No post yesterday, and today I'm struggling with what I want to write about. Its not that I don't have alot of interesting things on my mind - its just that none of them have congealed (maybe gelled is a better word?) into a cohesive story for me to write about.
oy... I guess I'll just wait for them to bounce around a bit more until one bounces out.... :)
Friday, September 30, 2005
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
What's Best about Boise
There are a lot of things about Boise that many would consider less than ideal. For one, it's in Idaho, that hotbed of liberalism and intellectualism (not!). Two, it's really a small town surrounded by farmlands, with unplanned commercial growth contributing to lousy traffic, little diversity and little culture. If you're not interested in the outdoors, there frankly isn't alot to do here.
Lucky for me though, there are a lot of other things that have made the Boise area (the Treasure Valley, as the geography is known) a great place to spend a year and a half or so.
First off, the weather is, by and large, outstanding. With 300 days of sunshine per year, Boise's weather seems to be the polar opposite of Seattle. In Seattle, when you can check the weather and get 5 straight pics of rain, in Boise you get 5 straight (or 10, 15?) days of sunshine. Jason and I always laugh when they show the 24 hour dopplar radar for Idaho - there's nothing there! Of course, it does get HOT in the summer (like, 103 degrees hot) and somewhat cold in the winter - but when the sun is shining, its hard to care.
Secondly, I do love to do things outdoors. I love to hike, bike, run - and Boise's a great place to do all of it. In fact, I've hooked up with an outstanding bunch of people to run with in Boise -formerly known as BoiseFit, the folks at BoiseRunWalk are truly a great group. We've got everything from a Masters record holder (who also runs ultras, mind you) to the Average Joe runner who just does it to be able to keep eating pizza and drinking beer. We've got some Hash House Harriers (those are drinkers with a running problem, for the uninitiated), racers, novices, experts, walkers, run-walkers, race-walkers and pretty much everything in between. We meet every Saturday for a long run, complete with water, Powerade and PortaPotties along the course (conceivably leading up to the Boise City of Trees Marathon in November) or some other race of your choice, but also are regaled with emails, discussion boards, speed workouts mid-week, sales at the local shoe store (The Athlete's Foot ROCKS!) and more. To top it all off, Steve, the Master of BOISERunWalk also arranges for free injury screenings and mini-massages following our long runs. And THEN, we all head off to the local coffee shop to sit in the sun and sip lattes. Ahh, the good life.
Another Best of Boise is our local meat market/deli/wine & cheese shop, The Porterhouse. From before we even moved to Idaho, walking into Porterhouse was like walking in to Cheers - it really is the corner meat market where everyone knows your name - and gives you shit about it too. :) But the guys at Porterhouse are great - they'll take the time to explain to you (and draw pictures too) the difference between a New York steak and a ribeye, what to look for in a good steak, and what wine would go best with your meal. You can even get a glass of wine if you time it right, a free taste of cheese and a good old hard time from Wayne too. They also carry all natural, antibiotic free meats raise through sustainable farming. You gotta love these guys. I just wish they had a "frequent shoppers" club - I swear we should have earned a free cow by now!
And last, but definitely not the least, one of the best things about Boise is the people. Real people, without pretensions, in most cases without agendas, who forge real friendships. These are the kind of people you can find everywhere, even in more metropolitan cities like Seattle, but they're a little harder to come by. From our friends at Porterhouse, to our friends at BoiseRunWalk, to our friends at the gym, from work, and from our neighborhood - the people we've met and bonded with are down to earth, authentic and sincere. I like these folks, and even though we've only been here a short time, there are more than a few people who've made an impact on me. People like Ray, like Kirk, like Trina (the Trinanator!) and Tony, like DJ and Walt, Tina, Ann, Jill, crazy Ironman Jeff... I could go on and on. When I stop and think about it, it really amazes me how little time it takes to really get connected with a place, and its people.
So I think that's what it comes down to - what's best about Boise are its people - even the Republican ones.
Lucky for me though, there are a lot of other things that have made the Boise area (the Treasure Valley, as the geography is known) a great place to spend a year and a half or so.
First off, the weather is, by and large, outstanding. With 300 days of sunshine per year, Boise's weather seems to be the polar opposite of Seattle. In Seattle, when you can check the weather and get 5 straight pics of rain, in Boise you get 5 straight (or 10, 15?) days of sunshine. Jason and I always laugh when they show the 24 hour dopplar radar for Idaho - there's nothing there! Of course, it does get HOT in the summer (like, 103 degrees hot) and somewhat cold in the winter - but when the sun is shining, its hard to care.
