To access the LightWord Settings page, go to the Appearance -> LightWord Settings choice on the left side menu in the WordPress admin dashboard.

In this page, scroll down to the Custom CSS settings text box.  At this text box you can enter any additional CSS and it will be inserted into every page on your blog.  I've used this to fix a few issues that I have with LightWord.  First, I wanted my blog title to appear in a different color.  I changed this, with the following bit of CSS:

h1#logo,h1#logo a{color:#FF6600;}

Secondly, I wanted a different background; which was solved with this snippet:

body {background:url('wp-content/themes/k3290370.jpg') repeat;}

Lastly, the drop down menu background was too small for some of the titles it was displaying so it would cause them to overflow.  I did a quick change that expanded the size of the menu drop down background, like this:

#front_menu ul {width:300px;}

Of course, you can override all the CSS you want within this text box, so if you wanted to change the color of links or whatever, you can do it right here without modifying the actual LightWord theme.  In addition to the Custom CSS, the settings page also allows you to add in additional scripts, headers, and footers.

The first item I'd worry about is a nice chair.  You spend so much time in, why skimp on something that is going to last you at least 10 years if not more?  For the longest time I'd been sitting in a chair that I'd had since high school and it wasn't very comfortable.  It was downright annoying to sit in, then I read this article from Coding Horror and realized I agree with his three main points:

Chairs are a primary part of the programming experience

Cheap chairs suck

Chairs last

As an additional point of reference, I finally gave up on my old chair and purchased a HumanScale Freedom Headrest chair after sitting in many other chairs to see what felt the best to me.  For me, the Freedom chair works perfectly because it allows me to recline while working, yet keeps my spine, arms and neck in alignment though its ingenious "second spine" down the back of the chair.  It also has very few adjustments which I really like.  I want to sit in a chair and be comfortable in a few minutes, not spend a week to a week and a half tweaking every setting.

When sitting in a chair you should have your knees, hips and thighs all in the same plane while your feed are flat on the floor.  If you want armrests (I advise you to get them), they should position your elbows close to your waist when used.  Finally, the seat of the chair should be slightly wider than your hips and thighs and slope downward in front leaving a 2 to 3 finger gap between the seat and the back of your knees when sitting correctly.  Remember, however, a chair is a personal choice and I would suggest you sit in as many chairs as possible since what is good for one person might not be the best for another.  It's your rear end in the chair for the next 10+ years so make it count.    Again, go out there, sit on a lot of chairs then make your choice.

Now that you've attained chair nirvana, it is time to get that proper seating position.  An improper seating position can lead to a whole host of problems: numbness in the fingers, lower pack pain, sore wrists, eyestrain (leading to headaches, blurry vision and a mess of other nastiness), and general fatigue in the arms, legs, shoulders and thighs.  Hopefully you're sufficiently scared enough to work on making changes to your seating position.

The proper seating position consists of a few settings: chair, table or workspace, monitor and posture.  The proper seating position for the chair, which was discussed in about a sentence previously, is that your feet should be flat on the ground, knees, thighs and hips horizontal to the ground and your back straight.  The workspace should have your keyboard a centered on your body and a few inches above your thighs such that the angle at your elbows is "open" or around 90 degrees so you get circulation to your fingers, your upper arms should be perpendicular to the floor and your wrists nearly straight.  The monitor should be placed about an arms-length away from you and the top of the monitor should be at eye-level and out of any light that will cause reflection or glare on the screen.  Finally, a few pointers on posture in addition to everything else.  Your ears, shoulders and hips should be in line.  Your arms should hang relaxed from your shoulders and your wrists and hands should be in line with your lower arms.

A clean, quiet, and efficient workspace.  I've found (as have many other people) the clearer and quieter your workspace is, the easier it is to concentrate and do work.  I'm not saying there should be nothing on your desk except the bare essentials (I'm not that Zen), a knick knack here or there won't hurt any -- just don't go overboard.  There are numerous examples of how to clean up your workspace, so I won't bore you with my ideas of cleaning up the workspace. 

The first technique I employ is using alert statements.  The alert statement pops up the dialog box with a message, that you as the programmer have inserted into the code.  I use these to pinpoint where in the JavaScript code the script is failing so I can quickly get to the problem segment or method within the code.  This makes a great first pass since you don't need any specialized tools or add-ons to your browser for this to work.  The problem is, you're always rerunning your code in order to see where it fails once you make a change or in order to further pinpoint the problem section.

The second method I use is the Web Developer tool bar add-on for FireFox and Google Chrome.  The Web Developer tool bar lets you inspect each element in the HTML and see all of its properties.  This is extremely handy when scripts are changing properties of HTML elements; using it you can see if an element has changed it's properties or not or if the property you've added has actually been added.  The only downside to the Web Developer toolbar is that it doesn't seem to work in real time.  If you've made it display form details then run a JavaScript script that modifies the form details programmatically, the updates won't be shown until you hide then redisplay the form details.

