No Snow Day

We were sure there would be a snow day today. It was snowing hard, with a couple inches on the ground in a few hours last night. When our phones went off at 5, we were thinking "kids home", but it was only a 1 hour delay. Tia wasn't thrilled when she got back as she thought the roads were bad.

I was supposed to meet a friend, and wasn't sure what to do, but he said the roads were fine in Parker. I went, and as soon as I left our neighborhood to the West, things were fine. Looks like a storm that mostly got us this time.

Tired

Not from a lack of sleep. I had a good night's sleep last night, but a long day yesterday. On my feet all day at my desk trying to get a lab setup working. Then volleyball, and then a late night walk. However today I was on my feet working most of the day, but then I went swimming.

It's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow, with the school already cancelling an event tonight. I didn't want to get stuck in the house tomorrow when I planned on swimming. I went today, and had a good workout. I did a nice steady set of sets and then went and wolfed down a meatball sub.

Still hungry, and not tired. I suspect I might sleep early tonight.

A good workout. Day 49 for me in a row.

Looking Good

Another Wednesday, another volleyball practice. Lots of practice with #1 sets and Kendall is looking good. She had some nice hits and it looks like she's getting confident.

This week the coaches started getting tougher. The girls have been making lots of the same mistakes, so bad serves or spikes during warmups result in push ups or sit ups. Good to see them pushing harder.

Busy, Busy, Busy

Seems like a crazy set of days and not sure when it gets better. Pilates and distractions yesterday meant I was trying hard to get work done in the afternoon. I packed up to work at volleyball practice with Kendall but forgot my a)phone, b)power cord, and c)product keys.

So I started to install software, had to stop with no key. Started writing and got about 45min worth of work done, but then ran out of battery. After watching Kendall's team work, I got home, lay in bed, and worked for about 2 hours as Tia fell asleep early.

Today's not much better. Working along, then yoga, errands to get dinner and dog food, and I'm struggling to get things done today.

Power #1

The Power tournaments rank the girls in volleyball, and today was the first one. We were up at 6, after 4 hours of sleep for me, and headed up north. We were excited to see how things would go.

The first game started OK, with Kendall sitting on the bench to open, but a few plays in, one of our hitters turned an ankle. She came out, and Kendall went in. Now we were down to 8 players in an 8 player rotation.

Kendall did OK, some hits, some touches on blocks, but overall the team made mistakes and led the second game (after losing the first), but gave it away on mistakes. The second match was right away and they lost that as well. After a break, they never really competed in the third, though they didn't get blown out. I think most games were around the 25-15 or 25-20 range.

Lots of mistakes all around, and we'll drop out of the top division now. However I don't think our team is really ready to compete with these other teams yet. They seem to cover the court better, and certainly hit better. It's within reach, but we need work.

Afterwards we heard the girl that got hurt (Audrey) has a broken bone in her foot. Ugh. Not good for the team, but it does mean Kendall needs to step up and play harder since they're down to 8 players and that's the rotation they run.

Home

Whew. Back from ABQ at 2:30am. Now off to Greeley for a tournament.

Off to Albuquerque

My second trip down south, again for a SQL Saturday event. Once again I have a car of people, heading down. It's exciting to get going in 2014 with my first speaking gig, but also a little tense. My daughter has her first ranking tournament Sunday and I need to race back from Taos early to catch some of it. Gonna be a lot of driving this weekend.

Book #3 - Smoker

Atticus is hired by Sentinal to protect a celebrity in Smoker. It's an easy gig and he gets a little slack. When there's an attempt to kill the person, and he finds out the principal is a decoy, he's upset because supposedly the person he killed is one of "The Ten".

This is where we meet them, and meet Drama. I've read about her in Critical Space, but here we find out more about her, and the situation. Atticus realizes this isn't right. The hit was sloppy and he's worried. The principal is someone testifying in a tobacco trial, and he must work with Sentinal to protect the person.

It's OK, not great. I think the Kodiak group gets too scared too quick. It feels a little unrealistic, but who knows. From the writing, things progress too fast. We also see Drama holding Kodiak hostage in his apartment, a scene mentioned in later books.

A good read, and one that fills in pieces of the story, but not great.

