Where Chester Lives

Here I sit, watching the Astros-Padres game on ESPN2. And I'm blogging. For those keeping score, it's 3-0 Padres in the bottom of the 6th. Two outs, bases loaded with the Padres at the plate. Exciting stuff. WOW. Center fielder for the Astros just chased down a drive that I thought wasn't catchable. Good play to get out of a jam.

Chili is curled up next to me, having his "chair time." He does this every night that I watch TV...which is every night for an hour or so.

Speaking of sports, who would have thunk that the Final Four would be all number 1 seeds? I haven't looked it up, but I don't think that happens very much. I picked UCLA, but I don't think they can beat Memphis. If I could change my bracket, I would pick Memphis right now. That team is incredible.

In related news, read this great rant on the tournament the other day. I couldn't agree more.

Game UPDATE: Bottom of the 7th, still 3-0 Padres. Isn't technology fantastic?

Okay...so my riding schedule has picked up again. In no small part due to this purchase. That's right...I finally bought a replacement for my old Marin. In all honesty, the Marin was a great bike. I put many miles on it, and the price was certainly right. But ever since I started logging more serious road miles, I have noticed the weight penalty I have been paying, as well as the not-very-smooth entry level drivetrain action. Shifting to the granny under any kind of power was undoable. I test-rode several bikes, including Trek, Specialized, Guru, Fuji, Felt, Calfee, Cannondale, Orbea...the list goes on. I finally chose the Scott. The biggest selling points on the Scott was the fit and the wheel spec. PLUS my local bike shop gave me an awesome deal. I feel very comfortable on this bike...I have no problem diving it into corners, and going downhill at speed is nowhere near as scary as it was on the Marin. I now keep track of my rides on an online cycling log. This helps alot.

Game UPDATE: 4-0 Padres heading into the 8th. now watching a McDonald's commercial that features a bronze Gremlin.

I wrapped up a campus-wide wireless install this evening at my church. I'll be setting up a guest wireless network on it later this week. It's been fun, but I'm glad that it's wrapping up. I've been dragging this out, and I want to get it complete and off my plate. I still have to setup a local calendar sharing server. Any of you techies out there that have done this before, let me know what you have used. Preferred cost is free, and I am loathe to do an Exchange install to support 5 people. That seems a bit much.

Okay...that's enough for now. I hope your happy, Haley. I'm going to watch the game now. Or maybe Dirty Jobs. I think it's a new one tonight.

Let's pretend that the past 6 weeks hasn't happened, m'kay?

An insight into how my brain works (as if you wanted that):

1. I think about a blog entry. Honestly, I do. I think, "Coy, you should blog. it's good for you and your reader will stop bugging you about a new blog entry." I make a commitment to do it later that day.
2. Later that day comes. I think I would rather watch Dirty Jobs. I conciously make the decision to do it tomorrow.
3. Tomorrow comes. I promptly forget.
4. A week goes by. This is when I start feeling guilty, and think I should really do this. However, it's become such a mountain in my mind that I'm far more comfortable ignoring it completely. Besides, Mythbusters is on.
5. A month goes by. It's at this point that I realize I am a spectacular failure at blogging, and decide to do an entry anyway.
6. Hence, today's entry.

The Job

March 10th marks three months with WatchGuard. I fully realize that I am still in honeymoon stage with this job, but I really love it, nonetheless. I enjoy meeting new people; I enjoy talking about technology; I enjoy helping them solve their problems. I am getting better at this whole Sales Engineer thing, I think. The biggest hurdle for me is time management. I know I recommended this great book, and the concepts in that book help tremendously. However, now that I travel some, managing all the other aspects of my life become more important. I have let things slip (like blogging) that I should be doing. That isn't good, and is a habit I need to break. Otherwise, I feel like I am doing my job well and that I am contributing to the success of the company.

Dad-hood

Next week my oldest daughter turns 14. FOURTEEN. This is incredible to think about. She has become this lovely person, with unique individuality and a growing spirit. There are things about this stage of dad-hood that is a little intimidating, but my excitement overshadows that. You hear every parent say, "They grow up so fast." And when you hear this, you shake your head and think, "Can't you be more original in thought?" Ah, but here's the thing. This revelation is absolutely unique for everyone, in that the words do not capture the feeling. Therefore, every parent says it, because you cannot fathom it until it is experienced. And we HAVE to say it, because it is the only words we know that can come close to describing even the blurry reflection of what we are experiencing. Never mind the actual feeling. Words fail completely.

Stuff

We got the car. It is very nice to have a back seat that actual adults can sit comfortably. Also, the back-up camera is very cool.

I've put on too much weight again. Last battle with the scale left me a bruised and battered 229. I went for a run yesterday with my co-worker. First time I've done that since boot camp, really. Yowsa, am I sore. I will get back on my bike tomorrow, and start trying to run when I'm on the road. It's easy to get in 30 minutes of good exercise when you are running. I should probably stop eating garbage, too (eyeing the empty Pepsi bottle next to my laptop). I'm bad at the diet thing. BAD. More veggies, less junk. More veggies, less junk. More veggies, less junk.

That's all I have for now. More later...as long as nothing good is on TV.