The New York Times reports that once again, despite previous assurances that they would not, the Democrats in Congress have caved in under threat of veto from President Bush. When the American people elected a Democratic majority to both the House and Senate in 2006 it was assumed by most that the Democrats would end the war. A few weeks ago I watched Nancy Pelosi on one of the Sunday talk shows. The interviewer asked her why Congress had not acted to end the war during the last two years and her response was this:Â The President will veto it and the Democrats don’t have enough votes to override.
No Heroics
This upcoming sitcom on British television looks fun:
Tina at Erik and Rhonda’s wedding
Here’s my beautiful wife last weekend when she, Graham and I attended a wedding reception for my good friend Erik Rogers and his new bride, Rhonda. She even offered to drive home if I cared to take advantage of the open bar.
Afternoon Bike Ride
Distance:Â 15.0 miles
Riding time:Â 99 minutes
Max speed:Â 22.2 mph
Average speed:Â 9.0 mph
Temperature: 90º (according to questionable bike computer read)
Route:
- Through the neighborhood to 158th and Sandy Blvd
- 158th to Marine Drive bike path
- Bike path past 205 several miles (turnaround)
- Bike path back to 205
- I-205 bike path to Fremont
- Fremont to 122nd
- 122nd to I-84 bike path
- Bike path to 162nd
- 162nd to Stanton
- Stanton to home
Ever since we knew that I would be working from home, Tina and I have been looking forward to riding our bikes together during the day. We finally did it today and boy did it wear us out. I thought we might go five miles out and then turn around, but Tina was enjoying herself so much that we went another mile. I also decided to take the 205 bike path home which may have been a mistake since it seemed like it was all uphill. When we attempted the last hill at 122nd, my legs had had enough and I simply didn’t have the will to pedal uphill anymore. So we walked up the heavily trafficked hill in the very narrow bike lane gasping for breathe the entire time. The rest of the ride went smoothly but we’re both pretty shot tonight.
My fitness definitely needs some improvement so I’ve been doing some homework on indoor training. After a fair bit of reading, I’ve decided that the best turbo trainer for my ability would be a CycleOps PowerBeam Pro. Extra indoor sessions should make these outdoor rides much easier in the future and also more enjoyable.
Republicans on Sarah Palin
The wisdom of a fool won’t set you free
Life has been demanding lately. At work I’ve been transitioning to a new team while still maintaining some responsibility for the product the Splash team just shipped. I’ve also been working on another project outside of work that has been very demanding of my time. Today was supposed to be the first day working from home since the EFI office in Vancouver is now officially closed. Unfortunately, because of the recent time crunch, I didn’t have time to move my work stuff (and there’s a lot of it) home until Friday when Tina and the boys helped me lug a few computers and displays home. I spent the better part of the three day weekend emptying my office at home, cleaning it and redecorating. I didn’t completely finish but it’s in a workable state and most of the junk I moved out is no longer cluttering the rest of the house.
Continue reading “The wisdom of a fool won’t set you free”
Cubicle meltdown
BrazenCareerist.com counts down the top ten cubicle meltdown videos. You’ve probably seen most of them but the first and last in their list are interesting in that they are the same incident taken from two different angles. The first was taken from the ubiquitous security camera and goes on for several minutes:
Continue reading “Cubicle meltdown”
Vital Statistics
Bike odometer: 2485
Van odometer: 153885
Weight lost (in pounds): 0
Aches & pains: left shin (scab gone)
Current reading: My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy
Recent listening: The Jimi Hendrix Experience (Box), Fresh Air
Recent viewing:Â The Dark Knight, Airport 77, Rounders, The Player, Igby Goes Down, Meet The Press, Reign of Fire, Last Comic Standing, Garden State, The New World, Olympics
Recent playing: Chain Factor
Recently accomplished:Â Updated LinkedIn profile, updated resume, sent two job feelers, fixed The Doctor, mowed lawn, cleaned cat boxes, installed AC window unit
Imperative To Do: Get rid of junk (couch), buy trailer for van, activate new Tivo, oil change for van, weeds, clean garage, moss, new muxtape
I bought an iPhone
The whole thing (including activation) seemed to take less than 10 minutes. I got the 16GB model in white. I sat in the parking garage for at least 15 minutes playing with it before I forced myself to put it down and drive to work.
We could have all three, she said
My employment situation has been resolved. As I reported earlier, EFI has decided to close the Vancouver office after this month but they have offered some of the engineers the opportunity to continue to support the Splash product while working from home. I was lucky enough to receive one of those offers and decided to accept it after investigating a couple of non-EFI opportunities. In addition to continuing at my current salary, EFI has generously offered to pay for my home office expenses including a cell phone and a faster internet connection. When the office closes, I’ll also have my pick of computer equipment. EFI has structured a bonus program for me to encourage me to stay until next July, but I have been assured that my employment could continue well past that.