How do you say in Portugese...

It started in 2005 with a Christmas gift I never expected. Beth got us tickets to see a 2006 World Cup game. Not just any game, but the 3rd place match. It ended up being Germany vs Portugal  with the host nation dominating the flow of the game. It was such an amazing experience that we decided we would make it our thing and attend the tournament every 4 years.

2009, I entered the FIFA lottery not exactly sure what was going to happen. Multiple rounds went by and no email or other notification of a successful bid was received. We had gotten an email saying we would be notified by such a date and as that date passed we made other plans. We booked a flight to Argentina to visit some friends who were temporarily living down there from Minneapolis. On Saturday, I received an email saying our bid was successful! We purchased tickets on Monday for South Africa. We had tickets for US vs England, Japan vs Cameroon, and US vs Algeria. With our vacation spent on Argentina, we were able to stay for 2 of the 3 games. Unfortunately, we missed the US vs Algeria game, but we able to watch it back in the States.

Just imagine getting through security wearing that!

This year is no different. We have been paying attention to the qualifiers as best we can. We have put in to the lottery. No official email has come, but after logging on to the site and getting a notification from our credit card. We have been successfully charged for our sets of tickets!  We will be seeing Uruguay vs Costa Rica, US vs Ghana, and Japan vs Greece. We have already purchased our tickets for Brazil as well. These were not cheap and our itinerary back home is surely going to be long. As I took new employment recently, my vacation situation is different than while at TCDC, so unfortunately I wont be able to make it back to the States this year. Unless I get sent there for work, which is a good possibility.

Festivals galore

Summer is winding down, but the festival season seems to be in full swing. There was the Chinese Lantern Festival the other week, which Shiv, Kathryn, and I hit up. It was from Thursday to Sunday ending with a massive firework show off the SkyTower. We definitely ate our share of good food while listening to music and watching the festivities.

This past weekend we planned on hitting up Rice and Beans on Saturday and Japan Day on Sunday. The weather didn't cooperate for an outdoor festival on Saturday, but we did spend several hours at Japan Day! We watched an Aikido and a Ninjitsu demonstration. One was good and the other was like watching Monday Night Raw.   I did spend 2 hours riding in the rain on Saturday. It wasn't that much fun.

This weekend is my race, which is going to be difficult. My coughing and congestion is finally gone! However my foot is not better even though I haven't been running for the past several weeks.  If I have to I should have ample time to walk the marathon, but I'm planning on running what I can and hitting the pain meds when it hurts too much.

The following weekend, we are doing glow worm kayaking, paintball, and Pasifika (another festival). So we are keeping busy.

Not forgotten, just busy

I have been neglecting my rants, ramblings, and peek into our life as of late.  Its already February and I have a lingering sickness.  It knocked me out over our long holiday weekend and then some.  I'm still feeling the affects a week later.

Beth and I headed to Taupo this past weekend so I could do the course.  I did more than a single lap of the bike as I missed the turn and ended up on State Highway 1 south of where I was supposed to be.  The ride has an ascent and descent right out of town, but its pretty flat to Reporoa.  I hope they get the section of gravel repaired before the race, but I don't think that is going to happen.  Then again if they do it will probably me large chip over the tar which is almost as bad.  I saw plenty of riders heading back into Taupo as I was heading out and passed only 3 people on my way to Reporoa.  On the way back there was a horrible headwind most of the way and I flatted shortly after the section of gravel.  I made a quick swap and was back on my way.  The ride took a little longer than expected with the deviations on the course and the flat, but Beth was waiting for me a the hostel where I quickly changed and we went out for a run.  I did one lap of the run course and I hurt.  My quads cramped. I got dehydrated. I dry wretched.  I finished it.  Sat in the sauna and stretched a bit before heading out for some much needed food.  I had half a chicken with veggies, naan, and a samosa. The next morning I was out of the room at 6:30 for a 10 mile run.  I did over a single lap and I felt amazing.  It just goes to show that you have to pay attention to your fluids and nutrition.  I did try some new things the day before which helped on the ride, but I had nothing on the run and it was a warm one and I went through my 24oz of water pretty fast.  I probably should have had a bottle while I was changing.  So for the nutrition I tried baby food.  I've had some problems keeping gels and bananas down in previous races so I'm trying to switch it up to find something that works.  So I had some apple yogurt smoothie and an apple blueberry porridge.  Both come in squeeze tubes and sat fairly well.  I also drank a mixture of coconut water and cranberry juice for potassium. This complimented my water.

