Fleetmack.com - June 2006 News

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June 2006 News Archives

June 01 June 05 June 06 June 07 June 08 June 09 June 13 June 14 June 15 June 16 June 19 June 20 June 21 June 22 June 23 June 26 June 27 June 28 June 29

What I am listening to as I type this: Opie & Anthony
Most Recent DVD Burned: Shawn of the Dead

June 29, 2006

Wow am I ever tired today, I just can't sleep as I'm so upset over this Star Jones debacle.

The American League is just demolishing the National League. I realize this is more obvious than a very obvious thing, but I just had to throw it out there.

I had a 90 Schilling last night, it'd been too long (roughly 2 days).

Since Saturday, I've put over 120 miles on my bike. Yesterday I finally converted the computer from metric to standard so my Americanized self can read it. I need to take it to Bicycle Village tonight to get some adjustments made.

Schmirgan-Flagen is coming to D-town this weekend, should be killer. We're going rafting in Buena Vista on Saturday with Ryan and his friends. Staying in Gunnison Saturday night. Sunday we're climbing Wetterhorn Peak down between Gunnison and Montrose. We have no plans after that ... likely make the 5-hour trek to Denver Sunday night. Monday could consist of lunch at La Boheme and the Rockies game, we shall see ... lots of options.

I have a program to finish up today, then tomorrow is the company picnic (similar, but not as cool as the Pancake Breakfast ... we do that every month), then I'm off work until Wednesday.

By the way, the Pancake Breakfast thing was an Anchorman reference.

Picture of the day is hot, don't drop it. HOT PLAAAAATE!! (Horatio Sanz reference)

What I am listening to as I type this: Opie & Anthony
Most Recent DVD Burned: Shawn of the Dead

June 28, 2006

rode my bike to work again ... busy at work yet ... i don't know how i ever have time to update this site.

by the way, the weekend 14er shall be Wetterhorn Peak ... it's a black diamond, giggidy.

What I am listening to as I type this: System of a Down - Question!
Most Recent DVD Burned: Shawn of the Dead

June 27, 2006

I was going to go to BW3's last night, but instead, after my 8pm home-arrival, I decided to type some code. I was getting damn sick of bots registering in the forums, that has been fixed. Also, I have re-implemented the Andro boards, as that skin is a trillion times better. Ahhh, coding, fun stuff.

What an awful day yesterday, I could elaborate, but I won't, instead I'll just confuse you by the solution, here's my notes should this happen again. And yes, I named our office's production database "Giggidy" after Quagmire on Family Guy:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Due to running in noarchivelog mode the only recovery available is to restore the whole database from backup to be consistent and from a offline backup. However if there are no uncommitted transactions in the undo tablespace then it should be able to be dropped and replaced.

To drop the tablespace the following has to occur.

1. Enter into the pfile the following parameter.
_OFFLINE_ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS=(_SYSSMU1$, _SYSSMU2$, _SYSSMU3$, ...etc) [(up to _SYSSMU10$)]
2. Switch off all AUTO undo parameters by commenting them out. (there are 3)
OR UNDO_MANAGEMENT=MANUAL
3. Attempt to startup and mount the database with this pfile (as opposed to the spfile).
startup mount pfile='../../../'; ('d:/oracle/admin/pfile/initgiggidy.ora') on giggidy
4. Now offline drop the datafile 2 so that the database can be opened consistently.
SQLPLUS > alter database datafile 2 offline drop;
5. Now recover database.
SQLPLUS > recover database;
6. Now open the database.
SQLPLUS > alter database open;
7. Now drop the rollback segments.
SQLPLUS > drop rollback segment "_SYSSMU1$"; <- use dba_rollback_segs to see other rollback segments. (make sure to do all the way through SYSSMU10$)
8. drop tablespace UNDOTBS1.DBF including contents and datafiles;
9. Finally re-create the tablespace. (name it the exact same thing ...)
SQL> create undo tablespace undotbs
2 datafile '/DB1/UNDOTBS01.DBF' size 2500k reuse; (make sure to set the max size to about 3 gb, code below)
(CREATE UNDO TABLESPACE "UNDOTBS1"
DATAFILE 'd:/oracle/ora92/giggidy/UNDOTBS01.DBF' SIZE 2500M REUSE
AUTOEXTEND ON NEXT 100M MAXSIZE 3000M
/)
10. Reset the following parameters in the init.ora |
UNDO_MANAGEMENT=AUTO
#_OFFLINE_ROLLBACK_SEGMENTS=(_SYSSMU1$, _SYSSMU2$, _SYSSMU3$, ...etc) (again, through _SYSSMU10$)

