When I was an undergrad, I remember reading about the initial release of Google App Engine. It was on some tech news site probably Slashdot, but it might have been HN. My reaction to the article was "Holy shit, that's awesome!" As a broke college student, the idea of executing my code on Google's scalable platform using the free tier sounded incredible. Even back then Google had super secret server farms.
Fast forward several years.
A few days ago, I celebrated my one year anniversary at Google. One of my coworkers asked me to deploy a new version of the App Engine Administration Console to production. My response: "no problem." Just another day at the chocolate factory.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
V3!
I was bouldering at Planet Granite last night, and I climbed my first V3.
A few minutes earlier I was talking with my buddy, and he was asking me if I had done anything past a V2 yet. I said that V3s were still outside the limit of my abilities. I took a look a part of the wall that was recently re-mapped, and this route just jumped out at me.
Stoke levels are high.
Update 6/1/2014: I've climbed a few more V3s since this post. I'm progressing!
A few minutes earlier I was talking with my buddy, and he was asking me if I had done anything past a V2 yet. I said that V3s were still outside the limit of my abilities. I took a look a part of the wall that was recently re-mapped, and this route just jumped out at me.
Stoke levels are high.
Update 6/1/2014: I've climbed a few more V3s since this post. I'm progressing!
Sunday, May 4, 2014
2013-2014 Ski Season Recap
So the season is over. That's not cool. But let's review the season for posterity.
This was the first season that I did a ski lease in Tahoe. We had a nice enough house in South Lake. Bonus points for the hot tub. The lease was setup so that we each had our own beds. Super convenient to never have to deal with bed laundry or worry if all the beds are taken.
Snow conditions. Not good. Around mid-season, it was said that this was the worst season in 50 years. It picked up somewhat after that, but not too much. Kirkwood doesn't have much snow making, so we did a lot of days in the early season at Heavenly. I've had enough of Dipper and Comet to last a lifetime.
This was my first season in the backcountry. I took a Level 1 AIARE course at Kirkwood in February, and over the course of the season did about 5 days of backcountry skiing. Tahoe backcountry got a really late start this year, because the base never really built up that big. The base needs to build up to bury those pesky rocks and logs.
My favorite day of the year started off at Kirkwood. It was a powder day, and the place was super crowded, because everyone was jonesing for some of the fluffy stuff and it had been a dry season so far. Kirkwood was tracked out by 2pm, and honestly I had an ok day there. So I left and met up with my buddy Aaron at Powderhouse Peak. I skinned up, and met him mid-mountain. Then we made our way to the summit together. We skied all the way to the base. 18" of untouched fresh through some beautiful wide open glades. After the first run, I turned to Aaron and said "That was the best run of my life", he replied "Me too." Aaron and I did a few more laps, and made it back to the car around 8pm.
I made some tentative plans to go to Utah and possibly Jackson Hole, but those never came to fruition. I didn't make it out of Lake Tahoe this season. I skied 26 days this season, which beats my old record of 18. Not bad for a working stiff in San Francisco.
So it wasn't a good season snow wise. But I still had a freaking blast. The stoke level is high for next year.
While the season is over, there is still the possibility for more skiing. Either hiking up to some persistent snow fields(likely) or traveling to the Southern hemisphere(unlikely). I'm always looking to get in some more turns.
This was the first season that I did a ski lease in Tahoe. We had a nice enough house in South Lake. Bonus points for the hot tub. The lease was setup so that we each had our own beds. Super convenient to never have to deal with bed laundry or worry if all the beds are taken.
Snow conditions. Not good. Around mid-season, it was said that this was the worst season in 50 years. It picked up somewhat after that, but not too much. Kirkwood doesn't have much snow making, so we did a lot of days in the early season at Heavenly. I've had enough of Dipper and Comet to last a lifetime.
This was my first season in the backcountry. I took a Level 1 AIARE course at Kirkwood in February, and over the course of the season did about 5 days of backcountry skiing. Tahoe backcountry got a really late start this year, because the base never really built up that big. The base needs to build up to bury those pesky rocks and logs.
