River Rafting on Tieton River

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Over the recent Labor Day weekend, my son (age 12) and I experienced a very fun river rafting trip down the Tieton River. I had purchased two Groupon certificates at for a river rafting trip at 51% off with a river rafting company named Orion River Rafting. I have never river rafting before but have always wanted to do it so when the Groupon coupon came up I was very interested. With an adventurous glee in my eye, I click on the purchase button on my computer and set the wheels in motion.

Fast forward a 5 months later when my certificate is about to expire in less than 20 days, school has started, and I’m about to get slammed with work. I called and made my reservations and was delighted to get two slots for the Saturday September 3. I figured they would be full but they had some spots open.

The Tieton River is located in Naches Valley area of Eastern Washington and roughly a 3 hour drive from my house. It is a very pretty drive over through Enumclaw, past Greenwater, and past Mt. Rainier (and through a small section of Mt. Rainier National Park). The drive over on a sunny day is well worth the trip in itself.

The Tieton River is river that is used for agricultural purposes and the water flow is restricted until the month of September. Then they release the water from the Rimrock Reservoir, pushing up the level of the Tieton River up and creating a whitewater river rafting experience.

Our trip was on a beautiful sunny day, the air temperature 85 degrees. Water temperature was said to be around 45 degrees. One thing I liked about Orion was everyone was given a wetsuit, wetsuit booties, a helmet, and a PDF (personal floatation device). The rafts could carry up to nine people but today, we had four customers and one guide on our trip.

Overall, this was a very fun rafting trip with Class II and Class III rapids. There is a diversion dam to shunt off irrigation water that produces a Class IV experience. It was pretty mild and as long as your guide does it correctly, it isn’t a problem. Our guide Rachel was very good and we didn’t hit any huge rocks. At one rapids area called “High Noon” you have to decide to either go thru the less traveled route (with a chance of getting stuck on a rock) or take the full on ‘into the huge boulder we might crash route’.

Our guide sent us thru the tamer section and we did high center the raft precariously sideways. We felt like we might be in trouble but it ending up not being a big deal. Being stuck did allow us the opportunity to watch two other rafts hit the boulder sideways. The river pushed one raft up and one of the rafters fell one. It was pretty sweet to watch firsthand (and be glad it wasn’t you!).

The rafting trip is roughly 3.5 hours long. We is a fairly constant river, the water was lower since it was the beginning of the release. The Tieton River flows through a beautiful canyon and Highway 12 is sometimes visible from the river. Most people onshore would wave when we floated by.

We all had a great time on the trip and I would recommend it. Being my first river rafting trip, it scores a 10 for fun with me. At the river level we were floating at, I thought it was a good causal ride with a few good rapids but nothing too scary. For a beginner going out for a short day adventure, I’d recommend it highly. I really can’t wait for my daughter to turn 11 so she can go on a trip like this.

Here is the link to Orion. http://leavenworthriverrafting.com/

As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome!

Sticks of Stupidity

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Sticks of Stupidity

We recently returned from a week long summer camp with our Boy Scout Troop where I learned about the Stick of Stupidity. I went along with three other Scoutmasters to oversee our group of twenty-two scouts ranging in ages of 11 to about 16. Some of these scouts have been to summer camp 3 to 5 times, others are on their second tour, and a few are attending their first summer camp.

Some are homesick; others are having the time of their lives without a mother or father looking over their shoulder. With a fistful of dollars and a trading post willing to help part a scout from his parents’ money; some scouts have a wonderful experience at summer camp.

One thing in common all scouts (regardless of their age) have is the strong need and desire to sharpen a stick to a very sharp point and carelessly carry it around. These sticks come in various sizes ranging from the “Toothpick of Stupidity” to the “Log of Stupidity,”

To help you understand, I have created a few definitions to better illustrate brilliance in the making.

Toothpick of Stupidity: A stick slightly larger than a pencil in width and roughly 4-13 inches long, it is sharpen to a fine point, and then carried in the mouth. One might mistaken this as a useful instrument such as a spoon or fork when it is protruding from the Boy Scout’s mouth, yet upon closer inspection, it is indeed a sharpen stick being carried in the mouth. This is usually carried in the mouth to keep the hands free to slap another scout, pick up a rock, or find yet another stick.

