run log

Today's mileage: 3.1 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 106.3 mi.
Course: Los Altos Rd-Main St-San Antonio Rd Loop

run log

Today's mileage: 4.0 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 103.2 mi.
Course: Shoreline Lake Loop
Calories Burned: 877

hello ikea

A new ikea opened this week in East Palo Alto. To celebrate, my friend Lilly threw a swedish-themed party, complete with meatballs and swedish flags!


(Lilly)


(party decorations)

The ikea opening has been a somewhat bizzare affair. I don't quite understand why people camped out the night before, just for the chance of getting a rather ugly chair for free. I had the unfortunate opportunity of driving past the ikea store the day it opened, and the entire East Palo Alto police force was on the street directing traffic; trying to keep drivers like me from hitting the thongs of people trying to cross the street to buy cheap furniture.

Some things I will never understand. But at least the party was fun!

mars

Some colleagues of mine from work went with me on a night cruise of Santa Cruz harbor on a 70-ft. sailboat.


(The view of the helm at sunset)

It was quite an adventure. We had choppy water and the boat tilted at some points at a 45 degree angle. We had to hold on for dear life to not slide into the ocean.

Anyhow, the view at night was amazing. As the sun set, we first saw as a bright spec in the horizon; this week happens to mar's closest approach to earth (~35M miles) since 60,000 years ago. Then the rest of the stars came out, and an amatuer astronomer pointed out all the different constellations before we returned to the slip.

It was quite an enjoyable night.

no more burgers

I've been rather sick the past couple of days, brought on by a case of food poisoining from eating a tainted burger from a late night fast food run on Monday. (Yes, there's not much else open at 2 am in the suburbs and I was desparate). Believe me, I've visited the restroom more times in the past two days than the number of words in this posting.

But here's the wacko irony: I was in the middle of reading Fast Food Nation when I began involuntarily expunging everything I ate.

Several of my friends who've read the book won't eat at any fast food restrauants anymore except for In-and-Out (which apparently has very tight food preparation and meat supplier controls). I thought they were full of crap until I finished reading the book, and I've got to say, Eric Scholosser presents a solid case about the inherent risks of eating fast food from many of the big franchises that peddle 99 cent burgers. In fact, much of the meat from many of the suppliers for these franchises literally have crap in their meat*.

Given my still-queasy stomach, I'm staying away from eating McDonalds and Jack-In-The-Box burgers indefinately.

(*So my favorite passage that I found most applicable to what I went through the past couple of days: "In the USDA study 78.6% of the ground beef [tested] contained microbes that are spread primarily by fecal material. The medical literature on the causes of food poisoning is full of euphesims and dry scientific terms: coliform levels, aerobic plate counts, sorbitol, MacConkey agar, and so on. Behind them lies a simple explanation for why eating a hamburger can now make you seriously ill: there is shit in the meat." pg. 197, Fast Food Nation)

run log

Today's mileage: 4.2mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 99.2 mi.
Course: Treadmill
Calories Burned: 871

I haven't run on the treadmill in about 8 months, but when it's dark outside, it's pretty much my only option. It's not a pleasent experience, as it gets incredibly boring. Oh sure, you can turn on the TV and watch it while running, but you can't hear a damn thing because the motors and the constant stomping is so loud. Bleh.

what should google do?

Seth Godin has written an interesting piece called "What Should Google Do?".

I'm apparently mentioned in there (pg. 3 - I sent him a Google t-shirt as well as some other swag at one point). Other than that I had no influence to what Seth (and the many others mentioned in the e-book) wrote about what Google should do. Nonetheless, it's a good read.

run log

Today's mileage: 4.0 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 95.0 mi.
Course: Shoreline Lake Loop
Calories Burned: 895

company picnic

Google turned 5 today, and to celebrate, our company had a picnic. Free ice cream, unlimited beer & wine, grilled hot dogs, volleyball (we won!), rock climbing, and motorized bucket races. Who can complain about that?


(Brian and Mike in a heated race)

happy birthday

Sergey Brin, one of Google's co-founders, turned 30 today. We had a small party to celebrate the occasion.



