If dogs could speak...
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Won't you be my neighbor?
One of the neighbors just put her house up for sale at the start of this week. The asking price is reasonable, at least by Silicon Valley standards. The house is on a corner lot, and the landscaping was upgraded last year both in the front and back yards, so it is definitely one of the better homes for sale in the neighborhood. Given that today is Easter Sunday, there was quite a bit of buyer traffic, perhaps 1 or 2 lookers every hour.
This afternoon, I was out in front of my house doing yardwork. This has been a kind of guerilla warfare between me and Mother Nature for the past month, as it's been raining almost every weekend. Whenever it stopped raining for a day or two, I'd have to hurry and mow the lawn quickly before things got soaked again. Today I was determined to work fast and finish cleaning up before the rain arrived in mid-afternoon. The wind was whipping up fierce, blowing leaves everywhere and making the job harder than usual, and all of that was putting me in a foul mood.
But, I digress. While I was scooping up leaves and filling up the dumpster, this man surprised me when he came up behind me and asked if he could ask me a question. I was going to reply that he already did, but I stopped myself and just gave him the look, like just get out of here. He was mumbling something like he was looking at the house next door and wondering if he should buy it. I answered, somewhat curtly, that it was up to him, and I'm not a real estate agent, and he should go get himself one. He thanked me and walked away.
It was about a minute later when I realized what a jerk I had been; it wasn't his fault that the grass was wet and the leaves were blowing, and he was just asking an innocent question and there was no reason for me to get upset like that. I wanted to apologize to the nice man, but by that time he had already left. I hope he'll be back, and maybe even buy that house. It's a beautiful house and a good value, and the neighbors are nice, especially when they are not out gardening in bad weather.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:50 PM 0 comments
Martial arts basketball
I saw part of the Louisville-West Virginia basketball game yesterday. There was a guard on the Louisville team by the name of Taquan Dean; the announcers kept referring to him by his full name instead of his first or last name, and it came out sounding like "Taekwondo". The guy was amazing; he hit seven 3-pointers to force overtime and steal a win after Louisville had lost their best player, Francesco Garcia, due to fouls. West Virginia led by 20 in the first half and shot 67% from the 3-point line, and by most measures should have won, but I guess there was no defense against a crafty opponent that added a little bit of "martial arts" to their game.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:59 AM 0 comments
Saturday, March 26, 2005
First place
People are lining Front Street in Nome to welcome Robert Sorlie to the 2005 Iditarod finish line. I am still suffering from sled dog race withdrawal. It snowed in Nome last night, and the main street is blanketed with snow. It's 11F there today. Too bad it was so warm during the race two weeks ago. My favorite Siberian Huskies are built for snow, not for mud sledding and water surfing. Well, maybe a little water surfing.
Dawgs bitten
Washington lost 93-79 to Louisville on Thursday in the Albuquerque regional semi-finals of NCAA men's basketball. They were doing well in the first half, but Nate Robinson was in foul trouble and wasn't able to play much. I hope he returns next year, but that looks unlikely as he'll probably go pro after this great season. Duke also lost, so that leaves only Illinois and North Carolina as the surviving No. 1 seeds playing for a spot in the Final Four. It's been a tournament of upsets from Day 1. The dogs are no longer howling tonight.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 12:27 PM 2 comments
Last place
Only in the Iditarod does the last-place finisher get a prize. Phil Morgan was happy to receive the Red Lantern award. I would be too, if I can travel 1100 miles through Alaska with a bunch of dogs. He finished with only 8 dogs of the starting 16, having had to drop many of them back because they were in heat (yes, that other kind of heat; dogs will be dogs). He was marching his team to the finish line, instead of standing on the sled and letting the dogs pull. It must have been quite a sight. People do crazy things for a little lantern.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 12:02 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Good technology
Several years ago I replaced the on-off switch for my front porch light with a programmable switch. Basically I could set a lights-on time and lights-off time for every day of the week, and the lights would go on and off automatically. It worked great since I often travel or get home late. To give it a live-in appearance, the switch even had a random mode, in which the lights would turn on at the pre-set time but plus or minus 15 minutes. I paid something like $40 for it. The one minor problem was that I had to adjust the pre-set times as the days get longer or shorter throughout the year, but it was a great convenience and I couldn't be happier.
