New chapter - take 1

First road warrior trip back to Colorado. Yippee! 

Of course today brings back all the repressed memories of just how much of a hassle (time-suck, mainly) air travel brings... it’s a system optimized entirely around cost efficiency for the airlines -- not for travelers. 

Getting your checked luggage, for example: a bunch of presumably busy people standing around for 20-30 minutes to self-select bags from a slow belt? There surely must be a better way. 

How about something like this: each bag is scanned and deposited into a locker. You get a text when yours is there, with the locker number. You walk up (from getting a drink, or otherwise being useful) and your ticket unlocks the locker and you leave. Bam -- thousands of wasted traveler hours just got saved. Someone build this, m’kay?

I remember now: typing on a plane -- kinda sucks, even with the MB Air. Someday when I’m a billionaire I’ll ride first class just to avoid that. Oh, and the kids kicking the back of your seat too... worth paying good money to be away from that.

The connection in Atlanta completely borked my day. Lessons:

• nonstop only (as much as possible)
• no scheduling meetings within 2 hours of touchdown, just in case
• the bus is nice and cheap(ish), but adds a time delay... Note to self: check out RTD park-n-ride in Table Mesa?

I’m on the bus now as I type this. (Literally.) It’s a good bus system; we’ll see after a couple of trips how much overall time waste it adds to my work day, and weigh that against the costs of using some kind of parking here at DEN. Turns out that the seats on the bus are just as tight front-to-back as economy class on the plane. Well, when I’m rich enough to fly first class I guess the bus goes away as well... covered remote parking here I come!

In any case, it feels good to be back in Colorado. I’ve missed my startup. 

Ah... we just came around a bend and there is what I’ve been looking for -- that mountain view doesn’t ever get old. Even with the clouds (smoke?) it gives me that warm, happy feeling in my tummy.

I think I can get good at this bi-coastal thing. Only one way to find out...

Raleigh - New House, New Chapter

As of today, I consider us to have fulfilled the first phase of "settling in" to our new (to us) house in Raleigh.

There are still boxes everywhere, the fridge is frighteningly empty, we don't know where most important sellers-of-things are nearby, the TV is on the floor, and Sydney has yet to make it through a night without waking up crying all disoriented... but it's feeling comfortable nonetheless.

Turns out here are the things (in priority order) that are sufficient to make a place feel like home:

* Two corners of the house utterly devoid of boxes and fully livable

* Broadband wireless internet

* Fridge serving clean water and ice
* Knowing the location of some extra socks, underwear, and t-shirts

* Ample supply of a few favorite food and beverage items

* Towels and a hot shower

That's it really. Life is pretty simple when you boil it down to the basics.

And really #2 is the thing that has finally allowed me to relax... having internet (for real; not counting mooching off of neighbors with a spotty signal) is the lynchpin. I don't need to be plugged in 24-7 (no, really!) but I need that ability... I love being able to hop online and catch up on work email, order that pizza, figure out where to go for takeout food... my stress level dropped several notches when I finally saw that little green light up and was able to paint the place with glorious glorious bandwidth.

Data is almost as important as oxygen these days, it seems; without proper internet I was imagining my phone slowly sipping away at my limited data plan... feeling the emails pile up that I just couldn't quite handle effectively on a phone... just like having a fridge dispensing unlimited clean water lets you utterly forget about your need for water; having the wifi working lets you stop worrying about whether you'll be able to handle whatever it is that is about to jump up and demand your attention.

Interesting world we live in.

(Oh, and for those that are confused by the title -- yes, we did just move back to Raleigh, NC. Got a house next to my sister Jenny and pretty soon I'll start commuting out to Boulder to continue building my business. Great to be near family again! Eventually, though, they all clearly need to move out to Colorado with us. Some day.)

Status Update May 2012

More color will eventually return to this blog. For now, nuts and bolts...

As many already know, we're moving back to Raleigh, NC. If all holds to plan, we are leaving Colorado on June 11th (some by plane, some heading out on a cross-country road trip).

Bought a house in Raleigh next door to my sister Jenny, which is merely step one in creating a Reaser Family Commune. (Step 4 is to move the commune to Colorado, btw.)

The company I'm creating here in Boulder is budding. Very very close to launching with real live paying customers, and it looks like we have a solid shot at making some big things happen.

We have an offer in progress on our home in Colorado; assuming that all works out, I clearly will need to spend at least some time out here working on the company -- so I've secured an apartment and will fly out every 2-3 weeks for about 4 days... enough time to make great things happen here and stay engaged with the amazing Boulder startup ecosystem... but balanced with time with immediate and extended family in Raleigh.

So it comes time to launch into a dual life.

Home, family, and more family in NC... and Work, Boulder ecosystem, and occasional bliss-in-the-outdoors in Colorado.

Game on.

Snow fort again

Went out and played on the deck again today... We made a little tunnel in it, and for about 10 minutes it was the most amazing fun thing Sydney had ever seen! Oh the squeals...

Even before it was big enough for her she dove in face-first (and got snow everywhere) and tried to burrow through.

No fear... and loves the outside, that little girl.

Mornings in Colorado

This picture (as always) completely does not do this justice... but the sunrises here in Colorado take my breath away almost every morning.

It actually looks about 10,000x times better than this in person. Breathtaking.

Beethoven's 9th playing in my head... arms raise and spirit lifts... I feel so alive here. Every single sunrise feels like the opportunity to start anew... to create... to breathe... and to be a part of something more vast and more purposeful.

I wish I could get a picture that really captures what this is like.

Pura Vida ... pure life.

iTV

This is why I believe Apple could be developing a TV.

Mess o' cables... Setting thus up? PITA Adding a new device? PITA. Moving, etc? PITA.

Refilled the well

Woo hoo! Finally got out and had some fun in the Colorado mountains!

It's been an unusually non-snowy winter so far; that's been great for easing Melissa into Colorado, but of course not the best for snow-play.

Still, the in-laws are here for a visit, so it was time to get out and give it a go, lack of powder be damned... and it was a friggin' blast!

Bonus: since it was a weekday (nice to have a flexible "job"), and since there was no recent snow (just a decent groomed base) we pretty much had the place to ourselves. No lines at all, and wide open slopes.

The views from the top of the mountain (10,800 feet) were positively stunning. Every time we got up to the top you would hear the "hallelujah" chorus playing in your head and feel a tear coming on... there is just so much beauty here.

Of course I was unbelievably rusty after 5 years off (damn you, Raleigh)... in fact I crashed at least once on every single run except for the last one, so of course today I'm sore all over. Still, by the end of the day it was all coming back to me. I stopped having to think about every little move I was making, it's an awesome feeling when you can feel the mountain through your toes and somehow your thoughts take you whichever way you want to go.

Getting out and doing things like this makes me feel alive again. I always forget how much of a difference adventure makes to my soul. Today I feel like a whole new person -- I can take on the world.

It's not a "new year's resolution" but you better believe I'm gonna be getting outside and climbing/hiking/boarding/snowshoeing/cross-country-skiing a lot more this year. Nothing like a day off my ass to remind me what's important.