Series 3 "Lite"?

A few months back, I said that if the Series 3 TiVo was $299, I would have argued with myself but eventually bought it.

Well, looks like I may have to look at those words a bit more seriously, in light of some leaked news out of TiVo-land.

If the rumors are true, for $299 you're getting dual HDTV tuners, the big selling point of the TiVo S3. There are a bunch of other minor changes, but that's what it boils down to.

On the other hand, my cable box HDTV recently got its firmware upgraded. Most of the annoying bugs are fixed, and I've learned to deal with the feature gaps between the DVR and the TiVo. Is it worth $299 to close those gaps? Especially when we're talking about saving money? Probably not.

Probably not.

See what I read

I've added a new feature to the blog; a rolling list of items I've marked from my RSS reader. This is mainly stories I found interesting ... you probably won't :).

The best things in life are free

(or at least paid for by other people)

Last night, we got a last-minute invite to head over to a cabin by a lake in Phillipstown, owned by in-laws of in-laws. Said in-laws (Jess's brother and his family) were staying there for a couple nights. With no other plans, and an unexpected free evening, we took the long (well, 45 minutes) country drive (one of the more pleasant drives I've taken in this area) north, and ended up on a narrow dirt road that ended by a cabin on a lake.

We stayed for a bit over 3 hours, and in that time we fished, swam, sat by a fire, made s'mores, burned popcorn, and stood quietly on a dock watching lightning flash in the sky so far away we never heard thunder. The lightning-watching was especially memorable. We were looking up into the hills that surrounded the lake, seeing far-away lightning take a pitch-black sky and illuminate the shapes of distant clouds. Sometimes the lightnings would come with startling frequency, sometimes you could even make out the shapes of actual bolts of lightning. Other times it was just a vague flicker of light from afar. Either way, we realized we were seeing something special.

I can't remember a single more relaxing evening I've had on a work night. Those moments were precious, priceless even, and all it cost us was a willingness to say, "Sure, we'll go for a drive."

Who is that (un)masked man?

I'd had this goatee for six months now. I started it over the Christmas/New Years holiday, and maintained it until yesterday.

I'd been itching for a change, though. It kind of aggravated me, though it shouldn't have, that I had the same style facial hair as both my boss and his boss. And as it got warmer, the goatee got less and less appealing, trapping sweat and generally increasing the feeling of heat on hot humid days, especially days spent outdoors.

So in a fit of inspiration, I stepped out of the shower yesterday and cut the damn thing off.

I don't recognize myself in the mirror. It's honestly freaking me out. I see shapes and patterns in my facial structure which don't equate with "me". I reach for my face and pull back my hand quickly, in shock, like I touched something I unexpected and unpleasant.

I don't know how long it will take to get used to the clean face, but I know it's not going to be fun. I miss the scruffy bastard.

Outdoor running, revisited

In regards to my post below, extolling the benefits of outdoor running, I will add a second thing that outdoor running adds into the mix.

Hills.

And pain. In the knees.

Better today than yesterday, but still not planning to run today. I'll give my body an extra recovery day and run tomorrow. Long work day today anyway (and yesterday, ugh), so it's not like I'm brimming with extra energy to burn.

Outdoor running

So, I did my entire C25K program running on the treadmill in my basement. It was safe, the speed was controlled, and I could get more comfortable with my abilities that way. The benefits of treadmill running are very easy to understand and I don't need to spell them out here.

Since then, I've done a couple runs outside. Let me tell you -- it's a night and day difference. There's a certain confidence you get from saying, "look, I can run for 30 minutes straight." But the confidence of saying, "I can run from here to there, and back, without stopping," is entirely different. It's so much stronger and real.

Granted, there are cars to dodge, mosquitos biting, dogs barking, and all that. But it's worth it.

Today I feel like a fit man trapped with 30-40 extra pounds of fat on him. A few months ago I felt like a fat man wishing he was fit. It's a transformation I am very thankful to have made.

Success is a motivator

21 pounds down.
Running 3 miles a day, every other day.
Feeling better than I have in a year.

There's a sense of accomplishment there, but I have to weigh it against knowing how much more I have ahead of me. To just return to the level of fitness I had will take many more months. But there are no mysteries on the road there; I have the map, I have driven the course before, and I've put in solid time on it and know what's what.

And I find myself itching for a bigger push.

I'm in a dangerous spot with my running fitness, where I feel more fit than I am. I can and should add more miles, but not yet. I can and should work on running faster, but not yet. It's just out of reach. Two weeks more, or so, and I'll be up for that.

