Mike's Blog

Crowder's Mountain

2009-07-04T16:49:00.006-04:00

Happy Independence Day.

Yesterday was a beautiful clear day with temperatures in the mid 80s. Since the weather was perfect and I don't work Fridays during the summer, Maegan and I went out to hike Crowder's Mountain.

A few weeks ago I took Maegan and a friend of hers to hike nearby Nanny's Mountain in South Carolina. I knew going in that it wasn't a real mountain but just of a large hill, but several different websites claimed that it "offers unique views of Lake Wylie's shoreline, Charlotte's skyscrapers and neighboring peaks", which is the only reason we decided to hike it. I am here to say that those claims are 100% false. There's a clearing at the summit but it's surrounded by tall thick forest on all sides so there are absolutely no views of anything at all. It was a descent short nature hike but we were completely disappointed by the B.S. claims. Don't bother visiting Nanny's Mountain for anything more than a leisurely walk.

So with Nanny's Mountain being a complete disappointment last month, we decided to hike Crowder's Mountain where we knew there were spectacular views from the summit. Crowder's Mountain is the nearest real mountain to Charlotte, a 40 mile drive from our house.

This was by far our longest hike ever - over five miles. But five miles of just walking would be easy. Regardless of the length, this was also by far the most difficult hike we'd ever done (at leat the Rocktop Trail part). Steep, constant inclines on rough, rocky terrain. Often climbing over large, and often jagged, rocks. There were also tons of yellow jackets the whole way and Maegan got stung.

For those familiar with Crowder's Mountain, we started out at the main visitor's center and took Crowder's Trail to the road crossing. After the road, we switched over to Rocktop Trail which was the difficult trail I was describing earlier. Rocktop Trail took us all the way up to the summit overlook where the views were incredible. No disappointments this time. We could see Charlotte 40 miles away.

Check out this panoramic photo I created, covering 170 degrees view (The mountain isn't curved - the left side is looking left and the right side is looking right.)

We took a different way back, taking the Backside Trail down 334 steps (you can only see about 50 of those steps in this photo). When we met back up with the far end of the Crowder's Trail (the trail we began on) it was already three hours after we started hiking, we were exhausted, and we were now only half way through our journey and about to finally turn back. From this point we took the full 2.8 mile Crowder's Trail all the way back (about 1/4 of which we were already on before before crossing the road). This trail was more typical of what we were used to with ups and downs but no steep dangerous climbing, but after so much hiking already we were just wiped out.

Wheelbarrow Fail

2009-06-30T23:25:00.012-04:00

This is a two part "Fail" story; Once on me, the other (and better) Fail was by True Temper.

After work today I ran out to The Home Depot to buy a wheelbarrow. Only I didn't know that until I got there because I went to the store looking for a "wheel barrel". For the past 36 years I've been calling this familiar everyday object a wheel barrel, which is apparently incorrect according to every label at The Home Depot. How in the world did I not know this before? I'm more worried about this late discovery than embarrassed (otherwise I wouldn't have blogged about it) because now I'm paranoid about how many other stupidly-easy things I assume I know but may really not.

Anyway, now that I got my new wheelbarrow home I had to assemble the parts myself. This was generally pretty easy until I got to the last step when I had to attach the wheel to the rest of the assembly with four bolts and four nuts. Below is a photo of the parts that came in my factory sealed True Temper Wheelbarrow kit. Notice something wrong here?

True Temper gave me four nuts to fasten three bolts... and one thin nail-like screw. WTF? Wheelbarrow Fail! And back to The Home Depot I went.

Photos from Sunset Beach

2009-06-28T23:08:00.005-04:00

Here are just some of the many photos we took with our camera from our trip to Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Here's the direct link to the album and below is an embedded slide show.

