Dogs Tug'n The War

This was taken during the first week of moving in. At this time, we had agreed to doggy-sit a friend's dog while she was away for a family emergency. We were unpacking and dealing with a basement that would periodically fill with raw sewage. It was a stressful period. The dogs kept us sane.

The update...finally!

So, there we were last week Wednesday, getting ready to go back to GR. Everything seemed well and good. I was studying for my 2 tests and and Matt was packing his bags. He was a little stressed because he had found out earlier that week that he was going to be in Texas for 2 weeks.

I get really tired after 10pm, so I decided to go to bed and wake up early and study. I got up just before 5am and started to study. After a half hour or so I decided to feed the "kids". I got the food out and Nikki and Athena came running...what? no Fat Guy for breakfast? That is odd. So, I went around the house looking for her thinking that she was in a closet somewhere sleeping. Low and behold Fat Guy was not in the house. After for searching for a good 15 minutes, I decided to wake Matt up to tell him the good news and to start searching outside. For those of you that don't know Fat Guy - Ocyrus - she is a fat blob of charm with no claws, skittish, and a lover - not a fighter baby!

I started stressing because I had not studied enough, nor packed enough as I will know later. We also had no time! Our schedule was set up as follows

• 7am - At school for 1st test
• 8am - At school for 2nd test
• 9:30am - Matt picks me up from school and we drive to the airport

We had no leeway to look for a cat and our friend Eric was house sitting for us but he wouldn't be over until after work. The search continued with Matt talking to neighbors and me looking close by. After looking for 40 minutes, and crying at this point, I heard this faint little cry from next door. I call her name and out she comes from the bushes! I take her inside and she immediately goes to the food bowl (obvi). I hug Matt and run out the door for my first test....the timing was really close as I got to school 5 min to 7am.

I took both my tests, we got on the plane, picked up the car in Chi-town (sat in said car in traffic for too long) and drove to GR. Hung out with Mom, Dad, Jess, Mike, and Dan and went to bed. Woke up the next day and found that I left most things, that I wanted for the run on Saturday, in Denver: my running rain jacket and my iPod. Well I was wanting to get a Nano for awhile....so no time like the present! We drove across GR to Woodland (only Mac store in town) and found out that they were closed for renovations until Saturday. Really?!?! Anyway the trip was not all for nothing as Matt picked up a great bag for a steal and we were able to eat at Sammy's!

Friday afternoon was prep for Saturday parties. Mom did most everything herself, with me and Jess helping here and there. Matt and Dad went to Best Buy to get the Nano - GREEN!!! - and then they went downtown and picked up all our race packets. What sweethearts!

Plans for sushi out were scrapped as most of us were feeling that we wanted to lay low. We were chillin on the deck when in comes Crazy Dre'! After the sun went down and sky became dark (luckily not many mosquitos yet) we were enjoying the night when in walks THE Amanda Boes!! I think at this point no one would be surprised if Superman or Megatron dropped by.

Anyhow, we had a great relaxing night and then up early the next morning for the River Bank run. Mom's 5k started at 7:30 and she was warming up by walking briskly towards the people that had already begun the race....we should have left a few minutes earlier to compensate for the yahoo's that didn't know how to do the parking thing. My 10K started at 8am dry, but about mile 2 it started to sprinkle. By the time I was nearing mile 3 it was a raining, not hard just consistent. It took me just over an hour to finish, so Mom was ready to go by the time we found each other as she had been waiting for awhile in the rain. We were soaked, but it was a great experience!

Matt, Jess, and Angie met up that morning and did the 5K walk and then went to breakfast. Matt will need to add a post to tell you about their adventures...

Mom and I went home and got the house ready for the birthday parties for Matt. Party one started at 2pm with the party two starting around 7pm. Both turned out very well. Many people came, food was eaten, stories were told, laughter abounded!

Jess made Matt a great album for Matt that everybody signed. There were some outrageous pics in it - some that I hadn't seen in a long time! Thanks again Jess, you did a great job!!

