Supervolcano

Just to give everybody one more big thing to worry about, natural disaster-wise, I wanted to take a few minutes to talk about the supervolcano.

There's at least one volcano, on this planet, that is so large that geologists classify it as a "supervolcano". Looking back at the geological history of the Earth, this volcano has erupted once every hundred thousand years, like clockwork. Just like Old Faithful. Some of its past eruptions have possibly been responsible for mass extinctions of species on this planet, that's how big it is. How come nobody has seen this volcano? Well, apparently, the last time it erupted, its eruption was so big that it didn't leave a cone.

The cone is the visible part of the volcano, that is, the mountain. Mt. St. Helens, in Washington State, is a volcano; the mountain itself is the cone. When it erupted back in 1980, its eruption was so big it blew off a big chunk of the cone. You can see this by looking at pictures of it before and after its eruption; you would see that a big chunk of the top is missing. This is not uncommon in big volcanos.

Well, this supervolcano, when it last erupted, the eruption was so big that it blew away the entire mountain around it. That's why nobody can see it. It's still there, it's just that all that's left is the underground part, which is the important part, the part that causes eruptions.

Where is this supervolcano? Like I said, it's still where it's always been. Today, it's known as Yellowstone National Park.

Think about it. Yellowstone is famous for its hot springs, and geysers. Just like Old Faithful. Most people don't know this, but they even have entire lakes of boiling water; every once in a while you'll hear about some hiker or camper who doesn't know any better (the rangers do their best to keep people out of dangerous areas, of course, but people find these things anyway), dives into the wrong lake, and is boiled alive.

Why does Yellowstone have lakes of boiling water? Because it's the top of a volcano.

So. Now we have this giant volcano, the size of a state, that when it erupts it could wipe out entire species. Oh yeah, there is one more thing. Remember how it erupts ever hundred thousand years, like clockwork? Well, right now, in the twenty-first century, the next eruption is actually a couple of thousand years overdue. Geologists have no idea why it's being delayed, or when it might erupt again, or how big it might be this time. It will probably be accompanied by other volcanos around the world, as well as earthquakes, and God knows what all else.

And you were worried about a few billion gallons of oil.

Dow 10,000

For the past several weeks or so, the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been flirting and dancing with the 10,000 point mark, first approaching it, then backing away. I've been watching this dance with anticipation: Will it make it? Will it fall back down? What's going to happen next? Of course, with the stock market, you never know what will happen next, but like everybody who follows it at all, I like to guess.

A little history: the Dow hit 10,000 points for the first time ever ten years ago, in 1999. I remember hearing about it on the radio; people were partying on Wall Street. Since that point was reached, the Dow went on to surpass 11,000, 12,000, and finally hitting its all-time record high somewhere above 14,000 points. A lot of stuff happened in between those times. Then, last year in October, the market plunged us into a recession (it was a lot more complex then what I'm describing, of course, but this is good enough for the purposes of my blog), hitting 6,000-some odd points, before, in March, the market began slowly but steadily climbing its way back up.

So here we are now. I love reading articles by the bears-- "This doesn't mean anything! We could take another plunge at any time!" --which is of course true, nobody knows what's going to happen next. But for now, I like to be optimistic. We're on our way back up to unprecedented heights.

And I think Wall Street should buy lunch for everyone in America.

Mt. Rainier Part Two

On Saturday, August 22, Nicole and I made our first serious hike on Mt. Rainier, in preparation for our hopeful assent to Camp Muir next July. We hiked up to Panorama Point.

The hike was a lot longer and more difficult then we had been expecting. "Hey, it's only a couple of miles", we told ourselves, not knowing enough to take the elevation change into account. So up we went, with our one bottle of water and some maps. As we began to assent past the treeline, we kept looking back to admire the view and congratulate ourselves on how far we had come. But then we started spotting hikers way up above us, like stratospherically higher then we were. "That's not where we're going to go, is it?", we asked ourselves. "No, I think those are the really hard-core people who are going all the way to Camp Muir. We'll be up there someday, but we're not going up nearly that high today."

Later on, as we looked down from those stratospherically high trails, we wondered how much further we really did have to go.

