The bug eating dog

You can train a dog to do almost anything. He's particularly interested in eating bugs. I've encouraged that, both by acting like a maniac with glee every time he pounces on something, and with pointing out those pesky bugs outside when he misses them. The neighbors think I'm having an epileptic fit.

I figure when I move to that dumpster behind target on 80th and Allison way that he'll keep me pest free for life.

I'll miss the broadband.

Let the good times stop rolling

Well, it had to happen eventually. Our man Greg had been giving me a free online account with newsgator (hey, what are friends for?) since it's his company...but that all ended today. I've been tossed into the shallow end of the friend pool with the rest of the unwashed masses. Relegated to the free account, no more premium feeds.

NG 2.5 came out...and it isn't working. I get some kind of error. I guess I'll have to stick my sorry ass in the support queue.

So, no feeds until either it's fixed or I give up and go back to the old version. Needless to say, this has been coming for some time now. He's traveling in different circles now, swimming in a different sea (what other dumb ass metaphor's can I come up with?) . Nothing lasts forever.

It's interesting how things change over time. I'm not spending much time at all with the old friends...we're drifting apart. I've spent much more time lately with a whole new group of people. I'll have a real job soon, thanks in part to a slowdown in work that isn't getting any better and that $14,000 in unpaid invoices from clients with no money. I'm ok with that. Hell, I even got a dog. Who would figure that?

Me and the dog's ass

The one thing I never counted on when getting a dog was how much time I'd spend watching his ass.

You see people walking dogs all the time -- through that park merrily crossing the same god-damn piece of grass they did the day before, the dog, stupidly happy to piss in exactly the same spots he did yesterday. They look happy, the dog and his walker. You imagine that it's serene, relaxing, a bond between dog and the owner. You picture the owner gazing out over the landscape, deep in thought.

The reality is, most of the time the dog is out in front, pulling the leash. No matter where you look, you're seeing the dog's ass. You try to look away -- drawn to perhaps some other dog's ass, but inevitably you're right there...pink, funky looking, sometimes tight, other times relaxed -- ass.

God help you if the dog actually takes a dump on this magical walk. You're prepared for that too -- one of those stupid dog-shit-picker-upper bags with picture based directions 'put your hand in here' it says.

So far I've been lucky. I make sure the dog has spent some dog time alone in the back yard, doing whatever dogs do in anticipation of taking a dump. The last thing I want on my walk is a view of the ass post-crap. I doubt he'll wipe.

The goo machine

Let me see if I have this right...I paid paid paid PAID money to take home this goo machine. Why not just adopt a 'I missed my ritalin this month' kid with two permanent black markers duct taped to each arm?

The little monster has kennel cough, so he's hacking up shit all over the place.

I should trade him in for a box of white zin and get wasted instead.

Before some tree hugging, cork shoe wearing, 'I haven't washed my hair since Al Gore lost' professional college student (yeah, get a real job at wendy's) tells me I should take him to the vet, let me remind you about Viruses: Anti-biotics don't do a damn thing.

I'll just have to wait this one out. I suppose he should be comfortable in the back yard until Fall.

Appreciate me

The MID member appreciation night was last night at the purple martini in DTC. I dressed up, meaning I wore something other than shorts, flip-flops, or jeans...Which is the typical Sean attire these days.

Imagine 150 -200 20 -30 somethings immersed in loud music, alcohol, and pheromones and you get the idea. I probably only knew about 6 people there...but I kept getting 'oh, are you the Sean that does all those wine and dinner parties?'

Why yes, that is me.

Oh, I even won a dvd. All in all, it didn't suck too bad.

lazy dog

The dog has been better lately. I keep having to kick him off the couch, but maybe he's getting the idea...or just not doing it when I'm looking. He's convinced he needs to be on the bed with me...which is NOT going to happen. I can vacuum the floor easier than I can lint roll the bedspread.

Today we took another walk. He seems to go nuts if he isn't walked every day. I guess the walk was enough today. He's been laying there for a while now.

He's been following me around the house a lot, too.

He's not much of a barker, which is good. I hate dogs that bark at the grass, crickets, ants, you name it.

Fish this, mister

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Yeah, I don't fucking think so, dipshit.

Thursday

Thursday was kind of long and mostly expensive. I put new tires on the jeep, had an oil change, and did a MID dinner downtown at La Fondue.

And I thought putting tires on the BMW was bad.

Supreme fuck up

The supreme court ruled today that seizure of private property doesn't necessarily have to be used for public use. From the 5th amendment to the constitution:

....nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation

meaning that Joe schmuck can have his property seized by the local government, paid pennies on the dollar compared to fair market prices, and have it given to the mayor's brother, big shot developer, so he can build a golf course.

3:01 AM

What do you do about sleep apnea? Not much. Stick this mask on your face and pressurize your airway. That doesn't do anything about Central sleep apnea, which is when your brain doesn't tell you to breathe at all.

