Sandy Weekend

This weekend I traveled down to the Great Sand Dunes National Park with some friends from church. The weather was beautiful all weekend and I think we each got more sun than expected. The nights were cold but dry - colder for Aaron who forgot his sleeping bag. We visited the dunes, hiked through ice-cold water to see Zapata Falls up close and personal, and lounged in the sandy river at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains with beer and a Frisbee. The weekend was relaxing - and as usual - too short. Thanks to Andrew and Kate who planned the trip and everyone who pitched in with food, transportation and, er, site management. Below are a few pictures and videos.



Rotta captured this action shot perfectly.

The sand got hot in a hurry - we needed to put on our shoes.

Rotta rafting

Kate jumps into the creek.



Burying Andrew.

Relaxing in the creek.

Zapata Falls

Ginni splash.

Corn prep work was handled by everyone.



Sand Farts





For more, check out this web album from Picasa:

Sand Dunes NP 2008

Indiana Jones and the Heap of Ridiculous, Predicable Shit

If you want to read a well-thought-out critique of the worst movie I've seen in a theater since Deep Blue Sea, read Brett's take - it's right on. My take on my movie "experience" is more about what else happened to make a bad movie worse.

Last night, five of my friends and I met at the Denver Pavilions United Artists Theater to watch this summer's most highly anticipated action-adventure blockbuster. We bought our tickets and found seats in the tell-tale empty theater. About 15 minutes into the movie, a strobe light started flashing in the theater. Someone got up and walked out into the lobby to inform the 15-year-old popcorn jockey, and he told her it was a short. She returned and told us the same, and we kept watching the movie for about 5 minutes before the lights came on and theater personnel entered, asking us to evacuate. Once outside, we were informed there was no fire and we could return to our theater to finish watching the movie or receive a refund at the counter.

That wasn't good enough. I stopped a couple of 16-year-old employees and explained that I wanted comp tickets for my entire group because we had been inconvenienced by an alarm that interrupted our movie and we wanted to finish watching our movie. Instead of saying, "of course, we'll take care of that for you right away," the girl said, "well, this was inconvenient for us, too." You know what, I don't care. You work here. My friends and I just paid to come here and our experience was awful. We're the ones about whom you should be worried, my pimple-faced friend. Apparently, she didn't expect that response. Thankfully - for both of us - her manager was standing nearby and I approached her and explained the situation. Being older and wiser, the manager immediately asked me what she could do to "right this wrong," and I explained that I wanted passes for me and my friends. She graciously gave us passes to come again and apologized for the incident. It didn't end there.

Back in our theater, the movie never stopped running. For the first 5 minutes back in our seats, the volume was barely audible and the lights remained on. When the lights were dimmed and the volume re-adjusted, the movie never restarted from the point when we were evacuated. We had just missed 20 minutes of the movie. To make matters worse, I was actually afraid they'd restart the film and we'd have to watch parts of it again. Yes, it was that bad.

When the movie ended, I was still pretty upset. Not only did I feel like I lost 2 hours of my life, but I hadn't even seen the entire movie. I found the manager with whom I'm spoken earlier and explained that even after the evacuation, my experience was terrible and that I was never coming back to this theater again. She again apologized and asked what she could do to get me to come back. I explained that I wanted an additional two passes to the theater for me and my friends. She complied.

Thinking about it, I'll use those three passes to see movies at the Denver Pavilions. But if anything goes even remotely wrong - of if I just happen to choose poorly - I'll never return.

What's Not To Like?

If I hadn't eaten one, I would have thought it was a joke. But something just doesn't seem right about free pills...

Off to the Glue Factory

The late Eight Belles

They say blogs are best when fresh and new, relevant and timely. I haven't posted in a while for a couple of reasons. The first is that not much worth posting has floated my way. The second is that I don't have much time. And then today comes around, and I'm given the gift of time and a story.

It's Derby Day, beloved by the uber-wealthy, horse freaks (sorry friend), and junkies in casinos. It's the sport of kings, after all. But I'm more of a serf, and it's just not relevant. Sure, I'll watch it, but I'm that guy hoping for tragedy. You see, I was sad when Barbaro died at the beginning of last year. I was sad because the news stories of a horse receiving flowers and candy and get well cards would come to an end. I was sad because people could no longer project ridiculous, contrived "love" for animals they don't own or know above the love they don't feel for random people who invariably get hurt much more often, and aren't wealthy enough to have doctors pour over them every minute of every day so that hopefully, some day, they'll live out their lives in a grassy pasture having sex with all the pretty girl horses. And don't think my contention ends with horse people. Generally speaking, I think that the least of humans is still higher and more worthy of life than the best of animals. So when you croon at the "whittle pwuppy" and I don't respond in kind, don't be surprised.

