Whop-Bang-Boom!

I suppose you all have heard by now... but...
Kristen and I have decided that it's best for both of us to not really be in a relationship together anymore. We've been together for nearly 3 years (in October) and since she was 17 and I was 21. We've decided it would do us both good to be on our own (sorta) for a bit to do some growing (hopefully not growing apart) up. We came together when I was miserable, and needed a friend very badly. She has become my best friend and more, and that hasn't changed. Now, we're going to try it out as being best friends without the relationship stuff. Truthfully, it's going to be hard to separate that out, since we'll still be living together for another year, besides the other obvious difficulties.
So, that's how things are for now. We're still living together, just not as a "couple". I don't think either of us will dating other people any time soon though. So instead of the original plan of me staying down here an extra year (since Kristen has 2 more to go), I guess I'll be looking for a job and entering the "real world" after this year is up.
This definitely changes a lot of things... my whole future plans I guess. Right now things are suprisingly alright. I'm pretty sure we'll always be friends, and who knows, maybe we'll end up together again in a couple years...
So don't worry about me, I'm doing fine, we're doing fine. I'll be alright. It could be much worse.

Zephyr a mutt no more?

Well, it appears we finally found out what kind of dog Zehpyr is, we think.
A friend sent some links about a breed called a Vizsla (pronounced "veesh-la"), which is a hungarian bird hunting dog. Aparently, it's the oldest pointing breed in existence. The descriptions of their behavior sure does seem to match hers. They usually crop their tails a bit, and I guess whoever had Zephyr before us didn't, thankfully.
What do you think?
Zephyr herself...


A Vizsla...


The only real difference seems to be that Zephyr's nose is darker than most of them. The color of her coat depends a lot on the lighting... not quite as red as the dog above, but darker than she looks in the pictures. Otherwise that dog above could be her...
Here's some info about the breed:
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/vizsla.htm
http://clubs.akc.org/vizsla/
http://www.vizsladogs.com/

Some cave pictures...

Finally, here's a couple pictures of some sea caves from San Salvador. There's lots more like this. Not bad eh?

Looking out onto the gorgeous grotto beach area...

Sea cave with a skylight. Found that hat in the garbage by the way... love it.

Surveying in action. We really got tossed around in some of these...

On another note, why are relationships so hard?

Long time...

It's been a while, so here's what's been going on...
- the bahamas were fun, lots of surveying, lots of caving (mostly sea caves), lots of rock sampling.
- it's ridiculously hot here this summer (100 as I write this), and we're something like 12" or so behind in rainfall
- yesterday was Kristen and I's 33-month anniversary. We saw Pirates of the Caribbean 2 (one of our first dates was seeing the first one), and ate at a Japanese restaurant. It takes a long time to eat a plate of rice with chopsticks.
- the new mountain bike is up and running. I like it a lot so far.
- the new apartment is about one-meelion-beelion times better than the old one.
- zephyr is a great doggy
- Kristen and I have been running together in the mornings, doing about a 3 mile loop. I really notice how my right leg is longer than the other... Kristen is fast too.
- The bike shop is the same as ever.
- I've got lots of school work to do
- It's really hot (did I mention that?)
- Can't seem to find any neat turtles anymore. I blame the construction.
- Oh, broke my wonderful camera whilst cave surveying, hopefully will be warrantied...
- Kristen is wonderful. :)

Bahamas...

Well, I'm on San Salvador now, but here's some pictures from Cat Island, where I was the previous week. I've gotta give my first professional talk tomorrow, so wish me luck. I've got a good internet connection here, so I'll try to write things every now and then. Thanks to all of you who talked to Kristen on her birthday. It really meant a lot to her, especially since some jerk wasn't there for the second year in a row... Here's a few pictures... Nevermind, pictures aren't loading. Anywho, things are going well.

A few more...

On the way up. We pretty much just followed that rockslide you can see.

Another view looking down.

Getting back to the "flat" part...

Neat little flume/section of trail, stream over bedrock.

Kristen crossing the stream, I mean trail.

More Katahdin Pictures.

Another view from partway up, before getting into clouds...

Melting rime-ice.

Kristen nears the summit.

Kristen at Thoreau Spring, where we intersected the AT.

Me somewhere on the table-lands...

Somewhere on the way down...

Rime-ice on a cairn.

Snow near the top.

Summit shot.

