The Life And Times Of Lou, The Smiling Tortoise: 14-160

"The Blog Almost Too Boring To Be The Most Boring Blog in America ... for Over 5 Years!"

until it got too many red cards from Wounded Duck and the Boredom Enforcement Committee ... now the tortoise's goal is to get to 10 red cards so he can get Big Dog to drive down and take a good long walk with the tortoise

P. S. This blog listens to its readers. We have the Benjamin Category Override for 5+ mile walks and now, it humbles Tortoise to say he has been named "Lou", by Doug Jr, in memory of Mr. Consistency himself, Lou Gehrig. Tortoise can hardly type the words to think he is in any way comparable to the noble Iron Horse. Thank you!

Monday, June 9, 2014

14-160

Bruce Stringham, a CPA who has worked with me for about ten years, completed his battle with cancer early this morning and passed from this life. After sharing the news with Willyne, the office, and a good number of clients, I headed out for an unusual midday walk of 4.72 miles with 234 feet climbed in 1:30:53 hours. Tortoise rating: 4.8; calories burned: 739. It felt good until the last half mile, and even that wasn't too bad. Please click below for a map and more ...

Cheerio!

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyFitness

2014 Stats:

444.27 miles walked, which is 44.38% of my 2014 goal.

138:00:30 hours walked, which is 44.09% of my 2014 goal

20,686 total feet climbed

71,077 calories burned

43.77% of the year has passed

I've walked on 126 of the 137 non-Sundays thus far in 2014, a 91.97% consistency rating.

Weigh-in this morning at 238.0, up 2.4 from my last weigh-in on May 5.

The purpose of the percentages is to have a higher percentage of distance and time walked than of the year. This tells me I am on track. I'm sure this is more numbers than you are interested in, all I can say is I'm really good at setting high goals and having them slip away because I don't do them every, every day.

The tortoise is smiling!

I went through a small corner of Confluence Park to get from Main Street to
200 West, using the junction of the Confluence View and Tortoise Track
trails as my point to turn back to the office. Being out in the open feels good!

A picture of Bruce taken by Valley Academy Charter School
as he began the 2013-14 school year as their business manager.
His obituary follows below ...

Bruce Martin Stringham age 79, passed away on June 9, 2014 in St. George, Utah. Bruce was born October 15, 1934 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Dell B. Stringham and Hildegard Schreiner. Bruce served an LDS mission in Germany. He got a masters degree in accounting and worked as a CPA for many years. In later years, he married his sweetheart Joyce Crowton in the Salt Lake Temple on November 20, 1981. They spent 33 wonderful, memorable years together. He shared his beautiful musical talent and voice on many formal and informal occasions. He is survived by his beloved wife and companion, her 5 children and his adopted daughter Amy, 17 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his two brother, D. Briant and Lynn, and his sister Donnette. He is preceded in death by his brother Stuart R.

There will be a Graveside service at 10:00 a.m. at Tonaquint Cemetery, 1777 S. Dixie Dr., St. George, on Friday, June 13, 2014 followed by a Memorial Service at 11:00 a.m. at the Valley Stake Center, 511 S. Valley View Dr.

4 comments:

RachelJune 12, 2014 at 1:04 PM
Sorry to hear about Bruce el padre, I know he was a good friend. Love the lengthy mid day walk :)
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownJune 12, 2014 at 7:52 PM
Thank you, Rachel. I will miss Bruce. The walk was quite warm and the powerful sun was directly overhead, so it was challenging. Just what I needed to get my mind off things ... Love!
ReplyDelete
Replies
BenjaminJune 15, 2014 at 5:10 PM
Glad the tortoise's cancer battle wages on! Total inspiration!
ReplyDelete
Replies
UnknownJune 17, 2014 at 8:27 PM
“If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you.”

― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh, and Willyne and my shared ambition.

And I want to have enough energy and spunk to go on a tortoise walk with anyone who will come with me on my 100th birthday, not to mention smile big smiles when my youngest grandchild that is born at some future point unknown at the moment smiles the big smile of someone who is kneeling across the temple altar from that special someone who is smiling just as much.

The cancer, heart, and every other kind of battle wages on, and on, and on, to the inspiration of Winston Churchill, http://www.neverevergiveup.com/

Thanks for your continuing love and support!
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) Segments Hiked

Total lifetime PCT miles hiked: 205.0 out of the 2,650 total.

From 1966 to 1969 segment Tortoise hiked the portion of the PCT shared by the John Muir Trail, covering PCT miles 767.0 to 942.5 (175.5 miles). (While hiking the full 211 miles of the Muir Trail from Happy Isles in Yosemite Valley to the summit of Mt. Whitney)

Tortoise then embarked on a long career at a desk, interrupted momentarily for a day hike in 1988 up Mt. Baden-Powell as a Varsity Boy Scout coach with his team. That took him from PCT miles 374.0 to 377.9, roundtrip. (There was also a second trip from Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney with the Varsity Boy Scouts in 1989. He barely made it, crying with joy and appreciation when he did. That is a story all of its own).

He returned many years later with these walks. Please click on the date for a link to that day's blog post:

June 14, 2012, hiked PCT miles 565.0 to 566.6 (1.6 miles) on both sides of California Highway 58 at the Cameron Road exit.

October 20, 2012, hiked PCT miles 341 to 342 (1 miles) mostly on the east side of Interstate 15 but also under the storm runoff tunnel just south of the exit to California Highway 138 near Cajon Pass.

February 2013, continued in two segments to do miles 342 to 347 (5 miles).

August 13, 2013, hiked miles 374.2 to 376.6 roundtrip from Vincent Gap trailhead at milepost 74.7 on California highway 2.

February 17, 2015, hiked miles 452.9 to 450.4 roundtrip from Vasquez Rocks Picnic Area.

March 16, 2015, hiked miles 341.9 to 340.2 southbound from Cajon Pass Road, then returned. Partial redo of October 20, 2012 walk ... plus a little more.

April 3, 2015, hiked miles 1089.8 to 1091.9 roundtrip from Echo Summit trailhead to near Echo Lake.

May 12, 2016, hiked miles 206.8 to 204.3 southbound from the Snow Canyon Road gate at the bottom of Mt. San Jacinto, then returned.

August 17, 2016, hiked miles 209.5 to 206.8 southbound from the underpass at Interstate 10 Exit 110 to Snow Creek, then returned.

May 26, 2017, hiked miles 369.4 to 364.4 southbound from the Inspiration Point trailhead on California Highway 2, then returned.

The tortoise may eventually set some kind of record for the longest time to complete the PCT in microsegments. You never know, but we're already at 51 years and counting since his first segment from Onion Valley to Taboose Pass in July 1966 :-)