Bike odometer: 505 miles
Weight lost: 48 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 8
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
Recent listening: Sings Some Ol’ Songs by Victoria Williams, Broken Boy Soldiers by The Raconteurs, Welcome to Woody Creek by Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Recent viewing: My Name Is Earl, The Office, CSI: Miami, Heat at Suns, AFC Division Playoffs, NFC Division Playoffs, 24
Recent playing: Wii Sports, ExciteTruck, Elebits
Recently accomplished: Re-partitioned Thomas’ hard drive, completed Super Excite Platinum cup, Pinewood Derby cutouts & shaping
Imperative To Do: Pinewood Derby sanding, Pinewood Derby weights, Pinewood Derby paint, Pinewood Derby axels & wheels, call mechanic, RMA old Tivo drive, vacuum van carpet, ride more/snack less, Super Excite Diamond Cup
Cool Link: Top Ten Myths About Iraq by Juan Cole
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 483 miles
Weight lost: 49 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 9
Hours billed last week: 20
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Against All Enemies by Richard A. Clarke
Recent listening: Recent Tracks from last.fm
Recent viewing: Chiefs at Colts, Spartans at Hawkeyes, Kingdom Hospital, Man vs. Wild
Recent playing: Wii Sports, ExciteTruck
Recently accomplished: Best of 2006, cleaned and lubed bike, re-installed applications on Graham’s computer, added memory to Tina’s computer, a little garage cleaning, dried most of the van carpet
Imperative To Do: Pinewood derby cars, call mechanic, RMA old Tivo drive, re-partition Thomas’ hard drive, finish drying van carpet, vacuum van carpet
Cool Link: History of Religion (in 90 seconds)
All I Got For Christmas
- Gift certificate to Half.com redeemed for:
- Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
- Pearl Jam by Pearl Jam
- Letting Off The Happiness by Bright Eyes
- Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen by various artists
- Gift certificate to Borders redeemed for 7 Seconds Or Less by Jack McCallum
- The best pressure washer
- Sugar Free Creme Savers
- Sugar Free Werther’s Originals
- Sugar Free Lifesavers Butter Toffee
- Corrine Bailey Rae by Corrine Bailey Rae
- The Book of Totally Useless Information by Don Voorhees
- 2107 Curious Word Origins, Sayings & Expressions by Charles Earl Funk
- Foldable tool chest on wheels
- New gloves
- White LED head lamp
- White LED best brightest flashlight
Update 1/4: Yesterday I got two books in the mail: Metal Cowboy and Momentum Is Your Friend. Both are by bike journalist Joe Kurmaskie.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: n/a
Weight lost: 50 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 14
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, Coverville, Corinne Bailey Rae by Corinne Bailey Rae
Recent viewing: Sportscenter, Suns at Mavericks, Comedy Central’s Roast of William Shatner, Dr. Who
Recent playing: Sketchfighter
Recently accomplished: Paid bills, bought Wii, finished Thomas’ “new” computer, created my Mii (which looks just like me according to all accounts)
Imperative To Do: Finish garage, finish old blog entries, call mechanic, rake, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Best of 2006
Cool Link: Wii for Christmas: Thomas and Graham opening their box of cash to be used for purchasing a Wii (which we did two days later).
Knicks vs. Nuggets
The Denver Nuggets visited Madison Square Garden where they blew out the lowly Knicks. With a minute and a half left in the game, the Nuggets stole the ball and J.R. Smith broke out for what looked like an easy layup or dunk. One of the Knicks wrapped his arms around Smith’s neck as he went up for the shot and pulled him down violently. Both went tumbling past the hoop into the stands. Soon players from both teams joined and it turned into a full-fledged brawl. A more detailed description can be found here.
After the game, the Knicks blamed the Nuggets for running up the score, show-boating and keeping starters in with a 20-point lead. Coach Isiah Thomas agreed and defended his players in the altercation. He even confronted Carmelo Anthony at mid-court afterwards asking why he and fellow starter Marcus Camby were still in the game. Although I know Thomas knows very little about coaching, perhaps someone should let him know that the coach is generally the one who decides which players are on the floor at any given time. In short, Isiah Thomas is, has been and will always be a punk.
But he’s not the only one in this abomination. After everything appeared to be calming down, Carmelo Anthony jumped back into the fray and punched a Knick. Then he proceeded to back down the court as several Knicks went after him. Throw a punch and then run away. Carmelo Anthony is a punk. And he doesn’t play defense. And he’s a ballhog.
