Found a nice note on the door as I checked the mail at lunch today: "Dear Customer: While you were away [Um, I was here. I am here all day. I work here.], the following CenterPoint Energy [we don't use you for power] representative was at your address..." blah, blah, blah, a bunch of open check-boxes with empty lines next to them followed by the one box that is checked: "Planned power outage scheduled for" (and hand-written in) "2-1-06 9am-12pm".
So, since I was going to skip out early tomorrow anyway to drive D to the airport (she's going to a conference in Orlando tomorrow through Sunday), I just e-mailed my boss and asked for the day off. Otherwise, I'll be spending the morning somewhere with WiFi. Fun!
There actually are a number of cafes around where I could work from, but that's not as fun as a mid-week day off, is it? The sad thing is, I'll probably end up in one of those cafes anyway, since WE'LL HAVE NO POWER. I guess that means I'm putting off grocery shopping until tomorrow so everything I buy doesn't spoil...
What are the odds that they'll actually be done by noon?
Dude, I know. What the heck is there in North Dakota(or, as locals seem to like to call it, NoDak), right?
It's funny. I was reading my new Wired this weekend and was a little surprised to learn that there's a big push to make Fargo a hub for the development of RFID tags (I can't find a link to the article, but the argument was basically, "People ignore North Dakota, so we can do it without much public resistance") - they really want to turn ND into Silicon Flatland or something. And yesterday I saw this on Slashdot and today on Engadget. NoDak all over the news!
If only we weren't moving to Colorado.... Oh wait. I mean, Thank God we're moving to CO! Actually, my uncle sent me a link to an article about Steamboat in the Financial Times yesterday, but because they're greedy bastards you have to register to read the article. Trying to get BugMeNot to work. I love Firefox.
I've been thinking a lot about travel lately. Maybe it's because Dana and I haven't taken a real vacation for almost a year. Maybe it's Jed's blogging about her recent trip to Australia.. Maybe it's the fact that Lauren (my sister) is living in New Zealand (where my parents are going to visit next month). Maybe it's the fact that I spend 95% of my time in my house. Who knows what it is, but the itch is there (unfortunately, I fearthere's really no way to scratch it until after D and I get settled in Steamboat). Add to that desire the fact that we haven't taken a Honeymoon (yet), and you can see how frustrating things must be.
Adding to this desire to travel was watching Born into Brothels the other night. I wouldn't call it a spectacular movie (I've gotten into the habit of rating movies after we check them in with Netflix, and find that I'm choosing more and more of their recommendations after doing so to add to our queue) - I gave it three of five stars - but it reinforced an idea.
See, before D chose Sports Medicine as a career path, we had actually talked about (and began to pursue) finding a program where we could head for 6 months to a year - somewhere she could volunteer as a doctor that would also be able to utilize my skills (be they tech-related or otherwise; in another life I worked as a carpenter, I have experience teaching English to non-native speakers, I can lift heavy things...). Well, this idea fell by the wayside when D opted to specialize, and we've kind of forgotten about it since then.
Until recently, when Dana suggested (if I'm recalling things correctly) that we do some volunteer-travel trips - basically short-term volunteer projects abroad - to scratch those itches. It's something else we had talked about before, and I love the idea (and it may give you some idea why watching a movie like Born into Brothels made me think of travelling).
We've also talked about taking cycling trips as a vacation before - there was a great narration of a decadent tour of France in one of my Bicycling magazines, where they would ride from point-to-point, but once they got to each day's destination it was total debauchery - rich, creamy, deliciously fattening French food, massages, wine, deluxe accommodations - I guess the complete other side of the spectrum from the volunteer travel daydream (wherein I picture us on the Serengeti living in tents not being able to sleep for the heat). And of course, it's always been a dream of Dana's to see the Olympics, something I'd love to do as well (Beijing '08, anyone?).
One small problem with these ideas (well, not yet, but a future challenge, I guess): kids. But as much as they may reduce our options, Dana and I have discussed it and both think it would be fantastic if we had an annual volunteer trip that became custom for us - and our (eventual) child(ren). What a great way to expose kids to the world, other cultures, and altruism.
And of course, for our other trips... Well, that's what grandparents are for, right? :)
My Fifth Amendment rights mean I don't have to discuss how accurate this may be in MY case, but let me just say I imagine something like this could happen. As a way of description, this is a video (duh) of three guys singing a song. Not something I would necessarily call work-inappropriate; that is, if your workplace is nothing like my former one and they don't mind you watching videos online instead of actually working.
And here we have my nomination for the "This blog isn't nearly as cool as the name makes it sound" award, Robot Gossip.
Well, went to my first early-morning swim today and it went much better than Saturday's did - Saturday I started out in the wrong lane (we are placed in lanes based on how fast we're swimming), but today I started in the right one (the last one, as a matter of fact) and I didn't burn out and felt pretty good the entire time.
Of course, I'm pooped now, but that's what coffee is for, right? There's something nice about getting home at the same time I woke up yesterday and knowing that I had already exercized for 75 minutes. I had a moderately-sized breakfast and am off to a good start, but I'm running out of coffee and it hasn't quite kicked in yet (on my second tall mug but there isn't any left after that). We might need a lunchtime power-nap today.
Oh - and before I forget I thought I'd throw down the reference to Explodingdog.com, where I've gotten the images for this post and the one yesterday. Great stuff..
And if you can tell by the title, this is my 474th post to the blog - pretty good, I say!
Hopefully this new Tuesday/Thursday schedule (swimming at 6) will get Dana and I in the habit of going to bed earlier. I know that at the very least it's going to make me more tired. :)
OK, I should really get back to work. The other benefit of getting the workout in first thing in the morning is I don't have to spend the rest of the day worrying about getting it done. I was thinking about heading to the gym to lift this afternoon, but I think I'm going to wait on that one for a while - until I get more used to my new schedule. But I'm basically working out every day, which feels good (and is totally necessary - I've gained a lot of weight and am sick of it). Maybe more later...
I know, I haven't been very good about blogging lately - been too busy with work (and working out) to get down to some real entries. So I've gone ahead and made a new category of "To-Do's" on my Palm where I can record ideas for blog entries until they make it to the blog itself (and so I don't forget what the heck I was going to write about). And I'll do my best not to enter them digest-style when they get all backed up, which should give us more (if not necessarily more interesting) entries.
So far, I have three.
This weekend was nothing really special. Friday night I stayed home and D went out with some girlfriends from work, but she got home pretty early as she had an 8-mile run on Saturday (marathon training, you know). I went to the swim club thing Saturday morning and collapsed when I got home (wow, will this get me back into shape lickety-split), then D and I had lunch separately and she got back from her run, showered, took a nap, and had to leave for two TSU basketball games she was covering.
Sunday, we took it easy in the morning and I made some eggs (yum!), then after reading the paper and relaxing for a while D went to work to earn some extra money (so that I won't give her a hard time when she buys a new running gadget). I hopped on the trainer for an hour (a good one, I was pushing it), then she came back and we headed to lunch at BW3's and to catch most of the first half of the Steelers-Broncos game. Home, naps, and D went to the gym briefly.
Overall, not a very exciting weekend. But like I said, I want to try to blog more. I'll try to hit one entry a day this week. But for now, it's back to work with me!
Well, tomorrow begins my first day of swimming with the Rice Masters Swimming club/team/whatever. Went out yesterday and bought some new goggles and a suit, so I'm all ready to go (must remember to bring a towel).
I am WAY out of shape, but D and I have been pretty good lately about getting to the gym (or on the trainer for me), and with her marathon training ramping up and my joining this team (they swim thrice a week a couple blocks from here, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) we should both be well on our way to getting back in shape before the move to Steamboat.
The short week threw me off, but I got some good work done and am ready to relax this weekend (well relax and swim for an hour and a half tomorrow).
Sweet Lord above, somebody needs to order this for me STAT. I must have this. MUST! HAVE! The coolest clock EVAR!!!1!!
Edit: to see the site, you'll have to click through to the "store" at the bottom of this link.
Really, this picture has nothing to do with this post at all, but the 2600 was a sweet rig so it gets up there.
I don't really have anything in particular to write about, actually. So here are some random thoughts/things going on/etc.
- Too bad about the Bears, but I'm happy the Steelers won (plus, Peyton Manning was acting like a baby who lost his toy, so I was happy to see him go down). Overall, I'd love to see the Broncos take it all though - after all, they're going to be my new team..
- Had some good dinners this past week that have made for some wicked good leftovers, with only one dinner that didn't turn out great: pork and turkey chili (still have a ton left over in the freezer), ham and chicken lasagna, and the beefy cheese and noodle bake (all thanks to *ahem* Dana's subscription to Cooking Light). The cheesy beef and noodle bake (not really sure what the name was) probably won. Also whipped up my imitation Southport Lanes Southwestern Chicken Salad which was awesome.
- Also made some mad salsa with some chipotle chilis I had leftover from the chili recipe, so mashed that up with my typical salsa and added some black beans and other goodness for what might be the best salsa I've made yet.
- The long weekend was nice, but I ended up working about 5 hours yesterday to get this stuff live for work that I had been slacking on. Launched last night and only one (very minor) problem today, which is pretty sweet considering how advanced (and new!) everything I was doing with it is.
- Been on the trainer 3-4 times since I got it set up last week, put D's green bike back together (and fixed the squeaky breaks! - so she could get to and from her marathon coverage), and even hopped on the fixie for a while as well, which felt good.
- Have been very productive at work lately - hopefully a sign of things to come. I've been working hard AND getting results, which is a good feeling.
A special note: the whole cooking frenzy is because after getting back from Christmas we had yet to go shopping until last week (the trip to Bend over NYE really screwed things up too), but represents a desire on my and D's part to be more healthy AND spend less money - we had been spending a fortune eating out WAY too much, which typically means not eating as healthily also.
OK. I'm going to sign off now because I'm even boring myself, but I want to throw one more thing out there: every day I'm getting more and more pumped about the move to Steamboat. It's going to be so awesome, I just can't wait. And not just awesome in the whole "sweet ski resort" kind of thing - I'm really excited to live in a smaller town with CLEAN AIR(!) and NO TRAFFIC(!) and such a collection of cool people. I'm not even getting down about the home prices anymore, because it doesn't even matter. If we rent for a year or so we'll be set as far as a downpayment would go, and... well.... I just feel really lucky to be able to move to such a cool place. I really think it's going to work out.
Will I miss the "big city"? I'm sure, at times, I will. But it's not like Denver is SO far away - and that's the price of living in such a cool place to begin with - it's a trade-off either way, and I just feel that a small town with so much to offer (a town like Steamboat) is a perfect fit for me.
And it'll be great to have better pictures up on my blog than any of you other suckers on a consistent basis, constantly luring you all out to visit us... :)
Dana neglected to mention that we had a nice little care package arrive on Saturday - some good cheer from her future employers, including a very nice coffee-table book history of Steamboat (with requisite awesome pictures, pictured), a couple real estate guides, and a copy of the local paper (which for some reason we're still getting Sunday editions of here in Houston, despite the fact that our three-week trial ended months ago), along with a nice card. Every time I think about Steamboat, I get more and more excited.
In fact, yesterday I used our move as my motivation in the gym (and today I'm paying for it). Remember that horror story from when we tried to leave Steamboat after her interview, and were pounded by the first big snow of the year (back in November)? Well, on our way out of town (after giving up on our second cancelled flight), we headed up Rabbit Ears Pass. "Rabbit Ears Pass" was my mantra yesterday in the gym that kept me going - it's totally gorgeous and I'd love to ride it, but I'm in absolutely no shape to do so right now - which is why it was my motivation for working out (along with Fish Creek Falls, another great area that would make a fantastic ride through the woods). Well, this morning (as a break from the aforementioned cleaning), I mapped the elevation profile of a ride from downtown Steamboat to the Continental Divide Trail, up at Rabbit Ears Pass. As I expected, it's a great distance for a ride (~43 miles), and a hell of a lot of elevation gain (~5000ft, round trip). 5000 feet in 43 miles. And of course, the first half of the ride is pretty much UP the mountain, the second half is down the mountain - so most of that elevation gain is in the first 20 miles.
