The new school year, and other things ...

Seems that I have not updated the blog for a while. So here is what is happening with us.

It is a new school year. Your first thought was Nick and Anthony, what grade are they in, what are they taking, etc. Well, don't forget about Julie. Yea, she is taking a pretty full load on her way to an art degree. She has two day time classes and a web class as well.

Anthony is a sophomore in high school. He has a full load with one honors and one AP (advanced placement) class. All of this while playing football. Kind of a nut. Way too much homework! But liking it a lot - especially the football part where he is playing middle linebacker and fullback.

And Nick is in seventh grade, his second year at middle school. As a sixth grader, they were in their own area at the middle school and didn't interact all that much with the rest of the kids. This year they are right in the middle of everything. He likes it. He decided not to run cross country this year as he is playing year round soccer, but will wrestle during that season as well.

It feels strange being the only one not in school. Ok, not really. I have no desire to go back to school:) I am doing pretty much the same thing that I was last year. All good stuff ...

Doctors ...

After my recent doctors visits - had to write a blog entry. There is definitely some good and some bad in here. Seems representative of our medical system / industry.

• Scheduling a visit - from Europe
• Bit of a challenge as we were in Europe. Wanted to go see a specialist. Of course they want you to see your general practitioner. I have had enough experience with my back to know that I needed to see someone else:)
• I called the doctor who did my back surgery. He was going on sabbatical, so did end up with the doctor who had seen my shoulder.
• Had to be a bit adamant to get them to schedule a time. Then of course they had an opening while we were still in Europe, but nothing soon after we got back.
• Had to call regularly to get a cancellation:)
• Had my appointment and we decided that I needed an MRI.
  
• Scheduling this is hard as well. They gave me an appointment two weeks out, to work around some travel.
• I got my name on the list for cancellations.
• Good thing is that they called me every time someone cancelled. Bad thing is that even though I told them when I would be back from my travels, they called me anyway.
• Did get an appointment for the day I returned:)
• The MRI appointment was good
• Only thing was that I needed them to evaluate the MRI ASAP as I was meeting with my doctor again the next day.
• They did this:)
• Second doctors appointment
• He recommended that I go have an epidural cortisone injection.
• Scheduled the appointment for the cortisone shot
• Two choices - with the experienced doctor (10,000 plus shots) or the inexperienced doctor (not clear how many shots, two years of experience).
• Appointment was either a week away or a couple of days away.
• Turns out after talking to folks who schedule a couple of times - each doctor has a day when they do the shot, so the difference in appointment dates was pretty irrelevant.
• Went with the experienced doctor!
• Meeting with the experienced doctor
• Did an exam, discussed the process, asked all of our questions, sounded like the right thing was to have the shot.
• Went back to his office to look at a model and to schedule the shot. Thought that we would also look together at the MRI. Found out that he hadn't even seen it. And found out that I couldn't' get the shot at the next slot three days away because I had taken Ibprofen (blood thinner).
  
• Discussed why he had not seen it (power problems, shortage of people, etc). Pretty annoying. Agreed to meet again to review. And that I would go pick up the MRI MYSELF and bring it to the next appointment.
  
• Also annoying that no-one told me I should avoid Ibprofen within three days of the shot or they would have to pick a later date ...
• Went to pick up the MRI
• Very nice folks helped me to determine that it made it to my doctor (not the guy who gives the shot).
• My doctor is in the SAME BUILDING as the other doctor - all they had to do is bring it over.
• We met again to review the MRI
• He showed me the L4/5 where the bulge / herniation is. On the left side of the MRI film.
• I asked to see the other film that showed the scar tissue (they did one with die that was so that the doctors could see what is new and what was a result of the surgery).
• He put this up and showed me the scar tissue on the right side of L4/5.
• I asked why it was on the right on that film and on the left in the other film.
• He said that is because the films are flipped. What looks like it is on the left is actually on the right. What is on the right is actually on the left. My surgery was to take care of a problem effecting my left side and the new problem is effecting my right side.
• Wellllll - the problem is again on my left side. When I said this - he went to his computer to review the notes (like I was confused as to what side the problem was on).
• He then said - see on the other side there is a bulge, that is what is causing the problem and that is where we would do the shot. Like it was no big deal that he completely missed it!
• Things seem to be healing up, so I cancelled the shot
• He had said that it was 90-95% likely that my back would heal itself. The shot would make this happen faster as it would put cortisone directly on the problem and help reduce the inflammation more quickly.
• But it seems to be doing pretty well itself. The pain is gone (almost completely). The numbness is going away. And the muscle strength is coming back!

