Are Wii Fit?

In a word, no. I’ve been playing Wii Fit on and off for roughly three months and that’s the main problem. The game is supposed to be played daily, or very close to that, and yet that’s the problem. For whatever reason I can’t be drawn in to get my exercise on any regular basis with Wii Fit.

A large part of the reason, in my mind, is that there’s too much lost time in between the different activities. For me anything that gets in the way of just working out kills my excitement. What Wii Fit really needs is a way for the user to string together a group of exercises. I don’t want to spend half of my work out time looking at the ranking screen, selecting Retry or Quit, seeing how many coins I received for the given exercise, and the time it takes just to move from one activity to the other.

Then there’s the graphics. In general, I’m getting real tired of Wii games with bland graphics. For Wii Fit that is not too much of a problem as long as you’re not doing any of the jogging exercises. Then you’ll get so tired of seeing bland courses you’ll want to tear your eyes out. The Wii can do amazing things, just look at Mario Galaxy or Metroid Prime. Why couldn’t Nintendo do something to make that portion a better experience?

I actually wanted to do a test to see if I could set a goal to loose a given amount of weight for a couple of months time, but Wii Fit is not doing anything to motivate me to do so.

I guess I’ll wait and see what Wii Fit 2 will bring, for now it's back to my soda, and bag of potato chips.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson

I have wanted to read this book after seeing the movie through Netflix for over a year now and thanks to my local Costco I picked up a copy.

It’s beautifully written and the author does an excellent job of creating life on a small island town.

The story is a mix of courtroom drama, murder mystery, and romance.

I also watched the movie again after reading the book. Obviously the book is better, but if you are only mildly interested in this book I do recommend the movie.

Lincoln by David Herbert Donald

This book is the best biography I have ever read.

It all started when I asked a friend I work with if there was a good biography on Lincoln that covered his whole life. I was looking for a complete picture not just a specific time in his life.

This book is what he came up with and I am very glad he did. This book covers his life from start to finish and really gives you a lot of insight into all things Lincoln. Reading this book I found that a lot of who I thought Lincoln was, why he made the choices he did, and his overall character where a lot different than I had naively assumed. It's amazing how much I took for granted.

Some examples would be the fact that he was a very unpopular president, he didn't like the sight of blood (just like me), and emancipation wasn't his chief motivation for the civil war.

This book is very well written. I found it to be engrossing unlike any other biography I've ever read. There was never a dull moment. I don't remember the word count, but it's not a small book by any means, however, I can't recommend reading it enough.

Moleskine Alternatives from Black Cover

In Black Cover's own words, "Check out this site which is dedicated to finding Moleskine alternatives. I’m shilling to win a contest, so please check them out!."

Basically if I win I'll get a set of five Piccadilly notebooks, so please check them out. If you are in to notebooks at all this is a good site to visit.

From the Mouth of a Five Year Old

Me: "So... how do you like school?"

Her: "Dad, my eyes are shy but they're happy."

Where Have I Been - MySpace vs. Facebook

I haven't been posting her in awhile. Primarily because I got a notebook months ago and I've been writing in there a lot. I've also been checking out both MySpace and Facebook. Seeing how there's only so much time in a day those three things got a lot more of my attention.

So on to MySpace vs. Facebook. I've been using both social networking sites for a few months now and I'm having trouble deciding which one I prefer. On MySpace I think it's easier to customize your layout and such, but most layouts (including mine) are very sloppy and it's hard to read the text. Facebook is a lot cleaner but everyone's profile looks very similar.

Both suffer from being hard and unintuitive to figure out what you can do there and how to do certain things like update photos and such. I do find Facebook easier than the two but that's not saying a whole lot either.

Initially they are both exciting to use, when you first are setting up different things and adding content and friends, however, that excitement soon ends.

A strange trend I've noticed as well is that people who would normally email me directly now log into either site and email me from there. It's not nearly as direct but it does seem to be more popular. In all fairness I do the same thing ironically.

There is one thing that irritates me with MySpace that really hampers my enjoyment of the site. While looking at different people's profile's I've had it crash my browsers on enough occasions to discourage me to look up too much stuff there. This happens to me both on OS X at home with various browsers and at work running Windows XP with various browsers once again.

