Greetings from Raleigh, NC

I am in Raleigh,NC working on a technical manual. It's surprising that my boss even let me take a leave of absence considering how things are going back home, what with people leaving left and right. Today is my 3rd day and I'm starting to get used to the area and work climate somewhat. My 1st day was a bit of culture shock at the massive IBM building at RTP, where a lot of research and development happens. As my dad says, I'm in tall cotton and yes, it is overwhelming.
At lunch on the 1st day, I found myself sitting at a table with 3 men, one from Russia, the other from Australia, and the other from South Africa! We had BBQ from Danny's, pretty decent.
I am also seemingly surrounded by British accents and may be talking in one soon out of osmosis!

Speaking of overwhelming, the task at hand of writing 3 chapters in a 5 chapter book dealing with Features on Demand, a licensing key that offers system upgrades versus having to buy an extra piece of hardware. And I have to learn how to use Adobe Framemaker in the process. My coworker Michael has done 2 of these before so at least he has some experience that I can call upon.
This is all new to me and will be an experience in time management also since I'm so used to a structured environment.

I have been able two find a few bike trails so far so that has been good. Sleeping and eating well. Missing Renee and the girls. Can't wait to see them soon.

Blue Ridge Triathlon race report

First of all, huge thanks to my wife Renee for getting up with me at 4am to get ready for the race and providing pit crew and moral support! Went into my 3rd triathlon in Blue Ridge, GA pretty confident after spending this year ramping up my swim at the Aquatic Center and Open Water Swims at Lake Allatoona. Swimming being my main limiter and biking and running, my strengths. I never realized just how much technique is involved with swimming and it's been a challenge to get faster in the water and to also become comfortable in open water. For this race, I knew I would have no problem with the Sprint distance: 600 yard swim, 18 mile bike, 3.2 mile run. No I don't have an expensive Tri bike with aero wheels, aero bars or aero helmet. In fact, you'd laugh at how much my race bike costs. Hey, I figure I'll build my body up first before diving in fully with the expensive gear. Rested 3 days prior and was battling a groin/adductor pull. Hurts like crazy unless legs a

Bassline of the week!

I heard this song on a run today and realized what a great bass part it has. That's Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads' playing on "Born Under Punches." Tina, in my opinion, is a consistently underrated bassist. She really has such a minimalist style. This bassline does exactly what it needs to and nothing more, simple and effective. It definitely gets bonus points for being in such a quirky time signature as well! She also uses space and air between notes to provide extra, er, punch. It's such a strange song frankly, with typical Talking Heads bizarre lyrics, seemingly random guitar licks and synth for that matter. Tina's part could've fallen through the cracks and her slap-and-pop style on the track helps the bass break through the mix a bit. This song is a great example of bass parts that just groove and are perfect in their simplicity. Enjoy and thanks for reading!

Raleigh, etc.

It's hot here in Raleigh and I'm stuck in a windowless tiny office writing a technical manual. Actually I'm not writing much of anything. Sometimes the well dries up. I had a pretty bad crash last night on 286. Came through the other side of a creek crossing and front wheel washed out in some loose rocks. I may have applied to much front brake inexplicably. Really trying to lay off the brakes more and more. Anyway, left elbow and knee are banged up and plenty of road rash. As they say, that's racing. There is a race Saturday here that I thought about entering on a lark but now I may not.

Mountain Bikes, Bass Guitar, and other stuff I like

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