I think with all the other forms of mass communication available, I find my way to my blog less and less these days. But still, the brevity of Twitter & Facebook doesn’t always do it for me - sometimes I really need to write.
This week, I’ve seen numerous friends post on Facebook about dreading the New Year’s Resolution crowd at their gyms. Yesterday, I was in Burbank for work and the salad bar had way more people than it normally does. At Safeway this morning, the Lean Cuisine (and the like) frozen meals were prominently displayed on the endcap of the frozen foods aisle, on sale of course. Within a few weeks, the gyms will be back to their late 2009 levels, the salad bar crowd will be back to normal, and the Lean Cuisine will be back to regular price. Read the rest of this entry »
Yeah, yeah, I know everyone else is doing it, but I’m home, sick, and bored on New Year’s Day and it’s a new decade, so let’s look back at the last. Read the rest of this entry »
In thinking “I should write an end of year/beginning of year” post, I looked back in my draft posts and found one that I’d started at the beginning of 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
Though I’ve enjoyed my time at the Skydive Arizona Holiday boogies in the past, each one has had some sort of bad memory associated with it. There was giving myself a concussion in 2005. Sean breaking his leg and two friends dying in 2006. Being sick in 2007. (We spent 2008 in ZHills, of course). This year, trying to keep our time away from work to a minimum, we decided to go back to Eloy since it’s easy to get to Arizona without taking any time off work for travel. I was looking forward to a boogie without any bad ju-ju, and I got it, and got the much needed mini-break from work, too. Read the rest of this entry »
Today my departmental holiday lunch was at a PF Chang’s at the Stoneridge Mall out in Pleasanton (much of our team works in Pleasanton, and I’ll likely end up there mid-year next year once they consolidate all of us in one location). I figured since I was already at the mall (4 days before Christmas!) I’d brave Macy’s to see if I could find any interesting clothes at a good discount. It was tolerably crowded.
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… till our mini-vacation in Eloy. We’re heading down Christmas Eve (late in the day) and coming back early on the 29th (the dates are timed so that we could use free Southwest tickets without running afoul of blackout dates). We’ve rented a team room at the dropzone for the 24th-27th, and a hotel near the Phoenix airport for the 28th since our flight leaves very early in the morning. It’ll also save us a day on the rental car. The team rooms are a modest step up from the bunkhouse (where we’ve both stayed before). The one we’ve rented has four bunks and a mini-fridge (but since we’re renting the whole thing out we’ll have all the space to ourselves). We’ll still use the communal showers, but it should offer much more privacy and quiet than the bunkhouse, which tends to be full this time of year. The fridge will allow us to pick up some food for breakfast, lunch, and snacks to save having to eat every meal out.
Last night I had the good fortune to be invited along to a Los Angeles Kings hockey game with three coworkers. I’d only gone to one hockey game before (a minor league game in Seattle) and was looking forward to experiencing the skill level (not to mention the hype) of an NHL game. As you can see from the photo, we had fabulous seats (purchased at half price!) about 10 rows back from the ice.
I wasn’t disappointed. I’ve never gotten into hockey, but friends who are big fans have said that if I go to a game, I’ll understand the appeal more. I can definitely understand that - like basketball (a longtime favorite), I enjoyed the pace and the skill demonstrated by the players. I’d definitely enjoy going to more games, for sure.
Even though I had four days last weekend and two this one, I still feel like my weekends are way too short. But that’s not news - I’m sure most people do. Read the rest of this entry »
So I sit here on Black Friday, having said that I wasn’t going to buy anything but … I got sucked in by a new toy on Amazon.com, a Garmin Forerunner. They had a fantastic deal on the 305, which isn’t the latest and greatest, but which gets solid reviews and is still good technology. For something I’m not sure how much I’ll use, and which is a good piece of equipment in itself, one generation old works for me. Plus, I had a $100 gift card that I got for helping a friend out with some market research, so it didn’t wind up costing me that much. Read the rest of this entry »