So many things to write about – so little time…
Anyway, here’s my latest addiction – Bonobos pants. The pants are cut for an athletic guy’s fit – specifically for a guy with “powerful glutes” AKA junk in the trunk AKA a fat ass. Yep, that's me! Anyway, the pants are the best fitting ones I’ve ever worn in my life, so you can imagine how stoked I am that I found them. Anyway, they’re running a fan contest – make a video between 30 seconds and 3 minutes “expressing your love for Bonobos”. Yeah, so I made this video and it’s a little out there… I’m hopeful nobody will be able to top it though – I mean, what could be more hardqore? Anyway, the contest runs through Dec 31, so we’ll see. Winner gets 5 pairs of pants plus 1 pair for a buddy (that filmed me), plus some shirts. FYI – “Jackson Brownes”, “G5’s”, “Shoguns” and “Savages” are all names for various trousers made by Bonobos. That's what we call PRODUCT PLACEMENT.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Saturday, October 25, 2008
LiveSTRONG
I’m Austin bound. This weekend is the Lance Armstrong LiveSTRONG charity ride, and some of the old phellas are getting together for an appointed weekend of bbq, beer and bikes.
I guess it all started a couple years ago when Jonathan, Vose and I kept on talking about having an ‘HQT Summit’. Yeah, we needed to get serious about laying the groundwork for our business, but we were always putting it off, putting it off, putting it off… Well, last year, our buddy Guery – who lives in Austin – volunteered that we should finally have the summit and that it should be done on the weekend of the LiveSTRONG event. It seemed pretty much everyone had gotten in to riding bikes after having rowed for so many years, so why not contribute to a great charity, have fun riding bikes, put some planning in to HQT and have a generally ‘bro’ weekend eating ridiculous amounts of food, clogging numerous toilets, racing go-karts, etc, etc…
Yeah, so we never got around to talking about HQT – that much is still a Holy Grail on the horizon. Pretty funny, cause Jonathan and I had thought about having ‘brainstorm’ sessions where we think up business opportunities, etc… But we had an awesome time – last year it was Sarfy, Stewie, Twitchy, Guery, Baab, Jaan and me. This year it’s a reduced bunch – just Guery, Baab, Jaan and me – but it’ll still be pretty much awesome-time. Stewie’s ensnarled by the financial crisis, Sarfy has a #2 on the way (that’s a baby, folks), and Twitchy just got married so has his own type of financial crisis. Vose was gonna come, but is doing his very own LiveSTRONG event with his Dad (who has cancer) this weekend up in the Bay Area.
Stories to follow…
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Astronaut Candidate Selection Process Timeline
September 2007
Vacancy Announcement opens in USAJOBS
July 1, 2008
Vacancy Announcement closes
September - October 2008
Qualified Applications reviewed to determine Highly Qualified applicants
October - November 2008
Highly Qualified applications reviewed to determine Interviewees
November 2008 - January 2009
Interviewees brought to JSC for preliminary interview, medical evaluation, and orientation
February 2009
Finalists determined
February - March 2009
Finalists brought to JSC for additional interview and complete medical evaluation
May 2009
Astronaut Candidate Class of 2009 announced
August 2009
Astronaut Candidate Class of 2009 reports to the Johnson Space Center
Sunday, September 21, 2008
wildly busy
Horoscope for the day:
“You’re about to get wildly busy doing something you’ve never done before. This whirlwind of activity will invigorate your life. Eat well, rest up and get ready!”
Wow, talk about the story of my life… So I’m barely touching the bike these days. Maybe once or twice a week. Now I’m playing beach volleyball 6 days a week and the bike is often just the transit to get to the courts. I went “all in” on the volleyball thing a little over 2 weeks ago. Playing or practicing almost every day. Getting a coach to work on drills once a week. [and boy do I need drills – my hand-eye coordination is *so* close to zero] Getting a sports massage once a week to stay away from overuse injuries. I love it, but it’s fairly all-consuming, just like pretty much anything I choose to pursue. Funny how that goes… I wonder if that cycle will ever end?
Monday, September 15, 2008
So I was riding over to volleyball practice last Friday morning – just riding my old Philly messenger bike and listening to my iPod. It’s just a short ride from OB to South Mission, but I was listening away anyway. It was early in the morning – like 7:30 – and it was completely overcast with a slight mist in the air – really weird for San Diego in September as it’s usually clear skies 24/7 this time of the year.
Anyway, I was just riding along and listening to a mix I made back in 2006, aptly named HQ ‘006 (Hardqore 2006). 2006 was the year that I hit the bike super hard. I was working just part time at work – 25 hours/week or so – and training was going really well. I made this mix as a sort of pump up race prep mix – especially for track events where I might find myself warming up on the rollers for 30 mins or so before racing.
1. Cap’n Hardqore – It is the Appointed Time
2. Rancid – Born Frustrated
3. Social Distortion – I Wasn’t Born to Follow
4. Soundgarden – Rusty Cage
5. Social Distortion – Reach for the Sky
6. Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down a Dream
…
The songs go on for awhile, but you get the idea. Look up the lyrics – just a great mix to really get me going. So I was listening to this mix and of course it made me think back to 2006. As I’ve alluded, 2006 was an interesting time. The best and the worst. I was really making improvements on the bike, and that was really important to me (as you can imagine since I was only working part time at work!). One of the biggest memories – and one where I played this mix constantly – was during the Athens Twilight criterium in April ’06. The day before the “big race” (Athens Twilight is one of the major crit races on the American cycling calendar) they had 6-up time trials on stationary trainers on a stage in the downtown plaza. Anyway, I did my part and I was on form – winning my heat. I beat a couple pro’s which had me super stoked. This put me in the final where I got totally dead last – guess I had spent it all in the heat? ;-) I still won prize money plus a call up to the front line at the big race the following day. Do I need to mention that I was late to the race start and actually missed my call up? Yeah, I was taking a last minute dump. I didn’t miss the race, but I sure missed that golden call up…
Anyway, the mix had gotten me thinking about how the first half of ’06 was a great time, and it was exactly what I needed to be doing at the time. That season took a big plummet in the July timeframe, though, when I broke my jaw while racing in Wisconsin. Making matters worse, while my jaw was still wired shut in August, I got a pretty bad annual performance review at work. That shocked me and actually made me quite depressed – especially since my jaw was still wired shut for another 2 weeks at the time! I had never done substandard work before and that probably depressed me more than anything else – I just couldn’t let that happen again.
Once the wires were off, I made a bit of a comeback on the bike before sustaining a new injury from overtraining (stressed Achilles tendon). I basically quit cycling after that tendon injury, and rededicated myself to work and took up snowboarding just to do something totally different. Of course with snowboarding I took that too extreme and started racing Boardercross almost immediately. New injuries followed… :/ The snow season ended with amateur nationals in April up at Tahoe – yeah, I went and raced Slalom – and then I basically went back to full time work. I rode bikes a bit, but never with any real passion. Work was the thing to do at that time, and I had 2 really exciting projects to work on. Long story short, I impressed the people at work a million times over and was suddenly found to be ‘indisposable’ at work. This is still playing out, and there’s actually a good chance that I’ll get a promotion to the next pay grade come the new fiscal year + a month or so, which is actually quite hard to get. Kinda funny.
Now all of these thoughts coalesced and passed through my mind in a span of 2 or 3 minutes probably. The beautiful moment came at the end in a flash in a moment of clarity. Racing bikes and working part time in ’06? Giving it up and taking up Snowboarding? Giving both of those up and working full time + overtime? They’re all worthwhile tasks, and they were all the right things to do at each of their times. I try not to hold any regrets, but I’ve always had some lingering ones from quitting cycling at the end of ’06. But in reality, it was simply the right thing to do at the time. At that time, I truly needed a break and Snowboarding provided that. I *did* need to buckle down at work and there was actually interesting work to apply my talents to. And now beach volleyball and surfing? I’ve finally embraced the locale that I’m living in. And who knows – maybe cycling will eventually come back in to the picture again – nothing’s off limits…
The clarity was that I should be confident in my choices. I have a sound head on my shoulders and I’ll pursue what I need to pursue, whether I’m conscious of it or not. I always did what I ‘needed’ to do at the time. Looking back on the past 3 years – I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe I could avoid breaking that jaw – that would be kinda nice… ;-) But as morbid as it sounds – that broken jaw is a vital part of the whole puzzle.
Anyway, I was just riding along and listening to a mix I made back in 2006, aptly named HQ ‘006 (Hardqore 2006). 2006 was the year that I hit the bike super hard. I was working just part time at work – 25 hours/week or so – and training was going really well. I made this mix as a sort of pump up race prep mix – especially for track events where I might find myself warming up on the rollers for 30 mins or so before racing.
1. Cap’n Hardqore – It is the Appointed Time
2. Rancid – Born Frustrated
3. Social Distortion – I Wasn’t Born to Follow
4. Soundgarden – Rusty Cage
5. Social Distortion – Reach for the Sky
6. Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down a Dream
…
The songs go on for awhile, but you get the idea. Look up the lyrics – just a great mix to really get me going. So I was listening to this mix and of course it made me think back to 2006. As I’ve alluded, 2006 was an interesting time. The best and the worst. I was really making improvements on the bike, and that was really important to me (as you can imagine since I was only working part time at work!). One of the biggest memories – and one where I played this mix constantly – was during the Athens Twilight criterium in April ’06. The day before the “big race” (Athens Twilight is one of the major crit races on the American cycling calendar) they had 6-up time trials on stationary trainers on a stage in the downtown plaza. Anyway, I did my part and I was on form – winning my heat. I beat a couple pro’s which had me super stoked. This put me in the final where I got totally dead last – guess I had spent it all in the heat? ;-) I still won prize money plus a call up to the front line at the big race the following day. Do I need to mention that I was late to the race start and actually missed my call up? Yeah, I was taking a last minute dump. I didn’t miss the race, but I sure missed that golden call up…
Anyway, the mix had gotten me thinking about how the first half of ’06 was a great time, and it was exactly what I needed to be doing at the time. That season took a big plummet in the July timeframe, though, when I broke my jaw while racing in Wisconsin. Making matters worse, while my jaw was still wired shut in August, I got a pretty bad annual performance review at work. That shocked me and actually made me quite depressed – especially since my jaw was still wired shut for another 2 weeks at the time! I had never done substandard work before and that probably depressed me more than anything else – I just couldn’t let that happen again.
Once the wires were off, I made a bit of a comeback on the bike before sustaining a new injury from overtraining (stressed Achilles tendon). I basically quit cycling after that tendon injury, and rededicated myself to work and took up snowboarding just to do something totally different. Of course with snowboarding I took that too extreme and started racing Boardercross almost immediately. New injuries followed… :/ The snow season ended with amateur nationals in April up at Tahoe – yeah, I went and raced Slalom – and then I basically went back to full time work. I rode bikes a bit, but never with any real passion. Work was the thing to do at that time, and I had 2 really exciting projects to work on. Long story short, I impressed the people at work a million times over and was suddenly found to be ‘indisposable’ at work. This is still playing out, and there’s actually a good chance that I’ll get a promotion to the next pay grade come the new fiscal year + a month or so, which is actually quite hard to get. Kinda funny.
Now all of these thoughts coalesced and passed through my mind in a span of 2 or 3 minutes probably. The beautiful moment came at the end in a flash in a moment of clarity. Racing bikes and working part time in ’06? Giving it up and taking up Snowboarding? Giving both of those up and working full time + overtime? They’re all worthwhile tasks, and they were all the right things to do at each of their times. I try not to hold any regrets, but I’ve always had some lingering ones from quitting cycling at the end of ’06. But in reality, it was simply the right thing to do at the time. At that time, I truly needed a break and Snowboarding provided that. I *did* need to buckle down at work and there was actually interesting work to apply my talents to. And now beach volleyball and surfing? I’ve finally embraced the locale that I’m living in. And who knows – maybe cycling will eventually come back in to the picture again – nothing’s off limits…
The clarity was that I should be confident in my choices. I have a sound head on my shoulders and I’ll pursue what I need to pursue, whether I’m conscious of it or not. I always did what I ‘needed’ to do at the time. Looking back on the past 3 years – I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe I could avoid breaking that jaw – that would be kinda nice… ;-) But as morbid as it sounds – that broken jaw is a vital part of the whole puzzle.
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
All I’ve got to say is this – Paris Hilton is a lot hotter in person than on TV or in the magazines.
No, I didn’t sit next to Paris or anything like that. I actually got to sit next to Rob Dyrdek from the MTV show, Rob & Big, which was really cool. I used to be a fan of the show, but hadn’t watched it all lately, so that was kind of weird. Anyway, the show is pretty much over – Rob’s burnt out on the whole thing. Time to get back to serious skateboarding… So Rob sat on my right and another seat filler, Sonja, sat on my left. Sonja knew who every celebrity there was and noted that right in front of us was JC from NSYNC and some famous hip-hop choreographer dude.
We did see Paris Hilton, her boyfriend from Good Charlotte – Benji Madden – along with TI and Rihanna from about 10 feet away – they were walking up the aisle. Even better, we were only maybe 40 feet from the award presentation stage, so saw all the presenters and winners pretty close up. Screamed out for Will Ferrell – that was awesome. Saw Johnny Depp in all his clean shaven 21 Jumpstreet-ish glory. Saw Coldplay, the Pussycat Dolls, Adam Sandler, etc. Overall, a pretty cool show to see live.
Couldn’t work any mojo and get in to the big MTV after party, so that was a bit of a letdown. Security was ultra tight, too. By then though, it had been a pretty full day, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. Oh, and no Red Carpet for me. They had different wristbands – one for the Red Carpet folks and one for the inside folks. I was an inside folk and I think that worked out just fine…
Attire for the day:
No, I didn’t sit next to Paris or anything like that. I actually got to sit next to Rob Dyrdek from the MTV show, Rob & Big, which was really cool. I used to be a fan of the show, but hadn’t watched it all lately, so that was kind of weird. Anyway, the show is pretty much over – Rob’s burnt out on the whole thing. Time to get back to serious skateboarding… So Rob sat on my right and another seat filler, Sonja, sat on my left. Sonja knew who every celebrity there was and noted that right in front of us was JC from NSYNC and some famous hip-hop choreographer dude.
We did see Paris Hilton, her boyfriend from Good Charlotte – Benji Madden – along with TI and Rihanna from about 10 feet away – they were walking up the aisle. Even better, we were only maybe 40 feet from the award presentation stage, so saw all the presenters and winners pretty close up. Screamed out for Will Ferrell – that was awesome. Saw Johnny Depp in all his clean shaven 21 Jumpstreet-ish glory. Saw Coldplay, the Pussycat Dolls, Adam Sandler, etc. Overall, a pretty cool show to see live.
Couldn’t work any mojo and get in to the big MTV after party, so that was a bit of a letdown. Security was ultra tight, too. By then though, it had been a pretty full day, so it wasn’t too big of a deal. Oh, and no Red Carpet for me. They had different wristbands – one for the Red Carpet folks and one for the inside folks. I was an inside folk and I think that worked out just fine…
Attire for the day:
Thursday, May 29, 2008
So what can I say – I won the comedy game show – I don’t fool around. Was there ever really any doubt? I spit the water every time, but I used some ‘strategery’ and came out on top. It was a really fun show, too – the comedians were hilarious. Seems like the industry executives liked it, and that was the whole purpose of their trip, so who knows – maybe ‘Don’t Spit the Water’ will be coming to TV in the future. That would be really cool – especially if Fuzzy and Erica moved out to LA…
Monday, May 26, 2008
OK, so if the MTV thingy wasn't enough excitement, there's more.
My longtime buddy Erica and her comedy buddies are traveling down to LA this week to perform their world famous, critically acclaimed comedy show - "Don't Spit the Water". Now I was pretty much always gonna go to this show - I mean, how could I miss it? Gotta represent. Gotta see it in person. Gotta show some love. Big ups. Word.
So yeah - big time comedy show - potential breakthrough performances - the list goes on.
And then just yesterday I get an email from Erica asking me if I want to be a contestant on the comedy show. Woot! Woot! What? SWWWWWWWEET! So yeah, I said 'okay'. That's Wednesday night up in LA. Yeah, I'm just gonna take halfa Wednesday (and maybe some of Thursday? There's an after party folks...) off work - that'll be appointed. Guess I shoulda just taken the whole week offa work - I mean, how else do you expect me to kickstart this new Hollywood extra career?
My longtime buddy Erica and her comedy buddies are traveling down to LA this week to perform their world famous, critically acclaimed comedy show - "Don't Spit the Water". Now I was pretty much always gonna go to this show - I mean, how could I miss it? Gotta represent. Gotta see it in person. Gotta show some love. Big ups. Word.
So yeah - big time comedy show - potential breakthrough performances - the list goes on.
And then just yesterday I get an email from Erica asking me if I want to be a contestant on the comedy show. Woot! Woot! What? SWWWWWWWEET! So yeah, I said 'okay'. That's Wednesday night up in LA. Yeah, I'm just gonna take halfa Wednesday (and maybe some of Thursday? There's an after party folks...) off work - that'll be appointed. Guess I shoulda just taken the whole week offa work - I mean, how else do you expect me to kickstart this new Hollywood extra career?
Sunday, May 25, 2008
So here's a bit of ridiculousness... I'm gonna be a 'seat filler' at the MTV Movie Awards in LA next Sunday, 1 June. Yeah - Tivo it - you just might see me make my national debut.
How did I roll into this one? There's a local sport and social club that I took beach volleyball and surf lessons from - Vavi. Anyway, they sent an email out to their list seeking seat fillers - you had to email in some info and a headshot. Anyway, I did all that and got the big thumbs up from MTV. A snippet from their email:
GUESTS MUST BE 21 & upyrs old, LOOK STUNNING, BE AMAZING & HAVE READ THIS EMAIL AS WELL. RED CARPET NEEDS TO LOOK AMAZING SO SINCE YOU ARE AMAZING LOOKING, YOUR FRIENDS SHOULD BE TOO!!! HATE TO BE SHALLOW BUT THAT’S THE GIG!!
Yeah, that's just awesome. Now I've got to go clothes shopping so I can be MTV ready - disclaimer that they'll kick you out if you're not hip and 'club ready' or formal. No wearing white. Wow.
I keep on thinking of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer is a seat filler at the Oscars and is filling a seat when he gets swept up on stage and parties like it's 1999. Maybe I could at least sit next to Jack Nicholson or something - wouldn't that be sweet?
Pic that I submitted...
How did I roll into this one? There's a local sport and social club that I took beach volleyball and surf lessons from - Vavi. Anyway, they sent an email out to their list seeking seat fillers - you had to email in some info and a headshot. Anyway, I did all that and got the big thumbs up from MTV. A snippet from their email:
GUESTS MUST BE 21 & upyrs old, LOOK STUNNING, BE AMAZING & HAVE READ THIS EMAIL AS WELL. RED CARPET NEEDS TO LOOK AMAZING SO SINCE YOU ARE AMAZING LOOKING, YOUR FRIENDS SHOULD BE TOO!!! HATE TO BE SHALLOW BUT THAT’S THE GIG!!
Yeah, that's just awesome. Now I've got to go clothes shopping so I can be MTV ready - disclaimer that they'll kick you out if you're not hip and 'club ready' or formal. No wearing white. Wow.
I keep on thinking of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer is a seat filler at the Oscars and is filling a seat when he gets swept up on stage and parties like it's 1999. Maybe I could at least sit next to Jack Nicholson or something - wouldn't that be sweet?
Pic that I submitted...
