Confronting life one day at a time

2010-05-19T01:28:00.000-07:00

私のブログは新しいアドレスで見えます。www.johnhayato.comをご覧ください。

2009-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

This blog can now be found at
www.johnhayato.com

2009-09-04T10:07:00.000-07:00

ちえこ、私のいとこ、はこのメールを送ってくれた。写真を見ると、ちょー懐かしい。
” はいさい(^-^)/
昨日はウークイでした。子供達も、上手に　うちかびうさぎてました。”

＊＊＊日本人のため、【うーくい】ー　旧盆の最終日に行われる先祖霊送りの儀式のこと。夜遅くに仏壇の前に家族、親族が集まり、線香をあげ、打ち紙 (うちかび)を焚くなどして、先祖の霊をお送りする。ウンケー(お迎え)と並び、重要な儀式である。この日、エイサーが行われる。

2009-09-01T14:33:00.000-07:00

Gmail's down, OH NOOOOOOOO!

So Google's been down for a little while now and it appears nobody knows why. My twitter feed is filled with people letting me know that they can't access gmail or gchat but that's basically all they're saying. I googled "why is google down" and that brought up mostly results having to do with old news. So then I decided to try out a couple of real-time search engines; OneRiot, Collecta, and Scoopler. Most of the results appear to be from twitter and they seem to be focusing on people not accessing gmail but nobody seems to be telling me anything besides the fact that they can't get on. This is where I feel there's a problem. I do find it comforting that I'm not the only one with this problem but I'm annoyed that I can't find actual news. I'm surprised Google hasn't come out with information on their blog as the popularity of real-time search provides an opportunity for a lot of mis-information to be spread. Oh well, was hoping that somewhere I would be able to find the answer to my question but it looks like I'll just have to wait. Patience is something that has gone by the wayside as technology has gotten faster and faster. Not only technology, I guess: everthing. I wonder who we told about #FAILS before twitter and SNS came along. Did we call people or just do something else? Here's some screenshots of my results:

One Riot:

Scoopler:

Collecta:

Twitter Trending Topics: Appears Google really isn't that big of a deal

2009-08-31T13:17:00.001-07:00

I've officially signed up for 2010 Ironman Canada. Have to sign up a year in advance as it sells out within a day of opening up.

2009-08-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Skymark considering flights from Okinawa to Taiwan

This could be huge as I'm all about more ways to get to Okinawa. Flying via Japan can be costly and time-consuming. Right now China Air has flights to Okinawa from Taiwan but if Japan's largest discount carrier starts offering int'l flights, that could be a good sign for more opportunities to get good deals and also more time options. Skymark is also considering flights to South Korea, the Philippines, or Hong Kong.

2009-08-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

Last week I spent a couple days in Chicago for a JETAA National conference. I arrived a bit early so I decided to venture out and check out the Art Institute. There was a lot to see and some of it was typical of most big city museums, art by famous people... There were a couple pieces that made me think that even I could become famous as I didn't get how the piece was considered art. A canvas with nothing but orange on it doesn't seem so creative. There was one area where as I was walking to it, a lady walked in and immediately walked out mumbling under her breath, "I don't do clowns." This should have let me know that this area wasn't for me as I don't do disturbing/scary and clowns are scary. Well, I went in and it freaked me out. Luckily I had the frame of mind to record it and give you a chance to see what I saw.

2009-08-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

So after a long, long break from contributing to Okioki.net, it looks like we’re back at it. Thanks to Pat, some new content has been uploaded to the site. Basically if you’re interested in any news relating to Okinawa, then we’re hoping that this is one of the sites you’ll go to. The contributors to the site are passionate about Okinawa and will do our best to keep it updated and interesting. Also, if you want a tour guide of Okinawa, please feel free to pay my way and I’ll take care of you while we’re there So if you got a minute, go check out www.okioki.net

www.okioki.net は沖縄についてのウェブサイトです。英語で記事を書きますけど、どうぞ見てください。

2009-08-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

By the way the day began I thought that it was going to be great. Had some quality meetings today regarding moving forward on some web ideas, great networking, and made the choice to purchase a car that is pretty sweet. But then I got home and it all went to... First letter I open and guess what, I have to report for jury duty next week. Second letter and whoopee, my mileage from my trip to New Zealand won't be credited. Here's the nail in the coffin; I spent over 45 min. on the phone with AT&T and 2Wire customer service trying to get my lovely internet working at my apartment. The instructions for setting up internet are really straight forward but apparently the person who wrote the instructions has never actually set up internet at his or her place... that's my take. So after 45 minutes of doing everything they told me to do, it appears that they want me to be home from 8 am - 8 pm on a certain day next week but that just happens to coincide with the day I get to go to court. Looks like this saga may last a bit longer than I thought it would. It's only 5 pm and hopefully a good tough M2 class will work out my aggression. I try not to blog about displeasing personal topics but sometimes you just need to release the tension via whatever you have. In my case, the internet. Serenity now, serenity now... don't want to pull a kramer.

2009-08-03T14:59:00.000-07:00

Match.com, here's a business model for you

After 2 years of my Match.com profile being set on ‘invisible’ I decided to take a look at it and make some updates. I got interested in different dating sites due to various iphone apps for meeting people. My intentions weren’t/aren’t to meet the one but more to check out the UI’s and different functions available within the iphone apps. While I’m open to online dating, I’ve found that there’s a couple of barriers for me that hinder meeting someone. First reason I’m not completely sold on online dating is that I’m still being introduced to ladies through friends and social groups who know me quite well. Secondly, I don’t like the business models.

