Kemo Therapy

I spent last Saturday doing some hiking on the Appalachian Trail (AT) in my continuing quest to hike the AT through the section of northern Virginia that I live in. This in itself isn't that memorable. I probably spend 10 to 15 days a year hiking the AT by myself - much to my sister's chagrin.

I had a beautiful day for hiking and knocked out about 6 AT miles, 12 miles round trip. I started out just north of Route 50 and headed south from Ashby's Gap on the AT. The trail climbed steadily higher as I walked south, steeply at first and then more gradual after the first mile. About two miles in I came to an opening in the trail. This was the edge of Sky Meadows State Park, which is exactly as the name implies, a series of high alpine meadows with trails that run through them.



Just before mile 4 I said goodbye to Sky Meadows State Park and the AT meandered back into the woods as it went further south. My destination was the Dick's Dome shelter, about 2 miles south of Sky Meadows. I was making good time and the breeze was keeping the bugs away - it was a good day!

It wasn't too long before I saw the brown sign up ahead pointing me to the Dick's Dome Shelter a little ways off the AT. I always try to check out each AT shelter I come across. I have learned that all AT shelters are not created equally. It's good to have a handle on which ones to count on and which ones to avoid on a multi day hike. Dick's Dome is about 0.2 miles off the actual AT, a fairly long distance after you have been traipsing through the woods for 10 or 15 miles.

I was hoping Dick's Dome would be empty so I could really poke around and get a good feel for the place but no such luck. I could see a man setting up camp as I approached on the trail. He was wearing bright yellow Crocs as he puttered around, which I found quite comical. There is no way I would lug a pair of those ugly ass shoes this far into the woods, but that's just me.

Much to my surprise, he was very friendly and talkative, so I knew he wasn't from around here. It turns out he was from New Hampshire and his trail name was Kemo. Kemo was just a few days shy of finishing the entire AT, all 2,176 miles of it! Kemo is a section hiker and he has been hiking 75 to 200 miles of the AT for years and years. He said he began hiking it in 1967 and he will finish it this week at age 67.

I sat down and shared my carrot sticks with Kemo and we talked like old friends about Maine, New Hampshire, the crazy winter of 2010, and of our stories on the AT. I even convinced him to pose for a photo. I offered to email him a copy but he said he didn't have an email address, go figure. So Kemo, here's a salute to you and your conquering of the AT, I am right behind you! Well not right behind you, technically I am 2,093.8 miles behind you, but progress is progress!



Mood: Cleansed


Song Of The Day:

"Sleep with one eye open, gripping your pillow tight."

- Enter Sandman

Metallica


It's Ironic :

That I saw a Motorist Assistance Vehicle disabled on the side of the interstate today.

The Road To Nowhere

One of the things I try to do everyday is go for a walk. It helps me to get some exercise, a healthy tan – which is probably an oxymoron – and clear my head. At home I walk everyday like clockwork and I try to do the same on the road as well. My mom is actually the one who got me walking, she has been walking regularly for probably a dozen years or more.

Whenever I go north for a visit mom and I always try to get in as many walks as possible. Our favorite spot is a new subdivision just a ways up the street from her. It is called Stone Creek and has a beautifully maintained entrance with a stone wall, flowers, plants and shrubs and a nicely manicured lawn. The only problem with Stone Creek is that none of the 14 house lots have been sold which makes Greystone Drive a road to nowhere.



The developers started clearing away trees and building what became Greystone Drive in the fall of 2007. By April 2008 the road was paved, lots were cleared and marked and had brand spanking new For Sale signs on them. Fifteen months later not much has changed. It could be that it was just a bad time to make a new housing development with the real estate bubble bursting or it could be that these lots are wayyyyy overpriced. They cost between $60,000 and $80,000 for lots of 2 to 4 acres. That is a steep price most anywhere in the country and seems especially high in Maine.

At first we would bet on when the first lot would sell as we walked up and down Greystone Drive. August 15th, March 21st, November 11th and so on. We have given that up entirely at this point. Now we simply discuss which of the 14 lots will be the first to be sold and the various pros and cons of each lot. My money is on lot number 1, right at the top of the hill. It has lots of tall pine trees and just looks like a very inviting place to build a home to me.

