Klidascope

Wings Sweep Avs

2008-05-02T08:58:00.002-06:00

Wow, what a game. For my birthday, my wife and friends all went out to Game 4 of the Wings/Avs series. While it was in Denver, the number of Red Wing fans also in attendance was impressive. By the end of the second period, it was 7-1. The Avs barely put up an effort while the Wings skated and passed around them with the precision you expect of a professional team. Dallas is up next.

Wedding Photos

2007-09-07T06:43:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it turns out Flickr had some default permissions that would only allow me to print photos from their site. I have now set it to "my contacts" are allowed to print. So if you are interested in a copy, let me know and I will add you to my contacts.

Bahamavention

2007-08-05T18:00:00.000-06:00

The honeymoon at The Cove Atlantis was excellent. Top notch food, drink and fun made fore an enjoyable retreat.

Pictures coming soon

Just Married

2007-07-29T18:30:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official now. Erin and I are hitched. Thanks to everyone who took the time to join us. There was a lot of traveling involved and we appreciate every mile. Thanks again for a great time.

Pictures are up

Hawaiian Sunset

2007-07-08T13:52:00.000-06:00

So now that we are home, I have time to work on the video we shot while on vacation. This my first movie I have created with the new video camera. It is a very different experience then a still camera. Post processing time is much larger, with photos, you just upload them and you are done, with video, you have to capture and edit. Since this is done in HD, it took a full 20 minutes for my laptop to render this 13.5 second clip. Of course, once it is uploaded to YouTube, the resolution is greatly reduced.

Happy 4th of July

2007-07-04T14:44:00.000-06:00

Just want to wish everyone a happy 4th. We are spending it with Erin's parents in the backyard. The grill should be firing up soon and the beer is nice and cold.

Home

2007-07-01T20:15:00.000-06:00

After leaving Honolulu at 10pm last night, we landed in Vegas this morning at 7am. We had about a 90 minute layover and hit a snag when we had to switch terminals and go through the security line again. It was huge, longest I have ever seen in Vegas, but we made it with 60 seconds to spare, they closed the door behind us.

Landed in Denver around noon, loaded up the car and headed to Erin's parents to pick up Hurley. Came home, Vegas was glad to see us, dropped the bags and crashed for a 2 hour nap.

That was it, vacation done, glad to be home in Colorado.

O'ahu - Day 7

2007-06-30T21:00:00.000-06:00

After spending 5 days on Hawai'i, we wanted to explorer this island to compare and contrast. Late last night, Josh and Caroline showed up from the mainland, so they joined us for the day before heading off to the Lopers.

First we hit the USS Arizona Memorial. Very moving. We spent a couple hours here in the museum and out on the memorial.

More pics here.

Since we had a few hours to kill before the Turpens flew out, we drove up to the North Shore and saw the famous surf area. Then we came down the east coast and cut back over to Honolulu.

After we dropped off Turpens at the airport, we drove over to the west side of the island and were greeted by the poverty side. There were people living in make shift tents right on the beach. I can think of worse places on the planet to be homeless, but it was still sad. Then we dropped off the rental car and hopped on the flight back to Vegas at 10:30pm.

Waikiki - Day 6

2007-06-29T21:00:00.000-06:00

Today our stay on Hawai'i came to an end. Here is a picture of the house that the Lopers were nice enough to let us share with them. It was a petty darn good view of the harbor which saw a fair number of cruise ships.

On last stop to get some Coffee and we were off.

The Kona airport is far from the monstrosity that are the mainland airports. Almost the entire airport is outdoors.

Once we landed back in Honolulu, we stopped in a a Rose-Hulman Alumni Reception being hosted for the alumni in the area. Met some really nice people including a gentleman named Al Yee, who was the consulting engineer on the USS Arizona Memorial.

After the reception we headed to our hotel in Waikiki. I have to take a moment to explain how different Waikiki was then our experience on the Big Island. We were expecting a couple large resorts on the beach and some interesting shopping. What we got was high rises in every direction, for blocks and blocks from the sea. High end, world class shopping, Erin called it Michigan Avenue (referring to the shopping meca in Chicago). As well as all the people that go with it. A huge Japanese influence (our snack bar in our hotel was all Japaneses menu with English subtitles on some stuff.) It was entirely overwhelming from the relaxed, rural atmosphere in Kona. 24hrs and we were fried.

