Chicago and life in general

Michelle and I had a great time in Chicago! While temperatures were below freezing, each day had clear blue skys and snow on the ground....quite a change from California. The Swissotel, where we stayed, was very near to downtown and not far from Millennium Park where we went to visit the bean. Delightfully when we went to use the hotel gym we discovered it had spectacular views both over Michigan Lake and downtown - making the whole treadmill thing way less tedious. Michelle's panel went very well and her presentation was a hit (pix below on the right is the post presso cocktail). It was interesting to hear the other presenters as well and I did manage to get in for free as nobody seemed to be checking! We were both pretty exhausted so spent the following day lounging around the hotel and generally lapping up the luxury.

Friday we went out for dinner and to a bar and Saturday we wandered around town.  I concluded I could very happily live in Chicago!  We stumbled across the Scuba Team as we were out walking (see pic below).  Given the temperatures my pick is you'd be long frozen to death before they dragged you out of the river, but then I guess that's not really the point is it.........
I am back into training with Case and have now extended my health regime to include not only acupuncture but chinese herbs.  Some special concoction he's put together to help with hydration etc etc etc.  Anyway, in my usual fashion I've happily said "sure, lets try that" and he's smart enough to know I really really don't need to know what each ingredient is, so much as enjoy the ride.  
Biggest change probably is that I have decided not to apply for my job at Cisco.  Had an epiphany and realized I'd done the job, why would I keep

doing it (for less money I might add) and I was aiming too low.....I need to be braver about the next role I go into - think bigger.  This has all been encouraged by people I've been talking to about what I should do next.  Boss at Cisco has been grand about it - she'd like to keep me as long as she can and is extending my role into a new area, although I think there are some better opportunities emerging elsewhere.  I guess nobody is surprised to read this.  It's been nearly three years at Cisco, about the time I always get itchy feet and look to make a change.  If I am really clever I will land a role that works to that timetable....they are out there, I just have to get one!

I did manage to watch Precious - now I get what people are raving about.  I had dreaded that it would be much like the usual hollywood/American tale - struggling kid in dire circumstances, heroic committed adult saves the day - it wasn't, it really is far grittier and deals with some very taboo subjects.

I'd recommend it, not when you are feeling down though, any sense of optimism you are left with is tenuous at best!

Done and dusted

Beautiful day, clear blue sky, cool and perfect.....if one feels the need to run 21ks!  It was lovely, 10000 people entered in the combined half marathon and 5km run (funny that they talk about the metric 5 and 10ks).  Looking at the results 6080 finished the half (7000 entered the half with 3372 women). Results: 1:59, overall placing 2457 and 863 among the women, age group placing 127 (but then I can't seem to figure how many women were in my age group!).  I'm well puffed up coming in under two hours. I gotta say the last mile hurt!!!  Official photos i.e. the sweaty shots posted sometime this week.  In the meantime.....me and Michelle the night before the race.

It's fair to say we had a different approach to
preparation but Michelle did get up to catch the shuttle with me at 630am for the 8am start....oh and she did know the most fab Korean restaurant we could go to for dinner.....we stayed in Japan Town so we were surrounded by the most devine eateries.  Second shot before

the start - I was cold so spent sometime draped in Michelle's very stylie jacket, trying to warm up, or at least not have my lips turn blue!  Michelle met me at the end (having gone on her own little marathon from the start line!).  Post the event we hailed a taxi (I so love that in America you can just raise your arm and not have to hike to some taxi stand and get in a que ......) headed back to the hotel where I got to have a long soak.  Along the way we had a vintage American moment.  The taxi driver was as startled as we were and took photos on his i-phone.  Never pays to question really, just to enjoy the moment.  Showered checked out we 

went out for a very lovely lunch. I'm not one for taking photos of food but I'd so earned this meal....and the beer was mine, all mine.

Then off to a local girlie bar to watch the Superbowl.  Home by 7pm, not a bad days work.

