What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Yeah- I'm gonna call Bullshit on that old saying...

Someone used it in conversation a few days ago and I had to take exception...
There may be instances where it may be somewhat accurate, but on the whole, things that hurt you badly but don't kill you generally fuck you up for long periods of time and leave you debilitated for a longer time...

Things like:

• Diabetes
• Getting hit by a truck while crossing a busy road and having your spine crushed and a skull fracture.
• Contracting chronic Lyme disease.
• Asthma 

I know a guy down in Australia who contracted Ross River Virus from a mosquito bite during a camping trip in Queensland several years ago and now he needs to be pushed around in a wheel-chair, moaning the whole time about his joints and inadequate ramp access to public buildings and mass transit issues.

TBG - - [Exit- pursued by a LPGA golfer]

Oversaturation

I used to think LucasArts and Lucasfilm
really had marketing overkill mastered, until the last couple months.

Disney is the unabashed King o' Marketing... All the Star Wars - The Force Awakens marketing tie-ins are overwhelming. I am really getting quite fed up with it all...
Instead of it piquing my interest in seeing the flick, it almost makes me want to avoid all the insanity.
Hell- I saw a damned Fiat commercial with SWTFA branding... WT actual F?

But this jewel that I came across this AM.
This is FUBAR.

Hmmm - Never Thought Of It That Way...

As I was trying to get my rebooking sorted this morning, the level-one United rep (the guy who stands between the queued up passengers and the Ticketing Agents) and I were chatting regarding the cancelled flight...
I remarked that last year I was on the same cancelled SYD-LAX flight... He gave me a sidelong look and slowly nodded his head.
"Any of your other flights get "mysteriously" cancelled?" he asked.
"Loads of them. Probably 10 this past year." I said.
"Hm. Ever think the problem might be you?" he said, with a trace of humor...

Wow.
Never thought of that.

Maybe it IS me...

TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

The Definition of Insanity: Trusting United Airlines

Once again, I give United Airlines a chance to stick it in and break it off, and they do it with gusto.
At dinner last night I got this:


Astute Constant Readers will remember that last year United did the exact same thing to me. At least this time I found out last night and got to try to rebook quickly.
I am tired-tired-tired of these jokers.

What is that classic definition of 'insanity'? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results?
I must be insane for continuing to book my travel with United.

I mean, it's one thing if a flight is delayed occasionally, but this is happening to me way too often. In addition, if this was a short business trip to Houston and back, it wouldn't be so painful- but I've been gone a month and it just adds insult to injury.

Well- hopefully I will be on an alternate flight...
I'm heading for the airport in a few minutes, we'll see how it goes.

TBG - - ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Tech Support: Notes from the Battlefield

From the "Too stupid to own a computer" file:


(While walking a User thought a procedure in Windows)

Yours Truly: "I need you to right-click on the document."
User: "Ok."
Yours Truly: "Did you get a pop-up menu?"
User: "No."
Yours Truly: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up
menu?"
User: "No."
Yours Truly: "Ok... Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?"
User: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'."

(That banging noise coming out of the server room is me, putting dents into the side of the server rack with my forehead.)

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Glutton For Punishment - The Followup

The plan:
Drop off car near Cronulla Station, take 5:25am train to Otford, Walk to trail head at Otford Lookout.
Begin hike at +/-6:30am.
Need to complete hike at Bundarra before 7:00 PM to catch last ferry back to Cronulla.
12 hours to do 26km. Easy peasy.


You know- there is a reason that they recommend making it a two-day hike...
Looking at the satellite views from Google maps doesn't tell the whole story.
I should have taken the walk from the station to the trailhead as a sign of things to come.


I got to the station just after 6:00 am.


From the station to the lookout is a 300' climb.
Not a good way start...
I had my backpack with water, a change of clothes, etc, and I had picked up an aluminum telescoping walking stick... The stick was a life saver.
I used it in it's original office to steady myself- but I also employed it to fight off the spiders...
The bad thing about being first on the trail for the day is that overnight the spiders have laid webs thick and heavy across the trail.
Everywhere.


(One of billions)

Gah.

Once I got started I was doing pretty good. I resigned myself to the fact that this was going to be an all-day thing.
One thing that all the documentation said was that it could be done in one day if the hiker was in excellent shape.
Dude, I am NOT in excellent shape.
I'm not even in decent shape.

By about 10:30 I had made several up-and-down traverses- from the top of the hills and cliffs, then down to the beach, then back up to the top of the next cliffs to the next descent to the next beach...
And the beaches- beautiful and deserted, but-

Slogging in hiking boots across the sand will sap every bit of energy you have.
And there is an inevitable realization that when you go down, you must also go back up.

I had made it to Garie Beach by 10:45 and the sun was starting to come out...
I slathered up in sunscreen and kept at it.
The worst climb was coming up... The climb up to Garie Overlook was another 350' up a winding log and stone path. I'm not embarrassed to say that it took me almost 90 minutes to get to the top, and another 30 to recover from the climb and eventually move on.