I've just about driven the tread right off my jeep MTR tires, so tomorrow I get to spend too much money replacing them. Just when you thought it was safe to open the checkbook....

Tonight I'm supposed to meet down in Denver at La Fondue with some MID people for dinner. Maybe they'll let me eat the condiments and keep it cheap. I doubt it.

The new dog is just dying to get on the couch and bed...so I'll get some kind of dog bed thing so he can sleep on the floor. That was Lori #2's idea. Right now he's on a blanket, but I don't want to be washing that thing every week to get the dog hair off of it.

I started watching collateral with Tom Cruise tonight. I can't decide if I like it or not. There is a certain sense of 'yeah, like that's going to happen' that I keep hearing in my head.

I spent last night after working pulling rocks out of the back yard. The weed barrier under the rock trim is completely shot -- and I'm getting tired of losing the weed pulling war. I'll have to pull out all the rocks, wash them, replace the weed barrier, and stuff them back in. There has to be a few thousand pounds of rock back there, at least.

I passed on the MN trip over the 4th of July weekend. I'm going backpacking in the mountains instead. I'll need to get someone to watch the dog, and feed the fish. I'll also need a shoulder holster for the glock. No way I'm going into the mountains by myself without a gun. People get eaten in there.

I keep thinking about that boy who wandered around the woods for 4 or so days. His parents told him to not talk to strangers -- so whenever a searcher came along he hid in the weeds. If he was better at following mom's directions he'd be dead right now. Nevertheless, he's pretty fucking stupid for doing it in the first place. I'm sure he'll be a ABC movie special by fall.

Idiots.

3am fun

Well, I'm up. Up...up..up..up.
I drove to CO springs and back tonight to visit the folks. We had dinner. I went to bed fairly early 9-10 ish, but I've been waking up every few hours since.

I suppose I could go downstairs and tell the dog to get off the couch, but what's the point? I think he's avoiding coming up stairs. He wasn't exactly enamored with the bath I gave him before I left for Springs.

I was waiting for the shelter to open up at noon yesterday so I stopped by Applejacks and bought a couple of cases of wine. I picked a few here...few there...some old, some new. We'll see how the new ones fare. I also picked up some wine preserve (gas in a can, basically). I've been looking for some for a while now. Now I can have a glass and save the bottle for later. I should have brought the zinfandel worksheet from the last wine event. I wasn't sure I could remember my favorites.

I was planning on doing a port tasting, but some other MID guy beat me to it. I'm just an attendee on that one. That's fine with me.

Thomas

I adopted a dog from the local shelter. He's a corgi/shepard mix. Thomas.

Hair

Hellloooooo! Hair is not supposed to be growing out of your fucking EAR. That's just not right.

Fiona booked tickets to Denver the other day. Her cousin Missy Higgins is playing in Denver and we're going.

Yesterday I spent the day being a vegetable. It was relaxing. I actually need to get some work done today. Tonight I'm off to springs to visit the folks, who are in town. Thursday is a fondue dinner downtown with some MID people, Friday is a big MID event in DTC, Saturday a fisher bbq party, and then finally Sunday I'm spending time with Javon.

I think I'm over booked...

La Piazza dell Arte

Sunday they closed some streets in Denver and had some kind of chalk picture thing. It was interesting. Click to view the pictures.

dinner@home -- Cajun theme dinner

Cajun theme dinner pictures. Click to view.

fridays are for quitters

Well it's friday. Not that it really matters...I work whenever anyway. My schedule hasn't been m-f for a while now. Tonight is another dinner party, tomorrow night a fisher bbq, sunday some art thing downtown Denver. I may sneak in a hike on Sunday morning.

I hear the weekend will be nice.

dinner@home -- Indian dinner theme

The Indian theme dinner was fun. Click to view the pictures.

