18 posts tagged “seattle”

On the second day of my Christmas holiday, I trekked with my daughters to the Shell station two blocks away. Luckily I didn't need gas as they were completely out. The store sells bare essentials including chips, licorice, wine, milk and lollypops. I suppose we could live on that if we had to.

What struck me most about our little walk was how quiet the neighborhood was. There was a hush like you'd find in a small town. I felt friendlier to people, more than usual. Others were friendlier to me as well such as the older couple digging their car out along with their skinny shivering dog, the Ethiopian clerks at the Shell station, and the owners of a new coffee bar that is opening across the street. I think they just found their best customer.

Earlier in the day, I rode on the bike trainer listening to songs on the Pandora music service, parked in front of a snowy beach scene in SL.

I am pleased to report that I have been nominated for the Washington State Patrol Snowfall Citizens Award given to responsible state residents who stay home during inclement weather;). I have now spent the last three days holed up in my house, not venturing any further than our Cohousing Common House about 100 yards away. Snow fell in Seattle on Thursday and again today.

So on the first day of my Christmas vacation, I sorted through old boxes of computer gear, happily discarding junk I don't use. Phone cords are now obsolete since we just use cell phones. Our downstairs room is beginning to look better. Our books are now roughly sorted in categories on the shelf.

Oh and I went cycling today -- on the trainer, listening to music and looking out at a Northwest beach scene on Second Life. It's better than staring at the wall and I've now found a practical use for the virtual world experience.

Yesterday I watched an entire movie while riding on the trainer although I never felt I got going hard enough to really break a sweat. I think the music and Secone Life combo is better.

Finally, I caught the end of our Cohousing caroling party and joined in singing the Twelve Days of Christmas. With the snow and the caroling, Christmas is starting to feel real now.

I will try to venture outside more tomorrow and take some pictures.

Sunny day

If Seattle were your mom, she'd never let you out of the house. Today was a snow day except there wasn't any snow. But that doesn't stop the school mavens from preemptively declaring the day a potential disaster zone. When I got a call this morning that highly reputable coworkers were staying home and then learned that our company's own private charter bus service was cancelled, I didn't think I needed to even check outside for myself. I too got caught up in the viral fear of impending snowfall.  As the day wore on, I started thinking who started all this. 

Seattle's fear of snow is legendary. I remember years ago of a major snow fall of maybe a foot and the newspapers covered the story like we had been hit by an earthquake. All that really happened was that some people had to walk a few miles home while others resigned themselves to warm drinks at downtown hotel bars. And maybe a few students were stranded overnight at school. Still since then the city goes into a panic not only at the first sign of flurries but even a false report of impending flurries.   

Today, I continued my summer streak of leaving the car at home and riding my bike 15 miles to work. Felt pretty strong today on the way in. On the return trip home, I was running a little late and picked up the pace more than usual.

It turned into a rocket ride!

Maybe it was the geniuine full sugar Coca Cola I drank around 4.30 or so. Maybe it was simply the desire to get home as fast as possible. The I-90 bridge was stacked with traffic worse than usual. Nothing like stopped traffic to make me feel fast.

I ended up only about 10 minutes late for Amy and the kids, making it home in well under an hour.

Also, today is our 8th wedding anniversary. We'll be celebrating this weekend.

After a little summer vacation from blogging, I'm back. Hello World! as they say in C Sharp, Powershell, and every other beginner programming class. After you say "hello world" what happens next?

Well, that's for us to make happen I guess.

A few things stand out over the last month.

Cycling: The kid is back!

Well, at least in my own mind:) Still, I recovered from being blown out at the state crit championship in Olympia and went on to finish well in my next 3 crit races. Crits tend to be the fastest of all cycling races and usually feature courses around several city blocks. They are intense, a little dangerous, but thrilling nonetheless. They're spectator friendly, which is good for Amy and the kids. They are over quickly and usually close, which is also good for Amy and the kids. 

There's no one better to give honest feedback than a four year old. I asked my daughter Lucy if I looked okay at the state crit in Olympia, hoping she might say "Sure, Daddy you looked great."

Instead, she simply hit back with a simple "No." And she was right. It was one tough race, eventually won by a 16 year old up and comer. I lasted a few laps before calling it a day. It was a good chance to explain to Lucy the value of participating rather than winning.

Still, I felt extra motivated after that race. I knew I needed to get back into the sport and prove, I guess, to my daughter that I could still ride with the best of them.

And since then I have done that, finishing decently in the lead group of guys in each of the crits since then. No blowouts, no getting dropped.

