Dan Mayer's Blog

So I am off spending a few days with my girlfriend and her family for the holidays before heading back to actually spend xmas with my fam. I have these thoughts that I will actually accomplish some work while traveling, but I guess we will see how that goes.

Happy holidays everyone, merry xmas...

The mystery of the Maxim magazine has been solved... Thanks Dom and Nicole for my xmas gift!

Well after Erin's last visit we think we discovered something. She is allergic to me... OK, not really allergic to me, but we are pretty sure she is allergic to my aftershave. I have been using Nivea for Men Sensitive after shave extra soothing balm for years, best stuff I have ever had... I hate all the burny highly scented alcohol based aftershaves... This one actually feels good and moisturizes, but we are pretty sure she is allergic to one of the ingredients... Oh well such is life, so good bye best damn after shave, and I begin another long search for a good replacement... (I think I searched for about 2 or more years before finding Nivea, the greatest after shave ever)

recommendations?

I built the world's saddest desk in my room. Yippie for now having a desk to work on when I don't feel like going out to the office (in the very next room). Not great but it works for now.

We are looking for talented Ruby developers if you are one or know any check out the full job posting...

devver.net jobs

Holidays are always an interesting time for me. I get away from my computer and work for awhile. I spend a bunch of time with family and friends. I usually get to spend a bunch of time with Erin, which is a rare pleasure because of long distance. I tend to always think a bit about priorities in life. My goals, my current place, my current path, my future... Sometimes it really makes me wonder if I have had my priorities right, spending so much time doing long distance and not just finding a way to be together now. Spending so much time isolated away working on problems and a startup, trying to slowly create something good and useful in the world. In the end who knows if that is the point of life at all, being able to crunch numbers faster on a computer to do interesting things might just not really matter that much. When spending time with family and friends and building lasting relationships and working on little things you can see in people's lives instantly you have to wonder if that is the kind of work that matters more. Then again nearly every family I have spent thanksgiving with, works at a career that they have put a great deal of their life into... Just some of my holiday thoughts, I am sure it is really a balance between big ideas and goals and more immediate and bonding goals.

I spent this thanksgiving with Erin's family at their house for a couple of days, we had a great time. I got to play Guitar Hero World Tour, with Erin's younger brother and sister (and Erin is really starting to enjoy rocking out on the drums). We enjoyed cards, basketball, movies, and discussion with the rest of the family. Their was always amazing food around, with a delicious free range turkey that even a quasi veggie like me can enjoy. Thanks to Erin and her family for making this a special holiday.

Spending all this time with her family, made me think of my own. I haven't actually got to share a thanksgiving with my family for a long time. I haven't really had time to return home for thanksgiving for a number of years. I have found friends to share the holiday with over the years and it has always been great, and I really appreciate having friends that can so kindly adopt me in for thanksgiving or just share the holiday with me as they are away from their family as well.

I want to give a big thanksgiving thanks you to everyone I have shared thanksgiving with in the last few years:

• Dom, Nicole and Dom's family the first two years I couldn't make it back home
• Jesse and Steve in Vail where we made all the food from scratch for the first time
• Ben, Kate, Kate's little sis, and Jesse in Denver where Jesse prepared an amazing meal and Ben and I experimented with meat pies
• Erin's family who has been nice enough to really take me in as one of their own for a variety of family occasions.

Thinking about families and the importance of those we love around us, makes me ponder on how to best share these holidays with my family in the future. I would love to be able to get together with my family again and enjoy thanksgiving with them. My brother had a family thanksgiving in Portland, and was able to get some our cousins and an aunt together for the holidays. Now not only is my family spread between Portland and Springfield, I really need to start thinking about not just my family. Erin and I haven't really been dividing up holidays yet because we barely have enough time to see each other let alone think about planning trips around others schedules for holidays. It seems most people in relationships this long start alternating holidays with one or the other's family. Thanksgiving here, and Xmas there. For now we always split up on the big one in my family, Xmas. Last year Erin came down quickly after Xmas and we celebrated my birthday along with new years with most of my family in Springfield (Shawn doesn't love us so he didn't come to Springfield... hehe) This year Erin won't be making it to Springfield and I will be quickly heading back after Xmas to spend my birthday and new years with her. I guess I am just starting to think that I want to actually be able to be together and share more of the holidays, not skipping out and away for Xmas, and finding something that works for both of us. I don't think we will be changing anything this year as our lives our pretty busy, but it is something I know we will need to start thinking about for the future.

