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Travel
2 Months Ago | Posted to: Travel
09:42:20 AM: Morning up early for a couple hours of work. Then Bitzel woke up and we hung out for a while. Beep was next followed by Ball and Emme. Terp got a little extra sleep after a long Emme night.
I hit the condo gym for a full body weights workout. Felt pretty good.
Then I got the Fedora 9 linux distro running off of a USB thumb drive and, viola, it actually connected to the intertubes through my Verizon CDMA card! Lovin' it.
We're packin' up the fam and heading back to the ATL today.
11:50:52 AM: The leaving-Destin family tradition: Backyard Burger.
02:34:02 PM: On the road, Yelley Head yellin'.
04:58:42 PM: Little one's Hunger Buggin'. Aves is riding with Beep & Ball, about an hour behind us. I'm listening to a David Baldacci audiobook. No rain thus far. We're about two hours outside of ATL.
06:41:45 PM: Tip of the Day: When you order your cool new compression leg sleeves make sure you order a pair. Apparently I did not do so. Buzzkill.
06:42:19 PM: Back home.
06:43:19 PM: Reg & Kebby's pet care package arrived! Details soon! Thanks guys!
3 Comments | 28 Images
1 Year Ago | Posted to: Travel
Off I go! And thanks to the marvels of modern science you can track me! (Yes I know you have better things to do.) Here's how to see where I'm at:
- Go to http://www.gpsgate.com
- In the upper right corner of the screen enter a username of "whereisjoe" and a password of "password"
- A map will load.
- In the My Buddies section (upper left) click the name "joereger"
- A bubble will appear on the map with my name.
- Click the "Zoom In" link inside of the bubble. Or, use the Google Maps zoom slider in the upper left of the map to control your zoom level.
If things work out properly (big IF) then my GPS location will be sent to the site every 5 seconds and you'll see my progress. Note the Last Time Seen next to my name in the My Buddies list... if it's old then I'm probably out of network range. If the Last Time Seen is recent but I'm not moving on the map then I'm probably taking a quick rest.
How's this work?
My Garmin Forerunner 301 listens to satellites to figure out my location. The Forerunner's connected to my Dell D420 laptop using a USB cable. A piece of software called GpsGate collects the GPS data as it comes in from the USB cable and uploads it to the gpsgate.com website. The upload happens over Verizon's EVDO network via the Dell D420's built-in EVDO modem. The laptop is powered by a 200W inverter plugged into a cigarette outlet in the rear of the minivan.
I'll have ICQ and all of my other IM stuff going. Send me instant messages! If you don't have an IM client you can go here, click Contact Joe Reger: Without ICQ and send me a message... of course if you go that route I won't be able to reply.
01:14:35 AM: Ok, I'm up. Wasn't sleeping well at all. Should have switched my sleep to an earlier time on Monday or so. I was planning on getting up at 2am. It's 1am. Any extra time I can put in the bank so that I can rest along the way is welcome. Some final packing to do and then I'll be off.
01:18:42 AM: Test. Can you hear me?
01:48:54 AM: On the road! 2007 Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run here I come!
01:56:30 AM: Slight hiccup. Laptop's power button got hit not 30 seconds out of the gate. Had to reboot. On side of road getting all my tech working again. Lol.
03:04:25 AM: Quick pit stop in Commerce Georgia to pee. Drive going well so far. Getting settled in to my electronics.
03:17:59 AM: Alright. So my first valuable thought so far on this trip has to do with my little travel + technology experiments. I've been putting laptops, gps devices and cell phones into moving vehicles for years. But the nature of this trip's tech is much more compelling... you can see me in real time... and I've got some other tricks up my sleeve coming soon, maybe.
Here's the thought.
The tech is about the same. What's changed is the usability of said tech. It's simply easier for me to do this stuff. Sure, there are multiple moving parts. But all of them are easily available. And in each category there are options for compatibility, etc.
