Get back on that bike...

After writing yesterday that I wanted to "get back into" various things, I was determined to get out and enjoy the day one way or another. I'd been watching cyclists ride by while having breakfast and decided that this is how I'd dip my toe in the water.

Though it took me over an hour just to get the bike ready to go, the ride turned out to be fantastic. It's a short little ride between the towns of Hood River and Mosier (the picture taken above was from a viewpoint 6 miles beyond) that takes you along the Old Gorge Highway. You ride right along the hillside on a road that you'd swear was too narrow to allow two cars to pass by each other. It's only ten or twelve miles long, but in that distance, you pass through two tunnels carved into the side of the hill, forests, and fantastic views of the gorge. Beyond Mosier are orchards and vineyards - though the trees and vines were barren, the landscape was beautiful and it makes me look forward to doing the same ride later this Spring.

If you come to Hood River to visit, bring your bike! I now have trails I can take you on!

Getting Back Into It

It seems like that's my motto these days. Since moving here to Hood River in October, I've never really gotten into a routine of any kind. I'm kind of halfway between "here" and "there," with no real sense of "home" or "regularity."

This isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just kind of how it is right now. I was talking to a friend a couple weeks ago on the way up the mountain to go snowboarding and he brought up the following question:

"All of our friends seem to be settling down and growing roots right now. When do you think that this will happen to you and I? I can't imagine anything further from my reality right now..."

It was something that I've considered in the past, this idea that my life looks different from those around me and my view on it has changed considerably over the past several years. At first, it was a sad realization. I felt alone. Incomplete. Lost. I'd lived a very logical life (to an extreme, in retrospect) and had followed a path that was seemingly tried and true. From time to time, I find myself back in that place...wandering around lost.

But overall, I'd answer that question much differently today. Whereas I saw my lack of "roots" as a failure of sorts in the past, I now see it as just a fact of life. My "settling down" is going to be more about settling into who I am and what I value than it will be about sitting in one place for an extended period of time. I have to work on finding my "center" in the little routines in life.

So here I am. I'm getting back into snowboarding, getting back in shape, getting back into sailing, getting back into cycling, getting back into Spanish lessons, and getting back in touch with friends and family. And hopefully, this will put me in a place to get back to writing this blog again. We'll see how it goes...

Let me introduce you to Cyclocross

"Whatcha doin next Wednesday? You wanna do a cyclocross race with me?"

Rob, my brother-in-law, has gotten me into more than one new pasttime over the past couple of years. The first time I met him (when I was in college,) I tried "overhand bowling" for the first time. I do not recommend this, but it was a ton of fun at the time. A few years ago, he and Cousin Jay took me snowshoeing up (and snowboarding down) Mount St. Helens. Here, I can fully recommend this...also a ton of fun. It seems that each activity he introduces me to ends up way off the right end of the "fun meter." So, cyclocross it is.

From Hiking Mt. St. Helens

On the way to the race, he prepped me for what I was about to encounter. "The first lap, you're gonna feel like there's no way you can do three more. At the end of the second, you will want to puke your brains out. By the end of the third, you'll have passed that and if you make it to the fourth, you'll probably be alright."

Ok, at this point, I'm remembering a little more about Rob's background. I remember that he took me swimming in the surf for the first time. We were in Hawaii and he and Jamie ran out into the water and dove through the waves that were at least as tall (and likely taller) than they were standing. Seemed harmless enough, so I ran out with them. I don't know exactly what happened over the next thirty seconds, but let me just say that I no longer need to salt my food.

Same trip: Rob asks if I want to try cliff-diving for my first time (or at least that's what I hear through the water sloshing in my ears). I politely decline this time. The next day, he points out where he wants to go and I'm overJOYED that I didn't commit myself the night before. Especially as he explains that "you really gotta time the waves...if you jump at the beginning of a big set, those rocks'll eat you up!"

