Work has been a bitch lately; Confusing, frustrating and nerve-wracking. The result is that my workouts have disappeared, I’m gaining weight, drinking too much and feeling miserable.

The sub-4hr marathon at the end of April is a pipe-dream. I’m going to run the race, but without any expectations of a PR. JFR and try to have some fun.

I really want to take on IMLP again in 2008. In order to do that, I need to get back to a happier place in my life. I think that it’s a pretty simple equation.

Work Less+Train More=Less Stress.

That is going to be my new mantra.

I love NatGeo.. Really

It’s been a part of my life since I was knee high to a piss-ant. So I’m Sooooo lovin the web right now: toxic toad caught in Australia

And my nomination for quote of the year:

“It’s huge, to put it mildly,” Graeme Sawyer, coordinator of the group…told the Associated Press. “The biggest..are usually females, but this one was a rampant male. … I would hate to meet his big sister.”

Really now, what more could be said?

I found the ‘7 Habits’ a bit hard to comprehend.

Hard to read, difficult to fully “get” and requiring a great deal of work to effectively implement in my life. So when I see other stuff by “The Stephen” I usually run off to a quiet room to read each sentence, and contemplate on the meaning.

Such was the case when I saw the recent Forbes series on “Work-Life Balance” and the lead article is by “The Stephen”. I took my laptop to a quiet place.

Imagine my surprise when I’m hit with an article of such sobering clarity that it feels like I’ve been shot in my forehead by diamond bullet…

class=”mainarttitle”>Work-Life Balance: A Different Cut

Many people simply conclude that they are not disciplined enough. My response to that idea is that it’s usually not a discipline problem at all. The problem is more often that the person has not yet sufficiently paid the price to get very clear about what matters most to them. Once you have a burning “yes” inside you about what’s truly important, it’s very easy to say “no” to the unimportant.

I’m sending this article to my boss in the morning…

Lots to blog about, but very little time to organize thoughts, so here are the quick & dirties:

CISSP Exam – Oh. My. God. Completed in 3.5 hours, and I was in physical pain afterwards. I have no real clue how I did on the exam. Most people who have taken say that this feeling is normal.

GTD – Been playing with lately. Very nice basic GTD implementation. I think it is an excellent tool for GTD noobs like me. Much more on this later.

M.U.S.S. Status – Bugger! The bike is back ordered until 30 March. I’m getting a bad feeling that I won’t ever see this bike.

Killer deal at />
I’ve been looking for a good quality SS bike. Can’t pass up a 37% discount!

I’ll probably throw a short shock on the front at some time. I’m also thinking about throwing slicks on it, and riding this with Weazer on the MS-150.

Here I am in the Poconos, at the beautiful ‘resort’. The class is very good, but very, very long. 8:00-4:30, with a 1hr break for lunch, then 6:30-9:00 for more review. This will go on through Friday. Saturday is a 9:00-5:00 review, and Sunday is an 8:30-2:30 exam.

One weekend, shot to shit.

At least I’ll have the CISSP when I come out the other side, assuming I don’t go completely mental first.

We are staying in “villas” which are really nothing more than smallish 1bdr condo’s. They are ok, but a little seedy. The bootcamp covers breakfast and lunch. Breakfast is a pretty good selection of ready-to-eat or heat-n-eat stuff, but all name brand goods. Lunch is at an italian restaurant attached to the hotel. Yesterday was a buffet of so-so italian food. Today; Pizza Hut pizza and wings.

Eh….

For dinner, we are on our own, but with only a short break, before study session resumes, we are limited. Sunday & Monday I just cooked up dinner at the “villa”. I figure that will be the modus for the rest of the week.

I decided that I’m only going to be able to spend 1hr each day training, and that will have to be in the morning, so I’m just hitting the treadmill at the fitness center. If I’m able to be consistent with this, I’ll get close to 40 miles in over the course of the week. That would be pretty cool.

I suppose it beats working for a week, but just barely.

Screw the bike, I’m rockin’ this at ’07!

Target 84″ Giga Ball -Red

Get the hell out of my way!!!!

After pulling the trigger on my own “sick build”,
I was surfing around for bike stuff and stumbled onto this:
American Handmade Bike Show
Really, REALLY cool stuff here. Add this to my list of “must do” shopping sites when I hit the “Mega Millions” tonight.
“to dream, the impossible dream!!”