couldn't feel my fingers. Nothing a little Chinese food and a beer couldn't cure.

Lesson Learned: Again, it gets dark at 7:45 p.m., not 8:30.

Every point counts

The county office of education in my county is holding something called a fitness challenge this month. How it works is that businesses and other organizations sign up in teams of five or more. Then each member of the team keeps track of points assigned for healthy habits, such as exercise, eating fruits and vegetables, drinking water etc. For instance, eating five servings of fruits and vegetables is one point, running one mile is one point, eating 25 grams of fiber is one point.

Every week we turn in our points from the week and the team captain averages them.

So we got a team together at my paper. Last week was the first week, and we turned our points in on Monday. Somehow by default I ended up as the captain of our team. At first I just saw it as a kind of fun way to motivate myself to get a little healthier. Then I saw the point totals of the other teams. We are in the top 25 percent would guess - high enough where we could maybe come close to the top, but low enough we would really need to work to do it. Nothing like a little competition to get me in gear. Now I'm drinking water like a drain and eating 10 servings of vegetables so I can get bonus points.

Lesson learned: When you eat 10 servings of vegetables and drink 96 oz of water in a day, there isn't room for much else. Maybe I should just stick to racking up points through ridiculous amounts of exercise.

Drowning in paper

As the education reporter, I cover 12 school districts and one community college in my county. That's about 18 board meetings a month, many of them congregated in the second week of each month. Luckily, I don't have to go to all of them. But I do have to read all of the agendas and keep track of what is happening at each district. I've kind of let some go for bigger and broader issue stories, which is what my editor told me to focus on, but I'm trying to get better about it.

This week, I've been inundated with agendas and the supplementary materials. Everyone is reviewing their budgets so far this year. Even Craig, my editor, gave me a sympathetic look when I brought a six-inch stack of papers to him to go over.

I'm still weeding through them and making calls on top of my daily stories. I'll welcome a slow week.

Lesson learned: This year's COLA was 5.3 percent. Federal revenue decreased to Head Start Programs. And this year's capital improvement budget is up 40 percent at one local school. - All stuff none of you care about.

Adventures in remodeling

My friends Jenn and Paul and Paul's brother, Justin recently went in together to buy a house. They're so grown up. Buying a house seems like a mirage on the horizon of my life experiences. Anyway, originally they were just going to redo the bathroom and add a second one. Then they decided to move a couple walls. Now they're tearing out the kitchen and replacing everything, rerouting hall ways, taking out closets... It seems like this is normally how remodeling goes.

So I volunteered to help them paint. On a steady diet of pizza and soda, the four of us spent the afternoon rolling olive-colored paint onto their living room walls, over our names, which we had painted on earlier. It was cool to watch the room transition, and actually kind of therapeutic to get wrapped up in filling in the missed spots near the ceiling with a paint brush. Somehow I was the one who ended up with the most paint all over me. I even had it on my contact lenses from painting the ceiling.

While Justin and I were putting on the finishing touches, Jenn and Paul started tearing down tile in the bathroom. It was funny to look down the hall and watch Jenn wielding a sledgehammer while the sheet rock flew around her. Judging from the magnitude of the shattering tile, that girl is deceivingly strong. Following one crash, I heard her say dramatically, "I woke up this morning, and I just hated everything" (A line from which movie - I can't remember).

We followed up the work with a movie at my place (Scary Movie IV, I wouldn't recommend it.) Of course, they brought more soda, sour fish, Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey ice cream, pop corn and Mike and Ike. I ate so much junk food today I feel sick.

Lesson learned: Wear closed toed shoes - not flip flops - while participating in construction projects. (I couldn't try the sledge hammer because of this faux pas).

Rediscovering my car's color

I can't remember the last time I washed and vacuumed my car. I've been meaning to do it about every weekend for the past two months. I finally did today, which I'm actually really exited about.

I know what you're thinking: "Wow, if she's resorted to blogging about her chores, she must be running out of things to write about. This blog can only go down hill from here." Don't worry. I promise tomorrow I won't write about my adventures in grocery shopping. But if you had seen my car before, I think you would realize what a feat it was. It was covered in a dusty film so thick I was starting to forget what color it was.