Race is less than a month away so I've dropped my bike off at the shop for a service and I'll be starting to scale back on the training. Which has been disrupted moving to Auckland. I've had to work out of the country for a week, visitors for 2, sick for more than one. However, I've still got in some good workouts, just not the frequency I would have liked. While in Taupo I ran into some of the guys from Thames out doing the course as well.  It was a bit of a surprise to be recognized or recognize someone in a different city.  However I saw both Paulie and Gavin do the run course.

My dad is coming out again and will be on hand to watch the race. I hope we get to do some cool things while he is in town. Beth and I have been hitting up various night markets as well as the local neighborhoods. I have been finding new ways home from work and have found some interesting trails while on my bike or by foot. I'm not as good as I am at navigating the back streets like Minneapolis, but I had many years of practice. I'm sure if we make Auckland home for several years I'll become even more familiar with her hills.  There is a crazy amount of elevation change hence why Beth says she has quite biking.  I have a short windy hill to ride up each morning on my way to work.  Nothing like starting your day with your legs burning.

Auckland bound, visitors, and more

We are still settling in to our place in Auckland.  Even though I needed to be up here almost exactly a month ago for work, I've only been in the new house for about a week.  The first week was spent working in Malaysia.  The day I got back, Beth picked me up and we went back to our place in Thames.  We decided to use that house as our vacation bach for when her parents were out.  The next week I spent in Auckland working while Beth's parents arrived on Wed and they went to Thames. 

Chicken in a cone.

On Friday, they came back up to Auckland and we hit up the Auckland Night Market.  These take place nightly from Thursday to Sunday in different locations.  There is your typical arts/crafts, shirts, and food stalls.  We also hit up the 2nd Hobbit as they had been out to Matamata to see Hobbiton the day before.  This also happens to be the cheapest movie ticket I've ever seen in New Zealand! 
 

On Saturday we boarded the ferry and went out to Rangitoto Island.  Its an interesting place to go see, but the next time I go there I would like it to be apart of the 5k swim.  We got to explore some lava caves, see the crater, and sit on a idyllic beach.

 

 

 

 

 

Was thinking of climbing it

I don't recall the day, but we drove around the Coromandel Peninsula.  We stopped in Whangapoua and hiked out to New Chums Beach, where I happened to sprain my ankle.  I had just stepped to the side to allow an on-coming person to pass on the track.  Last time that is going to happen, ever.  If this place sounds familiar, it is where my friend Phil has a bach that he let us use.  Its a really awesome place and if you ever get a chance to visit, stop in to the only store in town and ask Steve for directions.  Let him know that Phil sent you!  We were torn between my ankle and doing more.  We ended up going to Hot Water beach bypassing the long (2 hr) hike to Cathedral Cove.  It has been about a year since my last sprain and I've tried to be careful with my half on Jan 4, but that didn't work out so well.  I would have rather stayed at New Chums and left the masses to the few spots to catch the hot water.  We may head out that way during the off-season when the bus loads of tourists will most likely not be at capacity. 

On Christmas Eve, the plan was to hike the Pinnacles and camp out in the 80 person tent.  I had enough problems walking down the steps that I opted out of the hike.  Beth and her parents did the hike and left early on Christmas morning to avoid the worst of the downpour that hit New Zealand's North Island.  Prior to making our last moving trip up to Auckland with the camping gear and some other odds and ends, we hit up the first tour of the Thames Goldmine site.  The site has been going under renovations over the past couple years however the battery stamper was not functioning.  It was interesting to see the site as I had ran past it so many times over the last year, but it was behind a fence. 

Cathedral Cove

We then spent the following week in Akaroa on the Bank's Peninsula, SE of Christchurch.  We were staying in a timeshare located on the edge of town.  The weather didn't cooperate for us as it was pissing down.  Beth and Betsy did puzzles and Bill and I read.  I finished the 5th Jack Reacher, Inferno, and 2500 pages of Game of Thrones.  I also got 3 chapters done of my T-SQL studying done.  When it wasn't raining (at least not that much) we got out on the Fox II for a trip around the harbor and out into the ocean.  It was nice to meet Captain Roy, from NY, who seemed knowledgeable about the area, but liked to repeat himself when describing landmarks.  We got to see a bunch of dolphins, penguins, Cathedral Cove, seals, and enjoyed being on a boat.  Well Bill got sea sick and Betsy and Beth got really cold. 

