Glenn's Daily Script » Family

Coaching

Glenn — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 06:24:07 +0000

I’m not sure how the really good coaches do it. I don’t mean working with kids – I love that part.

What I do mean, is remembering everything you want to teach the kids so they can become better. I’m working as part of a team so it’s a wonderful experience since I remember one thing and another coach remembers other things and by the end of practice, the kids have had fun and unbeknownst to them, they learned something.

Mitchell is doing a basketball team again this year (I think it’s his 3rd year). We’ve got a great group of kids that all have a passion for sports, basketball or just playing with friends. The energy has been very high and is truly inspiring to watch and participate.

It’s hard to keep up with them too. Tonights practice, we had a game to promote confidence in dribbling and defense. I was with them (not all the kids had quite gotten there yet) and bending over dribbling the ball low compresses my diaphragm and made it very tiring even given that I’m very fit. The kids had a lot of fun trying to get me knocked out of the game.

Well tomorrow is our first game of the season so wish us luck!

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Coaching

Math and Science in schools

Glenn — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 06:27:20 +0000

This year I have been thrilled to be involved with Xander (5th grade) and his classes science program. It’s an interesting program that is trying to teach the Scientific Method through simple experiments. Xander’s teacher (Miss Hopper) is doing quite a good job guiding the kids through the curriculum. The amount of science being done is also great with 4 days a week for an hour each day (though we took December off).

It’s not always been so great though. In previous years (including Mitchell’s current 3rd grade year), the curriculum seems to have 3 or 4 short units in science which they only spend 1-2 times per week on. I’ve voiced my concern about this to the Principal and am hopeful based on Xander’s class.

Later this week, I’m also going to a School District meeting on changes to the math curriculum. I’m not sure what to expect though our state (Washington) is not in a good position in relationship to other states and it’s math curriculum. It’s very sad.

The state and local school district have done a great job over the last few decades to increase literacy. The programs around literacy and the way they use other areas (including science and math) to increase literacy is quite phenomenal. The problem though is that they have made all these gains at the cost of science and math.

I hope to see this change over the time my children attend school. Xander and Mitchell both understand how important these subjects are and enjoy both of them quite a bit.

Snow Leopard – First Impressions

Glenn — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 16:06:50 +0000

I received Snow Leopard yesterday. We currently have 5 Macs. I have a Mac Pro and a MacBook Pro (15″). Each of the boys have an iMac. And lastly, I have a MacMini connected to our Home Theater setup where we can replay movies that are on a very large Drobo with 4 drives that are 1 1/2 Terabyte drives which gives about 4 1/2 terabytes for actual storage due to redundancy.

I quickly updated 4 of the Macs (the MacMini isn’t done yet – hopefully today). Setup went great and I had no issues with any of the setups. I guess I don’t have any software that doesn’t run under the new 64-bit architecture that is Snow Leopard.

It’s not a high impact update though. My systems all seem pretty fast to me so I’m not sure I’m observing a “snappiness” increase that has been bandied about on many blogs. I’ve noticed some of the UI changes including stacks and the darker overlays. They are nice. I am looking forward to playing with the updated spaces and expose. Those seem like smart changes.

I haven’t yet touched Quicktime though this afternoon when I practice my Guitar, I should use it then.

On my kids systems, I am putting Bootcamp partitions for Windows. They use their Mac’s using OS X for web browsing and homework but they still like to play the occasional PC game and so need Windows to do it. I’ve got Xander’s system working and need to spend some time on Mitchell’s after I do my morning workout. Of course, this opens the door for all those PC games they haven’t been able to use for a while which means “Dad, can you install…” over and over again.

I did go through and explore using system profiler to see what runs 32-bit versus 64-bit in the app space. I also verified that the reports are true that it’s running a 32-bit kernel. At this point, since I use VMWare’s Fusion, I will be glad to wait a bit till VMWare updates their kernel extensions to 64-bit before trying to run a 64-bit kernel. I hope the wait isn’t too long.

Overall, it’s a good update and worth the $49 for the family pack (which as you can see, I use all 5 installs).

