Good Shark, Good Shark!

MAJURO, Marshall Islands — A man lost at sea for 15 weeks was rescued after a serendipitous meeting with a shark. Toaki Teitoi, a 41-year-old policeman in the central Pacific island nation of Kiribati, said he had drifted in a wooden boat for 106 days before he was picked up by a fishing boat near the Marshall Islands. The man had watched a movie about being lost at sea one day before he and his brother-in-law embarked May 27 on what was supposed to be a two-hour trip from Tarawa, the capital of Kiribati, to Teitoi's hometown, Maiana.

Teitoi and his brother-in-law, Lelu Falaile, 52, stopped to fish along the way and decided to sleep on the boat. When the pair awoke the next day, they found they had drifted out of sight of the island, and soon ran out of fuel. Teitoi told the Herald the pair had food, but no water. Falaile died July 4 due to dehydration, he said.

"I left him there overnight and slept next to him like at a funeral," Teitoi told the Herald. He then buried his brother-in-law at sea. A day later, a storm blew through the area, providing Teitoi with fresh water. The morning of Sept. 11 brought a fishing boat into his sights, but he remained unseen. He fell asleep and awoke in the afternoon to the sound of scratching: a six-foot shark was circling the boat, bumping the hull as it went.

"He was guiding me to a fishing boat," Teitoi said. "I looked up and there was the stern of a ship and I could see crew with binoculars looking at me." Teitoi said if the shark had not nudged him awake, he would not have been able to alert the crew of the ship that he was in trouble, and the crew "might have carried on sailing past me." Teitoi was given food and water and remained with the men for a few days. He is scheduled to fly home on Sunday.

Story thanks to Stephanie Grimes of KSL!

Mirror Lake Fourteen

And so we finally wended our way back to the northwest corner of the lake and to the parking lot. There waited warm, dry clothes for the girl, and a clean socks for Dad.

Mirror Lake Thirteen

And then onto the unnatural fauna, the fishermen, who were clustered around the north west end of the lake. They were all enjoying themselves catching little rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

Mirror Lake Twelve

Then we ran into some of the local flora and fauna while Keziah was sunning herself on a rock. First there was a cute little chipmunk (Neotamias umbrinus) and some water weeds that looked like long spaghetti floating on top of the water. I honestly don't know how anything grows in that icy water.

Mirror Lake Eleven

So off we set on the trail around the north side of Mirror Lake on pathways made out of timber for a nice even walk.

Mirror Lake Ten

Let's go back to the car, I'm freezing!
(I found out later that the lake is feed by Pass Lake, which is higher still, that is in turn fed by snow-melt from Bald Mountain, which is 11,943 ft (3,640 m) in height. Now wonder the water felt like liquid ice).

Okay, but we are half-way round, so let's complete the journey.

Mirror Lake Nine

Ok, should we go for a swim?
Sure, where? Out there? It will be freezing!
Yep!

Mirror Lake Eight

Oh look there's an island, and nobody else is there, lets go claim our very own island!

Mirror Lake Seven

Two or three miles further up SR-150 is the turnoff to Mirror Lake, a beautiful forested lake set at 10, 050 feet (3,060 metre) high in the Uinta Mountains. It is about a 53 square acres (about a quarter of a square kilometre) in size, although it seems much larger, probably from the grandeur of the setting. For my family and friends in New Zealand and Australia, Mirror Lake is 2,740 feet (or 835 metres) higher than Mt Kosciuszko, the tallest mountain in the Australian mainland. It is only 2,266 feet (or 690 metres) lower than the peak of Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand proper. So in other words, it is up there!

Mirror Lake Six

Dang that water is cold. My feet are like blocks of ice. It doesn't matter it's right at the end of summer and has had several months to warm up.

Mirror Lake Five

Is that a fish that I see in there?

Mirror Lake Four

If you climbed all of the terraces it would be like walking up the stairs of a ten-storey building at least. Luckily you can take it a slowly as you like, enjoy the scenery on the way up, and stop for a dip in each pond if it takes your fancy. Nice.

