erg/home/wtf.htm

Danger!

2010-04-05T16:26:00.002-04:00

I had a link explode at the top of the hill on sunday's ride. The chain snapped and then wrapped itself around the rear cog and locked up the rear wheel. Luckily I wasnt moving very fast when this happened.

Photo by Alex Juwong:

Game Time

2010-03-23T21:49:00.004-04:00

Belgian beer to my door

2010-03-13T10:37:00.001-05:00

This should make biking this summer easier

2010-03-12T19:34:00.002-05:00

What to do with 180 plastic army men?

2010-01-21T09:51:00.002-05:00

They come in packs of 180. Photo set here.

traffic

2009-11-25T00:24:00.001-05:00

It took a really really long time to get home today.

New Phone

2009-11-18T10:24:00.002-05:00

Last Saturday we went on a 20+ mile ride in and around downtown Detroit. I snaped this picture using my new phone, a Motorola Droid. The Droid has a 5MP camera built in, and takes amazing pictures when the lighting is perfect (in low light or indoors forget it).

So far so good with the phone. Today I listened to (with great success) Pandora radio on my way in to work, which i streamed from my phone into the AUX input on the cars radio. Tomorrow... who knows.

Can I Get a Fork?

2009-11-13T13:55:00.003-05:00

I've been cheating on erg/home with another blog. Can I get a Fork was started in the beginning of November. It's a food blog.

Lisa and I had been talking about starting a food blog for a while, and in the beginning she was just doing her thing on her blog. We had talked about starting a new one where we were both setup as authors. Originally my contribution was going to be minimal and Lisa was going to do her nutrition thing, talk about, and analyze the food we cook at the house.

It was supposed to be geared more towards vegetarian cooking and help motivate us to cook at home and eat out less often.

Well, we told Matt about it and he got really excited and wanted to be a part of it. So now, the subject is everything food. Whether Lisa gets technical on some nutritional information, someone has something good at a restaurant, someone wants to post a recipe, someone cooks something good (or bad) at the house, anything goes.

The end result is, I don't know where this blog is headed but I think the contrast of Matt's I don't like vegetables, "I've don't think I've had avocado before" reluctance to try new food, Lisa's technical incite, my quest to find good mexican food in Michigan, and the continuing input we're getting by adding additional authors should keep it fresh. That said consider this an open invite to any one interested in contributing.

Moving In

2009-10-07T23:36:00.007-04:00

Slowly but surely Lisa and I are unpacking a few boxes everyday. Today I found the boxes that had the paintings/posters in it!

Also, I put the bed frame together, so now we're back off the floor.

First Night in Ferndale

2009-10-01T08:12:00.006-04:00

We moved to Ferndale. Last night was the first night at the new house.

Last Sunday I posted this picture on the local message board in an attempt to in list friends to help us move. It was quickly pointed out, that I was almost out of tape. As the picture suggests, I was already a few beers in and wasn't feeling a drive to Home Depot.

I figured I'd call for pizza delivery, sober up, and then make a tape run. Problem was it was 10:30, and the pizza places don't open till 11.

"Jimmy Johns is open, and does deliver" I thought!

JJ: "Thank you for calling Jimmie Johns, how can I help you?"
R: "Hey, what's up?"
JJ: "Not much, what can i get for you?"
R: "How 'bout a #12... Jalapeno chips, and an .... an ice tea."
JJ: "You got it, anything else?"
R: "well, this is this one thing... "
JJ: "what's that?"
R: "I appear to be low on packing tape, you see we're in the middle of moving."
JJ: "Sorry, sir we dont sell tape."
R: "You dont have any in back?"
JJ: "No, sorry sir."
R: "That's all right - it was a long snot."

So the delivery guy (chick) gets here and low and behold... she's got packing tape with her!!! I pay for the sandwich. I pay for the tape. I tip the lady. Score!

The new hotness

2009-09-30T08:35:00.007-04:00

After tooling around on the velodrome, it became clear that the old Peugeot wasnt going to cut it. I picked up an actual track frame on ebay on the cheap and swapped over a few of the parts from the Peugeot to get it ridable.

Over the winter I'm going to be on the look out for parts so I can restore the Peugeot back to it's full glory.

Here she is:
The spec sheet:
'09 Bianchi Pista frame (59cm)
Chris King headset
Nitto Ultimate Ideal 2 120mm stem
Nitto drop bars w/ track grips
Origin 8 Pro Light carbon set post
Origin 8 Uno seat (from the Peugeot)
Origin 8 165mm cranks (from the Peugeot)
Tang 68x103 BB
41/15 gearing (from the Peugeot)
Eightinch Julian wheel set w/ formula hubs (from the Peugeot)

Raven, Meet Velodrome

2009-08-29T19:58:00.012-04:00

Imagine you're the kind of guy who loves whistling along to Otis Redding's Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay (who isn't?), and all of a sudden you come to find that the very dock that Redding wrote the song about is only 10 miles (give or take) from your house. Now you're thinking: "huh, maybe I should go over there and give wasting time a try... maybe do some whistling" and why wouldn't you - sounds like fun, right?

Maybe you're also into riding bikes. Maybe you've been riding a track/single speed conversion around for a while and have been thinking, if only there was a track around here - maybe I'd give it a try. Would you believe there is a velodrome less than 10 miles from my house? Why don't people tell me these things???

This morning Micah came over and we took a good ride on the fixies. The total trip was just under 23 miles, destination: the Velodrome at Bloomer Park... and maybe some lunch and a beer or two at Rochester Mills brewery along the way.

We were really hoping something was going to be going on at the velodrome; a race, some people practicing, but when we rolled up no one was around.

Cautiously (shit is steep) we made our way into the infield. The very center portion of the infield was paved. The only provision for bike storage were two long red bar sets to hang bikes by their seat, canopies were set up with chairs under them for the racers, and a low metal fence circled the inside of track.

At first the banked turns were extremely intimidating, standing at the base of the 44 degree sloped turns (it's like looking at a wall) your asking yourself, should I really do this?

Why not - starting out at the bottom of the track, building up speed and carefully venturing higher and higher around the turns, I was starting to get the hang of it. After a few times around I found my self leaning deeper into the turns and wishing for a taller gear to go faster. It was fun, really fun. I couldn't help but smile as I gasped for air and prayed for traction along the steepest part of the bank.

According to the track's website there's an intro to riding class. I'd really like to do this (not to mention it's free). Also, I really want to watch a race - and maybe someday participate in a race.

edit for video of intro to riding class: youtube

Clinton River Trail Ride

2009-08-11T23:24:00.003-04:00

Matt met me at my house and we rode south a few miles to meet up with the Clinton River Trail. We followed the trail all the way up into Rochester and stopped for a beer and a sandwich. Had two more beers and then rode home in the dark, this time, taking the more direct way. Here's the GPS.

Total Distance: 19.23 mi
Elevation Gain: 796 ft
Ave Speed: 12.6 mph
Max Speed: 25.0 mph

The Giant Slip and Slide

2009-08-10T08:47:00.003-04:00

Going down all at once was a bad idea. Everyone got up holding a leg, or a an elbow, or a forehead, ouch.

We made the slide out of 10'x25' 6mil vinyl sheeting, cutting it down the middle so that the slip and slide was 50' long, and staked it pointing down the slight grade in the back yard. It was a good time - and probably the only way I was able to survive the 92F/90% humidity.

