it's time to shift gears. this year is almost at the half way point & i've reached a breaking point with my working out (or lake thereof) & my weight. this year has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride thus far. like a roller coaster there were some really good times & some scary moments too. consider this past year:
january
- kristin & i begin raising our dog (payton)
- we sell the A4 & purchase a used 4runner
- began training for an IM
- kristin & i ran our first 1/2 marathon together
march
- i ran my first 1/2 IM & it was a real disappointment
- kristin & i fell in love with la jolla
april
- i went to my first pro basketball game- i got promoted to VP business development & started traveling- i withdrew from ironman training- we started house hunting
may
- we ran a 5K with my mom, brother, sister-in-law in austin
- we got rid of our cat (bevo)
june
- i goofed my trip to london
- after batting 0-3 with the house hunting we found like got a hit
- we may be moving to the burbs
with the 2nd half of this year just around the corner i hope to start off on the right foot. i'm finding myself getting more & more comfortable with my new position at the office. kristin & i appear to be done home shopping & if all goes as planned we'll move in the middle of august. kristin will be running her first marathon in san fran in october & i'm planning on running my first marathon the following month in san antonio.
tonight we toasted things with the oh so famous & oh so good plain cheesecake at pappadeauxs. it was my way of closing down the poor diet & lack of working out as well as toasting our new lifestyle from the burbs. a pull one of jeremy's tricks & put myself out there & declare no more of the laziness & back to a healthy lifestyle (full of "cat food" sandwiches & salad). today 187.5 & the goal is a solid 165 - 170.
i can, you can, we all can. just when you think you can't, remember that when there's a will there's a way. let this father's triumph remind us all of what we can accomplish if we put our minds & hearts to it.http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8cf08faca5dd9ea45513
a BIG shout out to all my friends competing this morning in ironman coeur d' alene. i've been in tune with the race since the canon went off this morning at 7:05 AM. you too can get live coverage & video at http://ironman.com/coverage/?race=coeurdalene&year=2008. you can even watch live race coverage! the sights & sounds really bring it too life.i talked with my buddy ed (he's racing this morning) yesterday & he said that CDA is awesome. he said the course was spectacular & beautiful. a good majority of the bike & run course line the lake & mountains. the weather is supposed to be great today & the water temp even warmed up a bit (high 50s still).please join me in wishing this great group of athletes from austin a great race - they've trained hard & deserve nothing but the best from today's race:- ed hughey- greg edwards- noah bartsch- jill berman- eryn wike- maggie caldwell- colleen wilsongood luck to all of you & enjoy this race day in beautiful CDA, idaho!
could you imagine if something like this happened here in the states? talk about a country taking control. is it wrong? think about soaring health costs here in the states due to obesity & i think you'll understand why such an approach would be considered. if people can't control themselves, maybe the government should step in...beginning to rid the U.S. of trans fats was a good start!
I really enjoy tracking Starbucks. While I have my rants about some of the things Starbucks does & by no means am I a fan of the chain-store I still can’t help but walk through their doors at least 3 times a week for a cup of their coffee. For all their wrongs, they still do so many things right & with Shultz back in the driver’s seat I believe they are on the right track to right some of their existing wrongs.
Today Starbucks announced their plan to make Wi-Fi “free”. The approach will require each Starbuck’s customer to purchase a Starbucks card with a minimum balance of $5. The customer must then register their card online & use their new card for purchases at Starbucks at least once a month (which will require customers to reload their cards with more money). In exchange, Starbucks will provide two consecutive hours of “free” Wi-Fi access offered by AT&T.
Starbuck’s will surely gain repeat business from customers who will use their cards at least once a month to continue getting their “free” Wi-Fi. However, the BIG value-add for Starbuck’s is the information they’ll have as a result of having so many new Starbuck’s customers registering those gift cards. Starbucks will now be able to track customer purchases with precision. They’ll know your buying habits, what you like & don’t like, what times & days you most often frequent Starbucks, when you prefer one drink over the other, etc. This type of data is invaluable to Starbucks & this data will provide Starbucks the keys to market specifically to each customer to ensure repeat business.
So how “free” is Starbuck’s Wi-Fi?
- It’s going to cost you $5 bucks up front.
- The cheapest thing you can buy at Starbucks is a tall coffee so with tax you are looking at $1.73 a month recurring depending on which Starbucks you frequent & what your sales tax is.
- You’ve got to give register your card – provide your personal data so Starbucks can then track your purchases & then bombard you with marketing.
The worst part… I’ll sign up tomorrow :)
it's time to shift gears. this year is almost at the half way point & i've reached a breaking point with my working out (or lake thereof) & my weight. this year has been somewhat of a roller coaster ride thus far. like a roller coaster there were some really good times & some scary moments too. consider this past year:
