So I finally track down Boss. I manage to get him to agree to pay me what he owes me for the end of August. I also agree to take on half my duties for half pay. This is good and bad. It forces me to go full-bore at Amoeba. That’s good. It’s a fine job and now that Sara works there, I have a close companion at arms to hang with. It’s also good because it means the bit is looser in my mouth.

But this agreement comes as he’s preparing a characteristically last minute project for which he needs my urgent assistance. He’s got a twenty megabyte Powerpoint presentation that he wants to get to his buddy in Iceland. His buddy happens to be the Prime Minister of that country. Boss has an idea for a Viking theme park that he’s confident will become a world-wide phenomenon. The catch is his buddy steps down as Prime Minister today.

Of course nothing ever goes quite as easily as it should, and it isn’t until late the afternoon that his Powerpoint presentation is up and running and ready for Icelandic Royalty.

As for me? I’m taking off for the next five days. Gonna get me out of the city. It’s been two years since I hiked the John Muir Trail, and after the irritation and stress of the last few weeks, I’m ready to take that break. It won’t be much of a relaxation thing. My brother and I plan to tackle Sawmill Pass, one of the most grueling and intense access points into the Sierra. The climb starts at about four thousand feet and crests the pass at about ten thousand. That’s six thousand feet up on the first day.

I’d be lying if I said I weren’t a little apprehensive. But I’ve been to the area on the other side of that pass, and it’s a garden of Eden. We’re leaving via a different route, the equally daunting Taboose Pass to the north. But hey, at least we’ll be descending right?

Photos to come.