The Broncos and Invesco Field…..why I won’t come back
I listened to Colin Cowherd's show on ESPN radio on the way to work today. He was talking about the drop in attendance at NFL games. His main reason was the poor marketing effort by the NFL has led to a less than pleasant live experience. That and the fact that the NFL does such a good job with broadcasting that there is little reason to come to live games anymore. I could not agree more. We moved to Colorado a few years ago and have been a Bronco fan since the Elway years. Last year my wife bought us tickets to the Broncos-Raider games. Though not a horrible experience, I would never bring my family there. Rude, rowdy people is expected in a rivalry game. But it's the way the Invesco Field treated us that soured the whole experience. After sitting in the cold, getting beer splatter, and listening to guys curse at each other for over two hours, we decided to head out. On the way out, we passed a gift shop and decided to go in and pick up some presents for our kids. A young blonde girl and a large guy who work at the store stepped in front of us to block our way. They said "we are closed. Shoo. Shoo. Go away" and laughed at us. I don't ever remember being treated so rudely. I called the next day to the store and spoke with the manager. My feeling is that no one cares. This seem to he culture at Invesco field and the NFL. Rude, obnoxious people. I have not been to another game and have not watched another game on TV since. Some times success gets to people's head and they forget who got them there. Roger, if you want a bunch of drunk, rude people at your games, that's fine. That's how it is now. But gone are the days where families go to games together. Colin's right. It's a bad experience. Families tend to spend more. Family is where you get the future NFL fans. If kids don't watch football, then there will be less football fans in the future. Of course, the NFL doesn't give a rat's @#@. College football, now that's wholesome family fun.
Operation Mole-asses deployed
Delayed a couple of days out of respect for the neighbor's wedding party. Nothing like 100 guests showing up and seeing 12 mouse traps in the yard.
OK. First, prep the trap. I saw on youtube that a mouse strap would spring up when triggered unless it was nailed down. Using my new table top drill press, holes were made in each trap and a nail was passed through.
Mmmmm. . . . . now who can resist peanut butter.
Traps are set at the planned locations.
Who CAN resist peanut butter. It's now 8:00pm. All the traps are deployed. Time to sit back and watch.
Saturday morning BJJ
Bill is back from Cali and we have a large class today. Not too much new techniques, but lots of time to roll. I'm shaking off some of the effects of over training and am starting to feel like my old self again. I've stopped losing so much weigh and actually started to pack on some muscle the last few weeks. In fact, a couple of people commented that I may be on steroids!! How hilarious is that? I'll take it as a compliment. Some of my older training buddies are back from the summer as well. Went about 5 rounds today. I'm still not great with stamina yet. But I feel that I'm much more aware and am not getting into trouble as much. Still have a hard time mounting much offense though. I often know what I'm supposed to do, but have a hard time with the execution. I'm missing a bit here and there. I stayed after class and work with a buddy to get some of the moves down. Amazing how just a bit of a change in angle can make such a difference. I'm still expending a bit too much energy. One a good note, I don't have much problem passing guard anymore!!! This is a major break through for me. In all, a great BJJ day. Now go home, go to a dinner party, and hopefully have time to watch a very interesting UFC card tonight.
Operation Mole-asses
I'm generally a peaceful person. But when some one, or some thing, comes to my home and tries to tear it apart, it's time for war!!
The background: We've been desperate to grow our garden for the past few years. Nothing wants to grow here. The weather is harsh: dry, hot, hight altitude. Add to it all the problems we've had with our landscapers and you can understand how much we appreciate any sort of growth in our garden. We are not the only one who appreciate decorative vegetation. Some one or something has similar tastes and have been invading our garden. In previous year, we see evidence of such invasion here and there. I didn't mind sharing some of the fruits of our labor. As the saying goes, give an inch and they take a mile!
The evidence: Extensive investigations have found undeniable evidence of the massive destruction caused by these invaders. The burrow pattern and the mound suggest not one, but two types of invaders: the mole and the vole!
Some may think that they are cute, but trust me, they are incredibly destructive and have not remorse what so ever for their action. They have completely wiped out our entire rose garden. They don't respond to reason and will stop at nothing until they turn our yard into their own. I've yet to encounter either the mole or the vole in person. They are very stealthy and seems to come out only when they know we are sleeping. But the evidence is typical of a mole-vole double team and is more than sufficient to justify a response.
