So I'm driving to work this morning, and while I'm on Wasatch I notice a rock chip I got on Friday start to split. Within no time its 10" across my windshield. Crud I'm thinking. Continue on my way to work.

It was at 20th East that my problems really occurred. I'm in the right lane, still can't get left, when I see movement out of the corner of my eye. I realize big chunks of ice are dropping off the overpass, and I'm headed right for them. I had no time to do anything. They slammed into my windshield. That tiny 10" crack was tiny no more! I now have huge cracks all across my windshield. I looked over at my right mirror; the mirror itself came out of the housing and was hanging on by wires (heated and autodimming). When I got to work I took a better look. I didn't see any dents, and it didn't hit the sunroof.

I lucked out in many ways. I have an appointment for replacement tomorrow...

At the end of last month I ordered some saddlebags for my motorcycle. I got them today. Let me tell you the tale...

I had been searching around for several months trying to decide on which bags I should buy. I finally decided on the Edge Leather Model 108L bags. More searching, and I found a place that would give me 10% off the bags if I bought the brackets I wanted from them as well. It came out to be the lowest price I could find, so I placed the order on February 27th about 9 am. They shipped that same day via ground shipping.

On March 5th my package arrived. I noticed it was shipped directly from the manufacturer, no problem. Then after a few minutes I noticed something. They were the wrong bags. I held in my hands the standard Model 108. Looks exactly the same, but missing the lock. It was a significant bit more for the locking model, and that is what I wanted. I looked at the invoice and it listed the standard 108. So the guys I ordered from screwed up and ordered the wrong bag from the manufacturer.

So I called their customer service. It was completely automated and said if I hadn't already I needed to fill out the online return form and wait 2 days for them to "process" it. I'm thinking that is bull already and getting pissed off. I submitted it on the afternoon of the 5th. Well I wait. And wait. On the 11th I still hadn't heard anything (4 business days), so I called them back, finally got to a live person and expressed my frustration. She assured me she would contact their returns department and make sure they were working on it. Wait. Wait.

Called back on the 13th. WHAT THE ____! She told me the same story again, I told her I thought their customer service was a complete joke, the worst I've ever seen, and mentioned I'll go talk to my credit card company about reversing the charges. 15 minutes later I had an email from them. It told me basically the same thing. So I waited.

On Tuesday the 17th I got another email saying it had been processed and included a return label. On the 18th they actually shipped (again from the manufacturer, but no big deal there). I waited until I had a tracking number from UPS before shipping the other ones back. They finally arrived today.

I'm now going to make it my mission in life to share this story and put these guys out of business. Their customer service was a complete joke, and they don't deserve business from anyone.

So that is the tale... I will say though I'm very impressed with the product from my initial viewing. We'll see how they work out over time. But I got them all mounted up after work today, and can't wait to try them out! Pictures in my gallery here!

So yesterday during the rain my power went out. My UPS' battery is pretty much shot, and as it was it didn't power my server long enough for it to shut down correctly. So the server shutdown hard. And it wasn't happy. Especially the virtual machines. But that is the joy of virtualization! I moved some files around, set everything back up, and BAM, I was up and running again. (Of course that took a few hours... doh!)

So now the when it rains part... I didn't want to take that chance again, so I ordered a new UPS. While I was at it my hard drives were full (4% free of 1.8 TB!!) I ordered a 4th 1 TB drive to add to my RAID. And of course I have outgrown all the cases I have at my place, so I had to order a new full tower for my server.

So much for all that extra credit I paid off this month... (Just means I won't be able to do I planned for next month)

There are two new things here... put your guesses in the comments!

Sorry, don't know why the comments weren't working before... should be good now.

In an effort to save money I just performed the "homeboy" mod on my motorcycle. Right in the middle of the seat there is a hump in the plastic. Due to this the foam is thinner there, and it causes much butt pain. The mod is to remove the hump.

I was very apprehensive to remove my seat cover, but after doing it, it's nothing! So I pulled off the cover, and cut out the hump! In place of the hump I did place a cut up garbage bag, then put the foam and cover back on. I took it out for a test sit. Wow. I could definitely tell a difference.

