Whistler 2009

I had a great ski trip in Whistler. This is a very busy time, and I ended up doing a lot more work than you should do on vacation. But, I guess you do what you have to. In any event, we flew into Seattle and made the 5 hour drive to Whistler up the Sea to Sky Parkway in British Columbia. Not much to see at night, but the return trip during the day was awesome. The first picture is of part of the group at the peak of Whistler.

The big reason for our return to Whister so soon (we were there only 3 years ago) was the Peak To Peak gondola that opened this year. The gondola bridges Whistler and Blackcomb mountains. It's a pretty cool engineering feat. In the picture, you'll see two lines of cleared trees that are for the gondola. Basically, the sag of the gondola carries you part way down into the valley and then back up. It was a little like a ride at Six Flags only a bit slower. If you look closely, you will see the "wheelhouse" for the gondola located on the other side.

-jp

Finally...a date!

Janet and I finally settled on a date. Assuming I survive the next couple of months of school and work, Janet and I will be married on May 22, 2009 after nearly two years of engagement. It really doesn't seem that long ago that I was making a very nervous phone call to her father asking him if he like to go have a drink. Luckily, I got there early enough to chug a couple before he arrived. He gave his permission, and we were off to the Virgin Islands.

I won't bore everyone (again) with the full details of the engagement story, but after a couple close calls involving a Florida redneck and a small shark, Janet said "yes". (Well not really, what she really said was "of course" which isn't really a yes but I suppose it is an affirmative answer so that's the way we roll.)

Anyway, we're looking forward to our return to the islands for a brief ceremony and sail. Maybe this time we won't have to come back.

-jp

Unfinished projects...

I hope - it's still a hope - that in May I can say that I finished a project - a major one. As the time nears, I look back on my Master's program and wonder how on Earth I've managed. It has been a tremendous amount of work, and this term is shaping up to be absolutely horrendous. A lot of things have taken a back seat to this Master's degree, and I hope to be able to get back on track once this is complete.

One of the unfinished projects is the crawlspace insulation. I did manage to get a large majority of the house done before Business Strategy moved in and became all consuming. So, several rolls of insulation wait patiently for me to type papers, take tests, and pray for the pain to end.

In the end, I'll have a degree...and be qualified to install insulation.

How many rolls of insulation will fit in a Toyota Tacoma?

Like me, I'll be every one of you has asked this question. Only recently did I have the opportunity to determine the answer putting to rest one of life's greatest mysteries.

With a passenger (assuming she is willing to carry one roll on her lap)...34
With a not-so-willing passenger...33
Leaving your passenger behind...35 (this is anecdotal as I dared not leave my passenger behind)

[Look carefully at the picture and you'll notice the pink stuffed behind the seats.]

These answers are all dependent on having a shell on the truck bed and a rack on which to place one bundle (of six rolls). After some additional ciphering, I now believe that a willingness to drive home in truck reminiscent of a clown car at the circus would allow a person to carry 52 rolls. I'll have to wait until we get a bigger house to test that hypothesis.

As to why we need 34 rolls of insulation, we are going to insulate the floor of our house. This involves a fun filled day in one of my favorite places...the crawlspace. I'll be installing a new 6 mil vapor barrier over the old and then stuffing insulation in the floor joists.

The joys of home ownership.

A White Christmas...and then some

It was a weak moment I'll admit. But plane tickets were expensive and leaving the dog behind for Christmas seemed like an unforgivable offense. So the decision was made to drive to Iowa for Christmas. Yes, DRIVE to Iowa. Nevermind that in my 20+ Christmases living in that state I witnessed countless news reports of hazardous driving conditions, travelers stranded in the hubs of various transportation modalities, deaths by hypothermia, and snow blinded adventurers found wandering in the cornfields. Clearly, I need my head examined.

But on the evening of December 19, we loaded the car with presents, luggage, and the dog. The idea was to use time spent "wasted" at home to get a jump on the weather system heading for Iowa. I'm glad we did because as we approached Iowa City we saw the first of 23 instances of travelers whose Christmas would be spent in the local body shop waiting for repair estimates for their automobiles. Life is good between the ditches.

We were seriously tired upon our arrival and went to bed early. Little did we know what Mother Nature had in store for us. We woke to temperatures preceded by a minus sign and wind that pushed the wind chill factor even lower. Even the normally-adventurous dog didn't venture beyond the deck necessitating a cleanup "scoop" a bit later in the day. Welcome back to the frozen tundra.

Outside of the weather, the visit was spent having a terrific time with family and friends. The mood was only dampened by the thought of a Christmas Day departure for yet another 16 hours spent in the car. But as we crossed into Georgia the thermometer in the car read 60 degrees. Ah! Life is good!

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Thanksgiving...ahhhh. The food was wonderful. Janet and I had a great day. Well, I did. She did all of the cooking. My only responsibility was to entertain her parents, and they're pretty good at doing that themselves.

The day after T-day we headed out on the annual pilgrimmage to North Carolina on the hunt for a Christmas Tree. Yes, I know that you can get a Christmas Tree at the corner lot, and yes, I know that probably counts less toward our carbon footprint. I like choosing and cutting my own tree. So I'll buy carbon credits. Life is good!

After making our way to the Ty-Lyn Plantation in Cashiers, NC, we walked through the farm looking for the perfect tree. After looking for a while it occurred to me that most "perfect" trees always seem to be a bit too tall. Wonder why that is? Guess we'll need to take that into account when we add on to the house. Taller ceilings are a must.

So we found the perfect tree, the dog peed on it, and I started the process of felling our tree. In a matter of seconds, I was through the trunk and hoisting the tree. Somehow it seemed so uneventful without a chainsaw and screaming children, but I digress...

Upon getting it home, we were able to get the tree in the stand and watered, but decorating had to wait until tonight. Unfortunately, this is final's week and I have a project due so no Maker's while we decorated. Guess I'll have to make up for that this weekend.

Here's a picture of the final product.

-jp

The Thunderbirds

The Wings Over Marietta airshow was this weekend at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Since the base is about a mile from the house, Janet and I were able to see much of the show from the vacant lot across the street from the house. The F-22 Raptor was very impressive as it did demonstration flights. Unfortunately, we did not capture any of it on film. However, we did film a little bit of the Thunderbirds show.

-jp