A Programming Note

Sara and I are off to New Zealand (with a small layover in Samoa) for the next three weeks. Therefore we're scrambling to pack and I'm busy making it rain "pretend" money. Good times. We'll check back in when we're back in American Samoa.

Oh yeah, and Happy Valentines Day. Here's an ula for your trouble. We need to celebrate these occasions with a little island flair while we can.

Miss You, Tucker

Tucker Swimming on the Eagle Falls Trail in the Columbia River Gorge

After a rough few weeks, the end has come for my dog, Tucker. He was put down on Monday afternoon after not being able to eat for the past several weeks. My parents have been caring for him for the past few years, but he's been my constant companion since law school when I got him from the Chesapeake Bay Retriever Rescue.

When I first got Tucks, he was a five year old dog that had major weight issues. He was 125 pounds, I often referred to him as a keg with legs. He didn't know how to fetch and desperately needed regular walks. But other than that he came to me a happy and well behaved dog.

Waiting for the Next Throw in Tahoe

Tucker took a little training to learn to fetch, but once he figured it out he found his calling. Soon he spent daily session chasing the ball on the blacktop at the local elementary school or the grass at Burlingame Park.  It wasn't until we spent a summer of living up at Lake Tahoe that he managed to swim off all the excess weight.

The gravel covered Homewood Beach will always be the place where Tucker was at his best. He's chase sticks and tennis balls out into the water for hours. If you tired of throwing things for him to chase he'd start picking rocks off the bottom of the Lake. Every trip up to the Sayles cabin didn't really begin until Tucker had his swim in the Lake, whether it was summer or there was six feet of snow on the ground.

Even in his last weeks when he couldn't eat and barely walk, he still found some reserves of energy when my parents would take him to the water and throw a ball for him. We know the end was here when on his last day he could only muster a single retrieval from the Bay.

Giving Elbow Steam Baths on a Road Trip

It's hard to say good-bye to your daily companion, especially since he'd been there through many of my recent life phases. I adopted T-Fab before I started dating Sara. I'd often walk him over to her house when we after we started dating each other in law school.

He moved with me from Portland to Tahoe, back to Portland and eventually down to California. He was with me through three years of law school and the years starting to work as an attorney.

What I'll miss about the big guy was his enthusiasm, his non-subtle pleas for attention and his stoic patience.

It's going to be tough to go on without that dumb dog. Thanks for the memories and the years of companionship.

Nothing Could Keep Tucker Out of the Water

Two of my Favorites

Happy Dog

I'll Miss You Chris

Got another dose of bad news today from the mainland. One of my best friends from high school, Chris Rudolph, was killed in an avalanche yesterday at Stevens Pass. I got to know Chris when he was the funny guy who lined up next to me in Mr. Walsh's freshman PE class at Campolindo High School. We both shared an interest in mountain biking and skiing. We became good friends during track season as both the high jumpers (me) and pole vaulters (Chris) spent most of their practice time lounging the on large foam mats at the far end of the track. After that we spent our high school years biking Mount Diablo and Canyon or stealing weekend trips to Alpine Meadows or Homewood. I still remember the time when Chris and I took High Traverse at Alpine and he stood up for me after I skied over Shane McConkney's prototype skis. I can also recall an incident with the Moraga Police that he managed to talk our way out of after one of my first keg parties.

Chris was the person who, following my winter in Tahoe and summer back in San Francisco, convinced me to give one last go at the mountain life and do a winter up at Stevens Pass. He was just hired on in the marketing department at Stevens Pass, he got me hired on as one of the coffee stand supervisors. We had some great evenings hanging out, but it was a lost winter, due to a lack of snow. The mountain was open for approximately four weeks out of the four months I was up there. This left plenty of days and evenings to hang out in Chris' cabin across from the mountain.

I've been a part of the ski community for enough years to know people that have died in avalanches, but it hits close to home when it was one of the people you came of age with. Chris, next time I'm up in Leavenworth, I'll raise a toast to you. It won't be the same without you.

Yosemite

Totally unrelated to American Samoa, but Sara and I wanted to share this video on Yosemite to mark our (almost) 2 and 1/3 anniversary. While we're enjoying ourselves here in AmSam, we do miss our friends, family and favorite places on the mainland. Thanks for technology for keeping them as close as possible.

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite on Vimeo.

Be sure to watch it on full-screen mode.

James "Jim" Allen Sayles

I got the worst of news this evening. My grandfather, James Allen Sayles passed away this evening. For nine decades, Jim exemplified everything I hoped to be as a person. He was independent, an explorer, his own man, successful, the person who drove me to improve as a person and my namesake. You truly were one of the great influences of my life. You will be sorely missed.

Sara and I were both glad to have had a couple of opportunities to

visit my "Grampa" and my grandmother while we were home for Spencer and Britt's wedding. We managed to celebrate my Great Aunt Janet's birthday together and you let your "old school" guard down long enough to allow Sara and I to bring lunch to your place in Kensington, from Tacubaya. The problem with a trip as short as that was we did not get to spend more time with the people we love the most.

