Monthly Archives: June 2009
Dear Hiring Managers
“Job Qualifications: Experience working with multi-ethnic and diverse populations. Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in relevant work experience. Flexible schedule. Valid driver’s license and car. Fluency in one of the following languages is preferred but not required: Spanish, Farsi, or Burmese.“
Dear hiring managers:
If you haven’t heard from me yet, my name is Daniel and I’m looking for a new job – something professional, progressive, and “socially responsible.” I have a decent resume; and, in my opinion of course, I think I’ve done some pretty cool things in my relatively short life that set me apart from others. I’m a dependable guy, and I’m never late. But, while I might be a perfect fit for your organization – the little round peg for your little round hole – I won’t be applying for your job opening. Why? Because you refuse to recognize that a professional individual can be functional, and indeed thrive in our society without driving a fucking car.
I don’t have a driver’s license, nor do I need one. I firmly believe that the motorized vehicle and its rampant proliferation is one of the biggest factors ruining our world today. I won’t even talk about the environment here – you already know. Lets look at the human level. Cars have created an irresponsible and dangerously convenient disconnect between human transportation and physical activity. If more people still moved themselves, I could guarantee a drop in waist sizes – obesity, cancer, heart disease – across the board you’d see healthier people.
Cars have made our cities ugly and our streets dangerous. We can’t create buildings without attaching multi-level concrete monstrosities to house our rolling coffins. In their hyper-accelerated lifestyle, drivers are constantly pushing the limits of how fast they can move their vehicles from point A to point B. Every thirteen minutes, one of them dies when the boundaries are pushed too far. Why would I choose to be apart of such a mess?
So no, I don’t drive. I ride my bicycle over 200 miles/week – for recreation, for transportation, for life. Combined with public transportation, my own two feet, and sensible scheduling, I can get anywhere and do anything on-time and with a smile on my face. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was sick, but it’s been over two years, and since the beginning of my work history I have never been late – not a single instance. I embody vitality and happiness.
I really do wish you would recognize these things – or at the least stop describing your organization as progressively minded and forward thinking. Or move to Houston. I wish you’d recognize that you’re part of the problem – by listing “a valid driver’s license and car” as part of your job qualifications, you’re continuing a destructive cycle – telling people that they must drive a car to be functional, pushing people away from healthier lifestyles and more intelligent choices.
Best,
Daniel Kietzer
A Long Vacation
I spent all the best parts of Saturday and Sunday clinging to a rock wall or feeding rope through my ATC. My fingers are still a little sore. For the first expedition, I went out to Reimer’s Ranch with my two housemates. We didn’t do too many routes, instead spending the bulk of our time working on one especially challenging route. That’s one of my favorite parts of this whole climbing thing – working out how to get over problems that are probably too difficult for me. Getting the sequence of moves right, trying different holds, falling when those new holds fail, trying again, and again, and again…until it finally all works. We didn’t send the route cleanly on Saturday, but we’ll definitely get it the next time we’re out there.
I slept in on Sunday morning, making it all the way to 9:00am. I thought about going for a bike ride, but just coasted down to our local grocery store instead. I jailbroke the new iPhone on my housemate’s computer, so now I can ssh into it through linux. With a nap thrown in for good measure, I did geeky stuff until around 3:00pm, when Rami’s phone call got me moving again. “Hey Daniel – lets go climb.“ “But it’s hot outside,” I protested. “It’s the hottest part of the day right now – at least it’s not going to get any warmer.“ What a convincing argument.
So I coasted three miles down to the greenbelt – to Seismic wall – our local climbing destination. I was pretty warm from the ride, but we did some easy stuff to “warm up.” Then we moved to a fun balancy 5.9 and climbed that one. Thankfully, the temperature was dropping, and actually became pretty pleasant. Next to the balancy 5.9 route, we noticed shiny new bolts reflecting the sun next to us. It looked like a fun route, but pretty difficult; the first bolt was high and tough to get to. We thought we could climb up a benign looking crack next to it, and clip the second bolt easily, but it turned out to be trickier than it looked. Rami clipped a bolt from a route to the right of us, went to get the second bolt of our climb, couldn’t reach it, headed to the third bolt (risking a ground fall), clipped that safely, and finally set up our top rope. After the ridiculous effort, we vowed to make at least 16 tries each.
