Just here to perve on other people

Rock n Roll Pumpkin

2009-10-27T01:55:24Z

Did some pumpkin carving over the weekend.

Ultimate bonus points for anyone who can identify where the design came from.

Music

2009-08-28T19:44:28Z

Sometimes I forget just how much I LOVE listening to music. How the right song can just fill you with energy and empowerment to do anything. A great massage releases a feeling of happyness and well being. Same, same for me and music, though it strikes a chord more on an emotional level. I have today off and music blasting at home while I do various chores around the house.

Chores get done faster with good music playing.

Oh...plus there is the random skipping and frolicing around

Torn

2009-07-31T02:40:45Z

Watchmen came to day on Netflix!! Yay! The downside is that its so damn hot I am scared to turn on the Xbox to play the movie because my last one died from overheating. Hmmmmm what to do!!

Vacation. Sweet Sweet Vacation.

2009-06-23T19:00:42Z

I am on vacation this week and have the kidlets with me the whole time. Yay! This time with them is something that I really cherish. It still amazes me how much they grow and change. Not just physically, though they are growing like crazy, but how they are growing as people as well. I love seeing their personalities shine through and they always end up surprising me with something which makes me smile big time.

On fathers day we went on a hike at Paradise. That was the first time I had been there without snow. We wandered up pretty far and eventually reached patches of snow. Further up we were in clouds and actually got snowed on; hows that for starting the Solstice.

I also noticed they had frisbee golf baskets at various places on the slopes. Hmmmmm I have never played frisbee golf before, but something about playing it on the side of a mountain while hiking up to the first hole sounds like alot of fun. I might try and assemble a crew sometime this summer for such an outing, so if that sounds like fun let me know.

Oh. The sleeping in is pretty rad too.

Ode to Stability

2009-05-23T18:57:09Z

I have been feeling very contemplative about how my life has been going through alot of changes the last 3 years or so. Its been a big time of transition in alot of places such as, parenting, love, friendships, work, where I live, etc. The big tsunami of change hit probably 2 years ago, however, waves of change still come. New friendships foster while others are phasing out, work has been going through big organization structure changes, and love...I won't even get into that. Though all of this has been good and I felt I have grown alot as a person from it. I think I am ready for these changes to start settling down. Some stability would be very nice and welcomed.

Today's Project

2009-05-16T19:50:23Z

I was attempting to mow the lawn last weekend and accidentally ran over a baseball sized chunk of wood. As Murphy's law would have it, blade hit wood, wood hit front right wheel and snapped it right off.

Unfortunately its one of those powered drive units, so the wheel is special with strange gearing and finding a replacement is proving quite difficult. So enough of that. Today I will dismantle and remove the powered drive and just buy some standard garden variety wheels for the front. Hopefully I can get this done before my lawn devours me.

The Daily Plate

2009-05-10T00:10:49Z

I found a really cool site that I am totally pumped about, so I wanted to share it with my friends. This is mainly for those of you who are really fitness geeks so if you are not interested in such things you may want to skip the cut.

The site is called livestrong.com.

They have a section called "The Daily Plate". They have a HUGE database of foods and you just enter what you ate and BAM!!! It keeps track of all your calories, protein, fat, carbs, fiber, sodium, etc. What is nice is you can set a goal, for example, if you want to lose a pound a week, it calculates what your daily caloric intake should be. Or..if you want to gain a pound a week it will calculate that. You can also enter your exercise activity and it will keep track of burned calories and compensate your daily caloric intake to meet your goal. Its a free site but you do have to sign up. I haven't received any spam or anything from it, but I LOVE the data logging for the food.

When I first started logging my food I would find that by the time noon hour hit I only had like 500 calories left I could eat for the day. Hmmmm no more Costco muffins in the morning on non-workout days. It really brought some clarity where my calories were coming from and how it was impacting me. Based on that information I have already made some positive changes to my diet.

Enjoy!!

The goods

2009-03-28T17:33:27Z

Fallout 3 FINALLY came!! I have been waiting for Gamefly availability for quite some time now. So far it totally rocks and I can see that it will be come quite the timesink for awhile.

Today's Agenda

2009-02-28T21:01:54Z

Change Oil
Change Transmisison Fluid
Adjust Primary Chain Tension
Install Shiny Aftermarket Exhaust

I am really excited about the exhaust as I already replaced the carburetor with an aftermarket one and the exhaust will really compliment it performance wise. It's also lighter, will sound like BEAST, and its sooooo shiny.

Did I mention its Shiny?

Tis the Season

2009-02-21T21:17:50Z

Its hard to explain how much I enjoy taking the bike and going out for a ride. I have heard runners explain how running really can put their mind in a good calm place and its almost theraputic. Riding the bike is similar for me. Not only is there a huge grin factor, but I like how it puts my mind at ease. All those nagging thoughts and things just melt away while your senses are filled with something much better.

Yesterday I fired up the Buell and it would hardly run After draining the gas (which went bad over storage) and doing some carb adjustments it fired up and ran just right. Though I froze, taking it out yesterday was so nice. I am really looking forward to it warming up.

Logistics

2009-02-14T03:33:40Z

UPS Red does not cut it anymore. We need the option available to us of UPS Paradox. That we can receive packages in the past.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T22:03:39Z

Happy holidays too all my friends. I hope you have an amazing Christmas and a Wonderful New Years.

