Kevin's Blog

Happy New Year

2008-12-29T23:00:00.001-07:00

How about this for new years trivia:
It's December 29th, and this is my second post of the year.

*tear*

Maybe I can do better next year.

Take 2

2008-02-19T23:20:00.001-07:00

I know I havn't written in a while, but I've had some writer's block at work. I'm hoping some blogging will cure it.

Life is busy. I now stay home with Kyle in the mornings while Mindy works. Mindy's new job has been nice from a monetary standpoint, but it means we have less time together. That's not as fun as you might think. I also watch a little boy, William, for a couple hours in the morning. I'm convinced they conspire between the two of them to make mornings more interesting. One takes a morning off, while the other finds new ways to mess up something. Maybe we should get out of the house more often.

At work, I'm somewhat proud of implementing my simulation to run on a cluster (think large network of computers). UA has a cluster for general research purposes (and another, larger cluster being installed soon). I havn't run anything huge yet, I've gotten enough of a speedup in computation time to claim the new implementation a total success. It always seemed that the old implementation would limit the quality of simulations I could run before a deadline. Now I can be happy for the next few months thinking everything is faster. If history is any judge, It won't be long before I find some way to be dissatisfied again.

So, you think YOU are smart

2007-08-10T22:51:00.000-07:00

What you see here is Kyle plugging RCA cables into the front of the TV.

Yes, the corresponding colors are correctly connected.

I'm turning Pro

2007-07-25T16:42:00.000-07:00

It's looking increasingly likely that there will be a spot for me next year in the Tour de France.

Boo Rasmussen

I saw a movie

2007-07-05T16:51:00.000-07:00

It's somewhat ironic to me that the Transformers motto is "more than meets the eye", yet the movie relies on visual appeal.

Luckily, visual appeal is all this movie needs.

To the San Antonio Spurs

2007-06-17T23:55:00.000-07:00

I hope your National Championship means as much to you as it does to me.

Not Convinced

2007-05-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I know the Suns have been out of the playoffs for a while now, but I was out of town. Plus, I'm still bitter. Given the sleazy way the Spurs played I must find a way to say that they are not a better basketball team - and I have.

Sure the Spurs won the series 4:2, but did they significantly outscore the Suns? Let's do a test of significance.

We are trying to show whether the Spurs score minus the Suns score is statistically different than zero. A simple paired t-test will suffice. This test will show whether the difference in scores is due to random game to game fluctuation, or whether the Spurs statistically outscored the Suns during the series and are therefore a better team. If the Spurs score was statistically different (i.e. 'significant'), the P-value will be less than 0.05.

Lets look at some data:
Format (Spurs Score, Suns Score, difference)
Game 1: (111, 106, 5)
Game 2: (81, 101, -20)
Game 3: (108, 101, 7)
Game 4: (98, 104, -6)
Game 5: (88, 85, 3)
Game 6: (114, 106, 8)
Average: (100, 100.5, -.5)
Std Dev: (13.3, 7.9, 10.8)

And finally:
t-value: 0.1136
p-value: 0.9140
Degrees of Freedom: 5

Wow, not even close to significant. In fact, the Suns averaged more points than the Spurs in the series, thanks to their 20 point victory in game 2. Even if you don't include game 2, the P-value is barely less than 0.25.

In review, I must recommend the Suns-Spurs series be extended a few more games.

Crummy Computer

2007-05-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is inexcusable.

Checking the cable on a bad hard drive is almost always the first thing you do.

Kryptonite

2007-04-30T10:35:00.000-07:00

You may have heard last week that scientists found a mineral matching very closely the characteristics of Kryptonite. Kyrptonite is, of course, the green radioactive material known to harm Superman in comic books and movies.

The troubling part is that this new mineral is neither green nor radioactive. Which means the only common characteristic between it and Kyrptonite is that it kills a fictional superhero.

I wonder how they tested that.

Krazy Kyle

2007-04-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

It's Kyle in tunnel vision!

He insists on taking a "truck" with him everywhere - including church on Easter Sunday!

The 5 second rule

2007-04-04T10:36:00.000-07:00

The 5th grade version of me would be disappointed. Don't you wish you could research this?

Your probably didn't know who he was

2007-03-29T09:13:00.000-07:00

He was one of the true inventors of the MRI.

