Monday, October 15, 2007
False Alarm
I had my first false alarm today. Kinda weird how it happened. Andrew's window was open a little too much (like it has been for days) and something happened that made the switch open. Who knows what that was, but all's well that ends well.
So, I had just dropped Dr. Wakker off at his hotel and was returning a bike rack that I borrowed from this kid when I got a phone call from central station. Said zone 11, a perimeter zone, is in alarm. I asked if any interior zones had been activated. Negative. I debate whether or not to dispatch the police. Decide to give the go-ahead. I call Nick. He's only a couple minutes from home. He goes home and finds that Andrew's window is open a little farther than it should be. Everything else is fine. I tell him what to do to cancel dispatch. Operator at central station doesn't respond to his request to cancel, telling him that he has the wrong cancel code. He calls me and describes the perfect procedure he just did for canceling dispatch. I call and cancel. By the time the central station gets a hold of the police station gets a hold of their officers, they're at my house (I'm at school dropping off a bike at this time). I go to Publix and return home to nothing out of the ordinary. I called my mom to figure out why Nick couldn't cancel. Turns out it was operator error.
Better than a real alarm any day. Now Andrew knows that the magnet has to line up with the switch before he leaves the house.
So, I had just dropped Dr. Wakker off at his hotel and was returning a bike rack that I borrowed from this kid when I got a phone call from central station. Said zone 11, a perimeter zone, is in alarm. I asked if any interior zones had been activated. Negative. I debate whether or not to dispatch the police. Decide to give the go-ahead. I call Nick. He's only a couple minutes from home. He goes home and finds that Andrew's window is open a little farther than it should be. Everything else is fine. I tell him what to do to cancel dispatch. Operator at central station doesn't respond to his request to cancel, telling him that he has the wrong cancel code. He calls me and describes the perfect procedure he just did for canceling dispatch. I call and cancel. By the time the central station gets a hold of the police station gets a hold of their officers, they're at my house (I'm at school dropping off a bike at this time). I go to Publix and return home to nothing out of the ordinary. I called my mom to figure out why Nick couldn't cancel. Turns out it was operator error.
Better than a real alarm any day. Now Andrew knows that the magnet has to line up with the switch before he leaves the house.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Emerald Coast #4
Ok, getting the downer news out of the way first: the bike course had to be re-routed because some drunk driver hit and killed a cyclist who was warming up on the course. Now the happy stuff:
I don't have my official times/placement, but I'll edit this post when I get them. My overall time from my watch is 1:16:49.
My swim went awesome (except my right goggle leaking from the beginning and me having red-tide salt water in my eye for about 11 minutes. Anyway, my sighting was really good and I was within feet of both buoys. I felt pretty strong...maybe since the water was a perfect temperature or maybe because I've been training. My first transition went just like I'd practiced, knocking over 3 and a half minutes off my last T1 time!! I caught a lot of dudes on the bike course. The best was nearing the end...I passed Marc then Joe. However, during the run I came up behind someone that looked like (and WAS) Marc, then Joe...they had a way faster T2 than I did. I think I might get those elastic laces so I don't have to tie my shoes. I drank all my water on the bike, just like I had planned. I felt well-hydrated for the run. It was also nice to have my new race number belt (that saved some time). I was going pretty quick on the run. I would guess that I was at 6:10 pace, but apparently it was pretty solidly sub-6. In fact, I didn't think that the finish line could possibly be so close when I was nearing the end of the race.
I guess one good thing about being a weak swimmer is that you just keep passing people for the rest of the race. Passing people pumps me up and keeps me going. I'm glad that my strength is the last part of the tri.
After the race was a pretty sweet lunch/awards thing. Free beer. Too bad I had to drive. I still had 3 beers (didn't leave for about 4 hours, don't worry). Free beer led to the best shenanigan of the day. A girl who was 18 told the people who write your age on your body with permanent marker that she was 21. This allowed her to get beer after the race. However, she placed in her age group. When she went up to receive her award, the announcer said something about how she's only 18 but her leg says she's 21. Dude. Called out. I don't think she's going to try that next time.
Swim: 11:44
T1: 2:03
Bike: 43:04
T2: 1:52
Run: 18:05
Total: 1:16:51
Placement: 5th in age group, overall not posted on the results page.
I don't have my official times/placement, but I'll edit this post when I get them. My overall time from my watch is 1:16:49.
My swim went awesome (except my right goggle leaking from the beginning and me having red-tide salt water in my eye for about 11 minutes. Anyway, my sighting was really good and I was within feet of both buoys. I felt pretty strong...maybe since the water was a perfect temperature or maybe because I've been training. My first transition went just like I'd practiced, knocking over 3 and a half minutes off my last T1 time!! I caught a lot of dudes on the bike course. The best was nearing the end...I passed Marc then Joe. However, during the run I came up behind someone that looked like (and WAS) Marc, then Joe...they had a way faster T2 than I did. I think I might get those elastic laces so I don't have to tie my shoes. I drank all my water on the bike, just like I had planned. I felt well-hydrated for the run. It was also nice to have my new race number belt (that saved some time). I was going pretty quick on the run. I would guess that I was at 6:10 pace, but apparently it was pretty solidly sub-6. In fact, I didn't think that the finish line could possibly be so close when I was nearing the end of the race.
I guess one good thing about being a weak swimmer is that you just keep passing people for the rest of the race. Passing people pumps me up and keeps me going. I'm glad that my strength is the last part of the tri.