More fixie pics

2009-08-09T12:49:00.003-04:00

Photo credit goes to Matt Denner.

This Morning Joe

2009-08-06T08:12:00.004-04:00

"Do you want me to make coffee?"
"I will not leave here with out coffee."
"Well, then I'm not making any." Lisa said, as she started to grind the beans.

Lisa has a way of being both endearing and difficult at the same time.

Down hill in traffic is scary

2009-08-04T20:04:00.008-04:00

I did just over 13 miles on the fixie today. My plan was to go all the way to Rochester Mills Brewery and take these awesome paved bike trails that parallel the roads in this area, but when the route I had planed out turned out to be a dirt road I detoured a little and then turned around.

The dirt road is marked in red above, and is part of a state wide bike trail system called "Rails to Trails." The 'X' marks the location of the brewery.

There was a lot of elevation to deal with. On one hand uphill is hard (single speed), on the other hand down hill is scary (no brakes), and down hill into traffic is even scarier (no brakes!).

When I got home Lisa thought the brewery was a great idea, so we ended up going after all. This time by car though. So here's some pic's from the brewery.

Hard time deciding?

They were out of IPA, so I got the Wit, so did Lisa.

Every time we go here it makes me want to build something with bricks.

My Fixie

2009-08-01T14:00:00.002-04:00

I've determined my bike is a 1977 UO8 Peogeot. I'm all done upgrading it now, lets go ride bikes!

E-Bay Irony

2009-07-27T11:30:00.004-04:00

I shit you not. Unable to find the seat I wanted on the shelves of my local bike store, I found the only one available online on ebay. Today I get the shipping information for the item I purchased and to my disbelief the freaking seller is my local bike store.

Detroit Alleycat

2009-07-27T10:40:00.004-04:00

Pictured left is my new obsession and the latest excuse for the lack of blog content here. It's a huge(double xl!) mid-70's Peogeot frame that I picked up for cheap on craigs list; I've ditched the old chrome wheels in favor of a pair Deep-V Eighthinch wheels and torn all the 10 speed and braking gear off. With the wheels came an Origin 8 fixed hub and black spokes. I've still got a few more goodies on order to spruce up the looks and further reduce the weight of the bike. As it stands now it's probably one of the lightest bike's I've ever owned.

I've been riding the fixed gear for about a week now and I absolutely love it. Emergency stops can get a little sketchy but otherwise it's a very relaxing ride - you get up to cruising speed and just ride.

Last night we met up with a couple other riders for the Detroit Alleycat bike race. An alleycat is kinda like a scavenger hunt on bikes - the theme for this one was Scatagories. We had a list of destinations around the city with a category and we had to ride to each destination to find the letter. Overall I'd say we did about 15-20 miles zig-zagging across the city, it was an absolute blast and I got to see parts of the city that I never knew excisted. A++++ would do again.

Number 6 is Blue

2009-06-23T15:48:00.004-04:00

Synesthesia is a neuralgic condition where numbers and/or letters are associated with colors or sounds. How fantastic would that be? One would almost have to become an artist for the sole fact that they would owe it to the rest of us to show us the beauty they see everyday. Word on the street is Jimmy Hendrix had this gift.

Check out this article, Hearing Colors: The Unusual World of Synesthesia, By: Kathryn Williams

When Carol Steen, now in her sixties, was a girl growing up in Detroit, she used to walk home from elementary school with a friend. One day, perhaps after a lesson in spelling or an exercise in handwriting, seven-year-old Steen asked her classmate, “Isn’t the letter ‘A’ the prettiest pink?” Her classmate, in the way only kids can, wrinkled her nose and pronounced Steen “weird.” [continue reading here]

Happiness

2009-06-23T14:29:00.006-04:00

Talking religion in the work place is a bitch. If a Jehovah's Witness comes to my door asking me if I'm happy with my life and the way the world is headed, I take it as my responsibility to tell him to fuck off and slam the door in his face. When a co-worker who I greatly respect quotes the bible during conversation I feel just as uncomfortable. The urge to slam a door in her face burns in the back of my mind and my finger tips tingle as I mentally reach for an imaginary door. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on your point of view) cubicles have no doors. So I sat, and listened - shifting in my seat like I had to poop.

In the end it wasn't so bad. For example, here's one of a couple that was quoted to me:

2 Peter 1:5-7
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

What this has anything to do with work, or spreading nasty rumors of lay offs and bankruptcy blithe - I don't remember (thats normally the kind of thing we talk about around here these days). Normally I scrutinize the passages and marvel at how out of context their taken, but this one is pretty harmless.

The thing I like to take away from this one is you don't (and shouldn't) have to believe in God or read the bible to see the value in adding goodness, knowledge, self control, perseverance, brotherly kindness, and love to your life. These are all attributes of happiness; they are actions you can take to add to happiness in your life; happiness being the most important feeling of content and self achievement... and if that's not working for you there's always hookers and blow.

Save Biodiesel!

2009-06-22T10:43:00.003-04:00

Add biodiesel to the endangered species list; sign the petition; demand biodiesel compatible vehicles! Get all this and more at savebiodiesel.org.

While true that oil dilution is a known issue in diesel engines, it's hardly "a great threat to the future of biodiesel." Whats more, to say "Most OEMs (including Volkswagen, Ford, GM, and Dodge) are currently using biodiesel-incompatible technology, and they won't change that without public pressure" is a stretch.

At any rate, I recommend having a read. The website is blunt about the effects of biodiesel on engine oil dilution and the suggested remedy is interesting.

Hungry

2009-06-22T10:35:00.001-04:00

It's not even 11am yet and I'm starving. Lunch cant come soon enough.

Guess the cars

2009-05-13T11:49:00.001-04:00

There are four cars in this picture, can you guess make and model on all four?

numbers 0 through 9

2009-04-14T19:09:00.009-04:00

I was filling out a personally intrusive health questionnaire for a new dentist I've been recommended to. Typically on most of these things you can just answer with N/A because even if you do have jondus, what does that have to do with flossing. This particular list of questions was odd because they were all worded kinda funny, like - "Do you or have you ever had tooth pain and how often?" Ummmm.... N/A?

One of the easier questions was: "What number of beverages containing alcohol do you consume per week?"

Well, as a matter of fact, this one contains numbers 0 through 9.

LOL WUT

2009-04-07T08:27:00.003-04:00

I think I just found yet another way to bring the humor of the internet into everyday life. Props to the artist of the biting pearUrsula Vernon for with out her none of this would be possible.

Coffee Table, there's no step 4

2009-03-09T14:59:00.003-04:00

I finished the coffee table. It turned out really really awesome. After sanding it down and flushing the legs up, making sure the legs were perpandicular to the table top and that everything sat level, I gave it a few coats of sealer.

Finaly some decent weather

2009-03-09T14:43:00.003-04:00

Friday was the first decent day we've had since the snow started falling in November. On my drive home from work people were walking along the street in shorts, car windows were down, snow banks were melting, restaurant doors were propped open, motorcycles were out and about, and everyone you talked to had something nice to say about the weather.

I took the opertunity to drive the Corrado for the first time this year. After switching in a new battery it started on the first crank and ideled perfectly. Driving it was even better than I remembered, there's lots of power and lots of turbo noises, and the suspension is stiff enough to have some fun in the turns and on the on ramps. It was a total blast!

