Tempus Fugit

Latin (tem-pu̇s-ˈfü-git): Time Flies

Posts

  • Keeping traditions

    starbucksholiday

    itsredagain.com
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    I’m in the office today for a client meeting, but it got canceled. Well, this allowed me to attend a team meeting for another group that I work with. Sometimes we all gather in the boardroom for the meeting but today, even though several of us are here in Winnipeg we’re dialing in to the conference call. After I give my update and I’m listening to what else is happening on the account and sipping on my Starbuck’s coffee, I notice a web site address on the bottom of the cup.

    SO, what does this all have to do with traditions? Well, I like traditions and what time of year is more filled with traditions that Christmas? However, it seems that as I get older and children grow up and the family spreads out a bit some traditions seem to change or fad away. I must admit, I’m not to excited about these kinds of changes, after all stuff that changes like that can hardly be called a tradition.

    Back to Starbucks, those clever guys. Check out the site and start your own “new” high tech tradition with the “Tradition Keeper” guy. I expect to receive lots of very special cards from all my readers. You know who you are.

    ItsRedAgain.com

  • Geocaching Friends

    Geocaching Friends
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    I’ve got these guy sitting on the corner of my desk at the “home office” in the basement. The yellow guy, whom I’ve named “Medora Man” started off the collection when I picked him up from a geocache in Medora ND, while I was there on a mountain biking trip to the Maah Daah Hey trail.

    Since then I’ve been keeping an eye out for small, bendable plastic figures to add to the collection. I haven’t been out geocaching for quite a while and it snowed last night so that will make it a little more challenging. Time to get out there and do a little hunting. Maybe Eric will let me have some time off from the renovation project. 🙂

    Anyway, they remind me of some good times when work is not so good.

  • The third place

    I came across the term “third place” while reading a blog today, and got inquisitive. I’d never heard this one before so a few searches later and I turn up this article.

    USATODAY.com – Working out of a ‘third place’

    An estimated 30 million Americans, or roughly one-fifth of the nation’s workforce, are part of the so-called Kinko’s generation, employees who spend significant hours each month working outside of a traditional office.

    While some don’t trust wikipedia as a credible source of information I found this definition to be quite helpful. Being a mobile worker and working both in an office and from my home I can really relate to this concept. Too many days in the office and I’m wishing I was working from home. Too many days working alone at home and I wish I was at the office. So, it seems I need something in between, a third place.

    After a couple of days at home working, I find myself taking some reading or the laptop and heading out to a Starbucks or some place with free Internet access, like Le Garage Cafe on Provencher Blvd. Not so much to interact with other people, but to be in the presence of other people, with a possibility of interaction, if I choose, or if it just happens. Humans are complex eh?

  • Sanding the front room


    Sanding the front room
    Originally uploaded by Big Dadoo.

    Things are really moving along on Eric & Dez’s house renovation project. Lots of drywall finishing and painting happened during the week. This weekend I finished all of the wiring with the exception of some ceiling lights and some outlets etc. in the basement that are waiting for drywall. Eric and Doug put in the kitchen cupboards and Scott started the floor sanding. There have already been some long nights and I suspect that last night was a late one for Eric as he finished the sanding in order to return the rented sander by noon today.

    The sander rental was almost free in comparison to the sanding supplies. Wow, the sandpaper and backing pads were expensive and you need a lot ot them.

  • Answers from a squirrel

    OK, this is awesome, funny, very clever, well produced, and exceptional church stuff.

  • Church Marketing and the United Church

    Some impressive use of technology and social networking is taking place over at the United Church’s wondercafe.ca. I’ve had a brief look around and while it’s bound to be controversial, I think it will promote a lot of conversations, which is a good thing. I gave the church locater a spin and had a look at our local UC that I went to as a teenager. Wow, what a great snapshot of what a new person could expect when they go to church. When, where, where to park, what kind of music to expect, what happens after services, and several ways to contact them. Very professional, but then I guess a few million dollars will do that. I hope it works out for them.

    Church Marketing Sucks: Using Whipped Cream and Gay Marriage to Start Conversations

    With membership declining as much as 20% in the last decade, the United Church of Canada needs to try something drastic. So they’ve launched a $9.3 million ad campaign. The ads touch on hot button issues, including sex and gay marriage. The ads direct people to a web site, wondercafe.ca, that attempts to engage people in conversations about spiritual issues and the big questions of life. They site also offers a church locator.

