Back in the Saddle Again

I've now ridden to work twice this week. 3.7 miles each way, since I didn't take Rachel. Monday it took me exactly 15 minutes riding time (not counting lights & such) to get to work and about 19 home. 14:04 to work on Tuesday, but then I wound up leaving the bike at work over night so I could go visit my grandfather in the hospital with Elisabeth. After having Dawn & Rachel drop me at work this morning, I rode home in about 17 minutes riding time. I'd actually planned on not riding today, but it worked out just as well to have done it this way. There were a few points in ride to work on Tue when my legs were really burning. I want to ride again tomorrow or Friday. It's felt great to be back on the bike again, both in terms of the fact that I'm finally getting some exercise again, and just that I enjoy it.

A Bonafide Great Weekend

We had an actual great weekend! I can't remember how long it's been since we could really say that. Saturday morning we went to the Y to play at the Kinder Gym, and then to the Farmer's Market where we had some Thai BBQ for lunch and bought a few things. Had a really nice time. Initially, we were going to ride, but then Rachel decided she didn't want to ride after all, so we compromised by bribing her - if we didn't ride to the Y & Farmer's Market, we would ride to dinner, but we could go to Barney's. We walked to the Y and then to Farmer's Market, and then home. Walking is good too.

We did, in fact, ride to Barney's for dinner. I also rode over the to bike shop to see if they had our missing lock sitting there. They didn't, so I bought a new one. I also requested an exchange from Kryptonite for the one we have that can be opened with a Bic... haven't heard anything back from them. Anyway, got a few reminders of what I have to remember about riding with an extra 40 pounds right over the rear wheel... decided to dodge a sewer clean-out that was slightly indented and the back wheel started to slide. OK. Don't try to dodge something that doesn't HAVE to be dodged.

Sunday, Rachel suddenly announced about 10:30 in the morning that she wanted to go riding! Far be it from us to discourage that behavior. I had been getting ready to do some of the house work I wanted to get done, but I dropped that stuff immediately. We wound up riding to a park we like that's about a block from Rachel's friend Tessa's house and hooking up with Tessa and her father, Dana. Not sure I've mentioned them before, but Dana and I have actually known each other since before High School. All told, I got in about 7 or 8 miles of riding over the weekend, picked up a new lock to replace the one that went missing, and got rear and head-lights installed on both my and Dawn's bikes.

We had made a list on Thursday or Friday of several little things we wanted (me) to get done around the house this weekend... putting in some curtain holdbacks, hemming a curtain, putting up some new shades, that sort of thing. We got them ALL done, along with testing the sprinklers, which haven't seemed to be working properly, and Dawn got to go pick up some flowers to plant. We ended today with a bit of BBQ, eating outside again.

Did You Start Taking Drugs?

Funny tidbit related to the big conversation Jim & Chris & I had that day in Yosemite last week. I said something to my co-worker Jeff about a return of the old old Dylan who is so much more laid back about things than more recently. When I mentioned the idiots in the grocery store line, he said "don't you just want to smack those people in the head?" I said no, not anymore. His question... "did you start taking drugs?"

The Yosemite 7, Day Two

Woke up about 6 again. Was not cold over night. In fact, I was almost too warm. Almost, but not quite.

After breakfast, we decided on a plan. Chilnualna Falls, today, Yosemite Falls tomorrow and Ostrander Ski Hut on Sunday. I'm not sure that we'll really be able to do so much, and I'm not sure we can even get to the Ostrander trail, because the Glacier Pt. Road is closed.

Chilnualna Falls Trail is out C. F. Road through North (?) Wawona. It's a cute little town. Small enough to have only a volunteer fire department, but big enough, at the least, for an elementary school. The trail's pretty nice - 2100 foot gain over about 4 miles each way. Not too bad. There are actually two or three major waterfalls on Chilnualna Creek. Since it's still early and was very wet, there's water everywhere. We had to walk over a few creeks that all seemed to be there only because it is so wet.

Took a lot of pictures. I'm getting frustrated with the camera, though, because I am really having rouble getting it to focus where I want when I put it in macro mode. Will have to play with manual focus some more, but I find it's hard to tell whether I've focused well with such a small screen. I hope some of them come out. I'm up to about 150 pictures so far, and the camera battery's actually doing fine. I have another fully charged for when this one runs out.

