StarkReiten's travels

Xmas 2009

2009-12-25T14:58:00.003+01:00

HO HO HO... happy Xmas and a merry new year! My original plan was to email out this holiday greeting that I'd whipped up, but my severe lack of bandwidth is making it difficult. I'd also like to apologize to everybody for my lack of communication, which relates directly to the already mentioned lack of bandwidth. Hopefully I'll get it out by New Years!

Nordkapp 2009

2009-07-19T18:25:00.004+02:00

I took a little ride around the Baltic back in May, and have finally posted some pictures! Nordkapp was a bit knippy, but it didn't snow on me. The trip wound up being about 4500 miles, and 12 days was a bit tight. It would have been nice to have had a couple more weeks to dally along the route.

click on the pic for a few more

Garmisch retreat

2008-12-21T16:47:00.009+01:00

A retreat in Garmisch, what fun!? Well, since I was volun-told to go, off to Garmisch I went. It would have been nice to have had a few of the schedule details, but I apparently didn't have a need-to-know. It turned out that we were on our own Wednesday night through Friday morning. Had I known a few hours in advance, I might have packed for skiing or something. Not much snow there yet anyways, maybe next year.

I wandered through a little bit of Austria Thursday, but the beautiful grey wasn't very photogenic. Here is a pic from the Linderhöf palace that I stopped by. There are a few more pics from the lodge and around Linderhof in the Garmisch album.

From Garmisch

Happy Holidays to all, and to all a good knight! ;>

Teunz volksmarch

2008-11-30T16:24:00.001+01:00

It was a beautiful day for a walk in Teunz. The snow looked fresh, so it's probably good that I didn't make it there yesterday. ;>

Xbox 360 power supply mod - DON'T TRY THIS AT WORK!!!

2008-11-22T22:04:00.009+01:00

For the DON'T TRY THIS AT WORK files...

First things first: DO NOT plug a 110 volt Xbox into 220 volts! Bad things WILL happen...

After a friend of mine figured that out the hard way, I scored him a good deal on a used Xbox 360 power supply online. Anybody who has tried to get an Xbox 360 power supply knows that the major Xbox parts sources sell them sans power cord. The one that I found came with the power cord and for about half the price of the big guys. No problem, until the cord that arrived was the wrong one. So, wait a couple more weeks for the right one or... DON'T TRY THIS AT WORK!!!

The problem: Microsoft, in it's infinitesimal wisdom, uses an indexed power cord.

Tools required: 1 Victorinox Swiss Army Tinker pocket knife (or equivalent) and enough contempt for Microsoft to use it!

I used leverage and finesse to cut both sides of the index as close to flush as possible. When it was free all the way to the back, I gently pried it up and it broke out.
SAFETY NOTE: If your wrist is in the position shown below and you are not taking a picture for your blog then STOP! You are doing it wrong...
(G-shock is optional... and good luck finding this model if it's not!)

Required ancillary equipment: Mountain Dew, minimum quantity 1 litre.
NO BEER! (until after the cutting is done)

It works. 'Nuff said. :)

Ensdorf volksmarch

2008-11-22T21:38:00.001+01:00

It was a bit brisk in Ensdorf this morning, but the 10k went quick!

A super "green" tractor prototype! NO SMOKING please...

I should translate this someday...

Oberreinbach volksmarch

2008-10-05T19:11:00.002+02:00

Well, I seemed to have missed a couple weekends of volksmarching. Mostly just laziness on my part (ie... it was only rain). I did manage to pass my Red Cross CPR/First Aid instructor class(s), so maybe I'll be able to get our shop up to speed on that stuff.

It was a beautiful cool day for a trot around Oberreinbach. The leaves are just beginning to turn, but nothing dramatic enough for pictures yet. Maybe next weekend!

Bruck in der Oberpfalz volksmarch

2008-09-14T21:22:00.005+02:00

Bruck in der Oberpfalz was a nice walk in the woods and another plot on my map.

