I'm [almost] 27 Damnit!

I wonder why it is that when I meet new people they assume I'm 22. Why do I get carded nearly every time I'm at the bar? Is it the way I dress? Is it my hair cut? Is it the way I walk, or talk, or chew bubble gum? Am I just baby faced, which will become much more of an asset when I'm 50 and look 40? I don't know, but whateverit is, it sure does seem to make it harder to meet people my age, but I could "rob the cradle" like a champ if I was so inclined.

It should be known

That the driver of my stuff "hopes to be [here] around the 9th of July". It should also be known that I fly to Chicago July 10th and will not return till the 13th. Just long enough that I might not ever get my stuff ever.

UPDATE: Talked to the driver (not the agency) and he says he plans to be here on Tuesday, Jult 1st!!!!

Authentic Battle Damage

I got my training kite today!!! So right after work I [tried to] ride the bus to Chrissy Park, which I had checked out yesterday. I got there around 6:30 and cracked open my kite. I was pretty easy to set up, or so I thought, especially after I untied the kite from the ropes and retied them. I was on a beach and ready to fly. But everyone had their dogs out and I was pretty sure I was going to crash it more than a few times. It turns out that to self launch the kite, you have to set it up just right, so there's a lot of "set the bar down, run up, flip the kite, put sand on the trailing edge, run back, untwist the lines, then, when it's just right, pull the kite up... and the kite should do the rest. But it didn't, it crashed, and it crashes hard.

A guy on the beach named CJ helped me launch it a few times, and he flew it with some success for a while, but noted that the kite didn't want to stay still. I figured it was too much wind. He left and I crashed a few more times, some in the water. Now my kits is not only water logged, but sand is sticking to it like a champ. I'm pretty sure I'm kite-retarded at this point and decide to let the kite dry a bit as I inspect how it works.

It turns out that even though I'm not fencing, I am still a foilist. The kite design is called a foil, which for kites at least, means it has air intake on the leading [wind facing] edge. The kite is sealed on the trailing edge. The wind flows in, and provides structure to the kite. For comparison, the kite used to surf is a bow kite (there are some others too), but it does not have the same air intake set up that a foil kite has. Instead you inflate the leading edge and some structural struts. This has two advantages, one being that it floats in water, which is nice for umm water sports. Yes. The other, which has not been mentioned in any of the literature I've read thus far, is that crap doesn't get IN the kite (ie. sand and water). What this means is that my training kite is not well suited for beach conditions, and would in fact provide a much more enjoyable experience in a park. Good to know.

I also notice that my kite has two sets of lines per side (that's four sets for those of you playing at home. The same will be true of my surfing kite. In this case each set attaches to a single line, that then runs to the steering bar in my hands. There are back lines, which are closer to the trailing edge of the kite, and front lines, near the leading edge of the kite. I saw that on the right side, these groups were easily separated. On the left, not so much. So apparently I managed to tangle the left side when I was initially setting up the kite. The fact that CJ flew it at all amazes me. So I got that straightened out.

Now I could fly the kite with a decent amount of ease. Surprisingly, steerable kites are steerable. I remember buying a yellow dinosaur kite, I think when I was in Kitty Hawk, and seeing steerable kites back then, and guys talking about how they could pull you off the ground. I remember being fascinated, but somewhat shy on money to have a kite I could steer. So single string it was. Anyway, I'm flying along, working the bar one handed, doing figure eights as the guides suggest, flying without looking at the kite to get the feel, when I notice my foot feels... "moist". Sure enough there's a sand filled skin flap on the bottom of my foot. It doesn't hurt just yet, but I still have to get home...by foot. I brush off my foot with my sock as best I can and hobble on home (with the help of a cable car part of the way). I make sure to clean it well when I get home, it's not bad, mostly dead skin that it got, but it makes walking interesting.

So lessons learned:

• Check your lines.


• Fly kites on the beach that don't have built in sand compartments.


• Fly kites that do have sand compartments in the park.


• Get proper footwear for beach conditions.


• My training kite can pull me for a step or two, but I'm not going to really go anywhere.


• Don't be afraid to let go. The kite will power down and everyone will be happy.

To work on: Right now when I fly near the edge of the "wind window" my kite keeps collapsing then unfurls when it is upside down and dives at the ground if I have tension on the lines. That needs to not happen (especially since a crash like that will break a bow kite).

