Making the leap...

This week, I made the leap of faith from PC to Mac, and the leap was long, faith that I can do this strong, and the desire to separate work on a PC from non-work on a Mac. With my upcoming job change, I wanted to have that clear distinction.

This week, my new Apple MacBook Pro 2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 15.4" laptop arrived. It's a loaded box with iLife '08, MS Office 2008 for Mac, Aperture 2.0 and tons more. I upgraded to 4GB of RAM from crucial.com and also purchased an HP Photosmart C7280 because of a $100 combined purchase rebate. Clear distinctions aside, this is an Intel-based system. I will be installing VMware Fusion this weekend, along with Windows XP Home so that I can get my Quicken up and running to actually pay bills when in Mass.

Needless to say, I am really excited, yet concerned that learning the Mac style is somewhat difficult for me, the old PC guy. I have been using PCs since the dawn of time - at least from a PC perspective. I will definitely need to purchase a book or two on the subject, at least one of those "Dummies Guide" books to get me kick started. It is certainly easier today than yesterday and will be easier in another week or two. Some of the keyboard shortcuts that I have apparently taken for granted on the PC are really missed. I'm sure they are there, but I'll need to have some sort of book to figure it out!

Putting the house on the market

Today, we met with our Realtor (Erin) to discuss the price for selling the house. I will be taking the pictures in the morning and the house will be officially for sale on Wednesday. Erin was very impressed with how much work we have done on the house, including how much we have cleaned out to make the house appear much larger than when she first walked through the home.

The challenge is to have all of the photos taken by Monday at the latest, then have her create and print fliers by Wednesday or Thursday. This is a whirlwind compared to last time we sold our home in Phoenix (10 years ago). There, we plopped a sign in the yard and it sold. The real estate market today is very different today.

I leave on May 10th, so everything that I need has to be packed and ready to go prior to that. The challenge is that we still need to have the house until school is out. We have the added challenge of camp for both kids, although that is higher with my spouse than I. Perhaps it's my incorrect gut feel, but with a limited amount of time allocated for temporary housing and a limited amount of funds to sponsor an extension of that time, that I really want to be in a house by late June, even if I am sleeping on the floor and waiting for our furniture to arrive in a week or two.

Timing, they say, is everything.

Monument Avenue 10K

Today, I ran the Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond. The weather was interesting - warm and damp. The race has grown to more than 30,000 participants (runners and walkers), which is both good and bad. The good is that the greater Richmond community has embraced the race to get people out of their chairs and moving. The bad is that there are too many stinkin' people in the race to make it fun for anyone running. I guess you always get the bad with the good. Four of us left our normal parking area at 6:30 AM so we could access our good secret parking area where I have been parking for years.

The elite runners took off at 8:30, and we took off at 8:57. Lori, Sara, and Quina were running with me for a bit, although we all splintered off as the race wore on. Richmond is a very small town - not in population, but the fact that you can be anywhere and see people you know. My physical therapist (sports med doc assistant) was almost beside me at the beginning and the end. Lots of folks from church, work, etc. were all there. I even ran into and spoke to the one newscaster I know from WTVR who had just completed an interview when I arrived.

The race was okay - I had a new PR for a 10K, although it was not what I had hoped. 1:03:06. I brought my own Accelerade which worked well. The only water I took was one cup at mile 5 to pour directly over my head to cool me down. It rained on and off, but never hard. I didn't walk other than at the one water stop and to regroup during the 6th mile. I made the mistake of taking off too fast, especial for mile 2, about 30 seconds per mile too fast. So, a slow mile six made up for it. I ran a 10:09 initial mile out of the crowd, then had a single negative split into mile 2 (9:37). I was warmed up and feeling good, but let my legs outrun my head. Towards the end, I was out of energy, another negative of eating at 6 AM for a 9 AM start. I'm not sure how to get around that in the future, other than to get a ride to the race closer to the start and not have to worry about parking!

This was the last race for a while. Details shortly.

I am a new hybrid owner

Starting on Monday, and concluding today, I purchased a 2009 Toyota Camry Hybrid. This car is loaded to the gills, with a full navigation system, XM radio, heated leather seats, and moon/sunroof. I never thought I'd pay this much for any vehicle, but with my job situation likely to change in the next few weeks, I will have a much longer commute each day. The car is very comfortable and will also make the 18-hour drive back home for a weekend or two worth while!

Here is a picture if you want to see (CLICK HERE).

One of the things I like most is the Bluetooth integration. From the steering wheel, I can initiate calls or answer calls. From what the people I've spoken to say, the clarity is excellent - much better than with my Bluetooth headset in my truck.

The other thing I like is the dead silence when the car is stopped. No noise what-so-ever. After running tonight, I asked Melanie to tell me if the car was running or not. She said no... then I put it in drive and edged away. She was surprised to say the least. Give me a few thousand miles to figure out if I really like it!