Hi folks, I just don't have the time anymore to check anyone's LJ, I spend a lot more time over on Multiply because it's easier, I can upload more media, and overall I like using it a bit more.

It's been fun over here on LJ but I'm having difficulty blogging on two sites given the amount of time I want to spend online. I'll check up on some of you guys from time to time, but otherwise I'm moving on to Multiply.

My site - http://www.migoblog.multiply.com

I'm leaving this site up, as suggested by my friend ninjapeps. You can find me on facebook if you need to, just leave me a message and I'll help you.

Cheers

I never thought the day would come that I would ever say "I wish I could fit into that shirt". If only they had a size M!



Since I've gotten the "you've lost weight" and "you look skinnier now" comments lately, I did some nerdy/geeky analysis.

My waistline has been hovering between 31" and 32" these days. That's a hell of a lot better than 34" two years ago, but that's NOT as good as when it used to be 28".

@ 18 years old:  128 lbs, 28" waist
@ 19 years old: 140 lbs, 32" waist (HUGE GAIN after moving to Canada)
@ 24 years old: 156 lbs, 34" waist  (this was right before I started working out / running)
@ 25 years old: 148 lbs, 32" waist (I became vegetarian and starting working out)
@ right now (almost 26 years old): 160 lbs, 31" waist

Strange, I've actually GAINED weight but my waistline is getting back down... I predict a waistline of 30" by the time my birthday rolls around in October. I'm confused because it's not like I'm getting taller or anything. I weigh myself with boxers on, nothing else.

The Calgary Half-Marathon on June 6 was great! It was definitely a different experience than the Manitoba Half-Marathon. The crowds were not as large, not as cheerful or as motivating, but the scenery was better, the hills were more challenging, and the medals were bigger (hehe). See Yin and I couldn't find water so we left right away.

It was the first time I drank Accelerade instead of Gatorade - tastes like a combination of Gatorade and a hint of a protein shake. I think I mixed it too thick though. I was so thirsty.

See Yin did SO GOOD!!! I am unbelievably proud of her! Her Manitoba time was 2 hours 22 mins on flat ground at 750ft elevation.... and her Calgary time was 2 hours 20 mins on hilly terrain at 3500ft elevation!!! That's 5 times the elevation with more hills, and yet she improved on her previous time!

I didn't do so well. My only consolation was that I got the time that I predicted.

Manitoba time - 2 hour 12 mins 24 secs
Calgary time -  2 hour 18 mins 58 secs

I hit the wall around 14kms... over and over again, until the finish line at 21.5kms. See Yin almost caught up to me, she was barely a minute and a half behind me by the time I crossed the finish line. I had nothing left in me, I couldn't even sprint to the finish!

Obviously hindsight is 20-20, and I attribute my poor performance to the fact that I didn't follow my training plan a week prior to the event. I was supposed to stop training 1 week before, and I was supposed to rest/relax, but instead I ran, biked and did weights up to 2 days before the event. I won't make the same mistake again.

Right now I have 1 month to train for my next events - three painful back-to-back events that have a mere 6 days between each.

Aug 17 - Edmonton Half-Marathon (I'm aiming for a flat 2 hours)
Aug 24 - Edmonton Alberta Challenge (Half-Ironman Relay) - I'm swimming 1.9kms
Sept 1 - Vancouver Sprint Triathlon

I'm now working out 6 days a week... short fast runs, long slow runs, hill climb bike rides, long endurance bike rides, weight training, freestyle swimming with and without paddles, and everyday core exercises.

Oh, last thing - I'm looking for potential duathlons for See Yin and I to attend... so if any of you guys are good at searching google for these things, we're looking at events that are early august, or if not, then mid september onwards.

The Calgary Half-Marathon is coming up very... very soon.

See Yin and I are ready. :)

It took me a little over 10 hours to finish Quake 4 on Lieutenant mode (2nd hardest)... I think I've had enough computer games.


I think I've satisfied my craving for an entire year....

















...until Diablo 3 comes out...

:O

I *COMPLETELY* forgot about this nursery rhyme until someone mentioned it two days ago. It felt like I had amnesia and I just discovered something that I used to know.

Three little kittens,
They lost their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother, dear,
We sadly fear,
Our mittens we have lost.

What! Lost your mittens,
You naughty kittens,
Then you shall have no pie.
Meow, meow,
Then you shall have no pie.

The three little kittens,
They found their mittens,
And they began to cry,
Oh, mother, dear,
See here, see here,
Our mittens we have found.

What, found your mittens,
Then you're good kittens,
And you shall have some pie.
Purr-rr, purr-rr,
Then you shall have some pie.

Three little kittens,
Put on their mittens,
And soon ate up the pie.
Oh, mother, dear,
We sadly fear,
Our mittens we have soiled.

What! Soiled your mittens,
You naughty kittens,

And they began to sigh.
Meow, meow,
And they began to sigh.

The three little kittens,
They washed their mittens,
And hung them out to dry.
Oh, mother, dear,
Do you not hear,
Our mittens we have washed?

What! Washed your mittens?
Then you're good kittens!
But I smell a rat close by.
Meow, meow,
We smell a rat close by.

Wow... I don't even know what to say about this. This must have taken forever to do.According to Gizmodo: "Italian artist BLU is famous for painting politically and socially charged street murals, but his recent project involving street animation may be his most visually stunning. Called MUTO, the video is a series of digital stills assembled from sequential paintings on the streets/walls of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It's been floating around a bit, but if you haven't seen it, the effect is a sort of living, evolving mural that follows a dramatic, character-drive storyline."

I've been diligently posting my training charts in my photo album, and over the last month my average heart rate has dropped about 6-7 beats per minute, meaning I'm either pumping blood more efficiently, using my muscles more efficiently, or I'm simply being lazy and not working as hard as I used to, hehe. Hopefully it's the former, not the latter.

My schedule is now full almost every day with workouts. Weights, core (abdominals, back and supporting muscles), running, cycling, swimming and even a combination of these in the same day. With today's latest workout, I've burnt well over 8,500 calories in the last 3 weeks according to my Forerunner 305. Tomorrow I have weights training and core, and on Sunday, See Yin and I will be doing our last LSD (long slow distance) run before next Sunday's Calgary Half-Marathon.

For the last month, I've been training smarter, eating healthier, sleeping more, listening to my body and working on my running, swimming and cycling techniques. So far it has been starting to pay off. I'm going to continue these habits from now on.

