The blog of Matt

Training

2009-03-11T20:21:00.005-07:00

I started with a trainer about three weeks ago, and he's laid out what I can and can't eat. Basically everything I eat must have a purpose, nothing can be empty calories. (Helen's going to the same trainer, so Helen has the same diet)

My trainer doesn't suggest how much I eat, but I can consume no pork or other red meats, no cheese, no sweets, no mayonnaise or mayo-based products, no cream, and no white bread. I can have limited white rice, but brown rice is much preferred. Whole grains and whole wheat are really preferred to white flour.

I can consume as much fruit and vegetables as I want. I've replaced sweets/after dinner desserts with nuts (I found a canister of macadamia nuts at Costco. Pretty awesome.).

We've been eating a lot of chicken fajitas on wheat tortillas, grilled chicken, and lots of salad. I'm excited that we're going to be eating more fish!

Last week was pretty bad - Helen and I both somewhat detoxed from sugar while ramping up on the exercise. My digestive system had quite a shock ramping up to eating tons of whole grains, vegetables, and other things that actually exercise the digestive system.

Working at Google has been a major help in this endeavor. Every cafe has healthy options. There's always salad options, there's always healthy meats.

Living in Northern California is also great for this - grocery stores have great ingredients, and bay area restaurants always have healthy options.

However, going out to eat in Truckee was very difficult last weekend. My favorite ski area killed off their salad bar. The Mexican restaurant we went to had no meals without either cheese or pork or flour tortillas.

Anyway, the training is going well, and the food is going pretty well too. I'm guessing we're going to have to tweak the food better eventually, but I feel that it'll be OK. It appears that travel is going to be a bit of an exercise in the lesser of two evils when choosing food.

2008 travels

2008-12-31T09:24:00.004-08:00

Somewhat for myself, a list of travel I (or Helen and I) did in 2008:

January:

Lake Tahoe for a weekend of skiing

Mammoth Mountain for a week of skiing

February:

Disneyland for the company winter trip

Boston to see my Grandfather

Lake Tahoe for a weekend of skiing

March:

Lake Tahoe two weekends for skiing

NYC for Helen to go to the Opera, and me to hang out with Kacy and Kevin

April:

Boston for my Dad's 60th birthday

Lake Tahoe for one weekend of skiing

Pittsburgh for Carnegie Mellon's Carnival

May:

Qatar for the first graduation of Carnegie Mellon Qatar and a side jaunt to Jordan to see the Dead Sea and Petra

Los Angeles for Helen's grandmother's 80th birthday

San Francisco for my bachelor party (not exactly travel, but people traveling to see me!)

June:

Lake Tahoe for Jeremy's wedding

July:

No travel!

August:

Helen and my wedding in Burlingame (again, not travel but our favorite people came to us)

Maui for our honeymoon (Lahaina/Ka'anapali and Hana)

Boston and Maine for labor day

September:

No major travel

October:

No major travel

November:

Maine for the Maine Brewery Festival

Los Angeles for Thanksgiving

December:

Mendocino/Fort Bragg for beer tasting

LA for Christmas

Maine for Christmas

Miles flown in 2008:

58074

Holiday Ale postmortem (or How I accidentally started a lambic)

2008-12-05T08:22:00.002-08:00

The holiday ale was just thrown down the drain.

Cause: bacterial growth

Symptoms: persistent "fermentation" (aka bubbling in the airlock), even far past the window it should happen, a weird sour apple smell out of the airlock.

Confirmation:

Percent sugar recorded at ~3% by hydrometer after almost two weeks with consistent bubbling implies a "gusher infection" per How to Brew
That sour lambic smell that shouldn't happen in a holiday ale.
Wort tasted and confirmed un-sugary and un-alcoholy. And just plain wrong. Yes, I drank bacterially-contaminated wort.

