clock … watching time, the only true currency

My high school coaches impressed upon me very clearly the importance of getting a good night’s sleep the night before the night before a race or competition. The theory — which I subscribe to — is that nerves and anticipation may disrupt your sleep on the eve of the event. Accept that, and don’t worry [...]

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Dreaming in Code covers three years of software development, without bearing witness to a final release. That’s really the whole story: software is hard, unpredictable, and never finished.
The book, by Scott Rosenberg, aspires to match Tracy Kidder’s The Soul of a New Machine, the classic record of a technology team overcoming the hurdles of innovation [...]

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I’m a week late on this, but I started Super Bowl Sunday (February 1, 2009) in my traditional way, with a race in Golden Gate Park. I finished the 5K 10th overall with an 18:44, for 6:03 miles, if distances are accurate.
One of the two runners right behind me had a GPS on his watch, [...]

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Kudos to those who put together Sunday Streets, closing off 5 miles of San Francisco streets for 4 hours on a Sunday morning. Labor Day Weekend often serves up pleasant weather, but this morning we didn’t even have to wait for the fog to burn off. Pure sun, and pleasant walking, biking, hula hooping, you-name-it [...]

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The post-Thanksgiving tradition continues. I ran the 5K in the Run Wild event this morning. A month ago, I was targeting the 10K, but a few weeks out of commission due to a back strain left me less confident of my fitness, so I stayed with the familiar.
I finished in 18:46 officially, 29th place overall [...]

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The San Francisco summer (September) delivered another beautiful morning today. The Bridge to Bridge 12K race is a local fixture I’ve never run. Starting at the Ferry Building, the race has only one short, steep hill, as it stays along the water almost the entire race, finishing in the Presidio. The official results are not [...]

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Thanks to a recommendation from my friends at CNET Networks, I found out about BikeParking.com. Great selection of bicycle racks for offices, garages and other commercial spaces. No online ordering, and the price sheet is on a PDF, but clear pictures, descriptions, and suggestions for different situations. I’m grateful that Minor Ventures is making an [...]

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Yesterday’s 4.2 magnitude earthquake was reported in today’s Chronicle this way: Quake rattles East Bay. The sub-hed? Magnitude 4.2 temblor causes little damage but may be foreshock
Since every earthquake is seen as a possible precursor to the “big one,” the foreshock reference feels like a bit of dramatic license. But I did read A Dangerous [...]

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I woke up to an earthquake this morning.
My eyes didn’t snap open, but I woke up, clock says 4:43am, and things kept shaking for maybe 10 seconds more. I could hear things shaking, but nothing fell or was out of order when I got out of bed. I tried to go back to sleep, but [...]

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I didn’t plan to, but here I am watching the sun rise over San Francisco. Very quiet and still, clear and warm for a San Francisco morning, so it’s already a bright orange over downtown, even at 5:23am. Sun isn’t visible yet, but it will be soon. I should really go for a run instead [...]

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