What I am listening to as I type this: Jerry Cantrell - Dying Inside
Most Recent DVD Burned: Shawn of the Dead

June 26, 2006

Went to the Rockies game in amazing seats, biked 60+ miles, sat by the pool, rode my bike to work this morning. I'm busy, so that's all I've got time to share right now... please keep your thoughts and prayers with those at the Denver Safeway distribution plant, I have three friends who work there (one of whom has a picture linked in the 23rd's news) and I haven't been able to get ahold of them, but I do know at least two of them work Sundays.

Note: Just heard from Duane, he wasn't working, Kevin was but he's cool.

Another Note: Just heard from Cruz, he was working but is in a different department.

What I am listening to as I type this: Alan Jackson - Designated Drinker
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 23, 2006

Went out and had some Mexican eats in Louisville last night, hadn't been to Señor T's in awhile, so that was (as Duane would say) cooooooooooooooooooo.

Did anybody see Miguel Cabrera's hit last night while they were trying to intentionally walk him? Man that was cool, very very cool.

The plan for a weekend 14er appears to be falling through the cracks ... Jacob cannot go, I need 4WD, and I've got an invite to the Rox game tonight with free beer and food (gotta love the Coors brewery connections when the games are at Coors field!)

Laetitia .... awesome news. The estimate is currently at $1400, with a very probable 7 more hours of labor and another part to stack on top of that (they won't know until they pull her rear bumper completely off). I get a free rental car from the liable-guy's insurance company (I'm shooting for a Hummer or some SUV I can go beat up in the mountains) ... and since this is not completely legal I won't discuss specifics, let's just say I'm going to profit anywhere between $300-$500 on this deal. That should cover most of the costs which I incurred after running over that tire two weeks ago. Needless to say, I am very pleased with this whole car accident thing. Laetitia took one for the team. In exchange, I'm going to buy her a new cd player as I'm sick of this Pioneer bullshit and really want to get another Clarion (my old Clarion was stolen, if you remember) that I can connect my Nano to.

Weekend plans would include mass bike riding as I'm not hiking, and we'll pray for good weather on Sunday so I can sit by the pool. I may just do some computer stuff or website stuff too. hahahahaha, who am I kidding? There's zero chance I'll work on this website. I want to finish up my picture-scanning by the end of June, and then my next computer-related project will be converting all my VHS and MiniDV home movies to DVD. That should be a quick one though as that's a relatively easy process. After that -- it's officially time to build the Linux box and start on the web re-design (working towards the ultimate goal of hosting this entire site myself). Man I'm behind on my goals!

What I am listening to as I type this: Geto Boys - First Light of the Day
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 22, 2006

This isn't as gross as the classic "hair behind my eye" thing, but this morning was pretty nasty. When I wake up, step one is obviously to take a shower. I shower before I brush my teeth. In an effort to get that nasty "just woke up" taste out of my mouth, I let my mouth fill with shower water and spit it out. This morning, a fucking dead spider came out with the water and stuck to the shower wall. I promptly dry-heaved. Thrice. You have no idea how much I wish I was joking. In order to not throw up, I quickly put things in persepctive and imagined it molded onto my front tooth by the nightly dose of plaque. How nasty would that have been if I looked in the mirror and opened my mouth to see a dead spider molded to my front tooth? Better yet, I could have went straight for my morning yogurt and banana before brushing and eaten the spider. Actually, that may have been better as I might have never known. To make a long, disgusting story short ... if my breath stinks today, please cut me some slack.

