Where I Grew Up

Ever wanted to know the boundaries of your zip code? Go here and find out. It's a neat little application that combines census data and the Google Maps interface to build you an outline of your zip code.

I think it is kind of interesting to see how larger cities are divided up into their zip code areas. I was always confused by some of the zip code shenanigans in Rochester and St. Cloud. I had a hard time remember which part of town was supposed to be which zip code, but now I can just get a visual reminder.

The picture here is an outline of my hometown, Waltham, MN. You see the bump out all the way on the left of the outline? That's the area where I grew up. Kind of interesting to see all of the area my youthful zip code encompassed.

Also, you can switch to the Google Earth view and get a picture of the actual area and overlay the boudaries so that you can see it in a different way (besides the road outlines). I'm constantly amazed by the different applications that people come up with for using Google Earth and Google Maps.

Stupid Half Assed Compatibility

Thank you Microsoft for following through on your promise of backwards compatibility on the Xbox 360 with the original Xbox games. I know that not everything from the Xbox is going to be playable on the 360, and there's a list that shows you what games are supposed to work, but I just wish MS would dedicate more resources to getting more original Xbox games to work on the 360.

I picked up Blitz: The League so that I'd have a fun, no rules, beat the hell out of each other multiplayer game to play when my brother Ryan would come visit and for when I get moved in with the guys here in a little over a week. I remember playing the original Blitz (at least the original Dreamcast version) with my brothers so often that I'm surprised we didn't burn out the Dreamcast on that game.

When Blitz changed over to trying to be a serious, simulation style game, I gave up on it, but once I found out that it was going back to its roots and read a few glowing reviews, I knew I had to have it. But I can't play it because Microsoft hasn't updated the 360 software to emulate it yet. Sucktasm. Call me unhappy. Go get to work on making my games run, you bunch of sad sacks!

Oprahsaurus

This makes me laugh.

Food Overload

So... much... eating... it's really one of the few problems that I have with business trips that I actually enjoy having. I've been in Chicago (and am still there) on business and my stomach is seriously reaching its processing limits. When you are visiting a town, you don't really have food you brought with you to whip up at your hotel room, and co-workers / clients always want to go out while you're in town, so you get filled up with tons and tons of quite wonderful food.

Of note, I went to the China Grill last night and was extremely impressed. The food was wonderfully exquisite, plentiful, and colorful. I think it might be one of the nicest restaurants I've been to, partially because there is nothing of the same calibre in Rochester and on the paltry salary that Kingland was paying me, I could not afford to go to any place as nice as the China Grill. Although, truth be told, I still don't think I could afford the China Grill and places of its ilk, but then again I'm going out to eat on business with co-workers that are much higher up the command chain, so I couldn't say no (that, and I think the company picked up the tab... I hope).

Now tonight for supper I ordered some yummy yummy Chicago styled pizza to my hotel room to eat while I do some document revisions for work. That's the other thing about business meetings--it's nice to meet with people and get objectives, project plans, schedules, and other things in line in person, but you end up getting so behind on the other work you have to do (and I have no shortage of things on my plate right now).

I'm going to be putting in more than a few extra miles the end of this week and weekend when I get back home to offset all of the food intake from this half of the week. But it sure as heck is nice to get to experience all the different restaurants and styles of cuisine while in town since it doesn't happen all that often.

And I Thought I Wanted One Badly

How often have you said, "Man, I'd totally kill for that!" or something akin to it? I know I've done it on occassion. Heck, I probably said it when the Xbox 360 came out and I wanted one so bad, but the entire town of Rochester was sold out. Never did I imagine that people would actually kill for an Xbox. And from the story, it looks like the murderers were killing for a run of the mill Xbox, not the new hot commodity 360.

