Monday, September 29, 2008

Changing BLOG concept...

Hey gang,

Long time no post. Lots has changed since the last update (a year ago) though instead of posting personal stuff, will most likely be posting items about the latest hobby: Photograghy and Photoshop.

More like "How-To's" to come in the future. Will be back soon with a few tidbits on what I'm learning and will pass those on to all.

h.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Marathon Madness...

So yes, I started running in my very first running clinic ever!! North Shore Athletics is a local running/fitness shop that has started a running clinic a full 6 weeks before some of the other running shops around town. It's been pretty good; there are essentially 3 days of running a week - light runs on a weekend to build up a good pace and to stick with a pace group, Tuesdays are hill climbing (which is my weakness...I run out of steam quick on the hills - the training will help me get stronger here), and Thursdays is tempo running (ie. take the pace up, take the pace down, etc...). The feedback from others that have tried other clinics and the one for NSA is that the clinic with NSA is built on running time; not just distance. They work on the enjoyment on running and not just pure pain for distance...this helps keep people encouraged to keep working on improving.

Andy and I also started a new program call P90X. Andy saw this on a TV program while we were on our California road trip. This program is the real deal; and it's hard. Totally focuses on body weight and 'muscle confusion' to build results vs. just lifting stupid amounts of weight (which could work also but I haven't felt muscle fatigued like this before...and the stiff muscles are slowly starting to show results of the workouts).

Work has been great - been working on the development and part-time consulting. My personal life has also been doing well; feeling centered and more confident. I got got another self-coaching program that I'll be working on soon; the last time I did one, it really got me juiced about life. Andy calls that state of mind for him as 'finding his mojo'. I'm feeling really good now and I figure that the worst that could happen with going through this second self-coaching program is that my mojo just gets stronger!!

Today was great!! The best part of being my own boss is that I can define when to work and when to play. So what did I do? I went skiing up at Whistler. It was AWESOME!!! I bought a new pair of skis last season that I hadn't used until today. They were great!! Now I'm a causal skier, no expert by any means and last season, with an older pair of skis that I had, I kept crossing my skis and would get frustrated by the end of the day. This season, with these new parabolics, it was an awesome day!! Lots of control, quick turns, controlled my speed...everything was great!!
I think my training on learning to ride a motorcycle helped me too. "How?", do you ask? Well, when riding a motorbike, it isn't like driving a car. In a car, when you look anywhere out the windows (front, look in the rear view, look out the driver/passenger windows, etc..), in which direction does the car travel? If you are driving straight ahead, is the car not still essentially driving straight ahead? Typically it is (unless the driver is not paying attention or is driving carelessly that is). With a motorbike, what the folks at Pacific Riding School trained riders with is that if you look in one particular direction, the bike will tend to track towards the direction that you are looking - there is no opportunity to 'sight-see' while riding (it's way too dangerous for that). My thought is that the real streetbike riding is also not done in the straight-aways (as any idiot can drive fast); the real riding is done in the corners. I was taught to look far into the turn in order for the bike to track and take me through the turn (which really works for me) and is essentially the technique that I used for skiing today. Where I looked is where I went....and it was awesome!!




Christmas is slowly approaching and there a few presents that I need to purchase...not a lot but a few. Looking forward to the dinners and spending time with my friends and family.

h.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Goodbyes are traditional...

...that's a quote from 'Notting Hill'. It's where Hugh Grant learns something about Julia Roberts that surprises him and the best thing to do was to move on.

I enjoyed the movie; it's kind of a sweet story of attraction, interest, and conflict with the underlying theme that with working through adversity and turmoil can come something great! Overtime, people will come into your life, some will go out of your life, and if you're lucky, a select few may cross paths with you once again.

Andrew and I have been getting back into the fitness regime again. I signed up for a running clinic on the North Shore that is scheduled for runs 3 days a week for 30 weeks. Can you say 'marathon'? I don't know if I actually want to run in an organized marathon event though being in the clinic, I'm hoping to improve my cardio/base, learn how to run better, learn to breath better, and hopefully strengthen myself to run faster. Better, stronger, faster - just like the 6 million dollar man theme...
The clinic doesn't start up for another 2 weeks yet but have been running to build up my cardio. Most days I'm running along the sea-wall though this morning, Andy, Peter, and I ran the Capilano Dam trail. It's a good run as it starts off downhill and then turns into this monster run back up this grade that seems never ending. Been getting my butt kicked but I'm staying focused on making it up the hill running vs. walking.

I had my landlords over for dinner this week. Really nice people; I enjoy their company. Made my staple Roast with French Onion Soup mix as a seasoning for the roast. Dinner went over really well; I just want to learn new dishes now before I get bored of what I normally cook!!

The condo sales have been phenomenal!! The initial plan was to sell about 20% of the units and hold the remaining 80% for sales in mid/late 2008. To our surprise, on our sales weekend and to date, we sold close to 60% of the units; not the original 20% that we were aiming for. Word is spreading fast on the build quality, what our philosophy is on the build, who our partners are, and how we're managing the overall development.
We, the partners and I, feel good about what we are building and the sales response validated a number of points for us: We are building the right product, in the right location, and at the right price.

Last night I played wing man with Michael for Michael's friend Mike. Did you get that? So yeah, Mike has a girlfriend, he invited Michael and myself over to play wing with two other ladies.
Nice setup at Mike's pad; he did some reno work and it looks good. We all sat around, drank wine, listened to music, laughed, chatted, had some dinner; it was good times. Ladies were super attractive too so that didn't hurt!!

The R1 is broken in, it really is A LOT of bike, and will be taking it in for it's first service. It's a very nimble bike and I can tell it's made for the track as even on roads with a very slight crown the bike will track along the ground. Not as forgiving or as heavy as the FZ6. The FZ6 I'll sell in spring or I may hold on to it; haven't decided.

Nothing else really going on.
1. I've been dating here and there; been meeting some ladies who have been nice enough but no real chemistry.
2. Been doing some part-time consulting work for Peter but with the condo development taking so much time; I've only devoted so much time to assist his company. Got a gig out to Calgary next week which should be fun!
3. Been dreaming about the next vacation. Thinking that if I don't go this summer, I'll definitely go in summer 2009 to trek around for a few months: Ireland, Scotland, the Azores, southern France, Switzerland, Greece, and Santorini. Always wanted to go to Santorini!
4. Will be painting my apartment soon. Earth tones mostly; a feature wall in red or blue. Also been talking to my landlord who mentioned that I can use his tool shed to build my new cabinet for the apartment.

Next update in a few weeks.

h.

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Slowly.....slowly...

There were quite a few stories on this BLOG site previously, until I deleted them, but a little 'Harvey Time' of late has helped me come back to something I once enjoyed.

I'm just coming back to this slowly; this won't be too long a story, just a quick summary.

Summer passed quickly, it barely arrived in Vancouver before I looked up and saw the season replaced by fall.
Life had slowed somewhat from the spring. It started off busy, with trips and work, and then the pace came down a bit. I had moved to the North Shore, in what to me is like a little artists getaway; though there is no art to be found. It just feels warm here.
I've had friends over to visit; it's been fun. Dinners, people over for breakfast, walking down to the local coffee shop for a java, and runs/walks along the seawall.

Since then, the pace is back up to speed with a change in career: managing my own business.

Andy and I decided to take a boys road trip to Oregon and California in September.
The trip centered around 4 main things:
1. Oregon for sand duning
2. Napa Valley for wine tasting (the best)
3. San Fran
4. Santa cruz and back home via Oregon for a little outlet shopping.



Beyond that, been riding around on the new motorbike. Still breaking it in.

h.