Plan 2020 - Physical Goals
5 years ago
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Recent Travels (and Pizza)
Recently, I went back home to visit my folks, participate in my grandfather's second bar mitzvah and attend a cousin's wedding. Home is Ohio; the wedding in SLC. It was some serious travel that comprised of the following legs:
- Thursday, May 31: Worked in the morning and then flew to Columbus, Ohio, where I stayed with my brother Ian and his girlfriend Elvira.
- Friday, June 1: Drove to Cincinnati, celebrated Allison's 31st birthday, ate tons of pizza with her folks.
- Saturday, June 2: Celebrated my grandfather's second bar mitzvah at Temple Sholom. Ate a ridiculous amount of egg and tuna salad at the luncheon immediately after. Sunday, June 3: Played tennis, went riding on Le Ramrod (which is now the bike I keep in Cincinnati for those trips home). Had a pleasant pizza dinner with my mom, Jim, Eric and Allison.
- Monday, June 4: Replaced the right rear caliper on the Saab, went riding again and almost crashed when my chain came off climbing Barg Salt road in the east exurbs of Cincinnati.
- Tuesday, June 5: Had a really great lunch with my dad and Allison before driving to Chicago.
- Wednesday, June 6 and Thursday, June 7: Visited with as many friends as possible and savored their company. I also got to see their children -- Matt and Amanda and Helge and Carolyn both have beautiful babies. It's incredible to see, but also makes me realize that I'm getting older. But that's not really a bad feeling; not at all.
- Friday, June 8: Early flight to Salt Lake City to attend my cousin Andrew Haupt's wedding. Had an amazing time with my family, explored the Mormon Temple grounds and ate a ton of food. I started falling apart from exhaustion (I'd aroused at 4:50 CST to make my 7:45 AM flight) so I made it to my lodging at a decent hour. I stayed with folks I met through AirBnb - and who were incredibly awesome people. They also raised chickens in their backyard -- they're my total kindred spirits.
- Saturday, June 9: Had breakfast with my hosts, met my family at the SLC farmer's market (which is mindblowingly great) and went walking about. I had more energy than everyone else, so I went hiking by my lonesome in a canyon before dinner at a Japanese grill restaurant.
- Sunday, June 10: Drove back to Reno with my uncle Bruce, who lives in Rohnert Park, California. We made amazing time, "enjoyed" Taco Bell "lunch" in Elko, and discussed some future work projects. I made him drive me to Trader Joe's so I could stock-up on goods without having to ride my bike there. I spent $120. Eep!
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Reno's Empty Streets
View Larger Map "Here, in a speculative system, the collapse is perhaps a bit more predictable than within the algorithmic or complex system — with every bubble, there are those who recognize the bubble before it collapses — but the result is the same: a disastrous and typically sudden crash. In all three kinds of systems, I think, crashes can be said to originate with the actions of individually rational parts acting, in aggregate, in accordance with perversely misaligned incentives." From mammoth "Unknown Unknowns." Not all of Reno is like that, but there are a number of streets of perfect asphalt or cement that run into the desert, dead-end, with only scrub and sagebrush beyond. The city still struggles with its speculative past; but the state's blood is in part speculation, part hope. Someday, maybe, those streets will find houses. But not for some time.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Traveling to Reno
So I haven't written on this blog in months. It's not for lack of action over here -- in fact, I've probably gone through one of the biggest life changes I have ever faced. Yes, I'm living in Reno, Nevada. The short version: I got an awesome job that moved me out this way. Yes, Allison is still in Chicago, but we've got solutions in the works to have us living back under one roof soonish. Yes, it's been exceptionally difficult and trying, but I think so far it's been worth it.
The long version is below.
----
So I took a job in Reno, Nevada as a strategic communications writer at the university here. I applied to the position the day it was posted in October and was not all that surprised when I got a hit on my website from Reno a few days later. It happens often when I apply to jobs -- a hit out of the ether to my portfolio. I wasn't even all that surprised when I was scheduled for a phone interview. The interview went well, apparently, because I was then flown out to Reno to interview for the position in front of about ten folks, all of whom were potential colleagues. From 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, I talked myself up in front of a bunch of complete strangers and made such an impression that I was offered the job and would be relocated. Now that was surprising -- Reno?
Of course, Reno is pretty far from Chicago. 2,000 miles far. Really far. So that would be tough. Also making things complicated was the fact that I was recently wedded to the lovely Allison Grant. Because of circumstances surrounding her work and the current lack of opportunities for artistic and curatorial types in Reno, we determined that if I took the job she wouldn't be able to join me out there for some time. Further complicating things was that the job was a contract position up for renewal in July.
For about five days we talked the opportunity over and I decided that when you're offered the chance to be paid to travel out west to do the work that you've wanted to do, you would be hard pressed to turn that down.
