Our World

Category: Fitness

All things fitness related.

  • Day 043 of 2026

    Day 043 of 2026

    Hello All! This is one of these posts that is going to be ongoing today. Started off the day at my hotel in Grand Junction, CO.

    Looked out the window of the hotel and saw a bunch of new car models with manufacturer plates. All fitted with GPS and all Toyota. I had a chance to talk with one of the drivers and yes, they are testing new models in various conditions across the country. Sort of cool.

    New Toyota Models

    Got breakfast and then spent the next few hours working on desk stuff. That is pricing, processor questions, and tech support.

    While I had the room booked for two nights I decided to check out early as the roads look pretty good through the mountains and I really want to go home today. I had to check out around 10:00am so I went to the park and got in most of my 10,00 steps for the day.

    Map of the route “Day 043 of 2026”: 3.99 mi, 187 ft of climbing and 194 ft of descent, elevation between 4,567 ft and 4,596 ft, time 01:11:50. It starts at 39.10896, -108.60673 and ends at 39.10688, -108.60713 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 4 mi
    Max elevation: 4596 ft
    Min elevation: 4566 ft
    Total climbing: 186 ft
    Total descent: 195 ft
    Average speed: 4.01 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 96
    Average temperature: 22.2
    Total time: 01:11:52

    I also had some time to find some more of the sculptures and other neat things around the park. This is one of the neat things when I am traveling, I can find some really neat things in all the areas I travel to if I look close enough.

    Playground Entrance
    Outside Playground
    The Grand Junction Slugger
    By Tennis Court
    Near Tennis Court
    Child Entering Playground
    View From Park
    View From Park
    Clouds Moving In
    The Mountains Vanish
    Near the Park

    After that it was time to head over for my appointment and meet up with the adjusters, the engineers, and the property management (HOA) representative. The inspection went about as well as I thought it would, but the view from the roof was awesome. I love the mountains in this part of the state.

    Rooftop View
    Rooftop View
    Rooftop View

    After the inspection was done it was time to head home. Here are some awesome photos that I took along the way.

    Entering the Canyon
    Entering Canyon
    Rocks Along Canyon
    Rock Face
    Rock Wall
    Rock Wall
    Rock Wall
    Entering The Canyon
    Rock Face
    Tunnel Entrance
    Rocks along parking area
    Rock Wall
    Rock Face At Parking Area

    I decided that I would do something I have been wanting to do for a while here, I put the drone up to get some good photos of the canyon from above. This is all along the Colorado River. I am going to put those photos up on a page that I will link into this, but just not tonight. That is a tomorrow project. In the meantime below is a 360 Panoramic Image that I leave you with. You will need to click into it then you can move it around with your mouse of phone. Zoom in and out works as well. Enjoy.

    And the rest of the drive home was rainy and dark. I made it home around 8:00pm, had a late dinner and then time for bed.

    Today’s travels took me about 300 miles total.

    Have a great evening. Check back tomorrow for that updated link here with my drone reel from today’s stop.

    Day 043 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
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  • Day 042 of 2026

    Day 042 of 2026

    And how fast plans change during the course of a day! Oh, hello and welcome to my world!

    I was supposed to spend today at home and do a “quick” trip to Grand Junction, CO tomorrow for an inspection. Well, that did not happen as planned. I am sitting in a hotel right now in Grand Junction. Why you ask? Well, there is this small Winter storm that was supposed to hit the mountains overnight and into tomorrow that was going to follow I-70 and it’s mountain passes. I decided that the best idea would be to get out in front of it and get to Grand Junction before they did something stupid like close the road. Would have been no fun tomorrow as there really isn’t another option other than I-70.

    Anyways, made my way slowly out to Grand Junction. I had to stop frequently as I had to check in on some questions from the office and some of our technicians. On long flat land I can sort of take a look at things on my tablet/laptop as long as I don’t have to type, but in the mountains, nope, not happening. Too many curves, and Colorado has something against guardrails. We just don’t use them.

    Some photos from my travels today. The first one is the climb into the Eisenhower Tunnel, the next two are leaving the tunnel. We have no snow on one side and snow on the other.

    I stopped at a rest area along the way a little further West along I-70 and took a these. I love this part of the state, it’s so neat how the mountains, water, and all the cliffs come together.

    Got to my hotel in Grand Junction and checked in. Decided that I wanted to go out and get my steps in. Fortunately there is a really nice local recreation/athletic/trails park nearby. Found a really neat sculpture along the way, it’s called Love Song and it was created by Denny Haskew out of Loveland. I sort of get it and that is something I don’t say about a lot of sculptures.

    The part was really nice as well. It’s called Canyon View Park and it is off the last Grand Junction exit, right as you are headed into town. Lot’s of construction going on in the area, but the park looks like it is most often used for Soccer during the warmer seasons.

