There are a few trees on the western slope of the mountains near Hidden Valley Regional Park.
On Walkies yesterday, the Girl and I reached a bit higher than we have the last few outings. I wanted some elevation; she just wants to hike and hunt. With the time change, we’re out earlier (sidereal time) and the light is better. I like this. I think my morning routine needs some change with less indoor time early and more outdoor time early. The improving weather is a boost as well.
We had a string of wet, gray, windy, cold days. Those conditions make hiking more difficult. It’s not impossible, just more difficult. The light was not as pretty and the views not as nice, so the photographer wasn’t as motivated to get out.
Yesterday was cold, but not really cold. The sun makes so much difference. The Girl, who is nearly naked (a friend once said “Girl, you should know better than to go out in a sheer neglige!”), has to keep moving to generate the heat to keep warm. She does, never complains (well, rarely), and is the consummate lizard-hunter. Alas, we’re a little early in the season for her favorite prey to be active. (But she finds one once in awhile.)
The air felt good, with little wind and plentiful sun. The trails out at the Hidden Valley Regional Park are good, mostly. Some are quite challenging and I have yet to get to the top of the range. But with the higher path, we got farther back into the mountains than we have before.
While on the trail, we crossed a ridgeline and I saw this little pine, struggling against rock, wind, and lack of water. With the Eastern Sierra in the background, the scene was appealing. So, I made a few captures while the Girl searched for critters.
Unfortunately, I had a conference call to make, so I cut my hike short and headed back down the hill. I really wanted to keep going. Hiking out like that does something good for me and the mountains bring a peace that I love.
One the way down, I called Older Son to chat. I looked over my shoulder to check on the Girl and saw her “bounce” on a bit of brush. She was in full hunting mode, having jumped something she could chase. I laughed at her and called her to go. She’s such a hoot to watch.
Neither of us is perfect. I have my moments. She has hers. Most of the time they are at different points in time and they add out. Sometimes there is a nexus of conflicting desires and emotions and we squabble. I suppose that is the nature of relationships.
But we make up, apologize for our wrongs, and move on. The relationship grows.
Legally, dogs are considered property. “How long have you had your dog?” is a question I sometimes get. “She’s lived with me for five years,” is often the reply (if I give one). She is not property; she is friend, companion, helper.
We returned from our hike, tired, sweaty, and ready to get on with the day. I stripped off my wet base layer, cleaned up a bit, and prepared myself for my conference call. Then my day got started for real.
On Walkies the other morning, we came upon this wonderful frame of the mountains east from Hidden Valley Regional Park.
I am greatly enjoying our hikes at Hidden Valley Regional Park. When the weather is anywhere near OK, the Girl and I drive out there in the morning after breakfast and get as much hiking in as we can. The day is coming (soon) when we’ll have to leave here and move along. I will miss this park, as well as the many other areas we’ve been hiking here.
I love Nevada. The open space, the dry air, the mountains… these are some of my favorite things.
My dear old friends JW and Dee did a photoshoot for me. This is one of my favorite images, ever.
The Girl and I approach our fifth anniversary. I remember driving over the hill to be introduced (it is an arranged relationship) and to determine our compatibility. Young Son went along with me, just in case she would accompany us home.
It was the beginning of the most difficult time of my life, but for other reasons. That is documented elsewhere. The important part of the story is that our relationship continues to develop as we know each other better.
It was great fun around the first of the year when old friends, JW and Dee (J.W. Margrave Photography), accepted my request for a photoshoot. I am always the one behind the camera, so it was great experience to be on the other side for a change. JW and Dee are great fun to work with. They are very professional and skilled at what they do. We had fun wandering around the Texas Tech campus on a very cold, gray day.
But it was certainly worth braving the cold. This is one of my favorite images, ever.
On morning walkies a few days ago, the Girl and I came upon this broken down old pine tree. Instead of just walking past, she sniffed about while I chased her out of my frame for a capture.
I am enjoying my time outdoors here in Reno. We often drive over the to Hidden Valley Regional Park. At first we spent time in the fenced doggie area. But later we began walking the trails, of which there are many. This suits me much better as I don’t feel compelled to watch the other dogs for aggression and I’m not required to interact with other humans (dogs are always OK).
On this particular morning and this particular trail, we came across this fallen-over pine. The texture and colors caught my, so we paused. I had the chase the Girl out of my frame several times. I laugh at her all the time because no matter which direction I face, she will run ahead in that direction. Either she thinks she’s the dominant dog, or she is so driven to check out what I’m looking at that she can’t help but run ahead.
Sometimes when we’re walking, I’ll change direction abruptly to see what she will do. I can hear her running up from behind. She’ll blow past me, often peppering me with sand and gravel, then slow up to start sniffing about again, looking over her shoulder (ostensibly for permission). Furthermore, it never fails that wherever I point my camera there will be a dog butt in the frame.
This makes me laugh, then I’ll scold her “Get out of my frame!”
