Apex Guy's Blog

Update on Me

2009-06-14T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ok, I heard it from the Larsons 18 times (or twice) that I haven't been blogging here. I have been blogging a TON on my "other" blog, where I put all my geeky shtuff.

Anyway, what have I been up to? Having as much fun as possible. Sitting pool side, cooking out, playing Ultimate, running, spending as much time as possible with Lauren, house shopping, and preparing my own house to be put on the market.

I helped Lauren's dad and brother replace her water damaged carpet (her neighbor had a leak) with new pergo laminate flooring. Since I learned how to do that I decided to replace my own as well, since my older engineered hardwood floors had some scratches and minor damage. I'm about 80% done at this point, hoping to finish tonight and move onto putting down the new quarter-round molding. Next before I put my house on the market is repainting a few rooms and replacing my patio door, which took some water damage caused by my own neglect (gutters were leaking and splashing up onto the door).

I've been looking in the Mebane area for a new house, since that is located half way between Durham (where I work) and Greensboro (where Lauren works - she just took a new job there, since she has finished her PNP at Duke). The distance from Mebane to my office is about the same or shorter than the distance from Apex to my office, so thats cool. Plus I'm closer to Charlotte.

Work is fine. Anna is great. Lauren is great. I am great.

Non-Techie Guide to Free HD TV

2009-06-08T13:19:00.001-04:00

I have been free of my monstrous cable tv bill for many months now, and I love it! Woooo! A while back I posted about how I want to get revenge on Cable companies by helping as many people as I can kill their cable service in favor of free HD tv over the air and over the Internet. You can read about that here.

There are other “free TV” guides on the Internet – but they suck because they are too generic, too technical, or not technical enough. Hopefully this one doesn’t suck. Let me know if you have any questions – if you tell me that you are going to cancel your cable tv service, I will answer all your questions.

Over the Air HD

Most people (including me until not long ago) don’t realize that tv stations all over the place are broadcasting over-the-air (OTA) HD signals, and that the quality of those signals can be better than what you can get over cable or satellite (because these OTA signals don’t use all the lossy compression that cable and satellite signals do). Buying a UHF digital antenna, available at your local hardware store or online, will allow you to pickup these signals, for free. Of course you won’t be able to pick up cable networks like TNT, ESPN, MTV, and Comedy Central with this – instead I just get whatever signals are broadcast in my geographic location. In my case those are FOX/HD, CBS/HD, NBC/HD, ABC/HD, PBS/HD, CW/HD, WRDC/HD, and some spanish channels. Sweet!

The OTA antenna gives me access to HD pictures from all the major networks: FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, PBS, plus the CW (whatever that is) and WRDC which is a local network. This pretty much covers most of the tv shows that I watch, except a few that come on cable channels like Good Eats, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Psych, Monk, and a few others I’m not willing to mention. But, don’t stress. Most of those other shows I can catch online. More on that later in this post.

There are three criterion to consider when purchasing a digital antenna:

Range: You can get short-range, mid-range, and long-range antennas. To decide which you should get, visit antennaweb.org, enter your address, and it will show you all the broadcasting networks in your area, and how far away they are, and what kind of range your antenna will need.
Mounting: Antennas can be tv-side, atic mounted, or roof mounted. For best results you’ll want the roof mount, for which you’ll probably want to get a pro to mount it for you (ask at your local hardware store and they can probably handle that job for you). I personally have my DB4 antenna mounted in my attic, and it does a fine job for me. The tv-side antennas, like the Philips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor, sit right on top of or beside your tv and do a good job for short range signals.
Directional/Multi-Directional: If you purchase a directional antenna, you’ll have to point it in the direction in which you want it to pick up signals. If you purchase a multi-direction antenna, no pointing is necessary, it will pick up signals from all directions. Obviously I recommend multi-directional.

Internet TV

Many people don’t have an interest in Internet TV because they don’t want to watch tv on their laptop or on their desktop computer. That’s completely understandable. But most of those people don’t realize that it is extremely easy to connect your computer to your tv! You can take this as far as you want to go – from literally just connecting the computer video output to your tv, to having a dedicated computer sit next to your tv, to adding a remote control to your computer, etc.

Basic Setup
For the basics, all you need is one of those cables that people use every day to connect their computer to their computer monitor (this is called an RBG cable). Most televisions purchased in the last 10 years will have a connection on the back for such a cable. Just connect the two, and use your television remote to put it into “PC Input” mode. At first you may not see anything, but on your computer look for the function key (Fnc) and the F8 button. Pressing Fnc and F8 simultaneously should toggle the computer through its possible output modes – including the one that outputs to television output. F8 is commonly labeled “crt/lcd” or something similar.
Advanced Setup

If you want to get a little more nerdy with your setup, you’ll want a dedicated PC for your tv (aka, a DVR or PVR). There are a lot of choices here, but since most people are comfortable with Windows, probably the easiest solution is just to buy a cheap PC with Windows Media Center pre-installed on it (ie Vista Home Premium, which comes with Windows Media Center). This will not only give you convenient access to the Internet from your tv, but you can also connect a digital antenna to this PC and get free HD over the air. Media Center PC’s usually come with one tv-tuner card, but you can add one or more additional tv tuner cards. When you buy another tv tuner card, you’ll most likely get a remote control bundled with it. I also recommend a wireless keyboard for browsing the net, something compact that you can hide away in a coffee table drawer or beside the couch. If you just want somebody to tell you exactly what to buy, let me know and I can talk you through a shopping list. There’s more on setting up your own DVR later in this post.
Content

There are many choices for watching fresh television content online. Network websites, Hulu.com, Amazon UnBox, etc.

a. TV Network/Channel Websites: All of the major networks and channels provide on-demand viewing for many of their top shows, including NBC (The Office, etc), ABC (LOST, Grey’s Anatomy, etc), FOX, and CBS. CBS is the worst, they only provide 1 or 2 episodes at a time, if any.

b. Hulu.com. My new favorite website of all time. Hulu.com lets you view an unlimited amount of free tv and movies. The quality of the content here is great! On Hulu you can watch The Office, Daily Show, Colbert Report, Family Guy, and many many more. You can create an account, and “subscribe” to television shows, so that when a new episode airs it will be added to your queue. Thank you Hulu! I love you and will cherish all of your advertisements.

c. Amazon UnBox – ok, this one is not free. But, you can purchase entire seasons (or single episodes) of television shows.

d. NetFlix – if you already have a NetFlix account, you can watch an amazing amount of content for free over the Internet through Netflix’s “Instant” play-now functionality. This includes movies and television show seasons that have already been released on DVD.

Free DVR

If you’re into setting up something more advanced, you’ll want to setup your own DVR. I built a dvr out of some spare parts from an old PC and a few purchases from Tiger Direct. I got a second one buy just buying a cheapo Vista Home Premium (which comes with Windows Media Center), also from Tiger Direct.

What you want in a DVR:

A nice graphics card, but you don’t need anything special. Contrary to popular belief, whatever comes pre-installed on the PC is probably enough!
SATA hard drive. You’ll want a SATA drive. I recommend two. One for your OS and software, and one dedicated to tv tuner recordings.
Lots of ram. Its cheap, so you may as well stock up for best performance.
Vista home premium pre-installed. Vista Home Premium, which comes with Windows Media Center, works great and requires almost zero setup time to get started! If you are afraid of Vista, you can go the XP route as well. Also, I hear great things about the Windows 7, the successor to Windows Vista.

Other Options

Internet service provider: AT&T offers high speed DSL service. Currently high speed DSL is not available in my area, so for now I will stick with Road Runner for my Internet connection. Verizon also has high speed service in some areas.
DVD only. Many people are killing their tv watching completely except for purchasing full season DVD’s of television shows they want to watch. If you go this route, I recommend a Netflix plan.

Technorati Tags: Time Warner Cable, Cable Bill, Free TV, PVR, DVR

Life: Quality vs Quantity

2009-03-30T23:38:00.000-04:00

Would you rather live a long life in which you're in medium discomfort for many years, or a short life in which you die about the time you start to get old?

My New Media Center PC

2008-12-19T15:53:00.004-05:00

I got a new Acer at Tiger Direct. It was just a cheapo, but it is more than adequate for my Media Center. It is running Windows Vista, and I added on 2 digital tuners and a 750 GB secondary SATA drive for tv recording and media storage.

19" LCD (this came with the PC, but it is upstairs in my office now)
Embedded high-definition audio with 7.1-channel audio support
Two external speakers
VGA, DVI-D, headphones, microphone and six audio ports
Interface Ports
RJ-45 LAN
VGA
Headphones
Microphone
DVI-D
FireWire® (IEEE 1394)
Two PS/2®
Six audio
Eight USB 2.0 (four front, four back)
Communications
Gigabit LAN
V.92 modem
Bunch of Included Software
NTI Media Maker™
Six 3.5" drive bays (two external, four internal)
Two 5.25" drive bays
One PCI Express® 2.0 x1
One PCI Express® 2.0 x16
Two PCI v2.3
USB mouse and multimedia English keyboard
250 watt power supply

The secondary drive is so that all the recording/deleting of tv and other media takes place on a drive other than the one where the operating system resides. This will help keep the PC quick and responsive. Also in the "keep the PC quick and responsive" department - the PC will be locked down for program installation: no apps will be installed to the PC besides what is already there, with a few minor exceptions.

The two tv tuners allow me to record two shows at once.

Conversational Mockery

2008-12-19T15:40:00.000-05:00

(03:36) lancer: ok
(03:37) jamesn: Did you mean: OK...
(03:37) lancer: yep
(03:38) jamesn: The ellipses are crucial
(03:38) jamesn: See more in Chapter 7 of James' Guide to Conversational Mockery

My plan for revenge against the cable company – part 1

2008-11-06T10:14:00.001-05:00

Intro

My cable bill is $125 a month. Ridiculous. That includes road runner and hd cable. It also includes that lovely $8/month fee for the dvr. Over the lifetime of that dvr I’m pretty sure I have paid for it about 5 times. My plan is to set myself up with an alternative to cable, perfect it, and get as many other people as I can to do the same thing. My first goal is to keep Time Warner Cable from making $1250 a year from me. After that, I will start preaching and hopefully converting other people as well.

My plan:

Get an over-the-air digital antenna, to receive local channels (including all the major networks, and HDTV) for free.
Build my own DVR, possibly with Windows Media Center.
Watch “cable channels” such as Comedy Central and Food Network over the Internet.
Cancel my cable, except the road runner part so that I can still do #3.
Research other options for Internet.

Part 1

So, I bought a UHF digital antenna. Specifically I got the Philips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor indoor antenna from Amazon.com, I connected it to my tv and it works great! Now of course I’m not receiving MTV and Comedy Central with this – instead I just get whatever signals are broadcast in my geographic location. In my case those are FOX/HD, CBS/HD, NBC/HD, ABC/HD, PBS/HD, CW/HD, WRDC/HD, and some spanish channels. Sweet!

Part 1 accomplished.

Technorati Tags: Time Warner Cable, Cable Bill, Free TV, PVR, DVR

BrewzKey

2008-09-19T16:16:00.003-04:00

Every once in a while its good for all of us, after a hard work day, enjoy a tasty cold beverage. And you should never be caught without the means to open said tasty beverage. Enter the BrewzKey. Your key to bottled goodness.

Wakeboarding

2008-09-16T15:41:00.001-04:00

I am the proud owner of a new wakeboard.

board: msrp 399.99

bindings: msrp $329.99

I paid $150 total for both. Nice!