So there are some positives in here. You can get appointments pretty quickly. And if you know the right folks, you get a lot of help. Most people are really nice. But it is clear that the doctors are pretty overloaded and don't really take to be thorough. So you have to take some of that responsibility on yourself.

Our Europe Vacation!

We just got back from our two week trip to Rome and Paris. What a great trip. So much to talk about so decided to narrow it down to the highlights and lowlights ...

Top Ten Highlights

1. Colosseum and Forum
Just soooo much history, hard to believe when this all was built, what it was like to live there, what it actually looked like, how advanced they were, and so on. Got to hear from Anthony and Nick just how much they know about the history. Amazing, way way ahead of Julie and me!


2. World Cup Football (Soccer)
The team in the country where we were just kept winning! We went to dinner at a restaurant in Rome with a HUGE TV, looked kind of like dorks with matching Italy shirts, and had a great time. Listened to the fans cheer while at dinner with friends and then took the metro back with some really rowdy fans in Paris (a bit scary). And saw the penalty kicks in the final while in the Chicago airport on our way home with HUNDREDS of travelers!


3. Two weeks with family and off work
Don't have to say much here. Just like to hand out with the family, bond, etc. Great to take a break from work. Very very few interruptions due to the great team that I have.


4. Vatican City - St Peter's Basilica
   
You just have to go there to see this. It is the center of the Catholic Church. It is impressive, especially St. Peter's Basilica - just HUGE. By the way, Sun powers the Vatican web site.


5. Ostia Antica
This is a small city outside of Rome. There are some amazing ruins that you can wonder around and see. Great place to run around, imagine what it was like, etc. We had a great time here!


6. Dinner w/Friends (Corrado and Martine)

We got a chance to meet up with a couple of friends from Sun while traveling. Corrado runs sales in Italy and Martine is field marketing across Europe. It was fun to talk to them, hear their thoughts on what we should see, etc.


7. Luxembourg Park and Scott Takahasi
On the last day of our trip, we went to Luxembourg Park to see Scott Takahashi (a neighbor same age as Anthony) play with a band from Santa Clara. The park there is absolutely amazing. It is huge, beautiful and the weather was great. We listened to a concert under a beautiful treed area with lots of Parisians. Scott is very good and did a number of solos. All together a great show.


8. Cafe's, Beers, Croque sandwiches
It was fun to eat at a bunch of different places, especially cafe's where you are out on the sidewalk having a beer ... The food was good. And in most cases the help was good as well (there were times - especially in France ...).


9. Apartments (rather than hotels)
It was nice to have an apartment rather than a hotel. It gave us a bit more space. The kids had their own beds. And we could have a few meals at the apartment rather than going out.


10. Giverny (Julie's Favorite!!)
This was actually pretty cool. We took a train to Vernon and a cab one way, bus the other to Giverny. It is a really quaint town, lots of flowers and nice buildings. And the gardens are really nice. Julie would like to go there and do some painting in the future ...

Bottom Three Lowlights

• Back / Sciatica
A couple of days into the trip I had a sciatica problem. I had (have) muscles weakness in my left leg, numbness down my shin and a pain. With some work, we found a doctor that spoke English and got medication. This allowed me to do most things - other than sleep:)


• Lack of Air Condition in Rome
The apartment in Rome was nice and had a stand alone air conditioning unit, but it was almost useless and the weather was really warm!


• Pompidou
Ok - so I am not much of a modern art fan, but this was really bad. Cool building, so go see it from the outside. Nothing worth seeing on the inside. I think the definition of an artist of modern art at the Pompidou is someone who has no artistic talent!

That's about it.

Soccer, football and summer ...

Quick update on our Soccer lives ...

Anthony is playing CYSA on the same team that he has been playing on since middle school. The team is doing well. They are winning most of their games. They tied today and if they win tomorrow they go on to play in the tournament. Anthony is doing well - mostly playing sweeper. He is learning to use his size and effort to make up for his lack of speed. And his skills are getting there ...

