Just A Reminder

If you see this guy at a track near you or in the same vicinity of the desert, get out of the way. He's not fast, he's not even in control. He's just some dude with a bike, some gear and the crazy notion that the more he twists the throttle, the more exciting his life becomes.




With that said...the first time I put the gear on I thought I looked like a pregnant zebra. I guess it's not too bad. Gotta lot of work to do on the mid-section.

Seat Time

I haven't been out riding in quite a long time...and man, did it show! My brother & I took the bike out to one of our favorite spots. Favorite, because it's mostly flat and we can handle that. We're thinking about getting a little more crazy and heading back to the Pima & Dynamite riding area that has more technical trails. But for now this will suit us just fine.

We get out there and what do we see invading our area:



So, we decided to ride there anyway...we have a land use permit and there were no posted sign that the area was only to be used for livestock.

So here are some of the pics from the day:


My brother, hitting the little hill we use to get massive air....


Me, clearing a family of ants that happened to be walking across the trail...


Bobby, again...


Then me...


You get the idea...









And after a few hours of riding, we were tired and hungry. Where did that cattle go...they looked like they would have made a good meal!!!!

The coolest part of the whole day was coming home and showing the pics and video to Jennifer. She said I should go out and ride more. How cool is that...oh, wait...did she just hint to me that I suck. Oh well, she said I should go out and ride more...woo hoo!!

Finally, Some Time To Goof Around

This week is blowing by and I haven't had much time to goof around. See what happens when you let work pile up...it eventually gets to you.

Nothing of interest is going on. I thought I should post something just so I don't forget what it's like to waste time at work. Ahhhh, now that feels more like a normal day.

My Supercross Weekend

Wish I was giving you a report as an insider, but I was just one of the thousands of spectators. Here are some pics (no race pics - lighting for a digital camera in the BOB was terrible...especially from so far away).











Bobby & I had a good time walking the pits and watching the racing. We had great seats, and maybe next year we'll buy tickets earlier and get even better seats.

The Lights Conspire

Have you ever wanted to get somewhere quickly, but hit every red light on the way?

I think at times the dang street lights conspire against me. Them and the crazy drivers on the road who seem to be in their own little world...and are getting in the way of mine.

On the other hand, there are times when the green lights smile at me as I cruise on through.

Hope you have a great weekend.

Following The Crowd

Chad has his results posted, so I thought I'd post mine:

Close To A Meltdown

The colo facility where my servers are had a power outage. There was a whole grid that had power failure and it just so happened to include the colo facility and some other internet company facilities.

The power outage lasted 3 seconds, but that was enough to shut down many of the systems that my server use. The UPS that was purchased for the system had an incorrect power coupler, so it was sent back and a new one is on its way. Too little too late I'd say.

Regardless, all was restored and is up and running now. It sort of reminded me of my days of webcasting. When we had a server go down then...it was a major deal. All you saw was bodies flying trying to get things back in order.

So, I've learned to be calm and let the techs do their thing. As in this case, they took care of the matter very quickly.

I'll send out an e-mail to my clients to explain the event...which had never happened to the colo facility in more than 8 years. I guess it was just time for that component to be replaced.

The Time Is Drawing Near

Saturday is coming...that means Supercross.

It also means Casey is coming down to work on gorage some more.

I can't seem to explain why my brain is starting to rebel against me. Lately, I've felt motivated to get work done...but once I get into the middle of a project my brain checks out. Maybe I should just face the fact that I was not ever meant to work. I should stop fighting that harsh reality and never work again.

Oh, wait....I'm not independently wealthy, so that won't work. Even as I sit here trying to type my mind goes blank. Should I be worried? Is this a sign of aging? Could the years of contact sports I was involved in be at fault for any of this? Maybe it's because I'm not exercising very much any more and my strees level is sky high. I have noticed my level of patience has dropped significantly lately. I've been getting crazed by dumb drivers on the road lately. I'm like a rubber band stretched to its limits right now...and I really don't know why. I think I'm stressing myself out without knowing it.

I had better do something about it and soon. I keep telling myself to get up early and go to the gym...let's just see if I can convince myself to do that.

It Never Ceases To Amaze Me

The whole idea that people think building a website is a piece of cake. I've been getting some requests to work on client websites that they built themselves. I learned my lesson once before on this. You generally inherit someone else's mess. So, they need to understand that it is more cost effective for me to re-design and re-build the site. What sucks is that the client only thinks that I'm out to get more money out of them, because they already spent a large amount getting the first piece of junk built...or did it themselves (like I said) but paid for some help along the way.

I guess this dilemma comes with growing a business. Do you take the job and lose money? Not anymore...I don't need that kind of work. I'm plenty busy enough, thank you very much! The dilemma is still feeling badly that a company is in need or has a hunk of junk website. I would like to help them out, but I can't afford to any longer. I've been doing that for the past 4 years and it nearly cost me my house and our vehicles.

It seems that I've been digging myself out of the messes I've created over the last few years. People are not used to me charging them for the work I do. Other companies I do business with look at me funny when I say that their cut is being reduced...especially since they never did any of the work in the first place!!!! They keep trying to do business the same way, but times have changed. It's either hand me the project and I'll give you a finder's fee or you can do it yourself and end up calling me to re-do it all over again in 3 months. The price for fixing others' lack of experience has gone up.

