Ian C. Long

Exhausting Joy

2010-11-13T21:08:00.000-08:00

New post on the 207 blog:
http://207miles.blogspot.com/2010/11/exhausting-joy.html

A few weeks ago I returned from another 3 day trip to northern Mexico to build a house for an impoverished family. Now i have done this trip over 12 times, and each time I return home I feel the emotional and physical drain that comes from 3 hard days of physical service. For some reason this trip was different. I was so exhausted I struggled to focus as i returned to work and I think Erin and I went to bed at like 830 that first night back. In addition to the exhaustion I noticed was that my heart was overwhelmed with joy and contentment.

As I reflected on this I noticed a trend between service projects to another passion of mine, endurance athletics. This feeling of immense joy and exhaustion that only comes from accomplishing something bigger than yourself. I can't think of too many things that can wreck you physically and yet elevate your spirit at the same moment.

Another observation, these opportunities don't just happen in our daily lives. You have to manufacture them, you have to put yourself out there to experience what I now call exhaustive joy.

So here is the question. When is the last time you manufactured Exhaustive Joy in your life?

If you need an idea to jump start you on this I have two opportunities for you. We are ramping the planning and marketing for this years 207 ride, in February we will again be taking the two day 200 mile cycling journey to rocky point. We raised nearly $6,000 last year and we are looking to quadruple that this next year. Also OneMission.us continues to have weekend mission trips changing lives weekly.

I encourage you to shed your inhibitions and experience the only kind of joy and contentment you can get from sheer exhaustion. Wreck yourself to change lives... not just yours.

It's been a while.

2010-10-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Well I have to admit it when I opened my blog today I thought it had been a few months since my last effort here, but alas it appears to have been exactly 1 year and 6 days since I put my personal thoughts on display for the digital world to ignore.

Lord knows I have plenty of thoughts swimming around in my head, so I promise to do better at sharing them from now on. Oct 2008-Oct 2009 I blogged 40 times. It will be my goal to eclipse that in the next 371 days.

Enjoy the show.

5 things I have learnd form riding to work.

2009-10-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

1. If its not on your bike is seems to be real heavy. I weighed my backpack one morning this week and including my laptop it weighed 17lbs... Not that might not seem like a lot, but that is basically like me carrying around a second bike.
2.Changing Clothes in your office feels wrong. I have blinds and a door that locks, don't think I am stripping down in a cubicle...Our bathrooms are incredibly inaccessible so at the end of the day its just easier to change in my office, but I don't like it.
3. People in cars are one of three types... Considerate and observant, flaky and distracted, or straight up jerks with the need to show their car is bigger than my bike. Which are you?
4. Carpool >= Biking > Working from home > The bus.
I don't really like driving, so in the past 12 years of my life I have tried the bus, car pooling and working from home. Biking is easier than taking the bus (you can sleep on the bus, but you don't get to choose who you sit next to). Biking is harder than car pooling (you get to sleep/veg half the time when car pooling). Biking is better than working from home. (I have found that I get cabin fever if I work more than 3 days in a row from a home office and I work myself to death. best cure for cabin fever is to go for a ride.)
5. The riding is the easy part. The planning, packing, cleanup, etc. if the hard part.

To see the full map and details of my commute - checkout my Garmin Connect
22 Miles, 1Hr 20Min.

Going Green

2009-09-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Monday I will be starting a new experiment. I will be going green by attempting to not buy gas for a month. I have a valid excuse for this, actually I have a few but sparing you all the details I will quickly bring you up to speed. In July we went to CIY as mentors( a youth camp for high school students) Part of the experience was a the end of the week the students had the opportunity to step up to an unknown challenge. They were handed sealed commitment cards. They were asked to not open the cards unless they were committed to doing whatever was inside the card. Cards had everything from volunteering to be a big bro big sis, feeding the homeless for thanksgiving, paying someones way to CIY the next year, etc. I, of course to support the students, opened a card as well. The challenge "give up gas fro a month and give the money you save to a green charity."

Needless to say with the idea of 207 still fresh in my mind this challenge fit right in, but I have to be honest I immediately began to doubt if I could pull it off. Fact is I have a family, among other responsibilities and not driving at all for a month seems impossible. So I set up some cheats right off the bat. 1. Riding with Erin somewhere is not in violation of the rules. I am still saving on gas in my truck. 2. I would fill up my tank at the beginning of the month and survive off that for emergencies etc. All in all I think I will save on 3-4 fill ups at $45 a pop.

I say all this to get tot he point that I test rode my work route today. I actually attempted last Thursday, but 3 flat tires 500 meters from my truck kinda put a stop to that ride. I work on 16th Street and Northern about 23 miles from the house. The nice thing is that the Canal runs all the way from 75th ave past my office. So for about 13 miles of the route I don't have to deal with traffic, etc. This morning I choose to drive to the start of the canal and ride from there. Attached is the route, here, if you want to look at it on Garmin. It took me about 45 minutes riding the 13 miles, but about 1.5 hours door to door including a shower at the gym across from work.

So starting Monday I should be riding at least 2 days a week. Carpooling another 2 days (thanks Tim) and working from home the last day. I will keep you posted on how the adventure turns out.

The Search for God and Guiness

2009-09-24T07:54:00.000-07:00

On Aurthur Guinness Day I thought I would share with you the next book I am going to buy. My wife is a Thomas Nelson blogger. What this basically means is that she gets free books if she agrees to blog about them. Its quite upsetting that she found this book before me, but that is probably because she reads more than 4 books a year. None the less the book looks real interesting, The Search for God and Guinness, a Biography of the Beer the Changed the World By Stephen Mansfeild.
"It began in Ireland in the late 1700’s. The water in Ireland, indeed throughout Europe, was famously undrinkable, and the gin and whiskey that took its place was devastating civil society. It was a disease ridden, starvation plagued, alcoholic age, and Christians like Arthur Guinness—as well as monks and even evangelical churches—brewed beer to offer a healthier alternative to the poisonous waters and liquors of the times."
God and Guinness, Two things I like.

What a difference a year makes.

2009-08-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

So Erin has been reminding me lately that tomorrow it will have been one full year since I was laid off at SelectBuild and our family was heading off for a week a Disneyland. I think she would rather forget unemployment, but would love to return to the happiest place on earth. I can truly say that this was a year that had am impact on us. Here are a few things comparatively, then from now.
1. Then; Being laid off by a large public company in financial trouble. Now; Working for a small private company with money in the bank.
2. Then; Living at our means. Now; Living beneath our means
3. Then; Good excuse for being stressed. Now: No excuse for being stressed.
4. Then; Wrestling with the faith that God would provide. Now; Wrestling with the fact that I ever doubted God's plan.
5. Then; Wife and Girls who loved me unemployed. Now Wife and Girls who love me employed.
6. Then; ESPN, NFL Network and HD Cable heading into football season. Now; Heading over to my brother-In-Law's house to watch the game.
7. Then; Secure, clothed, warm and too well fed. Now;Secure, clothed, warm and too well fed.
8. Then; uneasy about how much unstructured time I had. Now; Uneasy about being able to find enough unstructured time.
9. Then; Expensive Health Care. Now; Expensive Health Care.
10. Then; Wondering what God has up next. Now; Wondering what God has up next.

As you can see some things change and some stay the same. I think what I realize is the things that stay the same tend to really matter. They are things that are above the situations of life. They transcend our condition. Things that don't seem to matter as much tend to manifest themselves firmly in the now. It's funny that we want change in our lives, but we want to dictate where the change comes from. I honestly think God wrecks havoc on one area of your life that he knows you can recover form to shed light on another area he needs you to address before it wrecks you.
Blessed be the name of the Lord

Introducing My Next Adventure

2009-08-13T22:13:00.001-07:00

Check out my next adventure @ http://207miles.blogspot.com/

"There are 207 miles between my church home in Peoria, AZ and the barrios of Rocky Point, Mexico. 207 was born out of a desire to increase awareness of the poverty in Rocky Point and to raise funds for the people and organizations battling that poverty.

Later this year, I am going to be riding my bicycle from Peoria, AZ to Rocky Point, MX. It is my desire that many people would take notice and ask me why I am doing this, others would donate to the cause and still others might even be crazy enough to ride some or all of the event with me."

