Personal | Vegas Geek

Review: Underwater Housing for Canon PowerShot S90

June 29, 2010 4 Comments

Last year we went to Jamaica during Thanksgiving and spent the entire week in or around the water. I was really bummed that I wasn’t able to take my camera with me while we did many of the activities that week. As we were getting ready for our trip this week to Lake Tahoe, I knew I didn’t want to make the same mistake twice. So, I did a quick search and found the Canon S90 Underwater Housing. I placed my order on Tuesday and it showed up just in time to come along for the trip!

They camera fits in easily and once you close the case, your camera is held in place perfectly. The case does have a bit of a bulky feel to it, and it was a bit heavier than I was expecting. Not uncomfortably so, but it does have some weight.

The case has buttons and knobs for easy access to all the camera’s functions. If you were planning on taking the camera diving and you are wearing diving gloves, some of the buttons may be a little tough to access. But for bare-hands, you’re not going to have any troubles.

Here’s a photo and video taken at the lake.

At about $175, the waterproof housing isn’t exactly a cheap accessory. But, after having it at the lake and taking photos of my family while splashing around in the water, I couldn’t be happier that I bought it and only wish I would have done it sooner.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: camera, Photography, review, waterproof

Recharging the batteries

May 31, 2010 Leave a Comment

For the past 4 months I have been working from home and I haven’t really taken many days off. I usually use the weekends to work on projects that I have trouble getting to during the week when I spent most of my time answering emails or taking calls. But this weekend, I tried my best to get away from the computer and do some things other than stare at the computer screens for hours on end.

Friday we went to lunch with some friends at CPK in Town Square. At the end of the day I realized that this 2 hour break in the middle of the day caused me to be more focused in the morning and again in the afternoon. I got more done by missing 2 hours than had I been here the whole time. I think I should take advantage of that a little more often.

On Saturday we went to have breakfast with our friends Craig and Ashley and their new baby who are in town for a visit. Marcia, Brent and Michelle joined us as well and we had a great time BSing. The group came back to our place for a while to play some cards and just hang out. It was a great visit and reminded me how much I miss hanging with that entire group of friends.

Last weekend Chris and I got a really nice head start on cleaning out the garage and we wanted to get a bit more done before it starts to get too hot to work out there. We’ve been doing great at getting rid of stuff that we just don’t need. Saturday afternoon we took another truck-load of stuff to GoodWill and filling up a trashcan and a half. In the spirit of not trying to do too much all at one time, we probably still have one or two more sessions to go before we are really done, but it sure is heading in the right direction, finally.

Saturday evening I watched game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs. I can’t really say it was a GOOD game, but it sure was exciting to watch. After 5 goals in the first period, I expected the game to tighten up. Not even close. Another 5 goals were scored in the 2nd before it finally calmed down and only 1 was scored in the 3rd. I will say that these two teams don’t seem to like each other much. There is a LOT of hitting going on and I expect this series to get really nasty before it’s over. Before the series started I said that I’m rooting for Philly, but my gut says that Chicago will win in 6 games.

On Sunday, I spent some time at the computer while Chris and her Mom worked on cleaning upstairs. (They are doing a great job of getting our house back in order.) I spent some time trying to work on a couple projects, but really was just not feeling it. I played some online poker and did a little file cleanup that was long overdue, but not really much of anything.

In the afternoon, Chris and I headed over to the Rio to check out the World Series of Poker. Somebody we know was playing still in on day 3 of the Champion’s event and we wanted to see how he was doing. Unfortunately he was severely short-stacked and busted out about 20 minutes after we showed up. No, I don’t think the two events are related.

That brings us to today. I got up early (again!) and rearranged the poker room so we could have access to the treadmill. I set it up and walked 2 two miles. We have a TV set up in front of the treadmill, so time flies pretty well when you are walking and watching Galaxy Quest.

We took the kids to see Shrek Forever After. I’ve been wanting to see it even though I wasn’t expecting a lot from it. I’ve enjoyed the first 3, but really, the 3rd was a far cry from the first 2. I definitely can’t say this one was as good as the first 2 either, but we did enjoy it.

We stopped by the mall and I got to shoot this silly video of Paxton in the Hurricane Simulator.

Really it’s been a pretty low-key weekend. But, with trips planned for Chicago, Orange County, Reno and Lake Tahoe already for June, it feels good to get the batteries recharged now.

How about you? How was your holiday weekend?

Filed Under: Family Tagged With: around the house, holiday, weekend

book review: Rework

May 26, 2010 Leave a Comment

In the span of a week, two people both recommended I check out the book Rework (Amazon affiliate link). That would normally be enough to get me to pick up the book all by itself, but when I found out it was written by the guys from 37 Signals, the developers of BaseCamp and other kick-ass web applications, I was sold.

