test run for new GPS

Now that I’m starting to become a roadie it was time to get a computer for my bike. I was at Hudson Trails getting new hiking boots and I started talking to the bike guy. I asked about the GPS computers being the mobile computing guy that I am. He was keen on the Garmin Edge 705. It is a pretty sweet little thing. Color screen, wireless heart monitor, nice GPS receiver, waterproof, and of course it can all be uploaded and stored on my computer. It comes with more than one mount so I can swap it between road and mt bike. I can also take it on my upcoming kayaking trip.

I took it on my first test run. I was a bit worried about the accuracy of the speed and GPS route. It seemed to work pretty well in Arlington. I got street maps and topo for all national parks off the internet. I need to get Michigan lakes for my kayaking trip. Garmin has a site to post your data. See my first test run. If you hit the “player” button on the top right you can see the trip move along on the map with speed, elevation, and heart rate showing in real time. Looking forward to increasing my speed and working the heart.

It was my first ride since I broke my collar bone. It hasn't bothered me for awhile. Although I still feel it when I sleep on it. And the separation in the bone is still very apparent to the touch. But I think it is good to go.

UPDATE: Eileen and I met up for a ride and did the Arlington loop on the bike trails. I finally have some stats and base data for that loop. Eileen was on a hybrid and its my first real ride all summer. The calorie info on my device is way off. Here are our impressive stats:

Time 1:08.27

Distance 15.60 miles

Elevation Gain 674 ft

Elevation Loss 773 ft

Avg Speed 13.7 mph

Max Speed 25.7 mph

Avg HR 144 bpm

Max HR 163 bpm

Link to ride data. The first lap was the ride to meet Eileen at the trail head. The second lap is the loop. And the third lap is the ride back from the loop. I'll do some serious damage to those numbers before the season is out.

Phish: relivin' the old days

It was a weekend of indulgence and reliving the good ol’ days. Not sure how good those days are for me today. I couldn’t digest half the level of intoxicants in my system on an average Saturday while a sophomore in high school. Unfortunately I wasn’t feeling so well and I didn’t even take many legal intoxicants.

Brett arrived on Friday night with his friend Fudge a bit late after a few detours. I was hoping to go to the Hackensaw Boys show at the State Theatre but that wasn’t able to happen. Matt came in town and we hit IOTA. The band had already stopped playing. After that place emptied out we hit Ragtimes for last call. We stayed up for awhile playing euchre and drinking fine beer.

On Saturday we woke up to an alarm to get lunch and metro it out to MD. Matt was to pick us up and take us to the show. About the time we were going to go to lunch Matt called and bailed on the show. We also decided we didn’t need to be there when the gates opened and that gave us a few hours to kill. We hit Hell Burger for lunch and Brett and Fudge were thoroughly pleased. After a nap we hit the grocery store. Since Rocklands was right across the street we grabbed some more grub before the long night.

Thankfully we took 95 as 29 was backed up. We got the closest parking spot to the exit. Cops were out but we didn’t see any arrests. Although later I found out a friend’s car got surrounded by undercover cops. It was a very hot day. We walked around the lot while swillin’ a beer and I came across some nice hand-made belt buckles among other jewelry. The guy made jewelry out of silver and added various jewels to some. A lot of it had Grateful Dead symbols such as the Steal Your Face. They were nice unique hand-made sterling silver belt buckles. For $600 - $900. I’m starting to realize I got a good deal on my silver turquoise bear claw buckle (under $300) but I’m not ready to spend $600 just yet. There were lots of OU and Columbus people there that Brett knew. There weren’t any tickets available and a lot of people didn’t make it in.