I actually enjoy washing my car. Maybe that is weird. I think it's because it's one of my few chores that I get to do outside in the sun — and it involves water.

Today wasn't one of my best runs. The car wash meter kept beeping that I was out of time right after I had fed a string of quarters into it. Then it turned off when I wasn't quite done, and I wasn't about to cough up six more quarters after it had robbed me.

Oh well, it's okay, because my cute little Chevy Cavalier is back to being cherry red.

Lesson learned: Time to find a new car wash.

To teach or not to teach

So after about a dozen phone calls, wrong modems sent, order confusion and a month wait, I finally have a glitch-free computer with DSL Internet. Crazy huh? Maybe I shouldn't write this; I'll jinx myself.

Also today, I got a letter from the ski resort where I taught snowboarding on the weekends last ski season. It seems too hot to be thinking about snow. But I guess I have to decide if I'm ready to do it again. I'm a little bummed because one of the bosses won't be there, which probably means some of the rest of the crew won't come back either.

I also have this problem of overcommitting myself. I can't help it; I just want to do it all. So far this winter, I will already have once or twice a month weekend meetings for my exchange to Japan (not to mention that I'll be leaving towards the end of the ski season to go there). My girls and I are starting a Thursday Bible study this week. I'm also joining an "extreme" interest group through church, which every Sunday is planning some outdoor adventure (i.e. kayaking, climbing, mountain biking). I'm planning a 10-day vacation around Christmas time. Oh and one of the girls at work asked me to teach her daughter piano lessons. This is on top of working 50 hours a week, sometimes on the weekends. Any votes as to if I can fit it all in?

Lesson learned: I need an assistant.

Battle Against Bald

Looks like the ads are back on my page. For awhile, I thought AdSense had dropped me — maybe this blog wasn't the cash cow I thought it was.

Okay, actually I wouldn't have been surprised. Money is not really the point. And I'm well aware I'm competing with the millions of blogs out there.

Since I started blogging, I'm impressed every day how people are using blogs in new ways. A college friend of mine, Mario, works for an ad agency called Respond2 and is currently working on a project called Battle Against Bald. One of the agency's directors is trying out the Bosley Hair Restoration procedure and blogging about the experience. It's a risky ad campaign, considering it could go bad, but either way, it's an innovative way to market the procedure. If it does go well, it could be a great boost for the company. What will they come up with next?

Where toilet paper is like gold

I know I haven't written in awhile. Don't worry. I wasn't lost in the wilderness. Close. I was backpacking in the western Sierra with my mom and sister.

We met at the Kennedy Meadow cabins, where we went out to dinner at a funky little restaurant up there to celebrate Amanda's birthday, which was Sunday.

Friday morning, well okay, Friday at almost noon, we left Kennedy Meadow for Emigrant Lake.

Each day we hiked about six or seven miles, up and over hills, passes and through canyons and meadows. When we arrived each afternoon or early evening, we would swim in the nearest lake or river to clean up and then make dinner.

It was gorgeous where we were. Large redwoods dominated the canyons, with granite rising on all sides of us.

I won't lie. It was hard. As I was hauling about 30 to 35 pounds for four hours at a time, everything hurt — my neck, my back, my hips, my knees, especially my feet. There were times I wondered, "Now, why do I like this?"

I made the mistake of wearing a pair of running shoes I bought about two years ago. I've always backpacked in running shoes and never had any problems. I guess I just didn't think about how old these particular shoes were. I ended up with blisters that seemed to multiply every day. By the third one, I started naming them. By the fifth, it wasn't funny anymore.

That said, I do like backpacking. Not everyone gets to see what we saw this weekend. I'd probably write this blog differently in a couple days, when the soreness wears off.

On Sunday, we celebrated Amanda's birthday, again. Mom packed in a tiara Amanda was required to wear the whole day. We spent Saturday night at Emigrant Lake, so we left Sunday morning to get back to our first camp by late afternoon. We spent a few hours lounging by a pool fed by a waterfall.

Today, we arrived back at Kennedy Meadow in time to take a swim in the river at, head down for showers and have dinner and Margaritas at a local Mexican place. I have it admit, it's nice to be home. Backpacking does make you appreciate modern amenities like showers, toilets and hot water.