Delayed Gratification

2009-06-30T22:46:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to baptize a student this evening whom I have been mentoring for about a year now. This is quite common at the church we attend where mentors like myself are interacting with 400+ students weekly. But for me it is actually quite rare. Not sure why, but in my 7+ years of youth mentoring I have only baptized 2 guys. I am sure you are not supposed to keep score, but you cant help but count. I think I have the opportunity to impact students on two separate levels, conversion and spiritual growth. The first is dynamic, quick, easy to track and has an immediate payout. It is so cool to watch and be part of a students decision to follow Christ. The second, not so much, it is vague, hard to measure, takes forever to really observe and often is not even in you're view when it comes to fruition. Man do I not like to wait for my gratification!
God reminded me of this tonight. As I was walking back to the car after the baptism, excited about the recent events, I was approached by a student I interacted with nearly 4 years before. he was on his way into the college age gathering, but stopped me in my tracks and talked to me for a good 5 minutes. We caught up on a few things and parted ways. His desire to seek me out, reminded me that sometimes we have to wait for understanding, wait for perspective, wait for accomplishment, and wait for God's timing. My reward is not hear on this earth, and this is not why I serve, but it is sure nice when God uses life to affirm your actions of the past. When its all said an done, the gratification of heaven will far outweigh the delays of this world.

30 Days to Become a Better Blogger Rewind.

2009-06-03T22:12:00.001-07:00

OK I love numbers, so we will start there:
- 31 days of blogging and I missed 7 days, not sure I call this success or failure.
- 83 visits, give or take those real friends who have me on their blog readers.
- Best way to push traffic to my site (My wife's uber popular blog (24% or traffic), or post updates on Facebook (19% of traffic))
- Apparently there are two guys in Canada, a guy in Poland and someone I expected in Africa reading.
- Only 4 comments were posted on my blog. that's 5% of visitors. It's not like I need you the reader to validate me, but it's nice to know your thoughts. That said, in the past month I know I have only commented on one blog in the 100+ I have read.
A Few Observations
- I think my blog does not know what it wants to be. I find myself wanting to muse on topics of interest to me (Family, Faith, Work, Random Observations, Technology and Design) but I am not sure if all my audience, want to read all this content. If I get more regular I may split the blog into two sites. Family, Faith and general observation -and- Work, Management, Tech and Design.
- Blogging everyday is not for me. I thought it would be easy as I am in front of a PC for 8+ hours daily, but content seems to be the limiter for me. If I have nothing to write about, I find it very hard to write.
- Did I become a better blogger? Well I guess I will let you decide, but I do know I renewed my desire to get my thoughts out of my head more often. Thanks for reading.

Stay tuned for the next post...

Haiku Wednesdays

2009-06-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

Ten after Ten Tonight
Won't end this day without a Fight!
Time to sleep, alright?

Haiku Wednesday

2009-05-27T22:35:00.000-07:00

Don't Know what to Blog.
Twenty Seven Days straight I wrote.
Content gone, mind blank.

I hate to admit when I am wrong.

2009-05-26T21:42:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I have been a fan of Costco and a opponent of Walmart. But when you shop online, most of my issues with Walmart disappear. I ordered a camp kitchen form Costco online the other day for what I thought was a great price with free shipping. At the prompting of friends that saw a "better" kitchen out there I did some searching. What I found was Walmart had the same kitchen for $20 cheaper and with site to store free shipping that equated to 25% off the Costco price. CASH IS KING, as much as I hate to say it, when comparing the exact same product, my store loyalty just fades. One good thing I will say about Costco is that they will accept online returns at the store without issue. So my question for you is what ideal do you try to hold true to, but when faced with clear logic, you just have to eat crow and let go of your ideals?

I guess it's fair that I return the kitchen. About 10 months ago I returned a 480p HDTV to Walmart when I found Costco had the same tv but with the 1080p resolution for $60 cheaper. I guess turnabout is fair play.

My New Desktop on My Computer.

2009-05-25T21:05:00.000-07:00

BMW is marketing their new Z4 Roadster in a unique way. Check out http://www.expressionofjoy.com/
As a work of marketing and art its pretty cool. but beyond that I really like the website. you can actually manipulate the completed canvas, rotate it and crop it into your own jpeg. I have done so and this is my new Desktop image for my computer.
It will help me to remember that while not everyone gets to drive a paint infused Z4 on a massive canvas for their job, at least I have a job I love and I will paint on the canvas I have with the brush I have been given.

BTW thanks to WIRED magazine who published the print ad that led me to the website.

A day late

2009-05-24T23:45:00.001-07:00

So I missed another blog yesterday, but give a guy a break because I was celebrating 11 years of marriage with my lovely wife. In honor of her and our 11 years of marriage I will share 11 things I love about her now, that I did not know then. (This is one of those blogs that is not about you the reader, it's about me. My apologies in advance.)

1. She is hands down the best mother my daughters could ever ask for.
2. She has more empathy for others than I could ever hope to obtain. She has shown me how to put your head and your heart in another shoes so well, so many times.
3. She has this weird sense of knowing when I am headed for trouble and is not afraid to warn me. She probably had this back while we were courting, but I am sure I had not made myself available for critique.
4. She knows how to keep me healthy, from buying, cooking and feeding me the right foods to encouraging me to read, run, or rest when I am too busy to see my needs myself.
5. She loves God more than me... Now maybe I knew this before, but I probably did not let myself see it.
6. It took making her my wife and lover, to fully understand how great of a best friend she really is.
7. One of her greatest joys is that she has made herself dependent on me while keeping my needs above hers. In the beginning she did not need me, but that is the crazy thing about love, you become needy as a individual so you can become whole as a couple. Man I think their is a faith lesson there somewhere.
8. She makes beautiful, healthy babies, who grow up to be daddy's girls. Hardly seems fair, but none the less I love it.
9. She has held true to our wedding vows to love me no matter what. Back then I naively hoped she would, these days I have a lot of data to conclude she will.
10. She is wise beyond her experience. I always knew she was quicker at the art of learning then me, college test scores proved that, but living life with her has helped me appreciate the wisdom that only God can give, if you only allow yourself to submit to his teaching.
11. If I am honest she has more influence over my attitude and contentment than I do over it myself.

I love you babe.
me

The Tax of Convenience

2009-05-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

Another of my goals for this "blog a day" experience is to write a
blog on my mobile device. So here I am I waiting to pick up my car at
the mechanic and blogging.
The question I'm pondering today is "how much is convenience and trust
worth?" I had to get new tires today and since my car was in the shop
for an oil change and new battery, I decided to let my mechanic give me a
quote on tires. I have to mention that I have gone through probably 5
mechanics in the past 5 years. I always struggle to find someone who
is close, reasonable in price and talks to me like I have a brain.
There are other factors too but it always seems like you give up one
for another. About 2 years ago I found Carl - www.carlscarcare.com and
I have not been disappointed. Its about 10 miles from the house so I
can ride my bike there and he can get me in for an oil change on a
days notice.
So back to the question at hand, the price of convenience. Did I mention I enjoy getting a
good deal, I even enjoy shopping for a good price as well, thanks Mom. So when Erin
pushed me to check another place our friends have never been able
to beat on price, I had to ask myself what it was worth to go/or not go price shopping. I did some internet comparisons and I am guessing I am going to pay a convenience tax of about $40 or 10% to buy my tires here at Carl's shop. Today it was worth my money. Not sure if that was the lazy decision or the intelligent decision, but I do know it was not the most monetarily economical decision.
You hear all these funny comments about convenience and money. "My time is worth more than that..." "I would rather pay an extra $5 not to have to go to the store..." "I would rather have a car payment than have to worry about my old car being in the shop..." I think these are just excuses, albeit valid excuses in some cases, for the decisions we make. I think that people who have to over qualify their decisions are not yet fully at peace with them. I got a great product at a good price and gave my money to a local business owner I trust. That's my story (err excuse) and I am sticking to it.
What "tax" have you paid for convenience?

***As a side note my attempt to post this via my blackberry failed. The post link would not work on my blackberry and I had to copy the text in the blog and email it to myself to keep from losing it. That is why the blog is a day late. I had to finish it at home on the computer.**

Haiku Wednesdays

2009-05-20T22:06:00.000-07:00

My day is ending.
Mind running on things not done.
tomorrow come quick.

Family Fun Night

2009-05-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

We started our weekly Family Fun Nights for the summer tonight. We ate dinner then loaded up the girls for Borders (I am not particular to any chain bookstore, I just happened to have a coupon for Borders) (on another note if you are ever around Northern and I-17 you should check out Bookmans, it is a really cool used books and media store.
Here were tonight's selections:
Amelia - "Little Miss Chatterbox" - very fitting
Emery - "Baby's First Words" - she likes the pictures, not reading quite yet.
Erin - Nothing. She practiced self control. She did pick up a Children atlas for the girls that was on sale.
Ian - "Five Minds for the Future" Never heard of it, don't know if it is good, but it looked interesting.