Countdown, tennis and Chicago

Less than 24hrs to go and I have that slightly sickly feeling....wondering why I am deciding that running 13.1 miles, possibly in the rain, is a good idea!  Then I imagine finishing at least close to my target time and feel all happy and excited again. Besides which, this is a warmup for Nashville!  Michelle and I head up to the city this afternoon, staying in a very nice hotel that offers a shuttle to the start line in the morning (cheap rates for racers so way better option that driving up from Santa Cruz at 5am in the morning).  Even so with 10000 people running this will most likely mean an early start...I'm not sure I told Michelle exactly  how early.  After the race Michelle and I are heading off to a bar to watch the Superbowl - at which point I will down a beer or a Bloodymary and most likely fall over (yes she is driving).
We fly to Chicago on Thursday.  On Wednesday night we are staying in San Jose and going to the SAP Open Tennis Tournament to watch a singles match with Andy Roddick and Fernando Verdasco.  Why?  Ummm well the University had courtside tickets and there is a small group going and, well, it seemed like a good idea at the time and and and......we are catching some god awful flight the next morning (like 615am) so staying in San Jose makes sense.  Michelle gives her paper  on Civilising Images: Violence and the Visual Interpellation of Maori Women" at the visual arts conference that afternoon (long day for her) then we get to play. If we can find interesting stuff we might go to some of the other presentations as well.  As geeky as it sounds the conference itself is actually quite a fun thing for me - this is all wildly outside my corporate life, so fascinating insight into other worlds.  Other than that we are planning to go dancing, see the sights and generally kick back and relax.

Don't Ask Don't Tell

I can't embed this and I'm not sure how long it will stay where it is but watch this: http://www.ktvu.com/video/22418151/index.html, put Alameda: Local Naval Commander Reflects on Senate Hearings in the search box and it will come up as the first item on the list, video will play from there (I hope!). Zoe is a key player in fighting Don't Ask Don't Tell and is the co-chair of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.  She is part of the change team I work in at Cisco (she is also a keen runner so we have become fast friends.....even if she can run faster than I can!).  Given my passion for all things military and interest in Don't Ask Don't Tell it's been amazing to meet her and hear about the work/lobbying she is doing for SLDN.  She's a frequent media commentator but these particular Hearings are unprecedented......it's not if they remove the ban, it's when.

U.S. Suspends Haitian Airlift in Cost Dispute

Ugh - how do you suppose this happens?  All the more terrible because nobody is surprised "....It was not clear on Friday who exactly was responsible for the interruption of flights, or the chain of events that led to the decision."
Worse yet, Florida hosts the Superbowl this coming Sunday and 30 sec advertising slots cost around 3mil each.......do you think the networks could donate some of that revenue to the Florida hospitals supporting Haiti's injured?

Freak'n - in a good way

In the long ago past (as in 5 years ago) when I lived in Wellington I started getting acupuncture for pain in my ankle.  Long short story about near death motorcycle accidents, crushing ankles and breaking femurs on the Hutt motorway means that I have one gimpy leg that, despite the odds, serves me quite well.  Taking up running again isn't necessarily what everyone would recommend given the previous injury, so I decided that I wouldn't wait for the pain but go and get some preventative acupuncture.  I am not a scientist and don't have a scientists curiosity, acupuncture is magic.  There is a certain logic to how they think it works and that's pretty much all I need to be convinced.  Once a week I see (yet another) very sweet guy, who needles me.  Tonight he suggested that we might needle the scar I have on the front of my ankle; it's quite impressive but mostly goes unnoticed unless you look closely (and nobody does).   It's actually where the surgeon did his magic so is tidy but wide (I won't go into the gruesome details).  Given Marc was recommended by Case my immediate response was "....well it makes me a little nervous but lets give it a go" (with Case I leave out the nervous part as it just prompts him to greater excesses).   Actually the thought of it made me more than nervous, it freaked me out (at least on the inside).  As it turned out it wasn't quite as painful as I had thought it would be...not painful at all to be honest.  And now Marc is promising that I might actually see a change in how the scar looks and the needling will help with the other mysteries around how it interferes with the "flow" of something or rather that contributes to the occasional swelling I have around my ankle.  One of the high points of the whole adventure had to be the delight on Marcs face as he gazed down at his handy work and noted it was "quite a picture" - acupuncturists have their own unique view of the world I think!  Regardless of how this particular treatment goes the three things the acupuncture has already brought, 1. the best nights sleep I have all week is the night following my treatment 2. way less ankle swelling 3. knee pain gone (very specific treatment I asked for after I did "something" to it during a training session).  I live in the land of magic.