    So, I rounded out my outdoor time today with almost a 7.5 mile walk around the park a few times. Wasn’t as fast of a pace as I normally do, but as I am traveling I really do not want to get hurt.

    Map of the route “Day 042 of 2026”: 7.37 mi, 262 ft of climbing and 262 ft of descent, elevation between 4,554 ft and 4,593 ft, time 01:53:14. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.10012, -108.60446 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 7.39 mi
    Max elevation: 4592 ft
    Min elevation: 4553 ft
    Total climbing: 262 ft
    Total descent: 264 ft
    Average speed: 3.96 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 104
    Average temperature: 20.7
    Total time: 01:53:43

    Finished that, had some dinner at the hotel. I stay at Home2 Suites when I am out here normally, so they usually have some healthy options in the frozen dinner selection. Today was something Mexican. And then I had to catch up on all the open requests from work. Took me about two hours to get that done before I sat down and wrote my blog (this) for the day.

    Today’s travels, about just under 300 miles along I-70.

    And…. I forgot my laptop charger. Though it appears one of my phone charger has the “umpf” to charge my laptop, if it doesn’t overheat and die we may be OK. I am going to sign off for the evening, but before I do…..

    The mheard list from KO4YAW on Net 105, 14.105LSB or 14.1023USB located in Aurora, CO:

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-1    Feb 12 01:32:11    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 12 01:30:02    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 12 01:28:48    
    N6CTA-7    Feb 12 01:28:16    
    N0BN       Feb 12 01:27:28    via KB9PVH-7*
    N0BN-1     Feb 12 01:27:03    via KB9PVH-7*
    K7SKI      Feb 12 01:19:26    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 12 01:13:26    
    W1CDN-1    Feb 12 01:01:31    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 12 00:58:59    
    W3TQG      Feb 12 00:55:07    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 12 00:42:02    
    KB5YZB-1   Feb 12 00:35:43    via KB9PVH*
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 12 00:32:36    
    K0LAI-1    Feb 12 00:31:32    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 12 00:29:56    
    K5DAT-7    Feb 12 00:18:19    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 12 00:16:28    
    W1CDN-7    Feb 12 00:01:16    
    KN6NW-5    Feb 11 23:05:02    
    NS2B-1     Feb 11 23:03:36    
    WB7PZZ     Feb 11 22:54:32    
    N4QMI-7    Feb 11 22:40:04    via KB9PVH*
    KB8UVN-7   Feb 11 22:37:24    
    KB9PVH-1   Feb 11 22:20:31    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 11 21:31:36    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    WB5BNV     Feb 11 20:57:18    
    W9LCF      Feb 11 20:57:08    
    WW6Q-1     Feb 11 19:46:18    
    KB9PVH     Feb 11 19:21:58

    Goodnight All!

    Day 042 of 2026

    650 Market St, Grand Junction, CO 81505, USA
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  • Day 041 of 2026

    No great photos today. It was an “in office” and “at home” sort of day. Had so much to do and such little time to do it. On health news I am on the heart monitor again, it’s not awful, it is just a pain because I can’t get it wet for 24 hours and then I can’t swim with it on. Which means no swimming for 13 more days. And I keep hitting the “record symptoms” button by accident.

    So, I got up and had my coffee, enjoyed some quiet time with the dogs before I logged into work for the day. And then it started…… I was finally able to take a break around 10:30 to go do a long walk, I was not able to jog as I wasn’t supposed to get the glue under this thing sweaty. But, I got a decent walk in, made my 10K steps (what a joke that is).

    Map of the route “Day 041 of 2026”: 5.79 mi, 449 ft of climbing and 433 ft of descent, elevation between 5,515 ft and 5,679 ft, time 01:22:38. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.69052, -104.77400 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 5.81 mi
    Max elevation: 5679 ft
    Min elevation: 5516 ft
    Total climbing: 449 ft
    Total descent: 433 ft
    Average speed: 4.22 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 118
    Average temperature: 18.8
    Total time: 01:22:58

    Came back and finished out my day with work. I ended up working later than I wanted to and still didn’t get everything done. So, I had about two hours of extra stuff to do this evening. Now I am in a much better place. I really need to spend some time on the phone calling technicians tomorrow or Thursday. I may try to have some conversations while I am driving on Thursday. Oh, yeh…. I have to go out to Western CO Thursday for an appointment.

    Res and Climber got a short walk today, it’s an afternoon weekday walk, these are always short.