Total ~$24
We stopped by McDonald's on the way home for $.50 twist cones.

It was a good night.

IceRocket Blog Tracker

2009-05-18T20:48:00.001-07:00

I am just over half way done with my blog a day challenge for the month. One thing I set out to do when I started this was to find a good blog tracker so I could analyze what post were popular and how much traffic I get daily on the site. I have been using ICEROCKET.com's Blog Tracker and I really like it. You can get hits and visit data, referrers, geo-location, etc.
One thing I don't like about it is that you cant easily exclude traffic form your own PC, so it I am viewing my own blog and managing comments, etc. it see this a valid traffic as well.
If you are wondering my most popular posts are those that I used social networking to link to. Unfortunately the most popular post over the last 18 days has been a video I posted of some college kids playing bee r pong not some post where I had something deep and serious to share. If you are looking for a simple client to track traffic, I would endorse IceRocket. I think they also have a version where you can put adds on your site and based off rank you can get paid. here are some reports from the tool.

When you have Jesus on your side, anything is possible

2009-05-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

This is just crazy. If you have 3 minutes to kill yo have to watch this video. I'm pretty sure if these Nazarene college kids ever played Beer Pong, they would never have to deal with the moral struggle around drinking games and faith. They would never have to drink.
This is so Pong

What I have learnd about Blog Readers

2009-05-14T23:23:00.000-07:00

OK so my previous post, I did not intend to provide such high resolution images of the Dashboard/Road Map examples. Once I realized this I deleted the post and re-posted the blog with the correct, err preferred resolutions. What I did not realize is that blog aggregaters retain this deleted post for viewing. Does anyone know how to clear this from readers and aggregaters?

My 9-5 Gig

2009-05-14T23:18:00.000-07:00

I figured I would devote at least one blog of "all about me week" to what I do 9-5. I am a Director of Projects at a software company in Phoenix. It's a job I really enjoy because it is a good mix between managing a technical staff and organizing and presenting what that staff is doing to the rest of the company. Our team follows our own flavor of development methodology called Agile Software Methodology. This methodology requires a project management approach which is quick and nimble. I love this as I embrace change and collaboration. That said once I was acclimated to how we were delivering software I began to struggle how I could document, manage, report and forecast the fluid number of projects that we are constantly working (For those of you thinking right now that Microsoft Project is the perfect answer to this dilemma are no longer my friends).

On average we have roughly 16 projects across 4 teams with project time lines ranging anywhere between 1-6 weeks, completing at varying intervals. I first created a vary simple Queue in Excel that listed every project and its current status . This was great to search and sort the data, but it was horrible to see trends and look at future projections. On top of that it was not presentable at the executive level. So next I created a Dashboard for management meetings that captures a snapshot of the work we address last week, this week and next week (first figure below). My boss then added a road map for projects for the remainder of the year. The problem that we began to run into is that the road map was only as good as the knowledge and business need that existed when it was last edited. It was great for sales to sell against for future capability, but if today we got an opportunity to close new work at the expense of future enhancements yet prioritized, the road map needed to change. We determined that in our industry we could only really commit against the next 30 days worth of work. I came up with this 30 Day Road Map Prototype (second figure). It visually shows what was accomplished in the past, what is committed in the next 30 days and what is proposed, but clearly delineates between what is above the line (committed) and below the line, proposed. I presented the prototype today and though it still needs some work I am quite happy with it. It is clean, easy to manipulate and informative. Let em know your thoughts, though I know most of your are thinking, man that guys job has to be real boring. What you forget is that I work with people... people are never boring.
Sorry the docs are small, because this is development work, I cant really make the project names legible for obvious reasons. If you would like the templates I built for either of these just let me know and I can rem ove the content and share.

These are a few of my favorite things

2009-05-13T22:30:00.000-07:00

This may be a short blog because even though I love gadgets, I don't seem to find enough reason to part with my money to purchase them. That said I have a few favorite items that I use almost daily that I will share with you:
1. My Bicycles - Some might not think they are gadgets, but that's probably because you get your exercise from a game console. Both I bought used and both I feel like I stole. Fuji Roubaix Pro road bike and Santa Cruz Superlight Mountain Bike. (both links are for the newest models, but you can get the point)
2. My iPod - Just a plain ol' 30Gb video, but its the 30Gb of stuff I have on it that makes it better than yours.
3. My Garmin 305 - GPS/Heart Rate Monitor. Little chunky, but I am a big guys so it does not seem out of place.
4. JBL Creature II iPod/Computer speakers - These are in my office and I can drowned out my team if I need to, plus they look cool.
5. B&W Home Speakers - beautiful sound, that's all I will say. (again mine are old but still sound great)

That's it. I feel like the list is too short and maybe I need to go shopping.

Podcasts I listen to.

2009-05-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Each day I update my podcasts. I have a 35 minute commute to/from the office each day so I get quite a bit of listening in. A few months back I felt like I was getting in a rut so I have tried to remove/add a few podcasts to the list each month. Here is what I currently subscribe to:
- Andy Stanly Leadership Podcast - If you like Andy, this is about 10 minutes of one of his talks and 15 minutes of interactive interviewing of him on the subject. Thanks Scott.
- Ask A Ninja - If you like sarcasm and ninja's, this is the podcast for you.
- Celebrity Playlist podcast - OK I don't think celebrities know jack, but I like anything that gets new music in front of me. Last post was Franz Ferdinand.
- CNN/NYT Front Page/NPR News Summary - my 15 minutes of news.
- ESPN PTI - Erin hates it, says it two guys yelling at each other. I like it as its sports new with humor, problem is it is a day delayed.
- Grammar Girls' Quick and Dirty Tips to Better Writing - Laugh all you want, my grammar is improving.
- Harvard Business Ideacast - Good interviews about new business ideas.
- How things work - self explanatory
- iTunes New Music Tuesday - Again gets new music in front of me.
- Stuff you should know/Stuff Mom never told you - Both are hit an miss, but if they have an interesting subject on, they are very entertaining.
- TEDtalks - this is a re-airing of the Ted conferences. if you don't know TED, its pretty cool, Check it out.
- This week in Tech - Long, but good an informative.
- 1 Year Daily Audio Bible - I don't get it listened to each day, but on certain days when I need to just chill on the way home, its good to listen to God's word.
- 60 Second Science - it is what it is.

What podcast do you have to listen to daily?
In Keeping with my "all about me" week tomorrow I think I will review my favorite gadgets I own.

What I have been listening to

2009-05-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

About 5 years back I used to reject the idea of an ipod. My logic was that my whole music collection (300+ cds a the time) would not fit on one device so it did not make sense. Ipods have since grown up and so have I. I love that I have all my music at my fingertips and I have a car, home, office and clock radio jack for it now. So that said, its a little hard for me to detail everything I listen to, but I thought I would share the last ten Songs/Albums I added to my library. (I have left off the occasional Hanna Montana song I purchased for my daughter). I am also not one of those music snobs who thinks that popular music is for idiots. if I like the sound or the message I buy it, but really the Hanna Montana Stuff is for my daughters :)
10. Films About Ghosts: The Best Of Counting Crows - Album - I picked this up at a garage sale.
9. Songs From An American Movie Vol. 1: Learning How To Smile; Everclear - Album - Same garage sale.
8. Sex On Fire; Kings of Leon - I am about ready to buy their whole album, I love their sound.
7. Dead and Gone; T.I.
6. No Line On The Horizon; U2 - I got this for $3.99 from Yahoo music, felt like I was stealing from the biggest band on the planet.
5. Innocence & Instinct; Red - If you have never heard of them, you need to check them out.
4. Revelation; Third Day
3. Live Your Life; T.I.
2. Jesus Messiah; Chris Tomlin
1. Give Me Your Eyes; Brandon Heath

Tomorrow. podcasts I download and listen to each day.

What I Have Been Reading

2009-05-10T20:52:00.000-07:00

I am officially calling this "all about me week." Short of other ideas to blog on I thought I would share with the world a couple of things about me. So we will start off the week with what I am reading. I will let you in a on a little secret, I love learning, I despise reading. It's mostly because I am so slow at it. Never the less, here is my list.
Books:
- Positively False: The Real Story of How I Won the Tour de France by Floyd Landis; Erin Picked this up for me at the Dollar Store, I read it all the way and back from Africa
- Leadership in the Era of Economic Uncertainty: The New Rules for Getting the Right Things Done in Difficult Times by Ram Charan; My boss asked that the management team read this. Its a good quick read even for me and it asks some real good questions for leaders in tough times.
- My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers; My current daily devotional book. Don't try to fly through this devotional, it will slow you down and force your to think. I love it.
- One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn - Dad and I found this in a used book store over Christmas. If you are having a hard time with your circumstances, you have to read this book. Perspective.
Magazines:
- Wired
- Bicycling
Blogs: (outside my friends and relatives blogs which are all enlightening, these I read often)
- How to Change the World - http://blog.guykawasaki.com/
- Seth Godin's Blog - http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/
Websites:
- My new favorite is Alltop - http://alltop.com/ - Alltop is an “online magazine rack” of popular topics. info overload.
- ESPN

I have a long list of items queued up I would like to read, but I plan on living a long life to complete that list.
Tomorrow, what I am listening to.

