Month: November 2007

‘Tis the Season for George Winston

The time of year between Halloween and Christmas is my favorite time of year. I enjoy the cooler temperatures, colorful falling leaves and the family activities. And I especially enjoy the music.

Around this time each year, Kim will start playing holiday music on the piano and we’ll start listening to Christmas music in the car and around the house. One of favorite CDs is “December” from George Winston. I especially like the song called Thanksgiving seen below.

If you get the chance to catch Winston in concert, he’s well worth the price of admission. He’s so talented yet so humble you can’t help but like the guy.

Fat Blogging

Back in August of 2006 I decided I’d better get my act together and begin exercising more and eating a healthier diet. For the next six months I was hard core with my diet. The biggest changes I made were:

  1. Replacing Coke with Diet Coke
  2. Drinking lots of water
  3. Removed sugar from diet
  4. Closely monitored carb intake

The first few weeks were miserable. Giving up breads and pastries was the most difficult. Even today it’s still not easy. But I noticed that once I stopped eating sugar, my strongest cravings disappeared.

Eventually dropped my weight from 260 lbs to 205 lbs. I replaced nearly every clothing item I owned. I lost 5 inches in my waist and dropped two shirt sizes. It was great fun to walk into Nordstrom and pick out a couple size LARGE shirts!

I felt so much better about myself. I had more energy to play with my kids. My clothes fit so much better and I could wear things that didn’t look very good on me before.

So it’s hard to admit this but I slipped up about 6 months ago and gained a good chunk of that weight back. I stopped doing those things that helped me lose the weight in the first place. I had a couple of big changes take place in my life that contributed to me slipping up, but had I been more committed I wouldn’t have let it happen.

When I first started my quest to lose weight, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’d think about my weight every single day but wasn’t sure I was able to do anything about it. This time around I know I can lose weight. The challenge is keeping it off and continuing to eat healthy foods and exercise so the weight doesn’t return.

For the past two weeks I’ve been doing well with my diet and the exercise has been more frequent, although still not what it should be. I’ve dropped 9 lbs. in the last two weeks to bring my weight to 235. My goal is to get to 180 by the summer. I created a spreadsheet at Google Docs to track my weight and bought a new scale that keeps track of my weight and body fat.

It seems strange to put so much focus on a number. In fact, I don’t really know what my ideal weight should be and I may adjust my goal at some point. When I married Kim, I was around 190. My body just “feels” right when I’m around that 180-190 range.

I’m going to reach my goal this time.

This is probably the most selfish blog post I’ve ever written because it’s hard to imagine anyone other than myself (and maybe Kim) who care what I weigh. But I hope by posting my progress occasionally that my blog will work as a motivator and keep me on track. And maybe some of my coworkers won’t place the candy dish right outside my door.

BTW, Jason Calacanis was the first blogger I read who mentioned the concept of Fat Blogging.

The rhythm is gonna getcha

I tried to login to my online banking account and received a curious message along the lines of this:

We can not provide access to your account at this time. We cannot verify your credentials at this time due to your typing rhythm

I’ve never this message before. I’ll occasionally forget my password, but I’ve never been told that my typing rhythm is off tempo.

I went to the security section of my credit union’s website to see what I could find on improving my rhythm and gain access to my account. Here’s what I came across:

By definition, biometrics is the measurement of physical characteristics to verify your identity. Essentially, this new feature measures the rhythm at which you type your password to verify your identity. It does not keep track of your actual password, it simply recognizes the rhythm in which you type it. Since each person has a unique typing rhythm, this feature provides you an additional layer of security.

Upon login, if we are unable to verify your identity using your username, password, and typing rhythm, you may still proceed to Online Banking, assuming of course your username and password are correct. However, if you attempt to complete actual transactions, you will encounter a series of challenge questions to further verify your identity. You must answer at least one of the challenge questions correctly to continue.

Sure enough, I tried logging in again and flail and wailthis time I could see my account but when I tried to schedule an online payment, I was presented with a screen full of challenge question. I had to answer three questions successfully before I was given full access to my account.

Is this what it’s now come to? Not only do I have to remember all my passwords but my rhythm can’t be out of whack!

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Pancake Cutting

This morning Kim and I were both slow to get moving. The kids had downed a pudding. Or two. They were clamoring for something else to eat so I went into the kitchen to warm up some pancakes that Kim had made earlier.

The pancakes are pretty much the same size. But not to the kids. Luca is certain that the pancake Lincoln grabbed is larger than hers. And Anna is going crazy because her pancake is smaller than Luca’s. It’s a cycle that has no end. This is usually how it goes when I foolishly think the kids can fairly divvy out the pancakes. pancakes

So this morning I decided to bring playground rules to the kitchen. I set the pancakes on a plate in the middle of the table. I then had Luca, Lincoln and Anna sit around the table, close enough to reach the plate but not close enough to snag a pancake off a siblings plate.