Things to do better next time:

Sanitize equipment better (we used unsanitized equipment to squeeze the hops bags outside the acceptable temperature range to do such a thing, and I can think of a couple other things we could sanitize better)
Sanitize hands (hand sanitizer purchased)
Take a specific gravity reading so I can earlier test when something seems wrong and pull the plug earlier, with more confidence.

Ok, that's all I got, folks. Scotch ale being brewed next week on an evening.

Current brewing projects

2008-12-01T07:41:00.003-08:00

In keg: Brewcraft Rogue Dead Guy kit with White Labs American Ale Yeast Blend. It's somewhat flat and possibly under-fermented, reminding me to not rush the fermentation process.
In primary fermentor: MoreBeer's Holiday Ale kit with White Labs California Ale Yeast. This will be bottled, although right now the smell coming out of the airlock on the fermentor suggests it's not going to turn out well.
To be brewed this week: MoreBeer's Scotch Ale kit with White Labs Edinburgh Scottish Ale yeast. This will also be bottled.

Back to brewing

2008-12-01T07:22:00.006-08:00

For my twenty-first birthday, my parents bought me a True Brew beer brewing setup. I brewed two True Brew kits in college, and then moved to California.

When I brewed in college, I fermented beer in the basement. The apartment was also air conditioned, overall keeping the beer within the range of good fermentation temperatures (68-72 approximately for ales).

In the bay area, however, most people don't air condition. This presents a problem to trying to keep the beer within good fermentation temperatures. Our apartment doesn't have AC, and I never felt comfortable that we could keep the beer in a good fermentation range. I didn't try to solve the problem, I just left the equipment in the closet.

About 2 months ago, I saw a Brewcraft Rogue Dead Guy kit on Costco.com, and on an impulse, I purchased it! I got back into brewing!

During fermentation, it actually stayed at pretty much the right temperature in our back closet in November, and last weekend I kegged it (kegerator setup to follow in a subsequent post). Last night, we drank the first beer from the keg! Although a bit flat, it was pretty tasty and I will work on carbonating it a bit more.

More posts to follow, including:

Kegerator setup
Fermentation cooler setup (I can brew ales or lagers year round!)
Current projects

Distress versus correction

2008-09-29T16:16:00.002-07:00

This Marketwatch story says:

Critics also say the plan inadequately addressed job losses and a distressed housing market --problems that underlie current economic weakness.

The housing market was a bubble. No question in my mind. So why don't reporters say the housing market is being corrected? When stocks fall after a bubble, it's a correction. When housing prices plummet, it's "distress".

Congressmen: Do not, under any means, artificially prop up home values. Please.

Randy Pausch succumbs to cancer

2008-07-25T07:16:00.003-07:00

I never had Randy as a professor. I was on campus for recruiting the day of his last lecture but I didn't know what was going on and I didn't go. All the same, he's been an amazing cheerleader for Carnegie Mellon, an amazing cheerleader for optimism, and an amazing role model.

Support craft beer!

2008-06-11T16:22:00.002-07:00

I like beer. I like stouts and IPAs, I like ales and lagers. I like Belgian beer, British beer, German beer, and American microbrewed beer.

One of the great things I've discovered at brewpubs is that you can get a half gallon of beer to go in a glass jar called a growler. The beer stays fresh about 7-10 days in a refrigerated, sealed growler, and once the growler is open it's good for another few days.

Helen and I are going up to Lake Tahoe next weekend for a friend's wedding, and I want to bring back some beer from Fifty Fifty Brewing. It's a four hour drive back - certainly, in the summer, enough time for the beer to warm up.

So what's a beer guy to do? Buy a specialized beer growler cooler of course! So I went over to the nice folks at Cape Cod Beer, and ordered a growler cooler. It can fit up to two growlers, and looks like it should keep the beer cold for a little while. If I'm on a longer trip, I can even use ice packs to chill beer.

I hope to keep buying craft beer on trips and check the beer cooler on the way home. Great way to extend the trip a bit.

Failing airlines

2008-04-05T08:08:00.003-07:00

For those following along at home, 3 airlines have halted operations in the US in the past week.

