Let's Make a Change

Happy New Year everyone and Merry Christmas too. Let me start by saying, I'm not asking for money.  That's a switch.  I know my friend Dave said that he could always tell when spring was near because he would get an email from me asking for support for fundraising for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  Last year, as you may recall, I did the Death Ride, and in the process, you fine folks donated over $4000 to support the cause.  Once again, thank you very much. I actually did two Team in Training events in 2014.  The Solvang Century in March and the aforementioned Death Ride.  And I must say, I had a lot of fun.  So when my dear friend K.Sue Duncan called me a month ago to coach for her cycling team, I simply couldn't say no. So here's the thing, I will be coaching as part of the Team in Training America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride team (AMBBR).  This is a century ride that circumnavigates Lake Tahoe.  That's right, on Sunday June 1st, ...

First let me say thank you to all the donors that contributed $4,000 towards the fight against Leukemia and Lymphoma.  Your support was phenomenal and I greatly appreciate it.  Now to work my way through the thank you notes... So the Death Ride happened on July 13th, just about a month ago.  But before I tell you about the Death Ride, let me tell you about another ride.  On September 17th 2011, I was leading my team of riders over hills on the Peninsula.  We had just finished climbing Old La Honda Road and had worked our way over to the descent down Kings Mountain Road.   We started down Kings Mountain, in one moment I could see our path down the tree lined road and in the next moment, I was in an ambulance and a paramedic was asking me if I knew where I was.  From the accounts of the riders I was with, I would guess that 20 minutes of my life were spent as someone else.  I was told that I crashed and that I was talking after I regained consc...

I realize the Higgs Boson discovery was some months ago, but I'm totally a science geek and really like that stuff.  Anyway, I can't believe it's been over a month since my last update.  You'd think I was on vacation... I wasn't.  Actually, I have some good news to share.  I am now re-employed.  Yes, I know many of you didn't know I was ever unemployed.  Seems the startup I was with last year would rather conserve cash than pay for marketing people.  I don't blame them, it's the reality of startups.  So I was on the dole for Christmas and New Years.   Not to fret though, I got a great job working for SAP.  I was contracting since the beginning of March and last week they decided to make me a full-time employee.  Sweet! In an odd twist of fate, SAP was one the marquee customers for my last company, Redwood Systems.  So every day, I see the Redwood's products right above my head.  But enough about that, let's get to the...

Hello Again, I'm back with a bit of an update and some cool news.  First, many thanks to all the fine folks who have donated to the fight against blood cancers.  Your generosity always continues to astound me.  If you want to see how much has been raised, I encourage you to  go to my fundraising page to check it out   While you're there, feel free to click the radio buttons and try entering some numbers.  It's very worthwhile. Speaking of numbers, so the here's an update on the suffering.  By the suffering, I mean the training. First, you have to understand, training for this event is hard.  Not hard like working with differential equations, hard like dragging a dead pig across a desert.  The reason I don't post any pictures of myself is because there are no happy shots - only grimacing shots.  If you've known me a long time, you've noticed that I haven't aged well.  That's okay. I'm fine with that; the grizzled appearance a...

Hello again,  I'm back to clutter your inbox with observations, solicitation and celebration.  If you read my last email/blog post you should have learned about Pork-a-Palooza - The Hamtastic Four and my ongoing efforts to raise funds to fight Leukemia and Lymphoma.  To recap, I am attempting to do my fifth Death Ride.  That's riding my bike 129 miles, 15,000 feet of climbing in one very long day.  That event happens in July.   I'm doing this to raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  You know, these diseases won't cure themselves.  So the LLS funds research and patient services.  Truly, it's a good cause and breakthroughs will help many victims. As if the virtuous benefit of donating to a good cause wasn't enough motivation for you, I am also hosting an annual event with my son, Rob.  Pork-a-Palooza is a fete replete with heaps of meat.  This year's Pork-a-Palooza continues to get better.  As ...

Welcome back, it's that time of year when I start popping up in your inbox with messages about fundraising and pork.  Yes, I am the email equivalent of the swallows returning to Capistrano only with less bird droppings.  I realize this may be confusing for new recipients of these emails, so let me explain: Since 2006 I have been raising money to help fight Leukemia and Lymphoma.  I support the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through the Team in Training program.  I take on a physical challenge to raise awareness and funds for LLS.  In return for supporting my quest, my son and I throw a kick-ass party called Pork-a-Palooza.  More about this year's Pork-a-Palooza in a bit. First, let me tell you why I do this.  I know several people who died from leukemia and lymphoma.  In all cases they were taken from us too soon.  I have met many blood cancer survivors and I know that they would not be here today if not for advances in medicine and resear...