    Map of the route “Day 041 of 2026”: 0.58 mi, 72 ft of climbing and 72 ft of descent, elevation between 5,571 ft and 5,620 ft, time 00:12:38. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.69051, -104.77391 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 0.58 mi
    Max elevation: 5619 ft
    Min elevation: 5567 ft
    Total climbing: 73 ft
    Total descent: 73 ft
    Average speed: 2.95 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 104
    Average temperature: 19.9
    Total time: 00:12:38

    I just imported and ran all of the Greyhound-data race files for Tri-State and Wheeling Downs for last week. Still need to upload the final files to greyhound-data, but at least the hard part is done. The rest is basically point and click.

    I think I am going to call it a night tonight, I am exhausted and have spent way too much time staring at a monitor today. My brain is mush.

    mheard from KO4YAW on 14.1023 USB / 14.105 LSB Net105 Aurora, CO

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-7    Feb 11 02:36:27    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 11 02:13:32    
    N6CTA-1    Feb 11 02:13:27    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 11 02:06:01    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 11 01:50:27    
    K5DAT-7    Feb 11 01:48:19    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 11 01:35:20    
    W1CDN-7    Feb 11 01:34:59    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 11 01:32:38    
    K0LAI-1    Feb 11 01:30:46    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 11 01:29:56    
    K7SKI      Feb 11 01:19:30    
    W6VVN-7    Feb 11 01:14:59    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 11 01:14:13    
    W6VVN      Feb 11 01:09:55    
    KD9WZZ     Feb 11 00:55:05    
    VE3QBZ-1   Feb 11 00:47:26    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 11 00:31:40    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    KN6NW-1    Feb 11 00:23:05    
    KN6NW      Feb 11 00:23:03    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 11 00:20:09    
    VA3PIX-7   Feb 11 00:15:46    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 10 23:46:35    
    KB9KC      Feb 10 23:34:32    
    WB7PZZ     Feb 10 23:13:35    
    WG0A-1     Feb 10 23:04:05    
    WG0A-7     Feb 10 22:51:26    
    N4QMI-7    Feb 10 22:31:41    via KB9PVH*
    K7TMG      Feb 10 22:15:49    
    NS2B-1     Feb 10 22:02:43

    Day 041 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
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  • Day 040 of 2026

    Day 040 of 2026

    Happy Monday!!!

    Started off the day with the alarm not going off. I am so happy (most of the time) that I have an internal alarm clock that won’t let me sleep past 6:30-6:45 before I am awake. Got up, gave the dogs their morning treats, and their outside time. Then I had to log in for work.

    Had a meeting with IT today to go over software used. I am not sure but I always feel IT is there to make life more difficult. I spend more time answering questions and not getting much accomplished. But, we got through the meeting and I am sure I will hear some follow-up in the next day or so. Once I finished with that call, I tried getting caught up on tags (questions), Cause of Loss Determination requests, and Tech Support requests.

    Lunch time today was a swim. I have to start wearing a heart monitor after today for the next 14 days and I wanted to get the Garmin swim challenge for this week done. Unfortunately can’t swim with the heart monitor, so it was important to get in the water today. After the 14 days are up on the 23rd of February I should be able to get back into the water and complete the monthly challenge. I need about another 5K of swimming to get that done. Maybe I will attempt to do that in one session and I can take care of a few Swim.Com challenges as well. I need a 200yard kick also for the USMS challenge. These challenges do keep me motivated so they are important.

    Came back home and finished out the day. I worked a little bit late to get it all done and then I worked a little extra this evening to get some new technicians added to the Alpine Intel University, our online training platform. I suspect that less than 50% of them will actually take the online classes and I will spend some additional time pestering them to do so. Life goes on and it’s job security.

    I just had time for an afternoon walk to get my steps in for the day. I got my 8,000 steps that is my goal, but weight watchers would like to see 10K steps (there’s that magic unscientific number again). I am also participating in a 300 floor step challenge. It is climbing 300 floors worth of steps in the next 30 days. That’s easy because every one of my workouts gives on an average of 20-30 floors. Give me the next 15 days and this will be done as long as the weather holds up. 27 floors today. During the afternoon walk I had to take a couple of tech support calls and of course that is difficult when you are not sitting in front of a computer, but had phone in hand and I was able to provide the support.

    Map of the route “Day 040 of 2026”: 3.63 mi, 318 ft of climbing and 318 ft of descent, elevation between 5,558 ft and 5,666 ft, time 01:02:56. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.69056, -104.77407 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 3.65 mi
    Max elevation: 5666 ft
    Min elevation: 5557 ft
    Total climbing: 318 ft
    Total descent: 318 ft
    Average speed: 3.62 mi/h
    Average cadence:
    Average heart rate: 98
    Average temperature: 24.8
    Total time: 01:03:20

    Got back just in time to walk the dogs for their afternoon/evening walks. Then it was dinner time and relax time. I am sort of done for the day, but I do have one more computer related activity I need to do and that is to start the import jobs for last week’s races for greyhound-data.org.

