Gimpysoft

Hey There Blimpy Boy

  • August 14, 2010 9:16 pm

Rebecca At Goodyear Blimp BaseMy wife has always been good with surprises. When we were first dating, she took me on a surprise date to a minor league hockey game at Kemper Arena in Kansas City. (I don’t think I even knew KC had a hockey team at the time.)

My birthday was late in July, and Rebecca told me to keep the morning of the Saturday after free. We have a long list of restaurants to try, so I assumed this was going to be a new breakfast or brunch place. I didn’t press, and she didn’t give up what she had in store, so we set the GPS for an address and drove out.

Blimp and SkyWhen I made the turn onto Dixie Highway, I knew what she had planned. We’ve often driven by the Goodyear Blimp base, and I’ve told her it would be fun to go see it sometime. She had called the office and set us up for a tour. We arrived at around 9:00, and the ground crew arrived to take us into the hanger.

There are three Goodyear Blimp bases in the US: One in Akron, Ohio, one in Carson, California, and one here in Pompano Beach, Florida. The Pompano Beach base houses the Spirit of Innovation, the blimp that you often see while relaxing on the beach in South Florida.

Ryan and Rebecca In Front of GondolaThe blimp was moored by its nose to a tractor pulled sled. We had about half an hour to see the blimp and take pictures. The ground crew was nice enough to get one of Rebecca and I in front of the gondola. I was hoping to get a look at the camera, but it’s stored elsewhere and they only attach it when it’s needed for an event.

The other side is where the LED array is attached. I expected it to be a lot more dense than it actually was. It’s a net of 3,780 boards, each containing an outer ring of red LEDs and red, green and blue LEDs on the inside.

Apparently blimps can stay airborne for up to 24 hours, but their usual service is regional. When they need to travel long distances for an event they’ll cover about 300 miles a day on route. They’re tracked by a fleet of three ground support vehicles.

Blimp Being TowedTime was up on the tour, and the crew walked us out of the hangar to an observation area and the tractor towed the blimp to the launchpad. It took a while to get the blimp set up. You need to know somebody to actually get a ride on the blimp, but once the blimp was on the launchpad a golf cart took the passengers out and they launched.

Thanks Bex, I’m glad we got to get out to see it before we left Florida. We took more photos, and the rest can be found out here. Now we just need to find somebody who knows somebody to get us up in one next time. Tours are free and definitely recommended.

Beer Snob Bicycle Pub Crawl

  • March 7, 2010 9:18 am

LogoDeep in dark days of Booze Free February, my wife and I saw a post on Miami Bike Scene for the Beer Snob Bicycle Pub Crawl. It’s like this event was tailor made for me, falling just outside my self-imposed beer moratorium, and a wonderful chance to find some places for good beer in Miami while getting a bike ride in. My wife was nice enough to put together an afternoon/evening of Miami exploration herself, and dropped me off at Lincoln Road, where I walked my bike in to Zeke’s Roadhouse.

I’ve noticed Zeke’s before when we’ve been down at the Lincoln Road Mall, but I’ve never gone in. It’ll definitely go on my short list of places to go in Miami when I have friends in town. Four dollars for any of their excellent beers is what passes for a killer deal in Miami. I started off with a Titan IPA, which was a wondeful way to start the evening. When I arrived, I estimated there were 20 or so bikes chained together in front of Zeke’s. As I finished my Titan and moved on to a Black Bavarian (that was a Wisconsin beer?), people kept rolling in. I’m a terrible estimator, but I’d say we were at least a crowd of 100. With 224 confirmed on the Facebook page, I’m sure it was more.

I saw people mounting up, so I latched on to a group heading to the second location, The Abbey Brewing Company. The ride over was incredibly pleasant and the weather couldn’t have been nicer. The Abbey brews their own beer, and I started out with their IPA, which is hands down the best homebrewed/brew pub IPA I’ve ever had. I ran into the owner of one of our favorite places in Ft. Lauderdale, Brew Urban Cafe. I definitely wish there were more places like his in our area.

