An update. Sort of.

Time to dust off some cobwebs around here...what does it mean when your life has become busy but not necessarily with blog-worthy things? What happened to the slow days when I could be entertained by taking pictures of the texture on walls?

I started a graduate class two weeks ago--Enterprise Architecture. Ooh, it sounds grand. I'm learning about how the insides of computers work, how to design software, and how software, hardware, and networks work together. So far so good, except that the class is every Friday from 6 - 10 pm. *Yawn* I'm hoping it fills in some technical knowledge gaps I have and lets me advance my career.

Speaking of "career", I've recently been asking myself how that's going and what might be next. I think I need a magic 8-ball to help on this one.

From snorkeling...to snow!

On one of our days in Hawaii we rented a 4x4 vehicle and drove to the top of Mauna Kea, which is 13,000+ feet above sea level! We stopped at the visitor's center at 9,000 feet to get acclimated to the elevation. Still, we had headaches and could feel the pressure at the top. Here we are just above the clouds!

Definitely above the clouds and treeline! The drive was treacherous with steep cliffs and switchbacks. The temp was in the 30s at the top--not too bad because of the bright sun and low wind.

A cluster of old cinder cones. Beyond that....ocean.

A shot of neighboring Mauna Loa. Hawaiian lava is not explosive, which is why the volcanoes here have extremely long and gradual slopes. Mauna Kea is where ancient Hawaiian's believed the god of fire lived (also where the active volcano presently is); Mauna Kea was the god of ice. The Hawaiians did not like to travel in the valley between the two because they thought it was their battle ground. If you enlarge the picture, the dark patches on Mauna Loa are old lava flows.

Two telescopes--University of Hawaii's, the oldest, on the right.

The Keck I and II observatories--the most powerful on Earth. In the background is the volcano peak from the island of Maui! The first telescope was put up here in the 1960s by the University of Hawaii. They were making the case that Mauna Kea is an ideal location for telescopes--thin atmosphere, low light, and little pollution.

Inside Keck I

The primary mirror is actually made up of thick mirror segments. It is 33 feet across and is one of the largest in the world.

Race time: 1 hour 25 minutes.

Same as last year, just about.

Ready for the excuses...? Lol.

Finish line

This morning I ran the Cherry Blossom 10-miler! I finished in about the same time as last year. The times will be posted at 8 pm tonight...will let you know how I did.

These are some pics from my last training run...I got up one morning last week before work and made it down to the tidal basin for the sunrise. The cherry blossoms are off the hook.