iPod touch 4th generation

Well my desktop went down last Friday and so I felt like I need to make a quick decision to find a new device to handle the needs (wants) that I laid out in the previous post. Whether or not the choice I made was a good one remains to be seen, but I went with the iPod touch. It is perhaps a little small for browsing, which was my main concern but so far it is acceptable plus it is very portable. As I figure more stuff out I will share it. Right now I am just getting the basic operations down. I also just posted this post with my pod.

            Now for my next tech question. Should I go with a laptop or a tablet? What are some of the biggest pros and cons? I intend to use the device for heavy browsing, uploading pics and video, spreadsheet, writing. Either one will predominately be used at home where I have a desk top external hard drive with 2 terabytes, but easy portability is still very attractive since I am away from home most of the time. I have been trying to narrow my options down and opinions are very helpful.

This is my fixie. I found the frame at the end of someone's drive way. It did say Schwinn on a plaque, screwed to the front of the frame. The original stuff on the bike as you see it are the cranks, pedals, fork, bars and of course the frame. I used a die grinder to strip all the paint off, which took a long time. It was a lovely cream color. After I striped it I decided I liked the raw look so I sealed all the metal (frame, bars, fork) with a clear all purpose metal sealer. The wheels chain and rear cog are new. Not cheap either. I guess that's the price you pay for trying to keep up with fads, although fixies are pretty fun to ride. The front cog has 39 teeth and the rear is 16. The hub on the tire is flip flop, but i don't have another cog for the other side yet. In the spring I plan on getting a 20 tooth for the other side. Other updates I hope to do this coming summer are new cranks, pedals, seat and stem. Stem mostly for comfort during braking. You can see from the picture what I'm up against. Ouch. I hope to find something flatter so I can push into the bars without hitting on the stem too hard.
            If you ride a fixie or any sweet bike send me a pic and tell me about it. I am always looking for ideas for my next bikes, especially touring bikes.

Cloud Computing

I have been trying to do a little research to figure out what cloud computing is. The computers my wife and I are using seem to be just about to go out on us and before we go out and throw down the big money, to replace our computers, we try to make sure we wont regret it. If cloud computing is something that would work for us and is the direction that technology is moving then that would be good to know now. So if any of you have an opinion on this please let us know.

Shooting

            We went shooting last night at Bills Gun Shop in Circle Pines, MN. We had a good time, but it seemed a little expensive. $15 per person for unlimited time in the range. We did have to wait about 40 minutes to get a open lane. It seemed like there was some sort of class going on so that might have been the cause of the wait. I haven't had to wait for a lane before so I am not sure if it was usual or not. If you are going to be shooting for long periods of time or shooting rifle, then Bills Gun Shop is the place you'll want to go. If you are shooting one hour or less and just shooting pistol then I recommend that you try Metro Gun Club in Blaine, MN. I usually only shoot for about a half hour at a time so it is far cheaper for me to go to Metro. One other thing though is that Bills rents a lot of guns so that you can try shooting the gun you're looking at getting before you just buy it. I highly recommend shooting the same model gun before you buy it. Every gun is different and each person might find different comforts and different functions more likable and appropriate for themselves.
            There were six of us at the range together. I don't remember all the guns that got brought or rented. I brought my Keltec P11. Not bad for one of the smallest 10 round 9mm. The trigger is very hard to pull though from the factory. I think they do that as a safety feature but it makes shooting the gun almost unbearable and certainly not enjoyable. I have heard that they make a spring that you can replace on the trigger that is about 50% easier to pull. So maybe after I switch that out I'll let you know if shooting the gun gets any better. Keep in mind that this is just my personal preference. you may love the gun. Haley brought her Ruger .380 LCP. Tiny gun.

