Monday, December 22, 2008

A Few Things I've Learning Living In Pollock Pines... adendum

1. How to put chains on the car.

1(a). Remember to tighten the chains and apply the chain tensioner to keep the chains tight on the tires. Otherwise something happens called "throwing a chain", which causes all kinds of unhappiness, especially when the throw chain gets wrapped around the axle.

Luckily, the chain didn't get wrapped badly around the axle, and came off very easily when I laid down in the snow to get under the car and take the wrapped chain off.

Saturday, December 20, 2008

A Few Things I've Learned Living in Pollock Pines

1. How to put snow chains on the car.

For 28 years of driving, I've lived within 90 minutes of some of the best snow-play wonderlands in the entire world - the Sierra Nevada ski resorts and snow-parks. For 28 years of driving, I've avoided winter driving in the Sierra's unless the weather is pristine, and the roads absolutely clear, for fear of having a wreck or sliding into a snow drift.

Monday I learned to put chains on the car, and found out what an amazing difference it makes. Granted, you can't drive much more than about 25mph, but you can go almost anywhere on plowed roads, and my car, a Dodge Magnum, even makes it through 4-5 inches of fresh snow with the chains on. What an amazing invention, and what a shame I'd gone so long with out learning how to use them,

2. How to split wood.

I bought a cord of wood, pretty well split already, but not all of it small enough to fit into my little wood stove. My buddy Steve loaned me his axe. I've learned how to set a piece of wood on end and split it down the center with one strike. Splitting enough wood for 2 nights' fire takes maybe 10 minutes. Easy-peazy.

3. How to build a fire and stoke a wood stove.

The key? AIR. The fire has to get air. I cheat a little bit, in that I don't do kindling. I bought a bunch of fire starters (think miniature Duraflame logs) that go under the wood pile in the stove, and light the wood with ease. I leave the front door of the stove open just a 1/2 inch (there's a latch so it can't open any further), and the air rushes in and stokes up a hot fire in no time. Then the key is keeping the fire fed. After about an hour of hot burning, the flue is good and hot and draws the air in and up from the heat convection of the hot flue itself. Just before bed, I load the fire box about as full as I can get it, close the front door tight, close the air-intake down a little bit, and off to bed. The fire will keep hot for several hours, and the stove stays warm until morning.

4. How to shovel snow and use my electric snow-shovel.

Shoveling snow is a lot like shovelling anything else in the world, except the key is to keep up on the shovelling and don't let the snow melt or a day or two. Snow, when it's fresh, seems to be much lighter and fluffier than it is after a couple of days of melting and re-freezing. Shoveling snow when it's fresh is kinda like shoveling cotton. Let it sit for a day or two, and it's like solid ice.

Same goes for the electric snow-shovel. It will chew through about 4-5 inches of fresh powder with ease, tossing it 20 feet away. After 2 days? It'll go through the ice, but it takes a lot more elbow-grease to chip off the ice layers down near the ground.

5. How to weather-prep a house.

I'd never even heard of putting plastic over the windows to make an air seal between the window pane and the inside of the house. I've covered the windows. weather-sealed the doors, learned (or remembered) to roll up blankets and lay them at the bottom of the doors to cut down on drafts.

6. Use salt on the porch to keep down the ice.

Salt is amazing. Need I say more?

7. The weatherman isn't always right, so be prepared.

If the weatherman says it's gonna snow buckets tomorrow, it's as likely as not that what they predict will come true. Be prepared.

8. The weatherman sometimes IS right, and when they are, they usually forecast LOTS of snow.

Again... Be prepared.

Week One in the snow, done. Check.

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

1st Snow is a Doooozy!

So.... Sunday night it snowed. Big. Lots. Well... is 8 inches a lot? Everyone around here seems to think so. Monday.... snowed.... more... a lot. Is another 6 inches a lot?
Tuesday.... beautiful day. No new snow so far. I've got about a foot of soft, fresh powder on the ground. Truly, so far, a Winter Wonderland.

