Anthony D. Morrow
ADM
http://www.imadm.com/
Cerritos, CA 90703
USA

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Beatles Bug Me
WED, 29 MAR 2006
The Beatles (the music group) are suing Apple (the computer/iPod company) for using the Apple logo to promote its iTunes music store. Article here.

What, does Yoko needs a new summer house? Does Paul need a few extra bucks to buy back the Beatles catalog and perhaps Neverland Ranch from Michael Jackson? Does Ringo know anything about this?

Quick and simple: Nobody cares that the Beatles had/have a music record label called Apple Corps. Anyone who does know isn't likely to get them confused. Anyone who might care to know probably doesn't care.

I don't think the Beatles should be able to hold the archaic existence of a fruit-named record label over the head of a company that has done a ton to build up its brand equity. Furthermore, Apple (computer/iPod) already paid them $26 MILLION back in 1991. This is just another case of the Beatles trying to squeeze more cider out of Apple. I hope they get a worm.

-adm
Yo yo Yoko!

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New Web Host, Other Stuff
TUE, 28 MAR 2006
1. I accidentally deleted (technically, I overwrote the file of) my 14 March 2006 posting last week. First, I checked my computer and cache to see if I had a saved copy of the old file. Nope. Then, I checked with Verizon (my web host) to see if they kept backups where I could retrieve the older file.

RANT>> The technical support provided by Verizon DSL is hopeless, but I did manage to have them tell me what I figured all along; they couldn't help. How is it that I could still tell my tech support person was in some far off land even though it was an online chat? Broken English knows no boundaries!

It never got to the point where I truly figured out whether they keep backups or not or if they do keep backups but I just can't get anything from them. I very much believe they do keep backups and the file I want is out there somewhere but they don't have any reasonable user-oriented method to retrieve files from said backups. << END RANT

I sent an e-mail to some of the people I know who check in on my blog and asked them to check their computer caches. Also no good.

And so, I re-created the entry below but it's now much shorter and I don't feel like trying to build it back up again right now.

2. The issue with Verizon spurred me to finally seek and pay for a real web host. I'd secured the domain name IMADM.com back in August but was using a redirect to point to my Verizon webspace. That was simple and mostly effective, but there were problems. One problem was limited web space and another was down time. Verizon web space and e-mail always seems to have some problem or be down. Long story short, I now have web hosting for IMADM.com so the URL IMADM.com no longer redirects. Update your favorites/bookmarks because http://www.imadm.com/ is now correct and http://mysite.verizon.net/res19qi1/ and other iterations will eventually cease to function.

3. Victor Lozano and Jeff Goldblum were separated at birth. I think so.

4. Kings are 1-1 under new coach John Torchetti. They played a heck of a game against the Predators on Saturday, giving hope to fans that with 11 games more to play, the Kings could salvage the season and make a successful run into the playoffs. But the Kings looked like more of the same old and weary against Vancouver on Monday night. How soon will my playoff ticket payment be returned?

-adm
Yo yo yo!

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San Dimas Stage Race, Kings Playoff Race
TUE, 21 MAR 2006
At least SDSR went better than the last few Kings games.

First, SDSR - it's a three day stage race consisting of a mountain-climb time trial, road race, and criterium. Six of us were in the Elite 2 race. But before I get to how the race went, you need to know what happened a couple days before.

I picked up my newly built-up team bike from Incycle on Wednesday (it's a Cannondale CAAD8). From the shop, I drove over to Glendora Mountain Road to ride the time trial course. I wanted to get a good idea of where the finish was. I rode it once, got the finish memorized, then went up again, this time to get a final feel for the course and to kind of feel out what pace I would need for a good time. I got to the end in 17:15. I figured I was going about 75%, so with empty pockets and a good effort, I figured I'd be able to put in about at 16:00 on Friday.

On Thursday I adjusted my bike's saddle height and position and a few other tweaks I decided were necessary from the ride before. I went climbing to test my adjustments in climbing situations and ended up doing 30 miles rather rigorously.

Friday - Time Trial - 3.8 miles: I left the house two and a half hours before my start time so I would get there with plenty of time to get a good warm-up. I was greeted with traffic, traffic, and more traffic thanks to the Friday and the rain. I got to the course with just under an hour before my start. It was pouring rain at the base of GMR. By the time I picked up my race packet and got myself ready, I had less than 30 minutes to warm-up for the TT. When start time came, I was sure I hadn't gotten a great warm-up but what hoping my legs would respond favorably once it was time to go. No such luck. I felt incredibly weak, barely turning the pedals to average 11 or 12 miles per hour when a decent pace would have been 15-16. I was suffering in the cold and rain and my legs were worn from the rides on Wednesday and Thursday, more than I anticipated, or I wouldn't have done them. My time was 17:11, just 4 seconds faster than on Wednesday. Miserable.