Friday, May 23, 2008
May gray is in full effect in san diego! The wind is blowing, it's
even raining and the temp must be almost in the 50's! Oh, the horror
- no balmy memorial day weekend here! Just makes last weekend so much
rarer - sunny and warm for the bday was sooooo appointed.
even raining and the temp must be almost in the 50's! Oh, the horror
- no balmy memorial day weekend here! Just makes last weekend so much
rarer - sunny and warm for the bday was sooooo appointed.
--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Sunday, May 18, 2008
31. 31 and better than ever!
Yep, I’m pretty sure this is gonna be one of my best years ever. Life is just so great right now. Work is good. Play is good. Sun is shining. Learning how to surf, gonna play a little more volleyball, gonna put a couple more miles on the bikes. Getting nominated for random awards at work – all due to the heavy load I took on to get that system (successfully) fielded out in Hawaii. More confident than ever. And 31 is great. I remember turning 30 and feeling all boo hoo about “getting old” and bs like that. Oh, so sad – poor old me – gone are the 20’s. But that was all make believe in the first place, and 30 turned out to be just fine and just kept getting better. Now it’s 31 and I’m super stoked. Sure, the 20’s were great. They were great for that time, but now I’ve got all that experience and life isn’t slowing down at all. Probably the only thing I’ve lost is that I don’t heal quite as fast as I used to, but I still heal from injuries just fine. But what I’ve gained along the way is a sort of extra poise. Un petit je ne sais quoi, so to say. Just a more refined version of myself, I guess. Gave myself “The Essential Sly & the Family Stone” for my birthday – Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Again).
Birthday
Woke up and got breakfast – pancakes, bacon and eggs – from my favorite diner, the Old Townhouse Restaurant.
Morning surf session right here in OB. The sun was shining and the water was warm, so I didn’t even need a wetsuit!
Hung out at the beach and watched a beach volleyball tournament – mmmmmm, women’s beach volleyball.
Did a little backyard gardening – the hibiscus are getting huge – just planted almost 3 years ago.
Went for a nice hour and a half bike ride on the La Jolla – PB loop. Happy happy beach ride in the sunshine.
Rack of ribs for dinner at Phil’s BBQ – oh, so good…
Wrote a little bloggy and read a little Fountainhead.
Appointed.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
In san diego and it’s no better. Realization that I hate the bar scene. You’re an idiot! Not me – that other guy. Yeah, whatever. You’re not so much better yourself, for that matter. I’m reading the fountainhead right now, and it’s really not helping. FU ayn rand – I love you. I love it – it’s me – but it’s not helping. I’m doing more at work and feeling happy about it – split ip was a success – Hawaii was really nice – but the bar scene is just as bad as ever. I simply can’t turn off my brain. I think, I think, I think. And the rest just seem to go with the flow – and not a good flow at that. I hear the jazz and it’s good. The tenor sax is there. I applaud. The soprano sax is even there and I even applaud at that – I hate the soprano sax. But it’s played so well and I can appreciate a good performance.
Smoking and I shouldn’t judge. Are you serious? Smoking is for fools. Whatever. If that’s what you really believe fine. Whatever. No, I won’t say that – I won’t do that – that’s stupid. Barrio Logan was last week – I was in Hawaii lying on the beach. Whatever. No worries – I’m 30 now – that’s when I said I would quit. Tomorrow is the Bakersfield master’s state champs road race. Whatever. Who cares anymore. It’s not my game anymore to play. My game has come to an end. The clock goes tick, tick, tick. If I was only back in engl 1002 I would have gotten an A. And I did? The gpa was boosted. Only I would care about something so trite. Whatever. Blah, blah, blah. Nothing new. Been there since forever and nothing really seems new.
But does it? Been to france. Been back. And now I’ll go back to france? For work? How ridiculous. I didn’t ask for it – I didn’t expect it – but I’ll take it. Maybe I’ll take a hiatus after the work trip just to prove a point. Mucha is different. Always has been, always will be. A hard worker, but a hard player too. not in the conventional club sense, but in the nonconventional F to the whole world I need my space sense. A harsh reality but I finally have the means. Give a man the means and you better watch out. Any liberal prof would applaud – would be in awe – the rest of the world – they scratch their heads in wonder. Why not make your money? Why not have a child? Why not seed your life? No. It’ll all come in time and no sooner. FU world – I’ll make my own way.
Tomorrow I learn to surf. Been living in san diego for almost 6 years now and never really been in the surf. Sure, there was that time last summer, but I didn’t really go through with it. Why? Dunno, but it just wasn’t there. I guess I was working too much... But now I’ve got the vavi sign up and I’ve got sat and sun for 2 weeks straight. Last lesson on my 31st birthday – may 18. Stupid. Ridiculous. Awesome. yes, I’ll finally embrace the sport of the kings. The sport of the beach. The sport of san diego. Only took me 5.8 years. Yeah, I’m a slow one sometimes, but I’m a persistent one. I have my own schedule.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
All I want to do is write. But then the block comes. Why? Why must you? Automatic. I stand in the wings and watch. Watch because the intoxication is leaving. And all I’m left with is reality. Not cold and harsh. Just unrelenting. Unrelenting reality. I enjoy watching. Not watching but observing. Observing the interaction. Seeing this one. Seeing that laugh. Seeing the ploy, the bait, the sign, the scoff, all of it. But I hate the scoff. Hooking my friend in to the system. Enjoying seeing the fruits. Not of my own, but of the other. Checking in now and then and feeling the satisfaction that one of us is making it in society’s eyes. I’m beginning to sober and it’s just not the same anymore. What was an easy stupid – hi – is now an indifference. An indifference to the cheapness of it all. Is this all we’re good for? Really? Why? We’re capable of so much more. Entertainment? Pleasure? Whatever – if you say so. Don’t ask me how the next day is. I want the higher. I’m bored – time to leave. I’ve set the boys up – they’re good for the night. Jack and coke – america’s drink. Maybe if you’re living in 1925 in Tennessee. Makes me sick. All I want to see is the streetwalkers. Not to use. Just to see their faces. The faces in the night. Coming on, yet sorrowful. You can see it in the hollowness. How can they be so pale? Do they see no daylight whatsoever? Last night in Hawaii and there I go – out the door – back to the mainland. Work email – why am I a slave? At what point did this become consuming? Truth is it was always consuming. Since forever. Not this, but that. not that, but the other. Always something. But now it’s this. Where will it lead? To a condo? To a 3-month hiatus? Truly no telling. It all seems so worthless sometimes. Seems that I could be replaced with a bumpkin. But could I really? I’m appreciated. Now they want to ‘reward’ me with a boondoggle 2-week france trip. How stupid. 99% complete. Email is also relentless. But then I answer – no, I’m not up early – I’m up late – just getting home – happy cinco de mayo.
