Fleetmack.com - July 2007 News

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July 2007 News Archives

July 02 July 03 July 09 July 10 July 13 July 17 July 18 July 19 July 20 July 31

What I am listening to as I type this: Stone Sour - 1st Person

I return refreshed. I told Fabi this morning that every time I've ever taken a vacation, it seems as though when I'm back at work it feels as though I just left. This is the first time I feel like I've been gone forever. It was a great trip. I rode every mile from Rock Rapids to Waterloo with my girlfriend, family, and the Blondes during the first 4 days of RAGBRAI (and yes, I saw Lance ... and yes, I have pictures). I got to see my Grandma Lentz, who is still living in a 3 story house at the ripe age of 92 (she even delivers meals on wheels to "old people", no joke). Got to relax in Carroll for a few days. Got to attend a small-town celebration in Willey. Got to see all kinds of friends. Fabi and I ventured back to Denver via South Dakota with stops in an old ghost town, camping in the Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, and a long drive home through Wyoming. It was a spectacular trip. I have no internet connection at home and I am incredibly bogged down at work, so it may be awhile before I have time to post pictures, but there are some good ones. Look forward to some good stuff in the pictures department in the near future!

Tomorrow is the first of August, which is the Swiss equivalent of 4th of July, so wear all your Swiss gear.

I am going to move in with Andy in Littleton for the time being; it was weird getting home last night and he was gone along with all his stuff. Fabi said something to the extent of, "If I weren't here right now you'd be incredible lonely." Yeah, that could be. The apartment seems bare even though the living room and my room are essentially the exact same. It'll feel good to get settled in a new place, regardless of the fact that I have no idea how long I'll be there for!

What I am listening to as I type this: Powerman 5000 - Good Times Roll

July 20, 2007

Swung on up to Ft. Collins last night and picked up between 8 and 9 free cases of delicious New Belgium beer (Fat Tire, Blue Paddle, Skinny Dip, Trippel, etc.) for RAGBRAI. Apparently New Belgium is going to start selling beer in Iowa in late August and they want Team Blonde to get some pictures drinking their beer on RAGBRAI with the Fat Tire logo showing in the picture, along with bikes and signs that say the words Iowa or RAGBRAI; they plan on using this in several advertisements. This will be cool.

I fixed my camera myself the other night, thank God for web forums online, they teach me things that are safe to do with cameras that fix them.

Pretty sure my cell phone will be out of commission next week, so don't expect to get a hold of me. Quite a few things to wrap up at the office today, so yeah, that's that. See ya in about 10 days, and if you see Team Blonde, holler!

What I am listening to as I type this: Prong - Third From The Sun

July 19, 2007

I can already tell from hearing others in conversation last night that my opinion on this is far from the majority. No I am not saying this out of shock value, no I am not saying this out of my distaste for dogs, yes I truly believe this. And as a precursor, I don't particularly care for Michael Vick even though I root for Virginia Tech. I think it is ridiculous that Michael Vick is being charged for anything here. No, let me rephrase that -- it makes more sense to let O.J. go free than to charge Vick for anything. I went ahead and did a bit of research on dog fighting earlier this morning before work in case I missed the big picture; what I discovered was that I didn't miss any part of the picture. Dog fighting entails two dogs fighting in a circle. It pretty much is exactly what the words say it is.

Now, why don't I think this is wrong? Well, for several reasons. The strong majority of the time, dog fights are between pit bulls. Pit bulls are man-made animals. Cloning is illegal in this country, and although I don't agree with that, it is a fact. Cloning is not a legal practice. Breeding dogs is the exact same theoretical concept as cloning. People play God with genetics by forcing the breeding of two otherwise-separate species of dog to mate in order to create something they want. If playing with genetics and modifying life's creation process is the goal of banning cloning, then so should the breeding of dogs be banned. Regardless of the fact that I think breeding dogs should be illegal, it is not. As a result, we have this wretched creature called the Pit Bull which is created by man. Pit bulls are far from safe animals and are fighters by nature. They are vicious creatures who attack without being provoked. Here's some evidence of this for you:

Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E
Exhibit F
Exhibit G
Exhibit H
Exhibit I
Exhibit J
Exhibit K

Get the point? Good, let's move on. So Michael Vick is breeding dogs ... which I am against, yet is for some reason legal (and I'm not talking morals here, I'm talking legality). These dogs fight each other. There are so many people who get angry when we take creatures out of their natural environment in order to domesticate them, they want us to leave them in their natural environment. I am one of these people. I don't believe in taking cats, dogs, birds, snakes, etc. and putting them in zoos for people to see, or keeping them in your home for you to pet. I don't think that's why God put them on this Earth. But, if it's legal, I guess it's ok to people. The way I see it, Michael Vick is keeping these dogs who are bred as fighters as close to their natural environment as possible by allowing them to remain fighters. So what if he makes a little money off it. It is the same concept as horse racing and UFC. Horses are bred to run fast, and they do it when we force them to, and people bet on this and make money. Pit bulls are bred to be fighters, and they do it when we force them to, and people bet on this and make money -- yet they go to jail for this one. Michael Vick's group killed dogs when they were injured by electrocuting them ... horse races kill Barboro when he breaks his leg as a result of the races we forced him into. Some say it's horrible for us to put dogs ... born killers and fighters (as proven by my above exhibits) ... into fights with each other. These same people watch this UFC garbage in which we do the exact same thing with human beings. Put two dogs in a cage and let them fight and it's bad, but put two human beings on tv fighting in a cage covered in each other's blood and you can legally charge $50 to watch it on pay-per-view.

