Last Post

I'm no longer posting on Xanga. All future posts will be made on http://darwin.doesntexist.com/daryl/blog/

Finally

Someone finally wised up and realized CFL (compact florescent light bulbs) are not actually the savior of the human race when it comes to home energy. The truth of the matter is that I would rather use incandescent bulbs than CFLs because the CFLs contain some nasty toxins and require special disposal. There's other issues (such as them not lasting nearly as long as they were supposed to, and not being as bright as everyone claims), but I just don't like using poisons around my house. I prefer natural cleaners and things that don't require me having to pay to dispose of them.

So what is this rant about? LED bulbs. There have been a few companies making them, and I came across an article on a blog I read from time to time. Check it out: Gizmodo LED Bulbs

I'm proud to say I have never purchased a CFL myself. Some people wouldn't consider that a badge of honor, but I do. I take it to mean that I don't follow every mass marketing scheme and whim of the public media to jump on the band wagon as soon as someone comes out with the next biggest way to save the planet (when it's already known that the bulbs aren't actually good for the environment). Call me crazy, but is it that hard to get a skylight installed? Is it impossible to open the shades and let light in through the window? I understand the use for lights at night when it's dark, but I've started using that as motivation to turn in earlier and get up earlier to make better use of daylight as well as have more time in the mornings to do personal things before work (like a nice early dip in the pool or a short bike ride before hopping in the shower).

I'm not saying to stop trying to help the environment, I'm just saying lets think a little bit before we buy into publicity hook, line, and sinker.

Large Hadron Collider

Currently Listening
Mr. A-Z
By Jason Mraz
Bella Luna
see related

Today

Here's a great comic (more of a truth in this particular one): http://www.bunny-comic.com/?id=1189 - hover the mouse over the image till you see the "alt" text pop up in a little yellow box.

I'm meeting about a dozen people up in Boulder Canyon to go climbing this morning. It should be great. I'm just nervous because I think some of them have absolutely no clue what they are doing.

New Music

Currently Listening
Viva La Vida
By Coldplay
see related

Photos

I have taken about 2600 photos with my digital camera since I bought it last fall. Basic math: 2600 / 24 (pics per roll) * $15 (developing at the only shop I've ever had consistently do a good job - thanks Wolfe Camera, btw) = about $1625.00. That's a big savings considering the camera only cost me around $600 and has more than paid for itself.

My favorite shots are up on Facebook, though I don't have all the best ones on, and some of what I have up are not very good at all. They do tell a story if they are up there though. Take a look some time if you haven't.

For the Beauty of the Earth

I could not put into better words my bike ride this afternoon than the first few verses of this song: For the Beauty of the Earth . Here's the trip info:

• Start: My apartment
• End: North entrance of Red Rocks past Morrison
• Length: 17 miles total
• Duration: Just under 1 hour travel time. I did stop to show an energy bar and watch the river for a few minutes
  
• Top Speed: 30.5 MPH, downhill of course
• Car Speed Limits Broken: managed 27 in a 25 zone (just barely missed meeting that sign close up - cars don't know how to share the road)
  
• Jerks: only one person told me to "try the sidewalk, asshole" - his truck was about to break down, so he wasn't in a good mood
  

Squeals of Glee!

Yes, it finally arrived today. REI called me about 10:00 MDT to let me know my bike had arrived.  I stopped in at a co-worker's place and fixed a few computer issues after working 10 hours (had to beat everyone else in to do some server migration work). Then I went by REI and finished all the receiving paperwork and had the bike sized!

When I got home, I was so happy to have it, I did some work I needed to take care of and as soon as the temperature dropped below 90 degrees F, I dropped everything and took the bike out for a spin. I need to pull the accessories off my old bike and get the speedomiter calibrated, but other than that, I'm all set. It was so amazing how much of a difference quality parts make. I love my old bike for all the memories we've made together, but in the end, it's just a stiff, low cost department store bike. It served me well on flat land for over 10 years, and now, it's time for an upgrade.

The bike is the Novara Ponderosa, from REI. They had to ship it in from New Mexico because most of the stores and the warehouse are sold out of the large frame. It's discontinued and being cleared, so I got a good deal on it, and am so happy with the level of detail and precision it has. The shifters work perfectly, the gear ratios are like sipping sugar water, they make the ride so sweet, and the disk breaks are perfect for all the down hill I have planned.

I rode over to one of the largest hills near my apartment and made light work getting up and had a blast flying back down the other side on a dirt path. It was too easy! I rode around the bike bath that runs toward downtown until it got dark and I had to turn around. I pulled out my head lamp and attached it to my helmet so I could see where I was going and be seen by others. I don't plan on doing too much night riding during most of the year, but when it's this hot out, I can't help but want to go after dark. There's just a lot of bugs out around dusk, and I had little bits and pieces of tiny creatures splattered all over me by the time I got away from the bike trail (and the stream it ran along that attracted all the bugs).

Long story short, the bike was two weeks late being delivered, but now that I have it, I am happy that I waited instead of canceling.