Automatic writing – courtesy of andre Breton, surrealism and english 1002 – freshman year 1996
Friday, April 25, 2008
So I was flying up to san Francisco yesterday morning to catch a flight over to Honolulu for work. Anyway, on the flight up to sfo, I pretty much saw the last 5 or so years of my life flash before my eyes. No fright of death or anything like that – just flying over California waxing nostalgic.
Took off on a clear day out of sd, and saw the marines pt’ing it up at the marine corps recruit depot. Saw some running the obstacle course – I think they had their ‘kill’ faces on. The rest were doing pushups. Passed over ocean beach and wished it well – won’t be back for a week and a half or so.
Then I got in to reading the book I’m working on – ‘the dharma bums’ by Kerouac. Jack (ray in this book) had just finished Christmas mediations back at home in north Carolina and now he was back on the road hitching to California. He hitched, took a bus and stole aboard a train up to san Francisco – all to get up to meet his buddy at a cabin refuge before detail as a summer forest ranger began. Just jack and his rucksack. Made me reminisce on the days I spent in Europe back in ’99-‘00. Just me and my rucksack. Friends came, friends left – and I traveled and traveled. Somehow I fit grad school in around all that. What great times, though. I never hitched or rode boxcars, but boy were those some mad times. Saw it all on a shoestring and never had a care in my own dharma way. I started to wonder if I had lost the old spirit.
Just then I looked out the window and there was Hermosa beach, manhattan beach, el Segundo and LAX right below and another phase of life. Work. But not just work in san diego, this was the time I was on location in el Segundo back in ’04 and ’05 at the boeing plant – but still working for the navy – doing tests on the payload of a satellite that was set for launch in just a couple months. Usually when I think of that period I think of how stressed out I was with the work and how I wasn’t really able to do what i truly wanted to do at the time, which was train and race bikes. Instead, as we were flying over Hermosa I remembered the good times when steve, greg and I would go out to dinner after a hard day. We discovered some great places to eat up there and boy did we eat like kings. Just sticking our noses in the wind, pointing to a new place and saying, “yeh?” It was all on per diem, so there was never any heartache when the bill came – just the mild heartache that we had to go back to work the next day! A brief smile, but then I remembered how much of a godforsaken pit greater LA is. Oh…
By then we were just above LA and I saw the san gabriels out to the east. Snowboarding. It’s amazing to me – I only went snowboarding on 3 trips (10 days total) this season. Last season – ‘06/’07 – I did 45 days. Man, was I in to boarding back then. It was the new thing to do and it sure was fun – just different. At the beginning when I was still learning, I would ditch work on Wednesday for the mountain and then go back for more snow on Saturday or Sunday. The days in between were for letting the bruises subside! From the very beginning I had the crazy idea that I wanted to race snowboard cross (SBX). Absolutely ridiculous. Lots of people can be dreamers and visualize an end state of being, but it’s a lot less that actually go through with it and complete the journey. I can tell you the exact moment that I decided I wanted to try snowboarding, too. It was at the valley of the sun stage race (road bikes) in Feb ’06. We were watching the Olympics – of course – and SBX was on. The racers barreled down the hill like bats outta hell. Yeah, I had to do that. It’s still fun and I still love it, but for some reason I let work get in the way this year. I honestly can’t let that happen again.
Now we were over central California and I thought of merced and fresno. Great early season bike races about 5 hours drive from san diego. Sometimes I went to these races alone, sometimes with a friend and sometimes with a team. From ’03 all the way through ’06 these races – and bike racing in general – was pretty much all I had on my calendar. I remember my first year of racing in ’03, I traveled all over socal and central cal by myself – kind of a lone samurai bike racer. You know, I can tell you the exact moment that I thought I might want to try racing bikes, too. It was july of 2001, and I was traveling up the east coast from venice, fl to Philadelphia, pa to pursue rowing. I had just finished grad school, but was a bit out of sorts. I had just gotten a flush letter from TRW aerospace out in LA and I was questioning the whole engineering thing in general. So I decided that I was young and that I should move up to philly to see if I could ever make it as a rower. ‘Make it’ meaning making the national team, of course – there is no professional rowing circuit in the US. I was halfway up the coast and was staying with my dad in Wilmington, nc for a week or so. I was in no rush to get to philly – I think I took a month driving up the coast and staying with friends along the way – bumming it again. So I was at dad’s and wouldn’t you know the tour de france was on. I had lived in france and even been on the champs elysee when lance won his 2nd tour in 2000, but for some reason it just never resonated with me back then. But I was watching the TdF at dad’s in ’01 and all of a sudden I was hit with the enlightenment that “maybe I should try racing bikes? Bike racers get paid. Rowers don’t. could I be a bike racer?” and that’s about all it took. new circumstances and new notions. at that moment I decided that I would start in philly as a bike messenger with rowing on the side and try to find an engineering job – but in that economy there was no easy pipeline to engineering jobs, especially in philly. I started racing in philly, but it’s when I moved out to san diego in july ‘02 that I really took the plunge.
And all of a sudden we were touching tarmac in san Francisco – time to keep this ball rolling out to Hawaii for work…
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
ding! dong! the witch moved out!!!
So my crazy neighbor, Dorothy, moved out! And I think there’s a real chance that she might have just been sent straight to the looney bin, too! Awesome! all I know is that when I got back from vegas on Sunday afternoon the door to her apartment was wide open, the shades were up, and the ‘handyman’ was making the place ready for new occupancy – totally empty place. Wow. And I mean wow. Ever since Dorothy went crazy it’s been such a hassle to live next to her – pretty much had to avoid any eye contact with her and just pretend she wasn’t there.
Ahhhhhhhhh, hopefully a crazier person won’t move in to replace her…
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
cooper resurrection, part uno
Officially got the cooper the day after easter, and it was good… the cooper is risen. It is risen indeed! Yeah, the clutch has a totally different feel now which is a bit unfortunate – the original one had a nice feeling of resistance, but the new one just feels flimsy. Oh, well, just takes getting used to. The tranny shifts beautiful and I’m totally stoked to have the coop back. Not like I wouldn’t have been able to get by without that little guy or anything, but man do I like to drive it. As dad said, money comes and money goes, cars come and cars go – either decision is the right one – no need to fret. So I chose to put the cooper back on the road and just ride it out. Looking forward to rejuvenation part dos, which will be the tires and brakes. Part triple is that I ordered an extensive service manual for the c ride – need to replace a window motor on the drivers side so the luscious locks can blow free in the cool California breeze… think I’ll do that one myself.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
cooper dooper
Just gave aamco the word to *GET ON IT*
Looking forward to doing some donuts with my brand new transmission
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
not so cooper-ific
I guess I’m considering just ditching the mini.
