Just a quick link

I haven't crawled back under my rock yet. I promise that is coming. Just had to post a quick like I spotted at a friend's blog. A site that lets you find out what the #1 pop song was in America on the day you were born. I post this only because my song kicks ass.

"Play That Funky Music" by Wild Cherry

I was reading another blog just minutes ago and when a funk was mentioned that song popped into my head. The only time funk is good is in music, and that song about a white guy playing funky music is one of my favorites. I know the song is disco, not funk. I also enjoy actual funk music (George Clinton and the likes).

That's all I have today. I hope the song that was playing as you came into the world was as kick ass as mine.

Speedy Speedo

4 posts this week. 2 posts today. Never fear. I promise to crawl back under my rock and fall back to posting irregularly soon.

I'm posting this because I couldn't think of any single person that I think reads this blog that would particularly want to hear my story. Therefore I am making you all suffer through the mental imagery. Warning: If you are eating, about to eat, or thinking about what you'd like to have for lunch/diner then postpone reading this post. I will not be held responsible for someone being hungry.

I now own a speedo swimsuit. I'm about to begin a triathlon training program, and the swimming coach for the program had a "racing swimsuit" on his list of required gear. A question was asked about it and he said that we could train in "baggies" but that would really slow down our times. I'm not a fast swimmer. Yes, I can swim a good distance at a reasonable pace, but I'm not able to come close to the times posted at any competition. I do swim fast enough to notice the drag caused by the baggy suit, but I was skeptical about how much a swimsuit could affect my time. Nevertheless, it was on the required list so I went and bought one. More news on my training after the program starts.

Now that you've all suffered through a paragraph with the mental image of me in a speedo I'll ease your mind a bit and let you know it was the classic racing speedo that has barely enough material to qualify as a piece of clothing, but rather a "jammer" style speedo. Bicycle shorts with a lining basically. Very comfy with enough material to not show my business to the world in a disgusting level of detail.

Tonight was the maiden swim with the new suit, and I am sold on it. Racing swimsuits make a world of difference and they rock. I've been too busy (at least that is my excuse) to make it to the pool in the past two weeks. Therefore, I expected to be slower in the pool. I was amazed to put in much faster lap times. The change in the suit cut an average of 10 seconds off my lap times, which works out to cutting 3 minutes or so from my usual time on a 1km swim -- .621 miles for those that don't use the metric system regularly. Amazing stuff.

So for all those -- not sure there are any in the regular reading crowd -- that swim regularly in a baggy pair of swim trunks for exercise, go buy a racing swimsuit. The difference in what your able to do in the pool is well worth the money.

And They're Off

Ana has officially become a mobile baby. For the past couple of weeks she would crawl for a couple of "steps" to grab a toy that was just barely out of reach. Anything beyond that wasn't worth the effort. Who needs to expend energy when you have servants at your beck and call to fetch toys?

Last night everything changed. Lidia was unpacking a cool set of bowls we got from Kate (Thanks again, Kate!) and Ana was keeping a close watch. We sat a bowl down for her to check out, and she had a good time for a couple minutes before she managed to push it well beyond her reach. She looked at it for a moment, then hopped up and crawled over to it. Hooray for the baby inspiring bowl!

This morning she has crawled all over the living room from toy to toy. She's made her way from me to the other side of the room and is now pulling toys from her toy box. As soon as she realizes she can crawl to any room of the house she wants my days of blogging from the couch are over. For now I'll be happy with chasing the baby instead of fetching toys for the screaming baby

The Dancing Powerpoint Monkey

The past week and a half I haven't done anything but read papers, make powerpoint presentations, and the webpage equivalent of one of the presentations. The content of the webpage is research-esque and may get me a publication or three eventually, but the rest of this is just administrative garbage. I want to write code, not fret of my selection of a font in a picture -- which was, as it turns out, incorrect so I get to regenerate a crapload of pictures for one of the presentations by midnight. This will hopefully be over after a presentation tomorrow evening and I'll be able to at least get back to fixing bugs in the code if not trying to design something that is sufficient to get me a PhD.

A break from the insanity

One year ago today I was at home, happy, drinking, eating thin mints, and watching the Daytona 500. Today I am no so lucky. My Sunday code review meetings have lasted one year, and I'm sitting up at campus in my office while a submeeting is occurring -- the profs are discussing the budget for a proposal they're all putting together so I excused myself. No Daytona, no thin mints (they're at home in the freezer though), and -- as far as anyone with an official position at this fine university is concerned -- no booze. The work is interesting, but I'd rather be on my couch being a redneck right now.

Update: On another note, I have officially attended a class this semester. This past Thursday was the first class meeting. I presented along with a research colleague. It went ok, but I still have to present next class (which will be 2 weeks from last Thursday) to finish covering the material. It also looks like I'll have to present another topic as well unless I get lucky and it is covered by a classmate. Given my luck today, I'll put my money on me having to present the topic.