Ashman’s Blog

2008 will mark my fourth consecutive Pan-Mass Challenge and I am excited to be able to participating in the event again this year. Two days two-hundred miles, the PMC has become the largest athletic fundraiser in the country.

Riding in this event has been a great experience for me and after this year I will have raised over 16,000 dollars that will go to cancer fighting research. I cannot express how thankful I am to those who have donated.

Other Links
Jimmy Fund
PMC Website
2008 Training Log
Dana Farber Cancer Institute evaluation by Charity Navigator

Make A Donation

Metrics
Frame: Steel
Mileage: 77.2mi
Moving Time: 4:50
Moving Average: 15.9mph
Max Speed: 44.8mph
Terrain Info: Medium
Meta: Google Earth Map, Profile small, Profile large, GPS Data
Comment: I decided that, pending results of the ankle X Ray on Thursday, that I would try to ride the second day of the PMC. The X Ray was positive and I was cleared to ride again. In 6 weeks I rode 30min on the trainer, and 60mi over 3 rides all within the last two weeks. My injuries were fine, but my feet and shoulders were hurting from not doing any miles.

Since the PMC my GPS unit has been shutting off. It was intermittent and was due to the vibration while mounted on the handlebars. I sent it in for repair and had about 10 days of riding without any metrics. I gotta say I enjoyed the vacation. I rode known routes so I could keep track of miles, but I don’t know average speeds and profiles.

I only rode twice in the 10 days and logged another 50mi. The vacation from the computer was nice, but after a couple of rides I did start to miss it a little bit so I was glad to get it back yesterday. Actually I didn’t get my unit back, I got a bandy new unit and a 12V power supply free of charge. Sounds like a pretty good deal. The broken unit was 6 years old and was full of scratches and dings and Garmin gave me a brandy new unit… brandy new. Needless to say I am siked about this.

So I am happy to plug Garmin for their excellent customer support and the fact that they gave me some free stuff for an old broken GPS unit. Thanks a lot Garmin, I will buy your products again, unless you keep replacing them in which case I will just continue to do that.

Unfortunately I did miss taking it on a hike we recently did. A hike which, like all the other hikes I did this summer, needs to be documented.

The big three

The weekend of June 23rd Rusty Barns and I took on a very ambitious hike that would tackle 4 peaks over 4000ft in the Sandwich Range. The Sandwich Range is the most southernly range in the White Mountains south of the Kangamangus highway (Rt 112).

We started our two day trip at Olervarian Brook trail off Rt 112, and headed for the summit of Mt Passaconway. The Trail to Passaconway is long and steep climbing 2800ft in 4.5mi (11% grade). We had planned a long day at 9.9mi, and all the climbing really took its toll. It was about 6mi to the summit of Passaconway so it took most of the day, but once on the summit the views are spectacular.

Mt. Passaconway

The day started mostly cloudy but by the time we summited Passaconway the clouds had burned off. After eating lunch we had about 4mi to go before camp. There is no water source at Camp Heermance so we filled up at the old and now closed Camp Rich. After getting water we continued on to Whiteface walking around “the bowl”. Whiteface is another difficult climb dropping 700ft from Passaconway, views are limited due to the wooded summit.

We slept at Camp Heermance, a short way off the summit of Whiteface, it sits at an elevation of 3980ft. This was a very unique campsite. It is no longer maintained but because it is one of a very few camps in the Sandwich Range so it gets plenty of use. There are many scenic views as the camp sits directly on a ledge. Nightime temps dropped down into the mid 40’s and it was windy. Rainfly’s provided some extra warmth but without a fire it was difficult to stay up once the sun went down.

Morning at Camp Heermance

Day two started early with perfectly clear skies. We had another long day ahead of us having to walk 12mi to the car. But before we could think about the car we had to summit both Middle Tripyramid and North Tripyramid. The south slide is certainly the shortest way up Middle Tripryamid, but it is very difficult. The trail basically follows a rock slide with very loose footing and it is extremely steep. We only had to climb the very upper portion of it and though it was very steep the footing was pretty stable near the top.

South Slide

After moving over Middle Tripryamid we were able to drop our packs at the junction and quickly summit North Tripryamid. This is also a wooded summit and had limited views, but without the 30lbs of pack weight the hike was a ton of fun. We enjoyed our lightness while it lasted, soon enough we would be putting the packs back on and starting the 7mi trek out of the woods.

