This post is from my iPhone. I’ve only had my iPhone for a few days but this is pretty cool. Sitting in bed, writing a blog post! This just might inspire me to write more often.
This along with ssh and of course Rhapsody and maps and kexp … The list goes on.
Welcome to the modern world old man.
It’s that time of the year when I update my “what you can get me for… ” post. It has been some time since my last one and things have changed a little but most of the items from my previous posts didn’t leave the list.
So again this year I’ve found a few items that seem reasonable for my birthday list, so I thought i’d re-purpose the list again for xmas and add a few things. Here we go… The list will probably change so come back often and it still includes some big things.
In no particular order:
Since most of the items from my post on what you can get me for my birthday didn’t leave the list, I thought for x-mas, I’d just re-post and make a few additions. Just as with my birthday, year usually around ThanksGiving when the family gets together, I get the question “what do you want for Christmas?” and I always don’t know what to say. Partially because I immediately think of the big things I want or need and have trouble of thinking about smaller items.
So again this year I’ve found a few items that seem reasonable for my birthday list, so I thought i’d re-purpose the list again for xmas and add a few things. Here we go… The list will probably change so come back often and it still includes some big things.
In no particular order:
Why are people so protective of their trash? A couple of years back Robin and I were on a dog walk and after the dog took a shit, we picked it up in our plastic bag like good dog owners. We walked on a block or so and then I ran in to the next ally and dropped it into a trash can.
Well, by the time we reached the middle of the next block a woman came running up with our bag of poop yelling at us. She did not appreciate us depositing our trash into her trash can. She also made a note that she didn’t have a dog. We apologized and gladly took the poop bag back continued on our walk. At first I could kind of understand were she was coming from but at the same time I couldn’t really understand the big deal.
Doesn’t it all end up in the same place? I know that we all have to pay for our trash but it didn’t seem like this small item was going to push her over the edge and cost her an extra fee for too much in her container. Was she worried that my trash was going to react some how with hers? Was the garbage collector guy going to judge her some way for having a poop bag in her trash?… “That’s funny, Mrs. Smith usually doesn’t have poop in her trash. I wonder if something is wrong?”.
Recently as I’ve taken my run and/or walked the dog on trash day or the day after, I’ve noticed that people will have their yard waste and recycling cans out in front of their house but not the trash. Personally we keep ours all together and couldn’t imagine having the trash can separate from the rest of the “waste”.
So what is it with people? What is so private about our trash that we have to hide it away and keep it untainted by other’s trash? Is it a security thing?
As far as the poop goes, we’ve recently purchased a in-ground dog waste digester from Dr. Foster Smith and I’m going to order some digester safe/Flushable poop bags. So from now on the poop won’t be going in yours or my trash and better yet it won’t be commingling at the dump.
Week 7 of the training ends with the longest run that I think I’ve ever done. I think I might have done a 6 mile run back in high school the summer I trained with the cross country coach, but defiantly not after until now. But today was I guess my personal best, doing 7 miles in about 66 minutes.
Instead of Greenlake loops, I decided to do another new course along the Burke Gilman trail. Ususally I do better if it’s new as I’m not familiar and before I know it I’m done. If i do this run again, it probably will be a little harder. I enjoyed the course very much and would love to take the dog down for part of it for a nice walk, especially along the canal in Fremont area. Also found some good spots to watch the Gasworks 4th fireworks. So might be heading down that way this year.
I started on the trail at the Fred Meyers in Ballard and ran through Fremont along the water front park, by Gasworks park and around the top of Lake Union to the edge of the UW and then back. You’d think going from Ballad to the UW would be more then 3.5 miles, but according to Favorite Run Google mapping it’s not. The course was pretty flat and easy and definitely had nice views of the canal and lake. I think I’ll try to plan more long runs along here.
Next week, week 8, is basically a repeat of week 7, 4.5 Tues/Thurs., 3 on Wed. but then a step up on the Sunday long run to 8 miles. That should be interesting. I think I’ll do the same run as today and add the extra 1/2 mile into the UW.
My birthday is less then a month away and so you probably better start thinking about that great gift you are going to get me. Every year about a week away I get the question “what do you want for you birthday” and I always don’t know what to say. Partially because I immediately think of the big things I want or need and have trouble of thinking about smaller items.
Well this year I’ve found a few items that seem reasonable, so I thought i’d get the list out there for everyone. Here we go… The list will probably change so come back often and it still includes some big things.