Reading: relaxation and reflection

In this day of lightening fast information delivery, I realized I have missed the simple pleasures of reading a full length book from cover to cover. Reading is a refuge from kids, interuptions, and the noise that has become commonplace in everyday life.

Since returning from a management IT conference in Vegas last April, I have been on a tear, reading up on business management topics and getting through a few novels. I have been able to reflect on some important issues at work and in life overall.

Plus I finally got some reading glasses and that has made a difference too. I didn't realize I was straining my eyes so much. 

The director of this fun movie about bike messenging in NYC spoke about how he was a messenger years ago and it forever altered the way he viewed the city. I thought this was an interesting perspective that I had not considered. I too was a messenger years ago, in Seattle. But I'm not sure if it forever altered the way I see the city. I remember almost getting hit by a car and almost hitting an old guy on the sidewalk. It probably made me a better urban cyclist although I had long been used to riding in the city.

Anyhow, after watching the film, I felt inspired and justified enough to finally buy a messenger bag. I no longer have to ride to work with my broken yellow back pack or my free Windows Server beach bag. I can't quite match the look of the guy in the poster yet, although I could proabably manage to do the stare reasonably well.

Today, I filed papers to run as Democratic Party PCO for my precinct in the 37th Legislative District.  Filed papers?  Okay, all I did is fill out a one page form. But it did look very official. Plus I had to sign it and say I believe in the Constitution or something to that effect. So let me repeat again on this blog. Yes I believe in the Constitution!

What will it mean if I'm elected PCO? Well, I'll get a badge for one thing. And I'll have a slightly greater license to go around and mobilize voters or would be voters -- in my immediate neighborhood. Kathy, my neighbor is the current PCO.  She recently turned 81 and has been encouraging me to take her place. Kathy, if I can bring as much energy as I've seen you bring to this role, I'll be happy -- thank you for supporting me!

Tonight I joined Kathy at the monthly meeting of the 37th District Democrats. We heard from candidates for judges, a candidate for state treasurer, a state supreme court justice running for reelection (Charles Johnson) and the leading Democratic challenger for attorney general (John Ladenburg), who gave a surprisingly stirring and somewhat populist speech full of imagery and passion. John, I'll vote for you!

As the meeting wore on, I was summoned home by Amy who reminded me that I promised the kids I would be home for bedtime stories. When I got home, Lucy told me she "had a lot of work to do." I asked her what work is that and she said, "Cards. I want to write cards to my friends." Hard to believe it's possible, but the cuteness factor continues to rise for Lucy.

Getting close to winning is almost worth more than winning when it comes to being motivated. For a brief moment racing Cat 3 at Sequim last week, I had a real gap on the field -- breaking free with about 2 miles to go, crossing the 200 meter mark in first place, only to see about 10 guys pass me by in the final 100 meters of the 60 mile race. It was as close as I've come to winning and I probably altered the outcome of the race.

One of my teammates -- Alex -- earned 5th place and later said something like that was "the only way to beat that guy" -- Venable from the Carter team, seen by many as the strongest man in the race. It was Venable, who 600 meters out, started his sprint to catch me and also pulled much of the pack with him. It was a do or die effort for him and by the time he caught me he was too tired to fend off the handful of guys around him including my teammate.

After the race my teammates all come up to congratulate me. It was probably the first time I made a recognizable impact on a race. Getting close to winning is relative of course. Many riders lament over losing a race by half a bike length. I wasn't nearly that close but it felt like it to me.

So even getting close has led me to ask what else I can do to narrow the gap on guys like Venable. There's always the option of throwing more money at the challenge. Yesterday, I turned to none other than Lance Armstrong's coach Chris Carmichael. Chris was incredibly personable and motivating -- for a $20 DVD:) Still, the video workouts are right on the money and I need that kind of structure to do the interval workouts. There's some pain and hopefully a sliver of gain.

Then there's the issue of diet. Not exactly my strong suit being an ice cream lover and all that. But this was what I needed to get more serious. At least for now, no ice cream, very limited alcohol, no bread, no egg mcmuffins, etc. I do have a diet that's worked before -- one full of grains like Quinoa, steamed vegetables, tofu products, lentil soup -- all that good stuff.

But I have limits on the amount of money I can throw at this. I started talking to a nutritionist who told me if I really want to lose weight fast in a month, I should sign on to a full meal delivery plan customized to my requirements. But at a cost of $40 a day, I need to reserve this as a last resort:)

One of the mental challenges here is being able to amp up the effort and keep expectations in check. I have to be able to throw everything at this but still be content if it amounts to little or nothing at all. At least I'm having a go. And if I can help get my teammates over the line to win or place then that would be victory. 

