The Gene Roddenberry years, when stories might play with questions of science, ideals or philosophy, have been replaced by stories reduced to loud and colorful action.

- Roger Ebert

I’m hardly one to take much stock in movie reviews, but I must say that I agree with Mr. Ebert in his comment about the new (and cleverly titled) Star Trek film: “Star Trek”

Despite obvious (and egregious, in my opinion) destruction of continuity, this movie lacks the very essence that makes Star Trek, well, Star Trek. This movie is nothing but an action flick with cutesy homages to its predecessors and a not-so-surprise cameo by the original Spock. There’s no questions of conscience or science; there are no better angels. It’s just action.

It’s also a waste of time.

Unless of course, you’re in the mood for cheesy Star Trek knockoff with over-the-top acting (compared to William Shatner, that’s saying something). Maybe it should be retitled: Star Trek: The Comedy.

Rant over.

0830 – Breakfast at McCoy’s with Myles, Kim, David, and Shane. I had the breakfast enchilada.

I think breakfast is my favorite meal of the day. I just love breakfast food, I love breakfast conversation, and I love coffee. This morning was no different. There was good food, amicable banter, and the carafe of coffee kept magically getting refilled. If I could describe heaven, it would certainly be in terms of hash browns and coffee.

At breakfast, we decided on the plan for the day. Myles and I would drive Shane back to the airport for his return flight to Seattle. Kim and David would enjoy the sites and sounds of Fort Collins while we made the 120 mile round-trip. After breakfast, around 1000, we executed the plan. Upon our return from the airport, we would take a (as yet undetermined length) bike ride around Fort Collins then trek down to Colorado Springs to visit with David’s parents who were coincidentally also visiting the Centennial State.

As a bit of background: Myles, Kim, and I were graced for the New Years holiday by our good friends David and Shane. They hail from Los Angeles (Van Nuys), CA and Seattle (Bellevue), WA respectively.

The plan went flawlessly. Shane was safely delivered to the East Terminal of Denver International Airport and the bike ride commenced at 1300. We did several (Myles says 4) miles up and down the Cathy Fromme Prairie trail. It turned out to be perfect (if not a little chilly) riding weather; and I got to try out my new cycling jacket. After weeks of inconsistent activity and several days of “poor” dietary choices, my body very much welcomed the ride.

We made for lunch at around 1500 at Cafe Athens. Yum. By 1600, we were on the road for The Springs.

We allocated 3 hours for the drive, just in case. Figuring we had some time, we made a stop at the Microcenter in the Denver Tech Center. We spent 30 minutes oogling computer parts and high-definition TV’s before setting out again. This is when we started getting off the rails — seriously.

The plan was to visit with David’s family and then leave him down there, so he could have more time. We would return to Fort Collins, and David would eventually return to LA when he was ready. So, we drove 2 cars from Fort Collins. As a bit of additional backstory: David drove his car from LA to Colorado. Kim joined David in his car for the trip, and I rode with Myles.

Along I-25 South, just below the Tech Center, we ran into a rather unfortunate sounding sign: “EXPECT LONG DELAYS.” It turns out, they were quite serious.

Myles, deft in hand and in mind, quickly pressed the detour button on his GPS navigation device. Within seconds, we were exiting the freeway to make a crazy-looking detour. We jumped off of I-25 south onto the city streets in Denver, found our way to E-470 North (which really travels West), caught up with Highway 83 South up through Parker. The windshield wiper blades on the Bostwick Honda were smearing road grime to the point of total blindness, so we stopped at an Autozone in Parker to pick up and install new blades. We continued along Highway 83 to Highway 86 through Castle Rock on our way back to I-25. The detour was an extra ~25ish miles.

At this point, Myles and I were running a good hour late. We communicated, via text message, to our co-travelers in the other car that we would be pretty late. As we’re about to turn onto I-25 South, I get a call from David that I’ll paraphrase:

Sean> Yep, we’re in Castle Rock.

David> You’re in Castle Rock already!?

