As the Wheels Turn

Since it does say “STR, bikes, and life” up top I figured I’d spew some things that have been happening to me personally.

Today, during a calculus test it hit me. Pounding headache, running nose, and maybe a light fever. I finished off the test and found me a quiet bench in the shade. Took out my laptop to knock out some emails and follow-up on something I was working on at work in the morning. The headache only got worse so I decided to forego my 2 o’clock business telecommunications class. Also, I postponed an SEO consulting session that I was going to do for a marketing professor at school who recently launched a website.

This only adds to the small case of poison oak I have on my arms. Yeah I know . . . wah wah wah. Oh well - headaches suck, runny noses suck, poison oak sucks. I’ll complain all I want!

Other than the recent body/health issues I can’t complain about life right now . . .

• STR is still on a roll - traffic has increased more than 280% since the start of 2007, we’ll likely be over 1,500 members before our 3rd birthday, and most importantly - people are still having a good time and building strong friendships. Even now I’m still meeting tons of awesome people because of it. I doubt there has ever been a force such as STR that has united socal riders like STR has. Those who were around during socalmtb’s popular days - correct me if I’m wrong (I started riding after it’s glory days). And yet for all it has done, our future as a community is still extremely bright.
• My new job which I started in early summer (php programmer & search engine marketer) has been going very well. I have a lot of offer the company in a lot of different areas (UI, programming, business strategy, css) and my performance has not only exceeded their expectations but mine as well. Hmm . . . now if only my pay would match my value to the company
• School - school’s a funny thing. In many ways I really do enjoy school. I enjoy the atmosphere, the people I meet, and some of what I learn is actually useful. However this is my 5th year and sometimes I’d rather just be working full time, improving STR, spending more time mountain biking, building other projects, and/or starting up a web design business. Why 5th year? I started off as a computer science major then later switched to management information systems when I became interested in business as well. Also, I’ve taken some random classes merely on the basis of them being interesting - not because they counted towards my major requirements. But . . . at the end of the day I realize that I shouldn’t be in a rush at all. Why rush it? I’m only 23 and have tons of time to accomplish everything or at least most of what I want to do. But then again, life throws curveballs sometimes . . .
• FixMyBike.org - This website project is more Rob and his wife’s idea but I’m doing the web stuff for it. Rob’s a great car/bike mechanic and I truly believe this website will help a vast amount of riders around the world. Only problem is - I have trouble finding time to work on it.
• RIDING!! I recently built (technically Rob built it) a Turner 5 Spot. I love it! My previous bike - a yeti 575 had never let me down. I enjoyed that bike a lot. Maybe the only reason I wanted to try the Turner was out of curiosity but I’m happy I did try it. The spot feels very stable going downhill and isn’t a slouch on the uphills either. I’m consistently doing weekend and the random mid-week rides. I hope to start stepping it up sometime soon to try and better my Counting Coupe time next year.
• New pets! I have always wanted a dog. . . . But alas I still don’t have a dog. By new pets I mean three fish in a 10 gallon freshwater tank on my desk at work. One betta, two swordtail, and a snail. They’re interesting to look at when I’m bored. Each has it’s own distinct personality.

I just sometimes wish I had more time for things outside of work and school. Especially wish I had more time to devote to (in no particular order) STR, fixmybike.org, riding, friends, and doing freelance consulting and websites on the side. But one thing I learned while being a waiter is that you can only do as much as you can. Sounds simple but as the old saying goes, don’t bite off more than you can chew. Keep your goals and expectations for yourself challenging yet realistic. Otherwise you’ll doom yourself to disappointment.

Oh, last thing I’ll mention is that I reconnected with a long-lost high school friend today. A couple co-workers and I were on an It’s a Grind run when I ran into Meghan there. Meghan was in a couple art classes with me in high school. We chatted a bit and seems like she began to do a lot more with art than I did post-high school. Her website, www.monsterflower.com, displays some of her really fantastic artwork. Looks like she’s pretty active in the Long Beach art community and displays her work at a lot of shows.