As an early birthday present to myself, this blog will die a peaceful death effective today.

It’s not that I don’t enjoy blogging … it’s just that as the blog has taken off, it’s also taken on a life of its own.  What started as a fun way to learn, connect, and share the things I’ve learned on my journey to become a better father, a better provider, and a better man has instead become a chore and a responsibility that often gets in the way of the things I should be doing or would rather do toward those same ends.

The bottom line is that I’m decluttering my life and this blog didn’t make the cut.  It was a fun few years though.

I have met a lot of interesting people and learned a lot from most of them.  My sincere thanks to all of you for that! I hope I’ve been a small and happy part of your online life in the meantime.

The blog will still be available for a short while (until my hosting plan is terminated on  July 3rd).  Until that date, feel free to pillage the contents for your own use or repost.  The contents will be unavailable after that date, and I’m not keeping copies anywhere.

My sponsors links will remain active until July 3rd as well, as I believe they are a valuable resource.  I thank them for their patronage.

I’ll still be browsing a lot of your blogs, though as part of that same decluttering process, I’ll be doing less of that as well

I’m moving on to other things – mostly focused on my real passion – writing.

So, to paraphrase from a master:

This blog is no more! It has ceased to be!  It has expired and gone to meet its maker!  It’s a stiff! Bereft of life, it
rests in peace! If you hadn’t nailed it to the perch it would be pushing up the daisies! Its metabolic processes are now history!  It’s off the twig! It’s kicked the bucket, It’s shuffled off its mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-BLOG!!

And here is the original sketch that language was stolen from – one of my all time favorites:

Monty Python Parrot Sketch

Well?  What are your thoughts?

There are a lot of grounds for both praise and criticism here…

I’m not buying the lack of judicial experience argument.  For one thing, it’s not even a constitutional requirement that someone be a lawyer to become a SCOTUS Justice, much less have been a Judge.  Two, the only reason she wasn’t a Judge was that Republicans held up her confirmation hearings until Clinton left office after he nominated her to be on D.C. Circuit.  For another, she was a clerk for Thurgood Marshall and Supreme Court clerks aren’t “clerks” in the traditional sense.  They analyze the cases, write the arguments in favor and against, and often pen the actual opinions of the cases.  Finally, the Solicitor General is routinely referred to as the 10th Justice because of their close relationship with the Court.  That office argues more cases before the Supreme Court than any other office.

There are, however, other arguments one could use to attack or support her …

Let’s hear it!  What do you think?

While sanding down the boat, I found this logo at the bow on both sides.  Anyone know it? Any ideas how to find it?  I already tried a google image search…

It was a long drive. 10 hours round trip, to get the canoe back home. It rained the whole way. By the time we got her rigged up to carry on the van, we were soaked to the bone.

She needs work, but she’s home now.

I’m picking up an old canoe (that was given to me for FREE) and driving it back to my house to begin the refurb.

I couldn’t be more excited about it.

It’s 16ft long, fiberglass, and of an unknown make and model.  And yes, I’m assured that it floats.

Currently, it’s baby blue.  I’m told that the paint is probably not even marine paint, but who knows.

When I’m done, needless to say, it will not be baby blue anymore.

Here are some more pics – and it should go without saying that these are the BEFORE shots.  I’ll post the progress as I go.

When I first started hiking and getting into Bushcraft, I was using mostly surplus Army gear.  I had spent 4 years using that gear and I trusted it.  Odd as it sounds, putting some of that gear back on felt like running into an old friend I hadn’t seen in years but missed dearly.  For some things, I still use and trust that gear.  It may be dumb and overbuilt, but on the other hand, it’s dumb and overbuilt – know what I’m sayin?

What I didn’t anticipate, getting into hiking, is that in the 8 years between leaving the Infantry and starting to hike, my feet would get soft and a 45lb pack, less than half what I routinely carried in the Infantry, would start to feel really heavy.

My first backwoods excursion was a disaster (you can read all about that fiasco here, it’s quite a comedy of errors) and it left me with a huge car repair bill and massive blisters on my feet – even after breaking in the boots.  I figured out later that the blisters were largely the result of my brilliant idea to buy cushy new insoles the day before the hike.  Not a smart move.

