Run Jeremy, Run!

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My dad had a four way bypass today here in Portland.  After being able to talk to him after the third time seeing him today he had some advice he urgently wanted to share with me.  The first thing he said to me was “Jeremy, RUN!”  What he was referring to was I started to train for a 5k a few months ago that I wasn’t able to participate in because I came down with the flu.  Essentially he was saying “Jeremy, do whatever you can to take care of yourself because you don’t want to be where I am some day”.  Trust me, I want no part of what I saw today.  I played some basketball in school but once I got into the corporate world exercise like a lot of things took a back seat.  Today I got scared straight let me tell you.  I haven’t been able to eat meat for 2 days now.  I’m scared to death of meat in general after seeing what I saw.  My dad had to go through so much over the last few days I am so motivated to get healthy.  If one of your favorite foods is ice cream and hamburgers like mine was, go to a hospital cardiac unit and see how good that hamburger and ice cream sounds after sitting in the lobby.  I’m seriously contemplating going vegetarian, but want to talk to a dietitian as soon as I can to make sure I do things correctly.

My dad is doing well, he had one heck of a day today.  The anxiety of the last 5 days has caused a big strain on all of us, but nothing like it has for my dad.  I could just feel the stress all over my body.  My breathing was different, I got headaches, my back and shoulders were tight.  I seem to carry other people’s stress and I could feel the stress of the family all over me.  I saw my dad three times today and like most dads, mine is like Superman to me.  I really haven’t ever seen my dad down for very long, ever.  Today he was strong as always and determined as ever, but man did it shake me to my core about eating right and taking better care of myself.  If you aren’t taking care of yourself, spend 5 minutes with me, and I’ll try my best to convince you to change course.  Run, jog, walk, hike, bike, get active and eat well.

Bay Area to Portland or Bust

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I love roadtrips, especially the drive between the Bay Area and Portland. Here are some of the pictures from yesterday while driving. Hey, it kept me awake.

Seth Godin: Easier to Teach Compliance Than Initiative

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“Compliance is simple to measure, simple to test for and simple to teach.  Punish non-compliance, reward obedience and repeat.

Initiative is very difficult to teach to 28 students in a quiet classroom.  It’s difficult to brag about in a school board meeting.  And it’s a huge pain in the neck to do reliably.

Schools like teaching compliance.  They’re pretty good at it.

To top it off, until recently the customers of a school or training program (the companies that hire workers) were buying compliance by the bushel.  Initiative was a red flag, not an asset.

Of course, now that’s all changed.  The economy has rewritten the rules, and smart organizations seek out intelligent problem solvers.  Everything is different now.  Expect the part about how much easier it is to teach compliance.”

– http://sethgodin.typepad.com

Easter 2013

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St. Patrick’s Day Parade Invaded By Vader

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The Dark Side spotted Tyler the Star Wars Geek in yesterday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade. They shot him with some foam stuff, and he loved it. It made his week!