Sig's Blog

Creme Brulee for Pauline's 90th

2011-05-11T08:18:00.001-07:00

Creme Brulee for Pauline's 90th
Originally uploaded by SoCalSig

Roberta, Ethan, and I made a late night soiree to Flemings in San Diego with Pauline (Dellhime) Eckhart on the eve of her 90th birthday.

Rancho GoogleMonga

2010-03-10T10:29:00.001-08:00

The push is on to bring Google gig fiber to Rancho Cucamonga.

Google Wave - Preview

2009-10-31T14:20:00.000-07:00

I just got my invitation from Google to be a "Preview" (pre-beta) tester of their new collaboration tool "Wave". If you're interested in getting an invitation to participate in the Preview testing process let me know. I've only got 19 invitations left to share.

Elements of a Social Media Strategy

2009-08-12T09:20:00.000-07:00

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and YouTube are now considered essential business and government tools. These "disruptive" technologies were introduced into organizations by employees who initially became acquainted with them in their personal lives. How should an organization react to the introduction of new technology into the workplace? How does an organization handle the blurry line between personal and professional conduct when using a social media service? Is there a viable business model for using a social media service?

Below are my initial thoughts on this issue. Please feel free to add your comments to help me construct a more thorough analysis.

Elements of a Social Networking Strategy

Protect an Organization’s “brand image”
Regardless of considerations over the relative merits of the various social networking services, an organization must take certain basic steps to protect its reputation. The potential exists for individuals, other groups or organizations, through their use of social media, to:
• Misrepresent themselves causing others to believe they are agents of the organization or
• Unjustly impugn the reputations of employees, executives, Board Members, or the organization in general.

At the simplest level an organization should quickly move to reserve (“cyber-squat”) user names and identities synonymous with their organization on the most popular social media services like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, and Twitter. By reserving these names and identities the organization will create an initial hedge against others misrepresenting themselves and afford the organization time to formulate a more comprehensive social media strategy.

Establish Action Plans
An organization should establish a cross-functional team to examine the following issues:

Which social media services demonstrate beneficial business purposes

- What are their demographic compositions
- Do they represent a viable means of communication between the organization and the clients of the social media service

How should an organization represent itself on various social media services
Develop action plans for the deployment of an organization’s presence on social media services

Find Your Voice
Whether you have one person or several people post on behalf of your organization it is essential to present the tone, vocabulary, and style in a consistent single voice. To do otherwise is to risk confusing your audience as if your organization suffers from a multiple personality disorder.

Learn to Listen
The use of any social media is not to just push your message, it is also to listen to what your audience says about your posts and your organization. Resist the temptation to assume that your organization is always right and take your audience's comments to heart.

Create an Acceptable Use Policy
Employees, agents of an organization, as well as Board members must be informed and comply with a Social Media Policy that establishes expectations for decorum, professionalism, confidentiality, and the protection of privacy. The policy should be created even if an organization elects not to establish a formal social media presence.
Should an organization decide to have a social media presence, the policy should also clarify:

Who may post on behalf of an organization
What types of postings are appropriate (e.g., informational, promotional)
What type of online relationships are appropriate (e.g., “following,” “friending,” being a “fan” of)

Wine Tasting Party

2009-04-27T14:00:00.000-07:00

Last night we hosted a wine tasting party with everyone bringing a favorite wine to share. What a treat!

Wines ranged from a Sauvignon Blanc to a nicely aged Cabernet Sauvignon. In between were such delights as a moscato d asti from Italy, an Ice Wine from Vermont, and a Cabernet Sauvignon Porto from California. Each wine had a nice appetizer paired with it including some unique goat and sheep cheeses, lobster ravioli, chocolates, strawberries, and homemade cheesecake.

We can't wait for the next party in June.

Dallas Cup XXX

2009-04-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

To view some photos from Spencer's participation in the Dallas Cup soccer tournament visit my Flickr page and select the Dallas Cup photo set.

Help Me Raise Money for the YMCA

2009-02-12T17:01:00.000-08:00

The YMCA of the East Valley (Highland, Redlands, and San Bernardino) is in the midst of its annual Sustaining Membership campaign. The campaign raises funds to provide membership scholarships to families of modest income.

Please help the YMCA fulfill its mission to build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities by visiting my online donation site at www.firstgiving.com/sig.

Cool Web Site

2009-01-14T12:30:00.000-08:00

Check out a true "world clock" at poodwaddle.com, it's very interesting.

Did You Know?

2009-01-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

If you haven't already seen the Carl Fisch presentation Did You Know? I suggest you take a few moments to view the presentation on YouTube. There is the original version (use the link above) and an updated one. I personally prefer the original version for several reasons: it's unpolished and conveys honesty, and its focus is open ended. The updated version is slicker and tightly focused on education issues.

Vacation Photos

2008-11-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

I recently added photos of our Mediterranean cruise vacation to my Flickr site. Take a few moments to view them and then let me know what you think.

Spencer's Senior Photo

2008-09-22T20:35:00.000-07:00

Hard to believe it's Spencer's senior year in high school, but here is the proof - his senior photo...

Economy One-Liner

2008-09-15T13:00:00.000-07:00

With economy in the dumps it's time for the humor quotient to increase. Post you best one liner to this expression:

The only difference between Las Vegas and Wall Street is ...

