Happy Holidays

We just got back from spending Christmas in Idaho. The Outlaws were great and I had a wonderful time. Lola had a hard time with the adjustment and the excitement got the better of her. More on this, with pictures, later...

Thanks to everyone who sent holiday cards to us. Please note that a charitable contribution has been made to The Human Fund in your name!

Geo. Mitchell reporting from steroid central

So in case you have had your head in a hole from the sports world, baseball will change in a few hours and this change will be bigger than Bonds* hitting 756.

George Mitchell will release his findings and I have money that several Sox players will be in it. My gut says Clemens will be the biggest. I am hopeful that Papi and Manny are clear, but I do have some doubt. As much as I hate to say it, I think the Yankees will be hard hit. You never want to see your biggest opponent hit in this way; it is better to flat out beat them.

Anyway, this hopefully change baseball which I think is going to end up cleaning up before cycling.

You know it occurs to me that performance enhancing substances can be good--just look at Ron "Tater Salad" White. Ok maybe not...

Be like Bevon!

As one would guess, moving 342.9 miles north would result in colder winters. Part and parcel is snow and temps that only reach into the 20's. I know it is only in the 20's today in the land of milk and honey, but if I still lived there I would not have considered riding my bike.

BillC has showed me that by dressing appropriately and riding cross bikes on snow covered trails, plenty of heat can be generated even though it was only 22 degrees on Sunday and 29 today when leaving to ride. This sort of riding is quite fun and much, much, much better than riding a trainer.

Considering how many other cyclist are out training on the bike in this weather, I believe that Chopper would be proud! If you are not sure what I mean, and don't mind an R-rated video, check this. Keep in mind this may NOT be one to open at the office due to some potentially offensive language.

I am off to keep riding in the cold as part of Turbo Cycling presented by Bu-zurke Clothiers and Crash-dros Productions.

Work?, Not really

Got out on Sat with some of the boys for a tour. We approached Bear Basin through Beehive just north of Lone Peak which is part of both Big Sky and Moonlight Basin resorts. It was a beautiful morning and warmer up there than in town:





























We dug some pits and performed Stuff Block and Rutschblock stability tests. This Q3 fracture was difficult to initiate.















Thus, we felt good about the stability and decided to do some skiing











































To those of you in the Wasatch, an unknown side effect to snowshoeing can be getting harassed by jack-ass backcountry skiers!

Be safe out there...


.

Winding up!

So I think I might get out for my first BC tour of the year tomorrow. New area, new people should make it interesting. I will try to take some pics. At least it will be good to get out for some air and exercise, though the skiing may leaving something to be desired.

School is winding down for the semester. I have one last paper to write and some other stuff due Wed. Sleevie sent out a jersey design for next year and I really like it. We were hanging out with Gardie the other night and wouldn't let him look at it because he is a "former" teammate. I love that guy!

The commute has been snow covered for a while which is a lot better than when it melts and is slushy. My shoes and pants got soaked on Monday because it was so warm and wet. I will take snow covered over that any day. I took a picture of it riding in this morning, but it is on my cell phone and I am not sure how to get it from there to here. Something like this:



And yes, I am riding my bike to campus everyday. So far the coldest has been 4 degrees--does this mean I am spot on like Bevon?

Well I am off to Chunch. Yes, Chunch. It is a free lunch on Friday for students and is sponsored by the local Catholic church with all the food being donated from local restaurants, etc. I am not big on church, but I am big on lunch and the older folks serving it are awesome! They get excited by how many students show up and a couple of weeks ago we set a new record of 454. I made a joke that this means that we hit a pound, but no one seemed to get it. (454 grams = 1 lbm)

Anywho...

do you see a resemblance?

Not enough time

We went to SLC this past weekend, but ran out of time to catch up everyone we wanted to see. We drove down Thursday afternoon. Hit up the dentist for cleanings and me to get a permanent crown. It was about 2 weeks overdue as the temporary kept falling off. I am much happier with the permanent.

I am also happy because I submitted my thesis on Friday. My fingers are crossed but it should be done and I really need it off my lap right now.

Spent some time in the old hood catching up with folks and I did a cross race at Wheeler. You can read all about it here, here or here. My race was not quite like that last link. I crashed, literally came off the bike onto the ground, over a dozen times! The ensuing snowball fight and throwing elbows, etc with Sam and Turbo took it from a miserable day to the most fun cross race I did all year!

