I've been tagged

I just noticed that Tracy tagged me last week for this meme. And since my blog has been rather dusty lately, it seems like a nice low-pressure way to add something to it again. :)

Four Six jobs I’ve had:
1. Paper delivery boy
2. Library clerk
3. Construction worker
4. A/V tech crew
5. Software and web developer
6. Digital hardware engineer

Four movies I could watch over and over:
1. Ocean's Eleven
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. Star Wars
4. Hitch

Four TV shows I like - reality version:
The only reality show I've ever watched regularly was American Idol, but I haven't for a while. I've been skimming through The Next Great American Band on my Tivo because Denver and the Mile High Orchestra is on it and I want to see how they do.

Four TV shows that I like - non-reality version
1. The West Wing
2. Friends
3. House
4. Shark

Four places I’ve gone on vacation:
1. California
2. Nova Scotia / Prince Edward Island
3. Rocky Mountain National Park
4. Vermont

Four favorite foods:
1. Lasagna
2. Turkey / stuffing / mashed potatoes (Thanksgiving, here I come!)
3. Steak
4. Anything Mexican

Four web sites I visit daily:
1. Two Bills Drive
2. Slashdot
3. Mac Rumors
4. Signal vs. Noise blog

Four places I would rather be:
1. Reading a book
2. Holding Jordyn
3. Talking with Bee
4. Worshiping God

Four bloggers I tag:
Heh. Every blogger I know has already done this. I'm a dead end, baby.

Red-Letter Day

Today was an amazing day for me.

This morning, I filed my first patent application (with Nate).

This afternoon, I found out that I'm being promoted to Lead Engineer. (I was so excited, I had to work to keep a goofy grin off my face for the rest of the afternoon.)

It was one of those days where you sit back amazed at what God has accomplished. Just a single year ago, patents seemed like something that other people applied for. I was frustrated with my job assignment and wondering if I should be looking for another job because I wasn't being challenged enough. Now, a year later, everything looks different.

Fun Link

Ever wondered how different words are pronounced in different parts of the USA? Here's a fun site that maps dialect.

Starting a Business

My friend Chris and I decided to start a business together. We've been talking for at least a year about it, but this last month we decided it was time to take the plunge and just do it. We're committing a certain amount of our spare time each week to work on it.

So what are we doing? We're going to develop software together, a particular type of software called a web application. Before you yawn, let me just tell you that web applications are very cool. If you've ever used Gmail, you've used a web app. Gmail, for example, gives you most of the functionality of an email program (like Outlook) - but it lives in your web browser instead of on your computer. That's what a web application is. And we're going to make them.

Apology

My apologies to my loyal readers who have anxiously been waiting for a new post for the last month. I'm going to try to get back in the groove and update more frequently.

I'm still figuring out what to write about in this blog; if you have any suggestions, feel free to share them with me. Which of my posts have you enjoyed the most? Do you have any questions that you want me to answer about my life, technology, the Bills, Christianity, etc? Let me know if you think of anything.

I'll be posting soon about my new business venture...

The Way to Wealth

I recently read Benjamin Franklin's The Way to Wealth, a short-and-sweet collection of his Poor Richard proverbs.

Franklin advises how to become wealthy:

Industry
"Laziness travels so slowly that Poverty soon overtakes him."
"Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise."
"Since thou art not sure of a Minute, throw not away an Hour."

Frugality
"If you would be wealthy, think of Saving as well as Getting."
"Beware of little expenses; a small leak will sink a great ship."
"Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy Necessaries."
"'Tis easier to suppress the first Desire, than to satisfy all that follow it."

In conclusion:
"Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other, and scarce in that."
"We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct."
"If you will not hear Reason, she'll surely rap your knuckles."

"This Doctrine, my Friends, is Reason and Wisdom; but after all, do not depend too much upon your own Industry, and Frugality, and Prudence, though excellent Things, for they may all be blasted without the Blessing of Heaven; and therefore ask that Blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered, and was afterwards prosperous."