Here's one to get the ball rolling - "free drinks"

New Thoughts, Renewed Thoughts

2008-08-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

For my minion of fan out there in the blogosphere I apologize for not posting on a more regular basis. However, you may have noticed the sidebar area showing my activities via Twitter, Facebook, and BeenUp2. None of these social network tools quite compare to a Blog entry in terms of gauging what someone is really thinking about.

If anyone paid attention to my Wiki, Collaborationwiki, they would have noticed it went cold for about two years. If you were to go there now, you would notice a complete facelift and a new purpose. Collaborationwiki is being borrowed by a small working group of staff at the City of Rancho Cucamonga. The group is working on identifying the "ideal" organizational culture and how to align the City's culture toward the ideal.

To accomplish this task the group is using Collaborationwiki to gather information and discuss items in a flexible and supportive online environment. To ensure higher participation among group members, and to ensure confidentiality, the majority of the Wiki pages are set to a private status - only group members will be able to view and edit these private pages. As the team progresses in its mission, some of these private pages will once again be publically accessible.

Metaphorically Speaking ...

2008-05-05T11:25:00.000-07:00

I couldn't help but draw a possibly ironic metaphorical connection here...

I heard that Hillary Clinton planned to have her daughter place a bet at the Kentucky Derby last Saturday on the 20 to 1 long shot filly Eight Belles. I presume she meant this as a metaphor for her campaign. You know, the long shot filly running with the guys trying to win it all.

So here's the irony, Eight Belles finished second behind the favorite, broke down, and was euthanized.

Just a random thought with no political endorsement. In fact, I wonder if Obama and McCain put any money on the race; it's kind of like asking if they put there money where their mouths were.

Air Spencer

2008-03-18T17:44:00.000-07:00

Spencer gets air at a recent high school track meet.

Water Water Every Where

2008-03-12T08:25:00.000-07:00

On Monday we noticed a water leak somewhere in the house. The plumber initially thought it was a defective water spout on the bathtub in the Master Bath. So we spent hours that night sucking up the water from the Family Room carpet only to find it flooded again Tuesday morning.

When the plumber returned he figured out that maybe there was a water leak in the wall ... somewhere. Upstairs in Roberta's closet he made one hole in the wall ... no leak. He was preparing to hack his way down the walls into the Family Room before we nixed that concept.

Long story short he called in 7 other plumbers to work on the problem and we were able to minimize the hole cuts. Below is the opening they made to crawl in under the stairs. The next photo is what they found.

I have more photos from under the stairs, but you should get the point. Apparently there is a capped section of copper pipe that developed a pin prick leak in its cap. A fine spray of water shot upward about 4 feet soaking the bottom of several steps on the stairway and then soaking the backside of the Family Room wall. Water eventually flowed from under the stairs onto the Living Room floor, under tile in the Entryway, under the Wet Bar cabinet, and down the wall onto the Family Room floor.

The most noticeable damage is in the Family Room, but the worst damage may be what we don't see yet. Tiles are already lifting in the Entryway and the oak on several of the steps is warping.

Just another day in Paradise!

BeenUp2

2008-03-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

I just added a feed from BeenUp2 (www.beenup2.com) in the Blog sidebar. Check it out.

Think of BeenUp2 as Twitter for the camera phone. Snap a photo on your cell phone and send it to your BeenUp2 account for friends and others to see.

Renewed Connections

2008-02-26T20:30:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Facebook I heard from two more classmates today: Brian Battles and Alvin Ashlaw.

If you have a Facebook account look me up. It would be great to hear from more of you.

Is it Snow or Snail?

2008-02-14T10:20:00.000-08:00

It's been a bit since I've posted anything, but today's drive to work was interesting enough to mention.

Just the other day it was almost 80 degrees out. Image my surprise when it started to snow and hail on the way to work this morning. Do you call it snail (snow + hail)? Spencer even sent me a text message noting that it was snowing at his high school.

A Short Visit

2007-12-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

Clark Lindstrom, one of my old college friends happened to be in Southern California on business this week. While we knew each other at USC, he hadn't been back to California in about fifteen years and I hadn't seen him for an even longer span. Another friend, Jim Yerdon, intended to join us but in the last minute ended up stuck at work.

It was only a three hour visit (including lunch), not nearly enough time to catch up with each other's lives. It will, however, have to do until we can meet again either here in California or there in Nebraska.

Here are a couple of pictures from today. The first one is of Clark with his old friend Shakespeare. Guess who is in the other photo with Clark.

Lotus Symphony

2007-12-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

I recently installed IBM Lotus Symphony. It's not a bad suite of applications especially when you consider that it is free and from a major corporation. While its appearance is fresh and clean you will need to spend some time getting use to its organization, icons, and nomenclature. None of the components (word processing, spreadsheet, presentation) are as bloated with feature as MS Office, but they do cover the basics.

Here's the biggest fault I have with current beta version of IBM Lotus Symphony (beta v. 2)Users are able to open and save documents in MS Office 2003 format, but users of Office 2007 beware! The current beta version does not support Office 2007 XML document formats; you cannot open or save in the 2007 format.

The next fault is somewhat minor for the home user, but potentially significant for small business users. Unlike OpenOffice, Symphony lacks a database component.

As I see it, there are still two major advantages to Symphony. Unlike its cousin, OpenOffice, Symphony is being developed by a single vendor which should imply the availability of technical support at some level. The availability of technical support is often cited as a major reason why businesses and individuals are not eager to adopt open source applications. The other advantage is its price (free) and how this is an attractive characteristic for home and small business users.

Too Many Catalogs?

2007-12-10T17:45:00.000-08:00

If your are like me, at this time of year the mail box is filled with catalogs. You can do something about this by visiting CatalogChoice.org and setting up an account.

What sets this site apart from the Direct Marketing Association is that CatalogChoice lets you select only those catalogs you do not wish to receive instead of the DMA's all or nothing approach.

Winter Weather Arrives

2007-12-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

Winter weather arrived this week. It rained locally and snowed in the nearby mountains giving the area a fresh clean appearance.

Parking 101

2007-11-16T12:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo of my Mazda after some idiot parked his pickup a tad too close. Parking Rule #1: Never hit a car parked next to you. Parking Rule #2: After mastering Rule #1 be certain to leave enough space between you and another car to avoid door dings. Parking Rule #3: After mastering Rule 1 & 2 be certain that you allow enough room for the person next to you to get in & out of their car.

Southern California Fires

2007-10-24T14:15:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post to let friends and blog followers know that we remain essentially untouched by the current Southern California fires. We are "essentially" untouched despite the Slide Fire (Running Springs) creeping to within a ridge-and-a-half of our community or that we are under a voluntary evacuation notice.

Yesterday our school district (Redlands Unified) canceled school for the three schools in East Highland. Today they canceled school district-wide. I assume this not due to an immediate danger of fire but instead for these reason: unhealthful air (smoke and ash) for children, and those teachers and staff who were under mandatory evacuation notices.

Post Script: The fires never spread into East Highland.

A Day in Montreal and Southern Quebec

2007-10-14T09:15:00.000-07:00

It's time for our annual trek to Burlington, Vermont. This year we added a new diversion, a one day side trip to Southern Quebec and an overnighter in Montreal. Quite simply what we learned in Montreal is that it is well worth spending a few days there, as long as your day begins around 8:00 pm!

On Friday we walked Rue Saint Catherine exploring some of Underground Montreal. Dinner found us at the Hard Rock Cafe on Rue Crescent adding to our beer and martini glass collection. After dinner we dropped in to a local pub aptly named "Ziggy's" sitting outside watching the street spectacle stroll by and eavesdropping on multilingual conversations. Montreal is more than a Anglo/Franco melting pot, it's international.

Saturday found us with a few hours to spend strolling around Old Montreal taking in the sites. Below is view of Lord Nelson's monument at the Place Jacques-Cartier.

On our drive south to Burlington we discovered Quebec's wine country and with it we probably discovered why it is so unknown.

The only saving grace was the quaintness of the wineries and the fall foliage.

Web 2.0 and Open Office

2007-09-18T14:00:00.000-07:00

Normally in this Blog I don't talk techie stuff, but today seems to be one of those watershed days that should be shouted out to everyone.

For a while now I've used two online and FREE Web 2.0 office applications services: Google Docs [formerly Docs and Spreadsheets] (docs.google.com) and the product suite from Zoho (www.zoho.com). I've also been a fan of the Sun sponsored free OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org) which was just updated. They all have their strengths and weaknesses, but for the average computer user they are nonetheless viable options to buying a full version of Microsoft Office. Best of all the allow the importing and exporting of documents in the standard MS Office file formats plus the ability to save files in the PDF format.

Yesterday Google bolstered its Google Docs suite with the introduction of its online version of Microsoft's PowerPoint; it's simply called Presentations. Presentation joins the existing elements for Documents (word) and Spreadsheets. Neat stuff but if you think that's nifty, then check out Zoho to see how many other office applications they offer.

Today, however everyone got trumped by IBM as they introduced their own free office product suite named Lotus Symphony (yes, it is a recycled name, but it's still a new product) and joined the Open Office movement. In the next few days I'll try to download a copy of Symphony and check it out (symphony.lotus.com). Looking at the minimum specs for Symphony does point out one potential near-term drawback, it requires 1 GB of RAM. Regardless, with the weight of IBM now behind the movement, the times they are a changing.

Why are these developments significant? Simply stated, I believe that in the next several years businesses will seriously question the necessity for purchasing common office applications from the likes of Microsoft or Corel. Instead they will join the Web 2.0 and Open Office revolution.

Think of the implications. For one thing, it's a step toward minimizing the digital divide by reducing the cost of computer ownership. It's also a way to reduce some the administrative overhead business commit toward software license and copyright management. It's also a way to facilitate the rapid adoption of new features: if you're using a Web 2.0 office application, new features are available with your next browser refresh; if you're using an Open Office application, you can bypass the evaluate/plan, budget, purchase, deploy cycle of technology tyranny and move straight from evaluation to deployment. Finally, Open Office products save documents in the Open Document format which is intended to not only be a universal file format, but is also a strategy for preventing your older documents from falling victim to legacy formats that are no long available or supported.

What do you think? Are we on the cusp of a new application paradigm or is this just hype and hope?

A Trip to USC

2007-07-24T11:30:00.000-07:00

I briefly stopped by USC last Thursday to resolve an issue with my transcripts; thankfully I was able to have it resolved quickly. While I was there I snapped this photo of Tommy Trojan for old time sake.

