Catch the Bus - Are You Up to the Challenge?

Here's what I wrote on the "contact us" section of the rgrta.com website today after a very frustrating morning. True story below. My backpack is intact and so is my arm (though a little sore from being jerked).
-------------
Funny story: My bus broke down, so I hoofed it to the next stop (corner of main and winton). Busses kept whizzing by my stop. I couldn't flag them down. :( I even went so far as standing in the middle of the road, but to no avail. (NOTE: the driver didn't even slow. The impact from the bus hitting my bag almost took me off my feet. If I had been any closer, hospitals and lawyers would have been involved :/)

So, I called the rgrta phone number to figure out where I could catch a bus that would stop. (888-288-377). The schedule option couldn't understand me (odd, I've never had trouble with an automated phone system before.) After 10 minutes looping through the phone system, I decided I'd have to bother an operator.

I called the number above again and hit 0 to get an operator. I was put on hold in the queue and waited. And waited... 20 minutes later, one of the busses actually stopped! I boarded and spoke with the driver. Turns out the other busses were headed for the garage (1100 E Main was displayed)! I figured busses that wouldn't stop would be labeled "Not in Service". Haha!

Is there a flowchart for how to navigate your phone system? It would be great if I could get schedules using the phone's keypad instead of voice because the system just doesn't understand me.

I don't think there are operators though... I've tried dialing several other times today and after 30 mins in the queue each time, I've never reached an operator.

Cash Money Money

I had a crazy day today. It started well! I was productive, had a great lunch with some developer buddies, and was enjoying the sun...

Out of my window I saw a car accident. It's kind of unreal when it happens right there in front of you. A car tried to pull a u-turn on main street across three lanes and ended up meeting head on with a pickup truck. They had to pry them apart...

That wasn't the crazy part though.

An hour later, around 2:30pm, I saw two guys stash something in a nook by my building. It's a really difficult to see nook, unless you happen to be on my floor, in my building. I called the cops and they sent someone down to check it out. The officer arrived just as someone else arrived... the other guy smacked the railing and kept walking. I didn't assume anything. The officer asked me what it was, and I didn't have a clue... I just pointed him to where it was. The officer carefully kicked the leaves off to reveal a bag. The officer then opened the bag and muttered, "whoa". "Whoa what?" I asked. He replied that it was a bag full of money. A LOT of money. There were only a handful of people that walked by while the cop and I were there. He was photographing the area and waiting back to hear from dispatch if the money was related to any downtown robberies. Eventually, I went back to my office and the officer went back to his car.

No sooner had the cops left, then the people who stashed it, and the people who had come to pick it up, came back to the site. Seriously?! Who the heck comes back to the scene after something like that? The bad news? They had each walked by individually while the officer and I were talking. They've been walking up and down my street since... I called the cops again, but they are always gone by the time the officer is there. Carazy day man... I'm not waiting at the corner bus stop (they keep walking by) or taking my bus home today.

Magnetism

The left side of my body has recently become highly magnetized. Maybe it's the fact that I consume plenty of iron and work in front of a computer, maybe it's the fact that I sleep north-south, or maybe, it's because I love my ladies and they adore me. :)

Annabelle is on a solid, mixed diet of food and milk. This morning at around 6:30am, she had exhausted the milk supply. Cheryl, spectacular keeper of the watch that she is, struggled out of bed to fetch some more rice milk from the fridge. No sooner had she left the bed than I felt *bumbadum jiggle jiggle oomph*. The baby slid all the way from the other side of the bed, firmly attaching herself to my left side... still asleep. :D We slept for another 20 minutes then got up for breakfast, books, and the wonderfully creative world of our two year old. :)

Night before last, I went to bed before the ladies. This happens fairly frequently because Cheryl is usually on a project or enjoying the downtime by the time I resign, so she stays up 20-30 longer. She had been working on a sewing project, so she made it to bed well after I was asleep. When I woke up in the morning, she was fast asleep in the crook of my arm, (the same area that Annabelle frequents). (Side note: between the period and this side note, Annabelle called me over for a brief tower building session on "Daddy lap! Daddy lap. :)".)

I love that my ladies like to cuddle whenever I'm around. :) I'm one happy dude. :D

Windows 7 - Virtual XP Mode

Here's a screenshot of my work PC's desktop from my home computer. I'm viewing my work PC via remote desktop over a VPN using Cisco's VPN client (v 4.7, yes, that's right, a program that definitely will not run under Windows Vista) running in Windows 7 VXP. http://screencast.com/t/5WzOVFZabv8

Unfortunately, since the vpn client requires direct access to the network card, I can't use seemless mode.

