The Hiking Writer

Going to drag my Mom down to the Smokies this weekend with my sister as well. Should be fun.

Definitely going to stop at Klingmans Dome for my Mom and the hike for the weekend is hopefully the Ramsay Cascades. Look for pictures next week.

I just got the best news I've heard for almost a year.

And it's a little silly actually.

My desk is in a cube farm inside a large warehouse where very large industrial destop publishing style printers are. The cube farm has no roof and the ambient noise is pretty loud. Normal conversation can be hard to understand without speaking a little louder than normal. On top of this, I have the desk next to the entrance of the cube farm (6 desks total) and everyone that enters to see someone basically disturbs me in some fashion. It is a bad distraction for me because I've never had a desk in a cube, I've always had offices with doors where I could get some peace and quiet and get work done.

So my "boss" today tells me I'm moving to another building where the cubes have actual doors and they are enclosed in a separate office space where it is quiet.

The sad part is that I've been asking since I started this job to move there, since there has been an empty cube in that space for almost a year.

But this little news just seriously made my year. It's the little things in life I guess.

mostly dark

RIP George Carlin, one funny funny man.

Here's one of my favorite Carlin bits about the 10 Commandments.

Very cool and historic news.

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/mars-phoenix-tw.html

Incredible. Tiger wins another major in dramatic fashion.

I love the US Open and the extra round playoff. Hats off to Rocco Mediate.

I know the superlatives have pretty much run out on how good Tiger Woods is, but today, on the back nine of Torrey Pines at the US Open, Tiger added to his pantheon of unbelievable shots by 3.

He made 2 eagles and a chip in on the final 6 holes and is now going to start Sunday as the leader of the US open.  And Tiger doesn't lose from the front.

And to add to the legend, he's favoring his left knee which he had surgery on about 8 weeks ago.

Just ridiculous to see someone so perfect in a sport.

I cried a little today with my mom at the news that Tim Russert had a fatal heart attack. I can't remember the last time the death of a public personality has effected me more.

Russert was so genuine as an on air personality that he truly felt like a family member. I'm still a little too bummed out to talk about it, but journalism lost a great soul today. He'll be missed terribly.

I can't help it.

I hate Kobe. Go Celts.

We all have the regret.

The one that got away, the lost love. Why didn't I....

Aw hell, down that road lies madness. And yet, I still do it. Almost every day.

The first love is the worst if it doesn't work out. Mine was Alicia. I've spent the better part of 25 years comparing and contrasting all of my relationships to her. I miss her. In fact, I don't even know if she is alive.

After we broke up, she married less than 2 years later. I was just a boy still, barely 19. And now I'm 44 and I'm still just a kid in my head. I hope she's very happy.

There have only been 4 other great loves in my life since.

I'm not going to mention any names further, but they're all important and I hope they don't think badly of me.

Why am I in this romantic funk? I'm not sure.

But I miss all of them to a certain degree.

Better to have loved and lost as they say.

Passing the gas station this morning, I noticed that gasoline had dropped a penny overnight from 3.99 to 3.98 at the Thorton's gas station I normally use to fill up my car. The media tells me I should look forward to the end of Summer when gasoline will eclipse $5.00 a gallon and approach $6.00. Well thank you mass panic media.

Seriously, whatever is causing this bubble in gas prices, whether it's speculation, or lack of new refining infrastructure or simply supply and demand, I can honestly say there has been one decent outcome.

The SUV is dead.

Sure, there will still be those that purchase SUVs, but increasingly, thanks to the ridiculous cost of gasoline and the crappy gas mileage SUVs get, we'll gradually see SUVs disappearing from our roadways and appearing en masse in used car parking lots. In less than a month, SUV values have dropped exponentially. Even relatively new suburban assault vehicles have lost half of their trade in value, much to the chagrin of their owners. In the not too distant future, SUVs will be the vehicle of choice for those that can't afford a fuel efficient automobile.

Truly, the worm has turned. The once proud owner of the luxury land yacht has become a green pariah.

Today, all of the major American automotive companies have announced that they will drastically reduce SUV production between now and 2010.

Personally, I'm going to miss all of the soccer moms in the ditches when the first snow comes.

But that's just a personal quirk.