Today I paid off the last bit of my student loan. With one $1200 stroke I finished it off. It’s something I’ve been working on all year. I had been paying off $500 a month, but when I got my promotion and raise, I took the extra money I was earning and bumped it up…
Building Badger Mountain
Yesterday I volunteered to help build a trail up Badger Mountain. I have a hard time calling it a mountain without a little sarcasm, considering my Montana roots, but when you’re building a trail up it, somehow it seems like scaling Everest. I had volunteered last year to build the trail on the other side…
Carrot Cake
350* until toothpick is clean, about 40 minutes Main cake: 3 cups grated carrots (about 6) 2 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups white sugar 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 eggs 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 (8 ounce) can…
Wearing a helmet
This evening I was about to do my laundry, but I noticed I was short on quarters. I hopped on my bike and headed over to the local Safeway, literally a 2 minute bike ride. Since it’s such a short ride, on the sidewalk most of the way, and I had gel in my hair,…
Update on patents
I just realized that I haven’t entered in my blog the third patent application this year. I signed the application a few months ago, and forgot about it, really. But I’m working on my contribution report for the year, and noticed it and thought I’d mention that I’m up to 3 now. A while ago…
Jump 5
Yesterday I did my fifth jump. This time I did a practice rip cord pull. This means that my chute is still being deployed as soon as I jump, but now I’m reaching for where the rip cord is supposed to be and pulling out a wadded up rag as practice. A couple more times…
Another Painful Cooking Experience
Today’s lesson is about cankersores. These are stress-induced sores on the inside of the mouth that are very painful. They are not bacterial or viral. After a few days, they will go away on their own. Since I have been under a lot of stress lately with the end of the fiscal year approaching at…
Crazy Weekend
This was quite the weekend. I’m really not sure I could have packed any more into it. I had a lot of fun, though, so I’m a happy boy. It all started after work on Friday afternoon. I signed my time card and left, hurrying home for a quick bite. I had fairly old leftovers…
Rafting the White Salmon
Yesterday I went white water rafting on the White Salmon river. I’d already done it the year before, but it’s a fun trip, and I was with a lot of friends, so it was a guaranteed good time. We got up early and met nearby at 6 in the morning. Then we began the drive….
Back in the Game
Today I played my new best game of disc golf. On the front 9 I had +1, and on the back 9 I had +2, giving me a total of 3 over par. My goal for the end of the summer is to hit par for the course. I had a lot of opportunities for…