EricEwe.com

I owned my bike for over a year and I have enjoyed the trails. Had a few ‘incidents’ which landed me in the E.R., from a badly discloated elbow that swelled up to the size of a grapefruit and almost slicing off my finger, but it is a hobby and adventure that I enjoyed.

I have been able to pack my bike and taken it to Austin, Houston, Huntsville, San Marcos for hours of fun and pain. I doubt I would have been able to fit a 29er (meaning 29 inch wheel as opposed to a 26 inch wheel) in my car. Learned more things about fixing my bike, other than the BMX years, physical limits and thinking 3x before taking that leap of faith as if I was 17yrs old.

Throughout the last twelve months, I have spent more money on the bike than the purchase price. Some were ‘enhancements’, some were done to replace parts that broke/worn out.

• Fork RockShox Revelation Team 150MM – link
• Rims Easton Havoc DH WheelSet 32mm
• Hubs Easton 6 bolt, 28 hole
• Tires Schwalbe Rocket Ron UST, 26 x 2.1
• Pedals CrankBrother Candy Clipless
• Seatpost Thomson Elite, 31.6mm

Here are some pictures I took during the water breaks.

Sunset at San Marcos Purgatory creek - Cannondale F4

At Huntsville State Park, North of Houston

Jobs, the co-founder of Apple lost his battle to a rare pancreatic cancer today. He stepped down as the CEO in August 2011 and was replaced by Tim Cooks. Jobs took a six month leave in 2009 to handle his battle and for a organ transplant.

Sadly, Apply released the iPhone 4S on Oct 4, 2011 and it was a mellow event. One must be wondering what the Execs know about Jobs’ condition during the announcement and knowing that the end was near for the ex-CEO.

Steve Jobs  touched the soul of millions, and here are some of his contributions.

• Started Apple computer at 20 year old in a garage
• 313 Apple patents.
• Graphical user interface, as opposed to command based computers.
• Macintosh, the first computing unit with that weird thing called a Mouse as an input device.
• iPod was a giant leap forward in the way people listened to music on the go. It started the digital music revolution.
• iTunes revolutionize the music industry and helped kill the CD.
• iPhone, redefined what a smartphone should be and put the internet in your pocket.
• iPad, made the device thin, lightweight, dynamic and easy to carry and merged the PC with a smartphone.
• Bought Pixar Animation, and successfully release Toy Story, Cars to name a few animations

We lost a great icon that revolutionize the electronic industry that touched the lives of millions.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs (1955-2011).

I have been in and around town with this fancy 2 wheeler, or trying to get the most out of this bike. It is a Cannondale F4 in Charcoal Grey – Yeah, the name of the color is not that fancy but I can’t complaint about a decent entry level MTB.

So far, I have been happy with it other than the 2 deflated tires when it took it on a biking trail over the weekend.
Yes, I know – the reflectors are still on there as I ride it to work and I hate to be road kill on the way back from work.

Update 12/5/2011: Here are some recent pictures and upgrades. Cannondale F4 update.

Here are some pics:

Here are the specs of the Cannondale F4

• Frame Trail SL, double butted, mechanically formed, 6061 alloy
• Fork RST Deuce 1.5 Air with rebound adjust and lock-out, 100mm travel
• Rims Maddux DC3.0, double wall with eyelet, disc specific
• Hubs Shimano M475 6 bolt, 32 hole
• Spokes Stainless steel, 15g
• Tires Kenda Nevegal, 26 x 2.1″
• Pedals Wellgo Platform w/steel cage
• Crank Shimano M442 Octalink, 44/32/22
• BottomBracket Shimano Octalink
• Chain Shimano, 9-speed
• RearCogs Shimano HG50 Deore, 11-32
• FrontDerailleur Shimano Deore
• RearDerailleur Shimano Deore
• Shifter Shimano Deore
• Handlebar Cannondale C3, 650 x 20mm riser
• Stem Cannondale XC3 1.5″
• Headset Tange Custom 1.5
• Brakes Tektro Auriga Comp Hydraulic Disc, 160/160mm
• BrakeLevers Tektro Auriga Comp w/custom lever
• Saddle Cannondale C3, ergonomic design
• Seatpost Cannondale C3, 31.6mm
• Extras Cannondale Morse Alloy Locking grips

“This Halloween the most popular mask is the Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him.” – Conan O’Brien

Here are some pictures from my company’s Halloween Costume Contest.

Babies "R" Dead

The Transylvania Bunch

Cute but Scary

The Painted Face crowd?

