Hurry up HUNTING SEASON!!!

Next weekend can't arrive soon enough!! :)

Dad

Spent the morning with Dad and Miriam.
Thanks Crystal for letting yer Mom spend the morning with us.. Sure meant a lot. Hugs.
Thanks sis for being there.. You're an awesome sister.
Went to our favorite coffee/ breakfast place - Big City Cafe. Took a quick trip up to Lucky Peak Reservoir. Then I had to get to the airport.
We exchanged hugs. I squeezed/ hugged him good and tight..He cried.
He said it was probably the last time. I said I know.. I told him he was the best Dad a son could ever have. We both said I love you. I gave him a kiss on the cheek.. And said goodbye... He said, you know where I'm going. I said yeah.. Save me a seat. He said OK.

See ya later Steve

As you well know, Steve Jobs passed away yesterday.
What an awesome tribute he made to technology and communication, etc.
He changed the world.
I personally trust Apple computers over any other and own a HUGE one at home as well as iPhones for Heather and I.  They just work.  They don't crash, they don't get virus'and they don't give us any trouble whatsoever.
We're in hopes that the new CEO of Apple keeps the company rolling as it always has before.. smooth timely innovation.

I wanted to share this quote from Steve Jobs.

"Here's to the crazy ones.

The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in the square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can't do is ignore them. Because they change things.

They push the human race forward.

And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do........."

Disney World

This was the view from my hotel room balcony. I was in the 12th floor.. And that was only half way up!
A friend from the office and I gave presentations at a conference and had to suffer thru seafood and wine and sunshine for 3 grueling days.
But someone had to do it.. :D

Lost art of Sky Writing!

I was down in Orlando Florida the past few days.  I gave a presentation at a conference... you know.. boring stuff - especially when you're at Disney World.
While having dinner on the 27th floor penthouse restaurant of the hotel.. I looked out the window and saw a plane buzzing around.. he was sky writing.
Everyone gathered around and watched him spell... JESUS SAVES ALL in the sky!
It was cool...
I hadn't seen sky writing in a long time and this was a great message as well!
Blessings to you,
Mike

Connor's Haircut

Well.. school has begun for the kids again this year.  We went out and spent a FORTUNE on school supplies. Sheesh.  Anyway.. Connor looked in the mirror and said, "Dad, I need a haircut."

So Heather grabbed the scissors and cut it to about 1 inch long.. then I took the trimmers and did the rest.
He LOVES it and should have done this before our long hot summer.. but before school is good all the same.

Here are the BEFORE and AFTER shots.

  

Bytheway.. it's hard to see the 12" scar up the center of his chest.. it has healed very well and once he grows some chest hair it will be all but a memory... Praise the Lord.

Finished my Novel

Well, I finally finished reading the Lord of the Rings!  It took me a while for 2 reasons:  One, I'm not the fastest reader.. but have decided that this is OK since my retention is great. I can usually quote books and movies LONG after they are done/gone.  Secondly.. I read the entire Lord of the Ring (3book trilogy) on my iPhone!

Yep.

You can pick your font size, and I had it on a fairly nice reading size.. So.at this small scale there were well over 9000 pages!  The best part is this: I am always carrying my phone..so I could capture a couple pages here and there.. waiting in a line, sitting at a light, at lunch at work, or in bed just before knocking off to sleep. The convenience is what helped.

I have a friend that has read The Lord of the Rings about 9 times and he is planning to read it again.  Personally, I think this is excessive and don't plan to do the same.  

My plan is to read all the GOOD books that I skipped when I was in High School and continue to skip the bad ones.  =)  I figure life is too short to read bad books. 

My next novel is A Wrinkle in Time.  I have already started it and am getting excited about reading.. it's a pleasure I have only recently been reintroduced to. For sooo many years of my life, I have been too busy.  Time to chill out a little and enjoy some of the finer things in life - like relaxing and smelling the roses.