The other fascinating thing about Stone Creek is that it has a very nice community mailbox already. It has slots for all of the someday-to-be houses and even a slot for outgoing mail. I would love to pop a letter in there one day and see how long it takes to be delivered. It could be months or even years at this point before the postal service starts checking it.



Mood: Rejuvenated.

Song Of The Day:

"There ain't no rest for the wicked, money don't grow on trees."

-Ain't No Rest For The Wicked

Cage The Elephant

The People In My Neighborhood

For about the past four years I have been walking two miles every day to get a little exercise and fresh air. I literally leave my house, walk a mile through my neighborhood, turn around and walk back home. After approximately 3,000 trips up and down the sidewalk the walk has become a bit on the mundane side.

To lighten up the monotony some I began counting cars a couple years back. I just keep a running count of how many cars pass me on my trip. It varies depending on what time of day I go. If I go around dinner time I will see a ton of cars, 97 is the all time high. That's about 3 cars a minute driving through my little slice of suburbia. The low is a mere 8 cars when I went about midnight one night.

I also count other things from time to time, squirrels in the fall, robins in the spring for instance. After four years of scoping out my neighborhood I have a pretty good handle on things. I recognize when a car has been parked in the same spot for three weeks, new street signs and other random things. Here are some of the highlights of my walk through zip code 20121.

Yellow Shirt Guy:

If I leave my house at about 1:55pm, my standard departure time, I usually see a guy in a little green Honda wearing a bright yellow shirt driving towards me as I walk. I figure he is on his lunch break and heading back to work as he is always heading in the same direction at about the same time of day.

Darky The Squirrel:

There is a black squirrel in my neighborhood. I see him all the time, not just on my walk. Black squirrels are a genetic mutation and not all that uncommon but just seeing him is a bit of a treat. I always yell out "Hi Darky" whenever I see him. He has never said anything back though.

The Pedophile:

I also see this old man at the park pretty regularly on the swings. I call him the pedophile but maybe he is just a retired pilot who missed the friendly skies. He is on the swings a couple days a week and always looks like he is having a blast swinging away.

The Dog Lady:

I also see a retired woman walking her dog on a pretty regular basis. We have brief conversations about the weather but I don't even know her name after probably two years of seeing her. I do know her dog was a rescue from Hurricane Katrina but that's about it.

The Bleeding Tree:

Last year the power company cut down a bunch of trees around their power lines. Ever since, one of the leftover stumps has been "bleeding". Really, it just means the roots of the tree are still alive and capturing water and nutrients and sending them upwards to the tree that is no longer there. Still, it's wicked creepy and the kind of thing that Stephen King would love to use in one of his novels.

Homeless Guy:

Every now and then I see a guy sleeping in his car at night. He isn't there every night but every so often he will be in it with his pillow and blankets for a few nights in a row. The car is always there but he is not always in it. Maybe it's just when his mother-in-law comes to visit.

Mood: Content

Song Of The Day:

"Oh, who are the people in your neighborhood,
In your neighborhood, in your neighborhood."

-In Your Neighborhood

The Muppets

2200 Miles

Whew, the pressure is off me. Someone else is already hiking the AT this year and even documenting it to boot. Check it out:

www.2200miles.com

Ironically, he started his journey the very same day I waxed philosophically about wanting to do the same.

Best of luck Chris!


Mood: Jealous!

It's Ironic:

That the rustiest old clunkers deliver your pizza to you in 30 minutes or less.

Five Million Steps

Every so often something happens that reignites a smoldering desire in me to hike the Appalachian Trail. Hiking was forced upon me at a very early age by my parents. Our vacation EVERY YEAR was to go to the wilds of the Maine Woods and spend a few days hiking in Baxter State Park. One of my earliest memories as a child is being carried in a backpack on my father's back as the family hiked the trails around South Branch Pond. I was too small to hike at this point, or I would have simply slowed the rest of the family down too much, so I got a free ride. To keep me entertained as they hiked they fed me Smarties candy, one at a time. The trick was I had to guess the color. My dad would ask me "what color is the sun" and I would shout out "yellow" and he would hand me a yellow Smartie. That kept me entertained for hours at age 3.

Fast forward to 1995 and a friend of mine from college decided to hike the AT upon college graduation. He was a big guy, probably 240 pounds when he hit the trail head at Springer Mountain, Georgia in June that year. Four months later some friends and I met him at the top of Maine's Mount Katahdin, we even lugged beer to the top of the mountain, and he was a svelte 180 pounds. At that point I thought to myself - if he can do it, I could do it.

