Productive weekend....oh yea!!

Tonight wraps up one of the more productive weekends I have had in a long time. Just a little recap...

Friday- My buddy Blake came in town for a wedding so he stayed on my couch. I picked him up on Friday evening and then it started. Good dinner at the porch then a stroll around the bar. Didn't plan on staying out too long but oh well. I ended up meeting up with the following people:
Will J- Friend from college that I randomly ran into.
Gillian- HS friend I hadn't seen for about a year or so. Ran into her at the same place as well.
Will (Irish Will)- In town on his 'holiday' and we met up for a bit. Will works for the same company as I do.

Saturday- Played entertainer and took Blake to Jake's for some famous Dallas hamburgers. Then dropped him off at his wedding- I then ended up work for about 8 or 9 hours. Got done the following
-30 page master proposal for new division I am starting up
-Project plan for a 120 website roll out I will be managing with about .10 of my time
-Proposal for some work in Boston
-Outlined a statement of work for a clinical (HEDIS, pay for performance) reporting project
-Blogged
-Cleaned-up my inbox! thank goodness!

Sunday- I dropped Blake off at the airport. 13 mile run around the lake. Booked my race in Seattle and my hotel. Went shopping for groceries. Picked up the mail, paid my April bills.

Now its 945 and I am very satisified on how the weekend went!! Oh yea, I watched quite a bit of basketball too!!

Hope everyone had a good and possibly productive weekend as well!!

1020 on a Saturday night....

Hmmm...its 1020 on a Saturday night and I am working on a couple projects. This makes me wonder, what am I doing, why am I doing this and is this my life?

What am I doing?
I am working on my to-do list from this past week of work that did not go anywhere. I barely shortened anything on the list while continually adding more items to it. So tonight I need to modify, tweak and clean up our Master Proposal Template for the division I am helping lead- only me and another guy so we have our work cut out as we have to reach certain financial targets this year. I also need to get a project plan done along with a powerpoint document for a 120 website rollout project that I'll bascially manage over the course of 5 months- but its only going to take up 10% of my time! yahoo!

Why am I doing this?
Because I need to. Only working 4 days this next week since Friday I am headed to Manhattan!! And this is some of the stuff that simply needs to get done.

Is this my life?
Actually, I think so. Sure, I work a lot and I mean a lot of hours, but I really do enjoy what I do. I feel productive and fairly important to the success of projects and business. I think these are good signs for someone my age. Is it weird that I go in at 630 am and then get home around 630pm? Maybe but I enjoy it. Heck, I'm 26 and not married, I think my life can handle it now. I'd rather work my rear off now compared to when I am much older with a family to raise...

Hmmm...well, that just helped me take a bit of a break from work. Now, back to it! :)

Idiots...

Over the past week or so I have been driving to work and not taking the DART. Damn, joel. But one thing I have noticed is the amount of idiots who drive with freaking head phones on! Are you serious people? They are most likely rocking out to their iPod or possibly their discman. But really, driving with head phones on.

First, driving with head phones on makes it damn near impossible for the driver to be able to hear sirens or other important road noises- old ladies you back over, kids you smash, birds that smack your windshield, la Policia or the ambulance who is coming to tend to the old lady you left helplessly on the ground....

Secondly, this cannot be comfortable. My iPod head phones cord is not that long...and if my iPod is residing in the console then it has to be quite a lot of tension on the cord.

Third, you look like a fucking dork!

So please "Headphone while you drive wearer" go get a car adapter for your iPod and tune your radio station to 88.1

Thx

Daylight Savings...

Dear Daylight savings time....I fucking hate you!!! How is that by changing my clock 1 hr I am no longer able to rise at 510am with or w/o my alarm? How come you don't get light until 7am?

Yes, for some reason daylight savings had royally screwed up my cadia (or wtf its called?) and I can no longer simply go to sleep when I want to and wake up a little after 5 with no alarm and then randomly get tired around 230-3pm (Note: its 320 right now and Im beat). I used to never have these sleepy times and be able to wake up early and it didn't matter if I was travelling between time zones or not.

Maybe I'll just move back to Arizona where they don't have this stupid thing or possibly back to Indy 2005 style when they didn't have it either.

So Daylight Savings fucker....just send me a note and tell me what the hell is up?! K? Good. Deal.

DVR

Tonight pretty much summed up why I love DVR on our AT&T Uverse package. The DVR is quite simply one of a kind. Since college basketball has been heating up and we have ESPN FullCourt we continually use the DVR to record and rewind games. Just the past week I have a caught a few surprises:

1) The Turd. Yep, thats right Mark Turgeon (aTm Head Coach) was of course bitching at an official and running down the court. The camera had panned to the play when all of a sudden you see this blob roll across the top of the screen. I said to myself, that looks like someone falling on the ground. So I rewound and watched it a few more times. My observation was correct. The Turd was complaining about something and running after the play and tripped over something to where he did a somersault 1/2 down the bench. Yep, that was good.

