Category: Blog Posts

This morning feels like Monday all over again. I am groggy and cranky. This morning I had to pass through Grocery Land Security. Albertsons has hired thugs to guard the entrance to their parking lots so that rouge college students don't use it for parking while they are at classes. Give Me A Break! I would like to rant more about that or even the Lance Armstrong Investigation but there is more pressing news. I need to document this progression so let me start with after work last night.

After work I arrived home to find absolutely nothing done. The only difference was that they moved my barrier aside so that Marcy could go explore the ruins and that they decided to block open the door to my bedroom.

Why block open the door to the bedroom? I don't know but if I were to speculate I would think that they are suggesting that the floor isn't dry. BOGUS! What sucks about that is that they have a fan in there that is so loud that I can't think. So I turned them off! Fuckers!

So that's it. No bathroom and a growing feeling that I am not welcome there any more. I tried to look for an apartment yesterday but I got to interested in my online conference with my sister and mother. After that I fell asleep wondering what I should do. After a person works all day there is no brainpower to do much, maybe I am getting old!

Life is still stuck in my living room where my 4-room apartment has become a one-room studio. My landlady has given me next months rent to relocate until she can rebuild the apartment. If I do that, why would I come back when she has it done? Anyway, I haven't taken a bath or went to the bathroom in my own place since Thursday. Can you lose your job for not taking a bath? Oh well!

Last Thursday I came back from the Thursday Night Ride to sewage still all over the floor. I thought my landlady would be down because she knew I had arrived home. I stayed until 11 PM taking all my stuff and putting it out of harms way for the crew to come in on Friday … hopefully. My landlady did not come down and I fell asleep waiting to talk to her on my front room floor.

I awoke and had to go to work on Friday morning and I was glad to have at least gotten my stuff out of there. I was a little upset that I did not get to talk to my landlady. After work I arrived to find oil (I was taking my old oil in to recycle and had it sitting by my door) spilled all over the entrance to my apartment. I went in and found that it was cleaned out, gutted, and sanitized. I was happy that there was progress so I left to meet up with a friend at the Kettlehouse. Needless to say I got home a little drunk but in good time to talk to the landlady. She didn't come down and every time I went to talk to her I heard her on the phone. So I waited … and fell asleep on my floor again. I awoke with the screaming melees, probably from the Bongwater Beer!

I spent the night in the park so that I could use the port-a-potties. The next day I would definitely talk to the landlady. I finally did at 8 or 9 PM. She basically told me that she couldn't have me staying in an un-inhabitable place and that she would give me rent credit to move or stay somewhere else. I mean I was sitting there needing to shit and all she could say is, ”get a chamber pot!“ I had to laugh.

So that is the last time I talked to her. I need to move or hang out with limited use of my apartment while they re-build. I need the money so I may just hang out and wait. I know that she would prefer me to move …. Maybe this all happened because it is the only legal way to get me out of there.

Yesterday I know just about as much as I know today. I was able to get my aunt's new blog up and go out on the Thursday Night Ride. We had a great diversity of riders show up, around 9 or 10 of us. We had a single speeder, couple cyclo crossers, a trickle down theorist, and of course mountain bikers. The big news though, is my disaster apartment which is still plastered with crap.

I got home after work to find the apartment just as I left it in the morning. I was irritated not only to find no progress but that someone spilled the oil from my car which I was trying to get ready for recycling. Not only was the echo disaster still there but it was bigger now with an oil spill and sewage drying up on the floor.

My land lady, who is very nice, says that the has-mat people cant get to it for two weeks. Maybe if I could camp out in the yard unbtill then I can get a months rent for free, which would be a godsend for me.

So that is where I stand …. in shit. The plan is to have the has-mat people in today (hopefully) and have my land lady's son do the apartment re-build. I hope this dosent turn into a cob job. Its lookin like a shitty weekend already.

Well, I’m back where it all began. Last night, I found myself at the home near Grant Creek once again. When I first moved to Missoula, my apartment deal fell through, forcing me to stay at Motel 6 for a week. So, in essence, it was my first home when I came here. Last night, I returned because my apartment was flooded with sewage.

After work yesterday, I rode home with the excitement of going for a mountain bike ride up in the Rattlesnake. As I got home, the day took a turn for the worse. It turned crappy because the sewer pipes had backed up into the apartment. There was waste in the bathtub, literally.

My landlady was very freaked out, as she had never had to deal with such an event. We decided that I would stay in a motel, and she would get a plumber out to fix the problem. Once that was fixed, she’s going to replace the carpet that was ruined and everything else affected by the backup of the system.

