SPOYLD1

Saw someone with that license plate tonight. Why would you put something on your car that is basically saying something negative about you? I mean, I guess one could argue that "spoiled" isn't a negative thing...

Anyway, thought I'd get a post up tonight before the weekend hits, because there is a good chance I won't find any time. Why? Because we have big memorial weekend plans? Naw, nothing like that. It's Alterac Valley weekend in World of Warcraft! Bonus honor points, so I'll be doing that all weekend. I need about 25,000 honor points. If your lucky, you can get around 1,200 points per hour in Alterac Valley. That translates to about 20 hours I have to get in...

How was that for a paragraph you probably a) have no clue what I'm talking about and b) could absolutely care less?

In other news, someone at my work place has started an official company sponsored Running Club. I signed up mainly for the free wicking T-shirt. On top of that, they will be sponsoring up to 3 races a year! Considering some of those races can be as much as $40 dollars a pop, I saw that as a great way to get something I would have done anyway for free. We will probably have one sponsored event this year, so I might actually have one last competitive race to train for.

Now... to see if Megan will let me watch the Vikings game. So far, it doesn't look good. She's crying and yelling at me wondering why she can't watch her cartoon movies. It's football season Megan, there might be more of this!!

8 years

Where does the time go? I know I'm not the only person that feels like the older you get, the faster time seems to go by. Why is that? One person explained it to me this way: The older you get, every year is a smaller percentage of your life. I thought that was an interesting way of looking at it.

Today is mine and Andrea's 8 year anniversary! I felt kind of bad when I came home tonight to wish her happy anniversary, only to use the words "8 long years". I didn't mean to imply they have been long, but more to my own amazement that it has been 8 years already.

If I had to break down my life up into discrete parts, I would consider this the 5th act. Each act being separated by the major changes in my life. I'm pretty sure I can see act 6 coming. Maybe not soon, but it's definitely on the horizon. It's like your life has these decision points that are the major factor in what path the rest of your life will take.

When your younger, you don't quite realize you are at those major decision points. You just make them because you have to. As you get older, it seems like you finally start to realize the major choices and how much impact they really will have. There is no doubt in my mind that I wasn't fully aware of the impact Megan would have on my life, but I made the decision anyway. It was the best decision I ever made, and now I know with much more certainty what having another child would mean to me, my family, and really, the rest of my life.

At the same time, it kinda sucks when you realize that no matter how many experiences you have to draw from, hind sight will always be 20-20. And even when you think you are making the perfect decision, there is always a chance that when looking back, there will be something you wish you had done a little differently.

Budget for Happiness

It's been a long week, and at the same time, a short week. The memorial services for my Uncle Jeff on Tuesday were very well done. The only way to sum up the entire day is "All of the Above". It was sad, it was happy, it was strange, it was emotional. I saw some people who, in my mind have always been part of my "Family" but for various reasons, I hadn't seen in many many years. The saddest part for me was obviously seeing my Mother in so much pain. On top of that, just being sad that a funeral is the only thing that would bring us all together again.

The rest of the week was work work work. Couple of long nights, but I still managed to get 3 runs in. It takes a little more effort, but I can do it! One more run tomorrow morning and then a day of rest.

Andrea sent me a very interesting article at work this week. I really recommend reading it:

Here's how to budget for happiness

It basically says what I've been thinking for a long time. Happiness = Experiences. It's also a big part of why it is so easy for me to save money. I've never really got much "joy" out of material purchases. Sure, I have my big TV and my fancy computer, but that's really all I need. Here is the best line from the article:

So write down your values and goals, and ways to achieve them. The list will not only give you a road map for spending your money, but also spending your time.

How to spend your time... What have I been posting about again and again on my blog? How to spend your time... There in, lies the rub. If Happiness = Expierences, you need to know what experiences will make you happy. The article captures that:

When planning a vacation, for example, use the goals as a guide but choose specific experiences you enjoy. A trip to Europe to view famous building architecture is a fine vacation, but might be a mismatch for an avid hiker and nature lover.

So what am I a lover of? What specific experiences do I enjoy? If I can't even answer that, than how can I hope to plan a vacation that will be an worthwhile experience? It seems like the answer is you have to take a risk to try something new, and see if you enjoy it.

Our cruise trip is a perfect example of this. On paper, it sounded like a great time. The reality was that it wasn't exactly the experience I was looking for. I wouldn't ever do a cruise again, unless it was a cruise built around some other experience I might enjoy. (maybe some kind of phyiscally active exursions?)

I'm not quite sure, but I think I have a starting point. Now to just find those experiences I know I'll enjoy, maybe mixed in with a few risk at something new I might enjoy.

Grey Monday

I'd rather have the rain then the blazing heat. Still not the perfect weather, but a step in the right direction. Despite the fact that I got a bike ride in this weekend, I still didn't get use out of the bike rack on my car, which was sorta the whole point. Suppose I'll put that off yet again...

