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Welcome to GotWake.Com
Whether you're a wakeboarder, a geocacher, a snowboarder, my mom, or all or none of the above - hopefully you find something of interest while you're here.
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News
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Articles: Burn, Baby, Burn... |
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Posted By: Billy
on Tuesday, September 01, 2009 - 04:20 PM |
Although we'd had our tickets since the day they went on sale, Daphne (errr.... "Pancakes" ;-) and I were convinced we weren't going to be able to make it home to Black Rock City this year, with all that we've had going on.
As the date approached, we started talking to our friends Queen Tangerine and Mig, and learned that they were part of a theme camp this year. Then, a few calls, and serendipity presented a last-minute available RV. We were off-again, on-again based on dog sitting schedules and other obligations - but finally, about a month before the event - we joined the community of Expansion Mansion, and never looked back.
The weeks leading up to our departure were hectic, with regularly scheduled work parties: the crew had some ambitious plans and a LOT of infrastructure to build. Everyone had a task, and each member contributed their special skills, as well as plenty of plain ol' sweat equity. Before we knew it, it was time to tear down, pack the trucks... and the first away teams were off to stake our claim. Two (frenzied) days later, Daphne and I loaded up the Tahoe, drove to Sacramento, picked up the RV (which meant unpacking the Tahoe, and re-packing the RV), and headed for the Playa.
It was a LONG day, but a fairly uneventful drive (with the exception of discovering the refrigerator in the RV didn't work): Auburn, Truckee, Reno, Fernley - then finally Gerlach, and then...
Home Sweet Home.
We arrived on the Playa just a bit after midnight - and since I had BRC maps already loaded into my GPSr, and we knew where our theme camp had been placed - we were able to drive right to it. We didn't see any of our camp mates at the time - so we unloaded our bikes, and decided to take a ride around the Playa, see the sites, and make our first pilgrimage to The Man...
More photos at the link above, and more details below the fold...
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Read more about Burn, Baby, Burn... (1453 bytes more) [ ] |
50 _READS |
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We Did It!! |
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Posted By: Billy
on Friday, July 17, 2009 - 03:26 PM |
That's right - after a long engagement, and tons of planning (albeit, mostly by Daphne ;-) -- we finally tied the knot, on February 20th, 2009 in Playa del Carmen, Mexico.
Click the thumbnail above for additional pictures of the ceremony and reception - or here to view a slideshow.
It was an amazing week with 35 dear family and friends participating in adventures and celebrations all week long. We visited Hidden Worlds, dove in cenotes, visited ruins, and even dove with sharks.
The week after everyone left, Daphne and I had a peaceful and relaxing week to decompress as a small resort about an hour south in Tulum. The overwhelming feedback received from our guests was that they had the time of their lives - or, in the words of the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons:
Best Wedding -- EVER!
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443 _READS |
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Geekin' Out |
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Posted By: Billy
on Wednesday, January 28, 2009 - 01:20 PM |
So - as if I wasn't having enough fun already, with the events and experiences of the past week... last night, my NAS (Network Attached Storage) server decided to fail. Basically just a bunch of large disks in a box with some software, this device holds (I thought, QUITE reliably) every single digital picture, MP3, video editing project, and full backup data for all my other systems. It's aRaid5 array, meaning - I should be able to lose an entire disk without any data loss.
I detected the problem as I was working heavily with the box: Managing digital pictures, searching for images for both a wedding slide show and a Panza gallery, and re-indexing our extensive digital music collection, when suddenly... it was just gone. I then noticed a 'beeping' sound I'm unfamiliar with (rare, indeed ;-) coming from the office. Yes, it was my Buffalo Systems 2TB [TeraByte] (that's two thousand Gigs!) Terastation Live - and it was unhappy.
The good news is - countless hours later, there was finally a happy ending. It was certainly an arduous journey, not for the faint of heart. Read below the cut for all the gory details:
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Read more about Geekin' Out (9820 bytes more) [] |
636 _READS |
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Articles: Wedding Planning, Tropical Style |
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Posted By: Billy
on Sunday, April 13, 2008 - 04:20 PM |
Or: Adventures in Playa del Carmen!
Daphne and I had decided on a locale for our destination wedding - but needed to go check it out, together, and do some research.
This included a week of fun in the sun - a great time to be on the Mayan Riveria. There was some 'work': Meeting with wedding coordinators, checking out various lodging options, looking for ceremony and reception locations.