In the past I could have done what I'm doing today. But it would have taken a lot more hacking. Manual installations. Glue code here and there to shuttle bits from disconnected technology to disconnected technology.
Over the years the technology makers listened to users. I know, who'd have thunk it? They made easier install programs. Easer configuration screens. More interconnectivity.
And the net result is to lower the hurdle to make this stuff possible. It took me, what, four (admittedly frustrating) hours yesterday to install all the pieces. That's nothing compared to what it would have taken just a few years ago.
This is the sort of thing that causes tipping points. Focus on the user. Simple ease-of-use is critical. Smoothing out the rough spots and listening to the user.
And doing so isn't geek stuff. It's human stuff. It's creative. It's artistic. It's difficult.
And it's what I have to do with dNeero. I now have a technology that works. Now I need to listen to users and reach a tipping point where it's easy enough to use and adds enough value to the blogosphere that it grows (dare I say virally) on its own.
Ok, that's my first valuable thought for the day. Trying to up the signal to noise here. I'm off on the road again. Heading north on I-85.
03:18:32 AM: Grabbed a cup of "Extreme Very Caffeinated" coffee from a TA Truck Stop. I'm scared.
03:59:55 AM: Joe + Coffee = Pee Breaks. In South Carolina now.
04:03:27 AM: Continuation of the last value thought. Why do all this stuff? Two main reasons. First, to see where the tech is at. Sitting at home in my boxers it's tough to find applications for all this stuff. Travel is a good excuse and focus point to test things out. Second, and ultimately more important, is to connect with people. I love the crossover of humanity and technology. In my experiments I'm trying to bring people along with me on the trip with the belief that this will make the trip more enjoyable and that I'll be able to share more with people. Third (ok, so there was another reason) is that by using the latest tech I can capture a richer version of events for the future. When I look back on this trip twenty years from now I'll have a deeper understanding of what happened.
04:04:46 AM: Me, me, me. It's all about me, right? No, it shouldn't be. I've been neglecting the excellent joereger.com readers... a.k.a. my friends. Just been busy guys and girls. Shouts to Hunter who completed his first triathlon. And to Blair who's doing ORAMM this weekend. Rock on both of you!
04:05:14 AM: Listening to a little James Blunt.
04:08:46 AM: If you instant message me and i reply with something like "fjsdhkjfsdh" that means "hey, you rock! thanks for texting me! i'm driving and can't type."
05:10:04 AM: Pee break outside Spartanburg, SC.
05:36:49 AM: Took a drive break to do some email. Man, I am hopped up on caffeine. Looking forward to sunrise. Had to turn the lid on the laptop down and dim the gps screen because all the lights plus the caffeine were making me jittery and threatening a headache. Got it all worked out and had some good reflection on life, work, etc. Hitting the road again.
07:00:59 AM: Pit stop at a rest stop. Went through Charlotte and just dodged morning traffic. The roads are rather busy right now. Hoping it'll lighten up. Speaking of light... the sun's up! Likin' it.
07:08:08 AM: The reality of the distance that I'm going to cover is setting in. Interesting that the reality of the run I have to do is also setting in.
08:11:32 AM: Laptop connection crapped out as I headed into Virginia, my birth state. But phone's still connected so i'm phone blogging. Danielle's the early bird today. I'm getting tired but am at a rest stop now. Just got some good news as the gps reported i'll get in at 10pm... ahead of the midnight I expected. still, i'll need those hours to rest. May nap in the back seat right now in fact.
09:19:14 AM: For those keeping score my decision to go a night without sleep, chug five caffeinated drinks and then drive the entire eastern sea board puts me somewhere between dumb and dumberer.
09:20:06 AM: Spotty internet as I get up into the apalachians of Virginia. Expect sporadic map updates but every now and then the laptop'll find some bandwidth.
