Massive Erosion Problem

In all my travels I've never been to the Grand Canyon. So now that my good friend Peter, his lovely wife Lorna and their new son, Hazard live there, Peter is a Park Cop supervisor at the South Rim, I felt it was imperative to visit. I did just that last weekend.
I drove over on Friday and got in early in the afternoon and headed to the kids house in the Village. It's a pretty drive in from Cali, the environment slowly changing from empty desert to more sage and scrub trees. I got the tour of their new digs and then Peter and I headed out for some errands while Lorna took care of H. They of course, looked like exhausted new parents. We ran to the post office, stopped in the little store and killed some time. Pete commented on how small their grocery was, and I kind of chuckled because its about 4 times the size of the one in Helendale. It's all relative. When we got back to the house, we snatched up Hazard and headed to the rim. It is impressive on a scale that seems unreal but somehow smaller than I expected. I guess I thought you wouldn't be able to see the other side or something along those lines. Still it is sublime. Pete regaled me with tales of his job. Plane rides, helicopter jaunts, cool hikes, base jumpers and others who end their time on this earth with a long fall and a sudden stop. We walked and talked until Haz started getting grumpy then we headed back to the house and watched a movie, Ted.
Saturday we got up and took naps. H had been up during the night and the kids were tired from lack of sleep, so they napped in shifts. Poor Lorna was so tired. We finally all got up and got going around 10ish and hit up the best restaurant in the park. I had a ribeye and eggs that was pretty darn good. We then ran across the street to an old stacked stone building that had been turned into an artist studio and gift shop. I was mostly interested in the building. I like the Southwest style home, of course it only makes sense to have one in an environment that is a dry as the southwest, but they are cool. This one kad a kiva fireplace in teh corner of the room, which was begging to be lit. Since the Park is at 7000 feet and it is still February, it was cold, bone chilling cold in part due to the winds. We headed out for a walk along the rim and we poked our heads into another shop or two along the way, we even hiked down the trail into the canyone for a bit befroe turning back and heading home. Peter and I took H and the dogs for a good long muddy walk in the woods. Then it was time for more napping. Babies sure do wear their parents out!! Lorna and Peter worked together to make an awesome dinner of pork loin, kale, and mashed potatoes and then Lorna was off for a girls night out with the other ladies from the Park staff. The fellas came over and we had drinks and talked into the night.
Sunday was a chill morning, we headed out to Hermits Rest at the end of the developed part of the park, but it was too cold for much walking this morning. So we headed back, grabbed a sandwich of left over pork loin and i hit the road the drive back to Cali. It was cold and windy but again the scenery helped pass the time. I can't wait for it to warm up a bit and to go back and hike down to the canyon floor and pee in the Colorado River.

Hazard Hutton Maggio the messy. his jammies have moose and fat little beavers on them with footies with moose antlers

Peter and H

Not as messy, yet!

the digs, mostly baby proof

Keep them ears warm boy. Looks like a little cosmonaut

Pete's sis sent this fabric frisbee over. 

The side facing H looks like a manhole cover.  

Waiting patiently for some grub.

Look at that toothy grin

liquid love. Oooooooh. yuck.

Becky, Pete and Lornas doggie. She's wound a bit tight. 

Sundays walk included a stop at Maricopa Point. 

Do what?!

Walking out to the point.

Pretty colors.

Da Maggios

Hermits Rest, awesome fireplace, should have had a blaze going though. Wood is hard to come by around these parts though.

This is Gus, their friends dog they were sitting while his owner was surfing in Costa Rica. 