One thing about the paths and trails...
There is quite a bit of variation in the paths- from barely-recognizable paths through scrub, to wide-open roads, to composite decking that traverse grassy areas.


Rocks in the path like this are ankle-breakers. Not to hikers: Wear boots with good ankle support. I wore my Belleville boots- had I worn sneakers I would have had to bail an hour into the trip.


Wide-open spaces. Watch for spider webs.

Another danger was not paying attention...
If you stopped on the trail, you had to make sure you weren't standing on these:


Some bad-ass army ants would boil up out of these holes and (I assume) bite the shit out of you...
I saw them swarm once early in the day, and I steered clear after seeing how fast they could move.


Composite decking on the cliffside.


Another high climb from sea level...


Mmmm. Nice decking...

There was a long relatively flat stretch (about 4 miles or so) where I just got roasted by the sun... It was a tease, however.

Pretty plants... They are probably poisonous, this being Australia and all...
(Took this pic with my Samsung phone, hence the quality- most other pics were taken with my Oz iPhone from the tournament.)

Rain was in the forecast for the afternoon and I could see the clouds rolling in from the north as I soldiered onward.
I didn't realize how fast the storm was coming. I got to the next way point, Eagle Rock at a 1:45p, and the wind was whipping and the rain started.
I hunkered down under an overhang of rock waiting for the worst of the rain to pass-
it took almost an hour- and now I was starting to worry about making the ferry at 7 PM.
I also knew I had 2 major climbs in front of me...
One thing I had in my backpack was one of those Mylar space blankets...
I wrapped up in that, covering my head and my backpack (a wet backpack is HEAVY) and got on my way.
Fortunately the rain had slacked off a good bit- just waves of drizzle...
Curracarrang to Wattamolla was a wet blur for me. It was my next resting place...
I changed socks and got going again- another high climb off the beach at Wattamolla and then off across the cliffs again heading for the Marley beaches.
I got smart going across the Marley beaches by taking off my boots and carrying them in my backpack- much better going- definitely worth the time.
One last climb up from Marley's beach - it was just after 4pm... I had a 400' climb over the next mile and a half- then a long downhill to the ferry in Bundeena and the rain was getting heavier... the drizzle was now waves of short light showers.
I got to the trail end at 6:05pm, and walked through the streets of Bundeena trying to find the ferry dock. I got to the dock just at 6:30- the last inbound ferry just arrived.
I got my ticket and sat on the boat to wait for the ride back to my car...
It was uneventful, except I could barely drive once I got to the car.
I had to take my boots off and massage my feet and legs for a bit before I could get back on the road...

But I made it.

From the pedometer on my phone...


Did I have a good time?
Not really...
Was it cool?
Yes- I'm glad I did it.
Do it again?
Nofuckingway.


TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Exit Row, Baby.

Certainly can't complain about legroom on this flight.
I'll need to take a taxi to get to my bag, though...

Letters To People Unlikely To Respond: Clueless Traveling Mom

Memo to Moms traveling with small kids:

If you're on a flight that is late arriving to a major transfer hub, how about you and your precious snowflakes stand aside on the Jetway and let the folks that are dashing to try to make a connection go past?

Mom with one in arms and two in the two to four year old age were the first ones out the door on the late-arriving flight.
As soon as they cleared the doorway at least 5 people behind broke into a run, vaulting the stanchions trying to make their flights...
Mom and her parade had taken up the whole jetbridge in a meandering stroll to the concourse, holding up the entire plane as they moseyed along...

C'mon folks... Use your head for something other than a spot to hang your beaded headband and your Prada sunglasses.

Annnnd....another delay.

Whoda thunkit?

Every. Damned. Time.

Its like a law of nature or something...
I fly on United, I get delayed.

En Route

25,000' 6:17am.
Heading to Phoenix via Chicago.

Rain Rain Go Away

Sitting under a canopy at the gas station...
The bottom fell out as I left the office.

I just love the regular basic clockwork summer afternoon thunderstorms.

Need to fit the FJR with pontoons and a propeller.

Stop Bitching and Do Your Job

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE

Expensive Weekend

TL;DR
My shits f'ed up, yo.
Working on correcting it.


Longer:


The weekend started well- the Friday night Ingress get-together was good right until the end when I tried to do an equipment drop with Steve from Houston...
I couldn't get my Samsung S2 to synch up and behave enough to do the swap.
This should have been a harbinger of Things To Come. 

(I hear you saying: What?! An S2? No one uses the S2 anymore. This is 2014, Dumbass. 2010 called, they want their phone back.)

Saturday started a bit late, but good- I met up with the crew for breakfast and we got to work. Good times, good times.

