Day: July 22, 2008

A Great Workday

/ chollaball / 1 Comment

what are the ingredients of a great workday?

  • free food
  • don’t work very hard
  • be engaged and intrigued and challenged and learn new stuff
  • hit a home run

add to that meeting some very interesting influential people, winning a PlayStation Portable, and getting some Dos Equis and 12-year old Scotch…its amazing I get paid for this!!

I’ll keep it general, since on principal I don’t like to talk too much about work on my blog. We were having our Technology Summit where many of the top folks from Phoenix and the various other Dev teams converged on the new location for 3 days of conferences and presentations and office warming. Good stuff, learned some things, networked a bit, breakfast lunch dinner and drinks on the 2nd day. The highlight of the conference was a competition dreamed up by my manager – the prize a new PSP and 15 minutes of fame and adulation from your coworkers-   where each person was challenged to come up with an idea to “Restock the Shelves” and help grow our business to offset the impending loss of our LiveNation customers. Whoever says Ticketmaster is an old fat happy monopoly has never worked with the R&D Team.

The idea came to me almost all at once, a geyser of connected thoughts that had been percolating slowly from my recent and frequent usage of Ebay, Craigslist, and SteapandCheap.com. What if we took our existing customer accounts and their ability to set notification preferences via email, but also tied them into postings on our Exchange site like Craigslist – enabling them to get customized timely messages about ticket resales and events of their choice – and sent it all out as RSS feeds, deliverable possibly by a desktop client like SteapandCheap??

I knew right away the PSP was mine!

The idea had it all – revenue generation, traffic to our site, traffic specifically to our Exchange sites that would hurt our competition, sexy evolving technology, and compulsive shopping. I shared it with Rich at the first break, and he was impressed, as were Beckie and one of the Dev leads I often kibbitz with. The best part was, if my idea got beaten out, then some of the other very smart and very capable people at the conference were surely working just as hard at their own ideas. And it meant money for the company, and ultimately more for all our bonuses. I was not disappointed, as the other ideas that I did hear were all pretty darn good in their own right. Its exciting being in a creative environment with other sharp people.

The competition led our resident Alpha Genius to establish a Friday morning brainstorming session to go with our free bagels and shmear, and I can’t wait to participate. This is where great new ideas are going to be born, where inside tracks to working on them will be established, and where individually i will get to play to some of my strengths in design and problem-solving.

and yes, i did go home with the PlayStation.

The Wedding Playlist

/ chollaball / 1 Comment

Another item that would have been on The Wedding Website (detailed post forthcoming – its easier to do this small post first), but wasn’t. We each picked 50 songs for the Reception, and collaborated on the other groovy moody songs.

It still makes for some good listening on an afternoon around the pool.

Seating
1. Simon Wynberg – Strathgarry (3:29)
2. Bela Fleck – See Rock City (4:03)
3. Keola Beamer – Sase (Sassy) (1:46)
4. John Whelan/Eileen Ivers – Trip To Skye (2:36)
5. Reggae Cowboys – Redemption Song (4:55)
6. Bela Fleck – Slipstream (5:08)
7. Gerald Trimble – The York Reel/Dancing Feet (2:43)
8. Moving Hearts – Tribute To Peadar O’Donnell (5:05)
9. Keola Beamer – Hi’ilawe (2:35)
10. Laurie Riley and Bob NcNally – Morghan Meaghan (3:04)
11. Orison – The Butterfly (3:50)
12. Bela Fleck – The Legend (4:18)
13. Markahuasi – Flor de un día (2:51)
14. Bela Fleck – Whitewater (3:09)
15. Bela Fleck – Up and Around the Bend (3:34)

Entrance
1. The Corrs – Rebel Heart (4:06)