The Jedi Master

My cousins (Bee's family) Daniel and Jason visited today. They brought their lightsabers so they could duel with me. Apparently they're into Star Wars right now, and they discovered that I like Star Wars too. So I pulled out my lightsaber and showed them how a true Jedi master can take on two opponents at once. :)

A Month for Change

I've been trying something new this year. Each month, I either pick one thing to do for the entire month, or I pick one thing to avoid doing for the entire month. They say it only takes a month to form a new habit, so I've been trying to improve myself by focusing on one thing a month.

It doesn't have to be a big change, I just try to pick something that I've been thinking about and feel like I should change in my life. Sometimes it's a good habit that I want to form or reinforce. Or it can simply be something that I worry I'm doing too much, so I'll fast from it for a month to make sure that it doesn't have power over me.

Here's what I've picked each month:

• January - spending half an hour of quality time with God each day
• February - nothing deliberate, although I did travel overseas for the first time in my life; and had an all-juice diet for a week because of sickness!
• March - flossing my teeth every day
• April - not eating any fast food burgers or fries (I felt like I was buying them too much for lunch; taking a break for a month forced me to find alternatives.)
• May - arriving at work earlier in the morning

Focusing on one lifestyle change at a time has been encouraging. It's been effective (I'm still flossing my teeth every day, something I've never been able to do!), and it makes me feel like I have the power to actually change the things in my life that I want to change.

This all started accidentally with me deciding to spend more time with God in January, but now I look forward to picking something new each month. I think I'm going to keep doing it. Just think... in 5 years I could form 60 new habits!

A Tough Job

I haven't had a chance to post for a few days, but I wanted to say Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful wife. She's only been a mom for seven weeks, but she's doing an amazing job. I'm realizing more and more that mothers just don't get enough respect. Caring for a child is a demanding job. I've been really impressed with how Bee's been handling it.

Little Bits of Gold

I have an addiction.

I compulsively buy Doritos whenever I go to the store. It doesn't matter how many bags we have in our pantry... if I walk past Doritos, I have to buy a bag. If they're on sale, I have to buy two.

I justify my purchases as stocking our pantry with snacks for the small group that meets at our house each week. But really, I just love Doritos. I especially love trying different kinds of Doritos. If they come out with a new flavor, I have to try it.

A couple of months ago they had a contest where they came out with two new flavors and had people vote on which one they should make a permanent new flavor. Smoky Mesquite BBQ or Wild White Nacho Doritos? The BBQ ones were better, so I was happy to see that they are now a permanent flavor. I would have bought a bag yesterday when I was at the store, but they were all out. The sign said I could get a raincheck if I wanted; instead, I bought a bag of the classic Nachos flavor and another bag of Blazin' Buffalo. You guessed it... they were on sale.

This Journey

If you haven't realized it already, I'm thinking a lot right now about my role as a Christian in the workplace. I feel like I'm on a journey this month to discover more of God's calling on my life, so I'm using this blog to help me record some of what He is showing me.

So I'm sorry if there aren't a lot of light-hearted fun posts this month. I'm just in a thoughtful mood. :) I hope you'll stick around and be a part of this journey with me. I'm especially trying to post things that I've found encouraging and challenging, in the hope that you'll find it worthwhile too.

Distracted Working

Another excerpt from Marketplace Christianity, talking about doing our work as unto the Lord:

Wholehearted means our heart is not divided between the job at hand and our desire to do some other ministry work. Rather, the job at hand is our ministry work. Because it is really the Lord we are serving in our tasks, then it is impossible for us to be less than completely wholehearted. In sharp contrast to this biblical mandate, modern Christians are generally the worst workers on the planet, precisely because they are not wholehearted, but divided-hearted. Their hearts are divided between work and ministry. They give little at work because their hearts are somewhere else. Early in my career, I went to work as late as I could, I left as early as I could, and gave as little as I could, but got as much money as I could.

This really convicted me. Sometimes I'm exactly that divided-hearted Christian that he is talking about. Sometimes I've got other things going on in my life that are more meaningful to me than my work, so I spend my time thinking about those things, and put in the minimum amount of time at work so I can rush off and do something more worthwhile.

But this isn't what God wants from me:

Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but like slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does, whether he is slave or free. Ephesians 6:5-8

If I'm doing my work as if I were serving the Lord, I should be giving it everything I've got!