10:15:35 AM: Short nap. Not sure how productive that was. Miserable right now. Have to figure out how much is too much caffeine and how much isn't enough. Also have to figure out whether energy drink or coffee is the best way to go. Low point of my trip thus far.
10:45:32 AM: I went into survival mode. Responded to my situation and adjusted some things. I stopped listening to music... I was lulling me to sleep. Dimmed the screen on the gps unit and shut the laptop screen... trying to keep up with the world and two computing devices was distracting me. I stopped taking on caffeine for a long while to let things settle... in the end I was way, way, way over-caffeinated and that made my eyes twitchy which led to the sensation of sleepiness. Survival is about realizing and adjusting. I think I did a pretty good job.
11:41:36 AM: Out of my dark place. Little better now. Still driving
11:57:03 AM: just passed waynesboro, pa. used to live there.
12:31:59 PM: Rain.
12:51:44 PM: wrong waynesboro. i thought i was in pa. i was in va.
01:15:37 PM: roughly halfway!
01:16:16 PM: odometer 111111. missed the pic by 1.
01:19:45 PM: no stopey last 3hrs+. feeling awake and good. heading east to dc.
01:25:04 PM: downloading a 44mb file at 140KB/sec while doing 80mph is pretty cool.
01:38:31 PM: time's flyin' now
02:11:12 PM: crap dc traffic
02:35:34 PM: crap baltimore traffic
02:43:36 PM: looks like i'm going through dc, baltimore, phillie and ney york city. bad plan at this hour but re-routing adds on the order of an hour... maybe i should re-route to avoid traffic. getting gas. will decide in a bit.
02:55:21 PM: gonna have to bite the bullet and travel via scranton, pa to avoid phillie and nyc traffic. adds an hour to the trip. not cool but has to be done.
03:03:51 PM: nope, doing so made arrival time two hours later. damn. may just have to go through the big cities. really bad timing.
03:04:10 PM: who planned this trip?
04:03:31 PM: holy tolls batman
04:45:37 PM: torrential downpour new jersey
05:15:24 PM: me arse is killin me
05:42:54 PM: Rest stop. Had to do it. Heading into NYC in a few. Actually moving pretty well. Uncle Robert says not to worry too much about traffic. I-95 north of the city will get me a bit but it's always busy.
07:35:56 PM: i'm doing 5mph in traffic
08:06:40 PM: about 9 miles in last hour
10:02:45 PM: Quick rest. The problem with this drive has been that there have been so few places to stop. Since 3pm when I got close to d.c. I've been in a massive big city. Instead of the nice highway exits with 12 gas stations, 32 fast food stores and 2 supermarkets I'm seeing nothing but highway intersecting highway. Or in NYC overly-congested neighborhoods. Or as I've gotten into vermont wild wilderness. There have been places to stop all along but I haven't wanted to risk my life. So I've been sitting in the driver's seat for hours and hours and hours. My butt is truly sore. I'm going into a second dark period. Things are looking frustrating and progress is feeling slow. Only about two hours left but those two hours are imposing. I'm grabbing a final cup of coffee and then I'm pushing through.
11:52:43 PM: I have arrived in White River Junction, Vermont about 22 hours after leaving my home in Atlanta. Virtual touchdown dance. Focker, out.
3 Comments | 16 Images
1 Year Ago | Posted to: Travel
10:26:28 AM: Sick update: a little better than yesterday but some new symptoms of general soreness in the neck. It's moving in the right direction. Woke up with a headache, took some motrin.
10:38:59 AM: Haven't left for Florida yet. Email inbox is kickin'. Got a few more calls to make and then I'll do some packing. Hoping to be out of here in a couple hours or so.
11:09:53 AM: Packing for travel when you haven't yet unpacked from moving is difficult at best.
11:10:24 AM: Installed a new SRAM chain on the bike.
11:38:39 AM: Leaving now.
12:47:15 PM: Getting gas in LaGrange. Ears are very stuffed up. I'm less runny today. Things are dry and viscous. Cough is dry. This seems to be good but the ear thing messes with my equilibrium.
