Dear Mr. President

Check out this song by Pink & the Indigo Girls: Dear Mr. President.

ADL's Upcoming Ad

Here is an ad that the ADL (Anti-Defamation League) will run in the February 13th edition of the International Herald Tribune.

World's Smallest Political Quiz

Very eye opening!!

Take the quiz here.

hmmm... so you think we are free now??!!

We REALLY need to wake the rest of America up!

Unfathomed Dangers In Patriot Act Renewal

Homeland Security To Confiscate Bank Safe Deposit Box Contents

I honestly have not check much further into these, however I did hear the same 2 topics on Free Talk Live

Ocotillo

I want to give a rave review of a fairly new restaurant that we went to a couple of weeks ago. I would give Ocotillo 4 1/2 out of 5 stars!

This place is in Greenwood Village so it may be a little bit of a drive for you city dwellers, but I tell you it is worth it! I had one of their special mojitos and it was so good I had to have another. We shared the house specialty guacamole that they prepare tableside and that was muy bueno. We also shared the Southwest Stack. The main courses were excellent (Mission Tamales & Hatch Chile Chicken), the Mexican chocolate creme brulee was a fantastic way to finish.

The atmosphere was very nice. I wouldn't say romantic, but very close. The service was very good. Our server was super nice, very knowledgeable and accommodating. I thought that he looked like younger version of Ty Pennington.

Anyway, you need to try it out. And after you eat there, go to their sister restaurant, Ventura Grill which is 2 doors down and another fabulous find.

We went to Swallow Hill Sunday night and saw one of our favorite bands, Los Lantzmun.

If you love different types of music you need to see them! We first saw them a couple of years ago and fell in love with their style. We had the opportunity to see them this last summer at the Boulder Jewish Festival and what a spectacular venue to see them. A lot of dancing and high energy!

We have both of their CD's and if you want a peak at their stuff let me know, I'll hook you up.

Meet Jackson

My good friend from Austin just got a new puppy. His name is Jackson and is 7 weeks old. Is he cute or what?!

Congrats Dave & Christy!!!

We went to Dave & Christy's annual holiday party last night and we had a great surprise. Some carolers showed up at the door and everyone was thinking how cool is this. These were not just your typical neighborhood folks either. They were all dressed up in vintage clothes and they could really sing. So we are all enjoying the festive singing and they were in the middle of We Wish You a Merry Christmas and they changed the lyrics to Will You Marry Me Christy Allbee, Will You Marry Me Christy Allbee? And they held up a sign. I had to do a double take! It was soooo AWESOME!

Dave & Christy - Congratulations, Mazel Tov and may this year be the best one yet!

NY Times "Select" Service

So... remember the days when you didn't even need a free account to read the NY Times online? Well, signing up for a free account was not a big deal but now they have created the Times Select where you need to pay a subscription to get to parts of their web site content, particularly the Op-Ed columnists. See a story here.

This site is offering his services free of charge to get your fix. He doesn't always find them, but it's a start. Here is the story on it.
Enjoy!

Restaurant Review

So in celebration of KSM's b-day (she turned 34 today!) and our anniversary on Thursday (3 years!!) her mom came to town and took us out to dinner. We went to Sparrow restaurant. We had seen this place before and decided to try it out.

We were pleasantly surprised. The atmosphere was very cool. Lots of color and kind of funky but not over the top. The service was friendly and prompt. The food was delicious! The menu had a great variety of unique flavors but not too crazy.

For a drink I chose the Jolly Kingfisher Martini. A martini with Jolly Rancher infused Ketel One vodka (blue raspberry) and Chambord. I could also sense some freshly squeezed lemon or lime. They serve it in a martini glass and the presentation is excellent. The color is light blue with the light purple color of the Chambord at the bottom 3rd of the glass.

I started with the soup du jour, which was a chili with the meat from beef short ribs. It was tasty and had the consistency of soup, but still very good. For the entree I had the rabbit in a yellow curry sauce with Caribbean rice. It was perfect! The rice had some mango & green beans which made it sweet & crunchy. The rabbit was served on the bone and was moist. And for dessert we shared the Molten Chocolate Bombe. It is a chocolate cake with gooey chocolate sauce on the inside served hot. It was also accompanied with home-made mint chocolate chip ice cream and a very light coffee cream sauce. Very delicious!!

We all enjoyed the meal & experience and I would rate it a must go. Reasonably priced ($15 - $25 entrees) and cool design. A little on the noisy side after 8pm with more people.

What have I learned??

I now have 3 1/2 weeks of school behind me now and I have learned a lot! Most recently I learned that you can boil water if you drop the pressure around it enough. Sounds simple since I live at 5,400' and water for me boils at 205 degrees F. But If you lower the pressure enough you can get it to boil at 40 degrees F. The water will still be cold to the touch but it will boil or turn into the next state, vapor (steam). Cool 'eh!