The third option, and the one I've grown most fond of recently, is using Safari and WebKit add-on.  I've found this to be the nicest real-time debugger for JavaScript.  With a simple selection of Develop->Start Debugging JavaScript from the menu button, a fully functional debugger is added to the bottom of the window and it allows you to set breakpoints, see the call stack and inspect all the elements being used within the JavaScript code being run.  This has been the most helpful when I've located the method in which a problem is occurring, but can't figure out why exactly it is happening.  All it takes is setting a breakpoint, running the code to the breakpoint, then stepping through the code line-by-line and watching all the scope variables to see if one does not have the value I think it should.  More often than not, I find out a variable is null or undefined when I thought it should have had a value.

The fourth option, I've used when debugging AJAX methods within my code.  Using a tool called Fiddler, a web debugging proxy, I can intercept all messages being passed between the server and the browser and see exactly what is being passed in the AJAX commands.  I've found Fiddler to be the most helpful when used in conjunction with another tool, like WebKit's JavaScript debugger.

These four options do a very good job of helping me determine where errors are within the code and fixing them.  When it comes to speeding up JavaScript, a JavaScript Profiler is what is needed.  Safari with WebKit has a nice one that can be started with the Develop->Start Profiling JavaScript menu choice and FireFox has a nice one with the YSlow plugin.  In the case of profilers, I find YSlow to be a bit nicer since it will profile the page and return hints on how to speed up the loading of the page.  However, that doesn't mean that Safari's JavaScript profiler is worthless -- I've used it an awful lot too.  It does a very good job as well.  Lastly, Fiddler has a very good profiler for determining the time it takes for various elements within the HTML to be transferred from server to client.

Hopefully these four options I've shown will give you a better idea of tools that can be used to debug and profile JavaScript in order to have bug-free code with a swiftly loading web page.  If there are any other tools that I've missed, or debugging methods that you've found helpful, let me know in the comments section and I'll update this page accordingly.

1. Code competently
   1. Dissect the problem and map it to the programming language (classes, etc.)
   2. Generate readable code
   3. Understand testing, debugging and multiple debugging methods
   4. Code deployment
   5. Understand refactoring and code clean up
2. Converse competently with other developers
   1. Algorithms
   2. Programming lingo
   3. Design patterns
3. Work in a team
   1. As a leader
   2. As a follower
4. Use a version control system
   1. CVS, SVN or some other source code control at least in the context of an IDE
5. Be able to learn another language and transfer knowledge of algorithms, etc. to the new language

These five goals are the foundation for a competent coder and someone who can "talk shop" with any other developer in any other group, department or company.  Unfortunately, as a fresh out of college coder, you're not going to have experience in any of these and you should.  Jobs change, technologies change, but certain things always remain constant: clean code is better than messy code, algorithms, teamwork, and version control.  The fifth point I put up there is the holy grail, so to speak of learning; where you can make the jump of what you know in one language and apply it to another language.

Lets look at each of these points and see how they should be integrated into a programming curriculum.  Competent coding and its five main points should be taught at a beginning level class.  As the student is introduced to the syntax of the language incorporate readability as part of the assignments.  Formatting, comments, appropriate use of methods, function, variables, etc. should all be considered.  When a program is returned the student must refactor their code to fix all of the problems found with it.  If the program doesn't work, use it as a time to teach them how apply various debugging techniques.  Dissecting the problem into classes, methods and various other sub-problems won't initially be an issue since a beginning level class has to start at the bottom of complexity and go up, but beginning to introduce the ideas and thought process in examining problems should be introduced as well.

Conversing with other developers; as with everything new, they'll have no idea of the lingo of programming.  The beginning level class should focus on teaching them on discussing their problems with other students in order for them to become acclimated with discussing problems.  In later classes algorithms can be introduced and at the top level: design patterns.

Working in a team should also be stressed.  However, it doesn't make sense in a beginning level class to have people working in teams.  Teams need to be done in a class with more difficult problems where it will take all people on the team to complete the problem.  In an entry level class: they'd work as teammates; but, as the classes move to the intermediate and advanced the roles should become more defined such as: one architect and three developers or one lead developer and three junior developers and allow enough projects to have the team of three get a feel for each position.

Version control system, the fourth point, I believe should be harped on from day one in every class.  It might take a little bit of time for the students to get the version control system working (I'm not suggesting they set one up, just they use one defined for the class or one that is tied to their account through out their time at college).  Forcing them to understand how important a version control system is in real life is needed.  As the classes being taught become more complex, the usage of the version control system can be increased as well.  Begin with the simple things: checking files in and checking files out; then move to the more complex items: versioning and branching; and finally, the more complex operations like merging, back-porting, etc.

