Wednesday, July 28, 2004

Roughin' It

 

Andy and I went camping at Baker Lake this weekend.  It was HOT.  We spent most of the time in the water.  Then we get out, canoe a little, swim more, fish a little, swim more, bask a little, and swim more.  It was fun.  The water up there is SO clear you can see way down past your feet when you're swimming.  It's a little eerie.

Speaking of a little eerie, there was a small forest fire on the mountainside nearby.  Close enough that we got a good view of it, but far enough not to put us in danger.  By morning it looked like the fire had died down quite a bit too, which is good.  The cool thing was that they were fighting the fire with a helicopter with a huge bucket hanging from it by a long chain.  And since Baker Lake was nearby, every 20 minutes or so the helicopter would come staccatoing in, lower itself over the water, and dunk the bucket in the lake.  When the bucket was full it would fly off toward the fire, and when it got to its target you could see this sploosh of water falling into the smoke.  It was pretty cool.  Especially since the helicopter filled the bucket sometimes as close as 250 feet away from us.  Made us think about how terrifying it would be to be scooped up in that thing.  It be bad enough to fall from such a height, let alone knowing that you were going to be tossed into a forest fire!  Oh I wish I wish I wish I'd gotten a picture. 

posted by Krizzer 3:01 PM

Monday, July 26, 2004

Duke

 

Thanks for guessing, but no one got it.  Thus the prize of winning goes unwon.

The answer paraphrased from memory, according to the Bathroom Reader (Yes, it's ok to read this book on the toilet.  But it is never ok to borrow it!  And I'd steer clear of any copy you find in a used bookstore, also.)

Once upon a time, John Wayne had a dog named Duke that used to love to chase the fire trucks in his neighborhood.  After a while, all of the firemen got to know the dog, but nobody knew John Wayne.  However, they knew he was Duke's master, so they just called him Duke too.

So now you know.   I liked the idea of him singing Duke of Earl constantly, only stopping when the cameras were actually rolling.  That'd be pretty funny.

posted by Krizzer 3:59 PM

Monday Manners

 

From the chapter "In General:"

Don't borrow books unless you return them promptly.  If you do borrow books, don't mar them in any way; don't bend or break the backs, don't fold down the leaves, don't write on the margins, don't stain them with grease-spots.  Read them, but treat them as friends that must not be abused."
 
And please, don't read them on the toilet.   If you must read them on the toilet, just keep it.

posted by Krizzer 3:55 PM