The ride to The DRB was definitely the most scenic, taking us over the Venetian Causeway down to the bar across from the Adrienne Arsht Center. The DRB was mainly full of people either on their way to or from Wicked, but was another nice place I didn’t know existed. I got a bit less adventurous, and went with my old standby, a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Having arrived at The DRB with one of the first groups, I got the Dogfish Head pretty quickly. By the time I finished it, I decided I needed something with some caffeine. The rest of the group had arrived by now, and I didn’t want to fight the crowd at the bar, so I rode over to a convenience/liquor store up the street.

I made my purchase, and started riding back to the bar. I got stopped at a light on the corner by the liquor store, and there was an older woman heading my direction on a bike stopped as well. I asked her if she was heading back to the bar as well, and she said, “No, I don’t really do that. I’m just out here trying to make some money.” I inquired as to her line of work, and she replied, “Sexual healing. Lots of men enjoy my services.” Even the prostitutes on bikes. Now that’s a bike town.

The last ride turned out to be the roughest, heading from the Arsht Center all the way down to The U. Not a super long ride, but the whole crowd is, um, in the spirit of the evening by this point, and it seemed that people who knew where they were going were few and far between. (I did not know where I was going myself.) The pack I was riding in hung together fairly well, but started to space out quite a bit. Finally we made a right turn, and most of the pack rode right up the ramp onto I-95. A group of six of us decided that might not be the wisest move and broke off to stay off interstate highways.

We took side streets down until we made it to Dixie Highway, then got on the excellent off road path underneath the Metrorail. I busted a pedal on the way in (damn cheap pedals, I’ve had nothing but problems with these), but arrived there safely just a few minutes before my wife. I said goodbye and got on home.

All in all, about 13.5 miles of riding. The crowd was definitely mainly Miami locals, but I ran into quite a few people from the Ft. Lauderdale area. It would be great if we could organize an event like this further north. I felt a bit silly driving 45 miles to go ride my bike, but I’d definitely ride out for something like this in Broward County. Thanks again to the organizers, I had a blast.

Dry February – The Aftermath

  • March 1, 2010 9:32 pm

Weight Chart 2009-03-01Well, I kept my word and remained dry for the entire month of February. Weight didn’t really come off any more, but didn’t really go back on either.

I think the weight loss was more attributable to exercise. I was pretty good early in February, but hurt my feet later in the month and wasn’t going quite as strong later in February.

February turned out to be a rough month to go without beer. I missed the Boca Raton Beer Meetup‘s February meeting, which was at the new Funky Buddha. I’ve been looking forward to checking out their new space since I heard about the remodel, and to try some of their homebrew. Since I missed the February meetup, I guess tomorrow is the night.

A friend from Kansas City was in town for Future of Web Apps, and I got to meet up with him at the always wonderful Sra. Martinez. The food was wonderful as always, but I wasn’t able to have one of their wonderful cocktails. I did drink a Pisco Sour vicariously though my pal, though.

March first has come and gone, and I don’t feel the need to break my fast just yet. There is one beer in the fridge, but it’s a Miller Chill left over from my parents’ visit in January. It wasn’t much of a temptation in February, and it isn’t now either. I do have some decent Scotch, but I think I’ll hold out and let one of the Funky Buddha’s own beers break my fast. See you there tomorrow night.

Booze Free February

  • February 11, 2010 12:29 pm

Weight Chart As Of 02/11/2009Taking my friend Hanh’s lead, I’ve decided to give up alcohol for the month of February. So far it hasn’t been that much of a problem. The Super Bowl was odd (maybe that’s why I got so upset with the commercials) and I’m a bit sad that I’m going to miss the Boca Raton Beer Meetup’s meeting at the new Funky Buddha, but all in all I’m not missing it too much.

I started training for triathlons back in June or so. Back then, weight started coming off, particularly as my races in October and November approached. Since then I’ve kept training, but the weight loss kind of stalled.

I’m not yet at a new low, but the trend for the last week or so is looking good. If beer is really what’s keeping me from dropping the rest of the weight, is this the end of beer for me? If this really is it, maybe I need a new strategy. Only better, more expensive beer so I’m forced to drink less of it? Only drink when I’m out? Michelob Ultra, god forbid?