Nick just finished his season. His team was going through some changes, merging with another team. So at the suggestion of his trainer, he tried out and made a class 1 team. He will go from being at the top of his class 3 team (there is no class 2) to the lower of his new team. They are more skilled, but the coaches think that his desire and speed will allow him to play at this level while his skills develop.

Football for Anthony has ended for the school year. He trained a few days a week since the season ended and just finished a couple of weeks spring ball. He will be back at it in a week or so (once school ends). This will go the whole summer until a couple of weeks before school starts, when they will start practice for real. Anthony can't wait!

And summer is just about here ... I can see that it will go quickly. We will try to fit a lot in:

• Our big vacation to Rome and Paris
• Nick's summer theater conservatory
• A short houseboat trip
• Some time in PG (I hope)

And some pool time:)

Catching Up ...

Seems that I am on a monthly update pace ...

The last month has flown by. We are almost at the end of the school year. Nick has finished soccer for the season. Anthony has a couple more games. And other than today (and tomorrow???), we are having weather that finally feels like summer.

I have been on a fairly hectic pace, but not what I was on a couple of months ago. Last week was JavaOne (the largest developer conference in the world - with roughly 15,000 geeks in attendance) and Horizons (the customer conference originally held by SeeBeyond, the company that we acquired, and continued by Sun). I spent most of my time at Horizons talking to our customers and doing about 45 minutes of the keynote:)

The real highlight was having Anthony come to visit on Thursday after school. He took a cab from home to the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Here is a quick run down of what we did before I drove him home ...

• Spent a couple of hours touring the exhibits looking at all of the cool products and talking to folks doing the demonstrations. Quite an eye opening experience.
• Attended the evening keynote where Motorola presented the future of mobile. The best part was when Anthony leande over and said - "I could do this for a job."
• Chatted with a number of Sun employees that we say as we wondered around.
• Attended the JavaOne bash. This is the big party that they have where there are some very cool entertainment. We saw the guys from Myth Busters. And Anthony played one of the best online gamers of all time (didn't get his name). Where he got OWNED:)
• Went to dinner with some of our customers. We went to One Market where we ate with a few of my team as well as some customer.

Other than that, I have been doing my normal trips back and forth to Monrovia to visit my team. I took on some additional responsibility for our Portal product. And I did a big organizational change to complete the integration of the acquired SeeBeyond engineering team with the one that existed at Sun.

And what about workouts ... you ask. Well, not doing too well, but getting some in. More like every other day than every day. But did manage to exercise at a place called Club One in San Francisco and feel like I got my money's worth.

So back to the office on Monday. Looking forward already to Memorial Day Weekend and three days in PG!

Back from another trip ...

I just returned yesterday from another trip. This one to Hyderabad India. If I am counting right, this was my 7th trip to India. Never my favorite place, but I am getting pretty use to it!

Some interesting tidbits from this trip.

• It takes nearly 24 hours to get there and get home. I fly San Francisco to Frankfurt to Hyderabad on Lufthansa.
  
• The flights take significantly longer coming home as compared to going there. The San Francisco - Frankfurt leg is 10:35 going and 11:10 returning. The Frankfurt - Hyderabad leg is 8:45 and 9:45.
• There is now wireless internet on the flight to and from Frankfurt and Hyderabad.
• Hotels in India are really expensive. I paid $170 this time. Last time in Bangalore it was just over $200.
• The weather is already pretty hot in Hyderabad. It was close to 100 degrees for the four days I was there. It will get hotter in the next couple of months! Bangalore is 5-10 degrees cooler.
• They are building what the call Hi Tech City in Hyderabad. It is pretty amazing. The buildings are REALLY impressive. And all of the big names are there.
• We just put up a very cool sign on top of our building. This was possible as we just completed the renaming of the legal entity there from STC Hyderabad Limited (when it was SeeBeyond) to Sun Microsystems Hyderabad Limited India.
• The salaries are increasing pretty quickly for engineers. We pay 1/3 to 1/4 of what we pay in the US. But the pay is still amazingly low for what they would call the office staff. They make somewhere around $150 / month.