Changing things, 14 milers, adventures and working....

Busy week on all fronts.  For those that have noticed I've been playing around with the blog and added some things, most notably the countdown clock and the list of races I have registered for!  Maintaining two blogs just became too much and, given running has become my fav pastime I decided to dump it all in here.  One race that I can't yet add to the list is the NYC Marathon in November 2010.  Two ways you can get in, lottery draw or sign-up as a charity runner.  I've written to the official charity and asked for an application as I like the idea of both being able to run and raise money.  We shall see.........
Friday I ran 14 miles (22.5k for the kiwis), per Case's instructions.  It's a long way with the last two miles feeling particularly long.  I did manage to do it in 2hrs 13mins though, which made me quite happy.  It does mean I am ready for my half in February.  It's around Golden Gate Park in San Fran and Michelle is coming along to cheer me along - well most likely drink coffee and eat cake waiting for me to finish.  This race will be huge with 1000s entered, I think we can assume that I will be back in the pack among the minions slogging it out.
Weekend of Feb 13 (well the Thursday before) Michelle and I are off to Chicago, her to give a paper at a conference - me along for the adventure.  We are on the hunt for some fun things to do and trying to figure out where we might find the girls, well go dancing I mean.  While Chicago will be cold it will be fab fun and I have been before.  Fortunate for everyone I didn't get that job.
One fun, out of the box thing, at work this week.  I ended up presenting a case study to a perspective new client outside of Cisco.  I haven't pitched for work in eons so it was an excellent opportunity to dust off the skills and generally enjoy walking into the unknown.  It was for a very large global company and it really dawned on me just how much I've learnt in the last few years - I could honestly talk about the challenges of global comms.....having now been doing it for nearly three years.
It's Sunday, the rain has finally stopped.  I'm off to the gym to see Case.....simple life for me.

Bible References on Gun Sights

I've been following this one in the news.....here and in NZ.  Wow, this just strikes me as plain weird.  Weird in a way that only the US can be weird....and exactly how long have they been doing it? Trijicon, the manufacturing company originally issued a statement saying "As long as we have men and women in danger, we will continue to do everything we can to provide them with both state-of-the-art technology and the never-ending support and prayers of a grateful nation.".... then backed down the following day saying  they would remove the references given concerns raised blah blah blah....well actually given their single largest customer (US Department of Defense) probably said, stop it or no more contracts from us!
My bet is that every military inventory system around the world who has these sights not only has the serial numbers included but also has the biblical reference as well - when do you suppose somebody noticed?

Rain and running adventures

I'm always loathe to start out by talking about the weather but right now it's truly awful.  Big storm hitting California..... weirdly though every time I've had to commute on the 17 it's cleared and been event free, which is a near miracle given the chaos on the roads!  It's been raining for about 5 days, it never rains for five days here - it's reminding me of Wellington on those dark winter days, although the wind is less relentless here.  All this dreary weather is making me depressed, California has made me soft - where's my sun???

To cheer myself up I've signed up for the Country Music Nashville 1/2 Marathon in April.  What makes this fab is that all along the course there are bands playing....country music, signing up has made me ridiculously happy.  They have a rock equivalent but, you know, I love country music!  Even better I know people who are going (which finally prompted me to signup).  Lila, who I house sat for in San Jose last year and is on my team, her husband, daughter and a cousin are all signed up, so I will at least know some folks to have a drink with post the event.  I've spent the evening registering, finding a hotel and checking out flights....long way to Nashville!
My "other" race is also looming - Feb 7 is my first half marathon in San Francisco.  I ran 12 miles the other day and the half is 13.1 so I just need to do 14 this week and I will feel set to give it a good shot.  Case has done a fine job of preparing me and Michelle is coming along to cheer me on.  It's around Golden Gate Park and there will be thousands of people in it, so very different from my Marin 6 miler.  M and I are going to stay in San Fran overnight and I expect I'll be just as nervous as I was for Marin, but with a better idea of how it all works.
I've also gone back to acupuncture, trying to make sure my gimpy leg doesn't let me down.  So far it's been good and I'd like to keep it that way, acupuncture will help.

