Posting this video because I don’t know how to participate in Wednesday’s blackout utilizing a wordpress hosted blog.

Edit: OK, it is dashboard/settings/”Protest SOPA/PIPA”

Much can, and often is, made of the differences typified by these two movements.  In the simplest of terms, Tea Party can be generalized by the slogan “guns, glory, and god”; meanwhile, Occupy can be generalized by its anti-capitalist beliefs.  Of course this over simplification debases both of these movements.

Let’s begin with Tea Party.  Whether it grew out of Ron Paul’s 2008 campaign for the presidency or if the Koch brothers invented it is immaterial to our present discussion.  We can understand its roots in the causes that it first championed.  The first issues taken up by the fledgling Tea Party  were Bush’s Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the bank bail outs), while Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (deficit spending) became its second rallying cry.  The very name of the movement, “Tea Party”, invokes an anti-taxation message, while the taking up of the Gadsden flag as its symbol hints at resistance to the over reaching arms of government.  In its earliest stages, Tea Party drew from all parts of the political spectrum; democrats, independents, republicans, and outcasts could all be counted among its ranks. However, Tea Party was quickly co-opted by, and consumed by, the paleo-conservative wing of the republican party.  There are presently Tea Party caucuses in both houses of congress, but for all intents and purposes, Tea Party as a movement has died out.

Then there is Occupy, the new kid on the block.  Rising from anger at Wall Street, Occupy has since taken up many causes ranging from, but not limited to, undue influence of lobbyists to student loan debt.  Due primarily to the non-hierarchical nature of its form, Occupy has not yet been co-opted. The short and long term prognosis for Occupy is presently unknown.

Much is made of the disparate nature of these two movements  Tea Party is more rural in nature with Occupy manifesting in cities across the nation. As the preceding indicates, some of these comparisons are valid, however most are of caricatures of the actual movements.  Tea Party is portrayed as white, fundamentalist, anti-Islamic, and potentially racist.  Occupy is caricatured as anarchist ne’er-do-wells with nothing better to do.

As stated, much can be, and is, made of the differences in these movements.  However, I find it much more interesting to look at their commonalities.

Within the purple shaded area above we find a few things that could help either bring these two movements together or help to spark a new movement which combines and strengthen Tea Party and Occupy.  Both movements have a deep mistrust of government.  Both are opposed to wars waged without benefit in far away places.  Both are frightened by a future of declining wealth, with deep (and understandable) fear of economic collapse, and both place an emphasis on individual liberties and freedoms.  These are not small similarities, and neither side wishes to see themselves mirrored in the opposition movement, yet mirrored they are.

Threats of government shutdown, the inability to compromise, promised reductions in entitlements, the rich getting richer at the expense of the rest of us, decreasing civil liberties (The Patriot Act–National Defense Authorization Act, both bipartisan attacks on citizen rights); real fear exists across the political spectrum.

After 8 years of Bush, most Americans do not expect the right to help us out of our current predicament.  Obama in his three years of office has also shown that the left has no answers and are exacerbating the problems with deficit spending.  Is there a third way? If so, how to do we achieve it?

To be honest, I don’t now if another way is possible, I am not sure that the two sides can be brought together to fight the power; but I do know that we can’t get there from here.  If we want to achieve change then we need to start angling toward a common platform that gives us a clear shot at the target lasting change.  That change begins with language, is followed by belief, and culminates in action.

We begin by re-defining the opposition.  We drop the buzz words like stupid, evil, and crazy.  You do not compromise with stupid people, thankfully the other side is not stupid.  You do not compromise with evil, thankfully the other side is not evil.  You do not compromise with crazy people, thankfully the other side is not crazy.  These terms, and others like them, only serve the political establishment, they separate those with common goals and prevent any useful dialog.  The language we choose to employ has real world consequences, real change must be preceded by real understanding, real understanding is predicated on mutual acceptance.  The opposition is not anti-American, they are not crazy, evil, or stupid.  They are human beings like us, with similar hopes and fears.  Most importantly, we have common enemies, the political parties and the politico-economic system that has brought us to the brink.