01:04:59 PM: Coffeeeeeeeeee!
01:15:23 PM: Alabama. I am such a caffeine lightweight. Buzzin'.
02:05:59 PM: This is either brilliant or rtarded: i've got the windows up and the heat cranked inside the car on a 90 degree sunny day. With the cold/flu I wasn't able to finish my sauna heat acclimatization plan. Driving into 90 degrees at noon I got spooked and wanted an emergency heat acclimatization fix. Thanks to the caffeine buzz my three brain cells came up with a rolling sauna concept. Unlike the shorter sauna sessions at 180 degrees, I'm looking for multiple hours at, say, a buck twenty. I may stop to buy some gatorade and a thermometer. After 20 mins with heat on and windows up it's hot as hell and I'm sweating balls. I'll let you know how things progress. Able to type thanks to some construction traffic.
02:39:29 PM: Got a thermometer. Not sure if last update went through: Keith and Danielle in PCB... 94 degrees... holy crap.
02:48:39 PM: 114 degrees inside and rising.
02:53:33 PM: Temp stabilized at 117 degrees.
02:55:52 PM: In Montgomery, AL.
03:23:10 PM: Temps keep climbing to mid 120s... actually difficult to stabilize at a comfortable 120. Working out the kinks of my sauna on wheels.
04:00:10 PM: Still rollin' and safe.. Thanks go out to those who checked in on my safety! Temp is touchy, very dependent on cloud cover. Lots of gatorade equals more pee breaks.
04:55:48 PM: Into Florida. About an hour and a half left. It's 124 degrees in the cabin.
06:01:36 PM: Across the mid bay bridge. Few minutes from condo. Rolling sauna at 125.
07:01:22 PM: At the condo. Cooled down. Gave Aves a couple gifts I picked up for her.
07:02:58 PM: Everybody here's sick. Beep, Ball, Terp. Frec's not sick though. Poor Frec.
10:28:48 PM: Thanks to Vanessa for recommending some probiotic yogurt while on antibiotics. Had some tonight. I hate yogurt. But it's a good idea to have some.
11:23:34 PM: Enjoyed texting back and forth with Dominic today as he explored Atlanta.
2 Comments | 12 Images
1 Year Ago | Posted to: Travel
05:56:12 AM: Heading to Mississippi for the trail run today. Little packing left to do this am... need to remember that it's only two days and i don't need to bring the kitchen sink. Had a few workouts and life things I hadn't gotten around to blogging. Hitting the road in a few minutes.
07:07:42 AM: Headin' out.
10:06:47 AM: Filled up about 20 min ago. Now on my second stop of the day in Birmingham. Have some hours to burn before check-in so i'll take my time today. Hi to keith who shot me a nice text msg. Listening to Michael Crichton's book Prey while I drive today. Nice, sunny day for a drive.
02:17:48 PM: Made it to Laurel, MS. Checked in to the hotel. Free WiFi is very sketchy.
02:18:57 PM: Dana tells me via text msg to stop sniveling and just get the race over with. Snivel. Snivel. (In skydiving a long snivel, in most circumstances, is a good thing because it makes for a softer opening.)
02:22:21 PM: Talked to Terp. Apparently only some of my photos from the road have made it to the web... cell reception fairly low in the middle of AL. She saw the one from Ted's Montana Grill and asked why I ate there. I didn't... just wanted to shout out to Anna. Then she saw the photo of the inside of a mall and won the I Know Joe award for the day. "What were you doing? Looking for sunglasses?" Amazing what living with another person's obsessions for 13 years can do. Good work Terp! Didn't find what I was looking for though.
02:24:02 PM: I've got some time here at the hotel. I'm going to work on some refactoring of code (re-writing, basically) and then I have the check-in and race dinner this evening. It's warm here... about 77 degrees and sunny. The pine forests are pretty and should make for a nice running surface.