I expect a big crackdown on the players involved in this brawl. Anthony, Jared Jeffries, Smith, Mardy Collins and Nate Robinson will all receive multi-game suspensions, I suspect. Thomas should be fined and suspended, but I don’t see that happening. But that’s OK because he’s living in his own private hell in New York and will be fired before next season.
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 368 miles
Average speed: 9.5 mph
Weight lost: 44 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 40
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs
Recent listening: Coverville, DrugMusic, Vol. 3: The Subliminal Verses by Slipnot, Iowa by Slipnot, Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Authorized Greatest Hits by Cheap Trick
Recent viewing: Species II, Species III, South Park, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Mavericks at Suns, Sportscenter
Recent playing: Zuma, Halo
Recently accomplished: Put Tivo in working order, talked to Thomas’ principal re: lack of text books
Imperative To Do: Recycle cardboard, finish old blog entries, build new computer for Thomas, rake, clean garage, fix laundry room door, RMA old Tivo drive, Tivo wishlists
Cool Link: Marmaduke Explained
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 343 miles
Average speed: 11.4 mph
Weight lost: 42 lbs.
Hours of sleep last night: 8
Hours billed this week: 31
Current reading: The Prince by Machiavelli, Magical Thinking: True Stories by Augusten Burroughs
Recent listening: Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground by Bright Eyes, Digital Ash In A Digital Urn by Bright Eyes, Frances the Mute by The Mars Volta, Coverville
Recent viewing: Suns at Lakers, Bulls at Heat, The Punisher, Sportscenter, My Name Is Earl, Millennium (movie), The Office, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Recent playing: Zuma, Halo
Recently accomplished: Bought new front and rear bike lights, called Thomas’ principal again, installed new temporary Tivo hard drive
Imperative To Do: Follow-up with Thomas’ principal, vote, recycle cardboard, finish old blog entries, get Thomas’ computer to boot, rake, clean garage, install new permanent Tivo hard drive, fix laundry room door
Cool Link: Devil Cat
Vital Statistics
I rode all the way to work this morning – all 14 miles. It’s the first time in over a year and I felt pretty good. Well, except for my sore butt.
Bike odometer: 108 miles
Current reading: The Last True Story I’ll Ever Tell by John Crawford, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: DrugMusic, John Prine, Taking The Long Way by Dixie Chicks, Stadium Arcadium by Red Hot Chili Peppers, Running On Empty by Jackson Browne
Recent viewing: FIBA Quarterfinals, The 4400, The Colbert Report
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Finally reached beta on one project at work and GM on the other, paid bills
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, sell truck, labels for my sister’s CDs, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds
Cool Link: Keith Olbermann Responds To Rumsfeld (click on one of the video links to watch)
Vital Statistics
My friend, Don Fitzgerald, helped me construct a bench on Saturday to reinforce the sagging rail on my deck. The bench turned out great and now the rail is rock-solid. Don was proud that we only had 4 scraps of wood left when we were done.
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I’ve got some pictures from the sleep clinic that I’m sorting through. I’ll have those up some time this week.
Bike odometer: 82 miles
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli
Recent listening: NPR Story of the Day, Science Friday
Recent viewing: Brainiac, 2006 World Series of Poker, Monk, FIBA Championships, Emmy Awards
Recent playing: Zuma
Recently accomplished: Finished Zuma, built a bench on our deck, deck maintenance, cleaned up the work bench in the garage, cleaned and lubed bike, paid bills, helped Thomas design a Lego steering mechanism
Imperative To Do: Install network in Graham’s room, labels for my sister’s CDs, pay bills, fix Newton server, kill and pull weeds, design a better steering mechanism
Cool Link: Why not impeachment? by Bill Maher
Vital Statistics
Of all the weeks to be away from home and returning on a plane, it looks like this one was the worse. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better than today was for travellers. I’m taking everything possible out of my carry-on bag to make the search easier. I need to remember to put my money clip in my checked bag. I’ve been caught with that thing twice! (It’s got a small knife blade in it as you find out from the Knife Sharpener Reviews)
Bike odometer: n/a
Current reading: The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson, The Prince by Machiavelli, I Love Being The Enemy by Reggie Miller and Gene Wojciechowski
Recent listening: n/a
Recent viewing: Talladega Nights, Lucky Louis, Flight Plan
Recent playing: Snood, Bejeweled, Zuma
Recently accomplished: WWDC
Imperative To Do: n/a
Cool link: “While you are reading this…”