Today's big race was surly a great to-do for rich trophy wives in big hats and horse trainers who were once so down-and-out that they were sleeping in horse stalls and those two Cuban guys who defected and toiled day and night to survive meagerly and - oh - spend $35,000 on a horse. Wow, talk about a heart-warming story. I could have just cried for them, I was so happy. But for the rest of us, I assume we'll pay a small amount of attention to the Preakness to see if Big Brown (boring horse name, by the way) can continue his improbable bid for the elusive Triple Crown. If he does, great. If not, well, I'll probably have forgotten his name anyway.

And let's not forget the harrowing plight of Eight Belles, the filly who could. She gave it her all, literally. After breaking both ankles after completing the race, she collapsed and was euthanized. Sounds like she was juicing - that's a pretty ticky-tack injury for an animal that should be in phenomenal shape. I really hope - for her owner's sake, because this was probably their last chance at feeding their family - that an ankle injury doesn't devalue her at the glue factory. But I guess that's just one more reason not to buy a horse.

This one's an oldie but a goody, from my post-Barbaro post on my old blog.

Breakdown

Just for fun, let's see how much money $3.7 billon really is.

Well, it's $72,549,020 for a week of work, assuming you took a week off to celebrate the holidays.

Assuming you work harder than the average hedge fund manager (for fun, let's say 73 hours/week, on average), it's $993,822 AN HOUR!

And that's 33 times the amount of money I'll make in one year where I work.

Who am I? I'm John Paulson, and I made more money than you last year. I guess the real question becomes, what do you spend it on?

Growing Confliction

"When the executives at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. realized there was green to be made from green initiatives, their efforts took off: The company expects to reduce solid waste 25% in three years at almost 4,000 U.S. stores." - WSJ.com

I'm a capitalist with a conscience, and maybe a bit of a soft spot for the underdog, regardless of what my NCAA tourney bracket looked like this year. I cheer for the Red Sox because they don't have as high a pay roll as the Yankees, even though I acknowledge the Sox' pay roll is still the second highest in the majors. And I don't like Wal-mart. I don't shop there. But I don't blame people who do. In fact, I feel fortunate to be able to afford to shop elsewhere, even if that is the local King Soopers grocery store, which is of course only one chain under the enormous Kroger brand.

But with King Soopers, I'm able to buy products that are locally grown, such as Rocky Mountain Pastures organic milk and Mountain High Natural Yogurt. My local grocery store - although not really local - provides me with local products, which means that while I am paying a premium price for these goods, I know that they're only being shipped from other parts of my state, instead of other parts of the country, or in some cases other countries all together. It's the entirety of the the green idea - from field to supermarket shelf - and it encompasses all aspects of production, shipping, and consumption. While Kroger may not be making the effort to truly support more sustainable practices, I can with my spent dollar.

Wal-mart's sustainability webpage says: "We view environmental sustainability as one of the most important opportunities for both the future of our business, and the future of our world. [Note here that the "future of our business" comes before "the future of our world."]

Our opportunity is to become a better company by looking at every facet of our business—from the products we offer to the energy we use—through the lens of sustainability."

This is all well and good, but I can't escape the reality of the quote I've used to open this post. Their green is all about their green.

In the end, I want to spend my money where I believe business and true concern for the environment cross. I guess I'm looking for the best of both worlds. Sure, King Soopers isn't the perfect answer - and neither is Whole Foods. But I think that by at least offering consumers the option to buy locally (even at a premium price), they're taking a step in the right direction.

Just because McDonald's now offers higher quality beef than it did 4 years ago doesn't mean I'm going to start buying their burgers. It's simple economics, and it's the same story for Wal-Mart. I eat at the Cherry Cricket, where the burger is more expensive, the managers aren't brought in from another state, and the the beef is from closer to home.*

I have a number of issues with Wal-Mart that I must admit are not exclusive to that company. However, they are again #1 on the Fortune 500 list, and they must set an example for those who follow. I support their green initiatives and welcome their reduction in consumption and pollution the same way I'd welcome equal changes from McDonald's. But that's not enough to get me to shop there.

