The best free stuff on the internet.

I have been wandering around the internet more than usual lately. I through I would share the best stuff that I have come across in no particular order.

1. Pandora Radio: www.pandora.com
This is the radio station for the music genome project. Enter a song, or artist and it creates a station for you. I know lots of different places do this for you, but here it actually works. I've taking to using it while I study. It's a great way to discover new music.

2. Farecast: www.farecast.com
These guys will tell you when the best airfare prices are there, and why. And when to book your ticket. No more guessing games.
"Farecast utilizes over a billion airfares on a daily basis to bring you airfare predictions, and now we're using that data to uncover cheap airline tickets. We can find you cheap flights between cities, and unlike other sites, we explain why these are great airfare deals based on science, not marketing."

3. Keywallet: www.keywallet.com
Everyone has logons and passwords, for sites all over the internet. Here's a great tool to keep them organized. It's free, encrypted, and you can drag and drop from the wallet to a logon screen. It's one of those tools that I didn't know if I would use, and now I can't live without.

4. OpenOffice: www.openoffice.org
Let's see, the latest office product from Microsoft is going for $399. That's an awful lot to pay for some home use. What if there was a way to get a program that could view / edit / open all office programs, but it didn't cost as much? Better yet, what if it was free! Well OpenOffice is, and it can. Plus it's smaller, cleaner, and faster for those of us who don't need to put everything into tables.

5. foxit reader: www.foxitsoftware.com
Love PDF documents. Hate the fact that Acrobat! takes 5 minutes to open. Foxit will open faster than any program you own. It's great.

6. Media Monkey: www.mediamonkey.com
The internet is awash with music players. This one is free, and it's got a great library function for all your MP3s. (legal or otherwise) Plus it can load directly to your MP3 player.

That's enough for now. I'll keep looking and tell you if I find anything else out there that very cool.

cheers

matt

Worky head!!!! And odd post about not working

When I was 14 my family went to England for 5 months, while my dad worked on his first book (buy a copy here!). That was my first introduction to the sabbatical. For those of you outside academia, it goes like this: You work 6 years, then you get a year off to improve yourself professionally. Imagine my surprise when I started working and I realized that it didn't apply to the business world. (although I think it should, but we can talk about that later)

I've been working for the bank now for 7.5 years, and while I can say that the people I work with are great, I never have had much of a love for banking. The job has always been challenging enough, and it provided me lots of freedoms. But the time had come to make a change to that.

So I'm on Sabbatical. I resigned in June. My last day was July 2nd. And to make things more interesting my laptop crashed on June 22nd, leaving me with almost nothing to pass on besides my thoughts.

Not working has been a little strange. First there's the depression. Ya, that surprised me too. I was thinking about all the things that I would catch up on, books, movies, friends, new hobbies, finish a screenplay, write a novel, learn to play the guitar (because down deep, every guy wants to learn guitar). But the reality involves daytime TV watching, and fighting with people about stock options and 401k transferring.

Second there's the fact that days just fade away. I was amazed how many times that I saw days fad away. I would look up and it's 4:30. I'd been up since 9, but I couldn't put my finger on what I had done that day.

Third are the excuses. As Dani pointed out, if she decided to stay home, it would have been perfectly normal for a woman to stay home while the man worked; but flip that around and you mess with the fabric of the universe. It runs counter to society. The looks from people are odd, and I find myself saying that aren't exactly true, to tell them why I left my job. I explain that Dani took off 4 months prior to moving to Houston, so we decided that now it's my turn. Or, that I took off the time to flip a house in Oklahoma. Or that. . . something to make it seem socially acceptable for a man to cook, and clean while his wife works in an office. It kind of surprised me how much that kind of effects me.

I'm in the rhythm of it now. I know how to pass my days. I have lists of things that need to get done, I get up and walk the dog, I still haven't gotten in the habit of working out. Think baby steps.

There's a great part of the book "About a Boy" where the narrator talks about how he fills his days. He lives on the royalties from a Christmas song his dad wrote, so he doesn't work. He fills his day with units. Getting a haircut: 2 units. Breakfast 1 unit; with Sunday paper: 3 units.