I learned a lot from that excursion.  Mainly, I remembered something important from the Army: While I do like hanging with the guys and being out in nature, I don’t like walking long distances with a heavy pack if I don’t have to.  It hurts and it saps the life out of you and the fun out of everything.

When I got home and recovered my stranded car, I started systematically finding lightweight replacements for heavier military style items.  Wherever I could find lighter materials that were sufficiently durable, I went for them.  My average load now is just under 20 lbs, addresses all of the shortcomings I experienced on that first trip, and is sufficiently durable for multi-year use.  More relevant to this post – I no longer wear combat boots.

Let’s look at the boot (mine are classic black Altama, all-leather, Army basic training issue up until the switch to ACUs from BDUs):

• They’re heavy.  2.2lbs each or 4.4 lbs. a pair, and that’s before they get caked in mud, which they hold onto like a death grip.
• They’re hard.  The standard soles are designed for durability, not comfort.  They’re meant to be marched on for extended periods of time without needing replacement.  This puts a great deal of strain on your knees, hips, and ankles though – it’s like riding in a vehicle with no shock absorbers.  Even expensive insoles can only mitigate that problem so much – and for the record – can lead to blistering because they raise your heel out of the boot’s heel “pocket.”  That’s what happened to my feet on my first excursion, mentioned above.
• They’re protective and supportive.  I can’t think of much more protection than having my feet and lower calves encased in a layer of thick leather.  Snakes in the grass? Ha!  Odds of twisting your ankle? Nil.
• They’re durable.  The pair I own is more than 10 years old and still perform great (even if they’re not spit-shined like they used to be).  Even in daily use in the Army, I left the Army wearing the same pair I was issued at reception battalion four years earlier (though they had been re-soled).
• Properly cared-for, they’re waterproof.  This doesn’t apply to Jungle Boots or Desert Boots – just the classic all-leather black ones.

Now let’s look at the needs of a seasonal ultralight hiker.  My goal is to enjoy covering as much ground as possible every day while still leaving time for screwing around in camp and having fun.  Durable is nice, but I can buy a new pair of shoes every year or two – it’s not that big of a deal.

• With an ultralight load, support is much less of an issue.  I’m not likely to twist my ankle carrying only 18-20 lbs.
• I don’t need waterproof.  I do need quick-drying.  So lots of ventilation, and very little water absorbency makes more sense than total waterproofing.  It also makes for a lighter shoe.
• I need a shoe that minimizes shock to my knees, ankles, and back.  There are times out there that I’m nearly running.  Combat boots just won’t do.  I could pull off running in boots when I was 19, but I’m not 19 anymore – and truthfully, it wasn’t healthy even when I was.
• I need a lightweight shoe.

Basically, what I need is a lightweight cross-trainer or a running shoe with good ankle support.  What I don’t need is a heavy combat boot.

There are a lot of options, but I went with Salomon.  Largely because I found them 60% off at a camping/hiking store.  I don’t know what model they are (and the shoe doesn’t seem to say anywhere), but they’re very similar to these – except that I only paid $40 for mine on clearance and mine are an older model.  They weigh 12.75 oz each (1.6lbs for the pair) at size 10, and they feel like very light running shoes on your feet.

I’ve used them through 2 years worth of hiking (and frequent non-hiking casual wear use) now and I’ll never go back to boots again.  In these shoes, I’ve had one blister in well over 250 miles, and that was due to a bad sock (it folded up under my foot).  The only signs of problematic wear on the shoe are the standard wearing down of the sole from walking.  They’re probably due to be replaced, but truthfully, I don’t think it’s a need yet.  I’m still happy.

I’ve never had an ankle twist wearing them (thanks in large part to the lighter load) and they’re as quiet as sneakers.  I can never remember a day hiking or marching in combat boots that I felt energetic enough to leap onto a large boulder near the campsite to see the view.  Traction is great, far better than boots actually.

They’re a lot less “clunky” than boots too.  When I want to be quiet – as when I wore them squirrel hunting – I can pick my way through the forest floor without inadvertently snapping twigs.  Just as easily, I can jam my toe in a rock crevice to get a toe-hold.  They’re not climbing shoes, but they’re certainly better than combat boots for that purpose.

