No updates...

Sorry I have not updated in a while but, I've been busy with school. The end of semester is always fun! Kris usually is not too happy with me at this point in the semester...I'm pretty grouchy, or is it cross, or a curmudgeon...

Anyway, I had a presentation tonight for one class that went pretty well. On the way out of class someone called us the "dream team." I guess we did ok.

I still have another presentation and 2 papers due.

Here is one thing I've been working at work, that I learned in school. We're proposing putting up a wind tower. So, I used my new 3D visualization skills and came up with this simulation video along with some photos.



The video took so long to make that my screensaver kicked in at the end...oops.

Only two more weeks and the semester is over!

more kits...

by request (Yo Gava, Gava!):


and tweeked the request:

new kits?

OK, I really should be spending my time working on my mid-terms that are due next week... but I couldn't resist.









Some of the fonts are not correct, but remember these are quick mock-ups. What do you think?

First MTB ride since...

...the Fair Hill race in July. Actually, I have not been on any bike since then. Unless of course you count cruising around the neighborhood with Sophie on the back of my cross bike.

Needless to say my first ride since mid July was kind of eventful. I went to the Deer Park section of Allamuchy and three cars pulled into the parking lot as I was unloading the bike. The guys in two of the cars dropped one car off and left in the other car together. Couldn't quite figure that one out. The other guy was getting ready for a trail run, I knew he was serious because he was actually stretching! I left the parking lot and had to stop and adjust my shoe, and catch my breath. I got to a fairly technical uphill and my breathing doubled... actually it was the running guy, he caught me, yes and passed me. In fact that was the last I saw of him the rest of my ride. What a great way to start a ride, getting passed by a guy running! Ugh. Most of the ride went ok, I did kick up a boulder, yes a boulder, and it was the size of a truck, I swear! Anyway, this boulder whacked me in the shin pretty good. Yeah, it left a mark.

So, I'm finally on my way back towards the car and can't decide whether to do the last section of trail. I hopped a log and... I grabbed the wrong pair of shoes, because the cleat is all worn out and my foot releases from the pedal, I fall off the bike and my thigh ends up getting wedged between the tire and the brakes. Yes, I'm still riding v-brakes and yes it left one heck of a mark! I could barely pedal the last section of trail!

I usually stop and grab a bite to eat on my way home after I ride in Jersey. Well, you Delaware folks may have all your fancy-smancy, authentic, awesome Mexican restaurants for your post ride meals. Jersey has this:

How's that for a post-ride meal? I forgot how slimy they are.

The next day I could barely walk up and down the stairs! And my butt is quite sore from sitting on the saddle! In fact, I'm standing right now as I'm typing this.

busy, busy...

Last weekend and early in the week has been pretty busy. Kristen's birthday was last weekend. So, Saturday night we had her favorite meal at her parent's house. Yummy!

Sunday morning it was off to NYC for a surprise play, or at least I thought it was a surprise... my Mom spilled the beans! We saw Gypsy. Which was OK, definetely not one of my favorites. We stayed at my parents time share. It is really cool waking up in NYC and strolling around while people are heading to work. We drove around nyc for fun, yeah I got back into the city driving grove pretty quickly. I guess it is kind of like riding a bike... (I wonder what that's like?)

I got home, hooked up the large format printer, cranked out a couple of maps for class, showered (apparently, city driving makes me sweat), and heading to campus to get my parking pass. I was only a little late to class.

Tuesday morning, I jumped out of bed and ran the grocery store to get some food for Krissy's birthday breakfast. Taylor Ham, egg and cheese on an everything bagel. (Why didn't I buy bagels while we were in the bagel capital of the world???) After breakfast I headed down to the shop to fill in for Rick. He was vacationing.

Man do I miss working in the shop. I spent most of the day laughing! That Gavigan is one funny dude! YO GABBA GABBA! We got El Jefe for lunch. Boy was that some good mexican food! Anyone notice how much Gava turns red and sweats after he eats spicy food? Had me laughing! I told him he should get a sweatband for the next time he tackles "the pot" at el jefe

After a great day in DE I even made it to class on time without much traffic! What a nice way to spend a vacation day!

School's back...

I'm taking two classes this semester... ugh. I have anticipated so much time is going to be taken up with school, work and family, that for the first time since '97ish, I am not going to race cross. I think I had raced at least one cross race since '97, crap that is a 10 year streak... Oh well.

I've been pretty busy trying to get stuff done before school starts, but not much has actually gotten done.

I have a fan going in the storage room to try and blow the smoke back to the neighbor. I'm planning on installing an exhaust fan and sealing up the louvered door to try and pressurize the room. Hopefully keeping the smoke out.