Lesson learned: I need new running shoes.

私は日本に行っている

Translation: I'm going to Japan!

About a month ago, my publisher and editor pulled me aside and asked if I would like to apply through the Rotary Club for a one-month exchange to Japan from mid-March to mid-April. I said "Why not?" and proceeded to fill out forms and write an essay.

Last Saturday, the district held interviews in Modesto. The lady in charge called me yesterday to tell me that I was accepted.

The Rotary pays all travel, food and lodging expenses. My paper is offering to also pay my wages for writing one story a week to send back for publication.

I can't wait. I don't think it has sunk in completely yet. Now I just have to learn Japanese.

Lesson learned: It's not always bad to get called into the publisher's office.

Dame Ali Bigh

So Saturday night I joined with a few friends in solving a mystery. It's a game you can purchase that is like real life clue. Everyone dresses up as different characters and through clues, try to figure out who murdered, in this case, Sir Roger Watersdown. There were eight of us, and we all received an individualized book that told us in each round what we should try to conceal about ourselves, as well as secrets about the other characters. You then ask questions of each other to attain more information.

My name was Dame Allison "Ali" Bigh, a murder mystery novelist, best known for my highly acclaimed book "The Knife Cuts Coldly," because of my uncanny ability to capture the criminal mind. We later found out this was because I murdered someone so I could write about it. I also was a hypnotist.

I, however, was not the murderer in the end, though we all attempted it to some degree. The real criminal happened to be the quietest guy in our group.

We did this over a four-course meal, which Sarah's mom outdid herself to present.

Lessons learned: Hypnotism isn't a very effective tool to murder someone.

Farewell Josh

Josh's last day was Friday. He is heading off to drive across the country, then travel Europe with his wife, Sarah. I did promise to write blog entry about him. So here it is:

All my friends at the paper and I went through a short-lived phase of having costume parties. We did the 1980s, '70s and western. Josh was always in contention for the best costume.

I think the funniest thing I ever saw was Josh singing "Hungry Like the Wolf" complete with split jumps and hip thrusts at a local karaoke bar. He was wearing turquoise exercise pants, a florescent green fanny pack, a black mullet wig and sun glasses. This was about the time that Josh was still making us all call him "The Wolf," a play on his last name.


The '70s party was in honor of his birthday. We actually went roller skating for this one. Again Josh came out in full force and ended the night with a surprisingly agile scissor kick for the camera, which turned out to perfectly frame a fellow coworker, Dyhanna, and I, who were sitting on a curb behind him.

But the most time I spent with Josh was undoubtedly at work, where he was our comic relief, a constant distraction and the older brother I never had. I'm not kidding about the last one. I think he actually put me in a head lock one time. Another, he stepped on my sandaled toe and pushed me, so that my body went back and my foot stayed planted under his shoe. I did what all little sisters do and tattled to our editor, saying I wasn't sure if I could take the ongoing abuse. Patty always took my side, even it if was me harassing him.

Our relationship pendulumed between praising each other's work, adding that we could only aspire to each others greatness, and giving lofty presentations of our own stories on that day's paper, saying things like, "Maybe you, too, will someday have a story above the fold" (the most coveted spot in the paper). On a few occasions Josh would bestow upon me a paper with his signature on it.

We also sometimes made a killer team with a double byline, since both of our names start with the same letter. On these days Josh was sure that there were lines of people outside of the door just before the paper came off the press, waiting for our combined brilliance. According to him, the paper's circulation doubled when the W & W team joined forces to create what can only be described as journalistic gold.

As you can see, the only truth in our office can be found in the stories we write.

Well that was our interaction. But Josh is best known for serenading Jenn in falsetto, operatic song. That and his attempts at "ninja" to anyone who threatened him. He always had loyal sources who leaked tips to him because he is great at schmoozing. He and the county counsel, for example, would banter back and forth constantly. Recently Josh called him, and after two attempts and two hang ups asked for the "president of the mediocre attorneys association."

So there is your column, Josh. Have a great road trip. The office won't be the same without you. (Check out Josh's travel blog at http://thebeautifultoday.blogspot.com/.

Lessons learned: I'm going to miss this guy.

