"It's Going to Be A Great Day"

Quote from my boss moments ago. Then he followed up by saying:

"I'm a little bi-polar, it's all good, until it's all bad."

He works in Boston, must not be raining there like it is here.

Cyclocross Racing Might Be Fun

Everyone says it's so much fun, but the very few times I've tried some CX moves with my cross bike, I can't say I've enjoyed it. However, today a cross clinic turned mini-practice race might have changed my mind. There wasn't time to think about being freaked out about jumping off the bike or care about how silly it must have looked when I was running through a sand pit...but falling just prior to getting to the sand pit.

So maybe it'll happen yet...next weekend are the first two cross races so it's time for me to no longer consider it and just do it. Seriously, today I almost skipped it as I was getting so scared just prior to going! Why is it that grass and dirt are scarier than pavement? We all know which hurts worse.

After cross practice, it was necessary to get some road miles in and after the waaaay-over LT efforts of cross, the 3 hr ride seemed easy. Went up Golden Gate Canyon for some quality climbing. Last weekend's climbing at altitude helped tremendously.

Just finished the first week (er, the first four days) of the new job. So far, I'm liking it a lot. And the flexibility can't be beat (I'm working from home the next couple of days, how cool is that?)

Breckenridge Weekend

I just got back from an absolutely marvelous, awesome, wonderful, cool weekend. Yes, it deserves all of these adjectives. Since I haven't vacationed all summer, it was a much needed break to get to the mountains with a friend (we're in ToastMasters together) and her family. I got to know her so much better. It was a treat to be in the peace and beauty of the mountains, to stay in a log cabin with a good family (read: yummy food, camp-like activities like story telling and singing songs with guitar accompaniment, completely unstructured time and no t.v. or internet) and to be able to play outside a lot, too.

Saturday I took a road ride from Breckenride to Vail Pass. It was a beautiful ride and I threw some intervals in for good measure. Met some fun people on road bikes from NYC and rode a few miles with them. Afterwards, we (my friend and her family) attended church in Breck. The place was full so it felt like a warm Christmas Eve mass.

Sunday found us on a retro tandem cruiser. This thing can move! The picture was taken during a break in Dillon for lunch (we rode from Frisco to Keystone and back).

And today we hiked right out from the cabin, it was quite a distance with her guide dog showing her every step to take. He is even able to tell her when she might run into a tree limb that's face-height. He's such a sweet dog, and he's smarter than most people.

Hope everyone had a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

[Some kinds of] Change is Good

Good Change: Pocket Change, Change underwear, Change in seasons.

Our political system is a bit more complicated, it can't just be changed and all of our problems will magically go away. Please think critically about each issue and what is being proposed by each candidate before deciding who should be our next elected officials.


"My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you'll join with me as we try to change it."

--Barack Obama

Symbolic

In case it isn't obvious, this is an ice sculpture, they put it outside of the Museum of Contemporary Art today at noon. This picture was taken at 8 pm. One of the guys in charge was bemoaning the fact that it wasn't melting faster.

Denver has been invaded!

Denver has turned into a city I hardly recognize in the past 24 hours. It's amazing to see people on the streets on Sunday. There was a long line for the Boulder-bound bus this morning at 9 am. Cops with full riot gear are all over the place. Temporary structures are all over the place and apparently 15,000 people from the media are also here. Pics and updates later, I've taken lots of them. Saw John Connyors and many people who worship him speak tonight. It's so cool to be part of history and see so much surrounding the political process. There will be such a variety of activities going on all week, all I can think is how sad would it be to miss some cool concert or speaking engagement with some fascinating person?

“The geeks shall inherit the earth”

The title of this blog is the motto of TechStars--a Boulder-based incubator for 10 startups every summer. Tonight was an end-of-summer party in Boulder hosted by one of the TechStars founders. I was invited by the owners of the company I'll be working for soon (since they were part of the TechStars incubator this summer).

The idea of being part of an incubator has always fascinated me--I think once upon a time I thought the only way I'd ever be able to get into business would be to be part of one of these programs. It was fun to see so many young, very intelligent people who have walked away from good corporate jobs to try their hand at a startup. What's cool, too, is the incubator is its own business. Its owners are people who provide a variety of advice, help the young entrepreneurs meet investors, mentor them and give them things like money and desk space. They do all of this in exchange for a percentage ownership in each of the companies. Win-win, you think?