*I haven't checked this fact. To be honest, I made it up. But I'd be more willing to bet their beef is local than that of McDonald's.

Under- and Overestimation...

...and a new blog. First, I'm starting an additional blog. It'll chronicle my quest to run the San Francisco Marathon this summer, on 3 August. You can find it at www.runsanfran.wordpress.com. I'm giving Wordpress a try, just for kicks.

In case you're wondering, the fault caves in Clear Creek Canyon are a great way to spend an afternoon. I visited them with my friend John on Saturday, and despite having only one light (a big mistake), we had a helluvan adventure. The caves are deep and the passages between chambers - if you can call them that - are often narrow. At one point, for only a few seconds, I thought I might be stuck. The darkness was complete and seemed to weigh me down as I waited for John to pass the light. It was strange having my eyes open and sensing only absolute darkness.

There's no good way to describe the angle at which I'm crawling.

We learned it's good to wear long sleeves (the rocks can be sharp) and maybe gloves. A hat can be nice, but a light for each person is nearly essential. Bring a camera, the caves are better than expected.

It's nice to be back in the sun.

We spent the rest of the weekend catching up, snowboarding (I broke my snowboard and maybe the right side of my ass) and ended with the very over-hyped Coors Brewery Tour. I only realized half way through that I'd actually done it once before, back in 2002 (?). I have a bad memory, I'll admit, but I thought I would remember visiting the largest brewing facility in the world (their claim). My previous experience - redeemed only by our guide (who was a friend) - must not have been so great. This time, our guide was uninformed, unfunny, and generally unlikeable. But the free beer at the end wasn't too bad.

The Benefits of Flexibility

I spent last weekend in Park City, Utah, with one of my best friends, Greg. We traveled together last year in Europe, and I hadn't seen him since leaving him at an airport outside Frankfurt, Germany last September. So when Greg invited me to visit him and his family in Utah for some spring skiing, I was pretty excited.

Last week, I worked Monday instead of Friday. That meant I only needed to take two hours off on Thursday afternoon to catch my plane, instead of those two hours and Friday. So I drove to the airport, parked in the Mt Elbert lot, and flew out of Denver Thursday evening. Although Greg was sick with the flu while I was visiting, we still had a great time. He was in a NyQuil induced haze for a good part of Friday morning, but he recovered in time to hit the hot tub and watch some of the NCAA tourney. On Saturday we skied at Robert Redford's resort, Sundance. Redford and a group of investors purchased the approximately 5000 acres in the late 1960s, but have only allowed about 450 to be developed, preserving the remainder. The three-lift resort is steeper than anticipated, cheaper than it's competitors, and powered by wind. Oh, and it's only 15 miles from Utah's "front range," which makes it an easy commute if you live anywhere near Provo.

Greg and I were scheduled to flight out of Salt Lake City early on Sunday (different flights), so his dad dropped us off at 6:50, one hour before my flight. We sailed through security and were standing at my gate when the airline representative announced that the flight was overbooked and they needed volunteers to give up their seats in exchange for a later flight and a free ticket on United anywhere in the contiguous United States. United uses Denver as a hub, and I couldn't get to the counter quickly enough. I cashed in and walked with Greg to his gate. After saying goodbye (again at an airport), I went back to my new gate, sat down and started reading. A beautiful German woman sat down next to me, we started talking, and my flight was again overbooked.

I collected my second free ticket of the day, got bumped to a flight 2 hours later, and said goodbye to the beautiful German woman as she boarded the flight to Denver. Almost jokingly, I said we should have lunch in Denver later if we ran into one another at the airport. I tried to get bumped again, but my third flight of the day wasn't overbooked. I landed in Denver and thought that because my bags had been sitting outside of carousel 15 since 9am, a few more minutes wouldn't hurt. As I was walking through the airport, I saw two flights going to Frankfurt, and stopped to look for the German woman with whom I'd been talking in Salt Lake City. No sign. I turned around and almost ran into a representative from United, and I asked her if any other flights were going to Frankfurt that day. She told me the gate, and again, unrestrained by time, I walked that way. Yeah, you know where this is going...

