What's New With Mick

  • First Daily Show after 9/11

    via Dvorak Uncensored

  • Morning Bike Ride

    Distance: 10.0 miles
    Riding time: 57 minutes
    Max speed: 29.8 mph
    Average speed: 10.4 mph
    Temperature: 90º (according to questionable bike computer read)
    Route:

    • Stanton to 162nd
    • 162nd to I-84 bike path
    • Bike path to Fairview Parkway
    • Fairview Parkway to Sandy
    • Sandy to 223rd
    • 223rd to Marine Drive
    • Marine Drive to 185th Ave
    • 185th to Airport Way
    • Airport Way to 158th
    • 158th to Fremont
    • Fremont to 156th
    • 156th to home
    Tina recovered quickly from our soul-sapping ride last week and got back in the saddle on Saturday to ride with Thomas. I was more conservative about my recovery time and didn’t attempt to ride again until today. I felt pretty good the whole way and my legs felt fine going up hills. I had a conference call so I headed for home from Marine Drive but Tina decided to keep going.

  • The Democratic establishment are cowards

    The New York Times reports that once again, despite previous assurances that they would not, the Democrats in Congress have caved in under threat of veto from President Bush. When the American people elected a Democratic majority to both the House and Senate in 2006 it was assumed by most that the Democrats would end the war. A few weeks ago I watched Nancy Pelosi on one of the Sunday talk shows. The interviewer asked her why Congress had not acted to end the war during the last two years and her response was this: The President will veto it and the Democrats don’t have enough votes to override.

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  • No Heroics

    This upcoming sitcom on British television looks fun:

  • Tina at Erik and Rhonda’s wedding

    Here’s my beautiful wife last weekend when she, Graham and I attended a wedding reception for my good friend Erik Rogers and his new bride, Rhonda. She even offered to drive home if I cared to take advantage of the open bar.

  • Afternoon Bike Ride

    Distance: 15.0 miles
    Riding time: 99 minutes
    Max speed: 22.2 mph
    Average speed: 9.0 mph
    Temperature: 90º (according to questionable bike computer read)
    Route:

    • Through the neighborhood to 158th and Sandy Blvd
    • 158th to Marine Drive bike path
    • Bike path past 205 several miles (turnaround)
    • Bike path back to 205
    • I-205 bike path to Fremont
    • Fremont to 122nd
    • 122nd to I-84 bike path
    • Bike path to 162nd
    • 162nd to Stanton
    • Stanton to home
    Ever since we knew that I would be working from home, Tina and I have been looking forward to riding our bikes together during the day. We finally did it today and boy did it wear us out. I thought we might go five miles out and then turn around, but Tina was enjoying herself so much that we went another mile. I also decided to take the 205 bike path home which may have been a mistake since it seemed like it was all uphill. When we attempted the last hill at 122nd, my legs had had enough and I simply didn’t have the will to pedal uphill anymore. So we walked up the heavily trafficked hill in the very narrow bike lane gasping for breathe the entire time. The rest of the ride went smoothly but we’re both pretty shot tonight.

    My fitness definitely needs some improvement so I’ve been doing some homework on indoor training. After a fair bit of reading, I’ve decided that the best turbo trainer for my ability would be a CycleOps PowerBeam Pro. Extra indoor sessions should make these outdoor rides much easier in the future and also more enjoyable.

  • Vital Statistics

    Bike odometer: 2500
    Van odometer: 154003
    Weight lost (in pounds): 0
    Aches & pains: left shin (scab gone), lower back, all my muscles
    Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
    Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), News from Lake Wobegon, Science Friday, Coverville, DrugMusic
    Recent viewing: Olympics, Democratic National Convention, Republican National Convention, The O’Reilly Factor
    Recent playing: Chain Factor, Spaceward Ho!
    Recently accomplished: Upgraded DSL, cleaned cat boxes, setup VPN access for work, office cleaning, office moving, office remodeling, cardboard recycling
    Imperative To Do: Craigslist items for Thomas/Graham, install Tina’s bike computer, get rid of office junk, freecycle, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss

  • Republicans on Sarah Palin

  • The wisdom of a fool won’t set you free

    Life has been demanding lately. At work I’ve been transitioning to a new team while still maintaining some responsibility for the product the Splash team just shipped. I’ve also been working on another project outside of work that has been very demanding of my time. Today was supposed to be the first day working from home since the EFI office in Vancouver is now officially closed. Unfortunately, because of the recent time crunch, I didn’t have time to move my work stuff (and there’s a lot of it) home until Friday when Tina and the boys helped me lug a few computers and displays home. I spent the better part of the three day weekend emptying my office at home, cleaning it and redecorating. I didn’t completely finish but it’s in a workable state and most of the junk I moved out is no longer cluttering the rest of the house.
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  • Cubicle meltdown

    BrazenCareerist.com counts down the top ten cubicle meltdown videos. You’ve probably seen most of them but the first and last in their list are interesting in that they are the same incident taken from two different angles. The first was taken from the ubiquitous security camera and goes on for several minutes:
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