Sunday came way too soon. We figured out the travel arrangements (long story) and packed up. We really appreciate Mom and Dad for opening up their house to us, Dan for keeping us company and providing great steaks, from what I heard from the beef eaters :)
Thanks to Jess and Mike for keeping us entertained - always! And to all the rest of our friends and family thanks so much for coming and celebrating Matt's 30th birthday! We had a great time catching up and creating memories!

We were sad to go, but glad that we were able to come back and see everybody. Thanks everyone for making it a great trip!

Beethoven

I can't help but think of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" when I see the name 'Beethoven' written anywhere. Pronounced, of course, "Beeth" "Oven".

I've started getting into classical music again. I used to be a frequent listener of the classical music station in Grand Rapids. It was always first or second on my programmed radio stations. I've attended multiple symphonic performances over the years. I've even had some very famous collections given as gifts. Mandy and I donated money to the local classical station last year. Etc, etc, etc.

However, I never really got into it enough to recognize anything but the most famous pieces, though. And over time, I seem to have lost interest in seeking out a good classical music source and trying to discover pieces that really move me (as in "You gotta move it, move it!").

In an attempt to really get to know a couple of the most famous pieces by one of the most famous composer's in history, rather than download the entire discography (symphography?) of every major composer in history, I've only downloaded "Eroica" (Symphony No. 3) and "Pastoral" (Symphony No. 6). If I picked up more than these two selection, I think I would get lost and they would all end up blurring together. I'm hoping this hand-picked approach to reawakening my love for the form will help me get comfortable with one composer's style before I try another. The goal is to be able to hear the differences between the approach to the pieces so I can start to form a basis of opinion (like vs. dislikes) of various composers.

Wish me luck!

PS We're back in GR in 24 hours!

Playstion 3 and XBOX 360

I own a playstation 3. I don't have enough time to dig into the more unknown titles, so I tend to stick with the triple A games that sell in the 5 million+ category. Grand Theft Auto, Fallout 3, etc. Because of the exclusive titles you can only get on one system, I've also been considering picking up a XBOX 360 to play the other half of the triple A games. Halo 3, Gears of War, Dead Rising, etc.

I think I'm going to hold off for a bit, even though the online portion of the experience in the PS3 is lacking, when compared to the XBOX 360. Also, what the hell is wrong with their marketing department?

I think they would probably sell more PS3's if they didn't design their ads to scare the hell out of people.

Oh it's been too long...

I thought I would throw some thoughts up here since it's been a very long time since either of us has posted anything. I am currently working through my 3rd quarter at Bel-rea on my journey to become a Vet Tech. I am taking 20 credit hours which include Anatomy and Physiology 2, Sterile Techniques, Veterinary Science 2, and Parasitology. As if that was not enough to take up my time I have begun searching for a part-time job. More updates to come on this...

Nikki is doing pretty good. I am taking her into the Vet on Friday to run some radio graphs, get a cyst removed, get her a microchip, and have her teeth more closely examined. More updates to come after the appointment.

The cats are doing fabulous. I began schedule feeding them in late January/early February and both have lost weight! Ocyrus is always going to be "fat guy", she just is a little less fat. Athena on the other hand now looks like a normal cat with a waist and everything.

We moved in our new house about a month ago. Yes, we bought a house! My mom came out a week ago to help arrange and such. It is now starting to feel like ours and it wouldn't have been so if it wasn't for her help!

Matt is off carrousing the world - San Francisco, LA, Texas, NY, and possible South America soon! More on this to come also.

All in all, everything is well and busy.

Walkthrough 2

Walk through part 2! Enjoy!

Truncated walk-through of our new house!

This is Part 1 of the house walk-through.

Part 2!

Coming soon!

obama.

"I read the news today, oh boy, about a lucky man who made the grade.
And though the news was rather sad, well I just had to laugh.
When I saw the photograph."

Hello Mr. DJ - III

(Pardon me, but you can you direct me to the Soviet Em-m-m-m-mbasy?)

Photoshop as past:future connection

Here is a link.

The link will lead you to an amazing collection of images this Russian Greek dude photoshopped of war scenes in St. Petersberg. His idea is to blend war and contemporary photographs together to show how connected history is to our current conditions--with specific emphasis on urban development. They are quite stark and impressive. Check it out!

