Photo's from the weekend

Skiers in the Snow


Abby and Jonathon pretend they are at Torino


The Well-Fed group


Abby decides to show a little leg

Weekend in Colorado

This has to be one of the most beautiful places in the world. Saturday saw a group of 11 people head to the wonderful Breckenridge mountain for some pristine skiing. 20 degrees F, a brilliant blue sky, not one cloud, warm sun, and speedy snow - Life is good!

On Sunday we made the transition from exercise to eating and the Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs. We had a brunch that included everything from cheese platters to salmon, trout, a full fruit and salad bar, made to order Omelets (such as the Prime Rib Omelet that my Brother-in-law Matt ordered), a range of hot breakfast and lunch foods as well as a desert bar.

Check this tour of the Dining Room

Newsgator Has Moved

NewsGator has moved to a sexy new location in downtown Denver. We now occupy the 25th floor of the US Bank building and have a SPECTACULAR view. I'm fortunate enough to be sitting behind a half-wall right next to a common area. Mmmm gotta love floor to ceiling windows.

Take a look at the view I have! (Thanks to John Carmichael for the pic...)

Food of South America

For Valentine's Day, Abby and I went to Rodizio Grill a fantastic Brazilian steakhouse. Rodizio is not like any regular steakhouse, the dining experience is unique in the fact that there is a constant flow of waiters (and waitresses) circulating the tables with meat skewered on swords. When you would like some they cut off a small piece for you and continue on their merry way.

I had so many different things I'm sure I wouldn't be able to remember them all, but here is a selection that I do remember: Rattlesnake sausage, buffalo, elk, Brazilian sausage, chicken wrapped in bacon, turkey wrapped in bacon, chicken thigh, sirloin, garlic sirloin, prime rib, bbq'd ham and pineapple; and of course others...

Whew, I think I'm still digesting it all. To top it all off they had probably the BEST salad bar that I have been to in years. Each option was very fresh and constantly filled.

I love any reason to eat out - and last night was just great.

What do I do in my Job??

Unless people already know what RSS is, I have a difficult time not only telling them what I do, but also why anyone would want to use the products that NewsGator sells.

For some reason, when I mention that I work for a company that creates "RSS Aggregator" software, most people get a wonderful glazed-over expression on their face. Occasionally I get a "Huh?" but I think that particular combination of words has some magical property that creates a small explosion in the human brain, shutting part of it down.

Fortunately, a popular Blogger called Halley Suitt who writes Halley's Comment has written an excellent explanation entitled What's RSS Anyway? I'm hoping that this will cause a small dawning of comprehension on SOME faces...

Let me know what you think, and I'll expand on some practical uses of this technology.

Gotta love the NFL!

Sitting with a Kahlua & coke, watching the Pro-bowl I just have wonder if things could get any better. Of course it wasn't long until I decided that one day I would love to see an American Football (Gridiron) game played at a competitive international level.

Thinking about it a little more I tried to think of ANY team sport with an international competition in which the USA is actively involved, and I struggled to come up with anything.

Coming from Australia, we love to challenge other countries. We have teams who are in the top Echelon internationally in: Rugby League, Rugby Union, Cricket, Netball, men's and woman's field hockey and soccer. Well maybe not soccer (we aren't that good) but at least we regularly play other countries.

When I think about the big sports in the USA, I think of Football, Basketball, Baseball and Ice Hockey. Now as far as I know, outside of the Olympics, there are no games played against other countries. I'm not counting the so-call "world series" or the NHL because in most respects Canada is little more than the 51st state. Honestly, who has a world series without inviting other nations??

So why would the USA either not participate in world-wide competition, or, not encourage it's national games to be taken up overseas?

Postal System blues

Recently I have had a less-than-wonderful experience with the global postal system. Having spend a number of years sending packages, cards, letters and such from Australia to the USA and back, I know that the average time for a package the size of a shoe box to make the trip is 10-14 days.

Thinking that we had plenty on time, Abby sent a Christmas package to my parents 3 weeks before the hallowed day. The packaged finally arrive TWO MONTHS later! That's right, it took 9 weeks with no reasoning given at either end. After harassing USPS and Australia Post and getting no answer other than "it can sometime take a while, even up to ten weeks" we had all but given up on the package ever arriving.

On arrival the box had no indication of ever being delivered to the wrong address. There were airmail stickers on it so it should not have been sent via sea mail. There was a customs sticker on it that had been completed correctly (BTW the customs reference number is pretty much useless! According to the postal service, they don't track the number - unless you buy insurance of course). Ah well I guess I should just be grateful that it did arrive in the end.

All things new

So for the last 3 months I've been working for NewsGator Technologies, the leader in the RSS aggregation field. One of the major uses of RSS in today's online society is blogging - I guess this is the beginning of my foray into that exciting world!

I'm thinking about posting thoughts, quotes, exciting news, pictures and requests to this diary of my life. If any one has some added (or possibly better) suggestions, i'd love to see them in the comments