Flower Farm

Yosemite and Hetch Hetchy

Solo motorcycle & camping trip through Yosemite, Mono Lake, and Hetch Hetchy.

Open wide, Claude!

Bay Bridge Lightning

Two incredible photos of recent lightning strikes on the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge. We don't get lightning very often in SF, so these shots are quite amazing.

Credit: Phil McGrew, who took the photo through the rain-soaked window of his apartment.

Credit: Unknown (if it is yours, let me know so I can give you proper attribution)

Mushroom

Mt.Tamalpais Watershed

Sea Ranch

Fun days in Tahoe

Claude Eating

Feeding Claude the albino alligator at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco on 2/20/11. He eat "biscuits" of food prepared for him by the Academy. He responds to the biologist's whistle by staying still, and then they throw a biscuit near him. The biologist with the pole is trying to keep the turtles away from Claude so they don't steal his food.

The video loses sound about 2/3 way through - sorry. Wasn't much to hear anyway. Also it was crowded and hard to shoot the video.

Spring Is Here

I took a short hiatus from my blog. I think I'm ready to bring it back.

Squawlywood

A few quick iPhone snapshots from the top of Squaw Valley.

Mustard In The Vineyards

I was up in Napa this past weekend and noticed great beauty in the now dormant vineyards. The mustard undergrowth is blooming a brilliant yellow! At first I thought it was just a weed with a fortunate feature, but soon realized that the mustard was not growing everywhere like an unwanted weed would. It seemed to be isolated to the vineyards.


I asked around and learned that it does indeed have a purpose (other than looking beautiful in the middle of winter). Mustard blooms in late January and early February, and provides a habitat for birds and animals who feed on vineyard pests. Additionally, the root system of the mustard allows nutrients to be absorbed more readily into the soil, which in turn help the vineyard. Once buds break in spring, the mustard is cut back so as not to take too much water away from the vines.

Usefulness aside, color in winter is a nice treat.

Trailside Networking

A few days ago, my buddy Chris Simpson called me and asked if I would be interested in helping start up a group he had been thinking of. The basic premise of the group is to get out from behind the computer, and get outside for a hike!

Like me, Chris has recently found himself looking for new work. There is a lot of pressure involved. It may seem dreamy, like we have a lot of time to do whatever we want on our hands, but fact is there is constant pressure to do everything you can to find new work. This means spending many hours a day in front of the computer reading job posts, sending out resumes/cover letters, connecting with people, etc. It takes up a lot of time. Chris found he was walking a lot less than he should be (I knew I was, he proved it by wearing a pedometer).

So, Trailside Networking was born. There have got to be hundreds/thousands of people like us given the poor economy, plugging away daily looking for new work. We'd like to meet some of you, use our gift of free time to get outside and go for a hike, and talk about what we've been up to in our job searches. The first hike is in Marin but I can see future hikes in SF or the East Bay perhaps. I can even see the idea of this spreading to other areas.

Join us for the next hike. Even if you are working, you may be able to join us at lunch or at an upcoming weekend trip.

http://trailsidenetworking.com
@TrailsideNet
Trailside Networkring on Facebook

UPDATE 6/14/09:
Photos from our inaugural hike! Looking forward to a bigger turn out on our 2nd hike downtown along the SF waterfront.

Harvest the Rain

If you want to take your personal contribution to a greener planet more serious (it starts at home), why not consider a rain barrel to help irrigate your garden and shrubbery?

I purchased one about 6 month ago shortly after moving into my new house, and since then I have not had to use my sprinkler system at all (granted, it is the rainy season). I have also seen a reduction in my water bill (see left). The key with rain harvesting is to reduce the amount of runoff water that the city has to process and to reduce consumption of potable water.

I would eventually like to install a drip irrigation system so that I don't manually have to water all of the plants, but for now I manually irrigate via the rain barrel every week or so. Unlike a sprinkler system which sprays water everywhere and is probably set to water too frequently, my watering is targeted so it reduces consumption and also helps with weed control by not watering unnecessary areas.

To help collect the water, I purchased a Garden Water Saver which helped me tap into my rain gutters. Most people put their barrel directly under the rain gutter, but I had to bring the water to the barrel given the configuration of my gutter runoffs and the confined space I have living in the city. You'd be surprised how quick the barrel fills up when it rains! (matter of minutes in a good downpour) I have a small urban space, so only need 1 barrel - but if you have larger property you can daisy chain multiple barrels.

The city of San Francisco has a Rain Barrel Program in which you can purchase a fully equipped rain barrel at a discount ($70 as opposed to $130). The barrel has necessary fixtures so you can attach a standard garden hose, and also comes with overflow equipment to help you keep overflow runoff away from your foundation. It's one per household and available at Cole Hardware. Just bring a copy of your SFPUC water bill.

You can also make your own rain barrel quite easily, but the hose fixtures are more challenging to install AND (most important) you need to procure a barrel for use or used in the food industry. You don't want to be spreading around chemical residue from industrial use barrels.