One more Shiny Thing...

Okay TWO new Shiny Things to mention this week. Hey, it is New Years. I can't compete with Kahuna podcasting and Wil podcasting AND having a new website, so I buy stuff.

Actually this was a gift from Mistress to me for our 10th wedding anniversary so I had little to do with it, except pick out the model.

She bought us a Jacuzzi. Yes an actual brand name Jucuzzi, model number J-325.

Its part of their sport massage line or recovery line or some such thing. Mistress thought she had to close me on it being good for me after all the hard training workouts for Ironman, but come on, you can't bullshit and bullshitter. She want's it for herself too. Me, well I will call it also a performance bonus based on my good faith with the Training Contract we have.

Our house came with a spa hook up outside from the previous owners so there is no additional costs. A cover comes with the tub and I closed the salesman on including the delievery and some extra chemicals. I also saved 12% on the overall price by having him work in some rebates and other stuff, so we walked out the door with a total price less than floor price.

Delievery and install will be next week. It was going to be at the end of the month but I heard him on the phone find out that the model I wanted had just arrived Monday at another location and I closed him to pressuring his boss into giving me that floor model so I didn't have to wait, of course his boss wasn't happy about having a gap on his showroom floor, but I don't flippin' care.

Cash is King.

A New Shiny Thing

Lets get the triathlon part out of the way, today is a 7 mile run and a bicep/tricep workout. While I am training I will thinking about the new toy in transist right now...


I. Am. A. Gadget. Whore.

Wait I think whores make money on themselves not spend money on themselves.

I. Am. A. Gadget. Guy.
That sounds better.

I am a firm believer in 'Technology Accelerators'. I consider myself an inpulse 'Wanter' and deliberate buyer. Does that make sense?

Anyway, I have been trying to go paperless or less-paper since Cascio came out with a scheduler twenty years ago. I have looked at Palms and such for a long time but the technology never met my needs. I've used laptops their too big for my needs. Now I find out that with Windows Mobile 5.0 I can use Word, Excel and Outlook interchangably between my desktop PC and a pocket PC, in my case the new HP Ipaq 2495...

This already has more almost double the clock speed of my last laptop (520 MHz Ipaq vs. 300MHz laptop) and double the RAM memory (192 mb base vs. 96 mb maxed out). Because I use primarily Excel to run my spreadsheets this is awesome. I will save myself two days of work each month by inputting directly to Excel instead of writing on a print out then transcribing to excel later.

Plus it has Bluetooth and wi-fi built in (not even an option on the laptop) so I can real time my work to my partners while in the field or answer e-mail in a Starbucks from all my various accounts AND I think I will be able to blog on the road. No more waiting to get to a desk to catch up on Bloglines.

I also picked up a Bluetooth wireless foldable keyboard so I can type instead of write my meeting notes and be faster at typing into the Ipaq. With a 1 gigabyte storage card, I can carry all my company's most important documents with me as back up and not have to go back to my office to send follow ups.

Plus...well its shiny... and it looks pretty... and I want it...and I got the company to pay for it. Hey its cheaper than an assistant.

New Song

I promised two things about the music at this site. I wouldn't change my music every other day and that the music I played would be motivating.

This new song is from the Kill Bill Vol. 1 Soundtrack. Its called "Battle Without Honor or Humility".

I love that the song builds its momemtum into a cresendo at 2o seconds and at 45 seconds opens up even more.

Ah...what was that?

On New Years we went to my parents for dinner since my godparents drove into town to see The Mighty Mo, oh and us too.

Ironman came up, since its pretty much always on the top of my mind and I am brainwashing everyone about it and Mistress mentions that she, my mom and Mighty Mo would drive up to see my mom's parents in Ft. Meyers when WE'RE over there.

"Excuse me, what did you say dear?"
"When we go to Florida with you next year for Ironman."
"Well its 305 days away, not next year, well technically it will be next year for the next 5 hours, but wait a minute, YOU'R going to Florida?"
"Well I just assumed...wait you don't want me to go?" sniff sniff.
"Well I already booked the room and I just figured you didn't want to go so I only got a room for one plus a bed big enough for any hookers I pick up."
"Oh okay, well I actually didn't want to go so thats a relief."
My mom, "Well I will go with you if you want?"
"Mom, I don't have any room for you...the hookers. Think about it."

Do any of you have issues like this?

A family timeout

The Mighty Mo got his first set of motorized wheels, with this sleek 2 h.p. quad runner.
Here he contemplates making a run for the front door, which he did and yes he did
power down the street with me not far behind.

His new bike helmet, to be used with his quad runner. He refuses to wear any other type of hat. He has worn this helmet longer than anything else in less than a week.

He loves his stuffed animals. He just loves animals, probably since he is
around them more than little human kids.

Snow sharks

CATCH THE FEVER

Have you caught the fever?

What fever?

THE FEVER!

Okaaaaay...what fever?

TRIATHLON FEVER BABY!

I have caught the Triathlon Fever. The good news is that once caught its almost impossible to lose and the great news is that is highly contagious. The Fever is not a bad thing, it's an awesome thing. Imagine a world where everyone has this Fever. Imagine if the media reported a pandemic of FEVER on par with the bird flu.

The Fever for most people starts upon seeing their first transition area. The a racing of their heartbeat and the loss of verbal control upon seeing all those shiny bikes with aero bars and Zipp disk wheels makes you wonder, "Does carbon fiber smell as good as it looks?"

Then later that day, the other symptoms start to exhibit. First is the selfish thought triathlon training would help you lose that last 5 or 10 pounds (*cough*15 or 20*cough*). From where you're at physically you see only thin, muscular people in tight clothing or people you think are close to your physical shape but doing something that at that point you never considered possible for your body type.

Then the mental as you realize, "Man, everyone is so freaking nice. The volunteers, the freaking volunteers are super motivated. This is a very positive and motivating place."

Then the emotional, "I could finish a triathlon."

At this point the triathlon fever is still susceptible to the virus called Common Man Syndrome. CMS brings an arsenal of self doubt and the fear of leaving the comfort of the couch. It is recommended that an already infected triathlete make contact with someone fresh with Fever between 24 and 36 hours after witnessing their first triathlon or else CMS may counteract a future training partner.

I am excited about the world of triathlon, my personal place in that world, my level of training and how all that has changed my life and the changed the lives of people around me.

Have you caught the Fever?