Inadequacy

I still have much to learn in the news business.

Today I filled 9 minutes of airtime while waiting for a live press conference to begin. Nine minutes of ad-libbing with just notes in front of me. A friend tells me I did a great job. I don't agree. It's all sort of a blur. I mumbled on and on about certain things and I'm not even sure of what I said. I just know I don't feel good about it. I wouldn't say I bombed. But I know it could have been a lot smoother. All day long I've been disappointed in myself and wondering if I'm cut out for that kind of stuff. I'm supposed to be the person who gets it. I'm supposed to be the one who's a natural when it comes to this stuff. The reality is...I have much to learn. There is no replacement for genuine experience. I guess I'll just chalk this one up to just that...a learning experience. I did learn a lot and hopefully I'll be better next time.

What Is This Crap?

I guess this is old news but I just barely found out about it. The latest "Harry Potter" movie is being pushed back to a July 2009 release. I was unpleasantly surprised when I found out. I'm a huge "Harry Potter" fan/dork. This sucks. Some fans are calling for a boycott. Sounds like a good idea in theory...but I know that once the movie actually came out, I wouldn't be able to avoid seeing it.

Merritt Mayhem

I have some battle scars but I (along with good buddy Ron) made it up my fourth 10,000 foot peak in Glacier National Park. Only two more to go. They're the two hardest mountains to get to but I won't think about that right now.

Merritt wasn't exactly easy. But let's start with the good news. My knees were fine! Ron and I, along with another friend, Andy, summited Mt. Cleveland a year ago. It was sheer hell. My knees were dying. I thought I had done some permanent damage by running the Bridger Ridge Run a few weeks earlier. On top of that...they hurt through winter, spring, and most of this summer. I wasn't too optimistic about how things would go with this climb. But they held out...and it was a grueling trek. We hiked in 13 miles and camped for the night. We were on the trail the next morning by 8:30. The actual climb seemed more tiring than other mountains I've tackled. I kept looking up and seeing more mountain. In the end it was worth it. The views from atop Merritt are said to be the best from any mountain in the park. I'd have to agree. We had gorgeous weather and a crystal clear day. It just took a lot longer than we thought. We were planning on summiting, coming down, AND hiking out by 10:00 p.m. at the latest. We didn't even get off the mountain until 8:00. People were expecting us back that night so we had no choice but to grin and bear the 13 mile hike out in the dark. It wasn't all bad. We had some spectacular moonlight to light our way. We got to the car around 1:45 in the morning. Here's a shot looking back up at the summit after we'd gotten down. I look like Hell.


My battle scars consist of numerous blisters (as usual) and a bunch of cuts and scrapes from sharp rocks and bush-whacking. It could have been much worse. Twice during the climb Ron and I saw huge boulders about the size of refrigerators fall from the upper reaches of the summit. They were close enough to make me think, "whoa." The only other scary moment was during the hike out. We heard a low, guttural growl not far off the trail at one point. We spent the next 30 minutes shining our lights behind us to make sure nothing was following. Here's another nice shot from close to the summit.

The rest of the trip was just as good. I saw plenty of old friends and had lots of good times. Danny took me kayaking on Apgar Creek. I had dinner with Amanda, Nicole, Dave, Ron, and Jessie. I had a quick cup of coffee with Audrey and Chad. I shook hands and caught up with a dozen others. It made me miss Glacier quite a bit. I thought a lot about where I'm headed in life and whether I'll end up back in Montana. But that's for another post. Besides...I'm always babbling about that.

Finally, I was driving part of the way home last night thinking about all the fun times I'd just had and I saw this road sign.

Cheesy, I know. But I couldn't resist making the connection.

Random Thoughts

The economy sucks right now. I now personally know about a dozen people who've been affected by the downturn in one seriously negative way or another. I have a feeling I'm secure but you just never know. I hope things turn around soon.

The ABC show Wipeout is...awesome. I thought it would get tired real quick but I seem to laugh out loud every time I see it.

I was genuinely saddened to hear that Wall Arch in Arches National Park had collapsed. Arches is my 2nd favorite national park. (Can you guess what's 1st?) I've spent some highly charged emotional (good & bad) moments there. Wall Arch wasn't what you'd call a "favorite" but I've stood atop it a few times. I'm sad that it's gone.

Zip Lining is damn cool.

I've developed a mini-addiction to Cappucino Blasts from Baskin Robbins. It's gotten so bad that employees at two different Boise stores now know me by name.

There's still plenty of summer left but being one of those people who can't stop thinking about the future...all I can focus on is that summer's on the seasonal downturn.

Blueberry Morning cereal from Post is tasty.

I've sort of fallen into a split sleep schedule. Wake up at 2:30. Sleep after work. Wake up in the late afternoon. Sleep again around 10 pm. Repeat cycle. Doesn't always work but it's the only consistency I've been able to find.

I'm very bad with responding to emails and Facebook or Myspace messages.

The Soup...on E....is briliant.

Gas prices are going down again. I don't think we reached the point where serious changes in how we power are cars will HAVE to be made. Perhaps next year.

I'm leaving for Glacier tomorrow. Woohoo! Be back in a week.

Six Months

It's been 6 months to the day since I arrived in Boise. Time flies. I won't get too reflective. Don't you save that kind of thing for the one year mark?

I will say things are going good. Much better, in fact, than just a couple months ago. I've really taken some aggressive steps in "getting myself out there." I'm making a concerted effort to meet people and get involved. I think it's paying off. I'm getting an appreciation for this town (and state) that I didn't have before. I was driving home from my high school reunion (more on that later) this past weekend and was a little surprised at what I felt when I saw Boise's skyline again. I was actually happy to be back. That, more than anything, tells me this city has its charms.

Work is going well too. Still adjusting. Still getting used to things. Still getting used to people. That's all I'll say about that.

Sometimes I still question if coming here was the right choice. But I notice things every day that make me think it was. For example this:

This is a picture of Shoshone Falls near Twin Falls, Idaho. I stopped by to see it on the way home last weekend. Very cool. I had no idea it was so big. I guess they call it the Niagra of the West. I recommend it.

One brief note on my high school reunion. I'm happy I went. The turnout was dismal and I didn't get to see certain people I really wanted to...but overall, it was good. There were a few choice people I got to catch up with. I had a genuinely good time. A few rum and Diet Cokes helped with that.