:: Troutmaster blog :: July 2003 archive

:: Thursday, July 31, 2003 ::

Well I did more training today after work. I rode my bike, here are some stats. Distance ridden = 8.66 miles. Time = 1.5 hours, Elevation Gain = 941 feet. I rode up Bernal Road to the parking lot for Santa Teresa Park and then from there I rode to the top of Coyote Peak. After that I took a different route down and rode back home. Going uphill is a really good workout.
:: Tom 10:04 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

A call to Geico could save you up to 20 %, but a call to the California Board of Equalization saved me $1700. Here's what happened. I got a letter in the mail last night from the California Board of Equalization saying that I owed $1700 and that this was my final notice. It went on to say that if I didn't pay immediately then they could take out a lien against me. This falls into the "What the hell?!?" category. First, I didn't even know what the California Board of Equalization was. Just from the sound of it, it sounds like a board that takes money from one person and gives it to another. Anyway, I found their website so I could figure out who they were, then I tried calling the person that had sent the letter. Her name was Sophia Jackson. Since it was 7:45 PM I didn't really expect anyone to answer the phone so I left her a message. I basically said that I didn't know what this was all about and that I would call her tomorrow. I was in a bad mood because of this all night. So I woke up today and called. I gave her the reference number contained within the letter and she told me that this bill was for sales taxes that I failed to pay in the 3rd quarter of '98, 2nd quarter of '99, and 3rd quarter of '99 on sales from "livestock and equipment". I felt a lot better when she said that because I knew that they had made a mistake. I went on to tell her that I was a resident of Alaska until January of 2000 and that I had never owned a business or sold livestock and equipment. She checked the address that I was at and asked for my SS# and I gave it to her. After that she said that she would update the records and that was it. So today is a good day no matter what happens because I don't have to pay the $1700. Other questions beg to be asked, but since I don't have to pay, I won't ask them. But some of these questions are, How could this be the final notice if this is my first notice? If this is from '98 and '99, why would I just be hearing about it now? and finally Why is this state in such a mess? The answers are out there...
:: Tom 10:41 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Why am I not surprised? CNN.com - Critics: Affleck, J.Lo movie a turkey - Jul. 30, 2003 I love this sentence, "If early reviews are anything to go by, the pairing of the real-life love birds in the movie "Gigli" looks set to bomb when it opens at the U.S. box office on Friday." I guess we'll see how it turns out.


:: Tom 3:25 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Christina and I went for a bike ride after I got home from work today. We rode up Bernal, up the hill and onto the trails of Santa Teresa park. We then took a trail back down the hill and back home. I'm not sure on the total mileage, but it was a good workout because we had to go uphill a lot and we rode for about an hour and 20 minutes. After we got home we cooked tacos. I made a couple of soft tacos for lunch tomorrow.
:: Tom 11:00 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I had a soccer game today. We won 3-0. It was kind of a weird game because the other team kept all their players back to play defense and never really mounted any serious threats to score on my team. And if they can't score, they can't win. After I got home from the game Christina and I went for a bike ride, then went to the grocery store, and now it is time to go to bed.
:: Tom 12:45 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I just found this site. This is my new hang out spot on the internet. Sike! I'd say it is pretty early to launch a re-election campaign (2006 election) but what do I know? :: Friends of Hillary :: Hillary Clinton should start a blog.
:: Tom 2:57 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Forrest sent out an email with a link to the video from our Shasta Trip. If anyone out there downloads it be warned that it is 40 Mb and might take a while. Here's the link. Let me know if you have any problems viewing the video or have any comments.
:: Tom 1:21 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I just got back from the Stanford Medical Center. Christina and I went up there to see her dad. He had his aorta repaired about a week ago and should be coming home tomorrow. I need to do a little bit of work before I can go to bed. I'll probably do about an hour's worth. Today we ran around town and did some shopping. We went to Tri-City and they had a bunch of snowboards and snowboarding gear on sale. I ended up buying a Shakespear beginner's fly fishing kit so that Christina can fly-fish when we go on our fishing trip in a few weeks. I think the only thing that we need to get for her now is a pair of waders and she'll be set. Forrest brought over the DVD that he made of our trip to Mount Shasta. He did a really good job editing the video. I'll try to see if there is any way I can serve up clips from the video on my website. Time to go work for now.
:: Tom 10:52 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

