Please Don't Buy a Compaq

Please, please, please, pleeeeeeease, don't buy a Compaq if you want me to help support it. Recently a few people I know have acquired Compaq laptops and all of them are having troubles.

Twenty years ago Compaq made really good, state of the art, portable computers. Fifteen years ago their products were okay. But IMHO their systems have continued to go down hill ever since.

The basic problem is that Compaq tries to put too much of their own software between the hardware and the OS. This wouldn't be a problem except that hardware companies are notorious for writing bad software.

Back when operating systems were relatively small and simple, implementing software between the hardware and OS was a relatively small, simple and safe task. But with today's multiple operating systems, that tend to incorporate everything including the kitchen sink, this is nearly impossible to do well.

Good laptop brands these days are: Toshiba, Sony & IBM.

Volcano Visit

I drove down to Mt. St. Helens today. I got all the way out to the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center. This was the second time that I got to the locked gates protecting tourists from an active Mt. St. Helens. The first time was in the summer of 1980 when traveling with my family on summer vacation. That tile we drove up to the the edge of the "Red Zone".

unfortunately the weather today wasn't the best for Volcano viewing. The entire time I was there most of the mountain was obscured by clouds. It did clear enough at times to see much of the pumice plane and lower flanks. And at one point I may have seen the lowest part of the crater. But I never did see the upper portions of the crater, the lava dome or the rim.

For more info on the current activity at Mt. St. Helens and the other Cascades Volcanoes click here.

While I waited at the Coldwater Ridge Visitor Center to see if the weather would clear up, I was able to find a seat in the cafe with a power outlet. So I got some work on the Club Bylaws and Rules for the Cascade Vaulters done on my laptop.

Cascade Vaulters

The Vaulters formerly known as Redwing held their first practice away from Faith Farm today. The vaulters warmed up by running down to Meydenbauer Beach and back up the hill. After stretching the vaulters then worked on their freestyle routines on the Region III Barrel. As the vaulters worked on the barrel, the vaulters, parents and the coach (me) discussed various names and chose "Cascade Vaulters" as the new club name. We also selected royal blue [#2b60de], navy blue [#000080] and silver [#c0c0c0] as the new club colors. We adopted a set of bylaws, and selected officers so that we can get our non-profit paper work turned in to the AVA by the October 15th deadline.

Recycling vs. Cable TV/Internet

When I got home from work Friday afternoon I again found several Comcast (CATV) and Quest (phone) lines had been knocked down along our street (400 block of 98th Ave NE). This is the third time this summer that the Rabanco Recycling truck has apparently torn down these lines.

Like several of the neighbors I reported the incident to the Bellevue PD and they alerted Comcast & Quest. But it took almost 24 hours for our internet can cable TV service to be restored.

Tom as Head Coach!?! w/ New Vaulting Club in 2005

Well it's official. On October 1st. I'll be taking over as the head coach of the Redwing Vaulters and shepherding the club through a major reorganization. Thankfully one of the parents, Therese Rogers, has agreed to serve as interim Club Manager.

After many wonderful years of support, Katy and the Duppongs have decided to take a few years off from vaulting. They have agreed to let us continue under the Redwing Vaulters name until the current AVA registration expires at the end of this year. This will give us time to finish the 2004 competition season and organize under a new club name and structure starting the first of next year.

From an equipment stand point we seem to be doing well. Unless there is an unexpected objection from the region, the new club should be able to take over the custodianship of the Region III barrel. Furthermore, Katy and the Duppongs have agreed to a long term loan of their black surcingle (complete with back pad)!

Our biggest challenge of the moment is that we're still looking for a practice venue.

Rap Othello

For the Shakespeare fans out there: I recently ran across a version of the RSC's Rap Othello and was ammused. You can find it on their download page. Enjoy!

Reduced Shakespeare Company - Downloads

Blog & E-mail Fixed!!!

Moving my site to a new hosting provider has fixed much of the problems I was having with both my blog and with my soot-n-smoke.ocm e-mail. I can again publish (not just post) entries to my blog and now anyone with a blogger account can comment on my blog entires.