Adventuring with The Mother

Alright given The Mother has been staying with me I’ve been a little lax on the blog…busy busy busy.

Fun things we have been doing.  Went to my first Ice Hockey game.  20,000 people jam packed into the stadium and the local team (The Sharks) won in the last 58 secs, the place erupted.  It was great fun to watch and we had excellent seats.  It was cold though, poor mum was freezing and the food was terrible (surprise!).  It’s all very well put together though, huge TV screen hanging over the ice that gives you some real up-close and personal views.  One startling moment; gloves off two players started pummelling one another……which is what you expect but nobody intervenes, it goes on for several minutes, everyone just sits back and watches until they are done – oddest thing.  Well then they both get sent to the sin bin for 5mins.  That aside, it was fun and I’d definitely go back again.

Two weekends back we headed to San Fran to see Wicked.  This is a great musical that tells the story of the friendship between the two witches from the Wizard of Oz, before the actual Oz story.  It’s funny and a little dramatic, costumes were amazing and the singing fantastic.  We stayed over night given it was quite a late show.  Because I’d hesitated to get tickets I ended up going to a reseller site and was delighted to end up with center block, four rows back.  Had a lovely meal at the hotel we were staying in before we headed out and enjoyed 2.5hrs of great entertainment.  Highly recommend it.

Lots of shopping happened too and mum cleaning our my entire wardrobe....new me had to go and buy new clothes as mum decided my "big clothes" had to go.  Mum was very cynical when I suggested we put the bag of big clothes on the street and someone would pick them up!  Took maybe 4 hours and they were gone, including her broken handled suitcase!

I’ve been back at work for two weeks and immediately found myself recruiting for four new roles – yikes!  I don’t much like recruiting, all that chatting to try and figure if someone is a fit, but gotta do it, does have the team implode to 16 though.  No sign of work slowing down and I can’t complain given the economy here is still tight, although some signs things are easing.

Vegas: The Food

Once the foodies arrived eating out became a whole new thing!  Okay mum and I did enjoy a nice meal at Outback, which is a chain restaurant based on ??? Yeah Australia.  Challenge with Vegas is that it's either up market or low rent, not much in between.  Although I didn't know it was renowned for its restaurants with a lot of well known chefs opening restaurants (I say that like I would know who the well known chefs are!).  Anyway Outback is kind of in-between, nice enough for steak and chips and pretty consistent wherever you go....okay okay, cheap copout on my part. I did manage to have us go to one very nice place in the MGM Grand before the foodies arrived.  Emerils is all about cajun food and owned by Emeril Lagasse......if anyone reading knows chefs by name.  Food was very nice but portions massive.  The picture to the right makes it look a bit glitsy and trashy even....I don't remember it looking quite like that, in fact not at all like that!

Karen and Brice's arrival heralded some more upscale experiences including the Eiffel Tower Restaurant in Paris.  Now this was very fine.  Looking at the "Tower", which is exactly half the size of the real thing, the restaurant is in the base (the dark line you can see above the legs).  You take a lift from the Casino floor and it opens out into the kitchen!  That was pretty startling and fascinating to watch all the chefs at work.  We sat in a booth looking out over the strip and enjoyed a very lovely dining experience on Xmas eve, including a lovely glass or two of Tattingers (yes I did drink something over the break....not much, but something).

Xmas day was a whole different treat again.  Aureole is in the Mandalay Bay  Casino,  They weren't working Xmas day but this place features a two story wine "cellar"...well glass enclosure, where "wine angels" abseil up and down the wine racks pulling out bottles for diners.  I had the most lovely sashimi and fresh fish for my Xmas dinner....as odd as that sounds!  It's quite a stark atmosphere, very stylish.
The other place we went to that I loved loved loved was Julian Serrano's.  This place was tapas paradise and, for those that recall, that was something I loved about Barcelona.  The small plates here were fabulous - I would love to eat like that all the time.
Final note, as always, a good cup of coffee isn't easy to find in the US of A - Starbucks it was, if there was a better place we never found it!

Bodies the Exhibition - not for the faint hearted!