Got the verdict from aamco:
New transmission = $4026.19
New clutch = $396.65
Trans fluid = $59.28
Labor = $1056.00
But there are also things that I had put off – my estimates:
New tires (4 run-flats [cooper has no spare]) = $800
Brake job = $200-400
Alignment = $50
Looking at a total of around $6800… but what’ll break next on the cooper? It almost seems like just ditching it and getting a quality used car makes more sense. But I really do love that little cooper, though. Makes me feel completely rotten.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
double a - honk honk - mco
so aamco looked at it this morning, and their estimate is 15.8 hours of labor to get the transmission out, then find out what parts they need, then put it all back together – humpty dumpty style. $88/hour – that’s higher than even my OT rate. So $1390.40 for labor, then parts will be extra. Talk about suckage. My lil’ cooper – why?
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
leaves and papers
So I was sweeping the leaves from the breezeway in front of our bloc of apartments. 4 apartments in a row – 2077, 2079, 2081 and 2083. 2077 is closest to the street (Crazy Dorothy) and I’m in 2079. Anyway, there’s a big tree right between 2077 and 2079 and it’s constantly dropping leaves. I felt like sweeping them off the way – why not – water the flowers then sweep the leaves. So I was sweeping the leaves and came to dorothy’s place. I swept the breezeway, but didn’t sweep her stoop – thought she might have an aneurism and go demento on me. So that was like a 5 minute deal, but just then my other neighbor Nicole (2081) came up the breezeway and we talked for a couple minutes about our landlord’s decision (just on Monday) to install a centralized mailbox unit with locks on each apt’s mailbox. (we’ve all got little mailboxes next to each of our doors, but they don’t have locks, so apparently they’re not secure enough…) anyway – talk, talk, talk, and that’s that. Go inside and not a second after I get in do I hear “click, squeeeeak, sweep, rustle, sweep, rustle, sweep, rustle, slam! Click!” i come back out to put some soil/mulch around a little hibiscus plant, and what do I see? Yeah, Dorothy pretty much hates me, so she swept the leaves that I had swept onto the dirt back onto the breezeway in front of her apt. that’s awesome. she didn’t sweep any in front of my apt, so that’s cool, except that the way the ocean breeze blows, the leaves in front of her door will simply end up in front of my door. Yeah, awesome. and you know she was counting the seconds from the time I swept near her apt to the time she could get out there and ‘set it straight’.
But then again, maybe it was just the zen in her coming out… you see, in the monasteries they have to clean, clean, clean, right? Always keep it tidy. Submit to the manual task, etc. focus on the present, find the joy in the task at hand, etc. so I was reading that after they spend hours – maybe all day – sweeping the pathways around the monastery, they then sprinkle a little dirt and drop a couple leaves here and there… The point of that is to illustrate that nothing is perfect, everything is transient, etc. maybe Dorothy just wanted to demonstrate that? Yeah, NO.
p.s. while writing this, a new paperboy (actually middle-aged lady) came by asking if I wanted to subscribe to the paper, it was such a great deal, yada, yada. She, of course, knocked on dorothy’s door first – for a minute – no answer. Knocks on mine and I kindly say no, I read the news online, but thanks for asking. She trails off with how she understands, but man is it a great deal… doesn’t go to my other 2 neighbors, cause no lights on. Walking back to the street and I guess Dorothy poked her head out to spy, cause I hear the paperlady ask – hey, are you interested in the paper? Snarl! Maybe just the weekend then – Saturday and Sunday? SNARL! SNARL! Heh, heh, oh okay, have a nice evening…
yep, gotta love that Dorothy.
p.p.s. haven’t done anything with the mini yet – just been wishing it would go away, but of course it won’t I know. been taking the bus to work, which is no problem – just a 20 minute ride down the street. Guess I’ll call up the mini dealer in Escondido tomorrow to see what can be done…
Monday, March 10, 2008
mini catastrophe
So my car last night decided it was time to take a break.
Or maybe just break.
I had just picked up sean at his place in northpark to get down to the bad religion concert downtown and was not more than 2 and a half blocks down the street when the transmission completely seized up, leaving about 3 car lengths (maybe 4 car lengths in mini distance) of rubber on the road. No anti lock brakes, cause the brakes weren’t stopping the car – it was totally the tranny refusing to turn. Yeah, no good to say the least. Couldn’t even roll the car in neutral – the front wheel drive was just locked – so I called triple A right away and got a tow… 2 and a half blocks back to my friend’s house to his driveway. Didn’t have time to tow it back to OB or we’d miss the show! Anyway, now I’ve got to get this thing fixed, and I’m pretty sure it’s not just the clutch, so $$$ here we come. Not sure whether to take it to a mini dealer or try to find a reputable shop. Pretty lucky though, cause we totally could have gotten rear-ended when the car screeched to a halt. Doubly lucky that it didn’t happen on the highway that I was traveling on at 70 miles/hour just before I got to sean’s…
Look close and you can see the skid marks.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
shows and blogs
So I went to see ‘the aggrolites’ last night with my buddy sean. Pretty sweet show – it was a small venue and we were about 20-30 feet from the stage. The volume was a bit excessive… and that’s not just me getting old. The show was at canes over in mission beach, and it’s a fairly notoriously loud place – my audiologist friend recommended I take the little foam ear protectors, but of course I forgot. I don’t think I lost *too* many decibels of hearing last night…
Also going to see ‘bad religion’ on Sunday night at the house of blues downtown – definitely need to remember the foamies for that one…
One last thing – my very own mom has jumped into the blogging landscape – she’s on my list as ‘the cleaning lady’ – nice!
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
secrets and personalities
So I got fingerprinted yesterday at work. Good? Bad? Depends on how you look at it. I’ve currently got “secret” clearance at work – pretty much everyone does. We deal with somewhat sensitive national security information, etc. anyway, I asked for clearance to “top secret” stuff at work. Figured that if I ever decided to leave the government for another job, then it would be worth some extra $$$ to have TS clearance. Plus, there’s stuff at work that I could help out in if I had ts clearance. So anyway, now I’ve got to go through a whole background check over again (had a basic one for my secret clearance back in 2002). Places I’ve lived, people I’ve known, jobs I’ve worked, where I’ve gone to school, etc, for the last 10 years. Supposed to take 6-9 months to do the background check. Blah. They even ask you – several times – if you’ve ever tried to overthrow the government, been a member of a group that’s plotted to overthrow the government, or ever contributed to a group that’s tried to overthrow the government. Wow. With TS clearance also comes the extra joy of random drug testing, so I guess no more using the drugs that I never used in the first place…
So today we had an “offsite” for work. We get off the base for the day and talk about the organization, do team building exercises, etc. anyway, a major component of the day was a Meyers-briggs test. I think the last time I took this was back as an undergrad at Tech, and I’m pretty sure back then my result was ISTJ. That’s pretty much the standard result for engineers. Introverts who process data and come to logical conclusions and make decisions. Not sure how strong I was in the categories – that was a while ago. anyway, with this go around I scored kind of down the middle, but slanted to INFP. Kinda weird, but things do change, and wow, since the last time I took the test I was 18 and a freshman at tech – well, there’s been a couple changes. Mainly the time in Europe, philly and various ups and downs of working for the govt… anyway, maybe I’ll take the test again soon just to see if I can validate the results.
