3G iPod
Random thought of the day...
Why on Earth do they not have a pay-as-you go 3G iPod Touch and/or Android equivalent? I think the phone companies would make ridiculous amounts of money off of this. Parents would buy iPods for their kids (which they do already) and let them buy data blocks with their allowance. Teenagers would then blow those cards on music downloads and YouTube faster than you could say lolcats.
I'm guessing they haven't done it because it would undermine the lucrative SMS market and contracts that people get locked into, and reduce the phone company to just being a dumb pipe, yadda yadda... but I bet they'd make more money in the end. .:.
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John's phone
Ha! .:.
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Final flight
It seems fitting that the last flight of this short-lived career is delayed. Next week is a local client, then I'm feet first into the fire of a company quickly approaching release of a project five years in the making. .:.
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 Welcome gift |
I accepted a new job yesterday. I've missed half of the last two years of my kids lives, so I'm ready to quit the travel. It's time to go to a regular office and work a regular job with regular coworkers, then have a regular commute home and sleep in a regular bedroom after tucking my kids into bed like a regular dad.
Except it isn't regular. It's a game company that has been building the next big Star Wars game for the last five years. Five.
So, jeans and T-shirts, paintings of wookies everywhere, free breakfast, rabid fanboy users, a ten minute commute (or 30 by bicycle), a great looking space, and looong hours. But I'll be sleeping at home.
I'll miss my current employer, but they don't have anything in Austin, and though we could probably work something out, I'd still be gone a fair amount. .:.
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Bragging rights
My kids eat Brussels sprouts. Maybe not ALL Brussels sprouts, but the ones I make. And not just a "no thank you" bite. They clean their plates of them. I can't claim responsibility-- the recipe is a hybrid of my friend Brit's pan-roasted sprouts and my Mom's oven roasted cauliflower. The secret to making sprouts palatable, it turn out, is dry heat. They crisp and caramelize instead of turning slimy and skunky. See for yourself.
Roasted Brussels sprouts
1 bag whole sprouts, divided lengthwise
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, snipped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large casserole, toss together the sprouts, garlic, rosemary, oil, salt and pepper. Arrange sprouts in a single layer. Bake 30 minutes, or until sprouts are browned and tender. .:.
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18 weeks to Austin
Today was day one of training for the Austin Marathon. The weather kindly obliged by dropping forty degrees overnight. Unfortunately, the milder temperature came with a 25 mph sustained north wind. No matter. I ran three miles (in sleeves!) in just under thirty minutes. I've got two more three mile runs this week, then a six mile run this weekend. After that, the mileage starts to climb. I am accustomed to running six miles, but haven't run farther than that since spring. I hope to finish the marathon in 4:30. That's 27 ten minute miles. So far, so good. .:.
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Piano Mind
I attended one of Nev's piano lessons for the first time today, and the last "song" left me thinking.
When reading sheet music, you are generally confronted with staffs with notes, finger numbers above the notes, and then the notes on the instrument itself. These are all completely different representations of the same thing. Throw into that multiple simultaneous notes, note lengths, other notation describing how to play the notes, and it's absolutely amazing that our brains can do this at all.
My brain is wired for systems. It always has been. I just have a natural ability to understand the components of a complicated system. I am not wired for lots of other things -- remembering people's names, for one thing (which is a vital skill for many jobs).
My question is this:
Is music good for brain development, or is it simply easier for brains of a particular kind?
I'm guessing both. .:.
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 Amy and Nev race on the home stretch |
I tried trail running for the first time today. How could I not, when we saw so many runners on the trails the day before? I walked up the Bluebell fire road behind our cabin to the Mesa trailhead, where I started my run. Down into the canyon and back up the other side (where I'm ashamed to admit I had to walk). 0nce I connected to the Enchanted Mesa trail, though, it was all downhill on a broad, flat gravel path through ponderosa pine forest and open grassland. I flew downhill, greeting every hiker I passed with a broad smile. Such fun. I totally get mountain biking now. I was wishing for a ski lift to take me back to the top of the mesa so I could do it again. I'll probably regret barreling downhill tomorrow when I can't walk, but it was totally worth it today. .:.
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Back on track
Recently I developed a nagging feeling that it was about time to start training for another marathon. After all, wasn't it high summer in Florida when I registered for the 26.2 With Donna? I checked the date of the 2012 Austin Marathon (February 19th), the length of the Hal Higdon marathon training program I followed before (30 weeks), and sure enough, training starts... Monday! Not a moment too soon, I registered for the marathon. I will officially log my first 1.5 mile training run on Monday. I'm going for a sub-5 hour finish (5:15 last time), and I plan to train and marathon in my Vibrams. I'm excited! .:.
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Phone sig
I've been annoyed lately by device phone signatures.
"Sent from my Blackberry"
"Sent from my iPhone"
"Sent from my device du jour"
I've set mine to "Sent from my IBM Selectric IV"
A friend pointed out that there is one practical reason for this silliness besides advertising that device. It lets the receiver know you were typing on a small device and probably lost patience with said device long before the thought was properly conveyed. I saw a sig today that expresses that without advertising:
"Sent from my phone. Please excuse the brevity and typos." .:.
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