2008!

Rum and Coke is da bomb!
I'm drunk, and still I can type. :-)
2 hours, 12 minutes til the new year.
I'm drunk, and playing bingo.

I'm drunk.

Happy New Year, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!

I'll drink 2 dat.

Done.

Drink, drank, drinking, drunk, drunker, drunked up.

Effin drunk. dat's me.

A toast! Let's drink!

Drunkedddd.

hPpy nwyr !!

puflish post.

Waning workouts

My gym workouts have dwindled to about 35 minutes x 2 days/wk these last two weeks. It's been just so difficult to make more time. Today, I felt my slacking off in the pain of my 24-min speed intervals session (level 14) -- I'd say "18" on the perceived exertion scale. I'll do the same session again on Thursday or Friday and take note of any endurance improvement. And hopefully, I'll workout longer. Tomorrow, I'll be lifting.

***

ps: With my baldness, I'm in need of some head warmth. And thus the 5-o'clock shadow, or goatee. Still a bit sparse, but me likee.

Photo storage

My new 120 gigabyte hard drive is now down to 16 gigabytes after only a few months. It's all due to the space being quickly taken up by our family digital pics and avi files.

And so Melinda and I have decided we need a new method of photo storage. Our answer is Flickr. We've had a "pro" account for some time now, but I really hadn't considered maxing it out for archiving full-resolution original photos.

This afternoon and evening, I uploaded 2 gigs of full-res shots, which took several hours. This week, I'll do some more reading on how to take advantage of my Flickr Pro account.

Thinking short term

My problem is that I think all projects, no matter how monumental, can be completed in 3 hours or less. So now I'm starting to feel swamped at work because it's quarter-end, the deadlines are just around the corner, products need to be shipped, and my focus is constantly being diverted by endless meetings and reams of paperwork.

"Calgon take me away!" Id est, I need to get to the gym. Tonight, I shall make it so.

Steady spinning & cholesterol

So I gave it a go yesterday. Thirty minutes on the stationary bike at the gym. A steady cadence of 96 rpm across levels 11 through 14. This is sort of the way my bike workouts have been for the past two months--lower intensity but faster spinning. A better deal for my foot. I'd say that I'm currently in maintenance mode until spring when I'll pick up the pace, and hopefully schedule some endurance events to take part in.

On a bad note, my cholesterol level is borderline high at 216. I rec'd my blood drive card last week from donating blood at work a month ago. The card listed my blood type and overall cholesterol level. I'll be receiving the full report, which shows the breakdown of my HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and other stuff, in the mail perhaps this week. Quite a bit disappointing since I thought I was taking care of myself rather carefully. I guess my family genetics is starting to show its influence (sigh).

BSG lesbo lovers rock!

Someone has got to give a raise to the guy who pitched the "lesbian" commercial during the Battlestar Galactica "Razor" episode last Friday. The station break immediately followed the implicit scene between the two women. Just 10 seconds and soooo funny:

"It's been revealed. Helena Cain and Gina Inviere are lovers. Brought to you by Quiznos."

Comet 17P/Holmes

So I saw the comet last night: 17P/Holmes. Space.com posted an article on it and I had to see if I could "naked eye" it from my backyard since the skies were clear. There was some light pollution from the moon and nearby Newark (boooo!), but there it was, below Cassiopeia and to the left of Mirfak. A fuzzy star-bright celestial body. Pretty cool.

Happy Halloween! :-)

Fix my g*dd*mn sole!

I've been so immersed in my new baby, my new job, and my year-long aching foot that I've pushed aside the workout interjections in my entries. Nonetheless, I really have been exercising.

Last Friday, Dr. W injected more cortizone into the heel of my foot. Geez, it grossed me out. I couldn't help but flinch. It went like this: he stuck in the needle, injected some juice, pulled out and reinserted at a different angle, injected more juice, pulled out and reinserted again, ... and again ... and again ... and again. Oh, and again. [wince]

The treatment was kinda like the way you would swish a drinking straw in an almost empty beverage container, searching for that last sip. But more painful.

