jcm's blog

A part of project Brave New Jon…

I’m going to take a semi-crazy vacation in California (CA) on the back of a couple of conferences I’m scheduled to be at anyway. I’ll combine a series of road trips with hiking, surfing, lying on the beach, cycling, long walks, sailing, and hanging out with various friends. Other stuff will likely happen too. Here’s what seems to be the semi-final itinerary.

Red Hat Summit, San Diego.

The Summit runs from May 9-11. I fly out to San Diego on Tuesday (UA7780 12:21 BOS -> 13:55 IAD; UA231 14:35 IAD -> 16:54 SAN) and arrive in time for the pre-event party. I am not actually speaking until Friday (my lecture is entitled “Handling Asynchronous Driver Updates in RHEL5 and Beyond”) and will be attending other conference events/working on Red Hat stuff that comes up. I am looking forward to the opportunity to hang out with Red Hat customers and anyone who uses RHEL5 or Fedora and has questions/comments on driver support. On Friday evening, I’m looking to schedule some surfing before I leave San Diego. The conference concludes around 3 or 4pm, so I’m looking to go out shortly thereafter (we’re near the beach anyway). I would go to Mexico, but I don’t want that border crossing experience.

Sailing, San Francisco

I fly up to San Francisco in the morning of May 12 (UA710 11:16 SAN -> 12:43 SFO) with the intention of going sailing with Sven and the guys. I am in town until the Sunday evening, and during that time may also try to head out to meet Bill W. to catchup. I will hire (US: rent) a bike for an afternoon on probably the Sunday and ride around San Francisco and out to the Golden Gate Bridge. I last did that a few years ago. This time, I hope to also be in time for the ferry to Alcatraz, at some point.

Road Trip, Yosemite

I live for random experiences. I’ve never taken a proper US-style “road trip” (unless you count driving down to New York, which I don’t really think counts as a US style “road trip”), so I’m renting a Ford Mustang convertible (hopefully a red one, gotta live that cliche) on May 14 and driving out to Yosemite for a couple days. I’m staying in Fish Camp (Apple Tree Inn – 1110 Highway 41) and will do a day hike in the park, camera in hand – I just bought 3GB of additional MMC/SD media.

After visiting the park, I’m driving back to San Francisco, stopping over at a friend’s place to do a little target practice. Being originally British, I’ve never even held a gun in my life. So the opportunity to try out a little target practice really does appeal to me. At least once. I’m really not a fan of guns in general, but I’ll leave that argument to one side. Once I get back to San Francisco, I’m planning to drive out to Palo Alto to hang out with another friend, who happens to be in town from Dubai.

Road Trip, Pacific Coast Highway

I’ve heard good things about California State Highway 1. Good things. But I’ve never actually driven in California, much less seen said highway or lived that particular experience. So, I’m correcting this immediately by driving the Mustang down from San Francisco to Los Angeles. I’m leaving early on May 16 and aim to cover as much of the route as I can in the first day, stopping over only when it gets late and I find somewhere interesting on the way. There are a lot of great views (therefore a secondary reason for the camera upgrade) along the way and I intend to stop from time to time to check these out.

At some point around lunchtime on May 17 (so again, leaving early in the morning on that day) I intend to arrive at the Crowne Plaza Hotel – the one where they filmed “Little Miss Sunshine” (the option was there, and it amused me somewhat) and then drive over to Oxnard to the Silver Strand Surf School for what will hopefully be part 2 of the surfing. I’ve scheduled an afternoon of private tuition and if it goes well will try to figure out a way to have a few more hours before I leave LA. I need to leave early on May 18 in order to get into Los Angeles before rush hour so I can attend the FreedomHEC.

FreedomHEC, Los Angeles

I am speaking about the RHEL5 Driver Update project and future goals for vendor-managed 3PM (3rd Party Modules – a term that rostedt coined/used recently and is bound to become somewhat popular). The conference is at the Holiday Inn LA Center, and I think I even know where that is (from having been downtown once before – emphasis on once). I will hang out in LA on the Friday evening, and on the Saturday prior to my flight – I’ve got a couple of friends I would like to catch up with.