So I had a great time hanging out with a large contingent of the company, had some beers and it was one of those magical summer evenings.

Meanwhile, back in my regular life, Denver is becoming a really hectic, chaotic mess of temporary structures, glitz from t.v. crews, barriers, cops, you name it. I am truly dreading if I need to drive. Right now my gas gauge is below empty so I hope that's incentive enough to not be tempted to get in the car and go anywhere. All week.

Also, I've been finishing up stuff at my job. I have only good things to say about how they took my news about leaving (very shocking considering the reaction I got last time I changed jobs). They also took me and the group's intern to lunch today. It's sad to say goodbye to my co-workers as I like them very much, but we're already planning on getting together for more rock band...

And this morning started with breakfast with an old co-worker and friend from ReadyTalk. Fun to catch up with him...and have good breakfast. Now with all day today being spent eating and socializing, it's hard to calm down to sleep, thus the really lengthy post.

So, as for the title of this post, what do you think? I'm absolutely positive of it, except that it might be short-lived as geeks have this tendency to not reproduce (I'm living proof of that).

at the right time

sometimes people and things are placed purposely. After a long day, I ran an errand and, while leaving the building I had been to, I saw some tents concerning running so it made sense to check it out. A moment later there was one of my teammates standing there and he talked me into a beer. I needed that! Turns out there's this organized run and it's sponsored by a bar. Smart business!

M.O.

There's almost never a dull moment in my life. I try to keep it that way. For someone who steers clear of roller coasters, I still manage to do all sorts of things that scare me to pieces. Here are two examples.

Tonight it was time to start getting comfy with the cross bike since I would like to race it this fall and winter. No guarantees on that. I did MANY laps on the grass at Wash Park (perfectly gorgeous out there, btw) before I could fester up the courage to dismount via throwing my right leg over the bike and land gracefully on the left. I'm such a chicken. There will be lots of group cross training sessions so hopefully those help. It'll be fun to point and laugh if I try to race (you're welcome to do so, btw).

As a side note, betcha had no idea how many goose turds there are in the grass!

The news I alluded to in the last post is that I'm changing jobs (again). I've been at this one for a little over 4 months and it's felt like longer than that (in a good way). I like the people very much, I enjoy the work and I haven't had any complaints since I started in April.

However, an opportunity I couldn't refuse recently (as in the day after my 31st birthday) came along in the form of a lunchtime call that I returned while standing outside of Whole Foods. The position is VP of Technology in a small tech company in Broomfield. I'll be in the position to help the company grow, be part of the decision making, still be able to stay close enough to the technical side of the business and take on management responsibilities. If you know me, you might imagine how thrilled I am at the possibilities.

I love small business and especially being able to test out theories and ideas from the many business books I've read over the past 10 years. I have dreamed about being in this kind of position for so long. The owners of the company and its employees have a great deal of my respect as I have gotten to know them through a variety of interactions. I would not have made the move if I weren't 100% comfortable about the people. I'd imagine, as is typically true in start-ups, that there will be some crazy hours and trusting in each other will be a major component of the company's success.

Here we go, time for another wild ride!

Rainy Day

Today was an officially rainy day. The sun did come out in Colorado style, but well into the afternoon. Everyone here had to be happy since most lawns are well burned at this point in the summer.

It was a good time to get to the gym and start lifting again. I got back to my old gym and it felt so great to be there. It's the only gym that I really relish going to...the workouts there never seem to be as long or challenging as in other gyms. Maybe it's because of the lack of people, the lack of worry of having to get to certain weights or machines in time before someone else takes them.

They televised track racing on tv today! Very cool to watch Taylor Phinney...he might not have won today but it's a very good chance we will see lots of winning out of him in the future.

I'll be cheering at N. Boulder park tomorrow if it's dry out. Hope to see lots of my Boulderite riding buddies up there. I've gotten to Boulder so few times this summer, it's pitiful! For the record, I miss the Boulder riding and the people I've ridden with lots in the past. An Ecopass might be coming my way and another change that should facilitate somewhat more Boulder riding in the future. Monday's blog will explain more. :)

Watched the movie Wall-E tonight, it's another brilliant Pixar creation. It's astounding what they dream up and then are able to execute so beautifully. Who needs actors and actresses?