105 Trip: (Wed 03-Sep) Day 11 - St Ignace, MI - 2843 miles

Today I left Pat and Ward's and went up to St Ignace, getting ready to head into Canada tomorrow. I went 403 miles... but its only 161 miles away! :)

Col got Eddie's Ultra and took me from Pat and Ward's up to Gaylord. I called about 4 different Harley dealers, all over the area; asking for service. The answer was pretty much the same when I talked to them on Tuesday. "I'd love to help you out, but there were 6 bikes waiting this morning and there is no way I can get you in tomorrow." I called Gaylord (Zip's HD) and they said "Chuck is busy, can you call back?" - Sure. So I called back later, "Can I talk to Chuck?" - "This is Chuck!" I asked if I could schedule service tomorrow (Wed) and he said that he was fully booked so wouldn't schedule anything else... but if I showed up around 11:00 he'd "try and work me in."

So we showed up at 11:00 - and he dropped everything, got me written up, and got me in. "Should be about and hour or an hour and a half." And he got it done. Excellent. Its a brotherhood :)

As a side note... I thought me going 4K to 5K miles on this trip was pretty unusual. I've now met at least two other groups who have gone that far. Met 2 bikes in Ludington MI. "We went out to Los Angles and then up to Portland and back to Indiana last month... then didn't do anything for 2 weeks so had to come up to MI to put a 1K miles or so on the bike because we hadn't ridden much in 2 weeks." - Then heard some people talking in MI who had just got back from going out to Seattle and then into Yellowstone. And at Zips there was a guy from FL who was up for the summer and was heading back in a few weeks. He was scheduling his 85000 mile service. :) You just gotta love it!

Anyway - I planned on staying in Sault Ste Marie - but someone booked a room in St Ignace (45 miles short :( ) - So I got to the hotel at 2:15 and checked in. They had a great room for me - I asked for one close to the parking lot - the bike is right outside my door. :) - I then went up to Sault Ste Marie and went to customs to make sure that I could get in and out with a birth certificate and drivers license. And they said yes that would work. I then went to Paradise, Whitefish Point and down to Newberry; then back. The trip took longer than I thought and I didn't get back to St Ignace until 8:15! And the trip was pretty cold. There is a cold front going through and it was only 60! But it was just beautiful. Ed Jacobs told me about the route and he was right. It was an awesome bike ride. He also told me to try Timber Charlie's in Newberry. I was running late and didn't - but I did get a picture. :)

Got back to town late, hungry since I hadn't eaten since breakfast, and I stopped at the Hillside Cafe - which had a sign out front about home cooked food and "fresh whitefish." I wanted whitefish - hadn't had any since we were up here a few years ago. They handed me a menu and I said "Do you have the whitefish?" - "Yup, it was caught this morning!" - "I'll have it!" :) - Had that and salad bar... and coffee ('cuz I was still freezing) and it was all very good. Yum!

So - that was the day. I'm all caught up :) - Have to go upload a few pics and then hit the hay; since I plan on leaving very early. Its 8 hours to Thunder Bay by car... and I'll probably take longer. So I'm planning on leaving by 6:30 or so; so I can hopefully get in before 5:00.

105 Trip: (Tue 02-Sep) Day 10 - Milwaukee WI - 2430 miles

Well I was updating every day... but got behind, hanging out at Pat & Ward's for two days. Just too much down time to even want to get on the computer much :) - although I did do some work.

Sunday:

Left Milwaukee heading to Pat & Wards. Original plan was to take the ferry, but that just didn't work out. It was faster to go via land, because the ferry didn't leave till 1:15 PM. Terry, Ted and Kristi wondered if I'd be able to make it on my own, since I usually ride sweep. "Where are we going?" someone would ask, "I don't know... I'm following Terry", I'd reply. "How are you going to do, riding on your own?" Kristi asked. "I'll manage." So we left the motel, the turned left and I turned right... right behind 3 other bikes and ended up following them all the way to the interstate - probably 20 to 30 miles. :) Then on the interstate there were tons of bikes heading home from the 105. So I was pretty much in the company of bikes all the way to Michigan City or so.

Michigan City, IN. I stopped at the Harley dealer to get an ABC shot... but they didn't have any name/logo outside; so I couldn't get a picture. And this was to be my Indiana picture. So I asked them about it and the owner said they had a logo inside... and propped open the doors and told me to pull right in front and see if I could get the shot. So I pulled up on the sidewalk as close as I could get and a young girl who was the cashier came out and snapped a few shots... and they turned out. Cool. :)

Rest of the trip was pretty uneventful except the very end. Col and Eddie met me about 30 miles out and we all rode in together! Arrived and Ward was filming the whole thing. I forgot how he was with the video camera. :) Pat, Ward, Col and Eddie (and all their kids and one granddaughter) were there and we hung out and had dinner. It was great seeing them all and seeing Chloie (sp?). She is so cute! About a month older than Kian I think - and running all over the place. I miss the grand kid!

The rest of the time was spent just hanging out, doing a bit of working, eating great food and just being lazy. Did a couple of loads of clothes and got ready for the rest of my trip.

Oh - and Ward, Pat and I went on a drive around the country side and he showed me where they used to come when there were first "going up north." That was cool.

And then Denise and Ed came over on Tuesday night to visit. And Christin. (And yes, it might be with a 'K'. I'm terrible at knowing names of people I don't actually write to). But I should know soon because I think she is going to look me up on Facebook.

Did find out that Ed had two of his fingers mangled and mostly severed off in a machine accident a few months back! They re-attached them and he is just now starting to get some feeling.

Guess that is most of the family news. It was an awesome visit and a great chance to just relax and hang before heading into Canada.

105 Trip: (Sat 30-Aug) Day 7 - Milwaukee WI - 2012 miles

Although things were officially over on Sunday, Saturday was the last big day and we planned on heading out early Sunday morning. Terry, Ted and Kristi were all heading back to St Louis (Ted & Christi to go back to work on Tue and Terry to visit family for a few days); and I was heading to MI.

We got up "late" (met at 9:00 for breakfast) and planned on hitting a few more dealers. We went by the Buell factory so I could get an ABC shot for that; and then off to a few dealers to get dealer pins. I actually already had a few from Tuscon and Santa Fe - just didn't realize that was what they were. So I figured I'd start collecting them as well. Cheaper than t-shirts for sure.

So it was a pretty laid back day; just doing some slow easy riding and checking things out. Once again the dealerships were massive. One we would have had to park probably 3/4 of a mile away and decided the walking just wasn't necessary.

Heading into two for Summerfest, we passed a small greek place and stopped there for a late lunch. The place looked like it was a family place and probably been around for quite some time. There were a lot of what looked like family pictures on the wall behind the cash register and we asked our waitress (probably 16 or 17) if she was up there. "Yes... these are me", pointing to a few little kids pictures, "... pretty embarrassing. But not as bad as these," pointing to 3 people in short shorts with a boat and a coastline in the background, "of my folks when they were in Greece!" Again - a nice, local, small family run place where the food was good. Score.

We headed into Summerfest and it looked like it might be a nightmare. TONS of people - and we heard from one couple that they waited in line for hours to see ZZ-Top and then couldn't even get close enough to see them and could just barely hear them. So we wondered around and finally found the place where Daughtry was going to play, and there were open seats in the pavilion! So Terry and I snagged enough room for 4 and then I went and hung out waiting for Ted and Kristi. So we pretty much just hung out there all afternoon (I think we got there about 3:30) with folks making a water or beer run every once in a while. We say "Puddle of Mudd" - and they were ok. Pretty much Heavy Metal - with one song I recognized. I've never heard "God bless you guys!" and "You guys are all in my prayers - be safe out there" type phrases, intermixed with the F word so many times. But hey... God listens to everyone and I'll take any prayers I can get. :) Anyway - wasn't too bad and most of the crowd was really into it.

Later I was getting hungry and decided I should go do a food run. Folks had been buying and I figured it was my turn. Plus I hadn't done one of the "wait in line for an hour" things yet. So I headed toward a place that was selling pizza... and there was 1 person in front of me! Got two pizzas and a deep-fried veggie fix: mushrooms, cauliflower and *eggplant*. The eggplant was awesome! So took that back and we call chowed down on it.

The people in front of us snuck a *dog* into the event. It was tiny. It was a toy something. Small enough to fit in a small purse. It was sitting there in the hot sunny, loud music and was seeming pretty miserable, sleeping half the time. I just don't quite get it.

Daughtry was a bit late - but everything was running a bit late, and was pretty good. Did about 45 minutes. Pretty much all of his big stuff that I listen too all the time. And his showmanship and the band were all good. So it was cool. The went off stage, came back and did "Going Home" for an encore and then he went off and the band went into a really good instrumental; but the crowd was starting to leave and so we jetted out of there trying to miss all the people/traffic that would be leaving. Especially since we had parked under an underpass in a dirt/grass area with tons of bikes and it looked like it could be a nightmare trying to get them all out of there. But we made it out of there and back to the room w/o any hassle - so another good day in Milwaukee and a pretty good end to the entire "105" experience!

105 Trip: (Fri 29-Aug) Day 6 - Milwaukee WI - 1898 miles

Today was a "get a few ABC pics and dealer pins" day. Didn't hit many (any?) venues, mostly just toured around the greater Milwaukee (and Racine, Kenosha) area going to dealers and stopping by Capitol Street (HD powertrain plant) and Juneau Ave (HD Headquarters!)

Seeing the Harley facilities was cool. I have pics on the previous linked page.

Going to the dealer sites was... CRAZY. Think the 4 Corners Rally... at a dealership! Yeah... parking... oh 1/2 a mile from the place. One was in the middle of a bunch of other businesses (offices I think) and all their lawns, parking, shipment ramps, everything - were covered with motorcycles. There were definitely more vendors than at 4 Corners, and probably close to as many as Red River. And this was at EVERY DEALERSHIP we went to. Which I think was 4 of them. Plus all the venues (Millers Park, Summerfest, Museum, HOG Island - plus maybe another). It was pretty incredible. Plenty hot, tired, exhausting, sore feet... But something to definitely be a part of.

