Fog

Dense fog... We were driving really slow so I took a picture

Pic 2

I-5 northbound is shutdown in this picture...

Off road adventure

Runaway truck hits nine vehicles on 5 Freeway at Grapevine

I decided to drive back to the bay area today and had a very rough drive home. First, I got stuck in LA traffic, then got stuck behind this:

A runaway truck transporting hazardous materials struck at least nine vehicles along Interstate 5 near Fort Tejon this afternoon, resulting in at least 12 injuries and temporarily shutting down the northbound lanes of the freeway. The freeway reopened just before 4 p.m.

They closed I-5 north at 1pm and I arrived at 2pm. I was stuck in some major traffic and decided to use the median to turn around and try a road that was on my GPS.

I got to off-road across the hilly median and then drive on some dirt roads. Then I was routed over some mountains and through some snow banked roads. After a 55-mile detour, I made it back to I-5.

The official detour was 120-miles, so my shortcut and off-road adventure saved me a good hour.

Once back on I-5 I encountered dense fog on much of the route and some light rain. I'm home finally and am tired. I think I may fall asleep before midnight!

Vacation?

This vacation is exhausting. I have helped dethatch the lawn at my parents' house, repaired a TV, cooked Christmas dinner, baby-sat my niece... I'm exhausted!

I still have a list of things to do, but for now the focus is on my cute and very active niece.

I hope you are all enjoying your holidays!

Wii Christmas

We are celebrating Christmas tomorrow, so today was a relatively quiet day at my parents' house.

We played lots of Wii and ate Chinese food. I visited with a friend from elementary school and then ate more Chinese food.

This picture is of my WiiFit Mii... I'm the tall (and fat) one in the middle. Sigh. It doesn't account for muscle, at least that's what I tell myself.

From left to right are Miis for my dad, mom, me, my cousin, and my sister-in-law. Not sure why my dad and cousin's Miis are sleeping...

Public Service Message

These signs were lit up with the message "Don't text while driving Jan 1st"...

What do you think they will say about my taking pictures and blogging while driving?

I am bored

I'm all done with work... And am very bored now. I decorated my bottle
this morning. Yes, I am THAT bored!

Where is Everyone?

Where is everyone today? I got to work and the parking lot was almost completely empty. It was just my car and one other. And I didn't get in all that early today... Before lunch, a couple of people had trickled in, but still, it was empty.

Apparently everyone has decided to take the extra days off for the holiday. I've completed about 20 minutes of work so far today and I'm pretty much done. I think my hours this week will be 9-3 with at least a 2-hour lunch break.

Maybe 9:30-2:30...

The Holidays

The holidays are in full force now. Lots of parties, gatherings and
Christmas movies... Charlie Brown, A Christmas Story, and Miracle on
32nd Street are among my favorites.

I just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Happy Holiday! I hope
this holiday season brings you peace in this crazy world.

Annoyed, Part II

Well, since inquiring minds asked, I shall tell why I was so annoyed yesterday. I was in the process of refinancing my house (rates are good, so look into it), but I did some calculations and the mortgage broker I've been working with got the numbers totally wrong. WTF? And that started my annoyance at the general incompetence of certain people which rolled into work also. Sigh.

Today, I am over it. At least I am so far. I'm ready to be on holiday break, but that doesn't start until middle of next week...

Annoyed

I am completely annoyed today and I can't get past it. I couldn't focus during yoga today because I was so annoyed which managed to annoy me even more. Maybe it is time to go home and take a nap. Or go for a run and get it out of my system... sigh. I hate feeling like this!

Christmas is next week?

I finally realized Christmas was closing in. As usual, I wasn't prepared and I didn't buy gifts early like I say I am going to every year! I started my search on the internet which yielded gifts for my niece. Of course, she is the easiest and most fun to buy for because she's only 2.5 years old.

Yesterday, I decided to head to the mall to look around and hoped I'd be inspired for gifts for the rest of my family. I found a few things, but not much. So, it was back to the internet for me. I spent a few hours today searching for gifts (why didn't I do this while I was on "strike"??) and found a few more gifts. And after my last conference call, I went around and found a few more gifts.

When I got home, I realized I was done shopping. FINISHED!!! And with a week to spare! That's got to be some sort of record for me. I'm even ahead of the game and picked up some gifts for January birthdays!

Now I just need everything I ordered to arrive in time and then I'll wrap it all.

SNOW!!!

There has been a very cold storm passing through the Bay Area recently, which is pretty unusual this early in winter. On my morning commute today, I saw snow on the tops of the local hills! I took this very bad picture (while driving) to show you because seeing the snow actually made me very happy. I couldn't get a picture of Mt. Hamilton which is covered with snow because I only had my iPhone camera and it's not the best...

Injured

I am injured and I have no idea what I did to make my hip hurt. Yes, it *could* have been the marathon last weekend, but I didn't have any pain until yesterday.

I'm starting to think that sitting around is hazardous to my health!

Strike is over

I have decided today will be the last day of my work stoppage (a.k.a. strike).  This is for two reasons.  

 

One reason is that I have nothing else to search, read, or do on the internet and am completely bored...  I have been for a few weeks now and even added a daily crossword puzzle to my activities.  

 

And the main reason is because we are having layoffs and I feel awful sitting around when people are getting informed that they will lose their jobs in the first few months of next year.

 

I can't say the "strike" made any difference...  I'm not even sure anyone noticed I was "on strike" or cared that I haven't completed any real work recently.  But I know that I hate not giving 120% at work every day, so this strike is over.

Layoffs... Again

Well, thanks to the global economic slowdown, we are once again having another "re-organization" which is basically a different word for "layoff".  We all knew this was coming, but it sucks because it's just before the holidays.  They are letting people know this week and next, but the action won't be official until the middle of January. 

 

I'll keep you posted and let you know when I'll be moving in with my parents if I get laid off.  =)

Cold

It is so cold at my desk that I went to Target at lunch today and invested $13 in a space heater.  It is now under my desk and keeping me toasty.  I'm much happier.  Hopefully I don't blow the circuit by having too many things hooked into my one electrical outlet!  That would suck, but then maybe I could go home.

Marathon #23

I ran my 23rd marathon yesterday. I have been running marathons for 10 years now. I would have never imagined 10 years ago that I'd still be running marathons! Here is my write-up of the weekend.

On Saturday morning, I made my way to Sacramento with Ken, Angela, Meredith, and Jodi. We headed to check-in at the hotel and then to the expo to pick up our things. Since this was my 9th time through the expo at CIM, I was well versed on where everything was and we were back at the hotel in no time. We rested a bit and then headed to dinner at Il Fornaio. Tyler and Davina joined us for our carbo loading party. Once back at the hotel, we organized all of our race things, set our alarms and tried to go to sleep at a decent time.

