Bring Your Masks, I'll Provide the Matches

The mask-burning party is tonight at my house. Bring your masks - my granddaughter wants to burn a mask but not the one she likes, so we’re giving her a different mask to torch. I’ll have a small cozy fire pit to lob the little face diapers into. We don’t need the Fires of Mount Doom in Mordor for this project. All we need is a little fire, a lot of mockery of the petty tyrants like Dear Governor, and the pleasure of like-minded friends committed to the proposition that we will not allow obnoxious and foolish progs to restrain our natural rights.

I bumped into one of our city council members and gave him a heads up that the party was happening. His response? “Naked Faces Matter!”

I’m stealing that. I also invited him to the party. He’s one of us.

At the risk (substantial) of making a big fat target of myself, the address is 308 2nd Street, Asotin, WA. Parking is whatever you can find on the street. After school hours, the bus parking is usable.

The nearest restrooms are around the corner at the Zip Trip.

I’ll have the grill fired up around 5:30PM. I’m cheating and using gas. Charcoal tastes a lot better, but really isn’t designed for mass production. I’ll also have some coffee on hand, hot water for hot chocolate, pop, egg nog, and water. If you want to bring a small dish of your own, that would be great but not required.

In the event we get crazy people showing up to ‘counter-protest’, the game plan is to treat them with kindness. I really doubt we’ll get any, but better to have a plan than not. We’ll offer them coffee and pop, burgers and dogs. I guess, if they’re vegan, we can offer potato chips. We’re not going to argue with them. Their minds are not open to our viewpoint, and we won’t waste our time and energy on them. Deal?

Building a Solar Collector

Things get slow over the winter season for me and, as they say, idle hands do the devil's work. In this case, they built a solar collector for my garage.

The project did not require any fancy materials and the basic plans were available on the internet (though I tweaked them considerably.) All told, the project took a couple of days. For someone handy, it would have been a single day project, but my fine carpentry skills start and stop at the "Honey, where's my sledge hammer?" stage.

Building the Collector

My first step, after gathering supplies, was to build the collector itself. Since I can’t follow a simple recipe, this is where I began deviating from the plans. The collector sits inside the frame and absorbs the solar energy. I intended to use a small duct fan to boost air flow, so instead of designing the system to flow up the screen using natural convection, I made it a down-draft panel with the cold air coming in at the top and the fan sucking the warm air from the bottom.

Then I made three more changes. The original plans called for two layers of mesh. I went with five. I also changed the material from the plastic mesh to black aluminum screeen. (In hindgsight, I think the black plastic mesh would work just as well.) The final change in the collector was to add black plastic to each layer in a staggered pattern so that the air is always in contact with a solid, warm surface.

To anchor all the mesh, I used a frame of 1x2 lumber and mounted each layer on lathe strips (because they are skinny and cheap.)

Building the Box Frame

This is where my general lack of handiness asserted itself. This was combined with at least one moment of total nit-wittery. We’ll get to that shortly.

I spent a bit more money to buy pressure treated 2x12 lumber for the exterior frame. It can be done with less expensive materials, but I paid the additional cost in the dual expectation that the collector would work (there were doubts among friends, family, and the neighbors) and that it would last the next 20 years.

I cut the wood to fit with the bottom edge of the supporting side beveled to improve my angle to the sun. Then I inserted the top and bottom planks and proved to myself that I can be an idiot.

I built the collector to be four feet by eight feet. When I inserted the top and bottom, they were slightly larger than four feet so I could get the collector in without busting it apart. So far, no problem. I bolted everything together, easy as pie. Then I tried to drop the collector in – and discovered my little math error. The collector wouldn’t fit by 1.5 inches. When I measured for the longer axis, I neglected to account for the thickness of the bottom board.

Crud. Given no choice but to undue my work, I did. Re-measured (carefully this time!) and put everything back together. This time, the interior collector fit, if a bit snugger than I intended.

Insulate, Seal, And Ductwork

The next phase was to insulate the box with foam and caulk seal all the joints. Pro-tip for homeowners – if you want to save money on heating and cooling, don’t by a fancier furnace or expensive windows. Insulate and air seal – you’ll get your money back in a year or two.

Once the insulation was in and I got caulk smeared everywhere, I added the ductwork using inexpensive dryer ducting. I insulated that, too. Flipping it over, I caulked the plexiglass to the front of the frame and the collector was ready to move to the south side of the garage.

