Stories About A Boy And His Little Black Dog

grocible @ 2009-11-29T18:33:00

2009-11-30T02:33:21Z

Josh's fault - he moved so it is blurry.

Lots of police and fire action by the house. And the negotiator team too. Interesting.

grocible @ 2009-11-29T10:30:00

2009-11-29T18:30:58Z

Wow. Costco has cougar cheese.

grocible @ 2009-11-28T13:34:00

2009-11-28T21:34:24Z

Had a GREAT run this morning with Olive.

Currently trying to get back into 12k shape since we have a 12k race to do in three weeks. Last weekend we did 5.5 miles, and today my goal was to ramp it up to 7.5 - essentially do our modified Sound to Narrows run that we did quite often earlier this year when I was training for the TCHM.

Managed to pull out a 7.75 mile run with only one walking break. We did have to stop to first re-tie my shoe, then Olive needed to poop, and then the last of our three stops were to throw away her poop bag.

When Olive stopped, we got passed by a girl and her dog (an Australian Shepard mix) who commented that she was trying to catch us. But she didn't stop or anything. Eventually we caught back up to her and we ran together for about two miles and talked the whole way. Her name was Ashley and her dog was Brandy. Very cute very nice, but of course we hit a fork in the road, and I went right, she went left and we'll probably never see each other again. Screw the the universe and how it teases me so! But who knows.

Now I'm home and while I am tired from our run, I feel really good. Just need to take a shower, shave and get dressed and figure out what to do with my day. Need to go to Costco for water and dog food (and gas - can't forget gas) and then I'll probably head over to the other house so I can go through some of my stuff (not to mention take over some of the stuff I have "collected" that I don't have the room for.)

grocible @ 2009-11-27T19:07:00

2009-11-28T03:07:08Z

I blame Grocible. He ran out of medication so I had to go to Target after work tonight. Surprising it wasn't too bad there and they still had a ton of stuff. I only bought his medication though.

Then I ventured to Best Buy to get a car charger for my iPhone that was on sale. Again I lucked out and the place wasn't too crazy. I did have a harder time finding what I was looking for but I was eventually succesful and ended up only buying that one item.

Now I'm waiting for my Pad Thai to be ready. Got to talk to my "girlfriend" for a bit. After I grab dinner I need to go to one more store to pick up a black running shirt that is on sale. Hopefully I will be three for three on my buying excursions.

grocible @ 2009-11-26T19:18:00

2009-11-27T03:18:08Z

Double jackpot.

grocible @ 2009-11-25T22:44:00

2009-11-26T06:44:18Z

Okay, so I have one credit to my name. One - that's all.

I opened it about two months after moving out of my old house, and it had a limit of $500. After having the card for two, maybe three months, they raised my limit to $750. I was fine with that - it kept me out of trouble, gave me the ability to rent a car if need be, and if I maxed it out somehow, it was one paycheck away from being paid off.

I just checked my statement and it seems they raised my limit to $5,750. FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS. That scares me.

Edit: I did just realize something though - now I won't have any issue about trying to coordinate the vacation schedule, and payday to make the deposit for my Mount Rainier trip.

grocible @ 2009-11-25T22:20:00

2009-11-26T06:20:11Z

Tuesday brought my latest running milestone - and not just a little one, a fairly significant one.

Three years, and seven months to the day, after I logged my very first "legitimate" running mile (running shoes!) I logged my 3000th mile. THREE THOUSAND MILES.

And now I'm celebrating with warmed up fried zucchini from a steak place.

Edited to Add: Three thousand miles is quite nearly equal to running from Seattle to Boston.

grocible @ 2009-11-22T21:51:00

2009-11-23T05:51:15Z

Powers my phone too. Who needs AT&T?

grocible @ 2009-11-22T17:31:00

2009-11-23T01:31:20Z

MLS Cup 2009

Go . . . Someone?

grocible @ 2009-11-17T20:54:00

2009-11-18T04:55:03Z

In-between horrible weather events, I ran for the first time since Thursday of last week. During the window of nice weather, I couldn't have asked for a nicer time - sunny (with sunglasses even!) no wind, no rain, and the temperature was in the mid to high 40s. My toes felt great which was a relief. I'm still worried about whatever is causing that infection, but the antibiotics are working.