I guess part of it is that I’m still quite happy meeting people through friends which makes me lazy when it comes to putting in real time and effort into meeting a woman via the internet. That being said, I do enjoy checking out the match.com iphone app and who knows, maybe I’ll meet somebody. There really are a ton of people using it. Now comes the business model issue that I referred to: I’m what I consider a “casual online dating site checker” I look at who’s viewed me, winked… every once in a while but I still am very much meeting people through other avenues. So I’m not willing to pay a monthly subscription to communicate with somebody or see who’s emailed me… thus far, the emails have been from people who don’t have profile pics up and yes, that’s a deal-breaker for me. I would be more interested in Match.com if they started offering a micro-transaction type model for those of us who every once in a while want to email/ wink… then we could be charged per wink or per email. How about charging me a dollar for every email and $.25 per wink? That would definitely make people think longer before winking at every Joe Schmo they see. And if you’re wondering if this type of model is profitable, I’d say it is. Just look at the revenues that gaming/virtual worlds are pulling in via micro-transaction models.

I chose Match.com as an example because I haven’t bothered using any other sites and with dating sites, there needs to be a large pool of people using the site and they seem to be the biggest.

*Disclaimer: I don’t work for any dating sites. I’m actually happily single and blessed/humbled to have wonderful friends who feel I’m a good enough guy to introduce to their other friends

**Just a note: This isn’t going to become a blog about dating as I don’t write about my personal relationships. My Facebook status will not be showing single, complicate, dating… nor will ever unless I start dating Jessica Alba.

2009-08-03T11:17:00.001-07:00

Hi friends and family,

If you regularly check this blog, please note that I will be transferring everything to johnhayato.com or johnbranderhorst.com both of which will go to the same place.

Cheers :)

2009-07-31T10:15:00.001-07:00

I'm not sure if it bothers you but when you leave a message for somebody, you're always left waiting for that stupid beep before you're able to talk. David Pogue, NY Times Columnist who focuses on tech, has decided enough is enough and that the extra long message forced upon us by the carriers so that they can make more money has to go. Here's a quote by him.

"Suppose you call my cell to leave me a message. First you hear my own voice: "Hi, it's David Pogue. Leave a message, and I'll get back to you" — and THEN you hear a 15-second canned carrier message. ... These messages are outrageous for two reasons. First, they waste your time. Good heavens: it's 2009. WE KNOW WHAT TO DO AT THE BEEP. ... Second, we're PAYING for these messages. These little 15-second waits add up — bigtime. If Verizon's 70 million customers leave or check messages twice a weekday, Verizon rakes in about $620 million a year. That's your money."

— NYT columnist David Pogue mobilizes a "Take Back the Beep" campaign to press cell-phone carriers to get rid of the superfluous voicemail instructions that play before a caller is allowed to leave a message.

2009-07-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Below is a question and answer regarding robots and the issue of robots disobeying orders/doing unethical actions... I think I've seen too many movies as I read the answer as Asimov blah blah blah oh my God, the robot is killing my dog. Ok, so maybe I made up that last part of I'm jaded after seeing Will Smith have to take on the whole robot force in iRobot. For now, I'll vacuum my floors, pick up heave objects, and figure out what's logical on my own.

Q: Do you envision robots ever disobeying military orders on the battlefield to "do the right thing?" If so, under what circumstances?

A: Asimov originated the use of ethical restraint in robots many years ago and presented all the quandaries that it can generate. In our prototype ethical governor (and in the design itself) we do provide the robot with the right to refuse an order it deems unethical. It must provide some explanation as to why it has refused such an order. With some reluctance, we have engineered a human override capability into the system, but one which forces the operator to explicitly assume responsibility for any ethical infractions that might result as a consequence of such an override.

— Ronald C. Arkin, director of the Mobile Robot Laboratory at Georgia Tech, who is working on programming ethical behavior into military robots.

2009 Triathlon Season

2009-07-29T23:09:00.001-07:00

2009-07-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

Nutrition Nutrition Nutrition

Went to a talk about nutrition with a focus on endurance athletes. Some things I took away from it was:
1) That I don't eat enough - Eat within an hour of waking and every 3 to 4 hours, ie. snacks :)
2) I don't eat the right foods. Bacon falls under fat and not proteins :( Spam is also not a good choice.
3) Make sure I take in both carbohydrates and proteins when I eat.
4) Whatever my daily caloric intake should be (ie. 2000), what I eat during exercising doesn't count towards it.
5) I asked about vitamins, pills, etc. that people take daily. Here is what I got from everybody: Multi-vitamin - a basic, generic one
Omega 3 fatty - fish oil or flax seed...
Vitamin e
Glucosamine

There were other good tidbits and I'll update this list as I remember them. Also, please feel free to comment.

Uh oh, calves are totally rock hard

2009-07-27T13:33:00.001-07:00

Uh oh, calves are totally rock hard
Originally uploaded by john hayato

Usually I'm smiling at the end of races but all I could muster up was a grimace as the cramping took over my whole lower half of my body.

2009-07-20T15:58:00.000-07:00

2009 Vineman 70.3 Race Report

The Vineman 70.3 race report was tentatively titled, “How it all came together.”