Far-sightedness

One of the dangers of focusing on our dreams is that we can miss the everyday opportunities that God has put in front of us. I've been thinking about how many people with needs God has put into my life, right now. Sometimes I overlook that and want God to give me something big, something exciting to do. But He's already given me so many people around me, each with their own need for encouragement, advice, comfort, or correction.

It's a stewardship issue, really. Will we be faithful with the small things that He's made us responsible for today? We have to be faithful with the little we have before He can trust us with more.

Pursuit

I just finished watching the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. In it, Will Smith's character spends the whole movie with circumstances around him going from bad to worse. But through it all, he has a dream and keeps pursuing it no matter what life throws at him. (We're talking major things here: his wife leaving him, getting evicted, arrested, etc.)

I was reading over my last post, and the word "pursue" kept jumping out at me. To pursue doesn't mean that we've arrived at our intended destination. It just means that we haven't given up on getting there; we're actively trying to find our way to that destination. It doesn't even mean that we appear to be closer each day. But it does mean that we've tried, and through trying we accomplish more than we can realize at the time.

Pursuing Your Passion

I'm reading a book called Marketplace Christianity, by Robert Fraser, and I thought this portion was interesting:

When Christians ask my advice about starting a business, they often say they want to do it part time, so they can spend most of their time doing other stuff, which is what they really want to do. They see business as a vehicle to fund their true desire....

... as for people who see business as a way to fund a different passion, I say, don't waste your life on something that is not your passion. Passion is God's voice in your heart, speaking to you about your calling. Psalm 37:4 says if we "delight ourselves in the Lord" that He will "give us the desires of our heart." He will literally fill our hearts with His desires for us. It is best to pursue our true passion and look for God's provision in it. To pursue our passion is to serve God, who is the author of our passion. To do otherwise is to serve money.

He's specifically talking to entrepreneurs about their motivation for starting a business, but I think it applies to all of us. It's easy to let our worry about money keep us from pursuing the area of passion that God has put inside our hearts. God is faithful - if He's given us a passion and called us to do something, can't He provide for our needs so that we can totally pursue that calling?

Our time on this earth is so short - why should we waste it on something we're not passionate about?

Building Memories

Last night I installed a new hard drive in Bee's iBook. Let's just say that it's not for the faint of heart. It took me 2.5 hours to open up the laptop, replace the hard drive, and button everything back up again.

I found there were two main difficulties: 1) it's hard to figure out how to actually take it apart, and 2) it's tough to remember how everything was arranged after you've taken it apart. We're talking about remembering where 40+ screws go, many of them different sizes. Not a pretty picture.

On the plus side, everything worked once I put it back together. And I was smart enough to buy a larger capacity, faster hard drive, so the whole exercise felt more worthwhile. I'm hoping that this drive will be better able to handle the professional-level graphics and multimedia work that Bee does on her laptop. I don't want to have to replace it again in another year or two!

The Power of Focus

Single-minded purpose. It's amazing to me how much someone can accomplish when they set their mind on it.

I was talking to my brother-in-law tonight about a business he is starting. He's been working on this business idea for over a year now; every time I talk to him or visit, it seems like he's always working on it. He comes home from work and spends hours working on it at night.

Now, a year later, it's becoming a reality. (Sorry, I had to sign an NDA when he finally told me the details about the business, so I can't actually include any details.) But he showed me some of what he's been spending his time doing, and the amount of time and effort he's put into it is amazing.

It makes me wonder about me. I've been thinking about my life a lot this year, actually, and one of the things I've been thinking about is whether I can really be effective at something without focusing on just one thing. I'm involved in a lot of different things right now, and often I feel like I'm not as effective as I could be at any of those things.

Now, I think some of it is personality. I love having a lot going on. I love juggling stuff. And because of that, my life is usually full of a lot of different activities and projects that I'm working on. For instance, in college I simultaneously studied engineering, led our BASIC group, worked part-time, played on worship team at church, and dated my future wife (along with a bunch of other stuff). And I loved it! I have no problem saying no if I don't think I should take on something new; when I say yes to something, it's because I want to be involved in it.

But at the same time, I don't think I give things as much focused attention as I should. Of course, part of the problem is probably just a lack of discipline. I'm quite capable of doing more than I do; I just often need some sort of urgent deadline or external stimulus to get me working on something. But maybe having just one thing to focus on changes that. Maybe it makes it easier to know what to work on. Or maybe in order to have one thing, you have to find the right thing that captivates you enough to make you actually want to only work on it.

