What's Dale doing now?

Dang, I went to work this week.  Oops, I get paid to do that!

The first three days were spent in a soft skills course - Influencer.  I highly recommend it.  This class builds on the two earlier classes:  Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations.  Lots of good stuff, including some funny/educational videos.

If I enjoyed the class so much, why am I an engineer.  I need a pep talk.  Where is Dilbert when you need him?

On day two, I forgot to bring a pen.  So I asked the trainer for a loan.  She found one and told me to keep it.  It's a fairly nice pen.  Smooth Ink.  Colorful logo on it.  AFGE local 1592.  Solidarity.  Live Better/Work Union.  At lunch I went back to my office and got my own pen.

Thursday and Friday were in the office.  Spent several hours both days working on grievances.  The step 1 finding was released today for the "Contract Violation" grievance.  STP did not prevail, but it's not over yet, she'll take it to step 2.

I also got a ULP - that's an unfair labor practice.  I sent the top union dude an encrypted, signed email instead of sending an unsigned, unencrypted fax.  My bad - I screwed up.  The dude had warned me a month ago about sending the attachment because they contained personal information.  I checked the rules - No personal identificable information was contained.  After having so many grievances, I wanted to make sure that the union received it and I don't get positive acknowledgement of delivery from the fax machine.  So I sent a second email to the union dude because the Master Labor Agreement (MLA) requires that I send the info to the union. The dude obviously doesn't like email attachments, but he forwarded the attachment on to the labor union lawyer babe - unencrypted.  Go figure, UCFS


I'd like to put that union pen in a location where the sun never shines.

Governor Scott Walker - you're my hero.

Twin Lakes Overnighter

I had the opportunity to join the scouts on the 2nd night of an overnighter to Twin Lakes in the Uintas.  I bummed a ride with Ken and Kris who were also going up for just the second night.  We left Farr West about 4 and got to the trailhead about 6 p.m.

Bridge over outlet at Wall Lake

Just after we passed over the bridge at Wall Lake (1 mile into the hike), we saw this guy coming out of the brush on the lake side of the trail.  I think we recognized him before he recognized us.  It was Elliot, one of the scout leaders.  He told us that his grandson has cut open his toe jumping into the lake and they were trying to evacuate him.  Unfortunately, he, his grandson, and the other adult leader had become separated.  After assessing the situation, we suggested that he go down to the bridge and wait for a few minutes to see if the other two showed up.  We then proceeded up the trail and would look for the other two as we were hiking.  We hiked for another 20 minutes or so and came across Darin and two of the scouts.  They were loaded down with Eliot and his grandson's backpacks.  We exchanged info and they continued down while we continued up.

At Wall Lake

After arriving at the campsite, I grabbed a quick bite to eat, grabbed my fanny pack, snacks, water and my bivy sack and headed back down the trail.  We had a tough time finding the trail to Twin Lakes in the daylight and as they would be arriving back after dark, I didn't want them to get lost.  So I hiked back to the main trail and 30 minutes later, Darrin and the scouts arrived.  Eliot and his grandson had met up at the bridge and Curt was driving them to the hospital in Park City.

Later, as I was getting settled for the night, Curt showed back up.  He had his GPS and had no problem finding the campsite.

The Motley Scout Troop

Saturday morning I went for a short hike up to the notch and back.  We had a leisurely time eating breakfast and packing our gear before heading back out.  Overall, it was a good trip.  The boys had fun, caught some fish, and other than a fairly significant toe inury, things went pretty smooth.  Most of the boys that were on this trip will become a part of my group next year.

2012 Columbus Day Holiday Adventure

My permit! It arrived in the mail just a few days ago!   I didn't get my first choice of routes, but heck, any Grand Canyon trip is better than sitting in the office.

This will be a repeat of the trip done in 2008.  We'll start at Lipan Point and end hiking out from Horseshoe Mesa.  I have a few twists for this trip.  I'm planning on going around the northside of Horseshoe Mesa instead of climbing up the East face.  Also, during my research, I found out that there is a cave on the Mesa.  It is now a part of my plans.

Kris also got permits for August at Zion.  We'll be doing the Virgin River Narrows.  I did it last year and it was a blast.

Summer is Here

It's June 2.  Summer has started.

Yesterday I submitted my request for a backcountry hiking permit in the Grand Canyon.  Our preferred route is the Royal Arch, but I also put in requests for the Tanner, Escalante & Tonto Trails and a Rim to Rim to Rim hike.  Hopefully we'll get something.  It took 12 tries at the fax machine before I got one to go through.  Hopefully only 1 went through and I don't get charged for multiple trips.

I also tried to put in a request for the Zion Virgin River Narrows for a planned outing in August.  Too early.  The earliest date I can submit is on June 5 at 10:00 am.

Our bike trip in Moab is next week.  Our plans are to leave home fairly early on June 5th.  Oops, need to figure out an alternative method for getting zion permits.  I'm taking a group of varsity scouts for a biking trip at Moab.  Klondike, Corona Arch, Professor Falls are among our destinations.  Should be fun.  We've taken the boys out on several mountain and road rides over the past few months.  Most are ready, a few are not.

I'll provide an update on Moab when I get back.  Hopefully all the boys will have a good time - most of the time.

Mel and family are on their way to our place.  We get the kids for a week while they jet off to Hawaii for their 10th anniversary.