I know it’s not personal and no one at any of these places even knows today is my birthday, but I still appreciate the annual deluge of auto-generated birthday wish emails. I think about all of the programmers building this feature into all of these web forums, CRM systems and email marketing platforms, telling themselves “this will be a cool thing, customers will appreciate this.” I know so many engineers that love to make the world better with their work… thanks, all of you!

For my birthday today I chose one of my favorite shots, an accidentally-great snap out the sunroof of my 2000 Maxima driving past the Space Needle in the rain, during Danielle’s spring break visit to Seattle, March 2003.

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Computers never forget an important date…

Thanks, internet! I think it’s going to be a very happy one. :)

I had a great weekend – and didn’t feel old at all. I say “weekend” when it was really a 5-day span, but if your birthday isn’t the time for 5-day weekends, when is? I mostly wanted to recap it to thank the people who enjoyed it with me, but also so i could re-read it in 50 years and enjoy warm fuzzy feelings. I mean, provided the internet is still around that long…

Wednesday was, as mentioned, the drinks and dinner featuring friends that appeared throughout the evening, popping up in handfuls like the spawning buildings in grand theft auto when you’re driving really fast. I enjoyed it all immensely, and the free birthday milkshake didn’t do any harm, either. Sean and Julia hooked me up with some sweet supercross dvd’s, Dan and Jonathan stocked my wine cellar and Travis pre-empted my next visit to the dealership with credit for the parts i already know i’m going to need. ;)

Thursday Clint came over to play GTA, actually, and brought me some sweet wire strippers i totally needed two weeks ago when we installed his car alarm and a chunk of credit at Sears which i’ll have no trouble spending. :)

Friday – the actual celebration of the anniversary of an event i don’t actually remember – Eric and Miya prepared a stunning feast of bbq and Korean delicacies, which Miya felt the need to justify as being simpler to prepare than a meal of her own Japanese heritage, sparking a good group laugh. They spoiled me with presents, some of which are still enroute from Japan, and we finished with ice cream cake (Eric’s favorite, but i wasn’t complaining).

Saturday i did my own thing for a bit, running to storage to deposit skis and winter gear and pick up boating and summer items (is it that time already?) and then met Ian at a shop in Kent for a couple hours of dyno tuning. [gearhead speak] My final run came out at 336 hp / 333 ft/lb torque at 0.95 kg/cm2 (13.51 psi), not my best numbers ever by far but a much safer, more reliable tune than previous and as high as i’m comfortable going until that injector upgrade i have my eye on. [/gearhead speak] Ron’s birthday (his birthday, not mine) poker tourney finished the evening, hanging with nearly all the old JLS crew – Bill, Steve, Chad, Mark, Clint – with Ron hosting, officiating, and graciously letting someone else win the trophy. ;)

Sunday Jason and Christie hosted their first bbq of the season, allowing us all a chance to get a mild sunburn and be shot with plastic bullets in the crossfire of a backyard guerilla assault, for which walmart’s 12-dollar armaments are to blame. We stayed until the sun was nearly gone and went home happy, full of homemade chocolate cake, and covered in more red bumps than a leper with chicken pox.

Monday the birthday cards have continued to roll in (and even a belated Easter card – guess i need to keep my grandparents more informed of my address changes. ;) which i appreciate very much, as well as the sms, email, blog comments, skywriting (not really), and giant sacks of money (i’m expecting them any day now) from my most excellent friends and family on all corners of the globe. (haha – get it? the globe doesn’t have corners! ahhh… i kill me.) It’s been a great birthday, i don’t feel 28 at all, and i’m actually looking forward to having another one… but not too soon. ;)

My devious little sister set me up last night, tricking me into happy hour drinks where Josh, Julia and Steph showed up out of nowhere. Then, she had the gall to lure me out to dinner, where Jason, Clint, Christi, Travis, Dan, Jonathan and (better late than never) Sean joined us completely out of the blue. The smoke and mirrors continued even after dinner, as when i turned away from my seat a milkshake appeared where my empty plate had been. Gifts emerged from pockets and bags. Thankfully, the surprise i feared most never arrived – a dozen clapping members of the waitstaff degrading themselves with an occasion-specific group chant.

Final scores for the evening:

Good surprises: 10

Bad surprises: 0

Bonus points awarded to my devious little sister: 1 meeellion

Thanks, Danielle! I love you. You’re the best little sister I could imagine.