Things to do on your 25th Birthday

2007-03-23T17:21:00.000-07:00

1) Get nice gifts from your family
2) Go out for pizza
3) Eat cake and ice cream
4) Go back to work till 11pm

Things to do the day after your 25th Birthday
1) Give a presentation
2) Go to a Diamondback's Spring Training game
3) Get 2 hotdogs & a beer (bought by a faculty advisor)
4) Get rained out after 3 innings

My new claim to fame

2007-03-15T21:58:00.000-07:00

Apparently, I was in a Katharine McPhee Video.

What do you think?

Weird

2007-02-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

I have more interest now in reading my undergrad text books than when I took the respective classes.

Is that weird?

God and Orals

2007-02-15T10:10:00.000-07:00

Evolution vs. Intelligent Design is NOT the same thing as Darwin vs. God.

On a happier note, yesterday I passed my oral comprehensive exam!!!!

Old Pueblo

2007-02-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

Every year we manage to not race the "24 Hours in the Old Pueblo" in spectacular fashion. This year is no exception.

Maybe I'll do it solo next year. Then I can't be disappointed when others back out.

Not Impressed

2007-02-09T12:36:00.000-07:00

Functional MRI (fMRI) is all the new buzz. It's all over the news, especially in the last week. The idea is straight forward. Different areas of your brain are "activated" when you move your arm, tap your finger, tell a lie, etc. In practice, it's a LOT more difficult.

It's not the science of fMRI I'm unimpressed with - it's the media coverage. There IS some bad science - there was a group several months ago that claimed fMRI as a foolproof lie detector, which wouldn't be such a bad idea if there was currently any evidence for it.

Moving on, I find that "the news" grossly distorts findings in my field (MRI). It's likely accidental. Some of the stories miss details. Others miss the entire premise. The big examples this week were in fMRI. For instance, this news story broke about Super Bowl advertisers using fMRI to gauge audience reaction to commercials.

Then, there was this story today about using fMRI to determine whether a person was adding or subtracting 2 numbers. They make it sound like you think "addition", and a notice pops up on the computer screen saying "this person is adding". What they don't tell you in the article is that you had to think addition 32 times while they took 155 images (times 8, cause each subject did it did it 8 times), after which they did enough statistics on the images to make you want to forget about addition altogether.

Splash

2007-01-31T21:42:00.000-07:00

Today marked the 4th day of measurable rain so far this year. Kyle marked the occasion by playing outside.

Breaking news!

2007-01-21T20:03:00.000-07:00

It snowed....in Tucson
And a "snow advisory" is in effect until 5pm MONDAY!

The easy life

2006-12-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

Mentor: When do classes start?
Me: I don't care.
Mentor: Oh right, why should you?

My final final

2006-12-12T14:57:00.000-07:00

My take home applied math final is finished, marking the end of my last class. It had 6 questions, and 13 pages of written answers.

It's time to celebrate!

A new application every day

2006-12-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Did you know Pringles aerodynamically designs their potato chips such that they don't fly off the production line?

2006-12-01T17:05:00.000-07:00

A little T-day football!

And I quote

2006-11-30T21:00:00.000-07:00

...from a scientific paper:

"Because details are still lacking on these subjects, the temptation to speculate will not be entirely suppressed."

Oh, I passed all 4 of my comps questions!!!

I smell trouble

2006-11-29T00:26:00.000-07:00

The new season of Scrubs (my favorite show) starts on Thursday. Unfortunately, it conflicts with Mindy's favorite show, Grey's Anatomy. This may be the first true test of our marriage.

I've only heard back on two of my comps questions - I passed both of them. I should know more in the next day or two.

Happy T-day

2006-11-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

My written comps are done. I should know early next week if I passed. After studying/reading for months on end, I got home last night and felt weird about not studying/reading. I feel like there's some topic I should be staying up to date on - almost like I wanted to read something.

On another note, this was our first T-day at home - just the 3 of us. Our menu consisted of:
Turkey (from the Honey-Baked Ham store)
Mashed potatoes (which I made from actual potatoes)
Stuffing (you should have tried them)
Cranberries

Oh, and for dessert we have ice cream & pumpkin pie. YUM!

Misc

2006-11-20T20:33:00.000-07:00

1) I finished the 109 mile El Tour de Tucson in 06:51:06 (by official time). My goal was 6 hours, but I'm sticking with the contention that it was one of those "Price is Right" bids.

2) Apparently, a healthy Christian lifestyle eliminates the need for any routine checkups.