Race morning started at 4:45 AM for those of us running the full. I got dressed and layered on lots of warm clothes because it was only in the 30s outside. By 5:30, we left the hotel and went to get on the bus. The bus line was the longest I have ever seen it. By the time we made it through the bus line and to the start, we only had 13 minutes until the starting gun would go off. It was a bit frantic, but good not to sit around in the cold. I literally had 5 seconds of quiet before the race started.

The first few miles were uneventful. I noticed that I didn't have much "fuel" in my gas tank to push up the hills or run faster. I took it easy and figured having a fever earlier in the week must have drained my energy. The weather stayed cold and thanks to the fog, it seemed to get colder as the day went on. At mile 10, I decided I wasn't eating enough calories and had to change my nutrition plan on the fly. By mile 16, I was feeling better and knew I was going to finish eventually. I just wasn't sure when "eventually" was.

I kept to my steady pace and didn't let the pace teams freak me out. The Cliff bar pace teams always seem to go out too fast and slow down to a crawl at the end to make their times, so I stayed away. I enjoyed the spectators and volunteers. I've run this race so many times that I recognize many of them. And I ran into AnnaMarie and John, coaches from my earliest seasons with TNT! AnnaMarie was in the exact same spot cheering me on as she was 10 years ago when I ran CIM for the first time.

I finished the race in ~5:20. I wasn't worried about time, so I was happy to finish before they closed down the course. It was a bit slower than I had wanted, but all-in-all, it was a good race.

Marathon #23 is COMPLETE!

Marathon

I'll try to write more tomorrow, but just wanted to post that I finished CIM today. It was slow, but went well overall!

Why I shouldn't bake late at night

I was tired last night, but wanted to make some cookies to take to work today. Plus, I wanted to play with my new mixer.

I read the recipe (I rarely follow recipes, but thought I would this time) and decided it sounded easy enough to make before I needed to go to sleep. It was pretty late because I had conference calls until 8PM and had to go to the store to get some ingredients.

I started and did everything exactly to the recipe (I thought), but when I mixed it, it was very dry. Crumbly and not at all like cookie dough should be. I also had one extra egg. I read and re-read the recipe and could not figure out where the egg was supposed to be added. I decided to add some water to salvage the dough and baked the first batch of cookies. They turned out pretty well but I'm going to try it again with the egg next time.

This morning, I looked at the recipe again with fresh eyes and figured out where I went wrong. I read, "Add the egg yolk, ..." when it really read, "Add egg, yolk, ...". Darn little comma!

CIM

It's that time of the year again. California International Marathon time.

Here is how I remember each of my CIM races (or non-races):

1999 - Well trained and I made the 5:30 cut-off time!!! Marathon PR

2000 - Broke 5 hours for the first time in a race, Marathon PR

2001 - Trained well, Marathon PR

2002 - Marathon PR! (still stands)

2003 - Sick - Did not start

2004 - Ran stealth under someone else's bib

2005 - DNF

2006 - Finished in decent shape

2007 - Ran it even though I had surgery 3 weeks before

2008 - Who knows! We'll see!

Wii Fit

I love my new Wii Fit! I left it at my parents' house so they could enjoy it, but I am a fan. It combines the fun of a video game with movement. My favorite are the hula hoop game, the marble balance game, and the running. Who knew jogging in place would be so tiring?

Costco is supposed to get shipments of Wii's and Wii Fits soon, so if you are looking for one, stop by the information desk and ask what day they arrive (and get there early!).

Quiet

It's been quiet for me the past few days. I've had a low-grade fever
and sore throat since Saturday. Finally feeling better today, so I'll
be headed back to the office tomorrow.

What Recession?

A picture from Macy's on Black Friday...

Day at the beach

Just another day at the beach!

Grandma's House

We love being pampered at Grandma's house...

Long day

Today was a very long day. It started at 5:30 am for our last Team in
Training long run of the Fall season in Fremont.

The run took quite some time and we had some delays as well. After
lunch, I headed home for a quick shower and then headed out for my
long drive.

I'm now in Orange County at my parents' house. They are on a cruise
for a few more days, so the house is empty.

I'm headed down to San Diego tomorrow so this should be my only night
here alone... Good thing too because it's kinda spooky to be here alone!

Working from Home

I've decided to work from home (my parents' home) next week. Not much is going on at work, so I'll drive down to my parents' house this weekend and stay there for the holiday week. I assume that's ok with my boss since he's still out recovering from knee surgery. And since I was left in charge, I say it's fine. =)

It's difficult to be in charge and also be on strike at the same time. I hear there may be a big layoff in a couple of weeks, so if I still have a job after that, I'll start working again.

Quietly on Strike

I've had a lot of free time at work recently. Why? Because I'm quietly on strike until a few things change. Until those changes happen, I'm refusing to travel and not doing any "real" work. Of course, for this plan to work, I need someone to notice that I'm not doing anything other than surfing the internet all day. No one has noticed yet...

Inaguration

I've decided to be in DC for the inaguration... I just booked tickets today using miles. I know you all think I'm nuts. I am. It will be crazy, but something tells me it's going to be memorable.

Wash My House

Does anyone think it's strange that I want to wash the outside of my house? There is all this dirt on the windows and the walls. I assume it is because of the new construction. When it rained, all of that dirt became more visible.

I guess I don't care if anyone thinks it's strange. I'm going to attempt to rinse the dirt off the outside of my house...

Nice Ride in Solvang

The 100-mile ride this weekend started early. We left the hotel around 6:40AM and rode ~4 miles to the starting line. Once there, we headed out onto the course.

The first 20 miles were pretty uneventful. There were lots of rolling hills and somewhere around mile 16, my lower back started tightening up. This "ache" is typical for me, but not usually this early. I stretched and kept riding.

I tried to enjoy the cool morning as much as possible and kept my nutrition up. I knew it was going to get warm later in the day, so I prepared. Around mile-40, the route passed by our hotel. Too early to head back to the hotel even though my lower back was hurting.

By this point, it was warming up, probably low 80s already and I was barely 1/2 way done. The hills kept coming and it seemed like very little of the ride was really flat. Even roads that appeared flat were not.

At the 2nd waterstop (57 miles into the ride), I stretched, refilled my supplies and headed off. What I forgot to do was eat and drink. It was hot by this point (low 90s?) and I just didn't feel like eating or drinking anything. I went at least 30 minutes without anything and when it was time to start climbing again (a big climb this time), I had nothing in the tank. I felt horrible and even considered turning around and riding back to the hotel. I just couldn't make my legs go up that hill. It didn't help that I was under-trained and by mile 65, my training had run out...

