Tenkara

A few weeks ago I stumbled across an article on Tenkara fishing. It looks like a lot of fun, so I got an affordable Tenkara fishing pole from Amazon. Now the only problem is... where to use it? Tenkara is basically just stick fishing. Since there's no casting out or reeling in, you're limited to pretty small waters. The Truckee river wouldn't be a good water for Tenkara fishing, nor any of the lakes around Reno. The pond at Paradise Park might be OK if the fish decide to hang out near the fishing platform, but I have my doubts about that because they can see you which means they probably won't bite even if they're in that close. Bishop, on the other hand, has plenty of little creeks that would be perfect for Tenkara fishing. So I guess I need to start planning a trip to Bishop this spring. The sooner the better...

More time for my kids...

I wish I had more time with my kids. It's not like I don't have time, it's more that I don't know how to manage my time. I'm always busy but nothing gets done - not house work, not yard work, not hobby stuff... and I don't spend enough time with my kids.

I remember when I was growing up, my mom and dad - especially my dad - were always busy. My dad worked for Caltrans, and his job required him to make several business trips every year. He also refereed high school basketball and coached Little Leage baseball. When I was older, he was also a 4H project leader. He and my mom transformed our yard from a parched piece of dessert into a yard that rivaled a park. They grew a huge garden every year. Somehow though they always had time for me and my sister.

They took us to church every Sunday. They were always available if we needed help with our homework. They'd take us on Saturday drives to the railroad museum, to look at petroglyphs, look at the aspens changing color in the fall, or to the park. During the summer we'd go fishing all the time and when I got older my dad took me hunting in the fall. On top of all this, we'd take several trips every year to visit my grandparents in Sacramento. I still wonder where they found all the time (and energy).

There's clearly something wrong with the way I manage my time, especially in regards to my family, and I need to get it straightened out...

Another Old House

Don't know what it is with me and old houses, but here's another one. We picked this one up last year for less than the cost of a new SUV:) It was built in 1932 so it's 12 years newer than our last house. This one is real cute inside, I'll have to take some pics and post them if I ever get around to putting the wide angle lens on my K200. Really tiny too - just 1 bedroom and 1 bathroom, small kitchen, small family room, and a tiny little dining room. It does have a seperate laundry room though, and an added bonus room on the back. Without the bonus room it's less than 700 square feet. We're in the process of getting it rented...

It's been a real eye-opener. Most of the people who want to rent it have families - bigger than average, multi generational, etc. A single mom with 4 kids(!!!). Two parents with 3 kids. A mom and dad, adult daughter, and grandchild. They all know it's only 1br/1 ba when they call. Even if I didn't have ANY possessions I'd have a hard time living with that many other people in such a small house...

Another trip to Bishop

After 2 years of nothing, I got to got to Bishop twice in the last 3 weeks. The first trip was too quick - down on Friday, back on Sunday - so I didn't get to do much. It was worth it though because it was for the 40th Anniversary of the congregation I attended as a kid. I got to visit with one of the pastors I haven't seen in over 36 years. Plus, I got to get some of the best jerky on the planet:)

The second time was for an "all 80's" high school reunion. This was really cool - I got to see some of me best friends (hadn't seen some of them in almost 30 years). It was also the weekend of the Tri-County Fair so I got to take my 2 kids to the fair and Robert got to go on his first carnival ride. A great trip but again over too fast. Bishop has changed a lot since I lived there but it still has an awesome small town atmosphere.

Really made me rethink my priorities - sometimes I have so many conflicting ones that I think I might have ADD:) After my last trip home though, my highest one is to figure out a way I can spend more time in Bishop - a LOT more time. Moving there still isn't an option because my wife would hate living in a small town, but I'm going to figure out a way to spend at least a week there every month. The heck with all the other crap (cars, toys, real estate...), everything is going to be focused on Bishop...




Small trout stream on my parents' lot in Bishop



My dad's old truck - next summer I'm going to restore it

 

Cleaning Out the Man Cave

Well, spring is coming and it's time to clean out my Man Cave... err... garage. Actually, clean it up and de-clutter it. Some of my favorite memories are those of spending time in my Grandpa's garage when we'd visit every summer. He of course kept my Grandma's car parked in the garage, but mainly he used it as a workshop for his woodworking projects and model airplanes. Now that I have kids of my own, I'd like to build memories with them too. I'm hoping to have room for 2 cars, a workbench, a model railroad, gardening, bicycles, and hopefully a little dark room. I'd really like to get into doing my own black and white film processing. Oh, and a few woodworking tools would be nice too, like a power miter saw. Our younger son goes to year-round school which I'm not sure I like, but we should still have time to do some fun father-son projects.

A New Camera

I need a new camera about as much as I need a hole in the head, but I decided to order a Fuji Finepix X10. It's a little pricey (esp. for me right now) but I wanted a camera with good image quality that is also small and easy to carry around. I also like the retro look - it kind of reminds me of my Pentax ME Super and Yashica Electro 35. Of course I could just shoot with those but they take film and these days film processing definitely isn't simple or cheap, especially if you want the images on your computer. One of the things I remember about my own childhood was all the pictures my dad took, and once every so often we'd have a family slide show. I want to do something similar with my kids but so far I haven't had a good camera that's easy to take everywhere (my DSLR is nice but it's just too big). I'm hoping this little Fuji will be that camera.

Fun Photo Project

One good reason to simplify your life is to have more time for fun things and not waste so much on crap that really won't matter in the long run. One of the things I remember growing up is my dad taking pictures - lots of pictures. He shot slides, and every so often we'd have a Slide Show night. He'd set up the projector and we'd spend an hour or so enjoying the family pictures. Sometimes my mom would make popcorn. I want to take more pictures so my kids can remember what their childhood was like after they grow up (heck, I want some memory aids too:) ). I've got a 365 Photo Project going on Flickr. Lots of fun but I don't have enough time for it - sometimes it feels like a chore to get a picture taken and uploaded every day when I've got so much other crap that I have to take care of. BUT... I'm saving memories for my kids, and my younger son really loves it when I let him have the camera for awhile so he can take his own camera. I think when he gets a little older a photo journal project would be a really fun father-son project. So I need to simplify...