First of all, I have to say, I *love* my new computer. I think I am going to be spending a lot more time in my DM42 office again. Its so sleek. And fast. And the keyboard and mouse are so, well, soft. Yeh computer!

Look, that whole paragraph, and not a single set of parenthesis. And, Mom, David, Sarah, and any other obnoxious copy-editor type that might be reaidng this, I *know* it should have been grammatician's.

This is the last you'll hear of me until I return from the wilderness of somewhere-in-Colorado (still TBD) on Monday. I packed my backpack last night and it is STUFFED (well, actually not totally stuffed, since it can expand about 6 more inches, but its "normal" size is full). And it weighed in at 27 pounds and I guess I'll have to add a few more pounds of food, plus full water bottles. I keep trying to figure out what I could take out of it, but I can't think of anything. I meant to look up how much my pack weighed in Europe. Anyway, apparently, I've become at least a little concerned. A co-worker of mine is completely obsessed with backpack weight. Yesterday, I said to him "Look, new hiking boots" and his reply was "So, how much do they weigh?" (seriously!).

All I have to say is that after this weekend, and even more so after Longs' Peak, I'm going to be thrilled to have those porters in Peru.

Speaking of Longs Peak, last night while sailing, I was talking to someone about the spontaneous trip to Colorado. And she said "Oh, that's great, you should do Longs Peak... oh wait, it will be snowed in." And I reassured her that I was going later this year to climb Longs Peak but I admitted I was a bit nervous about being able to make it to the top, and she replied "Don't worry, you'll be fine, its pretty easy." She must have seen my jaw drop, I mean, it is 14,000 ft over a bolder field etc. And then she told me the rub, she had grown up with a home in Estes Park (right next to the Rocky Mountain National Park) and went up Longs Peak all the time. Sure, it was easy for her!

On the sailing subject, I am in so much pain right now. I spent the whole first hour on the water (getting to the race and the first leg of the race) hiking out as far as possible and our boat was barely staying upright (which is still better than some of the competitors who took nice swims). Now my legs hurt, the top of my feet are raw (from the hiking straps), and my stomach muscles are in knots. We were using different sails with less area since it was so windy. Unfortunately, the wind died down a bit at the end of the race. And then my skipper says that we we should've used the bigger sails, we could've handled it... Yeh, sure. And, all that, and we didn't even come close to winning! And sailing is, in theory, not a sport. Ha!

So Happy National-Day-of-Mourning-for-Ronald-Reagan Day!