I started to comment on my friend John’s blog and decided that my comment was too long and what John really did was “tag” me (see this blog post for a good example of tagging someone else (Meme Time: Growing Up Geek)) so here goes, my storage addiction for the world to see:

• 3TB in my Windows Home Server (2.73 usable)
• 500GB Seagate (came with HP EX470)
• 750GB Samsung
• 750GB Seagate
• 1TB Hitachi Drive
• 150GB in my desktop machine – it is a Western Digital Raptor, 10000 RPM drive. I wanted speed not size. Size is what the server is for!
• 120GB in my HTPC. This is a 5400RPM Laptop drive in a sound dampening case. I wanted quiet not speed or size.
• 120GB in my laptop.

So in all I have a little over 3TB of storage at my disposal in my home. I probably shouldn’t mention the eight (YES 8!) 300GB drives I have sitting in my closet from a defunct project, the other 150GB Raptor that I’m not using, the 400GB drive I am not using. The two 200GB drives in my old HTPC that I’m not using. ARGH! I need to put all this unused storage on CraigsList!

So John… I highly recommend a Windows Home Server! The main HDD in my desktop died Tuesday night. I put a new drive in yesterday morning, inserted the WHS Recovery CD, answered a few wizard questions and boom it rebuilt my desktop HDD for me! Sweet! I just saw a great deal on the HP EX470.. $369 -- here are the details of how to get that deal as posted on Home Server Hacks. Sure you need to add more storage but that is a darned good price!

So there you have it. I am a storage junkie. As a matter of fact I already have a plan for when I start to run low of space on my WHS I will simply hook up an 4TB external drive array to my WHS. Sweetness!

Next I could talk about how much I am addicted to RAM!! I just upgraded my work computer to 12GB from 4GB and let me tell you my home PC is not far behind! The extra RAM makes a world of difference!

I usually don’t blog about all of my bike rides but I’m pretty proud of getting out for some good rides here in October. The weather in the Seattle area has been spectacular so far this fall so that has helped quite a bit. In addition to the two rides I link to below I also had two rides where my Forerunner 305 battery died or was simply DOA… yeah for some reason my USB connection is not charging my Forerunner. So four good rides in October… I’m feeling pretty good!

Here are the details:

Road Ride

Moving Time (h:m:s)
1:01:34

Distance (mi )
16.57

Moving Speed (mph)
16.1 avg.
23.6 max.

Mountain Biking

Moving Time (h:m:s)
0:56:03

Distance (mi )
7.38

Moving Speed (mph)
7.9 avg.
26.1 max.

In Part One I explained how "For a long time now my birthday has been just another day of the year. Just another year gone by." and how this year was different and that "the difference can be summed up in that my girlfriend, Marti, is the best girlfriend in the world!" This is part two of two - yes Marti did SO much for me that it will take two posts to tell you all about it!

On my birthday Marti took care of me and treated me like a King all evening. When I arrived home Marti was dressed in one of my favorite outfits, there were appetizers ready - cheeses, salami, crackers and my favorite Caprese! Yummy! and there was also a martini waiting for me. Not just any martini but a Steeler Martini!  Made with vodka and Blue Curacao the drink itself is very blue then garnished with a red cherry and a yellow lemon it is the colors of the three hypocycloids in the Steelers logo. The martini was back-dropped by my final birthday presents (no WAY! You do NOT get to know what was in the bag!) in a black bag with gold tissue paper! How sweet and thoughtful. A little side note: Marti HATES the Pittsburgh Steelers, mostly because of SuperBowl XL – so it was extra sweet of her to look past the hatred and make my birthday so special!

The table was set very nicely and while dinner cooked and we watched The Strangers (we both love horror movies). Dinner was linguine with a home made sauce that was to die for! Just the way I like it, chunky… VERY chunky. I hate runny sauces on my pasta! Also a VERY tasty cheesy bread with balsamic vinegar for dipping and we opened a bottle of Couer d’ Alene Opulence that we picked up on our CdA trip back in August. Of course it was a candle light dinner and the best part was that the candles and candle holders (you can see them in the pics) are spiders for Halloween and mine to keep, another part of my birthday!

After dinner Marti cleaned up and would not let me help! Then she started on dessert, chocolate fondue with strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, bananas and angel food cake for dipping. The chocolate was amazing (and thankfully there are left-overs! I’ve been eating them all week!) very dark with some Bailey’s Irish Cream for flavor. I’m bummed that I didn’t take any pictures of the fondue! :(

Finally I was treated to a full body massage with warm massage oil. Wow what a way to end the perfect birthday week!

For a long time now my birthday has been just another day of the year. Just another year gone by. It seems that the older we get the less important birthdays seem to be right. Considering this was my 39th birthday - yeah I wasn't too excited. Now don’t get me wrong I don't mind my age... but yeah birthdays are for kids, right?