So tonight, I hope to make the Thursday Night Ride, but that may not happen if I have to move all my stuff off the floors for replacement. Oh well, at least I got to see the new Batman movie last night.

My mind feels like a rogue kayak this morning, bobbing down memory rapids. It landed me right back at that epic campsite by the Glacier Park river, you know, the one with the Alaskan vibes thanks to the towering dirt cliffs and silt-caked rocks? Yeah, that place. This morning, though, I finally broke free of the past to post those Tuesday Night Ride pics from Sidewinder and Larch trails (2 or 3? Jury’s still out).

Maybe it’s the lack of coffee, maybe it’s the lingering Monday vibes, but today feels like it’s caught a case of the Mondays. Whatever the reason, tonight’s the antidote: a bike ride, destination TBD.

Speaking of detaching (random, I know, but bear with me!), I stumbled across an article on detaching from family. Don’t worry, no family drama here, just a lightbulb moment applying that advice to my co-worker relationships.

There’s a healthy line between their stuff and mine, right? I’m not saying I’m surrounded by Walter Whites, but let’s just say “dysfunctional office family” definitely rings a bell. Not everyone, of course, but you get the picture.

The point is, their problems are not my problems. Sure, we share the trenches, but I’m a separate human being, dammit! That means freedom to grow and heal, even if they choose the opposite path. I get to be my own organism in this ecosystem, guilt-free, judgment-free, and focused on self-care.

So, yeah, that’s my morning ramble. What sparked it? Honestly, no clue. But hey, if you need to know, that’s on you. Now, excuse me while I go find my bike and chase away these Monday blues (or should I say, Tuesday blues masquerading as Mondays?).

I just got back from the first annual Glacier Park Weekend put on by the Rockey Mountaineers. It was a great weekend with great weather. We camped at the Blankenship Bridge (free) and did two hikes in the park. Saturday’s adventure was Going to the Sun Mountain and Sundays swarray was a hike up to Syner Lakes.

Saturday’s climb up Going to the Sun was the highlight of the trip. It looks real extreme, straight up for a couple thousand feet, freaking breath-taking. I decided that I would at least go until they put on equipment, then I would wait for them at a saddle that we deemed as a staging area.

When the leaders put on their helmets and the rock came skipping by, I figured that the day was over for me. I said I was disappointed because I was not in a position to feel uncomfortable yet. Forest Dean said that the only place the helmets were really needed was the diagonal crevasse, so caution was a priority. The crevasse is just like the size and looseness of the Crazy Peak one. This one was not at a bad pitch though and I thought that I could do it.

That got me to the class 4 climb on the top of the summit ridge. This was the point were I knew I would not go any further. When I arrived it was so boxed in with no exposure that I wanted to do it. The rock was solid and if I fell it would of been only 10 to 20 feet to loose scree. I decided I could do it until I felt uncomfortable. They were being so careful even in the easy spots that it made me feel safe and gave me confidence.

I made the ridge to the summit pitch. The last pitch is supposed to be class 4 as well. The leaders found a class 3 route around to the north side and I summited. What a great climb. It was like a great accomplishment since I never thought I could do a climb with that kind of difficulty.

Talked to Forest Dean last night and learned that we are planning to possably do two mountains in Glacier Park this weekend. Going to the Sun Mountain will be Saturday’s attempt and Gould Mountain should be Sunday’s adventure. I am not sure how I will fair but at the minimum I will hang back and take pictures.

So that means today and tomorrow will be very busy. Friday night after work I want to leave so that means starting today I must pack and prepair. Clean the car and gas it up, laundry, supplies, and of course pack.

Last night was the Sam Braxton ride and that turned out fast but good. I almost got rained on and today’s weather looks the same for the Hayes Point ride with the Thursday Group.

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Whats up everyone? I am feeling recovered from last week-ends scramble up Saint Joseph Peak. Special hello goes out to my lodge hommies Pablo and Pologra! Last night I got a phone call about doing a trip to Glacier park for some camping and hiking. If I can get a dog-sitter, I will definately be there.

Work has been screwy. It seems like they dont have enough for me to do so they have me running around setting up computers. Oh well, I need to get off my ass and get a real job. I bet if you look back to last years blog I said thee same things.

Today it is more of the same with 1 exception … after work I am going mountain biking. Got to get back into the swing if you know what I mean.

I have been laying in bed trying to get to sleep but too many things on my mind. Another contributing factor is that I am so sore and exhausted from Sunday's climb that I cant sleep. It may be hard to believe but I am to sore to fall asleep. I got home from work and crashed hard on the floor to wake up later unable to move around fluidly.

