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Latest News Archive
Wednesday, July 23, 2003
I took a trip home this weekend to see my family in Indiana. My mother had bought me a ticket to see
Sheryl Crow in South Bend. My mother, her friend Barb and I went on Friday evening. I think they were both
a little upset that it required so much standing. Then on Saturday we had family and friends over for a
get together. We cooked hamburgers on the new grill, ate ice cream cake, and were even delighted at the novel
idea of "upside-down cake", and finished it all off with pictures from some of my adventures. Sunday we saw
Whale Rider and took a pizza home for dinner. Overall it was a great time.
I hope to start working on my webpage again soon, so keep checking back.
Thursday, October 31, 2002
Hard to believe, but I have been living in Hermosa Beach for exactly one year as of today. The time sure does fly.
I'm glad I found my little apartment. I have a lot of happy memories there. I think the Strand is really neat. I
always enjoy going for a run, bike, or skateboard.
Last evening I had my first intramural soccer game. It was brutal. I'm so use to running in a straight line, so
all the quick direction changes wore me out. I'm the only girl on the team, so I also have a hard time keeping up!
Tomorrow is my day off. Unfortunately I will be at the Air Force base performing some preventative maintenace on
my car. I hope it doesn't take all day, but with my lack of experience it usually does.
Monday, October 28, 2002
I spent Saturday cleaning up my hard drive. I needed to burn all my DivX files to disk so I can start formatting my
system and reorganizing. Sunday I went to Joshua Tree for a little climbing with the southern CA Outdoors Club. I
had a blast. I jumped from 5.7 to 5.9! I also met a bunch of really cool people. Some of them I might even consider
to be a little crazy for climbing 5.9 without any protection.
I'm trying to join an intermural soccer team at the Air Force Base. This would tie up some of my evening time, but
would also be a great cross trainer. I would also like to get into gym climbing. I met someone at REI who is looking for
a partner.
Life is good now that all the bugs are gone!
Monday, October 21, 2002
Sorry about the long periods between updates. I guess I've been a bit busy. Lets see, there were the bugs in my
apartment, a minor operation, and two house guests. So I've got a lot of pictures that I need to get uploaded to my
trips page.
This past weekend I went to Cabrillo National Monument with my friend R2. It was a nice little exhibit. It doesn't
take long to see everything, but it is highly recommended. Perhaps I can post some pictures this evening. I spent Sunday
helping a friend and doing a little baking. I made pumpkin cupcakes which a great, but I think I'll half the canola
oil next time to see what happens.
Monday, December 9, 2002
This past weekend was pretty neat. I went on a climbing trip at a place called New Jack City up near Barstow.
I get a little bit better each time I climb. I did a few 5.8-5.9s this trip. I haven't been working out, so my
arms were a bit weak and my legs were tired from all the running I did last week. It was a great trip and I can't
wait until the next time.
I haven't been doing a good job keeping up with my website, but I already have the pictures posted for this trip.
Perhaps I can get caught up on a few more trips before I leave for home.
Thursday, October 17, 2002
My landlord finally sprayed for the bugs that were eating my food. But, if it isn't one thing its another.
For the next six months I'm watching over two cats for a friend. What I didn't know was that the cats were
covered in fleas and leaving flea dirt where ever they went. There have been so many bugs in my life since
moving to CA that I just can't stand to see another one. So I went to the pet store and way overpaid for
some Advantage. But it seemed to do the trick and all the fleas are gone and I think the cats are much happier.
Although one cat did manage to shake and then get some chemicals in his mouth. Man was he a bundle of joy to be
around for the remainder of the evening.
Monday, October 14, 2002
Operation recovery, what a wonderful thing. I had to fast for 30 hours last week. I almost didn't make it.
But after my operation there was a hot fudge brownie ice cream sundae waiting for me. I think it was almost worth
it. I managed to loose 4+ pounds as a result of everything. I'm sure I'll put it all back on.
Monday, October 7, 2002
Man was this a fun weekend or what? I drove down to John's on Friday evening. From there we headed to Canjon Tajoe
in Mexico to do some climbing! The only problem was we didn't know how to get to where we were going. Minor oversight.
Read my trip report for more info. The climbing was great. My first climb was a 5.7 two pitch climb. Things were a little
slow going, but I suppose that is how climbing goes. This is only my second time. There was a big party complete
with music and a wet bar at least 20 miles from civilization. I was sorry when the time came to go home.
Monday, September 30, 2002
Sunday I took another jog up San Jacinto. This time with John via the Fuller Ridge Trail. Man was it long. I think
there is only one trail that is longer. It took us 9 hours round trip. I wanted to get some GPS points so I could hike it
in the winter, but I don't think that will happen unless I get a snowmobile to get to the trailhead. It is 8+ miles from
the locked gate to the TH and could take 1-2 days to reach. However the road itself would probably make a good trail because
it isn't that steep. I wonder if I can find anyone to do these winter hikes with me?