Read more about Windows 7's VXP (Virtual XP Mode) here: http://techpp.com/2009/10/20/download-windows-7-xp-mode-usage-guide/

A Few Moments from September

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/TheJohnsonsSeptember2009

I Switched to 7, Should You?

This is a long post, so I'll sum things up here at the beginning. I like Windows 7 because it disappears. The new interface is intuitive, snappy, and doesn't get between me and what I want to do on the computer. I don't have to do anything tricky to get my old programs to work, and I don't have to worry about tricks to make my programs run faster. Everything just works. Period. My second major bullet point is DELL does a GREAT job of making driver installations and finding the right software easy. Just hit their website with your tag number (sticker on your Dell machine) and you have instant access to everything that came with your computer. You never have to worry about losing OS and driver discs again!

That said, keep in mind, Windows 7 is just an operating system. Computers aren't about operating systems, they're about the programs you run and ultimately, the need you meet and people you interact with.

Windows 7 is many things. To the average, minimally tech-savy user, it's intuitive and straight forward. To the business user, it's fast and lightweight (holy crap, lightweight windows!? It's true! At only 333MB of RAM, Win 7 is a major winner). To the power user, it's integrated backup, search, libraries, powerful admin tools and more. Here's what ZDNet has to say about Windows 7 vs Vista vs XP performance-wise: http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=22006&tag=col1;post-22006

Now for my system specs and personal Windows 7 experience.

===================================

David's Machine (DELL branded 435 MT)

Use: Video editing, photo editing, gaming, work, programming, daily use

Budget media workstation, mid-range gaming PC in 2008

Value/Price Paid: $2,200/$1,200 (scratch & dent deal)

Processor: Intel Core i7-940 Nehalem, 45nm, 2.7 GHz clock, Quad core w/ Hyperthreading (8cores)

RAM: 4GB (4x 1GB) Dual channel DDR3 1333MHz

Graphics: ATI Radeon 4850 HD, PCIe 16x, 521MB GDDR 5 (b-b-b-blazing)

Disk: 1TB SATA 2 (not sure what the manufacturer is), 7200 rpm

Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (Formerly Vista Home Premium 64-bit)

Internet and Quick Use PC (Asus EEE 701)

Use: Internet browsing, portable media player, hulu, vacation, note taking

Ultra-portable in 2007

Value/Price Paid: $399/$399 (yup, full price)

Processor: Intel Celeron, 65nm?, 900 MHz clock

RAM: 1.5 GB (512MB onboard + 1 GB), DDR2 667

Graphics: None

Disk: 20GB (4GB onboard SSD + 16 GB SDHC Class 6)

Operating System: Windows XP Professional N-Lite 32-bit

Family Media Center (DELL branded 531c Slim)

Use: Media library (photo/video), Light photo editing

Mid-range budget class PC in 2005

Value/Price Paid: $500/$350 (refurbished)

Processor: AMD 64 3200+, 90nm, 2.0 GHz clock

RAM: 2GB (2x 1GB) DDR2 667MHz

Graphics: None

Disk: 1TB WD Caviar Green SATA 2 (silent)

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit

Guest Gaming Computer (Soltek QBIC from Scratch)

Use: Gaming when friends visit, host for data recovery

Cutting-edge gaming PC in 2004

Value/Price Paid: $900/$400 (Ray is a kickass friend)

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 Prescott, 90nm, 3.0 GHz clock

RAM: 1GB (2x 512MB) 533MHz

Graphics: ATI x1600, AGP 8x

Disk: 120 GB WD Caviar Black

Operating System: Windows XP Professional 32-bit

Now on to the good stuff!

Installation

I popped the disc into the DVD drive and restarted my computer. It booted the install disc and asked me if I wanted to upgrade, or do a custom install. I chose custom install (I always like starting fresh). I selected the partition to install on and hit the next button. Whoa! It's already installing... that's it? Aha! It tells me that another version of windows has been detected. Since I didn't want to upgrade, the old version of windows will be placed in a folder C:\windows.old. Cool, I think to myself as I hit the next button. It's off again and running. There's a message that says the machine will reboot a few times during installation. Rather than watch the pot boil, I'll go get some food and watch a quick show on my media center.