    I have to make a vet appointment for Gizmo. Something is wrong and I am worried about her quality of life. She is 19 years old and I am afraid she is hurting. It could be arthritis, but I guess I am going to have to get her checked out. I just have this gut feeling that this may be a final appointment for her, which is why I have been hesitating. Why am I worried about quality of life?
    1) She does eat, but has graduated to wet food only.
    2) When she moves she “hollers” as she walks.
    3) She has stopped cleaning herself. I am having to deal with matted fur.
    4) She hides under a bed most of the day and rarely comes out. I am not sure this is the life for a pet.
    5) She still does navigate the steps to come to her litter box.
    6) She stopped eating outside of her room. I think it may have been that she can no longer jump up on the table without extreme effort.

    This is just one of these, I am not sure situations.

    Today's mheard from KO4YAW in Aurora, CO for 2/9/2026 on 14.105LSB / 14.1023USB.

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 10 02:42:01    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 10 02:28:39    
    K7SKI      Feb 10 02:23:33    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 10 02:02:40    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 10 01:51:48    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 10 01:48:55    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 10 01:45:18    
    KB5YZB-1   Feb 10 01:32:56    via KB9PVH*
    K0LAI-7    Feb 10 01:20:38    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 10 01:20:08    
    K5DAT-7    Feb 10 01:18:19    
    KB9PVH     Feb 10 01:16:49    
    NS2B-1     Feb 10 01:02:00    
    KB5YZB-7   Feb 10 00:28:30    via KB9PVH*,KB9KC-7
    KC6HBB-1   Feb 09 23:55:38    
    KC6HBB     Feb 09 23:55:37    
    KE8NAD     Feb 09 22:36:07    
    KB9KC      Feb 09 22:28:02    
    K7TMG      Feb 09 22:23:28    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 09 22:16:41    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    WB7PZZ     Feb 09 22:05:50    
    N6CTA-7    Feb 09 21:59:08    
    N0HI-7     Feb 09 21:58:33    via KB9KC*
    N6CTA-1    Feb 09 21:27:51    
    KB9KC-1    Feb 09 18:34:56    
    KD3BFP-1   Feb 09 15:26:00    
    W9LCF-7    Feb 09 15:21:52    
    KB9PVH-1   Feb 09 15:12:42    
    WB5BNV     Feb 09 15:02:30    
    WG0A-1     Feb 09 15:00:36

    I think that is a wrap for this evening. I will see everyone tomorrow.

    Day 040 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions
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  • Day 039 of 2026

    Day 039 of 2026

    And it’s Sunday. Had a busy day so far when I started writing this. I was up by my usual weekend time of 7:00am, got the dogs their treat and then had a few hours of reading and messing around on the interwebs before Jesse got up. Finished my second cup of coffee and then it was time to start the day.

    Res got the first walk. He decided that he wanted to go for the longer walk and that really only lasts until we get half-way through the longer walk and then he decides he really didn’t want the longer walk. And, by that time it is already too late, since I am not carrying his butt back home he has no choice but to finish. We did a bit over two miles today and he got to see the Power Line Trail today, which is normally Climber’s domain.

    Got Res home and then it’s Climber’s turn. I figured since 2.75 miles didn’t tire her out yesterday we were going to go for a bit longer today and include some hill work, so I added onto her walk a little today. She had good time even though I think she may have been a little confused about where she was at. Part of what we walked today she had not seen before. Lot’s of new things to smell, but she did pretty good. Once we were back to her normal area on the Power Line Trail she saw her Prairie Dogs and knew the rest of the way home. Sorry girl but new things are good for you.

    Had a great breakfast (brunch) of scrambled eggs, cinnamon toast, and little sausage patties. And afterwards I decided to go swim. Well, got over the the rec center and some swim team had taken over the pool. This is the second time in a row this has happened on a Sunday. I really am not sure what is going on here, but team practices should be on the pool schedule so people don’t plan their workouts for a day it’s not going to happen on. Now I really have to figure out a time to get over there tomorrow so that I don’t miss out on one of the Garmin Fitness Challenges. I need a 2000 yard swim sometime in the next week, and tomorrow will be the last day I have before I have to put a heart monitor on that I really can’t swim with.

    But all was not lost, I was able to go to the Toll Creek Trail right next to the fitness center and get a 5K jog (run/walk) in. I also had my new heart rate monitor – the chest strap variety and it proves what I have been suspecting, that my watch is for some reason locking onto cadence rather than heart rate during my longer runs. My heart rate and my cadence are really close and that may be explaining some of it. I guess we will see next weekend when I do one of my longer sessions over at Cherry Creek Park again with the monitor on.