Glad to be home. No long trips planned in the near future. I will spend a couple of days in Monrovia next week and am expecting to get to Japan over the next couple of months but that is not yet scheduled. And my next trip to India is likely 5-6 months away:)

Bikes, Runs, and Swims?

Fitting workouts in with everything else is just plain hard.

Work, travel (with work), kids, household responsibilities all just get in the way. I know that everyone goes through this. But here is how I stay motivated ...

• Switch things up
• New activities - if you road bike, then mountain bike. If you run, then hike. Do aerobics. Do spin classes.
  
• Old activities differently - if you run , take a different path. If you mountain bike, try a technical climb. Go rock climbing.
  
• Distract yourself - wear a MP3 player. Think about your next career, how to help your kids, dream about a vacation.
  
• Go on a vacation
• We just got back from Arizona. I went on five hikes, ran five times and mountain biked twice. It was all soooo different. I came back totally recharged:)
  
• Set a goal
• Do a triathlon - always a good one to get you working.
  
• Shoot for a certain number of days or hours working out.
  
• Get energy from others
• When you find someone that is doing more, try to determine how they do it. Get positive energy from them:)
• Look at the people that you don't want to emulate and use this to generate positive energy!
  
• Make it fun
• Go with friends.
• Pretend that you are racing someone (and beating them of course).
• Run some stairs - backwards.
• Just find some way to make it less bland!
  
• Set yourself up to succeed
• Rather than plan to do five workouts and plan all five of them, set a goal of four workouts and schedule five. This way if you miss one you still succeed. And if you get them all in, you over achieved.
  

Let me know what you do and use these if they are helpful!

Not what I would call a European Vacation!!

Last week was my European trip. I would not call this a vacation, but it turned out to be GREAT. It has taken me the whole week to recover (including 4 days in Monrovia - it is nice to be home).

We started off the trip with a flight to Milan via Frankfurt. We left on Sunday afternoon and arrived in Milan at 2pm Monday. This was just in time to get to the hotel (45 minutes), take a quick shower, take about a 45 minute nap, and head into the offices in the Domo area (30 minutes) so that I could meet with two reporters for local technical periodicals. Not sure what they got out of the meeting - guess we will see when they write their articles. Then it was out to dinner with the folks there in Italy along with the rest of the group that was doing the European roadshow. We got back to the hotel at about 11:00pm.

Up the next morning for breakfast at 7:30 and to the Sun offices for our first day of the roadshow. This was the smallest group. There were about 30 customers. We did our presentations and met with customers during the breaks and at lunch. Then it was off to the airport for our flight to Amsterdam. We arrived in Amsterdam at about 11:00pm and after a nearly hour long cab ride we arrived at our hotel in Amersfoort. After a short call home - got to bed at about 1:00am.

Next morning up again at the same time and off to the offices. The day went similarly with the exception of more people (more like 65) and a much more interactive audience (better English speakers). There were three reporters there. I managed to spend time with each of them together and separately. Then back to the airport and off to Paris. We arrived in Paris at about 9:30 and drove to the hotel. It was a very cool drive as we headed down Champs Elysees straight toward the Arc de Triomphe. This was the most sightseeing we did the whole trip:) We got to the roundabout around the Arc de Triomphe and headed off to our hotel. We got there about 10:00, met downstairs for a drink at 10:30 and headed up to our rooms at about 11:30.

Next morning the same thing, only this time I had a customer meeting at 8:00am. Then it was the regular presentations and finally off to a customer site - Carefoure, the equivalent of the Walmart of Europe. Great meetings with the customers. Things went well enough that we almost missed our train to Brussles. The drive was just over an hour from the customer meeting. There was soooo much traffic that we finally got out of the car and ran down the streets to the train station. We ran to the train, got on the closest car (they didn't want us to since it was not our car), and two minutes later the doors closed and we were off. We had to huck our bags through the whole train to our car in the front. We arrived in Brussels at about:00, headed down for a drink and got to bed at around 11:30.

Next day the same, but with a bigger crowd (about 80 - forgot to mention that this was also the case in Paris). We did the same, fitting in three customer meetings and then off to the airport again. This time it was back to Frankfurt where I stayed over night and took a plane out the next morning.

