Charlie's Victory [Book Review]

Over the Christmas holiday my mom let me borrow Charlie's Victory to read. I explained to her that I rarely read actual paper books (preferring audiobooks), but would give this one a try. So, I made it about 20 pages thought it sounded interesting and wanted to read more. Then, like what normally happens I kept forgetting to pick it up and read it. I did manage to listen to one audiobook and make some significant progress on another audiobook... Anyways, this last weekend on the coast provided the perfect setting to really get into the book. While Jessi puzzled, I read.

In short, the book was amazing. I pretty much cried through the first half of the book and smiled/rejoiced the second half of the book. I probably re-read a quarter of it out loud because Jessi kept wanting to know what was affecting me so emotionally. I thought I was going to read a story about disease, but it turned out to be a story about love, hope and faith.

Charlie's Victory is an autobiography written by Charlie and Lucy Wedemeyer (husband & wife) with Gregg Lewis. Charlie was an amazing athlete in Hawaii - voted athlete of the decade! He also had an outstanding college football career with Michigan State. Then, he landed a job as a football coach of Los Gatos High School (my alma mater). He and Lucy, his high school sweet heart, lived in California with two kids. They were very much in love and living the American Dream.

Right around that time Charlie was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease, also affect is Stephen Hawking). He was given about a year to live as his body slowly, but surely, stopped functioning. Charlie and Lucy share their reaction and describe what it's like deal with someone slowly losing control of his body. Surprisingly, they kept a humorous attitude the entire time. It's probably these situations that brought me to tears the most. Typically, either Charlie or Lucy would be at their wits end because something horrible/embarrassing happened. Then someone else would step in, do something funny and relieve the situation. Here's an example Lucy shares:

   "Since Charlie now required so many of my daytime hours, I usually went in to do my office work late in the evenings when Carri and Kale could stay home with their dad. One night at the office I wearily trudged to the office Xerox machine to copy a number of important legal documents from several of my current real estate files; then I was going home to bed. But when I returned and went to set the tall stack of folders on a clear corner of my desk, the top files began to slide. Instinctively I grabbed at them, only to miss and send the entire pile sailing off the desk and across the floor.

   I took a long look at the mess and closed my eyes. I didn't know whether to scream in frustration or simply sag to the floor amidst the jumble of papers and cry myself to sleep.

   At that moment, my friend Barbara, who was also working late and had been behind me at the copy machine walked into the office to check out the commotion. She saw all those real estate documents strewn on the floor. She also must have seen the exhaustion and defeat on my face. Because she instinctively made the most insane, inspired show of empathy and support: she flung her own stack of files high in the air and then laughed along with me as we watched her blizzard of paper flutter to the floor on top of mine. Friends."

I was in constant awe of how, even though they got hit over and over and over again with trials, their can-do attitude persisted. I think fundamentally, they asked different types of questions than "normal" people. When Charlie wanted to keep coaching despite not being able to stand up any more they would ask, "How can I coach?" Instead of "Can I coach?" This assumption: "I'm going to coach" made a world of a difference.

Charlie ended up living many, many more years: Even after they wrote this book, Charlie (with Lucy's help) continued as an assistant coach even when I played. Lucy and his love proved to be an inspiration to the world. Near the end of their story, they talk more and more about their faith and how God sustains them. It's amazing! I HIGHLY recommend this book. It's hard to fully capture the amazing-ness of their story, so I'm going to let YouTube help me out. Unfortunately, the creator of the videos doesn't want them embedded so you'll have to visit them yourself. Here are the two video links which should open in a new tab for you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUC2kSJp0co

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwX2jdMSPD8

Harley Davidson Puzzle Completed!

Last weekend we spent a night on the coast. It was extremely relaxing. One of the activities we (well, Jessi) did was puzzle. Jessi had previously spent a couple minutes here and there working on the puzzle. On our trip she was able to dedicate a few hours and made a ton of progress. She made so much in fact that she was able to finish the puzzle this week.

This puzzle was given to her by my dad for Christmas. She found the tanks pretty easy to complete given their distinct colors, whereas the chrome and seats all kind of looked the same.

What also made the puzzle fun was the new puzzling surface she got for Christmas: It's a large piece of felt fabric and a plastic cylinder about 3" in diameter and the length of the fabric. What that means is Jessi could easily roll up her puzzle and move it - to the living room, the back room, or on a trip to the coast. When it's unrolled, all the pieces are right where you left them. Pretty cool. It allows her more flexibility and opportunities to puzzle. She's even starting to talk about trying to take a puzzle with us on our next camping trip.

