Fleetmack.com - December 2007 News

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December 2007 News Archives

December 03 December 06 December 10 December 11 December 19 December 31

What I am listening to as I type this: Outkast - Aquemini

December 31, 2007

Back from vacation in Iowa! Was good spending time with family and friends for the past week; I flew home which was nice for multiple reasons. Obviously the 9-10 hour drive each way didn't need to be done, which was nice; likewise it's nice to just relax and stay at home instead of driving all over the state to see everyone all week (excluding Grandma!). Don't get me wrong, I love seeing my friends, but once in awhile it's just nice to relax at home. Again, wonderful trip home and great to see everyone this year!

New Year's Eve, aka, Amateur Night, or as they call it in Europe, Silvester. Not sure if I'm going to do anything or not. I proooooobably will (I said that like Mike DaMone). My favorite snowboarding day of the year is tomorrow, but not sure if I can go. I70 is currently closed and as of now, forecasts for tomorrow include -35 wind chill in the mountains ... I can brave the cold and can stay warm in the wind, but I have no urge to ride all day in the wind regardless of the spectacular snow. I'm going to Steamboat this weekend so that'll be nice; but the day will have to be a short snowboarding day as the Seahawks/Redskins playoff game is on at 2:30.

Yup yup, back to work, back to work. I'm keeping the Christmas music up for awhile as I'm too lazy to change it.

What I am listening to as I type this: Radiohead - There There

December 19, 2007

Wu-Tang Clan concert tomorrow night at the Fillmore, if anybody in the world wants to go with me I'll buy you a ticket; don't think it'd be too safe for me to go to that one alone.

I have a Christmas tree outside of my office, who says I'm not festive?

New Jersey repealed the death penalty, something actually went right in this country for once!!! Something else went right the other day ... (can you believe I haven't updated that page in three f**king years?!)

You know what's cool? When you go to the drive through at Del Taco and order 2 taco's and a spicy chicken burrito and the guy says over the intercom to you, "You know if you order one more taco your total price will be $0.50 cheaper." Yeah, I'll have three tacos and a spicy chicken burrito, then. I don't know why I go to that place, the food is terrible. Can we just build a Taco John's down here already?!

I'll never get a tattoo because I know I won't want it in 5 years. If I'd have gotten all the tattoos I wanted, I'd currently have a big Wu-Tang Clan emblem on my shoulder, SUBLIME written across my back, a cobweb crawling from my right elbow, and "RJH" on my heel (still might do that one someday). Those would look ridiculous by now and I'd be embarassed to go anywhere without a long-sleeved shirt on. However, I've got to say, it's been about 7 years now and I still strongly desire getting a huge tribal S on my left inner-forearm (like Paul Gray's, only on the inside of my arm). Can't somebody just invent a tattoo that'll go away in 5 years? I swear I'll do this if they'd invent that.

While we're on the topic, you know what the don't have anywhere in Colorado that I ultimately miss? Slices of fresh pizza in the gas station. I never realized this was unusual. I mean, not only does every Casey's store in the midwest have this, but all the other gas stations sell it too. This would be a goldmine idea for someone to do here. And I'm good at goldmine ideas when it comes to fast food. Remember my idea to open a Chipotle in Iowa about 6 years ago and how awesome it would do? Yeah, someone did that and is now living the good life.

Work has been busy but I feel I'm finally getting things done and am getting caught up with my list-o-shit-to-do for the first time in who knows how long.

Six Seahawks made the Pro Bowl!! Congrats to Marcus Trufant, Walter Jones, Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu, Julian Peterson, and Patrick Kerney. Seriously, we have four Seahawks starting on defense in the Pro Bowl?! That's spectacular! Only four teams in the NFL have given up fewer points; only one team in the NFC has given up fewer points (Tampa) and the 'Hawks beat them in Tampa! If they can get this running game to do anything the Seahawks will be a dominant force in the playoffs; without the running game, they are hosed.

What I am listening to as I type this: Led Zeppelin - Achilles Last Stand

December 11, 2007

How do you like this? Fact: This is the first time I've updated my website two days in a row since October 30, and there are 2 reasons why:

1) I can't believe I forgot to mention that the Cyclones beat the Hawks last weekend. Thanks for the reminder, Corey! Not that it was a huge deal, as it's basically like watching preseason NFL in the 4th quarter. But still, any time I can win my $5 and a case of beer bet with Schau it's worth it. We've made that same bet on all ISU football & basketball games since like 1997, although I don't think we've ever paid. The only bet we've ever paid is from Super Bowl XL (he's a Steelers fan).

2) I took an Oracle 10g Administration assessment test last night, this exam costs $100 to take, but mine was complimentary due to some things I'm involved with. It cannot be retaken, you get 3 minutes per question, you cannot recheck your answers, and your test score stands solid permanently through this website (brainbench). Check out my results I just got back, let's just say I'm beyond pleased with this ... beyond pleased ...

