Golf game... improving... sucking less...

Well, good news from the world of my golf game. I'm sucking a whole lot less than before and golf has become so much fun. Amazing what hitting the ball straight and the right distance can do for you!! I've been working really hard on tempo and smoothing my swing out. I played a lot during my recent So Cal trip and I was just killing it off the tee and my approach shots were like guided missiles. So, while I'm on this golfing high, I'm taking full advantage. Michelle' out of town this weekend, so I'm playing Roddy Ranch in Antioch on Saturday (finally starting to use the 12 free rounds I got with my Mare Island membership) and Mare Island on Sunday afternoon. Yaay!!

Musings from the Road

I'm traveling again, this time to Southern California for some face time (did I just say that?) with one of the company's primary vendors and to check out all the cool new stuff HP is releasing for this year. I came down to Long Beach on Sunday and am staying at the Queen Mary. It's been a good time thus far - some laughs, some tears, some cheers... Here's a brief glimpse into what's been happening.

Okay, I'm a cynic and a skeptic. The ship is haunted. Period. The first night, I couldn't sleep and I had the feeling that someone was in the room with me. When I did fall asleep, I had the scariest nightmare of my life. What really made it scary was that it was so real - I didn't really realize I was dreaming until after it was over, and even then, it took hours and repeated mental reinvestigation to convince myself it wasn't real. I love the song "Mad World" (especially the version from the Donnie Darko soundtrack), but I can now honestly debate the validity of the lyric, "the dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had."

Yesterday was all about relationship building (vendor golf). I was on fire, nailing drives, lasering irons at the pins, just killing it. I had several drives over 280 yards and hit most of my irons within 10-12 feet - three of which were within 3 feet and I nearly holed out from the fairway twice. Our group shot 64 (scramble format) but we left three or four birdies out on the course. After lunch, some of us decided to go back out and play another 18 (I think it was my idea - I am a glutton, after all). The second 18 was more challenging - the wind was up, we were all sunburned and tired, and we played straight up. I played like crap the first couple holes and blew my chances at scoring well - ended up with 47 on the front and two balls in the water on #9. Turned it around on the back and shot 42 with three 3 putts. We made it in right at sunset.

Made it back to the hotel around 9 and really needed some food and sunburn treatment. I put some lotion on - there was no aloe to be found. I figured the next best thing was juniper, so I had some G&Ts with the HP guys in the bar after dinner. Hanging with geeks is really odd. We're sitting around, cackling our asses off, making jokes with punchlines like "oh, you must be a Novell Administrator!!" and "yeah, that's what you get for not properly configuring traverse permissions under NTFS!!" Completely surreal...

Off to the HP show now. I'm sure I'll have more tidbits of errata later.

Vegas Trip - NAB 2007

I feel like it's coming out my pores. Vegas, that is. I'm sweating, shaking, and nauseous and I can't regulate my temperature. I'll say first, no, I did not drink that much while in Vegas. I was very responsible. I had a good time, but I was reserved and controlled. I didn't gamble either (it's never really done anything for me - I can think of much more stimulating ways to piss away my hard earned money).

So what is it that's caused this reaction? Did I simply pick up some sort of a cold or flu? Am I processing out all the toxins that saturate the Casino air, or, was it a result of my long daily walks around the strip and beyond, breathing in aspirated shame, money, and ill fate? Whatever it is, it doesn't feel good.

The trip itself was very interesting. It was my first time going to the National Association of Broadcasters convention. I heard an unconfirmed rumor that they estimated 200,000 attendees. From the size of the crowds, I can believe it. It was spread out over several halls, filling the interior and exterior spaces of the the Las Vegas Convention Center and driving the cost of hotel rooms through the proverbial ceiling. I was fortunate to stay close to the Convention Center (.8 miles according to Google Maps). I was also fortunate to NOT stay at Circus Circus. I've never actually been there, but I've seen it on TV and I really don't like clowns, so, I think I'm good.