But a snippet from infp:
“INFPs are open-minded, idealistic, insightful, and flexible individuals who want their work to contribute to something that matters. They enjoy working by themselves or in small groups where they can be creative.”
Sunday, March 02, 2008
So I was trying to find an old college transcript – a group at work needs it so they can verify some of the economics classes I took as an undergrad (and management classes as a grad student) in order to certify me as an “acquisition professional”… whoop dee doo, right? Well, maybe it’ll be worth extra money to be certified if I decide to find a job somewhere else, so why not. Anyway, searching for an old transcript – I know I kept at least 1 copy of my full education.
Of course, it’s always the very last place you look. But I must have looked through all my papers from the last 7 or 8 years getting there. Saw an photo montage of “Georgia tech crew 2001” – I was sitting 6 seat in the boat - kind of hunched over adjusting my shoes – and you could just see the mass of muscle in my shoulders and back jumping out over me. Pretty weird thinking of how all that muscle evaporated when I started racing bikes so much. And of course there’s all my old course notes from grad school when I was in france. The classes at GTL were – whatever – but then I saw my old notes from the classes I took at supelec – the French engineering university – and I just shuddered thinking about those days. Man, I really struggled in those classes. luckily, most of the concepts in computer engineering were founded in America, but the courses were all taught in French and that - well, that’s what I signed up for. I had only had 2 quarters of French before I went to france – I didn’t have to start taking courses in French right away, but I was never really good enough to speak academically. But I got by and passed and graduated. Then I saw some of my old dispatch logs from when I was a messenger in philly, found my orders from the govt to go from philly to san diego to start work, etc. saw some old resumes. Then I came across the old paperwork I was drafting up to submit a patent application with my buddy josh vose. Sadly, I never completed and filed the patent – just got too bogged down in searching for an engineering job (when I was still a messenger) and then just dropped the ball when I made the move out west. That’s something I need to pick back up, and vose is trying to get my ear for a new idea, too.
Anyway, the coup de gras, as they say was when I finally found my transcript in a folder labeled “job opportunities”. The first half of the folder had bio’s for the past 3 or 4 classes of astronauts – I was trying to find patterns in hiring. Then there was the fax paperwork for me accepting my job at spawar out here in san diego. However, immediately before the fax paperwork was a paper that I do remember scribbling down, just not exactly when. It was me doing a pro/con analysis of bike courier vs engineer written back in early 2002:
Bike Courier
Pros
Get in good biking shape
Possibly great weather
“Extreme”
Interesting people?
Feeling of “independence”
No hard interview
No dress code
Cons
Fairly low pay (shabby apt, little travel, little food)
No insurance
Dangerous job
Possibly miserable weather
Overtraining?
No good for Astronaut
No internet during day
Not using brain (remember Reid)*
Not prestigious for parents
Engineer
Pros
High pay – Good apt + food + travel
Mentally challenging
Not outside (bad weather)
Physical recovery time
Internet usage – email on downtime
Prestige for parents
Advance to Astronaut
Cons
Possible dress code
Not outside (good weather)
No physical workout
Not interesting people?
Hard interview
Commute?
*My buddy Chris Reid was musing at the time (or just before) about how he felt like he was just “spinning his wheels” collecting a paycheck at his job.
So there you have it. But there was just a bit more, written upside down (just with the page flipped around) at some later date
Future thoughts
HQT
Acting?
Helicopter?
Pilot?
Friday, February 29, 2008
garden of the gods
So things wrapped up early yesterday at the conference and I was able to make it out to the garden of the gods – a pretty sweet city park out in Colorado springs - before my flight. Took some photos, but they didn’t come out so well – that camera phone is seriously dying on me. Guess it’s time to get a new one – it’s about 2 and half years old or so… anyway, the park was awesome, and the weather was awesome – it was mid 60’s and there were giant rock formations, etc. such clean air. didn’t have time to drive up to pike’s peak, but the road wasn’t open to the top anyway (closed about 3 miles from the top) so that’s no big deal. Uneventful flight back to san and met up with filer for some sweet ribs from phil’s. man, those ribs just want to get in your mouth, they fall off the bone so easily.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
da springs
so I’m out in Colorado springs this week for work. Blah. It turned out to be horrible timing for a trip, as my buddy filer is in san diego this week for *his* work. Yeah, he does fiber optic stuff and has a conference to attend downtown. I got to hang out with him on Sunday for a bit, but then I had to fly out on Monday and won’t be back til thurs. he flies out on Friday, so maybe we can get together again before he leaves town… anyway, the meetings here in the springs are going ok, but there’s way more pressing work back in san diego still… yeah, work. Blah. Anyway, here’s the view from my hotel – it’s pretty sweet.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
brand new bike
So I got jason a mountain bike for Christmas – he’d been wanting one. Anyway, I didn’t actually have it at Christmas yet, plus it woulda been a serious hassle ($$$) to haul it out to florida then haul it back to denver and all. So anyway, I’ve been sitting on it for awhile, cause it came in a box - mostly assembled - but required to a little put together. So I finally got it out to him and put it together. Pretty sweet, if I do say so myself. His place in saint Louis is a bit out in the suburbs, and there’s some wilderness-like areas around, so hopefully he can find some cool trails to ride on. Word.
Monday, February 18, 2008
my crazy neighbor
So my next door neighbor, Dorothy, has gone crazy… again.
Yep, again. The first time was on labor day of 2007 – so just a little over 5 months ago. she called me a spy for the bush administration, said that I should return her son to her, yeah crazy. Anyway, she actually got committed to a mental hospital for a week or 2. She came back and was never the same again. Now, on that labor day when she went crazy I was really rattled by it all. I mean, Dorothy had generally been a nice old lady, but then she went weirdo. I was actually kind of living in fear of her for a couple days until she got carted off to the looney bin – then i just felt sad for her. When she got back from the asylum, or wherever she was taken, she basically kept to herself and was skittish. I never tried talking to her again. Oh, well.