Checking messages during the day, my phone was still acting up- never a good sign..
Worse- it felt like it was running hot... Well- hotter than usual.

Well- screw it. No time to worry now-the project waits for no man. I'll have to do with what I have. 

As we were knocking off for the day, my smartphone dies.
Like dead.
Completely dead - screen black.
And hot? Holy crap it's burning hot.
Like can't-hold-it-without a 2d6 damage roll.

Power?
No- it's on the external battery. 4 blue lights.
It is vibrating now and then, just slightly. Like a mackerel laying on the dock- twitching occasionally as it slowly expires.

Great. What the hell else can go wrong?

Everyone has taken off- so I head back beach-bound...

I missed my turn off one street heading for the bridge out of downtown (not paying attention, wound up in wrong lane, dumbass move 1) and just figured I'd circle back by going around the block. (Typical 'downtown' layout, lots of one way streets.

This is when it really got fun. And expensive.

Coming up to a stop, Soccer Mom was in front of me in her MiniVan- taking the right on red...
I'm looking left after seeing her pull into intersection- all still clear so I start to roll on the throttle and look back right....
Soccer Mom was only halfway into the intersection and I was .000002 inches from her bumper.

BANG! Ow!

Oh. Shit.

F'ing lovely...

She pulls up into the parking lot...
I push my FUBARed bike up to the curb.

Bike's not rolling anywhere anytime soon. Left fork is mangled, front fender is in 4 pieces, cracks in faring. Front left brake is toast.

Personal physical harm... Yeah- there's damage.
Deceleration trauma where my cojones hit the gas tank as the bike impacted the back of Soccer Mom's car.
There is going to be some swelling... And not the good kind.

Damage to Minivan- a bare scratch in the vinyl of her back pseudo-bumper.
Virtually nothing.

Me- I'm screwed...
And it hits me... I am in Dark Territory. No cell phone. No camera to document damage.
Shit... no contact list (it's on my phone) of people to call.

Soccer Mom lets me use her phone-
"But only for a minute- I have to go pick up the kids!"

I find an old receipt with the number to the bike repair place in my case on the back of the bike...
I call them, explain the situation and ask them if they can send their truck and bike trailer to pick up my heap of twisted metal...
No- truck is out on another pickup. They'll send a wrecker.

Great.

I got Soccer Mom's info and she took off.
I'm on the curb, pissed.

It was especially frustrating as I have no way to alert anyone as to my predicament...

Have you noticed a dearth of payphones now days?
Used to be one on every corner.
Now you can't find them for love nor money.
Besides- even if there was a phone, I didn't have any numbers memorized, they're all on my contact list on my phone... (Or my iPad back home.)

I'm screwed.

90 minutes (or thereabout- I was about to pass out from the heat)
the tow truck showed up.

We wrestled my FJR up on to the flatbed and strapped it down, then headed off to the cycle repair shop in Atlantic Beach.

On arrival I realized Dumbass Mistake #2 - I hadn't latched my "trunk" on the bike. it had blown open and all my shit was strewn along I-95 & Atlantic boulevard...
Things like my riding glasses, gloves, some of my tools, and my bike manual.
Just #$%@*&^!ing lovely.

At the shop, The Mechanic looked at the remains of my bike as one would a bad cheese.

"Yeah, well- the one fork we can fix with new seals.
That other fork and brakes- pretty sure I can get those used locally.
Prolly gonna be 500 in labor and parts. Git it back to ya on Wednesday.
The fender and the other plastic- yeah- that's really gonna cost ya.
Gonna be around 1500 for the new fender & farings.
Lucky the headlights and lenses are ok- that's grand right there."

Lucky?

That's my middle fucking name today.
Lucky.

I left the bike at the shop (duh) and got a ride home from The Mechanic. It was almost 5:30.
Had a looooong chat with Captain Morgan, with an icepack on my crotch the rest of the day and most of the next.

I didn't leave the house again until Monday morning.

Epilog:
Wednesday AM. I am mostly phoneless...
The S2 screen is FUBAR as are some of the comms features- I can plug into it into my laptop and see the device - so it looks like the data is intact.
It can't make or recieve calls.

I've moved my SIM into an old Samsung phone our Phone Maven had on hand for emergencies.
I'm eligible for a new phone (according to our corporate package) in July...
I've already been assigned a new Galaxy S5.
(Phone Maven: No choice- you'll get that one and you'll like it. Or you can go buy your own.)

Picked up my bike Wednesday AM-
Cosmetically, it's bad - duct taped fairings, missing fender, etc.
But I'm back on two wheels, and the swelling has subsided enough that riding is not uncomfortable.

The new farings are ordered and will be here in 3 weeks.
Yay.

So-
Between parts, labor, taxes, towing, etc...
About a $2500 weekend for me...

The Moral of the story:

PAY FUCKING ATTENTION WHEN YOU ARE ON THE ROAD.

TBG- ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒE