clayfromak's Xanga

Ha!

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 00:21:22 GMT

Shake your face. I will take pictures. This is what happens:

Super Baby-Man!

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:00:40 GMT

This made me laugh.

look what I ffffound

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:44:17 GMT

Alaska Update

Updates are being posted at http://morerad.wordpress.com - my other blog. Check 'em out!

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:57:47 GMT

Alaska: The Update

I'm still up in Alaska and enjoying it thoroughly. I can't upload the hundreds of pictures I've taken yet because the internet service is spotty at best. Updates and pictures soon to follow.

A quick recap of the trip:
Day 1: Land, sleep
Day 2: Hike 13 miles, almost die on ice slopes (ok.... maybe almost is an exaggeration)
Day 3: Ford glacier river in sandals, finish 13 more miles in hike
Day 4: Drive to Homer, fish, see multiple bears close up, pass out at 1am
Day 5: Flight Seeing in Homer at 8:00 am - tons of bears. Fish our way up the coast to Bird Creek at 2am
Day 6: Fishing out of Whittier at 7:00 AM. We have had an average of 4 hours sleep a night. Scenes included whales jumping, sea lions barking, porpoises swimming, and halibut caught. Pizza, Strip Club, and Chilkoot Charlie's for four very weary fishermen.
Day 7: 2 of the boys drop out. Dinner and drinks all day at local micro-breweries
Day 8: Last of the chechaco's drops out. I spend the day visiting family and friends followed by a rehearsal dinner, and part of the EHS Class of 98 Reunion. I have forgotten most people.
Day 9: Today! Wedding and official reunion are being held in the same hotel. I could not have planned this better had I tried.

I'm now officially on Alaska time. I slept in until noon today after staying up until 3:30 am last night. That's the equivalent of staying up until 7:30 am and sleeping 'till 4pm when I get back east. Work on Wednesday should be fun.

More to come soon.

Friday, June 13, 2008

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 11:19:49 GMT

Off to Alaska

I'm off to Alaska for ten days followed by a day of work, then 4 days in Buffalo for my cousin's wedding... updates and pictures to follow.

Friday, June 06, 2008

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 02:37:37 GMT

Don't forget my other blog

I'm slowly, ever so slowly, moving towards wordpress.

Check me out there at http://morerad.wordpress.com

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:29:21 GMT

Pants Mended!

From ffffound.com

which snaked it from the tagged blog. Pretty sweet

Took me a minute to catch it.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 03:23:22 GMT

Weekend Camp-out

This past weekend I took a drive down the road to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and checked out Assateague Island.

We rolled in late due to traffic leaving the District (go figure) and pitched the tent to a dim fire and a few flashlights.

Morning comes early on the beach and I woke up to snap a few pictures:

After a quick breakfast of granola bars and Croissants with Diet Pepsi, the guys of the group went crabbing on the other side of the island. Who knew that a chicken thigh with some meat on it works so well as crab-bait?

Crabbing proved difficult without a net. We attempted using our hands as a means to bring the crab on shore, but that didn't work too well. I then took my hat and poked some holes in it - this worked about a quarter of the time, and finally after some successful dumpster diving, we salvaged a net and went to town. We ended up hauling in fifteen or so crabs and throwing back three due to size. Mr. Brown and another of the campers brought in a ton of mussels, and we hauled the load back to camp to feast.

Building a fire is a difficult task in gale-force winds:

Finally, though, the handiwork paid off and we feasted on fresh shellfish:

After the feast, I took a walk around and noticed one of the many wild horses close to the camp:

Remember the clear skies of the morning?

Soon after this picture was taken, I took a phone call and then walked back to camp. What I found was mass panic! People were running around, kids were screaming, and everyone else on the campsite was running towards their cars with reckless abandon. Apparently someone mentioned that there was a tornado watch and that heavy rain and lightning was on the way. People were screaming at spouses and simply throwing gear into the 'woods' to get off the island. WTF.