Swimming Music and Gotta Charge

I ran out the battery on my Fitbit today. It somewhat sucked after swimming to come out and not have it working as I went to enter data and things didn't connect.

However it was nice to swim today with music. Swimming was good since it's been a few weeks. I decided to go and hit it at lunch and had a good workout. Went steady, doing 4x400.

I used my iPod shuffle, stuck on the goggles and had it playing in my ears the whole time. It definitely helped me relax and just work.

Sick

Delaney's down again. He went snow caving, and everyone said he was fine Saturday as the built igloos and slept. However he woke up sick Sunday and spent all day in the lodge. He didn't get to hike out and build his own shelter, though I'm glad he wasn't doing that when he got sick.

He slept most of Mon afternoon after I picked him up and missed yesterday, spending the day in bed. Today he was still sick, and it's his light day, so I let him stay home again. Need to get him better before school ramps up too fast.

Hot Yoga

Two days in a row. I didn't get out yesterday, and with some wind, decided not to go walking with the dogs. They were out with Tia a bit, so not a big deal. However, I did want to work out and when Tia said she was going to hit yoga, I decided to go.

I'd done the class Monday night  with no volleyball practice, and then again last night. Last night was slower, and easier, but still hot and a good workout. Felt good afterwards.

I think we're still on the weekend, tournament schedule, exhausted by 9 and ready for bed. I guess it's good as I have a few early mornings coming up.

Super Bowl

The Broncos are going. PFM. What more can you say?

I saw a few plays at volleyball and listened on the radio. Haven't seen much, but I'll watch the recording tomorrow.

Gonna be an exciting two weeks and final game.

Two Days of Volleyball

Boy, I'm tired. Yesterday I got up at 4:50, took Delaney to Elizabeth to drop him off for a Scout trip. I had to go early to get him oatmeal and batteries before they left. Once he was set, I headed home, grabbed Kendall, and then drove down to Monument for her first tournament.

We weren't sure what to expect, and it was interesting. A large, 4 court building in the foothills, on a beautiful day. The girls had the second game at 9, but it didn't start at 9.  Instead, as soon as the match before them finished, they were warming up. Tia had to feed horses and grab salads for girls, so she was late and missed the first match. It wasn't much, with our girls winning 2 games easily to take the match. Kendall sat the first, and then rotated in the second, getting a couple hits.

The plan was a break and then on again. The games ran quick again, and the second match, scheduled for 11, went off around 10. Again the girls played well, with Kendall getting a few nice hits, a couple mistakes, but not bad and another win. We were a little overconfident I think because the third match was tough.

We played a New Mexico team that beat us. It was close, but they beat us and that was tough. We played a tight second game and won to cause a third. The girls were really tight in the third game and it wasn't close. No tears, but they were upset. Kendall didn't play in the third match, being one of the newest girls to club volleyball.

It was a long drive home, but Kendall was OK. She understands she's learning, and also that this was a tough match to be in. I think she might have been a little relieved.

Today we were up early again. I had ordered sandwiches from Safeway, and Tia took Kendall down while I got the food and met her. We had an easy win the first match, and then played a team for the chance to be one of the two top seeds for the tournament. We played them close in the first game, which was encouraging. While watching them play earlier, we thought they were much better than us. We played well and took the second easily, by 10 points to set up a third. At 13-13, we just made a few mistakes and lost, but it was a good match for the girls. Kendall got in both the 2nd and 3rd games and played as well as the others. Some mistakes, some good things.

We moved to the tournament portion in the afternoon, playing the 4th place team in the other division (we were 3rd) and going down early, but winning both going away. That puts us in an early game tomorrow for 5th place in the tournament. We were a few points, a few less service errors from being in the top 4.

An experience for sure.

Tiring and exhausting. I came home to 3mi walks both days as the dogs were cooped up all day. Hopefully tomorrow will be shorter and better.

Interesting Solar post

I ran across Adrian Cockcroft's blog for work, and then saw he had done some solar posting. This was a good summary to see. Solar power for the house, with electric car charging. He has a post with his setup, which is interesting. Given that he's in the Bay Area (granted east), I'd think we'd do as well or better.

