Things you find on a hike

Cari and I went for a hike the other day while the kids were in school. I took my camera, she took her sketch book. We found some pretty cool things. On the way into the trail we saw this poster:

We each carried a walking stick and talked about our bear strategy as we walked the trail. Every squirrel that twitched made us pause and look around. This is the same trail where I saw animal prints as I hiked alone. remember?

On our way out we passed a family with several small children hiking. We figured if the kids made it in, we could make it out. Surely, if a bear was hungry it would have gone for the small children.

The Pen is Broken

I have a favorite pen that I use at work. It wasn't an expensive pen. It is comfortable to hold. It is light weight and very clicky. When the ink ran out last week, I opened it up and saw what kind of cartridge it used.

I was on a hunt. I walked into the office of a co-worker. As I spied their coffee cup full of pens, I asked, "Can I borrow a pen?" He motioned me toward the cup and I went on my hunt. I dug around until I found a similar size pen as my own. The pen I took came from some doctors office and was advertising a drug. Before I made it out of the office, I already had the pen taken apart and was checking that the guts were the right size.

Success! I had found a match. The problem is that I borrowed this pen. That meant I was expected to return it. While at my own desk, I switched ink cartridges. My favorite pen was alive again! I started to put my empty cartridge into the borrowed pen. Within two minutes I would be returning the borrowed pen with a smile. It may be a week before he noticed it didn't write anymore. By then, he would have forgotten this day.

But it wasn't meant to be. A spring fell out of the top half along with a few plastic pieces. Something small fell to the ground never to be seen again. I crammed the parts I had back into the borrowed pen and screwed the halves together. The click pen didn't click anymore and the tip would no longer extend.

I walked back into that coworkers office with a smile. I held his pen up with my left hand as he looked up from his work. "Here's your pen back. Thanks for letting me use it.", I told him. I put the pen back into the cup and walked out of the office.

There are approximately fifteen pens in that cup. That means there is only a six percent chance the next pen he grabs will be that broken one. Maybe I'll write him an apology with my repaired favorite pen.

Snakes on a Rock

I got a text message on my phone while at work. "Buy snake poison", it read.
Something happened I thought. I called Cari, "What's going on?"
She said in a hurried voice, "There was a snake in the yard on the rocks."
"How big was it?", I asked trying to picture the scene.
"Four inches.", she said.
I looked at my co-worker in the room who was listening to my end of the conversation. Maybe this was a joke. "Four inches?", I repeated. "Did you mean four FEET?".
"No, four inches. Well, maybe three inches.", Cari answered as she was obviously looking at the snake.
"Did you pick it up and move it?", I asked her.
"I want enough snake repellent to cover the yard.", she told me.

This conversation went on for some time. As you might have gathered, Cari is not a big fan of snakes. When I asked what the fate of the snake was, she told me that the neighbor boy killed it with a golf club. They picked up the body and put it into a pickle jar for identification.

"Why did you kill it?", I asked.
"It tried to bite me!", Cari said. She continued, "It was striking at me. It had it's mouth open!"

Ok, a four inch snake can't possibly have that much reach when striking. Still, the neighbor boy took his club and smashed the snakes head. This all seemed a bit much for me. When I got home from work I found the snake in a jar. Sure enough, our very own Anaconda.

complaint

Seems Google is merging some stuff with Blogger. Well, this is causing a slight problem. When I try to log into Blogger, it tells me I have a gmail account and tries to make me setup a new blog. Lucky for me, I have set up Talkin Hand some time ago. Ugh.

Eat at Joe's

Cari came up to work to have lunch yesterday. We met up with two guys from work. They didn't go to McDonald's, Ruby Tuesday's, Subway, or any other chain restaurant. When I called they were at Joe's.

We have never been there before. It's in the small town of Easley, right across the street from the train tracks. From the outside, it looks like any other small diner. I was surprised how busy it was inside. The tables were old and packed in close together. An old man wearing an apron was leaning against the wall talking with some men at a table. We found the guys from work in a table back in the corner.