I'm loosing focus on this blog entry. I'm out of practice, and I feel like I have to many ideas bouncing around my head. I'm going to post this one as is. choppy, stream of mind, and frankly bad.

Short list:

I quite my job.
I have been sailing more.
Lori is a blog monster!
I have an amazing wife, who takes no credit for the ways she has improved my life.

So it goes.

Just a note for someone I miss.

We make some friends!

So finally, slowly as I expected, but too slow for Matt, we are making friends. Last night we went to a birthday and met a great group of people and got invited to happy hours and bike rides. AND- this is probably the biggest one- we met someone who said, simply, "I Love Houston." He said there were lots of things he couldn't wait for us to see and experience here, and I found myself getting excited. He talked about all of the ethnic communities, the food, and playing volleyball 10 months out of the year.
So I am again hopeful about our prospects here. I had been pretty worried there for a while, it was so hard to see Matt having such a tough time, and thinking that the next few years might stretch themselves out as we count the days until we can do something else. Now it looks like we are finding the good in this place, great things to do and see, as well as interesting and positive people.
Best of all, I am ever-so-slowly regaining the self-esteem and confidence that was lost/taken from me in that terrible job experience. I am working with great people and have opportunities every single day to feel smart and valuable, and valued; at work and at home. Right now, that is "as good as it gets".

Matt's first bike ride to work

I thought it was a no brain-er. I live in a town where the average yearly temp is 75 degrees. It's 7.5 miles to work, and flat. Being from Colorado this means one thing: you ride you bike to work. Seems logical. Except this is Houston. And Houston is in Texas. They said I was crazy. They said I wouldn't make it. They said that I would end up on the bumper of some buba's truck. (no really, that's a quote) But I did it. I started to ride my bike to work. So far I pulled it off once, and I'm going to do it again. Here's the story of my adventure.

If you want you can follow my along on Google maps. zoom in on Downtown Houston. And look for the long green patch that heads west. That's where it starts.

Allen Parkway
I left about 7am with my work cloths in my bag. And headed out to the street. I hopped on Allen Parkway, a fast road heading West. Not bad. Cars treated me pretty well, it wasn't to crowded, but you had to watch out for the gaps between the concrete. They can drop you in a sec.

I think I can safely say that Allen parkway is one of my favorite roads into and out of downtown. It meets all my requirements for a good road: Good traffic flow, few lights, not a highway. It runs along a park on the north, (Buffalo Bayou to be exact) and a neighborhood on the south. At 7am traffic is heading into the city so there's not that much to compete with. This went fast and clean. Off to a good start.

Kirby DR
Kirby cuts through a neighborhood call River Oaks. It's a beautiful place. Old and green, River Oaks is a neighborhood like none other I have ever seen. Usually neighborhoods like this are gated off. And when I say green: I'm not only talking about the giant oak trees, if you know what I mean. The lawns are well manicured, the houses are pristine, and everything is huge. Like 10,000 square feet huge. What's the point of having a house like that? Well so that everyone can see it of course. The people who live on Kirby want you to drive down their street. Not only are these people rich, but they want you to see exactly how rich they are. Think gawdy diamond rings. Think yellow Italian cars. Not Fiats.

As far as cycling goes, the street is narrow. The curbs are high. And it seems most cars didn't want to pass me. So I took to the sidewalk. Sadly it was nicer than the street, even though it was a little curvy for my tastes. I know that fancy sidewalks are trendy, and make for more interesting walking. But I'm trying to get to work, not pass an agility test. But it worked out pretty well, so I can't complain.Inwood DrAh, paradise. Wide residential street that stretches for the longest part of my ride. It's perfect. No lights, no cars, if all streets were like this, no one would drive a car. Not to mention this is still River Oaks. There's a mint julep joke in there somewhere but it's not really worth the time to find it. Willowick Rd.About the same. Goes right by the River Oaks country club.San Felipe St.And then, we go to war. That is how I would describe driving in the galleria. No imagine it on a bike. OMG you think the fact that I had a bike was a personal insult to cars. They went around me. Usually with a full inch or so to spare. Now first thing in the morning, it's not as bad. Collectively they will yield the right 12 inches of the street to a bike. But let's talk about that last 12 inches of road, OMG it's ugly. Cracks, holes, glass, groves, gaps, sewer drains, ripples, bumps, ouch. I wouldn't have been surprised to come across a land mine. It was to much for my road bike. And it left me a little rattled as I finally made it to my office after 30 minutes. Average heart rate 142.