Camping, Tamales Bay

I am heading back up to San Francisco on May 19 (UA1798 19:10 LAX -> 20:25 SFO) for beer, oysters, and camping in Tamales Bay. I’ll get there late, and depending on my navigation will still be able to partake of beerage and camp before we all head out on the Sunday morning. The site is only accessible by boat, so it’s likely that I’ll need to do a crossing in the dark…which should be quite fun, or at least quite interesting. On the Sunday, I might take a short hop up to PDX to hang out with Deepak and the gang, although this is currently just a “there are a few minutes with nothing planned, so we better plan something, quick!” thing.

Ultimately, I fly back to Boston on May 21 (UA770 12:55 SFO -> 16:28 DEN; UA726 18:33 DEN -> 12:23 BOS) and will then be in the office, working on various followup from conferences and car shopping.

Jon.

A part of project “Brave New Jon”…

I’ve decided I probably will buy myself a car. I got to a bit of a personal low point a few weeks back and went on a re-invention quest in order to help deal with that. And as part of the dealing with stuff, I decided to get an MA driver’s license, finally. As I mentioned before, this turns out to be trivial (read: laughable) and took me a total of 4 days, including phone calls.

Driving turns out to be fairly addictive. Like many other things, it’s something I had never had much time for – I mean, why didn’t I try surfing before either? I’m fixing this with a bunch of lessons, starting next week. But anyway. Back to the driving. It’s addictive, it’s fun, and I drove over 800 miles last week. Working out the cost of rentals vs. just buying a car means that if I’m going to be renting regularly, I might as well look to buy a car. I can’t use zipcar, or stuff like that, because I’ve not had a license for more than a year (though I do qualify on the age grounds…being old and all). And anyway, I’m paying for a parking space in the apartment lot that’s looking a bit empty again tonight.

So. MA want to charge me $3200+ per year for insurance. If I’m going to be screwed over, I might as well be screwed over fashionably, in style, in a car I enjoy driving. I’m looking at the Mazda MX-5 rather longingly at the moment…this can’t be good for me. I know where this goes. It’s not the most practical car – but that makes it even more “me”. I mean, if I’m ever going to do the convertible thing, now is the time to do it. All of this is on hold until I get back from the Summit and traveling, but I will seriously evaluate the options – the green part of me tells me to buy that Prius, but another side of me says “ah, but you could just ride your bike in town” and still another thanks some higher power I’m not into H2s.

I’ll include my experience driving the Mustang in my evaluation. Yes, the East Coast has snow in winter and it’s cold…and stuff. But a hard top nicely handles that – you only get to use it maybe 50% of the year, but I don’t really care. Especially if I can pick one up in time to drive down to the Cape a bit over the summer. Seriously. Got to think about this.

Jon.

The coolest thing about CBI (Community Boating, Inc.) is the randomness of the whole thing sometimes. You go down to the boathouse, change into gear, head to the docks and put a call out for a sailing buddy…then a random guy (or girl, but it’s only been guys so far) with an interesting story to tell comes along and you go out on the water for a while. I do want to qualify for solo sailing this summer, but there are benefits to having a buddy…for one thing, it’s good yaking.

It’s interesting who you meet this way. Take today, for example, the guy I was sailing with (Dave), moved away from Cambridge in 1974 and has sailed in Florida and various parts of the US…and on the Thames in the UK (but obviously called it that Tames – a very common mistake amongst Americans in general…I’ve long since given up pointing these things out, since it just makes me seem like an arrogant ass). He wanted to sail with jib and make the most of what little wind we had…and I was happy to oblige, given that this made for more fun as we dealt with the randomly changing wind direction on the Charles. The guy works with homeless people in Boston, which made for a good discussion about Menino, the Federal government, and US politics in general, and we wound up having a drink afterward. I’d rank this amongst the more successful outings I’ve had to far. Hopefully, we’ll sail again. I probably won’t try going out tomorrow as I’ve stuff to get done…and I’d like to go climbing tomorrow anyway. Trying to do both turns out to be painful.

