Real-ish Life

SNAP Recreation Areas

2011-06-01T10:50:00.001-07:00

This is a test of the ESRI ArcGIS Online map creation and sharing. I've created this sample map using a few, but not all actual recreation opportunities on Federal Lands in Southern Nevada. This is a sandbox map for me to use for testing out different ArcGIS Online applications and options.

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Running Through My Mind

2010-02-12T10:54:00.000-08:00

It's been about a year now since my wife and I dedicated ourselves to the gym every day to get ourselves back in shape. It's been a fun and interesting adventure; and a curious thing happened to me along the way - I began to enjoy running. I can't explain to you why it happened - it's come as a total surprise to me - I can only tell you the facts.

Back in high school I wanted to play football, but I was skinny and short and my parents didn't want me to get broken in half by kids the same age but twice my size. My sister was a distance runner, competing in cross-country (3 miles) and track (2 miles, 1 mile, sometimes other races), so I sort of ended up there by default. My sister was good - she broke a lot of school records for women's distance running - so I'm sure the coach was really excited to see if her little brother was just as talented.

Boy was he ever disappointed. I was a middle or back of the pack runner in cross-country and a last place finisher in most of our track events (I was lapped more times than I care to admit). I hated practices which usually consisted of running between 2x's and 3x's the distance we ran in our races (to build up endurance). I ran with the other slackers and ditched or cut short more than my share of workouts. It wasn't until my senior year that I finally began to realize what I had to do mentally to succeed - but by then it was far too late. I managed to win the JV cross-country league title, but my competition was severely lacking and I was still considered a slow varsity runner. My best ever mile time was 5:07 which is nothing to sniff at, but most varsity track runners were running it closer to 4:30 or better. Plus, I hit that time in the first half of a two-mile race... which I promptly dropped out of after the first mile. Not my finest hour - and one of my few regrets (including the whole slacking off for 3 years bit).

So, back to this last year; my weight at my HS graduation was 140 which was not maintainable without being a distance racer (which I quit immediately upon graduation) and I eventually evened out to around 170-175; a fairly healthy weight for being 5'11". But after turning the big three oh, I pushed up over 210 which my doctor was not happy with and may have been contributing to a possible sleep disorder. So, it was time to start a real, meaningful gym routine.

At first I was just walking and trying to eat better. That helped, but only so much. I knew if I really wanted to drop back down to 180, I couldn't just keep walking; I was going to have to run. So I did. And it hurt. And I hated it. Being overweight and running can give you shin splints; and boy are they painful. But, I kept at it. I started running a lap which on the indoor track in our gym is pretty short: It takes 5&1/2 laps to run a mile (standard tracks are 4 laps per mile). I built up to 2 laps, then 3, then up to a full mile, then two miles. Just a few days after running two miles for the first time in over 15 years, i was running with the intent of running two miles... and decided to keep going and to my surprise I managed to finish three! And not only that, but I was also running three miles at around the same time as my very first freshman cross-country race. I thought to those many years ago and my poor attitude. Boy had my attitude changed. Now I was running farther than I expected. I was learning how to pace myself. I was pushing myself to not slow down even when I felt tired. I was running all out on the last lap to expend every last ounce of energy. I was actually enjoying running - or at least enjoying the challenge. If only I had had this mental fortitude so many years ago.

Flash forward to this past month. I am now holding at around 180-185. I ran a 5k last November and plan to run another in a couple months. I am not breaking any personal time records. I'm definitely not running a real racing training regimen, but I am working hard when I do run and am building up my endurance - this past Monday I ran 5 miles and felt as though I could continue on for a couple more. I don't know that I will ever run a marathon (would be an interesting challenge for sometime in the future, but I'm not up for it right now), but I do feel that I could easily run a half-marathon right now, and do it in a reasonable time (10-11 minute mile average) if given a couple months of training to build up. The other day I was feeling blah and decided to go for a run. I didn't know how far I wanted to run, but I knew I need to run. I started out planning to run for two, maybe three miles. I ended up running for 5 miles around the neighborhood and came back with my head clear and thoughts organized. I thought to myself, "Am I really enjoying running?" I was quite stunned. 15-20 years ago while ditching another workout and dreaming of life after high school I would never have imagined this happening. I now enjoy eating deli sandwiches and running 3-5 miles? I don't know how exactly I got here, but I think I like it.

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Speaking of running... Since my sister quit her marathon training (and subsequently her running blog), I found a new (to me) funny running blog called Half-Fast that I've quite enjoyed. It's well written and he seems to be more on my level. It may just be part of my inspiration to continue to run and to enjoy running.