Somebody on the road asked me later, "You went to the 105? How was it?" - I explained like above, "Would you do it again?" Yeah... maybe if they do it in 5 years again - but definitely not every year.

I've never been to Sturgis - which is a whole different scene - but other than something really large like that - its hard to describe what its like to be a HOG and be in a city that size, where there are bikes EVERYWHERE - even 30 miles away! And where the whole town (even little mom and pop places) are pretty much saying "Welcome Riders! Stop on by!" Pretty cool stuff.

Downside for Christi is that most the dealers were out of dealer pins. I don't think anyone had a clue how many people would show up... You know an event is big when the US Post Office shows up as a vendor! "Ship your stuff home from here!" - so you didn't even have to carry anything on your bike!

We did stop at one store in...Ocowocon (or something like that - anyway - a big hard to pronounce name that started with a 'O' - that turns out to be the store I bought by backrest from on eBay! :)

We didn't even go "downtown" - but just hit vendors, then ate at a place on the way home and turned in early... Well OK - it was still 9 or 10 - but earlier.

And Tom was with us as of Thur - so that was cool.

105 Trip - Day 5 - Milwaukee WI - 1763 miles

Left Annawan in the rain :( - Rained for the first few hours until just about when we hit the WI border. "Welcome home!" it seemed to say. :)

Dropped stuff at the hotel and then headed for the museum. Going south into town the traffic started backing up... there were TONS of bikes. Bikes in all 3, 4, 5 lanes of the highway. Bikes pulled over on the shoulders - and as we passed Miller Park, bikes in all the parking lots; bikes backed up - 4 abreast for what looked like a good 1/2 mile or more. TONS of bikes. All said and done - I'd estimate 100K bikes in the area.

Anyway - got through that and down to the museum. Checked it out. Pretty cool. Terry and I didn't have tickets, but Ted and Christi did and Ted (Mr Extravert) was able to score some tickets from one of the staff people. We made it in.

After we went to Miller Park. Found the bleachers were the main bands were going to play and camped out. It was ridiculous! Early in the day we wanted in line for 45 minutes for a bottle of water! Later in the day folks were waiting 2 hours to get a sub sandwhich. The vendor ran out twice (going to get some more from the store - will be 45 minutes... "OK, we'll wait!") Crazy. Terry waited for water. Ted waited for sandwiches.

We all saw "The Billy Bob Thorton Band" - Think Slingblade meets blues / southern rock. Yeah... well it was something to see. Then Sugarload. Country... hey, turns out I do like *some* country music. She had a cute way with the crowd. It was good. Then Kid Rock... think emnimn meets southern rock. Yeah - not a fan. Stayed for 2 songs then cut out before the rest of the crowd.

I overheard "They build the area to hold 30K people, but I heard there were 60K to 70K here." Given the place was packed and 1/2 the people were waiting in line for beer/water/food - I'd agree. Given it was right next to the interstate - there were quite a few bikes that just parked on the highway and the people were sitting on the concrete dividers just watching... till the cops showed up and chased them off. But plenty of people stayed on the grass embankment.

Got home around 10ish... spent some time on the computer and then crashed. Up the next morning at 6:30!

105 Trip Pics

I'm uploading my pictures to facebook. If you are on facebook and a friend, you already know that. If you aren't and are interested - you can follow this link and see them anyway!

105 Trip - Day 4 - Annawan, IL - 1512 miles

Only did 300 miles today, but took pretty much all day. Did some river road (Mississippi and Illinois rivers) and scenic rides. Very peaceful and cool. Again - heartland of America stuff. Totally enjoying it.

Ate lunch at Fast Eddies. It was as cool as the hype. Just one of those things you have to experience. If you are ever in the area, check it out! Food was great and the beer is claimed to be the coldest in the area - and it seemed to be. Had a Landshark beer! I'm trying new beers on this trip. :)

Tomorrow up early and try to make it to Milwaukee in time for Ted and Christi to drop luggage and get to the museum by noon. So I guess that's it for now!

105 Trip - Day 3 - Saint Louis - 1218 miles

Went to Xenia IL today to get the X. First stopped at the Arch and got some pics of it and some Mississippi river boats. Pretty cool. IL was pretty much corn and soy bean fields, for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see... But some rolling and lots of trees. I actually liked it.

I like going through small town America. Plenty of towns with population under 100. Pretty much all of them with "We support our Troops" banners, Knights of Columbus Halls, and flags. And the "grocery store, liquor store, gas station, snake bar, etc." combo. I don't know... for me, gives me a sense of community just going through there and seeing it. Hard working farmers, proud of who they are and in what they do. Good stuff.

Terry grew up in the region and we stopped at his High School and then coming back dropped in and said Hi to his mom for a few minutes. Cool stuff. :)

Stopped at a gas station that also had a restaurant, for a late lunch. The girl working took our order, cooked it (did a good job) and served it. And did a good job waiting on us the whole time. A fresh change from people at McDonalds who can't even get your order right - and that is all they do.

Anyway... that's the report for today. It was good. Tomorrow we head to Alton, IL (to stop at Fast Eddie's) and then up to our stop in northern IL before heading to Milwaukee on Thur.

105 Trip - Day 2 - Saint Louis - 981 miles

Day 2 - weather was great. Missouri going across Hwy 50 was really pretty. Rolling, windy, green. Stopped and got 9 or so ABC pictures. Took some photos of the route... best I could while driving at 65MPH. :) Got in to the dealer party at Gateway Harley, met up with Ted and Christi and hung out for quite a while - then to their house. They have their Toy Hauler all set up for us and it is great. Just hanging out, sipping a beer chatting.

Still a bit tired this morning - but not sore. Plan to go into IL today to 'X'enia - pick up about 4 more ABCs then back to their house where Christi is making some ribs. YUM!

105 Trip - Day 1

Left home at about 6:15, running a little late but got to Pueblo about 7:10 and we headed out. It was a good first day. I got tired in the afternoon and pretty sleepy, but once it cooled off I was fine. Got 11 ABC pictures today!

Stopped in Kinsley, KS for lunch. Asked a fireman doing the "boot for MDA" thing where was a good place to eat. He directed us to a Mexican place that was pretty good. Food wasn't very spicy, but alright and the quality was pretty good.

Had one car passing a lane of traffic, heading at us, and we had to slow down (and so did the lead car) to let him in w/o hitting us. :( - Other than that (and it wasn't close or anything), no mishaps or potential ones.

Radio is acting up. Didn't come on twice. Will have to have someone look at it later.

Dinner, after dark, in Emporia, KS, was at the S & S cafe. Little tiny, "Good Food - Open 24 hours" place. VERY LOCAL. Old time mid-west type salad bar... radishes, green onions, cucumbers and onions in vinegar! Young waitress - a little attitude. Chicken fried steak was homemade. Meat was good. Gravy was good. Hashbrowns "done crispy please" were PERFECT. This was definately my kind of Road Food place. Just what I wanted in all aspects - even the locals smoking (not too much smoke) wasn't bad. It all screamed road food diner, and the quality and taste was exactly what I was looking for.

Time to hit the hay soon. We made it over 1/2 way to Ted & Christi's on day one, so should get in early enough tomorrow to go to the dealer party. Plus did 11 ABCs today and only plan on 9 tomorrow... But some are standard letters so if I don't get them all, no big deal.

Oh - and one more thing. There is nothing like going down the road at 65 MPH, cool breeze rushing past you, worship music on the iPOD, across the plains of CO and KS, looking at the farms, green, streams, trees, etc. - to bring God's creation into focus and clarity.

Day 1 was a great start to the trip!

Harely 105 / HOG 25

Many of you know this, but perhaps not everyone...

In about 1 week I'm heading to the Harley 105 / HOG 25 celebration in Milwaukee. Originally Tina was going to go to; but she hasn't been feeling well lately and decided it would be too long of a trip. Because she was going to go; I planned the trip to be 3 weeks. Take a few days to get to St Louis where we'd meet up with some friends; spend a day there; then all of us head up to Milwaukee. Stopping about "a hundred miles out" somewhere on Wed (to avoid the high event hotel fees) then stay there Thur, Fri, Sat. Tina's Aunt Pat and Uncle Ward live in MI which is "so close", so we'd leave on Sun morning, take the ferry across a Great Lake, and then hang with them for a few days; then start the long ride back. Given Tina gets tired of riding after a few days, the plan was to do light riding for a couple of days; then spend a couple of days somewhere. Maybe stay in St Cloud, MN for a few days and just check the area out. Then go on to SD and check out Mount Rushmore, Sturgis, etc. Then finally head home. So all in all a 3 week trip. Lots of riding, but lots of breaks as well. So late last year I OKed that much time off at once with my boss and then have been double checking throughout the year.

So... I've got the time, and we discussed it and Tina still thinks I should go - so I'm going for it. However, now I'm going alone so the plans changed.

• I'm still taking the full 3 weeks, since I have it off anyway
  
• Terry, who is another Sheriff Architect, just bought a Harley this year, and has family in St Louis, is going with me.
  
• We are still meeting up with Ted and Christi in St Louis and hanging out there for a day or two. They are awesome and have a Toy-Hauler with double beds all set up and said the fridge would be stocked with beer and snacks and just show up when ever. Awesome. Also for the whole HOG "ABC Rally" thing I always do - there is a town with that starts with 'X' 2 hours away, so we are going to all go ride over there on Tue just for the fun of it, then head north as planned on Wed.
  
• Stop at Fast Eddie's; which I've mentioned before in this blog, on the way up.
  