Resting On The Rock Weekend Stay

At Christmas Jessi gave me a present of a one night stay at a bed and breakfast and we decided to "spend" it this weekend at the coast. Jessi found a nice little bed and breakfast just South of Newport in Seal Rock call Resting on the Rock. It's run by an older couple with one sunset room and a suite. You can see the ocean from their place and easily walk down to the beach.

We arrived Friday evening and had dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant. Jessi's grandma gave us some money for Christmas and so we took the opportunity to have a nice meal. We tried a bunch of different types of sushi since Jessi recently discovered she actually likes it. I guess, when she was a kid she had tried it and hated it - never to try it again. Then, while visiting her family in Colorado last summer they convinced her to try it again and she loved it! She wasn't ready to try eel, but maybe some day...

Once we were fully stuffed, we went back to our suite. Jessi worked on her puzzle (another Christmas present) while I read an excellent book. I'll share more about my book later.

The next morning we woke up late (well... late for me, perfect for Jessi) and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast cooked by our hosts. We ate sliced fruit with whipped cream, banana muffins and a cheese/hashbrown/bacon bake. For drinks we both had water and apple juice. In addition, Jessi tried a couple teas and I had hot cocoa. It was an amazing meal! While eating we talked with our hosts and learned more about their life. They are very strong Christians and enjoy people visiting their house. The suite we stayed in was a recent update which they did all by themselves. Their business doesn't fully support them, but helps pay the property taxes, plus (and probably more importantly) it gives them something to do.

After we ate, we spent some more time puzzeling and reading. Around noon we headed out and watched a glass blowing class and grabbed some salt water taffy from downtown Newport. The glass blowing always looks like fun (and perhaps a good experience gift for Jessi in the future). It's cool how whole process is very precise, yet also very forgiving, and it always seems to turn out pretty. As for the taffy, it's becoming a tradition that any time we head to the coast we have to pick some up. Jessi only gets 3 flavors: Cinnamon, licorice, and peppermint. I on the other hand, like to grab 2-3 pieces of all sorts of different flavors. Then invariably, Jessi wants to try some of my flavors. It works.

To cap off the day, we headed up to Salem to join some friends at a hot chocolate party. The hot chocolate was amazing and the games were fun.

It was a fantastic mini get-away. We were able to unplug and just relax. I was very pleased with the gift.

Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt Test Videos!

Earlier I shared about earning my blue belt in jiu jitsu. You can read about it here.

Now I have video to go along with it. I put together two:

The first is a longer video which actually shows a lot of how the test went. I also explain what's going on during each part. Check it out:






The second is a trailer using iMovie. It's a new feature in iMovie '11, and I can't but play around with it. The movie's pretty dramatic. Check it out:

Switching Banks: Good-Bye Chase, Hello Wells Fargo

This last month I officially migrated over to Wells Fargo for most of my banking needs with Jessi. You see, back in December I got a nice letter from Chase explaining to me that my free checking accounts would no longer be free. Well, technically if I did some very specific things (like keep high balances, or make large direct deposits) I could waive the fee. However, Chase managed to set the bar so high that 2 of my 3 accounts would be charged $10/month . Here's the one that really got me: One of the requirements was a direct deposit of at least $500. Since I get paid bi-monthly, I had two direct deposits of $300 each. Bummer.

So, Jessi and I took the opportunity to re-evaluate our situation. Before now, our accounts were pretty much separate. We decided this time to mostly merge our accounts together. Here's the set-up we wanted (it's the Dave Ramsey envelop method using the Automatic Millionaire process):

• 1 Checking account that all deposits go into. All automatic monthly payments also came from here. We also set up automatic transfers to all the other accounts.
• 1 Checking account for charitable donations.
• 2 Checking accounts for living expenses (gas, food, shopping). One for Jessi, one for me.
• A bunch of savings accounts for later spending (emergency fund, travel, car maintenance, etc)

Every single account is a shared account, but I never spend from Jessi's living expenses account, and she doesn't spend from mine. This makes everything really simple to track, and with Mint.com we're able to see everything all together at once.

So, with this in mind we set out to find possible solutions. Some of the ones I was hoping would work were ING and BankSimple, but they actually pride themselves on aggregating everything together which is the opposite of what I wanted. Furthermore, because of our business, we needed to easily be able to deposit checks and cash. We also looked at classic large banks and local credit unions.

In the end, we ended up going with Wells Fargo. Here's why:

• They let us set up the checking accounts the way we wanted - for free
• Jessi was already banking there which meant only I had to move everything
• There's a branch right next to us, plus there are branches all over the nation
• Jessi's mom actually works for Wells Fargo in Colorado, so we're supporting her family.

We also kept all those savings accounts I mentioned with ING. We never need that money right away since it's planned spending and we earn more interest than what Wells Fargo offers.