But as I looked out the window on Monday morning, to see the fresh blanket of snow, my first thought was "how beautiful!". My second thought was "what in the heck have I done, moving up here?"
See, my city-boyness began to panic a little bit. My woodpile was under a foot of snow (safely beneath a tarp to keep dry, but still), my car was in a parking lot around the corner, literally buried in snow (how was I going to get to work??). My porch was a foot deep and there was just snow EVERYWHERE!!!
I was thinking I'd made a mistake moving up here.

However... after digging the car out, driving slowly back down the street toward my home, stopping and learning how to put chains on the car... suddenly the snow wasn't quite so scary. I went to Safeway just so I could drive and feel the freedom!

One of my big fears was driving in the snow. I have a Dodge Magnum after all, not exactly a back-country type of car. I scrape the bottom of my car going over small curbs. But with the chains on, she rolls across the snow and ice very nicely. Just gotta go slow and take it easy.

Today I was up early, shoveled off the porch (using my handy electric power-shovel), and split some wood for the day's fire. I took my laundry over to the laundromat, took Lindsey to get some lunch, and was home by 2:30 to start a fire in the stove and cozy up for the afternoon.

Not a bad weekend for the my first days living with snow. I've talked to a lot of locals, a few neighbors, and everyone has been very helpful. Mostly, everyone just says the snow is no big deal. You get used to it, and when it's snowing bad or storming, you just hunker down and wait for it blow over, dig out, and get back to life. "Keep the candles and flashlights handy, and keep the fire in the stove going, you'll be fine" they say.
I think they cat has the right idea. Curl up by the heater, and take a nap.

Monday, December 15, 2008

Camie on TV!

Camie was on TV, talking about the snow today.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

.......Aaaaaaaaaaaaand It Starts.....

The snow has begun......
No one mentioned how cold it gets..... Ok, they did, but can I just tell you again.... it's cold!

To add to my adventures today.... I blew a fuse in the circuit box this morning. Four o'clock in the morning, just as I was stepping INTO the shower. Yeah, so, I had to get dressed (shaving cream still on my face), go outside, unscrew the fuse (yeah, fuses, not circuit breakers), screw in the new one (which luckily for me was sitting on the inside of the fuse box) and get myself back inside. Oh... while holding the umbrella (it was rain/snowing) and trying not to fall on the already slick and icy front deck.

Goooooooooood Morning!

Well, the snow has slowed for now. Actually have a blue sky overhead (for the moment). House is warm with a crackling fire in the stove.

Gonna take Camie and go through the drive-thru Nativity at the church next door a little later. You know, we've had all this nice weather, nights staying in the upper 40's and 50's, and what happens when the poor folks schedule the Nativity Scene? The first day of snow, naturally!

Day one in "The Snow"..... check.

Friday, December 12, 2008

Gettin' Ready For Snow

Well, it's finally here. Snow is forecast for this weekend. Some of the forecasts differ, but all agree - snow for the next week. Could be as much as 8-10 inches, but I doubt that. I expect maybe 4-5 inches but.... mother nature will dump what she wants.

See the current forecast here.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Christmas Cheer

Well, it's officially the Christmas season. Decorations (such as they are) went up at the house today. I put up my little decorations around the house, and lit the gingerbread-vanilla candles.

Still no snow (as the new header photos shows) but the weather is finally starting to turn just a little colder. It's 4:45pm as I write this, and it's only 40 degrees outside. The weather forecast expects lows in the 20's this weekend.

I took a drive yesterday up Forebay Road a ways, down to what I think is one of the many forks of the American River that run through the Sierra's. Along the way some deer ran across my path, so I stopped for a photo or two.

The road wound around many miles of switchbacks till it reached the bottom of the canyon and a bridge that crossed the river. There was a SMUD power station fed by a large penstock running down the canyon wall above it. As I crossed the bridge I noticed a phenomenon I'd often read about but never, ever actually seen.