Really Smart... or Stupid

I cannot decide which I am. I spent $40 last night buying a non-working desktop computer (the guy threw in a second one just so he wouldn't have to deal with disposing of it). I got it home, put some memory in it (as it was missing) as well as a hard drive I had laying around. It turns out it's a P4 2.6 GHz processor with a DVD reader and a CD burning drive. The guy said the motherboard has issues, but it passed my diag and tests so I'm gonna run it till I have problems. I started installing Linux on it this morning to stress test it, and if everything passes, I'll put Windows XP Home on and give it to my mom or brother (it has the license for the software on the case). They both need upgrades, but that isn't where they put their money, so I find good fixer-uppers and pass them along if everything checks out.

I have no clue why I do stuff like this. I do it all the time. I have another great (working and fast) computer I bought from a computer repair store they couldn't get working. All I did was reset the basic input/output settings on it and it started working again. I had a good laugh at the store's misfortune in selling it as non-working. I got some good hardware from that deal.

Skiing in May

This weekend I went skiing. I don't know of many places you can do that in May. It was so much fun! There was almost a foot of fresh snow that fell that morning while we were driving up. We took the high pass instead of going the long way... they closed to road shortly after we got on it, so it was interesting riding over the pass in a blizzard where we couldn't see the car 5 feet in front of us. We got our gear rentals once we got there and got on the slopes. It was beautiful! The sun came out, the wind was good. We really enjoyed one of the nicer ski areas around.

A good friend (Lisa) I grew up with in Florida was moving away, and she came up with the idea of hitting the powder one last time before she left this morning. Her friend Mary drove in from Utah Friday, and I joined them when I got off work. We crashed for the night after eating some homemade popcorn chicken and got up really early to make the two hour drive to Arapahoe Basin (A-Basin to the locals). Sunday morning we tried to recover from the soreness of windburn and boots that didn't fit perfectly while we packed Lisa up and saw Mary off. I finished helping Lisa pack her car and threw some boxes in my car she was going to mail.

Around 1 pm she turned in final rent (they charged her a partial month because they forgot she was moving out...) and her keys, and followed me up to my place where we watched a movie. to wind down and then crashed after posting pics on facebook and such. I loaned her my couch for the night since she had no furniture left and needed some sleep before the 8 hour drive today. We got her boxes mailed this morning and then said our goodbyes. I got to the office parking lot in time to wave as she drove by on her way to the interstate.

First Trad Multi-Pitch

Saturday was amazing. I threw a few pics and videos up on Facebook. Nothing special. Eckard and I did our first trad multi-pitch climb. Now I just need to buy like $300 worth of hardware (pro) and a bunch of runners. But I did want to share a link to some amazing climbing videos. Yeah, I know it's google. So search trad multi-pitch if you don't know what that means...

http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=climbing

I Have Arrived

Currently Listening
Halo 3 Original Soundtrack (2-CD Set)
Main Title
see related

Who Cares?

Currently Listening
Extreme Ways
By Moby
see related

Videos On the Screen

Currently Watching
Star Wars Trilogy (Widescreen Edition with Bonus Disc)
By Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, James Earl Jones, Harrison Ford
see related

OMGWOWZ

I picked up a 24" screen off craigslist still new in box (it just arrived this afternoon from Dell to the guy that bought it). I got a good price on it considering the size. I still can't get over how big it is. It makes my desk look small. I'll pop some pics up on facebook when I get the camera back out.

LIES!

The weathermen on 4 different channels said it would be in the 70s all week. It's been snowing since about 1pm this afternoon. I feel lied to.

Update: The Lady Downstairs

Ok, walked over to the office and got a little back story. The lady's name is Pat and she tends to snoop a bit. She's lived here a very long time and the neighbor that used to live above her had actually called an ambulance one time when they heard her fall and wound up saving her life. I owe her a plate of cookies for being so suspicious of her.

The source of the sound now that I know a bit more about it is actually my computer, or rather the cooling fans in my computer oscillating the floor at just the right frequency to cause a buzzing sound that could be construed as an electric guitar I guess.

The lady in the office said to just ignore her, but I feel kinda bad for Pat now. I'll have to find out what sort of cookies she likes.

Extra for the Day

Check out my pics on facebook

The Lady Downstairs

I'm kinda scared by the lady downstairs. I'm naturally paranoid and suspicious of people thanks to where I grew up. So now, when I answer the door this morning and the lady keeps stepping toward the door as if she wants in, I feel justified that I had propped my foot behind it as a door stop. Here's the part that gets me:

She asked me as soon as I opened the door if I would be practicing guitar till 1AM. This of course confused something in particular out of me because of the following:

1. My radio is in the living room
2. I play classical guitar, it's not amped, so usually people are lucky to hear it in the same room
3. I muted the TV when I decided to go to sleep
4. I went to sleep at 11PM

So, I'm confused. I explained most of this to her, but she didn't believe me (I could tell. I'm good at reading the gesture of her stepping towards the door and then back to her original position when I didn't budge. She kept asking to see my room but I declined stating that I'm still cleaning the place up and things are not settled.

She came up later (about three hours later) and said she wanted to test if her radio was too loud as she had received complaints about it in the past. She wanted me to take down her phone number and call her if I could hear it. I again declined, because that would require me giving her what I consider in this situation to be personal info - I don't want her looking at the caller ID and calling me. I'm not here to make buddy with someone that approaches me in this way.

So, welcome to the neighborhood.

Home, Sweet... Floor

Currently Listening
The Corrs - Live at Lansdowne Road [Region 2]
see related