Over looking Akaroa

We did get out to do some hiking around the crater around the town as well as walking around the town.  The hike went from Sea Level to about 600 m for us.  We didn't summit as the trail wasn't that flash and I didn't want to further injure my ankle.  Betsy and Bill went to the summit and I believe they both took a spill.  The views up high were pretty awesome.  There were sheep a plenty and I couldn't stop harassing them with my 'baas'.  We also stopped into Barry's Cheese where every other day you can watch them make cheese.  It appeared to be a milk delivery day when we were there so we watched a short video and bought some cheese.  We also took in a Maori and Colonial Museum that reminded me of Centennial Village back home.  There were a lot of buildings with a lot of displays that gave insight into the region and some of the colorful history.

After the week we jetted back to Auckland for the evening before heading to Tauranga.  While in Auckland, we ran around town getting some things for Betsy and Bill to take back with them and I tried in vain to get my bike inspected.  Who would have thought the 2nd would still be a holiday and many shops would be closed?  Not this guy.  We got to Tauranga about mid-day and our first stop was Koop's to get my bike and helmet inspected.  It was good to see the guys again (Dan, Craig, Will, and Phil) who all gave me a little crap for becoming a JAFA. We then went to our old neighborhood in the Mount to check into the hotel and drop by the registration booth.  We later went out to La Barca, a small Italian restaurant that was surprisingly not packed.  It often is.  A lot has changed in the Mount in the last year.  There are new places on Maunganui Road and even a board walk on Pilot Bay replacing the foot worn path I was used to. 

I could bore you with the race information, but I didn't do as well as I hoped, as I had some strange cramp/pulled muscle that made it very painful to breathe deep and I couldn't keep food down and I vomited 4 times.  I did finish and my first 2 events went well.  It was my first time racing with a wetsuit and it was too hot.  The bike ride was easy and I averaged 21.5 mph,, but I realized that my stomach was starting to go pear shaped on the 2nd lap.  I about lost it eating a banana so I stopped eating solids and kept trying to drink my nutrition but that still made me feel funky.  I started the run feeling good but after about 2 kms I had what I felt was a stitch, but it never went away.  It appeared to be something else as it continued to hurt after the race and hurt every time I breathed in deep, coughed, yawned, or tried to sit up from a laying position.

Now its back to a normal life for awhile.  I have 8 weeks until Taupo and it sounds like my dad is coming over again.  So its now time to study and train.  Hope you guys are enjoying your days that are getting longer as they are getting shorter here. 

My treat post race of fried Moro bar.

New Role

The last I wrote was about the starting of my new role.  I was tossed into the deep end and had to make sense of a live environment in Malaysia.  Prior to boarding a flight with my boss and a co-worker for the red-eye flight to Singapore, I was handed my company laptop and a stack of induction paperwork.  This was at 11 pm on the night prior to my first official day.  Little did I know, but I would be going full throttle all week and it doesn't stop there.

KLIA Terminal 2

I slept almost the entire flight to Singapore only waking momentarily to eat some food.  I was told that we were going to maximize our time on site so we would most likely go right to the site.  What is this site?  It is the new KLIA terminal that is scheduled to be opened in May. So what are we doing here?  We are installing the baggage controlling system.  This means all the physical aspects including conveyor belts, sorters, and scanners, as well as the software to manage the entire operation from a control room.  I'm currently getting very familiar with all the data being produced for the site.  I'm working with all the BI and database development with very little understanding of the environment.  As I'm doing trouble shooting, I have an end point to work back from and I've gained a much better understanding of the data structures in my first 50+ hrs on the job.

The Control Room

There was no exploring of Kuala Lumpur as I would have liked, but I was there to work first and play second.  The days were long and I hardly moved from the control room.  That had some benefits as the temperature was in the 90s and very humid.  This played some havoc in my training schedule as I didn't have a pool or bike, but I did get out and do some predawn runs where the temp was still in the high 70s.  I had some tasty eats while there, but the curry balls and the venison curry probably rank the tastiest. 

Venison Curry was still in the kitchen

My 2nd week was actually in the office.  I drove to work the first day as I had my laptop to get to the office, but since then I've been doing the commute on my bike (approximately 10 miles a day).  Its a good ride uphill that requires a cold shower before starting my day.  I'm currently working on several projects.  I'll probably talk in reference to location to keep things straight.  KL is having site acceptance testing 6/1-8/1, so I'll be adjusting my hours to reflect their business hours.  STL is looking to have some changes done to appease the TSA and Perth is going to have a factory acceptance test next week.  I'll be busy getting their environment up and running as the data warehouse scripts haven't been written nor the SSAS cubes.  However, there are 2 students doing an internrship that I get to assist with some of the report writing.  I've also started to study for the MSCE: Data Platform exams.  There are 5 of them and at our final team meeting (my first meeting) the expectation for all of the development team was to have the exams done by March.  I'm going to be a busy guy with my training and studying.

