Took a field trip into the land of corporate America on a work assignment.
I normally don’t have to inhabit the land of multi-story office buildings, so when I do get there, it’s usually an adventure of finding my way and observing a new sub-culture.
This particular one starts with checking in at the security desk, and being given a visitor pass that lets you unlock locked doors (and most certainly records who and when did such unlocking).
The business meeting itself was straightforward, with the usual courtesies of a food/beverage table and a take-home promotional item with the host company’s name imprinted on it. At the serving table, I intentionally covered both ends of the health spectrum by taking a jelly bismarck and fresh fruit.
Outside the meeting, I stayed on the authorized route and wasn’t able to see the cages for the daily inhabitants beyond other secure checkpoints.
Inside, since we were close to the airport, it was entertaining to notice airplanes swooping in every few minutes. Property insurance must cost more by the airport, because if the planes are off by even a couple hundred vertical feet, there is a mess.
Like any guided tour, it was over at the appointed time and the participants went our separate ways back to our comfortable surroundings and old habits.
Mouth-watering Omaha Steaks
Thursday, January 30, 2014
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Restaurant review: Arby's fish sandwich
We’re into the season where you can find a fish fry any given Friday night without too much effort. It’s also the time of the year restaurants break out their fish sandwich specials.
Once in awhile, a certain commercial hooks me, and this time it was Arby’s 2-for-$5 fish sandwich special, so I ventured to the Eden Prairie Arby’s to give it a try.
I’m pleased to report that much like the commercial and photos, the fish actually does extend beyond the bun – although not really as much as pictured, but it is a decent-sized serving.
One downfall of fast food is that in order to be fast, sometimes they have to guess at demand and prepare items ahead of time. Mine obviously was made ahead because although served quickly, it was only barely warm instead of fresh-from-the-fryer hot.
The other catch: while 2-for-$5 sounds like a good deal (and it is, considering the usual going price), keep in mind that by the time you add a side item and/or a drink or shake, you most likely end up spending more in total than not getting the special. That’s just how the math works. They know that.
Overall, though, Arby’s fish sandwiches are a good choice if you don’t wait until Friday night.
Once in awhile, a certain commercial hooks me, and this time it was Arby’s 2-for-$5 fish sandwich special, so I ventured to the Eden Prairie Arby’s to give it a try.
I’m pleased to report that much like the commercial and photos, the fish actually does extend beyond the bun – although not really as much as pictured, but it is a decent-sized serving.
One downfall of fast food is that in order to be fast, sometimes they have to guess at demand and prepare items ahead of time. Mine obviously was made ahead because although served quickly, it was only barely warm instead of fresh-from-the-fryer hot.
The other catch: while 2-for-$5 sounds like a good deal (and it is, considering the usual going price), keep in mind that by the time you add a side item and/or a drink or shake, you most likely end up spending more in total than not getting the special. That’s just how the math works. They know that.
Overall, though, Arby’s fish sandwiches are a good choice if you don’t wait until Friday night.
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Running: 20 questions
Twin Cities in Motion does a neat 20-question interview with people, so I decided to answer it:
1. Name: David Kolfax
2. Age: masters division (“masters” implies a degree of competency, but actually means “old.”)
3. City: western TC suburbs
4. Profession: middle management
5. When (or why) you started running: I’m in a vicious battle against Old Age, which I will eventually lose, but it’s nice to be ahead at least for awhile.
6. Best Run/Running Experience: Had a personal best time by over 2 minutes in a local 5k . . .
7. Worst Run/Running Experience: (continued from no. 6) . . . and still ended up fourth out of five in my age group.
8. Dream Training Partner: someone I can keep up with
9. Training Shoe: it’s worth getting actual running shoes.
10. Favorite Running Route: trails with no vehicle traffic
11. Favorite time of Day to run: get up, pee, have a cup of coffee, pee, and go out running
12. Pre-Race Food: nothing – can’t run after eating
13. Post-Race Food: bananas and Cheerios
14. Favorite Running Accessory: once in awhile, take my camera along
15. Current or Future Goal: would like to run a high-altitude race in Colorado
16. Upcoming Race: this year a mix of 5ks, 10ks, 10-miles, and a half marathon.
17. Favorite non-running activities: writing this blog
18. Mode of Transportation: why, running, of course, and sometimes walking.
19. Pump up Music: No music while running – I need to hear what’s around me so I don’t get run over.
20. Advice for a Brand New Runner: Running is cheap and convenient. Most people can simply step outside their door and start running, and other than having a decent pair of shoes, you don’t really need to spend much more unless you choose to. You can also make it as serious or casual as you want, and sometimes participate in the same events as elite runners and out-of-their-element couch potatoes.
