Blog o’ the Jimmy

Last night upon our return from our fabulous 5 year anniversary getaway we stopped and picked up my wife’s new Giant Rincon W from Skyline Cycle. An excellent starter into the world of MTB.

Once again I experienced an emotional moment; the Love of my life wanting to undertake one of my top ten passions AND proclaiming that she’ll be kicking my ass on the trail by the end of the year.

I couldn’t be happier!!!

As soon as we brought it home she was out cruising around the neighborhood learning the bike.

Today, although butt ass cold (yes, an ass can become incredibly cold) she eagerly donned warm clothes to brave 10-20 mile an hour winds to get some riding time while I worked with our daughter learning how to bike as well. A smile upon her face the whole time.

I also happened upon my neighbor and his old roommate out getting a little time on their new Kona and Yeti DHers. You can tell an addict when they are willing to ride around in full ski gear just to get a few moments of MTB goodness.

Come on spring, we need you baby!!!

The emotion you feel is always about the vibrational variance between where you want to be and where you are. If you’re out of balance, there are only two ways to bring yourself into alignment: Either raise your expectation to match your desire—or lower your desire to match your expectation.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in San Francisco, CA on Saturday, July 24th, 2004 #398

Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

It almost brought tears to my eyes. While out looking for a bike for my son, my wife took the time for a couple test rides. Fortunately, our first stop was Skyline Cycle. I wish I could remember the name of the gentleman that helped us. For 45 min he patiently went through every style of bike they had available, from cruisers to full suspension in that order. Upon returning from a full suspension bike test ride, light seemed to magically shine from her eyes! Right then and there, I knew she was hooked.

Oh happy day!

Since Qt does not have any built in serial communication classes (correct me if I’m wrong please) I’ve fortunately discovered qextserialport found at http://code.google.com/p/qextserialport/ .

It took me a few questions to get it to compile right, but all my questions were answered quickly and very politely . Being a C++ and Qt newbie, I try to research everything to the best of my ability so I can ask educated ( at least I hope they sound like they are ) questions and avoid relying on someone else to hold my hand through something.

My first experience working in the computer industry was doing technical support for a now defunct home shopping network computer manufacturer. My training consisted of a week of being stuffed in a corner watching SNL reruns while my trainer prepared to leave for a new job. The first month working there I had a headache every single day. Most of the questions I submitted to my technical leads were met with rolled eyes and the same question time and time again; ‘didn’t you pay attention AT ALL during your training?’. Fortunately one lead, who bummed cigarettes off me, took the time to work with me and eventually got me up to speed, but the treatment I received from others left a sore spot for quite awhile. A few years later I became a technical lead while working for another company and fortunately caught myself in one of those moments doing the same thing to my techs. Granted, there are some people who will try to avoid taking responsibility at any time, but I was fortunate to have few of those.

Blah blah blah. I am thankful for helpful people, and for people that help themselves.

Just thought this quote rocked.

You’re picky about the car you drive. You’re picky about what you wear. You’re picky about what you put in your mouth. We want you to be pickier about what you think.

— Abraham

Excerpted from the workshop in Napa, CA on Thursday, February 27th, 1997 #372
Our Love,
Jerry and Esther

Finally got to try out my new Gi today, and I really enjoyed it! I had mentioned in a previous post that my Koral MKM seemed to feel like cardboard for the first 30 min of class. Well, the Padilla felt the same way BECAUSE I don’t run them through the dryer.

To compare the Koral MKM to the  Padilla Competition Light:

1. Both Gi tops are great! The Koral is a bit heavier than the Padilla, but really isn’t that noticeable.
2. The collar on the Koral is a lot stiffer than on the Padilla, so it feels like it presses into my neck a bit which did make the Padilla feel a bit more comfortable.
3. Arm length on both the Koral and Padilla is perfect for me.
4. The Koral A3 is an A4 in the Padilla.
5. The pant material for both the Koral and the Padilla is the same.  The length on both is perfect for me.  The BIG difference is in how they wear.  With my Koral, occasionally it feels like my pants are giving a little plumber crack.  The Padilla pants never gave me this feeling ever.  I attribute this to the rope used as a draw string.  It has a bit of an elastic quality to it that I think helps keep the right amount of snug.   The Koral belt loops are a bit wider spaced that on the Padilla.  This keeps the draw string from riding up on your sides on the Koral.  The Padilla draw rope rides up on your sides slightly.  Not very noticeable though.

All in all, I am very happy with both of my Kimonos.  With the Padilla being almost $100 cheaper than the Koral, I’ll be a bit hard pressed to go that high again when I can get almost the same Gi for less.  I am still a fan of Koral though.

Only thing I’d like to see on the Padilla are a few patches.  I totally dig patches!

This week I took the opportunity to participate in the Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op and it was totally worth it. We added our $15 to the pot at the beginning of the week + the first timers fee + a little extra for 2lb of granola, all total coming to around $28. Today I went to the pickup site which was only a 5 min drive for me and received enough fruits and vegetables to last us easily 2 weeks. Everything was picked the day before and trucked in, all of it very very fresh. Next week is the organic option, which is about $10 more.

I’m hooked. I highly recommend!!

This is absolutely incredible!!!!!!!!

I received my copy of Ginastica Natural for Fighters today from BJJMart.com . I like to live life from my gut feelings, and once again it was the right thing to do. So far I’m seeing a bridging of the Hatha Yoga and BJJ worlds, something I’ve been desperately craving. I taught Hatha Yoga for a little over 2 years and from that experience I can see how much it influenced the creator of Ginastica Natural.

I can’t believe how excited I am about this.