I started with Lincoln who chose the first pancake. Then Anna and then Luca. I then let Luca go first till the plate was empty. Things went better than I anticipated and everyone seemed happy.

As I pulled out the syrup Lincoln said, “Dad, you forgot to cut our pancakes”. So I started cutting his pancakes into smaller pieces until I was finished. I poured maple syrup over them when Lincoln looked at her plate and said, “Hey, NOT FAIR….my pancake is now smaller than Luca’s!”

These leaves won’t leave me alone

I don’t know how many leaves have fallen off our tree in the backyard, but it seems like 20 million. I’m sure it’s at least that many because every time I look outside I catch another hundred or so falling ever so gently towards my newly raked grass.

Last year I decided to wait until all the leaves were off the tree before I started raking. There are a couple of problems with that strategy:

  1. Lots of leaves = dead grass
  2. It rains in Seattle. A lot

It was well into November of last year before I started raking. I was stunned when I realized we’d filled 18 bags full of soppy wet leaves.

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So this year I figured I’d take the same approach I do with email: handle things as they come in in order to avoid an overwhelming amount all at once. Three weeks ago I was happy to get two large garbage cans full of leaves off the ground. The next week it took two more garbage cans. Ditto for this past week. I coaxed my kids into helping me by turning them into”leaf smashers”. When the leaves would fill the can, I’d hold one over it while their little legs pushed the leaves downward, making room for more.

I feel like the leaf Gods are teasing me as they drop just enough to keep me busy but not enough that I feel like I’m making any progress.

Today I looked outside and, for the first time, I wasn’t stressed out as I watched the many leaves fall from our tree. I just sat there and enjoyed it. I opened the screen door and listened as they landed on top of each other. Sometimes a small gust of wind would blow a handful into our neighbors yard (YES!) but most settled not far from the tree.

If it doesn’t rain over the next couple of days, I’m going to rake the leaves into a huge pile. Then I’ll call the kids over so they can jump in them. If I can’t beat them, I might as well join them.

What makes a happy employee?

I don’t have the answer but I’ve given a lot of thought to that question lately. In my current job I have the opportunity to speak with a lot of young employees, many of which this is their first job out of school. The job market is still quite good in Seattle and these people have a lot of opportunities presented to them. Some leave our company and go to work for Microsoft. Some go back to school. A few decide that technology isn’t the right field for them. And I’m sure some leave for money while others tire of the required travel.

From my experience, younger employees tend to focus on the employer as much as they do the job. The lure of going to work for Microsoft is too much to pass up. The excitement of being recruited makes them feel as though their skills are valued. They feel special.

And I think this is fine as long as the person understands that it’s really the job that will bring long term happiness, not just the company. Having a well known company on your resume can’t hurt but it’s the skills you gain in the job that you keep and take along when you leave the job.

I think back to one of the first jobs I had after college. I went to work at a local ISP in downtown Seattle. Most everything was Unix based. Even our desktop workstations were NeXT machines. That made it hard at times to get basic computer tasks done, but the skills I gained were invaluable. The company was small and didn’t have a lot to offer as far as benefits. But the employees were excited to be there and the skills I gain in that job helped me land several future jobs. In fact, the skills I gain working at Wolfe Internet are those that launched my career in technology. Without that opportunity, I’d probably be teaching German somewhere in Utah.

Yet whenever I’m asked where I’ve worked, they inevitably focus on my tenure at Microsoft where I learned very little compared to my time at the ISP. What I learned at Microsoft too was very valuable. I learned that I would never put my work before my family. I learned that having a good manager can shoot your career off in the right direction while a bad manager can do just the opposite. I saw a lot of people with a lot of money who still seemed very unhappy. Looking back the best thing I gained while working at Microsoft was the network of people I’ve kept in contact with over the years.

So I’m not certain what makes an employee happy. Maybe the question is too general. I’m a bit more certain what makes me happy: challenging work, flexible schedule, great manager, fun coworkers, and fair pay.

I try to keep those things in mind when meeting with my group. Anything I can do to keep them challenged and keep them happy hopefully helps me keep them employed with us.

Microsoft fires CIO

Why did Microsoft CIO, Stuart Scott, lose his job yesterday? The Digg gang weighs in. My two favorites:

Fired for producing drivel like this:
“to help the company think through and define its strategic priorities, then deliver the business-process capabilities and solutions to achieve them….

He took home a backpack full of the free soda.

Valleywag chimes in with the rumor I heard at work today. How sad for his family if this is the reason.

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