Also remembered to finally - and officially - register for the 2009 12ks of Christmas - or what I will always call - the Olive the Other Reindeer Run. Now I just need to get both me and Olive back up to 12k shape. Shouldn't be a problem. I hope.

After work, while I was at Target getting deodorant, I remembered to look at their battery operated lights. Yes, I'm going to string Christmas lights onto my dog, while she's wearing her reindeer antlers - and running a 12k. I'll have a Santa hat - does that make it any better?

grocible @ 2009-11-14T12:23:00

2009-11-14T20:24:14Z

No running today - which upsets me. It's a great day - no wind, no rain, yeah it's currently 37°, but I like those cold temps.

The reason for the no running is that my foot is infected again.

The toes started to itch again last weekend, so I applied some antifungal medication, hoping that it was a fungal issue and not a return of the same infection. On Thursday night, I noticed that there was some discomfort when I walked, and the same middle toe was slightly red again, and looked swollen a tiny bit. By Friday morning, I was limping again since I couldn't put any weight on my toes - just like last time. Had to skip a staff meeting so I could get into the doctor. They discovered a new white head just forming in-between the toes, so the doctor took a scalpel, chopped it off and sent the pus to be analyzed. (The last culture that was done was inconclusive.) Got the same prescription I had the last time, just for 10 days instead of 7. Now I'm hoping that this round of antibiotics will completely kill whatever it is that's going on.

The no running is really beginning to concern me since Olive and I have a 12k in mid-December, and based on how clunky last Saturday's 5.25 mile was, I'm realizing that the upcoming run won't be amazing or record breaking for us. Well, other than the longest time spent wearing reindeer antlers for Olive.

Since I'm not running today, I've watched some television, went at got gas at Costco, visited the library and Starbucks and have now washed all my bedding and sort of kind cleaned my room. Later today I need to go and get my oil changed, pick up my dive tank at the shop, and swing by the other house to get mail and whatever else is there. I really need to bring some stuff over there that I don't need to keep here, but I'm not really motivated to go through stuff here, pack it up and then go through stuff again over there.

Unless plans change for tomorrow, I'll be heading up to Northgate to The Ram to watch football with a cute girl from work. :)

grocible @ 2009-11-11T14:00:00

2009-11-11T22:00:33Z

I have most definitely loafed today. And loafed well.

In a bit, I'm going to go running with Olive (no rain today!) and then I have to head over to the other house to move some electronics out (it seems everyone is scared of breaking my laserdisc player.)

So what have I done today? Slept in a bit, watched some Mythbusters, visited Starbucks, and that's about it. And I wonder why I say that I bore even myself.

Oh, did some moping, but that's just what happens when my mind becomes inactive.

Had a really strange dream last night - one that involved a girl from work and McDonalds. Not sure what it meant, but it was strange.

grocible @ 2009-11-11T12:49:00

2009-11-11T20:49:56Z

I keep finding myself doing something quite often -

Thinking about doing something, and then not, and by the time I think about it again, it was so long ago that I had thought about it, there doesn't seem to be any point in doing that, or it would just seem weird.

Case in point - this entry.

The significance of this entry is that it was the last time I ever saw W, or even spoke to her. The private entry on that page includes among other things, the fact that we kissed for the very first time.

And now it's been a year since we've seen each other, or spoke. When Coraline came out, she texted me about it, and I believe that that was the very last time we communicated.

This is where the first sentence comes in - I kept thinking that I should send an e-mail or give her a call, but for some reason I never did. And if I did that now, it would just be weird. Hey, it's been a year, what's up?

And the worst part is that I really liked her. A lot.

grocible @ 2009-11-07T21:07:00

2009-11-08T05:08:17Z

Can't find my phone. I'm hoping it's in the car somewhere and I just can't see it in the dark.

grocible @ 2009-11-05T19:58:00

2009-11-06T04:02:23Z

Feeling quite antisocial today. In the sense that I don't want to be around people and just want to be left alone.

My plan tonight was to grab something to eat at Red Robin and then go over to Borders and just browse. See what I can see. But Jerome needed something done on the computer so I agreed to head home and give him a call. So now I'm home. Ate my dinner (more like inhaled it!) and now just reading random websites and sort of half assed using my Match.com membership. Yeah, that worked well. Just not datable is where I'm leaning towards there.

