Morning Stars

I was out running in the pre-dawn hours this morning and chanced to see Venus and Saturn in conjunction before the clouds rolled in and hazed the sky over. What a beautiful sight, especially with Orion just to the right of the pair, beginning its rise to its usual place of prominence in the winter sky. I hope that y'all got the chance to see them also. Now off to work and another day of wrestling with the myriad amount of details associated with keeping the K-12 community connected and data flowing...vertu svalur

[Listening to: Good Woman - Cat Power - You Are Free (03:59)]

What A Week

We managed to pull off the All-Staff Day with only about two weeks prep time and I must say that it was prettty doggone good! It did take the efforts of a lot of dediated, hard-working people who scarificed their personal lives for the last week, as well as Jeanne and I putting in I do not know how many long nights working and worrying over all of the details but, in the end, it got done. Jeanne did a fantastic job pulling everyone and everything together; she has some great leadership abilities and of course she is exceptional working with people. Everyone loves her and would do anything for her and I do not think that anyoine else could have pulled this off anywhere near as well as she did, if at all. The new and improved sound system worked like a champ, though we still have yet to get the projection system totally ironed out yet. But, the Boss was impressed and was generous in his praise, especially for our Assistants that really did all of the hard work. THAT was appreciated by everyone, especially those of us that usually get all of the praise and don't deserve it all. We do have one Hell of a team of good folks and this really demostrated that to everyone. Now t catch up on my sleep and maybe even dream a little bit about...O' ja...vertu svalur

[Listening to: Maps - Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (03:44)]

Back In My Groove, Almost

I finally got up this morning and ran again, after a hiatus of almost three weeks! I do not know why, but I just have been unable to get motivated. Hopefully I can now put that behind me, but I am sure that my funk is linked to the recent cooling off of things and now that we are on the upswing again (at least I think that we are, but it seems that one can never be too sure, you know;-) my overall attitude should improve. Anyway, feeling tired but pumped and ready to hit the day head on, so 'til l8r...vertu svalur

[Listening to: Crush - Jennifer Paige - Jennifer Paige (03:23)]

I Have Been to the Mountain...

We managed to survive the retreat intact, but the expected tension was indeed there and it really spoiled some of the fun that we could have had. The professional collaboration with the schools' staff was great though and we did manage to have fun with the staff barbeque on Monday. I had four grills going at one time as well as cranking out some home-made ice cream; all-in-all we fed twenty-five folks and did so in fine fashion. Everyone ate, drank and made merry and then followed it up with a couple of hours of karaoke. It sure did make for a bleary early morning work session on Tuesday, O' ja...vertu svalur

[Listening to: White Flag - Dido - Life For Rent (03:40)]

Upwards and Onwards

Well, the phone system re-configuration is almost complete, the sun is shining, and I am three days into a week without my friend. What an empty feeling this week has left in me; I cannot wait until things return to normal. This weekend we are all off to our annual retreat with our small-school Superintendents in the mountains of Oregon and I am certain that it will be fun as usual. There is no doubt that we shall be under close scrutiny from all sides while together there and it therefore will be more important than ever that we act most correctly. Hmm...what a wickedly wonderful thing this life is; O, ja...vertu svalur

[Listening to: I Don't Blame You - Cat Power - You Are Free (03:05)]

Just Another Day In The Life...

In this era of gigabit networking over laser beams you would think that we would have the transmission of voice over copper lines down to a science, but then you would be...WRONG!!! Having spent another day watching and listening to technicians try to unjumble the mess that they have created out of our telephone system I am still awe-struck by the experience. I suppose that I should derive some small comfort from the knowledge that we do not understand everything about the way that the universe works after all, but then again I am trying to keep an office up and doing business. Well, we did manage to get the majority of the system functional and there is always tomorrow. I am beginning to think that I need a vacation before school starts myself, so perhaps I will follow Marianna's example and get out of town for a week. Hmmm, now if I can only figure out when...vertu svalur

[Listening to: Werewolf - Cat Power - You Are Free (04:08)]

Off to Paradise...Finally

Okay, well the day is almost gone but I am finally out of here and headed off to Mt. Rainier for what is left of the weekend. Cy'all and, of course,...vertu svalur

[Listening to: Free - Cat Power - You Are Free (03:34)]

Weekend Put On Hold...For Now

Well, it appears as if the mountains will have to wait at least one more day. The phone system vendor did a less than stellar job of re-configuring our system and we shall now have to continue the work tomorrow morning. At least the group hike up to Muir is not until Sunday, so that will not be jeopardized. I also got the chance to speak to Claudia's daughter, who recently graduated from high school, this evening. She has experessed an interest in becoming a fire fighter so I had the opportunity to impart to her my perspective on that career. She actually found it funny that after over twenty years of fire and rescue work, my one overall comment on my experience was that it was "a rock-solid blast", but then that is indeed it in a nutshell and she got it straight up. I hope that it leads her to explore it further, for there is no better career in the world, as long as you have the mentality for it. So, until tomorrow...vertu svalur

Just Another Weekend in Paradise

Just got finished talking with Julie and Carrie and we are all set to get together on Sunday and hike back up to Camp Muir. I know that this seems like it is getting old, but what fun it is and it will be great to see them again and spend the day catching up on "things". Anyway, after spending a week on this emotional roller coaster I could stand a strong dose of outdoor therapy. Besides, it is about time to start shopping (see Marianna, I really do shop when in a funk;-) for a new board for the upcoming season and that always puts me in a good mood. cya and, of course,...vertu svalur

[Listening to: The First Cut Is the Deepest - Sheryl Crow - The Very Best of Sheryl Crow (03:47)]

The View From Not-Quite-The-Top

What a fantastic day on Mt. Rainier! I did manage to get over the night before and up and on the trail on time. The climb up to Pebble Creek was easy and I certainly could tell the difference that a month of conditioning has made. The trek from there up to Camp Muir was strenuous, but I did make some acquaintances along the way and sharing the day with these new-found friends certainly made the experience that much more memorable. The weather was picture-postcard perfect - temperature in the 70's, clear azure-blue skies, not a breath of wind and an inexhaustible supply of sunshine...absolutely fantastic! On such a day I can think of no more beautiful and serene place to be than high up on the snowfields of Mt. Rainier. I lounged at camp Muir for a bit, talked with some of the other hikers and climbers, then reluctantly started down. I met Sheila and Cathy as I was running and skating down the upper snowfields and hiked/ran/slid/skated the rest of the way down with them. I always enjoy meeting new friends and some of the nicest that I have met have been while hiking and climbing. In fact, I have just received an e-mail from Julie and am now planning on returning to the mountain next weekend to join her an Carrie on a hike back up to Muir. What a great summer this has turned out to be; spending most of my weekends camping, hiking, and climbing; meeting some truly special people; and enjoying life as much as I can. Well, once again it is getting late and slumber beckons as another work week trails just behind the looming sunrise. So, until next time...vertu svalur, y'all;-)

[Listening to: Sunrise - Norah Jones - Feels Like Home (03:25)]