Remember the bevel cut at the bottom? The second purpose for that was to add stability to the whole frame so I wouldn’t need to screw it to my wall. The frame is heavy enough that wind will not bother it.

The ductwork extended past the back of the box enough to enter in a window. Just as I didn’t want a dozen screw holes in my siding, I didn’t want to cut holes into it, either. So, the window. I framed out ducts with more insulation, sealed with expansion foam and used the window to lock things down tight across the top the same way you would with a window air conditioner.

On the inside of my unheated garage, I ran a 20 foot length of dryer duct and added the fan. The discharge point is right over the laundry machines. The fan is on a timer.

So Does It Work?

Better than expected, actually. The heat on a sunny day coming from the collector exits at better than 100 degrees. Remember that this piece of ducting is 20 feet long, so there is considerable temperature loss along the length of it. When I measured the immediate discharge piping with my infrared camera, the temperature was over 140 degrees. Very pleasing!

On really cloudy, rainy days, it works, but not as effectively. The heat output is usually between six and ten degrees above the input temperature, so it is still heating.

During an average winter, the garage gets down to freezing and stays there. This year, it has gotten as warm as a balmy 63 degrees.

All in all, a fun project that will also save me money in the long run, and it’s kind to Mother Nature. I think I’ll build another one next year for my office.

Dayton JV Meet

What a contrast in meets from Undeberg last weekend to the Dayton JV Meet yesterday. Where the Undeberg was efficient and featured 36 teams with fields full of competitors, Dayton was low key, with entire events scratched due to a lack of participants. The biggest difference, though, happened again and again around the track. Coaching.

I listened in as the gentleman running the pit explain: “You’re slowing down at the last two steps. That’s where you need to really be quick, those last three steps.”

Jessica McCain (Asotin)  listened – and PR’d at the event.

Sal Lopez: “You’re opened all the way up before you start your throw. Remember, check the time,” he demonstrated the

sideways scuttle that throwers use to align their bodies while holding the javelin in ready position, “and then, at the end, when you start the actual throw, that’s when you open up.”

The big meets draw some crowds. This one was sparsely attended even by family but these little meets are the ones where we get to see the athletes that will be challenging at District and State levels, especially in the throwing and jumping events.

The potential is there. The shot putters need time to grow into their bodies, time in the weight room. A pair from Waitsburg-Prescott, Mark Montgomery and EJ Oppelt, did very well. So did a pair from Asotin, Conor Martin and Phillip Downey. Three sophomores and a freshman. The top two on the women’s side, Skylar Olsen (DeSales) and Alyssa Hendrickson (WWVA), were freshmen.  I’m not a particularly stout individual but even I added 40 pounds of muscle from my freshman year in high school to my senior year. These youngsters will do the same, more so in the case of the men.

Another difference is the waiting. Undeberg moved at a relentless pace, flight after flight of athletes cycling through the events. Yesterday was more relaxed. For some events, that translated to a fair amount of standing around time. Long jump lines stretched back as the leapers tried to get all their jumps in before their running events.  Running events were slower into the blocks and, in several events, men’s and women’s races were combined.

DeSales ran well in the 1600m – one of the combined events – with Isaac Mata following up a good showing at Undeberg with a sub-5:00 minute mile. Daniel Ness(Desales) outkicked Brady Mulikin (Asotin) over the last three hundred meters to secure second. DeSales also took the top two women’s spots with Anna Ruthven wining.

In the 3200m women’s race, Jade Porubek (St. John-Endicott) won. Jade is a senior that I’ve watched on the cross country course and she isn’t often the fastest woman in the field but there are very few runners that work as hard as she does. It was nice to see her get the win at Dayton.

Jessica McCain encouraged her every time Jade went by the high jump pit – it’s easy to see why Jessica won the sportsmanship award last week at Undeberg. She’s a positive influence out there.

That’s it for the Dayton JV Meet. If I have the opportunity, I’ll be heading over to the Meet of Champions in Lewiston, ID this afternoon. At best, I’ll be late but maybe I can catch the later distance events and some of the relays.

The Union-Bulletin has a good recap.

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Races around Asotin

Time to look at some local races around Asotin. The holidays are over and, if my scale is correct, the damage was minimal - except to the habit of running. Since I have a marathon that I need to be ready for (running, not racing), I need to get it going. The nice thing about marathon training is missing a day won't break you. Trying to do too much, too fast, might. Patience, perseverance, and a good sense of humor will get you to the start line. In the meantime, we have a bunch of local races on the calendar. I'll only probably do two, one as a training run, the other as a benchmark to see where I'm at.