This route was tough. One workable sequence, and it was shitty at best. All balance and pretty much featureless. We worked out all the moves though, and I’m pretty sure Rami can send it the next time we’re out there. It’s definitely his style of climb, and if I had a style yet, it’d probably be my style too.
Rami’s birthday is today, and we got to talking about why neither of us really celebrate birthdays anymore. He said he used to take time off around his birthday to go travel somewhere, but now his life is almost like a vacation everyday, and celebrating specific events has lost its charm. Sitting in the shade, underneath big trees and pretty rocks, having an absolute blast in the middle of the day – I had to agree. My life is one big vacation right now, and I’m never going to let that feeling slip away.
Too much time
I like dinner parties, and on Tuesday night, I think we pulled off a pretty awesome example of what one should be. We have a wood burning earthen oven in our backyard, and with fire we can heat the inside up to 800 – 900 degrees. Perfect for pizzas. With a house full of around 10 friends of mine, we kicked out quite a few of these magical creations – kind of a DIY, bring your own toppings and beer kind of thing. It was a fantastic time, and we all ate way too much food.
With my well-being in mind, REI has only scheduled me to work three days this week. Our management staff are brilliant people, and must know how an individual can live in Austin and only work 20 hours a week at the same time. On the plus side, this time away from work is giving me a lot of time to look for new employment. [If you know a person who knows a person who's hiring young and well-educated people in Austin, let me know.] It’s also giving me time to ride my bicycle in the early morning. Eric, Miguel and I squeezed in a nice 40 miles out to Manor (40 for them, 60 for me since I live in the boondocks) yesterday morning, before the temperature outside hit 150 degrees.
I almost always need to eat something before I ride my bike over 20 miles. In fact, it’s very important to do so. But on Wednesday morning’s ride, I was still full when I woke up at 6am. No breakfast necessary. I rolled over to where Eric is staying, arriving around 8am. He confessed he hadn’t had breakfast either… I didn’t check with Miguel, who was also with us for Tuesday night’s dinner shindig, but I’m sure it would have had similar results. Success!
I didn’t ride my bike today, but probably should have. Motivation has been a little difficult to find, but I know it shouldn’t be. I saw this picture yesterday, and it really made me think about one of “the next big things” I want to do in life.
That’s Mount Robson in South-west British Columbia. One of my favorite memories from my bike ride to Alaska exists from here – we sat in its shadow on one of the few days of the year that the summit is visible. It’s typically shrouded by bad weather. I want to climb it. And in the bigger picture, I want to climb other amazing looking big mountains – alpine style, light and fast. I’m fit enough, and with a bit more practice and some time on ice, I could probably be pretty good at it all. I’d like to boldly go where no man (or woman) has gone before…
Gadgets
I’m sunburned and sore. But, before I jump into the reasons why, let me back up the timeline a little bit. My good friend Eric is staying in Austin for the summer, and we had a little reunion get together at the Crown & Anchor on Sunday night. I don’t go out too terribly often these days, and I definitely don’t hear the last call bell ring at too many bars either, but we had a late night on Sunday… I was in such great company, and spending the evening with Eric, the time went by a little too fast. It also didn’t help that after leaving the Crown at 2am, Emily, Stephen and I landed at Katz Deli on 6th for late night burgers. Our waitress was intoxicated and quite entertaining, but it was 3:30 by the time we arrived home…
Plans were set that night to go climbing on Monday morning. I woke up fairly early as usual, feeling about 70% good. Emily joined me a few hours later, and the two of us were in the truck heading towards Reimers Ranch at around 11am. That’s a pretty late start for active activities in the Texas summer. I wanted my first taste of climbing on lead, and was able to get a pretty good one despite the heat and hangover. I was probably gripping a little too tight during my lead ascents – a little bit of nervousness took its toll I’m sure – hence my sore upper-body today. It heated up quickly once we were out there. We on Prototype wall with the rocks in full sun, and it was quite miserable and sweaty. Shortly afterwards, we made a fast exit down the trail to jump in the Pedernales River.