08:35:04 PM: Went to the race check-in and spaghetti dinner. Met a bunch of nice people. One guy was from Tucker and can't live more than a couple miles from us. Anita Fromm has run 13 one hundred milers, 24 fifties and will be running her third Badwater 135 this summer (Google it and then enjoy the sound of your balls shrinking). Also met a woman who race directs the lakecity50.com race in Colorado. I love any excuse to get out west. She ran 50 last weekend. I am going to get destroyed tomorrow. Yes, sniveling. Internet connection in the room is useless and this post may not make it via phone. Spotty posting from here but I'll give it a shot. Thanks to everybody for the words of encouragement.
4 Comments | 10 Images
2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
07:58:32 AM: Getting packed up for the drive to Florida. I've loaded the minivan. Washed the bike. Am working on getting a bunch of files onto the laptop and loading the iPod with audiobooks. Taken my vitamins. No workout. Chilly out this morning. That's about where we're at. Planning on leaving in an hour or so.
07:59:43 AM: Chose to install the iPod Nano 1.3 firmware udpdate. Mistake? Hope not.
08:37:00 AM: iPod loaded. Heather and bitzel are in the car. I'm finalizing the laptop in the 180 Room. Just about ready to leave.
08:40:12 AM: I didn't do the best job packing/planning this one. I basically chucked a bunch of stuff into bags and will try to sort it out when I get down there.
08:41:19 AM: Gotta run. Apologies to the inbox and IM windows I didn't get to. Thanks to everybody for your support. We're on the road today and I'll try to touch base once we get down to Florida. And of course I'll try to phone blog as we go.
09:59:03 AM: South on atlanta in newnan. stopping for gas and food for terp. shouts to bob & sue! thanks for the kind words of encouragement. same to blair! keith and danielle on their way. kelly heading down this afternoon. yay all!
03:41:16 PM: In Destin safely.
05:54:43 PM: Heather and I left bitzel with beep & ball. We ate at the olive garden and are now getting some groceries at publix. heather is the slowest grocery shopper on the planet.
0 Comments | 30 Images
2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
One measure of a man is the quality and diversity of his friends. And by this measure Dominic stands as a great man. With people representing his Waynesboro high school days, his Massachussets college days and his D.C. professional days there was not a boring person to be found. This made for a great weekend.
One measure of a city is the ease with which it can, metaphorically speaking, be explored, touched, groped and known. And by this measure Montreal is a great city. With a palpable, neon-lit and energetic quality that proclaims "make contact with me... you'll like it", Montreal is immediately inviting. We took advantage of its invitation and reached for a handful of the city.
I'll add to this post tonight and tommorrow but suffice it to say that this was a great trip for me... one of the best trips of my life... with a great group of people. Thanks to Dominic for inviting me along for the ride.
Links to some pics:
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
I woke up at 4:15AM on Friday to get a swim/run workout in. Made it to the airport by 7:30ish. Only snag was with my hand-sanitizing gel... had to put it into a little plastic baggie to get it onto the plane. Flight was uneventful except that I was asked to take my seat once while waiting for the bathroom and then had to wait 20 minutes until turbulence ended.
Once we landed I texted Dominic to let him know that I was there. His plane, carrying the D.C. crew, was landing about a half hour after mine. I started the long wait in line at customs. Then I heard a faint "Joe" from somewhere. I looked back and some old guy relayed that some guys in line were looking for Joe. It was Dominic, Nick, Jeremy, Ben, Chad, Brendan and Matt.
Got through customs, grabbed my bag and met up with the group. I knew Jeremy, Dom and Ben from high school. I knew Nick from a lunch in D.C. I met Chad, Matt and Brendan. Jeremy showed me a magazine he bought at the airport.
