Ubster?

Arrr, shiver me timbers

Avast, me hearties!

posted by the_ubster @ 6:39 AM 2 comments

The 50 Worst Cars of All Time

A list of the 50 worst cars of all time compliled by Time and CNN starts off with a 1899 Horsey Horseless and ends with the Chevy SSR.


I'm proud to say that my first car was number 26, a Racing Green TR7. I spent more time working on it than driving it. Part of me wishes I kept it. Actually I wish I kept all of my old cars, well except the Encore that was handed down to me from my sister.


I'm also proud to say that I not only know an engineer that worked on #24 & #34, but I'm working with him now! I've also blogged about him. Okay, I also know and am currently working with the Chief Engineer of the Chevy SSR. It means nothing!

posted by the_ubster @ 9:04 AM 2 comments

Race Day

I opened my eyes and looked at the clock, 5:45 AM. I smile, I didn’t sleep in. I turn on the news to see the latest weather report, frost warning through 8 AM. Frost, 8 AM? That’s when the race starts! It’s gonna be cold! I think they said 47 degrees by 8 o’clock. It felt like 20! I began my normal morning ritual of getting coffee for Melissa & me, milk for the kids and taking a shower. We all had to be out the door by 7:15. Not as easy as it sounds with a 3 & 4 year old. We made it in time to stop off at the Stauch’s to borrow their jogging stroller (thanks Stauch’s). Off to the Zoo! As we are driving again I'm thinking, what have I done? We made it there with about 25 minutes to spare. We got Melissa another coffee and headed to the starting line. I put on my headphones, took off my sweatshirt and my warm up pants. Standing in shorts and a long sleeve shirt under my first race tee shirt, I was cool! After hearing some last minute instructions the horn sounded and we were off. All 749 runners (Females: 434 / Males: 315), chaos. Some people were blazing by like I was standing still! I kept a comfortable pace and occasionally passed some people. I really focused on a steady pace and was pretty happy at the first mile marker to see I was at 9:14 pace (according to my watch). A good pace for me on this cold Sunday morning, I kept my focus and was feeling pretty good. The pains of the first mile were behind me, the pains of the next two in front. The second mile clicked by and my pace slowed a bit to 9:32. I was feeling pretty good, even though many people began to kick it into gear and pass me. I was beginning to feel like a looser when I was passed by a young girl maybe 9 years old! A few minutes into mile 3 I picked up my pace again. Somewhere along Woodward, in the second half of mile 3 the Rocky theme song comes on the headphones. Perfect, I thought, it seemed to help me. Mile marker 3, 9:17 pace. I can hear the crowd cheering now, I feel really good. I start sprinting & passing people left and right. Finishing with a clock time of 28:38 and a chip time of 28:23. Both well below my last 5K of 30:45. I’m happy! Overall I finished 288 th, and 28th in my class (males 35 – 39). When did I get so old?

One thing I really need to work on is grabbing water and drinking it as I’m running. Maybe at the next race…

posted by the_ubster @ 4:21 AM 3 comments

5K update

Many of my readers have been requesting an update on my “training’ (okay, one reader). To tell you the truth I haven’t been running as often or as far as I should be but my times are getting better and I’m able to run longer without stopping. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday as a storm rolled in so it was pretty windy, and then it rained a bit before I finished. Finished is the key word, I ran all 4 miles in the wind and rain without stopping. My goal in this run is to beat my last 5k time of 30:45, which was 7 years ago. Here is my average pace per mile for the last few times I’ve run. I’m on the right path to beat my last 5k.

3.1 miles 9:30
1.3 miles 9:12
3 miles 9:30
4 miles 9:44

**************************************
UPDATE 9/14 8:45am

Ran 2 miles last night at a pace of 8:47

posted by the_ubster @ 11:48 AM 2 comments

I'm throwing out my cell phone

I went to lunch today with an ex co-worker / friend who often tells tales of conspiracies. Since I hadn’t talked to him in a while I asked what was new in the world of conspiracies, he responded in a manner which he often does, how Bush is a puppet and Cheney is a slave to the mysterious group of powerful men that run the world. I later mentioned that I was thinking of getting an iPhone now that they are $200 cheaper. He said he heard that they have a hidden function and they really do something for the government but he couldn’t remember. He also mentioned that cell phones are being used to spy on citizens even when they are turned off. He said that the mic could be activated even when the phone was turned off and it could be used to pick up conversations in the room. The only way to avoid it would be to remove the battery. I called bullshit and he said to search Google video because there was an clip from Fox news.

The video and links below are my result.





FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
Use of mobile helped police keep tabs on suspect and brother

So now I’m wondering a few things.
1) is he right about the other conspiracies
2) what is this “function” the iPhone does for the feds
3) what is going on in area 51

Oh yeah, if you call my cell and get my voice mail it’s because I’ve pulled my battery, I didn't throw if out. Yet.

posted by the_ubster @ 1:49 PM 1 comments