End of a Slow Week

One thing I've been doing is working out regularly, after taking about a month and a half off. I think I needed to recharge my batteries and get away from the regime for a bit, and I feel more enthusiastic about the exercise now. I've been doing my full weight training suite one day, and then going jogging the next, which is working out pretty well. I'm also trying to do my weights workout faster, and lowering some of the weights so I'm not straining as much as I have in the past. Less stress while still getting in a good workout.

Many of the weights I lift (press, whatever), especially the leg weights, are so heavy they really wear me out. Not just in the sense of exhausting my muscles, but they leave me really winded and I have to take a long rest between sets (breathing heavily). I'm trying to cut down on the amount of time I have to rest like that. We'll see.

One of the things I did last weekend and early this week is finish the first novel I've read by Iain M. Banks, Use of Weapons. Banks is a Scottish SF writer whose material has been highly recommended by people such as Ceej, and I finally managed to crack one of his books. I enjoyed it, and as usual you can follow the link to my review.

What other news? I've been setting up some vacation plans for the summer; I don't want to go a full year again without taking a vacation. It'll be nice to get away.

We played Starfarers of Catan again at gaming on Wednesday, and I came in second, the first-place player having pulled ahead with an impressive run of luck (which was reflected by another player having a horrific run of bad luck).

The cats have been remarkably playful lately, especially at night after the lights go out. Plus, Newton has become obsessed with the shower: When I go to the gym, I don't shower at home first, but shower there afterwards. Yet Newton still sits outside the shower, looking pitiful, before I go. So I take pity on him and turn on the water for a few seconds, and then he walks around in the shower, licks some water, and sits there watching the beads roll towards the drain. What a nut!

For no particularly good reason, I decided last weekend to take photos of the freeway off ramp from I-280 heading north onto De Anza Boulevard, which is the exit you get off at to go to Apple. Why is this worthwhile? Well, the city of Cupertino actually has gone to some lengths to beautify their streets, including the spaces around the highway, and there are quite a few nice flowering plants along the roads, including quite a variety on this particular off ramp. And this is the time of year when all of them are in bloom!

	I-280 runs east/west through the heart of the valley, although technically the west-running side is north bound (heading towards San Francisco). This is the view from the off ramp, on the north side of the freeway, of Apple. It's the face which Apple presents to all the commuters going by every day. Apple always has a large poster above the entrance to Building 3; I think this is a Think Different photo of director Frank Capra, but I'm not 100% sure.
	The view as you drive up the ramp is something like this. I took this photo late in the afternoon, so there's some glare from the sun. Note the flowering bush in the foreground. The red light in the distance on the right is De Anza Blvd, so Apple is to our left here. The mountains in the distance on the left are between us and the Pacific Ocean.
	More glare from the sun, but also more pretty flowering plants.
	A large, pretty flowering bush. We're facing east here, so Apple is on our right.
	A field of flowers in the middle of the ramp space - rather impressive, actually. The building in the distance is the Cupertino Inn, which is where I stayed when I interviewed with Apple last year.
	A close-up of some flowers on one plant.
	Another view of the field of flowers.
	A panoramic view of the off ramp through the fence of the bridge running over 280. I picked up the two pine cones from the base of the tree straight ahead, and they're now sitting in my office at work.