Cheese & Running

Last night, Barb and I went on the first of my long training runs. It went pretty well! I ran about 5.4 miles in 59 minutes so that is slightly under an 11 minute mile average. I am happy with that right now. My legs are a little sore today though; 5.4 miles is a lot for me. I think I’ll be ready for the Cherry Blossom. It’s almost double what I ran yesterday, but I could have run further last night and it’s at sea level.

After running went to Costco and bought 15 boxes of Mac & Cheese…..not an exaggeration. Sadly, it will probably be gone within a month and a half. Mmmmmm powdered cheese!

R2D2's Progeny

Wow, it’s like someone is reading my mind. For those of you that have been to my parent’s place in Mexico, you know we named our friendly, sliver cooler on wheels R2D2.
Check out this article; it’s like someone has tapped into our minds and executed our thoughts..........freaky!

The article is compliments of Mr. Barbeau:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8642

Great Musician, Great Words

Mike Doughty is one of my favorite musicians. In one of his songs he uses the word "decathecting". I am no english major, but I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't know what this means. Below is a definition provide on www.mikedoughty.com
Turns out it's a great, made-up word.

...................................................................................
What does "decathecting" mean?
We get a lot of emails here at Mike Doughty HQ asking what the word “decathecting,” from the bridge section of “Looking at the World from the Bottom of a Well,” means.

Our good friends at Dictionary.com define the verb “cathect” as meaning “To invest emotional energy in (a person, object or idea).” So “decathecting” would then be the divestment, or letting go, of said emotional energy.

Geekin’ out—FOR THE FANS!

HQ

Faster than the speed of............a turtle

This weekend I kick into high-gear with training for the Cherry Blossom 10 mile run Barb and I are doing in April. For those of you who are runners, 10 miles probably doesn't seem like that far, but for me it might as well be a marathon. I am not a runner by nature. The type of races I am best at are boat races, the drinking kind. I can usually run about 3 miles and then I am done. I think I can do this though. I have been getting in better shape over the last year and every race I have run in, I have increased my speed. However, my races are mostly 5ks, 4mile runs and one 10k, The Bolder Boulder. So this is a loooooooong run. My goal is to finish the race, I would prefer to run it no slower than 11 minute miles, but we'll see. Anyway, this weekend we are starting with a 5 mile run, not too much for most, but a pretty good distance for me. My "coach".....Barb......is pretty good at helping me keep going, she'll probably run about 10 miles before our run so she can treat the 5 mile as a cool down :) Wish me luck with the training!

I really, really, really, really, really want a puppy.....she said

If any of you have met Barb, you know that she is very focused and knows what she likes and doesn't like. When she gets an idea in her head, it doesn't go away. Don't get me wrong, part of the reason I love her is because she is very opinionated and knows who she is. Sometimes though, logic doesn't rule; for example.....Puppies

She wants a puppy so much. I love dogs and would like to get one when the timing is right, however below are 4 reasons why I don't think we can get a puppy right now.

1. We have no yard. Although it would be tiny now and doesn't need a lot of running space, I think it's cruel to have a dog and not allow it to have a backyard to run around in all day.
2. Barb already has a dog. She has an Australian Shepherd, Bomboo, who lives at her mother's house. However, she live with her mother because she is insane and continually tries to eat me. Apparently I am very tasty.
3. Since we both work, no one will be at home with it for the first 2 months. That time is really important for socialization and I don't think a puppy should be alone all day during that time.
4. Puppies are expensive and we are trying to save money right now.

So as much as I would love to get a dog right now, it just doesn't make sense.

At the same time, check out these golden puppies that are available right now. They are hard to resist.

By the way....here is her quote from this morning....
"I just want a HUGE dog that weighs more than me! Is that so wrong? Think how cute it would be."

I think.....err I hope.......she was kidding.

The Digital Ball & Chain

In light of the recent rejection by the Supreme Court to hear the copy write infringement ruling against In Motion Ltd, the company responsible for Blackberries, you have to ask: Is the world a better place without Blackberries?

True they are very convenient for getting your emails, surfing the internet or talking on the phone simultaneously in any location, but do we really need to be that connected? If you ask any of my friends that have one they’ll say “Yes, of course it is.”, or rather, “Yes”…..a pause to quickly check an email and respond and then continue……”of course it is.”

Like a cell phone, I think you become addicted to the ability to always be connected, you never miss a call, an email or a breaking news story. But at the same time, you are ALWAYS connected. It seems to me, almost like a digital ball and chain. You can always be reached by work, or your mother or an annoying friend you’re avoiding.

True, it’s great, at the drop of a hat, to be able to find out a sports score or who was the actor that played Blossom’s best friend, Jenna Van Oy by the way, but how annoying is it to be in mid-sentence when someone stops engaging you and checks a new text message they received?

