blah

One day becomes another, dates become meaningless and "current events" are rooted in your personal day to day on goings because you have no media outreach. This has been my world for the past 2 weeks. Since I first started on this Chicago project three Mondays ago I've put in 189 hours, 67 hours of overtime. Too bad I'm not salary... and I going to be working tomorrow (Sat) and Sunday also. Also in the past three weeks I will have had 2 days off - last weekend.

Well, a slight update on the project, things have changed dramatically. The deadline is going to come and go without our portion of the project being completed, but by no fault of mine or my company’s. Long story short, in the past 24 hours our deployment scope has been cut in half and suddenly I need to sit around and wait for the state tollway to approve parts of their project that apparently weren't a point of discussion until the actual work begun. Basically it was a big oversight on their part. So, now I am here in wonderful south-side Chicago till Wed. Rah. So much for my weekend plans…

my email this evening

I wrote the following email to my boss this evening:

JB,

I’m not typically one to complain, but I do want you to see my frustration. This project in IL is highly disappointing to me. First off, the extra time I have and will be putting in. I usually don’t mind it, but when I have to break personal plans it frustrates me. For instance, this weekend (Friday through Sunday) assuming things keep progressing as they are I’m going to have to back out of a good friends snowmobiling bachelor party AND the MN state broomball tournament which my team qualified for. The second thing is poor planning and over-ambitious sales staff. I’m all for getting jobs, but setting deadlines that are always down to the wire and where heavy overtime is required is all too repetitive. These projects never go as planned and things always pop up. Do all companies have this problem? There has to be a better way.

That’s all. I need to go to bed. Ps. No reply or encouragement is necessary… I just want a solution.

Needless to say, things are once again falling apart after a looong but successful week. Getting back to the monetary penalty’s I was talking about last week... try this. The system has to be up and running by March 1st or we get billed $25,000 a day. Things had better take a turn for the better, soon.

state!

I'm currently in two broomball leagues, one of which ended yesterday and one that is supposed to end this weekend. The weekends league (St. Paul mens league) is supposed to end with a tournament...where the tourney winners get a free pass to the state tournament the following weekend. Well, due to the unseasonable warm weather last weeks game and this upcoming weekends tournament has been cancelled. Well, our team captain today got a call from the league which reminded me of Top Gun. "I got another problem here. I gotta send somebody from this squadron to Miramar. I gotta do something here, I still can believe it. I gotta give you your dream shot! I'm gonna send you up against the best. You two characters are going to Top Gun.". Yup, team SNAFU is heading to the state tournament! I guess we were ranked number one in the St. Paul league with a 7-1-0 record. Pretty sweet. Hopefully I'll be back in town so I can play!

this past saturday

This past Saturday makes 11 weeks of sobriety. It's the longest streak since highschool... before I ever had a drop in my life. The weird part - I don't really miss it. Speaking of streaks, May will be 3 years for "smoking" (it was never a habit, just something I tried for fun).

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me

sign

"Poor planning on YOUR part does NOT constitute an emergency on MINE."

In part of the building where I work there is a custom made sign that hangs on the wall which says that. Since I've been at my place of employment, never has the ball dropped so hard from the Sales department. The problems that we are having are typical. Promise the customer stuff we don't sell and other manufacturer’s equipment that we are not experts on. On top of that, promise delivery within 60 days and agree to monetary penalties if everything isn't complete. So, now we are really behind the 8-ball and I am driving down to Chicago Monday morning for a 12 o'clock meeting and to begin installation of equipment that doesn't work and we have NO idea why. I’m driving down instead of flying because I need to bring that much equipment and tools - so I'm driving a work truck. I put in 7 hours today and will go back in to the office tomorrow for another 7. I can't wait for this project to get over with...

million dollar baby

Saw this flick last night... another quality Clint Eastwood directed production. The movie is awesome until the last half hour, where it slows down. If you see this be warned there really isn't a climax and its chalk full of drama. Well directed, great acting, and good movie. Eastwood, Freeman... two of the best.

4.5 of 5 stars

weight?

How can I go from 187 to 197 overnight? Weird. Maybe I haven't achieved my goal. I'll be curious to see what I weigh tomorrow...

weight

It will be interesting to see what my weight is the next few days since it tends to fluctuate, but... on December 4th 2004 I weighed 203 pounds. On that date I made a goal to weigh 190 before the triathlon season begins. This morning I am proud to say I have achieved and surpassed my goal by weighing in at 187. Next goal, 182. I know this goal will may take a little longer... but with my new bike and new enthusiasm for training and physical fitness I'm going to be working hard.

*new* bike!

It's official... I own a petal bike that is worth more money than my car. I did end up spending $480 more than I wanted, but I think all the items I got were well worth the extra cash.

Now all I need to do is use it!

05 Tri events and rides

It's that time of year again... trying to plan what races I want to "race" in.

An extremely over zelious and tentitive schedule...

First rides of the year:

Minnesota Ironman Bike Ride
Date: Sunday April 24th
Distances: 30, 62 or 100 miles
Cost: $30 plus whatever shirts/hats/etc you want to buy
Register: www.ironmanbikeride.org

National MS Society benifit ride
May 7th
30 or 60 miles
$10 + $50 minimum pledge
http://164.109.176.38/MNM/event/event_detail.asp?e=5377

These rides aren't races, just a "good" way to kick off the year.

Other events of interest:

Lake Minnetonka Triathlon
Sat, June 18th
http://www.lakeminnetonkatri.com/

The MinneMan Sprint Triathlon
Sat, July 2nd
http://www.minnemantri.com/

Life Time Fitness Triathlon
Sat, July 16th
http://www.ltftriathlon.com/website/

Turtleman Triathlon
Sat, Aug 13th
http://www.turtleman.org/

Square Lake Triathlon - Long course/half tri
Sat, Sept 10th
http://vacationsports.com/squarelaketri.html

Hopefully I can make a few of these work!

bike

Well, I have money down on a new bike. I'll be picking her up tomorrow afternoon. I'll be spending a little more than I wanted, but the setup is going to be unbelievable! I'm pretty pumped!

After riding both a Cannondale and Specialized, I decided the Cannon had a better feel and body position and the Spec had a more comfortable seat. My solution, I got the Cannondale 800 Ironman and bought the Specialized seat. I also got a Specialized computer with most of the features under the son, but I really think they will help me gauge my conditioning and fitness level.

All I have left to pick out are shoes, petals, and a trainer, which I will pick out tomorrow.