Category Archives: Commentary

Microsoft gives employee special Halloween treat

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We have great benefits at Microsoft. One category of benefits involves commuting which includes free bus passes, Connector buses, and designated parking spots for carpools/vanpools. For example, I take the bus to work a couple days each week using my free bus pass. TB and I are registered carpoolers for the times we ride together.

Carpoolers share a single parking badge which must be displayed whenever a vehicle is parked in one of the designated spots. On several occasions when we both drive, I have admittedly broken the rules by parking my car in a carpool spot without the badge. Four or five times over the past 10 years I have received parking violations from Microsoft Security reminding me that I cannot park my car in a carpool spot without displaying the badge. Nothing more has ever happened but each citation stated the violation would be recorded and my car is subject to immediate towing.

Well, yesterday, Halloween, a Friday when I was at work until 7:30 PM, the big payback hit like a sledgehammer. A security officer with the initials JH had the 626 towed, y’all. My baby was in lockup for the first time.

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I finished first in the Nike+ Human Race 10K

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OK, not really FIRST first.

Petanque boules On August 31, before heading to Belgium, I completed The Human Race 10K. For this global 10K running event my time was 57’14” (or about 9:32 per mile) which means I finished first…in the second group of 13,900 runners. Ha! The top finisher overall finished in 27’38”. You know nothing crushes a guy’s ego like the reality that someone not only runs faster but over twice as fast. I have to take solace knowing I can probably bench more than mjjensen80. If that fails, I will destroy him in a game of Pétanque.

Seattle wasn’t cool enough to make the list as one of 25 official host cities so I registered and ran as a “public runner.” For public runners to get credit for running, we had to run on August 31 and upload our results by September 2.

When I registered for the race over a month ago, I had my mind set on finishing in 54 minutes flat but two things conspired against me. First, my recent hamstring injury forced me to focus less on speed and more on endurance. Second, we decided to go to Belgium and our flight was at 7:15 AM the day of the race. I had to wake at 3 AM to have enough time to run, shower, eat and make it to the airport for an international flight. We wouldn’t arrive in Belgium until September 1 so it was either do the run before our trip or not at all. Let me tell you, running a 10K solo at 3 in the morning on 4 hours of sleep was brutal.

I was not used to running in the dark and I carried a flashlight so I could see more than three feet in front of me. It was difficult to relax since I worried I would encounter a pack of rabid coyotes and have to unleash a devastating fists of fury combo. Afterwards, TB told me coyotes don’t attack people. I was like, “Yeah, right!” and quickly reminded her of bouts like Buck vs. Christopher Reeve, Montecore vs. Roy Horn and Stingray vs. Steve Irwin. Sometimes, like humans, animals forget what they are and are not supposed to do. I want to get on Wikipedia eventually but not like that.

Three weeks from tomorrow is the big event: My first half marathon. Considering I have yet to run more than 10 miles, I feel caught between wanting to give my leg proper time to heal and wanting to tack on the miles to build endurance at the longer distances. I’m not running for time but I am running to finish.

Nike+ - Human Race 10K - August 31 2008

Caucusing in Washington, Part 2

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Today was the second stage of the delegate process here in Washington state. TB and I attended the 48th Legislative District caucus as Obama delegate (he) and alternate (she) representing Precinct 2920. Compared to the precinct level caucusing we participated in back in February, the legislative district caucus was much more organized, procedural and drawn out. We arrived at Interlake High School in Bellevue at 9:50 AM and convened with the rest of Congressional District 1 in the smaller of the two gymnasiums. (Congressional District 8 was in the larger gymnasium since it covers the much bigger city of Bellevue.) We left early at 1:30 PM after I handed in my ballot.

Barack Obama '08 - Yes We Can The bad news is my time as an Obama delegate is over. I did not participate in the nomination process to move on as a delegate for the Congressional District caucuses. I wasn’t prepared with my bio and photo and felt others who have been more actively involved in the Obama election for a much longer time deserved one of the 8 male slots of the total 16 available for Obama. The Washington Democratic party requires equal numbers of men & women in the state delegation so the 11 delegates and 5 alternates available to Obama, half had to be female and the other half male. Since there were odd numbers of delegates and alternates, the tie-breaker was decided by a coin toss. Females came out ahead resulting in 6 female delegates, 5 male delegates, 2 female alternates and 3 male alternates. Eight and eight.