• Then its the big event for 3 days. Lots of bands, lots of fun, lots of motorcycles... what could be cooler? :)
  
• Head to Aunt Pat's and Uncle Ward's as planned.
  
• While there get my bike serviced somewhere
  
• And from then on the plan is kind of up in the air. I've got about 12 days till I have to be back, and it would take maybe 4 to ride it! Even less if I pushed it. So I'm just heading down the road. I've got two different thoughts right now:
  • The plan was to come home through SD and I've got friends in WA, and haven't been "home" to MT forever - so maybe head up through MT to ID and then into Spokane.
    
  • Tif and Brian are going to be in MI about the same day I was planning on leaving Pat and Wards; but they will be down south in Detroit and maybe heading up to Sarnia for the day. So... I could meet them wherever along Lake Huron, then do some Canada traveling for a few days! Go into Sarnia and then up around the "outside" of Lake Huron and end up at Ste St Marie... And then maybe still head to MT.

So... I'm not sure at all the plan after Aunt Pat's... but that is kind of the plan. To hit the road and see where it takes me. I could also go up through Thunder Bay! Don't know. Basically there are a few goals:

• Not to be too planned
  
• Hit plenty of states, territories, counties, cities for the ABC Rally
  
• Cover lots of miles
  
• Go wherever it looks good
  
• Get home right before I have to go back to work.

If I hook up with Tif and Brian then that will add a bit more planning, but that is fine. So... lots of decisions to make in the next few days!

As noted on another post, I have set up Twitter. One of the main reasons I did that is that I can update my status via my cell phone, so while I'm on the road I can text msg where I'm at and anyone watching my facebook status or following me on Twitter will know what is going on. Pretty cool.

Plus I'll be taking plenty of ABC pictures, and hopefully other pictures as well, and I plan on uploading all of those to the computer and to facebook albums every night. That's all the plan... reality will probably be different, but hopefully close. :)

God is a supporter, not a controller

[Originally put this on Facebook, but decided to start entering all my notes on Blogger and let them get pushed to Facebook; so I have them in both places.]

Many people say that God is in control. Personally, I don't believe that God is in control. I don't think He can be, given we have free will. Free will isn't just a personal thing, its something that is true in all of those around us. And we interact with way too many people for God to be in control of our lives, given all those interactions.

I do believe however that He is there constantly watching and holding out His hand. And that He provides the comfort, joy (in the biblical sense) and support to help us get through whatever life throws at us. As well as the Holy Spirit guides us as much as we will listen; helping us to avoid some of those pitfalls.

So - although He isn't in control, He is there to help get us through life in the best way possible; if we'll just listen to His voice.

So many interfaces - but all connected

So I'm on Facebook now, which allows you to blog, but only your Friends on Facebook can see it; which is fine. I view it, at this point anyway, as a way to write short notes. But that is not its primary purpose. Anyway - I found that I can have Facebook automatically pull these entries; so that is kind of cool. Enter journal stuff here, recipes, etc. Stuff I want to easily go back and look at later. And then Facebook will automatically pull it to my Notes section. That way I don't have to figure out where I want to store this stuff. Just put it here and it will copy to Facebook. Excellent.

And then today I set up Twitter - which will update my Facebook status. So again, Facebook can pull from something else. Cool. So now I can use Twitter for what its good at, and folks can get updated that way; but I can also set Facebook to copy it; so that I don't have to update status in two places.

Cool stuff... :)

Meatballs!

Just finished making a double batch of Turkey Sausage Meatballs - which turns out to be 44 meatballs. Yum :)

You can always count on a biker

Shopping in the store with my biker gear on, and there was a couple ('H'usband and 'W'ife) about 5 feet away.

W: Can you grab (something I didn't hear)?
H: With my back I can't reach up and grab that off the back of that shelf.
I turn and see the woman standing on her toes and trying to reach something off the back of the top shelf.
M: wondering over What do you need?
W: Oh... That jar of mild peppers. Thank you sir.
M: I grin No problem
H: You can always count on a biker!
M: Yup

Do you think you can find it?

I said all I need
Is the air I breathe
And a place to rest
My head

Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Do you think you can find it?
Better than you had it.
--- All I Need OneRepublic

Walking across streets at the U of M

He slowed to turn right on Observatory, but had to wait for pedestrians to cross the slusy street. He was on campus now, and U of M students were renowned for their lackadaisical attitude toward cars. They lazily strolled through crosswalks, even on busy streets, immortal in their youth and confident that cars would slow for them. --- Infected, Scott Sigler

Yeah, well he pretty much got that right. It wasn't so much that you "lazily strolled through crosswalks". You didn't even pay attention to cross walks... some times it was quicker coming out of the diag and having to cross a street to just cut across, or coming in the back entrance of the main campus engineering lab - you just walked across the street wherever you needed to. And it wasn't so much that you were "immortal in your youth" as it was the fact that... Hey, this was *your* campus and *your* streets - and you tolerated the cars - I mean, hey, if they needed to come on campus fine, but it was your street and you could walk across it where you liked. It wasn't uncommon at all for students to step out in the street, not in a crosswalk, right in front of a car, just glance at the car, and walk across the street. Its more like the rolls were reversed. Rather than the road being for cars and the crosswalks being where pedestrians could cross when the cars let them; it was like the entire campus was for pedestrians and the roads were places where cars could go when the pedestrians let them.

I remember many things about Ann Arbor and the U of M. Reading this book (which was a good story, even if rather R for language) brought back a number of them; given it mentioned street names; etc. The above quote made me chuckle when I read it though - not because it reminded me of that aspect of the U of M; because that aspect is something I have never forgotten and pretty much remember whenever I walk across any street - funny how things stick with you; but because he captured it pretty well. "Lackadaisical" was a great way to express it.

Still Here

Been going through some things... So haven't felt like posting, but I'm not sure if they delete blogs if you don't post once in a while.

Mostly been working, driving the Harley, and going down to Tif's. I did do a trip to Tucson by myself. One day down (13.5 hours, 840 miles), 2 days there, and one day back. Trip wasn't bad in a day. Also Tina and I went down last month. Kian is getting so big. Almost starting to walk.

We all go down for his birthday next month - not on the bike, since three of us are going. That will be fun. 1 years old!

We'll see how this goes

So last weekend I rode up to Denver and it was an awesome day. I looked at the 10 day forecast and all looked pretty good - all the way down to Tucson, so I decided to make a run to Tif's house this weekend. Take Friday off and see if I could make it down in one day. Something I've been wanting to try for a long time so I figured I'd go for it. Tina and I are going down first week of June, but we'd take 2 days to get there. I figured I'd try it by myself this weekend. Just to see if I could do it in a day. Weather was looking good, all except Friday which had some chance of rain, but wasn't looking too bad. This morning I checked and:

Snow showers in the morning. Highs in the mid 40s and lows in the mid 30s.

Hmm... not looking all that great - but I'll check other towns along the route. If I can just get out of town and south before anything hits I'll be fine. But we'll see...

iPod

Downloaded some new music last night and reset some of my playlists. Listening now as I work: White Rabbit, My Glorious, Sunday Bloody Sunday. Quite the mix. :)

Jaime is always listening to mid-60's to mid-70's songs lately and saying, "You know, when you really listen to those words, you think 'Wow, they must have been on drugs!'" - Yeah... I'll have to have her listen to White Rabbit. :)

Spring begins

Rode with Terry up to Freedom Harley in Denver - then back through Pine, Deckers and into town. I have my spring sunburn where I didn't quite get enough sunscreen... oh well, it will tan up. Well tan for me anyway. :)

It was a beautiful day. Actually took my liner out of my jacket, wore summer gloves, etc.

Boycot tAbsolute Vodka

From the Boycott Absolute Vodka website:

Sentiments that the Southwest United States rightfully belong to Mexico are so prevalent in Mexico and among illegal aliens that the Absolut Vodka company ran this ad on a billboard and in a Mexican magazine called Quien

The ad's message to the Mexican audience is "In an Absolut (ie Perfect) world, 1/3 of the US is returned to Mexican control.

American Idol - Song Writer

My cousin is a finalist in the American Idol Songwriter competition for this season. If you could do there and rate Only Love a 10 - that would be cool. :)

Thanks!

UCCS Dean's List

Looking at the Spring 2008 Dean's List (3.75-3.99 GPA) under 'W' you'll see:

WAECHTER, LAURA ANNE
WAGNER, JAIME MARIE

Yes... that is the Jaime Marie Wagner! My kid... on the Dean's list.

You rock smart kid!

Turkey Sausage Meatballs

Modified version of Rachel Ray's Roast Chicken Sausage Meatballs. Had this at Tif's and it was awesome, so Jaime and I made it last night. Quick, easy, and tastes great.

We didn't do the Mac & Cheese, just the Meatballs. We didn't use fennel, because Jaime doesn't like it. And we made probably 28 or small meatballs. I actually put olive oil on the bottom of a glass 13x9 pan, then some in a bowl and rolled the meatballs in them. I cooked them a little longer too. After about 20 minutes I drained the olive oil and grease into a cup, then spooned a bit back over each meatball and put them under the broiler for 4 minutes, to give them some good color.

Here is the list of ingredients, just in case the above link goes away. The mac & cheese with it is really good, as we had that at Tif's house.

1.25# Ground Turkey
Salt & Pepper
3 Rosemary Springs, stripped and finely chopped
3 Garlic cloves grated
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 C Ricotta Cheese
1/2 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg
1/2 C Bread Crumbs

Mix ingredients. If too wet add some more bread crumbs (the above worked just great for me).