While hiking out at Hidden Valley Regional Park, the Girl and I came across this old wheel. I wonder who cast it aside?
I slipped into the rabbit hole the middle of last week. One of my goals for this trip is to get a working Winder$ install on my MacBook Pro to eliminate the need for a dedicated Winder$ box. I need access to Microsoft Windows because certain of my professional tools are only available under that platform.
Emulation doesn’t cut it for me. It would work fine for a couple of the simple tools, but for some of the heavier work it would be much too slow. (Think processing spatial datasets using a geographical information system.)
A few months ago I tracked down several websites that contained instructions for installing Winder$ on an external drive (with or without Apple Bootcamp). So, last week I bought an external drive enclosure, and nice SSD drive, and retrieved my Winder$ install disk from my gear.
And then I promptly fell into a rather large rabbit hole. Nothing I tried worked. I could get partway to the goal, only to be dead-ended by one problem or another.
Those who know me will say that I don’t give up easily. Whether it is a positive character attribute or just plain old stubbornness I can’t say… or I won’t say. But after investing a ton of time and energy into the project (and I really didn’t want to), I woke Thursday morning to a dead MacBook Pro. I had noticed earlier in the week that it had rebooted at least once during the night and was acting a little off. But Thursday morning, it was dead.
When attempting to start the machine, it entered an endless boot cycle. It would power up, self test, and begin to boot process. About halfway through the initializing sequence it would reboot. A hard powerdown was required to stop the cycle.
So I made an appointment with a Genius at the Reno Apple Store. Those technicians have access to diagnostic equipment and software that can get the process moving fairly rapidly. I have not had an issue with an Apple technician or a factory repair.
I was there a bit early for my appointment. Kevin connected my machine to the magic cables that emanate from behind the Genius Bar. Within a few minutes he confirmed that the internals appeared to be functioning correctly. I identified those components I had replaced as part of my last upgrade (battery, drive, swapped out optical drive for hard drive).
But, when he attempted to boot the machine, no joy. None of the disk images from the server would boot either. He made a lot of notes, put my machine into a protective sleeve, and told me they’d run some bench diagnostics and call me.
When I didn’t receive a call Friday morning I expected the worst. I must have a working notebook computer to run my businesses. I do everything with my MBP. To be without a machine, or worse to have a machine that is unreliable, is unacceptable. I had walked the Apple Store line and knew they had no high-end machines in stock. (My suspicion is that they do not sell a lot of their top-tier systems in the store. They special order and ship them.)
So, after leaving the Apple Store I drove to the local Best Buy to check their inventory. There I met Ryan, an Apple employee who has oversight over a district of Best Buy stores that includes the Reno store. We chatted for a few minutes about what was available. He told me that Best Buy was just taking shipment of the 2.9GHz i7-based MBPs with a 1TB SSD. The higher speed doesn’t interest me as much as the terabyte of storage. I have a lot of stuff on my drive and 512GB won’t work anymore.
He thought they had one in stock. But, no joy. So, he texted a couple of his reports in other stores and located one in Fresno. However, when the Best Buy inventory person checked with the Fresno store, he learned that they were under corporate orders to not transfer any of their inventory.
So, I went back to Ryan to visit a bit. Perplexed, he said “Let me see what I can do.” After about five minutes, he located a unit in Roseville and the Reno GM said they’d pay to ship it. However, Roseville is only about 100 miles from Reno. I said “I’ll just go get it.” I knew that I’d have my migration completed by the time they could ship the machine.
So, I met Younger Son to help with retrieve his vehicle and then headed over the hill to Roseville. There was a little rain on the way, but no snow. The machine was waiting for me. The Girl and I picked it up, mounted up, grabbed a bite, and headed home.
Then came the fun of migrating everything to the new computer. I had backups of everything (I got the Backup Religion several years ago). The configuration of the old computer caused a couple of hiccups, but nothing that wasn’t easily surmounted.
While on the way to celebrate Younger Son’s birthday, the Apple Genius called to tell me it appears that the logicboard has a bad drive connection. Somehow, it is still under warranty and so they ordered a replacement and will install it to check. I should know something in a few days. That means I could return the new machine, but I think I’m unlikely to do that now.
By the end of Saturday I had an operating system with most of my configurations set (or close enough) and I could work again.
Saturday night I started on the Winder$ problem again. After a number of false starts, I finally got the install to boot from a thumbdrive. With a bit of partition magic, I was able to get Winder$ to install on an external Thunderbolt drive. That process was completed Sunday. (Yes, it took much longer to do it than the previous few sentences might indicate. The cost was not only in hours, but in stress and energy.)
This morning I finished all the upgrades for Winder$ 8.1. My numerical models will be simple to install. I still need to install the GIS software, but think I’ll wait until I have a project where I need it.
