Weeeeee, The Wii Will Get You Into Shape With Wii Fitness Games!
Will a video game promote your good health? You bet it can, if its a Nintendo Wii fitness game! We all know the bad reputation video games have gotten in the past. It was believed video games led to a sedentary lifestyle. Parents have complained for years that their couch potato tykes do nothing but sit around day and night playing video games as their health deteriorates. And, of course, we all know the horror stories of how sofa tater children grow up to be sofa spud adolescents who can’t cut it in the adult world. Plain and simple, moving is good for your health
Some may disagree with these fears, but now, things have changed! Nintendo Wii video games makes these fears a thing of the past. A Wii fitness game mixes all the skill and fun of a average video game with exercise you would get, if you were actually playing it. Doctors and parents have all started to support the Wii. You may not burn as many calories as playing the actual sport, but, you will burn a significant amount and that’s a heck of a lot better…and more fun, than sitting there.
Just envision yourself on a tennis court, ready to serve the ball to your opposition. You enhale, throw the ball up and swing with all you’ve got. Now envision doing this in the comfort of your own home, wearing whatever you find comfortable. If you are not able to find an opponent to play against, no problem, you can just play against the computer. If, on the other hand, you have a friend (or three), you can all get into the fun. Volley the ball to and fro, matching your skill against your nemesis. You start to get into the game and begin to forget it’s just a Wii fitness game, and best of all, you even forget you are receiving an aerobic workout!
The Wii game console has made it a possibility. The action can be so close to reality, and the bodily benefits so terrific that some physical therapy specialists have in reality tied wii fitness games into their patient’s workout procedures, helping them to regain lost or impaired joint and muscle flexibility.
Senior citizens are even getting in on the action. It is no longer accurate to depict the elderly sitting around living a dormant life. Wii fitness games have been turning up in more and more elderly living centers. What was once seen to be a lethargic universe has again acquired fresh life, as the elderly are able to easily learn the necessary skills to enter into all the fun the Wii gaming console has to offer. There have even been Wii bowling clubs starting up in the centers, providing hours of amusement and most importantly bodily movement and exercise.
So, if you’ve been considering getting into better shape, or getting your family active together, then toss out your antiquated ideas and turn to video games. Provided you’re talking of the Nintendo Wii gaming console, you can’t lose anything but some extra pounds; here’s to your health.
Car Insurance – How to Compare Rates From Multiple Companies Instantly
The reason we compare car insurance quotes from multiple car insurance companies is to make sure we’re getting the best rates possible. Of course nobody wants to pay more money than they have to, but in the other hand we also want to make sure that our car insurance company is going to respond quickly and fairly in case of an accident.
What is unknown to many is that there is not one single car insurance company that is cheaper than others. One particular car insurance company can be the cheapest for one person but the most expensive for another. Each car insurance company has a certain category of drivers they want to insure. If you fit their category they will offer you a cheap rate, if you don’t, they will offer you an expensive rate. That is their way of filtering the people they want and do not want to insure. That is the reason we need to compare insurance rates from multiple car insurance companies, to find out which company will offer us the cheapest rate. The key is to find the company that offers the cheapest rate for you, but of course, it is important to compare rates from quality companies only.
There are many quality car insurance companies out there; however, some of those quality companies also have a high price to go along with them. How do we find a quality company for a cheap price? That, my friend, is the key question.
The traditional method of shopping for car insurance is to call around which we all know can be a long process. Another drawback of shopping for car insurance by phone is the probability of getting caught with the old bait and hook trick. That is when someone gives you a low quote by phone and hikes it up on you when you go into their office to purchase the car insurance policy.
In today’s world, luckily, we have the internet. The internet makes life a lot easier for all of us. Using the internet, we can shop for many types of things we may need which include shopping for car insurance.