The Manitoba Half-Marathon is coming up on June 15. At my current state, I think I can push for 2 hours 10 minutes, maybe even 2 hours 5 minutes if I can gradually tweak my cadence/pace just a fraction more on race day. See Yin and I won't be running side by side this time, in fact, we'll be running as competitors this time, hehe... isn't that right See Yin? ;)

I plan on doing the equivalent of the half-marathon (21.5kms) every Sunday after that. The Calgary Half-Marathon is 3 weeks after the Manitoba one, and the Edmonton Half-Marathon is 5 weeks after Calgary. My ultimate goal is to push my time way below 2 hours. Next year's goal is to complete a full marathon (42 kms).

The Garmin Forerunner 305 that I just bought is really useful. The data that I've skimmed from it has held many answers to questions I've had regarding my workouts.

Tonight I'm going for a swim, then Friday will be a slow and steady 3km maintenance run before Sunday's big event.

Wish me luck!

;)

It was 4:30pm. The rain was pouring but we didn't care. We trudged along, the rain slowly soaking through our dark green CAT military clothes and into our combat boots. Exhausted from training, we sought the refuge of a warm, friendly and familiar place - Blue Skies Katipunan.

2 hours later, amidst laughing, trash-talking and re-living the frag-of-the-day, Jolibee was the next destination. We bugged Mossey about #2 and #3, and I started raving to everyone about this new Paulinian that I just met. Over a coke, some burgers and fries, we told jokes, discussed the Matrix and laughed at Jaz's latest antics in class. Afterwards ,we walked back up Katipunan. Kevin and I practiced "flame vs cloak", concluding that I was naturally a flame and he was a cloak.

Finally, we arrived at a dark green gate. It was a tambayan of sorts. We'd hang out inside, relax, listen to music, nap all sprawled out on the floor and bed. There was little stress... we'd tell ghost stories, talk about girls, watch Mikey play Quake 3 in nightmare mode and win against Major.

flash forward 2 years later

There was a new tambayan, and it was now on campus. The same familiar faces, with a few new ones thrown in. Some girls, too. Gutch was babbling some far-out lines in a Shakespearean accent, Mossey was giving Enrik and Jon the finger, the twins were laughing and chatting with Kevin and Ronan, Mikey and Anton were comparing biceps with Angela, and Rob was smoking in the corner while watching the mayhem with amusement. I smiled. Ah... barkada.

Apparently things are different now. If only things could go back to how simple they were back then.

So... my mom met Price Harry yesterday... :O

I'm contemplating shutting down my LJ account since I'm rarely on here as it is... the only times I really "post" are when I'm posting things on my other blog and it gives me the option to cross-post the same thing on LJ.

Yea or nay?

I received this e-mail today in regards to registration for the event...


Oh well. I still have two Sprint-level triathlons coming up. I'll make the most of it. I suppose I'm disappointed because attending the Vancouver triathlon was my main motivation for working hard this entire summer. I won't back down on my training but it's too bad I can't look forward to this event any longer. Next year!

It's been 5 days without much sleep. Not good when I'm training hard and I need my body to recover for the following day's workout. I've basically been weakening in a cumulative manner and I can feel my immune system breaking down AGAIN. Another day of this and I'll be sick again.

It's always one thing or the other. Sometimes I just can't fall asleep. Sometimes I'm awakened VERY EARLY by workers finishing the house renovations (power tools, banging, etc). Sometimes Jiggs/Pio bring friends over, chat, laugh out loud, etc. Sometimes it's Jiggs' heat press (BUZZZZZZZZ..... KA-PONG). Sometimes it's Mom waking me up by unleashing Hobbes on me while I sleep, and he slobbers all over my ears and face.

I've tried napping in the afternoons... I toss and turn and I don't even know if I sleep at all.

I'm tired of this. I'm picking up a set of earplugs today. I'll warn everyone NOT to call me in the morning. I won't hear it.

Here's an online poem that I found, and it reflects my lack of sleep quite well.

No Sleep for the Wicked, Poem

Poem About Not Being Able to Sleep, No Sleep for the Wicked

By robritt, published Nov 13, 2007

No Sleep for the Wicked

On soft tender feet, the night it does creep
But nowhere does sleep come
I lay in the bed, with visions in my head
And try to relax for a while
But my eyes, they don't close as I repose
The night it seems will be endless
What can I do, to help myself snooze
As words swirl round my head
With all my might, I have a sleepless night
No peace it seems is out there
Could it be real, or is my world surreal?
As the long night goes on
I toss and turn, with sleep just spurned
I might as well forget it
Maybe they're right, I should just give up the fight
No sleep for the wicked will come

Well, it looks like I'm making a good recovery from my sickness. I started off with a slow and painful 5km run with See Yin, followed by... 1km run, 7.5km run, 3km run, 3.5km run, 12km run, 3.5 km run. Basically I'm doing a peak/trough program up until the marathon itself, alternating between short and long runs. On Thursday I'm doing 16kms.

Aside from marathon training, I've been swimming in my parents' recirculating indoor lap pool. The water current generated is sufficient for doing freestyle sprints if necessary, and it can be dialed down to a liesurely breast stroke. By the end of my stay in Winnipeg, I hope to work up to 2km sessions 3 times a week.

I started talking to Jiggs' friend Abby, who does a whole lot of outdoor activity, including lots of duathlons, and she'll be doing triathlon quite soon, too. She offered to teach me what she knows and to introduce me to what I should be doing before the events that I've listed a couple weeks ago. I'll be doing a very short duathlon with her on Tuesday morning up in Bird's Hill Park, if any of you are interested in coming out to join me. It can be treated as a race, a workout or simply some training.

Unlike triathlon, duathlon only uses the bike and run portions. The particular one that I'm doing is just an introductory event for me, starting with a 2 km run, followed by a 14 km bike ride, and ending with another 2 km run.  

So here's a summary of events so far, based on the list I made a few months ago (also, I'm highlighting my notes on it):

Edmonton - St. Patrick's Day - March 16 - 10km run - did okay... 1 hour 1 min finish

Calgary - The Big Run - May 3 - 10km run - skipped because I was in Edmonton that week

Edmonton - University of Alberta Spring Thaw Triathlon - May 4 - 750m swim/20km bike/5km run - skipped because it cost $80 and I wasn't quite ready

Edmonton - Community Action DASH - May 25 - 10km run - skipped because I'm in Winnipeg

NEW EVENT - Winnipeg - Bird's Hill Duathlon - May 27 - 2km run/13km bike/2km run - this should be a good introduction to learning how to deal with brick workouts and transition zones. I should easily finish in under 50 minutes tops.

Winnipeg - Manitoba Marathon - June 15 - 21.5km half-marathon - training for it right now

Calgary - HSBC Marathon - July 6 - 21.5km half-marathon - surely doing

Edmonton - Moose is Loose - July 20 - 21.5km half-marathon - skipping because it's pricey and it's not really a big half-marathon... I'm sure I can continue training without really missing out on much if I skip this event.