Photo Blog Day 219

2010-02-11T15:10:00.000-08:00

Today is day 219 of my "365 Days of Mobile Photos" project. If you have been paying attention, you may have noticed my infatuation with scenery and panoramic landscape shots of the clouds and surrounding mountains. I really am trying to break out of that shell, but I'll tell you again and again that it's quite difficult - when you have an eye for something... I've taken at least 12 similar shots in the last two days of sunlight, mountains and clouds creating intriguing contrasts of dark and light. I'd blame my college design studio professors if I didn't already have similar photos that I'd taken back when I was 8 with the 110 film camera that my parents gave me.
365 Days of Mobile Photos

My project has only hit one snag so far. Flickr limits the viewable photos in a set for non-pro accounts to the last 200 photos. I've resisted splitting the set into two separate sets, so far; but i may give in pretty soon as more and more of the original photos from the set become invisible.

I started a new set on Flickr that you can check out while you're there called "Point of Views". These photos are part of the 365 Days of Mobiles Photos where I've taken a select number of photos from similar vantage points, but on different days with a different context.

So, if you haven't already been following along, check out the latest 200 photos. I can't say you won't be disappointed, but at least it should be somewhat meaningful - at least to me.

365 Mobile Photos of Las Vegas

2009-07-20T15:12:00.001-07:00

I have started a photo project to bring a new perspective to life in Las Vegas by taking a photo every day for 365 days using only my mobile phone camera. The idea is to try to capture ordinary life in an artistic manner, but with the on-the-move quality of a cellphone camera.

While this will definitely be a challenging project - in more ways than one (for instance, when was the last time i posted in this blog?) - it should be a lot fun and very interesting to look back on once it is over. I already have a couple of photos I really like and some ideas for a few more that I would like to take.

A project would not be complete without a set of ground rules, so I have put together the following guidelines for this project based on my initial project concept - to take 365 days of photographs of every day life from the perspective of an ordinary resident of Las Vegas. Being that this is my project, i reserve the right to revise these rules on the fly. The plan is not to change them, but I still reserve the right should the need arise.

So, here are my rules:

1 Photos must be taken with my mobile phone camera.

2 Photos should be taken that day, whenever possible.

2a Interesting photos can be taken and used for a later day, but sparingly.

3 No "Stereotypical Las Vegas" pictures.

4 No pictures of "The Strip".

5 No pictures of casinos or their signs.

5a - Unless the picture shows casinos in a non-stereotypical Las Vegas manner.

6 Photos from outside Las Vegas are okay when traveling.

6a - Previously taken photos from Las Vegas can be used if I am traveling outside LV.

Those are the only rules.

I am now 13 days into this project. You can check it out on flickr: 365 Days of Mobile Photos. For now, it is still new and exciting. We will see how it is in a couple months when my usual projects begin to falter, but I have faith in myself that I will see this through!

Winds of Change

2009-03-26T15:05:00.000-07:00

The wind is really blowing outside. A bunch of black clouds zipped past, earlier, but are gone now - though some others will probably appear at any time then disappear again.

For some reason, windy days feel different - almost spiritual. It's as if wind contains some kind of power; the energy to create change. In Los Angeles we called calm, windless days "Earthquake weather." It was as if the energy of the wind had been bottled up inside the earth and would then be forced to break free.

But, windy days feel different. Wind means that the weather is changing. Either a storm is blowing in, or a storm is blowing out. Or maybe a storm is just passing through. Regardless, something is changing. In Los Angeles, Santa Ana winds (sometimes nearly hurricane force) would occasionally blow through and cause havoc - power outages, scattering trash and garbage cans, blowing dust, blowing big rigs off the highways. There's a power there.

And yet, it's not the power or the storms that make a windy day different. It's just something ethereal, or spiritual. There's a feeling in the air. That things are changing. That life is changing. Today, as I drove through the streets with the wind giving my car the occasional nudges and pushes, I couldn't help but think deep thoughts about my life. I live in a different city. I own a house. Life is different. Yet, it doesn't really feel different. Sometimes I look up at the mountains and the sky surrounding us and it feels like I've lived here forever. Everything looks familiar, even though it feels different. Sometimes I feel at home, but other times I feel that I am just passing through.

Whatever the case, for today, the wind will continue to blow. You can't stop the wind, and you can't stop change, and you can't stop life. Life pressing ever forward. Never the same. Always changing. I will continue to stare out the window and watch the wind blow, and i will watch life change. I wonder what changes the wind will bring with it tomorrow?

Spoiler Alert

2008-10-11T22:14:00.000-07:00

I had two posts started, but never got very far with either one. Now, so much has happened that they're both out of date and I've got to start a new one.