Well a few weeks ago the switch died, and I installed a new one last Sunday. The new switch was just as programmable as the old one, but it had an additional mode to turn on and off automatically based on sunset and sunrise times pre-programmed into the switch. The time adjustmentss throughout the year are now done automatically. Truly a set-it-and-forget-it switch. So far it has worked wonderfully. All that for less than $20. Ah, the marvels of modern technology.
Weird technology
A MIT scientist has come up with a gizmo she calls "Clocky" that's designed to get sleepyheads moving. It looks like a roll of toilet paper covered with shag carpeting with wheels attached at both ends. When the snooze button is pressed, the clock rolls off the table to a hiding place where it lies in wait for 10 minutes before going off again. And every day it rolls to a different hiding place. A game of hide-and-seek with Clocky is just what we all need first thing every morning.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:00 PM 0 comments
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Doggone
The arch at the Iditarod finish line has been taken down and the spectator fences removed. Most of the snow seems to have evaporated just as quickly. Nome has a population of about 3500, and adds 1000 visitors just for this annual dog race. They also have a "Iron Dog" snow machine race that goes through the town (Anchorage to Nome to Fairbanks) in the winter, and a river rafting race and bath tub race in the summer. Other than that, it is an isolated place, with no roads connecting to any major city. The city logo is "There's no place like Nome!" They are certainly not kidding.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:45 PM 0 comments
Monday, March 21, 2005
No boing boing
Whatever happened to spring? The weather has been wet and dreary since yesterday, and it promises to be raining on and off until next Monday. Yesterday there was even a tornado in South San Francisco, complete with funnel cloud, that uprooted tens of trees and damaged over 20 houses. Bleah!
Doggies come home
The last Iditarod team checked in at 8 pm tonight Alaska time, 15 days and 6 hours after the race started. That's impressive time considering the warm conditions this year that made for a lot of slushy trail breaking over much of the course. I was fortunate that I had just gotten home, turned on the computer and clicked on the Nome webcam, and saw that there was a large crowd under the finish line arch. Not much else happens in Nome, so I wouldn't be surprised if the entire town turned out to witness the last act of this annual event.
A final dog story
At the Iditarod banquet last night, Martin Buser told about a moment at Rohn when his recently amputated right middle finger was swollen and painful. He asked a race veterinarian to cut some dead skin and nerve endings off, only to hear Rick Swenson’s gravelly voice bark out, “Why don’t you take the other two off!” Offended, Buser shot back that he was already hurting enough, thanks. As he looked in Swenson’s direction, though, he realized his competitor was talking to one of his dogs, who’d managed to pull two of its booties off. The pair burst out laughing.
OK, no more dog stories... until at least tomorrow.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:05 PM 0 comments
Sunset on Iditarod
A large crowd (30 people is a large crowd in Alaska) greets Phil Morgan as he and his team of 8 dogs reach the finish line in Nome. By tradition, the last-place finisher is presented with a Red Lantern award. The burled arch will probably be taken down tomorrow. Note the lack of snow on the sidewalk and road, except for what was trucked in just for the race. Even though it is past 8 pm, the sun is only starting to set.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:02 PM 0 comments
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Who let the dogs in?
All but one rookie dog team has reached Nome, early enough to join in the Iditarod awards banquet held 14 days after the start of the race. It's pretty amazing how they cover over 1100 miles in two weeks, just dogs and man out in the snow and ice and wind. There was a time not so long ago when a finish time of over 20 days was good enough to win the race.
The last place team is still in White Mountain, 77 miles away, and given their pace, they probably won't finish for another two days. What's interesting is that the musher is a pilot for Alaska Airlines; I guess he is normally used to travel at somewhat greater speeds. His name is Phil Morgan. Yes, Captain Morgan :)
I found this dog poem on a web site. It's very "mushy", but my dogs want to see it, so here it is:
LIFE OF A SIBERIAN HUSKY
I’m two weeks old, my hair is like silk,
All I want is my mother’s warm milk.
At three weeks all pups lay in a pile,
It’s sleep a long time, then nap for awhile.
I’m four weeks old and now I can see,
So of course I’m thinking “What will I be?”
