Indoor fish

Cooked a fresh .75lb tuna steak Tuesday. What was unusual about this is I did it indoors, and not on my BBQ. I used a frying pan on the stove burner, on high. Nothing in the pan. Cooked it for 5 minutes, 2.5 per side. Middle was still red, outside was white. I'm still alive, so I may have done it right, or I just ate warm sushi.

Ed's Follies Cigars and Beer

Every so often, I get a whim to do something. Off the cuff, spur of the moment, or as I like to call it, Ed's Folly. This doesn't necessarily mean it's a foolish idea, but it's meant to be fun.

This past Sunday the plan was to stay at home with the guys and BBQ on the porch. I had a folly to go down to Longmont, hit the cigar store, and go for a beer at Left Hand Brewery. We'd tried to go to their tasting room before, but back then it wasn't open on Sundays. As soon as we were all together, into the car and off to Havana Manor. Did some shopping there and off to Left Hand, just a few blocks away. The place was packed, and had a live band playing. We each bought a flight of four beers and went outside to consume, and smoke a cigar. We then decided not to have a cigar, so we were out in the cool fall Colorado air. The beers were good, all of them (we had around 8 different beers between the three of us. (A month ago we went to Ft Collins Brewery and didn't sample a beer we liked. That's beer for you.) Of note as being unique and very good were the Wake Up The Dead russian imperial stout and the Fade To Black Volume 3 pepper porter.

New AR build

I've been planning on building a AR-15 gun from scratch for a year or so. I'd been back and forth on the configuration, but it boiled down to a lightweight build. I was torn between a pistol or a carbine. I had also planned on doing it all myself, buying a stripped lower and upper, and all the parts and putting it together as a fun project.
However, I stopped in at a new gun store locally, and they were selling a full lower, very lightweight, for a great price. Then the search was on to get an upper for it. I have a Bushmaster A1 upper in the safe, but I wanted something more modern and lighter. I put together a recipe for the ideal lightweight upper, but it's hard to find these ideal parts all the time, and there was one part/combo I couldn't deal with: a 14.5" barrel with permanently attached muzzle device taking it to 16". I can't legally own a 14.5" barrel, and I didn't want to torque the barrel into the receiver. My plan was to have a local gunsmith do it for me.
In the meantime, I kept surfing all the manufacturer web sites looking for an upper that was close to my recipe, affordable, and in stock. I found one at Loki Weapon Systems, with their LWS STD upper. I chose a 16" barrel with A2 flash hider so I could exchange it for the Yankee Hill model I wanted. It has a 1 in 8" twist barrel. I wanted 1:7, but this will work.

It arrived yesterday, and I'm happy. I was expecting a thinner barrel, but it's still lighter than my Bushmaster upper, has a free float barrel system. The gas block rail is lower than the receiver, I'm wondering if my front sight will be too low.

Ducati test ride

I attended the last scheduled Ducati test ride today (sunday 6/19). I got to do a 40 minute test of the new Diavel. I wanted to test it as I hoped its low seat would allow me to touch the ground easy, and it would be a comfortable reach to the bars. The stock seat (I rode a Carbon model)(not worth the extra $3000 for the 12 lbs saved) was very comfortable, held me well. The bike can change the power delivery, but it doesn't change suspension like the Multistrada does. The 100hp urban mode had enough power, but it felt heavier, and I needed to use more throttle to do the same thing as the 162hp modes did. Clutch was very smooth. Suspension was a little rough, but there is an easy to reach knob that allows me to adjust the rear, but I didn't have time to try it out. Power delivery was smooth, even at low RPMs. As a naked bike, airflow was there, but smooth. Noise was low too. They make two different windshields, I wonder how much difference they make. The digital dash said I made 42mpg the time I rode. Dash has 2 trip odometers, and I can change the fuel display too.

I can see buying the regular $16,995 model if I were to get a new bike. It's a better motorcycle than the Thunderbolt, but the T-Bolt has bags, mabye better wind protection, a more upright seating position. So, it's better, but not better enough for a switch.

p.s. They took some pictures of me astride the bike with an umbrella girl, and they gave me a USB drive when I left, but pictures of me are absent from the drive. How's that for a dagger to the heart? "Thank you for coming, here are pictures of everyone else having fun." Of course, after hearing about the pictures, I decided not to take any myself.