Night rider

On about 15 hours of sleep total in the past three days, I set out with riding buddy Steve to go mountain biking last night. We decided to do the trail we did last time, which is a 17-mile, 2-hour loop.

It was like a different trail. I felt a little loopy from lack of sleep, so it took every ounce of concentration I had to stay on the trail. On top of that, I hadn't ridden my own bike with clicker pedals in two weeks. I felt like I was relearning how to click out. Consequently, I did take a nice spill off the side of the trail into some tree bark. Luckily, I only suffered minor road rash and a nice bruise on the back of my thigh. For some reason, it's always my right arm that takes the hit.

After only five miles riding along a culvert, I was wondering if I was going to make it. I tend to get really spacey when I'm that tired, so I kept doing stupid things like unclicking my left foot when I needed to undo the right. At one point as I wrestled my bike through a downed tree, Steve started laughing and said "You are acting a little punch drunk."

On a series of hills, though, I got my second wind. It was a good thing, because that was about the time it started to get dark — mile 10 of 17. By the time we got down to the bottom trail by the river, I could barely see Steve in front of me. Of course, we both were wearing all black.

It had been about three weeks since we have done a night ride. Last time we started at about the same time, did a three-hour ride and managed to finish just at dusk, so we thought we should be safe even though it's getting dark earlier. Guess not.

Fortunately, the trees are semi spaced out and most of the trail is a white dirt, so we just followed the "stripe." Sometimes though, I would enter a patch of thick trees and suddenly Steve would completely disappear. I just started following the creaking of his bike, but that was a little like the blind leading the blind. Suddenly every little rut in the trail become "like the Grand Canyon," as Steve put it.

Towards the end, the stripe wasn't visible, so we got off and walked. It felt like we walked forever, but it was probably only about two miles. On the bright side, the stars made a nice backdrop, even if they didn't provide much light.

We cheered when we saw the posts marking the end of the trail and decided that this trail should now be reserved for weekend rides.

Lesson Learned: It's time to dig out the headlamp.

Fun times at board meetings

Last night was another late one. I had to cover a three-hour school district board meeting. The disctrict passed a bond a year ago but has been involved in a conflict over how to proceed. They keep asking me to keep them out of the paper. I don't think they understand that that is up to them.

It's a tough story — it's hard to weed out the truth of what has happened in the past year to get them where they are today because both sides are saying something different and it's all very heated.

On a completely different note, I just proofed a story about how the New Orleans phone book is a microcosm of how the city has changed since Katrina. For example, there are pages more of contractors than before the hurricane, while beauty salons have declined. I thought it was an interesting way of looking at things.

Now I'm just procrastinating. I have two stories to write before 4:30 p.m. so that I can go on a mountain bike ride tonight.

Lessons Learned: If you're in construction, New Orleans is the place to be right now.

The toils of travel

I'm already back in California,and Montana feels a million miles away. My last day there was split in two contrasting pieces. I spent a quiet morning on a couple-hour mountain bike ride with my sister, then hung out at Larry's Lake relaxing in the sun (it's actually called Hanson Doyle, but my dad decided his name better suited it when we bought property on its north edge). The second half was a brutal 12-hour trip home, involving delayed flights and crying babies.

My flight was to leave Kalispell at 4:20 p.m. have a two and a half hour layover in Missoula, then another one in Seattle. I was hoping to get it changed so I could get into Sacramento earlier than 10:30 p.m. as planned. The lady sent me directly from Kalispell to Seattle and then booked a flight at about 6:30 p.m. from Seattle to Sac.

Well that didn't quite work out since my flight out of Kalispell was delayed. They ended up putting me back on my original flight from Seattle to Sacramento. For this, I traded my window seat in the back of the plane for one sitting right behind a crying baby and in front a teen with dread locks who, if felt like, was practicing kick boxing on the back of my seat. I was counting on some sleep on that flight, but it was hard to come by. The baby wasn't just like a bleating newborn - this kid had lungs. She spent most the trip screaming full on, to the point she almost choked herself. The guy I was sitting next to and I resorted to playing peek-a-boo over the seat, but that only distracted her for about five minutes at a time, and I can only play that game for so long.