I can run Winder$ natively from an external Thunderbolt drive. When I can get a Thunderbolt case, I can install an SSD in it and that will improve the reliability of the system and the speed. So now I no longer need a Winder$ desktop (or notebook). I can everything from my MacBook Pro. It is possible to have my cake and to eat it too.
Now, if I can work out how to run an emulator that boots from the native install on the external drive so I can run a quick HMS or RAS model without having to reboot to Winder$ I will feel like I have cheated the Devil himself.
I emerged from the rabbit hole this morning. It feels good to have this done. I’ll figure out what to do with the other MBP, if and when it is repaired.
Now I wonder if I can get an emulator running the Winder$ install on the external drive, too? Maybe, maybe…
On the way back down Dead Truck Canyon, this view of the dead truck presented itself. Yes, there is a dead truck in Dead Truck Canyon.
The hike last Sunday remains memorable. Although the wind was brutal in the saddle between Prison Hill and Stegosaurus Ridge, once out of the wind the day was very pleasant. The hike down was both easier and more difficult, of course. Easier in the sense that I was not climbing; more difficult on the tendons that pass the knee to connect the quadriceps to the bones. After a few hundred steps, those tendons complained a bit. But it was good because I am uninjured but the system was stressed. Stress causes adaptation, in muscles and connective tissue.
I’ll process and post a couple of captures of the dead truck from the trip up sometime. Maybe I’ll do it tomorrow. But, the one that captured my eye this morning was the view of the Dead Truck I saw on the way down the hill. The bed is full of sediment from the canyon. The light was not bad, too.
The hike will remain memorable to me. I had a great day and a great hike.
On our Dead Truck Trail hike, I stood in the saddle between the two adjacent ridges that overlook Carson City. The afternoon light on the city caught my eye and so I paused for a few minutes to take it in, and then to make a capture of what I saw.
Saturday afternoon the Girl and I hiked up Dead Truck Trail (there’s still a few photographs to process from that expedition). At the saddle between the adjacent crests of the range east from Carson City, I stood for a few minutes. The wind gusted, popping my hat and buffeting me about. I’m thankful for the chin strap of my Tilley Hat, that’s for sure.
I couldn’t move for a few minutes, transfixed by the sight of the afternoon sunlight moving across the city. The clouds shifted about, uncomfortable in the higher winds aloft. It was a magical few minutes, shared with the Girl, who continued doing her doggie things, snuffling about looking for critters, checking in with me now and again to make sure it was still OK to range out a bit.
For me, there will always be something about being out. I was away from the buzz of city energy and out in Nature, where my soul recharges. I gain spiritual energy from the expenditure of physical energy to get to these places and the opportunity to take in what God created… what God shows me. I can feel the city energy drain away from me in these moments of cleansing and it’s cathartic.
I stood there, taking in the magnitude of God’s creation in contrast to the city of man’s creation. I’ll take God’s creation anytime.
After a few minutes, I withdrew my iPhone from its carrier and made a few captures. Then I returned to looking for a geocache and hiking my way up to Stegosaurus Ridge (where I found one). The Girl stayed close, although she spotted something to chase while we ascended the ridge. The geocache was found and logged and we began our descent back down to the Silver Saddle Ranch, and then back to the hotel.
I’m grateful for the time outdoors, the health to move about, and the freedom to do so.
The view from our hike along Deadman’s Creek resulting in this beautiful overlook. The Girl and I spent a few minutes finding a geocache, then just enjoying the view.
While standing a couple hundred feet from the gazebo on the hill near Deadman’s Creek, the Girl and I saw this wonderful view of Slide Mountain and Washoe Lake. There is a little water in the lake now. It was just enough to provide some reflection of the mountains and the sky. The beauty of the place astounded me.
It was well worth the hike to get this view. I’m grateful for it.
On the way down from Prison Hill, the Girl and I paused to look over the Carson River Valley and the Silver Saddle Ranch. What a beautiful afternoon it was.
The Girl and I drove down to Carson City this afternoon to retrieve our mail and pick up an SSD from Best Buy. I’m going to attempt an external drive install of Winder$ for my MacBook Pro. If that works, then I will no longer need a Winder$ box and can lighten my load substantially.
After our running, we drove over to the Silver Saddle Ranch. It’s a facility jointly managed by Carson City and Bureau of Land Management. It’s still a working ranch, as far as I know.
What I know for sure is that it’s a favorite place to hike. This time we took the trail up Dead Truck Canyon (more on that in another post with another image, I think) all the way up to the crest. I hunted for one geocache (a 4.5 star) but no joy. However, the second surrendered itself readily and I logged a find for the day.
The Girl hunted, but not too far away. On the way in I saw a posting that coyote activity was observed and it was recommended to keep pets on leash. The Girl is always on a virtual leash, but I noticed that she stayed fairly close the entire hike. She doesn’t read, but I think she caught the message anyway. I carried a sidearm just in case.
On the way back, the sun gave us a treat. The overlook of the Carson River Valley east from Carson City was absolutely stunning. I made several captures on the way down and thought I should share.