Me being the web-a-holic that I am, have already spent plenty of time on their site customizing my account views, setting alerts and just surfing around to see what they offer. Wells Fargo isn't the most technologically advanced bank (I'm going to miss depositing checks with my phone), but it's passable.

So that's what we're doing. It's nothing glamorous or brilliant, but it works for what we're trying to accomplish. The biggest change is really combing our income into one large bucket. I'm sure there'll be some learning along the way, but I ultimately think it's a positive change. At the very least, it'll help it feel like it's "our money" instead of mine and Jessi's.

Furry February Kick-Off

I know, I know, I'm a little late to the party, but I'm finally here. I'm officially starting to grow out my beard for the month of February as a run-up to Mustache March. Then I should be rocking a pretty sweet stache right away.

Jessi isn't a huge fan of this time of year, but I can't disappoint my fans: Co-workers in Boise love to see a hairy face (which they'll see in a couple weeks). Co-workers in Corvallis love it too. The high school students at our church absolutely love the stache (It's prefect for our Mexico Mission Trip). Guys in jiu jitsu claim it makes me more intimidating. Even my pastor said it was an inspiration for him.

Yeah... my stache is pretty popular.

Sorry Jessi.

Jiu Jitsu Blue Belt!

James, Rylan (Black Belt), David, Amber (Instructor), Mike (Instructor)

One of my 2011 goals was to earn my blue belt in jiu jitsu. I'm proud to announce I accomplished this goal on Saturday.

About a year and a half ago, a friend of mine, David, and I started training in jiu jitsu with the Oregon Pound at Cheldelin Middle School in Corvallis. We went twice a week with the goal of it helping us get in shape. In order to achieve a blue belt, we had to take at least 120 classes and be able to competently do all 88 blue belt moves. Furthermore, we must be tested by a black belt. Since our black belt, Rylan, lives in Hawaii, we had to wait until this weekend when he came out to put on a seminar.

So we knew that we were in it for a while.

Leading up to the test David and I kicked it into high gear: In January, we trained four days a week with our class. We stayed after to review what we learned. Plus, we trained with our instructor on Sundays at his personal gym. Needless to say, we made sure we could do all our moves perfectly.

As a result, the test was a lot of fun!

We started off in a circle showing Rylan each move in super-slow motion. That way he could see we understood the technical pieces of each move. Then we rolled at about 80% with our partner. The goal to once again show him we know how to apply each of our moves. "Slow rolls" are probably my favorite thing to do. It's often very fluid with many transitions, but you don't get physically tired because you're focusing more on doing the move perfectly.

Slowing rolling with my partner Morgan

Then we were paired up with a higher belt to roll with. Rylan said, "It's so you know what it feels like to be an upper belt". I prefer to think of it as making sure we stay humble - we still can learn more. The person I rolled with was extremely good (obviously). I didn't keep an exact count, but I was submitted at least 7 times - two of which were the exact same way right after each other! We got done and David asked me how many times I was submitted. I told him at least 7 and he said, "Oh, good. Now I don't feel so bad. I was submitted at least that many times too."

David slow rolling with his partner Bo

After we passed, Rylan put our new blue belts on and choked us using our own white belts. He also encouraged us to continue improving and reaching for new levels. Fun fact: he actually started out in our gym as a student at OSU.

Getting choked with my white belt

So now we continue training, though at the 2-times a week rate. It'll take 100 classes before we even get our first stripe. After 4 stripes, we'll be able to test for our purple belts. Given the rate we go at, it'll be 5 years before we're ready for that next step. For now, I'll enjoy being a colored belt and beating up on new white belts.

Newly minted blue belts!

Jiu Jitsu Rolling

I was unable to participate in jiu jitsu yesterday and so took the opportunity to capture some video of David rolling. I know lots of you ask me what it is we say we do there, and here's the answer. As you'll see, we're in a middle school wrestling gym (which by the way, hasn't had a wrestling program for the last 20 years) and have anywhere from 15-35 people showing up. It kind of has that rough and tough feel to it - Jessi calls it a fight club.

We're not quite at the level where we're doing flying arm-bars, but I think we'd do OK in a bar fight. The person David is rolling against is the person I'll be partnered up with when we do our blue belt testing.

Here's the video:

January Update - Get Prepared

January had one theme with three activities for me: Jiu Jitsu training, working for HP, and studying for my property management license all revolved around getting prepared.

Jiu Jitsu
In preparing for our blue belt test, David and I have been training pretty hard. We've been going to class 3 nights a week, working out Saturday mornings, and putting in some personal time with our instructor on Sundays. We've been making great progress and should be ready for our test on February 5th.

Jessi has started running more in preparation for the half-marathon we'll be running in April. She's also been great about letting me train so much - I asked her to only encourage me to keep going and she's done a wonderful job of it.

