Chad's Musings – Chad's musings (deep thoughts, drivel and everything in between)

December 24, 2021 Uncategorized Post a Comment

Hockey Fights Cancer: #LGRW

Me in my autographed Red Wings jersey. — Me with autographed Red Wings, Hockey Fights Cancer sweater and stick.

Who doesn’t know someone affected by cancer? On November 27, 2021, the Detroit Red Wings used special Hockey Fights Cancer sweaters and sticks during warmups. The autographed sweaters and sticks were then auctioned off with proceeds going to the American Cancer Society. Not only have I had family members die from cancer, but I’m also a cancer researcher. So, the auction combined two things I love, the Red Wings and cancer research.

Rookies, Lucas Raymond and Mo Seider sweaters climbed past the opening bids quickly. Using player stats, I bid on the players sweaters with the highest points and still close to the opening bid. I made a note on my calendar to check again, on December 4. I had something like 9 losing bids. I ended up winning the signed sweater and stick from Sam Gagner 89, can’t go wrong with a first-round pick. I also bought an unsigned baseball cap with the same Hockey Fights Cancer theme.

I got an email invoice and noticed that part of my address was missing. So, I logged into the system and fixed my address. On Saturday, two days later, the signed stick arrives, wrapped in a white plastic bag with Red Wings written all over it. The sweater and hat are supposed to arrive the next Monday. I wasn’t feeling great after my booster shot, so I decide to work from home.

Checking the FedEx tracking periodically throughout the day and my package was supposed to be delivery by 8 PM. If the FedEx tracking can be believed, the package went to Toledo first. That’s not shocking as you can understand a large FedEx center across the border. The next step was Gaylord, MI which doesn’t make any sense. It’s a small town, far north, definitely not in the direction of Chicago. Eventually the tracking system said delay, and likely not due to the tornados that hit Illinois and Kentucky. All things considered; I’m not upset about the 2nd day delivery failing but I’m naturally disappointed.

Map of Michigan showing the path of my package from Detroit to Chicago — FedEx Tracking my package

So I decide to work from home again. Tracking now says the package is in Portage, MI. I could have had any number of family and friends pick up my package in Portage. It’s Tuesday about 10 AM when I see a FedEx van from my home office window. The driver was returning from a couple houses down. I figured, I’m not the only one in my neighborhood that is getting deliveries from FedEx, so I don’t run out and ask where is my package.

Around noon, FedEx tracking says package was delivered, when it clearly was not. I wondered did FedEx leave my package at the apartment building a few houses down, in the direction that I saw the FedEx driver. So I go outside and I can see a package that looks like it could be mine, but they have a locked courtyard.

I email the charity that ran the auction to let them know that maybe FedEx left my package at the wrong house, just in case they can do anything. I mention to Leah, at the charity, that I’m not just a Red Wings fan but I’m also a cancer researcher. She says she loves the Hockey Fights Cancer event because she hears so many stories about how cancer has affected so many people.

I’m going in and out of the house to see if I can catch someone leaving the apartment and hopefully get my package. As I leave my house, I see a young woman. I assume she’s a student and lives in the apartment building. I ask if she does and if she could let me check if FedEx tossed my package over their fence. She agrees, gratefully. The package that looked so promising was from China. No dice. I look around for other FedEx packages without any luck.

Meanwhile, I’m expecting a box of treats from Amazon for Ana. Amazon leaves a package and it’s suspiciously small. I look and sure enough the address is wrong. So I trot down the street to catch the Amazon truck. I give the package to the driver and ask if she has a package for my address. She says no but takes the wrong package to redeliver. When she gets to the right address, the owner is there waiting with Ana’s package. The Amazon driver delivers Ana’s treat but there’s still no sign of my sweater and hat.

I noticed that there are a few packages across the street behind a locked gate. I ask the nice lady at the charity if the package is wrapped with the same white plastic with Red Wings written all over it. Alas, she says no, it’s in a plain white polymer bag.