You know those signs they have on bridges that say, "Caution, bridge may be icy"? Well.... this was the first time I'd ever seen an icy bridge. The ambient temperature was about 45 degrees, but the bridge, directly over the river, had a very slippery layer of ice and frost on it. It was one of those things I'd heard of, but never actually seen for myself.

Ya, I've lived a sheltered life.

Anyway.... Merry Early Christmas, and may your season be filled with Joy, and a recognition of Who is the real Reason for the Season.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

A Lindsey Shout-Out

Camie and I went to see her sister Lindsey perform with Comedy Sportz Sacramento last Saturday night. I have to admit, I'm very proud of Lindsey, and terribly enjoy going to these shows.

If you've never heard of (I hadn't before Lindsey got involved) or been to a Comedy Sportz show, I highly recommend it. Family friendly fun in the style of "Who's Line is it Anyway", guaranteed to keep you smiling the entire time.

Friday, November 28, 2008

Rampant Consumerism Gone Bad

The Associated Press: Wal-Mart worker dies after shoppers knock him down

I just gotta say, THIS is why I don't get up at 4am to go shopping on Black Friday.

It's getting worse each year.

Everything I Need To Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek

Those that know me know that I really like Star Trek.
I've never been to a convention (I may rememdy that some day), and don't own any costumes. But I DO watch the show every chance I get. I enjoy TOS, TNG, DS9, Voyager, and even Enterprise (if you have to ask what those mean, Google it).

I'm also a big fan of those discourgaing posters, which show a lovely photo, with a discouraging, funny statement beneath it.

So, imagine my joy when I found a site that combines the best of these worlds! I stumbed on Star Trek Inspiriational Posters today, and proceeded to laugh for quite a while.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Because He Lives

What with dealing with the loss of Deputy Canfield, my mom having been in and out of the hospital with congestive heart failure (she's home and doing well now, by the way), and friends who have been in and out of the hospital, dealing with painful health issues that just won't go away......

I've had occasion to think on the question of "why?" We all tend to think on the "why" question at times like this. And the conclusion I've come to is.....

I dunno why.

I do know we live in a sinful, fallen world. Pain surrounds us, death stalks us, and all too often fear is our constant companion. Living in such a world has evoked philosophers over the eons to ponder the "why" question. The answer each and every philosopher has ever come to, ultimately is....

I dunno why.

But I tell you what comforts me: the fact that Jesus died and rose from the tomb, physically, at a true, real point in actual history, and lives on to this day in whatever form and fashion God has for those that sit as His right hand. And because Jesus lives, that he actually resurrected in real true life, I can have my life justified and rectified before God. I have reason to continue to live in this painful, fearful world, because Jesus has replaced the fear in my life with reassurance. He's replaced the suffering of pain with joyful hope, and death with eternal life.

Because of the fact that Jesus lives, I'm singing a song this Sunday in church which is truly one of my favorites: Because He Lives.

God sent His son, they called him Jesus,
He came to love, heal and forgive.
He lived and died to buy my pardon,
the empty tomb is there to prove my Savior lives!

Then one day, I'll cross that ol' river,
and fight life's final war with pain.
And then when death gives way to Victory,
I'll see the lights of Glory and I'll know He lives!

Because He lives I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives all fear is gone.
Because I know Who holds the future,
and life is worth the living just because He lives.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

A Loss in the Line of Duty.....

I'm going to take a break from the chronicles of life in the mountains to say something about life back in the Big City.

I work for the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department, and we lost a deputy today. Deputy Larry Canfield worked as a motorcycle officer for the city of Rancho Cordova, California. By all accounts he loved his work, and the two or three times I had chance to meet him, he was a very happy, positive man.

Deputy Canfield was hit by a driver who was apparently made a left turn in front of him as he was accelerating on his motorcycle to catch up to a speeder on Coloma Road. By most accounts tonight, this is simply a tragic accident. The driver involved pulled over immediately, and returned to the scene to offer assistance. My heart goes out to his family just as much as it does to my co-workers and Sheriff's Department family tonight.