My second flight was late, too, so by the time I got off the plane and went to the baggage claim, I was annoyed at everyone and everything - the girl talking loudly and incessantly about her trip to France ... the two teenagers nuzzling each other in front of me ... the guy standing a little too close behind me ... even the buzzer that signaled the coming of our luggage.

I was a little nervous mine wouldn't make it in all the confusion, but it did. Thank God. If it hadn't I might have had to throw a tantrum of my own.

It didn't end there. I missed my bus stop when being taken to my car, then forgot my purse on the bus when I did get off. I ended up chasing it to the next stop wheeling my luggage behind me. As I walked back to where my car was, all I could think was, "I really should not be driving right now."

I did make it, though the exit I needed on my way home was closed, and I had to go the long way. I got home at 2 a.m., just in time for about five hours of sleep before I went back to work today. My bed has never felt so good.

I meant to write a post yesterday about our kayaking trip Sunday, but didn't have time. So here is what I might have written:

It pays to be an only child. Ever since my sisters and I moved out, Terry gets a new toy each month. My dad just bought a motor fishing boat (which we took out Saturday) and then my step-mom hooked him up with a kayak. She - of course - had to buy one for herself.

My sister and her boyfriend, Brad, also bought one for each of them. I remember when Amanda told me I was surprised and figured she would never use it. Now I want one.

So we took the four of them and a canoe out on the North Fork of the Flathead River. Anna came along, and we rotated riding in the various boats.

At one point, we went through a particularly hairy section,with about four-foot waves. Only Terry's kayak has a skirt, so you take on quite a bit of water in the kayaks when the water splashes over the nose. My step-mom made it through, but it shook her up a bit and she asked me to switch with her (since I was in the canoe).

So I did and we came up on the next set of rapids. My boat filled up pretty quick, but I managed to get it to the side to empty it out. I turned around just in time to see the bottom of the canoe as it dumped Anna, Mom and Dad into the water.

I guess the canoe only offered a false sense of safety.

Anna and Mom floated down and off to the side, leaving dad with the canoe, which by this time was almost wrapped around a rock. He was able to get it off when Brad went up to help him, but for awhile it looked as if the boat was going to snap it two.

The amazing part was that we didn't lose very much, just a fishing pole, and the canoe only has a few dings in it. Everything else was tied on well enough. I'm glad we ate lunch before we went through that section though, because everything filled up with river water.

Lessons Learned: Stick with the kayak and your original flight arraignments.

Back to school

Seven years after graduating from high school, most of us look the same. It was great to have the old crew back together again. We started off Thursday night with a reunion at the Great Northern, a local bar we used to haunt. Anna and I went in just to get my keys from my sister (because we were supposed to meet my old high school friend, Clare, at another bar), but we never left. We kept running into people we once knew. We made it about 20 feet and five different conversations about what we are now doing before we gave up and stayed.

The next day was the wedding, set at a Catholic church in Kalispell. I actually really liked witnessing a Catholic wedding. Sometimes wedding ceremonies are too hasty - a 15-minute exchange of vows before everyone runs off to party. This had some substance to it. The highlight was when the priest realized he had forgot the first page of the vows and left Annalee and Daniel standing at the alter while he went to get it, the microphone rustling as he went.

The reception was set under a large rectangle pavilion just outside Kalispell on a hillside. It was a great setting for them to start their married life. Even some of the boys who never danced in high school came out on the dance while a Blue Grass band played. I saw people there that I haven't seen in years.

Last night we had a barbecue at Anna's family’s lake house, on Whitefish Lake. We used to have Anna's birthday parties out there every year in high school. And every year Anna's mom would bring out a big flat cake from Costco. I forget how it started, but a cake fight became a yearly tradition, followed by a swim in the lake to rinse off the greasy frosting. This time, however, we managed to avoid it - mostly because we didn't have a cake, though everyone kept asking for one.

Still, it was fun to hang out on the deck as the sun set, eating burgers and drinking beer. Clare pointed out it was probably the first time we were out there drinking legally. Inevitably, all our most embarrassing or funny high school memories were rehashed.

Lesson Learned: As long as I reunite with my high school friends, my old nicknames will never die.

Home sweet home

So I'm in Montana now because two of my old friends, one I grew up with and one from high school, are marrying each other. I'm expecting a high school reunion - a little reminiscent of the college reunion I had a month ago at another wedding.