That motivated me to start working on the new intake manifold again. The core arived a few weeks ago.

There's a lot of talk as to whether this cardboard is going to hold up against the boost pressure of the turbo, and the heat of the engine bay - but I think it should be fine.

Music Video Throwback

2009-02-18T22:47:00.002-05:00

... and the two most fondly remembered music videos during my time at New Mexico Tech (NMT) are....

Chop Suey - the dorm room remake

and The Avalanches, Frontier Psychiatrist

Post 'em up, what were your favorites from back in the day?

The Return of Buckethead

2009-02-14T14:16:00.002-05:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you Happy Valentines day with snowman (and snowwoman).

Happy Valentines day Lisa.

Rogue Juniper Pale Ale

2009-02-12T17:55:00.003-05:00

Dont walk, run to your nearest beer store and pick a bomber of Rogue Juniper Pale Ale. This stuff is incredible! I'm not sure how I've missed it till now - although its probably safe to say that my local distributors hadn't carried it till now.

As I was pouring it out of the bottle I was slightly disappointed at the lack of head, but once poured a nice frothy head foams on top that stayed till the last half of the glass - leaving foam rings on the side of the glass. The smell is not particularly inspiring but grab a mouthful and your taste buds are unexpectedly filled with an awesomely bitter hoppyness that's uniquely crisper than most IPAs. I suspect its the Juniper berries that are to thank for the crispy dry finish.

Coffee Table: Step 3

2009-02-11T10:05:00.003-05:00

Following up from Coffee Table: Step 2, I drilled an additional hole through the middle of each of the main table top boards and tightened them up. Also I finished cutting the legs to length and added a cross bar across the bottom for stability. I still want to put another rod though the bottom of the legs and then take it all apart one more time to re-assemble it using wood glue.

Twenty Five Random Things

2009-02-06T13:08:00.003-05:00

Lisa is a sucker for chain letters. She tagged me on some facebook thing where you list 25 random things about your self and then rope 25 other victims into doing the same. I refuse to continue the epidemic of the chain letter but figured I'd indulge in a response just for Lisa's sake.

1. I have two middle names. Fuck you if you don't know what they are.

2. My brother Leif is much more exciting than I am, even though I'm older, better looking, and more successful.

3. Growing up Leif hit me on the top of the head with a large rubber mallet, I haven't been the same since.

4. I love beer.

5. Most times at work I have no idea what I'm talking about.

6. I used to play soccer in high school and run track but I was never any good at it.

7. I was born in Mesa Arizona, but I used to pick up girls at the bar by telling them I was from Belgium.

8. I suck at math.

9. Sometimes I have to flush the toilet 3 times after taking a dump before it begins flushing normal again.

10. My favorite food in the whole world is cream cheese, this infatuation started in Socorro when you could order a turkey sandwich with alfalfa spouts and cream cheese. Before then it was just something that made bagels taste better.

11. I wish I could ski for a living.

12. I dislike talking on the phone.

13. I miss the south west and would like to move back someday.

14. In high school I never did any homework.

15. I like getting lost in a new city.

16. I like my coffee black, with tequila in it.

17. Eggs? Sunny side up.

18. I hate onions.

19. I love going to art galleries and museums, they inspire me to be more creative and to be happy.

20. Some times I worry about hitting my head on ceiling fans.

21. I want to build my own house someday, I like building things my self.

22. I don't read enough books.

23. I love the internet, and sometimes lie awake at night worrying about what it would be like with out it.

24. I think one of the best inventions in the world is the ballooned neck on sparkling water bottles that prevent the water from fizzing out of the bottle when you first open it.

25. I like sitting at home and doing nothing.

Just a Cool Picture from This Summer

2009-02-06T11:19:00.001-05:00

If I Lived in Europe

2009-02-05T16:14:00.013-05:00

Lets just say, I moved to europe and had to buy a new car. Now that I'm in Europe maybe I want something that you cant buy here in the states. For the sake of this discussion maybe price doesnt matter. Lets brain storm.

1. VW Ralley Golf, based on the mk2 chasis this special edition came with widebody fenders, projector head lights, a G60 supercharged engine, sport Recaro seats,and synco AWD. It was a euro only model, the engine would be easaly ugraded to make big power and the AWD would be tons of fun.

2. Audi A3, tdi, quatro. With the recent facelift, it's a gorgious car. Throw in a turbo diesel with more than enough torque and 50mpg and youve got a trackable grocery getter. You can get these here in the US now, but not with the TDI/quatro.

3. Cadillac CTS V Sport Waggon. Validated on the 'Ring with a supercharged v8 pushing just over 550hp. and now they're making it in waggon form - be still my heart. GM gives the MVP of the super bowl the car/truck of their choice, three years in a row these its been an escalade - clearly these players dont know about the CTS V, then again ner has there been a rap song about a waggon.

4. '09 Scirocco; what can I say, I'm a fanboy - I'll admit it.

5. Lupo GTI; small fast back to basics hatch with room for two people and a case of beer. Lowered on some splits this could also make a decent weekend racer. Do they even do club races like they do here in europe?

6. Alpha GT, this is a really cool looking car. Having the upscale 3.2L v6 in Europe probably wouldnt be very practicle but then niether would the 556hp v8 in the CTS V.

... but lets face it, if I had to move to Europe I'd probably just buy another Corrado.

Tax Retrun '08

2009-02-04T16:11:00.002-05:00

This year was easy, I only had one W2 form, nor did I anticipate owing the government money. So instead of waiting till April (like I do every year), last night I finished my '08 tax return.

Last year I had to file for two different state tax return and include a bunch of random crap that went down including moving reimbursement, student loans, tuition payments, a 401k from Los Alamos... etc. On Justin's recommendation (or maybe it was Lisa's) I filed using Turbo Tax - the whole thing took for ever but was likely much less painful than if I'd attempted to do it all my self.

This year because Turbo Tax had last years return on record the whole process only took... maybe 30 minutes.

Hold your breath just a little longer failing economy - me and my tax return are coming!

New Bike

2009-02-02T15:52:00.009-05:00

I bought a new mountain bike. I'm particularly excited about this because I've been with out a bike for 4 years, and from what I remember of mountain biking - it used to be a lot of fun. It's an '08 Gary Fisher Cobia 29er with a few upgraded components. It came Fed Ex in this really big box (i guess now that i think about it, there's no way it wouldn't have come in a big box) completely disassembled.

I've always enjoyed things that start as a pile of parts. In fact, when I was in 5th grade we were given a choice between choir or band. I remember making a conscious decision to go for band - not wanting to be one of those pansy ass choir boys. They piled us in to this back room where we were made to choose which instrument we wanted to play. I maintain that the reason why I chose the clarinet was because it came apart into several small pieces (unlike some stupid trumpet or saxophone where only the mouth piece was removable). Maybe this is also the reason I like puzzles so much.

The majority of the assembly time was taken up removing the bubble wrap from each and every tube of the frame, wheels, shifter and brake components.

The frame it self was crazy light weight, the entire package weight only being 38lbs. Mountain bikes have come a long way since my last bike. The extra large 21in frame is all aluminum with a bunch of small gussets at the seat post, the chain stay ends, and the brake caliper brakets. Also, some carbon fiber in the head post.