I decided it was time to stop and regroup. Once I cooled off a little, I was able to take in some food and water. About 5 minutes later, I was back on my bike and headed up the hill. I still felt really weak, but slow was better than stopped.

At the top of the hill, there was a waterstop with ice. I added this to my water bottles and it helped cool my core temperature. I took a couple of salt tablets at this point too. Once back on my bike, the downhill let my body rest and the nutrition kicked in. I was feeling much better. Tired, but much better.

The last big climb of the day was at mile 82. I took it slow and let myself take a break every mile on the climb. After the "summit" was very bumpy and painful downhill. I thought my arms would shake loose since it was so bumpy and my hands were clamped onto the brakes the entire time. Not the great downhill I was looking forward to. At mile 90, the road smoothed out and it was slightly downhill, so I was able to get in my aero bars and ride fast. I was riding around 28mph and it was awesome. I think that was my favorite part of the ride.

At mile 100 of my ride, I decided to skip the finish line and turn into the hotel. I would have made the 4 miles to the finish and then again back to the hotel, but my goal was to get in 100 miles and I was finished!

The ride took 7hrs 30mins total and 7 hours of that was actual ride time. Max speed was 46mph. No one knows for sure how much climbing there was. Anywhere from 4200 feet of climbing to 6500 feet depending on who you ask. It registered 95 degrees on my friend's bike computer and many folks didn't finish because the conditions were so rough. If it hadn't been for some salt tablets and ice at mile 70, I'm not sure I would have finished either.

All in all, it was a great ride and fun to be out there. Now it's time to focus on my upcoming 20-mile run this weekend and marathon in 3 weeks.

High Security

This is the security lock on the hotel door in Solvang. It was a Best
Western and at least it was clean.

We were on the 1st floor and it sounded like there was an elephant in
the room above us. Whoever was up there stomped around a lot. Sigh.

Solvang Century

Well, this weekend is my century ride with TNT. That's 100 miles on my bike down in Solvang. Of course, I haven't done enough long rides and I'm a lot undertrained for a 100 mile bike ride, but I'm sure I'll be fine.

I'm gone for the weekend, so I'll update you on Monday how the ride went. Even if the ride isn't great, we are going wine tasting on Sunday, so that will make everything better.

F for Parking

I've been wanting to get stickers printed up with "You get an F for parking" on them. Then, I could go around stick them to people's windshields that I feel deserve an "F" for their parking skills. They would have to be double-sided so people in the car could read it as well as people outside.

Just yesterday, there were at least 6 people I would have given "F"s to on their parking skills. Seriously people, just try to park between the lines. If you can't see the white line when you get out of your car, you need to re-park your car.

And no, it doesn't matter that you parked like an idiot because the person next to you did it first!

Random Craving

I have the most random craving for gummy bears or gummy worms. Yesterday it was a craving for mini peanut butter cups from Trader Joes. I managed to resist that craving, but not sure about today. I'll do my best though.

I guess running 20 miles will cause some strange cravings.

Summer in November?

It is supposed to be in the 80s here this weekend! I'm confused by the
weather since it is supposed to be fall.

I am headed to Solvang this weekend for a century ride (yes, 100
miles) and didn't really expect it to be 80 degrees. I suppose it's
better than rain.

In Charge

My boss is out for the next 3 weeks, having ACL surgery. And, he put me in charge while he's gone. That's not as glamorous as it sounds... especially since I had planned to take lots of days off while he was out of the office. So much for that. Now I have to be here, or at least pretend to be here for most of the day.

Running "Food"

I ran 20 miles today down in Monterey. During the run, I was eating the usual running food, GU. Basically a gel with easy to digest calories.

Today, I was introduced to the Power Bar Gel Blasts and they are awesome! They are gummy pieces with a bit of cola flavor in the middle. They taste like gummy cola bottles and I love cola bottles! It's like a little treat while running.

Best of all, they have a bunch of caffeine in them! It made my run much better.

Everything is on the internet

Have you ever typed some really random question or topic into a search on the internet? It's amazing to me that everything is on the internet. I mean EVERYTHING.

When discussing the silly commercial that said eggs would have to come from Mexico (advertisement against one of the propositions this election), my friend asked what sound does a chicken make in Mexico.

So, I typed the question into Google and hit search... And there were multiple answers to this. This is the best one I found...

In Spanish they say El Gallo ( the cock) says, "Quirri, quiri, quiri,quiri" La Galina (the hen) says "car-ra,ca-ra, ca-ra,ca-ra" and Los Poluellos (the chicks} say, "Pio! Pio! Pio! Pi!"

I've decided the internet is a clear sign that we all have WAAAAYY too much time on our hands...

Swimming

Last night, I swam laps for the first time in over a year. Yes, I did have a few pool and beach days in Malaysia, but never did any real swimming.

The good news: I didn't drown... sad when this is the good news about swimming.

The bad news is that I'm back to swimming like a brick.

I managed to trudge through 1500 yards, so my fitness isn't horrible. I'm sure I'll get faster and more efficient quickly, but that will mean a lot of time in the water.

Free Coffee for all...

Yesterday, Starbucks was giving a free coffee to anyone who says they voted. Ben and Jerry's was giving out a free scoop of ice cream and Krispy Kreme was giving out a free donut.

Then someone pointed out that giving something in exchange for votes might be against election policies... so they had to give coffee, ice cream, and donuts to everyone... no matter if they voted or not.

Seriously, if a free coffee, ice cream, or donut is going to change whether you vote or not, that's really sad.

Now that the election is over, all the commercials can stop. And I can start on my new campaign... to split the bay area into a separate state from the rest of California.

OK, I promise, that's the end of the political posts...

Republican or Democrat?

Don't worry, this isn't going to be a political post. I won't even mention who or what I voted for. But make sure you get out to vote today.

I remember going with my dad to KMART one day when I was young. There was a guy outside of KMART that wanted to register my dad to vote. He started down the list of questions needed to register someone to vote... name, address, etc, etc.

Then he asked my dad, "Are you a Republican or a Democrat?" I vividly remember my dad pausing for a second, then replying "I'm a Republican because I'm from the Republic of China."

To this day, I'm not sure if my dad was joking or not... But, that was my first vivid memory of politics. And every time I am asked if I am a Republican or Democrat, I remember my dad's answer.

I'm sure everyone who reads this blog has already voted, but for those of you who haven't yet, please get out and vote, no matter who or what you vote for.

Mud

Apparently fall is here. I've had a nice even coat of dirt on my car for months now... then it rained... and turned the dirt into mud.

The Great Pumpkin

Last night at track, one of the coaches brought some candy for everyone to share. In the candy mix, he had some Hershey's Kisses that looked like candy corn. The unfortunate thing was that they tasted like candy corn also. Candy corn is strange enough on its own. No need to make chocolate taste like candy corn too... I give this candy two thumbs DOWN.

