Fisher Times-Post-Dispatch-Courier

Stuff

Michael — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:00:52 +0000

I have some time to kill before court this morning, so…

Two weeks ago we hiked the Peak. 14,110 feet of Pikes Peak. 14 miles round trip. Lots to say, not enough time to say it. Fun. Brutal. Painful.

Today I biked to work, and it was easy. Took about two minutes longer than driving. City-wide bike-to-work day, so I wasn’t alone, but I plan on doing this much more frequently this summer. It’s just a matter of planning ahead and having ironed shirts waiting for me at work.

And avoiding the rain.

Elevation Training

Michael — Sun, 25 May 2008 22:22:03 +0000

Long hikes are part of the training. They help with endurance.

Short intense hikes can be part of the training, assuming that short hike is The Incline. Serious intensity. Done that twice now.

Then, of course, there is the need to acclimate for elevation. This weekend I hiked a pair of trails that should help - The Crags and the trail to Devil’s Playground. Ending elevation for those hikes is about 11,100 feet. Still short of the tree line here, but hey, I’m training!

Time Crunch

Michael — Sun, 11 May 2008 00:13:27 +0000

So I haven’t been around the blogosphere for a while. 12 to 14 hour work days tend to remove much of the motivation to do things like this, though.

Today, I walked a mile. And when I was done, it took about 45 minutes. And I was happy about it. That’s because that mile of 5280 feet included a vertical gain of 2011 feet. That’s an average grade of 41%! Hopefully doing long hikes like I did last week and grueling short hikes like this one will get me in shape for doing 14ers this summer (that’s a Colorado thing of summiting mountain peaks above 14,000 feet, such as Pike’s Peak).

Right now, I’m tired.

I have a couch!

Michael — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 04:27:52 +0000

OK, so I don’t actually have a couch yet. It is ordered and paid for, along with a bed, to arrive on Saturday. It will be nice to sleep on a mattress with springs for the first time in quite a while, as well as watch a movie from somewhere other than my - admittedly comfy - bentwood chair. I figure I’ll have to have a "hey, I have a couch" get-together with co-workers soon, and it will coincide nicely with at least a couple of coworkers moving to the Springs after commuting from Denver.

The bed is a nice low-profile with a dark mohogany finish. The couch is a 5-piece sectional that has a dark-brown durahide base and lighter brown microfiber cushions. I’ll post pictures when it all arrives!

Oops!

Michael — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:04:23 +0000

Just in time for me to make a come-back post, I have to log off again. I am moving to the Springs, but hopefully this break will be much shorter. I’ll be back as soon as I have internet in my new apartment. Promise!

We’re BACK!

Michael — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 05:49:14 +0000

Coming to you LIVE from the basement of an undisclosed location somewhere in the vicinity of Denver, Colorado, it is time for this intrepid blogger to return to the blogosphere.

This return coincides with several events that shall be the subjects of near-future write-ups, the most significant being:

I HAVE A JOB!

Naturally, this only narrowly beats out the other top news item - the soon-to-be return of Major League Baseball. Pitchers and Catchers report to camp - I believe - tomorrow, roughly at the same time Roger Clemens will be testifying before the Congressional Committee on Wasting Time and Taxpayers’ Money, more commonly known as the Congressional Oversight Committee. That’s right, it’s the return of the zealous group of Washington lawmakers who earlier questioned "Mr. Palmieri" about his use of steroids before his "300th" hit, lamented about the history of cheating in baseball since the tragic events of those Eight Men Out of the "Chicago Black Hawks," and probably STILL think the internet is just a series of tubes. We wonder why there are congressional hearings on why cable companies still refuse to carry the ridiculously overpriced NFL Network on basic cable while allowing MLB’s monopolistic treatment of its Extra Innings package only on satellite? Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Congressional Oversight Committee.

Also in Baseball news, the Detroit Tigers of this year are shaping up to be one of the most dominant teams - on paper - this decade. Off-season moves picking up Miguel Cabrera, Dontrelle Willis, and Edgar Renteria, along with retaining key free agents, gives the team the potential of fielding a team in which the WORST hitter in the lineup is a multiple-All-Star who makes - deservedly - more than $10 million. More on that later.

For now, I must take a pause so I can find a place to live and all that jazz.

Going offline

Michael — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 15:15:55 +0000

Breaking down the computer now. I may have access to the internet tonight, but if you need to contact me, it is best just to call me at this point.

College Football Saturday

Michael — Sun, 14 Oct 2007 06:04:27 +0000

What a fan-diddly-tastic college football season so far. Highlights: the AppSt-Michigan upset, the complete meltdown of the top 25 two weeks ago, Stanford over USC, South Florida (of the City of Tampa) rolling off an undefeated (so far) season and crawling into the top 5, and, now, a third straight week of top 10 destruction, though the carnage was more limited today than in past weeks.

Losing today: 1 LSU, 2 Cal, 11 Missouri, 15 Cincinnati, 18 Illinois, 19 Wisconsin and 21 Overrated FSU. Of those 7 teams, 4 were undefeated, and with UConn also losing, we are down to six undefeateds: Ohio State, Boston College, South Florida (of the City of Tampa), Kansas, Arizona State, and Hawaii. That’s relative calm within the top 25, as most of the teams won, but having both the number one and two ranked teams lose on the same day is huge, and fits right in with this season’s theme. Plus, Cal lost to unranked Oregon State, becoming the tenth top 10 team to lose to an unranked team this year.

Crazy, crazy year. Who’s ready for a South Florida (of the City of Tampa) vs. Boston College national championship game?

Oh, and Notre Dame lost again.

Packing progress

Michael — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 04:36:59 +0000

Packing is made much easier when you don’t have to pack the stuff. After sifting through storage boxes and storage containers and hangars and shelves and nooks and crannies and bags and cabinets, and sorting the stuff that came falling out, I’ve come up with three destinations for stuff. The smallest piles have led to the tubs, which is where stuff-that-gets-packed goes. The biggest piles leave the apartment straight out the door, across the hall, through another door, and into the big trash cans. I admit it, I’ve been a bit of a pack-rat, but I’ve been ruthless these past few days in sending things to the circular file, and many, many, many cubic feet of packing space has been saved. Finally, there are things that I can’t use, won’t use, or haven’t used, but are too good for the landfill. Two big trash bags of clothing found their way to a donation center, and roughly eight large boxes of books landed at Goodwill. That is a lot of stuff that won’t be going to Colorado - a lot.

Also subtract from that the bar stools and chair which should be sold tomorrow, and the space savings are really adding up. I just hope it’ll be enough.

Shame!

Michael — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 03:07:46 +0000

If you didn’t know better, you’d think tonight’s Rockies-Diamondbacks NLDS game is being played in Philadelphia or the Bronx or Beirut. Phoenix residents should be ashamed of the actions of the fans who’ve been throwing bottles onto the field after a controversial call causing the Rockies to have to abandon the field for several minutes. Classy.