Working for HP
January is the quiet before the storm at HP. February is when HP does all of it's long-term planning, which gets crazy. So I've been spending time improving my Excel tools and perfecting methodologies. That way when we get requests for 3 scenarios within a couple hours, it won't be a mad rush to get them done. The goal is flip the 80/20 rule. Normally I spend 80% of my data creating views and only 20% of my time actually looking at, and thinking about, the data. My hope (and we'll see how it goes), it to tip the process in favor of doing more actual analysis instead of data creation.

Jessi has also been working at her school and really enjoying it. She tries to remember at least one goofy thing one of her students does so she can share it with me - it's pretty hilarious.

Property Management Class
In order to manage other people's properties you have to be licensed. To be licensed you have to pass a test. Before you can take the test, you have to complete at least 60 hours worth of approved course work (and pay money for each step). So... Jessi and I are in the middle of completing our course work - I'm so thankful it's an online self-paced class. We're about a third of the way done. There are 30 sections, which take 2-4 hours each. It's amazing how hard it is to find them time when you work all day and train in jiu jitsu 5 days a week.

Jessi and I have been getting into great conversations over what we're learning. We go from talking about setting up client trust accounts to talking about what is, and is not, discrimination.



So, it's been a lot of preparing and working hard. Still, we do manage to find time to see fun things. Speaking of, here's another great How It Should Have Ended Video: Top Gun

LinkedIn InMaps Visual Of Network

LinkedIn launched and pretty cool experimental feature showing the power of the data they collect called InMaps. The above picture is what my network looks like. Here's a key:

Orange = MBA classmates
Blue = Everyone else from my MBA program (Professors, students from other years, etc)
Yellow = Family
Pink = HP colleagues
Green = Everyone else

Overall, this is a sweet visual. I guess I shouldn't be surprised to see most of my connections are from the MBA program. Where else do you get to know 50-100 people really well (church?... maybe) and who are actively interested in networking?

My activity on LinkedIn tends to ebb and wane. Most of the time I wait for people to connect with me, but every once in a while I get in the mood to connect and send out 15 invites within a couple days. I also tend to not ask for recommendations, but instead surprise people by freely giving them a recommendation.

What I need to improve upon is not just accepting those connection requests, but taking the time to follow up with a personal message asking how they're doing and offering to help in any way that I can (and giving a couple examples - write a recommendation, make an introduction, answer a question, etc.) That'll add more value to the connection by setting the precedent that this is more than a list of people I know. I do this for some connections, but I'm simply not consistent enough.

So with that, feel free to connect to me on Linkedin.
Or, make your own InMap.

Jiu Jitsu Tournament

This weekend Jessi and I watched a jiu jitsu tournament with some friends (David & his kids, and Pat) at the Oregon State Fairground's Pavilion in Salem, OR. This was my first time going and it was really fun. It started out with mens-beginners, with different weight classes spread across the mats. Then it transitioned to mens-intermediate, mens-advanced, women... and children!

Watching mens-beginners was fun because we are currently training for our blue belt with one of the competitors. He ended up winning his weight class which was really exciting. Watching the women was also fun because one of the competitors is helping David and I prepare for our blue belt test (btw, she also won in the advanced group). It encouraging to know that we're training with a solid group of athletes.

I would have to say though, that watching the children compete was the most fascinating. I don't know if you can see it clearly in the picture, but they had 4 & 5 year olds competing. Furthermore, they weren't just rolling around haphazardly, they actually knew their fundamentals extremely well! I was very impressed. There's just something funny about watching kids do "adult" activities - and do them well.

Overall, it was a fun event. I'm glad we decided to go and am looking forward to going again. I don't think I'll be competing any time soon, but watching would be fun.

RunKeeper Pro [iPhone App Review]

As I've talked about, Jessi and I have a goal of running a half-marathon this year. It'll be a lot of fun, but also a lot of work. Being the analyst that I am (see my post analyzing the number of steps I take), it would be nice to be able to keep track of my progress. One possible solution was Nike+, but sadly my iPhone is one generation too old to use their little pedometer thingy.

Other apps also existed, but they either cost money or didn't really strike me as too useful. Then came along RunKeeper Pro (iTunes link). Normally $10, right now it's free in the app store through the end of January (UPDATE: It's now free for all time). So naturally, I downloaded it. After using it a few times, I can safely say I would happily spend the $10 to buy it.