Now the only hard part is that my seat mounts to the bike with two screws on a bracket on the back. Guess what I just cut out? The bracket. I knew this going into it that I would have to fabricate a new mounting bracket. So I did a cardboard tracing of what I needed, and started to cut it out of plate steel with a Dremel. Well 5 cutting wheels later and I wasn't even 10% done. This wasn't going to happen. So I called Eric to see if he could help. Today I took the sheet metal into his work at lunch and using his plasma cutter he was done in a matter of minutes!

So tonight I cleaned it up on a bench grinder, and drilled my holes. This should work perfectly. Before finishing I threw some Rustoleum on there to keep the rust from coming. So that's where I sit now.

I'll update this with finished pics, but in the mean time there's pics here:

http://www.waterman981.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=12953

Update: This morning I checked the bracket, looks awesome! I put one rubber grommet in to check it out. Looks like it will work perfectly! My bolts may not be long enough, so I'll see if I can fit them or not. If not I'll pick up new ones, when I get rubber ends for the bolts. I'll finish it up tonight and take final pics!

Update 2: All done! I put my rubber grommets in, then measured and drilled my holes into the seat to mount the bracket. Got it all installed and took it out for a little ride tonight! Couldn't tell with how short of a ride it was, but seemed really good. Time will tell. Final pics in the gallery now too!

I finally got back on the bike today. Granted, it was planted on a trainer, but still got on it. I only did about 2 miles, not much, but it totally killed my legs. I guess the factor is I'm out of shape. But that's why I got the trainer. I'm hoping by spring I will be much better. Definitely better than just starting in spring. The one thing I was definitely pleased about is my butt didn't hurt too much. Ever since that last wheeling trip after Thanksgiving I've been hurting. I'd sure be nice if it was all better.

After doing a little ride of my own I watched the prologue for the Tour of California. It was awesome watching all the biggest names in the one race. I'm excited for this next week to watch the strategy, strength, and endurance of the pros. It's some of the best racing to watch. Now if only I could get guide data for VersusHD, and if they would broadcast the race in HD. Tomorrow is going to be the long day though. Daytona 500 starts at noon, then the Tour of California (ToC) at 4. What's gonna stink is I have some scheduled work to do during the middle of it. Oh well.

So I had a nice weekend away. Tony, his brother Matt, and I went up to a condo in Eden, UT for the weekend. I had originally booked the condo back in November. Originally the plan was myself and Lacey, Tony & Chelsey, & Eric & Natalie. The largest I was able to book was a 2 bedroom, and as the other couples were married, didn't want to crowd their rooms. Unfortunately Natalie got sick so they weren't able to go. I tried others, but it was very last minute. As Chelsey would be the only woman there she decided to stay home as well (Which ended up being a good thing as she got sick too. ).

So Tony I got up there about 5:30 on Friday. The fog was starting to get bad, but not super bad yet. Matt arrived about 6:30. We loaded up in my car and drove to Ogden to get some groceries at Macey's. The fog then was super thick! Got our groceries and went back up, through the thick fog, to chill and watch Hot Fuzz.

Saturday we all woke up around 8. We looked outside and saw rain. Checked the weather and it didn't sound much more promising. We cooked some breakfast and made our way out. We decided to check the snow at Snowbasin before deciding. The lot there was empty, and it was raining. We walked around, checked the lift prices, and decided to go for it. So first we went in and got our skis. After we got them we stepped outside and the rain had turned to little ice pellets. A few minutes later and it was snow. Still very wet and heavy, but snow. We got all our gear on and took the Needles Express up the mountain. As soon as we got off we noticed we couldn't see 20 feet in front of us. The combination of fog and snow was horrible. So we started off slowly. Picking out routes we could barely see when we removed our goggles. Going downhill was an adventure. With such heavy snow, and no visibility, we would go a little bit, then stop. A few times I thought I was stopped, wasn't though, and when I'd relax I'd suddenly get moving in a direction I wasn't ready for ending up in a crash. Unfortunately I was not up to the day, and half way down my legs were already done. I finished the run and told Tony and Matt to go on without me. I chilled for a bit, then realized I was at my limit unfortunately. So I took my skis back and got comfortable until they were done. Definitely the most expensive single run I have ever done, but I still had fun. And even though it was just one run I felt satisfied.