The way home things got really bad. I wasn't ready for it. I got cut off, I got squeezed out, I had to cross over a grass lawn and start riding again in a parking lot because there was no sidewalk, and literally no way through. I was rattled, scared, and honestly thought I was going to have to walk my bike till I made it back to Willowick. I had to shift into bike messenger mode: Jump off curbs, pass all the cars at the light, and ride a little further away from the curb. Yes, it forces every curb-crawling SUV driver to put down their cell phone and change lanes just to get by, but it also forces them to see you, and in the grand scheme that's more important.

I survived to Willowick. But I was in a really foul mood. I was ready to pack up and move. I was ready to throw out my bike. Houston was collectively swatting me back for even thinking that I could ride on their streets. I have never been so rattled on my bike. It was a unique moment for me. I found myself afraid on my bike. I've been scared before: Tucking down the I-70 Frontage road passing Mother Cabrini shrine at 40MPH will cause your heart rate to rise even when your not pedaling. This was different; This was fear. I felt like someone had slapped my soul. I questioned all the decisions I had ever made. I felt like I had just been taken for a hundred bucks, or the brand new car turns out to be a lemon. I was mad, I was frustrated. I was ready to fold.

Then I saw something that surprised me: Another cyclist. God bless irony. Not just any, but another commuter, coming down towards me as even and calm as a lazy afternoon ride in the park. Suddenly it wasn't me against Houston. There were others out there. People who lived a way because they wanted to, not because society was telling them how to live. And self pity faded away and was replaced by a smile. Burning in my thighs was replaced with that deep pull of pushing pedals. And I picked up speed.

Is there a lesson there about society? About how miserable it can be in the big city? No. Just a lesson for me. Life happens everywhere. And how you choose to live it is entirely up to you. They only one who restricts what I can do is me.

A few days later I bought a cheap mountain bike. $150 in Houston will get you a $500 Denver bike. I cleaned the chain, bought new breaks and a big padded seat. I joined a gym by my office (for easy access to a shower). I packed my bag, bought a new lock, set my MP3 player to NPR, and I cycled out to work. Why take it on again? Well, because I'm a Texan. If Texas has taught me anything it's that it's my job to live my life the way I want to live. No one tells a Texan what to do. Ask Charles Bradley about that.

Here's the bullet points
1. Best part of the ride was zipping home past a line of cars on Kirby. I got to the light in 10 minutes. 20 cars ahead of a car that hit the street the same time I did. Sucka-heads.

2. I've been riding 1-4 times a week. Travel and other errands can get in the way.

3. In a car it's 35 minutes in the AM; at night it's anywhere from 35-50 minutes.

4. On a bike it's 35 minutes in the AM; and 35 minutes at night.

5. And it puts me in a great mood.

We have photos!!

After 4 tries and my limit of frustration, we managed to get photos developed at CVS. Here are some visuals to go with the words.





Looking down at the shrubbery and light rail tracks from our balcony.

The front of our building and the view from our balcony looking south.

This one goes with the title of my first post, "my hair did NOT look like this when we left Denver!"

New Year's Eve 2007- we still didn't have furniture, so we rented a room at the Crowne Plaza- yay mattress!!

A view from our balcony- ahhh sunny day... I hope there will be another one someday.