Here's what it does:

You start up the app and select the type of activity you want to do. You can also select a playlist from your iPod to start playing (I don't - I just start up my audiobook). Then you start your activity. With the aid of GPS, it's able to track your location, distance, mile splits, elevation, total time and approximate calories burned, and more. Here's what a 3 mile run looks like:

There are also a bunch of settings. You can have the app tell you your time, distance, pace, etc. It can do it every mile, every 5 minutes or on-demand. You can also manually enter in runs for when you're on a treadmill. When you're done, you get a nice summary of your results.

Then you head over to the website. There you can see all your activities with a beautiful dashboard displaying how your run went. It's interactive too - giving you more detail as you hover over different parts of the display.

Finally, you can link to Facebook and see your friend's workouts (for example, I can see what Jessi's been running). You can also link to Foursquare and pick-up a 5K badge once you run that far.



If you run, and own an iPhone, I highly recommend picking up this app, especially since it's free for the rest of the month. I enjoy looking at the data and tracking my progress. I'm sure this will get even better as I start running longer distances. Being able to listen to audiobooks while running was huge for me, and this will make running even more enjoyable.

2011 Goals

Here we are in 2011. For us, 2010 was very busy and full of a lot of excitement. Just purchasing a property probably contributed to that feeling of possibilities. Interestingly, I feel like 2011 will be a year of hard work. I mean, we're still pursuing fun activities, but it's going to take substantial effort to accomplish our goals.

Jessi put together three words as our theme this year: Consistency, Persistence & Completion. I think this captures well how we feel. So, with that as context, here are my goals for 2011. I tried to focus on new things, while keeping older ones in mind (like for example, continuing to read my Bible regularly).


1) Connect with HS dudes
I realize this goal seems nebulous, and it's purposeful. Some background: Jessi and I started helping out with the high school group at our church. We've even been given small groups - I got the freshman boys. Due to sports and other activities, it's been difficult to create really meaningful relationships with them so far. So this year's goal is to do that. I'll measure it as a success if 3 things happen: First, we find a regular time to meet as a small group. Second, we all know each other and say "hi" when we see each other. Third, I have a level 4 conversation with at least 2 dudes.


2) Manage 1 other property
After managing our property for a year, we have a genuine desire to manager other people's property. We love knowing we're helping provide homes for other people. So, we started taking a property management class (because you're required to be licensed in Oregon to manage 3rd party properties), and will be taking the license test later this year. Then we'll officially register our business and start promoting. We're also talking about our potential competitive advantages and will be creating some semblance of a business plan. We're actually required to have an operating manual, so that'll help crystalize how we run our business.


3) Run a half-marathon
Jessi and I set this goal together and then immediately signed up for Corvallis' first annual half-marathon in April. So this goal should also be accomplished relatively easily. Now I just need to get in shape and avoid injury. I don't think it'll be too difficult, but 13 miles is a long distance no matter how you slice it.


4) Earn blue belt in jiu jitsu
This will happen in February if all goes well. My friend and I have been training hard for this. You have to attend at least 120 classes and be able to demonstrate a basic competency in jiu jitsu. This month is our big push to make sure we know and perform everything fluidly.


5) Fly in a Fighter Jet (I don't know why, but I feel the need to capitalize Fighter Jet)
This is definitely the most exciting and most difficult goal I have. I'm not even 100% sure how I'm going to accomplish this goal, and I even contemplated leaving it off. Then I figured at the very least I'd have some fun stories to tell. So, my plan of action is to start asking if people know someone (who knows someone?) that might be able to do something in the way of riding in a Fighter Jet. I also need to decide how much money I'm willing to spend to accomplish this goal.


6) Find 3 customers
Like I shared earlier, I didn't accomplish this goal last year. We really struggled with the transition from being "friends" to "being friends who also sell a fantastic product". Logically, I get it: We love Univera's products, and would recommend them to everyone; therefore, why not earn some income off of those recommendations. The problem is that the foundation of the relationship is not based on either health or the products. However, there are two situations in which this seems to work: First, you have a very old relationship (like 7+ years) where the transition doesn't overshadow the existing foundation. Second, in a brand new relationship where the foundation is not set. My plan is to focus on those new relationships - meeting people BECAUSE of health or product needs. This fundamentally changes the nature of the relationship. The trick is creating those situations and I'll share my plans at a later date.


So yeah. It's going to be a busy year with a lot of hard work. Here's what we're looking at for just the first half of the year:
- Train for blue belt test during Jan for a test beginning in Feb.
- Finish real estate class and study for license exam in Feb & Mar.
- Train for marathon/2 in Feb & Mar for race in Apr.
- Drive to Mexico in Mar with our church.
- Fly to Ohio in May for a friend's wedding
- Continue working.


I'm pretty sure all of these are attainable. At the very least, it'll be a wild ride!