So I made one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and accepted the position. Certainly, there was and is a lot at stake, but I felt that if I turned the job down, I would forever harbor some sort of bitterness. And it's only a job -- temporary. I could be back in the Midwest by the summer if the position doesn't renew or if I don't find the right opportunities out west for Allison that would allow her to come out here and do something in her field. Our priority is us, but we also allow the flexibility once in a while to do something completely selfish -- maybe that's how good relationships work. All I know is that Allison gets first rights on most anything for some time to come. I'm confident that everything will work out fine. Maybe I'm a dreamer or an idealist.
On Thanksgiving weekend, still recovering from the nasty chest cold I picked up sometime during my travels out west, I rented a truck and loaded up many of my things from Cincinnati and Chicago. On Wednesday, I picked up Allison in the afternoon after she got off work and we started the drive toward Des Moines on I-80.
Our travel schedule was such:
Wednesday 11/30: Chicago to Des Moines, IA - 350 miles
Thursday 12/1: Des Moines to Laramie, WY - 650 miles
Friday 12/2: Laramie, WY to Elko, NV - 650 miles
Saturday 12/3: Elko, NV to Reno, NV - 250 miles
Our trip to Des Moines was mostly inconsequential. We ate dinner at Chipotle somewhere in the Quad Cities (and was laughed at the name of the town we came in on -- Colona). We stayed at a Comfort Inn in the Des Moines suburbs so we didn't even get to see the town.
The day I was most worried about was the haul from Des Moines to Laramie. I've heard horror stories from other folks who made the drive cross-country who said that stretch was nothing but desolation and nothing. And they were right. However, the worst part about that leg of the drive was that our truck, a strapping Budget 16' unit, was blown about by a strong wind from the NW that forced us to use a heavy foot on the gas pedal to maintain a reasonable 65 MPH and fight hard to keep it in lane. The truck just guzzled fuel at a sickening rate -- about 8-10 MPG. My sincere apologies to all those poor dinosaur skeletons we burned so that I could move out west.
Laramie was awesome -- what a great place. We had dinner at Sweet Melissa's, a vegetarian joint, and with the elevation, one beer apiece had us nearly knocked out. It was cold in Laramie -- the nighttime low was about -5 Fahrenheit. The next morning, we got up early and I took a phone interview with another job that I had applied to at around the same time as I applied to the Reno position -- when it rains it pours, I guess. I ended up turning that other position down pretty quickly because it wasn't a good opportunity...and because I was already on my way out west. On our way out of Laramie, Allison and I sang David Bowie songs to each other in the snowed-over square and I spit on a statue to see my spittle freeze in seconds. Outside town, the world's most desolate Conoco afforded good postcard buying opportunities.
Through Wyoming there isn't much. Well, along the I-80 corridor, mostly. The good stuff must lie to the north or off the expressway, because all we saw were Kum-'n'-Go gas stations and occasional ranch hands. And even the ranch hands seemed bored. We had hopes to stop in Salt Lake City for a good meal on the generous per diem dime, but the Whole Foods in Park City seemed more convenient, so that's where we went.
Across the Great Salt Lake we battled mushy, slick conditions from a transient snowstorm perched over the vicinity. As soon as we crossed over into the desert, the storm stopped but we couldn't see the desert because it was at this point completely dark. When we crossed over into Nevada, there was a brilliant glow from the casinos on the state line. Yes, we crossed that line from the land of Joseph Smith to the territory of sin. It was all just dark outside anyway.
That night we stopped in Elko and we listened to our neighbor complain to his friends that they didn't care that he'd won $1,500 over the course of a week gambling. "Guys, I've won $1,500 and you don't even care! Some friends are you!" The next morning, we filled up the truck (again) and got going. Nevada's scenery is much more attractive than Wyoming's - big mountains loll in the distance, scrubland that textures the ground, and all is lovely purples and umbers in the early daylight. Our trip to Reno was detoured by an excursion to Pyramid Lake. Allison was disappointed that we had chosen the wrong road to get us close to the Pyramid, but we were able to admire it from afar using the binoculars, generously provided by the taxpayers of Nevada.
The move-in itself was unexceptional, though I was a bit put off when the maintenance man who let me in also informed me that the people who lived in my house before were, let's just say, really big into partying.
Since then, Reno has treated me exceptionally well. A further update to follow soon.
The long version is below.
----
So I took a job in Reno, Nevada as a strategic communications writer at the university here. I applied to the position the day it was posted in October and was not all that surprised when I got a hit on my website from Reno a few days later. It happens often when I apply to jobs -- a hit out of the ether to my portfolio. I wasn't even all that surprised when I was scheduled for a phone interview. The interview went well, apparently, because I was then flown out to Reno to interview for the position in front of about ten folks, all of whom were potential colleagues. From 7:30 am to 3:00 pm, I talked myself up in front of a bunch of complete strangers and made such an impression that I was offered the job and would be relocated. Now that was surprising -- Reno?
Of course, Reno is pretty far from Chicago. 2,000 miles far. Really far. So that would be tough. Also making things complicated was the fact that I was recently wedded to the lovely Allison Grant. Because of circumstances surrounding her work and the current lack of opportunities for artistic and curatorial types in Reno, we determined that if I took the job she wouldn't be able to join me out there for some time. Further complicating things was that the job was a contract position up for renewal in July.