Tony and Matt made their way to the car at about 3:30. We headed back to the condo, then bee-lined it to the hot tub. We relaxed there for a good long while, shaking out our muscles. For dinner that night we decided to go to a steak house. So first we checked the prices at the Timbermine. Much more than we wanted to spend that night. Ruby River had a 75 minute wait. Texas Roadhouse 60 minutes. We ended up at Chuck-a-rama. At least is was cheap! Went back to the condo after eating, and watched Better Off Dead. After that one we started Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure but were just way too worn out.

Sunday we all got up around 9. It was the snow plow that woke me up. It had snowed pretty good overnight there. We cleaned up and were out by 11 heading home. The snow stopped in Ogden Canyon, and turned to rain. Then pretty much rain all the way down until SLC, when it was really slushy on the road. But we made it back with no incident. Definitely a fun weekend, and I'll have to try it again, and hopefully nobody gets sick beforehand!

Last night when I got home I had two awesome packages waiting for me. New wheels for my mountain bike so I could mount the disc brakes I bought 3 months ago, and Firefly on Blu-ray. I popped in disc 1 and got to work. I had the new brakes mounted up pretty quick. I still need my new cables and rim strips to arrive, so it'll be a few more days until my bike is fully back together. Even after I was done I continued to watch Firefly. I watched about half the series last night. Really, IMO is is the best Sci-Fi ever done. Thanks to Steve for turning me onto it. Battlestar Galactica is very good as well, but Firefly & Serenity are just so much better. This is my second time through the series and I really feel more what the driving force behind the main characters is, which makes it that much better.

Had a little man's night last night. Steve came over around 4:30 while I was playing Lego Star Wars. We played for a little while, then ran to grab some grub at Panda Express. On the way there we saw a Mazda 3 that had been in an accident... the engine was sitting on the road about 30 feet from the car.

After grabbing grub we stopped at Blockbuster and picked up Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Went back to my place and started playing. A bit later Tony was able to make it. We continued playing a bit of Smash Bros, then played some tennis, and a bit of boxing. We played until almost 2 when they both headed home. It was a fun night. Thanks guys!

For the first time ever I think, I hung up some lights at this house. Due to the roof line it is very hard, so I was only able to get them up over the garage. In order to do all of my house you would definitely need a boom lift. The only thing I ever recall doing previously was one of the bushes. Unfortunately I ran out of time to do more, and seeing the forecast it looks like this will be it. Next year.

[lightbox http://www.waterman981.com/images/lights.jpg][/lightbox]

Last night was an event I had planned with Lacey for about a month. I left work and picked her up at 5:30. We then drove up to Logan. She had no clue was was going on. We arrived, parked, and went into the Ellen Eccles Theatre. We stood in the lobby waiting a couple minutes for them to open the door, then entered the theater. As we were walking to our seats she realized with just a single piano on stage we were going to see Jim Brickman. Then the excitement exploded! It had been hard not to tell her what we were doing, but I knew she would love going.

The performance was really good! He had two special guests with him last night, Tracy Silverman came out first with his bright yellow electric violin. That was pretty cool. Played some metal on it, and it sounded way cool. The second one to come out was Anne Cochran. With the three of them on stage they really went for it. It was very very good. They took a short intermission, and when they returned they did a little Q&A session. They were pretty quick witted. After that they went with a medley of his most popular songs, and one final closing piano solo. Very good fun show. After the show we cranked up the heated seats and drove back to Ogden, talking during the drive.

Well before I get to the pain, I guess I should write up everything else...

