Put it on Random, Dude!

Recently, I started a free trial of Rhapsody. So far, I have been pretty impressed. Those who know me know how eclectic my music taste can be. Rhapsody suits this tendency well, allowing me to build a queue that includes Outkast and My Morning Jacket. It also allows me to listen to artists that have piqued my interest, just not $10 or $15 worth. I will report back after a few months of paid service on whether or not it is a keeper. So far I have been discovered head and shoulder dancing twice in my cubicle thanks to the iPhone app. Thankfully my lack of rhythm is masked by my use of headphones. That’s right; they might just assume it is a song with ~1408 tempo changes.

Life has been full of softball lately. I am thankful for the leagues up here. It is great to be playing ball again. I have played short stop mostly, which has been a blast. Tourney time this weekend!

Amy and I went down to Klamath recently and visited my nephew. We had a great time! The trip was too short as always. Ty is growing so fast and looking great! Watch out future ladies in your aluminum-foil-esque dresses (this is how I imagine future ladies).

Work has been intense lately; I am starting to think that isn’t going to change any time soon. I am so intrigued by the way people work. We think of work as being a linear function. For example:

Figure 1 - Incorrect linear approximation of human work and time.

Figure 2 - Obnoxious morning person. Seriously person, I haven't even had a cup of coffee yet.

Figure 3 - My work/time function. Notice that it gets to the same point, but it involve ranges with slopes approaching infinity and others nearing zero. It even contains a range with a negative slope, once believed to be impossible. The JP T/W relationship might also describe afternoon feeling "I should just go home".

Figure 4 - We have all worked with this person.

I have been thinking about getting a Kindle. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject? Like it? Hate it? Don’t care? What is a Kindle? Where am I?

Real Wife - Fantasy Football

Amy and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary on August 26. I cannot believe it has been four years already. It is pretty amazing to look back on what we have done together and how much has changed in four years. One thing has not changed: I still cannot imagine life without her. Happy anniversary Famous!

So enough cheese for one day you say? OK, fine.

Fantasy football season is upon us folks. This year I am a member of three leagues. I am not sure how I am going to keep up with all three. Spreading my mediocrity over three leagues will likely render me the equivalent of the Cleveland Browns in all three leagues. Translation: you hate to play me, as I am so crappy you cannot improve your rep by beating me, but I can destroy your rep with a fluky big game.

How can I get better at fantasy football? Short of quitting my job and going all pale-skin internet addict cheetoh muncher, I have no idea. I do know I have to get over picking players I recognize the name of for my team. I used to be really into football, watching every Sunday and catching the same Sports Center two or three times in a weekend. I knew player’s stats and abilities intuitively based on excessive highlight watching. Time has caught up to me though. Turns out you should be careful with picking someone like Isaac Bruce… He is one of the top receivers in the game, if this was 1999.

Another concept I have to borrow from my friend Grant. When selecting a kicker, base your decision on one thing and one thing alone: The complexity of that kicker’s last name. The best kickers of all time have the most ridiculous and intricate surnames. So I will load up the bottom spot on the roster with as many consonants as possible.

Now I will put on my digital whistle, round up my virtual players, and head to the imaginary gridiron for another season of getting way too excited for mediocre achievements of mouse-clicking domination.

Summer Photos

In no particular order...

The wedding of Jake and Jen Bakker

Amy's feet at the beach we discovered close to our house

PGE Park

Cycle Oregon

Ruger and myself enjoying the Columbia

Ty!

Twitter

A familiar process:

1. Have No interest in a new technology

2. Judge others who are apparently addicted to new technology (ideally, this is the point where you make an outlandish claim that you will NEVER use this new technology)

3. Divert attention elsewhere when new technology is mentioned in pop culture

4. Get really bored one day

5. Sign up for new technology, under a smug pretense such as "I am just going to see what all THOSE people are talking about"

6. Enjoy new technology, and prepare to consume an expertly prepared crow

So follow me on Twitter! @japes1365

Cycle Oregon 2 - The Revenge of the Bike Seat

My second Cycle Oregon weekend was a minor success! I reached a level of physical preparedness on par with John Kruk reporting to spring training. Amy and I logged somewhere around 75 miles over the weekend. Not bad considering the serious lack of "saddle time" we had before the weekend. When I was younger, I struggled to understand when people said things like "I would love to, but I don't have the time". Now, I get it. With all the things I would like to do more of (or at all), it seems this statement defines reality. This is not a bad thing, but a fact with which we must live.

To say I was physically unprepared is actually not entirely correct. I was thankful for the workout schedule Amy and I have been pretty religious about. The problem, as any bike rider will sympathize with, was that I simply hadn't sat on my bike for that long in many months;meaning I lacked a certain type of preparation. [DISTURBING TERM AHEAD] My friends and I refer to the type of preparation as the "A$$ Callous". For the first few rides of the year your rear end will cause you to question your interest in the sport of bicycle ridery. After that, it gets better. Sometimes it stops ailing you all-together (every time I say that I think of "Airplane!" and a group of people repeating my sentence). There is no explainable reason for the pain going away, but the phenomena has been dubbed the "A$$ Callous".

Recap of day 1:

• Wow, this is beautiful
• Cool, a hill
• Nice, a pit stop
• Wow, this is beautiful
• Man, my wife is looking good
• Great, another pit stop
• Ouch, my rear
• Wow, this is pretty, but Ouch, my rear
• Alright!, all finished, lets drink a beer

Recap of Day 2:

• Ouch, my rear
• Optimism, this will probably go away soon
• OK, I can tough this out
• Calculating distance back to camp
• Yahoo, A$$ Callous achieved!
• Armstrong-ing this hill
• Amy is an animal, going over steep grades like speed-bumps
• Wow, this is beautiful country
• Success!, lets drink a beer and toast the trip!

The area around Monmouth is spectacular and the roads are so smooth. We will be back for more next year, hopefully somewhere new to us in Oregon!

Worky Worky

As I sat here in my office last night at 6:30pm, putting the cap on another 12 hour day, I was thankful that I enjoy engineering. I often talk to people who not only dislike their JOB, but also their WORK. This is what I was born to do: Build... From Lego bricks to structural steel, I have always loved creating things. Cheers to liking your work! (even for those who don't love their job)

Welcome Nephew

My nephew, Ty, was born July 3^rd in Klamath Falls! He was 8lbs 8oz and mom and baby are perfectly healthy! I am so thankful that he came on a weekend and I was able to drive down with Amy and see everyone, especially Ty! It was so hard to leave on Monday, but we will be back as often as possible…

When a new human comes along, it is a display of great potential and promise. It is a reminder of how beautiful it is to be truly objective, notion-less. Adults are called to think about what he could be. Me, I have one hope for him: That he will always be passionate.

Love will come to Ty easily, being surrounded as he will with caring people. He will be strong, courageous, compassionate, and courteous; a true man, as he will have in his company many true men. He will work, when the time comes, with great diligence as his family always has. All of these things and more will be passed on to him to supplement his built-in character by his parents and family. There is one thing, however, which he must learn on his own: passion!

The only constant element of greatness carried on from past generations is passion. The person’s personality deems their passion compass or rudder. Regardless, it is clear that from passion comes direction. The application of passion varies WILDLY. I am, for instance, passionate about family, engineering, music, and playing ball (to name a few). All are part of my greater passion for learning and living. Whatever his passion turns out to be, I know he will do great things and I am thankful to be a part of his life, wherever it goes!