    Map of the route “Day 039 of 2026”: 3.27 mi, 249 ft of climbing and 240 ft of descent, elevation between 5,558 ft and 5,617 ft, time 00:43:00. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.66921, -104.77556 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 3.29 mi
    Max elevation: 5618 ft
    Min elevation: 5559 ft
    Total climbing: 250 ft
    Total descent: 240 ft
    Average speed: 4.70 mi/h
    Average cadence: 63
    Average heart rate: 124
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 00:43:21

    Res and Climber were not happy with Jesse and me this afternoon. Somepaws got a nail clip and neither of them were being cooperative with the dremmel so they got the old fashioned clippers. We much prefer using the dremel but they both have started to be a pain with it.

    Look who showed up in my Facebook memories today. Peanut, and the back half of Mindy by Peanuts excavation our first year in Florida. She was a master excavator. And, you can see the back half of Mindy and I am sure she was helping Peanut dig, or at least just being nosy enough to see what Peanut was doing.

    Got a bunch of stuff done around the house this afternoon and then Jesse and I took the dogs for their evening walk. Res really did not want anything to do with a walk and decided that he was going to turn around and come back to the house. I think his morning walk may have been a little far for him, but hey…. he wanted to keep going. I tried to argue with him, but nope. And then he left a little bit of his dinner as well. Not to panic, this happens on occasion.

    The humans had asparagus, salmon, and shrimp for dinner. It was good, it’s one of my favorite Sunday evening dinners. Now we are sitting here watching the Bad Bunny Superbowl half-time show. I really wish I had taken Spanish in Junior High and High School. There have been so many times over the years that I have had similar thoughts. But, back in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s the students that took Spanish were considered to be the “losers” in our school district and the language was not pushed… at all. So sad.

    Anyways, this is a wrap for the evening. Climber and Res have had enough and they just want to snooze. I am being told my typing is disturbing their sleep.

    Climber
    Res
    Before I forget this is today's mheard (stations heard) from my amateur radio station KO4YAW in Aurora, CO on Net 105, 14.105 LSB or 14.1023 USB (I missed 23:59 for the date change):

    YAWNOD:KO4YAW-7} Heard List for Port 4
    N6CTA-7    Feb 09 02:11:08    
    N6CTA-1    Feb 09 01:57:25    
    KB9PVH-7   Feb 09 01:45:15    
    KC2IHX-7   Feb 09 01:30:01    
    N9SEO-3    Feb 09 01:20:08    
    KB9PVH-5   Feb 09 01:18:57    
    KC2IHX-1   Feb 09 01:09:52    
    W1CDN-1    Feb 09 01:02:28    
    KB9PVH-3   Feb 09 00:51:53    
    K0LAI-7    Feb 09 00:50:38    
    VE3QBZ-1   Feb 09 00:45:50    
    KF7PSM-7   Feb 09 00:39:41    
    W9LCF-7    Feb 09 00:36:26    
    AC0ZH-7    Feb 09 00:32:35    
    NS2B-1     Feb 09 00:31:12    
    WB5BNV     Feb 09 00:28:03    
    VA3PIX     Feb 09 00:21:31    
    VE3GE-7    Feb 09 00:20:35    
    KA9QJT-1   Feb 09 00:16:36    via KB9PVH*,N0HI-2
    VA3PIX-7   Feb 09 00:15:15    
    KB8UVN-7   Feb 09 00:08:29    
    N0BN       Feb 09 00:07:42    via KB9PVH-7*
    WG0A-1     Feb 08 23:59:49    
    KB9PVH     Feb 08 23:23:35    
    KB9KC      Feb 08 22:30:10

    Day 039 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
    Get directions

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  • Day 038 of 2026

    Day 038 of 2026

    And Happy Saturday everyone!

    Got up almost at my normal time this morning. I knew Res needed to go out as he didn’t do all of his business last night so I didn’t lay around in bed too long after I woke up. And, sure enough he was desperate. I did my normal routine of giving the dogs their morning snacks and then sat down to filter through my email, an endless project.

    After Jesse got up I did the normal Saturday walks with Res and Climber. They get their lone walks on weekends. Res gets to go first and we do about a mile and a half walk.

    And then I came back and got Climber. Climber is still a baby in her energy level so she gets a slightly longer weekend walk. Climber got to do 2.77 miles, I think it would have been a little longer but we had some other dogs I was trying to avoid. I normally try to do 3 miles with her on Saturday morning. Climber got to say “Hello” to the Prairie Dogs along Power Line Trail.

    Her walk goes up the hill a little further, cuts through an apartment complex, then the power line trail, and then back down to Highland Meadows Park, and home.