Edmonton - ING Marathon - Aug 9 - 21.5km half-marathon - surely doing... aiming for under 2 hours

Calgary - Lake Chaparral Triathlon - Aug 17 - 750m swim/20km bike/5km run - first open-water triathlon... I'm already doing swim training for this

Edmonton - Lake Summerside Triathlon - Aug 24 - 750m swim/29km bike/5km run - definitely doing this one too

NEW EVENT - Vancouver - BG Vancouver Triathlon - Sept 1 - 1500m swim/40km bike/10km run - the culmination of my year's training... I hope to finish it in under 3 hours.

Someone should upload our high school videos on YouTube.

(Pics are on my Multiply account)

I tried Karate with Hiro and Virginia on Friday, it was a 4 hour long session. We did everything from a full body workout, kicks, punches, basic self-defense moves, grappling, submission holds, takedowns and sparring. Sparring was extra freaky for me, because my "normal" personal bubble when fighting is a 5-6 foot radius (learned that in Taekwondo). However, in Karate, they have an arm's length personal bubble because they punch as well as kick. I had to adapt quickly and actually block my face. I got to spar against a couple of blue belters, as well as a brown belter. I learned that the arm bar techniques that I learned on my own are not the most efficient compared to the ones taught in Karate.

The next morning, I went for a 6km run with Eric, Mavy and McCauley. I did several 100 meter sprints, too.

In the evening, I went Curling for the very first time! I'll be posting a Curling album in the photo section in about half an hour.

Today (Sunday), I drove to Edmonton and I brought along with me two road bikes - my bike and a Quintana Roo triathlon road bike that I bought for See Yin. I'll post another album of that...

Long story short, we went out for a bike ride so that she could get used to her new bike. She had never used clipless pedals before, and being locked in place was something completely new for her. She fell.... 5+ times, scraped both knees and generally got quite battered. As for me - I got battered too! My knee got scraped when, by a stroke of bad luck, See Yin was going to fall over and I just happened to be riding right beside her. I 'cushioned' her fall involuntarily, and ended up falling.

Pics of scraped knees to follow.

 

I've been training quite furiously the last couple of weeks, and listing it down on a calendar. I started the workouts a long time ago but I haven't written anything down until the second week of February (I managed to print off a calendar to write on).

So far, my entries begin on Feb 6.

February
6 - 750 meter swim in pool
11 - 5.5km run
16 - snowboarding @ Sunshine Village with See Yin, Mike and Adena
18 - 6km run w/ See Yin
19 - 1st weights training session (and core/abdominals session)
20 - 20km bike ride on mountainbike (morning), 5km bike ride on mountainbike (afternoon)
23 - 2nd weights training session (and core/abdominals session)
24 - 8km run w/ See Yin
26 - 10km road bike to school, 10km road bike home (and core/abdominals session)
27 - 3rd weights training session
28 - 13km road bike followed directly by a 5km run (and core/abdominals session)

I believe that at the moment, I could do a 50-60km bike ride or a 15-16km run given 2-3 days of resting my muscles. I've gotten to the point that my legs are not sore the day after working out, so I'm going to have to "shock" them and vary my training a little bit.

As for my swimming, my Feb 6 session showed me that I need a whole lot more upper body strength. I haven't been to the pool since then, but I've begun a basic weights regimen that is aimed directly towards swimmers. This Wednesday (March 5) I will hit the water again and see if I can pull off better than a pathetic 750 meters.

I bought a wetsuit about a month ago... it'll be important because the waters in the lakes/rivers around here are icy cold - straight off the Rockies. I got a Blue Seventy Reaction wetsuit.

I'll update at the end of March with whatever new developments arise... :)

Every so often, I stop to think about who I am, where I am going, what my life revolves around, why I am the person that I am.

What do you like to do?

- I like photography, especially like night photography. I`m planning to get a 10-20mm wide angle lens this summer.
- I love spending time with See Yin. Whether we sit at home and watch a tv series, or go out skating or snowboarding or shopping or geocaching... it`s great as long as I`m with her.
-Working out is really high on the priority list, too. I swim, bike, run, hike, skate and more recently, snowboard. I`m joining triathlons on top of marathons this year (see my post a couple weeks back).
- I've started to move away from driving lately. I'm not as interested in it, seeing as I've achieved the goals that I've set out to attain - building engines, racing competitively, and ending up with a solid performance car capable of matching expensive sportscars on the track.
- I love designing. It`s what I do. It`s what I want to do full time.

Talk about things as they randomly pop into your head (long, rambling rant):