My mail carrier arrives after I put the Amazon package inside. I ask if she by chance has a key to the locked gate across the street. She says yes and asks if the Amazon driver made a mistake. She must have seen me talking to the Amazon driver. I said, “no, I think FedEx left my package there”. So she goes across the street. First package, no. Second package, no. She picks up the third package and heads across the street. I got my signed sweater and certificate of authenticity. The hat is nice too.

collage of hockey stick photos — Autographed Bauer hockey stick

I handwashed the sweater and was ready to wear it while watching a game, streaming of course. I decided I’m not going to a game at Little Caesars Arena this season. I have no idea what happened to our tickets for the game last year. Then the NHL postponed games until after Christmas due to the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Don’t worry, I haven’t lost perspective.

September 22, 2019 Flowers and Outdoors Post a Comment

Interlochen, MI 2019

On the way up to Interlochen we stopped in Cadillac, MI. Since I use diesel, I don’t know if I can find it in rural areas so I tend to top off when I can. The diesel pump was off to the side, which isn’t totally unusual. However, it was super freaking old. I didn’t see the button to start the pump. It also wouldn’t accept my rewards card. Since I was there for a while, the attendant came out to help. He looked at me like I was an idiot because it was taking so long to start pumping. No big deal.

We rented a cabin, a few sites down the path, for my dad for the first two nights. It turned out to be a good decision. We set up our 4-person Big Agnes again and my sister stayed in the cabin with my dad. After that, he had her old tent and she use a gigantic tent that Mike brought. It must have been a six person family tent. Unfortunately it leaked the last night.

We noticed float planes landing in Duck Lake. We guess that there was some type of school for float planes. They kept landing and taking off right behind our campsite.

My sister convinced my dad to try kayaking this time. My stepmother stayed home this time. After getting chigger bites, she’s had enough with camping. The Platte River is super calm, so it was a good place to let my dad get his feet wet as they say. He was nervous at first but relaxed after we adjusted his seat. He made it about 2/3 across Loon Lake when I suggested we tow him a bit to give his shoulder a rest. He did great for a first time at 79 years old.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, end of the Platte River run.

While we were paddling on the Platte River, a little boy yelled to his mom, “look they have a coyote on their kayak”. We got a kick out of that.

The second outing was on the Betsie River. None of us had paddled the Betsie River before. The first exit site we went to had private property signs all over. So we back tracked to the previous bridge. Sadly we didn’t investigate it well enough.

There was a bit of drizzle at the start. We didn’t pay attention and put my dad in first, not realizing that there was a dam right at the start. So we got better organized and all portaged our kayaks. The rest of the Betsie was super peaceful and pleasant. When it was time to get out, our lack of scouting the area bit us. We all crashed, including my dad and Ana. The bridge had large, culvert pipes. The problem with culvert pipes is that they tend to erode the ground on the downstream side, which makes for a tricky exit. So none of us made it to the side of the river without tipping over or crashing. We still had fun and no one was seriously hurt.

Food

As with previous car camping trips, we packed foil packets for the first three nights, with French bread pizza the fourth night. Hot dogs and sausages were planned for the fifth night. We did a dill and lemon version of “catch of the day” foil packet using tilapia again.

My sister was tired of the hobo dinner foil packet so that was axed last year and this year. My sister was responsible for preparing the shrimp boil and the hamburger & potato packets. My mom ended up preparing the shrimp boil packets (again).

Shrimp Boil Foil Packs

Last year we burned one of the six French bread pizza packs. This year, the ziplock bags didn’t work and most of them were soggy from ice melting in the cooler.

