Category Archives: What’s Up With That?

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!

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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…

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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.

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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.

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