The Grave digger that Got Jumped while digging

In an interesting twist, you are not suppose to make lemonade if you are given lemons, according to the Portland Health Department.

Julie Murphy, a 7 year old girl was slapped on the wrist for setting up a lemonade stand at a street fair by the health department. Apparently, she did not have a temporary restaurant permit to sell food at a public place. The permit cost $120. She was forced to shut down or face a $500 fine.

As opposed to selling lemonade, she gave the lemonade away for donations. The health officials came back when traffic started to pick up and gave her an ultimatum, “shut down or face a fine”.

She would need to sell or get donations that equate to 1000 cups of lemonade if she would to continue to maintain her booth, as she was selling a cup at $0.50.

In an ideal world, you would want to work yourself out of your job and hopefully retire in comfort. Well, the Season Ticket Sales Staff of the Miami Heat found out that they worked themselves out from their job when all the season tickets were snapped up after the Miami Heat recently signed LeBron James.
The Heat fired all 30 of its season ticket sellers. One seller acknowledged to the Miami Herald, “There was really nothing left to do.”

Hopefully, the Heat gave the ticket sellers some benefits from that as that saved the team a lot of money in wages for the 30 ticket sellers.

Every now and then, Google would change their homepage to reflect a certain event or cause. Today, you are able to play Pac Man on Google for free. This it to acknowledge that it is the game’s 30th anniversary.

Hey Web Searchers,

If you’ve visited our homepage today, there’s no doubt that you noticed our Pac Man doodle honoring the game’s 30th anniversary. If you insert the virtual coin, you can begin playing this legendary game or you can wait 10 seconds and it will automatically start. If you’re not a Pac Man fan or want to skip the music and lights, just enter you search query as usual and you’ll be directed to our normal search results page. Other options include:

1. Closing your browser
2. Turning the volume down or off on your computer
3. Playing Pac Man all day long (or at least until you beat your co-workers)

Happy Friday!

~Rubie

I got this e-mail from a dear friend and there is some truth in this. I am not sure who wrote it but it was well thought of.

NINE WORDS WOMEN USE

(1) Fine:This is the word women use to end an argument when they are right and you need to shut up.

(2) Five Minutes:If she is getting dressed, this means a half an hour. Five minutes is only five minutes if you have just been given five more minutes to watch the game before helping around the house.

(3) Nothing:This is the calm before the storm. This means something, and you should be on your toes. Arguments that begin with nothing usually end in fine.

(4) Go Ahead:This is a dare, not permission.. Don’t Do It!

(5) Loud Sigh:This is actually a word, but is a non-verbal statement often misunderstood by men. A loud sigh means she thinks you are an idiot and wonders why she is wasting her time standing here and arguing with you about nothing. (Refer back to # 3 for the meaning of nothing.)

(6) That’s Okay:This is one of the most dangerous statements a women can make to a man. That’s okay means she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.

(7) Thanks:A woman is thanking you, do not question, or faint. Just say you’re welcome. (I want to add in a clause here – This is true, unless she says ‘Thanks a lot’ – that is PURE sarcasm and she is not thanking you at all. DO NOT say ‘you’re welcome’ .. that will bring on a ‘whatever’).

(8) Whatever:Is a woman’s way of saying F– YOU!

(9) Don’t worry about it, I got it:Another dangerous statement, meaning this is something that a woman has told a man to do several times, but is now doing it herself. This will later result in a man asking ‘What’s wrong?’ For the woman’s response refer to # 3.

* Send page to the men you know, to warn them about arguments they can avoid(if they remember the terminology).
* Send this to all the women you know to give them a good laugh, cause they know it’s true!!

It’s been quite some time since I posted on here. With the extended vacation which I have yet to find and upload the pictures to my new position, it’s been a hard hitting Q1 2010.

Somebody sent this to me and I thought I would share the quiz.

FIRST, do the simple math below.
THEN, scroll down to find your hero.

It is truly remarkable just how accurate this is!
1) Pick your favorite number between 1 and 8
2) Multiply your choice by 3
3) Add 3
4) Multiply again by 3
5) You’ll get a 2 digit number…..maybe 42, for example
6) Add the digits together. Example 4 and 2 = 6

Now Scroll down.
With that number, see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below:
1. Albert Einstein 2.
2. Oprah Winfrey
3. Mother Theresa
4. Ronald Reagan
5. Bill Gates
6. Gandhi
7. Eleanor Roosevelt
8. Babe Ruth
9. Eric Ewe
10.Winston Churchill
11.Barbara Walters
12.Dalai Lama