Wondering if my family is coming to Portland for weekend

Glenn — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:51:46 +0000

I’m down in Portland, OR for a week. I’m attending 2 woodworking classes (see my woodwoorking blog, This Week in Wood for more details).

Before I left, Kathy and I had a tentative plan that the family would come down for the weekend. We’ve never really come to Portland before and we figured it was a good opportunity to explore and play. Unfortunately, the weather decided to not cooperate. When talking about the Pacific Northwest, when some says the weather isn’t cooperating, you would usually think about a big rain. That’s not the case in this instance. The weather has decided to go to 100+ degrees for the past 4 days and will likely be in the high 90′s on Saturday (when the family would come).

Now, even the boys aren’t excited about coming to visit with the weather being what it is. I suspect that they won’t as one of the key things Kathy thought would be fun was an outdoor activity (not so fun in high 90′s).

It’s a good thing I have movies and a few things I can do on Saturday since it’s a gap day between my 2 woodworking classes.

Happy Valentine’s Day

Glenn — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 10:28:45 +0000

Ok, this is in so many ways a contrived holiday heavily promoted by corporations that have financial interest in this holiday and the things they have promoted (cards, candy, flowers, …).

…but I have see an unstructured movement to move from gifts to reconnecting with our mates and refreshing the romance. In that spirit…

My wife, Kathy, and I met in the summer after my Freshman year in high school. We connected right away though our backgrounds were a little different. She is the daughter of European immigrants. I’m the son of 2 children of southern farming families. I was the caveman coming to dinner at her house and she was overwhelmed by the activities around dinner at my house.

In the beginning, it was all about teenage romance. It evolved gradually over the years to friendship, lovers, husband/wife, co-parents and all those relationships entail. We’ve certainly had trying times yet, we have always come out closer after them.

I love Kathy with all my heart. She gives me the things that my heart needs. I respect her with all my being. She shows me the best person I can be by her own actions and deeds. Our romance may not be exciting (I don’t think I’ve every been the creative romantic type) but it has gotten stronger, the closer we become.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Terminator – John Connor

Glenn — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 09:10:35 +0000

I’ve been a pretty big fan of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. I like the characterizations and the story keeps moving and changing. The special effects are decent for a TV Sci-Fi show.

I’ve been rewatching the Terminator movies with Xander (a friend of his watched them and so he asked). There are scenes that are a little much for a 10 year old but Xander covers his eyes so he’s been enjoying them. It’s obvious that Xander’s maturity is going up as seen in his enjoyment of even the plot development and character development elements of the movies.

One of the things in watching both the TV shows and the movies is the difference in the John Connor portrayals. In the 2nd movie, John is kind of a punk but very confident and embraces his destiny. In the 3rd movie, John is a pathetic whiner who still worries about his future but isn’t preparing for it like his mother would have wanted. I thought the actor playing John in the 3rd movie did a fine job but the direction was just not what you’d expect the savior/leader of the human race to be like.

Now, in the TV series we have John as a super strong teenager with lots of angst but preparing himself to lead while figuring out his path and place and not the one everyone is trying to force on him. This is an excellent portrayal of this character while the 3rd movie is not as believable.

The reason I bring this up is with the up coming Terminator movie with an older adult John Connor. I am curious as to what they plan to base the character on – the movie series or the TV series.

Money Discipline

Glenn — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 09:21:35 +0000

No one would ever mistake me for an ultra frugal person. Most of my life if I saw something I wanted, I bought it (maybe not right away but soon). That is not to say I haven’t bought those things by looking for the best deal because I have. But someone who buys everything they want (ok that’s more than I did but not far off) is not someone truly out to save money.

The current economic situation has me concerned though. Kathy and I decided that spending time with our kids as they grow up was the most important thing. About 6 years ago, we looked at our finances and figured that if we watched our money closely we could make it work so that we both could be at home. The current economic situation means 1 of 2 things for us. One option would be to cut to the bone which drastically changes our lifestyle (I don’t mean to imply a poverty like lifestyle but any drastic change in one’s lifestyle is hard on individuals and families). The second option would be to have one or both of us go back to work which in most ways is also a drastic lifestyle change.

