The Newest Furlo: Vinnie

Meet Vinnie, the newest member of our family. We picked him up on Friday so we got to kick things off with a long weekend. He's a short-hair red dachshund (though, he's really closer to brown). At 14 weeks, he's about half the size of what he will be as an adult. I wanted a large dog, Jessi wanted a wiener dog, and so we compromised with a full-size doxie.

One of his hilarious characteristics (I almost wrote "features"... I must be a marketer) is that he eats fast. Really fast. He's nothing short of an organic hoover vacuum when food is around. Here's a 2 minute video I took of him inhaling his food. No joke, he doesn't even chew.





Being a puppy he also sleeps a lot too. Plus, it's pretty much the only time I can get a picture with my iPhone that isn't blurry. Here's Vinnie and Jessi relaxing after playing outside.

He also has the ability to mold his body to fit snugly up against you. This also makes him excellent for dodging into small spaces. He really likes this one corner where all my AV equipment used to be. I say used to be because after his 5th adventure (I'm a slow learner), it all got moved temporarily into the backroom. Here he is totally sprawled out in Jessi's lap.

Yes, for those of you keeping score, that is a Lego pirate ship and the Death Star II featured in our fireplace. Hopefully Vinnie decides that Lego piece don't taste as good as speak wires and they'll get to stay.

New Windows

Jessi and I had new windows installed on the tenant's side of our duplex this week. Originally there were windows that looked to be at least 30 years old: thin, single plane, aluminum, and practically zero efficiency. When we bought the place and were fixing it up, Albany had a cold front come in and we literally had sheets of ice covering each window.

The benefits of these new windows are many:

• More efficient/economical: less heat transfer in and out = less energy costs
• Safer: The bottom part of those big windows are tempered glass, bring them up to code
• Better noise reduction: we live near heavy traffic, hearing less of that is better
• Better circulation: The large windows can now slide open letting fresh air in
• Safer still: the old windows didn't slide great and were a pain to lock properly. These are easy.
• Prettier: The new windows just look and feel modern.

Right now we're just doing the tenant's side. We save a little more money because we can write off the expense and doing the whole project at once was outside our budget (especially given all the other updates we're doing - more later). So for now, our tenants will be the only ones who get to enjoy the new windows.

Chromebooks

I've been fascinated by Google's Chromebooks. They are essentially a computer with nothing but the browser. Since it's only a browser, there are certain hardware set-ups they can have which enable it to boot up fast and use batteries more efficiently. It also means that programs (websites) will always be update to - no need to upgrade. Same goes for the operating system (again, just a browser): Google will automatically push updates to your computer and they will happen almost instantly.

Furthermore, you can straight up buy one for pretty cheap (~$400) or sign up on a business plan contract (3 years @ 28/month, you get a new Chromebook every 3 years and keep the old one, plus the ability to manage each device through a fancy web portal).

That's the what's what on the Chromebook. I've also been lucky enough to receive Google's beta unit, the CR-48. For the last few months I've been using it on and off. I own an iMac, so it's nice to have something portable. For example, yesterday Jessi and I had downtime between our soccer and softball games, so we went to Starbucks and I brought my Chromebook to play on. Last night I showed Jessi a funny Muppets video on Youtube while we ate artichokes for dinner. Then I used it for a little more online research while we were both in the living room. All of this was done on a single charge and it'll probably be a couple of days before I actually plug it in again.

Perhaps my favorite feature is that Google's chat client is built into the browser. So a little window pops up at the bottom of the screen when you start chatting. Then it will stay there no matter which tab or site you switch to. Very, very cool. I would love to see more meta-applications like this.

The CR-48 hardware is only OK (though the new official models should be better). It struggles to run flash and the track pad is still buggy at times. I'm also still bummed that Netflix isn't supported. Even though I have a Dropbox extension so I can see my files, I still miss the ability to actually edit them (I guess the fault would be with Dropbox for it's lack of a usable website). Unfortunately, the web doesn't support a lot of the native apps I currently use and so there's lots of work I can't do. This means it's mostly relegated to a play device for me.