3) I'm taking comps on Tuesday & Wednesday. Pray for me!

The Good News

2006-11-14T16:05:00.000-07:00

Now you don't have to be a musician to play guitar.

2006-11-12T22:30:00.000-07:00

One of the many things we picked up at Bike Swap on Saturday!!

Yeah Right

2006-11-02T16:32:00.000-07:00

"This time I'd like you to speak in tongues."

Not again

2006-10-24T23:19:00.000-07:00

Our lease is up again in about two months. It's not that I want to stay, but I really don't want to move. The only thing worse than moving is helping someone else move. Our place is cramped, but not much is cheaper. Buying a place seems unlikely since we should only be here another 3 years.

Still, it'd be nice to have a yard. Kyle has really enjoyed the great outdoors via our back patio.

Biology vs Comedy

2006-10-16T23:45:00.000-07:00

People in biology related fields think they are funny. I haven't decided if I'm laughing at them or with them.

I'll give 2 examples:
1) Dr. Southern developed the "Southern" blot, used to detect DNA after gel electrophoresis. Another guy then did the same thing with RNA and called it a "Northern" blot. Another one did it with proteins and called it a "Western" blot.

2) The group describing "Western" blotting to the class today decided it would be fun to dress up as cowboys and do a mini dance prior to their demonstration. I'll remind you that this is a graduate level course.

Christian Rock

2006-10-15T23:33:00.000-07:00

Only the Onion tells it like it is.

Dilemma

2006-10-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

You may remember me talking about a frame and some other parts I bought or was given a while back to build myself a road bike (the Fetish). Since, I've received a VERY nice road bike as a gift (the Colnago, thanks again Jerry). Yes. That's right. I recieved a free Colnago. How can there be a dilemma when a Colnago is involved?

You may also remember that I built a single speed a while back to commute on (the Nishiki). I really like the bike, but since the parts are mostly used it requires a lot of maintenance - the wheelset is completely shot. The headset should probably be replaced too, but I'm less worried about that. My plan was to put the wheelset I bought for the Fetish on the Nishiki, but it turns out the rear wheel spacing is off by 4mm.

Lets review: I have a bike that's too nice to ride to school, a bike that's too crappy to ride to school, and 1/3 of a bike in pieces around the house. The last few months I've been riding Mindy's road bike to school; however, the weather is getting nicer, and she would like to go on rides with Kyle during the day.

The optimal solution is cheap, requires little maintenance, and leaves me with few extra bikes/parts. I could:
1) Buy crappy parts and put them on the Fetish.
2) Buy nice parts & put them on the fetish to (a) sell or (b) commute on.
3) Buy a cheap wheelset to put on the Nishiki and continue to ride it.

Feel free to tell me I whine too much, and give your input.

Office Hours

2006-10-11T23:39:00.000-07:00

Step 1: Spend hours working on a single math problem which makes senses, but seems impossible to solve using the hints given on the assignment.
Step 2: Go to your professors office hours, only to have him point out a single error in the problem as it is written. As a purely hypothetical example, "dot product with y" instead of "dot product with b".
Step 3: Figure out the problem in your head in the next 15 seconds sitting in his office.

You have no idea how common this scheme has become this semester.

What did you expect?

2006-10-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

2006 Ig Nobel Prize awards are up. Good Stuff.

Oh, I almost forgot. Math is weird and illogical.

Question of the day

2006-10-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

How is it that silencing RNA gets the Nobel Price for Medicine, while the basis of eukaryotic transcription gets the Nobel Prize for Chemistry?

Update 10/12: I'm not the only one asking this question.

Arizona Football eh.

2006-10-03T12:34:00.000-07:00

Floyd Landis Cleared

2006-09-13T16:09:00.000-07:00

The lab which performed his tests took back the abnormal finding after realizing the error was a simple mathematical mistake.

"It turns out our lab technician forgot to carry a decimal place. His actual testosterone/epitestosterone ratio is 1.1, not 11. Sorry Floyd!"

In other news, cycling is safer without a helmet.

An (almost) actual e-mail

2006-09-01T11:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Sirius Satellite Radio,
I think I understand why your promised online radio has been down all week. Even though I can't listen to your radio stations at work, I imagine you are making important updates that will enhance my listening experience.

Fortunately, I can listen to the free XM radio provided online through the new AIM client.
Sincerely,
A loyal(?) customer

Procrastination is the key

2006-08-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

Today I learned one of the virtues of procrastination. Doing your homework early can really come to bite you later.