Enough With the Old Jokes

2007-07-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

OK, so today's my 50th birthday, but geeze did comic character Ziggy have to get in an old guy dig too?

(Ziggy is copyrighted byZiggy and Friends, Inc. 2007) - the cartoon is used here for non-commercial purposes

Fireworks Video to Appear on TV

2007-07-03T09:48:00.000-07:00

Apparently my brief YouTube video of the News Years Eve fireworks in Sacramento will appear in a segment on fireworks videos on KOVR TV (CBS affiliate in Sacramento) tomorrow.

If you want to see the fireworks video click on this link Fireworks or view my New Years Eve post.

Father's Day

2007-06-19T14:15:00.000-07:00

Once again a single photo (taken with my cell phone) covers a single day. The morning of Father's Day found a group of us playing golf (or in Sig's case, not playing) at the Teal Bend golf course just outside Sacramento. In the following picture are Spencer, Chris Teichert, and Ethan.

Wine Tasting in Amador County

2007-06-16T18:00:00.000-07:00

Roberta, Ethan, and Sig ventured to the Amador County (east of Sacramento) for some wine tasting. The following picture says it all.

Cross Country Trek - Day 6

2007-05-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today's travel involved driving from Portland to Sacramento; a drive of over 8 hours (excluding stops). Arrival quickly led to dinner. Later, Ethan and Jake went into Old Town in search of local flavor and libation.

Tomorrow will see us taking a side trip into the alternate wine country of Amador County instead of the traditional tourist area of Napa.

Cross Country Trek - Day 5

2007-05-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Jumping off from Missoula, Montana we continued our westward trek (basically following the path of Lewis & Clark) into the panhandle region of northern Idaho and quickly transitioning into Washington (Spokane). The objective of our routing was to follow the scenic route along the Washington side of the Columbia River and ultimately cross the river into Portland, Oregon.

Cross Country Trek - Days 3 & 4

2007-05-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

After visiting the Mall of America (see previous post) we drove through Minnesota to North Dakota. This drive started at 1:00 pm (Central time) and ended after 7:00 pm (Mountain time) in Dickinson, ND. A lot of driving for a partial travel day!

We had a nice dinner in a regional "chain" restaurant, Sanford's. The food was excellent; the burgers are hand patted and the variety of burgers and other dishes were almost overwhelming (you should have seen the size of the menu!). Too bad we won't encounter another Sanford's on this trip.

Day 4 had us hauling butt from Dickinson through the western North Dakota Badlands and the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and into Montana. Admittedly the scenery in western North Dakota and Montana was more pleasant than the majority of the prairie areas of North Dakota. Our day ended in Missoula.

A review of Mall Of America: Ginormous!

2007-05-13T06:10:00.001-07:00

Visited the Mall of America (MOA) yesterday. Yep, it’s a huge mall and yes, other malls have many of the same stores, but not all under one roof. We only had three hours to spend before hitting the road again on our cross country drive, so we tried to eye ball as much of MOA as we could. To do this we cruised the first and third levels (totally skipping the second level). We spent the majority of our time in three places: Nordstrom Rack, the Apple Store, and at lunch (Famous Dave’s).

If you are visiting from out-of-town like we were consider booking a hotel stay and allowing yourself a couple of days to do justice to the place.

See more progress on: Mall Of America

The Cross Country Trek

2007-05-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here is an update on the cross country drive from New Jersey to California.

Day 1. We left South Orange a little after 7:00 am the car jammed with three people (Sig, Ethan, and his friend Jake), clothing, snacks, and more. Perhaps we had a bit too much stuff, but we figured we'd be able to adjust things as we went along.

We arrived at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland by 3:00 pm touring it until its 5:30 closing. Although it is located right on the shore of Lake Eire, a heavy lake fog prevented us from taking in the scenery. Instead we had to content ourselves with having seen the rock memorabilia and tributes inside the Hall. From the Hall we ambled off for a quick bite at the Hard Rock Cafe and then a short drive to our hotel. The excesses of the night before and the pace of the first day took its toll Ethan and Jake and it was an early end to the day for all.

Day 2. This was a grueling day. We left Cleveland at 8:00 to traveled to some truck stop outside an hour west to meet up with Jake's mother and sister for breakfast at MacDonald's; after that it was time to drive, and drive, and drive. 10:00 pm found us stopping in Minneapolis, MN for the evening. One day, five states (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsi, Minnesota), whew!

The morning of Day 3 will have us visiting the Mall of America and then on the road for North Dakota (2 of of my 43Places goals).

Ethan's Graduation

2007-05-08T18:00:00.000-07:00

Can it be that four years have gone by already? It doesn't seem it was all that long ago when we dropped Ethan off at Seton Hall University (www.shu.edu) for his freshman year and then yesterday he graduated with a Bachelors in Political Science . The ceremony was held at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Here is some photographic proof that he did in fact graduate:
(The Seton Hall Pirate & Ethan)

(Ethan spotted in the crowd)

(Sig, Spencer, Ethan, & Roberta after the ceremony)

(A kiss for luck)

Photos Added

2007-04-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

Check out the Misc. Photos link in the sidebar to see new (old) black and white photos of me as child in the early 1960's and my dad in the US Navy in the early 1950's.

