mittwoch

as promised: last weekend in austin = spring.

so work continues and i am realizing that in order to find a suitable career i must become proactive and take risks; something i'm not all that adverse to, but which goes against my general demeanor.

for some odd reason i have the ability to be happy; to let very little bother me; and to have a positive mentality about most anything. i believe that comes from the beauty of life around me: found in nature, people and their interactions, activities, and creations. perhaps it is just the season, but i currently have a heightened appreciation.

the only detriment to my constant good mood is my tendency to avoid conflict and to ignore negativity in others and in potential situations. such ability to transition to 'detached views' can be insular: both in a beneficial and detrimental way.

i suppose the difference in philosophy i have can be summed thusly:

carpe diem versus Memento vivere


well - i must return to work.

live your day,

jeff

beautiful day

so this weekend was one of the best in a while. one of the most beautiful collection of spring days in quite a while. as work is quite demanding right now, i will summarize and link to photos later.

cheers!

it rains.

well, i'm exited to visit the creeks once the weather breaks; but until then it shall be relaxed indoor periods observing the dark outside of steady light rainfall. so it appears that my outdoor weekend activities will be postponed. although the botanical garden festival might still be on; i can't think of a better venue than this for the warm fragrance that accompanies ferns, flowers, and trees clouded in warm moisture.

Something I've always wanted to do.

And never will.

Flickr address

the usual - The permanent address

I enjoy the program; and for a small yearly fee; it is quite useful. I've uploaded a decent amount of photos so far.

Drafthouse to move to Ritz - Life & Arts

Drafthouse to move to Ritz - Life & Arts

Well, the only way to properly pay respect to this move is by taking in as many events before the June transition; such as this one this evening:

the original: TRANSFORMERS: THE MOVIE

so thunderstorms and busy days: quite a way to start a week.

everything is fresh and damp; I cannot wait until the trails dry a bit more and I can go ride the greenbelt. hopefully the water will be up, because there's no better place when it is.

yesterday I got to attend my first engineers without borders meeting. a local chapter was just started the middle of last year and I finally got in touch with them. seems like quite a rewarding and fun group. now I just need to learn spanish: I know it can't be that hard; I just have to figure a way to get started... It is one of my goals that I've been putting off now for a while, but soon enough. here's the site for the EWB ; seems like they don't have a local chapter site up yet.

so the remainder of this week should be good: perhaps soccer or wine bar tonight and then the original transformers movie tomorrow at the Alamo in honor of this summer's new release. Thursday should be fun with a co-workers art showing (provided it isn't like an episode of the Office that is) and softball. and then more weekend fun; I can hardly wait.

ciao

the rain of spring

well, it is here again - and welcomed it is. there's nothing quite like the warm needed rain of spring where when you walk outside the air permeates with the warm musty growing of plants and leaves.

so i finally put together more of my pictures. take a look

this weekend was fairly fun: got to play an exciting game of kickball on friday and enjoy some excellent local clam pizza afterwards. saturday was fun with soccer (we won 6-1) and an afternoon of reading and picture sharing followed by an excellent meal of seafood at a restaurant that i've been wanting to try for years. and the weekend finished yesterday with a relaxing day of cooking, reading, and just a bit of sports watching. not too terrible a way to prepare for a busy busy week of work.

picture time!

rough set of vacation pictures (partial)

take a look if you get a chance and comment as desired on the site

cheers,

jeff

back again

well, my as my jetlag and english accent wane I return to work.

short summary:

• beautiful trip surpasing expectations
• in taking 808 pictures i have 100 odd amazing shots that i will share soon
• the 8 person crew interacted quite well together
• i acted as scout and lockworker and was able to hike about 20 miles of canal apart from riding on the boat.
  
• there are many, many sheep and ducks - and both are very tasty

above are two pictures to tease until i am able to sort, annotate, and post the rest:

no cars go

so this week is too long. three 11-12 hour days in a row so far and counting. almost burned out...


i'm planning on getting a morning's worth of coordination work in tomorrow and then transitioning to vacation mode. i need to pack, relax, and get ready for enlightened travel and new experiences.(and practice a bit of an english accent)

only a short bit longer.

Arcade Fire leaves its mark - Life & Arts

Arcade Fire leaves its mark - Life & Arts

One Very, Very Indie Band

well, I pre-ordered my copy on Amazon this past Sunday (and free S&H with Amazon Prime) so I should get this tomorrow in time for my trip!