The Tripyramids

This was by no means an easy trip, but it was very rewarding. We had excellent weather and we found a hidden gem of a tent site. We got to the car around 5:00 and started the drive to Yankee Smokehouse to celebrate our climb to 33 peaks.

Galleries

Mahoosuc Notch 2007

Winter hiking season is coming to a close. The White Mountains may very well see a another week or two of snow, but down here in Massachusetts the sun is out and the weather is warming. This winter hiking season was a productive one with 4 snowy weather hikes. The first of which was an overnighter through Mahoosuc Notch in mid November.

Waumbek January, 2007

In January Rusty, Barns Carlin and I decided to hike Mt. Waumbek, one of the northern most 4000 footers, is a popular hike even though it is far north. The trail is not very steep and it gets a lot of travel in the winter. That weekend was a near perfect winter day, very cold in the low teens to single digits with sun filled skies and virtually no wind.

Pinkham Notch avalanche bulletin

On Easter weekend my brother and I decided to hike up to Tuckerman’s Ravine and watch the skiers. The previous weekend brought beautiful spring weather, but during the week a classic Nor’easter dropped 22″ of snow in 3 days. The White Mountains quickly reverted back to mid-winter conditions. The ravine had moderate avalanche warnings throughout. The river that comes through the ravine was exposed from below the little headwall down to Pinkham Notch. There were a fair amount of people considering the conditions, Pinkham Notch parking lot had vacancies, when usually overflow would be walking from Wildcat and beyond.

View on Easter weekend

Mt Cabot was meant to complete our final hike of the winter. A big moment for Rusty and I as it would mark our 30th of 48 peaks on the 4000 footer list. Barns, Rusty and I got on the road early, and made good time. The weather three days prior was harsh dropping 30″ of heavy snow in the White Mountains and the word for hikers was, “wear snowshoes.” Weather the day before our hike was very nice with temperatures in the low 60’s and the forecast was predicting even better weather on the Saturday of our hike.

Cabot is the most northern 4000 footer and even though it is only about 4mi from Waumbek summit, it takes an extra hour to drive to the trail head. Unfortunately natural and supernatural forces stymied our plans and we were unable to start the hike. A combination of a gate closing at 4:00 on one end, a very snowy road that my car couldn’t handle on the other, oh and of course there were the dogs with bees in their mouths, and when they bark they shoot bees at you. By the time we realized that Cabot was going to elude us it was already midday and our options were limited.

Same view 2 weeks later

So we decided to hit Tuckerman’s Ravine, and what a difference two weeks made. The river was completely snow bridged and there was 100% coverage on the ravine gullies, and Hillman’s Highway. The temps were in the mid 60’s and the sky was crystal clear. Added bonus because we arrived at Pinkham Notch at 1:00 we were able to get get a spot in the parking lot. Earlier that day Wildcat had stopped taking overflow, so we were very lucky to get the space when we did.

Mt Waumbek

Even though the winter season only added one 4000 footer to the list, we had good exposure to cold weather backpacking. Check out the hiking galleries for Mt. Waumbek, Tuckerman’s Ravine Easter, and our stymied Mt. Cabot attempt.

Two years ago in late September a few friends and I hiked Mahoosuc Notch. It was cold that evening 2 years ago in the lean-to at Speck Pond campsite. There was a frost that night so I knew it had dropped below 30F but it warmed up quickly in the morning.

Mahoosuc Notch 2004

Since that trip in 2004 I have wanted to revisit the Notch and hike it again. This year Barns, Rusty and I decided conquer the notch, and if that wasn’t enough, we decided to conquer the notch in the winter. Mahoosuc Notch is a 1mile stretch of the Appalachian Trail that sits on the border of Maine and New Hampshire. It is said to be the toughest mile of the AT because the terrain is full of obstacles which makes navigation very difficult. Abutted by 1000ft cliffs on each side the Notch became a prehistoric dumping ground for debris during the recession of the glaciers. At least this is the widely accepted theory, it is also possible that God himself placed those boulders in that Notch so the people would have something to do.

In New England I would describe the weather in early November as cool and fall like, not winter, but in the White Mountains winter arrived some time ago. From the start there was a few inches of snow on the ground, it was firm and provided remarkably good traction. The temperature was mid to high 30’s, but as long as we kept moving we could walk in a t-shirt and light jacket comfortably. Though we didn’t expect the amount of snow we saw we did expect the cold and we were prepared for it. We hit the trailhead around 10:00AM, with daylight savings time we only had about 6.5 hours of daylight.