At one point, a nice older couple saw us refilling our water bottle in a stream, and warned us against the bacteria found in all mountain streams, and they gave us some of their water. We didn't tell them we had already downed one bottle's worth of stream water. Fortunately, we never got sick. We'll prepare better next time.

The trail up split in two; you could take the longer route, which we did, or you could take the shorter route which went over a snowfield. We did see several people hiking on the snowfield; they had ice axes and other equipment necessary for climbing on snow, and we saw them practicing self-arrest. We are looking forward to getting some of that equipment and practicing next year.

Finally, during one of our umteenth rest breaks, a woman coming back down the trail gave us encouragement: "Just a few more minutes and it'll all be over, I promise!" she told us. We were way up on what I called the moonscape by this point: no vegetation or animal life whatsoever, just flat, dead-looking rocks. The lady's encouragement gave us the boost to keep going, and sure enough, a few more minutes brought us to the peak, where the trail turns back down the mountain, or you can take an adjoining trail up to the snowfield and on up to Camp Muir.

We sat and ate our lunch, amongst many other hearty hikers. It had been a beautiful, clear day all morning; now, as we were the closest we'd ever been to Mt. Rainier, banks of fog were rolling in. It was actually pretty cool; the fog covered the peak, but banks of it would cover and uncover different areas of the mountain, giving us thrilling glimpses of the face and glaciers.

The ascent had taken us four hours; it took us one hour to get back down to Paradise. On our way down we passed more and more people hiking up, and we could tell by how they dressed that many were not prepared to go even as high as we did. We congratulated ourselves more on how much of the mountain we had conquered.

Until we got to the visitor's center, and looked at the big 3-d solid map of the mountain: we had travelled perhaps one quarter of the way from Paradise to Camp Muir. I have to admit, that was a little discouraging. However, even if we don't make our goal next summer, we are both adamant that it won't be from lack of trying. We will take every opportunity we can to hike the Skyline Trail again, maybe next time hiking on snow, and getting the gear we need. We will hike to Camp Muir.

And one day, we will hike to the summit.

Precision

Precision

I've come to think of myself as being cut from the same cloth as guys
like George Lucas, Steve Jobs, etc. A friend and fellow Star Wars fan
once observed to me that George Lucas is the kind of man who likes
things to be just so; he's very particular about the kinds of movies
he makes, what goes into his movies, and all the details. In part,
that's what makes him so successful, but it's also earned him a pot of
criticism. This, my friend went on to observe, is because the people
who are fans of his movies have similar drives for precision in what
they want, so that while Mr. Lucas wants the next installment of Star
Wars or Indiana Jones to be thus, the fans want it to be thus. And so
you get a bit of a power struggle between the creator and the consumers.

I think it's the same way with Steve Jobs: very detail-oriented, very
particular about what goes into his products and who he does business
with; while his "fans" want their Macs and iPhones to be the best
possible product they can get their hands on, and they want it right
now, and they want every feature in the book. And you have the same
power struggle as with Star Wars.

I think I am much the same way. I have very certain ideas about how i
want to live my life, and where I want to lead my family. Thus. I want
to build a geodesic dome for our home, seated at the center of it's
own mini-farm; I want our lives to be assisted by Apple computers and
phones, etc., etc. The music I listen to, the sports I enjoy, are all
part of Dan Bothwell, and that's the way I like it.

If you don't like Jar- Jar Binks, you can suck it up, or you can not
watch the movie; George Lucas isn't going to make the Jar-Jar Free
Edition just to satisfy some fickle fans.

Sent from my iPhone

Mt. Rainier

Nicole and I have made the decision: next July, we are going to hike up the mountain to Camp Muir. We decided this over a wonderful conversation by the water on Sunday, and have begun making preliminary plans. We've both been working out a lot the past several months, and we keep getting stronger and more fit. We are now going to start a more rigorous training program to build up our strength and stamina, to the point where next summer we will be able to make the ascent. We;ve also been researching the hike, looking at books, etc. and will continue to do so. I will keep this blog updated on our progress. I can't wait!