Also I've reorginized the way e-mail to soot-n-smoke.com gets handled so most of the 5000+ junk e-mails I was getting each day now bounce when the spammer's server try's to upload them. I've also set up TomS at Soot and Smoke dot com to forward to my yahoo account that I can easily check from my phone.

New Web Hosting Provider

Sorry I havent posted any updates in the past couple of weeks. I've been having trouble with my hosting provider. I'm in the process of moving my whole web site to LunarPages. As part of this move, Im also changing the way my email gets filtered.

Wired News: Wi-Fi Shootout in the Desert

I think this kind of amature radio stuff is cool.

Wired News: Wi-Fi Shootout in the Desert

Made it Home Safely

Just a quick post, letting everyone know that we made it home safely early this morning.  I'll be posting more about the trip in the next couple of days.

On the Way Home

Nationals went well. Though it always seems like an
exercise in sleep deprivation.
Im now on the way back acrossthe midwest. Tonight well
sleep at Aunt Rebas BnB In northwest Iowa.

Virginia and Maryland

<>We had a very long leg into Indiana. We didn’t pull in until about 5 AM so we ended up sleeping/camping for a few hours at the horse motel.

Pulled into Lexington Saturday night in good condition except for some sleep deprivation. The rest of the Emerald City contingent flew in Sunday morning. and after some sleep, a practice session, moving the horses from the layover stables to the competition site and dinner, I finally got on the road up to Maryland.<>

I spent Monday extracting items I want to move out to Washington from my storage unit. So far I’ve found almost everything I want to bring west. I plan to head back down to Lexington this afternoon.

Made it to Iowa

Got through the digital phone wasteland of the
Rockies. On the way stopped at Wall Drug. Got a flat
in Rapid City. Got into Aunt Rebas B&B late. Kids,
horses & coaches are well.

Loading Up And Hauling Out

I spent the night at Dreamswept Farm. This morning
were loading up kids and horses and hauling out.
Im posting this from my new phone.

Off to Nationals 2004

I'm about to head out on the first leg of my trip to Nationals. Keep an eye on this, my blog, for more updates.

Packing for Nationals

I well into the process of packing for my trip to the American Vaulting Association's National Champinoships in Lexington, VA.  I'll be leaving home for Dreamswept Farm on Monday afternoon and hitting the highway with the Emerald City Vaulters early Tuesday Morning.

With any luck, I'll be making posts to my blog from my phone along the way. But I probably won't be able to sift through my regular e-mail until I get home in about three weeks.  In the mean time if you need to e-mail me please use my yahoo account. 

Cavalia

I went with Chris & Gretta Cook this afternoon and watched the Cavalia performance. It was good show and highly recommended for those who are equestrian inclined. At $60+ it's kind of expensive for those not particularly interested in horses. Click here for the Seattle PI's review.

I also picked up a nice long sleeve tee shirt.
front
back

Beginner Vaulting Camp @ Dreamswept Farm

I got to spend another fun Friday at Dreamswept Farm's Vaulting Camp, this time with the beginners.
Again the vaulters participated in hour long yoga, ballet and gymnastics classes. The vaulters also got to perform their compulsories and freestyle routines at the canter or trot for a small audience while I video taped. Later they got to perform their team barrel freestyle routines, again while I video taped. [Sorry I didn't get any still pictures of the horse work as I was too busy panning the camp's video camera.] After the team barrel freestyle routine performances, Tames Alan worked with the vaulters on their individual freestyle routines on the barrel. Then Tamea Denault worked with the vaulters on various skill building drills while I provided some near real time video/digital photo feed back.

Fireworks on the Forth

Got a bunch of photos of the fireworks in Downtown Bellevue with my new camera last night. Including this one of my housemate Jen watching the fireworks from the front yard.

Advanced Vaulting Camp @ Dreamswept Farm

I had lots of fun observing and helping out with the Advanced Vaulting Camp at Dreamswept Farm. I only got to attend on the last day, Friday.

I watched as the vaulters participated in hour long yoga, ballet and gymnastics classes before lunch. After lunch the Nancy Stevens-Brown [AVA President and renowned clinician] worked with the advanced vaulters on their team barrel freestyle routines.