Watch out MLB, the Royals have won five of their last ten!

Ok, I've got stuff to do. Yes sir, stuff to do. These things include, but aren't limited to: resolving an Oracle iTAR involving the April 2006 cumulative patch set on our XML Schema on our upgraded-client test-production server (haven't yet patched the production server(s), but got the upgraded-client test-backup working), re-writing a nightly procedure (that is currently 4803 lines of code) for our new fiscal year, and setting up some new PC's. Adios, todos.

What I am listening to as I type this: Beastie Boys - It Takes Time To Build
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 21, 2006

Quite busy today .... but it is burrito day! Looks like Mt. Humboldt is on the agenda this weekend. It's not that difficult of a 14er, but I've got to start hammering them out if I plan on climbing 8 this summer. I won't be able to climb the final 3 weekends of July or the first one in August. Yikes!

What I am listening to as I type this: Metallica - Enter Sandman
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 20, 2006

Laetitia got injured yesterday ... not my fault by any means whatsoever. And why would the guy have insurance? After all, he only had a $40K truck, who needs insurance? EVERY other car in the accident had insurance except the cause of the accident. You'd better believe I'm going to sue him for my $500 deductible! If you can afford a $40K truck, you can afford insurance, that's all there is to it.

So I was driving up Wadsworth last night by Sam's Club after work, when an ambulance comes from a cross street with its sirens blaring. I slow down to let him in, while doing so, I check my rear-view to make sure the lady behind me has time to stop before I stop, she does. I stop, let the ambulance in, get ready to start going again and, as a college sports broadcaster would say, "boom goes the dynamite." Car to car to car to me in front ... my head almost hit the windshield and then it flew back against the headrest. It hurt but no biggie, I'm fine. The lady in the car behind me left on a stretcher, faker, I don't buy it for a second. Whatever, that's none of my business.

Anyways, the rear bumper is messed up (and has a nice imprint of the lady's license plate in it). The trunk is dinged up and won't close. My alignment is hosed again (humph). I'd say there's no way it's "totaled", but the way they ring shit up these days, who knows. I mean - remember when Steph wrecked her car? That thing was like 2 years old with like 20K miles on it and that was totaled!

Anyways, today I get to call insurance and figure out if they total her. I can't imagine they will, but who knows. It's only going to be two parts (I hope). I checked Kelly Bluebook today and it's still valued at $5300 in excellent condition, which is hardly the truth. I'd guess $4000 for it's condition. Please don't total this car, if so I'll likely drive it damaged and keep the insurance company's money. I will reach 250K miles on this car.

Here's three pix for you 1 2 3

What I am listening to as I type this: Opie & Anthony
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 19, 2006

Congrats to the 1-2 Wu, who is now a dad to a daughter named Haley Mae. Wu, wu, wu, wu, wu, wu, wu, wu.

Good weekend ... Friday night Andy and I went to BW3's for a beer or two, then went home and went to bed very early. Woke up at 2am on Saturday to go climb La Plata peak ... trip report and pictures are up. (1/8 of the way to my summer 14er goal!) Saturday night I met up with Towns and Val to go to the Music Festival, then we met up with Andy at the Sport's Column. Yesterday I geeked out ... scanned pictures and did laundry and such. All in all, a great weekend.

No plans on the agenda for this week as of now. Tonight I'm going to watch the Oilers come back in dramatic fashion to take the cup away from the Hurricanes. Maybe climb another 14er or two next weekend. In talks with Juergens about coming out here over the 4th, that would be immensely cool. Other than that, just chillin', just chillin'.

What I am listening to as I type this: Tool - Vicarious
Most Recent DVD Burned: Heathers

June 16, 2006

Say all the bullshit you want about the man and Microsoft, the fact still stands that he single-handedly reinvented modern life. He has made our lives easier, helped us to communicate with others in a better and more simplistic way, and gives back to the community in myriad ways. This guy was the best thing to happen to the world in our lifetimes. Congrats on the "retirement", Mr. Gates. (Hopefully this'll put an end to people believing that damn email hoax!)