On Friday the 21st Lacey and I met up with Steve & Becky, & Eric & Natalie to see Twilight. I personally thought it wasn't bad. Not something I want to watch over and over, but it wasn't bad. After we walked over to Outback to grab some dinner and talk about the movie.

I didn't really do much after then until Thanksgiving. Went down to my grandparents. It was packed, and there was a bone in my stuffing. (I'm just not a fan of the stuffing my aunt makes... just Stove Top for me!) After dinner we went to my sister's place. My niece was being hilarious, blowing through her lips making them flap for like 5 minutes. We were all in stitches.

Friday I slept in. No crazy shopping for me! I did go over to Eric's to load up, and we went to Bajio, but otherwise pretty uneventful.

Saturday was the day that created the pain. I completely slept through 2 alarms. Eric called me at 7:15 asking where I was... uh... in bed. DOH! So I jumped up, took a quick shower, and got my stuff together. They came and picked me up and we were off to the dunes! Woot! It was about Lehi I remembered I forgot to license my LTR. CRAP! We got to the dunes and of course the ranger was checking registrations on trailers. We lucked out in that my registration stickers were on the inside on the trailer and not easily visible. We went out to Oasis and started riding. Headed out to the dunes, then turned towards Sand Mountain. Ryan went down. I didn't see what happened first, but he broke his shifter and his peg came off. Not ideal. We went back and dropped off his bike and grabbed Natalie's Kawi.

Back to the mountain. As we had our dirt tires on I was hitting the trails. Hard. It was so much fun flying through those trails. Always fun! Did a run up the mountain then started heading back. At this time Aaron noticed his pipe was totally cracked, so he took the road back to Oasis, while Ryan, Eric, & I played along the dunes. We jumped the little roller at the bottom of the mountain for a little. Ryan tried my LTR and on his last jump he nose dived and over jumped the jump. Didn't crash, but hit hard. We got back and rested for some lunch.

After lunch we rode all around the mountain next to Oasis. I beat the living crap out of my swingarm skidplate. But it was fun as we don't do that usually. Definitely need a RZR.

So Sunday I woke up for church, and couldn't move. I slowly got into the shower, got out (still moving slowly) and crashed. We had a little family turkey dinner, and I was still moving slowly. This morning was even worse, and I am walking so slow! My left hip is so sore!

So the moral of this life lesson. I need to lose weight. I'm going to start looking into a gym this week (after I can walk again).

Saturday I was outside taking care of some leaves when Lacey called me. She was down at Southtown shopping with her sister. I finished off the hole I was working on, dug half of a new one, and got on my motorcycle to ride down. I met up with them and we walked around the mall. My hand rarely left hers. Next we went to the Christmas gift expo. Definitely full of stupid people. We walked around, saw a bunch of junk. After that they headed back to Ogden, and I headed home. I switched over to my car and headed up to Ogden to meet back up with her.

We drove up to Brigham City with her best friends to eat dinner at Maddox. They kept insisting the steaks were better than Ruby River. I disagreed and had them bring me some A1. It won't stop me from going up whenever Lacey wants. The always fresh hot rolls were very good. After that we went and watched Madagascar 2. The seats sucked in that the armrests were fixed in place.

I took her home and we sat and talked for a while. I left around midnight. Just before 1 I got into work. Yup. Had to do some work over the weekend, and that was the most convenient time. I got home just before 2 am, and crashed.

Yup, I broke the gallery.

I did something stupid that I knew better. I edited my last SQL backup file, and it was truncated. I should have edited a copy, but nope... I screwed up.

What does this mean? It means all pictures from October 26th will need to be re-uploaded. Now here's the good part. I didn't lose the pictures themselves. So I can easily re-upload them. It's the descriptions I lost.

It could have been worse!

On Saturday I slept in nice and late, which was nice. Around 2 I jumped on my motorcycle and rode down to Eric's. I helped them a bit as they got stuff to take to the DI, and move their patio furniture inside. Then up to my house. Started up the Wii so his girls could play while we moved my dryer out to the trailer. Then back to his place. After moving it down we were getting hungry. I hadn't eaten a thing all day, so we took 2 of his girls to Red Robin. Then we watched some BSG.

