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Not sure if I trust the automatic toilet seat covers

As far as technology goes, there are lots of cool things. The Apple Air Book, the iPhone, Tivo, etc… The list can go on and on. But have you ever seen an automatic toilet seat cover. (This is my first time) I have heard of self cleaning public toilets, but I have never seen an automatic toilet seat cover first hand. Pretty cool concept, but I still don’t trust it. When you begin, you simply activate some sensor on the left side with a magic wand of the hand, and voila, it starts to rotate providing you with a fresh covering. But to me it looks like it just turns around. Hahhaha. I don’t trust it. I mean where does it all go? I know all logic says that its providing a fresh cover, because, after all what would be the point? But I still don’t trust it. Interesting technology, and maybe if I knew more about it, I would have more confidence in it. So lesson learned, cool technology is not so cool unless people can easily understand it, and trust in it.

Wet sidewalks..Good, Icy sidewalks...Bad

Last Monday, January 21, 2008, I hopped onto an American Airlines jet headed for Chicago. 4 ½ hours later, (excluding the 4 hour delay) I landed in O’Hare. Next stop, the Conrad hotel in downtown Chicago miracle mile. Only 45 minutes from O’Hare and a $2 train fare(that is the best bargain ever) I made it safely to my hotel. As I emerged from the subway I was greeted by the wonderful snowy sidewalks and the light flurry of snow. Good thing I was wearing my street clothes (vs. work clothes) which included some grippy running shoes. I really had no idea where to go except for a few directions, turn left on Grand and keep going straight. Fortunately the 2 block walk to the hotel was uneventful and I made it safely. Here are a couple of things I learned rather quickly in my 1st week there…

1) 0 degrees is cold. Even if you have a nice warm jacket, a scarf, gloves, a beanie and the “entire power of the sun” in your pocket. Its damn cold.

2) Wet sidewalks become your friend. Because the alternative is slipping on icy sidewalks (leather soles = NOT GOOD) I even had an episode where I tried to enter a locked revolving door, slipped, frantically grabbed onto whatever I could hold on to, and banged my head on the entrance. Not fun.

3) Chicago Miracle Mile is a shoppers dream. They have everything you could want. (assuming you have the Benjamins $$$ ) However, you feel like you could be anywhere, San Francisco, LA, New York. As big city shopping goes, its pretty standard stuff.

4) The funniest thing is that… I thought people that live in Chicago, would be used to the cold. However I find it really funny that people still complain about it, even though it seems to be the status quo. I guess it’s like in LA when we complain that its too hot. I guess that’s human nature.

5) I finally saw the de-icing of a plane. All I could think of was Richie Valence and Buddy Holly, and how their plane crashed in a rain storm. It’s the funniest thing. It’s like a giant carwash for planes. It caused our plane to be delayed (what’s new) but it was neat to see.

I am scheduled to be in Chicago for about a month. I think plenty of time to say, been there done that. The cold is actually not that bad. It’s very manageable. Especially since I have a 3 minute commute from my hotel room, through a Nordstrom shopping mall, and down 1 block to the office. (The greatest commute ever) The client is nice, the Hitachi Consulting management is nice. The only downsides are the terrible plane commute with all its waiting around, delays, and 4 ½ hour plane flight. But the worst part is leaving my wife behind. Although she was once used to me commuting, this past year we once again grew accustomed to being around each other. Life is about adjusting I guess. Its only a month, so were trying to make the best out of it.

My Nintendo Wii survived the kids...Whewww

Without kids of our own (yet) it is quite an eye opening experience spending time with them. This New Year, we had the opportunity to spend time with my nephews, nieces, and cousins. Every year I enjoy spending time with the family. Family parties are pure chaos. Screaming, laughing, crying, tattle-tailing, and tons of tons of eating (e.g. for desert for one meal, I had a Ghirardelli chocolate brownie, a chocolate revel bar, and a blondie– talk about indulgence and lack of self control, but mmmmm so delish).

This year I brought my new, “not yet kid battle tested” Nintendo Wii for the kids (and adults) to enjoy. Boy, I had no idea what I was getting into. The kids loved it, hated it, laughed, cried, got exhausted, screamed. I never would have thought it could bring all that into play (again I blame it on my lack of experience). Im sure those of you that are parents, are already well versed at dealing with these situations. But for me it was quite an eye opener.