I present to you, the new and improved Ben Rothleisberger! "I still say, you play with matches you get burned" -Vincent Vega

I just swallowed my 6 morning vitamins ( (2) Biotin, (1) Fish Oil (1) Vitamin E (1) Multi-Vitamin (1) Vitamin C) with my tongue ring out for the first time. Holy cow is it ever easy to swallow horse pills without a barbell through your tongue. Not to worry though, I just took it out to clean it, it's going back in shortly.

Climbing La Plata Peak this weekend (hopefully). The schedule tells me that I have to leave my place at 2:30a.m. tonight for this climb, hopefully it goes well (or goes at all, for that matter!) Sunday will likely be a relaxing day, my legs will be too sore for the bike if the hike goes as planned.

I think the 1-2 Wu is having his kid today, let's pray that goes well for him.

So I've finally got the Nano figured out. It took me awhile as I refuse to use that garbage software that is iTunes. I am now using Winamp 5.23 (still the best media player of all time. I've stuck with it since 1997 and haven't turned back since) coupled with the ml_ipod plugin. It is so thoroughly kickass I can't even comprehend it. All of my already-made winamp playlists can simply be imported to the iPod as its own separate playlist. My music collection is so perfectly organized and named any more, after literally years of working on it, the last thing I wanted to do was use iTunes and have to go set it up their way instead of mine. I strongly prefer to do it manually. Perhaps I will write a "how-to" article to show you how to optimize the ml_ipod/Winamp experience. It's absolutely wonderful. I even do it a very simple way so I can bypass Winamp while creating my playlists so I can do that manually as well. Here's a screen shot of my custom interface.

Have a great weekend. Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, especially mine!

What I am listening to as I type this: Metallica - Sanatarium
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 15, 2006

Yes, that's how close I was to a free Lexus from 205 yards. That's my third close call with a hole-in-one, but I still don't have one. (Unless you're willing to count Golden Tee!) Ah well.

Another exciting night for me last evening. Rode about 15 miles on the bike. Wanted to keep going, but when it's still 95 degrees at 7:30 at night, you lose motivation quickly! Basically did that, ate, and caught up on some phone calls last night. Still have about 3 more to catch up on, perhaps tonight. I'm strongly debating riding my bike to work tomorrow. I brought extra clothes today to leave in my office just in case. Shit, I forgot a towel ... where was Towelie when I needed a reminder for that this morning?! Damn, forgot hairspray and deoderant too. Locker issues, damn. Looks like I'm driving to work tomorrow!

You know it's a boring day in Des Moines when ...

Ok, a few things about that link. A) I made it a PDF because it won't be posted like that forever. B) you should really go to the real page - www.desmoinesregister.com - and read the 2 articles I highlighted. They're exactly what they sound like. Des Moines has so much happening, that the front page has an article about three guys who dined-and-dashed, and an article about how a girl's acquaintence threw a 1/2 drank 2 liter bottle at her. This is front page news in Des Moines. How did I ever used to admit that it was normal back there? These are things that are in the news?!

I'm back on a flossing kick, can't stop. Have to floss like three times a day or I will explode.

Today's picture of the day is awesome!! Thanks for the pic, Hart!

What I am listening to as I type this: Stone Sour - Bother
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 14, 2006

Word to Big Bird.

Busy, busy, busy. Nothing today for ya, sorry.

What I am listening to as I type this: System of a Down - Old School Hollywood
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 13, 2006

This weekend was quite lovely. Friday night I went for a bike ride, scanned some pictures, watched some TV ... you know, geek stuff. Saturday I went for a bike ride (and got a flat tire about 8 miles from home with no spare, that was fun), did some napping, got some adjustments made to my bike, and went for another bike ride. Saturday night went to the Rockies/Dodgers game with Towns, Val, and Andy ... then went to the Tavern. A few things about The Tavern: A) no hats? you can't wear a hat in there? Holy shit is that ever gay. B) If I hear another person talk about The Real World (which is being filmed across the street), I'm going to punch them. Who cares?!

