Austin: March 2009 Archives

Not only is Austin shaping up to be an awesome city, but the perks of working at Trigger Point are already paying dividends. Cassidy (the company founder/owner) bought and built a new bike - a Litespeed Archon, and was so excited to have it "finished" that he grabbed me and said, "Hey, let's go ride this afternoon."

So, we hopped on the bikes and hit the road. We did a quick 15-mile ride on the Southwest Parkway (a nice rolling road with wide lanes, moderate traffic, and great scenery), and got a chance to talk about work while not sitting at our desks. It was refreshing, and is just one of the invaluable benefits of working at a place like Trigger Point.

Here's Cassidy's new bike - it's seriously cool (Titanium frame, finished "in the raw"):

And here we are in the parking lot, getting ready to go on the maiden voyage:

We're all decked out in our Trigger Point Cycling gear (jerseys, shorts), which is another super cool bonus... we get cool t-shirts, clothing, and other promo items as part of our "deal." I really can't say enough good things about life here in Austin and at Trigger Point. I have such a good feeling about this.

I also had an opportunity to update the company blog - check it out over at Wordpress. It has full details about our ride, and some additional pictures of us getting ready to go our for our spin.

Howdy, y'all! Hook 'em Horns (or something like that).

So, you've all e-mailed me, and you've all left me voice mails, and you're all wondering what the heck is going on with me. Thanks for the concern, and apologies for not responding to your inquiries - I'm not ignoring you (well, I'm not ignoring most of you), I've just been super busy. I (drum roll) relocated to Austin, Texas last week, and have been immersed in my new job, the city, and all of that fun stuff.

"W-w-w-w-what?!" Yep, I heard you, and I saw you do that double-take-head-twist-thing that you do when you're confused. That's right, I'm in Austin.

"Where's Austin?"

Easy - it's in central Texas, about 2.5 hours south of Dallas, about an hour north east of San Antonio, and about 2 hours north west of Houston. Refer to this wonderful map that I made:

Cool, eh?

"Why Austin?" Lots of reasons, but most notably I found a great job here and was lucky enough to get offered a position. I've long wanted to live in Austin - there's just something about it - and things "worked out" in just the right order so that I could have that opportunity.

"What's so special about Austin?" Tons of things. But I won't bore you with history and details; you can check out the Wikipedia entry about Austin. Suffice it to say that Austin is a booming area - there are about 1.6 million people in/around the immediate area, the city has a ton of personality, it's very athletic-friendly, and it's not Arkansas. :-) I can actually shop at a store that isn't a Wal-Mart, and I can actually eat at restaurants that aren't chain restaurants. It's so refreshing. But more on that in a bit.

This is going to be another lengthy entry, so please click on the link to read the rest of this entry. Sorry, but we've got a lot of catching up to do!!!