Day 1 of training.

Last night was a bit tough, as I got a bit down after some of the reading I did, but today I feel like I got a good start.  First, I had some notes of encouragement from the last post.  One from a friend and another from a complete stranger who found my post.  How cool is that?  Second, I did my first ride of the year on my usual daily ride.  I used my new Christmas present, a Garmin Edge 500 cycling computer, and mapped my route.  When I got home I uploaded the ride and created a course of it for future rides.  Which means I can do cool things like race against my logged time to see if I can beat it.  The Garmin will put a virtual competitor on the route and tell me if I'm ahead or behind him using the times and positions that I logged from today's ride.  Pretty cool.

I also tried planning a route last night.  That route, subject to change, takes me from Santa Cruz to the Oregon border all along the coast.  Wouldn't that be cool?

On today's ride I thought about the trip and did some mental planning.  Will need some more bike tools, some long cycling pants, etc.  It will be June during the ride yes, but the coast in the mornings even in summer can at times be colder than our winter days in Livermore so I'll need to be prepared.

Jesus, thank you for the words of encouragement you sent me from the aether :-)  I hope to please you with my efforts come June, and ask that you come for a ride with me that week.

Finding the courage

The new year is here and I am currently struggling with an idea and trying to drum up some courage.  I have told a few people of a plan I have been brewing in the back of my head to do a big ride in the summer.  Something like 500 miles over 7 days.  I intend to raise money for the PKD foundation, a charitable foundation representing the disease I have: Polycystic Kidney Disease.  Right now, it is a real struggle.  Tonight I started doing some research into planning the trip, and what it would take to represent PKD on the ride.  I segued into some personal PKD stories, and now am a little on the sad side:  I realize I haven't even admitted to myself I have the disease.  You see, I read a few things tonight about some of the bad possibilities.  I feel so close to backing down cause I feel like I can't even deal with it.   I've shielded myself from that by only acknowledging the best possible outcomes.  I pray now: God please give me courage.  Help me start this thing off and not back down.

Black Belt Factory: a great way to learn and show off what you know!

Not long ago I stumbled accross a community driven certification site called Black Belt Factory.  I've always enjoyed participating with the community over various software engineering topics but Black Belt Factory is not like any other community site I've been involved with.  The most interesting thing to me is how Black Belt Factory creates a place where exams and courses for said exams can be created by a community of developers and is constanty improved upon by past and present exam takers. For instance, you may be taking an exam for say Java Fundamentals and when the exam is completed you have an opportunity to report problems with any question you were presented during the course of the exam.  Exam questions are taken from a pool of questions designed, refined and voted on for inclusion, by the community.  As a reward for contributing to the exams and other social funcitons of the site you are allowed to take additional exams.
Black Belt Factory contains a wide variety of topics such as: Java, tooling, XML, Groovy, etc.

When you join Black Belt Factory you are given a profile, and your exam progress and community participation are tracked by your profile.  As I have been job hunting recently I've noticed some employers ask for URLs showing your internet presence or demonstrating work you've done.  Your Black Belt Factory profile could be an excellent submission there.  Building a strong profile showing all the topics you've studied and all that you've given back to the community can be a notable feather in your cap.

Anyway, if you need to study for any upcoming exams or are just looking to establish what you know, I highly suggest getting involved with the Black Belt Factory community.

Harsch Family at Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma 2010

Wow! What an event the Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma event was… We all had a lot of fun and with the help of 25 sponsors, friends and family, we managed to raise $1301!! (With 2 more donations on the way). Thanks to all your support, it turns out we were the 5th largest independent fund raiser for the event.

The walk itself was great. The kids and I walked the 2mi together (I mistakenly called it a 2K earlier). Cole, who had just beat a virus he had for the three days prior, walked about a half mile and then wanted in the stroller. Mason, dragged a little in the middle, but then got really excited at the end and couldn’t wait to cross the line. I was so proud of her. Lori was already at the finish line waiting for us and helped see us through!