I can`t wait to get back on to my road bike. It`s been a week of temperatures above zero, it was +14 celsius just two days ago... and it should stay above zero for the next week or so. I miss biking at 35-50kph, and I miss blazing down the hills at a max of 73kph. My running shoes probably have another 8-10 months more life in them before I have to get a new pair. I love Saucony. I have a group meeting tomorrow, and as the project manager, I have to be able to step back and see the big picture, while keeping my head in the game and contributing useful information, too. I meet with the engineer on thursday to discuss LED technology, then I will drive 2.5 hours north to Edmonton and spend the weekend pampering See Yin. I`m glad her paper is done, and now we can relax a bit. We`re training for a St. Patrick`s Day 10km run in mid-March, and my dad`s going to be in Edmonton too, so he`s going to run with us. I`m up at a comfortable 6km run so I`m sure that a 10km is no sweat. I just want to do a sub-50 minute 10km run. By next week I`ll be up at around a 12km run, and then the next two weeks will be solely devoted towards speed training (i.e. 1.2-1.5km sprints, 2-4km fast runs, etc). I`m also thinking of adding another event to the list, seeing as I don`t have a single April event. I don`t want to simply be training for that entire month without any competition. It should be warm enough to swim in the river with my wetsuit on (did I mention that I bought a BlueSeventy wetsuit...?). I'm planning on saving up for a camcorder, too. I bought a small pinhole camera that I can mount on my bike helmet, and therefore I can record my runs and mountain bike exploits on the trail this summer. Mike and I have been discussing mountain bikes and he's educated me on the various bits and pieces that I'll need for REAL trail riding. My current Raleigh hardtail is not up to par, seeing as it's an entry level WalMart model. It'll tear itself to shreds within the first couple of kilometers of trail riding. I'm going to have to shop around for a decent mountain bike this summer. *SIGH*  More expenses. These things add up. I'm not sure why, but I do love the toys. It's not quite as affordable right now, seeing as I'm in school and all, but once I'm done and working again, it won't eat up much of my spending budget. Now that I've gotten my car obsession out of the way, all of the expenses that I have planned are relatively tiny. A snowboard and gear, a new bicycle and gear, a couple of camera lenses, a camcorder, and money for triathlon/marathon event entrance fees.... that's all the money that I need. That will keep me preoccupied for at least half a decade. Oh, and that brings up my reason for being so active. I want to start now, before it's too late. My body is still relatively resilient and easy to repair... although it is not as easy to recover as when I was 16 years old. By the time I hit 30, it would be much much harder to gain momentum in physical activities, my back would be a bit more sore, I'd require more rest time in between workouts and I'd be a bit more prone to injure myself. I figure now is the time to sculpt the body that I want to have for the next 50-70 years of my life. Let's hope that my life extends towards the latter end of the estimate because of the workouts. Let's see... I consistently keep my heart rate up anywhere between 30 and 70 minutes, running or swimming or cycling... and I do this at least 4 times a week in various combinations. The closer I get to my events, the more frequent my training has to become. I think the swim is the most challenging part of it, because I've been focusing so much on my leg muscles (running/biking). It is also the slowest portion of the triathlon. After the swim, I will probably have sapped most of my strength. My goal is to comfortably swim at least twice the distance that I will do in the event, twice the biking distance, and twice the running distance. For instance, I'm going to be doing a 750 meter (0.75km) swim, 20km bike ride, ending with a 10km run. That means that for my training, I'll be doing a 1500 meter (1.5km) swim on one day, followed by a 40km bike ride on another day, and perhaps a half marathon (21.5km) run. I'd also have to do these activities back to back, in order to train my muscles in the transition from swim to bike, or bike to run. Maybe a 1000 meter (1km) swim followed by a 40km bike ride in the same day, or a 40km bike ride followed by a half-marathon (21.5km) run. Either way, aiming higher than the goal will produce more desirable results, methinks. I don't plan on simply aiming for the minimum. I want to push myself to see what I can achieve under my own strength, with my own willpower, determination and purely concentrated burning motivation. As Mike Shinoda once wrote in his lyrics, "this is ten percent luck, twenty percent skill, fifteen percent concentrated power of will, five percent pleasure, fifty percent pain, and a hundred percent reason to remember the name..."



Whew, that rant was therapeutic.

moar humorous pics


moar humorous pics


moar humorous pics


moar humorous pics

I needed a new laptop, so I bought a new Dell 15 inch XPS...
It's the basic 2Ghz Core 2 Duo, 3Gb ram, 250Gb HDD, wireless-N, 256mb GeForce 8600GT video. I'm loaning See Yin my desktop for now, since I really need a mobile solution at this point in time.

I also picked up some other toys...

- Logitech MX Revolution to replace my MX700.

- I got myself a 500Gb Seagate FreeAgent.

- I've also got a diNovo Edge on the way... it's not for me though.  ;)

Edmonton - St. Patrick's Day - March 16 - 10km run

Calgary - The Big Run - May 3 - 10km run or 21.5km half-marathon (probably going to do the 10km run)

Edmonton - University of Alberta Spring Thaw Triathlon - May 4 - 750m swim/20km bike/5km run or 400m swim/10km bike/2.5km run (I'm leaning towards the longer distance option... should be easy)

Edmonton - Community Action DASH - May 25 - 10km run

Winnipeg - Manitoba Marathon - June 15 - 21.5km half-marathon

Calgary - HSBC Marathon - July 6 - 21.5km half-marathon

Edmonton - Moose is Loose - July 20 - 10km run or 21.5km half-marathon (hopefully the half-marathon)

Edmonton - ING Marathon - Aug 9 - 21.5km half-marathon

Calgary - Lake Chaparral Triathlon - Aug 17 - 1500m swim/40km bike/10km run or 750m swim/20km bike/5km run

Edmonton - Lake Summerside Triathlon - 1500m swim/44km bike/10km run or 750m swim/29km bike/5km run


I believe that these are all possible, as long as I train well and hard. My goal is to be able to do the Olympic distance options of the last two events, the Chaparral and Summerside triathlons. If I can do these, then I think that doing a full marathon will be feasible in 2009. ;)

I woke up early this morning, and I wasn't in my own bed...

I then remembered that I flew back to Winnipeg for Christmas! I quickly got changed, bundled up, and headed to the park. I ran 5kms in just over 20 mins! Training in Calgary and running in Winnipeg sure has its benefits. It was fun to train in hilly/mountainous Calgary, 2100+ft above sea level, 3 times the elevation of Winnipeg, then coming back home and running at only 700ft above sea level, across a flat terrain. :D

I went home after that, and took the new puppy, Hobbes, for a short run in the snow. He's a black goldendoodle... with long, soft black curly hair, amazing intelligence and a very quiet/friendly demeanor. He's so cute.

Afterwards, I went back inside, had a shower and brunch. A 4-egg omelet with cheddar cubes, a banana, large mug of hot chocolate and some vitamins later, I was sleepy, warm and cozy. Hobbes curled up to sleep on my feet, and then I realized that I had to take a nap. So.... good night! :)

Tonight I'm going to go have supper with the Subaru club, there's over a dozen of us. After supper, we're going to SpeedWorld to race go-karts. It should be fun!

See Yin arrives tomorrow at noon. I can't wait to see her again.

This list is for myself, really... just a list of things that I want, so that I can arrange them in terms of priority and so that I can distinguish between "wants" and "needs". Technically these are mostly "wants", but I think that listing them together will help me see what is acceptable and what is completely frivolous/excessive.

Oh, and the list isn't everything that I *WILL* buy... otherwise I'd be dead broke. It's my list of things to choose from, if I'll pick any at all, hehe.

• Triathlon wet suit... because i'll need one when I enter events in 2008. Prices are around $130 for what I need... I don't feel like spending $350 for a suit that I'll wear 4-5 times a year.

• If I'm doing mostly warmer-water swims, then I can simply opt for tri-shorts instead of a full wet suit... that way I can use it for all 3 parts of the race.
  

• Kingston class 6 SDHC 8Gb card... $79.99 at Memory Express!

• 10-20mm Sigma wide angle lens for my Nikon D80 DSLR camera... $650 brand new but eBay might be able to help me with that.
  

I can't think of anything else right now, but this list has been VERY helpful already. I've eliminated more than half of the things that I was considering earlier... because they now seem so shallow and silly.

hmm.... interesting. ;) This would be a fantastic anime.

Serious training is going to commence soon for my triathlon and marathon events in 2008. I'm thinking of whether or not to incorporate at least one 2+ hour activity into every week, on top of the regular 60-90 min workouts that I do 3-4 times a week. I'm hoping that this will keep me from getting used to only having energy reserves that last 60-90 mins.