Summer Fun

2009-05-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday I did not blog so I am going to have to double up today. I thought I would share what I am doing for Erin for Mothers Day. She is a "Quality Time" person so its all about family time. At the end of each summer I get frustrated that 3 months have gone by and our family really has not taken advantage of our down time. I have also found that if we don't drive our calendar, our calendar drives us... CRAZY. So I am sitting down with Erin today and either scheduling a Date or a Family Fun Night for each week of summer. I plan on using the money we save with Amelia being out of Preschool to fund it all. I am not planning them all now, just getting them placed on the calendar. This way our family takes precedence over random hijacks of our time. I with Amelia heading off to Kindergarten next year I want to create some memories over the summer. Hope it works.

Inequitable Justice

2009-05-08T21:51:00.000-07:00

The Tour De France is a little over a month away, and already my blood is starting to boil over the almost certain possibly of me having to listen to the press mull over the prevalence of drugs in cycling.

Meanwhile 24 hours after Manny got a 50 game suspension for using a banned substance the story is not even atop the headline news on ESPN. Baseball has a "Steroid Era", but we dismiss it because it's America's pastime. In 50 games, Manny will have his paycheck back, his life back and his Hall of Fame Career back.

In January, 2 years after his ban from cycling (not for a positive drug test, but for a unusual testosterone balance in his system) Floyd Landis returned to cycling. He did not get to keep Tour Victory or his job, he did not get his paycheck back and the only job he can get is for a non ProTour team like OUCH Cycling.

I am not saying that Floyd did not cheat, but for some odd reason we want to condemn the sport of cycling because its public struggles with drugs, but and asterisk will suffice to address an underground issue in baseball that has touched its biggest stars for the past ten years.

Dad used to say life is not fair and I tend to agree with him, but I wonder how many things I place judgment against because my tradition or my preference cloud my judgment. Too many to count. Don't worry though, we live in the "self-centered era" most people will quickly forget about our mis-judgments as long as we are entertaining.

"For what I do is not the good I want to do"

2009-05-07T23:30:00.000-07:00

So its day 7 in my "blog for thirty days" experiment and it's 11:32PM. What this might tell you is that seven days into this, I have not yet formed a habit of blogging amidst my daily routine. I am currently in the "squeeze it in at the last minute because I said I would" phase.
Maybe its because Erin and I watched "Yes Man" tonight, or maybe its not, but man there are a lot of things I find myself doing daily that I am not sure I want to be doing... They all have their "justifiable reasons" but if you ask me honestly I just would rather not be doing them. So in honor of blog #7 I will give you a rundown on the 7 things I did today that I wished I did not.

7. I had to let my neighbors dog out at 9PM. You might say that's not too bad, but with most things there is another layer. I had to let their dog out because they were at the hospital with their 6 week old. The dog is just a reminder of their pain. I am praying for you guys.
6. I had to call some friends we have not hung out with in a long time to cancel dinner tomorrow. Erin is sick and we all need a night to chill, again right decision, still unhappy.
5. I had to go 5 miles out of my way to the only Walgreen s in the North valley with Tamiflu because CNN and Fox News had to over hype the Swine Flu and because people freak out!
4. I had to buy my wife a chocolate shake instead of a Oreo McFlurry, because McDonald's was out if ice cream. This was frustrating, but actually the more frustrating thing I had to do is force myself not to ask the poor kid how they can make shakes without ice cream? Kid only makes $7/hour he should not have to deal with my questions.
3. I lost my patience with my daughter. She is 5 and often I cut her little slack, especially when she pushes me. Problem is the push back is a learned response from her father.
2. I shaved. I hate shaving.
1. I slept in. Call me crazy, but if I do not get up for when my alarm is set, I feel as if I am catching up all day.

Haiku Wednesdays

2009-05-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

Mom is sick and lame.
World keeps spinning, we stand still.
Want mom back now! Please

In Honor of Cinco de Mayo

2009-05-05T21:45:00.000-07:00

So I have been thinking of the most "Mexican" post I can write today in honor of a holiday that has nothing to do with us white Americans.
Last February I had the pleasure of giving up a weekend to build a home for a great family in Puerto Penasco MX. Erin and I really connected with them so we took that girls back down there last month to visit and check in to see how they were getting by in their new home. The trip was great, filled with life lessons, but one struck me in its stark contrast to the instantly gratified society we live in up in AZ. My parents had brought some store bought gifts for the kids of the family in February. The eldest daughter Liz-bet was given a makeup kit. When we visited in March I noticed it was hanging on the wall, within her reach, still store wrapped. When we asked Jesus and Marlin, why she had not opened it, they told us a very humbling truth. They often don't get gifts for their birthday's so when they get a random gift, as she did, they often hang them on the wall and don't open them until their birthday. It gives them hope and makes the days quicken as their birthday approaches.
Man, what American has the will power to forgo instant gratification for future joy and hope, especially when they have to stare their desires in the face daily. We do a lot of things right in the states, but unfortunately we have so much more to learn about self control. That day a 7 year old took me to school.

LIVESTRONG

2009-05-04T22:43:00.000-07:00

My birthday was last month and I was blessed with a couple of LIVESTRONG clothing items (the stuff costs too much for me to buy it myself or else I would wear it every day). I love the LIVESTRONG brand for its design and style, what it stands for and how it is marketed.
Thinking back over last year, the arrogant side of me wants to think you are all saying "that fits" for the year he and his family just went through. If I am honest with myself and all of you, our personal life last year should more appropriately have been labeled LEARNSTRONG. God did an amazing work within us, taking us to a place of dependence only to then restore us to the new normal he desired. Most of the year did not resemble strength, but perseverance. That said, I do think my birthday gifts are more of an anthem for the Long household in 2009. I believe God did a deliberate work in us to get us to a stronger place so that we may begin living even more In Him.

"I believe in life, my life.
I believe in living every minute of it with every ounce of my being.
...I believe in energy, channeled and fierce.
I believe in focus, getting smart and living strong.
... knowledge is power, attitude is everything..."

I took the liberty to paraphrase a bit from their motto, but if that is not the anthem of your life when you wake up, why wake up. Especially if you believe in Jesus. Look at his ministry and life, cast that against the quote above and tell me he did not embody in every way what the author of that mantra meant.

If we are to be like Christ, then I want to LIVESTRONG and I thank God he took me to a place a vulnerability and weakness to build in me that desire to want to be STRONG in him. If you know me, hold me in check.

Who's Chasing?

2009-05-02T07:13:00.001-07:00

"Ain't no time two people staring at each other, or standing still, loving both with their eyes are equal. Truth is, someone is chasing someone. That's the way we's built. So, who's chasing?"
Erin and I got around to watching the latest M. Night Shyamalan movie Friday night, The Happening. The above quote was said by the spooky, seclusive backwoods lady in the movie. Despite the chill her character gave off, I loved this quote. Not in the the context of the characters in the movie, one character moving away from a relationship and one moving towards it. But it made me think of the give and take of Erin's and my relationship. We are never equals, especially when it comes to expressing our love for each other. Some days I am a dog to live with and she chases me with all her heart. Other days she is overwhelmed with life and I pursue her with relentless focus. At times I know each of us tire from the chase. As soon as we let ourselves get selfish and expect to be the one always pursued, the systems falls down, it will never be equal, it will never be fair. But when we put each others needs first it sure can be fun and I must say I enjoy the chase.
It may be day by day or moment by moment in your relationship, but I challenge you to stop and think who's doing the chasing. If you truly love the one your with, I will bet one of two things will happen as you think. You may smile as you enjoy the thought of being chased or you may add to your resolve to be successful in the chase by just reading this.
So Who's Chasing?