    After we had our late breakfast (Actually, brunch), and my second cup of coffee, I went over to Cherry Creek State Park and jogged (gasp, panted, walked, repeat) a section of the park I have never done before. I was bored with my normal route. I also really wanted to see if I could repeat the same heart rate drop that I have been experiencing over the last few higher intensity workouts that I have been seeing on the two treadmill runs that I did in Saint Louis. And…. Guess what? Yes, my heart rate dropped significantly and it should have been going up.

    But, here is the interesting part; if you look at the above overlay of heart rate and cadence it appears that this may be a false reading of my heart rate, the watch seems to have locked onto my cadence and is miss-reading it as my heart rate. I did some online research and this is something that is a known problem with the heart rate capturing fitness watches. The only way to resolve this for running and walking activities is to use a heart rate chest strap that connects to your watch. That separates the HR and the cadence. Yup, I have one on order. This is the stuff that drives me nuts. If a watch manufacturer knows about this problem you would think that they would make this more public knowledge and warn you about it up front. Anyways, we are going to verify this problem with the heart monitor that I have been told is on the way (I just went and verified that it is actually on it’s way and have the tracking number. It is sitting in the USPS processing center here in Denver. Supposed to be delivered Monday afternoon sometime.

    Map of the route “Day 038 of 2026”: 7.76 mi, 1,089 ft of climbing and 1,086 ft of descent, elevation between 5,571 ft and 5,705 ft, time 01:48:38. It is a loop that starts and ends at 39.63857, -104.83992 (latitude, longitude).

    Total distance: 7.78 mi
    Max elevation: 5706 ft
    Min elevation: 5570 ft
    Total climbing: 1089 ft
    Total descent: 1086 ft
    Average speed: 4.40 mi/h
    Average cadence: 60
    Average heart rate: 109
    Average temperature:
    Total time: 01:48:55

    As I mentioned I took a different path today at the park and saw some of the pollution control that they had installed in Shop Creek as it appears to have some history. As a part of the cleanup they installed these concrete “Steps” in about 4 different places along the creek.

    And also some other scenery along the way. Different view from my normal views. It looks like the little creek under the bridge in the wetlands area was almost washed away during one of our snow melts a month or so ago. Hope they fix that, it moved as I walked over it.

    I am going to try and get in a longer swim tomorrow because I want to get the Garmin Connect Swim Week challenge for February done before the heart monitor shows up as once I have that sucker on I can’t swim for 11 days, it will be only dryland workouts.

    I spent a little bit of time working on some radio settings for the KO4YAW station. I really need to figure out how to get the antenna up on a higher pole. I don’t think I will ever be able to get the full 40ft as I had in Florida but I would really like to get a little bit over the height of the house.

    Dinner tonight was really good. Jesse cooked a turkey meatloaf with a recipe from Weight Watchers and that was with green beans and mashed potatoes. Of course there was a little bit of leftover ‘tatoes and Res got to enjoy some and Climber got to lick the pot. Potatoes are Res’s favorite meal.

    Day 038 of 2026

    18394 E Arkansas Ave, Aurora, CO 80017, USA
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  • Day 029 of 2026

    Day 029 of 2026

    Started off the day working and trying to pack for today’s travels. I had both my office assistants for a while today.

    Res and Climber

    They didn’t help much. But, I did get caught up on a lot of pending tasks, got a number of pricing projects completed, and tested some app issues.

    Then it was time to head out for my train, plane, and automobile adventures. Jesse took me up to the trains station to catch the A-Line to the airport. From the house it takes me less than an hour to drop bags and get through security. Love this airport, I think it is one of the easiest airports I fly in and out of. One bag of tools, one bag of clothing, and the backpack for all of my technology and medications.

    Got through the security mess and then did my usual walk over the skybridge to the A terminal, they always have neat displays along the way where the used to have the old security checkpoint. Today was no different and it was a display of old style ice cream carts. All hand painted by local vendors/artists.

    My fitness for the day on airport days is to walk the total walk-able public areas of all 3 terminals. It comes to about 4.5 miles of concourse when I am done. Made my steps, did not make my heart rate levels because I was unable to get the pace I needed due to all the people who have no idea how to get out of my way! All good, I will hit up the hotel gym over the next few days to make up for it.

    Oh, word for the wise…. don’t leave your bags unattended at Denver International, they pick it up, paint it, and make it part of their display…..

    In case anyone was wondering today’s destination is Saint Louis, Missouri. I have two appointments there tomorrow and then I move onto my next stop, more on that in a few days. I am typing this at 34,000 Ft someplace near Kansas City, KS/MO and I try very hard to think of one appointment at a time. At least today is a nice smooth ride (so far).