OK. Lots of background. Now my internal debate:

If all this computer is, is a play device. Why not get a tablet, like an iPad? It has the web, plus a bunch of native apps which tend to perform better than the web anyways. The base prices are similar enough (not that I would settle for the base model of course). In either case, a full blown laptop (or desktop) does everything I want - including the ability to use the Chrome browser. One of the benefits Google touts is that they Chromebooks start up fast. It's very true, but my iMac takes less than 30 seconds to boot up. How fast does it need to be?

Then I think about our property management business. One day we'd like to hire somebody (office, maintenance, and/or sales person). What type of computer would make sense for them? Would a tablet work? Would they really need a full blown computer? Does the Chromebook make the most sense? I suppose, if we set up all of our systems to work on the web, then it wouldn't matter. Of course, this begs the question of how to go about putting our system on the web. Do we use off-the shelf SaaS set-ups? Build it ourselves (and what hardware would be needed for that)? Is there value in having everyone on the same type of system, which means taking it to the highest need? Currently, there are a lot of native apps available, not so much for the web.

Lots of questions, not a lot of clear answers. Though the right answer is probably closer to: pick one and be consistent. Then the workflow and tools will be developed around that.

My Best Friend's Wedding

This last weekend Jessi and I got to participate in my best friend's wedding in Columbus, OH. It was inside the Franklin Park Conservatory which is like a large green house with many, many different types of plants from across the world - similar to Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI. The event was a ton of fun and very well put together. I'm honored that I got to be part of it. Here are a few photos from the event:

Revisiting the place of the proposal

This glass work is all over the place

A good lookin' best man

Kissing the bride

The happy couple

Figure It Out by Mark Speckman [Book Review]

Mark Speckman was my college football coach at Willamette University. Two characteristics about Coach stand out to me:

First, he was hilarious. I laughed all the time around him. It's rare to find someone that can have such a deep focus and passion, yet be able to find humor in almost every situation.

Second, he had no hands. Born without hands, Coach had to figure out how to live in a world clearly designed for people with hands. As a result, his ability to figure things out is better than most people. It helped him figure out how to drive, win football games, and even play baseball. So far, the biggest challenge he hasn't overcome is figuring out how to tie his own shoes.

So, when I heard that Coach had a new book called Figure It Out, I got it. Sure enough, it's full of hilarious stories and inspiring lessons. I think one of the interesting aspects of his book is how he was attracted to football because it didn't matter what you looked like - just how you performed on the field. As such, he was able to play linebacker and started in 40 college football games. Now he's the head coach at Willamette and enjoying success at that fine institution.

To really get a feel for the type of book and person Coach is, I recommend this 10 minute video of him giving a talk. Even if you don't buy the book, this video is worth watching.

No Go For Hellcats Across the Pacific

Yesterday I tried to install Hellcats - Across the Pacific on my computer, and failed miserably. Let me explain.

It all started with a trip to Best Buy to spend a gift certificate. While shopping I saw a copy of Microsoft's Flight Simulator. Oh boy did the memories starting coming back. I used to hook my computer up to a projector, grab my joystick, plug into my stereo system and fly the skies. What fun! I liked to set up longer flights and trying flying only by instruments.

However, I now own a Mac and this game is only for Windows. So I started doing some online research to see if there were any Mac compatible flight simulator games. The clearest winner was X-Plane. It's just like MFS, but goes across all platforms. They even have an iPhone and iPad app. I'll definitely be getting the iPhone app once I upgrade my phone. The iPad app looks insanely awesome too.

While doing my research I also came across a comment about Hellcats. Again the memories came rushing back to me. I remember spending HOURS DAYS flying in that game. Oh my, it was so much fun. It was so simple, yet nailed the gameplay aspect of it. I also remember never really being able to land consistently, and I hoped this would be my chance to figure it out.

More research revealed I could download Hellcats for free - and it worked without a joystick. Awesome. But wait, I saw another link to an emulator. Oh boy. I knew I was in for an adventure. I've been successful with emulators before, so I was hopeful. I have the patience to read multiple tutorials and experiment with configurations to make it work. My most resent foray was getting Day Of The Tentacle and Full Throttle working on my laptop.

