Snowshoeing On Mount Spokane

Now that Kathy has more free time, she decided to try snowshoeing. I was all for it but I haven't been on snow shoes since Nixon resigned. The technology sure has changed. Josh, Amanda, and Steph were also first timers. My sister, Barb, joined us. Kathy enjoyed it so much she's already shopping for her own shoes.

 Barb and Steph.

 Steph.

 Josh goes off the beaten path.

 Barb.

 Kathy looking like a serious competitor.

 Me 'n' Kathy.

 Amanda 'n' Josh.

Kathy 'n' Barb, the joker.

Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

I received an email from Cathy McMorris Rodgers touting her 2012 accomplishments.

And that's just for the year 2012.

Well I think she's short changing herself. Let's have a look at accomplishments of the 112th Congress for the years 2011-2012.

(1) Setting the record for the lowest approval rating ever.
(2) Being the most polarized Congress ever.
(3) Defying the definition of insanity, the House successfully voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act for the 33rd time.
(4) They caused the first ever downgrading of the U.S. credit rating.
(5) They were the most dysfunctional Congress yet.

Our congresswoman shouldn't be so modest. She should step up and take the credit she is due.

Morning Bike Ride

In pursuit more fat bike knowledge and experience I met up with Dan DeRuyter at Palisades Park this morning. He brought his Salsa Mukluk and I rode along on my Elephant sporting studded tires. Fortunately most the the trail we rode on had packed lines, along which I could navigate pretty well--as long as I stayed on the packed part. Dan could pretty much go where he wanted. I was jealous but I didn't say anything in front of the Elephant. Bikes have feelings, too, you know.

Not Fit For Man Nor Beast

Kathy: "It's nine degrees outside. Are you going to be okay?" 

Me: "Of course I will." 

What I'm thinking: "Nine degrees!!! That's frickin' cold. Do I really want to do this?" 

Running to work is not new to me, but I wasn't about to let something minor like a single-digit temp stop me from my quest to become more beastly. 

I put on my REI long underwear. 

I didn't regret my decision but I felt a little discomfort as soon as I hit the road. The air was absolutely frigid, my breath kept freezing on my glasses, and overall it was just a rough start. But that's to be expected. It usually takes me a couple miles to get warmed up, get my breathing and heart rate evened out, and hit my comfortable pace so I hung in there knowing it would get better. Besides, I'm always close enough to a bus route so I can bail out any time along the way if I need to. I was feeling much better by the time I got to Country Homes Blvd and it was pretty easy going after crossing Francis. I spent a lot of time in the roadways since they were much clearer than many of the sidewalks. I made sure I was visible, wearing a hi-viz yellow reflective jacket, a couple of red lights hanging off my backside and carrying my MiNewt 300 (battery velcroed to my backpack strap) to light my way. All the cars that needed to gave me plenty of room, which was very nice. I arrived at work without incident and in a reasonable amount of time. No frozen toes in the Vibrams, but a chilled thumb and index finger on my right hand.

I'm used to ice buildup on my facial hair, but this time I had ice on my eyebrows and even on my eye lashes. That's a new experience for me. Every time I blinked I could feel them stick to my bottom lashes. Fun times.

I sent this picture to Kathy to let her know I arrived safely. 

Kathy: "You're crazy!" 

Me: "Just about you."

Another Bogus Survey

Our fair congresswoman, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, is asking us to  complete a survey just like she did last year. Come to think of it, she never provided any feedback on the results of that survey. This year's survey isn't much different than last year. I have to wonder if the congresswoman purposely uses the most inept web page survey developers. I ran it through a validator and came up with 212 errors.

You can still get by with lots of piddly HTML errors, but the design of this survey is worse. The wording is just as atrocious as last year. Last year you could select multiple answers on a few questions. This year you can only select one, but you also cannot provide any other feedback. I noticed an asterisk at the end of the first question so I scrolled down to the bottom to see what it meant. There is no explanation and every question has an asterisk at the end. (Click on the images to read them easier.)

Same question as last year with one major difference. You can select Other but you can't provide any information about it. Last year there was a text box that allowed input.

Since when is it her responsibility to create jobs? Why is there an Other if you can't make a comment? Select Other. The choices almost mirror the choices for the next question.

Notice a trend here? The responses she provides only consider raising/not raising taxes, cut spending, or let the deficits continue. I guess she misses the news that the deficit has decreased. It ain't perfect yet, but things got better as certain tax breaks expired resulting in more revenue and defense spending in Iraq and Afghanistan dropped $61 billion.

Interesting use of framing here. Last year she said she voted against health care "reform". Not the best  choice of words. This year she says she voted against the President's health care legislation. She doesn't mention that Republicans had a huge part in creating that legislation as they had 400 amendments adopted. Again, it's been three years since the passage of the legislation. McMorris Rodgers and the Republican House has voted to repeal the health care legislation 33 times. If they wanted to improve upon it, why haven't they come up with a bill to do so? They've had plenty of time. Repeal hasn't worked so select Other/Unsure.

Replacing the Keystone oil pipeline question from last year we have a disingenuous question asking what you think about climate change. Somehow our congresswoman thinks all jobs directly tied to coal and oil. Those damned green jobs are hurting jobs. Or something.

Same question as last year with a minor change in one answer. Now you can be Other/Unsure instead of Unsure.

Same question about Afghanistan as last year. Is there a problem other than the fact that we should get the heck out and quit killing innocent people with drones?

Same question on immigration as last year but with a trick to it. The last two answers are in reverse order. Almost got me!

C'mon! Just like last year the answers don't have anything to do with the question.

Same as last year and the answers still have nothing to do with the subject of gun control. There's much more to gun control than gun ownership.

More feeding of the talking points again. Write a letter instead.

New Year's Fat Bike Ride

I told Pat I was interested in learning more about Fat Bikes and he obliged by setting up a ride for today. Dave and Aaron answered Pat's call and showed up with their fat bikes. John, Justin, Abel, and Joe joined us on mountain bikes. Pat brought his mountain bike and was gracious enough to let me ride his 9Zero7. Around the halfway mark Aaron let me ride his Surly Moonlander. We spent a little over two hours on the Riverside State Park trails. Since the fat bike tires don't sink as much in the snow I think I had an easier time riding through the deeper snow than most, but I still managed to go off the track a couple times. It was great fun. Thank you, Pat, for putting this together.

 Justin displaying his mastery of squirreling through snow. 

 Joe, Aaron, and Abel climbing Five Minute Hill.

Ride on, Pat!

 Break and photo op time.

Fat Bike posse formed by Pat, Dave, and Aaron.