Not bad.

So last night Lacey and I went to the Grizzlies game. The night was called "Pink in the Rink", and the ice was pink as some of the money from the night went to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Lacey and I were both wearing our pink of course. We were on the front row, right next to the Grizzlies penalty box. The other team was getting away with so much stuff, it was a joke! Stupid refs. Between the 2nd and 3rd periods Grizzby was right in front of us trying to get us to kiss. I was oblivious for the first 30 seconds, then finally caught on.
With 2 minutes to go the Grizz scored their first goal, then 20 seconds left got another to tie it up. Overtime went scoreless, then the Grizz got the only goal in the shoutout to win the game. There was only one fight in the game and it was literally right in front of us. At one point it looked like both teams were ready to go, but they got pulled apart by the refs. I'm sure the 3rd game the next night was brutal!

Yesterday after work I headed over to Eric's house to hang out while Natalie was at Paint class. We were playing some Rockband and Lacey and I started sending text messages back and forth. After she said she was in a cuddling mood I started teasing that I was driving up. She then replied basically saying that she'd love to see me, and that was all the invite I needed. I put down the guitar mid-set and drove right up there!

I met up with her at a Baskin Robbins with her cousin and friends. We went and grabbed The Incredible Hulk from a redbox, then went to watch it. Lacey must have been so exhausted from the week's events as she crashed pretty quickly as we were watching the movie. Unfortunately due to the drive home I had to leave shortly after 11.

Totally worth it.

So Wednesday night I decided to see if my suit still fit, as I haven't worn it for a year and a half. Nope. So yesterday morning I ran over to the Men's Warehouse and hoped they would be able to alter it that same day for me. They agreed thankfully! I went and picked it up at 4, then drove up to Ogden for Lacey's grandmothers viewing.

I got up there a little early so I grabbed a quick bite to eat, then began the process of changing into my suit inside my car. Not that easy! I got ready and headed up to the mortuary. I was finally able to meet Lacey's family, which was great, even though it was under those sad circumstances.

After the viewing a bunch of her family went out to dinner, so we joined them. (I was thinking ugghhh... too much food!) So I got a salad (which ended up bigger than I hoped), and we sat and talked for over an hour. I started to put faces to names (and even remember names) from the stories I've heard. After we left we drove past Lacey's work, then took her back and I left for home about 11.

Last night was Metallica! Right after work I ran to pick up Ryan, then we drove up to Eric's work to meet up with Eric and Steven. We all piled into Steven's car and drove to downtown. Found a sweet free parking spot just a half block from the arena. We hadn't eaten yet so we walked over to the the Gateway and grabbed some chow.

Next into the arena. We ended up having awesome lower bowl seats, about half way up. Pretty good view! The first band was already playing... they sucked. The second band came out... guy was bragging that two of them used to be in Pantera... fine, but you suck now! The first two bands really were just noise. Both really sucked.

Finally Metallica came out. The show started off with lasers going all over the arena. The mix was a little off, but Metallica played great! Even with the mix just off, and the sucky acoustics of the arena, the sound coming from everyone was fantastic. I was also VERY impressed by their stage lighting. Great color combinations, and they were always very easy to see clearly. For their final song they had the house lights up which always is a cool sight. After they mingled with the fans from the stage for a few minutes. Very impressed with the crowd interaction.

Crappy camera phone pics (And even crappier camera phone video clips!) in the gallery.

So after spending 2 days home sick, I made it back to work yesterday. After work I ran home, grabbed a couple movies, and headed up to Ogden to be with Lacey, and hang out with her friends for Halloween. One of her friends was house sitting, and watching the owners dog, so we were hanging out at that house handing out candy. As soon as we ran out of candy we went downstairs and watched Edward Scissorhands. I really enjoyed the time with Lacey. Eventually I had to leave... she definitely didn't want me to, but I needed to drive home before I got too tired. So after saying goodnight I drove home, getting there around 2 am.