Once in the notch it took us a cool 3hours to get out. There are points were we had to remove our packs in order to squeeze under and in between boulders. The snow and ice made the trek a real challenge. Snow on the trail would fill the small ankle size gaps in the rocks. The footing would look firm but as soon as any weight was put on it the snow it would fall through the cracks in the rocks like sand an with it would slip a foot, leg or hand. Our trekking poles became tools for prodding the snow to measure its safety. In some cases we had to jump from one rock to another and hope that the snow we were landing on had a rock directly under it.

I can see why the notch it is known as the toughest mile of the AT, or as some call it the “killer mile”. By the time we got out of the notch not only are the legs tired but so is the upper body. At this point the day is far from over, standing directly in our path to the campsite is a steep 3700ft mountain called Mahoosuc Arm. Normally I would consider this mountain a small obstacle. It is steep but it is also short, and in good weather it would be a quick but strenuous climb to the summit. In the winter however things change, The trail was very icy, and as the elevation climbed the snow got deeper. We were all beginning to get exhausted but we also knew that the day was almost over. So we pushed on as the sun ducked down slowly behind the mountains.

We summited the Arm at sunset. The snow was over a foot deep at the top and made moving difficult and slow. It was getting dark quickly now and we had 1-mile to go down the mountain in the dark to the campsite. There was a full moon so we didn’t need headlamps, besides the temperature was dropping fast and we wanted to keep warm by moving. Once at the lean-to we quickly got warm dry clothes on and started to cook dinner from our sleeping bags. Nighttime temperatures were in the single digits. We didn’t get much sleep, but we were well enough equipped to keep warm through the restless night.

The next morning we did what all winter hikers do, skip breakfast and start walking. Coming out from the warmth of the sleeping bag is probably the worst thing a hiker has to do. The body begins to cool very rapidly; we quickly packed our gear and struggled to get our boots on. The boots were frozen stiff which made it that much more difficult to get them on. Once on the trail we warmed up pretty quickly, and three hours later we emerged from the woods.

As happy as we were to see the car, the entire hike was incredible. We were well equipped and stayed as warm as one could expect. For my second trek through Mahoosuc Notch, I can say that it didn’t get any easier. The challenge was a great obstacle to overcome and a great finish to a very productive year in the whites.

Galleries

This past weekend Rusty, Carlin, Jimmy the Cook and I completed another three-day expedition in the Whites adding 5 peaks to our 4000 footer lists. This trip was a little laid back as we car camped each night and took day hikes. Car camping is the life, good food and plenty of beer, there is no better way to travel. The Ammonoosuc Campground was a great location and has shower facilities. There is nothing like a hot shower after a long hiking day.

Saturday we drove up to NH and began the climb to Mt. Carrigain (4700ft). I had a little trouble hiking Carrigain to say the least. The night before I had eaten something that did not agree with me. The lack of sleep and dehydration had taken a toll. I started cramping early and had a pretty tough time summiting. I made it to the top and back down, but I wasn’t having a good time. after we got back at the campsite I took a hot shower and focused on hydration with water rather than beer in an effort to regain my health.

My efforts had paid off, Sunday I felt great and after a big breakfast, bacon egg and cheese on a bagel and some oatmeal I felt strong and healthy. I needed it too because we planned on doing a southern presidential traverse that started at Mt. Jackson (4052ft) and went over Mt Pierce (4310ft), Mt. Eisenhower (4780ft) and Mt. Monroe (5384ft). The hike was great, Jackson is a tough climb but once on the summit the ridge provides great views of Mt Washington all the way to the Lake of the Crowds Hut. We reached Lake of the Crowds Hut and headed out completing an 11mile day. I was back at a 100% and felt great. The weather was perfect, warm and as expected it was windy. By the time we got up on the ridge it was early afternoon, by this time the lower clouds had burned off and warmed up the air enough to walk the ridge in a t-shirt.

Monday we decided to do a shorter hike so we could get back to MA at a decent hour. Jimmy had not done Mt. Hale (4054ft). Rusty and I had completed it as our first hike of 2006, but we decided to do it again. This is a short steady climb that was a good leg burner. We made great time up so we could spend some time on the summit in the sun. The weather was absolutely perfect.

Shortly after that we were at the Yankee Smokehouse eating our traditional post hike feast.

