Finally, the sun!

Wow, a three day April snow storm!  It has been a while since we have experienced one of these.  Got 4 or 5 inches on Wednesday night.  But, it is just about all gone now!  That is what I appreciate about these late season storms. Good precip, but the next day the sun is out and it is beautiful.  We should have a very good grass year when the weather warms up a bit.  The lawn is still partially submerged however.  Low areas still are saturated with some standing water.  There have been several years past where I had to turn on the sprinkler system in April to keep the grass alive!  So, it is a nice change to have a good April to set up what should be one of the most beautiful springs we have had around here in a while.  The daffodils have been blooming for a while, and now finally the tulips are coming out.   Unfortunately, so are the dandelions!  On Saturday, I mowed the lawn to cut off the dandelions before they went to seed.  But as I said, there was standing water in some places and I couldn't drive the mower there for fear of sinking and getting stuck!

Our young horse (Fuego) already got out on the lawn and did a real number by tap dancing all over the place.  I don't need more damage to repair.  So, the dandelions are still in the game.  I am going to spray as soon as possible to wipe the little critters out!  It never really eradicates them, but does keep them under control at least.

I am looking forward to working in the yard, and sprucing up the place.  It is an annual rite that we need to get going on because the summers are so short.  Really can't plant any flowers until June to avoid frost kill, and even then its no guarantee.  Ah, I love living in the "High Sierra"!   That's all for today!  Later...                                                                                                  

The Learning Curve

I'm gettin' it, just have to learn a few lessons the hard way (story of my life)! Last Friday I dutifully got on to blog away. Spent about 30 minutes hammering away at the key board. As a final touch I checked the spelling, and had to make a correction. Oops! pushed the wrong button and my post went postal! Nunca, nada, zip! I was so bummed that I have avoided my blogerly duties for several days. But I'm Baaaack!

A huge storm last night knocked out the power until just a few minutes ago. As I type, the south side of the house is being pressure washed by sideways rain. Wind gusts probably near 50 MPH most of the night. It has slackened now, but still very breezy. I waited until about 9:00 this morning to resort to retrieving the generator from the barn. Got out there, and Kim pointed out that the horses shelter was coming apart in the wind. So, in bathrobe, jacket, rubber boots and tool belt I took on the elements to repair the shelter before the whole thing was destroyed. Took about 20 minutes, but I got 'er dun! Next, I put my tools away, and dragged the generator into the garage, retrieved two extension cords, came in the house to warm my hands and voile........the power was back on!

OK, at least I hadn't unwound the cords, connected the refer, freezer, and fired up the generator. You've got to appreciate the small things. Next I found that my computer had been going on and off all night as the power flickered! So I went to boot it up, but it wouldn't go! I had to do a system restore. So after about ten minutes, it was almost to the point of completing the process when the power went off again.......for about 15 seconds :\ . I can take a hint, I unplugged computer and printer, and will wait until the storm abates, and the power becomes more reliable.

Rotarians at work day last Saturday was another big success. We did landscape maintenance on the public property lining Main Street. Lots of folks asked: "doesn't the City take care of this?" I guess they should, but they don't. Anyway, our efforts made Main Street a much nicer place to be. It is highly visible to the community, so I hope they appreciate it!

Livin' and learnin'

The Pack Test (Reloaded)

I thought I had lost this post made last Friday the 23rd of April. Glad I didn't re-type it, then find it! The photo to the right accurately depicts how I felt when I found the post (like a dufus). It was taken in 2008, in the Marble Mountain Wilderness on the Siskiyou fire. I was in our remote camp location getting ready to eat breakfast, and start another day. The "reloaded" post is included below in its entirety:

Well, today was devoted to fire fighting. In order to be available to assist in working on the big fires this year, I had to prove my physical fitness. This is done by taking the "Pack Test". Officially it is known as the "Work Capacity Test" and essentially measures your ability to move around on the fire-line weighed down by equipment. "Dirt throwing" fire fighters, have to walk 3 miles in 45 minutes carrying a 45 pound pack (arduous). For folks who manage the fire (primarily from camp) it is less rigorous. Just 2 miles in 30 minutes, with a 25 pound pack (moderate). For the first time in over 30 years, I did not take the arduous level test. My lower back has been a little cranky lately, so I figured that I would take the moderate level, and if I needed to "upgrade" to arduous later I would. As a Safety Officer moderate is all I need. Wow, what a difference it made. It was a piece of cake with only 25 pounds. I went ahead and walked the 3 miles with one of my buddies who was taking the arduous level test. I was his "pacer" and he passed with 30 seconds to spare!