Work is getting even busier. This week has been a blur - I feel like I've lost a day there somewhere. It's good though. I like the challenge - being pushed outside my comfort zone is good for me. I got some good feedback from my manager (it was simple a "good job" and "I trust you" but compared to her normal quantity of positive feedback, I am being buried in it.)

grocible @ 2009-11-05T11:57:00

2009-11-05T19:57:45Z

Today's google logo is even better than yesterday's.

grocible @ 2009-11-03T18:58:00

2009-11-04T03:06:33Z

Even though this entry occurred on the 31st - the real milestone was on the third . . .

Today marks my 6 year anniversary at my current employer.

Funny to read that old entry - I had ZERO IDEA what I was going to be doing when I got hired. Reminded me of when I got hired at ~~Union Bank~~ ~~Union Bank of California~~ Union Bank - I didn't know what job I was hired for.

Six years later - I'm still in the same department. My third desk at least, and I'm a senior, so there has been some change.

Speaking of work - I've been assigned a multitude of special projects that are going to keep me busy for the next 12 to 18 months, so busy in fact, that I'm being phased out of my current job (temporarily - don't worry!) The two people that I was mentor over have been reassigned, and I'm not getting as much normal department work as I once was. Eventually, the projects will take up about 100% of my time (the last few days they have been taking up around 80%) so I won't be involved in the day to day operations soon.

I'm really excited about these projects. I'm going to learn a lot about lots of other areas within my organization, get exposed to lots of very important people and get my name and face out there. Excited - and it scared the heck out of me.

grocible @ 2009-11-01T21:33:00

2009-11-02T05:39:04Z

Just tallied my mileage for October - barely 33 miles. What is wrong with me? I was one track to shatter my 2008 mileage totals, but now I'm going to need to run 130 miles each month for the next two months just to equal last year's totals.

Looking at my running logs and there is one glaring difference - I did a half marathon last year in November, whereas this November there is no races planned, so there hasn't been as much running done. Plus vacations in September and October changed my running plans quite a bit (not to mention having the infected foot issue two weeks ago.)

Makes me a little depressed to see my running suffer like that this year. I was doing so well up until June or so, and then it started to slack off. And with that slacking off, I have put on a few extra pounds too - really not happy about that.

I do need to figure out how to get my free entrance to this year's 12ks of Christmas - or Olive the Other Reindeer Run Take Two. Need to get Olive and I into shape for that. And I need to get myself some battery operated Christmas so I can decorate her for that run.

Which reminds me - I might enter the Kirkland Half Marathon in May of next year since Kirkland is Little Black Dog™ friendly. I started to look at the available dates for my Rainier project, and they all don't start until mid-June, which works out well for me to do a May half marathon.

grocible @ 2009-11-01T17:39:00

2009-11-02T01:39:55Z

I voted.

The Thirty-Five Cent Tour of Hawaii

2009-10-31T22:01:21Z

Earlier this year, in the summer, I got invited to Hawaii to do some hiking, and some diving.

Specifically, the hiking was going to be done on Kauai – an island that I hadn’t ever been to. The hike itself was along the Kalalau Trail.

Described as beautiful and strenuous, it lived up to every description that I ever read. Something else I read, was that you must be physically fit to do a hike of this nature. A minimum of eleven miles each way, coupled with the heat (and the constant sun beating down on you) made this the most challenging hike that I had ever done. I wasn't too worried about the distance or the weight of my pack (compared to the solo trip I did back in August of 2008, this hike's pack was very streamlined) - what I was worried about was the heat. I couldn't train or prepare for that, and just had to deal with it.

The hike itself was only two days - one day in, camp, and then one day out. I had brought my D90 with me, but put it away about three quarters of the way through the first hike because it was proving too difficult to hike and have a camera at the same time. The morning after camp, I did take a few pictures of the camp site's beach, and then on the second day, I took some pictures of the pools of water used for water stops and a nice way to cool off.

The first two miles of the hike are pretty easy - to Hanakapiai - and are quite crowded. At six mile mark, Hanakoa, is where you find what is for the most part, the only place to refill your water. It's also the spot that you can use to break up the 11 mile trip into two smaller and easier to manage portions. After the first two miles, the crowds thin out to such an extreme that you truly do feel like you're the only one there. The trail is essentially an old goat trail - very narrow, extreme descents and ascents, along sheer crumbly rock faces, and the occasional brief times you're under tree canopy.