All Kinds of Stuff

Yesterday I ordered my training kite for kite surfing (aka a smaller, less deadly version of the actual kite that will drag me through the ocean). It should be here tomorrow if all goes well. I went to a beach near the Golden Gate Bridge (walked most of it, stole a ride on the cable car twice though) to see if it'd work for kite practice. Brian says it should be ok. He also says he may tag along if his schedule works out. I figure that I could die just walking to lunch, if I die kite surfing, at least it'll be fun. The alternative is to live in a bubble. Not good.

Matt from my old job has decided to solve my blog issue. I've been wanting to put some work-related ideas, especially about Agile, up on the net. He's been meaning to put some design related stuff up on the net. So tomorrow he's starting a blog for us. Jackpot. errr Yhatzee!

I've also started taking a more aggressive approach to my diet. A few months back I counted my daily intake of calories, it was between 1500 and 1800, not the 2000 to 2500 they suggest. My protein count is low too (as I'm sure all other nutrients were), so I'm eating more cheese, drinking more milk. Each milk-cheese combo is around 10 grams of protein. Plus my usual deli sandwich at lunch with meat, I'm looking better all the time. So hopefully I'll gain some muscle with my new found workout routine, and a little fat to insulate me in the cold waters of the Pacific.

And I went to work today, as usual.

Pigeons

Ninety-nine percent of the time they'll get out of your way on their own, but for that one percent of the time when they don't, I hope you have on close toed shoes.

P.S. Ask me about pigeon mating habits.

Kiteboarding

Also known as kite surfing. I talked to a guy, Beau, on the plane back home. He said he kite surfed. I think I just found my outdoor hobby that I can only do near water. Perfect. I'm going to get a land kite lesson ASAP.

H.E.L.

My Hill Enthusiasm Level (HEL) is what I think about when I walk around town. There are different ways to get anywhere, often times you have the choice of taking it gradually, all at one, or even up AND down AND back up again. I find that I pick my route based on how excited I am to take on the hills, and surprisingly, there are days where I look forward to the hills.

San Francisco: Found my route

There are a ton of ways I can walk to work. If I always move from my apartment towards work, the distance can be as long as 1.6 miles, and as short as 1.4. The 1.4 mile route has two other advantages: 1) the grade of the walk is fairly shallow all the way through. Other routes have flat parts, but then the closer you get to my apartment, the steeper the hills. 2) It goes right by my bank. Today I signed up for an account with Bank of America. I just wanted a checking account to link to ING Direct, but they threw in a savings account and one of these programs where if I buy something for $1.87, they put 13 cents into my savings account, and round up the transaction to the nearest dollar. They ALSO put an extra 13 cents in the savings account from their own pocket. Up to $250/year. Wow, free money. And I suppose they get me to use my card more, more transaction fees from the middle man. And it probably encourages me to make smaller purchases, that I wouldn't normally make. Smart.

Wanted to Quit

Yesterday, I when I left work to get dinner so I could go back to work, I wanted to quit. I was down because I was stuck. I was writing a customer job template and the resize thing just wasn't happening. I had been working on it for at least 8 hours straight. All so that there wouldn't be a scrollbar on the iframe. Turns out some other JavaScript I had added was mucking up the resize JavaScript and so when I took that crap out it worked just fine.

Added on that was that I had to hand off another customer job template to Jens Ole because I knew I couldn't get my stuff done in time and the second one had been promised for Wednesday too. Which is why we need development iterations and preferably some implementation of Agile.

And I've informally been placed as the UI guy. It isn't what I like. I hate combing through HTML, especially gross HTML with JavaScript mingled throughout and poor implementation of CSS. And then try to modify that when you can only manipulate half of it. It sucks. But what I'm coming to realize is that I'm the best guy for that job. I know it the best. And I'm meticulous enough to find the problems. I struggle with it because I stop when I think something is good enough, then I get asked to do "one little thing" and that OLT takes 5 hours. HTML is dumb.

But at the end of the night I found the problem, that got me over the hump. I haven't been given any more tasks so I might be able to finish something on my plate and move forward. I was able to be successful. That's what is important.

Walked

Tonight I walked to the nearest .Net user group meeting. WALKED! It was freaking awesome. The presentation, while good, didn't really have a direct application to my work since it dealt with Silverlight and how to present Ginormous photos (read: more than 200MB) over the web. If you know how any web mapping application works with tiles with varying levels of details, it's essentially the same principle.

But I was thinking about how I've now been living in my new place for two weeks (and one day) and how not once have I thought "Gee, if only I had a car...". I really don't need a car. I'm beginning to wonder if I will actually use my $50/month I have for my Zipcar membership.