I got my packet from the AVA on friday with my first event award. I like the idea of an organization that doesn't require you to join to participate so much that I may join! ;>

Neuhaus an der Pegnitz volksmarch

2008-09-07T18:45:00.003+02:00

Just another Volksmarch. Nothing exciting except for this friendly little swine along the trial. Well... maybe not so little. ;>

From pics

Zeitlarn volksmarch

2008-08-30T19:58:00.006+02:00

It was a beautiful day for an afternoon volksmarch in Zeitlarn. Normally clear and dry make for good walking weather, but the sun was in a baking fury and I'd guestimate about 20% of the route was in the shade. My plan of jogging through the sun made this my quickest 20km so far! On the plus side, I am starting to think that running the whole 20km (12.4 miles) may actually be achievable.

It's not exercise if it's FUN, right? Just start them young! ;>

Creußen volksmarch

2008-08-24T16:14:00.003+02:00

201 km and still aching! Well, maybe not quite as much as when I started. The objective for last weekend was Tiefenbach, but Google mapped it in the wrong state and didn't bother to mention that there was another one on the other side of Germany. Oh, well.

Anyone have an old Creußen stein?

BOSS car show

2008-08-16T15:41:00.004+02:00

How about something cute and cuddly to influence the voters?

From BOSS car show

Eschenfelden Volksmarch

2008-08-09T00:00:00.001+02:00

Just another 20km in Eschenfelden.

Some nice grade and a local that was hanging out on the road.

Fuchsmühl volksmarch

2008-08-02T19:00:00.000+02:00

Fuchsmühl was an excellent hike, in spite of the rain.

There was all kinds of new stuff in the nature area, including this contraption just in case somebody got thirsty...

Mantel volksmarch

2008-07-26T12:46:00.002+02:00

Just another 20km volksmarch on Saturday in Mantel.

Hütten volksmarch

2008-07-20T22:20:00.008+02:00

100 miles later...

Not really a milestone, but there is something about those century numbers!

It was a beautiful day to wander from Hütten, perfect for another 20 km. The mouse figure prize is... well... very unique.

Another volksmarch plot on my map

Pegnitz volksmarch

2008-07-12T18:16:00.000+02:00

141 kilometers later...

Sunday I went wandering from Pegnitz. It looks like a nice place for a ride with LOTS of little back trails. It was sprinkling for the first 10k and dreary for the rest of the walk, so I didn't take any pics. I did have the camera battery charged this time, go figure!

The map continues to slowly fill...

Schloss Neidstein

2008-07-08T18:47:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I went on my first Mountain Bike ride. Fellow pedalers at an entrance to Schloss Neiderstein castle, reportedly owned by some obscure american actor named Nicolas Cage. He got a nice bit of forest with it too. :)

Pottenstein volksmarch

2008-07-06T20:31:00.004+02:00

Another volksmarch down, 1000000000000000000000000km to go! Hmmm, that could take awhile...

Pottenstein looks like a very interesting place to visit. I'm going to have to get back there and take some pictures. The battery on the little camera was, of course, dead today.

The map continues to slowly fill...

Prague 6/4/08

2008-07-01T12:34:00.009+02:00

Catching up a bit from April. Prague was a bit dreary, but hey, it was PRAGUE! I'm still not into the tour thing, but the scooter hadn't arrived yet, and it was PRAGUE!
(click on the pic for more of PRAGUE!)

Frauenwald volksmarch

2008-06-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

I survived my 5th volksmarch in Frauenwald on Saturday. Due to my very late start, the rain didn't catch me! :)

Here is the link to my volksmarch map if you are curious just where Frauenwald is in Germany.

[The Blogger editor does not appear to like imbedded google maps, most annoying!]

Checking it out

2008-06-29T14:31:00.003+02:00

Continuing my search for an easy way to post pics of my travels and tribulations, I'm going to give this a try. Picassa has integrated support for blogger, so it will get a workout as well. More to follow...