Flying into the Flathead Valley always reminds me why I love Montana. From an airplane, you can see the peaks surrounding a large, flat expanse, dotted with lakes. The Rockies make the foothills look like washboard on a road. No offense to those who are loyal to the Mother Lode, which too has a unique beauty, it's just different. Much of that probably is because I grew up here and am a little biased.

I left this morning at 3 a.m., drove to Sacramento and arrived here at about 12:30 p.m. It was fun to see my mom and brother waiting for me as I got off the plane. New buildings keep popping up in Whitefish, but home is the same. My sister, Amanda, and I went for a mountain bike ride up the forest service road across from our house, which is about 10 miles out of town. I've done the loop a million times, but it seems like forever ago. We finished just in time for a thunderstorm, but now it is clear, sunny and a little chilly. I'm not used to it after the dry California heat.

My 12-year-old brother just took me for a ride in my old Subaru Justy. Yeah, that's right, he's 12 and driving. It's weird, but he gets so excited that it's cute. We just went up the forest service road, and I don't think we broke 5 mph the whole time.

Now I'm just waiting for my dad to get home. I had to call his cell phone and make him stop working, so he can see his long lost daughter.

Lesson Learned: There is no place like Big Sky country.

A serious retarded monkey situation

I'm just now wrapping up my day, after having what we like to call a "split shift" here at the newspaper I work for. That's where I work in the morning, have the afternoon off and then come back at night, usually for some sort of meeting. We have to be here in the morning no matter what for deadline, since we an afternoon paper — the only one left on the planet.

Let me tell you, it is so great to head back to work again at 6 p.m. And by that I mean it really sucks. However, it was nice to lie in the sun by the pool for a little while this afternoon.

Coming into the office late at night alone can be a little creepy, especially in this old building. Tonight I was lucky because Josh, another reporter, was working late, too. This has a downside — only that I don't get much work done when we are discussing his up coming trip across the United States or how to create links on my blog. (By the way, I now have a couple links on my blog, let me know if anyone else wants to be included).

But I did get to hear in great detail about what a moron the spokeswoman for the local hospital is. (Do I get paid for this time, since Josh is passing on his depth of knowledge as he departs and I step in to assume more responsibility on the health beat?).

I promised Josh that I would write a blog entry about him when he leaves, since his tireless efforts to get our columnist to write a column about him have failed so far (and Josh only has about a week left to convince him). My tribute to Josh is going to take some deep thought and preparation to really capture the essence of our working relationship, so it's not going to happen tonight. But here is a preview:

We were complaining about this new system that we have to work with. Josh's analysis of it was that a retarded monkey could have done a better job.

I was kind of half listening and replied, "I could have done a better job."

"That would have been a serious retarded monkey situation," he said.

Well I guess I asked for that one. I've learned I can never let my guard down with Josh; I always have to be in quick come-back mode. Unfortunately, he is way better at it than me.

On the other hand, he sometimes gives me the best compliments ever. A couple days ago, while complaining about how I hadn't updated this blog recently, he described it as his "liquid crack cocaine," and a "glimpse into my tortured soul." Wow, I mean, I knew this was an eloquent, provacative and cleverly written page-turner that rivals Dave Berry and Shakespeare both at the same time, but I had no idea it was sparking addictions.

Lesson learned: Someone else besides my mom is reading my blog. (Mom, sorry I haven't called you back, I will soon)

Eating at the adult table

I know I'm getting older when the parties I go to start to have kids at them. Last night I went to a barbecue with some friends from church. I was older than all but one of the women there, yet all but one had a toddler and a baby (if just on the way). All except Jenn of course, though Jenn is married.

So I'm sitting on the couch with one of the moms on one side of me as she feeds a baby, and Jenn on the other. The toddlers are running around the living room screaming, and Jenn looks up at them and says, "I feel like I forgot something," referring to the kids. The other girl goes, "Well you brought your husband." Then she looks at me and goes, "Where is your husband?" like this imaginative guy is a black lab or a set of keys. I reply, "I don't have a husband — not even close."

She says sympathetically: "Well don't worry, it can happen very quickly."