In the meantime, I should do what I keep saying I'll do, and that's start on some bodyweight exercises. I hate going to the gym at work, and don't always have time to anyway. But there's always time to add some bodyweight exercises. The main concern people have with bodyweight routines is that you can't push yourself to your limits -- however, being untrained this is not a big concern to me. My secret bodyweight goal? To be able to do a solid set of pullups/chinups. From childhood that's always been something I could never do, so in my mind it's as far away and impossible as running a marathon.

The ubiquity of information

It's Saturday afternoon. Jessica and I are in a motel room in New Jersey, getting ready for the wedding we have to attend in a few hours. I'm flipping channels on the TV. I come across a program focused on animal life in Death Valley. It catches our interest, and we see the tail end of a segment which is obviously about some kind of road race that is run there, which sounded pretty awful.

I pulled out my Blackberry, which I had brought to be able to retrieve maps online on the go. I did a quick search on the terms "death valley ultramarathon" and within seconds I was reading the wikipedia article on the Badwater Ultramarathon, a 135-mile race where runners have to face a 13,000 feet elevation gain (running from below sea level to near the summit of Mt. Whitney). I had a great chuckle when they said that nobody had died on the race "yet."

Putting the Internet into our hands at every moment isn't just about being able to buy movie tickets or get directions to the closest pizza joint, no matter what the marketing suits tell you. Sometimes it's just about being able to satisfy your curiosity the moment it arises.

Don't get me wrong. I did use the Blackberry for more traditional things as well. We needed to find a specific clothing store on the way down to NJ, and we found one at a mall right by the highway we were traveling. And I even earned some points among the extended family by not just finding the closest Denny's for them, but giving them directions as well. And while I didn't need the Internet to tell me how crazy it would be at Denny's as part of a party of 11 with 3 children under 5, I could have blogged about it while it was happening, had I thought of it :).

Stop wondering and start doing

Another "day in the life" of a man who regularly realizes he's smarter than he realizes if he just did the things he always talks about doing.

Yesterday, I had a bit of a headache towards the end of the day. My muscles were still sore from my last run and my weekend of playing with my nephews (playing catch and baseball with a couple pre-teens takes more out of you than you'd think). I went to bed a bit early, thinking, "I probably won't run tomorrow, my body might need the rest."

This morning, I felt fine. Not sore, not overly tired, etc. But I immediately started over-analyzing. Maybe I need to rest, maybe my body needs an extra day to recuperate, maybe I should wake up a bit more and make sure I'm not sore.

No, dumbass, you should just get your running clothes on and get on the treadmill (yes, it's beautiful out there, I'm holding off on running outside until I complete this training program).

I finally did the run, and it was one of the best runs I've had in a few weeks.

Stop thinking about it, and just keep doing it. Don't be so afraid of failing that you don't try, because trying and failing is a better end than not trying at all, and more often than not you won't fail anyway.

How many times do I have to re-learn this lesson (in matters small and large)?

(Fifteen pounds down ... four runs left in my training program ... so far, so good.)

Spring hits Podunk

One week ago, it was gloom and doom. This weekend, the weather was amazing.

Saturday, we set up our hammock in the back yard, and spent about an hour just laying in the sun. Stress falls away pretty quick in that environment -- and in the peace and quiet of the warm spring breeze I once again had a bit of a "reset button" moment. I need these, periodically, to remind myself what I work for. My own yard, on a quiet street, surrounded by trees -- this is why I endure all the stress I face at work.

The whole area is more alive right now -- you can see the early beginnings of buds on trees, things are sprouting in gardens, the spring birds are back, and people are out and about. The parking area near the pond was completely full this weekend, and the entire surface of the pond was dotted with boats.

And, of course, the bugs are starting to come back. We saw several hornets buzzing about the house. Some things never change.

Positive Thinking

On my commute home yesterday, I drove past the pond and saw two large blue herons flying over it. They were the first ones I've seen this year, and seeing them always brings a smile to my face. Spring is coming. The birds know it, but maybe someone should tell the skies.

This morning I went and killed that run that killed me Wednesday. It was still hard, but I ran it a little slower and was able to pound it out. Mission accomplished, though I'm still nervous about the rest of my runs being this difficult. Jess is enjoying the fact that she's having an easier time of running than I am, so I guess there's some benefit to my struggle.

I'm going to head over to PR Running on Monday and get my shoe choice double checked. I'm also going to incorporate increased stretching into my routine. I read some great advice -- do stretches on your off days to make sure you give them the attention they deserve. A full set of stretches can run you 20 minutes, and I know I don't have the patience to do that before/after a run. I'm lucky if I spend 2 minutes stretching. But if it's my off day, I can stretch in place of a run and still get some benefit.