Apparently not! This year was very different. The difference can be summed up in that my girlfriend, Marti, is the best girlfriend in the world! This is part one of two - yes Marti did SO much for me that it will take two posts to tell you all about it!

It all started last Thursday, October 16th. The mail carrier delivered a package to my office! I was very surprised and a bit caught off-guard as it was almost a whole week before my birthday! The return address was not one I recognized. I opened The package to find the box to the right... hmmm a mystery.  I opened the inner box and found a dozen cookies, a coffee mug and a t-shirt. The coffee mug is AWESOME it is black with a yellow gold smiley face on it and it says "I take mine black and gold" The shirt is equally as awesome it is black, with a yellow gold smiley face and it says "Pittsburgh Makes Me Smile." The cookies were yellow gold with black nose, eyes and, yes smile! I was seeing a trend but still wasn't exactly sure what the story was a quick Google Search helped solve the mystery... it turns out all of this cool stuff was from Eat 'N Park a Pittsburgh institution that has been around for almost 60 years. The cookies are very famous and ubiquitous in Pittsburgh - kind of like Starbucks in Seattle. What an amazingly cool birthday gift... see I am a huge Pittsburgh Steelers fan! What really makes this so cool is a) I was SO surprised and b) the fact that Marti did so much research to get me a gift that was very cool and unique to the Pittsburgh area!

Of course I sent Marti a text to thank her and tell her how excited I was! That is when she mentioned that my second gift would be arriving via UPS at my house Tuesday October 21st! I had no idea what was in store for me! The cookies were VERY good by the way now ranked #1 among my favorite cookies and that is saying a lot because I LOVE cookies!

My son, Derek, plays football for his middle school and has games on Tuesdays so I knew I'd have to rush home between work and football to see what the UPS guy delivered for me! When I got home I was SO surprised to find a Spin Dryer from The Laundry Alternative! All I could think was that Marti had gone WAY overboard! But I was so excited! In case you missed it I posted a while back that I really could use a spin dryer like they have at most gyms (to dry your swim trunks) for all of my cycling clothes. Luckily I had just washed a load of cycling clothes the night before and had not hung them up yet (no traditional dryer for my cycling clothes!). Yes I am a TOTAL GEEK but I was so excited to get home so I could try my new gadget out. After reading the instructions I put my load of cycling clothes (mountain biking shorts which are two layers -- heavy cargo shorts over spandex under shorts with a chamois pad, socks. long sleeve jersey, tyvek jacket and a lightweight windbreaker) into the spin dryer and turned it on. As you can see  in the picture on the right almost three cups of water came out of the laundry and the water still had detergent in it! Everything came out of the spin dryer almost dry enough to put away. After only one day of hang drying to get rid of the remaining dampness everything IS ready to put away! Usually it takes the better part of a week for the chamois in the shorts to dry fully. This is SO awesome! I LOVE this gift. Geeky, practical, fun, a complete surprise and again Marti did the research and bought me a gift that I totally and completely love yet was TOTALLY surprised by!

In part two I’ll talk about my actual birthday and how PERFECT it was!

Photojournalist James Nachtwey is considered by many to be the greatest war photographer of recent decades.

He has covered conflicts and major social issues in more than 30 countries.

He is the winner of the 2007 TED Prize, awarding him $100,000 and one wish to change the world. This was his wish: "I'm working on a story that the world needs to know about. I wish for you to help me break it in a way that provides spectacular proof of the power of news photography in the digital age."

Do you like the way the spin dryers at the gym dry your swim trunks so quickly? I sure do. I just saw a post titled 'Spin Dryers' over at Cool Tools blog about a home version of the same contraption. Why is this important to me? Cycling Clothes. Two things conspire, first I wash all of my cycling clothes on the gentle cycle which I am convinced does not spin dry the clothes very well (part of being gentle I suppose) and second, I hang dry all of my cycling clothes since most are not dryer friendly.

So there they are looking so lovely in the spare bathroom! They can take days to dry, especially the chamois in the shorts. So I've often thought that it would be nice to have an effective spin dryer at home. Now I know they are available!

Awesome information using managed code to program against the GPS device in your Windows Mobile device from Jon Box.

From Managed GPS on BlackJack II:

Managed GPS

The WM6 SDK has a managed code sample, in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Mobile 6 SDK\Samples\Smartphone\CS, called GPS. Originally, this showed up in the WM5 SDK. Anyway, this is a C# solution, named GPS, and comes with two projects, 1) GPS, a .NET CF application project, and 2) a child project that is the managed wrapper of the GPS Intermediate Driver interface. So, kudo's who designed the solution this way so that someone can easily re-use in other applications. The library is namespace'd as Microsoft.WindowsMobile,Samples.Location (note the namespace on the slide, which might make you believe this is in the .NET Compact Framework).

