Huh?

Welcome to 1982!

Friend Scott sends some scanned images from high school...Good Lord.Either junior or senior year. In my football jersey, no doubt.
Mark and Me...Where was this? I have no idea....When was it? I THINK it is junior high. Holy Shit.

Scott and Mark....

Funny Harley Jokes

Q. What is the easiest way to take a Harley apart?
A. Start it

Q. What do Harleys and dogs have in common?
A. They both like to ride in the backs of trucks

Q. How do you know when a Harley needs oil?
A. It isn't leaking

Q. What is the difference between a Harley and a vaccuum?
A. The position of the dirt bag

I've got wood

On the mountain SS, about 5 weeks ago, took a bash in the left shin. Couldn't walk for two days. Had to buy another bottle of Advil as I drained the few remaining pills. Even had to dig deep into my little pharamcological stash and get out a Percocet.

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Anyway, more Advil from Fred Meyer (it was on sale) and I was able to get by. A week ago, the thing is still swollen, but just a little. Huh...It actually stings a little. Damn. Damn.

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Go to the local GP doc, and express my desire to lance and drain it, to make sure it doesn't get worse. As he cuts into it, he finds wood. Nice...

I keep the largest chunk he finds. On the right is the current anti-biotic. Gonna have to take 40 of the bastards.....

The crosshairs, the old scab and no swelling. Healing nicely..

Classic

Huge Snow Today in Seattle - 2

Nuff said twice. Big snow yesterday, big snow tonight.

Spent 2+ hours shoveling our driveway, and the sidewalk of the old folks home next door. First day was OK....today was tough.

Huge Snow Today in Seattle

Nuff said. Big snow yesterday, big snow tonight.

Spent an hour shoveling snow.

No Job - Email

Heard back on the last interview that I did. Head count got pulled, just like previous roles. MSFT is clamping down and it's not gonna get better anytime soon. Damn.

Oh, I get this email.

Brother, We came across this group with an interesting story and great music we thought you'd enjoy. Here is a link to their website. We bought the mp3 album from Amazon today and really enjoy it. Check it out.http://www.sncmusic.com/ Sister

Wild on so many levels.

4 Hours Singlespeed

Got out on the singlespeed for a nice 4 hour ride today. I think the weather's gonna change and we're gonna see some big rain or snow.

Long Ride Palomino

Sold my good old ride, Klein Palomino today. I just wasn't riding it, and I've got other project bikes in the works. Young guy who's wanted a decent bike and can't really afford something super pricey got a nice used bike for 725. I originally paid well over 2700 for that bike 4 years ago. It's still got lots of life in it.

The Meat President

So we go to the MSFT Christmas party. The pre-party dinner was @ the Metropolitan Grill in downtown. Nice place. Best place in Seattle for Steak. I decide I'm gonna order the big boy of the selection. 50 ounces of bone in Rib Eye. It came on it's own platter, fit for a king!

There were some table skeptics, however I proved them wrong by completely devouring the steak and I also wiped out the potato, AND a spinach salad before! Wait staff shook my hand. Head waiter said it was impressive. More impressive? I ate about 10 desserts @ the Xmas party 1 hour later.

HOWEVER, I AM NOT READY FOR THIS...

http://www.bigtexan.com/

Here's the Skinny

Well, one month later, here is the drama.

My calorie difference didn't equal my weight difference. That meant that my basal rate, which was an estimate was incorrect. I initially had 2250, now adjusted down to 1983.
Based upon that, redid my spreadsheet. Here is the run down.

During this month of October I rode 19 times, for a total of 50 hours. Longest ride was 5 hours.
Calorie burn / calorie intake was about the same @ 86,000.

• Best - 10/25 - 157.2 - 4.6
• Worse - 10/9 - 160.6 - 8.2
• End - 10/31 - 161.2 - 6.4

I appear to have difficulty getting my body below 160. I would dip near and then feel completely ravished and would gorge on just about anything. Gonna keep pushing and see if I can get below 160.

FUNNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DI8kv4pSxa8

Fucking Mandelbrot?

Ok I got nothing to say.

Back on the WAGON

Yep, 10/1 time to start tracking calories, again.

Gotta get sub 160 before the end of the month.

Blast from the Past - 4 Years Ago

This might make you laugh.... Me @ the Argentina/Chile border guard station, January 2004.

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Almost 6 months later

Prepped for 4 hours of surgery, July 6th 2004.

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Two months later, second chemo session.
I got a huge gash in my neck, I've got a big ass needle poked into my chest. I have a plastic device embedded into my chest about the size of a chestnut, my whole face is puffy from chemo. Oh and I suspect I puked up my lunch from earlier today.

What a horrible experience.

Today, I weigh about the same I did 4 years ago, after 4 rounds of chemo therapy....Therapy....that word makes me laugh when used in conjunction with chemo.

Just like when people say "when you got sick." Funny...I felt fine.

Cancer is full of funny contradictions.

Being alive vs. being dead is one, I guess.

On 9/11, my career crumbles just like the twin towers

My professional career is over. I couldn't even get hired here:

> Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:15:36 -0400
> From: VirtualEdge@safeco.com
> To: xxxx
> Subject: Safeco Insurance – Proj Mgr Sr, IT #3806
>
> xxxx,>

> After carefully reviewing your qualifications for this position, we have decided to pursue other candidates. Our Career Center is updated as new positions become available. I invite you to visit Safeco.com frequently to apply for opportunities, maintain your profile, check your application status and set up job agents to receive new job postings by email.

> Thank you for participating in our process and for considering Safeco as an employer. Best wishes in your job search.

> Safeco Recruiting

Turned down by a machine at a lame insurance company.

Best Rap Song Ever

i said a hip hop the hippie the hippie to the hip hip hop,
a you dont stop the rock it to the bang bang boogie, say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat

now what you hear is not a test--i'm rappin to the beat and me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet

see i am wonder mike and i like to say hello to the black, to the white, the red, and the brown, the purple and yellow

but first i gotta bang bang the boogie to the boogie say up jump the boogie to the bang bang boogie

let's rock, you dont stoprock the riddle that will make your body rock

well so far you've heard my voice but i brought two friends along and next on the mike is my man hank come on, hank, sing that song....

Prep

So, how do you prep for an interview with a company that has NO public information? Uh you don't, really. That's OK. My answers are the same as they always are.

Blah Blah Blah.....

I get my references updated. Print a couple extra copies of that and my resume.

My buddy Matt says, "there is a game @ Safeco today, which means NO parking." Ouch, I better go early.

The offfice is in pioneer square, so I head out super early to scope it out and make sure I know where I'm going and where I can park.

OK that was much easier than I thought it was gonna be. I now have 1.5 hours to kill. Hmmm. How about the world famous Elliot Bay Books? What are all these people doing in pioneer square? I guess this is the place you hang out if you don't have a job. Oh well....Off to EB books!!

I find an interesting book. I look through it. It makes me laugh. I buy it.

OK it's interview time.

I walk through the door. 10 or so people all sitting @ desks.....somebody in the back behind a desk gets up.

I am assuming you're Alan?
I am.
Hi Alan, I'm _______. Let's see if we can find a place to chat.

We head to the snack room.

He asks me some questions. Since they do lots of work for MSFT he likes that I have some experience there.

I ask some questions about the company, the direction, the niche.

We finish in 45 minutes. Clearly this was not a MSFT drill. God that gets really really old. He says HR person will be back.

She comes back. Asks how the interview went. I tell her well and I like what they are doing. I ask her what she thinks of how it went. She says. I think it went really well. We chat about some details and then she leaves to go get someone else that I should meet.

She and guy #2 sit down and we chat informally. He says he just wanted to come in say Hi and meet me. He leaves.

Somewhere along the line, she says, we'll provide you with a laptop and if you want to use your cell phone, we'll take care of that too.

I ask if I'll be joining them, and she smiles and says, Yea, I think so.

We talked about salary and vacation time and etc. Seems OK to me.

So, for the record, I found a job making pretty good money, doing development project work, in less than 72 hours. Not bad.

Later talking to my buddy Jim who works for Ebay.

Dude, you already took the job?
Yep
They hired you on the spot?
Yep, pretty much. They might check my references, but I think it's a done deal.
Awesome.

Yea, I say it's pretty awesome.

Interview Confirmed

I get an email mid day.

"Hi Alan, you're confirmed with your interview with _____ at 2pm, tomorrow August 6th. Here are directions to our office."

Cool.

Later in the day, I go for a late afternoon ride with my friend Roger. It ain't so cool. In fact it's fucking hot. Real hot. I hope we don't ride too hard. Roger's done STP in one day, and RAMROD this year. I've done NOTHING.

He takes me on a tour of the Kenmore/Lake Forest Park area. We ride lots of hills. Good thing I had the 34 on front. Damn. 2 hours later I get home and I'm pretty blasted. Not from the ride but really the heat. Remember hotter than 80 is REALLY hot here.