=)

Max the Hunter

Max, our totally killer cat.. actually does.

He was sitting on the porch the other day... staring intently at a squirrel.

Rosie, our dog, was watching them both from inside the house.

I mentioned the scene to Heather, watched Max take a few steps STALKING.. and then I turned back into the house.  I was actually laughing to myself about how silly Max was for going after a squirrel that was half way up a tree in our front yard.

A few minutes later, Heather and I headed out the back door.. and when we came walking around th side of the house... there was Max with a wriggling squirrel in his mouth!  Max had a glassy eyed look and continued to bite harder and frequently change his grip on the squirrel's neck. Finally... the squirrel stopped moving and Max gently set it on the ground.

Too cool watching instinct in action.  Truly a unique sight.

Anniversary Weekend - 3-YEARS

Team Taylor

 Heather and I decided to get out of town and celebrate our 3rd year Anniversary at a Bed & Breakfast... nothing new, we do it each year.

We found one in Virginia, about an hour North of Charlottesville... on a FARM!

The Brightwood Farm is a working farm.  They have chickens, goats, donkeys and a dogs guarding them.

They also grow herbs, grapes, elderberries and Lord only knows what else.

5 years ago, they converted an old hippy A-frame into a beautiful cottage. It has a view directly down the hill into the Robinson River, and was very cozy and fun.  We made fires in the woodstove, read out on the covered deck, cooked breakfast each day in the full kitchen (with the items in a huge basket that they provided).  We could have opted to have them bring breakfast to us, but had way more fun cooking.

The woodstove made it so hot one night we had to open windows to cool off and get back to sleep!

A tiny mouse, also staying in the cottage, ate the rest of a muffin I left out on the countertop.. but we never saw the little critter.

We went for a hike along skyline drive down to a waterfall.  We even had a chance to hike on the Appalachian trail for a bit.

The hike was beautiful and according to Heather, was uphill both ways!!!  I hadn't noticed, but now that she mentions it.. it was!

=)

We drove the hour down to Charlottesville for a wonderful dinner at the BoatHouse restaurant and had some steak that melted in our mouths! 

The owners of the farm gave us a bottle of elderberry wine that they had bottled themselves.

All in all.. it was a wonderful Anniversary trip... and I am very grateful for Heather and our 3years!

Here are just a few shots of the trip.. if you want to view more.. follow this link:

http://gallery.me.com/mikerthebiker#100465

Our Cabin

80' Waterfall

Team Taylor by the Stream

View from our back Deck!!!

Easter Eggs for Breakfast

We all had some great times decorating Easter Eggs this year and them eating them for breakfast on Sunday.

These are a couple if my eggs.. They look nicer in the INSIDE than they did on the outside! The technique used to get this to happen is simply to crack the shell (don't remove it) of the boiled egg before you begin adding the colors to the shell.

Fun was had by all!

Max knows SALMON

The other day I was out in the cool of the evening, enjoying a beer and grilling some Salmon.  And who happened along to sit with me and give me advice???   It was our very own MAX.. the gourmet chef cat.

He had a couple pointers of how hot the grille should be, how long I should leave the filets on each side.. and one very good tidbit about oil and spices (which I wrote down).

He is a VERY good cat, a great conversationalist and nearly talked me into giving him Heather's filet.

Phonetic Alphabet

I was in the military... and the military has figured out a solution for times when you are speaking over a staticy radio line from an icy mountain cliff side of north Norway in the Arctic circle.. sometimes you have to SPELL things so people understand you clearly. 
 Been there, done that.


So they have a VERY specific set of words that align to each letter of the alphabet; ie. Alpha=A, Bravo=B, Charley=C, etc.


I think everyone should learn these. The words were picked specifically from our English language because there are no other words in our language that could confuse the listener.


Anyway.. i say all this to say.. the Lady that sits near me at our office is our travel coordinator. She books planes all the time for everyone here at the office and OFTEN (read: daily) needs to SPELL people's names when purchasing airline tickets. Can't screw up or you don't get on the plane.


