Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

It has been a busy lead up to the Thanksgiving holiday. It all began for me with a drive to Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon. I had a new client visiting the plant in West Allis and needed to get in town in time for dinner Sunday evening and a plant tour on Monday morning. The drive down was uneventful. I was able to listen to the Packer game on the radio. I hadn't done that for a many years and it was kind of a nice change of pace, using my minds eye to paint the picture of the action on the field. The customer visit went really well too. Unfortunately it didn't wrap up until almost 4 pm which meant a long drive back to Minneapolis in the dark. I had my iPod full of podcasts so the drive wasn't too bad. I rolled into the driveway around 9:30 pm.

Tuesday, Nik and I woke up early and were on the road to Lincoln Nebraska at 6:30 am to retrieve my son Alex from school at University of Nebraska - Lincoln (UNL). The seven hour drive was gray and rainy but still enjoyable thanks in equal parts to the yummy Trader Joe's coffee in my thermos, the music and podcasts on my iPod and of course the company of my oldest son Nik. He really enjoys road trips, it doesn't even matter where or for how long we go. He just loves to be on the road, just like his old man! We Picked up Alex and his room mate Ed around 2:00 pm and got right back on the road. Alex and I had a great time catching up on his life at college. He is doing really well in his classes and is also actively writing for the student newspaper (The Daily Nebraskan) and the campus satirical paper (The Daily-er Nebraskan). He has been published several times in each paper in his relatively short time on campus. Alex is a gifted writer and is truly passionate about his craft. All the way home we talked, laughed and listened to music. Finally around 9:30 pm (again!) we pulled into the driveway. I was, to say the least, tired and sick of driving!

Wednesday was the big preparation day for us. Our goal was to get as much of the food prepared ahead of time as possible. If we couldn't complete an item, we at least got the measuring, chopping etc done. My brother Dave, his wife Tracy and their two sons Cory and Jamie arrived at 2:00 pm and immediately jumped in to help with the preparations. It is such a blessing having them over for Thanksgiving. Not only do they give us so much help and support, they are also lots of fun to be with. Every time they come over, we pick right up where we left off the last time we saw them.

Now it's Thanksgiving day. We still have much to accomplish before the rest of our guests begin to arrive around 1:00 pm. While I have a bit of peace and quiet, its a good time to reflect on all that I'm thankful for. My wife and children are such a wonderful and constantly evolving source of joy and happiness. We have a roof over our heads, food on the table and love in our hearts. My family of Dad, Bonnie, all my brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts and cousins continue to be a meaningful part of my life. I have a great job at a company that I believe in, now just as I did over 25 years ago. Most of what me and my family have enjoyed in our lives has come through the fruits of my labor at Quad. I just know today will be a celebration of all we have to be thankful for. It will truly be a Happy Thanksgiving.

Podcasts are Podcastic!

I have been listening to Podcasts since before iTunes even existed. My podcast client of choice way back in 2004 was iPodder. It took quite a bit of doing to get my files transfered from my computer to my iPod. The thing I enjoy most is that there is a podcast covering virtually every topic under the sun. No matter how mainstream or obscure your interests run, there is sure to be a podcast that is right up your ally. My iPod stocked with podcasts helped me to keep my sanity during my 25 hours per week of commuting while I lived in Southern California. And I continue to listen to them to this day while at the gym, commuting and traveling on business. Here are a few of my all time favorite podcasts with links to their web pages. These can now all be subscribed to using iTunes.

This Week in Tech (TWIT)
This Week in Google (TWIG)
Net@Night
Cranky Geeks
This American Life (PRI)
Packers Therapy
Checkered Flag

Social is as Social does

I was pondering my life and the ways that I am able to capture, comment and share about it with my family, friends and associates. We have so many tools at our disposal from e-mail, family web site and blogging to LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter. These tools have all been a part of my communication for quite some time. Starting with my first American Online e-mail account back in 1992 to my starting to use Facebook just 1 year ago. As I pondered, I realized that the tools I've been using the most, Facebook and Twitter are both super convenient and also very limiting. I mean, I'm not what I call a chatterbox, but 140 characters can cause me to be more brief that I sometimes would like to be. These tools also don't really encourage me to work at all on my writing style. I'm not what I would call a good writer, but I think that I can be and effective writer. Certainly not in the class of my middle son Alex who is truly gifted in this area.

So, what I realize is that my Blog is the one place were I can truly have the flexibility of form and function. If I have a lot to say or want to share it with pictures I have the latitude to do that here. I've noticed that the more I tweet and post, the less I have been blogging. I'm not saying that is bad, just that it has left a kind of hole in my creative world. So, I'm committing to try and be more diligent about blogging. I've also over time linked some of my other sites to my blog so that it can be a kind of hub to what I'm writing about, photographing and following.

One of my favorite Podcast is This Week in Google, a cloud computing show hosted by Leo Laporte with Gina Trapani and Jeff Jarvis. Mr. Jarvis is a Journalism professor is NY and one of his comments really stuck with me. He said that he too had found himself to be blogging less and this concerned him because his blog is a place where he not only documents his life, but also the links and information that are important to him at any given point. When he blogs less, less of his own personal history gets recorded. Twitter and Facebook are both great at near real time conversation, but I really not great at preserving the broader more in depth snapshot of who we are and what we are doing. I thank Jeff for helping me to realize that this was happening in my life as well.

So, in conclusion I am setting a goal to blog at least once per week. It will not always be a long rich entry, but I will do my best. I also need to find a better way of sharing my blog, while still keeping it private for the protection of my family. I don't have the answer to that one yet, but I'll find it along the way.