About 30 minutes into my show, the OS is installed. I plug in my serial number and create an admin account and presto, I'm on the windows desktop. It's only been 34 minutes since I started the install... could this possibly be right? Yes, it is. I'm up and ready to roll.

Ok, so now what? I'm presented with the windows 7 desktop. It doesn't look like a windows desktop. The start menu is gone and the taskbar has mac-like icons on it. Oh no!! I'm clueless and I don't know where the system tray and quick-launch tray went!? The panicky moment quickly subsides as I hover over the icons and am presented with tooltips on the new start menu and taskbar. The interface is responsive and smooth even though I haven't installed any of my drivers yet.

I opened up IE and took the windows 7 tour: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/products/tour (Thank you microsoft.. very straightforward)

Then I went to support.dell.com and downloaded all the relevant windows 7 addons from Dell. The download and install went smoothly and all I had to do was provide the service tag number from my PC.

2 hours later and all my programs (video editing software, games, chrome, various utilities) are installed, I've checked my email, watched an hour of hulu, and... haven't restarted the computer... WHA!?!?!?

Windows 7 didn't make me reboot the computer after any of my program or driver installs. This is crazy. It's running smoothly, and I can verify the new video drivers are being used through ATI's catalyst control center.

Sweet, so now I should probably restore all of my data from the backup. I check the hard drive and find that it's still got 600GB of data on it. That can't be right, I must've, oh, wait. A quick run of TreeSize Free tells me my pics, videos, documents and everything else from my old PC is in windows.old. Awesome! I drag the folders to where they belong on the new PC. The folder relocation is almost instantaneous (no data actually got copied, the location just got updated) and I'm back where I was before the install. The system is fully functional, I've got my picasa albums and itunes library... wow. That was easy.

Interesting. The My * folders are now called libraries. This works out really well for me because I can add multiple locations. My "Family Media Center" does a file-by-file backup for recently updated data to "David's PC"\data. Now on David's PC, I can add those doc folders to the document library and have access to all my media center files for read-only access without traversing the network. Slick.

By the by, I use SyncToy 2.0 to echo my computer's files (videos, music, documents) to the media center's Data directory, and echo the media center's content to my data directory. It's handy to have a 1TB drive in each computer. SyncToy does a great job of keeping the shadow copies in sync.

I launched DDO to play with my Thursday night gaming buddies, and the windows firewall immediately prompted me to set the access level for that application. My choices are to disallow, allow internal network only, and allow internet access. I click internet (Public) and poof. That's the last time it asks and my game works like a charm.

The uber startmenu is so fast, I've decided not to install Launchy. (Essential app launcher for XP machines).

So that's that. My computer feels a little faster, and I like the snap effects for window placement. I didn't have to go in and do all the post-install tweaks I'm used to with XP and Vista. (Er, I did disable the pagefile... force of habit.)

Questions? Comments? Flaming Mac Banter? Questions/Comments on the machines I run in my network? Why do I need 4 computers?

Leave a comment and I'll get right back to you!

Park and Ride

Y'all know I take the bus. This morning, I got out of the shower and checked my watch, noting that the bus was, at this very instant, passing my bus stop. Yipe! I hopped into my car and drove to the wegmans parking lot at empire and creek st... Then waited for 20 minutes!! As it turns out, it takes 5 minutes to drive directly to the lot, but 25 minutes (due to the winding route) for the bus to reach it.

This reduces my overall drive time on the bus to a mere 20 minutes instead of the 45 minute long-haul that has tried my bladder daily. (All the bumping and jostling directly after a full breakfast is... hard to bear).

I plan to meet the bus at the new stop on a regular basis, giving me a full 40 extra minutes of home time per day!! (Belive me, there's a lot I can do with 40 minutes a day...)

Sent from my iPod, on the Bus

iPod and Other Musings

I didn't bring a computer on my business trip this week. Instead, I relied on my trusty palmtop, the Apple iPod Touch. Business email, cell phone activation, directions, and restaurant selections remained simple, with the screen size and touch keyboard. I was very surprised by the high level of functionality retained, and I highly recommend the experience!

After visiting the Eagan campus and rubbing elbows with some of the big names, I'm left with a strong sense of pride in my company, faith in the middle and upper management, and eager anticipation of the events in the next few years. The strongest and most swiftly growing feeling that I passionately embrace, however, is the sense of opportunity presented with my new team. I've met my peers, and let me tell you, THEY ARE MY PEOPLE!!