Coat w/ Olive Oil, lightl grease pan, bake at 450 for 17 minutes (I did 20 and then broiled for 4)

It Harkens

Trapped in the darkness
Cold, Claustrophobic
The fire dies
No hope for Spring
Winter never ends

Clouds break
Sun sparkles off ice encrusted snow
Harkening back to warmer days

Crisp mountain air
Crystals twinkling deep in rushing streams
Wild strawberries sweet to the taste
Wildflowers sweet to the senses
Marmots, mischievous eyes poking through long blades of grass
The Son beats down and warms the soul

Trapped in the darkness
Sparkling snow harkens
Promises that Spring will return
Its sweetness, warmth and mischief

Army of Two

Watching TV tonight I saw a trailer for Army of Two. Went to You Tube and found an Army of Two Teaser. There are quite a few others as well. Game comes out in a few weeks. Looks like I know what I'll be spending some time doing in mid March. :)

Shout Out

21:55 and not much going on. Writing bug reports, reviewing code, general cleanup of tasks I couldn't get to during the day.

Poured myself a Diet Mt Dew and added a couple shots of Green Soju... haven't drank any of that for a while. Reminds me of the Chavezes... Been a long time since I talked to Spanky and Jacque... Hope you guys are doing well.

It entices you

What is it about the darkness that so entices you?
He stands in the light and gently calls your name,
Yet all you hear are the whispers behind the doors.
You go closer,
Seeking, looking, you can't find them.
They run in front of you, whispering, calling.
You follow them through the twists and turns,
Until the darkness engulfs you.
They suck you in and become a roaring in your head.
You become drunk with the sounds,
Turning, twisting, losing all sense of time,
All sense of reason.
You no longer hear His voice.
You wake to find yourself battered and bruised
Senseless
You wonder how you got this way?
Then you hear His voice and are calmed.

Then it all begins again.
He stands in the light and gently calls your name.
You hear the whispers in the dark,
Knowing better you seek after them,
They entice you.

Green Chile

Had some pork chops left and decided to make some Pork Green Chile. Having eaten plenty of it, but having never made it, I decided to go simple. Yeah... I guess I could have actually looked up a recipe, but I decided to just give it a shot. Turned out pretty good. :)

---

1 medium onion, diced
6 tomatillos, diced
1 red Fresno pepper, split, de-seeded and sliced thin
1 Anaheim pepper, split, de-seeded and sliced thin
1 large can chopped green chiles (approx 27 oz size)
3 cooked pork chops, cubed
2 tbs olive oil

---

Add oil to 4 quart sauce pan, add onions and tomatillos and sautee till onions are translucent. Add peppers and sautee for a few minutes. Add green chiles and pork, stir and simmer over low heat for 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.

---

Could have used fresh roasted Hatch green chiles if I had any. Also could have used any form of pork - and as much as desired.

I did not salt or add any seasoning! Could have added some cumin, etc.; but it turned out well.

We had some frozen chicken enchiladas , so microwaved them, smothered them with the green chile and cheese, then severed with black beans, sour cream and diced avocado. Yum!

Kian 6 month pics

We were down at Tif's for Kian's 6 month birthday. First eating of a banana. Yeah... not everyone may enjoy food smeared all over a baby's face... but I think its very cute. :)

You can check out all the pics.

Researcher says Sears downloads spyware

From a ComputerWorld article:

Sears and Kmart customers who sign up for a new marketing program may be giving up more private information than they'd bargained for, a prominent anti-spyware researcher claims.

...

"The software is not something you'd want on your computer or the computer of anyone you care about," Edelman said in an interview. "It tracks every site you go to, every search you make, every product you buy, and every product you look at but don't buy. It's just spooky."

Boeing 787 - good news / bad news

The good news is that there will be internet access from any seat in the plane, the bad news from

FAA: Boeing's New 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack

Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet may have a serious security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.

But they are talking about making it more secure before the planes roll out.

Sarah Connor Chronicles

And while I'm being geeky... I'm really stoked about the Sarah Connor Chronicles series that will air on 14-Jan-2008. First I'm a Terminator fan anyway (ever since my Philosophy of Space and Time TA suggested I watch it while I was at the UofM, as it was consistent with current theories of Time Travel), and more importantly... Summer Glau (yes, River from Firefly) will be playing a River like role - which will be really cool. Hopefully it is good and gets good ratings!

Oh... and other things I've seen her in are the 4400 and The Unit. Both shows I follow - although I didn't like her characters there as much, as they weren't as tough as River and Cameron and were kind of more regular people... well not the 4400 since she was one of the 4400 - but still, she wasn't so River-esque. :)

Some Firefly is better than No Firefly

So I'm in the mall today, going to Radio Shack to get a Y-connector, and on the way back I noticed the comic book store has novels as well. So I stop and ask the guy if there are any Firefly books, or are they just comics? He tells me that there is one comic, but he is out. However, there is a new Serenity comic book coming out in March! I tell him cool and start to leave.

G: Do you want to pre-order it?
M: Nah, I'll just get one when the come in.

He proceeds to explain that last time they had Firefly comics they sold out just on pre-orders and not everyone got them... so I might want to pre-order. Given it didn't cost anything to do it... I signed up.

So... now I've actually pre-ordered a SciFi comic book - 3 months in advance... Yeah... guess that makes me a Geek. I just had to laugh - and call Tif - 'cuz I knew she would appreciate it. I turned her on to Firefly and now she is hooked as well.

The advancement of Artificial Intelligence

Eliza was an early AI program that was sometimes said to act as a psychiatrist. We studied it in AI classes. How could a computer respond to questions and adapt? But it was pretty easy stuff as it just mimicked back what you said to it. I had a version of it on my Mac and played with it a bit.

Social engineering is a technique used to gather personal information from people by cyber criminals. I first came across the term when starting at MCI in relation to people calling and getting PBX information. How to hack a companies phone system so you could use it to make long distance calls.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) "bots" are "robots" (computer programs) that join a IRC channel and then monitor it. They can be good or bad. I've run them before to record all information on a channel and write it to a file, so we can always go back and remember what was said. There is also an infobot named purl which records information as it seems it or as someone tells it, and then monitors questions so it can answer them back later. An interactive "person like" way to store information on user chat channels so that someone doesn't always have to be on and responding to user questions.

Now, in Russia, they've all been combined. Now when someone is on a singles channel (or some other channel) and someone starts flirting with them, striking up a conversation and then asking them personal information... that "person" may not really be a person. It may be a new flirtation bot built to do just that... gather personal information from a social engineering point of view. That information can then be used to steal that personal information - which can then be used in any number of cyber crime sort of ways.

We've come a long way since Eliza...

Carrier security outsourcing making connections

For those that wonder "So... what exactly is it that you do?" This article doesn't really answer that, LOL, but what I do contributes to this stuff. In particular some of the stuff I've been working on lately is pretty interesting and is related to this quote:

"There will always be opportunities from an attack perspective for us to take action and protect customers on the backbone, and we'll do that," she said. "We've also driven a lot of internal innovation in last three years for fighting issues such as targeted attacks; we're building out the honeynets and doing more correlation of data. Now we're in the phase of launching services as both stand-alones and value-adds."

Tif and I on Mount Lemmon

As I mentioned in the previous post, Tif and I went up to Mount Lemmon. The ride was really nice and we actually drove through the town this time. Last time Tina and I went up there the road was all torn up with major construction.

 

Cap'n Jack & The Axe: Adevntures in the AZ Badlands

Since we trailered Captain Jack to AZ; I figured I should make take the opportunity to do some good rides. Nothing too long, since I wanted to spend time with Tif and the Pea; but just get out and take advantage of the warm AZ Nov. weather. A few hours here and there.

So - the last Friday we were there I decided to head down to Madera Canyon. I had been looking for an 'M' for Harley ABCs Tour, and it had shown up. Tif and I went and got the 'M' at Mount Lemmon, but the web page had looked cool so I decided to head down. Tucson is pretty cool in that; although you'd think it was pretty much "pure desert", you can get an hour or so out of town and be in all different kinds of terrain. Another "ride up into the mountains" sounded fun.

So I did some google mapping and found a pretty good loop. South out of town, down the S Nagoles Highway, then down Whitehouse Canyon Rd and into the Canyon itself. Coming back out I'd take E Box Canyon Rd, over to Hwy 83 and north back into town. All in all a pretty good ride and shouldn't take too long.

So we (Captain Jack and I) head south out of town, and avoiding the interstate, we take Sahuarita Rd west to Nagoles... only deal is that they are graveling it and its got fresh gravel. Not to great on the bike, but we brave it - at least traffic is flowing at 25... Until we hit the one lane. So Cap'n Jack and I kick back in the 90 degree heat, Aerosmith blasting, and trying not to get too fried. After about 5 minutes I turn him off (to keep cool - or at least not get so hot) but still listen to the tunes. Finally the pilot car comes and we are on our way. I'm not sure how much longer this construction is going to last; but at least Wilmont should be soon and we can head south (not wanting to take this road all the way to the Nagoles Hwy).

We get to Wilmont... and its a dirt road - so we continue on our way. Finally we find a paved road heading south and we roar off, picking up some speed and some wind. Going along through the Pecan orchards; the temperature drops a good 10 degrees. Its awesome... until 5 miles later, yup - it turns to dirt. So we turn around, head back north and stay on Sahuarita till we hit the Nagoles Hwy, and head south on that, following the signs to Madera Canyon.

We are heading south, and then east, but it doesn't look like we are going to get that much closer to the Mountains... but then the road starts heading due south and says the National Park is about 8 miles ahead - so we should at least get into the foothills. Cool deal.

We then get closer to the park and see this sign, about 20 feet past the park sign:

Just in case you can't read that... here is a close up:

Yeah... that's right

SMUGGLING AND ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION MAY BE ENCOUNTERED IN THIS AREA.

Gives you a warm and fuzzy feeling doesn't it? Especially when I've seen like ONE car so far.