So, the first thing that happened was Oregon State (hence the photo). Of all the things I expected to see in that game, i did not expect to see USC be so thoroughly dominated by a team they were supposed to beat. There was no fluke plays, no tricks plays, just thorough domination by the Oregon State offense and defense long enough to keep USC off-balance and seal the victory. My hat is off to Oregon State for coming out and showing the Trojans how to play winning football.

What else has happened since then? Well, USC has won two games, but their last effort against ASU was all defense with an iffy offensive performance. At least they still have only one loss. Hopefully they continue to learn and improve. With the number 1, 2, and 3 team losing today, USC will move up from their ninth position and with a few more victories who knows where they'll end up.

But, on a more serious note, my better half was unceremoniously shown the door by her employer, much to her chagrin. The rub being that their reason for giving her the boot was their opinion that she should have been fully trained in her position. While that may be true, they failed miserably in their blame placement. They hired her at the same time as the new CFO and then proceeded to spend all their efforts training the CFO. For days and weeks my better half would come home thoroughly frustrated by the lack of attention. She described the e-mails and conversations she had with the controller, practically begging her to come in an spend time training her. So, when they finally decided enough was enough, they have no one to blame for her lack of training except themselves. They had plenty of notice from her in many ways and on numerous occasions.

Regardless of the idiocy involved, it does seem to come as no real surprise as they are on their third CFO this year and at least two others have left in the past three weeks also due to being overworked and under trained. My better half has always been one of the hardest workers I know, always being the recognized by all her employers as one of the few employees that any company would be blessed to have. As a result, she has had at least a handful of former co-workers and employers offer her jobs. So, this is certainly not a dire situation and most likely a blessing as she will move to a much better and less frustrating position where her skills are appreciated and not ignored.

Lastly, the house search continues to frustrate us. Two weeks after our last bid was placed we again were beaten out. This makes it at least the fourth beautiful house we've aggressively bid on, yet lost out on. And again, the market continues to see dropping home prices and wildly fluctuating interest rates, but it is very frustrating to find the perfect house we want when interest rates seem to be at their relative best position and then lose out. So, we're back to viewing more homes. We'll find another one that we love, and we'll try to be patient while we continue to look. We would just love to be in a new house before Christmas. Lord willing, the job situation will not hinder the house situation at all, either, and we'll finally find a place to call home. We just want a place to call home.

Fall

2008-09-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the year is almost here. No, not fall. Winter. Why winter? Maybe it's because in Los Angeles we didn't really have what people usually think of as winter. Sure, the weather was basically colder than any other time of year, and yes, we did get precipitation (which doesn't happen during the summer in Los Angeles, ever). But, what we never got was snow. Snow is the one thing that tells you what season it is without any doubts. Simply put:

snow = winter

But you need cold weather for snow. Weather with temperatures of 32 or lower. I remember we often had extensive periods of 70-80 degree weather in Los Angeles during the winter. Yes, many times you could find us wearing shorts on Thankgiving or Christmas. Oh, sure, we would wear jackets in the morning before the Rose Parade, but a couple hours after the sun came out we were usually back in shorts, or at least in jeans and t-shirts. In short (no pun intended), Los Angeles winters were rarely ever really "winter".

So, why do i love winter so much? I love love love love cold weather. That is why. Having inherited the genes that cause me to sweat like a pig if i so much as *think* about moving when thermometers rise above 70 may be large contributing factor. Regardless, I love wearing jackets, jeans, boots, and curling up under blankets while watching football being played in - you probably guessed it - snow. I also love rain. In Los Angeles, winter means rain. Never enough of it, but that's when we got it.

Now that we're in Las Vegas, during the summer i wish for thunderstorms and rain and I can't wait for the winter where we'll hopefully, actually be somewhat cold on Christmas. Average temperature in December is close to 55. I guess it won't be a white Christmas, but hopefully it'll still be much cooler than those many warm Los Angeles winters i remember, even if we do get less rain. Maybe then i'll stay a little drier in at least two different ways.

Blue Man Group

2008-09-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

One of the benefits of living in Las Vegas is not just that there are lots of cool shows to go to, but also that Las Vegas is small and it's really easy and quick to get to the shows. Back in Los Angeles, a show or a concert may be in town, but it could be in Hollywood or Orange County or San Bernardino... It could be down the street or 3 hours away! Here in Lost Wages, a show is rarely more than 30 minutes away - or 1 hour if it's on the strip.

So, we just saw the Blue Man Group on Friday. I was kind of disappointed that it wasn't all i was expecting it to be, but it was fun and i laughed and had a great time with my wife and the in-laws. So, it wasn't a waste of time by any means. We wanted to go out afterward and that wasn't what everyone in our group wanted to do, but we're over it now. I think...