Sent from my iPod

Certain Experiences

There are some experiences that you don't get to experience in your day to day routine. Today, I got to watch the clouds zip by at eye level. We passsed through a turbulent pocket, livening up the ride in an amusement park sort of way. The adorable child who had been babbling contentedly behind me, got quiet... Another quick drop and pow, her infantile digestive system had had enough. The inflight cookies quickly rejoined us in the cabin along with the smell and sound we associate with the most disgusting of body misfires. Fortunately, the flight attendant was quickly on the scene, spraying a scent neutralizer and mopping up breakfast.

I have to say, the kid had the right idea going for the cookies instead of the pretzals. I followed suit and man oh man! The vanilla wafers were sublime!

I have a window seat by the wing. I watched the wing buckle and release with each new pressure pocket, so I had fair warning before the cabin actually dropped or pressed us onto the seat. :)

As we climbed, we quickly entered the clouds where everything faded between different shades of white and grey. Breaking slowly through the top, I was greeted by a beautiful sunny cloudscape with a new, beautiful, and foreign coastline, the most beautiful of the grey and white terrain resembling the Rockies.

I fell asleep shortly after that. :)

I woke to a quick Yelp! As the flight attendant accidentally emptied a can of juice into a passengers lap. Hahahaha!

Oh wow! Looking out the window, I see that we're past the clouds and I can see a long strip of beach bordered by farmland. Chching! add that to the list of amazing things I would never see without technology. (My favorite on that list is the deep blue of the deep, deep ocean.)

Speaking of tech, our plane was delayed slightly due to a flat tire. I don't know about you, but that tickled the ironic side of my funny bone.

The captain just announced that we're plowing through a strong headwind, so we're only doing... 490 MPH!!! Geez that's fast! I'll be touching down in no time. :)

Sent from my iPod, inflight

9am and the Day is Golden!!

It's 9am, and I'm already exuberant!

Last night, I hit up the hardware store and radio shack, assembling tools, then replaced my wife's cell phone screen... SUCCESS!!

It was another quick sprint for the bus today, but I caught it in the nick of time. My heart racing, I settled in for the ride. Hysteria by Muse was the leading song on my iPod's Genius mix. The song's frantic bass matched the tempo of my body. It was a zen moment. At peace with the work I'd done the night before (and the excellent, if short, gaming session with Brion, Ray & crew), I got off the bus. I LOVE stepping off the bus. The bus windows (like any car) are visibility tinted (around 15%). When you get off the bus, it feels like the day greets you fresh (a brighter, more ambiently noisy day than the one that you struggled out of bed to only 30 minutes prior).

Today was special though...

Today, the light cloud cover disperses the light. No sun glasses are required and with the 60 degree weather your view is crisp. The typical wind noises, rustling tree leaves, a piece of paper scrapping down the street, and our constant *shhhwwoshshehshshh* were absent. The day was still. It's like in the movies when someone is in a memory and time is frozen. I could hear EVERYTHING! My ninja-like footsteps on the concrete sounded like a runner's *trat trat trat*. Swiftly, and stealthily, a chipmunk darted out for a bread crumb, well, normally it would have been stealthy; today, however, the *skitter skitter* was plain as day, drawing the attention of the other folks walking down the street with me.

A quick conversation with our lovely security guard, Stefanie, and a chance encounter with Murthy (the new me in my old job) then up to my terminal. The Westlaw setup routines are running, so I've got time to *ticka tap calick* out this post, excitedly anticipating the feats I can accomplish today... *AIAIAIAIAI*!!!! (P.S. You can ask Mike, I actually made that sound :)

Ups and Downs

My life is incredibly interesting to live! I love it!!

Some major ups this week:

• Super-hacky-sack company picnic with some guys that are just impossible to over-appreciate! (wow, some people rock...)
• Watching movies on my iPod on the bus! (Catching up on non-family-friendly kung-fu action flicks)
• New team potential! (Oh, my, word... there is so much I can learn on this new team!!)
• Ultimate-frisbee-disco-funk-super-sushi bash! (EXCITING individuals that I really feel at home with)
• Grad school!

Some major downs:

I am REALLY far outside my comfort zone right now at work. Being the new guy on the team, I have a LOT of questions and suggestions regarding well-established processes. I haven no street credibility on this team so far. I could easily find myself where I was with my old team just two years ago... suggesting changes that later get implemented, but looking like an idiot in the meantime. (Not to mention suggesting changes that are indeed, idiotic.)

