Jury Duty

I spent the day on a Jury yesterday. Wish I could say it was time well spent and that I felt I performed my civic duty, but I can't.

I'll summarize and speculate the case for you.

This couple had their forth child in five years.  The man was outside working on his motorcycle instead of helping out the woman with the newborn. This pissed her off causing an argument. She damages the bike and he tears her favorite neck-lass off her neck. He probably chucks it into the canal or a dumpster. She calls the cops and has him arrested for theft.

That was the case. Sure he was guilty but what a bunch of b.s. waste of our time. Anyway, I wish I knew what the judge decided for punishment.

breakdown

My knee buckled last night. I can't walk with it. What the heck? Freak thing. I was just walking. All those years of skiing, football, basketball, etc . , never had a knee problem.  It happens walking IN the house. Strange.  I'll see the doctor today. See what this means for my athletic future.

Made apple sauce this weekend with apples from the front yard. Wow. Apple sauce with taste. We get used to the way things are supposed to taste and they stop exciting us. Make some apple sauce with tart apples and have a try. Just cook down apples in a saucepan with just enough water to prevent sticking. Then mash when soft. easier than pie.

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Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Update

Found out I have arthritis in that knee.
How many mtb have arthritis?
How debilitating is it?
What a flare up. Felt like my knee was out of it's socket.
Still stiff and can't walk very well.

How will I make those bike packing trips now?

up to the AZ in fruit

The peach jam was so good, I had to make some more. I also have figs coming in season, so there you go. Fig jam. It was wonderful as well. Nothing better than fresh fruit and fresh bread.  Combine the two, you have a treat.

Making fig jam is even easier than the peach. Doesn't take as long to simmer, no pectin is required.  (pectin is made from citrus peals, so if your frugal, chop some up. They'll thicken your jam. may alter the taste a bit but that's how marmalade is made. )

Basically, you wash the figs. Then put in hot water that has been boiling for about ten minutes. Stem them and chop them up.







Add about a cup of sugar for each pound of figs. (we like less, some like more). Set for about five minutes. Then simmer for about five minutes or until it starts to thicken.  Then squeeze in some lemon juice (one lemon for about five pounds).  Simmer for another minute.

Then enjoy.

Can the rest for later.

If anyone cares for canning instructions, let me know. It's pretty simple really but there are a few important steps. Like heating the jars etc. I just don't want to leave any important details out.

... gonna eat a lot of peaches.

Years ago when I ate my first fresh peach from the tree, I vowed to never eat canned peaches again. I now recant.

I have two peach trees in my backyard. One bears fruit this month, the other next month.

My mother-in-law is a bit like my father in that she will go into the yard and bring in natures bounty. My dad was here picking up pecans.  Peaches are different. No shelf life. After giving away three bags of peaches and tossing a bag of moldy peaches,I had to figure out something to do with them. No room in the freezer. Then I recalled my Aunt and Grandma home canning.

My sister-in-law has parents who do canning and such, so I gave her a call. "Where do I get Ball jars?" I asked. "Try Wallmart." she replied. It's a big store, surely they would have everything I needed. Nope. "Ball jars? What's that?" was the typical response. "Mason jars . . . for canning peaches..." I would reply. "We sell jars of peaches." was a response.

This is getting me nowhere I thought. What the heck, I'll go to ACE hardware. THOSE people ARE helpful and smart. If they don't have what I need, they will tell me where I can find it.  Within two minutes of entering that little store, I had two associates helping me AND educating me. They even gave me the Ball booklet on canning.

After two days of cutting fruit, making jam and canning fresh fruit I am psyched. Now, I am thinking of making fig jam, canning my grapefruit juice, orange juice, apple sauce, plum jam, kumquat marmalade, grapefruit marmalade, orange marmalade, lemon juice, lime juice all from the yard! Talk about organic! My bug control is my chickens! Too bad summer is almost here, I would like to can tomatoes and beans from the garden. Maybe pickles too.

Then there was the taste! Wow! Warmed peaches on ice cream. Tangy, sweet, wonderful. Never tasted peaches this good that were immersed in corn syrup. (bad for ya too).

Anyway, this story dovetails nicely with my last post. Just had to share.

Biggest Looser fourth weigh in - plus other stuff

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Cardinals vs. Packers VS riding desert Classic

rode the dc then saw the 4th quarter and o.t. . . .  Wow. Cards win 51 to 45. The roaster in the toaster!

Anyway, I don't regret riding. Even though it was one of the greatest playoff games ever. Feels like a luxury to ride a 27 speed bike after i've been riding the single speed so much. Miss my big 29 inch rims, but the smaller ones are good for tight spots. Everything is a tradeoff.

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Biggest Looser fourth Weigh in

Missed a week due to the holidays. Apparently, I also missed the bike in to work as I gained 0.2 lbs. Current weight is 216.4 lbs. Total weight loss 5.8 lbs since the contest began. I am currently in third place.