Surprisingly, not all Precinct delegates showed up today and 30 alternates had to be seated. In the end, a total of 13 Precincts across our Congressional District did not send any delegates or alternates for either candidate. That’s amazing considering how closely contested the Democratic Presidential nomination race has been. Clinton received 4 delegates + 2 alternates compared to Obama’s 11 delegates + 5 alternates; a much bigger victory for Obama than the 2 to 2 from our Precinct.

The good news is TB and I collected some memorabilia—posters and stickers—that we will likely frame and display to commemorate our part in what has been an historic election process. While we are no longer delegates, we aren’t finished campaigning and contributing on behalf of Obama. I just need to figure out how to get my picture taken with Michelle and Barack.

Leroy Jenkins: When all talk meets all action

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I stumbled across this old YouTube video that captures a World of Warcraft pre-battle strategy meeting involving a dozen or so collaborators. I have never played WoW myself but some of the funniest videos and commercials parody those who do. This one is hilarious. Watch the entire thing but pay attention around the 1’30” mark.

The next time your team is stricken with analysis paralysis or you are on vacation with a group of people who cannot make up their minds, shout “Leeeeeerooooyyyy Jenkins” and just roll.

 

Announcement: I upgraded my blog to WordPress 2.5 last night. Most of the improvements are for stability and performance. Let me know if you experience anything weird. I also added a print link to each post in case you want to take some Amusing Musings on the road.

Now at Circuit City: Lying to Customers

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A Circuit City customer service representative attempted to fit me for a dunce cap today with a manager-supported, bold-faced lie. I wasn’t having it. First a bit of background:

dunce cap I spent Tuesday through Thursday in Radcliff, Kentucky attending my younger brother’s, Charles, Basic Training graduation from Fort Knox (Company D, 3rd Battalion, 46th Infantry). I left Seattle midday on Tuesday, flying into Cincinnati via Chicago, arriving at the hotel in Florence, KY at 1 AM Wednesday. At 9 AM I was on the road driving to Radcliff (45 minutes south of Louisville). I completed the 2 1/2 hour drive and stopped for breakfast before making it to the barracks around 1 PM where I found my exhausted, transformed brother asleep in a chair—the last soldier waiting for someone to arrive to spend family day with him. :sad:

While in Florence, I realized I forgot my laptop power supply back in Seattle and only had a couple hours left on my batteries. While Charles and I were out, we stopped at a Circuit City where I purchased a Kensington power supply. The sales rep couldn’t guarantee the power supply would work with my laptop even after visiting the Kensington site. He promised I would have no problem returning it so I bought it and left. It didn’t work.

Fast-forward to me visiting the Circuit City store in Bellevue, Washington today to return the item. After five minutes of “check[ing] with the manager,” the woman working customer service came back and said she would only be able to give me an in-store credit because the Bellevue Circuit City is still on an old system while the Circuit City in Kentucky was on a new system.

“Really?” I replied. “So there is more than one Circuit City?” Of course she said no but then she went on about how the systems were different and “wouldn’t allow [her] to do a return to my credit card.” I sensed something fishy with her demeanor…eye contact can be a great truth serum. She wasn’t being truthful.

I used to work at Circuit City in customer service and I know the company would never alienate customers due to an internal system upgrade. I continued looking her in the eye, weighing my next words carefully, debating whether to get irate or to keep it professional. Vinegar or honey? Keef or Keith? My previous stint as a Circuit City customer service associate allowed me empathize—she was just doing as she was told. I decided to take it easy on her and offered five simple words that left little doubt how our interaction would ultimately end: “That doesn’t work for me.” She again had to check with the manager.

Two minutes later, I was leaving the Bellevue Circuit City with a full credit to my card. Circuit City will have to hold the dunce cap for another day.