Tag / Work

by admin

Dancing Days

It’s that time of year again, as the nation’s attention turns to the college hoops scene for the next few weeks. I’m down to just two pools this yearone at my mom’s work, and one run by a friend, as the work pool died due to lack of interest.  I will be in Milwaukee tonight to watch the Purdue Boilermakers make their third straight tournament appearance, hopefully advancing past this first weekend.

Last year’s champion, Villanova, gets the overall #1 seed and are my pick to advance to the Final Four.

Purdue ends up as the 4 seed in the Midwest, and I have them going to the Elite Eight, before falling to Oregon.  I have tickets to the first two games, so I hope they can at least win those 2.

Continue reading →

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 6

Yet another successful week, as I stretch my continuous 50K week streak to 6 and my days over goal streak to 48.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday, as I spent the day traversing the city with Hayley to see a stirring production of Shakespeare’s Henry V.  Monday got the work week off to a strong start, with a 7800 step day.  Tuesday dropped back down to just over 7000 steps, before Wednesday and Thursday catapulted back up to over 8500 steps each day.  The work week came to an end with a strong 7200 step day on Friday.  Saturday managed to just squeak past the 6500 step day, despite a trip out for a haircut and pizza.

Total steps: 55,387

Daily average: 7912.4

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 5

Another good week, as I broke 50,000 steps for the 5th consecutive week, my longest stretch since last summer, when I put together a 14 week stretch between mid April and mid July.  I also continued my streak of above-goal days to a record 41 straight, surpassing the 36 day streak last summer.  Things started on a good note on Sunday, where I combined trips to the grocery store, Danny’s band concert, and dinner out to finish near 7000 steps.  Monday was a day off work and managed to be the high point of the week, coming in over 10,000 steps for the fourth time this month.  Tuesday was back to work, and a lot of time was spent running around the building dealing with drama, followed by an after work trip to the Glen.  Wednesday was the low point of the week, finishing a mere 36 steps above goal despite walking from Willow back to South after a morning meeting.  Things bounced back on Thursday, as I approached 8000 steps thanks in part to an old-timey afternoon coffee run with Val.  Friday and Saturday both took some extra effort to traipse around the upper level of the house to reach and surpass my daily goal.

Total steps: 53,746

Daily average: 7678

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 4

A tremendous week, as continued unseasonably warm weather, including new record highs for Chicago in the month of February, led to my highest weekly total since last June.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday, where grocery shopping and a walk around the neighborhood combined to put me over 10,000 steps for just the fourth time in the month of February.  Monday surpassed 8700 steps, thanks to an afternoon meeting in Willow that the weather allowed me to walk over for.  Despite some morning rain, Tuesday again surpassed the 10,000 step plateau, thanks to an after work neighborhood walk.  Wednesday finished above 8000 steps, and was the last day of good weather.  Thursday benefited from an after-work dinner outing to come close to 7000 steps.  Friday was spent in Rockford, watching Angelina compete at Nationals.  Multiple trips around the BMO Harris Bank Center enabled me to just pass my daily step goal.  Saturday I managed to surpass 6500 steps for the 28th straight day, despite not leaving the house at all.

Total steps: 58,336

Daily average: 8333.7

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 3

Another good week, as my streak of days above goal hits 21 days and I put up my highest weekly total since the middle of November.  The week got off to a surprisingly decent start, with Sunday’s total surpassing my daily step goal by 45 steps, despite pulling an all-nighter due to the release of the Email Redesign project and my crashing around 4 PM.  The work week started with alternating successes, with Monday and Wednesday hovering just above 6500 steps and Tuesday and Thursday just under 8500.  Spring-like temperatures arrived on Friday, leading to over 7000 steps followed by nearly 8000 steps on Saturday.

Total steps: 51,466

Daily average: 7352.3

by admin

Book 5 (of 52) – The Phoenix Project

The Phoenix Project – Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, & George Spafford

When Bill Palmer is unexpectedly promoted to vice president of IT Operations at Parts Unlimited, he inherits an organization that is underperforming and in danger of being outsourced.  With the help of an enigmatic potential board member, Bill starts to see a new way to run his organization, using agile and DevOps to save the day.

2011 was the last time I read a “business” book, but my senior manager kept harping on this one and, during an agile training session, I broke down and ordered the book.  Written as a novel, the book details how implementing these strategies improve performance and help make IT an integral part of any enterprise.  It paints a rosy picture, while ignoring any difficulties that may be experienced while switching to these new paradigms.

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 2

Another week where every day managed to surpass my daily step goal, hitting my longest streak since July, when I managed 36 days in a row.  Things got off to a decent start on Sunday, when I took an ill-advised walk around the neighborhood despite the cold temperatures.  The work week ranged from just barely surpassing my goal on Thursday to nearly hitting 8000 steps on Tuesday.  The best day of the week was Saturday, where the weather was better for another outdoors walk, followed by a long night to deploy the project I’ve been working on for over a year.

Total steps: 50,749

Daily average: 7249.9

by admin

Fitbit III: Week 1

The third year of tracking activity with the Fitbit got off to a good start, with every day surpassing my new daily goal of 6500 steps, the first time I’ve accomplished that feat since early October.  Things got off to a good start on Sunday thanks in part to a trip out to the grocery store.  The work week was pretty consistent, thanks to meetings that mostly kept me at my desk and staying in for lunch.  The big day was Saturday, where I headed in to the city to see George Takei at the Chicago Theatre, ending up with an early 10,000 step day.

Total steps: 51,137

Daily average: 7305.3

by admin

FB2: Week 52

We finish off the second year of Fitbit activity with a pretty good week.  Things got off to a slow start on Sunday, where I fell about 900 steps short of my daily goal thanks to not really leaving the house at all.  Monday was a nice bounce back, with over 8100 steps, thanks in part to a long day at the office.  Tuesday was another decent day, coming in over 7000 steps.  Wednesday fell back closer to the 6000 step mark.  Thursday turned in to the best day of the week, thanks in part to a mid morning walk over to North Plaza for coffee.  Friday and Saturday finished up the week about even.

Total steps: 47,579

Daily average: 6797

by admin

FB2: Week 51

A pretty good week as I posted my highest total since the week before Thanksgiving.  Things got off to a decent start on Sunday, as I managed to just cross my daily step goal.  Monday was a typical day at work, coming in around 6500 steps.  Tuesday saw a big increase, with close to 9500 steps, thanks to lots of walking around the work place.  Wednesday and Thursday were spent in training, so I didn’t get my usual chances to get up and around.  Friday was a bit of a bounce back as I spent the day working before working all night on a deployment.  Following a little sleep, a nearly 60 degree day on Saturday led my first 10,000 step day of 2017 and the first I’ve had in January since 2012.

Total steps: 49,691

Daily average: 7098.7