The plan: Operation Mole-asses is an all out effort to destroy the enemy using all known method. To physically destroy and mentally cripple the enemy. My research has concluded that a half ass effort will only bring further resistance and lead to loss of moral from our troops. Furthermore, prolonged warfare may lead to defeat in the court of public opinion from our neighbors.
The battle ground: Below is the map of the battleground
The enemies probably came from the golf course border. We failed to dig a deep enough edge to secure the border and is now paying to price. They trickled in at first, now there's a 5 lane highway straight into our yard.
Location 1: The strong hold. This is our front yard. Lots of flower and stuff for them to eat. No less than 5 mounds here. I see fresh dirt everyday.
Location 2: Their main traffic hub. Seems like all paths cross here
Location 3: The original outpost. The enemies were first spotted here. Not too much damage. Last year when I first spotted some of their movements, I was willing to let them have this region. Now I'm regretting that decision. There is evidence to show that this is the main migratory stop from the golf course
Location 4: The battle front. They are extending into the back yard. More and more trails every day.
Arsenal:
1. Bean. Our dog.
Always hungry and will chase anything that moves. Has a good battle record in terms of digging out mole holes. He's torn our yard up in several places. He does have a weakness in that he has a soft heart. He would never hurt anything. My suspicion is that he may have a tendency to play with the enemy. I'm hoping that the enemy is not aware of this and that his constant barking and digging is a deterrent.
2. Other weapons:
Battle plan:
1. Block the supply route (#3 on the map): goal is to stop reinforcements. Use mole repellents and 2 peanut butter loaded traps here.
2. Destroy the enemy home base (#1 on the map): destroy and disrupt what the enemy considers a safe haven. Set bird seed here to draw the enemy out. Once above ground, the enemy will be surrounded by 8 peanut butter loaded traps. Poisoned peanuts will be scattered as well if the enemy chose doesn't care for the sticky texture of the peanut butter. Much of the success here will depend on the rumored fact that voles and moles like peanuts.
3. Disrupt the main traffic hub (#2 on the map): set 2 traps here to block traffic to and from the home base.
4. Block the escape route (#4 on the map): you never want the enemy to retreat along a familiar path. Forcing them down this route, a route that is new, will lead to confusion. They are less likely to be able to regroup for an organized response. Deploy Bean to this area as the final blow to the fleeing enemy.
5. Inflict psychological damage to prevent re infestation: Leave a few dead bodies of enemy around to remind the survivors. The abundance of bird seeds will also attract birds, with voles and moles hate. Additionally, the confusion between what's poisoned food and what's safe food will be too much for the enemy to handle on a day to day basis. The constant stress will force them to look to rebuild elsewhere. Such as in our neighbor's yard.
Traps are set for deployment at 8 pm MST tonight. Estimated time to achieve goal: 1 week. Reports to follow.
Hen hao
Two more months until our trip to Taiwan. My BJJ still sucks, but my Mandarin is making some progress. Fluenz is actually pretty effective. As usual, the dialect is different between mainland Mandarin and Taiwanese Mandarin. This program teachs mainland Mandarin. The program is very intensive. Aside from pronunciation and work recognition, it also teach pinyin. At first, I hated this step. I find it very tedious. There are four basic symbols that helps with the sound, they are a pain to type in. But after a while, I find myself remembering words and phrases much better. This program is also a bit different from Rosetta Stone's program in that it does not use speech recognition to check for proper pronunciation. Not sure how useful that'd be. Doesn't matter too much for me. My wife is Taiwanese and she corrects my pronunciation when ever necessary. I can only take about 10 minutes of exercise everyday before my brain melts. But I try to do that 10 minutes no matter how busy I am with other stuff. So far, I'm through lesson 4. Four out of 40. That's on the first DVD. There are 3 DVDs. Why did I buy all three volumes?
Think traffic is bad where you live?
I live in Colorado Springs, and always get a kick when folks here complain about traffic. There is no traffic here!! Check out this article from Yahoo news, now that's a traffic jam:
"BEIJING – A massive traffic jam in north China that stretches for dozens of miles and hit its 10-day mark on Tuesday stems from road construction in Beijing that won't be finished until the middle of next month, an official said.
Bumper-to-bumper gridlock spanning for 60 miles (100 kilometers) with vehicles moving little more than a half-mile (one kilometer) a day at one point has improved since this weekend, said Zhang Minghai, director of Zhangjiakou city's Traffic Management Bureau general office.
