AVOID THE BUMMER LIFE

Outliving the bastards one hard-earned beer at time.

Category: just words

  • Ins & Outs 2025

    Ins & Outs 2025

    Boy, this last year was a real fuckin’ churn. Trying to make sense of all that swirled around us can bring on the most piercing of migraines–yet here we are. Looking over our shoulders while blindly anticipating the next few steps.

    Despite the shitshow that the world continuously reveals itself to be, life around here has been quite tender lately. Some personal progress and time-well-spent with my loving partner has superseded the things printed in the news.

    The calendar has flipped as well as my age. The time to reflect is here, once again, in the form of some non-committal list making.

    The Outs 👏

    • chaco
    • digital
    • gin & tonic
    • run it dry
    • fleece sweater
    • “what-ifs”
    • trails
    • 0.7mm pencils
    • internal thoughts
    • papa murphy’s
    • racing to the start line
    • posting
    • lattes
    • teevee

    In/Still In 🤘

    • birkenstock
    • analog
    • wine
    • zipper lube
    • waffle hoodie
    • 1% improvements
    • bushwhacks
    • 0.9mm pencils
    • journaling
    • crock pot meals
    • enjoying the process
    • printing
    • cappuccinos
    • card games & puzzles

    One tradition I dodged this past year was event-driven endurance racing. Besides a turkey trot there were no marathons, bike races, trail runs, triathlons, or any such sort. That was all fine and well, but I do miss the buildup to and the effort during these events. So here are a few I’ve scribbled on the calendar for 2025:

    Tour de Blast

    Mogollon Monster (42k)

    Seattle Marathon

    No big reaches there, just some milestones that’ll require consistent good ‘ol fashioned work.

    I’m also preparing for a long-term photography project that should be both challenging and rewarding. No specifics to share yet but at some point this spring/summer I’m sure that I will have a working page dedicated to it’s progress.

    Am also hoping to make progress learning two new “languages”: German and Morse Code.

    And finally, while there are no tickets yet purchased, there are some travel plans to exciting new places in 2025.

    To summarize: I’m hoping to maintain a level of chill and a smile. Do more with what I have and let go of the wants for things I don’t have.

  • Hiding Things from Oneself

    Hiding Things from Oneself

    One of my “ten essentials” when heading out into the backcountry is my Garmin inReach Mini 2. It’s been an incredibly useful tool for getting texts out to my partner (or whomever) when completely out of cell service, which tends to be quite frequent ’round these parts. Aside from the convenience of friendly texts, it provides a sense of security as an oh shit device incase things get real bad and self-rescuing is not an option.

    Downside: the little sucker tends to fly out of pockets as I’m biking down bumpy trails or ‘shwacking through thick vegetation. Using a biner to clip it onto a pack is 100% advisable and I follow that advice 90% of the time.

    Last month I got out for one last bikepacking overnighter before the cold season fully took grasp. My inReach was tucked into a little pocket on the side of one of my handlebar bags and lived there the entire trip–sans clip. The ride was a rough one, both in road surface and in general effort. We were pretty spent by the end of it.

    Following weekend as I prepped for a hike it occurred to me that the inReach wasn’t anywhere I expected it to be.

    Not in my usual drawer of outdoor electronics.
    Not connected to my SOTA backpack.
    Not in my bike bag pocket where I had the weekend before.
    Not floating around in the back of the Honda.
    And not in my buddy’s truck.

    Sure, when we were bombing down that one hill on Day 2 and hit some of the roughest washboard this side of the Cascades, the little guy musta jumped out my bag and bounced his way to freedom. I immediately began looking for a replacement, but it hurt to think about paying for a brand-new one… even though, it’s invaluable.

    I gave it a week. Then two. Occasionally looking through the local Craiglist for postings of a found, or even recognizable for sale, inReach. Nada.

    Well fuck me if just a few hours ago I didn’t go looking for a usb power brick when there it was. Sitting right in the drawer where it shouldn’t be, but I can see how it seemed logical at the time in my post-ride haze.

    All this is to say, I’m glad that I’ve found my inReach. And I swear that I’ll never travel with it unsecured again.

    Until I do.

  • Web Overhaul

    Web Overhaul

    Blogging is dead. Long live the blog.

    I’m no longer taking freelance work* so there was no real need to keep a professional site going for design stuff. If you arrived here via https://mackey.design you’ve got the correct online presence.

    This is the new manifest—an untidy home to anything I deem worthy of the time it takes to upload & type.

    *but if the price is right…