Author: mikemjensen

Spring Fun

mikemjensen Motorcycles, Utah Tags: , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

It’s a battle I’m destined to lose.

On occasion I’m victorious but when I lose, the price is greater for me.

I’m talking about the ride home on the bike vs. the spring weather.

On these spring days where winter hasn’t let go and summer is raising it hand for attention, the weather going to work is not always equal to the weather returning home. When I leave I have to be prepared anything. Cold fronts, thunderstorms, and even snow can happen.

From my desk, I’m able to pull up the radar image from the local news channel. I can see the storms rolling in from the west. The colors will tell me if it’s rain or snow coming and how much. I can zoom in for a more detailed look. Depending on the time I remember to check this view, it can give me a great advantage. The challenge comes when the incoming storm is timed exactly with the ride home.

radar

Today’s Storm

My route home leads me directly west right into the face of any incoming weather fronts. At about half way and leaving the residential route, I turn north around the mountain point that divides my working county and my living county. The gravel pits release their bellows of dust and dirt with the always accompanying violent winds and the storm has the opportunity of a T-bone shot. It is at this point that the risk of getting caught looms greatest and my timing calculations either gave me enough time or not.

I’m a gambling soul and I find I like to push my luck and look for the edge of the radar blips and try to slip around the point of the mountain, make the quick broad side run, and slip under my covered parking spot right as the wet weather begins.

I’m pretty good at it. But not always.

Rain is not anything that cannot be dealt with, provided you wear your rain gear. But where would the victory be if I did that? No when I get caught by the rains, it’s wet and miserable. If it snows, it’s wet, miserable, and slippery dangerous. Lightning storms are all that, as well as the thrill of Russian roulette in wondering where the next bright flash will strike and counting the seconds until the clap of thunder roars. It’s all part of the fun.

It’s said that, in Utah, if you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes. The ride home is about 25. Sometimes the funnest 25 minutes all week. Sometimes not.

 

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Molehill vs. Mountain

mikemjensen cool stuff, History, Utah Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

I like to think I’m adventurous.

In the hospital next to where I work, there are actual escalators descending down to the cafeteria level. Sometimes, I use the stairs to go down. Other times I’ll use them to walk up. I’m pretty proud of myself.

And then I learn what others have done.

There is a proposal to establish a state park in a place called the Hole in the Rock. It’s where a group of Mormon settlers took a short cut and ended up descending down a 2000 foot crack in the canyon rim with grades from 25 to 45 degrees. In wagons. 83 of them. And 1000 head of livestock.

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Hole in the Rock, Utah

Well, sometimes I take the stairs down AND back up on the same visit.

 

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The Inland Sea on a Whim

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Road Trip, Utah Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

We went to the movies this afternoon. That took a few hours. Good movie.

Not wanting to go home, we stopped at a home show and picked up a few items.

Still not wanting to go home, we decided to go out to the Great Salt Lake Marina. We slipped in just before they closed the gate. It left us within the State Park with few people, and fewer still as each car left.

Enjoying the hint of salt in the air, we walked the shore line of this Inland Sea. With the mirror finish of the water, the puffy clouds rolling in, and the mottled sunlight dispersed throughout, the lake didn’t disappoint.

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It never does.

 

Post 3-049

Fishing by Film

mikemjensen Fishing, Interesting Stuff (to me anyway) Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Tonight I’m headed to a film festival. Although not as prestigious or glamorous as the recent Sundance Film Festival, I do expect to be entertained. Tonight will be the Fly fishing Film Festival. The one evening festival consists of about two hours of 5-10 minutes films featuring fly fishing.fff

The films are not all just cast, hook, and catch. Most shorts tell an interesting story that includes casting, hooking, and catching. I have noticed that these films do share certain characteristics:

  • People packing gear.
  • Helicopter or plane ride.
  • Slow motion shots of the cast, hook, and catch.
  • Slower motion shot of angler holding the fish partially in the water cradled in two hands with water pouring out of the fishes mouth as it gulps air. It’s the “money shot”.

Ultimately all tough days are rewarded, shy trout give in to curiosity, and anglers pat each other on the back as they stroll away from the water, rods in hand and smiles galore.

What’s really fun is that with the group of paid viewers, cheers are shared for the hits, and awes for the misses. And when each film ends, the applause is exuberant.

It should be fun.

 

Post 3-047

Do or Do Not

mikemjensen Fishing Tags: Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Is a fisherman judged by the number of the fish he catches?

Or is it the quality of those fish?

Is he judged by the species he pursues?15-1-effects

Or it by the methods he masters?

By Boat? By shore?

By guide? By self-taught?

The answer is simple: No. Only whether he does.

 

Post 3-046

Heros

mikemjensen Interesting Stuff (to me anyway), Life's Truths, Quote Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Growing up in the 70’s like I did, there was no greater super hero than Batman. Every afternoon, the episode aired and all of us kids tuned in. Mondays and Wednesdays left Batman and Robin in a life threatening peril that only Tuesdays and Thursdays would reveal how they could escape. And Fridays, if we were lucky, brought Cat woman into the fray.

The funny thing about Batman, he had no super power other than being rich. He bought all the gizmos and trinkets that help him overcome the equally non-powerful villains. They were all quirky, but no ray eyes or flying or exposure to rare substances. They simply tried to out think each other in their eccentric ways and cheap puns.

Superman was a cheat. An alien life form that brought with him all his cheating ways. He was faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, etc, etc, etc. Boring, really.

But if you were going to a superhero, Superman was the guy. He could do it all.

One of the best lines in any movie, anywhere, comes from the animated movie the Iron Giant. Remembering the lesson from the little boy who taught him all of what he knew of his world, he answered the call of being who he chose to be.

sacrifice

Flying straight into the nuclear missile, high in the atmosphere, and into certain destruction, all to save the boy, his mother, the town, and the military personnel who had been trying to destroy him, he closed his eyes and proclaimed, “Superman.”

Even Batman would have to be proud.

 

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Wear It Out

mikemjensen goals, Life's Truths Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

Every day is a reset.

Old pictures revel bad haircuts, outdated fashions, lost friends, hopeless relationships, and unrealized dreams.

But we thought we were on top of it then; so hip.

I can think of things I did or said yesterday that I could have tried harder or phrased better.

I think I have it all figured out in the morning and yet ready to hang it up by nightfall.resetbutton

It’s that figured out part in the morning that’s important.

Each morning is a new chance to do it right.

The rooster is crowing.

 

Post 3-044

Flooding is the New Drought

mikemjensen Useless Observations Tags: , , Leave a comment

Hey Kids,

So last I heard, California was in a drought. The lakes were dry. The trickles of water flowing across dry cracked mud puddles passed as reservoirs.pc-140820-california-drought-01_df9e66504eb531798626153aae549f70-nbcnews-fp-1200-800

To my astonishment, when Google listed stories I might be interested in, the announcement of one of the bigger dams in Northern California is facing possible failure due to erosion on the spillway while trying to keep the water behind the dam from breaching the top.

Wait. What?

I don’t mean to get on those people who cried that we may just have to accept that this drought might never end; but if before the snow pack even has a chance to melt, we’re already worried we can’t hold it all- maybe someone didn’t know what they were talking about.920x920

Or maybe I might be in denial.

 

 

 

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