For instance, I did my assignment due Thursday on Monday and Tuesday. I worked out all the problems, gave it some good thought, and fit data appropriately. What great reward can I get for all my hard work and effort?

In class today the inevitable question came:
Student: "Can you give me the answer to question 2b?"
Of course, she didn't ask that question directly, but I assure you that some bible translations are less accurate than my paraphrase of her question.

My thought bubble: "2b? What's she doing? That's the only problem on the set that actually requires thinking."

Professor: "Well, what we have here is.....(3 minutes of trying to hide the answer followed by blank stares from students).....(the answer)."

My hard work will no longer help me get a better grade on this assignment. Why think when a professor will do it for you?

Well duh

2006-08-25T14:14:00.000-07:00

eBay description: "brake levers Left & Right (right one is broken)...please feel free to ask any quetions before bidding"

Me: "Can you describe the damage to the right brake lever? Why is it broken?"

eBay Seller: "it doent shift"

Me: Thank you. Your response was quite comprehensive.

Bladder disease has returned

2006-08-15T15:19:00.000-07:00

or, get off your bike...

Welsh-speaking cyclists have been left baffled - and possibly concerned for their health - after a bizarre translation mix-up.
For instead of a road sign telling them to dismount, the Welsh translation informs them that 'bladder disease has returned'.

2006-08-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

"I can play the piano too!!"

Evans Blue

2006-08-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

...formed in March 2005, when members of three different bands connected through an online message board. Drawn together by a shared love of modern rockers like Tool, Chevelle, and Staind, the five members have jelled quickly as a unit. -- Guitar One Magazine, June 2006

Staind? Ha

The Smoking Duck

2006-07-26T12:51:00.000-07:00

I am always amazed at the number of engineering problems that remain to be solved. What starts off as a very simple idea is complicated by a set of situations that make the original idea almost impossible to implement. It's only though the incremental steps taken by scientists and researchers each day that we can hope to solve such important problems.

The last few weeks one problem in particular has struck me: The proper flotation of a rubber duck. Evidently, getting a duck to float as designed is a difficult task.

Consider the following
My son has three rubber ducks for his bath time fun. Two of them float on their side with the head partially (or completely) submerged.

There are two possible explanations:
1) These companies designed and mass produced a rubber duck without testing whether it would float properly
2) A complicated set of design problems prevent rubber ducks from floating properly without losing other functions.

The third duck does floats correctly; however, there is no hole on the bottom for squeaking. Obviously, this was a design decision to promote proper flotation.

They have cycling on TV

2006-07-22T20:54:00.000-07:00

I've missed not being able to watch the tour on OLN this year - it has been a very interesting tour.

I was unsure if I liked Floyd Landis before the tour began. However, I think any American cycling fan should be a die-hard fan by now.

Unless, of course, we find out next week that Floyd got a visit from his pharmacist.

We won (kind of)...

2006-07-02T20:36:00.000-07:00

So, EverSinceSomething fell just shy of placing at the battle of the bands we played on Saturday; However, the band did win the award for best vocals - and walked away with 2 free vocal mics.

Definitely worth the price of gas.

Firsts this week

2006-06-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

1) I played an open mic on Thursday, and got really good feedback. It's something I should do more often.
2) Kyle has slept through the night the last 3 nights in a row.
3) Kyle got his first haircut (see below).
4) I start riding again tomorrow. I can feel races breathing down my neck.

2006-06-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

Anyone who wants to see the finished product should come visit.

2006-06-13T21:56:00.000-07:00

The view from the balcony!

Kyle at the beach!

2006-06-13T21:50:00.000-07:00

He never did warm up to it...

A little perspective

2006-06-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

You might consider wearing a superhero outfit to work lame. This guy considers it an opportunity.

Read it, and you'll understand...

2006-06-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

This kid knows what's important in life.

Time and time again

2006-06-07T21:26:00.000-07:00

I somehow convinced my boss to let me write a program from scratch that does nearly the exact same thing as a program we already have.

Why would anyone want to do such a thing?
1) I like coding.
2) The current program is pretty much unmanageable. It's hard to read, comments are few, and it's been edited enough times that entire blocks of code are not useful.
3) Computer time is not cheap. I don't mean we have to pay to use our own computers - I mean it currently takes nearly 8 hours to run a series of simulations. I'm hoping the new revision will be fast enough to convince the boss to switch to it entirely.
4) Have I mentioned I like coding? There is something about looking at my new code and comparing it to the current code that brings an inner warmth. You should try it. If you need some bad code, let me know.