The final item: knowledge transfer.  The very last class taken by the students should be in a language completely different than what they've used before.  Such as, you've been using Java, use C++.  The assignments should be of the same difficultly level of the last Java class such that they must adapt to using the new language in a short amount of time.  Of course, they'll have to learn the nuances of thew new language, but part of the knowledge transfer is also learning about the new language.

Of course, none of these changes will make the students completely ready for the work environment, but it will give them enough experience to know what to expect as to coming into the job market with no clue at all.  I know I've left things out like software methodologies and speaking to management, but I feel those would be best put in other courses and not in the core programming courses.  Perhaps a 4th course called Software Methodologies where it will cover the various programming styles and touch on topics such as speaking with management and other people not directly involved in programming.

Am I off my rocker thinking that this is what people should be learning in college programming courses?  Is there something I missed that you think should be added?  Let me know in the comments below.  I look forward to eventually making a part 2 where I can destroy everything I've written here and have a new improved vision of teaching programming in the future .

There are 97 short and to-the-point essays which are all common-sense, but then again, when life and work is moving so quickly, you might make a choice that when looking back, isn't such a good idea.  Reading over the essays can help reinforce practices that you know about and know you should carry out, but don't always do.  In the 97 essays there were a few that I felt harped on the same thing and they felt redundant, but everyone of them contained good advice often illustrated with a simple story to drive the point home.

If you're a software architect or looking into what it takes to become one, this book should shed a little light into the human side of being software architect.

Welcome to the last bit of Insanity, my final fit test and review of all the disks included in the package.

Sunday: The Final Fit Test

So, the Final Fit Test.. here is what I've done before, and what I've reached:

Overall Review

I believe Insanity! was completely worth doing.  It provided fun workouts and Shaun T wasn't annoying so listening to him for six days straight for nine weeks wasn't bad.  The first month of workouts all burn about 600 to 700 calories a workout, then in the second month, the workouts burn over 1000 calories.  The second month really, really, really sheds the fat.  Of course, the intensity of the workouts are on a whole other level.

I'd suggest that if you can't hack the second month to redo the first month to build up the needed endurance and strength to handle the second month.  The second month of workouts are definitely aimed at people who are in great shape and just need that last little push to remove some of the stubborn fat from their bodies.  If this isn't you, I think doing the first month again is a good idea because you know you can handle the first month routines and pushing yourself harder in those is going to do you good.

Now, for the things I didn't really like.  First the warm-ups were good, but I didn't like getting my heart rate really high and then just stopping to do stretches after nine minutes of warm up.  I didn't hurt myself during the warm ups, but I'm pretty sure it could happen and that would just stink given you could have easily done 3 minutes of warm up, do the stretches then finish the last 6 minutes of the warm up.  The stretching I liked, I thought they did a good job of stretching out the muscles you are going to use for the workout.. with one exception.  They never stretch out the calf muscles.  So I ended up stretching them out myself since you're doing so much jumping and bouncing side-to-side and up-and-down that it well worth the extra 20 seconds to stretch them out.  Another big issue is no where do they explain how to do the exercises correctly.  I would have liked to have seen a disk where they only showed the exercises in a slower pace so that you could see exactly what made a good rep vs. a bad one or ways to modify the exercise if you couldn't do it exactly because your arms or legs were feeling like rubber.  The one last thing that annoys me is the glut of Beachbody trainer run sites that all say the same thing and don't give a good thing saying what they do and don't like about the workout.  They just repeat the exact same thing over and over and over.

I would recommend Insanity to people as a way to lose weight; however, there are caveats.  First, you need to be able to jump and hop and move around fairly well for it to be effective.  Secondly, you need to be a self-motivator.  You are not going to survive or even finish Insanity otherwise.  Thirdly, following their food plan is good and all (it isn't that poorly planned out), however, for some people it might not be very optimal (e.g. type I diabetic, etc).  And lastly, be prepared.  It is hard, it is harder than any other workout I've ever done.  I've sweated more, I've jumped up and down more, and I've done more push ups in two months than I ever did before.  Also be prepared to modify some of the exercises and stretches since you know your body better than someone on a DVD.  If a muscle is tensing up, pause the disk, stretch it out, and go back to it.

Individual Disk Reviews

Insanity! comes with 10 disks in the normal package, 12 in the deluxe package and 13 in the highest package.  Here are my thoughts on each of them:

Disk 1: Dig Deeper and Fit Test : This is the first disk you'll watch when you get started on Insanity.  It'll give you the generic pep-talk and tell you to be ready to work harder than you've ever worked before.  You'll see the Fit Test multiple times, so get used to it.  It isn't that hard and it'll move really quickly -- just keep a pen and paper or a laptop computer near you when you're doing it to record your results.