Haiku-speak

2008-08-28T23:46:00.000-04:00

There's a local Raleigh guy who is twittering in all haikus. What started as a simple joke turned into a nerd-fest. By the way, I wouldn't bother reading any of this unless you are completely bored beyond hope of any possible entertainment in the next 4 months:

(11:12) lancer: you know what is fun? when i'm messaging to you, writing in haiku

(11:12) jamesn: Like the driving rain

(11:13) jamesn: Waves that crash against the shore

(11:13) jamesn: You're breaking my balls

...

(11:14) lancer: hey, wait a minute, you cant try to be like me, I am haiku man

(11:15) jamesn: I'm really quite good

(11:15) jamesn: At creating great haikus

(11:15) jamesn: from random bullshit

...

(11:18) jamesn: I think I want beer

(11:18) jamesn: For lunch, maybe, whatever

(11:18) jamesn: No, I NEED some beer

...

(11:26) lancer: I cant wait for beach, much great beer I will drink up, please fill up my cup

(11:27) charless: I refuse to join you in this.

(11:28) lancer: you are just jealous, you probly cant count that low, I still like you though

(11:29) charless: carry to the beach. plastic cups and salt so sweet. drunk from noon to night

(11:30) jamesn: Tequila is shit

(11:30) jamesn: I prefer beer from a keg

(11:30) jamesn: Like men with balls do.

(11:31) jamesn: Holy fucking shit

(11:32) jamesn: This is like the tenth haiku

(11:32) jamesn: I've done in a row

(11:32) jamesn: You need to blog this

(11:33) lancer: its out of control, we may have to get you help, for your crap haikus

(11:33) jamesn: Because at this fucking point

(11:33) jamesn: it's automatic

(11:33) lancer: I will do that now, in conversations with james, we are so stupid

(11:49) lancer: (11:31:05 AM) ChopperCharles: ugh Lance has started, an annoying haiku war, want to kill him now.

(11:43) lancer: haha thats funny, who did you send that line to? did they roll their eyes?

(11:44) charless: I sent it to chris, he started a long reply, but never sent it.

(11:45) lancer: chris is still counting, I bet his heads hurting now, too much computing

(11:46) charless: ARRRG STOP THIS MADNESS! I am going insane man, you're driving me nuts.

(11:47) lancer: you have to ignore, from now on all my replies, will be in this style

(11:48) charless: I am weeping now. Will this horror never end? I just want to work.

No, not really

2008-08-14T15:30:00.001-04:00

(03:29) lancer: wow "Hispanics, who make up about 15 percent of the population today, will account for 30 percent in 2050, according to the new projections."

(03:29) lancer: "The population 85 and older is projected to more than triple by 2050, to 19 million."

(03:29) lancer: holy shit

(03:30) jamesn: Lou Dobbs warned us

(03:31) jamesn: I have seriously considered learning Spanish recently

(03:31) jamesn: and volunteering to teach English

(03:31) lancer: well the solution is clear

(03:31) lancer: white people must begin having as many babies as possible, even if they are uncared for or placed on welfare.

(03:32) jamesn: I guess we'd better hit the clubs after work

(03:32) lancer: ok

Triathlon Pics

2008-08-13T16:08:00.004-04:00

There are 12 pictures of me from the Triathlon. Looking at them, I noticed that I make a lot of weird faces...mostly looking very much in pain. I should probably work on that huh? If I want to get the digitals, it would cost me $336. Can you believe that? Jeez. It might have been less insulting if they just spit on me during the race as I ran past.

For all your ridiculously over-priced photography needs, visit fotojack.com. Yay for them. I emailed them to see if they'd give me a better offer, we shall see what they said. As you can tell from the pictures, it was raining during the race, so those poor photographers did have to stand out in the rain all day.

Triathlon Time!

2008-08-10T22:00:00.001-04:00

So, today was the triathlon at UNC Wellness Center. This was my first one, and it was a "Super Sprint Triathlon", which basically means that the distances are shorter so that you can sprint through each. Of course, i can't sprint through each, so to me "Super Sprint" just means "Super Short". :) It was a 250 yard swim, followed by a 9 mile bike ride, and finally a 5k run.

How did I do? Well, I am glad to have done it, proud of myself, yet at the same time a little disappointed that I didn't go harder. I think I had more in me than I realized. I wanted to take it easy on the run part because I was a little paranoid about working my ankle too hard so soon after my injury. Enough excuses, here's how I did:

I swam the 250 yards in 4:11, that was the 6th fastest in my age group. The swim was the part I was most worried about just because of lack of experience. I used to swim all the time as a kid before I left for college, but since then I've only swam laps a handful of times. I went out and swam laps twice before the race and did ok. Anyway...I'm very excited about my time because that included an unnecessary pause between laps to allow the people I'd caught to get a little distance on me so I wouldn't have to pass them! Next time I will go harder and just pass them!

The bike was a biiiiiiiiitch. So...one more excuse: I was on a little cheapo Target mountain bike, not a road bike. With the blessing of my friend Nicole, who convinced me to do this race in the first place, I'd like to blame my bike time on that. It took me 43:18 to do the 9 miles. The bike ride was a bit demoralizing because I'd be in my lowest gear peddling as fast as I could, and road bikers were passing me like crazy going twice my speed and barely peddling at all! Needless to say, I dropped from 6th fastest in my age group down to 17th (out of 18!) pretty quickly.

The run was the weirdest part. When I got off the bike, it took me a bit to get my land legs back, and when I did it was not pretty. First of all, during the swim the rain was pouring down outside, completely soaking my towel, socks, and shoes. This didn't cause any discomfort on the bike ride but during the run it was just *squish* *squish* *squish* *squish*. Very odd. Then, uselessly trying to peddle faster to keep up with the road bikes took a toll on my shins and ankles, and running hurt a bit at first. This is where the little bit of disappointment I have comes into play. I pretty much resigned myslef, because of the sore muscles and the ankle injury to just run really slow. I didn't realize I could do more until the last little stretch of the run where I sprinted to the finish. After the sprint I thought I was stupid for not going harder during the run, which took me a dismal 34:16.

So my overall time was 1:25:39. When I got home I got back in bed. ;)

Next time, if I can borrow someones road bike for this race, I want to see if I can knock 15 minutes off my total time (I figure I'll be able to knock 20 seconds or so off my swim time [maybe more if I train properly], bike faster and with less effort, and run faster with less pain and discomfort after the bike ride) my goal time will be 1:10:00.

Nerdiness

2008-08-08T17:29:00.002-04:00

Background: "Sam" is an intern in the office who happens to wear a pair of blue socks with that rolling stones tongue-out-the-mouth logo about 3 times a week.

(04:44) lancer: sam must have many pairs of those rolling stones socks
(04:44) lancer: samwise
(04:45) jamesn: I am not checking out his socks
(04:45) jamesn: But any LOTR reference is awesome
(04:46) jamesn: I say LOTR because that's what the cool kids call it
(04:46) lancer: and its faster to type
(04:46) lancer: kinda like HPATGOF
(04:46) jamesn: I am dissapointed to have figured that out
(04:47) lancer: no you aren't
(04:47) lancer: you're proud
(04:47) jamesn: But, yes, may fantasy buffs have missed opportunities to shed teir virginity in typing out the ludicrous names of their favorite pasttimes
(04:51) lancer: speaking of, the 3rd of the only 4 part trilogy I know of is oming out soon! First there was E, then there was E, and now there is B!
(04:52) jamesn: ...
(04:52) jamesn: I'm trying to remember the name of the book that comes after Eragon
(04:52) lancer: :)
(04:52) lancer: we are truly nerds
(04:52) lancer: of course I already pre-ordered B
(04:53) jamesn: am I right?
(04:53) lancer: yes
(04:53) jamesn: Do I have nerd intuition?
(04:53) lancer: not if you can't figure out the 2nd one
(04:53) jamesn: Wow. I am proud and ashamed of myself.
(04:53) jamesn: I am proud for having leapt to that conclusion first
(04:53) lancer: yeah, you shouldn't repeat this to anyone :)

Glossary: LOTR = Lord of the Rings
HPATGOF = Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
E = Eragon
E = Eldest
B = Brisngr
Christopher Paolini = the author of E, E, and B.

Cholesteroni

2008-07-31T23:08:00.000-04:00

Years ago, back when I was a fattard (thats a slow fat person), the doc said my cholesterol was so bad that if I didn't lower it he'd put me on medication. Back then it was like 250 or 260 or something, which basically meant that it was surprising I didn't have a heart attack on the way to the shower in the morning.

Of course now I am a much healthier (and happier) person. My cholesterol has been at good levels for many years now, but now my cholesterol is at an all time optimal level.

my total: 170
- less than 200 = desirable
- 200-239 = borderline-highrisk
- > 240 = lose the remote, fatty

my tri: 65
- less than 150 mg/dL = normal
- 150–199 = borderline-high
- 200-499=high
- greater than 500 = holy crap, put down the damn cheeseburger!

my hdl: 69
- greater than 60 = rock on baby
- less than 40/50 [male/female] = lay off the fast food chunky butt

my ldl: 97 (< 100 = optimal, 100-129=normal, 130-159= borderline, > 160=high, > 190=you bleed crisco)

Fo mo info like dis: American Heart Association.

New Stuff on the Home Front

2008-07-25T10:44:00.003-04:00

On the home front:

I’m planning on trying some triathlon events, although I really would prefer to try some adventure racing instead. First I’m going to start with a tiny little super sprint triathlon, where the distances are very short. First I have to wait for my ankle to get healed though, but the swimming part will be the only tough leg for me so I can train for that even with the injury (for those who don’t know, I took a bad sprain playing volleyball about 5 weeks ago). I’m also planning on my first half marathon in November. I need to get to work training for this one ASAP if I am going to make it. I’m sure that I’m out of shape since I haven’t done any running in the last 5 weeks. For now swimming and mountain biking will be the bulk of my exercise. Got any good advice for me?

I have recently enjoyed live performances of Iris Dement, The Bowerbirds, and Tom Petty. I love live music! We also went to see Dave Attell, who was absolutely freakin’ hilarious! I went to all of these with someone I met recently, and I’m having a blast spending time with her.

My friends keep making fun of me because I have it in my head that I want to buy a 2009 Toyota Prius. I don’t think the Prius body style is as lame as they say, but for all that mpg I don’t really care either. Right now I drive a 2002 F-150 gas guzzler, which has its uses of course…but also has its hefty gas price tag. Maybe I’ll keep it too and just park it most of the time. Maybe whatever gas money I save on a new hybrid I can throw into buying a boat! Thats not exactly a step in the carbon-neutral direction, huh? Everytime I drive over the lakes around the area I am so completely jealous of those people I see riding their waverunners, skiing, wakeboarding, etc. I want to get out there, but a ski boat is a big chunk of money to drop. Is it worth it?

Its almost time to go white water rafting! Can't wait for that! :P Then I want to learn how to do some river kayaking.

Iris Dement, The Bowerbirds

2008-07-21T23:46:00.001-04:00

A few weekends ago I went to see a couple shows with Lauren.

One was Iris Dement, who thought it would be a good idea to wear a country picnic tablecloth dress. You know, those checkerboard ones? Nice. Between songs she talked like she was stoned out of her gourd and about to pass out, but she sang beautifully. Favorite quote (said in a total stoner voice): "my fingers are sticking to the keys...". I took some video on cell phone, but they are so tiny they aren't worth uploading. The guy that opened for her was so boring that I forgot his name. I did recognize him as soon as we walked in though - he is the guitarist for John Prine. For somebody who has been entertaining for so long, he really needs to work on his stage presence and his conversation between songs. Good voice, but some of the songs he played were a little too silly for my taste. Lots of old people at this show. Every once in a while I would nudge Lauren and say "hey look, there are some young people ", pointing at some people without gray hair. Here's a clip of my favorite Iris song, which is actually a duet with John Prine. If you know my taste in music, you can probably already guess that its a bit out there.