Wrapping up life in Thames and moving on

So its been awhile since the last post, but I've been busy with training and recovering.  My wrist and fingers have been giving me problems since being dumped by my bike.  I ended up getting x-rays and an MRI on it. Luckily nothing major, only that there is fluid in my wrist and the Dr is recommending that I get a cortisone shot.  I've taken the stance of reducing my swimming and riding my road bike.  I've also been delaying setting up an appointment as I'm supposed to start at my new job in Auckland on Monday, but there is a little kink with that.

I received a phone call from my new manager mid-last week asking if I would be ok starting a day early as he would like to take me to an on-site installation for my first week.  I ran it by Beth as we are scheduled to move into our new house on Saturday and I would have to catch a flight on Sunday.  Today I received confirmation that we are booked on a 1 am flight out of Auckland to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore.  So technically I'm not starting a day early only several hours, many of which I'll probably be sleeping.  What am I going to be doing there you ask?  I'm not really sure, but its a new installation of hardware and software.  There is bound to be some issues and I'll be there in the deep end trying to stay afloat.  Otherwise, I'll observe and start to learn first hand what we provide and what is required on my expected frequent travels. I guess Daytona wont be my first on-site.

I've slowly been getting used to the idea of not living in our little town.  I've been doing things one last time, like running up to the Pinnacles Hut or baking for my local friends.  Hopefully I'll stumble upon some friendly bikers and other active people up in Auckland.  The different groups of people I interact with be missed. 

There are the mountain bike crew.  Whom I met via a poster looking for worker bees on the track.  Last night we finished a section that allows us access back to the main track, even though the new track is only about a 1/3 done.  We also did trips to Rotorua and other mtb trails as well as our weekly Wed Night ride. 

Then there are the tri folks.  We swam, biked, and ran together.  And after all of that we would hit up a cafe for some drinks and snacks.  They are also the ones that talked me into my big event of the year.  I'm already thinking that I may want to top it next year with Coast to Coast, but don't let Beth know just yet.

I'm sure I'm forgetting stuff, but its getting late and I'm wanting to research where I should eat in KL.  Also need to plot out some running workouts so I don't suck at my race in a month.  If anyone wants to sending something over to us, Beth's parents are coming over for Xmas.  Email me and I can get you in contact.

Time to start looking

We'll be moving to Auckland in early December as I just accepted a role as a Business Intelligence Developer with a company on Auckland's North Shore. I've had a few interviews as I've been looking for roles that would allow me to utilize my development skills. This role feels like an extension of my previous roles in data and development.  I'll be responsible for SSRS (reporting), SSAS (cubes of relational data for reporting and metrics), and ASP.NET MVC in C# (for the application). 

What does the company do?  They design, manufacture, install, and manage via software sorting systems.  Huh?  Let me paint this picture for you.  You drop off your bag at the ticket counter.  It gets tagged and then takes a magical ride through the underbelly of the airport.  Based on the bag tag it gets routed by a computer system to a carousel to be loaded into a baggage cart and then delivered and loaded onto your flight.  Works most of the time, right?  Well this company makes most of that happen.  The other big client would be companies like FedEx, which utilize conveyor belts to move thousands of packages around the facility to the proper containers to be loaded for exotic places or more likely just across state lines.  It will be interesting to see the operation for a different point of view as I held jobs in both industries in college. They were eager for me to accept and are anxious to get me in the office.  I'm sure I'll learn a lot and rise to any challenges that the new environment brings.

Once I find out exactly what I'll be doing, I'll post it up.  I know right now I'll be in charge of creating an application to deploy report definitions from a central server to client servers when new versions are created in order to keep the remote sites synchronized with the latest version.  I will be drinking from the fire hose when it comes to SSAS, but I'm already been studying and practicing.  

Some of the perks:
Early adopters of technology
Close to lots of sushi restaurants and other tasty places in general
They have an indoor 3-on-3 soccer 'field', weights, heavy bag, and other cycle commuters.
Pay for Microsoft Certifications (Training and Exams)
Travel