Galleries

My second PMC has come to an end and so has another successful fundraising year. This was my second year riding and my brothers first. He rode the longer 113 mile day from Sturbridge to Bourne, and I believe he will become a regular in the future. As usual the Friday ceremonies were great, with good food and company. Saturday bright and early we drove to Sturbridge and got ready for the two day of riding that would follow. I began the day riding with Rob but ended up dropping him in some of the early hills. Little did I know that while I would be loafing with my shoes off later in the day he would be plowing ahead making up all the time he had lost.

Most of the ride I spent riding with my partner Mo, our averages were 17.2mph for day one and 17.9mph for day two. Over the two days my strength was fine aside from the start of a small cramp about 65 miles in on the first day. This was clearly dehydration because after I had some pretzels, for the salt, and plenty of water at the 71mi rest stop I felt fine.

In all my legs felt great. Mo and I took turns pulling each other along and would tag onto faster pace lines, but soon we would find ourselves pulling the line or moving onto a faster line. Unfortunately the PMC is full of many recreational riders who don’t really understand the concept of pace lines, so rather than pull a large group of wheel suckers I would just assume try and drop those who don’t pull their weight.

As for the festivities, as usual they were great. This year Mo and I brought our own tents to avoid sleeping in the ungodly hot sauna like dorms. Sleeping outside in a tent was great, the night was cool and comfortable and the newly added wind turbine at Mass Maritime provided a soothing “whoosh” sound that put me right to sleep, allong with the fact that I was exhausted. After day one the beer was flowing, but just like last year I took it easy on Saturday knowing I needed to ride another 90miles on day two. This year we met up with a few other friends in Bourne who have been riding in multiple PMC’s. One rider finished his 22nd PMC this year, I can only hope that in 20 years I am sill able to ride a bike, let alone 200 miles.

The final day was perfect, sunny, warm and not too breezy. We finished up around 11:00AM. Once I crossed the finish line I had to get my bike packaged and packed onto the truck to Sturbridge, shower and get my bag on the truck to Boston. This year we took the “party” ferry from P-town to Boston, and it is safe to say that I won’t be missing this form of transport again. The ferry leaves at 3:30 and gets to Boston around 7:00. So there is plenty of time to pre-game and enjoy the free Harpoon beer. The ferry is a blast, there was a live band on the boat that provided entertainment and everyone on the boat was a rider so the common thread provided everyone with a sociable and friendly atmosphere. When the boat came into Boston harbor fireboats greeted us by shooting water into the air and another couple hundred people met us on the pier cheered us in. It was a perfect end to a great day.

I got on the bus and was asleep almost instantly for the hour ride back to Sturbridge, where we got a final calorie burst at Friendly’s before saying our good bys and heading home.

Check out the gallery from PMC 2006.

Our 4-day hike around the Pemigewasset Wilderness was by far the most difficult and rewarding I have done. Unfortunately Carlin couldn’t make it, so there were three, Barns, Rusty and I. This hike was in the planning stages for quite some time, and was recommended to me by a collegue. We bagged 8 peaks summiting Flume (4328), Liberty (4459), Lincoln (5089), Lafayette (5260), Garfield (4500), Galehead (4024), South Twin (4902), and Bondcliff (4265). Mt Bond was also summited but we had hit it on a previous hike.

Weather was mixed for the entire trip but on the days when we needed good weather we go it. The weather was perfect for day two when we summited Mt Lafayette, and on the final day when we descended Bondcliffs. When it did rain it was mostly passing thundershowers delivering heavy rain and even some hail. Originally we had planned to hit North Twin but weather was very threatening on day 3 and we decided to skip it.

My pack weighed 38.6lbs without water. I carried 3 liters adding another 6.6lbs to my back. No blisters or soreness to speak of. I think I was hurting more after the Isolation trip.

Pictures are up in the galleries

This has been a crazy summer so far. I wouldn’t consider myself behind in my training, even though I have put fewer miles on the bike than I wanted to. I think I had close to 800 miles on my bike last year at this time. The weather has been so bad this summer it has been tough to get consitient training rides in. I blame this global warming thing everyone is talking about. So in lieu of riding, I have been doing a lot of hiking which is excellent training. Hiking is an intense workout, and In general I feel stronger than I did last year at this time. But I am still carrying around about 15-20 extra pounds.