Bill Gates Basement

2009-05-01T06:56:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been reading some thing or listening to a friend and some thing they say just does not add up as you are hearing/reading it. I mean as you hear it you know its the truth, but the context and the delivery just seem a little bit out of place.
I was reading the lead story in Costco Connection the other day (don't make fun, I know it's not the Economist, but it has some decent articles) about Bill Gates Sr. impressions of his son. The article is quite good, and discusses the environment Bill Jr. grew up in and how it eventually helped him decide to start their foundation. But as I read I had one of those moments where I believe the intent of the writer, just did not resonate with my reality. In speaking of the beginnings of the $27 Billion dollar foundation, it quoted Bill Gates Sr. as being "summoned out of retirement to start his sons foundation, which he operated out of his basement in the first years." Now I think what the writer was trying to convey is that Bill came out of retirement and humbly started to manage his sons foundation. But what is going through my head is "I wonder how big Bill Gates Sr. basement is?" I bet it is furnished :)
It made me think how many things I say daily that are the truth, but to those around me not living in my circumstances it all just seems not to add up. Like when I say I can't afford something, or that I am really hungry or that I don't fell well. My life taken by itself has many truths, but taken from a far, from a global view those truths just seem like nonsense.
What reality are you currently living in that if viewed with a larger perspective change how you see them. I warn you, perspective is scary.

Chicken Skin

2009-05-01T06:54:00.000-07:00

I was reading my friend Bryce's blog this week about the idea of Wonder & Awe and the fact that as humanity figures everything out and our lives become so crowded we lose our sense of wonder.

That got me thinking when is the last time I got goose bumps. Fortunately I don't have to think too far back. My family recently had the opportunity to visit some close friends of ours living in Northern Africa. While there I attended a church service where locals belted out old gospel tunes to the beat of a synthesized drum set, a electric guitar and a bongo drum. The church is in the heart of town, just a few meters off the street and if you were within a block of the church you could hear the praise and worship. Even though I did not understand the words to the song, and I was only an observer to their worship, the event had an effect on me. How do i know? I got goosebumps, well at least that was the first and most obvious reason I knew it was effecting me on a heart level.
Dictionary.com defines goosebump as "a reflex erection of hairs of the skin in response to cold or emotional stress or skin irritation." Not necessary my interpretation. For a guy who does not typically exhibit a ton of outward emotion, I think goosebumps are God's gift to tell us something awe inspiring is happening.

Thanks Bryce for reminding me seek awe in a over analyzed world.
Thanks Jon for living is a place and in a way that inspires wonder.

30 Days to Become a Better Blogger

2009-05-01T06:35:00.000-07:00

I love exercise. I love the way your thighs wince ascending stairs after a long ride and I love the way your lungs burn after a hard run. Most of all I love the balance exercise adds to my attempt to be healthy in all aspects of my life. That said, without a goal in mind, I am not the best at motivating myself past more than an average effort when working out. Also unfortunately the way I work, some internal, personal promise I make with myself typically does not do the trick as far as goals go. I have found the best way for me to stay in shape is sign up for a race, that is a goal that motivates me. Its not public humility I fear, its the disappointment I feel when I don't show up prepared for something I committed to.
The last few months I have been waxing over the fact that I enjoy writing and reading blogs. Some for entertainment, some for knowledge gain and some out of morbid curiosity, but for some reason I have not been motivated to get back to blogging. Well my self-reflective nature tells me maybe I need to transpose my workout motivational method unto blogging. So here it is, I plan to attempt to blog, each day, for the month of May in hopes a better blogger comes out the other end. I can't commit the content will be any good nor the writing, but I plan on succeeding. So check back soon, there might be something worth reading.
In case your wondering, yes, I am considering this to count as my blog for today.

Today

2008-12-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Today
the headlines form my news tab on iGoogle, ...Employers cut 533K jobs in Nov., most in 34 years...Frank Sees ‘Disaster’ if Auto Industry Fails...Economix: Workers Give Up...Unemployment Funds Running Dry in California...Bernanke: Foreclosure Trend Needs To Stop...A round of more than 20,000 layoffs announced Thursday by AT&T Inc., DuPont, Viacom Inc. and Swiss bank Credit Suisse Group suggests a yearlong wave of job cuts is accelerating...Big Three CEOs on Capitol Hill for fourth time in two weeks as they beg for 11th hour help to stave off bankruptcies....New Details Emerging on Tragedy in Mumbai...Thailand Protests Subside, Sense of Uncertainty Remains...
Today
the headlines from my life, I have a job...my wife and girls are safe...my government stable...my mortgage payable...my health good...my car running...

With all the noise its sometimes hard to hear the still small voice of God saying I am with you always. Take a moment, be quiet and see how good He is.

I am only as close to people as I am close to them

2008-11-20T22:05:00.000-08:00

I picked up a facebook account about 2 months ago. My reason for getting one is about as good as my reason for not getting one for all these years, I have no legitimate reason. Regardless it has brought to my attention something that has been bothering me for a while now. Why is it that the further you live life from someone, the harder it is to remain close to them? If I am honest there are only about 5-7 friends that no longer live near me that I really desire to be close to. The horrible thing is each time I speak to them I feel guilty because I know more about the lives of acquaintances who live near me then I do about the lives of these close friends. I will admit, you can cheat this "law of proximity", but I will argue the point with anyone who does not agree it takes considerable more effort.

In a world with all these tools, endless different mediums to communicate over and through, it should be easy, right?

When the only thing that changes in a friendship is the physical location of that friend, why does it become so hard to connect and maintain?

Back to facebook, since joining I have connected with 130 "friends" and its growing exponentially. I have to be careful how a say this, but I now waste good time chasing after updates of people who I once shared experiences with me but never shared life with. In the same moment I pretend that reading a status updates or chatting with a close friend online can actually be considered investing in the relationship. I don't mind the simple and casual knowledge sharing that comes from social networking and I can actually see the benefit of it, but I am struggling with not letting it cheapen the real conversation I need to have with the people I love and care for. When I figure it out, I will post it on my wall for all my "friends" to read.

As always, none of my ideas are new. As soon as I get an idea, I open a magazine and realize someone has not only beat me to the thought, but they have published it. If any of the above resonated with you, you should check out Scott Brown's article in the November issue of Wired. Facebook Friendonomics. Three quick quotes from the article I will leave you with.

" I'm Friend-rich—at least onscreen. I've never lost touch with anyone, it seems. What I've lost is the right to lose touch."
"Friends are the currency of the socially networked world; therefore, it follows that more equals better. But the more Friends you have, the less they're worth—and, more to the point, the less human they are."
"Friending has subsumed the ol' Rolodex. Granted, it's often convenient to have all of your contacts under one roof. But the great thing about the Rolodex was that it never talked back"

Does anyone want to still be my friend after all this?

I Love Targeted Marketing

2008-11-11T08:44:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went to a Job Fair at a Glendale Hotel. The fair was decent and I gleaned some good information from a couple companies. After returning to the parking lot I noticed I had a business card sized advertisement on my windshield. It read "Stop paying too much for COBRA." Now I am not a big fan of people who prey on parked cars with litter and I can honestly say I have never bought a product or service peddled this way, but I did like the ingenuity of this company. Someone in their marketing department hatched the brain child that unemployed people use COBRA and they also go to job fairs (not brilliant, but if it was a universal idea, I would have had 20 fliers on my car). Don't get me wrong, the card is now in the trash, but I would much rather have someone try to sell me something that pertains to my current life then advertising shotgun style like TV and Radio adds do. Have you experienced targeted marketing good or bad?

I Voted...It Hurt My Brain

2008-11-01T14:08:00.000-07:00

So Erin and I Voted last week. I consider us intelligent people, maybe even above average, if I can say that and still sound humble. But man, voting was a chore. Obviously when voting for the office of president, judges, city offices, etc this is pretty straight forward if you have followed the candidates. But when it comes to propositions it can get ugly. Seriously we sat there for an hour reading the non-partisan pamphlets, and there were times after considerable review we were still lost on whether no meant yes, or yes meant no? I only say this to make two points. One, I could never vote at a polling place. I would take way too much time and the officials would get annoyed because Erin and I would insist on being behind the curtain together. Second if I am honest, I am not sure how someone without a quality education or a strong mind does it. What do you think?

Job Search Sucess

2008-10-24T21:53:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest question I am wrestling with, How does one determine success in a job search? I know, I know for all quick witted ones in the room, it's when you get a job. That's great, but how do I and the other 6 in every 100 people out there that are still looking for employment evaluate our efforts as successful, stalled or ineffective mid search?

I started casually searching in April, ramped my search in May and was fully engaged by June of this year. My retention agreement with my previous employer was set to be up at the end of August and When July rolled around I started asking myself, why don't you have a job yet? I mean if you would have asked me 6 months ago if I could find good work within 3 months, without hesitation I would have said yes. Well sitting in mid July I had to humble myself first and then ask am I doing all that I can to be successful.