Basically, the game only worked on older versions of Mac OS (7-9). Luckily, the download site linked to a comprehensive guide for installing the emulator. I decided to experiment first on my old PC laptop, and if that worked consider doing it again on my Mac.

I had to download a bunch of files, save them in various places, and change a bunch of settings at each step. After an hour of messing around, I successfully had Mac OS 9 running my on laptop PC. Kind of cool in its own right. Then the moment of truth to see if I could get Hellcats running.

First I had to figure out how to unzip a .SIT file. Not easy apparently. It took downloading two programs, from THE SAME COMPANY, before I successfully unzipped it. Even then, I wasn't sure if it really worked because the program files looked really small. OK. OK. The game came out in 1991 -  all files from then look really small I bet (remember 1.44 MB floppies?).

Unfortunately, this is where all my tutorials fell short. They all kind of assumed it would just play... It didn't. Further trouble was that OS 9 wasn't the best at describing the reason for the error. I did a little more research to find little to no advice.

So, after investing two hours of my life into playing a game that probably isn't as good as I remember, I gave up. I uninstalled the emulators and went for a walk to contemplate the meaning of my life. :(

April in Pictures

I thought for this month's update I would give the recap primarily in pictures. I'm also going to cheat and start with our Mexico trip which was technically the end of March.

Mexico
We went to San Felipe and served. It was a blast.

The whole group

Lots of digging on this trip

This saw has seen better days

Looking over San Felipe and praying for it

A dune buggy with a handicap sign!

Family Visit (Well... a Business Trip for Work)
I had to pick up my travel Visa in San Francisco and therefore got to hang out with my family a bit. It was great seeing them.

Going for a drive with my dad

Playing at the Apple Store with my Mom

Corvallis Half-Marathon
Jessi and I completed our first (of many) half-marathon. I also made a fun infographic of the race.

We finished and earned medals

India Business Trip
While on business I really got to see India's culture first hand. Here are some of the fun things we got to do.

We went inside a 1,700 year old temple

We got to visit Mysore Palace

The Taj Mahal

Relaxing at the hotel's pool

Stretching out with Video-On-Demand during my trip home

Duplex Projects
Our tenants have moved out, so Jessi and I have been busy doing some projects on the other side of our duplex. It's a lot of work, but it feels great to know we're adding true value to our property.

Jessi repairing a drawer

Showing off our new ladder

Doing a minor repair on our roof

So, the majority of my travel is over. I still have one more trip in a couple weeks, and Jessi gets to come with me, which will be great. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Tell To Win [Book Review]

I love a good story. Who doesn't? If anything, the success of the entertainment world, and even news, shows that everyone loves a good story. Stories are great because they help share an idea, a vision, a lesson, and on and on. Stories provide not just facts, but context and emotion - this is what makes them memorable.

Furthermore, stories are not just used to entertain - they can be used to persuade. This is exactly how businesses use stories. The great ones don't just give facts, they share stories: Stories about how they were founded, why they exist, how they created such an excellent product. They also share stories of customers: how they use the product, how their lives are better as a result of the product.

Of course, as an entrepreneur I want to know if the art of telling a story can be learned. I've gone as far as looking into creative writing classes, but nothing had really peaked my interest yet.

Then I read Tell to Win by Peter Guber, which came out in March. Guber talks about the power of telling stories; how telling purposeful stories can help you win in whatever your endeavorer is. His main thesis is that learning to tell a good story (where "good" = getting the desired outcome) can be learned. Furthermore, Guber says that we all have the ability to tell stories hard-wired into our DNA - we love to share stories. So Guber helps people refine the art of telling stories, and gain the confidence to use story telling regularly.

Not surprisingly, Tell to Win is full of fun stories that Guber uses to make his points. They are all entertaining, and make their point well. Keith Ferrazzi, author of Never Eat Alone (which I also reviewed) did an interview with Guber which you can watch to get a feel for what you'll learn in his book.




I enjoyed reading this book and will definitely book looking for ways to incorporate it into my life. For example, as an analyst, it'll be helpful to not just show data, but share stories behind the data.