Due to that one glaring issue I have to say that Facebook is my preferred social site.

I am still learning the ins and outs of both so in a few months I'll try and post a follow up to see if my opinions have changed any.

Spartacus “Sparty” 2001 to 2008

Our cat Sparty is no longer with us. He was an excellent mouser and would even take down gophers, but he’ll be remembered the most for how good he was to my kids. I’ve never seen a more gentle cat around young children as him. Little kitty you will always be remembered.

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris

Now here's a book that I starting reading over four years ago, got half way, and then thought it was lost only to find it recently.

This is a book about Theodore Roosevelt's presidential years. What I found the most interesting after reading this book is both the amount of energy Theodore had and also his insight into preserving our national resources. The fact that he was aware and trouble by the fact that the further a person is removed from nature the more resources they consume.

For me this book did have it's ups and down and with any biography about a president there's a ton of people that you read about for only a few chapters.

It's worth checking out from your local library.

Why Does Costco's Local Book Selection Suck

If you ever go to Costco's web site and look at their selection of children's books you would find a lot of excellent titles to choose from. Some examples are Diary of a Worm, Where the Wild Things Are, and The Three Snow Bears. This doesn't include series books like Harry Potter or A Series of Unfortunate Events.

Now contrast this with the Costco's in the Treasure Valley. You'll find huge piles of gimmick books, you know the kind that have a toy packed in or buttons you push with very little story to them. Sure you can find the latest Harry Potter.

The selection is nothing close to what it looks like online. In fact you don't really see the gimmick books there. Why the difference?

Costco would get a lot more of my money if this was changed but whoever stocks their stores either doesn't have kids, or doesn't like to read to them.

Of Mice and Men - The Movie

So I finally watched the 1992 movie Of Mice and Men.

For a movie adaptation it does a good job of keeping the spirit of the book and staying true to it. As always there's things that happen in the book that are either excluded or shortened for the sake of the movie. If you are a person who is pressed for time or just too lazy this movie would be a good substitute for the book. For everyone else I'd read the book first and then the movie.

Whither IM Users

Does anyone really use IM clients anymore? I never really hear anything going on with them, with the exception of each dot release of OS X where they add functionality.

Now I don't have a lot of buddies so that could be a part of it, but even of those that I do have I think I only see one or two of them online at all and neither one of us initiate a chat. Part of the problem my be because my primary client is through Google and their Google Talk within Gmail can be hard to notice that someone is trying to chat with you.

Or maybe everyone is trying to avoid me. That's food for thought.

These thoughts exclude folks who use an IM client at work as that's a different situation.

So tell me, have you noticed the same thing?

Brad Paisley Concert

The wife and I don't get out too much any more but on the 23 of January we went to see Brad Paisley in concert. His opening acts where Chuck Wicks and Rodney Atkins.

All three put on an amazing show, however, Brad is by far the most talented of the bunch. He also played the longest as his piece went from 9:30 p.m. until 11:20 p.m.

The most enjoyable part of the concert was when he had all of his band members take a break and it was just Brad and his acoustic guitar playing three or four songs.

I'm not big on going to concerts since a lot of times the groups don't sound that good and I don't feel that you get your money's worth. Brad Paisley is the exact opposite. His shows are well worth the money and he sounds as good in person as he does on his albums.

Something That I Can Really Relate To

Over at Slate there's an article by Michael Lewis called Dad Never Again The Nutcracker Suite. For any guy who's ever had a vasectomy, or for any woman who's ever wondered what it's like mentally for a guy to have one read his article. It will give you a good laugh.

Is it Holiday Music or Christmas Music

So the other day I was importing a new CD into iTunes. Kidz Bop Christmas to be exact and when iTunes downloaded the track names etc. it tagged the genre as Holiday. Then I looked at my Christmas music play list and noticed that all the Christmas music I have is tagged as Holiday music.

This brings up two questions. First is there any other Holiday's with music associated with them?

And then, why not tag Christmas music as Christmas. I'm sure it's so some dip shit isn't offended, but the only people who are going to by Christmas music are people who are not offended by Christmas music to begin with.

