Weekend Update

OK, just a post to update people what's going on in my life.

Flying: With my trip to Taiwan and with my instructor taking a week vacation, I've been put a bit behind in my training. However, I am getting very close to having my shirt tail ripped off. In July, I am flying up with Bill (remember him from my earlyier flight?) are flying up to Arlington for the big air show there. Should be a blast!

Biking: I've been doing a lot of road biking lately. The reason is we (Meg, Meg's friend Ken and I) are doing Seattle to Portland in the middle of July. When I did it a few years back with Kevin, we did it in a one day push. This year, we are doing it in two days. Personally, I think that will by much more difficult. I don't look forward to getting on the bike the morning of the second day... Also in biking news, this last Monday was my first ever bike race. This was around the track at PIR, so we don't have to worry about traffic or other road hazards. It was crazy riding in a pack of guys. I almost went down once, but we all made it sans road rash. I think I did pretty well, comming in seventh. It was Meg's first time too, and she did great. You can read her take here. Final note on the bike are some upgrades! who doesn't like upgrades? First, I got a set of wheels from a new company out of Colorado called Rol. Good wheels at a decent price. I think the look sweet too (see pictures below). Tomorrow morning, I head to Veloce Bikes to get my bike (now five years old!) dialed in to the perfect fit.


Before. Pretty much a stock 2002 Buenos Aries.


After: The new Rol wheels update it a bit. At least I think! I'll find out how they ride tomorrow.

Congratulations Rachel!

As I couldn't make it, this is a file photo...

Cousin Rachel graduated Saturday from Central Washington University. Her announcement was chock full of honors and accolades. I have not a worry of her going far in life. Rachel, awesome work!

Update: Here's a picture direct from the action (Thanks Auntie Net!)

In Taipei

I'm back in the international travel game. Some things have changed. For one, there is someone waiting for me back at home, which is both nice to know, and makes it more difficult to be away. As I didn't travel much last year, I lost my privileges on United. Need to get those back.

I'm here as my company has a presence (that's what it's called to have a both at a show. A presence.) at Computex. Where CES in Las Vegas is a show about stuff consumers can buy (DVD players, Computers, Stereos, etc.), Computex is a trade show about the stuff that goes inside of all of those things.

So what do I do? Work the booth. That involves a lot of standing. potential customers that might want to use are part come in, and we try to persuade them that yes, they do need our parts. When we get a break from booth duty, it off to roam the floor looking for what our competitors are up to and getting a feel for the market.

On a more enjoyable note, I also got to see my old friend Jim. He's still with Pixelworks and living in Taipei. It's been awhile, so it was great to catch up with him.

Update: I went over to Jim's house on Sunday night. Annie made some great dumplings for dinner and I got to play with the adorable MiMi. Pictures added to the gallery.