Stick of Stupidity: This stick ranges in size from 13 inches to 34 inches. It is really useless for any given purpose because of its short size yet it remains the most popular of all Sticks of Stupidity. By far, it is the most common for a number of idiotic reasons: easy to find, can be sharpened quickly, is easy to replace with another scout’s stick in a pinch. Since many Sticks of Stupidity look exacting alike, they are a major reason for accusations of theft between scouts. Scouts forget that there are another 300,000 sticks all the same in the woods around them.

Sword of Stupidity: The sword is closely related in size to the Stick of Stupidity but as been made into the shape of a sword. The most common look is the Samurai swords of feudal Japan. The “blade” is careful craved out of the stick to resemble the shape of a samurai sword. The handle might be crave with a crisscross pattern or wrapped with twine. The Sword of Stupidity is made at the expense of one’s own personal hygiene (showers? I’m too busy making a sword!).

Walking Stick of Stupidity: While a walking stick is helpful to many people, the Walking Stick of Stupidity is not. A long stick, one would think a walking stick would be a wonderful thing to help on a hike for balance, extra support, etc. These are all great points except that this walking stick is sharpen to a fine point. With this fine point, it is jabbed into logs, dirt, in between rocks, a fellow scout’s legs, and gets stuck quite often. The owner often stops to sharpen the point, thus slowly down the whole hiking party making a five minute hike into a 55 minute ordeal.

Staff of Stupidity: The Staff of Stupidity and the Walking Stick of Stupidity are often mistaken for each other due to their same length. Yet, the Staff of Stupidity is really too thick and heavy to be an easy to use item. The owner can barely get his hand around it but will insist that they can. The Staff of Stupidity is dropped on a regular basis because of the poor grip the owner has. Sharpening the Staff is very hard and is more of a rounded point than any other stick in the Sticks of Stupidity family.

Log of Stupidity: While most logs can be used as a bench, a bridge, or support beam, the Log of Stupidity gets its name most from the use of it as a play toy, not as a useful device. It is any unstable log that rolls back and forth and you can stand on. The user of the Log of Stupidity should stand on the log with untied shoes (or hiking boots), hands deep in one’s pocket, and rock back and forth in a matter that will make the log move. You are usually done with the Log of Stupidity will you fall flat on your face and almost knocking out all of your front teeth.

I hope these definitions are helpful in identifying the various Sticks of Stupidity when you see your scout with them. Please keep in mind that all Sticks of Stupidity are called out by the Scoutmaster and the scout is told to take the stick out of his mouth or thrown into the bushes or told to get off of it. While we are tempted to see the concept of Darwin’s survival of the fittest in actions; all Sticks of Stupidity have a short life span. I have personally sent many to the campfire for their conversion to ashes. Yet, they seem to come back again regardless of how many times Scoutmaster, parents, and other concerned adults tell them to get rid of them.

As Yoda would say “Made by Boy Scouts, Sticks of Stupidity are.”

As always your comments are always welcome!

Slave Child Labor: Is it really a bad thing?

~ K ~ Leave a comment

This is my first blog using Google Docs so I’m not sure if I’ll actually get it right. Today was a great day because I had an awesome visit with my parents on Anderson Island. We had a good time talking and discussing a lot of different issues. I was quite pleased with the visit if I do say so myself.

Upon my return to my lovely home, I managed to get a few more items done on my Yard Project 2011 punch list. I even made my neighborhood demon twins (4 year old twin boys) help me. As previous reported, the twin boys’ parents let them do whatever they want without supervision. They are allowed to play out in the front yard and the upper part of the cul-de-sac (where I live) without anyone watching them. The neighborhood (or God) will watch over them. The neighbors have reported sightings in the next cul-de-sac and up the street. Totally stupid ass parenting in effect and child neglect. Anyone could take these kids.

Anyway, I put the twins to work sorting out the rocks in my driveway. The rocks are part of my landscaping project so they sorted the round rocks from the broken basalt rocks. They are good workers; pretty smart too. I can’t wait until they get older and can do some real heavy lifting. Overall, they aren’t bad kids. Just unsupervised.

