Air Space

It is getting hot here in Charlotte.  We have had a couple days with high heat and high humidity.  I am not really a hot weather person but rather, a cold weather person.  I tell myself that getting through the summer makes me stronger.  :)  In reality I think all it does it make me more angry.  I do think longingly about that first day of fall where there is a break in the heat and humidity.  That is the best day in the year. 

Yesterday I ran 6 miles on the trails.  It was not bad.  I do need to be better at staying hydrated through the week.  More water and less coffee would be the plan.  Of course, as I am typing this I have a cup of coffee sitting right next to me.  This weekend will be a long run.  Not too sure what time we will be starting on Saturday but it will be 10+ miles.  Not exactly looking forward to the run but am looking forward to the feeling of accomplishment that will happen afterwards.

It was requested for me to post some pics so here they are.  I have tons but have not really done processing on many of them.  The ones posted here are some I picked out that I liked. Of course, usual disclaimer applies.  Click on the picture to see a more high res version.

This pic is of a sick sea turtle.  While in Charleston, SC for the Cooper River Bridge run we took a behind the scenes tour of the Sea Turtle Hospital that is currently at the Aquarium.  Of course, L was nutso happy being there.  She has always wanted to be a Marine Biologist and work with sea turtles.  She had a blast there and asked a billion questions. 

We go to the Aquarium at least once a year.  In reality we end up going there every time we visit Charleston.  L loves it there as do Z and I. 

This shot is of the USS Yorktown.  Again, in Charleston, SC at the Navy museum.  I love hanging out at this place but Z and L hate it.  The shot itself is a photo stitch of I think 4 photos taken from across the river.  Actually I believe I was out on the deck at the Aquarium when I took the shots.

Again, out on the deck at the Aquarium.  L loves to have her picture taken with this statue of a frog.  We have tons of them.  All with her usually making really funny faces.

This picture is both a highlight and a lowlight for me.  Highlight because, well, my daughter makes just about anything look good.  A lowlight because she is growing up.  Too fast in my opinion.  Unfortunately I have not yet found a way to stop time.  I am going to keep trying though.  This was right before she left for her 8th grade dance.  While waiting for the other kiddos to get to our house I was taking pictures of her in her fancy dress.  In this particular shot she was giving me the “oh grow up Dad” look because instead of telling her to say Cheese for the camera I was telling her to say Donkey Turds. 

For a morale event I took my team to see the Charlotte Knights take on the Buffalo Bison.  We had great seats right behind the home team dugout.   I was able to take this shot in fairly low light.  I like the fact the pitcher is still in motion and yet you can see the ball in the left section of the picture. 

We had a good time at he game even though Charlotte lost.

Summer is in full swing here in Charlotte.  L is out of school.  She finished up 8th Grade with a Summa certificate.  This completed her Elementary and Middle School being on honor roll ever semester / quarter.  She never dropped off honor roll since they started actually grading the kiddos.  We are all very proud of her.  She also took and owned the 10th grade geometry End of Grade test.  So, she has earned herself a nice relaxing and fun summer.  In fact, they have already been down to Hilton Head for a weekend.  Just hanging out.  Of course, I was on call so I stayed back and just hung out at the house waiting for the phone to ring. 

My running is going well.  I did 7.5 miles out on the rod this past Saturday and have recovered quickly.  I felt like I could have gone for a run on Sunday.  So, no running goals though.  I am just enjoying getting back to where I was.  I still have some leg endurance to build up.  But eventually I will be back in the condition to be able to go out running on the trails for 10+ miles comfortably.  I guess I miss spoke.  I suppose that is my running goal.  Just to get back to where I was pre-ankle of death injury. 

Last night I went for my tattoo touch up.  This was for the water demon tattoo.  It was a nice time.  We talked about all sorts of things including my next tattoo.  :)  Hayley added some more water and defining lines.  She also added some more of the lighter colors to really make the tattoo stand out.  It looks good.  Once it gets all healed up I will post some pics of it.  Lots of people are asking for pics.