    Of course I forgot my iPhone, I usually don’t travel with it, everything is on my Samsung Galaxy Android phone, but occasionally I need to test bugs and reports of bugs in our Alpine Intel Diagnostic Wizard app on the iPhone. Since I was going to be gone a full week and we are going into a release cycle, I meant to grab my iPhone off my desk and bring with. Well….. I sort of figured this out after I was through security at the airport. Not much I could do about it at that point. I really need to find a way to test iOS apps on my Windows machine or on my Android. Crossing my fingers that I don’t end up with a major problem that needs my attention.

    Anyways, arrived at a totally dead Saint Louis, MO (STL) airport. I mean even security was closed and it wasn’t that late. Baggage came pretty quickly, and I was able to get out to the rental car shuttle. Got over to the car lot and picked my car, I love the Executive Aisle at National Car Rental, almost got to the exit booth and I looked down at the gas tank and yup, it was on Empty. A manager came out to the booth and I stayed warm in the booth while he went and filled the car. Finally got out of there.

    I decided to use the Homewood Suites on this trip, I have done the Double Tree here before and ended up with food poisoning from their restaurant that caused a 10 day hospital stay a few hears back, so not staying there again. Now, once again here is my pet peeve as a frequent traveler. I get to the hotel, the parking lot is not plowed and I finally find a space I can “slide” into. Make the trek up to the lobby and even though I have a digital key I stop by the front desk to get my free waters. OK, I am told the water is in my room. And, I need a parking pass (for 10.00 per night) that I have to put on my dashboard or get towed. So I trek back down to the car, leaving my luggage in the lobby by the desk, and put the piece of paper on the dashboard. For 10.00 per night I can’t help but wonder why they can’t plow the lot?

    Get back up, go to my room. No water. What a shock. Go back down to the desk to get my water and got a bit of an attitude from the desk clerk. Also wanted to pick up some food from their little store. I used to be able to charge these purchases to my room. Nope, not anymore. You have to pay using a little kiosk off to the side. There are no more room charges, pay with your credit card. This is becoming more frequent, what is going on is they have franchised out the “shop” to an outside vendor. I am not sure what the incidentals deposit at the hotel is used for anymore. I am really starting to question my allegiance to the Hilton Chain. Sometimes I wonder if I would do better at some of the other chain properties.

    Anyways, I am done of the night. I hope everyone has a good and peaceful overnight. See you tomorrow.

    Today's map timeline
    Day 029 of 2026
    8040 Clayton Rd, Richmond Heights, MO 63117, USA
      
     
     
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  • Day 028 of 2026

    Day 028 of 2026

    Hey all! Busy day today, started off the day with a few cups of coffee and some breakfast egg/bacon/mushroom muffins. Then it was all out keeping caught up. Around 11:15 I had enough and decided to go out and take my lunch with a long jog/walk to get my steps in. I wasn’t feeling like swimming today, I have a tendon at the back of my left knee that is cramping and a little painful. It is in an area that gets a lot of strain when I swim breaststroke so I will take a few days out of the water (maybe).

    Anyways, today was about 5 miles and I think I did pretty decently, especially since I had to wait for traffic a few times along the way.

    I was able to see some neat scenery along the way, check this out.

    Once I was home, got right back on the phone with several of our technicians who needed support, and then spent the rest of the afternoon catching up with cause of loss determination requests (what went wrong and why?). These are both interesting and challenging at times. Also had to try to figure out how to fit in another potential rather important inspection. More on that maybe tomorrow. Scheduling is sometimes very difficult due to the number of people and different goals involved.

    Res would like to have a few words here:

    Me: Res, why you hanging out in the livingroom?
    Res: This bed is the warmest bed in the house.
    Me: It might be
    Res: I can’t figure out why
    Me: It’s sitting right on top of the heat vent.
    Res: Oh…. that’s why. Can you do this in the bedroom?
    Me: Nope! I like heat too.
    Res: Me share! Don’t tell The Thing about the warm bed.
    Me: Don’t worry she is only searching out the sunbeams you ignore.

    Anyways, this day is a wrap. Talk to you tomorrow.

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  • Day 027 of 2026

    Day 027 of 2026

    Another day in the books! Almost all the snow is gone and we got up over 50 degrees today here in Aurora, Colorado. Big temperature change from over the weekend and it looks like the rest of the week is going to be as warm.

    Started off the day with a meeting to discuss how we can handle testing a truckload of solar equipment (panels, inverters, and other components) that turned over in CA and spilled it’s load all over the road, in pieces. OK, I can handle that, I may have a trip coming up to California. Not sure yet.