2010 Goal Review

2010 was a busy year for us. We had just purchased our duplex, fixed up one side and rented it out. I managed to listen to a ton of books while mowing the lawn, driving, and washing dishes. I also took a couple business trips and both of us travelled a lot during the summer. We also managed to re-grade our yard and really plug in with our church's high school group. I also trained hard in jiu jjitsu with a friend.

Back in January of 2010 I also set forth some goals. So how did I do? Let's take a look.

1) Read Bible 3x/week

I downloaded the Bible app for iPhone made by YouVersion which has a ton of daily reading plans. I went with the Life Journal since that's what our church is promoting. It made it easy to track where I was and gave me the satisfaction of checking a box saying I read it. As a result, I did really well on this goal. I don't have exact stats, but most weeks I either met or exceeded my goal. The most important thing is that I spent some quality time reading the Bible and having great discussions with Jessi. I'm looking forward to keeping this going in 2011.

2) Share the Gospel with 1 person

I remember back in August I was reviewing my goals and this was one goal I didn't feel like I had "fully" accomplished. I had talked to a couple people about my faith, but something was missing. Then God opened an opportunity literally later that day. Someone I knew was thinking about going back to church, but wasn't sure about being accepted because of past behavior. I was able to share about God's love and how he forgives us. It was a fantastic conversation.

3) Hug more people

Oh boy did I definitely hug more people. It was sweet. The best part is that sometimes someone would ask permission to hug me and I'd get to tell them it was part of my 2010 goals to hug more people. This always resulted in a long bear hug.

4) Communicate my excitement!!

I had to check with Jessi on this one, and she says I definitely have. Of course, last year was pretty exciting so that made it easy.

5) Achieve ZERO short-term debt

Done. We actually accomplished this goal during the summer time. It felt really good. I also put all my credit cards in my drawer since we have enough cash for spending. Now we get to have fun conversations like, "Should we pay off one of our student loans, or can we find an investment that has a higher return than the interest we're paying on that loan?" But first, I need to decided what I'm going to do about Chase's changes to their checking account products.

6) Find 3 business builders

Unfortunately, I did not reach this goal. Jessi and I both had a tough time with this. We really struggled with the transition from relationship building to seeking business partners. I'm not really sure what we did "wrong" but after some negative feedback we decided to back off completely. I'm not sure what the future looks like here. I know we genuinely love Univera's products and will continue to take them ourselves through the foreseeable future. We'll see.

7) Level 4 conversation 4x/week

Do you know how hard it is to reach this goal when you work from home, alone, 4 days a week? I should have said something closer to 1 or 2 times a week. Oh well. Here's what I did do: I made it a point to really get to know guys in jiu jitsu. During breaks I got to ask them questions and learn more about who they are. I found that most guys either go to OSU or are somehow involved with the police department. I also had some great conversations with people from our church and a couple people from work.

8) Find 3 customers

Part of backing off with business builders means you also back off with finding customers. I think the problem, again, is that transition from being a friend to selling something. Some people are excellent at it, and we really struggle with it. I do have a plan for this though and therefore you'll see it pop back up on next year's goals. So stay tuned.

I also had an unofficial goal of writing, on average, one post a week (or 52 posts). As you'll see on the Archive section to the left I accomplished this goal too with 54 posts. I was happy with this and thinks it's a sustainable pace. Hopefully you too find my weekly posts valuable.

So that's how I did. Overall, I'm pleased with the results. In a couple days I'll share what my 2011 goals are.

Outliers: The Story Of Success [Book Review]

I am a huge fan of Malcolm Gladwell. The first book of his I read was The Tipping Point and it was fantastic. I really like the way he tells stories to help explain a concept. So I was really excited when I got Outliers as an audiobook. Gladwell didn't disappoint either.

He starts off talking about Canadian hockey players and what it takes to become a pro player. Surprisingly, the most consistent factor has very little to do with actual talent. Instead, it has to do with something smilingly irrelevant: what month they're born in.

Because of when hockey league age cut-off dates occur (January), kids born in the beginning of the year tend to be a little bigger, strong, faster and smarter because they've had more time to develop. As a result, they seem like better players. It has very little to do with their actual talent. This sets them on a path of being on more competitive teams, which practice more often, and play longer seasons. By the time they become adults, due to all this extra practice, they are genuinely better players. If you were to look at the Canadian pro hockey player's birth dates, you would notice and most of them are born in January and February.

Gladwell then continues on to talk about the importance of practice and being at the right place at the right time. The big take-away is that hard work does matter, but you also need to be given the opportunity to shine. If you're given the right opportunity, and are willing to work hard, talent isn't nearly as important.

I don't want to give too much away because part of the fun of reading his books is slowly discovering each of his points. I will say this: I think it works as a business book, but I think it's even better suited as a parenting book. I know it'll definitely affect the way I raise my future children. It provides excellent general guidelines and principles to have as a parent.