Back in Portland, as these images flash through my mind, we pull into the arena where the race is taking place. What I'd originally pictured as a small group of people at an informal gathering has turned into a large parking lot of cars with bike racks and randomly-scattered people warming up on exercise bikes.

"Those guys are serious," Rob eplains. "We'll be in the beginner group, which is only four laps and typically takes about thirty minutes. Those guys go for an hour...and that's after they've warmed up on the exercise bike for an hour! Not to mention, their race doesn't start until 7 when it's dark..."

Welcome to cyclocross.

The assortment of bicycles was mind-numbing. Rob, being a bike-builder himself, explained that some of the cycles we were looking at cost over $10,000. He pointed out a bright pink frame and explained that it was built by a guy in Portland that's gained a cult following and now charges over $4,000 for a frame. My bike: a mountain bike I borrowed from a friend in Seattle which one of the cyclocross participants thought looked a lot like one he has at home...and bought new in the early 90's. Rather than embarrassment, I felt a sense of pride in this.

We had about an hour before our race, so we walked the course. It consisted of hard-pack dirt, grass, mud, some pavement, a couple dirt mounds (one of which was ridable), and several areas where you had to dismount and jump over 1.5' barriers while carrying your bike.

As we watched the first set of competitors go around (the kids under 17) I started to get a little nervous. At the first hairpin turn, one kid bit the dust. Hard. And he got up, shook it off, and kept on riding. These kids are obviously tougher than me...I hoped Rob would be there waiting with a Bob the Builder bandaid if I fell.

But it went great. I started at the very back of the pack, not knowing what to expect. It turned out to be a great decision, as in the very first turn, somebody hit the pavement and took out at least fifteen other bikes (there were about 60 of us altogether in my heat). From 60th to 45th place in one fell swoop!

At the end, I felt like I would puke if I had the energy to do it, but luckily, I didn't have it in me. It was a FANTASTIC experience - unlike anything I've done before. The people we met were super nice, the bikes were amazing, and the workout was a blast. If you get the chance, you gotta check it out.

The video below was taken on the night of my race by someone in a different heat. I think it's about seven minutes long, but you'll get a pretty good idea of what it's all about.

Blind Date at the Dairy #4: lap 1 of Masters C from Matt Haughey on Vimeo.

The Columbia River Gorge

I'm two weeks into the job and I have to say that I'm having a ball.

The work piece of it is extremely interesting to me. The long and the short of it is that the company I'm working with has experienced the business-world equivalent of an overnight rise to super-stardom. Four years ago, employees numbered in the low 100's. Today, the company has around 1,000.

The fascinating part of it all is that this is the first time I've worked with a company this size that is on such a growth trajectory. They're being held to the same rigorous contractual standards of the other major defense contractors (Boeing, Raytheon, Northrop Grumman) but nobody in the company understands exactly what that means. There are other contractors who, like me, have worked with the Majors in the past, but our scope of work was extremely limited. In a company of 150,000 people, your highly specialized job has been documented down to the "t" and you really don't know what happens two steps before or after. Here, everybody has to fill in those two forward- and backward-looking steps. To say the least, my horizons have been broadened these past two weeks...

A former Boeing coworker introduced me to a friend of his who is letting me stay at his house. He lives on the Washington side, just outside Bingen, in a rustic little house tucked into the hills. Here's what I wake up to every morning:

Chris (my roommate's name) has extended not only his home, but shown me around town and introduced me to some of his local friends and family. It's really been amazing and I'm extremely grateful. I've offered to help him put in wood floors to partially repay the favor. He has no idea as to how handy I'm NOT, but he seems like he knows what he's doing, so I'll just follow behind and mimic him.

I'm only going to be living here until November 1 - I found an apartment across the river in Hood River (on the Oregon side). It's a basement apartment within walking distance to downtown...it has a view of the river and, at least in the winter, a view of Mt. Adams. PLUS, it's only 35 minutes from Mt. Hood. I'm wondering if it might be possible to get a couple runs in BEFORE work this winter...