    After doing a bunch of work this morning I took an early lunch so that I could hit up the Rec Center prior to an inspection I had early afternoon. The pool was way too crowded so I did a dry land workout. 35 minutes on the treadmill, 20 minutes on the indoor track and stairs. I am satisfied. I hate treadmills, but they do help me with maintaining a pace and building up endurance. The indoor track allows me a padded surface to walk on, and also I can take advantage of the steps down to the basketball courts, it’s about two flights of stairs each time I do them.

    My afternoon appointment was at a fire investigators shop. A furnace caught on fire in the middle of a service call. Objective was to find the cause. The cause is not always the first thing that comes to mind. The original cause can be something different than the final cause. Can have two different results in terms of insurance payment. I can’t share too many details here due to privacy and rules I live by, but kids…. listen up! If you need to test a furnace, whatever you do, do not pull the high limit safety to prevent it from cycling on high limit during your testing. The best idea if you know a furnace is overheating is to remember there is only 1 thing that can cause a gas furnace to overheat: Lack of Airflow. Repeat that again, furnaces overheat due to lack of airflow. If you want to trace down the lack of airflow, turn the fan switch on the thermostat to “On” from “Auto” and find what is blocking air movement in the duct-work. Do not remove or bypass any high limit switch. Bad things can happen.

    Anyways, I finished up with that, got my findings submitted from the inspection location, stopped in a nearby parking lot to log in and assist a technician with a few problems. Finally got home and still had about an hour of work to do. Had to do my summary write-up for my manager on the inspection so that he can get the report written. And also needed to clean up any urgent tech support issues and tags. Wrapped it up.

    Did our normal 4pm evening dog walk, about 1/2 a mile around the park. Res and Climber both expect it, actually demand, their walks and know what time it is. It was a decent walk but it did get a little chilly along the way and there were still some patches of ice. Came back, fed them, and had dinner.

    Our after dinner relaxation time had a brief interruption…… Res and Climber wish to take over my blog for a little while:

    Climber: Hey HUMAN! He woofed at me!
    Me: Was there a reason he woofed at you?
    Climber: Nope! All I was doing was getting my bed ready for my nap.
    Me: How were you getting your bed ready?
    Climber: I was scratching at it. Making it softer
    Me: And what happened?
    Climber: He woofed at me.
    Res: She Lies! Liar Liar Paw On Fire!
    Climber: Shut it Res!
    Me: Res…. does this sound like you are loosing? Be quiet!
    Me: Climber, when you were scratching did you see Res laying nearby?
    Climber: Nope when it woofed I didn’t see it!
    Me: Why?
    Climber: I don’t know
    Res: The put the bed on top of me and I couldn’t see anything! She buried me!
    Climber: I did not, it levitated on it’s own, you still Woofed at me!
    Res: OK, next time I don’t woof, you will loose an ear or a tail!
    Me: Nope, no vet bills!!!! Climber, back to your corner. Stop annoying Res.
    Res: Yeh, Leave me alone!
    Me: Res, stop annoying Climber.
    Me: Back to your corners.

    And that’s a wrap for today, see you tomorrow.

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  • Day 026 of 2026

    Nothing of too much interest today, sort of a boring day, well from a blog perspective. The dogs did not get a walk until later in the morning, wanted to give it a chance to warm up a little. The temperature swings over the last two days have been amazing. Freezing, thawing, re-freezing, thawing again, and today if got up into the 40’s.

    The dogs are so confused.

    Spent the morning working, I was buried in the requests from the processing team today as well as our resolutions department to review quotes and other such fun things. This afternoon I wrapped that all up, stayed working later than normal so that I could clean out anything remaining in my queues. I also spent a bit of time this evening catching up on tech coaching/support tasks. My goal is to finally get caught up on initial contacts and then I can work on all my follow-ups. I got the new request down to one. Tomorrow or Wednesday I will start working on my follow-ups. I need to bounce a few things off of my manager first.

    I did make it to the pool today, later than I wanted to, but I did get a 30 minute swim in, did a mile. I am working on my distance, not overall, but distance I can swim at one time without stopping. That is extremely important from an endurance swim perspective. I am somewhat happy with my progress but it is not where I want it yet. I have been hitting 9:15 for 500 yards, which is OK, but I struggle to get past 500 yards, and I really need to be able to do 10 times that comfortably.

    2026-01-26 Sets
    2026-01-26 Stats

    Anyways, that wraps up my day. Now sitting down and reading and updating this blog. You will note that I haven’t posted anything political, and have been avoiding recent events. I am doing that for two reasons, first I have wanted to keep this a pure journal of my life, and second I do have some concerns about putting much of anything in writing these days. I wish I didn’t feel that way because I have a lot to say. Not sure what I am going to do about that in the future.

    Have a good evening, we will chat tomorrow.

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