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.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Did You Know?
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.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Vacation Photos
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.
Monday, September 22, 2008
Spencer's Senior Photo
Hard to believe it's Spencer's senior year in high school, but here is the proof - his senior photo...
Monday, September 15, 2008
Economy One-Liner
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"
The only difference between Las Vegas and Wall Street is ...
Here's one to get the ball rolling - "free drinks"
Thursday, August 28, 2008
New Thoughts, Renewed Thoughts
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.
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.
Monday, May 05, 2008
Metaphorically Speaking ...
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Water Water Every Where
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!
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!
Monday, March 03, 2008
BeenUp2
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Renewed Connections
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.
If you have a Facebook account look me up. It would be great to hear from more of you.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Is it Snow or Snail?
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.
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.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A Short Visit
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.
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.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Lotus Symphony
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.
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.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Too Many Catalogs?
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.
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.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Winter Weather Arrives
Winter weather arrived this week. It rained locally and snowed in the nearby mountains giving the area a fresh clean appearance.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Parking 101
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.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Southern California Fires
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.
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.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Day in Montreal and Southern Quebec
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.
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.
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