Conventional mountain bikes have 26 inch wheels. The key feature to this bike are the oversized 29 inch diameter wheels. From what I read its the monster truck of mountain bikes, the larger wheels allow one to travel with more momentum, decrease the angle of attack over bumps, and take turrns harder and faster. The only disadvantage beeing slower acceleration off the line, but I'd imagine the low mountain bike gearing would make up for this.

Sunday we had a heat wave here in Michigan, the balmey high of 40*F was just what we needed to dry up the salted snow melt from the roads. I took the opertunity to take the new bike out on a test drive. I've never ridden a bike with disk brakes before and the first time i used them I nearly fell over the handle bars. Awesome.

So here it is fully assembeled, back inside taking up space in the living room till spring time. Some time before which I'd like to pick up a decent shoe/peddle combo and a front fork with suspension.

K2 speed 6 poles

2009-01-27T17:24:00.006-05:00

These came in the mail today, they're made entirely of carbon fiber - aside from the fancy leather bits. They come with a double sided clip to hold the poles together when not in use that include a key ring and a built in bottle opener. Together I'd say they weighed about 3 lbs. Most of the weight coming from the handle area.

They came with this little cardboard tag that reads:

"Brewed from only the finest ingredients, we know of no other ski pole with as much style and performance as ours. Born on the shores of Vashon, WA, with a lightweight smoothness, and full-bodied durability that is unmatched.*

*K2 poles do not taste good. Please pole plant responsibly."

I'm going to try to take them on a test drive this weekend hopefully.

Coffee Table: Step 2

2009-01-27T17:17:00.003-05:00

Following up from Coffee Table: Step 1, I drilled a bunch of holes in the ends on the planks and ran a threaded rod through them along with some shorter pieces that will become the legs. It'll probably end up looking more like a park bench than a coffee table when I'm done.

Call of Duty

2009-01-27T14:26:00.004-05:00

Nazis are like ninjas, aside from the obvious one in the window and the one disguised as the tree there 10 others hiding in this picture.

More winter to come

2009-01-27T14:05:00.003-05:00

It's cold, it snows about an inch every night, it's cold, the snow never melts, it's cold, the deer have started to eat all of the bark off the trees in the front lawn, it's cold, driving in these conditions is totally sketch, and did I mention it's cold!

Enough already.

Today in the weekly group meeting it felt like the AC was on. Cold air was spilling into the conference room through the vents, and you could just feel it. I clung to my laptop as the only heat source in the room - at least my knees were warm. Once out of the conference room the main floor seemed much warmer (thank goodness).

For lunch Kyle and I went for Thai and when asked, "how spicy?", I went for EXTRA HOT. It didn't warm me up at all and now I have a stomach ache.

The Pizza Connection

2009-01-27T01:00:00.000-05:00

Tonight Matt and I went to The Pizza Connection to pick up two larges after doing some part swapping on the Sciroccos. Hulk Hogan works there as one of the pizza chefs, my guess is he took the job there after the failed comeback series of American Gladiators on NBC.

It was snowing outside when we walked in and the Hulk Hogan asked us "you two see anything on the weather about this snow?"

"Just a few flurries over night, last I looked." I said.

Hogan turned to one of the other guys that works there and said, "Just a few flurries, they say. This is definitely more than a flurry, that weather man is full of shit."

So there you have it Hulk Hogan thinks the weather man is full of shit.

Ski Accident

2009-01-19T10:56:00.001-05:00

You can get some pretty funny stuff when searching You Tube for "ski crash."

Snow blowed

2009-01-18T19:52:00.004-05:00

This morning after blizzard conditions (get it blow... snow... snow blowing) yesterday the neighbor came by and let us use her snow blower. It made short work of the 6-8 inches we got.

Good god what's that in your hand?

2009-01-18T18:16:00.004-05:00

The evening of my birthday we went to Kings Brewing Co and I brought my Jug - its a Christmas present hand made by my brother Leif. Leif crafted two of these mammary mugs from ceramic, one for me and one for Lisa.

The half inch thick walled knockers are almost tea pot like, they hold about a pint and a half, here is their handle and here is their nipple. Unfortunately the hand sculpted rim is extremely difficult to drink out of.

When Leif fished them he leak tested them for the first time, one at a coffee shop and the other at the Marble Brewery. In my experience (as was Leif's) people are more than happy to fill them up.

Raven heart's boob mug!

Twenty Seven

2009-01-17T17:46:00.003-05:00

Hung over and twenty seven is no way to start off a new year.

"DHS raises alert to 'orange' for Cheney hunting trips."

2009-01-16T14:50:00.004-05:00

On January 20th Washington DC is going to have a going away party and the poor people of Jackson Hole are getting a new "buddy." Dick Cheney announced that he'll be retiring to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and the locals are pissed. Here's an article from JHUndergroud that's worth a read, especially the comments from the locals at the bottom.

People throw around names like "war criminal" fairly loosely these days, and who am I to stop them. One commenter says, "[...]we could probably make a river of blood for him to fly fish in with all the people who have died from his war that had nothing to do with 9-11 or Osama Bin Laden."

Ironically, that's not at all how Cheney sees him self. "I’m actually a warm, lovable sort," Cheney said during the CBS interview. Bullshit.

This looks dangerous

2009-01-16T14:15:00.004-05:00

Half shark - half seagull, this thing unlike the rest of the seagulls and their pipsqueak "mine, mine, mine" would probably sound more like "MINE, om nom nom."

It's Cold

2009-01-16T10:43:00.004-05:00

The snow crunches when you drive over it, your car never actually warms up enough to produce heat out of the HVAC vents and you're steaming breath forms ice on the inside of the windscrean. It's cold out side but none of that really matters because, hey at least it's sunny.

This photo was taken looking out the kitchen window into the back yard, the thermometer says -10F.

Maybe -9 if you want to split hairs.

Coffee Table: Step 1

2009-01-15T19:14:00.005-05:00

I've started to make a coffee table. I purchased a handful of 1x3x8's and cut them all in half. So thats where it's at right now... stay tuned.

FYI, cause I know you were wondering - the boards I purchased (you know the 1x3x8's) actually measured 3/4in by 2 and 3/4in by 8ft.

Bad News Everyone

2009-01-15T14:52:00.003-05:00

Last year, in May I noticed that the automatic urinal sensors would freak out depending on the kind of shirt you were wearing. Some may recall the blog about this, Some Thesis Ideas.

To my disappointment, today the auto flusher has been replaced with a manual flusher. I was surprised they didn't close the bathroom down while the guy worked on it, out of courtesy for the dude I used a different restroom but some other guy was taking a piss right next to the maintenance man.

The last time I stood in front of the urinal with my black wool sweater was Monday and the stupid thing kept flushing, over and over again while I stood in front of it. Sadly the study is over.

Movie Night

2009-01-14T09:37:00.006-05:00

Does $10 for two movie tickets seem cheap to anyone else?

Last night Lisa and I went to go see the 7:25pm showing of Gran Torino. I was waiting for Lisa to use the restroom when it got out and couldn't help but notice another movie was just about to start, with not a single member of the theater staff in sight we snuck into the 9:38 showing of Marley and Me. Not having actually purchased tickets for the second movie there's no argument that $10 is a great value.

Gran Torino is the first major Hollywood film entirely made in Michigan. Clint Eastwood is a grumpy old man living in Detroit - the last white guy left in the neighborhood. Eastwood throws down every single racial slur imaginable through out the duration of the movie while coming to the realization that he has more in common with the neighbors than his own family. For me, it was very well done, the name calling hilarious in delivery, and it was cool to see some familiar landscape.