Reception
1. Buckwheat Zydeco – Hot Tamale Baby (4:07)
2. The Verve Pipe – The Freshmen (4:30)
3. Dave Matthews Band – Lover Lay Down (5:37)
4. Blues Traveler – Girl Inside My Head (3:38)
5. Bob Dylan – Tangled Up In Blue (5:41)
6. Norah Jones – Come Away With Me (3:18)
7. Eagles – The Long Run (3:41)
8. Slightly Stoopid – Mellow Mood (feat. G. Love) (4:40)
9. Aretha Franklin – Share Your Love With Me (3:20)
10. Grateful Dead – Franklin’s Tower (5:22)
11. Santana – Love of my life-w- dave matthews (5:47)
12. Cowboy Junkies – Misguided Angel (4:52)
13. Jewel – Love Me Just Leave Me Alone (3:47)
14. BareNaked Ladies – If I Had A Million Dollars (4:27)
15. 10,000 Maniacs – Gold Rush Brides (3:25)
16. Alanis Morissette – Alanis – Hands Clean (4:38)
17. Led Zeppelin – All My Love (5:56)
18. Pepper – Sitting On the Curb (3:02)
19. Cowboy Junkies – Miles from Our Home (4:34)
20. Maroon 5 – She Will Be Loved (4:17)
21. Norah Jones – Sunrise (3:20)
22. Santana – Game Of Love (Michelle Branch) (4:05)
23. Shivaree – Goodnight Moon (4:03)
24. Angela Ammons – Always Getting Over You (4:06)
25. Melissa Etheridge – You Can Sleep While I Drive (3:15)
26. Strength In Numbers – Slopes (6:16)
27. Audioslave – Like A Stone (4:50)
28. Pepper – Tradewinds (4:16)
29. Bela Fleck – Natchez Trace (4:56)
30. Aretha Franklin – (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman (2:44)
31. Morcheeba – Aqualung (3:23)
32. Norah Jones – Shoot The Moon (3:56)
33. Bic Runga – Sway (4:21)
34. Cowboy Junkies – A Horse in the Country (3:51)
35. 3 Doors Down – Here Without You (3:58)
36. Social Distortion – Angel’s Wings (Acoustic) (4:20)
37. Cyndi Lauper – Time After Time (4:03)
38. Dusty Springfield – Son Of A Preacher Man (2:27)
39. Natalie Merchant – cowboy romance (4:39)
40. Bob Dylan – Shelter From The Storm (1976 – Live – Hard Rain) (5:30)
41. Robert Hunter – Reuben & Cherise (5:11)
42. Men At Work – Overkill (Acoustic) (3:48)
43. Cowboy Junkies – Blue Moon Revisited (Song for Elvis) (4:27)
44. Melissa Etheridge – Come To My Window (3:57)
45. Evanescence – My Immortal (4:23)
46. Live – Lightning Crashes (5:25)
47. Cowboy Junkies – Sun Comes Up, It’s Tuesday Morning (3:56)
48. Jewel – Life Uncommon (4:56)
49. No Doubt – Running (4:01)
50. Santana – Smooth- with Rob Thomas (4:58)
51. Sheryl Crow – Sweet Child O Mine (3:57)
52. Day One – Bedroom Dancing (3:47)
53. Nickelback – Saturday Night’s Alright (3:44)
54. Natalie Merchant – Beloved Wife (5:02)
55. Dramarama – Anything, Anything (3:20)
56. Various – Beast Of Burden (3:38)
57. Evanescence – Bring Me To Life (3:57)
58. Sting – Fields Of Gold (3:42)
59. Godsmack – Realign (4:23)
60. Led Zeppelin – Fool In The Rain (6:12)
61. Blondie – Heart Of Glass (4:10)
62. Slightly Stoopid – Collie Man (2:13)
63. The Offspring – Spare Me The Details (3:24)
64. U2 – All I Want Is You (6:30)
65. Goo Goo Dolls – Dizzy (2:41)
66. Cardigans – Lovefool (3:18)
67. Everlast – 7 Years (4:05)
68. Phunk Junkeez – Everyday (3:33)
69. Bruce Springsteen – I’m Going Down (3:29)
70. Slightly Stoopid – Sweet Honey (3:50)
71. Genesis And Phil Collins – Turn It On Again (3:51)
72. Lenny Kravitz – If I Could Fall In Love (4:21)
73. Talking Heads – Totally Nude (4:11)
74. Damian Marley – And Be Loved (3:01)
75. Sublime – What I Got (Reprise) (3:01)
76. Billy Joel – Say Goodbye To Hollywood (4:35)
77. Strength In Numbers – Slopes (6:16)
78. Sarah McLachlan – Sweet Surrender (4:00)
79. Bruce Springsteen – Sherry Darling (4:03)
80. Rusted Root – Ecstasy (5:02)
81. Everclear – Brown Eyed Girl (4:21)
82. Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark – If You Leave (4:32)
83. Goo Goo Dolls – Slave Girl (2:17)
84. Red Hot Chili Peppers – Scar Tissue (3:37)
85. 3 Doors Down – So I Need You (3:49)
86. Sugar Ray – Fly (4:04)
87. The Offspring – Want You Bad (3:22)
88. Lucinda Williams – Lines Around Your Eyes (2:29)
89. Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music (3:11)
90. Nelly Furtado – Forca (3:40)
91. The Nails – 88 Lines About 44 Women (4:53)
92. Green Day – Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) (2:34)
93. Santana – Amore (Ft. Macy Gray) (3:51)
94. Norah Jones – What Am I To You (3:29)
95. Big Head Todd & The Monsters – Broken Hearted Savior (4:21)
96. R.E.M. – Fall on me (2:50)
97. The Cars – It’s All I Can Do (3:45)
98. Buckwheat Zydeco – What You Gonna Do (4:28)
99. U2 – With Or Without You (4:56)