First note about the Culture of Houston

Originally, my idea for this blog was for Matt and I to record our impressions of Houston as newcomers, and to compare them to Ben's thoughts about Berkeley. As these things tend to do, the organization never quite came together, and it was all we could do to jot down a few paragraphs here and there in the midst of all of the chaos of the move. An apology to all of our friends and family, because if there's anything less fun than moving, it must be reading about moving. Here then, is a break.
I think I had my first moment of culture shock last week. I had forgotten that the farther south one goes in the US, the greater the... how to phrase it... limits on one's reproductive choices? I know there are definitely exceptions, especially for some of the less populous northern Plains states, but I think it's a decent general rule. Because of an interesting insurance situation (the US health care system is the subject of many blogs I'm sure) I found myself at the Houston Planned Parenthood clinic for my annual exam and birth control prescription.
Here is the scene, as I arrive for my lunchtime appointment. The parking lot in front of the building is surrounded by a tall iron fence, with sharp-looking points at the top. There is no parking allowed in this lot, so I have to park across the street and walk over. Before I get to the door, I pass through a set of waist-high thick yellow concrete pillars, set presumably so that it would be impossible to drive a car into the front door of the building. Upon opening the door, I am confronted immediately with an a uniformed guard who takes my purse, examines the contents, and directs me through an airport-style metal detector. After passing through, I reach the building receptionist, who asks for my driver's license and records the number and my name, before directing me upstairs to the clinic reception.
After signing in, I scan the waiting room before taking a seat. There are two young black women with their boyfriends, who seemed to be happy to run into each other there and were having an animated conversation. A TV in the corner of the room is tuned to The Price is Right, and a bored-looking Hispanic man sits under it while watching a little girl play with the magazines on the table. Another woman, about my age, wears a long wool houndstooth coat, black pants, and pink shoes, and looks nervously at her watch.
Honestly, I could have giggled if not for the fresh memory of the stern guard downstairs. This... this is the reason for all of the security?? These run-of-the-mill people filling out forms and waiting for their names to be called? I am filled with exhilaration, hopelessness, and dread all at the same time. The only thing I have in common with the women in the room is a functioning uterus. And this is enough for iron fences, concrete pillars, security guards and metal detectors?? wow.

"Honey, where did you put... everything?"

I'd like to believe I'm not a materialistic person. We probably all would. But dammit, life is just better with a mattress and your own real pillow. Another week at least until our stuff gets here. Man, will our bed seem like heaven after almost 3 solid weeks on an aerobed. Anyway, thanks JR and Lori and Megan for posting and wishing us well! I must say the toughest part so far has definitely been having all of this empty time and space without friends or family (Need I mention over Christmas?). I work with great people and am lucky to have an amazing husband, but I'm really missing all of you guys ("all y'all" as it were). Matt was right, it will really hit us one evening soon when all we want to do is walk down to JR's for a drink. Somehow I think putting Bella on the bar to visit the people might be, um... frowned upon. Yeah and I miss her too. Little puddles and and all. We bought a little disposable digital camera when we first got here and have a few more pics to take, then we will post bunches. Love you and miss you all!!

...And to all a good night.

I went for a run today. Dani got me a new rain jacket for when I ride my bike and I thought I would take for a test.

Not a lot of people out today. It was just me and the homeless guys. That may have to do with the fact that it's Christmas day downtown in Houston. And that fact that it's about 40 degrees, with gale force winds. Not a great day to run but it's a great way to explore the new city. With in a block we have a beer pub, Sub shop, Latin, 2 Italians, a place called fresh express, an Indian place, Chipotle, 2 clubs (maybe 3 we aren't quite sure), and 2 connivance stores. At 4 blocks you add a movie theatre, a CVS drug store, Corner Bakery, and a Macy's. That's actually allot more than we expected. And there is growth everywhere.

So what does all this mean? Well it's got me thinking about livability. I had a conversation with someone who shall remain nameless when Dani go this job. I said we were looking forward to the change, and it was a good career move for Dani, etc, etc. And he said, "Ya, but I think there's a huge quality of life difference."