Score Another For The Good Guys (Or Not, As The Case May Be)

  • September 15, 2009 5:26 pm

Since I’ve been commuting by bike to work, I’ve started stopping at the grocery store occasionally to pick up stuff for dinner or to keep at work. The one downside was that the Publix Greenwise near our place didn’t have a bike rack, so I had to chain up to a stop sign in the parking lot. I figured an email to HQ couldn’t hurt, so I sent an email to their corporate site asking them to please consider installing one. Not three days later, I have a reply:

Thank you for your email. We appreciate our customers taking the time to contact us. In regards to your inquiry, the manager of the Publix at Boca Village Square was unable to reach you at the phone number provided. The manager explained that they received approval for a bicycle rack. Please contact [the manager] at [his phone number] if you would like to discuss this further.

Awesome! I guess it never hurts to ask, and Publix has my to/from work business from now on.

Update 2/8/2010: Well, they never did put in the bike rack.

Weekend Activities

  • September 2, 2009 2:17 pm

If I show up to an Alley Cat without a fixed-gear bike, will I be mocked? How about if I show up with my Sunlite trunk bag instead of a proper messenger bag?

Podcast recommendations are all I have in me

  • January 12, 2009 9:54 am

Well, I’ve been in Florida for almost a year now. The best thing about Florida? The Pure Imagination radio show. The show is wonderful mix of music and storytelling. We first were exposed to it at a live performance down in Miami, but I’ve since been working my way through all the back episodes of the show via their podcast. If you’re not in Florida you can’t attend their live events, but the podcast is not to be missed.

Highlights from what I have listened to so far include “The Unseen Seagal”, an accounting of the lesser known works of Stephen Seagal. And last year’s Post Christmas Special, an almost This American Lifesque portrait of the lives of North Pole elves.

Currently marking my calendar for the next live event on February 7.

Just stop for a moment and think about what you’re doing here…

  • March 6, 2008 9:00 am

Brett. I know you have your press conference scheduled this morning. It is not too late. Just step up to the podium and say that you’ve had a few days to think about it, and you just can’t hang it up yet. Come on, one more season. Hell, pre-announce your retirement. Imagine the motivation of the rest of the team knowing that this is your last shot.

Come on, just one more year. One more year.

Now It Can Be Told

  • February 29, 2008 4:37 pm

Well, really I’ve been free to tell for a few weeks now, and many of you already know. Looks like Bex, Harry, Gimpysoft and I are moving to sunny Boca Raton, FL. I’ll be leaving the local telecom and going to work for Multiply, a social networking site. You can find me on there here, so feel free to sign on up and add me as a friend to keep track of my goings on down in Florida.

I’m no stranger to moving. I never spent more than six years in any one place before I graduated high school, and attended college in both Houston and Fayetteville, AR. However, at this point I’ve lived in Kansas City longer than anywhere I’ve previously lived, and feel a stronger connection to this town than anywhere else. I’m going to miss this town, and I’m going to miss all the people we’ve met. I’m sure we’ll make it back often.

Bex is not quite as used to moving as I, and she is having good days and bad days with respect to the move. (I think the days when she is looking forward to the move coincide with the days where the temperature is below 32&deg.) All in all though, we think it’s a good move for us and we’re both looking forward to it.

I have two weeks left at the telecom, and I’ll be spending nights and weekends until then finishing up my work on Fort Awesome. I think that Fort Awesome will go on the market around the time that we move, which should be March 20 or so. Anybody looking to buy a starter house? Anybody looking for part-time work helping me build out a bathroom? I pay in Boulevard and Waldo Pizza.

The Wire: Season 5

  • February 27, 2008 1:07 pm

I haven’t had time to say much to say about The Wire this season. I gorged myself on the first seven episodes early in the season, then had an agonizingly long wait for episode eight. I watched eight and nine On Demand, and now found out today that the series finale won’t be put up On Demand, presumably to avoid spoilers. Arrrgh! Two weeks to wait?

In the meantime, I’ll be catching up on my The Wire reading. I was reading Wire blog Heaven and Here during season 4, but kind of avoided it this season. At least I can go back through it and catch up on their season 5 posts while I’m waiting for the finale.

I also recently found Marc Singer’s blog, where he’s doing an excellent deconstruction of the season so far. One more way to get my fix and kill the time between now and Sunday, March 9.

Sadly, after March 9 I don’t think there will be any way I can continue to justify my subscription to HBO. I’ll be back for David Simon’s Iraq War mini-series Generation Kill, but there’s not a lot else I feel like I need to keep the subscription for.