1. Name: David Kolfax
2. Age: masters division (“masters” implies a degree of competency, but actually means “old.”)
3. City: western TC suburbs
4. Profession: middle management
5. When (or why) you started running: I’m in a vicious battle against Old Age, which I will eventually lose, but it’s nice to be ahead at least for awhile.
6. Best Run/Running Experience: Had a personal best time by over 2 minutes in a local 5k . . .
7. Worst Run/Running Experience: (continued from no. 6) . . . and still ended up fourth out of five in my age group.
8. Dream Training Partner: someone I can keep up with
9. Training Shoe: it’s worth getting actual running shoes.
10. Favorite Running Route: trails with no vehicle traffic
11. Favorite time of Day to run: get up, pee, have a cup of coffee, pee, and go out running
12. Pre-Race Food: nothing – can’t run after eating
13. Post-Race Food: bananas and Cheerios
14. Favorite Running Accessory: once in awhile, take my camera along
15. Current or Future Goal: would like to run a high-altitude race in Colorado
16. Upcoming Race: this year a mix of 5ks, 10ks, 10-miles, and a half marathon.
17. Favorite non-running activities: writing this blog
18. Mode of Transportation: why, running, of course, and sometimes walking.
19. Pump up Music: No music while running – I need to hear what’s around me so I don’t get run over.
20. Advice for a Brand New Runner: Running is cheap and convenient. Most people can simply step outside their door and start running, and other than having a decent pair of shoes, you don’t really need to spend much more unless you choose to. You can also make it as serious or casual as you want, and sometimes participate in the same events as elite runners and out-of-their-element couch potatoes.
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Baseball: Re-play it again, Bud
Baseball: Re-play it again, Bud
MLB has announced major changes to instant replay and reviews for the coming season.
Best of all, they say there will be more replays shown on the video boards at the ballparks. That was one of my biggest knocks on Target Field, especially the first couple years. The routine pop-up would be shown again, but any play with even a hint of controversy was even’t acknowledged, videographically speaking.
For the most part, there aren’t that many plays in baseball that need to be reviewed. But because it is such a sequential game – every minor action changes the situation for the next play – it is important to get the calls correct so the game can proceed as it should.
The downside of replay is that it deflates the dramatic moment. In the NFL, if there’s a crucial play that’s close, it doesn’t pay to get excited about it, because you know it will be reviewed and you won’t know for three minutes yet if the result is what you want it to be.
Baseball will now have the same challenge. But baseball is already a slow enough pace that pausing to get a call correct might not be nearly as noticeable an interruption as in football.
We’ll see . . . and then we’ll see it again.
MLB has announced major changes to instant replay and reviews for the coming season.
Best of all, they say there will be more replays shown on the video boards at the ballparks. That was one of my biggest knocks on Target Field, especially the first couple years. The routine pop-up would be shown again, but any play with even a hint of controversy was even’t acknowledged, videographically speaking.
For the most part, there aren’t that many plays in baseball that need to be reviewed. But because it is such a sequential game – every minor action changes the situation for the next play – it is important to get the calls correct so the game can proceed as it should.
The downside of replay is that it deflates the dramatic moment. In the NFL, if there’s a crucial play that’s close, it doesn’t pay to get excited about it, because you know it will be reviewed and you won’t know for three minutes yet if the result is what you want it to be.
Baseball will now have the same challenge. But baseball is already a slow enough pace that pausing to get a call correct might not be nearly as noticeable an interruption as in football.
We’ll see . . . and then we’ll see it again.
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Winter: snow business
What do Minnesota residents do during winter?
Shovel snow.
Maybe it was the wind pattern, but this weekend was the biggest snowfall/drift of the season so far in our 100-foot driveway. Yes, moving snow from one place to another place 20 feet away takes up a lot of our SPARE TIME that we could be better using on recreation.
Every man gets snowed upon equally, regardless of age, race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. There are no protected classes from winter weather. Even the wealthy get cold and snowed on.
I [heart] my snowblower!
Shovel snow.
Maybe it was the wind pattern, but this weekend was the biggest snowfall/drift of the season so far in our 100-foot driveway. Yes, moving snow from one place to another place 20 feet away takes up a lot of our SPARE TIME that we could be better using on recreation.