Oh yeah, I got a new game for ps2. Over vacation my niece was kind enough to bring her wii. We played a lot of Guitar Hero. So, after much debate I purchased my own for the ps2! Lots of fun!

I have a new nephew! Welcome Henry David! (I think his middle name is after me, not that Thoreau guy.)


He also goes by "Hank the Tank" because he is going to be a fullback and run people over! Go HANK!

Jacob played some soccer this summer and he had a great time!



Sophie enjoyed the beach...



...not sure if she really enjoyed eating sand though?

thumping bass...

Apparently yesterday the Comcast truck was visiting our new neighbors. I guess they got their cable box switched to our common wall, because when they are watching tv you hear the bass through the walls like it was in our living room. Terrific! I guess we might have to start thinking about moving sooner rather than later... this really sucks!

On a lighter note, bocce was awesome! We made it up there for happy hour, the beer was not really on special, unless you call $3.50 coors light a "special." The other tap beers were $5.50. A little rich for my blood. The pizzas were on special, in fact you could get a pizza for a dollar more than a coors light. I wonder if I could byob?
Bocce was a ton of fun, my team won the first game 12-1, Crushed them! We won the second 12-10, closer but we still beat them! The funny thing was, I was the only one who had ever played bocce before. Everyone really had fun and can't wait for the next match!

smoke 1

Well, my first attempt at reducing the smell of smoke was to cram a bunch of insulation into the rafters along the common wall. I thought it was working for a few days, but I smelled it again! So, more insulation, still smell it. In fact, I am getting a little bit of a headache from the smoke smell down here.

The second phase of this endeavour was to cut a hole in the drywall to see if the builders didn't crack seal at the base of the beam. It looked like they did seal it with that spray foam stuff, but now there is a 2'x2' hole in our wall. I am by no means a dry wall guy. It turned out awful! At least it is in the laundry room-closet. I used a 2 year old tub of spackle, and a 1 inch putty knife. I think it would have gone a lot better if only I had some better dry wall tools! OK, maybe not, probably operator error...

I need to go to bed, I have to get up early to run... and we have a big bocce ball tournament after work at the Mohawk House.

done...

...no more bike racing for a couple of years. At least until I finish my masters, shorten my commute and have some time to train. Maybe I'll take up golf, or fishing, or hiking, or drinking, or running, or hunting...

our new neighbors in the townhouse right next door smoke, a lot. So much that the smoke is seeping through the common wall somewhere downstairs. So, when you walk in, you are greeted by the smell of smoke... splendid.

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payback's a ...

Anyone remember this post a few years ago?

Well, the guy that took George out that day, Steffan Schumacher, won yesterday's tour de france TT, by a lot, enough to take the yellow jersey. So today, he gets taken out meters from the finish by one of Hincapie's teammates, Kim Kirchen. Kim Kirchen takes the yellow jersey and poor Schumacher loses the yellow jersey. HA!

This picture from pez cycling news says it all!



Payback's a bitch!

droopy listened to bootlegs...

...david listens to podcasts.

Updated the blog with a list of a few of the podcasts I listen to regularly on my monster commute.

Finished up Summer session last week. I took the intro to GIS class, it is a required course and they would not give me credit for my experience. I'd have to take another elective... so I took it. I ended up learning a few tricks. It was kind of good to see how things are "supposed to be done," as most of my GIS experinece has been self taught. I even tutored someone! I must have some mad tutoring skills because she got an A in the class!

I've played golf twice since the last update. Once with Derek and the boys, that was a blast! The golf went downhill once the beers started flowing...

I also played a scramble with Fran, Scott and Pete. Pete and Scott were both wearing black shirts, so, it was the good guys vs. the bad guys. Fran and I won the front 9 by 3 or 4 holes. We started the back nine by losing three in a row! We fought back to one down with one to go and we won the hole! That was a lot of fun! I can't wait for the rematch!

I'm suppose to be racing Fair Hill this weekend and I still have not fixed my bike from the last race, DOH! Also, have not been feeling like getting up at 5 am to ride, oh well, we'll see how it goes...

Tour de Tykes

Well, another mtb race for me, Tour de Tykes. It was brutally hot this past Sunday, it was a good thing the race was up in the mountains and in the woods.

Get up there with plenty of time to spare, it took me under 2 hours to get there. I was following MapQuest directions and went past a "Road Closed" sign. Whoops! I'm on the course, at the finish! I could have driven over the finish line. So, that's why there was a road closed sign... DUH!

