Category Archives: Goals

Day Hikes, Goals, National Forests, National Parks, State Parks

Revised Goal: SoCal Six Pack of Peaks

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Since I didn’t win the Mount Whitney Lottery this year, I’ve opted for a different goal.  This goal is actually a series of goals, and will – in theory – help me to train better to get my fat ass into shape to conquer the formidable peak that Mount Whitney is.

There is a series of day hikes known as the SoCal Six Pack of Peaks.

The hikes are all day hikes, so – in theory – I should be able to drive out to the trailhead, throw on my Keens, grab my trekking poles, toss on my CamelBak, and go for a walk. In practice, these are all all-day hikes ranging in distance from 10.4 miles to 17.3 miles. Some have snow that sticks around ’til June, others are over exposed areas that you just don’t want to hike on during the hot summer months without bringing a water sherpa along with you.

I’ve done a bit of research, and think I can put the hikes in an order that will allow me to hike from ‘easiest’ (relatively speaking) to ‘hardest.’  None of the hikes is particularly easy (I’ve already done some of them; I’ve hiked San Jacinto several times, for example, which is supposed to be the most strenuous of the hikes – although only once up Marion Trail; I took the tram the rest of the time).

So. In order, here are the heavy-duty hikes I’m going to accomplish this year:

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Goals, Success Stories

NaNoWriMo 2013: And now for something completely different.

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

For NaNoWriMo this year, I tried an experiment. Normally I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking coupled with Scrivener and LibreOffice.

This year, I used Notes, Scrivener, Dragon, and Siri on my iPad and iPhone. I dictated virtually the entire work, sometimes when I was sitting in traffic, or out hiking, sometimes at home, or just wherever (“wherever” includes waiting on annoyingly late dates to show up. I’ve decided that waiting for someone who doesn’t have the respect to show up within 15 minutes of the date isn’t worth waiting for.  No matter how big her boobies are).

My work schedule has been: get up early, dictate while I hike (watching out for coyotes – they’re out in force). Get back home, pick up my computer, head over to get coffee, and spend the hour there organizing everything I’d saved in Notes into Scrivener. Then organizing the Scrivener bits into something reasonably coherent.

I’ve been working roughly 4 hours a day on this project just to see if I’m more productive by using ‘gap time’ (the time between locations, assignments, waiting for the microwave to ding, drive-time, waiting for clients or dates, and down time throughout the rest of the workday).  It isn’t dedication, it’s a science experiment.

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Goals

The ACTUAL Cost of an Electric Car

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

So the The U.S. Department of Energy has just released an online tool that allows you to see what the amount of electricity necessary to drive an average electric car as far as a gallon of gasoline would cost where you live. They call this the ‘eGallon’, and the U.S. average is $1.14. It goes as low as $0.83 in North-Dakota and as high as $3.69 in Hawaii where electricity is most expensive.

You can see the tool HERE.

But wait a minute. That can’t POSSIBLY be correct. I’m a big fan of EVs, but that site is a flat-out lie.

Let’s look at some numbers:

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Goals

Feedly Is Number One In My Book (Thanks, Google Reader!)

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

If any of you know me, you know that I seem to always be up on the ‘latest news.’  While I’d like to say that’s a function of my big brain, eidetic memory and vast knowledge of everything … the truth is a bit more pedestrian: I read.  A lot.  I am a voracious devourer of books, media, and blogs.

So it was with some small amount of trepidation that I ventured beyond my comfort zone to find blog distiller.  For years I’ve been using Google Reader, and had been happy with it’s little quirks, and grown accustomed to it’s faithful delivery of all of my RSS feeds.  When you’re as involved in reading as many blogs, news outlets, tweets, and etc. as I am (it turns out there were 827 blogs that I subscribe to.  Who knew?), you really don’t want too much change to happen all at once. Continue reading →

Goals, National Forests, National Parks

No Mount Whitney This Year…

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Color me disappointed.  Just got the email today:

Lottery Results – Mt Whitney Lottery 2013

Dear Customer,

We are sorry to inform you that your application to Mt Whitney Lottery 2013 was not successful.

Results for Lottery Application # 6-xxxxxxx – Unsuccessful.

All remaining dates for the 2013 season will be available for web reservations beginning on April 1, 2013 through the www.recreation.gov website on a “First Come First Serve” basis. Any canceled space will return to the web calendar at random times. There is no waitlist for canceled space.

Thank you for using www.recreation.gov

Well, there’s always next year; it’s not like the mountain is going anywhere.  John Muir is famously quoted as saying “The mountains are calling and I must go.”  Apparently, for me, the mountains could not be reached for comment.