Saturday morning I bought a new iPhone. I know, it sounds excessive, but since more and more people insist on sending me messages in text form, I felt like I deserved something a bit more usable. It’s not my fault. I needed a new phone anyways, and now that iPhones are cheap enough, I took the plunge. It is incredibly useful to have my google calendar, contacts and email sync in real time with my telephone, not to mention internet access and Pandora radio everywhere I go. A nerdy kid’s dream.
I’m going into work soon, and then I’m off for two days. Two days to really get my new job search moving along… And maybe ride my bicycle. And climb…
Goals
I did about 110 miles on the bike yesterday, my second 100+ mile ride this week (and my second ride this week too). The event was day 1 for the 2009 Texas 4000 team – they are officially on their way to Alaska. It was a very bittersweet day for me. Sweet because the cycling couldn’t have been much better – tailwinds, endless sunshine, empty roads. Sweet because I was surrounded by beautiful friends, some who I haven’t seen in much, much too long. Sweet to be a part of a fantastic cause, and to see so many people out in support. I just wish I wouldn’t have had to say goodbye to my friend who would be continuing North while I turned South. I really hate saying goodbye, and especially putting a developing connection on hold. Timing has never been my thing.
I’m going to distract my mind for three months, and let everything work itself out. Starting now.
Step one is setting some goals and a rough timeline. Goal number 1: I need a new job, first and foremost; and I’d like to be starting at this new job no later than August. This is going to be the primary focus in my world until it’s fulfilled. No more messing around. Because I can’t determine exactly what I want to do, I’m going to expand my boundaries to encompass everything out there.
Goal number 2: be climbing 5.11 by August, and become comfortable with the idea of climbing on lead. I’m afraid of heights, and unless you know me in the real world, you probably didn’t know this. Climbing is my way of tackling something I’ve been uncomfortable with since I was young. On top rope, I don’t really have a problem – you can’t really fall a long way in that setup. Climbing on lead is the next step, and can provoke some longer falls when you come off the rock above your last bolt. I want to get over this apprehension. Being able to climb 5.11 is a reasonable progression – not too fast, not too slow, and just hard enough to keep me challenged.
Goal number 3: embrace summer. For five years I’ve hated summertime in Austin, either running away from it (to Europe and Alaska mostly) or hibernating through it. I realized yesterday that it’s not that bad, and might even have its good points. I’m going to take advantage of mornings and summer nights. I’m going to strike a mental balance between cool and hot activities.
The hope is that this general plan of attack will result in something productive, and I’m pretty focused on making it happen.
Yoga
I started doing yoga last week. Jerry, a friend of mine and co-worker from REI, is a yoga instructor and he’s just started teaching again at a new studio at 5th and Lamar, a few blocks from my work. [Shameless plug: if you're looking to start yoga, or find a new place to continue doing it, you must check out Black Swan Yoga. Beautiful space, donation-based, and pretty awesome summer vinyasa classes Wednesday and Friday.] I’d been wanting to start yoga with him for quite a while, but scheduling conflicts and such always kept me from doing so; but now at the new studio, I have the time to squeeze it in twice a week, and it fits perfectly into my day.