Pretty much every foil packet meal failed this time. Last year the tilapia was really good. This year it wasn’t thawed enough. We salvaged it by using the microwave in the cabin. On the second night, the potatoes in the shrimp boil didn’t cook. My mom used little red potatoes and didn’t cut them up. They just don’t cook in foil if they aren’t cut up or at least poked with a fork. We had the opposite problem with the hamburger patty meals. They were supposed to be frozen so that the potato and beef cook at the same rate, so to speak. Since the hamburger was thawed, it burned. It burned bad. The summer squash, couscous, hot dogs, and sausages were fine though. We definitely need a campfire tripod for next year.

We forgot the sardine can this year so no cheese and sardine sandwich with my dad. My wife had not tried Moon Pies before so I grabbed two mini ones at the commissary, along with a Vernor’s which is hard to find outside of Michigan.

Equipment

I borrowed my cousin’s son’s bike to get around the campground. I thought I might need it for the bathrooms but the bathroom/shower was across the street. Anyway, I need a bike rack to get my wife’s bike and the borrowed bike up to Interlochen. So I bought a bike rack from 1 Up.

It was super easy to install and it’s super easy to load and unload the bikes. They are made in Wisconsin so I feel like I’m supporting manufacturing in the Midwest.

We bought a Exped MegaMat Duo 10 sleeping pad during REI’s anniversary sale. It’s inflatable with memory foam. Inflatable alone means you are affected when your partner moves. It’s more like a water bed. Foam alone is often not supportive enough or too thin. The MegaMat is the best of both.

We forgot to bring a bed sheet for the new mattress so the first night we used my old Coleman sleeping bag as a sheet and shared my wife’s new REI camping blanket, that we got on sale. As the nights got colder we realized that wasn’t going to work. So we decided to support the campground commissary and purchased a fleece blanket. We ended up using that as a sheet for half the mattress and I used zipped my sleeping bag back up.

As a side note, the lady at the commissary told us disturbing story. While making our purchase she asked if we would mind a delay if we used our credit card because their credit card machine uses old fashioned dial up. We said no problem, we’er camping. There’s no rush. She said that not all campers feel the same way, i.e., not happy campers. She said a customer complained because she accidentally got another flavor of ice cream in his scoop of ice cream. She offered a second scoop for free to “make things right”. He argued that wasn’t good enough and eventually got mad enough to throw his ice cream at her. Who does that, especially while camping? I love camping because it’s at time to unwind and relax. What a jerk.

Loading the tandem kayak is a bit of a pain on the J-hooks. So I switched to the Thule Dockglide 896 from Rack Attack. It’s so much easier to load and unload the kayak. You just set the front of the kayak on a piece of foam or towel, push until it hits the back brackets. The back brackets have felt lining so the kayak glides until it hits the front grippy brackets. You tip the kayak up to push forward and adjust the overall positioning.

Critters

The squirrels were dropping acorns the first morning. You could hear them bounce off of my cousin’s camper. There were plenty of squirrels and chipmunks for Ana to get excited about. The birds seemed to like to make a lot of noise around 5:30 AM. I was able to get a few good photos of the woodpeckers.

Hey there little one. Ana would like to meet you.

More photos here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/KFqGkuMymNw8Dv2f8

July 21, 2019 Uncategorized 1 Comment

Bear Valley in the Salmon-Challis National Forest

On this year’s trip to Idaho, my gear made it to Boise and back just fine. I use an army surplus bag to protect my Osprey Atmos AG 65 backpack from snags, etc. I decided to cinch up the empty space above the backpack with some rope. So it really does look like a body is in the bag. So we refer to the army bag as the body-bag.

This year’s travel related event was a passenger on the inbound flight fainting or something like that. It was on the way to my connection in Phoenix. Before we could deplane, the captain came on the PA to say we all had to sit and let the paramedics get the ill passenger off of the plane first. I looked at my watch and I had about 20 minutes to get to my connection, but I didn’t know which gate I was arriving at or where the connecting gate was. Fortunately after I finally got off the plane, my connecting flight was at the gate across from where I deplaned.