.... Went for another bike ride on Sunday (I've been riding it for 8 days, already up to 180KM, not too shabby, eh?), then just kept busy doing shit around the house. Yesterday I golfed in a scramble (I think we shot -5 or something). I almost won a Lexus, I'll have photographic proof soon, hopefully. Hole in one would have resulted in a free $45K car, and I was literally one foot or less from the hole on my drive. I don't need a new car anyways, Laetitia's just fine. Went to BW3's last night, good place ... good place.

I've got a short week this week as today is my Monday. This weekend will be another cheap one for me hopefully. I'd like to get about 70 more miles on my bike by Sunday, and 14er season is getting kicked off this weekend. My first summit of the summer will be La Plata Peak. I'm not sure what day I'm going up, but I assure you I will be above 14,000 feet again within a week's time. It may be snowy, but I don't care. I want to knock two off my list by the time July hits.

There's a mix cd containing just six songs that hasn't left my cd player in my car for over one week now:
Stone Sour - 30/30 150
Stone Sour - Through Glass
Stone Sour - Reborn
Three Days Grace - Animal I Have Become
Taproot - Poem
Prong - Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck
I don't see any reason to ever take this CD out. I absolutely love every one of those songs, and cannot get sick of them. You should be jealous of my mix cd.

30/30 150 is probably the most amazing song I've heard since Vol. 3 came out. Each time I listen to it I seem to enjoy it even more. Come on, can you seriously write lyrics like this and expect it to not be phenomenal?

Saw a lot of people die in the end
I never want to walk that road again
Now I will never give up
I don't want to have it all, I JUST WANT TO HAVE ENOUGH
They called us a dead generation, they told us that we wouldn't survive
They left us alone in the maelstrom
As you can see we're all plenty alive
We know where you are and were coming
Lets see you say that shit to our face
30/30-150 Remembers
30/30-150 HATES

What I am listening to as I type this: Taproot - Poem
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 09, 2006

This, my friends, is in the Top 5 best songs of all time. This list is also not complete, as I only have 3 definite songs in my Top 5, with hundreds of finalists striving for the remaining two spots. Unlike the "hot chick" list, this one has no order, but I can tell you that my three favorite songs ever are:

Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
Taproot - Poem
Soundgarden - Burden In My Hand

After those, how can I possibly fill the Top 5?! Slipknot's Purity or Iowa or Gently or Spit It Out or Eyeless or Everything Ends? Stone Sour's Monolith or Inhale? Prong's Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck? Chimaira's Pure Hatred or Cleansation? Too $hort's Step Daddy? Luniz's I Got 5 On It? Outkast's Synthesizer or Wheels of Steel or Spottiedottiedopaliscious? Eazy-E's Boyz In Tha Hood or Still Talkin'? I could list a thousand other finalists, but all I can tell you is, those three above-listed songs are prefection, sheer perfection.

Went to X3 last night. While I can't say it was the best one (X2 was pretty hard to top), I will say it's an awesome movie. The **QUASI-SPOILER START** Golden Gate Bridge thing was a little ridiculous. I was blatently shocked that Mystique got "cured" so early. I can't believe how many people died (but am glad I stayed until after the credits were over so I could discover that Professor X isn't really dead). I hated Cyclops, so didn't miss him. I wish Wagner was in the movie. I wonder how Magneto didn't get stripped of his power. Halle Berry's body is just smoking hot. The Iceman/Pyro fight was stupid. And my favorite part of the movie (besides staring at Famke at any given time) was when Beast came into the final fight scene and just started screaming. He really doesn't have a special power, so it reminded me of when Brick Tamland was running around in the Anchorman battle scene with his hand grenade. Good stuff. ***END QUASI-SPOILER***

So I realized I spoke one day prematurely, and I'd better explain. I must already strip Eva Mendes of her finalist position, and she isn't being replaced. But this "Top 5" thing means there can't be a doubt in my mind, and while Famke Janssen has always been a favorite of mine, I shouldn't be able to even consider putting someone else in Eva's place if she deserves to be there. For that reason, Eva cannot be in the Top 5. I badly want to put Famke there, but I can't for one reason: she's in the heat of the moment in my mind after seeing X3 last night. I need to wait and see if she stays fresh for that long (and she's pushing 40, if not already there) But man, she's mad fly.

