Just a short post today. I found out that a bunch of jobs are being off shored in a fairly short time. Mine, however, is safe for at least a month…
If you, or anyone you know, is looking to hire a Unix/Linux geek, I’m looking.
My other interests include general computer stuff, music, reading, sci-fi, fantasy, motorcycles, and bicycling.
It’d be cool if I could match something from that list to the Unix/Linux thing.
Posted in Self Discovery | Leave a Comment »
Amy decided that I was going to make chili tonight. We stopped by the store a few days ago and bought a bunch of ingredients. MMMmmmm!
Here’s a quick sample of what goes into my particular kind of chili 
First is buffalo. Mmm! In the pan you go!
Decided to add a little red bell pepper. Sometimes I do a jalapeño, but this time I wanted to not make it too hot…
I only recently started adding tomatillos to my chili. I like the added flavor and texture they give. But I’m also a big fan of salsa verde 
In the pot it all goes! Let see, there’s sweet onion and portobello mushroom in there too!
Just a few of the spices I like to add
This parts getting close… Time to start opening cans!
Let’s see… 3 kinds of beans… olives… diced italian tomatoes… Ready for the pot!
Oh yes, and don’t forget the left over steak from 2 nights ago. Which we had for dinner just so we would have some left over for chili
All stirred up! Just let it cook for a bit together and it’s feast time!
NOM NOM NOM!
Posted in Food | Tagged chili, food | 1 Comment »
One thing most people learn when riding a motorcycle is that you can’t really think about anything else while you’re doing it. You have to watch for “cagers” trying to kill you, bicycle riders trying to kill themselves by swerving in to you, unseen gravel on corners, and squirrels, hawks, dogs, cats, and other various wildlife who think you might be food.
And yet for all these things you have to think about, riding the motorcycle is one of the most relaxing activities I’ve ever done. I think it comes down to being forced into a kind of meditative state while riding. You can’t really think about anything OTHER than riding the bike. If you get distracted, you might miss something literally coming your way!
On Wednesday, I was felling a little out of sorts. I decided to go for a nice long ride home from work:
It was a really nice peaceful ride. The only traffic I hit was going down Novelty Hill Road. And that’s okay, because it’s pretty steep, so I don’t go down it very fast anyway.
There were a ton of motorcycles and bicycles out. There was lots of waving and generally having a good time. The roads were clear of gravel and branches.
I made a few stops, but only took one picture.
This is the Tolt Road bridge. It’s just south of Carnation. They just finished the bridge last year, but as you can see are still working on the landscaping around the area. I can’t wait till they’re done, as it would be a nice challenging bicycle ride.
I also saw a bald eagle just north of Carnation sitting in an old snag about 30 feet above the road. It kind of surprised me because no one was slowing down to look at it
I finally got home and put the bike away, relaxed and ready for the evening.
Posted in Motorcycles, Tour | Tagged meditation, motorcycle, tour | Leave a Comment »
On May 4th, I was working out with my trainer, Cathy, when I mentioned that one of my goals was to ride my bike to training some day. I said someday because I was thinking about the hills between Redmond and Bellevue and how much work it would be just to get to the gym.
Cathy said the best way was probably to take the 520 bike trail most of the way to the gym. This bike trail runs along the north side of 520 from just about the 520/405 interchange in Bellevue all the way to Redmond. I’ve been on part of the trail before when I use to commute by bike/bus to downtown Seattle.
On the way home from Seattle, I would sometimes get dropped off early at either the 40th or 51st Street exit. Then, I’d ride DOWN the hill into Redmond. This hill is so steep, I would sometimes beat the bus into Redmond when the bus was on the freeway…
Thinking about trying to ride my bike back UP that hill gave me pause. Would I even be able to do it?
On May 8th, Amy left early in the morning for her triathlon training. I was thinking about the Sounders game I was going to later in the afternoon and trying to decide what exercise I should get for the day. I was suddenly sized by inspiration, hopped on my bicycle, and headed for the dreaded 520 hill.
The first part of the hill is the steepest part. After a few hundred feet, the incline slightly lessens to only nearly impossible till you get the to 51st street. After that, there’s a slight down hill followed by a slightly more gradual climb to 40th.
The first and steepest part of the climb went pretty good, as I had warmed up and was on fresh legs. By the time I got about half way up the hill, my legs were burning and I was having some trouble controlling my breathing. But I didn’t stop! Finally, I managed to make it to 51st. I leaned up against the light pole to catch my breath and drink some water.