I thought google mapping the directions up to my cabin was a good omen when the distance was listed as 70.3 mile. But that was before I actually started the race, which became “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly”

Expectations were set high for my last tri of the season but alas, a sub 5 half IM will have to wait until next year. My swim actually was good (for me) and I really enjoyed the 16 min. return portion of the loop after an agonizing 20 minutes going upstream. It was eerily quiet exiting the water as there were people lining up on both sides but not a soul cheering except my buddy Rahim who was surprised to see me strip my wetsuit off and throw it at him so that I wouldn’t get all my clothes in the swim bag wet.

My bike is something I’ve been working on quite a bit lately and it showed in my 56 mile split of 2:33. Anybody else lose a water bottle within the first couple of minutes? For me it was bye bye Carbo Pro but luckily I had 5 gels taped to my top tube along with a couple of salt pills. I was very happy with my bike but had to stop once b/c I thought I’d flatted but it turned out my back brake was rubbing and I was one of the lucky ones who went through the tree area before the fire dept. closed off the street for a bit. Towards the end of the bike my quads started to tighten up a little but I thought that it would loosen up once I started running.

So off the bike I went and before mile one, both my quads and hamstrings cramped up so much that walking became an issue. I contemplated DNFing but as it was a nice day and I knew that the under 29 females would be on their return trip on the run, I decided to give walking a go with the hopes of jogging as my legs loosened up. I ended up doing this awkward shuffle over the next 12 miles as I popped salt tablets like candy. It was awesome to see so many PacBikes & GGTC athletes and Thank You for the cheering and motivation as you passed me ;)

This race was my hardest tri in 4 years as physically and mentally I was spent. I managed to run through the finisher’s chute due to all the cheers but as soon as I finished I collapsed with cramps from my groin down. It must have been a funny sight as volunteers are trying to move me out of the way while people cheering were yelling at them to spray water on me and massage my legs. I don’t really recall too much of it but after about 10 min. they carried me over to the med tent. So that’s how my 2009 tri season ended. It’s been great and I look forward to challenging myself next year and hopefully breaking the elusive 5 hour mark. I ended up doing the race in 5:26. I’m exhausted and will now focus on a couple running races for the rest of the year. In Oct. I will be doing the Chicago Marathon and in Dec. the NorthFace 50 miler.

2009-07-10T23:30:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Oma from John hayato Branderhorst on Vimeo.

Finding Nemo - Just Keep Swimming

2009-06-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

I think this will be my mantra during the swim portion of my next race. I'm fairly slow at the swim so maybe this will help me to push forward :)

2009-06-22T14:16:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my 3rd race in 3 weeks and I definitely wasn't looking forward to waking up at 4:30 am again. I wasn't in a huge rush to get to the race as I heard that we would have a PacBikes' (team I race with) rack but apparently we didn't so Chris and I set up next to each other. I thought that was smart as I knew that his bike would be gone which would give me plenty of room to get my wetsuit off and have a quick transition. After spending 24 minutes in the water I finally made it ashore along with some fast women and slow 24-29 year old dudes. One thing that got me riled up was that somebody had tied the balloon that i had on the rack to my bike so that when I started running with my bike along came the balloon. I ripped it off and proceeded to get a slap in the face from the headwind that I wasn't expecting. Two weeks ago a group of us rode the course and at the start was a very nice tailwind. Oh well, I buckled down and managed to get the bike course done in 1:03 which rocks considering I was having shifting issues. As soon as I started the run I could tell that it was going to be tough. My lower right back area started cramping (as it did last week also) but thinking that all I had to do was run for sub 40 min. then it would all be over. I proceeded to get the first 5 km done in about 20 min. and then everything went to shit. My stomach started cramping and the miles never seemed to end. A couple of older (35-39) guys passed me and I tried to keep up but at mile 6 I figured out that the race wasn't almost done and started to have some "wall" issues. It was supposed to be a 6.2 mile run but due to mismarkings, the final distance was closer to 7.4 miles. The run ended up taking me 48 min. It was really awesome seeing friends on the course and I really pushed myself to not only catch up with my Chris but also not get caught by Jim or any of our fast pacbikes women. In the end I finished the race in 2:19 which was good enough for 9th AG, 61st OA. I look forward to having it all come together at Vineman.

2009-06-21T17:08:00.000-07:00

Just had a video call with my parents in Michigan and my sister & her family in North Carolina. Quite comical as Michelle's webcam first wouldn't work and then her audio wouldn't work. My parents were having a good time trying out all this new technology. Maybe it'll go off without a hitch next time we do it. Happy Fathers Day!

Trip to MI 2009

2009-06-16T20:56:00.001-07:00

Lake Macatawa Tri 2009

2009-06-13T13:03:00.001-07:00

Pretty nasty swim as it seemed like when I would take a breath, I would breathe in fumes. Bike was very flat but not ideal for 23 miles of being in the drops as I'm not used to it which meant a very sore bum and back. Run was easy and boring. :) Overall, great race organization with lots of volunteers, aid stations, and sweet awards.

2009-06-08T10:14:00.000-07:00

If only I could swim faster...