My Monday is going to be very busy, for a day off. Dentist appointment, running shoe shopping, grocery shopping with my mother, and possibly lunch with Jess. The Marathon could well be over by the time I get home and pop on the TV to see how it's going.

A many-stepped journey

I know I'd be a happier person if I took my own advice more often. For example: don't sweat the small stuff.

Today I had a particularly stressful phone conversation with my manager, for reasons I won't go into here (nothing bad, just the usual). I immediately went down to the treadmill for my Week 6 Day 3 run of my C25K plan. Things went okay until about 15 minutes into the running portion. With ten minutes remaining, I wasn't sure I had it in me to finish.

Five minutes went by, and what had started as a slight nagging in my legs had turned into a burning pain in each calf. I was counting the seconds, and had 300 to go. I tried to push it out but after another 30 seconds I realized how stupid I was being. Pain like that, that gets worse as you continue the exercise, is usually not something you want. I dropped back to walk pace immediately, walked for 5 minutes, and then stretched for a few minutes.

The pain is gone, but it's still tight. And I'm pissed that I couldn't complete my workout. But this is just one step on a long journey -- one training run that didn't complete as expected is hardly reason to get upset.

But such is the paranoia of the man who isn't fully confident he can do what he's attempting (even though he's done it before). Every tiny setback is examined from all possible angles.

Dave, don't sweat the small stuff. You still got a great workout in.

The question: was it just random chance? Unstretched legs? New running shoes? Too fast?

What do I change next time?


My plan: stick with the new shoes, drop my pace a bit, and try again in a couple days. If the pain returns, go to the running store on Monday and see if there's a different shoe I should be using.

Easter Birth Control

So yesterday we hosted the family Easter dinner, a surprisingly non-religious affair given how religious most of the attendees (but not the hosts) were. In any case, after an easter egg hunt, an easter basket hiding game, a huge meal, and several hours of 3 sugar-crazed kids, my house looked like some kind of tornado went through it.

I walked into the kitchen and jokingly said, "What happened to my house?"
My sister-in-law replied, "Birth control showed up."

In unrelated news, I got some new running shoes yesterday which I am looking forward to trying out. I've been running in 2 to 3 year-old shoes with a lot of rough miles on them. These are fresh and new, and I got a great deal on them online.

Two digit losses

No, I'm not talking about investments or work revenues. I'm talking about my recent fitness initiative!

As of this morning, I'm down ten pounds from when I made the decision that it was time to start this up again. I've completed five weeks of my running program, I'm down ten pounds, and I can feel the difference in my clothes.

A good start!

On pushing your limits

I don't talk about work much in this blog, for a few reasons. The biggest is the most obvious: I don't want this showing up on some corporate legal radar. The last thing I need is the guys in suits actually thinking I'm a liability (or more of a liability than they know I am!).

So. I'm finally taking one of the classes that lots of managers here take -- it tries to cram in all aspects of being a manager into 3 days. Leadership, business acumen, personal growth, all of it. And the pre-requisite (not required, but strongly recommended) is a "skills assessment."

The assessment takes the form of a 5-hour simulation of being a manager. You sit at your desk and handle email, calendar, and telephone. You have dissatisfied employees, demands from peer managers, all kinds of problems. It seems that the goal is to put you under enough simulated pressure to expose your weak areas, so you know what to focus on.

This does not sound, in the least bit, fun.

And yet my manager sings its praises, nearly constantly. He says the simulation was more important for his development than the follow-up course.

This is coming up in a couple weeks. I'm fairly nervous about it, for a lot of reasons. But it boils down to, "what if they tell me I suck at this?".

What's odd is that I would have no such fears about a technical challenge of this nature. If I took a 5-hour assessment of my technical skills and learned that I am good at half of it and suck at the other, I'd be glad to know that, so I could start working on the other half. But that's because I've known I'm good at the technical side of things, for a long time. Maybe if such a test had been handed out in my freshman year of college I would be just as nervous. Or maybe it's because management is made up of "soft" skills, and I have it in my head that if I'm bad at them, there's no improving it.

It doesn't make much sense, but there it is.

Rush tickets on sale

June 27th, Mansfield MA, An Evening with Rush.

I'm not sure I'm going this tour. Should I buy tickets anyway? Not exactly cheap....

2 steps forward, 3 steps back

Sometimes you have to look backwards in order to move ahead. In 2004, my brother-in-law Steve was serving overseas in Iraq and the surrounding areas. I looked at the sacrifices he was making for what he believed in, looked at the struggles he had been through to become a Marine at the age of 30, and decided that I needed to take steps to change my own fitness level. I ate better, started exercising, and eventually started running. I dropped 40 pounds, was running up to 20 miles a week, and felt the best I ever had. In the middle of all that, I became closer to Steve than I had been since high school (while being as geographically separated as is possible, basically).