"Light at the End of Your Tunnel"

2006-06-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

You need a light at the end of your tunnel
Looking for a bump in the road
In order to see with more clarity
First you've got to lighten your load.

This song is about:
a) hope for those who have been through tough times.
b) using an endoscope to find a tumor in your colon.

Well, duh

2006-05-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

I have a new band.

Tell your friends.

Check us out.

Listen to our music (which we put up late last night).

Become our friend.

http://www.myspace.com/eversincesomething

2006-05-18T23:07:00.000-07:00

booo!! Did I scare you?

Sorting bias and Mother's Day

2006-05-14T00:18:00.000-07:00

It is common to estimate statistical parameters from a large body of data using smaller samples. For instance, polls use a small sample of the public to represent how a larger group feels about a current topic.

If, on average, your estimate does not provide the true value you are trying to obtain, then your estimate is said to have bias. Bias can occur for many reasons. It is possible to introduce bias simply in the way you arrange the data (e.g. from biggest to smallest). This is called sorting bias, and it is common in everyday life.

For instance, your son wants to give his mother (your wife) a gift for Mother's Day. How can you tell which gift he wants to give? You can narrow down the gifts to 2, and hold both potential gifts up to your 9 month old, believing that he'll reach for the one he wants to give. However, if he prefers to reach with a specific hand, the order in which the gifts are displayed will change (or bias) the result. This could be viewed as a form of sorting bias.

As with this example, bias can usually be corrected - giving the baby the same choice in all possible arrangements can remove bias. If he chooses the same gift each time he has no reaching preference. Testing each permutation several times can overcome even mild forms of reaching preference. With severe cases, I worry you are on your own with the whole gift giving process.

Of course, there are large problems with this model - it assumes your baby understands gift giving and thinks his mother would prefer the gift he is picking. This is generally not believed to be true; however, other models require much more experimental data, are too complicated to use on such a simple framework, and are just as difficult to verify as valid.

As I tell it

2006-05-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

The half truth:
2500+ posters, and mine was selected for 2nd place.

The truth:
Posters were split into 5-10 categories, award nominees were preselected based upon abstract score, and I was in a 3-way tie for second.

It's in the forecast...

2006-05-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

All the people in Seattle are nice.

My theory is that the rare occurrence of sunny days, like today, create a general good mood amongst the residence.

We'll see what they're like tomorrow.

Seattle

2006-05-05T22:52:00.000-07:00

I'm staying in the smallest hotel room I've ever seen. It's probably 200 square feet including 2 double beds, a TV, desk, chair, and what can best be described as a bathroom.

On the other hand, it does have free wireless internet. So, that pretty much makes up for it...

...Oh, who am I kidding.

What to do...

2006-04-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

Most blogs have a purpose. Some are about politics. Some are funny. Some are about sports. Some blogs are technical.

It may seem that this blog has no purpose. After all, in the archives you can find posts on everything from funny articles, to Kyle's latest happenings, to personal beliefs I may or may not still hold. But, believe it or not this blog DOES have a direct purpose. I don't think I've ever directly stated this blogs purpose to this blog....so here it goes:

I "blog" because I believe that writing more often will make me a better writer, and writing is a skill I want to cultivate.

I've considered opening a blog that is dedicated to a single topic - cycling, guitar, amps, some medical or engineering related topic. Perhaps someday I will.

In the mean time, I appreciate all of you that read.

Too funny to pass up

2006-04-27T09:23:00.000-07:00

This guy really likes girls with big bibles.

The kid crawls

2006-04-22T14:54:00.000-07:00

See for yourself! (5mb video)

(If you know of aFREE video editer let me know)

The real question is....

2006-04-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

Why do bands continue to make music videos when no tv channel will play them?

2006-04-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

"You can't make me take my nap!"

Purely Hypothetical

2006-04-11T17:13:00.000-07:00

You are a professor. Recently an important vote went before the faculty of your department. Not only are you found in the minority, but the vote is called "decisive" by people who do that. Being strong minded and strongly opinionated on this particular proposal, this upsets you.

