BPPV _Whoa_ 27Feb19

When in AZ recently and after a day on the mtn bike trails and in the jacuzzi, I noticed I'd get dizzy when looking up under something - which I did a lot building Letha's new TV stand. Weird. I then generalized the sense and was able to repeat the sensation at will by tilting my head. Not good; something was definitely wrong with me. It wasn't dangerous if I kept my head upright or I left my head still lying down - so I could drive and sleep, and probably ride, and maybe ski. Still, I got an appointment with my doc but it was 4 months out! I knew what to do; I thought it was something with my inner ear and my buddy Yoho is an expert of the head, but he was in Palm Springs golfing and lolling about. We spoke on the phone though and in ~5 minutes he remotely diagnosed my ailment as BPPV, Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo, which occurs when crystals (otoconia) dislodge from the utrical and get trapped in the ear canal and float loose in fluid and bump into the hairs reading the orientation of the head for brain & eye usage. These crystal bumps on hairs confuse the whole feedback system. Sheesh. The good news is that BPPV is treatable by pro PT folks, or personally if you can move your head sequentially into certain positions which will flow the crystal(s) out of the canal. Else it will go away on its own in 6 weeks or so. I performed the Epley Maneuver as Jim recommended and it worked! GR8 advice from Dr Jim - thanks.

Cord Cuttin' Update 26Feb19

Folks know I long ago cut the cord and depend primarily on OTP (over the top) streams for entertainment, on top of my broadband buy for Summit & El Paso. Key aspects of our current scheme include:

Pricing (Total $311/mo for all wireless, resi broadband x2, and all content services)

• We enjoy two lifetime fixed prices on broadband from CentruyLink. In COS we pay $40/mo for 40MB down and 12MB up. In Silverthorne we pay $35/mo for 14MB down and 1MB down. Both of these are plenty sufficient. $75 total for residential broadband at 2 sites.
• We pay ~$180/mo to AT&T for 3 LTE lines, with a 20MB/mo total limit, and 3 phone leases. We could likely slow our iPhone upgrade pace and reduce our monthly rate.
• We've dropped most premium entertainment services except NetFlix for $11/mo, Prime for some portion of ~$9/mo, and SlingTV (ESPN, Outside & Bloomberg, etc.) for $35/mo - this is the most dubious and next droppable right now. We are also getting Hulu for <$1/mo for a year (gotta get Handmaid's Tale). Total paid OTP streaming content is $56/mo for all TVs and devices in 2 sites and mobile.
• To get HBO, SHO, History, etc. I am using others' credentials (who subscribe to cable) - it's all fair & legal in cases where multiple users are allowed.

Technologies (Highlighted by Plex/video and JRiver/music media servers)

• We have 4 HD HomeRun receivers plucking terrestrial HD broadcasts from my bow tie array antenna and converting them to packets for my Plex server DVR to record via the house LAN. Plex can replay on and control from anything attached to the local LAN/WLAN or remote LAN/WLAN (that's Silverthorne) or any mobile iOS device via LTE. I paid ~$120 one time for Plex Pass several years ago; it's awesome.
• I stream FLAC audio from the same Win7 server via JRiver Media Center. This to any device locally or remotely on LANs/WLANs or LTE. I paid ~$30 for JRiver one time (but I do upgrade about every 3 years). HD audio streams are rendered via my HiFi tube audio systems (either the Schitt Mjolinar amp & Gungnir multi-bit DAC in COS or the Woo Audio 7 Fireflies in Summit) through planar magnetic headphones (Mr Speakers Ether C Flow in COS or Audeze LCD2 in Summit, though I do have dynamic headphones as well, for fun comparing).
• On TVs we use Roku 3s to replay and control all this stuff. On PCs & Macs we render mainly through browsers. On iOS we use the native apps of these systems: Plex, ESPN, HBO, etc. I'm not gonna get into the TV monitors or the sound transducers associated with them but they are decent with 5.1 THX certified surround.
• Google Home Mini (~$30 each) is integrated with my Logitech Harmony universal remotes (~$70/TV) to control this stuff via voice - but just like wired Ethernet vs WiFi, pushing buttons still works best.
• I'm still on Microsoft Win7 for our server and it dishes video & audio as described above but also does automatic backups for the iOS, Mac and PC devices we use, through Macrium Reflect (backup software) - I did try cloud services but that was slow and incurs monthlies. I did flip to a Brother L8360 color laser for printing recently (with those prices so affordable and my Microtest-based B/W laser printer finally weakening). The server employs a 6 drive SATA array of 4TB devices to store the stuff and backup the backups via Raid - I prefer the IBM/Hitachi drives for rotating magnetics as they are more reliable and often lower latency.