For about five days we talked the opportunity over and I decided that when you're offered the chance to be paid to travel out west to do the work that you've wanted to do, you would be hard pressed to turn that down.
So I made one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make and accepted the position. Certainly, there was and is a lot at stake, but I felt that if I turned the job down, I would forever harbor some sort of bitterness. And it's only a job -- temporary. I could be back in the Midwest by the summer if the position doesn't renew or if I don't find the right opportunities out west for Allison that would allow her to come out here and do something in her field. Our priority is us, but we also allow the flexibility once in a while to do something completely selfish -- maybe that's how good relationships work. All I know is that Allison gets first rights on most anything for some time to come. I'm confident that everything will work out fine. Maybe I'm a dreamer or an idealist.
On Thanksgiving weekend, still recovering from the nasty chest cold I picked up sometime during my travels out west, I rented a truck and loaded up many of my things from Cincinnati and Chicago. On Wednesday, I picked up Allison in the afternoon after she got off work and we started the drive toward Des Moines on I-80.
Our travel schedule was such:
Wednesday 11/30: Chicago to Des Moines, IA - 350 miles
Thursday 12/1: Des Moines to Laramie, WY - 650 miles
Friday 12/2: Laramie, WY to Elko, NV - 650 miles
Saturday 12/3: Elko, NV to Reno, NV - 250 miles
Our trip to Des Moines was mostly inconsequential. We ate dinner at Chipotle somewhere in the Quad Cities (and was laughed at the name of the town we came in on -- Colona). We stayed at a Comfort Inn in the Des Moines suburbs so we didn't even get to see the town.
The day I was most worried about was the haul from Des Moines to Laramie. I've heard horror stories from other folks who made the drive cross-country who said that stretch was nothing but desolation and nothing. And they were right. However, the worst part about that leg of the drive was that our truck, a strapping Budget 16' unit, was blown about by a strong wind from the NW that forced us to use a heavy foot on the gas pedal to maintain a reasonable 65 MPH and fight hard to keep it in lane. The truck just guzzled fuel at a sickening rate -- about 8-10 MPG. My sincere apologies to all those poor dinosaur skeletons we burned so that I could move out west.
Laramie was awesome -- what a great place. We had dinner at Sweet Melissa's, a vegetarian joint, and with the elevation, one beer apiece had us nearly knocked out. It was cold in Laramie -- the nighttime low was about -5 Fahrenheit. The next morning, we got up early and I took a phone interview with another job that I had applied to at around the same time as I applied to the Reno position -- when it rains it pours, I guess. I ended up turning that other position down pretty quickly because it wasn't a good opportunity...and because I was already on my way out west. On our way out of Laramie, Allison and I sang David Bowie songs to each other in the snowed-over square and I spit on a statue to see my spittle freeze in seconds. Outside town, the world's most desolate Conoco afforded good postcard buying opportunities.
Through Wyoming there isn't much. Well, along the I-80 corridor, mostly. The good stuff must lie to the north or off the expressway, because all we saw were Kum-'n'-Go gas stations and occasional ranch hands. And even the ranch hands seemed bored. We had hopes to stop in Salt Lake City for a good meal on the generous per diem dime, but the Whole Foods in Park City seemed more convenient, so that's where we went.
Across the Great Salt Lake we battled mushy, slick conditions from a transient snowstorm perched over the vicinity. As soon as we crossed over into the desert, the storm stopped but we couldn't see the desert because it was at this point completely dark. When we crossed over into Nevada, there was a brilliant glow from the casinos on the state line. Yes, we crossed that line from the land of Joseph Smith to the territory of sin. It was all just dark outside anyway.
That night we stopped in Elko and we listened to our neighbor complain to his friends that they didn't care that he'd won $1,500 over the course of a week gambling. "Guys, I've won $1,500 and you don't even care! Some friends are you!" The next morning, we filled up the truck (again) and got going. Nevada's scenery is much more attractive than Wyoming's - big mountains loll in the distance, scrubland that textures the ground, and all is lovely purples and umbers in the early daylight. Our trip to Reno was detoured by an excursion to Pyramid Lake. Allison was disappointed that we had chosen the wrong road to get us close to the Pyramid, but we were able to admire it from afar using the binoculars, generously provided by the taxpayers of Nevada.
The move-in itself was unexceptional, though I was a bit put off when the maintenance man who let me in also informed me that the people who lived in my house before were, let's just say, really big into partying.
Since then, Reno has treated me exceptionally well. A further update to follow soon.
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Bartlett
The fun in cyclocross lies not with the racing, but in the party afterward. Bartlett brought the good times again. I had an awesome crash (pulled a superman due to a stick in the front wheel) and had a lousy result. It's cool, because I made up for the mediocrity with screaming until my voice was hoarse at all the Cat. 4s.
Hollerin', literally.
Hollerin', literally.
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