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| Dear Bank of America,
I just wanted my principal payment reversed. I did not want to listen in on your other customers' conversations, nor did I want to be on hold for nearly an hour or transferred to a line that does not work. It makes me wonder if your other customers can hear in on my conversation while I'm verifying my social security number with you. Your security and customer service needs to improve or I'm taking my business elsewhere.
Respectfully,
mdtpham
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| We rescued this guy on the road a few months ago...
I wonder how he's doing. He appeared out of nowhere on the grounds of the DC Arboretum. All I saw was a sewer cap nearby...
I named him, "Michelangelo". 
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| On Saturday, September 20, 2003, everyone who went to Yosemite and wanted to hike Half Dome woke up at 4am to get ready. We left around 5am to drive to the Valley, then waited around until 7:15am when the shuttle picked us up to drop us off at shuttle stop #16: Happy Isles. This is where everyone who wants to hike Vernal Falls, Nevada Falls, or Half Dome must start. There are two ways to hike Half Dome, 1) go through the Mist Trail, which leads you to the top of Vernal Falls and pass Nevada Falls to Half Dome. It is so-called because the water from the fall causes a mist on the trail. The highest rock step is supposedly 23" (almost 2 feet) and is considered a more dangerous route than 2) the John Muir Trail (JMT). The John Muir Trail is 1.2 miles longer than the Mist Trail, but it is safer. So hiking to Half Dome, we took the Mist Trail to try to save some time. Our hike began at approx. 8am. We made great timing on our first mile, then eventually it took us longer and longer. The hike to the top of Vernal Falls is 1.5 miles. We rested for a bit once we got there. Then we continued on our trail and passed Nevada Falls - this is the 3.5 miles mark. Along the way, we saw horse droppings, which did not smell all that bad. I almost gave up, but at a certain point on the trip, I decided that I was going to do. I was mad that such a trail could outdo me, so I sucked it in and went all the way. Along the way, Julie had stomach aches, and Ha did "the most" in the wilderness. Lets just say "the least" is when you pee...
We did not get to the top of Half Dome until around 3pm. Let me just say that climbing the cables was the scariest moment of my life! It was probably angled between 50-80 degrees. Imagine that! Let go of the cable and you fall to your death. :( I got 2 blisters on my right toe, 1 on my left, and 1 on my right hand. After I got to the top, I decided that the view was not all that different from the base of the dome. It was actually the sense of accomplishment that made the trip worth it. Along the way, many people gave up, sprained their ankle, or cried when they saw the cables because they've just hiked approx. 8 miles and the cable was such a challenge that they had to give up. We only stayed up at the top for about 30 minutes because it was going to get dark soon. In my opinion, going down the cables is harder than going up. I was so happy when I got to the end of the cable, but that was only the beginning; we still had to hike about 8 miles to get back to Happy Isles! :( After hiking for only about 2 miles, it got so dark that we had to use flashlights. Then came more horse droppings, then the sounds of nature. We didn't mind the horse droppings.. it was the bear droppings that we were afraid of (a sure sign that bears were in the area). We were all getting scared (of bears), and I did not think that we would make it out. When we got to the bathroom where the John Muir Trail and the Mist Trail split off, we met up with another group (these people in their 30s from a church group in San Francisco). We all decided that it was safer to go down the John Muir Trail at night even though it would be 1.2 miles longer. The last time I checked my watch, it was around 8:11pm, and it was so dark! We did not get out of the woods until around 12am. I was so relieved! I really thought that we were going to spend the night in the woods. But over all, I would say to anyone who wants to hike Half Dome to go for it and do it at least once just for the experience. At the moment, I said that I would never, ever do it again, but looking back, and afer Son told me that he wants to do, I might consider it! Anyways, we ended the night by taking a shower, then driving back to Wawona. Julie felt sick part way through the drive so I had to drive back the rest of the way. It was kind of scary driving on the mountains for the first time because it was dark and the road curved a lot. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures I found surfing the net because I don't have my USB cable to upload my pictures yet. 
This is the map of the Half Dome hike. The route leads us to the back of the dome where the cables are.
This is at the base of the dome. The "V" in the red lining is where the cables are. 
These are the cables in the morning before more people started showing up.
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