Sunday, January 28, 2007

Thanks...

A big hearty "Thank You" to ADT Security. Anyone seen their latest commercial?

It depicts a guy jogging down the street who turns, runs up on a house and kicks the door in. Just what I need, anti-running propaganda. I've gotten some strange looks since we moved here to Michigan when I run and now that it's cold out and I'm wearing black running pants, a black pullover, and a black fleece hat I somewhat resemble your-friendly-neighborhood-burglar-casing-the-neighborhood-so-I-can-come-back-that-night-and-home-invade-you that people are really giving me strange looks.

Or it could be that it's like 24F outside and I'm running.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Quick Update

Due to a persistent pain in my right leg/calf I took the last 8 days off running. Well I tried to go for a run last Thursday morning but I almost fell four times in the first half mile due to the ice under the snow so I turned around and walked home. It didn't count.

So I went for a run today...leg felt great, except for the fact that I was running in about 3-4 inches of snow. Come on people! Shovel your walks! Felt like I was running in sand. At least I got my run in though.

Not sure if I'll be inside or outside tomorrow due to the fact that the high for Thursday is supposed to be 17. The overnight low is 16. Big temperature swing huh!

Non-Running Related:
As mentioned in my last two posts, my new toy/gadget arrived and is working perfectly so far. It is very cool. Cramer, you can check it out in LA this summer.

News: I will be applying for a new job in the near future - as soon as it is advertised. Keep your fingers crossed for me, as it would be a major step up for me and at least from the outside it looks like a pretty good position. One that I could actually be in for more than 2-3 years.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

New Gadget Part 2

Smartphone...Mr. Cramer asked had I considered one. Yes, even went so far as to look at them. Here is what I found:

Screen size is typically about 2.2" diagonally on a windows based smartphone. Not willing to switch to Palm - I like Windows software - so that is too small for me. I actually do create simple spreadsheets and word documents with my pocket pc.

Cost of the unit is not too prohibitive, however the cost of the phone plans are. If I'm going with the smartphone I want to be able to send/receive email with it, so you have to have a data plan in addition to your phone plan so add on about $40 a month. Then the question is, am I really that isolated from a computer enough that I need to be able to send/receive email?

So while they may look cool (you know they do) I'm not ready to make that kind of leap - just yet. Now, if I could convince my employer that would be another issue entirely!

Saturday, January 13, 2007

New Gadget

Completely non-running related post today. After much deliberation I have upgraded my Pocket PC to this.

T and I both have the first Pocket PC that Dell put out in the fall of 2002 and up to this point it has been doing everything I needed it to do.

Then I started working at my current place of employment...while they use Microsoft Office for Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and some other applications they DO NOT use Outlook or Outlook Express for email/calendar/tasks/etc. So I have not been able to synch my Pocket PC with my calendar at work and as a result I have been having trouble keeping up with some things. While the Pocket PC I have now has been functioning great it is a bit too large to truly fit in your pocket, and there have been some limitations for some of the things I've been trying to do lately.

So until I'm able to convince my employer (HA HA HA) to buy me a laptop or tablet pc I'm going with this.

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Housekeeping

I have a request. If/when you leave a comment, please do not leave it anonymously. Let me know who ya are please.

Thinking Deeply

I had a conversation with a good friend on Monday night on my way home. We talked about many things, had some laughs, etc. Something he said has gotten me thinking. We both work in intercollegiate athletics (although he works at a MUCH larger institute of higher learning) but his job has a bit more pressure as a part of it and some different issues to deal with. He mentioned “quality of life” and it has stuck with me the last 2-3 days…hell, I even jotted down some “notes/thoughts” while sitting at hoops practice Tuesday.

So, what is it to me? You? I’m pretty sure that it is an individual definition. Is it having free time away from work? Maximizing that free time? Have enough money to go places, do things? It is not letting work rule your life?

So far I’ve been able to come up this list:
The ability to leave work at work.
Maximizing time away from work to do things I want to do.
Having hobbies (and actually doing them – something I’m working on this year) or other constructive ways to spend that time away from work.

I’ve also been thinking does my current job (and future jobs I might be interested in) allow for this…and I think it does. The onus is on me to take advantage of the opportunity and produce that quality of life for myself.

I just need to get off my ass and produce.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

2006 Year in Review

I have pretty much covered all of the major events of at least the last half of 2006 up to this point with my blog, as hit-or-miss as I have been providing updates. If you’re not sure you are up to date (at least Cramer is – he might be the only person reading still. Nice pic of the kids by the way!) follow the links over to the right and get caught up!!!

I started out 2006 with a goal of running 600 miles for the year after running 350 miles in 2005. Ok, ok, ok, so T looked at me like I was crazy when I told her this, but I had a goal of running a half-marathon (check!) in 2006 so I felt I need to increase the miles, plus needed to increase the amount of exercise for overall health reasons. Here are the month by month totals for 2006:

Jan 45
Feb 38
Mar 55
April 76
May 75
June 57
July 14
Aug 45
Sept 62
Oct 54
Nov 76
Dec 82
Total 679

You’ll notice that I had a bunch of other things going on in July, like moving across the country and what-not. Overall I’m very happy with these numbers. You’ll also notice that in November when I started training for the Flying Pig Marathon (17 weeks to go) that my mileage went up, which means I’m sticking to my training plan, which just happens to be a goal for 2007. That and 1000 miles.

Ok, non-running related news: not much else to report. Work is work. Middle of hoops season with baseball just around the corner. Refer to how many weeks until the Flying Pig – that’s how many weeks until the school year is done. Not that I’m counting or anything.

T and I joined the Y – cue The Village People! and I’m looking forward to taking advantage of it more this year. The Y has a pretty decent indoor climbing wall and I’m hoping to get some time in climbing. Either there or at one of the two indoor climbing gyms here in Grand Rapids. Looking forward to getting outdoors when able for some hikes be it here in Michigan or in other Midwestern locations this summer. Maybe even a backpacking trip if I can convince T. Or, I could use the Y to learn to swim better and maybe add canoeing into the activities that we are too busy to do! T would love that.

Maybe I need to change the title of this…adapting to life in Michigan fairly well. I’m open to suggestions! Also a goal for 2007 is to update this blog a bit more frequently.

Reading list update: thanks for the suggestions Cramer. Anyone else?