Adventures in Vacuuming

Earlier this week I decided it was time to get a vacuum for my apartment. After looking into the cost of good vacuums I realized that it wasn’t that much more expensive to buy a Roomba. A MASSIVE Amazon.com box arrived on Wednesday containing my new Roomba 560. In short order I had it charged up and zipping around my apartment cleaning out the grime. Two days later and I have vacuumed my house probably ten times. It’s just TOO MUCH FUN watching it drive around! And my floors! They are so clean!

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Yesterday I picked up my freshly updated mountain bike.  I had been riding on the same original bike that I bought back in 2002.  Needless to say, there were parts that needed replacing.  I put a Marzocchi Bomber fork (10 Marzocchi 44 TST2 Air 140mm) on the front to replace a destroyed Sid Race fork.  The wheelsets were changed out for XTR WTB Trail Lazerdisk rear and XT WTB Trail Lazerdisk front.  New 2.3″ Continental Vertical (made in Germany!) tires.  Juicy 3.5 disk brakes to replace the old vees that ate through the last set of rims.  The upgrades weren’t substantial and the fork could actually be seen as a downgrade but the handling and performance of the bike was GREATLY improved.

Jordan and I went out for a short mountain bike ride up the back side of Dimple Hill on Lower and Upper Horse Trails.  I was almost able to keep up with him on the descents.  Still getting the feel of being able to go fast and take turns hard.  One thing I did notice is that it’s more difficult to pedal the bike uphill.  Must be the extra couple of pounds of weight and the larger mass at the outside of the rims.

The mountain bike ride was about 10 miles long.  We turned around at the end of Horse Trail because Jordan had to be at work in a little while.  The bomber run down the trails was great!

After I got home I decided to do a little road bike ride to try and keep the break-in process going for my new Felt 95.  The weather looked ominous but I figured I could beat the rain.  Just as I got to the base of Bald Hill the rain hit in full force.  I raced back to my apartment just in front of the storm.  The road bike ride was 5.5 miles and I did it in about 20ish minutes.  Rain is a big motivator!

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This year’s Halloween was pretty epic.  It got off to a slow start but by the end of the night everyone was having a good time.  Here are some photos to prove it.

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Emily as a Zombie, Carl as a guy with a severed leg, and Matt as a grad student.

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Steve drinking it up.

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My costume.

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Jenna as Lady Gaga.

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Jesus and Lady Gaga: together at last!  One night only!

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And lo Jesus hath come down from heaven for a can of Hams.

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Reanimate the dead: Check!

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Sharon, Daniel, and Steve.

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Jesus is a ladies man.

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Dan came as a fully functional box of Franzia.

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This is a FireFox costume.  FireFox as in the web browser. So awesome!

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Someone dressed up as BookFace from The Office and someone dressed up as Fall?

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Our airplane captain friend who likes to get touchy-feely with the ladies when he is drunk.

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He got down on his knees and pleased Jesus.

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Reanimating the dead with some special Jesus Juice.

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Perhaps the scariest costume of the evening.

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Amber B not wanting a photo taken.

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Lady Gaga’s mid-evening costume change.

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Looks like we have an Anchor Man on the right.

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Pippy Longstockings and a zombie.

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Jacob as Dr Horrible.

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Jesus loves his Hams!

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A stripper and Stacey playing beer pong.

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This year the Beavers played the Bruins in our homecoming game. I worked up in the Alumni Association skybox during the game. It’s the last box on the south end of the west side of the stadium. Free food and alcohol abounded throughout the game. Skyboxes are such wonderful things!

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Players warming up on the field before the game.

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Empty stadium but lots of people tailgating.

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The skybox before the crowd arrives.

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Marching band pre-game show.

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Horizon Air Beavers jet doing a low pass over the stadium.

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The Beavers take to the field.

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The skybox filled up fast!

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Marching band halftime show.

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End of the game.  The Beavers won!

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The skybox I was in is on the far left upper deck.

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Looking up at the skybox.

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Yesterday morning the Student Alumni Association put on the annual Homecoming Parade. I went down to help setup and watch the event. In total there were around 20 or 30 entries. The fire department, OSU marching band, various local rodeos, and homecoming court were all well represented. Several antique cars and other such entries also made an appearance. Here are a few pictures in the parade assembly area.

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Last night was the 2009 Oregon State University – Student Alumni Association – Associated Students of Oregon State University Homecoming Bonfire. I somehow got roped into organizing the event. Here are a few photos of the mayhem and the fire.

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Here are a couple of photos of my new Felt 95. The first two are from the first ride with Kendra. The last is of the bike hanging on the wall in my kitchen.

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I went on a quick jaunt to break in the new Felt 95 road bike. Kendra was kind enough to go with me to help keep me motivated. Total distance was about 15 miles. We kept a pace of around 15 miles/hr averaged out between the highway and city.  Not bad for me being out of shape and fat!

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Tonight at the ASME student section meeting we had a balloon airplane mini design challenge. There were many creative designs fielded in the 30 minutes or so that we had to come up with planes. Here are a few photos of the fun.

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A double fuselage design with twin balloon propulsion modules.

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In the lineup preparing for launch.

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1022091852The first one made it at least five rows of chairs across the room!

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Finishing touches on the Wright Flier.  Orville is represented by the balloon.

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The OSU SCUBA program went to Smith Reservoir for the fall 2009 PADI Altitude Class. We Had a great time checking out the underwater topography of the lake. It was a tad bit chilly however. Even those of us in dry suits were feeling the cold by the end of the day.

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Gearing up for the dive.

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Shore entry.

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Some people doing a safety stop.

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On the bottom.

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Okay?

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“Hang ten!” or “Awesome!”  One of the two.  Either way he was having a great time.

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On the surface after a great dive.

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Someone doing a safety stop in the shallows.

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Party on the bottom!

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Eating salmon after the dive.

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Alex doesn’t like his picture to be taken.

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Nikki with a road flair.

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People starting to pass out on the van ride home.

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