Robots Don’t Sleep

Today was the beginning of my third week straight of going to the gym and my attempt to sustain an active lifestyle. Between weightlifting, running, and biking on the weekend, I’ve been surprised at how little effort it has taken. It seems to have fallen into my every day routine, and it’s very refreshing to know that I haven’t met any real challenges in trying to meet my goal. This isn’t very fitting, but a lyric just came on iTunes that says “Pain is only a pulse if you just stop feeling it.” I thought it was kind of interesting.

I’m kind of anxious for the presidential elections to be over. I think almost everyone can agree that it’s turned into a bit of a circus. I guess I’m generally tired of political strategy getting in the way of real issues, and the use of gimmicks and distractions by both presidential candidates. I have no doubt in my mind that Obama will be our next president come election day, but I feel like I’ve been following this 20-month road only for it to turn into a round-about discussion about nothing at the very end. I know who I’m voting for, and I’m tired of hearing about it all.

On a side note, I’ve also been getting back into playing guitar recently. My playing has been sparse at best in the past couple years, and I feel like I have a renewed interest in learning new songs and trying to improve myself. Maybe it’s a trend in life - when you try to improve yourself in one area, you start developing a want to improve in other areas as well. The only downside is that I haven’t had much time outside of work and the gym to explore other opportunities, like making friends and meeting girls. Oh well.

I noticed an interesting thing while biking these past two weekends. I used to take a lot of time out of my days in the past to reflect on things, and over the last year or so I’ve digressed a bit from that. I used to sit and listen to music while writing; I used to write music; I used to walk places and spend time alone in preparation for what I thought my soon-to-be future would be. Now, in riding 20-plus miles a week, I’ve had time to really be on my own, alone in my environment and I’ve had time to really think. It’s refreshing, but I have found myself thinking where hours of my time have gone. Whereas I would usually attribute this loss in time to surfing the internet or something as time-consuming and relatively pointless, I now can be proud that I’m actually moving toward a positive goal that I’ve set. A week from now, I hope that I can say that I’m starting my fourth week of bettering myself - in discipline and in persistence.

Today I decided to do a little work around my room. I cleaned up my desk, started going through the (many) boxes I still haven’t unpacked, and did some much-needed laundry. Not too much of a lazy Sunday I guess. Anyway, I started tidying up my music collection as well as filling in the holes that happened when I upgraded to Vista. I still don’t understand how that happened.

I also got the new Jack’s Mannequin album today, and I am really enjoying it so far. I would definitely recommend it to anyone to go out and grab. It’s so strange that I haven’t listened to Jack’s Mannequin in so long. In Transit was such a great album.

So, my workout plan has been going very well so far. I went to the gym Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and I will be continuing the trend on Monday. Instead of going to the gym Saturday, I decided to bike down to the coast and watch the ocean for a while. My overall distance was a little over 20 miles, and it was a very reflective and refreshing ride. I think I may try to do something like that every Saturday from now on. I just can’t decide whether I should go in the morning or in the late afternoon. Hmm…

Finally, if anyone out there isn’t registered to vote yet, please get off your lazy ass and do it now.

I knew that when I promised myself that I’d keep up with yet another blog I wasn’t going to keep that promise. As with my others, I made a few posts at a fairly decent frequency and then my mind started wandering on to other things. But, it’s ok. I am going to try to figure out a way to keep myself writing and convince myself that I’ll keep it going.

I started working on a new project at work two weeks ago and now it is coming to a close tomorrow. Work has been going great and I’ve really started to find my groove. I realized the other day, however, that some of my skills in certain areas have been dwindling because I’ve been focusing on other things for a bit. I found myself making dumb mistakes that I remember making when learning these skills, and I came to a realization about how important it is to revisit these sorts of things. I need to keep myself from straying, which should be getting easier as I’m becoming more and more comfortable with where I am in my life. Good luck with that, self.

Another thing that’s been on my mind recently is politics, but I won’t get into that too much here. I will say that I am finally a registered voter in California, which is a great feeling. I’ve known who I was going to vote for since at least last year, so the only thing that’s really kept me interested is the way that things are playing out as November 4th gets closer and closer. I’d say that it’s kind of like a bad soap opera, but I think it’s becoming more and more like a freaking circus. I will just say that I am a fervent supporter of Obama and I have no doubts that the McCain/Palin charade will turn out to be all for nothing.

Well, my thoughts are starting to become more and more jumbled, so I continue this another time. It’s actually a bit of a struggle for me to figure out what to talk about on here, especially since right now I am at a point where things are going great. I need to take my bike out for some fresh air a bit more frequently, though. I put some road tires on it last weekend and so far I’ve only used it once. I’m hoping that after tomorrow, when this project is over and done with, I’ll have a small window where I can dedicate a little more time to writing and biking.

Until then, here’s a trailer for what will surely be the greatest Disney movie of the year!!! Sarah Palin in… “Head of Skate”!

I left my first bit of blood on the mountain today.

Flew right over the handlebars

I definitely remember it being in slow-motion. I could feel my back tire lifting off the ground, and I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to regain my balance. In my head, my goal was to perform a perfect swan-dive into a tuck-and-roll while my bike flew over me gracefully. Instead, my knee took most of the impact while my bike landed on top of me as I slid down the mountain a little ways.

Fun times.

Imagine one of the hardest activities you could possibly push yourself to do. Now, imagine that you’re having the time of your life while you’re doing it.

For the past two weeks on Friday, my company’s CEO has been inviting all the employees to a mountain biking ride on these trails around his house. The Huckabee Mansion, we call it. Anyway, I’ve gone on both of these biking adventures, and so far I have yet to be disappointed. I have to admit that it has been extraordinarily difficult, but at the same time, when I find myself at the top of this beautiful hill overlooking green valleys and the pacific ocean in the distance, I can’t help but feel like I’ve made it.

I’ve made it.

Allow me to explain. There are two distinct and extremely bi-polar aspects of mountain biking. The first is the hill climb - the hardest part. You’ve got to use every muscle in your lower half to push yourself up this steep incline while trying to keep your balance (which is extremely difficult at a very low speed). You find yourself at a point where you’re spinning your pedals furiously, only to find that you’re creeping ever-so-slightly up this hill. The end never seems to get any closer.

Now, I’ll admit that during both of these outings, I’ve reached a point in my climb where I’ve given up. My legs simply cannot push me any further and I am forced to dismount my bike and walk it up the remainder of the hill. I remember these moments not as failures but as learning opportunities. I know there’s been plenty of times in my short career as a developer where I’ve reached a point when it seems like I can’t go any further. I mean, I didn’t have the strength to make it up this hill, so why try going over the next?

The truth is that with every hill you don’t make it up, there will be a time when you can try again.

The second aspect of mountain biking is an extreme polar opposite to the first - the downhill cruise. This requires no physical effort from the biker other than quick thinking and fast reflexes. Don’t get me wrong, there seems to be some strategy to this, but I haven’t seemed to figure it out quite yet. Honestly though, I can’t come up with anything to compare this experience to. Your adrenaline is pumping, you’re exhausted from exerting yourself to your full potential to get to the summit, and now you’re trying your hardest not to offset your balance or lose control. Of course, this would most likely mean that you would fly over your handlebars and roll down a steep decline lined with rocks and brush.

In my opinion, this is the best part. However, I can’t help but hang on to the brakes for dear life and take the fall slowly. Hopefully that means I won’t lose control, smash into a rock, and die. However, I like to imagine letting go of the brakes one of these times and riding out the decline straight to the bottom, without a scratch on me.

I can only hope to be so lucky.