The menu seemed to have a lot of listings. Upon closer inspection I found that it was a hamburger ten different ways. One of the guys we were with has lived in Easley his whole life. He knows everyone it seems. He pointed across the room and said, "that was our assistant principal, Mr. Geddy's. They named the new middle school after him."

It wasn't long before the old man in the apron came up and shook all of our hands and asked how we were doing. It was Joe. He was in the dining area the entire time we were there. It didn't look like he was working really. It looked like he was enjoying the company of some friends.

After I paid, I ran back to the table to leave a tip. Joe patted me on the back and thanked me for coming in as I passed by on my way out.

The food was good, the company was great, the atmosphere couldn't be matched.

Hostage

I've been reading the story of Jill Carol. The young American journalist that was held hostage in Iraq.

She is now writing her story for the Christian Science Monitor where she works. I have been finding it very interesting and thought I'd share it here. Every few days they release the next part of the story. Part eight was just released.

Here's a link.

FIVE

It's true. Cari and I have successfully created two five year old children.
Meredith's birthday is today. Everyone that she has encountered today already knows that. Everyone sang happy birthday to her during church today and she has been loving the attention. All this attention along with the presents has her running in high gear. Wish us luck.

Huge Effect

As a manager at work, sometimes I'm not nice to people. I feel like I treat everyone fairly. Sometimes the day can wear on me and I lose patience. Sometimes people do things that don't make a lot of sense.

About a week ago, I lost my patience with a woman. She made a decision on her own that made me really upset. She wasn't really wrong in what she did, it was just that she did it without checking with me.

I was VERY upset with her on the phone. She tried to apologize but I wouldn't really let her. I ended the conversation by hanging up on her. I did it because I wanted her to know how angry I was.

After that night I was on vacation for a week.

This week I returned from vacation and today I saw that woman at work.
"Are you still mad at me?", she asked.
"No.", I answered. I was really surprised. I was mad that night, but an hour later I had forgotten all about it. She obviously was worried for the past week.

She got tears in her eyes as we talked about what happened that night. She was apologizing again. She really didn't mean to upset me. I assured her that I was mad at that time, but I certainly had forgotten it that same night.

She said she had went home and cried about it that night. Then she worried all week while I was gone about it. She even approached other managers and asked them why I hated her.

WOW.

I didn't realize I had that effect on her. I didn't want to have that effect on her. I wanted her to know I was mad that night because I didn't want her to make that decision again. I didn't want her to cry about it.

The conversation I had with her today and her tears today have really made me reflect on the effect I have on people as a manager.

Chimney Rock Park

Chimney Rock has a lot of stairs. When we arrived, those stairs were wet. One of the first places we stopped was a narrow passage called the Needles Eye. About half way up a twisty set of stairs you are greeted by this narrowing stairway to the top. Between each step you can see the ground FAR below. Randy and I got a way up while Cari waited with Meredith. Then I decided I was nervous. Cari took my place with Randy and went to the top. Meredith and I sat on a step and waited. . . in the rain. I was nervous mostly because I wasn't sure if I would have to come down those steps. They were steep and wet, and I kept thinking it would be a long way to fall. The steps lead out to a trail at the top that Randy and Cari took around to meet us on a different set of stairs.

There was an overlook area at the top of that trail. Our view from up there was minimal because of all the rain and clouds. I don't think the children realized they were on the side of a mountain. They were bouncing around and climbing on rocks. I was freaking out. "Just sit down.", I reminded them.

Back down on the ground we walked into a tunnel carved into the mountain. The tunnel leads to an elevator. This elevator shaft was cut into the mountain. It runs about 250 ft up to Chimney Rock. At the top you again take a staircase where you can stand on the rock they named the park for.

There is also an outstanding waterfall in the park. Hickory Nut falls requires about a fourty minute hike in the woods. We managed this without much resistance from the children and the rain finally stopped. The waterfall was really magnificent. We took lots of pictures. A man offered to take our picture with my camera if I would take one of him and his wife. I actually handed over my camera to this guy.For some reason the guy thought it would be better to get my camera bag in the picture instead of more of the falls. Thanks!

