As I was dozing peacefully in my chair at my desk, I awoke with a startling realization - I’m dangerously close to taking after my Father… ;o)

I posted this on Flickr, but couldn’t resist putting it on my front page.  I found this cool dude one morning out for a walk in the San Juan Islands off of Seattle.

Doesn’t he rock??  You can find more pics of the trip in my Orcas Islands album.

Note to self: When testing cross-site scripting, remember to re-enable Javascript.

sigh I’ve got a lot on my mind.

My schedule thus far for this morning:

• Wake up
• Do some work
• Obsessively check most recent Flickr pics to see how many people have viewed them
• Bike 8 miles
• Shower
• Practice West Coast Swing
• Kill a bear with my bare hands
• A few other things
• And now back to work…

And I still haven’t even had breakfast yet!

via AccuWeather:

Record-setting warm air from the Plains, clashing with chilly air from Canada set the stage for gusty, hail-producing storms across the Great Lakes Monday afternoon and evening, and a repeat is in store for Tuesday.

And they weren’t kidding! It went from a bright sunny morning, to a dark afternoon with hail, torrential downpours, and wicked lightning. And of course, what happens when there’s lightning? Damon gets out his camera. I added some pictures up on Flickr, but here’s a couple of my favorites.

Sweet! A picture I took the other night got used over on the Chicagoist site!

Bloglines just added a couple new features that I really like. So I’m giving them some bloglines freedbacking. Great work! This actually makes me want to read more feeds just so I can see the effects. ;o)

Not to mention, they’ve got package tracking, which I didn’t even know about until recently.  But that’s pretty darn useful - I don’t know how many times I’ve had fedex or ups up in a window all day refreshing every 10 minutes.  Not anymore!

My mother has been posting a lot recently about the coming fall season and all the different things it means to her.  When I read it, I think - “gee, I remember all those things”, but I so rarely experience them these days.  I think it’s the city that does it - it wards off the seasons and maintains a constant of tall buildings and concrete sidewalks.  Fall may come, but there are no trees to indicate the changing of the seasons.  Sure there’s a little nip in the air, but you just return to your apartment and look out at the city and it is still the same.  Winter comes along and it may snow.  But the next day, the streets are plowed and it’s the same city it was.  Sure it may be bitter as all heck, but you just return to your apartment and look out at the city and it is still the same.

The city seems to take the year and flatten it out - the weather may change, the temperature may drop but the city remains steadfast in its steel and glass structures.  And whenever I return to my apartment, it is the same - part of one of those structures that shields the elements and resists change.

And that’s it for my “Deep Thoughts” of the day - back to work!

As I’ve mentioned before, United has terrible customer service, Southwest has great customer service.  I would like to thank another organization as well as a specific person for going above and beyond the call of duty.  Carol (sp?), who works for Hertz Rental Cars’ Lost & Found department, is my new best friend.

I returned a rental car late last night and in my last-minute haste (arrived approximately 50 minutes prior to departure…) managed to leave my fleece jacket in the back seat.  This is my favorite fleece.  It’s an Arc’Teryx and I got it on sale at REI and even then it was still somewhat ridiculously expensive because it’s so good.  This is the fleece that I summitted Rainier in.  I’ve even got a little pin on it from my summit.  I did not want to lose this fleece.

So as soon as I got in, I called the Hertz lost & found department and left a message as they were still closed.  A mere 1.5 hours after they opened, I received a call From Carol, who had to dig up my number as I didn’t leave it on my message.  She had the fleece, she was going to fedex it over, and all I had to do was pay shipping.  She was pleasant, she was helpful, but most of all she had my lost item and had dug through my records to figure out how the heck to get in touch with me.

Thank you, Carol, and thank you, Hertz  - you should give that woman a raise!

For anybody that knows me, they know there is a lot happening in my life right now. And there are a lot of changes coming down the pike not only for me, but also for both my siblings. Changes that will bring life into this world, changes that will bring family closer together, and changes that will distance family. I don’t want to get into details quite yet, but I get unbelievably giddy when I think about all of it and how lucky I am to have my brother and sister and the rest of my family as well. And friends, friends too as there was a recent engagement - so much good stuff happening! It’s been a great summer. The best part was probably the end - I pretty much took most of August off as I had a couple weeks of vacation built up from non-stop work. First stop was Whistler for their Mountain Bike Park - a phenomenal time and I cannot wait to go up there again. Next was Blackhat, which was a blast. I got to catch up with old friends and, well…it’s Vegas. I then came back to Seattle and summitted Mt. Rainier - if there ever was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, that was it. Well, until I do it again next year, right Ryan!? After coming back down from Rainier, I hung around in Seattle for the rest of the week and just enjoyed it while I could. It was then off to the old homestead so I could help my parents install some windows in the new addition to the house. It felt good to be able to give my father a hand again - it’s something I don’t get a chance to do very often these days, but was always a key part of my childhood. I also got to visit my brother and see his house for the first time! And then finally…finally, it was back to Chicago. But only for two days before I had to fly back to Seattle for another dance event that I can’t seem to stop talking about. ;) And then finally, no really…back to Chicago again. And I don’t think I went back to Seattle until September…a couple times. ;)

So it was busy. But I loved it. I mountain biked. I hiked. I hacked. I spent time with those closest to me. I danced. I hacked a little more…and just overall enjoyed myself.

I don’t know what else to say, but the next few months are going to be interesting for every member of my family. I can’t wait!

Update - Make that two friends that are now engaged! Congrats, dudes! Rock the heck on.