This particular incident is sensitive for me, since I was the dispatcher working the radio for this particular incident. My co-workers have all handled difficult situations, and it is, in point of fact, what we are trained to do. But it's sometimes difficult to set aside your emotions while you deal with the rescue effort and have to listen to the strained and emotional voices of the first-responders on the scene.

My job is to stay calm. Sometimes, in the heat of incidents like this, the dispatcher is the only calm voice on the radio. But it's hard to stay calm when deputies that I know are yelling that they need "fire and ambulance here right now!!" Its hard to remain calm when I know that they are there, on scene and hands on, trying to save the life of their friend, knowing that they are watching that life slip away and there's not a thing they can do about it.

I did my job today. I have no regrets about how I performed, or how we as a Department responded to the crisis. Citizens from the surrounding homes were in the street trying to comfort and offer aid to the deputy as his partners raced to the scene. Help was on the scene within 4 minutes of the call coming in on 911.

But sometimes, no matter how fast you get there, its not fast enough.

This was just one of those times.

So I'm taking a minute now to let go of those emotions, and vent some of the frustration that is inevitable at times like this.

Why do these things happen? Why did the driver just happen to turn at that moment? Why did Deputy Canfield chose that moment to accelerate after the speeder? There is no direct answer that will absolve or implicate anyone. Sometimes things just happen.

So, tonight I turn to my God and acknowledge His sovereignty over all things in this life. Nothing happens that God doesn't know about, or that He permits or even ordains. To understand this give ME comfort. I don't know if that gives comfort to his family or my co-workers, but....

I know that God causes all things to work together for good in the lives of those who are in Christ Jesus. I know that among the first responders at the scene, there are believers in Jesus who worked hard to save their friend. I know that God will cause the events of this day to work for good in their lives, and to further His glory in this world. I'm not sure how.... but I know He will.

To Deputy Canfield's family, my most sincere condolences go out and my deepest prayers for their future. I wish I could have done more to get help on the scene faster, I wish a citizen could have called 911 sooner, or I wish the driver could have hesitated just one second before pulling out. But none of that happened. I pray that God would comfort and calm and bring along friends and family to help the family through this most difficult time.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Signs of Winter

I took a drive today. I love to drive. Back when gas prices were low, I used to go on a drive just about every weekend. I decided to take a trip up Highway 50 and Highway 89 to Hope Valley, up on Highway 88.

This photo is the American River near White Hall.

I hit snow at about 6500 feet, and it gradually got deeper and colder until I stopped here at about 7000 feet, just short of Echo Summit on Highway 50. Granted, the snow as just an inch or two, but the signs of winter were definitely here.

Coming down Highway 89 into Hope Valley, I stopped at the side of road where I had a wonderful view of the valley. Autumn colors were still very evident.

I wish I had gotten up here a little bit earlier, while the Aspen trees still had their leaves, but the reds and yellows were still spectacular.

This old cattle-driver's home sits in Hope Valley, just north of the Highway 88/89 junction. I'd driven by this for years, and finally stopped to investigate.

West Fork of the Carson River, from Highway 89.

This isn't a Thomas Kincaid print. It's a scene in Myers, CA along Highway 89, just south of Highway 50. The snow was coming down, the wind was blowing, and the trees were resplendent in their color.

All in all, it was a wonderful drive. See the entire slide show here.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Autumn Colors

Well, I know I'm not the only person on the web posting pretty pictures of autumn foliage, but I wanted to post a couple of pictures of the local foliage, here near Pollock Pines.

Apple Hill, CA., is a, well, at least northern California renowned apple growing region, known for its many apple orchards and various ranches that run bizarre-style open-air markets, and sell a plethora of apple related products. It's also just a lovely area of California to take a drive and enjoy the outdoors.