90 days

So, it has officially been 90 days since my last post. I guess I've been busy and distracted. I have been on the go constantly since November. It started when our new director was put on leave and I became triple hatted, Acting Director, Chief of Recreation and Special Events Coordinator. 12 hour days 6 days a week were the norm until I finished up Winterfest, our holiday celebration on post. Then I hopped on a plane to spend right at 3 weeks with the family, which was a great long break. I came back to Cali and jumped into our Grand Opening of our new Warrior Zone. Somewhere in there I slipped off to SC for divorce court, which went without a hitch, then the Grand Opening went awesome. My first real day off in awhile was yesterday. I lay on the couch and my friend from AK texted me, he was back in Cali for a week. I loaded up the car and headed to Palm Springs. We met up, dropped off the car for his fiance at work and headed to the Augustine Casino for all you can eat lobster tail. There was a 2 hour wait, so we hit the blackjack table. I went up $100 pretty quickly. Then lost it and hovered around $50 for an hour until our buzzer went off. We headed in an proceeded to fill up on 5 lobster tails, a ton of crab claws, and peel and eat shrimp. We decided to play some more blackjack before meeting up with his fiance at another  place in town. I was up and down, up and down. We decided it was time to leave, so I dropped my winnings on one last best, all or nothing. She dealt me a 20. She had a 15. She flipped a 6, of course. Lady luck my ass. So, I broke even plus 4 beers. Zac paid for my dinner since he owed me for the asswhooping that Clemson suffered at the hand of the Gamecocks. We headed to a bar called the Yard House and had some drinks before heading home. Today was breakfast then walking around this giant flea market/farmers market in Palm Desert. Had some great crepes filled with strawberries at the market. They were soooooooo tasty.
On the job front, I have an interview for the job in Iowa on Wednesday. I did not get either of the Alaska gigs and i have yet to hear anything on the jobs in San Antonio or Augusta. Only time will tell.
Next weekend, I'm headed to see my friends Pete and Lorna and their new son. They live on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, should be a cool visit, I've never been there.

All that glitters ain't gold

I apologize to anyone who has looked at this thing in the last month. I've been in a funk as I've been spending waaaaaay too much time trying to figure out the direction of my life and also trying to keep up with the pace of stuff at work these days. Ugh.
What's been on my mind as of late has been the next step in my career and life. Since I work for the Army, I am limited to Army bases lest I forfeit my retirement (if it is still there in the future, only Congress knows what unfunded liabilities they are going to fund) and the 14 years of experience and training that I've acquired. This isn't a bad thing necessarily, Army bases can actually be pretty decent places to work with lots of amenities, most I help provide. In the last couple of months, I have applied for jobs in Alaska, Louisiana, Augusta GA, and now Davenport IA. All have their pros and cons. The problem I have is I don't necessarily know which may be offered to me. So if I get offered one that may not be my best option, do I say no thank you, not knowing if one or any of the others may come through. Jobs usually take 4-6 months or more to fill from the time of the first announcement. Do I want to wait here another 6 months?! I hate the drive to work. I hate the drive to stuff. I hate living in the middle of nowhere. I hate not really having friends nearby. Sure, I like the job for the most part. It is challenging and I am good at it, but I dread the drive every single morning. There is also the financial to think about. Each job has benefits to it financially, but they are not equal. Does the final salary matter the most or does the quality of life of the geographical area? Iowa is very close to family and friends and might pay well, but I might not even be considered. Alaska pays a little less, but in terms of beauty and adventure, it can't be beat. Augusta is close to friends and the weather is usually pretty amazing. How do I decide? Where does my heart lie? My friends and family in each place would love for me to choose the location nearest them, I know I am blessed to have so many friends around this great big country of ours.
Then there's definitely the personal. Do I want to be involved in Rugby still? Do I want to hunt and fish? Meet someone? Stay single? Have kids or not? As I am getting older, those opportunity costs grow larger as this may be the last chance for a great many things due to bad knees and ticking biological clocks. I found myself writing an email to my brother just the other day concerning my finances and wishes should I die unexpectedly. I have no plans to die, but who does except the suicidal. I'm just at that age I guess. I guess seeing the family deal with it all from G'mas passing in September brought it home harder than before. Someone would have to come to California and get my stuff. That's a haul, it's not across town. Luckily, I don't have much, but it's still a job, it's still extra stress and work for someone.
Throw the politics of my job into the mix and sometimes I just want to say the hell with it and join the merchant marine :) Not really, but you get the idea. So I continue to rack my brain and count my blessings that I have options. Real quality options that so many in this country do not have and good friends. Lifelong friends that I care about and that care about me. And family that will always be there for me through thick and thin. I guess I know what I have to give thanks for come this Thursday. All of the above and so much more.

Gamecocks Win! Gamecocks Lose!

