Austin: April 2009 Archives

Every job has perks; every job has a downside. Finding the ideal balance between the ups and downs can be tricky, but when you do, it's probably one of the biggest defining factors of a dream job. I honestly think I've found that balance here at Trigger Point.

Case in point: we offer discounts on our products to pro athletes and fellow industry insiders, and they return the favor to us. As such, I've been able to score some great gear at a significant discount, including a new pair of shoes, wet suits, and some bicycling shorts/bibs. I received my shoes today and am already in love with them...

They match our company colors perfectly, and they're extremely comfy. Technically they're trail running shoes, but I think I'll be ok with wearing them for casual use. :-)

Nothing else to report - just working my butt off. Oh, I was featured on our company blog today - you can check that out by clicking here. Enjoy!!

I'll post more over the weekend, so stay tuned.

The Trigger Point offices were closed on Friday, in observance of Good Friday, so Thursday was my last official "work day" for the week. We hired a new sales person to handle the Texas region, and Cassidy wanted to take him around and introduce him to some of our Austin account holders. So, we hopped into the Trigger Point Truck and hit the road - I made a blog entry about it over at the Trigger Point Wordpress Blog site; you can read all of the details about it over there.

As a teaser, here we are, about to go into Crossfit Central, which is one of the nicest Crossfit facilities I've ever seen.

After calling on various accounts, we stopped by Whole Foods to grab some lunch. They had a great deal on lunch tacos - two for $5, so I grabbed a couple of tacos (chicken), some fruit, and a bottle of water. I was out the door for just under $8 - not bad for Whole Foods, and excellent for as great as it tasted.

Whole Foods is such a cool grocery store - you can literally find anything imaginable there, and everything is fresh, wholesome, and amazing. They also have a massive salad bar, a baked potato center, soup line, pastry shop, and more... here's a shot of the pizza and pot pie area:

So much nicer than the deep-fried crap that Walmart considers to be "deli food." :-) Although, the Whole Foods prices are quite a bit higher than 'ole Wal-Mart... check out the price on this ham:

And finally, here's a cold splash or reality for everyone who complains about my constant raving about Austin. :-) Contrary to what my blog might lead you to believe, I don't get to go running around to all of these wonderful restaurants all day and night. Nope, I make it sound "glamorous," but the sad reality is that more often than not, my meals go more like this:

That's an EAS Myoplex Chocolate nutrition shake (180 calories) with a bottle of Ozarka water, and the lovely laundry room. So, fear not - life's not always so grand in Austin. ;-)

You're going to get tired of me and my positive, upbeat, happy posts... but don't fret - I'm sure I'll have some snarky and cynical observations to share in the near future. I could already craft a piece about how horrible Texas drivers are - they may give Oklahoma drivers a run for their money - but I'll save that for later.

For now, Austin definitely has that "new car smell." I really can't say enough great things about the city, and I think a lot of it has to do with my location. I'm so close to everything - it's almost ridiculous.

I was bored on Sunday. I had wanted to go for a long bike ride, but the winds were gusting at speeds of up to 40mph, and I didn't feel like getting tossed around on the bike, so I settled for a 7 mile run around the Barton loop, took a shower, and then wondered how I could best spend the rest of my day.

I looked at the car and realized it was filthy, so first item on my list was to go and wash it. I had noticed a local car wash place that looked interesting - they always had Jaguars, Porches, BMWs, Mercedes, and Land Rovers running through their facility, so I figured they had to be decent. I drove 2.1 miles from my apartment to the car wash place, and man, was it busy.

I got into line with my car and waited for the attendant to "take my order." Since I had never been there before, I chose the basic package - hand wash, hand dry, complete wheel and tire cleaning, tire dressing, and a complete interior cleaning. Cost? $16. Wait time? About 1.5 hours. But, it was a Sunday afternoon, the weather was nice (but windy), and I had nothing but time, so it was all good.

Here's my car in the wash bay:

The car wash had a great outdoor patio that was shaded, and they offered free wireless internet and cheap soft drinks ($1 for a bottle). I opted to walk to a local marketplace, where I found a great locally grown and roasted coffee. I also browsed the selection of locally made cheeses, beers, and snacks. I can't tell you how awesome it is to find places like this - it's so refreshing to not be forced to shop at WalMart. I'll gladly pay an extra $0.39 for something if it means that it's: (a) supporting a local business, (b) fresh and exciting, (c) something that doesn't say "Kraft" or "Tyson" or "Nabisco" on it.

After grabbing the coffee, I headed back to the car wash place just in time to see them finishing up my car. It looked pretty good to me:

I realize how ironic it is that "geekysteve" from "Guru Reports" is now paying people to wash and detail his car... yes, a few years ago I would've gone bonkers with the idea of running my car through a service like this, but today I couldn't care less. In the event that the car gets too swirled or too messed up, I'll fire up the buffer, spend an afternoon perfecting it, and call it good. Life's too short to obsess over a swirl mark. :-)

I also noticed a doggy day care across the street from the car wash - that's good to know about, so I took a photo to keep as a "reminder" in case I need to use it:

Given Austin's liberal stance on allowing dogs just about everywhere, I highly doubt I'd ever need to use them, but it's good know they're available.

With my car nice and clean, it was off to explore the city. I needed to swing by a Sears so that I could pick up a cheap pair of pliers, so my next mission was to find a mall. Turns out there's an amazing mall about 2 miles from my apartment (4 miles from the car wash). So, I took Lamar Blvd to 360, and within a few minutes, I was at the Barton Springs mall.

What a place. They had Nordstroms, Macy's, Coach, Prada, Ann Taylor, Lucky Brand, Mens Warehouse, and about 30 other awesome stores, including a Sears. I took an hour or so to stroll through the mall, making note of the various stores. Oh, they also had an Apple Store!! Jackpot #2!

Thoroughly impressed with the selection of stores, it was back to the apartment. The sun was setting, and I had grabbed a few free magazines while out and about. I pulled a chair onto my deck, turned on my iPod, kicked back and enjoyed the Sunday afternoon.

I had a view of the pool, my clean car, the setting sun, and a few good magazines to read. I sat on the porch until around 7:30 or so, which by then it was getting chilly (into the high 60s). The entire time I was sitting there, I smiled with appreciation for the simpler things.

I've spent so much of my life being wrapped-up in, concerned with, and obsessing over money and status. I've wanted nothing more than to be wealthy and successful. And for so long, it meant so much. But now, with my life completely rearranged, I've come to realize that none of that stuff really matters. I'm not going to try to kid myself into thinking that it's not nice to have a bucket of money, nice watches, nice cars, a big house, and so on... but I am perfectly happy with this one-bedroom apartment, my bike, my running shoes, and my iPod. I've got a job that I'm super excited about, I'm in a city that is inviting, fun, friendly, and full of opportunity, I've got a great network of friends, and as such, I'm free of worry and stress.

It's liberating. I'd love to sell my house, but it'll happen when it's meant to happen. Until then, I'll keep chugging along. I thought about this a lot today while I was riding my bike (on my lunch hour - another bonus - I rode 27 miles at lunch today, and it was glorious)... How lucky am I to be in this situation? To find a job and a place when the world is what it is? Wow.

So, with that, I'll leave you all for a bit. Sorry to get so philosophical. It's not really my style, but it's more or less what I was feeling last night and today. I'll also leave you a photo of a burger from Shuggies (which is in the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery). I'm telling you all - you need to come visit Austin. You'll leave 13 pounds heavier, your cholesterol will be 10% higher, but you'll be happy. :-)