Fixed Photo Link

2007-03-18T18:28:00.000-07:00

The "Misc. Photos" link in the sidebar is working again.

The Kutná Hora Experience

2007-03-08T14:18:00.001-08:00

Today we took a side trip to Kutná Hora. If you've never heard of Kutná Hora, then there are a few things you need to know about it. First, it is on UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites (see http://www.kutnahora.cz/index.php?sec=2&cid=97). It is home to several impressive sites including:

Saint Barbara's Cathedral,

The Italian Court, and

The Cemetery Chapel with Ossuary (also known as the "Bone Church")

Yes, that's Ethan standing under a chandelier made with human bones (using every bone in the body)

Kutná Hora is an unassuming town despite its UNESCO designation and treasures. Locally, tourism hasn't altered the community much, at least yet.

Prague Experience - Part 3

2007-03-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

Here are some more photos of our Prague experience. I may post additional comments later.

(Old Town Hall - Astronomical Clock)

(Castle Quarter - St. Vitus Cathedral, Prague Castle)

(500 year-old U Fleku Pub & Brewery)

(Wenceslas Square looking southeast)

(Terezin Concentration Camp - room capable of holding 500 prisoners)

Mashups

2007-03-06T10:45:00.000-08:00

While researching the topic of "mashups" I came across a site that literally hits close to home. A mashup plotting the San Andreas Fault through my neighborhood. Here's a link to it: http://geology.com/san-andreas-fault/.

If you are unfamiliar with "mashups" you might want to visit the following site http://www.mashups.com/about.htm and scroll down to the portion that discusses mashups from the Web 2.0 perspective.

Prague Experience - Part 2

2007-03-06T08:38:00.000-08:00

At this point in our trip we've learned a few important things about Prague and the Czech Republic.

Cross Walks and Traffic Signals (Semapores)
While drivers in Prague are considerate (and seem to never use their horns) they must be out of necessity aggressive in crossing intersections not controlled with a traffic signal. For the most part the drivers respect pedestrians using marked crosswalks, but Ethan and I adopted a more cautious approach. When in doubt we wait for another pedestrian to step into the road as a "volunteer hood ornament" and then follow.

Beer (Pivo) versus Coke
Today Ethan observed a major cultural advantage to life in the Czech Republic. His quote, "You've got to love a country where beer is cheaper than coke!" Beer is almost a required beverage at meals and your waiter/waitress won't even consider clearing away your stein until you've drained it of every drop. Ethan also opines about the Czech love for beer by noting, "every hour is happy hour!"

The Museum of Communism
We decided to visit the Museum of Communism today and spent nearly an hour trying to find it. We had our tour book and our city map, but try as we might we couldn't find it. Maybe we thought the museum had closed due to lack of interest, but no that wasn't it. Upon further reading in our guide book we found it. If Marx, Lenin, and Stalin weren't already dead the location of the museum would have surely resulted in a group stroke - the Museum is next door to a casino and on the floor above a McDonald's!

The Dining Experience
Thankfully Ethan and I are shunning public transport in favor of walking (at least while the weather is good) or we would surely pack on the pounds. Don't get me wrong the food is good (particularly so when you avoid the tourist filled eateries) and inexpensive. The trouble is most meat dishes come with gravy and with enough dumplings to equal half-a-loaf of bread. When the menu says a dish comes with two vegetables what the restaurant really means is that you get both white and red cabbage!

Prague Experience - Part 1

2007-03-05T16:30:00.000-08:00

Ethan and I arrived safely, but two hours late, in Prague on Saturday. Luckily we did not plan any activities for that day. Instead we tried to stay awake as long as possible to help overcome our jetlag.

We are staying at the City Partners Victoria Hotel in Prague. On the floor below us is a resturant with fairly decent food and a good beer (pivo) selection where we ate dinner on Saturday. Hitting the sack at about 9:00 pm local time we thought we'd be ready to go in the morning, but... Believe it or not Ethan and I woke at 1:00 am feeling refreshed, but knowing it wouldn't last. Since we were both wide awake we decided to grab a coke and step outside for some air whereupon we got to meet some of the more colorful local citizens. One exceptional drunk decided we needed to learn some import words in Czech, his choice of words were unfortunately not the type to use amongst polite company and are of little use in the conduct of normal siteseeing!

Sunday was a light day with sleep still be our highest priority (after ditching our drunk Czech friend). In the afternoon we attended a performance of Antonín Dvořák's opera Rusalka at the Státní Opera Praha (State Opera Prague). We had box seats stage right and just above the orchestra pit. Below are a few pictures (sorry, but photographs were not allowed during the performance).

(Ethan & Sig - Box 5 State Opera)

(the Art Deco style stage curtain)

(the audience)

At just about three hours long, the opera filled our afternoon.

Dinner time was spent wandering Václavské náměstí (Wenceslas Square) and trying to avoid drunk Brits on stag holidays (it's only a 1.5 hour flight to Prague from the UK).

I'll be revising this post soon with a few photos from the first two days. Future posts will diary the rest of our trip and include additional pictures.

Places & Things

2007-03-01T21:30:00.000-08:00

I recently created an account at 43Places.com. So if you want to see where I've been or where I would like to go, check things out at: http://www.43places.com/person/dellhime.

My account also includes a tally of my "1,000 Places to See Before I Die." In case you wonder, I've only completed about 4% of the list. At this pace I should be 60% complete by the time I turn 1,000.