We hopped two cabs to the Hyatt Regency. Jeremy, Matt, Brendan and I talked about datablogging's lack of a functional business model to date. Jeremy left SAIC and is starting a new gig at Wells Fargo. Brendan's getting a government contracting business going. And Jeremy and I refreshed ourselves on our ongoing "mess with cabbie via verbal hyperbole" game... which Jeremy almost always wins.
At check-in there were four rooms, eight guys. I wasn't really paying attention when brendan said "well, I guess it's us" or something like that. The rest had eschewed his company because he's sick. I'll admit to a moment of panic... I had spent the last month worrying about getting sick on this trip and screwing a year of training... and a couple hours in airports eating vitamins and Purelling every 12 seconds. But then I just decided that I didn't want to worry about it any more. I wanted to have a good time. So, at that moment by the elevators I decided to just have fun for a weekend.
We all quickly gravitated to Jeremy and Ben's room because they had two bottles of alcohol. I poured a stiff vodka and coke (nice). We looked for movies to watch and found one cross-cultural one that was discounted off the normal $35. We learned that you get what you pay for in art movies. Jeremy shared his knowledge of the genre while Mullen (Brendan) got hammered in the corner. At one point he yelled out "you go you little minx." It stuck.
Next it was off to grab some food. We went to Mikes (no apostophre) in the mall attached to the hotel and had SuperSteaks, 10 inches. Actually, Nick started the bidding at 7 inches but Ben upped the anti to 10 and the rest of us followed suit. Few pitchers of beer later we headed back to the rooms to change. Some got pretty. I stuck with comfy.
It was off to the casino... in cabs. In the slight rain and somewhat cold. I'm not a big better because a) I have no money and b) I have no idea how to play the games. But I watched Dom make $600 at blackjack... and by the end I thought that maybe I could play a hand. But I didn't. You can't drink at the tables so we retired to the casino bar for tequilla shots and a saffire and tonic.
Then we started to connect with the Vermont crew... Pat, Billy, Vegas Dom (from Jersey) and Brandon. We met at a bar called Brewtopia and started drinking more.
The Vermont crew drove up on vegetable oil... in a converted 1985 Mercedes Turbo Diesel. They get their oil from local restaurants. Billy did the conversion. Their cost to travel: $0. Spent some time talking to Billy about the alt fuel movement, consumer pain points, advocacy, etc. Also spent some time talking to Brandon about his veganism and changing the world without trying to change the world. Enjoyed that converstation a lot.
The rest of the evening involved walking, cab rides, tequilla shots and a lot of flashing lights. People split off one or two at a time and eventually Pat, Vegas Dom, Billy and I were out wandering alone. Somehow we ended up in a Burger King (because nothing else was open at 3:30AM). And then I was alone with nothing but a general sense of where the hotel was, two big cheeseburgers and a nice buzz. I made it back to the hotel room, eating a burger along the way. I slept with the other burger.
I awoke on Saturday to the sound of an electronic inflatable sheep that would not turn off. Brendan pulled the electronic element out but by that point we were awake. A few others came in, including Nick in full running garb and MP3 player... yeah, running... exactly what I was thinking.
I didn't feel too bad, despite all the cheeseburgers... I mean alcohol. Brendan was still coughing a good bit and I worried that the cold would get the best of him. He graduated from West Point and spent time in the Army so we had some good stuff to discuss.
We went to Mikes again for breakfast. Bad plan. One hour (no kidding) and we had gotten no food. In fact, they served our food to another table who, starved like us, waited until they had eaten half of it before telling us. Nice. We did finally get our food.
While at Mike's we saw tons of women and babies. Tons of them. As we left we saw signs for the Breastfeeding Challenge. Yeah, what?
We met up with the Vermont crew outside on a nice sunny Montreal Saturday. An open-air concert was happening so we relaxed on the steps for a while, trying to figure out what to do next.
Go karts was the plan. We hopped the subway. Saw some graffiti art contest for underprivileged kids on the way. Couldn't get the reger.com sponsorship.