A moment of silence for Aloha (intra Hawaii and Hawaii-west coast), ATA (low cost carrier, code sharer with Southwest), and Skybus (Columbus based ultra low cost carrier, started up last May.).

2 bicyclists killed in Cupertino when deputy drives across double yellow line

2008-03-12T10:59:00.004-07:00

Two riders, Matt Peterson and Kristy Gough, were killed on Steven's Canyon Road in Cupertino on Sunday when a Sheriff's deputy crossed the double yellow lines and struck them. The riders were riding single file on the shoulder. The deputy possibly fell asleep at the wheel.

Sports Illustrated has a pretty good editorial about the dangers of mixing cycling and cars.

A phrase not on the internet

2008-03-03T10:52:00.002-08:00

I coined a phrase this weekend after going off piste. "It burns when I ski."

I figured I must not be original, but this phrase does not exist anywhere on the internets.

Evil ad

2008-02-25T15:28:00.002-08:00

Via Facebook/Scrabulous, I'll let this ad speak for itself

2 patent applications published!

2007-12-16T06:19:00.000-08:00

APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR ENHANCING HELP RESOURCE SELECTION IN A COMPUTER APPLICATION
APPARATUS, SYSTEM, AND METHOD FOR CONTEXT-AWARE AUTHORING TRANSFORM

Luxury < safety

2007-12-07T11:36:00.000-08:00

Attention bikers:

Headlights and taillights are both legally required for night riding and a really good idea.

Bluetooth headsets are luxuries.

That is all.

Helen wants a dog

2007-12-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

Helen wants a dog. She wants a dog very badly. She's desperate enough that she's even suggested a puggle.

We're in an apartment with a great price, great character, and great location. However, it's in our lease that we can't have a pet. Even if we were in a better place, we both travel a lot and work long hours. It wouldn't be fair to a dog. A smaller, lower maintenance pet might be ok in the right apartment, and so I broached the issue with Helen.

Me: what about a bunny?
Me: as a pet?
Me: when we want to go skiing, we can make stew
Me: and start over with a cuter one
Helen: I was almost considering it ... then you said stew

But I thought all of you were broken!

2007-10-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Apparently I have a genetic disorder: photic sneeze reflex (aka ACHOO (Autosomal dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome)). I sneeze when it's too bright. No, seriously. Helen thinks it's funny.

My mom used to tell me people without this are the broken ones. Now I know that it's really a syndrome!

I biked to Half Moon Bay, and all I got was this pumpkin. And the makings of a cool scar.

2007-10-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, a Googler named John arranged a bike ride called "The Pumpkin Fetch". The premise is just to bike to Half Moon Bay, buy a pumpkin, and bike back. Also, we were required to buy pumpkins. (Apparently John's been doing this ride for quite some time.) I'm not an amazing biker, but I figured a 60 mile bike ride would be fine.

The ride requires two ascents from basically sea level to the top of the hill between Silicon Valley and the Pacific Ocean. Most people call it going up to Skyline Boulevard. I've biked up to Skyline about 5 times now, but never twice in one day. I knew it would be a strenuous ride, but John said that he took his time and would be ok with people a bit slower.

I left home at 7:30 am. I met my friend Jim and John at 8 am at Google. It was pretty chilly last Saturday, and I didn't really warm up until about 3 miles out from Google (9 miles total into the ride). Jim and John kept a pretty fast pace to King's Mountain, and I just tried to keep up. We had a pretty leisurely ascent up Kings Mountain (according to Jim, I took 48 minutes from Tripp Road to Skyline). We then turned north and biked to 92. 92 is a busy road to Half Moon Bay. We descended on 92, and then passed quite a few cars while we biked on the shoulder.

We picked up our pumpkins at a small farm on 92 and took a bit of a break. John purchased a 29 pound pumpkin, and I picked up 50 cent pumpkin - one I'm very proud of!

After the pumpkin selection, we headed west towards Route 1, and then south on Route 1.