The lesson for you all: for heaven's sake, have lots of sex / suck face take care of your plantar fascia!

"Math Doesn't Suck"

Thank you, Winnie Cooper Danica McKellar. I hope to give your book a read to get a glimpse of your "fun" perspective on arithmetic.

You go, Wonder Girl!

One, two, three, push!

She's here! She's here! She's here!

Sweet little Claire popped into the world Thursday afternoon. And after only less than three hours of labor -- a new family record! :-)

That's 6 lbs, 15 oz, and 20 inches of life-formed love.

Go baby go!

Pre-birth day

A cute little button and still in her mother's womb. This sonogram of little C's face was taken a week and half ago (Aug 6). Much sooner than that -- tomorrow, in fact -- she'll be popping out probably just around noon. Melinda is already at 40 weeks and at full term and still not contracting. Go figure.

Because of this and because she has gestational diabetes, she's scheduled to be induced soon after we check into the hospital bright and early at 7 am.

So yeah, tomorrow's the day. Baby 4 is on her way.

***

ps: We've already picked out the cutie's first name. Anyone want to take a guess? However, her middle name has yet to be decided, and my suggestion unfortunately has been denied by the mrs. (Sorry, Red Sonja 2.) So feel free to throw in your two cents.

Burning up the hills

A 39.5 mile hilly bike ride with Jay today. A casual conversational pace, as we normally prefer. Hit the road at 6:30 am, back at the parking lot at 9:30 am. And the whole day ahead to spend with our families. A transparent workout is what I call it; hardly anyone notices our time away. That's the way I like it -- minimal time impact.

The highlight of the ride was the culmination of my gym workouts in me tearing up the last and hardest hill of our route. A personal best as I perceived it -- upping to the big chainring and bigger gear ratio (53/19, I think), faster cadence, and a lower RPE of 13 (vs 20, last year). Yeah, baby!

Alpe d'Huez, here I come! :-)

My work toys

Yay, I get to play with a thinga-ma-scope! Actually, it's a portable patient monitoring device. And an ultra expensive one too. My coworker plopped it on top of my desk yesterday, since it'll be part of one of the projects that I'll be working on.

So I've been playing doctor with myself all yesterday and this morning. Been keeping my arm strapped to the device's accessories, which has been auto-reading my blood pressure and heart rate at intervals for hours. I averaged a BP of about 110/70 BP and a heart rate of 56 bpm. Ahhh, the cardiac benefits of road cycling are finally showing their colors. Now if only I could determine if my genetically ill-fated cholesterol level has lowered.

Can't wait to play with myself some more. ;-)

My career -- moving on

Yay, I got another job! A permanent position this time. With benefits. Yay, again! I start Monday.

It's been quite a busy few weeks. (I apologize for the lack of entries.) My consulting assignment ended today and I spent the afternoon sporadically visiting my coworkers' cubicles to say goodbye. I'd been consulting at that company since the end of February 2007.

Melinda says that I should have taken one or two days off before starting my new employment so we can have the family spend some time together. I agree, but after I set my starting date. What was I thinking?

Nonetheless, I'm excited. And Melinda and the kids are too. So celebrate we shall. Alrighty then ... Applebee's, here we come! :-)

Go job go!

Taking it up a notch

Finally bumped the LifeCycle up to its max level of 25 @ Hill Intervals, 36 minutes. In all the peaks, I kept my cadence at 51 rpm, to the beat of the song 19-2000 (soulchild remix) by Gorillaz. In all fairness, I think the the exercise bike really was outputting at level 21 or 22. At least it felt that way. Perhaps I should suggest to the gym manager that their bikes be tuned up or calibrated to provide accurate resistance. Or maybe I could be wrong and just got that much better.

Nonetheless, since I've maxed the hill levels, it's time that I start upping the rpm's.

BTW, this is a fitness plateau that I've focused on for a long while and worked really hard to reach. Glad I finally got there. Can't wait to see how it translates on the real roads.

Go bike go! And oh ... Happy 4th, yo!

Perkins Tower

I didn't finish the bike climb to Perkins Tower at Bear Mtn, NY yesterday. My friend Jim didn't have it in his lungs to make it all the way up. It was just too much for him.

Our group of 7 riders started at Mike's house, which was about 17 miles south from the peak. We biked 12 miles along the Hudson River through loads of rolling hills (at too hard of a pace IMO) and just reached the Bear Mountain area into a long climb when Jim couldn't take it anymore. He pulled to the side for a long gasping breather and then said he was turning back. He was really spent.

Jay accompanied him to make sure he was alright. I went ahead to catch more of our friends further up, told them to just keep climbing, and then turned around and chased down Jim and Jay for a threesome ride back to Mike's house. The 4 others of our group eventually reached the Perkins Tower summit, made a fast descent (40 mph max, they said) and met with us three about 90 minutes later at the house.

To celebrate, we grilled burgers and hotdogs, sat around Mike's backyard deck and listened to the guys' war stories of the day's climb. Oh, how I wished we all could've made it up there. Maybe before the end of the summer, Jim, Jay and I will do our own Perkins Tower ride to make things complete (and at a much easier pace this time so as to not burn out). Already, we were starting to plan a date as we were eating our burgers.

So the lesson learned this weekend: there's no 'i' in 'Team', but there's an 'e' in 'We'. :-). All for one and one for all. Birds of a feather stick together. We three kings of orient are. "In good times and bad times, I'll be there forever more ... that's what friends are for." Ummm, yeah. And I'm glad Jim's okay.

Now on to the next tour! Allez!

I'm ready to climb!

Okay, enough of the leg porn in my last post. I was getting tired of looking at that bloated picture. My apologies to the offended.

Last Saturday, I totally smoked up the hills in my last long training ride before tomorrow's climb to Perkins Tower at Bear Mtn, NY (1200 ft over 5 miles). My friend Jay and I did about 35 miles of ups and down, and my legs didn't feel weary at all as in previous rides.

It's probably due to my obsession with doing hill intervals on the LifeCycle at the gym for the past six weeks. And I do mean almost every day of the work week. Started out at level 13, upped it methodically (and painfully) over the days and now I've tapped it at level 22, all with an RPE of 17-18. Tour de France, here I come! :-)

It's a rest day today and I've taken the day off for a doc appt and to watch the kids while mommy's taking an important nursing certification test. Tons of stuff to do around the house, though. Mowing the lawn, laundry, staining the deck, cleaning the garage, etc-- whoopie (sigh). I just hope it'll be beneficial to my endurance. :-)

Chore on!

Workouts, baby!

"Shave and a haircut. Two bits."

A yearly physical ritual to signify the start of outdoor riding: the shaving of the legs. Plus, Melinda thinks I look sexier. Although in my early twenties, I deluded myself thinking it'd make me go lightning fast in the swim leg of my triathlons.

Since the Bloomin' Metric 100k, it's been workouts galore. I've been hitting the gym every day of the work week, doing tons of cardio on the LifeCycle exercise bikes, and then hitting the weights every other day.

It's all methodical. I keep track of my progress and try to up it just a tad in the next workout. In theory, I'll be running a 4 minute mile at the end of the season, benching 500 lbs in no time and competing in the Tour de France by next year. Well, that's just the theory. But I really am getting better in my personal bests for this season, which is good enough to keep me coming back to the gym for more.

BTW, the foot still hurts but is slowly getting better. Slowly.

Bloomin' Metric 2007, CT

Get a bicycle. You will not regret it if you live. --Mark Twain, "Taming the Bicycle"

Hills galore. 100k of ups and downs.

This has got to be one of my favorite rides. Beautiful tree-lined roads, minimal traffic, picturesque New England scenery and, of course, pain-inducing air-gasping stand-on-your-pedals rolling hills. Ahhhh, heaven and hell together once again.

I did the tour with three other friends in just over 5 hours, including 3 food stops (4.14.56 on my cyclometer of actual riding time). Pas mal, I'd say, although we certainly weren't racing like madmen to finish. Just an enjoyable pace to smell the roses but fly on the downhills (15 mph avg and 39 mph max recorded on the cyclometer).

