I Live in Iowa: Week 235

Ahhh Christmas! Family time, quiet time, and another opportunity for thanksgiving. Certainly this was a good week for me.

The week didn't start out the best as I re-pulled my hamstring on Sunday afternoon while running, and had another set back. I had a massage Friday night and felt so much better after that I pushed my recovery a little fast. It was muddy and my feet were sliding everywhere on unstable ground and my hamstring was being extended while it was trying to contract, and the weak muscle fibers tore. Not a great day.

The next day I began working for three days this week, and was surprisingly productive. I will be traveling the first and probably the third week in January and we're trying to get everything done we can before those trips so that they are as successful as possible. I also had the chance to have lunch with my boss's boss's boss's boss who I didn't really know. It's interesting, the three people up the chain from me are all engineers, or at least have an engineering education and background. This person in the hierarchy comes from an accounting background, which initially was a little disappointing because we engineers like to experiment and see what is possible and do cool things simply to see if we can. On the other hand accountants get excited about profitability and good quality statistics and a solid business, which can seem a little boring from my perspective in research and development, but as I thought about it more we really need people like that in our organization to balance out the crazy ideas that the engineers try to push.

Of course, I spent Christmas, and about four days total, with my family up in Wisconsin. It's always good to see family. It is also nice to have some quiet time away from my normal routine. One discussion that came up several times this year is health concerns. We have a member of our extended family who has been in the hospital much of the fall. Similarly, none of my family is getting any younger and preparing for the future is something that can help ease the transition, whatever that may be.

A person who will remain nameless recently bought a Tesla and let me drive it. I'll post some videos of it some time soon. The strangest part about the thing is that there is no audible feedback. When I would floor the accelerator, there is a quiet winding noise from the electric motor but not the loud engine revving that we typically think of when you are going from 0 to 60 in five seconds.

Me driving a Tesla Model S.

Running started off depressingly with the hamstring issue, but ended with 19 miles and a 7.5 mile run on Saturday. So I will take it. I've been stretching actively, massaging it, using an icy-hot type oil, and trying to warm up a little more thoroughly than in the past, and it seems to be working. I have this skill and this talent at running long distances, and if I am meant to excel at it in the future, I will.

Merry Christmas!