We also went to see The Bowerbirds at Duke Gardens. These people were really good. The lead singer reminded me a bit of Damien Rice. Their instruments were unique too - of course the rhythm guitar, but also an auto harp, an accordion, and a big bass drum. I wish the girl in the group had done more singing, her voice was really nice too. Lots of hippies at this show. Once I nudged Lauren and said, "hey look, an old person". It stormed during this show, and we sat on the grass in the rain and got soaked!

Awesome weekend

2008-07-21T23:35:00.002-04:00

I wanted to share this past weekend, it was so much fun. It started Thursday night - Lauren and I sat on a blanket in the grass at Koka Booth Amphitheater with some sandwiches and a bottle of wine, watching "Twilight Zone: The Movie". Turns out the movie was not so hot, but it was still a great time. We definitely had a great Thursday night. :)

Friday night a group of us went to see Dave Attell at Charlie Goodnight's. I'm pretty sure that this was the best show I've seen at Goodnight's, and I've been to a lot of them. To sum it up, every single time I took a sip of my drink I was concerned about whether or not I'd be able to swallow it before he made me laugh again! If you get a chance to see this guy live, I'd definitely recommend it.

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early. I did not want to leave the comfy bed I was in, but bbq demanded it. I smoked 4 pork shoulders and also made 4 racks of babyback ribs, baked beans, and slaw. Lauren brought fruit and jalapeno cornbread, Blake brought macaroons, James brought cupcakes, and everybody else brought a boatload of beer. Despite the fact that weather forecasters in NC are hopeless in the summertime, I was worried about the threat of rain all day. Checkout this picture of my ghettofied back patio, protecting the smoker and grills from rain. Turns out the last 30 minutes or so had pouring rain, and probably wouldn't have effected the cooking anyway!

Sunday, after spending the morning cleaning up after my shockingly well behaved friends, it was time for a little adventure. Mountain biking on some insane trails on the backside of Lake Crabtree park, followed by Kayaking with Tom. I thought it would be a little tougher than it was, but it could still be a good upper body workout if I wanted it to be. We had so much fun that both of us have threatened to buy our own kayaks. I'll have to make more room in the garage!

I haven't seen "Dark Knight" yet, but I can't wait to. Apparently it is playing at the IMAX, so I'm hoping to catch it there!

Car Alarms

2008-06-26T11:44:00.002-04:00

[11:41] jamesn: I want an alarm for my car that starts blaring sirens and says "WARNING: SOME JACKASS HAS SET OFF HIS CAR ALARM! WARNING: SOME JACKASS HAS SET OFF HIS CAR ALARM!"
[11:41] jamesn: Then when I can turn it on when someone else's siren is going
[11:41] jamesn: And when I turn it off, instead of chirping, it will say "THANK YOU, JACKASS"

Audible .aa to .mp3

2008-06-20T17:37:00.000-04:00

I checked out a few applications that claimed to be able to convert Audible's crappy DRM'd .aa files to .mp3. All of them failed (for me at least), except one: Total Audio Converter from coolutils.com. For a well spent $19.99 I am now able to automatically convert my Audible downloads to a format (mp3) in which they will work on my cell phone and my mp3 player, neither of which are otherwise supported by Audible. Woohoo!

Now if only Amazon would provide direct MP3 downloads for Audible books (where possible).

I have the output folder for Total Audio Converter set to a Live Mesh folder, so that I can have access to my books both on my laptop at home and on my desktop at work. And my friend Eric pointed out that Total Audio Converter supports command options, so I can completely automate the whole process from the point of downloading from Audible! All I'll have to do is start the Audible download and voila!

Technorati Tags: Total Audio Convert, Audible, .aa to .mp3

Fire Ant Bastards Bit my Butt

2008-06-13T17:42:00.000-04:00

Mothers Day weekend I went to Charlotte to visit my mother and do some work for her around the house. On Sunday, she asked me to transplant some things into her rose bed. So there I am sitting on the edge of her rose bed on an old railroad tie, when OUCH, something stung!

I looked down and saw red ants all over where I was sitting, and I jumped up and started high-tailing it down the driveway towards the door to the house, blinding flailing and trying to swipe the ants off my pants. On the way I kicked off my shoes and threw off my shirt. I made it inside with just my pants and socks on and went bounding down the hallway, when my socks slipped on the wood floor and I went in the air cartoon-style. I landed elbows first and howled in pain, meanwhile ants were biting and stinging me! I got up, elbows bruised, ran to the bathroom, and realized that I'd just carried fire ants into the house! There were at least 20 of them still on the seat of my pants, even after my swiping and my great fall. I looked in the mirror, and there were already 4 big red welts on my butt! For the first time in my life, someone could accurately say, "Lance did a dance with ants in his pants" (do you have any idea how many times I heard rhymes like that as a kid?).

The story gets worse.

My mom and sister, laughing at me a little at this point, pointed out that urine would stop the pain. So what did I do? Yep. I peed on my own butt (ok, actually I peed in a cup and cotton ball swabbed my butt). What a strange thing that was to do. But, for anybody who is laughing - it worked. I eventually found one other bite that I did not urine-swab, and that one turned out to be the only one that itched severely, even though they all blistered up that same day.

Interestingly, fire ants actually do bite and sting. They first grab on with their bite, and then double over their bodies to deliver the sting. They do this not once but repeatedly. Once the first ant stings, it emits pheromones that cause the other ants to swarm and join in the fun stinging.

When people say they are done...what do they mean?

2008-06-13T16:22:00.001-04:00

Ok, so this isn't a conversation with James...but its still funny.

(04:21) lancer: he is "done"
(04:21) lancer: if you know what I mean
(04:21) spencerb: ok so like 2 months
(04:21) spencerb: got it

Oops...Summer Injury #2

2008-06-10T18:06:00.000-04:00

Yep, its happened again. :( That's the walking cast I'll be wearing for the next who knows how long. Of course I can't actually walk on it yet.

How did it happen? Volleyball. Some guy landed under the net on my side when he was hitting. I was blocking and came down on top of his foot, rolled mine over.

No Woman, No Cry

2008-06-10T18:01:00.000-04:00

From the "Doh!" department:

Lots of times I only hear the tune, and maybe the main hook lyrics, and ignore the other lyrics. So...maybe I'm the only one who thought "No Woman, No Cry" meant that having no woman translated to having no tears. I thought that was pretty funny, personally. :)

Ever since I found out that it really means "No, don't cry sweetheart"...the song is not nearly as fun for me. :P

My Cuz: Best New Country

2008-06-09T17:28:00.003-04:00

Check out my cousin, Wendy Newcomer - listed as "Best New Country" by AOL Music! The link there seems (as of 6/9/2008) to be bogus, but here is the corrected link to Wendy's feature on AOL's "The Boot".

Listen to Wendy at Amazon:

Wendy Newcomer

Technorati Tags: "Wendy Newcomer", "AOL Music", Music, Country

A Letter to Audible about DRM

2008-06-05T21:34:00.000-04:00

I still haven't found a very convenient way to listen to Audible books. I don't want to go out and buy a new phone or a new mp3 player just so that it will work with Audible's unnecessary restrictions. Burning to CD's is a bad option because at a minimum of 14+ cd's per book, its just wasteful. CDRW's are out because the cd player in my car can't read them. Audible's software players are decent, but they are only supported on the desktop (I don't want to listen to books on my desktop) and specific devices. I tried it for a while on a Pocket PC device that I had access to through work, and while it was fine for in the car it was too large and bulky to take running with me. So finally I started burning the books to a set of CDRW's (which I repeatedly use just for this purpose), then I rip each of those cd's one by one, and finally I move the resulting mp3's onto my phone (for in the car) or my mp3 player (for when I go running). Pain. In. The. Butt.

So recently I tried Audible Air, Audible's java player app for mobile phones. It isn't supported on my phone, unfortunately. So I emailed them and got a very detailed and polite response about why Audible Air won't work on my phone (the device manufacturer has to update the firmware so that it can understand the DRM blah blah blah). BS!

Then I saw a post on Boing Boing about how Amazon (Amazon purchased Audible early this year) said that it would not remove the DRM from Audible's audio books unless customers complained enough. So, if you're an Audible customer (or might be in the future), I hope you'll take a moment to email them and share your frustration about DRM. Here is the email I sent to audible@custhelp.com:

I hope you'll also pass along these comments about your DRM, so that things can change. I read that Amazon plans to keep the Audible DRM unless customers complain enough. Well, here is my argument against DRM:

You said - "The encryption is required by the publishers to insure the security of their book files..." While this may have been true at one time, I believe this statement is now incorrect. Random House nows allows its online retailers to sell audio books without DRM (see the following letter from Random House: http://craphound.com/DRMLetter22108.pdf). According to one well known author/blogger (Cory Doctorow, http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/21/random-house-audio-a.html) who ran into this problem, it is Audible itself who is placing this restriction. Even authors who WANT their books to be without DRM cannot do so if they desire to distribute their books through Audible (there is a well known author/blogger who has had this problem in the past).

Random House is smart enough to know that pirated copies of audio books, just like music, will exist no matter what. Amazon and Audible are smart enough to know this as well, or at least they should be. Right now, even with your DRM, I could (if I wanted to, which I don't) burn a copy of a book to a CDRW, rip the cd's to mp3's, and distribute those mp3s illegally. I could even merge them together into one large mp3 if I wanted. DRM doesn't stop the kind of people who do this - all it does it inconvenience good customers who just want to listen to good audio books on their devices or in their cars without having to burn 22 cds. As it is now, in order to listen to books the way I want to, I have to burn to a CDRW, rip the cd's to mp3's and manually copy those mp3's onto my SD card for my mobile device. Talk about a painful process. All so that Audible and publishers can accomplish what? Nothing.

Then there's the issue of Audible wasting time and money struggling to keep ahead of software applications that can convert from .aa to .mp3. Even more time and money is wasted trying to "support" x device. You would already support my device if you just gave me mp3s instead of a DRM mess.
What keeps me from buying more audio books from Audible? What keeps me from buying a Kindle from Amazon? DRM, and only DRM. I already canceled my Audible membership once out of frustration over this. I signed up again after Amazon bought Audible hoping that things would change. I hope I'm not wrong, and I hope it happens sooner than later.

Technorati Tags: Amazon, Audible, DRM, .aa, .mp3

Diet Coke Bandit

2008-06-04T19:49:00.000-04:00

A long time ago I wrote about the diet coke bandit of my office. Sometime between then and now I cut back on my diet beverage intake drastically. Then I probably drank 4 or 5 a day, now I might drink 2 a week. Instead I drink mostly water. Sometimes I put lemon juice in my water - enter the re-emergence of the Diet Coke Bandit, now known as the fridge bandit.

The fridge bandit used the last of my lemon juice, and then put the container right back in the fridge - empty. Can you believe that? Shameless.

The fridge bandit also seems to be too busy to pay attention to what he or she is doing. Either that or they're just plain dumb. They cannot seem to figure out the engineering marvel that is known as the fridge pack. Instead, they open 12 packs of sodas on the end of the box. Even worse, after they open the box in this way, they put the box into the fridge in such a way that the sodas will roll out of the box (on its side instead of on the top or bottom). I wish this person would give me a break.

UPS Online Tools

2008-05-27T15:21:00.002-04:00

I've been messing with the UPS Online Tools - tools that software developers could use to write applications that take advantage of UPS data such as shipment costs, tracking, and address verification. I say could, because UPS makes it so difficult to do anything you practically have to sign over a kidney. I thought it was funny that UPS has trademarked the color brown.

Brown, brown, brown, brown, brown, brown, brown, brown! Neener neener. Brown!