Lindey and I took a drive today, and captured a couple of stills which I thought were blog-worthy.

This tree is in a yard along Forebay Rd, in Pollock Pines.

This rose was growing in a garden at Grandpa's Cellar.

This tree was growing at the entrance to Grandpa's Cellars.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Comcast Conundrum

So, let me tell you about Comcast.

I like Comcast. Really, I do. They offer a good cable TV product, and their Internet is speedy and reliable. I have no reason to leave Comcast. In fact, I'm having Comcast installed at the new house, including the new Comcast Digital Voice phone service.

That's right, I'm going for the full-monte package, baby. And, since they gave me a deal on it, I couldn't pass it up.

(They should be paying me a residual for the advertising they're getting from me.)

However, let me tell you how many teeth I had to pull to actually get them to the house to install the stuff!

Back on September 6th, when I finally decided I was going to move, I called Comcast to set up service at the new address. I talked to a nice rep who was on the ball, and set me up with an installation appointment on September 30th. That would be just right, because I was officially moving in on October 1st, and the property manager was very kind and let me get the keys a few days early to clean the place up.

So, September 30th comes. I'm excited, because I've been without TV or Internet for 3-4 days now (I had to pack it up and move it, after all). The tech comes to the house and looks at where my house is in relation to the nearest telephone pole with a cable transmission box on it. He walks it off and comes up with 265 feet. That's how far the telephone pole is from my house.

He explains that, over more than 100 feet, the bandwidth tends to degrade and the signal strength needed for fast Internet is compromised. The previous tenants apparently only had cable TV (which requires less data than the Internet), so I needed a new cable with a larger gage wire strung to my house from the cable box on the telephone pole, so that I'd get a clear, strong data stream.

Ok, I say.

The tech says, as soon as the construction guys from Comcast come and hang that wire, give him a call and he'll come out and hook me up. Shouldn't be more than 2 or 3 days, he says.

So I call Comcast. Turns out the construction crews don't work all that fast, and can take up to 2 weeks to fill a construction order. I about cried. They set me an appointment for October 7th.

I figure, I can survive one more week. I have movies.

So I call Comcast on the 7th, just being nosey and wanting to see if there was any way of moving things along, and I hear the automated lady announce that I had a pending appointment on October 14th.

October 14th?? Oh, no no no no.... that can't be right.

So I talk to a customer service rep who says, yeah, October 14th is right. October 7th was just the day the work-order was issued, and it can take up to 2 weeks to have the crew come out and string cable.

Wait, the order was issued today? I called you a week ago. I thought I had an appointment for them to do installation today?

No, she says. The work order was issued on the 7th. Your appointment is for the 14th.

I press the issue and say, but I called a week ago. Don't you show me calling a week ago for this appointment?

Yes sir, but the work order was just issued today. It can take up to two weeks.

Is there any way to make it sooner?

No, the construction division is kind of a small unit. They can take up to two weeks.

(Yes, I know that already!) I ask, can I go ahead and make an appointment, then, for the inside tech to come to the house for the inside part of the installation (outside techs don't do inside work, and vice-versa)?

Why yes... I have an appointment available on the 15th.

I'll take it!

So I wait. And watch movies at night. And listen to the radio a lot. And read...

(Oh, hey... I remembered that I like to read.... but that's another post.)

The 14th comes, and the cable-stringer guy does a bang-up job stringing a nice, big cable to the house for me. Nice fellow. Job well done.

So, now I'm all ready for the inside-tech guy to come to the house on the 15th. The only problem I have is that I am literally running out of power-sockets in the house to plug appliances into. I have my TV all set, and my computer, but I don't have any power sockets left to plug the digital telephone into.

So I think to myself (I know, dangerous to do), I should just cancel the phone service. My cellphone works great at the house - 5 bars all the time - and I haven't had a house phone in years.

So I called Comcast. I talked to the rep who said, no problem, we can cancel the phone service part of the package. Let me just cancel your appointment for tomorrow and set you up a new installation appointment.

