…friendly in an ill-tempered way.

I just started life of pi by Yann Martel. This won’t be a review, because I am not nearly finished. I ran across a sentence that made me want to say something about it. Early in the book, there is a sentence that reads: “The porters…were limping old men, friendly in an ill-tempered way.” How cool is that? The juxtaposition of friendly and ill-tempered to describe the same person is elegantly spot-on. I know exactly the person being described. I can see myself trying to ruffle their feathers just to see what kind of reaction I would get. It makes me feel like I am there.

Just in time for Thanksgiving: Dinner Planner

Given that:
1) I think Excel can solve just about any problem
2) I like to over plan everything
3) I am a complete nerd.

It should be no surprise to anyone that I absolutely love a site called Contextures. Debra comes up with all kinds of good stuff and this post is on par. The link above will take you to a holiday dinner planner that you can download and use in Excel for free.

What I like about it:
It is simple. Not simple meaning that anyone could create this. I say simple meaning easy to use. The instructions are included right there on the “DinnerPlan” tab. All you have to do is enter the steps it takes to complete one item, the time it takes to do that item, and the location needed to perform the action. For example, if Turkey were on the menu, you might enter the following

Item = Turkey
Activity# = 1
Activity = Prepare Stuffing
Location = Stove
Minutes = 30
Hours = “blank”

Continue this until all activities are entered. Enter the time you want to eat at the top and everything is lined out to make sure you stay on schedule.

Room for improvement:
Let me start this by saying that every application ever created could have one more feature. This one as it is will do a great job at exactly what it is intended to do.

One improvement would be to build in some type of capacity limitation. For example, how many ovens or stove burners are available? This would require the user to enter these values. Then some prioritization scheme would have to be implemented to figure out what goes first if three things need to be in the oven and you only have one oven. That would greatly affect the timing of when items need to start. This falls into the “easier said than done” file. So keep that in mind when reviewing your printed plan. Some adjustment may be needed if you have a small kitchen.

Again, this is not something wrong with the file, just something that could added to improve it. Maybe this would be a version someone would pay for. In other words, keep the free version, then add a resource constrained version for a fee. Who knows?

At any rate, check out Contextures for more items like this. I'll be using this to plan the holidays.

Get a Drop Box

I was listening to a podcast by the guys over at Boagworld the other day. It was episode 183. Inspired. You can get to it here. It was a great show as usual, but the part I loved the most was the review by Lyle Barras on a productivity solution called Dropbox.

The claims were pretty extraordinary. The product is an online storage device. I know what you're thinking. Google Docs works fine for me too. What differentiates Dropbox is that you don't have to go out to a site, download a file for use or modification, upload the changes so they will be available later. Dropbox works like any other folder on your desktop.

Simply open the file from your Dropbox folder, so what you need to do. When you are done and you save the file back to the folder. Then the magic starts. Dropbox synchronizes this file on every other computer you have installed Dropbox. Nothing more for you to do.

I have two desktops, and three laptops at home with this installed. Now I don't have to worry about sharing files from one to another. I just put something in my Dropbox on one and it will be available to all instantly. For computers that do not have Dropbox installed, you can still access your Dropbox via the web by logging into their service.

The final bit that makes this priceless is the price. It is free for up to 2GB. There are pay options if you need more space, but the prices are reasonable. Check it out and let me know what you think. You can get the software here.

I'LL GROW INTO IT DADDY...

Not too long ago I read a book by Dale Carnegie where he shared a story called Father Forgets. It is a short but to the point story that kids must be allowed to be kids. The story struck a chord with me, because I can be pretty hard on my kiddos. I want to balance holding them to a standard and allowing them to be unruly.


I took this picture tonight. This is Jax’s guitar that he bought with own birthday money resting in my guitar case. My guitar is in my office next to my desk, but that is another story. This reminds me how small by big boy still is. He is only going to be in the second grade this year. He wants so much to be like me in so many ways, but he is still so little. For that matter, they are all still so little. Here is to letting kids be kids and laughing with them with they make honest mistakes.

Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.