A few years after that Bill Bryson pens his book "A Walk In The Woods" about his attempt to hike the AT and fans the embers. The book details his adventures on the trail. Bryson hikes 870 miles of the trail, less than half of the 2100+ miles it takes to complete the journey. I have read the book several times, even reading just a chapter of two makes the flames burn hotter.

Today I open up the Travel section of the Washington Post and I am sucked back in again. "Hit The Trail" is the name of the article and it is complete with a map of the route, food, gear and packing tips and more. The most important aspect of attempting an adventure like this is emotional competence. You have to believe that you can do it and you have to have the inner will to overcome the loneliness and obstacles you will encounter on the trail.

At this point the idea of actually hiking the whole AT is just a fantasy. Something I would consider if I become obscenely rich and had lots of free time on my hand. I do have a strong desire to do the Hundred Mile Wilderness but I would need to convince someone (Kevin???) to accompany me. The Hundred Mile Wilderness is the last 100 miles of the trail through the deepest woods of Maine. The intensity of the hiking and the days of solitude are said to be the biggest challenge of the entire 2,100 miles. I would like to hike it just to say that I have done it. Not too many others can make that claim.

Mood: Contemplative

Movie Quote of the Day:

"You're killing me Smalls!" - The Sandlot

I Hate January

Boy do I hate January, boy oh boy. Not because it's winter - although that is certainly a good enough reason - not because of the end of pro football, not because there are six more long months before my birthday. I hate January because of New Year's Resolutions.

I think that New Year's Resolutions, NYR from here on out, are a bunch of crap. It really all goes back to the general lack of personal responsibility that pervades the world these days. If you notice a flaw in yourself, you get to put off dealing with it for upwards of months at a time. I say why wait until some arbitrary day to remedy it. If you notice something out of whack or an area you could improve upon, fix it on the spot.

The most annoying NYR, or at least the one that affects me the most, is the whole "I'm gonna get in shape!" NYR. Face it, if you were a fat ass in November you are going to be a fat ass in March, now get the hell out of the gym. Stop wasting your time and everyone else's - especially mine - with that pathetic, feeble attempt to get some exercise in January. Just go to the store, buy a 12 pack of cupcakes, sit down on the couch and accept it - you have a big, fat, monkey butt!

Every January, gyms across the world are crammed with oodles of people who have turned over a new leaf to get in shape. They clog up the treadmills of the world, walking slower than they could on the sidewalk, watching Survivor and I hate them all. Here are some of the things I hate most about January at the gym.

Machine Hogs:

You know you have seen them, people who stay on the treadmill, cross trainer or bench press for what seems like hours at a time. These are usually the people who are doing the least amount of exercise in the whole gym. My favorites are the fatties who come to the gym to walk on the treadmill. Instead of driving to the gym to walk, why don't you just walk around your neighborhood, it's free!

TV Watchers:

You've seen them too. Staring intently at something mundane on TV. It might be American Idol or better yet the Food Channel. They are glued to the TV but hardly put any effort towards the exercise they are doing. God forbid they apply that much attention to getting in shape. I say if you want to watch American Idol so fuckin' bad, stay the fuck home.

Phone Whores:

OMG, it's not a baby, it's a phone. Leave the damn thing at home. I used to regularly see a girl at the gym who was always on her phone while on the treadmill. She would be talking nonstop to some poor fool on the other end. I always wanted to elbow her in the face and then step on her phone once it fell to the floor. Luckily I haven't seen her in months.

Tagalongs:

Why do some people who have a friend that is working out at the gym feel compelled to go with them? Is your friend retarded? Do you think that hanging out in the corner texting your mom is going to impress the ladies? Tonight I had to ask this guy who was just sitting on various machines to move 3 times so I could get all my sets in. If Timmy needs to bring you to the gym for moral support, he should just end his life once and for all and take you with him.

Mood: Cockfuckballs!

Song of the Day:

"And every penny from my last paycheck, I've blown it on you."

- Bouncing Off the Walls

Sugarcult

No Soup For You!