Disk 2: Plyometric Cardio Circuit : This is one of the standard routines you'll see a lot of.  At first it seems like a lot to take in, but by the end of the first month, you'll still be tired at the end of it, but feeling a lot better.  I think it's called plyometric since you're supposed to be hopping up and down more in this one than others; but with how fast you do all the routines, they really start to blend together.

Disk 3: Cardio Power and Resistance : They tell you these are power moves, but like I've said before, a lot of the exercises all feel the same.  This one does put more emphasis on doing the exercises with explosiveness which should help build the lean muscles (assuming you do them right).

Disk 4: Cardio Recovery and Max Recovery : Calling these two routines recovery is a misnomer.  Recovery is sleeping and resting, not doing exercises.  Anyway, the cardio recovery is used during the first month, while max recovery is used during the second month.  I concentrated on doing all the exercises perfectly as opposed to trying to keep up with all the people on the disk.  Neither of the routines ask you to do anything extraordinary so take it for what it is, and stay relaxed while pushing yourself just a little.

Disk 5: Pure Cardio and Abs : For some reason, I really enjoy the pure cardio disk, even though there are no designated water breaks.  As with all the Insanity disks, it starts out easy (somewhat..) and speeds up while asking you to put as much power into it that you can.  You'll be drenched in sweat by the time the cool down stretches occur.  However, once they're done, you'll be wondering why you haven't started another workout.  Of course, that is where Cardio Abs comes in.  It is a quick 16 minute abs-centric workout with a quick warm-up (since you're already pretty warm from your previous workout) and then right into exercises.  There are no crunches, but it is still really rough.  I liked it though.

Disk 6: Cardio Abs : I don't know why they put it on a disk by itself, when it is on disk 5.

Disk 7: Core Cardio and Balance : I liked this workout a lot and wished it was in the regular rotation of workouts instead of seeing it six times in a row.  It does a lot of balance-type exercises along with some exercises that really freaking burned.

Disk 8: Max Interval Circuit : Think of the interval circuit stuff above, then add an additional set of exercises.  The warm-up routine also changes slightly, you'll find yourself doing exercises in warm-up that you were doing as part of the main workouts in the first month.  The workouts definitely turn it up a notch in the second month.

Disk 9: Max Interval Plyo : I never knew there were that many ways to do push-ups... now I do.  Be prepared to be worn down, the workouts now start pushing a full hour and they don't slow down then speed up as in the first month.  You push pretty hard to really hard -- not learn the exercises to really hard.

Disk 10: Max Cardio Conditioning and Abs : Welcome to the cardio conditioning routine that lasts about an hour with no set water breaks (take breaks btw).  It is rough like all the Max stuff, but you'll find yourself getting accustomed to the routine near the end much like the first month.  It'll be bad, just not as bad.

Disk 11: MAX Interval Sports Training : Now, these last three disk come if you picked the crazy-insane-deluxe-edition or whatever they call it.  You don't need them to finish Insanity, they just add a little variety.  This one is tough, and I almost felt like not doing this disk and dropping back to the one they suggest when you do it the first time, but since I'm stubborn, I did it anyway.  He uses a lot of exercises from various sports so if you've ever seen football drills, basketball drills, or taken a martial arts class a lot of the exercises won't seem so foreign to you (a good thing).

Disk 12: Insane Abs : Instead of 16 minutes abs workout, you get 33.  You also get more of a warm-up and a much longer routine.  I can't say there is much more to write home about than that.  It is harder than the first abs disk of course, but you're used to it by now .

Disk 13: Upper Body Weight Training : Imagine doing the moves you've done before, but with free weights.. you've basically got this disk down.  I'm not so sure how I feel about this disk, even after watching it a few times.  Maybe once I go through P90X I'll have a better view of what I think of it.

Weekly Review Logs

You can also read over my weekly workout logs here:

• Week 1
• Week 2
• Week 3
• Week 4
• Week 5
• Week 6
• Week 7
• Week 8
• Week 9

After you finish reading about my travels or if you just want to see the pictures, you can view them here.

Day 1 (Wednesday) - Travel from Austin to Anchorage and then to Seward

The flight to Alaska was an Austin to Denver to Anchorage flight, so I got to kill three hours in the Denver airport, which is pretty hard since the wireless signal isn't very strong anywhere in the B Terminal area that I could tell.  After arriving in Alaska and meeting my friend we went and grabbed some dinner (at 10:30pm) at Fire Tap Ale House before heading out to Seward.  Seward is about a three hour drive from Anchorage and at night, it moves pretty quickly.  The drive is also supposed to be one of the most scenic highways in America, however, at midnight to 2am, I couldn't tell you much other than it is really damn dark, there will only be a few cars out, and you can actually see stars in the sky.  Which was pretty cool.  We finally arrived in Seward at 2:30am which is (as I found out in the light) a really small town.  I might be exaggerating a little bit, but it seems like Seward was only a few city blocks.  This left us a good 4 hours for sleep until we got to hop onto a wildlife and glacier boat cruise tomorrow (or later today depending on your view).