After taking pictures for a few other people, we started heading back out. The end (which is also the beginning) of the trail is made up of stairs. 164 steps to be exact. That's a lot of steps. Somehow counting them took our minds off of the pain our legs were in.

The clouds had started to clear away at this point so we took the elevator back up. This time, our view was much better. Below you could see the small town, the river, the dam, the lake created by the dam, and my car.There are many more trails and many more steps at Chimney Rock. Our family had walked enough steps this day, so we took the elevator down and got in the car. We'll definitely return there some day. Next time I'm going to trust the weather channel a little more.
This is a picture from down on the road looking up at Hickory Nut Falls. We were standing near where the water goes behind the trees.

This isn't really happening

Have you ever seen the movie, "National Lampoons Vacation"? Not only have I seen it (many times), I had the chance to live it the past few days.

Clark Griswald wanted to take his family to Wally World. He planned his trip for a long time.

I wanted to take my family to Chimney Rock, NC. I planned this for some time.

Friday was the day to go. Thursday night, Cari and I checked the weather one more time. Forecasted rain. Ok. We'll go on Saturday. Just one little delay. So we stayed home on Friday, in the sunshine. Beautiful blue skies and white fluffy clouds. No rain. We checked the weather again Friday night. Forecast for Saturday, "rain." After being fooled once, we decided we would go. Only a 60% chance of rain.

Cari woke up first Saturday morning and saw that it had poured rain during the night. She again checked the weather and saw 80% rain at Chimney Rock. She woke me and said we should wait an hour. The hour came and went. Cari went out to pack the car only to discover that we had left the windows down over night. The car was flooded. Inches of water resting on the floor. Seats soaked. This is just a slight delay. We were going to Chimney Rock no matter what.
With the flood sucked out of the car, we loaded up. Chance of rain at Chimney Rock 60%.

Getting to Chimney Rock meant driving over the mountain range between us and the park. Low cloud cover meant we were driving on the most curvy road, up hill, practically blind. A creepy ride, but we survived it.

On the other side of the mountain we were greeted by a light rain. We continued on. We were now near the town of Hendersonville and traffic had picked up a lot. We were approaching the intersection of two major highways. Traffic was stop and go. If only the guy behind me knew about the stop part. A black truck driven by some teen slammed into the back of us. When I say slammed, I guess it's perspective. My only other car wreck is where I was slammed from behind. In comparison, I guess this guy tapped us. Anyway, the tap caused us to lunge forward. I was watching him in the mirror just as he was getting to me. I let off the brake on impact. I don't know if that helped or not. We pulled over into the turn lane.

The other driver and I got out to survey the scene. This kid was scared. He said, "I'm sorry sir." no less than twenty times. A highway patrol car happened to be in the next lane over and asked if we needed him. We had no injuries and at the time saw no damage so we went on without a report.

Cari was covered in coffee. We found a Walmart (of course it was Walmart) and Cari went in for a change of clothes. We certainly weren't turning around now.

After new clothes and finding the dent in my trunk lid, we started back toward Chimney Rock. The rain persisted. Only a 60% chance. That means there was a 40% chance it would stop.

Are you seeing how a nice family trip can turn into a disaster? I started feeling like Clark Griswald. Did Clark ever give up? Nope.

Finally, we made our trip to Chimney Rock Park. This privately owned park is a beautiful mountain area with trails and waterfalls. Most of the park is on top of the mountain offering a beautiful view of Western North Carolina.

We pulled up to the ticket booth. Thankfully, it was covered because it was still raining. Clouds covered most of the mountain and the top was out of view. After we paid, Cari said the ticket booth lady was laughing at us.

When the Griswald family made it to Wally World, do you remember what happened? It was closed. Did that stop Clark? Nope. They were going to have a great family trip.

When we got to the parking area and saw clouds and rain, did that stop me? Nope. We were going to have a great family day hiking in the rain on the side of a mountain.

In my next post I'll tell you all about Chimney Rock Park.