Megan seems to be getting taller by the minute. She still hasn't figured out how to climb over the DVD barracade, but it's coming. The latest is that she knows how to reach around to the back side of the downstairs gate and lift the release lever. Luckily it is pretty loud when she does this, so we can rush over.

I'm going to try and use the next 24 hours to forget about work and once again, focus on the important things in life. I'm remembering my attitude about my first job at Micron, and how it ultimately burned me out. The belief that *I* had to fix everything, and that EVERYTHING was my responsibility because there was no one else competent enough to get it done or do it right. I need to turn that off. I need to just go in, put my time in, and go home. It's very hard for me to turn it off, but if it doesn't happen, I can see myself getting burned out all over again.

In the meantime, enjoy some pictures of Megan.



Megan's future is so bright, she has to wear shades. (again!)


Just lounging around Sunday afternoon.

Runner Pretends to be Biker

I need to start my blog off on a more serious and sad note. You may remember that I mentioned my uncle, Jeff McMorrow, was going through cancer treatment. He passed away on Friday morning. I don't think I can even use the typical "lost his battle" with cancer, because honestly, it wasn't even a fair fight. It hit him very hard and fast. At least my family can find solace in the fact that he did not suffer long. Jeff, you will be greatly missed. And to my family, my deepest sympathies. Memorial Service information: 2 p.m. Tuesday, August 21, 2007 at Cremation Society of Minnesota, 4100 Grand Ave, Duluth with Rev. Bridget Strudwick officiating. Visitation 1 hr. prior to services.

This morning I had planned on going on a long bike ride. The weather made me rethink my plans, but at the last minute, I was invited to join a group of bikers. Our neighbors had invited us over for dinner, and the husband mentioned they were going out for a ride in the morning. I figured, sure sounds like fun. This way, if it did start raining, I would still be close to home.

Little did I know what I was getting myself into! We biked down to a meeting spot across from Walmart in Apple Valley. Everyone was on very decked out road bikes with the full gear, clothes, pedal clips everything. I got slightly worried... but figured, hey, I can run 12 miles for an hour and a half, I can handle this right?

WRONG.

The pace they were going was way above my abilities. Even drafting the back of the pack the entire time, I couldn't manage it. I was able to keep up for an hour, and then all of a sudden, I just looked up and I could hardly see the group. I tucked my tail in between my legs, turned around and headed home. Nothing like a little spanking to put you in your place.

On the plus side, it does go to show that if I do in fact want to do some kind of long bike ride event in my life (60 miles? 100 miles?) I obviously actually need to train for it. Just because I can run long distances doesn't mean I can bike long distances. Lesson learned, the hard way!

Terrible Tuesdays

The most annoying thing lately is how work is getting in the way of my exersize. Even getting stuck at work by 30 minutes puts me in a mood where I just can't bring myself to goto the gym, because it just means I'll end up delaying dinner and not have as much time at home. It's been happening a lot more recently, tonight I was at work until a whopping 5:20pm.

Now, I know a lot of people that work a lot longer hours then me. But I pride myself on maintaining the 40 hour work week, and not an hour more or less. I get paid for 40 hours a week, so I'm going to work 40 hours a week. Don't ask me to wear more pieces of flair.

The result of all this? Aside from my increased stress levels and growing desire for a screwdriver? A weight of 189 lbs. What's the big deal about that? I don't know, other then it bothers the crap out of me, and I'm not doing anything about it. The funny part is, it's not like there is any REAL difference between 189 and what I want to maintain, 180. Physically speaking, they are the same. Health wise, I'm sure it makes no difference. Yet I'm still so pissed off that I can't maintain the 180 weight.

So what to do? Do I completely give up calories due to my decreased exersize? Do I give up family and "me" time in order to get more exersize in? Do I try and change things around and exersize in the morning instead of at night? (historically, that has NEVER worked for me, so I'm not even sure I can consider that as an option) All I know is I need to change SOMETHING and everytime I resolve to do that, something happens to break down my resolve.

Too Hot Weekend

Let me start off by saying thank you to the people offering vacation spots. It's nice to know that if push came to shove and I needed to get away for awhile or risk going mental, I have a few options!

I'm sitting here with a massive headache, that's my own fault for not planning ahead. I went for a long run this morning and didn't take any Excedrin afterwards. We then proceeded on a road trip and an afternoon outside in the sun. It all compounded to give me quite the headache. Luckily, we are safe back home and the Excedrin is already kicking in. Man do I love that stuff.

Mostly stayed inside this weekend to escape the heat. I ended up not even leaving the house on Saturday! Some thunderstorms blew through on Friday night around 3am. It was the worst storms we've had in quite awhile. I don't think it was the sirens that woke me up, but the overall sounds of the storm kept me up for awhile. Very annoying, and caused me to be very tired the next morning. At least it was a bit cooler today, hopefully it will stay that way.