Yes.  I am still alive.  Things got extremely busy there for a bit and I really had very little time to blog and/or surf.  But, that said, I was not in a coma as all of the popular trade mags might have suggested.  I was not hit by a big truck nor was I attacked by a massive anaconda and eaten.  Well, eaten by a large snake is somewhat analogous but still not true.  :)

I have taken some pictures but not as many as I should.  So nothing really to share from that perspective.

From an exercise front I have been doing well.  I have kept up with my running.  Even recently running 7.5 miles in Uptown Charlotte.  I have new road shoes which are Brooks Glycerin 7s and new trail shoes which are the Brooks Casscadia 4s.  The road shoes are working very well.  The trail shoes will get their first try out this afternoon on a 6 mile run in Matthews. Lets hope for no snakes on this afternoon’s trail run.

From a motorcycle perspective I have not had the opportunity to get much riding in.  I have been working too much for that and what little spare time I have had I made the decision to exercise instead of ride.  :) 

I did get a new tattoo while on blogging hiatus.  It is a water demon doing the butterfly stroke.  Yes, it is meant to represent L.  Hayley, my tattoo artist, did an excellent job.  There is a great deal of details.  Once I get the final touch up done and it has healed I will post pictures.  For now, lets just describe it as covering my upper left arm, it includes mostly greens and blues and just about everyone loves it.  The most surprising part, even Z says she likes it. 

L is finishing up 8th grade.  She is getting stellar scores on all of her End of Course and End of Grade tests.  We already know that she scored the highest available grade on her 10th grade geometry End of Course test.  Even though she is finishing up 8th grade.  I derive a significant amount of comfort knowing she has solid math based skills.  She is very focused going into the summer before her freshman year in high school.  Her swimming is also doing very well.  Her last meet she took off significant amounts of time from her personal PRs.  She has been working hard and it is showing.  Summer swim season is getting started this evening.  She is very excited to see all of her summer friends.

Charlotte the Wonder Lab of Imminent Destruction is doing well.  She is spending most of her days lounging around the house.  She has to work hard to get in all 20 hours of sleep per day she requires.  :)  She pretty much follows me around the house when I am there carrying her orange squeaky ball.  Clearly awaiting the opportunity to make it squeak right when I am on the phone. She takes her job very seriously. We are probably to generous with the biscuits but if you can’t spoil your dog then you can you spoil?

Sorry I have been behind.  I have no excuses.  Just the explanation that life has to take precedence.  I will get around to everyone and try to catch up.

OK.  I know.  I know.  I have been MIA for a while now.  Both here in terms of blog entries and getting my Project 365 pictures posted.  I will work to get them all updated and posted by the end of the week.

Things have been more crazy than ever.  I have had a ton of things to get done at work.  I also ran in the Cooper River Bridge Run and then I promptly got sick the very next day.  Sick enough to stay home from work.  It is really bad when I stay home from work. 

I also know I have many Blog Friends that I need to visit.  I feel so behind.  :(  I am used to feeling behind at work but not in my personal life.  Ugggh. 

Well well.  it would appear that Spring has arrived.  Sure feels like it.  Although i did not get to go to Florida this weekend, I still made the most of it. 

On Saturday I went for a wonderful trail run. Even Alba joined us.  Dirk, Amy, Marcus, Alba and myself all went out for a nice little 4 mile run.  It was a little warm actually.  80 degrees.  Alba did great and we were all happy that she came out.  I sure hope to see her more on the trails.  After running for the last couple of months in the dark I sure enjoyed seeing where I was running.  All the things to see that are just missed on a nighttime run.  It was motivating.  The Sun does have that effect when it has been fairly limiting for a while.  you know, the funny thing is we had 6 inches of snow on Monday and 80 degrees weather this weekend.  Crazy. 

Afterwards I came home and cooked some chicken out on the grill.  Both Z and I love to grill. Ummmmm.  Chicken on the grill.  It warms my heart just thinking about it right now.  After a nice dinner I lounged around on the couch.  Of course, I fell asleep.  Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up with the TV still on.  It was playing some weird – Big Bang – Start of the Universe thing on the History Channel.  No wonder I was having weird dreams. I really need to pay attention to what channel the TV is on when I am falling alseep.  Waking up to some weird deep voice talking about cosmic collisions with an HD animation of said collisions is just not good for someone’s mental stability.