By the way, I found out tonight that Sergey can juggle and he's quite adept with a yo-yo. Who knew?

ultra quiet engines

I'm a huge fan of the Stirling Engine.

In fact, I actually built one when I took a class during my sophomore year in college (where I learned to use a milling machine among other dangerous tools).

Unlike other engines (say, a reciprocating piston engine or a rotary engine), the Stirling Engine does not use internal combustion. The engine employs a series of pressure changes inside a sealed gas chamber to do work. Part of the chamber is heated (causing the gas to expand) and part of it is cooled down (causing the gas to compress). The series of pressure changes caused by this temperature differential results in the engine doing work. Since there are no internal explosions or venting of high-pressure gas, Stirling engines tend to be ultra-quiet and more efficient than other types of engines.

Despite how wonderful Stirling engines are, they aren't really practical (so you won't find them in cars anytime soon). First, the engines require an external energy source, so there is usually a long warm-up time before the engine starts doing useful work. Second, you can't adjust the power output very quickly; changing the temperature of the sealed gas cylinder doesn't result in an immediate change in the engine's power output.

Despite their shortcomings, the Segway folks have big plans for these engines.

run log

Today's mileage: 1.0 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 91.0 mi.
Course: Bootcamp Circuit Course
Calories Burned: 1021 (including Bootcamp Workout)

Ugh. It's been nearly a week since I last went running. I'm so out of shape again. More boot camp tomorrow. Must get back in shape.

google dance

I try to avoid writing about work related things, but last night was too much of a riot. We held our annual Google Dance (not to be confused the results-reshuffling Google Dance) tonight and over a thousand people showed up. We partied late into the night, passed out a ton of free t-shirts, and raffled off a brand new segway to one lucky partier. Here are some highlights:


(Petey getting down on the Google segway)


(Me, Sergey, & Lori)

Lori and I went to cause some mischief. Well, more specifically Lori went to cause mischief; I just tagged along with my camera to document it for prosperity. Let's just say it involved a pair of tongs and a half-eaten brownie. You figure out the rest.




(Who will take a bite from the half-eaten brownie?)

for the birds

Today is a day for the birds. I got to get up close and personal with a bald eagle last week at Dungeness Spit Wildlife Refuge and took some great pictures.



(Bald Eagle at Dungeness Spit)

I was able to get about 6 feet away from the eagle before it flew away. Note the impressive wingspan.



Birds are cool, and my favorite animated bird film is Pixar's For The Birds. It's quite well done and funny, and it's great eye candy.



And for the ulitmate bird film, I recommend Winged Migration (which I saw tonight). The documentary took 3 years to film, and there is amazing footage of being next a flock of birds in flight. The production crew used hot air balloons, helicopters, hang gliders, and ultralight aircraft to film a variety of different birds migrating the several thousands of miles from their nesting grounds to their summer hangouts.

Go birds!

Groovy

I spent a couple of hours today staring at my new lava lamp (ordered from the Google Store). It was quite groovy.



For those that wish to understand more the dynamics of lava lamp motion, I suggest you check out this paper on lava lamp mathmetical functions by Robert Rudd. Also, the motion of the "globules" apparently have some practical uses--it can be used to seed random number generators, an important use for those crypto geeks around us. I wonder what other interesting uses people will be able to find for these rather groovy things.

Ok enough chatter. I need to get back to staring at my lava lamp.

hippieeeees!

One of my MIT friends in Seattle, who lives by the waterfront in the Belltown neighborhood (think hip BMW-driving rich yuppies) was apparently caught up in a mass hippie invasion this morning while walking to the supermarket.

"Oh my god," he said, "it's a hippie fest outside! Some dude stoned on pot kept harassing me about where the park was!" The park right outside his rather pricey waterfront apartment was the site of the 2003 Seattle HempFest, billed as the "world's largest annual rally calling for an end to marijuana prohibition."

"There were signs taped to our elevators telling us not to let any hippies in! Stupid hippies!"

So, so funny! I laughed for 5 minutes.

busy busy busy

As usualy, I've been super busy; there's so much going on! I'm helping to plan a birthday party for a friend for next week, and we're going all out to make sure that he ends his day with lots of style and grandeur (as well as a few laughs!)

