I wish more people, me included, acted that way.
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
Right before starting this post, I read my first article about the Apple tablet-thingy that’s apparently being announced tomorrow. I’ve seen lots of headlines about it in recent weeks, but have skipped all the articles for one big reason: I don’t need a tablet-thingy.
Rewind: For Christmas, a good friend finally got an iPod Touch (you know, the iPhone but without the phone) and immediately emails me to say, How did I live without this? This same friend is not an Apple fanboy by any means; very much a PC guy, though now he’s considering a full switch.
Back to now: The article I just read is this short piece in which the guy credited with creating the idea of a laptop computer had this to say to Steve Jobs when Jobs showed him the iPhone years ago:
“Make the screen five inches by eight inches, and you’ll rule the world.”
And this occurred to me: Just like now with the tablet-thingy, I didn’t get wrapped up in the iPod hype years ago. I didn’t buy an iPod when it first came out, nor when the 2nd or 3rd versions came out. I didn’t buy the first iPhone, either. And yet today my reaction is the same as my friend’s — how did I ever live without these things?
Here’s what I think will happen next: I won’t buy the tablet-thingy; I’ll wait for version 2 (like you should almost always do with Apple products). And then I’ll buy it, and I’ll wonder how I ever lived without it.
Did you happen to read Sergey Brin’s account of his recent relief trip to Haiti? It’s heartfelt and somewhat interesting, and it ends with three suggestions for how the crisis management could be better:
“First, while there is tremendous relief effort from the US, UN, Haiti, and NGOs, the coordination and organization between these remains unclear.”
“Second, it is necessary to scale up the provisioning of shelter, food, water, sanitation, and health care by at least an order of magnitude.”
“Lastly, there are several categories of people who should be evacuated out of Haiti to other countries (notably the US) where there is far more capacity to provide care.”
For real, Sergey? You go and spend a couple days in a country that was already in poor shape before the earthquake, and you think that qualifies you to tell the experts — the people who’ve been dealing with earthquake relief their whole lives how to do things? C’mon now. I’m sure they appreciated your help, but I doubt they appreciate your advice. Stick to running a search company, and let the relief experts do what they do. Kthxbai.
Well, not really a new me, but some new business photos of me. And long overdue, too — the photo I’ve been using on my web sites and blogs (and as my social media avatar) is at least 5-6 years old now, and I just don’t look that young anymore. I haven’t seen all of the photos we took on Saturday, but of the ones I have seen, these are my favorites:
How’d I do?
Strange that both are serious poses. There are some good smiley shots, too, but I just like these more.
The photog is a guy I’ve known from the Tri-Cities group on Flickr. I posted a thread about wanting to get some new portraits done, and chose him from the people who replied. He’s not really even in business for himself yet, but has a little studio down in his basement at home, and all turned out well. Now Cari’s thinking about having him do new portraits for her, too.
I love this. He’s talking about the need to always be learning and improving yourself, as if you were going to need this knowledge for the “long journey ahead.” But at the same time you should appreciate every moment and live with a sense of immediacy, and “not waste even a minute.”
That’s what I was talking about in this post when I said this:
“Realizing that your life is probably more than half over seems to refocus everything. I cherish the Good Things more than ever. I have less and less patience for pettiness, silliness, and stupidity.”
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
You really should go see AVATAR. Preferably in 3D. It’s probably the most stunningly gorgeous movie I’ve ever seen, certainly one of the top 3-4 in that category.
Just, when you go, pay no attention to the storyline. It’s really dumb and predictable and basically a rip-off of Pochahontas or Dances With Wolves. And it’s disappointing because the core concept is pretty clever and I just think so much more could’ve been done with the idea.
So … on a scale of 1-10, it’s about a 5. Not sure what it says about the public’s taste that this is the second highest-grossing movie of all-time. We’re easily amused, I suppose.
Very early in our marriage, I used to tell Cari that someday I wanted to live in (or build) a development where everything that mattered to me was, like, really, really close to our house. I wanted all of my best friends to live on the same street so we could hang out without having to travel far. I wanted all of the important public services close by — stores, gas stations, our church, schools, etc. I basically wanted my own little, 3-square-mile version of utopia where nothing important was more than a five-minute drive away. How cool would that be, right?
Here we are, married 18+ years and slowly it’s starting to happen here in West Richland! Have a look at the map:
Our house is inside that big circle. When we moved here in late 1998, the area was pretty dead. But as you can see, we’re slowly getting most everything we need right around us.
Elementary School: A little south of us is the elementary school where both kids have attended. This opened the first year we lived in West Richland. It’s less than a mile away.
Middle School: This is where Sean goes now, also less than a mile away. It opened … 3-4 years ago, maybe?
Fitness club: This will open on Monday. I just signed up yesterday, because about a week ago I stepped on the scale and weighed more than I ever have. Yikes! That bicycle purchase I made a year ago didn’t work out as far as helping me lose weight and get in shape; just never rode it often enough.
Grocery store: A Yoke’s grocery store opened up about 4-5 years ago, I think. It’s also less than a mile away. We don’t do all our shopping there because, frankly, the prices are pretty high. But it’s super-convenient for quick shopping trips.
Gas station: Once Yoke’s opened, all kinds of new businesses opened up around it, including a gas station that also has a Quiznos inside. Nice.
Fire station: This was already here when we moved in, but it’s comforting to know that fire trucks are a mile away, God forbid anything happen.
Sports fields: Also already here when we moved — it’s a nice little sports complex with four baseball fields, a soccer/football field, and a concession building. Very convenient when Sean spent a couple years playing Little League. And it also has a nice park with playground equipment that our daughter always loved. Back before I started working from home, the daycare that we sent both kids to was right across the street from the sports complex — again, super convenient to have that so close.
Post office/Public library: These were also already here when we moved, but again – nice to have them so close. There’s also a nice restaurant right across the street from the post office, and a good pizza place right near the library (that many say is the best in the Tri-Cities).
First and foremost, all our friends. I haven’t been able to convince anyone to relocate here. Yet.
Our church could be a bit closer. It’s about … maybe five miles away and not on the map.
The nearest branch of our bank is way too far away. It’s a 15-minute drive to the mall for that.
We also need an urgent care-type medical facility. A new medical office opened last year about two miles away, but we need a walk-in facility, too.
A dog park for Sparky would be cool. There’s one in Richland, about 6-7 miles away, I think. Wish that was closer.
Guess that’s about it. No place is perfect, but this place keeps getting closer with all the new stuff being built.
That is sooooooo true.
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
I never look at the analytics for this blog, but couldn’t resist checking my most popular posts of 2009. Here they are, becuz I know you’re as curious as me.
That second post — Consumer Reports — was responsible for the single biggest day of traffic this blog has ever seen.
Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
As a parent, I need to remember this and live it more often. In the name of doing something the right way, or my way, or the fast way, I often do stuff for the kids that they should learn to do themselves. Need to stop doing that now.
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