The race started with a 3 mile climb! Yikes. I decided I'd take a different approach then the granogue race, I started slow and steady. I actually, felt kind of good by the time I got to the top and started passing people once it flattened out. Then when it started going downhill, I felt like I was flying! The trails were sweet, with lots of flow. After a few more ups and downs I was on a pretty big downhill, and again I was flying! It felt great! I was actually riding like I was kind of in shape. So, next thing I know after I pass a few more people on the downhill. PSSSSSSSSSSSS... flat front tire! Crap! Oh well, let's change this sucker... tire off, old tube out, new tube in, tire and tube on the rim, open CO2, onto the valve, squeeze the trigger, wooossshhhhh, BAM! UH OH! That was my last and only tube... UGH! Race over! and I was feeling so good... Oh well, maybe next time...

I wonder how that Stan's No Tubes stuff works?

Granogue MTB

I was able to do the Escape from Granogue race thanks to the support of my wonderful family! I met Kris and the kids at Aunt Mimi and Uncle Pete's Friday night. I have to admit it was pretty stressful getting home from work, 1.5 hour drive, packing all my crap for the race, grabbing a Clif Bar to hold me off until I got to Mimi's, which is another hour drive. Made it Mimi's and they were all playing Guitar Hero, game looked pretty cool but I was too curmudgeonly after getting there, to attempt it. Maybe next time?

Got down to the race in plenty of time, it only took me about 45 minutes from Mimi's. Hung out for a while with all the DCC of D folks, great to see everyone.

So, the start of the race... I started at the back, and felt good at the start along the road. So, I kept going until I was leading going into the woods! Up the hill to the tower and, "uh oh! that wasn't the smartest thing to do!" It took me an entire lap to recover from the effort to get to the front! I kept thinking about The King telling Lightning McQueen,
"...you have more talent in 1 lug nut than most racers have in there entire body, but you're stupid!" The talent part was not what pertained to me but "the stupid" part. Over and over again in my head is The King saying "You're stupid!"

I did take a little break on the first lap, a bug flew down my throat, and it did not sit so well. Yeah, I barfed a little on the side of the trail.

I ended up finishing the race just fine. Maybe next race I will "race" a little smarter.

on the rocks...

Well, I finally got out for a ride on my mountain bike. The last time I rode it was right before my car accident October 15, 2007. So, what did I decide to do for my first mountain bike ride in seven months? A race! French Creek "On the Rocks." It didn't help that I had been on antibiotics for a few days to get rid of my sinus infection.

It was really cool to have Cheffrey along for the race. I think it was his first mtb race in a bunch of years. He was a little shocked by all the people with disc brakes, 29-inch wheels, and single-speeds...

The race was relatively uneventful. I did have one crash going uphill. Two guys passed me and asked if I was alright... nothing but a bruised ego, and hand, and hip...

After struggling to make up the last very short, very slight incline to the finish, where 5 people passed me, this guy looks at me and asks, "Hey, did you just finish?" "Yes," I answer. He pumps his fist and shouts, "ALL RIGHT!! I WASN'T LAST!!!" Gee, thanks for pointing that out...

Another one down!

Whew! Just submitted my final for the Land Use-Transportation class! yippie!

Now I have some extra time to ride and work on some other stuff I've been putting off. Hmmm, I wonder how long my "honey-do" list is at this point?

Gotta go celebrate my anniversary and the end of the semester!

(won't be too much fun with a sinus infection)

CROSS?

My mom is looking at my shirt curiously and says, I guess "CROSS" fits better on a shirt than "CURMUDGEON"


cross: marked by typically transitory bad temper.


curmudgeon: a crusty, ill-tempered, and usually old man.

Thanks, Mom.

"Koppenberg"

So, I was planning on meeting Terry for the "Flanders Ride" today, but the forecast for today was pretty crappy. The weather on Saturday was nice. Needless to say I bailed on riding the Koppenberg today and went down there yesterday. It was a good thing IO did not meet Terry at the Norristown Train Station parking lot because where we usually meet is now a 4 story parking garage,

and it was closed. So, we wouldn't have been able to park there!

I ended up driving to Conshohoken and parked a few miles closer to the climb. It was a good thing too, because I struggled.

Here is a video of the Port Royal climb aka Koppenberg.

And no, I did not take the video! I could barely keep the bike upright because I was going so slow! But, I made it! and I even made it back to the jeep.

I'm having a little bit of trouble walking up the stairs today.

North or South Jersey?

Came across this while reading the New Jersey news.

Growing up and working in North Jersey and having lived in Philly and Delaware. I certainly understand the difference between North and South Jersey.

There was some interesting stuff on the blog. Like Rutgers football is the great unifier for New Jersey!

Here are some of the questions:

Wawa or 7-Eleven?
Jimmies or Sprinkles?
Taylor Ham or Pork Roll?
Sub or Hoagie?

Then there is the whole sports aspect to it:
Eagles or Giants?
Flyers or Devils?
Phillies or Mets-Yankees?
Sixers or Nets?

fun stuff!