Five weeks old I can walk, more like stumble,
I see the guys run, it makes me feel humble
At last six weeks old and learning to run,
It makes me feel free and leads to more fun.
At eight weeks I know Siberian Husky’s my breed,
I want to be on a sled team, maybe the lead.
For the next four months it’s run, jump and play,
Not a care in the world, I like it this way.
I moved around the team, I tried everything,
I must have been good, they put me in Swing.
Swing is the position that’s right behind lead,
I’ll keep my eyes open, commands I will heed.
The musher calls “Gee”, “Haw” sometimes “On By”,
It's a lot to learn, and I’m determined to try.
In the next six months I got lead many times,
Over fields, up the hills, some times steep climbs.
I always did well, I wanted lead in the race,
If the musher would pick me, I’d set the team pace.
We spent a whole year running together,
We ran days, we ran nights, always cold weather.
The rivers were frozen, it was tough on us all,
But we stayed on the line, we answered the call.
Now I’m nearly two and a seasoned lead dog,
Practice has paid off, now for that once-a-year jog.
It’s early in March in Anchorage for the start,
Over one thousand dogs anxious to get their part.
This is The Iditarod, “The Last Great Race” they call it,
If we have even a chance, we’ll all have to haul it.
From Anchorage to Nome, a most challenging run,
Over one thousand miles before this race is done.
It’s five hours of running, then five hours of rest,
We keep to this schedule, it works out the best.
This race is down to nine days plus hours to win,
For twenty more days, teams will come in.
Well, I led the team and we finished the race,
No, we didn’t win, we came in twelfth place.
I worked hard and the team did their best,
I had my chance, I was put to the test.
Oh, I won other races, my record’s my story,
The Iditarod will always be the peak of my glory.
I’m eight years old now and retired from racing,
I’m teaching the young-uns the importance of pacing.
I think back of all the work I have done,
I never thought of it that way, to me it was fun.
I see the new puppies, stumbling and blinking,
Was that ever me? What was I thinking?
- Robert E. Drewery
- posted by Woofwoof @ 8:42 PM 0 comments
Sweet sixteen
Washington advanced yesterday. They had an easy win, 97-79 over Pacific. They were the quicker team and by leading from the beginning, were able to dictate the faster pace they prefer. They shot 61 percent from the field in the second half and just pulled away from Pacific right after halftime.
The win was expected since Washington was seeded 1st and Pacific 8th in the West, but the playoffs thus far have produced a surprising number of upsets, especially in the East. Gone are Syracuse, BC, Wake Forest, Kansas, Oklahoma, Gonzaga, and still we are not through the second round yet. Louisville and Georgia Tech will go against each other today, with the winner playing Washington on Thusday. Things are going to get a lot tougher from here on out. Go Dawgs!
The other dogs
Only eight teams are still running in the Iditarod. Most are rookie teams, and most are in or have just left White Mountain, only 77 miles from the finish in Nome. The cold is finally coming back to Alaska, with temps dipping in the low teens along the coast as would be expected in March. The weather has been all messed up this year, warm in winter and now getting colder in spring. Mother Nature needs a calendar.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:29 AM 0 comments
Saturday, March 19, 2005
Liquid cheese
We went to a farewell lunch for a colleague yesterday, at a Mexican restaurant. I ordered a gourmet wrap, but they mistakenly gave me a burrito instead. Since we were running late, I stayed with the burrito. Another colleague who is from Israel looked at my burrito, then looked at what everyone else was getting, and marveled at how many ways they can prepare dishes with basically just three things: shredded chicken, tortilla wraps and "liquid cheese". He forgot to mention globs and globs of sour cream. I was so full last night that all I are for dinner was a pear. I woke up this morning and still feel little chickens swimming in liquid cheese inside of me.
