EricMontgomery.com

A brief look at bandwidth usage for my whole server had me wondering. I have 31 accounts on this server and my bandwidth reports seemed normal if not a little light. I inspected a few domains including this one and was surprised to see the numbers here. My business domain (180networks.com) had good traffic from many sources as expected. I also had quite a bit of traffic here which was is what surprised me.

Who is reading this? Drop me a quick “Hey, you don’t know me, but I read your stuff” and give me a clue. Of course, I can go back and do NSLookups, Whois, etc on the IP’s but that is not the point. I really thought this was a dumping ground for me and mind. Is there someone actually reading this stuff?

Drop me a quick email or add a comment. Scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your info. It doesn’t even have to be real!

Oh, and thanks for reading who ever y’all are.

I am writing this from my new MacBook. I have had it for about 3 weeks and really do enjoy it. I brought it home and promptly installed Boot Camp and then Windows XP Pro. I know that may disgust some people, but if I intended to make this a work computer (which it is) and use it as a replacement for my Dell then Windows had to be on here. I have been attempting to do everything under OS X instead of Windows and for the most part I have been happy. There are a few things that I just know how to do under Windows and don’t have time to search for it on the Mac side. I will keep “playing” and feel better about it soon.

The Boot Camp install is painless. If you can follow a simple instructions then you should be able to complete the install. Having done many Windows installs did help and made the process seem familiar. The Boot Camp software can be downloaded for free from Apple. You should print the instructions if you have any apprehension about the process.

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I had a little scare after getting the computer home and realizing it held onto every single fingerprint mark on the case. It really doesn’t look too good after a visit to Flying Star, french fries, and browsing. I tried to clean it off with some very diluted soap and water as suggested on a few sites. After everything was done I was left with some serious streaks on the case and no amount of rubbing would remove them. I was pissed. I searched for a little while online and found someone that recommended using a product called iKlear. I called the Apple store and they had it in stock so I went right over. Once I got the iKlear out of the package and onto my laptop it was apparent I had found my answer. It worked perfectly for the streaks, fingerprints, and smudges.

This blogger made this statement in regards to the Michael Richards “incident” recently…
“The first amendment was never designed to protect popular opinion. It was implemented to protect those whose moral compass deviates from our own. There’s real beauty in that and if you can’t realize it, then I have the right to call you a f*****g moron.”

Read more of this persons blog here and
you should also read both sections of this article HERE.

I don’t disagree with some of those takes!

LONDON, England (Reuters) — Criminal gangs using hijacked computers are behind a surge in unwanted e-mails peddling sex, drugs and stock tips.

The number of “spam” messages has tripled since June and now accounts for as many as nine out of 10 e-mails sent worldwide, according to U.S. email security company Postini.

As Christmas approaches, the daily trawl through in-boxes clogged with offers of fake Viagra, loans and sex aids is tipped to take even longer.

“E-mail systems are overloaded or melting down trying to keep up with all the spam,” said Dan Druker, a vice president at Postini.

His company has detected 7 billion spam e-mails worldwide in November….

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Well, there has been a long break in posting here. I took a long break with quite a few things as business picked up and life took over. A relaxed Thanksgiving weekend allowed me time to get back here and post my excuses.

After Virginia Beach RNR Half I took some time off from running. Mostly to allow my back to heal and return to normal. Thirty days into my “no running” experiment my back felt equally as bad as when I started. This is a pain that radiates and in some instances it is unbearable. I was thinking that my time off was not going to help and I would need some real medical attention. I stuck it out and about a week later things seemed to start getting better. Now, a full 9 weeks later, I feel great. Only a little back “annoyance” remains. No pain, no craziness. I have started to run again keeping it very easy and less than 4 miles.

Check back, big plans in the works!

Killer Teddy Bear Leaves 2,500 Fish Dead
By Associated Press
4 hours ago

MILFORD, N.H. – A teddy bear has been implicated in 2,500 deaths. Of trout, that is. State officials say a teddy bear dropped into a pool at a Fish and Game Department hatchery earlier this month clogged a drain. The clog blocked the flow of oxygen to the pool and suffocated the fish.

Hatcheries supervisor Robert Fawcett said the bear _ who was dressed in yellow raincoat and hat _ is believed to be the first stuffed bear to cause fatalities at the facility.

“We’ve had pipes get clogged, but it’s usually with more naturally occurring things like a frog or even a dead muskrat,” he said. “This one turned out to be a teddy bear and we don’t know how it got there.”