Sunday I was toying with going on a ride in the partial rain, but decided instead to go for a jog/walk. I like the idea of being able to jog a few miles, but every time I decide to go for a jog I am reminded that my body is not built for jogging. I did about 4 miles, some jogging some fast walking. More walking than jogging I would say. The body starts to reject every step after about 300yds of jogging. Knee pain uncontrollable breathing and the feeling that I am going to internally shake something loose are some of the more minor symptoms. Of course I am not the most graceful body on the road, usually a 6′3″ 220lb person doesn’t run marathons. This is why I love riding so much; even I can manage to look a little graceful while in fluid motion on a bike.

Over the upcomming 4th of July weekend Rusty, Carlin, Barns and I are planning a big 4-day hike around the Pemegiwasset Wilderness in the White Mountains. This trip will bag us 9 more 4000 footers, making the total 24. I have posted a map of the route below. Hopefully I can avoid taking a face plant into a river bed like I did on the last hike.

Naturally there will be lots of pictures for you to look at. This hike has been in the making for over a year now and I am really looking forward to it. So far my only goal is to keep my pack under 40lbs. today and tomorrow I will be packaing and hopefully the pack will stay light.

This doesn’t constitute training for riding, but it is great exercise. This weekend I climbed Mt Isolation in NH with Carlin, Barns, and Rusty. One more of the 4000 footers scratched off the list, which brings the total to 15 peaks.

Day one was a long 13-mile day, 6 miles to the camp location and another 7 miles to summit Mt Isolation and return to the campsite. Day 2 was 6 miles back to the car. I took a nice little spill into a riverbed, and got thoroughly soaked. Of course this was all caught on video which are posted in my picture galleries.

15 peaks down 33 to go! Almost half way there!

The Largest Sum Ever Raised By Any Athletic Fundraising Event!!!

The Pan-Massachusetts Challenge, the most successful athletic fundraising event in the nation, today contributed $23 million to cancer research and treatment at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through its Jimmy Fund.

This record-setting sum is more than twice the amount ever raised or donated to a charity by an athletic fundraising event anywhere in the United States. The $23 million gift represents 99 cents of every rider-raised dollar, a charity pass-through rate that is so high it is nearly unparalleled within the $1 billion athletic fundraising event industry.

Raised by nearly 4,000 cyclists who rode up to 192 miles in the 26th annual PMC in August, the $23 million is $3 million more than the PMC contributed to the Jimmy Fund in 2004. PMC Founder and Executive Director Billy Starr presented the check to Dana-Farber President Edward J. Benz, Jr., M.D. at the Harvard Medical School Convention Center during a ceremony attended by hundreds of PMC cyclists, volunteers, and supporters. The gift is the largest that Dana-Farber has ever received.

Starr attributes the exceptional fundraising achievement to organizational factors that include the PMC’s business model and its unique culture in which the fostered competition is not for cycling speed but for the sum each rider raises for cancer research. “PMCers are driven to raise money for cancer research and take pride in the progress made at Dana-Farber as a result of their efforts,” Starr says. While many join the PMC for the athletic challenge and the event’s reputation as a beautiful, challenging, and well-supported ride, people stay involved and raise so much money because they become committed to the cause, according to Starr. The PMC has a 70 percent rider retention rate, with cyclists from 30 states and six countries.

“From support groups to programs that help young patients re-enter school to new clinical trials that test exciting new therapies, the PMC is critical to everything we do at Dana-Farber,” says Dr. Benz. Dana-Farber is recognized by the National Cancer Institute as one of the world’s leaders in cancer research and care. The PMC is Dana-Farber’s largest contributor.

Since its 1980 inception, the Pan-Mass Challenge has raised and contributed more than $145 million to the Jimmy Fund. The next PMC is scheduled for Aug. 5 and 6, 2006. For more information about the PMC, visit pmc.org or call (800) WE-CYCLE.

Thanks to everyone who contributed. I am so happy and excited to be a part of this event.

This weekend I moved into my new home. I haven’t had too much time to write about the experience on account of the unpacking and cleaning and whatnot but things are now starting to shape up. I moved to Holden MA, a quaint little suburb that is full of yuppies and soccer moms.

My friend George, from “Asian Birthday Photo Essay” fame has a friendster account now and blogged the entire moving experience this past Saturday. George was one of the guys who made it possible for me to get all my stuff, and I do have a lot of stuff, into my new place. Also Golec, Doller, Barns and Jake provided the necessary muscle and the laughs needed to turn a potentially miserable day into a fairly smooth one.

