TORNADO!
The tornado that came through Parker, Colorado yesterday came dangerously close to our house. Here's the view we had from the back yard.
Gallery: Parker, CO Tornado (8-24-08)
Gallery: Parker, CO Tornado (8-24-08)
Aug 25th, 2008 (4:12 PM)
Looking Back
"In this age of obsessive video sharing and social networking, nearly every action is designed and packaged for public consumption. Especially with young people," says co-director Joe Stevens. The immediate charm of Nick and his crew is that they're the exact opposite of all that. There is nothing calculated or self-conscious about who they are. They're just a group of friends doing some thing to challenge themselves and have some laughs."
And that pretty much sums up exactly what's been bothering me about the world, and how it's changed thanks to the Internet. I'm not sure what I miss more, the days before they got here, or the days before I did.
Aug 2nd, 2008 (9:46 PM)
Down Time
Jo and I enjoyed our first peaceful, travel-free, guest-free weekend in over a month. We're preparing for another round of visitors, so we figured it was a good opportunity to catch up. We also visited two of the area's dog parks, and gave our furry friends some quality play time.
On Saturday, we went to Cherry Creek, and gave Ruca her first off-leash experience. I was rather tense about the whole thing, since she has a tendency to run away, but it turned out to be just fine. The pup spent most of her time following our older dog around, and checking in with us at regular intervals. The only challenge is that she likes to jump on strangers to greet them. This isn't entirely unexpected at a dog park, but Ruca also likes to "smile," which looks a whole lot like a snarl, teeth and all. It makes people uncomfortable, and little kids scream. The trip was punctuated by a snake encounter. Jo spotted what we believe was a gopher snake stretched across the trail ahead of us. We're wary of snakes, 'cause Ty tries to kill them, which usually ends poorly for the snake, and the dog too, if they're poisonous. I'm a big fan of reptiles, so it upsets me when the dog tries to murder them. Luckily, we distracted the animals, and the snake slithered away without incident.
Sunday, we decided to hit Chatfield, since it's got more water, and we wanted to give the pup her first swimming experience. After a few minutes of apprehension, she jumped right in, and started swimming. The retrieving instinct is strong in her, and by the end of the day, she was swimming out farther than our adult dog to retrieve sticks. The day went pretty well, aside from a hard lesson learned about red ant hills. Ruca ate (and got bit) by a few before we could grab her. The whole thing caused her to foam at the mouth, which isn't exactly what you'd like to happen at a park full of dogs and their concerned owners.
So, I suppose we can officially declare the pup a second dog, and not just some strange domesticated animal with a partially formed brain. She's beginning to act like a canine, and that's nice, 'cause I'm totally over the puppy phase. They're cute, no doubt, but it's a lot more work than I remembered.
On Saturday, we went to Cherry Creek, and gave Ruca her first off-leash experience. I was rather tense about the whole thing, since she has a tendency to run away, but it turned out to be just fine. The pup spent most of her time following our older dog around, and checking in with us at regular intervals. The only challenge is that she likes to jump on strangers to greet them. This isn't entirely unexpected at a dog park, but Ruca also likes to "smile," which looks a whole lot like a snarl, teeth and all. It makes people uncomfortable, and little kids scream. The trip was punctuated by a snake encounter. Jo spotted what we believe was a gopher snake stretched across the trail ahead of us. We're wary of snakes, 'cause Ty tries to kill them, which usually ends poorly for the snake, and the dog too, if they're poisonous. I'm a big fan of reptiles, so it upsets me when the dog tries to murder them. Luckily, we distracted the animals, and the snake slithered away without incident.
Sunday, we decided to hit Chatfield, since it's got more water, and we wanted to give the pup her first swimming experience. After a few minutes of apprehension, she jumped right in, and started swimming. The retrieving instinct is strong in her, and by the end of the day, she was swimming out farther than our adult dog to retrieve sticks. The day went pretty well, aside from a hard lesson learned about red ant hills. Ruca ate (and got bit) by a few before we could grab her. The whole thing caused her to foam at the mouth, which isn't exactly what you'd like to happen at a park full of dogs and their concerned owners.