The heat proved to be an even bigger issue for me than I was expecting. In hindsight, I realize that I was probably close to heat exhaustion and didn't have near enough water with me. On the return trip, similar to the last 8 miles of my very first marathon run, I don't think I was able to sweat anymore, which of course just made me all that much hotter.

Now that it's been over seven weeks since I did this hike, I can look back on it and think that I'm glad I did it, but I don't think that I'll ever do it again. I don't see the need. I'm going to stick with my Washington trails - even with the 3000 foot plus elevation gains, and risk of snow and avalanche and bears. I'm cut out to be in our mountains.

Onto the pictures!

After the hike was done, there was some sightseeing on the rest of the Island. The most impressive sight was Waimea Canyon.

For the rest of the pictures I took at Hawaii - click here.

And now, diving . . .

The last time I had gone diving in Hawaii was back in May of 2007, so it had been awhile. And I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do some diving while on Oahu.

I selected Dive Oahu after reading a little bit about them on a dive board, plus they were really close to where I was.

I did four dives with them - two wreck dives and two reef dives - over two days. The wreck dives were great - I haven't done much wreck diving at home, so it was a nice change. The reef dives weren't anything spectacular - not that they were bad or anything, they just weren't all that amazing. Maybe it was because we didn't see any sharks or turtles (except for on in between the dives on the second day.)

Some sample pictures from my diving:

The rest of the diving pictures below:

Sea Tiger - wreck dive
The Pipe - reef dive
San Pedro - wreck dive
Kaiser Reef - reef dive

Soon - San Diego pictures!

grocible @ 2009-10-26T09:29:00

2009-10-26T16:29:21Z

I always look at the pictures that the Seattle Times posts on their website that were taken at events that I was at, hoping that maybe I'd show up in one.

Imagine my surprise when I saw this picture this morning!

Northwest Trek - October 11, 2009

2009-10-25T06:42:08Z

A few weeks ago - October 11th to be precise - Jerome and I went to Northwest Trek. It has been easily seven years, maybe even longer, since I had been there last. I was really hoping to get some different pictures (there's only so many Little Black Dog™ pictures that can be taken before people get tired of them.) I took a little over 300 pictures, and then narrowed down about 50 of the ones I liked the best. Even though five-sixths of the pictures weren't all that good, I did get a lot of good practice and that's what was important.

The rest of the San Diego pictures soon.

The rest of the pictures can be found here.

grocible @ 2009-10-24T12:03:00

2009-10-24T19:06:48Z

Going through the pictures I took on my weekend trip to San Diego - trying to figure out which ones to load since there are a ton, and only a few are actually good enough to post.

As a small taste - two pictures of me - ignore the stain on my t-shirt - you can't see it very well in person, but as soon as a camera flash goes off . . . Both pictures were taken at Stone Brewing in Escondido - makers of what is quite possibly my favorite beer - Arrogant Bastard Ale (or this link which is actually better.)

An yes, I never know quite what to do with my hands . . .

More pictures soon . . .

grocible @ 2009-10-21T21:13:00

2009-10-22T04:17:51Z

Had to go to the doctor's today. I have been dealing with this issue on my toe since yesterday morning/Monday night. At first my toe itched and then it itched more and then this morning the middle toe was so swollen, the other toes were being spread away, and it was very painful to put any pressure on my foot, thus making walking impossible do without a very pronounced limp. Called Group Health's nurse line and they recommended that I go in within the next 48 hours - I made the appointment for today.

The doctor isn't sure what the problem is - but the thinking so far is that it's an insect bite of some sort. By the time I got the doctor's office, all of my toes were swollen, as was the front half of my foot - and the whole foot was very red. She took a culture from the pus that was starting to form under my toe, and prescribed an antibiotic (which I of course forgot at work! Damn it all.)

Currently my foot is still itching like mad, and it's still swollen. I want it to be better NOW - I'm very impatient.

In other news - I'm fat - very UNHAPPY with my weight today. It's mostly my eating habits - which have gotten very poor the last year or so. And my running has suffered greatly too. Have to fix that and fix it soon.

And my cat is back.

grocible @ 2009-10-19T20:06:00

2009-10-20T03:06:16Z

Landed in Seattle. Just waiting to get to the gate.

My bus either leaves in 15 or 75 minutes. Thinking my chances are slim catching the 8:20 bus. Damn. Just have to see how long it takes to get to the bus bays.