A minute later, a pair of bikers came up behind me on the hill and stopped to wait for the light to cross the street. After eyeing me for a minute to make sure they didn’t need to call me an ambulance, one of them said “Nice day for a ride!”
I smiled and said “Yep. First time up the hill for me.”
The biker that spoke before smiled, the light changed, and they continued on up the trail while I waited a bit longer to catch my breath.
I continued on to 40th, thinking I was up the hill and would have a pretty easy ride. After a short down hill, the path started going up again. While not as steep, my legs were almost done. I think this part of the ride was almost as hard as the steeper climb to 51st.
I finally made it to 51st and crossed a bridge over 520. A mostly flat, slow ride up 156th past Microsoft helped my legs recover. I then turned down Bel-Red Road for the most fun part of the ride.
Bel-Red Road is a nice, LONG, downhill with only a few lights and not much traffic that early on a Saturday. I managed to get up to almost 35 mph before the road merged with the flat West Lake Sammamish Road. I then followed this to Marry Moore Park.
At the park, I was planning on jumping on the Sammamish River Trail and heading home. However, I had forgotten that the trail is closed for construction under 520. I decided at that point to ride through the park and loop around another trail behind Redmond Town Center that reconnects to the river trail.
A short time later, I made it home after one of the hardest bicycle rides I’ve ever done. And I’ve found another great hill for training for climbs!
Total Time – 1 hour
Distance – 12 miles
Posted in Athletics, Bicycle, Training | Tagged bicycle, exercise, hills, training | 1 Comment »
On Friday, I went to a little event with some friends and my wife called “w00tstock 2.0″.
Some of you already know what that is. For those that don’t, check out this link. I’ll wait.
w00tstock is basically a variety show for geeks. It’s a collaboration between Paul and Storm, Wil Wheaton, and Adam Savage. They invite a bunch of guest performers and put on a show. And what a show!
First, Wil Wheaton came out to talk to us about w00tstock. It was both inspiring and hilarious. Not only is he a great writer and actor, he’s also leveling VERY rapidly in speech.
Yes, that’s a picture of a cat peaking out of a ceiling. It’s ceiling cat! From I Can Has Cheeseburger!
Next up was Paul and Storm. They have a great act. Some of it I’ve heard before when they opened for Jonathan Coultan. If you go to see them, remember to bring some panties to throw at them.
The drummer is Jason Finn. You may have heard him play for the “Presidents of the United States of America”, a local Seattle band.
Molly Lewis is a well known YouTube artist. She can do some amazing things with a Ukulele. Her song about Wikipedia is nothing but FACT!
Hank Green had played one of my favorite songs of the evening. It was a song about quarks. You know, those tiny particles that make up atoms?
Wil Wheaton came out a little later in his “recursive Wil” shirt. There’s an animated version here.
I’ve seen many of these people before. Some of the acts were the same, but there was lots of new material. And I never tire of Paul and Storms “Opening Act” song.
The next person who I was really excited to see I had never seen before. Adam Savage from Myth Busters. He is a funny man. And I would LOVE to see Myth Busters unedited. If you get a chance, there’s a Myth Busters show coming up where they try to bust a myth about a super long slip and slide off a jump into a pool. He showed us some unedited clips from the show. I can’t tell you how hard I laughed when I heard the f-bomb as Adam Savage flew through the air… But you’ll just have to imagine it when you watch the edited episode.
The last song featured Wil Wheaton, Paul and Storm, and Adam Savage. It was the Pirate song. ARRRR!
And with that the show was over. Was it enough to tide me over till PAX? I guess we’ll see. At least I have Wil’s Radio Free Burito pod casts.
Posted in Music | Tagged adam savage, geek, paul and storm, w00tstock, wil wheaton | Leave a Comment »
I’ll be removing some of my test posts shortly. I’m trying to decide if I should import some of my old blogger posts. Not sure yet…
I’ll probably go through my old posts and just move some of them over. I’m sure there’s some old test posts I can remove from there also.
Posted in Blogging, Computers | Tagged blogging, setup, wordpress | Leave a Comment »
Okay, I’ve decided on this theme. I see why it is the most popular.
On one hand, I like the idea of being different. Choosing the “most popular” theme is hard for me.
However, of all the free themes, this is the one I like the most. I’ll probably pay for the custom CSS option soon, though, so this shouldn’t be a problem. I really like the theme of Whatever, but might feel bad if I mimic it exactly. I really like simplicity.
Posted in Blogging, Computers | Tagged blogging, setup, themes, wordpress | Leave a Comment »