The whole time we're watching the movie we're thinking, Ryan (our roommate) would love this! I never could quite place Ryan's accent but I've got it now - he's trying to be like Clint Eastwood, busted "Cool Breeze."

Marley and Me was also pretty good. I love a good Owen Wilson movie, and its no secret - my love crush on Jennifer Aniston; so I went into the movie expecting great things. Marley's the worlds worst dog, Owen Wilson chases Marley on the beach, Owen Wilson ties Marley to table, Owen Wilson chases Marley and table... ect. They take you through every phase of the dogs life and you can totally relate to it because he is like so many dogs: he's a pain in the ass, with a huge heart and just always wants to play, and no matter how stupid he can be you still have to laugh at him!

I'd been warned that it was actually a really sad movie, but holly smokes I never thought it would be that bad. I never thought I would ever see so many people crying in one movie theatre! Some people were actually blubbering! Blubber blubber, sniff, sniff, screech, they said.

Over all, both movies get a big two thumbs up.

Do you know about backcountry.com?

2009-01-13T13:25:00.003-05:00

I love this website. I buy all sorts of gear and clothing from these guys, the sales staff is quick to answer questions, and shipping is usually free and almost always upgraded to next day with out my permission at no charge (bonus). I've even thought of getting their logo (pictured right) tattooed somewhere on my body.

After spending $$$ on Christmas gifts I've been issued two (2) $50 off coupons for use in the month on January and boy am I amped to get something new and exciting. Maybe a set of carbon ski poles, an new soft shell, a cozy fleece, snowshoes for me and Lisa... I don't know yet.

Road Snow Trip

2009-01-11T22:33:00.004-05:00

Michigan and the surrounding area got bombed with snow this weekend. It started coming down Friday afternoon just after lunch and never stopped. I saw over 2 ft in places. What better weekend then to drive to Chicago!

Ed and I made the trip together to go visit Micah (see Micah's apartment, pictured top right). I'd thought about calling it off due to the weather forecast but Thursday night when I'd spoke to Micah just to confirm the travel plans, Micah says:

"Jen was asking me (Micah) if you (Me) even knew where we lived, so I told her, 'when Raven says he's going to show up - he's going to show up.' Remember that time when we drove all the way to Ann Arbor just to get a beer?"

Destined to make the trip a success, I left work early on Friday afternoon, trying to beat the snow and make it to Kalamazoo - where Ed would drive the rest of the way. The Rabbit was doing great in the salted road slush until I got to Lansing, at this point the salt trucks couldn't keep up with the snow fall and the roads became super sketch. Traffic slowed to 45mph and anyone that passed our slow moving convoy ended up in the ditch a mile up the road, it was icy!

Once in Kalamazoo Ed took over in his A4 (quatro), the snowfall eased up and we made great time to Chicago. By the time we got into town however it was snowing balls again and parking in the side streets was a 4x4 affair. Here's a picture from Sunday morning, most of it was plowed by this point.

We're home safe now dispite additional snow storming on the return trip with more forecasts of snow and some near zero temps looming in for the rest of the week. Can you say, "Enough already?"

The Perfect Mason

2009-01-08T18:13:00.002-05:00

Holy smokes - you can fit two beers in this thing!!!

Go Run in the Snow for Mommy

2009-01-07T16:36:00.004-05:00

Today a lady at work asked me if a went running this morning, Normally when asked this question I would say, "no" or "nope", I might even add a little "pffft, running?". Today I said, "yeah". This of course being a lie. I said yes because I thought it would end the conversation sooner, you see this lady at work is into fitness so by me saying yes she would be cool with it, the conversation would be over and I could continue cruising the Internet. If I said no I'd have to get into why I didn't run this morning and when was the last time I ran, and when am I going to run next. Whats more had i said no i would have shattered her confidence in me to have exercised - the world doesn't need this.

Two things stemmed from this conversation. Firstly it didn't go at all as planed, the conversation went on for ever (the problem was it had snowed overnight, the lady at work knew this, i had forgotten), "yes I like running in the snow." I said.

Now she wanted to know why I like to run in the snow. I'm deep into the lie and cant back out now so i make it worse by saying, "oh its better for the knees, you see, less impact stress than hard concrete."

Now she's talking about treadmills and elliptical machines, and how if I have a problem with my knees I should try running on a treadmill. This brings us to the second point: It was about this time that I realized she was referring to herself in the third person as "Mommy."

"Mommy gets off the treadmill and some times feels a little dizzy afterward."
"When it snowing outside Mommy run inside on treadmill."
"It's better for Mommy to run at different speeds on treadmill, Mommy gets bored to run so many miles at same speed."
"Mommy tell my husband that he needs to put TV in basement so Mommy can watch TV while running treadmill in winter time."

I was trying my best to keep it together, but then came another zinger.

"You go running in the snow for Mommy again tomorrow?"

"Probably not, it's supposed to be colder out tomorrow morning - you know - ice - never be to careful when its slippery out." I said, wanting to come back to my desk and write this all down before I forgot.

That reminds me of this old commercial with this mom that keeps talking baby talk to her new born and then ends up going out to dinner with her husband and cant turn it off, "This is such a good dinner, yes it is, yes it is, you're a cute one, yes you are, yes you are." Yes - exactly like that.

New Intercooler Setup

2009-01-05T20:43:00.005-05:00

I've been hard at work on a new intercooler setup for the Corrado. An air to water heat exchanger will be incorporated inside the intake manifold. This will make for an extra short intake path for quicker, easier turbo spool. Whats more the higher efficiency of the air to water heat exchanger should allow for a small enough core that will fit with in the space of the old intake plenum.

Here's a rough sketch of where the new core will sit. The remaining section of the intake will effectively become a short runner intake manifold. All of this is aft of the throttle body. So when you're looking at this sketch, the blue bits are the valve cover, the top is where the throttle body goes and the bottom are the runners that curve down into the intake ports of the head. The sections sketched in red will be the custom parts and area where the new intercooler will be.

And here are some pictures of the carnage.

Holiday 2008

2009-01-04T12:20:00.004-05:00

My lady friend and I spent two weeks in New Mexico with my family for the 2008 holiday. In stark contrast to metro Detroit it was sunny most days, predictably warm during the day and cold at night. It felt nice to go home, breath in the fresh mountain air and come to find that not only do I now miss New Mexico but I've also come to appreciate its beauties.

These are two taken at Abiquiu Lake (the same place as New Mexico Snowman). I used some mild HDR here to bring out the reflections in the lake and bump the contrast between the reds and blues. This helped to bring out the true color in the rocks. The end result may look like an alien landscape - but such is Northern New Mexico.

New Mexico Snowman

2009-01-04T02:18:00.005-05:00

New Mexico Snowman says, "Hello".

Chicago Treffen

2008-08-18T18:05:00.001-04:00

Representing the Detroit Corrado Club (DCC) I made it out to Chicago's CVO Treffen car show this weekend. I don't regret going by any means, but I have to say over all the show sucked. It's not easy for me to say that because thinking back I cant help but think about all the good times I had over the weekend and everything that went well, and yet as I sit here and recollect about the show I'm not sure I'd return next year.

Like I say, there were a lot of good times and rather than document the sour points I'm going to try to point out my favorite parts.