Had a very interesting conversation with Chris and Dan. They were talking about their next several years... Chris, who's been writing since he was 7, wants to give himself 10 years to really see if he can make writing work. Dan, who has now taken the bar 4 times, obviously hopes he passed this time and can get on with actually working as a lawyer. I knew they were going to ask me about it... partly to avoid actually talking about my career itself, I preempted them and said that all I really want is for things to be easy for a while. It seems as if Dawn and I have been through a lot since we met, and it would just be nice if we could go for a couple/few years with nothing hard... no more deaths among family & close friends... a normal pregnancy resulting in a healthy baby... less strife & stress related to our jobs... A while later, Dan mentioned that he really understood what I was talking about, even down to the level of little stuff, such as the morons who can't be bothered to get their checkbooks out & start writing them until the checker tells them the total. Obviously not the level of hard I was talking about, but I think I need to try to chill out about that sort of stuff again; I never used to be bothered by things like that, but now they drive me absolutely crazy!

Played a bit of cribbage with Jim & Dan. Dan kicked my ass in one hand... first time he's managed that. Lunch was MREs on the trail. Dinner was steak ka-bobs courtesy of Jim with help from Chris. Quite tasty.

Just before dinner we found out that Dan passed the bar! This is a huge relief for all of us, and not as much more for Dan than the rest as you might think... The results were released online at 6 and he was able to get through to Karyn eventually. Funny that we were having that conversation earlier, although it's not surprising that we were talking about the bar at times...

I'm so tired that I'm actually going to be pretty early... it's only about 9 or so.

The Yosemite 7, Day One

Woke up at about 6. Well... really, John woke up then, and Jim at the same time in response to John's stirring. I'd been awake at least half an hour or so. Was waiting for the pressure on my bladder to outweigh the expectation of cold clothes. I wasn't cold overnight under their blanket and our comforter. This bodes well, I think, for the actual camping... I was somewhat cold last year, so this time I've brought not only my air mattress and sleeping bag, but two comforters. I don't want to be cold on this trip.

Took quick trips to the restroom, then loaded our stuff and went down to the Bug cafe. Breakfast was OK. Dan joined us pretty quickly and we ate & talked while waiting for Dave & DSR. We decided not to get the travel lunches, though we did see that the cookies & trail mix they include are the same things we brought from Costco.

Drove to Oakhurst. This meant doubling back on 140 to Mariposa, then down 49. We did this partially to avoid any chance of the Valley still being closed because of flooding and partially so we could pick up a few things. So, we stopped at a Vons and a Long's to get ice, bug juice, batteries, and lunches. Dan conceded that I was right and he was wrong, publicly to DSR, who announced it to me over our radios. This with respect to turning left on 41 to get up to Yosemite... not sure why he thought we'd turn right...

I think we were at the Wawona Campground around 11:30am. They didn't give us 3 sites together, but 28 and 29 are decent. We're close to the front which makes it wasy to walk to the payphone, though probably a relative lot of traffic. We are, though, closer to the river and actually have a view of it from our site, which we didn't really last year.

After a couple of hours of setup and lunch, we walked out to the other end of camp. Dave, Dan, DSR & John played frisbee golf along the way. I wanted to go down to the end to take pictures of a log that I took a picture of last year. I can't remember exactly what the picture looked like, so I took several, including walking out to the other end of it in the water and taking some back toward shore, just because it seemed as if it might be cool.

Saw a garter snake and took a couple pictures of it. Won't really know how they came out until I get them on the computer next week. When we got back to camp, I put them all onto the iPod... took about 7-8 minutes to move 70 images and erase them from the card. Used up about half of the iPod's battery, so I'll need to make sure to recharge it whenever I can. Not sure how I'll know when the batteries on the reader will go, though I seem to remember that there's a light on it. It was hard to see...

We had drinks and snacks and chatted or read for a while. Chris didn't show up until about 6. Seems it was snowing at the pass on 80. Took him something like 7 hours to get through because there were even areas of 80 where they were doing repaving too boot! We set up Tent Mahal right away to make sure we didn't wind up doing it in the dark. I've decided to try having one comforter under the air mattress and the other on top of it but under the sleeping bag; that way I can wrap the top comforter around me if I need to. I'm also going to make a point of changing before bed to make sure my clothes are dry.

Dinner was pesto past and green beans with optional chicked & parm. Dan's idea of prepping advance definitely made a difference. As havce the two tripods we picked up for the propane lanterns. Chris and I caught up quite a bit while doing cleanup.

There's a contentiously raging game of Samurai Swords going on, but it's 11:30 and I'm tired, so I'm going to take some more cough stuff and go to bed. The cough hasn't been bothering me too much, but I have to make sure it stays under control.

The Yosemite 7, 10th Anniversary

We're heading for Yosemite today. It's our third time with this core group (Dan, John & me), but we're calling it the tenth anniversary trip - the first trip was in May of 1996, which makes this the 10th year. We missed 2 through 8 for various reasons... Dan was going to Africa soon... Dan was just back from Africa... Dan was heading off to, or in, law school. Then we got to last year. I guess that makes it clear who instigates these trips and keeps them on track! Thanks, Dan!

This time, Frank isn't coming. Can't remember why, but we'll still be seven people because Chris' friend Jim is coming. Jim joined up on our Yahoo group a few weeks ago with a great email that had me laughing and thinking "oh, yeah... he'll fit in just fine."

It was a busy morning. I kept Rachel home from school so we could spend some time together before I left. She helped me pack for a while but then started reading. After I had my stuff packed, we went to do some errands - bank deposit & 2 stores. She had a grand time, although as usual, she insisted on removing her jacket in the truck and each store even though it was raining and wastes time. So I made her put it back on herself. Didn't keep her from taking it off every time, but maybe it will eventually. When we got home, I had to prep some food, and she just started entertaining herself... for 2 hours! It was great.

I checked last year's calendar. I was wrigin my weight & exercise times on it. This time last year, I was almost exactly the same weight - 248 then, 249 now - but bigger. I knew that I kept losing size even after I stopped losing weight at 234. I've gained some of the weight back, but not much of the size, as evidenced particularly by the fact that the travel pants I have (zip off lower legs, very comfy) are much looser than they were last year.

Rachel was great when we were leaving. Didn't complain, but came and gave me a big, long hug (she gives great hugs) and lots of kissed. I told her I needed 1 per night & then one more per night, and then a couple extra. She was only too happy to oblige, which was really nice. As we were walking down to the truck, I suggested that they could move the tent into the house and she could sleep in it. No idea whether they actually will do so.

John & I finally headed out at about 2. Unfortunately, we had to stop at Andronico's for potato hash and more ice, and 7-11 for a phone card & lottery tickets for the group. We stopped at In-n-Out for lunch at about 3 in Pleasanton and made it to the Bug at about 6:45. Pretty good time, and almost an hour ahead of the So Cal contingent, despite they're leaving around 1 and John's supposed slow driving. At some point, Daniel called wanting judgement on whether 'sheesh' is a word, which I decided it probably is for GHOST purposes. Laserium is more questionable, I think, especially spelled Lazerium, as Dan was trying for.

FNG Jim showed up about 15 minutes after they did. We had literally just been talking about what kind of car he drives - a Land Rover Discovery - when I saw one coming up the hill. The print-out Dan had brought with him listed it as a "Disco Series 1", which lead to many jokes about mirror balls.

One of the things John and I started on the way down was a Yosemite 7 playlist, of songs related to camping, etc. We came up with the idea of including a theme song for each person. I picked "I can't drive 55" for John, given, again, his supposed slow driving. Our thoghts for Dan centered on his legal career plan and his tendency to far a lot. We'll need to figure out Jim a bit more. At this point we haven't decided whether to have the rest of the group in on it or just to send the list to them after the fact. I do think it would make a good discussion topic, and on-going fun.

We're in the same set of tent cabins as last year, though John & I switched to the other. We spent about four hours on drinks, dinner, and the Samurai Swords board game in the Bug's restaurant. Dave brought it and spent about 2 hours trying to explain the rules. The game is fun. I wasn't into it at first, so I didn't play, but I was helping Jim for a while, and kinda took over Daniel's pieces when he went to bed. Of course, he quit because he'd just gotten badly smacked and there wasn't much point.

Dinner was just OK. I had some kind of spanish meat stew with lots of veggies and a simple salad. And apple pie that I shouldn't have bothered with. I didn't get to call Rachel and Dawn... thought about it at 8, but then it was 9 before I realized it. Rachel and I talked several times today about the fact that I might not be able to call every day. I did get through to Elis at about 5:30, and she was going to tell them I called.

It's midnight, and John & Jim are already asleep. In the morning the plan is to have breakfast here & head out. We'll stop in Oakhurst for things we need to pickup along the way. Bug juice. Batteries? I don't need any, but maybe someone will. We may try taking the trail lunches the bug offers, but we'll see. Chris is coming in with the MREs, which are the lunch meals for the week, but probably not until around four @ Wawona.

Good night.

On Bonds and Blogs

So, it's been a while since I posted anything here. Partly, I'm a little conflicted... between possible privacy concerns and a friend's comment that she though only the most self-absorbed actually write blog entries. I don't think that's really true, but I've been contemplating it a lot. Of course, the real reason is that I've been very very busy.