Monday, September 23, 2002
I spent Friday trying to kills the bugs I managed to bring back from Lake Tahoe with me. Geez. Saturday I baked
some banana bread. It was god and not too oily. Sunday I went down south to Church's with the idea of surfing, but
I never followed through. Instead I spent the afternoon discussing life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness and
relationships.
Monday, September 16, 2002
RENO! Last weekend I went to the Reno Air Races with my office mate. The ride was long, but well worth it.
Although I have to admit it wasn't like I thought it would be. The races were few and far between and there wasn't
much filler. I think if I go again I will just buy a ticket for Sunday, the championships.
Tuesday, September 10, 2002
This past weekend I took advantage of the surf at San Onofre on Friday evening. It was a little much for me,
so I stayed on the inside but still had a great time. I spent the evening at Stans in preparation for my hike
up San Jacinto. The hike was a success. You can read about my adventure using the 'Trips' link on the left. Many
thanks to Stan and Barbara for allowing me to stay in 'the blue room'. Sunday I spent hanging out with friends and
taking in the atmosphere down by the beach.
Tuesday, September 3, 2002
Amazingly enough I didn't go anywhere special this weekend. I just hung around San Diego and Hermosa.
Friday I watched the sun go down because I was too cold to go in the water. Then I finally got my toes
wet on Saturday morning at Church's. I also got a nice 30 minute beach run! Sunday it was surfing again at Cardiff.
By Sunday afternoon my shoulders were pretty tired from all the paddling, I wish I could say my legs were sore from
standing up on my board so many times, but I can't. Monday I attended the Hermosa Beach Arts Festival. It sure
did draw a crowd, I'd never see so many people on the strand before. I also managed to rollerblade to the end of the
Strand in Redondo. What a busy weekend.
8/26/02
Saturday was spent at Magic Mountain with Calvin and Graham from the office. Graham is going back to school,
so we decided to do something fun together to say goodbye til Christmas break. It was hot and crowded but we had
a good time. I was there about a year ago and told myself I would never go back on the weekend. Perhaps this
time the lesson will sink in?
The surf was suppose to be up this weekend. So I packed a lunch and left early Sunday morning (6am) for
Church's in San Onofre. I arrived at 7am to about 70 cars waiting to get into the park. What time do these people
get up to go surf? I decided not to wait in line and burn gas. Instead I went to the next exit north, parked
and walked my board to Trestles. This was a mistake. The waves were huge and everyone had a short board. So,
I walked down to Church's and then to Old Man's about 1.5 hours of walking with my board! The surf was huge
and the waves were few and far between. After an hour of sitting I came in to soak up some sun before my 2+
mile trek back to my car. I overheard some guys talking about the break at Dana Point and decided to check it
out on my way home. The shape was better here, but the waves were still too big for me. I went out got thrashed
and came back in. Then I packed everything back in the car and headed home all the much more wiser.
8/23/02
Last evening I drove down to San Onofre again for a surf session. The waves were the perfect height for me
and the sun was shining and overall I had an outstanding time. I'm getting a little better, but not as fast as
I would like. I'm still having a hard time paddling into the waves. I guess experience is the only solution to
this problem.
This morning I went to Manhattan Beach with Calvin and Don. The surf was suppose to be great, but ended up being
horrible. I was completly thrashed by the waves. Talk about destroying a person's confidence. After and hour and
a half I lowered my head, tucked my tail between my legs and headed back to the car and off to work. Perhaps I'll
try San Onofre again on Sunday. Surf's Up!
8/21/02
Last weekend was pretty cool. I went surfing with Calvin (my officemate) and John at San Onofre State
Beach in San Clemente. The waves were really nice for someone of my ability level. I did manage to ride a few in.
I'm still trying to get used to my board. I had to work really hard to paddle into the wave. Then on Saturday I went
climbing with John at Suicide in Idyllwild. We climbed the escalator, the 5.7 variation, and Philocetes Bow
Variation, 5.7, via the ramp. Although we didn't climb much I sure did learn a lot. Sunday was a bit chilly
at the beach, so I didn't get in the water for fear of hypothermia!
Monday I took my board to the Hermosa Pier just for kicks. It was very shore breaky, and I didn't catch anything for
fear of snapping my board in half. My evenings have been spent on the computer trying to encode some movies and
ripping audio CDs onto my hard drive. The surf looks like it might pick up tomorrow, so I'm thinking of heading to
Huntington Beach with whoever I can get to go with me.
8/9/02
Ok, so I never really got the trip report for Shasta completed, but I'm still working on it.
I just got back from the Sierra where John and I attempted to climb Mt. Sill ~14,200ft. Things didn't
go quite as planned, but we still had a good time. On the way home we spent some time climbing at Fossil Falls.
I'm still working on my surf board rack from last week. I would really like to finish it up next Monday so
I can take my board out.
I'm still trying to find something to do over Labor Day. Possible options
are a trip to Hawaii, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, or lay on the beach like a slug. I'll keep you posted.
7/10/02
I've been busy all week working on my new web design and unpacking from my trip to Mount Shasta.
Not too much going on in CA. The weather is nice and the days are long. Soon I will be planning my
next grand adventure. But first I have to make a trip home to see the folks!
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