2) After some slam dunk play one player went and screamed into the camera (you know, the one who sits under the goal). He gave a perfect game face and scream. The other camera then picks up the view and you see camera guy #1 give a big thumbs up to the player.

3) Today, had to be the greatest. Watching the Texas aTm vs Tech game in the Big12 tourney tonight in Oklahoma City. There was a scoreboard error on one end of the stadium...so the officials were trying to figure out how to handle it. So the tv commentator, Reid Gettis, had this to share, "when my computer doesn't work i just unplug the son of a bitch." My roommate barely caught it and said hold up, rewind that, so we did. And yep, you could tell that they tried to mute it down but he definitely said it. Hmmm....wonder what kind of fine this draws him from the FCC?

Trail Running in the cities

As I continue to run more and more each week I get a bit tired of running the loop around my neighborhood. It consists of 3 1/2 foot sidewalks next to 4-6 lane streets which make it doable but not as pleasurable. The sidewalks make it a bit interesting when coming head to head with a lady and a stroller- looks like I'll take the grass on this passby. Also, the numerous exits and entrances on the streets mean you are bound to almost get ran over at least one time every 2 miles. Quick math- 4 to 6 miles a night means thats I put my life in jeopardy 2 to 3 times a night. But hell, I'll take my chances.

Anyway, on the weekends I have recently begun running on the local Katy Trail in Dallas. I contribute this to my actually being home while it is light outside. The trail starts about 2 miles or so south of me (it starts just south of SMU and I live a bit north and East of SMU) and travels thru the Park Cities, Knox Henderson and Uptown ending up at the American Airlines Center (AAC- for the locals). So all together the trail is about 3.5 miles long each way- making my journey about a 9-10 mile morning due to the 2 miles each way it takes me to get there. The trail provides a safe and secure place to run. The scenery ain't that bad either, if you catch my drift. It also showcases some of the trueness of Dallas. People walking with their lattes while jabbing away on their cell phones, the "Oh yea, she married for love couples" and those people with just weird fuckin' dogs. Really, they make that kind of breed? It makes me wonder sometime what happened to all the normal dogs in the world? Can people just not get a lab or golden retriever anymore? Everyone has to cross breed some dog with sometime else...
But nonetheless the trail is great and a great way to start a day on Saturday mornings. http://www.katytraildallas.org/site/PageServer

After I found this little gem (I had heard about it but never found a good way to get to it) it brought back memories of one of th best trails ever- the Monon Trail in Indianapolis! Now, before you go get all- "Where?" trust me. Indianapolis is one of the most underappreciated cities in the country- sort of like Kansas City- which I love!! I am actually kind of torn on where the NCAA headquarters should be....hmm. Anyway, during my two years of living in Indianapolis I had to find creative ways to get out for a bit. This was one of them. The Monon Trail (http://www.indygreenways.org/monon/monon.htm) is about 10 miles long running from north of the city to pretty much down town or other people say it starts downtown and goes north- but whatever. I would jump on the Monon around 86th street and run it down past the Arts districts and into the Broad Ripple area (52nd street). The Monon definitely has the Katy Trail beat in both mileage, access points and access to other trails. The Monon was a great way for me to get out and venture around Indianapolis on foot. However, as I continue to live in Dallas I will be taking in all I can in on the Katy Trail.

Anyway, both are great trails check them out!

U2.....wow

U2 is a great band. I've been a fairly big U2 fan for quite awhile..I have some fond memories of U2. 1) Entourage when Ari gets the gang tickets to see U2 and Bono gives a shout out to Johnny Drama during City of Blinding Lights. 2) Waking up at 730 am in KC in Weber's house. Kowal and I cranked up the U2 and danced around acting like soccer fans from Europe. Yep, we might have still been intoxicated. 3)St. Patrick's Day in New York City in 2007. Drinking "kool-aid" heavily all day with Sturgis, Lisa, Haley and some others. St. Patrick's Day actually has its US roots in NYC and the day was absolutely unreal....wow.


This past Tuesday U2 released a new album- No Line on the Horizon. First thing Tuesday morning I clicked over to iTunes and gave them a little bit of my last pay check- but hey I just got my year end bonus- so its all good!

Anyway, the album is a pretty solid pick up. However, U2 puts out very little in terms of low quality work. The album runs the gammit for types of music that U2 puts out. "Get On Your Boots" was the first release from the album and it was a good one. It is a little more up and edgy. Currently, I would say that "Magnificent" is my current number 1 play from the album for me. The song has more of a lighter feel to it with an easy and welcoming introduction. The next would be if, "I'll go crazy if I don't go crazy." Bono puts out great lyrics and has a great voice.

Overall, the album is a great and I'd suggest picking it up. U2 is a true Supergroup. In my opinion there are very, if any, bands that can touch their global presence or awareness as they do. I can't wait to try to see them on their next North American tour. Better yet, head over to Ireland and see them there!