The hotel (Frontier) was interesting. It was a blend of old west kitsch, vintage Vegas cheese, and toothless red state flannel wearers, tearing through penny slots and packs of Winstons with abandon. Maybe I'm just a coastal elitist liberal, but I really expected to see the Clampetts roll up in the Valet area with Granny in her rocking chair, covered in bug guts from the 45 mph ride up I-15. The primary restaurant (Gilley's) is a barbecue and beer place with sawdust on the floor and two kinds of music - Country and Western.
A mechanical bull is a prominent feature of the decor and inebriated patrons shriek with delight as they are ritually thrown to the blue naugahide mat that surrounds the beast. I am not sure, but it appeared as though the operator (and therefore the Bull) took offense when a rider was particularly cocky or took an overly muscular hold of the device, as though to signal his intent to last the required eight seconds. As though it were his charge from God himself, the bull operator rewarded their vainglory with a swift and decisive trip to the mat. To add insult to injury, after downing its victim, the beast threw it's head defiantly as if to say "Mechanical Bull rules, drunken patrons drool." It should be noted, with obvious sadness, that I missed the highlight of the establishment - bikini bull riding. I'm not exactly kicking myself for this, but I'm not that happy about it either. Moving on now...

I ordered a half rack of ribs with a salad, chef's vegetables, and macaroni and cheese. I didn't really intend to eat much of the mac and cheese, but it sounded really good. The waitress (quite attractive in her hat, chaps, and bikini) cautioned me that the vegetables weren't really all that healthy; that they were green beans sauteed with bacon and onion. I was not surprised to learn that they didn't have any steamed mixed vegetables to substitute. Soon, a small oval plate, laden with limp iceberg lettuce, surely exposed to the rigors of time and heat lamps, was delivered to my table. I had no way of knowing at the time, but tomato, cucumber, and mixed cheese (jack and cheddar, I believe) were buried under what must have been nearly a cup of blue cheese dressing. I ate around the dressing as much as possible, but finally gave up on the salad. The main course came swiftly on an oversized platter with a wooden handle and heated metal plate, similar to a fajita plate. The mac and cheese was, of course, to die for. Unfortunately, I mean this literally. Presumably in the spirit of openness and full disclosure, you could actually see all the fat and oil separating from the food - no plausible deniability here. I had a few bites of it just to say I did, then pushed it away. The green beans were better than I had thought - they were cooked, but still snappy and had a mild flavor. They were clearly cooked with bacon, but not fried in rendered fat. The ribs were okay, but the sauce lacked punch (I had to request some hot sauce to get the flavor just right). The beer selection was pretty bad, so I ordered a Woodford Reserve on the rocks and sipped on that through the meal.

After dinner, I needed a walk, so I set out and headed North, up the strip. I did a big loop up the strip, over to Industrial, and back down to the hotel. It took about an hour and a half, so I estimate I walked somewhere between 4-6 miles. It was late when I got back to the hotel and I went straight to the room, ignoring the flannel and polyester clad nicotine disposal units who had by this time grafted themselves to the slot machines. After about an hour lying in bed, it occurred to me that the food probably had MSG in it because, try as I might, I couldn't sleep. I lamented my decision to eat at the Casino. As the night passed, my anxiety increased. I had a lot of ground to cover Monday and I wasn't going to perform well on no sleep. I finally fell asleep around 5 a.m. and slept soundly until 6:30.

NAB was HUGE. Got there early, got in the long, long lines for registration. Waited, waited, felt my feet swell from lack of sleep, bad food, and too much standing. Finally got checked in and started cruising the show. It quickly became apparent that the size and scope of this show was so large that there was no way I'd get to see the things I wanted to unless I came up with a plan. I decided to focus on two areas: digital asset management and file transport/replication. I thumbed through the book and found some likely vendors, made a note of their locations, and set off. I attended a few panel sessions on Digital Asset Management - a very interesting aspect of video production technology. I took the opportunity to review some specifics of our situation with the panel and got some good advice and product leads. I spent the remainder of the day perusing the booths, pressing the flesh, and checking out the cool stuff.

So, I needed to go to the ATM. I didn't take out enough cash before flying down and my dinner from the previous night coupled with coffee, breakfast, lunch, etc had all but wiped me out. I pulled up google maps and did a search for an ATM from my bank. I found one that looked reasonably close, made a note of the path I should take to get there, and struck out. By this point, it was early evening and still hot from the day. It was too hot to wear my sportcoat, so I took it off and packed it in my already bulging backpack. So, I'm walking along, in a city I don't know and I realize that I am going further and further from the relative safety and security of the Strip. Hotels, restaurants, and business parks gave way to motels (weekly rates available), bars, porno shops, and corner markets. Shady apartment complexes and dilapidated houses rose out of the dusty ground; the speeding, thumping cars and staring locals reduced my comfort level significantly. So, here I am, walking along, and I want to doublecheck the address. I couldn't remember if it was in the 100 or 1000 block. I had just passed 100, and there was nothing. Earlier in the day, on the way to the convention center, Google Maps had led me to believe there would be a branch at 101 Convention Center drive. Yeah, that didn't work out so well - no branch.