Our usual farewell lunch place is a Chinese restaurant, and I often laugh at our lack of imagination. But one good thing about the Chinese is that they don't understand liquid cheese.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:27 AM 0 comments
Thursday, March 17, 2005
Below is a picture of Robert Sorlie arriving under the burled arch at the Iditarod finish line. Note he is carrying a Norwegian flag. The snow was trucked in. It was raining in Nome last week, and there wasn't much snow left except on the sidewalk. It wouldn't have been funny to watch dogs pull sleds over asphalt.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:42 PM 0 comments
The good and the bad
Washington won tonight, 88-77 over Montana. It's a great start, and a good sign since they haven't advanced to the second round of the basketball playoffs in a very long time. I hope this is the year they go all the way to the finals. All week, they have been challenged as being undeserving of the first seed in the Western regionals, and they just had to shrug it off. Their next opponent is Pacific which beat Pitt 79-71 in the first round. That will be an interesting game since Pacific plays a slow, deliberate game while Washington prefers an up-tempo, fast paced game. Go Huskies!
My other favorite husky team scratched in the Iditarod, in Unalakleet after traveling roughly 900 miles of the 1100-mile course. The dogs were really suffering in this year's warm weather, that sometimes reached almost 40F in the daytime and almost never dropped below freezing even at night. It was raining at times, and this was deep in the middle of Alaska. The web cams in Fairbanks and Nome showed clear, wet roads more suited for Californians than sled dogs.
The winner was Robert Sorlie and his team of dogs from Norway, in 9 days and 19 hours. He also won 2 years ago but skipped last year. There were 3 other teams in hot pursuit, but ultimately he beat them by over one hour and a half. Only 40 minutes separated No 2 through 4, so that made for a very close race, similar to last year. Martin Buser faded near the end and finished 13th because many of his dogs got sick and were dropped. He limped to the finish line with just 6 of the original 16 dogs. It was a fairly disappointing end to a race that started out very promising for several of my favorite teams, but Mother Nature wasn't in the mood to play nice this year. I feel like I am going into dog race withdrawal.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:42 PM 0 comments
Sunday, March 13, 2005
A bird is not a bird is not a bird
I received an email telling me that the bird I mentioned in my Feb 15 entry wasn't a heron but an egret. After further research, I have to conclude that I was he-rong. I egret the error. You can shoot me now.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 7:29 PM 1 comments
We are No. 1, we are No. 1
The NCAA men's basketball playoff brackets were just announced, and Washington got a somewhat surprising No. 1 seed in the Albuquerque regionals. Until yesterday there was some doubt whether they would get even a second seed, but they turned things around by beating Arizona for the Pac-10 tournament title. With an overall 28-5 record in a tough league, it's hard to say that they don't deserve it. This is really so cool.
A personal No. 1
I've been slowly increasing the intensity level on my exercise bike. In the past if I felt strong, I just raised the cadence, sometimes going higher than 90 or 100 rpm for short bursts just before the end. For the past few weeks, I just pushed the intensity higher while keeping a sustained 80 rpm for the final 4 minutes of the cycle. This gets me to the point of flat-out exhaustion such that I can hardly breathe after I stop, but it gives me a new high for the next 30 minutes or hour. It's really worth it. I scored 233 kcal today, which is the highest I've done since last June.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 3:43 PM 0 comments
We are the champs
Washington won the Pac 10 men's basketball tournament yesterday, 81-72 over Arizona. This was a slight upset as Arizona is ranked No. 8 and won the regular season title, while the Huskies are No 14 overall. The game was much closer than the final score, and Washington was trailing until Will Conroy drained a three, net-only basket with just over 2 minutes to go. After that it was mostly Washington making free throws as Arizona was forced to foul. I was happy as this win was totally unexpected, and this is their first championship since 1985 -- yeah, exactly 20 years ago. The win will boost their chances of getting a No. 2 seed in the NCAA playoffs when the pairings are announced today. Woof woof, go Huskies!
Other dogs
Robert Sorlie and team Norway are leading the Iditarod. They reached Kaltag this morning, having traveled almost 800 miles and have another 300 to go. There are really only 3 teams that appear capable of catching him now, but they are a good 2 to 5 hours behind. He will have to falter badly or make a mistake for them to win, but it happened last year when another team Norway that led most of the way just ran out of gas near the end and ended up finishing 8th.