Speaking of Ireland- who is ready for St. Patrick's Day?

Paul Harvey..."and thats the Kansas State story..."

Paul Harvey News & Comment
September 30, 2003

----

If you build it, they will come.

I know. I was there.

I saw for myself in the middle of the endless plains of Kansas.

I found a field of dreams, a grand garden a mile square.

With a hundred varieties of trees, immaculate lawnscapes, indigenous limestone architecture sheltering a family of 23,000 beautiful young people.

Kansas State University.

Kansans traditionally have tended to bloom where they are planted.

Harry Truman.
Alf Landon.
William Allen White.

The latter, the editor of the Emporia Kansas Gazette with colloquial wisdom that exported his ideas and ideals to the whole world.

As does Kansas State University.

It used to be axiomatic that any campus population of more than a thousand tended to become a campus of numbers rather than names.

And, it does take, at K-State, a rec center with 18 basketball courts and there are most of a dozen inviting dining rooms.

Yet, more than half of all the students live on campus. And that makes a difference.

You're likely to find full professors teaching freshmen. That makes a difference.

Because de-personalized numbers become re-personalized.

Example, in 40 airplanes student pilots are trained at Kansas State two at a time, in four place planes.
So the instructor has one student alongside and another looking over his shoulder.

De-personalized numbers re-personalized.

I was at Kansas State to deliver this year's Landon Lecture to students, faculty and alumni.

My host had arranged a personal while with President Jon Weflad. Until this visit, I had measured his administrative genius by the proportion of recognized scholars at K-State. This trip, I was able to visit the past with a borrowed intellect which embraces ancient history as you and I remember yesterday.

Intriugued by the world's most effective leaders …………. Well, he particularly esteems the talents of five of them, starting with Ghengas Khan. And, well Dr. Weflad's instant recall of names and dates and palces just confounds us mortals. So, it entertained all of us who know and admire Dr. Wefald when his dear wife confided that this year he forgot the 40th anniversary of their marriage.

But, anyway, so much for my first visit to the high ground in the flat land of Kansas.

From this day hence, when you hear Paul Harvey trying to explain the news it is quite likely that I will be including without knowing some pearls of wisdom greater than my own.

Thank you President Wefald. Thank you Kansas State, each 23,000 of you.

I'll see you again in a few miles.

13. miles

On Friday night I ventured over the Ft Worth to run the Cowtown (www.cowtown.org). My choice of distance this weekend was 13.1 miles or the half mile. I Pricelined a little hotel, got settled in, had a heavy carb meal and then shut the 'ol eyelids. Anyway a few notes about my experience:

Friday night: At the hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott, I was getting my computer out to look at a few things. I saw the little DSL box and was curious on where the cable was. I looked all over the desk and could not find it. I saw screw it and went out to get my meal and decide on the way back I'd ask the clerk. Well, yep, I asked. And here is what she said, "Oh, its hanging up in your closet hanging up. Did you not look there?" WTF lady!?! Who hanges up a freaking internet cable on a hanger in the closet? Are you serious. Wow...

Saturday Pre Race: I didn't eat any breakfast. Real smart joel....real smart. As for the weather, it was chilly. A little under 40 degrees with winds gusting up to 20 miles an hr at the 730 start time. And I never run in layers. However, I had to run in pants and a long sleeve. Not comfortable at all...damnit!

Saturday Race: Good race, finished right at about 2hrs. I haven't been training that hard at all and actually did not run at all the week before and got a little drunk 2 days before the race. And I haven't ran over 7 miles in awhile. But hell, whats 13.1 miles? Fuck it, I'm golden! Anyway, I started off good and kept up a good pace. My iPod helps me keep moving. Also, the thing about running with other people is that there are tons of other people to help you keep moving and entertained. I also think back to when I track my freshmen yr of HS and. I would start off rather slow but then slowly pick off runners one by one as I picked up my pace. The first 7 miles were pretty good, then 7-10 was rough oh well. And then at times I got confused when I saw the mile signs...I would say to myself.."Does this mean I have completed that many or am starting that mile..?" damn, maybe I should have trained better and had some breakfast..

Entertaining items:
A couple people dressed up as Cows and banannas!
A team with shirts that said, "Road hard and put away sweaty." Yep, they were classy...
70 yr old men flying past me...wtf? I think that A-Rod has been giving them supplements instead of Bob Dole....
A chic in the pre race tent with 30 packtes of Gu attached to her belt. All I thought was the scene from Big Daddy when the little kid says to Adam Sandler, "30 packets of ketchup." Well, this chic had 30 packets of fucking Gu! Really chic? And for some reason I don't think she finished 1st...
Ultra marathoners: These people are just crazy!


So yep, overall it was a good time. Next stop is a full in Seattle in June.

http://www.rnrseattle.com/