At the registration area, they posted an elevation chart of the course, which I thought was a nice way to get a feel for the terrain. I sent an email to the organizers asking what software they used to create the chart as I'd like to do the same for my personal weekend bike routes.

'Til next year, ride on!

Dig it, man. I've got sole!

"Pain...Love it, hate it, get angry at it. Breathe it with every breath, feel it with every step and use it. It lets you know you are still alive, more alive than most people will ever be in their whole lives." -- Rich Strauss

More foot porn.

Actually, my custom insoles finally arrived at the podiatrist's office--a partial remedy for my PF. (This was last week.) How excited I was to try them on! While the doc was opening the ziplocked package, I felt giddy inside as if I were buying a new car. So how do they look? Sexy, ay?

Now it's been a few days of test driving. I've walked in them, biked with them, and done the naughty with my wife while wearing them even napped with them :-). Call me a believer--they're awesome! While the heel pain isn't totally gone, it's significantly reduced.

So goodbye, Dr. Scholl's. "Custom" is where the phat is at!

The weightless Dr. Hawking

"It is important for the human race to spread out into space for the survival of the species," -- Stephen Hawking

I'm curious to see how inspired Stephen Hawking became after his zero-gravity flight last Thursday. I can't imagine what he'd be thinking and contriving after being free from his wheelchair for only 45 seconds of free fall. I am indeed happy that he could experience such a feeling--to add that much more joy to his life. Let's just hope that he didn't munch on too big of a breakfast :-).

And I agree with Dr. Hawking and periodically delve on the same scenario (actually, I think about it quite often): 1 to 7 billion years from now, our Earth will indeed die and we humans MUST find somewhere else to live beyond Earth if we are to continue to exist. And for that to happen, I can't help but think that faster-than-light travel would need to be possible (would HAVE to be possible!), given that the Andromeda Galaxy is our closest galaxy neighbor at 2 million light years away or otherwise a closer solar system in our own Milky Way Galaxy.

(I always remember the incredible opening scene of the movie Contact, staring Jody Foster, as it gives an amazing perspective of how huge space is.)

The possibilities of how we would exist in the far future are infinite. How fun it is to take just one and imagine life then.

Daniel Tammet

"I was born on January 31, 1979 -- a Wednesday. I know it was a Wednesday, because the date is blue in my mind and Wednesdays are always blue"... -- Daniel Tammet

Last week, I finished reading an enjoyable and moving Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant -- a memoir book of Daniel Tammet. He's a 28 yr old Englishman diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, a high functioning form of autism. That is, he has autistic symptoms but can function quite normally and independently compared to other autistic individuals such as Kim Peek on whom the movie Rainman was based.

The beauty to Daniel's high functioning condition is that he can explain how he thinks. And in fact it is beautiful. He says he "experiences" numbers and dates as colors, shapes, sounds and textures. The number 1 is bright like lightning, number 9 is tall like a skyscraper and Thursdays are fuzzy like fur. How beautiful indeed!

Daniel holds the European record for memorizing Pi up to 22,514 digits. He says that 22,500 was the agreed upon limit, so it seems likely he could've easily memorized thousands more digits if officials had requested.

The Discovery Channel had a really nice piece on him called Brainman, the highlight of which was when he journeyed to Utah to meet Kim Peek. He appeared on The David Letterman Show and described David as being the number 117 -- "tall and lanky". The show 60 Minutes also did a segment some time afterward, some videos of which can be found on youTube.

Finally, Daniel has set up his own website called Optimnem, on which I enjoy reading his blog.

*********

ps: Ages ago for our college dorm talent show, my friend and I memorized Pi up to 314 digits (or at least I'd like to think). We dressed up in grim reaper costumes, stood on opposite ends of the stage, and recited the digits in slow deep voices in unison. Didn't win, but got lots of laughs. Ahhhh, good times. :-) pi=3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 ...

pps: Other interesting links...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1409903,00.html
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Books/story?id=2794451&page=1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Tammet

Care for your feet!

