rebron.org: Everyday Life, Work, Ironman Training

New definition, kind of winging what this should look like but here goes:

stacktrap (n) – a product or service from a company that lures you into a set of additional products or services, locking you into that company and limiting your use of other competing services

similar: lock-in, product lock-in, data lock-in

examples: [1] The new iPod is a stacktrap for all your music and video for Apple.  [2] The new Facebook Home phone is a stacktrap to keep all your contacts and messages on Facebook.

stack trapped (v; past tense) – to be tied to a particular set of product and services from one company, limiting a person’s ability to use a competing set of products and services.

examples: I have my email and documents stack trapped Google. I have my music and videos stack trapped in Apple. I can’t decide whether I should get an iPhone 5 or Nexus 4 device.

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Working on the “clean” diet and “core” training routine to get into snowboarding shape for this Winter and hopefully launch me back into Ironman triathlon training.

Clean diet – “clean” foods, clean meals, simple ingredients

Core training – shoulders to thighs training with emphasis on developing ab and back strength

Ramen shops:

• Momofuku, in New York
• Fukuoka ramen shops
• saimin in Kauai
• In Honolulu, Goma Tei and Gomaichi ramen
• In Los Angeles, Toroniku ramen from Santouka and Daikokuya
• In the Bay Area, Ken Ken Ramen, Hapa Ramen, and Ramen Dojo in San Mateo

• make every day matter
  • keep learning
  • hack away at the unessential
  • nothing lasts, nothing is perfect
  • make an impact

Finally looking to get out of hibernation mode and into Spring mode, shedding Winter fat (about 25lbs) and getting ready for the Summer.

New diet to include loads of steel cut oatmeal, lots of tea, no sugar, no sweets, more vegetables, little to no bread, more sweet potatoes, less meat, more rice, and more fish.

Training this year will probably pick up some time in June, a lot of running and maybe back to spin class.

People that we depend on

• butcher/fish monger: Berkeley Bowl, Marin Sun Farms @Market Hall
• baker: Acme Bread, Henry@Tucker’s Ice Cream, It’s All Good Bakery
• plumber: Michael Your Plumber, Raul@Pelican Plumbers
• electrician: Eduardo Miramontes, Early Light Electric
• HVAC: Harry Clark
• general contractor: Eric Angress
• farmer: Eatwell Farm, Straus Creamery

Personal

• tailor: Thomas Mahon@English Cut
• shoemaker: George Glasgow@George Cleverley
• barber: Nick Vlahos@Temescal Alley Barber Shop
• doctor: Dr. Don Weinreich
• dentist: Dr. Robin Levi
• coach: Chris Hauth@AIMP Coaching
• massage therapist: Johnny Wong
• insurance: Manny Reburiano@AllState
• garage: Bavarian Professionals, Weatherford BMW

This is our box for the week from Eatwell Farm.  We’ve got apples, oranges, lemons, strawberries, lemon balm, parsley, sugar snap peas, green garlic, spring onions, spinach, carrots, mixed greens.

We’re on the 12 week program (13th week is free) w/ a half dozen eggs, which comes to about $29 a box.  Considering we get our box next door, the fruits and vegetables are organic AND they’re picked the week of delivery, it’s a no brainer value — and ridiculous from a freshness standpoint.

You also get things you might not normally buy at the store like romanesco, daikon, rainbow chard, jerusalem artichokes, rutabagas, and watermelon radish.  And you learn to eat seasonally, which makes you realize we actually do have seasons in Northern California.

There are a few drawbacks.  It’s not always easy to eat everything in a week, and you do have to cook.  You might get weeks of weeks of something you might not like for example red cabbage or kale.  You might not have enough of something to finish a recipe — need one more eggplant or one more onion, so you’ll have to supplement that at the store.  You’ll also never get bananas (obviously) and probably some other “non-standard” vegetable.

Sign up with Eatwell if you’re in the Bay Area or I’d encourage signing up for another Community Support Agriculture (CSA) program like Eatwell Farm.  A lot of them are popping up all over California and the rest of the United States.

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* Hard to say whether or not CSA is scalable, I’m sure less than 1% of the country subscribes to a CSA.  But it would be great to see because in practice we feel healthier and feel better knowing where our  food comes from and the knowing the people who farm it.

Oakland has some pretty good drinks.  A few that I really like:

• Gin and Tonic from Pizzaiolo; the tonic is a house made tonic by Cate Whalen
• As good as the gin and tonic is, I like their whiskey cocktail better.  It’s made with Buffalo Trace bourbon whiskey (my favorite liquor)
• Linden St. Black Lager or their Common Lager are really nice, can only be found on tap at just a few places.
• Blue Bottle’s Bella Donovan coffee is what I normally drink for coffee (daily basis)

Haven’t really tried Numi tea, another Oakland company.  We want to but just haven’t pulled the trigger we have so much tea in the house.  I get tea from Teance in Berkeley, their ba bao chao and pu-erh teas and we also get tea from Republic of Tea, Ginseng peppermint and several other kinds.  We’ve got a lot of tea.  We’ll try Numi eventually.

These are the sites I visit almost everyday:

• Google News, Google Finance, WSJ.com, Economist.com, SFGate.com, NYTimes.com, ESPN, News.com (I open these all at once in a Tab, and I’ve been visiting these sites for years)
• The most interesting/entertaining: Facebook, Twitter, HuffingtonPost
• New to me: Groupon (group coupons), Pandora (web radio, w/ a great music recommendation engine, Oakland company) – knew about them but was hesitant to sign up

I access Gmail via Thunderbird so only go to Gmail every once in a while to check out new features.

The other sites I visit are only through a quick scan of their feeds, i.e. Lifehacker, Engadget, All Things Digital, Oakland North, Oakland Local, etc.

Would love recommendations on other sites to check out.

General Happenings

• Chilean Miners rescued after 69 days trapped in a mine
• Earthquake in Haiti
• Volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull
• Deepwater Horizon Oil spill
• Wikileaks releases cables/documents
• Republican’s win control of House of Representatives
• Slow recovery Dow at 11,000.

Tech

• Apple releases iPad (and an updated MacBook Air)
• Android making gains, Nexus One and Nexus S released
• Rise of the App stores
• Facebook/Twitter continue to grain traction

Sports

• Winter Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler
• FIFA World Cup won by Spain
• Saints over Colts to win Super Bowl
• Lakers beat Celtics NBA Finals
• SF Giants beat Texas Rangers to win World Series

Obits

• JD Salinger, President of Poland, Gary Coleman, Dennis Hopper, Manute Bol, Robert Byrd

Personal

• General: Attic insulation w/ new attic ladder, other home energy work
• Travel: Kirkwood/NorthStar (good snow), Whistler, Turks & Caicos
• Races: Oakland 1/2 Marathon, Ironman St. George, Ironman Canada, NorthFace 50k
• Work: Thunderbird 3.x releases
• Restaurants: Commis and Rikyu mostly
• Too many purchases.