Saturday We met up with some other Corrado friends and spent the night in down town Chicago. We took the train in, and then walked amongst the skyscrapers - I love the energy you get from walking between the buildings. We had some great Chicago style pizza and a couple local beers and then hopped over to Millennium Park to check out the Bean. I especial enjoyed getting to hang out with Stevo, Micah, Ben and Janee it was great catch up with them and it made me realize how much they have become such very good friends over a relatively short period of time.

The day of the show I found my self admiring only a select couple of cars, two of which being Stevo and Ben's, also among my list of jaw droppers was a beautiful orange mk1 Rabbit, the sherry red wide body Corrado, and a mk2 GLI painted NB coal red. Other than that nothing really stood out as a finished car and I found myself searching engine bays for fresh ideas. One stands out particularly - a 24v mk4 Jetta
with logo etched polished aluminum grafted into an otherwise standard beauty cover.

I got a chance to chat up some other Corrado owners. I met a guy by the name of Igor with 10k miles on essentially the same turbo set up as I have on my car - the only other difference being a methanol injection set up... as if I wasn't already convinced of its ability to smooth out the boost this guy confirmed it. This will definitely be my next mod. I finally got to meet Nick (ntonar), the guy that referred me to MIVE, so that was cool.

On the drive home we had a nice Corrado caravan going, followed by the "DCC Support Team" (Matt and Kelsie in my Rabbit, loaded with tools and supplies). True to DCC form we terrorized the toll booths with raging blow off valves and breakneck acceleration back up to speed. I have to say, if you're going to be a sandwich a black Corrado sandwich is the only way to go.

Working out the bugs

2008-08-10T20:45:00.003-04:00

Today was pretty exciting. Matt came over to hang out for a bit and to take his Scirocco home.

Unrelated, there are a couple of things I'd been meaning to fix since I've been driving the car again.

1. Wire the leveler switch, and fix the high beams. The head lights only work on low right now. Also, only one of the fog lights is turning on, I probably just forgot to plug it in.

2. Re-wire the radar detector, I'll keep the current location for the switch/mute button but change the location of the detector so it's not blocking the passenger sun visor anymore.

3. The speakers only work on the driver's side all of a sudden... I suspect its just a janky wire. All the same, wtf!

Then it started raining, and we thought... this would be a great day to get rid of the wasp hive! This thing grew from the size of a hacky sack to the size of a rugby ball in about a week and since it was raining out all the wasps were lazy and just hanging out inside the hive.

This prompted the need for some liquid encouragement, it had to kick in fast and beer wasnt going to cut it.

Here's hive:

The weapon(s) of choice:

All it really did was keep the little dudes inside the hive but the ones that made it out didnt like it/us very much at all.

Rather than just letting the foaming poison do its work we decided that due to the size of this thing we had to take it down and burn it or else we'd just have a bunch of half poisoned beasties flying around the yard.

Matt readied the poison and Ryan got ready to take it down with a hoe.

then we ran....

They managed to get it into a cardboard box! and once everything calmed down again we lit it on fire.

Dont try this at home kids, burning larva smells nasty!

Some how I was the only one that got stung, that asshole crawled into my pullover and got me good right on the elbow. After I freaked out and ripped my shirt off he was flying around the living room looking for his next victim... he was swatted, captured, crushed a little so he'd stay still for a picture, and then drowned in cheap tequila.

EDIT: Lisa with the hose:

go...

2008-07-20T21:11:00.005-04:00

Finished cutting, mocking up, and tacking a new larger 3 inch exhaust for the Corrado. Here's a short video of the first start up. It should sound a little better after its welded up all the way.

The tip turned out killer!!!

Off the car and ready to get finished welding.

ROFLCOPTER's gonna get yah

2008-07-08T14:32:00.001-04:00

Detroit Institute of Arts

2008-07-02T19:40:00.004-04:00

Went to the Detroit Institute of Arts today. Here I am looking at the huge Diego Rivera mural(s) in the great hall.

Victim of Paparazzi

2008-06-29T22:01:00.006-04:00

The Paparazzi was waiting in the driveway when Lisa came home from work today. I've presented the photos in the order in which they were taken so that you can see the emotional progression.

HI!

Tired?

Oh, you can see the turning point here... I caught her rolling her eyes.

Yikes, I think she wants me to stop now.

No chance.

... and getting out of the car.

Laundry

2008-06-19T00:00:00.002-04:00

Lisa and I need to work out a better laundry method. Our problem lies in the fact that we both use the floor as a closet/hamper, and after about a month it's near impossible to ascertain the clean stuff from the dirty stuff. The only give away of cleanliness is smell (ummm, smells ok to me), and wrinkled (normally the more wrinkled it is the more likely it is to be fresh out of the wash).

Last night I figured, what the hell I'll give it a go at sorting some of the mess. What you see in the photo above is the partial result of 5 hours of folding and ironing.

I was trying to think of a good life lesson here... all I can really come up with is: nobody likes doing laundry, and people that say they do are lying.

The Bane of My Existence

2008-06-16T13:17:00.003-04:00

The only thing keeping the Corrado from being a reliable every day driver are cooling system issues. Since it's been back on the road:

1. The cooling fan motor only works on low speed and wont turn on automatically.
2. The lower radiator hose popped off driving down the high way and dropped ~4 liters of fresh G12 coolant on I75.
3. Lower reservoir hose leaks (drip drop) from a razor line sized cut. I've noticed these cuts on the upper radiator hose as well and suspect them to be a manufactures defect.

As luck does have it, every time I've droped liters of coolant I've been somewhere close to help. Here we are at Johnny B's house duct taping the lower resevoir hose.

ZOMG, It runs - and how!

2008-06-11T12:47:00.003-04:00

Made it to the show on June 6th and I've been sorting little issues though out the week. Let me tell you, this thing moves!

More Progress^2

2008-05-28T00:55:00.008-04:00

Got home from work today at 6:30pm and hit the garage like a mad man. Brand new thermostat housing and all new temp sensors. New one on the left, old one on the right.

I took the front cross member off sanded it and hit it with some rustolium. Also painted the front motor mount. Installed the thermo housing and new billet crack pipe.

The obligatory "Fuck you old crack pipe!"

Lower intake manifold, new gasket, fuel rail, 4.0 bar fuel pressure regulator (previous was a 3.5 from the Jetta, Corrado's came stock with the 4.0), and 30# injectors.

... and installed. It was pretty dark aout side at this point.

More Progress on the C

2008-05-27T10:37:00.010-04:00

I got a ton of stuff done on the Corrado this weekend.

The new head gasket/spacer set up will drop compression from 10:1 to 8.5:1. The gasket is comprised of a two piece mk4 metal gasket that is split and then sandwiches the stainless steel spacer. This means more boost, safer.

New timing chains installed. The head is bolted down using ARP fasteners. Torquing order is same as stock (basically just diagonally from the center out) but the stronger studs can with stand a ton more torque. We stepped it up from 23-49-65-80 ft lbs.

While doing putting the chain covers back on I ran into an issue when installing the upper chain tension. My motor is out of a 96 Jetta, so I have the plastic valve cover and the dual timing chain. This being the first time Ive done the chains on the car, I ordered the new style chain kit-recommended for better durability and ideal for the dual chain setup (also cheaper). The only thing that wasnt back wards compatible with the new timing chain kit was the upper timing chain tensioner bolt. Pictured above-right is the full chain kit, the tensioner is the large brass bolt in the middle.

