Christmas

Here are some pictures of our Christmas decorations this year. Much of these things are new as we have a new house. It's always interesting putting up the lights especially on a new house but this house turned out to be a lot easier to put lights up on then the old house. The Christmas tree is also new and our village grew considerably this year. We've already just about run out of space on the mantle, we'll have to get creative next year. We both really enjoy the season and decorating the house.

Halloween

This year we decided to do pumpkin inside a pumpkin jack-o-lanterns. I think that they turned out pretty good. I didn't get any pictures that are too good but this is the best one that I have.

Gallinger - Helgeson Wedding

On the weekend between being at the HP Technology Forum and being in Dallas for work a good friend from the fraternity was married in Billings, MT. So rather then heading home I made the trek up to Bozeman and then drove to Billings with some friends for the event. It was a very nice ceremony and a great opportunity to see everybody again. The groom is the third from the right in front in the picture below. He and his wife have since moved to Denver so we're hoping to be able to see them frequently.

HP Technology Forum 2005

I've gotten a bit behind with posting so I'll try to get a couple done tonight and get caught up. Unfortunately I haven't done a very good job of keeping my camera near by and getting things recorded here but hopefully that will change soon. If you follow the blog you know that it goes in spurts.

I had the opportunity as part of me job with Hewlett Packard as an engineering program manager this past October to teach a hands on lab course at the HP Technology Forum 2005. It was a really a lot of fun and a rewarding experience. I really like teaching folks about all of the great products that we have been working on and how it can help them to run their IT organizations more effectively. It's really awesome that HP provides opportunities to get out of the labs and out on the front lines with our customers. This event was initially scheduled for New Orleans just weeks after hurricane Katrina, given these unfortunate circumstances it's very fortunate that they were able to pull the event together a few short weeks later in Orlando. I had a lot of fun at this conference and hope that I'll be able to participate again next year. I've included a photo of the equipment that was flown in for my lab.

Bathroom Remodel

I recently completed remodeling one of the bathrooms in my home. It was the first time I had done a project like this and as always there are a few things I would do differently the second time around but overall I'm very happy with the results. It was also fun to do something new and a satisfying project to complete. I've included some before and after pictures below.

Tim and Anne's Wedding

Lauren's oldest brother Tim got married a couple weekends ago in St. Louis. It was a beautiful weekend. Since Lauren and I were both in the wedding we were there for 4 days and it was a nice long weekend celebration.

House Pictures

Sorry this took so long to get posted but I'm finally going to get a few pictures of the new house posted.

Bostrom - Bachim Wedding

I was in Madison last weekend for my cousin Matt's wedding. It was a very nice ceremony and reception. It was also a great opportunity to see family that I haven't seen for awhile. I wish Matt & Jody the best for a long and happy marriage.

I've included a picture of Laura's (Matt's sister) children and the capital building in Madison.

New Home

I closed on the sale of my home in Fort Collins and the purchase of my new home in Highlands Ranch (a south western suburb of Denver). The move was a lot of work but all of the stuff is in the new location now. I'll post some pictures of the new home once we are settled in.

2005 Balfour Leadership Training Workshop

This past weekend I was able to attend my third Balfour Leadership training workshop and my 2nd one as a chapter advisor. The event was held at Ball State University. It was a great 2 and a half day event which allowed for chapters to start developing strategic plans for the upcoming school year. The curriculum this year changed from a focus on the fundamentals for each officer to more time with the chapter team and this was a welcome change as the guys got an opportunity to start working rather then just talk theoretically. It was clear throughout the weekend why this is the largest and most effective training effort of it's type in the Greek world and I very much enjoyed and being able to take part in this event.

July 4th

I was able to spend some time at home on the lake with some friends from high school for the 4th of July. We did some jetskiing, fishing, 4 wheeling and fireworking it was a nice break.


The gang

Sigma Chi 150th

I was able to spend the past weekend in Cincinnati for a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Sigma Chi. It was a great weekend. There were many events looking at the past, present and future of Sigma Chi. I was able to see the founding site of the fraternity as well as the alpha chapter in addition to attending all the celebrations. I'm looking forward to returning to Cincinnati in 2055 when the fraternity turns 200!