For the record, I am strongly against UFC and think it should be banned as well. My point is, it is hypocritical to let humans participate in this "pain in exchange for money" exploitation, yet not let the man-made killer dogs do it. Ridiculous

What I am listening to as I type this: Radiohead - No Surprises

July 18, 2007

All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.
All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.
All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrr ... I need a burrito.

I forgot my belt today. I cannot tell you the last time I've worn any kind of pants, jeans, shorts, etc. without a belt. I feel like every kid under the age of 15 who wears his pants around his ass. My pants are refusing to stay on. Perhaps if I eat two burritos today I can fix this little situation.

So Laetitia got a nail out of her tire last night and she moaned in delight; she's fresh to drive to Iowa on Friday; although I still have no plans finalized; it is unlawful in 7 countries to use three semi colons in one sentence.

I'm becoming horrible ... I'm behind in every aspect of my life right now. I need 30 hour days, seriously. Last night I got home from work, then Fabi and I went to the gym for awhile (I ran 5K in about 24 minutes with walks on either side, that felt good!), then we ate ... it was then 10pm. I woke up at 5:30 this morning, packed my bag, rode my bike to work ... tonight I'll get home around 6:30, eat, and it'll be 8 or so. I'm not complaining, I'm just asking for God to simply make the day longer for me!

Very busy at work, there's a billion things to get done, but one thing in particular that I cannot figure out. Once I get that figured out, I will feel a hell of a lot better and will be able to start hammering out tasks left and right. But my #1 priority is proving to be more difficult than originally thought.

I think I'm going to insert code to block this site from all bots for awhile; I'm going to test if that fixes my spam issues in the guestbook. I should just take it down, nobody visits here anymore anyways. Again - not complaining, just an observation (although an uneducated one as I realized today I haven't checked stats from this site in roughly 8 months, and yes, that "8 months" figure is accurate, don't ask why I know that.)

All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.
All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.
All biking and no breakfast makes Bryan a hungry boy.

What I am listening to as I type this: D.J. Quik - Quik Is The Name

July 17, 2007

Holy shit, ya think???!!? Thankfully they posted that sign about 45 mintues (aka, 3 miles) after it started so we knew what to expect. Note: extreme sarcasm.

Fabi, B.J., Brooke and I experienced awful traffic coming back on Sunday afternoon from climbing the state's tallest mountain - Mt. Elbert. We were successful in climbing and unsuccessful in making it a quick drive to Denver, in that it took roughly 4 hours to get back! Felt good to get atop a 14er for the first time in over a month. I think B.J. and Brooke tasted both the challenge and the sense of accomplishment after summiting their first 14er in this lovely state! Pictures (from B.J. and Fabi) will be up later, I'm over a month behind on posting pictures on this site ... patience.

Ever get the feeling that time goes to fast? Ever get the feeling that you're busy all the time yet getting nothing done? Ever get the feeling that you enjoy living, but sometimes just want to chill out? I do, and then as soon as I have a minute to relax, I think, "Fuck I'm bored, I wish I had all those feelings back again." These days - I'm living. Although 3 weeks from now I have no place to live, and I haven't started looking yet. Good thinking on my part, eh?

Heading out on Friday for RAGBRAI. Not riding the entire way this year, there just isn't enough time. My life is so hectic right now, luckily I'm not in school these two months or I'd probably end up acting as crazy as this guy.

I don't have anything planned yet for RAGBRAI, no clue what's going on there. No clue about rides, no clue about times, no clue about who I'm riding with on what day. I have no clue.

I cleaned my mouse today at work while chatting with Mule; I wish I'd have taken before and after pictures. I bet I got about a full handful (of Towns' hands) of scum from the insides of the buttons' cracks out. This thing is clean as a whistle. Of course, I must mention that most whistles are full of people's spit.

What I am listening to as I type this: 2Pac - Pour Out A Little Liquor

July 13, 2007

Friday the 13th has started out well with me breaking my camera ... again. Just in time for climbing Mt. Elbert and for RAGBRAI ... perfect. I'm through with it, no more pictures. I'm sick of paying all this fucking money for something that breaks so easily. No more picture taking. I couldn't be more serious about this. In all actuality, I can't remember the last time I've been this pissed off about anything. I'm going to go gamble in Central City tonight, ride my bike on Saturday, and climb Mt. Elbert (tallest mountain in Colorado) with B.J. on Sunday. Been looking forward to B.J. coming out to climb a 14er with me for quite some time!!

