Manchester United

It is noteworthy to me that Manchester United ended the weekend at the top of the Barclays premiership table. They've been trailing league leaders Liverpool for the first half of the season but a solid run through the Boxing day and New Year period combined with faltering play by Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks has jettisoned MY team to the top of the table... with a game in hand!
(I really wanted to post THIS picture of Ronaldo)

I'm a *Man Utd* fan and always have been. Well, I've been a fan since 1982 when, while watching the World Cup that summer I developed a pre-teen crush on the then England and Manchester United captain, Bryan Robson. Incidentally, Bryan Robson also wore the famed #7 Man Utd shirt that has been worn by David Beckham and which currently adorns the torso of footballer of the year, Cristiano Ronaldo.

Funnily enough, it wasn't cool to be a Man Utd fan in the 1980s. They were a Premiership team (called Division 1 back then) but they hadn't won the division title for 20 years. It wasn't until 1985 that they even had any Cup success, beating Everton 1-0 to win the F.A. Cup. I recognize that since I hail from Sheffield, most would question my loyalty to a team based on the other side of the Pennines (300 mile ridgeline in the north of England that separates Yorkshire from Lancashire) but as you can see, there's history to my fandom. Nowadays, Manchester United is probably the *winningest* football team in the world with the most global fan base. No one would question that its players of the last 10 years are among the most famous... I mean, David Beckham and his clothes-horse wife, Victoria, regularly appear in the US gossip magazines, People and US Weekly... hilarious for a country that doesn't even know what football is... they can't even get the name right!

Life Rhymes...

I was listening to the California Report on KQED in the car the other day and Michael Krazny's guest quoted Mark Twain: "History doesn't repeat itself, at best it sometimes rhymes." The quote struck a chord.

This week has been a particularly stressful one for me. A combination of the economic situation and a business unit reorganization generated layoffs of around 10% at my firm. I had been somewhat worried about the *safety* of my own position but I can thankfully report that I am still employed. Unfortunately, the positions of both my direct manager and her manager (my skip-level manager) were *eliminated* (euphemisms abound in these situations!).

The new organizational structure is much flatter and my new manager is a good friend. I'm happy for him because it's a great new role for him and I'm even happier for myself as I now have a cleaner reporting structure, more responsibility and the most triathlon-friendly manager I will ever have in my career! There'll be no need to explain why I need to miss the industry conference in Miami in October since I have some small race I'd like to do in Hawaii. He was calling and texting my coach all day long when I raced IMAZ and I'm sure he'll do the same for Hawaii... that's of course if he doesn't come and watch for himself!

This was not my first *downsizing process* at a financial institution but I feel very lucky that my position has never been *eliminated*... I've seen dear friends lose their jobs but on this occasion and in previous situations, I have been positively impacted. With the increased responsibilities, I'll be feeling a *little over my skis" for a while but I'll grow a lot in the process.



The Mark Twain quote felt pertinent as I wrestled with my new career reality, anxious about the new office world order, nervous about my bigger role and sad about the exited colleagues. I've been there before. The situation is different so "history has not repeated" but I've dealt with similar issues. Some physical and emotional rhythms are repeated... The echoes and resonances of those past experiences will help me handle the new situation with greater confidence than I might otherwise.

Simpson's Paradox

I know that I am a maths (Brit) dork, given a past posting about *emailing equations* as well as a fascination with running numbers for everything I do... I remember all race times, splits, positions, wattages, min/mile paces etc...

I am actually more than a math dork, I am a statistics dork! Statistics was my inital major in college even though I eventually graduated with a double major in languages and only a minor in math and statistics! I suppose I was in denial in college but I soon put that straight after college joining a *white-shoe*, New York investment bank trading fixed income... now I work for an investment management firms that prides itself on the number of geeky quant jocks it employs :)

I delight in taking a statistical approach to things and recently I came across a work problem which reminded me of the *Yule-Simpson effect*, a.k.a. Simpson's Paradox. What is it, you ask? It is a statistical paradox, wherein, individual results are reversed when the results are combined into a group... simple, d'oh! That's probably not too clear, so let me try an *athletic* example... One of my favorite books, Michael Lewis' Moneyball, demonstrated the richness of statistics available in the world of baseball. Let's review some batting averages:

1995 1996 Combined
Derek Jeter 12/48 .250 183/582 .314 195/630 .310
David Justice 104/411 .253 45/140 .321 149/551 .270

In the example above, Justice had the higher batting average in both the '95 and '96 seasons (.253 and .321 respectively), but when you combine the two seasons, Jeter comes out on top (.310)!!! (gratuitous picture of Derek Jeter below)


How the heck does Jeter have the higher 2 season average?