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Read more about Wedding Planning, Tropical Style (431 bytes more) [] |
1050 _READS |
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Articles: Garmin Colorado and Paperless Caching |
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Posted By: Billy
on Monday, February 25, 2008 - 04:20 PM |
I've been Paperless Caching for several years, constantly evolving and refining my processes as new tools are introduced.
Well, the new Garmin Colorado400t has turned my entire caching approach on its ear. This unit caries geocache "data" (description, hints, recent logs, etc), and with the latest firmware upgrade, allows logging of finds (and DNFs, Needs Maintenance) in the field.
Read below the cut to learn how I started with an idea, and through participation in a helpful online community, have been able to produce a utility that I think will be of great value to owners of this unit.
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Read more about Garmin Colorado and Paperless Caching (1770 bytes more) [] |
1585 _READS |
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Articles: What Happened?!? |
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Posted By: Billy
on Tuesday, January 01, 2008 - 04:20 PM |
Or: How Love and Life got in the way of updating my website
So - it's been almost two years now since I met Daphne. We hit it right off, and our relationship developed pretty rapidly. Over the past two years...
We traveled - a LOT: To Sedona, Altanta, North Carolina, Oregon, Indiana, Amsterdam, Spain... and probably even more places that I'm forgetting. It's been a whirlwind - and I had intended to write articles about each adventure - but I was always too busy recovering from one excursion, or planning for the next.
We also had QUITE the adventure in the middle of the Nevada desert, at Black Rock City for Burning Man 2006. You'll find photos in the image gallery - what an experience! Unfortunately, we had too much going on during the fall of 2007, so had to sell our tickets - but we've already received our 2008 tickets, so... BRC, here we come!
Finally, a year after we met - Daphne and I got engaged! Of course, being the caching geek that I am - I chose a slightly unique way to propose.
I've got a few other posts I want to make - but mostly, wanted to get this "two year catch-up" down on paper, so I can try to get back to some sort of regular posting.
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1143 _READS |
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Articles: Four Thousand Finds... and climbing. |
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Posted By: Billy
on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 04:20 PM |
A pretty good caching year, and as I approached this milestone, I picked out a particular cache as my target for find #4000. That cache was Firestone, which happens to be the oldest active cache in the San Francisco Bay Area. Placed on 10/2/2000, this venerable old cache has stood the test of time.
Read on to hear a little about the adventure that was 4K.
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Read more about Four Thousand Finds... and climbing. (620 bytes more) [] |
1503 _READS |
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Articles: Take Off (to the Great White North), You Hoser! |
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Posted By: Billy
on Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 04:20 PM |
OR: Grab your tuques, we're going to Canadia, eh?
In mid-December 2005, good friend and colleague Kurt invited me up to Whistler, for a week of riding and a slope-side time share that his dad has had for years.
It was great to meet Will, and the rest of the crew north of the border. Even a chance to meet some of his old school buddies - I would say a Good Time [tm] was had by ALL.
Thanks for the invite, Kurt!
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1607 _READS |
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Articles: One Good Turn Deserves Another |
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Posted By: Billy
on Sunday, December 04, 2005 - 04:20 PM |
Or: Finally, some SNOW!
At long last, we received our first winter storms this past week, which finally enabled Tahoe resorts to open. Squaw Valley reported 2' of snow on the upper mountain, and announced opening day of Saturday, December 3rd.
After a grueling week at work, I was really looking forward to getting back on the slopes. Drove up late Friday night after work in Lee's fancy new Audi All-Road Quattro - what a luxury ride!
The next morning it was off to Special Tickets to pick up my (10th consecutive) season pass - which is always fun. Immediately I started seeing old friends, and making new ones while waiting to get our pass photos taken - the ritual that begins each season. Then on to the locker room, where the excitement continued to build: Remembering my combination, opening the locker and finding that YES, all the gear I expected to be here actually was - and continuing to run into more friends and acquaintances.
Not long after, it was actually time to get out there and make those first turns. I'll save the rambling about conditions, available terrain, and how I rode for the extended text, for those who care to click through and read it. I will leave this parting shot though - demonstrating that by the end of the first day, I was feeling daring enough to try my hand in the terrain park:
Okay, so it's pretty tame, as far as terrain park features go - but I was pretty happy to hit this pair of sliders on my very first day back on the slopes. Read on for more details . . .
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Read more about One Good Turn Deserves Another (4373 bytes more) [] |
2104 _READS |
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