Cold Camping

            For New Years weekend my wife Haley and I went up to my parents cabin. The cabin sits on 80 acres near Emily, MN and as you can see from my post yesterday the scenery is beautiful. The goal was to hangout, play cards enjoy the quiet woods and try camping outside to see if we want to do full on winter camping. This was a perfect time and place to try our little test. If we got too cold or wimped out we could just walk a few steps to a nice warm cabin. Since Haley and I both had that Friday off from work we headed up about mid morning. Which gave us plenty of time to unpack the truck, warm up the cabin (wood stove) set up the tent and enjoy being situated before dark. My parents also came up and were only a couple of hours behind us. Both Haley and I were getting psyched up and anxious about sleeping outside especially since it was going to be in the single digits.
            Our setup was Marmot firstlight 2. Minimum weight: 4lb 12oz Max. Weight: 5lb 5oz according to what I found online. I haven't weighed it myself. The firstlight 2 is a great tent for most camping. I wouldn't recommend it for car camping since it is so small. Bike camping, canoe camping, along with backpacking is more along the lines of what I think Marmot designed the tent for. The biggest drawback with the tent in our situation is that it is a three season tent. But I figured we could just throw on another layer of clothing or blankets. Plus we both sleep on Therm-a-Rest Women's Trail Lite which have an R value of 4.9. Yes, I got a woman's sleep pad. I am about 5'6" and the pads medium length and extra R value, compared to the mens, is a great fit for me. In addition to being covered head to foot in polyester clothing we each had goggles and hand warmers. I have heard that goggles go along way with keeping your face warm while sleeping. Haley was trying her new sleeping bag. A Kelty Cosmic Down 20. Good to 20° and filled with goose down. The pack size of her sleeping bag is ridiculously small, making me very jealous. It seems like my sleeping bag is nearly twice the size. With temps in the single digits and a sleeping bag that only goes down to 20° you might be thinking that I am a terrible husband but I also got her a Sea to Summit Thermalite Reactor sleeping bag liner. The liner adds 15° and being with your significant other adds 7° to 10°. I have a ten year old Kelty that i don't know much about except that it has been a trouper and has held up well. For a sleeping bag insert I used my hot weather bag. Lumber Jack. The bag says it is good down to 60°. I am not sure how many degrees that adds when it is stuffed inside my regular bag. We weren't very concerned with staying warm.
            We were concerned however with an incident that had happened shortly after setting up camp and right be for dark. My Mom, Haley and I saw what we all thought to be a bear climbing a tree maybe thirty yards from the cabin. I had just got back from riding on the four wheeler and my Dad was now out riding. Before he got back the animal had stopped climbing and was just sitting in a crotch in the tree about thirty feet up. My Dad did spot him though he never got a good look at it. The three of us who saw the animal climb were very confident that it was a bear cub. Which isn't a big deal, except we wondered why there was that small of a cub this time of year, where its mother is and shouldn't he be hibernating. If we were in momma bears territory and she got scared and sent her cub up a tree does that mean she might mess with us tonight in the tent. How do you make sure that you don't smell like food when you've been spilling your meals on yourself all day and having munchies. I don't know how hungry a bear would have to be to want to eat me and Haley, but if there was a time of year when a bear would be really hungry. I think it would be right about now.
            Well that bear turned out to be a porcupine, but we didn't find out until the next day. And an hour into sleeping in the tent Haley woke me up because she heard something. The wind was howling making the trees snap and crackle and pop right next to us. She said she wasn't going to be able to sleep and I wasn't sure if I would be able to fall back to sleep with the wind ripping like it was. We wimped out. Once we were back in the cabin my parents gave us a hard time and then asked what time it was. It was 11:59. Just in time to say happy new year. I hope to be able to post more successful camping stories in the future.
     

My first posted picture. This was taken on an excursion to my parents cabin in northern mn.

The Beginning

The blog has officially launched. I want to welcome everyone and give a brief introduction to what this blog will be about. Basically the prerequisite for material is anything I want. Which will be an array of fun things such as biking, climbing, camping etc, books, music, movies, etc,  business, economics, education etc. All of these topics will be centered around the comings and goings of my life, as they arise. The posts that I add will be intended as conversation starters and an opportunity for you to learn from my experiences.  Your input and feedback will be much appreciated as a chance for the other readers and me to learn from you.