However PG&E is better about solar than our little dinky power company. It's something we think about at times. I suspect insulation and perhaps a heat pump situation might work better, but there's no easy or cheap way to get started for us.

Still, something to dream about.

Sanding in the Snow

I got up fairly early yesterday (for a Sunday) intending to get some work done before football. My first plan was to get the top off Tia's horse teeter-totter and replace it with new bracing. There was a hole in the old one where a horse had stepped through.

I pulled out the nails, using two hammers to pry them up. It was slow, but in the cold, and light wind, I managed to get them all out in 30-45 minutes and the top off. I cut that up and threw it away. No saving that piece of wood.

The old frame had long braces along the thirds, and a few cross braces, but very few. I had thought there wasn't much bracing underneath, and I'd bought a bunch of wood.

I decided to add more cross braces. I measured, and cut, a bunch of wood, screwing these in. I seemed like a good idea, and I got one of the thirds done.

However as I cut the pieces from my 10ft board (should have opened this and gotten 8ft boards), it started to snow. And blow. By the end, as I was trying to screw things in, I was slightly miserable, so I knocked off. I did add 2 additional braces between each one, which gives me about 6" unsupported. Hoping that works well.

However I didn't stop. I pulled out the sports rack into the lee by the open garage door, broke out the sander, and proceeded to burn through 4 pads trying to get it smooth and ready to stain. I think it was ready to stain, but it got cold and with football on, decided not to stain it right then. Perhaps this week at night.

Volleyball

A good night last night with Kendall, playing volleyball at the rec center. We warmed up a bit, and then joined a pick up game, with a bunch of adults and kids. It was a more "real" game than some we've had where there were kids that couldn't really play.

We had some fun, worked, but not too hard until the game broke up after 7. Kendall wasn't done and wanted to spike a bit, so she went over with 3 or 4 other girls that a parent was setting to and hit some balls. A few long ones, but some good ones and she was swinging hard. Good to see.

Afterwards our Sunday night tradition of Colongas Pizza. Caesar Salad for her and ravioli for me. Not the best diet, but I hadn't had a lot of calories before that.

Ski Rack

Added ski holders to my rack today, and putty'd the screw holes.

I'm thinking to sand the entire thing tomorrow, with good weather, and then start staining it. From there, I'll have to clean up the garage a bit to find a space and we'll have winter stuff, and baseball stuff, organized.

A Different Day

Yesterday was ski day for Tia and I. I dropped off kids at school, with Kendall going to a friend after and Delaney ready to walk home. We headed up to the mountains, intent on a ski day this week before our 2 day adventure at Vail next week.

It was windy as we headed up and we were a little worried. However it was clear, and we thought we'd stick to more sheltered trails. However as we got to the Eisenhower tunnel, traffic stopped. It was windy, snow coming down making visibility bad, and the tunnel was likely closed because the Loveland pass was closed. When that happens, traffic stops both ways for big trucks to go through alone in case of issues. With I-70 having a lot of traffic, this can result in lots of delays.

Tia was a little worried about the poor visibility as she gets motion sick (she bailed on me last year one day) and also about falling. I was slightly worried as well as I didn't want to get hurt either. We were at the Loveland exist, so we pulled over for a minute to talk and decided to bail. We could have a day together, without chancing injury.

So we drove back. A quick stop for lunch near our old house in Highlands Ranch and then we went to see a movie. American Hustle was the choice, which Tia saw with the boys last week, but loved it. I enjoyed it, and it wasn't what I expected. I'll have to watch it again on video some day as I had to duck out 2 times to use the restroom. The Fitbit and water are getting to me at times.

Afterwards we headed home, split up to each run an errand with a kid, and then grabbed Delaney to come to town. We told him we'd watch Lone Survivor with him, but we wanted to do yoga first. It was Tia's first yoga class back and it was good, though hard. Lots of twists, which are tough. I was going to try side crow, but I couldn't even imagine how I'd get my legs up and balanced. Maybe another time.

Afterwards the first show was sold out, but we drove to another theater, got their early, stood in line, joking with each other, and saw an amazing movie. I'd seen an interview with the real guy, and it was amazing. People were talking at times, but I was enthralled. I knew the whole story and most of the sequence, but it was still amazing. Touching photos of those lost at the end and applause from the audience.