Catching her balance or disco inferno? On the way down...

Maine: Katahdin

Kristen and I (mostly Kristen) had been feeling bad about sitting around this whole break, so we decided we'd go get our asses kicked by Katahdin. The only trail to the top open was the Abol Trail, which is to the east of the Appalachian Trail route (the "Hunt Trail"). The ranger told us it was shorter, but steeper. It started off pretty wet, with a stream gushing down the trail, then got up into a bunch of that typical Katahdin straight up the scree slope stuff. Pretty clear until we were about to the table-lands, when we got up into clouds. Didn't see much at all once we got up there. Intersected the AT at Thoreau Spring and took that the rest of the way up. Wasn't too windy or nasty up there, but there was still some snow and rime ice here and there. This route as only 3.8 up (7.6 round trip) instead of 5.2 that the AT route takes. We both felt it was a lot easier than the AT route up. That route just kicks your ass, but this one didn't. Both our knees and ankles were a bit sore on the way down, but nothing like after the other route. Anyway, it was a fun trip. Made it home in time for dinner too. Mmm chili and biscuits... Here some pictures. Enjoy.

The trail was a bit moist...

We really suck at taking pictures together.

Kristen conquers the mountain.

Looking down on the way up. Bit steep.

View from partway up...

Ye olde Waterstrat haus...

At mom's request, some pictures of the old house. Doesn't look like they give the garden TLC like you mom...

Maine: Kayaking

Went down to Boothbay for a bit yesterday. Had lunch and dinner with Kristen's grandparents and did a little kayaking. We didn't have time for much and it was pretty windy, but it sure was nice to be on the water again. It all came back quickly... Here's a few pictures (including Kristen's new haircut).

Kristen pre-haircut, clearly excited to be done with school.
And with short hair, in a kayak, also happy. :)

Somewhere back in Mill Cove (near DMR & Coastguard)

Me in the back o' the tandem. Tugboat Inn in background, on the way out.
Looking at seaweed and algae blooms... lots of jellyfish about too...

Artsy shot of my paddle...

Crazy Storm Front...

Some really cool looking cloud formations scudding over us today. I was looking out the bathroom window and saw this really well defined squall line coming out of the north. Rained really hard for a little bit. Went in and checked out the radar, and saw another one on the way. Got outside and took some pictures of it. Looks really cool... I'd hate to see it from a boat though. Not as much rain with this one...

Cats and Dogs

Zephyr was lounging around and Athena's cat, Circles, snuggled up beside her. Aww...
Look at them all snuggley wuggley...

Look cozy don't they?

Busted!

Bad luck with bikes...

Man, what crappy luck I've had with my bikes in the past week...
Wednesday night, I went on a group road ride. On the way back, my front derailleur explodes, my chain breaks, and spoke tension on my rear wheel goes to nothing, wobbling all over the place.

Saturday, I put on new cranks on the MTB because my rings were totally worn. Found a nice old LX crankset around and used those. But, aparently 8spd cranks don't work with 9spd front derailleurs. Before I discovered that though, I noticed a few small cracks on the chainstays. It was still rideable though, just not for too much longer. Got rid of the LX cranks, and put on some el cheapo icons just so I could ride something. Went for a short ride at southfarm last night, and noticed the rear shifting was acting goofy. I figured it was maybe because the chainline was a bit different with this crankset and didn't worry much about it. Today I was going to go for another little ride, having seemingly fixed rear shifting issues. Stopped by the "turtle ditch" on the way out just to have a look. Got moving again and the rear shifts over into the spokes. Fortunately I was barely moving, so it didn't mess up my derailleur or wheel, but the dropout was toast. Or so I thought... Took a closer look (see below)...


So it seems my rear shifting issues were due to a bit of play in the dropout, caused by a sheared bolt (I think, the bolt may have sheared when it shifted into the spokes). Instead of the dropout snapping off or twisting, it simply bent the hell out of the permanent part of the frame. So those hairline cracks don't matter at all since this most recent crap pretty much condemns it... Total bummer, but I guess I can justify a new frame now.

Grasshopper Attack!

Remember those big ol' black and colorful grasshoppers they have down here? They're called "lubber" grasshoppers and get up to 5" long or so. Big fellas. Anywho, right now they're hatching out, and there seems to be a lot of them right around our apartment. They're kinda cute when they're little eh?