I remember about a year back, I was only doing 30 min runs, and my body would immediately hit the wall once I'd get into the 40-45 min range. The more varied and spontaneous the workouts, the better.

My calorie intake (according to some nutrition guide calculations) should be in the 3800-4200 range, with over 120 grams of protein per day. Tough luck for me, I'm going to have to suck it up and find creative ways to fit that into the monthly grocery bills.

I've managed to level off my weight at 145 lbs. Nowadays I tend to float between 145 and 148 lbs depending on the time of day. I was 158 lbs at my heaviest, and 143 lbs at my most recent weigh-ins...

... strangely enough, to put this into perspective, when I was 18 years old, fresh out of the military cadet reserves and I had just moved to Canada, my weight was 128 lbs and my waistline was 28". Seven years later, my weight is 145 lbs and my waistline is 29". Not that bad. :) Then again, 18 months ago I was 155 lbs and a complete tub of lard, my waistline was 32" and I couldn't go up two flights of stairs without getting winded.

2008 will be a great year.

The only item on my list of toys is a triathlon wet suit, valued between $140-350.

My car was chosen as the Featured Ride for the Alberta Subaru Club's website..

http://www.albertasubaruclub.com/ridepics/migo/migo.html

Hey buddy, it's still Dec 4 here, so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I owe you a gift but you owe me one too, so we're even. :P

KANPAI!

That's life
That's what all the people say
You're riding high in April
You're shot down in May
I know I'm gonna change that tune
When I'm back on top in June

I say that's life
and as funny as it may seem
Some people get their kicks
Stompin' on your dreams
But I don't let it, let it get me down
'Cause this fine ol' world keeps spinning 'round

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
But I know one thing
Each time I find myself, flat on this face
I pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life
I can't deny it
I thought of quitting, baby
This heart wasn't gonna buy it
And if I didn't think it was worth one single try
I'd jump right on a big bird and then I'd fly

I've been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate,
A poet, a pawn and a king
I've been up and down and over and out
And I know one thing
Each time I find myself flat on my face
I pick myself up and get back in the race

That's life
That's life and I can't deny it
Many times I thought of cutting out
But my heart won't buy it
But if there's nothing shakin' come this here July
I'm gonna roll
I'm gonna roll
I'm gonna roll myself up in a big ball and die
Can't deny it
That's life

I decided to bike to school on my mountain bike... and it had snowed hard for the first time the night before. It was quite slippery and I wasn't really prepared for just how bad it would be on the road. I tried to bike along the side of the road, but the sheer ice and the fact that the road gradually sloped to the gutter made cycling very precarious.

I was heading down a hill when my front tire started to slide out from under me towards the right. Unlike a car, 'understeer' doesn't simply make biking difficult, it is absolutely over. I went down hard on my left knee. I heard scraping sounds from behind me, a noise that sounded like "sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh..." and when I lifted my head to see what was going on, time seemed to slow down and I saw a wide pick-up truck rear tire sliding about 2ft away from my head, and I could make out the tread pattern on the wheel as the whole truck drifted around me in an accident avoidance maneuver.

I got up, grabbed my bike and limped to the sidewalk... and continued my 1 hour bike ride to school. Cycling/plowing through the snow added an extra 30-40% strain on pedaling.

I changed into my good clothes in the washroom, and noticed a hole in my new $64 MEC stretchy cycling pants... Goddamn it! Then I noticed that it was hard and crusted in a 5" diameter around the hole, so I flipped the material over and saw a dark red, hard patch of dried blood.

"Uh-oh..." I said as I looked down at my khaki dress pants, the ones that were beginning to soak with blood. I washed off the pants and looked down at my knee - there was a large "ice cream scoop" gouge in the side of my knee. Oh well. I limped back to studio after getting dressed, and I attempted to simply bandage it with tissue and duct tape, but a classmate of mine saw what I was doing and was horrified, so she graciously went to get me some real bandages. :P

Right now I'm doing better, I'm still limping, my knee is still sore but I should be able to keep cycling as long as I stick to the sidewalks. My normal 24-26 minute has become 1 hour long, so... going both ways means I'm now getting a much more tiring workout, for more than double the time period.

It was a balmy 0 degrees outside today, and I decided to go for a good brisk run. I started at See Yin's condo, all the way across downtown to the riverside, along the river path and then across the long bridge (109 Ave)... and then back again.

I felt great! I set my lap timer on my cellphone in order to see if I end up slowing down on the way back, but despite the fact that it was an uphill battle on the return trip, I managed to sprint the last 500 meters (half a kilometer) and I ended up 3 mins faster on the way back than when I had started.

I'm impressed with myself because afterwards I still felt that I could do another 7-8 kms no sweat (well... I was drenched with sweat down to my toes but that's not what I meant). I'm especially impressed because I haven't been running as regularly as when I was training for the half marathon last June 17th, 2007. I attribute the surprising stamina to my daily bike ride since I literally have a 30 min cycling sprint twice a day every day 6-7 times a week.

Well I have to go wash dishes. See Yin had some friends come over and we all had a good dinner with wine, followed by chocolate fondue wih bananas/strawberries/walnuts.

Tomorrow I'm going to be doing mostly abdominal workouts and stretching. Tuesday I want to do a 5 km in the morning followed by a 10+ km run on the way home.

The last 3 months have been extremely healthy for me. I've been hiking high up in the mountains, mountain biking on the trails, road biking on the highways, biking 10kms to school and back almost every day, running/jogging whenever I have time, getting dragged out for intense Ultimate Frisbee or soccer every week, skating on the ice, and I've been eating decently well. When I go back home for Christmas, I'll be swimming in the new indoor recirculating mechanical lap pool that my parents installed.

By 'eating decently well', I mean I've been a good vegetarian (since April 2006) so I haven't really had any meat/grease cholesterol in more than a year and a half. I've dropped my weight from 155lbs to 143lbs, and ever since I started lifting weights on top of that, I've brought my weight up to 146lbs on muscle alone.

For protein, I have lots of tofu, beans, soymilk, bean curd skin, and assorted gluten products.
For carbs, I have oatmeal (every morning for breakfast), potatoes, LOTS of pasta, brown rice and at least one loaf of whole grain bread every week.
I take my multi-vitamin suppliments...
I have oranges, bananas, pears and kiwis... plus juice - mango, coconut and orange juice (extra pulp).

My 'bad' vices are - some alcohol from time to time (cider and wine), chocolate, coffee, red bull and donuts.

I calculate that I take in about 3000-3500 calories a day, and I burn about the same, too.

My goal is to be fit, healthy, lean, mean and dropping my body fat percentage from 13% down to 9% by next spring.