I'm going to write up Vegas in little chunks....so here's chunk one! Post Karen and Brice's arrival we had a a day of "forensic" investigation, part of which included seeing this exhibition. No, this isn't my video but it does capture the feeling....it's fair to say that Brice and I looked at everything but didn't dwell (unlike mum and Karen, who were fascinated!). Despite having been told that lots of people think the bodies look plastic I didn't think that at all - all too real was more my thinking. It was interesting to see, I'm glad I went but won't be going back, once was enough.
After Bodies (which was at the Luxor Hotel - the big pyramid) we headed back to the MGM Grand and tried out CSI: The Experience. You get to choose one of three crime scenes to examine and solve a case. It's not done on a computer, you actually work through a series of stands, taking notes and answering questions, including examining the crime scene, then toxicology, autopsy etc etc. Finally you enter your results into a computer and Grisholm tells you if you have it right. It was fun and an easy distraction - yes, we all guessed correctly, although we didn't all get all the clues right.

Mother has landed, new old friends & Tiger

The Mother has landed!  Arrived Friday - 45mins early.  How is it, do you suppose, that a flight with no stopovers can arrive 45 mins early?  Me, at the airport, all cool and calm as she walks into the arrivals lounge, looking like I'd been there forever - not so much, had arrived 5mins before only to glance at the arrivals board to discover "In Customs"!  On balance though at least the pilots remembered to land at the bloody airport.
Have been more than entertained in the last few days by un-PC who is a working example of just how tiny this world is.  Okay Wellington is tiny but still, in less than 24hrs connections were made, had me chuckle, alot!
I've resisted commenting on the Tiger saga for no other reason than I think folk are tigered out, there's been plenty of coverage.  Mostly I've been fascinated to watch how he's managed the media side of it (I claim professional interest).....either he's got the worst media minders in the world or the guy is just plain stoopid. American's love a good drama but can be surprisingly forgiving when someone calls mea culpa - but a press release just doesn't cut it!  Some say his private life should be his own - not me.  The man is a corporation, hundreds of people have their livelihood tied up in his brand, in my mind it's no different than any Company that taints its brand and is forced to front to investors, consumers and employees.  If he wanted his life to be all about golf then he should have stuck to golf, he didn't, he became the brand, time to front up - or as my work colleagues say "put on his big girl pants" (yeah well I'm not sure about that last reference either......).
Off to Vegas tomorrow!

Thunder, lightening, torrential downpours and The Mother

Sat around in my PJs this morning watching shallow, albeit entertaining, movies waiting for the weather to clear so I could hit the road.  My mission today was to run 9 miles....and so I did.  The first 6.5 in overcast but not unpleasant conditions, the remainder in a torrential downpour accompanied by flashes of lightening and thunder!  Not much I could do really I had to get home one way or another and it's not like I could call a cab (given I don't actually go running with money....cellphone.... ID....medical card....you know I think I can hear the big sis berating me.....I might need to re.think some of that....).  I felt strangely elated as the rain started to pelt down; started grinning even, I expect I looked slightly hysterical to passersby.  But hey, there were other crazy fools out there walking, now that's really stoopid!
The mother arrives Friday - yay.  Two reasons, it will be nice to see her and it will signal the beginning of two weeks off, including our trip to Vegas.  Sweetly too Marcia left me the keys to her car so that I don't need to hire one to go to the airport to pick mum up.  I love my Miata but she just ain't designed to collect international travelers from the airport, unless they pack light!  Now really I just need to get my head to small things like; clean the house, get some food in that mum might like to eat; including instant coffee I believe (and think is a crime against nature and the natural order of things).

No way to be glamorous about it.....

So I promised pics.....and here they are.  Really there is no way to look good running.....well not if you are me!  The shot on the left was taken

about 30mins before the run.  If it's not obvious I was freezing!!!!  I'd just watched the half marathoners take off and had been standing around for about 1.5hrs.  I'd wanted to arrive early as I wanted to see the half marathoners and had no real idea how all the parking etc would work.  Turned out I got a carpark really close to the race start so arrived with plenty of time.  There were tents set up displaying a range of goodies and people nervously milling about.  As you can see on the right, just after I crossed the finish line, I kept my running jacket on as I couldn't even contemplate the thought of running without it (and I had a long sleeved shirt on!).  All good in the end!

