Friday, July 3, 2009
Monday, June 1, 2009
Pig whistling
This weekend I went up to Boise for some work and ended up spotting the Taliban.
Oh, wait no, that's just myself, my cuz Brock and our friend the Jew. Good times were had by all.
Oh, wait no, that's just myself, my cuz Brock and our friend the Jew. Good times were had by all.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Alaska
About 2 months ago I got the fantastic opportunity to take a trip to Alaska to do some commercial Halibut fishing with my friend Erik
I met Erik, his wife Cinead and nephew Jeremy in Anchorage after both of our flights to Kodiak were canceled due to weather. We spent a quick (4 hour) night at his mother's house where we left for the airport at 4am the next day. They promptly made their way to the Alaska air desk where they were shuffled off to their respective gates and I made my way to the Era desk where I would slowly find myself spending the rest of the 16 hour day. At hour 16, Erik's sister Jenny graciously picked me up at the airport to allow me to sleep in one of their beds instead of an airport bench.
After a repeat short night and early ride back to ADQ, I made it on the first flight to Kodiak.
Upon arriving to the Kodiak airport I was greeted by Erik and Cinead where we drove to the docks to ready the boat for departure. Upon arriving at the Mythos I met Dave, Erik's dad and owner of the boat.
As we readied the boat, it became astonishing to me the similarities between, "farming the sea" and "farming the land." Gaff's or metal hooks are needed to move the harvest to appropriate locations, numerous hands are needed to run the machinery, close relationships with buyers of the crop are needed and most memorably, repeated trips to the hardware store were necessary to prepare the equipment for the main event, the harvest.
After all of the preparations were complete we set off in the late afternoon. As we left the harbor, Erik and I baited the hundreds of hooks with salted herring. The baiting lasted less than 30minutes for me as I soon became sicker than I can ever remember in my life. The sickness came on slowly, but as I tried to tough it out the nausea just kept on coming. Before I knew it I was chumming the fish over the side of the boat and laying on the deck that had herring guts spread across it. At the time I had no choice but to lay down because I was too dizzy to walk anywhere. Eventually I crawled into the cabin where I fell asleep in my bunk.
The next day brought a solid stomach after a 12 hour snooze. I quickly got into the swing of things, trying to help as much as possible, but more of staying out of the way while the seasoned crew (see Erik, Cinead and Dave) busily secured outgoing lines and organized the boat for catch soon to come.
After letting the lines "soak" for a tide cycle, they were retrieved and the action began. The "leader" line was put into a large hydraulic reel where the line with hooks, and hopefully fish, quickly followed. As the fish came up they were gaffed by Dave and gutted by Cinead and Erik. The process of baiting, letting the lines soak and pulling in the catch continued for the next 3 days.
While waiting for the lines to soak we were able to go ashore and have a look at beaches that rarely see people. While "beach combing" we found the trash from commercial fishing over the past decades, numerous small game, whale baleen, vertebrae, ribs and skulls and Kodiak Bears that roam freely on the beach and have their own trails in the hills.
When the limit of 10,000 lbs of halibut was caught on the 4th day at sea we headed back to the Kodiak harbor to catch my flight. We left the fishing grounds at 8pm on Thursday night and made it to the harbor by 7am where I hopped on my plane at 8 to fly out on jam packed flights without a shower in over a week. Perfect!
Incoming!
I met Erik, his wife Cinead and nephew Jeremy in Anchorage after both of our flights to Kodiak were canceled due to weather. We spent a quick (4 hour) night at his mother's house where we left for the airport at 4am the next day. They promptly made their way to the Alaska air desk where they were shuffled off to their respective gates and I made my way to the Era desk where I would slowly find myself spending the rest of the 16 hour day. At hour 16, Erik's sister Jenny graciously picked me up at the airport to allow me to sleep in one of their beds instead of an airport bench.
After a repeat short night and early ride back to ADQ, I made it on the first flight to Kodiak.