Flash Classics: KAAAAN!!!

Before reading, click here

The first time I ever surfed the internet with a compete navigator, GUI-based interface (NetScape Beta v0.03b) instead of the text-based Lynx system used by fellow hackers computer enthusiasts, I didn't really see what the fuss was about. Sure, rather than typing "ATT=LFx (where x is the tab index for the link)" you could click on links with you mouse. There were images, tables, and, occasionally, bad MIDI music that would auto-load, but, overall, meh...

Then a friend emailed me (EchoNet at the time, natch) the IP for KHAAAAN!!!. At the time, DNS servers were unreliable beasts, often routing you to incorrect sites or throwing a 404 page cannot be displayed error, so you had to actually memorize the IP address for the host computer. The page that appeared was this. An animated gif of Captain Kirk screaming, "Khaan!" from the Star Trek film, "The Wrath of Khan".

I was struck. How could someone spend these incredible resources building a page that is a two-image GIF animation with a looping audio file? Then it struck: They did because creation and distribution of web-based content is essentially free. Here I was, sitting on my 386 (40mhz) in my room watching this animation created by someone out there in the ether. Why? Because the animation has a worldwide audience.

The KHAAAN! page since become a web classic. One of the first examples of a bit of content "going viral." I still occasionally look it up and relive that life-changing "Ah HA!" moment I had so many years ago.

This is a graph put together by flashman relating how many 'A's people generally search for when they are trying to find this historic clip. The evolution of the web continues to amaze and befuddle.

John K: Great animator or greatest animator?

Greatest.

New Zealand Nintendo Ad

Not only is "scare-the-shit-out-of-little-kids" creepy, it also wracks your self-esteem by repeating how you cannot win the games and will be beaten. I'm not sure why this would make me want to fork over $300 istead driving to the local game store and beating someone up.

Real World: Realestate World

"How do you like this place?" She asked, half-smiling.

"Eh..." I responded helpfully.

"It's big, I'll give it that." Mandy added.

"Yes, it's big. Maybe too big?"

"It's not that..."

"What is it?"

"Well, there sure are a lot baby shoes nailed to the wall." I offered.

"And all the surgical masks laying around." Mandy added.

"And an attic with a wet bar, toilet, shower, sink, and dishwasher in the same room."

"And the shower downstairs with three shower-heads on each side of the shower (making 6), one with a long neck, sticking halfway into the shower space, and the three shower heads on the top ceiling... making for 12 shower heads in one shower. With no lights inside..."

"The closing door is glass, I bet some light would get through." She tried, the smile almost totally gone.

"It doesn't help much if the interior of the shower is painted black."

"Ah, yes."

"I almost want to buy this place out of the sheer madness of it all. I could so be a crazy old man here." I said.

She laughed nervously and looked at Mandy for help.

"Ok, let's knock this one off the list." Mandy said and headed for the giant, 12-foot high door with the doorknob on the wrong side.

We've entered the world of real estate in a search for a home out here in the mountains, and if the above story is anything, it's true. This real estate world is a strange, quirky place where the laws of logic and reason have no authority. Our goal is to have the purchase wrapped up and be ready to move in by mid-Spring. I have no idea if this is possible, but I am having a hell of a good time just wandering through these houses of madness.

I expect the search for a home that is A) Cool B) Not going to break the bank is going to fraught with much peril, but I also think it will be entertaining to watch from afar. With that said, I am going to post a few entries about the crazy houses we see, put up pictures, and solicity for feedback. For those of you who've been through this process before, please give us tips and ideas. The more we know, the informed we can be when it comes to signing that dotted line.

Giving Thanks in Grand Rapids

(Bush and Turkey. Turkey is happy. Bush is happy.)

We are off to Grand Rapids for our annual Thanksgiving visit to our old stomppin' grounds. Much eating and making of conversation is sure to be had. We are landing late afternoon on Wednesday the 26th and leaving on 30th mid afternoon. As much as we've tried, we've been unable to keep our schedule as open and flexible as we would have liked. If you're going to be in town and would like to hook up, give us a call or write us an email and we'll see if we can make our schedules cross yours.