Oh - and I checked the forecast for next week: typical england. highs in the 50s with misty rain / clouds; so its time to layer up and bring all of my biking/camping clothes that are so very well suited as they are light and water resistant.

the weekend in pictures; probably the best way to sum up the spring and reasons i love this town.

town lake on my return home.
taken from congress bridge

afternoon kite festival
picnicking families, dogs, & couples

the sky teems with kites.
and as almost every year; it is a perfect day for kit flying

the demolished intel building from last sunday

yes, implosions are fun!

very large professional kites as well.

one week from today i will be UK bound!

so two work deadlines; usual commitment craziness; and the remaining packing and planning. should be quite fun.

canal boat trip is the broad classification of this vacation. i need to finalize a bike rental and figure out what kind of exploratory fun is in store.

pictures from last week

Speech Pictures: note the wonderful sunshine...

regional science fair judging; note the still and title - this project took
first place, all while producing 98.6% ethanol at home.

downtown austin - on an actually sunny thursday.

two greenbelt pics - the first wednesday ride of the year.
creek is only about half full even with recent rains.

intel inside / ' go boom '

intel implosion

happenings

quick recap:

barack last friday at auditorium shores. ~16,000 people in the misty rain listening to a good boilerplate speach.

am soccer win 3-1; friend's baby's 1st birthday (purchased a card written in spanish and a wiffle ball bat - thought about a cactus, but decided against it. everyone needs a 'my first cactus'.); bus to spurs-sonics game all on saturday

intel implosion at 7am on sunday = the cumulation of the dot-com boom and bust. quite spectacular.

this week is crazy work deadline preparation week. only 8 1/2 more days until i leave for the UK!

recovery

oh - and my shoulder didn't really hurt at all after yesterday which is good.

i have some photos of the trail and will post them once they upload.

post ash wednesday

So spring is finally here - hurrah! Although the color that accompanies it is delayed, the sunshine and warmth will suffice.

I was able to duck out of work 'early' (odd that I consider 4:30 early when I start at 6:50 or so, with minimal breaks) and finally got back on the greenbelt. It was nice to get a good ride in again; although unfortunately no water below twin falls - last months rains have drained or run off. The ride was good; the terrain semi-barren; and the weather perfect. I finished after sunset so the last several miles transitioned from low light dusk to pitch blacksingletrack through wooden canopies; always a fun experience.

So early work today and then I get to judge the local AISD / Austin Energy run science fair. I got assigned Environmental & Transportation for the Junior division (7th Grade). So it will be refreshing to get out of the office and interact with the community and be able to contribute. It's much better than being stuck in an office all day plodding along on all my regular jobs.

So i'll head home; transition to my surly 1x1 (bike), and ride over to the parmer events center where i will interact with participant, judges (usually 10yrs older or more than I), and the mass of attendees in general. after that its shopping for a friend's birthday party tonight (i thinki'm going to make bourbon pot pies) and then relaxing.

enjoy the best day of the week,

jeff

a monday with sunshine

which is very nice. so friday after-work activities went well. there's nothing quite as fun as being free on a bike and being faster from location to location than friends in cars. all in all a relaxing night of food and drink; capped off by a post-midnight ride along the lake on my way home in the nice 30-degree temps. now that i know to bring my lined winter gloves and hat instead of the summer
riding gloves and cap it works much better. there is something freeing and individualistic about riding trails at night through the city.i've done the same thing while camping as well: long solitary hikes early in the morning or late at night when you are isolated, yet still able to observe things from a distance.

other than that soccer was fun; odd to watch rather than play, but only another week or two before i'm back out there. i went to my team's game - it helps to be more a part of the team that way. as i've noted; its easy to move in and out of groups, but hard to become extremely familiar with friends, so this type of thing helps. saturday night was wine and chocolate tasting which moved venues from my place to adam and maggie's. it was a great time with various fruits dipped in chocolate; tasty blue cheese (as well as sheep, gouda, and others); my re-created lamb with chocolate-cayenne sauce; and maggie's espresso brownies (addictive).

sunday
was a day of relaxing outside on the porch while reading and taking in the warmth of a sun on a brisk, somewhat chilly day. the spring is coming and it will be wonderful; but now the middle of the day is ideal with understood threats of cold, freezing nights and frequent reminders of late winter with cloud-hidden moments of wind aided late-winter cold. but while the sun is out - excellent! andborris got to roam as well outside. he spent a good 30 or minutes or so stalking a squirrel. and i'm sure he curses me for the bell on his collar; but as i explained - its for training. if he can become stealthy enough with the bell he can sneak up on anything without one.



and valerie and i celebrated chinese new year yesterday night with a visit to a restaurant that i've been meaning to try for quite a while. it did not disappoint: an authentic menu and clientele along with excellent food: chicken corn and crab soup and salted fish with eggplant pot. there's something guilty about liking fish sauce and the fermented bean aspect of the cuisine.

but now its back to work. quite a productive day so far. these next three weeks prior to my vacation will be quite busy as both my cemetery jobs have upcoming deadlines. good thing i function well underpressure.

i've got our company's service awards tonight (a cocktail hour and presentation honoring the milestone's of employees service). kind of a nice reflective gesture that illustrates the humanity and personal stories of my company. of course my goal is to move on before i hit my 2-year milestone (1st of April); so its a bit of a different view. I was supposed to attend an Engineers Without Borders meeting as well; but it has been pushed back to next week to fit a speakers schedule. Its a new groupi'm trying to become involved with - should be rewarding.

viva monday,

jeff