Day 2 (Thursday) - Seward

My first full day in Alaska got off to an early start: 6am.  After a rather poor continental breakfast, we had a hotel shuttle take us down to the Kenai Fjords tour building so we could check in and hop on the boat -- and this was at 7:30am, since we thought the tour started at 8am.  However, it turned out the tour started at 9am, so we had an hour or so to kill.  Since I was depressed with the breakfast we asked for a suggestion on where to get some breakfast.  The workers at Kenai Fjords told us to try Railway Cantina and their breakfast burritos, so we did.  Now, price-wise I found it a little high, but like all the food in Alaska it all seems a little pricey.  The breakfast burrito was quite tasty though and it hit the spot although it felt funny eating Tex-Mex food in Alaska (being a little snobby, it isn't Texas Tex-Mex, but it was good food).

After the decent breakfast, we still had time to burn, so it was easily burned in the Helly Hansen store attached to the Kenai Fjords tour building.  Now, I suppose it makes sense, since well, you might not have dressed appropriately to sit out in the cold weather for 9 hours and Helly Hansen makes some nice outdoor gear.  After looking at all the gear, it was about time to get onto the boat.  So we made our way out to the docks, where I saw an awesomely named boat: El Patron.  And some awesome bumper (stern?) stickers that said: "Kill Fish" and "Burn Diesel."  The boat itself was a fairly large ship with a lot of deck and interior space.

The boat ride itself was definitely full and it got really cold on the water.. especially when they started cruising at 22 knots.  The cruise was long and I felt I got my money's worth with over nine hours of time on the boat we saw bald eagles, sea otters, sea lions, puffins, seagulls, orcas, and humpback whales.. and this was just the wildlife.  There were also glaciers, waterfalls, and various islands, where you find out they have great names for islands like: Guano Island and No Name Island.  The tour pulled back into port right at 6:00pm and it was then time to find dinner.

For dinner there were really two choices: Ray's Waterfront or Chinook's Waterfront.  Looking at the buildings, we picked Chinook's.  I ordered Salmon stuffed with Alaskan King Crab because it sounded wonderful.  When it arrived it looked great, and then I took a bite of it and I completely changed my mind.  The salmon was very dry and not what you expect when you pay about 30 dollars for an entree.  They offered to have the entree redone for me, but after hearing multiple people around me send back their fish, I settled on a cheeseburger.  When that arrived it was a little crispy, but I was so hungry I just added enough mustard to the hamburger to tolerate the taste.  I don't know if this was an aberration on their food or not, but this was enough to turn me off to this place if I ever go back to Seward.  The beer I got was very tasty though, so that was at least the one bright spot in the meal.  After the meal it was about 8pm and I decided to call it a night, since I'd only been running on a few hours of sleep before checking out some hiking trails in Seward the next day then driving to Denali.

Day 3 (Friday) - Seward and the Drive to Denali with a Stop in Anchorage

Friday started early as we took a trip to the National Parks Station near the docks to find out where we should hike.  The ranger on duty suggested Exit Glacier a few miles away where you can see the Harding Ice Field.  We decided to do that so we headed out to Exit Glacier and decided to hike to the toe of the glacier and then attempt the hike to the Harding Ice Field.  Hiking to the toe of the glacier was a nice fairly easy hike and I got a lot of good photos of the toe.  We then attempted the hike to the ice field.  And I couldn't make it up to the bridge (0.6 miles away), I was seriously not ready for it.  I was carrying my camera and three lenses along with a fairly heavy bag.  About 30 pounds of gear and water along with a fairly intense start (over 100o foot climb in the first mile) I realized I couldn't make it.  So my friend and I turned back after I had finished my 32 oz. of water, which I think was about half way to the bridge.

We then started off toward Denali, with a stop in Anchorage for REI and a good lunch.  At the REI, I looked for a new backpack that I could wear during the mountain biking we were going to be doing in Denali and still be able to carry some of my camera gear.  We can say that I learned more about appropriate hiking gear this trip than I have in a long time.  At the REI, I picked up an Osprey Manta 20 backpack that had a 100oz (3 liter) water pack and 20L of storage space.  As an awesome bonus, Anchorage has no sales tax which was completely awesome.  I'll talk more about the Manta later (since it is a very, very nice backpack).  For lunch, we ate at Simon and Seafort's and it is totally worth it.  The food here was awesome and I highly suggest eating here if you're in Anchorage (I ate here twice).  I ate the berry field medley salad, chili-smoked tiger prawns, salmon, and a fresh-berry cobbler with their Chardonnay Flight (Columbia Crest, Clos du Bois, and Sonoma Cutrer Russian).  The Clos du Bois was the Chardonnay was the one that was well worth it; the other two were very meh.  We got out of Anchorage around 5pm or so and started out toward Denali, only 250 miles away.  The trip to Denali is pretty, but also the most empty stretch of road I have ever seen.  There is no cell phone reception and no radio stations for most of the trip.  Oh, and Wasilla is a tiny damn town.  We ended up buying some food in a small supermarket and wow, some food in Alaska is expensive, just like the gasoline.