We did some serious training yesterday. We went to Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto to do our running and mountain biking. We ran 4.04 miles and we biked 4.80 miles. We are planning to do some kayaking later today. Exercise is good. :-)
:: Tom 9:42 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I rode my bike to work today. It wasn't during working hours. It was after I got home from work. Riding all the way up the hill was hard work, but it was good training for the adventure race. I'm going to do more training tomorrow.
:: Tom 11:12 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Some good information on backpacking in the Sierras. Backpacker.com - Splendor In The High Sierra
:: Tom 11:50 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Not Fair! Christina went to the Giants game today against the Diamondbacks and it turned out to be a very good game. It came down to the bottom of the 9th inning and Barry Bonds came up against Michael Myers. Up to this point I don't think Barry has ever hit a home run against Myers. But wouldn't you know it, he socked one into the outfield bleachers to win the game 3-2. And it was Barry's birthday. Dammit!
:: Tom 3:39 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I'm going to try to go to bed early. Not really your exciting blogging. I've been so busy with work lately that I haven't had a chance to work on my website. But I did get my keyboard and mouse for my dreamcast, so now I just have to get the linux CD working and I'm set.
:: Tom 9:49 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Yesterday was a long day. I worked like a dog all day trying to get caught up on things and I also had two soccer games. I played goalie in the first game, and we won 7-4 and I played on the field in the second game and we won 6-1. I didn't get to bed until really late because my last game was at 10:30, so I'm going to be dragging a little bit today.
:: Tom 9:44 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Yesterday Christina and I went mountain biking at Santa Teresa Park. We went on a route called Rocky Ridge. From all of the trails that I've ridden in that park, Rocky ridge is the most difficult. At one point in the trail I was thrown off my bike and down a steep hill from the trail. Luckily, when I knew that I was going to be thrown off of my bike I was able to react fast enough to keep on my feet while going down the hill until I could stop myself on some rocks. I did have one bad landing. I was going downhill on the trail and had bounced off of some rocks and tried to slow myself down with my brakes, but I hit some dirt and lost control of my bike. I landed on the side of the trail on my left shoulder and hip. I was lucky that my landing was fairlly soft and suffered no injuries because of it. But my balance was never quite on for the rest of the bike ride. Later on in the day we went to Habana Cuba for dinner to celebrate Mary and Rong's birthdays. The food was excellent and I think everyone had a good time.
:: Tom 1:14 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Today after work I went for a bike ride on the Coyote Creek Trail. I rode 10.2 miles, my average speed was 12.4 mph, and I rode for approximately 49:30. In other news I bought my first music from the Apple iTunes music store. It was was Paul Oakenfold's album Bunkka. Overall I was pretty happy with the experience. The quality of the music is good, but it took a longer than I expected to download the entire album. But that's ok, because Apple is paying for my DSL. :-) After I downloaded the album I burned it to CD and I'm listening to it right now while I'm updating my blog. Maybe I should look into getting an iPod? So now I'm off to wash some dishes and do some work...
:: Tom 10:15 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Someone with an economics degree please explain this to me. "IBM sank $3.79, or 4.4 percent, to $82.95 and ranked as the largest percentage loser on the Dow. IBM met expectations for earnings after Wednesday's close but did not top them. IBM's chief financial officer said he expects IBM to meet 2003 estimates, but described technology demand as "good, but not robust."" I guess you would have to chalk it up to market forces. But IBM meets analyst expectations and the stock goes down because it doesn't exceed them. Then you have other companies that are money losers and their stock goes up because they have slowed their burn rate. Gotta love that...