We are going to be able to spend some quality time with the clan Forton, which is great, as we haven't been able to hang for an extended period in, well, years. Time seems to get away from us, especially living 18 hours driving distance (or spening $1,400 on airline tickets), and we never have enough time to spend with everyone as we'd like. Many people have taken us up on our offer to fly anyone out to visit (frequent-flier miles allowing). Mandy's parent's have visited twice, my Dad and Jan came out, Chad, Mandy, Jess and Mike, then Jess by herself, and Mandy's aunt, uncle, and cousins. It's good thing we invested in an apartment with a spare bedroom!

As much as we're geeked to be back in town, we are quite happy to not be there for Thanksgiving. It seems the holidays bring out the best and worst in people. Even with a conscious effort to avoid family drama this time around, it seems unavoidable. Maybe that is the problem; we spend so much time trying to avoid it, we lose sight of the fact that when you get all of the members of an extended family together, there is going to be some amount of friction, no matter what. I think my ability to disengage myself from the drama is hightened skill, but even with that I can't help but feel my blood pressure surge when I have to deal with people who are so stubbornly adicted to generating pointless drama.

As I said, it will be great to see everyone, but it will just as nice to not have to deal with the drama come Christmas.

Body Builders - Body Modification: Here it Comes!

(Holy God Almighty: Click her muscles for an image gallery of these beauties)

Can anyone make a good argument for how this isn't the most extreme form of body modification? In my humble opinion, Tatoos and branding don't even come close to this.

On the other hand, being an adherent to the principles and doctrine of the transhumanist movement (if you could call it that) I openly welcome extreme body modification. It's not like the ability to remake yourself in increasingly bizarre and Kafkaesque ways will get more difficult with time. So, it's not really a matter of being able to stop it, it's more a matter of being a happy or unhappy person when it arrives and others want to do it.

We don't all live in a vacuum, remember? Most people don't think exactly like you because, well, they're not you.

(The future US President: c. 2050)

Hello, Mr. DJ? (Part III)

Excuse me, can you direct me to Soviet Emmmmbasy?

Top Ten Flying Tips

In one year, I have been on 81 flights. 81 times I’ve turned off my cell phone and waited as the plane rocketed into the sky. 81 times I’ve stowed my tray table and returned my seat to its full, upright position in preparation for landing. I’ve adjusted my watch 77 times for a new a time zone and been through 18 different airports in four countries on two continents

Shortest flight: 31 minutes (Chapel Hill, NC to Washington, DC)
Longest flight: 11 hrs 45 mins (Denver, CO to Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

Here are the top ten tips I can give people making a quick visit to Airworld. The tips are not listed in any particular order of importance or anything, nor are they complete. I’m bored on this flight to DC, so I thought I’d share…

Top Ten Flying Tips

1. Avoid checking your bags.

Most airlines charge for any checked bags. United, for example, charges $15 per check bag, per flight. That means, if you’re on a round-trip voyage to New York, you will end up paying $30 to check one bag.

Fill a suitcase that falls within the size requirements with your clothes and bathroom supplies, and pack a backpack with the rest. There’s still a useless ban on liquids in the US, so make sure to not bring any liquids over 3 ounces. The liquid containers you do bring have to be packed in a clear plastic bag that can easily be placed, separately, on the security conveyor belt. I assume the TSA put this ban in effect to determine if there are any teeny, tiny bombs suspended in the liquid. I’ve lost two bottles of expensive cologne and countless bottles of water, shampoo, and mouthwash because of this.

If your bags are in your keeping throughout the trip, the airlines can’t lose them and you don’t have to wait around for them to show up on the baggage claim. Trust me, you don’t want to be in a position where, after 20 hours of straight travel, you find yourself Oslo, Norway listening to the helpful attendant say, in broken English, “Matthew J. Fox, please go to the lost baggage claim counter.” This has happened to me and it sucks.

2. Put an empty water bottle in your carry-on backpack.

Due to the completely useless, misguided, and draconian ban on carry-on liquids, you cannot pass through the security checkpoint with a full bottle of water. Whether you’ve purchased the bottle in the airport (within viewing distance of a TSA agent or not, you’ll still have to pitch it). However, you can get an empty bottle through. The theory is: Empty bottles cannot contain sizable amount s of the airplane-blowing-up fluid “Blowiquid.” Safe!