I made it back to lovely SC last week. I rolled out on Friday, landing in Atlanta, grabbing my rental and driving the green green patch between there and Columbia. The weather was pretty amazing so the late afternoon, early evening drive was wonderful, the air full of the sweet smell of pine and early Fall. My good friend Foxy has an extra bed and as he lives alone these days, he enjoys my annoying company more than anyone really should. I mean I can't stand to be around myself as much as he can. The only downside is his hyperactive wild child of a pit mix 'Lady'. She's sweet, but crazy. It also means that the doggy dander typically gets my eyes and nose running so I need some Allegra to make it through the week. Saturday, we headed up to Spartanburg for a wedding and to save money we stayed at a dive hotel in town along with a bunch of other rugby friends, spouses in tow. It was a seriously crappy hotel, but since we spent most of the time at the church and reception and only slept there it wasn't too awful. The reception was amazing. I got to see lots of old friends and several of the the girl ruggers I used to coach back when I was in SC. They had grown up even more and become 'real' women as compared to the girls they were back in college. The band at the wedding was absolutely amazing, with a repertoire of songs that was unbelieveable. They played everything.....and very well. Oh and the Gamecocks crushed, say again, crushed Georgia. It was a great night all around.
Monday, I spent most of the day cruising around Cola checking out what was new and what was gone. Not a whole lot had changed, but a whole lot had changed, if that makes sense.
Tuesday, I had lunch with the Fort jackson crew and toured the base to see the few things that had sprung up there since my departure. It was great to see everyone.
I headed to rugby practice a couple nights and saw an old friend Isaac and his young son. We sat on the front lawn drink beers and getting caught up.
Thursday and Friday we worked on Foxy's deck, putting in some new joists, some new decking and moving the hot tub, so the plumber and electrician could work on it. unfortunately it wasn't ready in time for me to enjoy. But it should be up and running next time I visit. He's had a hot tub for over 10 years, but it hasn't worked when I've been there yet.
I also met with Hollie to talk about our divorce and work out some of the particulars with that. All in all it was a good lunch and I expect things will go well with everything.
Friday night, I broke down and hit up Little Pigs BBQ. The best Southern buffet in Cola. They have all the lowcountry favorites. They even have half a hog laying around for picking, you just grab off what you need then slather it is sauce. Fried catfish. Pork chops. livers. gizzards. greens. sweet tea. yams. banana pudding. fried chicken. pork hash and dirty rice. Really, everything I dream of when it comes to southern food, except steamed oysters in the shell. Oh and dove and quail. Really really good. The place has burned down a couple times, but it always comes back. So good.
Saturday was a rugby day. I was also supposed to head to a second wedding for my old lunch pal Brad but after a lot of thought and a couple beers I decided I'd go to their second reception in Cali, where his wife is from. There ceremony in SC was way out in Prosperity and I didn't want to risk drinking and driving. Instead one of the old ruggers, Philly was having a bachelor party and dinner for his second marriage, so i joined up with that crew. We hit up the Brazilian steakhouse in town. You pay a flat fee and the waiters walk around with skewers of meat and slice you off as much as you like until you've eaten so much meat you get the meat sweats. I stopped short of that point but I wanted to keep going. Sometimes you just have to say no. Afterwards, we headed to a couple bars to watch the SC LSU game. It was a heartbreaker with the final being only a few points difference from a stupid interception. Gamecocks, coulda, woulda, shoulda, but didn't. Ugh. They've got the talent and coaching, they just need to put it altogether at the same time consistently.
Sunday, Foxy and I hit up Gourmet Shop downtown and I had a gourmet cheese toastie and tomato bisque soup, oh so tasty and picked up some mexican cocoa bars. They are mostly ground cocoa and sugar and make great hot chocolate or just disintegrate in your mouth. So So good. We watched some Walking Dead, I took a quick 30 minute nap, and headed to Atlanta, finally making it back to CA at 1 in the morning and driving back to Helendale and crashing about 2. When I woke at 6 I felt like crud but got dressed and headed to work and gave a presentation to the Comuunity Council at 9. I had to wing my way through it since I hadn't been to work in a week, but did alright. I crashed out early on Monday and was back to the old grind no problem Tuesday morning. Another successful trip, another successful reintegration.