After the test, I came home and Worked for about three hours preparing for a spring update meeting for the Graeagle Fire Department. I am the Coordinator for the program where we assist the feds if they need help with staffing their disaster management teams (which they do). We have 3 or 4 folks (including yours truly) that help out on the big fires (floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc) when needed.

Next, I worked for another hour and a half on preparing as the Safety Officer of my Incident Management Team. I was working on a checklist for assisting in dealing with unplanned "crisis" events that occur while managing a big incident (like a forest fire). For example, say some firefighters get into trouble and are entrapped and burned. We always have contingency plans for stuff like this, but what happens when something really big and bad happens (a helicopter crashes and kills 10 people for example). It is an area that a good team thinks about in advance. So, maybe what I came up with will help. Hopefully, nothing like this happens, but in this

business, you plan for the worst, and hope for the best!

Anyway, I made a dent in it at least. Unfortunately, IT WAS A FABULOUS SPRING DAY! So probably the best part was the 3 mile hike!

That's all for now.


PS: The photo is from last year, the Aspens haven't leafed out yet this spring.

Rotary Thursday

Yesterday I spent most all day working on preparing for this year's RYLA Camp. Rotary Youth Leadership Awards is a one week camp that our Rotary District (5190) sponsors jointly with District 5180. This year I am one of the Camp directors. The camp will take place at a local facility (Grizzly Creek Ranch) for two straight weeks in June (right after school lets out. It is a great experience for students completing their junior years in high school. Anyway, not to get into details about the camp (check it out at www.camp-ryla.org) but I had some frustrations. I was preparing handouts based on hard copies I had left over from last year. I used OCR software to scan them and convert the image into a word document for editing. A very handy thing to be able to do. Unfortunately, after I finished (about 12 pages) I wen to store the new documents and found the electronic version of the hard-copy handouts I had just finished working on! Now I have duplicates. Oh well, good practice!

Today is my weekly Rotary lunch meeting in Loyalton. It is always a good time, and very good food. Saturday is our annual work day. The picture is of one of our projects from last year (irrigation for city park). We will be cleaning and weeding the public landscaping along main street in town this year. Not as ambitious as last year, but still a worthwhile community service project. Later this year we will be undertaking some very nice hands on projects with the local schools. More on that later.

Because of the Rotary commitment, I will be missing a QLG meeting. I'll get into what the QLG is later. Suffice to say, that this is one of those conflicted "retirement" days where I want/need to be in two places at once. No biggie. The tough days are where I need to be in three places at once!!

Later....

First Post

My first post. Since I retired in January 2008, I have wanted to do some blogging. I finally got inspired by my Spanish Daughter, and here I am.

This blog will probably have a lot of diverse subjects, since I have so many pressing interests at this phase of my life. Originally, I wanted to write all about the horrendous hoax that some in the "environmental movement" are perpetrating on the people of California regarding forest management in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. I will devote some time to this, but it certainly is not the "theme" of my blog. Rotary has become a huge part of my life, and I seem to devote more and more each day to this endeavor. I will become the District Governor for Rotary District 5190 in June of 2012. It's a huge job, and an incredible responsibility. You will undoubtedly hear more about this. Fire fighting on large complex forest fires is still a passion (and vocation) of mine. After 30+ years, I just wasn't ready to give up the most enjoyable part of my job. Currently, I participate as a Safety Officer on California Inter-agency Incident Management Team 4. A great bunch of professionals! Might even make a few posts from "fire camp." I might also occasionally opine about how things are going just being a "stay-at-home Dad" since My number one priority is getting my last two daughters through high school and on to college. The opportunity to do this was a big factor in my leaving the US Forest Service when I did. Of course the ever increasing grinding bureaucracy, and "politically correct" non-leadership had a little to do with that decision as well.

So, we'll see how productive I will be as I embark into the blogosphere. Here goes!

Woody