I updated my resume last month, then sent it out to be critiqued by some highly qualified individuals. They ALL suggested changes. None of the changes conflict (miraculous), but I am struggling to find the words... the eloquence to implement them. It's a harrowing experience and has left me banging my head on the keyboard (hence this blog entry as an escape from the writer's block).

I'm writing a "Personal Statement" for my graduate school application. It's one of those "Who are you? What do you bring to the table? Why should we teach you?" sort of things...

I graduated with a VERY poor GPA. It's below the minimum required for RIT's graduate programs, yet I'm still applying because I WANT TO IMPROVE. I feel this personal statement may be the gentle whisper that tips the scales towards acceptance, or denial.

In all three areas, I have extended myself beyond the realm of safety...

There is the potential for moderate acceptance and gratification but I feel it's overshadowed by the possibility of meaningful, bitter rejection both socially and professionaly. I never play the safe game, but at the moment, I'm tense... nervous. My ethos and pathos are in the pot and I'm not holding a single ace.

I have butterflies in my stomach! It's the same stage-fright feeling that used to overwhelm me before putting on a show, starting a juggling contract, or facing the Eagle Scout board of review...

The curtain came up and the house.. is.. FULL..

Back to the Bus Again?

Has anyone noticed how frequently I change transportation methods? I'm all about change. Sometimes I'll waffle back and forth between things, each time appreciating a new aspect of the activity, driving me to a new conclusion.

Speaking of driving (nice segway... no I didn't buy a segway, I'm talking about... gah, never mind), I've decided to go back to the Bus.

Bus Pros:

1. Daily commute time is hands-free... I can watch a movie, read a book, study my bible... it provides some good think time
2. Weather doesn't matter... (It's nice to relax on bad winter days)
3. There are people to talk to (I have a lonely, solo commute in the car)
4. The schedule keeps me consistent (leaving work at the same time, getting up at the same time)

Bus Cons:

1. The seats can hurt (especially if you're wearing a coat and carrying a bag)
2. There aren't a lot of routes out to Webster (though I'm now up to 4 morning options!! woo!!)
3. You have to wait at the bus stop... A LOT (the bus can be 5 mins early or 30 mins late... that can be a lot of standing around.)
4. Start & stop (50 minutes of start & stop jiggling right after I eat breakfast usually leaves me sprinting for a pee by the time I've made it downtown)

But the biggest concern of all is cash. It's not just a matter of how much I spend, but where my cash is going. Can I really feel right about sending $50 a month oversees for oil?

Here's what I've worked out: 

http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=tYwH6UFOtr2qL-CDyAFcKTA&output=html

The bottom line is, I can easily save $40-70 per month by only commuting a few days a month by car. At some point when I'm doing more than just keeping afloat financially (currently most cash is going to savings, retriement accounts... future goals), I may consider going back to driving daily. 

For now, I'd preffer an extra $50 a month in my pocket that I can use for wonderful travel events like our trip to the lake:

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/ConesusLakeJuly4th2009

Bliss!!

Ever have a period of time where you question if life can possibly get any better than the dizzying peak you're at right now? My head is SPINNING with exuberant satisfaction, exciting opportunity, and blissful joy from the events of this last quarter!!

I'm getting closer with some exciting new friends. We took a camping trip, 5 kids, 4 couples, 3 days in Adirondack paradise. We had such a great time with the kids, hiking, exploring, examining the tensile properties of frog legs (oops!) that I'm still warm & fuzzy from the experience a month later! I really missed campfire songs. When was the last time you were out with folks who spontaneously burst into song? (Ok, ok, I live with someone who does that on a daily basis, but it's so much better when you're with 13 people who do it!!!)

Cheryl and I have been streamlining our daily home-time process so cooking and cleaning get done without getting in the way of the massive quantity of playtime we can afford as people with no regular commitments and no housework. A day rarely passes without an exciting new outdoor activity or trip to a fantastic natural playground! (...webster beach for example... there are a lot of rocks out there that need skipping!!!)

Things are going well at work too! I've got the most ridiculously fitting job lined up for next quarter! I'll be doing co-located programming on a massive system using several programming languages. This will fill that void on my resume, giving me enterprise programming experience in not only Java & related techs, but the dark side of Microsoft Visual languages (like C#) and C++!