Fruitful Employment

A couple of weeks ago, I was informed by Mr. Potatohead (who ELSE do you expect would run a fruit/veggie stand??) that the tourist season is over, the cruise ships have headed south, and there would no longer be a need for my services at Corner Produce. It was a really great gig - I met a lot of fantastic people, got a lesson or two in fruit salesmanship, and just had an overall enriching experience. A few things that I learned...

• Be sure to negotiate your salary before you start work if you care how much you're going to be paid.
• A BS in BS will only get you so far in life...eventually, somebody's going to ask you the difference between a peach and a nectarine and you better either know the answer or guess well. (I did neither.)
• Tip whenever possible, even if it's just the nickel in change you're getting back. They add up for people who depend on it.
• There are some truly odd people walking around Pike Place Market. THOSE are the people you want to talk to if you want to learn something new.
• I'm good at talking to customers, but I suck at selling fruit. And yes, there's a difference.

My last day was this past Sunday...time for something new.

And what does that "something new" look like, you may be asking? For the past couple of months, I've been in talks with Insitu, a Boeing subsidiary, to provide some cost analysis consulting work and lo-and-behold, I woke up this morning to a signed contract in my inbox! The company is located near Hood River, OR, which is 70 miles east of Portland, so it's likely that I'll be relocating soon. I haven't yet figured out all the details, but the basic idea is that I'll be helping build a new functional organization within the company. It's an opportunity to build something from the ground-up. Whether the contract will last six months, a year, or five years, I don't know. One step at a time...

What I DO know is that Hood River is on the Colombia River (sailing and kite surfing) and at the base of Mount Hood (snowboarding, camping, hiking). I know I'm going to be SUPER busy, but I'm sure that I'll be able to squeeze in some time for work. :) I'll keep up the blog as I go along...I've never moved to a new place where I knew absolutely no one, so this is a completely new adventure. Looking forward to it!!

An analogy on work...

I had a conversation recently with a friend who was considering quitting their job and we tried to step back and think about the role that one's occupation plays in living a fulfilling life. We didn't get to any concrete answers, but I think that we came up with a line of reasoning that helps identify the real role that work plays in each of our lives (this reason, by the way, is likely very different for each of our individual situations). Once that role is identified, it helps determine whether you're in the right job for right now or not. Here's the basic idea:

If your job was a jacket, how would you describe it? For example, is it a heavy parka that's bulky and far more than you need most of the time, but provides that extra layer of security? Or is it a light jaket...comfortable, but maybe you have a couple other layers somewhere that provide the real warmth? Is it a low-key denim jacket you've broken in over the years that works "well enough" as long as the weather's not too cold, hot, or wet?

What about it's purpose? Is it to provide basic warmth and protection? Is it something you've had for such a long time that the two of you are virtually inseparable? Does it have some sort of additional ornamental value to it...do people react a certain way when they hear about it or see it? Are these reactions the main reasons you own it, or do you make a conscious decision based upon the current needs in your life?

What if you lost your jacket? Would you see it as an opportunity to update things a little and get a new one that fits the lifestyle you want to lead? Would you feel like a piece of you had died? Maybe it provided warmth and security for other people around you as well...have you stocked up on sweaters in case something like this happened?

I think we all get pretty comfortable in our daily routines in life and don't take the time to determine whether those routines live on because they're leading us in the direction we want to go, or whether they are there just because they've always been there. I'm currently looking at different work opportunities and am actively working to determine the role that a "career" plays in my life. I don't have the answer, but I feel like I've got a decent grasp of the tools that will help me make the right decision.

In case you're wondering, after I answered all of these questions for my current "jacket," here's what I determined my closet to like right now...

Market People

As you can probably imagine, the market has its fair share of "interesting characters." Here are a few of my favorite stories from the past couple weeks. I haven't included any pictures or names for privacy purposes. If I get permission to include them, I'll do it in a later post.