The drive however, took a long time thanks to the road being completely repaved so we didn't actually get into the hotel until 2am, at which point we found out, the hotel booked the room for the wrong night -- luckily they were able to get us into another room.  We prepared for the next morning and then went to bed.. the morning was coming early again.  The hotel we stayed at was not worth it -- and I can't remember the name right now, or I'd tell you not to go.

Day 4 (Saturday) - Denali and the drive to Alyeska (Girdwood)

Denali, now here is the reason I really wanted to go; to see Mt. McKinley and see the Alaskan tundra.  The plan was to rent mountain bikes, get into the park when the bus opens, make it to Eielson then ride our mountain bikes 20 miles to Wonder Lake hike around there then catch a bus out of the park.  As you can probably guess, it is not how it happened.

We showed up at the bike shop around 7am and no one was there.  We called them and said they'd be there soon, so we waited.  When they arrived, they didn't know how to rent us the bicycles, and had to wait for another person to show up.  Which was another 10 minutes or so.  The person showed up and then took care of some other people who arrived after us before helping us.. so we had to wait even longer.  Needless to say, we missed our bus into the park.  We also found out that they weren't going to drop us off at the visitor's center like they initially told us.  So we biked to the Visitor's Center a few miles away.  At the park, around 9:15am, we had to ride stand-by on the bus and hope we found one that would take us close to where we wanted to go -- and we weren't going to be able to take the bikes.

We did have a bit of luck and got a handicapped bus that had a life and section for people in wheelchairs.  Since there were no wheelchairs, we managed to get our rented bikes onto the bus.  So, something good did happen in the morning.  The bus ride into Eielson was three hours long and we saw a lot of wild life, some that I actually took pictures of.  I didn't bring my 100 - 400mm lens since it wouldn't fit into my Manta 20 pack.  I brought the landscape lens and the close by lens.  Looking back, I should have taken my landscape lens and the 100 - 400 mm lens.  Once we arrived at Eielson, we asked the park ranger stationed there how long it should take to get to Wonder Lake and he said we should be able to make it before the last bus that was able to take us out was leaving.  With that we hopped on our bikes and took off down the gravel road.

The bike ride wasn't bad at all, however, we only made it 11 of the 20 miles to Wonder Lake, the bikes we rented did not have the basic maintenance performed on them and then chains kept slipping meaning every mile or so we'd stop and hop off the bikes and put the chains back on the gears.  Really not what I wanted since I really wanted to see Wonder Lake, I did end up seeing some nice scenery anyway so I can't say I left completely disappointed.  Around 3:05pm is when we stopped biking because that was the time the last bus leaving Wonder Lake would be coming by us.  So we sat at the side of the road for about an hour since all the buses were running a little late.  We then had a nice hour bus ride out of the park and back to the visitor's center.

We arrived at the visitor's center around 8pm and then had to bike back to the bike rental place and grab some dinner.  For dinner we ate at Prospector's Pizza, a local pizzeria and ale house (just a note, but almost every Alaskan-owned restaurant is also an ale house).  The pizza was expensive, but quite tasty and when it came down to it, it was a great idea to have it, because after eating we headed toward Gridwood and Alyeska.

I started out driving toward Alyeska at 10pm, which you're probably thinking, damn that's late.  And you'd be right.  However, in Alaska it doesn't actually go completely dark until midnight or a little after, so I got to drive about two hours in the light until it went pitch black.  I made it all the way to the south side of Wasilla before I asked my friend to finish off driving to Alyeska.  We made it to Alyeska at 3am, and as you can guess, it was going to be another short night, check-out time at Alyeska was noon.

Day 5 (Sunday) and 6 (Monday) - Gridwood, Anchorage and The Plane Rides Home

Now, you'd think after getting into Alyeska at 3am I'd be sleeping as much as I could, however, I ended up getting up at 9am and getting everything packed up for the plane ride home and getting my backpack ready for a hike up the mountain at Alyeska.  We checked out of Alyeska and grabbed some lunch at Maxine's Glacier City Bistro.  I was not overly impressed with Maxine's at all.  The food was decent, but for my money I would have liked a little more food.  After we finished up at Maxine's my friend was still hungry so we decided to try another place to eat: The Bake Shop.  I'd love to say we ate here and the food was great, but that'd be a lie.  There was a line out the door and the food was seriously overpriced -- just like every other resort restaurant I suppose.  We decided to not eat there and just head back to Alyeska and take the tram up to the mountain.