After the race was a pretty sweet lunch/awards thing. Free beer. Too bad I had to drive. I still had 3 beers (didn't leave for about 4 hours, don't worry). Free beer led to the best shenanigan of the day. A girl who was 18 told the people who write your age on your body with permanent marker that she was 21. This allowed her to get beer after the race. However, she placed in her age group. When she went up to receive her award, the announcer said something about how she's only 18 but her leg says she's 21. Dude. Called out. I don't think she's going to try that next time.
Swim: 11:44
T1: 2:03
Bike: 43:04
T2: 1:52
Run: 18:05
Total: 1:16:51
Placement: 5th in age group, overall not posted on the results page.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Squirrel Catapult
Andrew showed me this video on YouTube. I thought it was pretty ingenious. I think we might try to rig something like that up in my back yard. The goal will be to get the squirrel over the back fence...home run!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Return of My Theme Song
If you don't already know, my theme song (which I thought I had retired) is "Timing" by Allister. Basically, I always seem to have bad timing with starting relationships with girls. Either their home life just exploded or they just broke up with the last guy or they're getting back together with the last guy or one of my friends says that he likes her...
Dating Sarah made me realize that I can date awesome girls. Ok...some of you other girls that I dated are also awesome, but we didn't stay together long enough to talk about you here...so don't go calling me up and bitching. Dating Homecoming Queen Ashley *as opposed to Ashley from soccer* made me realize that I should not date girls that I'm not interested in (I wasn't disinterested in Ashley, so I gave it a go).
Anyways, I met this girl @ FSU, thought she was hot. Waited a while to see if she was also smart and charming and all-around awesome. Found out that the answer is yes. Decided to ask her out. BTW, she set me up with the perfect scenario to ask her out (it was a coincidence having to do with a bumper sticker). I did. She says that she's sort of seeing some other guy, but it's "not official." That makes me wonder how long they've been dating. Would I have been able to be in his shoes right now if I had only learned about her awesomeness a few weeks sooner? Would she have "unofficially" dated me and then decided that he's a better option? Who knows, but I'm pretty sure that I can reclaim this theme song after its hiatus which started the beginning of my junior year.
Dating Sarah made me realize that I can date awesome girls. Ok...some of you other girls that I dated are also awesome, but we didn't stay together long enough to talk about you here...so don't go calling me up and bitching. Dating Homecoming Queen Ashley *as opposed to Ashley from soccer* made me realize that I should not date girls that I'm not interested in (I wasn't disinterested in Ashley, so I gave it a go).
Anyways, I met this girl @ FSU, thought she was hot. Waited a while to see if she was also smart and charming and all-around awesome. Found out that the answer is yes. Decided to ask her out. BTW, she set me up with the perfect scenario to ask her out (it was a coincidence having to do with a bumper sticker). I did. She says that she's sort of seeing some other guy, but it's "not official." That makes me wonder how long they've been dating. Would I have been able to be in his shoes right now if I had only learned about her awesomeness a few weeks sooner? Would she have "unofficially" dated me and then decided that he's a better option? Who knows, but I'm pretty sure that I can reclaim this theme song after its hiatus which started the beginning of my junior year.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Road ID
So, my mom's always after me to carry some ID when I'm running. Probably a good idea...I mean, I could be gone for over 2 hours before anyone even thought about being concerned. Plus, I don't usually know where I'm going on my run except in the rare case that I have a specific destination. I hate carrying stuff with me while I run. I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but I came across Road ID. I ordered the wrist ID thing. I've worn it a couple times, and it's pretty non-obtrusive. Last Sunday, I noticed that Conrad has one of the ankle ones. I guess it is a good idea. If you're a runner/other type of go-far-away-from-a-single-location athlete, check the website out.
Important: search online to get a coupon code that gets you $2 off. There are always some active. It's worth searching for. Note that a lot of what hits on a search engine is expired...keep trying, it's worth it if you value your time at less than $30/hour.
Important: search online to get a coupon code that gets you $2 off. There are always some active. It's worth searching for. Note that a lot of what hits on a search engine is expired...keep trying, it's worth it if you value your time at less than $30/hour.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
(Free) Music from Artists
Last week, Cortney told me about the new Radiohead album In Rainbows which is being released by the band on their website to fans, who can pay any price they like for the album. There is a processing fee for the download of £0.45. Cortney tells me that he did not pay it. I think it would be cool to see how much freeloading is going on concerning that release.
I told Nick about this and he informed me that Harvey Danger released its latest album Little by Little on their website. There is an option for you to make a "small contribution" to the band in return for downloading the album. I downloaded the album in under 60 seconds! *gotta love the internet* I listened to it a couple times...if I like it after a few more play-throughs, I will probably contribute $2-3.
I think it's totally awesome that bands are releasing their music and making it so easily available to the fans. I know that Radiohead can afford to do this, but I bet the guys from Harvey Danger are still working day jobs. They have a really sweet writeup of WHY they're doing this.
I bet there are plenty more bands doing this complete album free download thing (Carmen told me that Weezer did it for a while until their label (was it Geffen?) told them to stop). Please leave a comment if you know another band that's doing this. Bonus points for a link to their website.
I told Nick about this and he informed me that Harvey Danger released its latest album Little by Little on their website. There is an option for you to make a "small contribution" to the band in return for downloading the album. I downloaded the album in under 60 seconds! *gotta love the internet* I listened to it a couple times...if I like it after a few more play-throughs, I will probably contribute $2-3.
I think it's totally awesome that bands are releasing their music and making it so easily available to the fans. I know that Radiohead can afford to do this, but I bet the guys from Harvey Danger are still working day jobs. They have a really sweet writeup of WHY they're doing this.
I bet there are plenty more bands doing this complete album free download thing (Carmen told me that Weezer did it for a while until their label (was it Geffen?) told them to stop). Please leave a comment if you know another band that's doing this. Bonus points for a link to their website.
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