Angelic Voice

Close your eyes and just listen

Hypnotic

BTW: This is Sinead O'Connor

Road Trip

For some reason these climbs look fun. Actually it is the challenge that is attractive. I think I may need a triple.

37%

http://deputy-dog.com/2007/09/18/the-steepest-streets-in-the-world/

What do I actually do at Lockheed Martin?

Most of my friends and family have given up asking me what I do at work because I was basically locked up in a giant safe for almost 11 years. "I could tell you but then I would have to kill you." was the usual joke. Anyway, I've moved onto a new program where I can discuss some of the things I work on for my job. Yippie.

So, what do I do? Well, I deal with Information Assurance and System Security. Well, that probably didn't help much so here it is in Laymen terms. I deal with everything from locks on doors, keeping those pesky hackers out to super technical 256 bit encryption. Encryption? Click on the lock iconat the bottom of of your web browser when you are in a secure web site like your bank account.

Anyway, I come by some really interesting things not and then. Check out the Youtube video on Social Engineering. It is a kind of like a real life Jedi mind trick, however this is a real threat.

Public Service Announcement

Attention Weekend Warriors!

You are not cool when you blast by with a whopping 5 second surge while I am riding at a leisurely pace, especially when you just had a hard time following me up a 2% grade and also almost crashing yourself trying to following me around a corner. You know who your are so before you pull one of these lame stunts please accomplish the following:

1. Get rid of that friggin cotton shirt.


2. Drop your handlebars from a super up-right position to, at least, the same level as your seat.


3. Be able to ride a straight line.


4. Be friggin social.


5. Lose about 50 pounds.


6. Throw away that stupid Bento Box.


7. Reduce the tools in your bike bag by 90%.


8. Please, Please, Please throw away the helmet mirror.

'Roids Raid

Another crackdown on steroids where people are going to take the fall. Read it for yourself.

http://www.yahoo.com/s/686960

Will it ever end?

Guilty!

Arbitrators find Landis guilty of doping, rule he must forfeit 2006 Tour title

http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_ylt=Aho7ONxds.qefFvaUw9GDJN.grcF?slug=ap-landisdecision&prov=ap&type=lgns

Big surprise. Right?

Talk Like a Pirate Day 2007

[Click Here]

International Talk Like A Pirate Day 2007

What are ye plannin' for September 19th?

Europe's Idea of Cool

An interesting approach to promote cyclecross.

I have to admit that I have watched this several times.

Inside the mind of a competitive cyclist

An actual conversation between two cyclists.

……

[Cyclist] Speaking of weather. I rode home and the roads were icy. This was during the day too.

One part of my ride the side of the hill was completely iced over complete with icicles coming off the rocks. It was pretty neat. However, I was freezing my ass off.

[Friend] You’re a little sick…just FYI…

[Cyclist] For some strange reason I was enjoying freezing my ass off.

[Friend] Wife can’t nag you while you do it =)

[Cyclist] RIGHT!

The second I get home I cook, clean or take care of the baby. Sometimes freezing your ass off is more appealing.

[Friend] Amen brother =)

Epiphany

I had an epiphany this morning. And you ask what was my epiphany?

Well, this morning, while half-awake with my bowl of cereal and cup of coffee, I noticed it was pitch black out and kind of cold. My epiphany was that 5:30 in the morning is friggin early.

e·piph·a·ny
NOUN:
pl. e·piph·a·nies
A comprehension or perception of reality by means of a sudden intuitive realization

"Operation San Ardo"

This will just not die. I thought the post from D-Dub would have ended the bitching but some opinionated a$$holes, like Tad, keep bitching. These people are like that annoying little dog that will not stop barking and hide under the bed when you want to ring its little neck. The problem is that people like this eventually get a position of some power and they want to lay their influence on everyone. What fuckers.

The facts:

There was no center line.

The road was incredibly narrow.

We were racing really fast at the time.

The ladies in question should have pulled off the course. This is according to the Vehicle Code and common sense.

The Pro/1/2 field did nothing maliciously since no one saw them until they crashed.

Read for yourself.

http://www.ncncaracing.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=967&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=15

The UCI Strikes Again

There's a little bit of controversy in the Tour of Missouri pits this morning. In the daily communique teams receive from race officials, an announcement was included by a UCI official (Mr. Wauthier) about time trial handlebar positions that is causing problems for some riders.

I am paraphrasing, but the general language says that all time trial handlebar bar extensions (the pieces extending forward from the bike the riders grip when tucked in their most aerodynamic position) must be parallel to the ground.

Cyclingnews

Hmmmmmmmmm............

So is there going to be an official with a laser level at the inspection area?

Parody of a meeting I just attended

Item 3 has an error. I typed an “o” rather than a “a” so it should say “early” instead of “eorly”.

What does “eorly” mean? Should this actually say “eorly”?

No. It should be “early”.

Take an action item to double check that this should not be “eorly” and we can close this at the next meeting.

This is early? Why? Let’s go back and figure out why this is early?