So yesterday I got home from st Louis, and kate picked me up at the airport and dropped me off at home. We’re sitting in her truck talking outside the apartments for a minute, then I get out and walk up the breezeway. Dorothy’s place is the first along the breezeway (right by the street), then mine’s the second, then there’s 2 more. Anyway, I pass dorothy’s and she opens her door (but keeps the metal grate outer door shut) and says, “Jeremy Mucha. You should be ashamed of yourself. Spying. You’re better than that.” Yep, that’s what she said. I just looked her in the eye, smiled, and walked on by. There she was, gone off the deep end again. Awesome. Later on in the day I heard the guys from the 4th apartment coming home, and Dorothy told them, “yeah, you just keep on taking your drugs. Keep on taking your steroids.” Now that guy got really offended and was about to have words with Dorothy but of course she slammed her door shut and then the guy’s friend told him to leave it alone and just forget about it. Double awesome.
So today I’m cleaning up my place and moving some things out to the garage, some out to the shed, etc. now we’ve all got little private back patios at this complex. Anyway, I was putting this poker chip case in my shed on the back patio, and the moment I open the shed, Dorothy knows I’m out there, so she climbs up on a chair in her bedroom which can look over the fence and into my back patio. Ridiculous. I put the chip case in the shed and close the door. I looked her in the eye and said “Hi” then went back inside and shut my patio door. Just as I was getting inside, she says “Bye” and that’s it. Triple awesome. Who’s spying on whom now?
So I honestly don’t know how this thing is going to play out. I don’t think she would deliberately try to hurt anyone, but you never know. I just wish she would be carted off to the asylum again.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Hmmm not looking too good on the flights today. I route through
chicago to san. All but 1 of the chicago flights were cancelled but
I'm on the flight. Apparently ord is under ice but we're flying there
anyway? Hmmmm. We just had a freakish monsoon rain shower here on the
tarmac at stl, but now the sun is out shining brighter than ever!
Capt advises it'll be a "rough" flight with turbulence. Awesome. When
they actually warn you about it you know it's serious. We're in a crop
duster.
chicago to san. All but 1 of the chicago flights were cancelled but
I'm on the flight. Apparently ord is under ice but we're flying there
anyway? Hmmmm. We just had a freakish monsoon rain shower here on the
tarmac at stl, but now the sun is out shining brighter than ever!
Capt advises it'll be a "rough" flight with turbulence. Awesome. When
they actually warn you about it you know it's serious. We're in a crop
duster.
--
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Saturday, February 16, 2008
So if you haven’t gotten the idea yet, I kinda like bbq. Especially ribs. Mmmmmm bbq ribs. So now we’re in st. Louis and we’ve got to make up for last night’s sub-par bbq dining experience. Super smokers bbq in st Louis. Apparently they won the world championship of bbq in Memphis for a couple years in a row. Oh, yeah, that’s appointed – time for dinner.
O'fallon, Ill
1326 - arrived at jason's new locale
He's signing the final papers then we'll start unloading...
Final stats:
880.6 miles traveled
65.1 mph ave
31.8 mpg ave
Jason's car has a little onboard computer, so that's where all the
numbers came from - trust me I didn't crunch em...
--
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Friday, February 15, 2008
Post ribs - all in all they were decent ribs. Not the magical kansas
city ribs I was hoping for, but they still hit the spot. Arthur
bryant's bbq was the place. Ribs were a bit dry. Not falling off the
bone or anything - actually almost had a jerky taste to them... But
then again we showed up at the place at closing time. Kinda like the
good old days at brittain dining hall. Even had to take the food to
go - couldn't eat at the resto. actually in hindsight I'm just glad
we didn't get carjacked - it was that kind of neighborhood...
city ribs I was hoping for, but they still hit the spot. Arthur
bryant's bbq was the place. Ribs were a bit dry. Not falling off the
bone or anything - actually almost had a jerky taste to them... But
then again we showed up at the place at closing time. Kinda like the
good old days at brittain dining hall. Even had to take the food to
go - couldn't eat at the resto. actually in hindsight I'm just glad
we didn't get carjacked - it was that kind of neighborhood...
Motel 6 for the night just east of kc.
--
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Coffee again...
So a couple of hours ago we crossed in to kansas. Wouldn't you know
there was a huge sign:
there was a huge sign:
Free coffee at welcome center!
I hung my head in sorrow
--
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Movin the bro
Yes, its spelled thou. Not though. Please don't smite me down.
So I flew in to denver yesterday to help my brother move out to st
louis. We went out to grab a bite to eat last night - I looked up on
the web a cool organic funky kind of punkish type place. We get there
and its totally decked out for valentines. punks at alentines but then
half the crowd is the uppity uppity dressed bit that must have heard
they've got good food at this place. I was willing to give the
'romantic valentines dinner' a go, but jason vetoed it on account of
the string music recording in the background. Alas, no good punk food
to be had...
So we ate at a different vege place instead and all was good.
Today we're getting a bit of a late start but driving for 10 or 12
hours toward st louis. Big fun! Unfortunately, its a caravan. Jason
drives the moving truck and I drive his car. Apparently his car won't
fit on a trailer very well. Oh well, just makes for a less exciting
drive as I was hoping to talk to the bro.
--
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Tuesday, February 12, 2008
oh coffee, why hast though forsaken me?
So I’m beginning to think this giving up coffee for lent thing was a big mistake. I had a mini-freakout episode this morning – but it was only in my head. I was eating a pop tart for breakfast at the office and all I smelled was coffee – everywhere! Coffee, coffee, coffee… I had to take a break and get a mountain dew just to take my mind off it. Wow, that sucked.
So the whole Lenten season is supposed to help Christians identify with Jesus’ 40 days of fasting in the desert as well as the 3 temptations by the devil. Pretty sure I’m there. Should’ve given up cauliflower instead.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
lent
So I decided I’m going to give up coffee for Lent. I haven’t really observed Lent in years, but I figured it was a good time to get back in the swing. And coffee – man, that’s kind of a biggee. Sometimes I feel like I’ve got an iv bag of that stuff that I carry around. I was briefly considering giving up caffeine in general, but I seriously think I’d have trouble getting just about anything done at work. So just no coffee. No tasty tasty coffee. Guess I’ll have to drink more red bull instead. Look out, world…
Friday, February 08, 2008
well I figure it’s time to get back to writing my thoughts down
it’s been a hell of a past 6 months
riding bikes – much less racing – is a total foreign concept
work is pretty much around the clock
mr. reid, whom I always thought of as my 2nd father, passed away back in December
barely even snowboarding this season due to that work thing again
and then there’s girls. wtf.
guess i just haven’t fell like writing, but I think I’m back
yeah, i’ll be back
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