If you know me you know I am a analytical guy, so naturally the first thing I tried to do is to pull some metrics out of my search. I looked at my notes from the past few months and I noticed about 5 identifiers I was already tracking, I just was not looking at their trends and values over time. These 5 items were; Number of applications submitted, Number of network connections made, Number of conversations related to employment, number of interviews and number of Job offers. SO with my new metrics in hand I back tracked for the past few months and start tracking forward. Into August I started to dig into the data and you know what I found... nothing other than a measure of what I did this week compared to last. So we are back to the beginning. We know how a successful search ends, but we still are lost on how to get a bead on our success potential or probability mid search. So I turned to my friends and the online community. I asked people to critique my search effort, I read blogs on how to jump start stalled searches, I read articles on the typical downfalls of the common job search, I read news about how the economy and the election, among others, was making the climate real hard to get work, I listened to podcasts that said technology should be unaffected. In the end, some of the info was informative, but it did not give me a sense of whether or not I was on the right track.

For now, I take each week as a micro search and ask myself at weeks end, "am I any closer to a job or further down the road of knowing exactly what I want to do than I was 7 days ago?" If the answer is a yes, then I am at peace with whatever transpired the last 7 days. If the answer is no then I have the weekend to figure out what I will change next week to get back to forward progress. In the end, I know the process and time line will all make sense, so I wait. Once I am on the other side of this, I would love to document my process and bundle it up in some self help tutorial for everyone, but unfortunately it would be worthless as it would be about me, and you are not me.

My biggest piece of advice is to periodically find a way to subjectively review your search, be at peace with your efforts daily and find stretch goals the neither make sense or are comfortable for you. What's your advice to stay positive and engaged during any challenge that is historically defined by its endpoint? I would love to hear form you.

BumpTop Beta 14

2008-10-24T21:22:00.001-07:00

After about a year, my request for a beta version of BumpTop was accepted. If you remember I blogged back in July about the 3D physics based desktop program. So far so good. I have been playing around with it this afternoon and I am quite pleased. Only issue I ran into was it tweaked my wife's desktop until I rebooted my machine.
After messing with it I do see two options for its use. One as a toy and a visually fun interface for my standard desktop. Or two, using it to completely re engineer my computing processes and change how interact with files, pictures, notes, etc. Using the BumpTop to be more efficient and, lets face it, more stylish at the same time.
I will keep messing with it and let you know what comes about. Sorry, the only way I know how to get more beta codes is to design a new theme and get BumpTop to add it to its gallery, I am not quite there yet. A pic of my current desktop is below.

The Unemployment Blog

2008-10-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Today I pulled out the first installment of my unemployment, roughly $200 from a cash machine at Costco. For a self proclaimed ignoramus about everything to do with unemployment I thought I would share what I have learned with all of you.
First, eligibility? To be honest with you before I had to lay my own employees off, I had no idea white collar professionals were eligible for these types of benefits. I not sure how eligibility works state to state, but in Arizona eligibility is based of wages earned in Arizona and the reason for separation from the last employer (i.e. being laid off). In addition to this to maintain eligibility you need to be able to work, available for work and seeking full-time employment during the unemployment period.
Second, Where does the money come from? basically unemployment benefits are paid through state unemployment taxes (paid by your employer), while the federal unemployment tax (FUTA) funds the administrative costs of the program.
Third, How do you Apply? Short of reading the volumes of information on the Department of Economic Security's website, the easiest thing I found to do is just apply. Erin did some research before I was laid off officially, but basically what we determined is as soon as you are unemployed you should apply. The digital revolution has made this incredibly easy (the DES website is a bit of a speed bump {classic government site, all function, not too much form}, but its better than going down to the unemployment office each week). The online application took me a bout 30 minutes to complete and I need to have all the details of my compensation, severance and completion of employment. In my case because of my severance, the application could not be immediately approved online, a letter needed to be sent to the house and I had to re-answer all the same questions as on the online in addition to sending a copy of my severance agreement. At that point my application work was done and now I wait...
Forth, Filing? You file weekly online. Answer 4 quick questions about if you are actively looking, available to work, able to work and if you have refused any work. They ask you to confirm it 3 times and that is it. you check back the next day to see if you get paid. So after being ineligible for 4 weeks due to my severance and having to wait a week for the "waiting period" (which we did not know about because I did not read the excessively long "Guide to Arizona Unemployment Insurance Benefits") we found out are account was credited with $214 (after taxes) this week.
Fifth, Payment? Honestly this is the one thing I think is pretty cool about the process. The DES has set it up that you get a Debit Card for your payments. So on Monday when the weekly filing was accepted, my DES debit card (that works at Costco among a number of other locations near us) was credited with $214 and today that became $214 in my pocket. I have about $6,000 of eligibility (I have no idea where this number was derived from) so if I am still unemployed after 6months of weekly payments, there will be no more payments.

All in all, I count this as free money, because as recent as a year ago I did not even realize I had this benefit. Man what a year and a lot of perspective will do for you. If you have more questions let me know.

I am going to read that someday.

2008-09-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

I have this stack of Wired magazines in my office, nearly 4+ years of monthly issues. I guess I am saving them for that time a friend is over and asks what the pulse of the high tech gadget industry was in 2005. Sad, but they look so cool up there with their multicolored zebra like spines.
My current frustration is that I cant seem to get the magazines I subscribe to read before their new monthly replacements arrive (and can anyone tell me why I get the November issue in September?). So they start to pile up and I get more and more frustrated and more and more behind. In order to curb this behavior I have decided that as soon as I get a new issue of one of my subscriptions, the old one gets recycled. To kick off the process, I decided to recycle the current stash of Wired mags as well. it was a bit hard to dump them all, but it felt freeing. What do you have in your life that holds some current interest, but is not enough of a priority to address right now and because of this its piling up?

For those interested I subscribe to 4 publications; Wired, FastCompany, Bicycling/Mountain Bike and Consumer Reports. I try to read them all cover to cover, because I really enjoy them all but I may need to be a bit more selective or noting will be read.

Working on my Handshake.

2008-09-26T10:00:00.000-07:00

It appears that "a good smile and a smart appearance may be key tactics for job seekers but they mean nothing when compared to a well-delivered handshake, a new study claims."

So being knee deep in a job search I am starting to work on my handshake!

Seriously, is it not enough that a candidate be qualified and personable.
I have to admit I am kinda split on this idea that a person can be judged within a moment of seeing them and the first handshake. I have witnessed this truth play out in my own life, both in business and personally, but it just makes me sick that we are so quick to judge and are so superficial. I am thankful that I was raised in an environment that taught me to be comfortable in my own skin and sure of my own identity. But where do those who have never been taught self worth and confidence get it if each handshake they give and each smile they crack are met with rejection. Worst of all, when we are rejected, it seems the one doing the rejecting is often not honest with us. I have never heard a candidate for a job mention to me that he did not get the job because his dead fish handshake was not up to par. I find myself taking pride in snap judgments that turn out correct, but I am all too quick to forget those that were misplaced and just plain arrogant and wrong.
I think one of the best ways to slow the practice of snap judgment is to put yourself in their shoes, its not a perfect approach, but its a lot harder to judge someone when you are looking through their eyes.
For just a moment, imagine you were Christ. Each conversation, each interaction, he knew the heart of every man and could have judged them on the spot, but he let his love and compassion rule and he changed the world doing it.

Payson Stampede

2008-09-25T22:06:00.001-07:00

Once or twice a year I embark on a bit of a wacky journey. Myself and about 15-20 other friends head to Payson, AZ to compete is a 24 hour mountain bike race. For those of you wondering what the heck that is, it is a test of physical and mental endurance camping under the stars. Basically a mountain bike race of 24 hours over a prescribed loop with a team or solo competition. The winner is the individual/team who completes the most number of loops in 24 hours. If you are scratching your head right now, yes we ride in the dark, it's fun, in a creepy kinda way.

This years race was not a walk in the park. average daily temps in the 90's, 9 Miles in length, 1366ft of climbing at 5000ft of elevation. You can see the elevation chart below, it was a bit "climby". This site will host the 2009 and 2010 NORBA National 24 hour Mountain Bike Championships, so the race should be flooded with great riders next year.

Our group, centered around the edge ministry at our church, brought 4-4 man teams and a killer pit crew. My team completed 20 laps/180 miles in about 22 hours. I logged 5 of those laps and was lucky enough to do the starting sprint. Funny thing is that I got 3rd in the sprint, but took my sweet time getting on the course so the pros could get ahead of me. Just to put things in perspective, the pros ride solo, and this years male winner I believe did about 21 laps himself (190+ Miles) and he quit with six hours remaining.

