I did it again!

I once again finished the Silverton Alpine Marathon. 26.2 "Mountain" miles and 3800 Ft of high elevation climbing.

I finished in 5:06:33, 2 minutes slower than last year. I came in 16th of 41 finishers.

I would like to write up a whole story about it but I dont have the time right now. I am on my lunch break and just wanted to get something up to let people know I made it. Hopefully soon I will have some more to tell.

I suck... I know

So I still get people that come to me and say "why havent you posted more?" or "come on man update already!"

Anyway Im sorry, I just am really busy these days. I used to write these in spare time at work, when I was trying to clear my mind from the bug I was working on. But at my new job that doesnt happen anymore?!?! I dont even have time to check my email, much less time to write a decent blog post. I really do want to keep this going, and again Im sorry. I will keep trying.

The only thing I can say right now is the marathon is on Saturday in Silverton and if anyone is nearby and wants to join the finishing celebration please come up and watch!

So there are still people here...

I know I know... Its been awhile.

I don't know why but I just am not all the motivated to write lately.

It is good to see that some people still show up here. I still get the occational "why haven't you updated your blog?" and I honestly cant answer that. Oh well, I guess I try.

General Life update:

I am working again. The company is call Magpie Telecom Insiders. I am having a lot of fun because they operate in a very modern way for development called "Extreme Programming" (sounds cool huh). We work together in pairs on projects instead of one person on one project, basically every one of us will touch every part of the project and be working with someone who knows that part very well. That makes the overall knowledge of the system much better and easier to work with.

Basically we are writing software for a STB (Set top box) to be used for streaming television over the internet. It looks a lot like your digital cable box except that it is all over the internet instead of over the cable system. Pretty cool.

I am really excited to have my own computer again, I finally got it and it is exactly what I want. I have it dual OS's on it, Ubuntu Linux and Windows XP. So far I like Linux a lot but I still am not ready to make the leap completely. Right now it is Linux for work and Windows for personal stuff (Games mostly, finance software, Watching DVD's)

I am training again for the Marathon On August 26th. I'm in much better shape than I was last year but I have not been training as much as I was. We will see how it goes.

My roommate Kristen is moving out today, I will miss her being around. I may have complained from time to time about her but nothing huge. She is headed to grad school for architecture. Good Luck Kristen!

So that's what I've got now, I have a lot I should have written about but part of my failure with the blog is I failed to follow Erickson rule #43: It is Easier to keep up than to catch up. So, I'm going to cheat and call myself caught up and maybe Ill be able to keep up from now on.

Dude Im gettin a Dell... twice...

A new computer... something that I have not had in many years. When I started my last job they gave me a sweet laptop to use. Soon afterward my last working personal computer died. At that point the laptop became my only computer. When I was laid off they took my computer back. I offered to buy it from them but they never got back to me (imagine that?!) I then had to get used to my roomates fairly old system, It barely can handle what I throw at it. The moment I knew I had a job I immediatly went out and purchased a new Dell Laptop. Sweet system but one of the major things I wanted was Dells UltraSharp monitor. It is one of the best looking and highest resolution screens out there. So this was what I got:

"17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen WXGA+ Notebook Screen"

When I got the computer last night i was really kind of dissapointed about the quality of the screen. I had the Ultrasharp on my last Dell and it looked way better than this and it was a smaller screen. Anyway, after hours of talking with Dell on the phone today I (not them) found the discrepancy. This is what I was supposed to be looking for:

"17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA"

Now, truelife is just a coating on the screen so I didnt much care about that my last system didnt have it. Also the only other option that I ever saw was:

"17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Notebook Screen"

I had been watching the Dell outlet for a few weeks because the systems there are always changing (I would check 2-3 times a day) and since you have to take what you get, you cant configure anything I was waiting for the right one. The Ultrasharp monitor was rare to show up on the list, much less one with all the right other components (Ram, HD, Processor, ect...) When I sat this system show up I jumped on it. (good systems only last 5-10 min on the list). Givin that the W in WUXGA means widescreen I assumed that the U meant UltraSharp, therfore the only thing I was looking for was the word UltraSharp. Turns out I was wrong. Not only does the U not mean Ultrasharp, but UltraSharp is just a product name. Its the U in WUXGA that means what I want.

Anyway, I spend most of today trying to figure out what went wrong. Finally after many hours on hold and at least 6 different Dell representatives I endend up placing a whole new order for a new system to be built to my specs with every piece of hardware I want at slightly less than what I paid for the referbished one in the first place (almost $800 off retail.) Also, Ill a full refund of the original price when they recieve this one.

Erickson Rule #256:
When you know exaclty what you really want never compromise, it will lead to regrets later.

I knew exactly what I wanted but because of the limited availability of good deals on the outlet site I acted quickly and didnt look in between the letters. Anyway I am glad Dell worked with me to resolve my problem, although i did feel a little bit like a hot potato.

P.S. You can hear about Erickson Rules #0-255 by growing up with my father. Rules #256 and on can be learned by watching me come up with them in my new book I call, Erickson Rules Version 2: 16Bits ;-)

A new Start

Its Monday morning, and for the first time in months I am on my way to work. It is just a temperary contract thru the end of september but it is something. I will be doing some coding for an IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) device in Russian. Sounds fun huh?

Obvously I did not get the job with Microsoft (Im not sure I really wanted it anyway) but the trip to Seattle was fun. Got to see some old friends and the whole trip was paid for my MS!

I finally ordered a new computer the other day, It should be here in a few more days, I am WAY excited so let me geek out for a second.

The Specs:
Dell Inspiron E1705
17.1" Widscreen Ultrasharp WUXGA+ Monotor
Core Duo 2400 (1.83Ghz, 667Mhz FSB)
2GB 667Mhz Ram
100GB 7200RPM HD
256MB ATI Radion Mobility X1400
8X CD/DVD-RW
Windows Vista Beta 2 (will install when I get the system)

and I got a KILLER deal on it too. Saved $900 by using the Dell outlet, Look into it if you need a new computer soon...

Well Thats all the time I have for now. Hopefully now that I have something to do during the day I will be a bit more motiviated to keep this up.

Its good to be back...

Done

I have changed servers and everything seems to be up an running.

I am headed to Seattle in the morning for my final interview ithe Microsoft. Wish me luck.

Changes

I have changed my hosting server so this site may go up and down in the next few days.

I will be back soon, I Promice...