Monday, August 10, 2009
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
ISO 14001 my A$$
Something that is very frustrating is working for a very large company that promotes itself to the outside world as being leading edge in the great green cause. This is a company that serves it's employees meals on Styrofoam. Every single day. Over 20,000 meals a day. Over 20,000 paper plates a day. ISO 14001 certified my a$$. I guess they just bought that distinction.
Working on environmental projects within my own work organization is another thing that has proved very difficult. Yes, the company does support this endeavor by its employees, even promotes it. But my immediate manager, one born back when it was cool to have cars that got about 12 miles per gallon and and still living in that era mentally, thinks it is a waste of time. There are a ton of examples I could use to support this, but for the sake of my crappy typing I will just use one. Not too long ago a couple of my fellow workers and I did a dumpster dive - which is exactly what is sounds like. We had two 5 x 5 foot dumpsters filled with garbage. We went through all of this garbage; and to make a long and stinky story short, we ended up finding that over50% of the items in the garbage were recyclable. When we were done we shrank the garbage down to less than one 5 x 5 and filled seven 90 gallon bags with recyclable material. And our manager told us this was a colossal waste of time. "We have product to build." Which is true, I understand his point, the product needs to be the number one priority while at work. But what this example proves is the company I work for has not created any sort of cultural change by adding the ISO 14001 tag to its name. Trying to do anything "green" almost feels like a waste of time at this company. Which of course it isn't, not in the least as we have made strides, it is just an uphill battle that is a lot of work met with a lot of resistance. We'll get there. Last week's 108 degree temperatures must make it obvious to even the dumbest and most naive of the workforce think there is some sort of a problem. I'm not if the majority of the company will fully embrace this sort cultural shift before they have to, but we are making some strides thanks to individuals and their teams. And I can say that I am learning a lot about the process of change and just how hard it is to implement.
Working on environmental projects within my own work organization is another thing that has proved very difficult. Yes, the company does support this endeavor by its employees, even promotes it. But my immediate manager, one born back when it was cool to have cars that got about 12 miles per gallon and and still living in that era mentally, thinks it is a waste of time. There are a ton of examples I could use to support this, but for the sake of my crappy typing I will just use one. Not too long ago a couple of my fellow workers and I did a dumpster dive - which is exactly what is sounds like. We had two 5 x 5 foot dumpsters filled with garbage. We went through all of this garbage; and to make a long and stinky story short, we ended up finding that over50% of the items in the garbage were recyclable. When we were done we shrank the garbage down to less than one 5 x 5 and filled seven 90 gallon bags with recyclable material. And our manager told us this was a colossal waste of time. "We have product to build." Which is true, I understand his point, the product needs to be the number one priority while at work. But what this example proves is the company I work for has not created any sort of cultural change by adding the ISO 14001 tag to its name. Trying to do anything "green" almost feels like a waste of time at this company. Which of course it isn't, not in the least as we have made strides, it is just an uphill battle that is a lot of work met with a lot of resistance. We'll get there. Last week's 108 degree temperatures must make it obvious to even the dumbest and most naive of the workforce think there is some sort of a problem. I'm not if the majority of the company will fully embrace this sort cultural shift before they have to, but we are making some strides thanks to individuals and their teams. And I can say that I am learning a lot about the process of change and just how hard it is to implement.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Back in the Saddle Again
Well, running sure didn't last long. I really wanted to run this year but my knee that I messed up a long time ago is just giving me way too many problems. I did get up to a 10 mile run, which was probably too much considering the amount of time I was running, but I wasn't sore from it so I figured I was getting used to the pounding of running. But the next week my knee was causing me to limp every running step I took. Bummer. I was really looking forward to running some races. Maybe I'll have to get my knee fixed now. I guess I'll be racing the bike again so I started riding to work again this week. I'm still not sure if I'm excited to ride or not, but I know it feels good to be riding to work again. The gas I used driving everywhere for the month of December sure felt like I was being wasteful, not too mention the money wasted on gas.
The snow we had in late December / early January sure made the roads a mess though. I am covered in sand every morning when I get to work. My bike is taking a beating I'm sure. I have to wash it nearly everyday just to get all the road grime out of my brakes and gears. I have seen a couple street cleaners out though, but I'm still stuck in the middle of the road for most of my commute. Most of the drivers though have been really good and have been giving me a decent amount of room. Much appreciated.
Also, what a great Xmas this year!!!!!
The snow we had in late December / early January sure made the roads a mess though. I am covered in sand every morning when I get to work. My bike is taking a beating I'm sure. I have to wash it nearly everyday just to get all the road grime out of my brakes and gears. I have seen a couple street cleaners out though, but I'm still stuck in the middle of the road for most of my commute. Most of the drivers though have been really good and have been giving me a decent amount of room. Much appreciated.
Also, what a great Xmas this year!!!!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Snow
Wow, snow in Seattle. It pretty much sucks when it snows here because this area just does not use the tools necessary to make the roads safe or even driveable. We ended up getting about a foot of snow over a few days, and I'm glad I'm not riding my bike any more, because I would be super annoyed if I were trying to get miles in.
I ended up running 10 miles on Saturday, it was awesome.