Grampa, you will be sorely missed. You were the man who held me to higher standard and taught me that good enough was not good enough. Even your surly attitude infused me with a patience and sympathy that will be a part of me for my entire life. Grampa, your sense of adventure and outdoors spirit were a major influence on my life and who I am today. You taught me to shoot a gun at 5, to fish at 4, to hike and explore my entire life. You always brought the perspective of an engineer to every problem in life and gave me a logical framework for dealing with every trial in life. These are skills that I relish and continue to expand on to this day, your influence will not end with you. It's hard for me to imagine going on without you, but sad as it may be, I will have to.

I will never be able to drink a glass of "pinch bottle" scotch without thinking of you. We are all proud that you were able to leave this world under your own terms and with you people you hold most dear. You may be gone, but you will not be forgotten. Even from American Samoa, you memory will live on, you old sailor. I only wish I was able to see you through until then end...

Spencer's Wedding

I can't believe that Sara and I have been in American Samoa for over 5 months. It does not seem like we've been on this little island for anywhere close to that long. But the end of September meant that it was time to head back to the mainland for my brother, Spencer's wedding to, the ever lovely, Britt. Time for us to have a brief reintroduction to mainland life.

Since we're captive to the two flights a week to Honolulu from Pago Pago (departing Monday and Thursday nights), we worked most of the week and hopped on the Thursday flight, a little more than a week before the October 1st wedding. It was a long, cold flight (Hawaiian Air keeps the AC cranked up high on the AmSam flights). The early morning landing in Honolulu was the start of our mini Hawaiian vacation.

We luckily knew a few people taking the flight back with us. As we exited the airport we made plans to meet up for brunch at the Sheraton on Waikiki beach. After so much island living and eating we eager to soak up the comforts of a real tourist resort. We were joined by our French friend who's living in London and the mother and daughter who joined us for a coast hike a few weeks before (one-armed Dad had to work). We all backed in the multitude of fruits, vegetables and service we just don't get in Tutuila. The fact that it was all available in a buffet next to the beach was the cherry on top.

After brunch we took a stroll down the beach. All the tourists were stirring by this point and starting to make their way out onto the sand. We watched a few jaded guides taking crews of sunburnt tourists out for outrigger paddles to the begging of the surf breaks to ride the waves back in. The "veteran" paddler in me was appalled that none of them were keeping time with the one seat paddler. I guess that's what you get when the paddlers are paying to be there.

At the end of the beach we turned around and headed back along Kalakaua Ave. After not having any retail options for months Sara and I started madly shopping the the items we knew we need for island living. The list included sunglasses, new flip-flops and swimsuits. This was certainly the place to find all these items that just aren't imported to American Samoa. After half a day in paradise, we got dropped off at the airport and caught our plane to San Francisco.

We were greeted in the City by my parents. They met us late Friday

night with Zachary's Pizza in hand and chauffeured us back to Lafayette. Sara and I haven't had it this good in a long time, we were starting to wonder if we should leave more often...

Sara and I used our first weekend to hang out int he Bay Area.

We got a few trips into San Francisco, celebrated my Great Aunt Janet's birthday by going out for a Chinese food lunch and even got to have a skype conversation with Matt in Denmark. Another highlight was taking Tucker and Delta for a few walks. It was great to get outside in the oak chaparral. After months of hiking and exploring tropical forests, the dried out landscape was a stark contrast.

During the middle of the week we headed up to Sacramento to visit our friends and family of our most recent mainland residence. We were hosted by some of our always lovely and fun friends. They pulled out a few wonderful evenings of dinner on the patio with plenty of the Central Valley summer bounty of fruits and vegetables. The kind of the stuff we've been sorely lacking in our isolated tropical island.

The quality of produce and products was a little overwhelming on the mainland. Sara and I walked into a Whole Foods and had a bit of a melt down. After piling our cart full of the items we had been lacking since we left for American Samoa, we forced ourselves to stop evaluate and put most of it back. We were buying food for only a few days and we'd piled enough stuff into our basket to feed us for weeks. We did still buy enough varieties of micro-brew to carry us through several nights and several seasonings that aren't available on island.

Sara also had a minor dental crisis and had to get a root canal on our last day in Sac. Without health or dental insurance (we have socialized medicine in American Samoa) this was a little scary. She triumphed through her procedure and got an expensive but necessary work done. Plus with the level of health care available on the island, it was worth the out of pocket expenses.

Thursday we headed down to the Bay Area for a dinner with my parents and in-laws in Los Gatos in an effort to get as much family time as possible before the wedding. We had a lovely evening in the Silicon Valley and were able to double up on our time with our families. After dinner we headed back to the East Bay

Friday, we headed down to Santa Cruz for the wedding. In lieu of a rehearsal dinner, Spencer and Britt requested a repeat of the wine party that Sara and I had at our wedding. The basic concept is that each guest brings two bottles of wine, one for the party and one to give to the bride and groom. There are metallic markers for labeling your gift bottle and plenty of wine for the group. It's a great opportunity to get everyone together prior to the wedding. The crew of neighbors and friends from my youth in Oakland showed up in force. I also enjoyed meeting the friends and family of Britt, who made it to the party.