I suddenly felt like I was in the Sex and the City episode where Carrie writes about how married people seem to pity those of us who are not settled in marital bliss as well. I guess I never thought of being single as a thing to escape. Yes, I would like to get married someday when I find the right guy, but I don't want to get married simply to haves someone to bring to a barbecue. I don't view marriage as something you can go out and pick up like fast food. Honestly, I doubt she meant it how it sounded, but it was funny to catch a glimpse of her perspective.

Jenn's husband, Paul, said I should have told the girl that my husband was in jail. Darn, I just don't think that fast.

Lesson Learned: There are perks to being single and without children: I didn't have to sit at the kids' table and try to prevent a kid from eating a hot dog whole.

Getting in touch with my Rasta side

I’ve been slacking on postin entries lately, mostly because I still don’t have the Internet at home. It’s 9:45 p.m. and I’m sitting in the passenger seat of my car outside of a local café that has a free Internet connection. I keep getting strange looks from passersby.

The town I live in frequently has little festivals and street fairs, and Friday night was an event called Magic of the Night. All the stores were open and bands were playing in different pockets of the main street through town. The locals find it a great excuse to start drinking early. After a little shopping, the group I was with made one of our first stops in a bar called the Sportsman. Only in the foothills can one find a bar where you can buy beer and guns in the same place. Maybe I’m crazy, but I think saying this seems like a dangerous combination is a little bit of an understatement. This is California; I’m surprised it’s not illegal. After a drink, we wove through the crowd down to a spot where the fire jugglers were performing. I actually wrote a story on this group about six months ago. They are pretty impressive to watch.

Then there was a reggae band up the street we went to see. I’m not usually a huge reggae fan, but these guys were good enough to get me to go watch them again last night, this time at an event about an hour north of here called Summerfest. This festival was on private property in a remote location that I probably could never find again. There was a little pond with a zip line, barbecuing, mountain biking and camping — and hours of reggae music. I have never seen so many dred locks in one place. One guy gave me a sticker after asking if I have any “Rasta” in me. They had about six different trashcans for recycling and a sign above them that said “no profanity.”

In the background was the constant switching back and forth between two syncopated chords in what sounded like one song that lasted for about three hours. In fact, that’s how we found our way back to the site after going on a mountain bike ride on some of the back roads. But the band we came to see was worth waiting for. Their lead singer is a woman, and she is amazing. It’s fun to dance to, and they had their own showing of fire dancers as well during one intermission.

Lesson learned: I don’t know if I really have any Rasta in me.

KAVU

Sunday was one of those KAVU days. Probably only one person who may or may not be reading this will understand that. Unless of course, you're a fan of the clothing brand. It means Klear Above Visibility Unlimited — or the perfect day.

These days for me usually involve a few components: some sort of rigorous activity, sunshine, good company and beautiful scenery. Sunday it was a mountain bike ride. My riding buddy, Steve, and I headed up the hill to a place called Spring Gap. There is a trail head there that splits off the road near a bridge and follows the creek. It eventually ends, after crossing several culverts on wooden planks. Then there is a fire road that heads up an hill and through a hilly pasture with heifers wearing cow bells. Another trail head starts there. It is the origin of a single track that is basically a tunnel through tree branches on a bed of long pine needles. It comes out onto a fire road with a roller coaster of steep hills to the top of a ridge. The final stretch is a smooth trail back along the other side of the creek.

I did a lot better this time with my peddels. Steve loosened the settings for me, so it was easier to get out of them. I was nervous for the first 20 minutes. It's amazing the effect two little metal clips can have on my adrenaline. But I relaxed after awhile and started enjoying the benefits of them. I did have one minor incident, but I wouldn't really call it an official fall.

After we got back, we sat on some of the rock slabs in the creek, until there were none left with sunshine on them, and had a beer. We came down the grade just in time to watch the sun set over the Central Valley.

Lesson Learned: It's easier to enjoy the ride if you relax.

Renewed country fan

So the concert was fantastic, especially Carrie Underwood. She was supposed to be opening for Randy Travis, but I think she stole the show. I'm not a huge country fan, but I like it everyone and awhile, from some artists. Carrie Underwood, who was last year's American Idol, had a whole crew of back musicians, one who was amazing on the fiddle, and a couple on electric guitars. One song she sang, called "Jesus take the wheel" almost made me cry. I never do this, but I went out and bought her CD this morning just so I could hear it again. It's amazing to think that just a little over a year ago, she was just one of us with a good voice.

