The View from 58-inches High

I’m feeling remarkably productive today. I woke up early without an alarm and I’m coming hot off a great ride and getting a number of my Christmas cards done. While I could be taking on some long, slogging, difficult projects at work, I’m going to take a few moments to cross a ton of little things off my list. It just feels so good to make those check-marks.

So, when I find something cool at work, I usually just hide it away in a separate firefox group. That way it doesn’t weigh down my current view with too many tabs but I still have access to it in case I want to show somebody later. Well it’s time to close those tabs and, subsequently, share this awesomeness with all my loyal readers (that would be none as I have done a piss-poor job of defining this blog). So, without further adieu, stuff I like.
Interesting Stuff

• My trip into West Nile purgatory – I didn’t make a big deal about it, but back in late August I had west nile fever. No, not the neuroinvasive thing that turns people into vegetables just the worst fatique/fever/headache combination ever. I was out of work for a whole week and was barely functional during that time. The worst part was the lingering fatigue. I could not get over how tired I was all the time, for almost two months. For somebody as fit as myself, this was unheard of. It was impossible for me to explain to coworkers, who are used to me having more energy than their 8-yearold sons, that I could barely stay awake for 8-hours. Finally, I found this article and felt some peace that I wasn’t crazy.
  
• A Very European Breakup – A really funny video with a number of innuendos to the debt crisis in Greece.
• It’s a Small World animation – A silly animation that allows to to scroll and zoom through a 2-deminsional world. Along the way, there are all kinds of hidden nods to my  generation (starwars, mario brothers, and hitchhikers guide)

Everything that’s been going on that just doesn’t fit into it’s own post. I’ll use this space to include links to interesting reads, miscellaneous photos, puppy stories, and anything going on that just didn’t fit anywhere else. I might even include some of the more interesting Google searches that brought people to my site.

This Weeks Posts:

Saturday: Zebras, Hot Air Balloons, and Hippos. Ohh My!
Sunday: Pinterest

Interesting Reads

• A battle with my brian – For any athlete who’s ever been injured you know what this feels like.
  

Other Happenings:
Stuff that just didn’t fit anywhere else. AKA, the kitchen-sink section.

Everything that’s been going on that just doesn’t fit into it’s own post. I’ll use this space to include links to interesting reads, miscellaneous photos, puppy stories, and anything going on that just didn’t fit anywhere else. I might even include some of the more interesting Google searches that brought people to my site.

This Weeks Posts:

Thursday: The Close to Another Season
Saturday: Hills or Hills
Sunday: Sarah’s Key – Tatiana De Rosnay

Interesting Reads

• A good TrainingPeaks article about the affects of over training – Sometimes it feels like this topic is overdone but every time the off-season rolls around I find I need a refresher again.
• Really cute ideas for picnic food in mason jars – I love this idea right now. The weather is beautiful and I’m overworked so this is what
  I’m thinking about.

Other Happenings:
Stuff that just didn’t fit anywhere else. AKA, the kitchen-sink section.

Everything that’s been going on that just doesn’t fit into it’s own post. I’ll use this space to include links to interesting reads, miscellaneous photos, puppy stories, and anything going on that just didn’t fit anywhere else. I might even include some of the more interesting Google searches that brought people to my site.

This Weeks Posts:

Tuesday: The Pillars of the Earth – Ken Follett

Interesting Reads

•  How to Read Unemployment Reports – An excellent tutorial on some of the mistakes people make when trying to understand unemployment data. 

• What Your Coach Really Wants to Know … – Having been coached, I can tell you how difficult this is. You want to do every workout to perfection and never want to admit when things aren’t going well or you’re not feeling well. You’re paying your coach (usually a large sum of money) to help you achieve your best. That’s a very individual thing and if you’re not being honest then you’re not getting your monies worth. 

Other Happenings:
Stuff that just didn’t fit anywhere else. AKA, the kitchen-sink section.

Everything that’s been going on that just doesn’t fit into it’s own post. I’ll use this space to include links to interesting reads, miscellaneous photos, puppy stories, and anything going on that just didn’t fit anywhere else. I might even include some of the more interesting Google searches that brought people to my site.

This Weeks Posts:

Not much going on this week

Other Happenings:
Stuff that just didn’t fit anywhere else. AKA, the kitchen-sink section.

The big happening this week is the breakthrough my made with my ucode at work. I know this isn’t of much interest to most people but getting this done meant real honest to God sleep and much less time at work. It was a huge relief also because my in-laws drove in from PA and arrived on Thursday and this week I’m attending a two day symposium for work. It seems that just as quickly as I had free time it was gone again.

Last week we also got word that somebody is poaching dear in our neighborhood. One of our neighbors woke up to find a field-dressed deer in their front yard. After a few calls to the game warden, it was determined that the deer had fresh gunshot wounds and had been killed and dressed in the neighborhood. Many of us had heard gunshots before but didn’t think much of it since there is so much land behind our neighborhood. I don’t think it occurred to any of us that anybody would be using high-powered deer rifles so close to a community. We’re still not sure how the deer got into her yard but their appear to be drag marks so maybe an animal got a hold of it.

Everything that’s been going on that just doesn’t fit into it’s own post. I’ll use this space to include links to interesting reads, miscellaneous photos, puppy stories, and anything going on that just didn’t fit anywhere else. I might even include some of the more interesting Google searches that brought people to my site.

This Weeks Posts:

Saturday: World War Z by Max Brooks
Saturday: It’s My Birthday

Other Happenings:
Stuff that just didn’t fit anywhere else. AKA, the kitchen-sink section.

Monday we finally got a slight cold front and the temperatures dropped to the upper 60’s at night. I let the dogs out in the morning, in the pitch black, just like always. I had the spots on which gave me a little light. The dogs ran out to their usual spots in the natural areas and I started walking towards them to herd them back inside. I was about 6-feet out from the patio when I saw something under my step. I don’t know how I didn’t step on it or scream my head off when I saw it. Turns out I had somehow stumbled on a baby western dimondback rattlesnake.

My biggest concern was that the dogs would get bit on their way back to the porch to go inside. I walked around the edge of the house and opened up the garage. By the tried to move quickly but also wanted to watch every step. By the time I got back to the back of the house the dogs were at the porch already and were now moving to meet me at the garage. I was so mad at myself for putting them in danger again but they both made it inside safe and sound. I spent the next 5 minutes contemplating whether I should wake up Brian. I’d never killed a snake before and there was no way my first one was going to be in the dark alone. In the end I decided not to wake up Brian because I thought chances were I was over reacting and Brian is no morning person. Over the next two days, we got multiple updates from neighbors about baby snakes being killed by cats. So we spent the rest of the week  being very creative with how/when we let the dogs out.