The Almighty Dollar

Not to long ago, Nicole and I drove past a church whose sign bore the timely message, "Trust in God, not the bank.". Excellent advice, in these troubled economic times. But it got me to thinking, and I realized that even the dollar, the Almighty U.S. Dollar, tells us to trust in God. People look to money for happiness, knowledge, even coolness, but their money tells them, if they would only listen, In God We Trust. It's almost as if our nation's entire financial system is built upon a belief in God, first of all that He exists, and second, that He is in control of things. Which, of course, is true. So, what of the current financial crisis? I believe that it is only a true crisis for those who have put their trust in money and nothing further. For those of us who can say, "In God We Trust", well, He won't forget us. He has a plan.

Space Exploration

I just want to publically cast my vote for America, or anyone really, putting forth every effort to bring Mankind into space. Land people on Mars, build a colony on the moon, open up the Space Station to tourism, all that. The naysayers who complain that "it costs too much for what it's worth" lack foresight. I realize I'm just one voice in favor of space exploration, but I'm not the only one, and I want to make sure my one voice is heard.

J.P. Morgan Chase sucks

I want to take a minute to talk about our experience so far with Chase, our new bank. Basically, they suck. I monitor our checking acount daily, so I can gauge how much money we have and so plan out our shopping and spending. Unfortunately, at Chase, sometimes dates of checks, etc. being cashed can move around, so when it looks like we have plenty of money in the account for a small grocery trip, suddenly a charge that I thought was already taken out will get taken out that day, and now we're overdrawn. Chase has charged us three overdrawn account fees in the past week or so, where Washington Mutual would maybe have charged us one, if at all. Our plan is now to bail out of Chase and go to a credit union as soon as we get stuff together.

Take down your billboards, J.P. Morgan Chase. As far as my wife and I am concerned, you are not welcome in Washington State.

Tattoo

Nicole and I have decided to go in a bold new direction-- we've been discussing getting tattoos.  We've thought and talked a lot about what to get and where to get them, and I think we've come up with some good ideas for us.  I want a celtic cross tattoo on my left shoulder.  Nicole wants to get something, she's not sure what yet but something feminine and beautiful, on her left hip and upper leg.  We also both want to get a smaller tattoo, something kind of similar that links us together as a couple, and what we both thought would be cool was a Bible reference written in Arabic script.  Mine will read, "I'm my beloved's and she is mine", and hers will read, "I'm my beloved's and he is mine", from the Song of Solomon.  Both phrases look beautiful in Arabic.  I want mine to be tattooed as a band around my right bicep, and she wants hers on the inside of her arm.

We still have kind of a lot to talk about before we go ahead with this, and we want to visit a few parlors and interview the artists, and decide exactly what we want, before we get our tats.  But the more I think about it the more excited I get.  We're at a point in our lives where we feel getting tattoos won't be a stupid mistake, and besides, tattoos are hot.  The pic above of the leg flower tattoo isn't exactly what Nicole has in mind, but it's the closest I could find that I would actually post on my blog.

Virtually Infinite Improbability Generation

In the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Universe" books, there is a device dreamt of by scientists and ordinary people called the "Infinite Improbability Generator". This magical machine would be able to create anything, no matter how improbable that thing may be-- even if it's infinitely improbable. The scientists who are trying to built this machine find that it is simply to difficult to create--how would it work? What would it be made of?-- but they do manage to create a lesser device, the "Virtually Infinite Improbability Generator", which comes close to having the abilities they seek, but can only create things that are virtually infinitely improbable.

Then, one night, a technician working on the project gets an inspiration (he was half drunk at the time)-- what if the ability to create the Infinite Improbability Generator is only virtually infinitely improbable? Why, then the Virtually Infinite Improbability Generator should be able to create it! He goes over to the machine, inputs the necessary instructions, and voila! The Infinite Improbability Generator is born! The IIG goes on to have an important part in the rest of the story.

I've been thinking about my "Any ideas?" proposal, and it seems more and more like that Virtually Infinite Improbability Generator. If it can be done, my program will get you there. The possibilities are truly endless; I envision future users of it finding ways to go to the stars, improving humanity's condition, ending world hunger, ending tyranny once and for all.... The knowledge to do all these things is there, available on the internet, we just need to be able to obtain this knowledge, put it to use.

Maybe we'll even achieve Infinite Improbability Generation.