Wednesday, September 22, 2010

That Time We Found the Pools

My good friend, Scott, and I went hiking a few days ago up a canyon in the Alpine area of Utah Valley. Normally we'd follow this trail to the beautiful Horsetail Falls, but on this occasion we chose to go above the falls and see what lie waiting in the canyon beyond them.


Heading up the trail, we were presented with splashes of Autumn color. I'm tempted to hike it again in a few weeks when the color is even more apparent.


Gorgeous day for hiking...


Miniature waterfalls like this one dotted the trail all the way up.


Scott stands in a meadow among alpine peaks. It's so scenic up there.


Up the trail a ways we found these incredible pools large enough to swim in! I was momentarily bummed that I didn't have my swimsuit, but realized that my underarmor shorts would do just fine. :)


Minutes later I was in the FREAKING COLD water struggling to keep my breath. Holy cow it felt good, though. I got out before I lost feeling in my extremities.


Scott just wore his shorts. I think his expression adequately conveys the temperature of the water.


This picture is taken from a log bridge, looking toward the valley. The frigid (but awesome) pool we swam in is behind me.


Up above there was another pool. Though not quite as deep, it was incredibly scenic.


Another glimpse of the fall of summer and the rise of fall. :) Love this little tree...

-Barry

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Fire Mountain

Tonight a massive fire is burning in the Oquirrh Mountains above Herriman. I wanted to get a good glimpse at what was going on and drove down to 12300 S to check it out. I was able to get a few amazing pictures. Never have I seen a fire this big in the valley...



-Barry

Friday, September 17, 2010

Couldn't See it Coming

Ahh! Some people are soooo stupid...

Just read an article about a British woman who traveled to Panama to have her eye color permanently changed. The procedure was something she read about on the internet. Of course, to me, the fact that you have to fly to Panama to have anything done is a huge red flag, but apparently this woman is a dumb ass.

So she goes down there, meets the doctor in the hotel, and he drives her to a little building in the middle of nowhere where they proceed to do the surgery, which involves placing a plastic colored disc inside the eye, over the retina. It's obviously a hack job, but the entire time she suspects NOTHING. Well, she gets back to Britain and starts freaking out because her vision is jacked. She goes to an optometrist who, luckily for her, was able to take out the discs and mostly restore her vision, but she now lives with cataracts, reduced peripheral vision, and headaches.

My bewilderment at what this woman did lies in the fact that she had this procedure done without doing any research beyond the preliminary effort it took to find it on the internet. Secondly, I'm amazed anyone would take such a non-chalant disposition to eye surgery. Stupid people, though, never cease to amaze.

Read here for the full story.

-Barry

Monday, September 13, 2010

A Bio Blurb

As most of you know, I recently relinquished my freelancin' days for gainful employment with an amazing company. I've been there for about a month now and just today they asked for a brief bio to share in this month's company newsletter. I decided against the traditional list of achievements and went, instead, for something a little out of the ordinary. Telling something of a small story would be a good way to make people remember me, so I decided to pursue that route. :)

This is how it went:

When Barry was 10 years old, he was grounded for a full month (in the summer, no less) for stabbing his brother in the hand with a pair of scissors. His mom had understood, due to a complete lack of accurate information, that the boys were fighting and that Barry, in his rage, lashed out at his younger brother. What had actually happened is that the boys, being young and stupid, were playing a game called “let’s throw Styrofoam into the air and cut it with scissors.” Years later, Barry learned that had his mom known it was an accident, his prison term would have been measured in days, instead of weeks. He has decided to be a better communicator ever since.

Besides his desire for efficient communication, Barry’s passions include learning, photography, hiking, spelunking, culinary adventures, ultimate Frisbee, building computers, and writing. He aspires to two things in life: grilling a perfect steak and marrying an incredible woman.

Good?

-Barry