Donald to Carolyn: You're Fired!

Donald Trump has turned on one of his own, giving the axe to his longtime boardroom sidekick and Apprentice costar amid a newspaper report that TV fame had gone to her head.

Kepcher had run two of Trump's golf courses and was a longtime fixture at the Trump Organization; more prominently, she had served as Trump's right-hand woman since NBC launched The Apprentice in 2004.

According to the New York Post, Kepcher was given the boot after Trump became frustrated by her outside projects.

"She became a prima donna," a presumably close, unnamed "insider" told the newspaper. "She was giving speeches for $25,000 and doing endorsements."

Kepcher's termination will have no affect on production of The Apprentice. She was not involved in the upcoming sixth season, which was set in Los Angeles and has finished shooting.

Proving nepotism is alive and kicking, Trump earlier tapped daughter Ivanka to take over as the reality show's requisite female sidekick, with Donald Trump Jr. chosen to fill-in for the other longtime Apprentice lackey, George Ross.

The 78-year-old Ross, a corporate counsel for the Trump Organization, will sit out for several episodes this season to make way for the younger Donald. Unlike Kepcher, however, a Trump Organization executive told CNN that Ross is "very much a part of the company" and is not being pushed out.

Flat Tire

Was leaving work for an appointment today and found my right front wheel down on it's rim. I immediately saw a large screw sticking out of my tire. Just my luck! Postponed my appointment, got the kiddie jack out of the car and spent the next 12 minutes getting fithly. I should have gotten a Nissan Frontier like I initially wanted, then I wouldn't have had to drive around with the mini spare shown above. Spent a couple of hours at home plugging the tire. Geesh, what an evening...

You never realize how dirty a tire is until you have to hoist it into the back of your vehicle! :)

New 'Survivor' divides groups by race

Get ready for a segregated "Survivor." Race will matter on the upcoming season of the CBS show as contestants will be divided into four tribes by ethnicity. That means blacks, whites, Latinos and Asians in separate groups.

The announcement was made on CBS' Early Show. Host Jeff Probst says the idea "actually came from the criticism that 'Survivor' was not ethnically diverse enough." He says the twist fits in perfectly with what "Survivor" does, saying the show is "a social experiment. And this is adding another layer to that experiment." Probst says contestants had mixed reactions to the racial divisions.

This time the new Survivors are stranded on the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. The castaways include a police officer, a heavy metal guitarist, an attorney and a nail salon manager. The new season of Survivor debuts September 14th

iPod Nano Killer? Probably Not.

SanDisk is going after the Apple Nano with it's new Sansa. This has 8GB of memory with an expandable microSD slot to boost the total memory to 10GB (for a total capacity of 2,500 songs.

So, this unit will store twice as many songs at the Nano for almost the same price.

Sounds good, but I still like the Apple iTunes software the best. It just works as promised, unlike other MP3 software packages I've used in the past (mainly Creative products). What's the point of saving money on the hardware just to be frustrated by the limitations of the software... Just my $0.02.

Ricky Carmichael Laps the Field in 30 Minutes!

Once again, Ricky Carmichael is making history in the AMA Motocross Championship as the Team Makita Suzuki rider has become the first rider in America to lap an entire motocross field on his way to a double victory at Sunday´s AMA Motocross Championship ninth round at Spring Creek, Millville in Minnesota. The reigning Champion came from behind on his Suzuki RM-Z450 in the opening race to beat Kawasaki’s Bubba Stewart and in the second – run under extremely muddy conditions – the Florida rider lapped everyone to take his seventh straight victory of the season, his seventh at the Millville track and his 142nd combined AMA motocross/ Supercross win.

Ping's Mongolian BBQ

A couple of weekends ago some family members met at Ping's Mongolian BBQ here in Morgan Hill for dinner. It's an all-you-can-eat buffet where you add vegetables, noodles, meats and sauces into a bowl and they stir fry everything on a large round grill. The food was good and reasonably priced. I'm sure we'll be back for more...

Please Share The Road!

I know I'm a little biased since I am a cyclist but I wanted to share a story of a rider from my bike club...

"I will not riding my bicycle for the next 6 weeks. I was involved in an accident with a car while on vacation in Boston. A car went through a red light and hit the back of my Bike Friday. I was in the middle of the T-intersection and saw the car coming. I tried to get out of the way, but had no luck. I did not hit my head. The bike took the brunt of the force. My initial injury was a deep laceration just above my ankle on the right leg that required stitches. Luckily, the cut did not damage muscle or the Achilles tendon. However, I also had fractured the top part of my tibia. I did not realize this until after I had completed Boston-Montreal-Boston and came home. Yesterday, after much pain trying to go up and down stairs, I went in for x-rays. I will be in a cast or some kind of splint for the next 6 weeks."

I always ask people that don't cycle to try and imagine themselves being the cyclist and having someone come dangerously close to them with their car. I guarantee they would not be happy about it. Or, like what happened to Paul above, being struck by a reckless driver.

Jeff Tossing His Breakfast

Jeff tried mountain biking with me over the weekend at Anderson Reservoir here in Morgan Hill. He's shown here acting like he's getting sick. What a sense of humor!