Not So Bad

/ chollaball / Leave a comment

did Tortilla Flat on Sunday. omigawd i can’t believe its been so long since i’ve done this ride. omigawd i can’t believe its been so long since i’ve done this ride and i have not become a fat sack of crap. Its the best ride and best workout of all the road rides in the Valley. Oddly, this was only the 2nd time I’ve done the full 65 miles from the house and back instead of the 42 from Apache Junction and back. Its always seemed so long, and so remote, but when it takes 25 minutes to drive to the start and just 45 to ride there…well i’m just kicking myself i finally figured this out with so few months left on this part of town. Saguaro Lake has a lot of climbing in the same mileage, but its up and down and full of traffic. Tortilla is big s-curves up and down that flow into each other really well.

and its a big effort. I was hurting at the start, not realizing how much climbing there is going through Mesa and AJ, and my legs were out of roadie shape. The slow pace diden’t bother me since i left before dawn at 4:50 and spent the first 30 minutes in the pre-dawn, mentally and physically foggy. But it flowed off me surprisingly easily and it wasn’t til the final big climb out that I really started to hurt, and that was completely expected no matter in what condition I arrived at that point – that climb always hurts.

my log shows that I am more-or-less on the same pace for roadie hours as last year. Not as many 2 hr rides, but now I’m commuting some. The real difference is i have only done Tortilla about twice in the past 2 years. I rode a smart race at Tour de Scottsdale, but i am weak.

it was soupy at the beginning and all ride long, but the overcast that held the soup in kept the sun more-or-less out through the whole ride. I figured out how to carry 4 20oz bottles of gatorade, and even had some left at the end. I worked hard, but am way psyched that i was not crushed by this ride. I did the 42 miles from the VFW Post to the end-of-the-pavement and back in 2:28, only about 10 minutes off my best times. I had less than a 5 minute break at the top, under 4 hours door-to-door.

Animals seen:

  • 1 dead rattlesnake
  • 1 coyote
  • 7 live rabbits
  • 1 dead rabbit
  • 1 turkey vulture, eating aforementioned rabbit
  • about 14 dudes in a crotch-rocket Club, who scared me but not too bad on the stretch form the town to the top, and then i left at the top fanning themselves and smoking cigarettes

The traffic was not at all bad on the way out, other than the motos but they were mostly just noisy and were the only traffic after the lake. One the return, there was a lot of traffic going outbound, but as long as I kept my eyes out and didn’t catch them in any blind turns I felt very safe. Back home before 9, ready to cook some banana pancakes and do it again next weekend.