Today, I spent most of today in a training course. Luckily, they had Playdoh for us to play with during the talks. Here is what I made:

Happy Halloween!

Halloween

Tomorrow is Halloween. Some people really like this "holiday", but I've never been a big fan. Even when I was little, I didn't like it much. It always seemed strange to go from door to door to ask for candy. And it was even stranger when we'd get stuff other than candy. There was always the one house in the neighborhood that gave out 5 pennies taped together. Yes, pennies. I didn't mind dressing up, but mostly it was because it was expected.

Now it's my turn to hand out candy and I have no idea how many kids may come by the new house. And I don't want to buy too much candy and have it sitting around the house. I guess the kids who want candy should come by my house early. Otherwise, they may get 5 pennies taped together...

IronTEAM

Well, I did it. I signed up for IronTeam. If I have any chance of making it through the training season to Ironman Canada in 2009, I'm gonna need the motivation of the team.

For now, I'm still coaching the run team and training for my century ride in Solvang, so I won't be attending too many trainings with Ironteam.

I guess I should get in the pool one of these days...

Birthday!

Today is my friend Carolyn's birthday! This is a picture of the balloon she and Carl got for me on my birthday. It's still going strong 2.5 months later... If it's still floating next year on her birthday, she's getting the balloon back.

Happy Birthday Carolyn!

Furniture

I'm having a very difficult time finding furniture for my house. I love the few big items that I have, but there is a lot more that I need. For now, I am looking for nightstands. It seems like an easy task, but for some reason it is not.

I'm starting to think I should build my own... but that may be a bad idea since I've never actually built any furniture. I think I've been watching too much HGTV.

Lazy Sunday

I decided to skip my bike ride today to do some chores around the
house. After running 18 miles yesterday, my body appreciated the rest.

After cleaning and a few loads of laundry, I unpacked/organized the
last few boxes from when I moved in 5 months ago.

I even managed to hang my race medals in the bonus room.

Next, I need to hang pictures...

401K into 201K

Poof. My 401K has turned into a 201K. Well, maybe not a 201K, more of a 307K, but it will probably be down to a 201K soon enough. This crazy market is depressing.

I'm cashing out my money and going to live in the forest until things get better...

Weekend

It's Friday! I'm glad this week is almost over. It hasn't been particularly busy, but I'm still glad it's over. Tomorrow morning, I'm planning to run 18 miles (yuck). Saturday evening is a b-day dinner for a friend of mine. Sunday is TBD. I need to go for a long bike ride, but it's going to depend on how my body feels after the 18-mile run!

Have a good weekend!

Drivers

I've noticed that there are more obnoxious drivers in Sunnyvale than in previous places I've lived. It's as if a larger percentage of people who live in Sunnyvale feel the need to cut me off, not signal, cut across 3 lanes of traffic, drive in the carpool lane without having a carpool, and race at high speeds to get around people who are driving at "normal" speeds. This might be ok if we lived in China, but we don't...

While I would like to retaliate and drive like an obnoxious moron also, I feel that would be beneath me and likely cause a worse situation of road rage. Although, some days (today) I feel that I would be justified to drive crazy and piss off some of the obnoxious drivers...

RECORD

I've been in the country now for 11 weeks IN A ROW!!! Now, that doesn't seem like a big deal, but this is the longest stretch that I've been in the US in almost 4 years! While staying in one country for so long is sometimes boring... I have enjoyed having a schedule and routine that I can stick with for longer than a week or two.

I'm supposed to leave on Sunday for Asia. I have tickets booked, but I don't feel like going. I may be able to push this off for another month and combine two separate trips into one longer trip. I think that sounds like a grand plan. Hopefully my boss will see it my way... We'll see!

Busy Weekend

On Saturday morning, I went for a 16-mile run by myself. While it was boring and exhausting, I needed the mileage to be ready for my marathon in December. After, I had a quick shower, then headed to San Francisco for the Nike Women's Marathon festivities.

This is a major team event for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team in Training Program. Most of you know that I am a coach with the team. We had 50+ participants running the half marathon distance yesterday, so I headed up to support. After almost 2 hours on public transportation, I made it to the city (it was $57 for parking, so I decided not to drive).

For Team in Training, there is always a pasta party the night before the event. Nike is by far the biggest event of the year. This is a picture of the people streaming into the convention center. The people on the sides are coaches and support staff cheering for the runners and their families in the middle. This went on for an hour as 5000+ runners and their families entered. We learned that night that we had raised $18 million for Leukemia and Lymphoma research for this event alone!

Here is a picture from the hotel on Saturday. The weather was perfect. Clear/warm on Saturday and overcast/cool on race day! Now I'm exhausted.

updated

updated the glasses post with another picture...

mmmmm.... Hamburger...

I read this story by the Associated Press... (I edited to be shorter)

CLEARFIELD, Pa. – It took Brad Sciullo 4 hours and 39 minutes to finish a marathon. A meat marathon, that is. The 5-foot-11, 180-pound western Pennsylvania chef is the first person to eat a monstrosity called the Beer Barrel Belly Bruiser: a 15-pound burger with toppings and a bun that brought the total weight to 20.2 pounds.

For completing the challenge in the under-five-hour time limit, Sciullo won $400, three T-shirts, and a certificate.

First off, why do they need to sour the name of a marathon by comparing it to eating a 20+ pound burger? Second, who would spend 4 hours and 39 minutes eating a burger for $400, some shirts, and a certificate? And lastly, where do I get one of those burgers?

Public transportation

I've never been a big fan of public transportation in California. I almost never took the bus in Southern California. I can get around on the public transport systems here in the bay area, but they seem really inefficient.

For example, I mapped out taking public transport from my house to San Francisco tomorrow. This will save on parking, but it's going to take me 2 hours to make the journey when I could drive it in 45 minutes. And any savings in gas is going to be wiped out by the almost $10 cost.

In other cities and countries, there are very efficient public transportation systems. I can get from one end of Shenzhen to the other (it's a big city) in 35 minutes. Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore have some of the best public transportation systems. Even Boston and NY have good systems.

And what do we have in the bay area? We have multiple dis-jointed systems. So tomorrow, if I choose to take public transport to get to San Francisco, I'll have to go from Light Rail to Caltrain to BART. I think I'll drive and pay the $40 in parking instead...

Glasses

So, my glasses are finally here. When wearing the glasses, things are much clearer and blurry all at the same time. I know that sounds strange, but I think I've been looking out of my slightly blurry eyes for so long that I've forgotten what it is like to see clearly. When I have the glasses on, it's a bit dizzying at first. I'm hoping that will go away with time.