Shopping for car insurance online is the best way to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies. Online, you can also read about a company’s history and make sure they’re a quality company. Most companies offer instant online car insurance quotes thorough their websites which makes obtaining car insurance quotes a lot easier than the traditional method of shopping by phone. Better yet, there are some websites that offer online car insurance quotes from multiple companies with one simple process. You can even purchase your car insurance online if you like the price. There, you can obtain quotes from quality companies such as Progressive, AIG, Infinity, GMAC, Bristol West, Geico and many more. All with one simple process!
DUI Guilt Myth – Virginia – Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
“WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE LAW IN MY STATE?”
—DUI LAW IN VIRGINIA
Differences in DUI Law in Virginia from Other States
The Virginia legal system for DUI’s has several notable differences from other state these major differences will be outlined below.
DWI and DUI in Virginia are the Exact Same Offense
In most states there is a difference between DW I, “driving while intoxicated” and DUI, “driving under the influence.” For an example, in most states driving while intoxicated is a more serious offense than driving under the influence. Other states have even a third finding available such as operating while impaired or OWI.
In Virginia, there is no difference between DUI and DWI. Virginia Code Section 18.2-266 makes it illegal to drive while intoxicated or under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.
The Virginia Code defines intoxicated as follows: “‘Intoxicated’ means a condition in which a person has drunk enough alcoholic beverages to observably affect his manner, disposition, speech, muscular movement, general appearance or behavior.”
Blood Alcohol Content (“BAC”) relates to BAC While Driving
Under Virginia DUI law, anyone driving on the highways of Virginia has, according to Virginia’s implied consent law, given their “consent” to a breath or blood tests if they are arrested for DUI. If this test results is a .08 or above, there are are significant effects in the prosecution of one’s case. One way of proving DUI, known as the “per se” law, looks at nothing but the breath result. If it is .08 or above, the person is guilty of DUI; if it is below .08, the person is not guilty of DUI. However, since Virginia looks at the BAC at the time of driving, the defendant still has the ability to present expert testimony that his BAC while driving was in fact less than a .08.
Similarly, another way of proving DUI, looks at the .08 or higher breath result as one of the pieces of evidence in the overall trial. Although the statute says that if the BAC is .08 or above, there is a “presumption” of intoxication, the Virginia Court of Appeals ruled in 2007 that such presumptions are an unconstitutional infringement upon the Constitutional guarantee of the presumption of innocence in any criminal trial unless the language is interpreted to mean that there is not a mandatory presumption of intoxication. The Virginia Court of Appeals ruled that the courts must interpret the words “shall be presumed” to mean “may be inferred.” Thus, in a DUI prosecution under this section, the judge may infer (but is no longer required to presume) that someone is intoxicated if the prosecutor proves that they were a .08 or above while driving. Again, the defendant may present evidence that in fact his actual BAC while driving was below a .08 or that the results should not be given much weight because of issues with the machine or manner of testing. If the defendant is able to do this, then the judge may not make any inference based on the breath result.
Right to New Trial on Appeal to Circuit Court- Trial de Novo
Virginia grants anyone convicted in General District Court what is called a “trial de novo” on appeal to the higher trial level court in Virginia, known as the Circuit Court. Thus, any DUI defendant in Virginia who is unhappy with the judge’s ruling or sentence in the General District Court, has the ability to appeal to the Circuit Court and as soon as the appeal is noted, the conviction of the lower court is completely wiped off his record. I like to tell my clients that it is just like taking an eraser to a blackboard, and the client is in the exact same position that they were prior to the first trial (i.e. they are presumed to be innocent and have not been convicted of DUI.) Or, to use a golf analogy, Virginia allows all DUI clients a “Mulligan” on their first DUI trial!
The trial courts rule on both fines and jail time and license suspension issues
In many states, a DUI charge leads to two separate trials. The trial in court in front of a judge who determines whether someone is guilty and what fine and/or jail time someone receives, and in administrative license hearing in front of that state’s Division of Motor Vehicles. Virginia does not have a separate hearing for the determination of the status of someone’s driver’s license. By statute, the judge has to suspend the person’s license for a specific time based on whether this is a first or subsequent offense. The judge has the authority to grant a Restricted License allowing the person to drive to work, school, alcohol education classes and certain medical and family driving.