She has her own Phonetic Language that she has developed over the years.. and it is totally random and cracks me up. It also never repeats. So I hear her all the time with conversations like this... "Yes sir, That is S as in Screwball, A as in Ardvaark, R as in Rash and A as in Amniotic Fluid."


We all look at each other and try not to laugh every time she is on the phone.. The last one was C as in catastrophy.


=)
U as in Unbelieve. C as in catch a clue lady.


Here they are if you are interested: 
Alpha Bravo Charley Delta Echo Foxtrot Golf Hotel India Juliet Kilo Lima Mike November Oscar Papa Quebec Romeo Sierra Tango Uniform Victor Whiskey X-ray Yankee Zulu

Hunters in the Trees

Connor and Jack were up on the back deck with their BBGuns this past weekend. They are crack shots and can hit even small cans (green chili peppers) at 50yards.

Can you tell I'm a proud father???

They can't wait for the hunting season to arrive. I've told them it's not 'til quite a bit later in the year, and they don't mind, more time to practice!

Noland the Lizard

We welcome a new member to the family.. Noland, the Anole. He's an American Chameleon.

He only cost us $5.  Unbelievably good price for a cute little critter.  We were going to simply use the old fishtank in the garage for his little home.. But after purchasing some choice plants, rock ledge, climbing stick, water dish/ swimming pool, basking light, crickets (Noland's food), cricket house, cricket food and some moss... We're out $150.

Oh the joys of having pets!!!

10-Week program has begun!

Ok... let the pain begin!

I went ahead and purchased some weights this weekend to complete my home gym.

Got up at 4AM and stretched/warmed up for half an hour.. then opened my workout book to WEEK 1.

MONDAY.  

Every single exercise is listed (with a picture) for me.. I don't have to think.. just sweat!

The workout took me exactly one hour.  

My whole body hurts right now and will hurt more tomorrow.

Praise the Lord it's only Monday, Wednesday and Fridays (oh and some pain on Saturday for extra measure).

So I do get some recovery time.

Mom, thanks for reminding me about how most things in life (and I am speaking for myself here) start wonderful, and then taper off to diddly.

And thanks also for the 'blessings' and 'good luck!'.... I'm gunna need it.  

I am in hopes that this honestly is a 'life-change'.. not to be a power lifter or anything.. and not even an effort to get BIG.  But, more of a life change toward regular exercise and eating well... not the randomness that my life has been.

Thanks Miriam also for your encouragement and great ideas (before and after picture).  When this is over, I'll post them both!

And mostly.. Thank You Heather who has patiently helped me get things up and running, and has encouraged me every second of the way.. keep it comin'!  Now is when I need it the most.. or perhaps in a month.  

The program is 10weeks long... 'I've only just begun'.

Oh, great.. now I have that song in my head!

New Exercise Program - IMPACT TIME

I know what you are thinking... how on earth did Mike get so big so fast.
Well.. if you look closely.. this is NOT a picture of me.  Nope.  It's Arnold Swartzenegar.
Hah.. fooled ya.


I am currently in NOT the worse condition of my life.. but close.  Well, I take that back.. I am in OK shape, but have no real routine for exercise.
I honestly can't figure out how I stay in OK shape, since anything to do with exercise is more or less hit/miss.  Sure I walk the dog twice a day, sure I go for a random bike ride thru the neighborhood, sure I walk and hike whenever we go camping, sure I punch the bag in the garage every once in a great while.. but a routine? No.. it's pitiful.

So, I finally got fed up. Finally decided to get a plan.  I was given a book called IMPACT BODY PLAN. The author swears by it like any autor would.. but since the routines are using typical exercise items and not big machines, talks of nutrition and a balanced life, and also speeks plainly about how to say consistant and not so random.... I am going for it.