Dale Carnegie said this about 40 times so far in the book I am reading now. The count may not be that high, but the quote has been lodged in my mind for a few days. He has another one that speaks to the same point: “The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.” What he is trying to say is that arguing is pointless. Even if you are right, what have you accomplished by pounding your view into the other party? You’ve proven that you value showing how much you know over being friendly. So, next time you are with someone and they say how much they love the 1961 Mustang, don’t be a jerk and point out that that first model of the Mustang was the ‘64 ½. Say something benign like, “I do love the early Mustangs as well.” I’ll give this a shot over the next few months.

More meaningless stats and a plea to save the 7th inning...

Since I started planning for the 2010 Astros season, they have improved their winning percentage a full 10 points from 31% to 41%. They have averaged more than 4 runs per game. At this point they'll only win 67 games and be fighting for last in the NL central. Does any of it really matter? Probably not, but I love to talk about it anyway.

I was talking to the kids last night about how cool it was when I was a kid to listen to the Astros game with my dad. Milo would yell "Holy Toledo" every time someone would belt a homer. Those were good times and I still prefer to listen to the games rather than watching on TV.

I've been an Astros fan my whole life. Nothing will ever change that. I'll drag anyone willing with me to Minute Maid Park every chance I get. I love the atmosphere, the crowd, the train and the backdrop of downtown. The thing missing from the last game I went to was "Take me out to the ball game." Don't get me wrong. I love "God Bless America" as much as the next guy, but seriously, can we get back to what made the 7th inning stretch something to look forward to?

Astros drop another one

What can I say? The Astros are 4-9. Hitting 4 out of 13 at bats would be a great average, but 30.8% is a lousy winning percentage. I know they usually play better ball in the second half of the season, but at this pace they’ll only win 50 games and be competing for worst team in baseball honors. They’re not going to win the pennant, but honestly are they that bad? I don’t think so. The problem is that as the casual fan, I can’t see that they have a whole lot to work with. It seems that every player has been living up to their expectations. Let’s face it Astros fans, I think it may be time to start focusing on 2010.

Boys weekend: Day 2

The boys and I decided to hit some golf balls today. We went to a great place just off 290 between Telge and Cypress North Houston. Prices are great and the kids hit free when the adult buys a bucket of balls. We all had a great time.

Have you ever seen the TOP of the fowl pole?

Well I have now. First of all, I didn't misspell it. Chik-Fil-A sponsors the foul poles in Minute Maid Park, so they are aptly named the Fowl poles. So how did I see it? The boys and I headed through the rain to have a tour of the park and watch the Astros from the cheap seats. Outfiled View Deck is only $7 for adults and $1 for kids. So $9 got us in the game. We had a blast. Here are a few of the pics to document the fun.

Watching BP from behind the plate!

Jax in President Bush's seat and Ollie in Barbara Bush's seat.

Ollie got his hat signed by Jeff Bagwell

Jax got his hat signed by Jeff Bagwell

We absolutely had a blast!!!! Oh yeah, the Astros won 7-0.

Getting to know Halliburton

It has been a while since I have posted and for a very good reason. The item consuming my mind for the past few months was the impending transition to Houston and Halliburton. I couldn’t very well spill the beans here and have the world know too soon.

I am officially in the Oil & Gas industry now. I was able to go to one of the many Halliburton facilities today to see a tool that is in development. The guys who knew what they were looking at were very excited. As the newbie, I was just excited to see anything at all. What a different world this is going to be. So far I am having a blast and learning a lot. As long as that continues, I’ll be fine.

Having Beth and the kids still in Austin is not at all the ideal situation, but it seems to working so far. The house in Kyle will sell soon. We keep telling each other that. We both know it will be over soon.

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!

I'm tired and bored because my family is gone tonight. I could go to sleep early, but I wouldn't want to shock my system. I'm updating my podcast so I can go on a run. But first I want to do a little bragging on my Bethy and her sister. Yesterday they completed a zip line and challenging ropes course at Cypress Valley Canopy Tour.

I'll try to get more pics on Flickr! soon, so check back if you want to see more. I am very proud of both of them. I know this wasn't easy and they chose the hardest route possible. Way to go!

Milt’s BBQ:

I am working from home today, so Beth and I decided to go to lunch together in Kyle. We were planning to go to an old stand by, but they were closed. Sitting in the parking lot wondering where to go, we remembered an article in our community newsletter talking about a new BBQ place. We decided to try it out.