Virginia DUI Penalties
Administrative License Suspension (ALS)
For a first DUI offense and/or breath test refusal, your driver’s license will be automatically suspended for seven days if your BAC is 0.08 percent or higher; DUI.
For a second DUI offense and/or breath test refusal, your license will be automatically suspended for 60 days or until you go to trial, which ever comes first.
For a third DUI offense and/or breath test refusal, your license will be automatically suspended until you go to trial. Conviction of a DUI offense will result in suspension of your driver’s license and other penalties in addition to the administrative suspension.
First Offense – Penalties
i) BAC < .15
Class 1 misdemeanor (Up to $2,500 fine and 12 months in jail) with a mandatory minimum fine of $250.
ii) BAC .15 to .20
If the person’s blood alcohol level as indicated by the chemical test administered as provided in this article was at least 0.15, but not more than 0.20, he shall be confined in jail for an additional mandatory minimum period of 5 days or,
iii) BAC > .20
if the BAC level was more than 0.20, he shall be confined in jail for an additional mandatory minimum period of 10 days.
License Suspension
License revoked for 1 year. Eligible for immediate Restricted Operator’s License. Ignition Interlock required for BAC of .15 or above.
Second Offense – Penalties
A) Committed within less than 5 years from a prior offense
• Minimum $500 fine
• Confinement in Jail for one month to one year. 20 day mandatory minimum jail sentence.
• If the BAC was between .15 and .20, additional 10 days mandatory minimum jail sentence.
• If the BAC was greater than .20, additional 20 days mandatory minimum jail sentence.
• Minimum $500 fine
• Confinement in Jail for one month to one year. 10 day mandatory minimum jail sentence.
• If the BAC was between .15 and .20, additional 10 days mandatory minimum jail sentence.
• If the BAC was greater than .20, additional 20 days mandatory minimum jail sentence.
License Suspension
License revoked for 3 years.
• 2nd conviction within 5-10 years- eligible for Restricted Operator’s License after 4 months. Ignition Interlock required for Restricted OL.
Third Offense – Penalties
A) All 3 committed within 5 years period
• Class 6 FELONY: 1-5 years imprisonment; or up to 12 months in jail and $2,500 fine.
• Mandatory minimum jail sentence of 6 months
B) All 3 committed more than 5 years and up to 10 year period
• Class 6 FELONY: 1-5 years imprisonment; or up to 12 months in jail and $2,500 fine.
• Mandatory minimum jail sentence of 90 days.
• Mandatory minimum fine of $1,000.
• License Suspension
License revoked indefinitely.
Fourth Offense in 10 Years- Penalties
Class 6 Felony with mandatory minimum 1 year imprisonment and mandatory minimum $1,000 fine
License Suspension
License revoked indefinitely.
Conviction of any DUI offense involving a juvenile passenger (age 17 or younger) in the vehicle at the time of the offense carries an additional mandatory five-day jail term in addition to all other fines and jail sentences. You may also be assessed an additional fine of at least $500 and up to $1,000.
A second DUI offense with a juvenile (age 17 or younger) in the vehicle carries an additional 80-hour community service requirement in addition to all other fines and jail sentences.
Multiple Offenders and the Trauma Center Fund
Virginia also requires anyone has been previously been convicted of DUI/DWI in any state to pay $50 to the Trauma Center Fund to subsidize the cost of emergency medical care to accident victims in alcohol or drug use car crashes.
Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program (ASAP)
If convicted under Va. §18.2-266 (DUI/DWI statute) or Va. §46.2-341.24 (DUI/DWI of a commercial vehicle), Virginia statute requires enrollment in ASAP. This course costs between $250 and $300. The program is 20 hours long and focuses on substance abuse and driving, substance abuse and health, and self-evaluation of potential for substance abuse.
Ignition Interlock Program
Virginia requires that anyone convicted of a second DUI or anyone that has a BAC greater than .15 for their first DUI have an ignition interlock system installed. This system records the drivers BAC via breath test each time the car is started. It also requires that the driver blow into the breath analyzer ever 5-20 minutes.