Oh yeah, I also couldn't help but notice that Jesus often used stories when making a point. Clearly there is something powerful about stories if the creator of the universe used this technique.

Corvallis 2011 Half-Marathon Infographic

Jessi and I participated in the inaugural Corvallis half-marathon this month. I saw the published results and thought something cool could be done with all that data. I've always enjoyed infographics, and wanted to try making one - this seemed like a perfect opportunity. So, here are 13 facts in honor of the 13 mile race.

(You can click the image to see it full-size and/or download it)

For those of you who like to know such things. I housed all the data in Excel (it was originally in a PDF, I'm so thankful for the text-column feature in Excel) and created views using a pivot table. I made the final charts in Excel and copied them into PowerPoint. I added my own comments and pictures - nothing too fancy. I saved the final slide as a PNG and uploaded it to my server. And now you're reading it somewhere in the world. Pretty neat!

Mysore Palace in India

I'm currently sitting in India while I write this - it's pretty exciting and I have many stories to share. At the very least, I would say that this has been an eye-opening experience. India is truly a different country than the US. Duh, I know. But it's even more different than I ever imagined. For a while I kept drawing parallels to my experience in Mexico, but it's even great than that! I will share much more later here, and feel free to call me to hear even more (when I get back).

In the mean time, here's one picture from Mysore Palace. We were able to take a tour of this place, and it was amazing. It's 2.5 hours Southwest of Bangalore, and totally worth the drive. We also visited a 1700 year old temple, which was quite an experience. Talking about faith to people in India is also completely different (because they believe in multiple gods). It didn't fully understand what that meant until we visited that temple.

Lastly, I've also learned all the rules to cricket. It's fun to watch once you understand what's going on.

Dog Door

Last weekend Jessi and I visited a friend to look at some bikes he was trying to get rid of. While there we saw his dog door, which he said he couldn't fit through. I told Jessi I'd give her $20 if she could get through. Luckily, I was able to turn on my camera fast enough because she didn't wait to make sure my offer was genuine. So, enjoy the fun.

Visiting Home

This last week I got to go the Bay Area for work. As such, I got to hang out with my family for a bit. It was great seeing all of them in person. Thanks to everyone who changed up their schedules to make my trip a success - I really do appreciate it.

I do really miss the weather down there. It's just so amazingly beautiful. Thankfully, we're heading into summer, so Oregon is just starting to be nice as well.

So, until I see everyone again, I'll continue to video chat and call often. Thanks again!

Now I'm getting geared up for an even larger trip to India.

Mustache March Finished

Mustache March came and went without a hitch. I managed to grow a pretty amazing stache, if I do say so myself.

I actually know of at least one person who loved it: I was in Boise earlier this week for work. The night I got in I met up with a friend from college and we went to watch a couple bands play downtown. While there many people had fake mustaches on. There was even one girl who had a pretty gnarly one. One of them saw mine and exclaimed, "Now that's a stache! Right on man!" I almost offered to sign his shirt or something, but I didn't have a pen on me...

I'm also proud to announce I had three people join me while down in Mexico two weeks ago. I was very impressed with each of their showings. Each us rocked our own version of the Fu Manchu to much of the delight of each student. I'm pretty sure next year's trip will also feature some crazy facial hair too.

Jessi will surly be ready for it to go, but not without one final close up:

Thanks to everyone who supported and participated in the madness of Mustache March!

Mexico or Bust

Jessi and I are in the final stages of preparing for our Mexico Mission Trip. We'll be heading down in a big yellow school bus with our church's high school group (just like the picture above). The trip takes about 2.5 days when you need to go 55mph. This year I planned ahead and bought a bunch of really good books to read. I will definitely make sure to share the good ones I find.

Also like last year, we'll be headed down to San Felipe which is on the Sea of Cortez side of the Baja peninsula. I'm looking forward to re-visiting last year's projects and working on new ones.

If you could, please pray for safe travel. And safety on the work sites. Plus, for open hearts when we share the Gospel with the people in the community.

What's Up With Jacob?

