Summer Reading

• History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade by Susan Wise Bauer - great overview of the history of the world during this time, not just Europe
• Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James Loewan - eye-opening
• SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard - long and tedious
• Snow Travel: Skills for Climbing, Hiking, and Moving Over Snow by Mike Zawaski - some material for high adventure training
• The Earth is Weeping: The Epic Story of the Indian Wars For the American West by Peter Cozzens - great narrative
• The Confederate Invasion of New Mexico: 1861-1862 by Helen Haines - short
• Battle of Leyte Gulf: The Incredible Story of World War II's Largest Naval Battle by C. Vann Woodward - dated language but good

Potato Hack Diet

Since I am on my own this week, it is the perfect time to do the End of Summer Potato Hack! Bring on the taters.

Fitness After 10 Plus Years

I have been focused on health and fitness for over 10 years now and I thought it was a good time for reflection on where I was and where I am headed.
In the beginning, I started out with the conventional wisdom stuff.  Low-fat diets, jogging and moderate weight training.  I got bored quickly and didn't see much progress.  My big step came with P90X.  I started the program and finished a full 90 day regime including the diet, for the most part.  I really saw progress and was eager for more.  Next up was Tim Ferriss' book "4 Hour Body". Two things immediately jumped out at me.  One was the diet, which he calls the "Slow Carb" diet.  The other was the high intensity workout stuff.  I started the diet and felt better immediately.  Tim's diet contains a cheat day every week which I think is great for those starting in the paleo/primal world.  I then came across Mark Sisson and his blog Mark's Daily Apple.  This was a life changer. The primal lifestyle really resonated with me and I converted quickly. Now I know how diet and exercise affect me and after a few years, I am healthiest I have ever been.  Grok on!

Current:

• Diet - 90% primal; my main cheats are wine and snacks my son keeps around
• Exercise - I toggle between P90X (usually only doing half a workout but with higher intensity), sprints and weights

Future:

• Vision - my eyes have been getting slow but steadily worse.  I recently got bifocals and felt very old.  So I am going to start some exercises that I got from my father-in-law to help reverse that effects.
• Flexibility - I am not very limber and would like to get more flexible
• Tai Chi - something to focus the mind and body
• Body Composition - I am still looking to drop some body fat to get more tone; I will am going to look at optimizing different diet and exercises

Philmont 2017

The troop had an awesome time at Philmont as Crew 718-G!
We stayed the following camps:

• Minnette Meadows - very nice low altitude trail camp
• Cimorroncito - I finally tried rock climbing and rappelling
• Cyphers Mine - my second favorite camp with the mine challenge, blacksmithing and Stomp!
• Mt. Philips - hailed like snow
• Cherokee Creek - trail camp with a steep climb from the river
• Apache Springs - sweat lodges were great
• Fish Camp - loved the lodge
• Abreu - they let us sleep under the pavilion due to rain
• Stockade Ridge - nice jumping off point for the Tooth of Time

We had rain most of the last 8 days of the trek.  Sometimes it was heavy but our crew did great.  They all had effective rain gear and knew how to deal with the weather.
Can't wait to go back again!

Leaving Northrop Grumman

After 15 plus years, I recently left Northrop Grumman.  It was certainly a sad transition but it was for the better.

NG was a great phase in my life and I highly recommended the company.  Long story... in mid 2001, I was laid off during the dot-com crash.  My family and I were living in Scottsdale at the time and I looked around for another software gig but there was nothing happening.  After a short while, my wife and I decided to move back to California.  Without a job, we drove along the coast looking for a place to call home.  We eventually settled on Encinitas and shortly thereafter I landed the job at NG.

Some of the many highlights that stand out in my memory:

• My first project at NCTSI at Point Loma
• Working on SRMT
• Visiting SPAWAR Old Town
• BACN first flight at MCAS Miramar
• Moving to Spectrum offices
• Participating in the company Toastmaster's club
• Moving to Mission Valley office for a couple years
• Being nominated for the Emerg1NG Leader program which was a life changer for me
• Getting into Scrum
• Flight test for SNP

Many thanks to all the folks I worked with over the years, especially Curtis E., my manager for 13 of those 15 years.

My new gig is with Georgia Tech Research Institute where I will be working on cyber projects.  It is an exciting new area for me and can't wait to get going.

Sleepy Dog

Our dog likes to take lots of naps.

Tahquitz Backpack

Our last Philmont training hike was a one-nighter up to Tahquitz Peak area in the San Jacinto Wilderness.  We left on Saturday morning to Humber Park.  We got lucky and found some parking pretty close.  Devils Slide trail was pretty steep the entire way up and we took it pretty slow due to the heat.  By the time we got to Saddle Junction, the troop was a bit tired.  A few us went to the meadow to filter water and then setup camp.  Dinner was nice and I went down early under the stars.  We got up early the next morning and made it down very fast.  Overall, it was a great tuneup at a wonderful location.

Lily Rock from Devils Slide

Saddle Junction

Saddle Junction signage