Figuring out my 40th birthday gift

For my 40th birthday, I asked my wife if I could take 1 month and travel -- sort of a walk about. I wasn't sure what I was going to do but knew that I wanted some time for soul search and reflecting upon the next stage of my life. She happily provided this gift and the last year has been spent fantasizing about all the things I might do. I've climbed kilamanjaro, gotten a pilots license and learned to speak spanish fluently -- all in my mind. And the time is quickly approaching and I haven't made a single actual plan. I don't know what I'm actually going to do -- it is likely going to be much less aspirational and grandiose than any of the previous ideas -- but I realize that the gift I really received was teh gift to dream and fantasize! And that was a great gift in and of itself.

Dear contractor, there's a leak in the roof ....

At some point in the future, I will write about the remodel that we did about 12 to 18 months ago. It's a long story -- too long for today. For now, I'll just grumble about the leak that has appeared in our roof for the second time in the last year. I have to stay at home and make sure that the contractor has access to the house so he can temporarily fix the leak. And yes, it's raining cats and dogs in Seattle again. Great way to start this week. Grumble, grumblem grumble.
I leave later today and will be at pubcon all week. If you're there drop me an email and we'll get together.

Therapy and Ben Casnocha

My friend and fellow blogger Ben Casnocha asks "Should Everyone Go Through Therapy?".  I'd have to answer the question, yes.  It's important to know that I subscribe to the belief that the examined life is the one worth living. I know it's not the only way to live -- but it's a core assumption to MY answer to Ben's question.
I've been a big believer of therapy. I see a therapist now and have just starting seeing the person more than once a week and admit that it's been an eye opening experience. I've started to inquire and explore my unconscious in a way that I never have before.  Powerful stuff that is very difficult to explain in a blog!
I've used therapists in my marriage and in my work life with good success. It's always useful to have an outsider "listen" and "reflect" back to assist in processing.
Ben -- the real answer to your question is another question -- "Should everyone go through therapy?" ...well, Ben, forget everyone, do you think you should go to therapy?

My Thanksgiving day 2007 call to 911

My father-in-law Marvin's dog -- Sweetie -- died Thanksgiving morning. So, when Marvin came over that day he was feeling down. We had a nice Thanksgiving meal consisting of turkey, ribs, mashed potatoes and stuffing. The highlight of the meal was Marvin's eloquent and vulnerable toast to Sweetie. I can't summarize the toast sufficiently here but suffice it to say that he talked about how the dog really lived up to being "man's best friend" and how much he (Marvin) appreciated all the listening that the dog had done over the past years (to him). After dinner, Marvin sat down and I noticed his eyes start to close. My son went over to him and told him to wake up. When I noticed that Marvin didn't react to the wake up request, I walked over and asked Marvin if he was ok. I put my arm on his shoulder. He didn't respond. Next thing I know -- I'm calling 911. Guests are laying Marvin down and putting a cold towel on his forehead. His blood pressure had dropped to 44 or something like that. The paramedics arrived within 2 minutes and he was rushed to the hospital. My wife went with him. Turns out that Marvin had purposefully had a bottle (or 2) of wine AND had accidentally taken his blood pressure medicine twice that day. That combination was not a good one! He's fine now. He's still bummed about Sweetie but we're all thankful for Marvin's health.

Cultural differences

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of teaching an entrepreneurship class to a group of visiting students from China. I was struck by a few things:

  1. There were a striking number of their questions were about copying businesses and how to protect oneself from competitive imitation.
  2. The students were interested why there weren't any Chinese brands in the US. They asked if I thought this was due to some cultural prejudice by the US. It was a good question that I wasn't able to immediately answer.
  3. I was impressed by their ability to speak English. Impressive.

Eat the anxiety

As pressure in business mounts, and I feel anxious about getting something done or accomplished. A mentor of mine once told me to eat the anxiety and use that anxiety as motivation.   I try not to literally eat the anxiety -- I am after all still watching my girlish figure but I do try to use the feeling as a motivator. And I love the saying -- "eat your anxiety". I find myself repeating the quote regularly.

Waiting for the iphone

The iPhone is coming out. Everyone is excited. I'm not. I'm sure that it's a great phone. I have no doubt about that....but it's still version 1.0 and when it comes to these significant technology shifts I've found it always better to wait till version 2.0.

I waited 5 years to buy the Toyota Prius. I waited years to buy the Sony Walkman when it came out. I need a new phone but think I'm going to buy the Blackberry curve and wait 3 or 4 years for the iphone to evolve. That's just me....kind of funny from someone who's obsessed with technology start ups

Managing speeding and parking tickets

I got a speeding ticket in the state of Washington about 3 months ago.  I was going about 90 mph in a 65 mph zone but the policeman didn't get me with a radar gun. In Washington, you have 3 choices to respond to a ticket.

  1. Plead guilty
  2. Plead guilty with mitigating circumstances
  3. Plead not-guilty

I chose to plead guilty with mitigating circumstances. I wasn't exactly sure what circumstances were mitigating but I thought I'd go for it -- the ticket after all was north of $400.  I figured I'd get a penalty reduction just for showing up and thought it would be an interesting experience.
This morning I went to court (which was an awesome educational experience but more on that later).  It turns out that there is a fourth option in the state of Washington -- you can ask for a 1 year deferment once every seven years if your driving record is relatively clean.  I opted for and requested this deferment option. The judge took her time and looked at my driving record. Ultimately, she told me I need to slow down (which I do) ....I'm usually an 80mph driver....and then granted me a deferment. Now, I need to keep a clean driving record for 1 year from today. If I'm successful at keeping a clean record then this infraction is dismissed and never goes on my record nor to my insurance. If I do have another traffic infraction during this time, then this deferred transaction comes back and I need to pay it. I thought that it was a pretty good trade off. I give myself 65% odds of keeping a totally clean traffic record over the next year. I'd give myself more but you know the saying..."You can drive out of Boston, but you can't take the Boston out of the driver."

Speeding ticket in California

Back in January, I got a speeding ticket on one of my trips to CA. I promptly lost the ticket. I can't remember what police department actually gave me the ticket. I just know it was on 280. I'm trying to track it down but having a heck of a time. Is there some online database for doing this? Can anyone help me?
It was just 10 years ago that you could get a ticket in one county and not worry about it in another. Not anymore. Made me think about the progress cities and towns have made of interconnecting all the different databases to track people. We've made a lot of progress and still have a lot of progress still to make.