Looking more closely at the results, this phenomenon occurs when there are large differences in the number of at-bats between seasons. I like to think of it as a scale issue, it's not just how well you do it, it's how often you do it!

So why does this Paradox suddenly capture my attention? After I won my age-group at Ironman Arizona last November, I bumped into an acquaintance who congratulated me on winning my age-group at the race and getting a *Kona slot*. She (intentionally?) weakened her congratulatory feedback by adding that it looked to be an *easy age-group*. WTF? What does that mean? I took it to assume that my age-group wasn't the fastest. Indeed, if you take away the forced groupings, the results might be different. She was right... I wouldn't have won any of the younger age-groups... but hey, I'm not younger so I won by the rules of the race! My race might have been different had I reacted in a more competitive fashion and picked up the pace when I was passed by a 28 year old versus a 38 year old? But I was racing for an age group placing and Kona slot, so I was officially racing against the 38 year old and not the 28 year old...

USA Triathlon rankings involve the same paradox. I could finish ahead of another age-grouper every time we compete against one another, but if that athlete races more or enters *easier* races, she may well have a higher ranking overall at the end of the season.

So what? I think reflecting on the above has been a healthy reminder that numbers, be they rankings, wattages, bpm are just that, numbers. They need a context, a comparison and a reference point to make them come alive... and even then we need to proceed cautiously...

Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda...

I keep thinking of things I would like to write about... if only I had the time... when I change my full-time career from financier to writer? I think I'll keep my day job and continue to pay the rent/bills!

Human interaction - the small stuff... basically the concept of feeling better about yourself and gaining positive vibes from others by being upbeat, pleasant, making smalltalk... at the grocery store, to the valet guys, at the water cooler... Maybe it's just me that gets a buzz from this, but a positive human interaction, however mundane, lifts my spirits.

Give me back my Gym! - the overwhelming increase in people working out at the gym in January... a direct result of lofty New Year's resolutions which will fade by the 3rd week of January... but which annoys the hell out of the *regulars* for those few weeks!

Simpson's Paradox - case-wise superiority but overall inferiority as applied to the Age-group competition in triathlon. Forgive my academic background as a mathematician but this is basically the concept that as an age-grouper, you can consistently win races but still not have great overall rankings... depends which races you do, who shows up etc.

Vineman has sold out!

There goes my race plan unless I can use my resources and contacts to finagle an entry? I was looking at the alternatives for another mid-season 70.3 race and unfortunately the Boise Idaho race clashes with Alcatraz... which I cannot possibly miss... A more realistic alternative is the Lake Stevens (Seattle, WA) race which takes place in August. However, that will come right after my BIG week of training in the Sierras... What should I do? Maybe I need a more flexible plan? Ditch the Tahoe training week?

Actually, it was much easier... I used my contacts and got myself off the waitlist already :)

2009 Goals

I don't want to make any New Year resolutions but I have a few goals for 2009, many of which relate to the triathlon racing season... since I already qualified for Hawaii with my *flukey* performance at Arizona, I feel confident and relaxed about training in 2009, although the *success* at Arizona prompts me to think I can achieve even more in 2009 so the goals will seem a little lofty ;) Of course, in true JC-style, the goals will come in the form of a Top Ten List!

10. Swim at least 10k every week (unless it's a work travel week)
9. Do the core program 2x/week
8. Run regularly at the track and include form drills
7. Run sub 1:40 at a half-ironman
6. Take rest and recovery seriously
5. Stop eating peanut butter chocolate malt balls (highly correlated with #1)
4. Cook more... even if it means finding people to cook for ;)
3. Manage my triathlon/travel budget
2. Run a 3:45 marathon at IMH
1. Maintain a race weight of 125lbs (will help with the run goals!)

Dude, I won...! Ironman Arizona race report

After a 2 and a half year hiatus from Ironman racing, this past Sunday I returned to the site of my last race in April 2006 (Tempe, Arizona) and toed the line for my 5th Ironman distance race at Ironman Arizona.