Rework is a book of advice for new business owners. Somebody else I saw online said it has “Little gems of common sense.” I couldn’t agree more. Most of the topics in the book are things that, if you sat down and thought about it, you probably already new. You may even apply many of the tips to different parts of your day-to-day life, no matter if you own a business or not. But, for small business owner (like me), getting a reminder from time to time is never a bad thing.

For me, this book was all about timing. After recently quitting my job to start a new company, many of the topics covered in the book really hit home. That’s most likely why it was suggested to me by my friends.

One thing I really enjoyed was the real-world examples they gave, many of which had to do with things that took place in their own office. Hearing how they dealt with issues and how they came to decisions reminded me that our problems aren’t unique. We are facing some of the exact same issues they were. No company becomes successful over night, and seeing how other companies have struggled, but come out the other side to succeed is reassuring.

If you are looking to start your own company, or if you’re working in a start-up, you should check out Rework. You aren’t going to find any Earth shattering secrets, but you may just find a gem or two that helps you take that next big step.

Filed Under: General, Reviews Tagged With: book review, rework

Why are you telling me this?

March 7, 2010

We are in the process of trying to get health insurance. During the interview process I was asked some questions that I didn’t know the answers to. I needed to follow up with my doctor and get back to them. No problem.

I call my doctor’s office on Tuesday and speak with a lady who is very pleasant on the phone. I explain what I need and she says, ‘No problem. Come in to the office on Thursday between 9 and 2 and I’ll get you everything you need.’ Excellent!

Thursday morning I show up at the doctor’s office at 9:20. The place is empty except for 2 ladies doing paperwork behind the reception counter. I’m greeted by one of them who I recognize as the lady who answered my phone call on Tuesday. I explain who I am and she remembers exactly what I need. She hops up, runs to the back where the patient files are and begins looking for my file. 5 minutes later she returns asking when my last visit was. Armed with this information she heads back again for another 5 minutes or so.

Before getting there, I fully expected to be there for about 30 minutes. So a 10 minute delay at this point isn’t bothering me at all. I’m thrilled that there is nobody else in the office and I’m basically getting all of their attention.

She returns a few minutes later stating that she can’t find my record. She punches some keys on the computer for a minute or two, but finds nothing to clue her in as to where it would be. She takes down my cell number and tells me she’ll call me when she finds it. This really isn’t what I wanted to hear. I’d really like to get this taken care of. But, assuming she does actually find it in the next few hours, I’m not going to complain. I assure her it’s no problem, I thank her and I head to the bagel shop before heading home.

As I’m paying for my bagels my phone rings. She has found my file and I can come back anytime. Excellent, I say and thank her again. I grab my bagels and head back to the doctor’s office.

When I get there a second time, the place is still empty. Perfect. She hands me a stack of copies (about 20 pages) of some of my records. I ask a couple questions about them and she realizes that she forgot a couple. She quickly copies those, we add them to my stack and I thank her again telling her how much I appreciate the effort, etc, etc, etc… And as I’m turning to walk away she says, “You are lucky you got me. Anybody else would have charged you a dollar per page.” I thank her again and I walk out.

I needed the information she gave me. Had she told me ahead of time that it was $1/page I would have paid it without a second thought. But instead, she made a choice to not charge me. Maybe it was because I was pleasant the entire time. Maybe it’s because she made me leave the office and come back. I don’t know why, but she made that decision on her own. I did not ask for free copies. So why then, after I have already thanked her at least half a dozen times did she feel compelled to tell me that she did me this extra’ favor?

Sometimes people confuse me…

Filed Under: Ranting Tagged With: confusion

Working from home, month 1

February 27, 2010

Has it really been a month already? Wow, that was fast!

Working for myself from home has been really interesting. Before making the leap I spoke with many people about it. Everybody has their own concerns & ideas about what goes on when you work from home. Some are pretty accurate, some not so much.

One thing is for sure, there are a ton of things different about working in an office and working from home. Here are a few along with my thoughts.

Not waking up to an alarm
This may be the single greatest thing about working for myself. I wake up and get out of bed when I’m ready. I would love to tell you that I’m sleeping in until 10 each morning, but that’s simply not the case. I’m awake and at my desk by 8 or 8:15 each morning. But still, not having that alarm be the first thing I hear in the morning… glorious!

Working in your PJs (or sweats and a t-shirt)
It is said that working in your PJs is the #1 mistake made my people working from home. The idea being that if you are sloppy, your work will be sloppy. Bullshit. Working from home requires some discipline, for sure. But, if wearing sweats and a t-shirt magically makes you do half-assed work for your clients, you have far worse issues to deal with.

Time management and billing is tricky
One thing I’m realizing I need to get better at is separating the time I spend reviewing a project and time spent doing research for a project. It’s a subtle difference that boils down to billable time. With only so many hours in a day, I need to make sure I’m billing correctly for my time. Currently I’m not great at it, but I’m working on it.

Get organized
I’ve never been really good at keeping paperwork filed and organized. I’m quickly learning that if I don’t spend some time now getting in to a groove of doing this the right way, I’m going to be in bad shape in a few months. This is on my to do list for this weekend.

I need to set a schedule
This is another one of those things that is said to be a problem for people working from home. They don’t know when to get up and walk away. I am 100% guilty of this one. But, that shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody. Before quitting my job I would work from 7-4, come home, have dinner and then work until midnight or later. I’m not really doing anything much different now. But, I do see the need for some separation. Over the next 60 days, my goal is to get to a point where I’m working 60-70 hours per week.

Get out of the house!
I used to go out to lunch every day. Now, I usually grab some food from the kitchen and eat it at my desk. I know this is a terrible habit, but really, it’s only half of it. I need to spend more time out of the house in the evenings and weekends, too. It’s tough right now because our company is just getting off the ground and I want to do everything I can to make it a success. But I know that in the long run, for my and the company’s well being, it’s better if I step away from the computer for a while. I’m working on this, too.

Get back to blogging/podcasting!
This is just a recurring theme now. I need to set aside some time to do the things that helped me get to where I am. Blogging and Podcasting are things I enjoy very much. I used to do them both semi-regularly. Plus, they have the added benefit of being tools that help me in my business. Sorta makes this a no-brainer, right?

Overall, I couldn’t be happier with the way things are going. I’ve already learned some valuable lessons about working from home and I expect to learn a lot more as time rolls on.

Filed Under: Work

After 10 years, it's time to say goodbye

January 24, 2010

Many years ago I used to own a small web design company that I ran out of my house. The account manager where I hosted my client’s websites would often refer business to me when people would contact them for assistance. This is how I was introduced to Derek. He was overloaded with clients and needed some assistance. I stepped in and started doing work for him on a regular basis. We worked well together. For the next 18 months or so, Derek was my #1 client keeping me busy full time. With so much of my time being focused on just one client, I did the only thing that made sense. On January 1st of 2000, I dissolved my company and became the first employee of the Selling Source.

I could talk for hours about the great times I’ve had these past 10 years. From the very first holiday party where it was 4 of us going to dinner at TGI Fridays, to reaching such milestones as being listed on the Inc 500 list, twice! It has really been an amazing journey.

I’m proud to say that I’ve worked with some of the sharpest people in the industry. I’m lucky to say that I have become good friends with a great many of them. I will be forever grateful for my time at Selling Source for introducing me to such an incredible group of talented people.

And now I’m ready to start a brand new adventure. I can only hope my next 10 years are filled with as many great memories and relationships.

Cheers.

Filed Under: Work

Get rid of what's stopping you

August 18, 2009

Hey don’t look now, but this is my 3rd blog post in 3 days. No, I didn’t crawl out from under a rock. No, I wasn’t in a coma. What was stopping me from blogging, you ask? Well, it was my blog.

At the beginning of August we had a group of friends over, including Mr 4th Place himself, Craig. Craig and Ashley were in town from North Carolina where they moved for some crazy reason. But, I digress. Apparently one of the ways that Craig keeps up with what is going on in Vegas is by reading the blogs of his buddies in Sin City. He made it quite clear that I have not been much help lately as my updates have been fewer and far between. I looked back and sure enough, Craig was right. Being right did NOT help him finish higher than 4th place in our poker tournament this time around, but again, I digress.

Sceen Shot I really enjoy the process of blogging. I love writing, I love researching topics when needed, I love telling silly stories. One other thing I love is messing with my site. Before the last time I updated my site template, I searched for quite a while to find a theme that I liked. I had settled on one of the themes from Woo Themes called Busy Bee. I loved the graphics that went along with each story. I felt they were an exciting part of the post and enhanced the visitors overall experience. But, over time, I found that those images had a totally different effect on me. They were stopping me from blogging. So as much as I loved the layout, it was time to say goodbye to Busy Bee.

In the past I have been known to take my laptop to lunch with me and type out a blog post over a burger and fries. But, what I recently realized was that since I needed to also create a header graphic, which usually requires poking around Flickr or Google, I wasn’t always able to complete a post. Instead I would put off writing the post until after work. But, by the time I’d get home, I’d have dinner, maybe watch a little TV and the momentum I had for writing the post had left me. If I sat down and tried to write it the next day, the story just wasn’t there. The moment had passed and that post was lost forever. And yet somehow, I didn’t immediately realize how it was impacting my blog. That is, until Craig pointed it out.

Here we are with a new theme. I still have the ability to add graphics to my posts, but, they aren’t required. The hurdle has been removed and hopefully I can get back to writing on a regular basis. So far, so good.

Take some time and figure out what is getting in the way of your productivity. Spend a little time removing the obstacle in your way. You’ll be glad you did.

Filed Under: Blogging, Ranting Tagged With: Blogging, productivity

Childhood memories and a good wife

June 23, 2009

I wasn’t one of the lucky kids who’s birthdays was right in the middle of the school year where everybody would make a big deal out of it. Instead, mine was right in the middle of the summer, pretty darn close to the 4th of July. So, as a kid whenever I would see the first fireworks stand go up in the parking lot at the grocery store, that was the signal to me that everybody in the country was getting ready to celebrate. And more importantly, it is almost my birthday!

Last week I left my office to meet up with Rob for lunch and as I turned the corner, there it was… The first fireworks stand of the season! I smiled and reached for my cell phone. I opened up the text message program (while stopped at a red light, of course) and sent my wife the following message:

It is almost my birthday.

Being the absolutely awesome wife that she is, she responded with:

LOL, did you see a fireworks stand today?

… as if I needed a sign to tell me I picked the right woman!

So, how about you? What triggers your strongest childhood memories?

Filed Under: Family

Favorite WordCamp SF moments

June 4, 2009

Each time I go to a WordCamp, there are certain moments that stick out as great memories. Some have to do with who you meet, some are just right place/right time and others are just personal. This past weekend at WordCamp San Francisco, I had a few of these moments and thought I’d share them with you.

The first one happened at the WordCamp after party. I was chatting with Joseph Scott from Automattic and my friend Todd and I asked Joseph what projects he’s been working on. He then spends the next few minutes talking about a ridiculously cool feature that is going to make handling videos for your blog easier (i.e. from your dashboard) and without having to give away all your rights to the video by placing it on other services… When he was done, Todd and I agreed that this sounded freakin’ awesome. So I did what any true geek would do when presented with something so cool information, I threw my arms out and said, “Bring it in.” Joseph, being the cool guy that he is, opened his arms and leaned in for a quick hug.

Later that night when we were back at our hotel and grabbing some food in the pub, the thought of hugging Joseph came back to me and I cracked up. Thanks Joseph for being such a good sport!

The second moment requires a little bit of setup. My wife is very much non-technical. Even still, this past weekend was her 3rd WordCamp event thanks to hanging out with me. Though at her first WordCamp she worked the registration desk and at her second she spent much of her time playing games on her iPhone.

While at the Reno-Tahoe WordCamp, we heard Matt Mullenweg talk about a cool WordPress theme called P2. P2 gives you the ability to post directly from the front page (like Twitter’s home page) and then updates automatically when new comments come in. This can be used for groups of developers to discuss a project they are working on collectively and will store all the information for viewing later if needed…

Fast forward to this past Saturday. We were sitting in the Q&A session hosted by Matt. Somebody in the audience stood up and started asking a question. As he was describing it, in my head I already know that Matt is going to tell him he needs to check out the P2 theme as the answer to his need. Just then, still before the guy has finished his question, my wife leans over to me and says, “He needs P2, doesn’t he?” I can’t tell you how proud I was at that moment!

This final moment I’m going to tell you about also needs a little back story. Last Halloween Todd and I set up a photo booth at the party we were at. As the evening went on, people had more and more to drink. This made the photos later in the evening just that much sillier. One of the photos is of my wife holding up her fingers as if she’s holding a couple six-shooters, and though you can’t hear it, she’s saying “Pyew Pyew” as she’s shooting them. And, for the record, “Pyew Pyew” has stuck around and is still something we laugh about.

On Friday, Todd, Chris and I decided to visit Alcatraz. As we went through the line waiting to get on the boat, there was a photographer there taking photos of couples and groups that they would then sell you upon your return for $22 for two 5x7s. I was certain there was no way we were going to purchase these photos, so I told Todd to go ahead and join Chris and I in our shot. Right before he snaps the shot, I hold up my hands and make the pyew-pyew noise. This makes the photographer laugh and in turn Chris and Todd, too. So I make Chris and Todd join me and we all throw our six-shooters in the air. When we got back, the photo was just too good to pass up.

You can find the original photo on this page for comparison.

Filed Under: Family, WordCamp Tagged With: alcatraz, san francisco, WordCamp