Door Slave

it seems that I have become a door slave to 2 dogs and 3 cats. Of course I have known for the past 50 years I have been a door slave to large number of dogs and cats but it seems to be worse the past week or so. There is always one or another of them wanting in or out. They come in, they go out. And repeat. And repeat. The dogs have to go to use the facilities. But the cats were supposed to be indoor cats. I insisted on my cats being indoor cats if I lived in town, especially in an apartment. but here on several areas they enjoy going out as much as I do. I don't force them to go out, but I do "train" as much as you can train a cat to come in at dark each evening. I do it by constant, presistently doing a "cat roundup" each evening. They don't like it but it is a necessary evil as we have coyotes in our area. I see a lot of cats in our area now that are out at night and I am surprised more of them don't disappear. In the mean time I will continue to be a door slave. I just wish they wouldn't always wait until I sit down to ask to come in.

From a different perspective

This afternoon I noticed a hummingbird flitting through the lilies. I grabbed my camera in the hopes of capturing it enjoying the nectar but by the time I got to the window it was gone. Perhaps it will come back tomorrow and I'll be a little quicker. Since I had the camera at the window, I played around a bit with the zoom capabilities and got these shots. I like how the out-of-focus grass enhances the color of the lilies. I'm still amazed by how many blooms are on each plant and am really enjoying them. When we lived at our previous home, the flowers were in beds on the side and at the back of the house and we had to actually go outside to look at them. It's much nicer with them right outside the front window, especially with the high temperatures and high humidity we've been having lately.

So what does this have to do with family history research? Not anything, really, but seen from a different perspective, these views of the lilies are quite different from those taken two days ago. Sometimes (quite often), when I'm stuck with a research problem, it helps if I look at the problem from a different angle. Reviewing the information already found could help in rediscovering information previously overlooked. Talking with someone else and getting their input can also be helpful. Since they aren't emotionally attached to the problem they can take a step back and possibly offer new insight or recommend other areas of research. Regardless whether the problem is resolved or not, it almost always helps to take another look, from a different perspective.

Sunflower Bumblebees

The weather the past few days has sorta been making me miss the hot days of summer. As much as I like cooler weather and like winter, I do enjoy the summer as well. This photo was taken on a hot summer day this past August, in the Grand Portage community garden. There were a lot of bumblebees hanging out on the sunflowers that day, and I had great fun taking macro shots of them with my Canon G11 camera. This is my favorite shot from that day.

Upside Down North Roads

During the VCC Northern Ireland Ride last weekend I had the opportunity to ride several bicycles that were fitted with upside down North Road handlebars - classic swept-back bars mounted upside down in order to achieve a lower hand position. Personally, I love upside-down North Roads. Unlike many other handlebar set-ups designed to achieve an aggressive posture, I've always found them comfortable and intuitive. So it surprised me to learn from others on the ride that this set-up tends to be a "love it or hate it" sort of thing, with many falling firmly into the latter category.






Apparently, those who do not like the bars report that they make a bike's handling twitchy - almost providing too much leverage for comfort. That intrigues me, because that same feeling of leverage is what makes me feel in control of the bike - able to manipulate it and "place it" as it were exactly as I want.





I also like the ergonomics: My wrists just seem to naturally plop down onto the gripping areas as they do on regularly mounted North Roads, but the low placement of my hands enables a much more aggressive position than on a typical upright bike. It's almost like riding with drop handlebars, except with access to standard brake levers in the drops.






Interestingly though, I noticed that all the upside-down North Roads on the VCC ride were set up with the gripping areas pointing down, whereas in the US I usually see them set up with the gripping areas more or less parallel to the ground. I cannot tell which I find more comfortable.






Setting a bicycle up with upside-down North Roads is the best method I know of achieving an aggressive yet ergonomic hand position without resorting to drop bars. I am curious what your thoughts on them are.

Interlude

Lovely Bicycle is in the midst of transatlantic displacement.
Thank you for visiting!

Baruntse Dbl boot Liners?

Over the last couple of years I have been looking hard at all the available double boots for fit and performance. In my opinion the best dbl boots don't generally come with the best inner boots. The most well known after market liner, the Intuition leaves a number of things to be desired in a climbing boot. No wonder as they are ski boot liners first and formost. It is however a great inner boot if you want to ski in your Spantiks. Production inner boots that are suppose to be easily heat fit like a good ski boot liner aren't. That can result in your feet suffering no matter what kind of foot you have.