The deaths prompted Fawcett to release a written warning: “RELEASE OF ANY TEDDY BEARS into the fish hatchery water IS NOT PERMITTED.”

He said it’s not known who dropped the bear, but urged anyone whose bear ends up in a hatchery pool to find a worker to remove it. “They might save your teddy bear, and keep it from becoming a killer,” he said.

“It’s kind of a cute little teddy bear and people wouldn’t think that a cute little teddy bear would be able to kill fish.”

___

Information from: Concord Monitor, http://www.cmonitor.com

A hot, humid run. A few glitches with the start made an interesting run even more interesting and challenging. I had to leave an upset Em at the starting line and blaze through a few thousand people until I got my stride. I actually started with the corral 23 people (1000 per corral supposedly) and then worked my way up to finish in place #2510. That means I passed a WHOLE bunch of people and I felt it. I would go all out for about 2 minutes and then have to walk while some people decided that holding hands across the full course in support of each other was a good idea. This happened more than a few times.

Other times I would be cramped into a bunch of slow runners and walkers on a tight single lane road that would creep through really nice neighborhoods. This was not a disappointing time as I got to look around and of course take a break. Once the crowd opened up again then I was off at a speed that felt comfortable. I truly believe that my 1:44 time would have happened if I had not been held up, but have to admit that it was kinda fun passing SO many folks.

After finishing, soaking myself with cold water, being “medaled”, and getting a nice cold Dasani then I was off to find Emily. When I got her on the phone she was getting close to where I could catch her on the course at about mile 7. I loaded up my pockets with bananas, oranges, pretzels, water, and a couple of ice water soaked towels. When I got to her she was ready for all the goodies and I think it was just the ticket necessary to make it the final stretch. We walked from that point at a varying pace and she came in to the finish at 3:51:06! Under the four hour mark goal….awesome job Em!

Next year? I will say yes now, but will also want to plan more time in the area and staying directly on the beach. That would make it feel like a vacation instead of a quick out of towner that ends all too fast.

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This weekend I had a good bike ride along the Bosque trail that turned a little interesting, but only for a moment.

I saw this
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It was coming down a very dry, dusty embankment and crossing the asphalt bike trail. I saw it enter the trail and I had no time to stop, but was in no danger. It was at least 4-5 feet from me when I passed. I did see some bicyclists headed the opposite direction and declared “Snake in the trail!” as we passed each other. They looked at me as if I was crazy and then grabbed some serious brakes when they realized I was not.

Ran La Luz from top to bottom today. Ran actually is not the right word. It was more like attacked at a vigorous pace with spurts of running mixed with a majority of fast hiking. I started at the trailhead and went all the way to the top in a respectable 1:40 with an additional 15 tagged on to make it from the Crest House to the Tram. When I was at the 4.6 mile mark I almost turned around until I bumped into a woman that reassured me the Tram was running. I was worried that I would “summit” and find the Tram not running which would have meant another couple hours of making my way back down. I am very glad I did this before race day and now I have a little more info that will be very helpful. Most notably, the last two miles are KILLER! Those two miles are referred to as the Rock Slide and it is exactly that. The trail is lost under boulders of many different sizes and in no order. I felt like I was climbing wobbly stairs at some points as my knees came close to my chest. Due to the knowledge of the Rock Slide I will not necessarily reserve myself in order to make it, but there may be a couple of hills that I ran up which will turn into fast hikes. Should be fun!

Met another runner at the top who gave me a ride to my car (Thanks Darrell!) and was glad I did. He had completed the La Luz a couple of times and reassured me that if I completed today in 1:40 that the additional road start (extra 2 miles) will not make as big of impact as I would think. The insight I gained today and the insight gathered from Darrell was a big plus.

La Luz trail run is coming up on August 6th. I have been working towards getting ready, but a busier than normal schedule has thrown off the ideal conditions. Not a complaint, just an observation.

The trail had been closed for a good portion of the summer and just recently reopened. I will be taking on the full trail, slowly, in the next week or so just to get a good sense of the time it takes to hike at a good pace. Of course, I will be running most of the course and it would be nice to know for sure the areas that deserve more attention and respect. The beginning 1.8 miles is pretty much all asphalt which will actually be harder on me. Running the trail will be better as the pace seems faster. The fast the preceived pace then the better I will be mentally.

Check out more on the La Luz trail by clicking this … LA LUZ.