I was a bit worried my paper tickets printed from the internet would work being that I bought them off a guy from the internet. He could have easily sold 20 of them. Thankfully the guy had a soul and we got in without issues. The place was packed. I think it was $8 for a 24oz of macro brew and $9 a 24oz for a few decent selections. We found a spot on the lawn hung out for the show. It was mostly new songs. But they did bust out a few classics. The Good Times Bad Times encore rocked. Setlist:

1: Crowd Control, Kill Devil Falls, The Sloth, Beauty Of A Broken Heart, Axilla I, Foam, Esther, Ha Ha Ha, Party Time, Tube, Stealing Time From The Faulty Plan, Strange Design, Time Turns Elastic

2: Tweezer > Taste, Alaska, Let Me Lie, 46 Days, Oh! Sweet Nuthin', Harry Hood

E: Good Times Bad Times, Tweezer Reprise

Right after the show we saw four big buses leave with a police escort. We spotted Trey with some chick in one; Mike was visible in another. We boogied back to Arlington to grab some food. None of us were in the mood for veggie burritos. DC was noticeably lacking people over the weekend due to congress being out on summer break. All the lawyers, lobbyists, and aides are back home or on vacation.

On Sunday we woke up late and got crabs at the Quarterdeck. I took Brett there a couple years ago when he was in town and he was looking forward to hitting it again. We dug in to the all-you-can-eat for awhile. None of us where in the mood for beers. It was 4:00 by the time Brett and Fudge got on the road back to Columbus. Hopefully they didn’t take as many detours on the way home.

a day of culinary delight

For lunch Sonny and I hit Rocklands. It’s not within walking distance so I don’t go there that often. The blue plate special was a stacked BBQ pork sandwich with onion rings on top. I had some mac & cheese and fried okra as sides. It was damn delicious. Best BBQ around.

For dinner I hit Hell Burger. ‘Nuff said.

It was a satisfying day for the palate. I love fresh flesh properly seasoned and grilled over an open flame!

Billy Goat Trail (B loop)

Shree and I hit C&O Park again this weekend. We did the A loop of the Billy Goat Trail last time. This time we hit the B loop. The A loop is pretty rocky; lots of scrambling up and down. The B loop was quite mild in comparison. It is just a few tenths of a mile shorter but we cruised through it in less than half the time. It was quite the sweltering day though. It was a sweat in the shade type of day. The terrain was a bit different as well. The A loop has a gorge-like river bank throughout that is popular for rock climbing. The B loop had some good scenery but not quite the straight up rock face that is on the A loop. We saw a fraction of the people as well. No broken bones or evacatutions this time. We didn’t see really any wildlife on the trail except a small lizard. Once we got back on the tow path we say a doe, fawn, turtles, and a blue herring.

pics

women shed

I haven't been in a serious relationship since Kirby left for Colombia in January yet I have easily picked up over 100 strands of long hair in my apartment this summer. I used to have long hair so I understand, but it's never ending. It is hard to imagine that much hair gets replaced and we don't go bald.

It is best that you date women with the same color hair so you don't get in trouble.

new phone?

I think this will be my new phone. I'm way overdue; I've had mine since Janurary of 2008. The new phone is HTC's Touch Diamond 2. I assumed Verizon wouldn't get it for another year or so because it took them so long to get the first version. Verizon will call it the Whitestone or XV6975. It is not supposed to be out until September/October. Which means hopefully October.

Specs:

• WM6.1 (no WM6.5 on launch?)
• Qualcomm 7600 @ 528MHz
• 512MB ROM/256MB RAM
• 3.6-inch WVGA touchscreen
• 5-megapixel autofocus camera/Anti-handshaking
• gpsOne (aGPS and full GPS)
• GSM/CDMA World phone

I'm a lucky guy though. Just like with my current phone I expect to have one in my hands before it is out on the market. Through work I had my current XV6800 a month or two before it hit stores. I hope to have this new one in my hands in the next week or two. Looking forward to testing the virtual keyboard as I'm used to a full keyboard. It is fun to go in the Verizon store and watch them freak out when they see something many of them aren't even aware exists.

We'll see.

UPDATE: Apparently it is the Touch Pro 2, not the Touch Diamond 2, that I will be getting my hands on before the official release. The Touch Pro is the same thing but with a full keyboard. I'm a bit disappointed because I wanted to test the virtual keyboard. But I assume they will both be released about the same time so either way I hope to be purchasing one of them. It is still a sweet phone.

this ain’t no cheap beer

Being a beer geek isn’t the cheapest hobby in the world. For one, you are continually tasting these fine brews and therefore have to constantly replace them. There is so much good beer out there that is the easy part. But I ain’t buyin’ no 30 pack of Bud for $20. These beers have expensive ingredients, are made by hand, and are often aged. Most beers are a great deal compared to wine. You can buy the best beers in the world for $15 or $20 a 750ml bottle. Winos consider $15 damn cheap. So put in perspective it’s not all bad.