Here is the best picture I managed to get today and it's not very good (self portraits with an iPhone camera are not easy).

Added a the following on 17 October 2008:

Here is a picture with a smile... And apparently I'm much less tan today than yesterday.

Passport Photos

In order to renew my Visa for entry into China, I have to submit an application complete with a current passport photo. I've decided the passport photo business is a complete rip off. Kinkos charges $19.99 for passport photos! Seriously? In this day and age of digital cameras and photo printers?

Today I headed to Longs Drugs to get a passport photo taken. It only cost $7... but I have to say that it is a very bad picture of me. I think the lady stretched the picture to get it to fit in the required 2x2 photo so I look extra wide in it. At least I hope she stretched it. If not, it's time to go on a diet. I'll see if I can get it scanned tomorrow and post.

For now, here is my very first passport photo.... Maybe I can submit this one instead...

Starbucks

I'm not sure if you have heard, but Costco has a great deal on Starbucks cards. You can get 5 x $20 cards for $79.99. That's a 20% discount on every cup of coffee and every pound of coffee that you buy at Starbucks!

Since then, I've been to Starbucks twice and found out that caffeine makes me bounce off the walls. I think I have $95 left on Starbucks cards at least. Shall we take bets on how long it takes me to finish the cards? I'm guessing it will take me a year, at least. Maybe I should buy some coffee accessories from Starbucks to spend some of the gift card balance...

Rude

People can be so rude sometimes. I went to Costco after work today. I'm not sure I believe our economy is bad because lots of people were buying everything in sight.

Anyhow, I went to pick up a few things and hoped to get out quickly. Instead, the lady helping me was totally rude. Demanding my card after she already had it... Double charging me for an item, not swiping the coupons that I gave her... Just total incompetence. Then she got mad at me for asking about the double charge.

Then I had to stand in line to get a refund on the double charged item, then a separate line for the coupon. So much for getting out quickly.

Since it had already taken so long and I didn't have anything frozen, I decided to speak with a manager about my cashier. I didn't file a complaint but suggested he speak with her.

Remind me to stay away from Costco on Mondays...

The Economy...

Mother's Cookie company went bankrupt on Thursday. It was a sad day. Not because I ate the cookies that often or really liked them all that much. But because the bad economy has claimed another victim. I think it's time to stock up on cookies and start storing my money in my mattress...

Mr. Beefie

This picture was taken outside of a restaurant called Ye Old Beef and Ale. I guess their mascot is Ye Original Mr. Beefie. We went inside to check out what we thought would be a cool bar/restaurant. It was not anything like we imagined, so we left. Such a let down...

Halloween

The seasonal decorations have gone up at work. A lady in my department does all the decorating. This is what I found outside of my desk this year.

Hopefully it's not a statement of how people see me at work... I might need to take it down though. The witch is kind of scary looking and may give me nightmares when I'm sleeping at my desk.

Yogurt Wars

About a year ago, I was introduced to the new frozen yogurt craze and informed that there were two frozen yogurt shops in NYC (really close to each other) and both had lines out the door at all hours of the day and night. I'm sure you heard of both of these, but here they are:

I didn't actually pay much attention to these until my cousin was visiting my family in Orange County and wanted to go to the Pinkberry in Huntington Beach. The original flavor was very tart, but the flavor grew on me quickly. After a few visits to my parents' house and a few visits to Pinkberry, I was addicted. The search began for a Pinkberry in the Bay Area. No luck. Some rumors of store openings, but none of them turned out to be true. So, I had to go cold turkey and come down from my Pinkberry addiction quickly.

Last night, after dinner with my friend Janet, we stopped off to get frozen yogurt at the new Red Mango shop in downtown Palo Alto. While the yogurt was good, it wasn't as tart as the Pinkberry yogurt and didn't set off my addiction again. This is a good thing for both my wallet and my waistline!

Apple Picking in Stow, Mass.

I went apple picking for the first time in my life today. Colleen, Brian, and I went to a orchard called Honeypot Hill and collected a 1/2 bushell of apples and some pears too. This is a picture of Colleen and I after the harvest.

"That's Pretty Slow"

Yesterday, one of my co-workers asked about my running. He is pretty clueless and was trying to strike up conversation... Here's how it went.

Clueless: How is your running?
Amy: It's fine.
Clueless: How far did you run this weekend?
Amy: About 14 miles
Clueless: Wow, that's good. How fast do you run?
Amy: About 10 minute miles... sometimes faster, sometimes slower
Clueless: That's pretty slow
Amy (thinking WTF?): Well maybe you should run 14 miles this weekend and let me know how long it takes you...
Clueless: I can't run 14 miles
Amy: Then it would be best not to make judgements.

That was the end of the conversation because I was pretty annoyed and wanted to throw my lunch at him.

Christmas is here

Well, not really. The Christmas stuff is already in the stores though!

Four Eyes

Yesterday, I went for an optometry appointment. My prescription for contact lenses has expired, so it was time to go back in for a check-up. I decided it would be a good time to get new glasses also.

I don't need glasses most of the time and rarely wear contacts, but it's good to have around when driving at night, etc. Since I rarely wear them, that would mean I should not spend a lot of money on frames and lenses. Of course, I could only find a couple frames that looked good and they were all expensive, brand-named frames.

I finally decided on a pair of Gucci frames. They should be ready towards the end of next week, so when I get them, I'll post a picture.

Tumble

During my run in Golden Gate park on Saturday, I took a tumble. It was near the crowds and mass chaos for the museum opening.

I was running on the dirt path right next to the sidewalk because too many people were on the sidewalk. There was a bike following behind me in the path. I guess I was running too slow because the guy on the bike ran into my back leg.

This started me on my tumble/fall. I rolled over my right shoulder/head and onto my back and landed in the dirt. Everyone around us stopped to look at me. The guy on the bike apologized and helped me up. A lady gave me a baby wipe to try to clean off a bit (didn't help much because I was covered in dirt). I got up and felt ok. I wanted to yell at the guy, but I was wearing Team in Training gear, so I didn't want any bad press going out.

I continued on my run. I was having a hard time breathing deeply because it would expand my ribcage and that would hurt. My right side stiffened up from the fall and started to really hurt. I walked when I needed to and tried to get past the pain. I should have gotten a ride back from one of the waterstops, but I wanted to finish my 14-mile run.

I finally got to the finish and broke out in tears of frustration. I was having a good run up until I was knocked down and running through 6-miles of pain was really frustrating for me. I'm sure my blood sugar was low too since I didn't eat or drink much after the fall because it hurt to reach around to my waterbottle.

I'm very sore today. I went to the doctor and he doesn't think I did any serious damage, but he thinks I should take the next 4-6 weeks off. Obviously that's not going to happen...

Rock Concert?