So that was it - pretty busy. Great customer interactions. Tired but pumped up. No chance to get a workout in (except in Frankfurt on the way home - very nice gym). My body can't handle this on a weekly basis, but I would do it again in a minute - next year. In the meantime, we will be doing a US roadshow and then one in Japan / Asia. Not sure which I will do. And I will need to take a trip to India likely in April.

Good news is that with all of these miles, we have just booked a vacation to Europe ...

Where did January go?!?!

It is already January 26th - where did the month go?

This has been a busy month. Work, customer meetings, a trip to Austin, a trip to Monrovia, bike rides, runs, and so on. And I am about to head into an even busier one!

I will be taking a trip to Europe. I leave Sunday and return on Saturday. I will spend roughly a day in Milan, Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. Add in travel time and that doesn't leave a lot of time for sight seeing:)

Then the better part of a week in Monrovia, a week in the bay area, and then off on vacation to Phoenix.

That means March is right around the corner:)

Back from the holidays

Just back from the holidays and found a couple of noteworthy topics to write about.

The first one is Hawaii. We spent a week there before Christmas - returning on Christmas Eve! I was thinking about how different the lifestyle was there as compared to home. Lots of small things.

Reading the paper

I read the local paper. There were some pretty interesting articles such as the one about a swimmer that was attacked by a shark. I normally read the sports and business sections. But there just isn't all that much interesting there, so read other sections. What I did read had a direct impact on how I swam in the ocean. Didn't go out as far:)

Workouts

I normally workout at the Sun exercise room doing the stationary bike, treadmill or elliptical trainer. In Hawaii I ran along the ocean path, swam in the ocean, played football catch, played paddle ball, snorkeled and went for long walks.

Phone calls

Oh yea, didn't really do any of these other than when I got a call that our pool was overflowing and the people watching our house wanted to know how to let some water out:)

Internet

Nope, didn't do that at all. There was a couple of internet cafes but didn't bother.

So there is a lot of truth to the way technology is changing our lives. But once you are in a place like Hawaii, it is really easy to let go. We did make a couple of calls to get dinner reservations, and we did book the trip online well before. And we did get notified that our plane was on time with a message to Julie's phone. Might just take some time to really integrate into the Hawaiian lifestyle.

Twas the Night Before Hawaii

And all through the house not a child HAD ANY CLUE where we are heading tomorrow:)

I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. Tomorrow we are off to Hawaii for a week. When we return on Christmas eve, Mom and Curt will be here. We will have Christmas and a couple of days later Todd and Chris and the kids will be here. And then at the end of the break, Dad and Darlene will be here (still not exactly sure who will be here when, but I am sure that Julie knows).

It is even better given how much prep there is both at home and work getting ready ... Today I flew down to Monrovia and back this evening. My second trip this week. Today was primarily because there was a Holiday Potluck. Since lots of the folks there work for me - I wanted to be there. We of course did work as well. Now my guys will take it from here over the next week. I did manage to close hiring of a guy in India. Got an announcement out for a guy that is moving to the US from the UK to run a part of my organization. And got my product management team working to prepare for my next trip.

And I caught up with two of my friends to schedule some things when we return from Hawaii.

Not bad!

Boys and Girls Club - Your Legacy

Julie and I attended a Boys and Girls Club fund raiser dinner last week. This was a good time for a good cause. But I got a lot more out of it.

The guest of honor was Rigo Chacon. I remember the name growing up. He was a news reporter for ABC 7 news. He has done a number of things since then and left a real legacy.

It is that legacy that really got to me. His son Rigo Jr. spoke about his father. He did a phenomenal job describing what his dad meant to him. What he stood for. How he spent his time and money. Things that he did back in the town that he came from. Rogo's father had just passed away a couple weeks before the dinner. So his memory was fresh in Rogo's mind. Rigo talked about what his father meant to him. What he stood for. What they learned from him.

So what will my legacy be. What did I get from my mother and father. What do I remember. What did I learn. And what am I passing along to my kids. To the community. What will I be remembered for.

It really makes you think!!

What a week

The week sure has gone by quickly. It is now Friday - my last entry was close to a week ago, on Sunday night. I was complaining about how bad our football teams are. This week's talk radio is all about how maybe the 49ers will end up with Reggie Bush. Is that a good thing or now. There are opinions on both sides. If we got him we would have the game breaker that we need and we would be back to scoring touchdowns. If we trade him we can fill a number of holes on the defensive line, wide receiver, etc.

