iBeen iTouched, iJust ia iLittle

Back in September before I started my travels, I purchased a Touch from motobuddies John and Peter. They had moved onto the iPhone and hadn't been using the Touch. It was just lying about not doing anyone any good. It's a first generation.

Why a Touch and not a Phone? Mostly because I would never get my money's worth out of the AT&T voice plans connected to the Phone. It's just exorbitant for my purposes. But the networking function was appealing. I was also looking for an alternative to my trusty, but aging Handspring Platinum.

I've had the Handspring for a long time and it's still working strong. Granted it's not slim and stylish in today's standards. It doesn't have a color display. It uses AAA batteries. No such thing as an onscreen keyboard. What is "Graffiti" anyway? Hell, it worked!

I kept my personal calendar (to some extent). Had a database recording fuel consumption of my vehicles. Also a very functional checkbook/bank account register. And finally a password manager. Those were my major functional applications.

I had to reproduce these functions on the Touch. I searched the App store high and low and tried many different apps, but finally settled on ones that would fit the bill. However, in my search for the functionality I was looking for I found that I really wasn't overly impressed with either the Touch or the Apps I was exploring. I can understand the cool factor and the hoopla when the devices came out, but I never had one to use on a daily basis.

Now that I do... well my opinion is more along the lines of "it's another nifty device but it's not all it's cracked up to be". I come to this opinion by way of the little things in the Apps that make them much more usable that were/are just missing. For instance a [Caps Lock]. There isn't one. Many of the Apps are simply nonsense fluff. Others try hard but are squarely pre-version 1.0 worthy. The touch screen keyboard? I may get better at it, but I can certainly Graffiti it faster than single-digit touch "typing". Did they really go without Cut'n'Paste for that long??? The iPod functions... I like the Nano's interface a bit more.

But I guess I'll get used to the Touch, like most other gadgets. What I settled on for Apps?

• Gas Cubby ($$) for vehicle fuel and maintenance records
• PocketMoney ($) for checkbook/banking register
• PMG PassCode ($) for password records and management
• The Weather Channel app for more detailed weather
• Lose it! - a calorie counter/planner (no I haven't used it, yet)
• a flashlight app
• Tip and Split, tip calculator
• AppMiner, an iTunes Store search tool.
• Ping! An iPhone/Touch to iPhone/Touch messaging via Internet
  

These will suit my daily needs. I'm sure I'll find some other things that will fill short-term gaps. But for now I'm giving it a go.

Bad news...

From Bandit in PDX

Back at the end of September we received bad news. Our "little surfer dude", Lance, was diagnosed with cancer. A kind that is terminal in dogs. We had to make some decisions. And not the happy kind. He is still with us, but we don't know for how long.

So he went on some medications right away. Apparently these were harsh on our little buddy's innards. Although the bad days/weeks didn't start right away... boy did they come on strong.

This is where I feel very guilty for being on the road while Jim was at home doing the hard stuff, both emotionally for himself and taking care of a dear friend in pain and discomfort.

Before leaving on my trips we decided on the moderate course of radiation treatment. The more aggressive treatment would not change the final outcome. But there is some hope the treatment will slow things and help provide some comfort until inevitable time comes.

From Bandit in PDX

At this time he is in the midst of his zapping. And is stable. Although is weight is down, he is eating well, taking his meds and acting much more like the little buddy that has wormed his way into our hearts.

As hard as it is to see friends and family in pain and discomfort as they face severe medical situations, it is the same with our four-legged friends too. We want to provide comfort and take away the pain for them. And it pains us that we can't do anything but stand on the sidelines.

After I returned from my week long trips, I had my turn to become an emotional wreck. Even with my farm upbringing which did include the loss of pets and butchering of cattle, it is still difficult to endure.

We have some time left and I hope we can do good by Lance as we prepare ourselves and care for him.