When I make a life transition, it's usually spontaneous with decisive and swift action following the decision. In this case, the team transition at work was made for me, so I have 2 months of knowing where I'm headed as the business makes preparations for me move. The looming change doesn't feel like impending doom, or even an event to cause mild anxiety... I'm ecstatic about the new team and the work I'll be accomplishing with them! As for the old team... since I know I'm leaving, I'm starting to notice all of the things I love so much about them. It's seriously a 2 month period where I get to savor all of the tidbits, quirks, and synergies that make us so productive, happy, and skillful as a unit!! I really hope this euphoric mindset sticks with me as I move to my new team, so I can revel in the benefits of my comradery even as I'm still in the thick of it.

Ah! I'm living such a great life! I love what I'm doing and love what's coming next.

I go to sleep looking forward to waking up,

I wake up looking forward to the day

I love to work, then love playing at home.

I love the work week then love the weekend.

There's a lot of time to enjoy, and I'm not wasting a moment!

My Bosses

Image Link: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2331948&l=e42767526d&id=722541360

I've had a lot of bosses. This post focuses on the bosses I've had within Thomson Reuters as they are the ones with the notably positive characteristics.

Dave

Details, details, details! Coming out of school, I was a decent programmer, but I made a lot of small errors that the compiler would usually catch. In the testing department, a lot of these small errors in artifacts that didn't have such a robust syntax checker (word docs, XML artifacts, test data), these small errors were catastrophic. Dave drew me in to an appreciation for detail that has caused me to be a very uniquely talented developer. Frank calls me the human parser for my ability to glance at a page and immediately state what will fail where, why it will fail, and how the machine interprets the code. This principle is also manifest in my attention to detail in design. Because of Dave's gift, I'm able to quickly learn and understand design, process, and social patterns because I notice and take the details to heart.

Judy
With a quiet strength and easy guiding hand, she quickly brought me from co-op to fully functional developer in a very passive, laid back manner. She set me in the right direction, then let me take any path to get there. Her guidance set my expectations and opened up my creative potential at Thomson, right from the get-go so brilliant minds like Tod, Mark and Christina could easily and freely add to my potential.

Allison
To this day I miss my one on one's with Allison. She was bold and direct, leaving me free to discuss my musings and emotions regarding the job and positively shaping my motivation to fully unleash the passion I have for the work I do. She got me rolling in the soft-skills arena. This has been improving my marriage (which was already doing well), as well as helping me reach a level of understanding for the emotions that are such a tight part of influencing a project's outcome.

Rich
Research and intrigue. He renewed my passion for development and design half way through my current career, tweaking my interest and opening doors I didn't even see before. I appreciate the projects he had me work on and the constant advice he continues to provide whenever I run into him.

Nik

As my team's 'Fearless Leader', Nik has always kept our deadlines as reasonable as possible. He argues strongly with the intent of finding the best possible solution. The first solution, or the solution he immediately presents isn't the only solution and he is always willing to talk about an alternate solution, and welcomes improvement from any direction. He shines in making sure we have the resources we need and holds high standards for quality in all areas (not just the code).

Matt

Diffuser of all situations, Matt is adept at reading people, understanding workplace politics and finding the best route for everyone. His tips have greatly influenced my career path and his leadership as provided opportunities that have improved my effectiveness as a developer beyond anything I could have imagined even two years ago. His parting gift was a roadmap that will probably affect my career greatly within the next 5 years.

All told, I've never had a boss at Thomson Reuters that I thought I could do without. At every transition point, I've felt like I could never get someone to top my last boss. As it turns out, there are a LOT of really amazing higher-ups here and each one has a unique skill set I admire and from which I can benefit.

2009 United Way Day of Caring

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKS9Udyjf8E

Saturday with the Kashoreks

Album link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/SaturdayWithTheKashoreks

"Hey, would you guys like to go for a bike ride?" Kim asked over the phone. "Definitely!" Cheryl replied. And that was that. The rest of the day was biking, playing at the playground, sloppy joes, counter-strike and the movie "Bedtime Stories" with Adam Sandler.

Counter Strike Source Server is up for the evening

My Source SN: Ultimadj

Server IP: 74.74.224.83:27015

Counter Strike Source LAN Party

My father in law is hosting a LAN party this Friday (4/17) starting around 6:45pm. Actual space for the party is limited, but I'll be posting the server IP if you're interested in joining us remotely.

We'll be playing Counter-Strike:Source. 

If you own the game, add me to your steam friends list "ultimadj" and join us this Friday!

Made Up Statistics

Personal thoughts regarding my last month of activities.