Check out some more pics here.

Kealakekua Bay - Day 5

2007-06-28T21:00:00.000-06:00

Sea kayaking and snorkeling were the activities today. We rented a kayak at the Kona Boys surf shop and headed down to Kealakekua Bay a.k.a. Captain Cook Monument and set out accross the bay. On the other side, we beached the kayak and put on the snorkel gear. It was like swimming in a fish tank, except much cleaner. Tons of cool fish. We took some pics on a disposable film camera and are awaiting development so those will come later. On the kayak trip back, we got to see a large group of Spinner Dolphins playing in the bay. They are aptly named because they were jumping completely out of the water and doing several spins (not flips) before landing on their sides making a loud "smack". I managed to get a couple pics on the digital camera before they moved off to play around the tour boats.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1361/657205353_8ecdef0db6.jpg683" />

We ended the day having drinks and appetizers at the Outrigger Resort and dinner at the Kona Inn. At both places we sat right out on the patio next to the surf for the sunset, what a great end to the stay here on the Big Island.

Tomorrow morning we are headed into town (Kailua not Kona, Kona is actually the name of the region) and loading up on souvenirs and Hawaiian Shirts before our flight to Honolulu. We are going to hit the Rose-Hulman Alumni Reception and then meet up with Team Turpen. We are crossing paths for a day as they head in from the mainland to stay with the Lopers for a few days. Saturday we are all going to try and make it to Pearl Harbor.

Waipi'o Valley - Day 4

2007-06-27T19:15:00.000-06:00

Today we went north east. Probably the farthest east we'll make it on the big island. We drove through the towns of quaint little towns of Waimea and Honoka'a to a lush green valley called Waipi'o Valley. There was a cold fresh river flowing down it and some rough surf and a black sand beach on the coast. The drive down into the valley was quite fun. It was 45 degrees and 4wd only. Most people walked, but we paid for the Jeep for a reason.

After we spent some time in the valley, we headed back to the west coast and hit another epic beach called Mauna Kea. Almost as cool as Hapuna, but a lot less people. Then we hit Bubba Gump for dinner on a recommendation from some friends, Jasen and Abby, who actually worked there for a few months right after college.

Kohala - Day 3

2007-06-26T21:26:00.000-06:00

Today started with another visit to the Holualoa Cafe. Man that coffee is good.

We then headed north and hit the Mega Resorts area of the island. This is the place all the timeshares and all-in-one resorts are. We decided to hit the Hilton Waikoloa Village. First impression was Wow, this thing is huge! It is so big it has it's own train system and boat system. We enjoyed watching the Dolphin Encounter. Then we realized we were in the midst of a giant beach resort that actually doesn't have a beach! LAME! It had some kind of lagoon thing and a bunch of pools. The only problem is that they were filled with shorties, and I am sure, shorty sewage.

We had lunch in the car and headed north a little more. We hit Hapuna Beach and that is what we were looking for. Now this is a beach. For future reference the Hapuna Beach Resort is actually on a beach.

Dinner? Kona Brewing Co. I had a porter and a stout. Erin had two wheats. And we shared a pepperoni pizza.

South Island - Day 2

2007-06-25T20:46:00.000-06:00

Today we took the rental Jeep south to visit the southern most piece of United States soil (not in the Florida Keys, check out a globe).

The first stop this morning was at the local coffee shop. A few of those in the area since we have coffee plantations on all sides.

After the excellent coffee, we stopped at the South Kona Fruit stand. Tasty fruit I have never heard of. Most of it was described in terms of combinations of "common" fruit. For example, the first one I had was described as a creamy pear. Of course I don't remember the real name.

A little further south, we left the highway and traveled about 7 miles down a 4wd road. The Jeep was very useful, we got it stuck a little in the sand exiting the beach up a 45 degree slope (4wd low solved that). The volcanic black sand beach at the end was totally worth it.