Speaking of memberships, I joined a fitness club. The guys from work roped me in and we're going twice a week around lunch time. Which I must say, works out well. I didn't get much of a workout last time for all the tour and filling out membership forms, but we go again tomorrow. I can't wait till my stuff shows up and I have actual gym shorts, instead of working out in my flannel pajama pants.

It's Been a Long Day

and I'm going to bed, and it ended well (and I have my first official friend in San Francisco), but I wanted to write about one thing:

I like the sound of the cable car cables running under the street.

Not A Good Day

Today I had wanted to get my prototype of the template system running, with a functional example. I had wanted to be done by noon. But noon didn't happen. Then at 2 I was asked to do a customer job template pages using the old templating system. Oh and it's been promised for Wednesday. And then at 4:45 my boss asks me if I can do a second one that he needs before Wednesday. All the while I'm bumbling through the system, trying to diagnose problems that are expected behavior. I'm just not accustomed to the system yet. And I feel overwhelmed.

I don't want to say I'm unhappy. But I do hope things will change. And I am afraid to instigate that change. Not so much because I am afraid to be an instigator, but because I don't know my place yet, and I'm a kid in everyone's eyes. Baby faced 27. *sigh*

Mystery Mail

I got a letter in the mail today.

• It had no return address.


• It was post marked from Lafayette, IN on June 10th


• It was sent to my old address in Indiana, which means this person isn't on my email list


• The contents are a news paper clipping "Public to benefit at auto loan sale" and it's about auto loans for people with bad credit. The back has two new car ads. On the article is a yellow sticky notes "William, Look at this! J"


• I don't know anyone who calls me William


• The handwriting is on the girly side but a little messy


• I can't think of anyone who'd send me this article with a "J" name.

So if you know who this was from, help me out.

Oh and there was this strange white powder in it. JK

~W

Unexpected Job Perk #231

Being part of a hiring company, my job is to look at job postings all day. If things should seem to be going south, it'd be real easy to find a new job.

Photo Album for San Fran

There's not much, because I don't take many photos, but you can check it out for yourself.

San Francisco

Weekend

It's a down weekend because plans feel through to have company over. It kind of works out because I didn't really have a place for them to sleep yet anyway. So I'm filling out the stack of paper work that work gave me (health care app, 401k, etc.), taking care of old emails (woo hoo down to 16 in the inbox!), and planning my San Francisco future.

I took a gander at the course catalog for The Crucible (www.thecrucible.org) sicne no classes are offered in June (just 5 day boot camps during the day, which are, during the day), I looked to July. I've got it narrowed down to a glass class, or a series of workshops dealing with EL Wire (aka "Cool Neon") and LEDs. Josh says I should go glass because it'll feel less like my job. I also think if I get into glass early, it'll make it easier to progress, or take a break and do EL, then get back to it.

Today I also spent part of the day in the North Beach area (not actually on a beach) at the festival. It was your standard live music, art/craft booths, and beer garden type festival, with a lot of people. I picked up some cute things for Jenny & Anthony's new twin girls. Did I mention that they're cute. While I was out there, Elsie and her roomie showed up. Elsie being the girl I met at the Ars party below my work. She and I had lunch on Friday at a place called Crossroads. Crossroads is a mix of a book store, coffee house, deli, and local art gallery. There's a nice patio area, but the pigeons will eat your food if you step away from it, I speak from experience.

She's got a lot to her - great looks, works for a company kinda like mine in a lot of ways, tech savvy, and funny. I think she's a little disappointed in my political apathy. So maybe that's something I can bump up in my priorities for the new San Francisco Will. It's hard to tell if things are progressing in a romantic direction with her or not. If they are, they're going slow, and that's exactly what I want.

Tomorrow: Do some work (I am lame, but the project is interesting - templating) and hit up a furniture store or two to see what can be done about the living room seating. If all goes well I'll have a queen sofa sleeper and two recliners (home theater style) with some good places to put soda cans and Wii remotes.

Next week I'm starting up at a gym with the guys I work with. I figure I better do something if I'm not fencing regularly, and maybe I can get some upper body building in for a change.

Is my stuff here yet?

Stuff!

My stuff gets loaded on a truck today!!!

Not Really

Both Dickerson and Michelle have told me how much they admire me grabbing life by the horns or working proactively to make a change and I think others see my recent move that way too. But I don't feel that way. I feel like I ran out on everything - family, friends, work, hobbies, everything I had come to know and be known for. And for what? A different job essentially. Yeah I get to live in the city, and there is more opportunity here for my career, for meeting people, and forming new hobbies that fit my life style, but the price I pay is that I have to start over from nothing. For as important as I say people are to me, this seems like the most contrary move I could make. It is a gamble more than it is a change. It is more akin to emptying my pockets and putting it all on double zeroes, it will take a while for the ball to drop, and only then will I know if I have just gone for broke or if I just gotten a second chance at life.