Once on the other side of the check-point, fill up the bottle at a water fountain (be sure not to use the fountains labeled “Blowiquid” or you might just blow yourself up with your bottle of water). This will save you having to pay $3+ for a bottle in the DMZ. Plus, the low air pressure / high altitude on the flight will dehydrate you much faster than at sea level. If you want to be at all functional when you land, make sure to drink lots of water.

3. Sign up for the frequent flier, rental car, hotel programs

These programs are free and can only benefit you. Most give sizable bonuses simply for signing up. It often takes a while to build up enough miles for a free flight or for an upgrade, but most point systems take forever to expire, so you’ll eventually get something free.

4. There is no need to arrive at the airport overly early.

When I started traveling for business, I would find myself clearing security and sitting down at the gate with 2 hours to spare. Unless it’s a holiday, Monday morning or Friday evening, or you’re traveling internationally, arriving at the airport an hour and a half early is plenty of time. If you’re not checking a bag, and you’ve checked in online, you can easily get to your gate with up to 20 minutes to spare. If you are checking a bag, most airlines will stop allowing the checking of any bags if you try less than 45 minutes before the plane takes off—also, there’s a 50lbs limit on all carry-on bags. If you go over that, you incur even more charges. Keep it in mind.

5. Check in online.

After you purchase your ticket, you will receive a confirmation code (a six character alphanumeric number), make note of it. 24 hours prior to take-off, you can check in online with that confirmation code and your last name. Go to the airline’s web site and look for the online check in section. This will guarantee you seats, and, many times allow you to pick the best seats.

Most airlines oversell popular flights. This means, if you don’t check in online, there is a good chance you will get bumped to the next flight.

Also, if you don’t have a bag to check, you can bypass the ticketing counter entirely. Just head straight to security with your printed ticket. This makes the process much faster.

Also, while you’re online checking in, be sure to sign up for that’s airline’s flight status updates. These can either be emailed or sent via text message to your phone. It’s much more convenient to find out your flight has been canceled or delayed before you leave for the airport.

6. If you’re on a short flight (2-3 hours), get an aisle seat. If it’s a long flight (more than 3 hours) get a window seat. Avoid the seating letters B and E like the plague.

Aisle seats have their perks. They allow you to stretch out your legs. You don’t have to climb over anyone to get to the bathroom and you will be the first person out of the row when the plane lands. Sadly, it also means that every person who walks down the two foot wide aisle will bash you with their elbows, bags, heads, etc. On long flights, a window seat gives you something to learn your head against other than the seat, and no one will have to crawl over you to get to the aisle or to vomit (sadly, also, this has never happened… at least to me).

A quick sub-tip: If you’re going to sleep on the flight, make sure to buckle your belt on the outside of the blanket so that the damn flight attendants won’t come around and wake you up to make sure your seat-belt is on. They can see it on the top of the blanket a go bother someone else.

7. Airworld is mean. Be aggressive in everything or be prepared to be run over.

If you want to get on the plane with any hopes of having overhead space to place your bag(s), wedge your way to the front of the line. If someone is kicking the back of your seat, turn around and tell them to stop or get a flight attendant. If you’ve been directed to a security line that is really long, look for a shorter one and cut over to it. No one is going to spare you any unnecessary courtesy. Most are like me, who fly every week of the year and will take any advantage possible to get through the maze of lines and checkpoints faster. Most us aren’t going on vacation or having an adventure. We’re working and want to get through the system as fast as possible.

If you want a can of Coke and a cup of coffee and another bag of pretzels; ask for them. Flight attendants are trained 70% safety, 20% security, and 10% hospitality. They really don’t care how many complimentary bags of nuts they hand out. Just ask. If they say no, punch them. They love that.