On June 7, I competed in the Anchorman Sprint triathlon which consisted of a 3/4 mile ocean swim, 9 mile hilly bike, and a 4 mile trail/road/sand ladder run. There were only roughly 150 participants of which about 80+ were men. This is really one of those races where I wish I could swim faster. The swim wasn't as well organized as you would hope which resulted in some people missing the last buoy and reaching land before they were supposed to. It seemed like everytime I breathed on my right side I saw somebody running on the beach prematurely. Instead of cutting a line straight for the beach, I decided to make my way around the third buoy which seemed to take an eternity. I don't think my swim time would have improved much but that could partially be why I ended up around 66th out of 80+ dudes. Once hitting land, we had a long 1 mile transition run in which I probably passed 15-20 people. Some people chose not to have shoes waiting for them and paid for it as the gravel was not feet friendly. The 9 mile bike is literally over a hill and back twice. I knew the course well and had been doing quite a few hill repeats in the weeks leading up. I passed a lot of ppl which made me feel good and also seeing so many familiar faces during the ride as it was 2 loops was encouraging. Probably the biggest encouragement was Andreas, another guy on the Pac Bikes team, coming up from behind and telling me to start pushing it. This was I was starting my 1st loop and him his second. The bike went quick in 30 minutes which was good enough for 6th fastest time. As I started the run I was nervous about my calf as I had cramped it during a training run a few days before. I decided that I would just push myself and if it cramped, oh well. Lucky for me, I was very familiar with the course and decided not to take it easy on the sand ladder. This proved a smart move as I caught up with a few guys during the last 2 miles. My time of 31 minutes was the 4th fastest time on the run. Overall, I was 14th and 2nd in my age group. There were some organization issues with the race but overall it was great to see so many friends racing and cheering. I look forward to seeing how I do this weekend in Holland, MI at another sprint triathlon. Hopefully the shorter swim, longer bike and run work to my favor although I will be renting a road bike instead of bringing mine.

2009-06-06T15:43:00.000-07:00

Cute commercial that my dad forwarded me. *Disclaimer: I still don't like dogs and very rarely drink Bud Light.

2009-06-05T10:51:00.000-07:00

If you go to the Tri-California website, there's a picture of me on it. It's from a race I did last year, SF Triathlon at Treasure Island. A lot has changed since then as I'm now riding a Scott Plasma 20 which is a triathlon bike as opposed to my old safety orange road bike with a granny gear. I'm also racing this year in the white and black of Team Pac Bikes. I'm still part of GGTC and do most of my training with GGTC members though :)

2009-06-02T09:56:00.000-07:00

The Run-walk method

Earlier this morning I read an article in the NY Times about the run-walk method. Although I'm not sure if it is how I'll train for my next marathon, I will keep it in mind. After posting (tweeting) about it on Twitter, it turns out quite a few friends have tried it out and have found it to be a successful way to train whether working towards a marathon, 5 km, or just to get in shape. In the article I'm glad there were examples of runners improving times enough to qualify for Boston as I was under the impression the "run-walk" was more of a technique for those just getting into running... Who knows maybe I'll give it a go and PR.

2009-06-01T20:38:00.000-07:00

A cute video of my niece, Maddie.

Animal Building Blocks from Michelle Bollman on Vimeo.

GGTC Vineman ride

2009-06-01T19:00:00.001-07:00

ggtc vineman ride
Originally uploaded by Brian McNitt

Haven't blogged lately but after looking at this picture I thought I'd share something: Don't follow me on a ride if I don't know where I'm going. :) I posted a ride on a course that I'll be racing on in July and there were a couple of people who knew where they were going. At one point, myself and another guy were ahead of the group and thought that the next main point would be at the top of a hill. What we didn't know is that there was a turn before we reached said hill. We did go up and down a hill but found that we were 15 miles out of the way. We eventually met up with everybody at the end of the ride. It was a tough ride in which we tried to catch up with the others.

Last weekend I also partook in a swim/ride but found myself lost along with a couple friends. I thought we were looking for a road but that turned out to be the town name... We eventually found our way to the meeting point thanks to GPS and a blackberry.

Hopefully I don't get lost during the next 3 weekends as I'll be racing :)

2009-05-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here's a little joke that my friend Charlotte forwarded me :)

A man was out jogging in the forest one day when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me I'll turn into a beautiful princess."

He bent over, picked up the frog, and put it in his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will tell everyone how smart and brave you are and how you are my hero."

The man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and returned it to his pocket.
The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I'll stay with you for a year and do ANYTHING you want."

Again the man took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it, and put it back into his pocket.
Finally the frog asked, "What's the matter? I've told you I'm a beautiful princess, that I'll stay with you for a year and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"
The man replied, "Look, I'm a Triathlete. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog is cool."

2009-05-14T22:28:00.000-07:00

Car Shopping
As many of you know, I'm in the market for a car. Originally, I was going to get a used car but it appears that the cars I'm looking at don't depreciate much over a few years and so the price doesn't go down. I'm now considering the Honda Fit as it appears to be just the right size and a very reliable car. In the running is also the cheaper Scion brand cars. Will know more once I visit the different dealerships.

2009-05-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

There's so many things that can bring you down in this world. Hopefully this blog isn't one of them :) Here's a cool website that will help make you appreciate the awesome little things.

1000 Awesome Things

2009-05-10T17:02:00.000-07:00

Pictures can be purchased at Action Sports International

Dog carrying

2009-05-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

Dogs have 4 legs to walk but this lady still carries hers like a baby.

2009-05-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Wildflower Triathlon Race Report

While I had a good time spending the weekend with friends, competitors, snakes, dirt, dogs, and broken toilets, I believe when I do it again I will be staying in a hotel.

