Here is our interview with News 4. Sorry for the lack of other updates beyond the news, but we are slammed right now with our final preparations for the expedition. We will get updates very soon, but for now just know that all is going well, but our days are long and stressful. Everyone send good vibes to the Carnet de Passages gods, we have been have a little trouble jumping through those beaurocratic hoops.
Expedition Team Update
By Steve Bouey in
January 30, 2007 – 1:28 pm
In planning for an expedition of this nature, ultimately some things do not pan out as planned. It is an inevitable component of something on a scale such as this. We greatly appreciate all of the work and effort that Duane Batcheler put into trying to make this expedition a success. Duane is a great person, but unfortunately we have parted ways for a few different reasons. We truly wish him the best of luck in all of his endeavors and success in his future travels.
9 News Live Interview
By Steven Shoppman in
January 26, 2007 – 12:38 am
Here is our most recent interview on 9 News.
We are going to be on NBC.
By Steven Shoppman in
January 25, 2007 – 11:25 am
We are about to have our first interview on live television today. Originally it was supposed to be in the morning, but it looks like we will be on the noon show now. It is the local channel here in Denver, 9 News. That is channel 9 here in Denver and the website is www.9news.com.
We also just had a great article published in Westword about the trip. Jessica Centers was the reporter and she really wrote a wonderful story. You can check it out on the website www.westword.com. There was also another article in the Loveland Reporter Herald about a week ago, so to say the least, things have been pretty exciting around here.
We would like to thank our friend Shane at Ripboard for donating a couple of his ripboards to the expedition. We will be talking a little about the boards on the news this afternoon. If you are interested in trying Ripboarding go to his website. As soon as the water comes up and the weather gets warmer, you will be able to go out for a day of ripboarding here in Colorado. You can also purchase the ripboards directly from RipBoard.
Last update…we will be on CBS news, channel 4 in Denver, on Sunday morning for another interview. So if you live in Denver you can watch live. Otherwise, we will have the segment up online shortly after it airs.
Funny…we will be dealing with both.
By Steven Shoppman in
January 23, 2007 – 6:19 pm
For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon."
In response to Bill’s comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics
(and I just love this part):
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the
road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh! would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive — but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single "This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation" warning light.
7. The airbag system would ask "Are you sure?" before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out AND refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You’d have to press the "Start" button to turn the engine off.
Free Movie Passes
By Steven Shoppman in
January 11, 2007 – 10:38 am
A friend of ours works for a company that does advance screenings of movies amongst other things. We are doing a little promotion with them for the new movie "The Hitcher". It is a thriller about a crazy hitchhiker, so if you are in the mood for a little scare(or laugh) just follow the directions below and you can get yourself some free tickets to the latest in thrillers.
Email TheHitcherMoviePasses@hotmail.com with your name and mailing address by Tuesday, January 16 at 10:00AM MST to enter to win complimentary admit 2 passes to the special advance screening. Check out the movie’s website @: www.neverpickupstrangers.com
What Brown Can’t do for You
By Steve Bouey in
December 29, 2006 – 5:36 pm
So here is a little vent of a blog post, but it needs to be done because we here at TWBR have had so many horrible experiences with United Parcel Service (UPS)(aka – brown). Writing tends to be therapeutic for me so here it is. Over the course of the last several months Steve and I have been stocking up on our video equipment and other electronics and gadgets that we will need for the expedition.
On several occasions we have ordered products worth several thousand dollars (i.e. video cameras) which unfortunately were shipped via UPS. All of these high value packages required signatures in order to be delivered. On one occasion, the driver simply left the package on the porch in plain view. Our neighborhood has had problems with people stealing packages from front porches but the UPS driver didn’t seem to care that he was breaking protocol by leaving a valuable package on the porch. Luckily, we came home that day, but what if we had been out of town for the week?
On a separate occasion, we checked to see the status of another valuable package full of sound equipment that had been shipped via UPS. To our surprise, according to the UPS website, the package had been delivered! Of course, the package was delivered to the wrong address and someone completely unrelated to us signed for the package. It took several days to clear that up – browned once again! We have also had UPS drivers leave packages on our porch for people that live 4 houses down the street. I know 3002 York and 3010 York are easily confused but seriously – W.T.F. mate?