Is this a picture of people in line for a rock concert?

Nope, it is a line in Golden Gate Park for the grand opening of the CA
Academy of Sciences museum. Yes, a museum opening.

The entry was free. The line was 2 miles long (I was running with my
GPS watch, so I measured the length of the line).

It's as if they were giving away free money inside!

Posture

When I was in 8th grade, I was diagnosed with scoliosis. It was so severe that I had to wear a back-brace (waist to neck for 23 hours a day!) into my Junior year in High School to prevent the scoliosis from getting worse. The back-brace forced me to sit up straight, so when I got out of wearing the brace, I slouched all-the-time. Sitting up straight reminded me of being in the brace so I purposely would not sit properly.

Ever since then, my posture has gotten worse and worse. At work, I slouch/lean/sit crooked... I never sit the way our ergo guys tell us to. I've noticed recently that my back and hips are achy when I get up from my chair. Maybe it's from getting older or exercising more, but most likely it's because of my bad posture.

Today, I decided that I must start working to correct my posture. It won't be easy, but the first step was ordering an exercise ball to replace my chair. If I slouch or sit crooked on the ball, I'll fall off. Maybe I should wear a helmet for the first few days...

Nightmares

I haven't been sleeping well recently. I blame two things for this.

1) Having to wake up for my 1AM conference calls this week. That means my sleep is broken up already.

and

2) Because I've been watching TV just before I go to sleep. I installed Tivo in my bedroom when I hung the TV on the wall. While I like having the TV and Tivo in my room, watching Law and Order SVU just before going to bed is probably causing me to have strange dreams and nightmares.

Next week, I won't have calls in the middle of the night, so I'll see if my sleep is still disturbed. If it is, I may need to get rid of the TV in my room...

Nails

I HATE it when people cut their nails at work. I hear it all the time. Clip, clip, clip...

I think it is inappropriate and gross to cut your nails at your desk. Ok, I make concessions for those people who break a nail and need to trim it. But for everyone else, cut your nails at home!

Maybe this is why I should travel constantly. When I sit at my desk too long, I start finding things that annoy me!

A Bit More

This is a very bad picture of my friend's microwave oven. It has all the normal buttons, but then it has the button that says "COOK A BIT MORE". When you press it, it adds anywhere from 3-10 seconds radomly to the cooking time. I'm not sure who invented this button, but I loved it.

Home theater

My speakers are installed and TV is on the wall. It wasn't as hard as
I thought it would be. Hope the TV doesn't fall off the wall.

I need an electrician to run the wires in the wall for the TV. Anyone
know a good electrician?

"Working" from home

Today, I am working from home. Why? No real reason. I just didn't feel like sitting at my desk all day.

This morning I planned to go for a bike ride. I was still tired when I woke up, so I let myself sleep more. I got up a little while later and started getting ready to go for a bike ride. The plan was to ride 50+ miles. While I was getting ready, I kept thinking "I don't FEEL like going for a ride today". In spite of my head, I got on my bike and headed out the door. About 3 miles into the ride, I was not enjoying myself. I just didn't feel like being out so I turned around and went home. I've had a rough week with late night conference calls and I think it caught up to me today.

Other than a few errands I need to run, I'm planning to stay home the rest of the day. I think it's time to sit and watch a few movies on my new home theater system. Oh, and answer a few work e-mails, of course...

How to Patch Drywall

The picture above are "exploratory" holes I had to drill to find the studs in my walls. Yes, I have a stud finder, but the builder used two layers of drywall, so it makes my studfinder basically useless on this wall. Luckily, I was able to cut the holes for the speakers and fish the wires into the right locations, so I was pretty happy.

Below is a picture of the speaker install in-progress. The blue tape is a general guide of where I wanted things. Unfortunately, there are studs in the way, so I wasn't able to get everything exactly centered. Oh well.

Now I just need to get someone to install the wiring for the TV and my home theater system will be complete!

Home Theater System

My home theater system is being delivered one item at a time. The first day was the receiver. Yesterday I got some speakers. Today, I hope the other speakers come. At some point UPS will deliver the subwoofer and the US Postal Service will deliver the universal remote.

Last night I decided to install the two in-ceiling speakers. It seemed easy enough even though I had never done anything like that in the past. I spent a lot of time measuring and then re-measuring everything in that room to make sure I didn't have crooked speakers.

Then came cutting into the drywall. I didn't have the right tool, but the saw on my Swiss Army Knife worked just fine. Yes, I used my Swiss Army knife!

I managed to install the two speakers and was very happy when I plugged them in and sound came out! Apparently I'm pretty handy when I want to be!

I'll take pictures once the mess is cleaned up.

Yoga

I've started going to yoga class during lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our company gym offers it (free) and it's a good excuse to leave my desk for a while. We do a lot of stretching and some strength exercises. Today, yoga helped stretch out my hamstrings and hips... the two parts of my body that were most sore and tight from this weekend's workout.

I'm not very bendy, but hopefully that will come with time. Maybe I'll be able to touch my toes sometime in the near future...

Darkness

This morning, it was quite dark when I rode my bike into work. The darkness actually surprised me. I know the days have been getting shorter and I left a bit earlier than usual, but it is normally light out when I ride to work.

After I opened the garage and realized it was still dark out, I had to decide if I was going to change to drive to work or still ride in. I decided to ride, so I went into the house and dug through some boxes to find my gear.

After finding my reflective vest and head-lamp, I headed out. I'll need to find my blinking red light when I get home tonight. The only problem is that I have no idea where I put it when I moved.

That reminds me. I should really finish unpacking soon...

Sports Psychology?

After taking the past 9 months off from serious exercise, it has been quite difficult to get back into a routine. From my last marathon in December to the beginning of August, I only exercised a handful of times. There were some good reasons behind this and lots of not-so-good reasons.

I've been working out regularly for a few weeks now. My muscles are getting stronger, but I'm still struggling with my head. I feel like my running pace is slow even though I know it is not (I confirmed it with a GPS watch) and I end up walking more during the runs because of my head. I'm not having as big of a mental block with cycling, but it's there.

This is the first time I've had such a strong "mental block" with exercise and I have no idea how to get rid of it. For now, I keep pushing myself to stay on schedule for the Solvang Century in November and Cal Marathon in December, but it's been a struggle.

Hopefully my head gets back into shape soon. Maybe I should see a sports psychologist and maybe they can prescribe steroids to make me stronger and faster... Oh, I mean maybe they can help me get through this mental block.

Travel Restrictions

My company is currently on travel restriction. This happens every August when upper management realizes how much cost there is associated with a "global" business structure. Now, each of our travel requests has to be approved by one of our VPs.

