Archives

Sep242009

That is One Steller Jay

The WordPress update effort has put me slightly behind, but nothing a quick jump back to the Yellowstone pictures can’t fix.  While we were out there, we came across this interesting bird.  This was actually the first time I have ever seen this particular variety and it caught me off guard when I saw it walking across a picnic table.  This is not my best effort in getting tack sharp photos, but it was a struggle to get it to stand still for even a second so I could zero in on it or attempt to focus through the branches.  According the trusty Audubon guide this is a Steller’s Jay and member of the Jay and Crow family.

According to the field guide, this bird is on the brash side and mostly omnivorous.  True to the description, it was indeed scrounging for food among the various groups picnicking in the area.  From a visual perspective, it is quite stellar looking with a bright blue back offset by a black plumed head…. somewhat woodpecker looking with a different color pallet.

From this particular picture it is obvious our presence was intruding on his foraging.  Okay, I admit it, my focus hand was shaking out of fear the bird was going to stab me with its beak and rip my eyeball out.  What, you do not believe me?  Take a look at this shot smarty pants and tell me if this isn’t one pissed off bird.

Oh yeah, his meat instincts are kicking into high gear.  I decided from that point on that all further pictures would stealth shots outside its vision.  Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this quite interesting bird

Continue Reading…

spacer
Aug182009

We're Here for You Marmots – Rocky Mountain National Park

What does the Puss ‘n  Boots and the tiny rock creatures in Galaxy Quest have in common?  The answer is they frighten me.  No, I know they are not clowns, but they have the ability to be charming and cute while they are scheming to kill you.  Puss ‘N Boots would take off his hat, expand the eyes to capture his victim off guard and the pounces on them with saber in hand.  Those cute looking rock creatures are all smurf like until one shows a weakness and they pounce on it and tear it to shreds with their fangs and claws.  Why am I bothering to tell you this?  The reason is I encountered a new creature on visit to the Rocky Mountain National Park that creeps me out in a similar manner.   Here it is in stealth mode:

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

Did you find it?  Here is a hint:

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

According to my National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Rocky Mountain States, this devious creature is a Marmot.  In my opinion he looks like a groundhog or possibly a beaver with a furry tale instead of the paddle.  Apparently, it is a member of the squirrel family which puts it in the Yosemite Sam Varmint category.  There is an error in this guide as it states that the Marmot’s habitat is below 11,000 feet.  This picture was taken at 12,000 feet on the Tundra trail.

Upon first look, it is all soft and cuddly like.  He would probably curl up in your lap and softly chirp (straight from the guide) away.

Yellow-Bellied Marmot

But there is definitely a demon side to this creature.  Take the jump to see a couple more pictures of the Marmot

Continue Reading…

spacer
Aug162009

Errata – Or Rather Time To Man-Up

This does not look good.  It is the 16th and this is the first post I have made this month.  At least I have line of site to 3 posts (including this one), but I better start seeing some weird things soon or my quota will again be in jeopardy – I know, broken record but it is August and I am on goal and within tolerance of my New Year’s resolution – before you comment, how well are you doing on your resolutions to this point? 8^).  In this post, there is good news and bad news.  The good news first, my wife finally took the time to actually read my blog which requires me to use my second hand to count the number of readers so far.  So my readership is increasing, but this one came at a small price.  Having been with me to experience a number of the blog topics, she was in a position to correct some errors in my post.  I always want to be as accurate as possible, so I am taking the time to correct a few of the mistakes she found and follow up on another post.

Starting off, I would like to apologize to Applebee’s for incorrectly identifying their fine establishment as the one causing us hardships with the gift card.  You can read the post here if you are curious.  Linda reminded it was not at Applebees, but rather:

Chedduhs

That’s right, the episode with the gift card happened at Ched’duh’s in Springfield.  Please go out of your way enjoy Applebee’s fine cuisine and make your own choice about going to the other.

Secondly, the location of the Moose encounter  was not at Yellowstone National Park as indicated in my blog entry.  The moose was actually seen as we were exiting the Rocky Mountain National Park.  I sure hope he does not find out and decide to pay me a visit.

