see as i saw

 I have a tendency to use the phrase "nerding out" with relative frequency.  Today it was used in conjunction with the categories of words and Excel formulas.

One of my co-workers developed an affinity for the word "evangelism" in the past 24 hours, and it became fodder for office conversation.  Clearly this seemed like a relevant time to share my favorite word.  Sesquipedalian.  It's quite apropos; feel free to look up the definition and you'll see why.

Then it also seemed relevant to share my word find of the week, thanks to Catch-22: avuncular.  There are very few occasions that I would have a purpose for this word, but I'm determined to find at least one.  Although, no one will be likely to follow my train of thought since it's not exactly one the 1,000 most used words in the English language.

After a morning of word nerding, it was time to dig into Excel.  Granted, I've been seeking new formulas for stats analysis over the past four weeks.  Today just happened to be filled with "vlookup", pivot tables and "concatenate" formulas.  There's also an "isna" formula that's become my close friend.  I can't help it, Excel formulas are like my own nerdy form of digital magic.

I love and embrace my nerdiness; it probably makes sense that I end up working in tech start-up environments.

Well, actually I was walking up to hydration station number three about fifteen minutes before the sun even managed to creep over the horizon.  As painful as a 4:30am wake-up call is to my body's equilibrium, there's something awe-inspiring about sunrise and early morning - seeing the world wake up, seeing the city before it wakes up.  I actually recommend a little jaunt down Lake Shore Drive at sunrise if you can manage to find the motivation.

So dawn found me mixing and pouring Gatorade, and the following three hours were spent handing them to runners representing their various Big Ten schools.  Clearly I was representing for the green and white, cheering on Spartan runners.  But I was benevolent enough to provide Gatorade to thirsty Wolverines, Buckeyes and Badgers (among others).

I can't help but be revved up for the start of football season.  It's like you put that many alum in one place, throw a fight song on the speakers, and you can't help getting infected by school spirit.  I didn't know a single person there, but we all smiled and yelled "GO GREEN!" at one another with the utmost familiarity.  Yes, part of me chose a college based on academics, but a decent portion of my decision was based on selecting a "pseudo-family" that I was excited to be a member of for life.

If you follow the road past the Palí supermarket, you're on your way toward Playa Nosara and also heading out of the area frequented by tourists.  This will lead you to the area where a lot of the local Ticos live.  You will also find this open field, a line of palms, and an amazing sunrise view.

It seems that after three years, my body is pre-tuned to wake up by 6:30am.  While that may have seemed like a chore when the prospect of work and/or cold weather awaited me, it doesn't seem like such a bad idea in this beach paradise.  I enjoy the quiet of the town in the early dawn hours, much like I enjoy the early dusk hours when everyone vacates the beach.  There's an innate sense of peace and tranquility that encapsulates you.