Over the weekend, I took advantage of having to move my computer desk at home to try a DIY cable organizing method I first read about on lifehacker.com.  Basically, the article describes how you can suspend a rain gutter under your desk to help aid in cable management.  To start I drove over to Home Depot and found a 10′ section of vinyl gutter for around $5.  I only needed less than 6’ but this was the closest thing they had.  Also they had it in either white or brown.  I choose brown to help blend in my with the desk.  The article from before used hooks to suspend the gutter from the matching hangers, but since my desk has a back on it, I just decided to use the hangers as you normally would by inserting screws through them and into the back of the desk.  I used three hangers for my 5’8″ section of gutter.  I also bought the matching end caps, but if I were to do it again I may just leave those out. 

Before From Above

Closeup Of Before

Yikes! That is a tangled mess of cables. You can now understand why I was trying to find something to organize them all and get them up off the ground. I thought about ordering two or three baskets from IKEA, but figured a DIY project would be cheaper.  It definitely was cheap, the hangers couldn’t have been much more than a dollar each, so add that to the gutter and some screws and we are talking less than $10.  I also managed to take the cable modem and wireless router that were on top of the desk before and hide them down under with the cables, freeing up even more space on the desk.  If you look close you can see the gutter already installed in the second photo above. 

After From Above

Closeup Of After

Wow, what a difference it really did make.  I might still have a mess of cables, but at least it is up off of the ground.  The biggest thing cluttering up the gutters are the two power strips I need to power everything (two computers, two monitors, printer, scanner, cable modem, router, speakers, and lamp).  I don’t know if a couple of PowerSquids would help or make it worse, but it is something to consider in the future.  Overall I am very happy with how this little project turned out.

My hockey team got smoked this week, 9-3.  The game started off close but by the middle of the third period the other team was clearly taking control.  There isn’t really much else worth mentioning.  So on to bowling we go.  I had an above average performance last night.  My average from last week was 118 and I manged to beat that in all three games.  The first game I scored 124.  I then followed that up with a 144, which is one of my top scores in both sessions of the league.  Finally I finished with a 139, another solid performance, especially with my 4-6-7 split pickup.  One of the ladies on the other team shouted out that she would buy me a beer if I picked it up, and I did.  I’ll see if she comes through next week with the beer.  My team won 2 of 3 games and could move up in the standings.  After the first week we were in third, but the second place team is only 1 point ahead of us.

I’ve been to the Appaloosa Grill many times in the past.  Whether it be to watch a band play (SoundRabbit), to have a couple of drinks at the bar, or to sit down for a nice meal, I’ve always enjoyed this little restaurant and bar on 16th Street in downtown Denver.  It is probably my go to place on 16th, since the results are pretty consistent.  Good food, great selection of beers, and adequate service.  Typically the music starts around 10pm, so it can be loud after that point, but earlier in the evening it is a suitable place for families or for a nice date.  

My wife and I decided to eat dinner here on Friday night, brining along our one month old son.  For an appetizer we decided to try the hummus with balsamic cous cous, house falafel, fresh vegetables, and toasted pita.  The appetizer was a lot of food and it was all very tasty.  For dinner I decided to try the Cajun Fettucine with blackened red bird farms chicken, tasso ham, tomatillo, poblano cream, and pico de gallo.  My wife ordered the Thai Curry Udon with sweet potatoes, red peppers, onions, cilantro, and fresh basil.  The fettucine was very good, though I did not care for the tasso ham, which was very hard and chewy.  Otherwise the mix of blackened chicken with tomatillos and the cream was excellent.  My wife’s curry was also very good and pretty spicy even ordered medium.  I would easily order either item again.  

Cajun Fettucine

 

I’m sure this will not be the last time we visit the Appaloosa Grill.  

At the start of this winter I started searching for a pair of gloves that would work with my iPhone’s touchscreen.  I found these gloves at that time, but had since forgotten about them.  That was until they showed up in the mail recently, a late arriving Christmas gift from Kim’s family.  I guess they were lost in the mail somewhere, but I was glad to finally have them with the cold temperatures we have had in Denver.  And after a few days of use I have overall mixed feelings.