It's terrible that it has come to this, but that's business. I'm thankful that I can make the decision to either take the job or not...instead of being handed the job by a boss. Now that would put me over the edge.

Nice Weekend

It was a nice weekend. Nice and relaxing. Didn't do any work, finally took the icicle lights off the house. Watched the Anaheim Supercross and spent time with family.

It's good at times to have nothing to talk about.

The Things You Learn

Starting a business is interesting.

Went to lunch with the accountant today. All of this accounting stuff is pretty overwhelming. It'a a wonder people ever get into business with all it takes to keep everything straight. There's company taxes, personal taxes...etc.

So now I'm sitting here and I think my brain is going to explode. Too many business decisions to be made.....ahhhhhh!!!!

Now, I have a greater appreciation for all the garbage that all my previous employers had to go through in order to write my paycheck. Not that it makes any of those crappy jobs I had any better, or me like them any more...just have a little more understanding what they were dealing with.

A New Blog

I'll be posting the progress of our project at http://gorage.blogspot.com/.

All of the updates about the project will be there including how to get a FREE 30 day, 10 space account.

It will be easier to keep my ramblings separate from the progress of the project.

Let's hope the blog helps to get the word out about the project and that it helps to offer an idea on what gorage.com is all about, how it can be used to benefit seller and buyers and become the solution for people selling on the internet.

On A Steel Horse They Ride

We're going to the mechanical rodeo...woo hoo!

The Phoenix Supercross that is.

Got our tickets, but need to see of the dealership gets more pit passes in. For the last couple of years it's been the same deal. We wait and wait to get tickets. Luckily, we were able to get seats in a pretty decent section. We were thinking about buying into a suite, but not for $150 per person. You don't even get food or drinks for that price.

If you follow motocross at all, you know this should be an exciting year. If you don't, well then to each his own.

The Downtown Loft Strikes Again

That's twice now that the fire alarm has gone off since we've moved our offices to the downtown Tempe loft. Nothing more annoying than that constant chirping of the fire alarm...that only gets more intense and annoying when you step out into the hallway to make your way out of the building. It is a good way to see who the neighbors are though. We all seemed to make our way out of the building with the same thought, "turn that stupid alarm off so we can get back inside and waste another work day on the internet."

Turns out someone broke a fire sprinkler on one of the floors. Moron! Try being a little more careful next time, so the rest of us don't have to hear about it. I'll bet there's now more mess to clean up with that sprinkler drenching everything. So, being in a hurry or half asleep when doing whatever it was you were doing wasn't worth it...was it?

On the flip side of that, thank you for forcing me to get outside for a little while today. It was actually quite nice out there, 51 degrees with lots of sunlight. I needed a little sun, and some fresh air. Besides that, I had nothing to blog about this morning, so you gave me something to come back up and blog about.

Just don't do it again!!!

More and More Rain

Didn't I say I liked the rain? Well I do, so luckily it's been raining a lot. Unfortunately it's been the reason why I've been sleeping in later and later each morning. I've been trying to get up early (5 am) to get myself to the gym to make my attempts to fight gravity and aging. It hasn't been working, since I've been rolling out of bed at 8 am. I should be back home from the gym by that time...

Oh how easy it is to keep telling myself that I can still start tomorrow.

What I need to do is get myself focused again. Focused on work, focused on becoming fit and more importantly focused on my spiritual growth. If anything, that is where my time has been lacking. So, again I am thankful that I am saved physically everyday and am allowed to live and breathe another day. Maybe someday I will stop taking it for granted.

Until then, I'll probably sit here and day dream of all the different workouts, Bible studies and work projects I could envelope myself with...until I realize another day has passed I haven't gotten anything done. What a vicious cycle.

Hey DJ, spin that again

My posts are beginning to sound like a CD on repeat.

So, let me spin a tale of intrigue about what we did for New Year's. The plan this year was to not sit at home as we've done for the last several years. Although, it is something I very much enjoy...spending time with my wife relaxing at home, not dealing with all the crazies out on the road or at the bars. Anyway, we were invited out by our close friends who recently got engaged. We haven't had much of a chance to hang out with them lately, so we thought it would be fun.

Turns out we were right! We did have a great time. I really don't have any dramatic stories about what happened. It was a pretty standard night out. We got lucky and found parking quickly, there was no line at the door and everyone in the place was friendly and seemed to be there just to hang out with friends like we were. It was pretty much a night of talking and people watching. Midnight came, Jennifer shared a wonderful moment, we hung out a little while longer and went home.

All in all, I would rate the evening a success and would venture to say that that experience may sway me to take my wife out a little more often. I shouldn't be so complacent sitting on the couch...my wife needs to be taken out dancing. I love dancing with her, so there's no reason not to.

Needless to say, I am thankful the night went so well...no drunken lunatics causing trouble, no problems with drunken drivers while driving home...and getting to sleep in on New Year's Day.

Now it's back to the comfortable routine that has become my life. Happy New Year, hope this year finds you healthy, wealthy and wise.