Greeley Blues Fest 2011

Ditched work FRI night to attend the free concert evening. It started with an outdoor concert attended by hundreds, and they served food and stuff. I missed that. Afterwards, at 8pm, 10 acts played at the same time at bars and restaurants all over downtown. I planned on listening to a bit of each and having a beer at each venue, to support downtown businesses. These are my views:
-Started at Patrick's and listening to Clam Daddy's. 3 guys, guitar, stand up base, and harmonica. Loved their sound. Had a Left Hand Milk Stout and a Arrogant Bastard. Place was standing room only.
-Went next door to the Mad Cow. Place was packed, but no music. Between sets?
-On to the Penalty Box. Again no music, swapping bands.
-downstairs to Jager Bar, again no music.
-Over to the Rio. Rob Wilson was performing. Enjoyed his music. Had a margarita.
-Down the Street to Dutch's. Jack Handley Band was more Funk than Blues. Had a Corona.
-Missed Sky Nightclub. Don't know why.
-At the Kress, Felonius Smith finished a song and went on break.
-Walked to the Clarion, Sammy Dee Morton was almost funk, playing a big room. Had a Ginger Bee. It didn't taste as sweet as I'm used to.
-Over to Roasty's. Enjoyed Gretchen Troop Band, even waiting through a 20min break for more. Had another Corona.
-Trying to pickup the missed locations. Again no music at Mad Cow. Back to the Penalty Box, but skipped do to line. Downstairs at Jager had a 20 oz PBR, as I listened to Willie Houston. Couldn't finish the beer, awful, and I was full.
-Finished up back at Patrick's. Winding down, loved the Clam Daddy's. They finished about 12:30a. Was offered a shot, drank Jameson.

Fun evening, but I paid a bit for it today. I wish downtown was always this hopping.

Vegas trip notes

Back from Vegas.
notes by category:
Blue Man Group was a good performance and poor crowd which took a bit away from the show. The theater is smaller than the Luxor, I think. My ticket was bought via Allegiant Air. Got a great seat at a great price. There were two Allegiant references in the show, but otherwise I didn't notice anything else new. I was happy with the set list, mostly their old stuff. No classic song remakes (e.g. rabbit or baba o'reiy)
Saw Jubelee at Ballys. A classic Vegas show, it had showgirls, singers, acrobats. Felt a little hokey at the beginning, a bit summer stock musical, but I got into it after a bit and really enjoyed it. I was 2 rows behind the isle, and was surprised how many people left their seats during the show, sometimes to get more drinks.

My trade show felt fresh and different after a 5 year absence. They added manufacturer presentations, the exhibit hall was only open two days. They limited the possible size of each both, allowing more manufacturers in the hall, but it felt a bit empty.
I would liked to have had more evening events. Yes, we're in Vegas, but I'm there to learn, not to gamble or see shows. There was only one demo night, and they threatened to shut the lights off like they did last year. This, to me indicates that they need more demo time / nights.

Travel both ways was smooth. Had my bag searched by TSA on the way out. They relocked the bag (actually they locked it more). I was put up in a very nice room on the High Rollers floor. It was a half suite, with a bar, table and four chairs, couch (pullout) with coffee table and two end chairs. My queen size bed was a pull down, and was comfortable. Having a bar meant I didn't need to keep getting ice to keep drinks cold. I over bought drinks- 2 32oz Gatorade and a 12-pack of coke cans. I ended up leaving 1 Gatorade and 1 coke. I bought them all at a 7-11 a short walk from the hotel. I know of no other place where 7-11 is considered a cheap place to buy stuff. There was a Walgreen's on the strip in the Pails, and prices there were much higher, and they STILL didn't have the Walgreen's exclusive beer. Next trip I'll grab some at an off strip Walgreen's.

Checked out a bunch of watch stores, and as predicted, nothing caught my eye, or felt better than my Omega ti SMP. I did have one salesperson tell me that Rolex is much better made than my Omega.

Buffet FAIL!

Tried to do a buffet here. First morning the breakfast buffet was closed. Then, I never had 24 hours without a sponsored meal, so I didn't do the Buffet of Buffets 24 hours, 7 different buffet, one price. No lunch or dinner buffet at Ballys, but I was planning on walking through to Paris for theirs. Instead I was near Earl of Sandwich so I grabbed that, plus I was invited into a Thai meal. Still have half a sandwich left. I could take it back home and do breakfast buffet ( it's open now ), but I'll just save the cash.
Next time...