Now to finish the semester and work on finding money!

Downright cold!

Just in time for the holiday, winter set in. My race season ended on Sunday and within 30 minutes of the finish it was snowing. One of the local guys, who is definitely fast, traded some punches with me in the last few laps. He had me bleeding from my eyeballs when he attacked me through the start/finish area. It made for some motivation after he and I had both flatted earlier in the race. A good way to finish the season.

Lola is doing very well and is growing like a weed. She has had some issues and needs to go outside regularly. We get up once in the night to take her out. The cold temperatures make this not so fun. But she is a great sleeper and super sweet. She is trying very hard to learn everything. She has gained 3.5 lbs in the past week and is up to 25 lbs--still only 1/3 the size of Riley.

New clan member

Our family grew over the weekend. Meet Lola (at least that is her name today!):

Brought to you by the number 33...

33 is the largest positive integer that can not be expressed as a sum of different triangular numbers. It is also the smallest odd repdigit that's not prime (unless we consider 1-digit integers to also be repdigits).

33 is the eighth distinct biprime comprising the prime factors (3.11). Its aliquot sum is 15; itself a discrete biprime (3.5) in the following Aliquot sequence 33,15,9,4,3,1,0. (Note 33 is the 8th composite number to descend into the prime number 3, the others outside of this sequence being 30,26,16,12)

The sum of the first four factorials is 33. Adding up the sums of divisors for the 1 through 6 yields 33. 33 is the smallest integer such that it and the next two integers all have the same number of divisors.

It is also the first member of the first cluster of three biprimes (33,34,35); the next such cluster is (85,86,87).

Woke up this morning

No blue moon in my eye...

But some of the white stuff. Winds were railing last night at about 4AM and it has snowed about 2" since then.















I turn Larry Bird tomorrow. My grandparents called me Sunday evening to wish me a happy one since they are on the east coast. The first words out of my grandfathers mouth were, "So I hear you fell on your ass!"

Off to see if I can navigate my commuter in this weather.

Sandy turns Larry Bird today!

or Tek...

(Use these lyrics to sing along with Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" which happens to be playing right now.)

The legend lives on
for 33 years
of the big lung
they call Dr. Sandy!

His lungs it is said
have never been bled
with the help
of asthma inhaler.

With medicine on his mind
and his bike left behind
he drove the Edmund Penske
cross country.

That seemed long ago
today he studied facial nerves
to bring in his birthday.

Now this birthday was the
pride of the Perrins side
all the way back to Colorado.

His dad
was quite glad
that his only son had
finally gotten onto the bus.

His sister, Mike and kids
were all really quite glib
with the prospect of
another Dr. Perrins.

For Uncle B had indeed
planted a seed
of knowledge that would
one day sprout within him.

In the meantime
he will work very hard
and celebrate his 33 birthday!

So lets all sing him a song
and sing right along
to tell him how much we really miss him...

Feel free to remind him that he turns 33 today here.

Since Sandy needs thanks

we can all thank him for this song!

ouch...

I raced cross in Helena yesterday and lost. I got a new bike last Thursday, which has been killer! It is the Seven Mudhoney thanks to the sponsorship of Seven Cycles and Canyon Bicycles. Mike fit me in late August and the fit is perfect.

On Saturday, I did some openers and the legs felt great. The lungs opened up a bit more and I was able to get past the wheezing that has plagued me all fall. The reason for this is two-fold: I have been diagnosed with asthma and got an inhaler and I finally convinced AJD to give up cigarettes! Just kidding on the latter.

So race starts on Sunday and I immediately pull out of my pedal. I am immediately second to last, but the group stays pretty much together for the first lap. Through a nasty headwind, deep grass, slightly uphill section I powered ahead of several folks up to about 5th. I had a couple of guys on my wheel for the next few laps, but they never came around. All was good, the guy in front of us appeared to be cracking and since it was about halfway I started to ramp up a bit. Then I lost the front wheel in some sand in a corner and crashed. Brad who was right on my wheel ran over my bike--mostly the Reynolds SDV wheels I was riding.