At first I agreed, but it got me thinking; how do you define quality of life? What makes a good place to live? I think it has more to do with how you live than where you live. Interestingly enough, the person I was talking to lives in Parker. Not to dog Parker but.... Well, ya to dog Parker: I mean come on Man: Honestly I can't think of any place that has all the same negatives that Houston has: You have to drive everywhere, houses are huge and cheap, sprawl rules. How is Parker better than Houston? Humidity, altitude? Is that all you got?

And I think of other conversations that I had with friends in the past when they moved. One to Nebraska, the other to Wyoming. And I brought up similar arguments. Is it time to eat my own words? Take back the things I said about those other places? Probably. In the end my bias comes mostly from he fact that I miss them and didn't want them to leave. (so, I'm sorry J&J) But that's unfair. People need to seek their own destinies, and as friends travel across the country, it gives us more places to visit. And more stories to share when we get together in the years down the road.

But it still doesn't answer quality of life. And here comes my revelation: It doesn't exist. You can have a high quality of life, or a low quality of life where ever you are. And the biggest factor is money. Ya, none of us like to admit it, but it does matter. Money allows you to shape the reality of life where you live and that does matter for quality. Don't believe me? Try to live in Breckenridge on $50 a week. The place has great quality of life, right?

The second part is what I don't know. So you have a little disposable income, that doesn't mean you are happy? I don't know. I knew people who never seemed to be happy where ever they were. They transferred schools 3 times; moved to California and came back; failed out of school and joined the Navy. There was some intangible thing that they couldn't quite describe, but the knew they didn't have. So They didn't have quality of life, right? I can't really say that either. I also know people who can never very from a seat on a barstool. The only thing that changes is the world around them and they seem happy as clams. Seems like it's a moving target, and it's very personable.

Good thing I'm here. I came up with a formula. You do things like this when you don't have TV, or furniture, or silverware. Here it is: Take the number of times you smile in a day, divide it by the farthest you can run flat out without wavering. Add the number of people you have on speed dial in your phone (not counting family). Plus the number of hobbies, Times the numbers of inside jokes you know. Take the whole thing to the 3 power and put it over the number of X's in your life (X wife, X boyfriend, X con, etc) What does that give you?

Haven't you been reading this? I have no idea.

Bullet points:

1. Dani and I love good food. Houston has very good food. So far we are happy.
2. I haven't started missing my friends yet. That's going to hit on a Wednesday night in January when I realize I can't just stroll over and see JR. and when I begin to forget what Greg's laugh sounds like.
3. Running here is great. God bless all my high altitude training. ;)

It's true what they say about the food.

It's good. All of it. Even the corner Thai place that everyone in your office goes to for lunch is awesome. I knew this, and I had serious concerns for my waistline. For the most part, they have been realized as I have not stopped eating since we got out of the car 5 days ago. Having said that, I have made an important discovery. You see, when the standards for cuisine are this high, everything is good. Meaning, it's not just the BBQ and fried chicken (God bless Oklahoma) that will bring you back with your mouth watering. I've had romano-crusted asparagus in lemon sauce, wok-seared curry tofu with hot crisp string beans, garlic pepper chicken breast on a bed of fresh shredded cabbage, taco salad with cilantro vinaigrette... I could go on. And I will. We will be closing on our loft tomorrow (we won't be harboring any nostalgia for the Westheimer Extended Stay) but will not have our "household goods" until January 3rd. So, other than cereal and whatever we can eat with paper plates and plasticware, we'll be exploring what Houston has to offer us in tasty, healthy food. Suggestions are welcome.

Houston gives us a warning

Houston, Day 2. After a morning of fast moving clouds, and slow moving cars. Houston decided to let me know what I was in for.

I had been out scoping a new office, when it started to rain. And I mean really rain. I've been through storms before. I lived in Colorado, we have rain so hard you can't see the end of the driveway. But only for 10 minutes. It started raining like that, then it didn't stop. 5 hours later it started to slow down. I don't know why I think the rain was so amazing. It was my first monsoon. Ok, mini monsoon.