The best of the current inner boots that I have seen is a foam inner that is nylon lined on both the inside and out and made by Palau in France.

www.palau-boutique.com

Lucky La Sportiva decided to use the Palau liners for the Baruntse. I've used the Palau/Baruntse liner in my Spantiks and now again in the Scarpa Phantom 6000s. I think the Baruntse liner is better/warmer that either boot's original liner. The Palau liner is warm, but not overly thick. It is very easy to dry out, as there isn't much nylon to absorb water. They are easy to heat form by any good ski boot fitter and even easier to lace up. They are the lightest inner boot I have weighted including the Intuition or 6000's liner. The nylon lining on the inside and outside of the Baruntse inner boot makes them easy on and off in the mountains and durable compared to an all foam inner boot. Purchased directly from La Sportiva NA they are $120 a pair plus shipping. A direct comparison to everything else easily available on the winter boot market shows no down side that I can see, including the retail price.

http://www.sportiva.com/products/cat/A


Pictured here with a pair of Spantiks.




>







Spare Baruntse liners were not available last season. In limited numbers and sizes they are available now. If they don't have your size you can also get a pair put on back order by calling Rebecca.

Oct. 6,
> Dane,
> Thank you for your email! We do have the Baruntse liners in size 45. We
> are in the process of updating our website and currently do have the
> Baruntse liners in stock. The cost is $120 plus shipping. I would be
> happy to place an email/phone order for the Baruntse liners. Let me know
> what you would like to do.
> Cheers!
> Rebecca Carroll
> Customer Service Representative
> La Sportiva N.A., Inc.
> 3850 Frontier Ave - Suite 100
> Boulder CO 80301
> 303.443.8710 ext 13
> www.sportiva.com

Jeff Lowe's Metanoia

Jeff's list of accomplishments in the alpine could easily fill several books...OK...several more books. This project, like everything from Jeff's imagination should be spectacular.



More here:



http://jefflowemovie.com/





Dbl click the topo:







Here is a recent update from Mr. Lowe himself on the project, from Supertopo.com and reposted here with his permission.



I am very excited to see this project happening!





"Our plan from the beginning was to go over to Switzerland last winter and get helicopter footage of Ueli on the route, then come home and edit a teaser that would help us to raise more money to go back this winter to re-create some key scenes from my climb in the exact spots they occurred.



The weather was never good for Ueli to start up last winter, but we worked the Eiger and the surrounding peaks by helicopter and shot scenes with Ueli, Catherine and me that allowed us to cut a good teaser. Back home we also got key interviews with the Latok crew (thanks to Piton Ron!), and Malcolm Daly. We are currently raising money to go back late this coming winter, hopefully to capture Ueli on the second ascent, but definitely to do the re-creations from my climb. We still have a release date of autumn, .



We will have a major presence at the OR show in January. The OR folks feel this film, which documents my career from the 50's to the 2000's, also reflects the evolution of the outdoor industry itself, so they are helping to sponsor it. Very soon, the website, jefflowemovie.com, will have major new features and information and will be a good place to find out what's happening with the film. I will also try to do better to keep ST informed.



Ueli actually did make a start on Metanoia in October, but loose snow over compact slabs in the First Band below the Hinterstoisser Traverse caused a big fall, so he rightly came down to wait for better conditions. Understandably, Ueli does not want us to make a big deal out of his "second ascent", until he's actually done it. Considering all the elements that have to come together for a climb of Metanoia, together with Ueli's full-packed schedule of other projects more central to his own vision, we sre ready to cut versions of the story with or without a second ascent.



Werner, it's actually a bit of a stretch to claim many people have tried to repeat Metanoia, although that is what it says on the trailer. Over the years I've been asked for info on the route by about a dozen different climbers, many of them hard-core eastern European climbers for whom the sort of "suffering" required seems to be more palatable than for more pampered types. None of them reported much progress in even finding the route through the First Band. I've made certain Ueli knows it, though, and that's been proven by the fact that he got through the key pitch which is A4 followed by unprotected free climbing to the next possible belay. This pitch is directly behind where Toni Kurtz was hanging on the rope when he died, and the five pitches through the First Band were my tribute to the spirits of the Eiger Pioneers of the 1930's.



My decision to climb without bolts is one of the things that defines the Metanoia experience. It's really analogous to trying to find a bolt-free line up El Cap somewhere in the vicinity of the Nose: it ain't easy!



-Jello"

aka: Jeff Lowe