Crazy.

Family Christmas Tree 2007

We once again made our annual journey up into the mountains to get our Christmas tree. What amazes me is how different and unique each year is.

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I have never read anything by John Steinbeck so I figured this book would be a good place to start. I was not disappointed. It's a short story of commitment, loneliness, hope and loss.

The story is just long enough to completely suck you in but short enough that it's easily a weekend read. I enjoyed this book so much I'm going to try and convince my wife to read it next When my girls are older it will be required reading.

This is a true classic and worth every bit of your time.

Potty Trained!

That's right folks for over two weeks we've been diaper/pull-up free and we're not looking back. It's a beautiful thing but it still feels odd to go to the grocery store and not buy pull-ups or diapers.

Put Him Back

John Cloud at TIME sums up how I feel about J.K. Rowling announcing that Dumbledore is gay. It makes me wonder what her agenda is.

Put Dumbledore Back in the Closet

Everything I Thought About Swinging Was Wrong

I ran across this survey the other day: Today's Alternative Marriage Styles:
The Case of Swingers

Very fascinating. I was especially surprised by table 14 that showed that 78.5% of swingers are very happy in their marriages compared to 64% for non-swinging couples. Table 16 blew my mind as well with 62% of both females and males being happier in their marriages after swinging.

Those are just two examples that surprised me but the entire report is very interesting. I guess it goes to show you what assuming can do. I wouldn't have believed any thing would be like that for swingers.

Cold Mountain

Here's another book that I've read after watching the movie.

This is an interesting book if you don't mind a story with a slower pace. I know of two other people who I work with that didn't finish it due to it's pace. I, however, enjoyed it. Part of the draw for me was the descriptions of life back then.

I did have issues with the ending. So much of the story is about Ada learning to survive on her own and Inman returning home that when they were finally reunited I became rapidly bored. Here the two have been in one adventure after the other and then they hang out in a cabin for what seems forever.

I enjoyed this book but not enough to read Mr. Frazier's next one.

From the Mouth of a Two Year Old

"Daddy! Look at my butt! Look at my butt Daddy! Do you want to spank it?"

Two thoughts ran through my mind as my youngest told me this after her bath.

First, shouldn't this be happening when she's A LOT older and not with me around? There's somethings a parent just doesn't want to know.

Second, where in the world did she pick this up from? I better talk to her mother.

Tour De Boise 2007

My Wife and I rode in this year's Tour De Boise. We signed up for the 30 mile ride (which is actually closer to 26 miles), however, after the rest area that is halfway for the 15 mile ride you approach a steep climb. The wife and her friend turned around, but I continued on. It was tough but I made it.

Once we finished they had an excellent lunch with some incredible food. Without a doubt they had some of the best food I've ever had for something like this. Unfortunately I can't remember any of the restaurants that supplied the food. Oh well, maybe next year!

We Made It! For now.

Well we made it. My wife and I were not laid off. Hopefully business picks up and we can stay employed for a good long time.

We Could Lose Our Jobs

My employer is going to being laying off a bunch of people. Information is vague at this point so we're walking on egg shells at work.

No one knows who will be laid off or spared so my wife and I are both on the chopping block.

Not a very fun time.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

This was an enjoyable book. It still doesn't displace The Old Man and the Sea as my favorite Hemingway novel.

In a nut shell this is a story of Hemingway's time in Paris in the 1920's as part of the Lost Generation.

I particularly enjoyed the chapters concerning F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda.

Another thing to note is how Hemingway already considered himself a great writer. I'm surprised at this since for the majority of the book he hadn't published The Sun Also Rises yet. Perhaps it's either Hemingway's notorious ego or that fact that this was written towards the end of his life.

Anyway, this is a good yet short read, check it out.

Kristen's Crazy World

My sister-in-law has started a blog. You can find it here: Kristen's Crazy World.

Bob LeBow 2007

This one's a little late, but my wife and I completed this years 35 mile Bob LeBow Bike Tour.