We were thinking of going to Boulder Chain of lakes this year but the snowpack was still too much in late June. So we changed plans to go to Bear Valley and Fir Creek. We arrived at Fir Creek campground and noticed signs that the campground was closed. We assumed it might be related to salmon management. We did notice that most of the camping spots were taken but figured it was mostly forest management folks and a few jerks that ignored the signs. Turned out that the campground was closed until the end of May and the forest service didn’t take the signs down. We moved on to Bear Valley creek campground which was less crowded and better anyway. We managed to miss our turn to Bear Valley. We stopped to look at the map and it was supposed to be 3 miles ahead. We passed a couple walking their dogs and thought it’s been a long 3 miles but we must be close. We realized it was way more than 3 miles and turned around. It seems that where we stopped to look at the map was exactly the fork in the road that we should have turned at.

All hail the tarps! Is that all you got?

Even though we were at a lower elevation than Castle Lake and the Boulder Chain of lakes, we had hail the first evening. That’s better than rain. We were able to keep our fire going. We put up a couple of tarps to try to shield against the wind and hail. The hail kept starting and stopping so Adrian and Jared did their best impression of Lt. Dan, “is that all you got” (from Forrest Gump). It was about 32 °F the first night and fortunately had stopped hailing. My sleeping bag (REI Flash bag) is rated for 29 °F and I have a Sea to Summit Thermolite Reactor Liner that’s supposed to add up to 14°F to the sleeping bag (doubtful in reality). My sleeping bag is down on top and synthetic on the bottom to save weight. It’s 1 lb 12 oz plus 8 oz from the liner. I had wool socks, long underwear (top and bottoms), and a knit hat. I was warm enough except my feet got a little cold by morning. We had coffee/tea in Jerry’s camper in the morning. The heater was nice. I also tried out my new Klymit Inertia X-frame recon sleeping pad. The gaps are supposed to allow your sleeping bag to fill the gaps to trap air, and therefore warmth. I put it between my liner and sleeping bag and it seemed to be OK. I also had my old REI Trekker 1.75 self-inflating sleeping pad. Combining them is quite comfortable without too much weight. I also have a Sea to Summit pillow.

Critters
Around 1:30 AM the first night I heard the sound of a plastic bag. Jerry left his bag of peanuts (in the shell) out. The bag was only slightly open. So a mule deer was tossing the bag to get them to spill out. So I kept hearing the bag drop. I got out in my long underwear to tell her to go away. Then I put the peanuts in the truck. As usual, the deer came back every night. There was a really young buck, a doe and maybe her fawn. I wasn’t sure if the little deer was her offspring or just small. We saw a lot of birds in the evenings and I practiced a lot with my telephoto lens. I did OK photographing a woodpecker but not so good with the turkey vulture. The birds were bloody loud every morning starting around 5:30. There was a giant ant hill on our campsite and I discovered more like it at other campsites. There were ants everywhere. On the last day, we probably took 20 photos of a little chipmunk that found some granola Adrian spilled.

Other new equipment
I mentioned the Klymit Inertia x-frame recon already. I bought a Garmin Tempe temperature sensor for my Fenix 5 watch. The temperature readings on the watch don’t make sense to me. It’s not quite body temp but it’s clearly not ambient temperature either. The Tempe takes a while to connect to the watch, using ANT+ wireless technology. I hung the Tempe sensor outside my tent to get a few readings in the middle of the night. However, I don’t think I waited long enough for it to connect to my watch for our hikes. Sadly the Garmin software doesn’t tell you if the temperature reading is from the watch or the Tempe sensor but I likely didn’t record from the Tempe.

I tried out my new Goal Zero Nomad 14 Plus solar panel and Venture 30 battery. I didn’t really need them for this trip but it’s always good to try out new gear in a situation where you don’t really need them. I was able to daisy-chain my solar panels with Dan’s but it wasn’t clear if they were really boosting output. Anyway, the Venture 30 battery was enough to charge a couple of phones plus my Garmin watch. I don’t think I needed to charge my Sony camera. Dan and Jerry were trying out their ham radio gear for Field Day.