Sam Racadio Library & Environmental Learning Center

2007-02-02T12:36:00.001-08:00

Today marked the topping off ceremony on the construction in Highland for the Sam Racadio Library and Environmental Learning Center. The weather was ideal, the speeches short, and the event well attended. Everyone attending had the opportunity to sign the final steel beam - a nice touch especially for the nearby elementary students in attendance. The Center is being built with a combination of federal, state, and local funds. Federal funding is coming from the EPA. The building meets the federal standards as a silver level green building. To help ease classroom overcrowding the nearby elementary school will move its library into the Center to create new classroom space while expanding their library collection.

Here are a few photos (first photo, Sam Racadio in foreground; second photo Harriet Fouchier; third photo, me; final photo, children from the nearby elementary school):

Wacky Winter Weather - UPDATE

2007-01-12T08:15:00.000-08:00

OK, it's now 8:15 in the morning and it is actually snowing even more. I wouldn't call it a blizzard at this point, but it sure is coming down hard. Of course I am speaking from experience as a ex-pat New Englander. The first photo is taken from across the street from our house and the other is our house; click an image to see a large version (remember: it's not blurry, it's a snow flurry).

Burr - Wacky Winter Weather Hits Highland

2007-01-12T07:30:00.000-08:00

It's been a wacky winter weather week in Highland. On Monday and Tuesday we had record breaking heat with high January temperatures in the mid-80's. However, just like the old New England saying, "if you don't like the weather, wait a minute" this morning (Friday) the weather took a surprise turn.

In past years snow was able to fall to just below the 2,000 foot level, but never down to the valley floor. Imagine our surprise upon waking this morning to find SNOW at our house! OK, so it's not enough to shovel, but hey it is snow in Southern California. Here are some pictures.

The first image was taken at about 6:30 am while it was still rather dark outside, the camera's flash caught snowflakes falling. The middle image was taken about 30 minutes later. The final image is of our patio (note the snow is not sticking to the warmer concrete).

New Year's in Sacramento

2007-01-01T12:55:00.000-08:00

The end of 2006 gave us an opportunity to spend the weekend visiting our friends, Rick & Eileen Teichert) in Sacramento. After a long drive on Friday we arrived in time to join them for dinner in Sacramento capped by a stop at the Hard Rock Cafe (for yet another collector's beer glass and Martini glass).

New Years Eve day found the family split between skiing at Heavenly Valley and wine tasting in Napa. Spencer went skiing with his uncle Rick while the rest of us pursued more sophisticated interests.

Here are a few photos of the skiing portion of the day.

Spencer hits the slopes.

Rick divides his day skiing between California & Nevada.

Roberta, Ethan, Sig & Eileen preview New Years Eve festivities by sampling sparkling white wines at the Domaine Carneros (by Taittiger) winery along with stops at a few other wineries. FYI, many wineries are closed on New Years Eve day :-(

Evening found all of us in Old Town Sacramento in the City's hospitality tent where we were able to watch fireworks over the river (here's a link to video of the Fireworks).

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(L to R, Brigit Leubbers, Eileen & Rick Teichert, Ethan & Roberta Dellhime)

( Ethan & Roberta)

2006-10-14T11:00:00.000-07:00

A Brief Vacation - Part 2

At this time of year the foliage in Vermont should be near its peak, just our luck it wasn't. Temperatures during our stay were warmer than normal, in fact on October 9th the high was 79 degrees (about 15 degrees above normal). The warm temperatures affect leaf coloration; shorter periods of sun light result in lowered chlorophyll production, cold nights cause the leaves to turn red.

Sig was on his own on from Sunday afternoon until Tuesday afternoon while Roberta attended a conference on Legal Issues in Higher Education sponsored by the University of Vermont (UVM). Sig undertook some individual sightseeing, but saved the best to share with Roberta.

Monday evening found us taking a conference hosted sunset cruise on Lake Champlain.

Tuesday afternoon found us at the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory (we returned the next day to buy a couple of bears) and at Dakin Farms sampling local cheeses and jams (and buying maple syrup).

We ended our trip on Wednesday with a visit to the Shelburne Museum. It's a collection of buildings from the Vermont in the 1800's with interpretive displays and guides. The most unusual feature is the land-locked paddle wheel ferry boat Ticonderoga that was moved inland in the 1950's after being retired from service.

A Brief Vacation - Part 1

2006-10-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Roberta and I just finished a brief vacation to New York City and Burlington, Vermont. The trip was partly work related for Roberta (she attended a conference in Burlington) and it it 100% vacation for me.

The weather (by fall standards) was excellent; warm and no rain. On October 6th Roberta and I took a several hour stroll through Central Park before meeting up with Ethan for some clothes shopping. Here are a few pictures from the stroll.

We found one store where their special sale was 3 suits, 3 shirts, and 3 ties for $250 - I got two suit sets and Ethan got the other.

That evening we took Ethan and several of his college friends on a pub crawl to celebrate his 21st birthday. Everyone involved was over 21 (some where way over 21), we stopped at 3 Irish pubs near Grand Central Station, and had a round of beers at each spot. Sig was the "designated walker" making sure no one fell off the sidewalk. Everyone had a great time without getting slammed. Here's a picture from the evening.