I wasn't even to the gate when I saw Simone walking off an escalator in front of me. She'd been sleeping upstairs in the airport, and if she hadn't come down at exactly that time, I never would have seen her. We had lunch and talked all afternoon before I walked her to her gate she flew home. It was incredible.

It's unique when you're on the same wavelength as someone else, but you know it can't last. You're forced to live the moment without thinking about the past or future, and the result is beautifully simple. In a few hours, you can learn so much about someone that you're shocked, and you miss them when they leave. Maybe it's the power of honesty. Maybe it's the connection you make when you realize that someone from another part of the world understands a situation that you thought was unique to your own life. But you've got to be willing to give it a shot.

Here's to life.

What Customer Service Should Look Like

I visited my dentist today. I've been a customer for over two years. But my most recent problem started a couple of weeks ago when I noticed a loose tooth (it's a fake, by the way). I called on Saturday to let them know I needed to come in and get it re-glued soon. This morning I bit into a bagel, and my tooth came out in the tasty breakfast treat. I had a problem that needed to be fixed quickly.

My dentist had called already that morning, but I missed it - I was in a meeting. When I called back - tooth in hand - they listened and made an appointment for 1pm this afternoon.

When I arrived, we discussed my options: implant vs. new fake tooth vs. re-glue old fake tooth. I chose the last (and cheapest) option, and we took care of business. But while I was waiting for my tooth to be cleaned, I was trying to pick some pieces of cactus out of my hand (I'd fallen on one late last week, most of it's out, some of it's not) and my dentist offered to help me. It was obvious I was at a disadvantage trying to work on my own hand with a dull pair of tweezers, so he prepared sterile instruments and went to work, removing the nasty bit of cactus starting to fester in my thumb. Not pretty, and not an advertised service.

That's why I go to Bennett Dental, and that's why I'll continue to return. That's the power of customer service that goes beyond expectations. Do something you don't have to do for someone else, but something they will appreciate (and perhaps can't do as well as you on their own). If they're your friend, they'll never forget about it. And if they're a customer, they'll stay one (and tell their friends about you). Maybe they'll become both...


Also, a huge congratulations to Marcus and Lynn. I'm thrilled for you both, all my love.

Spelunking

A view from the inside of Horned Bear Cave looking back down into Golden.

I'm fortunate to have a job that allows me to be outside almost 80% of the time I'm working. Most of my days begin and end walking back into the office after hiking around greater Jefferson County, seeing and doing things most people must wait 'till the weekend to see and do. And I don't complain.



But some days work compels us to do things that we'd really like to do on our own free time, like find caves. Yesterday was one of those days, and as we set forth in the cool morning air, I had to remind myself that yes, I was still getting paid. We were in search of a cave near highway 6 in Clear Creek Canyon. Our sources told us it was nearly 50' deep, dark as night and doubled as a wintering home for rattlesnakes (still dormant from the cold nights). We spotted the cave on our way up the gulch and slowly approached from below, wary of cats of bears that may be using the cave for shelter. When we got to the mouth, we were disappointed (much as I am with my NCAA bracket). The "cave" was about 8' tall x 18' wide x 12' deep. It was more of a whole in the rock. We took pictures, recorded the location and hiked back to the truck.

Pools of water are home to green moss thriving in direct sunlight in Indian Gultch.

After lunch, we went in search of Quandary Cave, also along the Clear Creek Canyon. Following a written description and photos adapted from Google Earth, we quickly found the "cave" while listening to the riveting Drake - Western Kentucky basketball game. What the second hole-in-the-wall "cave" lacked, the basketball game more than made up for with a thrilling three-point shot to end overtime and give the #12 seeded Western Kentucky Hilltoppers the victory.



A bit let down by our caving experiences, we decided to end the day with a proven winner (no, not North Carolina's pounding of Mount Saint Mary's). There are little known geologic features along the fault running through Clear Creek Canyon - a series of caves created by the moving earth - fault caves. Most of these are smaller and pretty tight. Some of them (and most of them are unknown) combine with geothermal factors to produce larger chambers with active caves features, such as heated pools, "curtains," "fountains," "stalactites," "stalagmites," "flowstone," "cave popcorn," "frostwork," and other "speleothem." Clear Creek Canyon's Crystal Cave has all of these. The cave itself is nearly 150' long/deep, descending from the mouth to a low point and then ascending steeply again toward the back of the cave. At it's widest, I'd guess it to be 30' wide, with a ceiling at times more than 35' tall.