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Seti@home, folding@home, distributed computing and Gilbert police urge charges against ex-Higley IT director

Every time I've heard mention of the story of former Higley Unified IT director Bradley Niesluchowski,the media has portrayed the guy as a nut. They also mentioned that his installation of seti at home  is costing the school district millions of dollars to remove. Really??! Millions, really??!! I would like to see a break down of their budget. What does it cost them for normal maintenance, removal of viruses and spyware? No wonder they are over budget.

You get the feeling that The superintendent, Denise Birdwell may be hiding some other expenditures with this indecent? The thing runs as a screen saver. It doesn't prevent you from shutting it or the computer off. There seems like there is padding of the numbers somewhere. Sure, if the guy installed Seti@home or any other software on their network without permission he should be held accountable. However, he was their IT director. Technically, he had the authority. Seti@home is an academic endeavor, they are an academic entity. It seems like the guy thought he was doing some good and now the Gilbert police want to file felony charges (see azcentral story)?

Do you think that the media would have presented the story the same way if he had installed folding at home on the network instead of seti at home? Punishing a guy for trying to find a cure for cancer may have been less popular than punishing him for searching for aliens. It certainly wouldn't have been as funny.

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A crazy dream

I saw an ad in the paper about acres of land for sale. 36 acres for $19,900; 94 acres for $29,900; 120 acres for $39,900 and 227 acres for $59,900. I don't know exactly how many mountain bikers exist in Arizona, but I know we have a lot. Wouldn't it be great if we could all just pitch in a dollar, have partial ownership and save the land for mountain biking, camping and hiking? Guess that's kind of what we do with our taxes. This would be voluntary though. I don't have the time to organize something like this nor would I even know how. Anybody want to run with this idea, feel free and let me know.

Titus - Tempe Arizona USA

Titus - the bicycle manufacturer based in Tempe Arizona. 

I have never come across a Titus owner who didn't seem thrilled with the product. They ride along with wide smiles. I've read the raving reviews, so I just had to see what the fuss was all about. 

It's kind of heartening to see that we still make things in this country. Great things at that.

My first stop on the Titus tour began across the street at Vyatec sports. Vyatek creates some of the tubing for some of the bikes. They also create golf clubs, tennis rackets etc.

I then came across the street and started the real tour.

My tour guide was a friendly fellow by the name of Jason. He handles the sales for the western United States. They have a small sales force, a couple of engineers and some guys working in the back.

It was great to go back and see bikes with that old MADE IN USA label. Something common in my childhood, but is more and more uncommon.

My old Moab was made in the USA, but Schwinns are now made in China and bear a sticker declaring that they are not meant for off road use. 

One thing I noticed was the there were no road bikes in the factory. I was kind of surprised because I had read the rave reviews. Jason said that they will custom make a road bike for you but all custom bikes are only made out of Titanium. (custom bikes are a bit more pricey). He also said they now focus on the mountain bike industry because there is so much more variation in Mountain bikes. Road bikes are all pretty much the same.

Titus now has two different tours going on at any one time. Keep a lookout at their website as to when you can demo one in your area.

This Jason is a pretty sharp character. At least in the area of bikes and bike history. We talked about the concept store. You know, like the Mac stores and now the Windows stores. Well, Jason said that Schwinn actually pioneered that concept. They are too small a company to start anything like that yet. Specialized is supposed to be starting some soon.

Anyway, I just had to go for a ride after the tour. Got on my old Moab. She's old, but I still love it. Maybe some day I'll have to replace her. Jason would help me find exactly the bike I need. Just tell him the trails I like to ride and how I ride them.

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Rockets and Robots

This post is for my Nephew, who loves both Rockets and Robots.

Here in Phoenix Arizona, model rocket enthusiasts are fortunate in that we have multitudes of rocket clubs, as well as the rainbow valley launch site (land designated for the sport close by Estrella park) .

One of the founding fathers of the sport, G. Harry Stine lived here in Phoenix. I recommend that anyone who has children with any interest in science pick up a copy of his book, "The Handbook of Model Rocketry". The book is a must for anyone who plans to participate in the sport.

In the photos you will note that my launch pad and ignition system are all hand built. Some variations of plans presented in the Handbook. There is free software available at the N.A.R. that helps determine your CP, how high your rocket will fly etc.

The Robot was a Lego Mindstorm unit  my team put together while attending CSE101 at Arizona State University.This class was the most work for a 3 credit course I have ever experienced. However, the work was also the most rewarding and fun. I have heard that Dr. Chen conducts courses outside of ASU for young children. In these courses children can learn how to program a robot in a weekend. The Microsoft Robotics Studio is a free download from Microsoft. Coding is very similar to coding microsoft SSIS packages.

Robotics clubs also are abundant in town. We have an older nephew who participates in one.

I love working with robots as the programs you write get to work in three dimensions, rather than just two.

Some day soon amputees will gain the use of new robotic limbs that will be indistinguishable from their natural ones.

The lessons these children learn from these hobbies will open up possibilities that have not yet imagined.

Anyhoo, enjoy the videos. Stuff shooting up into the sky.





big daddy

frank | MySpace Video