Part of the ethos of this blog (aka ZiggitySplit) is to own the feedback I give to others. This means putting my name to my comments rather than the more customary way of providing views "anonymously." There seems to be a misconception out there that anonymous feedback is somehow a more unfettered way of communicating. When I first started on Facebook last year, I noticed there was an "Honesty Box" -- a place where anyone can leave you an anonymous comment and do so in complete confidence as if that was somehow the most honest way of communicating.

Likewise, the 360 feedback concept that tries to assure so called "confidentiality" seems to have multiplied like a virus and is touted by many. Or at least it used to be.

Today I came across a site -- Two Way Trust -- that provides resources for providing feedback in a more direct way. A little more about their philosophy is excerpted here:

Why do we have to assume that if people have problems with their manager, they can’t tell them to their face? Our experience in 2WayTrust is that many people WOULD be willing to do so, if only there were some sort of framework in place for having a discussion about some of the difficult issues that we all have to contend with in relation to our own behaviour in the workplace.

We have spent more than two years discussing these issues with CEOs at 2WayTrust Masterclasses at Windsor Castle and elsewhere, and one of the things they have told us time and again is that anonymous 360 feedback so often undermines trust and lowers performance instead of raising it. It’s no surprise, really - if you do not know who has made comments on your behaviour, you’re bound to end up suspecting everyone of having criticised you behind your back.

We are in the early stages of using our new 2WayTrust Feedback system with organisations, and we’re not saying that it’s perfect or problem-free. What we do believe, however, is that where difficult things can be said face-to-face that must be the best way of moving forward. Hence the need to try and develop a safe framework for this to happen, rather than always acting as if people can’t be trusted to say anything difficult about someone else other than via an intermediary.

Using bar graph results from behaviour that is rated on a scale of one to five simply does not provide the depth that is needed. Nor does it provide the opportunity for fuller explanation or open dialogue. Surely the best way of changing behaviour among managers and other members of teams is to have open, two-way discussions that can identify problems and then leave them behind. This is what we believe teams most need, and too often it is a sad fact that anonymous 360 gets in the way of achieving that goal.

I agree with this framework and I think we need to push for something like it not only because the potential gains are huge but also to counter the seemngly prevailing view that anonymous feedback is the only game in town.

Fortunately, I work at a company that has many channels established for one-on-one communication. And there is the semi-annual manager feedback, which I was able to fill out using my own name rather than the default anonymous option.

To be clear, I don't begrudge anyone for preferring anonymous feedback. It has its place. But possibly, it has run its course and now there is room for other optons.

That might sum up the reaction to a speech I attended today by Allan Pease, Australian author of "Why Men Don't Listen and Women Can't Read Maps: How We're Different and What to Do About It."

Although some of his lines could work in a late-night comedy routine, they fall a little flat when delivered to a mixed gender group of technical professionals from various parts of the world. Pease's claim that physical brain differences between the sexes account for the low rate of women working as flight engineers, air traffic controllers, and other scientific or daredevil roles should remain the stuff of comedy not science.

In between the jokes, I couldn't help but notice more than a few lines that simply didn't go over well -- like women are more suited to go into human resources than engineering.

The objection to Pease is not that he pointed out some observable differences between men and women. Clearly there are many. It's that he accounted for the suitabality of women for specific roles based on the science of the brain. If you took that at face value, some would use it to justify the under-representation of women in all manner of careers.

I took a look at some of the reviews of his book on Amazon. The first one (deemed the "most helpful") was crtical: Pease "offers strained and not-very-funny examples under the guise of pseudo-science, and -- worse yet -- doesn't offer any substantive insight or very useful recommendations."

Another reviewer wrote "Just read it with an open mind and have fun - don't take it too seriously!" That's probably good advice if you choose to read the book.

Not that he just picked on women. Men are an easy target too. There are some issues, though, that are still raw to the touch and should be left off the comedy cards. Pease seems to think it's funny that of the UN weapons inspectors who went to Iraq, all were men with an average age of 50. He went on to say that men cannot be relied on to find a stick of butter in a household refrigerator. So what were they doing in the desert looking for WMD? His mother could have found WMDs in no time at all, he joked.

It reminds me of Bush's tasteless joke about trying to find WMDs in the Oval Office, as shown in this video. Bush is actually pretty funny in the parts of this video that don't concern WMDs.  Still, at best, the Bush administration didn't ask enough questions before opting to wage war. At worst, the falsehood of WMDs was deliberately planted and perpetuated.

Pease is funny too. But his time has passed. As the next line in the nursery rhyme goes -- "Peas porridge in the pot nine days old." Pease, is your porridge getting a little old?