Wildflower became a 'lessons learned" experience for me. Even now, as I sit on this cushy seat I have to make sure I'm in just the right position so the chafing in a place I've never chafed doesn't get aggravated. So first lesson, Always put bodyglide down there... Which brings me to my second lesson, Don't ride a new bike. Now keep in mind I rode my new tri bike 3 times before racing but what I left out is that the 3 times equaled something like 40 miles. So you see where this is going. I won't bother talking about my forgetful swim of 38 min. And no, I didn't go that slow just so that the pretty ladies could catch up with me... they would anyway. So back to the bike. At about mile 25, I noticed a clinking noise and couldn't figure out what was going on. I find out right about the time I took a drink as when I put the bottle back in the rear bottle cage, it slipped a bit. I stopped, tightened the bolts as tight as I could with my fingers and was off. At mile 30, the noise came back and I got off trying to figure out what to do. Five minutes later, I was back on my bike sans rear bottle cage which I had masterfully hidden in the tall grasses just past the big 30 mile sign. I would later learn that they come pick up the sign and so had to run up and down the road trying to find my brand new bottle cage. Thank you Son and Xavier for the help :)

Onto the run. I got off the bike and spent my transition praying that I my chafing wouldn't bother me on the run. Once I started the run, I felt ok and proceeded to try and pass everybody that was in my age group. Around mile 4 Tom, another Pac Bikes athlete, zoomed by me and I decided to try and keep up with him. I decided this would be a good strategy as I remembered Chris Lieto being passed by Macca during IM Kona a couple years back and being amazed at his determination. What I forgot is that he didn't keep that up for very long and ended up finishing a bit slower than he would have liked. From mile 6 to 13, it's mostly a blur in which I remember running by the GGTC cheering section and trying to muster a smile but also giving a sign that said I'm done. After that I remember seeing Dahlz, another PacBikes athlete, and hearing that I was almost at the top. What I didn't know is that I had to go down the other side and then back up. My only goal by the end was to get to the medical tent as my head felt like it was going to explode and the great nauseous feeling that occured everytime I put something in me. The highlight of my race had to be finishing, going straight to the med tent, and having the lovely Serena tend to my needs for an hour or so. Being offered an IV has never sounded so sexy. Afterwards, I started to feel better and Pablo and I went out to scour the campsites for young single women and free beer. Of which, we got the latter :)

Overall, I look forward to bettering my 5:37 PR at Wildflower. This was my first official half IM distance so I'll hopefully better it by at least 30 min. at Vineman.

2009-04-29T10:22:00.000-07:00

May is Bike to Work Month

I was just sent an email from a friend reminding me that May is Bike to Work Month. I will be riding my bike as often as possible but unfortunately the commute to San Jose is a bit long (at least an hour by car.)

For Bay Area folks, here are some ways to be involved:

http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/

1. Create a team for the Bike To Work Day Team Challenge - this is a team of 2-5 persons each which must include 1 novice rider (someone who has riden a bike 2 or fewer times in the past month). The teams log their commutes (both number of trips and mileage) throughout the month online and compete for some cool prizes! So far there are 187 teams signed up!!! Gather a few friends and sign up online here: http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/tbc_signup

2. Can you get 2-5 of your co-workers to ride to work in May? If you create a team for the Bike To Work Day Team Challenge that is composed of co-workers you can affiliate your team with a company and compete also in the Company Bike Challenge. Get a few teams together and affiliate them all with your employer to better your chances of winning this contest!

3. If you dont have enough friends to make a team, I still hope you chose to bike to work or use a combination of public transit and cycling to get to work. Maybe just give it a shot one day - Thursday May 14th is Bike To Work Day! This is the best day of the year to test of cycling for transit - there are 'Energizer Stations' set up throughout the Bay Area handing out awesome bags (not plastic ones) full of cycling related goodies and also there to fuel you with snacks and coffee in the morning. More info here: http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/about and here: http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/energizer

4. Dont bike to work but still want to win something (but really, at least bike once before entering) - enter the Bike To Work Day Raffle to win a new commuter bike and other prizes here: http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/register

For those of you in other parts of the World/ U.S., I'm sure there are other initiatives out there so if you have a chance, it could be as simple as Googling it.

Bike fit

2009-04-28T23:51:00.001-07:00

My buddy Xavier came by to help me get my bike to fit me better. Will be getting a proper fit from PacBikes next week but want to ride my bike this week and may even race on it this wknd.

2009-04-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

2009-04-27T19:02:00.000-07:00

New bike and racing kit

2009-04-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

Quick Update

2009-04-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

I haven't been as regular with my blogging lately but don't let that make you think I'm not thinking of you :)
I spent most of last week in Georgia for my buddy Pat's graduation from Officer Candidate School (OCS) which now makes him a 2nd Lt. in the United States Army. I didn't treat it as a vacation as I was quite jetlagged from the red eye flight out there and I spent most of my free-time working in the hotel room. I did manage to fit in a run while visiting which was an experience. Running around a 1 mile track with deer on it and gunfire in the backround. I guess that's part of running on a military base in the south.

I'm now back in SF for a few days before heading to Lake San Antonio, which is about 3 and a half hours southeast of SF, to participate in the Wildflower Triathlon. It is a half ironman distance race (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, and 13 mile run). I'm considering riding my new tri bike. Pictures will be posted later but basically I put down a payment yesterday and will be buying it today :) Really excited!

Will write more but as I'm only working 4 days this week, I really need to get back to work. Cheers.

Patrick is now a 2nd Lt.

2009-04-23T18:22:00.000-07:00

Feel free to salute

2009-04-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Officially signed up for Vineman 70.3 taking place July 19, 2009.