Anyway, we are up for it and continue on. I get into the park and it is pretty cool. Saw: deer, wild turkeys, quail, squirrels and all kinds of birds. And there were plenty of people around picnicking, hiking, etc. Up into the canyon, dessert giving way to foothills with all kinds of trees, little stream. Very nice.

Coming back out of it we head north on the road and get to the Box Canyon turn off. "14 miles to 83".... and the road is dirt! But it doesn't look "that bad", and surely its not all dirt - so off we go.

A little nervous, given the sign and all; but we're doing 35 - 40, so moving right along. Then we see a sign (after about 5 miles) that says something like "9 miles of narrow road ahead". 5 miles back or 9 miles ahead? We continue on.

And the road just gets worse and worse. We are now doing maybe 10 MP, and sometimes almost coming to a complete stop as we cross what look like 4 wheel drive roads. Single lane, switchbacks, soft dirt or rocks everywhere. I'm expecting someone to jump out at any corner... Kind of get this "Badges... we don't need no stinkin' badges" picture in my mind.

Anyway, we continue on. And we are going slow enough to see the 3 inch flying bug things in front of us that keep slowly flying out of our way as we pass.

The road keeps switchbacking up and up. Not like going over Independence Pass or anything, since we are in the hills... but still very twisting and you can't see more than about 10 feet in front of you and some of the corners feel like they are about 5 miles wide. We did see one truck on the road. We pulled to the side and he passed us in the opposite direction and then we ate his dust for the next mile or so. Eventually we started heading back down and came to this little canyon.

Pretty cool! The only place I stopped to take a picture. The rest of the time we just kept moving! Before we got to 83 we did hit pavement finally and went through some ranch land. Again... a different part of AZ. Looked like CO to some extent. Pasture land, windmills, cows, trees. Very pretty. Then hit 83 and roared home.

All in all, quite the adventure and it all turned out well. I wouldn't do it with Cap'n Jack every again - but a dirt bike or a pickup might be fun. It was very pretty.

Brian's response when Tif talked to him on the phone and told him I went down to Madera and then across Box Canyon on the bike by myself... "Is he nuts?"

:)

The Biker Pea - Bad to the Bone

PeaBaby's first "ride" on a Harley. OK... so we didn't actually move, but it was on so he "felt the rumble!" He told me he can't wait till he's old enough to go for an actual ride!

Creamed Leeks

Sunday I made a good, but very rich, dinner. Not really on my diet... but hey, it was only one dinner.

Chicken Marsala
Onion Risotto
Creamed Leeks

YUM!

1/4 C olive oil
1/4 C butter
5 Leeks, cut in about 1 inch sections, washed well! (soaked and rinsed 3 times). Used the "stem" part as well as most of the "leaves" part.

Heat the oil/butter and saute the leeks for about 5 or 10 minutes till soft. At this point I had quite a bit of liquid, so I poured some off. So you can probably use less oil/butter or more leeks.

Poured 1 C of Heavy Whipping Cream on them and let them saute until the sauce thickened, about 15 minutes or so.

Seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

That's it! Easy, rich and a great taste. Definitely something I have to keep in mind as a standard.

Just like when she was little

When Tif was a little girl (2 or less) and I had the Camero in Big Timber (1968 Camero SS with a 500HP 454 in it, 3/4 racing cam, straight-line shifter), when we would cruise the drag, the car would always lope. She would sit in the back seat and say "Hot Rod Daddy, Hot Rod!", wanting me to hit the gas and make the car rock.

I took her for a rid up to Mount Lemmon a couple of days ago. I took off from the stop-light and put it through the first three gears. From behind me all of a sudden I heard her start giggling. "I LOVE it when you do that!"

Yeah, took me right back. Some things never change. :)

Riding around town

We trailered the bike down here and I've been itching to go somewhere. We forgot to pick up bagels at the store on Friday, so I said I'd go get some yesterday. Brian's favorite is Einstein Brothers - which is about 40 minutes away - longer if you get a little lost and take the long way!

Tif and Tina were going to do some shopping and Brian was working, so I took the bike out for a ride. Ended up spending about 3 hours out. Went and got bagels, then stopped at Trader Joe's and got some coffee and carb-free chocolate. Then stopped at Eegee's for a Hot Pastrami sandwich and a lemon eggee. Yum. There was no place to sit inside, so I just sat outside on the sidewalk, back up against the building, eating my sandwich and slurping down the eegee. It was pretty warm out, but there was a little breeze. Very cool. After getting some snow at home I have no problem sitting in the shade in almost 90 degree weather, sucking on an eegee to stay cool. AZ is great. :)

Then rode back towards home, got stuck in some traffic (something was going on) and turned around and took another long way home.

All in all - a great drive, warm weather, good food. A fun time. I'm very glad we brought the bike!

Watching the "boys" come home

Friday a squad of A-10s returned from Afghanistan. Brian was working so was there, and then Tif, Kian and I went over to see them return as well. It was pretty cool. We hung out in the hanger for a while and then went out to the line and watched them fly in, come down the airstrip and pull into their individual spots. There weren't *tons* of people there, but probably a good 50 or so. Mostly family members and friends.

It was very cool watching them fly in and then come down the line and pull into their spots. Basically a big carport kind of thing - structure with canvas over the top and about 1/2 way up the sides. Each plan has a spot and the family and friends of each pilot were waiting where they park. These guys had been deployed for 6 months I believe. A few things that stuck with me:

• They've been deploy for 6 months and have done a ton of sorties, dropping quite a few bombs, strafing runs, etc. They have hit targets in the hundreds. They fly in support of ground troops. They had the stats up on the board. In any case - lots of action, and yet we never hear that there is a war going on in Afghanistan. All we here from the Main Stream Media is how we pulled out of Afghanistan to go to an un-just war in Iraq. Well there is a war going on in Afghanistan and we have folks over there fighting it every day.
  
• I'm feeling my age. We hung out for a while with some of the wives waiting for their husbands to fly back. All "women" that Tif knows. There is Tif and Kian talking to all these wives and their children. They all look like kids to me. Girls with their kids, waiting for their boys to return home from war. Boys who have been over there fighting for us, protecting our country. Missing 6 months of their child's first year. And they'll be going back. And its just what they do. I'm impressed by all these kids do for us (both the young men and women), and saddened by how little we do for them as a country.
  
• It was very cool to watch them pull up. They have to sit in their planes *forever*, ok - maybe 5 minutes, while the ground guys get the plane all set. During this they are giving thumbs up, mouthing "I love you" to their wives / girl-friends, waving to their kids, etc. Then finally they climb off the plane, run over and hug/kiss their wives (who they haven't seen for a long time), then hug their moms - who cling to them, then their dads, then shake hands with all their friends. It was very touching.
  
• The noise of the plane has a rectangle on it, with a dragon, and silhouettes of bombs, rockets and other things. This represents bombs dropped, strafing runs, etc.

It was all very cool, and I'm glad I went.

The grief I take ;)

Stopped to pick up new cell phone batteries for Tina and Jaime on my way into work. Took Tina's phone so that I could make sure the battery was correct. I was riding the bike. Went into the store and there was a woman waiting around and all the customers were in the back. Eventually the clerk came out.

C: Can I help you?
M: I glance towards the woman.
W: I'm already being helped.
M: Can I get two batteries for this cell phone?
W: *You* carry a *pink* cell phone?
M: It's my wive's.
W: laughesJust harassing you... surprised to see you with a pink cell phone.
M: Yeah - its my wife's.
W: I know, but its just funny with you riding up on a Harley and all.
M: Well I told her I'd stop and pick up a battery for her and my daughter.
W: Yeah, no problem. There's no way *my* husband would do that for me. I just had to give you grief. It just looked funny.

People just don't expect you to flip out a pink cell phone when you're riding a Harley and all dressed in leathers and everything. :)

Its been a while since I read Paul Graham. I read his essay on How To Do Philosophy and passed it along to Jaimer, because she is loving logic in school right now. I then looked to see what else he had written that I had missed... Gee, guess its been a while, there is quite a bit. But I read Holding a Program in Ones Head because it looked similar to Great Hackers. As always, he gets it:

The weakest point in big companies is that they don't let individual programmers do great work.

and

Good programmers manage to get a lot done anyway. But often it requires practically an act of rebellion against the organizations that employ them.

How true... I'm feeling that a lot lately.

FamilyWatchDog

FamilyWatchDog is a public site that uses google maps to show known sex offenders in your neighborhood. Put in your address and colored boxes show up in your area. Click on a box and it shows the person's name, convictions, alias, etc.

It feels just like you'd think

Yesterday we went up to the Golden Dog Park because they had a Colorado Greyhound Adoption picnic. Yes... we have a new dog. 'Nuff said. :)

Anyway, Tina and I took the bike up and it was a nice ride, spent an hour or so checking out the dogs and stuff. Kind of like a bike rally for dogs, i.e., food, vendors, activities. Tina bought some stuff and we had a good time. But it was *really* windy.

Coming back we were doing 70 on a particular road, with the stereo blaring, wind pounding us, and kind of just hanging on and going for it. Up ahead there was a lot of home construction and you could see the sand just *blowing* across the road. All we could do was hit the throttle and go for it. We'd never been through one before and yeah, it feels just like you'd think. Like going through a sand blaster.

But actually - it was kind of fun. Going fast, music up loud, bike rumbling, zipping through the sand - we just laughed and then I yelled and we were out of it and down the road. Hit another one, which wasn't as bad; and then we were home.

Nice warm fall day - it was good to be alive, on a bike, with my babe. :)

The Coz

Jaime and I hate a Daddy/Daughter day today. We went to Jack Quinn's for lunch. It was really good. Had Guinness and Corn Beef & Cabbage. Yum. Then we went to the Pikes Peak Center and saw Bill Cosby. He was awesome. And we had 4th row seats so that was very cool too. It was like sitting around with a grandpa and listening to really funny stories.

