ammon.azza.org

Click on any photo for a larger version. More photos available at http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=399097. It may take a few days for everyone to attach their photos to that page, so be patient.

Wow! What a day! Got included on a group off summitpost making an ascent of Lone Peak. The group included "Grizz" (mtn_rnr on summitpost) who was making his 100th ascent of the mountain. I was making my second... Gotta start somewhere though!

Picture this: You are looking in a vending machine and see something you want. But that something is placed in a way that when the wire screws turn, it may or may not vend. So, you take some time to ponder it, work it over in your head. Will it vend or not?

If you're like me, before you know it, it is no longer about the hostess treat. You have studied out the situation, came up with a hypothesis on how the tasty treat would act when the money has been tendered and the buttons pressed. Suddenly it is worth a dollar just to test your hypothesis and satisfy your curiosity.

If you guessed the item would vend and it does, the food is a bonus. A secondary objective.

If you guessed it wouldn't vend and it does, you get a consolation prize.

If you guessed it wouldn't vend and it doesn't, you were at least right.

If you guessed it would vend and it doesn't... well... Then you lose. But even then, you can further study it and satisfy more of your curiosity.

No matter what, you win to some degree.

Then you realize you left your wallet on your desk. Oh well, maybe next time.

Sorry, but it's true...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24200402/

And how am I going to react? Well, I am reminded of a time when I was a young child. We had a box of sweetener in our kitchen that contained Sodium Saccharin. On the box there was a warning that Sodium Saccarin was known to the state of California to cause cancer. So what did we children do? We ate it. Handfuls. So far, the cancer rate of me and my brothers is 0% (unless someone is hiding something?). So basically what I am going to do is... hold on, I'm thirsty. Ahhhhh... that's some good water from my Nalgene bottle.

Where was I? Oh yes, I am going to go stock up on a bunch of Nalgene bottles before they vanish off the shelves. I happen to like them. They are sturdy, and the water comes out nice and tasty. Also they are made in America, which is hard to come by.

Am I worried? No. Everything will kill you. Or at least, the panicking masses would want you to believe that. Why? I don't know. Maybe they're bored. As for me, I will not fret my life away worried that the bottle I'm drinking out of will kill me because a news report kinda said it would.

Citing multiple studies in the United States, Europe and Japan, the chemicals industry maintains that polycarbonate bottles contain little BPA and leach traces considered too low to harm humans.

But critics point to an influx of animal studies linking low doses to a wide variety of ailments — from breast and prostate cancer, obesity and hyperactivity, to miscarriages and other reproductive failures.

Wow! That is some strong language! That's like me citing a bunch of evidence that the earth is round and then you say, "uh uh, the birds told me so". Okay, fine, that's a bad example. I think I've made my point though. I will not die of cancer that is given to me by my water bottle. In fact, I intend on dying by flying an A-wing fighter into the bridge of a super-star destroyer... That's just me though.

Since I made my parking sign, only once or twice have people parked in my spot. And that was only a few days after it was posted. But I have received 2 picture messages so far from people, either trying to be funny, or trying to tick me off:


The first one was mildly humorous I guess. I responded with a picture of me glaring back in anger. The second time.. It had been done. I was over it. If they were trying to tick me off, they failed. I am a practical person. You may park there all you want.. as long as you're not there when I get there.

I was a bit concerned that the whole situation would be exacerbated by the fact that a coalition of residents on the street I live dog piled on us for breaking HOA regulations and... parking on the street...? What? I'll keep things simple on here, but we'll just say that we were given an ultimatum that we can't park on the street any more (at all.. ever.. including guests), and there would be litigation if we didn't co-operate. I've heard more recently that there is no such HOA regulation, making this whole thing even more ridiculous.

It is common sense that threatening a neighbor is bound to alienate them. I don't know what else one would expect. What they might not know is that when that neighbor is me, they can expect retribution in the form of extreme sarcasm. Since I already have practice making signs, I thought I would do the street a favor and post signs up and down the road, you know, just to make sure no one breaks the non-existent HOA regulation.


But since there is no regulation anyway, I'll probably do the easier sarcastic retribution and just park on the street. All of the cars at the house. Probably in poor taste as well.. you know, closer to the middle of the road than the edge. Anywho, I've said my piece.