I love my Disney Beach Crocs. Notice the Mickey Mouse holes? So darn comfy. Can't wait to get the Off-Road model--the SUV of them all.

Today's topic is feet. As in, "three weeks ago, I went snowboarding and f*cked up my feet." Yes again--good ol' plantar fasciitis was inflicting its nasty bite once more.

So this morning it was another trip to the podiatrist, a refilling of my Nalfon prescription and the doc's assessment that I be fitted for custom orthotic insoles. Nothing eventful really. But through my examination, I was phasing out and daydreaming about being back at 100% and doing some tri races and bike tours this summer. Could competing still be possible? [sigh] Anyway, end of exam.

But oh, what an end of exam finale it was: I was treated to a soothing foot massage from the doc's assistant Ruby. After casting my feet for orthotics, she loaded up with wads of lotion and rubbed out the residue plaster around my heels and arches, letting me know that I was in for a bonus [wink-wink]. Ooooooh baby, it was soooooo relaxing. Obviously my moans of appeasement would've probably put her off, so I sat still, sounded out nothing and tried to act indifferent. Like, "Gee golly, Ruby, that feels swell!" (How's that for indifference?) But really, thanks Ruby, I really did need that.

Anyway, being inspired by the rubdown, I'm planning to treat Melinda to a massage of my own this weekend. So sweetie, put the kids to bed, break out the Nivea lotion, prop up your dainty footsies and come to papa! ...

This little piggy went to the market ... :-)

Saturday morning ride

I don't need water. Water is for quitters! -- Spongebob Squarepants

Thank goodness I didn't pay heed to Spongebob's statement (although that was a really funny episode). I biked a hilly 3 hr 40 miler this morning and made sure to fill my Camelbak-like hydration pack with 2 liters of Gatorade so I wouldn't cramp toward the end of my ride. Last Saturday, that was unfortunately the case as I had brought only two water bottles.

BTW, I knew it would be 32F this morning, but I went out for a spin anyway. I don't quite know what drove me to do it other than the urge to get back into a good habit. That is, it was hurting inside me that my workouts were so few these past months. And what a relief it was to have that feeling creep in. I was worried that I was getting apathetic about tri-racing this year.

So one of my primary focuses of spring: chip away at the nonessential 40lbs of crap that've been bogging me down from hammering up the hills. (Cheer with me: Hell no, crap is slow!)

Time to get back into better form than that of a potato.

Theme music, please...

the need for the everyday

The routine things that are good to do in one's life should never need incentives. They simply should be habits.

(March 25, 2007)
The above I thought to myself at a dance competition for my daughter today. On stage the kids were leaping and tumbling to beautiful music. All done lightly as a feather. Not a look from them of any hard effort at all. Suddenly, I found myself dashing to the car and off to Target and back for a pair of forgotten socks that Tina needed for her number. Huffing and puffing hard all the way to my crooning of some Third Eye Blind song. The dichotomy was obvious.

All the while, my belly was bouncing, my man-boobs were bobbing and my feet were hurting, and I started thinking: "geez, these extra pounds can't be good for racing this year" and "why the hell have you been slacking off, dude?!" and "what happened to your routine?!"

And there it was. My words of wisdom: I needed to get back into a good routine.

To be continued...(hopefully, to a more positive chapter)...

Grow up, will ya?

I don't know what you think of, but when someone says to me, "Have a good one!", I think of...get this...fellatio. (Whhhhaaat?! You say.) You know, a bl*wjob. (But in an innocent non-sinister professional working man sort of way. Of course.) There, I've said it.

Like take today for instance when I was leaving work with my coworker. As we exited the front doors, I said, "Alright Karen, good night." And then, unflinchingly, she said those ill-fated words: "Thanks. Have a good one." So I paused, squinted a bit slyly, and then walked away and smiled a rather naughty smile. I mean what else was I suppose to think of? C'mon, grow up, will ya?

Maybe it was an old Rob Lowe movie that initiated and perpetuated the thought. Or maybe some dialogue from "Sex In the City." Or even as far back as highschool where every little comment had some sexual innuendo. Who knows and who cares. I'll be forever grinning whenever I hear that remark and it'll always make my day.