I definitely pushed myself beyond my limit...

Kira woke me up when she called on Saturday morning, asking whether or not I wanted to go on a 60km road bike tour with her in the mountains. I said I'd love to, and she said she'd pick me up in an hour. I scrambled out of bed, cooked and ate some quick pasta, then readied my new bike. It would be a good way for me to break it in, and I was quite excited. Kira picked me up and introduced me to Kyle, her old undergrad classmate and an avid cyclist.

Let's introduce Kira for a quick second here... she wall-climbs, plays squash, runs marathons, runs triathlons, bikes everyday, hikes the mountains, telemarks, does cross-country skiing, and did a half-ironman triathlon as her "entry" into the triathlon scene.. which is a 2km swim, 90km bike ride, followed by a half-marathon (21.5km run).

So.... the two of them utterly demolished me in endurance and speed throughout the entire bike ride. Good God. I was left over 1km behind at one point, despite me pedaling my heart out.

( LJ-CUT to the photo story )

Distance is an interesting thing, and Google Earth is one of the best programs I've ever installed on my computer.

I can drive to See Yin in Edmonton, which is roughly 290 kms away from my city, Calgary. It takes me 2 to 2.5 hours to get there, and I can often cruise for half an hour at 160+kph. Back in the Philippines, Baguio is only 240 kms away, but it takes anywhere from 5 hours to 7 hours depending on the traffic.

I also plugged in the values for the 22.25km bike ride that I'm about to do (I'm all dressed for it - I'm about to leave the house). That's the same as biking from Ateneo to Glorietta and back to Ateneo. I hope to be done in about an hour and a half on my new bike (I'll post pics and everything over the weekend). That's just 1 km longer than the half-marathon I did last year.

Why is it that things seem so much farther apart back in the Philippines?

This is the cache goal that I'm setting for myself next summer. 4 hour hike through streams, hills and cliffs in order to get to it, 4 hours to get back.

See Yin and I ran from her downtown condo, across the river, through the park, and back again. We did this in a fairly respectable 50 mins, considering that there were several sets of massive stairs involved (150+ steps each way), and waiting at the downtown stoplights/intersections for the light to turn red.

I'll be making an update in the next few days about the new "toys" that I bought for my birthday... I spent a good $1000+... muwahahaha.... ;)

Originally from my other LJ account... but I'm retiring it. Explanation below.

On Oct 15 (my bday) I had the luxury of running again! It was only a short one, but nevertheless, I treated myself out to a run because my brother was visiting over the weekend, and so instead of biking to school, he dropped me off by car. I commuted to the last LRT station because I wasn't sure how much the hills would kill my endurance, but I was pleasantly surprised at my performance.

I did the run in 40 mins, which translates to an average of 8.25kph, not too shabby for not having run in almost 2 months. I do bike at least 3-4 times a week though, and I've been hiking up in the mountains a few times, too.

The entire run was uphill... there's over a 200ft difference spread across the 5.5kms, but 90% of that elevation change was in the last kilometer. Calgary also has a 3600+ ft elevation in my area, so I'm very happy because altitude should still be kicking me in the ass...

I am picking up a road bike in the next week or so, and I'm so excited... so I'll most likely be biking to school primarily with my mountain bike (exercise-wise the rolling resistance is brutally and masochistically good), and then on my "off" days I can bike to school on my road bike. I can also run home, and simply drive to school the following day to pick up the bikes.

Also... I'm going to retain my other LJ but I won't be posting anything new there anymore. I'm going to use this account primarily for my activities log. :) I'm just too busy to manage two separate accounts, seeing as I can barely update this one as it is.

HOWEVER... marathon training will continue. :) My goal for next year is a sub-2 hour half-marathon, and to complete at least one sprint Triathlon (1/2 km swim, 20km bike ride, 5km run). There. I've said it. Now I -have- to do it.

So far I've gone from 155lbs in January to 143lbs in October. 6 of those pounds were lost in the last month. I do feel much healthier and definitely stronger than I was a year ago.

(Oh, here's a link to the pictures of my new bike!) :D

ps... Anton - I'm just about to order CoC... Sport, Trainer and Number 1. Is this a good idea? I don't have much forearm strength left, considering that my primary sports are leg-based.

I haven't been updating much because I've been very busy with my Masters program in Industrial Design. So far I'm loving every second of it. I think that along with some maturity, work experience in the real world made me appreciate learning a whole lot more. As much as possible, I stay away from classmates who complain about projects/deadlines/work, because I am enjoying it. Writing a paper isn't a chore, it's a learning experience.

So far I've lost quite a bit of weight. I bike over 10kms to school and back every day, downhill on the way there, and uphill on the way back.

I've gone hiking up in Banff, through some beautiful snow-covered mountains.

Here's a link to two hiking excursions that I've done over the last two weekends.



Oh, and here are my choice shots! :) The pictures can be enlarged using the "all sizes" button right above it.

Larch Valley excursion:

"Everest" shot
Canoes
Larch Tree
Moraine Lake

Lake Louise excursion:

Canoes on Lake Louise
My goofy grin
Me and a cute girl
The photographer at work
See Yin

Background:

I am trying to find a cheap bus to Edmonton, about 375kms away from Calgary. I picked Greyhound and this is what they gave me for a bus schedule. PLEASE tell me that you can spot something wrong with this, because I do.


Hint - technically it's about a 2 1/2 hour *drive* for me, because I drive anywhere between 120 and 160kph.

In light of a friend's e-mail to me recently in regards to the situation right now, I apologize for offering my opinion on the matter, especially since I'm in no way involved, nor do I have any real say in the matter anyway. I apologize to those who I have aggravated, I was merely lashing out because I felt helpless to do anything in the situation. I'd prefer everything to be a Utopian "fine-and-dandy" everybody-gets-along type of scenario, but unfortunately that isn't the case. I hereby will recede from the matter in question, and will basically just be friends with everyone regardless of their opinions about the topic. I'd rather just be friends with you guys and let you all settle your differences yourselves, and I'll simply turn a blind eye to each side of the coin.

Hehehe, what is with all the lists? I'm going to do yet another one. I'm borrowing this one from Jayca... minus the cute stars, I am too broke to afford stars. :(

I got this one off Anton. Wow, there's only 5 things on that list I haven't done. At least I don't ever plan on doing those five.

You look over the following list and see how many of these things you have done. BUT you have to ADD up the money amount along the way. Then post the amount that you are as the title of the bulletin.

PS: the smaller the better!