Marin County Marathon

2009-04-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Dear john Branderhorst

Thank you for your volunteer request(s) for the Marin County Marathon - 2009 VOLUNTEERS. You have been approved for the following position(s):

Job Position.......: Course Marshall
Date...............: 04/19/2009
Time...............: 07:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location...........: Start

Next weekend will be a change in pace as I'll be volunteering at a race instead of participating.
http://www.marinmarathon.com

2009-04-08T10:56:00.000-07:00

Tired 疲れてる

My body just isn't listening to me. I'm trying to get into a good routine now that I've been back in the states for a month but it's a bit more difficult than I anticipated. With me trying to get injury free yet train for my next race, Wildflower half ironman on May 2, adjusting to the time zone change, change in my work schedule... well, you get the point. Last night for some reason I couldn't fall asleep but it was a blessing in disguise as I got to finish the book I was reading, Kafka on the Shore, and also had a moment of clarity for a project I'm going to start working on. It's not necessarily anything that will work out but it's always fun to find something you're excited about. I'll write more once I get a better idea of what and how I'd like to go forward with this idea but to give you an idea: it's a cute, positive, web based idea that may or maynot incorporate NPOs. So in another words, I won't be looking to get rich off it ;) Make the world a better place :)

jetlag keeping me up

2009-03-25T00:52:00.001-07:00

2009-03-24T00:50:00.000-07:00

More videos from New Zealand:

Driving in the Civic

Trying to Scare each other

2009-03-24T00:18:00.000-07:00

Some videos from New Zealand
Waterall hike

Kayaking

2009-03-22T23:45:00.000-07:00

NZ postman

2009-03-20T22:04:00.001-07:00

NZ postman
Originally uploaded by john hayato

A picture for my dad.

Ironman New Zealand pictures

2009-03-17T23:01:00.000-07:00

2009-03-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

One more week to go.

It's Monday, March 16 and I will be leaving Wellington at 3 am. Josh, Charlotte, and I will be off to the South Island via Picton. We will be checking out some wineries, beaches, hikes and what not before I fly back to Auckland the SF on Saturday. The wedding yesterday was beautiful and the weather was just plain amazing. Woke up early yesterday and had some alone time as I ventured to the Te Papa Museum before attending Perry and Anna's wedding. The museum is really cool as there is a lot of Maori/ New Zealand history in it and some interactive aspects to different pieces such as the Earthquake house. There's a Monet exhibit but I didn't bother going to it as I wanted to see the exhibits specific to the area. Will upload loads of video and pictures to my flickr, facebook... once I return to the states. Here is a video of a hike we did early last week when visiting Whiri's hometown.

Ironman New Zealand

2009-03-12T16:57:00.001-07:00

Video of IM New Zealand. Thanks to Whiri's fam and friends for doing such a good job documenting it. Was fun pouring through it all to make a 5 min. video.

Bungy Jumping in New Zealand.

2009-03-10T20:58:00.001-07:00

Morning of Getting pumped up

2009-03-10T20:41:00.001-07:00

2009-03-10T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ironman New Zealand Race summary

I will write more once I return to the states in 10 days but I don't have much time on the internet and the limited amount I do have is being used on work related things.

I finished in 11 hours and 24 minutes which is respectable and a great starting point from where to improve. I'm quite slow on the swim and this race was no different although from all the practice I've had, I finished the swim feeling fresh and ready for the long bike and run. It took me 1 hour 17 minutes to do the swim and it's partly because I started far off to the left where there weren't many swimmers but it meant that the length of the swim was longer. The bike was fairly uneventful for the first 40 km until I was stung by a bee on the left side of my face. During the next hour I stopped twice, once to massage some feeling into my face and then again to have it looked at as I'm allergic to bees. I was given ice to hold to my face while riding and decided not to stop and get any medication. The bike overall went quite well and I think I made up a lot of time due to my anger during most of the ride (b/c of the bee sting.) For the marathon, I achieved my goal of running the whole thing even though my shin splints started to bother me about 10 km into it. My overall splits were:
3.8 km swim = 1:17
180 km bike = 5:38
42 km run = 4:17

Last video before the race

2009-03-05T23:33:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is the big day and I'm going to sleep. :)

Trying to stay awake

2009-03-05T18:45:00.001-08:00

So today is a day of rest and I'm trying my best to stay awake. It wasn't going to happen so I decided to use a power nap podcast (20 min. podcast that helps you get a good nap by different sounds and speaking). It definitely put me to sleep and I was out until it hit the 20 minute point. I was awoken by a loud rooster cock-a-doodle-doing! Well, on to the reason I'm writing a blog post. Woke up and Ellen was on TV. Well, the game that was about to be played was called The Ball Twister and it is hilarious. Check it out. We'll give it a go next time we meet. :)

IM New Zealand preparation

2009-03-05T17:33:00.001-08:00

Getting my transition bags ready as I have to turn in my bike, bike bag, and run bag in the day before.

2009-03-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Team OkiJET
As many of you know, part of the reason I decided to do Ironman New Zealand was to reunite with friends I did races with in Japan. Last night was the first time the eight of us got together and we've made some sweet posters that will be put up along the run course. Josh and Charlotte also had shirts for us and they look really awesome! Tomorrow I will be racing at 7 AM so today I will be relaxing all day after attending a mandatory meeting this morning.

