New House for Thanksgiving

I haven't posted anything in almost 3 weeks but if you follow my Twitter updates in the right hand column you know that we just bought a new house and have been busy moving out of the old one and getting settled in the new one.We are having a open house tomorrow so have had a deadline for getting unpacked. We also had the family here for Thanksgiving which was great fun.

We had to buy a new refrigerator and we also ended up buying a new washer and dryer. Our old dryer was gas and the quote to install gas to the dryer here was $1,200!

I love the new house. We have a great view and it is just nice to know that it is ours.
Here is part of the view from the back door.
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And here is a four generation picture from Thanksgiving.
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First Snowshoeing of the season

Duke and I went out with the Sierra Canyon Hiking Group today for our first snowshoeing trip of the season. We went to Tahoe Meadows. It was sunny and warm and we had a wonderful time. There was only about 8 inches of snow but the ground was well covered. The views of Lake Tahoe and the mountains were breathtaking. The lake looked like it was frozen there were swirls of fog that looked like blowing snow on ice but Lake Tahoe never freezes. I don't know when we will get to snowshoe again. the weather is supposed to be quite warm for the next several days and there is no more snow predicted. If you would like to see all of my pictures of the hike you can see them on Flickr here.
Snowshoeing Tahoe Meadows 11-13-08 012
Snowshoeing Tahoe Meadows 11-13-08 002

Petroglyphs at Lagomarsino Canyon

Last Friday Duke and I went exploring. Several people have told us about the petroglyphs at Lagomarsino Canyon. Our real estate agent said he used his mountain bike to find them and was blown away by the magnitude of the site. We used the directions on the Backyard Traveler blog and headed out in our truck.We drove over some very rough dirt trails.  I am kind of surprised that we found the site on our first try because there are no signs and there are lots of dirt roads. The site is probably no more than 10 miles east of Reno as the crow flies but we were the only people there on Friday. I'm sure the remoteness limits the visitors.

The  sign at the entrance to the canyon says

"Lagomarsino Canyon is one of the largest rock art sites in Nevada. Most
motifs appear to be 4-5,000 years old, but some may be as old as 10,000
years. Although we do not know what the images mean they still hold
great significance and deserve to be respected. This site is protected
by law and is monitored regularly by concerned local citizens and
Storey County law enforcement. If you want to learn more about rock art
or want to help protect this special place go to www.nevadarockart.org or call the Storey County Sheriff @ 775-847-0950"

We climbed up the rocks to the lip of the canyon. It is easy to suppose  that the ancient Indians who did this rock art used this canyon for hunting. It seems like it would be a good place to drive game over the edge of the cliff. The drive was really pretty and the rock art was amazing. If you would like to see my pictures they are on Flickr here.

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Reno Citizen’s Institute

For the last several weeks Duke and I have been participating in the Reno Citizens Institute (RCI). RCI is a ten-week class in which we have learned a lot about Reno city government. The city has run this program twice a year since 1999. The class meets every Thursday night. It has been a fascinating fantastic experience. I have learned so much. Let me give you just a few of the highlights from each week.

  • Week 1 is the only week we missed. We were on vacation which was too bad because we missed the introductions. The program was about the City Manager's office. Luckily we will be able to make it up next time they run the program in the spring.
  • Week 2 was about the Human Resources, Finance and Communications and Technology Departments. It doesn't sound too exciting does it? But it was great. We learned that Reno has 1500 employees. We learned about the budget process. Given the number of years I worked in IT I found the technology section of the program especially interesting. The software people must have enormous challenges given the diversity of software from Municipal Court Management to Geographic Information Systems to Building Permit Management to Fleet Maintenance Software to name just four.
  • For week 3 we had a tour of the water treatment plant and learned all about Reno's municipal water sources and systems.
  • Week 4 was all about the redevelopment agency and public works. Reno's downtown area along the river is so beautiful and is so obviously getting better and better that it was interesting to learn how redevelopment works and what is in store for the future. We had a short bus tour and also learned that there is a special public works crew that just focuses on keeping downtown beautiful and clean. 
  • Week 5 was at one of the fire stations and was all about the fire department. We got to see the equipment and talk to fire fighters. I was surprised to learn that only 6% of the calls they receive are for fires. 63% are medical calls and 31% are calls for other kinds of service. Another instructive tidbit of information was about the Mizpah hotel fire that happened when we were visiting Reno back in October of 2006. Eleven people were killed. The fire chief  told us that anyone who opened the door of their room on the hall where the fire started died. Anyone who went out a window survived.
  • Week 6 was about public works and was at the corporation yard. We toured the maintenance shop there and saw everything from snow plows to police cars to parking meter monitoring vehicles. Very cool!  We also learned all about everything Reno is doing to be green. 
  • Week 7 was at the McKinley Arts and Culture Center and was all about parks, recreation and community services. There is so much to do in Reno. This year I want to be sure to go ice skating on the rink by the river downtown.
  • Week 8 was on community development. We learned all about building inspections and permits. We also got a demonstration of the very cool Reno GIS mapserver. At this site you can use year-by-year aerial photographs to look at how a location changes from year to year. You can admire the scrub brush that five years ago was where our house is today.
  • Week 9, last Thursday, was about the Reno Police Department and City Attorney's office (Civil Division), The assistant police chief who talked to us was fascinating. He described how Reno changed from an old time police department to a model of community based policing. He had lots of interesting examples. Last year Reno had something like 8 pedestrian fatalities this year I think he said we have had 1.
  • Our final class (week 10) is next Thursday. It is about the City Attorney's office (criminal division) and the Reno Municipal Court.

I can't say enough about how great this class has been. The thing that has most impressed me is the enthusiasm and quality of all the city employees who have talked to us. From the people who run the water treatment plant, to the police chief, to the parks and recreations people to the building inspectors there has been a  level of professionalism and pride that has just blown me away.

Voting – John Marshall by John Edward Smith

I love voting. It is absolutely one of my favorite things to do. It makes me feel good. I just walked up to the Aspen Lodge and cast my vote. There was no line so I didn't even need to use the book I brought along to read if I had to wait in line.

I am reading John Marshall by Jean Edward Smith  and I am really enjoying it. I just read about the congressional election of 1799. Marshall was running against John Clopton in a very close race. I love Smith's description of the voting process

" Election day, April 24,1799, had a festive air about it. There were no written or printed ballots at that time in Virginia, and the voter merely announced his choice to the election judges seated behind a long table placed on the courthouse green. Suffrage was limited to male freeholders twenty-one or older, and it was customary for the candidates to sit alongside the judges, where they acted as scrutineers. When a voter announced his choice, the candidate for whom he voted rose, shook the voter's hand. and thanked him for his support. All of this took place before a partisan crowd that grew in size as the day wore on. Each party provided a barrel of whiskey, and voters often tested both barrels before making their choice. The liquor warmed the spirits of the crowd, who greeted each vote with the appropriate cheers and catcalls.The contest between Clopton and Marshall was tight, and throughout the day the lead shifted back and forth between the two men. Each party worked hard to get absent voters to the courthouse"

In the end Marshall won by 114 votes.