Mirror Lake Three

 What a beautiful and unusual falls. They are terraced like a long, wide set of grand stairs. Keziah just could not resist running up and down them all. Too much fun.

Mirror Lake Two

We drove south to Interstate 80 and turned east toward the Wasatch, then up Parleys Canyon, past Jeremy Ranch and Kimball Junction. We then took US40 and SR 248 past the Jordanelle Reservoir to Kamas where we stopped for a cold drink. Kamas is a pretty, alpine town of around 1,200 people in Summit County, that is often called The Gateway to the Uintahs. Then up into the foothills along SR 150 to a great country store that sold a bunch of hand-made food and souvenir items not available anywhere else. We were able to purchase our $6.00 -3-day recreation pass, to allow us to go up to the lake. About 30 miles (50 kilometres) up SR 150 we made out first stop, Provo River Falls.

Mirror Lake One

My daughter Keziah and I have been planning on going for a drive up in the mountains this summer, a daddy-daughter getaway. We settled on going up to Mirror Lake, up in the Uintah Mountains in Duchesne County. I have been really wanting to travel there for several years, but have just never found a good time. So last weekend we ate our lunch and jumped in the car for our afternoon trek.

All in the Family

It's a pretty incredible and touching story a grandfather and paramedic delivered his own grandchild Saturday morning after his daughter unexpectedly went into labor. Grandmother Kathleen Forsyth said her daughter called to tell the family she was going into labor and wasn't going to make it to the hospital. She and her husband David Forsyth, still in pajamas, rushed over to their daughter's house where paramedics were already getting the mother into an ambulance.

The baby could only wait long enough for her soon-to-be grandfather to arrive. As they took off for the hospital, delivery couldn't be avoided. That's when the he started helping deliver the baby. "I saw a little tuft of hair and I thought, "Uh-oh, we're gonna have a baby,'" he said. He said he was able to stay calm because not only is he a paramedic with the City of Orem but he's helped with a few deliveries.

"I got to be the first one to hold my granddaughter. it was pretty good," Forsyth said. Little Jane was delivered just before 6 a.m. Saturday morning. She is healthy and a pretty happy baby. The mother says that while of course having a child is special in itself, to have her father do the delivery made it that much more remarkable.

Three Branches of Government There For A Reason

A week or so later, I am still kind of sputtering over a comment dropped from the lips of our dear President, Barack Obama. Rather a thinly-disguised attempt, I think, to muzzle a potentially damaging outcome from the Supreme Court. His words were:

“For years, what we’ve heard is the biggest problem on the bench was judicial activism or the lack of judicial restraint, that an unelected group of people would somehow overturn a duly constituted and passed law, and I’m pretty confident that this court will recognize that and not take that step.”

I am fairly sure, even though nowhere near an expert, that the Founding Fathers of these United States of America, ensured that the three branches of  government; the legislative, the judicial, and the executive, were separated for very good reason. That tyranny and despotism could not reign in this country.

Is the judicial branch of the government, in the form of the Supreme Court of the United States, not in its very existence to ensure that unjust and unconstitutional laws are struck down? I am not saying that their law that President Obama is lobbying here to uphold is unconstitutional, but that the President is very wrong to send such a pointed message to another branch of government.

The Supreme Court should be allowed to work out its stances on legislation and legal precedent without, as they say, fear or favor. They must be afforded the opportunity to discuss and debate this case before them without an elected official bullying them into compliance, that they may, or may not agree with. That is their duty.

Utah woman oldest to climb seven continents’ highest peaks

The amazing Carol Masheter, at age 65, says she is now the oldest woman to have reached the top of the tallest mountains in all seven continents, a feat completed in four years: Denali, Aconcagua, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Vinson Massif, Everest and Kosciuszko. It’s likely she will keep the record, because those who issue permits for Everest in Tibet have since decided no one over 60 can attempt the climb.

