Encounters with Stupidity

Hershey's has a T-shirt deal going. Save up 15 candy bar wrappers and you can get a free T-shirt -- one of five styles (Hershey's, York, Reeses, Almond Joy...). I went to Fry's and bought 66 candy bars (11 six packs). They were buy one, get one free, so total chocolate cost was about $15.00. I went home and unwrapped all the bars, storing the chocolate in Ziploc bags:


Be careful not to tear the wrappers -- they are supposed to be intact with full UPC symbol. The unwrapping took longer than expected, maybe 45 minutes total. Print the order form from Hershey's website. Maximum shirts per address is five, so you can get one of each style. I layered 62 wrappers in a Ziploc and compressed it flat for mailing. (I included 6 extra wrappers in case some are rejected by Hershey's, since a few were torn. I kinda doubt they'll even count the wrappers. Can you picture some poor employee in Pennsylvania counting thousands of candy wrappers? Not likely. Better to weigh them.) These went into a 9x12" envelope with a check for $7.00 (shipping and handling). Total per-shirt cost = $4.40. That is not counting the value of the chocolate (if you plan to eat it), nor the value of your time (an hour or so, including the trip to the grocery store).

Last summer I had an eye examination at Sam's Club here in Tucson. I got my contact and eyeglass prescriptions. I ordered contacts right away, but put off getting glasses. This summer, just over a year later, I returned to Sam's to get glasses. The eye technician looked at my prescription and said, sorry, this is expired, you'll need a new exam if you want glasses. This is stupid. Why should an eyeglass prescription ever expire? I can't think of a single reason. It is illegal for someone to make glasses for me with this prescription. The government forbids it. Why? Am I really better off with glasses that are four years old? That is what I currently have, and they are barely usable for getting around my house in the evening. They don't work for driving -- that is why I need new ones. The government, in its infinite collective wisdom, says I'm better off with old glasses than a prescription that is over 3 years newer. I think I know why this law exists. Undoubtably, there is a state licensing board for optomitrists and eyeglass providers. This board almost certainly went begging to the legislature to create just such a law: prescriptions expire after one year. They put a guise on it: it's for the benefit of the people! We don't want them to get bad prescriptions! Shouldn't that be my decision? Why do I need a nanny state to protect me from my desire to wear glasses ground to a one-year-old prescription (or a 40-year-old prescription, for that matter)? The eyeglass lobby created this stupid Arizona law. Such is the typical function of such industry regulation groups: figure out ways to get the government to coerce more money from everyone else. Such use of the government is unethical. Another example of why government must stay out of economics, and deal only with the legitimate task of providing for defense from external and internal threats and uses of force.

Today I attempted an Epic. An Epic is a big undertaking -- the kind of adventure you remember for years, if not the rest of your life. Climbing the 6-pitch route "Moby Dick" -- my first multi-pitch climb -- was an epic. Hiking Tanque Verde Ridge with Casey, Brant, and the late Robert Fromm was an Epic. We Walked dawn to dusk, covering about 25 miles. I like doing Epics because they stick in my mind and give me a long-term sense of accomplishment. I don't usually remember the details of 5- or 10-mile hikes in the Catalinas. They occasionally pop into my mind when something reminds me, but on a typical day I don't think much about my hikes along Crystal Springs trail, or Butterfly, or even Oracle, Red, and Samaniengo Ridges.

Today's failed mini-Epic was to be a ~15 mile hike in the Santa Rita mountains, 35 miles SSE of Tucson. We (Tess, Erin, Sabkha and I) planned to hike up Florida Canyon to the main ridge of the 'Ritas, then up to Mt Wrightson (the high point of the 'Ritas) and down Madera Canyon. We stashed a mountain bike at the Madera Canyon trailhead, intending to ride the bike about 8 miles to Florida Canyon and retrieve the car. This "bike shuttle" can be pretty useful, avoiding non-scenic multi-mile hikes along roads (ugh).

We dropped off the bike, locking it to a handrail outside the pit toilets at the tippy top of the revamped Madera Canyon parking and picnic complex. Then we drove over to Florida Canyon. Unfortunately, the entire area is closed due to the large fire that burned in the 'Ritas earlier this the summer. It is not clear why the trails are closed. The typical rationale I hear is: "to protect visitors from falling branches and unstable trails". Uh, ok... hiking is inherently risky, so what's a slight increased risk of falling branches to worry about? More important, since when is it the federal government's job to worry about my personal risk-taking behaviour? To continue: so I can smoke, hang glide, drive a car, but I can't hike under some charred branches -- oh no! Disgusted with the USDA, we returned to Madera Canyon and found that virtually all trails in the central and eastern Santa Rita Mountains are closed. This includes both trails to Mt Wrightson (Super Trail and Baldy Trail). The trail to Aqua Caliente Saddle was open, so we started up that direction. The rain poured down, it got cold (at least I got cold) and we turned back, covering perhaps three miles round trip. Sabkha had a good time as usual.

I'm leaving Tucson (for good) in under 1.5 years -- my goal is to be out by Christmas 2006. So I begin to think of what Epics I'd like to remember Tucson by. I've got a cache of ideas. One long-standing Epic idea of mine is "Door-Mount Lemmon-Door". This would involve stepping out my front door, hiking to the top of 9300-ft Mt Lemmon in the Santa Catalinas, and returning to my door. A long slog, and about 15 miles of it would be through the city (from my house north to the mountains). Total round trip would be around 50 miles, with over 15,000 feet of elevation change! Even an ultramarathoner would probably have difficulty doing that trip in under 24 hours. It's probably not a realistic Epic for me in the next 16 months. A better one might be: stash bikes atop Mt Lemmon. Hike door to Mt Lemmon, ride bikes down.

Other Epic ideas include:

1) Rillito-Tanque Verde Wash Walk (up the Rillito to Tanque Verde Canyon, a favorite spot of mine). This would check it at about 45 miles round trip (but mostly flat).

2) Catalina Bike Circumnavigation: ride bikes through Oro Valley and Oracle, up the Control Road, and down the Catalina Highway. Mileage: around 100. Probably do-able in 24 hours, but very challenging.