After the incredible experience that I’ve had the last two years I will be riding in the 2008 Dam2Dam Bike Tour. In 2006 I was able to meet and ride with Greg LeMond, in 2007 Derek and I completed the 50 mile route on a tandem. This ride is extremely well organized from the check-in process to the ride support, rest stops, sag wagons and post ride BBQ. The experience has been amazing so far and to top it off the Dam2Dam will always be special to me since it is really what got me back into cycling.

So on September 27th 2008 I am going to make a difference in the lives of those living with spinal cord injuries. I will be riding the 50 mile route in the Mike Utley Foundation DAM2DAM “Thumbs Up!” Bike Tour in Wenatchee, WA. This is a great cause and I’m asking for your help in supporting my ride.

On November 17, 1991 Detroit Lions offensive right guard, Mike Utley (#60) was paralyzed during a game against the Los Angeles Rams. Mike’s courageous “Thumbs Up!” gesture has come to symbolize his fighting spirit. In his own quest to walk again Mike has focused all of his energies towards helping others living with this disability. The Mike Utley Foundation was founded in January 1992 and is committed to providing financial support for research, rehabilitation and education for spinal cord related injuries. If you would like to know more about Mike and his Foundation log on to his website at www.mikeutley.org

There are many reasons that I am committed to this worthy cause. A few noteworthy facts are as follows: the lifetime costs incurred by SCI individuals average $900,000.00 and can reach as high as 2.8 million depending on the level of injury; Most insurance plans have limits for durable medical of $1,500.00 or less; The initial cost of a wheelchair needed by SCI patients averages $4,000 to $8,000; quadriplegic patients frequently exceed $20,000; the Nation currently invests less than 1% of the costs of spinal cord injury into research that has the potential to restore function.

In 2006 I raised $1815 for the Mike Utley Foundation.
In 2007 I raised almost $1000 for the Mike Utley Foundation.

My goal this year is to raise $2000. Please join me in making a difference in the lives of those living with Spinal Cord Injuries. In addition to the donations I bring in I've recruited several of my friends to ride with me this year Brandon, John, Erick and Chuck and heck I may have missed someone, sorry if I did!

How can you help?

Please make checks payable to the: The Mike Utley Foundation

Checks may be mailed to my home address at: 895 Queens Street, Unit A, Milton, WA 98354

Or mailed directly to the Mike Utley Foundation at: P.O. Box 458, Orondo, WA 98843

Or donate online at www.mikeutley.org.

Please indicate on your check or your online donation that you are supporting me, Steve Bargelt.

The Mike Utley Foundation will receipt you directly and notify me that you have supported my ride. Thank you in advance for helping me to reach this very important personal goal!

Thank you in advance for your Support

This is my second try at a post to look at my 2008 goals. In the first attempt I was going to take the text of my 2008 Goals post and just mark it up and add comments but damn I wrote way too much and went into way too much detail in that post. Hopefully this will be much less painful.

The first seven months in review:

1. I'm down to 238 pounds. I'm very happy with my long-term progress and YES I STILL want to see 228 on the scale. I will get there. I have 5 more months in 2008!
2. I've ridden 437 miles so far this year.
3. I've ridden my mountain bike 7 times so far this year.
4. Feels good to have finished the DaBoyZ Fit Club Triathlon (DFCT) even though it wasn't a sanctioned event. Came in second! First off the bike, first off the treadmill, second out of the water! Props to John!
5. I completed the 2008 Tour de Pierce.
6. Bought a new mountain bike that I absolutely LOVE.

Goals for August 2008:

1. Weigh less on August 30th that I do on August 1st. Stretch goal: I'd like to see 229 on the scale come August 30th!
2. Ride more, ride more, ride more! Road, mountain, commute, track. Just ride, man!
3. Commute to work at least ONCE by bike!
4. Eat better, eat better, eat better!

Upcoming:
Dam2Dam 2008 on September 27th

John is a much better writer than I am and he does a much better job of describing the 2008 Tour de Pierce than I would so take it away Johnboy! 

I had a great time even though it was way to hot for us Northwesterners. I was pretty dehydrated by mile 42 (the last rest stop) I tried to catch up and drink a few bottles of water there but we all know that it is too late once you're feeling the effects. At lunch afterwards at the Powerhouse I started feeling pretty lethargic and my hammys started cramping (which was a freakin' RIOT - yes guys really do just laugh at other guys in pain).

Moving Time: 3:10:13
Distance 49.31 miles
Moving Speed (mph) 15.6 avg. - 44.2 max.
Elevation Gain (ft) +1,207 / -1,207

 
My MotionBased Track

Scott, Leslie, Scott, Me, Erick, Brandon, John, Chuck

Me!