Looking toward the entrance - this is much steeper than it appears. The lower ladder is - in reality - nearly vertical.

The cave was discovered as a developer was cutting a road with his bulldozer to reach his quarry. The results of the bulldozer striking the edge of the cave caused a massive cave in (sorry), covering the floor of the cave with rubble nearly 6' deep and coating much of the inside with dust. Before JeffCo purchased the property, it was frequently vandalized and many of the formations were either touched (which can stop cave feature growth) or simply broken off and stolen. This is disappointing. But since JeffCo's acquisition and closure of the cave, the natural humidity has been restored and many of the features have begun regrowing.

Calcite curtains inside of Crystal Cave.

Unfortunately, I don't have a key for this cave. But if anyone is interested in going to see some other fault caves up Clear Creek Canyon, we can do that. It'd be a good way to get everyone together in April and get outside for a morning (and afternoon?). Remember to bring your headlamps and leave your claustrophobia at home.

Happy Easter.

Ice formed around the branches of this bush overnight at the base of a small waterfall.

Casting a shadow

Over the last week or so I've been at a trailbuilding conference in Reno, Nevada. But before the conference, my co-worker Dave and I traveled to San Francisco to visit Julia and Greg, friends of mine from Nebraska. Our time in San Francisco was too short, but we were able to bar-be-que on the beach below the Golden Gate Bridge on a perfect Saturday afternoon and see the city the following day under cloudless skies.

Long's Peak and RMNP from the south.

We walked through Chinatown on our way north toward Fisherman's Wharf, stopping at the City Lights Bookstore, made famous by Jack Kerouac and numerous other Beat writers from the 60s.

Outside of the City Lights Bookstore, San Francisco.



We walked along the bay for a while toward the Presidio enjoying the sun and cool breeze while children chased kites in the park.



The National Trailbuilders Conference went well. Dave and I learned a lot about building trails in difficult terrain as well as the new challenges facing trailbuilders. We demoed new equipment, attended a number of seminars, and, oh yeah, gambled a bit.

You read my mind

So you really like that feisty Canadian, Feist, but don't know many other artists like her. You don't want to go out and buy songs on iTunes or at the local music shop without hearing some of those "other artists'" work.


You log onto Pandora and create a station called "Feist." From there, you're able to listen - for no cost and commercial free - to Feist and other artists who sound like her. If you like a song, you select a "thumb up," showing you want to hear that it and others like it. If you don't like the song, you select "thumb down" showing you don't like it and don't want to hear it again. If you like the song and just don't want to hear it right now, you just hit "next."

It's free, it's easy, and you'll probably find something else you like, too. Check it out, and create a "Drive-By Truckers" station if you're not listening to them yet.

Happy Birthday, Kosovo!

Balkanization: to break up (as a region or group) into smaller and often hostile units.

Today a new country is born, and an old one, like an injured animal, becomes more dangerous:

"Britain, France and Germany [and the United States] are likely to support the fledgling state but some fear it will set a dangerous precedent.

Kosovo's parliament unanimously backed independence on Sunday but Serbia's PM denounced it as a "false state".

A split emerged at the UN Security Council when Russia said Kosovo's declaration should be null and void." (article here)



With Serbia claiming a 600-year old religious and cultural connection to Kosovo, it's easy to understand why Serbians are upset. You see, many, many years ago, during the first Battle of Kosovo (1389), a young Serbian noble called Stefan Lazar was given a choice from God. Appearing to Lazar as the prophet Elijah in the form of a grey falcon, God said Lazar could defeat the invading Ottomans on the battlefield and receive earthly glories, or he could build a cathedral (being an Eastern Orthodox Christian) to God and capitulate on the battlefield, losing his men, his life, and his territory, but gaining the heavenly kingdom. Of course, he chose the latter, instantly becoming a martyr and burning cultural and religious connections to the region of Kosovo into the fabric of Serbia's identity. 1



Fast forward a few hundred years. Albanians, Serbians, Ottomans and sundry members of the Austro-Hungarian empire have lived in, died in, moved into and out of, and occupied Kosovo. It seems like everyone has a claim to the region, although it's been part of Serbia (and for a while there, Yugoslavia) since WWI (more or less). The atrocities committed by Serbia against Kosovars in the late 1990s resulted in UN intervention. The ethnic cleansing at the command of then-President Slobodan Milošević incited further nationalistic tendencies in Serbia to re-claim Kosovo as it's own, despite the fact that the vast majority of it's citizens are in fact ethnic Albanians. The ethnic Albanians aren't interested in rejoining the Serbian fold, nor should they be. Would you want to forcibly re-marry an abusive spouse?