What do you do?
a) Forget about it - it's not that big of a deal.
b) Lock yourself in your office and hold a grudge.
c) Talk to the chair of your department to explain your concerns.
d) Dedicate an entire section in your next book using the exact same numbers, but a slightly different situation showing the vote fails a chi-squared test of significance (at the 5% level), and therefore is not "decisive".

To me, the answer is obvious.

Awww shucks!

2006-04-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

There needs to be more of these. It's like BMX for mt bikers.

He asked for it

2006-04-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

It's not like he said, "Mother, I would like more of those carrots you have in that jar." Yet, that's exactly what went down.

Well, see for yourself (about 5mb video).

In case you don't get it, this is the ASL sign for "more".

Lesson Learned

2006-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

The more I use free software like OpenOffice and Octave, the more I despise it. The whole GNU "revolution" tries to promise the same functionality and performance with no price tag, but falls way short.

Anyone who does math in a scientific or engineering capacity is familiar with Matlab - it's a piece of software that is easy to quickly develop or test mathematical methods. It's known for being easier to use and code (for math purposes) than lower level languages like Java and C, but at the same time much slower.

I have done 2 projects this semester in Octave, a GNU clone of Matlab. The first project generated CT data of a Shepp-Logan phantom and reconstructed it. The Octave version took about an hour to run. The second project (finished this week) was iterative reconstruction for SPECT or PET data. At 1 iteration, the Octave version took about 5 minutes (multiplied by 20 iterations).

Minutes before I turned in the second project, I decided to see how fast THE SAME CODE would run in Matlab. It completed 2 iterations in about 10 SECONDS!!!!

Hypothetical Question: If there was an error in your code, would you prefer to realize the error in 5 minutes or 10 seconds?

I'm done with the whole idea. Goodbye Octave!! Welcome back Matlab!!!

That boy is swimming!

2006-03-27T00:26:00.000-07:00

Well...he's in the pool at least.

2006-03-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

Kyle and Zoe play...

Movie for 2

2006-03-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Mindy and I were able to make it to a movie yesterday. We saw "Failure to Launch" - one in a string of too many chick flicks I've seen recently. The movie was OK. The two leads (Matthew McConaughey and Sarah Jessica Parker) were forgetable. All of the backup characters, however, were fantastic.

I don't typically give movie reviews. I only bring it up because of how similar it is to my own life. You see, the basic premise of the movie is that this girl is paid to date a guy in order to convince him to move out of his parents house.

I'm pretty sure my parents paid Mindy to date me - not so I would move out of the house, but because they felt bad for me...or something. What do you know, in both cases it works out!!!

Viruses

2006-03-14T11:05:00.000-07:00

You may have heard that a new McAfee update considers some Microsoft products viruses.

And who can blame them? There are a lot of people who consider Microsoft products viruses.

With conviction

2006-03-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Have you ever seen a commercial so honest and straightforward it made you want to cry?

See two right here.

2006-03-07T19:45:00.000-07:00

And he thought his baby swing was fun!

Oh man

2006-02-27T16:21:00.000-07:00

If I owned a home you can bet I would have this installed.

Miracles

2006-02-25T20:40:00.000-07:00

Is a miracle only a miracle if there is no scientific explanation? Or, why is it a miracle only when we are ignorant to the underlying processes? Just because no scientific explanation is available doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

Does a miracle exclude a scientific explaination? NO!!

2006-02-22T22:08:00.000-07:00

Monkeying around...

2006-02-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Kyle is back...and this time he brought a friend!

Not kidding

2006-02-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

For Christmas, Mindy and I received Sirius satellite radio (which I highly recommend). I'm not what you would call a "fan" of Christian music, but I listen to some of it anyways - Sirius has 3 Christian music stations.

It is quite obvious that these stations are not run by "Christians". The music includes Creed and similar bands. Their slogans/spots are interesting. See examples:

"Just because God loves you and has a plan for you doesn't mean your music has to suck."

"On a diet? The only thing you have to swallow today is your pride!"

I still think it's a breath of fresh air (comming from K-LOVE), but that's another post for another time.

Errors Galore!

2006-02-08T00:12:00.000-07:00

You might consider losing a hard drive and it's backup at the same time an unfortunate coincidence - and it is. I just lost 140gigs of data and it's backup.

Fortunately, I have two other hard drives with the same data on a different computer.

Is it overkill to have the same 140gigs of data on 4 different hard drives? Probably - I didn't design the system.