(03:18) lancer: Note:
UPS, the UPS Shield trademark, the UPS Ready mark, the UPS OnLine® Tools mark and the Color Brown are trademarks of United Parcel Service of America, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

(03:20) jamesn: UPS HitCreek is their developer integration program. Is that trademarked?

Audible doesn't have Watership Down

2008-05-22T15:08:00.002-04:00

A short conversation with James:

(03:07) lancer: hmm...audible doesn't have watership down
(03:07) lancer: or anything from that author
(03:07) jamesn: Do they have "Fucking Travesty, the Book"?
(03:08) jamesn: Or "Why we should not be in business?" By A. Audible Jackass?

South Mountains State Park

2008-05-19T23:11:00.001-04:00

A couple weeks ago I had the pleasure of going on a camping trip with some friends. Destination: South Mountains State Park. It was a blast. My favorite part actually turned out to be what I was afraid of.

We left on Friday after work, which meant we would arrive at the campsite late. After taking our sweet time getting there (even driving around searching for the Russel Stover outlet on the way) we made it about 10 minutes before the gates to the park closed (whoops, that was close)! Then we discovered that all the car camping places were already taken, and we'd have to hike out to a campsite. Ouch! That's exactly what I was afraid of! We had no backpacks, and it was dark and we only had one headlamp! We ended up strapping whatever we could fit on our backs and biking in the dark to the campsite about 2 miles away. Once we got there it was awesome, until we realized that we forgot to bring something to make fire with! :) Fortunately there was one other group not too far away and they gave us some fire.

Blake showed us how to make "boy scout burgers" - a ton of hamburger meat and onion and spices smashed down inside aluminum foil and thrown directly in the fire. Those were great. The next night we made s'mores as well, which I hadn't done since I was a little kid in the boy scouts.

We went mountain biking and hiking all over. The biking was amazing - it was incredibly difficult going uphill (I did a lot of walking and pushing my bike uphill!) and it was incredible SCARY going downhill! A couple of times I thought for sure I was going to go flying over my handle bars and tumbling down a mountain side! The highlight of the hiking was High Shoals Falls. It was at the top of t his 80 foot waterfall that I realized my brand new phone was designed by a moron.

Google Calendar Sync

2008-05-15T12:12:00.001-04:00

I've been using Google Calendar Sync for 2-3 months now, and I absolutely love it. In the past I always kept my calendar in Outlook at work, and sometimes it was a pain to check that from home. Now items in my Outlook calendar are automatically synced with my Google calendar (and vice versa). I haven't come across a single bug or annoyance.

I like how Google Calendar is very smart about new entries. If I create a new entry like "7pm, dinner at Angus Barn", Google automatically recognizes the time and location of that entry. Suggestion for Google: do the same thing with "Tom's birthday" (as well as anniversary, annual, etc). Automatically mark that as an event that repeats yearly.

Technorati Tags: Google Calendar

Crap UI Design

2008-05-05T21:00:00.002-04:00

I think one of my unique personality traits is that I tackle big problems with relative composure, but I often over-react to small problems or annoyances.

Lately, an issue that has been annoying me more and more (and has been pointed out to me that I get a little too upset about) is crappy software UI on household devices. Whether it be my dvd player, my cable box, or my cell phone - there appear to be a bunch of idiots designing the UI and capabilities of the software that runs on these devices.

So...because of this, and because two blogs is just not enough, I have decided to turn this non-constructive complaining into something more (debatably) useful: UI Follies. The first two posts are specific to my new Motorola i880 cell phone. But I plan to talk about more than just cell phones, and more than just handheld devices and entertainment center components. I also won't limit myself to software, though that will no doubt be the bulk.

Sidelined

2008-04-22T17:33:00.000-04:00

Of course, 1 day after expressing how happy sports and fitness have made me, I hurt my shoulder playing volleyball. Luckily its not too bad, but I will be out for a couple weeks at least. I have an AC sprain that is bad enough to cause me a good amount of pain when raising my arm over my head, and pretty severe pain when reaching across my body towards my other shoulder. Ouch! At least there is no fracture. Whew (knock on wood).

After a few days, I get to do fun exercises, some of which hurt pretty badly right now. I know you probably aren't interested in the weird shoulder exercises I must do, but I really left this link for myself, so there. ;)

Huge milestone

2008-04-20T23:31:00.000-04:00

Saturday was the first doubles volleyball tournament of the season for me, and it was awesome. My pitiful little mind doesn't have enough words to adequately express just how awesome it was.

First, just the excitement and anticipation of the day was great. Just to be outside with friends on a beautiful warm day, everyone with their coolers and fold-out chairs and volleyballs, the feeling breathed extra life into me.

I got to see a lot of people that I hadn't seen in a while, which was nice (for the most part, ha ha). And a big group of people who I've gotten to know and enjoy over the off-season shared two portable shelters, chairs, fruit/water/gatorade, and conversation. Then, out of 5 AA pools, I end up in a pool with some of those fun people.

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I played very well. Blocking and serving have been weaknesses in my game in the past, and while they could still use improvement I definitely stepped them both up during this tournament. I have a hard time correctly utilizing that split-second when you need to see the set going up and decide whether to run up and attempt to block the hit or fall back and attempt to dig the spike, but I've been working on it and I could definitely see the payoff. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for me to win the whole thing, though! :) I had my chance and blew it. I finished #1 in my pool (I went 7-1 there for 139/144 possible points), got ranked #4 in the following single-elimination play-off, and lost by 1 point in the first round to a guy I have beaten many times in the past.

The best part though, of this Saturday, was that it made me realize I'd reached a fitness milestone I did not know I had reached. To provide background, I like to tell a story about last summer when I played in my first doubles tournament in about 6 or 7 years: how driving can hurt. After that long hot day of playing, everything on my body hurt from my eyeballs to my feet, but mostly my legs (quads and calves). I was driving home with the cruise control on, and as I reached my exit on the beltline, it was actually painful just to raise my foot a few inches off the floorboard and push it back down on top of the brake pedal. Now that's a bad shape to be in. The other tournaments last summer weren't so bad, but I would still be sore and tired and fighting cramps afterwards, and basically good for nothing the following day. But this time...I felt great. After I finished, I could have played much more. That evening after the tournament I had energy to give away, and even the next day there was no soreness whatsoever. What a great feeling. That more than anything else makes me extremely proud, but also thankful for having friends that encourage me to get in shape and stay in shape. A year ago today, I said that I was more fit than I'd been in 7 years. Today I can say that I'm much more fit than I was just last year. Next month? Next month I'll be more fit than I am today.

Tift Merritt Show

2008-03-24T17:07:00.001-04:00

Saturday night I spent at the Carolina Theatre in Durham to see Tift Merritt in concert. I went with my friend Julie, who had never heard of Tift before. The show was really good, she sang songs from her recently released album "Another Country" (of which most was actually written in another country) as well as some older songs. She has such a wonderfully unique voice, and really gets into performing as she jams on her guitar or rocks away on her keyboard.

Tift got her start in the triangle area, and it was clear that she had a lot of old friends/family and fans in the theatre - they let her know it with several standing ovations and loud on-going cheers.

She was also interviewed on NPR's Talk of the Nation this past Thursday.

They were filming some hd video of the show, and I came across this post mentioning an upcoming documentary about Tift Merritt and her band.

Sara Watkins (of Nickel Creek) opened the show. Wow. She's good.

Stupid Tech Support Customers

2008-02-29T17:42:00.002-05:00

Once upon a time, I was trying to help a customer, but he was a dumbass. :) Ok, actually it wasn't just once. Unfortunately it seems to be a recurring nightmare. What follows is the first in what will be a series of stupid tech support customer stories.

disclaimer: If you do not think this customer is stupid, you yourself may actually be stupid.

disclaimer disclaimer: The above disclaimer may only apply to you if you are a computer programmer, or otherwise skilled in the ways of the 1's and 0's.

----

Customer: "I am trying to run your demo software, but I keep getting an error." [error snipped for reader's sanity]

Me: "To fix this, go to the Tools menu and select 'Configure Libraries'. Then choose [snipped] and click 'OK'."

Customer: "I took all your advice but it still does not work."

Me: "Can you send me a screenshot of your 'Configure Libraries' dialog? You can take a screenshot using the 'Print Screen' button, and then paste into MS Paint."

Customer: "Here are some screenshots:"

[Customer gets out digital camera, takes pictures of computer monitor, sends digital pictures to me in an email]:

Could Congress Please Keep its Eye on the Ball?

2008-02-27T23:02:00.000-05:00

Am I the only one who wonders why a congressional committee has time to discuss Roger Clemens (and other athletes') use of steroids, while there is a recession in the works, an aging baby boom generation, wars in the world (not just in the middle east), wide-spread poverty and hunger, global warming, renewable energy shortages, over-dependence on oil, and NCSU hasn't won a major ACC championship in 20 years? I mean seriously, can we please get our freaking priorities straight and let the damn baseball leagues deal with their own problems?

Lori McKenna Live!

2008-02-21T13:49:00.002-05:00

5 or 6 years ago, I was cleaning my apartment with the tv on in the background. I wasn't watching the tv, but a song started playing on the show that was on, and the song (not the show) immediately caught my attention. The singing voice was so striking. Extremely expressive and painful, I ended up watching the rest of the tv show just so I could see the credits and find out what angel had this extraordinary singing voice. It was Lori McKenna.

I searched her out on the Internet and found out that she played only in the New England area, but I found some other songs of hers through her website and WUMB (public radio in Boston) recordings. All amazing. Fast forward to 2007 and Faith Hill records three of Lori's songs on her CD Fireflies (including the title track), Lori McKenna opens for Faith and Tim on tour, and Tim McGraw produces Lori's album Unglamorous. Pretty impressive! I always knew I had a golden ear and could pick out a star from a mile away (now I know its much further than a mile...how many miles from NC to Mass?).

So last night I got to see Lori live, at her show at the ArtsCenter in Carrboro, NC. The show was just Lori, Mark Erelli (backup vocals, mandolin, and guitar), and Russell (electric guitar) in a small theatre with a max seating of something like 300. I sat less than 10 feet from the stage at a table and drank a local brew while listening. Very nice! :)

If you want to check it out, I took a short grainy video of one of her songs: Written Permission. She apparently categorizes her music as country these days, since she signed with Warner Bros:

Technorati Tags: Live Music, Lori McKenna, Music

My Rat Terrier Anna Says "Hi!"

2008-02-19T17:22:00.001-05:00

This is Anna, my 8 year old Rat Terrier. She doesn't howl very much, so I thought this was really funny. I think my favorite part is right near the end, after the alarm stops, she just freezes. She's so frozen that it almost looks like the video is over, but its not.

Great Triangle Area Blogs

2008-02-18T22:42:00.000-05:00

I found two great Triangle area blogs lately - unfortunately one of them seems to be dying:

Triangle Hike - places to go hiking in the Triangle.
GoGoRaleigh - all kinds of interesting nuggets about the goings on here.

There hasn't been anything new on the Triangle Hike blog since September, but maybe he is just taking the winter off. Anyway, what is already there is enough to entertain me for a while with 8 or so hikes.

A Personal Valentines Social Experiment

2008-02-15T03:38:00.001-05:00

So my friend suggested that we go to this singles party this Valentines day. My first thought: I can't think of anything worse. My second thought: I did say I was going to get out more. So before I thought better of it, I said I'd do it and bought a ticket.

Well, tonight is the night. I was nervous two weeks ago. How pitiful is that? Now I'm just trying to fight the feelings of dread, I am afraid this is going to be like some sort of water-boarding torture. But I am going to push that idea out of my mind right now and try to have a good attitude going into this thing.