2005-06-11 Wine ratings -- Zinfandel

Wine rating results in pdf format. Click to download.
Zinfandel

Next wine event July 9 2005 -- Syrah

Syrah, $35 or less
Saturday July 9th 7pm, Broomfield

Syrah[see-RAH]
This high-quality red-wine grape gained its reputation in France's RHÔNE region. Thought to have originated in the Middle East, the ancient Syrah grape has been grown in the Rhône valley at least since Roman times. In the northern Rhône, Syrah is the principal grape of the esteemed wines from CORNAS, CÔTE-RÔTIE, CROZES-HERMITAGE, HERMITAGE, and SAINT-JOSEPH. When young, these wines are deep-colored and TANNIC, with strong TAR, SPICE, and pepper qualities. Syrahs are long-lived, and as they slowly mature, they take on characteristics of sweet blackberries, black currants, and plums, with hints of SMOKINESS. In the Southern Rhône, Syrah is used to contribute flavor and STRUCTURE to the multi-variety wines from CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE and CÔTES-DU-RHÔNE. France's LANGUEDOC-ROUSSILLON region has been planting large amounts of new Syrah acreage because it's one of the grapes recommended for improving the quality of that region's wines. Shriaz, as Syrah is called in Austalia, made its way ther in the 1830s and is now that country's most widely planted red grape. Because this grape's so widely cultivated in Australia, an extensive variety of wine styles are produced there — from jug wines to very serious wines of international renown. The best of thse auspicious wines some from COONAWARRA and the BAROSSA and HUNTER VALLEYS.The most famous Shiraz is the incredibly rich and complex Grenache Hermitage, produced by Penfolds. In California the PETITE SIRAH grape was long thought to be Syrah, but some ENOLOGISTS now believe it actually may be the DURIF variety. True Syrah has been increasingly planted in California over the years, and there are now many more Syrah wines and Rhône-style blends appearing on retail shelves. The ranks of long-time, prominent Syrah producers like JOSEPH PHELPS VINEYARDS and MCDOWELL VALLEY VINEYARDS have been joined by relative newcomers BONNY DOON, Edmunds St. John, and Qupé. Syrah has not significantly established itself in other parts of the world. It's also known as Hermitage, Marsanne Noir, Petite Syrah, and Sirac.

Special instructions: Bring some food to share with the group, and one bottle of wine per person or couple.

Not guilty

Not guilty my ass. Fucking pedofile piece of shit.

2005-06-11 Wine event pictures -- Zinfandel

Wine event pictures -- Zinfandel

Click to view.

Patriot act

Lucky for us, dubya and the rest of the Christian GOP radical right has stuffed through an upgraded version of the patriot act. I'm glad I live in a country where I can look forward to more warrantless searches, sneak and peak, data mining, indefinite detention and torture. Global warming? We all know that's bullshit. I mean, if the science doesn't fit, just change it. Also, let's pour a billion dollars into the sand a day fighting for 'freedom' in an area of the world that will happily stone your wife to death in the street for infidelity.

May your Christian GOD bless all of American. Amen.

Water

Found a leaking connection on the pump outlet in the basement. A decent amount of water down there now. I fixed it, and have a fan running to dry out the piece of carpet remnant down there.

I probably need some kind of a plastic tray around the pumps, sump, and chiller. I can run a drain line to the basement drain. That would be better than 100 gallons of salt water on my stuff.

dinner@home -- kabab theme night

Pictures -- click to view.

Kabab night was fun. I really need to move these events to the weekend.

Up

First you're sleeping, then a few phone calls later and you're not. Read some CNN, read a blog, check out MID, surf for porn. Debate laying on the couch in front of the TV. Think about working. Don't think about eating. Email Dan. Look at the pile of unopened mail.

12:27AM now. Is this good or bad? Take your last claritin. Maybe I'll vacuum. Think about your cell phone in Anita's sock drawer. How many messages? I should check. Do I put the glock under the pillow? Check match.com. Same faces as before. Maybe I'll mow the lawn. Check your sourdough bread. Debate setting the alarm. Think about bare feet on carpet. Watch people pop in and out of aol IM. Do I know you? Wonder where Fiona is. Am I getting taller? Nope.

Mondays

Well, I worked all weekend, except for a side trip to north Boulder skydiving Sunday morning. It was fun. Today I'm writing firmware, cleaning the house in preparation for my dinner party tomorrow night.

My workout went fine this morning...I'm actually feeling normal again.

It's going to be a busy week. Tomorrow I have a dinner party at the house, Wed. is a wine tasting at Solera, and Saturday is my wine event for June. I also have to get some work done....

It's finally over

View under the tank


View of the stuff in the basement. From left to right: 2 Mag 2400 GPH pumps inline, sump, chiller, UPS for the pumps.

tank hell

I spent probably 12 hours yesterday working on the tank. I still have more to go today. Moving the equipment into the basement has turned into a pretty big project. It also got expensive -- the two pumps I had in previously weren't powerful enough to generate enough flow after adding another 6 feet of elevation change. I had to buy 2 new pumps. Add in the pumps, all the tubing and parts and it's suddenly a $600 project. That really sucked.

I promised my first born on Monday to a client unless I deliver prototypes. I'll have to work all weekend to get it...right after I finish this thank thing.

Work, tank

I spent quite a bit of time yesterday building prototypes, testing, and doing some preliminary firmware testing on a discharge controller project. It's not the most exciting project in the world, but it's a client....

I also went to home depot and bought hosing for the tank change. I'll probably do that tomorrow. I'm supposed to be skydiving on Sunday, so I'll have to call over to the field and get them my deposit.

dinner@home -- Greek theme night

pictures -- click to view

The Greek dinner theme was fun. I could have skipped the champagne at the end, though...