The drive back to the highway went much faster since we were now skilled off road drivers :) and we stopped for lunch at the Hana Hou Bakery and also visited the Punalu'u Bakery for some traditional Hawaiian Sweetbread Rolls.

The big destination for the day was south point, the southern most point in the United States. The wind was crazy, along with the surf. Here are some pics of Joe and Erin getting a bit of a surprise from the pounding surf.

Nothing but wind, wind and more wind. Always coming from the same direction so the trees grow sideways.

Mahai'ula Beach - Day 1

2007-06-24T18:55:00.001-06:00

Erin is enjoying the beach and surf at Mahai'ula Bay

The Loper Boys Enjoying Hawaii

2007-06-24T15:32:00.001-06:00

Aloha!

2007-06-24T12:04:00.001-06:00

We landed in Kona

Bye Bye Vegas, Honolulu Here We Come

2007-06-24T03:28:00.000-06:00

We are on the plane and ready to go. The only thing standing between us and tropical, pacific beaches is six hours in an aluminum can with 300 strangers. Erin and I have both survived the flight to Europe, but this flight just seems different. Maybe because it is six hours and we still don't need passports.

Le Reve

2007-06-24T01:00:00.000-06:00

Wow. First of all, this is not a Cirque du Soleil show. Second, it is better. Personally, I have only seen O and Zumanity, but I like this more. The audience surrounds the stage, we were 6 rows off the water. Very 3D show. You are totally immersed in what is going on above, behind and, of course, in front of you. Afterwards I felt almost like a victim, they have such control of your feelings and senses during the show that you have no choice to but watch, feel and sense exactly what they want you to. Impressive. Very positive experience and highly recommended.

Chillin at the TI Pool

2007-06-23T13:25:00.000-06:00

Relaxing at the Treasure Island pool

Hendricks Martini @ Wynn

2007-06-23T11:54:00.001-06:00

Tasty cucumber gin in at a nice relaxing lounge next to the waterfall at Wynn. Just beyond the artificial hill is 6 lanes of stop and go traffic on LV Blvd, but you wouldn't know sitting here.

And we're off

2007-06-23T08:02:00.000-06:00

On the plane to Vegas, then on the red eye to Honolulu. We're going to catch a show during our layover at Wynn called Le Reve.

The hardest part of a vacation

2007-06-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

Normally, one would think the hardest part of a vacation is coming back to work afterwards. For me, the hardest part is the week before. Racing to get all the loose ends tied up, making sure all the plans are in place and the idea that in 5 days, Mai Tai's and sand will be on the agenda instead of sales calls and project status meetings.

I hate this part, the waiting. The vacation starts on Saturday with flight to Vegas and an 18hour layover (intentional) and then off to Honolulu/Kona. What makes it even harder, our friends have already left for HI and have been blogging for a few days now. We'll eventually meet up on Sunday and spend the week together, but it sucks sitting in the office while everyone else is on the beach, including other friends who are in Bon Aire for the week. They, too, will eventually make it to HI by the end of next week and we'll be meeting up in Honolulu for a visit to Pearl Harbor. A friend from high school is even blogging from the Irish beaches, is everyone on vacation right now?

Father's Day in Central City

2007-06-17T12:37:00.001-06:00

We took Erin's dad, Don, up to Central City / Blackhawk for the morning. Nothing says "thanks dad" like the quarter slots.

Breakfast on Michigan Ave.

2007-05-26T08:46:00.001-06:00

So we flew to Chicago and are driving to Wisconsin for a college friend's wedding. Stayed with Walt who lives on East Wacker (between Michigan Ave and Navy Pier) so we had to take tour of the neighborhood.

Recovery

2007-05-22T23:13:00.000-06:00

Recovering from a Las Vegas trip takes as long as the trip itself. Tuesday night and we are finally back to 100%. We got back Sunday night. We were only there 2.5 days and it takes almost the same amount of time to recover.

We hit the town pretty hard, so it is easier to track in 12 hour "Vegas Days". A Vegas Day consists of a single 12 hour period, day or night that is centered around one or two activities, usually dramatically different from adjoining Vdays.