I highly recommend this book. It's easy to read with all the stories and is very entertaining. If you do read it, make sure you have someone to talk to because you'll want to share the ideas with someone.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope tomorrow is a day filled with joy and peace. My mom and brother are in Oregon visiting us this year. I can already tell I'm not going to get a lot of sleep due to late night conversation with my brother, but it's totally worth it.

Our house also smells delicious thanks to wonderful holiday cooking by Jessi. Speaking of Jessi, I thought I'd share a clip from her favorite Christmas movie, Elf.

Man, Play and Games [Book Review]

I came across this book while listening to a podcast called TWiT (This Week in Tech), which was talking about an article on Farmville, which referenced Man, Play and Games by Roger Caillois in talking about what makes a game. It sounded like an interesting book, and I was pleased to find it pretty good.

Caillois starts out defining what play is and then takes on the task of classifying each type of play. One of the funny parts about the book is that Caillois keeps talking about how difficult it is to do given the nature of play and games. Check out the quote below to see what I mean.

Another interesting thing about this book is the language used. Caillois was a French professor, and therefore wrote the book in French; then it was translated by Meyer Barash who was also a university professor. As a result, the language used is very formal. I found myself having to take my time to reading and had to take a break after a few pages to digest what I just read. I'd like to share a small excerpt to demonstrate the type of language used. This is the first paragraph of the second chapter.

"The multitude and infinite variety of games at first causes one to despair of discovering a principle of classification capable of subsuming them under a small number of well-defined categories. Games also possess so many different characteristics that many approaches are possible. Current usage sufficiently demonstrates the degree of hesitance and uncertainty: indeed, several classification are employed concurrently. To oppose card games to games of skill, to oppose parlor games to those played in a stadium is meaningless. In effect, the implement used in the game is chosen as a classificatory instrument in the one case; in the other, the qualification required; in a third the number of players and the atmosphere of the game, and lastly the place in which the contest is waged. An additional over-all complication is that the same game can be played alone or with others. A particular game may require several skills simultaneously, or none." (page 11)

See what I mean?

Caillois defines play as having 6 features:

1. Free: you don't have to play if you don't want to.
2. Separate: has limits of space and time which are defined and fixed in advanced.
3. Uncertain: the outcome is unknown, nor can it be known. Plus the player has some room to make decisions which affect the outcome.
4. Unproductive: Does not create goods, or wealth. At most an exchange of property, but the net impact is zero.
5. Governed by rules: worldly rules are suspended and a new set of rules are followed.
6. Make-believe: an awareness that you're in a type of second reality; not "real life".

I found those to be pretty interesting and he does a good job of giving his reasoning. Caillois then goes on to give his 4 classifications of games:

1. Competition: Games that require skill. You are dependent on your own ability to compete. An example might be a push-up contest, or a 100m dash.
2. Chance: The opposite of competition. Instead, you depend fully on the fates. Examples, include anything that uses a coin flip or dice roll.
3. Simulation: Games where you are pretending to be something other than yourself. The theater is all about simulation.
4. Vertigo: These are games, or activities, that give you some sort of rush, or in some way change your mental state. Riding roller-coasters, spinning in circles, and even drinking alcohol are this type of game.

As you've probably already figured out, these types of games can all be combined with some sort of shared activity. Think of a football game:

It starts off with chance, the coin flip, to see who gets the ball first. Then the competition for the players begins: It depends on who calls the better plays and executes the strategy better. For the crowd, it's a simulation as they're watching people dressed up perform on the field. There might be side bets, chance, going on too. They themselves might even be dressed up. The players and the crowd might also experience vertigo: The crowd by shouting and drinking. The players by taking and giving big hits.

Callois finishes up the book talking about different cultures and how the type of play in that culture influences it. I honestly didn't find this section as interesting. I was more interested in the games themselves and how they were thought of.

Overall, I found this a fun book to read. The language was a challenge, but the ideas were solid. I really enjoyed thinking about the different aspects of games and play. At the very least, it has given me a new framework to talk about and evaluate games. I've also learned more about my preferences, and can better articulate them now: For example, I prefer games of competition over chance. I also like games where the odds, the uncertainty, is fairly even. If the chances of me winning are low, I don't enjoy it as much.

Should you read this book? Probably not. It's really for the person who is into gaming, and more importantly, into understanding how games work. Game developers must read this book; casual gamers don't need to bother.

Visiting Singapore

Last week I got to visit Singapore for work. This was my first time in Asia. As is usually the case, this was planned only a few weeks before it happened, the majority of the time I spent in an office (though, as you'll read in a bit, I did get to do fun things), and Jessi had to go to her work. Therefore, like my trip to Germany, Jessi didn't come along.