1. Had sex: P40.00
2. Smoked: P40.00
3. drank alcohol: P20.00
4. Went skinny dipping: P40.00
5. Kissed someone of the opposite sex: P4.00
6. Kissed someone of the same sex: P20.00
7. Cheated on a test: P28.00
8. Fell asleep in class: P20.00
9. Been expelled: P40.00
10. Been in a fist fight: P40.00
11. Given oral: P40.00
12. Got oral: P40.00
13. Prank called the police: P40.00
14. Stole something: P40.00
15. Done drugs: P40.00
16. Dyed your hair: P20.00
17. Done something sexually with someone older (like a few years): P40.00.
18. Courted someone OVER 18 (if your under 18): P40.00
19. Ate a whole bag of oreos: P40.00
20. Cried yourself to sleep: P2.00
21. Said you love someone but didnt mean it: P4.00
22. Been in love: P20.00
23. Got caught doing something that you shouldnt have been doing: P40.00
24. Went streaking: P4.00
25. Got arrested: P40.00
26. Cuddled: P4.00
27. Peed in the pool: P20.00
28. Played spin the bottle: P40.00
29. Done something you regret: P20.00
Now add up and post as "I COST ..."

I'm sitting in See Yin's dining room right now, eating a coco jam sandwich while relaxing in my boxers. She left for her second ever day of work about an hour ago, so I'm alone to update my LJ, nap, play PS2 games, and basically enjoy my first summer vacation in half a decade. I'll attach pictures to the end of this entry once I get them uploaded.

I'll back up a bit... to August 13th, the last time I updated.

I drove out of Calgary on the afternoon of August 13th to visit See Yin at her new apartment in Edmonton. It was supposed to be a 340km drive (approx. 3 hours) but I made it there in under 2.5 hours because I was able to follow a caravan of 7-8 cars that were travelling an average of 150-160kph for the whole time. I spent the week at her place, driving around with her, shopping for furniture, exploring Edmonton. I picked up a 3.7 cubic ft stainless steel mini-fridge for my place in Calgary, too. :D We drove back on Friday, where we met up with her brother, his wife, and their kids (3 and 1 yr old). They had flown over from BC to attend the Buddhist monastery's 20 year anniversary over the weekend.

I spent the weekend learning about Buddhism, as well as shuttling around the entire family to various sights in downtown Calgary. They left on Sunday afternoon to go back to BC, while See Yin and I drove back to Edmonton - her first day of work was Monday.

Yesterday, I dropped her off on her first day of work. Her architecture firm is just 5 blocks away, almost exactly 1km from her apartment! Afterwards, I didn't know what to do, so... I washed my car, did the laundry and ironing (both the colors and whites), took out the garbage and recyclables, called the phone company to change my cellphone number, called the bank to cancel a couple of useless credit cards, then checked her mailbox to see if any important bills came in.

In the afternoon, I filled up my 3 liter Camelbak backpack with ice cold water, grabbed my bike, helmet, GPS, camera and Edmonton map, and went out for a 2 hour bike ride around Edmonton. I didn't quite have an agenda in mind, I simply rested when I was tired and went where curiosity took me.

I broke my bike's rear brakes, and my front wheel is slightly warped now, too. I was biking around the University of Alberta when I saw a steep slope in the distance... which happened to be a flight of stairs. I wasn't paying attention to it until I was literally OFF the first step. It was a bone-jarring and terrifying ride down, not necessarily because it was a flight of stairs (I've got a mountain bike with shock absorbers)... what was so scary is that I was completely unprepared for it! I slammed hard on my brakes to slow down my descent, and my rear tire dislodged my rear brakes while bouncing up and down, and effectively jammed the brake pad inside the rim of the wheel. My rear wheel was seized. I simply disconnected the rear brakes after that, and kept on going.

Later on, I found a nice and scenic hill that overlooked a valley, a river in the middle, and a bridge. I sat down on the bench and ate a sandwich.

I biked home after that. I fired up the PS2 and played GT4 for a while, but I guess I wasn't aware of how tired I was from the bike ride. I suddenly woke up completely disoriented, 2 hours later, having fallen asleep in the middle of a race. :P

I picked up See Yin from work, cooked some pasta for dinner, then we went to the grocery store to stock up her fridge.


Now we'll fast-forward to today again!


I don't have much planned except for updating my LJ, uploading some pictures from yesterday's bike ride, napping, playing PS2, and looking after the house.


( and here are the pictures that I uploaded... )

My dad and I drove 1,308kms (according to the odometer) to Calgary. We left the house at 5am, and arrived just a few minutes after 7pm, which makes our drive almost exactly 14 hours. That's like driving from the North tip of the Philippines all the way to the bottom of Mindanao. I have to say that it was an absolutely BORING drive. There was nothing there to see except the sky above me, the fields on either side of me, and the road that extended forever.

We stopped at Portage La Prairie for gas, then at Virden for gas and breakfast, then we kept going till Regina where we filled up again with gas, followed by Swift Current for gas, lunch and some donuts. From there, we drove straight to Medicine Hat, where we filled up with gas one last time. We arrived in Calgary 3 hours later.

We unhooked the trailer, then I drove my dad to the airport so that he could book his flight. We had dinner at the food court, then I drove him to his airport hotel. I choked up a bit when I said goodbye, because it was the last time I'd get to see any of my family members until Christmas. Surprisingly enough, I was able to hold it in.

I drove home, and fell asleep right away.

The next day, I woke up at 6am. My roommates/landlords were still sleeping, so I decided to go for a drive around the city. I drove around for 1.5 hours just absorbing the sights, getting lost quite frequently, and enjoying the empty roads (it was early Sunday morning). I got back around 8:00am, and began the long, slow process of unpacking.

( I thought it would be a boring day, but... )

After that, it was all just unpacking and unpacking until I went to bed. Today, I'm pretty much done. I'm going to drop off the u-haul trailer, and then find a small fridge.

Tomorrow I'm driving to Edmonton (3 hours away) to visit See Yin and see how she's doing. :)

Looks like this is it... I've got a 13-14 hour drive ahead of me, now all I have left to do is pack away my computer. I'll post pics of the journey and of the new place.

Here's a link that gives a taste of what I will be doing for 13-14 hours. I had to pick up the trailer from a town outside the city. The sky is what I'll be watching the most, I think.

[Migo out]

Since I'm leaving Winnipeg in a couple days, I decided to treat myself to the luxury of attending Cruise night. I've been living here for seven years, but only now

It's a Sunday night event every week for the entire summer. Car enthusiasts take out their cars, and cruise around Portage Ave, show off their latest muscle cars, or park in a large group then watch other cars go by. This all started as a group of friends cruising together for fun back in the 70's in their hot rods, but now it has ushered in several new generations of car enthusiasts, tuners and racers. From the Cruise, the underground racing scene unfolds.