After collecting myself, I grabbed my bike and was unsure of the damage would be. Both wheels were dead true and without a scratch, as was the frame! I had to pull into the pit because my shifter cable had come lose and then I was rolling again. I finished in 9th of nine finishers (eleven starters). The bike needs a little attention to get the shifting right again and be sure all is in order.

Sleep last night was painful and the rash I have woke me up everytime I moved. Plus, my left thumb is jacked up. I must say I was pretty lucky to not get hurt and have my equipment hold up so well! State championships in two weeks should be fun! Especially once I figure out how to ride the killer bike I have!

Thanks to Canyon, Seven and Reynolds for making this possible!

Happy New Year!

Okay so the regular calendar doesn't say it, but the new year starts for a lot of folks today. In particular those looking to race their bikes fast next year. Unfortunately, I am still finishing this year! This is only unfortunate because I am losing a bit of motivation to train, but I am still really excited to race cyclocross. I only have a couple more weeks and then I have to cram what T-bird into a couple weeks. These weeks happen to also coincide with the end of the semester so I will probably not be writing about lots of time on the river. Instead lots of time in the books.

This past weekend was pretty great. The Sox killed it. "Good times never seemed so good!" The 10th man is definitely pleased, though we are still waiting for our ring....

Back to the weekend. We spent it in West Yellowstone fishing and eating and drinking in excess. It was great weather and I even managed to catch a few fish. AJD got some line wet thanks to Bill. He and Maggie were super gracious even though she was cheering for the wrong team! Of course this never would have happened without the invite from the Louder clan complete with newest addition, Milana. I think she only cried twice all weekend. Overall, it made us realize how much we miss all our friends in SLC.

More on this later...

nuff said for now!

Game 3 tonight!

Game 2 was much more interesting and I am sure Game 3 will be good. Perhaps the biggest moment in the game (I know I almost hit my head on the ceiling jumping off the couch and cheering!):



Matt Holiday, on the pickoff:

I was going on the pitch, yeah. I knew he was slow to the plate and I was just trying to be aggressive and get in scoring position. ... He did a good job of holding and coming over. I wanted to cry. ... They defended their home field. Now we'll have to defend ours.

Some key changes since they will be in the NL city.

This guy will replace Youk at first:


That will make a hole in the line up and we will see if DK can hit. Something tells me he will give up a few, but both pitchers have a postseason ERA of over 4. While Game 2 had few runs, Game 3 could be a hit-fest.

Game 2 tonight!

Some Denver boys seem to think that the shalacking dished out by BecKKKKKKKKKett and the boys was a fluke!

I am not so sure. I fully hope and anticipate that the rest of the series will be more entertaining as I had thoughts of heading off to bed after the 5th inning.

As for tonight, bring out the:


Where do you thing these two learned this? By watching their dad!


I agree:


And here is my reaction to Patricia, Skylere and anyone else I know going to see a game in Denver:

Game 1 tonight!

Wish I was more upbeat

I just talked to The Turbo and he said that I had to be the most depressed Sox fan out there.

I'd be lying if I said this past weekend didn't take it out of me. AJD's grandpa's health is not great and that has us (and her whole family) worried. He has been in and out of the hospital for the past week. Keep your fingers crossed!

Also, I got some other news that really threw me off. It blows me away when you find out about something that someone you looked up to did which causes them to come crashing down. To the point of losing all respect for that person. Especially when they have hurt someone you love. Makes you wonder....

Well a busy week ahead with an exam, a bit of teaching, followed by a visit with friends down in West. All I can say is that I cannot imagine life without the support of friends and loved ones!

Like I said before:

I always knew I liked this guy!

I found myself telling someone that the biggest difference between a 2007 ALCS comeback and the Greatest Comeback of All Time was Millar. Its gotta kill Baltimore but:

Magical, nah it's Mesquite!

I mean the Red Sox. Glad to see Dr. Beckett pulling the paddles out stat!

I love how Jacoby (on the right) is such the FNG. Our team has an FNG, who has accepted the role just as smoothly and come up just as big for us.

Off to see the out-laws this weekend and attend my first "family" meeting. Here is a picture of the low "Rider Family Meeting!"

Not quite what I was searching for...