  • IBM and Second Life

    I first started hearing about Second Life on the Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code podcast but really didn’t pay too much attention to it. But, then I started to see more and more information about IBMers getting involved in SL. And now I’m reading about how Sam Palmisano is participating in SL. I guess it’;s time to pay attention to the technology and the business implications.

    IBM accelerates push into 3D virtual worlds | Tech&Sci | Internet | Reuters.com

    IBM is ramping up its push into virtual worlds with an investment of roughly $10 million over the next 12 months, including an expanded presence within the popular 3D online universe Second Life.

    Chairman and Chief Executive Sam Palmisano is set to visit Second Life on Tuesday, following a “town hall” meeting with some 7,000 employees in China, and speak with the more than 250 IBM employees on one of the company’s virtual islands.

  • Missing the bike

    This summer I rode by bicycle to work 2-3 times a week when I went into the office downtown. With the colder and snowier weather and being a bit lazy for some reason I’ve reverted to taking the van and driving to work.

    However, the last could of days I’ve found the traffic just totally frustrating. There were no snow storms, no accidents, no road repairs on my route, just lots of slow moving traffic. On the bike I was so used to just passing by all the “parked cars” going to and from work. Now, just sitting in the van and creeping along to get in and out of the downtown core is just too slow. Perhaps I’m just getting more impatient and need to learn to relax more.

    I think not! I just need to get over the cold issue get out there. I know how to ride in the cold and have been out in -30C, you just need to dress for it. In fact, I’ve raced in many of the IceBike races here in Winnipeg. Just the other day I met up with Rob Nagy, the Veteran Icebike Organizer, and for sure I’m planning on entering IceBike #9 on February 4th, 2007. I missed #8 due to some business travel issues but manged to get down to the race course and take some pictures. I’m really looking forward to the blow-out events planned for the 10th anniversary. Yes, bring back the t-shirts!

  • level ground

    I was keeping up with a friend’s blog, which put me on to this post and I’m glad I followed some of the  links and arrived here. The whole post had a lot to think about, but the one line that really grabbed my heart was “we stand with him on level ground before the cross”. I read it over several times to let that profound truth settle deep within me. It made me reflect on the sin in my life and my need of the grace of God and the need to consider more deeply my response to news like this.

    Leadership Blog: Out of Ur: The Haggard Truth

    There is nothing any one has ever done that we –each of us—is not capable of doing. So when we pray for our brother, Ted Haggard, we pray not out of pity or self-righteousness but with a humble spirit because we stand with him on level ground before the cross.

  • Weighing In

    I’ve lost some weight over the last 10 months. Around 30lbs to be a little more specific. For quite some time only close family noticed or perhaps they were the only ones who said anything. But towards the end most people have noticed and said something. Generally. it’s been positive and I feel great about the accomplishment and I like the reflection in the mirror.

    I didn’t just lose weight, I worked fairly hard at replacing it with muscle mass. I work out almost every second day on the Bowflex and over the last couple of months I’ve been augmenting that with a targeted abs routine. This summer I rode my bike to work 2-3 times a week a 20km round trip, and I like to ride fast, which made it a good workout. So, less weight, more toned muscle – at least that’s what I think.

    Now I’m starting to hear that I might be getting too light! That I might be loosing my “presence” as a trimmer guy. This is quite a surprise. So I thought I’d look at what the recommendations are for someone my size. The first benchmark that came to mind is the Body Mass Index (BMI). OK,this may not be the be all and end all of measures, but it is one that is well respected and established.

    I’m currently 210lbs and 6′ 4″, well I may be closer to 6′ 3 1/2″, but I’ll give the BMI calculator the benefit of more height. According to the BMI calculator this puts me at a BMI of 25.6 which in in the 25.0 – 29.0 overweight category. OK, perhaps just inside the range but clearly not in the normal category of 18.5 – 24.9.  Now, there appears to be one overriding factor which may cause a higher BMI that

    BMI – Body Mass Index: BMI for Adults: About | DNPA | CDC

    • Highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness.

    I guess I could think of myself as a “highly trained athlete”, but then again, perhaps not.

    Since inquiring minds want to know and assuming my height will not change significantly, what would the BMI consider my normal weight range? Well, for 6’4″ It’s 151 to 205, so it seems that according to the BMI I still have some room to loose and still be “normal”. Hmmm, what would I look like at 150? Now that would be too much. Or would that be too little?