Once we accept that our opposition are like us, with the same hopes and fears, they cease to be opposition and together we become the change that we are all seeking.  If you wish our nation to become a third world country then by all means continue with the divisiveness.  If you want a better world tomorrow, then today is the time to start changing our language and beliefs. By dropping the red/blue divide and focusing on the purple, we can and will achieve a better tomorrow.

It starts with you, right now.  What do you think? Are you up to the task?

]]> http://foggytown.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/where-the-twain-shall-meet/feed/ 2 foggytown ven http://foggytown.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/shooting-the-crippled-dog/ http://foggytown.wordpress.com/2011/11/21/shooting-the-crippled-dog/#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 01:01:01 +0000 foggytown http://foggytown.wordpress.com/?p=1292 Continue reading →]]> I think my life may be to boring to sustain a blog at this time.  This was my 3rd attempt at posting a regular blog.  I started way back at the end of May in 2006, that makes it close to exactly 5.5 years.  With 318 posts since then making a post every 6 days.  But for the past 6 months, the average has been 1 or 2 a month.  Most of my recent posts have been out of guilt at not posting, filler really, with little heart in it.

Last holiday WordPress sent me my yearly stats, of the top 10 most popular posts last year, all but one was at least 2 years old.  I think I used to have more interesting things to say.

With that said, you can follow my micro-blog at gplus.to/foggytown

I guess that makes this blog on hiatus.

Will it return, or is it gone for good?  Yes.

so lets get to the point
lets roll another joint
an head on down the road
to somewhere i gotta go
Tom Petty 

So my Summer didn’t go quite as planned…as a sage once quipped, “Life is What Happens While You Are Busy Making Other Plans.”  As they say, excrement happens.  Careful readers will remember my posting my plans for Summer back in April, and any observer knows that is not what happened.  I mostly played my cards close to my vest because I didn’t want pity, I didn’t want to make excuses, and I really felt no shame; after all I am right in this situation.

So back in April I put my belongings in storage, vacated my house, and headed East to my father’s funeral with plans to go in search of destiny after he was firmly planted.  Part of packing up my life was throwing the pot I had laying around into a box and putting it in the van, somewhere between half a kilo and a kilo (I didn’t weigh it…it was just what I had laying around when it was time to go).  Good herb too, Emerald Triangle at its best…

I made it as far as Iowa, Grinnell Iowa.  I was out of the van playing with the dogs when a police rolled up…one thing led to another and he called for help and searched my van…oops.

So there I was…

My van, my two dogs, a rider who didn’t drive that I was taking to Chicago, and the police pull out my two pounds of pot…a day and a half before my father’s funeral and nearly 600 miles away.   Oh yeah!  not a good day.

Could there be a good part to the story?  Well, the police didn’t find my five grand in cash, I’m pretty sure they would have taken that.

Considering that the police were in the process of making havoc out of my life for possession of an innocuous weed, they did treat my pretty good. They left my rider in charge of my van and my dogs and ran me into the county seat where I passed jail and went straight to the magistrate, multiple felonies and multiple other charges, they released me on my own recognizance and dropped me back off at my van.  With barely a two hour delay in my travels, I was back on the road….poorer, but none the wiser…

Those who know me know that I sowed more than oats in my younger days of carousing, a couple of felonious assaults and a bunch of other stuff back in the 80s…that culminated in Jackson State Penitentiary where I rang out the 80s and chimed in the 90s.  My assumption based on what Michigan would have done…multiple pounds of pot, baggies, and a scale…was to assume that I was going to spend some time in the Iowa penal system.  I made that assumption and I acted and prepared accordingly.

Possession with intent to deliver, a 5 year felony; Iowa drug stamp violation, a 5 year felony; using a vehicle to commit a felony, a 4 year aggravated misdemeanor, and possession of paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.  Oh year, they’re going to send me to prison alright.

So with the help of a great friend and with the support of a great brother, I moved my stuff out of California and into Missouri and made plans to place my dogs with relatives…and court dragged on…

…and on…

If you see me tonight with an illegal smile
It don’t cost very much, but it lasts quite a while.
Would you please tell the man I didn’t kill anyone?
I was just trying to have me some fun.
John Prine

Months dragged on, the wheels of (in)justice turn slowly… glacially slow.