Friday
VDay 1 - we landed at 8am and hung out at the pool/bar/restaurant, checked in @ Caesars and crashed from waking up at 4am.
VDay 2 - woke up for an excellent steak dinner and fine entertainment (bachelor/bachelorette parties), nuff said

Saturday
VDay 3 - worked on killing hangover by going to In-n-Out Burger and visiting Bodies... The Exhibition; relax at pool
VDay 4 - Another fine group dinner and partying. We attempted to go to Pure, but it was a special event and WAY crowded so we ended up at the Japonais Lounge until 3am; ordered room service with Aaron and Jen, partied till 4am.

Sunday
VDay 5 - hang out at the pool, again, and meet up with the remaining crew for lunch in The Forums Shops of Caesars; headed home

BTW, I took my new mini-HDV video camera and am working on my first ever home movie of our adventure. Should be posted soon depending on my newbie editing skills.

Sign 2

2007-05-02T17:00:00.000-06:00

Well, it's official now. The paper work is signed and the champagne is open. I have joined the partnership at the consulting firm that I have been working at for the last 10 years. It has been quite the roller coaster ride; starting in the basement of another partner's house; to the hay-days of the dot-com boom and bust; to the most recent steady growth period. Our team as grown constantly for the last couple years and it is great to be part of the partnership leading it.

Sign 1

2007-05-01T08:55:00.000-06:00

Well, I am not sure what this is the first sign of, but in the next 90 days, there will be 3 signs. The first of which is that I turned 30 today. It feels like just yesterday I was huddled over a computer cramming for a test in college (or grabbing a shower beer and preparing for a Friday night party). I thought time in college went fast, but it seems like it has been accelerating ever since.

Over the next 3 months, I will also be joining the partnership at the consulting firm I work at, as well as getting hitched to the love of my life. I can only hope that 2008 is half as good as 2007 is going to be. Other notable events in the next 3 months, some related to these signs, are 2 trips to Vegas, a trip to Wisconsin, a trip to Hawaii and a trip to the Bahamas.

Lets get this summer started.

Cake in Concert

2007-04-29T21:49:00.000-06:00

Cake came to town tonight at CU. Good stuff. Many college memories were to a Cake soundtrack.

Legos + Las Vegas = Lego Vegas

2007-03-29T09:24:00.000-06:00

Two of my favorite things, one from childhood, one from adulthood are coming together.

Miniland Las Vegas opens today at Legoland California. Checkout some additional pics here.

Summer is on its way

2007-03-26T09:51:00.000-06:00

So I am a firm believer that Colorado doesn't have a spring or fall, it has summer and a winter and parts of the year we have summer days mixed with winter days. Saturday, we had cars driving around Boulder with snow on the roof. Since snow line was about 6000 feet, any vehicle that went into the mountains got snowed on. 24hrs later and it was a summer day. Almost 70 and very sunny. Nice enough to drink the first bucket of coronas on the patio for the season, get the first sun burn and even a wasp sting.

Vegas is ready for the Superbowl

2007-02-04T12:10:00.001-07:00

Vegas loves to get into boxes and laundry baskets. After I loaded up the fridge for the big game, guess who jumped right into the box.

Snowshoeing

2007-01-27T12:00:00.000-07:00

Erin, Hurley and I went snowshoeing up on Rollins Pass.

Faith came for a visit

2006-12-30T14:00:00.000-07:00

IMG_2311
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Faith came down for a visit and we went skiing up at Copper Mountain.

Digging Out

2006-12-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

IMG_2232
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Time to start digging out from the blizzard. The Subaru did wonderful yesterday. It rescued an abandoned car and a family from the airport. Only had 2 minor issues, got it high centered twice while backing up through deep snow in unplowed cul-de-sacs. However, the shovel I had with me made quick work of the snow and it was soon moving forward again through the deep stuff.

Dead Cars

2006-12-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

IMG_2231
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Dead cars just lined US-287 today as I drove a friend to get his abandoned car. Any place with a moderate grade was littered with cars. It was so spooky, it looked like video from Iraq with blown up cars lining the streets.

Edit: Blizzard Album

Blizzard

2006-12-20T18:52:00.000-07:00

So it started snowing about 10 hours ago. We are probably somewhere around 24" but it is hard to tell because of the wind. Some places it is 3 feet deep, some places only 1 foot.