My favorite day of the year started off at Kirkwood. It was a powder day, and the place was super crowded, because everyone was jonesing for some of the fluffy stuff and it had been a dry season so far. Kirkwood was tracked out by 2pm, and honestly I had an ok day there. So I left and met up with my buddy Aaron at Powderhouse Peak. I skinned up, and met him mid-mountain. Then we made our way to the summit together. We skied all the way to the base. 18" of untouched fresh through some beautiful wide open glades. After the first run, I turned to Aaron and said "That was the best run of my life", he replied "Me too." Aaron and I did a few more laps, and made it back to the car around 8pm.
 |
| Powderhouse Peak |
So it wasn't a good season snow wise. But I still had a freaking blast. The stoke level is high for next year.
While the season is over, there is still the possibility for more skiing. Either hiking up to some persistent snow fields(likely) or traveling to the Southern hemisphere(unlikely). I'm always looking to get in some more turns.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Grad School
When I finished my undergrad at Georgia Tech, I took a job that wanted me to start working on a Masters degree. My first job was with GE Energy in the Edison Engineering Development Program. Part of the program was to take a few graduate courses. It's kind of brutal to work 40+ hours a week, and then spend most of your free time on grad school.
After two years of that, I told my boss that I wanted to take a leave of absence and finish my degree as a full-time student. He and HR managed to talk me out of it.
Then a year later, I received an insane job offer at another company. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I took it. I kept working on my degree in my own time, because I was close to the end.
I took my last final yesterday.
A few days ago, someone asked me what I was going to do now that I finished my degree. I didn't have an answer at the time. But I should have said, "I am going to keep living the dream."
After two years of that, I told my boss that I wanted to take a leave of absence and finish my degree as a full-time student. He and HR managed to talk me out of it.
Then a year later, I received an insane job offer at another company. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I took it. I kept working on my degree in my own time, because I was close to the end.
I took my last final yesterday.
A few days ago, someone asked me what I was going to do now that I finished my degree. I didn't have an answer at the time. But I should have said, "I am going to keep living the dream."
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Sonoma Party Weekend
A friend is moving from SF to Houston, and so he threw a blowout bash up in wine country. We stayed in a sick mansion in Sonoma. This place had every amenity you could ask for. Hot tub, swimming pool with diving board, private ski lake, bouldering wall.
On Saturday, we all piled into a party bus and went touring to some vineyards. I've been wine tasting before, but I don't recall any whiskey shots and bumping house music last time. It was fun. One of the guys was a member at Sunce winery, so we chilled there for a long time. Very cool place.
 |
| View from the back of the house |
On Saturday, we all piled into a party bus and went touring to some vineyards. I've been wine tasting before, but I don't recall any whiskey shots and bumping house music last time. It was fun. One of the guys was a member at Sunce winery, so we chilled there for a long time. Very cool place.
 |
| View from Sunce winery |
Sunday, April 20, 2014
My first ski edit - The Wall at Kirkwood
This is my first ski edit. I think it's fun. I went the entire ski season without filming anything, and decided to throw something together on my last day at Kirkwood.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Pi Mile in Golden Gate Park
A Pi Mile is basically just a 5k. This blog is about badass things, and a 5k isn't badass.
I was out of shape the entire time I was an undergrad. After I graduated, I started working out and I decided to run the Pi Mile race on campus as an alumni. I worked my way up to running a Pi Mile in about 30 minutes. Some other event conflicted with the race, so I missed my shot. Afterwards I moved out of Atlanta. For about a year my workout consisted of running a Pi mile followed by some lifting.
Anyway I started CrossFit, and ended up running less and less. Now I don't really run unless it's part of the WOD. One of the things I like about CrossFit is that it specializes in not specializing. The idea
is that if you are in good shape, you should be able to approach any physical challenge and kick it's ass.
Today as a non-runner, I ran the Pi Mile in 27 minutes. Not only did I smash my old record, but I came in 3rd out of a total of 18 people. I think thats badass.
I was out of shape the entire time I was an undergrad. After I graduated, I started working out and I decided to run the Pi Mile race on campus as an alumni. I worked my way up to running a Pi Mile in about 30 minutes. Some other event conflicted with the race, so I missed my shot. Afterwards I moved out of Atlanta. For about a year my workout consisted of running a Pi mile followed by some lifting.
Anyway I started CrossFit, and ended up running less and less. Now I don't really run unless it's part of the WOD. One of the things I like about CrossFit is that it specializes in not specializing. The idea
is that if you are in good shape, you should be able to approach any physical challenge and kick it's ass.
Today as a non-runner, I ran the Pi Mile in 27 minutes. Not only did I smash my old record, but I came in 3rd out of a total of 18 people. I think thats badass.
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