150th Gala

Home

I was home from 6/8 to 6/13. It was nice to be home for a bit and relax. Although I spent much of my time troubleshooting computer issues. One evening we burned up some stuff that had blown down in a recent storm.


Lake Stella

Hong Kong

In the evenings there is a light show. Lights are cast from the buildings on Hong Kong Island. This picture was taken from just across Victoria Harbor on the Kowloon side.


Hong Kong

Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

From Bangalore I flew to Hong Kong on another overnight plane trip. I flew on Singapore airlines and it was one of the nicest flights I have ever been on, it leaves me wondering if all flights on this airline would be as nice. The group that I traveled with from Bangalore went out to see the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. This is a temple in Hong Kong where Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism are all practiced.


Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple

Mysore

In Mysore I was able to see many sights. I won't be able to post pictures of them all here but I'll note them all at least. We started off by visiting the Cauvery river. We then moved on to Gumbaz. The burial site of Tipu Sultan. A Indian king who stood up against British rule around 1800. We then moved on to Dariya Daulat Bagh. The summer palace of Tipu Sultan. Next we visited the bird sanctuary. We were able to go out in a row boat and get a close up look at all the birds here, luckily we didn't get too close a look at the crocodiles also swimming in these waters. We then moved on to Chamundi Hills. Then after lunch we finished up our visit at the Mysore Palace.


Mysore Palace

Mysore Trip

On Saturday before leaving Bangalore on a 11:55 PM flight I was able to head out to the town of Mysore. This is a town that is about 120 km away and takes about 3 hours by car to reach. On our way we happened to come up behind this bus. How would you like to ride on the top of this thing for 3 hours?


Bus

MSL India Team

The MSL India Team and I. From left to right.
Back row: Jayanth, Siddhesh, Suresh, Sanjay, Ginu
Middle row: Erik, GRK, Kavita, Raji, Bhuvana, Nagaraj
Front row: Hemanth, HSP, Vasu, Rohini, Anita, Mahesh


MSL India Team

PPU Support Team

The PPU support team and I in Bangalore. From left to right Me, Gireesha, Ram. Not pictured Nath.


PPU Support Team

Tipu Sultan's Fort

This evening I was able to slip away at the end of the day and go to see Tipu Sultan's Fort. It's quite a small fot. The fort has it's own temple right next to it so that the king could worship easily. The most amazing thing is that this temple is made mostly from wood. This is a far cry from the gold and marble that I would have expected.

Later as I was eating dinner in one of the hotel restaurants, I couldn't help but find some humor in the irony of the situation. I was sitting in an Irish restaurant in India, eating a mutton burger, listening to country music and watching English football (soccer).


Tipu Sultan's Palace

TRAFFIC!

The traffic here is amazing. People drive wherever they want to and if there is any space at all bikes squeeze right in. It makes traffic in cities in the U.S. look like a breeze. It's so bad that people don't go very far during peak traffic times. Words really can not describe what a drive during commute time is like it's truly crazy.


Traffic

ISKCON Temple

Sunday evening I was able to visit the ISKCON temple. This temple does not allow photography inside although the outside of this building I found to be more impressive. This temple was to honor the god Krishna.


ISKCON Temple

Poverty

The poverty here at times is truly amazing for a "Westerner". Many areas are like some of the most poverty stricken places that I have seen in Mexico. During my time out there were two different experiences which really stuck out. In one case a guy followed us all the way back to our cab from quite a ways off and then after we entered the cab started hitting it with a stick to try and get money. The cab driver didn't allow that to go on long and I was glad for that. Also well waiting for our cab to pick us up at the national park two girls followed us around and were tugging at my pant legs in an attempt to get money. At this my host feigned smacking them around and came awfully close yet this didn't seem to deter them. It's sad that I could give these girls a dime and they would have been happy but by doing so I would be mobbed by people so it's not possible. I've taken the strategy of tipping the service folks well. Which by our standards still doesn't mean spending much money but makes these people extremely happy and personally I would rather give the money to the individuals who are working then the ones begging.