Passion for Work

- The awesome 5% of the work I'm given makes up for the other 95%. 

- The awesome 95% of co-worker interactions far outweighs the frustrating 5%.

- The awesome Joe, Vis and Christina completely tip the scales towards joy regardless of circumstance.

Project Scheduling Breakdown

- Tasks where I have enough time: 1%

- Tasks where I may barely have enough time if nothing goes wrong: 70%

- Tasks where I wonder what magic button generates these timelines: 29%

Goods Consumption

- Desire to constantly explore new foods, technology and physical feats: 97%

- Fear of allergy/cancer/disability: 3%

Interactions at Home

- Ecstaticly happy days: 80%

- Happy days:  15%

- Bad Days: 4%

- Really really bad days: 1%

Happiness/Joy Factors

- Cheryl: 40%

- Annabelle: 30%

- Physical activities: 10%

- Computer related activities: 5%

- Friends/Family: 5%

- Work related activities: 5%

- Parties and random occurances: 3%

- Other: 2%

Commuter Bike Tips

Today I made my first full commute to work by bike for the season. I averaged 17 mph over the 13 mile ride to work. When I got in to work, I felt great! No saddle sores, my knees felt normal, my muscles were taught but not weak... I felt ...*Unreal tournament 2004 announcer voice* UNSTOPPABLE!!

Here are some tips I have from what I learned over the last season:

1. Take 15 minutes to stretch and warm up first (for long rides > 5 miles, your neck, hips and knees will thank you).
2. Keep your legs warm (it really matters to your knees)
3. When you hit a hill, go slow enough that you think you can take it easily, then back off another 10% (if you go anaerobic, you won't recover for the rest of the ride)
4. Don't downshift on a hill until you're 30% below your target cadence (shifting down too soon will kill your momentum)
5. Take it easy. For rides longer than 5 miles, don't push the entire ride. If you're like me, pushing too hard will cause damage to your knees and ankles after only a few weeks.
6. If you have pain on top of your knee caps, your seat is too low.
7. If you have pain in the back of your legs, under your knees, your seat is too high.

I wore 2 layers of pants and shirts to make sure my core and legs were warm. I overheated by the time I got to work, but I didn't have all the aches and pains I typically associate with a long ride. Staying warm and find the right seat height make a really big difference.

Link to my bike routes map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=114876327314207992279.000001127b564eb78c315&ll=43.188907,-77.510948&spn=0.176223,0.298691&z=12

Miller-Johnson Jiminy Peak 2009 Slideshow

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/JiminyPeak2009

Craigslist Sales -> What a day!! :D

I tend to do a lot of buying through Craigslist. Usually, it's small items like CDs, clothes, crappy furniture... but I noticed this post for a monitor.

Here's the email chain that ensued from me noting my interest in the item ($165 22" acer X widescreen):

me: I'm interested. Any dead pixels?
seller: It is brand new in a sealed box...never opened
me: I see. Thanks for the offer, but I'm anxious about putting down cash on an untested product with no chance of an RMA. Good luck with other offers!
seller: one year factory warranty
me: Oh, interesting. What was the original purchase date?
seller: Jan 2009
me: Thanks for continuing to humor my questions. Why do you have it, unopened still after two months?
seller: Forget it, dont bother people when they are selling something
me: Good luck with your sale, regardless.
seller: Thats ok, I don't need you. I already sold plenty and I'll sell this one

My "good luck" statements must have been taken as "good luck making a sale without me" *harumph-type-of-thing*... 

What do people usually say these days? Best wishes?

Does this interaction seem scam-like or is a usual transaction on a no-questions asked basis?

Ah well...

I'm excited about my new computer! Hopefully it will arrive tomorrow (snafu with the delivery today). I bought a Dell, Studio XPS 435, Core i7-940, 4GB, 1TB, ATI Radeon 4850 for $1k from delloutlet.com. It's going to be roughly 8x faster than my currently outdated P4 rig, so hopefully my video editing won't be as tedious.

I biked into work this morning for the first time this season! IT WAS AWESOME! As a side note, I had a flat tire in the rain (which I swapped out on the side of the road), but the ride was beautiful! I love the speed involved in cycling, the effortless glide... I was happy by the time I'd reached work, and that feeling hasn't subsided all day! I'm headed to bed now, happy with the day, happy with the work I got done at work, happy that the pantry is now fully stocked after a trip to wegmans, happy that I got to hear the Smokin Hot Pipes live, happy that I have a new computer coming tomorrow, happy that Cheryl is happy that I'm happy, and overjoyed by Annabelle's constant stream of affection, attention, and creativity. Booyah! What a day!!