Finally in August my attorney stood up on my behalf, and the courts not wanting to research the motions and wanting to avoid the cost of trial came up with a deal that I couldn’t refuse.  They basically dropped everything except the felony possession which I plead guilty to with the understanding that the prosecutor would request probation (along with a few thousand to several thousand in fines and costs).

Since then I’ve gone up to do a pre-sentence investigation with the department of corrections.  I held off going public with this until that was completed, today I received my copy of that report.  The pre-sentence investigator has reiterated the call for a few thousand to several thousand in fines and costs and tied that to a recommendation of unsupervised probation.  So it seems pretty solid that that is what I should get.

My figuring of the costs that I will incur are a bottom limit of $3500 and an upper limit of about $13000…and back to California I will go.  Running back just as quickly and firmly as I can.

My sentencing is next Monday, the 24th…I really don’t expect any surprises.

So that leaves but one question.  Cui bono? To whose benefit?  I’ve thought it through and the only ones who have benefited from this misadventure are the narco-terrorists South of the border.  So to the police, to the magistrate, to the judge, to the entire criminal justice corporate complex, congratulations…the narco-terrorists appreciate you.

Here is the Asylum Street Spankers, Winning the War on Drugs:

There were a few groups working on porting Android to the Touchpad, but of course there was never any question about who would make it happen…Team CM.  A while back (a week or two) CM released their first release for the Touchpad, an alpha version of Gingerbread (Honeycomb is not opensource so it is off limits to the hacking community [bad google]).  My first instinct was to wait for the beta release, but the limits of WebOS became too much to bear and I decided to give it a shot.  First I had to make sure it was doable from Linux and thanks to HPs embracing of the mod community I soon confirmed that it was in fact doable.  I found some easy to follow instructions and set to work.  In less than an hour I had the Touchpad booted into Android complete with a functioning Android Market.

Two out of the three games that I’ve tried worked flawlessly and I’ve only had one other app not work (this of the 25 or so that I’ve installed).  My favorite Android keyboard is Swiftkey X, but they have a separate version for tablets and it is $5, a bit much for a utility in my opinion (I missed it being on sale at Amazon for $1.99), so after a bit of hunting I found a great alternative in Thumb Keyboard 4, it is $2.53 in the Android Market, I got a free copy some time back from Amazon.  It is amazingly customizable and quite serviceable.

The CM team had lots of caveats when they released this, it is called an Alpha release and is clearly labeled the “low expectations” release.  With that said, I am amazed how nice it is.  I have had a few app crashes but never the OS itself.  It is fast, faster than WebOS, and it supports most of the hardware contained in the Touchpad (everything that I use is supported).  The two biggest gotchas that I have noted is that wireless has to be cycled off and on to get it to connect after sleep and energy consumption leaves a lot to be desired.  The first issue I’ve read has already been fixed for the next release and the second is actively being worked on.  So, once again, a big public kudos to the CM Team.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.

The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted. (emphasis added)

Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen, was targeted for assassination after being placed on a secret presidential kill or capture list.  This is clearly unconstitutional (see above).  President Obama, a former constitutional scholar, is clearly aware that his actions are outside constitutional bounds.

The Atlantic has an article up today discussing this issue.

I have created a petition at whitehouse.gov demanding that the Obama regime release the Justice Department memo authorizing the extra-judicial killing of al-Awlaki, I would appreciate you taking the time to sign the petition.

The left is quiet.  They are even apologetic, after all Anwar al-Awlaki was a “terrorist”, he deserved it they say.  Terrorist by whose testimony?  All we have to go on is the president’s word…and that would be summarily rejected as hearsay, not admissible.  Do we have any other evidence?  To my knowledge we don’t.  Let’s for a moment believe this inadmissible evidence, does that give the president the power to supersede the 5th Amendment and execute him without resort to judge, jury, due process, etc…? No, No, and NO!

The only (albeit muted) outcry that I have heard has been from the right.  Ron Paul stated that it may be an impeachable offense (if it isn’t, then what would be?) and was a sign of our slipping toward tyranny.