House Hunting

2008-09-04T20:14:00.000-07:00

House hunting is very frustrating. This is how the process goes:

1. Look through hundreds of thousands of homes on-line, weeding out the ones that don't fit our base criterea (3+ bedrooms, 2+ bathrooms, price, etc.)
2. Look up each home on Google maps to see their location.
3. Look up each home on Zillow to the lot location and orientation. Do they back up to major streets or a wash or a park or a school?
4. Look at the pictures and descriptions of each remaining house one-by-one to see how big the bedrooms are, what appliances they have, etc.
5. Now that we've whittled the list down to around 20 homes, we submit them to our realtor.
6. Our realtor looks through the list and eliminates the short sales. Our list is now down to between 4 to 9 houses for us to actually look at in person.
7. Meet our realtor right after work (about 5:30pm) and drive around looking at the homes on our list until it's dark (about 8pm).
8. Stop by Port O' Subs or maybe a nice restaurant for dinner (depending on how successful we felt our house hunting went).
9. Call our realtor to put bids on one or two of the houses we looked at.
10. A week later we find out there were multiple bids and ours wasn't the one accepted by the bank.
11. Swear we'll take a break and not look at houses for at least a week.
12. Get frustated we're living in a 10x10 bedroom and decide to go on our realtor's internet site to search for houses.
13. Start all over.

The only time there was an abberation to this routine was the one time where out of desperation we put a bid on a house we didn't really like our bid was countered. Go figure that was the only time we won a bid.

So, tonight I looked at two houses. We put down bids on both of them. The saga continues...

Airplane!

2008-08-29T10:31:00.000-07:00

Two small plane crashes in a week. This usually would get cursory attention from me, however we just happen be living a mile from the North Las Vegas Airport and the second crash happened less than a mile away. In fact, our storage unit is located at Cheyenne & Jones, maybe a quarter mile or less from the crash site. It's all a little freaky.

The path of the east-west runway of the NLV airport runs between Cheyenne and Smoke Ranch. Fortunately, we're north of Cheyenne and out of the direct flight path. I feel terrible for the people who lost their house and were lucky to escape with their lives. The line between life and death can be pretty thin.

That being said, we're definitely going to be looking at houses in a different area. This last crash was definitely too close for comfort. Centennial Hills looks nicer and nicer every day.

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As I was driving home, yesterday, the car said it was 112 degrees outside and that was confirmed by a billboard that said it was 113 degrees. But, the temps forecast for Saturday are around 97. Summer is slowly coming to an end, fighting it out to the bitter end. Maybe by October we'll see highs in the 80's. Hey, it can happen.

High & Dry

2008-08-28T14:26:00.000-07:00

I don't remember which experts said that Vegas is a buyer's market right now. In fact, i think so many of them have repeated that "fact" that i couldn't pick out the one i'm thinking of. Regardless, it may be a "buyer's market," but it is not easy pickings by any stretch of the imagination.

We've looked at hundreds of homes on-line and at least 50 or more in person. So far, we have come up empty. Yes, the prices have dropped, but no, they are not going for $100 (it would be nice!). Of the 8 or so bids we've placed, only 2 have come through, but they were for a house above our price range, and for another that we found just needed too much work. Battling investors for the better houses gets quite frustrating at times.

It's a blessing that we have plenty of patience and a wonderful family that is more than happy to give us a roof to sleep under for as long as it takes. We'll get the one we want, eventually - and when we do it'll just be that much sweeter.

It Rains in Las Vegas?

2008-08-25T16:56:00.000-07:00

Is this what comes to mind when you think of Las Vegas in the summer? Me either. But, I have been pleasantly surprised by the number of thunderstorms. Not only do they cool temperatures down a couple of degrees and add some much needed shade, they also are awesome to watch. Sometimes at night we will find an open spot in a park or an empty parking lot and watch the lightning flash in the valley and mountains around us.

One drawback of thunderstorms in the desert is the flooding: flash floods and street flooding. That's what happens when it rains in a dry desert region that averages 6 inches of rain every year. Water doesn't soak into the hardened desert landscape.

But, I love it. Not the floods. No, I love the storms and the rain and the lighting and the thunder. When i was growing up, i hated thunder. Now i love it. I love the sound of rain, the sound of thunder; all the sounds and smells of a good thunderstorm.

This is not what I expected from Las Vegas, but Las Vegas has surprised me in many ways; for better and for worse - mostly for better. As my wife and I drove through The Valley of Fire in the middle of July, I commented to her "It's only 96 degrees outside." I would never have made that statement in Los Angeles where I would sweat heavily if the outside temperature broke 75. Now i seem unfased by 100+ degree heat.

Don't get me wrong; I would love some cooler weather; but i'm tolerating the heat better than i ever expected. Still, I am looking forward to my first desert winter. I love jeans and jackets weather.