But that isn't what I wanted to talk about. This week it is all about how close we are getting to Christmas and the vacation that we are getting ready to go on. Anthony and Nick don't know that we are on our way to Hawaii NEXT SATURDAY! We are going to have them pack up as if we are going to PG. Get in the car. And drive to SFO. It will be fun to see how long it takes for them to realize that we are not heading in the right direction:) My guess is that it will be a half hour. They will be reading their books and at some point will look up and not see the sand dunes and ask - "where are we?"

We will then give them an envelope. The envelope will have some money in it to spend while on vacation. In the envelope will be a clue as to where we are going. Maybe a word scramble with words like Hawaii or Maui or Hula or if we get really mean Mele Kaliki Maka. It might take a while ... but they will get it:)

So I am really excited. I can't wait. And I can't wait until we can put them through this next Saturday.

49ers and Raiders

What a lousy weekend for bay area professional football fans. We went to the 49er game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Alex Smith actually looked ok the first half. Early on he through short passes, sometimes shovel passes to a back right in front of him, but none the less he completed a bunch of passes. And just before the end of the quarter he threw the ball down the field and had some nice completions. But during the second half he really looked bad. I have been giving him the benefit of the doubt, but wow was he bad. He really looks like he has no idea out there. By the end of the game he was unable to find anyone - throwing interceptions that were just plain poor.

I am picking on Alex here. He is not the only problem. The bottom line is that the 49ers are just outmatched. Almost everyone they play is better. I am impressed with coach Nolan. He has the team playing hard. I am seeing some improvement. And I was very impressed by the rookies who started on the offensive line. But they are in need of better players. Until they get some, I don't expect us to win.

We did have a good time as we had good seats and the day was nice. It was the first pro game that both Nick and Anthony have gone to. They were impressed with the stadium, look of the field, size of the players, person who sang the national anthem and halftime activities. And with the small crowd, we could get something to eat and make it back to our seats well before halftime ended!

Once we got home we turned on Sunday night football. Our hope was that we would see a better game. The Raiders were playing San Diego - a bit of a rivalry. The game started off pretty good. The Raiders were hitting hard and making some good offensive plays. But as the game wore on, and especially after halftime, things really got out of hand. The Chargers started to own the Raiders. By the end I was pretty depressed. The situation is worse with the Raiders than it is with the 49ers. I think that the Raiders have enough good players. They just aren't winning. I can see that Randy Moss is hurting. But the problem is deeper. Maybe it is the coach or maybe the quarterback. Or maybe both.

So tonight I am watching some basketball. And there is soccer on shortly. I am loving college football. Cal is good. USC is great. I am looking forward to the Rose Bowl!

Headgear

Ok - so maybe I was out to lunch with my ideas about a soft society. How about this one ... my thoughts on headgear. I have to admit that I am actually pretty mixed on this one. I guess I see both sides.

This all started with my last trip to Sportmart (now Sports Authority). As you walk in, there on the right side where they put the seasonal sports gear was their snow skis, snowboards, boots and of course helmets. I stopped to look at them and they are actually pretty cool. Kind of like skateboarding helmets, but they look way more comfortable. There are awesome colors including camo.

But my first thought was - are we over the edge. Are there enough accidents to warrant helmets? I never wore a helmet. I don't remember hitting my head when I crashed - and it isn't like I never crashed. I have seen a number of people brought down the hill on stretchers, but it always appeared that they had leg problems, not head injuries. So I did a bit of web searching and found a site that has some interesting statistics. This data doesn't support the need for helmets. It does point out that there is a real need for wrist braces when you snowboard, but that isn't the topic!

I did find a site that has some data around head injuries. It even describes the kind of injuries that occur, and it does appear that a helmet would help with these.

But this is about headgear not helmets for snow skiing or boarding. There are a number of different types of headgear to consider. Here are some examples.