This was an important ride as it is the one we crashed in last year. It went pretty well all things considered. Amy was super nervous during the ride as it was her longest ride to date this year, not to mention the mental baggage from crashing last year.

Our next upcoming charity ride is the Tour De Boise. I'm not sure if we're riding the 15 or 30 mile route yet but I do hope it's fun.

First Camping Trip

Well our little family finally went on our first camping trip. We went up to a little spot along the North Fork of the Boise River just North of Idaho City.

Our girls had a blast. Their favorite parts were playing in the dirt and sleeping in their new sleeping bags. All of us can't wait till we can go again.

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Here's an incredible story about following your dreams.

It's a simple story about a shepherd boy from Spain who travels to the pyramids in Egypt to find a buried treasure. Along the way he meets all sorts of different characters who help him along the way.

I really enjoyed this story. Part of its appeal is in its simplicity. The story never tries to be more than it really is unlike most current novels.

There's nothing really new or surprising in regards to the plot of finding ones dreams, but the beautiful way in which it is told will keep you enchanted.

Another must read.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

This is the best first novel by a living author that I've read in a long, long time.

Diane weaves a fascinating tale that, once you get past the first couple of chapters, will hook you and make this book very difficult to put down.

I won't go into what the story is about as there's a lot of other places where you can get that, but this is a highly recommended read. If you enjoy a good story that will keep you guessing this is the book for you.

I will be looking forward to Diane's next book.

Now do yourself a favor and go out and grab a copy for yourself.

Cycle For Independence 2007

My Wife and I rode in the Cycle for Independence this year. We rode the 25 mile route.

This is the first of four charity rides that we plan on doing this year. It may also be the shortest. The next one coming up is Bob LeBow where we will be riding the 35 mile route once again. Followed by the Tour De Boise(40 miles) and last but not least the Blues Cruise.

Each ride will be setting a new distance record for Amy since her accident. However she continues to get stronger and I think after Bob LeBow we'll see real progress since that was the ride she had her accident in last year.

Anyway, back to the Cycle for Independence. There was approximately 300 riders for the event and it seemed like the majority of riders had some sort of corporate sponsors.

It started out windy but not unbearable and it was an excellent way to really kick off cycling season.

How Did You Spend Mother's Day?

As you can tell ours was peaceful.

Crystal Light or Crystal Meth?

So were at the grocery store and the kids want some sort of drink. We happen to see a shelf full of various Crystal Light On the Go drink mixes and we decide to buy a box for them.

We get home, eat dinner, and all is well. Then we decide to make the drink...

About an hour has passed, the kids have both downed their drink and I decide to make some for myself. That's when I notice a couple of key words on the box; "Energy", and "Caffeine".


To make a long story short. One kid stayed awake until after 10 p.m. The other until 1 a.m.

Watership Down - the Book and the Movie

I've been meaning to post about this for awhile as I finished both over a month ago. Anyway on to my thoughts.

The Book: Watership Down the novel is an incredible story. I won't say too much about it as there's plenty of reviews all over the place except that I enjoyed it enough that now that I've read it and own a copy I will read it several times in my future I'm sure. In fact for my kids if it's not assigned in school when their old enough it will be required summer reading. Everyone should check this out.

The Movie: This may have been a good animated movie back in the seventies, but watching it on DVD now is a disaster. The color fluctuates from frame to frame in some spots, the animation is inconsistent, the sound is off in parts. That's just technical stuff. As for the "story" part well that's a mess. If your curious about Watership Down and think that watching the movie first to gauge your interest is the way to go do yourself a favor and don't. This DVD is a complete waste of time and money. The only good thing I can say about it is at least I rented it rather than bought the piece of shit.

Back on the Bike

Well my wife is riding once again. Today we went on an eight mile ride. Nothing major but a good ride to see how she felt riding that far with her new fitting and also to see how the physical therapy is going for her.

Today wasn't her strongest ride, but it's the first time since her accident where you could tell she was riding comfortably and relaxed. In fact when were where returning she was very chipper and even did a small sprint (a rarity in and of itself).

With this amount of progress she'll be ready for the Cycle for Independence that's coming up next month.

I can't wait to watch her progress continue.