Ongoing Problem

We drove out to see a covered bridge today. Campbell's Covered Bridge was built in 1909. It is the last extant covered bridge in the state. It's 35 ft long and 12 ft wide.
The bridge is in the middle of nowhere. There are a few houses on the same street as the bridge. I imagine it is frustrating for the home owners having all these cars passing up and down your street. I started thinking that tespassing on private property could become an issue with so much traffic. One clue in particular lead me to that conclusion was this house:
It seems the small sign nailed to the side of his house and now circled with spay paint wasn't enough. Click on this picture to see more detail. Maybe he should have posted it closer to the road. That would have prevented people from walking up to his house thinking, "Hey, what's that sign say?"

It's funny that when his sign failed him, he resorted to painting obscene words on the side of his house. If I ever became that desperate, I assure you that Cari would not allow this tactic to be used. If this guy ever decides to sell that car laying dead between the trees, I wonder if he'll just spray, "For Sale" onto it.

It was a long drive to an area we had not visited yet. The bridge was interesting. Thankfully nobody shot at us while we were there.

Did you see that?

Sometimes when you see a cute girl (or a cute guy), you might take a second look. You might ask the person next to you, "did you see her?". Then there are other times when neither of those options are really appropriate.

Times like the other day when I was driving with my wife and her sister in the car. Sitting at a red light, I hear a motorcycle behind me. Looking in the rear view I see a blonde haired girl. This is not a stereotypical biker chick. This girl is cute. Wearing a white t-shirt and jeans, long blonde hair with no helmet, riding a motorcycle. Not something you see every day. It was one of those times I would have said, "Hey, check her out.".

I look in the back seat at Cari. She is half asleep just looking ahead. Next to me, Cari's sister is listening to the radio.

When the light turns green, the biker gets along side of us and I take another glance. Then she speeds off in front of us. I keep up with her for a while, but she zooms ahead. At the next red light, we are beside her. Now my sister-in-law notices. "That's a chick on that bike.", she says with some surprise. I look over, like I had not noticed until this moment. "oh, yeah.", I say trying to sound uninterested. I almost laugh out loud because I'm really thinking, "YEAH! Check her out!".

Cari and her sister weren't paying much attention after that, but I kept up with this biker girl for a while longer. The motorcycle finally sped off faster than I was willing to drive.

I have not shared this story with anyone yet. Not even Cari. She'll learn it when she reads this. Oh, man.

Back from the grave

We just about killed this Hibiscus tree during the winter. We kept it in the kitchen near the window. It didn't look good at all. It now has dozens of flower buds covering it. They are opening about two every four days right now.

A walk in Easley

Easley is a small town. The downtown area is a street with a row of brick buildings. Train tracks run parallel to the buildings on Main St. Easley only exists because of that train. In 1870, rail officials wanted to connect Charlotte, NC with Atlanta. Easley was chartered as a 1 sq mile village for the train to stop in 1874.

Now Easley is a booming city with 20,000 people in city limits (11 sq miles).

I was in the mood to take some pictures, so I grabbed my camera and headed to town. What I discovered is that there wasn't much in Easley to photograph. I parked at the post office and started walking around. Heading down a block from Main St., I found this church.I really wanted to get up close and photograph their door. I have a series of door handles. This would go great with it. Unfortunately, the church was packed and I didn't want to be seen crouched up against their door. I'll go back for the door handle a different day.


I stopped to take a picture of this brick wall. I liked how the sun was hitting it. There are a lot of buildings around where you can see evidence of old windows and doors, since filled in with brick. Its fun to imagine what that building may have been like. Was that an office window with someone looking out at the mountains?


As a woman passed me on a bike I heard a noise. It didn't really come to me at first what it was. I kind of ignored it. I heard it again. A train whistle!!! That could give me something to photograph. I ran two blocks up toward main street. It was evening, and the sun was low. As I approached Main St., I saw the engine. I got a quick picture of it, but it wasn't great.

Then I stood and practiced different techniques in shooting the quick moving train. I didn't get anything fantastic, but it was fun.



After the train left, I felt excited. I imagined in 1874 that the people in the village of Easley would have run out to see the train like I did. They probably didn't have the expensive digital camera I have.