A great day.

Losing Weight

With my knee, I've been trying a number of things, including losing weight. Just before Christmas I weighed myself one day at 230.

Yikes!

That's high. At least 10lbs, and perhaps 15 more than I'd like. I wish I could get down to 210, but at my age and with my life, I'm not sure that's possible right now. However, I do want to get better. The Fitbit has been helping, making me think about what I'm eating and when, along with the water I drink.

I'm not anal, or exact in terms of the food items I punch in, and I tend to leave coffee and diet soda out, though I know that those aren't the best things for me. However, if you look at the last two weeks, I've done a good job or burning more calories (roughly) than I eat (roughly).

I'm down to 226.4 today, which is a nice set of progress for me. I don't feel much smaller, and haven't seen much change in clothes, but this is a good trend.

The Case of the Sore Knee

My knee has bothered me a long time. For awhile it was unstable, and I struggled to move left or right sharply without it "wiggling", which brought about intense pain for a few minutes. I learn in softball and baseball not to take off without turning and shifting weight first. I got by for years, but the last year it's been painful. Hard to fly, hard to drive. At times, I've had to stop the car and get out for a few minutes just to move it.

Yesterday I went to the surgeon and got the results of my MRI. The ACL is ruptured, an old injury, and while there's no arthritis, the level of activity I've had has him concerned. Not to mention I've got "jumper's knee", basically tendonitis of the patellar tendon.

He can fix it. He recommends surgery to do an ACL repair, and at the same time he'd do some therapy on the patellar area. Either PRP or prolotherapy. I talked with my brother, and he agrees this would probably be better. Without this, I will likely hasten the deterioration of the knee, ache, have arthritis earlier, etc.

So I'm thinking to do it. The hard part now is finding a hole in my schedule where I can take 4 weeks off without flying. I'll have to skip a few events I was slated to attend. I'm glad I'm semi-committed already since I don't want to do this until ski-season is over, so I'm looking at April or May.

Surprisingly I wasn't too upset. I highly dislike the idea of surgery, but Tia went through this and while it was hard, she's come back fine. This also explains a lot and helps me to understand why things have been hurting. It also means that despite all the snowboarding, the black belt training, the running, the baseball, etc., it was the increased volleyball jumping and movement that has made it worse. The lack of the ACL is probably why the patella is irritated, so at least now I know.

It's good to know, and this should be much smoother than Tia's surgery. However, we'll see.

Book #2 - Finder

The second book in the Atticus Kodiak series, Finder takes place a few months after Keeper. Atticus is working a nightclub when he sees a girl he knows come in. It's a bondage club, and this girl is 15. He gets her out, and she disappears. It's a girl from his past and he can't let it go.

She's the daughter of a Colonel he protected. She says he's abusing her, but when Atticus goes to his house, the old man is sick, with AIDS. He's being lied to. When she's brought back by a few SAS men, and Atticus learns there's a rouge brick (platoon of SAS), he suspects the worst. When the Colonel asks him to protect his daughter, he's really worried. The SAS are the best of the best.

It's a protection gig, where Atticus once again gets friends and Natalie to help. There's an attack and he almost loses the girl, but then she runs. From there it's a twisty turn of plot changes that confuse us as much as Kodiak. In the end it's just sad. A sad way to end the book.

However it answers questions about things in later books.

Wow

Great design: The Gallery House

Kitchen Time Savers

A bit of a place holder, but since I like to cook, I wanted to post these kitchen time saver videos. They’re on a lot of subjects, but they’re useful. I already used the orange one on a grapefruit and am looking forward to having an excuse to use the green pepper technique.

Kitchen Hacks

Volleyball Tournament

It was a friendly this past Saturday, meaning that we played teams for fun, not for any ranking. They kept score, but mostly so there was some bound around the game. It didn’t mean much, though as kids are known to do, the girls were excited when they won.

And they did win. Only 8 of our 9 girls were there, but it worked out fine. They were sitting around together at lunch above.

Kendall plays on the 13 Elite team, which is the top team. The teams that were playing Saturday were:

• 12 Elite
• 13 Elite
• 13 National (B or 2s team)
• 14 National

Since many girls hadn’t played before, this was a chance to get them familiar with the format and duties at the tournaments. First up was getting them to line up, in numerical order, and walk out to wave at judges and crowds. In our practice facility we’re at the ends of the court, but normally we’d be along the sides.