Spencer and Britt's wedding was held at Britt's parent's house. It was at a beautiful spot at the

top of a hill above Aptos. They have several acres up there many of which are given over to pinot noir vineyard. They had a lovely ceremony and Spencer got probably the most sappy I've ever seen. We also learned how Britt appreciates Spencer's cooking and hard work. The festivities were a compete success.

Sara and I used Sunday to do some shopping in Santa Cruz and then headed back up to San Francisco. We got one last dinner out for Thai food and then had a quiet evening in the hotel with Sara's parents. Early Monday morning we caught our flight back to Hawaii and island living.

In Hawaii we attempted to use the bus to go into town on our layover, but managed to get pointed in the wrong direction and had to backtrack, my bad. We did manage to get to downtown Honolulu and do some walking around, but too soon in we had to head back to the Airport to catch our evening flight back to American Samoa. It was good bye to nice restaurants and abundant retail opportunities, but that's the price we pay to live in the South Pacific.

Sad News

I just got an email from the mainland. A friend of mine, Crystel Stanford passed away over the weekend. She was injured while riding her bike and passed later on in the ICU. I'd emailed with her before coming out to American Samoa and am glad to have been friends with her since we met at UC Davis. She loved adventure and had a passion for the activities she chose to pursue. Crystel you will be missed.

Part of living on an island is learning to cope with the isolation be being out of touch with the world. This is the first event that has really made me miss some of the constant contact that living on the mainland allows. I just wish it was a lesson learned under better circumstances.

Samoa in the News and Car Issues

After weeks of looking for new and researching the Samoas, I've come to the conclusion that there is relatively little available online about the Samoan Island chain. That said, it's nice to see a little news about the part of the world I'll be moving to in less than a week: Samoa Proposes Moving the International Date Line

Looks like "Independent" Samoa is looking to move forward a day, or potentially be a day off from the island Sara and I are moving. Should make for easy time travel once we're there.

Also, Sacramento got a parting shot at me over the weekend. I've been trying to sell my Jeep for the past few weeks. Unfortunately someone took a fancy to less than the whole of my Cherokee on Saturday and smashed the window and left with the stereo. All of a sudden my effort to get a decent price for my car just got much harder. I'm ready to put that aspect of mainland life behind me.

Socializing and Biking

I’m in the midst of a whirlwind tour of socializing and activities that I will soon be leaving behind. Tuesday I was off to Napa to hang out with a college rugby buddy and help him brew some beer (one of many hobbies I will be leaving on the mainland). Yesterday I was at an Oakland A’s game with Spencer, I even got to kick it with Stomper. Win.


There have also been errands and other responsibilities mixed into my schedule. I managed to find a cheap mountain bike and am working on fixing it up to ship off to the island. As a longtime cyclist I have done various amounts of building and rebuilding. I’ve built up just about every aspect of bike. The system on the bike I had yet to venture into was the derailleurs and cables. I didn’t notice that the handlebar mounts for the rear break and shifter was broken when I purchased the bike, thus a full replacement of the shifter and break. As the components are too old for retailers to stock the parts and there’s not enough time to order or track down the parts I needed, I’m doing a full cable replacement. The replacing part isn’t the difficult part, it’s getting the brakes and derailleurs adjusted after the new cable goes in. Hours spent tweaking a screw or trying to properly tension the cables are trying my bike mechanic skills. Hopefully I’ll get this bike fully functional soon, since it may be all the transportation I’ll be left with if my car sells.



I also received word of when I’ll be flying out. May 16 is my departure.

Out of our house

After a frantic week plus of packing, moving and cleaning we are out of our Sacramento house. All of our worldly possessions are either packed into bags, in boxes ready to be shipped or in our storage unit. Now the waiting begins.

I have roughly two weeks before I fly out, so there's a little downtime to fill. My plan is to track down a few old mountain bikes to get into peak shape before shipping them to AS. There's also trying to see as many friends as possible before we head overseas, as there will soon be a few thousand miles between us and them. Let us know when you have time to hang out so we can get in all the quality time we can.

Sara needs to work for the next two weeks and then it's off to Ohio to visit friends and family before heading off to American Samoa. Our time on the mainland is quickly slipping away.

Sacramento

Sara and I are in the midst of a frantic move. Our lease in Sacramento is up at the end of April and we're purging and sorting our way out of the house. In two-and-a-half years in Sacramento we've managed accumulate too much unnecessary stuff and with our pending move most of it needs to go.

Thankfully we got a PODS storage until for this move. It's making the packing and storage much easier. Instead of running car loads of furniture to an offsite storage unit, we only need to heft it to the driveway. It's also only one round of loading and moving stuff. Raise a glass to efficiency.