Today, Sunday, I woke up and got the motorcycle out.  I really wanted to go out for a ride.  I called my friend Danny who i was suppose to meet up with but, alas, he got the flu.  No motorcycle riding for him.  Also, even with the flu, he was rebuilding his bathroom or something.  Sounded like work to me and I wanted nothing to do with it.  :)  I sent a txt to my friend Bradley and got a call shortly after.  it seemed that the Statesville Harley Davidson Club was having a short meeting then going for a group ride.  So i decided to join in the fun.  The group ride was a “Moose Hunt”  Evidently in Mooresville there is a big moose.  So we all rode through the country roads and found one.  It was pretty big. Everyone stopped and was taking pictures.  I took a picture of all the official members together in front of the moose.  It is below.  The shot tot he left is of my bike and Bradley;s bike.  I guess I should say, Bradley’s new bike.  he traded in his Street Bob and got this behemoth.  It has cubby holes to stick stuff all over the place.  it has GPS and even a Satellite Radio.  Yes, I said a Satellite Radio.  Very plush.  Lots of cushioning.  I bet he could ride forever on that thing and never get tired.  It sure looked comfortable.  My bike is more traditional.  No whining.  Just get on and go.  No tuning the radio station or making sure my coffee is in its holder.  :) Not that I wouldn’t mind have a coffee while riding down the road listening to AC/DC on the satellite radio. That would be pretty cool.

Anyway, I am tired from the weekend.  I had a ton of fun outside which is important with the weather being so nice.  I did get The Sunburn.  A little on my arms and some on my nose.  I guess it is time to start thinking of such things. 

This is also my Day 61 picture.  Last night it started snowing and did not really stop until the morning time.  This morning I did come into work.  The roads were surprisingly not bad.  Just wet with no frozen stuff at all.  Not very many people on the roads either.  So it was a very easy drive into the office.  L is out of school today.  She is not very happy about that because they have to make the day up.  Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools are thinking they will use the Memorial Holiday as the off day to take back.  I am sure that will not go over very well with the parents. For some reason they are trying to not take a day away from Spring Break or add a day onto the school year.  Not sure why. 

I tried to create a panoramic shot from my third floor office.  It is not the best but still not bad.  I used vertical shots instead of the typical horizontal versions.  You can see one area where the stitching was not “spot on” as well as some paraflex effect.  I still like the shot.  It shows the snow.

Click on the image to see a more full resolution version.

I hope everyone is staying warm.

Ok.  Two months down and I have taken at least one picture every day.  hard to believe I have kept with it but I have.  I know, i said the same thing last month.  i will probably say it again next month.

My boss came into town today.  She joined my wife and me at what is becoming quickly one of my favorite restaurants.  The Cajun Queen.  We had a nice time just talking and eating some good food.  While we were inside, sitting right next to a fireplace, the rain turned to snow and pretty much covered everything.

I am not sure if it is pretty because it is such a drastic change from the norm here in Charlotte or because I just like it.  I will say, it is not easy to take pictures of snow.  Especially at night.  But this is what i got.  Hope you enjoy it. 

I am trying some things a bit differently.  I have sort of fell out of the blogging part and have just been posting pictures.  Sure, they had slight blurbs around the pictures or what was going on.  So I am not going to do an entry for each picture but rather, one with multiple entries.  I am also going to start more mobile blogging again as i enjoy that.

For Day 55 I was working out at home and decided to take a picture of the balance discs that Debbie has me using.  I am not very fond of them but they do help make my ankle more strong.

On these I do curls, shoulder press and skull crushers.  All while balancing.  It is harder than it sounds.

Day 56 resulted in a bit of a surprise.  i was sitting in my office talking to a coworker when we saw this massive bird just sitting in a tree.  It was pretty far away but I did my best to get the shot.  it was a hawk.  A very well fed, very large hawk.

You will need to click on the picture to see a larger version and thus see the hawk.  I needed a longer lens to get the shot in more detail.  Also, keep in mind that this was through 1 inch think glass that was extremely dirty.