Which brings us back to today - Sunday 17 February, 2008. Kosovo declares it's independence, upsets the balance of power within the UN Security Council, the G-8, and the EU. Russia, a staunch Serbian ally, is currently refusing to acknowledge the legitimacy of Kosovo's statehood, saying such recognition creates a dangerous precedent for other potential breakaway provinces (probably true). That's in sharp contrast to US, and most of western Europe. Outstanding. Think about this, though. How would you feel as an American if people X (fill in religious/political/national affiliation here) had been slowly moving into a American state where we claimed great national and historic pride, such as Valley Forge, New York City, or Roanoke, and after years of occupation under American rule and law, decided that they were going to declare their independence? That happened once already, it was called the Civil War, and it wasn't pretty. Of course, that's not a perfect parallel, but it helps you to understand how the Serbs feel.

"In the ethnically divided northern city of Kosovska Mitrovica, Serbs vowed never to let Kosovo go.

"The Albanians can celebrate all they want, but this stillborn baby of theirs will never be an independent country as long as we Serbs are here and alive," said Djordje Jovanovic." (2)

Happy Birthday, indeed. This could be a bumpy ride.

if you're interested in some overarching history of the region, look into Black Lamb and Grey Falcon, by Rebecca West. It's a general overview of Yugoslavia.

For a more pointed view of the war in Bosnia from 1991-1995 and many first-hand accounts of the war in Kosovo, read Madness Visible by Janine Di Giovanni. It's a fast read but it will break your heart.

Cause a scene

Last night a friend of mine showed me the website for a group based in NYC called Improv Everywhere. Their tagline, "We Cause Scenes," is fitting. Based around a smaller group of creative types, Improv Everywhere stages scenes all around the US (although mostly in NYC) with collaborating volunteers. Although they sometimes create more than a simple scene, most of their attempts at humor succeed, and hidden cameras capture much of the mayhem.



Although not nearly as cantankerous, a rather large group of my friends descended on Rocky Mountain NP in snowshoes and multiple cars to enjoy some winter scenes of our own on Saturday. About a mile or so from the Bear Lake trailhead, we found a cliff suitable for jumping with about 10' of snow as a landing. You can see a slideshow here at Andrew and Jessica's website.



First, thanks to Andy for setting up the festivities - I know we all had a great time. Second, I think we should create a few more scenes of our own. We're all close, it's easy to get together, and it doesn't always have to be a day-long event. For example, we could meet on a Monday night in the Highlands to bowl. It's only $7 for 3 hours, shoes included. Also, if anyone is interested in a camping trip this spring (think may/june), let us know.

Accounting

I'm reading an interesting book called The Likeability Factor by Tim Sanders, and if you're looking for a simple way to "get ahead" at work, home, or on the social scene, check it out. The premise is simple: be honestly and genuinely friendly and helpful. There are four elements to likeability.

1. Friendliness
2. Relevance
3. Empathy
4. Realness

You can't truly have one without the previous; they build upon one another. The subtitle of the book is "How to Boost your L-Factor & Achieve your Life's Dreams," and it's worth a look.

In other news, I've had a chance to read most of this book because I've been recovering from a weekend in Las Vegas. Eight of us made the trip, most of us lost money, but I think we all had a great time. If you're headed down soon and looking for a great place to have dinner, try Bautista's Hole in the Wall. The wine is free and it comes in carafes.

12 minutes to blow your mind

Go ahead, imagine the 10th dimension.

Break it on down.

Michael Adams, chairman of the NCAA executive committee (and President of the University of Georgia), has recently publicly proposed a college football playoff. Talk about a long time coming... Of course little can happen before the 2010 bowl season is complete, and a lot of negotiation is needed, but we've come a long way from "that'll never happen." With a playoff in mind, I too wanted to contribute with a plan based on the BCS poll before the bowl season began.