That's it these days as to "TV," I've simplified things quite a bit but I continue to look for ways to shed more monthly burn without giving up too much content or quality. Our IoT SmartHome in Summit Co is a whole different topic - but that's monitoring and control, not "TV."

GR8 Skies 24Feb19

As Kala & I zoomed through Huerfano County, happy to be back in CO and nearing home, I caught these images of some awesome skies. I was used to this stuff in the desert but salmon is less frequent in the rarer air of Colorado.

Hittin' The Undusty Trail 18Feb19-24Feb19

We headed down to the Sonoran Desert in somewhat of a snowstorm. It was super cold on the way and my bike iced up hysterically after I'd just rebuilt the rear hub and reseated the tire with some new Stan's (removing a golf ball sized rubber ball in the process). We stopped along the way at The Skillet in LasVegas NM, recommended - kitschy and cool.

On Tue we met up with our buddy Karen Koenig and her beau Jimmy (no pic) at a very fine brewery in Phoenix named the Wren House. The DDH (double dry hopped) IPA, This Time It's Different Pt 2, was very good and worthy. Plus the full tap list appeared interesting and very strong. Here's a bad pic of Kala & I @ the sign.

Ultimately I just hit the bike hard, as well as hit the car, at the car wash, to ready it for a great ride at Brown's Ranch in far N Scottsdale with my old friend Michael Marinick. This web of flowy trails through medium-high desert was verdant with spectacular views (often just of Michael's butt pulling away up a climb - but no matter, his circa 70's CroMo lugged steel 26er allowed my descents a bit more space). It was awesome after some really sketchy icy roads and bad weather headed down to the metro from N Arizona. We even got lost, saw early season wildflowers, and observed snow on 4 Peaks and the mountains surrounding the Valley of the Sun.

That evening we convened the old MTST exec staff at Jim Sciacero's estate. What a hoot to kibitz with my old friends (L to R) Shirley & Mark Johnston, Paul & Heather Hittel, Me, Susan & Jim Sciacero, with David Koenig behind, Michael Marinick (Maria had a better offer) and Kala. Our great hosts provided a fine evening of wine and food.

I enjoyed a nice day at Foothill's golfing with Steve Gordon (no pic) before more rain and snow in the high country, started coming down. I did snap a roadrunner. At lunch I tasted a local IPA from 4 Peaks, Hop Knot. We headed up to my sister Letha's and visited indoors while the rains came. We built her a new TV stand with electronics cabinet, which matches her decor much better. There were so many pieces and instruction steps she mused "this is a project in which you can readily lose interest when just half done." It looks great and replaces a super bulky, but very nice, armoire weighing in at very heavy (I know we hoisted it).

It rained even more on Friday, which forced most golfers inside to TopGolf - the 90 min wait for a slot motivated us outta there. But we dined well at the Bario Queen Mexican restaurant on National Margaritta Day, and again that night with old Lehigh mates Gordons, Coffin-Mariettas, and Kevin & Judy Walden @ the excellent Tuck Shop restaurant.