I don't know what the answer is. Part of me wants to have that one main thing to be passionate about; but part of me would also miss being able to be involved in so many other worthwhile things.

Drafty Thoughts

Other random opinions on the draft:

- I loved Cleveland's move to grab Brady Quinn. If he and Joe Thomas both turn out to be as good as they're supposed to be, this could be a turning point for the Browns.

- I was shocked when Miami took Ted Ginn, Jr. instead of Brady Quinn. It's a risky move, but it could pay off if both Ginn and Beck (the QB they drafted in the 2nd) pan out for them. I would guess they're expecting to be able to sign Trent Green to start for the next year or two while Beck comes up to speed. It could work, but it definitely wasn't the most popular or easiest path to take. And it could take them a long time to live it down if Brady Quinn turns out to be good.

- How do the Patriots do it? They consistently wheel and deal, and somehow you get the feeling that they're always getting the better end of whatever deal they're making. They didn't like they players available to them at the bottom of the 1st round, so they traded one of their two picks (yes, they had two 1st round picks because of trading Deion Branch last season to Seattle) to San Francisco in exchange for SF's 1st round pick next year and a 4th rounder this year. New England later used that 4th round pick to get Randy Moss from Oakland. So NE turned a low 1st round pick that they didn't want to use into Randy Moss and an (almost certainly) better 1st round pick next year.

- The Bills better hope that Ashton Youboty (last year's 3rd round pick) turns out to be a good cornerback this year. While they were busy not drafting or otherwise acquiring a CB this year, NE has been stockpiling WRs like they're going out of style (Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Dante Stallworth - a whole new starting ensemble). And Miami used its 1st round pick on Ted Ginn, Jr. to complement Chris Chambers and form a potentially deadly WR tandem (assuming they end up with a QB to throw to them). The Jets seem to be better prepared to deal with the AFC East WR threats (including Lee Evans) with their 1st round pick of cornerback Darrelle Revis.

The Running of the Bills

I watched the NFL draft for the first time yesterday. It was enjoyable, despite the slow pace (the first round lasted for over 6 hours - a new record). The first round is the best part since it offers the most hope for a team. (And because I only know the names of players that are getting drafted that high.)

I loved the Bills' first two picks - Marshawn Lynch (RB) and Paul Posluzny (LB). I was expecting them to take Posluzny with their first round pick (#12) and find a RB in the second round. Instead, they took Lynch, who was rated as the second best RB in the draft, and got lucky when Posluzny slid all the way into the top of the second round, where they could trade up and take him. After they drafted Lynch, I was rooting for one one of the top LBs (especially Posluzny, since I knew they liked him) to last until a spot where we could trade up and get one. And then it happened! Marv read my mind and did exactly what I wanted him to do! It doesn't get much better than that for a fan. ;)

Trent Edwards (QB) seemed like a great value at the end of the 3rd round, since many people had him rated as the third best QB in the draft. All through the 3rd round ESPN was talking about him, wondering who would finally take him. He won't be starting anytime soon for us, obviously, but it never hurts to have a good QB on your bench getting trained for future action.

I was surprised by the number of offensive players the Bills drafted (2 RBs, a QB, a TE) - four out of our seven picks. I'd expected them to focus on the defense more (other than getting a RB and maybe a WR). Looks like they drafted based on the value that was available, not just on need. I'm excited about our offense, though, with our newly upgraded offensive line and the two complementary RBs that we drafted.

The Beginning

Started this blog tonight. I don't know if I'll ever update it, but it seems like it would be fun if I did. I've learned over the years that I'm just not very good at posting things online or regularly emailing people.

Top reasons I probably won't update this blog:

1. I forget things easily. (Solution: make this part of my routine somehow.)

2. I'm busy. (Solution: if I care enough, I can always fit things into my day.)

3. I'm boring. (Solution 1: pretend my boring thoughts are actually interesting, and post them anyway; Solution 2: grab hold of the non-boring moments of life and write them down before I forget and think my life is boring.)

4. I'm sick of computers by the time I get home each night. (Solution: post at work when my boss isn't looking. ;) )