To recap, the BCS looked like this on December 2.
1. Ohio State
2. LSU
3. Virginia Tech
4. Oklahoma
5. Georgia
6. Missouri
7. USC
8. Kansas
9. West Virginia
10. Hawai'i
11. Arizona State
12. Florida
13. Illinois
14. Boston College

In my world, the top two teams would get a bye week, and the remaining 12 would play on December 8, in a typical seeding set up. Therefore;

3. Virginia Tech vs. 14. Boston College
4. Oklahoma vs. 13. Illinois
5. Georgia vs. 12. Florida
6. Missouri vs. 11. Arizona State
7. USC vs. 10. Hawai'i
8. Kansas vs. 9. West Virginia

The winners would advance and play the next week, December 15, and would be re-seeded. Therefore;

1. Ohio State vs. 8. West Virginia
2. LSU vs. 7. USC
3. Virginia Tech vs. 6. Missouri
4. Oklahoma vs. 5. Georgia

Again, on December 22, re-seeded. Therefore;

1. Georgia vs. 4. West Virginia
2. Missouri vs. 3. USC

The winners (Georgia and USC) now have 10 days to prepare for a New Year's Day BCS National Championship Bowl Game.

The remaining teams would be re-seeded in the order they lost, to play #3 vs. #4, #5 vs. #6, etc., each in a BCS bowl (ie. Sugar, Rose, Orange, Fiesta and TBD) on January 1 leading up to the BCS Championship later that night.

Fiesta: 3. Missouri vs. 4. West Virginia
Orange: 5. Ohio State vs. 6. LSU
Rose: 7. Virginia Tech vs. 8. Oklahoma
Sugar: 9. Kansas vs. 10. Hawai'i
TBD: 11. Arizona State vs. 12. Florida
TBD2: 13. Illinois vs. 14. Boston College

Of course, each conference would have to play a conference championship (I'm talking to you, Pac-10 and Big-10 (11)), and (in my world), the remaining 26 bowls would be paired down to 8, giving us only 15 bowls. They would be played out between the final seeding of the BCS teams on December 22 and January 1.

If the season must be shortened by a game, everyone gets rid of their match-up with the weakest non-BCS conference school before conference play begins. This (relatively) strengthens the overall schedules, lessens wear and tear, and pares a game off a long season. If the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA), Division II and Division III college football can all figure out a playoff, so can Division 1-A, the so-called premier division in college football.

Here's hoping...

"Usually when an asteroid is headed toward Earth, I'm not rooting for an impact." But "I think it'll be cool," said Don Yeomans, who heads the Near-Earth Object Program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Don is referring to the potential impact of a football-sized asteroid with Mars, our second nearest heavenly neighbor. According to calculations, the impact would not affect earth, but would create a half-mile wide crater and release an amount of energy similar to the 1908 asteroid that struck Siberia, leveling 60 million trees. The current odds of impact are 4%. Keep your fingers crossed...

story

Who's keeping score, anyway?

A lot happens over the course of an ordinary year. I was fortunate to have an extraordinary year, and while there's no way I can/want to cover it all here and now, some type of retrospective seems - if only for me - desirable. To help it along, I'll use a lot of pictures and try to keep the stories short. Happy holidays to you all. I hope 2007 has been as good to you as it has been to me.

Wenceslas Square, Prague, where Joel, Rob and I rang in 2007. The start of this year was a stark contrast to the end of 2006, a year which culminated in my arrival and subsequent unhappy departure from southern France. For six weeks in the Czech Republic, I lived as a hedonist with my friends, traveling the country, eating dumplings, drinking beer by the liter, and chasing beautiful Czech women.

Cesky Krumlov, the place to visit in the Czech Repulblic (other than Prague, of course). This was probably my favorite trip during my stay in Czech.

Welcome to New Zealand. A view along one of my running routes above Blenheim, a small town in the Marlborough wine country. In short, this experience was what I sought but didn't find in France.

We called this the "press gallary;" I called it home for 4 months. During my stay in New Zealand, I spent most of my time working the night shift - 7pm - 7am, 7 days a week. They didn't pay overtime, but the relationships more than made up the difference. The sunrises weren't bad, either.

Our only "warm-up/training ride" before leaving Prague. Greg's choir was singing in a town about 100km north of Prague. I decided to ride up and see the show, meeting Greg that evening. The next day we attempted to ride back to Prague, but took a train instead (we had a softball game...). Later that night after showering, I cramped up so badly that I couldn't walk and had to go to bed at 8pm. Pretty sad.