I'm not working on Monday as I'm in a (free for me!) golf tournament at Fossil Trace for work. If you want to be very jealous, go look at how incredible this course is.

Ok, back to work. There's no reason I should have updated today, I've got a lot to do.

What I am listening to as I type this: System of a Down - B.Y.O.B.
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 08, 2006

I'll keep this short, as I know it annoys some of you that I talk about sports and music so much, so 2 quick thoughts, and you can skip them if you wish:

1) Stone Sour: How dare you release 3 songs, which are all incredible, 2 videos, both of which are good, and the album cover ... and make me wait 2 more months for the album! I'm going insane here.
2) Royals: Note to Buddy Bell, when your closer has pitched 27 innings, has almost an 8.00ERA, and has blown the last 5 saves, you do not pull your rookie starter, who has the possibility to pitch the first shutout for your team in the last 2 years, in the 9th inning because he walked one guy. On top of that, there is absolutely NO reason for Ambiorix Burgos to be playing in the major leagues. NO reason whatsoever. None, zip, zilch, nada - none.

Biked about 12-13 miles last night, ate some Tuna Helper, then I tried watching the end of the Royals game, but knew immediately when they pulled Keppel that the game was over. Tonight is bike ride, and go to X3 (didn't end up going the other night).

My Top 5 Hottest Women On Earth list has a finalist for the coveted 5th spot, which has never been filled. There's been three other finalists who didn't get the honor of being accepted: Eva Longoria, Carmella DeCesare, and Nicole Kidman. The top 4 are currently (in this order):
1) Laetitia Casta
2) Krista Allen
3) Brooke Burke
4) Jessica Alba

...and the newest finalist for the coveted #5 spot ..... Eva Mendes. We'll see if she's got what it takes. Carmella had it locked down until she got her damn breast implants. Yes, I realize Brooke has them (hell, Eva may have them too for all I know), but I never saw Brooke look absolutely perfect before she got them (she probably did look perfect then, too). Carmella was already Playmate of the Year, and she was natural ... how can you improve that?!

Anyone shake a baby lately? I've heard you're not supposed to.

On a similar note, does anyone want to finance my project? I'm placing the guy who came up with the "Baby Shaker" commercial idea in a rocket with Tom Shane and sending them to the Sun on a permanent vacation. I'll organize all the details and cut through the red tape if you sponsor it. We could even put the name of your company on the side of the rocket for publicity. We'll just tell Tom that the rocket is going to Antwerp, Thailand, or "in Westminster off the Boulder Turnpike at 104th" so he thinks he's going to personally pick out the finest diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and pearls. It'll work, I tell you.

The weekend is fast approaching, I will be doing nothing ... sorta. Lots of bike riding work and working out ... as for my nights, I think I'm actually going to work on this website, haven't done that for some time and I need to get Gallery2 customized. Also plan on finishing my picture-scanning project ... also would like to figure out how to work this iPod Nano I purchased. I have 2 books I'm about 1/2 finished with: Friday Night Lights and The Alphabet of Manliness ... I'd like to finish those sometime soon.

One quick thought about riding my bike - I love everything about it - except for prairie dogs. I think God created those things just to bug the shit out of me. They jump out in front of me, bark at me, and there's dead ones on the road about every 8 feet that I have to dodge. I want them dead (dead, but not dead on the road), every last one of them. Hell, you could take away the word "Prairie" and I'd still strongly agree with that statement. Hell, I'd probably want that even more. Not even probably. By the way, I hate dogs more than I'd hate watching Robin Williams host American Idol while having to eat escargot. I'll stop now.