I want to go camping with the Rocky Mountaineers this weekend but I cant figure out what to do with Marcy. First I have to get her shots up to date. After that I have to find a dog sitter. I think I may have the sitter thing figured out but need to email my aunt first to see if she will dog-sit.

What I am going to do now is try to implement some code for my front page and maybe after that I can get to sleep. Boy, work tomorrow will be a bitch without any sleep.

Just a quick note that I did indeed make it back from Saint Joseph Peak last night around 11 PM. The Peak is 9586 feet high and I hiked it from the valley floor on the Bass Creek Trail. The trip up and back was around 16 miles in length and the climbing elevation according to my map program was a little over 6,000 feet. Stay tunes for some great pictures!

Today is real nice. The temperature is about 50 degrees and today will only get into the 70 or 80 range. The sun is out and all the smoke has cleared. It is definitely a beautiful day. I am going to park at the Bass Creek Trail Head and will hike up the drainage. Today’s mini-excursion (if you want to call it that) is up Saint Joseph Peak. To achieve this I will have to gain and use the ridge off the South side of St Joe. Its the long gradual one South East that reaches into Bass Creek Drainage.

If that does not happen I will at the very least find some photographic opportunities at some waterfalls in the valley that I had spotted two weeks ago on my hike up Little Saint Joe.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday and I hope to be posting some pictures of weeks past soon, stay tuned!

The sun is shining this morning and the wind has shifted to the East. The air quality really improved last night and I was able to really ride well on the Trail of Tears. Tonight I hope to ride Point 6 and Snow Bowl but what happened last night might prohibit that. In any case my car has the bike on the back and after work I am ready to go on another good ride.

Last night I took my sheets off and comforter from my bed to discover a spider. To make things worse I found another shortly after. I sprayed the bedroom top to bottom with the only thing I have that sprays, Lysol. With the bedroom fumigated I sat up and watched TV until the room cleared out. When I could go into the room I could not sleep. I was up till 5 AM and after two hours of sleep I am at work.

Boundaries come to mind all of a sudden. Having and setting good limits is connected to all aspects of regaining control over well being … growing in self-esteem, learning to really love, and self-value.

Boundaries emerge from inside our own minds. They are connected to being able to letting go of unhealthy items like guilt, shame, and deprivation of needs. As my thinking this morning about this is put down here in my blog, this all becomes clearer and so will my boundaries I hope.

I believe boundaries are connected to a higher power and when I set a limit, Ill do it when I am ready. Let go let “higher Power”, right? And … so will everyone else.

So I am hoping for some kind of magic about reaching this point of realization about setting limits. I should stick to it too so that every one else will know that I mean what I say and will take me seriously. I think this may be an issue of importance to me. Things will change, not because I am controlling others, but because I will control myself with some healthy limits.

Ok now I am getting lost in my ramblings. For today I am going to trust that I will learn, grow, and set the limits I need in my life at my own pace. When I am ready, at my own pace.

Today let us talk about saying yes. If you are like me you punish yourself buy not saying yes to what feels good and what you want.

Today I want to go on a trip with the Rocky Mountaineers in Glacier Park. I am excited about it yes and it sounds like great fun. Just a few moments after feeling this I began to think about why I should not go. No gas money, no equipment, and no camping fee money. This kind of thinking is wrong and we have to get some freaking control over it.

Say yes to fun, what a novel idea. Other examples are saying yes to meetings, calling friends, asking for help, relationships, people, and activities. I feel like instinctively I want to say yes to certain things; maybe it is a nudge from my higher power. This trip feels good and right. It sounds like a whole lot of fun. I am going!

What is the benefit of this decision? Well as I plan to do it I realize that they are camping at a free campsite for two nights so all I have to come up with is gas. If I can go with someone from here I may be able to split that expense. Wow, now I am excited. From now on I want to remember to say yes to all that feels good and right.

It's another sunny day here in Missoula but a lot cooler that last week. That is why today's outing to Caras Park was delightful. First on the agenda though, was a side trip for my friend Lucy Limberis. She wanted pictures of the warrior sculpture in front of the Adams Center.

I got numerous shots of the warrior and I must say, that sculpture would of made a great Iron Maiden or Judas Priest cover. I got a closer look at the beautifully colored iron icon. I think it is top ten for the sculptures that are my favorite. After the shoot it was off to the Park.

The band was Salsa Loca and they were fantastic. I felt like doing a little salsa out on the grass in front of the stage. I met up with another friend Julie Huck and we discussed tomorrows mountain bike ride. The pizza today (what I had anyway) was the one with bacon and ricotta cheese, I think it is called the Broadway.

After a little fun in the sun I headed back to work. It is hump day folks, time to look forward to the weekend. Get out and mountain bike kiddies before they shut down the trails due to fire danger.