I also know many of my friends that celebrated their first thanksgiving alone with just their newer family either newlyweds or with a child having their first thanksgiving. At some point I guess you don't divy up and travel between each others families, but you are truly just your own family.

I had an amazing thanksgiving, and a great visit with Erin this last week. It was another simple reminder that she is worth it. Ever stupid day of long distance is worth it, because spending a few days with her is about the best part of my life.

Erin is around in Boulder with me now... nice sort of lazy week holiday week. Still getting some things done. A little less than normal for sure, but it is definitely worth it. We have had some great dinners around Boulder and are just generally having a blast with each other. Tonight it is double date night with dinner and a movie... I feel like I could be on some lame TV about 20 somethings and their relationships.

On an unrelated note I installed the newest iPhone update and my battery life went to crap... can't even last 12 hours with no usage anymore what is the deal Apple?

I am digging the gmail themes for emails. I am the Mountains theme...

I am also digging some of the stuff in the GMail labs. Seriously check out the labs options.

I added my calendar to my side bar. Made my signature stop appearing below the response text. I made the side bar drag and drop, so I could put it above chat and labels... (I try not to use Google chat because it makes it hard to get actual work done.)
My Gmail will notify me if I forget to attach a document that I was referring to in my email text... Ben and I have wanted this for awhile...

I highly recommend you click in gmail settings -> Labs and enable the plugins that will make you happier with your email experience.

My current list:
Signature tweaks
Default 'Reply to all'
Navbar drag and drop
Forgotten Attachment Detector
Google Calendar gadget

Also go vote for my friends Ignighter and Gyminee in this years Mashable awards...

Categories:
Dating: Ignighter
Sports: Gyminee

vote at mashable

my twitter updates are now in my sidebar above my delicious links... a whole new way to follow the things I am thinking and saying.

I just made a post on our company blog about Music Recognition Vs. Music Mashups.

It is more fun than most of our company posts, so I thought I would point it out here...

So while in NYC I woke up and found a weird bump on the side of my knee. It was pretty hard but slightly squishy. It didn't hurt any but it was rather odd to just have this weird bump appear on me. I of course decided that I had cancer and that I should deal with it once I returned from NYC... Long story short it was a small bakers cyst which is normally some sort of sports injury. Yeah me and sports, I think it happened in my sleep, oh well they drained it and I am all good but my hospital visit was pretty freaking amazing so I figured I should share.

I haven't seen a doctor since moving back to Boulder, so I just find a list of doctors in my health insurance network and randomly call. I get set up at Boulder Community Hospital, when I call in they even have someone that can see me in about 2 hours, great. So I head over fill out all the first paperwork and see my new doc, he thinks it is a bakers cyst and should be drained and sends me to ortho. I am told they can see me today but it will be about an hour, 10 minutes later I am in to see my ortho. They decide it is pretty hard and want to schedule a sonogram to make sure it is fluid and not a solid. They send me over to schedule the scan and tell me they will call in a couple days with the results. When I get to the receptionist for scheduling they tell me they can fit me in right now. The tech does the scan and says the doc will send the results over in a few minutes so I should go back to ortho and tell them the scan is done. I return and I am immediately sent into a room, 5 minutes later my ortho doc walks in and says yep it is a fluid and she is prepared to drain it right now. So needle in my knee and the thick vasaline like fluid is drained and my bakers cyst is gone. My knee is wrapped and I am on my way home. All in all I was in 4 different hospital rooms and went from knowing nothing to having my problem solved in less than 3 hours. Simply amazing.

Thanks Boulder Community Hospital. so happy to have a positive health care story for once, now lets just hope my bill isn't to big.

My Awesome Hospital Pants!

The bump on my ugly knee

Anyways since there is another smaller bubble on the side of my knee, I know I need to go get it drained again. The problem is that I am pretty busy at the moment... I really need to just schedule it for sometime next week. LAME!