With rides like that, the weight I've gained in Houston (damn restaurants and stupid heat and restrictive roadways and hostile outside environment) should be gone pretty quickly after our arrival in SBS. Yay!
OK, after some serious cleaning of my desk, I'm ready for a productivity kick. I think I've been distracted (and discouraged) to get lots of actual work done becuase of the mess that my desk/office has become. I spent a good amount of time this morning cleaning/straightening up, and I'm ready to buckle down and get some good work done.
Note: this is not a picture of my desk. If you saw a picture of my desk, you'd say "Why Mark, that doesn't look clean at all!", but what do you know? If you're lucky and I'm feeling generous, you'll get a picture of my ACTUAL desk. If you're lucky. Instead you get a picture of some other schmoe's desk that I found on the internet(s).
That's it! Tonight, after I'm done cleaning the post-travel junk out of our living/dining room (and putting our winter stuff back in the attic), I'm setting up the trainer. This (my laziness) is getting ridiculous. And I'm jealous of Dana, whose first soccer practice is this week. I'd sign up for the swimming group now, but we're broke until the next paycheck(s) come in (weekend of the 15th).
First things first. Clean. Then set up trainer. Then get money, then join the swimming club.
May 2005
An apartment-finding mission in Houston, followed shortly by pictures of our place.
Then, I got the semi-official word that I would be allowed to work from home while in Houston.
A nice 70-miler with Fas. Man, I need to get back on the bike.
Chronicles of fun with planning a move.
And wrap it all up with my bachelor party.
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June 2005
June was kind of a big month. 24-hour challenge followed by a little wedding and our move... So let's get right to it:
My first century (and first bonk) serve as a nice start to the busy month.
I'm noticing, as I review, that the posts this month come less frequently but are more lengthy (like this recap of the 24-hour challenge). Curious.
Then, skip a week (I was kind of in a frenzy of packing and trying to get married), and follow it up with some entries on our move down to Houston.
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July 2005
Our first (married) month in the (ahem) comfortable climes of TX.
We begin the entries this month with this one, detailing life in TX so far (and how fun unpacking is), then move straight on to our discovery of the best of TX culture.
My birthday + first ride in sweltering TX heat + 2 pitchers of Shiner = bad cellphone picture.
And BJ is outed.
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August 2005
Wrapping up this third of the year's recap brings us to August, another lovely temperate month in Houston, TX.
It looks like in August I was still managing to get some rides in (and have the opportunity to play with some new software), with all fitness quickly brought to a screeching halt - either due to the bike accident or this super-long blog post detailing it - I'm not sure what's to fault. But the good news is, I got a new bike out of it.
Also, our first visitors come and go.
Oh yeah. Then there was this little hurricane named Katrina...
Popped collar guy at the houston airport. You'd think we were in Wicker Park!
Well, we're on our way out of Bend, which proved to be a wonderful, wonderful place. The practice that Dana interviewed with is top-notch, her co-worker is the nicest guy in the world, and the town itself is really, really neat.
And if our situation was different, choosing to live in Bend would have been an easy decision. But, things being what they are (D got an offer from Steamboat Springs on Friday or Saturday), in a point-by-point comparison Steamboat edged out Bend in almost every way.
So this morning, Dana called and accepted the offer in Steamboat. We're going to Colorado!
And for those who like to plan their travel in advance, the Cubs will be at Coors Field August 11, 12 and 13th (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). Come for the games, stay for the week and we'll head back to Steamboat for some good times (world-class mountain biking, road cycling, fishing, among other things).
Or if summer sports aren't your thing, we'll be there every winter for the forseeable future. So let us know and come on out!*
*Disclosure: we have no idea what the size of our place will be, but in all likelihood we'll be renting for at least the first year we're there for financial reasons. So be prepared to sleep on the floor.
For Mikey. Check out our server's name at the lodge in Mt. Bachelor!
Chili break! Look! Dana eating chili!!
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