P.S. I'll post about our adventures soon. (But I'm going to post-date the stories to the correct dates for when we were there)

Dark Skyward

2009-06-28T11:17:00.004-04:00

Dark Skyward
a poem by Maegan Sussman

In eternal vast night
A lonely blue orb
Sits high on a throne of starred thread
Large chiseled marble stone lies buried deep in its dusty core
Giving light to those with none
On its current portion of our planet
And as millions gaze skyward
At nature's great work
But the humble old folk just stare out to the distant lands of his world
With not a word to say
And stayed that way 'til red dusk submerged his shoulders

Sunset Beach 2009: Day 4

2009-06-27T23:17:00.002-04:00

Today was a short day as we had to check out by 10:00am. We spent a lot of time packing up but we still found the time to take another bike ride (as we had to return the rentals anyway). Before leaving the coast, most of the people staying in the house met for lunch a few miles away in Ocean Isle Beach. Then it was four hours back to Charlotte.

The end.

Sunset Beach 2009: Day 3

2009-06-26T22:37:00.000-04:00

Today we rented rented three bikes and went for a ride. Darah rode in a seat behind me a la Rerun van Pelt from Peanuts. We rode all the way down to the other and of the island and back again. We would have rode right on the beach but Darah fell asleep so we just wanted to get her back to nap.

Late afternoon was our "team's" turn to prepare for dinner. My main job was just to keep Darah (now wide awake and active) away from the kitchen. We (mostly Patty, Lore, and Ian) prepared a Low Country Cookout for 29 people; shrimp boiled with sausage, red potatos, corn, and other vegetables. Mmmm.

At sunset Patty, Maegan, Darah and I went out on our bikes again, this time on the beach right along - and often in - the Atlantic Ocean. Carolina beaches aren't anything like the beaches in New York or Florida. There's very little slope at all so the difference between high and low tide is several hundred yards. When the tide is out, the sand is fine and compacted so it was very smooth and easy to ride on.

When we got back to the house, a large group of the others were heading out "ghost crabbing" so Maegan and I quickly joined them. Ghost crabs are all over the beach at night and it is popular for people go out with flashlights and nets to catch them. Once they're spotted they run very fast so they're pretty difficult to catch. Maegan caught several, including a few big ones. I don't know what other people normally do but we immediately released every crab we temporarily caught.

Sunset Beach 2009: Day 2

2009-06-25T23:20:00.002-04:00

Damn tide.

After lunch today, Maegan and I took kayaks out with the goal of reaching a distant island in the middle of the marsh. We traveled pretty far and made our way past the other side of the island, but it wasn't possible for us to reach the island itself.

We started to head back but found it excruciatingly difficult as the "rivers" of the estuary we were navigating now had a strong current flowing against us the whole way. Paddling as hard as we could we were barely progressing, and if we stopped we would float backwards. A couple of times we intentionally beached ourselves on a mucky silt island in the middle of the pathway, just to stop and take a needed rest.

This stuff is like goopy quick sand; one step is soft and you sink in an inch or two, the next step you suddenly sink a foot or two and count yourself lucky that your water-shoe somehow stayed on. Anyway, these silt islands appearing along the way where they hadn't been before was a sign that we needed to hurry because the tide was getting very low very fast.

Possibly up to a mile away from the house, we had to paddle incredibly hard, not only because of the current working against us but because the water levels were dropping fast. At first our oars kept hitting the ground and occasionally our kayaks would scrape the bottom too. Soon we began hitting patches where we just couldn't navigate the boat any further and we had to jump out and walk in the marsh, pulling the kayaks behind us. With crabs everywhere, I just didn't want to step on one and have it pinch me. The more time went by the more often we would have to walk the kayaks upstream, which to be honest was actually easier than padding against the current. At some points there was no water and we were literally dragging the kayaks over the exposed marsh bed.

We eventually made it back nearly two hours after we went out, completely exhausted from paddling miles upstream against the current and from trudging through soft muck on foot. Kayaking is still lots of fun but next time I go out it will be at high tide only, when there's not only plenty of water depth but also when the current isn't flowing in or out.

Later we all went out to eat at a seafood restaurant, followed by tons of nice family photos taken in the light of the sun setting over the marsh. At night some of us drove the children to the mainland to play miniature golf.

