Mike 's Comments

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : A Long[er] Time Ago...

Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:31:53 +0000

Believe it or not, I lived in Baker City, OR (not sure if that really counts) for about 2 years about a lifetime ago. However, that´s got nothing to do with it this time around. This time I´m riding my wife´s coat tails into a life of green ease. I´m not sure if I qualify as "normal," but I do plan to infiltrate the system by means of beer brewery, coffee roastery and unexpected right leanery. BTW, my wife´s coat tails are made of a kick-ass scientist´s resumé (CV) that got her an equally kick-ass position at OHSU after four long years of serious suffering in the absolutely worst environment (scientifically and otherwise) conceivable (i.e. Spain - the scientific and cultural equivalent to Marshall, Will and Holly´s Land of the Lost experience). Thanks for the well wishes, bros. I´m bustin' it to get outta here by Oct. 1 :-O

Big Journalism : Miss Him Yet?

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 13:33:43 +0000

Miss him still.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : "As long as we keep buying it, the hustlers will keep selling it." Thomas Sowell on the bo

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 17:18:45 +0000

I´m only alive in spurts, dudes. As of today, I´m right back at it in the bathroom now. Just finished removing 5 or 6 square meters of tile so I can fit the shower basin with some spiffy glass doors. I´ll work my way back around to the door and save the hardest stuff for last :-) Kitchen´s still not done either; still waiting on my slacker brother-in-law to finish the electrical mess he started going on A YEAR AGO... I´ll still be back and forth and in and out around here though; hopefully a little more often. If you two (ECI and Innom) ever get around facebook I actually look at that every morning before pulling more wads of hair out of my head... Lots of Predeeps here too, btw Innom. Fact is, they do better business than the Spanish (though it´s next to impossible not to). And, ECI, I was just watching a little Sowell on Uncommon Knowledge over here http://3.ly/YkYR today, if you´re into that kinda thing ;-) Scroll down to Jan 4-8. Later, bros!

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : We ran into some Christmasiness last night

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 13:50:15 +0000

Thanks, bro. It´s like I said before, you can´t turn around in this country without hitting a holiday. Christmas officially starts about half-way into December and doesn´t end til after Los Reyes Magos (the Three Kings) on January 5/6th. That´s basically the Spanish equivilant of Santa coming on Christmas eve and leaving presents to open on Christmas day.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : We ran into some Christmasiness last night

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:06:41 +0000

¡Si Señor!

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : Watch and, if youÂ´re like me and love seeing a fool exposed in his foolishness, laugh as Lord

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:22:57 +0000

My man, I´m with you 110% (here and on the "blinded me with boob belt crack). And, please, never think of anything you use from this non-blog as stealing. You´re welcome to any and all. I already know it´ll go to good use. P.S. I promise to get around to your (and other) blogs soon. I finally got a round to installing a bench-seat/storage compartment for our dining area, and I´m just popping in now and again to "tweet" some mumbo-jumbo and any email. P.S.S. You ever gonna get on Twitter? I´d love to read every detail of your daily routine and whatever else you would surely come up with to say :-)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : Ok, the Dr. Dave inspired Thomas Dolby parody (She Blinded Me With Boob Belt) is on the back burner,

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 08:50:55 +0000

Good add, VL! You still plan on coming here for Christmas?

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : You canÂ´t turn around without hitting a holiday in this country

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:49:50 +0000

Totally. I mean, I can build, but plumbing and electric; not so much.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : You canÂ´t turn around without hitting a holiday in this country

Fri, 11 Dec 2009 10:12:00 +0000

Dude. If you only knew. He still lives in the village he grew up in (about a 25 minute drive outside of the city) and it took him 6 months to muster up the will to get back over here and continue the job. Apart from riding his bike along the parts of the Camino de Santiago de Compostela that happen to wind into France years ago, I really don´t know if he´s ever been out of the country. We got two and a half switches, some conduit and a couple openings for the outlets done, and some of the wiring is "in place", but other than that I´ll probably be waiting another few months before he comes back to hook it all up and install the rest of the outlets. Plus I´ve now got a new water heater sitting in the middle of the dining area in place of a table. I´m just lucky as hell to have a wife that doesn´t get stressed out by this mess. But, then, she´s Spanish and used to waiting in vain for anything to get done. American no like.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : You canÂ´t turn around without hitting a holiday in this country

