Oregon misc.

I took the van to it’s appointment at Aamco, a transmission specialist.  They road tested it and put a pint of fluid in it (it was low) and gave it back to me, telling me that it was a light duty tranny and that adjusting it without opening it up would maybe cause it to fail more quickly.  50 -60 bucks later, I got it back.  It works ok, but to use it for the papers will kill it, we think, so it’s officially retired.  It will likely work for a lot longer if I just use it to go back and forth to the bus job, so I’ll (try) to save up for another vehicle.  I’ll just add fluid as necessary and hope for the best – and use it lightly.  (fingers crossed)  I think I’m done spending all my not so extra cash on it…  But, it works for now, so it could be worse, neh?  ^_^ 
( a rebuilt tranny is $1200 – 1400.  4 times what the van cost me originally.  I think I’ll get another vehicle, a newer one.  Right after I win the lottery)

Oregon in the news
Oregon has been in the news often lately.  Last week, a family who got lost in the southern mountains was found… the mother and her two daughters, at least.  The husband had walked off after six days stranded in the snow to try to find help.  He died after a marathon trek of over 16 miles in trackless forest.
He was a writer for C-Net, an online technology blog whose writings I had often read – he was a good writer.  Since I kind of "knew" him, I followed this story with great interest.  Back in 92, my wife and a friend and I made a similar journey – in the summer.  Look at a map of Oregon, and there are not many roads leading from the Willamette Valley to the coast, especially in the south.  Not many highways, anyway, but the map shows many forest roads crossing the coast range to the coast, and James Kim apparently thought he could drive on one and reach the coast.
It was a poor choice.
The road he picked is usually closed during the winter – no maintenance or snowplows go that way, but the gate, which was supposedly locked, had been vandalized and the Kim family drove right by the then open gates.
Me and my friends did much the same thing, in the summer, in a rented Cadillac Sedan de Ville, and had no problems, although, technically, we got lost.  The Kim family got lost and stranded in the snow, and couldn’t get out because the car got stuck as they tried to turn around.  After 6 days, James Kim told his wife, who had helped her daughters survive by breast feeding them (which I think is pretty neat- that’s what they are for, after all) that he was going to walk out and get help.
He made a poor choice:  if he had walked right instead of left at the fork in the road, he would have reached a closed resort just a few miles away.  Instead, he walked down the road and into the forest, where there are no trails.  He fought his way through the forest, crossing a stream (icy cold) several times, and after so many days, he died face down in the stream – just two days after his wife and kids were rescued.
Life is choices, and he made some bad ones.  I’ll miss reading his articles.

Today, three climbers are stranded and lost on Mt Hood.  They set out to climb Mt. Hood on the weekend, thinking that it would be a quick trip up and down.  They are experienced climbers, who’ve summited Mt. Rainer and Mt. Whitney.  One of them apparently got injured near the top of the mountain, and the other two set out to get help for him, after building him a snowcave.
They started out by going up Cooper Spur, which I too have been to:

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This is Copper Spur and was taken in the summer, below Elliot glacier.
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The injured climber made a cell phone call to his family Sunday, and as of now, Tuesday night, his cell is still sending out pings.  The weather has been vile up there – lots and lots of snow, in blizzard conditions – a "white out".
Yet another storm, the stongest yet, is expected within hours.  The weather looks bad all the rest of the week.

My life is not so exciting – three more days until Christmas break for the bus driving.  One more night of work until my night off Wednesday – laundry night.  I recieved a Christmas box of food goodies and my favorite cigarettes ("Peace") from K* in Japan.  Meanwhile, it’s been rain, rain, rain.  And more rain.  November was the wettest November EVER.
My new (bought in Febraury) computer has a DVD player built into it, and my new LCD monitor is SO COOL to watch DVD’s on!  And next week, I’ll maybe have time to do so.

One last thing:  The boss called me a little while ago and says he’s real busy Thursday, so could he have Wednesday night off (my usual night off) and could I take tonight or Thursday night off instead.  Long story short, I have a surprise night off tonight.
I told him the news on the van too – that I’m going to have to save it for my other job, that I’ve put everything I’ve earned into it and borrowed more to keep it running…and that I can’t do that anymore.  Gotta pay off those loans and save for another vehicle.
Come the first of the year, I’ll give up three nights during the week so I can get better sleep and start workign the Sunday papers again- the first edition on Saturday and the final on Sunday morning (early).  I didn’t mention that the bus barn is, like, deperate for mid-day drivers, and that I intend to pick up some hours there.
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