TEOTWAKI

Awhile back, 5 or so years ago, I became interested in the notion of prepping. I think it stems from my Boy Scout background. The Boy Scout Motto is 'Be Prepared'. Prepared for what? The short answer is anything or better yet, everything. This generally makes for a VERY responsible human being, which I will admit I am not always. I eat out too much, take too many trips and don't plan far enough ahead to be considered overly responsible.
Most preppers spend a lot of time going over lists, buying needed supplies, putting up stores, fortifying their houses, etc. And while any of this is acceptable prepping practice, I think it falls short. Sure it is a great way to feel 'prepared' as everything you have is at hand should A, B or C happen, but what about D, E and F.
It's funny, just the other day, one of the guys at work and I got into a discussion about politics that led to what could be around the corner, TEOTWAKI. For those that don't know, TEOTWAKI stands for The End of the World As We Know It. basically that financial meltdown, giant asteroid, great war on American soil, Peak Oil or whatever else changes our way of life at a fundamental level. I'm convinced it could definitely happen. He even made the point that I seemed to have pretty strong convictions about some of what we discussed, and that is a fact jack. A lot of Americans, this guy included, felt that we were the top dog and would always stay as such and our way of life just couldn't ever change too much. I'm not so convinced. I'm sure if you asked the Greeks or the Romans or the Egyptians or the Brits and any other world power if they thought their reign would ever come to an end they would each say 'hell no' andeach of them would be flat wrong, nations are born, mature and change, some for the better some for the worse. Has ours matured as we have aged? If we look at history, are we repeating the same mistakes others have made before us?. I think most people fail to realize how fragile our society is. How reliant on good faith America is. Ask yourself what if tomorrow your bank cards and credit cards no longer worked? How long could you get by? How much cash do you have on hand? What if paper money was no longer any good too?  What do you have to barter? What if ALL government employees (police, fire) were told to stay home? What if we started having brown outs or black outs? What if the grocery store stopped getting deliveries? What if the bank asked for your entire mortgage note owed to be paid in one lump sum like just prior to the Great Depression? What if banks stopped extending credit to businesses, how many would fail quickly? All of these have happend in other parts of the world in recent years. Some due to corruption, some due to incompetence, some due to globalization, while we are a lot more insolated than most third world countries, we are not completely immune.
So what about D,E, and F? My answer to all of the scenarios is one of flexibility. I am planning to be valuable wherever I am when things go bad. knowledge of medicine, constructing/maintaining shelter, acquiring food and water, security. These are the things at the bottom of Maslows Hierarchy of needs and when it hits the fan, these are the things that matter the most and make one useful to a community, no matter where that community may be. Just something to think about. While I believe it is important to enjoy life, I eat, I drink and I'm pretty darn merry, I still think of the hardworking ant and the frozen grasshopper who failed to prepare for winter while the ants toiled away, which would you rather be when the first snow flake falls??

$500 Vegas Tax

Firstly, Thank You to everyone who called or wrote after the passing of my grandmother. The outpouring of caring was awesome. I'm blessed to have so many good friends in this life. You guys rock.

Now onto the title of this entry, the dreaded Vegas Tax. So it seems that I simply cannot make a trip to Vegas without $500 disappearing from my account in one fashion or another, take this past weekend. My good friend Ryan works for Caterpillar designing very big trucks, earthmovers really, crazy giant yellow earth devouring monstrosities. Caterpillar held an international sales and tech conference in Vegas this week. Since I didn't get to see him very much last time I was home, I told him I'd come spend some time while he was out this way. Saturday, he got in and had some time off from their busy schedule, so I rolled over first thing in the morning to pick him up when his flight landed. I got up, had a leisurely coffee, hopped in the golf cart Prius and cruised over, no problems, great weather, easy drive, not much traffic. I guess I should have known something bad was going to happen. Anyway, I hit Bass Pro Shop in LV to watch the big fish swim for a little bit then cruised over to the airport. LV is made for car drivers. I parked in the short term parking, about 200' from the terminal entrance and headed in, checked the baggage monitors and found his carosel. I sat down, waited about 10 minutes and here he came, bags already in tow, with his work buddy Rod, who was going to be working the show as well. We cruised out to the car and headed towards Caesars. I hopped on the wrong ramp on the way out of parking, so we ended up going to the far south end of town, which was fine since we would just be cruising the strip.  There was quite a bit of congestion on teh strip but we made the best of it, joking back and forth about the sign trucks and people walking around. We even ran into a line of convertible mustangs, like 50+ of them. I rolled down the window and asked what the deal was and the nice ladies in the mustang next too us explained that they were part of a tupperware contingent from Germany. No shit. You can't make this stuff up. Cool. We worked our way down and turned into the self parking garage for Caesars, turned up the first ramp, Rod asked if i had bought the Priuws new, I said no, it was used and blackout. The damn thing died on the ramp into the first level of the garage. All the lights still worked but the system would not turn on. Just dead. The Prius is computer controlled, almost everything relies on the CPU to work, even the transmission. So with it dead, there was no way to put it in neutral, no way to push it, roll it, or carry it, well not with just three of us, to get it out of the way. So there it sat with flashers on with a steady stream of casino staff and hopeful gamblers flying by with confused and oftentimes annoyed looks on their faces. The CAT engineers quickly assessed a blown fuse to the CPU, we tried a spare and it blew too. Great!! We decided there was little we could accomplish, technology being so esoteric as it is, and I decided to call AAA. The boys headed into Caesars to check in and I waited on my tow truck, which took about an hour. The driver, Daniel, was a real nice guy and we were out of there in maybe 10 minutes and headed to the dealer. Once at the the dealer it took 20 minutes to diagnose, 45 minutes to fix and 30 minutes to wash. Verdict. A secondary cooling pump had failed, pretty common apparantly. This particular pump cools the inverter that provides power to the cpu and keeps both cool, so its a big deal, about $500 worth of big deal. Ugh!! Vegas Tax strikes again.