Today we made a quick trip down to Lafayette to goto a Church Picnic. It was nice, but I didn't realize Megan's grandparents would be working so hard. They got to see Megan a little bit, and when the heat started to get to us, we had to head home. I also got to see the new Bieraugel house being built... Maybe more on that later this week! Here are a pair of pictures from today:

Megan looking cool as we head out on our trip today.


Megan enjoying her first ever root beer float. Might have set the bar a little high having your first ever root beet float with 1919 Root Beer, straight from the keg.

Blogging from a distance

Tonight is a new first for the ol' blog. After over two years of blogging from the same place, I'm changing it up! I'm actually over at my brothers pad right now enjoying the movie Hot Fuzz on HD DVD, blogging from his lap top. Nothing like a new location to make things interesting.

Last night we went out for dinner for my Mom's birthday. I won't share her age on my blog, but it was pretty funny when her Mother told her she was offically old enough to move into some assisted living. I don't think she took it very well.

So works got me freaking out, I hit a breaking point today. Luckily I was so focused on a task at hand I was able to get through the day without causing myself or others around me any bodily harm. I really need a vacation... Just don't know when it's going to happen. 3 weeks vacation, sitting around doing nothing. Think it's time to plan something.

Speaking of that, I'm thinking it's time to go on that long bike trip I've been wanting to do since I put the bike rack on my car. It probably won't happen this weekend, but maybe the next one.

Time to go! Thanks for the monkey.

Halloween in August

Feels like I'm always saying this, but time always seems to be going by faster these days. Being August already is just another example. Not that I haven't enjoyed the summer, in fact, it's been quite enjoyable over all. Our mini Duluth vacation, the decent summer movie line up, winning $$$ at Valleyfair, all very fun. I think the plan would be to end on some kind of high note and do something at the end of this month for our 8 year anniversary. We've already had one potential offer to babysit Megan for a weekend, so we'll see what happens.

I got in an excellent run this weekend. A new distance record for me, 15 miles! It was a bit rough, and I still had a slight headache this morning. I think that was more my fault for not hydrating enough. I'm hitting the water today to try and make up for it.

In other news... a World of Warcraft expansion has been announced. I should have figured that as soon as I got back into the game and reached max level, this would happen. I'm getting to that point where I've invested enough time to want to keep going... Shucks!

Anyway, I haven't posted any pictures of Megan in awhile, so I'll end with those. Including some previews of Megan's Halloween costume for this year. She has to grow into it just a little bit, but she has 2 months.

Just chilling like the monkey she is. Climbing on everything...


"No Daddy, I'm not trying to get at your DVDs... Really!" *bats her eyes*


Her new costume... Can you tell who she is?


Maybe we should actually buy her this movie before Halloween so she knows.

Nuts & Bolts

Where's the beef! I actually had something going on Wed night and last night I was just so stressed out, I wanted nothing more then a few hours of World of Warcraft and an early bed time. Wed night, Andrea and I went over to my brothers’ new apartment to watch 300 on High Def DVD. Strangely, no one had seen it yet but me. My brother must have just been really busy around the time it came out and never got around to seeing it in the theaters. Everyone enjoyed it, and Andrea said it was "the best movie she had seen in a long time." I was a bit surprised at that reaction, but then I realized that the movie is 90% hot half naked guys walking around... Maybe not so hard to understand. :-)

Yesterday was just very stressful at work. We have so much work that needs to be done and not enough time to do it. Or not enough time to test it properly. Instead of giving us more time or scaling back the work, they just keep pouring more on. Everyone has a breaking point, where you just have to stand up and say SOMETHING. As if that wasn't enough, we also had a company meeting. You see, our CEO is leaving the company. He is taking an even higher position in the parent company.

Before I go on my rant, I need to clarify my true feelings about CEOs. I love CEOs. I admire CEOs. Without CEOs, I wouldn't have a dime to my name. I thank every CEO I've ever had for giving me the opportunity to put money in his pocket. Because without someone willing to spend their entire life building and running a company, I wouldn't have a job. Having said that, the life of the grunt is starting to make me wonder.

After his goodbye speech, I was reminded how much of a cog in a machine I really am. Hell, not even a cog. More like... a washer. No matter how good I can do my job, it's hard to convince myself that it has any real effect. The machine will keep rolling along, ideally making lots of money, and keeping me employed for a long time. But even if I'm the best damn programmer, things can change in a heart beat. That's the part that keeps me up at night.

Consider my experiences, driving my thoughts: (or as I like to call it, "The Facts")

My first company did layoffs in 2001 and again in 2007. I found out the department I worked for at my first job was completely off-shored, so even though I survived the 2001 layoffs, I most likely would have been gone on the second round.

My second company off-shored the department I worked in shortly after I left. (and some even say, as a direct result of me leaving)

How long until my current job is off-shored? Some programmer in India who can work twice the hours for half the pay? How long until I'm obsolete?