The problem is that when you call into Win32 APIs from managed C# code, they often return a simple integer to inform you of the status of your invocation. Zero means success, and everything greater than zero corresponds to one of the many many WinErrors.h error codes. Of course, you could hard-code these helpful messages into your code, but this is bad for various reasons. Thanksfully, .NET provides you with the Marshal.GetExceptionFromHR() method to dynamically query any helpful error message you may need!

The pluralsight blog shows how to wrap this up into a nice set of functions:


static string getWin32ErrorMessage(int errorCode) {
int hr = HRESULT_FROM_WIN32(errorCode);
Exception x = Marshal.GetExceptionForHR(hr);
return x.Message;
}
static int HRESULT_FROM_WIN32(int errorCode) {
if (errorCode <= 0) return errorCode;
return (int)((0x0000FFFFU &
((uint)errorCode)) | (7U << 16) |
0x80000000U);
}

I ran towards the bike rack and slipped out of my wetsuit, into my socks, cycling shoes, and helmet. I was riding away 3 minutes later. The cycling section went pretty well, the only difficult part was riding against some strong winds. Some of the other guys in the race sure did fly past me though. I even saw one racer with a flat tire - I’m sure glad that didn’t happen to me!

Transitioning into the run was much easier. I slipped off my cycling shoes and put on my running shoes at a hat. I made it out of there in 61 seconds! I started off with a rather slow pace, but picked it up at the end to bring it home at 1:22:08.

My official times were .5k Swim 12:57, T1 3:07, 20k Bike 38:40, T2 1:01, 5k Run 26:23. Total = 1:22:08. Age group rank = 5/11.

The main training I had been doing since the beginning of the year was geared towards fat loss, but I really enjoyed the race and will begin training for the Olympic distance triathlon next year.

Be sure to check out the pictures on the website!

We left work a bit early and arrived at the Hunting Hollow entrance around 5pm. After some preparations, we began the 3 mile, 1800-foot elevation gain hike to Wilson’s Peak – our first campsite. We didn’t fully realize it at the time, but this was by far the hardest portion of trail on the entire trip. Luckily we made it there by 7:30pm, or just as the sun was setting. We got our tents up and enjoyed a hearty dinner. I slept pretty well until about 4am, when it started getting really cold. I finally just got up at 6am to wait for the sun. I sat on a rock in the middle of the hillside on top of the peak and waited for some much needed solar radiation. It was an amazing time of solitude.

Finally, the sun came out and we made some oatmeal and protein bars for breakfast. My friend had a pretty sweet miniature stove made out of soda cans, and it did an excellent job of heating whatever we needed.

On Saturday, we made our way over the Kelly Lake. Luckily the elevation changes were only +/- 400 feet or so. The view from hiking along the mountains was really awesome. We were above the distant clouds at several points. There were also several different types of flowers growing on the hillside. It was really cool to witness such beauty with really no one else around. When we got to Kelly Lake, however, there were about 20 other people with tents set up. We had a nice lunch of apples and peanut butter, along with some various other goodies that we had packed, then set up camp. We got a prime location next to the water, complete with a large log that we relaxed on. After we dropped our gear, we hiked a few miles further, around Coit Lake. We saw several other hikers, and even a snake on the trail!

The next day we hiked the entire distance back to the parking lot, but it was much easier because it was downhill most of the way. It was an awesome trip, and taught me that backpacking is truly something that I would like to do more of in the future. Oh, and I finally have a new Facebook profile picture.

As some might have heard, Ashley is going to Dallas for 6 weeks on an extended job hunt, beginning April 6th, 2010. If she finds a suitable job during this time, she will remain there to begin working. Meanwhile, Matt will determine the best possible option for joining her in Dallas. This is a drastic and painful tactic to overcome what has been a growing agony in our marriage since the move to California. We have spent countless hours discussing all of the paths we may take to arrive at a more harmonious lifestyle, and we are going into this with full knowledge of the difficulty at hand. The job market and economy may separate us in the short term, but we are both strongly committed to endure these difficulties with hope that both of our lives will be further enriched once they are overcome. We are, and will continue to be, 100% committed to our marriage and feel that the strength we have as individuals and together is what allows us to execute this long-distance maneuver. We love each other completely, for better or worse; this just happens to be one of the worse times. We’ll be sure to keep everyone updated, and we would appreciate your thoughts and prayers. (Oh, and let us know if you need a Marketing Professional! )

I failed to post about Cinderella. It opened (and closed) way back in October, complete with a family visit, singing and dancing The magic came to life in Lyric Theatre’s presentation of the old classic, and we sold out several performances. I also wrote a few posts on TheCreativeCap, and I need to get the pictures from my mom. I enjoyed this show a lot more than “Yeomen” because it was more upbeat, and I made some friends. I’m currently in the middle of “The Christmas Mouse”, an original play based on the music of Linda Arnold. I am basically playing the same role that I played in “Fisherman and His Wife”, the Storyteller for this children’s show. I also auditioned for Lyric’s “Kismet”, which opens in March. I will hopefully have positive results to share in the next few weeks

We made a fast and furious trip home for Thanksgiving, and we managed to see a lot of friends. I really enjoyed spending this holiday with my family, and we had a great time stuffing our faces. We went down to my Uncle Alan’s house on Thursday to celebrate with my mom’s side of the family, and headed down to my Aunt Beth’s house on Saturday to celebrate with my dad’s side of the family. My family is huge on both sides, so it’s always fun to catch up with all my relatives. We’ll be spending Christmas in Wisconsin with Matt’s family this year, so I am sure I’ll have some fun stories from that.

Ok, so quickest and wimpiest recap ever, but that’s what you get when you’ve been negligent in posting. I’m in Christmas decoration mode, so I should have some fun pictures up soon!