FINALLY!!!!!

After 4 attempts I have finally received my updated passport. When I started this process my passport was actually current - but after the second request for pictures it expired. It took 4 applications - 5 sets of pictures - VERY painful. It does not help that I have to do this remotely - as this is for my Canadian Passport - and then I get to do it every 5 years - YAY!

Anyway - it is done now - so the traveling will kick in - April likely SanFran and definitely London. Then in May maybe Egypt. Woo hoo - I think ;-)

cu

First ride of the spring ....

Decided to take the bike off the trainer and get it outside. Well it was my mountain bike since I am rebuilding my road bike - but it was still nice to get out. I wonder if the heavy mountain bike with those 2+" tires is as good a training tool as I think. It was not a huge ride - just under 25 miles - a reasonable pace 16 mph - but nice to get out. Really motivates me to get my road bike back together so I can get it back on the road. The plan is to switch the tires on the mountain bike for commuting during the week and then use the road bike on the weekend. I hope to start commute riding in mid-April. A couple of days a week to start. It is 25 miles each way so that will add 100 good miles for a week on top of the weekend riding. Less than 10 weeks for the Sprint - so all the time on the bike will help.

cu

High School Math ----- way too many years later

Less than a week before Spring break and my 15 year old daughter has a math test tomorrow. Grade 10 but doing pre-calculus. It has been way too many years since I have used any of it. Even with a degree in Computer Science with a major in math it takes some time to re-remember long division of polynomials - but that is ok - any time I get to spend with her is great :-)

Work is still hectic - on top of how busy my existing project is I have the London trip the end of April (still waiting for my passport - damn Canadian Passport Office). Then I just found out last night that I may have a trip to San Fran two weeks before that. On top of that the trip to Cairo is still hanging out there - maybe I will get lucky and that one will move out to later in the summer. Of course with all these trips training for the Reston Sprint becomes a challenge. I have yet to start to train on my swimming but weekly my bike and run mileage is climbing. It will be nice to hit April when I plan to ride to to work (25 miles each way) at least two days a week.

Well better get back to helping with math - before the batteries on this laptop die

cu

What a week .....

Saturday AM - @ Cariboo for my coffee and my Lemon Poppy Seed slice. This has been a hectic week. Work has been very hectic, requirements definition for the integration program I am working on has dragged on MUCH longer than it should have but I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is not the 9:30 from Philly. I did have the opportunity to speak at the Economic Security Working Group, a working group run out of NTIA within the Department of Commerce. I had been involved with this group in its previous role in dealing with IT/Telecom and Critical Infrastructure Protection, but since 2003 their focus has been on economic security. It was good to see some familiar faces and hear some familiar voices on the conference bridge. I also was able to sit in on discussions of the February 2009 move to Digital TV signals and hear some potential impacts that I had not spent too much time thinking about (who out there owns a battery powered TV for emergencies?). I also sat through an interesting discussion on the usage of statistical analysis in critical disaster planning and evaluation. OK - Stats at college was the course everyone loved to hate but on Thursday I saw real life usage of all that stuff I learned 20 odd years ago.

Triathlon training is coming along. Time spent running and riding increases each week and I will start training in the pool this month - next couple of weeks actually. I should get my road bike reconstructed this week and then I think a quick tune and a change to less aggressive tires on the Mountain Bike so I can use that as a commuter for at least some of the time.

As one can notice - I am also starting to use the blog a bit more - finding it a good stress relief as well it has helped me get more organized. I now am using my Google Calendar for planning along with a training log. One step at a time in getting organized.

G

Too funny ....

Not having had the opportunity to vote here in the US - not naturalized yet - I relish in the US political process. Most of the time - it is followed by a long groan - but occasionally I see something that makes me smile. Walking back from my local subway just now I see a bumper sticker for a gentlemen who at some point was running for a congressional seat - his name - Al Weed. One needs to think about those banners on CNN - "Weed for Congress".

G

Late Winter at River Bend

This past weekend was just the perfect time to get out for a quick stroll through River Bend. My two youngest daughters and myself spent 90 minutes strolling through River Bend park and down into Great Falls. "Dad-time" with his girls is a challenge at times - their Mom keeps them busy - not bitter but at times disappointed. But days like Sunday make up for it.

We caught site of this tree as we were watching the Loons in the Potomac - and grant it my LG8500 is not my preferred camera - I could not resist.

G

Where do the days go .....

Maybe I need to start using eCalendars for my personal life as much as I do for work. Last Friday I woke up at my regular 5 in the morning only to realize that I had missed the registration for the Reston Triathlon by almost 36 hours - which meant that the 600 competitive slots for the race had been filled for at least 30 hours. Well I have to put it behind me and find another race to run. The TriRATS Yahoo group has been great in providing some recommendations - I just need to find the time to do a little more looking into it.

I did start replacing my bike frame. My old one tool a small hit and the aluminum dented very nicely. No other damage so I figured for this year a new frame would suffice. Of course I have all the tools to switch out Shimano elements and I have a Truvativ crankset - sigh! Another trip to the bike store.

I do need to get this organization thing down though - I have increased weekly training over the last 4 weeks - but have yet to add in swim time - which also means I have not looked into how to improve my swimming. I now have two potential trips coming up - speaking at a conference in London in April and a potential meeting in Cairo in May - so I need to get organized so I do not ruin the training goals with the trips. Once again timing is tough but how does one turn down trips to London and Cairo.

Well I guess I could be doing some organizing or continuing this post ......


cu