They’re pretty well dry in about an hour’s walk after complete immersion in water.  Faster than that if you’re wearing quick-dry or waterproof socks – or no socks at all.

It’s true that I have to pick my way a bit more carefully in muddy areas, but I’m light enough to do that easily in these shoes.

I only have one complaint and that’s easily resolved.  While some might like the little elastic bands that replace shoelaces in these shoes, I’m not a fan.  I’ve been meaning to replace that with gutted para cord since I bought them, but I’ve never gotten around to it.  The way I see it, para cord laces are extra cordage if you ever need it.  This little elastic band wouldn’t be worth much in a survival situation.

There are pieces of military gear that I’ve dumped for the civilian equivalent and then gone back to.  This isn’t one of them.  The bottom line is that these shoes outperform combat boots, cost about the same (cheaper in my case), are easier on my feet, and meet my needs more effectively.

I started to write “but I wouldn’t want to wear them in combat” but I’m not even sure that’s true.  I am lucky in that I never had to go to war, but I did a lot of training in environments ranging from woodland, to Louisiana swamp to Egyptian desert and I think I’d have preferred these in all of those settings, if they made them in tactical colors.  There are high-ankled versions that would give me combat-boot level support for heavier loads, and I could certainly have moved faster and I wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much at the end of the day.

I have no experience with the modern desert boots that are now standard issue in the Army – even the ones I was issued in Egypt were just tan/suede versions of the standard black jungle boot.  They were still hard-soled and heavy.  I know they’re expensive to buy as a civilian, but that’s about it.  I mention this only because I don’t know how the new desert boots would fit my needs.  I’ve heard nothing but good things, but I’ll stick with the Salomons until someone proves me wrong.

I purchased these little flash cards from a seller on ebay about 3 years ago, but I couldn’t find them on there as I wrote this.  They are available HERE, however for about $8 which is pretty much what I payed for them.

These aren’t playing cards – they’re just wild edible flash cards.  They are playing card sized however, and I’ve seen a version that are playing cards.  Having them serve the dual purpose of campsite entertainment makes sense to me, and I’ll probably pick up the playing card version eventually.

What I love about these cards is their convenience.  In a pack the size of a deck of cards, I have 52 high quality pictures of plants (44 edible and 8 poisonous) plus information on the flip-side including latin name, description and details, where to find/look for the plant, and how to use it.  Very useful.  For the most part, the pictures are of the plant when it’s at it’s most edible stage.

These are a great resource for a beginner.  The plants in the deck were chosen in part because they are easily identified and don’t have many poisonous look-alikes.  When I bought them, I knew nothing, and a few days later I was out finding edible plants.  I still run through the deck on occasion and find that I’m learning things when I do.  I’ve also used them to start teaching my oldest son (age 9) about wild edibles and I generally keep them handy on camping trips and long drives.  For the first year, I was grabbing these at least once a week to confirm my suspicions about a plant I encountered.

For kids in particular, I like these cards in part because there are a few plants on there that just about everyone who has ever stepped outside will recognize.  Dandelion and blackberry are notable examples.

Like all flashcards and other photo based plant identification resources, they have weaknesses:

• At some point, you switch from learning to memorization and that’s a danger to be avoided.
• The pictures, while remarkable, show the plants at only one stage of development – which is fine I guess … since the pictures are of the plant in its edible stage, the authors don’t want you to find that same plant in its non-edible stage.  On the other hand, if you’re trying to get to know the plants in your yard – you’ll have no idea that some of the plants in these cards are in your yard as well unless you catch them at exactly the right stage.
• Because you’re learning from pictures instead of real plants, it’s hard to capture the nuances that make this particular plant the one you seek and not a lookalike.
• I’ve learned in the past couple of years that plants look significantly different in different areas of the country.  The Pokeweed I encountered in Florida for example was almost unrecognizable to me.  Some of it was at thick as my wrist and 10-15 feet tall.  Around here, it gets 5 feet tall and finger thick at best.  Differences in scale like that will throw someone fairly easily.  In this deck, the pictures of cattail are interesting in the same way.  The fluffy end is narrow and conical in these pics.  Around here, they’re thick and cylindrical.