• Football - most people would agree that helmets are a good thing. But what if they continued to wear leather helmets rather than the helmets of today. Would there be more or less injuries. I firmly believe that there are harder hits today than in the past because of all of the body armor that is worn today.
• Rugby - the players don't wear helmets. Would there be fewer injuries if they did? I suspect that there would not since they would hit each other harder. But what about headgear to protect concussions or just their ears. Seems like this would be a good idea. There appears to be a raging debate on this very topic. Maybe it helps with cauliflower ear?
• Biking - well, I have to admit that after taking a really hard fall on my mountain bike where I launched over the handlebars, flew head first into the dirt, and woke up with my bike a ways away from me, I am sold! I would never ride a bike without a helmet and am amazed at how many people ride on the road without one.
• Wrestling - we are making Nick wear headgear when he wrestles. This is to protect his ears not so much his head. Seems like a good idea to me.
• Soccer - this is the latest rage. Headgear for soccer players. To protect from concussion. The data on all of this seems pretty limited. The topic is new and decisions to use headgear appear to be based on a study in Norway around heading the ball. This debate continues as well.
  

I did find one interesting article on the whole subject. Take a look. Their thoughts are not all that different from mine:)

One last interesting data point. I was talking about headgear to a senior who both bikes and snow skis. He said that he of course wears a bike helmet but what was a surprise to me is that he also wears a helmet when he skis. He said that it is because at this point in his life, he wants to enjoy what he has left and doesn't want an accident to screw that up!

So I am pretty mixed on all of this. Where do you draw the line?

The Soft Society

It is the day before Thanksgiving - lots of thinking about how much we will eat tomorrow, and what football games will be on. But I was thinking about something else today when I took a walk to the grocery store to get something to eat (the cafeteria was already closed).

As I was walking to the store, it hit me how soft we have become. We don't walk much. We walk sometimes for exercise, but not much just for fun or just as another way to get somewhere. We don't even ride our bikes for that purpose. We get in the car and drive. Wow - I am starting to sound like an old man.

That wasn't the purpose of this. Well, I don't think there was a purpose. But it just hit me how our activities have changed. The kids still play outside, but they rarely meet up with a bunch of friends and play football or baseball at school. When they do - they have a great time. But it doesn't happen all that often. Some of this is out of fear. We don't feel comfortable with our kids out of our sight, or out of close sight. We are worried that they will be kidnapped. I guess there is more of this going on than I think. Or maybe it is just more visible. It is a HUGE leap to allow kids to ride their bikes to school.

There are lots of other examples of this. How many people do their own gardening vs having a gardener. How many of us do the physical things that we or the generations before us did. Not all that many, unless we are doing it for a purpose - to get in shape:)

Kind of reminds me of the comment that Steve Young made the other day about Chris Simms - he said:

I worry that he grew up in a much different atmosphere, a laissez-faire kind of atmosphere. And I'm worried he really doesn't have the mental toughness to deal with the information overload that comes with the NFL.

Chris' dad Phil didn't take to well to this:) He fired back with his own comments on Steve. Steve then resonated to these and tried to clarify. But all that Steve was saying is that he grew up in a Soft Society. My point exactly:)

So not that this necessarily is really good or bad, just an observation. As you can tell by my comments, it is a bit concerning to me. Maybe the pendulum has swung too far.

RBS

I saw a great advertisement the other day (ok, not great for those who actually have a problem, but hang with me anyway). It was for a drug called Neurosil. They said - "Discover how you can take control of your 'Restless Leg Syndrome'." RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) - now that is a new one. This is for people who can't keep their legs still, they have to keep moving them. And the drug is intended to help those who have this sit still. I thought that I would look up the definitions in the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary.

• Restless - continuously moving
• Leg - (know this one)
• Syndrome - a group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a particular abnormality

So it hit me. I have RBS - Restless Body Syndrome. It is not just my legs but my whole body that need to be continuously moving:) Finally, I understand. It is not just extra energy but rather I HAVE A SYNDROME.

PS: Now when I told Julie this - she thought the B meant Butt, but I like my choice better.

Workouts and Travel (and other related challenges)

I am home from a short one day trip to Monrovia. It is Friday, my schedule is pretty light, but I have a bit of whatever is going around. So this may be yet another day that I go without a workout.

Which led me to the topic of the day ... :)

It is just too hard to get enough workouts in. Yea, yea, as I always say, it just has to be a priority and you will make time for it. But it is a priority for me - just maybe not enough. But that being said, I am having a heck of a time getting them in.