What I am listening to as I type this: Public Enemy - Power To The People
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 07, 2006

TGIBD (burrito day)

For the record, I never really told anyone except when I was in KC and I won't discuss specifics as it's a private matter, but I'm sick of answering questions so I'll just say it. Jessica and I decided to split up about a month ago. It was a very mutual decision. I love Jessica to death and will always be there for her just as I know she will be there for me. We still talk somewhat regularly and are on excellent, excellent terms. It was a wonderful year and a half, but it needed to end and we both knew it. There were countless circumstances that are hard to understand unless you were in the relationship, and it boiled down to us wanting different things and having very different needs. And in the words of Mr. Gump, that's all I have to say about that.

I was driving home yesterday (on 06-6-06) and The Heretic Anthem came on randomly on my mix cd I was playing. That was eerie. It did rejuvinate my love for that song. I wish the closed-minded people could get past the title and just listen to the lyrics.

This weekend I plan on finding a (bike) route to work which allows me to avoid any and all busy streets. I have no idea where this path will be, but perhaps if I can locate this, I can turn into a bike-to-work-in-the-summer person. It'd save gas money, keep me in wonderful shape, and get my ass used to sitting on a bike for extended periods of time. This idea sounds tremendous. Now I just need to find out if it's feasible or not.

You may notice the Stone Sour ticker above just gained three weeks ... this is because they pushed in the release date! August 1 is the new date, which rules because that is before the concert, so I'll get a chance to learn all the new songs before the show. Has anyone heard Through Glass on the radio? Wonderful song, I think it will expand their fan base in the same way Bother did.

Reason #274 BW3's kicks ass: Last night, they played Stone Sour

What I am listening to as I type this: seriously, BPI, stop with the Disturbed. These guys are terrible. On to XM for the day
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 06, 2006

Hey guess what! It only took me 4 months, but I got around to fixing my guestbook last night. It will now accept signatures. (it rejected everything entered since late February) I had an error with the image verification that I frankly didn't care about, but I got sick of nobody signing the damn thing, so I fixed it yesterday.

It's the devil's day today, so you get a picture of David Puddy. I suddenly feel like watching The Crow for some reason. (Note: I just went on a 4 paragraph rant on how ridiculous it was when they made a sequel (and part 3, and tv show) out of The Crow, but I deleted it as I know you all agree with me and it was a pointless little tirade.)

Wil$on is driving the bus for Team Blonde!! Could I ask for anything cooler? Well, besides a robot that would iron for me while opening my ice cold Newcastles while Lost is on, shortly after it gave me dental floss to clean the beef jerkey out of my teeth (or from my BW3's wings) which it purchased for me moments earlier. Robots rule. (Cameron made that Robot page, and if you listen to the music with it, it's one of the funniest things I've seen in some time)

Went for a 23KM bike ride last night. I tell ya what, I absolutely love that bike. So far, it is worth every penny. I do have a few things I need to have adjusted on it. The lowest gears make the chain hit the rear derailleur ... the rear brake seems to be much tighter than the front brake ... and, yes, I'm a computer guy, but I can't figure out how to convert the computer to standard. I hate the metric system.

Tonight we're going to Hacienda and then, finally, going to see X3 so I can drool over Famke Janssen. Oh, we're also going because the movie is going to kick tremendous ass. The X-Men movies are the only video footage known to man in which Hugh Jackman doesn't come across as the most flammable homosexual on Earth.

Did you see that Dwayne Roloson is out for the series?! Holy shit, the Oilers are in extreme trouble.

Imagine this - the Royals get the #1 pick (again) in the amateur draft today. Any bets on what place they finish in the AL Central because of this? I'll give you every choice except "Last", which will be my guess for the next 73 years. Holy shit do we suck. Gotta stick by 'em though! Can't quit on 'em now. After all, they did give us Bret Saberhagen!

What I am listening to as I type this: Rick Derringer - Rock & Roll, Hoochie Koo
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 05, 2006

Mule visited this weekend, we had an awesome time. Thursday we met up with Towns for his birthday for a short while downtown. Friday we picked up my bike, grilled by the pool, and went to Gov's with a group of us. Saturday we again grilled by the pool, golfed (shot a 102, awful, just awful, this garbage golf game of mine must come to an end soon. I want my 7th grade talent back!), then went to Old C's and BW3's. Yesterday I brought Mule to the airport, went back to bed, accomplished most of my list of things to get done (I didn't iron, I hate ironing!), went for a 12 mile bike ride, then went to the driving range. I also bought another new toy (haven't even played with it yet, though). I figured hey, if I'm putting this $$ into my car, why not spend some more and do a balance transfer, can get 0% for another 15 months ... so yes, I'm back in debt again. Go figure.