The gloves do work with the touchscreen but they require much more force from my fingers that without.  Also only the thumb, pointer, and middle fingers of each hand are equipped with the special thread that is clearly visible on the tips of each of these fingers.  Earlier this morning the finger that I have used the most, the middle finger on my right hand, was working very easily, almost as easy as my naked finger.  However, I just tried it again and it seems to have reverted back to earlier.  I don’t know if it is the invisibleSHIELD that I have installed, but the performance is less than I was hoping.  In addition, the gloves are not very thick, so on very cold days (like this morning) I find myself stuck with my hands in my pockets still.

On the positive side, I do like the look of the gloves.  In fact I have a couple of others pairs that look just like them.  I noted earlier that the special thread is visible on the finger tips, but you actually have to look pretty closely for it.  It seems to blend in really well with the gray color of the gloves when viewed at most distances.  Also, they are only $20, so they are pretty easy-going on the wallet, which is one reason I figured they would be worth a try.

Recently I heard of a local company (in Boulder) that is making similar gloves, but they have the special thread woven throughout the entire glove.  Agloves don’t appear to be any thicker than the ones I already have, but perhaps they offer better performance with the touchscreen.  I will likely give them a try the next time I need a new pair of gloves.

While out running errands on Saturday afternoon, I found myself craving some Mexican food.  We were already driving south down Colorado Boulevard, and though I was aware of a couple of chain restaurants along the stretch of road, I was hoping to find something more unique and authentic.  That was when my wife found Little Anita’s New Mexican on her phone, and after checking the reviews we decided to give it a try.  At the time I wasn’t aware that the location was just one of a dozen locations in Denver and Albuquerque.  We arrived at the small restaurant contained in a strip mall and quickly found a table that would be agreeable with our newborn son.  I stayed back with him while my wife went to the counter to order.

Combination 4: Chile Relleno and Cheese Enchiladas

It was hard to see the menu from our table, but I agreed that she could pick out a combination plate that I would enjoy.  She decided on the #4 combo which had a chile relleno along and two cheese enchiladas served with rice and beans as well as green chile on top of it all.  My wife ordered the chicken stuffed sopapilla, also smothered with green chile and served with rice and beans.  I started with the enchiladas which were tightly rolled corn tortillas with some tasty cheese inside.  Immediately I could tell that the star of this meal would be the green chile, which was delicious!  Moving on to the chile relleno, which I found to be too thick with batter and not to my liking.  My wife’s stuffed sopapilla was also very good.  So two great items out of three wasn’t too bad.  I would just skip the relleno in the future.

Chicken Stuffed Sopapilla

To top it all off, each meal comes with a sopapilla and honey for dessert.  Though they are no more than fried dough, they were very tasty, especially when filled with honey.  Overall I was very pleased to have discovered this fine little New Mexican restaurant.  Apparently I’m not the only fan though, as there was actually a line for tables halfway through our visit.  One couple’s food was even ready before they had a table open to sit at.

Desert Sopapillas

I’m glad the Packers won the Super Bowl.  They were the team I was cheering for yesterday.  Obviously there is the rivalry between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Pittsburgh Steelers, but there is also the new River City Rivalry between the respective universities’ football teams.  Therefore it is hard for me to cheer for anything Pittsburgh related, and I think most people from Cincinnati would agree.  Plus I’ve actually worn a cheese head before.  In the middle of a 2,000 mile road trip during spring break 2003, some friends and I found ourselves in Green Bay with little to do.  So we visited Lambeau Field and the gift shop inside, where the four of us donned cheese heads for a quick photo.  The funny thing is that my friend Liam (on far right) is a Steelers fan, so I definitely had to dig up this photo for him.

After losing in a shootout last week, my hockey team managed a victory in another overtime shootout game this week.  The game was Wednesday night, and since my family was still stuck in town, they all decided to come out for the game.  Kim brought along Trey for his first hockey game.  My team lead the way the entire game, though when regulation ended the score was tied at two.  The shootout started off slowly as neither team could score, but ended on our last shot when one of our players made a great move to beat the goalie easily.  We were in eighth place of twelve, but may move up to seventh after that big win.  I’m hoping we can climb into the top half of the league over the next few weeks.

Last night was the first night for another season of my work bowling league.  It started off pretty well for me, with a score of 115 in the first game.  This was above my average from last season, so I was happy.  And I followed it up with a solid 135.  This would be one of my better games in recent memory.  Finally I finished the night with a 105, which was still close to my average and above 100, so all in all it was a great night.  My average now is over 118, which is 10 pins higher than last season.  I hope this will continue for the remainder of the eight week season.