Hurley had some fun playing in it.

Also, the good thing about cold weather is that you get to cook chili, mmmm.

Night Shot

2006-12-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

IMG_2167
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Tonight was a full moon so I took a few night shots with long exposures. This one is of the Flatirons above Boulder. US36 is in the foreground and NCAR is at the base of the right mountain.

Tree is up

2006-11-26T15:30:00.000-07:00

We got the tree up today. (Don't mind Junior on TV)

Avs vs Ducks

2006-11-22T19:21:00.000-07:00

Erin scored free tickets at work today.

Halloween

2006-10-31T07:39:00.000-07:00

This years pumpkins came from Rock Creek Farm. It was nice and muddy and 4wd was highly recommended to proceed to the fields to gather gourds. The Subaru did nicely and was surrounded by SUVs and Trucks as the only vehicles in the back fields. Catch some pumpkin gathering action

We waited till last night to carve em up but this is what we came up with. Erins boo-tiful pumpkins and my FSM gourd. Josh and Caroline joined us and this is the whole group.

First Snow 2006

2006-10-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

IMG_1853
Originally uploaded by jklida.

It pretty much snowed all day yesterday. Accumulation didn't really start until afternoon which made the drive home from work fun. Anyway, Boulder is nice and bright in the fresh blanket.

Snow, Snow, Snow

2006-10-17T08:27:00.000-06:00

Tonight is forecast for the first snow fall of the season. We are looking at 2-4". WooHoo! Got the Copper season pass this weekend and A-Basin and Loveland are open. Hopefully this season is close to as good as the epic season last year.

Update: Snow started about 10am

Wedding Web Page

2006-10-10T20:24:00.000-06:00

So we are progressing with the wedding plans. Our official wedding web page came online today. I will be updating it as we add more details to the plan next summer. Check it out here: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/JosephKlida&ErinDuBe

Josh helped us with taking an engagement photo this weekend. It will be going out with the Save-the-Date cards that Erin and I are working on this week.

Vegas the cat

2006-08-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

Vegas the cat
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Vegas is just chillin on the back of the chair. I had to get a pic of the most care-free animal on the planet.

New Amadeus Office

2006-08-04T08:24:00.000-06:00

Slideshow

So we are busy at working preparing to move to our new office. The view is pretty sweet since we have north, west and east sides of the second floor.

Slots of fun in Blackhawk

2006-03-25T21:03:00.000-07:00

Slots of fun in Blackhawk
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Pismo Beach to Monterey

2006-03-18T13:18:00.000-07:00

Here is a slide show of our drive up California Highway 1. We started in Pismo Beach at the Pier and had the greatest clam chowder ever made at Splash Cafe. Afterwards we drove over a hundred miles up the coast to Monterey.

Sanddollar

2006-03-17T15:34:00.001-07:00

Sanddollar
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Erin proudly shows off the sanddollar she found.

Pismo Beach

2006-03-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Pismo Beach
Originally uploaded by jklida.

A little too cold for surfing.

Pacific

2006-03-17T15:33:00.000-07:00

Pacific
Originally uploaded by jklida.

We finally made it to the pacific ocean.

Quality you can taste.

2006-03-16T15:43:00.000-07:00

Quality you can taste.
Originally uploaded by jklida.

When in cali you must eat in-n -out burger.

We are headed to California

2006-03-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

We are headed to California
Originally uploaded by jklida.

A friend from college, Matt Kuehnert, is getting married this weekend in Fresno.

Friday Lunch

2006-03-10T13:02:00.000-07:00

Friday Lunch with cask condition Hazed and Infused
Originally uploaded by jklida.

Spring Skiing

2006-03-06T20:34:00.000-07:00

This weekend, spring skiing was in full effect. Sure enough, the sun was full and the snow was soft and the beer was cold.

Welcome!

2006-03-06T20:28:00.000-07:00

Welcome to new place to find out what Joe and Erin are up to. The old site, T-Mobile pictures is incompatible with our new phones so we moved over here. Hope everything goes as smooth as with the T-Mobile site.