Those last 2 ½ years have been tumultuous and uncertain for me: I left JPMorgan, my employer for the prior 10 years, unsure that I could ever regain a passion for my career and finance again, I was chased out of the US due to an immigration snafu, unsure if I’d ever make it back to California again, I spent 4 winter months in London unsure if I’d ever see sunlight again, I battled with anemia and exhaustion for almost a year, unsure if I’d ever run a sub-9 minute mile without collapsing to the floor again.

Ironically, it was the week before Thanksgiving last year that blood tests revealed my hematocrit was 29% and that I was severely anemic. I still haven’t figured out why it happened but understanding the cause of my fatigue brought with it solutions: daily dosages of iron supplements and treating filet mignon as a dietary necessity instead of a luxury!

Sunday’s race was the culmination of a year-long process not only to get myself healthy again, but also to get myself to the level of supreme fitness required to challenge for a *Kona slot* in an Ironman triathlon. My life/work situation had changed since my last Ironman race and therefore my training also had to change to accommodate my unconventional work hours (~5am to 3pm) and the reduced amount of time I had to dedicate to training.

I won’t bore you with all the minutiae of the race but here are a few bullet-points:
- the swim was easily the roughest triathlon swim of my career as I was getting beaten up all the way to the halfway turnaround buoy
- exiting the swim in the top third of competitors (instead of the bottom half) offers up a very different dynamic on the bike. I’m used to just riding by tons of people but this time I was surrounded by packs of guys, with very few women in sight
- the first 5 miles and the last 5 miles of the run were the hardest 10 miles of my life
- the entire marathon was an agonizing mental battle with my mind whipsawing between thoughts of quitting the race and the insanity of the race distance and dreams of achieving all my racing goals

As for the race results, I got off the bike in first place in my age-group, briefly relinquished that lead in the middle of the marathon before snatching it back in the closing miles. I finished in a total time of 10 hours 33 minutes and 6 seconds, some 33 minutes faster than my previous best, good enough for 1st place in my age-group and an AG course record. I PR’ed every leg of the race with a swim of 1:09, a bike split of 5:19 and a marathon time of 3:56. I also qualified for next year’s Ironman Hawaii! I’m in shock… I think I’ve revisited the ironman.com website 10 times since the race just to check that I did indeed just have the *race of my life*!

The Winged O

The Olympic Club is a San Francisco institution. It was established in 1860 in San Francisco and during the past 148 years, the Club and its members have been dedicated to the pursuit of amateur athletic excellence. The Olympic Club enjoys the distinction of being America's oldest athletic Club providing facilities, coaching and financial support for amateur athletes in a wide variety of sports. Most famous is the Lakeside Club, home to one of the top golf courses in California and the future host of the 2012 US Open. The downtown Club includes two full-size swimming pools, a running track and indoor courts for every sport imaginable (squash, racquetball, basketball, handball, soccer).

In an era where conventional wisdom and a lot of sponsorship and advertising dollars support the fact that sport is as much of a profession as a Wall Street banker, nurturing and supporting elite amateur athletics seems quaint, something from a bygone era. Becoming a member of The Club doesn't disabuse you of this notion. A quick read of the monthly magazine, The Olympian, underscores the focus on sporting prowess and achievement, but it is far from your average workout facility. There is a strict Clubhouse dress code (jacket and tie, no jeans) and an event list that comprises Fight Night, Crab Feeds and lectures from visiting academic luminaries.

As a competitive triathlete for the past 7 years, I had come across and competed against *Olympians* in their internationally recognized *Winged O* tri-kit. When I returned to San Francisco from London in 2007, I began seeking a new triathlon sponsor and was quickly recruited to the Olympic Club triathlon team. *Recruited* in the amateur sense since there are no signing bonuses or multi-year contracts for my commitment to wearing the Winged O, although the interview process rivaled BGI's in the number of interviewers and the detailed resume questions!

I just completed my first full season racing for the O-Club triathlon team and the season ended on a high note. I won my age-group division at Ironman Arizona in a course record time of 10hrs and 33 minutes. For those unfamiliar with triathlon distances, an Ironman comprises a 2.4mi swim, a 112mi bike ride and a 26.2mi run. Of course, as an amateur athlete my prize for winning the race was non-monetary... a 1st place Lucite trophy, a finisher's medal and finisher's t-shirt but most importantly I won the right to endure the Ironman experience all over again at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii next October.