Masheter, who arrived home in Salt Lake City from Australia Wednesday morning, said that attitude makes no sense when held up to death-rate statistics for big mountain climbs. Older people have better survival rates, she said, likely because they have better endurance and judgment. "Each climber needs to be evaluated on their own merits," she said.

Masheter’s merits can be traced to her childhood in Orange County, Calif., where her parents loaded chores onto her and her siblings and didn’t pay them any allowance, but did pay them for chores her mother and father normally took on. Her parents required the kids to tithe to their church.

Masheter says she has saved 10 percent of her income for herself since age 8; by the time she was a freshman in high school, she was considered so responsible and organized that her neighbors would have her take care of their homes while they were away.

So you could say Masheter was in training all her life. But it wasn’t until she was 50, when life dealt her multiple blows — over a period of about 18 months, her sister became ill, Masheter lost her job as a university professor, her mother died and the man she loved left for someone else — that she started climbing.

That was in 1997, in South America. "I was discovering my talents rather late in life," she said. And they weren’t knitting or playing bridge. "Mountaineering," Masheter said moments after getting off her plane and hugging a gaggle of welcoming Wasatch Mountain Club friends at the airport, "saved my life.

Rush Limburgh Deserves A Caning

Position, power or audience is no excuse for despicable behavior, under any circumstances. I. of course, refer to conservative pundit, Rush Limbaugh's ignorant rant in calling a young lady a slut on national television. Rush knew exactly what he was doing and showed himself to be the bigoted idito that he is know, now proven to be. I am not a liberal, but a voting conservative, who can separate the issue from the person. Not so Limbaugh. Whose treatment derogatory comments about a law student who testified about birth control policy defies any kind of acceptable norm. Just because someone has the right to do something, doesn't mean they should do it. That, is called, responsibility.

A flower company is the seventh advertiser to pull its ads from conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh's radio program in reaction to his derogatory comments about a law student who testified about birth control policy.  ProFlowers said Sunday on its Facebook page that it has suspended advertising on Limbaugh's program because his comments about Georgetown University student Sandra Fluke "went beyond political discourse to a personal attack and do not reflect our values as a company."  The six other advertisers that say they have pulled ads from his show are mortgage lender Quicken Loans, mattress retailers Sleep Train and Sleep Number, software maker Citrix Systems Inc., online data backup service provider Carbonite and online legal document services company LegalZoom.

Limbaugh apologized to Fluke on Saturday after calling her a "slut" and "prostitute" resulting in him being criticized by Republican and Democratic politicians and prompted several advertisers left the show.His "apology" does not appear to be motivated by a realization of being totally wrong, but by advertisers rushing to drop him, in other words, when it hit him in the pocketbook. I hope people continue to send the strong message that this kind of behavior, by anyone, regardless of their politics, is simply offensive and repugnant.

Despicable Last Act of a Coward and a Murderer

Police say the fire that engulfed Josh Powell's home in Washington state Sunday, apparently killing him and his two young sons, was deliberately set -- and as far as they're concerned, that concludes the long-running investigation into the disappearance of Powell's wife, Susan.

"This is not a tragedy. This is a double homicide," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told The Los Angeles Times.

Josh Powell had been a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, then a 28-year-old stockbroker who vanished from their former home in Utah in December 2009. He had denied any involvement, brushing off questions about why he took the boys camping in the middle of the night during a snowstorm on the night his wife vanished.

"This is a guy who murdered his two kids, and probably murdered his wife. I don't know what Utah police think, but as far as we're concerned, this is pretty close to a confession to the crime," Troyer said.

Powell had been seeking the return of the couple's two boys, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, who had been living, on court orders, with Susan Powell's parents since September.

A social worker was delivering them to Josh Powell's home near Fredrickson, Wash., for what was to have been a supervised afternoon visit. Police said Powell let the boys in but then barricaded the door against the social worker. The social worker immediately called a supervisor, saying she smelled gas, and at that point the home exploded into a hot, fast-burning fire.