Would I recommend this product?  Wholeheartedly.  This deck has been a great resource to have around.  The same company also makes Edible Plants of the Western States, Knot Playing Cards, Survival Playing Cards, and Staying Alive in the Arctic (a pocket sized manual).  I don’t have any experience with any of those, but I like these cards enough that I’d probably pick them up if I encountered them.

In case you have trouble finding them or want more information – let me put up some info about the maker (taken from one of the cards they threw in):

Maker: Plant Deck, Inc., Lake Oswego, OR 97305 – (503) 636-6254

Copyright 1973 by Frank G. Heyl & Calvin P. Burt.

I have the 3rd Printing – made in 2000.

I’m not a liberal.

I’m not a conservative.

I’m not even a libertarian or an independent.

I think and I vote.

(Man, I want that on a T-shirt)

I don’t listen to the talking heads – or more accurately, I don’t listen to any one talking head in particular.  I question everything I hear.  It’s gotten me in trouble at church (yup, kicked out of Sunday School for asking about dinosaurs), it’s gotten me in trouble at work (Our slogan is ‘moving forward, looking back?’ that means we’re not watching where we’re going!), and it’s gotten me in trouble at school (wait…you became a Law Professor because you didn’t want to practice law?).  But it’s never gotten me into trouble with me, my God, or the ones I care about in life.  In fact, it’s made them love and respect me more, even if they get a bit frustrated sometimes.

My views are right in line with the Republicrats on some issues and right in line with the Democans on others.  It makes it really hard to vote in some elections, and really easy in others.  Most often, I look at the candidates first and if there’s one I really want to elect for some reason or one I really can’t stomach voting for, I’ll vote accordingly.  But when they are both unsatisfactory, one of the things I take into consideration is who is in charge now and by how much.  If the Republicrats have a majority, I’m likely to vote Democan and visa versa.  Why? First and foremost, I reject the idea that there is really a difference in the parties as they function today.  Sure, they pander to different groups, but in the end they’re all basically shades of gray except on a few hot issues that they use to get elected, or re-elected.  I’m only human, sometimes those hot issues sway me one way or the other.

Secondly, I want the government at a stalemate..  When Government actually gets something done, it tends to be a bad thing.  I know, I know – there are exceptions – but to prove my point, any exception I listed here would generate hate emails from people on one side of the fence or another.  Most often, the end result hurts people like me and makes the powers that be richer and more powerful.

I think it’s time people realize, as our founders did, that Government works best when it works least.

The only thing more dangerous than one party in full dominance is when the two parties unite.

I say we vote them into a stalemate every chance we get and watch them dance around the ring for fun – because while they’re doing that, they’re leaving us the hell alone.

To my normal readers – I’m on a political kick right now, but hang in there – it’s getting to be my favorite outdoor time, and that’s when the Bushcraft/Survival/Camping/Hiking stuff comes back.  I’m just too busy to do anything with it right now.

Whenever someone disagrees with a bill passed by Congress or signed into law by the President, they tend to say “that’s unconstitutional!”  Many people who say this have never even read the Constitution, much less the cases that define the words in it.  And that’s fine.  It’s scary that they vote, but that’s fine.

When the Supreme Court, however, makes a controversial ruling, people do the same thing.  ”That’s unconstitutional!”  And that’s not fine.  Those people are wrong even when they’re right.

Before I even get started, let me explain that while I’m not happy about what I’m about to say – it’s absolutely true.

If the Supreme Court says something is not a violation of the constitution, then it isn’t.  Period.  Even if they’re wrong, they’re right.  How can that be?

The Constitution, Article III, Section 1 says, in part:

“The judicial Power of the United States, shall be vested in one supreme Court …”

The judicial power, in this country and others, has always been to interpret the law.  Remember that from school?  The legislative branch makes the law, the executive branch enforces the law, and the judicial branch interprets the law.  In fact, the most important question the Supreme Court ever answers is not “guilty or not guilty?” – it is “does this law even apply to this situation?”  In order to answer that question, they have to decide what the words in that law, often the Constitution, mean.  While that question may seem clear cut to you and I, we’re not talking about you and I …

So, if the Constitutional duty of the court is to interpret the constitution, then what the Court says is constitutional IS constitutional – according to the Constitution itself.  They may be wrong, but they are NOT in violation of the Constitution until WE THE PEOPLE change the Constitution or the Court changes its mind.