I get very nervous in social situations where I don't know a lot of people, and tonight I'll know a total of 1 person in the room. I'm not good at talking to strangers and I can't stand small talk, so usually I just won't talk to people I don't know. That doesn't bring much life to the party, obviously. But I want to change these things about me. I want to be comfortable around new people and new situations, I want to be good at talking to people.

Ok... time to get ready.

Ok, I'm back. Late night. :) So it took me a few minutes after I got there to gather the courage to take on the crowd, but once I got into it I was mostly fine. It turns out it was mostly men, and out of all the women there I only met a few that I was physically attracted to. Out of those three, I got one number (the prettiest one, who seemed pretty cool and intelligent). Since she gave me her number, something must be wrong with her. Wonder what. Stay tuned. ;)

Order Up: Cooking Classes

2008-02-13T17:58:00.002-05:00

As a part of my "do new things" goals this year, I'm signing up for some cooking classes: Asian and Indian. Each one is 3 1.5 hour sessions, so it should be fun! Mmm...I love food!

Radiohead Meets "Family Guy"

2008-02-13T17:57:00.001-05:00

My friend James loves Radiohead, and he introduced me to their music. I like it because its really chill and relaxing. But when I told him that one of the songs from their latest "In Rainbows" album (particularly the songs "Reckoner" and "Nude") reminded me of the old guy from Family Guy, James said, "I'm gonna be angry with you if that image sticks". Well...here you go James:

Bud Commercial

2008-02-13T17:55:00.001-05:00

This should have aired during the superbowl, I think its one of the funniest tv commercials I've ever seen. I feel inspired to start my own swear jar. I'd never seen it, but I saw it over on the blog of "the other me" (aka, the bastard that owns my .com domain name :P).

Its That Time of Year Again

2008-02-10T17:18:00.000-05:00

Its that time of year again: time for the young girls of America setup in front of the grocery stores to prove that parents love their little girls more than their little boys. :) Yep, you got it: time for girl scout cookies!

Back on the Saddle Again...

2008-02-10T16:05:00.000-05:00

I haven't been running much lately (ok, more than just lately...like for the last 6-8 months really), but I have been busy keeping in shape other ways. Most notably probably is Ultimate Frisbee which is a really good aerobic workout. Anyway...today the volleyball games that I had planned fell apart due to weather, so instead I went for a run. Probably the last 3 or 4 runs I been on were in the 2 mile range. But this time I set an intimidating goal of 8 miles, and I met the challenge. It was a great feeling of accomplishment when I crossed that last mile marker. Yay!

Tom Petty

2008-02-04T17:15:00.000-05:00

Just got my tickets for the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers show at Walnut Creek in Raleigh. Woohoo!

Tift Merritt

2008-01-23T17:20:00.000-05:00

I'm going to see Tift Merritt in March at her concert at the Carolina Theatre in Durham. Tift got her start in the triangle area.

Three Girls And Their Buddy

2008-01-23T17:15:00.000-05:00

I said in "new year, new experiences" that I'd missed out on my chance to see Patty Griffin in Chapel Hill. Fortunately it turns out I didn't! One site said sold out, but another said there were seats available. I ended up sitting way in the back of the theatre, but fortunately it was a small theatre.

The name of the show was Three Girls And Their Buddy. It was Emmylou Harris (famous country/folk/bluegrass singer), Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin (mostly known for her pop hit "Sonny Came Home"), and Buddy Miller. The group was awesome, and they took turns singing songs and harmonizing with each other, while Buddy played guitar for all (and sang his own songs too).

My favorite was Patty, followed by Emmylou mostly because of her legend. Buddy Miller played very unique selections and was good. Shawn Colvin is very talented but she's just not my kinda thrill.

I didn't get any good pictures, just some shaky and dark video, but the picture above was taken at Patty's show in Raleigh at the NC Museum or Art back in 2006.

A new year, new experiences

2008-01-08T17:09:00.003-05:00

This year, I want to add more spice to my life. I wasted most of the past 7 or 8 years just going through the same routine: wake up, go to work, come home, watch tv, go to sleep, rinse and repeat. Over the past couple of years I've rediscovered sports that I used to play all the time when I was younger. Now between "come home" and "go to sleep", nearly every day I get out and do something: I go to the gym to work out, play volleyball, racquetball, ultimate frisbee, or shoot pool (ok, not a sport but still fun).

For 2008, I plan to step it up. I want to get out and have more fun, play more sports, be healthier, be smarter, and most importantly - do things I've never done before. Here's a list of some things I plan to do this year (some of these things are lofty goals and some of things are ridiculously simple. I don't care, I just want to do them. :P):

Go somewhere new (new to me, that is) and exciting for a vacation (Mexico? Jamaica?)
Go to more concerts, comedy shows, and sporting events.

So far I've seen:

Will Ferrell
Lori McKenna
The NASCAR race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Patty Griffin w/ Emmy Lou Harris in Chapel Hell.
Join a new sports league (a new sport, maybe dodgeball or flag football)
Go on a hiking trip

So far I've gone hiking on the Eno River, and I am going to South State Park near Asheville, and a volleyball camping tournament in Virginia Beach.
Go on a snow-skiing trip in the west (Colorado or Utah)
Go on a water-skiing trip (maybe http://www.cobleskischool.com/)
Take a cooking class, and do more cooking and less microwaving.
Drink a lot more water and a lot less diet soda.
Try lots of new foods and visit restaurants I've never been to.

Indian food is really good.
I found a Korean place I need to check out.
I found a really good Thai place.
I ate a tomato sandwich (gasp)
Be a more friendly and outgoing person (I'm usually a pretty big ass)
Read more books

The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, and the Amber Spyglass.
The Tipping Point
Visit NY city
Go to a ComedySportz show (maybe http://www.dsicomedytheater.com/schedule/showdetails.php?ShowID=26)
Start a jump training workout and daily pushups/situps
Clean up some of the little software apps I've written and put them on the web for free download.
Hang-gliding in the outer banks.

Advertisers Getting Wise?

2007-12-07T11:01:00.000-05:00

Much like the RIAA ignored the business potential of the Internet and instead tried uselessly to fight against it, advertisers have struggled about DVR technology, especially the dreaded "30 second skip". So far, Amex is the only company I've seen using the most obvious solution. While their advertisements aren't *in* the television show, they're closely related. You may have seen the ads that Tina Fey (of "30 Rock", and formerly "SNL") has been doing for Amex. They are playing her ad (and another by one of her "30 Rock" co-stars whose name I do not know) during the airing of "30 Rock", in a manner that makes them look like they are a part of the show. Genius. Lots of potential there.

Favorite Bands/Artists

2007-12-05T00:03:00.000-05:00

Rabbert posted a lists of some of his favorite bands/artists and their songs. I don't think I can do this, because my taste in music is too varied. Its impossible for me to pin down my favorites without leaving dozens out. :) But...one day I started to, and here's what I had when I gave up (I didn't get very far...maybe I should just print out my WMP playlist):

Tupac - When We Ride
Randy Travis - 1982
Dixie Chicks
Led Zep
Nirvana
OAR - Crazy Game of Poker
Otis Redding - Sittin on The Dock of the Bay
Ozzy
Pink Floyd - Money
Allison Krauss and Union Station
Lori McKenna

ATT on Flickr

2007-12-04T18:02:00.000-05:00

There are quite a few shots of the American Tobacco Trail on Flickr (some of them from me).

Cry Laughing

2007-08-29T15:59:00.000-04:00

The funniest email I ever got, I laughed so hard that I cried. I have saved the email for years (I received the email in the mid 90's), and it came up in conversation over the weekend and the last post also reminded me of this, so I am posting it here for all to enjoy. I've no idea the origination of this email or who wrote it, but it wasn't me. Enjoy!

INEXPERIENCED CHILI TASTER

Notes From An Inexperienced Chili Taster Named FRANK, who was visiting Texas from the East Coast:

"Recently I was honored to be selected as a judge at a chili cook-off. The original person called in sick at the last moment, and I happened to be standing there at the judge's table asking directions to the beer wagon when the call came. I was assured by the other two judges and (Native Texans) that the chili wouldn't be all that spicy, besides, they told me I could have free beer during the tasting, so I accepted.

Here are the scorecards from the event:

Chili # 1: Mike's Maniac Mobster Monster Chili

JUDGE ONE: A little too heavy on tomato. Amusing kick.
JUDGE TWO: Nice, smooth tomato flavor. Very mild.
FRANK: Holy shit, what the hell is this stuff? You could remove dried paint from your driveway. Took me
two beers to put the flames out. I hope that's the worst one. These Texans are crazy.

Chili # 2: Arthur's Afterburner Chili

JUDGE ONE: Smoky, with a hint of pork. Slight Jalapeno tang.
JUDGE TWO: Exciting BBQ flavor, needs more peppers to be taken seriously.
FRANK: Keep this out of reach of children! I'm not sure what I am supposed to taste besides pain. I had to wave off two people who wanted to give me the Heimlich maneuver. They had to rush in more beer when they saw the look on my face.

Chili # 3: Fred's Famous Burn Down the Barn Chili

JUDGE ONE: Excellent firehouse chili! Great kick. Needs more beans.
JUDGE TWO: A beanless chili, a bit salty, good use of red peppers.
FRANK: Call the EPA, I've located a uranium spill. My nose feels like I have been snorting Drano. Everyone knows the routine by now, get me more beer before I ignite. Barmaid pounded me on the back; now my backbone is in the front part of my chest. I'm getting shit-faced from all the beer.

Chili # 4: Bubba's Black Magic

JUDGE ONE: Black bean chili with almost no spice. Disappointing.
JUDGE TWO: Hint of lime in the black beans. Good side dish for fish or other mild foods, not much of a chili.
FRANK: I felt something scraping across my tongue, but was unable to taste it, is it possible to burn-out taste buds? Sally, the bar maid, was standing behind me with fresh refills; that ugly bitch is starting to look HOT, just like this nuclear-waste I'm eating. Is chili an aphrodisiac?

Chili # 5: Linda's Legal Lip Remover

JUDGE ONE: Meaty, strong chili. Cayenne peppers freshly ground, adding considerable kick. Very impressive.
JUDGE TWO: Chili using shredded beef; could use more tomato. Must admit the cayenne peppers make a strong statement.
FRANK: My ears are ringing, sweat is pouring off my forehead and I can no longer focus my eyes. I farted and four people behind me needed paramedics. The contestant seemed offended when I told her that her chili had given me brain damage. Sally saved my tongue from bleeding by pouring beer directly on it from a pitcher. I wonder if I'm burning my lips off? It really pisses me off that the other judges asked me to stop screaming. Screw those rednecks!

Chili # 6: Vera's Very Vegetarian Variety

JUDGE ONE: Thin yet bold vegetarian variety chili. Good balance of spice and peppers.
JUDGE TWO: The best yet. Aggressive use of peppers, onions, and garlic. Superb.
FRANK: My intestines are now a straight pipe filled with gaseous, sulfuric flames. I shit myself when I farted and I'm worried it will eat through the chair. No one seems inclined to stand behind me except that slut Sally, she must be kinkier than I thought. Can't feel my lipsanymore. I need to wipe my ass with a snow cone!

Chili # 7: Susan's Screaming Sensation Chili

JUDGE ONE: A mediocre chili with too much reliance on canned peppers.
JUDGE TWO: Ho Hum, tastes as if the chef literally threw in a can of chili peppers at the last moment. I should note that I am worried about Judge Number 3. He appears to be in a bit of distress as he is cursing uncontrollably.
FRANK: You could put a grenade in my mouth, pull the pin, and I wouldn't feel a damn thing. I've lost the sight in one eye, and the world sounds like it is made of rushing water. My shirt is covered with chili which slid unnoticed out of my mouth. My pants are full of lava-like shit to match my damn shirt. At least during the autopsy they'll know what killed me. I've decided tostop breathing, it's too painful. Screw it, I'm not getting any oxygen anyway. If I need air, I'll just suck it in through the 4 inch hole in my stomach.