Also I started brazing in one of my classes and here is some of my work. I swaged a few pieces of 3/8" copper tube and then brazed them together. Remember this is the first time I have ever used a torch.

What Kind of Coffee am I

Thanks for the link Sam.

gee and I always drink americanos....

You Are a Frappacino

At your best, you are: fun loving, sweet, and modern At your worst, you are: childish and over indulgent You drink coffee when: you're craving something sweet Your caffeine addiction level: low

What Kind of Coffee Are You?

A Letter to All Who Voted for George W. Bush

Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 03:36:34 -0400
Subject: A Letter to All Who Voted for George W. Bush from Michael Moore

To All My Fellow Americans Who Voted for George W. Bush:

On this, the fourth anniversary of 9/11, I'm just curious, how does it feel?

How does it feel to know that the man you elected to lead us after we were attacked went ahead and put a guy in charge of FEMA whose main qualification was that he ran horse shows?

That's right. Horse shows.

I really want to know -- and I ask you this in all sincerity and with all due respect -- how do you feel about the utter contempt Mr. Bush has shown for your safety? C'mon, give me just a moment of honesty. Don't start ranting on about how this disaster in New Orleans was the fault of one of the poorest cities in America. Put aside your hatred of Democrats and liberals and anyone with the last name of Clinton. Just look me in the eye and tell me our President did the right thing after 9/11 by naming a horse show runner as the top man to protect us in case of an emergency or catastrophe.

I want you to put aside your self-affixed label of Republican/conservative/born-again/capitalist/ditto-head/right-winger and just talk to me as an American, on the common ground we both call America.

Are we safer now than before 9/11? When you learn that behind the horse show runner, the #2 and #3 men in charge of emergency preparedness have zero experience in emergency preparedness, do you think we are safer?

When you look at Michael Chertoff, the head of Homeland Security, a man with little experience in national security, do you feel secure?

When men who never served in the military and have never seen young men die in battle send our young people off to war, do you think they know how to conduct a war? Do they know what it means to have your legs blown off for a threat that was never there?

Do you really believe that turning over important government services to private corporations has resulted in better services for the people?

Why do you hate our federal government so much? You have voted for politicians for the past 25 years whose main goal has been to de-fund the federal government. Do you think that cutting federal programs like FEMA and the Army Corps of Engineers has been good or bad for America? GOOD OR BAD?

With the nation's debt at an all-time high, do you think tax cuts for the rich are still a good idea? Will you give yours back so hundreds of thousands of homeless in New Orleans can have a home?

Do you believe in Jesus? Really? Didn't he say that we would be judged by how we treat the least among us? Hurricane Katrina came in and blew off the facade that we were a nation with liberty and justice for all. The wind howled and the water rose and what was revealed was that the poor in America shall be left to suffer and die while the President of the United States fiddles and tells them to eat cake.

That's not a joke. The day the hurricane hit and the levees broke, Mr. Bush, John McCain and their rich pals were stuffing themselves with cake. A full day after the levees broke (the same levees whose repair funding he had cut), Mr. Bush was playing a guitar some country singer gave him. All this while New Orleans sank under water.

It would take ANOTHER day before the President would do a flyover in his jumbo jet, peeking out the widow at the misery 2500 feet below him as he flew back to his second home in DC. It would then be TWO MORE DAYS before a trickle of federal aid and troops would arrive. This was no seven minutes in a sitting trance while children read "My Pet Goat" to him. This was FOUR DAYS of doing nothing other than saying "Brownie (FEMA director Michael Brown), you're doing a heck of a job!"

My Republican friends, does it bother you that we are the laughing stock of the world?

And on this sacred day of remembrance, do you think we honor or shame those who died on 9/11/01? If we learned nothing and find ourselves today every bit as vulnerable and unprepared as we were on that bright sunny morning, then did the 3,000 die in vain?

Our vulnerability is not just about dealing with terrorists or natural disasters. We are vulnerable and unsafe because we allow one in eight Americans to live in horrible poverty. We accept an education system where one in six children never graduate and most of those who do can't string a coherent sentence together. The middle class can't pay the mortgage or the hospital bills and 45 million have no health coverage whatsoever.

Are we safe? Do you really feel safe? You can only move so far out and build so many gated communities before the fruit of what you've sown will be crashing through your walls and demanding retribution. Do you really want to wait until that happens? Or is it your hope that if they are left alone long enough to soil themselves and shoot themselves and drown in the filth that fills the street that maybe the problem will somehow go away?

I know you know better. You gave the country and the world a man who wasn't up for the job and all he does is hire people who aren't up for the job. You did this to us, to the world, to the people of New Orleans. Please fix it. Bush is yours. And you know, for our peace and safety and security, this has to be fixed. What do you propose?

I have an idea, and it isn't a horse show.

Yours,
Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com

Where are you??