The second ascent was up Tunitas Creek Road. From the description, I thought Tunitas would be just a little bit more challenging than King's Mountain. I was wrong - Tunitas is one heck of a road. It's beautiful, not many people, but fairly steep for a few miles.

After one of my many stops on the way up Tunitas, my right foot slipped while trying to clip into my pedals, and came back against the chainring. I started lightly bleeding, but there wasn't much I could do but continue on.

About 3 miles from the top of Tunitas creek, I got a flat in my rear tube. I tried to replace it, but broke off the tip of the Presta valve on my spare. I was trying to reach Jim, who was far ahead, and let him know that I got a flat. Since we were in the middle of nowhere, it took me 15 minutes to get a text out. In the meantime, a very nice biker named Ryan stopped and helped me out - we busted a third tube before we realized that my tire also had a hole in it.

John came back down from the top to help out. Some duct tape, a patch kit, and 15 minutes later, I was on my way again. We reached the top of Skyline again, and I biked home.

I recorded 66 miles and about 6000 feet of vertical. John got quite a lot of compliments on riding up Tunitas with a big pumpkin on the back of his bike.

GPS data and the map of the ride.

Las Vegas!

2007-10-02T11:19:00.001-07:00

Helen and I are off to Las Vegas this weekend, and I'm curious - what would you do in Vegas? We have 3 shows to see, and we're staying kind of south strip.

What's really worth going to? What made your trip to Vegas? What stunk?

So far, this is what I want to see:

Anything else must do? Is the New York New York roller coaster worth it?

I might be a little old

2007-09-19T08:08:00.001-07:00

I might be getting old, or at least too interested in the economy. I heard the Fed cut the federal funds rate a half percent, and all I could think was "What's this mean for inflation?"

Elmo's Fire

2007-07-03T15:18:00.000-07:00

I shouldn't be surprised

2007-07-02T15:26:00.000-07:00

Bush commutes Libby's jail time.

President's statement

Article about it

Things to learn before going to a foreign country

2007-07-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

I just got back from Austria, and while on the trip I figured out that I didn't prepare enough. There are a few things I think I should have learned before I went to a country where I don't speak the native language. (Although, Austrians spoke great English in a commercial setting. Gas station employees switched to English easily, as did servers at restaurants.)

How to say:

Excuse me
Sorry
Do you speak English?
I don't speak X
Please, thank you
May I have a ?
Do you have a menu in English?

What the road signs look like. For example, European road signs are different from American ones. Who knew this meant "no bikes" as opposed to "caution, bikes"?

Helen giggled whenever I tried to speak German.

Bad news, good news

2007-05-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

Bad news: the USPS is raising stamp rates to $0.41 per stamp on May 14.

Good news: the USPS is offering a new "forever stamp" that can always be used to mail a first class letter, no matter how much stamp rates go up. (You can't put it on a package and expect it to be worth the current first class stamp rate, but I never have tried that.)

It makes a ton of sense to introduce "forever stamps", assuming that first class stamps rise with inflation - I use maybe 50 stamps a year, and they raised rates this time 15 months apart. I could never go through a roll of stamps in between fair increases.

I lost my temper

2007-05-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

Today, I biked to work. I was in the bike lane, all the way to the right. A Prius driver was on my left, with her right blinker on. Well, when the light turned green, she tried to get ahead of me and make the right in front of me.

From talking to other guys to bike to work, I'm not the only one who is sometimes cut off by a recently passing car. (It happens every once in a while to all of us it seems)

Bikers aren't nearly as slow as drivers seem to think they are. Or cars aren't as fast as their drivers think. Either way!

Hint

2007-05-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

I have a new favorite drink. The Company recently added a new bottled water, and I adore it. It's called Hint. I drink about 6 bottles of Hint a day at work. It's lightly flavored water with 0 calories - it's so lightly flavored that I feel like I'm drinking water, but it's flavored enough that I don't feel bored like I do chugging water all day long.