Yesterday I took Daffy to Action K9 Sports up in Escondido.  It was her first time to really be on a farm, and actually get to deal with cows, goats and sheep.  The purpose for heading up that way?  To see if she has a good instinct to chase and herd animals.  Of course she does, it’s what she was bred for.

Daffy did absolutely wonderful.  She has the instinct, she needs to do this.  Unfortunately I’m the one that needs to learn more.  I’m not that great at it.  With time I’m certain that will change.

Daffy got to chase sheep twice yesterday and had a blast.  She was so happy all day out there.  Makes me wish that we lived on a farm just so she could have this every day.  Maybe one day in the future she will.

She and I got there stupid early so we went walking through one of the fields and through a dry creek bed on the property.  While in the creek bed she saw a lizard and charged at it.  Once she caught it she consumed the little devil in no time flat.  It cracked me up.

Looks like for the next few months we’ll be going every other Saturday.  She’ll be a great herding dog

Picked up some new boots a couple of weeks ago.  I needed something a bit more outdoorsy than what I have in the stable of shoes and boots.  Normally I’m a big John Fluevog person when it comes to style.  I even have an awesome pair of 40th Anniversary gold boots from him.  They’re comfortable, and definitely stand out when on a night on the town, yet absolutely horrible if you’re going to be doing anything remotely out doors.  Some research and I came to the conclusion that I’m gonna give Converse a try.  I loved the chucks growing up and skate boarding.  Didn’t know they made boots.

Boy am I glad I went this route.  These boots are absolutely comfortable.  Upon putting them on for the first time they already felt like they were broken in for me.  Still stiff in some places, but where it truly counts is where your foot is sitting on the inside.  These things have a nice spring added in because of the inserts that come by default.  If you normally wear a specific type of insert I can only imagine these boots being even more comfortable.

The side zipper certainly makes getting them off easier.  Perhaps I haven’t worn these enough yet to make it easier to put them on as I still have to untie them each time I put them on, but thems the bricks.  It’s a nice little addition for someone who has never had boots that zipped up on the side.  I don’t see myself wanting boots without this feature again.

The sole of these boots is what most impresses me.  They’re very grippy on just about any surface.  Normal around the city I can’t imagine myself falling at all.  Yesterday when I was with the dog on a ranch we went for a short little two mile hike through a dry creek bed and I had no issues climing over dead trees, over the banks, through the sand or the fields we were walking in as well.  Definitely feel good for the next time I go hiking and camping wearing these things.

Usually at the beach I’m barefoot or just in flip flops but decided today I would give the boots a water test.  Water is hard to come by here in San Diego County.  I hit the waves slightly, not enough to submerse my legs up to the knees but enough to get the boots wet.  My feet stayed dry with that test.  On the walk around and over to the swamp area of the dog park I had no issues with that terrain either.  Feet stayed dry, never lost footing which is a miracle when you have a hyper dog always running around you.

All in all I give these boots an A+.  I have no clue how they would work when it comes to cold weather but I feel they would be fine if you wore wool socks.

• I am the fifth beetle. #
• The burn on my thumb hurts today. So does the one on my little finger. Damn playing with fire. #
• Cute little video/song about getting your weed card here in California: http://bit.ly/iffS93 #
• lol, pure brilliance: http://bit.ly/hKnzzA #
• Even squirrels are hunted down for crimes in the great plains http://bit.ly/fzQJik #
• There's a new drug ravaging it's ways through colleges. Fuck yeah man! http://goo.gl/ls7T #
• Today's excuse: Sun Spots. With how solar flares are interacting with the ozone packet loss happens to be the result. #
• Dave Ramsay, I applaud you for this: http://bit.ly/gSuTS1 #
• Awesome tattoo gets moron convicted. I love the stupidity of criminals: http://wapo.st/eLixT7 #
• Probably stupid but this is one of the better "survival" shows out there. Season 2 starts tonight. Hippy and ex-sniper: http://bit.ly/aFaVz0 #
• It makes no sense that I can barely take my dog anywhere out doors in California. What the hell is wrong with this state? #
• It's herding day In a few hours my precious little Daffy-Dork will get to chase sheep for the first time in her little cattle dog life. #
• Look at the dork in a dry creek bed http://t.co/ddHjvD2 #
• Holy crap daffy just caught and ate a lizard #

I recently won an ebay auction for a Baladeo 34g knife.  Figured it was a good price so why not?  I’d like to give a light weight knife a try and might as well toss up my initial thoughts on it.  I’ve been using it for a day and I’ve already come to a few conclusions.