First Day

All in all a good day. No major hurdles, there was another software engineer starting today with me, and Geoff started only a week ago. We have a network admin "Magnus" (he's Richard to the financial and legal world though) so he'll be good at what he does. I basically installed stuff on my 2.5Ghz Core 2 Duo 250 GB laptop with wireless keyboard and mouse, got my sweet chair customized just for me, sat in some demos, and then finished it off with happy hour AT work. Three half glasses of champagne and a Coronna later I was ready to go home, but the other engineers caught up with me and bought me a Liberty on 2nd and Market. Did I mention that Apple is going to upgrade my phone for free?

I Found It

On my BART ride to link up with the Amtrack to see Matt and Lauren I saw a sign for The Crucible. They had a web address http://thecrucible.com/ so thanks to my phone I checked it out: metal, wood, glass, welding, foundary, and CLASSES! And I can get to it from the train. Awesome. So fencing is out. I imagine this means I'll be making artist friends who are a little more grungy than painters, and I think that is exactly what I want.

Palm Trees

They sound just like the ocean tide breaking on the beach when the wind blows just right and you're sitting close enough to one.

I Blame Fencing

I've noticed lately that I don't always make eye contact. At first I thought it was a confidence thing and feeling like I was not successful at life. But as I studied it more and tries to overcome it I realized the cause might be my fencing training.
I don't look a the ground I'd my feet, I look at the other person, just not their face. I look attheir torso or their hand when stretched out for a greeting - the same areas I look while fencing to help me predict my opponent's next move. In fencing there is almost no useful information in the face and often times any info given us misleading. But the torso does not lie as well, so you watch that
instead. I do it off the strip, all the time. No wonder my fencers tell me I should be better than I am.

Code Lobster

Today I went to Mission/Dolores park to scope it out since I have a blind date of sorts out there on Saturday. I brought one of my new C# books to read and ended up falling asleep on the grass (I need to get caffiene back in my diet). When I awoke I had absorbed all of the sun's rays, but imstad of super powers all I got was bright red skin. While I was in that area I also poked my head in the door of Halberstat Fencing Club and got the foil practice times. I still don't think I'll go but at least I know when to go if I do decide to fence again. Tomorrow I may try to buy my bed frame from Ikea. I have found that if I want to do much of anything in the city I need to allow at least 2 hours. Speaking of which, I went to the SF Museum Of Modern Art (aka SFMOMA). A lot of the stuff made me say "Okay, but 'why?'" and there was never any answer. One exhibit made me smile - it was an infinite mirror type set up, with cameras, on a delay loop, so by the time you saw yourself in the third mirror, it was several seconds old... I lime children's museums for this kind of thing.

First Food Post

I'm waiting for my food at the bar of a place called Piraat. They serve - get this - pizza, roasted chicken, beer, and wine. It is on the corner of Taylor and Sutter, and is a mild hike from my place especially considering the hills, but they play music I'd have on my iPhone if I had a computer to sync it with like Goo Goo dolls and Indigo Girls. Even if my pizza sucks I'm coming back for sure.

They Smile Here

They smile these authentic ear to ear grins that I haven't seen in forever. They're not talking to anyone, not on the phone, they're not doing anything particularly fun, they're just happy-really happy... or on drugs, but I'm going with happy.

Live from the Bay Area

I got an apartment with a lawyer named Brian at
1101 Pacific Ave Apt 303
San Francisco CA 94133
but he's in Chicago until Friday. So I have major cabin fever
until he gets back. I'd go out a lot more bit I messed up my
ankle Friday wandering the city with my duffle on
My back. But I've learned BART pretty well and I have
A sense of where the cabs cars run (not usually where I
want them to go) and it is fun to see if I can ride them
without fare being collected ($5). I found a Safeway grocery
store for the basics yesterday. This morning I went and
got a towel and shower poof from Bed Bath & Beyond. I came
home and soaked my foot, made a PBJ sandwich and went out
to Union Square Park and to Borders where I got some books
for my job: One is "Effective C#" by Bill Wagner and will
be like my Matt away from home. The other is just O'Rileys c# in a nutshell.
I'll post pictures and stuff when my stuff gets out here,
for now my jankey iPhone posts will have to do.