Chili # 8: Helen's Mount Saint Chili

JUDGE ONE: A perfect ending, this is a nice blend chili, safe for all, not too bold but spicy enough to declare its existence.
JUDGE TWO: This final entry is a good, balanced chili, neither mild nor hot. Sorry to see that most of it was lost when Judge Number 3 passed out, fell over and pulled the chili pot down on top of himself. Not sure if he's going to make it. Poor Yank, wonder how he'd have reacted to a really hot chili?
FRANK: --------------(editor's note: Judge #3 was unable to report)

China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission

2007-08-21T13:15:00.001-04:00

In today's stupid news, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without permission.

White Chicks

2007-08-09T22:56:00.000-04:00

(12:54) lancer: is it odd that I think white zombie is one of the best bands ever?
(12:54) lancer: and I also think the same thing about the dixie chicks?
(12:54) jamesn: yes

Linky links - Aug 3 links

2007-08-03T15:44:00.000-04:00

From "The Sneeze": the "Steve, don't eat it!" series. I think my favorite was the one for cuitlachoche. "If you're having trouble with the pronounciation, it's: Cuitlacoche (kweet-lah-KOH-chay) or Huitlacoche (dat-sfuckin-NAS-tee)."

Southparkify yourself, and Simpsonize yourself.

Linky links - July 27

2007-07-27T17:00:00.000-04:00

From the Consumerist:

Aquafina labels will soon say "Public Water Source,"

Universal Music Group issues DMCA takedown notice on low quality video clip of 18 month old boy. Now the EFF is suing them back. Go EFF!
XKCD, the best nerd comic of all time: "My profanity usage by cause".
Pork:

(09:34) jamesn: Guess how many earmarks in the House Defense spending bill
(09:34) lancer: 250
(09:34) lancer: :)
(09:35) jamesn: It is a more patriotic number than that
(09:35) lancer: hmmm
(09:35) lancer: 17
(09:35) jamesn: 1776
(09:35) jamesn: http://porkbusters.org/DefensePork0726.htm
The YouTube debates (democratic candidates), very nicely done!
I was telling James the other day that lately when I walk around all I see are gigantic fat people, just extremely overweight. We decided maybe I was just hanging around in the wrong places, like the Papa Johns parking lot. Nope, that wasn't it: US obesity map.
Scott Adams has some unique ideas about immigration. Scott has become my favorite blogger. If you don't know his name, you know his work: Dilbert.

I am now officially divorced

2007-07-13T16:32:00.000-04:00

... I'll have to write more on this later. Right now my mind is kind of swirling.

Ok I'm back...

I've been waiting for this day for a long time now. Almost two years really. I finally filed in May, and thought it was going to take forever to actually happen. But I got the call today. Its final.

As soon as I heard that my brain kicked into this weird other gear that I'm not sure I've experienced many times before. Maybe gear is the wrong word...it was (and still is) more like in a blurry state of daze. My skin feels tingly.

I'm not upset, but I'm not happy. Maybe I am a little happy, but only the kind of happy feeling you get from a weight being lifted off your shoulders. Of course I'll never be happy that my marriage failed, though.

Woah this is weird.

The picture above is the actual hand of the one who left me. That's the actual ring that the one who left me decided she was not going to give back to me (I'm not going to get into that particular classy move). The picture below is one she did with charcoal, called "Two Faced". Funny how the meaning of that one changed looking back.

Ow, my back! Ow, my legs! Ow, my back and my legs!

2007-06-12T23:27:00.000-04:00

This past weekend I did something that no overweight, out of shape, ageing 30 year old (or older) should attempt.

I woke up early Saturday morning and ran the Race For the Cure (5k). Hmph, no big deal, thats not so tough!

But then I left the race and headed straight to an all day doubles volleyball tournament. From about 9:30 until 6:30 I was there. Did I mention it was outdoor? In the Sun. Yes, the heat. Uh huh, mid 90's.

During the very first doubles game both my calf muscles cramped as I jumped to spike the ball. I guess I let them get to cold after the run. I took a shot of pickle juice, ate a banana, and rubbed on some Aspercreme and went on about my games with no further trouble. I even played pretty well (6 points behind 2nd place on my net). I did pay the price the next day, when it took me a couple tries to get out of bed.

So as I drove on to my tennis league match on Sunday, I wasn't exactly sure how well I was going to play. My tennis doubles partner probably wasn't happy with my game, and we got clobbered. :) My legs have recovered but back is still (even 3 days later) a little sore.

Another goal...

2007-05-11T16:23:00.000-04:00

"Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men."
- Kin Hubbard

Race For the Cure

2007-04-29T22:47:00.000-04:00

Yep, its that time again. Time for the Race For the Cure to support breast cancer research.

I'll be running on June 9th. If you'd; like to join me, send me an email. If you'd like to support the cause and contribute with a donation, you can do so online right here. If you would prefer, you can also send your tax-deductible contribution to the
address listed below.

Komen NC Triangle Affiliate
2314 S. Miami Blvd, Suite 154
Durham, NC 27703

A real marathon

2007-04-27T21:15:00.000-04:00

Ho

ly

cow

North Pole Marathon.

Sahara Marathon.

Come race for the cure with me

2007-04-27T20:54:00.000-04:00

Race for the cure info.
Email me if you will be there.

Knowing Yourself

2007-04-26T22:00:00.000-04:00

When I had the phrase "I need to get to know myself" thrown at me during the process of separating from my ex, I questioned its meaning. I hate those words, they are nothing but a cop-out, in the same category with another meaningless phrase: "it's not you, it's me".

Yeah, I always thought "I need to get to know myself" was just a stupid thing to say. I mean, after 30 years of life, if you don't know who you are you must be braindead. Maybe you mean to say "I need to re-evaluate what I really want in my future", but certainly you must already know yourself.

I came across this quote on the Google personalized homepage literary quote of the day:

"Know thyself! A maxim as pernicious as it is ugly. Whoever observes himself arrests his own development. A catepillar who wanted to know itself well would never become a butterfly." -Andre Gide

Someone shares my opinion of the RIAA

2007-04-26T13:20:00.000-04:00

Check out this fabulous product from Jinx.com:

Ok, so, we are STILL laughing every time we see this product on our shelves...LMAO! Nothing compares with the way it feels when that text slides across your butt. Sorry for the high price, but you're buying it for the novelty. When it comes to functionality, stick to Charmin.

Weebles Wobble But They Don't Fall Down

2007-04-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

Remember the Weebles? I had some when I was a kid.

I feel a bit like a Weeble right now, in that my legs are feeling awfully wobbly. I played in a King/Queen doubles volleyball tournament thsi past Saturday. It was a blast but I could feel the resulting jello-ish-ness in my legs all the way through Sunday and Monday. Tuesday I couldn't take it anymore and I just decided I just had to go running before I throw away all the good progress I've made recently. I wasn't sure how far I'd be able to go on my tired legs, but I made it for a slow 4 miles. Now my legs are weebly wobbly again. :(

Speaking of old toys, I want to buy a Rubik's cube again, after seeing these people solve the cube in only seconds (I saw videos of it on the special features of the "Pursuit of Happyness" [sic] dvd.

Tackling My Biggest Flaws

2007-04-09T11:04:00.000-04:00

Here are three things about myself that I want to change. I'm not sure how except to be cognizant of them throughout the day.

I'm too judgemental. Often times I decide that I dont like someone that I don't even know because they dress like a thug or they talk about themselves too much or they look weird.

I'm too negative about things in general, and when I get in a bad mood I spread that negativity around instead of moving on. I wasn't like this when I was younger - if something bad happened I just went on with my life the best I could. I'm not sure when this changed.

I dont know how to make (or keep) friends. I'm too shy around people I don't know. I can't be myself around them so I just don't speak (or smile). I don't keep in touch with the friends that I do have, and when I do I'm too self centered to know what's going on with them.

Let the markets regulate themselves...to a limit

2007-04-08T19:51:00.000-04:00

Tonight's 60 minutes had an interesting story about the government "nanny state" versus self-regulation. Here's the jist.

It hit a nerve with me because of a recent discussion I had with some friends about the possibility of a new law banning smoking in NC. At the time of our "discussion", the proposal bill would have banned smoking in all indoor public places, including restaurants and bars. To me that is just ridiculous. No smoking in a bar? Thats stupid. My argument is that it is not the governments place to force such a ban on private business owners. Their argument was that smoking in those places infringes on the rights of non-smokers at the same location. I gotta call bullshit on that one though, because those non-smokers are free to visit a non-smoking establishment. By the way, I'm a non-smoker.

If tobacco were an illegal substance, sure. In truly public places (ie, town hall, the library, etc), great. But not in a business owned by an individual - restaurant or not. If someone is so offended by the cigarette smoke or they worry about its effect on their health, then they should not visit that place. Perhaps they should choose a smoke-free alternative.

Fortunately, the bill was changed. Apparently someone added a cup of common sense to the bill, which is amazingly unique in government. The new version would not ban smoking in 21-and-over-only bars. Its interesting now also because the new bill will give local governments more control - so expect no smoking ANYWHERE in Chapel Hell in the not-so-distant future. Unless its marijuana, I think everyone in Chapel Hell smokes marijuana.

Fortunately again, this proposal was pulled from the agenda last week. Maybe later the NC house can try again at trampling on the rights of the business owners in this state.

In the 60 minutes interviews, Michael Jacobsen attacks Berman saying sarcastically, "Its terrible, we have health departments that are trying to clean up restaurants, environmental agencies that are trying to clean the air in the water, its just terrible. I think its great that government sometimes protects the public's welfare."

Jacobsen is right to some extent, but he is doing exactly what Berman says he is fighting against: exaggerating and over-stepping bounds. Berman said "Government has a role, but let the marketplace self-regulate". Thats right. Let the government regulate things that the public would have a hard time self-regulating fairly (ie, CFCs, cocaine, murder), but stay away from things that restrict my personal freedoms.

If I want to smoke in a bar owned by a private business owner that wants to allow smoking, then mind ya own! Don't take away my ability to eat a big fat cheeseburger if I want one. Sure, don't put that cheeseburger on the daily elementary school menu (thats called common sense, please make a note of it) - but give me the benefit of the doubt that I may be intelligent enough adult to regulate my own food intake. Make the health effects known to me if you like, but let me choose as long as my decision doesn't restrict the rights of other people.

The inter-trestle run

2007-04-06T22:13:00.000-04:00

I have now officially visited every mile of the American Tobacco Trail. Tuesday after work I went for a 5.5 mile ATT loop between Panther Creek and Northeast Creek trestles. This part of the trail is very peaceful. I think I did see one person during the hour or so that I was there.

My next run will be my first attempt at 8 miles starting at the White Oak Creek trailhead.

Modern technology at its finest

2007-04-06T21:18:00.000-04:00

Oh, I'm sorry, this title is confusing. When I said "modern", I meant "modern in 1908". Unfortunately for the world, that technology hasn't improved much in the last 100 years. I'm not sure how we aren't all disgusted at the current state of the automotive industry. And what's to blame? I'll point my finger at the long history of corruption in the US Congress (Hello, ever heard of campaign finance reform? Ever heard of term limits? How many 90 year old senators do we need making laws about modern technology?).

In 1908, the Ford Model T got 25 miles per gallon. Thats much better than my Ford Truck gets today.

Avg miles per gallon of all cars in 2004: 21!

I hope the X-Prize Foundation will help open some eyes. You might remember it from the 10 million dollar prize it gave to the first private organization to enter space twice in two weeks. Now the new Automotive X-Prize aims for a 100 mile per gallon consumer (i.e. "production capable") vehicle. Awesome.