I just need to clear my mind, because its full of all kinds of bullshit right now. I hate being in a bad mood, which is why I do everything in my power to stay happy all the time ... but sometimes shit just piles up too high, way too high.

What I am listening to as I type this: Sublime - Chica Me Tipo

July 10, 2007

Holy fuck, I can't get a damn thing done at this job. Every time I get on a roll I get a call to fix a fucking printer, or a stupid software which had an outsourced creation and has major issues over the network, or our accounting software crashes on a daily basis, or pdf files someone sends us don't open, or yadda fucking yadda. I hate tech support. On top of the 30 tasks I have on my desk that involve updating our system and such, I get these stupid fucking tech support calls that I could care less about. I frankly don't give a flying fuck if your printer prints streaky. I don't care if your mouse is jumpy. I don't care that .... ah let's just save time and generalize: I just don't care. I love the database stuff, but I get like 2 hours a day of mixed time to work on it so I can't even get that shit done anymore. I seriously feel as though I've gotten 2% of my work done the past 4 months because I can't focus on just one thing, people are just coming at me from all angles. I used to like the diversity of tasks I deal with, but now it's just frustrating as I cannot get a fucking thing done ... not one. I've got about 200 projects I'm halfway into, then I get derailed and have to re-enter my train of thought (which takes a couple of hours to do) every day about 37 times.

My God, I am swamped.

What I am listening to as I type this: Master P - Plan B

July 09, 2007

Another week, another 4 or 5 missed fleetmack.com updates. We're back from vacation, was a great time, did some serious exploration of the side of my state I hadn't visited before. We rented a Mercury Mountaineer and used up 4 tanks of gas. We spent a night in Montrose sitting on our balcony sharing drinks and stories. We visited the Black Canyon. We saw the town of Ouray. We camped outside of Ouray. We saw a spectacular fireworks show in Silverton after checking out the town and having dinner there. We attempted (but did not summit) a climb of Mt. Sneffels (no details as to why we didn't make it will be posted on this site, neither will a trip report), although we made it within about 750 vertical feet of the summit. We saw all of Mesa Verde, including a twilight tour with fewer than 20 people. We camped & cooked out in the national park for two nights. We visited the four corners (border of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico). We visited the town of Durango. We stayed in a log cabin in Pagosa Springs after having dinner at an awesome steakhouse. We visited the Great Sand Dunes national park. Yeah, it was a good trip. It was great having Kelli & Aaron join Fabi and I for the week. Pictures will be up when I find some time and get some from Fabi and Flagen.

Back at it this week. I need to run hardcore. I need to bike hardcore. I need to lift hardcore. I need to see Transformers. I need to see the new Harry Potter movie. I need a haircut. My fridge is empty. I need to iron badly as I'm almost out of work clothes. I need to find a place to live. I need to get caught up at work as I'm falling grossly behind in every area.

Beej wants to go for a climb on Sunday, and next weekend (really, next weekend? 11 days from now?!) I leave for RAGBRAI. This summer is going way way way too fast. I live for the future, but I am praying nightly for time to just freeze.

What I am listening to as I type this: Master P - Goin' Through Some Thangs

July 03, 2007

Yeah, that's right, updates two days in a row. Here's some info for you:

I might live here. I recovered a corrupted Oracle database yesterday, unassisted, in about 15 minutes, I was proud of me. I got an A on my course project and an A- on my final exam. That class was interesting.

I can't wait for Schmirgan Flagen to get here, this is going to be a great stretch of days. This hasn't been discussed yet, but after mulling some things with a co-worker ... the snowboard may be coming with us this weekend, but not to ride on snow. Interesting.

Back to it, trying to get this Oracle data load set up for importing sometime in the near future, only here until 3 bells today. Yes, I said 3 bells, just like I did on Fox Sports to Charissa.

What I am listening to as I type this: Duran Duran - Planet Earth

July 02, 2007

Sofa King busy, can't believe I'm actually going to waste time by updating this stupid thing. Family was here over the weekend, good times. Pictures will be up in February when I find time to do something to this site for once. Went to Vail last Wednesday with Mom, Cori, and Fabi. Thursday afternoon we went and toured Coors Field. Friday I went out with Cori, Mom, and Dad downtown. Saturday we all sat by my pool for awhile, then went out to eat downtown. I'd elaborate, but as I said, I'm busy! Will have many pictures later ...

Finished my database architecture class yesterday, that felt fucking good. No more school until after Labor Day, then I begin my Oracle Database Administration class ... very excited for that one!

Heading out tomorrow with Fabi, Aaron, and Kelli until Sunday. We're heading down to see the Black Canyon, climb Mt. Sneffels, tour Mesa Verde, and visit Ouray, Silverton and Durango. Looking forward to it, should be a great trip!!

Yup yup, that's probably all you get for a week or so, sorry .... have a good holiday.