BURLY SURLY

On Saturday I “built” a bike. Well, I should rephrase that. Vik generously gave his second Surly frame to me, so I swapped components from my Novara frame onto the new shiny Surly. For those of you who don’t know much about touring bikes: the difference between Novara and Surly is: nobody knows Novara, but a Surly is cool. At least in the touring bike scene. I hope not so much in the bike thief scene.

It was definitely a useful experience to learn a little bit about bikes.

Now I just have to wait for it to stop snowing in arctic Calgary…

Today I (almost) lost my boss

Last week the head of the product engineering department quit. And now my boss is the interim head of the PE department. He is still also the Product Performance Manager (that’s the group I am in). Overnight his responsibilities quadrupled, he better got a good raise!

I am still reporting to him. For me, it just means less detailed supervision and more responsibility on the projects I am working on.

I have enjoyed working with Jim. He’s been a good boss so far. Will see what’s going to happen now…

Inspiring Woman II

My mother's got a green thumb. In her garden the first flowers of 2007 have already arrived. I hope to be like her one day! So far I am still pretty good at killing our green blooming friends though :(

Remember Barbapapa?

Barbapapa, Barbamama und die ganzen Kinderlein: BarbaTrix, Barba-la-LA!!

What I learned in Yoga this week...

"Remember: Do Savasana twice a day!" said the yoga teacher. Okay. No persuasion needed! :-)

Inspiring Woman

In December 2006 - Age 60 - Tante Burgi climbed the Grossglockner, Austria's highest mountain. It helps that her son (in the picture with her) is a mountain goat, but still: very inspiring. Will I be able to climb the Grossglockner in 30 years? I better start training now!

Vincent turned 9! Happy B-day!

Vincent turned nine last week. He had a party and sleep over; 4 out of 5 guest were girls ;-) Vincent is the one without shirt on the bed with the 3 girls! Way to go, Vinci!

Hey that's me!

Right Brainer (equals Left handers) rule the future. That's me! Sweet!

Logical and precise, left-brain thinking gave us the Information Age. Now comes the Conceptual Age - ruled by artistry, empathy, and emotion.

First time that I heard of that guy - Dan Pink - his last name definiteley sounds like a Lefty! My boss Jim mentioned his name to me, after I mentioned Gwynne Dyer's talk to him. Apparently Dan Pink is coming to Calgary soon.

It feels like spring today

Inside

WINGS

Copyrights by Rebecca Rowley. 2007. All Rights Reserved

Rebecca's Valentine's Day art work. Thanks for sharing it with us! :)

Take care of your body...

Johann Wolfgang knew that already 200 years ago!

"Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded." - J. W. Goethe

Oh Canada

Haworth's Northern Hemisphere Covered in Snow

Okay, right now people who think of Canada as the land of igloos are not too far off. We have had the deepest winter for the last week. If you want to dig a snow cave or build an igloo, now is the time! The streets are horrible, most of them are not even cleaned. Yesterday it took me 1 1/2 hr to drive from work to the yoga studio (oops I admit no cycling at the moment ;-) - yuk! Even though the cold weather hurts (believe me: your fingers won't like -20 degrees), it is pretty to look at.

From Sun Tzu’s Art of War

I am by no means a warrior. In fact, most of Sun Tzu’s Art of War sounds Chinese to me! There is one line though that stuck with me and that came in handy when I was writing a work email today. Translated loosely, it was something like:

Always leave an exit for your enemy. Let him exit with dignity.

My New Place

heartland - covered in snow

the exterior view

there is an upstairs too!

1st Ave

bike room - pretty full...will there be room for mine?

definitely important!

I am in the middle of moving. Thank God I don't have too much stuff. Well, I don't have a lot of furniture, but it's incredible how much crap I have accumulated in the 7 years I have lived in Canada. Considering I came with two suitcases and skis from Austria , I am now the proud owner of at least 3 rubbermaid containers of books, 4 bicycles, and I don't even want to know what's in the remaining rubbermaid containers. So from time to time I go through phases where I get rid of stuff, and whenever I throw a piece out that I haven't used in months or years, it's almost certain that I will / would have needed in the week to follow!

What's cool about my new place is that there is some storage in the basement, so I don't have to have everything in my apartment.

Oh, did I mention that it is a "green condo"? Yes! After years of talking about an environmentally friendly space, I am actually going to experience it. Sweet! Enviro features are: bamboo (rapidly renewable resource) floors, infloor heating, heat recovery ventilation (basically the warm stale air warms up the cold fresh air), dual flush toilets (only exciting for North Americans, for Euros a standard feature), grey water used for toilets (and the water really is greyish!), wool carpet (less or maybe even no offgassing), recycled glass countertops in the bathroom and recycled material countertops in the kitchen (yet to be identified), bike storage and recycling in the building.

I am also excited that there is a coffee shop and a liquor store in the building. And if any part in Calgary deserves the name "little Italy" my 'hood would be it :) (Italian equals good food;-)

Downtown San Francisco

Haight Ashbury

Towards North Beach and Fisherman's Wharft

Be Kind

Mo' San Francisco

Impressions from San Francisco

What I like about SF and the Bay area

fantastic food

so many hybrids in a place

blooming trees in January

a functioning public transportation system

lots of bicycles

the ocean

the friendliness

the craziness

everything is allowed

and of course that I met Martin!

and did I mention the fantastic food? The bakeries in Little Italy in SF are truly fantastico!