Every man gets snowed upon equally, regardless of age, race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, etc. There are no protected classes from winter weather. Even the wealthy get cold and snowed on.
I [heart] my snowblower!
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Holiday recipe: integrated sandwiches
This actually happened about 15 years ago. I was making my lunch for the next day and we were low on bread, so to be silly, I grabbed one slice of rye bread and one slice of white bread for a sandwich.
It was only at lunchtime the next day I realized it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day – thus my integrated sandwiches recipes was born, accidentally.
It tasted fine. The original was made with ham, but it can be with any type of sandwich filling – egg salad, peanut butter/jelly, any kind of meat, etc.
It was only at lunchtime the next day I realized it was Martin Luther King Jr. Day – thus my integrated sandwiches recipes was born, accidentally.
It tasted fine. The original was made with ham, but it can be with any type of sandwich filling – egg salad, peanut butter/jelly, any kind of meat, etc.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Book review: Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail
"Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail" by Cheryl Strayed (pub. 2012).
The name Strayed, as it turns out, is a chosen monikor after a divorce, that the author found fitting as one who went away from the common path.
Coming from a family with an abusive father, she was very attached to her mother. And when Strayed’s mom died in her mid-40s from cancer, it turned Strayed’s life upside down for several years.
Her answer was to hike 1,100 miles by herself on the Pacific Crest Trail, covering most of the distance through California and Oregon.
It was hard: “I stopped in my tracks when the thought came into my mind that hiking the PCT was the hardest thing I’d ever done . . . Watching my mother die and having to live without her, that was the hardest things I’d ever done . . . But hiking the PCT was had in a different way. In a way, it made the other hardest things the tiniest bit less hard.”
It was monotonous: "There wasn’t a day on the trail when monotony didn’t ultimately win out, when the only thing to think about was whatever was the physically hardest.”
Fear? “It was a deal I made with myself months before . . . Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story . . . I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave . . .Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked . . . And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid.”
And it was worth it: The last several miles “I seemed to float . . . buoyed by a pure, unadulterated emotion that can only be described as joy.”
The entire hike was a conquering, cleansing, and much-need life-changing experience. And an interesting story about the events, characters, and situations along the way.
I read the book because of another review, and was pleased to find numerous Minnesota references, since Strayed spent much of her childhood here. I spent a lot of time matching up timeline and geographical facts.
-------------------------
I see that Cheryl Strayed will be in Minneapolis March 6 for a fundraiser for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota. Details here:
• Cheryl Strayed schedule
• Women's Foundation fundraiser
The name Strayed, as it turns out, is a chosen monikor after a divorce, that the author found fitting as one who went away from the common path.
Coming from a family with an abusive father, she was very attached to her mother. And when Strayed’s mom died in her mid-40s from cancer, it turned Strayed’s life upside down for several years.
Her answer was to hike 1,100 miles by herself on the Pacific Crest Trail, covering most of the distance through California and Oregon.
It was hard: “I stopped in my tracks when the thought came into my mind that hiking the PCT was the hardest thing I’d ever done . . . Watching my mother die and having to live without her, that was the hardest things I’d ever done . . . But hiking the PCT was had in a different way. In a way, it made the other hardest things the tiniest bit less hard.”
It was monotonous: "There wasn’t a day on the trail when monotony didn’t ultimately win out, when the only thing to think about was whatever was the physically hardest.”
Fear? “It was a deal I made with myself months before . . . Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story . . . I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave . . .Insisting on this story was a form of mind control, but for the most part, it worked . . . And it wasn’t long before I actually wasn’t afraid.”
And it was worth it: The last several miles “I seemed to float . . . buoyed by a pure, unadulterated emotion that can only be described as joy.”
The entire hike was a conquering, cleansing, and much-need life-changing experience. And an interesting story about the events, characters, and situations along the way.
I read the book because of another review, and was pleased to find numerous Minnesota references, since Strayed spent much of her childhood here. I spent a lot of time matching up timeline and geographical facts.
-------------------------
I see that Cheryl Strayed will be in Minneapolis March 6 for a fundraiser for the Women's Foundation of Minnesota. Details here:
• Cheryl Strayed schedule
• Women's Foundation fundraiser
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Sports: basketball uniforms
It just hit me: why doesn’t the NBA ever have games with throwback uniforms? (Or do they and I’ve missed it?)
You know, complete with the short shorts like from the ‘70s. Or is there something in the players’ contracts that protects them from having to do such a silly thing?