Saturday - Road Race - 84 miles: Steve had our team's best TT time, followed by Chris and Nate. Steve was 10th in general classification so we would ride for him and to try and advance Chris and Nate, and if possible, to go for a stage win. I was 3 minutes off the lead time. I felt good the first half of the race, even leading several laps up the climbs and being in the top groups of the KOM climb. But my aggressiveness took its toll on the second half. I started to wear down and was suffering by the 12th and last lap. I lost touch with the field on the final descent, thanks to gaps by other riders and my own toasted legs, and rolled in 30 seconds back. Nate was able to grab a 5th.

Sunday - Criterium: Our strategy was to try and isolate the race leader and get Steve or one of our other guys in a break to make time and go for the stage win. My legs were very tired the first half of the race but I started to feel better half-way through. I also realized at that time I needed to move up because I was killing myself with the braking and sprinting action further back in the pack. With just five laps to go, no breaks were off despite serious pushes by Nate and Steve and others. Then, the race leader gets bumped and crashed out by another rider and he can't take a free lap with less than 5 to go. All hell breaks loose and the charge was on. With one to go, Gil and I try to move up to the front where Chris and Nate are working the pack over. Chris leads the field up the climb and then down the final descent, jumps into and out of the corner and wins it! Nate gets 5th, and then Gil and I, unable to get up there, roll in 13th and 18th.

Steve ended up 8th in the GC, Chris 16th (moved up from 36th after the TT), Nate 25th, Gil 31st, me 39th, and Jared 44th. We were pleased that everyone finished and contributed to our success. Steve, Chris and Nate were certainly stand-out racers with great results.

Now, about them Kings. They're on the bring of missing the playoffs, got beat up by the Avalanche on Monday (5-0), and everyone's been calling for heads on the bench to roll. Well, I heard tonight Andy Murray and John Van Boxmeer were let go. Will it save the season?

-adm
Andy Murray and I are looking for work!

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Go. Stop. Drop. Go.
TUE, 14 MAR 2006
[This entry was accidentally deleted on 21 MAR 2006. I tried finding a copy in my cache and elsewhere but couldn't so I've reconstructed it from memory as best I could.]

It turns out 2006 won't be the year I go without a cycling crash. Find out why here.

Chris DeMarchi takes 3rd overall at Tour of Murrieta. Go team!

-adm
Go Kings Go!

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Mini Hockey Net From PVC
WED, 08 MAR 2006
My niece and nephew got a mini hockey playset a few years ago. It ended up at our house. They liked playing hockey but preferred using the hockey sticks as swords and the nets as shields. They'd also pair them up facing each other and then use them as a faux cage. Pucks became plastic grenades. Sounds fun, eh?

Well, the rough and unintended use ended up causing one of the nets to break at the plastic joints. I thought I could replace the broken joints with PVC ones, but the metal tubing is smaller than schedule 40 1/2" PVC, so that wouldn't work. I managed to make one full net by trading useable parts and decided the remaining, unbroken parts would simply be back-ups. But what about a second net?

I measured up the parts of the original net and went to the hardware store to buy PVC stuff to make my own. Less than $10 and 30 minutes later, I had two more net frames made of PVC.

All it takes is two PVC pipe tubing, some measuring and cutting (a hacksaw will do), and 10 joints each to make them. I left mine unglued so they can be easily assembled and unassembled for storage. And though they aren't regulation size (the goal mouth is 20x23"), they're perfect size for the kids to mess around in the house or for me to practice my shots outside.

As for nets, I had the one left over from the original and I'll probably go to Sportmart to buy extra netting for the other. I tried checking the website of the original nets' manufacturer (www.classicsport.com) since they would fit perfectly, but I don't think Classic Sport sells them online. And instead of threading the net on the tubing like the original instructions indicated, I'll be securing the net with twist ties or Velcro straps.

If you're interested in making your own, I put the instructions into a PDF. Here are my Mini Hockey Net PVC Construction Instructions.

-adm
Go Kings Go!

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Tractors, Tractor-Trailers, and AM Radio
MON, 06 MAR 2006
It's about 5 hours/300 miles to drive to Merced from here. Once past the Grapevine, it's nothing but farmland, tractors, tractor-trailers ("big rigs") and AM radio out there. The big rigs stay to the right and, except for the occasional need to pass a slower tow and move over a lane, are rarely in the way. The tractors and other farm equipment help work the land, some of the most beautiful and bountiful in the world.

It's all great and different from the suburban sprawl I live in but it's the AM radio shows that kept it really fun. I'd push the button, let the radio seek a station, and then tune in to the variety of life. There was religion, left-wing politics, right-wing politics, national news, local news, cooking, computers, country music, norteña music, and tons more. And since most stations are riding weak signals, it was only minutes up the road that I'd have to move on to something else as static took over what I was listening to before.

The point? None, really, except to say it's amusing and sometimes enlightening to hear different stuff from different people from different places. However, it was nice to be able to change the station or just drive along when whatever tuned in turned me off.