Wobble-Naught Bike Fitting

My wife and I recently had our bikes fitted using Wobble Naught over at George's Cycles at their front street store.

What an amazing difference it has made! I am not a professional cyclist by any means and I went into this for the most part out of curiosity. My bike (a Specialized Roubaix Comp)was already "fit" based on things I'd read in books and online so I figured I had it dialed in close to where it should be and only small minor tweaks would be needed. Was I ever wrong. My saddle height increased close to an inch, by stem was lowered and both cleats were adjusted as well. It has made a huge difference. I didn't realize how big of a difference this would make both in my comfort and even my performance. I ride faster and more comfortable than I ever have before.

I can't recommend Wobble-Naught enough, and when I buy my next bike I'll have this done from the very beginning.

Wii Are Back... Again

Well our Nintendo Wii has returned once again from repairs. So far everything this running smoothly but I haven't had much time to use it yet. Hopefully this coming weekend I'll get some Zelda time in. On thing that's interesting is since this is the third time the console has been shipped it's got light scratches on it. Nothing major and you can't see them in the TV stand but it is disappointing. Hopefully this is the end of my console troubles.

Adventures of Jen

One of my sisters started blogging on Blogger so go check her out.

Adventrues of Jen & Other Fun Stuff

Sunray Premium Playground Part 2

One thing I should add about putting this play set together. It's wise to both watch the video and read the instructions together. There's a number of times where the video will give you a key piece of information that is not included in the instructions. Just a tip for anyone who's also putting one together.

In Every Married Man's Mailbox

The Wii Has Been Shipped

My second Wii system has been shipped back to Nintendo today. Now we'll see if they fix the one I sent or send me another system once again.

Another Wii Bites The Dust

It hasn't been a full month and my second Wii is having problems and going in for repairs. This time they think it is something rubbing against the fan. I really hope this will be the last of my Wii problems. Having one system have a problem is one thing but two in a row... Wii are starting to get upset. I'll post more info as more is found out.

The Playground

I've been spending the past week or so putting together a swing set for the kids. Specifically the Sunray Premium Playgrounds set from Costco. It took me about 21 hours to put together along with my wife helping when she could. The kids love it so it's all worthwhile.

Wii Turned

Well I got my Wii back. In total it took about a week and a half including shipping both ways for it to be returned to me.

I still don't know what was wrong with it and the "fix" was to send me a brand new Wii. So far I haven't had much time to play it as I've been building a swing set for my kids. However, I have had time to make sure it works. One nice touch is Nintendo transfer all of my information to this new system so all my network settings, game saves, Mii, etc. were all ready to go. The only thing I found odd is I did have to install the latest system update. You think they would have taken care of that already. Oh, and the channels I have downloaded previously need to be re-downloaded. No big deal.

This new system doesn't seem to feel as hot in standby mode as my previous system. I'll see how it preforms running Twilight Princess this weekend.

Wii Will Be Back Soon

Well my Wii was shipped out today. UPS says it should arrive on Monday. Now it's just a waiting game to see what happens. I'm curious as to what the fix will be but I don't I'll find out. I'll post again once it's returned.

Tragedii for Mii

I've been enjoying my Wii since the middle of December and now Tragedii has struck. My system is having issues with it's graphics processor and needs to be send in for repairs. You can see some screens of a similar issue with another guy here. So far I've called Nintendo and they're getting me set up to send in the system for repair. I'll post how everything goes from now until I get the console back.

The Final Frontier?

The last lovemaking taboo lifted?

Why Costco Rocks

Here's an excellent article on why Costco is a great (and rare) company.

Costco: The anti-Wal-Mart

I really like how the CEO of the company isn't a billionaire and isn't trying to be a corporate rock star. Too bad more companies don't have executives of this caliber.

The Best Thing About Valentine's Day

The best thing about Valentine's Day is that it's over. Who needs a holiday to tell someone they love them?

What Book Am I?

by Richard Adams

Though many think of you as a bit young, even childish, you're
actually incredibly deep and complex. You show people the need to rethink their
assumptions, and confront them on everything from how they think to where they
build their houses. You might be one of the greatest people of all time. You'd
be recognized as such if you weren't always talking about talking rabbits.

