The best way to spread Xmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear

Just got done with my first day of work from home. It was fun, but busy since I was the only one answering calls. I definitely wouldn't mind doing that at least once a week though, and I'm sure that Vontoux enjoyed the company (and not being in his kennel).

Heather and I had a great time home in GF for the holidays. Got to see the family, all the gang from the SBS, and Andy and Becca. Went to the Hub, but they weren't serving burgers because they were having the Hub Xmas party....BOO! I'll have to wait until next time I guess. Celebrated Xmas at my sister's house in Fargo, with people from the Abraham/Litchy/Chase/Josef family's present. Played some intense games of Pictionary and SkipBo. Got some fun gifts (cordless drill, Seinfeld Season 5, cash, more memory for my computer, gift cards, 7 layer bars, little ornaments, a UND pennant to hang above my desk at work to tick off all the Badger fans, etc...). It was too short of a visit though, and we are already planning another trip home sometime in Feb.

So far we have 3 brave souls signed up for the Spring Training Camp V.2 sometime in early 06. Location is TBD; but exotic places such as Las Vegas, Tempe, North Carolina, and SoCal have been mentioned as being in the running. Sign up now to reserve a spot. :)

Also, a big congrats goes out to Dave Simmons and Jen for their recent engagement!

New computer has arrived!!

The Ascend team had our 06 planning meeting today, so I didn't have to answer any calls today. That was fun. Just talked with my co-workers all day discussing the plans for next year, with a little party afterwards at a nice restaurant. Good times.

When I got home, my new computer was there waiting for me. Got a Dell XPS 400. Lots of fun upgrades to make it fast and powerful. The pictures online showed it as black/silver, but it is white/silver. I like it, looks fast just sitting there. Came with a 19inch flat screen monitor (that's as big as the TV in our bedroom!!). Here's a pic of it now before I get it all set up.

I also purchased a wireless router for our house yesterday. Being that I have the laptop from work, it will be nice to be able to bring that home and do work and still have access to the Trek network while sitting on the couch. My boss also said that I should be able to start working from home for a few days a week soon, so that's awesome! Probably only one, maybe two, days a week at most, but that will be great just for the time and gas money saving standpoint. I'll be answering support phone calls in my underwear!

Heading home this weekend! Staying at my aunt's house on Thurs night, then driving the rest of the way early Fri morning. Big Hub night on Fri night. Then celebrating Xmas at my sister's house. Probably won't be able to update until next Mon, so I hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Lots of Josef's!

This past weekend Heather's fam came to visit. Her parents and a couple of her aunt and uncles. We were celebrating Xmas early since we will be in GF next weekend. It was a good time, and I got to meet more of her family that I hadn't met before. So that was good.

Today I got out to play hockey for the first time this winter! The rinks just opened up this week, so I had to get out there. Now I have blisters on my feet from my skates (happens every year the first time I skate) and sore legs, but it was good showing the locals here how we play hockey in ND! ;)

Now I am getting excited to head back home for the weekend, so hopefully this week at work goes by quickly. Can't wait to see everyone on Fri night at the Hub, with delicious burgers and a 33oz Coke!

Here are a couple pics; one of Heather's mom putting some miles on the trainer downstairs, and another of Vontoux sleeping on the spare bed (he's all tucked in, of course). He has taken that bed over recently, it must be a heck of alot more comfortable than his kennel at night....

Styx and Stones

More snow has arrived here in Wisco. Apparently this is more snow than they have had in the last few years here. Still nice temperature-wise though, with highs in the upper 20s (the locals think that this is cold -- HA!). Perfect temp for outdoor winter biking.

Had a good weekend. Started it off by going to the Trek cocktail party with Heather and my boss and his wife. That was a really fun time. Good food/drinks, really cool house, and lots of people. There were too many people there to see everyone, but I did recognize Zap Espinoza and Bob Roll. Bob had a Santa hat and a beard. I said hi to him and he said HOWDY. Sorry Dave, I didn't ask Burke if they were coming out with an adventure frame, maybe some other time. ;)

Tonia and Trent got here on Fri night, so we played with them all weekend. Went to the dog park, to Trek, and roamed around SP and Madison. It was most enjoyable. Will be nice to be able to see everyone again in a few weeks for Xmas. Andy got here on Sun night for his interview on Tues, which he said went well. Who knows, maybe he will be moving here in a short while... He came to Trek on Mon to eat lunch with me, and I gave him a tour of the place. It was a busy, but fun, couple of days with all of them at our house.