The story sounds more like something you'd find over at Pointless Waste of Time or on the Onion, but it is not satirical fiction. It's freakin' reality. What the hell has this world come to where four grown men will kill six women in order to get back an Xbox that, in all likelihood, is worth like $150 tops (you can buy a used Xbox for $130). I really can't fathom what in God's name was running through those guys' heads. I'm sure the conversation went something like this:

Victorino: Hey dudes, those beyotches totally have my Xbox and I needs my Halo fix NOW!

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: How'd the girls get it? Didn't you remember to grab it when you were bringing your stuff here?

Victorino: Man, I was working on reaching level 22 in the Rumble Pit ladder. This time away is going to knock me down. Dammit, I need to play!

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: So... how about we stop by there tonight and pick it up?

Victorino: Those idiot girls piss me off so much, man. Why they gotta be doin' this when they know I'll lose my guild spot. Dammit!

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: All right, tell you what, you don't even have to go over there. I'll just pick it up myself and you can wait here. Cool? I'll just go over there.

Victorino: God, I could kill for some Halo right now... wait, did you say go over there and kill the girls so we can steal my Xbox back?

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: What? No way, dude. Stop being dumb. I'm going to go pick it up myself. You don't even have to come. And what's this with killing?

Victorino: You're right! Cannon, Salas, grab some bats. It's time we go kill some chicks in the name of Halo!

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: What the hell? You are being ridiculous... oh, you grabbed my bat for me already? That was nice of you. Well, what the hell...

Victorino: That's the spirit. For Halo!!!

Cannon and Salas: HALO!!!

Hunter: For Halo!!!

The Slow Decline Starts Already?

If you could smell things via the internet, which I'm sure we'll be able to do soon enough, right now you'd be graced with the heavenly odor of my sweaty, slimy body. With the weather as nice as it's been the last week or two, I've been putting in runs outdoors as often as I can. Partially because of the warming temperatures and also partially because I want to whip my sorry ass back into road race shape.

Before winter set in, I was running the hilly routes of the Rochester neighborhood I live in with ease. Three miles with half of it hill work? No problem. I'd finish my run, stretch the light burning out of my calves, and do my calisthenics. I was a well oiled machine.

Over winter I ran just about as much, but it was all treadmill work. To offset that, I did get more actual weight lifting in, but that was more used for toning up my upper body. The running I used to keep fat off and my bottom half modestly slender. I realize that sounds pretty feminine, so don't even point it out or I'll beat you to within inches of your life.

With a couple of weeks of outdoor hill running under my belt, I still come in from each run tired out with tight calves and thighs that feel like boulders. It's never taken me this long to adjust to my outdoor running routine before. It was only less than a month ago that I turned 25 so I wouldn't think it was my simply getting too old to perform like I used to. Heck, I hope I have at least another strong 10 years of athleticism in me. There's no way that I'm giving up on pushing myself to be better than the day before.

So what the hell is it? Why am I not handling my running as easily as before? This needs to get figured out fast before race season starts. There's going to be a boat load of races in the Twin Cities this summer and I want to be able to at least finish them in the middle of the pack. There's got to be something I'm doing wrong or screwing up because I refuse to believe it has anything to do with age.

The Future is Here

I don't know where Dave found it, but here's a video of some dude who went sky diving with turbine engines strapped to his feet so that he could fly through the air like a plane. How long will it be until a modified version of these boot engines is created that will allow a person to, essentially, fly from place to place if given a proper take off? Heck, this could be a whole new fad for all the extreme risk takers that love bungie jumping, sky diving, base jumping, and all that crazy stuff. You wouldn't catch me dead doing this, but is sure looks interesting.

This is Why Teachers Aren't Paid More

So a teacher lost part of his hand and got some shrapnel in him after a bullet exploded in his hand as he was teaching class. There are so many things wrong with the whole situation that I don't even know where I should begin.

First, who the hell keeps live ammo sitting around on his or her desk? Sure, he might have found it on a hunting trip and "thought" it wasn't live, but how could it not be live if the shell still had the bullet on the top of it fully intact? He's a hunter, from what the story says, so he should know that when a bullet is still, you know, attached to the shell then there is probably a good chance the gunpowder is still inside the shell, making the piece of ammo live.