What???? Why do I need a new appointment? Just tell the tech who comes tomorrow not to bring the phone thingy.

Well, it's a new service order, so we need to cancel your old one and make a new one. One second please.

I say, Wait!!! Can you just refill my appointment slot tomorrow with the new service order?

No sir, I can't. That service order would be closed, and the next new service date is October 28th. I'll set you up an appointment.....

NO! I said..... don't do that. Just leave the appointment for tomorrow as it is. Don't touch anything. Nothing. Just leave it as is. I'll deal with the phone thing another day.

Ok, sir, I can do that, he says. Is there anything else I can help you with today?

No.... thank you.

Alrighty then, thank you for calling Comcast.

(P.S. I'm happy to report that my daughter just called me, informing me that the inside tech did a great job, and I am all hooked up!)

I love Comcast..... I really do.....

Friday, October 10, 2008

Light a Fire

A cold front moved into northern California last night. Temperatures here dropped down into the upper 30's, and I expect low 30's and wind tonight.

I discovered last night that I need to go through the house and double check all the windows and doors and other such places where cold drafts can get in.

You see, the only heat source in the cabin (right now) is a free-standing wood fireplace or wood stove as some people call it. I loaded it up and made a downright nice fire last night (more on my issues with STARTING a fire another time), and had the house all nice and toasty warm before I went to bed around 9:30 or so.

I woke up at 4am for work, and obviously the fire had burned itself out. I'm not really sure yet how much wood I can load up into the chamber at one time, so I only put about 4 pieces of wood in before I went to bed. Maybe I can put more and adjust the air-thingy so it doesn't burn quite as hot, and lasts longer. I'll have to experiment with that. Oh wait, maybe I'll look it up on the Internet! Anyway.....

The cabin wasn't cold, but not really warm, either. It was just kind of a comfortable leaning toward cool. I had closed the bathroom door (since there's some obvious weather-leaks that need to be fixed in there), and when I walked in there I 'bout froze! Definitely need to get to work on those drafty areas soon.

But I'm relatively happy. The cabin was comfortable all night. I actually slept on top of my covers for the first few hours, and only pulled up the blanket at around 2am. I imagine keeping the cabin warm if one is home all day will be a simple matter of feeding wood into the stove at the right pace.

However, since I do have a dog and don't want to come home some day to a pup-sicle, I'm gonna get a free-standing electric heater from my niece. It's one of those new-style oil-circulating heaters that look like an old fashioned radiator. She says it kept the entire downstairs of her old house warm, and since my entire cabin will fit in one corner of her old house, I think it will be sufficient to keep the chill out of the air at my cabin. I thank her for that.

So, this weekend I've got my work cut out for me.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Moving Pains

Effective October 1, 2008, I officially moved away from the city where I've lived my entire life, starting a new adventure in mountain living.

Well, to be fair, I haven't lived IN Sacramento for years, but I've lived either in the city or in the suburbs, within 25 miles of my birthplace, all my life. Ask me where I live, no matter that my home is actually in Roseville or Citrus Heights, to say "Sacramento" is the automatic answer.

On the other hand, I haven't exactly moved to the dark side of the moon.

I moved to Pollock Pines, a little mountain community situated at the 4000' level of the Sierra Nevada mountains, along Hwy 50 in Northern California, about 60 miles east of Sacramento. Yes, they have electricity and running water, and even cable TV and Internet. Oh, and a Starbucks (not that Starbucks is any real barometer of the level of civilization in a community, but you get my point).

My home is a little mountain cabin, really. Quite a culture an house shock moving from a 3-bdrm/2 bath home situated in the suburbs of a large city, to a 1 bdrm/1 bath cottage situated on a long dirt driveway in a town of less than 4,000, but I think I'm adjusting OK.

To be honest, I love it. I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago.

So, stick with me while I learn about mountain living, and soon enough, how to deal with living in the snow. It should make for some interesting days.