Day 57 was another work shot.  I saw this lady bug walking on the window so i took its picture.  but not from the normal angle which one sees lady bugs.  This time from below. 

Because of the light outside it is more of a silhouette picture than a detailed under shot.

For Day 58 I took a picture of a coffee mug.  not any coffee mug mind you, but rather of a special coffee mug given to me by my daughter.  She just got back from a week long trip in DC.  She picked this up at the Museum of Natural History. 

I have visited this place previously and was very happy to hear that my daughter also enjoyed it as much as i did.  She said this was her favorite place of the whole trip.

Also brought back from the trip, fudge.,  Evil stuff really.  Very good and pretty much nothing but sugar. 

No, I did not eat it all but I really wanted too.  I did eat some but “shared” the rest of it. 

The weather has been pretty crazy lately.  One day it is 80 the next it is 8.  I have not had much opportunity to ride the motorcycle because of the crazy weather.  That does NOT mean it is not in my thoughts. 

This was another shot that is with the 105mm lens.  Still playing around with it to learn how to use it.  All I can say so far is light light light and more light.

Some people have asked what setting I use for publishing the pics on my blog via Live Writer.  So for this picture we have the following settings: Text Wrapping –> Left, Custom Margins –> 5 (All four directions), Borders –> None and Link To –> Source Picture with Size = Large & Lock Ratio selected & Enable Inline Photo Previewer selected.  i alternate the picture placement back and forth between right and left every other day. 

I snapped a bunch of b&w pictures of L today.  All sorts of funny faces.  It was later in the afternoon so we were sort of slap happy.  She had a very busy day and was too tired to fight. :)

Look at that smile.  That is what $5k buys someone.  Her Orthodontist was so happy with the results that he used her smile as a case study for recertification. We are happy with the results.

Today we get a picture using the new 105mm lens.  I tried something sparingly tough to shoot.  A stuffed animal up close.  Depth of field and all the freaking fuzz is what made this more difficult than I had thought. 

Lets just say that Charlotte the Wonder Lab is not very fond of this stuffed animal.  Fact is, she thinks it needs to die.

Not much going on.  Almost forgot to take a picture today.  So, as always, the usual fall back was utilized.  Just what everyone wanted to see, another picture of Charlotte the Wonder lab of Imminent Destruction.  Sometimes I have to worry about the dog.  With her legs in that position she does not look very comfortable.  But if I move her around she will just move right back to that position.  So I guess she is comfortable.

In my previous role at Microsoft I traveled.  Many many miles and numerous visits to airports such at LaGuardia, Chicago, Denver, DC and Ft Lauderdale.  So much so that I really am enjoying not flying at all.  It will be almost 6 months since I last was on a plane with no plans in the future to be on a plane. 

When I was flying I pretty much would just read on the plane.  Doing work stuff was either too cumbersome or the info was confidential so no go.  From the picture can you tell what my reading preference was?  :)

This completely undermines everything the Olympics represents.  The real gotcha of this is that this was already Phelps’ second chance.  Anyone remember the whole DUI situation?  Come on people.  Hold him accountable.  Ban from USA Swimming and from the Olympics.  Otherwise, what lesson does anyone learn from this?  Let alone specifically Phelps. 

Phelps deserves 2nd chance, IOC chief says - Olympic Sports- nbcsports.msnbc.com

This is, honestly in my opinion, what is wrong with sports in general.  No sincerity and a sense of entitlement.  The only reason why they are saying we should look the other way is because he is a marketing machine for the Olympics.  he drives viewers to watch the spectacle.  My daughter is a swimmer and it scares the hell out of me the message that is being portrayed.    Not banned because it did not occur during the competitive season.  Instead, suspended for three months.  Big deal.  Where is the accountability with that.

Yes, this article bothers me greatly.

Long day at work today.  But from a technical perspective it was rather good.  I have to admit, although slow, I do enjoy the technical conversations that occur. 

So in honor of today’s technical conversations, the picture of the day is of a recent technical toy.  A Netbook.  One of my team mates got one and I was very impressed by it.  Both the capacities as well as the price tag.  I am enjoying having the system. It will be perfect for when I go out of town for a weekend trip. Something I am trying to plan now.