I am sure my regular readers (all 3 of you) are wondering what the hell happened to Jay. WHen I was working I was posting at least once per day. Now that I am unemployed, it's like once per month. So you are thinking that I must be riding 4-5 hours per day getting ready for some of the big races at the end of the year..nope.

Just got back from a week long trip to Grand Junction, Telluride, Mesa Verde, Durango and Ouray. Went with my sister & mom celebrating her ahem...60th b-day. We had a great time seeing a bunch of beautiful scenery. I took 7 rolls of B&W and just developed them. I'm headind to the darkroom today to try to get some printing done. Of course I'll post some.

So the big news is I have figured out what I want to do with my life once I grow up! Over 6 months ago when I knew I would be getting laid off, I started seriously thinking about what I REALLY want to do. I went through staying in my current field (Network Engineer), working for a non-profit that I am passionate about, technical recruiting, commercial real estate, getting back into thte hotel business and I am sure a couple of other careers. After thinking and pondering about it I figured out that I wanted a career that I could benefit from personally and one that can not be shipped overseas. After thinking back to all the jobs I had, I thought about my late teens and early 20's when I worked for a landscaping company, fence company and a general contractor and realized that those were the jobs I really enjoyed. Getting into my work and using my hands and brain. So I asked around to friends and other people I met that knew the trades and asked them their thoughts. Most pretty much said start with HVAC and that will give you a great beginning.

I finished up my first week of classes at Red Rocks Community College. It has really opened up my eyes to make me wonder why I did not do this earlier in my life. I am taking 4 classes (Monday - Thursday nights) at 4 credits each. Fundamentals of Gas Heating, Refrigeration Fundamentals, Electricity for HVAC and Pipe Fitting Skills. I am stoked realizing that just after these classes I should be able to do more fixing around the house. The teachers seems pretty cool so far. I like 3 of the 4 and the 4th guy is ok. He is younger and comes across as the tough guy image. I am sure he is fine as a teacher and I just need to appease his personality.

Peace Out!

Here's Mack getting wet!

New Pics

I just posted a couple of new pics on flickr.
Enjoy!

Hitch Hiker

So here I am on my last interval today going up past Red Rocks and I look down at my rear derailleur. I see at grasshopper, large I might add, hanging on to the cable upside down. Crazy! So, after I finish the interval I turn around to start going downhill and I look down again and there he is now hanging on upright. It was actually pretty funny. He held on for about 5 more minutes, then climbed onto my cassette, not a good idea, but I did not pedal ;) and then he was gone. I was wondering if I was seeing thisngs since it was 92 degrees and I had just finished my 6th 8 minute LT interval. But I think it was real.

Here is a new picture I printed today. It was taken on top of Bierstadt looking out to Gray's & Torrey's. I'll start posting them on flickr as well.

Hmmm... weekly update?!

Ok, so it has been one week since I posted. I guess it's getting better than before. ;)

Here are 2 more pictures I took & printed. I really like the dew on the rose leaves. You have to see it in person to really appreciate it. I do have a few more negs I'd like to print. Some are from our recent trip up Bierstadt with some friends.

Shabbat Shalom!

What have I been up to?

So my last day at work was July 1 and my last post was a few days prior to that. Now that I have not been working for 3 weeks I have not posted. I guess that tells you what I was doing at work...

Let's see the TdF started on July 2 and I have been faithfully watching that every day. I have been riding my bike a lot. It has been sweltering hot, so fortunately I can ride earlier in the day than normal.

I also started taking a Photography class at Denver Darkroom. I am 3 weeks into the 4 week course and am really enjoying it. Here are a couple of my first prints. They are from the Parker Main Criterium on Saturday, July 16.


Not too bad if I say so myself. I have a couple of more to print, but when you are in the darkroom time goes by. It's like a black hole and kind of like sitting at a table in Vegas gambling.

It looks pretty darn clear that Lance will have #7. The time trial is tomorrow and the weather looks good, so he can go all out and finally win a stage this year. Not that it matters, but it would be nice to win a stage.

Ciao!

The Lost Liberty Hotel

Taken from Needcoffee.com
Logan Darrow Clements is our hero. Why? Because he's started the process necessary, in the town of Weare, New Hampshire, of taking privately owned land from a homeowner and turning it into a hotel. This is because private property rights in America have just been turned on their head by the Supreme Court: all you have to do is prove that you can bring in more revenue for the local government than a homeowner (not hard to do), and bingo–eminent domain can kick in and you can kick the homeowner out!

Why in the world would we be in favor of this? Because Clements wants to build this:

The proposed development, called "The Lost Liberty Hotel" will feature the "Just Desserts Café" and include a museum, open to the public, featuring a permanent exhibit on the loss of freedom in America. Instead of a Gideon's Bible each guest will receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

And he wants to build it where Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter's home is now. Read the full press release here. We heartily endorse Clements and will probably invest capital in this endeavor when the time is right.

Celebrate your fireworks electronically

I think instead of driving out to see fireworks, this year I am going to get cozy by the computer and create my own show.