Archive for January, 2010

Riding in 2010

Posted by Denny in cycling, racing on January 25, 2010

This is the deepest I’ve gone into an off-season without a specific set of competitive goals for the coming year. But of course, this is not going to be a typical cycling season. I’m gonna become a dad sometime around May 8, so I don’t have any illusions of reaching new heights of fitness.

Instead, this year is going to be about riding when time permits and enjoying every mile, regardless of speed or wattage. I’m sure I’ll do some races – the Tour of America’s Dairyland in particular – but most of my riding will take place without a number pinned to my jersey. The two things I’m most interested in are non-traditional races like Barry Roubaix and long-distance events like the Dairyland Dare. If there’s a chance, I’d also like to try an S24O ride. Beyond that, I’m looking forward to some early Saturday morning centuries and maybe a WEMS race or two.

Once the daylight lasts a bit longer, I’ll start riding to work. Now that I’m working downtown, my round trip is just 12 miles, which is good, because there aren’t shower facilities at my office.

Well, that’s about it. I’m as excited as ever for spring, just for a much different reason than in past years.

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“How’s the new job?”

Posted by Denny in Uncategorized on January 7, 2010

My view

I owe a lot of people an answer to that question.

Monday was my first day as an Account Supervisor at Nelson Schmidt, a full-service marketing & advertising agency in downtown Milwaukee. It’s been a busy and fast-paced week, and overall, it’s been very good. Highlights have included friendly coworkers, interesting clients, delicious lunches, a short commute, and a hip workplace. The biggest challenge has been learning the day-to-day procedural stuff.

This whole experience, from losing my job at Hayes, through a 10-week period of unemployment, and into this new phase of my career – has been a real blessing. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, though. It began almost immediately after I prayed that God would strengthen my faith, even if that meant going through a trial.

Thanks to everyone who supported me, wrote LinkedIn recommendations for me, and most of all – prayed for me. I really do have some wonderful friends and colleagues.

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Google Voice Fail

Posted by Denny in humor on January 2, 2010

A while ago, Google acquired a company called Grand Central and renamed its service Google Voice. In a nutshell, it provides you a phone number and a voicemail box to use as an alternative to your home number. Like other Google services, it’s completely free and pretty useful. One of the more unique features its ability to transcribe incoming voice messages and send them to you via email. The voice recognition software is hit-or-miss, but usually you can get the point. Sometimes it makes funny errors. Sometimes it makes slightly disturbing ones, as demonstrated below:

Death calling