So now, I'm thinking, maybe it's wrong again - maybe I'm going too far into this bad area with a $3000 laptop strapped to my back and a "beat the fuck out of my and steal all my crap" sign pinned to my back. I can't check the bank's website because it doesn't work with the browser on my phone, and I can't very well pull out the laptop on the side of road and check it - I may as well just beat myself to a pulp, leave the laptop on the curb, and walk back to the hotel. So, what could I do? I'd gone this far (at least a mile by now); I kept going. I stood a little taller, got a cold, badass look on my face, pushed my chest out, and pressed on. Eventually, after a couple more sketchy looks, swerving cars that I thought would jump the curb, and other assorted acts of mischief, I arrived at a Von's grocery store with a small branch inside. I went in, got my cash, purchased two 22 oz bottles of Arrogant Bastard, and called for a taxi to take me back to the hotel. I checked later - the walk from the convention center was about two miles.
Got back to the hotel, held my breath, waved hello to the toothless flannel clad hicks, and went upstairs to enjoy my beer and some well earned TV time. I was happy to discover that the room had a mini fridge. The second beer would stay nice and cold. Flipped around for a little while until finding a show on VH1 about top 10 tv pranks, or something. Seems like VH1 is making its living off of clip shows these days. Comedians, D-Listers, and ex-hipsters making snarky comments between clips with the narrator prattling on about something. This show, I actually enjoyed because it featured two of my favorite reality shows (there aren't many I like) The Joe Schmo Show and Film Fakers.
I watched a few other things (clearly not memorable) and finished my other beer. Now that the sun had set (I saw it myself - through my window, no less), I freshened up and struck out for dinner. No way in Hell was I going to eat in the casino again, so I headed out onto the strip. I walked across to TI, originally with the intent of passing through and finding something else, but somehow I ended up at Isla, the upscale Mexican place inside. Michelle and I really enjoyed it the last time we were here, so I got a table, ordered a nice tequila and surf & turf, fancy Mexican style. The meal was excellent and the tequila was outstanding. Definitely made up for the night before's abysmal cuisine. After dinner, I felt like walking again - seems like the best way to stay out of trouble in Vegas is to keep moving. I walked all the way down the strip to the MGM Grand, then caught the Monorail back to Bally's and walked back to the Frontier.

Next day, I wrapped up the few loose ends I had left and got myself the Hell outta Dodge. I was feeling really run down and crappy (still am) so I hit the couch and rested as soon as I got home. Still managed to keep up on email and put some coherent thoughts together, but not much more.

News from the (sweaty) front

Okay. It's been a while since I started the working out thing and it was really tough at first. Now I'm really enjoying it and it's going well. I've started adding some more exercises and changing up the cardio a bit, and I'm really happy with the results.
I got on the scale the other morning (yes, ladies, NAKED. put that in your pipe and smoke it...) and weighed in at 246.5 - down about 20 lbs from when I started. I'm also down a pants size (and they're starting to get a little baggy) and wearing shorts I haven't worn in a while. So, I'm thinking, I've probably lost somewhere around 35-40 pounds of actual fat because I've added a lot of muscle (I'm not being vain - I'm really serious on this). I'm noticing it in all sorts of ways. I don't notice my backpack when walking anymore, I rip right up the stairs, I walk faster than anyone around me (going to and from work/ferry), and I'm regularly bumping up my weights.
The really wild thing is how it's changed my golf game. All of a sudden, I hit the ball high. Not just high, mind you, Rick James high. Really fucking high. Twice the height of the trees high. I've never been able to do that. The drawback of all this is that now I need to figure out how far I hit the ball with all the new strength. I went out to Mare Island the other day to play/practice and I was easily two clubs longer than normal. I kept blasting the ball over the green! I'm not complaining, it's just weird. So, I went out again the other night (after work) and managed to get in a couple of holes. I hit two or three shots into the green with different clubs and marked the distance with my SkyCaddie (if you golf, you need one). To my amazement, I was consistently much, much longer with each club. 5 iron: 195, 2 iron: 245, lob wedge: 115, 3 wood: chunk (I hate the three wood - maybe I'll be like Mike and get a 15 degree rescue).
Anyway, I'm not complaining - it's all good. Everything else is good too. Some minor issues with people losing their little minds, but I don't really give a fuck. Seriously, life's too short - everyone needs to just get on over their shit. Seriously. Work's great. Lots to do and I feel like I'm making a little progress here and there. Got to bring in a guy I really like working with, so that's a good time. He's enjoying the job and I like having him on the team because I know stuff will get done right.
What else.... Booked our fall vacation. We're going to San Jose del Cabo for a week, staying in a brand new resort (thanks to the fabulous Ms. Elena Garcia). Still need to book a car and all that, but that can wait. So, just have to hold out until July, then the next one is in October. I'd still really like to fit in a Bandon Dunes trip on a 3 day weekend or something. Maybe that'll have to wait until next year (been saying that for ten years now).
Michelle's been great. She took some amazing photos during her trip to Paris. I think we'll have to go back in 2008 and do it right. I think we'll spend a week in Scotland, then maybe hop down to the continent for a few. I'd really like to go back to Germany - especially Berlin. I've heard the mix of old and new architecture is amazing - can't wait to see it!!
Well, the chicken's ready and I've done enough purging for one evening. Time to chow down.

