On Sunday, after meeting we all went to watch the “Snirt” races. It is a place where the air is filled with smells of gasoline, exhaust and mud. It is car racing that is only done in the winter. They call it “Snirt” because it is a race track of Snow and dirt. It was started by one of the families that have been around this area for a long so that the kids could learn how to drive. It has turned into a small event every Sunday for anyone who wants to race, watch or ride along in a car. If you know me well enough, you know I was in one of those cars.

    The track was so muddy there were times when you could not see out of the car at all. Some cars didn’t have wipers. Instead they put to use the plastic dangling from what used to be their driver’s side window to use by hanging their head out when it was safe. There was a lot of crashing going on. Each hit was like being in a mild accident. At one point, Dave, my driver and I were in the lead only to be rear ended, spun out and side swiped by two cars… it felt like two cars anyway. We couldn’t see out of any window after all of the mud had splashed up on the car while spinning.

    In these races you strip the car of any luxury features, such as rear-view mirrors and ignition switches, to make the car lighter. Another needless feature: coolant. After each race M, number 7/8^ths, would cool his car down by putting snow on the engine and recharge the battery by using his tow truck. His car also lacked an alternator.

    Anyone who visits in the winter must come along for a ride. Helmets on of course.

    I know Robins of sons exist. I know Ashes of Von exist. I know Norra of Anders exist. I know Raveling of Ravels exist. I know Cases of Torms. I know something about opening windows and doors. There is a will among Wilks. I also know how to move quietly, creep across creepy wood floors. I’d like to know the first among us. Is there one? Is there a Primus? Crap. There is a lot of insanity within a few socketoweea songs! BOOM! There was a bomb (home made) that went off in the distance. Don’t worry, you will not die. It has ended. Just one reminder. Listen to that Miscellaneous Debris or you will never experience vibrations that can occur within one half hour.

Don’t Die!

P.S. Thank You, Avon

    It seems like everyone wants to get out on a trip. The other day, I was with a big car group. There were three families in the car, besides me. They had all moved out of the state to nice warm places and moved back! The women all talked about how crazy they were for doing it. Then everyone turned their focus on me and called me crazy for never leaving. They said I’m young and full of vigor, that I should have moved somewhere warm since I could. They told me they were happy to have Rach and me in the Hall, despite the fact that we were crazy for staying in this frigid state.

    There is one less suit I can wear to meetings until I sew the button back on the pants. I sat down and it shot off inside my jacket like a bouncy ball in a box. What shock! One thing that has been getting me out and exercising is Geocaching. It involves GPS and hidden "treaure." Well, it is moreso the thrill of the hunt. It is like a worldwide hide and seek game where you hide containers with nearly worthless loot in them. It is a good way to get out and explore places you might not otherwise go. I have gone for a few hikes this winter to Geocache. At the begnining of the winter I went out into the middle of a lake and started a fire. It was great.

    In the picture on the left (click to enlarge) I was the only one who had been out there since it snowed. There were no tracks on the lake or trail when I went out. After assessing the lake, I determined where the center of the lake was, the best I could. There was a wealth of dry wood around, so I dragged out as much as I could and burned it all, had some coffee and a sandwich. Then after a while had some brandy. There must be some way of convincing Rach to join me on these types of expeditions.

    If anyone is up for winter camping let me know. KC and I are definitely going to give it a shot sometime soon it will be fun. We will fish, eat, have a fire, maybe have a few drinks and camp out like the olden days… except we will have high quality synthetic materials to keep us warm and probably use a lighter to start the fire… drive to the location in a heated car and sleep in the frozen woods for no reason but to have fun.

terribleWomen45.mp3 (this is for your listening)

    Terribly delightful… isn’t it?

    Wow, Tool really has some beautiful music. The Tool String Tribute album I have is amazing. I have not listened to the actual band in some time though.

UN-IMPORTANT MEMORIES THAT HAVE RECENTLY FLASHED

• Typing with I Seek You (ICQ) with friends.
• Seeing Tool, live, twice! Couple of the greatest shows ever.
• Seeing Primus, Colonel Claypools Bucket of Bernie Brains, two separate occasions. Awesome! Phantasm!
• Climbing very high towers, just for the view.

    On a more serious note, there is news to declare! It is probably best that you read it for yourself. Since these things disappear from the internet, I have copied the article. You may read it below:

The City of Solana Beach emergency crews were called to respond to a possible shark attack at approximately 7 a.m. this morning. Both Fire and Lifeguard Rescue Services arrived at Tide Park to assist a 66-year-old male victim, Dr. David Martin, who was pulled from the surf by fellow swimmers and transported to Fletcher Cove Park Lifeguard station for emergency treatment…

Could this be, yet another, result of the terror that the Terrible Women of South America have brought upon us?

    Some of these pictures were a pixilated in certain spots because we were in the middle of a big city and had to carry protection. Just want to make sure it didn’t offend anyone that came across this baby.

    We cannot be blamed for what we do when under the influence of Aphex Twin!

    If you think you would use Wave, let me know. The only way you can sign up is if you are invited. Just like when Gmail started, it is still in testing. So, just like the person before me and the one before him, I’ll have anyone who wants an invite leave a comment to this post with your email address encoded in Base64. I like that idea because that way we aren’t giving bots email addresses to suck up and spam… and Base64 is so cool.

    There are some awesome pictures Rach and I came across some awesome pictures which will definitely be posted on my next post. These photos are so great! The only reason I am not posting them is because of who is around me at the moment.

» Winter in the Boundary Waters
Over the weekend Rachel and I went to Ely, Minnesota to stay at a cabin with Steve & Aimee. It was the first real snow of the year. There was about six inches of snow on the ground in Ely. When we left home there was no snow on the ground. It was as if we travelled thousands of miles. The woods do not look like skeletons when you go that for north in Minnesota. They are so full of different types of pine and spruce trees that make up such a dense forest, it is thicker and more alive then the forests are in the lower north of the state.
    Steve and I ended up hiking about 4 miles one day. We were about 6 miles from that Canadian border. We ate our lunch around a fire we made from birch bark and whatever dry wood we could find. It feels amazing to hike in such cold temperatures. It was so cold while we were there that the lakes, which were open the day before froze over completely. It was, at most, in the single digits during the day. The way your body feels when you stay warm just from moving in those temperatures is amazing. There is nothing like it.
    Throughout the weekend I took pictures. My next post will contain those pictures.