Category Archives: What’s Up With That?

Black Friday? Go Camping or Backpacking Instead!

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

I live in a small town and don’t have any personal experience with the Black Friday phenomenon. To be honest, I don’t know a lot about it.

Last year, one week before Thanksgiving, I was working in the Los Angeles area and went to Best Buy the Friday before Thanksgiving. There were several tents set up in front of the store and people were inside them. I thought it was some sort of store display, as most of the tents had music playing inside of them. When I entered the store, I asked one of the employees about the tents outside. He told me they were shoppers who were camped out waiting to be the first ones in the door next week, when the store would open early Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving. These people were going to live at Best Buy for a week just so they could buy stuff!! I don’t get it.

Continue reading Black Friday? Go Camping or Backpacking Instead! →

REI and the Demise of Western Civilization

What's Up With That?, ,

What’s Up With That?

REI-logoRecreational Equipment, Inc., one of the country’s largest outdoor gear retailers (nearly $2 billion in annual sales) has been around since 1938. Actually it is a co-op and members receive approximately 10% of their purchases in a yearly dividend.

REI has been well known for its no-questions asked return policy. And the strategy worked – at least until recently. It appears that those who put the long running 100% satisfaction guarantee policy in place, failed to anticipate the decay of the public’s integrity and morals.

Continue reading REI and the Demise of Western Civilization →

Condiments, Ethics and Morality

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

I have noticed that among the backpacking community, many folks find the small condiment packages given out by fast food restaurants, to be convenient items to take on backpacking trips. I don’t use them (even with my fast food), but can see the utility.

So my first thought would have been to go to Costco and buy a case of my favorite individually packaged condiment. It would have never occurred to me to grab hands-full of condiments to be used backpacking. Apparently my thought process is different than many others, or perhaps they haven’t thought about it much.

Continue reading Condiments, Ethics and Morality →

Where Has The Water Gone?

General Talk, What's Up With That?,

What’s Up With That?

lake mead smallerThere was a time when most people mostly drank water. Oh, such things as sodas, milkshakes, coffee, and tea were consumed; but they were special treats. This has changed.

All around me I see fat people. Obese kids. Obese adults. It is disgusting. It is so bad, Mayor Boomerang in New York City tried to regulate soft drinks. I don’t agree that the government should regulate our purchase decisions. People have quit drinking water and replaced it with soft drinks and the ilk. It is time to take care of ourselves and not rely on the Government to do it. It all starts with water!

Continue reading Where Has The Water Gone? →

Which Pencil for the John Muir Trail?

Backpacking Gear, What's Up With That?,

What’s Up With That?

A little satire I posted over at BackpackingLight.com.

The John Muir Trail (JMT) runs from Yosemite to Mount Whitney, a distance of 211 miles. Mile for mile, it is one of the most beautiful hikes in the US; and as you would expect, it is very crowded in the summer. I first hiked most of the JMT in 1971. At the time I had never heard of it, and hiking from Kernville to Mount Whitney I found the trail on my map. I almost made it all the way to Yosemite, but descending from  Tuolumne Meadows I was put off by the crowds on the trail; turned around and hiked back to Kernville.

I didn’t plan this trip, just packed my gear and headed out for a few months. Today I am amused by the number of people posting on the Internet asking for help in planning their JMT hike. People asking what they should eat, what they should wear, what kind of a shelter they need or do they need a shelter, what sleeping system, what rain gear, how should they purify water, etc., etc., etc., not to mention all the “what if” questions.

So here is my post…

Continue reading Which Pencil for the John Muir Trail? →

The Hilton Alarm Clock

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

IMG_0491When I travel, I normally prefer to stay in Hilton properties. One  unique feature about Hilton’s are their standard alarm clock. Easy to set alarms, buttons that have pre-programmed music by genre, automatic adjustment for daylight savings time, and backup battery to keep time in the event of a power failure and the inability to adjust the time.

By not having a “time set” the objective is to not allow housekeeping personnel or guests to change the time. The theory is that the time will never be wrong. Great idea; but often great theories don’t work in the real world. So if you want to learn how to set the time on a Hilton Alarm Clock, instructions follow.

Continue reading The Hilton Alarm Clock →

Kickstarter (or brother can you spare a dime)

What's Up With That?

What’s Up With That?

kickstarter logoRecently I have read several posts requesting money on Kickstarter. Not knwoing what Kickstarter was, I did a little research. Kickstarter is a “crowdfunding” website. That is, people/companies looking for capital to develop a product or service request donations to their project. I guess you would call it donations, because you cannot “invest” in the project and receive part of the profit. For your gift you usually receive some sort of minor gift or trinket. Sometimes, if the request is for a product, then you are basically pre-ordering that product. Of course, usually you don’t know if the product is any good because it hasn’t been produced yet. Kickstarter is not a store. Sounds like panhandling or begging to me. However it is not all bad. There are some good things going on over there and I will share some later in this post.

Continue reading Kickstarter (or brother can you spare a dime) →

Like

What's Up With That?, , , ,

What’s Up With That?

facebook likeThe other day I was doing some research on the Internet and came across a website that was raffling off some backpacking gear. Now, I don’t know why the owner was giving away gear, it was a personal website, not a business. And curiously, it you went to the owner’s Facebook page and clicked the “Like” button; you would get an extra 4 chances to win the raffle.

Continue reading Like →