Loss

It has been awhile since I've written on here. Since my trip to Vegas to hang out with my Dad and his work buddies something profound has happened and it has changed my outlook on life in ways I didn't really expect. The Friday after my Vegas trip my mom called later in the day, probably about 5 my time, just as I was getting redy to head home for the day, and told me her mother, my grandma Lorene was in the hospital. She went in due to being in a lot of pain. She had very impacted bowels. Her second husband, Al, who passed many years ago, had had the same complaint and passed only a few days later, so I was prepared mentally for the worst, but mom reassured me by saying they had given her some pain meds and she was sleeping comfortably and they were talking about doing surgery. I was hopeful. My dad called a few hours later and told me she had passed. I sat on the couch in a daze. Wow. I know there are people out there without any grandparents left, others who have lost parents, brothers, sisters and best friends. I haven't. So this is a huge loss for me, one that I am still reeling from a bit.
When I go back, I try to make an effort to see all of my granparents, because you never know how much longer you'll have with them. I was very fortunate that when I visited Illinois for 2 weeks in June, I stayed at Lorene's the whole time. In part to spend more time with her but also due to my allergies always going haywire when I stay at my parent's house. We had breakfast a few days, dinner a couple nights, and were able to spend some time talking and joking around, but the best part was just being in the same space together, sharing time.
The visitation and funeral were kind of surreal. I guess everyone goes through this. She had touched so many people in the little town where I grew up, but I had no idea. At the visitation, there were videos with pictures of her through the years, some as recent as my last visit. My favorites were the older ones, from when she was in her 20s. Dressed up in her finest, likely headed out to some social event looking for Mr. Right. I especially liked the pics of her and her 2 sisters, both gone before her. they were so close in age, and the pictures said volumes about their inseparability in their youth. It's strange when I realize that they are all gone now, all three sisters. On my mom's side, a generation has passed on and another has stepped into their place.
As her kids worked together to sort out her affairs, I hid in the living room, trying to pretend that it wasn't most likely the last time I would sit in her lazyboy. Almost like an ostrich with my head in the sand, somehow, if I pretended hard enough, it wouldn't all be real. But it was. There are things that have to be dealt with, things have to get settled. Furniture, clothes, car, tools, you name it, it's got to go somewhere and something has to be done with it. Even though she was raised during a simpler time, she was as much a person of modern convenience as most of us. Maybe more so. I've always tried to live a life of simplicity, but even I have hoarded some things over the years, magazines, books, movies, things that others would have to deal with, if I were to depart this world tomorrow. Most likely my parents would have to do it. Bradley told me of one of his friends that has a box labelled, 'Mom- Just throw this one away. You can guess what is inside.
Basically the whole thing has made me want to simplify my life even more and to write a will to help in the process. After I'm gone I want people to remember how I made them feel, how much I loved, laughed and the enjoyment and wonder we shared, not how much crap I had in the place I lived. I want them to feel pride in the things I leave behind, I want them to be viewed as heirlooms not just stuff to be 'dealt' with. A freind once told me, he didn't want much, but what little he did want was nice as hell.
I've always hoped that I don't linger too long when I get old. I guess a lot of people wish that.
I loved my grandma very much, but I am thankful that she went with dignity, without much pain, and with her daughters by her side after 85+ years of life. Hopefully, we can all be so lucky.