I like my REI Flash 18 daypack because it’s lightweight and packable. However, it’s on the small side and not comfortable if you load it up even with just jackets and clothing. I bought an Osprey hikelite 26 to use as a daypack when car camping. Unfortunately it doesn’t fit me well. It cuts into my shoulders a bit. It’s one size fits some, so I think my wife is claiming it.

Adventures
We hiked to the “secret” hot spring on the last day camping. We saw some people on the trail when we were hiking in and they were hiking out. When we got to the hot spring, one section had a heavy sulfur smell so we went down to the larger pool. We came across a group that had just finished and were on their way out. When we were done, we encountered a group just arriving. So we were glad to have the hot spring to ourselves, plus the garter snake we found but I’m not sure it’s really secret or hidden.

We found a wigwam across the creek and decided we should move it as a team building exercise. It wouldn’t fit on the truck so we carried it for a decent workout. We also found what appeared to be an abandoned farm while we were driving around. I still think it’s a CIA safehouse. The Elk Creek national forest guard station was empty but not abandoned. I saw a woodchuck near what appeared to be some kind of bunker but I couldn’t get a photo of him. I also saw some elk when we were driving out but I wasn’t ready with the camera plus we were in the truck.

I treated some of my pants and shirts with Sawyer Permethrin bug spray. It was hard to judge its effectiveness because it was a bit cold and there weren’t too many bugs. Overall the weather was good so I’m not complaining. There were no fires nearby so the air was fresh. The water from the creek seemed to have a bit of a pine aftertaste. At first we thought it might be my filter but Dan’s filter had the same slight aftertaste. As a bonus, Jerry made petite filet mignon, baked potatoes, tomato slices, asparagus, and grilled Anaheim pepper for dinner. It was outstanding and way better than dehydrated camping food, which is not to say that camping food is bad. Some of the camping food packs are actually pretty good.

You can see the rest of the photos here: Bear Valley, ID 2019

April 14, 2019 Personal 2 Comments

Two Bottles, Two Souls

Two water bottles, one is blue and one is green. One has a sipper tube and the other doesn’t. So what, you might say? Is this supposed to be art? The two bottles have more in common than you might guess by simply looking at them.

The blue bottle belonged to my brother-in-law. He liked to run marathons and it’s likely it was part of one of the packages the runners get when they sign up. My wife didn’t really have a need for it so it became mine, more or less. The green bottle belonged to my oldest sister. She also was outgoing and enjoyed physical activities, like golfing and going to the gym.

In April 2015, my brother-in-law, Vinh, died after an earthquake hit in Nepal. Although he had trained to go hiking on Mount Everest, even using a hyperbaric chamber, he succumbed to altitude sickness. Because of the earthquake (that was all over the news), helicopters were either grounded or busy elsewhere. So Vinh died nearly four years ago, in Nepal, doing something he was so excited to try: hiking in Nepal.

You can read more about Vinh here:
https://musings.imagedistillary.com/2015/04/26/random-act-of-kindness-miles-away/

On March 13, 2019 my oldest sister Guy also had an accident. She was cleaning her house in preparation for her best friend’s visit. Guy had just been to Chicago to be with Kelly, her best friend. Kelly’s husband of 25 years had just passed away. After Guy returned home to Florida, Kelly’s boss said she should get out of town and have some fun. So she paid for Kelly to visit Guy in Florida.

The day before Kelly was to arrive in Florida, Guy fell through the ceiling in the crawl space above her garage. Her neighbor, Sara, noticed something wasn’t quite right. Guy wouldn’t have left the garage door open after dark. Sara went back to her house and returned with a flashlight. Guy was rushed to the hospital but it was already too late. Sara and Mary (Guy’s other neighbor) called and explained what had happened. They left my contact info with the doctor in the ER. The doctor called and tried to explain the severity even though all tests had not been completed. I’m not a physician. However, I’ve been in radiology my whole career as a scientist. Even with my background and PhD, I thought surely Guy would be OK, maybe not the same, but at least alive.