And maybe now that you've read this and the thought has been planted, it'll make yours as well.

Have a good one. ;-)

Le quatrième! (cont'd)

Il est une fille! Looks like it'll be A GIRL come mid-August! The top picture is her foot. The lower picture is the bottom view of the baby's butt, like the photocopy from a female office worker sitting on the copy machine. (Sorry, that's my best analogy.) :-) The arrows are pointing to her ... well ... y'know ... her thingy.

(previous)

Richard Jeni -- Rest In Peace

"We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us happy is something to be enthusiastic about." -- Charles Kingsley

I know that the clinical depression that comedian Richard Jeni was diagnosed with before he took his life may be a much complicated matter. Still, I'd like to think that Charles Kingsley's insight above would be the cure-all for life's grievances.

Here's to Richard and the smiles he gave us, and the best of comfort to all his family and friends.

Le quatrième!

That is, número cuarto! Our fourth child is on the way! Yay, my rock band is now complete! Or now we can pair off nicely at the amusement park rides. Or now there's more love in the air. Or something good newsy like that.

Melinda is currently at four months and is due this mid-August. As for girl or boy status, we'll know by next week at our scheduled obgyn appointment. Then we'll be better settled on a name; a cool one like "Winter" or "Stealth" or "Neo" or "Airbender", although I'm not so sure on how keen Melinda is about it. :-)

Anyway, that's the news and all that's implied that are keeping me quite preoccupied.

Go, baby, go!

(cont'd)

James Dyson sucks the best.

I couldn't help but take an extra long lunch today to finish reading the last chapters of James Dyson: Against the Odds. Simply brilliant! Quite an enjoyable biography, mainly focusing on Dyson's never ending struggles from start to present as an inventor/entrepreneur. All working up to the culmination of his famous and successful Dual Cyclone vacuum cleaner. And then some.

It read for me like a self-help book, giving life-experience anecdotes followed by lessons learned, all of which were insightful and perhaps arguable. And oh, such poetic verse--wish we could all speak as eloquently as James Dyson--with flavorfilled descriptive paragraphs typical of a well-educated Englishman. And how could it not be? After all, it's British lit.

Cheerio!

Snowboarding 2007

Finally! Today, I got a chance to surf the white stuff for the first time this winter season! It's my second year of snowboarding and I'm still liking it a lot. Granted, I'd still say I'm a newbie at this thing. I spent my entire first two runs constantly falling on my butt, chest and face before I felt sort of at ease. I think I need at least 10 or more trips to Mountain Creek before the newbie feeling subsides. With the winter weather arriving severely late, I'd say I should go twice a week to MC before spring to feel like my season pass was worth the splurge.

Go snow!

TH & Etoile de Bessages

Good o'l Tyler Hamilton, in his "comeback" career, raced in his first stage yesterday. He finished 66th in the first stage of the Etoile de Bessages race, 11 secs behind the winner. A day before he rode in the GP La Marseillaise and finished in the main pack. So far so good.

Outside posted a snippet of Tyler's recent magazine interview regarding his return to cycling.

His Tinkoff team sure has a busy 2007 race season ahead. The Tinkoff team member Q&A profiles also are a bit interesting (although the site seems rather slow). A couple of entertaining answers:

Do you have other sports people in your family\ what are the sports they practise?
Vasil Kiryienka: Oh, sure thing! My wife is a World champion in the sport of embracing! ,-))

Your favorite pastime \ hobby
Alexander Serov: Nothing special, just spending time with my girlfriend.

1st Workout of 2007

Just a brief but eventful note.

My first workout of 2007 officially began today. Wuup wuup wuup! Yes I know, it's late. But what with the job thing and the foot thing filling my worries, I was just so out of sync. However, now that the former and latter are doing much better, I can finally settle into a daily routine.

So anyway, it's just a small start -- 30 deliberate minutes on the bike trainer -- as I'm still a little wary of my foot, but a start nonetheless . That journey of a thousand miles is now one step shorter... among a thousand other journeys, mind you.