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:35:29 +0000

I´ll tell them again, mon frère. They swore they had all the glitches fixed last time. Not cool.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : You canÂ´t turn around without hitting a holiday in this country

Wed, 9 Dec 2009 19:53:09 +0000

I remember Biloxi Blues. Long, long time ago. Matthew Broderick, right? But I don´t remember almost anything else about it. Málagueñas are what women from Málaga are called. There´s a name for everybody here. People from Cuenca are called Conquense, Madrid, Madrileños, etc. But as far as a Spanish Jewish holiday? Dunno. It does make me think of an excellent book about the plight of the Jews in Spain called The Last Jew by Noah Gordon. It´s a historical novel, if you´re into that kind of thing. Well written. I´d recommend it. Don´t get me wrong though, my wife was born here and she couldn´t tell you every holiday they celebrate here. So, there may actually be one. I´ll ask her.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : Said Professor Warmther with his pants pulled down around his ankles

Sat, 5 Dec 2009 23:52:37 +0000

It´s all they got left, man. But I´m really enjoying their childish frustration after a whole two weeks of having our shoes on their feet. If they can´t stand heat they better get outta the Global Warming kitchen now that it´s finally being fumigated.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : ItÂ´s that BeTaMaXMaS time of year once again!!!

Fri, 4 Dec 2009 14:06:24 +0000

Yeah, I posted it on the other blog last year and it was just too cool not to repeat. Have fun!

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : CLIMATEGATE: A lot of honest people have been taken in by this extraordinary scam, and in the shakeo

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 15:40:02 +0000

Preach it, brutha! And check out the post above that I ripped off from Devil´s Kitchen. Read his whole presentation; it´s worth it.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : CLIMATEGATE: A lot of honest people have been taken in by this extraordinary scam, and in the shakeo

Wed, 2 Dec 2009 08:45:46 +0000

Well, ya know.....where credit´s due, and all that ;-)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : Ripped straight from The DevilÂ´s Kitchen: [CLIMATEGATE] - Why this can't be swept under the c

Tue, 1 Dec 2009 20:56:32 +0000

I will NOT be holding my breath waiting for any.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : A warm Mediterranean weekend in November. What to do? what to do......

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 07:43:51 +0000

Not too far from your Dad´s house, VL. It may still be warm enough come Christmas if you wanna come with us ;-)

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : A warm Mediterranean weekend in November. What to do? what to do......

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:28:53 +0000

I only climb to get a better view of it! Calpe is easily the most beautiful unsung point on the Med in my opinion. It´s got it all.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : A warm Mediterranean weekend in November. What to do? what to do......

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:55:57 +0000

That´s my friend, Richard. Just bein' a goofball. He and my wife (in the black) are the ones with the real experience. My wife is a traditional climber and Richard is better at the sport climbing. The kid with the red shirt on in the first couple shots is Andreas. He´s from Costa Rica and it was his first actual outdoor climb. He did a good job. I´m wearing the blue shirt in the pictures and I´m still kinda cutting my teeth. I´ve probably done 20 or 30 climbs so far and this was my first time "leading." You can see in the bottom pictures there is no rope above me, because I was the guy taking the rope to the top and securing it there for everybody to follow. I did two leads that day. Definitely more stressful and dangerous than a simple top rope climb, but I love the fact I´m at that point now. Really forces one to slow down and focus. I tell ya though, I´m still pooped today.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEBS : The University of East Anglia's Hadley Climatic Research Centre appears to have suffered a security

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:42:24 +0000

It´s just so sad how right you are. But, we keep pluggin' away. Hey, cafepress.com even has a "hide the decline" t-shirt. And the NYT has a new addendum to their motto. Normal people know the score.