I have added a short video for your pleasure, it does not do the experience justice, but is a good window into the weekend. The thing I love most about this race, is that it is a community experience. Most races you show up, race and go home within in about 4 hours. This race you show up 24 hours early, camp, hang out and just enjoy the mutual insanity for about 48+ hours.

If you are ever interested in doing a race of this type, please let me know. We had one rider in from San Fran (thanks Mike) this year, so don't blow off the offer if you are from out of state. We have two more planned soon, McDowell in Oct and Tucson in February. Enjoy the video and hope to see you on the trails.

Top Ten Things To Do Once I am Unemployed.

2008-08-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

1. File for unemployment – I had a bit of a paradigm sift here, I thought only blue collar workers had this benefit, no offense to the blue collar worker, fact is I am the ignorant one. Needless to say, if the government will subsidize my unemployment, I will take it. Don’t worry I definitely will blog about this experience.
2. Find a job – Obvious I know, and I am sure you’re asking why it’s not #1, well the unemployment process is very laid out and time dependent (thanks Erin for doing the research). Find a job is a bit more ambiguous.
3. Rework my personal disciple around quiet time with God. My goal here is not to pile on prayer and studying so when life picks back up I have squirreled away enough quality time to carry me forward, but to build a manageable habit and routine that is sustainable indefinitely. Not sure what that looks like yet, but its project #3
4. Enjoy my family – You know in a typical work day I see my girls 3 hours, My wife 6 hours. Not 3 or 6 hours of attention, just hours of my presence. These are the most important relationships in my life and our cultural standard is to give them 20% of our waking life, pathetic and yet deemed acceptable.
5. Hang out with dynamic, entertaining and insightful friends and mentors - One thing the retention period has given me is a more flexible schedule. I have used this to have coffee and lunch with some great people (you know who you rare). I have absolutely loved this time and plan on continuing it, I just might have to pack a lunch!
6. Make some memories and honor my wife and girls – you might say this is the same thing as #4, but in reality it’s completely different. #4 is all about just doing life together. This is about making memories. We will start the process with 7 days a Disneyland the first of September.
7. Serve outside my normal capacity – One thing I have more than anything at this stage is time. Not sure for how long I will have it, but I am going to not try and waste it. I am not sure what this looks like yet and in what area, but I plan on giving some of that time God gave me back to him in one way or another.
8. Read – Quite simply finish the 4 books I have started but not completed on my shelf and actually get a magazine read before the next issue arrives.
9. Find some time to crawl inside my head and disappear. This might require a solo camping trip or long hike up mount Humphreys, not sure but in order to be honest with myself I think I will need to create some space and quiet in my head/life.
10. Open Slot – Far be it for me to assume I actually know how I am going to handle a few months off work, so I am leaving my options open. If you have suggestions please let me know.

Job Hunt.

2008-08-07T13:26:00.001-07:00

As you most know I am looking for a new job. So as I was reviewing the job board on Monster today, I found 3 positions that I had previously applied/interviewed for re-posted! What do you suppose I should deduce from this?

Best $40 inventsment I ever made.

2008-08-07T09:51:00.000-07:00

I will put my sarcastic nature aside and let you be the judge on this one. The folks at youvebeenleftbehind.com have created a service where believers can arrange for up to 62 people to get a final message from you via email exactly six days after the Rapture. I am guessing that most of those people will be too busy flipping out to read your email, but at least you be able to properly enjoy the presence of God knowing you had one final opportunity to tell those you loved what was important. I cant really do the site or the service justice explaining it here, so check it out.

Cuil

2008-07-29T23:51:00.000-07:00

Cuil - pronounced COOL is a new search site I have been checking out. By their own PR, "Cuil searches more pages on the Web than anyone else—three times as many as Google and ten times as many as Microsoft." They also don't collect data about their users, they believe analyzing the web for data is a more useful approach than to analyze its users, so you privacy buffs out there take heed. Its interesting to note that half of their top management are ex-Googlers. I am still looking for a search engine that actually has any information about me. Cuil did not succeed, but its still pretty Cool.

WorkFast.TV and Jott

2008-07-29T23:32:00.000-07:00

WorkFast.TV is a podcast I have been listening to for a few months now. Just recently I heard a great interview with Matt Rissell, CEO of TSheets. To be honest I had no idea who the guy was before the podcast, but he had some real interesting things to say about the tools highly productive people use to succeed. The premis of the discussion is that Tools don't really matter, but there are common "rules" that goveren sucessfull people. Funny thing is the podcast introduced me to a tool I have been messing with for a few weeks. jott.com. Jott converts your voice into emails, text messages, reminders, lists and appointments. I have been using it as a list service to capture short todo items when a pen and paper are not so handy, like while driving. Plus its free. I will le tyou know how I am fully using it once I get up to speed.

Zillow

2008-07-28T17:44:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine introduced me to Zillow this weekend as we were mountain biking near Vistancia. Zillow, started by the guys who brought us Expedia.com, offers residential property valuations based on tax assessments. It does this by letting you fly over communities and properties with a map based UI. Its an interesting site if you want to get a general feel for what your house is worth in this nutty market. To be honest if I wanted a real comp, I would talk to my Realtor, but for a quick peek Zillow works well. The site has a number of other market based tools as well. So if you want another reason not to sell your house, check it out.

Duplicity

2008-07-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

The Tour De France came to a close yesterday and I feel as if I need to comment on my position about cycling and doping as I did a month ago. I would just like to make two points. First, 4 riders tested positive during the competition this year. That is 2% of the population that rode the Tour, not nearly an considerable proportion of the riders. Second, moments after the race was finished, before any interviews, before the podium ceremony, or anything for that matter. The top ten or so finishers in the race were ushered to a tent surrounded by media to piss in a cup. Just ask yourself this, how would the fan base of the NFL take it if directly after the Giants won their Superbowl, before the confetti dropped, before the Lombardi trophy was presented, everyone had to stop and wait for Strahan, Manning and Burress to go into the locker room and provide a sample. The Fans would not accept it, but cycling has a doping problem. We live in a world of double standards, I can accept that, but what I can not accept is the fact that people ignore that they exist. Sport is a pretty comfortable place to call them like we see them. Our day to day lives, work, home and churches are not so easy a place to be honest about duplicity. So congratulations Carlos Sastre an riding a clean race, I hope you dont have to give a sample before your parade back home in Spain.

Pattypan squash

2008-07-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would say my wife is a great cook. Last week we joined this local produce co-op where you get a random sampling of great produce for ~$20. This week we got the normal fair of tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, etc. but in addition to this we got pattypan squash. If you don't know what it is, it looks like a elephant sat on a softball. Long story short, it was phenomenal, I am sure it had almost everything to do with its preparation. If you know me you know I love to eat. Thanks babe for making it easy.

iPod Cash

2008-07-17T14:12:00.000-07:00

This afternoon I received an email that Evergreen Electronics deposited $28 into my Paypal account. How? You ask me.
I can't recall from where, but somewhere recently I heard that Evergreen Electronics will recycle your working or broken iPod for a cash payment. This was highly applicable to me because I have a 4th gen iPod taking up space in a junk drawer. A year ago I got the "sad face folder" icon on my iPod, All my research said it was not worth me paying for it to be fixed, I should just upgrade to a Video. So I did and subsequently stashed my old one away for a day like today.
Today if you go on the Evergreen site, you will see that they will give you up to about $15 for a broken iPod. I was quite happy to find this out, that $15 more dollars to spend on iTunes. But the real joy I found on the site was the link to http://www.irepairguide.com/forums.html. I already felt lucky so I thought I would check to see what they said about my current error. Crazy enough, I found numerous postings that said if you took the drive out of its case, whacked it a couple of times on your hands and placed it back, the iPod would be fixed. I had nothing to lose, my iPod was worth $15 in its already sad state, so I gave it a whirl. Sure enough the thing came back to life.
Are you wondering how much Evergreen will give you for a working 4th generation 20gig iPod. $28! Check it out if you have a iPod taking up space somewhere. Also check out the repair site.

Life without _________.

