General

We woke up to a couple inches of snow this morning on Queen Anne hill.  It only happens once every couple years now.  Even then, it tends to happen in January -- not December.  So, it's a rare treat to have the city blanketed with snow so close to Christmas.  The 52 years in NOAA's snowfall record for Seattle averages to only 2.4 inches in December.  I'm pretty sure that we exceeded the average with just today's weather, and it's still coming down.

Should I attempt the trek to my office?  I think I should.  It would be an adventure, and would surely help me get some work done (since the office is likely empty).  I wonder how long it would take to get there by foot and public transit.  (There's no way I'm stupid enough to try and drive when so many locals don't know how to drive in the snow.)

The local TV channels are having a field day with the weather news.  You'd think we had eight feet of snow the way they're talking it up.  KIRO has live feeds from several locations in the region. I guess they're just happy to have something to talk about.

(The photo was taken from our balcony.)

Virtually every flight I take finds me perusing the SkyMall catalog as a form of entertainment.  Some of the items for sale are amusing; others are downright useless.  It is rare, however, that I encounter a product for sale through the catalog that is, Prima facia, fraudulent.  That's what happened, though, on my recent return from New York.  Page 242 of the SkyMall catalog advertises a "Wine and Liquor Accelerator" that claims to "Accelerate the slow aging flavor of wines and liquors". How?  It "surrounds the beverage with a powerful triangular-shaped magnetic field".

Really?  Exposure to a magnet is all you need to age a bottle or glass of wine?  I'm sorry, but that simply isn't factual.  For those wines that do benefit from aging, the aging process cannot be "accelerated" through exposure to the sort of weak magnetic field possible in the device being sold by SkyMall.  It's really that simple.  The chemical process which occurs as certain wines age is not influenced by a couple small, permanent magnets.  SkyMall should be ashamed.

What can you expect to grow on the deck of your Seattle condo?  Should you grow food, or should you plant flowers instead?  This year I was convinced that what our deck needed was an herb and tomato garden.  The start was rough.  My organic herb seeds were planted in a set of copper pots purchased at Smith & Hawkin.  Ignoring the "not for food" stickers on the bottom of each copper container, I anxiously waited for the first signs of basil, oregano, savory, and rosemary sprouts.  In the meantime I happened to hear a radio show about heavy metals in food, which prompted me to do some further research on the copper pots.  First, let me defend my decision to plant herbs in pots that warned they were "not for food".  That notice typically refers to using a container for serving food -- not growing food plants.  My follow-up research, however, indicted that the solder used to weld one corner and the bottom of each pot was primarily lead.  Furthermore, the lead could leech into the soil and be picked up by the plants.  There's irony in there somewhere: my organic seeds and soil were being tainted by lead (and possibly the copper, another heavy metal).  So,..I ditched the copper pots for earthenware ones. 

At the same time, I planted two organic tomato plants.  The herbs were doing well, and the tomato plants had several dozen flowers waiting to be pollinated.  And waiting.  And waiting.  It turns out that our bees (and other pollinating insects) were taking the summer off.  Joan (a coworker) mentioned needing to hand pollinate her tomato plants, so I followed her lead.  Shortly thereafter I had eight tiny green tomatoes.  The first one (pictured) has just started to turn red in the last couple days.

Is a condo deck garden worth the time and expense?  Unlikely.  I just hope that the taste of fresh, vine-ripened tomatoes makes the effort worthwhile. 

Gavin, Elaine, and Melissa got together last year and arranged for Segway Polo on my birthday.  As my luck would have it, the day of the event was met with a torrential downpour.  Since Segway's don't operate well in two inches of standing water and the resulting mud, we postponed the game.  Not once in the subsequent year did we find an opportunity to reschedule the game, so they came up with the brilliant idea of taking the Segway tour of Disney's California Adventure while on a recent trip.  What a blast. 

Two Disney cast members teach you how to use a Segway and then take you on a tour of DCA before it opens.  Why do it before the park opens?  In their own words, "People do one of two things when they see somebody on a Segway: they either run away from it; or, they run towards it.  Both are dangerous."

The Segway experience is like nothing else.  Although completely impractical, you'll want to buy one after your first try.  My recommendation is that you resist the urge.  It's fine to be a nerd in the privacy of the Happiest Place on Earth^sm (especially when no one else is around), but you might not want to be that nerd in public.

There is this giant gap in my blogging between the months of June 2007 and January 2008.  No,...I didn't give up on blogging.  The problem was that several things converged at once to limit my ability to blog.  First, I started a new job.  Second, marathon and cycling training began in earnest.  As the summer progressed, every waking moment was occupied.  So,...this single post will have to suffice.  Here are some highlights:

• Jun 10, 2007 - Furry Fun Run (5K)
• Jun 24, 2007 - 47 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jun 29, 2007 - iPhone Released
• Jul 01, 2007 - 60 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jul 02, 2007 - Start @ Microsoft
• Jul 04, 2007 - 80 Mile Cycle Training Ride
• Jul 07, 2007 - Host Gavin & Elaine's Wedding Shower
• Jul 08, 2007 - Laptop Stolen
• Jul 14-15, 2007 - Seattle To Portland Cycle (204 Miles)
• Jul 21, 2007 - Volunteer @ TrailsFest
• Jul 28, 2007 - 6 Mile Run
• Aug 05, 2007 - 3 Mile Run
• Aug 06, 2007 - Host Gavin's Bachelor Party
• Aug 11, 2007 - 11 Mile Run
• Aug 18, 2007 - 13.5 Mile Run
• Aug 24-26, 2007 - Hood to Coast Support
• Aug 29, 2007 - Tooth Crown Installed
• Sep 01, 2007 - 17 Mile Run
• Sep 03, 2007 - 3 Mile Run
• Sep 07, 2007 - Gavin & Elaine's Wedding Rehearsal
• Sep 08, 2007 - 12 Mile Run
• Sep 08, 2007 - Gavin & Elaine's Wedding
• Sep 15, 2007 - 17 Mile Run
• Sep 29, 2007 - 8 Mile Run
• Oct 06-07, 2007 - Royal Victoria Marathon
• Oct 08-12, 2007 - Raleigh, NC
• Oct 13, 2007 - 8.5 Mile Run
• Oct 28, 2008 - 6 Mile Run
• Nov 03-07, 2007 - New York, NY
• Nov 21-23, 2007 - Thanksgiving in Portland
• Nov 25, 2007 - Seattle Half Marathon

The bottom line is that I was hyper-busy during the second half of 2007, and it hasn't slowed down too much since then.  There's been no cycling this year, but I have several races on the calendar for September, November, and January.

[The photo was taken by Chuck of the RunChuckIt Running Group when I was running the 2007 Seattle Half Marathon.]