It was fun to get downtown early, walk somewhere for lunch and then catch a great show. We are going to a number of other shows as we got tickets to Broadway in Colorado Springs. We'll see how much I like Musicals... but I have great hopes. I think it will be a fun time with Jaimer.

Yet another thing VMS did right

For Geeks - a story on why VAX/VMS base time is 17-Nov-1858 and why it won't have any problems until 31-Dec-9999, unlike Unix which is going to have issues in 2032.

Kian Pics

Uploaded some pictures of Kian. Birth through our last trip down there in Sept.

4 Corners pics

Uploaded some pictures of our ride down to Four Corners. Mostly pics between Ouray and Durango. Some very beautiful country.

Shrimp Cocktail

I decided to make some shrimp cocktail this weekend because we were going to Becky's house for dinner. Rather than the normal "shrimp and cocktail sauce" dish, I decided to actually make a shrimp cocktail salad so to say, with a bit of a Costa Rica flare to it, and put it in avocado halves. Wouldn't have even though about writing it up; other than the fact that Becky took the left-overs to a neighbors house and they liked it so much they asked for the "recipe"... so here goes :)

1.5 lbs 51-60 count pre-cooked peeled shrimp
1 yellow bell pepper
1 green chili
1/2 red onion
1/2 12 oz jar Heinz Chile Sauce (Chili sauce! not Cocktail Sauce)
1 lime
3 avocados split in half with the seeds removed

• Pull the tails off the shrimp and cut into 4 pieces
  
• Dice pepper, chili and onion in small pieces (maybe 1/8th inch square)
  
• Mix shrimp and veggies and squeeze the juice of 1/2 lime
  
• Add about 1/2 jar of the Chili sauce. You don't want it too soupy, but enough to coat it.
  
• Rub lime juice on the flesh of the avocado so it doesn't brown.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add more lime juice if you want it more tangy, more chili sauce if you want it more sweet or tomato flavored.

Scoop out a bit of the avocado flesh making a "bowl", but leaving some avocado, and fill it with the shrimp mixture.

You'll have extra which you can serve in a bowl, nestle the avocados in the extra, or whatever fits with how you want to present it.

We ate it about 45 minutes after preparing it, but I've eaten it immediately after putting it together as well.

Takes maybe 30 minutes to prep. You might be able to use small salad shrimp and it would be faster, or use raw shrimp and "cook" it in the lime juice for a few hours; but I like the 51-60 pre-cooked shrimp the best.

4 Corners

As I mentioned on Durango Diner, last weekend we went to the Four Corners Rally. There is a ton to do, but folks we were going with didn't want to stay for the entire time, so we planned a pretty fast trip. Head down on Friday, taking the long route through Montrose and Ouray, go down to Ignacio on Saturday, and then head back on Sunday going to South Fork, up 285, across 50 to Canyon City and up 115 to home.

I notified folks at work about 6 weeks previous that I'd be taking that Friday off. We planned on leaving between 7:00 and 7:30 from a meeting place about 30 minutes from our house, so we planned on leaving home about 6:30 AM. About a month out my boss mentions that we need to head out to DC that weekend. OK... what days, since I'm taking Friday off, remember? OK. No problem, we'll go Mon - Thur. That's kind of cool because many times we fly on Sunday and then you basically just lose a day of being off. Since I'm on salary we don't get paid for overtime... although we charge our internal customers. Yeah, weird and one of my pet peevees/hot-buttons, but I'll save that for another post. Anyway, out Mon and back Thur, getting into the springs at 9:05 PM. That's cool - should be home by 10:00 and plenty rested for the trip the next day.

The business trip is pretty good - a few frustrating/boring parts, but some really good productive sessions as well so that is all cool. We get to the airport with plenty of time to spare and get on our flight... and then we sit there for 2 hours on the plane because "there is some weather mid-west that we want to avoid". We finally take off and are told "Even though we are 2 hours late, you'll probably make your connecting flights because Dallas is having weather problems and so the planes are way behind." We have 50 minutes to make our connection... and are 2 hours late. Yeah - the math isn't hard to figure out. Anyway, we get into Dallas and all get off the plan at separate times. Hans is off first, and when I come off he is no where in site. I see that our flight has been delayed (Yah!) till 9:30... and its 9:28 now. :( - Everyone else comes off and says Hans already figured gate C- and we are in Terminal A. He is waiting by the train. So we rush over there and the train takes *forever*. But finally it arrives and we jump on, get off, and RUN through the terminal. We get to our gate, "Sorry, the plan is already backing away." Now I'm starting to sweat it... Come on... I've got a rally to go to. Not to mention hotel fees that I can't back out on at this late date, so if we miss the trip, we lose the $$.

Lukily Hans is in the "Admiral's club", so we go there and a guy hooks us up with tickets. "OK, here is what I can do. I'll get you on a confirmed flight to Denver (close enough)... tomorrow at 1:00 PM" (What???) "But there are two flights out tonight, one at 10:30 - so you better rush over there, and if you can't make that one on standby, you can roll over to the 12:00 flight and maybe make that one."

Ok - so there is still a chance. So we quickly head to the gate and get there... and there are people everywhere. There are 63 people on standby. Hans is #4 and the rest of us are #23 - #27, with me being #26. Folks tell me, "You can take my spot so that you can get home and do the rally, if I don't make it I'll only be late for work." Which was a great thought, but turns out you can't do that. Anyway - they call Hans and it looks like he is going to make it; but then a pilot shows up for the jump seat and he misses it by one.

We FINALLY eat dinner at 11:00 PM and then head to the other gate. Get there and there are 63 people on standby - but Hans is #1 and I've moved up to #16. So the odds are looking better - but the last gate only 3 people made it on standby. So we figure Hans will go but maybe not the rest of us. He uses some upgrades to bump us up to first class, in the hopes that will improve our odds. They start boarding and he is called immediately and disappears onto the plane. We are then watching the "standby monitor" and watching our names move up the list. There are quite a few people hanging out - not looking good. Then they start calling people in groups of 5, "Mr Jones, Mrs Smith, etc., etc." - no one shows up! They wait maybe 30 seconds, "Last call for Mr Jones, Mrs Smith..." - nothing. So we just jumped 5 places, then the next group... no one. Then the next group, a few folks show up. We are within 5... we wonder how many seats they have open and whether we'll make it or not. Then they call our names, and we rush the counter. :)

We make it on, and first class no less. I thought they said they didn't have any food service, so I conk out. Its almost 1AM and I've got a rally to leave for at 6:30! I sleep the entire trip and we get to DIA and Hans says, "Man, you didn't even enjoy the cookies, nuts, drinks or anything - see if I ever upgrade you again!" I think he was *half* joking... but he had to spend a ton of upgrades to upgrade 4 of us. Very cool of him.

We land at DIA get a car and head home to COS, grab the jeep and my head hits the pillow at... 4:45 AM. Set the alarm for 6:00 and a little over an hour of sleep and I'm up, quick shower (skipped washing my hair or shaving), and I throw on my leathers, load the bike, and off we go. (Luckily we packed before I left so it only took a few minutes to get everything onto the bike).

We get to the Safeway right off 24 and there is everyone we are going with, most of whom we didn't know. But there is Wes Rutter! - which was very cool. Old friend from Impact and turns out he is a friend of a friend and going with us. All in all we had 14 people and bikes on the road were at least 7 with sometimes up to 11. There were two trucks with trailers and some folks trailered their bikes either down or back and some trailered them off and on during the trip.

The buzz of being on the bike kept me awake and I did pretty good. About an hour out I was driving down a stretch that was pretty straight, with hills on both sides, when I caught sight of a 4 point buck (western 4 point, thats 4 points on EACH side), in mid-flight leaping onto the road from the left side... about 30 yards in front of me and me going 70 or so. Heart-pumping, a quick light squeeze on the brakes and release of the throttle, and he hits the road, leaps from the left lane onto my lane, and I'm about 15 yards away and realize he is going to clear the road, and so I let off the brakes. We flash by him and he is gone and Tina catching a flash of brown out of the corner of her eyes says, "Was that just a deer?"... "Yeah". OK - so I'm totally awake now!

The rest of the trip was really good, although I did zone a bit for a while when Tina was riding in the Hummer with a friend. Next stop I told her that so she got back on the bike and the rest of the trip was pretty good. Going down the million dollar highway (Montrose, Ouray, Silverton, etc.) was BEAUTIFUL. Someone at work told me, "This part of CO is pretty, but that part is the prettiest part of the state." and after seeing it, we agree. Lots of twisties, mountain roads, etc. Great riding. One girl did dump her bike, but it was right when she stopped and her feet hit the gravel and she just teetered over. No harm done, other than a bit shaky. The last 30 minutes or so it starting raining... hard, and I couldn't see very well (I'm going to have to rethink my goggles or something) and was going very slow, which slowed up all the bikes behind me. About 30 miles out from Durango I pulled over and wiped them off and told everyone else to go ahead and the Hummer could just stick with me. Tina was back in the Hummer by now because she didn't want to go over the mountain roads on the bike. But then 2 miles later we got to the place we were staying. None of knew it was going to be so far from town, but it was in a great place and we were so glad to see it sooner than we expected.

So... some cat-naps on the plane, 1 hour of sleep, and then a 10+ hour bike ride down to Durango. It was all good and quite the adventure and a great ride!