Second, he's a teacher. Why would he even have supposedly inactive ammunition in his classroom? The last thing our schools need is teachers having paraphernalia lying around that reminds kids that tools of violence aren't that far out of reach. Let's not have any focus on violent items in school by the staff, ok? Please... just for me? We really don't need any more school violence incidents than are already happening.

Third, what in name of Charleton Heston is this teacher doing trying to squash a bug with a piece of ammunition? What causes a bullet to fire again? Oh yeah, an impact to the flat end of the shell opposite the slug. Sure it's usually done with a small firing pin, but with enough force why wouldn't the shell be able to be set off by any run of the mill village idiot?

There is no wonder our kids are not getting proper educations with ass clowns like this guy teaching them. I'm sure that while he was exploding his hands he was informing the children that dinosaur bones were actually Jesus horses and that the four basic elements found in nature are fire, water, earth, and wood. Moron.

Changes

It's only been my third day on the job and I've already noticed a few big differences that I will have to get used to as time goes on. They aren't necessarily bad differences, just things that I didn't have to deal with at my previous employer.

The one big change that I'm getting used to quickly, mainly because it's the nature of the team I'm on and it's our best form of communication, is the amount of time I have to spend on the phone. In the past I didn't have to used the phone that often since the majority of the members of my team were in my office, but at this job my team is pretty virual. We are all operating out of different cities across the US and we also have to communicate with people overseas, so the phone is constantly up to my ear.

I've never been a big phone fan in general as I like to talk to people in person when communicating, but often it isn't the easiest route to take. Outside of my job, my personal life even requires a lot more phone use than I like. I'm still 175 miles away from Kristin. My parents are 40 miles away and I only see them maybe once a week. Some of my other friends I predominantly use IM to keep in contact, but often the phone is a necessary evil.

Another change I'm trying to wrap my head around is the sheer number of people I will be working with both internally within the company I am at and with one of our data/application providers. I've been used to having a list of contacts no longer than about 10-15 for which I would need to keep in contact with. As it is now, I'm already becoming overwhelmed with names thrown around here and there, the parts of the project they are attached to, and what I should contact them about. It's kind of hectic, but I'm sure part of it is because I'm only 3 days in.

Lastly, I'm learning to take on responsibility for more facets of the project than I had previously. At my previous job I would focus very heavily on one aspect of a project and dedicate myself to it while now a good part of my time is used to act in an advisory role to many different little projects dealing with multiple portions of the project I am involved with. It's great being a resource that so many people can turn to, but a little daunting as well, and could potentially be overwhelming.

As it stands, though, I'm liking my new position, which is great. Then again, I'm still in the honeymoon phase of work, so ask me again in a couple of months what I think and it might be different, but I hope it's not.

Jumping Right On In

Man, right off the bat there hasn't been a shortage of work to do. I've jumped right in here at my new job and already have had plenty to do today and yesterday and for the next couple of weeks I've had a nice, big project put on me. Most jobs ease you in, but since I'm already quite experienced in the realm of what I'm doing for my new employer, I've been tossed head first into the fray.

Now I'm not really complaining about it too much because it really makes me feel useful, but it also makes me wonder if I shouldn't have taken a week or two off between jobs instead of starting up right away at my new position. It would have been nice to have had a week or two to do nothing, but with the couple of sick days I took last week and the week before, I at least got a little bit of time to slow down.

It's going to be interesting to see what my hours are going to be like going forward (side note: 3 occurences of the word "going" in one sentence... whew!). Since I'm working with people internationallly there might be some weird hours I have to put in. The first example is tomorrow when I'll be on a teleconference starting at 8:30 pm.

Regardless, I'm happy to be at my new job and I think, even though it'll be tougher than my last job, I'll feel a lot more validated, needed, appreciated, and personally satisfied. Let's rock n' roll!