Once we were up on the mountain we hiked to the highest point allowed where I actually stood in some snow.  Something I haven't done in a damn long time.  We were also above some of the clouds, so my head was literally in the clouds.  It was so ridiculous that I took a picture of it, me wearing pants and a heavy jacket up at the top of the mountain because at the base of the mountain you'd be comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.  After meandering around the top of the mountain for a while, we hiked back down to the tram and rode it down then headed back toward Anchorage.

After an almost nasty crash and an hour later, we were at REI in Anchorage (I'm not going to pass up the chance to buy gear with no tax and no shipping).  My friend said, "We're gear whores" and I'd have to agree, there is always tons of neat stuff at REI to buy.  I ended up with a new long sleeve shirt from Arc'Teryx and another shirt by Moutain Hardware that the REI in Austin stopped carrying (I liked the Arc'Teryx shirt so much, I bought the short sleeve version of it too).  I also picked up some luggage packing cubes to keep my clothes sorted during travel, plus when the TSA goes through your luggage hopefully they'll be able to pack it back the way they found it.  I got out of REI relatively unscathed, my friend however, didn't fare so well.

Finished with the REI, it was time to grab some dinner and I chose Simon and Seafort's, again.  This time we had to sit in the bar area since it would be an hour wait to sit in the restaurant side.  This time my meal consisted of: Clam Chowder, Salmon stuffed with Alaskan King Crab and Macadamia nuts, and bread pudding for dessert.  For my drinks I did the Pinot Noir wine flight (Beringer Third Coast, Pencarrow, and Erath OR).  The clam chowder was decent, the Salmon stuffed with crab and macadamia nuts was amazing and the bread pudding left me a little sad.  I knew better than to order the bread pudding, but even with mediocre bread pudding, it still isn't bad.  If you're ever at Simon and Seafort's and they have Halibut cheeks on the menu, I highly suggest buying them.  They were great (even though I only had a bite).  Dinner was finished around 8pm (I think) and at that point we made our way to the hotel where my friend was going to be staying since it was going to be doing more sight-seeing in Alaska.  The hotel was nothing to write home about and in fact, I'd probably stay away from the hotel, it wasn't in the best looking neighborhood (but it was damn close to the airport).  Around 10pm we headed out to the airport so I could have extra time in case the airport security gave me any trouble like in Austin when I left.

If you've never seen The Ted Steven's Airport in Anchorage, it is completely ridiculous how nice it is.  I'm sure a lot of federal money was spent making it.  I hopped on the Anchorage to Denver flight on time, couldn't get any sleep because the person beside me was a complete jerk and arrived at dinner hungry and grumpy.  A quick McDonald's breakfast (I never thought I'd be happy to see a McDonald's) I made my way back to the terminal for the flight into Austin.  This flight was much smoother and much more comfortable.. I still didn't get any sleep however.  I will say that United does a good job of having flights running on-time and efficiently and Economy Plus is definitely worth it, however on the Anchorage to Denver flight, I would have killed for First / Business class just to stay away from that jerk of a passenger.  Even though the time difference was only three hours I'm still recovering from the time zone difference... I was tired, but happy I went and if I ever go back I know I have a list of things to see and do, and I'll definitely plan to spend more than a few days there.

Random Thoughts about the Trip

Now, my random thoughts of what I'd do different when going on this trip

• Packing
  • If you're going to be doing a lot of hiking or outdoorsy stuff, I'd come more prepared than I was.  I thought I had everything, but when it came down to it, the Osprey Manta 20 backpack was a lifesaver.  I had hiking sticks and the right layers and such, but not having the right backpack was an issue.
  • Know where you're going so you can choose the camera lenses to take with you appropriately.  I realized in Denali my 18 - 55 mm lens was completely worthless and I would have been better off carrying my landscape lens and the zoom lens.
  • I packed in a carry-on sized bag, which made packing a bit of a challenge, but knowing what I know now, I would have not packed my jeans and just packed my two pair of technical / hiking pants since they were the pants I wore for the entire trip.  That would have saved a lot of space in the bag.
  • The packing cubes are a nice thing and I'll definitely use the next time I travel.  They do a good job of keeping everything in order.
  • If you're packing camera equipment, I found my Mountainsmith Borealis AT bag to be a great way to bring the camera equipment as carry-on luggage.  If was able to fit my DSLR and three lenses along with a some reading material and my laptop computer.
  • If I was staying for more than a week I would have checked a larger bag but packed with the same idea as the smaller bag.
• The Trip Itself
  • It was a lot of fun, but we were rushing from place to place, which although OK, it was a little hectic trying to make it from place to place at night.  We did the best with the time we had allotted but now, I'd take it a little easier so we could travel during the day.
  • I'm definitely a fan of Economy Plus and now I'm thinking I'd almost buy two seats beside one another so I can keep annoying passengers away from me.
  • Food and gas is expensive in Alaska and if you're going to drive place to place, be prepared for a lot of driving
  • Most people don't understand how to drive nicely on a two-lane highway.  People would have stacks of cars behind them and keep motoring along like it was no problem.  What ever happened to pulling to the shoulder to left faster people pass you?
  • People RVing clog up the highways and a lot of them were the reasons for the two-lane highway issues.
  • For Denali, decide what you want to do because that'll change what you pack.  I shouldn't have packed what I did and I probably should have planned for two trips to Denali, one to mountain bike around and then another just to take pictures.
• Things I missed
  • The auroras, they weren't very active and I really needed a trip to Fairbanks to see them.
  • Wonder Lake in Denali
  • The Harding Ice field
  • Lots of other cities that are supposed to be beautiful