Satisfied

2006-02-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Riding home as I typically do with my clunker single speed and backpack, I passed a cyclist all decked out in his team garb and $1000+ bike.

As a general rule, whenever you go riding in cycling clothes and a fancy bike you should be expected to outperform any guy in street clothes.

No exceptions...even for training or recovery rides.

Fun by all

2006-01-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

I have an idea for (what I would think would be) a great game. You see, the main character is so powerful it's impossible to lose or die. Whatever happens doesn't matter, because he can do no wrong. It's a feel good game.

Fall into a river or lake? Congratulations! You get a new power: breathing under water!

Run in circles? Congratulations! You found the secret combination of moves to a secret destination!

Leave the controller and go take a nap? Congratulations! You didn't die! Proceed to the next level.

Instead of levels getting harder, they get easier. I think you get the point...

Being careful

2006-01-29T19:45:00.000-07:00

You have to be careful when riding a bike or motorcycle...

You see...in a car you are surrounded by metal and glass - objects which obstruct the view of your reaction to bad driving. When riding a bicycle or a motorcycle, everyone has a plain view of your expressions. I commonly leave an intersection wondering if I actually shook my head or just wanted too.

2006-01-29T19:43:00.000-07:00

Food is fun! (and messy)

Funny, not funny

2006-01-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

Lets play:

This is funny. This is not funny.

2006-01-20T23:26:00.000-07:00

He's not completely autonomous yet.

2006-01-19T22:37:00.000-07:00

Almost big enough...

"I ride my bike to work; therefore, I am not a lazy person."

2006-01-17T22:20:00.000-07:00

The quality of a commute in a car is characterized by little traffic.

The quality of a commute on a bicycle is characterized by lots of traffic.

There is a 1/2 mile stretch on 1st Ave of bumper to bumper cars I pass daily on my ride home. It's so much fun!!! When I'm on that stretch of road my legs don't get tired - it doesn't matter how hard I pedal.

If you're ever in town during rush hour, ask me to take you there.

Out of time

2006-01-16T21:19:00.000-07:00

We finished in an incredibly slow 10.5 hours. In our defense, Isaac bonked twice and still finished - which makes him both a hero and psycho. My legs were sore for a bit, but mostly my left knee hurt (which means I need to adjust the bike a bit).

In general the weather was great, and most of the scenery was beautiful. Just in case you ever do this ride, beware of the 40 mile false flat with a headwind. My next endurance race is either the 300k Brevet or the 24 hours in the Old Pueblo - both in February. In either case, tomorrow I continue commuting and training!!

I'm a bit nervous

2006-01-13T22:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I'm participating in a brevet. It's essentially a 200km ride on a bicycle.

Wish me (and the rest of the OIM members attending) luck!

Sharp

2006-01-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

There is a pointy object protruding from Kyle's lower front gum. More on this as it happens!

UPDATE: I can now officially confirm a tooth sighting. I can also confirm a cranky baby.

2006-01-09T20:26:00.000-07:00

Sunglasses can help to protect your eyes from the ultraviolet rays given off by the sun. They are purely functional....honest.

Honk If You Are Polluting The Planet

2006-01-09T19:27:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention that I got a new computer at work last week. You can sure tell a difference when you jump from 400Mhz at 128MB of ram to 2.6Mhz at 1GB of ram.

While you are still in awe, check out this site, which is a list of bike slogans for shirts. It's about time OIM had a slogan....like "To ride is human, to tour devine!"

Purdy

2006-01-06T16:46:00.000-07:00

Guess what the DHL man brought today?

You should be jealous!!!

Didn't see that coming

2006-01-02T22:26:00.000-07:00

Kyle has been working out the bugs in the rolling over process for the last couple weeks.

I think he's decided that he likes sleeping on his side (although, this may be because he hasn't mastered moving his arm out of the way yet). In either case, this makes for a lot of moving around at night.

Tonight, Kyle rolled over face first into the crib wall. Needless to say he wasn't happy about it.

Between Holidays

2005-12-31T16:37:00.000-07:00

I always enjoy the holidays. As usual, we got more than we deserve. Since Christmas, I've been at a family reunion near Sierra Vista. It's always fun to be around more of the Harkins type. While there I was able to go geochaching, and I found a fun mt bike trail (Brown Canyon, if you ever go).

With some Christmas money, I've decided to start piecing together a road bike. I'm bidding on a frame, and we bought a wheelset at Performance earlier today. I'm so excited! Expect pics!