1. If everyone insists on their constitutional right to go to trial, the prosecutor will be in court all day.
2. In most cases, the mandatory minimum sentences for DUI are so harsh that a defendant in a DUI trial risks absolutely nothing by going to trial. Many clients ask me if a judge will penalize them with a harsher sentence if they assert their right to trial. The Virginia legislature has now raised the minimum sentence for all DUI cases to such a high level, that, if you decide to go to trial on your case, in most instances, as a practical matter, you are going to get the same sentence as the person who pleads guilty.
4. The prosecutor is unprepared. In the vast majority of jurisdictions in Virginia, prosecutors do not look into traffic cases ahead of time. Most of my clients are shocked when I tell them that it is impossible for me to contact a prosecutor with knowledge about their case prior to the court date to discuss their case, because the prosecutors do not look into the cases ahead of time. In most jurisdictions, if someone shows up without an attorney, the prosecutor does not get involved. Thus, it is impossible for someone attempting to represent himself in these jurisdictions to discuss a possible plea bargain with the prosecutor, because the prosecutor will not speak to them. In some jurisdictions, such as Virginia Beach, there is not even a prosecutor for any traffic case, even a DUI with an attorney!
5. The police officer is unprepared. Your case is just one of an entire docket full of cases that the officer has on that date. It is not unusual for an officer to have 5 to 10 DUI cases on one date in addition to dozens of other traffic tickets. The officer often has little if any recollection of your arrest. That becomes apparent time and time again in court when I object to an officer testifying by reading from his notes and, after my objection is sustained by the judge, the officer clearly has no independent recollection of the arrest.
6. Most prosecutors know very little about the science (or lack thereof) behind field sobriety testing. At no time during law school does the professor ever say, “Today we’re going to learn about standardized field sobriety testing.” A thorough knowledge of these tests would actually hurt their cases and prevent them from making arguments that I routinely hear prosecutors make to judges while trying to argue that the results of these tests should be given more weight than they were ever intended to. For example, the three standardized field sobriety tests were only used to predict a BAC of .10 or above. Since the legal limit is now .08, there is almost no weight that a judge could give to these tests on someone with a BAC of .08 or .09.
7. The police officer did not follow proper procedures for the field sobriety tests. If a police officer receives proper training about field sobriety tests, they will be told the proper standards and procedures according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”). However, for example, on the “follow the pen with your eyes” test (the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, or HGN), the manual says that if the suspect moves his head during the test, the officer should use his flashlight or his free hand as a chin rest of the suspect.
In 25 years of practicing law, I have never seen an officer use anything as a chin rest for a suspect, even though in the vast majority of those cases the officer testifies that the suspect was swaying and unsteady on his feet! The manual also states that the walk-and-turn and one-leg stand test should not be done if the suspect is over 50 pounds overweight or has physical impairments that could affect his balance. The manual also states that the walk-and-turn test “requires a line that the suspect can see.” This is rarely done.
8. The breath testing equipment is inaccurate. The breath testing machine is just that- a machine. The machine uses an assumption to calculate the amount of alcohol in a person’s blood based on the amount of alcohol that is released into a person’s breath. The amount can vary from between 1100 and 3200. However, the machine uses a standard ratio of 2100, almost the average between the two.
If you exchange alcohol at the 1100 rate, the machine gives a reading twice as high as it should. On the other hand, if you exchange at the 3200 rate, it gives a reading half as high as it should. In any event, the principle is flawed and readings can vary up to 50% from the actual breath content. The manufacturers of the Intoxilyzer 5000 have flat out refused to reveal their source codes to defense attorneys. The source codes are basically the mathematical formula that the machine uses to convert a small sample of breath to a blood alcohol content number. Courts in Florida and Minnesota have already ruled that this refusal is a basis to dismiss DUI prosecutions. Virginia appeals courts have yet to rule on this issue.
