all the news that's fit to feed.

Loyal readers (do they exist) will notice that I've added a news feed to the blog. It pulls highlighted articles from my Google Reader accounts. It's tech-heavy, but hopefully it will make up for the woeful lack of blog posts. Enjoy!

nosy neighbors.

There's a smaller Eichler down the street from us that just sold. It was on the market for ten days with a listing price of $912k. We'll be keeping an eye on Zillow for the final sale price. And I guess our six month stint as the new neighbors is about to end.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif

on the home front.

One of the big perks of working at El Goog is five weeks of paternity leave. Having taken only two weeks right after Hadley's birth in March, I just wrapped up a bonus week of daddy daycare. Essentially, I served as the middle infielder to turn the double play between Paige (who is now back at work) and our new official daycare provider.

Actually, that's not entirely true. My mom and sister-in-law graciously pitched in for a handful of days. And Paige's folks are on duty for the next two weeks. We're very, very fortunate to have such generous family members.

Back to my tour of duty. It's exhausting. Even though Hadley is three months old and has roughly the same mobility as an inchworm, she wore me out. Walks around the neighborhood, check-ins at the doctor's office, naps. You name the activity and it contributed to me feeling run down.

Don't get me wrong. It was amazing to bond with her for the week. She's starting to smile and squeak and I still think she's the most interesting person I've ever met. Can't wait for the next time I'm on leave.

life is different.

It's been two months since I posted. And a lot has changed. Paige and I welcomed our daughter, Hadley, to the world on March 9. She's full of energy, smiles, and dirty diapers. It's taken some getting used to, particularly the lack of sleep, but it is totally worth it. I'll provide more updates soon. Be patient...

one-armed bandit.

I, for one, am glad to have February in the rearview mirror. More specifically, the second half of February. Here's why...

I've been playing third base for the Google men's softball team since the fall. A few weeks ago I picked up a grounder in fair territory behind the bag and turned to whip the ball to first base. It was the last out of the game and the wind had really picked up, so I tried to put a little extra mustard on the throw. I heard a pop and saw the ball fly in a strange direction. We got the guy out and won the game, but that was the last of the good news.

I wasn't in any pain but my teammates looked very concerned and rushed me off the field. Long story short, our center fielder drove me to the ER, where I met up with Paige.

As it turned out, I broke my humerus in two places. That's right. I broke my arm firing the ball across the infield. Holy crap. (It's a rare injury, but not unprecedented. Former Reds pitcher Tom Browning suffered a similar injury while on a big league mound).

Instead of waiting for the bone to set itself, I opted for surgery. After all, with a baby coming in a few weeks, I'll probably need my right arm. A metal plate insert and nine screws later, I now have a crazy bionic arm. I'm still not able to lift anything, but I'm regaining more and more motion every day. And my left hand dexterity is vastly improving.

So there it is. Nothing funny or quirky. Just a crazy arm injury three weeks before the birth of my little girl. I couldn't have planned it any better than that. More updates coming soon.

project management.

Moving into a new house means there's no shortage of projects. Some are big and visible; our new laminate floors, for example. Others are big and invisible, like our fancy new windows. Since Paige and I moved in right after Christmas, we've completely altered key features of our Eichler without (we hope) ruining the essence of the place.

Here's a quick rundown:

Double pane windows. With floor to ceiling windows throughout the house, not to mention a larger open-air atrium in the middle, Eichlers are notoriously inefficient. One of the big factors is 1960s single pane windows that seem to let in as much air as they keep out. We decided to take a bit of the cash from the sale of our Campbell house and replace every single window with Milgard aluminum blah blah blah windows. And they are fantastic. The house is warmer and quieter and we're still fooling birds who think they can through the windows. Ouch.

Laminate floors. Radiant heat is a treat if you take advantage of it. For some reason, the previous owners had wall-to-wall carpet in the bedrooms, which effectively made it impossible to conduct the heat. We installed maple laminate floors a few weeks ago. Welcome back, warm toes!

Automatic garage door. Eichler two-car garages slide horizontally and don't open vertically. This is a very cool feature. Unfortunately, a cool feature can also be a giant pain-in-the-ass feature when you need to get out of your car in a rainstorm to manually slide a large garage door. We found a custom garage door shop and had them install two openers so we can open and close the doors from the comfort of our car. Who knew it would be so satisfying?!?

Painting. Perhaps the cheapest and most dramatic change. We quickly painted over a green bedroom (seriously) and an Asian-themed mural on the wall of our living room. We're talking about three or four coats of primer before slopping on a few rounds of the chose paint color. Of course, now I need to go back and paint the trim. A slow and tedious process.

Upcoming projects include new plants for our atrium and backyard, new bathroom fans, window blinds, and fixing the work bench in the garage. We'll keep everyone posted on our progress.

oh-eight.

Our holiday season was a busy one, consisting of moving in and out of old and new homes and a journey to the Sierras for Christmas. Now that the Santa-incited wackiness is behind us, Paige and I are settling into our new place in San Jose.

As with any new home, there's no shortage of projects. Everywhere you look you see something to fix, adjust, purchase, or ignore. We've painted all of the bedrooms, the kitchen, and the main room. And we have some major projects coming within the next few weeks. (I'll provide updates soon.)

2008 is already a much better year for my favorite sports teams, including the Wolverines (who beat Heisman Tebow and the Florida Gators on January 1st) and the Niners (who hired Mike Martz as offensive coordinator today).

It's also been a good year for Barack Obama, whom I am increasingly favoring for the nomination. After seeing him at the Googleplex in the fall, I'm inspired by his rhetoric and fresh approach to Washington. The more I hear from Obama, the less inclined I am to switch to Hillary or Jimmy Carter.

Happy New Year.

more new digs.

I've received a number of questions and comments about the new place. For folks who aren't familiar with the Eichler style, I've included a sample floor plan in this post. As you can see, the front door opens into an open air atrium. More photos coming soon.

new digs.

Today is one of those days where I don't miss Ann Arbor. While much of the country shivered beneath a blanket of ice and snow, it was 60 and partly cloudy in San Jose. Wheresnate has been relatively quiet the past month. That's because Paige and I have been spending a decent amount of time buying a new house (and selling our current one). We found a fantastic Eichler in the Mossbrook neighborhood of West San Jose and will be moving (fingers crossed) before the holidays. I will be sure to post photos and write updates as we move forward.

For those who don't live in the Bay Area, an "Eichler" is a mid-century modern home built in the style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Must Eichlers (including ours) include floor to ceiling windows and an open-air atrium in the middle of the house. They have become something of a collector's item, especially in exclusive neighborhoods in Palo Alto and San Jose. The Mossbrook area, in particular, is known for well-maintained Eichlers that remain faithful to the 1950s style.

More updates soon.

random musings.

I need to fix our porch light...

I'm addicted to Guitar Hero 3 and went head-to-head last night with Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine...

Last weekend I staffed the Google booth at an Xprize event on an Air Force base in the Middle of Nowhere, New Mexico...

Given the current state of Bay Area sports, I'm now more of a Warriors fan than a Niners fan...

Paige and I celebrated the union of Craig and Pam in early October at a fantastic event in San Diego...

I need to be sure to stretch out my hamstring better prior to my weekly Google softball games...

I'm not convinced that Tom Brady is better than Joe Montana, but I will be when the Pats beat the Colts this weekend by three touchdowns.