Secondly, I do love to do things outdoors. I love to hike, bike, run - and Boise's a great place to do all of it. In fact, I've hooked up with an outstanding bunch of people to run with in Boise -formerly known as BoiseFit, the folks at BoiseRunWalk are truly a great group. We've got everything from a Masters record holder (who also runs ultras, mind you) to the Average Joe runner who just does it to be able to keep eating pizza and drinking beer. We've got some Hash House Harriers (those are drinkers with a running problem, for the uninitiated), racers, novices, experts, walkers, run-walkers, race-walkers and pretty much everything in between. We meet every Saturday for a long run, complete with water, Powerade and PortaPotties along the course (conceivably leading up to the Boise City of Trees Marathon in November) or some other race of your choice, but also are regaled with emails, discussion boards, speed workouts mid-week, sales at the local shoe store (The Athlete's Foot ROCKS!) and more. To top it all off, Steve, the Master of BOISERunWalk also arranges for free injury screenings and mini-massages following our long runs. And THEN, we all head off to the local coffee shop to sit in the sun and sip lattes. Ahh, the good life.
Another Best of Boise is our local meat market/deli/wine & cheese shop, The Porterhouse. From before we even moved to Idaho, walking into Porterhouse was like walking in to Cheers - it really is the corner meat market where everyone knows your name - and gives you shit about it too. :) But the guys at Porterhouse are great - they'll take the time to explain to you (and draw pictures too) the difference between a New York steak and a ribeye, what to look for in a good steak, and what wine would go best with your meal. You can even get a glass of wine if you time it right, a free taste of cheese and a good old hard time from Wayne too. They also carry all natural, antibiotic free meats raise through sustainable farming. You gotta love these guys. I just wish they had a "frequent shoppers" club - I swear we should have earned a free cow by now!
And last, but definitely not the least, one of the best things about Boise is the people. Real people, without pretensions, in most cases without agendas, who forge real friendships. These are the kind of people you can find everywhere, even in more metropolitan cities like Seattle, but they're a little harder to come by. From our friends at Porterhouse, to our friends at BoiseRunWalk, to our friends at the gym, from work, and from our neighborhood - the people we've met and bonded with are down to earth, authentic and sincere. I like these folks, and even though we've only been here a short time, there are more than a few people who've made an impact on me. People like Ray, like Kirk, like Trina (the Trinanator!) and Tony, like DJ and Walt, Tina, Ann, Jill, crazy Ironman Jeff... I could go on and on. When I stop and think about it, it really amazes me how little time it takes to really get connected with a place, and its people.
So I think that's what it comes down to - what's best about Boise are its people - even the Republican ones.
Switching Costs
Anyone even remotely familiar with economics, competition, or even what's made Microsoft so successful is familiar with the concept of switching costs. Essentially, switching costs are incurred when a particular tool or technology becomes so entrenched that the cost to the customer to switch (in learning time, productivity, compatibility, etc) to a new tool or technology outweighs the benefit of switching. This is a technology company's dream.
Unfortunately for MSN Spaces, that was not the case for me. I've posted 1 blog there (my First!) but have to admit I was less than thrilled with the total appearance, and even less so with the fact that I kept experiencing a "catastrophic error" (Microsoft's words, not mine) when I would try to log back into the page.
So, Blogger, here I am. I have to admit, I almost didn't switch when I couldn't get my traditional user name. Unbelievably, charpopp was already taken. So was charpopp72 (is there another one of me out there??). That's okay - at least I could still use it for my blog address - and my user only matters to me.
Hopefully my first day experiences at Blogger will be better than MSN. And hopefully I can now escape the ridicule (or good natured ribbing) of my more experienced blogging friends.
Am I officially a blogger now?
Unfortunately for MSN Spaces, that was not the case for me. I've posted 1 blog there (my First!) but have to admit I was less than thrilled with the total appearance, and even less so with the fact that I kept experiencing a "catastrophic error" (Microsoft's words, not mine) when I would try to log back into the page.
So, Blogger, here I am. I have to admit, I almost didn't switch when I couldn't get my traditional user name. Unbelievably, charpopp was already taken. So was charpopp72 (is there another one of me out there??). That's okay - at least I could still use it for my blog address - and my user only matters to me.
Hopefully my first day experiences at Blogger will be better than MSN. And hopefully I can now escape the ridicule (or good natured ribbing) of my more experienced blogging friends.
Am I officially a blogger now?
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