Karting was a blast. Dom rocked. I wiped Vegas Dom out a bunch. These things are fast and slidey.
Back to the hotel for a nap. Took a shower and got pretty. Met Nick and Chad at the bar. Only minutes before they had seen Tony Bennett and gotten a picture with him... nice!
It was off to the brazilian steak house. Like Fogo de Chao, but with more dancing and some slight process differences. Near the end I started shooting tequilla. Dom danced with the belly dancer. Vegas Dom broke out the mullet wig. Great dinner.
We left and headed for a bar. Ten minutes into it Ben and I looked at each other and said "where's Jeremy?" Jeremy was in the bathroom when twelve of us left the restaurant. We sent out three search parties but could never locate him. He looked far and wide for us. The next day I got this message on my phone via email:
-----Original Message-----
From: Jeremy Dixon [mailto:dixon_JXJXJ@hotmail.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 30, 2006 10:55 PM
To: joe@joereger.com
Subject: Where are you guys?
Joe, where are you guys? Email me back ASAP. I am at an internet cafe!
You left me at the restaurant.
Sad.
JD
Sorry big J! I was shooting tequilla and doing red bull and vodka. After that first bar we went to a catholic-themed club called The Vatican which did not work out for us. We headed back to Brewtopia to do some Car Bombs and met a bachelorette party on the way. Billy provided the pole for an impromptu dance in the middle of the street.
Bounced from Brewtopia and grabbed some pizza while talking to a nice young woman in a Bubble Gum t-shirt... and her dad three feet away... awkward. Good pizza though. Except for Chad who ralphed it... twice. We got a pic. Turns out he and Matt hate tequilla.
I was wide awake. We hit another club or two. Mullen hit the casino again. I hit the pillow at about 4-ish.
Woke up Sunday again feeling pretty good. The red bull and vodka / tequilla is a good plan for me. Grabbed a cookie for breakfast and said my goodbyes, heading to the airport.
Uneventful flight, although very loud... lots of loud talking and laughing.
Made it home.
Great weekend. I'm sure I'm missing a million great details. Montreal is a nice city. And the people are not fat... at all.
Best to everybody I met and saw while we were up there. Hope to see the same group together again some day.
And finally, good luck to Dominic in his wedding/marriage... I hope this was a good send-off.
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2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Flying out this afternoon into San Jose. Then a drive to San Francisco. We're in the Valley until Thursday, trying to raise money for our top secret skunkworks project. I'll be back in Atlanta late Thursday evening.
Update 4:08PM EST: Checked-in. At Gate A27, Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Atlanta. Connected to the web through my cell phone. Flight should start boarding shortly. Just loaded the California maps into my GPS/Nav thing so that we can get around more easily.
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2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Made it to Destin safely. Ava was a perfect little angel in the car on the way down. We made an impromptu undesired trip through Auburn's graduation. No rain. A couple cups of coffee. The last chapters of Michael Crichton's Prey on audiobook. Then some middle chapters of Tom Clancy's Op Center 7. Then some peace and quiet. Tomorrow I need to pick up my race packet and check my bike into the transition area. Not feeling good about this race. It'll be fun no matter what, but with the cold I just don't feel 100% yet. As I told Keith the other day, I can't wait for this early-season racing stuff to be over with so that I can get back to training!
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2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Good drive today. Made it safely. Three cups of coffee.
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2 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Heading to NYC today. Back on Tuesday evening. Biz stuff.
Update 1:57PM: Made it safely. Lightly-loaded flight.
Update 2:29PM: Staying at The Roosevelt Hotel via PriceLine.com... great deal on a great hotel.
Heading down to the fitness center for a quick treadmill workout.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Heading to the airport to go to Washington D.C. in a few minutes.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Drive back to Atlanta was uneventful. I drank coffee and Dr. Pepper (yum) to stay awake. We stopped to feed Ava every few hours. Very quiet this drive... absolutely no radio the entire time. Good weather for the drive.