Here are all the races I could find in the area for the late winter/early spring.

Feb. 8 - Sweetheart Run, Lewiston ID - 4 mile run or 2 mile walk, benefits local youth charities.

Feb 15 - Edge of Hell, Lewiston ID - 4 or 8 mile trail run in Hells Gate State Park. Beautiful scenery and one of my favorite areas to run in the Lewis-Clark Valley. If you look across the river, you can see my house.-and most of Asotin.

Feb. 22 - Celebrate Life, Lewiston ID - 7K run, 3K walk, benefits kids with cancer.

Mar. 1 - Snake River Half-marathon, Pullman, WA- 13.1 miles of running beside the Snake River, sponsored by the Palouse Road Runners. No traffic and a course elevation chart that looks like this: ________________. If you run it, I'll be at the 4 miles aid station cheering you on. The rest of the Asotin cross country team will be there along with Coach Tim Gundy, manning the 4 and 6 mile stations.

Mar. 15 - St. Patrick's Day 5/10K, Clarkston WA - Your choice of distance on a fast course. You have to wait for the holiday itself for the green beer.

Mar 21/22 - Snake River Triathlon, Lewiston ID, The swim is Friday, the evening before the ride/run. Check the website for details. The race is put on by Lewis-Clark State College's Cross Country program. Mike Collins, the coach, does a great job of organizing the event and it is chip-timed.

Mar 22 - Hells Canyon Adventure Run and Ultra, Idaho - A self-supported run of either 15 or 28 miles depending on which version you choose. 100 percent on trails in Hells Canyon. This is the one on my list as a training run.

Mar 30 - WSU 100K Relay/Solo, Pullman WA - Got some friends? Grab them, put together a team and have some fun with a relay. If you don't have friends crazy enough to join you, you can always run it as an Ultra. I heard a rumor that since this is the 25 Anniversary, the Palouse Road Runners are planning  25 percent weather. We'll see how that goes.

Apr. 5 -  Mike Jensen Memorial 5K, Lewiston ID -  Another charity run, this time for grieving children.

Apr. 18 - Twilight 5K, Lewiston ID - Another of Coach Collins events, it's a fast, flat course on the levee. This will be my "where-am-I-at?" race as I get ready for the marathon in Colorado.

Apr. 26 - Seaport River Run, Clarkston WA - I'd put up a link but the City of Lewiston hasn't posted it yet that I can find.

Apr. 26 - St. John Hog Jog, St John WA - I haven't done this one and maybe it's time I headed up. 2 and 5 mile options in one of my favorite little towns. Also the chief competitors for Asotin Cross Country girls and really nice kids.

So that gets us into later spring. Pick a couple and have some fun.

The Starter - A Guy with a (Fake) Gun

Cross country season is off to a great start - not in small part due to the volunteers that help staff the meets here such as Les - today's starter at the Seaport Invite in Clarkston, Washington. I've watched Les start races in the Inland Northwest for about a decade and always wondered at his easy disposition and calming effect on a mob of athletes itching to sprint away. Today was nice because I had a chance to chat with him briefly after the junior varsity race got under way since I was the backup timer today and didn't have to call splits at the mile mark.

This marks the 28th year that Les has acted as a race official, working both cross country and track. Before that, he coached for a couple of decades - between the two, he has five decades of experience which is a stunning concept, at least for me (having just reached my fiftieth year - it means he started coaching the year I was born.) He plans on sticking around for at least a few more years so that number will only grow. Like Ripken's consecutive game streak in baseball or Coach K's wins in college basketball, it's a record that's going to be awfully hard to beat.

Interestingly enough, he grew up in Maryland, not far from where I grew up. Both of us were children of people in government service - his father was military, mine Department of Defense and we've both been to Okinawa. It's an odd feeling - a touch of nostalgia - to meet someone from that neck of the woods when I've left it far behind, both in distance and in time.

Les projects an old-fashioned graciousness and warmth and I suspect that aspect of his personality is what gets the races off to such smooth starts. Listening to parents compare him to other starters just reinforces the importance of the role that he plays - whether he knows it or not - to the community and to the athletes.

I also suspect that if you brought you his role, he'd tell you that it's all about the kids and the joy that they bring as they compete against each other and themselves. It certainly wouldn't be about Les and five decades of service to these youngsters. The Starter is that kind of man.