First they murdered Randy Weaver’s family, but I didn’t speak up because they tied him to a white supremacist; then they massacred scores at a compound in Waco, but I didn’t speak up because I’m not a religious fanatic; then they murdered al-Awlaki, but I didn’t speak up because they claimed he was a terrorist; then they came for me…

I thought Obama would lead us back from the precipice that GW left us teetering on, instead he pushes us over.

Here are a couple of articles questioning the President’s powers to execute US citizens:

The Shipler Report posits Crime or War,

and Salon has a nice write up (watch the video at Salon).

And here is Greenwald being interviewed on the Sam Seder show.

I don’t remember how I first heard it, but in the early Summer of 2009 I learned that the Missouri River was open water from Sioux City Iowa to its confluence with the Mississippi at St. Louis Missouri.  It had long been a fantasy to float a raft down the Mississippi, surely the Missouri could serve as well.  So I started making plans.  I had already scheduled a month off work for the Fall to go to Maine to see the Fall color change, so it was fairly easy to move things forward a couple of weeks and start planning to raft the Missouri instead.
As I started researching and hunting for a used raft, it slowly dawned on me that a raft would not do the trick, I needed a canoe or a small aluminum boat.  I started telling friends and family of my plans, some were incredulous, some were skeptical, and some were downright impressed.  A couple of months before the trip, I started getting a little scared, I thought maybe I should make other vacation plans, plans that were less extreme.  So I started getting maps of other areas and contemplating doing something other than throwing myself to the fates of a river.  But it was too late for that, too many people expected me to follow through, people were asking about my trip wondering if I was getting ready.  Not having the heart to tell them that I had chickened out, I hurriedly bought a canoe, thus locking myself into the trip.
While I did rush into buying a canoe, this does not mean that I did not research my purchase.  I ended up with a mid-range plastic canoe, a Mad River Adventure 14, a general purpose multi-use canoe.
I and a house mate took the canoe up to San Pablo Reservoir to test it out.  We enjoyed paddling around the reservoir, the canoe was stable and fairly easy to paddle and control.  After a few hours the wind came up and the water became choppy, we ended up tipping into the cold water.  With the wind and waves we were unable to right it or push it to shore.  We treaded water until the police came to rescue us.  Not a very noble beginning to an adventure.  But the police and rescue were very kind, while they warmed me up they also dragged my canoe to shore, loaded it on the van and tied it down.
With this mis-adventure in mind, I had to rethink things.  As I researched adding flotation to the canoe, I became aware of outriggers.  Basically an aluminum arm that sticks out each side of the canoe with a piece of styrofoam on it, this prevents the canoe from tipping.  Keeping the canoe upright was an even better idea than making it float better after being tipped.
I never really got a chance to acclimate Smokey to the canoe before it was time to head for the river.  We loaded the canoe on top of the van and drove like mad men (and dogs) to Missouri, spent a long holiday weekend with family, then it was the moment we had been building to.  Dad drove us up to Craig Missouri, where we entered the water at H.F. Thurneau access.  I unloaded the canoe, loaded it up, and tied the various ropes and gear to it.  Taking a deep breath, I grabbed Smokey up and threw her in the canoe and shoved off.  Like it or not, we were now committed to the river.

The first day on the river was a struggle, we only made 13 miles. I had heard horror stories of the barge traffic on the river. Knowing that the barges used the main channel on the outside of the curves, I cut the curves on the inside to avoid them. I was paddling the shortest distance from point A to point B, from inside curve to inside curve, ignoring the current. I paddled steadily for six hours and ended the day exhausted. I was wondering what I had gotten myself into, was the entire trip to be such a struggle? Smokey did not relax that first day, she stood stiff with her head between my knees. That first night we found a nice campsite along the river. There was quite a bit of mud, but I pitched camp and fell asleep early. During the night, it rained…and rained. Even though I was awake long before sunup, we stayed in the tent, and waited for the rain to quit. About 8 AM the rain slowed to a drizzle and we got up, made coffee and packed up camp. I loaded everything into the canoe, and when I tossed Smokey in, she scrambled around, spilling my coffee and leading to a caffeine free start to the day.
I took up where I had left off the previous day, paddling steadily, ignoring the flow of the river and working much harder than was necessary. Around 10 AM we were hailed by two fishermen in a bass boat. They pulled up wondering where we were going, impressed with our story, they gave me a coke and waved as they pushed away. The soda did much to brighten my spirits and I bit deep as I paddled, enjoying the trip for the first time. Around noon the sun came out briefly so I stopped along the bank and spread my gear out to dry. I made another cup of coffee before loading the canoe and pushing off for points downstream. It was while drinking this cup of coffee (and after having a few puffs), that I noticed that the current moved pretty quickly around the outside of the curves. So I let myself drift around the bends then I would paddle across the river and do it again. Smokey also ventured out from between my feet and climbed into the middle seat where she set stiffly and stared at me. We made 27 miles that day and ended the day refreshed and on a high note. We camped that night on the Missouri side of the river and a prettier campsite is rarely found.

