clock … watching time, the only true currency

A journal from John B. Roberts

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Entries from November 2006

Book: The Hot Kid

November 26th, 2006 · No Comments

Elmore Leonard’s The Hot Kid rolls right through its story like a Tommy gun through a bank guard. Yes, it’s gangsters and a dapper U.S. Marshal in the Prohibition Midwest, and the bank robbers, oil wells, road houses, and more just keep life (and death) humming along. Overall, a well-written romp, although without the cleverness [...]

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Tags: Books · Everything

Book: Troubled Midnight

November 26th, 2006 · No Comments

John Gardner’s Troubled Midnight was a jacket pickup. Meaning, I picked it up in the library after reading the book jacket and finding that one of the blurbs grabbed my attention.
Readers with a taste for intelligent international suspense in the spirit of Frederick Forsyth…should find this an exciting thriller.
Only after I got home did [...]

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Tags: Books · Everything · Mystery

2006 Run Wild 5K

November 26th, 2006 · 2 Comments

Three days after running 5K in 19:22, I put in an 18:57 at Run Wild. According to the official results, 29th place overall, 7th in the M30-39 age group, with a 6:07 minutes/mile pace. I’d have to drop 90 seconds to get to top three in the age group. Not gonna happen.
The dinosaur T-shirt is [...]

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Tags: Everything · Racing · Running · San Francisco

Racing on Turkey Day

November 26th, 2006 · 1 Comment

On Thanksgiving morning, I started by being thankful that Golden Gate Park is home to so many road races, including the 2006 Run for the Hungry. I entered both the mile, run at 8am, and the 5K, run 30 minutes later. I am running the Academy of Sciences race later this morning, again doing the [...]

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Tags: Everything · Racing · Running

Having a sense of humor at work is important

November 26th, 2006 · No Comments

If my colleagues didn’t support a sense of whimsy and my sense of humor (?), I never would have been able to post this faux press release just before Thanksgiving.
For the record, I’m usually a no cranberries man, but on turkey sandwiches after the big day, the canned sauce is much more spreadable.
This DNS preference [...]

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Tags: Everything · OpenDNS

Not just for breakfast anymore

November 22nd, 2006 · No Comments

I came downstairs this morning to hear the sound of cereal crunching away, and scurrying feet. The cereal sounds were coming from the girl, the feet were the boy’s.
Rather than wake me or wait for me to come down, as we’ve done for years, the boy had gotten breakfast for himself, including milk for his [...]

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Tags: Breakfast · Everything · Family

Tuesday Track: painful pyramid

November 15th, 2006 · No Comments

I committed to six pieces beforehand, and I did finish six pieces. Things were tougher than normal out there, but at least it wasn’t raining. I gave myself 200m of very slow jogging to recover between each one. Perhaps I need a bit more rest if I’m going to climb the pyramid again!
800m in 2:49
1000m [...]

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Tags: Everything · Running

Make sure you are an organ donor

November 11th, 2006 · 1 Comment

A useful reminder, prompted by this post: make sure you are an organ donor. Painless but potentially powerful. For information about signing up, visit http://www.shareyourlife.org/. Read frequently asked questions about organ and tissue donation. I’ve added a linked logo to the left-hand sidebar of my blog.

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Tags: Everything · Family

Tuesday Track: 6x 1000m, 2 min rest

November 8th, 2006 · No Comments

Yesterday morning on the Kezar track, it was 6x 1000m with 2 minutes rest (measured, this time). As usual, gentle to start, and pushing the final repeat.
4:09
3:59
4:01
3:55
3:55
3:30
Last time we ran similar distances, in late August, I ran 3:32 for 1000m on the final one.
These felt good, but spending the rest of the day on my [...]

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Tags: Everything · Running

Amazon.com is making the right moves

November 5th, 2006 · No Comments

Speaking of Web 2.0… the only reason I would want to be at that conference is to hear Jeff Bezos speak. I think Amazon Web Services, and their other efforts to re-use their existing infrastructure across the web (and the real world, including shipping centers) is the most impressive change in how business works I’ve [...]

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Tags: Amazon · Everything · Tech