Those of you with memory spans longer than that of goldfishes will recall that I promised to discuss my Goals for 2012. These can be found in a box over to the right side of the screen, along with another marking my progress. But what do they all mean? I’m glad you asked.
1. Shave my head for St. Baldrick’s Day:
My pal DeJo did this last year to raise money for the St. Baldrick’s foundation, (www.stbaldricks.org) a group committed to funding research to find cures for childhood cancers. I found out about it a bit too late to take part, but in a moment of madness, I agreed to keep him company this time out. So, on March 11, my flowing locks will be shorn and I’ll be doing the Kojak thing.
There was a time when baldness was a mark of shame, of ridicule. Now guys shave their heads in order to look badass. Last time I had a crew cut was about age 10 and whatever adjectives came to mind back then, badass wasn’t one of them. It will be interesting to see what’s lurking under there and just how ridiculously dorky I look.
The whole point of the thing is of course, to raise funds for cancer research so you can anticipate thinly veiled attempts at begging for sponsorship as we get nearer the time, with links allowing you to make your donations. Come on, who doesn’t want to see me with a baldy heid? Watch this space.
2. Complete the MS150:
The what? Another charity event, this one’s a 2-day, 150 mile bike ride to benefit the 88,000 people in Colorado and Wyoming affected by Multiple Sclerosis. I’m confident I can ride 75 miles without too much trouble but hauling my sorry carcass out of bed to do it all again the next day…bit more of a challenge.
Again, more details will follow nearer the time and again, you can blame DeJo for this one.
3. Cycle 100 days.
This one falls under the catch all of “Ride my Bike more” and basically means that I’m committing to going for a bike ride 2-3 times a week. Silver touring bike, gray mountain bike, red mountain / dirt road bike, whichever. I’m also including time spent on the indoor bike trainer, so no excuses about the weather. OK? 100 times.
I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted already and I'm not even half way through. Time for another coffee, then we’ll tackle the rest.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Sunday, January 08, 2012
New Year's "Not" Resolutions. Again.
Yeah, yeah, blah, blah, you’ve heard it all before.
“Here are my new year’s resolutions and this time I’m really going to stick to them; I mean it!”
Even, I’m sad to say, on these very pages. I’m very good you see, about setting targets for myself. I get all gung-ho and excited about them. I make spreadsheets to track my progress, and bookmark web sites which will help motivate me, and get books out of the library and all the rest. Setting targets? All over it.
Achieving targets? Eh, not so much.
So why will this year be different? Well, maybe it won’t but I’m banking on the fact that when it comes to the targets I’ve set this year, I really, really, really want to achieve them. That has to help, right?
Plus, 2012 is something of a milestone year for me in that it will mark my 50th circuit around the sun. (Whoever thought I would last this long, eh?) So there's a little extra motivation to get stuff done. Espcially stuff which will help the pretence that there's still some life left in me.
Not only that; instead of calling them resolutions, I’m going to call them goals. See the difference? But there’s more. I have a fiendishly clever master plan.
Look over to the right. No, not that far, just to the right of the screen. See those 2 boxes?
“Stuff to Do in 2012” and…here’s the kicker, “Progress on Stuff to Do.”
So there you go. Out there for the entire WorldWideIntrawebz to see. Or at least my readership, which to my knowledge, currently numbers around 3. 4 if you count me.
But still, there’s accountability right there. If I fail to make adequate progress, you’ll all be free to curl your collective lips and sneer derisively. Which maybe you do upon reading my blog anyway, but at least I’ll have the repetitive nudge of seeing the goals and my progress, or lack thereof, every time I log on to update The Gunsmoke Files.
Of course, if I won’t see them if I don’t log on to update The Gunsmoke Files, but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
So, join me next time out, and we’ll take a look at them.
“Here are my new year’s resolutions and this time I’m really going to stick to them; I mean it!”
Even, I’m sad to say, on these very pages. I’m very good you see, about setting targets for myself. I get all gung-ho and excited about them. I make spreadsheets to track my progress, and bookmark web sites which will help motivate me, and get books out of the library and all the rest. Setting targets? All over it.
Achieving targets? Eh, not so much.
So why will this year be different? Well, maybe it won’t but I’m banking on the fact that when it comes to the targets I’ve set this year, I really, really, really want to achieve them. That has to help, right?
Plus, 2012 is something of a milestone year for me in that it will mark my 50th circuit around the sun. (Whoever thought I would last this long, eh?) So there's a little extra motivation to get stuff done. Espcially stuff which will help the pretence that there's still some life left in me.
Not only that; instead of calling them resolutions, I’m going to call them goals. See the difference? But there’s more. I have a fiendishly clever master plan.
Look over to the right. No, not that far, just to the right of the screen. See those 2 boxes?
“Stuff to Do in 2012” and…here’s the kicker, “Progress on Stuff to Do.”
So there you go. Out there for the entire WorldWideIntrawebz to see. Or at least my readership, which to my knowledge, currently numbers around 3. 4 if you count me.