Ben would definitely enjoy it here – quite challenging tacking from one way to another constantly as you deal with the wind passing around the tall buildings of downtown Boston. I suck. Seriously. But I want to work on it over the summer. My sailing shoes definitely were a good purchase and held up well today – I’ve decided I quite like Gill “stuff”. Oh, and, I need to get a cord for my sunglasses, since I don’t much like the idea of throwing $200 overboard the next time I fall in the Charles.

Jon.

So a couple weeks ago, I ordered some Gill Aquatech sailing shoes. You know, properly designed to get soaked and dry out quickly…and all that jazz. I ordered from a well known online website and received a confirmation, followed by a shipping notification. But the shoes never arrived.

Turns out that “shipped” doesn’t always mean “shipped” (but billed always does seem to mean the same thing…so does calling AMEX to tell them to hold payment) and that the shoes hadn’t actually been dispatched, actually weren’t even in stock, and they won’t be available in the US for a few more weeks as Gill are fresh out. This is, of course, highly annoying as I wanted to go sailing and had been putting it off for the last week or two while I waited for these shoes – because using regular trainers (US: athletic/running/whatever) or similar footwear is a bad idea. We had a little chat just now about it.

So they’re paying for me to have the higher end gripper shoes, and also paying the $60 expedited shipping fees to have them here tomorrow. If they actually turn up, then all will be forgiven. I am hopeful that I will now be able to go out on the Charles again. Failing that (and perhaps anyway), I’m thinking of getting a rental and driving down to the Cape for an afternoon of writing by the ocean.

Jon.

* May 8 – UA7780 12:21 BOS -> 13:55 IAD; UA231 14:35 IAD -> 16:54 SAN.
* May 9-11 – Speaking at the Red Hat Summit in San Diego. Decided to avoid complications going to Mexico for an evening or whatever.
* May 11 – Beach/hang out in San Diego in the evening (extended hotel).
* May 12 – UA710 11:16 SAN -> 12:43 SFO. Hang out in downtown San Francisco with Sven and the guys. Go sailing on the Bay.
* May 13 – Hang out in San Francisco. Potentially more sailing, cycle around and bike the Golden Gate Bridge (again), visit Alcatraz Island.
* May 14 – Pick up Ford Mustang convertible at SFO. Drive to Yosemite on route 120. Go hiking in the park. Stayover in a B&B in Fish Camp. Apple Tree Inn (1110 Highway 41, Fish Camp, CA).
* May 15 – More hiking. Drive back to San Francisco, via a friend’s place to do a little target practice. Hang out in the evening in Palo Alto.
* May 16 – Drive down Pacific Coast Highway. Stayover.
* May 17 – Drive down Pacific Coast Highway. Afternoon surfing scheduled (4 hours, extended) at Silver Strand Surf School. Stay at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ventura Beach (the “Little Miss Sunshine” hotel). Leave early for Los Angeles.
* May 18 – FreedomHEC in Los Angeles. Holiday Inn LA Center. Hang out in LA.
* May 19 – UA1798 19:10 LAX -> 20:25 SFO. Pick up another rental in San Francisco and drive up to Tamales Bay (late). Oysters.
* May 20 – Recover from beer/Oysters. Drive back to San Francisco. Potentially take a short hop up to PDX for the evening.
* May 21 – UA770 12:55 SFO -> 16:28 DEN; UA726 18:33 DEN -> 12:23 BOS.

Coolness. The cool thing about social networking sites is that friends randomly mail you to say “hey, dude, you should…when you’re…”. This is, of course, the reason I tend to be a little vocal about my plans – you never know when your friend in Dubai is going to mail and say he’s hanging out in San Francisco at the same time. Looks like I get to catch up with Chris, Pete and a few others. I’ve added the following to my itinerary:

* Surfing. I’m stopping en route to LA for some surfing lessons. Called up the surfing school earlier and kicked off that process. I’m looking at spending an afternoon, and if it goes well, the school isn’t far from LA anyway to go back.
* Shooting. I’ve never fired a gun in my life so the option to try target practice just once does appeal. Let’s keep the gun discussion down to “I’ll try it once”. Looks like I might get to try this en route back from Yosemite.
* Palo Alto. Hanging out. I’ll see if I can swing by on my way back from Yosemite before I start driving down the coast.

