Dumb and dumber

If you ever wonder why we have high car insurance rates in California I offer Exhibit A, a 2006 Hummer H3 stolen out of Modesto.

The driver for some reason felt it was ok to leave the car unattended with the keys in it.  The thief took the Hummer on a joy ride around south Tracy until he found some tall, slick grass on a dirt road near the dead end of south Lammers Road.

I'm not sure who is the dumber in this case; the guy who left the keys to his his nice shiny Hummer in the car or the car thief who stole it then crashed it.  Some people should just ride the bus.

Back on the road

After a long winter layoff Alice and I finally hit the trail again today with our first hike of the year at Mount Diablo as we wound our way along Black Point under gloriously sunny skies.

After weeks of fog and cold, a family crisis and just the general stress of work I was anxious to hit the trail again Black Point Trail was a good start.  Coming in at around 4 1/2 miles it was a good way to ease back into the hiking routine.  There are lots of good steady climbs and some tricky slick spots on the way down to get us back in trail shape.

The vistas are impressive as the winter has left the hillsides green.  Flowers are just starting to bud on Mount Diablo but we did have a few early glimpses of the wild flower colors to come.  The sunny skies were punctuated by the occasional cloud drifting in as a new storm systems heads into the valley.

I switched between color and black and white today, somethings just seem to call out for the simple tones of a grayscale picture.  What few colorful leaves we did find stood out starkly form the dark background of the trail.

We are hoping this incoming storm system will bring water to the falls of Mount Diablo as we plan next week's adventure to the Donner Falls trail.  It's a new season, with new challenges and hardships to face but I can always find some peace on the trail.

Scatology 101

So it may seem odd to be taking pictures of poop but when Alice and I are hiking on the trail we need to know what kind of animals are on the trail with us.  Poop with hair in it comes from a cat so there is a mountain lion in the vicinity.

Then we take a look at the age of the poop, is it old and dried out or is it still steamy and fresh?  Sounds dumb but we are becoming scatlologists.  We know are crap out in the field.

Just another day at work behind the camera

Even the cat doesn't look amused.

Screw the Urban Dictionary

Contrary to what some people say the word "floosh" is actually used to describe a fire:

floosh  (verb) A fire usually in a house or other structure accompanied by smoke and hopefully flames.  Can also be used to describe a fire in a object such as a car or other vehicle.



I got there and the house was floosh it had smkoke coming out the windows.