1) You need to set ground rules early. No fighting, no crying, share, take turns, and compromise.

2) Don’t set up a Nintendo Wii in front of a new 42” flat screen television, unless you don’t mind watching TV with a Wii remote smashed through the screen! (No it didn’t happen, but my mother in law almost had a heart attack watching the kids come close to it.)

3) Teaching kids concepts like sharing, not fighting, and being nice to each other are pretty straight forward. (I know not necessarily easy, but more straightforward) But what about things like good sportsmanship, compromise, disappointment, seeing things through. This was quite a challenge for me.

4) On “disappointment”. Winning is important to kids. When you are 5 – 7 your friends have already taught you the concept of “loser”. I was surprised. So my nephew really wanted to win. When playing with me, he already had apprehension playing me (me being a “big” kid) But he agreed to play anyway. I was fully intent on letting him win, but I didn’t want to do it in a way that was obvious. I was doing good, letting him lead the whole way. Until the end when I accidentally unleashed a special move, that ultimately led to my last minute win. Little did I know that this would unleash a sea of tears and disappointment. I felt so bad. But it wasn’t my fault. I really wanted him to win. So that was a quick tough lesson for the both of us.

5) On “good sportsmanship”. The brothers were playing. And the younger brother was also intent on winning. He would have sold the sister he didn’t have just to win. Being younger, Im sure he was used to not being on the wining end most of the time. Then, I was so impressed with his older brother when he agreed to let his younger brother win. And I completely thought(me thinking like an adult) that the younger brother wouldn’t want that, if his older brother was “letting” him win. But to my surprise the younger brother was completely fine with it. As long as he won (didn’t care a bit how he won), he was on top of the world.

What’s important to kids is much different than what is important to adults. What I realized is that its important as an adult/parent to truly understand what is “important” to their kids so that you can make better decisions on how to better prepare for lifes challenges ahead. Im sure I made lots of mistakes and sent some wrong messages, but I guess making mistakes and learning on both sides is part of the process.

A Wii for me! Merry Christmas!

A year long quest finally came to an end this past weekend. I finally got a Wii. In actuality it wasn’t truly a year long quest for it. More like “I would consider buying it if I saw one available”. However that perspective changed when I had the opportunity to demo one at the San Francisco shopping mall on Saturday. (And my perspective changed to “I want one now”) (The power of marketing)

I always knew, of the 3 next generation gaming systems, the Wii is the one I wanted to get. I’m a Nintendo loyalist. I love the Mario franchise and the entertainment value that comes with it. I appreciate the Xbox 360 and the power of the PS3, but not enough to fork over the dough. The Wii is a different story.

1)The physical interaction with the game is revolutionary. Tennis feels like tennis, baseball feels like baseball, and boxing feels like boxing, you get the idea.

2)You can start to enjoy the basic games immediately, without a huge learning curve. The universal appeal for fun is extraordinary.

3)It’s the new boardgame for 30 somethings.

4)The Mario franchise is familiar, and it’s like hanging out with an old friend.

It’s funny how I reverted back to those childhood feelings of wanting to rip open the box right away and start playing. It brought me back to that excited feeling when I received my first Atari 2600 system. I can still remember my parents bringing it out from behind the couch, and the anticipation that rushed through my system to play.

A new feeling I had, was exaggerated paranoia. After hearing in the news of people getting robbed at gunpoint for their PS3’s, thoughts ran through my head of “I hope nobody steals my precious?”. How I got the Wii is whole story in itself. It was definitely luck, a little bit of intention, and a belief in peoples hearsay on how to get one. But with this year being the 2nd Christmas where it’s been difficult to get, I think my paranoia was justified.

What I am looking forward to the most is playing with my friends, cousins, nephews and nieces, brother in laws, and all my other relatives. Im sure it will be lots of fun.

Go Go Speed Racer!

Last Thursday, I organized a go-karting activity for work. It was rip roaring fun. I had gone once before for my bachelor party in LA and loved it. Speed is always a good thing. The thing with go-karts is that you feel safe, and not too much can happen in regards to bodily harm. Unlike mountain biking, driving in real life, skiing or some other speed related sports. I didn't realize how physical driving can be, but I am 100% convinced race car drivers are some of the most conditioned athletes out there. Like traditional sports like basketball, tennis, hockey, there is both a strong mental component and physical component.