1. Expensive Apples

My job consists of cutting fruit samples for people and working to get them to buy a couple pieces to take home. When homeless people walk by the stand, I simply cut out the second half of the job and just give them a little snack. Last week, I was sampling Honeycrisp Apples, which were selling at a premium of $3.99/lb (as compared to $1.99 for other varieties). I provided a slice to one of our regulars - this particular woman is around 65 years old, wears thick glasses and is typically fairly well put-together, though her clothes are quite dirty. On this day, she was wearing a dingy yellow raincoat, grey sweatpants, worn out tennis shoes, and carrying multiple cloth shopping bags full of random odds and ends.

Right after I gave her a slice, she reached down, picked up an apple, and gave it to me to ring up without saying a word. I didn't quite know what to say, but I weighed it out and let her know it cost $3.00. She set down her bags and started to dig. I prepared for what I assumed would be a long wait for a handful of nickles and pennies that would likely add up to something significantly less than $3.00 (not an uncommon occurrence).

To my surprise, she pulled out a small cloth zippered bag and opened it to reveal several large rolls of money. She peeled off three bucks, wiped the apple off on her dirty raincoat, took a bite, and walked away. I guess you just never know...

2. Bananas

Another regular is a woman that comes through every day and asks if there are any old bananas in the back. She typically buys whatever we have - sometimes several pounds at a time. I asked her once what she does with all the bananas and she replied that it's one of very few foods that not only agrees with her stomach, but also requires no preparation/washing whatsoever. (Good point, I thought.)

Last week, I was helping two customers at once and this woman was one of them. The other woman seemed to be in an extreme hurry and I felt like I was just barely keeping up with her patience in the situation. She didn't buy all that much, somewhere around $5, and paid with a $10 bill. When I handed her the change, she gave me $5 in ones and told me to pay for whatever the Banana Lady wanted to buy. Before I could really process it, she had picked up her bag and taken off.

I passed along the $5 and the Banana Lady nearly started crying...her bananas came to a total of $2 and this left her with $3 over and above the money she had intended for bananas. Amazing that such a small gesture can make such a big impact on someone's day...

3. Speechless

Last, but not least, my new favorite. There's a guy that walks through the market most every day that is perhaps one of the most intimidating characters around...at least in looks. He's fairly tall - around 6'3" or so - and has long, unkempt, grey hair and beard. When he reaches out for fruit, the fingers on one of his hands are disfigured from what I assume to be rheumatoid arthritis and he walks very slowly with a noticeable limp. On the occasions that he talks, his voice is so far beyond raspy that it's hard to say whether there are any vocal chords in use at all.

I started out somewhat frightened of the guy - I would see him walk by almost daily...sometimes he waved to some of the guys at the stand, other times he kept to himself. After a while, he started to recognize me and would ask (every time I saw him) if I had any cigarettes. I didn't know quite what his mental state was, so I would always reply the same - "nope, I don't smoke."

Finally, one day, I'd had enough. He asked if I had any cigarettes and as I handed him a slice of a pluot, I explained that I don't smoke...why does he keep asking if I have any cigarettes. He replied quite matter-of-factly, "I was hoping you'd start" and then smiled and walked away.

Since then, I've had a few more run-ins with him and have tried to learn more about him through these one-sentence interactions. Here are two of them...common thread: I'm left speechless every time.

Interaction 1

Me: Hey there, how's it goin today?

Him: Not bad - I'm going through some sleep therapy right now and it seems to be doing good.

Me: (shocked and speechless) What?

Him: You know what? Your complexion looks really good today - have a good one - I'll see you later.

Me: (speechless)

Interaction 2

Me: Hey bud - how about some peach?

Him: No - I don't like them.

Me: No kidding? Who in the world doesn't like peaches? What's your favorite food?

Him: Beef tartare. Have a good day.

Me: (speechless)