We went out yesterday and purchased some simple things we didn't yet have:  A Bosu ball (inflatable half dome shape - half of a huge beachball), a medicine ball (basically a 10lb basketball), a jumprope (basic kindergarten model), some kettelbells (cannonballs with handles) and a foam roller (a 6"round hotdog made of dense foam).  We already had some stretchy exercise cords and dumb-bells.  I only have one more thing to buy... a TRX (some kind of torture devise from the Middle Ages, repackaged).
Good Lord help us all!

So I am set.
Time for a LASTING change in my exercise schedule.
The next time you see that picture above (or a similar one).. it WILL be me!!
Bahahaahaa

Technology blew me away.. Again

I have always been enamored by technology.  Even as a kid, I tried to make my own robot.  When in college I worked on an Artificial Intelligence project and I have watched every movie that ever came out with a robot in it.  One of most amazing things for me has been voice recognition software… especially when it’s connected to some sort of program.

Back in college I remember downloading a program (off the internet – which was in its infancy and we were still calling it the world wide web.  That is so yesterday.)  The program was a typing program.  I was going to be able to just speak into the microphone and have it TYPE my essays and papers for me.  It was exciting.. I got all set up and ran thru the tutorial.  I was to read the sentences on screen and the computer was going to analyze what I said and type it.  So, as I recall.. it failed miserably.  I read the sentence “Eat your vegetables”, and it typed “Beat your testicles”.  I realized we had a LONG way to go and deleted the program.. waiting for technology to catch up to need.

It’s been a long time.

Finally it is here. 

Since I got my iPhone.. I have had a chance to experience some of the most advanced voice recognition software available.  I press  a button on my iPhone and after I hear a small ‘beep’ I speak a command.  Call my awesome wife, iPhone (dials Heather’s iPhone).  I could have said ‘work’ and that would have called her office.  Not too impressive.. nearly every smart phone can do this today (even some dumb ones).  Play songs by The Rolling Stones (cranks up “You don’t always get what you want” and other fine tunes.)  More impressive.   I’ve got an app made by Google.  This app has voice recognition for internet searching.  I press a button and ask, “What is the diameter of the earth?” (which brings up on screen 12,756.2 kilometers or 7,926.28 miles at the equator).  “What is the Indiana Jones Theme Song?” (brings up a 2 YouTube videos of Indy riding a horse jumping to a speeding jeep while the Theme song is playing.. and a ton of internet links for other sources).  “Where is the Louvre Museum?” (brings up a map of Paris, France with a pin on the exact location, you can click another button for directions to get there).  All impressive.. but hold yer horses… there’s more.

Yesterday I noticed a little button on the Google app I hadn’t seen before.  I must have been blinded by my enthusiasm… anyway… it was a little button with an icon of a camera on it.  Naturally I clicked it.

A quick explanation came on screen about usage: aim camera (oh.. the phone has a built in camera of course) at any monument, statue, work of art, product with a logo, any book cover, business card, bottle of wine or text (menu, signage, newspaper).  The instructions said it would identify the monument, sculptor and painter of any work of art, tell you about the product, describe the book, add the business card information into your contacts list and dial the person if needed, and report about the bottle of wine.  Also, If you take a picture of any text it will translate it from whatever language it is to English (or any other combination).

So.. I tried it… I took a picture of my V8 juice I was drinking and was soon on the product website.  I grabbed an Architecture magazine near me and opened it up.. looking for a monument.. but found the interior photos of a museum.. took a picture and the app identified the artwork on the walls.  I took a picture of some text (a document on my desk) and then translated it to German.  I took a picture last night at home of a banana cream pie… it had trouble with that… and returned similar pictures of other pastries.

Unbelievable.  Photo recognition software.

They said they are working on further advancement to be able to identify a tree if you take a picture of the leaf, and breed of dog if you took a picture of yours, etc.  But it still has a way to go.  It’s not too far off actually.. our iPhoto program on our computer at home (Apple).. can identify people in our photographs with pretty high accuracy. 