I ordered a new desktop computer yesterday. That's exciting. Dell came to Trek to show off some of their new machines, and they were offering some bigger discounts and coupons than we normally get at Trek. So, being that we were planning on getting a new one soon anyway, I ordered it up! Should be fast! If any of you are looking to get a new computer, Dell offers this 'industry discount' to both friends and family of Trek employees as well (savings up to 12% off of retail, in addition to coupons up to $200 off). So if you're interested, just send me an email and I can send you the website link and password. :)

Stupid people and fun people

First I will start with the stupid people. Today I was driving to work, and the roads were a little slick from some snow that we got last night. But it wasn't too bad. As I am making my way along, I see an ambulance coming in the opposite direction with its lights on. The car in front of me, upon seeing the ambulance, decides against just slowing down and moving over to the shoulder, and instead slams on its brakes and starts sliding around the road. At this point I have to hit the brakes hard as well to avoid this whole mess, and in doing so am left with only 3 options. 1, I can veer into the opposite lane and hit the ambulance head on. 2, I can slam into the back of the sliding car in front of me. Or 3, I can fly into the snow-filled ditch. So I decided on 3. And then I was in the ditch. Fun times. And the other car didn't think it was too big of a deal, and just nicely drove off. So I waited there until a state trooper stopped and called it in to the local towing company. About 45 min later, the tow truck shows up, pulls me out in like 2 min, and after paying the $63 bill, I am back on my way to work. Showed up to work about 1.5 hours late, but Mark didn't mind, so that's good.

So I am left with the conclusion that drivers here really do suck, as Heather can attest to as well, being that yesterday it took her about an hour to get home from work because people were going 20mph on the highway because it was snowing a little bit. Oh well.

On to the fun people. This weekend Tonia, Trent, and Mario are coming here to pay us a visit, and then on Sun evening Andy gets here for his interview on Tues. So we will have a busy little house. That will be fun. Tonight is also the little Xmas shindig at John Burke's house. And a big hockey weekend with the Gophers playing the Sioux at the REA. Fun, busy weekend ahead here. Talk to you all later.

Ohh yeah!!

Now that the cold weather has moved its way to Sun Prairie, WI, it can only mean that outdoor hockey season is almost upon us! One of the inside reps for Gary Fisher has this rink setup in his backyard. This pic was taken a few weeks ago before the snowfall and colder temps, so now the rink is pretty much frozen over. He invited me to come play with his group of players, so you know I'll take him up on that offer!

Jobs, Sledding, and Partying with the Prez

Heather has been looking for a job since we moved here, and in the past week she has managed to find not one, but two new jobs. Her fulltime one is at a company called PPD, located just outside Madison, where she will be an assistant scientist in the inhalation dept, working with asthma inhalers and such. Her part time one (just a few weeknights and an occasional weekend) is at a pet-sitting company, where she will go and walk, feed, etc dogs whose owners are out of town. She has already started that one this weekend, while the PPD one starts on Mon. Good job Heathrow!

It snowed here all day yesterday (another few inches of fresh snow!), so Heather, Vontoux, and I all went to a sledding park last night for some late night sledding fun. A good time was had by all, especially little Vontoux, who loves the snow and chasing after us on the sleds.

After an email mixup at work, it appears that Heather and I will be going to a Xmas cocktail party at John Burke's (the president/CEO of Trek) house this Fri night. To make a long, funny story short, John accidentally emailed me a few weeks ago an invite to his house for dinner that was intended for his sister. Upon realizing his mistake, he added me to the invite list to his cocktail party to make up for his error. It's a total pity invite, but I'll take it! :) His annual party is usually just for top managers and company higher-ups, but it looks like this year it will be attended by Heather and I as well! I looked at the email to see who else was invited to his party, and it showed names such as Gary Klein, Keith Bontrager, Gary Fisher, Zap Espinoza, etc... Looks like we'll be in some good company! ;)

That's about all for now....time for me to go shovel the driveway.

Snow -- Fun fluffy stuff

Hello everyone. Snow has finally arrived here in Sun Prairie. We had some last week, but it didn't stick around for very long. This stuff looks like it will stay.

Newly fallen snow can only mean one thing: crappy drivers. So there I am driving to work this morning (the WRX performed quite nicely in its first snow test), listening to REO Speedwagon (which might be a good nickname for the WRX!), and I am going 60 all the way to Marshall (town about 8 miles from SP). So all is good. Then upon leaving Marshall, myself and about 8 other cars get stuck behind a guy who doesn't feel safe going over 35 mph (speed limit is 55 on this 2 lane road that goes from SP to Waterloo). It was very humorous, especially being that the roads were not bad at all.

Some good comes from the snow though. I am guessing that outdoor rinks will be open within the next month (hopefully before Xmas). That's exciting. And it is still warm here (high 20s-low 30s), which makes for excellent winter outdoor biking. Hopefully it stays like that for awhile. I don't have the cool Pugsley like Simmons, but the 970 always performs admirably in the snow. And it has much more character, with the rust and all. :)