Autumn Hikes and Scenery

I am mesmerized by and love the striking fall foliage. Once again, here is a recent view outside the west window at work. I am often arrested by the view from this window on my frequent traverse to my lab.


Suzanne and I have driven the ten minutes to Washington Park for some recent short hikes. A few years ago we hiked in this trail network and got somewhat lost amongst all the crisscross trails. Here is a photo of a posted map:


And here are some photos from hiking there last Saturday:










I can't get over the bright red trees, and love the mix of colors all around.

Bicycle commuting

I have enjoyed riding a bicycle since a young child. I recall riding my bike to school in 6th grade, riding to Little League baseball practice, riding it on my paper route, riding to class at BYU, riding in my last mission city, riding it for a BYU bicycling PE class, and commuting to work at my first job in China Lake. I always enjoyed the exercise, the thrill of going fast under my own power, and the economy of that mode of travel. On my mission I liked it because we could go anywhere, anytime, without dependency on the bus schedule.

After moving to Oregon I started commuting by bicycle off and on again, and my employer (Sequent) was only 2.5 miles distant. After starting at Intel, I went back to the car for a while, since it was 8 miles, but then decided I might as well use the commute time for exercise (and economy), as I was ramping down my running regimen due to too many aches and pains.

I set a goal to ride at least twice per week, year round. In fact, I circle all the dates I bike commute on my calendar at work (sorry for the garish color):



I've been averaging decidedly better than twice per week. Sometimes I will go several weeks on end without driving my car to work. Winter is more challenging, of course, with the colder, wetter weather, and the dark ride home. But if you have the clothing and the lighting, and the mental fortitude, it works out fine. This will be my 7th winter of commuting to Intel.

If it is particularly stormy, with wind or ice/snow, then I avoid cycling, due to the safety factor. Riding in the wet is not much fun, makes the bike messy, and increases wear and tear, so sometimes I opt out. I've blogged previously about riding with the temperature in the teens. And about the inconvenience of getting a flat tire.

But in the end I feel very good about myself for cycle commuting, and enjoy the physical and mental benefits.

The Wonders of Technology

I suppose in their day the telegraph and telephone were technology marvels that brought the world closer together. But today I'm in awe of what technology can do, and the infrastructure to bring it into our daily lives.

We have children and grandchildren spread across the world, yet we are able to stay close and in touch via email, text messages, facebook, blogs, and video chats. As an extreme example, Bridget and family live 12 time zones away in Dubai, yet we still feel a part of their lives due to technology.

Thursday evening (Friday morning there, their Sabbath) we connected into their live internet broadcast for the Sharjah Ward sacrament meeting, since it was the annual Primary Children's program. It was a wonderful program, as they always are, and we saw Miriam and Magdalena take part, as well as Bridget. I was so tickled the entire time, and just in awe of the whole possibility. Here is a short clip I recorded of Miriam giving her message.

Ghost of Halloween Past

We weren't big on Halloween decorations this year. Daniel made the best contribution, having carved a pumpkin while at Emily's house. We put it out on the porch and lit a candle in it for Halloween night.

And we left it on the porch.

And now, for your viewing pleasure, two weeks later I think the pumpkin has taken on a rather terrifying look, don't you?

My Shed

As part of our landscaping overhaul this summer, we considered ways to store and organize our outdoor items. The side yard in particular had all our winter tires stacked up, our garage was cluttered with wood and tools, and it was a pain to have to back the car out every time we accessed our lawn mower.

At first we thought we could build a long and narrow shed for the side yard, but ruled that out quickly. We shopped around for shed kits and pre-built sheds, finally deciding on a 12' by 8' shed kit from Costco. We saved a bundle of money, particularly compared to having one built.

The kit was delivered and it sat a few weeks while my cycling injuries healed some more and we decided where to put it. Sadly, we had to use some of our garden space as that was the best option.

Then there was the underestimated job of preparing a foundation on the sloping ground. We used landscape timbers for borders and then gravel for the foundation.



We hauled the kit materials around from the garage to the side backyard as we needed them, following the kit directions.


Walls going up.


Got greatly appreciated help from Blair, Emily, and the kiddies.




It turned out to be quite the consuming project for about four weeks. Used all our spare time weeknights and Saturdays, working until all daylight was gone. There were numerous trips to Home Depot for random supplementary materials, most notably paint, roofing, and replacement lumber for warped pieces. I felt like I was feeding a habit.

Once we had the roof on the kiddies decided to sleep overnight in it, but lost their resolve before going to sleep.