On this day I spent $40 on six bottles. Six fine bottles of course:

Stone - Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale 22oz bomber for $7.99

Port Brewing / De Proef Brouweru - Brewmaster's Collaboration Signature Ale 22oz bomber for $14.99

Dogfish Head - Burton Baton 4 pack for $16.49

The Burton Baton is a very fine brew. I’m getting away from the IPAs but this oak aged specimen is a dandy. I’ve only had the Stone Sublimely Self-Righteous once or twice. Looking forward to another taste. The Port / De Proef Brouweru collaboration is a good find. You can’t get any Port Brewery beers out this way. The bottle says it combines the American hopping techniques with the traditional Belgian yeast flavor. Mmmm yum! I think I read that De Proef is collaborating with Bell’s Brewery this year.

My current beer stock

On a side note, I sat next to a MillerCoors employee on my flight out to Boise. This dude was hardcore Coors. He was telling me about the Molson-Coors merger and the current market. He was diving in to consumer and industry stats on the plane. He said Corona has taken a huge dive. Blue Moon is still doing well. Apparently Coors has picked up big time over Miller in the midwest. He attributed this to marketing and Coors finally investing in the region.

hangin’ with the bigwigs; and David Grisman

On Thursday I flew to Boise for a workshop put on for the CIOs of the various land management agencies. The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and others were represented. They originally got together to solve the issue of radio interoperability but have been looking at other areas as well. Since I work for an Assistant Director of the Forest Service CIO it was pretty important to us to make a presence. Especially since we are about to bid on a large contract to manage all the wildland fire IT applications. The event took place at the National Interagency Fire Center.

The night before I found the one 24 hour Kinkos in Boise and got some posters printed for our booth backdrop. It happened to be right next door to the Tablerock brewpub. I’ve been there once before. They had decent beer; nothing unique. I was about the only one there hanging with the employees on a late Thursday. Walking out some kid was giving me a parking ticket. I started asking him questions about how he was using his phone to create the ticket and then had it printed wirelessly on the mobile printer around his neck. He decided not to give me that ticket afterall.

We took part in a conference style workshop on Friday afternoon. Each of the projects that were invited had a booth with gadgets to show how they support the wildland fire effort. We took over the front of the room and had eye catching intel data displayed in Google Earth on a large screen. We made a good impression on the bigwigs. I got some key face time with top decision makers. The most significant was probably Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia. He is the CIO of the Department of Interior and has strong ties to the White House.

As luck would have it David Grisman was playing that night in downtown. He tours constantly (for many decades) and I usually see him about once year. Although lately I haven’t seen him in awhile and was looking forward to some Friday night fun. I picked up a ticket from someone who had an extra. It was a small nice theater downtown that fit less than 800. It was a good show. Although they only played one set and they always play two sets at the Birchmere. They did rock though. A fun crowd too. The beer was local and cheap as well.

When I walked out in to the streets of downtown Boise at 11pm it was rockin’. Unfortunately I was not staying downtown and had to drive back to the hotel. Next time I’ll be staying downtown on the weekends.

And then on the way home I got lucky. I had a nice big exit row and a first class seat on my way in to Boise. My first flight out of Boise to Salt Lake City was only 40 minutes and there wasn’t a first class section. The Salt Lake City airport was packed yesterday. Flights were overbooked. I saw the FS CTO at the ticket counter and apparently he didn’t make it on my flight. I was not looking forward to a four hour flight in coach as I had not gotten an upgrade to first class. Delta came through for me though and when I handed the lady my ticket to board a new seat assignment was printed and I was relaxing in first class. As we took off I heard a baby screaming in the back. I sat in my spacious seat, ate my free lunch, and had a free bloody mary before sleeping peacefully most of the flight.