We are waiting a few more months to see how this settles out.

I have notices in my personal behavior though that I am starting to have some modicum of money discipline. I have noticed over the last 4 months or so that when I see something that looks useful, interesting, desirable that I look into it and research it a bit just like I always have. The difference though is that I ask myself the question is do I need it, truly need it. As more time passes, the answer is more and more often no and I close out all my research and forget it.

This behavior change is drastic.

My motivation is many fold. It includes that I’ve grown fond of how life is working for myself but the really big point is the effect that it would have on my family if I needed to change our lifestyle in a radical way (i.e. going back to work). My boys wouldn’t get to have me walk them to school. I probably wouldn’t be able to do projects with them like building skateboards. Many other impacts too numerous to mention too.

The market changes are starting to become smaller but I can’t tell if we are near the �bottom�. I know many people have things worse so I have a lot of empathy for them and hope for all of us that we start leveling out soon.

Daily Self-discipline

Glenn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 09:20:17 +0000

A while back I posted something about Guitar Practice which was focused on the discipline needed to make different levels of progress. I’m still doing well with this but I thought that I should apply it to my overall day too.

When you are full time parent like I am, you are busy when the kids are around. That means feeding them breakfast, walking to school, walking home, chaperoning play dates, and a variety of other things. When they aren’t around, it’s time to do other things. That is the time that I’d like to add a little discipline to.

I am very methodical and get things done but as of now, some things take me a very long time because of procrastination and going slow on other things. What I hope to do from this point onward is to set goals for each day and keep things moving at a slightly faster pace. I’m not talking about a break neck pace but rather a nice steady and even pace.

Let’s see where I’m at in a week.

Politics and Family

Glenn — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 07:28:52 +0000

I touched base with my folks yesterday. I probably talk to my Mom (sometimes my Dad though he’s not much of a talker and never really has been) once a week on average. They travel during the summer (since living in a dessert gets really hot during the summer) so it may be slightly less during the summer.

When ever politics come up, my Mom wants to shut the conversation down right away. This means that we have never really had a substantial or meaningful conversation on politics.

I suspect the reason has 2 major parts. First, on subjects that I am informed, I can be a persistent debater.

Second, my parents approach on politics is that they are emotion based and don’t get a thoroughly fact based understanding of the candidates (this gives a person an insecure feeling on their choice). I don’t think my parents are unusual in their approach and have seen evidence that people in all demographics follow the same approach.

I am far from an expert on politics or any particular candidates but I do follow various political sources. When the election closes in, I do further research especially for candidates that I have yet to have enough data to push me one way or another.

I’m a Barak Obama supporter at this point. I like his position on Iraq, Afghanistan, Energy, Taxes. I’m luke warm on his Health Care position. I’m down right upset over his position on Security (specifically his vote to support the Domestic Surveillance bill which included telecom immunity). I am a bit concerned about his experience but feel that he is intelligent and can work through it. During the primaries, I never felt that Hillary’s claim to have more experience was false since I don’t believe that being a First Lady is experience valid for being President. I do tend to think that Governor’s have a more valid basis for experience than do Congressmen.

I do not like John McCain. I admire his service through elected office and especially his service during Vietnam (I was young enough not to have an opinion of that war though after the fact, it was clearly a bad choice for our country). I did like his previous approach to the Presidential campaigns though what I have seen is not the same approach for this election. I do not like his positions on Iraq, Taxes and Economy, Security. I’m uninformed on his Health Care position. It seems that he has flipped recently on Afghanistan and Energy which can be ok but in this case seems like he doesn’t really know the topic or maybe just is going with a more popular position. I think as a senior Senator, he has potentially more knowledge than Barak Obama on a variety of topics but given his support (nearly blind support) for Bush and Bush’s policies, he seems weaker.

I would have enjoyed the conversation with my Mom – maybe she’ll read this (or not).

Enjoy some family and friends time!

Glenn — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 22:05:07 +0000

Here is a short video that I made using my new Flip Video Recorder. Image quality is fine for the tubes so enjoy.