Lori enjoyed the 10K run, and it turns out it proved to be her fastest yet. Several of the middle miles were under 10 minutes for her, so she achieved a pretty major milestone during the run. She never ceases to amaze me.

We really wanted this to be a memorable event in memory of my mother so we designed shirts that you can see in the photos. They had the heart graphic you see here which we put on the back, it says “Stepping Out In Loving Memory Of Betty Harsch”. On the front they say “Stepping Out to Cure Scleroderma May, 16 2010”.  I really feel we did a good thing to help those struggling with this horrid disease. Scleroderma, being a rare disease has not received much public support, which means your contributions were direly needed. There were a lot of things we learned about doing fund raisers, and you can bet that next year we will be back at it.

The Chile Enchiladas auction was a big hit.  As it turned out we had a three way tie for the Red Chile dish, so we've decided to make a third.  So, in total the Red Chile dish brough in $150 and the Green Chile brought in $81.12!

This really was a growing experience for us all and we were very happy to be a part of the event.  See you next year!

"A Million Thanks to All Our Sponsors!!"

Harsch Family First Goal Achieved!

Wow!  We've been really blessed with an outpouring of support.  As it stands as of this writing, we've met our first goal of $400, and then some, to total $510!  There is one week left, and we're hoping to rally support from a few others so we're setting a second goal of $800!  Hopefully, if we get some more bids on the enchiladas and a few more donations we can really help the fight against Scleroderma.  Come on friends and colleagues won't you please help out?

Also, our daughter Mason has really taken an inkling to running... she runs with Mom on practice runs and last week she ran 1.75 miles.  She's going to kick my butt on this 2K!!

Red Chile Enchiladas - Auction for Scleroderma

Any of you lucky enough to have had Lori's Red Chile Enchiladas know they are worth their weight in gold!  You, however, only have to be top bidder or second top bidder to get this tasty dish delivered right to your door.  Here's how it works:
* Check out the Harsch Family fund raiser page for Scleroderma for details about our walk, taking place Sunday May 16th.
* Bidding is easy - To bid just add a comment to this blog post with your name and amount. Starting bid = $10.00.
* Top two highest bidders win yummy Red Chile Enchiladas, that feeds four.
* Winners get the dish delivered to their door (must live within 25 miles of Livermore, or be otherwise capable of arranging to get the dish from us) on Sunday May 23rd (or later by arrangement).
* Auction ends Friday May 14th at midnight.  Winners must donate to our fund raiser page by the next day.

You'll help a worthy cause, support families dealing with a dreadful disease, raise awareness and research a cure.... AND enjoy a fine meal.  So, please bid on...

(those not living close enough to participate in the auction, your kind donations to the fund raiser are still appreciated)

[Click here to go to Green Chile Enchilada Auction]

==> Bid in Comments <==

( NOTE: If you do not use an account capable of posting comments below just send me email and I will post your bid for you).

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casseroles - Auction For Scleroderma

Any of you lucky enough to have had Lori's Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas know they are worth their weight in gold!  You, however, only have to be top bidder or second top bidder to get this tasty dish delivered right to your door.  Here's how it works:
* Check out the Harsch Family fund raiser page for Scleroderma for details about our walk, taking place Sunday May 16th.
* Bidding is easy - To bid just add a comment to this blog post with your name and amount. Starting bid = $10.00.
* Top two highest bidders win a yummy Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole, that feeds four to six.
* Winners get the dish delivered to their door (must live within 25 miles of Livermore, or be otherwise capable of arranging to get the dish from us) on Sunday May 23rd (or later by arrangement).
* Auction ends Friday May 14th at midnight.  Winners must donate to our fund raiser page by the next day.

You'll help a worthy cause, support families dealing with a dreadful disease, raise awareness and research a cure.... AND enjoy a fine meal.  So, please bid on...

(those not living close enough to participate in the auction, your kind donations to the fund raiser are still appreciated)

[Click Here to go to Red Chile Enchilada Auction]

==> Bid in Comments <==

( NOTE: If you do not use an account capable of posting comments below just send me email and I will post your bid for you).