2009-03-04T19:28:00.000-08:00

Ironman New Zealand - March 7, 2009
On Sat. March 7, 7 AM I will begin finish a journey that I've been working towards for the past year. By 11:59:59 PM at the Latest, I will hopefully be able to say that I'm an Ironman. If all goes according to plan, I will be saying it before the sun goes down. To keep track of what's going on during the race, check out Ironman.com as they will be live streaming it. For those of you in the states, the race will start on Friday, March 6 at 10 AM (PST) or 1 PM for my friends and family on the East Coast. Here's a little video I've put together during my time here thus far.

2009-02-23T16:47:00.000-08:00

Obama likely to pick Gary Locke as Commerce Secretary.

Third times a charm, right? First he picked Gov. Bill Richardson for the job but due to this little thing where a grand jury is investigating allegations of wrongdoing in the awarding of contracts in his state he had to withdraw. We thought the pick was done when Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire, was picked but he backed out a week after accepting the position. Gregg cited "irresolvable conflicts" with the policies of the Democratic president. So now we find ourselves with former Washington Governor Gary Locke, a Democrat, who was the nation's first Chinese-American governor when he served two terms in the Washington statehouse from 1997 to 2005.

For those of you wondering what the Commerce Secretary is in charge of, here it is: "Commerce secretary is typically not one of the more high-profile jobs in any administration. As head of the department, the secretary oversees agencies responsible for the once-a-decade census, for oceans policy and for many aspects of international trade, among other things." Quite a mix.

Oh and President Obama is still in search of a health and human services secretary since Tom Daschle had to withdraw due to tax problems.

I'm just wondering if there are any politicians who haven't been linked to any scandals...Locke was briefly linked to the scandal over foreign contributions to President Bill Clinton's 1996 campaign.

2009-02-23T00:05:00.000-08:00

This past Saturday, I went on the last ride I'll do before heading to New Zealand. It was a beautiful day in which I stayed dry but also got to take off quite a few layers such as arm warmers, knee warmers, shoe covers... I don't remember the last ride I did where I was not only warm but dry. Also tried out the aero helmet that I'll be using during Ironman. My buddy Xavier is lending me his.

Can you relate?

2009-02-18T17:49:00.001-08:00

Tour De California

2009-02-16T13:04:00.001-08:00

2009-02-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

Love the Tom Daschle-Christian Bale mashup on Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Check out 4:02 into the show. http://bit.ly/yqPkQ

2009-02-11T10:45:00.000-08:00

Calvin and Hobbes were foretelling the future 15 years ago.

2009-02-06T09:11:00.000-08:00

I'm sure many of you have heard of the job opening for the "Greatest Job in the World" It is a position to be a professional tourist on one of Australia's islands for 6 months or so. I have a friend applying for the position and think it would be awesome if you clicked on this link and gave her a rating of 5 stars. Here is also the video from youtube but to vote you need to click on this link.

2009-02-05T21:09:00.000-08:00

Johnnys got a new look. A month until Ironman New Zealand and I'm much more aerodynamic. The faux hawk was fairly aero but shaved head is just a tad smoother. No more having to worry about product.

2009-02-02T15:16:00.000-08:00

Gmail Offline

I noticed today in my settings menu under "Labs" that the Gmail Offline option is available to me. I'm really excited about this as I originally downloaded Thunderbird on my Mac just for this reason. I don't always have internet and now it won't be as big a deal as I always have emails to catch up on and reply to. Look forward to using Gmail Offline.

2009-01-30T09:59:00.001-08:00

Q: "How can we as an IT sector help you broaden the economy as you move out of a crisis and take advantage of that great scientific talent that you have?"

A: "We don't need any help. We are not invalids. We don't have limited capacity. Pensioners should be helped, developing countries should be helped."

— In an exchange at the Davos forum, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin graciously declines Michael Dell's offer of assistance

2009-01-27T16:11:00.001-08:00

Video I put together for the CF fundraiser

2009-01-26T09:06:00.001-08:00

Had a fundraiser Sunday night for Cystic Fibrosis at Sports Basement. Sports Basement provided the space, snacks, and drinks. Friends stopped by and donated money, hung out, and won some raffle prizes. We also had a silent auction for a wine tour and a sake tasting. This was the video I put together to show everybody explaining Cystic Fibrosis. Enjoy.

Loving dessert

2009-01-25T22:18:00.000-08:00

2009-01-20T21:06:00.000-08:00

Dessert on Tuesday night.

2009-01-20T21:05:00.000-08:00

Dessert on Monday night.

2009-01-20T14:46:00.001-08:00

Today Barack Obama became President and apparently some pranksters thought it would be funny to change Bush St. to Obama St. :) Article can be found here.

2009-01-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

Sharing a couple articles that I've read in the past few days. One from the NY Times talks about increased enrollment in the military as the economy worsens. This doesn't surprise me as I've even considered the military, albeit, mine has been a consistent thought over 10 or more years regardless of the economy. Pat has joined the Army in the past year but his reasons aren't the same as the ones listed in the article. Lowered standards for entry also don't matter for him as he probably raised the average IQ level a good 3 points by joining :) Not to say that ... y'all know what I mean. I'm just saying the article says the standards were lowered but that isn't the case for Pat's acceptance, he's quite intelligent. Here is the link to the article.
Article number two has to do with serving food in another person's restaurant. Matt and I did this when we first started serving ramen back in June. Because of different issues we decided to partner up with a cafe and serve ramen out of his place and he would take care of the drinks. It would have been a good relationship but certain factors forced us to reconsider the arrangement and put the venture on hold. I haven't yet checked out the place in the Mission where this guy is serving his food but will update once I've gone. Good idea to save on overhead. Of course for us, renting space in a commercial kitchen was expensive... Check out the article

2009-01-18T23:18:00.001-08:00

2009-01-18T00:30:00.000-08:00

So I taught in Okinawa for 5 years and I've just read an article that is a first for me. A girl I taught in Okinawa in highschool ended up marrying a military man and just had a baby. Unfortunately the father of the child was killed in Iraq last August. I know that Japanese marry American military but it's the first time where I've encountered a situation where a student I taught lost somebody due to the war in Iraq. According to the article, she's moving to Tennessee to raise her son in her husband's hometown. I pray that everything works out with her move and her & her son's future.