I ended up running 10 miles on Saturday, it was awesome.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Season over...finally..and Dinseyland too.
I am really glad CX is over, I was getting sick of the monotony of riding my bike. Moving up to cat. 2 didn't exactly make things any easier either. The last race was Dec. 1st, which was also the last day I rode my bike. It may be a while before I ride it again for a couple reason. Snow, ice, and the fact that I started running again. I kind of missed it. I sure would like to try to run a sub 3:00 marathon. I know I have the capability to do it, I just need to put the effort in, which has never been one of my problems. We'll see...I've only been running 2 weeks.
I did go to Disneyland also. It was a great trip. My parents met my wife and son there, what a great place to visit although the air quality was horrendous. It is so nice to be able to spend time with everyone and not have to worry about anything else except relaxing, having fun, and spending time with family. It doesn't get much better than that. Thanks guys.
I did go to Disneyland also. It was a great trip. My parents met my wife and son there, what a great place to visit although the air quality was horrendous. It is so nice to be able to spend time with everyone and not have to worry about anything else except relaxing, having fun, and spending time with family. It doesn't get much better than that. Thanks guys.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
It's been awhile...
Yep. Utah came and went. The riding there was unbelievable. If I lived there I would probably sell all my road bikes and just ride in the dirt. Seriously, what a great place to ride a mountain bike.
The race itself was pretty fun - and the mountain at the Sundance resort are spectacular- Although I would have liked a little longer course as it was only 8 miles long or so. My legs throughout the day were pretty good, but my hands were a mess by the end of it. I kept trying to shake them out, but they still continued to tighten. I ended up 6th on the day out of 27 in the 12 hour solo class. Not too bad for my debut, but I learned a ton on this day and think that I can go considerably faster in the next one. I was lucky enough to have an experienced pit crew as well.
CX season came and is almost over already. I started off mediocre with a 5th. Then had a horrible day and got 17th as my back fell apart (it was sore before the race from doing way too much yoga - seriously! On the Wii even. How embarrassing is that?). Then I figured some things out and got a 2nd, followed that up with a win, and now race the 1/2 race. Good times there. First one I got 10th, but it was really technical which I think helped me. Second one I was 15th as the pace was more than I could handle. 3rd race my bike broke. Piece of crap that I never work on, maybe I should start soon, I just don't have the time to train, let alone work on my bike.
I will pass 3000 miles commuting this week. That's kind of a cool milestone. And I only started to consistently ride to work in mid-April, otherwise I would like to believe that 500 was obtainable.
Not much else going on right now. The strike is over. Work really sucks. My family is pretty damn awesome. I'm going to Disneyland in 2 weeks. Good times!
The race itself was pretty fun - and the mountain at the Sundance resort are spectacular- Although I would have liked a little longer course as it was only 8 miles long or so. My legs throughout the day were pretty good, but my hands were a mess by the end of it. I kept trying to shake them out, but they still continued to tighten. I ended up 6th on the day out of 27 in the 12 hour solo class. Not too bad for my debut, but I learned a ton on this day and think that I can go considerably faster in the next one. I was lucky enough to have an experienced pit crew as well.
CX season came and is almost over already. I started off mediocre with a 5th. Then had a horrible day and got 17th as my back fell apart (it was sore before the race from doing way too much yoga - seriously! On the Wii even. How embarrassing is that?). Then I figured some things out and got a 2nd, followed that up with a win, and now race the 1/2 race. Good times there. First one I got 10th, but it was really technical which I think helped me. Second one I was 15th as the pace was more than I could handle. 3rd race my bike broke. Piece of crap that I never work on, maybe I should start soon, I just don't have the time to train, let alone work on my bike.
I will pass 3000 miles commuting this week. That's kind of a cool milestone. And I only started to consistently ride to work in mid-April, otherwise I would like to believe that 500 was obtainable.
Not much else going on right now. The strike is over. Work really sucks. My family is pretty damn awesome. I'm going to Disneyland in 2 weeks. Good times!
Friday, September 5, 2008
One week to Utah
One week to the 12 hour race in Utah. I'm surprised that I'm still ridinig well. I experienced a little bit of burn out, but now I think the race is close enough to get me through the last weekend of real riding before I knock it down a notch. I've averaged about 260 miles per week for the last 10 weeks - I should be ready.
The weather for Park City is looking good with a high of 70 and a low in the mid-40's - and sunny. It will probably be pretty cold for the start and also as the race winds down. I'll just have to make sure I dress warm enough, especially at the end when my body is going to be a mess. Hopefully I can squeak out a top 5 - I think I would be happy with that. But regardless of where I finish I anticipate that it will be a fun time on the bike. And it will be good to just hang out with the boys and get away for a couple days.
The weather for Park City is looking good with a high of 70 and a low in the mid-40's - and sunny. It will probably be pretty cold for the start and also as the race winds down. I'll just have to make sure I dress warm enough, especially at the end when my body is going to be a mess. Hopefully I can squeak out a top 5 - I think I would be happy with that. But regardless of where I finish I anticipate that it will be a fun time on the bike. And it will be good to just hang out with the boys and get away for a couple days.
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