Guardian Expedition LED Lights

Last year was my first year of running through the winter.  Luckily it doesn't get too cold here, but since the sun is usually down by the time I get home, I did have to get used to running in the dark.  I found out pretty quickly that once I leave my neighborhood streetlights are few and far between.  A headlamp solved the problem of me being able to see the road, but even with reflective gear I still had problems with drivers swerving at the last minute as if they didn't see me.  It was a particular problem on a long curving stretch of road where I believe that their headlights didn't hit me until the last minute.  So, I started looking into lights to alert the drivers from more of a distance.  After a lot of trial and error, I think the Guardian Expedition LED lights are the best.  They are light and EXTREMELY bright, and come with a very strong clip that holds well to your waist band, the strap on the back of your running hat, or the arm band for an iPod.  They are so bright that you can still see them clearly if you have them on your waist band and your shirt is covering them.  You turn them on and off by twisting the lens cap, and by unscrewing the lens cap and flipping the batteries, you can change the light from strobe mode to steady mode.   The last light I had was made for a bike and had the switch on the back, and the cool thing about the lens cap system is that I can easily switch them off when I get to a part of my route where I don't need them.  There are several mounting options available so you could easily use them on a bicycle, and they are available in different colors.  I got mine in blue and I'm pretty sure from the way a few people have jacked on their brakes that they not only see me but also might have mistaken me for a police car on a traffic stop.  If you are looking for a good high visibility light for night running, I would highly recommend these.  I got mine from Night Gear at http://www.night-gear.com

41

A post???

I was just mapping out the next couple of months in Google Cal and realized that the Big41 birthday falls on a Saturday this year. Which corresponds with the as-of-now-penciled-in Spring Break trip to the Big Easy.

theAxeMan's Birthday. Harrah's Poker Room. 3/27. Bourbon. Street.

Other than B-Rad (who I am sure still has frequent flier miles left from his Far East adventures)... who's in?

Wonder What Really Caught His Eye?

Went to the inaugural Greenville Force indoor football game last night. The first thing my son said to me when we got to our seats were: "Look, Daddy. Ruth's Chris has a sign down on the field." (Note: we had gone there for our anniversary earlier this week.)

My response? "Let me take a picture for Mommy!"

 

Snow Day March, 2009

Must save Leland's:

Lunch:






Dinner:

Kids Today

You know, online poker is illegal in this country.

Irony

Update: To our PETA friends: Show us the boobs, and we release the pigeons.

I guess I take too much for granted. I thought the photo from the greenvilleonline.com photo gallery of the obligatory naked protest when the circus comes to town, and the Dunkin Donuts commentary was comic genius.

Alas, I think such humor must be totally lost on the female members of our species. My evidence:

I sent an email to one unnamed female who works in the vicinity of the new DD location, with the attached photo of the half-naked chick, and simply asked if she heard when the new Dunkin Donuts would be opening. Now, this unnamed female would be fully within her rights to be a little upset that I was sending around photos of half-naked chicks. Her response?

"I think it opens in March or April."

Not even an acknowledgment that a picture of a topless chick with an exposed thong was in her inbox. Makes me curious as to what else is in her inbox...)

I passed along the link to Ms. Mora, as well, so she could add it to her website's press-clippings. She responded: "don't get what our PETA protest has to do with Dunkin Donuts."

But she did invite me to be one of her myspace friends. We're buds now.

Awesome!!

This is pretty cool. Downtown Greenville is getting a new Dunkin Donuts.



I really like their coffee.

Application FAIL

Theaxeman denied entry to play in the exclusive World Blogger Championship of Online Poker. Boo.

3... 2... 1...

Blog on the go from starbucks after a beer and slice... Then more beer with B-rad on a wonderful afternoon in G-Town.

Post is only apropos 'cause B is threatening to delete blog again.

Where's the Ace Frehley Report?

The fans are waiting.

Google Maps is the Best

True Dat..

the Audacity of...

Inflamation.

Contessa Brewer of MSNBC flubs one while talking about Obama's "I have a reverend" speech.

What the...

shizzle?


The South Carolina legislature is contemplating legalizing poker. As long as it is played... at a church.

Edit: I'll have to look into this a little more. The story on a local news station last night referenced a bill being submitted that would allow poker to be played at church. The above-referenced bill is not the one with the church reference.

Tracy Morgan for Hillary Clinton

OK, it wasn't actually Tracy Morgan, but I was watching a bit of SNL's Best of Tracy Morgan sometime in the last week or two, and his impression of Maya Angelou was absolutely dead-on. So when I got Maya's robo-call last night on my answering machine, shilling for Hillary Clinton, it cracked me up again.

Listen here

Light One Up For Fred

I'm with Fred in the '08 South Carolina GOP Primary. In the current climate (dominated by the new castrati), any candidate with the balls to buy a cigar in front of cameras is worthy of my vote.

