Definitely a benefit of my office’s location…I got to do this more often
Cutting the Cord
Not sure where this rant came from, but I wanted to chime in on cutting the cord. Many people save money by canceling their cable subscription,while still enjoying their favorite content through Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming and OnDemand options. The only thing really stopping me from embracing the idea is ESPN and other live sports content. I know ESPN3 streams a limited amount of programming, but it doesn’t do the job for me.
If anyone is reading this, I’d like to hear their opinion on how they see live sports coverage in the future, whether it be through cable, existing avenues, or other options yet to be available. Gracias.
2010 in review(site stats)
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.
Crunchy numbers
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 28 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 29 posts. There were 74 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 189mb. That’s about 1 pictures per week.
The busiest day of the year was July 25th with 46 views. The most popular post that day was Mount Everest.
Where did they come from?
The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, twitter.com, youusedtobealright.com, mattmayer.com, and en.wordpress.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for chinese orange chicken, mount everest, potala palace tibet, surf city marathon, and chinese food orange chicken.
Attractions in 2010
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
1
Mount Everest July 2010
2 comments
2
Look what I got myself into September 2010
3
My Own Sandwich(No Mayo) January 2010
1 comment
4
The Google Phone and the Power of Apple January 2010
5
Dunhuang July 2010
3 comments
Updates-Beware(Lots of Text)
Training Update
1) Training is going well in terms of endurance. I will need to step up my minute per mile to make my goal of below 3:10:59.
2) If I reached a qualifying time at the Surf City USA Marathon, I would not be able to do Boston because it sold out in under 8 hours this year. With a qualifying time, I want to sign up for 2012 Boston Marathon. Let’s just hope they do not require better qualifying times for next year’s event…
3) I will be doing up for a 24-hour Ragnar Relay-Southern California. Basically for 24 hours straight you split up 192.3 miles between 12 people. The race starts in Huntington Beach and ends in Coronado(San Diego)….should be quite the experience….
In hindsight, it actually worked fine that the Boston Marathon sold out. The Boston Marathon is April 18, so the timing would not work out for the relay.
By reading the above mentioned words, one might ask, “Does he do anything else besides run?”. Here is the rest……..
Life Update
1) Although not happening so quickly, my job search is primary thing going on with me. I’m putting in the work each day, staying optimistic, and eventually things will work out.
2) I am starting a very small side business selling balancing wine holders. Sales begin at the beginning of December and they make great personal, holiday or business gifts at a reasonable price.(Also makes a really good piece to display a wine at a restaurant or small wine shop)
3) Continuing my mandarin twice a week. I did not want to forget everything I learned, and I know it’s worth the time to keep at it. It’s a good thing my teacher is a stickler for tones because I have some bad habits ingrained in my pronunciation and it takes a lot of work to change it.
4) The weather is beyond amazing and one of the reasons why I am able to do all these running things. Although home is definitely not as happening as Shanghai, there are more than enough things going on here to keep me busy.
Other Updates
1) I’ve been given confirmation by various sources. After 10 months, the Bryan Special has taken down from menu at Sarnies. Not going to lie, but I wish it stayed up longer. It had a good run, but who knows it might be possible to order it by special order.
Enjoy this sandwich related Curb Your Enthusiasm clip
2)There is a Xinjiang Restaurant in Los Angeles called Omar. This is the first restaurant of its kind to my knowledge in Southern California, and I will be trying it out this Saturday.
3)Oregon Football is #1. It’s almost hard for me to fathom the current situation. Although I am a USC alum, I have been a lifelong Oregon fan , so I am beyond excited to see their success this season. While I cannot get too excited and need to take each game at a time, there is no doubting the Oregon Football is a far cry away from the days of people being satisfied with a Las Vegas Bowl victory over Air Force(Yes, I did attend the 1997 Las Vegas Bowl(Oregon 41 Air Force 13) and it was my first time in Vegas.)
Another Good View from a Run
Makes thing a bit easier…
Good Run
Nice View
Look what I got myself into
For a few years now I have said I wanted to qualify for the Boston Marathon, and I just made some day into February 6, 2011 (aka Super Bowl Sunday).
Last night I registered for the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach in hopes of getting below 3 hours 10 minutes 59 seconds to qualify for Boston. Previously, my fastest marathon was 3 hours 22 minutes and 21 seconds so I have a lot of work to do, but I’m encouraged by my 1 hour 32 minute performance at the 2009 Shanghai Half Marathon with not much training.
I have lots of work ahead of me, but I am confident that I can make this happen. Wish me luck. I’ll try to post some updates as the training starts.
Looks Familiar…
An 85 C Bakery opened near my house, so I decided to check it out. For those of unfamiliar with this place, it’s a Taiwanese bakery with locations all over Beijing and Shanghai. The products and layout looked basically the same as in China, but much busier.(I waited in a 5 minute line at 7 p.m., the place was happening.)
Not used to seeing this sign in the US
Tous Les Jours- A Korean French Bakery Chain that I used to go to when I lived in Beijing.
I went to see 85 C and I ended up passing a few other familiar chains from my time in China. I wanted to see what all the hype about this 85 C and everything seemed pretty similar, except this is the sole location in the US, while there are 63 in Shanghai alone.