Anemia

So I discovered why I've been so *pokey* in racing triathlon this year... I have iron-deficient anemia! Hematocrit levels of 29-30% and ferritin levels well below the normal range are the reason for my heart rate spiking the second I go uphill on the bike or try to pick up the pace on the run... it all makes sense now! D'oh!

Boca Raton *junket*

It's a picture of the morning catch of four dolphin fish and 2 kingfish… this morning's fishing escapade! I also landed a barracuda and a silky shark, both of which had to be returned to their ocean homeland :(

I was just off the coast of Fort Lauderdale and it was my first ever game fishing *junket*… alas, with the 4-5ft swells I spent the first 30 minutes of the trip regurgitating last night's steak dinner. Eeuuww!

However, my contribution to the *chum* seemed to awaken the fish, the catching of which became a welcome distraction to my weak sea legs. We had about 6-8 lines in the water at any point in time and it was a ballet-like scene as I ducked and dived on deck to avoid entangling lines with fellow fishermen as we reeled in our bounty.

I was too quick to judge… this has to be my photo of the day… a portrait of Donald Trump that was hanging in his Mar a Lago mansion in Palm Beach…

“Anyone for cricket?”

Sentinel 2007

Wow… it was fantastic to see so many Lombardi jerseys out on the course today… and all of them were smokin' fast! Great to see Paul, Andy, Ray, Greg, Charlie, Tricia and Elizabeth tear up the course!

My race was an *on again, off again, on again* event this week… depending on which day you asked me. My mood was moving in line with work and the financial markets. Thankfully, the markets closed up on Friday… so I guess I was racin'…

My day was eventful before the gun went off. My pre-race preparation was cavalier at best, having decided to sleep chez moi on Saturday night. A distracting locale! I was throwing race gear into my backpack at 10pm, forgoing the *laminated tri-geek checklist* that I created for such occasions. I woke at 4am on Sunday, scoffed down a yoghurt (who eats yoghurt pre-race?) and then set off for the drive to Santa Cruz. It was just as I was cresting the Santa Cruz mountains on highway 17, I realized that I had left 2 key items at home… sunglasses and my bike helmet! Oops! $7.99 plus tax at the Chevron gas station solved the sunglasses problem but WTF was I going to do about the helmet??? I broke the news to Katie as I arrived in transition and she leapt into action to beg, steal or borrow me a helmet, securing one from Olympic Club swim coach, Scott Williams. I would have made a great spectator but I really appreciate Katie and Scott's efforts to make me race J

The race itself was fairly uneventful… no kicks to the head in the swim… I hammered for all of 5 minutes on the bike and then came to my fitness senses, and notched the wattage down… I was *as pokey as they come* in transition… and the run was *hang on for dear life* by mile 3 as I had somehow skipped the 4 th triathlon discipline, "nutrition".

Results – not as shockingly bad as I thought they would be! 12 minutes slower than the last time I raced Sentinel, but good enough for lucky 13th place, racking up 7:40 min/mi on the run and over 20mph on the bike. I even had a swim that was middle of the pack!

Fleet Week in San Francisco

Some photos taken from my friend's deck... the Blue Angels aerial display...



That's water spray...

River luge... Tahoe 2007

I just returned from a week of swimming, biking and running in and around Lake Tahoe in a desperate attempt to get in shape before the triathlon season is well and truly over... I was doing pretty well, training hard, sleeping lots, managing my nutrition... that is until my friend, Wendy, showed up and slowly led me astray from my more serious demeanor. What fun!


Here are some pictures from the trip. I swam across Donner Lake - a repeat of last year's swim but this time was 5 minutes faster, in spite of the choppy conditions. A long swim is never the highlight of any trip or race for me but the Saturday that started with a 3 mile swim only got better as the day progressed! After a hearty bagel sandwich for breakfast/brunch, the gang went for a ride. As we rode through Tahoe City, a jolly nice man tagged onto our ride... and I recognized him as Conrad Stoltz, Xterra triathlete. The South African accent is hard to hide. Thankfully, he jumped on the front and dragged us all back to Truckee, even pulling Wendy and I up the steep slopes of Northwoods Blvd!



