Modwest Blog

On Mountains, Rivers, and Work

Sometimes when we are fixing servers and dealing with issues all the time, we forget that Modwest is based in this awesome place.

Tonight, June 10th, 2008, there's a snow advisory for Missoula, but recently it was mild (50s and 60s)  with the occasional scattered shower. My wife and I took most of last week off to see the nearby Belt Mountains and Little Belt Mountains a short drive away.

First stop was Hanging Valley. I'm a huge fan of the various national parks in Utah, and so when some reviewers compared this 12-mile hike to the absolutely surreal Bryce Canyon, I had to see it. Not quite the same, but certainly worth the hike and gorgeous (click images for a closer view):

Late that day, we resupplied in Townsend, Montana and carried on to a large (and utterly deserted) Forest Service campground just south of Mt. Baldy, which was mostly invisible due to swirling blizzards near the summit.

The next day, after a hearty breakfast at  Dori's in White Sulphur Springs, we headed north, back into the mountains. On a high plateau, we briefly encountered one of the locals:

After a harrowing drive down a crater-filled, nightmare-switchbacked forest road, we finally arrived at the Logging Creek Campground -- also totally deserted -- and, upon starting dinner, quickly made friends with the neighbors.

Logging Creek, perhaps despite the name, was idyllic, perfectly clear, ice-cold, flower-lined, and I spent much of a sunny afternoon enjoying it. (I even brought a gallon home to brew beer with.)

Here's another shot of the campsite:

As we descended from the mountains the next day and into Belt, Montana, how could we resist this sign for the Harvest Moon Brewery:

It was only 11 in the morning, and the workers were in the midst of bottling, but one of the brewers took the time to give us a tour of the brewery and pour us fresh samples of everything on tap. Delicious!

Next stop was Great Falls, a (relative) metropolis in Montana, and the home of my wife's parents, Jim and Helen. We didn't tell them we were in town, and so the visit was something like a surprise party (which included a freshly-filled growler from the brewery).   After a few hours socializing, we headed west over the Continental Divide, through the briefly-famous Lincoln, Montana, and back to Missoula.

It's easy to be consumed, even overwhelmed, by the technical details of your job. Those details are, in fact, infinite. So it's important to, from time to time, look around, see what's nearby, enjoy it... and relax. Here at Modwest we are surrounded by an outdoor paradise of mountains, rivers, and wildlife, and so there are ample opportunities to get outta town and enjoy it. But even a local park, a creek, a shrub(!) offer these opportunities. Soak them in, enjoy.

And don't worry, we'll keep improving and fixing server stuff as needed.

-JM

First Snow and Thanksgiving

Winter arrived today in western Montana today, bringing with it close to a foot of heavy, wet snow overnight. This morning as I walked down the hill to the bus stop, a 4WD Subaru floated quietly by me at 4MPH and straight into the yard across the street. It's a winter wonderland out there.

Besides being the de facto beginning of winter, this is also Thanksgiving week in the U.S. E-mail support will be available throughout the holiday, while our phone support office will be closed Thursday through Sunday.

Looks like we might be doing some sledding, if this keeps up!

-JM

Wildfires near Modwest (Missoula)

A few customers have recently seen national news items and expressed concern about the wildfires in western Montana. Thanks for your thoughts; servers, staff, and bandwidth connections are under no immediate threat.

That's not to say the fires aren't affecting us. The Black Cat Fire is just west of Missoula and causing numerous evacuations and pretty much dominates the local headlines currently.

And the smoke from that fire and several others is making life breathing difficult. A few photos illustrate:

On the way to work this morning (this is not a cloudy day):

A couple from the office window:

And finally in my neighborhood on the way home:

Luckily my neighbors seem to be relatively OK with all this:

To stay up to date on the goings on near Modwest HQ, here's a few local news sources:

• NewWest (hosted by Modwest :)
• Missoulian Fire Coverage
• KPAX

Thanks again to customers and partners who have expressed concern. The smoke is pretty bad but we're in no immediate danger.

-JM

UPDATE:
Photos from NewWest

Modwest in Motion

We've recently had the honor of winning the Transportation Best Practices award presented by Missoula in Motion,  a program "designed to help local businesses, institutions and individuals address transportation issues within the Missoula community."

Part of the promotion of the program involves videos of the winners, and a local television crew shot and produced this two-minute piece, which features several of us talking about how we get to work in the morning. Speaking of that, Bike-Walk-Bus week is coming up...