Next we're going to try Santa Teresa County Park off of Bernal...

Palm to unveil new Treo model next month

Handheld computer and phone maker Palm Inc. is to unveil the latest version of its Treo smart phone next month as it attempts to revive sales hit by tough competition and problems with previous models.

Palm is to launch the new handset to Vodafone customers in a number of European countries including the U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy and Netherlands as it attempts to win back the confidence of a market it once dominated with its Palm Pilot device.

The company is hoping the move to the Windows Mobile will help alleviate the concerns of Treo users who have long complained of Palm's own operating system crashing the handsets on a regular basis.

Order to shut down DISH DVRs blocked

EchoStar Communications Corp., parent of the DISH Network satellite TV service, on Friday said a federal appeals court temporarily blocked a lower-court order that would have forced EchoStar to turn off about 4 million of its digital video recorders within 30 days.

Earlier Friday, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas granted a motion by TiVo Inc. for the DVR shutdown and ordered EchoStar to pay $89.6 million in damages.

The decision comes after a federal jury in April determined that EchoStar willfully infringed on TiVo's "time-warp" patent, which applies to the way a DVR simultaneously records one program while playing back another.

EchoStar is the country's second-largest satellite TV provider with about 12.5 million subscribers.

Owen Nolan Signs with Coyotes

Owen Nolan finally made it back to the NHL after his most recent injury kept him on the shelf the entire season last year. Wayne Gretzy is taking a chance with him and thinks he'll be one of the best power forwards on the Phoenix roster.
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Lego Mindstorm NXT

The next generation of robots!
Create the smartest, strongest and most advanced LEGO® robot ever, in as few as 30 minutes! The new NXT Intelligent Brick, your robot's "brain," features a powerful 32-bit microprocessor and more memory, plus support for USB 2.0, Bluetooth and more! A highly versatile palette of LEGO TECHNIC® elements combines with state-of-the-art ultrasonic, sound, light and touch sensors in the next generation of intuitive robotics. With included Quick-Start guide, easy-to-use software and step-by-step building instructions, beginners and experts alike can create humanoid, vehicle and animal robots that obey every command!Improved light sensors can detect different colors and intensities, while the new sound sensor enables robots to respond to sound patterns and tones. Robots can really "feel" with improved touch sensors, while ultrasonic "eyes" measure distance and movement.Programming software is now available for both PC and Macintosh, plus with Bluetooth support, you can even command your robot from your mobile phone!

Wish they had this when I was a kid! Although it's a little pricey at $249...

If you want more information: http://shop.lego.com/product.asp?p=8527

Jeff Catching Some Air

Oh yea, I almost forgot to share this photo of Jeff doing a little trick at Hollister Hills. Kind of a beginner move, but he looks pretty good, eh? Actually, this is Adam Jones at the Moto X Freestyle event. I don't know if you've watched much of the X Games before, but those athletes are CRAZY.

Hollister Hills - Hill Climbs

On Saturday Jeff and I went to Hollister Hills to go dirt bike riding. This photo of a "bowl" shaped area is one of our favorite spots to ride. You can see all the different routes you can take to descend and climb each side. If you enlarge the photo (by clicking on it) you will see Jeff on the other side. This kind of puts the size of these hills into perspective!

2006 Coyote Creek Cycling Classic

Just signed up for the 2006 Coyote Creek Cycling Classic. This is a fun ride put on by the Boy Scouts of America and it starts and ends at the Model Aircraft Skypark on Coyote Creek Trail. There are 12, 25 and 50 mile routes. I plan on riding the 50 mile route that passes by all three local reservoirs (Calero, Chesbro and Uvas). This is a ride I wanted to participate in last year, but it was too close to the Waves to Wine MS Society ride. If you'd like to learn more about this ride, below is the link to the main page:

http://www.sccc-scouting.org/sccc/finance/c2k6.asp

Below is the link to the route map:

http://www.sccc-scouting.org/sccc/files/finance/cccc/2006_cccc_map.pdf

No Way You're Tying Me Up!

Navy SEAL training pushes men to their limit to prepare for ever-tougher missions. In this picture, SEAL trainees bounce off the bottom of the tank to catch their breath during "drown-proofing", an exercise that toughens them for an escape.

San Jose Sharks 2006-07 Schedule

For you San Jose Sharks fans out there, below is the link to the new schedule.

http://www.sjsharks.com/schedule/Sharks2006Schedule.pdf

GO SHARKS!!

Kauai Vacation

I like this photo because everyone looks so relaxed and happy. This was taken by a nice person passing by who offered to take our picture. Supposedly, parts of the first Jurassic Park movie were shot in the background of this photo near the jagged breakwater.

Life is Good!

Back in 2002 our hockey team had the opportunity to play an exhibition game on the same ice that the San Jose Sharks play on. Yea, we didn't get the fancy locker room, but it was still great playing on the same ice as the pros. Not to brag, but we won by a score of 7-0 or something like that.

Pictured is my Dad, Scott Kendall and Mike Griffith.