Post-ride, we rounded up a small group to head over to the Truckee River for some impromptu rafting... poor's man's rafting consists of heading down the river on some $5 lilo's... I christened the sport *River luge-ing* and I'm pretty sure that I won the race down the river :)

We headed over to Tahoe City mainstay, Sunnyside, for a view of Lake Tahoe over Saturday night's dinner! Here's me with Wendy and Megan.

Sisters...

A picture from my youngest sister, Jill's, wedding. Youngest to oldest, l-r.

I love Lucy

I often joke that my life is a *comedy of errors* that I somehow muddle through with the support of fantastic friends, family and a variable sense of optimism. I manage to clinch some small success every now and again such that I can shrug off most roadblocks within the hour, day or week. I confess that I did go through a 3 week funk last summer but that has been the extent of my *depths of pessimism*… well, that is aside from an entire year of listening to The Smiths’ song “Asleep” when I was 17, and crushing on a boy that never smiled.

This past weekend challenged my sense of optimism in multiple ways… from the minor to the dramatic to the sentimental…

Saturday morning – Show up at Hertz location at 6am to pick up rental car… they don’t have one so I have to wait one hour
Sunday afternoon – Ride my bike for an easy four hours but am unable to walk by the time I get off because my shins are so sore… new injury? Ugh!
Monday morning – Walk over to street location where I parked the rental car, only to find the passenger window was completely smashed in. Four hours of “please hold” and filing administrative reports at Hertz, police station and with Visa
Monday evening – I remove my Tiffany heart necklace (given to me by my sister on her wedding day 15 years ago) and by sleight of hand drop it down my bathroom sink
Tuesday morning – wake up with a sore throat and really bad headache… first signs of a head cold!

Thankfully, today I was back in the office (how much trouble can I cause there) and despite the head cold deteriorating, the day was uneventful. This evening I was blackberrying a colleague/friend about work stuff, our upcoming trip to Hawaii and my weekend of woes…

Read on for the aforementioned email exchange… apologies that it’s long!

Tim: Feeling any better or are you legitimately sick?

Jordan: I’m sniffling, blowing my nose and swallowing hard? How about you? Btw, have you talked much w/[XYZ] since she got the feedback on the equity trading role?

Tim: I spent about 10 mins w/ her on Fri after she heard that she probably won't get it (which in Sobel-speak means absolute 0% chance). She seemed bummed, of course, and concerned that she doesn't have a path to anything else. My advice to her was 1) get/stay committed and 2) to talk w/ you.

Jordan: Running out the door but I want to run some things by you about her sitch, if you're willing to be a sounding board? We did have a long chat today.

Tim: Sure, of course. I don't have any voice at all, though (literally). I can mostly listen or you can jot thoughts down in email. Or we can talk when my voice is better (a day or two, I hope?).

Jordan: Sure. Let's catch up in Hawaii. I just spent a couple of hours packing and now I am completely exhausted! This cold better be short-lived!

Tim: You fly Thurs? If you have the optimism to pack, planning to race, you are better off than me. And we know what happened the last time you raced sick. :-)
If you aren't getting a car, you are in luck. I'm picking up my San Diego friend, Tim (Flood), who gets in at 11:08. Happy to get you at the same time. We have a minivan.

Jordan: Thanks for the offer but I’m getting a car. Also, I'm just jotting some thoughts down on XYZ... Not sure if I should email or just use as talking points when we catch up...

Tim: We can talk. Probably easier. I just spoke w/ Mark. We may come over from the airport for a bit on Thurs. That might be a good time. Or if you are going to Sandy's Sat night dinner at the Hilton.

Jordan: Not going to Sandy's dinner...Mark and Jay want a chill dinner at home. Fine with me. I'm going to run errands when I land, get my bike tuned, go to Safeway and buy myself an M-dot necklace (lost my precious Tiffany necklace down the sink this weekend!)

Tim: Down the sink? Another soap opera moment. What with the car trials, now this and the injury/illness?!? What are you, the English Lucy Ricardo?! We may overlap on Thurs. Or, maybe after the Fri am swim. Or sometime around registration or bike check. You'll be up our way a couple times. Hang w/ us for lunch, or we may have an early dinner on Fri.

Jordan: Yeah, shitty friggin' weekend! I've had that necklace 15 years...classic tiffany heart. Who is lucy ricardo? What about sunday? Post-race?

Tim: That is a bummer. Did you try removing the p-trap? It likely would've been caught there. Might still be there, seriously. Sure, post-race, or awards ceremony (assuming you go). Lots of time. Lucy Ricardo... Of "I Love Lucy" fame from the '50s. Always had stuff like that happen.

Jordan: What's the p-trap?

Tim: Does your drain pipe go straight down from the sink? If so, pull the drain plug up and shoot a light in there. You might be able to see inside the bottom of the p-trap.

Jordan: It goes straight down and then is u-shaped and turns backwards towards the wall.

Tim: The "u" is the p-trap. See how it would use gravity to trap water? See if you can look directly down it w/ a flashlight.

Jordan: There's water down there, hard to say if there's anything else...how would I dismantle it?

Tim: Depends on the plumbing used. Really old stuff is tricky. '60s and later is better. New stuff is cake. Is it white plastic (pvc) black plastic (abs) or metal?

Jordan: hmmm, doesn't exactly screw off at the intersections of the pipe joints either...prob a good thing by hand!

Tim: It doesn't have to handle any pressure, just water. No need for them to be super tight. Thus the cheap pvc is ok to use. Metal fits looser and is harder to do. It likely uses rubber o-rings in the joints to prevent leaks. You need a plumber or a handyman. I'd do it for you if close by. The good news: it ain't goin' anywhere if it's still there.
Try this. Unwind a coat hanger. Bend a hook in one end. Fish it down there and see if you can hook it. This may work.

Jordan: Better yet, I'll try and call Manuel (the handyman) to see if he can stop by tomorrow.

Tim: The coat hangar could well work, or let you know if it is for sure there, and take you 2 mins....

Jordan: Genius...

Tim: Did it work?!

Jordan: Yep... Coat-hanger clutched the charm necklace and a few stray hairs (gunk) from the jaws of the p-tube!!! So I have to buy you a mai-tai or three this weekend!!!

Tim: P-TRAP. :-)

I'm very glad. All this construction knowledge in my head is rarely useful at work. Made the sore thumbs worth it!

Jordan: Makes me reconsider the benefits of a guy around...

Tim: LOL. Some things are better outsourced... Bedtime. May we both wake healthy tomorrow.

American Irony

Is there any irony in the fact that on the same day (today) that I submitted my Labor Certification/Green Card application for permanent US residency, I received a letter and award from USA Triathlon to let me know that I achieved *All-American* status in 2006?

having it all... or not

the following came about in an email exchange that i'd been having with a dear friend... i sent him a snap email voicing some frustrations i'm having in my current *world* and then we went back and forth until i finally wrote the following

i've been struggling in the last few weeks because i spent 5 months in london, desperately wanting to be back in san francisco... and now that i'm back i'm not particularly happy. it's driving me a little batty... i suspect that the unhappiness is being generated by my usual *tricks* of trying to run before i can walk... basically, impatience.

don't get me wrong, i am deliriously happy that i am here in sf. there is nowhere else i want to be living right now, i am excited to be back among my friends, and for the most part i am enjoying the new job... but there are several underlying things that seem to be frustrating me.

work - i am not yet in control or on top of things in my role. this issue will just take time and requires me to build my confidence in the role, seize control of projects etc. my current annoyance is that i become bitter/frustrated when i can't get out of the office when i plan to because something comes up. i have a huge capacity for work but i have a hard time working from 5am and then not getting out of the office until 4-5pm, even if i had planned on leaving at 3pm. i guess i need to just leave and then pick things up again later in the evening... as well as try to eradicate the guilt i feel when i leave the office at 3pm!

training - i am desperate to get back in shape, especially on the bike, but also swim/run. i'm getting in some decent training, 8-10 hours of riding/week plus 3 hours each of swim/run. however, it's going really slowly... and i'm sick of folks not realizing that it will take me some time. maybe it's in my head (it's not, i'm a data geek, remember), but i am not getting stronger in leaps and bounds... it is miniscule increments. it feels like everyone expects me to be back riding with the group again, and are shocked when i roll off the back fairly easily on hills. how long does it take to come back from a 6 month break from riding? i guess it's a lot longer than 1 month... will i even be in shape for IMK?