If it weren’t for Doller delicately packing all the wine glasses in PBR bar boxes I probably would have thrown them out. I should also thank Golec for telling me about half way through the packing process that the 15′ truck I rented was full. Well he was right; the floor of the truck filled up pretty quick, what he failed to notice is that there was 6 feet of unused space above the floor. Once packed correctly the truck was the perfect size.

And who could forget Barns, the only guy I know who could spent an entire day packing a truck on a busy city street in Worcester in bare feet. Then there was Jake who unfortunately had to leave early but made the effort to get up and help out for a few hours. This is a big deal for Jake considering he usually goes to bed around 6:00 in the morning.

Thanks to you all.

Total calories burned 10,327
Average speed 18.05mph

Day one:
Mileage 111.83
Moving time 6:23
Stopped time 2:21
Max Speed 45.7mph
Moving average 17.9mph
Climb elevation 5442ft
Elevation gain –562ft

Day two:
Mileage 79.7
Moving time 4:23
Stopped time 56:38
Max Speed 44.2mph
Moving average 18.2mph
Climb elevation 3327ft
Elevation gain –2.6ft

Total training miles since March 1st: 1,797mi

Friday night my partner Mo and I went to the Sturbridge Host for the traditional pasta dinner and to watch the opening ceremonies. The event was very nice, and the food was good. Everyone was in good spirits. While registering the volunteer assisting me announced that I was a first year rider, which received much applause and shouting. After a few beers and a lot of pasta we left to go back to Worcester. Got home about 10:00, took a Nyquil, and tried to get to sleep.

Saturday morning I woke at 4:30am to get to Sturbridge with my partner. Once there we stuffed down some cereal, bagels, juice and fruit, trying to pack in as many calories as possible before the ride. At 10 of 6 we were with the other 2000 riders on our bikes and ready to begin the first day of the ride. The morning air was cool but the weather had promised to be kind for the entire weekend. After a brief announcement by PMC founder Billy Star, and the national anthem, the ride had begun.

I started slow knowing that I had two long days ahead. I started spinning early trying to get the blood pumping, and work out any stiffness that I had collected from the past nights restless sleep. I knew the first 40 miles of the day would be the toughest before we started the rolling 70-mile downward grade to the coast.

After the first couple hills riders started spreading out. The PMC brings all types of riders from the recreational to the highly experienced. About 20 miles into the ride we were consistiently passing slower riders and I felt warmed up. We reached our first water stop, filled up our water bottles, took a pee and moved on.

Shortly after the first water stop we hit the first large climb, which takes the riders to the top of Purgatory hill rd in Whitinsville. This is in my opinion the hardest climb of the two days. As with all uphills there is always a downhill, and here was where I reached my top speed or 45.7 mph for the day. After I reached the bottom I felt the rear end of my bike loosing stability and noticed I had also received my first, and thankfully only flat of the trip.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Pan-Mass Challenge is only 3 weeks away. There is a lot of stuff that needs to be done beforehand. The PMC organization is looking for volunteers to help pack the 6000+ kits that will be given to riders and volunteers for the event.

If you live near Needham MA and would like to donate some of your time to a great cause, please consider this as a place to do it.

Below is the email I received from the PMC organization.

Volunteers are needed to help us sort T-shirts and pack registration kits at PMC Headquarters in Needham during the week of July 25th. With more than 6,000 kits to pack, there is much work to be done!

Shifts will run from Monday, July 25th until Thursday, July 28th (we will use Friday as a back up day). Each day there will be two shifts:

11am – 4pm
5pm – 9pm

If you, or someone you know, may be interested in volunteering, please email Julie@pmc.org with the day(s) and shift(s) you would like to volunteer. A meal will be served during each shift.

Thank you for volunteering and I hope to see you in a few weeks!

Kind regards,

Maria DeMaio
Director of Volunteer Services

I just haven’t been able to find a publishing tool that I like, until now?

In 4 years I have changed publishing tools more than I change my underwear. I have used Blogger, then Userland Radio, then Blogger again, but now I am using software that lives on my server, comments and everything.

So this is it, it is called Word Press. It is not for everyone, especially those who like the simplicity of Blogger. I also have had great luck with Blogger, but there are things I want to do that Blogger just doesn’t cut. Word Press is a much more full featured tool, and so I decided to migrate over to it. My old blog is saved, but I probably won’t import it because I am lazy.

Try to enjoy