Look at it this way … if a woman says, “not tonight honey, I have a headache” she HAS a headache, even if she doesn’t.  Got it?

There are essentially two checks on the Court’s potential abuse of power:

1. The composition of the court.  It’s an odd number for a reason – that way there can be no ties.  Plus, since Justices are appointed by Presidents of varying political parties, the political distinctions between them ensure they don’t always agree.
2. When dealing with Constitutional issues especially, the Court has to confine its decisions to the words in the Constitution and the cases that define those words.  While they can override those other cases, they cannot simply change the constitution.  That power lay primarily with the people (and yes, I realize I’m simplifying the amendment process a bit).

Some of you are angry.  Good.  I want you to be angry.  Why?

Because, the President will be submitting a name to the Senate (and the People) very soon.  You may like the President, and you may think he’s a Kenyan born socialist with ties to the Antichrist.  That is irrelevant in this case.  What matters is that you pay attention to the name and find out how that person has ruled on the issues that matter to you – regardless of your political affiliation.

Someone appointed to the Supreme Court is under NO obligation to do what the President who appoints them wants them to do – as many Presidents have found out to their own chagrin.  Once appointed, they can vote the way they wish, and most often do.  The President IS going to have this nominee so the idea of holding out until a Republican takes office, if you have that notion, is not a realistic one.

Instead, educate yourself, and once you have formed an informed opinion – let your Senator know how you feel and why.  I’m not telling you how you should feel about the nominee – how could I? The name isn’t even announced yet.  But if you care about the Constitution, you need to listen, learn, and act (by talking to your Senator).

Oh – and for God’s sake, DON’T listen to FOX or MSNBC (or anyone who has a radio show) when it comes to finding out what the nominee has or has not done.  The Sotomayor confirmation process, if nothing else, showed us all that those two networks in particular are full of crap.  CNN wasn’t much better, but they at least made an attempt to stay neutral for the most part.  BBC did a surprisingly good job.

I listed two checks on the Court’s power to abuse the Constitution above – 1) the composition of the Court; and 2) the process of amending the Constitution.  While we, in theory, always have the possibility of getting an amendment passed, it’s not very likely.  But it’s only rarely that we get a chance to affect the composition of the Court.  We will have one of those moments soon.  Don’t let it pass you by.

Sorry if this is old news to you, but this is some alarming stuff and I just found out about it, so I’m telling everyone I know – and that’s you dear reader.

Go to www.spokeo.com and search for your own name, email addresses, and phone numbers.  Odds are you’re going to find yourself, and so can anyone else who searches for you.

This is a database that gathers info from all over the net.  Social networking sites, places that accept comments, blogs, and so forth.  Then all of that information is cross-referenced, correlated, and some demographic information is mixed in as well.  In short, everything you have ever said online is out there somewhere and this site has found some of it.  Lots of the information is wrong, in my case at least, but enough of it is correct to make me uncomfortable.

Things that are often found on this database:

• partial address (everything but your house number)
• every photo you’ve ever put on an online site
• most of the data from any social networking profile you’ve set up
• an estimate of your net worth
• an estimate of your credit score
• any blogs linking to your blog
• any comments you’ve ever made on blogs
• IP addresses you use to connect to the internet
• previous addresses
• parents’ names (if you’ve lived at their address)
• your education level
• value of your home
• all sorts of demographics about your neighborhood
• your education

And that’s all for free.  Then, for just a few bucks a month, they can find out all sorts of other stuff, and folks, it’s NOT expensive.

Once you’re done indulging the creepy side of yourself and looking up everyone you know, you need to remove yourself from this database.  To do so, scroll down to the bottom of the page after you find yourself and click on the teeny-tiny little link that says “Privacy.”  Then just follow the directions.  It takes about 5 minutes to get removed, and all but 1 minute of that is waiting around for the confirmation email to arrive.

For those of you who think the Government is the enemy – check again.  It’s jackasses like the ones who run that site and the people that are paying them for info on YOU.