Category: General (Page 27 of 29)

In order to make espresso you need coffee beans. According to the experts these should be as freshly roasted as possible. Some folks even go so far as roasting their own. I’m not quite that enamored yet. I let my fingers do the walking in the yellow pages and lo and behold… we have 5 local roasters! Awesome… I love this city.

Ronda and I went over to a new City park today and hiked around some of the trails. City parks have different connotation here than they did back in Iowa. Actually, they call this an Open Space rather than a park. It’s nearly 800 acres and is similar to the Garden of The Gods area with the distinctive red rock formations. Aside from the trails they also have some brand new technical climbing areas which will undoubtably interest some people I know. It’s called Red Rock Canyon Open Space and was purchased by the city to preserve the area and keep it from being developed commercially.

So anyway… back to the storyline. My research indicated that one of these roasting places would be convienently located for a quick stop on the way home. High Rise Coffee Roasters is in downtown Old Colorado City just off the main drag. We stopped in and chatted with the owners for a bit and walked out with some freshly roasted espresso beans and a half pound of Guatemalan beans. Ronda brought home some of her Roobois tea that she likes.

Really nice folks there (thanks to Andrew for the free espresso machine cleaning tool) I’ll be happy to give them my business. Their website is a little lame though. Maybe I’ll try and help them out a little.

What you may ask do espresso and gutters have in common? Nothing really, but they both occupied my thoughts some today. I borrowed a ladder from Jerry (my neighbor) and cleaned the leaves out of the gutters today. One of those evil but necessary tasks. It wasn’t too bad actually. There were surprisingly few leaves and it was a breeze compared to the ol’ farmstead with it’s 2-story roofline.

I also raked up the remaining leaves and bagged them up. Kudo’s for Colorado Springs… no “special” bags required! Just put’em in regular trash bags and leave them for the garbage man. I have been pleased with the local attitude towards such things. Recyling is “optional”. I put the crumpled up bumper from Kristina’s Jeep out and they took it. Definitely my kind of garbage service.

Espresso… Ahh! I have always enjoyed coffee. It is my only real vice these days. I bought an inexpensive Krups unit many years ago and was vastly disappointed. It was basically useless and was quickly relegated to the basement. My interest waned for a number of years but I have gotten the bug again and decided to give it another try.

I have done my research and plan to master the art this time around. What I quickly discovered was a true espresso machine can be mighty pricey. But, one thing I have learned over the years is you are better off buying something of higher quality to start with. It will last longer, do the intended task better, and save you a lot of frustration (see comment above about Krups). I conducted the majority of my research at WholeLatteLove and CoffeeGeek.

As I am wont to do I turned to Ebay for a good second-hand machine. It took a week or so of looking and being patient but I found a couple of good deals and actually ended up buying two machines. One of them is coming with a very nice burr grinder which is essential (so I am told). I plan to put them both through their paces and keep the one I like the best. Now I just have to clean up one of my guns that is now collecting dust in the closet and sell it so I can pay for these new toys. So stay tuned for further adventures.

I have to prepare a case study for my GIS Mgmt/Policy class. We are suppose to select a company/agency that has already implemented a GIS system and interview them. Desired information runs along the lines of; How did the project get started? , How did you obtain support from management?, Did you conduct a Needs Assessment?, What were the costs and benefits?, etc.

I selected the Colorado Springs Fire Department after reading an article in the local paper about a new system they were implementing. It’s pretty neat and provides a good example of why I have selected GIS to focus my career on. The system is called Automatic Vehicle Locater (AVL) and is said to be the first of it’s kind. Firetrucks will be fitted with GPS devices that monitor their locations and relay information to the city’s central traffic center. As a truck races towards the emergency scene, computers will map out the quickest route to the fire, identify traffic lights along the way and change their timing so they’re green when the truck arrives.

Onboard the fire engine is another computer that not only shows the route to the blaze but allows firefighters to get information about floor plans, building inspections, hazardous materials stored inside, and other important information.

I went downtown yesterday and conducted my first interview. The AVL system is only one of many GIS applications in use by the Fire Department. It was very interesting and confirmed my desire to become a GIS expert.

Today was consumed with winter preparations. We got pelted with a foot of snow last week and single digit temps at night. More or less what you look at as a “wake-up call”. Today was beautiful though, 70 deg and sunny, winds calm. So, we spent the day working on a few things that are much more pleasant to accomplish in nice weather.

I went to Home Depot and got a new rubber strip and some weatherstripping for the garage door. Cut-Snip-Nail and now the north wind should howl on by instead of coming in the garage. Oil changes were needed on both Jeeps. I did Ronda’s and then taught Kristina how to do her own. Kristina has been a willing student for Auto Mechanics 101. Her Jeep needed new rear brakes last month. We changed out the shoes and had the drums turned. Saved her a few $$’s in the process.

Lastly, Ronda’s Jeep got a much needed bath and interior wipe down. It was showing the effects of mountain trips and the sand on the roads after the snowstorm. (R says) It was another gorgeous Colorado day! Made more so with the fellowship of the ones we love. The work accomplished was good too.

The big day is finally here. We all went to the polls and voted this morning. It should be an interesting evening watching the networks report after the last debacle. Hopefully, they will be a little more responsible this time.

I have read that there are approx 10 million more registered voters in 2004 than there were in 2000. That’s encouraging. Now if they would just get out and vote. Apparently, just a little over 50% of the registered voters actually vote. That statistic is pathetic.

The thing that amazes me about the recent elections is how evenly divided they have been. Basically that means that half of the people in this country are seriously confused 🙂

Well, the view out our windows is awesome tonight! We are having our first snowfall! We are excited because we love snow but it also means ‘water in them thar hills’! Yes, we NEED snow and lots of it to continue to lessen the effects of the drought. There is about 4 inches on the ground and it is still snowing. It has been that gorgeous big fluffy stuff. The wind is supposed to kick upover night and blow it around so the world we saw when the trick or treaters came through our neighborhood will not be the same in the morning.

Wish I had bought my new hiking boots so I could go snowshoeing in the morning but haven’t gotten there yet so I will just have to dream about the next snow and wait.