Here are some highlights of the last two weekends’ mountain biking adventures in Brazil.
Commentary on FailPoint
This little gem is from my colleague. It clearly illustrates the present status of telecommunications in Vermont, and probably the rest of northern New England.
200 Squats – Completed
Last night as I prepared to do my final exhaustion test before strting week 6 of the 200 squats challenge, I decided to just go all out. In my previous tests, I’d always stopped short of really exhausting myself, so I decided this time would be different.
It was. I finished them. Straight to 200. Actually, I may have done 215. I lost count around 160 and it could have been 170, so I did 15 more for good measure.
Now, I shall spend the rest of the day on the couch.
Book Review: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Last month, at the suggestion of a friend, I read The Road
My New Bujin Bokken
My new bokken from Bujin Design just arrived. I opted for the hickory jigenryu style, and chose the smallest one I could get because I really like having a lighter, nimbler sword.
Shobu Aikido Vermont Summer Gasshukku with William Gleason Sensei
This weekend I had the pleasure of training with William (Bill) Gleason Sensei, who taught several classes at our dojo in Woodstock, Vermont. Gleason Sensei has been incorporating more techniques to develop internal control and power into his teachings, which is still new to me, and very interesting. I am looking forward to more of this training in the near future.
IT Spending in an Economic Slowdown
A couple of months ago, I heard a fellow podcaster state that in this economy, it’s a good idea to try to get vendors of IT equipment and services to give their best price because they’re willing to make deals. While I agree with the sentiment, on one level, I am a bit disturbed. Continue reading “IT Spending in an Economic Slowdown”
40th Anniversary of Osensei Morihei Ueshiba's Passing
On April 26, 1969, Morihei Ueshiba, best known as the Founder of Aikido and referred to by aikidoka as? ?sensei (“Great Teacher”) and , died at the age of 85. ?sensei’s legacy lives on today, as Aikido is practiced around the world, with his students and their students continuing to hand down his teachings.
Scam of the Day: Stimulus Payment, Python, Pants, and Bombing.
This one just came in via my mom. I consider myself fortunate enough to have a mom who can recognize a good scam when she sees one.
And, on that note, is anyone else reeling from astounding spike in spam over the last couple of weeks? I mean everywhere, from email to IM to Skype, to blogs and other web forms. Everything from these scams to the traditional 419 to a “python in my pants.”
Side note:
Dear Spammer, please take note: I used to handle boa constrictors and have no desire to have a python in my pants.
Thanks,
Peter
Thought of the day: can we route the military to do something useful, like bombing spammers? Thanks.
------- Forwarded message follows ------- Return-Path: <[email protected]> Received: from smx74.sover.net (smx74.sover.net [209.198.112.154]) by spot.sover.net (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id n05JZW0F066421 for <[email protected]>; Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:35:32 - 0500 (EST) (envelope-from [email protected]) Received: from post.nvozrast.ru (post.nvozrast.ru [212.44.139.147]) by smx74.sover.net (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id n05JZVbQ008350 for <[email protected]>; Mon, 5 Jan 2009 14:35:32 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from [email protected]) Message-Id: <[email protected]> Received: from User ([87.198.234.70]) (authenticated user [email protected]) by post.nvozrast.ru; Mon, 5 Jan 2009 22:34:35 +0300 From: "Internal Revenue Service"<[email protected]> Subject: Stimulus Payment form it's ready for you to submit Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2009 19:32:47 -0000 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_00D3_01C2A9A6.2E79EE60" X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000 X-Bayes-Prob: 0.0001 (Score 0) X-Spam-Score: 2.60 (**) [Tag at 5.00] FORGED_MUA_OUTLOOK,L_T_COMBINED,MSGID_FROM_MTA_HEADER, MSGID_FROM_MTA_ID,UNDISC_RECIPS X-Spam-Milter-Status: No, hits=2.60 required=5.00 l=75 f=1 st=1 tests=FORGED_MUA_OUTLOOK,L_T_COMBINED,MSGID_FROM_MTA_HE ADER,MSGID_FROM_MTA_ID,UNDISC_RECIPS X-CanItPRO-Stream: sovernet:[email protected] (inherits from sovernet:default) X-Canit-Stats-ID: Bayes signature not available X-Scanned-By: CanIt (www . roaringpenguin . com) on 209.198.112.38 Status: X-Antivirus: AVG for E-mail 8.0.200 [270.10.2/1876] X-Antispam: NO; Spamcatcher 5.1.0. Score 2 X-PMFLAGS: 570949760 0 1 PV1H9GJ5.CNM After the last annual calculations of your fiscal activity we have determined that you are eligible to receive a Stimulus Payment. Please submit the Stimulus Payment Online Form in order to process it. A Stimulus Payment can be delayed for a variety of reasons. For example submitting invalid records or applying after the deadline. To submit your Stimulus Payment form, please download the document attached to your email. Note: If filing or preparation fees were deducted from your 2007 Refund or you received a refund anticipation loan, you will be receiving a check instead of a direct deposit. Regards, Internal Revenue Service
Medifast: Success Story. From 208# to 165# in Four Months
I just weighed in at 165.8. Take out the 8oz. coffee and 8oz. soup I ingested prior to weighing myself, and I am now officially under my target weight of 165#.
I win.