I also thought I would take the time to follow up on the post regarding Sunny D. You know, the one where they purposely labeled their container to deceive the consumer.  Anyway, as mentioned in the post I did take the time to comment on their website and thought I would simply provide the details of their response:

This was my submission to their corporate website:

Content: I want to comment on what I consider intentional and truly deceptive marketing practices by your company. I was recently at Sams and decided to go with your orange juice offering over your competitors based on your label indicating 100% Vitamin C. Unfortunately, I purchased a case of your product under false pretenses. Once home I eventually checked the nutrition facts and noticed that a single bottle of your product only provides 80 percent of the DV. Sure enough when I turned the bottle over I found the small print of per 8 oz serving. Now I ask you, does a company with integrity put this deceptive label on a 6.75 floz container?… or maybe you think the consumer would be more than willing to op en another bottle and try to guesstimate 1.25 floz to conform to the label. I’ll accept the fact I failed due diligence on the purchase, but as a result of being deceived I will be hard pressed to consider any of your products in the future. I hope the loss of company integrity was worth not increasing your unit size or changing your label appropriately.

This was the ONLY response I received from taking the time to comment on their website regarding what I think is a serious example of deception:

Subject: RE: [BULK] Message from Sunny D

 

Good Morning,

 

Thank you for contacting SunnyD and sharing your thoughts with us. I will certainly share your feedback with the rest of the team. Thank you again for writing. Have a wonderful day!

Sincerely,

Sunny Delight Beverages Co
Consumer Relations Department

Contact Center hours are M-F 8am-7pm

Wow, I am truly a satisfied customer and looking forward to my wonderful day.  I especially liked the [BULK] portion of their subject line so I am fully aware that the entry was never seen by anyone and the automated response had a built in delete submission line in the CGI.  My lifelong ban list would like to welcome Sunny D to their pages.

I will contrast this to a recent corporate dialog with a company called RoadID.  I always wear their product whenever I run to give both myself and my wife a bit of comfort knowing there is a possibility I could be saved after keeling over on a long hot run.  Unfortunately, the strap came apart on it so I looked up their customer support email address from their company website and literally emailed their company president (yes, that is the address they gave out) and sent them short email telling them how much I liked their product and if there was a way I could purchase a replacement strap.  Almost immediately, a support representative contacted me and told me how to purchase another one, but they were going to send me one right away and waive the fee.  Hats off to Christy for going way above and beyond to satisfy a customer.  I’ll recommend RoadID to anyone who wants some security while away from home.

That’s all I have for now, time to start planning the remaining minimum 5 posts for this month

spacer
Jun222009

Go West Young Man

 Ugh, Buffalo Dung

We recently returned from our summer vacation which means only one thing boys and girls.  That’s right, you can look forward to the next 50 posts being all about the trip.  Well, probably not 50, but based on the number of pictures we took (literally thousands thanks to the digital age) I guess a fair amount of the following will focus on the various scenes caught through our expensive glass.

This year we headed out to take in some national parks.  In particular, this included Yellowstone, Grand Tetons and Rocky Mountain.  Although a little rainy (all out storms to be more precise) and cold (high 30s to low 60s) we still had a great time.  I’ll ease you into the trip experience with some images of various signs that caught our attention.  Unfortunately, I missed the one that intrigued me the most.  As we crossed into South Dakota there was a white billboard with the words “Prepare To Meet Thy God”.  I am not exactly sure how to take that.  Is it meant to be a generic warning to visitors to this part of the country that one should take some time to assess their worth before the inevitable end?  Or perhaps it is an immediate foreshadowing that you are going to die RIGHT NOW by some crazed lunatic hiding behind the billboard.

We did see lots of these signs:

Bear Spray

All I could think of was Hair-in-a-Can like Xmas tree flocking except with brown hair.  Hope nobody reads this and decides they can play another Yeti hoax on the American public.

Funny, I never see this place in the Verizon commercials.  In fact, our cell phones were turned off most of the time due to our batteries draining from no signal.

Can't You Here Me Now?

This one made us laugh out loud.  It has to be one of the catchiest billboards we have ever seen.  And no, I have absolutely zero idea what the intent was but I’ll simply respond with a big Thank You!

Your Wife Is Hot

Rounding out today’s collection of signs is one I made my wife double back for.  As a former Java developer, this sign held multiple connotations.   I figure either they like to mainline their caffeine in this town or they have all converted to .Net like me.  Which ever way you take it, it still ranks as a classic.

