In light of Munkirs’ posting on the message board, it probably would be a good idea to have some kind of “recognition” listing, for performances above and beyond the ordinary.  Here are a couple of noteworthy accomplishments:

• Todd James:  Maintained his composure at all times while in the canoe, both Thursday and Friday, resulting in an exemplary “dryness” rating for the barges.


• James Munkirs:  For patience above and beyond what would normally be tolerated, even in the face of extreme idiocy.


• The “Ringo and Gargoyle” canoe:  These usually sedentary float participants were observed actually paddling on at least three separate occassions.


• Zim and Chud:  For providing ample feed for all, and audio-visual diversion in the camper.


• Martin:  For his continuing innovation in the food preparation and eating arena, given absolutely no utensils.


• Whoever brought that foul jug of apple crap:  An “A” for effort in trying to bring back a truly lost tradition.  That said, I now remember full well WHY the tradition was lost… because it’s a vile, horrid drink.  Never, ever, ever, bring it again.

Another year, another successful Float.  The drive down and back was nothing short of tedious.  Yeah, it was cold and rained a bit.  Yes, Carl left nasty food all over our campground and we had to clean up after him.  Sure, Kevin’s hyena laugh drove everyone to the brink of insanity.  But, these are the things that make Float Trip.  The crowd was down quite a bit:  I think we had something like 35 canoes on the Friday float.  But, all the people in our “core group” were there.  All things considered, the weather could have been a lot worse.  I think everyone expected a typhoon, so we were happy to take what we got.  It was a bit chilly on the river, but tolerable… Light jacket weather.  As far as our feed went, it seems that we’ve settled into a rut of mediocrity.  We’ve had worse, but we could do better.  It seems that nobody wants to haul a bunch of food down there, and nobody wants to cook it or clean it up either.  It’s just a big hassle.  Thursday night we had pork tenderloin, Friday night was steak and potatoes.  On the river we had your basic junk-food; snack mix, peanut butter crackers, chips, etc.  Changes are already being planned in this area for next year.  (Zimmerman; keep that sentence in mind, you could hear it referred to in the near future.)  Our gear treated us pretty well.  My new coat kept me warm and dry, which is about all you can ask in a coat.  I bought a new rainsuit right before I left and it served as the perfect “on-river” jacket.  Martin brought a new gigantic “car port” that made a nice dining shelter.  Had it actually poured on us as predicted, it would’ve been even more valuable.    Munkirs’ new ride transported us in luxurious comfort; if there is any comfort to be had in a 5-hour drive.  My favorite piece of camping equipment continues to be my tent heater; it was almost unbearably hot in the tent despite being mid-30’s outside.  Unfortunately it runs out of fuel around 4:00 a.m. and then you wake up freezing cold.  I guess I’ll either have to start staying up later so it gets fired up later, or get up and change the propane canister when it runs out.  Or haul a full-size propane tank down.  I can’t think of anything else that bears relating at this time… I took no pictures so I wouldn’t have to post any.  Somebody threw out a rather humorous nickname for me during one of the rare moments of witticism, but I’m not sure I’m too fond of it so it shall remain private at this point.

Since the weather was so marginal, we headed back to KC on Saturday morning.  We got back sometime late in the afternoon; I went to bed and slept well into Sunday morning.  For our Easter lunch we went to Jeremiah Johnson’s up north.  Doni’s parents met us there, and Ed and Mike came too since they didn’t make it home for the holiday.  I had a 12 oz. sirloin steak… very good.  For dinner Donette made a big pot of spagetti, and we went over to Ed’s.  Mike came over too and we had a nice, quiet, dinner.  Proper way to wind down the weekend.

Well, we’re leaving on our camping trip tomorrow.  Glancing out the window, I see that it’s snowing.  Snowing quite hard, actually.  This is NOT good.

That’s right kiddies, the count-down has begun in earnest.  Some light packing has begun, some groceries have been purchased, and the trip-plan is being composed.  The weather forecast looks a bit foreboding, but we’ll have to take what we get.  I borrowed the in-law’s vacuum-packer-thing for the food, and it’s working out famously.  I vacuum-sealed the steaks, the danishes, some salad, and a few random household items that were within reach.  I gotta get one of those things.  Doni got a little nervous when I started calling the cat.

Well the weekend was relatively uneventful, but that’s how I like ’em.  I headed to the Brooksider on Friday after work and watched the basketball games, and then got up Saturday and went back for some more.  I sat down there for about 5 hours, and then the Munkirs’ came over and we went to dinner at Carmen’s, under the guise of a “Float Trip Planning” meeting.  I wonder if that’s tax deductible as some kind of business expense…

Sunday morning was the typical “relaxation” period.  I worked late Saturday night so we slept in a bit, then had our ritual 3-hour “coffee and newspaper” event.  After that I drove out to Mom’s to do a few light chores, and that more-or-less wrapped up the weekend.  I’m about 80 percent sure we did something fun later on Sunday but I can’t remember what it was.  (Besides the vacuum-seal-athon, that did take a while.)

Now it’s Monday, and I’m sitting at my desk facing the harsh reality of work without free popcorn.  Not good.  It would be an enormous quality of life upgrade if they had that machine here all the time.  Perhaps I’ll put that in the suggestion box.  At least it’s a short week.  I’m still working on posting the Mexico pics, but I can guarantee it won’t be until at least next week.

Big news on the work front; It’s QUALITY WEEK!!  One week a year there is a week dedicated as “Quality Week.”  We have cookies and stuff, and presentations, and speeches and what-not.  It doesn’t hold a lot of personal significance, as I make it a point to strive for quality each and every day regardless of the date.  (Although only in the workplace.)  But, the reason I anticipate it every year is that we get all-you-can-eat popcorn.  That’s right, they park a popcorn machine smack dab in the front lobby and it gets popped just as fast as I can chow it down.  Ahhhh, bliss.  I was quite concerned, actually; At first glance I thought it was going to be LAST week and I was going to miss out while in Cabo.  You can, I’m sure, imagine my dismay.  Likewise, imagine the height of my joy when I walked in the front door Monday and smelled that hot, buttery nirvana wafting through the air.  And to think, sandwiched right in between my Mexico trip and Float Trip.  I am truly a blessed young man.  I’m thinking about filling a trash bag with it and taking it to Float Trip…