CONCLUSION
A DUI charge is liable to make you feel overwhelmed and at the mercy of a Court system, police system and legal system that you do not understand. With the police and the prosecutor trying to convict you, you might think that it is useless to fight the charges against you.
The goal of this book is to help you feel more in charge of this potentially overwhelming ordeal, to shed some light on what you are going through, and to help you find a qualified defense attorney who will work to ensure that justice is done. When it comes to your case, justice means demanding that the police follow proper procedure, that only legally admissible evidence is presented at trial, and that you are not convicted on the basis of anyone’s opinion or prejudice.
Regardless of the particulars of your case, you deserve to find a lawyer who knows what your are going through, who knows what you are up against and who has years of experience going to bat for others in your situation by fighting the DUI Guilt Myth. And a chance to fight for your rights is not simply what you deserve. It’s the law; DUI.
Car Title Loans vs. Anticipated Tax Refund Loans
Annually many Americans find themselves needing their income tax refund now causing them to obtain an anticipated tax refund loan as a quick and simple method to get their tax refund quicker. Anticipated tax refund loans are essentially a short term payday loan made against their anticipated income tax refund. The consumer typically applies for an anticipated tax refund loan through a company that prepares tax returns. The anticipated tax refund loan amount is determined by the expected amount of their tax refund.
One of the many dangers with obtaining an anticipated tax refund loan is that the lender may intentionally increase the expected income tax refund amount in order to increase the amount of fees they charge. This creates problems for the consumer when their expected income tax refund they actually receive is less than anticipated since the lender has already contracted for and deducted their fees from the consumers income tax refund. Additionally, this puts the consumer at risk of being audited by the IRS for filing an incorrect income tax return. These and other risks are reasons the government is considering legislation to restrict anticipated tax refund loans because they promote fraudulent activities.
Though anticipated tax refund loans may sound like a quick and easy way to obtain your income tax refund sooner, obtaining a car title loan from a title lender provides you greater benefits. Most title lenders will discloses all of their rates and fees up front. There is no leaving it up to a third party to calculate what your income tax refund will be. Thereby reducing the opportunity for higher and unnecessary fees being charged to you, putting more money in your pocket, and the chance of a false income tax return being filed, increasing your risk of being audited by the IRS.
Some Car Title Loans providers allow you to pay off the loan over a 32-month term. Better than that is that you may not penalized if you chose to pay off your loan sooner. Whereas in an anticipated tax refund loan the fees are automatically taken from your income tax refund before you receive your refund. And fees are never waived with an anticipated tax refund loan.
Establishing a relationship with a Title Loan company allows you to build a financial partnership that will allow you to obtain future loans after you have paid off your loan instead of only during tax season each year. Obtaining a car title loan from a trusted Title Loan company helps restore or improve your credit and provides you with the comfort of knowing you have a partner with your financial needs. It is clear to see how a good Title Loan company provides you more options and benefits than an anticipated tax refund advance.
My Lucky Sweatshirt
I was dreaming about baseball. I was up to bat and wearing my favorite black game over sweatshirt, but there was something very wrong with this dream. I had a very bad feeling and my subconscious was telling me to wake-up. There were no players on the field, not even the pitcher. I was at home plate in the batting stance with bat cocked, elbow out, knees bent, and butt pushed out; wearing only my sweatshirt, a pair of bright white boxers and heavy gray wool socks with liners but no shoes. Pitched balls were coming toward the plate from an empty mound and odd sounds were coming from the empty stands. Strangely, just before getting to the plate the balls were stopping mid-air and falling to the ground; creating a large scattering of baseballs on the ground in front of home plate.
Warm In My Sweatshirt
The reality was I was comfortably tucked into my ice-caked sleeping bag with my sweatshirt, boxers, and socks, while resting on a thick layer of pine needles under one of only 5 trees. Just one was suitably strong and tall enough for hanging our food. It had a perfectly located strong branch for hanging about 20 feet off the ground. We were around 9,500 feet elevation. That’s the approximate tree line in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range.