***
Personal Notes:
2/6/2006: bike trainer @ 30 minutes; gear ratio 42 x 21?; 80-85 rpm; RPE (6-20) = 11 (light)
Notes: Bent over riding position felt a bit awkward; palms hurt a little bit from the weight bearing; quads, feet and legs felt great afterward. --- 2/7/2007: no soreness in the legs or anywhere still; a good sign that my body still feels adapted to cycling

Treating myself for a job well gotten

This is not a flog, so let me just provide aliases.

It's my handy dandy Molarola L6. The latest in design innovation "that can keep up with trends and manage your busy lifestyle." Yup, I'd been caught in the hype. "It can dice, slice, brew your coffee, mop the floors and wipe your sh*t-filled ass. How can you do without one?!"

But seriously folks, Melinda and I upped our service from one to two cells since we just can't keep our vocal cords off each other when we're both out of the house, and especially now that I'm employed. Oooh, how romantic ;-).

Anyway, I'm a bit obsessed with the phone features; there just are soooo many! And I suddenly feel like I'm crossing over into old fogie territory since all I really wanted was something simple with a keypad that can make and take calls. That's it. But the two phones we rec'd were free with a 2 year agreement. And since you can't get any cheaper than gratis, we took the plunge and signed our indentured contract.

Let's see, what else. Oh, the best part is keeping the phone in my shirt pocket. More easy to answer than fishing it out of my pants, and having it ring while on vibrate mode is quite exhilarating against my nipples. Ummm, yeah. Now if you'll excuse me, my tits are convulsing. It's probably Melinda checking in. Coming, dear.

Oh the sweet little pleasures of life.

ps: Go Bears!

You're hired!

Psssst! Come here!
.
.
.

Closer.
.
.
.

No, closer.
.
.
.

Are you listening?

.
.
.

I got a job!

.
.
.

Yeah, really. No bullsh*t. A real J-O-B.
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.
.

Yay, me!

Tyler back on track

The latest news has it that American road cyclist and overall nice guy Tyler Hamilton will begin his renewed career on February 6 at the GP de la Marseillaise. Yeah, I know ... drugs, denial, two-year ban, Puerto investigation, framed, innocence ... . The point is, here is a guy at 35 getting back on the ball after a two year hiatus from the pro circuit. I gotta give'm props for that for having such moxy -- yo yo yo! Anyway, can't wait to see how well he performs in 2007.

Here's to those in their mid-life who dare to climb to the next plateau. Cheers.

Go get 'em Tyler!

No more delays!

There's a newly published paper on procrastination titled The Nature of Procrastination: A Meta-Analytic and Theoretical Review of Quintessential Self-Regulatory Failure. I couldn't find the entire paper online, only news articles and this summary quote from the author Dr. Piers Steel:

"Essentially, procrastinators have less confidence in themselves, less expectancy that they can actually complete a task... Perfectionism is not the culprit. In fact, perfectionists actually procrastinate less, but they worry about it more."

Hmmm, confidence is key. Confidence, confidence, confidence. Thank you, Dr. Steel, for proving that scientifically, especially with your equation: Utility = E x V / ΓD. I do believe you've made me that much more self-assured in completing my New Year's resolves.

Now to get back to business at my hand.

:-)

My 2007 priorities

I have three New Year's resolutions:
1. Get a job.
2. Get a job.
3. Get a job.

I shall list my other resolves when the first three have been met.

(Off topic, I must say I'm still impressed with the macro/spot focus capability on my trusty ol' Canon G1. Even picked up the newspaper fibers quite sharply in my original pic. Note to self: must try it on my private parts some day ... in macro mode, of course ;-p).)

A warm 2007 already?

Holy mother! It's going to be 69/70F today! Yes, today! January 6, 2007. Seventy degrees Fahrenheit! That's crazy talk! But what about the snow? My snow? My snowboarding snow? Going, going, gone. Kaput. [head draped down in defeat]

Curse you, Colorado, for taking it all away from us!!!

(Oh, Happy New Year everyone!)