These days in high school, we now see players wearing long sleeves and tights to play basketball. And headbands. And knee bands. Shooting sleeves. Shooting sleeves worn on the other arm. Knee-high socks. No-show socks.
What other accessories can sporting goods companies come up with to sell to teenagers?
It’s one thing to wear a pad to nurse an injury, or even prevent a new one, but some of these styles are pretty outlandish – a scream for attention – like the fluorescent shoes instead of team colors.
Maybe the short shorts of decades ago aren’t so goofy looking compared to what players wear now.
Some of the baseball and football throwback uniforms are pretty awful. It sure would be nice to see an NBA team wear 1970s-style uniforms – just for one night, though.
You know, complete with the short shorts like from the ‘70s. Or is there something in the players’ contracts that protects them from having to do such a silly thing?
These days in high school, we now see players wearing long sleeves and tights to play basketball. And headbands. And knee bands. Shooting sleeves. Shooting sleeves worn on the other arm. Knee-high socks. No-show socks.
What other accessories can sporting goods companies come up with to sell to teenagers?
It’s one thing to wear a pad to nurse an injury, or even prevent a new one, but some of these styles are pretty outlandish – a scream for attention – like the fluorescent shoes instead of team colors.
Maybe the short shorts of decades ago aren’t so goofy looking compared to what players wear now.
Some of the baseball and football throwback uniforms are pretty awful. It sure would be nice to see an NBA team wear 1970s-style uniforms – just for one night, though.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
TV: 'The Sound of Music'
Yeah, it was over a month ago, but thanks to the wonders of technology (video recording), we no longer have to watch tv programs when they are broadcast; we can watch them on our own schedule (“spare time”).
That means I finally watched NBC’s then-live performance of “The Sound of Music.” Family members kept giving me strange looks and asking “You really like this?”
I struggled with answering because it was both yes and no. Every musical seems to have a superficial story line and hokey dialogue in between characters breaking out into song at odd times. That’s just part of the schtick.
But I guess it was because I knew many of the songs well enough from childhood that kept me watching until the end. The songs were familiar, but I didn’t recall the story line much, especially the Nazi references.
What is it about songs that people want to hear them over and over? A comedian once pointed out that singers can sing the same song for 40 years and everyone thinks it’s great, while comedians have to come up with new material every 15 seconds or they’re duds.
Anyway, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with Sound of Music if the producers hadn’t gotten a famous star – Carrie Underwood – as part of the show. It just seemed to be an appealing mix of old and modern entertainment, enough to get me to record it and watch it, even a few weeks later.
Hopefully, this project was enough of a success that there will be more similar programming.
Alice Cooper in Jesus Christ Superstar? Just a thought.
That means I finally watched NBC’s then-live performance of “The Sound of Music.” Family members kept giving me strange looks and asking “You really like this?”
I struggled with answering because it was both yes and no. Every musical seems to have a superficial story line and hokey dialogue in between characters breaking out into song at odd times. That’s just part of the schtick.
But I guess it was because I knew many of the songs well enough from childhood that kept me watching until the end. The songs were familiar, but I didn’t recall the story line much, especially the Nazi references.
What is it about songs that people want to hear them over and over? A comedian once pointed out that singers can sing the same song for 40 years and everyone thinks it’s great, while comedians have to come up with new material every 15 seconds or they’re duds.
Anyway, I probably wouldn’t have bothered with Sound of Music if the producers hadn’t gotten a famous star – Carrie Underwood – as part of the show. It just seemed to be an appealing mix of old and modern entertainment, enough to get me to record it and watch it, even a few weeks later.
Hopefully, this project was enough of a success that there will be more similar programming.
Alice Cooper in Jesus Christ Superstar? Just a thought.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Recipes: old-fashioned crullers
As part of the recent holidays, we enjoyed an old-fashioned treat: crullers.
If I search for them, some more elaborate versions come up. These, as my grandma used to make, are simple deep-fried dough topped with sugar. Here you go:
4 eggs, beaten
5 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. milk
add enough flour to make a dough like for noodles
Roll out the dough and cut into pieces, about like a large tortilla chip. They can be any size or shape you like.
Fry in hot oil for just a few seconds, turn over for a few more seconds. You can leave them in until browned, but I like them better lightly fried.
Remove from oil and place on paper towel, and immediately heap on the sugar. Again, suit to taste, but I like a LOT of sugar.
I also like to eat them as soon as possible coming out of the pan, or at least while still warm.
