Diet

I've decided to try that low carb diet. I was having a burger with my buddy Vince and he was telling me about the diet. His is a little modified, you're not supposed to have alcohol but he's having beer anyway.

I'm not thinking I'm pushing the weight envelope, but it'd be pretty cool to drop some pounds. The main problem is that I have a hankering for bread and pop corn and pancakes. I figure I can give this a whirl for a month and see what happens. This probably means I have to step on the scale to find out if I'm really losing any weight.

Bike Lights

I was at the Bike Gallery last night dropping off my mountain bike to get a tune up. I looked around for a few lights I could put on my spokes or wheel so people can see me easier. A guy there said I should try the Hokey Spokes. You can program these spokes to write letters or words as you bike around. I thought it was BS but after checking out their site, it looks like they really work.

They cost 30 dollars, but for what they do that's not too bad of a price. Maybe Santa Claus will bring me a few (red) ones for Christmas.

Elevators

You ever play around on elevators in tall buildings? I mean jump when they get to your floor and float? I've been trying to get on one certain elevator at work that is faster than the others. I've tried to jump when it's stopping going down and I don't get off the ground. I swear I float for 1/2 a second or so when it stops on my floor. Sometimes I stop on intermediate floors on the way up (to the 16th) so I can get in a few extra hops.

iTunes

I downloaded iTunes this weekend and started buying music. It's pretty slick and works well with a cable modem (not so good with dial-up). It's nice to be able to buy a few songs and not the whole album.

My main complaint is that with Windows XP Home Edition iTunes does not see my iPod and I can't directly download them to it. Instead I'd have to burn a CD, rip it and then copy it over with ephpod. Kinda lame.

Pictures

I threw up some new pictures on my photos, thanks to Tina's new cable Internet connection.

24 hours of Moab

Last night I was reading through Time magazine about the 24 hours of Moab. A few years ago, Trey, Ron, Sara and I thought we should do it. Nothing's come of it yet. After reading the article (which isn't that super, but got me thinking) it's time to do the 24 hours of Moab. I figure we'd have the distinction of coming in butt last place. That's better than 13th to last or something.

We already have a team name that we loosely refer to our selves: Team Fat Boys/z. Before we thought (if a girl rode with us) that we'd be Fat Boys/z and a Chick with Sara yelling "I'm the chick!"

Our slogan for the t-shirts and jerseys is done also: Fat, Out of Shape, Tired and Lazy. Who wouldn't buy one of those?

So it's time to start training, hills and night riding so we don't eat too much dirt down there.

Nutin'

I've apparently have had nothing going on that's worth writing about. :(

I've been looking for houses online (rmls, craigslist) and then checking them out by biking or driving by. Last weekend I went into a few houses with my new realitor. None of them were super exciting, but that's ok.

Most of the houses that I've really liked (or thought I'd like) are a bit out of my range ( $210k + ). Or are in a neighborhood that will take a while to get better (from a resale point of view.)

But I bought a new rear light and head light for my bike. I have one of those white flashy lights, they don't help you see but help you be seen - which is good.

And I've started my online book/geek thing, so hopefully it'll be done soon and I can put my books up there. For what purpose, I'm not quite sure.

Home

I've 90% decided to go ahead and buy a house. I've been out looking around town, and online. I've seen quite a few houses that would work just dandy. But, I need a loan. I'm talking to an agent on Thursday to get the ball started. I'm hoping to get pre-qualified (or whatever you do) so I can get me a house soon. I've been using portlandmaps.com to find out the last price the house sold at and how much taxes and stuff are.

Sombero Galaxy

I came across this picture on Yahoo today, and found the corresponding webpage from Nasa here. Have a look see at a larger image!

The hubble site says the galaxy resolves to 1/5th the diameter of a full moon. Too bad it's too faint to see with our eyes. That'd be pretty cool to see at night.

Movies on Demand

I saw this article [msnbc.com] while geeking around on slashdot.org about Video on Demand through Disney and a company dotcast.

When I was at intel I worked in a group doing video on demand like this. Except that was over 4 years ago and if the Intel service went through they would have gotten videos at the same time as Blockbuster (curse them), Hollywood and others. Where this Disney thing doesn't get videos in the same window as video stores and only allows you to have the movie for 24 hours, which I think will hurt the project.

It's annoying to see that something I've worked on that was superior to this not get OKed and pushed through. I think that the project I was on missed the boat because the boat hadn't been docked yet and we just hopped into the river and got wet.

It's too bad really, a DVD quality (which Disney is not supplying) movie that you can watch anytime over 5-7 days (like a normal rental) would be great. Allow the user to burn a DVD on the set top box for an additional charge and you have a good deal. Put it all together with a system like myth tv or tivo and you'd have a great product.

I think it's only a matter of time for this type of product to be used by lots of people. I for one hate returning videos after I've rented them. People in the US spend over $1 billion on late fees, which is insane.

Moab pictures

Bad start

This morning I set the alarm before heading out and apparently took too long to get outside. As soon as I locked the back door I heard the loud annoying alarm sound. I ran inside and turned off the alarm and waited for the ADT call. It came and I gave our security code to the lady, and it was incorrect. I tried another number and that was wrong as well. She told me to call back when I found it. I looked around and the only number I had was the one I gave her. I called back and they said the security code was expired (so my code wouldn't work.) She called the police and told them it was a false alarm.

I rolled to work a little late on my bike. I got upstairs to my desk and realized I didn't have any clothes with me. I did, however, bring a little throw rug to pretty up the cube. Can't really wear that.

So I'm wearing a tank top, shorts and a too small shirt from a co-worker. And I spent all last night ironing my shirts that are sitting in the closet instead of on me.