It Was Time To Put-On My Sweatshirt.
We had stopped here because it was getting late. It was the last half-way decent place to camp for the night. The path ahead would be nothing but rock and icy cold winds for the next 6 miles in the late afternoon. You see when you camp in nothing but rocks it’s not only uncomfortable and colder, it’s more difficult to hang and protect your food from bears and in particular — everything you have from those pesky little mice. Those little buggers chew holes in anything and everything they can’t freely get into; like sleeping bags and backpack pockets. Everything must remain open and fully accessible unless you are right there with it and paying close attention. Hanging food high enough from a line stretched between rocks is a real pain-in-the-ass.
There was not enough time to make it over the pass and drop-down the other side below tree line before dark. That is why we stopped here. We had started our adventure at the base of Mount Whitney with a destination of Yosemite Valley. The Muir trail spans length-wise traversing the highest portions of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Since my friend Larry and I had only been out 6 days our packs were still very heavy with 4 large bags of food each. We were carrying a big cache of food, enough to comfortably cover us for our 30 day trek across the 211 miles of the John Muir Trail. Enough so we didn’t have to fishing or pick up additional food along the way. We were lining ourselves up to go over this ruggedly high 11,600 foot pass in the morning while we were fresh and before the warmer temperature of mid day could make it more difficult.
Only a Sweatshirt To Keep Me Warm.
Suddenly I awoke to the sound of limbs crackling over in the direction of that big tree; oh-no our food. I scrambled out of my bag into the icy cold dark night with only a tiny penlight in-hand and the sweatshirt on my back while shouting to Larry, ”Larry, I think some big ass hungry bear is going for our food”. Larry didn’t want to get out of his nice warm bag. I didn’t blame him, damn it was cold. So we just listened a bit. We did not hear a single sound from over there. All we could hear was the little stream down the opposite direction from us. Although still fearful, Larry convinced me I was just dreaming. So with penlight in-hand I climbed back into my bag. I was freezing out there with bare legs and only a sweatshirt.
I wasn’t able to fall back asleep right away so I just laid there, mind spinning, thinking about stuff. I was thinking about the one year we had been planning this trip, scrapping up the money for this expensive down bag, and a whole bunch of specialty backpacking equipment. I was remembering our after work conditioning hikes with rocks in our packs to simulate the weight of our food and equipment; very heavy @ 85lbs. I got this one really funny picture in my head. It was of me charging a bear in my sweatshirt and boxers from a bear’s perspective. I laughed silently to myself as I pictured only my bright white boxers charging towards me. In the darkness of night I could not see the dark sweatshirt. What a frightening vision even to a bear I thought.
That Light-Hearted Sweatshirt Moment Turned to Panic
The sound of crackling and falling things hitting the ground filled my ears – again! It was the beginning of a nightmare, but this time I was not dreaming. I knew if we didn’t get our asses and my sweatshirt over there right-away our trip would be ruined, if it wasn’t already. I shouted at Larry as I sprang out of my sack. Again with penlight in hand and only the sweatshirt on my back we raced over to that big tree area; the one where our food used to be hanging. As we approach we began seeing packages of food scattered all around the base of that big old tree and a pair of reflective beady eyes staring up at us. They belonged to the biggest fattest brown bear I had ever seen. He was hunkered over our food, mouth to the ground, slobbering and munching away as his eyes peered upward toward us. His eyes and body language said it all – screw you I’m not going anywhere until I finish everything.
I Knew My Cougar Sweatshirt Could Not Protect Me From A Hungry Bear
Larry and I looked at each other. We could see the shock and panic in each other’s faces. We quickly agreed to attempt chasing the bear off by charging him while screaming loudly and throwing sticks and stones. We each picked-up a few small rocks and charged the bear while yelling at the top of our lungs. Stopping about 20 feet away we pummel him with our rocks. No reaction, nothing, not even a flinch. That son-of-a-bitch just kept eating our food. Apparently he had been here and done this quite a few times before without encountering someone willing to risk the sweatshirt on their back. We immediately grabbed more rocks and whatever was handy right there at 20 feet close. We charged closer, yelled, and unloaded again. This time he at least looked up. But almost immediately he lowered his head back down and continued feasting on our precious food. In all my numerous run-ins with bears I had never encountered a bear this brazen. By now we were out of sync as we franticly charged, yelled and threw rocks over and over.