I’m sure that when I get a blackberry, I will become an addict like everyone else, but it’s just a question to ponder before I go to the dark side……or should I say blackberry side.

Poetry....I think not

To get in touch with my Japanese Ancestry, I have taken up Haiku, tell me what you think?

A Haiku for Barb
This speedy lady
Running always, day and night
She can’t get enough

A Haiku for Snowboarding
Roaring down the hill
Wind is blowing, face is cold
Smash! One more bruised rib

A Haiku for Ketchup
This tomato sauce
No condiment is better
Than lovely ketchup

I can't feel my face cold

Holy Shit… I have spent many cold winters in Minnesota but this blows that out of the water.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WEATHER/01/20/russia.cold.ap/index.html


So I have a simple question to pose to Conner…….
Why do you visit this bastion of ice so often?

I know they have excellent vodka and the legal age of consent is 15, thinking pre-Jenna of course, but that is just silly cold.

Wouldn’t it be much better to have an infatuation with a country like Tahiti or The Virgin Islands?

Running in circles????

Looking back at my 6 ½ years in the working world, I realize that I have added slim to no value to most of my clients/employers. Here is a quick synopsis

First at Anderson Consulting/Accenture I worked on 4 projects in my 4 years there.

Large billing replacement for Telco
The project was cancelled as the company was bought by another company that didn’t think billing was important. I think this should have been a little red flag as the CEO of this company is most likely headed to prison for insider trading

Siebel Implementation for a start-up SAN
The project was completed; however the company went out of business within 6 months of the go live. This company received 20 million in capital investment and blew it all on expensive consultants, high salaries and hot, new hardware and software. The problem was they didn’t have a clear business plan or a defined customer base.

Siebel Implementation for a subsidiary of a Telco
The project was cancelled as the subsidiary we were working for was shut down due to lack of market share. Again, lots of cash with no business plan or analysis of a customer base.

Siebel Implementation for a satellite television company
Worked on 2 systems, one of which went live and is still in production, the second was cancelled after the prototype phase.

Value Added: 9 months


Then I moved on to Level 3; for 10 months of the 18 months I worked at Level 3, I worked on an OE Entry system. It was, of course, cancelled.

Value Added: 8 months


Then I went to my current company. Everything started off well and I was able to design, develop and implement enhancements for 4 months. Great start right……..For the last 7 months though, our leadership has changed their minds 3 times and have shelved everything my whole team has done 3 different times.

Value Added: 4 months


So basically, over the last 6 years, I have added value for 21 months. That is crazy! I have learned a bunch and have been able to teach and mentor others, so I don’t consider the time wasted, but it just shows a good picture of how wasteful large corporate America is.

Who’s ready to open up that tiki bar in Tahiti with me?

Potential Career Changes

One of the issues with being in IT development is that occationally you are on call. This weekend I was on call, now in the past I have never been awoken with a page in the middle of the night, so I figured if I went to the mountains, there was a slim chance I would get paged at night. Yea, I know, you can guess what happens next.....

Murphy's Law, of course I got a page at midnight on Saturday. I was able to resolve it, with the help of a teammember that I had to wake up, but it sucked. I hate IT. Here are some alternative careers I was thinking about......

1. Britney Spear's husband - I think KFed is on his way out, so if I just start rapping really badly, impregnating women and then leave them after spending all their money, I have a pretty good chance. Just embrace the trailer park
2.President of the United States - I think I can take the criticism that goes with it as long as I can also have the 2 months of vacation, a vice president that makes all the decisions and the complete certainty that I am always right. Plus I can annunciate correctly.
3.A Homeless Man - The easiest way to sleep in late and drink all day

Here's To Not Having an Ignominous Year

Happy New Year, I hope you are all having a wonderful New Year. So far so good for me.

Although I believe that New Year's Resolutions are only made to be broken, I have decided to give in to popular culture, which I usually do, and make a few new year's resolutions.

1. Buy a new house, Barb and I are looking to buy a house this spring, partially because I want to sell my place and Barb wants to start building some equity, but also because we want a dog. Silly reason I know, but it's just an extra perk of living in a place with a yard.
2. Sell my car. I hate the Jetta, always have. Time to get rid of it.
3. Run a 10 mile race, unfortunately this will be happening in April :( I hate running, but I have to do it.
4. Read more, Me feels ignorant cause i ain't reading much. By doing this I can expand my vocabulary and use such words and ignominy

Quotes from the ski house form New Year's Weekend....Well actually just one, the others I had just didn't compare to this one

B: Does it get it done for you if a girl swallows?
S: It's not that, I just like to keep the sheets clean.