So I’m walking down Bacon St to meet some friends at Blue Parrot for margaritas and Mexican food.  Get to the alley between Newport and Niagara and there’s a car trying to cross Bacon St.  I wait for a second to give them the moment to cross – it’s a Sebring convertible with a dude and his chick just trying to find some parking.   The car crosses, and they pass me – give a quick head nod – then brakes.  They bust out in full applause.  I give a Mona Lisa smile and carry on.

Did I mention I was wearing these?

bye bye hi

from sunday morning

------------------------------

"Every breath you take… Every move you make…" But in muzak.
"Welcome to the Los Angeles airport." Welcome to a musical travesty.

It's 5:40 AM and I'm returning from possibly my last trip to Hawaii
for a while. I've trained the Communication Station's staff and my
role as project manager is officially complete. In the past year I've
spent 54 days on O'ahu for work. Good times and bad times… I got to
surf Waikiki and the North Shore several times. I developed a closer
relationship with my cousin Kari and Matt, her husband. The work was
extremely stressful at times, but it's this work and the products from
it that netted me my promotion. The promotion is kind of a mixed bag
as well, though. Gone are the days of anonymity at work – now I'm a
lightning rod for engineering in the program office. All nice and
good – I like challenging work and being a leader – but the days of
Wednesday morning bike rides are gone, daddy, gone… Sometimes I'm
okay with that – I'm buying a plot of land by the beach and I'm
planning to renovate/demolish/build. I love to build and create. But
what happened to that carefree guy that came back from France with an
appreciation for working less and living more? What happened to the
bike messenger and racer? Now I feel like I'm racing up the corporate/
government ladder, but to what end? I love my life and what I've done
with it, but I occasionally wonder. Just because. It's my nature to
wonder and contemplate and dwell and think and do. Is this growing
up? Have I always been this serious? Am I still the Elf? The
pendulum is currently swinging in the direction of work and at times I
feel like the epitomy of a corporate douche bag (CDB), but I wonder
when will the pendulum swing back in the other direction? Will I race
bikes again? I enjoy riding, but the millstone of training was at
times too much for me. Will I race snowboards again? There was that
first season of about 50 days on the snow in 2006/2007, but since then
I've only done about 10 days a year. Will I continue with beach
volleyball and start to enter tournaments? Why is it always a race or
a competition for me? Or is racing and competition my form of
relaxation? Am I trying to prove something? Why is there always some
golden fleece that I'm searching for? What's next? When will I make
the next right turn and try something completely different?

"Hello… Is it me you're looking for?" But in muzak. "Welcome to the
Los Angeles airport."

Escrow in hyper drive!

Got an email this morning from my mortgage broker - he's from Countrywide [sic].

""
Jeremy,

Congrats!! Your offer just got approved and we need to close in two weeks.
Please call my assistant Brian to order appraisal. Call him at ........

Regards,
Christopher
""

2 weeks! Move in by April 1? WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!

The New House - A First Look

So I'm in to escrow!  The foreclosure bank took their 15 days - and then some...  I called on Tuesday and the Auction House said huh?  I called on Wednesday and the Auction House said huh?  I didn't bother calling on Thursday.  I called on Friday and the Auction House said BINGO!  Not just bingo, but that the offer was supposedly accepted on Wednesday - March 4.  Anyway, I guess we're in to escrow now...

 45 day period.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=69369&id=687120072&l=8ff48

That's a link to the first photos of the place.  Check out the insanity.  Master plans and scheming to follow later...

Sign of the Apocalypse

Surely this is a sign of the apocalypse.

I purchased a Mac tonight.