Some drivers have been stuck in the jam for five days, China Central Television reported Tuesday. But Zhang said he wasn't sure when the situation along the Beijing-Zhangjiakou highway would return to normal.
The traffic jam started Aug. 14 on a stretch of the highway that is frequently congested, especially after large coalfields were discovered in Inner Mongolia, Zhang said. Traffic volume has increased 40 percent every year.
Drivers stranded in the gridlock in the Inner Mongolia region and Hebei province, headed toward Beijing, passed the time sleeping, walking around, or playing cards and chess. Local villagers were doing brisk business selling instant noodles, boxed lunches and snacks, weaving between the parked trucks on bicycles.
Though there were no reports of road rage violence, drivers complained about price-gouging by villagers who were their only source of food and water. A bottle of water that normally costs 1 yuan (15 cents) was selling for 10 yuan ($1.50), while the price of a 3 yuan- (45 cent-) cup of instant noodles had more than tripled, media reports said.
"A boxed lunch is 10 yuan ($1.50), and one box isn't enough for me," China National Radio cited a driver surnamed Lu as saying. "I'm spending up to 50 yuan (about $7.50) a day on food. It's more expensive than eating in a restaurant."
The highway construction in Beijing that is restricting inbound traffic flow and causing the jam "will not be finished until Sept. 17," Zhang said.
Authorities were trying to speed up traffic by allowing more trucks to enter Beijing, especially at night, Zhang said. They also asked trucking companies to suspend operations and advised drivers to take alternate routes.
China's roadways are increasingly overburdened as the number of private vehicles booms along with commercial truck traffic hauling materials like coal and food to cities. Traffic slowdowns because of construction and accidents are common, though a 10-day traffic jam is unusual even in China. "
Can you learn BJJ without homework?
I've been going to class regularly at the rate of 2-3 days a week. Bill's out of town so we did something different. After warming up, we did this drill where one person basically offer little resistance, the other does a take down and progress to a submission. We each did 2 cycles, 3 moves each. Real cool drill. First time I went for a double leg take down, then an armbar. Second time I did an arm drag take down, then a head and arm choke. Third time I did a single leg take down, progressed to a crucifix and choke. Second round I did a take down guillotine combo choke. Then I ran out of moves. Basically repeated the armbar and a triangle. We each take turn doing these moves one at a time, in front of the entire class. I did OK, but not very smoothly. Definitely need more work. Although I've been going to class, as soon as class was over, BJJ just wasn't on my mind. When I first started, I think BJJ all the time. Couldn't sleep some times. I'd watch videos, read books obsessively. Now I just pay attention in class, then out of mind. It really does make a big difference if I were to think about BJJ a bit more when not in class. It's just not possible to progress in this sport by going to class alone. At least not for me. I think I have some homework to do if I'm not going to embarrass myself in Taipei.
Rhino3D/Madcam
I can start to see the completion of at least my first cnc machine within the next couple of months. The smaller one is definitely getting done first. I've learn so much in regards to construction of these machines. Steppers, servos, break out boards, etc. Also important to me was I learned the resources that were available. I never thought I'd chat with a manufacturer in China about anything. Say what you want about Chinese quality, trade deficits, etc., but they are an invaluable asset. I chatted with Jolie from Wantai Motor regarding a custom shaft for a set of stepper motors. The language barrier and mannerism takes some getting used to. My Mandarin, what little I learned, did not help at all. They mainly speak Cantonese. Anyways, I got 3 small motors, custom modified shaft, shipped for $129. I'd love to keep the job over here in the US, especially in this economy. I'd even pay more. Twice as much. But the problem is that no one wants to even talk to me for such a small order. Keep that in mind when we knock the Chinese.
Speaking of Chinese made products, I purchased a bench top band saw to cut stock to reasonable size, and a bench top drill to make straight taps. I could easily have my friend help me out with these steps, but I hate depending on people for anything. Plus, now I have a couple of nice toys for not too much (midnight sales tonight). Plus, I'll be learning a new set of skills.
As I mentioned before, the toughest part of this process will be to learn the software that makes the machine run. Here's how this process works.
CAD software draws the object --- CAM software translates this object into tool paths ---- Mach3 takes the tool path info and generates pulses through the parallel port that causes the motor to move the cutting head to cut the object. I spent today learning Mach3. What a great program. Brilliant in its simplicity and execution. It is pretty much the standard for DIY machines. There's a great tutorial on the Artsoft website that is very useful to get going with the software. If you don't want to spend $150, EMC2 is free and available on the Linux platform. I looked at it, then decided that Mach3 is worth every penny.