What we've been up to lately:

In photos:








Add to that a memo assignment and an exam...
...Busy past couple of weeks...

Monte Paschi Erocia Video

OK, so I found video from the Erocia race and I thought I'd try and post the video.
This will be a good test to see about uploading Sophie's video. The Slipstream rider off the front in the first video is the former mountain biker Ryder Hesjedal.

Eroica1
Uploaded by burnie87

Holy crap! It worked!

Part 2

Eroica2
Uploaded by burnie87

Monte Paschi Erocia

This race sounds awesome. Check out the gallery. Makes you want to ride your road bike on some dirt roads dosen't it? Here is the english version.

Hopefully, I will be able to do a ride on the "le strade rosso." There are a ton of "red" gravel roads in the area. I probably won't be able to do anything until after class is wrapped up in mid May.

Another hopefully... I'd like to do a Tour of Flanders "tribute" ride down in Manyunk to hit the cobble climb near the start of the bike path, any takers? I think my parents are in town that weekend. So, it is a distinct possibility. I could probably use some help getting to the top of the climb as I haven't ridden in a while...

Integrated Land Use and Transportation discussion

For class we had to discuss another student's essay in an online discussion forum. Well, my response included a paragraph on the importance of mixed use developments...

My answer led me here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Place

then here
http://www.pps.org/info/placemakingtools/placemakers/roldenburg

The subject material covered in the Project for Public Spaces are some of the reasons I'm pursuing the planning profession...

All of it is kind of a synthesis of "droopy" and "david," huh?

After some looking around I saw that this guy is a "Place Maker." Yes, I'm a regular reader of his website.

Video is worth...

When I got home from work the family was upstairs in Sophie's room. Jacob came running to the top of the stairs and said something about what Sophie can do. Sophie runs out with this big smile on her face looking all proud. OK, this is going to be good.

(here's where I would insert the video, like I have time to figure that out...)

Kris and Jacob get Sophie to show daddy. She walks over to the rocking chair and pulls herself up onto it. Then reaches over to the dresser and climbs up on top of it. She stands up, yes on the dresser, and claps, Yeah Sophie! Then she walks across the top of the dresser to her crib, grabs the side of the crib, throws her leg over the railing and then she flops into the crib, a good 2' drop onto the mattress. Then gets up laughs and claps... Yeah Sophie! She did it another 3 or 4 times for me. She is going to be quite the daredevil.

Apparently she was doing it about 15 times before I got there.

(I'll try and post the video. Anybody from the "AV Club" have any pointers, shoot me an email...)

Falling apart...

Sunday prior to the Super Bowl I actually went out for a ride. I have not ridden very much in the cold in the past, oh, maybe 6 years. So, I have kind of forgotten the art of dressing properly for rides in the cold. It used to be I'd look at the temperature and know exactly what I needed to wear. Now, not so much... Temperature was 48 when I left, and what did I do? I put almost every piece of clothing I had on. Yeah, way over dressed!

I went out on my normal "morning" loop and struggled big time. At least I wasn't the only one over dressed, the llamas had their full winter coats on. (I wish I brought the camera)

For the past few months I've had this gray spot on the back of my head and it keeps getting bigger. The fine folks at work are accusing me of dying my hair in an attempt to look distinguished, thanks guys!

Tonight, Sophie was showing me her somersaults (assisted). Then Jacob showed off his. Then Kristen showed off her mad somersault skills. My turn, I crouch, and roll... holy crap! I had no idea where I was rolling! I was sure I'd end up crashing into the wall or door frame or something hard and immovable. Instead, I gracefully completed my somersault sprawled all over the hall and a massive crick in my neck. Yeah, I'm typing with my head at about a 90 degree angle.

Falling apart...

droopy doesn't update...

yes fatmarc, and all my loyal readers (mom), I haven't been, sorry. not really been "feeling the blog" lately.

Here's a quick little story. This past weekend was our annual "hookey day." We hung out in Philly on Friday, then we went to play some paintball up in Jim Thorpe. I felt like total crap all day. Might have had something to do with drinking in philly the day before??? So, I was kind of miserable, my head was killing me all day. My buddy's were concerned and asked how I was doing throughout the day. Which was fine except for my headache. So, we are driving home after 6 or so hours of paintball, and a headache. Chef asks if there is anything they can do to help. I say, thinking of the impossible, "Well, some advil sure would be nice." Chef says, "Oh, I have three in my pocket. I've had them all day." Thanks! If only he offered when we first got there...

I set up thee tent in the house today while Kris was at work. We had lunch in there. It didn't really work to well. Sophie decided to walk across our "table"... chips went everywhere! There sure was a lot of static electricity in the tent:


I'll try to update more often, I promise.