But still, there’s accountability right there. If I fail to make adequate progress, you’ll all be free to curl your collective lips and sneer derisively. Which maybe you do upon reading my blog anyway, but at least I’ll have the repetitive nudge of seeing the goals and my progress, or lack thereof, every time I log on to update The Gunsmoke Files.
Of course, if I won’t see them if I don’t log on to update The Gunsmoke Files, but let’s cross that bridge when we come to it.
So, join me next time out, and we’ll take a look at them.
Wednesday, January 04, 2012
So where the hell have you been?
I’ve been right here. Here in our odd little house, tucked away in the foothills of the Rockies. Mostly.
So why haven’t I been writing?
Well, I’ve been traveling on business a fair bit too, and have spent way more time in airport lounges and on planes than I would have chosen to. Nowhere glamorous unfortunately. Since the Asian trip I wrote about back in January 2010?, I’ve been nowhere more exciting than Texas. But I’ve been there more times than I care to count. Oh, and Ohio once. For about 5 hours.
Why Texas? Well, it’s where my company’s Corporate Office is located and as I took a promotion early last year, my presence has been required there on a regular basis. What can I say, they need me. In addition to the travel, promotions tend to lead to a lot more work and less free time, which has made it harder to drum up the enthusiasm for writing. That could of course, be a problem this year too but I’ll play it by ear and do the best I can. Sweet readers, I love you dearly but the pay check will always come first.
There have been health issues too. Not for me, although I’ll admit, that miserable old git, Father Time has been breathing a little heavier over my shoulder recently. Dear Wife though, was taken very seriously ill towards the end of 2009 and that sucked up a good amount of emotional energy. Good news is, she’s recovering well, is looking a lot healthier and is exercising more than she has done in years. Back on the negative side, my Dad succumbed to cancer at the end of 2010 but fortunately I was able to spend a little time with him in the summer. Ma is now in an assisted living place and enjoying life, despite getting dottier by the day. But hey, who isn’t?
We have two new dogs since we last spoke. After The World’s Most Irritating Dog ™ died in January of 2010 we went for six months without a pooch in the house and it were ‘orrible. Later that summer we became an Australian Shepherd household again, adopting
Jasmine from a rescue in Colorado and
Marley from a breeder in Missouri. They now vie for our attention 24 hours a day and the house is covered in dog hair once more. Incidentally, Jasmine is world famous round here, being the poster child on the back of the van used by the local Humane Society. See us? See celebrities?
To combat the hours spent shackled to my desk, I’ve been trying to spend as much time as I can out of doors. To that end, I invested in a new touring bike and some lightweight camping gear (how did my camping stuff get so heavy just sitting in the shed for years?) and have been doing my best to rack up the miles. Colorado isn’t an ideal place to get into shape, given that there are no ‘easy’ hills. Everything is up, and up, and up and when you’re starting at a mile and half above sea level, there isn’t a whole lot of oxygen to begin with. Nonetheless, on my last trip at the beginning of June, I was able to ride up hills that my car would struggle to drive so that’s encouraging.
I’ve also started going to the Colorado Rapids football games (real football, not American football). Major League Soccer is on a par with, I would say, the English First Division, so the quality isn’t exactly top rate. And the Rapids tend to be frustratingly inconsistent but when they’re on form, can put together some quite impressive football. Last year they surprised everyone, including I think, themselves, when they came into form towards the end of the season and went all the way through the playoffs to win the championship for the first time in their history. They didn’t come close to repeating that this year, although in their defense, they’ve had a lot of problems with injuries to key players.
We also took another step towards old age by buying ourselves a caravan (camping trailer) this year. I’ve been hankering after one for a while following a series camping trips where the weather has been almost comically bad. When the two of us go together, we take books and iPods and all the paraphernalia but with the big Five-Oh lurking around the corner, lying on the ground for days at a time has lost some of its appeal. The idea of sitting at a table to read and being able to stand up to get dressed is sounding more attractive with each passing year. Like me, the caravan is old and temperamental and it’s so small that truly, it’s little more than a hard sided tent. However, we’ve had a couple of trips in it already and love the thing.
So that’s about it. That’s where I’ve been for the last 24 months. The Cliff’s Notes version at least. But look at this…a whole new year on the calendar with a world of opportunities and adventures to be had.
Want to come along?
So why haven’t I been writing?
Well, I’ve been traveling on business a fair bit too, and have spent way more time in airport lounges and on planes than I would have chosen to. Nowhere glamorous unfortunately. Since the Asian trip I wrote about back in January 2010?, I’ve been nowhere more exciting than Texas. But I’ve been there more times than I care to count. Oh, and Ohio once. For about 5 hours.
Why Texas? Well, it’s where my company’s Corporate Office is located and as I took a promotion early last year, my presence has been required there on a regular basis. What can I say, they need me. In addition to the travel, promotions tend to lead to a lot more work and less free time, which has made it harder to drum up the enthusiasm for writing. That could of course, be a problem this year too but I’ll play it by ear and do the best I can. Sweet readers, I love you dearly but the pay check will always come first.