Mach3 was the easy choice. Choosing a CAD/CAM combo is very complex. I've chosen Rhino3D and Madcam. I'll explain how I came up with this combo. The choice for CAD software is truly bewildering. There must be dozens and dozens out there. 2D, 3D, parametric, etc... To make things more complex, you have to make sure that there is a matching CAM program. One that integrates well with the CAD. The CAM software choice is just as complex. 2D, 2.5D, 3D, three, four, five axis. Here's the logical way to make a wise decision. First, decide if you want 2D or 3D. Pretty straight forward. Second, set a budget. CAD programs alone easily run in the thousands. I almost puked when I looked at some of the prices. But, if you or your spouse, friend, children are students, there are lots of programs that have special education pricing. Solidworks, for example, cost at least $5k, but with a student ID, you can get it at academicsuperstore.com for $129. This is the the best, the industry standard 3d parametric CAD program. Which brings up the next point in this decision tree, choose a program that is widely used. I looked at other programs like Alibre, Vectric, etc....they are all great, but they are not industry standards. Why is that important? Support. Try getting a book on Vectric. Go to Lynda.com and try a tutorial on Vectric. If you are new, you want to learn the package that has hundreds of books, tutorial, user groups, etc. With these reasons, why did I chose Rhino3D? Rhino is very similar to Solidworks, with one major exception...it's not a parametric modeler. That basically means that if you change the size on your model, you have to basically start over again. In Solidworks, if you change one dimension, the program adjusts the other dimensions. If you want to make that chair 3 inches taller, the program adjusts the width, depth proportionately. Rhino is also more expensive!! really. It's $189 with educational pricing. The difference is that with Solidworks, you get a 13 month license for your $129. With Rhino, the license doesn't expire. Rhino is also just about as widely used as Solidworks. Probably the most important factor in choosing Rhino is the integrated CAM function with Madcam. Madcam works from withing Rhino to generate tool path. This tight integration makes life much simpler. Madcam can also do 4th and 5th axis milling. Plus, it is available for around $195 with the educational discount. A top notch 3D CAD/CAM combo that can do 4/5 axis milling for $400!!! There is no better value around. I couldn't find a decent CAM for Solidworks for under $1k. Why others don't offer education/hobby pricing is beyond me. For those who chose this route, I'd recommend signing up with Lynda.com and do the tutorial. You get almost 5 hours of training for $25!!! Finally, I'm making some financial sense!!!
Nuts and bolts
This CNC project is turning out to be more tedious than I expected. I'm trying to use off the shelf parts to save some time and money. That plan works out about 1/2 the time. If I can get things just right, I'd save about 20% in time and money on this project. That coupler and the coupler holder is supposed to fit together. Well, didn't turn out that way. Off by 1mm. I'm having a friend bore it out a bit. It's good to know a machinist if you are into this hobby. Because I can see myself needing the help of a machinist for lots of little parts, I'm thinking about building a smaller machine. Something quick and simple. And cheap. One that could cut out the parts for the big machine. Hopefully save on the cost of the machinist. He'd probably quit anyways after working with me. I had plans for a smaller machine anyways. Using the big machine to build a small machine. Sort of replicating itself to a smaller scale. Building a smaller machine first would make more sense, but it just seem like choosing the egg first in the classic 'chicken or the egg' argument. I always thought the chicken came first. Oh well.
Family night out
It's been a long, long while since we tried rock climbing. I remembered that it's a great exercise. Lots of strength and concentration. We haven't climbed since my wife was pregnant with our first baby. Now that we are done with Krav, it's time to fill Tuesday and Thursdays with something fun for everyone. It's a short night, however everyone had fun. My son, who is generally very cautious, climbed up about four feet. He's so excited that he's going to wear his climbing shoes to preschool next week. Yes, that's his porcupine stuff animal that he brought along in his chalk bag. My wife and I had a great time watching the kids run around. I think back when I was five, I had to sell lemonade at an outdoors market to help my mom make ends meet. Tonight I feel blessed and felt proud that my children don't have to do that.
I tried a couple of 5-7 paths. Made it pass some overhangs. Although my grip is not great, all the weight that I've recently lost made a huge difference. I can pull myself up on just about anything. What a great forearm work out. I can sense some synergy with BJJ here.