romantic - let's not even go here... this has been a non-event anyway since i got back from london since the above two have taken precedence and i have not met anyone or even attempted to... however, i want to give it more of a priority in 2007, i'm just not sure how i can do so. i've never had a successful relationship when i've tried to *force it*, as it were. i prefer the attitude of just letting things happen, though that is counter to my natural disposition... so in that scenario, if i do meet someone, i don't appear interested initially, but i end up behaving like a knucklehead (technical term!) if i begin to like someone. this is not making any sense, huh? the other frustration is that, if i'm going to do the work/training to a level that makes me happy, then how can i put any focus on this...?

friends - this is the *deliriously happy* part... but my frustrations at the above 3 things will start to bleed into my friendships and drag them down if i can't figure out a way of managing my life and lifestyle without feeling bitter about the compromises and lack of control...

Tucson, Arizona

I spent last weekend in Tucson, Arizona, trying to ride myself into some sort of shape... riding my bike has felt pretty awful since returning from London, but I'm trying to convince myself that it will just take a long weekend of BIG rides to get my butt a little more comfortable in the saddle. We shall see what happens when my legs absorb all the *work* I did last weekend.

The Oche...

Well, the US embassy has failed to return my passport so I continue to be a *prisoner* in my own country… thankfully it’s more of an administrative prisoner than anything else… but it is frustrating! I stopped working in the London office last Wednesday, thinking that my passport HAD to arrive no later than the weekend. Unfortunately, the US embassy seemed unsympathetic to my weekend plans of cycling the entire length of the California coast and so I remain stuck in England. As well as leaving the office last week, I left my apartment in London, so I’ve been *holed* up at the Metropolitan hotel all week, ordering eggs benedict from room service for breakfast, eating at Nobu for dinner and climbing the walls of my hotel room in between the two meals! After three days at the Met, I decided to relieve the pressure on the expense account and take the train home for the weekend to visit the family, including my little 5 week old niece, Grace.

Just to give you some insight as to how desperate I am to get back to California… as if the above description is not enough. I am spending my Sunday evening watching the World Darts Championship, televised live from a cabaret venue (basically a large pub) in the South of England. The two contenders for the World title are two British 50 year olds with beer guts that a pregnant woman would be proud of… To reach the hallowed oche (pronounced ocky – the mat where darts’ players stand – 9ft from the board) they have out-thrown a bunch of other Brits, plus the odd Dutchman. Two nations universally known more for their beer-guzzling than athleticism… Ill leave you to make the connection. Globally-speaking, the World Championship is to Darts, what the World Series is to Baseball, a local affair! That is not the end of the American sporting comparisons, as our darts world title contenders are dressed in shirts that any local bowling team in the US would be proud of… probably even more proud when they realize that the sponsor logos are almost exclusively beer companies!

My godparents are also visiting for dinner but I am playing the outcast role (that I have always played) in the family by eschewing my father’s menu of chili con carne on a baked potato, with rice (seriously – rice is considered a vegetable in this household), and made myself some baked chicken in tomato sauce and salad, swilled down by some NZ sauv blanc that my dad picked up from the local offie (colloquialism for off-licence sales). Thank goodness he picked up two bottles ;-)

Emailing equation

I came across an equation the other day that seeks to *quantify* the volume/frequency that friends will email you... I believe that you can use it for friends, family, boyfriend, manager, etc. but I have to thoroughly test it since there are limitations and/or enhancements that are probably necessary. Although it is specifically formulated for people you are particularly close with, and so if the person actually does not have much of a reason to email you (say the person is Brad Pitt, for instance), then you have to factor that in.

How Often X Person Will Email Me =[(Hours of Time Online + Amount Slept)/Job Fun] – [close friends within a 20 mile radius – number of significant others] = the number of emails you receive.

Let’s practice. I’ll use myself as an example so I don't make my friends feel so bad about not emailing me!

Hours of Time Online: 11 (10 at work and 1 at home)
Amount Slept: 6.5
Job Fun Factor on a scale of 1 to 3: 2.5
Number of Significant Others: 0
Number of Close friends within a 20 mile radius: 1, (Mary)

[(11+6.5)/2.5] – [0-1] = 8. I should be sending ~8 emails a day to my friends.

Try it, I'm sure you'll find flaws. But it is kind of genius. One enhancement I might consider embedding into the equation would be some sort Blackberry multiplier, for those friends that are Blackberry-enabled...