Saweet, It's almost the weekend...

So, this is a fun week. I'm not whining by any means as I realize I've created the situation for myself, but I've been busy. On top of the normal 40 hour work week, I'm taking a Network Security and Privacy class at Chico State and it's getting to be crunch time. We have a project due a week from today and presentations of the project begin this coming Tuesday. So, we are working diligently to complete our work. Anyway, usually after work I go to meet my group to work in the lab. Last night it was just Christy and myself, as Chris had to watch a friends dogs. Chris did alot of work on the first project for our group, so she has some leeway. So, these days get long when I go to work at 5:30 AM and we work until 9 PM and we all tend to get a little loopy toward the end of the session. To boot, everyone in the lab is either hungry or wants coffee. So, last night someone broke out a box of See's candy and someone else had a loaf of bread. I can't exactly remember why, but something about all that was so funny and it ended up being a good laugh.

Ok, now if that isn't proof that we get a little loopy while in the lab for long hours, I'm not sure what is. That is just plain dumb, but for some reason it was really funny at the time. I must be forgetting so key elements to the senario, but at the time, I was fading fast. By 8:30 I could hardly even type correctly and my penmanship was looked like a doctors.

So, I'm excited about the King's game tonight. I'm hoping that after class is over at 6:30 that I can meet with my group and do a little work before the game starts. They should be able to pull off the win at home and take the series.

A's loose again, that's 5 in a row. Not unlike last season, but you know I still have to worry.

Ok, This is a lame post but I'm too busy to actually think about this stuff.

Ah, you just gotta love spring time.

Hump Day already...

Topics for today:

King's get crap together, pull out win in Dallas
Olive blossoms are everywhere in my yard
Got an email about a guest book for my friend Phil who was run over and died in Millbrae on St. Patty's day

The King's last game against the Mav's started out a little slow but they managed to pull it together in end.

The olive blossoms in my yard are killing me. I was wondering why my nose was running so bad, until I noticed all the blossoms on the trees and then on the ground. It's supposed to be windy today, so maybe it will blow away as well as blow some more of the blossoms off the trees. As we don't harvest the olives, I'm not concerned about the blossoms getting knocked off. Actually, I'd be happy if they did all fall off as it would limit the number of olives that fall from the tree onto the tile patio. Trust when I say the olives make a slippery mess as well as they damage other plants in the beds below the trees.

So, I got an email from my friend Matt about a website for our friend Phil Batlin, who was killed while crossing El Camino Real at about 2 AM on St. Patty's day. Here is a link to the obituary. Matt has created a Guest Book for anyone to sign and leave a message for Phil's family. Here is a link to a good article about the accident. So, now that I'm on the topic... I met Phil back in 1992 when he and Matt moved to Chico into the same apartment complex as I. They had transferred to work at the Chico Costco from the store in San Bruno, I believe. I also worked at the Chico Costco with them. Phil was a real fun lovin' guy. As his father told me, "Phil never met a stranger" and that was true. I didn't really hang out with Phil all that much after about 95 or 96 because he had changed jobs to work at Franky's (to follow his love of wine and fine cuisine) but the time I had spent with him is cherished. I remember going to the Sierra Nevada Music Festival back in the summer of 94, where we had all camped together and enjoyed the sun and music. Times that Sam, Phil, and myself would go drinking during the summer while not in school, I don't remember some of those times, but I know if I was with Phil, I was probably having the best possible time to be had at that moment. And I won't mention his antics while working at the Costco. I had the pleasure, if you might call it that, of attending Phil's funeral and I was amazed by the turnout. Phil's father said they expected about 200 to 300 people to attend but were suppressed by the nearly 800 people who packed the church. Phil is the first person I've know who is around my age who has passed away and I'm surprised as to how it's affected me. I now have a little picture of Phil next to my desk at home as a tribute to him. Anyway, Phil will be missed by all that knew him but I'm sure he's in a better place making more friends and doing what Phil does, make people laugh and have a good time.

Happy Monday...

Well, it's the beginning of another wonderful week in the life of Tony. My top thoughts for the beginning of the week are as follows:

Davide Rebellin wins the 90th Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
Tony rides the Chico Wildflower.
A's are sucking.
King's best get their crap together in Dallas.


Ok, Let's start off by talking about cycling as it's my favorite topic. The Italian, Davide Rebellin, on Sunday, did what no other rider before has ever done previously. In the span of 8 days, the "reborn" Rebellin has won the Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne last week and topped it off with a victory in Liège-Bastogne-Liège. With this lastest win, Rebellin has positioned himself at the top of the UCI World Cup standings with 200 points, followed closely by Dutch hope Michael Boogerd.

This past weekend was the Chico Wildflower Century put on by Chico Velo. It was HOT. The weather in Northern California had kicked up over the past half week and the temperature on Sunday was reported as 91 degrees. As I was unacustomed to the warm weather as well as being not in very good form, I became dehidrated after about 75 miles. At that point I figured I'd cut off the last 25 miles and just ride the 8 or 9 miles home, but upon mounting my trust steed, I realized the rear tire had gone flat. My combined exhaustion, heat issues, and lack of sufficient spair tubes caused for me to take the SAG back into town. That was my first SAG back in from any ride other than one time I broke down but after repair continued on. So, I was slightly disappointed. On a bright note, I got a ride with ??? I believe his name is Mike and he is the owner of CycleSport. Being that I recognize most cyclists around Chico only by the color and make of their bikes, I know him as "bike store owner that rides the Bianchi." I had a really great time listening to his stories of being a professional rider and well as his insights on life.

Now for a little baseball talk... The A's are sucking. 3 losses in a row! I shouldn't worry so early in the season as last year it was much of the same. I don't have enough time to watch baseball games anymore.