Then play began. Early, too early, but we made it. We had to be there at 8, first game at 9. The girls had a chance to warm up while parents sipped coffee and everyone got some rules and code of conduct talks.

The first game was 13E v 12E. The 12s practice alongside us during the week and while they aren’t bad, they aren’t really any match for the 13s. Our team is strong and we ran away with the first game, 25-12 or so, and while there was a stretch in the second game where the 12s got up by 3 or 4, we came back to win in a similar lopsided fashion.

Kendall plays front row, which means she’s up front on the left, rotating to the right, and then usually comes out when she rotates to serve, or she’ll serve, but rotate out before she’s playing defense in back. You can see her below in the center.

She likes center hitter, but sometimes she switches outside. The first game had her in center, which was good, but she was outside hitter in the second two matches. Here she’s switching to the spot she likes.

After the first match, Kendall had lines and a break during the next hour and I went to get coffee. I got back to watch the second match, against the 13N team. They weren’t better and there were 2 lopsided wins again for the 13E team. Then Kendall had lunch there, but I left to run an errand and get lunch. I hadn’t packed my own lunch, more worried about Kendall, so I had to go out.

I came back for the match against the 14N team, watching with Tia who made it through the snow. It should have been a better test, but we saw the 12E win a game on the 14s before the 14s took the match. We weren’t too worried about the 14s. They’re bigger, all reaching above the net, and can hit hard, but they don’t always get into position to make hits and they certainly make mistakes.

The games were closer, but Kendall’s team took both of them again to finish the day 6-0. They looked good, and while they weren’t that tested, they picked up some good digs and saves, worked together, and had some good hits. I got a little video of Kendall serving and hitting. I liked how she used the time before her serve (a ref delay) to practice, and her hitting looks good.

Kendall Hitting and Serviing

 

All in all, a good, but long day. I can see how the tournaments will wear us out. Especially as I’ll be coming home some Saturday nights before heading out early on Sunday.

Books in 2013

I think it was 80, at least, that’s the best count I have. Lots of re-reads, with me enjoying some books and trying to watch my budget for new ones. I re-read the Vince Flynn series, and was saddened by his passing. I started through Hyperion again, and tackled some new sci-fi authors that I really enjoyed.

Overall I found myself avoiding lots of non-fiction this past year. Maybe because I was so busy? I’m not sure, but in any case, I want to get back to some more real life books in 2014. I’ll also try and get to a few classics as well.

I’ve got some paper and some electronic ones for 2014 already, with a gift card that purchased 4 already in the new year.

Book #1–Keeper

I almost bought Keeper a few years ago, but wanted it in the Kindle edition and was waiting. It never came out, so I bought it for myself for Christmas and finished it on Jan 2.

It’s the first Atticus Kodiak book and it wasn’t what I expected. It’s raw, and it’s in the middle of his story. He has a business protecting people, Natalie works for him, but he opens with a trip to an abortion clinic with a girlfriend. While he’s there, the doctor that runs it wants to hire him as she’s been threatened before a conference.

He is busy and torn, but when the protesters become threatening and he meets the doctor’s daughter, he decides to take the job.

It’s a wild ride, as they try to protect the doctor, investigate some of the protestors at the same time, and get to the conference. We meet Bridget for the first time (as does Atticus) and there’s so much tension with every scene. What will happen next.

It’s an emotional ride, and certainly brings to light a less mature Atticus than the one I read about in Critical Space.

A Great Day at Keystone

After our Christmas Day skiing adventure, we decided on another one yesterday. Kyle had the day off, so I switched my vacation and Tia moved lessons so we could all go up. It was a slow start, but we got going and drove up on a beautiful, calm, sunny day. A little chilly in the 20s, but I felt great once we got going.

We split up at first since the boys wanted to do some blues and Kendall wasn’t ready. I took her and we did a nice run down Schoolmarm. She was doing great, and didn’t fall once. We stopped at the lift 2/3 of the way down and came back up.