Martin Buser did an amazing thing in taking back his current No. 2 place after losing 2 hours looking for a dog from his team that went AWOL. The dog had somehow slipped off his harness while running and was sound asleep in the snow when Buser found him. Buser was doing an ironic hula dance on his sled when he finally reached Eagle Island with his team intact again. Imagine trying to explain a missing dog to everyone else if he hadn't discovered that first himself. His team was already thin, down to 11 dogs halfway through the race, whereas the other teams were still running 14 or 15 dogs. On top of that he was still dealing with the bandages over his severed finger; at one checkpoint he asked a vet to snip off some nerve endings that were just hanging there and had dried out. The vet reluctantly complied, but told him that he was a "tough SOB". He is truly a tough SOB.
A fresh look
I spent over an hour yesterday fine-tuning the look and feel of my Xanga blog. Now the color scheme is brighter, more open than the previous standard format and has that airy feel like this blogger here. Definitely a cleaner, simpler yet more elegant design. I think I should copyright it.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:02 AM 0 comments
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Global warming
We are now on Day 6 of the Iditarod, and my favorite dog team is still running, minus 2 dogs of the original 16. They definitely are not going to win, nor were they expected to, but they sure look good at the starting gate and on the trail. I am still hoping that they will beat their time from last year, and perhaps the best time ever for an all-Siberian huskies team.
This year's race is hampered by abnormally warm weather in Alaska -- there are places even in the Interior that reach into the 30s during the daytime, warmer than New York last week! It's tough for these dogs not only because of the sweaters they have on all year, but also because these temps are turning snow and ice into slush that is hard to run on.
I keep thinking of one of my dogs, the Siberian that hated water so much that he tiptoed through water whenever it rained; that's what you get when you take northern dogs and put them in the middle of California. How quickly they adapt! And then there is the black lab that liked water so much that he dug holes, waited until they filled up with rainwater and jumped in, sitting there with his eyes closed and meditating Zen-like, as if he were in a jacuzzi. One day I came home, looked out in the backyard and saw just a dog head sticking out on top of the lawn, and freaked out thinking someone broke in the house and decapitated him. My first Godfather horse head experience. Damn dogs, but I sure miss them.
It's a tough life
Martin Buser is in second place. The former champion lost a finger in a saw accident a few days before the race, but decided to run anyway, even with one hand balled up in bandages. That is tougher than it sounds, because Iditarod runners need a strong grip on the sled to right it up after it tips over, which happens often. They also need dexterity to massage their dogs or put ointment on the dog paws (maybe not this year since it's so warm), and sometimes ski alongside their dogs to urge them on.
When he was asked why he wasn't skipping the race, he just shrugged and said that he trained and lived all year for one race, and that racing is his profession and his source of income. The top prize this year is $72K; finishers below the top 20 take home less than $10K, which probably is just enough to cover their expenses.
There is good news
My Japanese friend's son passed his entrance examination to Todai. This was his second try. I received a picture of him pointing at the accept list, and he was beaming. What a proud moment. He also trained for a whole year for this exam to get into the acknowledged most prestigious Japanese university, and he made it. No broken hand, no slushy trail, but amazing just the same.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:48 AM 0 comments
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Size is all relative
I know I shouldn't talk because I drive around in a Ranger truck when I don't really need it, and it gets less than 20 mpg on most days. But yesterday when I was out running errands, I saw on one side of me a Ford Explorer which has been redesigned to be quite large, and just ahead of it, a Lexus RX300 and a Toyota Sequoia which are both bigger, but nothing compared to the Chevy Suburban at the front of all of us. I felt so boxed in. I want a Humvee.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:27 AM 0 comments
And they are off...
The Iditarod started yesterday. This is always a fun time for me as I use it to mark the end of winter and track my favorite dog teams. One of these days I should make a trip to Alaska to see it for myself. They typically travel the roughly 1000-mile course in less than 10 days, except for my buddies the Siberian Huskies that take 3 extra days to enjoy the scenery.
The weather is warmer in Alaska this year than usual, so I don't know how well the dogs will do. They usually prefer zero degree weather, but lately it's been in the 20-30s. And here I am freezing when it gets much below 50F.
My dog cartoon calendar has a new entry showing a pit crew at the International Sled Dog Race. There are 3 official-looking guys standing there, one holding a bowl of "husky chow", another with a brush and flea and tick sprayer, and the third with a fire hydrant. No pooper scooper though.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:25 AM 0 comments