The team I'm on interacts with another group of analysis in Singapore. They are responsible for laserjet toner sales in Asia-Pacific (AP) and our job is to help them evaluate how well they did historically and plan for the future. The team in AP is a great bunch of people and AP itself is seeing some explosive growth. This particular trip was to resolve a data issue - mainly, how many HP printers we think are in AP. My boss brought me along to be the data junky during our discussions. By the end of the trip we were able to resolve all of the issues. We were also able to build better relationships and have a little tourist fun.

Speaking of fun, the first day we were there we decided to see the city while we acclimated to the new time zone. We checked out a couple of the main attractions:

The Singapore Flyer: A huge enclosed ferris wheel which lets you see the whole city.

The Marina Bay Sands Skypark: An area that connects three towers together. There's a great view, a pool and a restaurant.

The Merlion: One of the main symbols of Singapore.

The last night we were there, we went on the Singapore Zoo Night Safari: This tour was awesome! We got to see bats, flying squirrels, lions and tigers.

Overall, it was a great trip. Our work was really productive and I learned a lot about Asia in general.

My lunch one afternoon

The Elite. Best of the Best

My brother recently installed Microsoft Access on his computer and was asking me what my skill level was at using it (presumably so he could ask me for help if he needed it). I found myself struggling to describe my level of proficiency. I can use Access better than most... so better than average, but I wouldn't call myself an expert.

This lead to a discussion trying to categorize different skill levels. We eventually had to ditch the idea of "categories" because it didn't quite capture the relative, continuous, nature of skills. Instead, we thought of different levels.

So I present to you the 6 different skill levels we thought of. I give a brief description helping to clarify what each level means. Then I provide a few examples that are commonly used when referring to this level.

Why 6? I actually started with 3 (Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced), but found it didn't capture those transitory levels - like for my MS Access skills. Being that skill levels are on a continuum, there are probably an infinite number of levels, but here I'm trying to capture the most common ones. So this starts out at beginner and goes beyond advanced.


LEVEL 1
You have no clue about what you're doing. As a matter of fact, you're probably hurting the situation.

• N00b (Newbie) - oh the irony of putting it's definition in parentheses...
• Beginner
• Novice
• Rookie
• Horrible

LEVEL 2
You're learning, but not quite there yet. Or, for whatever reason, you haven't taken the time to learn the basics. Lots of people give up here. You're probably not actually adding any positive value yet.

• Grasshopper
• Padawan
• Apprentice
• Unskilled
• Bad

LEVEL 3
Most people are here. They can get regular stuff done, but struggle when an issue arises.

• Normal
• Intermediate
• Average
• OK
• Amateur

LEVEL 4
Comfortable enough to mess around, solve problems and learn new tricks. Often good enough to impress lower levels with your ingenuity.

• Hacker
• Pretty Good
• Skillful

LEVEL 5
You are great, and you know it. People regularly come to you for help because it's rare that you don't know the answer, or can't find it in under 5 minutes. You could probably get paid at this level. Given the prestige of this and the next level, many of these terms are over, and inappropriately, used.

• Expert
• Advanced
• Master
• Jedi
• Great
• Professional

LEVEL 6
People are inspired by you. You never have problems, instead you find problems. Chuck Norris is here.

• Legend
• L33T (Elite)
• Best of the Best
• Guru
• All-Star

Thanksgiving 2010: Tree Hunting and Jessi's Birthday

This Thanksgiving Jessi and I decided not to travel anywhere. Come to think of it... I don't think we travelled last year either... interesting...

Anyways, Jessi's brother and sister came to visit us and we had a blast. On Thanksgiving day we eat way too much food with friends. Then we spent the rest of the day playing board games. I got destroyed in Risk, but found the magic carrot in Killer Bunnies.

Friday was a pretty relaxing day. Since we decided to have Thanksgiving with friends after we bought all our food, we decided to have another Thanksgiving meal on Friday. This was the first time Jessi cooked a turkey all by herself. She was a little freaked out about it, but did a great job. Here's a quick video of her preparing the turkey:




The turkey turned out delicious.

Saturday was Jessi's birthday and we decided to start off the day hunting for our Christmas tree.The weather was perfect and within a short while we found the perfect tree and chopped it down. I made sure to take lots of video because I wanted to try out iMovie's new create-your-own trailer feature. So, here's a teaser trailer of all the fun we had:




The rest of Saturday and Sunday we spent hanging out. One highlight was bowling. This last video is a slideshow I made using iPhoto which shows everything we were up to:




It was great having Jessi's brother and sister visit. Now we're turning our attention towards Christmas where my brother and mom will be visiting.