1 Comments | 0 Images
3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
It's 4AM local time. 5AM body time. Heather's feeding Ava. Beep and Ball are asleep. And I'm awake. I'll get a little work done and then maybe catch some sunrise photos on the beach. No coffee yet this morning.
Update 6:27AM: Went for a nice walk along the beach, taking photos. I was standing out in the ocean on a rock when I noticed the sun peaking over the horizon. I spun to get back to the beach so that I could change lenses and I fell! Nothing major but I got some water/sand/muck on the camera... and I got wet. Beep saw it from the balcony. The rock was covered in seaweed and was very slippery.
Update 7:49AM: Checked the NOAA water temp page for Panama City Beach, FL and it's got water temp around 70 degrees. Wetsuit legal is anything below 78 degrees so we'll be wearing wetsuits. That's good news!
Saw some dolfins from the balcony. Ava's getting fed right now.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Decent flight. Got in at 5:35AM EST. I'm tired. Good night.
Update 11:34AM: Awake and refreshed... but lonely... Heather and Ava are in Villa Rica until tomorrow evening. :(
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Bags are packed. I leave for the airport shortly. On my way to San Fran.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
Heading to D.C. this morning and then to New York City on Wednesday morning. Back in Atlanta on Thursday evening. Business trip. A number of interesting things happening.
Update 11:02AM: Safely in D.C. Uneventful flight. Listened to a little of the book Snow Crash on the plane and then slept like a bear in winter. We're at a Club Corp club here in D.C. using wireless internet and waiting for the 2:00PM meeting with SRA, the big government contractor.
Update 11:26AM: Just put up some pics. Also read some email from the Tri Posse in Atlanta. And the Tugaloo reports. Congrats everybody! Almost felt like I was there!
Update 7:02PM: Done with the meeting. Went well. Working a little on a few bugs right now. Checked into the Mariott at Metro Center in downtown D.C. While I had planned a workout, given yesterday's (lack of) performance and Stewbeaf's recommendation of rest, I may just chill. Or do some core work at the hotel fitness center. We'll see. Slight headache all day.
Heather's been sending me camera phone pics of Ava in Florida. Very cool. Gotta love the technology today. In a sense, it's like I'm at home. I'm talking to people on the cell. Emailing. Reading friends' blogs. Getting picture updates. Neat.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
It was a long but simple day of travel. First a cab from the upper east side to Grand Central Station. Then a bus to Newark Airport. Plane delayed for 30 mins on the ground. Short flight to DC. Madhouse zoo at Dulles to transfer onto the flight to Atlanta. Heather picked me up at around 3PM. I picked up the minivan and am now home.
I flew United Express. Nothing in particular to complain about... they're just a dumpy little airline. Small planes and small staff of Mother United rejects/wannabees. They got me there and back... what more could I want?
I've got a ton of pics that I need to upload. Some from NYC. Some from the Gulf Coast Half. Some from the baby shower. Some from as far back as the St. Anthony's tri. I'll get 'em up.
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3 Years Ago | Posted to: Travel
It's 4:44AM: Up and a little groggy.
It's 5:09AM: Showered and suited up. Ready to fly to DC. Back in Atlanta tonight around 10:00PM. Not sure if I'll be updating throughout the day.
Update 3:15PM: In Washington DC right now. Post-meeting. It was a good meeting with a bunch of bright folks. They're interested in persuing our technology so we're going to put together a proposal for them. Sounds promising. Far from a done deal, of course. The application is global and far-reaching. Very interesting stuff... and exactly the stuff I want to be involved in. Fingers crossed.
We're going to head to the airport and see if we can catch an earlier flight.
Online instant messaging with Terpa right now. Wireless connection at the Tower Club in DC.
Update 11:42PM: Home. Tired. Been tired all day. Four hours' sleep last night. I'm beat. Good night.
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CK from ck-blog.com Writes About dNeero