Quick hits

While I have some downtime in San Diego I thought I could catch up on a couple of things that had slipped my mind while writing at midnight.

While riding through the mountains in Northern California I came around a nice sweeping left hander, speed well under control and bike banked at a nice angle. I saw there was a car pulled off the road on the outside of the curve and a gentleman standing next to it. I could tell he was a professional photographer because he was taking a picture with an actual camera, and NO SELFIE STICK! That, and the fact that he had what is referred to in the trade as a very long lens, i.e. a telephoto lens, which was, uh, very long (probably close to 12")!

As I continued around the bend I suddenly became aware of WHY this man was standing with camera in hand. A deer suddenly walked out of the bushes to cross the road directly behind his car. As it moved well out into the lane I was in you could almost see the little deer light bulb come on in its mind as his Mother's words echoed between his ears, "always look both ways before crossing the road". His head snapped 180 degrees, from staring at the camera lens to staring at the roaring beast that was bearing down on it.

So all three characters were in play: I approached rapidly on my bike, the deer quickened his stride across the road with an actual "deer in the headlights" expression on his face, and the photog snapped a series of rapid exposures while tracking the deer's progress through his view finder as the deer passed directly between me and his lens' eye. It should have been one of those perfectly timed shots that everyone will be forwarding to your email account next month.

While staying at the most recent hotel, I noticed an emphasis on recycling that inspired me to find creative ways not to waste resources. The hotel had apparently come upon some surplus telephones and, not wanting to waste them, found a creative place to mount it.

I don't think I have seen this before. It was probably installed for casting your vote as to whether the end of the toilet paper roll should hang from the top of, or under, the roll. Or should it be... flush?

Inspired by the California spirit of conservation and reducing waste, I continued to prepare myself for the day. Next on my agenda was the deodorant routine. But as I pulled the top off of the stick about 2/3 of the stick crumbled and fell on the floor, apparently a victim of heat and the vibration on my bike.

Devastated at this sudden turn of events I slumped to the bed in disbelief. How could I recover from this?

But my lightning quick mind recovered and soon had found the perfect solution. I pulled a zip lock bag from my pack and, using the tweezers I carried with me to trim my nose hairs (it works better than trying to get a razor in each nostril), I carefully retrieved each miniscual little piece of deodorant and placed the white chunks in the bag. Then, in an equally painstaking manner I braided my arm pit hairs and carefully sculpted a series of hairy pockets. Now each morning when I get up I can put a piece of deodorant  in each hair pocket and I'm ready to face the toughest of days. No waste!

Tune in next week and find out how to use toe nail clippings to start a campfire!