The next day we were off to Vermont. I'll post some comments and pictures at another time.

I AM DONE!

2006-09-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

It took two years, but I finally finished earning my Master of Science in Information Technology degree from the University of Redlands. Was it worth it? Only time will tell. Would I do it again? Only time will tell. Would I like to earn a PhD? Hmm, it all depends.

For now however it is time to undo two years of neglected yard work and home improvement. There are sprinklers to repair, planter beds to weed and redo, a tree to remove, and crabgrass to fight. Inside the house there's a kitchen to renovate, a family room to repaint, and molding to install. Whew, maybe a PhD would be easier (and quicker to earn)!

Playing Catch Up

2006-09-11T10:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, a whole summer went by I somehow I failed to make any new entries! Let me see if I can remember enough to be of interest to anyone.

First, Ethan started and completed his second summer interning for Lockton in downtown Los Angeles. He really enjoyed the job and will work remotely part-time for them during the school. Apparently they liked him too and on his last day at work as an intern they offered him a full-time position for after graduation. Hopefully he will soon make a decision on the offer.

Speaking of Ethan, he and Roberta drove across country to get him back to Seton Hall in time for his senior year. They left on August 23rd doing some site seeing along the way (mineral springs in Glenwood Spring, Colorado, Arabia Steamboat museum in Kansas City, etc.) arriving in New Jersey by August 28th. He is now settled into his apartment (Roberta likens it to a slum) and back in school. Of course he also turned 21 on Labor Day and is now truly an adult.

Spencer attended summer school in July completing two semesters of high school art. As art is a requirement for admission into a University of California institution this takes some pressure off in the mad dash toward college. From August 9th through the 21st Spencer traveled with his soccer club to England for training, competition and touring. He enjoyed the experience, but he’s tight lipped about what happened. Apparently what happens in the UK, stays in the UK. He is now back in high school for his sophomore year and the club fall soccer season began this last weekend. With two games scheduled per weekend until the end of October our free time is next to nil.

While Spencer was away in the UK we entertained our friends from Germany (the Weller’s) We started this visit with an American style backyard Bar-B-Q with plenty of friends, neighbors, and family attending to give them a proper welcome. Day trips to Los Angeles (the Getty Museum, Hollywood Boulevard, etc.), the local mountains, and shopping filled several days. The capstone of the visit was a trip to San Diego and a day trip to Ensenada, Mexico. Too fun! They flew back to Germany the same day Spencer returned so they never got to spend any time with him. Regardless, they’ve invited him to visit them in Germany next summer – what an opportunity for him!

Other than Roberta’s road trip with Ethan we’ve had a fairly uneventful summer. I’m pretty much the reason for the lack of excitement as I am just now finishing my MSIT degree (my last class is on 9/12!). To partly celebrate we are taking trip in early October to New York City for a few days and then off to Burlington, Vermont. In Vermont, Roberta will attend a conference while I make pilgrimages to Ben & Jerry’s.

An Early Summer Update

2006-06-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes your life gets too busy to share with others. Such was the case recently for me. The usual suspects got in the way, school and work.

Although my University of Redlands MSIT classmates and I participated in Commencement on May 27th, we still are not technically finished with our course work. Commencement during a particularly time demanding course on Security Management, so it is only now that I have time to jot down a few random thoughts.

The class was exceptionally challenging (i.e., hard) with an extensive reading and course work load crammed into six weeks. Fortunately the class is now over and we are all heading into the last few courses. Most of us have two courses left and will be done in twelve weeks (September 14th to be exact, but who's keeping track?). And then we can get our evenings and weekends back.

Ethan is back home from Seton Hall for the summer and working the onld 9 to 5 at Lockton in Los Angeles. It's a good job and one he is considering making into a career after graduation next June. We shall see.

Spencer finished his Freshman year in high school and starts summer school tomorrow. He's taking the equivalent of two semesters of Art. Taking it in the summer not only gives him something to do, but also gives him flexibility in his class schedule over the next few years. Still ahead for him is a trip to England with his club soccer team in August. Ah to be young and have summers off!

Well, that's all I have time for right now. It's time to hit the books for my next class on Change Management. Of course this begs the question of whether we can actually manage change or whether it will just happen anyway. Whoa, that was deep.

Bulldog Consulting

2006-04-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

MSIT classmates Carlos Castro, Joe Cremer, Sig Dellhime, and Keith Jackson are the founders of Bulldog Consulting. Bulldog Consulting will develop IT solutions for small businesses.

Their first client is the non-profit Friends of the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena, California. The impetus of the project is assist them in generating new revenue streams through the development of enhanced website features and the strategic use of a CRM solution.

The engagement with the Friends of the Levitt Pavilion is pro bono work in partial fulfillment of the requirements for earning an MSIT through the University of Redlands.

You can find the beginnings of their website here: www.bulldog-consulting.net.

Whitehead Leadership Society

2006-04-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

Just a quick brag note. Sig recently heard from the University of Redlands informing him of his selection in the Whitehead Leadership Society. The Society only chose Sig and two other members of his MSIT cluster for induction. The other two inductees were Joe Cremer and Michael Magro.

The Serious Academic Side

2006-02-02T11:33:00.000-08:00

You will notice from the sidebar area that I include links to Wikis associated with courses I am taking at the University of Redlands. Believe it or not the Wikis are free to get and easy to use. I use a Wiki service provided by PBWiki

(as in, “PBwiki makes creating a wiki as easy as making a peanut butter sandwich”).