The reason the Sox will win

According to Gabe Kapler:

"It's all in the eyes

"I just compared and contrasted the celebrations of The Sox in Anaheim and the Indians in New York. The Sox had goggles protecting their eyes from the dangerously acidic champagne bubbles. The Indians on the other hand ventured into their celebration bare-eyed, a clear indication that the Sox are better prepared...."

When it's right, it's right!

Sometimes everything just seems to fall into place. Other times, there is more friction than sand in your chamois! You be the judge with the Sox handing a beat-down, while the Yankees took one. The sad thing is that the Yankees are getting much more press today than Cleveland. I even read an article that start off "In this Yankee dominated world...". Seems to me that the Sox led in road attendance this year. There are a lot of backpackers out there that do not know what the lone red seat in Fenway signifies. BTW, the era did not end last night, it ended one minute after midnight October 21, 2004.

I raced cross for the first time this year on Sunday. My performance was hindered significantly by the illness I had a couple of weeks ago. Bummer. Or maybe I was hindered because I wore last years kit even though it did not end up being muddy. AJD took some pictures of me tho. Here's the run-up:



















And the barrier section (if you scroll fast enough it looks like I am moving):

Check it!

My 101st post should have something special, and sure enough it does.

Check this out.

Beckett

nuff said!

He was all over it last night. I have never seen someone so confident and on his game. A pretty incredible addition to his already stellar post-season career. Until Friday, Go Indians!

Post #99

I promise this will not be too much about baseball. In fact, I will talk baseball later.

I spent last week in Vegas, baby. The coincidental thing is that when I got home we watched an episode of the Soprano's with Jon Favreau. At various times during the week, I was wishing I had $50 to play blackjack and show everyone what a high-roller I am. Truth is, I just do not have the mindset to gamble.

The Interbike show was pretty cool and I spent most of my time with the boys from Reynolds. They are all good buddies and Turbo and J-dizzle even let me crash with them. Like Turbo, I was was amazed with how fake everything was. I have never seen so many fake b....well you know where I am going with that. I got a few rides in and was psyched to see the Krieger kill it in the Vegas Cross race and win some money playing craps. I was ready to see Turbo beat Ivan D and tell him who the F*^@ing man was, but it wasn't in the cards. It was also great to see Bubba, JKirk, Nater, Sleeveland and MPer, BPer, TommyBoy, and of course FNG. It was cool to see how excited and in awe FNG was at the show. I am trying to convince him to get his Masters at the U too.

Driving home we hit some snow and rain. I made the final leg from Pocatello to Bozeman in just over 3 hours. I think I hit ludicrous speed once or twice. Anyway, I realized how much I love my life, where I am and who I spend it with. I don't belong or have desire to be in a place like Vegas when I can spend time in the mountains. It was great to feel the cold, crisp air on my face again.

On a final note, if you complain loud enough look what people will do for you!

sick and stuff

Things are good here in the country of Montana. It has been cold and a bit rainy for the past week and I enjoyed the worst cold I have had in a long while. It all started when I got a call from the MSU medical staff telling me that the titer I had done to prove MMR vaccination. Well the measles portion came back "borderline" and MSU was requiring that I have another measles vaccination.

After some grumbling on my end, I decided to cough up the $20 and get the shot which I did a week ago Thursday. Unfortunately, by Friday afternoon I had a wicked sore throat--I mean wicked. Were the two related?

By Saturday morning, I had a fever and was totally out of it. Sunday was worse. Monday I forced myself to go to school and everyone I saw told me to go home. The worst part was being sick when my in-laws were visiting. I tried to help in the yard, but was pretty useless.

Anyway, I got out on the bike yesterday for the first time since getting sick and today I feel almost back to normal. Another ride and a good nights sleep will work wonders!

Things are about to get slightly turbo on this end with some travel and deadlines and such for us. I am heading to Interbike this week which should be interesting to say the least. Then some cross racing, hopefully a bit of fishing with the boys and my first family meeting.

Lessons learned

So I just tried to take my wife out for dinner to celebrate her 27th b-day. We had a nice meal and when the bill came I realized I had grabbed my library card instead of my debit card. Let me be the first to tell you that the two are NOT interchangeable!

Luckily, my wife was on her game and was able to bail me out reminding me again why I like her!

I am going to refrain from talking about the Bosox. Except to say that I never liked the Gagne trade!