:: Tom 10:34 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

The word of the day is interferometry. Other than learning about interferometry I went for a bike ride after I got home from work. I rode a total of 5.4 miles. Part of the Coyote Creek trail is being repaved so I got to ride on what was essentially fire roads for part of the trail. It was fun. After I got home I made dinner and have been working ever since. I was telling someone today that I feel like a rap star. They asked me what I meant and I told them that I felt like a rap star because everyone wanted something from me. :-)
:: Tom 10:56 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Being the geek that I am, I often like to check out the NASA website. I like to check it out so much that I signed up for my own person login at their website. I like to read about different probes that are being sent out along with different discoveries in astronomy and atmospheric sciences. There is always something to read about there.
:: Tom 10:36 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I had a soccer game really late last night (11:25 PM). Our regular goal keeper (Dan) couldn't make it to the game so I played in the net. We ended up winning 7-4 and I'd say I played about average, not too good but not bad enough to cost us the game. We had a ton of people show up for the game, so I wonder how things will work once I start playing on the field with this team. I will eventually join a third team (Jennifer's) and after that I'll be playing three soccer games every monday. That will be a good workout.
:: Tom 3:18 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Today was an interesting day. I went for a 5 mile run to start things off before it got hot outside. This was my training for the adventure race coming up in August. After I was was done with my run, I decided to work on my bike for a little while. I had to change the back tire and clean it up a little bit. I also ended up spending a fair amount of time working on my gears. Everything should be good to go now. If I wake up early enough I will try to ride my bike to work tomorrow. Just about the time I finished working on my bike, it was time to go play a round of golf at the PruneRidge golf course. It is a 9 hole course with a few par fours mixed in with mostly par threes. Christina and I tied with a score of 52. I would say that a good 20 % of my score was from one really bad hole. My putting was pretty good (averaged under 2 putts per hole), but my shots off the tee were what killed my. Boy do I need lessons. After our round of golf was over we came home and cooked dinner. We grilled some salmon and had it with some corn and scalloped potatoes. I wish I had caught the salmon that we had for dinner. :-( I need to go fishing soon!
:: Tom 12:26 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I went to see "Finding Nemo" with Christina today. It was just as good as I thought it would be. Other than that we ran errands and tried to stay cool. It was hot today. In other news we got new neighbors not long ago and they are really loud. They bang on the walls at all hours of the day and night. Also, just a little while ago, I had to close our sliding glass door for our patio because we could smell someone smoking outside and the smoke was drifing into our living room. This sucks.
:: Tom 9:48 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I got a refund check in the mail yesterday from the State of California. When I did my taxes, I caculated that I owed money, so I sent in a tax return with a check for the amount of money that I owed. I went over my taxes twice to make sure that I did them right. And now I get a refund check. So what does this mean? I think, because we have a $34 B deficit, that this illustrates that the State of California government doesn't know what it is doing. It is pretty sad. And now they are talking about raising taxes. How about cutting expenses? If I overestimated my income and then went to my boss and said "You know boss, I underestimated my expenses and overestimated my income and now I've got a huge deficit. Can you give me a raise so things will even out?" My boss would do one of three things. (1). Fire me. (2) Laugh at me. (3) Tell me to get back to work and not be an idiot with my finances. So how about we do that with our state government?
:: Tom 11:56 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

This is an interesting article. Yahoo! News - San Francisco Becomes Fastest-Shrinking U.S. City I guess the bay area is going down population-wise. In the article they only talk about jobs. But jobs are only part of the equation. This is an expensive place to live. I think a lot of people of people are leaving even though they already have jobs because they can buy the same house somewhere else for less money. In other news Christina is talking about buying a cabin near Lake Tahoe or a Duplex in Sacramento. Now is a good time to do it, but then again if you don't have the money to do it right now then it isn't really a good time to do it is it? :-)
:: Tom 5:49 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I'm checking out what the Tour De France is about in detail for the first time, and I'm amazed at how far the riders ride every day. They sometimes ride over 200 km in a day. That is crazy! I ride about 16 km on level ground and my butt starts to hurt. But these guys have hills and all sorts of other things to worry about. Talk about a crazy sport! Yahoo! Sports
:: Tom 12:16 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Finally! DSL is working again. Now I can be on high speed internet 24/7 again. Christina and I checked out the pool for the first time tonight. It was bigger than I thought. I can actually swim laps now.
:: Tom 10:35 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I've finally finished the trip log for the Half Dome hike. It was a fun hike. Hopefully I can go back there this year sometime with Christina.
:: Tom 5:55 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I am a dork, I checked on ebay and I couldn't find the tubes that I needed, so I guess I am going to have to go to an actual store to get them. In other news I got a keyboard and mouse for my dreamcast off of ebay for $4 so that I can play around with linux on my dreamcast. I knew that you could hack it but I didn't know that you could get linux on it. Depending on how I like playing around with linux on my dreamcast I might shell out another $5 for a broadband adapter for the dreamcast so I can take this party global. So I wonder if I should try putting linux on my vaccum cleaner or toaster next. I have to check online to see if anyone has already done that. :-) Geez... what a dork.
:: Tom 9:38 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I still haven't gotten a chance to get my tubes, but the size I need is 26 x 2.10. Maybe I'll check on ebay to see if I can get a good deal on a bunch of them...
:: Tom 8:46 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I don't know if non summitpost members can get to this mountain site, but this is for Mount Ritter. Forrest is planning on going there this weekend. I'd really like to go but it is looking a lot like I am going to have to work this weekend. And I also have a lot of things to do around the house. I should make a lot of progress on unpacking boxes and cleaning before I can go anywhere. SummitPost.com - Mount Ritter Climbing Information
:: Tom 9:54 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I didn't go and get new tubes last night, but I am going to try to go running at lunch today. The only thing that would stop me is that work is extremely busy right now. But I'll give it a try.
:: Tom 8:54 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I attempted to ride my bike to work today, but on my way to work my back tire blew out. Luckily I was close enough to home that I could just walk back, but it was very frustrating. I am going to go get all new tubes tonight so that I won't have this problem again.
:: Tom 9:34 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I just got back home from my soccer game a little while ago. My team lost 5-4, but I scored two goals. I'm going to try to ride my bike to work tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
:: Tom 8:51 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