In no particular order:
Day 3 of week 2… a 2 mile run. After yesterday’s bad run today was much better. Not sure if it was getting back to the mornings or maybe the new mix on the Sansa, but I felt much better and almost back to normal. It was colder this morning and the start was a little hard with the fozen hands… need to look at getting some light gloves.
Again, 2 miles in 19 minutes and I felt so good i actually did a little more… probably another quarter to half mile. Tomorrow is back to the 3 miles and well see if it will be as good as today. I’ll again have time in the morning and I think I’ll download the new Silversun Pickups album for my listen pleasure.
I have been reconnecting with old friends from high school and before via linkedin and facebook. One person I’ve connected with is an old school mate that i went to kindergarden and middle school with. We then parted ways for junior high and beyond.
The funny thing is we ended up going to the same college, UCSB, and living just around the block from each other.
So when we were trading living locations, I had to look up my old college rental and I have to say, google street view is very cool.
Here is where I lived for several years in the most densely populated square mile west of the mississippi:
The week started out bad with the news that I was not being considered for a job I applied for before xmas. It was a front end web developer job with 3Tier and I was really excited about the job and the company. I was pretty optimistic last month when I got a phone screen the afternoon that I sent in my resume. I thought it went well, but I guess not as after calling the recruiter several times last week and on Monday, I received an email response Tuesday saying thanks but no thanks. Not really sure why I was rejected, but rejected was what I was… two steps back.
Everyone wants to be liked and after what felt like a “Dear John” email, I was kind of depressed. It didn’t help that the news on the economy is not great right now with more layoffs in the Seattle area. This first rejection brought up some feels from the lay off… Turn to the mirror… “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
Wednesday morning I had a call/webinar with the transition company DBM. This was the introduction to the program webinar were i learned about the company and what they offer. My former employer is paying for 30 days worth of their services. It was an interesting call with people from all over the country in job transition. It also was a little encouraging since they seem like they have some good programs I can take advantage of. The main thing I learned is that finding a new job is a markting process and I’m the product being marketed. Also learned that 70% of jobs come from people you know and that networking is a big part of it.
Also this week I made more progress on my CakePHP book and started one on Ruby on Rails that looks really good. I’m starting to understand the MVC program/platform model and hope to convert one of my simple DB sites into a CakePHP site. I also plan to use CakePHP to build out an events section for Robin’s site.
The week ended on a step forward. I kicked ass, at least it felt like kicking ass, on a section of the upstairs project. I got all the rigid insulation up in the office area in two days. I also was able to get some of the west wall insulated as well. The last part that needs to be done is about the same size as the office, so I think I might be able to finish that this weekend depending on how much football I watch.
Since I’ve had some extra time on my hands, I have been trying to get some of those things done that i just never seemed to have the time for before. One of those things has been renew my passport.
The last time I needed a passport was when the family visited my brother in Brasil during his study abroad program. I was still in high school and we visited for Christmas. Being south of the equator when winter is summer was a very odd experience… Christmas on the beach just didn’t really feel right.
Looking back on it now, it was a fun experience, but it didn’t seem like it at the time. Being a grumpy teenager in a foreign land, didn’t really appreciate the experience fully. I also didn’t take advantage of some opportunites like when my brother and friends offered me beers. Oh well… live and learn.
So almost a year ago I thought it would be a good idea to have a passport. Can’t really remember why I started thinking about it, but I did some research on the net to see what was involved. Since I had my old expired passort it turned out all i had to do was download and fill out the forms, get a passport photo and then show up at my local neighborhood service center with some money.
I think the hardest part of the form was figuring out my parent’s birthdates. I knew their birthdays, but not the years. I just never really payed attention to that kind of thing. After a call to my Dad I got the right dates and places and the form was done. It then sat on my computer’s desktop for months.
Well today I finally got it all completed. Printed out the forms, grabed my old passport out of the safe and headed down to Ballard Camera for my photos. Figured out later that I probably could have saved the $13 for the photos by doing it myself on my Mac but oh well not worth complaining over spilt milk.
With my photos in hand, I headed over to the Neighborhood Service Center attached to the Ballard Library branch. Walked in and up to the counter. Handed over my form, photos and old passport along with my two checks… one for the city of seattle and one for the state department and I was renewed.
I should get my new passport in 4 to 6 weeks… maybe sooner.