Md, KF, Sy, En, I, B, Eu

By the title you might think this is about a bunch of natural elements. Nope. These are the places I've been traveling to and working way too hard at for the past month. The translation is: Medford, Klamath Falls, Sycan Marsh Research Station, Enterprise, Ione, Bend and Eugene. I did these in three trips. Two trips three locations and one trip to the final office.


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What marks these trips more than anything else is long hours. Some days stretched to 12, 14, 16 hours. Essentially, I was replacing servers in each of the seven locations and upgrading the MS Office Suite and Symantec protection software on each computer. Plus other odds and ends.



The office rents vehicles for these sorts of trips. Three trips, three different cars. I had the opportunity to drive a Hyundai Sante Fe, Chevy HHR and Toyota Matrix. They all did the job asked of them, but I'd have to say the most enjoyable one to drive was the Sante Fe.



Except for the usual sorts of hiccups, the new servers are up and running seem to be doing the task. Now I just have to write up the documentation to help the non-techie on-site folks.

Except for my Sunday afternoon outbound trips from Portland and Saturday morning return trips, most of my travel was done during twilight and night time. Therefore, I don't get to see much of the scenery on these expeditions. And likewise, I'm in the office most all day and late into the night. Again not taking much time to enjoy the local offerings. It's all work, work, work. I'm there for a limited time and need to get things done and move onto the next office.




It's unfortunate that I work/travel in this manner. There were a couple of very interesting roads that I drove on, but it was to dark to fully register/review them for future motorcycle journeys. Dead Indian Road between Medford and Klamath Falls has some real potential. It could be very similar to OR Rt. 66 which I reviewed earlier in this blog. Another route are the roads between Ione, through Condon, Fossil and onto Madras. But I didn't see these as I started my trips to next location at the end of the day and drove into the night.

There were some interesting happenings while I was out on the road. While in Medford there were a couple of wildfires in the area. Just before I pulled into our facility on the Sycan Marsh the folks there are pretty confident a cougar ran past the building in the dusk, leaving some tracks behind. Snow on the ground up in the Blue/Wallow mountains as I made my way to Enterprise. Lots of deer, possibly some burrowing owls, many other small critters. And some big critters (cows) in the road. I didn't see any of the more interesting wildlife that Oregon has to offer.

I don't know how I feel about such trips. On one hand I'm out of the office can get a chance to see other parts of this wonderful state. On the other, I'm busy working too hard, staying up too late, eating poorly, and stressing over keeping the staff up and running with minimal interruptions.

290 Miles!!!

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It has been a long while since posting. I've be busy and stressed so I haven't had a chance to motivate myself to post up. So lets start here with a little effort to get caught up.

Let's see... maybe it was 3+ weeks ago now. Peter and I went on our little tandem adventure in southwest Washington. We headed off towards the neighborhood east of Mt. Saint Helens. We usually go up I-5 to the west, but I wanted to go in the other direction. Counter-clockwise if you will.

The approach wasn't too special. Peter took me on the "Washougal Loop", which is a nice diversion from Washington 14. Along the way we came across a fellow who slid his Hayabusa into a guard rail and literally tore the nose of it. The rider was up and standing and seemingly okay with some scratches and scraps. He was with his buddies and a paramedic was on the scene. After Peter imparted a little advice regarding traffic regulations we were on our way again.

A little ways up north of Carson, we stopped for a snack and to top off our tanks. While at the station watching the Harleys and cruisers come and go, our friends Randy and Nathan come rolling in on their nearly matching black Ducati Super Sports. They were off to see it they could get to the Windy Ridge observation station. We were going farther east to explore another route up to Randall, WA.

It was actually a good route heading towards Mt. Adams. However when we turned off NF90 on to NF23. The first 10-15 miles going north from NF90 were all packed gravel. Although it was a dusty hassle, it wasn't a deterent for Peter and myself. We have a bit of history of finding these less that ideally paved routes. The last 15-20 miles of NF23 were actually very nicely paved, somewhat narrow at times. I found it fun to see the road's centerline wander from side to side. Clearly the road was once a wider path.