8. If you are traveling for an emergency (funeral, health concern, etc), call the airline directly and ask them for their reduced emergency fare

When my grandma died this past year, she was to be buried less than 48 hours after dying. This kind of radically-quick burial, make it very difficult for people who live on the other side of country to get to the funeral home before the person is buried. As a result, the round trip, less-than-24-hour-notice tickets from Denver to Grand Rapids were nearly $1000.00 for the two of us. This isn’t a trivial amount of money. I ended up calling the airlines and asking if they had any specials for people who were traveling for funerals, etc. They confirmed that yes, there were. We had to provide them with the name of the mortuary and funeral director, complete with telephone number. In the end, however, we ended up getting the same tickets for $300.00 total; a significant drop. Keep it mind.

9. Book in advance, but not too far in advance.

If you can avoid traveling on Saturday and if you can purchase your ticket 2-3 weeks before the flight, your tickets will be significantly less. In addition, there is much more availability in seating. You should be able to avoid the dreaded B and E seats.

However, if you book a month or more earlier, there is a good chance the flight you want will be canceled or have its details changed. If you can avoid booking that far in advance, do it. If not, ask the reservationist if the flight is a daily commuter flight. If so, it should still be there when you try to take it.

10. If you need/want something, butter up the counter agent.

“Hey, I have a question for you.”

“Shoot.”

“How much would I have to pay you to get this plane to arrive early?

“Hahaha… you.”

“But seriously, I need anything other than a center seat. I’m sure a charming/intelligent/green person like yourself could do this for me.”

“Hhahaha… you. Here you go!”

And so forth. It’s amazing what these attendants can do, if willing. They have the power to change anyone’s seat, get you on a flight, and bump you up the standby line. It’s hardly ever what they can do. It’s always a matter of whether or not they want to. You have to make them want to.

They are supposed to use their powers to help people with a high standing in their frequent flier program (Premier, Premier Executive, 1K, Gold Alliance, etc) as they spend the most money with the airline, etc. However, I’ve gotten them to do things for me that they refused for the Gold Pass carrying curmudgeon in front of me because I said I feel sorry that they have to put up with those types of people. HAHAH!!! Bastard that I am. (see #7 again).

Curmudgeon: “I DEMAND that you get me on this flight!”
Attendant: “I’m sorry, sir. We’re completely booked.”
Curmudgeon: “Do you see this?” He shoves his Gold Pass in the dude’s face.
Attendant: “Yep. There it is. In my face.”
Curmudgeon: “This mean I can get you fired!!!”
Attendant: “I’m sorry, sir. We’re completel-“
Curmudgeon: “Nevermind!”
Me: “Damn. What an asshole.”
Attendant: “Can I help you sir?”
Me: “Are people with those cards always like that?”
Attendant: “Sometimes.”
Me: “It must take some amazing patience to deal with them.”
Attendant: “Sometimes.”
Me: “Look, I need to get on this flight, but I heard what you said to that guy…”
Attendant: “I’ll see what I can do.”

BOO YAH!!!

Have Job, Will Travel

Hey everybody! It's been a long time since I've posted. I think the longest time since we started the blog. All the excuses are the same so I'm not going ot repeat them. In addition to the usual reasons I don't post I have a new one: Facebook. It's true. I've avoided the social-networking site the same way I've avoided all of the other fads on the internet (like photo-sharing and blogging...). I really dig it. It's easy to keep in touch with people and all that, but the thing I really like about it is that people don't have anything to maintain. With this blog, Mandy and I have to always be posting to remind people it exists. If we don't, people rightly stop dropping by. After we start up again, slowly people start checking it again. With Facebook, everyone you have connected with is a potential source of communication. So, even if 99% of the connections don't generate anything new, odds are 1% will and that'll be enough to keep you coming back.

I'm not writing this because I'm going to stop posting to the blog, I just write it to say if you're reading this, and want to stay in closer communiacation with us (other than email, telephone, or in person), Facebook is probably the most consistant way to do it.

----

During my junior year of university life I had to take a class called “Script Writing 101.” I had taken several writing classes, but never anything directly related to the creation of stories for cinema. I can only remember the teacher’s first name, Gretchen, because she worked with friend of mine at the local public access station. She was a nice lady and an apt teacher, though I haven’t thought of her in more than four years.