So… technology blew me away.. again.  I honestly wonder what is next?

OH.. here is the link if you want to check the program out for yourself:

http://www.google.com/mobile/goggles/

Rubber Chicken Recipe

We ate a rubber chicken last night.  Not intentionally mind you, but we ate one all the same.

The dinner was a disaster, even though it started out with such high hopes.

Here’s the scenario:  Kids over for the weekend.  They are soooo good about us trying new recipes and they give very real feedback on the meal (unlike adults that say something like, “Oh, This is interesting, I’ll have to try this recipe… What’s your secret?”).  Yep.. the kids flat out said it stunk and Connor picked up the thigh and chewed on it like a dog.. pulling on it and stretching the rubberized chicken meat.

Ok.. here’s what’s up.  We recently acquired a medium sized Pampered Chef Roasting Pot … very nice.

We plan on using it for all sorts of oven-cooked meals.. yet one of the recipes was a microwave chicken recipe that cooks a chicken in 20minutes. Sounded too good to be true… so we gave it a try.

We followed the recipe to the T.  I even tied the legs together with a cotton string!!!  Oiled it all down, spices rubbed on top.. and popped it into the microwave. 

20minutes wasn’t enough.. half the chicken was cooked.. so we cut off a cooked leg and gave it to Connor to begin his feast.  10 to 15minutes later, the rest of the chicken was cooked to perfection… perfectly resembling rubber.  We gnawed at if for a while and then the kids asked for other stuff to eat.

I am going to cook the exact same size chicken in the same cookery… in the OVEN next time and see what happens.  We know it will take longer, but my guess is.. it will be edible.

So if anyone encourages you to cook a chicken in the microwave.. just smile and say.. “I have a recipe that works fine Thank You”.  =)

End of an Era

Well, This Tuesday evening we saw some history.

The Space Shuttle and the ISS (International Space Station) were clearly visible in the evening sky as they orbited 220miles overhead.  They were visible for about 3 minutes.  We had a bunch of friends over for dinner and games.. so we all ran outside and watched them orbit past.  It was cool.. but they looked much like very bright stars going by rather than spacecraft... i guess so.. they were over 200miles away!!!

The Space Shuttle Discovery was on it’s final descent… for good.

The International Space Station will stay up there orbiting.. but no longer visited by any US spacecraft for many many many years.

We had 5 space shuttles in all:

Discovery has landed (yesterday) for it’s last trip.. it orbited the earth 365 days in 39missions.

Endeavour and Atlantis will make their final flights this April and June respectively.

Two others were destroyed in accidents:

Challenger broke apart over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after takeoff on January 28, 1986, killing seven astronauts.   (Tons of publicity and I remember where I was standing when it happened).

Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere over Texas on February 1, 2003, killing seven more astronauts.  (Not televised nor reported very much.)

God rest their souls.

The International Space Station will continue to be visited by Russia, Europe and Japan, as well as two U.S. firms, Space Exploration Technologies and Orbital Sciences.  It’s a $100billion project of 16 nations that has been under construction 220 miles above Earth since 1998.

The USA is NOT planning any new space programs nor space craft construction any time soon… basically.. it’s over for now.  Thus ends our 30-year Space Shuttle program.

=(

Here are some quick pictures of the shuttle Discovery and the ISS.

Chilean Wine

Have you ever heard a Chilean wine?

Have you ever drank a Chilean wine?

Heather and I opened up a bottle of Escudo Rojo (2005) this evening and it was wonderful.
We drank it with some incredibly wonderful FISH... and I said a big to H*LL with the formalities that you must drink white wine with fish... it was awesome!  A side of rice and Heather's new favorite... wait for it... Cauliflower (with cheese on top)!!  Quite a feast.

=)

If you ever see this bottle in the store it only costs about $14 and has a great full body taste and is very smooth.

Long Live Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Maipo Chile!!!
And if he's dead... God rest his merry soul.
Amen