I enjoyed another fine day on the trail as I rambled through the Phoenix Mtn Preserve, a familiar desert haunt, on the Broadaxe. Sure it was 38° as I embarked but I knew it'd get nicer as the sun shone more. Man are #8 & #1A rocky... the spiky climbs and narrow channeled descents had me step off the steed on occasion. There were gorgeous views of snow-capped mtns and wildflowers all around on the ride. I visited Swish for lunch after the ride; that's always a treat. And, I stopped at another well-considered Phoenix brewery, Huss, before joining the team at yet a final brewery, Mother Bunch, that evening.

We're headed back tomorrow. It was a gr8 visit to our old homeland to see our many friends in Phoenix.

Bike Kit Update 17Feb19

I separated my seat pack (tube, CO2 canisters & inflator, and bike multi-tool) from some "longer ride" mtn biking gear. The later for which I found a keen and light 3 section roll bag cheap - in there I put the stuff shown: chain stuff (including a 5 link section of 10 speed not shown here), tire stuff, and frame & cable stuff. I will just carry this in my hydration pack when mtn biking. It rolls down to 1.5" x 3" x 5.5".

Happy Valentine's Day WE Youngsters! 14Feb19-16Feb19

Kala & I dubl dated for Valentine's Day! Mary & Jim made it to 10Kft elevation from Canon City and we ripped a seam in time. We started amongst the best food and totties in Summit at Aurum Breck, our latest fav food spot in Summit, yeah we're cheap so it was happy hour pricing for much of the dining.

Happy Valentine' Day all you lovers! It's snowing in Summit. Yoho and I debated... but here we go into the wilderness on snowshoes up Mayflower Gulch to the ATL & PAC Crest ridges. It was a gr8 day to be out - sun, fresh snow and no tracks, friends.

That eve we were able to check out the Ice Castles of Dillon. Literally cool and even featured some newfallen. Evening is the time to go in order to catch the colors and lights.

We awakened to a more blustery day but still donned some BC and XC ski gear and rambled around the Frisco Nordic Center all morning. It was pretty fun and confirmed Kala's boots were right - she'll be trying a couple more skis to hone in on the best feel but she was solid on the S-Bound 98's.

XCD Through The Forest On Buffalo Mtn 10Feb19

I let out on a gorgeous afternoon from Buffalo Cabin TH and headed into the Gore on my NNN-BC XCD skis. Yeowza, I was deep in the trees after the climb and took a path down through them and across lakes which ultimately exhausted me. I overshot my turn back to the car (I meant to take the Lily Pad Lk trail toward and across the clearing but I hit an unmarked fork) and had to ski down and then reacquire 400ft of elevation from near my house to the top of Wildernest - sheesh. It was never open enough for me to tele in the fresh so my turns were crappy snowplows and snow depth ate me up several times on the way down. Snowplowing required me to keep my poles forward or I might shoot out the back and dump into the deep snow. Gotta keep workin' it as it has to be easier.

Foxy Neighbor Then Out On Saturday 09Feb19

Hanging out at the Nest allowed me to observe on many occasions my foxy neighbor. Wildernest and the Gore have a lot of foxes and this one comes by once or twice a day past the front and rear of the house. I've only ever seen one, not the pair, wandering by here - even though they mate for life.

Daryle and I headed to Keystone early on a Saturday to assure a position in the River Run lot. It was cold and choppy to start but we'd both brought the right gear for the outing. Ultimately we caught up with doctors Scott Kaiser and David Gray for a number of runs. DD and I scored ~25Kft of vert without much tiring as the bumps were hard and unforgiving and trees were rutted - so we largely bombed our runs. Good day with friends despite the weaker snow and weekend crowds.

Cold Became Colder 07Feb19

I hit Keystone again despite a cold temp and similar forecast. I had no idea. I jumped out of the Crusher @ 4° and bundled up. I did make a half dozen runs but finally bailed due to the cold. I fortunately selected my OR Expedition mitts for the day and they held up. Even as I left the lot for warmer spots the "feels like" chill was registering -11°. I should not complain again about temps in the teens being too cold to ski.