Case was delighted when I texted him with my results - he is so sweet, I gave him a tip at my training session and he gave me a hug, so cute.  He's been incredibly supportive and committed to my fitness/running - if not a little startled that I not only attempt everything he asks of me but also do my homework.  Games on again, of course, first half marathon Feb 7th, running around Golden Gate Park.  It's not far off and this weekend my task is to run 9 miles, the half is 13 miles or 21 km - yikes that sounds like alot when I type it out and not that many weeks to go.

Killed the hill....my race is done

Today I ran my 10k race in Marin.  It was amazing to be around all the hype and also to be running on such a beautiful course.  It was also bloody cold, so cold that I had to wear my running jacket as well as my long sleeved running shirt.  I stayed Friday night in Corte Madera, north of San Fran and just 15mins from the Marin Headlands.  Given this is a two to two and a half hour drive from Santa Cruz I decided it was just easier to stay close by.  On my way through I stopped in San Fran and picked up my "race bag" which, most importantly, has the race "chip" you attach to your shoe so they can electronically record your time and your race number......at this point it was all starting to feel very real!  The 10k was part of a much larger event so runners set off at different times.  The 50 mile (yep you read correct) left at about 5am, 50k at 7, half marathoners at 9 and us little 'uns at 10.  I arrived in time to watch the half marathoners set off.  Given I aspire to run one in Feb I was somewhat awed to think that the 3.5 mile hill I have lamented over is repeated (all beit different hills) three times for the half marathoners!!!  There really were folks in all shapes and sizes.  Stereotyping is interesting - I look at the lean, tall women and freak out - they simply look athletic in the way I think athletes look and in a way I will never look :-( !  Yeah well, so much for that, there was one shortish (these things being relative) woman who was  big and a very unlikely looking runner.  We had two hours to complete the course and she came in 2mins before her time was up and she wasn't the last btw.   So note to self:  size doesn't matter!  While I'd felt sickly nervous in the days leading into the event I got increasingly calmer as we actually reached the point of heading off.  It was grand fun - toward the end we link up with the half marathoners for their final leg - it's more than humbling to be passed by people who have already run 3/4 more than the distance you are labouring over......everything about running is proving to be humbling.  Not least of which the privilege of being able to run at all!
Anyway, final results 1.05 total time, 84th out of a total of 213 runners (men and women, yes a certain satisfaction was had when I blew off some boys on the hill stage....), 4th for my age group out of a total of 21 (yes yes age group 40-49....).  Oh and as a nice finisher I won a North Face fleecy jacket in a random raffle (sometimes you just need to show up!).  Pictures next week.

Thanksgiving

Love Thanksgiving week.  Work from home Mon, Tues, Wed (read extra hour in bed and stay in PJs most of the day) - ignore crazy people who think everything has to be done before Thanksgiving ....because?  Roll outta bed at my leisure on Thanksgiving day; juice, coffee, muesli with fruit and yoghurt, plan my run and what time I need to leave to get to Oakland to have a Thanksgiving feast with Michelle, Marcia, Nancy, Joan and Andreana (J & A just got engaged so double celebration!).  Thanksgiving is one of the loveliest holidays in the US.  So much easier than Xmas because it is only about good food and company - no gifts.  Everyone gets very excited about it and people are always concerned that everyone has somewhere to go.  Going to take the flip camera etc to lunch so I get record the event, if the vid/pics turn out okay I'll share.
What else?  Not long until the mother arrives, Vegas all set to go and Karen and Brice are now coming for part of the adventure (including Xmas day).  Nice restaurant booked (thanks Brice!) and generally looking forward to the whole adventure.  A week in Vegas is plenty of time (none of us are actually gamblers, play the pokies, that's about it, but there is always something interesting going on!).  Got some tentative adventures planned for post Vegas too, some places mum didn't see last time.
Check this out (takes a second to load so hang tight).  I found out Case's dad is quite a famous artist, originally photography and now he does public art using mosaic.  It's pretty fab stuff.  He also included Case in one of the pieces - NY Administration for Children's Services, Case on the left in the Cap (yes when he was a teenager...just).  He also did this very cool Obama mosaic.  Some of his work is in San Jose and one piece at the SF International Airport.