Today I have been to the gym, then spent some time in the sun. It's great to have some time off.

Lesson Learned: Carrie is a star.

For my mental health, thank God it's Friday

This week has been insane. I'm so tired that the other day when I was driving I thought I saw a guy walking down the street in a toga. He was actually wearing a pair of shorts and a wife beater — but you can see how I would get the two confused.

Then, this morning when I woke up I didn't know where I was — even though I was in my own bed.

I just have had a lot going on at work. I'm working on two large-scale projects, an enterprise story about how electronics are changing how we communicate, daily stories about grants and new interim chancellors, briefs ... the list goes on and on. On top of that we're dealing with a new online computer system that has so many glitches we're thinking of scrapping it.

At home, I have another whole neglected to-do list. Despite that, I have been trying to have some fun on my off time. Last night, I let my friend Jenn from church convince me to go to a barbecue. I'm glad I went, although I should have been home doing laundry and balancing my checkbook. I had the best steak I've ever ate.

A couple who came brought their newborn and three-year old son. The little boy is has so much energy, but sometimes it backfires on him. Last week, he ran head on into a table at the couple's home, leaving him with two black eyes. Last night, I was in the bathroom when I heard a thud that shook the floor. He had hit his head on an end table. There was a red and puffy welt on his forehead when I came out. Poor little guy. The thing is that the family is supposed to have pictures taken on Saturday — not to mention racking up multiple concussions at the age of three probably isn't a good idea.

Anyway, I'm glad it is almost the weekend. I'm going to a Carrie Underwood and Randy Travis concert tonight at a winery. We'll see if that does anything to clear my head.

Lesson learned: My brain is too fried to even think of one.

Go Mac, Go

My work computer and my laptop at home have had a strange role reversal of late. Up until last weekend, my newly acquired MacBook was faster on dial up Internet than my computer at work with a high-speed network connection. There, our decade-old machines downloaded Web pages slower than I could run backwards up an escalator the wrong way.

No more.

We just upgraded our computer system this week, compete with new Mac Minis on an OS X operating system. We also have a new Web-based system for editing and processing stories. It's pretty much chaos around here while everyone gets used to it, but it's amazing the ease at which I can look up a Web site, organize interviews on my calendar, send e-mails, talk on the phone and type notes — all at the same time.

Meanwhile, all cyber-communication on my lap top at home has come to a screeching halt. I'm sorry to say, my newly found confidence in Apple is evaporating like gasoline on hot pavement. (I really am rooting for them to change the tide because I love OS X.)

The Apple and Mac debate was a hot topic among a few of my friends in college, and I always aligned myself with the PC supporters. My critisism was that Macs crashed, were slower and seemed more unstable than PCs. But in the past two years, I sort of changed my mind. With viruses infesting PCs, OS X's user friendliness and the new Intel core they have put in Macs, I decided to try on for myself.

Well, in the less than one month that I've had my MacBook, it has crashed more times than the four years I had a Hewlett-Packard. I've also spend about eight hours on the phone with tech support.

The problems started soon after I purchased it when it wouldn't shut down completely, then wouldn't turn back on. On my second call to Apple, the guy suggested I download the upgrade for OS X. Well, that seemed to fix the problem, but it also created one even worse. The minute I restarted after the download, my computer crashed and my Internet hasn't worked since.

Apple referred me to AOL. So I spent two hours on the phone with them, opening various folders, clicking different buttons on and off, logging on the Internet over and over. We even erased the AOL software and reinstalled. It never failed, the Internet would only let me online for a few seconds before disconnecting. He finally told me to call back Apple because maybe there's something wrong with the modem.

Two more hours-long phone calls later, the problem isn't fixed, but they're sending me a new modem. Hurray.

I know a few of you are asking why I am on a dial up connection in the first place. Of course, those of you who are make two to three times my salary and don't live in the foothills, where not that many forms of high speed Internet work. (I get dial up for free).

That said, I'm looking into DSL.

Lessons Learned: Look closer at the PCs next time. (Will someone please prove me wrong?)