Street Market

Bannerghatta National Park

Sunday I met with one of my contacts in Bangalore and headed out for some sight seeing. We went to a number of places. First we visited Vidhana Soudha which is the state government building. Next we saw Attara Kacheri which is the high court of the state of Karnataka. Bangalore is the state capital of Karnataka. We then moved on to Cubbon Park. Next we went to a Shiva Statue, I still haven't figured out if this is technically a temple or not but many people where there praying. This was a giant 65 foot high statue of Shiva. I learned a bit about the Hindu religion although because there are so many gods and each one of them has so many forms I have had a really hard time grasping the religion. It also seems like Hindus typically choose one of the gods to focus there worship on, however there chosen god then has many lings which are different forms and provide different benefits through worship to each of them. Finally we moved on to Bannerghatta Park. This is a lot like a zoo but instead of walking through an area with caged animals you ride in a bus through the park where the animals are roaming. The picture below is the most impressive one from our journey through the park.

NOTE: So later on I learned that only Shiva has lings and the lings you pray to for different benefits but the three gods Brahma, Shiva and Vishnu (creator, destroyer and keeper of balance) just take on different forms and have different stories associted with different forms.


Tiger

Welcome to Bangalore, India

After 30 hours of traveling I arrived at my hotel in Bangalore, India last night at 1:30 AM. As I pulled up this man opened my door and for a moment I thought for sure I was on the Amazing Race as he said "Welcome to Bangalore, India". I checked in and headed to bed for some much needed rest. More to come soon...


Doorman

Flogging Molly

I went to a Flogging Molly concert last Saturday night to start of St. Patrick's day celebrations. Flogging Molly is a Irish punk band. The concert was really good although the two open acts were really bad. We then followed up the concert with Corned Beef and Cabbage some friends cooked for us on Thursday night.

Gravity Games

The Gravity Games where held at Copper this weekend. All though we were not able to check out all of the events we did see some pretty cool stuff. We watched the women's snowboard superpipe and the men's ski superpipe. They were both amazing. These guys were 20 feet up from the lip of the pipe doing 540s and 900s with ease. One guy from Copper did a 1260 but didn't combo it with any other spinning maneuvers so he was not a contender for a medal. They also had a bunch of ski company's there showing off there gear and I was able to demo a pair of 4FRNT skis, the MSP 180s. They were really short and fat but held up a lot nicer than I thought they would on the hardpack. I'm hoping this event returns to Copper soon so that I can see more of the action.


Men's Ski Superpipe


Men's Ski Superpipe 2

Wine

All that's left to do now is drink it.


Final Product

Wine Bottling

Over the last few weeks Lauren and I have been making wine. This week clarifying was finished and we bottled our wine. We ended up making 29 bottles from our batch of pinot blanc. The bit that we tasted was good although now we'll age it for a couple months before drinking. It was a fun activity and early indications are that we are going to have good results.


Bottling

Foosball & Washers

Last weekend I was lucky enough to participate in a foosball and washers tournament at a friend's house. It turns out that our scheduled ended up being a little bit aggressive and we played until 4:00 AM to finish the tournament but everybody had fun. Each person was on two different teams. One of my partners and I were lucky enough to win the washers tournament but I wasn't as successful in the foosball tourney. A good time was had by all.


Foos Game

Skiing and Budweiser International Snowsculpture Championships

It's been awhile since I got a post up here, but better late then never. We got up skiing again this weekend for our 8th day on the slopes of the year. The weather had been warm but they got a dusting of snow just before the weekend so the conditions were alright. I've been in the mountains for 8 winters now and I have yet to see a really good snow season but it's always pretty good and the terrain is much better then Minnesota.

Top of Rendezvous at Copper

After we finished skiing for the day we headed over to Breckenridge to check out the Budweiser International Snowsculpture Championships. It was really quite amazing to see what these artists could do with a 20 ton block of snow. I really can't imagine spending so much time on something that would melt away so quickly but it was great to be able to see them while they lasted.

Uncarved block


Town of Breckenridge entry