The Great Solar Eclipse of 2017 crossed the continent, from Oregon to South Carolina, and gave millions of people the chance to witness one of the most awe-inspiring events in the natural world.

But you had to be within the "path of totality", a narrow band across the earth's surface several thousand miles long but only about 70 miles wide. Outside that band you would only see a partial eclipse, not a total eclipse.

And there is no such thing as a "partial total eclipse", despite the impression blogs and the news media might give. I honestly think that's why so many people misunderstand the utter beauty of the spectacle; they may have seen a partial eclipse in the past that was total somewhere else, and even though they weren't in the path the news kept gushing about it being a total eclipse, so they assume they must have seen a total eclipse and just didn't find it all that impressive.


Posted by Dan 08/29/2017, revised 09/06/2017

Kim (and about 6,000 other athletes) participated in the Accenture Chicago Triathlon in August. She finished 103 of 6149 overall, 8th of 2078 women, and 2nd in her age group!

In June she competed in the 2007 USAT National Age Group Championship held in Oregon. Despite being out most of the past year rehabbing from a broken ankle, and this being only her second race ever at the Olympic distance, she finished an impressive 25th in the highly competive 25-29 age group! Here are some photos of her at the race.

Way to go, Kim!!

Posted by Dan 08/27/2007, revised 01/27/2008

Well we managed to extricate ourselves from Koh Tao last week. The trick is to do it fast and with no warning. We went down to check on tickets to Chiang Mai and found that it was either leave the next day or wait another week for availability, so we booked it and got the next boat off.

Goodells Rule!

Posted by nik 10/21/2008, revised 11/05/2008

Well it's been quite an adventure getting to this country! In a "quick" summary:

• Original flight was LAX to Sydney with a 4-hour layover in Fiji.
  
  
• LAX to Fiji flight was delayed to the next day, so I got put up in a great room at the Sheraton with overly-sufficient meal vouchers for the delicious hotel restaurant.
  
  
• Due to the late arrival in Fiji, no flights were departing for Sydney that night, so I got put up in a beautiful resort in Fiji, with yet again more meal vouchers than I could use.
  
  
• Finally got to Sydney, Neil and I had to sort out a place to stay (I guess most people sort this out ahead of time, but that's not our style). We found a house to stay in - $60 for a night, $175 for a week. Neil went with a week, since he needs time to sort out his permanent residence in Sydney.
  
  
• The place is an absolute dump! It's run down, about to fall over, mold growing on the walls, mushrooms growing out of the ceiling...It's actually quite amusing, but only because it's a temporary thing. We can put up with it with a laugh for a few days, but there's actually a woman that lives there permanently! I don't get it.

Posted by Whitney 02/23/2008, revised 03/08/2008