Sox/yanks tonight....

and all weekend. This could help the magic number get into single digits.

I wish I could do this with my days...

Petey, 3000, 200 and 18

Good to see Pedro pitching and feeling so well. You can always rely on him to throw hard when their talking that trash and knowing nothing other than to swing for it! Definitely glad to see him get his 3000th K too.

Also good to see Ichiro get his 200th hit of the season for the 7th year in a row. He tied Wade Boggs for the honor and will probably pull ahead of him next year. Coincidentally, the hit was a HR given up by Roger Clemens. This is coincidental because both Boggs and Clemens stabbed the whole of RSN by leaving Boston for the Yankees though Clemens had a stop along the way. Traitors nonetheless.

Finally, glad to see the magic number finally drop below 20. With the M's beating the Yanks and the Sox winning, it is now at 18. Also, goodbye Tampa Bay--they have the distinct honor of being the first team eliminated this year. It's only Sept 4!! Glad to see Sweet Lou having more success in ChiTown (sorry Turbo!).

22

While six innings of no hit ball is one thing a NO-HITTER is another!!

Joba who?

still 24

...sometimes I cannot believe this team....

He hears the silence so loud [insert nifty drum fill]

Even though the magic number is still at 24 after last evening's Sox/Yanks game, I can hear the bell tolling for the Yank's season. It will be loud and clear if the Sox win just one of the three game series.

Classes are rolling and my sister has some pictures from her trip posted here.

It is getting cooler here and fall is on the way. I actually got cold last night as I was finishing my ride. With that comes 'cross and then some new terrain to explore once the white stuff starts to fly! Who knows by then the west may no longer be on fire....

25

That is the magic number for the Sox to clinch the division. For those not familiar, this means the Sox either need to win 25 games, the Yankees lose 25, or some combination thereof. G thinks they will barely get 100 wins. I am convinced they will squeak out 102 or 103. We shall see. With the weekend sweep of the ChiSox (who's laughing now Rob!) I feel pretty good about winning the division and also this weeks 3 game series with the Bronx Bombers! Hopefully they will bomb the rest of the season!

School started today and it is a bit strange to be on another campus. Everyone here seems so young! I am going to TA--as a grader--for Fluid Mechanics and Mechanics of Materials. Both should be a good review for my qualifying exams which I will take in the spring.

Going to head to Ketchum to race one last time this year with the boys and I am looking forward to it.

I promise that pictures will make it on here one of these days....

What's the rumpus?

Things are good in MT. Just--literally just--got access to the wide, wide world of interwebs here at the house. Pictures of the house and the progress to come. The organization is coming along and I am stalling the building of more shelfs. School starts next week and I have decided not to work on editing my thesis until I get setup there.

Much more interesting than any of this is the trip my sister is taking. Read all about it.

I saw Miller's Crossing this past weekend. I really like the work of the Coen brothers and this film does not disappoint. John Turturro has one of the best acted scenes I have ever seen. Typical, Coen brothers way of leading the viewer through the film which is anything but traditional. I recommend it, especially if you enjoy movies that keep you guessing and enjoy the occasional bit of somewhat twisted humor.

Fat, happy and lazy

I have not ridden my bike for exercise since Sunday and it is killing me!

Wildfires be damned!

The smoke is making my head hurt and eyes burn. One of the reasons we moved from SLC was to get away from the pollution. At least this is "natural."

Anyway, I have a little extra energy which means that I am in the routine of working on the house and then having a beer while I play email at Bozone, while enjoying a tasty malted beverage.

Sandy is taking us down memory lane with a few pics including one of my favorites of all-time.

It reminds me what it was like to be a Cat 4 and watching Sandy, a brand new 2 at the time, kick some ABrumble butt.

It blows me away to think that people are complaining because the best guys in the hood are showing up to race!?! I though half of showing up was to try your hand against those better than you. I would think that it would be a source of pride that these guys use racing against the "rest of us" to tune up for some pretty big races.

Of course, I come from ski racing where you need the best guys to show up to get better. Funny thing--getting better....

That ought to do it!

Well no wide wide word of interwebs at the house yet, but sometime early next week.

