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I woke up this morning at 3:30 AM to catch a 6:50 AM flight. I was told to increase my chances of getting on a flight, I should check-in shortly after 4AM. Instead of taking the 6:50 I decided to stay a little longer in the Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. My decision to stay was largely influenced by the airline telling me there were no more seats available on the plane. I'm now at the Taberna Del Tequila to get some Mexican food for breakfast.
Last night when I arranged for the shuttle, the person I spoke to
suggested (implied) that the shuttle driver on duty in the middle of
the night (early in the morning) would just be sitting around doing
nothing...
... Nothing except watching the second hand on the clock, I guess.
In the time it took to write this entry, I already arrived at the
airport and I'm third in line at the ticket counter.
I'll check back in a little while.
~ Greg
Back at the Hotel. As I was walking in the desert, I heard a voice call to me from the darkness. I turned around and it was the cab driver. The driver and his wife had come back to see how I was doing and asked me if I needed a ride back to the hotel. It was really nice of them to come back. They actually were really nice people. In my writing earlier, I was using a little bit of creative latitude in describing the cab ride to the zoo. I'm back at the hotel, text-chatting with Makur, and getting ready to go swimming after a little while before the pool closes at 10:00 PM.
Yesterday, I met a 45 year old man who swims in ocean waters as cold
as 45 degrees Fahrenheit. He said there are people in their 80s who go
swimming with him. They also swim in the harsh rip currents under the
Golden Gate Bridge. I was inspired.
As I return to the hotel, I'll keep posting updates along the way.
"Where is everyone?" I asked.
"The zoo closes early because of the heat. It's still 106 degrees.
Nobody stays outside in this heat," the ranger replied going on to
explain that people are hospitalized when they stay out too long in
this extreme dry heat. One needs plenty of water, the ranger
explained. I'd had a glass of water on the plane, but none with me.
Still, I wasn't pursuaded. I wanted to go climbing up the face of a
rock that I saw in the distance, so I thanked the ranger and continued
on my way. I thought it would be fun to look for venomous snakes in
the rocks. As I got closer to the cliff, I saw a sign warning of
killer bees. I'm not someone who's afraid of a few bees, so I
continued on my way.
(To be continued...)
My excitement about the zoo diminished slightly when I saw that they
closed at 2:00 in the afternoon on weekdays. Apparently "Banker's
Hours" and "Zoo Keeper's Hours" were about the same here.
The zoo was like a ghost town. The cab driver just dropped me off
saying, "Phoenix Zoo. That'll be thirteen dollars." I gave him a
twenty. "I only have three," he said handing me three crumpled one
dollar bills from his pocket.
(To be continued...)
I'm now checked-in to a local hotel. The photo above is of the swimming pool. I'll plan to go to bed very early tonight so I can wake around 3:30 AM to catch a 4AM shuttle back to the airport. I'm on standby, and was told that I should arrive as early as possible.
The flight I hope to catch leaves around 6:30 in the morning. If I catch the flight, I'll arrive in Minneapolis in the afternoon, and then return to Cedar Rapids around 2:30 PM. I don't have the specific details in front of me, but those are the general times.
It's about 6:15 PM and I'm planning to go visit the local zoo here (about 2 miles away) to see the sites and take some photos. The pool at the hotel closes at 10PM. I hope to be back by 9PM to go swimming before going to bed. I'll be checking email between now and then.
Temperature. It's now 42 degrees Celsius (107 degrees Fahrenheit).
It's warm in Phoenix: 41 degrees Celsius (105 degrees Fahrenheit).
Last night, after visiting (text chatting) with my Fiancée (who is now in India), I went outside to look at the stars. As soon as I looked up, there was a shooting star. This was similar to the experience I had in the mountains of Aromas, California. I'd looked up to immediately see a shooting star.
Last night, in the silent and dark hills of Sebastopol, the night sky was very clear and radiant. I could see the Milky Way, and numerous stars. I decided to test the manual setting of my camera and slow down the shutter speed to about 30 seconds (the slowest setting). This setting, with a lense opening of F 2.8 (focal ratio / relative aperture), was ideal to capture the night sky. I'll try to post those pictures later.
My food just arrived...
Wearing expanding foam ear plugs can help buffer dramatic changes in
air pressure. Air can still enter and escape from the ear canal, but
at a much slower rate. In this way, a sudden drop or increase in cabin
pressure, may not even effect the pressure on the ear if the pressure
returns to normal again.
This technique may work for babies or small children, but safety,
advisability, and results of effectiveness are unknown (by me).
Quality ear plugs are usually available at hardware stores and drug
stores, as well as being available online.
I'm currently using Howard Leight ear plugs. I've used other brands
that seem to work about as well. When removing the ear plugs, it's
possible to keep them clean and fresh (slightly moist and not dry) by
wiping them with a Huggies Natural Care baby wipe (or similar product).
When choosing ear plugs, I usually select a product that has high
noise reducing capabilities. It seems that these are more dense, and
tend to be reusable longer.
Most ear plugs can drop the sound level by 30 decibles (db) or more.
This is a general figure. The frequency response while listening to
the ambient surrounding noises will generally be lower across the
entire spectrum of frequencies. It may be possible to still hear
people talking. High frequency noises will have trouble penetrating
the ear plugs. Lower frequencies will have less trouble.
Ear plugs can be very useful in other circumstances, venues, and
situations including:
• When at a live music concert, amplification of the music is usually
too loud to enjoy
• Reducing noise while traveling in a car
• While using outdoor machinery such as mowing the lawn, tilling
soil, operating a tractor, using a weed trimmer, using any device with
a small gas motor
• While using a vacuum cleaner
• When trying to sleep - for greater comfort, consider softer
earplugs for sleeping
Caution should be used when sleeping or engaging in activities to
ensure you can be alerted to any nearby dangers. For example, you
should be able to hear a smoke alarm.
I expect to pay for advertising free experiences. For example, some
websites that are free (with advertising) offer paid options to
experience the site without advertising. Television programming with
advertising is free, but pay channels typically have little or no
advertising because the revenue comes from paying customers.
I think people feel it's unfair to pay for something, and then still
be advertised to. The tendency to put advertising everywhere, just to
make more money, is not well received by those who are exposed to it.
I'll be having dinner later on this evening, but I'm not sure when. We're planning to get together with friends. I'm having the Middle Eastern Plate and Raspberry Fizz as an appetizer until then.
After my run today, I showered, got dressed, and came to the Infusions Teahouse to catch up on my online work, emails, and posting photos.
The Border to Border Tour has been a really nice event to be a part
of. I'll write more when I have the benefit of a full-size keyboard.
Right now I'm writing using my iPhone.
We're about three hours south of Sebastopol and stopping for the night since it's late. I'm going to upload the latest photos and then go to sleep for the night. [2236] It's about 10:30 PM and I'm starting to get tired. I've started the photo publishing process, but will plan to finish tomorrow at Infusions Teashop. There are a lot of photos to review.
Instead of hassling us, the officer asked if we were okay. When we
explained we were taking photos and video, he said, "Okay," and drove
away.
In our second encounter with the California Police today, we just had
an officer pull up beside us on his motorcycle and signal Jay to pull
over. Maybe it was because we were going about 70 miles per hour or
maybe it was because we were in the wrong lane.
Jay used his "Jedi Mind Tricks," waved, and the officer just continued
down the road.
