26 Jun 2006
Yesterday there was adventuring. Foley and I headed out to the mountains. We drove up through Capsilano to Grouse Mountain.
We stopped at the Capsilano Bridge thinking we might check it out, but $27 seemed like a bit much to walk on a suspension bridge. So we got back into the car and headed on up to Grouse Mountain.
When we got to Grouse Mountain we briefly looked at the gondolas heading up the mountain and thought it looked cool… but did it look $30 cool? Not yesterday. Then we thought we might hit up one of the hiking trails.
We headed up one of the trails, but I decided I didn’t feel up to climbing such a steep hill on such a hot day. (Also weighing in the factors that I hadn’t eaten yet that day and we didn’t have an fluids along with us)
So we ventured forth for food. We picked up some pretty terrible sandwiches at a convenience store and headed over the Capsilano Dam to take in the sights. It was a beautiful view. Looking over the cool blue lake with the snow capped mountains in the background and the parasailers coming down from Grouse Mountain.
Then we headed out across the damn and along one of the many hiking trails. We went, and went, and went. Lots of up and down. We ran into many people out there doing the same thing. Eventually we turned up a steep hill, got to the top and found a map of the trails.
Looking at the map we realized that the trail didn’t loop around like we thought it did. It was just a massively long trail. So we started the two hour hike back along the trail. It wasn’t nearly as interesting the second time.
After four hours of hiking I was exhausted! Absolutley exhausted! I ache all over today. I am now aware of muscles in places that I didn’t even think had muscles. It’s that good ache though. That ache that makes you aware that you pushed yourself and you are getting stronger and healthier.
I have missed that healthy ache in my muscles. I hope that it might be time to bring it back. I guess I’ll see how this week goes. If it goes well, then next month I’ll return to my old habits of working out three or more days a week.
Some pictures. Not bad for a two year old camera in a cell phone:
23 Jun 2006
Is it done? Is it ready?
Mada, mada dane. (No, not yet.)
I’ve cut our loading times down from 5 minutes to 65 seconds. Everyone else is happy with it. They’ve taken it off of the risks list.
But I can feel it. Hell, I can taste it. There is another 25 seconds out there waiting to be found. It’s right there. Tantalizingly close. It’s teasing and taunting me.
I will not give up yet!
I will not surrender to being average.
- the day ticks on until the eureka moment *
There will be no average today.
We are officially better than average at this moment in time. 37.5s (even one scrunched all the way down to 34.7s with some adjustments ). The goal for the end of the project was 45s. Yet today, this week, this time of code miracles; I found a way to break even my own theoretical limits on how fast we could load.
The best part is… I can feel that there is more time to be shaved off. I want to see 30s. I want to see it so bad.
Mwuhahaha!
- brief pause after a moment of delirious laughter and a celebratory Dr. Pepper *
The things that I do best, are always the things that people tell me I can’t.
21 Jun 2006
Well, it’s that time again. That time when I have to do the impossible. That time when I pick up the gargantuan tasks of the projct and rest them firmly on my shoulders. That time when I dig deep inside and pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat.
It used to be that I pulled off minor programming feats of a miraculous nature on an almost weekly basis. It has been a long time since I have had to do such a thing. I hope that the magic is still in there somewhere.
The hat may have to go on backwards this week. We all know what that means.
All it takes is one bright point in the sky to save a lost ship. (Thanks Holly)
19 Jun 2006
It’s the final game of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Edmonton vs. Carolina. We have a deadline. Things are broken in the game. They need to be fixed right away.
There is no work being done. Here on the NHL 07 team everyone is huddled around tvs watching the amazing story play out before their eyes. The underdog Oilers. The 8th seed in the West. Battled there way through injuries to stars and the stellar play of opponents to get a chance at the greatest trophy in sports.
What hockey fan can focus on work when such a great story is about to come to an end?
Then it ends. A sad ending. The wrong ending. The hopes and dreams of millions of Canadians come crashing down. The underdog has lost.
Sad faces all around. “It was a good run,” people whisper. Too bad it wasn’t a great run. The cup has gone to a city that will never truly appreciate it. In a month they will be saying “What’s hockey?” In a year they will forget they won a cup.
A city like Edmonton would truly have appreciated the cup. It would have gone down in history. It would have been the stuff of legend. Bragged about left and right, near and far for years to come. Do you remember in ‘06 when we won the cup? The fans could have told you who was on the ice for the winning goal. How many minutes Pronger played. The bravado of Markannen as he stepped out of Roloson’s shadow to play some very solid hockey.
It has gone to Carolina though. This cup will dwindle away as nothing more than the answer to some sports trivia, and people will probably often get it wrong.
I salute you Edmonton Oilers. You did the unthinkable. You achieved so many playoff firsts. You were great. You earned your way to the final without taking out the opposition’s stars in each and every round. You played good, solid, honest, Canadian Hockey!
The Edmonton Oilers. The deserving winners of the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
19 Jun 2006
Infectious smiling. Unavoidable. Undeniable. Purely enjoyable.
Butterflys fluttering gently around the insides. Landing and flapping happily.
Work unbearably mundane when compared to the possibility of life.
Hope so heavy. Weightier than water. Deadlier than danger.
Intensely interesting. Unbelievably unique.
I wish to know so much more.