I quickly bought 3 tickets from Southwest for the next morning, coincidentally the same flight that Kelly was on. My mom and other sister, Palee, drove through the night from Michigan to Chicago. I was able to sleep a couple of hours before they arrived. They, unfortunately, did not sleep at all. We met Kelly at the gate and we made it to Florida the next morning. Once we saw Guy in the trauma ICU, it finally hit. What the ER doctor was trying to say, i.e., you need to get here as soon as possible and make some decisions, sunk in.

For those who weren’t able to see Guy in the trauma ICU, it’s much harder to grasp. Like me, late in the evening on March 13, you were probably thinking, it’s just an accident. She hurt her head. She’ll be OK. I understand that denial and disbelief can be very strong. But when we saw her, we knew. For those that did see Guy in trauma ICU, know this: Guy wouldn’t have wanted that. She would not have wanted non-family to see her like that. In many ways, she was very private. You put your own feelings and desires above others.

Two things I wish people would take away from this writing. Make sure you have a will and your family knows your wishes. Both Vinh and Guy did not have a will. It took about a year and a half to sort out Vinh’s probate court proceedings. The other take home message is think about the family when you are confronted with grief due to the loss of a friend or acquaintance that you care about. Three people stopped by my sister’s house while we were trying to sort through her things and our emotions. I know these people had good intentions but in my opinion, they put their needs above the family’s. They need to be seen and feel important. They intruded on a very difficult moment. Two of the three recognized this an apologized later. We had to tell the front desk at the hospital to not allow non-family members to visit. I guess the other take home message is to not spread rumors or speculate what is going on, online but most of you know that already.

We assumed that Guy would want her organs donated to help save others. We were able to confirm that she was indeed a registered organ donor. The staff at the Del Ray Beach trauma ER were fantastic. The University of Miami Life Alliance organ transplant team was tremendous. They were caring and professional. Wanda was the first team member that we met. She was so helpful and patient. She said, “I fell in love with your family when we first met” and we fell in love with Wanda. I can tell you how much it meant to know that someone was there for us day or night. If we had a question, we could text Wanda. Even if she was off shift, she would make sure someone on their team took care of us. Like Guy’s neighbors Mary and Sara, we will never forget Wanda and are blessed to know there are still good people in the world.

Guy donated her kidneys and liver. She had a match in New York for her heart but the recipient could not make it. Still, her gift saved two lives. This gift was one of many examples of her character. Guy personified class and elegance. When she walked into a room, heads would often turn. Everyone who knew her, would tell you that her inner beauty exceeded her outer beauty. She had a gift of making you feel special, feel important. Countless people, especially those that knew her from work said they were her “best friend”. She made them feel important. Sadly many of them didn’t really know her.

She was an avid Cubs and Bears fan and Chicago would always be her true home. Tiger Woods was her favorite sports celebrity. Her laugh was infectious and she had a gift for bringing people together. Family was important and she was part of many families. Now she is joining two more families, her generosity continuing after a wonderful life.

March 24, 2019 Uncategorized Post a Comment

Welcome

Since Google Plus is shutting down, I’ve decided that I need a site that I can control. I thought about Medium but decided that it could change in a direction that I don’t like. I’m mostly on Twitter but the character limit is antiquated and dumb. The vibe there is nothing like Google Plus.

I was on Google Plus during the invite only stage in 2011. It soon became my social media home. I’ve met so many wonderful people there. I still can’t believe Google is closing what was once the best social media platform. I’ll write more later but this is just a note to let other Google Plus refugees know that this is where I’ll drop my longform musings.