Sunset Beach 2009: Day 1

2009-06-24T22:30:00.000-04:00

Every year my in-laws rent a house right on the Atlantic shore at Sunset Beach, North Carolina. Maegan has gone with them the past several years and she joined them again this past Saturday. Today (Wednesday) Patty, Darah, and I left to join them. After living in North Carolina for the past 11 years, this is the first time I've ever been to my home state's coast (although I've been to the South Carolina coast before).

It took four hours to get to Sunset Beach from Charlotte, through tiny towns I've never heard of like One Hundred, Elmore, and Alma. We got to Sunset Beach at 1:00pm but sat in our car an extra 15 minutes to cross the Sunset Beach Bridge. The Sunset Beach Bridge is pretty fascinating. It is the only pontoon (floating) vehicle drawbridge currently in operation on the east coast. The center of the bridge floats up and down with the tide; sometimes higher than the roadway, sometimes lower than the roadway. When a boat needs to pass by on the intercoastal waterway, the middle section disconnects and floats on a pivot to one side by ropes and pulleys.

With our arrival it made twenty nine people in this huge four floor house. Twenty adults and teens, and nine pre-teen children (seven other than Maegan and Darah). We know most of them because most are relatives of my brother-in-law (Patty's sister's husband's family). For most this has been an annual tradition for many years. We were the only first-timers.

The huge house we collectively rented for the week is literally the southern-most house in all of North Carolina, with the dunes and the Atlantic Ocean to our southeast and estuary wetlands and a private dock directly to our southwest. At night we could see the glow of North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in the distance.

It seems as though I can't truly escape work on vacation because as soon as we walked in I saw a copy of today's Charlotte Observer (don't know how it got all the way over here) already opened up to an article on the possible elimination of my place of employment, but that's another story for another post.

Soon after arriving I took Maegan and Darah down to the ocean. Maegan went out boogie boarding which looks like a lot of fun but I had to stay in with Darah. She had a blast playing in the sand as her uncle Ian and cousin Matthew built sand castles. Periodically I'd take Darah down to the water and let the waves splash against her. She loved that.

After the beach we headed back to the house and swam a while in the pool. Later, all the families gathered for a nice home-cooked meal on the back patio. Each night (except tomorrow night) "teams" of family members take turns cooking meals for everybody. Tonight we had steak and shrimp shish kabobs.

Then after dinner I did something else new, I took a kayak off the side dock and went kayaking around the marshland. Maegan joined me soon after and we wend exploring through the reeds as the sun was setting. We played some billiards on the third floor later at night.

And that was day number one.

Darah Writes To Granma

2009-06-22T22:27:00.006-04:00

Here's a short video of Darah gluing sparkles on a card to Granma.

Darah Makes a Card for Granma from Mike Sussman on Vimeo.

What Is A Browser?

2009-06-17T21:06:00.003-04:00

This post is for one regular visitor but I won't say who.

Hey _ _ _, you're not alone. Less than 8% of random people know what a browser is. Here's the post on the "Google Operating System" blog. Below is some video that you'll also find in that post.

Maegan's Elementary School Graduation

2009-06-08T20:54:00.003-04:00

Maegan had her graduation ceremony from elementary school today. This August she'll begin middle school! At the ceremony Maegan composed and delivered a "Tribute to Teachers". Here's some video I took (sorry, no tripod), including all of her 2 minute speech.

Maegan's Elementary School Graduation from Mike Sussman on Vimeo.

Maegan's Class Trip to Charleston

2009-06-08T20:15:00.005-04:00

This week Maegan went on a 5th grade, end-of-the-year, overnight field trip to Charleston, South Carolina.

On the first day Maegan and her class visited the South Carolina Aquarium, Charleston City Market (built in 1841), and Fort Moultrie. She was supposed to go on a night time ghost tour too but heavy rains ruined those plans.

On the second day she went to Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum where she got to tour the USS Yorktown (a WWII aircraft carrier) and the USS Clamagore (a WWII submarine). After that she and her class took a ferry tour of historic Charleston Harbor, passing by Fort Sumter (which she got to tour on a previous family trip to Charleston).

