Tomorrow I’m driving to Liberty SC. There’s not much going on in that town except a bunch of factories, but it’s a nice drive. Very beautiful countryside out there. Anyway I’m going out there to install a router and some components to prepare for 3 point to point T1s that are getting installed on Monday for one of my clients. One of those sites is just outside of Dallas TX, and that’s where I’m going on Sunday.

I drove through part of Texas in a big Uhaul when we moved to Oklahoma, but I was in the 1st grade and don’t remember much. I’m getting in town on Sunday afternoon. I’ll have some time to kill, so if anyone has any suggestions of something to do in Dallas on a Sunday night, my ears are open.

Buck Owens passed away. That’s sad. He was a great American artist. He was one of the pioneers of the Bakersfield Sound which is one of my personal favorite styles of music.

If you are planning on attending the Tour de Georgia, you should check out this site first: Fans at the Tour de Georgia.

Lots of tips on how to enjoy watching the best race in America!

Well, my out-of-town jobs all got rescheduled. So for the next three weeks, instead of living out of hotels, I’ll be able to concentrate on a couple of personal things that need some attention:

1. I need to finish up my Cisco tests. By the end of next week. This is entirely doable.
2. I need to get some quality bike riding in, so that I’m not fucked when I do those two 36 mile rides.

And that’s it. After I do those rides, I’ll assess my fitness and decide whether or not I want to take a week off in June to do the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia.

So having to reschedule those jobs may turn out to be a blessing. Although I was looking forward to the travel.

The folks over at The DayJobs are offering some kind of prize for anyone capturing a picture of Parker Posey while she’s in town for the film festival. Charlie? Fire up the spycam!

Well, I signed up for the Circle the Bald bike ride. 36 miles long, with a nice stretch of 18 percent grade up Owl Creek Rd. Fortunately the hard stuff happens early on in the ride, when I’ll still have some energy. I’ll go ahead and say it: I’m not in shape for this kind of thing, but I think it’ll be fun, and I’ll get a chance to do some recon for my 100 miler later this year. Plus, the Tour de Georgia is going up Brasstown that day. I can stay and watch, and maybe have a picnic with the Meggy.

The weekend before I ride in the Gambler for the Twilight Criterium, there is a ride around Brasstown Bald that’s part of the Tour de Georgia festivities. It has a 36 mile option that hits some of the hilly stuff around the mountain. I’m tempted to sign up for that one too. I’ll probably get killed doing it, but it would be awesome.

Here’s the link: Circle the Bald

Noticed over at The DayJobs that Ted Leo + The Pharmacists are playing tonight at the 40watt. I’d love to go see that show, but I can’t. Guess why?

That’s right. I have to study. so I’ll be sitting on my ass at the coffee shop instead.

Just had to put that out there.

Check out this article from CyclingNews.com. It’s a nice write up of the 2006 Jittery Joe’s cycling team. I can’t wait to see them in action at the Twilight Criteriuma and Tour de Georgia.

I signed up for The Gambler today. There were two options, the 50k and the 100 k. I chickened out and took the 50k. 100k would kick my ass. I’m not ready for that.

So I have one month approximately to get ready. I’m excited! Maybe I’ll win something too. They have some prizes. I can’t find the list though.

My friend Eric Douglas and his wife found out that they are going to be having a baby boy! I’m happy for them both. Eric is going to be a great Dad.

OK, now I find out I’m going to Brea, California in mid April. Apparently the only thing noteworthy about that city is some huge mall. It’s a suburb of LA, just north of Anaheim, so there’s got to be something interesting to do around there. Anyone have any ideas? I’ve never been to LA….or California for that matter.

I booked my hotel for my upcoming job in West Palm. I’ll be there a week, including a weekend. Hope the weather’s nice. I’m sure it’ll be better than the weather here.

More studying tonight. It’s hard to concentrate though. I’ve been watching this dog that’s tied up outside the coffee shop. The owner works here, and I guess she doesn’t want to leave the dog home alone. I can see why too. This dog is hyper. He approaches everyone who walks by and in moments of downtime, tries to flip over the rug that’s out front. Also, when he thinks no one is looking, he tries to free himself by eating through his leash. Being downtown would be doggie heaven. so much going on, so many fucked up smells and people.

OK, I’m calling it a night.

Well, my afterglow from passing my QoS test has gone away. So I’m back downtown at ERC about to begin studying for my next test. This one is called IPTT, IP Telephony Troubleshooting. It’s pretty much a summation of all the other tests. I’m pretty sure the questions are all scenarios where I have to identify problems and misconfigurations. Shouldn’t be too hard. At least I know that it’s easier than that last one I took.

Upcoming Show Alert: Neko Case is playing at the Variety Playhouse in mid April, and I’m gonna go I think.

Check out Fat Cyclist today. he shows you that it’s never too early to start speculating about who is going to win the Tour de France. I’m going to reserve judgement until it gets close, but his list is a good one. I’m kind of pulling for Jan Ullrich. It’s now or never for him I think. But I’ll be rooting for Floyd Landis to get on the podium. I think his chances of winning are remote. But a podium finish is entirely possible.

I passed my Cisco Quality of Service exam today, which is universally agreed to be the hardest test in the CCVP series. So that’s 3 down, 2 to go for those of you who are keeping track.

I’m sure everyone has a favorite. The most popular is probably The Wilhelm, which was made famous, for my generation at least, in the Star Wars movies.

My personal favorite is definitely John Turturro’s blood curdler in Barton Fink, after he finds Audrey dead in his bed. That scream chills my blood every time I hear it.

The reason I was thinking about this is that in my newest issue of the Smithsonian magazine there’s a feature in there on Edvard Munch.

I rode my bike today. This is an important thing for me. When I envision my future, it involves me being healthy and doing great things on my bike. In order for this idealized future to happen, i have to get off my ass and do some riding now. So today I got up somewhat early, cleaned the kitchen, did some laundry, went downtown, ate breakfast with Meggy, and studied. When I got home I went for a ride. Granted, it was only 15 minutes, but it was a start.

After a period of being off the bike I always need at least one short warm up ride before i start doing my 15 or 20 mile rides. If I don’t do the warm up, after I take the first long ride, I usually get sick, or have to lay on the floor recuperating for an hour or so. Unpleasant. So I’m doing my warm up. I’ll probably do a longer warm up tomorrow.

Just in case you were wondering, I canceled my World of Warcraft account. I’m too busy studying to play anymore. And when I’m done with my tests in a couple weeks, I don’t want to go back to that lifestyle (yeah its actually a lifestyle). I’d rather spend my spare time riding my bike, since the weather is getting nicer.