Willing to weather the storm in my new tent,

I was reluctant to pack up camp, but conceded defeat when I heard the thunder peals and felt the first few drops of rain whipped into my face by mach-5 winds.

What followed was a soaking of epic proportions. I was able to get all of my gear packed up before the rain hit, but still got soaked to the bone and everything that wasn't in my nice new backpack got soaked. My car's interior got filled with sand and rain, and we abandoned the two bales of firewood we had purchased just hours before.

All packed up, we drove out of the area and out of the storm within the hour. I helped convince the group to head back to DC and party up there instead of getting a hotel in Ocean City. We made it to DC, hung out for a while, then promptly passed out.

Sunday morning brought a messy house and most of my roommates out of town. Everyone took off and I used the spare time to air out my wet gear, clean my filthy car, filthy house, and dirty clothes.

Mr. Brown chronicled his more rousing version of the weekend at his blog.

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 02:45:05 GMT

B-U-F-F-A-L-O

I drove up to Buffalo last weekend for some fun with the family and friends. It was my cousin's graduation from Nursing School (College, with a degree in Nursing, but I'm not really sure what the degree is) and it was great!

After a (semi) quick drive up to Buffalo after work on Friday, I crashed at the family's house then spent the day with my cousin who's getting married in a few weeks. After a big dinner with most of my family in the area, I convinced my cousin and her fiance` to come out to a halloween party with me.

I had borrowed a costume from a buddy at work and (naturally) wore it at work for a few laughs:

How sweet is that?

Here's the group at the party:

Elvis, Scooby, and Snow White were a big hit.

Fun times.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Wed, 21 May 2008 01:39:58 GMT

EXTREME WEEKEND!!!!

Getting in around midnight on Monday night from Vegas made for a fun Tuesday morning at work after staying out 'till 4am all weekend (west coast time, mind you). I made it through the week and crashed at a buddies place Friday night before trekking down to Orange, Virginia to jump from a plane once again.

We arrived early and had a chance to talk with the local jumpers about certifications and experiences. Apparently, when becoming certified or while keeping your certification, one has to jump at least once every 30 days. That means that you have to jump all summer, and all winter long. No thanks.... maybe.

I got paired up with my tandem instructor and hopped in the plane with the other jumpers. No backflips this time departing the plane but the rush was still great. I pulled the rip cord this time out and got to steer on the way down. I'm thinking of doing my Assisted Free Fall next and going for my certification... but that's a lot of jumps, a lot of cash, and a lot of time. The first one is no problem, and I can manage the second, but the third has posed a problem of late. I'll keep you posted.

After passing out mid-conversation on the ride back to civilization I drove home on Saturday and played a few solid hours of Mario Kart on the Wii, which, if you haven't played it, is amazing. I also managed to fit in some much needed gym time. Some friends were in town and rocked the Plato Gordo at Rio Grand. I wimped out and got the tacos. It's still amazing though:

We then came home and rocked some Rock Band before heading out into DC for some action at Buffalo Billiards and the Front Page.

"Check out my new haircut" was the phrase of the night.

Getting home late, I set the alarm for 6:15am and drove out towards Leesburg for 'Extreme Adventure Part II'

I met up with my buddy Ron for a dealer sponsored event out at the Marriott Ranch. He drives a sweet Discovery Series Land Rover and we drove it past...

Cows

quaint homes

Rolling Hills

And down dirt paths

to meet up with the rest of the crew:

From there we played follow-the-leader

Through the streams

Everyone participated, even the guys in the really expensive beasts:

We made it over Trees

Through the Mud

And across more streams

The master at work, navigating slick trails through trees and rocks:

And I take in the scenes:

One of the Sales guys took a dealer car at Mach 3 through a stream

Pretty cool.

After an awesome lunch at the ranch, we hiked it back to NoVA and I promplty took a 2 hour nap before fitting in a boxing round, dinner, and a movie.

One hell of a weekend.