But afterwards there was an explosion of sound coming from a tree right besides the street light that shines in the window if we don't carefully close the drapes. I can only describe it as a murder of crows, held up in the tree talking. It wasn't really crows. But a murder of chickadees just doesn't have the same ring. And they were so anxious, they could have only been discussing a murder. Or a really good seed. How do I know what they talk about?

But the rain was pretty cool. At least the first time. I imagine after a few months of rain it's going to get old.

The Approach

This was the road trip after the last road trip. Dani told me after our last experience driving of driving 1000 miles in a day, that she was done! 'No more. From here on out, we fly.' It really wasn't that bad of trip. We were in Chicago for Thanksgiving, and left at 7am to get back to Denver in 1 day. So, 15 hours, 1 ice storm, and 5 wrecks (none which we were involved in) later she is done with driving long distances. Fine by me.

Then she got a job in Houston. 5th fattest city in the country. I guess I can kissing seeing my feet goodbye. All and all things have been going well: we found a place we can afford, in an up and coming neighborhood, (oddly it's downtown. But that's another entry) I can work from here, and we are out of our lease in Denver.

So we drove down. Another 1050 miles on the car, and my ass. Our dog thinks we have become nomads. In the last month, she has lived in Chicago, Oklahoma, Denver, Frisco, and now back in Oklahoma. We are staying in plush hotel room till we close on our place on Friday, and maybe even till our stuff comes. No one knows when that will be. We though adding a tiny hotel room might be a bit hard on the bow wow.

But we had to get the car down here sometime, so it might as well be now, and together. That way my wife can show off her MP3 player loading skills. Remember mix tapes? It's the same kind of thing, except you aren't restricted to 90 minutes. So let the songs roll. Cake, to Glenn Miller, George Straight to Guns'n'Roses, Fugees to Louie Armstrong. My wife is nothing if not eclectic. We still aren't to the end of her player. We last left off with Meatloaf - Bat out of hell. That was a personal request from me. Great road trip song.

Enough wandering, here's the bullet points:

1. Bella (dog) is with Oma in Oklahoma while we Bella-proof our new place. Besides, her playing with the puppy gets us off the hook for grand kids for a little while longer.
2. Leaving Colorado was a little harder than I thought it would be.
3. Dallas is pretty close to Lawton, OK (where Oma lives). Dallas is a long damn ways from Houston. The road goes on and on. Texas is so big they gave up on naming towns. The just starting picking words at random from a dictionary. "Happy, TX? Smiley, TX? Jolly, TX?" Weren't they all dwarfs?
4. Houston is a long damn way from Houston. We hit the city limits and it was another 30 miles to the city.
5. The Galleria is a cool mall that is in a cool neighborhood built for 5,000 residents and guests. It attracts 50,000 people a day.
6. How is it possible to get stuck in 2 traffic jams on two different highways in 1 hour?
7. My wife is insane over a place called Braums. They make shakes. She loses her mind when she sees a pink ice cream cone on the side of the road.
8. I didn't pack enough clothing. Or I packed all the wrong stuff.
9. Finding the harbor on a Sunday afternoon was the best idea I've hand in years.
10. Right now Houston doesn't seem so bad.

all the love

First Day

My hair did NOT look like this when we left Denver!! It's the end of our first full day here, and I'm excited and nervous to get up and go to work tomorrow morning. Thankfully, it's still a little surreal and hard to imagine so my worries are not clear enough to bother me yet. Having started a couple of new jobs in the last couple of years, I can say with some authority... I hate this part. If I had a time machine with a limited number of uses (maybe like 10, but not if I only had 2 or 3); it would be worth it to spend one to get past all of the initial awkwardness and get to working and relating in this new capacity. It's easy to compare jobs to relationships but hard to apply the same skills. If this were just getting to know someone, a sizeable glass of wine over a good dinner could provide me with a jump-start, but at work, I have to rely on my own skills under the fluorescent lights. Here goes...

welcome to our blog!

This blog is here for a couple of reasons. First, to answer friends and family when they ask "How's Houston?" and to provide an outlet for expressions of our joy, excitement, and frustration as we navigate a new job, new house, and new city. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to comment and post!