As it happens, the “EXPECT LONG DELAYS” was quite accurate. By this point, we had gained 20 miles on David and Kim.

The next message I got from David:

David> 25 MOVING?

It turns out that the combination of snow, ice, and some unusually parked cars stalled out I-25 South for an hour just below Denver. By the time Myles and I arrived at our destination, Phantom Canyon Brewing and 40 minutes late, we had gained about 36 miles on our friends. This after a 25 mile detour and stop for wiper blades.

Staggered meals and beer ensued. In addition, good conversation was had by all. I got to meet David’s grandmother and chat again with David’s parents. I also had a pretty good bit of pot roast.

We made our goodbyes and well-wishes at around 2230 and began our return trip through blowing snow, ice, and snowpack along I-25 North — luckily, to no appreciable delays.

We arrived back in Fort Collins, safe and sound, at around 0030 Sunday and I made it home around 0045. Indeed a good day: good friends, good times, and a good amount of travel.

With that, good night.

I, for one, became much more active in the months and now year since moving here from California. I’ve been riding my bike to work most days and enjoying the lovely outdoors we have here. I’ve also, probably with the help of my bicycle and a more sensible diet, have put off around 30 pounds.

I’ve hit a weight loss plateau as of late, but I’ve felt myself continuing to get trimmer. It’s really a remarkable thing.

Now, if I may be facetious for just a moment, it’s all about to come to a crashing halt. I am flying out to Clovis next week, at which point, I shall subject myself to the buttery and greasy missives of our chefs at the Blue Pride Cafe. I imagine I’ll come back having found those 30 pounds.

Or not.

At work – we’re making a concerted effort at work to get our product development cycle to the “Feature Complete” state. This means that all the prescribed features are implemented and that after this date (3/31), we will be in stabilization (“polishing up”) mode. As a team, we opted to make our ‘death march’ a twice weekly event (with company-provided dinner) instead of a whole-week pain fest right at the end of the cycle.

At home – I had the pleasure of entertaining David over the last few days. He was gracious enough to drive out from California and hang out with myself and Mary. We enjoyed some cycling along the city of Fort Collins trail system and out in Lory State Park. We visited some breweries and did some evening outings in downtown Fort Collins and Boulder. Fun was had all around.

In the community – I’ve started volunteering for the Betsy Markey for Congress campaign as a writer. Due to the incredible workload at work, I haven’t had time to put my thoughts to text. I’m hoping that when April rolls around, I’ll have more time. In addition, I’ve been selected as a delegate to the statewide Democratic convention in Colorado Springs as a delegate for Congressional District 4 and for Larimer County. Yay!

In the eCommunity – I’m actively (as active as I can ) executing my role as a server administrator on EsperNet. I’m also heading up efforts to replace the IRC daemon currently in use with a custom set of patches to ircd-hybrid. So far so good!

In my glass – New Belgium Springboard. Yum.

Well, I agree. FUCK BUSH, indeed.

Now, the CSU (Colorado State University for my California friends) College Republicans are calling for the editor David McSwane to resign. This reminds me of the recent Senate resolution where the majority Republicans (with 22 Democrats) decided that “General Betray Us” is too wildly inappropriate (S. Res. 315) to not act on.

I have a thought: Republicans are pussies.

Now, hear me out. Who else would go taking the moral highroad for something as innocent (and humorous) as ‘FUCK BUSH’? Who else would waste our government’s time condemning a poignant advertisment? Who else would do all these things and hire Karl Rove? Oh noes! They hurt my feelings!

Pussies.

To the 22 Democrats who voted for S. Res. 315, go grow some balls. Can you please get some shit done for a change?

Saw this delightful sign today at Denver International.

Who knew there were flights to the great icy south — from Denver? Interestingly, this terminal had no passengers-in-waiting, nor a gate agent. One suspects that this is not a very popular route…

I am not alone in this.

In other news: I have, perhaps ahead of myself, reassigned my account on Facebook to the Northern Colorado network. I don’t quite live there yet, but I will in the near future.

Luckily, this was not an omen for my otherwise perfect flight.