Take the Book Quiz

What is ironic is I starting reading reading Watership Down a couple of weeks ago.

The IHOP Experiance

After having dinned at several different IHOP restaurants in several different towns I now believe that you can count on the service to be extremely slow and the food to be mediocre especially for the price you pay. It will be long time before I partake of that mess.

Zune you'll be confused

Here's an interesting article on the Zune Marketplace's crazy pricing. Another reason not to get a Zune. It's also another reason why I won't be taking part in the Xbox Live Marketplace either. I will not use any Microsoft service that forces me to buy "points".

Zune Marketplace's Absurd Pricing Scheme

Observations on Arabs

I found this post by Stephen Browne to be fascinating. It makes a person stop and think. Good stuff.

Observations on Arabs

New Mac Ads

Apple has posted some new Mac ads. Better Results is my personal favorite.

Get A Mac

Kids Need Free Playtime

I also believe that children plain old non-edutainment play time. It's a shame so many parents today miss the boat.

Give kids more free playtime, docs urge

What Women Want

Or at least what some women want, if they have an iPod. Maybe.

OhMiBod

Banned Books With Google

I ran across this page today and thought it was pretty cool. I've only read a handful of these books but it would indeed be tragic if they were unavailable.

Explore Banned Books

Windows is five times more expensive than Mac OS X

Is this at all surprising?

Windows 5x More Expensive than Mac OS X

Waking Up Without Snooze

I hate the snooze button, yet I use it every day, several times in a row. Perhaps this will help.

Surefire Way to Wake Up Without the Snooze

Email Checking Tips

Here's a good article discussing when to check your email. I have to admit I'm guilty of doing the pm email check and having it eat up way too much of my night.

Never Check Your Email First Or Last

Leopard "Preview" Gallery

Lots of leaked Leopard screen shots over at Impulsive Highlighters Unite!

Me

I'm trying to get my photo posted so here goes.

Another Bike Tour Part 2

No wrecks! No one that I'm aware of crashed on this ride. That's a relief and it was nice to roll through the finish line on the bike.

So how did it go? In a word, okay. It was windy and chilly but the strangest thing to me is that it didn't seem as though as many people were having fun as it did at the Bob LeBow tour. Maybe it was the weather or that fact that this is only the fourth time blue cross has put this on but there was something different about it.

I think I'd try it again next year but I won't be as excited for it as I will the Bob LeBow ride.

Another Bike Tour

Well it's time to try another bike tour. This one is called Blues Cruise Wheels for Wellness. Unfortunately, my wife will not be attending as she is still recovering from her bicycle accident (and will be for a least another three months or more). Hopefully this one is accident free. I'm riding the 30 mile loop.

Which Superhero are you?

Looks like I'm superman. What are you?

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 70% The Flash 70% Hulk 55% Supergirl 50% Robin 47% Green Lantern 45% Spider-Man 40% Catwoman 40% Wonder Woman 35% Iron Man 35% Batman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

A bonus for having daughters

Recently I discovered another plus to having daughters: On their birthdays, they like the toys and the cloths.

Files Are Not for Sharing

A children's story for the 21st Century.

Files Are Not for Sharing

Bob LeBow Bike Tour Part 2

Well, the charity ride was a blast until the crash. My wife ran into me as we were ten miles from the end. I ended up okay but she was really banged up. In fact it's bad enough that we are going to see an orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to look at her elbow (she chipped off a piece of her humerus ,ground her elbow off down to the bone, and has two deep puncture wounds in her right ankle, not to mention a lot of road rash all over her right side).

The good news is she still wants to ride her bike when she recovers and we both want to try the Bob LeBow Bike Tour again next year.

Bob LeBow Bike Tour

I'll be participating in my first charity ride this Saturday. It's the Bob LeBow Bike Tour and I'll be doing the 35 mile Simplot Marsing Tour. It should be a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll do a follow up post when it's over.

Specialized Roubaix Comp Triple Part 2

Thought I would talk about the bike I received for Christmas now that I have put about 400 miles on it.