I think everyone had lots of fun. We had the opportunity to do a practice run to get a feel for the track. The fun part is when you have to strategize on how to get past other drivers. It's such a game, but very enjoyable.

Then we have a 5 min qualifying time to determine starting positions for the official race. I like this format, as it gives the fastest drivers the opportunity to race a little before they start lapping the rest of the pack. BUt there is nothing like the thrill of passing others, especially on turns when you can cut them off. I know unsportsmanlike, but oh so fun.

After the 5 minute qualifying time, the race is on. 15 minutes of pure go-kart speed. It is a fantastic feeling. It's quite a rush and its almost like a drug. You want to go faster and faster, you want more and more. But the curve of the track requires you to have technique and skill. Thats another component I love about it. It takes some adaptability and cunning. Maybe a few dirty tactics here and there. But if you dish it out, you should also be ready to receive it as well.

I love go-karting and I am glad that everyone enjoyed it. I definitely would love to do it again.

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh Christmas Tree

Every year, my wife "encourages" me to get a Christmas tree. But every year, it doesn't happen for one reason or another. Last year was kind of close if you count going out and buying some ornaments. It was a small first step.

But this year it finally happened. And my wife is excited. Except, she is not so much into the go out and choose the cutest christmas tree, or even the decorating. She just likes to have a christmas tree in the apartment. Actually, to address the decorating part, I think my wife would enjoy the decorating piece, except I "sometimes" tend to have ideas on how things should be. And when you have a husband who's telling you on one hand to go ahead and decorate, but then on the other hand he tells you "oh but not there" it can't be too fun. Sorry my dear.

But in the end we worked through "my differences" and I think we have a beautiful, pine scent Christmas tree. So here were my observations about the whole experience...

Selection of the tree

1) I wanted a Douglas Fir. I was really surprised that the majority of people were buying the Noble Fir's. But Douglas Fir's are the tree I grew up with, and there is nothing better than its strong pine scent.

2) My wife wanted a smaller one, so we choose one that is just under 6'.

3) Amazingly, our selection of the tree was very easy. We found one that has a great shape and is very fresh.

4) Our only mistake was selecting one that didn't have enough trunk at the bottom (6" - 8" inches would have been good for a perfect fit in the stand). We could of had it trimed but there were too many branches close together and we were worried it may be thinned out too much.

Transporting the tree


1) We brought the Subaru and decided to stick it inside. I didn't want to scratch up the top of the car and there was really no one to help us tie it down. You really don't go to home depot for the customer service. You go there for the price. So we got a great deal on our Christmas Tree, but it was definitely a do-it-yourself experience the whole way.

2) I would consider going to a tree lot, and paying a little more for some expert advice and some help next time. I think I'll do that next year.

3) We layed down blankets inside, to catch all the loose pine needles, and it worked out perfectly. Now all we have to do is take out the blankets.

4) The tree fit perfectly inside. It was definitely the perfect size.


Decorating the tree

1) I had selected ornaments last year, but never used them. So it was a great feeling to finally be able to use them. As an amateur Christmas ornament shopper, I didn't realize that they didn't have any ribbon to hang them. Fortunately we had lots of ribbon laying around.

2) After much "discussion" we finally agreed that we would use our left over wedding ribbon. We had bought lots of beautiful ribbon for our wedding projects that we never used. It was a great symbolic tie linking our wedding to a wonderful Christmas tradition, the decorating of the christmas tree. I'm glad that it worked out that way.

3) I only had one mishap when putting on the lights. Our stand is a little mickey mouse. Home Depot ran out of Christmas tree stands (can you believe that?) and so we had to pick one up at Target (I'm convinced Target is really the answer for lots of lifes problems). Although it does the job, it is not the most stable stand in the world. So as I was adjusting the lights in the back, I accidently knocked it over and allowed most of the water to spill out. OOps. But it wasn't too bad.

4) We decorated while we watched ABC's "For One More Day". I think it turned out really nice. And we finally got our Christmas Tree.

This was really the first Christmas tree my wife and I got for ourselves. Despite all the hassles of picking one up, and decorating it, it is totally worth it to bring the Christmas spirit into the house.