100 miles in 30 hours

2007-03-31T02:43:00.000-04:00

Here it is, the Umstead 100. I don't plan to ever attempt it. I can't imagine ever completing it. Here it is, the Umstead 100. A 100 mile run in 30 hours.

I don't even think I could bike 100 miles in 30 hours. Running it? Wow. Amazing. What kind of toll does that take on the body of even a very fit person? Is it worth it?

TBD: ATT KMZ

2007-03-24T00:09:00.000-04:00

update: I just realized the link for the .kmz file was off, it is fixed now. update#2 - if you have anything to add, feel free to send it my way.

No, I don't just like to use acronyms whenever I get the chance. :) I started a Google Earth map (.kmz file) of the ATT (American Tobacco Trail). Download the KMZ here. I'll update it when I can with more points of interest and pictures.

The red path is the trail itself, it is highlighted from the southern-most trail head in Apex up to the interruption point just south of I-40. Then it is highlighted again just north of I-40 in Durham up to the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
The green push-pins are trailheads, or entrances to the trail where there is available parking.
The yellow push-pins are general points of interest, some of which have photos linked.
I will attach photos soon.

I find it pretty useful because I can plan a run or bike ride, and use the ruler feature of Google Earth to check out the distance of my route. For example, next time I am going to start at O'Kelly Church Rd and run north to Northeast Creek trestle, turn around and run south to Panther Creek trestle, and then back to O'Kelly Church Rd again. This will be a 4.6 mile run with a rewarding view at each turnaround point.

Northeast Creek Trestle

2007-03-24T00:02:00.000-04:00

I took a bike ride today down to Northeast Creek Trestle and took some pictures. Here are a few of them.

I was surprised to see James' car in the greenway:

Work on the ATT

2007-03-19T11:18:00.000-04:00

Bill Bussey of the Triangle Rails-to-Trails Conservancy set me up with some volunteer work on the ATT this past Saturday morning. I learned a few interesting things about the trail, and I felt good giving back (even though it was just a little) to the trail that I have enjoyed so much over the past year and a half or so.

A group of about 6 of us started our work just north of New Hope Church Rd, at the Panther Creek trestle (this was my first time at that location). Later we were joined by a few others. Basically all I did was carry some logs and limbs off the trail into the woods, and pick up whatever trash I saw. Shortly before noon, as I was returning across the drainage ditch after having moved some logs, I felt something funny about my shoe. I looked down and the sole of my shoe was going one way and the rest of my shoe another! The sole fell completely off. That was a first, and made for a long wet-footed walk out of the woods to my truck!

If you are interested in volunteering to help out with the trail, you can read more and sign up for the email list here.

ACC Fans

2007-03-18T17:46:00.000-04:00

It annoys me when I see people cheering against ACC teams in the NCAA tournament. Sure, I understand that its fun to hate certain teams like Duke or Carolina (I hate Duke myself). But after the regular season and the ACC tournament, there is no excuse not to pull for the ACC as a conference to do well. The better the ACC is as a conference, the better recruiting we can do as a conference.

The way I see it, even though I hate Duke, they let down the entire ACC when they lost in the first round. They played sloppy, and they did not represent what is supposed to be a "powerhouse" conference. It even looks worse considering all the bitching that coach K did about how the ACC deserved more teams in the tourney. Now all we have left is UNC.

While I'm on the topic of sports fans that annoy me, last week I sat beside these two guys at Peak City who were eating and watching the Duke game at the bar. I heard comments like "I hate that Nazi", referring to Coach K. You don't have to like him as a person but I don't know how you can not respect him as a coach. I heard "why is it that every game Duke plays in somebody is bleeding" (at this point it became obvious that they were UNC fans)? Ok, thats just a stupid comment, plain and simple (especially given the fact that the VCU player bleeding in this particular instance fell over his own teammate).

Good Eats: Homemade Corned Beef

2007-03-15T23:07:00.000-04:00

Some people know that my favorite nerdy tv show is "Good Eats" on the Food Network. I like it because its the nerdiest show on tv about food, and I'm a nerd and I like to eat. Its a match made in heaven. :)

This past week there was a rare new episode of Good Eats in which Alton Brown shows how to make homemade corned beef. I'm going to try it. Basically you buy a brisket, soak it in a brine for 10 days in the fridge, take it out and simmer it with some aromatics, and slice it up.

I learned 2 things that I have always wondered about:

1. Why is it called "corned" beef? Because in middle age England, "corn" referred to the curing salts that were used. Corned beef is just cured beef.

2. What is the difference in pastrami and corned beef? Pastrami is corned beef that has been smoked and seasoned with pepper.

Mission Accomplished: 7 miles

2007-03-15T17:48:00.000-04:00

Tuesday after my 50 minute run I decided the next things I wanted to do were to finish the whole southern Durham portion of the ATT, and complete my first 7 mile run. After that run I felt so energized, I told one of my friends that I felt like I could run five more. Well, now I know I was wrong, I could not have run five more. How do I know?

Today I can proudly say: mission accomplished! I ran the trail from its start at Massey Rd down to its interruption at the Northeast Creek trestle (This picture from Wikipedia shows it. Much like me, its old, rotten, and weak, but still beautiful), and back. 6 miles. Then I did a little loop just to make it 7. I could not have made it 8, I don't think. My back hurts (maybe I need to correct my running posture!), and I can definitely feel it in my legs!

Isn't it ironic that the only structures in greenways are built by the power company?

2007-03-15T14:55:00.000-04:00

Its also ironic that the guy who runs the drivers education business downstairs rides a bike to work.

Tobacco Trail: Trail or Paved Path?

2007-03-14T17:30:00.000-04:00

I recently came across this nicomachus.net blog, which has a category of posts about the ATT, and saw this old post which almost made me throw up in my mouth: "The Outspokin' Cyclist: To pave or gravel part of biking trail under debate".

Check out these quotes from the posting, which quotes from a Phillip Barron
article in The Herald Sun from the Fall of 05.

Chris Sevick to The Herald Sun: "Given the long distances that the trail connects, it would be more efficient to use a road bike on a paved trail..."

Me: Well duh! But then the ATT would not be a trail, but a paved path. I sure hope the awesome natural beauty of the southern parts of the ATT don't get spoiled by paving, as the northern Durham section is.
Bob Morris, vice president of the mountain bike club NC Fats, says that if the existing Wake County section of the ATT is an example of how the rest of the trail might be finished, he wouldn't want to ride it either. The loose, softer trail surface attracts equestrians, but the impact of the horses' hooves contributes to the fairly steady erosion of the trail. The ATT is pocked with rough sections that, even on a "cushy" full-suspension mountain bike, leave the trail difficult to ride, Morris says.

Me: Wait just a second...did you say VP of the mountain bike club or the bike sissy club? What mountain bike owner is worried about the cushiness of his ride? I have been on nearly every mile of the trail personally, and I've seen plenty of hoof prints, but certainly nothing that I would even notice on a mountain bike or even on my runs.
"So, if like Sevick, you've ever wished that you could continue riding your bike the entire length of the planned 23 miles of greenway"...

Me: Then I would suggest you get a bike with a tire that is more than 1 inch in width. I sympathize with those cyclists who would use the trail as a commuter path (its a great alternative to riding on the road), but its not worth sacrificing the beauty of the current southern trails. Go out and buy a beefier bike, especially if you are a member of a mountain biking club.

Running the American Tobacco Trail in South Durham County

2007-03-14T15:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday during lunch I took a 50 minute run down a part of the American Tobacco Trail that I hadn't been to yet: the 3 mile southern Durham stretch which goes from Massey Rd (just south of I-40) down past Scott King Rd (the picture below, from Wikipedia, is about halfway through this stretch). I remember that little fence because it struck me as odd to have this fence out in the middle of this "natural" part of the trail. Overall there is a lot of great scenery in this area, and it made for quite a relaxing run.

This part of the trail itself is great, in fact parts of it are amoung my favorite parts of the trail (that I have seen so far). One complaint is that several parts of this stretch of trail have large (ie, bigger than golf ball sized) gravel. That seems potentially dangerous to me as a runner, should I land on one the wrong way. I understand this part of the trail is under a re-construction plan right now so hopefully they will be using a fine gravel next time like they have in the Wake County parts of the trail. Surely they will also add mile markers.

There is a parking area close to Fayetteville Rd, but it is roped off right now for some reason. I found plenty of roadside parking on both Massey Rd and Scott King Rd.

My next short term running goals for this spring:

1. Run this southern Durham part of trail down to Chatham County line (I didn't realize how close I was yesterday time when I turned around after 25 min).

2. Run 7 miles for the first time. I will probably combine these goals into one: 3 miles down, 3 miles back, and then a little half mile up and back loop. Since there are no mile markers here I will have to do the last mile by time.

A longer term goal for the year 2007: A 12 mile run (half-marathon).

I am NOT smarter than a 5th grader

2007-02-27T22:20:00.000-05:00

Tonight on Fox was the premiere of "Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?". You know I couldn't resist it, not to prove that I am smarter than the 5th graders but to laugh at all the stupid adults. Unfortunately it didn't work out so well for me.

It also didn't work out so well for the show, which will never be a success because the pace was so slow they only asked 6 questions in the entire half hour show! Stupid. Anyway, here are the questions (and my score).

In what month is Columbus day? Wrong.
T or F: Polar bears typically feed on penguins Correct.
If a triangle has an area of 16 inches, and a base of 8 inches, how long is its height? Wrong (yes, I was a math major).
Who was the first US president to be impeached? Correct.
Name the ship the pilgrims sailed from Plymouth, England, to the Plymouth colony in America in 1620. Wrong (no excuse).
What does REM stand for? Correct.

My total: 3/6. Definitely NOT smarter than a 5th grader.

This is your brain on fun, late night weekends

2007-02-23T16:43:00.000-05:00

After a hard week at work, my brain turns off for the weekend.

...But I like to start my weekends early (say, on Wednesday).

Of course, after the weekend is over, my brain is a little slow to turn back on, so Mondays are kinda tough.

So I guess Tuesday is my only actual productive day of the week.

Hidden musical gem

2007-02-23T00:53:00.000-05:00

I've posted before about Damien Rice. I first discovered his music when I was watching the movie "Closer" and this song in the movie was just so...hypnotic...I was just shocked and amazed at how captivating it was.

His music made another surprise appearance tonight in Grey's Anatomy. Unless you're one of those people who only likes certain genre's of music, regardless of its quality - you'll love Damien Rice. His music would probably be categorized as "folk" just because he doesn't really fit anywhere else, but really his taste seems to be all over the map. Mostly his songs are very slow, soulful, and relaxing. There's only one other artist/band that can relax me more, and that is Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon.

I just bought Damien's most recent cd on Amazon a couple week's ago. That makes two that I own: "O" and "9". I like "O" more, but both of these CDs are fab.

The worst smells ever

2007-02-19T21:24:00.000-05:00

In all my life, I can only think of two smells that I literally could not get out of my nose. Even after leaving the source of the smell (or after the source of the smell left me), it had already invaded my my body and clothing and would not go away for several minutes.

One of those smells was this dude's breath. I know it sounds like I might be exaggerating, but believe me I'm not. The first time I smelled it I gagged in shock. Luckily I only had to deal with that a couple of times. If I ever have breath that bad I hope someone tells me.

The second smell I experienced tonight, but I've come across it many times before: that unmistakable mosh-pit of dozens of different kinds of mens deodorant combined with B.O. that over time has been absorbed into every grain of wood, and every pore in the paint of mens locker rooms everywhere. After I left the gym tonight, got into my truck, and was halfway through the parking lot I could still smell it. Ugh!