Jave in the Rear

That’s all for now.  Check back soon for some more funny images we captured on the way out there.  Once I get done with those I’ll dive into the cool wildlife and scenery shots we brought back.

spacer
Jun212009

Another Medal Earned… or What Was I Thinking

Start of Steamboat Race 2009

Apparently I did not learn my lesson from last year. Yesterday was the 36th running of the Peoria Steamboat Race (15K and 4M) and as planned, I was at the starting line.  The actual photo was scanned from the Peoria Journal Star so all credit remains with them.  Since they did not ask my permission to put my image in their paper I decided I did not need to ask their permission to use it in my blog.  If you are interested, that’s me in the orange and shades – I could say I was honoring my Illini Alma Mater, but the real choice was based on being the coolest fabric (temp, not hipness).  I made a pact with myself at the end of the last Steamboat that I would not let it beat me and I would attempt it again in hopes of not getting injured early in the race.  I rarely break a commitment to myself so there I was, although this time I was not sure if I was ready.

Unlike last year, we decided to move our vacation to the two weeks leading up to the race day as opposed to last year where we headed out immediately after the race which resulted in serious leg cramping.  Rather than repeat that, we changed the vacation dates which had its own challenges.  The first of these was finding time and places to train while traveling.  As best we could, we stayed at hotels with treadmills and although it was pretty cold out at night (see the other challenge), I did get one road run in.  I am now a big fan of Comfort Inns and Courtyards – both of those hotels had excellent treadmills in them and operating ours that fit my late night running preference.  Luckily, I did not have to compete for the treadmill even once allowing me to get my entire 1:10-1:20 hour training sessions in.  The other challenge was the fact we were vacationing in the Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Park areas.  Yes folks, that puts me in the 9 to 12 thousand elevation level.  I had no idea how that elevation training would impact my performance other than I knew it was actually harder to run at that elevation than it would be in Peoria.  What I did know is I could not keep the same pace causing me to back off my pace significantly (was floating around 10 minute miles for a lot of it which is significantly off my preferred pace).  So I was running slower than I wanted, running less than the full 15K (due to the slower pace), reduced foot/knee impact from running on the treadmills instead of pavement, but had the unknown of the elevation benefits and it was significantly colder at that altitude over the steam bath that usually exists on race day. .   The reduced impact from the treadmill was somewhat of a blessing because my hip had developed a serious socket pain during the training runs before the vacation.  With the uncertainty, the decision was made to ease into the first two miles to give time to assess the body.

Some starting line number you mind find interesting:

  • 36th Running
  • 4,150 participants (total both 15K and 4M)
  • 480 15K participants
  • Race time – 7:00am
  • Time the alarm clock went off – 4:50am
  • Start Temperature: 68 (I personally think it was a lot hotter or it warmed up quickly during the time I was running
  •  91% Humidity (suckage)
  • 15K winner -48.23
  • 15K Last Place Winner – 2:15:08  (congrats to beating hundreds of thousands of people who decided to stay in their comfy beds)
  • My Finish: 1:20:35 (race stats have me at :49 but I am going with my watch over the timing chips)
  • My Ranking: 285

I did come in ahead of my time last year and pretty pleased with the results based on the thoughts going through me head at  the start of the race.  I attribute some of that to the spectators along the course.  There is nothing and I mean nothing more motivation that having a complete stranger clap for you and give you encouragement along the way.  A special thanks to the couple around the 6.5M mark that was calling out our bib numbers and spurring us on with personal words of encouragement.  I always try to thank them as I pass, but my small gesture never makes up for the large boost of adrenaline that results from hearing people cheering you on.  A few more miles and I was reaching for my medal at the finish line.

Steamboat 08-09

I used the same medal image to save some time (the latest one looks almost exactly the same but does not even have the date on it anyway, so no reason to really scan it again).  A lot of sweat and wear and tear on the feet got me that medal and I clutched it with pride as I headed over to the water station.  As I looked down at my watch those 35 seconds called out a challenge.  You guessed it, I plan to be back next year to break the 1:20 mark.  Nothing like a challenge to keep the rest of the 364 days interesting.  Next time you see someone on the road struggling to make it up the hill or pushing themselves to make it those final miles… give them a wave and smile.. we all need a little encouragement every now and then.

Time to put some ice on the legs.  Tomorrow starts another round of training cycles for the upcoming Bix 7M race.

spacer