Resolutions

I have two resolutions for the the new year:

1. Get back into the habit of commuting every day
2. Lose some weight.

Once I was able to start riding after the accident I started easing into regular commuting. I started riding a few times a week with the intention of gradually increasing my riding until I was riding every day. The problem is that it was too easy to find an excuse not to ride. I looked back at my records and saw that there were only 5 weeks in 2008 where I rode both to and from work. One of those was in January (before the accident, of course), one each in August and September, and two in October. Weeks with 4 round trips were fairly rare as well. Now there will be the occasional day that I can't ride, but I have only been riding about half the time, maybe less. This is what lead to my first resolution.

I actually rode all 5 days in the first week in January and I was tired at the end of the week. Riding in cold weather is more difficult but my lack of conditioning is part of the reason as well. I hadn't ridden at all in two weeks. The extra weight that I'm carrying doesn't help either.

That leads into my second resolution. I am way too heavy right now. I weighed myself on Wednesday and I was 203.5 lbs. and 26% body fat. This is about 30 lbs. heavier that what I weighed in 2006 and 2007. It's even about 18 lbs. heavier than where I was when I started riding in 2005. On good thing is that it is still 30 lbs. lighter than what I weighed in 1999.

I don't have a specific plan for losing weight. Riding more and not eating like a pig are part of the equation. I know that losing a pound a week should not be too much trouble for me but I'm not setting a specific goal. I do plan on posting my weight here every week or so to keep myself honest. I will also post whenever I don't ride to work.

Just what I expected

I just finished my meeting and everything went just as I expected. I still have a job. It involves support only; no new development. I will also be supporting some other applications that I have not worked with before so I will at least be exposed to some different applications. I hoping that things won't be as bad as I fear.

I'm mad as hell, but I'm going to take it for a while longer

My meeting has been scheduled for 9am on Monday. That's when I will find out my status. But early indications are that I will be keeping my job. This does not make me happy because it also looks like I will be stuck doing support with no opportunity for advancement for the foreseeable future. A couple of months ago I said that I would rather be fired than have that happen. All I can hope for is that the situation something other than what I expect.

Yes, I should be happy that I have a job, but I'm not. In fact I would guess anyone who been told "You're luck to have a job" hasn't felt lucky. Even if they were telling it to themselves.

Beer, Uncertainty, and Doubt

On Monday I will know my fate. Tomorrow I will get an e-mail telling me what time my meeting will be. The IT offices will be closed on Monday. Each person will only be going in for their meeting. During that meeting I will be told whether I will have a job or not. If I keep my job I assume that I will be told who my new manager is and something about the new organizational structure. I I lose my job I will be given more information about the severance package.

At this point I'm just glad to have a date when the uncertainty will be over. I know that I'll be fine either way.

Spoiler Alert

This post contains fact that you may not want to know. And once you know something it is impossible to un-know it.

On Sunday Rachel figured out that there is no Santa Claus. While wrapping presents she saw some pre-printed gift tags that said "To: From: Santa". I said that we should leave them out on Christmas Eve so Santa could use them. She later asked Helen if we were Santa. She admitted that we were and Rachel started crying. We knew that this was probably the last year she would believe. Already some of her classmates don't believe. I told her not to tell A.J.

It's interesting to hear other people's reaction to this. Some people thinks that she's too young to figure it out (she's 8) and others think that she was already too old to believe in Santa. I've noticed that some kid's TV shows try to foster a belief in Santa but I wonder if they have the opposite effect. There are shows where Santa is real and the main character (a kid) believes in him but nobody else does. I wonder if this starts the seeds of doubt in some kids. At least it introduces the idea that some people don't believe in Santa.

Things are tough all over

I have worked at Anheuser-Busch for over ten years. Last month AB was bought by InBev. The name of the new company is Anheuser-Busch InBev, but this was definitely an acquisition -- not a merger. Everyone here has been concerned about job cuts. We have know that they are coming ever since the buyout was first proposed about 6 months ago. On Monday the plans were made public for this first time. 1400 salaried employees will be let go. About 1000 of those from the St. Louis area.

The numbers have been published but the names haven't. I have no idea whether or not I will be laid off or not. I expect to find out sometime next week. Obviously, if I am let go, this is not a great time to be looking for a job. On the bright side, between vacation and severance I would still have a paycheck until the end of April.

A new car for Helen

A few weeks ago Helen took the minivan in for an emissions inspection. It did not pass and needed some parts replaced. Each time a part was replaced we found out that it needed another one. After spending around $700 on it, they decided that it needed a new computer. That would cost at least $700 (assuming that they could find a used computer).

At that point I decided that we should just replace it. Although I really don't want to have a car payment right now, I also don't want to pour a lot of money into a seven year old minivan. We had driven a Toyota Yaris while on vacation in San Antonia and were very impressed by it. I did some research on it and it looked like it would be better to get a Corolla instead. After having to deal with a car that was only intermittently available for several weeks, Helen was willing to get anything.

I usually do more research and planning before buying a car. I said to Helen that we should get a new car on Wednesday night and had the new car less than 24 hours later. I think that I got a decent deal on the car but sometimes it's hard to tell.