Maegan had a blast on her class trip. She didn't have a camera but if we get any photos from her friends who did I'll post them.

My School

2009-05-29T21:02:00.003-04:00

If I'm ever in the Los Angeles area (Downey, California), I'm taking my photo in front of this school.

Go Pioneers!

Nurse Patty

2009-05-18T00:07:00.000-04:00

Patty is going back to school. She was recently accepted into the Pre-Nursing program at Carolinas College of Health Sciences. She'll be studying to be an RN and hopes to one day (eventually) become a nurse anesthesiologist. But first things first. She should graduate within 3 years.

Credit Where Credit Is Due

2009-05-17T18:15:00.003-04:00

Thank you Dave Annable, for giving credit where credit is due.

Dave Annable is a famous Hollywood actor. He's starred in several television shows, including his current role as Justin Walker on ABC's popular Brothers & Sisters. He was also named the 7th Sexiest Man Alive by People Magazine in 2008. But more importantly to me is that Dave Annable went to SUNY Plattsburgh, and in particular that he was extremely involved with Plattsburgh State Television, as was/am I. Dave Annable is among the most famous of PSTV alumni (along with Dawn Fratangelo), which has been the subject of my PSTV Alumni website for the past 15 years (the website will soon to be transferred to a new owner).

Annable started college at SUNY Plattsburgh in 1998 but left college in 2003 before earning his degree. He's obviously done well for himself since then but dropping out of college really wasn't something to be proud of, neither for him nor for graduates who didn't appreciate his high-profile Plattsburgh success story including an asterick for not having graduated. But yesterday Dave Annable returned to SUNY Plattsburgh and finally received his diploma after completing the necessary coursework to fully earn his degree. Congratulations to Dave, and thank you for putting the 'but he never graduated' debate to rest.

But not only did Dave Annalbe finally graduate, but he also gave a commencement address to the Class of 2009 in which he credits Plattsburgh State Television for getting him started in the television industry and for preparing him for his amazing success. As Annable stated in a newspaper article, "PSTV Rocks!"

Watch video of Dave Annable's commencement address.

The Legend of Champy's Cousin Schroony

2009-05-15T23:10:00.005-04:00

I was recently watching this show online from the History Channel, entitled "MonsterQuest: America's Loch Ness Monster" . It's an entire show (6 parts) dedicated to Champ (a.k.a. Champy), the infamous lake monster living in Lake Champlain, which lies between Vermont and northeastern New York. I thought I knew the legend of Champ fairly well but learned plenty from this video. True and interesting facts about Lake Champlain, like how the entire region was once the Champlain Sea; salt water and directly connected to the ocean. Which explains how the Charlotte Whale (that's pronounced shar-LOT, not SHAR-lit) came to be found in Vermont. Many believe Champy is an elusive decendant of a prehistoric plesiosaur. If you ever lived near Lake Champlain like I did in Plattsburgh, I highly recommend watching this online episode.

But watching this video about Champy reminded me that I have yet to tell the story about the time I actually saw Champy myself. Yes, it's true and I'm not joking... but to be honest, what I saw was actually not Champy, but his close cousin, a lake monster that from this moment on I am now naming Schroony. ^{(All rights reserved)}

For several summers in the late 1970s and early 1980s my parents would take my sister and I to upstate New York to where my grandparents rented a vacation cabin along the shore of Schroon Lake. Schroon Lake is 18 miles due west of the southernmost tip of Lake Champlain near Ticonderoga. One of these summer vacations, around 1981, my mother, my aunt, and I took a short drive south of the village to a place where we were able to rent a row boat. We rowed out on to the lake about 100 to 200 yards from shore when we noticed something odd in the water a few hundred feet south of us. My aunt had brought good quality binoculars for birdwatching (a hobby of hers) so we took turns using them to looking at the strange shape on the surface of the lake. At first we weren't sure what it was, but it looked very similar to this infamous Champy photo above, only a bit smaller (like 'only' 10-15 feet long). When we saw it move we realized the object was alive and shortly thereafter we saw it submerge under the water. We quickly turned the row boat around hurried back to shore. The entire encounter was less than 30 seconds. It would be another 9 years before I moved to Plattsburgh and first heard the very familiar-sounding legend of Champy.