-adm
"We cannot control the evil tongues of others; but a good life enables us to disregard them."
-Cato the Elder (234 BC - 149 BC)

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Autographed Copies Are Available
FRI, 03 MAR 2006
Ken Strickland was the first to tell me I was in a photograph advertising the First Annual Conquer The Canyons / Westlake Village Stage Race. He said he saw the race ad in Competitor magazine (Feb. 2006) and wanted to know if it was really me. I knew nothing about it at the time so I couldn't confirm. However, I've since picked up a copy of Competitor and can say, yep, it's me.

Here's a look at the magazine cover and ad.

You can also see the photo on the event website here.

I'd love to say I'm a coveted bike model and am now reaping healthy royalties, but no, that's not the case. Instead, the photo being used came from last year's team photo shoot. We took lots of photos including several of us sprinting. This is one of them. I don't know how it ended up getting used for the event but if you know me you know I don't mind the exposure. Now if only I can figure out how to make a few bucks from it.

-adm
Want to buy an autographed copy?

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New Neverwonder.com, Cycling Update
THU, 02 MAR 2006
It was a ton of work and I'm still making updates and tweaks, but I am so glad to say I finished work and successfully launched the new Neverwonder.com website on Tuesday, February 28.

This website project has been my most involving to-date. It implements more CSS and Javascript than I've ever dealt with before. Up until recently, I had always avoided using CSS or Javascript because of how inconsistently it was supported across platforms (Mac/Windows) or even amongst browsers (IE, Navigator, Firefox...). i think this site succeeds in delivering a good look and feel but not bogging down lower-bandwith users with too much stuff. Most of all, it has a ton of content. I continue to believe that content is key.

In cycling news, I've had a tough last two weeks. Going back to two Tuesdays ago, I went out to Heritage and lasted all of 5 laps. I felt bad riding out and felt worse when it kicked off. Now, I could have stayed in and finished it off, but I made the decision to simply pull out and limit the damage. I just wasn't feeling it.

Thursday (Hughes) went better but I still wasn't feeling a great groove. I'd been training a lot, maybe not so much in terms of time but in terms of intensity. I think it was keeping my legs heavy. I added to the suffering on Saturday by setting my alarm clock wrong and then having to push the pace solo out to Food Park. I was supposed to meet Brad and Julio at PCH to ride out, but I missed our meeting time by 20 minutes. I time trialed all the way. Luckily, I was on Cannondale's newest TT bike, the six13 Slice. It's a fantastic machine (you can read my review soon on SoCalCycling.com), so it made the task easier, but I still had to put a lot of legs into it.

I continued to push the pace during the ride and then on the way home, really putting a lot of hurt into my legs. I did this by choice, despite knowing I was racing the next day, because it would be great training for future, bigger races.

Sure enough, on Sunday I was flat. I don't get all excited about going to Ontario GP races and with the way I was feeling, I was barely looking forward to going at all this day. I stuck to my plan, however, doing the Masters 30+ 1/2/3 race before the Pro/1/2 race. I managed 8th in the 30+, but that was a disappointment. I was feeling really out of gas for the Pro/1/2 but somehow found life when it started. I wasn't attacking off the front but I was in the mix and covering when I had to. When our team missed a threatening break, we all went to the front to chase it down. We caught it, but I also think the effort really took it out of us. I know I was blasted. So, come finish time, we were all close to the front and together but couldn't seem to make it work. Chris got 14th, Frank 15th, I was 17th, and Gil 19th. This was also a bit of a strange race, with lots of stop and go and lots of shaky riders, too. It was hard to read and a bundle of nerves for the last few laps.

This past Tuesday I went out to Heritage, again. Something in my life just isn't making me feel right when it comes time to head there. Again, I wasn't feeling good. I did notice my legs weren't nearly tired as last week but my overall feeling was still mediocre. For the first half, I was involved and feeling okay, but then it started getting faster and I was in an attack and then fell off into no-man's land and subsequently felt like junk. A break of four got up the road, the pack started splitting and fragmenting and I was not only struggling to recover but also struggling to get around the riders who were dropping like flies. Nearing the end, it became dangerous from fatigued riders and I felt like I wasn't getting any more from going, so I sat up and pulled out with about 5 minutes to go. I picked up my backpack from the side of the road and slowly rolled home.

Some of the assessments for my Tuesday troubles are:

  1. Fatigue from hard weekend riding/racing
  2. FAILURE to put in a recovery ride or workout on Mondays
  3. Inadequate sleep
  4. Poor diet

Of those, I think putting in a recovery ride/workout is probably the one that will have the most positive impact. Getting the right food and sleep come next, and I know I wasn't doing either of those well working on the website launch. As for fatigue, it shouldn't be a problem if I take care of the others.

Up next: McLane Pacific Crit & RR.

-adm
Thank You Sir, May I Have Another!?

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