I read this passage and thought I'd share it. It's Genesis 29:16-30 (NIV):

"Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel." Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her. Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her." So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant. When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?" Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work." And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years."

OK. What's up with Jacob? Here's a guy who spent 7 YEARS getting to know Rachel. Then in one evening is able to be tricked into sleeping with her sister. How does that happen?

Furthermore, why all the secrecy? I am really be believe that after 7 YEARS of hanging out with Laban, Jacob didn't get to know their customs? Why didn't Rachel say anything? Didn't she love Jacob back?

Finally, Laban was a master deceitful negotiator in this instance. He managed to have both his daughters married and get an extra 7 years worth of work out of Jacob. I am shocked that Jacob let himself be taken advantage like that.

It's when I read passages like this I need to remember that God indeed had a bigger plan, and that this was all necessary. It's just that sometimes He goes about it in such a round-about away, that doesn't seem to make a bunch of sense.

That's all I've got. It's just weird to an untrained eye like myself. I wish I knew more about the circumstance so I could fully understand what happened here.

[image source: afeatheradrift.wordpress.com]

Check Your Dryer Vent

When Jessi and I first hooked up our dryer vents we went the cheap route: duct tape. We already had some and it saved us a trip to Home Depot. Unfortunately, over time moisture weakened the tape. You see, our vent goes up through the roof and so the duct tape was literally holding our vent hose in the air.

Eventually it weakened it enough that the tape gave way and our vent hose fell down. So... off to Home Depot we went to get the correct connection.

While there, it was suggested we also take a look at, and clean out, the part of our vent that went through the attic. We learned that over time the vent can get clogged with lint. So, that's what we did and WOW! There was so much lint built up it looked like it had never been cleaned out! We also discovered that at one point a huge dent had been made to the vent, further blocking air flow. We were making our dryer work harder than it needed to.

We started to clean out the vent, but quickly decided it would be best just to replace the whole thing. Now our drying is humming along and drying everything very quickly.

So, make sure you check your dryer vents every once in a while. We plan to check and clean ours out once a year along with our other annual maintenance items.

New Treadmill

Jessi's moving so fast it can't be captured on film!

Last weekend Jessi and I purchased a treadmill. I had been haunting Craig's List for a couple of months doing research and figuring out what was available. You see, I inherited my dad's style of research: spend a lot of time just looking. Figure out what it is you're looking for. Wait for a killer deal. Then pounce on it. We did it with our property and now with our treadmill.

After talking with sales reps at exercise stores I determined I wanted (at a minimum) the following:

• 2 horsepower continuous duty motor
• A belt length of 55 inches
• An automatic incline
• Hand rails that came out horizontally so I could place a board across it to make a table
• Fold up for easy storage and transportation
• In "like new" condition
• Oh yeah, and under $400

These features are typical at the $1,000 price range, but I knew if I waited it out we'd find something. Sure enough, a treadmill popped up on Craig's List that met all my criteria. Since I had already done my research, all I needed to do was look at it to make sure everything worked. It turned out that the people selling it had a family member move away and just wanted to get rid of the machine (Craig's List really should have a "selling because of moving" tag - those are all the best deals). We talked about the fishing in Oregon for a while and eventually were able to make a deal.

So, why get a treadmill? Well, two reasons.

First, it rains in Oregon and try as hard as I do, I just don't like running in the rain. It wasn't that big of a deal for a while because I just wouldn't run. However, now Jessi and I are actually training for a marathon/2 that's coming up. So my plan of avoiding running isn't working. Actually, it IS working and let's just say that 13 miles still sounds like a long distance to me.

Here's a video of Jessi testing it out:

Second, I work from home pretty much every single day. I sit on a ball, but I'm still sitting. What we're going to do is attach a removable self that I can put my computer on. Then I'll be able to walk while working (I'm writing this while walking right now. 1.8mph; 0.8 miles!) or while in a conference call. I'm not looking to burn any major calories, but instead do a better job of getting up and moving throughout the day.

My short-term desk solution

So, that's our new treadmill. I think it'll get a lot of use from us. We'll see. I'll let you know in a few months if we have a slightly used treadmill for sale in a couple of months.