It wasn't as interesting as I had hoped (bad timing), but it was fun nonetheless.

I left the house around 11pm, and drove to Portage Ave. Once there, I cruised around slowly until I saw a large parking lot, absolutely packed with guys, girls, and about a hundred cars. I walked amongst the crowd, checking out a Supra here, a Skyline there, getting intoxicated with the smell of exhaust fumes and excess fuel. A full restored Dodge Charger revved its engine and the roar shook the windows of the building next to us. A Ford Mustang did a burnout that left a cloud of fragrant burnt rubber. My cellphone began to vibrate.

Me: "Hello Kevin? Where are you?"
Kevin: "Hey, we decided to go to 7/11, and on the way back, the FD's engine died in the middle of a drift and we can't get it started. We're about 1 km east of you."
Me: "Ok, I'm on my way."

I pulled out of the parking lot and headed east. On the side of the road I spotted just over a half-dozen cars with their hazards flashing. STi, STi, G35, STi, WRX, Skyline, and... FD RX-7. Damn. We all stood around the car and tried to get it to start. The engine turned over, but it wouldn't start. The ignition perhaps? It had a faulty intake seal to begin with, but it should have still started. I tried jumper cables in case it was just the battery but... no dice.

We hung around for about 1 1/2 hours to keep the guy company while the tow-truck made its way over to us from across the city. I saw quite a few interesting races and souped up cars drive by, and met quite a few interesting racers. It wasn't a total waste of time.

Afterwards, we decided to check out where the underground races were being held. We drove back to the large parking lot, but unfortunately everyone had already left for the races - and we didn't know where they went. Oh well... we decided to have our own fun.

Four Subarus - two WRX's, my Impreza wagon, and an Impreza sedan. We were the only ones that decided to do something more.... exciting.

Before I begin - the stats:

----------------------------------------------------
Migo - 230 horsepower/torque, 2.5L non-turbo built motor, full suspension
J - 310 horsepower/torque, 2.0L turbo motor, full suspension
M - 250 horsepower/torque, 2.0L turbo motor, stock suspension/tires
K - 180 horsepower/torque, 2.5L non-turbo motor, upgraded springs
----------------------------------------------------

At 2am we decided to do some touge runs instead of drag racing. We all knew J would win the drag races anyway. We cruised about 20 mins south of the Cruise night scene, out to more familiar territory... narrow winding roads and no traffic. As we headed over there, we started to sort ourselves out in the order of our confidence, capabilities, and car performance. I was in the lead, followed by J, then M and K. :D

I was heavy on the gas the moment I spotted the first turn leading into the road. The engine roared and the car shot forward, pinning me in the seat. In my rearview mirror was J, right on my tail, his headlights piercing the rich smoke of unburnt fuel that has just exited my tailpipe at 6200rpms.

I pulled to the rightmost portion of the road, then at the last second I was on the brakes as hard as possible without locking the tire. The steering was responsive, the car seemingly turned in on its own - my rear tires began its light breakaway just as I began applying power once again. This process continued for the next 3-4 tight turns. When I looked back in my mirror, J was about 50ft back, and behind him... darkness. We had lost the other two Subarus far behind us. I banished all thoughts of them and focused on the turns up ahead.

I pulled into a parking lot afterwards. At the end of it all, J kept up decently well. I suspect that the turbo lag and brakes kept him playing a slow catch-up game, since I noticed that he would fall back in the turns but begin catching up on the rare, short straights that were available. M and K came out of the winding road about 30 seconds later.

We stood around chatting for a bit, making notes on the course and sharing observations on the cars. Apparently I drove like a maniac. J said that he almost lost control around one corner, perhaps because of bump steer. My Koni struts handle bumps around corners better, we concluded.

The night ended there. After saying goodbye's (since I'm leaving for Calgary soon and won't see these guys for a while), we all headed home.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face. :)

status

I dropped off See Yin at the airport today. She's finally moved to Edmonton to pursue a career in Landscape Architecture at a prestigious firm. I on the other hand, am giving up my full time comfy job to become a broke, penniless student. Hopefully in 2 1/2 years time, I'll be a fully-qualified Industrial Designer, with a focus on experimental composite materials for vehicular/automotive performance.

My living space in Calgary is all set for moving. I'm not quite packed yet. That's what I'm doing today. I'm basically just bringing my desktop, both monitors, external accessories, clothes, SLR camera, bike, some design books, and.... that's about it. My whole life can fit in my car.



fright of the day

So I was walking out to the barn in the backyard this morning, with my head down, texting Jiggs. I was obliviously finishing the message when I noticed a black shape at the front periphery of my vision. I kept walking and casually looked up when I was about 3 ft away from the obstacle in my path. It was a groundhog, standing up on its hind legs, squinting at me. I jumped backwards about 3 ft in the air and let out a yelp, while it simultaneously did the same. We stared at each other for about 10 seconds before it dismissed me as a threat and proceeded to shuffle back to its lair underneath the storage shed.

Frankly, I'm not sure who scared who first. We've been visited by cats, bunnies, fawns, adult herds of deer, hawks, finches, a fox, chipmunks, squirrels and even a stag with a full rack of antlers, but I don't think I've ever been as startled. I think it was because of how close I got to the groundhog. I could have nudged him with my foot - we were that close before noticing each other.

What's next, a bear? Cougar? Wolves?

car

I'm so happy with my built engine Subaru.

The delivery is so smooth, and the torque is instantaneous. Upon mashing the gas, my head snaps back against the headrest, and the engine opens up with a throaty roar. The car then streaks off, the fervor and intensity increasing as the RPMs do the same. The shift light flashes green, indicating the need to shift into the next gear. The momentary pause is then broken by yet another mad dash to redline, then the process is repeated. Before I know it, I'm at 180 kph with about 3000rpms left before hitting redline in top gear... however I've run out of straight road - the twisties are coming up fast.

I'm very satisfied with the finely tweaked suspension, too. I maintain my 180 kph speed into the corner, threshold braking at the last possible moment. The braking force activates my seat belt restraints, and a carwash rag in my backseat flies forward to plaster itself on my dash. I double-clutch and rev-match into 3rd gear, letting out the clutch while gently steering into the apex simultaneously. The tires grip, then begin gradually break away, allowing a sweet-sounding scream of protesting rubber to fill the air. All four tires are now loose, and I've entered the apex of the turn. I touch the throttle and progressively bring it to the floor, using my driver's side window to look outside - because that's the direction that my car is going. The engine throatily bellows for more, the tires scream with a vengeance, and the car shoots out of the corner exit facing straight ahead, a modest 2 feet away from the guard rail.

( more on the car... )

Has this been posted yet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODV-eo3hjDI