In other news, a huge blackout hit the east coast yesterday, and several people I knew visiting NYC were impacted. One person I knew was taking a shower when the blackout hit in a hotel restroom without windows; you can imagine how complicated of a situation that can be. Ugh!


(Sun rising over NYC with the power still off on Friday morning. Keith Stevens/NYTimes)

iRock 830

I bought a new MP3 player today. Yes, I already have an iPod but it's just too hefty to take running. Plus, I'm always afraid i'm going to drop the iPod and break it.



The iRock 830 was on sale at buy.com for $70 after rebate, and this thing is the size of a stick of gum--perfect for those long runs I go on.

I'm such a gadget wacko.

step into liquid

Since I've started surfing, I've really begun to appreciate how hard it is to ride waves--even the tiny ones I'm learning on.

I saw a trailer for Step Into Liquid, and it's visually stunning. Not to mention my profound wonder and respect for how the people in that documentary are able to surf the way they do.

run log

Today's mileage: 2.2 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 90.0 mi.
Course: Bootcamp Cadence Run
Calories Burned: 921 (including Bootcamp Workout)

kill yer popups

The final version of the Google Toolbar 2.0 went live today. It's the first significant update of the Google Toolbar since the original version shipped over two years ago. It's got a bunch of cool new features.

run log

Today's mileage: 1.8 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 87.8 mi.
Course: Bootcamp Time Trials - 6 x Charleston Park Loop + Amplitheater Pkwy
Calories Burned: 1209 (including Bootcamp Workout)

Yet another Bootcamp Time Trial! More Improvements!
60 pushups, 100 crunches, 8:56 run for 6 x Charleston Park Loop

wakeboarding woes

Boy, are my arms sore! I went wakeboarding for basically my first time today at Lake Sammamish (in Redmond, WA). I spent every ounce of effort trying to get up out of the water but to no avail. Sucks. But it was fun anyhow, and it's something I hope to try again soon.

Wakeboarding is all about balance; it's about applying the right movements at the appropriate times. My friends (who have been doing this for about a month and were able to get up out of the water like pros) kept yelling helpful instructions to me ("Keep your arms extended before the jet ski takes off!" "Keep your board at least half way out of the water!" "Make sure you twist your body and put your right foot forward after you feel a bit of lift!"), but I still wasn't able to get up. I need way more practice. Looks like I'll have to make a few more trips to Seattle soon.


(That's me on the jet ski spotting.)

fat cream

A recent article in USA Today reports that your favorite ice cream treat can contain more than half of your recommended daily caloric consumption (2k calories/day).

Some disturbing data:

• A Vanilla Milk Shake from Baskin Robins (24 oz.) contains 1,070 calories.
  
• A Ben & Jerry's Brownie Special (10 oz.) has 1,020 calories.
  
• A Cold Stone Creamery Mud Pie Mojo (12 oz.) has 1,180 calories.
  
• A TCBY Toffee Coffee Cappuccino Chiller (24 oz.) has 1,200 calories.
  
• A Haagen-Daz Mint Chip Dazzler (14 oz.) has a whopping 1,270 calories!

I'm staying away from ice cream for a while.

hello seattle!

There's nothing like taking a vacation from work, where I can relax in a far away place and nurse away the crappiness of the previous week by drinking a dozen beers and kir royales. Where I can chill with old friends whom I haven't seen in years and spew about the good 'ol days into the wee hours of the morning. Where life is simple, and all of my problems are a thousand miles away.

Yes, I know, it's a temporary fix; a fleeting feeling of happiness that disappears on Monday when I arrive back home and all the troubles of my past are there to haunt me again. But until then, I'm going to enjoy my time away, and live life to its fullest.

extraordinary people

Did you know that people with "extraordinary careers" are more than two and a half times as likely to feel that their position and career track impacts their company's primary value as compared to average employees? And these people are more than six times as often (as compared to average employees) to lead careers that leverage both their strengths and their passions?

I'd better start making an impact soon where I work!

thursday afternoon trainwrecks

I worry about a lot of little things. About whether I'm going to get to work on a particular project. About what I will be doing this weekend. About whether or not I have time to make it to my evening ice hockey games on Monday.

I realized today that all my worrying is futile.