I tend to eat a lot of soup in the winter when the weather is cold outside. Since graduating from Ramen Noodles in college to actual soup a few years ago my soup buying habits haven't changed much. I buy Progresso soup, cause it tastes so good. My standing favorites are Chicken Noodle and Chicken Rice but I have been known to buy Clam Chowder, Italian Wedding Soup and even Minestrone if the mood strikes.

There is a bit of a soup war going on right now between Campbell's and Progresso. They have been trading barbs in their TV ads about MSG. Your soups have MSG and ours don't, blah, blah, blah. I decided to try the Campbell's Select soups after seeing one of their ads saying their soup is MSG free, so the ads worked on me.

Soup was on sale at Giant (not my trailrunning cousin, the local grocery store I patronize) last week. In fact both brands were on sale, so I decided to have a little taste test to see which I preferred better. Progresso was 2 for $5 and the Campbell's Select was 2 for $4. 1 point for Campbell's! I bought cans of Chicken Noodle and Chicken Rice from both brands.

Upon closer inspection back at the ranch the Campbell's cans are taller but they are also skinnier. They hold 18.6 ounces of soup while the Progresso cans hold 19.0 ounces. 1 point for Progresso! Skimming over the ingridients did indeed show that both Progresso soups contained MSG and neither Campbell's soup contained it. 1 point for Campbell's!

Now the good stuff - the taste test. I started with the Campbell's Chicken Noodle. Poured it in a pot, threw in some minute rice and heated it up on the stove and waited for it to cool. The first taste was...hot! Got to let it cool some more. Once I could wolf it down I really wasn't that impressed with it. I thought it was too bland. It just didn't have the flavor the TV commericals promised. Next was the Progresso Chicken Noodle which I have been eating for years. No comparison here. Progresso wins hands down. It was much more flavorful and hearty. 1 point for Progresso!

A few days later I tried the Chicken Rice soups, starting with Progresso. Same routine - pour, rice, heat, wait. The Campbell's Chicken Rice was very close in taste to the Progresso Chicken Rice. The Progresso seemed to have more chicken in it, the Campbell's had more carrots. I would give Progresso the edge here but by the slimest of margins. 1 point for Progresso!

Final score: Progresso 3, Campbell's 2.

My conclusion is that you get what you pay for and MSG stands for "Makes Soup Good".

Mood: Satiated.

Cheezy Pick Up Line of the Day:

Are you from Mars? Cause your ass is out of this world!

Random Movie Quote:

"We just get Miami Wice on television. Miami Wice is number one new show!" - Eurotrip

"We Are All On Drugs Yeah.........

.........Never Getting Enough (Never Get Enough)".

Those are the words of the rock band Weezer and I think they are so very appropriate these days. I am not sure that the boys from Weezer are talking about the same kinda drugs that I am referring to - the prescription variety.

Open up a magazine, turn on the TV, go to a sporting event and you will be bombarded with advertisements for a myriad of prescription drugs designed to fix whatever ails you. High blood pressure, heartburn, allergies, dysfunctional penis - anything you can think of now has a drug that will cure it. My favorite is for "restless leg syndrome". Yes, scientists have now come up with a drug that fixes the heebee geebees - pins and needles if you prefer - what a fantastic breakthru!

If you pay attention to the ads, listen to the disclaimers and read the fine print, you will see that the side effects of the drugs are often worse than the symptoms of the ailment it fixes. Saw an ad today for an allergy medicine, I don't remember the name of it right now, I think it began with a V. Anyway, one of the side effects of the drug was Glaucoma. So flowers won't make you sneeze anymore but you may go blind. That is a trade off I am NEVER going to make, who would?

Personally, I wonder what the long term side effects of taking any sort of artificial chemical compounds for a long period of time really are. What unknown harm does taking Clartin for allergies cause your brain, kidneys or liver over a period of 20 or 30 years? Nobody knows the answer to this question just yet. The good news is that millions of unknowing Americans have been turned into guinea pigs and we will eventually have an answer to this question. I am simply glad I am not one of them.

Random Good Thing:

I was driving home the other day and I saw one of the rarest wonders of the automotive world - a DMC. It was heading south and I was heading north, so I didn't have a chance to see if it was Marty or Doc. Brown behind the wheel. Either way, it was nice to see that shiny metallic finish and one line immediately popped into my head: "You built a time machine....out of a DeLorean?"