The new style upper chain tensioner doesn't thread all the way into the early style upper cover. The problem lies in that the new style cover is threaded all the way through, while the old style (the one i have) isnt threaded all the way. Apparently 92 distributors are some of the only cars to get the "old style" covers - which is what I have to make the new '96 motor work with me obd1 distributor setup.

Not being able to find a 22m x 1.5 Tap locally on the Saturday of memorial day weekend, I oped to port out the back end to get the new style tensioner bolt to thread in all the way. Vortex recommends forcing the new bolt in a 1/4 turn at a time using "lots of oil". I wasnt comfortable with this so I went with the Dremel and never looked back, I only removed (max) a few cubic mills of Al from the back side of the case.

Next up, the valve cover, lightweight flywheel (autotech 13lb) and the clutch(Sachs Sport) assembly.

Monday I was determined to get the transmission in. Here's the transmission lookin' funky fresh on the floor waiting to go back in his home.

Ryan and I struggled with it till it almost landed on my head, then we called around for an engine hoist.

Engine and transmission are in and bolted securely to the motor mounts. The shiny trans looks so out of place in the dirty ass bay.

I'm itching to get the car back on the road and plan to work on this as much as possible leading up to the first show of the season (June 7th).

Some Thesis Ideas

2008-05-22T13:14:00.003-04:00

The urinals in the men's rooms at work have automatic flushing sensors. These sensors use motion detectors to determine when to flush the urinal. The best I can figure they're armed when you stand in front of them and then trigger once you step away.

I've noticed a strange trend that sometimes they don't exactly work properly. Sometimes they flush when I step up to them and then don't do it when I step away. Sometimes they do nothing. But most times when they act up they flush over and over again while I stand in front of them and then revert back to normal once I step away. It's odd, but it doesn't happen everyday. In fact it's fairly rare that it does happen. Today I think I figured out the problem.

I have a black merino wool sweater. I've deduced that the only time the urinals act up is when I'm wearing this sweater. My hunch is that the reflective properties of the soft micro weave sweater are different than that of most shirts/garments and thus cause the sensor to freak.

I verified this today by three separate trips to the restroom, each time being sure to use the same receptacle. The first time (wearing the sweater) the urinal was at it again - flushing over and over again. The second time (sweater removed, polo shirt) no problems - normal operation. The third time (sweater back on) the urinal went all catywompus on me again.

This may not be enough data to back a doctoral thesis on Operational Malfunctions of Automatic Urinal Flush Sensors or Reflective Properties of Black Sweaters, but so far I think I may have something. I'm going to try it on another floor and see what happens.

Letter in the RS

2008-05-21T11:12:00.004-04:00

If you get a subscription to Rolling Stone Magazine you may or may not have already seen it in the June 2008 issue. My dad - an avid reader of the magazine got a letter published, heighlighted here to the right.

The letter reads: "So glad to see Zappa Plays Zappa recognized in RS's Best of Bock. I took my son to see this concert last fall and was able to tell him it was as good as any Frank I ever saw."

This proceeds an article in the May issue of RS about ZPZ, and further so a letter he wrote to the mag (as discussed here) about ZPZ.

What can I say, he loves his Zappa.

Juice

2008-05-19T23:59:00.002-04:00

I came home tonight after meeting up with Micah and Ed and was really craving some juice. I was like, "man I really could go for some lemonade." But we were out. So then I realized we had some key limes hanging out in the kitchen and I was like, "oh I can make some limeade!" Let me tell you it was like milking an iguana, but the reward was worth it!

Alright Already... Progress

2008-05-14T20:14:00.005-04:00

I'm making progress putting the Corrado back together. After some good work over the weekend, the transmission is basically done and today I gave it a coat of paint for good measure. The progress has really helped to motivate me to do more work. I cant wait to get the car back on the road.

Also, just for fun I thought I'd take a picture of the intake manifold. That's right - mirror black.

Washed + New Picture

2008-05-13T20:59:00.003-04:00

I just turned 20k miles on the Rabbit and I couldn't be happier with it.

Coincidence?

2008-05-09T14:34:00.003-04:00

There's a funny thing about coincidences. What is it about them? I cant put my finger on it. I'm sure of one thing at least, Phil and I don't own mid-engined Porsches.

Acronyms FTL

2008-05-05T13:56:00.002-04:00

If I hear APQP, PPAP, PPDV, and ADVPP in the same sentence again I'm going to do something stupid.

I can do that in the summer...

2008-05-03T15:01:00.003-04:00

Skier1 attacks a crazy line with some big air. Skier2 says, "thats nothing, I can do the same line in the summer." Crazy video.

Track Day Horay!

2008-04-12T22:29:00.002-04:00

I'll put some words in here later. Great time.

More HDR

2008-04-10T08:36:00.000-04:00

Fun with HDR

2008-04-09T23:47:00.003-04:00

John's Garage - the one we're working on the Jetta in.

Yes, we did have to role the fenders. Base ball bats need not apply, this was sledge hammer territory.

The Rabbit, looking especially fresh.

Track Prepared

2008-04-09T12:25:00.004-04:00

I've been buesy the last two weeks working on John's GLI. The plan was to get it race prep'd for a club track day comming up this Saturday on the 12th. Uprades included getting the thing running (first of all), big brakes with race pads, new cv joints, new bushings, tie bars, and 15 inch wheels with sticky-ickies. Look at that stance!

WTF

2008-03-31T16:13:00.002-04:00

WTF. Yes, WTF indeed.

Disaster!

2008-03-25T12:18:00.003-04:00

This picture makes baby Jesus cry.

Future Plans for the Rabbit

2008-03-25T12:07:00.003-04:00

I picked up a badgeless grill for me new Rabbit. The pic has been touched up in photo shop to indicate the finished prodoct after some minor body work that will be requiered.

Here's the question: Color matched or keep it black?

Tequila with my coffee

2008-03-08T12:07:00.002-05:00

I'm not an alcoholic. That said there's nothing like waking up on a Saturday morning and making the best of the inclimate winter weather with a little tequila in your coffee.

Xbox down again, yes - again

2008-03-07T14:11:00.003-05:00

I haven't been having good luck with the xbox. This is the 3rd time I've had to send in my council for repairs and 5th time I've had to call customer support due to "3 blinking red lights."

I was accused this time for not locating my xbox in a well cooled open air environment. This is bullshit, because of course I've got it out all by it self next to the TV, oh and did I mention it's the middle of the winter and the heat in the house is pegged at 55F? Fuck.

I requested a new xbox from the repair center, not a refurbished unit. This didn't go over well so although I will be once again receive another repaired unit the fine folks at xbox have "taken note of my request."

2007-12-31T11:23:00.000-05:00

Me and my family went snow shoeing yesterday. We did just over 5 miles, round trip. I'd never been show shoeing before and let me tell you, It was really fun.

We started out on the Chamisa trail near the bottom of the Santa Fe ski basin road and followed it up to where it intersects with Windsor. Most of the trail had already been snow packed and you would think that that would make the need for snow shoes moot, but quite the opposite - the shoes were traction machines, making the steeps a cake walk. Once we got out into a clearing I tried blazing a trail through some fresh pow. Even though you would sink and not really stay on top of the snow (like you would think) it made the sink factor extremely predictable; never did one foot fall way deep and snow got down up into your pant leg.