2008-07-15T09:50:00.000-07:00

Reading a post on Digg about "The Truth About Plastics" got me thinking. Honestly the whole clean (good for you) and green (good for mother nature) kick intrigues me on a lot of levels. But what really struck me in the article was the link to Jeanne Haegele blog, lifelessplastic.blogspot.com . Jeanne is making an attempt to remove plastic from her life. Two interesting things from her blog that I noticed. One, once she started looking, plastics are in everything (clothes, Aluminum soda cans, etc) and two, once she started removing it form her life she started reaping unforeseen benefits from the change (eating healthier and saving money).
My reflection morally and spiritually on this has me asking what could my life benefit from being without...greed, lust, arrogance. I guess instead of looking at it as a ongoing process , like Jeanne, I try to eradicate these things at a single point in time and fail. I'm thinking if I slowed down my daily journey and began the simple process of identifying the sources of greed in my life. I bet my experience would not be all too different from hers. I would undoubtedly be surprised at all the places greed hides in me and I bet I would be the beneficiary of some unexpected perks of a "lifelessgreed." What could you live without?
On a side note, Erin and I started using stainless steel water bottles a few months ago (Klean Kanteen). Erin is our family's ambassador of health, and for that a am very grateful. I cant say I feel more healthy lowering my BPA levels with these bottles, but I can tell you there is a significant taste difference in moving to Stainless Steel and was worth the investment. Water from our RO system, consumed out of these bottles tastes like nothing, which is exactly how I like it.

My Kind of Vending Machine.

2008-07-09T16:23:00.000-07:00

Looks like trek is piloting a vending machine for bicycle parts. I think it is a really cool idea for metropolitan areas. Take a close look at the pictures, not only does it vend parts, but it has compressed air and a work stand for repairs. So my question is what should they have in vending machines that they already do not?

iTunes is Stalking Me

2008-07-03T06:34:00.001-07:00

So if you know me you know I listen to a lot of podcasts. Its almost so bad that at times I wish for a longer commute so I can get more listening time in. That said I was taken way off guard the other day while listening to one of my favorite posts, Grammar Girl. Grammar Girl is everything High School English was not; short, funny and practical. She started her 6/26 with the following, "I don't know who you are, but through he magic of technology I know you are probably listening to the podcast somewhere near Phoenix, AZ." She went on to explain that she was on a book tour and would be in AZ soon. Now I can easily come up with 9 different ways iTunes did this, but it took me off guard because I had no idea that they actually captured this type of info. Just thought you guys would like to know, be safe out there, the machines are watching and listening. If off the top of your head you actually know how they do this, let me know.

Desktop Envy

2008-07-02T14:52:00.000-07:00

My father showed me this about a year ago and I have had desktop envy ever since. It's called Bump Top and it's "stunning interface makes clever use of 3D presentation and smooth physics-based animations for an engaging, vivid user experience." Check out the video on TED. Sorry to disappoint, but I signed up for a beta invite and have received nothing expect a nice email telling me it is still not released yet. Maybe one of you have more tech street-cred than me and get the beta.

Going Green vs Going Clean

2008-07-01T20:48:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article in the June issue of Fast Company, American Apparel's New Image. The article is about how the company has moved away from its original marketing strategy of "sweatshop free, environmentally friendly" apparel manufacturing to one focused on sex. The interesting thing is that the company over time did not change any of their ethical practices as a manufacture, they just figured out Sex sold better. That is a topic for a completely different blog, but one quote stood out to me in the article.
"ask most people if they care about the environment, and it's not particularly surprising that many would say yes. Ask weather they would back that up by "buying green" if they had a chance, and again, it's likely that very few would admit to being hypocrites by saying no. Wat we do in the marketplace is another matter...There is a real world overload of factors that confront consumers in the marketplace - price, quality, convenience, pleasure, etc."
I cant help but see the parallel to Christian faith in todays culture. Ask most Americans if they believe in God, ask them if they attend church, they will most likely say yes. But "There is a real world overload of factors" that confront people in our unchurched world - price of faith, quality of all things Christian, convenience in a life of service, lost worldly pleasure, etc.
We all want to be good... weather good to the mother earth or Father God. It's the gap between desire and action that seems to be widening.

Stuff Christians Like

2008-07-01T20:01:00.000-07:00

I was listening to XXXChurch.com's Dirty Little Secret Podcast #93 this week and was introduced to a site that had me laughing for hours. Before you condemn me as a pervert, for those who don't know XXXChurch.com is a online ministry to help address the issues stemming from pornography. The podcast featured Prodigal Jon from StuffChristiansLike.net. Wether you are a athiest or a person who grew up in the church, StuffChristiansLike is just plain funny. It discusses things overt in Christian culture, with just a hint of sarcasm and humor. I know my friends on staff at CCV will appreciate post #324 Dear Blob, a love letter. Enjoy.
Also check out the podcast. If you can persevere (or fast forward) through the first 15 minutes and get to the actual interview with ProdigalJon you should enjoy it. He had a lot of insightful and funny things to say.

Respect The Game

2008-07-01T06:18:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, I am a cyclist. The engineering, the fitness, the feeling of flying as a child, not to mention bikes just look cool. So the day after Floyd Landis lost his appeal to reclaim the 2006 Tour De France title and on the eve of the 2008 Tour I had to comment. The media is riddled (as it is every year) with negative press about the sport of cycling and doping. I wont even get into the fact the sports media completely ignores the sport 10 months out of the year, but here is what bugs me. I am frustrated that people judge the institution on the sins of its participants (weather few or many). I love the sport of cycling. I love the sheer excessive nature of a 22 day 3,500km race. The sport is pure, it is what it was in its inception, a race. Regardless of the faults and deceptions of its participants, it remains pure. I just don't like people disrespecting the sport for its participants. As far as I am concerned, as long as one athlete remains good and just, I will respect the institution of professional cycling. I will give you three points why. One, as soon as you lose respect for the professional game, you lose respect for the amateur game. This may be easy to swallow in cycling, but hos does that sit if I tell you not to respect your kids soccer or little league games because of professional scandals. Two, tell me a entertaining professional sport that has not struggled with scandal. From baseball to Indy Car racing, they all are filled with sinners and cheaters. If I have to disrespect cycling on this basis I have to disrespect all sport, I cant handle that. Last I will draw a parallel to my own life. The institution of marriage is destroyed more and more each day through infidelity, homosexuality and divorce to name a few. If I applied the "I don't watch cycling because it a dirty sport" logic to marriage as an institution, I would be selling short and misrepresenting the wonderful marriage I know I personally have. So for me, when I get up at 430AM over the next few weeks to catch the Tour live. As I do, I am going to pay homage to the institution of professional cycling and pay homage to a great wife who puts up with the alarm going off at 430AM!

Pixar is My New Best Friend

2008-06-28T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am a huge Peter Gabriel fan, so I was excited this week when iTunes New Music Tuesday's (NMT) podcast started with a new recording form Peter. Come to find out his song Down To Earth is the lead single on the WALL-E Soundtrack. Gabriel has not released an album since 2002, so it nice to hear something new from him, I believe his sound is timeless.
But here is the questions I have... If you were Pixar wouldn't you choose a more relevant artist to headline your soundtrack? I know that Pixar films have dual audiences, old and young, but I have to ask why the Jonas Brothers are not on the soundtrack in place of the 58 year old pop pioneer? Don't get me wrong, I love their choice, but am I the only one that finds it odd?
On a side note, check out the NMT podcast. I like it because it forces me to listen to different genres and get me out of some of my music ruts (i.e. Peter Gabriel)!

The Nose, Knows.

2008-06-26T21:32:00.000-07:00

For a long time now I have had this unfortunate ability to wake up unassisted at about 5:05 AM on most mornings. Regardless of alarms or bed time, my internal clock fires up early. One solace I take in the early AM is the experience of my morning coffee. My routine is the same with every cup at home, once it is pored I bury my face in it to get the full effect of the aroma. I have always believed that the smell did more to wake me than the caffeine, this is even more true since we have switched to decaf at home. I was excited to find proof this week when Scientific American's 60-Second Science podcast confirmed my hypothesis. In the podcast, Just Smelling Coffee Helps Head, Scientific American "reports that a sniff of coffee turns on several genes in the brain in ways that help diminish the impact of sleep deprivation. In rats, at least." There you go, join the rats and enjoy the aroma before you put up with the taste.

Back to Blogging

2008-06-26T06:12:00.000-07:00

OK so I am back. A mixture of unsolicited free time, some prodding from friends and an abundance of things to share have brought me back to the blogging game. Just to make sure my online presence was well received I wanted to come up with a catchy tag line or blog name. What I came up with was "Inside Ian's Head." If you know me, this makes sense because I have a lot going on up there I don't share, the blog is an attempt to unclutter my thoughts outwardly (even if the audience is non existent). Problem is, like any good brand conscious person I did some research on the name. You guessed it, there is some knob with a myspace page called "Inside Ian's Head; It's Dark in Here" out there and I neither want to be mistaken for the guy nor do I want to be associated with it. That said I am back to the drawing board and need your help, please send your suggestion and please enjoy the posts. Until I get something better, you can find me at Ian C Long on Blogger.com.