So, I suppose we can officially declare the pup a second dog, and not just some strange domesticated animal with a partially formed brain. She's beginning to act like a canine, and that's nice, 'cause I'm totally over the puppy phase. They're cute, no doubt, but it's a lot more work than I remembered.
Jul 21st, 2008 (12:29 AM)
Mt. Evans
Kansas Rectangle
As we make our way back across the plains, I can only hope we don't get lost for 30 years. I'm sure there are more boring drives than the one between Denver and Kansas City... okay, I'm not sure.
So, yeah, we're heading back to KC for some work, and for some family & friends. I have to haul a bunch of stuff back, so we rented a giant SUV, since all the vans were unavailable. I feel like monumental douche driving this tank, which exactly why I'm letting Jo drive us. Well, that, and I'm using the nifty Sprint RevA card to browse the web nearly the entire time while she hurtles us across the tundra in 10,000 lbs. of steel. Which brings me to the point of this entry...
I got a private message on Fazed from someone asking about an issue with submission credit not being displayed in the archive. I poked around in the code on a copy of the site that runs on my laptop, and realized there was an SQL error. And, I fixed it. Then, I committed my changes via SVN, and rolled them out on the production site. All from somewhere about 50 miles east of the Colorado border along I-70. Yay technology!
The view from inside.
So, yeah, we're heading back to KC for some work, and for some family & friends. I have to haul a bunch of stuff back, so we rented a giant SUV, since all the vans were unavailable. I feel like monumental douche driving this tank, which exactly why I'm letting Jo drive us. Well, that, and I'm using the nifty Sprint RevA card to browse the web nearly the entire time while she hurtles us across the tundra in 10,000 lbs. of steel. Which brings me to the point of this entry...
I got a private message on Fazed from someone asking about an issue with submission credit not being displayed in the archive. I poked around in the code on a copy of the site that runs on my laptop, and realized there was an SQL error. And, I fixed it. Then, I committed my changes via SVN, and rolled them out on the production site. All from somewhere about 50 miles east of the Colorado border along I-70. Yay technology!
The view from inside.
Jul 3rd, 2008 (3:37 PM)
SimuCon 2005
Perhaps one of the best weekends the group of us ever had... now with video.
Video & Pictures: SimuCon 2005
Video & Pictures: SimuCon 2005
Jun 26th, 2008 (12:12 AM)
Mean Face
Veruca looks like she's about to bite when she's excited, but it's really her happy face. Strangers aren't sure what to expect.
In other news, I've slowly been exporting pictures from my "old" photography section to my Flickr account. Unfortunately, it all seems to go to the front of my photostream, so recent photos are kind of lost in the shuffle. I've also changed my Flickr page to contain sets under a small number of collections, much like I used to do with Gallery. So far, I like this better.
For now, I'm back in my basement office. We'll see how long this lasts...
Jun 23rd, 2008 (10:26 PM)
Relocation
The most horrifying spider I've ever seen (I'm serious this time) dropped on to my desk and immediately crawled into my water bottle. I've relocated my computer upstairs, and will not visit the basement again until winter.
Jun 17th, 2008 (1:21 AM)
The Suburbs Are Scary
Mouthy
They say golden retrievers experience the world through their mouths. Now that we're nearing a month with ours, I definitely agree. 'Ruca has to taste everything, which sometimes is a bad thing. Tonight, for example, as we neared the end of our walk, she found what we believe was the end of a cigar. It only took a few seconds before she was gagging, coughing, and foaming at the mouth. She quickly became listless and a little disoriented. We panicked, of course, and called the vet. Luckily, she got very little of the stuff, and we washed her mouth out pretty well, so everything seems to be okay. After a brief nap, she was back to her normal, mischievous ways.
Tonight, she also discovered the mirror.
Tonight, she also discovered the mirror.