jfin is here…

After a busy and sleep-challenged four day week, I spent today helping refurbish a home for mentally ill people as part of our “corporate yet socially responsible” day.

Got to the end of that, and was going to go to the pub for the “we don’t need to be socially responsible any longer” drinks, but really felt like getting out on the bike.

Shot home then down to the bike store, where I spent more on other bits to do with the bike than I did on the bike itself (Time ATAC XS Carbon pedals, Specialized Comp MTB shoes, and a Giro helmet), and then drove up into the hills above Cupertino (Stevens Creek County Park).

Finally made it up there by about 8pm. Twilight. Put on my headlight, tested it .. dead flat. Ooops. Oh well, when have I ever let darkness deter me?

Spent an hour blasting through some beautiful flowing not-too-technical singletrack, combination of climbing and descending. So very very good. First time I can say I’ve ever startled wild deer while out riding.  Amazing views (photos) from up on the ridgeline as well, with the fog slowly rolling in for the night. Didn’t enjoy those quite as much as I should have, too busy appreciating the riding. :) Followed the road back to the car in the dark with the full moon shining.

Ah, tired happy feeling.

Listening to : David Crowder Band - Everything Glorious

My eyes are small but they have seen
the beauty of enormous things
Which leads me to believe
there’s light enough to see that
You make everything glorious…

It’s not about a girl, it’s about God. Oh, and another one is David Crowder Band - You Are My Joy. (I love these guys at the moment! Thanks Jon!)

I like Fridays.

Oh .. it’s me.

Just got back from watching the NZ Maori rugby team destroy the USA team. Final score was 74-6 or something along those lines. I think I remember the Maori’s goal line getting threatened twice in the 80 minutes.

Went with Andrew and Bonnie, and there were a few other Kiwis around. Funny how being out of your country suddenly makes you a stauncher supporter. I was loud, and made numerous Tito references… us ginga’s from the Naki have to stick together. Got a few giggles and a few odd looks.

National anthems at the start were very disappointing .. everyone stands quietly while they play the horn version over the crappy sound system. The haka was a hit afterwards.

They don’t know a lot about rugby over here… some rather amusing comments overheard. They call a conversion “the point after”. As in, “And Paku gets the point after”. Whatever, crazy Americans. :)

Drove home afterwards, listening to Salmonella Dub. Loud. Nice.

More pics here. We’re playing Ireland A on Saturday, might have to go check that out as well.

Courtesy of Craigslist, a nice new-to-me singlespeed for $400.

The specs, for those who care:

FRAME: Croll - large, yellow!
SEAT: Terry Fly
SEATPOST: Thompson
REAR BRAKE: Shimano XT
FRONT BRAKE: Hope Mono Mini-Hydro
REAR WHEEL: Mavic x717 w/Surly single speed hub (freewheel)
FRONT WHEEL: Mavic x221 with Shimano Deore Hub
STEM: Thompsom
BAR: Race Face riser
HEADSET: Chris King
FORK: Rock Shox Judy 80mm travel (might need to replace these)
PEDALS: Shimano flat/SPD combo
CRANKS: FSA
FRONT SPROCKET: Salsa 34tooth, rear 18 tooth
TENSIONER: Surly Singleator
TIRES: Specialized Roll-X 26×2.0

He sounded a little surprised when I told him I was planning on using it as an offroad machine .. apparently there are some big hills around here. Ah well, all the better to stay fit with.

.. courtesy of my dear mother. I remember it well … there was nothing quite like the fresh chill that could be felt when riding to school at 7am (got there early to do my hour of cleaning - paid, not punishment) in shorts, shirt and jacket (too cool for a jersey) and looking up at the mountain with its fresh coat of snow.

I use the mountain as one of my claims-to-fame here, and often fits into the Lord-of-the-Rings conversation.

Me: “Have you seen The Last Samurai?”

Other person: “Yes.. why?”

Me: “Well .. the mountain in that wasn’t actually in Japan. I grew up with a view of it out my bedroom window.”

Listening to : Veggie Tales - Bob & Larry’s Toddler Songs

Today was Memorial Day, which means everyone gets a day off. It’s also supposed to be a chance to honor and remember Americans who’ve fallen in combat - I guess kind of like the New Zealand / Australia ANZAC day - but I didn’t see any formal events planned for it.