Awoke the next morning to fog and a light drizzle. The river was calm and all was quiet. The good feelings of the previous evening carried over to the morning and I actually enjoyed the drizzle. Since all was wet, we simply tossed everything into the canoe wet, made coffee and set off. the morning was spent drifting through the fog and drizzle and may have been the high point of the trip. Around 11 we stopped to hang the tent and sleeping bag out to dry while we made coffee. A couple of boats stopped by while waiting for the tent to dry, it was here that I noticed that some people were curious about where we were coming from and some were interested in where we were going, but rarely was anyone interested in both. While we were taking our break I took the opportunity to redistribute the weight in the canoe. I moved weight forward, while it made the canoe more sluggish and harder to maneuver, it also brought the front down and made the wind less of a big deal to deal with.
Shortly after our mid morning stop we sighted our first barge. I noticed it far downstream and immediately moved to the off side of the river. I waited but the tug and barge appeared stopped. After a while I decided to cross the river and bypass the barge as much as possible. When I got about a third of the way across, I heard the tug power up and could see it churning water at the stern. I paddled back to shore and got out of the canoe allowing Smokey to nose around on shore. I noted that it was a small work barge and a Coast Guard tug as the pilot gave a blast on his horn and waved as they passed. After they had passed and I noted no waves of any note I told Smokey to jump in and we shoved off to paddle to the other side. The water was only slightly choppy until near the middle when the waves became two feet and were rolling in from two different directions. The canoe was leaning heavily as it rolled the waves, the outriggers were extended three feet on each side and while the canoe would not flip, we had it leaning and dropping at steep angles. I was digging deep with the paddles trying to keep the nose of the canoe where the waves were crashing together while moving downstream. As I went to dig with the paddle to bring the canoe around to meet the waves, the canoe rose and the paddle caught nothing but air. I nearly tumbled out of the canoe as the wave rolled through. After reassuming my seat the worst of the waves were over and another five or ten minutes found us continuing on our way. Smokey ventured out towards the front of the canoe, finally making herself comfortable.

Latter that day we passed through the city of St. Joseph. The river was narrow and fairly fast, there were also a couple of bridges to navigate. As we made our way through St. Joseph there were also a few work barges moving empty barges back and forth across the river. It was at this time that I realized I did not want to float through Kansas City, so I called Mike to see if he would pick me up in Atchison and drive me to the other side of KC. He agreed. We learned to avoid the mud when we stopped that night and found a rocky bank to tie up to and make camp.
With the rain and fog over, and with only 20 miles to get to Atchison, I decided to stay late in camp and let things dry. At 11, stuff was still wet so I tossed it into the canoe and headed downstream. We went slow, with only 15 miles to accomplish that day. We didn’t see many people along the river that day and made an early camp 6 miles above Atchison. We enjoyed a long evening and built a fire to help pass the time.
Before the trip, I had done research on where we would camp each night; this seemed important. Missouri has numerous conservation areas along the river to serve as flood mediators and I had carefully mapped each one using the Missouri DNR website. Once I was actually on the river I found that all of that work had been for naught, most of the river bank was empty of human occupation and the entire thing was open to camping. It was a very small percentage of the river banks that were actually occupied and we could pull up and camp anywhere that looked like it might be flat enough to set up the tent. I found that this was representative of my preparations, I had researched and prepared for things that in the end did not pan out to be real problems. Not knowing what the true problems would be on the river, I was prepared for all of the real problems and a goodly number of things that did not turn out to be problems at all.
Up early the following morning we floated halfway to Atchison and stopped to let things dry out and drink more coffee. We made it to Atchison shortly after 11 and tied up at a dock near downtown at Liberty park. The locals were very friendly and let me use their phone as Verizon did not have coverage. I also heard tales of Lewis and Clark’s time in the area, there was much local pride in that they had spent Independence day near this area and had stayed a few days to repair their gear and clean their guns. Mike arrived and we loaded the canoe back onto the van for the trip back to Columbia where we were going to spend the rest of the weekend. I found Atchison to be a friendly and inviting town.