Yep, it's pretty unbelievable, but I finally took the plunge. For the
longest time, I actually thought Macs were just dumb. Well, not
really dumb - just impractical. I was brought up on a Commodore 64,
then an Amiga 500, then PC "clones"... The DOS days were fine, but
then came Windows and I mastered that and I was fine. I was an expert
and Microsoft was annoying, but I guess it was comfortable and that
was that. I could do anything I wanted in Windows and frankly - back
in those days - it looked like Apple would just go belly up anyway.
Of course, Apple eventually regained its footing and Microsoft got
steadily more annoying and I got to thinking... Maybe a Mac could be
cool and useful? It must have been their marketing. Not the Mac-PC
ads - none of that. But maybe their steady cultural marketing over
the years? Was it when I got my first Ipod that I thought I should
maybe try out a Mac? Dunno - I think it might have been right around
that time - back in 2004 or so?

Anyway - here I am. I'm having to learn all new keystrokes, all new
software and an all new operating system. And you now what? It's
exciting! I love challenges, and I'm a geek so there you go. Of
course - I'm taking this on just like anything else I do - full on
immersion. My "old" PC laptop was actually my work computer in my old
job (dual duty for work and home). Well, since I got promoted I have
to return it to my old department and I simply won't be getting a new
computer in my new department that I can take home for play. That's
not how they operate. So, it was decision time. I had to have some
sort of computer, so why not go and make the jump? Voila. Macbook
here we come.

OK - enough with the geeking.

On a different note - the HOUSE. I heard though the unofficial
grapevine of the Auction House that the seller "accepted" my bid.
Awesome! However, this is still "unofficial" and is not yet reported
as an "official" acceptance. Basically, the lady I've been in contact
with at the auction house got an email from the closing agent that my
bid was accepted, but that acceptance hasn't shown up in the official
computer records yet. Therefore............... it's not a done deal
and we haven't entered escrow yet, etc. BUT! there's good indication
that it will go through... :-)

March 1 and today was a total beach day. 79 degrees and blue skies – it pretty much doesn’t get any better than that out here… Went for a nice bike ride today and actually got a little sunburned. Pretty surreal since a whole lot of the rest of the country is under snow or just generally crappy weather.

Anyway, I bought a house.

But I haven’t really bought it yet.

It’s a bit complicated – kind of like pretty much everything I do… So I went to a foreclosure auction on 11 Feb down at the Marriott by the Harbor. There was this one house in OB that came up for auction at the last minute, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I honestly thought I’d be completely outbid, since I had a personal limit on what I was willing to “spend”, but in the end I came out the winner and even within budget! I totally had the “Oh, man, I just bought a house – what am I thinking?” moment when I won the auction, too. Following the win, I spent a couple of hours filling out paperwork to formalize the auction, etc. It was really weird – I later went out to celebrate.

But I haven’t really bought it yet. That’s why I haven’t really written anything about the house or posted pix, etc…

The property was “subject to seller approval”. That means that no matter what the property auctions for, the seller has 15 business days to either accept or reject that auction price. Now, the seller in this case is the bank (since it’s foreclosed) and I think their best interest would be to get the property off of their books, pretty much regardless of the cost – especially in the current economic environment – but you never know. I briefly thought that the seller had accepted the offer when I received escrow papers from the independent escrow company, but that was totally a false alarm. Bummer.

Anyway, there’s still no word from the seller. I called up the auction house for a status update on whether the selling bank was serious or not and the auction house said, “oh yeah, that particular agent has been extremely busy the past week. I’m sure they’ll get to you in the next couple of days…” Hmmmmmmmm. Well, depending on whether you count President’s Day or not, 15 days are up either this Wednesday or Thursday, so I guess it’s all about to go down. By the way, if the seller doesn’t respond in the 15 day window, then the default answer is NO. That would be a big time bummer as I’d have to restart the whole looking for a home process. Fingers crossed for it to go thru – then I’ll post some sweet pix and begin to formulate the MASTER PLAN!

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.

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…

 

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

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?

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.

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:

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…

 

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?

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...

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.

--
Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com

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.

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 31^st 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.

There’s nothing like staying in a nice hotel for 2 and a half weeks to make you realize how much of a dump you live in when you finally come home.  Wow, I should really clean that toilet.