Alarm clocks and not using them

So, since I have been here, I have not used my alarm clock to wake up in the morning.

I wake up naturally before the alarm goes off and disable it after I decide that 9 more minutes of sleeping won't do me any good.

A few times I have woken up, freaked out, thinking I am late, then realized that I had an hour to sleep. Then I woke up like 10 minutes before.

So...

Should I just not turn the alarm clock on? If I do that, I bet I over sleep.

My sleeping brain has some alarm clock fear...
OR, its the damn crows scaring off the cat that wakes at 6:21...

Fire shaving

Seriously considering it...

http://www.instructables.com/id/Fire-Shaving/

I had the idea on the long trip across the country, and knew that someone else must have documented their trials online before I had to attempt it.

Memorial Day weekend 2009 (Hike to Mount Lowe Tavern near Echo Mountain)

Last Sunday I went hiking with a dude from work, his friend, his friend's friend, and his friend's friend's dog.

We hiked in the Angeles National Forest to where the Mount Lowe Tavern used to be near/on Echo Mountain. The Mount Lowe Railway went up that way, so we saw the end of that line. We actually used some of the "echophones" mentioned (and pictured) in the wikipedia article.

I don't know how long the hike was, but we definitely did not bring enough water. Luckily, I don't need very much water, but my camelbak would have been welcome. I was the only one that didn't finish my water by halfway up, and actually had some at the end. I got a healthy fear of running out of water in me.

Pics to follow:





Looking at the pictures toward LA, I think you can see the smog layer. More trees than I thought in the Altadena/Pasadena area. Seems we picked a good hike, from wikipedia again about the Sam Merrill Trail, which was in the list of "10 Great North American Hikes" in USA Today. 2.55 mi? maybe.

First day in town

On the first day in town we decided to bike ride to the beach and see where that took us. We rode down to the beach and took this really steep incline. Parked the bikes and went and touched the ocean. Both of our jeans got soaked by an errant wave and I found some little small sand crabs. Maybe they get bigger by the end of the summer. We biked to the pier and went off on foot. It was really nice, just walking around at a tourist-y thing but not really feeling like you had to be a tourist. I randomly bought a churro and we went off eating it [from separate ends.. one bite at a time :-) ]. There was a trapeze school that we watched for a bit, then the little kids doing bumper cars. I was surprised that you could get your head sculpted in clay for like $10 or something. We watched some people fishing off the end of the pier and some random dude from PA came up to us saying hi and excited about being on the beach.

Next we got the bikes and swung by work, so I could see the building. We stopped at the Third Street Promenade and had fun walking its length, watching street performers (there was this dude that did amazing things with bubbles) and stopping in stores (this puzzle shop was cool). Had a good dinner overlooking the street and then we biked home.

Very nice day!

washing hands at work

So, at work, you hit the faucet and it starts going for a while.

IT ALWAYS STOPS RIGHT BEFORE I AM DONE.

Like, I have one last 0.5 second rinse required...
it finishes. I have to use two uses. And it doesn't matter if I am going fast or slow.

I even tried today to beat it, going really quick.

Oops, I forgot a spot of soap... I needed two uses.

I'll beat this faucet!

2nd amendment and cyberattack

So this came up on the DC trip, does the 2nd amendment apply to cyberattacks?

Do you have the ability/charge to defend yourself in an active manner instead of solely passive defence?

Discuss.

Cross country trip 2009 Out Leg III: Grand Canyon

Another place that we stopped at was the Grand Canyon. We hiked down the rim a bit, which was awesome. I actually saw a California Condor flying in the air (I think, it was huge, right shape, red head, etc).

The hike down the rim was nice, but its fairly steep. We brought plenty of water and cheez-its.






and a flowering plant:


Along the way, we met a squirrel, Mr. BlindEye. BlindEye was missing an eye, and had a scratch on his back that was an open wound. He was extremely friendly, I took these pictures with a cell phone camera, so they were very very close. We met him on the way down, but on the way back up, he followed us to this rock where people stop to drink/rest. He wanted the cheez-its, like hardcore, he was a very brave squirrel. He almost went into our backpack and probably would have run up my leg if I wasn't paying attention. When we first met him, he just ate flowers and didnt care about us. I thought he might be deaf, I clapped in his ear, nothing! Most squirrels I know, you can't even see them, because they are already on the other side of a tree.