There was only one car out front, but it was already after 1pm, so we did not take that as a bad sign. The seating reminds me of the porch at the Saltlick. We sat in the covered porch under one of the fans. Even with the heat today, it was very comfortable. They have a signature wall that is filling up fast. Look for "Dax Loves Beth" that I had to get on there while I could. They also have a sign requesting old license plates for them to display. It’s a great atmosphere for eating slow cooked BBQ.

The menu features a great selection at reasonable prices. My wife and I each ordered a bird’s nest. That’s a sandwich with sliced brisket and sausage. I also ordered a side of ranch beans. They have chopped brisket mixed in. It was all wonderful.

There were other great menu items as well. The family meal comes with a pound of brisket, 2 chicken quarters or 2 sausage links and 2 medium sides for less than $20. I am getting the Haystack during my next visit. That’s BBQ Frito Pie.

Next time you are in the mood for great BBQ, you owe it to your taste buds to give Milt’s a try. They are located at 905 N Hwy 81, Kyle, TX 78640. You can call in your order at 512-268-4734.

Cyber Junk

Space Junk is a term used to describe the garbage created during space exploration. This may be parts of broken satellites, a bolt dropped by an astronaut while on a space walk, or entire satellites that have ceased to operate. Most of this stuff will eventually fall back into earth's orbit and burn up in the atmosphere. But what happens to Cyber Junk?

Millions of people are creating their own content on the web through social networks, blogs like this one, and countless other mediums. What happens to all of the stuff we create? How long will articles that I write on Helium.com be active? When will this blog go away?

I started thinking about this when I got to work this morning. I had an e-mail from Plaxo reminding me of a birthday that is coming up. I usually enjoy getting these so I can send a funny e-card to the person celebrating a birthday. Here is the content of this morning's e-mail.

Needless to say, I am extremely aware that my sister would have been 26 on 4/21 of this year had she not died in a car wreck in August of 2006. I contacted Plaxo to find out about getting her account deleted. Their initial response simply suggested that I change my settings to make sure that I would not get anymore alerts from her account. While I agree that this would work, doesn't it seem odd that Plaxo would not want to get an account off their system if the person is no longer with us?

Is telecommuting an option?

After being back from sabbatical for three days, I feel like I am back in the swing of things. I already have a trip to California scheduled for later this month and a ton of things to keep me busy. I have to give credit to those on my team that filled in for me while I was away. Without them, my return would have been a much rougher experience.

Everything at home is also getting back to normal, which is a terrible way to describe a life with four kids. There isn’t much that is normal, but I love every minute of it. Beth had to run to Houston tonight to pick up our nieces and nephew. The plan is for me to get the kids off to school and go on to work. Emma isn’t feeling well, so I may be working from home with a sick kid. That’s the beauty of the internet though; I can work anywhere I can get an internet connection. All of my phone numbers route to a single cell phone, so the transition from the office to the home office is nearly seamless. This brings me to another topic: Gas Prices.

I was talking with my life-long friend Aaron tonight about the cost of commuting. I did some numbers in the back of my head while we were talking but I wanted to see what the real numbers were. I opened up Excel and here are the results. I drive 26 miles one way to get to work with an average mpg of 16. (I know this is low, but I love my Suburban.) With gas at $3.20 per gallon and assuming I drive to work 5 days per week for 50 weeks each year, my annual cost for gas just to get to work is $2,600. By working from home just one day per week, I can save around $520 per year and reduce the miles on my car from 13k per year to 10.4k per year. That sounds like a pretty compelling argument to start working from home when possible.

Back in the Saddle…

Today is my first day back to work after four glorious weeks of sabbatical. I am glad to get back to the routine and I am sure that I’ll be going 100mph for the next couple of weeks to catch up on the things I missed. I had a great time that included a trip to Disney World and many fun activities with the family. I’ll post more later about Disney.

1st day of school

We just dropped the kids off for the first day of school. Dede was first. No issues. Then we dropped off Emma. Very excited. Next was the hard part. We got Jax to his Kindergarten class. We hung up his backpack. Put his lunch box on top of his cubby. We found his desk and put his name tag on. He looked so proud. He already had a worksheet on his desk to start coloring. He started to work without a second thought about us. I was very proud of Beth for keeping it together. As we were leaving Jax’s classroom, we noticed that Ollie was crying. That was all Beth needed. We are about to go to breakfast and spend the day making Ollie feel special. More to come later.

thoughts at 32k feet

I am on the plane back to Austin. The pilot said that the ground temperature in Austin was 91 when we took off from San Jose. That’s really hard to imagine after leaving Sunnyvale with temps in the 70’s .