Jon.

Around six weeks ago, I started a little project. I call it “Brave New Jon” (for various reasons certain colleagues will perhaps find amusing). Essentially, it’s an effort to take radical action to reform what I see as aspects of my personality and lifestyle that needed work, for the better.

So far, I can report that I have:

* Lost over 40lbs. I’ve got more to go, but I’ve gone from a large 36″ to a medium 31″ and am still working on it. I think I can hit 150lbs in the end. I’m looking at joining a gym to complete the final part of this quest. I’m on a raw fruit/veg. diet with some nuts and a soy/whey protein drink. I take supplements and get all I need…but inconsequential fat. My body is thus forced to metabolize the fat that it already has (as a preference over muscle protein, because I address that with protein drinks).

* Taken up running. I bought all the silly Nike+iPod jazz, started taking runs/walks/jogs along the Charles whenever I can. If the weather is bad, I just take a stroll, coffee in hand. The Nike+ features let me benchmark my performance and see how I am improving in my training program.

* Taken up cycling. I’ve fixed my bike (been down to the local bike stores a whole bunch of times), bought some appropriate cycling gear and I’ve been out cycling around town. Certainly helps me figure out the one way system without the hassle of actually being in a car at the time (it’s much easier to stop and get off a bike when you go wrong). Cycling here isn’t such a huge deal as it might be and it’s easy to get around – you really don’t need a car in the cities of Boston and Cambridge, unless you plan on going anywhere outside of the city limits not on the MBTA.

* Taken up sailing. I’ve joined the CBI (Community Boating, Inc.) and can go out sailing on the Charles whenever. I’ve been out a couple of times, but I am currently waiting on some sailing shoes I’ve ordered before I go out again (wearing regular shoes is not a good idea…you quickly discover this when you try it). I used to sail many years ago, but now I actually want to establish some kind of ability…then it was more of an because-I-should after school activity. I’ll aim to get qualified for solo sailing sometime this summer, if there’s time.

* Taken up climbing. I used to climb a couple years ago (before I put on weight due to traveling around and trying all the food I could find) and I decided to get back into it – and use the gear that I own. Comically, my climbing harness is a little on the large side now I’ve been down to Metrorock in Boston and will join the guys in the office at Boulder Morty’s one evening when I have a car, it’s open, and I have the inclination. I’m not sure I’m ready for outside climbing again…even if it is top roping from fairly fixed anchorage points, like they claim.

* Learned to drive. I was in the right mood – you know, where you just don’t care about anything anyway so I went back to the RMV again and just wouldn’t take no for an answer until they sorted out the paperwork. Then I took the silly theory test, had a couple lessons with a local driving school and took a driving “test” to get the license. Now that I have a plastic license I also don’t need to carry my passport everywhere. And I feel more manly…in the Americanized “but everyone drives” sense of the word…or something…whatever

* Replaced my wardrobe. I’ve gone on a bit of a self-redefining mission. Everything was thrown out and replaced. New image. New me. Right down to the trendy Oakleys and the obligatory assortment of shoes. You won’t see me in vendorware so often – but you might catch me in shorts on a sunny day. And sandals. But not socks and sandals

* Remodeled my apartment. There’s a lot more to be done, but it’s getting there. This was pending on being able to drive since previously it has been very difficult to pick up stuff – this place isn’t geared up for those who don’t even have a driver’s license to get a rental (UK: hire) car just for the afternoon – even the religious cyclists would agree there.

There are other aspects to the work in progress. But these are some of the main things I have achieved over the past month or so. I have a lot more to get done, I have more travel planned, more commitment to my work (I love Red Hat dearly) and I will probably grab a car in due course so I can go a little nuts on the weekends – and even just to go climbing or…shock…drive into the office a bit more often

Jon.