In other news I just finished the lego table right in the nick of time (minus the trim work) to unveil to the kidlets. It actually looks like the SolidWorks model which is a good sign. I think this next week will involve building lots of Lego structures.

Auto Advice for my Friends

2008-12-14T18:00:46Z

If your check engine light ever comes on and you have a 96 or newer car. DO NOT take it to a mechanic. Just take it to Autozone and they will bust out their engine code reader and run it on your car for FREE. It will tell you exactly what your cars computer is trying to tell you. Plus they give it to you via printout with the top (4) items to check. Such as loose plug wires, etc.

No reason to spend $100s to a mechanic to read the engine code (which only took 2 minutes by the way). It could be something small enough to fix yourself, and if not, you now will have the handy dandy print out to take to your mechanic so they can't tack on the big fat engine diagnostic fee.

Public service announcement brought to you by the one that has a Misfire detected in Cylinder #2 and a Knock sensor condition.

AVP2

2008-12-06T18:26:58Z

Finally came on Netflix. Yay!!

Carousel

2008-11-29T01:20:28Z

Bewitching measure beckon

Alluring radiance call

Whirl upon me

Trampled reservation

Entwine beyond perception

Contempt of qualm

Presence reinforce

Matchless embrace

Savor enchantment

Permeate companionship

Unconfined tamed chimera

Pardon lifetime woe

Fleeting felicity certain

Savage mutation looms

Treacherous ambient shell

Fatal abatement

Unbending sentence crushing

Suffocate beneath me

Scorched wound gaping

Twisted anguish seeps

Crippled evermore altered

Vicious temperament grasped.

Desperate rupture

Numbed presence banished

Fated lure forthcoming

Tempting melody deafened

Enticing brilliance unsighted

Whirl upon me.

Old friend

Cannot heed your song

Perhaps I nevermore will

Technology is great

2008-11-28T20:11:06Z

XBox Live had a new GUI download which now allows you to link up to your Netflix account and watch the instant movies through your Xbox and on your TV at no additional cost. That so rocks!! Perfect for winter time and a working fireplace. I foresee lots of warm movie watching curled up on the couch in the next few months.

Parametric 3D solid Modeling Rocks!!!

2008-11-22T21:46:21Z

The kids have been making alot of noise lately about wanting a lego table. Instead of buying one, I decided we would design one up on SolidWorks, buy the materials and put one together as a project. We have been having alot of fun, and its really cute where the kids are wanting to adjust features "can you make it this much taller?", etc. Here is the finished design. Hopefully the real thing will look just like it.

I think my next SolidWorks project will be an easy to assemble/disassemble bondage, suspension framework structure. I might as well take advantage of the high ceilings I have around here.

Boot Rescue 911

2008-11-16T22:31:43Z

The Playa dust at Burning man totally trashed my boots. I was kinda worried about them as they were really discolored, dry and generally in a very unhappy state.

I decided to begin the reconditioning process a few days ago and very pleased with the results. They ended up like the million dollar man rebuilt better and stronger than before. This morning was the weatherproofing coat and they are already looking quite shiny.

I can't wait to lay down a couple coats of polish tomorrow. There is something very relaxing and theraputic about boot care. I need to do it more often.

Migration

2008-09-27T22:14:57Z

I have been looking for a new place to live for awhile. One that has a garage, more space, etc. I finally found it and will be moving in mid October. It even has a fireplace!! Yay!!

Haircut

2008-08-22T04:42:41Z

I am finally starting my long awaited 2 weeks vacation and decided to get a new haircut in celebration.

Strike

2008-08-17T15:10:50Z

We had a pretty cool lightning storm that woke me up at 4:00 am last night. It was pretty close and all kinds of bolts were dancing from the sky to the earth. I decided to see if I could catch a picture. My camera is so slow there was no way I could time it, so I just kept taking picture after picture hoping I would get lucky.

It was not the most impressive strike but I was pretty happy I caught anything on camera.

Hot Work Quote of the Day

2008-07-16T01:44:34Z

Some co-workers and I were discussing our gym routines and this came up.

"A gym is not a place of fun, it is a temple of pain. You walk through the doors not with a smile, but with a grin because you embrace the punishment you're about to inflict upon yourself."

I like my co-workers!!

I officially LOVE my car

2008-04-01T02:11:49Z

So during the end of the world Hail/lightning/snow storm this evening the streets filled with ice and traffic came to a stand still. Some cars were stranded with their flashers on and others had minor fender benders. Even though I removed my snow tires a few weeks ago thinking "all the bad weather is behind us", I still had no issues what so ever. Yay!!!!

Whats that sound?!?

2008-03-19T03:00:43Z

I just realized that my dishwasher very much sounds like WWII air raid sirens.

manofdesign @ 2008-01-17T21:44:00

2008-01-18T05:49:26Z

I just got my new mattress delivered today. It is soooooooooo comfortable. Hopefully its the end of waking up in the morning feeling like I was beat up (unless I am actually beat up, but that is different). I also pre-warned my boss about the pending delivery and that I may be *cough* *cough* calling in sick tomorrow morning just in case I don't want to get out of my new comfy bed.