Beth sent me a video of the kids on her cell earlier today. I have only been gone a couple of days, but I miss them terribly. Only about two more hours until I sneak into the room to kiss them good night.

I am really looking forward to this weekend. We are heading down to Galveston and won’t be back until Tuesday. The kids love to fish, swim, and play. This brings me back to the importance of play. Jack Nicholson provided his commentary the lead character in the Shining: All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I am not saying that the movie is a realistic example. There is some truth in it though. You will lose your mind if work is what life is all about.

You should value the things that value you. Take your company and your family for example. If you were hit by a truck tomorrow, which one would be affected more severely? Your company would send flowers to the wake with a nice card. Some of your coworker might attend the service. Six months down the road, your position is filled and you are no more than water cooler chatter.

Your family on the other hand will never be the same. Your spouse will be left to handle alone everything you once shared. Your kids will have lost one of the most respected and influential person in their lives. Six months down the road, the pain of your loss will still be intensely felt.

I need to keep this in perspective. I’ll be back for more later.

Running and Being

The problem is that I have done much more being than running lately. I am still on the road. I am eating more than I should and not exercising. This combination is not a good one. I am having a great time, but I miss the family. I wish they could be here to see all the sights I am seeing.

Thursday night, I’ll be on a plane back to the sweltering heat of Austin, TX. I just got off the phone with my wife. In less than 24 hours, I’ll be asleep in my own bed.

Life is going great and I think it all has to do with perspective. I choose to be happy in what I am doing. I love my job. I am learning something new everyday. I have a bunch of kids that still think I am great. I have a beautiful wife that adores me. I have in-laws that I actually love to be around. I have nothing to complain about. All is good.

As part of my reading, Dr. Sheehan wrote, “Shakespeare was wrong. To play or not to play: that is the question. Anyone with a sense of humor can see that life is a joke, not a tragedy. It is also a riddle and, like all riddles, has an obvious answer: play, not suicide”

What he is saying is that the question “to be or not to be” is nothing more than an eloquent contemplation of suicide. You are. In other words, if you are reading this you have chosen “to be.” Good choice. In his interrogative: to play or not to play, Dr, Sheehan is pointing out that we have a choice how we spend the time between being and not being.

The person in the most perfect form is the child. The child doesn’t “know” enough to think of himself as foolish for acting on impulse and imagination. The child is not inhibited by social etiquette that limits volume and speed. My kids play at full speed until they drop. My youngest is the best example of this. We find him asleep in some of the strangest places. There is no moderation. 100mph until you run out of gas. That’s the joy of acting like a kid.

I get the same feeling from running. There is no work, no deadlines, and no politics to distract me when I am running. There is only me and the road. Sometimes I listen to my mp3 player, but often I run without it so I can hear the birds, my feet hitting the pavement, and the other sounds that people in their cars just don’t hear.

I’ll be back for more. For now, I am heading to bed.

Six Flags

It’s been a while since I have posted. I have not made the time. I am sitting in the LAX airport waiting to board my flight to San Jose. I have nothing but time for the next 30 minutes.

The running program has not been what I had planned. There are excuses, but none of them good enough to share. Because of travel timing Beth and I did not run the Moonlight Margarita run as planned. Instead, I took that day off and took the girls to Six Flags in San Antonio. Just the four of us had a great time. The girls rode the Boomerang. It has two loops and a corkscrew. They were terrified, but they made it.


More to come.

Back on track

I went to Bridge City last weekend with Beth and the kids. I saw my sister's grave for the first time since the funeral. It wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it might be. It was sobering. My mom has done a great job of decorating the site with mementos. The headstone is beautiful. How could it not be? It has a picture of my sister on it. The rest of the trip was great as well. We had a party for the June birthdays at Dad’s house with burgers and dogs.

Beth and I went to the track Saturday morning to run. It seems like my old high school stadium shrunk. I remember thinking how huge it was the first time I stepped on that field for 7th grade football. The track was bright red when I was there. We are the Cardinals so it made sense. It is black now. It is a little depressing.