We stopped at the crossroads that is Randall, WA for some more fuel. And after chatting with some cruiser dudes (their bikes were not nearly as dusty as ours), we started our journey home via NF25.

NF25 runs by the east side of Mt. St. Helens. And winds up the slopes and through the valleys. Our trip on 25 was a bit of another adventure. The day was warm and sunny, until we started going up. It got overcast and a definite chill had rolled in. While up rolling through the high points along 25, the clouds skipped along the tops of the ridges and tree tops. Of course coming down into the valley things warmed up again.

It was getting late and we were wearing out. Pull out the map and find the quickest route home. From Cougar out to I-5 and back south to Portland. The goal for Peter... get to the liquor store to get cocktail supplies so he and John could enjoy a pleasant evening together.

I don't remember what I did when I got home to Jim and the puppies. After all that was weeks ago.

Repost: OR66 - Ashland to Klamath Falls

Back in the spring of 2008, I went on a little scouting trip for a motorcycle trip I took a little later, during the summer of 2008. I posted the scouting trip on a blog I made for that little group of tripsters. Since then I took down that blog but I want to keep this route summary alive because I received a number of comments about how useful it is. So here it is again, edited to make more sense than the original context.

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May 2008:
Oregon Route 66 runs about 65 miles between Ashland and Klamath Falls.

On the east edge of Ashland, OR66 opens with 10 to 15 miles of constant turns. At this stage the road is mostly going up along the face of the hills. In spite of the photos included here most of this section does not have guard rails. In the car I was mostly able to stay between 30 and 40 MPH.

The road surface varies some but it is in good condition. There is a spot right about the 10 mile post where you come around a U curve and it looks like the roadbed slipped a bit, leaving two offset gashes in the right hand lane. The road is lined with red 'lava stone' gravel. Even this early in May it was quite clear. Except for some rare spots, if there's any gravel on the road, it's on the outer edges. The photos above and below are taken at about the 13.5 mile post, looking back and forward.

This is by far the twistiest part of the route. It goes on like this until about the 20 mile post. Then it mellows out as you descend the back side of the first range of hills.


The landscape is open oak/pine savanna-like as you go up the hills. Then turns to pine forest. At least at this time of year, everything was very green and lush. About 30 miles in, OR66 passes through the hamlet of Lincoln, OR. This marks the spot where the road straightens out noticeably. In fact, mile post 30 marks a two mile stretch of straight rolling road. Then there's a couple of curves as you approach and pass Jenny Creek. Then things go straight again with more sweeping curves through timbered forest.


More sharp turns come as you descend towards the Klamath River crossing. Right at the crossing, the road is smooth and silky. But prior to the that pavement is more variable due to wear and tear. There's an occasional pothole, some cracks. After crossing the Klamath County line going up to the the Parker Mtn. Pass (elev. 4356 ft.) it seemed there was more gravel encroaching on the lane. Not just along the edge, and the occasional spattering along the center lines, but also a bit more in the center of the lane.

It's also important to remember that you may run into critters both big and small along the road. A deer stepped out into the left lane at 9:44AM. And of course there were the scurrying fuzzy-tailed rodents darting across the road.

The Klamath River crossing is quite picturesque and there is an easy pull-off for a little breather. The rest of OR66 turns into a typical rural byway with a increasing density of residences as you approach Klamath Falls. Soon you enter Keno. This is really the first village with some amenities, such as a gas station maybe a convenient store. But not a lot. So if you are cursed with a small gas tank be sure to check your fuel, and maybe refuel on the west end of the segment in Ashland before starting this segment.



As you travel onward you follow along the Klamath River and its wetlands. This region is rich in bird life. That includes a lot of waterfowl. On my trip I saw some cranes, geese, ducks. I didn't see any pelicans on this trip, but I have in the past.

To get into the city center of Klamath Falls, you do a little cloverleaf ramp where OR66 meets up with OR140 and 97. Then go a couple of miles and exit right into the west end of town. There's a Quality Inn is right at the base of the ramp.

With the stops for pictures, estimate the OR66 took about 1.5 hours to traverse.