Now, next week when the Democrat Party pollsters and campaigners start ringing my phone 15-20 times a night, I'm actually going to pick it up and have some fun with them whenever possible. I am, of course, going to do what the good Democrat's did in New Hampshire: I'm going to tell them that I'm voting for Barry (you know... the black guy). But, unlike the New Hampshire Democrats, I'm not going to go in the voting booth (because I will have already voted...) and vote for the white woman who only got to where she is because her husband cheated on her. (Update: Just in case you were still wondering, Chris Matthews has no balls.)

Photo courtesy the Greenville News

Comments on Luminox Post

Anonymous left this comment on my previous post:

"Real men don't carry umbrellas.....or wear watches."

Well, a REAL man carries an umbrella so that the woman his is with....and he is with one a lot...does not get rained on.

As for wearing a watch, I give you this:




Chuck Norris has to wear a watch, because Chuck Norris likes to know how long you stayed airborne after he roundhouse kicked you in the face.

Stuff A Guy Really Needs: Luminox Model 822

I have an obsession with time. I don't know why, and I don't try to analyze it, except to think that it has something to do with being a chronic procrastinator. I have watches and clocks all over the place, and every once in a while I get fixated on one in particular.

The current object of my watch lust is the Luminox Model 822.

There's really nothing special about the watch itself, and I have a Citizen Eco-Drive that has the same functions and looks almost the same. So, as my wife always says, why do I want another watch? Because I can't stand not being able to see my watch in the dark. I remember when I was a kid, I had a watch where the hands would glow all night long, and I could set it on my nightstand and see it clearly. It didn't have that annoying backlighting that digital clocks have, and I didn't have to press a button to make it light up. I just looked over and it was there. Simple and effective. It glowed all night because it had radioactive material painted onto the hands and numbers that gave off it's own greenish light.

Well, somewhere along the line they stopped using the radioactive stuff and went to a bioluminescent paint which glows for a certain period after being exposed to light. How long it glows, apparently, is determined by how thick the paint is applied. Cheaper watches have less paint. Anyway, most of the watches I have glow for a couple of hours or so, and since I usually wake up around 3 a.m or so, this is no good. There is a new paint callled SuperLuminova that is supposed to glow brighter and longer, but I want one that, basically, will be glowing when I pull it out of a drawer after it's sat there in the dark for three days. I mean, what if I got caught in a mine cave-in? True, it's unlikely, but it could happen. I'd be screwed.

Then I found the Luminox, which is one of the more inexpensive watches that still use self-powered (radioactive) luminescence. On each hand and at each hour marking, there is a micro-tube containing tritium gas. The gas gives off it's own light and is guarranteed to glow continuously for twenty five years. Other manufacturer's use this technology, but the watches are much more expensive. Luminox offers models down to $179.

The Luminox Model 822 has just taken the Number 1 spot on my "got to have it" list.

In the Spirit

There was a time when, during the Christmas season, I didn't fully get in the spirit until I heard 'Feed the World' on the radio. I distinctly remember a Christmas Eve a few years ago that I literally said to myself: "It's Christmas, and I have yet to hear Bono croon Well, tonight, thank God it's them, instead of you."

That was before 24 hour radio stations playing Christmas music 25 hours a day. Before the ipod. Before xm radio. Now, there is not a time during the day that I can't hit a button and get a fix of the sounds of the season. I actually did synch up some of my favorite tunes on the ipod yesterday. They are the ones I never hear on the radio, so I wanted to make sure they were accessible when needed:

Fairytale of New York by the Pogues
Merry Christmas from the Family by Robert Earl Keen
Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) by the Ramones
You're All I Want for Christmas by Jump, Little Children

Maybe a few others just for good measure. Heck, I think I'll even need to download 'Feed the World' again if I want to hear it this year.

But, yes, I am in the spirit. Why? Because for the second year in a row, getting elfed is what provides untold internet minutes of Christmassy entertainment.

I highly suggest you go get elfed yourself.

That bit of elfen magic shows that even a couple of two-bit dictators and a dead "revolutionary" can provide that certain holiday spark needed at this time of year for some. If making fun of those lefty heroes offends you...

Merry Christmas!!

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You're Being Mapped

On the road again for a soccer tournament this weekend, and pulled into the hotel parking lot and saw an interesting vehicle. No, not interesting in that it was a real, live hydro-carbon fueled SUV. Cool because of the thing-a-ma-jigs all over it's roof.



That's a pretty dark picture. Maybe if they haven't headed out before me in the morning, I'll grab a better one. But, you've no doubt seen the street view option in Google Maps. Looks like Microsoft is getting into the game with Windows Live Local. Check it out here.

Cum on Feel the Noize

Kevin Dubrow

Just read about the passing of Kevin Dubrow of Quiet Riot fame, and it reminded me of a shot or two that I got of him when they played in Greenville last year.

I believe it was the first time I saw them live. I do remember, though, when Mental Health came out and it was pretty huge. All of my metal friends were going to see Iron Maiden in Atlanta at the time, and QR was the opening band.

Bang Yer Hed