2002 - April 11, 2016

She was a good cat.

A few days ago we transitioned the chickens from their old coop to a new one we've been building for several months. This project involved more than just the coop, which is why it took several months. We replaced a crumbling fence with a gate, and built another gate to fully-enclose one of our side yards to serve as a chicken run. The new coop is very sturdy, has french doors for easy access, and should be very comfortable for the chickens.

There is still some work to be done, including figuring out what kind of siding we want to put on it, and also an automatic chicken door.

With help from my friend, Chris, and the new Let's Encrypt service, this website is now SSL-enabled. Look to the address bar of your browser and you should see a green lock indicating that this website is fully encrypting all data sent to you. I know that this site isn't exactly Amazon or your bank (feel free to send me your credit card information, if you like), but encrypting the whole world wide web is a Good Thing^TM.

Here are some photos and a video from the weekends activities: the Rocky Mountain Airshow on Saturday, and and a hike up Rattlesnake Gulch Trail in Eldorado Canyon State Park] on Sunday.

My Tour Pool 2015 page is up! Check it out daily after each stage to see how terrible my team (Florky) is doing (as it does every year!).

Here are some photos from our hike today up Flagstaff Mountain. The kiddo really likes riding in the carrier!

Today we went on a small hike to Fourmile Creek. Here are some photos and videos.

Below are some photos of the homemade parts I made for the truck that my old bike rack can interface with. I used pieces of shelf rail that hold the Yakima feet, and attach the whole stack to the rails on the side of the bed. This arrangement allows me to dis/mount the rack in a minute or so, which is how things have worked on previous vehicles with the rack, and I'm happy that it can work the same here. It's not the prettiest thing, and I suppose I could paint them black so they blend in better. Anyway, they were about $250 cheaper than the "official" Yakima system, so a little unsophistication is acceptable.

We have some friends that, due to a change in their housing situation, are in need of someone to take on their chickens for a while. So, we now have 5 egg-laying chickens in our backyard! It should be an interesting challenge.

Here are some photos of the solar powered LED lights for our sheds. My father very generously put together the lights, battery, solar panel, and wiring, and shipped it out to us. Over the last couple days I installed them in the sheds.

My Tour Pool 2014 page is up! Check it out daily after each stage to see how terrible my team (Florky) is doing (as it does every year!).

How do you get 20 tons of gravel from street level to a side yard without carrying it up by hand? With a Stone Slinger! In the first video, yes, the man is driving the truck with a remote control.

Unfortunately, this is now about 40 minutes away, but the above view isn't too shabby.