Sunday, March 14, 2010

Spring Ahead

I hate using the bathroom right after I've cleaned it.  I spent all that time trying to make it nice and I want it to stay that way, at least for a few days.  So I've been doing things a bit differently in the bathroom like bowing my head further when spitting out my toothpaste or sitting when I pee so I don't spray all over the place.  OK that's kinda weird, but the toothpaste thing makes sense.  It gets all over the place I brush my tongue.

Anyway, I stocked the kitchen this weekend.  I'm not a happy camper when there isn't any food in the apartment, believe me.  Not to worry.  I've got enough food to hold me over for about 2 weeks....maybe.

I'm glad the weather seems to be improving.  Food shopping in the monsoon sucked.  The forecast looks good after Monday though.  Perhaps some outdoor climbing next weekend???  We'll see.  Chances are I'll be back in the gym, but one can hope.  Speaking of climbing, the hole in the knee of my favorite climbing pants is getting bigger.  I thought about sewing it, but I think a patch would do a lot better since it's torn in multiple places.  I might sacrifice some material from a pair of hiking pants that are getting a bit snug in the waist.

Whether I get to climb outside or not, I at least intend to get some outdoor running in during the week.  I got 5 days of running in last week, so I've got to keep the momentum going.  I'm looking to get back in shape so I can run a few trail races, and a few road races.

By the way I forgot about daylight savings until 6:45PM.  I got all excited when I thought I had showered and eaten by 5:45 after a sweet day of climbing.  Friggin' daylight savings.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

I miss my iPod

A few days ago I saw a really cool commercial with Yvon Chouinard.  He shed some light on rock climbing and discussed removing a dam that no longer serves any purpose.  Its removal would allow for the native fish to spawn again as well as providing the nearby beaches with much needed sand.  Have a look!

I usually listen to Pandora while I'm at my desk at work.  I noticed that every time I change stations a wonderful VIDEO COMMERCIAL comes on!  What is that about?!  Yes, advertisements pay the bills for many websites.  I get it.  A commercial EVERY time I change stations is excessively annoying though.  Being as that my iPod decided to up and take a crap a while back, Pandora is still the most convenient choice.  Grrrrr.

A co-worker and I came across a cool website today.  www.passwordmeter.com
You type in a password and it rates the strength or ability to be cracked.  Higher scores have less of a chance of being cracked.  As you might have guessed, the best passwords are ones that have upper-case and lower-case letters, numbers, characters (shifted numbers) and don't use words or sequential numbers or letters.  Basically as random as you can make it.  Still pretty cool.

Oh, and I still don't have any tp in the house.  I might have to confiscate some from work.

Monday, March 8, 2010

A Not So Rainy Weekend

This past weekend was a blast!  I spent the whole weekend with my best friend Monica!  We went to the Banff Mountain Film Festival on Friday night.  Saturday we went running in the morning and climbing in the afternoon.  That night we went to my parents' house for my going-away party.  I hate that name.  It's kind of depressing and makes me not want to go to Germany.  The party was fun anyway.  It was really great to have my friends and family there to support me.  After my cousin made a fairly nice toast in my honor someone else chanted out "speech."  The idea of giving a speech never really crossed my mind, so I passed.  Folded under the pressure.  They all know how I feel, but looking back at it I wish I had given a speech.  Even if it was just something small.  If I could do it over I would have said something like this:

"Over the years I've encountered quite a few challenges.  Be they the mental rigors of school, the physical demands of sports or the emotional battles of life, I've had my fair share of each of them.  Regardless of the challenge, my friends and family have always been there to support me.  Without that support I would not have accomplished half of the things that I did.  Without that support, I would not have been given the opportunity that lays before me.  With that being said, I would like to thank you all for being here tonight to support me once again."

Call it cheesy if you will.  Every word is true.  Anyway, on Sunday Monica and I went hiking around the Delaware Water Gap where we were introduced to some trad climbing spots.  We'll have to check it out when it's a bit more dry.  Running this weekend got me motivated to start running on a regular basis again.  I ran during my lunch hour at work today.  The weather was fantastic.  All excited to be running again, I decided that I would make running at lunch a daily thing.  Later on someone ruined my plan by telling me that the second half of the week is going to be miserable.  Damn the rain!