The article can be found here.

2009-01-16T12:57:00.000-08:00

Open Source Promotion in Okinawa

I like to follow news about Okinawa in the hopes that work opportunities there expand beyond teaching jobs, agriculture, and tourism. This article gives me hope and its actually something I heard about a while ago as I've met guys here in SF working for Okinawa pref. promoting this center. Time to get back in touch with Mr. Tamaki and see if there are job opportunities :) Also, I'm glad to hear that Adaptive Planning, a good company in the BI and performance management space, partnering up.

Here's the article

2009-01-15T16:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a job I don't want. Love what he says at the end.

High Voltage Cable Inspection
Uploaded by monnotman

2009-01-13T15:18:00.001-08:00

2009-01-07T11:58:00.000-08:00

1st night in Vegas...What happens in Vegas...

2009-01-04T12:59:00.001-08:00

I got nothing

Shinko Ojisan and the delicious green peppers

2008-12-31T21:14:00.001-08:00

2008-12-31T09:00:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Celebrated the New Year in Okinawa, Japan.

2008-12-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

A commercial maybe not seen in the U.S. Brad Pitt in a commercial for a Japanese cellphone provider.

2008-12-30T05:34:00.000-08:00

2008-12-30T04:26:00.000-08:00

Mom and Yuzuki

2008-12-26T23:32:00.000-08:00

Beware of scam artists/ spoof emails when using ebay or craigslist.

2008-12-24T06:03:00.001-08:00

So I'm using ebay for the first time to sell an item and the winner was a user in Nigeria. I did some research before agreeing to send anything and the emails are all fakes. Here are two of many that I have received from the winning bidder. Be careful out there. Spelling errors usually are a sign that they're not real.

Spoof email # 1

Dear john.hayato,

         We are to let you know that the payment made by our client ,for your eBay item is confirmed and it has been deducted from the buyer's account which will be credited into your account as soon as you provide us with the transfer information.
         We have received the money which is pending in our database and we will like you to provide us with the following information as requested by PayPal for verification to protect their customers from fraudulent business transactions.

         Kindly make the transfer progress within 48 hours in order to release the money into your account for the transaction as we can not accommodate any form of misappropriations and we have a reputation to protect and do all that is possible to
increase our business relationship with the international PayPal,
Worldwide.

         As soon as you notify us about the package shipping status, we shall
deposit the said amount into your account immediately.
         The address you are requested to ship the item to has been confirmed by us.

This is as a result of new safety measures that has just been adopted by us to safeguard all our customers against any internet act.

Thank you for using PayPal online services,

PayPal Team.

Spoof email #2

Dear john.hayato ,

     It is important we know the status of the item bought otherwise, legal action may be taken against you since you refused to ship out the item bought from you from eBay by the buyer over time.

    We believed you entered into agreement by confirming the payment made to you by your buyer through PayPal, and by non response to the payment confirmation made to your account you have violate the eBay and PayPal agreement. However the buyer has already contacted us in other to make report about your non response.We are ensuring to make PayPal a safer place, therefore we need to set confidence on our users.

    We want you to get the item shipped in the next 2 days and forward the Shipment Tracking Number to us for verification and we will release the money to your account immediately ... If we do not received the Shipment requirement within the specific time limit, We will have to Suspended and Vold your Paypal account and forward your PayPal Registration Name and Address to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for legal action to be taken .

    We request for the valid shipment info and the Tracking Number to prove postage of the item in less than 48 hours and we will fund the money into your account or face the consequences of LEGAL ACTION.

     This is done in other to protect both the seller and buyer.

------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------

Thank you for using PayPal!
The PayPal Team
------------------------------ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ -------------------------

PayPal page.

PayPal Email ID: PP304

2008-12-24T01:57:00.001-08:00

Baachan part 1

2008-12-24T01:42:00.001-08:00

A short explanation of what's going on.

2008-12-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

2008-12-19T21:30:00.000-08:00

Hi everybody,
As many of you know I am doing Ironman New Zealand in March 2009. Another tidbit of information you may be familiar with is that I raise money once a year for a charity in conjunction with a race. For 2009, I am raising money for the New Zealand Cystic Fibrosis organization, Breath4CF. Here is my fundraising page:
http://www.fundraiseonline.co.nz/johnhayatobranderhorst/

2008-12-19T21:13:00.000-08:00

Union Square in SF

2008-12-15T22:07:00.000-08:00

Cupcake from Tammy

2008-12-15T22:06:00.001-08:00

My roommate, Tammy, left a cupcake and card

2008-12-15T16:19:00.000-08:00

Christmas relay race

Over the weekend, I participated in a Christmas relay where there were teams of four people each running 4.5 miles. My triathlon club had 2 teams and we had a very enjoyable time even though the weather wouldn't exactly cooperate. It turned out to be quite the nail biter as we finished just a few seconds apart. I was the third leg on my team and ran the loop in about 28/29 minutes.