To ring or not to ring

After washing clothing in the bath, I haven’t quite figured out what’s the best way to remove most of the water. Ringing is probably the best way but it seems to have the potential to ruin the clothes especially where there is elastic. As of now, socks pose the biggest problem because they take the longest to dry. It’s really not that important because they don’t take up much space.

Stringing a racket

Adena hard at work stringing her tennis racket.

After work walk

Went on a walk with Donovan and Joanna after work. Hiked up strawberry canyon and then back down. Roundtrip was in the neighborhood of 4 miles. Even after the short walk, I wound up with some tenderness on my right pinky toe. Damn, the 17 miler to Half Dome is going to hurt! Need to prepare.

One of the photos shows the stairs coming down from the lab, the other is a view of a section of the lab from a ridge and finally a picture of my dirty shoes.

View from B70

The views at the lab lean to the left and are spectacular. Here’s a view from the stariwell where I work. In the autumn, we can get some amazing sunsets.

Breakfast Routine

Breakfast is supposed to be the most important meal of the day. I maximize the experience by drinking coffee (50% decaf, black), eating some sort of chocolate donut and taking in the view from the cafeteria.

Walk around the lake

Here is a picture of my favorite bird around the lake. It’s a black crowned night heron. Not the prettiest bird around but I like how it looks cool, calm and collected when it’s standing around -like this specimen- but looks so awkward when landing and walking around.

Black Hart Beer

Last might, after taking a walk around the lake, I had one beer. It was a Black Hart. I don’t know how it managed to get into my refrigerator but it was there so I had it. Boy, that thing really messed me up. I was dizzy after drinking half of it. Yes, i’m a lightweight but I didn’t think that so little beer could have such a large effect. Crazy.

Washing clothes in the tub

Overview
I’m going to be travelling beginning late next week. I like to travel light. Clothing makes up the bulk of my luggage. I need multiple sets of clothing to increase the time between washing.

Solution
I purchased cool wearing and quick drying clothing from REI. I’ve been experimenting with washing clothes on a daily basis. At night, I shower and wash the clothes I wore that day. The pants and shirts pretty much dry by morning, underwear by the time I get back from work and socks by the next day. The best shirts are by Ex-Officio. The Columbia Titanium shirt can still be quite wet. In the end, there is no clothing laundry at the end of the week and I can get by with 3 sets of clothes.

Canadian geese are in town

They’ve been here for a while now. Their chicks have grown-up so I suspect they’ll be taking off soon. Some call this place home so there is always a constituent around.