If you want to learn more about PBWiki check out the PBwiki tour! You can get your own free Wiki at: Get a free wiki at PBwiki.com.

He Shoots, but does he score?

2006-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture from last Friday's soccer game between Redlands East Valley (Red) and Eisenhower (Green) high schools. Spencer (#18) had an opportunity to play on the field instead of playing as the Goalkeeper. In the photo he attempts a header, but the shot just barely goes over the goal.

Reconnecting with an old friend

2006-01-27T09:45:00.000-08:00

The wonders of the Internet have finally allowed us to reconnect with Charles & Squeaky Swenson in Pawley's Island, South Carolina. Thanks to postal address confusion and changing telephone area codes we'd lost contact with them until recently.

What would we have done without the Internet? Some will complain that in the information age we are bombarded by too much information. While that my be true to some degree - do I really need RSS feeds from all the major news services? - there are still many benefits. The greatest one is the ability to find "lost" friends.

Company is Coming

2006-01-25T21:30:00.000-08:00

We recently heard from our Welzheim, Germany friends Willy, Brigitte, Tabea, and Almut Weller . They are planning a family vacation to California in August and will spend quite a bit of time with us.

We are eagerly looking forward to their visit and are already making plans for several short sightseeing trips. Trips to Las Vegas and Mexico are definite possiblities. We've got a bit of time to think of some unique attractions for them to see.

In a future post I'll take more about their visit and how we got to know the Weller family.

Where Did the Holidays Go?

2006-01-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

It's almost a week into the new year and I must admit I wasn't ready for the old year to end. No, it's not that I had a super year that I never wanted to end, rather there were too many things left unfinished.

We would like to think that due to our Thanksgiving trip to New York City and Connecticut we got behind on our holiday decorating and our Christmas cards. Perhaps that is the reason .... Regardless, the decorations went up (but not for as long as Roberta prefers), most of the outdoor lights were lit (thanks to Spencer's initiative), and now the decorations are down (but waiting to be packed away). The artificial tree is however a different story - it's only 1/3 dismantled since I can't finish with it until the decorations are boxed (at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it).

So, if I can make one new years resolution (that I hope to keep) it would be that I need to start and finish the Christmas holiday on time this year.

Some More New Pictures

2005-12-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here's the latest picture of Ethan and Spencer taken just before Christmas this year.

Here's a shot of Spencer in goal clearing the ball in a match between Redlands East Valley High School (REV) JV and Etiwanda High School. Spencer plays for REV.

Ethan, Aunt Pauline, and Spencer give Winchester a Christmas
present.

Recent Photos

2005-12-02T13:00:00.000-08:00

Here are a few recent photos. First an obligatory picture of our house:

Roberta, Sig, & Spencer at Cafe Sevilla enjoying tapas (August 2005)

Ethan & his former girlfriend Courtney in NYC (November 2005)

Fall is in the air - sort of

2005-10-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

Fall in Southern California is not at all like that of my native New England. Take last week for example. Friday it was nearly 100 degrees out, on Saturday the temperature dropped over 20 degrees, Sunday and Monday it rained.

October rain in Southern California is news! Living in a region where the average annual rainfall is about 14 inches, getting an inch a month before the official start of the rainy season is, well unusual.

Fall is the season I miss most about New England.

My first exposure to Fall in Southern California happened during my Freshman year at USC. October arrived and I kept waiting for the leaves to turn colors and the night air to become refreshingly brisk - the leaves didn't turn and smog decended on LA instead. I finally realized it was Fall when a brown heavy leaf fell from a Magnolia tree hitting the ground with a "thud." In case you've never seen a dead Magnolia leaf think of it this way; it is the color of dirt, large, and sturdy enough to use as a garden trowel.

The leaves on the Liquid Ambers are starting to turn, but it isn't anything to become too excited about. About the time they reach a decent color we'll have a Santa Ana wind, the temperature will rise and the leaves will be gone. So, while I won't have many leaves to rake, the grass (and weeds) continue growing year round. These days the only brisk air I feel is when the air conditioner gets stuck in the "on" position.

Something New

2005-10-07T08:58:00.000-07:00

I just added a new Blog. It an unofficial Blog for the East Hartford High School Class of 1975. Let me know what you think of it.

September Already

2005-09-01T21:48:00.000-07:00

Well, summer is almost over. How can I tell? Well, Ethan is back at Seton Hall to start his Junior year - he starts next week. Spencer starts his Freshman year at REV - also starting next week.

More later

A Hot August

2005-08-06T10:04:00.000-07:00

No News is Good News?

Not much exciting going on here, just another day with temperatures in excess of 100 degrees. Roberta and Spencer had a great backpacking trip, so much so that Roberta wants to go back in two years and Spencer is considering a 200 mile 3 week treck.

I just finished another course, "Emerging Technologies." If you want to see the fruits of my labors, and of my group-mates, go to:

http://www.collaborationwiki.pbwiki.com

Quiet, too quiet

2005-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a quiet July so far. Roberta and Spencer are off backpacking in New Mexico until this Sunday. Ethan is working in L.A. and only comes home on weekends. In the meantime it's just the dog and I holding down the fort.