Overall, Snow Shoeing: A++++++ WOULD TRY AGAIN!!!!!

Winter BBQ

2007-12-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year, and my dad doesn't let a little bit of snow stop him from doing anything.

This one's for Phil

2007-12-27T21:22:00.000-05:00

Phil,
Dude man, last night we had some chronic foods.

Thanks for reading,
R

The Rotsaert Food Review: Southwest Dim Sum

2007-12-27T16:43:00.000-05:00

For dinner last night we had a traditional Chinese Dim Sum style meal, substituting conventional spices with those available in northern New Mexico for a South Pacific-Southwest fusion. The combination of East meets West resulted in a sweet meal with just the right amount of spice that was both light yet filling.

We started with a small portion of Miso Soup. The taste was amazing, a combination of the traditional Japanese bitter, smoky, sweet, and salty flavors. The softened white miso paste was suspended perfectly in the dark stock – resulting in the illusion of moon lit clouds in the night sky.

Next up, to serve as the salad dish were Chinois Minced Garlic Chicken in Radicchio Cups. To prepare this dish fresh baby spinach leaves, shallots, and steamed carrot slices were left to marinate in a combination of extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and a splash of dry white wine. The mixture was then set inside cups formed by crisp radicchio leaves and topped with a healthy portion of minced pan-fried garlic chicken. The almost florescent bright purple color of the radicchio leaves and bitter taste contrasted beautifully against the already remarkable filling.

To set the tone for the rest of the meal and steer the taste buds back towards the shores of the south pacific a small serving of sushi followed. A spicy tuna role, and a fresh squid and octopus medley fit the bill perfectly as it was neither over powering nor subdued.

Along with the main course (which consisted of two sorts of dumplings) came a side of cooked then lightly fried dark purple, almost black Forbidden Rice. This long grain rice, unlike most has a distinct fruity aroma and pronounced “nutty” flavor.

The first of the dumplings was a Steamed Spicy Black Bean Bun. The fluffy white almost snow ball looking steamed bun was filled with a mix of black beans, water chestnuts, and bamboo shoots. The buns were unique in that rather than using a traditional red or yellow sweet bean paste, the buns were stuffed with Mexican-style refried black beans. The black beans were sweetened with white sugar, resulting in a taste that might be similar to the sweeter Chinese bean pastes but slightly different in texture. The bean mixture was further spiced by a combination of both red and green New Mexico chile powder – umm, spicy!

Rounding out the main course, the second type of dumpling was a Red Pepper Chicken and Portabella Pot Sticker. Different from the first, the dough used was a thin rice flower based sheet that was steamed and then pan-fried on one side. Unlike the typical flavorless pot stickers one can find in the frozen foods section of a grocery store these were filled with shredded chicken breast, red bell pepper, steamed portabella mushrooms and an exuberance of Southwest chile spices resulting in a neatly wrapped (crunchy on the bottom – soft on the top) dumpling that was quite flavorful.

Overall the meal was fantastic, each component matching perfectly with the other both in their aroma and taste. At the end one was left with a full yet not stuffed sensation giving reminder of the low ft quality food that was prepared. Thankfully no dessert was prepared, as the other courses had been so good that no one had left room. Instead the meal was completed with another strong Belgian beer and good laugh.

Fun with Photoshop

2007-12-27T16:40:00.000-05:00

I adjusted some of the levels and sharpened the front grill of the car. Overall a subtle but noticible difference from the original.

Stuck in my head

2007-12-19T17:15:00.000-05:00

It's time to go home for the day, I've got christmas songs stuck in my head (just one single verse - over and over again).

"So be good for goodness sake, la la la na na na. So be good for... AHG!"

Xbox down Again!

2007-12-10T21:48:00.000-05:00

Second time with in a few months. Probably wont be back till after the new year if the repair goes as quickly as the last time.

here's a picture with the penguin.

All i wanted to do today was play some video games on my 400 dollar flashing red light machine piece of crap - but no! now my mouse is broken, some asshat(s) choped all the heads off my snowmen over the weakend, and my image hosting site is down. If one more thing brakes tonight I sware to God......

The only thing that making my not angrey right now is this super crazy internet video and this picture:

Gawd, I miss driving my Corrado. Damn it now I'm upset again.

AND I'm SICK! Worst dAy ever!

Trespassing!

2007-11-23T23:41:00.000-05:00

With winter right around the corner and several weather forecasts for snow, I posted no trespassing signs weeks ago. Well yesterday we had our first snow and tonight (never fails) my surveillance cameras spotted the first penguin.

Here is actual surveillance footage:

A close up reveals the face of the intruder - a known criminal, a penguin thought to go by the name "Perry."

Authorities wasted no time apprehending the intruder. The SWAT team was deployed and the suspect was quickly detained.

Police ask that any persons having information with regard to trespassing penguins or those able to further identify the suspect to please come forward.

Thank you - that is all.

First Snow

2007-11-23T18:28:00.001-05:00

How to Charge an iPod using electrolytes and an onion

2007-11-19T18:45:00.000-05:00

Everything Custom

2007-11-14T22:53:00.000-05:00

Sunday FD brought her car over to have me do an oil change. I had her do all the dirty work, such as unscrewing the drain plug and getting oil under her fingernails and after everything was done we started to clean up the engine bay a little bit. I went for the black plastic trim pieces first - spiffing them up with a little back to black.

Next thing I know we've got the valve cover cover off and I'm prepping it for paint. I remember saying, "We'll have to get some spray paint if you want to paint this thing." To which FD replied, "You've got paint, in your room - I'll go get it."

This wasn’t the first time FD has proven to know where the stuff in my house is put anyway better than me. One time I called her to ask where Jenga was. She knew.

Here's a picture of the trim piece baking in the oven. I put it in the oven between coats to get it to dry faster. Good stuff, and the gold on black matches really well on the dark blue car.

It was so much fun painting, I started looking around the house for other things that looked like they could use a nice coat of paint. I know what you're thinking, and you're right. Normally this is a horrible idea and what ends up happening is you've a got a bunch of stuff covered in paint that’s not supposed to be covered in paint and the house smells like a poorly ventilated paint booth (like the time in Las Cruces when my brother and I got carried away and stenciled a giraffe on our TV).

This time FD was around to act as the voice of painting reason. I started small – the DVD remote. It came out really cool and encouraged me to continue on to the xbox and what better than a good old fashioned wood grain.

If I had to pick one word to discribe my work it would be, AWESOME!

It looks pretty sweet reattached to the xbox case, I havent taken pictures of the finished product yet though because I'm having a little trouble gluing the hinged pieces back onto the face plate. If I cant get it to work after one more try I'll use some extra small wood screws - which I think'll contrast really well and go along great with the wood grain theam.

I just had this great idea!

2007-11-05T19:03:00.000-05:00

So get this... money's been kinda tight lately so I've been considering some options - namely reducing billed secives that i dont use (I dont even watch TV - what am I doing with 147 digital chanels?). In addition I've been staying home/going to bars in my area vs Royal Oak, eating less, reverting to cheap beer/wine, and going easy on Corrado parts spending.

But here's the great idea I had: Get a second job doing something I like doing. So I sent out an email to this little ski hill around the corner form my house. Zing - keep your fingers crossed for me everyone.