I finally watched  The Social Network over the weekend.  I’ve always been late in watching movies, but this allows me to pick and choose only the good ones (most of the time).  I’m sure most people have seen this movie by now, so I won’t comment on it too much.  Basically it is a semi-factual story of how Facebook was created, based on the book The Accidental Billionaires, which I may try to read in the near future.  Obviously the movie is good since it and it’s cast are up for so many Oscars.  There are lots of nerdy and techy lines in the movie, which I really enjoyed, but also a ton of comedic lines.  Many people question a lot of the facts in the movie, but you have to remember that the goal here is to entertain, and it definitely does.

One thing that I couldn’t stop thinking about during the movie was how Mark Zuckerberg went from a nerdy programmer in college all the way to creating one of the biggest websites in the world.  I recalled as I was graduating high school that I put together a website for my group of friends so that we could keep in touch while going separate ways for college.  This website was a much smaller version of exactly what Zuckerberg created, only not as fully functional.  If only I could have realized that there are other people out there that would want to keep in touch with their own groups of friends, I could have potentially created something big too.  Obviously it takes a lot more than just an idea, but it doesn’t hurt to dream, right?  Let’s just hope I don’t overlook my next great idea.

The Yard House has been open in Denver for two and a half months, and I finally made it in over the weekend.  It was one of the first things we passed as I took my visiting family on a tour of downtown.  We didn’t stop until after we had successfully toured much of the downtown area.  The signs outside the restaurant say that they have the world’s largest selection of draft beer, with over 110 different selections on their 130 taps.  I know that I had a Russian River Damnation in addition to some others, while my wife was delighted to find one of her favorites on the menu, Franziskaner Hefeweizen. 

Yard House

In addition to enjoying some beers, we also sampled some of their food. The food menu is equally as long as the beer list, so decisions were hard to make. We started with a delicious plate of chicken nachos with spicy pinto beans, cheddar and jack, red and green sauce, tomato, cilantro, onions, guacamole and sour cream. The plate of nachos wasn’t as big as some other restaurants, but the taste was great! I decided to keep my meal light and tried the roasted turkey club with avocado, swiss cheese, applewood smoked bacon, tomato, lettuce, mayo on toasted sourdough bread.  The sandwich was gigantic (only half of it is pictured below) and was served with a tasty handful of shoestring fries. 

Roasted Turkey Club

Others in our group ordered the spicy chicken breast sandwich (grilled with blackening spices, cheddar and jack, cabbage and Cajun aïoli on cheese flat bread), the penne with chicken (crimini mushrooms, asparagus, sun-dried tomatoes tossed in Marsala cream sauce and dusted with parmesan), and the spicy jambalaya (blackened jumbo shrimp, spicy chicken–andouille sausage, red bell pepper and pasilla peppers pan blackened with sweet crawfish and Cajun tomato cream sauce).  All of it was delicious from what I could tell.  I think this is a great place to take visitors who would like to sample a huge list of craft beers.  We will likely return soon. 

While my family was out visiting this weekend, I took my dad, brother and his girlfriend all to the Denver Winter Brew Fest.  I had previously been to the Summer Brew Fest a couple of years ago and had a great time.  This time was no different.  There were 39 breweries pouring over 100 different brews for unlimited sampling.  The cost was only $30 ($5 cheaper than the previous time I went), which is a bargain for three hours of tasting.  Upon entering the gates just past seven, we did a quick lap through the downstairs of the Mile High Station.  I found old favorites from Odell and Oskar Blues along with my first sample of Upslope’s latest release, Brown Ale, which was great.

From there we ventured out to the covered patio area for samples of Stone and Great Divide, among a crowd of others.  My favorite of that group definitely had to be the Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout from Great Divide. I was also glad to finally sample the beers from Strange Brewing Company, including their very unique Cherry Bomb Belgian Stout.  After an hour on the patio, and a couple of power outages, we headed back inside to see what was offered upstairs.  There we enjoyed more offerings from Breckenridge, Ska, and even the Denver ChopHouse and Brewery with their Wild Turkey Barrel Conditioned Stout.  It was once again a great event and I really like that they continue to have bands play.  One thing that could make it even better would be if the breweries brought along even more hard to find beers.