If I search for them, some more elaborate versions come up. These, as my grandma used to make, are simple deep-fried dough topped with sugar. Here you go:
4 eggs, beaten
5 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. milk
add enough flour to make a dough like for noodles
Roll out the dough and cut into pieces, about like a large tortilla chip. They can be any size or shape you like.
Fry in hot oil for just a few seconds, turn over for a few more seconds. You can leave them in until browned, but I like them better lightly fried.
Remove from oil and place on paper towel, and immediately heap on the sugar. Again, suit to taste, but I like a LOT of sugar.
I also like to eat them as soon as possible coming out of the pan, or at least while still warm.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Below-zero: been there, done that
The short cold snap we are coming out of really isn’t any worse or longer than what we’ve been through before.
Time has distorted memory somewhat, so I went back to the official Minneapolis weather statistics for January 1977 and partially confirmed what I had remembered: it was very cold then.
From Jan. 2 to Jan. 19 – 18 straight days – the low temperature of the day was below zero, often more than 20-below. Within that period, there was a four-day stretch when the daytime high temperature didn’t even get above zero, plus two other days that the high was -11.
I was only surprised to learn that it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought I’d remembered slugging off to college classes each day in an old car that miraculously started. I had been saying it didn’t get above zero at all for three straight weeks, but that stats let me down.
Also at that time, the United States was also in the midst of an “energy crisis.” Now doubting my memory, I think daylight savings time was started early that year, or perhaps even extended to two hours. Maybe that was a different year.
I also remember a four-day school week being imposed around that time, also meant to save energy by having fewer days that public buildings were at full heating capacity.
In going through this week’s cold spell, I again thought of the mountain books I read and how climbers will spend several days at a time huddled in a tent at high altitude to wait out a blizzard.
I know they do this by choice, and then realized most of the climbers I’ve read about live in moderate climates and subject themselves to this extreme only on expeditions. I then further realized that we also go through this by the choice of living here.
Time has distorted memory somewhat, so I went back to the official Minneapolis weather statistics for January 1977 and partially confirmed what I had remembered: it was very cold then.
From Jan. 2 to Jan. 19 – 18 straight days – the low temperature of the day was below zero, often more than 20-below. Within that period, there was a four-day stretch when the daytime high temperature didn’t even get above zero, plus two other days that the high was -11.
I was only surprised to learn that it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought I’d remembered slugging off to college classes each day in an old car that miraculously started. I had been saying it didn’t get above zero at all for three straight weeks, but that stats let me down.
Also at that time, the United States was also in the midst of an “energy crisis.” Now doubting my memory, I think daylight savings time was started early that year, or perhaps even extended to two hours. Maybe that was a different year.
I also remember a four-day school week being imposed around that time, also meant to save energy by having fewer days that public buildings were at full heating capacity.
In going through this week’s cold spell, I again thought of the mountain books I read and how climbers will spend several days at a time huddled in a tent at high altitude to wait out a blizzard.
I know they do this by choice, and then realized most of the climbers I’ve read about live in moderate climates and subject themselves to this extreme only on expeditions. I then further realized that we also go through this by the choice of living here.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Book review: 'Into Thin Air'
“Into Thin Air” – by Jon Krakauer (pub. 1997)
On Mount Everest in 1996, twelve men and women died on the mountain within a few days – the result of a storm moving in as several climbing expeditions were all trying to get to the top at once.
Climber-author Krakauer was there on assignment for Outside magazine to report on the commercialization of mountain climbing. Because of the economic tourism benefits, Everest and other popular mountains have become magnets for adventuresome wannabes who pay many thousands of dollars for guided trips to places like the highest point in the world.
Coincidently, with the Walter Mitty movie out, Krakauer twice makes references to Mitty types in this book, contrasting dreams and reality.
This is a fascinating work, with gut-wrenching honesty about survival and later self-doubt about what could have been done differently to save others (nothing).
Along the way are several deep insights:
• “Once Everest was determined to be the highest summit on earth, it was only a matter of time before people decided that Everest needed to be climbed.” Climber George Leigh Mallory explained it tersely: “Because it is there.”
• the mechanics of crossing the Icefall: “. . . the ability to tiptoe in mountaineering boots and crampons across three wobbly ladders lashed end to end, bridging a sphincter-clenching chasm. There were many such crossings, and I never got used to them.”
• Passing by a body and a half on the way up: “The first body had left me badly shaken for several hours; the shock of encountering the second wore off almost immediately.”