Me, Brandon and John

You can view the entire photoset at Zooomr, Picasa Web Albums or Flickr. YEs I'm covering all my photo sharing bases. I like Zooomr becasue it keeps the original size while the other two shrink the pictures. Check 'em all out and tell me if you prefer one over the other for viewing my photos.

Anyone who knows me well knows I have a Roomba that vacuums my house for me. I love my Roomba. I talk to him like he is a pet or a friend. I get upset when the "little guy" gets stuck in a closet (whish does not happen very often and is always my fault!). Well the makers of my little domestic cleaning device, iRobot, are marketing the new weapon -- it is one of their Warrior X700 tracked platforms paired with Metal Storm technology

You remember that gun that electronically fires up to a million rounds a minute (theoretically) by Metal Storm? They're strapping them to iRobot's X700 to create a serious killing machine with the flexibility of firing anything from explosive rounds to "less-lethal" ones, making it suitable for urban assaults, "border patrol," "crowd control" or my personal favorite, defense against a zombie apocalypse.

 

As an aside...  the Metal Storm logo reminds me of another company's logo. Help me figure out what company that would be. I'm thinking it is a video game company and Sierra Entertainment came to mind but I couldn't find a logo that looked like Metal Storm's.

I am not religious. At all. When I read the following story I knew I had to "pray" or at least send good vibes to Susan through whatever force or being, real or imagined is possibly out there:

Like Dandelion Seeds

I don't personally know Elden or Susan. I read Elden's blog daily and it (crazy as it sounds) bring a ton of entertainment and inspiration into my life.

Please also read:
Has It Been Only One Day?

(Hey Dad does that radiation mask bring back some horrid memories? I still have yours and use it as a Halloween decoration every year!)

Yesterday the Fat Cyclist (aka Fatty to his close friends strangers who read his blog) announced his Inaugural Fat Cyclist Triathalon sounds like an amazing event! I'd love to attend. So here is my proposed road trip from the Seattle/Tacoma area:

1. Wednesday June 18th: Start out in my motor home, after work... like 5PM from Kent, WA. Drive to Boise, ID.
2. Thursday June 19th: Arrive in Boise at about 1AM. Sleep in RV. Wake at whenever... 10. Ride bikes, on the road, mountain, whatever. We will contact locals to figure out exactly what to do.
3. Thursday June 19th: Leave Boise in RV by 2PM, arrive in Idaho Falls by 7PM. Meet up with my niece & family for dinner & drinks. Party. Sleep in RV.
4. Friday June 20th: Wake whenever, ride bikes, mountain, road, whatever, again talk to the locals before we get there.
5. Friday June 20th: Leave Idaho Falls in RV by 2PM, arrive at or near Fatty's Home by 7PM. Sleep.
6. Saturday June 21st: Fatty's Triathalon. YES!
7. Sunday June 22nd: Drive from Fatty's to Boise, ID. (option 1 - stop, sleep, ride, option 2 - drive home)
8. (optional - based on decision in step 7!) Monday June 23rd: Drive from Boise, ID to Seattle/Tacoma, WA.

 
View Larger Map

My motor home sleeps 7 adults comfortably... yes 7 without sharing a bed. Really. There are only six seat belts for the drive though. The bigger challenge will be to pack up 14 bikes! I'm considering renting a covered trailer if there is enough participation!

Currently only one bed is taken but the offer is out to my riding buddies who get first dibs! After that I'm offering to pick up anyone interested along the way... any friend regular reader of Fatty's is a friend potential Hitcher of mine!

If you are interested contact me through my blog or post a comment. Of course no promises... this could fall through at any time!

I've been running Windows Home Server since the beta days on a huge, inefficient  server that I built from scratch a few year ago. Earlier this year the SATA RAID controller started acting funny - telling me that drives were bad yet on a drive scan or reboot they'd be fine. After enough scared I decided to upgrade to a HP EX470. Smart move! I love it. It is tiny and it "just works." I finally have all of my content moved over and have the other server shut off!

I've also decided to try and use the EX470 as my SageTV server. My only concern is that it won't have enough power to record two (or more) incoming HD streams from my HDHomeruns. I will find that out this coming weekend! If not there is still hope. Donavon over at Home Server Hacks posted two excellent upgrade articles: HP EX470 CPU Upgrade and the HP EX470 Memory Upgrade. Kudos to Donavon for taking the time to write up such easy to follow instructions.

Good article in the NYT back in early December regarding willpower.

How to Boost Your Willpower - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog

However, the research does help explain why dieters who eat several small meals a day appear to do better at sticking to a diet than dieters who skip meals. “You need the energy from food to have the willpower to exert self-control in order to succeed on your diet,'’ said Dr. Baumeister.