It feels pretty good to not have to drive back and forth between UT anymore unless we want to. That is really the thing I will miss the least, being apart from AD excepted. Working on the house and the bathroom should be fully functional tomorrow evening which is good because I really could use a shower!

As noted earlier, my defense went smoothly and no major defending was needed. A few questions and what-have-yous took care of it. Some editing to do, which I am sure will be painful. Luckily, my new endeavors don't start until the 27th which gives me five more days than I thought. I might even have time to hit the river!

ION, I was the first loser in the MT State Crit Chumpionship this past Sunday. I am pretty confident that I could have won, but there were a couple guys on the same team wearing different jerseys. Apparently one last year, one this year. Anyway, give the headwind on the finishing straight, I thought this guys would waste away. Apparently I played the wrong card and had to settle sprinting for 2nd. Sandy asked for a race report, so here it is:

He attacked.
Then I attacked.
Then the other guy attacked.
Then I attacked.
Then he attacked.
Then I chased him down. :)

Sorry, nothing like a private joke in a public forum.

I can just hear in my head, "Think you used enough dynamite there Butch?!?"

Bozeman

I successfully defended and am here. More to come when we get internet access at the house....

*

I think that Barry Bonds achievement is quite remarkable.*

As for the Sox, they are flat out getting caught by the Yankees. It is going to be a tight race come Sept. Of course, this is assuming that the Yankees can continue to win when they play teams above .500. The next few weeks will tell the story.

My defense is tomorrow at 1:30 and everything is about ready. I am going to have a dry run later today to make sure my new animation skills in Powerpoint actually look how I want them to.

Then off to the country of Montana...

Done writing!!!

I finished writing my thesis yesterday evening! Now edit, defend, edit, edit some more....

Two weeks

So I have less than 2 weeks and I will done--well almost done. I just scheduled my defense for a week from Thursday at 1:30. I can give specifics if anyone is interested, but know that the title is "DEVELOPMENT OF JOINING METHODS FOR THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE SANDWICH PANELS" before committing. It should be a hoot!

Made there and back again over the weekend. Mistress Julie did not realize it, but she escorted me out of town when I was driving the Big Rig. Now I am thoroughly sick of driving and writing and cleaning and packing and unpacking...

At least Manny is being Manny and is the AL player of the week. Good of him to finally show up!

Driving the Big Rig and the TdF

I had some help loading the truck last night. It took less than 2 hours thanks to everyone who showed up. I could not have done it without you guys! It again hits home how much I am going to miss all the friends and family we have made here. SLC has been a great place for me. I have realized who I am while living here and that is in large part because I met and fell in love with AD. I do not know, nor care to know, where I would be without her in my life. I guess that is love.

As for that bike race in France, I am really bummed. I was hoping that this year would mark the first of the "clean" tours. Instead, it is more of a circus than ever. I truly love the sport of cycling--second only to skiing--and I hate to see it going through this. I know there are lots of clean guys out there that are successfully making a living as Pro's. The ones I know personally work their asses off, literally. They are class acts and stand-up guys who I have gained even more respect for in the past days.

Enough on the soap box, time to get driving the big rig up to the country of Montana. Then back to SLC for a couple of weeks to finish the thesis and defend.

Now if only the Yankees would stop playing .800 baseball!

Bathroom 2.0

My grandfather likes to tease me that we do in fact have indoor plumbing in the country of Montana. When we bought the house, we suspected that we had some rot and other issues to contend with in that area. It had to go and we got into it the day after closing. Here is Beth getting some aggression out:

You can see here that we had to contend issues all the way down through the subfloor, not to mention the layers of wallpaper (green area below the window):

We decided to replace everything except the ceiling and the medicine cabinet. Plaster is fun; sorry for the dust on the lens:

Well somewhere along the way a bunch of work got done (thanks Dingmans!!!) and we now have a tiled floor:

Not to mention we learned that AD is a wiz when it comes to working with a trowel and grout. Check out the river rocks from the stream near the house she grew up in:

In addition, the floor in the bedroom is done and next is painting the walls:

Plus a new kitchen sink, new plumbing, vastly improved electrical and some house warming gifts and we are about ready to move in! Unfortunately, the lawn went from jungle to brown after it was mowed and they only give you one free beer when you tell them that you just moved in down the street.

Now if only my thesis would finish writing itself.....