Check out the link: 4th of July 2008 Video for the video or browse to our Gallery (see top of page for link) and then choose Video and then 2008 to find it.

PTSA Fiscal Year End

Glenn — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:08:30 +0000

This is sort of anti climactic since I’m not just the outgoing Treasurer but the incoming Treasurer as well but today is the first day of the next fiscal year for my kids school’s PTSA.

That means for my outgoing gig, I’ve got to put together a team of folks (during the middle of summer too!) to review the books and sign off on it. Having done the audit myself the last couple of years, it’s got more bark than bite. What I mean is that it is intimidating to volunteer but the actual work is pretty simple and easy (depending on the records).

I’ve sent out an email to some folks (some who where interested and some who are just lucky enough to have me as a friend to nag them to volunteer) to ask for volunteers. Hopefully, I get the number I need to make this work.

Summer has begun!

Glenn — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:30:09 +0000

I know that the official start of summer is not till about 5pm today (6/20) but the weather is finally here. Yesterday was low-mid 70′s and today is upper 70′s/low 80′s.

Xander, Mitchell and I (plus our neighbor Egor) have gone on several bike rides and the boys are all playing in the sprinklers right now.

Garage Sale Today

Glenn — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:29:51 +0000

Well, today’s a day that we always struggle with.

Our purpose behind a garage sale is to get rid of the stuff to someone who may use it. Trashing it (taking to dump) is not very green and taking it to a thrift store doesn’t always work out (what do they take and what do they not take).

Then of course there is the stuff itself. A few items are things that we don’t want to get rid of but must due to space or other reasons. A few items are things of value that we do want to get rid of but because our goal is to “get rid of the stuff”, we price it very aggressively. The rest of the items are things we wonder why we had them in the first place and doubt anyone else wants them.

The people coming to a garage sale though surprise you. They value things you don’t and don’t value things you do. They want to haggle on things that are heavily under priced/discounted yet they won’t haggle on something that might be overpriced. Sometimes there are a lot of people and sometimes there aren’t so many. The customers are a confusing lot.

Of course, all the other garage sales (except for one which was in the down poring rain so no one walked into our garage to buy anything) we practically sold out of the stuff. Needless to say, me being a bit of a worrier, I still stress about people taking our stuff.

Wish us luck!

UPDATE: No rain so that was good. We sold much of our stuff though this time we had a lot of little things so not everything went. Overall, it was a good sale.

Power Outage

Glenn — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:21:11 +0000

The power just went off probably because the wind, which has just started to blow a bit, knocked something down and into a power line.

I just finished doing some sanding on my Blanket Chest so after the power comes back up, I’ll work to put a picture or two up.

UPS’s are great except for all the beeping they do. I’m not sure why the beeping has to happen since it’s pretty darn obvious the power went out and any operating system worth it’s salt will put a message in your face. I’ve got UPS’s on my internet and phone components and Kathy’s and my computers so we can get news and stuff if they last very long. I expect this will be a short outage.

Go Mariners!

Glenn — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:56:43 +0000

Yesterday was Little League Day (part of a weekend) at Safeco Field, which is where the Mariners play. Since Mitchell is playing �A� ball in our local Little League division, we thought it would be a good family activity.

The game itself was fun for Kathy and I. We were worried a bit about Xander because he�s been a grump about going to the game but things changed when we got there. First they did a parade around the field for all Little Leaguers which Mitchell and Xander enjoyed. We were with a few of Mitchell�s team so they had friends. We also found a place where they could get some software on their Nintendo DS and play games, chat, and get actual baseball game info including video. Both the boys were super excited about this. When we sat down, they at first didn�t want to sit with the other kids but after they finished lunch, they moved. Xander got talking with one of the older brothers in the group and really started getting into the game. Mitchell was talking with his friends. All was good.

There were only 2 downsides. I had a small migraine and the food cost big amounts of money. For the day, parking, tickets, and food cost $120 for the four of us and we were in the cheap seats. My migraine diminished but didn�t quite go away till I was home.

Here is a picture from out parade (you check out more on our Gallery – top of page):