Before we do that, I believe this error should go through a Kaizan effort.

Maybe this is a little too formal but this definitely should go through a review.

When?

How about Thursday?

Cannot because I will be out of town.

How about a week from Thursday?

Cannot because of the TRR.

Let’s take this off line.

How about we schedule a meeting to discuss this?

When?

Today?

Cannot because I have a previously scheduled meeting. Let’s do this at 7:00 PM. This will be late enough so everyone will have eaten dinner. I will have a telecon number so people can call from home.

Now let’s talk about why this is early.

This is an old item. I don’t think we need to discuss this.

I understand but I want to know for my personal knowledge.

Well, the person to discuss this is not in today.

Let’s plan a meeting so he can brief me.

When?...

----------------------

This is made up but points out the mindless babbling I just witnessed. BTW: The meeting lasted 2 1/2 hours. I wanted to die.

Soft Side of Things

Great song from a moving article of one man's loss. Of course it is from my favorite band.

Five Room Love Story
Michael Timmins - Cowboy Junkies





I met her in a church on a Sunday evening
not late on a Saturday night.
She sang Ave Maria a little flat and out of tune
but that's what drew me to her so that's alright.
As she placed a nickel in the basket that I held before her
I asked her to be my wife.

There's one cardboard heart for every time you said I love you,
a painted star for every secret that we shared,
the dried lima beans and small plastic birds
because you cared.

I hear them talk and I watch them swap their old black and whites.
Bitter and beaten they talk of life's cheatin' like old boxers comparing scars.
All I remember is a smile at the top of every working morning
and a shoulder always willing and able
and all those nights that we'd spend just sitting
and talking around our kitchen table.

Five rooms made stronger by the breaking and the healing
of the two hearts they protected within
and now one heart left aching, pasting and painting
these walls with memories of all that has been.

Cowboy Junkies

An incredible band that blends their musical talent with the hypnotising voice of Margo Timmins. Though they sing mostly slow and somewhat depressing songs about life and love you are always left with an musical expereince you will never forget.

http://cowboyjunkies.com/

Margo Timmins

Non-Doping Cyclists Finish Tour De France

Cars and Oil Continue to Rule in the United States

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Check out this jack-ass Representative.

Excuse me Representative McHenry but the internal combustion engine is 18th century technology. Actually I would like to research Leonardo da Vinci and see if he came up with the idea in the early 1500's. In fact, burning things for energy goes all the way back to the Neanderthals so I don't get your point. I know it is impossible for you to understand anything that is more than a first order equation but I will try to get into your thick head that is probably stuffed with oil lobbyist money. Riding a bike is not the solution but a part of the solution. Many people, and I am sure you are one of them, as so friggin lazy that you will get in your car and drive across the parking lot so you don't have to walk to the next store across the way. Right? At home the grocery store is probably a whopping 1/2 mile away but you insist on driving your car to pick up a 1/2 gallon of milk. Right? Do you get my point? No yet? Let's try again. Fuel burning engines for transportation are the #1 source of air pollution in the world. Riding a bike helps clean the air, saves the ordinary person (who is not so figgin rich that they can care less about the price of gas i.e. you) money, reduces the chance of cancer, high-blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes as well as being a proven way to help cure depression. All of what I listed are caused by our increasingly sedentary lifestyle that mainly attributed to the fact that we drive our cars everywhere. Do you get my point now? THE CAR IS THE PROBLEM! Doing anything but driving in your friggin car is the solution. Walk, Rollerblade, ride your bike, jog, run, skateboard, take the bus, take the train, etc... are all better than driving your car. Stop your self-centered, selfish ways and start being part of the solution. Stop making excuses for your ignorant ways and start exploring transportation alternatives. Oh, I completely forgot. That would mean that you would have to cut out the money you receive from the oil companies.

Now let's discuss your opinion on Global Warming.

Bike crash analogy

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Have you ever found yourself in a type of situation where a co-worker or friend, who knows next to nothing about cycling, asks you a cycling related question? You know when you show up to work with gauze all over your arms and walking like your knees don't bend and a co-worker starts asking questions like "What happened?" or "What was it like to crash?" Well here's a response if you are asked to describe a recent crash.

Tom Steeles getting screwed by Graeme Brown (Cyclingnews)

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"well, it's like this ~ get in your car and find yourself a nice quite country road. Bring the speed up to around 30mph. Keep it steady at 30, maybe click on the 'cruise control' if you've got it, OK?

now, roll down your window, peep your head out the car and look down at the passing pavement. Look at all those jagged little crushed rocks and sand-papery surfaces. OK, got used to the speed? Then open up your door ... don't be afraid. Open up your door and lean out a bit (keep that speed up!). Now slowly reach a hand down toward the road zipping by underneath. Think about it, just for an instant ... reach out and touch that road. Go ahead, try it. Reach out and touch it.

and just when you're about to touch the road? in that moment of concentration where your fingers are dangling between the edge of safety and dangerous contact ...

have somebody push your ass out of the car."

Michael Hernandez