Upon arriving to the Kodiak airport I was greeted by Erik and Cinead where we drove to the docks to ready the boat for departure. Upon arriving at the Mythos I met Dave, Erik's dad and owner of the boat.
As we readied the boat, it became astonishing to me the similarities between, "farming the sea" and "farming the land." Gaff's or metal hooks are needed to move the harvest to appropriate locations, numerous hands are needed to run the machinery, close relationships with buyers of the crop are needed and most memorably, repeated trips to the hardware store were necessary to prepare the equipment for the main event, the harvest.
After all of the preparations were complete we set off in the late afternoon. As we left the harbor, Erik and I baited the hundreds of hooks with salted herring. The baiting lasted less than 30minutes for me as I soon became sicker than I can ever remember in my life. The sickness came on slowly, but as I tried to tough it out the nausea just kept on coming. Before I knew it I was chumming the fish over the side of the boat and laying on the deck that had herring guts spread across it. At the time I had no choice but to lay down because I was too dizzy to walk anywhere. Eventually I crawled into the cabin where I fell asleep in my bunk.
The next day brought a solid stomach after a 12 hour snooze. I quickly got into the swing of things, trying to help as much as possible, but more of staying out of the way while the seasoned crew (see Erik, Cinead and Dave) busily secured outgoing lines and organized the boat for catch soon to come.
After letting the lines "soak" for a tide cycle, they were retrieved and the action began. The "leader" line was put into a large hydraulic reel where the line with hooks, and hopefully fish, quickly followed. As the fish came up they were gaffed by Dave and gutted by Cinead and Erik. The process of baiting, letting the lines soak and pulling in the catch continued for the next 3 days.
While waiting for the lines to soak we were able to go ashore and have a look at beaches that rarely see people. While "beach combing" we found the trash from commercial fishing over the past decades, numerous small game, whale baleen, vertebrae, ribs and skulls and Kodiak Bears that roam freely on the beach and have their own trails in the hills.
When the limit of 10,000 lbs of halibut was caught on the 4th day at sea we headed back to the Kodiak harbor to catch my flight. We left the fishing grounds at 8pm on Thursday night and made it to the harbor by 7am where I hopped on my plane at 8 to fly out on jam packed flights without a shower in over a week. Perfect!
Incoming!
Friday, June 27, 2008
The Fortune Cookie Chronicles
I heard Jennifer Lee on public radio talking about her new book, The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, which delves deep into one of the most American foods of them all, Chinese food. In the interview she debunks many of the myths that currently surround the cuisine, including fortune cookies and general's chicken, among other things. Give it a listen or pick up the book, they're quite entertaining.
-I'm really not smart enough to load an MP3 on this thing, so you'll have to click on the public radio link
-I'm really not smart enough to load an MP3 on this thing, so you'll have to click on the public radio link
Saturday, June 21, 2008
I'm a nerd
I'm soo glad I bought shares at $26, thanks Jerry.
Have a look at the new pre-popualted resignation letter.
Thanks techcrunch.
Have a look at the new pre-popualted resignation letter.
Thanks techcrunch.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
My new love
Last night I accidentally stumbled upon a new steepandcheap style web site from Backcountry.com called chainlove. It features...take a wild guess... cycling gear!
I'm guessing chainlove has been added to the backcountry family because of their recent addition of bike gear to the main website. Strong work guys. We now have SAC, Whiskey and Chainlove to keep us refreshing the browser throughout the day.
Edit: The comical yet stern warning at the end of the mission page.
I'm guessing chainlove has been added to the backcountry family because of their recent addition of bike gear to the main website. Strong work guys. We now have SAC, Whiskey and Chainlove to keep us refreshing the browser throughout the day.
Edit: The comical yet stern warning at the end of the mission page.
Abusers Beware:
Those who come falsely to Chainlove seeking monetary gain, take heed: our agents are many and our reach is long.
- You can buy up to three (3) of any one product.
- No resale. Anywhere.
Abuse will result in swift punishment of a most merciless nature.
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