Not just with work, but that's been a lot of it. I'm still on M and we've had a couple of big deadlines. I'm more or less pleased with the way things are going. I can't remember, and don't feel like looking right now, whether I told the story of Derek & Bob leaving us holding the bag on M - no project plan, no signed requirements spec, and a long history of dicking around with fucked up requirements and missed deadlines. Patrice, Rich & I went to see M for a week; among other things, we were supposed to go over the project plan with them. Well, as I mentioned already, there was no project plan, so we wound up creating it in front of them! What a pain in the ass. Anyway, a week or so later we found out that Derek & Bob had a bet - one of them said we'd never get the spec signed, the other said by Dec. 31st.

We had it signed by Oct. 29, for something like 25% more money than Derek & Bob had planned. And we haven't missed a deadline since. So, we pulled off another deadline on 4/1, by the skin of our teeth. That's certainly been keeping me busy. The fun part is that they're about to sign a CR to keep something like 75% of Rich's time and 50% of mine occupied through November. Not to mention another couple of CRs I've already sent and another couple I'm writing for a total of something like another 8 weeks worth of work. So far.

And on top of that, J's coming back around - I got them interested in our 6.5.1 product. Their biggest problem has always been that they had trouble deploying our Java client because of the wide variety of desktop environments they have. Now, I'm really looking forward to getting involved with them again; they're pretty good and they've been my customer since I started with the company. The thing is they're taking a long time to sign the agreement, and we keep having to push out my visit. At the rate we're going, I'm going to wind up going sometime in June instead of this week. Whatever. The longer they take, the less impact it will probably have on the work we have to do for M.

Anyway... I think I also told the story at some point about getting Rachel a t-ball set late last summer. It has a big inflatable plastic T with a ball a lot bigger than her head and a big, thick bat. She loved it. We have some really great pictures of her with the bat. The really funny thing is that one day she wanted me to pitch it to her, so she goes off and stands, facing the correct direction for a right-handed batter at the plate. Then, as I get ready to pitch it, she picks the bat up off her shoulder, taps the "plate" twice, and puts it back on her shoulder! It was great! I guess she'd been paying more attention to the baseball games we watched together than I thought. Then she wanted to pitch to me, so she, again, stands facing the right way, rears back, kicks, and throws. Of course, she didn't let go of the ball until her hand was under her other arm, which sent the ball flying behind her. But, it was great watching her trying to mimick the ballplayers!

So, tonight, as we finished up dinner, I asked her if she wanted to watch a little bit of the game before bath. She looks at Dawn and says "Barry Bonds hurt his knee. He's waiting for it to get better." We couldn't stop laughing.

Superca-... Superca-... Oh Bother

I got the Mary Poppins DVD a few weeks ago. Rachel's been watching it a lot and has gotten really good at some of the songs. She's just generally getting good at remembering tunes and words and singing, or even humming, along. So, the other day she was at my parents' place humming the tune of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. My father, who claims never to have seen the movie, recognized the tune and asked if that was what she was singing. She says it is and starts singing it, instead of humming:

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious
if you say it loud enough you always sound precocious

Evidently my father just about fell over from surprise. She sings it a lot now, and the sight (and sound) of a 39" tall three-year old singing "you always sound precocious" is hysterical. And, of course, she knows it's cute so she flirts while she's doing it...

The Straight Dope has an interesting write-up about the word (which I'm not going to type again).

Grumpy Honey

Dawn and I often call each other 'Honey'. At some point several weeks ago Rachel started calling us that instead of Mommy and Daddy. I didn't like it for some reason, so I asked her repeatedly not to call me that because I didn't like it. After a day or so, she started saying she was sorry and wouldn't do that again. After another couple of days, she did stop calling me honey for the most part.

A couple of days ago, Dawn talked to Rachel and asked her not to call her honey because she didn't really like it... Dawn: "I'd really like you to call me Mommy". Rachel: "No, Honey"

And then there was when Elisabeth brought Rachel home and was going to make dinner and they talked about what to have and agreed on something... then Rachel said "and can you make that quickly so I don't have to get grumpy?"

The Things We Find At Random

A few days ago, I mentioned the Accord leaking again. I did, in fact, have it serviced last week, and the mechanic actually thinks that he fixed it - the area around the sun roof, and the drains in particular, had gotten pretty clogged with dirt, branches, leaves, etc. He cleaned them out and doesn't think it'll happen again.

Anyway, today while I was using Google desktop search to find something about how to configure our product, I came across an old email to a former co-worker, my friend Jason, in which I told him about the first time the Accord leaked, which was actually the weekend before my anniversary in 2002. I posted it, back-dated to about when I sent the email.