The only way to see an empty Charles Bridge? Summer solstice, 4:55am. This was one of the highlights of my return to Prague. While it's a beautiful city any time of the year, summer is amazing. It's only dark for about 6 hours a day, beer gardens pop out outside of every restaurant bar and the city simply buzzes with energy (read as: is packed with tourists).

A common scene on our bike trip, Greg and I stopped daily at local pubs during our trip. They were a welcome relief after 8 hours of riding, but always seemed to make the last 15km pretty challenging. Add a pizza, and well, you get the idea...

Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria. Stunning opulence. This is what Prague lacks.

Bled Lake, Slovenia. It's more beautiful than it appears. For a small country, Slovenia really has it all. From this lake to the Julian Alps, down to the Adriatic sea and across to some of the largest caves in the world (not to mention the world's oldest producing grape vine!), Slovenia is more than worth a trip.

Catching a nap on the island of Hvar in Croatia. On this day, we caught a ferry from the mainland to the island, rode up up up through fields of lavender, and napped along the spine with views to the sea in all directions. It was Joel's first taste of the solitude Greg an I shared throughout much of our trip before Joel's arrival.

Mostar, Bosnia, and the New Old Bridge. It's still hard for me to reconcile the physical beauty and genuine kindness from the people of Bosnia with the blind hatred that ripped the country apart in the 1990s.

Mostar, Bosnia. In a town far less cosmopolitan than Sarajevo, scars of a war 13 years gone still dominate a town without the resources to rebuild. These are the constant reminders of a war that affected everyone, and will continue to do so for many more years.

Durmitor National Park, Montenegro. It was tough to pick a photo to represent this strategic and diverse country. The only uniformity came from the people who constantly went out of their way to help us in any way possible. From the coast to the fjord to the mountain markets and national parks, our four nights in Montenegro were some of the most challenging of our trip.

Sunset in Sarajevo, a city trying to heal. Our first night in town we got some local food and drink and hiked up the hill to watch the sun set across the long valley. Here, we were pushed, challenged, and humbled everyday. This was par for Bosnia.

Belgrade, Serbia, with Nikola and Marija. In what can only be described as the most unlikely rendezvous of our trip, Nikola and Marija - friends from Banja Luka - found us in Belgrade, 350km away. After saying goodbye only 30 hours previous, Nikola drove the distance with Marija in hopes of finding us in Skadarlija, the Bohemian part of town. Somehow, it worked.

Sofia, Bulgaria with John and Nancy. Our only real taste of "home" during our trip, John and Nancy welcomed us without knowing us (their son is a good friend of Greg), putting us up for three nights. We enjoyed speaking English, eating hamburgers, and driving in a car.

Bucharest, Romania. Ask Joel.

Wine tasting in Germany with Christian. I know Christian from New Zealand, and when I told him I'd be back in Prague, he offered to put us all up in his guest house for a week and drive us all across Germany's Rhine Valley, visiting the wineries of his family and friends. It was perhaps the epilogue to our trip, a time to decompress without bicycles or the constant concern of what we'd eat or drink or where we'd sleep. From this point, Joel, Greg and I would go our separate ways.

A return to the States, Aspen, Colorado. Coming home wasn't the easiest thing I've ever done. I'd become accustomed to life on the road and the constant change of place and pace. Signing a lease and taking a permanent job, along with seeing a girl for a while threw me for a loop and kept life moving pretty quickly. It's great to be back with friends and closer to family again, but I know now that I must find a way to support the life I love, a life of travel. More on that in 2008...

By the numbers:

13,000: Miles traveled from Prague to Blenheim, New Zealand, where I lived.
44: Contiguous hours I spent traveling from Prague to Auckland.
10: Inches of snow on the ground when I left Prague.
13: Longest single flight during my trip, in hours.
3.5: Movies I watched during that flight.
2: Hours after landing in Auckland before I was surfing in the Pacific
1: Car accident in New Zealand.


3200: Approximate number of kilometers Greg, Joel and I each rode last summer.
60: Number of days it took us to ride that many kilometers.
114: Average temperature in degrees, Fahrenheit, during the daytime in Croatia.
180: Cost, in Euros, Joel and I forfeited for an egregious lapse of judgment one
night in Budapest.
11: Countries visited during our trip.
2: Encounters with wildlife while camping that actually scared us.

Here's to 2008.