Jerry teaches the “summer vinyasa” classes, and I’ll usually go at 11:30 before heading into work. His classes are very low-key and relaxed, and at the moment, pretty small and personal. He likes to tailor things to our needs. My back was tight after getting back on the bike earlier this week, so yesterday we really worked that area. He also likes to use props during class – yoga blocks, poles, yoga straps, etc – to keep things interesting and to manipulate the body in interesting ways. I’ve only been to a handful of classes, but I can already feel a difference in my muscles and joints. There’s also an element of focusing the breath and calming the mind that I find especially useful – like when nervously clinging to small bits of rock trying to find the next hand hold or descending too fast on the road bike.
Tuesday night I drove out to Dripping Springs, TX after work with Emily and Stephen. Justin’s family (Justin from last weekend’s Reimers expedition) has a bit of land out there, and we went to sit around a fire and drink beer. It was a really chill night. The sky was clear, but on the horizon was a huge thunderstorm slowly moving towards us. We sat back watching the lightning show until around midnight, when the cloud finally made its way over our heads. The wind picked up, and the scent in the air signaled rain and the end of our party. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need more campfire in my life.
This Saturday is the Texas 4000 ATLAS ride – day 1 of their ride to Alaska. I’ll be riding from Austin to Lampasas, along with a ton of Texas 4000 alumni and fellow cyclists. I’ve been thinking a lot about where I was two years ago around this time – it’s amazing how quickly the time has passed, and how vivid the memories are still in my head. That was a good time in my life.
My stomach is growling – it must be lunch time.
Lacking Consistency
I rode my bike for a little over 100 miles yesterday. My replacement fork arrived in the mail much quicker than expected – much thanks to Easton for that one – and I was able to get everything put together last week. Yesterday was my first serious bike ride in about three weeks, aside from riding to/from work and what not; I’d say 100 miles is a good “welcome back” mileage. The new fork rides about how you’d expect a $400 fork to ride – stiff, smooth, and agile.
It felt oh so good to be back on the bike finally, and we had a super ride yesterday. I hooked up with Carolina and the ’09 Texas 4000 kids, and we cruised out to Lockhart, TX for some mid-ride BBQ at Black’s BBQ. After our pit-stop at Black’s, the temperature heated up a little bit, but the sunshine was absolutely remarkable; and, being with Carolina for the best part of the day, I had to fight to keep the smile off my face. I’m going to miss having her around for the summer.
I feel like I’ve been keeping busy during this past week. I moved everything out of my apartment, and paid my first month’s rent at the new house. The eastside is gone now. My new place has such a warm and pleasant atmosphere to it. We cook in the same kitchen, and eat at the same table – at the same time. We climb together. One of these days – in between my 100 mile BBQ pilgrimages – we’ll get the chance to ride together too.
Speaking of climbing, I’ve been doing that quite a bit too. Last Saturday (30th) we took a trip out to Reimers Ranch, we being: Emily, Stephen, John (new roommate), Justin (friend of Emily) and I. Justin is one of the more interesting people I’ve met in the past few weeks. He guides whitewater rafting in Colorado, climbs too much, and generally lives a high adrenaline and actively fulfilling life. We joined him at a gas station on the way to Reimers, to carpool to the park in his Volvo station-wagon to save money. This Volvo was magnificent – dirty and beat up, with a large impact dent in the passenger side, a front passenger window created from Lexan bolted to the door-frame, and a Land Rover cargo basket bolted to the roof.
I was glad we made it down the road to Reimers… With Justin’s dog, Booty, in tow, we hiked to Dead Cats wall and started climbing. Justin and Emily sent some pretty cool routes that I got to play around with on top rope. With Justin on belay and sending up beta and encouragement, I made it up Water Ballet (5.10b/c), my most technical climb yet. We also climbed 8 Flake, a classic Reimers route, and my first legitimate taste of crack climbing. We left Reimers at 4:00pm. Justin almost spilled his beer as we nearly slid into a ditch on a 90 degree dirt road turn going 30mph in the Volvo with no turning radius. I had to be at work at 5:00pm, and made it with one minute to spare, covered in chalk, dirt, and sweat.