I put our garden tools in it, the lawnmower, winter tires, garden chemicals, paint, propane bottles, and various lumber. It served to clean up our yard and clear out our garage admirably. We are very proud of it, and it was an extremely satisfying project.

Billions served

The summer after I turned 16 I got my first hourly job working at McDonald's on University Ave. in Riverside, CA. It was summer of 1968. I needed the money to buy a car and a stereo. I bought a blue 1961(?) Pontiac Tempest for $200, but that could be another post. I earned $1.25 per hour. Minimum wage was $1.45, but they docked $.20 for the food we were permitted to eat.

If I remember correctly, fries were $.18, burgers .20, and milk shakes .25. They had double burgers and fish fillet, as well. The Big Mac was introduced while I worked there, starting at .49 or .55. There was a counter on the sign showing how many millions of burgers McDonald's had served--in the hundreds of millions, I believe.

Our store looked a lot like this one:



When I started there we cooked french fries from scratch, meaning we hauled up 100 pound sacks of potatoes from the basement, peeled them in a large peeler machine, sliced them into long shapes in another machine, then thoroughly washed them by hand in a large sink. We had to get excess starch out of them, or they would be sticky and gooey fries. Then we would blanch them in a pot of cooking oil and have them staged in metal baskets ready for the final frying. I'm sure all these manual steps led to inconsistencies in product. While I worked there we started using frozen fries. Much simpler and more consistent.

New hires started out working in the grill area, and worked their way up to the counter, which was generally thought of as more desirable work. After a time, though, I decided I preferred the grill, and soon became a top notch hamburger cooker. We would cook in 12 patty batches, and could get as many as 60 down at once during lunch or dinner rush. I loved the rushes and the satisfaction of putting out the burgers quickly and efficiently. The lead would call out how many to put cheese on, or if a special was needed like no onions. "Cheese on 6" might be the shout. If we heard "peanut butter on three" it meant a cute girl was at the counter at register #3. Sometimes someone would call out peanut butter, everyone would look, and there would be a weird looking old lady there, and we'd all laugh. Needless to say, we had an all male workforce for the most part.

By my second summer in 1969 I had significant seniority, and was working full time or longer. I had the responsibility to open the store, so I'd arrive a few hours before opening, clean and set everything up, and be part of a skeleton crew until more workers arrived for the lunch rush. If they were in a pinch I might stay through the dinner rush for extra hours. I don't recall that we got time and a half, and it might even have been illegal since I was under 18. By then I was earning $1.45/hour. Other times I had the responsibility to close the store. The newer workers would typically get short shifts for just lunch or just dinner.

I feel like I learned some valuable life skills working at McDonald's. Being a responsible employee and showing up reliably and on time, an hour's pay for an hour's work, customer satisfaction, feeling satisfaction in hard work and seeing the fruits of labor, how to work more quickly and efficiently, how to cook (burgers, at least), how to mop floors and clean, etc.

In the fall of 1969 I finally quit my job. I think I was a little burned out and felt like the pay was too low. But mostly I was starting my senior year and didn't want to miss out on so many experiences by working nights and weekends. I wonder, though, how many thousands of burgers I contributed to the billions McDonald's has racked up now.

Crossword

My favorite computer games these days are FreeCell and Sudoku. I have both on my iPhone and play them when I have a few minutes to kill.

Suzanne has been a regular crossword puzzle solver, and each day she tackles the puzzle in the newspaper. I was never interested until late last year I must have joined her in figuring out a few clues. I immediately saw the value in finding an iPhone app that would let you fill in the letters you knew and search for dictionary words. Upon installing it I began to supplement her efforts, referring to my iPhone as my "brain". I also use wikipedia on my iPhone to solve clues. Usually, I would tackle the puzzle after she filled out everything she could.

Here is a book we use, as well as the daily paper.



When Suzanne went out of town a few days last December I took a big step in trying to do the whole puzzle myself. Suzanne is such a wiz at it I didn't have much confidence. I would snap a picture of the puzzle and email it to her, and she would contribute answers via text or email back. We solved each day's puzzle and it was lots of fun and satisfying. When she went into the hospital for gall bladder surgery I bought her a book of puzzles to work on.

Now it is a regular activity for us, often solving a puzzle together. I still think she is so very good at it, and I tease her saying she is so smart. I still enjoy utilizing my "brain" to solve clues. Sometimes we'll polish off the newspaper puzzle before I head to work. Other times I'll help finish one after work where she got stuck. As often as not, though, she'll have filled it all in.

This is a fun little trifle we are able to work on together.