Archives for October 2002
DSL is coming...should be installed tomorrow. Then I can finally rid myself of the cable company. Yea!!!
The move to the new place has just wrecked my routine. Don't get me wrong, I like the new place, but for the past 2 days, I've had no desire to go workout after work. It could have something to do with the 30-40 minute commute (versus 5 minutes before), or it could be the fact that I no longer have a workout room to fall back on, like I did in the townhome. More likely, it has something to do with no longer being a quarter mile away from my gym. Now, I must go to a Bally's (where I have a lifetime membership, but it is 4 miles or so away from the house, or I go to my old gym, which is in the opposite direction of the house - but semi-close to work.
Whatever it is, I've got to get it worked out. I've been very good about getting exercise over the past 6 and a half months.
Over the weekend we moved out of the townhome in the city and into a house in the suburbs. Though I liked living close in to downtown, Jacob needed a yard, and we were all sick of the 2 flights of stairs that took us up and down the 3 levels of the townhome.
The move was uneventful, as all moves should be. Now comes the fun part of unpacking and getting the new place like home.
I just set my friend,
Cuyler, up with his own metaBlog site. I can wait to see what kind of goodness he posts. My guess is that the topic will be far ranging, but will probably all come back to technology somehow.
The
Texas Longhorns football team barely survived the infamous
SI jinx with a win against Oklahoma State on Saturday.
Being a season ticket holder, I was naturally at the game -- and I must say that in the end, I was as down as one can possibly be without actually losing. Texas didn't play well. All three areas had big letdowns. The offense was ineffective, the defense gave up a couple of crucial big plays, and special teams - well, the kicker missed 3 field goals. Granted there were some bright spots. The offense looked superb at times in their 5 wideout set, and the defense came up huge with an interception to kill OSU's final drive. Heck, even special teams accounted for OSU missing an extra point (enormous btw, considering it forced OSU to go for two to tie instead of kicking a PAT).
As always, after the game we began dissecting the team's performance. We were especially focused on what the implications of the narrow win would be on the rest of the season, beginning next Saturday with ou in the Red River Shootout. Were we this bad? If the offense was so ineffective against the OSU defense, how would we fare against ou's defense? Would it end up coming down to a field goal attempt for the win? If so, who would kick it for us? Typical stuff.
We then proceed to search for difference in our routine on that day. Let's see, there was the quick trip to the Co-op for some UT gear (a no-no from now on - if you don't own it before the season begins, you don't get it until after the season). Due to the game's early start, we never had our pre-game shot of tequila. Then it hit me - the cover of Sports Illustrated. We had
survived the jinx! It was close, but in the end we overcame the SI jinx - I suddenly felt at ease with the world.
Of course, I watched the majority of the top 10 teams also struggle, which helped as well.
The one thing that I have learned over the years is that on any given day, any team can win, especially when that day is in early October at the State Fair of Texas and the game is Texas - ou. Forget last week, throw the records out the window, it is time to get it on!
Hook 'em!
Over the past year, my friends and I have repeatedly discussed getting out of the tech industry. The discussion typically starts out as a general bitch session about some work related incident, and then turns to "boy I sure would like to be done with this mess", and then we all nod in agreement and start talking about what we'd do.
More and more, I am seeing this same sentiment expressed across the web on the various tech related sites I visit. Of course, I didn't think that my group of friends were the only ones to be disillusioned with this industry, but I had no idea the feeling was so widespread.
I got into this industry because at one time I really enjoyed technology, I enjoyed immersing myself in the latest and greatest, I loved creating things. I still enjoy technology and creating things, but more and more I find myself longing for a simpler life. A life where I touch technology because I want to, not because I have to.
Of course the technology industry has afforded us a very nice lifestyle, a lifestyle where we don't have to worry about finances quite as much as the average family. Where we can splurge on high dollar items without going further in debt. Where we don't have to save up to take that really nice vacation - we just go.
So, while I find myself struggling to stay focused, I am not quite ready to give up the perks of the trade. Now, if I could just figure out how to maintain focus so that I am not forced from my perch before I am ready.
By the way, I'd like to be a park ranger for the National Forest Service.