First off, this knife is retardedly light weight.  I thought my usual EDC (every day carry) "knife" was light weight.  Normally I carry a Skeletool by Leatherman that weighs in at a bit more than five ounces.  Putting this knife in my left pocket I could have easily forgotten that it was even there.  Thankfully there’s a decent clip on the blade that holds very securely.  Definitely a bonus.

The second thing that really shocked me was at how thin it really was.  They make this happen with a folding knife by only having one part of the "handle" that you would normally find in a knife of this nature.  It’s not that big of a deal since it’s all compact and held together tightly.  I don’t forsee myself accidently getting cut when taking it from my pocket or even my belt if I have it on there.  Not too shabby.

Thirdly, usually when I purchase a blade I have to sharpen it.  Rarely has a knife come to me that was razor sharp.  With the 34g I was able to shave part of my face with no problems.  Of course this was made much easier with the use of shaving foam.  Not out in the woods right now so I don’t have to deal without that little luxury.

That’s definitely the good.  I need to toss in what I don’t like about this product.  I am left handed.  I do understand that this is a minority within the world.  I shouldn’t trust myself with something this sharp in my stupid right hand that has less dexterity.

While cutting open some boxes at work, basic cardboard and packing tape, the knife collapsed on me.  I figured I didn’t have it locked securely into place so I verified that I did.  A few small cuts later and it collapsed a second time.  This thing is definitely not made for people who favor the southpaw.

I tried widdling some wood, and shaving the bark off of a small branch I cut with a different knife.  I would not want to use this thing for either of those tasks.  If I needed to do anything with wood, hell even thick weeds, I would be sore pressed to have anything productive happen.  It’s simply far too thin and flimsy for any serious work. 

Cutting vegetables went well.  It sliced through a tomato without blinking  due to how sharp it is.  Very easy to clean after that.  I figure it would go through an onion or potato equally as well but don’t have any to test with.

Does this have a place in my pack?  Or should I just put it away?  Honestly I believe it’s only use for me shall be as part of my small fishing kit.  Keeping it sharp and it’s ease of cleaning along with how thin and flexible the blade actually is leads me to believe that this would be a great light weight fillet knife while out on the the trail or even just dock fishing.

If you’re definitely a gram weenie it’s a decent knife for small camp chores.  I wouldn’t try to rely on it more than that.

• Apparently it's a good time to beach comb in Japan: http://goo.gl/Sghvg #
• Daffy got accepted to herding school. We do her aptitude test next Saturday at 9am. She's gonna go nuts. #
• This cloud bull shit has gone too far now: http://goo.gl/JMeYj #
• Urge. To. Quit. Rising. #
• Dear Noah, We could have sworn you said the ark wasn't leaving till 5. Sincerely, Unicorns… http://lil.as/c0 #
• I can't force myself to get ready for work. Fucking dumb ass job. Two more pay cheques to go. #
• Daffy was a good duck. She walked all the way to the bodega without a leash. I'm proud of my puppy. #
• FTP is 40 years old today. Why do people still use it? RFC 114 is old as fuck. #
• I wake up to find myself with an 80 dollar an hour contract for the day. Possibility of making a few grand on another project. #

• aight #
• You can get past a dog, but nobody fucks with a lion. #
• Rock is over powered, paper is fine – a quote by scissors. #

• Truck is fixed. Boy that was fun. Too bad I was lazy as fuck yesterday. #
• The sky is blue because Chuck Norris beat it up. #
• Yay! Daffy is registered for herding classes. I'll have to borrow a room mate's camera for this event. #