When the weekend had passed, Dad drove me and the Smokester over to Sibley Missouri and dropped us back off at the river to continue our journey. The river had started to change below St. Joseph, below KC the changes were even more pronounced. Less curves meant more paddling, there were also dikes on the outside of the curves meaning I had to back paddle as I made each one to keep from being pushed over. In all the river was wider, straighter, and slower with the current broken around the edges by numerous dikes. We set off and made 20 miles that first half day, we saw no one on the river. It was the hottest day of the trip so far and I found if I set the tent up in the woods off the river that the dew was greatly reduced and our mid day dry out period could be lessened, but not eliminated.
One of the problems that I had foreseen was mosquitoes. I was expecting them to be out in droves, I was fearful that Smokey (who has no experience with mosquitoes) would be tormented by the blood suckers. To combat this I had bought a couple of bottles of military grade DEET. I expected the bugs to be a constant companion, but in the end they were not a problem. On the river itself, there were no mosquitoes. In retrospect I suppose that the combination of open water and wind kept them well outside the river banks. It was only when I set up camp above the banks in the woods that they were a problem, but even here they were not as bad as I had feared. So it became a trade off, camp on the river and wake to everything soaking wet from the dew, or camp amongst the trees and deal with the mosquitoes.
The next day was more of the same, hot and a current that demanded constant paddling. For a second day in a row we saw no one on the river. Daily a Corp of Engineers tug would push a barge either upstream or down. The tug captain was very kind and would cut his engine and idle past us not creating a huge wake and not disrupting our journey to a great degree. We made 23 miles that day and camped a bit early within view of Waverly.

That night I was awakened about midnight with a piercing headache, I laid there holding my head till I finally was relieved again with sleep about 4 AM. It was 8 before I got out of bed and I still felt head achey and generally run down. I popped a couple of ibuprofen and jumped into the river. I drifted slowly for a few hours while the ibuprofen slowly did their magic. Sometime after our morning break the wind picked up and blew steadily into our face. I don’t know how it did it, but whether we were pushing North, East, or South, the wind was always a head wind. Feeling like crap I paddled desultorily and did my best to make progress downstream. Around 3 the water got choppy, this made for a rough ride and made Smokey nervous making her pace the canoe adding to the steady rise and fall. It took us all day to make 20 miles and it was a relief to find a sandbar to end the day on. After a hearty dinner, I took a couple more ibuprofen and went to bed early.
The next morning I awoke at 4 AM feeling great. I had the canoe ready to push off as soon as it was light enough to feel safe. With the rising sun the wind returned, blowing harder than the previous day. Feeling good, I set the canoe into it and paddled away. After noon the water got choppy, much choppier than the previous day. I had to tack back and forth across the river to make progress, more than once I quit paddling to rest and found myself being pushed back upstream. If I rested too long the canoe would get side ways to the waves and they would sometimes come over the gunnels. So I was interspersing my paddling with periodic bailing of the water accumulating in the canoe. We took a long lunch and got back to it in the afternoon. We paddled until our usual stop time and slowly cruised the bank looking for a flat spot for the tent. The first few that we stopped and checked out were overrun with poison ivy, so we continued on. Shortly before dark we found a spot that wasn’t as flat as I would have like but seemed to be relatively free of poison ivy. Somehow we had made 29 miles that day. It had also been our longest day, in the water before sunup until after sundown. And while it had been a struggle to get down river, I had enjoyed it, it was a good sort of exhaustion that led me to sleep as soon as camp was pitched and dinner was finished.