I don't know of any official register of Champy sightings so I can't be positive, but this is the only Champy sighting I've ever heard of in Schroon Lake.

Post #400

2009-05-13T21:37:00.002-04:00

This is my 400th blog post.
(It only took me eight years.)

Bobblehead II

2009-05-13T20:53:00.003-04:00

I finally received my bobblehead for winning my fantasy football league last year. It will make a nice match for the fantasy baseball champion bobblehead I already have on my desk at work.

Darah Turns Two

2009-05-06T08:01:00.002-04:00

This weekend Darah celebrated her 2nd birthday. Happy birthday Darah. We didn't do much. We went to IHOP in the morning, then Darah helped bake her own birthday cake in the afternoon. Here's a mini-slideshow:

Then today, completely unrelated to her birthday, Darah got her first professional haircut.
She wasn't happy.

Mr. South

2009-04-30T08:14:00.002-04:00

Last Saturday night I met a guy at a grill out. This guy was 100% Carolinian. He was born in Asheville, has lived in Charlotte most of his life. He had as thick a southern accent as I've ever heard inside the Charlotte-metro area. We talked for a couple of hours as part of a larger group on various topics ranging from the Panthers draft, to different types of bar-be-que, to the differences between New York and North Carolina, to the best areas of the city to live. The latter two subjects were specifically about giving advice to a friend of mine from New York who will be moving to Charlotte this summer. When it was time for this guy to leave he turned to my friend from New York and gave him this parting advice in reference to me:

"Listen to this man. He's a true southerner." [then turns to me] "It's been an honor talking with a native who really knows his North Carolina."

So a life-long tar heel with a thick southern accent called me a true southerner, and a native who really knows my North Carolina. Wow, that was an epiphany.

Uniform Fail

2009-04-19T23:03:00.003-04:00

Smebdy in Washingtn needs t buy a dictinary!

In case anybody missed it. The Washington Nationals wore uniforms this Friday night with their own team name spelled wrong!

h/t D.C. Sports Blog

I Love Charlotte

2009-04-16T21:33:00.004-04:00

Well yes I do, but "I Love Charlotte" is the name of a music video posted on YouTube by a local Charlotte native going by the name DJcomplete. The song is just a novelty which mostly glamorizes getting drunk around the Queen City, but I did enjoy being able to name exactly where they were in every shot around Charlotte.

h/t CLT Blog

P.S. The Epicenter opened in Uptown about a year ago and I haven't been there yet. Hence, I've never heard of Suite or Whiskey River before. And after 11 years here, I've never heard North Carolina referred to as "North Cack", nor Gastonia as "The Gas House", but friends claim they're well known terms.

Florida 2009

2009-04-14T07:18:00.002-04:00

Last week we were on vacation in Florida visiting my mom. Hopefully I'll find the time soon to add some stories to this post, but in the mean time here are some photos from our trip.

13 Years Was A Good Run

2009-04-02T21:19:00.002-04:00

I've been thinking about this for a while, but tonight I made it official. After 13 years on the internet, I've decided to kill off my oldest and most popular website, PSTValumni.com. Here are some of the highlights for me to write on the website's epitaph:

Won a national website design award in 2003
Led to the founding of the PSTV Fund (maintained by the college)
Despite their refusal to help in any way or even mention the website in publications, SUNY Plattsburgh freely admitted using my database to update their official college records.
I taught myself php and mySQL programming just to create the alumni directory database from scratch
PSTValumni.com used to serve over 50,000 page views per year, every year
Launched before Google existed

If you're interested you can read my goodbye letter here.

Star Wars: Retold

2009-03-23T21:45:00.001-04:00

I thought this was funny.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

h/t Brian