Even I have my limits

So one of the things I am not very good at is nutrition. That's not to say I don't eat well but I'm just not that into cooking (although love good food) and tend to graze more than cook full meals. Well that's not very helpful when you are exercising as much as I am.......apparently! I am shamed by Case who, at 24, has far more commitment to cooking than I will ever have. To help me along the way (and avoid my fainting at training..) he put me onto this book, which is actually really quite excellent and the food sounds yummy. Challenge is there is at least some degree of learning required to get the right balance of nutrients etc and, frankly, it bores me to death. I don't have a scientific bone in my body - I really just want someone to say "here's the shopping list and the menu plan - get on with it". Honestly I believe all the health claims, they don't need to convince me. But, here's the thing I draw the line at, substituting coffee for chicory and dandilion roots, wtf!!!!! No, I've given up drinking (at least for now, in case you are all worried for my mental health), eat very few carbs (none after 5pm), less refined sugar and very few grains (this is all easy - well carbs wasn't - but my favourtie food is sashimi so I get to eat lots more and I love veges and don't have much of a sweet tooth). I am not giving up coffee - I don't even know what chicory is and dandilions are something you blow on to watch the fairies float off in the wind......I'm not drinking them.

Recreation, work and news of the day

Seems the year is flying by!  Yesterday I did a fab 7 mile run through Wilder Ranch. A state park about a mile out of Santa Cruz.  It is a mixture of open meadow and forest, a lovely place to run. Just when you think you might get bored with the hills or forest you round a bend or crest a hill to look out across some very spectacular scenery.  I enjoyed some nice encounters with some folk too.  You can read more about that in On the Run if you are interested.

Work was busy this week.  I had to let one of my folk go, which was a little tough as it wasn't on the plan for this quarter.  Over the past year I've learnt a lot about managing a team (I now have 12 people!!!).  I've also stuck by the idea that I roll them on so I roll them off, letting people go in this economy is a tough call but part of the job.  The job has gotten exponentially bigger and I am going to have to adjust how I manage the team as 12 people working on upwards of 6 different projects makes for a lot of complexity, relationships and politics.  My "favourite" IM of all time is the one that starts "Can you talk"....this usually means "something" is up and I go into management mode.  Things in the workplace seem to move so much faster here than I remember in NZ.  Decisions generally get taken very quickly and need to be acted on equally as fast.  Working in a global environment also means managing very diverse expectations - I've got very thick skinned and figure it's a good day when most of the people are mostly happy (or, at the very least, not complaining too loudly!).

The horror story of the last two weeks for me has been the Fort Hood shootings.  This is terribly sad, not least of which because so many people are now thinking someone somehow should have been able to anticipate it.  Maybe, maybe not, hindsight's always twenty twenty - all not helped by it very nearly coinciding with Veterans day.  The shooter is still alive which will drag the whole thing out for a very long time (hard to think he's going to be considered sane enough to go to a trial).

Running, Thanksgiving and Halloween

Time is flying by!  Two weekends back I did a trial run of the 10k trail run I am doing in December.  It was grand!  The Marin Headlands are right on the coast and, while the first 3.5 miles of the race are all uphill, you get a stunning view of the bay area once you reach the summit, then you get to blast down the otherside (making up for all that slow plodding!).  I can definitely run it within the alloted time (2hrs) so am most relieved.  Given I've never run in a race before I'm sure there will be alot to learn.

Last month I spent so much time training I haven't really done much else (personal trainer three times a week then running on the other days).  Although, despite my reclusiveness, I have been invited with Marcia and Michelle to a Thanks Giving dinner in Oakland, so that will be fun.

Halloween at work was a blast.  We set up a video show with all these great halloween videos the team made highlighting "Nightmare on Change Street"....all set to Michael Jackson's Thriller video.  Igor is from Czechoslovakia so we got him to voice over for Vincent Price. Other folk also put together displays and people came to work dressed up.  It's really quite surreal.....there are photos somewhere, I'll hunt them down and post a few.

Daylight saving is over here so while I get to drive to work in daylight it's pitch black by the time I get home, bleech.