This is already quite long for me, so I'll just quickly wrap up the rest of the trip. Into Durango for dinner that night, which is a great ride down the valley. Next morning back into twon (after discovering that a bear had messed with one of the bikes during the night - but luckily didn't hurt anything) and ate at the Durango Diner. Then down to Ignacio to check out the rally. It was a pretty good street rally. Ate some good food. Tina got a great jacket she's been wanted to get. Saw one for $175, and then found one she liked even better for only $75 that matches her chaps. Rallies are great for this kind of thing. Visited with the Bad Pig owner. We always stop in and talk with him. Last time in Red River we talked with him and his wife, discussed grand children, etc. She wasn't with him this trip because her son was in the hospital - serious but recovering, so that is good. (Our prayers are with you guys). Tina got some good discounts for some of the girls with us that wanted to get some Bad Pig clothes. She always does. He laughed when we asked where his wife was. He said everyone was asking. The night before he was in the bar after setting up, and this girl walks up behind him and says, "Hey... what are you doing in here without your wife! I'm keeping an eye on your and telling her if you don't behave." He called her laughing and told her she has spies everywhere. :)

We spent a couple hours there and then Tina was getting hot, so we headed back "home". Hit a bit of rain on the way (looked like it might be worse) and so after stopping quickly at the Durango Harley store and getting some stuff, we returned "home" w/o getting any food or anything. Back into two later that night (which again is a very nice ride) and headed home way after dark. I don't like driving at night, but with someone in front of me it wasn't bad... and I came to ride; so all was good.

Up the next morning, back into town and a quick bite at McDonald's and then home up over Wolf Creek Pass.

All in all a quick, and somewhat exhausting several days, but well worth it. I had great plans for Monday, having been gone a week - like mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, etc. Instead I checked the mail, paid some bills, and zoned in front of the TV with Jaime all day. But like Peter Fonda said in Wild Hogs, "Ride hard or stay home!"

I'd go back down there again. The rally was... ok. No where near as cool as Red River, imo - but the ride is awesome and it was still a good place to check some stuff out. I *definitely* want to go back to the area. I'd like to spend more time there and check out more of the area. Actually go down to Farmington, NM, over to Cortez, hit Utah, etc. Perhaps we'll go that way some trip down to Tucson. We'll see...

Chuck Schumer - who votes for this guy?

I have no idea of Senator Schumer's voting record, and good things he might have done, etc. - but I can't believe after how he lied the other day, that anyone would re-elect this guy. I truly hope he gets beat in the next election, even if it is by another Democrat. Here is part of what he said:

The violence in Anbar has gone down despite the surge, not because of the surge. The inability of American soldiers to protect these tribes from al Qaeda, said to these tribes: "We have to fight al Qaeda ourselves."

As noted on numerous web sites, including Hugh Hewitt and RadioBlogger; its not so much that he even believes it, its that he felt it would be politically savvy to say so as an anti-war liberal. When is someone going to hold these guys accountable?

Coloardo Helps Hillary become president?

In Hugh Hewitt's article, As The Campaign Turns, he states:

To win in '08, the Dems will need to get one or more states President Bush won in '04, and the best bets for Hillary are Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Iowa, Nevada, and Virginia --in roughly that order of probability.

I guess I never really thought about it. I know that because of the size of Denver and Boulder, CO frequently votes for Democrats, even though the Springs and much of the rest of the state vote Republican. But I guess I just never thought about it long enough to realize that Hillary might take CO and in doing so gain the presidency. What a depressing thought.

On the other hand, looking for a silver lining in his statement (and based on other things he said in the article), with CO being one of the important states, there is a good chance many candidates will be here, and that could be interesting.

Italian/Chinese Stir-fry Chicken and Veggies

Wanted something quick the other day and was at Whole Foods and they had some great looking Spring Onions - which sparked the whole thing. Decided to stir fry some chicken and veggies. I could get the ingredients and throw it together pretty fast the next night or two when getting home from work.

Chicken Breasts - I'd just grill them, that way they'd cook pretty fast and I wouldn't have to prep them much. Just through them in some Teriyaki sauce, grill them, then slice them after cooked.

I wanted something fresh and green... so I got the Spring Onions, some snow peas that looked really good, and then figured I'd throw in some cabbage I had at home.

So the next night I get home from work and immediately start dinner. (I usually get home a bit late and we are all hungry so I get right after it). Threw the chicken in a ziplock bag with some sauce to marinate for a few minutes and turned on the electric skillet. Chopped the onions and went to put some oil in the skillet and ... ok, wait... What would really be good is an Italian dish! Yeah... olive oil, garlic, these fresh veggies and maybe tomato paste! So I poured in some olive oil, threw in the onions, and then grabbed the chicken and threw it on the grill before the Teriaaki could soak in too much; not that I was opting for Italian rather than Chinese.

Added a bit of broccoli, some sliced up cabbage, and then after cooking for a few minutes minced garlic and the snow peas. Then threw in a few small cans of mushrooms as well. After a few minutes pulled the chicken off the grill, sliced it and tossed it in and let that cook a few more minutes till everything looked done. Then added a small can of tomato paste and stirred until the paste was mixed it. Thought about adding some basil or oregano, but wanted the flavor to be pretty pure.

It was fast and great. I probably wouldn't do the Teriyaki again - but the chicken had been in it for such a short time it didn't add much flavor. And the snow peas in the "Italian" dish were really good. Their sweet flavor and crispy texture were really nice with the deep rich flavor of the tomato paste.

Everyone loved it and it was a hit. :)

Durango Diner

Went to the 4 Corners Rally last weekend. More on that later. But as you know, I'm always on the lookout for some great "road food". Got in Friday night and Saturday morning we were meeting in the Denny's parking lot before heading down to Ignacio. The small group we were with wanted to go to Starbucks, which I'm usually up for but: a) I'm not doing carbs and needed some protein, and b) I was on a bike trip and so was on the lookout for road food. We headed down Main Street and passed a few places that looked good on our way to Starbucks. Once there I told the others that Tina and I were going to look for somewhere to get breakfast and we'd meet up with them at Denny's at the appointed time.

Heading back up the street I was looking at store fronts where I saw a number of bikes parked. Numerous bikes parked in front of a building early in the morning is either an indication of a place to sleep or a place to eat. :)

I almost missed it, but there was a sign that said "Durango Diner" about a small store front wedged in between two other builds. I said "There we go" and Tina said, "Where?" She hadn't even see it, the front was so small. "Diner" mixed with the look of it screamed "road food" to me. So we stopped and went it.

It was awesome! :)

The building is pretty narrow. A small set of tables up front, all full, and then a long counter. On the right are all the grills and cooking areas, running about 1/3 the length of the building, with about 3 feet for the cooks to work and then the counter running the length of the cooking area, and then a few tables in back. Just enough room between the wall and the counter to get by, and then enough room between the counter and the grills to cook. So we grabbed a seat at the counter, right across from where all the action (cooking) was going on.

There were at least 3 cooks. One making hash browns (to our left), the owner cooking the main ingredients (right in front of us) and another cook plating the dishes - putting them all together, smothering them with green chili, etc.

The hash brown cook just cooks hash browns... continuously. He has a big bowl with peeled potatoes (restaurant baked potato size) and a grater. The kind that looks like a box with a handle on top, opening on the bottom, and different size grates on the 4 sides. He grabs a large potato, grates it holding the grater towards the grill, and then dumps the entire grated contents onto the grill, pilling the hash browns next to the last order. This creates a single "order" that is about 4x2x8. We are talking a large plate covering of hash browns. Not doing carbs anymore... but I could definitely appreciate it. :) The main cook then takes this plate of hash browns, covers it with a helping of scrambled eggs (more like a flat omelet that is about 8 inches around, flipped in half), throws 4 strips of bacon on the top, and hands it to the next line cook who covers it in green chili and then sets it up to be served to a customer. Yeah... we're talking heaven. :)

So I asked for 2 eggs over medium, 4 bacon and smoother it.

Sitting there, talking to the locals (fireman on one side of us talking about the local goings on, teasing Tina about the rally, etc.), folks coming in, the owner turning around and yelling "Hey Joe, your usually", other folks, "Hey, hows the coffee today?", etc. The place had a great feel, and I just sat there, drinking cups of coffee with cream from the kind of creamers that all the restaurants used to have - the metal kind with real cream in them, not little individual containers.

The waitress slide our food to us and it was great. Chili wasn't mild, but wasn't too hot. Could of sat there for a while, but we had to make the meeting at Denny's, so ate up the food, and off we went.

If you're looking for road food and our in Durango, I highly suggest it. As their home page says:

"The Diner" is well known for their nostalgic no-frills meals, local buzz, and the Green Chili, Southwest Salsa, and Enchilada Sauce sold through-out the country.

It was awesome. The best road food find I've had in quite a while. I'll definitely go back next time we are down there, and would have gone again if I could have worked it out with everyone else's schedules.

Prosciutto and Asparagus Appetizer

Seen on Dinner Impossible tonight, Prosciutto and Asparagus Appetizer. Blanched Asparagus, just enough to get it tender, wrapped in prosciutto and cream cheese. Didn't how them make it, but I believe put a thin layer of cream cheese on the end of a slice of prosciutto and then wrap that around an asparagus stalk. Probably 1/2 a slice. Looked good... have to try it.

I'll have a Betty with cheese

So we are up in Victor this weekend because it was beautiful out and we just wanted to do a ride. We rarely stop in Cripple Creek, but prefer to go on to Victor. This summer I was out there with Ted and Kristi and stopped at the Fortune Club (I think it was called). A little place to eat that sells sodas, shakes, rings and fries, burgers and hot dogs.

Due to some diet issues lately, I'm really watching the carbs. We mainly stopped for a diet soda, but were sitting at the counter and the burgers smelled so good I decided to have one without the bun. There were two people working the counter, a young female and an older guy would actually owns a place a few doors down (Buck) but comes over to help out during lunch. Yeah - how cool is that. Very small two.

Me: I'll have a cheese burger, no bun.
Female: What?
Me: I'll have a cheese burger, with no bun.
Female: starts laughing.
Me: What?
Female: That's just so cute.

Female: turns to Buck. Can you write up a cheese burger, and turning to look at me, with no bun.

Buck: A what?
Female: Cheese burger with no bun.
Buck: Oh... we call that a Betty!
Female: A Betty?
Buck: Yeah - there is a woman named Betty that is a friend of ours, and she has no buns.