The real problems in life are the trainwrecks that blindside you on a Thursday afternoon--the ones that you never expect and the ones that never cross your mind.

And how you emerge from those trainwrecks is what really defines who you are.

run log

Today's mileage: 1.0 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 86.0 mi.
Course: Bootcamp Obstacle Course
Calories Burned: 981 (including Bootcamp workout)

inside joke

guess why this photo is funny...

broken segway

One of the i-Series Segway HTs at work began malfunctioning today. After a somewhat exhaustive analysis, with the help of one of my contacts at Segway, we diagnoised the problem as a defective battery pack that would cause the unit to stop working in mid-operation.

For some reason I've become our company's de facto Segway repairman. I've been replacing parts like crazy on our Segways. First, a flat tire. Next, a broken kickstand. Then a cracked handlebar. And finally, a defective battery pack. Everytime something breaks I have to figure out what is wrong and how to fix it; this gets rather annoying. At least I have another career I can pursue if my current job doesn't work out.

run log

Today's mileage: 1.0 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 85.0 mi.
Course: 2 x Charleston Park Loop + Amplitheater Pkwy
Calories Burned: 941 (including Bootcamp strength training workout)

a photo finish

Wow, something totally unexpected happened today. Our team took the cake today (literally) at the Secrets of SOMA Treasure Hunt by finishing first in the Master's division (the hardest one!).


(Me, Chris, and Alexandra showing off our first place prize)

The proceeds from the hunt benefit the Hamilton Family Center which assists homeless families, so not only was the hunt fun but we did something good as well.

Anyhow, here are three of the seventeen clues (and the solutions) from the 7.6 mile hunt that took place in the SOMA district in San Francisco.

Clue 1: Smile!

Follow the path of an ancient weapon, past porpoises about to take a dive, and a bluecoat who knows how to sing. You'll see something cosmopolitan, and a silver skyline askew, and you'll feel the rush of air beneath your feet.

Where you have a view of two towers, put a missing ET behind you. If your path is correct, you'll see a reminder of a state famed for its cheese. Past a delicatessen with a biblical name there's a fellow who is as still a photograph. He wants you to "smile."

What's the full name of what he's holding?


(Solution: Kodak Instamatic X-35 Camera)

Clue 2: The Blue Star

From the Place named for Elwood P. Dowd's furry lagomorph pal, head way from a mollusk's home. You'll see stars, but keep looking till you see the one that's blue.

What's the name of the 3rd "club" you find there?


(Solution: Garden Club of St. Francis)

Clue 3: Keys

Where a street named for Steve's progeny leads to a famous Vivaldi piece, 12/18 is the key to what you seek.

What is the word one foot to its west?


(Solution: WATER - located on the grate to the right of the key sculpture)

run log

Today's mileage: 7.6 mi.
Total milage since 6/2/2003: 84.0 mi.
Course: Secrets of SOMA Treasure Hunt Course

I only ran about 50% of the course and we stopped quite a bit to solve each of the 17 clues, but we covered a heck of a lot of ground today, and my legs are really sore, so this counts as one of my run workouts!

And we won first place in the Master's Division!

finding pixar

Pixar has this knack for telling superb stories. What's really amazing is that they can often do so without a spoken word. Red's Dream, for example, was created back in 1987, and despite not having the eye candy that, say, Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc. may have, the story is just as compelling as films that Pixar has recently released. The story in many of Pixar's old shorts still stand true today as they did a couple of decades ago.



I also can't wait to buy Finding Nemo on DVD when it comes out. It's yet another awesome Pixar story that I wouldn't mind watching over and over again. Plus, I'm a big fan of clownfishes.

friday toast

Here's to Friday. A day for finishing up my work, a day for chilling. A day that begins with a party at Mollie's and ends with enjoying a live rendition of A Space Between with 10,000 other people. A day for meeting new co-workers and for greeting old friends. A day for saying "g'bye" to those leaving for a well-deserved vacation and "let's go grab a beer" to acquaintances who you have been meaning to talk to for a week.

Friday is a day for fun and friends, a day for music, a day for dancing, a day to appreciate all that you have done thus far and to reflect on how good life really is.

Hello weekend!