We awoke to a beautiful day. The wind had died down, the overcast had lifted, the sky was populated with white fluffy clouds which bounded overhead, seemingly as happy with the day as I was. We took a break and just let the river slowly take us downstream toward our destination. We only made 21 miles that day, but we wanted nothing more. We stopped often and played on the banks and just generally enjoyed the break from the winds. This was the most Tom Sawyer like day of our trip, no worries, no hassles, just a serene float. We started running into fishermen again, they were friendly and would hail us wondering where we were going or where we had come from. That night we made camp on the prettiest sandbar that one could hope for pulling ourselves out of the river a good two hours early to enjoy the evening. Smokey was wound up from being cooped up and spent her evening running up and down the bank and rolling in the sand, she was effusive and the joy she radiated was contagious leading to a wonderful time on shore. Some locals came along in their bass boat and we shared some of my herb and some of their Busch Lite and told tall tales as the sun slowly arched its way down the Western sky. They told me of the Asian catfish that would jump out of the water and knock people out of their boats. I must have looked dubious because they loaded me and Smokey up and we criss crossed the river corralling some fish behind a wing dike. As we slowly idled through, catfish started jumping. They were two to two and a half feet long and jumped completely out of the water right next to the boat. I had to admit that my incredulousness was misplaced. We were dropped back off at camp and made a feast to finish off a beautiful day.
That night there was a competing cacophony of owls, cicadas, crickets, whippoorwills, and unidentified birds and insects that, along with the roil of the river, led to a peaceful–if occasionally interrupted–night’s rest. We awoke to a foggy morning with a bright clear sky.
Our plan was then to float 20 miles downstream and meet Mike the morning after in Glasgow so he could paddle with us the last 40 miles. But, as they say: “The best laid plans of mice and men…” When I got to within 12 miles of Glasgow I received an email that an aunt had died and that my ride needed to leave town to go the funeral, they wanted to meet me in Glasgow that afternoon to pull me and Smokey out of the water. This news placed a different perspective on our day, this was it, the final hours of our trip. We drifted, Smokey relaxed, me sort of melancholy and seeking to adjust to the news. The river had really lived up to all expectations. I wanted an adventure and the river supplied one. I wished to get off by myself and let the day to day pressures be left behind and the river responded to my wishes. Overall the trip had been all that I had wished for and then some. Smokey, a normally rambunctious two years old, had been everything one could hope for in a companion, she had been attentive and obedient to a tee.

We got down to Glasgow about 3 and called for our ride. While we waited, I emptied the canoe and carried the gear to the top of the bank. Dad arrived and we loaded up the canoe and carted it back to Columbia.
I got up the next morning and spent a few hours cleaning my gear and scrubbing the Missouri mud off the canoe. I sold the canoe before noon of that day, this brought the trip to an end.

More photos are here.

Note: This essay first appeared on my personal website, I moved it here while condensing and considating.

I bought a used Lenovo X61 Tablet off of Craigslist about a year and a half ago for $550.  It came with an extended warrenty that I never expected to use…but fate…

Sometime back the screen started getting air bubbles near the bottom, they got worse for a while then stopped.  I was going to ignore the problem as the laptop is nearing end-of-life.  Then late in July the laptop quit charging, making it unusable.

So in early August I called up Lenovo to report the two problems and request a warranty repair.  Things went well on the phone and I was promised that someone would call me later that day or early the next day to schedule the repair within the next 48 hours.  I was overjoyed with the response…unfortunately, it was not to be.