• Being a guided client instead of a climber, Krakauer observed: “the most rewarding aspects of mountaineering derive from the sport’s emphasis on self-reliance, on making critical decisions and dealing with the consequences, on personal responsibility. When you sign on as a client, I discovered, you are forced to give up all of that . . . a responsible guide will always insist on calling the shots . . . he can’t afford to let each client make important decisions independently.”
• While the toll of 12 deaths in spring 1996 was the worst single-season since climbing Everest began 75 years earlier, Krakauer later is able to look at the statistics another way: “The 12 fatalities amounted to only 3 percent of the 398 climbers who ascended higher than Base Camp – which is actually slightly below the historical fatality rate of 3.3 percent . . . between 1921 and May 1996, 144 people died and the peak was climbed some 630 times – a ratio of one in four. Last spring [1996], 12 climbers died and 84 reached the summit – a ratio of one in seven. Compared to these historical standards, 1996 was actually a safer-than-average year.”
• And finally: “Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet . . . now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care.”
On Mount Everest in 1996, twelve men and women died on the mountain within a few days – the result of a storm moving in as several climbing expeditions were all trying to get to the top at once.
Climber-author Krakauer was there on assignment for Outside magazine to report on the commercialization of mountain climbing. Because of the economic tourism benefits, Everest and other popular mountains have become magnets for adventuresome wannabes who pay many thousands of dollars for guided trips to places like the highest point in the world.
Coincidently, with the Walter Mitty movie out, Krakauer twice makes references to Mitty types in this book, contrasting dreams and reality.
This is a fascinating work, with gut-wrenching honesty about survival and later self-doubt about what could have been done differently to save others (nothing).
Along the way are several deep insights:
• “Once Everest was determined to be the highest summit on earth, it was only a matter of time before people decided that Everest needed to be climbed.” Climber George Leigh Mallory explained it tersely: “Because it is there.”
• the mechanics of crossing the Icefall: “. . . the ability to tiptoe in mountaineering boots and crampons across three wobbly ladders lashed end to end, bridging a sphincter-clenching chasm. There were many such crossings, and I never got used to them.”
• Passing by a body and a half on the way up: “The first body had left me badly shaken for several hours; the shock of encountering the second wore off almost immediately.”
• Being a guided client instead of a climber, Krakauer observed: “the most rewarding aspects of mountaineering derive from the sport’s emphasis on self-reliance, on making critical decisions and dealing with the consequences, on personal responsibility. When you sign on as a client, I discovered, you are forced to give up all of that . . . a responsible guide will always insist on calling the shots . . . he can’t afford to let each client make important decisions independently.”
• While the toll of 12 deaths in spring 1996 was the worst single-season since climbing Everest began 75 years earlier, Krakauer later is able to look at the statistics another way: “The 12 fatalities amounted to only 3 percent of the 398 climbers who ascended higher than Base Camp – which is actually slightly below the historical fatality rate of 3.3 percent . . . between 1921 and May 1996, 144 people died and the peak was climbed some 630 times – a ratio of one in four. Last spring [1996], 12 climbers died and 84 reached the summit – a ratio of one in seven. Compared to these historical standards, 1996 was actually a safer-than-average year.”
• And finally: “Straddling the top of the world, one foot in China and the other in Nepal, I cleared the ice from my oxygen mask, hunched a shoulder against the wind, and stared absently down at the vastness of Tibet . . . now that I was finally here, actually standing on the summit of Mount Everest, I just couldn’t summon the energy to care.”
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Christmas un-shopping: many happy returns
Christmas is over, and that meant more shopping trips for people to return gifts they didn’t like, exchange things that didn’t fit, and buy other things they didn’t get.
We got by with only having to do one simple size exchange. Fortunately, the item in question was still available – nearly sold out; we may have even gotten the last one in the correct size.
Not exactly a Christmas gift, but I also ended up with my first smart phone. I got the basics down already, but like a complex video game, I’m only on the beginner level. This old dog still has a lot of new tricks to learn.
As my wife says, we’re still looking for a real “smart phone” – an app that does laundry and dishes.
We got by with only having to do one simple size exchange. Fortunately, the item in question was still available – nearly sold out; we may have even gotten the last one in the correct size.
Not exactly a Christmas gift, but I also ended up with my first smart phone. I got the basics down already, but like a complex video game, I’m only on the beginner level. This old dog still has a lot of new tricks to learn.
As my wife says, we’re still looking for a real “smart phone” – an app that does laundry and dishes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)