So what gets in the way ... and what to do about it.

• Travel - short trips to Monrovia (LA) and long trips (India, UK, etc.)
  
• Important Team - multiple locations, biggest part of biggest software acquisition that we have done, significant revenue riding on the products my team builds
• Big Job - lots of expectations around customer visits, presentations, etc.
• Old Age - more injuries than I have had in the past, calf is taking forever to heal, same story for shoulder separation
• Kids - want to spend time with them when I am not traveling / working!

I know, no simple answer. I just have to keep working on it. Just a couple more emails and I think I will go for a short run before my next call ...

Christmas Shopping and the Web

Well - Christmas shopping has sure changed. It use to be that you decided what you wanted and went to the store to get it. Not anymore. It is either way easier or way more difficult - not really sure ... Now you decide what you want, and use the web to help you to find the best one or the best price or maybe just to make sure that you didn't miss something.

Maybe a hypothetical example will help. I don't want to use a real one just in case Anthony or Nick read this:)

So say I want to get a basketball hoop. I could drive to Sportmart and Big 5 and Sears, check out what they have, and then go back to the place that has the best one. Or if I don't have time, I might just buy one at the first store that I stop at. But if you do either of these, when you get home you are not sure you got the right thing or the best price.

So you go on the web first. Look at everything that is out there, and then decide what to do with all of this information. You might then go to a store and look at what they have, then either buy it there or buy it from someone on the web. You have to think about the price, cost of shipping, time to deliver and reputation of the company. But what if you can't find a store that has what you found on the web. How do you decide if it is good? You can look for reviews or feedback from customers. Places like www.epinions.com maybe ...? Now you might have enough information to buy on the web.

But is this enough information to make the right decision? What about eBay or craigslist? Better check there as well. But this is even more confusing. Now you see a bunch of new stuff. Why is there so much new stuff being advertised there? Huh. Now I have to go back and look at the web for reviews or feedback. And do I trust the seller? And there is of course the used stuff. Some looks like a good deal, but do I want something used?

After all of this, I finally decide to go to Sears and buy one. But I am pretty happy because I am informed. I guess this is all good. At least I was able to do most of the research while watching Monday Night Football!

Time to get back to it ...

It has been a LONG time since I added to my blog. My bad. Time to get back to it.

My goal is to add to this at least a couple of times a week. Even if I add only a few sentences. I would like to get to the point where I add pictures on a regular basis as well. We will see.

So this was a great weekend. We went to PG on Thursday night. I worked from there for about half a day Friday and took the rest of the day off (and a beautiful clear warm day it was!). I decided that I would treat Friday like a work day. Got up, took my shower, had my coffee, ate, and got to work. I had a couple of scheduled calls and made a couple of others as well. It worked out really good - with the exception of not having connectivity. I went with Julie, Nick, and Anthony into town where I went into Kinkos and connected. They went to the store and bought frisbees ...

Once I was done checking mail, they picked me up and I was done for the day:)

We went back to the house, dropped off my stuff, and went out for a game of frisbee golf. We ended up giving Julie 2 strokes, Anthony and Nick 1 stroke and I played even. After about 2 1/2 hours of play we ended up with a three way tie for first, and me in second:) It was a blast!
We had dinner at latitudes (the old Tinnery at Lovers Point) and headed to the book store.

The bookstore was a reward for both Anthony and Nick's good quarter. They both have been playing sports and did very well with their grades as well - both almost getting straight A's!

... since I am just starting this back up - a quick update. Nick did cross country and is almost done with wrestling. Anthony just finished football ...

Saturday turned out to be just as clear and nice as Friday. Julie and I left the kids and went for a two hour walk / hike at Point Lobos. If you haven't bee there, you have got to go!!

http://pt-lobos.parks.state.ca.us/

We headed back just in time for lunch and the Cal / USC football game at Snarleys. It was a bit of a blow out, so we stayed only until the half. We left Julie to her art and headed to Big 5. Got a trackball and smashball sets and headed back to the house where we played in the park for hours ... We ate at home and watched Batman Begins - good movie if you haven't seen it.

And today was nice as well. We played at the park and at the beach in the morning, then headed home home just after lunch - there are always chores to keep up with.

So overall, awesome weekend.