What does this mean for ME?
It means I get to stay in the country for an extended period of time. Part of me misses the travel (it has been almost 6 weeks since I last left the country), but I'm happy to stay here. I was traveling so much that I didn't realize how disruptive it was on my life. I'm glad to have a regular schedule again.

What does that mean for YOU?
Well, it means you have to continue to read these boring entries about not traveling and about how I worked out so hard that I can't walk the next day... at least until mid-October when I should be leaving the country again.

Don't Do It.

I saw this "Don't Do It." bumper sticker in Half Moon Bay. I really need small versions of this to paste over the top of my credit cards.

First, I spent a lot of money signing up for Ironman Canada last week. Then, yesterday, I decided to buy a home theater system for my new house. And, of course, I didn't go cheap.

IM Canada Slot

A week (or so) ago, I got an e-mail saying there were a limited number of slots for next year's Ironman Canada (IMC) race and there would be online sign-ups starting at a certain time/date. This is a rare occurrence because slots for Ironman Canada are usually difficult to come by.

I decided that I was going to try for a slot, but that I wouldn't be upset if I didn't get in. After all, if it was meant to be, it would happen. Then my obsessive-compulsive nature took over. I started thinking about it and WANTING the slot. Boredom at work definitely didn't help in this case.

So, about 30-minutes before the sign-ups would start, I got on the website and started refreshing the screen every 5-minutes. Then, in the last 5 minutes, I refreshed every minute (good thing I learned that from my days of buying stuff on Ebay). With two minutes to go, the link was posted!

I clicked on it and the 3rd time (it created an "error" the first two times), it finally worked. I typed as fast as I could and was glad I had my credit card information memorized. I hit the submit button and got my slot!

And my first thought after I got the confirmation? "What have I done?"

The second thought was "This is gonna be fun".

I'm looking forward to my 3rd Ironman race!

Stairs

My new house has a lot of stairs. And today, I went for a long, tough bike ride. After yesterday's 10-mile run, short swim and today's 53-mile ride, my legs are toast.

Going up and down the stairs is already painful today. I hope I can still walk tomorrow...

Shoes

I have been struggling with finding running shoes that work for me. I was wearing the Asics 2120s, but I was told by multiple people that I needed a "stiffer" shoe and that I'd break down the 2120s too fast. I was buying shoes very often, so I figured it was worth a shot.

So, earlier this year, I switched shoes. I tried the Kayanos and they never felt like they were broken in. When they finally felt ok, I was told that there was no more support left and I needed new shoes. It was the same story with two other types of shoes.

Because of the uncomfortable shoes, I ran less and less. I didn't push myself to run on business trips and I didn't run much when I got back. I felt like I was nursing an injury, so that led to even less running. You get the picture.

Last week, I decided to go back to my original shoe and absorb the cost of getting new shoes every two months.

During my 10 mile run this morning, I didn't have any feet or leg problems! My fitness was lacking, but I'll take that over leg pain anyday!

Goo Goo

In Chinese, "Goo Goo" is the way to address an aunt on your father's side, so my niece calls me "Goo Goo". She's speaking more, but sometimes it hard to tell "Goo Goo" from "boo boo" and "poo poo". Ha ha. =)

But she's clear when she wants something. "Goo Goo Help Peas" (That's "Auntie Amy, Help Please" for those of you who don't speak 2-year old). I had a great time hanging out with her.

Here are some pictures from the Children's Discovery Museum in San Diego:

Luckily, she didn't get too much paint on herself thanks to the full body apron they provide.

This is a turtle made out of clay.
We showed her this picture later and she said "turtle", so it really is a turtle.

This is the climbing area at the museum. My niece climbed up that wall at least 10 times. And she was using the hand and foot holds too. I helped her a bit, but mostly I was only there for safety. In this picture, I (in my pink top) am holding her for safety, but she was supporting her weight by grabbing onto the top of the structure.

Gas prices

Gas prices in southern California...

High Fiber Oatmeal

I try to eat oatmeal every morning at work. For some reason, when I went to Safeway, I accidentally grabbed the "high fiber" oatmeal rather than the regular oatmeal. It was in the same box and I didn't read very carefully.

I need to go get the regular oatmeal because the high fiber one makes my stomach unhappy a few hours after I eat it. My stomach just grumbles and grumbles. That's probably TMI (too much information). It tastes good, but having a grumbling stomach is not much fun.

BOREDOM

The definition of boredom is:

The state of being weary and restless through lack of interest.

I'm not sure this exactly describes my state, but I have been pretty restless because it is a very slow period at work. All of my projects are either finished or waiting for others. And those people are on vacation at the moment...

I know I should appreciate the downtime, but I hate being so bored. I finish my work after an hour or so at work. And then, I have to find things to do until it's an acceptable time to leave work. I may "work from home" tomorrow. At least then, I can watch TV while I'm bored.

THIS JOB IS MAKING ME FAT!!!

I decided that my job is making me fat. Why you ask? Let me explain.

The past few weeks have been pretty boring at work. In fact, I have a hard time going to work because it is hard to look forward to being bored all day. So, what do I do all day? I snack. Not because I'm hungry. But because I'm bored.

So far this morning, I've had a packet of oatmeal, some grapes, and a handful of pistachios. I know it's all healthy foods, but I should have stopped after the oatmeal since I wasn't hungry anymore.

Ok, no more food until lunch time. That's only 2 hours away. I should be able to make it...

Vegas

I went to Veags for 24 hours to visit with my family during their
vacation. Grandpa loved the penny slots. Good thing he didn't see this
slot machine!

While I came back with a bit more $$ than I left with, it was not
nearly as much as it could have been.

One day, I will probably learn to quit while I'm ahead!

Travis

Last night, I learned that one of our team in training honorees and
friend passed away after his long battle with leukemia. He suffered
major organ damage during his second bone marrow transplant in his
battle.

Travis was a vibrant spirit on our teams. Always smiling and so
positive. He will be missed.

Travis was 32 years old and leaves behind a wife and baby daughter.

Red Light, Green Light

Yesterday, I rode my bike to work. On the way home, I manged to hit almost every light. And there are a lot of lights as I ride my bike to get home.

The first few lights weren't a big deal, but then it started getting annoying. The light would turn red just as I was getting to it and I'd have to wait out the entire light cycle. Not a big deal for the little streets, but for the big intersections, it was a long wait.

So, as I got more and more annoyed at each light, I decided that if it was close, I would try to make the yellow lights. I made it through 2 small intersections just as the light was turning yellow, but then got stopped at a few other intersections. By this time, I was not happy. In fact, I was really mad. At Lawrence Expressway (the longest light cycle), when I just missed the light, I stopped and threw my water bottle on the ground. Yes, I was THAT mad.

Then I turned around and saw that there was a police car behind me. Oops. I didn't get a ticket, but the officer looked at me funny. I smiled and picked up my water bottle.