Went hiking again, this time with a group of friends from church. Left at 8.30, drove out to Point Reyes (on on the coast north of San Francisco) then walked 6 miles in to a waterfall that drops straight off a cliff onto the beach. Very cool. Pleasant day, finished off with dinner at Chow in the city (Market & Church) before driving back to Sunnyvale. Photos.

At one point during the day found myself strolling nonchalantly through a patch or maybe several patches of poison oak. Sometimes I think this Kiwi she’ll-be-right attitude is not quite so helpful. Anyway, every little itch for the next few days will be carefully monitored.

Some interesting chats with different people .. it’s funny how you start to appreciate good company when all of a sudden you get less of it than you are used to.

Listening to : Johnny Cash - Best Of Johnny Cash

Went hiking today, in the Henry W. Coe State Park - 45 mins south of San Jose.

Got a little bored of the trail, as I sometimes do these days (Rob - you’re a bad influence), so decided I’d follow the river for a while longer and then cut straight up a hill to a ridge instead of following the track that sidled around and up. Was beautiful down in the river .. no trail, so rock-hopping and wading up the canyon. So many tadpoles swimming around! Decided it was about time to head up the hill and after 30 mins climbing, as also seems to be becoming habit, I managed to get myself into the middle of a rather large patch of scrub .. scrub, scrub as far as the eye could see. Took about an hour to get through probably less than 1km of bush. At one stage I was scrambling on my hands and feet for about 100 metres .. keeping low below most of the foliage was easier than trying to fight through it standing up. Felt great to finally make it up to the track on the ridge.

Got back to the car eventually after a 7 hour day covering 17 miles (about 28km).

A lot of the terrain and bush reminded me of Australia .. dry grass-covered rolling hills. ’twas very nice down in the river valleys though. Good to get out into the bush for a while… will have to go back, looks like there are some great camping spots. More photos here.

Listening to : José Gonzalez - Veneer

.. so here it is. Theoretically I shouldn’t be spending a huge amount of time in this particular building, because I should be out at clients being billiable, generating revenue, and creating eminence.

Won’t be doing a lot of that over the next few days, because it’s a long weekend… yeeeeaah! I should probably have planned a trip away somewhere, but couldn’t be bothered. Plenty of time here to travel, don’t want to go rushing these things.

I like Fridays.

1 - Went out to a client for the first time since I’ve been here after a few initial delays early in the week. Interesting work, good company, and a very successful pentest exercise.

2 - We got an email from work on Thursday explaining that, due to great financial results for the YTD, they are going to give us all an extra 4 days holiday to be used over summer (before September). What’s that quote from the Wedding Singer? “I’ve only been here for two months, and I’m reaping all the benefits.” Yeah, something like that anyway. :)

3 - The “small group” (home group) that I’ve hooked up with through church has been great .. very welcoming people with great attitudes and senses of humour, just what I need. Bible study, volleyball, prayer meeting, lunches, movies … allll good.

4 - Made it to the gym 3 times.. very impressive, considering my somewhat strong dislike of them. But seeing it’s the doorway next to the lab in the hallway at work, I have no excuses. 10 mins on bike to warm up, 30 on treadmill, weights, 10 mins on rowing machine, weights, 10 mins on bike to cool down. Enough variety to keep me semi-interested.

Listening to : Mat Kearney - Renaissance

Yesterday went out to “Big Basin” with flatmates .. strolled about 5 miles of mostly smooth dirt trail through some pretty amazing redwood forest. Somehow not quite up there with NZ missions. I was told at church today that there is definitely some more challenging terrain out there, so I look forward to discovering that.

Finally got around to buying a phone, so send me an email if you want to be able to harass me via txt. :) Seeing I have no credit history here, I was given the priviledge of providing them with a US$500 deposit, which I get back in a year as long as I behave. I love being a lower class citizen, I really do.

Thankfully. I know so little about cars that it’s not much fun.. they’re just a black-box that I throw money into.

Decided that I didn’t want to throw too much into this particular black box, but still found the car that allows me to live out my boy-racer dreams. Subaru Impreza Sportswagon, 2.5L, auto (a must for commuting in heavy traffic), white with BIG CHROME RIMS and a personalized plate (embarassingly enough). 1SIKBRU. Yes, that is mine.

Bought it from a dealer. He was an Iranian, very interesting character. All sorts of stories.. used to be an engineer at Sun, apparently. Ended up helping him fix his computer network while I was out there, and eating pizza with him and his other salesman. He’s invited me back anytime to say hi. Will see how the car goes and might just have to take him up on that… :)