Then things changed. I hurt my foot while running a 10K race with Steve upon his return in 2005. Things got more complicated at home, and at work. I lost my drive, and eventually lost my fitness. It took a little while, but two years after that road race it's 2007, and I'm heavier and more out of shape than I was in late 2004. I just reread my blog post from that day, from the race. It's sobering to look back on what I've lost.

That's looking back.

What motivated me then isn't what is motivating me now. Now it's time to look forward. I'm not getting any younger. I am lucky to be as healthy as I am, given how poorly I've treated myself in the past. I deserve better, my wife deserves better, and I know I'm capable of better. I'm tired of knowing my potential and being so far from it.

About a month ago, I convinced myself of this, and have quietly been working on it. I've done four weeks of the same 9-week program that got me into running in the first place. I've been recording my food intake, logging my exercises, and generally ramping up towards being more responsible. And I'm finally confident enough in it to post here that it's what I'm doing. Even though nobody really reads this, there's a certain amount of commitment involved in putting it down "on paper" as it were.

The habits are getting back in place. The body remembers what it takes. The comfort of knowing I can do this (since, well, I did it before) competes in my mind with the frustration that comes with doing it all a second time (and having it be harder).

So, once again, I'll probably be posting fitness-related items in here again, as I try to keep myself honest.

Life is a journey, and sometimes you have to loop back around and cover the same ground twice. It's okay. We're not in a hurry....

I can't quit my job

So, yeah, evidently I didn't win the big lottery last night. I even bought a ticket and everything.

Stupid system.

In other news, I am a travel writer!

Oh, wait, not really. But I did contribute to wikitravel.org, which takes the wiki approach to travel guides.

So, while I didn't win enough money to quit my job and roam the world, I did spend some of my personal time making sure that my own experiences traveling help someone else pick a good restaurant next time they go to Sanibel Island. Hey, you gotta make compromises in life.

Stalking my friends from high school

So I'm poking around a music forum today, and I notice a post about a site called Metal Archives. They said, if they don't have an entry, the band is either really obscure or isn't metal.

Suuure.

So a buddy of mine in high school was in a short-lived death metal band called Exhumed. What are the odds they have an entry? Pretty good. Not only that, I get the names of a few of the other bands my old no-longer-in-touch friend has been in since then. I follow the lines all the way to his myspace page (via his current band's).

Awesome world we live in. To be fair, we did touch base about 5 years ago, so I knew he was still playing music and all that.

Speaking of myspace ... is there like some rule that all myspace pages must look like someone ate an HTML dictionary and vomited it back up in random order? Goddamn.

You have to watch the game

There are a lot of fans in New England who aren't interested in watching the game today. Indy beat the Pats twice this year, and ended our dreams of further cementing the Pats' place in history. Peyton is overexposed, and nobody wants to watch his goofy grin upon being handed the trophy. On the same lines, Chicago is a team that ran the table against the NFC this year, a feat which hasn't earned them any respect. They struggled against the likes of Arizona, and sometimes seemed to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

So why watch this matchup?

I'll take you back to Superbowl XXXII. John Elway, who positively owned the Pats during his career, was facing Brett Favre, who had defeated the Pats the year before. Pats fans didn't want either of these guys taking the trophy. Elway was to us, what the Pats were to Manning (up until this year, grr). Favre's victory lap around the Superdome was still fresh in our minds.

With this context in mind, I watched a 30-minute highlight show on this game, today, on ESPN2. And I grinned like a little kid. I relished the tension, the drama, seeing the game unfold, watching the big hits, and big drives, the determination and grit as the Broncos' ran the Packers over enough times to wear them down and win the game.

And when Elway hoisted that trophy up, I still felt that residual resentment. "Now retire, and let us start winning AFC championships." But beyond that, I looked at two legends, at or near the tops of their games. And I knew I was watching something beyond what mattered to our team. This was history, this was football.

This year, the story is no less compelling. Manning, at the top of his game, with his aw-shucks grin and a team built to propel him to the top. Chicago, with decades of historical greatness in defense, ready to take it all away and slowly grind the game away with a punishing running game. Rex Grossman, inexperienced, maligned, ready to either win it for his team or lose it with a single foolish throw.

For these men and their families, this may well be the day they most remember, for the rest of their lives.

It's the Superbowl. The final showdown you've been building towards since August. You have to watch. I mean, who knows what you might miss?