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My life: eat, sleep, read, KABOOM July 24, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Personal , add a comment

What else did I accomplish last weekend? Let’s see…

Read Harry Potter (6 hours, baby!)
Slept from 9 pm until noon the next day (I feel human again!)
Attended bite of Seattle (mmm… blackened salmon over Caesar salad)
Filmed a clip for Comcast’s Dating on Demand (pretty sure they’ll never be able to air mine)
Blew up a phone for Cruchgear’s Destroy Your Landline Contest (vote for me!)

Your thoughts?

I won a free laptop in Dell’s Urban Challenge Amazing Race promotion! July 22, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Personal , 4 comments

My friend and fellow Pickup 101 instructor Alexandra gave me a call on Friday morning. She wanted to know if I’d be her partner for Dell’s Urban Challenge Scavenger Hunt the next day. First prize: a pimped-out laptop.

Well, of course!

Friday had been a pretty awesome day already, and with Harry Potter in my hands I ended up staying up until 5 am, got two hours of sleep and headed downtown with Alexandra to win a laptop!

Only about 20 teams showed up. When we arrived we were assigned one of 8 colors randomly and you only compete against other teams in your color. First of all, that meant we only had to beat two other green teams to win our laptops. And Alexandra realized that it would be a brilliant idea to talk to teams in other colors so we could work together to solve the clues. Good idea. In the end, all but one of the teams we worked with got their laptops.

I’m excited. Mine’s going to be yellow.

Your thoughts?

Bournemania, Pottermania, Ironmania… July 21, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so far

Awesome day today. One of my best in Seattle so far. Craig and I haven’t any any epic adventures like we used to yet, but today was pretty solid. First, we set up a projector and our bike trainers in the living and biked all through the Bourne Identity. (Gotta see the Bourne Supremacy before the last leg of the trilogy comes out!) Afterwards, Craig decided he hadn’t worked out enough, so we threw on our wetsuits, ran to the end of the street, jumped in the canal and swam to Lake Union. Headed to the Columbia Tower Club (one of the most exclusive members-only clubs in Seattle, top floor of the tallest building in the city) for happy hour followed by dollar appetizers at Maharaja (nine of them!). Harry Potter release party at Barnes and Noble where Craig met a cool girl and I was accosted by Beauty and the Geek fans (the employees had to tell the middle school girls to stop screaming). We got bored before they even handed out the books so we left early for a house party, followed by barhopping downtown, and an afterparty at our place (the Mountain Mansion). And I have 4 hours to sleep now before Dell’s Amazing Race Seattle begins.

Life is tough when you’re unemployed!

Your thoughts?

How to succeed socially July 20, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Dating coach, Personal , 2 comments

In my recent post, Thoughts on Self-Improvement, I criticized people who shy away from self-improvement. They were arguments I’d brought up before in one of my earliest (and fairly controversial) posts, When Liking Yourself is a Load of Crap. Now, my thanks go out to David Braun for pointing me to a fantastic website, Succeed Socially, that lists a number of the most common arguments against self-improvement (with rebuttals!).

Your thoughts?

My career as a mechanic begins July 19, 2007

Posted by Niels in : Personal , 1 comment so far

Thank you, Auto Repair for Dummies. Today I changed my spark plugs (the most difficult part of the process was figuring out what they were), my air filter, checked my hoses (one’s busted), and all my fluid levels (coolant is empty, washer fluid is empty, oil needs changing and is leaking into fuel line, brake fluid needs changing, but power steering fluid is OK!).

From here, I just need to get insurance, try to pass emissions, probably fail emissions, get at least $150 worth of work done on the car to improve its emissions performance, probably fail emissions a second time but get a waiver because of the $150 (Washington state law, whew!), and then I’ll be good to go!

Your thoughts?