Workout Update

The workouts have been going very well and I'm starting to see benefits at the scale. I'm down five pounds since I started and at least one belt notch. It's not time for new pants yet, but they're fitting more loosely week by week. My cardiovascular fitness is improving a lot faster than I had anticipated - I'm able to blow through 30 minutes on the bike averaging 90+ rpms on a higher setting each week without blowing out my heart rate. As a matter of fact, I'm having to work a lot harder to get to my target heart rate, so much so that I'm tiring out my legs before I get there! So, I think I'm ready to step up the cardio training and start intervallic training this week.

We're playing golf at Mare Island with Will today - should be a lot of fun. The last couple times I went out, I was dramatically longer off the tee, but I'm not always sure when the additional length is going to kick in. This ought to be interesting. I've been reading a book on course design and strategy by Robert Trent Jones Jr. and I'm looking forward to putting into practice some of the concepts of the book. Hopefully I can keep on track and score well today.

Gotta scoot, shower's calling...

Loose Pants = Progress

The simplest possible math. Less than two weeks of working out and I'm already noticing improvements. My pants are considerably looser and I have taken one belt notch off my waist. In addition, the cool leather jacked I bought in January that was SNUG around my chest and belly now has a little room. I feel like part of me is melting away (what a world, what a world) - but in a good way (what a world! what a world!).
Did a quick stint on the bike this morning (just over 20 minutes) and I wish I would have gotten by shit together enough to get there earlier (on time) so I could have done more. I noticed a slight improvement in my cardiovascular performance over last week. I had to jack up the resistance to get my heart rate up and it took a little longer to get there this time. Similarly, I have noticed in my weight lifting that my stamina is increasing rapidly. The first night, I was panting and sweating wildly after the first set. Yesterday morning, I was winded, but not panting, sweating, but not dripping, until the last set of the second triplet (end of the workout).
So, overall, I'm happy thus far with the progress, I must say.

Summering at the coast

Start Thurston Howell III accent now... Looks like we'll be summering at the coast this year, at least for one week of it. We're moving up our annual Sea Ranch trip to the first week of July and I just booked our rental house. We'll be on the bluff, overlooking the water, just a short walk from some of the numerous hiking trails and Shell Beach. Yaaay.


Here's the view from the Deck:
Doesn't it just look divine? We sure like Sea Ranch! We have spent a week up there for Labor Day each of the last two years and it is the most wonderful place in California, as far as I'm concerned. If you want to check it out, get a rental house here. Once you're there, you have to check out some of the local flavors:
TwoFish Bakery (get there EARLY), St Orres (bring lotsa money), the Sandpiper, and so many more. Don't forget your golf clubs, Sea Ranch has a great 18 hole links style layout. It's some of the best coastal golf in California and it's reasonably priced at around $60 per round. If you feel like exploring, head over the hill to Boonville or drive up the coast to Mendocino or nearby Fort Bragg and have some lunch at North Coast Brewing's tap room. They have some kickin' beers and good grub. Put down a few Old Stock Ales (13+% alcohol), then drag ass down the street and get some coastal ink.
Well, the couch is calling, and I'd better heed.
Thurston Out!