Oracle 10g Administration Assessment Report
----------------------------------------------------------------
Report Information
----------------------------------------------------------------
Examinee Name:        Bryan Mack
Date of Report:       12/11/2007
Prepared By:          Brainbench

Assessment Results
----------------------------------------------------------------
Assessment Taken:     Oracle 10g Administration
Date of Assessment:   12/10/2007
Overall Score:        3.73 (1.0 - 5.0, where 5 = best)
Worldwide Percentile: 88 (99 = highest)

Additional Score Data
----------------------------------------------------------------

Demonstrates a clear understanding of many advanced concepts
within this topic.   Appears capable of mentoring others on
most projects in this area.

Strengths
Administration
Monitoring
High Availability

Weak Areas
10g Enhancements
Backup and Recovery

Ranking Information
----------------------------------------------------------------
Denver:              1 of 1 (99th Percentile)
Colorado:            1 of 5 (99th Percentile)
United States:       39 of 228 (83rd Percentile)
Worldwide:           186 of 1552 (88th Percentile)

Score Histogram
----------------------------------------------------------------

0.45|                      |
0.4 |                      |
0.35|                 **   |
0.3 |                 **   |
0.25|                 **   |
0.2 |                 **   |
0.15|         ** ** ** *|*
0.1 |         ** ** ** *|*
0.05|         ** ** ** *|* **
0.0 | ** ** ** ** ** *|* ** **
     --------------------------------
     1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5

Horizontal Axis:     Test Score Bin (Bin Size = 0.5)
Vertical Axis:       Fraction of total scores in this bin.

Important Notes
----------------------------------------------------------------

(1) The data shown above are derived from all previous public
Brainbench test scores for the Oracle 10g Administration test
module.

(2) For the histogram, the vertical axis represents the
probability that a score will fall in a specific column, while
the horizontal axis represents a specific score bin. Score
bins are 0.5 units wide on the Brainbench 1.0 - 5.0 scoring
scale. The vertical line indicates the score bin for which the
score for Bryan Mack falls into.

(3) For more information, please go to
http://www.brainbench.com.

What I am listening to as I type this: Rammstein - Engel

December 10, 2007

This is a first. Saturday I went snowboarding with Tim, Chris, and Nicole; it is now Monday and my legs are sore. This is my 7th season snowboarding in Colorado. I've probably gone around 150ish times since I've lived here. This is the first time, ever, my legs are sore. The conditions were phenomenal. 10" of fresh snow while it snowed on us all day long. If the Seahawks weren't playing on Sunday, I'd have gone again Sunday; I'm still thinking I should have skipped the game to ride anyways. The conditions at Keystone were just awesome, awesome. Couldn't have asked for a better day ... well, I guess they could have had the terrain park open so I could have hit a rail or seven, but I'm not complaining about a powder day, riding cruisers and bump runs while making fresh tracks. Awesome, just awesome. I cannot wait for this week to be over so I can get back up again.

Saturday night I was tired, so I just relaxed at home, read this book in its entirety (think I was up until 5am or so reading it). I had already known it when I read Mystic River that Dennis Lehane is a phenomenal writer. When I was in Switzerland I read Sacred and Gone Baby Gone. All four of these books I've basically read nonstop, which never happens. I simply cannot put the damn books down. I have about 4 books involving the characters of Patrick Kenzie and Angie Gennaro left to read, and I'd bet the farm I finish them by New Year's. I simply cannot recommend these books any more than I already have, so if seek a wonderful read, pick these up!

Seahawks won the division yesterday for the fourth consecutive year. Trufant is on fire, as are Kerney and Hasselbeck. This team is just starting to play its best football since the 2005 season, they could be a real threat in the playoffs and will likely finish the season at least 11-5. They have road games at Carolina and Atlanta, and have Baltimore at home. These are not tricky games, but we'll see what players stop playing here soon; we have a 1 game lead on Tampa for the #3 seed, so if we can extend that to a 2 game lead, we have the tiebreaker(s) ... yeah ... hopefully some Seneca Wallace play time is in the near future. (Speaking of ISU QB's ... how about the recent play of Sage Rosenfels? Impressive!)

Yeah, I'm officially in my happiest time of year. There is absolutely nothing better than going snowboarding in a ski town right before Christmas in powder conditions. Let's get a group to hit up Breck or Keystone this weekend and get a hotel for Saturday night .... ride all day Saturday, hit the town Saturday night, ride a half-day on Sunday to get back before the 4-hour traffic ... yeah, who doesn't think this is a top-notch idea?

What I am listening to as I type this: The Bloodhound Gang - I'm The Least You Could Do

December 6, 2007

The Omaha shootings bug me severely, but I don't want to talk about that as the shooter (whom I hope I never hear his name) shouldn't receive any glory.

It's a shame that Toggle got injured this week (Dooesbury), dude even likes Slipknot.

House foreclosures: Bush is going to unveil a plan today to "save" those who cannot afford their ARM rates which are set to rise. This is stupid, sure it may help the economy, banks, and homeowners, but how is this fair? Let people feel the repercussions for their actions. They signed the mortgages, let them deal with the rates they agreed to. If they can't afford it when their rates go up as planned, that's their own fault for agreeing to the deal.

