Fall Back

Well...it's that time of year again. The dreaded time change.

The fall change signifies a few things, one of them being that all of a sudden it gets dark early. Also it means that it's going to get colder soon (if it hasn't already). It also means we are deep into football season. Pardon me while I briefly diverge into the realm of the pigskin. Michigan lost yesterday to Iowa...rats. They had SUCH a great season going. Today being Sunday, that means Pro football. I just woke up a bit ago (working nights here in Sunnyvale), and I'm watching the Raider/Bronco game right now...it's turning into a pretty good game. Tebow is playing his heart out for the Bronco's, but the Raiders are putting him in the grass almost every play. And the Raiders new quarterback Carson Palmer (who they JUST picked up from Cincinnati about two weeks ago) is doing ok too. Raiders/Broncos is always a HUGE grudge match...this one is being played right here in Oakland giving them the edge (Raider stadium is called "the Black Hole"....which is not a very friendly place for visiting teams).

OK....enough football..sorry about that little detour. Back to the original line of discussion. Fall. And cold.

Well, lets see...what else does the time change signify? How about the impending HOLIDAY'S? There is certainly that! Lets see...we are down to what, about 48 or so shopping days until Christmas? Gads, don't you HATE that? The GOOD thing about the impending Holidays (for us anyway) is that we are going to HAWAII over Thanksgiving! Woo-HOO! It's so close now I can almost TASTE it! I have SEVEN more work-shifts up here in Sunnyvale...head back home a week from Monday. Work my 'day' job on Tuesday, and Wednesday the 16th we fly to Oahu! We will spend a few days there staying down in Waikikii, then we fly over to the Big Island and will be staying in Kona with Jeannie's brother John and his wife Donna. They have a timeshare there and we did this same vacation about 8 years ago. I know Jeannie and I are REALLY looking forward to this. WARM! SUNNY! Both qualities we are typically lacking in our hometown. Well, we do get sunny...just not WARM all that often.

Speaking of WARM, it's certainly the Anit-WARM right now. A huge storm system moved over the area last Thursday....and it's been crappy ever since! I've only gotten out for ONE bike ride since I drove up last Monday. That was on Wednesday, and it was pretty decent. Trails were nice and dry, and the weather was mid 70's. Just about perfect. But we've been getting just enough rain seemingly every day to make the trails all gooky, and the roads (at least the roads I WANT to ride...deep in the redwood canopy) quite wet most of the day. And the temperature's been holding in the 50's most every day. Oh sure, I can already hear you all moaning...50's isn't cold! YES IT IS! It''s FREEZING! I even have the heat on in my hotel room!

And so, with no riding going on, my life on the road is pretty much work and sleep. I HOPE to break out of this horrid cycle tomorrow...but haven't yet seen the forecast (I'll catch that tonight at work during our 'lunch' break at 2am).

And so. Another dreaded time shift is in the books. That also means that I'll have to charge up my headlight when I get back home. Oh, and let's not forget Veterans day coming up fast. Evey year, Jeannie (a Gov employee) gets that hallowed holiday off. While I (the Veteran) get to work it. sure, I could take a vacation day, but quite honestly, I shouldn't HAVE to. It's a nice little annual jab in the gut. Not quite sure why it isn't a federal law that ALL Veteran's get the day off, and all NON Veterans get to work. Now THAT would be a Veteran's day holiday to remember...a true THANK YOU for your service! But alas, that's not the case. And this year I'll be on the road anyway, so can only give Jeannie a hard time over the phone. It will be observed on this coming Friday this year, so she will get Thursday off.

The only good news I can typically think of at this time of year is that we are FAST approaching the Winter Equinox. And soon the days will be getting longer instead of shorter. And there you go.... another year has past. Just like that.

Don't let the darkness get you down. Easy to say, hard to do. Here's hoping you Fall-Back into good times!

(Note: The following tidbit doesn't fit into this post, but I wanted to slip it in anyway).

I was on Moffett Field the the other day, and this plane had just landed. It's a Russian heavy lift cargo-plane similar to our own C5. The official name is an Antonov AN-124. Being as it's here in the area I'd assume it's here to pick up a spacecraft. It won't be one of ours (Lockheed Martin Space Systems spacecraft I mean)...but there are many other satellite manufacturers here in the Silicon Valley. I'll keep my ear to the ground to hear if any new spacecraft pop up at a launch site. If you are interested in the dirty details of this awesome plane (it's actually BIGGER than our own C5), here's the Wikipedia link: Antonov An-124

Happiness

Today's topic is about happiness.. I believe that happiness comes in many forms. There's the momentary happiness when get when you achieve some task or goal you've set for yourself. It could be a small victory or a large one, and the happiness felt is proportional to the size of the victory. Setting a new Personal Best on a big climb is good, but rather short lived. Being FIRST up the same climb in a tough group ride is even better. Or how about setting a new PB on an entire ride? Or killing said tough group on the same overall ride?

All of these things bring joy and pride in your accomplishment....happiness. As it should. Having goals gives us a measuring stick to gauge how we are doing. Comparisons to ourselves and to others.

But what about happiness in LIFE? Simply being HAPPY?

Yesterday (Monday) was my travel day for driving back up to Sunnyvale for the next 2 weeks. Meaning I didn't have to get up EARLY as is the usual for a workday. I did however voluntarily get up at 4:30am and bring Jeannie her first ginormous cup of coffee of the morning, calling out "COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE" as is our ritual. She then burrows further under the covers, hoping I'll show mercy and let her sleep for an extra 5 (or 10) minutes. She often begs. I rarely cave. After I pryed her out of bed with a crowbar, I was then able to go BACK to bed. This is a very rare day (when Jeannie gets up before me). So....apparently I fell back to sleep, in a state of total bliss. I was surrounded by our babies. They just LOVE to snuggle up on me. Jeannie  took this shot before leaving for work.

Happiness is snuggling babies!

I think this is what it's all about. Finding happiness in your life. It's very simple thing to find. A hug or kiss from a loved one. A sunny day as you stroll outside, reveling in the feel of sunshine. The feeling of the wind on your face as you cruise along on 2 wheels, master of all your survey. There is an infinite number of things that bring happiness. 

Here's wishing you find happiness in your life.