I didn't run any more lights on the way home.

VEGAS!

This week, my parents and my grandpa will be headed to Vegas again. My grandpa had so much fun on the last trip, that they decided to go again. So, I have decided to use some of my frequent flyer miles to go to Las Vegas with them. I'm headed out EARLY Friday morning (6 AM Flight!) and back on Saturday morning.

Shall we take bets now on if I'll sleep in Vegas? or just gamble?

Great Meatball Sauce Recipe

I bought a package of frozen meatballs from Costco (I think they were the Kirkland Signature brand) for the party this weekend. I wanted a good meatball sauce recipe and searched on the internet. What I saw were recipes telling me to mix chili sauce with grape jelly.

Yes, grape jelly.

I was a skeptic. How could grape jelly taste good mixed with chili sauce? They had to be kidding, right? But recipe after recipe said the same thing. Mix equal parts of grape jelly (not jam, jelly) with chili sauce (found near the BBQ sauce at the grocery store), simmer and mix until combined, then throw in the meatballs. I put all of that into a crock pot and crossed my fingers that this strange recipe would be good.

It turned out to be very good. The meatballs were a hit and I am no longer a skeptic about the grape jelly meatball sauce.

Birthday Weekend

This is the end of my birthday weekend. I had a great time and am exhausted.

On Saturday (my bday), we had a Team in Training run. I rode my bike to the run, so I only ran a few miles.

Later in the day, I had a combo housewarming/birthday celebration at my new house. It was a blast. Lots of people, laughs and probably a little too much alcohol... And I figured out that Drunk Amy is obsessive-compulsive too, since I couldn't go to sleep until after I cleaned up the house.

Sunday, I slept in and ran some errands. Then I went for a massage at a spa at Stanford where I got manhandled by a big Russian guy... It wasn't the relaxing kind of massage, but the knots in my back are gone or are at least hiding out of fear.

Now it is time for another cupcake, then it is time for bed.

Not affected

I wasn't affected in today's lay-offs. Good thing because that would have sucked as a birthday present!

RIF

Today, my company is having a reduction in force (a.k.a. lay-offs). I
don't know who is or is not "affected", but I'm doing my best to
hide... If they can't find me, they can't lay me off.

I know this is all a part of business these days, but it is still
unsettling. I hope I don't get laid off, but i'm sure I'll be ok
either way.

Alcohol Abuse

Is this picture after a really bad day at the office? Or maybe a really good night at home?


Neither actually. This is a picture of wine that was in my storage unit while I was "homeless" earlier this year. There was a chance the wine would be bad because it was very hot while in storage.

I only had the heart to open these 6 bottles of wine. They were all bad. There are more bottles to check, but I assume the rest are bad too.

Now, that's serious alcohol abuse.

Sneaking Out

Today is a very quiet day here at work. So quiet that I'm going to sneak out and go to the movies this afternoon. I normally am swamped, so this quiet time is unusual for me. I've spent the past 3 hours surfing the internet because I'm bored...

Still Home

This past weekend was the 3rd weekend in a row that I have been in the US. While this doesn't sound amazing, it is the first time this year that this has happened.

What is even more amazing is that I will be here for at least two more weekends! It feels nice to settle into a routine again with life. I never realize how disruptive travel is until I get to be home for a few weeks.

Workout

Today I did my first "real" workout in a long time. I rode my bike to
Stanford, where we had our first Team in Training run of the season.
I'm coaching again this season.

Anyhow, I went out for a short run with the team and afterwards, I
rode my bike home.

It was only ~34 miles on the bike and maybe 3-4 miles running, but it
was enough to wipe me out. But it feels great to be working out again!

8-8-08

The number 8 in Chinese culture is considered lucky and prosperous. China took this to the extreme and started the Olympics on 08-08-08 at exactly 08:08:08 PM.

There are also hoards of couples getting married on this day at 08:08:08 PM. In fact, most of the wedding reception locations were booked years ago for this date and time... at least in Asia.

I was thinking about what I could do to make 8-8-08 memorable and wasn't able to come up with anything. How boring of me.

At least it is the beginning of the weekend!

Passport

My passport was returned in record time! They added more Visa pages as
requested.

Of course now my passport is too thick to close... But I can leave the
country again!

Determination

This past Saturday, friends raced a local Ironman distance triathlon in 95-degree heat and gusty winds. They trained for 9+ months and toughed it out in the rough conditions.

I have watched them go from "normal" to "Ironman". While it sounds dramatic, training for this type of event really does change who you are because you have to constantly push your body and mind to the edge of failure. I was happy to see each of them out on the course and can't wait to hear the race stories.

Below is a picture of Stef finishing her race. This was her 4th attempt at an Ironman-distance triathlon. While most of us would have given up long ago, Stef would not. After 7 years of trying and over 18 hours on the course that day, Stef crossed the finish line and became and Ironman.

Congrats!

Gas

I filled up my gas tank... It was "only" $4.27 per gallon (down from
$4.59 a few weeks ago). I felt like I was getting a great deal even
though it still cost over $70 to fill up... I think it is time for a
car with a smaller tank!

Bier

Project Schedule

My project at work has been pushed out a month and may be pushed out even further eventually. While this is good news because it pushes out lots of work for at least a month, it also pushed my travel schedule out. I was supposed to be "done" with this crazy travel schedule by the end of September. Now, it looks like it will be at least the end of October before I slow down my travel.

The good news is that I get to be home for the entire month of August. Who's free for dinner?

More Pages

I have the thicker 48-page U.S. passport (normal passports are ~24 pages). I have had it for 2.5 years and entry/exit stamps and visas have filled the pages, so now I am getting pages added to it. I sent it out on Monday and will probably get it back in a couple of weeks. Then I'll send it to get a visa for China.

The only issue is that I feel a bit "confined" without my passport. The good news is that I can't be sent out of the country until I get it back. So, it looks like I'll be in the US for at least a few weeks!

Early

I am very tired today. I think it's jetlag. I worked from home this morning because I had back-to-back conference calls and someone was coming by to work on the house.

This afternoon, I rushed into work for an important meeting. When I arrived, I thought I was late for my meeting, but actually, I was early. In fact, I was one week early...

Better Photos

Wedding

On Saturday, under beautiful clear blue skies in Monterey, my friend Susan and her fiance Mark were joined as husband and wife.

I love the moment during weddings when the bride and groom first see each other. There is always something so moving about that moment. And it was at that moment that I could see how incredibly happy my friend was as her father walked her down the aisle.

Congrats Susan and Mark!

My garden terrace

A picture from my garden terrace suite at the beach resort last
weekend. This was the private terrace area outside of my room. I
couldn't get all of the space into the photo...