Well, the King's I have been making time to watch but wish I hadn't wasted the time for the last game. I knew it would be tough for them when they got to Dallas, but it would certainly do them good to close out the series in Dallas.

Well, I'm a little too busy to spend anymore time posting, so until next time! Happy Day!

Wheee, combo 420 and Earthday post....

Have to give props to the pot people, yesterday was their day; 4/20. And in that same spirit, tomorrow is Earthday, boy what a week.

So, now on to sports...

In basketball, my Kings won a squeaker. That game could have gone either way, with the last 6 minutes being fairly pivotal. The Kings were able to come from 7 points back and take the lead with about 2 minutes remaining and that pretty much cemented the victory.

A little down Hwy 80 in Oakland, the A's were chalkin' up another loss, but hey, it's baseball and you can loose 40% of your games and still be in first place. I'd better research that comment!

And of course, cycling, one of my favorite sports is in full swing currently. We have the Tour of Georgia running this week, today is the 68th Flèche Wallonne, in Belgium. Liège-Bastogne-Liège is also this weekend, where the American, Tyler Hamilton will attempt to defend his lasts years title. Ah, breaking news... Italian Davide Rebellin of the German Gerolsteiner team has won the Flèche Wallonne. What a stud, as he won last weekends Amstel Gold Race. Quite an impressive double in such difficult races.

Ok, now on to a little scholastic report...

As you may be aware, I'm taking a Network Security/Privacy class at Chico State, I'd link the cldescriptiontion if they actually had it in the online catalog, I guess the class is that cutting edge. For me, the class has been a real eye opener as to all the potential vuneralibilities and exploits out there, not to mention the risky situations people and business place themselves and their data. To prove my point read this story at slashdot.org

On a similar note, the internet is flawed! So, you'd better make sure you have all your packets in a row! I'm sure there is to be more fall out on this subject in the very near future as this article at Yahoo paints a grim picture. In speaking with one very knowledgeable person in the industry I come to find that these could be well planned attacks from the proponents of IPV6 attempting scare tactics to promote the new protocol. Anyway, however they accomplish the task, it will be well worth it!

I believe that's all for today, Happy Day All

Monday Morning... fun

Well, here we are at the beginning of another glorious week. First off, let's recap the weekend...

Nothing exciting happened what so ever. I totally wussed out on riding my bike because of the weather. It was fairly rainy and windy. I'll try and ride later today before my hair cut at 5:30.

In the world of cycling, the Amstel Gold race was held this past weekend in the Netherlands. An Italian, David Rebellin, was the winner. So, OLN TV, the channel that carries the only cycling coverage has been in the process of pissing off the cycling viewers. They have repeditly scaled back their coverage over the past two years. This year, they smashed 6 + hours of cycling into an hour recap. Very disappointing.

Ok, I've got to take this class for work. Pretty cool that work is going to pay $2250 for me to learn something new. The class is called Programming a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Database. I need to take the class as a ramp up for Crystal Reports 9 Introduction so that I can help write reports for the state wide cancer system. I'll be taking these classes at IS inc. in Sacramento. Maybe I'll try and take a certification test when I'm done with the class, just a thought!

On the Sacramento note... How about those Kings? I was a little worried that after dropping a couple places in the standings that playing Dallas might be too much. To my amusement, the oppisite was true. It was the Lakers who had trouble with Houston. Gooo Kings!

Having incomplete thoughts...

I must sign off and go to lunch! Happy Day!

Friday morning post... TGIF

Good morning everyone (as if anyone will actually be reading this),

Well, it's Friday and that's cool in itself. Lot's of different stuff has been floating thru the empty space between my ears ... I wrote a song about it, wanna hear it, here it goes...

First off, I'll slam the Sacramento Kings. They are my fav team, but damn if they didn't just throw the season away in the last couple of games. Tell me, how do you loose the damn Conference Championship on the last day of the season? Anyway, now it's Dallas instead of Houston. We'll see how that goes...

Next, The Sea Otter Classic started the other day. It's a little exciting as there aren't many large bike races in America. CyclingNews.com has a little story that was a nice start to the coverage. Eric Wohlberg of my home town cycling team, Sierra Nevada, came in 3rd in the prologue. Nice work Eric!

Moving forward... my wife and I planted the garden last weekend. We put in tomatos (many varieties), peppers, beans (I love the soy beans), squash, and a bunch of other stuff my neighbor planted. You see, we live in a neighborhood with no fences and we share a garden that resides between our property and the neighbors. It's quite a nice situation as the neighbor a stay home type person and spend some time in the garden each day. Anyway, you can check out some photos of the garden here. I'm going to post more, but they are fairly large files and take a little time to upload (and download, sorry).

It's going to be a fun weekend.... My friend Sam and his G/F, Jessica, are coming up on Saturday. Hopefully, they'll hang out until Sunday. I'm thinking we might go to Sierra Nevada for a meal as it's Sam's favorite place to go. I'm hoping to squeeze in some bike rides this weekend too. I need to get more miles in as I'm woefully out of shape for the upcoming century rides I'd like to do. I'm going to be hurting on the Wildflower, but it will still be a blast. I sure hope they have duck pate sandwiches again this year at the lunch stop.

Anyway, I've got to get to my work, so I'm signing off. Probably will have something to say later today as work is alway the creator of interesting moments. I love the users.

Serious whoops, this is my first entry. So, it's more of a test than anything else, but while I have your attention...

Why is it that users think an almost non-existant squeek in an HP6 printer is something to worry about. The equipment does have moving parts so it just may produce some noise while in use. Solution... spray canned air at noise. Did it work? Well, I could hardly hear the noise in the first place. I think users occasionally over estimate the abilities of their equipment to be total void of noise.

Anyway, this was just a test. Happy Day!