There have been health issues too. Not for me, although I’ll admit, that miserable old git, Father Time has been breathing a little heavier over my shoulder recently. Dear Wife though, was taken very seriously ill towards the end of 2009 and that sucked up a good amount of emotional energy. Good news is, she’s recovering well, is looking a lot healthier and is exercising more than she has done in years. Back on the negative side, my Dad succumbed to cancer at the end of 2010 but fortunately I was able to spend a little time with him in the summer. Ma is now in an assisted living place and enjoying life, despite getting dottier by the day. But hey, who isn’t?
We have two new dogs since we last spoke. After The World’s Most Irritating Dog ™ died in January of 2010 we went for six months without a pooch in the house and it were ‘orrible. Later that summer we became an Australian Shepherd household again, adopting
Jasmine from a rescue in Colorado and
Marley from a breeder in Missouri. They now vie for our attention 24 hours a day and the house is covered in dog hair once more. Incidentally, Jasmine is world famous round here, being the poster child on the back of the van used by the local Humane Society. See us? See celebrities?
To combat the hours spent shackled to my desk, I’ve been trying to spend as much time as I can out of doors. To that end, I invested in a new touring bike and some lightweight camping gear (how did my camping stuff get so heavy just sitting in the shed for years?) and have been doing my best to rack up the miles. Colorado isn’t an ideal place to get into shape, given that there are no ‘easy’ hills. Everything is up, and up, and up and when you’re starting at a mile and half above sea level, there isn’t a whole lot of oxygen to begin with. Nonetheless, on my last trip at the beginning of June, I was able to ride up hills that my car would struggle to drive so that’s encouraging.
I’ve also started going to the Colorado Rapids football games (real football, not American football). Major League Soccer is on a par with, I would say, the English First Division, so the quality isn’t exactly top rate. And the Rapids tend to be frustratingly inconsistent but when they’re on form, can put together some quite impressive football. Last year they surprised everyone, including I think, themselves, when they came into form towards the end of the season and went all the way through the playoffs to win the championship for the first time in their history. They didn’t come close to repeating that this year, although in their defense, they’ve had a lot of problems with injuries to key players.
We also took another step towards old age by buying ourselves a caravan (camping trailer) this year. I’ve been hankering after one for a while following a series camping trips where the weather has been almost comically bad. When the two of us go together, we take books and iPods and all the paraphernalia but with the big Five-Oh lurking around the corner, lying on the ground for days at a time has lost some of its appeal. The idea of sitting at a table to read and being able to stand up to get dressed is sounding more attractive with each passing year. Like me, the caravan is old and temperamental and it’s so small that truly, it’s little more than a hard sided tent. However, we’ve had a couple of trips in it already and love the thing.
So that’s about it. That’s where I’ve been for the last 24 months. The Cliff’s Notes version at least. But look at this…a whole new year on the calendar with a world of opportunities and adventures to be had.
Want to come along?
Sunday, January 01, 2012
You call yourself a Blogger?
Seriously? 11 updates in the last 2 years? And you call yourself a Blogger?
No, I don’t. Not really.
I can’t say I’ve called myself a Blogger for quite some time now. Work, health, life and yes, death have all thrown up obstacles to my maintaining The Gunsmoke Files over the last couple of years. That and a general lack of enthusiasm on my part. Mostly the last one.
But in my defense, does anybody even read Blogs these days, much less write them? What with Facebook and Twitter and a kazillion other ways to stay connected 24x7, who takes the time to sit and write anything more than 140 characters on any kind of regular basis? And who wants to read what they have to say? Will I even have a readership, if I start this back up again?
Well, based upon the number of people I’ve spoken to in the last few weeks who’ve asked why I no longer update The Gunsmoke Files, there does appear to be a sizeable audience still out there. OK, maybe not sizeable. Three. Three people have asked me in recent weeks why I no longer update the Gunsmoke Files.
Dammit, my audience needs me!
And so, for you three, and you know who you are, I shall dust off The Gunsmoke Files, and step once more into the role of Your Faithful Correspondent. With regular updates. I promise.
Enjoy.
No, I don’t. Not really.
I can’t say I’ve called myself a Blogger for quite some time now. Work, health, life and yes, death have all thrown up obstacles to my maintaining The Gunsmoke Files over the last couple of years. That and a general lack of enthusiasm on my part. Mostly the last one.
But in my defense, does anybody even read Blogs these days, much less write them? What with Facebook and Twitter and a kazillion other ways to stay connected 24x7, who takes the time to sit and write anything more than 140 characters on any kind of regular basis? And who wants to read what they have to say? Will I even have a readership, if I start this back up again?
Well, based upon the number of people I’ve spoken to in the last few weeks who’ve asked why I no longer update The Gunsmoke Files, there does appear to be a sizeable audience still out there. OK, maybe not sizeable. Three. Three people have asked me in recent weeks why I no longer update the Gunsmoke Files.
Dammit, my audience needs me!
And so, for you three, and you know who you are, I shall dust off The Gunsmoke Files, and step once more into the role of Your Faithful Correspondent. With regular updates. I promise.
Enjoy.
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