After the rock and stone sorting, I had them sweep up the remains of the pile of rocks I had. I must admit child labor turned out in my favor this time. So much for Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle” (a really good read, slightly communist towards the end but I read it 18 years ago so my memory maybe foggy) and child labor and the American Dream.

At least these kids weren’t unsupervised for an hour or so while they worked. Still, very disturbing the parents aren’t around to watch them.

No One Listens to Me

~ K ~ 1 Comment

Oh Boo Hoo…no one ever listens to me!

I’ve decided that most people will ask for my advice but then they won’t listen to it. I really don’t think my advice is bad; more that it isn’t the exact answer they were hoping for. Granted, I am no Ann Landers or Dear Abby but I have a good common sense approach to most situations and problems. I can talk about the pros and cons of each course of action and give an honest evaluation.

I don’t like to offer unsolicited advice because no one seems to listen to my solicited advice. So why bother saying anything?

A lot of people don’t like to hear you about the problems in your life because it is construed as “whining”. Is it whining or is it opening up to your friends so they know what is going on your life? Do your friends really cared? Are your problems more important than their problems?

Honestly, your family and friends could care less if your problems exist. Your opening up to them should help to explain the aguish you are going through. But do they listen? No they don’t. They have their own problems to worry about you and on the flip side you have your own problems.

They don’t have time for you to express your opinions or to actively listen to what is going on with your life.

So the best course of action can be summed up as: Keep your mouth shut and your problems to yourself.

Forward Ho! And don’t bother to leave any comments or actually read this last sentence because that might say you actually care.

Texting my Daughter’s Friend’s Parents

~ K ~ Leave a comment

I recently had to text my daughter’s friend’s parents to make sure they had the correct address for our home. Not a huge problem…just send them our address via text message.

They were overdue so I sent the following message.

Me: Having problems finding our house? Our address: 1XXXX SE 23X Street Misty Meadows neighborhood (behind the pink mansion).

Them: Who is this?

Me: Hi Mark, it’s K’s dad Kevin

Me: Angie wanted to know where K was. I told her not to worry but I wasn’t sure if Lisa knew how to find our house.

Them: You have the wrong number stop texting me.

Me: Sorry.

See, wasn’t that a pleasant way to end the texting conversation? I really wanted to say:

Me: Maybe if you were better at texting and faster responding to me I wouldn’t be sending you a bunch of texts you dork.

But I didn’t….I was nice because they had my address. Don’t want to upset some crazy like me!

FUIing – Facebooking Under the Influence

~ K ~ 2 Comments

FUIing – Facebooking Under the Influence

I’d like to thank my friend Kelly to introducing me to the term “FUIing” and warning me about the dangers of such behavior. I have decided not to be on Facebook while I have a few drinks in me. I have made some hilarious comments after I have had a few drinks….which turn out not to be so hilarious (or the people I wrote to didn’t have a sense of humor).

While many people think they are funny while drinking, we can all agree that they aren’t. Sure, they might do a few funny things or whip off a funny comment here or there but the reality is, they aren’t that funny. They are even worse when they are sober. Or perhaps when you are sober, you realize how stupid drunk people are.

Hold on now…this isn’t an AA commercial, but you should be aware that most likely, you aren’t as funny as you think. Which brings us back to FUIing.

Now, regardless of what you think, FUIing is not acceptable. We all know that it is extremely funny to leave your witty comments on your friend’s wall but nothing good comes of it. Especially when your lame friend doesn’t have a sense of humor. Seriously, why bother having a Facebook page if you aren’t prepared to have your chops busted by your friends? It really is your friend’s fault for not having a good sense of humor and understanding how funny you are.

FUIing can also lead to BUIing (Blogging Under the Influence) and you know that will certainly lead to nothing but trouble.

So, we have established that FUIing and BUIing can be bad things. We shouldn’t post things while we have been drinking because it can lead to misunderstandings and hard feelings. We should understand that our sense of humor might not translate into something funny online. Or your friends might not be as open minded or have a great sense of humor you thought they did.

Be careful out there while you reading about your friend’s awesome lives on Facebook while you wallow in depression over how sad your life really has become. The truth is that your life isn’t that sad. You are just being fooled by the numerous posts of all the good things people have to say. Most people don’t report how they had a bad class of diarrhea from the new restaurant down the street, or how their son is a loser drug user, or how they crashed their car while texting and checking their email.

Thanks for reading my all important blog and my need to be noticed and important in my own mind.

Hope versus Optimism in relationship to Change

~ K ~ Leave a comment

What is hope compared to optimism in the context of change? Both are important and should be part of everyday living. Hope is the belief that things will get better while optimism is the belief that things will change and that change will be for the better. These terms are often used interchanged with each other leading to confusion. While very similar, they are not quite the same. You can have hope, but you don’t have be optimistic if you don’t want to be. You can have hope and be a realist as well. And you can also have hope and be a pessimistic (which seems to defeat the purpose of believing in hope it would seem).

I have hope that things will change and I am optimistic they will change. Hope is my underlying belief that things will get better. Optimism is my belief that things will get better without making any changes because optimism believes that when change comes, it will be the favorable outcome I desire. When you are at the bottom, hope is one of the first things that you need to get out of that hole. Which train of thought you choose: optimistic, realistic, or pessimistic, will determine how the outcome will be perceived by you.

Optimism is your belief that things will get better without the changes needed to get better. One could say they are optimistic about making more money yet they continue down the same path of economic ruin. Hope would kick in when they hit rock bottom.

Realism allows us to believe in hope and keep things in perspective. We know we probably aren’t going to win the lottery, yet we also know that hard work will usually bring the results we desire.

Pessimism assumes the worst and hope is just there for something to believe in. Why be pessimistic? Good question!

People might argue that being hopeful and optimistic about the future is a waste of time, people don’t change, you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, etc. I have hope that people will change for the better yet I have been too optimism in my belief that they will change. I have leaned towards being too optimism because I haven’t been there to help them make the change for the better.

How can I expect people to change if I don’t make the effort to help them change?

If the change is important to me, why not make the time to help with this change?

If you are like everyone else, your life is busy and you don’t have the time to help other change. I know my life is busy and I don’t have time to do a lot of things I want to do much else do things to help others change. I also don’t what to think of about having to put in the time and effort necessary to help them make the change. I really don’t want to worry about their problems and I don’t want to be bothered.

Seriously, I want to be the person that doesn’t care. My wife probably thinks that I am that person already. I know people need my help, but I honestly don’t want to put the effort into helping them when I know that they should be able to help themselves. I have enough problems in my own life I should be working on without having to add other people’s problems to my own life.

Nevertheless, I am not able to take the head in the sand approach to life. Oh, the burdens of adulthood! Yes, life is hard. You have to do a lot of stuff you don’t want to do. I must accept this and move on. I will do the best I can and use my belief in hope to help solve my problems as well as the others I love help themselves. I will use hope and be optimistic (with a dose of realism added in) in regards to the future.

Hope: the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best: to give up hope.

Optimism: a disposition or tendency to look on the more favorable side of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

Definitions are from Dictornary.com

Camping

~ K ~ Leave a comment

I’ve decided camping is what middle class America does so they can experience what homeless people do every day. You get to see people dress like bums, not shower for a few days, wandering around, lots of dogs barking and yapping, kids screaming and yelling (much like a school yard), and parents sitting around a campfire drinking and chatting about the world in general which is just like sitting around a 55 gallon steel drum in an abandoned warehouse (just like a homeless bum).

I actually enjoy camping because I’m an Eagle Scout. I’ve done a lot of camping and backpacking. I like cooking with a propane stove and Dutch ovens. However, I’m now getting older so I prefer camping in good weather (which doesn’t happen very often in Western Washington). I now camp over the Cascade Mountains in the beautiful hot deserts of Eastern Washington. I have given up on camping three days in solid rain and have run away to the dry heat of Eastern Washington.

Besides rainy Seattle camping weather, I also don’t like camping in the snow. It really isn’t enjoyable. It’s cold, your body heat melts the snow so then you are wet and cold, and you have to sleep overnight in an igloo or a tent. Now, that is cold. Cold and wet. Yup, not really fun at all.