Random Food Note: Fabienne once fed me cottage cheese with chives in it. I will never again eat plain cottage cheese.

Conversation I had with lip-ring girl who cut my hair last night:
Her: "You should wax your neck, I can tell you have to shave it at home."
Me: "Yeah, I have to shave it about once a week."
Her: "You should just wax it, it's worth the pain and will last about 3 weeks ..."
Me: "It's not the pain I'm worried about ..."
Her: "Then what are you worried about?"
Me: "Being a fag who waxes my neck."

No thanks, I'll just shave it, that seems to work beyond perfectly; the 2 minutes it takes a week really doesn't set me back.

I put up Switzerland pictures and a few other pictures (had all my Rocktober ones up but I resized them to a wide-screen format instead, which stretched them, so I have to redo that), but I haven't gotten around to putting captions on all of them yet, I started to last night but there's just too many to do in one sitting. If you wait a few days I can explain what everything is, until then, you only get the first half of it explained. I also posted a video on youtube, only way I could figure to show the panoramic of where I was.

I am beyond excited to go snowboarding this weekend. Going up on Saturday; I took the Red Baron in to get a full tune/wax job yesterday, should be ready for pick up this afternoon. It's going to feel like the first day of school. I'm sure I'll have all my clothes laid out the night before, neatly folded in a pile on my chair just waiting for me to get up. I'll have my backpack pre-packed with all kinds of goodies, have the MP3 player loaded with new tunes, have a new boil-and-bite mouth guard molded by tomorrow night. I think it's either going to be Keystone or Beaver Creek this weekend, likely the former. My goal is to be there an hour before the lifts open. Excitement.

What I am listening to as I type this: Soulfly - Bring It

December 3, 2007

Ran the Colder Boulder yesterday, it should have been called the Windy Boulder, but that just wouldn't have fit. Despite the wind, I was pleased with my performance. I realize that it affected my time, along with everyone else's, so I'm not upset that I was about a minute slower than I wanted to be. I took video of the wind after the race as I couldn't believe how strong it was, I'll post it when I remember my camera one of these days (will also post Swtizerland pix sometime soon hopefully).

Had a good weekend, hung out at various places on Friday night to just see some of the guys I hadn't seen in awhile. Saturday I spent the day at Nick's place watching the college football games, which were awesome (as is his newly finished basement deemed "The Man Cave"). I was taking it very easy as I had to run the next morning, but I had three beers in my 8ish hours there. It was great, at one point Nick, Dan, Brendan (Nick's son) and I were all sitting on the leather couch, beers in hand (obviously, not Brendan), watching football on a plasma TV with pizza we had ordered sitting on Nick's bar top. Nick just says, "Ahhh, it's great to be a guy." He couldn't have been more accurate.

Sunday I ran the Colder Boulder then came home to watch football with Andy and Duane. Watched the Seahawks improve to 8-4, they can clinch the division next weekend in Seattle against the Cardinals and finish 5-1 in the division, here's to hoping!

I feel very good right now, just incredible to be honest. I've already run 10 miles this week if you count yesterday's Colder Boulder, and will lift weights tonight. I am finally going snowboarding this weekend as the mountains got dumped on. I've been writing a ton and actually have some incredible thoughts in my head. No school for another month. Finally unpacked all my stuff from moving that I'll need (except my big tea cup, which I cannot find for the life of me!) and finally hung my mirror in my bedroom -- I realize this sounds dumb but it finally feels like I'm settled in instead of living out of a box (kinda wanted to wait until I got done with vacation to do this as I didn't want anything to feel like "home" without her). I've got a few wonderful leads on a few things I'm looking into (can't really discuss it yet), and am actually looking into buying a house again since I now know I'll be staying in Denver for quite awhile (unless that magic dream job in Breckenridge or at ISU were to ever open up!) After a couple of days of junk food, I have re-entered the world I discovered in Switzerland that I love of eating home-cooked healthy meals of fresh food ... small portion sizes. It just feels so damn good making something delicious and healthy instead of eating shit all the time. I am getting a ton done at work, it's good to be back in my productive state of mind again, I feel I haven't had it for quite awhile. I'm excited as there is the possibility that one of my incredible friends from Iowa might be moving here soon. Finances are getting better as I slowly but surely work my way out of debt while increasing my savings. I've been reading a lot and have actually enjoyed it (Dennis Lehane is such an amazing author). For the first time in recent memory, I feel so motivated to get everything done that I want to get done. I think it all stems back to a little list I wrote up in mid-October. I wrote lists of everything I wanted to do before my Switzerland trip, on my Switzerland trip, and after my Switzerland trip. So far I've accomplished every single thing on these lists that I can do alone. It's great knowing that everything I want to do that I can do on my own, I have the ability and desire to do. 2008 is sure to hold tremendous changes in my life and I'm going to ensure they all get made if they stay within my best interests. Basically, you could say I'm excited to live right now; vacations, Corey Taylor's music, and prayer all bring out the best in me.