It was very emotional yesterday watching the funeral of slain Ogden Police Department officer Jared Francom. I was amazed at the outpouring of community spirit and law enforcement camaraderie, which touched my heart. It was wonderful to see both so evident. My thoughts are with his widow and their young children for their tremendous loss. I wish them peace as they fight through this very difficult and heart-wrenching time. I also feel for my friends in the Ogden PD. The funeral also made me remember more vividly the service of my friend Myles Prebble who died while involved in a marijuana recovery operation when he fell from a helicopter and was killed from the fall. Law Enforcement is a difficult and sometimes unappreciated job, but so necessary in this nasty world we live in. So Jared, rest in peace, and in the knowledge your colleagues will not forget you, or any of our other fallen.

Go Mitt, Go!

I like Mitt Romney and hope he does well, but this cartoon is dang funny and deserves another look.

Ted Turner's 11 Voluntary Initiatives

Here are CNN CEO Ted Turner's 11 Voluntary Initiatives... more good food for thought. These were recorded by Sir Richard Branson, who further asks, "How would you change or add to these?"

1. I promise to care for planet earth and all living things thereon, especially my fellow human beings
2. I promise to treat all persons everywhere with dignity, respect and friendliness
3. I promise to have no more than one or two children
4. I promise to use my best efforts to help save what is left of our natural world in its undisturbed state and to restore degraded areas
5. I promise to use as little of our non-renewable resources as possible
6. I promise to minimize my use of toxic chemicals, pesticides and other poisons and to encourage others to do the same
7. I promise to contribute to those less fortunate, to help them become self-sufficient and enjoy the benefits of a decent life including clean air, and water, adequate food, health care, housing, education and individual rights
8. I reject the use of force, in particular military force, and I support United Nations arbitration of international disputes
9. I support doing everything we can to reduce the dangers from nuclear biological or chemical weapons and ultimately the elimination of all weapons of mass destruction
10. I support the United Nations and its efforts to improve the conditions of the planet
11. I support clean renewable energy and a rapid move to eliminate carbon emissions

I WOULD ...

I just wanted to share some expressions of humanity and kindness from a very wise man, George Albert Smith:

• I would be a friend to the friendless and find joy in ministering to the needs of the poor.
• I would visit the sick and the afflicted and inspire in them a desire for faith to be healed.
• I would teach the truth to the understanding and blessing of all mankind.
• I would seek out the erring one and try to win him back to a righteous and happy life.
• I would not seek to force people to live up to my ideals, but rather loive them into doing the thing that is right.
• I would live with the masses and help to solve their problems that their earth life may be happy.
• I would avoid the publicity of high positions and discourage the flattery of thoughtless friends.
• I wound not knowlingly wound the feeling of any, not even one who may have wronged me, but would seek to do him good and make him my friend.
• I would overcome the tendency to selfishness and jealousy and rejoice in the successes of all the children of my Heavenly father.
• I would not be an enemy to a living soul.

Weirdness!

Investigators are trying to determine why a woman caused $10,000 worth of damage to a large expressionist painting at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado by punching and scratching it, then removing her pants and sliding down the artwork. Carmen Tisch, 36, faces charges of criminal mischief in the December 29 attack on the painting, said district attorney spokeswoman Lynn Kimbrough. The painting, referred to as 1957-J-No. 2, is valued at more than $30 million. The large montage of black, white and burnt orange swaths with a sliver of yellow is from Still's middle period. Yikes.

New Years Resolution I Aim to Obtain

I will told old this year! Like 56 years old. I know there is something I have to do if I want to stick around with my beautiful wife for many years. I have to get more healthy within the limitations of what has already happened to me with my diabetes and already beating cancer. So I need to eat healthier, lose weight and get fit (well, at least fitter) because I am simply not. My Dad died of a heart attack when he was 57 and his dad died of a heart attack when he was 61. It ain't gonna happen to me because I have too much to lose  and have to many things left to accomplish. I need more time to grind off many of my rough edges for a start. So 25 pounds or 11 kilos off this year, and it will stay off. Smarter in what I eat and when I eat it, and I need to use this altitude to become more aerobically capable. So here's to a new year and a newer me.