We finally succeeded in driving him back several steps only to be disappointed when he came forward again to settle on a different group of snacks. With a glimmer of hope and even greater determination I grabbed a rock so huge I could barely hold it with one hand. I thought to myself this is it; we’ve got to hurt this bastard to let him know the food is ours. I charged all the way right up along-side of that son-of-a-bitch and guided that big bolder with everything I had right into the side of his head; bull’s-eye! He immediately cried out shaking his head as he lurched back and rocked up on his back two legs then back down. All the while he was crying and shaking his head. Fortunately for me the bear was so stunned and disoriented he didn’t attack me. Obviously I hadn’t thought this out too well; my sweatshirt could have gotten shredded right then and there. Right about then Larry unloaded on him again. At this point that big fat bear turned around and lumbered over to a nearby ridge disappearing downhill into the vegetation.
My Weightlifter Sweatshirt Survived
We sighed with relief but still in shock we raced back over to our camp area to get into our warmest clothes and boots on our nearly frozen feet. We returned as fast as possible to assess the damage; hopping we could salvage the majority of our food. As we were standing in our sea of food discussing a plan of action here came that damn stubborn bear slowly back over the ridge toward us and our food. Unbelievable, what’s it going to take? At this point we had started to regain some of our common sense. We almost gave up the food. But in nearly an instant our anger returned. We grabbed more rocks, bigger rocks this time, and raced over to the ridge area where the bear had paused. He looked a bit angry and was doing some bear talking as we approached. We didn’t pause. We just let him have it all over again – hard! That was all it took. He spun around and high-tailed it back over and down into the vegetation for the second time. Now, we were really beginning to worry about our safety. How many times can we pummel that bear before he decides to fight rather than retreat? We agreed that we had already pushed our luck to the max; we would not challenge that bear again.
We gathered up the food that appeared to be good, took it over to our camp, started a camp fire and keep it going. We left the trash and slobbered-up food around the tree as a decoy should the bear return. We hoped it would keep the bear away from our salvaged food and my sweatshirt. Admittedly it was not a very good plan but under the circumstances it was about all we could or were willing to do. In the morning we meticulously cleaned up our mess around that bear’s sucker tree, thoroughly burning all trash and food we weren’t taking with us.
Mr. Sweatshirt Goes On Diet.
As the trash was burning we cleaned, sorted and inventoried our remaining food. The result was a devastating 50% overall loss, particularly heavy on dinners. We were pretty bummed out but figured that if we rationed our food we could go for another 3 weeks to make our destination, Yosemite National Park.
By the time we finish burning our trash it was already mid-day. We were pretty tired from last night’s ordeal and the accumulation of the previous 6 days hiking while carrying the bear’s food and that heavy sweatshirt of mine. We wanted to take one of four planed no-hike screw-off days to rest, but didn’t dare. We really didn’t want to do the assent portion of this pass at the warmest part of the day. But this was not the right place since we might not survive another encounter with that frickin bear.
Tale Of The Sweatshirt
We sure had a lot to talk about that day as we headed for the pass. We shared and explored every detail of the previous night from each other’s unique perspective. One of my takes was about how my sweatshirt helped save us. Here is a shortened version of how it helped scare the bear. My story went something like this; “Since my dark black sweatshirt is so highly contrasting to my bright white boxers it was responsible for scaring the bear away. So much so that from the bear’s perspective it looked like he was being attacked by a pair of white boxer shorts; like a ghost. Now just imagine how frightening it would be to be attacked by a pair of my 3 day old white boxers”. So now you know the story of how my favorite sweatshirt became My Lucky Sweatshirt.