Speaking of Laetitia ... I ended up paying $400 for new exhaust work (even though my exhaust was brand new, the tire I ran over ripped it out), a new master brake cylinder, and I just let the guy put new shoes on the rear wheels as it'd save me the time and he'd have it up on the ramp already. I still need to get that thing aligned before I drive more than 100 miles in one trip as the alignment is hosed. They wanted to replace my strut rods, lower left control(?) arm, and my sway bars as well - but I didn't let them as I can't afford all that. I can't believe I'm not upset about this ... I mean, I was behind a guy who had no business being in the left lane, after following him for 3 miles, I go to pass him on the right (something I hate doing) and hit an enormous shredded tire as I crossed the center line. I hear the most horrific noise I've ever heard while in a car, and bam, just like that, my car is ruined. Poor Laetitia. Why am I not upset? Because shit happens, it really does, and I've learned I get my fair share of it. Could have I prevented this from happening? No. Is there any way possible I can get someone else to pay for this or accept the blame? No. Shit happens, and it was my turn. So the way I look at it, I paid $400, and now my brakes are in 100% perfect form, as is my exhaust, and shortly my alignment will be too. I have new CV joints with a lifetime warranty on them, and I have a fairly new alternator. My timing belt and water pump have about 3-4 more years in them, as well as all my other belts. The body of my car is in near-mint condition (considering I have 203K miles), and my moonroof functions properly about 80% of the time (as opposed to the 0% it had worked the last 2 years). Laetitia is here to stay, my friends.

Enough car talk, let's talk bike. I am the proud new owner of a 56.5CM 2006 Specialized Allez Sport. Westminster's Bicycle Village is moving across the street, so they had 10% off their alread-sale price, so I got a steal on the bike, along with free tune-ups and adjustments for life. Plus they threw in a computer, installed. I am very pleased with this purchase. Yesterday I took the water cages and bag off my old hybrid bike and threw 'em on there, then I took it for a 19KM spin around Westminster (that should convert to 12 miles or so).

Bolder Boulder pix are up, as are a random assortment of recent pictures. They can all be found on the Colorado Pix Page.

I'm no longer taking a kayak course this week, not sure why not, I'm just not. Probably going to lay pretty low for most of June for financial reasons, plus I need to focus on running (1/2 marathon again in August) and biking (you should know what I'm doing then, by now). I guess there's a signed Milan Hejduk jersey at Old C's that they're giving away during the Cup finals, so I may have to stop in there this week a couple times ... not tonight though, one of the new douchbag bartenders is working. Not a fan, not a fan. Anyone who A) can't remember my name after 10 visits (to the point where he still ID's me as he doesn't recognize me), B) who enters contests to win a snowboard when he's not supposed to, and C) fucks up my food order and drink order multiple times ... has used up his three strikes.

What I am listening to as I type this: Lil' Kim - Big Momma Thing
Most Recent DVD Burned: The Chronicles of Narnia

June 01, 2006

I was driving down Highway 58 last night after work. I was in the left lane, behind a semi who was driving about 45mph. All the cars were passing him on the right, not me. I waited patiently, but I grew sick of waiting. I pull out into the other lane to pass him, being blind to what's in the other lane, and I run right over a mutherfucking shredded tire. Severe damage occurred underneath my car ... estimates are ranging up to $1200. Doesn't help that I'm officially (yes, for real this time) buying my bike tonight. My Discover bill this month will, for the first time ever, have 0 chance of getting paid off. Damn vacations.

Mule gets here tonight, looking forward to a cool weekend ... no work for Bryan tomorrow, we'll make this a lovely 3-day week. Have a good one.

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