Tina: That's awful!
Buck: What... we say it to her face. She knows she doesn't have any buns...

Buck: Turning towards the grill, yells out One Betty with Cheese.

Well... there ya go, next time I know what to order.

Overheard

Someone talking on the phone near where I'm at:

"You can't microwave dynamite... Well actually you can, its pretty cool."

Hmm... I'll take his word for it.

Risotto

Every time I watch Hell's Kitchen, I think... come on, he *always* wants them to make risotto, they make it every dinner service, and they always mess it up for the first half of the season or so. Therefore, if I was going on the show, one of the first things I'd do is learn how to make risotto. And besides, how hard can it be?

While down at Tif's, and cooking most the meals, I decided to give it a go. I googled it and how a page on making risotto. Didn't seem to hard so I gave it a shot. I think I used chicken broth, shallots, green onions, leeks and garlic. Something like that. Anyway, it did take a while (I used the "add a ladle of broth at a time" method), but it wasn't difficult and I think it turned out pretty well... I've never had it before, so its hard to say if it was correct; but it wasn't "grainy" and it wasn't "too salty", which are common complaints of Chef Ramsey. If there were any issues, I don't think it was creamy enough - but that will probably come with time.

Work hard, play hard.

We were down in AZ last weekend. Kian's one month birthday. How cool. He's such a cutie and it was go good to go down and see Tif, Brian and him. I am extremely blessed that I can work off-site. We went down Friday, got there that evening and stayed till Tuesday. Didn't get off as early as I had hoped, and ended up getting home about midnight that night - then up at 5:00 the next morning for work and had tons to get caught up on. Worked remotely - but there is a lot going on right now so had to do numerous meetings.

And then this week I've got quite a bit going on, meetings, getting some deliverables caught up, and then it is off to DC the following week.

My boss, Hans went to UofA in Tuscon, and suggested we go to eegees, so we did. Very good. Had a lemon eegee and the pastrami sandwich. Yum.

Anyway - been busy and lots going on, so not much blogging of late. Expect it to be a very busy week this week - then like I said, off to DC. Leave Monday and get home late Thur - and Fri morning (7 AM) we leave for a bike rally in 4 corners. I think there are 14 of us going! We are going with some friends and they are setting it all up, so I don't know the exact details. Staying in a condo - so I don't think I'll have internet which means no connectivity for several days. How weird.

Anyway - its all good.

First day of school

Jaimer's first day of school is tomorrow. She's starting at UCCS. Tomorrow its philosophy and psychology. Yeah - what a liberal arts major. :) Not what I did, but I did take philosophy and thought it was great. I think she'll have a good time with them. I'm so excited for her. Thinking about this brings up a story I wanted to blog but haven't gotten around to.

So we went to UCCS for orientation. Parent's can come and I was deciding if I should go or not. Jaime said it was ok if I went, so I had pretty much planned it - but wasn't sure if I would spend the whole day or what, since I had a lot going on at work. But the night before:

J: So you're going tomorrow right?
M: Yeah
J: Are we taking one car?
M: Well I thought we'd take two, then I could do the parent thing and then maybe go to work for a while.
J: But you're going to stay and help me register right? And its only a few hours between the two.

At this point she kind of had that excited but scared first day at school when you drop them off for kindergarten look on her face. Yeah... a young woman in many ways and still a kid in others.

M: We can take just the one car.

So we get there and she is nervous (introvert like me in these situations) and feeling somewhat weird that she brought her dad, but then we see most everyone has parents with them. So its all cool.

So we spend the day listening to talks, getting tours, eating lunch, etc. I'm actually really glad I went and feeling a bit excited. Its been a while since I went to school (on a campus) and I'm getting more and more excited for her. This is going to be awesome. So its all good and very cool.

We then go to register. This is basically an advisor for your program talking to all of you that will be in the program, and then a few of them helping you figure out what classes to take. Turns out Jaime's program is very structured and loaded. Since she is going to be a teacher, she basically is getting most of her classes in 3 years, so she has no electives. She can take other stuff if she wants, but it won't count towards her degree. So she pretty much has to take what is listed. There are choices, but if its not on the list - she shouldn't do it.

Anyway - we are stumbling a bit through stuff and then the head of the program comes over, after working with several students, to help us out. We are a bit worried at this point, because it looks like most the classes she needs are full. So we tell him that, and he says no - its just some sections that are full and he should be able to get her into what she needs. So he sits down and asks for her paperwork.

A: Looks at Jaime, ask for her papers, looks down at her ACT scores, then looks at her again. Wow. These are very impressive.
J: Just kind of grins.
A: Where did you go to high school?
J: I was home schooled.
A: Looks at her, looks back at her scores, looks up at her again. Well I guess that worked out well for you!

He then talks to her about a few classes, then:

A: Do you know your GPA... Oh, I guess not because you were home schooled.
J: Explains that she went through an off-campus school and that they kept her transcripts, scores, etc. 3.954
A: Looks at her again... OK... so you could have told me *that* sooner. Home schooled huh...

He then puts her in some tougher classes. He then asks her about work, what she's been doing, etc.

J: I've been out of school for 2 years, so I studied quite a bit for the ACTs.
A: Looks down at her scores again then up to her. Apparently.

:)

Anyway - it was very cool. He was very impresses with her scores, her grades, what she had been doing, and remarked how well home schooling had worked for her. Given he is the head of the program... cool stuff. I was the proud parent.

What a smartie. :)

Driving under water

Its been raining here every afternoon - pretty typical for this time of year. I've been riding the bike to work most the time anyway, because we haven't done as many weekend rides as we did last year and I just want to be on it; plus is so nice in the morning.

So Thur I rode to work and got soaked coming home. I dropped the bike off at the dealership in the morning for maintenance, and got a Heritage Softail for a loaner; which I really liked. Anyway, ended up leaving work when it wasn't raining and as I drove towards the dealership could see it start to rain. By the time I was half way down GoGs, I was getting pretty soaked. Then got to the dealership, got my bike, and it was pretty much just a sprinkle the rest of the way home; with it totally clearing up by the time I got home. Was wearing just leathers, so soaked crotch and neck, but none the worse for wear.

Friday... take rain great - nah, how bad could it be. I made it yesterday. So off to work (up to Monument for a Dr. appt, which was a fun ride) then to work. That afternoon, "Hmm... maybe I should leave before it starts raining." But walking through the atrium I realized it was already raining, so stayed at work for another hour - not much letup. Finally left and when the back way - less hills and less highway, which I'd like to avoid in the rain. Again, pretty quickly I was getting pretty soaked; but actually not as bad as the day before. My glasses got pretty wet/foggy; so I stopped at a gas station about 2 miles from home (Union and Woodman) and dried them off; then made the dash for home. Meanwhile it was lightning and thundering (some very big bommers), which was a little freaky, but fine.

So, I'm getting pretty close to home but now the road is covered in water in spots. I start up the hill towards Lexington, and the person next to me actually backs off some as we go through a big water puddle, as we can both see the water roster tailing and covering cars as they go through it. Nice of him. I go through w/o getting too wet and then he goes through next to me, but a bit behind. Through the light at Lexington and down the hill. I'm going a bit slower than the traffic, 'cuz of all the water, but not too bad. At the bottom I notice a very large puddle and water roster tailing like crazy. This time the person next to me is not so aware/kind as right as I'm about to hit it, he passes me - and up comes the water... and the road disappears. I can't see a thing. I've had this happen in a car before; but never on a bike. The water comes up over my head; actually runs down the inside of my jacket; drenching me in water, and runs down the front (inside) of my chaps. I'm soaked, gasping for air and sputtering water, and just hanging on and going straight. Only lasted a few seconds - and the bike handled it fine. No sliding, loss of traction, etc. Apparently Ultra's can ride under water. Good to know.

Anyway; home totally soaked, but none the worse for wear, and yet another story to tell. Its all an adventure and about the journey. :)

A few things I learned:

• I need to put some defogger on my glasses.
• Turn north on Lexington and take the backroute the rest of the way home, which is slower and won't have big "lakes" in the road; and finally
• Yeah... I should probably start taking my rain gear. Leathers are fine for getting "caught out in it" or if it is sprinkling, but if I know its going to rain, and potentially big; I should take the rain gear.

The software awards scam

Interesting article on 5 star awards given to software on download sites:

I put out a new product a couple of weeks ago. This new product has so far won 16 different awards and recommendations from software download sites. Some of them even emailed me messages of encouragement such as “Great job, we’re really impressed!”. I should be delighted at this recognition of the quality of my software, except that the ’software’ doesn’t even run. This is hardly surprising when you consider that it is just a text file with the words “this program does nothing at all” repeated a few times and then renamed as an .exe.

Always watch out for the other guy

Yesterday I had a meeting with my boss, in which the following took place:

B: "I guess you'll be more carefully riding your motorcycle!"
M: "Why?"
B: "Didn't you hear Tom* (not real name) died this morning in a motorcycle accident."

Drag. He wasn't a "friend" of mine, but an acquaintance. I'd been on one business trip with him and been in several meetings. A very bright and seemingly very nice guy. Apparently working late trying to get some testing done, left his laptop at work running some tests and was heading home at 1AM and someone backed out in front of him w/o seeing him. Don't know all the details.

Guess they were reporting it on the news and all they said was "Verizon employee" and "accident this morning". Several folks worried it was me, since they didn't give the exact time.

Just a sad thing. 2nd or 3rd bike accident I've heard of in the last few days, but hits you harder when you knew the person.

Yeah... I'll be more careful - but then again I'm always pretty careful. And folks die in cars all the time too, so I don't think riding a bike is super dangerous or anything.

Anyway - make me stop and think and choke up a few times yesterday. My prayers go out to his friends and family.