Happy belated birthday to me!

So my birthday was last month. Yeah I'm a bum and haven't done much here for a while. Maybe if I didn't have so much work to do I'd have more time to update this. Anyway, about my birthday. The little wifey had big plans for us. All she would tell me for months in advance was that we were going somewhere around the Las Vegas area. We flew into Las Vegas on Friday night. It was a good Southwest flight (which means it was mediocre at best, but at least we got to sit together). We arrived around rush hour, and got our rental car. She had made plans for us to eat at the Melting Pot.
We were able to check in at the hotel (The Hilton Las Vegas) before making our way to dinner. Dinner was really cool. Having never done Fondue before I wasn't sure what to expect, but everything tasted great. We had the Fondue for 2. It was a full on 3 course meal. It was a little pricey, and our server was a little slow at times, but we had a good time and the Desert was awesome. You should eat there sometime (just know that it took us about 3 hours). It was there that she finally gave in and told me what the big surprise was (don't worry you'll see what it was, I have to leave you in suspense like she left me in suspense).
After that it was off to the Wynn.


The only thing it really has going for it is the Ferrari dealership (which costs $10 to even see a few cars...LAME) otherwise I'd rather go to Ceasars palace and walk around.
Then it was back to the Hilton. We got up the next morning and decided to try the Star Trek Experience. It was pretty good, although I'm not sure it was worth the 30 something dollars per person we paid. We decided it would be more fun if we had a few drinks, so we said we'd come back that evening with a few drinks in us and try again (we ended up being to tired at the end of the day to do it, but it would have been hilarious).
From there it was to Ceasars for lunch before our trip to the Big Surprise.
The Surprise was a ride in and indy style race car around The Las Vegas Motor Speedway, but not only a ride, I got to drive. It was pretty cool. It was six laps of follow the leader. Each person got to follow an instructor car for six laps around the track, with each lap faster than the last. My top speed was 150.54 Miles an hour. It was over before I knew it, but it was quite an adrenaline rush.

Happy Halloween

Here's some pictures from Halloween. We definitely scared some little kids with the skeloton guy sitting in the chair. We only had 7 or 8 groups of kids this year, so we have a ton of candy left over. We even had full size candy bars. Oh well I'm sure we can take care of the left overs.

Snow?!?

Woohooo!! The Snow is coming the Snow is coming! I got all my new gear and I'm ready to go, so let it snow.
We'll probably have to wait another month before they start opening the resorts, but I'm ready.

Yoda, is that you?

100% cotton Yoda. Made of yarn he is. Soft and cuddly he must be. Make one yourself you can. Strange you are if you do.

Better late than never

So last winter I went on a little Ski trip with a couple of friends. Yeah, yeah I know it’s been almost a year. Just be happy I even got the film developed. Anyway, we went to Heavenly at Tahoe. It was a great day to go. The mountain is too big to explore every run in one day (unlike Mt. Rose), but we tried.

I bought a new set of ski’s boots and poles for this year, so I’m ready to go as soon as the snow falls.

The craziest thing happened

The craziest thing happened the other day. I’m talking to my boss just outside of my cube when out of the corner of my eye I notice this girl walking toward us. Deep in conversation I didn’t think anything of it until I glanced back again and she said hi. It took a second to register, but sure enough it was Jess (a.k.a. sister, there is a story here, but I won’t go into it). The first thing out of my mouth was “what are you doing here?” It probably sounded pretty rude, but I didn’t mean it that way, (it was quite the welcome I must say, especially to someone I knew for such a long time and haven’t seen for years). I was definitely caught off guard. What are the chances in a city of around 200,000 people; in a company of 2000 people she would get a job in the same department as me? Anyway, it’s great getting to see her again, and catching up on everything that has been going on with her. Jess and her family were always great to me (except for the incident with her uncle and a bat, but that’s another story and it isn’t as bad as it sounds). It’s nice to have you around Jess.

Windows Vista

Here is a video of the up and coming replacment to Windows XP, Windows Vista. Doesn't look that great maybe some cool graphical stuff, but they don't show any new utilites or anything. There are beta releases available.

Santa Cruz

Here are some pictures of our trip to Santa Cruz. It was nice there, only thing that kinda sucked is we went to late in the year and the Boardwalk closed at 7. It was still fun though.

A candy bouquet from my wifey

My wifey's soooo cool she sent me a candy bouquet (the picture already has some candy bars missing). Jealous aren't you. Want some chocolate too don't you. Well too bad, get your own wifey. Thank you dear!

Time for classes

Yes school is starting again, and with that comes crazy professors (see photo) and rediculous class work. This is just a part of my EE 291 syllabus from Hyunjeong Lee. I am concerned about my "Pop-up quiz". Does this mean the quiz will magically appear from under my desk, scaring me in turn causing all of my books and my big gulp to spill on the floor? Let's hope not. Quizzes are bad enough without them popping up.