Seven weeks later, I still don’t have a laptop…here is what has happened so far:

August 3rd, called Lenovo, spent an hour on the phone explaining that my laptop wouldn’t charge and that the screen was defective.  Was given a repair notice and told that a tech would call me that afternoon or by 1 PM the following day to schedule an onsite repair.
August 16, received both a robo-call and an email from Lenovo explaining a part was delayed and I could expect repair in 5 to 7 days
August 18, received call from local tech stating that one part was in, tech stated the second part would be in in less than a week, we decided to wait for second part to schedule repair.
August 23, received both a robo-call and an email from Lenovo stating that the problem had been escalated
August 25, received an email from Lenovo stating that the part may be available by Sept 16, but no guarantees.
August 25, sent an email to Lenovo voicing my displeasure and asking how to escalate the situation or file a complaint
August 25, received an immediate reply from Lenovo stating that the part had been overnighted to the local tech
September 1, sent another email to Lenovo, stating that a month was long enough to wait for next day service and that if they can’t fix my laptop then they need to replace it….never got a response!
September 2, called Lenovo, forwarded to local service, they state they have been sitting on the part since the 26th, promised me that someone would call before 5 PM to schedule repair.
September 12, received a voicemail from Dxxx the local IBM tech, stated the part would be in the following day and we could schedule repair.
September 14, got back into town and returned Dxxx’s call, he stated that he was off work the next 2 days, he informed me that Sxxx (another tech) would call me right back to schedule repair for the next day.
September 15, Received a call from Sxxx, scheduled repair for Monday 19th at 11.
September 19, Dxxx came out to fix my laptop but broke the video ribbon while replacing the screen.  I sent the laptop with him…if the charging issue is not the mother board I should get it back tomorrow (not holding my breath).

Like I said…ugh!  I wonder what part of next day service Lenovo doesn’t understand.

The remnants of hurrican Lee was blowing into the Smokey Mountains and the weather was promising at least 3 days of continuing rain.  Since it was raining that night, we decided not to camp and ended up sleeping in the truck in Kentucky and finished our drive into the Smokey Mountains early the next morning.  To avoid camping in the rain we got a motel for two nights about 20 miles north of the park, since it was too early to check in we drove into the park to get orientated.  From I-40 South through Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg to the park (about 20 miles) is one long horrendous tourist trap unlike anything I have ever seen at that scale.  And being Labor Day, traffic was stifling.  It took maybe an hour to get to the park, we checked out the visitor center and did a 4 mile wet hike to see Laurel Falls…a beautiful 60 foot falls that was well worth the hike.  We also took a drive through Cades Cove where we saw numerous turkeys and deer as well as many historical sites from early settlement of the area.  There was a 10 mile long traffic jam to get back to our motel and it took 3 hours….not really the reason I go to check in with nature, but what do you do?

The next day we went back to the park and did another 4 mile hike/scramble up to Chimney Top, the rain was letting up and we didn’t match the 3 inches of the previous day.  We also drove a “motor nature trail” where we had an excellent and prolonged bear encounter.  The next morning we checked out of our motel and headed for the Nantahala National Forest to enjoy some down time.  We stopped in the park on our commute and hiked a few miles of the Appalachian Trail.  The rain and clouds allowed us to do a fair amount of hiking in the park as it was cool enough to leave the dogs in the car, but they were really looking forward to camping in the forest where they were anticipating free run.  We had to track down a forest service office so that we could obtain a map, and found we were near some old growth so we camped beside the road.  Broke camp the next morning and went to the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Grove.  If you recall your American literature then you will recall that it was Kilmer who penned the poem Trees.

Due to the beauty of the poem a memorial grove of old growth poplar and hemlock was set aside.  There is a nice two mile trail that encompasses it and it is well worth the hike.  After this we headed up into the Nantahala Mountains where we camped for 3 days in a nice area with a ton of wild flowers, flowing streams, waterfalls, and numerous hiking opportunities.  After we exhausted what this area had to offer we went further south into the Nantahala Mountains and found another piece of paradise upon which to pitch our tents.  The hiking opportunities were not as plentiful but the beauty of it was enough to just enjoy lounging in camp and driving out to take short hikes to waterfalls. All too soon it was time to head for home, we stopped and camped a night in the Pasqah National Forest near the Tennessee border and continued our journey back to Missouri with a stay in a motel in Paducah Kentucky near the Illinois border…finding our way back to Columbia this afternoon.I’ve posted a few pictures here, and if Mike writes something up I’ll edit this post with a link to it.

Edit: Mike did put up a post, but like mine it is skeletal.