This is a really nice bike. I have had to take it in to George's Cycles & Fitness twice to have the front derailleur adjusted due to cable stretch, but other than that, it's preformed very well. The ride is nice and smooth and seems to absorb the bumps in the road with aplomb, especially chip seal.

One of the things that I enjoy is the bikes flexibility. This is a bike that you can set up to be aggressive or comfortable depending on your riding style.

I do wish it came with a little better set of wheels as the Shimano’s that came with it do an okay job but nothing to stand out.

On a side note for anyone looking to add a cyclometer with wireless cadence, take a look at how the sensor will install on the chain stay. I ran into a problem where I purchased Specialized’s Turbo Elite cyclometer and due to the pear shape of the chain stay was unable to install it and have the required amount of clearance between the sensor and cadence magnet. I switched to the CatEye Double Wireless and that worked great.

Another Case of Microsoft Crossing the Line

How internet Explorer Stifles Microsoft

This is a very good article but one of the problems is people outside of the Windows world are the only ones that really have to deal with it and we obviously know Microsoft doesn't really care about anyone outside of Windows.

Creative vs Apple - A Fable

Christopher Breen over at playlist writes a funny fable about Creative's legal mischief with Apple.

Today's Creative Fable

From Bad to Worse

First I had shingles and now I have Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. I'm falling apart at a very rapid rate.

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

Here's a book I would have liked to enjoy. There's a decent story here, it's just not a good enough one to warrant the time required to read it. I hope the movie ends up being better than the book since I'm sure for that endeavor they will hire an editor.

Shingles

I've been suffering from shingles for over a little over a week now and can honestly say it's the most painful thing I've ever experienced in recent memory.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Bicycling

I ran across this quote from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle recently and it sums up cycling for me.

"When the spirits are low, when the day appears dark, when work becomes monotonous, when hope hardly seems worth having, just mount a bicycle and go out for a spin down the road, without thought on anything but the ride you are taking."

It doesn't get much better than that.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin

I can't believe I didn't see this one in the theatre! For me this has been the funniest movie I've seen since Meet the Parents. I highly recommend this one; however, it does lean a little more towards being a guy flick, but there's stuff here that women will enjoy as well. The only thing I'd knock is how it ends but a part of that is because I really hate the song they sing.

Bikejournal.com

www.bikejournal.com is just as their mast head states: Ride, Log, and Repeat. I've been using the free membership for over a month now and I'm very pleased with it. There's a ton of different categories that you can track in your log so there's something for everyone. If you're wanting a place to track your bike rides this is the place.

How to Become an Early Riser

I'm going to give this a shot.

Part 1

Part 2

FitDay.com An Online Diet & Fitness Journal

I ran across a neat web site a couple of days ago. It's called www.fitday.com It ties in nicely to the fitness challenge that we have here at work since it allows you to track both the food you eat and the activities that you do. It's only downside is it's rather ugly, but what it lacks in looks it makes up for in cost: free.

The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway

One of my favorite books of all times. I've read this story in the past. I believe this was my fifth time through it. If you've never read anything my Hemingway this is an excellent place to start.

The Green Mile by Stephen King

Not a lot to say about this one. If you've seen the movie you've read the book, and vice versa. The movie stays very true to the book. This isn't to say this is a bad book. My only problem is I've seen the movie at least four times and I was disappointed that the book added very little outside of the movie. Worth checking out at your local library if you’re interested.

Specialized Roubaix Comp Triple

I finally got a bike. I actually received this as a Christmas present from my wife. A very nice present indeed. So how does it ride? Well, in a stationary trainer really well. Outside of that I've only had the opportunity to ride it about five miles before my feet and hands turned purple and started to freeze. Once the weather warms up and I can let her fly I'll post my thoughts again. One thing to note is the wheels are Shimano rather than the Alex wheels mentioned on Specialized's web site.

Ice Station by Matt Reilly

This is a pretty good read as long as you hang your brain on the shelf for it's duration. Matt (or Matthew as he's going by now) does an excellent job of keeping the action and suspense moving forward. I found the story requires more than the normal effort required to suspend your belief, but not to the point of distraction. There is always so much going on you don't have time to really stop and think about it.