The bottom line: It was a lot of fun and I would go back despite the negatives.

Monday: Max Interval Plyo

Well, got the new desktop in today, set it up, and did Max Interval Plyo on a nice new screen.  It looked nicer I suppose, but in the end, I was still sweating the same amount as before -- so it wasn't some magical device that would increase the amount of calories burned while reducing the amount of sweat.  Calories burned: 1138, average heart rate: 157bpm, maximum heart rate: 188bpm.  Also did a two mile bike ride with the puppy, so a little extra burn to the burn I already had.

Tuesday: Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs

Another killer workout today, but damn, it feels great!  Calories burned 1397, average heart rate: 155bpm, maximum heart rate: 186bpm.  And as you can already guess, on top of all this was a two mile bike ride with Einstein.

Wednesday: Max Interval Circuit

Again, Max Interval Circuit, boy do these workouts seriously wear you out.  But, it is kinda funny, a few hours later you feel like you could go do them all again.  I suppose it is the joy of cardio workouts.  They drain you out quickly, but a nice rest and you're ready to go again.  According to Mr. Polar FT-7 Heart Rate Monitor, I didn't burn nearly as many calories as I thought I would have at 1097 (I must have been taking it a little too easy), but, everything else seems to around normal in terms of heart rates, average: 157bpm, maximum heart rate: 189bpm.

Thursday: Max Interval Sports Training

Here I am, at Max Interval Sports Training again, should be my third time, but ended up being my second time.  Calories burned: 1236, average heart rate: 155bpm, maximum heart rate 188bpm.  Like before, a sweaty hard workout, that in the end is enjoyable (if only for the results).  Only two more workouts and then the last fit test.

Friday: Max Interval Plyo

Calories burned: 1211, average heart rate: 155bpm, maximum heart rate: 189bpm.  One more day.  Oh yeah!  Didn't get the chance to run with dog today (but don't worry, he got his run without me).  Tomorrow, the last day.  Max Cardio and Insane Abs!  Then Sunday, the final fit test, then a trip to Alaska, then starting up P90X.

Saturday: Max Cardio Conditioning and Insane Abs

Yes! The end!  And even better I finished two projects on the same day: Insanity and the fuel cell installed, the new headers installed and splitter installed on my 911.  A very productive day -- I even managed to make sausage balls and cookies as well.  Look forward to tomorrow when I do the final fit test and give a review of every disk in the Insanity series and what I thought of them.  Oh, before I sign off on Insanity completely: calories burned: 1298, average heart rate: 158bpm, maximum heart rate: 191bpm.  I'm glad I did this workout inside, it was stupidly hot outside and in the workshop where I was working on my 911.

General Week Nine Thoughts

It's over.  I gave myself a pat on the back.  But there is still more to come.  Being at 11% body fat and skinny is good, but a little less than 10% and having muscles is even better.  So there is my new goal with P90X.  A little more fat loss and more muscles.  And now, the infamous bullet list of things:

• Heart rate monitor
• Gatorade
• Blood Glucose tester nearby (if you're diabetic)
• Keep pushing, it does end.  And you'll feel better for it.
• Setting goals is easy, keeping them is hard.
• Any extra cardio you can do is an even better thing.  For instance, my bike rides with my puppy (not so much a puppy anymore, but he still acts like one).

The largest issue with looking for a new printer is the fact all printers are now apparently these all-in-one monstrosities that do everything except the dishes in the dishwasher.  Whatever happened to a nice quality printer with bluetooth or wireless capabilities?  Am I asking too much of the printer companies to make a quality inkjet or laser printer with bluetooth or wireless and none of the other frivolities they normally throw on the printers now?

Along with what appears to be my search for a new wireless printer, I have an Iomega network storage device that likes to be seen on the network, but not actually usable.  Of course, this just isn't a Mac issue, it isn't working with the PCs as well.  Just another thing to troubleshoot.  At least all the other devices work just fine with the iMac so I can't complain too much.