Jonathan’s camping tips

Avoiding Crowds
Don’t camp on major summer holidays. I’ve had very good luck camping right after holidays. For example, arrive at your camping destination on Memorial Day (when everyone else is leaving) and then stay that week.

Getting Good Campsites
To get a good site it is most helpful to do your research. This is especially true of campgrounds you plan on visiting often. If I’m in a campground where I think I might be coming back, I’ll go through the park and make note of the best campsites. Then, the next time I go there I’ll know which sites to ask for. If you do this regularly, in a few years you’ll have a nice database of the best campsites from your favorite parks.

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Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad

On August 5th, my parents (Lee and Wil Bloy) celebrated their 55th Wedding Anniversary. About a week before that, we took a few pictures to commemorate the occasion. I intended to post this sooner, but with the whole broken wrist incident, I completely forgot.

Lee and Wil Bloy

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

Not so shocking after all

The stereotypical view of car mechanics (lying to your face so they can get their next boat payment out of your wallet) is probably fueled by ignorance — not ignorance of mechanics, but ignorance of automobiles. I’ve been in situations where mechanics try and use my ignorance to scare me into getting things done. It’s especially difficult when you’re pulling into the garage of a mechanic that you’ve never had a prior relationship with. I speak from experience, having moved seven months ago (has it been seven months already?).

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Summerfest 2005

I wasn’t about to miss going to Summerfest this year, just because I moved 80 miles to the west this past December. However, geography did have an influence on the number of days I went (two compared to my annual average of six days while living in the Milwaukee area).

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Effigy Mounds National Monument

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My favorite part of my camping trip last week, was a visit to Effigy Mounds National Monument. Located across the Mississippi River (in Iowa) and about 15 miles north of Wyalusing, Effigy Mounds National Monument has over 195 mounds built by native peoples between 750 and 1,600 years ago. These earthen mounds probably had a strong religious significance for those who built them. Probably a means of connecting the people to the land, the spirit world, and their ancestors. In fact, some were used for burial purposes.

Conical mounds at Effigy Mounds National Monument

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How can he say that with a straight face?

Flipping through the Sunday morning talk shows today, I hit upon G. Gordon Liddy criticizing Mark Felt, recently announced as Deep Throat, for his “unethical actions.”

So, here is the man who actually performed the act of political espionage, breaking into the democratic party headquarters, spewing on about unethical behavior in others? Am I the only one who finds this totally absurd?

In the news recently, the Downing Street Memo has finally come to light. How three years ago, the Bush Administration had decided to “fix the intelligence” to support its policy of invading Iraq to remove Saddam Hussain from power. Would that we had someone with the courage of Mark Felt’s convictions, three years ago.