Since it's an action story most if not all the characters are wooden and the main character is a cross of an Energizer Bunny and a Timex watch.

Recommended reading on a rainy day or when you have the flu.

The Cider House Rules by John Irving

Wow, what a story! I have seen the movie five or six times so I went into this thinking that it would be the same story with just more details. I couldn’t have been more wrong. There is an amazing amount of things that are in here that the movie omits. In fact while reading the book I never really felt like the movie spoiled any of the plot. I'm still amazed at how fresh it was to read. I enjoyed this book enough that I can honestly say it is one of my favorites of all time and I'm sure I will be reading it again.

If you've thought about reading this but decided not to because you've seen the movie, think again. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Where have I been?

It's been awhile but this winter my body decided to become the center for every strain of flu/cold out there. I'm on the mend finally, or until I catch the next dose of junk that's floating around. Anyway on the agenda is a review of John Irving's "Cider House Rules", and another book or two.

Seven Deadly Sins Rating

Well here's where I rate. Not too bad but there's work to be done.

Greed:	Medium
Gluttony:	Medium
Wrath:	Very Low
Sloth:	Medium
Envy:	Very Low
Lust:	Medium
Pride:	Medium

The Seven Deadly Sins Quiz

Driving Along an Idaho Highway - A Joke

Four women are driving along a highway. One from Georgia, one from Washington, one from California, and one from Idaho.

Suddenly the woman from Georgia tosses a box of peaches out the window and says "Peaches, peaches, peaches...I'm sick of peaches. I don't care if I never see another peach as long as I live!"

After a few miles the woman from Washington pitches a bag of apples out the window and says "I agree! I'm so sick of apples I could scream."

Inspired, the woman from Idaho opens the car door and kicks the woman from California out onto the highway.

I've heard this one several times. Funny and true.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

I just finished this book and I can honestly say it's been my favorite read for 2005. Sure the characters in the book are a little too black and white, not to mention wooden, however, this novel is a pager turner. The most important thing about this book is the simple fact that it makes you think something sorely lacking in a lot of modern fiction. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested.

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

The difference between guts and balls

Guts - is arriving home late after a night out with the guys, being assaulted by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask:
”Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?"

Balls - is coming home late after a night out with the guys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the ass and saying, "You're next."

The King of Holiday Inflatables

I have a few holiday inflatables but nothing like this couple has.

The King of Holiday Inflatables

Steve Jobs SNL Skit

This skit on SNL featuring "Steve Jobs" is hilarious.

Steve Jobs on SNL

Cut out Toys for Girls and Boys

My kids are too little for this but I have some nieces and nephews who might enjoy them. I'm even half way tempted to build one just for fun.

Barnacle Press: Papercraft

Bound for Glory America in Color 1939-1943

An online exhibition of color photo graphs. There's even two pictures from Idaho. One of a road to Emmett and one dear to my heart, Cascade.

Bound for Glory

Proper Hat Etiquette

Proper hat etiquette from days long past.


EVIL SWEDE'S GUIDE TO PROPER HAT ETIQUETTE

More Western Slang

Here's a site with a heapin' helpin' of Western slang.

Legends of America

What about reading?

It seems like in Idaho everything you read talks about the poor state our kids and math. In fact we have charter school that are supposed to focus on math. The Idaho Statesman put out a "Discover Treasure Valley" insert and one of the things it lists is how the Treasure Valley schools performed in 2005. What I find interesting is out of 61 schools it ends up 80% missed reading but only 48% missed math. So do we focus on math because it's the trendy thing to do? Where are the charter schools whose core is reading?

Just turned thirty

Today I woke up and by back was sore and my left knee is throbbing. Yup today is my birthday.

New National Symbol

This has been making the office rounds today.

Official Announcement

The government today announced that it is changing its emblem from an Eagle to a CONDOM because it more accurately reflects the government's political stance. A condom allows for inflation, halts production, destroys the next generation, protects a bunch of pricks, and gives you a sense of security while you're actually being screwed.

Human Nose A Seal Delicacy

This is why it's fine to look at seals but not to get too close.

Seal bites off woman's nose