Trimble - All About GPS

Here's a cool tutorial on how the GPS system works (I say cool, but it'll probably only be cool if you're a geek). I've been trying to find a cell phone that has a GPS reciever in it, and it looks like Nokia and Motorola have a couple, but nothing too great yet. Hopefully some day soon. GPS technology seems like a good thing to invest in since there are so many things the system could be used for.

Unclaimed Money Search

Unclaimed Money Search

Here's a link for you. Supposedly I have 3,000 dollar just lying around somewhere. If you try this and you actually are able to claim some cash let me know. Also I think I should get like 10% since I helped you find it. Whatever you think is fair will be ok too (let your conscience be your guide).

Shooting some clays

Here's some pictures of a morning at the trap and skeet range. The place is just south of Reno. http://sagehillclaysportsweb.com/ is their website if you want to find out pricing and stuff. You can even rent a shotgun if you just want to try it out. I shot a 17 (out of 25) that day. It was the first time in at least a year (probably more) since I 've been there.

MilkandCookies - Triumph at the Michael Jackson Trial

MilkandCookies - Triumph at the Michael Jackson Trial

That dog is too flip'n funny!

Check out The page for Triumps trip to Star Wars movie line. That one is funny too. Here's a link: STARWARS NERDS

Unique Motorcars

I haven't talked about this yet, but I have a thing for the old Shelby Cobra roadsters. The wife and I just openned a savings account for one. Right now there's only a couple hundred dollars in there, but slowly we'll continue to add to it. Below is a link and a blurb on the kit that I am currently most interested in. It seems to be the most complete for the best price, I'm sure other people have different opinions. I will have my on going cost list up at my website soon, as well as an up to date total for the Cobra account balance.



If you'd like to donate to my cause (I think it's a worthy cause) that would be sweet, knowledge and cash are both welcome. Your donation cannot however be used for a tax right off, sorry. Just post a comment and we'll get in touch.


Unique Motorcars
Unique Motorcars offers replicas of both the 289 Model and the 427 Model. We have a reputation of providing one of finest kits in the business, and a track record of over twenty years. You will see why this is a fact as you review the kit information presented here. Our most popular kit is the 'Deluxe Pallet Kit'. This consists of a powder coated chassis with all 4 wheel independent suspension, 4 wheel disc brakes, rack & pinion steering, radiator, fuel tank, with brake and fuel lines installed at the factory. The body is bolted onto the chassis, and all doors, hood and the trunk lid have been installed, hinged and properly fitted. The lights, windshield and dashboard are installed, and the seats leather upholstered, and all pre-cut & edged rug pieces and door panels are finished ready for installation. The roll bar is installed, and the side pipes are bolted in-place. The custom headers for your choice of engine are included with the kit as well.

No-ip client info

For anyone who is using no-ip to link there dynamic ip address to a constant url here is a little tip.

5 minutes is the shortest time you can have between updates to no-ip's servers. This means if your ip changes very frequently, or if it changes right after an update is sent to their servers your site will be inaccessable for 5 minutes.

I have SBC Yahoo DSL and it changes soooo frequently that half of the time when I would try to access my site it wouldn't work.

To make the time between updates shorter than 5 minutes all you need to do is find the appropriate registry key. Find the Vitalwerks folder under localcomputer/software (use the search function if you want) there's a key that says something like extern.... and has a value in milli seconds for the update time. I set mine to 60000 (1 minute). It works much better now, and so far NO-ip has not blocked my account.

If you ever change any settings in the no-ip client you will have to re-update the registry value.

A new website

I just learned how to host my own web page from my home PC. I'm still learning how to use MS Front Page, but it's coming along. Not quite sure what I'll do with it yet, but it was fun too set up. Only a true geek would enjoy setting up there pc and network to host a web page. Oh well, so be it. If you're looking for information on getting your own set up: http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1774&page=1 is a good source for information. www.iisfaq.com is also a good place. You can't do it with XP home unless you install some 3rd party software. An important tidbit that is not so easy to figure out. If you want to be able to modify your page from a PC other than the server, and you have server extensions installed. The easiest way is to enable only the basic authentication in the IIS directory security tab. You can use an SSL connection if you're worried about someone finding your password.

My site (not yet complete): http://yougottahaveskills.no-ip.org (excuse the reference to Napolean Dynamite)

My fish tank stand.

Here is the fish tank stand I built. Mostly 1/2 in. MDF I believe the top is 3/8in. I built it with just a table saw, some screws, and some laquer paint. I used SolidWorks to create a CAD model and just went from there. Not too shabby for my first fish tank stand. Solidworks is awesome you should check it out. www.solidworks.com I'll try and post the solid model later.

My Solidmodel is now posted at my web site


If you'd like to purchase one of these stands let me know. We can do different colors or you could finish it yourself. Just leave a comment with your E-mail address and I'll get back to you.

Home made coffee table

This is a coffee table I built. The ying yang design was engraved in some 1/2in plexiglass and I designed a circuit board with red and blue LED's to light it up. The black border hides the LED's I've had it for a few years now and it's still holding up. I'll post a lit up picture soon. The first thousand dollar offer gets it.