For our latest purchase, we requested that the company ship with someone other than UPS given our problems in the past. We indicated that we would even be willing to pay extra to ship via FedEx or DHL if necessary – companies with which we have had no problems. Unfortunately, the only shipping option was with OOPS. The package was another valuable one requiring signature and it was sent on a 3-day delivery schedule. Well sports fans, the package shipped on the 14th of December and did not even make it to Colorado until the 20th – already one day late. It just so happens that not long after it arrived at the distribution center in Denver, a huge blizzard hit. Now, I don’t blame UPS for that, but somewhere between the 20th and the 22nd, the package was placed on a delivery hold due to the weather. We have now had a break in the weather and in the meantime have received packages from both FedEx and DHL and the USPS continues to deliver our mail. However, you guessed it, no package from UPS. It is now the 29th and the last record they have of the package is of it being at the distribution center on the 22nd on a weather hold. That is the only information they have. I would be more than happy to go down to the distribution center myself and save the driver a trip to my house to leave it on the porch, but the problem is, they have no way of telling where in the distribution center the package is. One manager even indicated that it is probably out in a trailer that has been covered with snow and won’t be shipped for another 4-5 days. Obviously the weather had a hand in this, but here we are over two weeks later and a package that was supposed to be delivered in 3 days is now sitting somewhere in the distribution center waiting to be uncovered.
Sorry for the bitch-fest, but UPS totally sucks. Avoid "brown" like the plague. There are several other shipping options out there and although at some times they may be more expensive, at least you know where your package is, can be assured that it will be delivered to the right house, and that your valuable package won’t be left on the front porch for someone to take. No wonder their trucks are painted to look like crap because it reflects their service.
O.K. Denis Miller rant over…
Our Trailer on YouTube
By Steven Shoppman in
December 20, 2006 – 1:47 pm
Hey everyone,
We are trying to get more people aware of our upcoming departure. Many of you have already seen the trailer, but now we are trying to get its rankings up on YouTube. The video is below. If you have a site or a MySpace, we would be much obliged if you put this video up to help our rankings.
Thanks,
Steve Shoppman
Watch this video, it is important.
By Steven Shoppman in
December 19, 2006 – 2:38 pm
I actually cannot remember how or when, but I signed the original petition for this concept of net neutrality. This is very important, especially for people like us here at TWBR. The internet is awesome because it is a level playing field and it is important that we keep it that way. Check out this video on net neutrality to learn more. You can also go to http://www.SaveTheInternet.com to learn more about this.
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Oh right..I am planning an expedition.
By Steven Shoppman in
December 7, 2006 – 9:30 pm
"That sounds so awesome." "I am jealous" "I want to go along" "How are you going get across the ocean?"
I hear statements like this almost everyday now. Don’t get me wrong, I am truly excited about leaving and the adventures that lie ahead of us. It still never lets up.
For every time that I think I am getting ahead of preparations, I find another item that is a neccesity. For every time that I think we have everything in line with our sponsors, I get another call or an email with another hurdle. For everytime that I go to sleep in peace, I wake up in the middle of the night to a crazy dream.
Today I spent a couple of hours researching waterproof cases for all of our video equipment. You would be suprised at all of the choices. From one company alone I found 5 manufacturers and about 350 different products to choose from. Trips back and forth with a tape measure between the internet and the equipment fulfulled an afternoon of confusion. Foam or no foam, dividers or no dividers, stainless steal bearings, double release buckles, injected polyprople foam, pressure regulation valves, o-rings and waffle foam-the list goes on and on. I don’t know what most of this is, all I really care about is whether or not my equipment will be kept dry and in working order. This whole 2-year expedition thing is not just a little complicated.
Many times lately I look at people with much more simple jobs and can’t help but envy them a little bit. Today I was at a restaurant imagining that I was busing tables instead of discussing expedition matters with Bouey. Sometimes it would be nice if the end of my week was truly the end of my week and all I had to worry about was where to go for happy hour with my friends.
Over the course of the last year and a half I have worked up some debt, spent many sleepless nights and pulled out many hairs trying to make all of this happen. Even though sometimes it is hard to see the worth of all these efforts, I know that I will be encompassed by a feeling that has become all too foreign. After a year of planning and working 12-15 hour days, a cold SPEIGHTS will be like a drink from the holy grail. The level of satisfaction the moment the door closes and we are off to New Zealand will make all of the long nights and dissapointments become a distant memory. At that point I will agree with people when they try to tell me this is going to be the time of my life.
Until then the usual statements out of my mouth will be…
"Oh gooooodddd." "What the hell?" "Seriously, that can’t be the way it works in that country!" "How are we going to afford that?"
And the number one: "Why won’t they just respond to my email?"