Wii have a problem

2007-02-05T17:57:00.000-05:00

Well, *we* don't have a problem, but I do - it looks like I might get re-addicted to video games again since my friend James snagged me a Nintendo Wii. Cool! I never have been a huge gamer, although back in college I could kick your ass at some mario kart on nintendo 64 (I know a bunch of you just said "yeah right" in your heads, but seriously, you'd have had no shot against me back then. I mean it. Really.), and I was a Team Fortress/Counterstrike addict for a few months.

Now if I can just avoid destroying my wonderful beautiful tv like these people at wiihaveaproblem!

Chili with beef and veggies

2007-02-01T16:49:00.000-05:00

Brown 2 lbs of ground beef (I use lean) or turkey, stir in 1 chili spice packet (I used mcCormicks but there are tons of different kinds, also I use less than the packet recipe calls for, it calls for 1 packet per 1 lb of beef) and 2 regular 15oz or whatever cans of hunts tomato sauce and two regular cans of light red kidney beans. Bring that to a boil and then simmer for 10 mins. Then throw in 1 large chopped onion, about 2 cups of frozen corn kernels, 1 package of fresh sliced mushrooms, pieces from 1 large broc crown, and however much pepper you like. I prefer cayenne and a lot of it, but I'm a heat freak. :)

I let that cook on med-low for a half hour or so while I cleaned out my fridge, but that part is optional. Hah!

Other options that I haven't tried yet:
red bell pepper
canned chipotles
12 oz beer or beef stock, cooked down
worcestershire sauce, cooked out
garlic
cellery
black beans (no need to drain)

Krispy Kreme Challenge

2007-01-25T20:51:00.000-05:00

If ever a "Great American Race" there were - would this be it? The Krispy Kreme Challenge. The challenge is a run from the NC State belltower to the Krispy Kreme on peace streat, where each participant must eat 1 dozen doughnuts, and then run back to the belltower - in less than an hour. A total of four miles.

I wonder what is the record for the most puke in a 2 mile stretch of road?

So far 800 doughnut loving people who can still run 4 miles have signed up. Proceeds benefit NC Childrens Promise. Neat.

I've been pre-qualified!

2007-01-22T19:19:00.000-05:00

I am so awesome. I am so awesome that big companies all over the country are desperate for me. You know those bags that they give to celebrities at awards shows that are worth like $10000? Thats nothing. Jessica Simpson's gift bag has nothing on what I get in my mailbox every week. For example, just in the last couple days I received the following invaluable free gifts:

- A check for $6000 from Bank Of America. Yes, I do have to pay it back, but its at the low low rate of 24.7 percent interest.

- A free plastic phone complete with service outages from Alltel Mobile.

- $129 from BellSouth just for signing up for their phone, internet, and mobile service!

- 6 pounds of yellow paper bound together in one large yellow book complete with millions of phone number listings that I will never need.

- An offer to save hundreds of dollars a year with a new mortgage at a fabulous new rate only a few points above my current rate.

- A check for $8000 from Capital One. Again, I do have to pay this one back, but they gave me a great deal on the interest rate.

I'm expecting to start receiving letters in my mailbox from a wealthy nigerian who needs help retrieving millions of dollars.

$10,000 worth of Pizza

2007-01-22T19:16:00.000-05:00

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition is a great television show, IMO. Papa John's pizza is tasty pizza, IMO. But the two should not mix.

I find it kind of odd that they decided to give away $10,000 worth of free greasy pizza to a bunch of poor children. They already struggle to make ends meet, now you fill them full of trans-saturated fats and cholesterol for a full year. Good thinkin'.

Sony: NOT a software company

2007-01-07T16:13:00.001-05:00

Sony, let's face it, you're not a software company. We all loved your VCR's back in the day...but the software on them sucked. We all love your DVD players, but the software on them sucked for years. Then at some point presumably you hired a software usability guy and things slowly improved. Sort of, at least. I don't want to get out of control with compliments about it though, because it still sucks.

I'm pretty sure that Sony knows they're not a software company. We all know where their expertise lies. So, with that in mind, I have a simple question. Why is it so freaking hard to find an mp3 player (not just Sony, but any brand) that doesn't suck?

The intelligent side of my brain said to me, "Woah woah woah, don't buy that Sony mp3 player...don't you remember the whole rootkit fiasko?". But...the stronger, more childlike and excitable fun side of my brain said, "Ah, they suffered enough embarassment, this one is probably a good product. After all, Sony used to be a respected name." So...I took the plunge...into a big cesspool of stinky Sony sewage.

All I ask for is an mp3 player that:

1. Is light, so I can run with it
2. Is reliable, so it doesn't break down after 2 months
3. Respects my privacy, and doesn't install viruses on my computer
4. Is smart, so I don't to have to install 8000 software applications on my PC just to be able to put songs on it.
5. Plays mp3-s.

Sony now has strugged over the hill to get past criterion number 3. Unfortunately they haven't figured out number 4 yet, apparently. Even more incredibly, this product didn't even give me number 5. Can you believe that? Yes, you read correctly. This is an mp3 player that doesn't play mp3 files. Yes, you can give an mp3 file to their required music player and transfer it to the mp3 player device itself, but in that process they transform the mp3 into another format. So I can't just manually copy mp3's onto my device. Ugh! Get real!

To Sony: I already have a media player application, thank you very much. I don't need yours. I don't want yours. But you, in your infinite wisdom, have decided to force me to. Well, at least I don't have your widespread rootkit crap hiding on my machine. As for forcing me to use your crappy music player on my desktop just so I can use your mp3 players when I run - screw you. Thats one more Sony product back on the shelf.

Peak City Grill - again

2006-12-30T23:59:00.000-05:00

I hit the Peak City Grill again tonight for a quick dinner. This time I was looking forward to watching the football game so I just got a burger and a couple beers. The burger, no kidding, was the best burger I've had in a long, long time. WOW.

As for the football, unfortunately both the teams I was rooting for tonight lost - the Redskins lost AND Virginia Tech lost. Ugh. Maybe the Panthers will have better luck tomorrow.

Now I'm sitting here watching Giada De Laurentiis on the Food network. Good grief that is one hot woman. :D

Women...

2006-12-19T11:14:00.000-05:00

Speaking in general, of course...

can't drive.
drive too fast.
do their makeup while they drive.
can't control their emotions.
can't say what they want.
if they do, by some miracle, manage to say what they want - they don't mean it.
hold grudges.
take too long getting ready.
are always late.

UPDATE: Except Marian. :)

But I do think they're smarter than men. Plus they're hot.

Is your refridgerator running?

2006-12-14T14:35:00.000-05:00

Mine's not. When I got home Sunday afternoon everything in my freezer was room temperature. Woohoo! The bright side is that my fridge/freezer are both quite clean now. Maybe I'll lose a few pounds, too.

I get more excited about food than anybody I know, so I will have to get that thing back up and running soon or jack will be a dull boy.

I just went to Harris Teeter to pick up a quick lunch. I went to the bakery and grabbed a loaf of fresh bread and also got some chicken salad. I'm telling you right now, this La Brea Bakery bread that Harris Teeter carries is awesome. This is the second time I've had it - once I got the organic whole wheat, this time I got rosemary olive oil. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I could just eat the bread by itself (ok, actually I did eat several slices just plain).

OMG this is the funniest thing ever: telemarker prank

2006-11-21T15:50:00.000-05:00

http://howtoprankatelemarketer.ytmnd.com/

We get high in back seats of cars...

2006-11-20T22:54:00.000-05:00

Recently several of my favorite things have come together...

"A Night at the Roxbury" was briefly talked about on the supersized episode of "The Office". I love that show, and I love that movie (Will Ferrell and Chris Kattan crack me up)!

I was also recently watching cars, and was surprised to hear Tom and Ray Magliozzi as the voices of the Rust-eze brothers. Tom and Ray are the guys from the radio show "Car Talk", which you can hear on NPR. I know what you might be thinking: "Car talk? Are you kidding me?" But seriously - even if you don't know anything about cars, don't want to know anything about cars, and even if you don't DRIVE a car - Tom and Ray are HILARIOUS. If you're ever listening to the radio on a Sat or Sunday afternoon tune in to their show on NPR and you will not regret it.

This past week's episode of CSI NY featured music by Damien Rice.

The movie "Stranger Than Fiction", starring Will Ferrell, opened with an instrumental of the song "The Way We Get By" (the first line of the song is "we get high in back seats of cars"), by Spoon. Good movie too, by the way. :)

And no, I dont watch much tv or movies. :P

Who dunnit? Who is the office Diet Coke bandit?

2006-11-20T22:44:00.001-05:00

In my office there is a Diet Coke bandit. A mischievous scoundrel who will drink the last Diet Coke in the fridge without putting another 6 or 12 cans in to cool.

I'm obviously not the bandit. G, O and Er are not the bandit because they were out of town at the time of several incidents. J is not the bandit, because I happen to know that he drinks Diet Pepsi almost exclusively, plus he is helping me with this investigation. H always drinks some freaky flavored or mineral waters. S is ruled out because I see everything he drinks.

That leaves just 7 suspects: An, Am, T, M, Chr, Cha, and E.

An is always considerate.
T, M, and E, I have no clue.
Am and Chr are quiet and sneaky, like ninjas, these are two of the prime suspects.
Cha is always forgetful, and is one of the prime suspects.

More clues to follow, or submit your own. :)

5k's

2006-11-19T10:11:00.000-05:00

Sept 9, Run for Life in Raleigh - 28:21
(btw - I'm pro-choice, I didn't realize what this race was for when I signed up)

Oct 1, Second Empire Classic 5k in Raleigh - 28:07

Nov 18, Apex Turkey Trot - 27:51

Dec 9, Reindeer Romp in Charlotte - 46:01.
(Yes, you read that right. I tied with my soon to be 9 year old niece!)

If I worked at McDonalds...

2006-11-14T21:23:00.000-05:00

There's a guy I work with that talks to me like I'm the biggest moron he's ever met. Sadly, I happen to think he's a few cards short of a full deck himself. If we worked at McDonalds, here's how a conversation between the two of us might go:

Me: Guy, a customer is complaining that there were no pickles on his Big Mac.

Guy: No pickles? You sure?

Me: Well, let me see...

[I pick up a freshly made Big Mac...]

Me: Yup, no pickles on this one either.

Guy: You sure?

Me: Yes, look...see for yourself.

Guy: Well, let me explain. Are you familiar with ... have you ever had a Big Mac?

Me: ... Yes, I've had a Big Mac. And I'm also aware of the fact that it consists of two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun.

Guy: Uh huh...Well, why don't you just leave this to the big boys, ok? I'll take a look at it and get back to you later.

[3 hours later]

Guy: Hey...you know what the problem with that Big Mac was?

Me: Uh, yeah...there were no pickles!

Guy: Well, not exactly. See what it really is - is brined cucumber.

Grilled Cheese has no personality

2006-11-11T12:29:00.000-05:00

Plain old grilled Cheese has no personality. It needs something extra to give it a kick in the pants to make it worthy of being eaten. Some horseradish cheddar does the trick for me. But if you really want to bring your grilled cheese sandwich to life, throw a layer of jalepenos and ground black pepper in the middle of the cheese. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Running in November

2006-11-11T12:23:00.000-05:00

Wow, what weather. I don't know if more perfect weather exists than what we had today. Today in the 75+ degree temp I went for a run. I set a new personal distance record of 6 (slow) miles, and it felt great!

My goal was 4 miles. At 3.5 I decided to make it 5. At 4 I decided to go for 6! When I hit 5 miles, which I've only done a few times before, I wasn't sure if I could make it another mile, but I was determined.

Now I just have to be able to run 4 times as far as I did today and I'll be blogging about my first marathon!