chris (![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} _fool) wrote,@ 2008-02-06 16:33:00 |
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i may have the plague, but at least being unemployed for 6 months last year paid off in the tax return department. no, wait, i gave the government a 0-interest loan of how much money for how long? sigh.
plague not withstanding (ok, it withstood, and made me bike really slow and breathe through my scarf lest i break down into a cacophony of cophs) ignite portland was pretty neat last night. totally not what i expected since it seemed like a techy geek thing but was instead a life-geek thing (there were a couple of life-hacker type presentations, but mostly it was a totally random spate of stuff from sushi to rockets to biodiesel) and of course it was full of interesting people. thanks largely toteknotus, i was introduced to a few bikely characters, several techies, and most strangely the inventor of the wiki and extreme programming. i mean, it wasn't odd to meet someone who's changed the world so much as it was weird that the talk was of zombies and offal rather than things tech.
funny thing, actually,ivo's post about geek fallacies which was the last thing i thought about before leaving for the event totally played into that conversation. ah, synchronicity, you are everywhere in my life. and it is good.
hopefully this plaguey-ness will blow over before the weekend. i have two easy nights tonight and tomorrow (sure, i was too sick to work, but i'm not too sick to play!) before a weekend full of big biking. no bike move this weekend, but i have about 20 miles between home base and the start of the midnight mystery ride, which will of course involve more biking and then a ride to wherever i will lay my head. and sunday is a local tradition, the worst day of the year ride, which will hopefully not have weather to match its name. also, hopefully my lungs will be happier so's i can actually keep up with some people during the 40-mile jaunt (there's a shorter option if i'm feeling totally craptastic. don't worry, i'm not going to kill myself...)
some good news is that my tax return is plenty to cover my smidgen of remaining moving debt, refill my cash-living-buffer to 6-month levels, and cover the costs of my fine vacation to san francisco next week. i'm going to see![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
ariberman_blog and catch some snow down in taos. the time off of work will be recharging and the new-work prospects are in high gear--interviews in the making, resumes flying, and connections gelling--i am feeling pretty positive this week.
some other good news is that with my 6 months of unemployment, i made little enough money to qualify for that stupid $600 check that the man is also supposed to beruining the country financially with stimulating the economy with, and i shall indeed go forth and stimulate! i was going to be all responsible but since responsibilities are covered, it's time to go out and get myself a cyclocross bike. it's coming up on commute-to-work-everyday-bothways season and i really want something a little more sprightly but still sturdy and cargo-worthy (which, sad to say, my sexy red texas4000 bike is not so much. i mean, it's sturdy enough, but it really wants some wider tires for these slippery streets. you can't even get ice tires on it (which i have purchased, because i'm nuts like that), and a rack would be kind of sad, since it's currently half the weight of my tank and i don't want to beef it up anymore.) i will of course wait until the money is in hand, because i'm practical like that, but it makes me happy to know that my stable shall be growing. it will probably disturb kdaisy9600 that i am planning to further grow my bike stable before i grow my ski stable, but hey, i have priorities.
that's what's happening in the land of_fool for today, kids. i'm off to do some laundry, feed myself, and finish reading the alchemist, which was thrust upon me in a chance in encounter and which informs my current situation to a large degree, so far. i can only imagine how strikingly relevant it will be by the end. you should seek out or anyway find something strikingly relevant to your life--it's pretty invigorating. as life should be. IMNSHO.
plague not withstanding (ok, it withstood, and made me bike really slow and breathe through my scarf lest i break down into a cacophony of cophs) ignite portland was pretty neat last night. totally not what i expected since it seemed like a techy geek thing but was instead a life-geek thing (there were a couple of life-hacker type presentations, but mostly it was a totally random spate of stuff from sushi to rockets to biodiesel) and of course it was full of interesting people. thanks largely to
teknotus, i was introduced to a few bikely characters, several techies, and most strangely the inventor of the wiki and extreme programming. i mean, it wasn't odd to meet someone who's changed the world so much as it was weird that the talk was of zombies and offal rather than things tech.funny thing, actually,
ivo's post about geek fallacies which was the last thing i thought about before leaving for the event totally played into that conversation. ah, synchronicity, you are everywhere in my life. and it is good.hopefully this plaguey-ness will blow over before the weekend. i have two easy nights tonight and tomorrow (sure, i was too sick to work, but i'm not too sick to play!) before a weekend full of big biking. no bike move this weekend, but i have about 20 miles between home base and the start of the midnight mystery ride, which will of course involve more biking and then a ride to wherever i will lay my head. and sunday is a local tradition, the worst day of the year ride, which will hopefully not have weather to match its name. also, hopefully my lungs will be happier so's i can actually keep up with some people during the 40-mile jaunt (there's a shorter option if i'm feeling totally craptastic. don't worry, i'm not going to kill myself...)
some good news is that my tax return is plenty to cover my smidgen of remaining moving debt, refill my cash-living-buffer to 6-month levels, and cover the costs of my fine vacation to san francisco next week. i'm going to see
ariberman_blog and catch some snow down in taos. the time off of work will be recharging and the new-work prospects are in high gear--interviews in the making, resumes flying, and connections gelling--i am feeling pretty positive this week.some other good news is that with my 6 months of unemployment, i made little enough money to qualify for that stupid $600 check that the man is also supposed to be
kdaisy9600 that i am planning to further grow my bike stable before i grow my ski stable, but hey, i have priorities.that's what's happening in the land of
_fool for today, kids. i'm off to do some laundry, feed myself, and finish reading the alchemist, which was thrust upon me in a chance in encounter and which informs my current situation to a large degree, so far. i can only imagine how strikingly relevant it will be by the end. you should seek out or anyway find something strikingly relevant to your life--it's pretty invigorating. as life should be. IMNSHO.