However, I do enjoy camping in the warmth of Eastern Washington and the sunshine. The kids like camping too (can’t say the same about my wife) so the experience is enjoyable. And it is warm…not cold or wet. You can lie in your inflatable air mattress, safely situated up on a cot, the wind rustling through the leaves of trees, manicured lawns beneath you, the state park watering the lawns at 2 am (thus waking you up with the fear that your tent is getting soaked but it’s not).

What better way to enjoy your family than camping? Sure, you could get a nice condo on Kauai or even at Lake Chelan but is that really going allow you the stress of cooking on a small propane stove, keeping your kids from lighting themselves and each other on fire, wondering if the eggs in your cooler are still good, and whether or not you should kill the campers next door (who though it was hilariously funny to pretend they were cats and meow at 1 am).

Camping is about bonding with the family and picking ashes out of your scrambled eggs. I recommend it to everyone.

Yard Projects and help from my three year demon neighborhood twins

~ K ~ Leave a comment

OK, I admit it. I am addicted to the DIY (Do It Yourself) network. I find myself watching it more and more everyday. Mind you, I’m multi-tasking because I have my handy dandy laptop to use while I’m watching the DIY channel. I can check my email and watch my favorite shows “Turf Wars” and “Yard Crashers” so it’s not like I’m not getting any work done.

I do go down into my office “man cave” and focus on work. I don’t watch any TV in there nor do I log on to the DIY website either. Now, that is some self control, right?

This summer, I want to redo my yard. Overall, I’d like to replace some railroad tie retaining walls with rock walls. I’m also going to add a fence and two gates between my house and my two neighbors. I have come to the conclusion that my neighbors down the street will not be keeping a close eye on their three year old twin boys. This is nothing new. Today, the boys were in a construction zone in our neighborhood. The power company is installing new underground cables and the boys think they should be in the middle of the action. The construction workers have talked to the parents twice and today I called the mother today to tell her to watch the kids (lest they be run over by a backhoe).

Seriously, who lets their kids run around in a construction zone? These two kids are three years old and they wander away all by themselves. Their parents do not watch them. Child Protection Services have been called before. They will be hanging out near my house for hours because my kids are out in the cul-de-sac playing. It is just crazy. Like a Stephen King novel, you turn around and they are just….there.

So I am concerned that they’ll be hanging around my house during all my yard projects, bugging me and possibly getting hurt. We’ll have cement mixers; rocks, gravel, and beauty bark…all laying around for children to play in. Heck, throw in a few shovels, pick axes, and chainsaws and we have all the fixings for a grand old country time…yeee hawww!

Besides, my yard becoming a death trap for small children, I hope to have everything finished by the end of July (if not sooner). I’m sure work will get in the way of my free time and put me behind my yard schedule. Work can be so annoying sometimes.

As always, your comments and links to my blog are more than welcome!

Our Brownie “Splinter Cell” Troop is created!

~ K ~ Leave a comment

Well, it is official…we have created Brownie Troop 42301 (nicknamed “Splinter Cell Troop”). We have broken away from the old troop and transferred over four girls and are adding three more new scouts for a total of seven (in case you needed some help with math).

I’d like our Brownie Troop to be known as the “fun” troop. With the departure of four of the members of the old troop, we have killed the old troop off (or given it a serious death blow). That really wasn’t my intention. My daughter and I were prepared to join another troop but we would be leaving her friends behind. I was also prepared to suffer along with my daughter in the current troop so she could be with her friends. However, after I received a phone call from one of the other parents saying to count her in if I decided to make my own troop; I decided to take the plunge and create my own Brownie Troop.

Now, our departure was going to be a quiet until I asked my daughter if we should start our own troop or join another one. Of course she wanted to start her own (what princess wants…princess gets!). I had a Cub Scout Den for my son, why shouldn’t I have a Brownie Troop for my daughter? Then she mentioned the new troop to a few non-Girl Scout friends and they wanted to join. I’m excited that we have some new girls interested in Girl Scouts! But word must have gotten back to Leader J and Leader T because they mentioned that I might be starting my own troop. I guess that is why we weren’t invited back to re-register for the next year (seriously).

Now, I’m not one to dwell on the past. We are moving on. This evening, we made our troop official by filling the paperwork and turning it in. We were assigned our troop number and we are on our way. Our first field trip is coming up at the end of the month to the Museum of Flight in Seattle. It should be a fun time!