TKS Recording Session

My band, The Kitchen Sinks, got together this weekend for a blitzkrieg recording session. Here are a few clips from the fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYRjA58-Wv4

Annabelle Photos 15-17 Months Old

Link: http://picasaweb.google.com/ultimadj/Annabelle1517Months

Snowboarding with Tim and Melodee

I went snowboarding with Tim & Melodee this weekend. Aah!! I love these folks!! What a great time! Here's some footage of the fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC6QY2Arv8c

Aaaaah! I Love Vacation!! (Follow-up Video)

Here's a long video showing very, very short snippets of what we did during Christmas break this year.! I love the part that shows Annabelle's first sledding trip!

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAu6k-VBDfg&fmt=6

Aaaaah! I Love Vacation!!

This very instant marks roughly the 792,000,000th millisecond I've been on vacation. During that time, I've been to the grand canyon of the northeast, crossed a 30ft precipice via a fallen tree, been to 6 holiday parties, watched 9 movies (one of them 4 times... I LOVE Iron Man!!), watched 12 television shows, shot 3 hours of home video footage, edited 2 photos of lovely ladies, packed for two vacations, been winter camping, gone sledding, been to the bank twice, played 3 hours of video games, slept A LOT, and played with my daughter often.

For the next ~259,200,000ms, I'll be enjoying a Shaker village, hiking Mt Greylock (map: http://tiny.cc/greylock), and enjoying a jacuzzi with my ladies.

The time has been refreshing and I have more than a few new friends to show for it. W00t!

Now for a few short stories:
Annabelle is getting used to having me around. Every day, we play for hours, inside and out. After the winter camping trip, it's hard to keep her inside. She always wants to be outside, roaming the paths, bathing random objects in light with our gigantic MagLite. A MagLite is more than a flashlight... it's daytime in a can. You turn the thing on, and POOF you can see everything... and the people on the receiving end of the beam are blind... Needless to say, with a 1 year old handling the flashlight, I've been on the receiving end more than a few times. :D

I'm keeping active. It's not for the sake of being active... it's just a habit I haven't bothered to kick. ;) While winter camping, I took a 7 mile hike up and down the wall of the Grand Canyon of the northeast. This hike involved a multitude of small pleasures, including a 3 mile run down a very narrow, winding trail, jumping across small creeks, climbing a 30', nearly vertical hill, standing 4 feet from a waterfall's edge with no railing between me and the 100' drop, a little tree climbing, and a LOT OF FRIGGIN GEESE. I'll probably post some of the footage over the next 6 months.

I have a new toy! It rocks. Period. Here's something I put together with my new toy, about my new toy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mAi2hsFx0A&fmt=6

The new year is here! This is the first year I've kept a budget. Hitting the end of the year and seeing where all the money went and knowing that there was plenty left over was a spectacular feeling!! My car needed a few hundred dollars worth of work last month. Normally, I would just have taken the money out of an account buffer that was already running perilously low, but not this time. This time I had the money saved specifically for car work, and the bill didn't affect my normal spending one bit. My debts (all good debt) are dropping like flies. Keeping a budget feels like pulling money out of thin air. *happy sigh*

We went to Curtis' place for the new year. What a party! We talked MOBOs, Kentsfield vs Wolfdales, watched movies, and had a whooping good time. Getting to and from the party was insane though. There were high winds, and the corolla has a very tall profile for a compact. We were headed down the road at a very moderate pace (40mph) approaching the 104 bridge in webster. Some of the other cars near us weren't nearly as conservative... until they got a few feet onto the bridge where they were no longer shielded from the spectacular crosswind... The SUV in front of me shifted nearly 4 feet sideways into my lane. I slowed further as the cars to the left and right of me suddenly slowed and started sliding. I narrowly avoided an accident, as did the rest of the pack.... it was harrowing. As we continued down the highway, was saw pile after pile of snow pushed up where cars had spun off the road into ditches and guard rails. The road before Curtis' was completely flooded. I think someone must have hit a fire hydrant as there were several feet of water in the ditch and across the road, but fortunately, it hadn't seeped onto the street we needed. Getting home was a similar experience.

Looking back over my last 6 months of posts, it seems like no one is commenting anymore. Is anyone still reading this? Have I gone boring? Say it's not sooo! Agh!