What do you think? Are gamers scrubs? I used to play video games a lot and I don't think it affected my schoolwork or other areas of my life, but I knew plenty of people who did nothing but play video games. I hardly ever play video games anymore. But it is more because I don't have the time and I don't want to spend the money to keep buying new hardware and games. But I wonder if adults still play a lot of video games.CNN.com - Surprising findings about video game players - Jul. 6, 2003
:: Tom 2:48 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I switched to a new server for my website, so it looks like it is up and running now. Huray! Now I have to access my database and change my password. I've been reading up on Python and I'm trying to get Rational Robot to work for my testing at work. I wish I could go for a week at work without interuptions and things coming up that pull me away from my primary tasks. That would be heaven...
:: Tom 1:57 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I'm back at work, today I have a soccer game so I'm going to leave work a little earlier than usual. Just another day in the office...
:: Tom 1:13 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

My home network connection is down so I wasn't able to post anything this weekend. On Friday we went to Ikea in Emeryville and got a few bar stools and some other miscellanous stuff. That night we went to watch T3 with Jenny and Rong. I would give T3 a 5 or 6 out of 10. It was entertaining but some parts of the movie were super cheesy. On Saturday Doug, Forrest, Jenny, Rong, Christina, and I all went mountain biking in Henry Coe State Park. The park itself is really cool and I enjoyed biking there. But it is very challenging and it was very hot when we were there. Jenny overheated and did not have a very good time. And we did not ride the full route that we had set out to ride. But I would definitely go back in the spring or fall, or maybe early in the morning. I just don't know who would go with me. Sunday was Christina's dream day. We did a few things around the house, then we went and got the phone that she has always wanted, got a scale, returned a dresser that she had bought to Ikea, got some European pillows from Macy's, and stopped off at her parents' house for dinner. I think the only way Sunday could have been better for Christina would be if we hadn't had to deal with traffic at Ikea and if the food that we ate were fat free.
:: Tom 10:34 AM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Well it is getting to be the afternoon on the 3rd of July. I'd like to get out of here early, but there is still so much work to do. And on top of that the DSL at home has been having issues for the past few days. So I have to fix that this weekend. I did better at the driving range last night than I did last week. I concentrated more on my stance, grip, and follow through. Some of the shots I had were marvelous. But most of them stunk. I'm still not sure what the plan for this weekend is, but that's ok. I have plenty of things to do if there is no plan. Well in case I can't update my blog from home, have a great 4th of July everyone!
:: Tom 1:40 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

Yesterday after work Christina and I were supposed to go for a run, but we decided to cook dinner instead. We cooked a dish that her mom cooks every now and then. I have no idea what it is called, but it calls for about a pound of ground beef, fresh green beans cut into thirds, two tomatoes, an onion, some garlic, and a little soy sauce. We had it with rice and it was pretty good. I brought some of the leftovers for lunch today. Today after work we are going to meet Jenny and Rong at the driving range. I think I'm going to spend some time on my putting and chipping today. In other news I'm not going on a backpacking trip this weekend. I'm going to probably BBQ and work on things around the house. I cleaned out the storage unit, so it is seriously time to organize the garage. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best way to organize a garage?
:: Tom 1:52 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...

I got to play soccer for the first time in a few months last night. My team won 5-4 and overall we played alright for not having played in a while. Today I have a toastmasters meeting after work. After that I should go work out, but my foot is sore from having it kicked yesterday. So I think after the meeting I'll go home and work on some things around the house. It should be a quiet day.
:: Tom 1:43 PM:: [View/Post Comments]
...