For our final project, we had choose between writing a script for a short film or the first act of a three-act movie. Being more of a “concept” person, and less of “completing anything I start” person, I decided to go with first act of a full film approach. Further, I had learned that we could do an adaptation, if we so desired. So, not only did I not have to write an entire script, with beginning, middle, and end, I could just crib the idea from someone who is generally regarded as person who has them. I immediately thought of Walter Kirn’s glorious book “Up in the Air.”

The novel “Up in the Air” concerns the life of one Ryan Bingam, a man who literally lives on airplanes. He refers to the netherworld of airports, rental cars, and hotels as “Airworld” a kind of no-man’s-land where marketing ideals and the American Dream actually exist. He claims that there is nothing better than smoking a Marlborough cigarette on the back of a horse or drinking a Coke in a cheesy 50s dinner. It gives one the feeling that they are moving with the right forces.

You can call me Ryan Bingam. Not in the literally sense, of course. I have a residence, a loving wife, a slobbering dog, and two deranged, increasingly feral cats. Unlike Ryan, I really do like my job, my coworkers, and my life. The main thing we two have in common, is we both spend significant amounts of time in Airworld. I wouldn’t go so far as calling it home the way he does, but I am a frequent visitor and have a green card.

I started working for Global one year ago today. Much has changed in that year, both in terms of the logistics of my life, and how I have changed due to my circumstances. Sympathy doesn’t suit this kind of a post. I don’t write any of this to illicit an emotional response. My life is the sum of my personal decisions, for which I take full responsibility. There is no unseen power forcing my hand in any of my choices. I firmly believe that if we like or don’t like an aspect of our own lives, we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Here are some statistics to get us started. I am only including trip I have documentation for. I’m sure the numbers are a bit higher, but I’m hoping err on the conservative side:

Over the course of the past year, I have been on 81 documented flights.

I have changed at least one time zone on all but four flights.

Six of the flights have across the Atlantic Ocean, and one has been across the North Sea (between Norway and Ireland)

Average flight time: 3 hours

Average number of flights per trip: 2.7

Total amount of time gone on business (not including working Denver): 30% of the year (or 3 out of every ten days).

Here is a link to all of the sites I have visited, a little information on each site, and the number of times they have been visited. LINK

If I may, that’s a shit-load of traveling. Prior to this year, my average annual flights were somewhere around 2-3flights. Total. In effect, I have been on 27 times more flights this year, than any year previous.

When I took the job, I was told, in no uncertain terms, that travel would be required. After asking if I was comfortable with air travel (to which I lied in response, saying “Of course I’m comfortable with it!”), I was asked if was married.

I said, “Yes.”

The owner looked away for a bit and asked, “Happily married?”

I said, “Yes, extremely.”

He sighed.

“How long?”

“Have I been married? About a year and a half.”

Again, the sigh. “Did I mention there is travel involved?” He said with a wry, British smile.

My next post will be “Lessons Learned from being on 81 Flights in a Year”

The next will be, “How my life has Changed as a Result”

Stay tuned for some tips!

Bootcamp pt 8

I almost skipped bootcamp today. I was so tired and the bed was so warm. Alas, I did not give in and got up. Here is what we did:

1 Mile (9min)
15 reps 2 times through

• Squat to shoulder press on upside down Bosu ball
• Rear foot on Bosu lunge w/bicep curl
• Forward food on Bosu lunge w/lat raise
• Bosu hip extensions
• Upside down Bosu push up w/Brazilian crunch
• Chest press on Bosu ball
• Bosu knee dip crunches
• Bent over row standing on Bosu ball

At the end we were supposed to "save time for a 10 min mile." I got on the treadmill and felt pretty good, so I decided to run at 9:13. At about 1/4 mile Tim came around and started increasing our incline- from 0 to 2. Although difficult, I felt that I could still handle it. It wasn't until he went from 2 to 4 that I felt that I was going to die (not in the literal sense of course). I moved the pace to 9:45 just to keep up. I did have to step off the treadmill for 10 seconds, but I got back on and finished. He waited almost another 1/4 mile before taking off all of the incline. Needless to say, I was really tired when it was all over.