We did that again, and she only had one fall. It wasn’t bad, and not really her fault. She was coming and doing her S-turns and a lady turned towards her (below her) as she was coming around. She made a quick turn back, and would have missed the lady if they lady had not panicked and stopped. Kendall was almost stopped, but bumped into her and they both went down. Fortunately everyone was OK.

It looked like Tia and the boys had fun, and we met them up for lunch.

Afterwards Kendall said she’d try a blue, so we picked an easy one and went down. She did well. A couple falls, but not bad and she was fine. We did one more green and she was done. With a little money, she went off to find a fire and coffee while the 4 of us went up.

Delaney’s become quite a good snowboarder, and was going fast. I kept up with him, faster than I wanted with my knee, but not bad. We traded leads, getting 2/3 of the way down one of the faster blues, but it was icy. At one point we stopped, waiting for Tia and Kyle and I snapped the picture. After 5-10 minutes, we got worried and were texting. Tia said they were fine and to just go.

Too icy for them and I understand. I hit a big patch of ice at one point and almost wiped out. Delaney saw me and slowed down, avoiding it. Once we heard from them, Delaney and I headed down, and back up, racing down again in the early evening and lights. It was definitely more challenging going down at night, which felt funny. I skied at night so much in college but don’t like it now. I guess because I can’t see well.

A good day, though a sore knee that ached on the drive home. I sat in bed with a heating pad while Tia and the boys went to a movie.

Puttering

After sleeping in, and watching Tia at her first lesson, I decided to get some woodworking done. The first step was to get the heater running as it was cold. I closed up the garage and got things running, and as the garage warmed up, I started to get set up to fix the shelf on my storage unit. It didn't quite fit, and as I forced it a bit, it got stuck. So much for my accuracy at cutting.

I decided to just cut out the shelf, saving piece for vertical supports. The jig saw made short work of it and I was ready to proceed, except for one problem: no wood.

I packed up Uma in the truck and hit Home Depot for a couple supplies. We got back and I trimmed the shelf to fit. I realized a few mistakes. The one side dado was too thin, the back didn't quite line up, and the case had a bit of taper to it. I suspect I cut a piece somewhere that wasn't straight, and as a result, the 43 1/4" front tapered to 43" wide at the rear. Once I cut it, and notched one side, it went in find. A few screws, and a few more cuts and I had my horizontal shelf, along with two vertical supports.

My design was complete. I didn't have the phone, but I'll take pictures tomorrow.

Then I set about trimming the front. I had pieces that I cut to size, with 45 degree miters on each end. Things were good, and the once side where the bottom stuck out, I cut a thin, 1/16" piece that I glued there. Since the top was fine, I used a sander to taper the thickness of that piece, and soon everything looked good. I glued and nailed it together.

It was still early, so I decided to get a couple more things done. I turned the chocolate and Cinnamon pieces I needed for pens to round and stopped. I'd gotten CA glue as there's a slight crack in one piece, but it wouldn't come out, so I decided to quit there. With the last of the day's light coming in the window as I watched a blizzard roll in, I turned a piece of olive wood to make a pizza cutter handle. I added a knob at the top and bottom, but am not quite sure it's thin enough. I'll measure tomorrow based on the one we have, but for now I decided to call it a day.

A productive day, and I'm looking forward to getting the ski racks on the unit tomorrow night or Friday and staining it this weekend.

New Years

Not as quiet as I wanted, but not too busy a night. After a day of work for me and Tia, we headed to Dave and Busters to meet friends for dinner and games. It was quiet, and once again kids can stay all night, but we had already planned to knock off early, so we did. We ate, chatted, played some games, and then it was time to head back around 10:45.

We stopped off at a friend's house, where it was quiet. 4 couples (I think) and a bunch of kids, but tame and subdued. We played a little Taboo and had a couple drinks. The kids hung out, but after awhile, Delaney wanted to play pool, so I went down with him and we shot a few games. I taught him a game I remembered from being a kid, where we put 9 in the center and a ball at each pocket. It was a fun game, and challenging.

As I showed Delaney a few tricks, he started to get the hang of shooting and got better. His early frustration started to become some pride as he made shots. Kendall joined us for a bit and we all played a little until about 1 when we headed home.

A good night and fun, but late. I was glad I got to sleep in today.