iRobot API?

Check this out - pretty soon you'll be able to program your Roomba (not that I have one yet, but hey this seems like a great reason to get one!).

Finally picked up a book

Wow, I'm almost embarassed to say I haven't touched a book in the last five weeks since we've moved to Seattle. Not for a shortage of books (I brought a few for the apartment), but simply a shortage of time. To get back in the habit of reading, I picked up my copy of Tao of Leadership. a book given to me by my previous boss at Whirlpool after a Leadership Workshop. As a student of Tao Te Ching and Taoism, I am interested in this particular adaptation. I've always found Tao a natural guide to Leadership.

So I open up the book, and in Chapter 2 I break out a smile as some of my core beliefs are imprinted:

• ...the wise leader does not push to make things happen, but allows process to unfold on its own


• The leader knows that constant interventions will block the group's progress


• The leader does not insist that things comeout a certain way

Which brings me to my own personal paradox: do I like books, articles, philosophies because of their content and merit? Or, do I like those things which happen to align and resonate with my beliefs? I really wish I could say I am open minded and judge ideas on their merit; alas, I believe I simply resonate with those ideas that I happen to already believe. I look back at my favorite books (Good to Great, How Customers Think, Re-Imagine!, First Break All the Rules) and find that I held those beliefs prior to engaging such texts.

And even Chapter 2 of Tao of Leadership: there it is, staring me in the face... my own personal beliefs. Do I hold those beliefs due to my studying Taoism the past three years? Perhaps. More likely, I hold those beliefs because of what I've seen successful in my personal experience. To be sure, successful paths can be paved counter to the Tao (Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, among others).

PS. Thanks Jay for the book, and I wish you and Sara the best of luck with your European adventures.

Go Sox!

Tough not being able to watch the Good Guys take on the Cubs in the cross-town series, but at least they're taking them out to the woodshed =)

I just love Father's Day

Not so much for what I do, but it is a time of year that I get to reflect on what it means to be a father and the tremendous responsibility, and satisfaction, that comes with it. Hmmm, maybe that was the source of my upset stomach all morning (and not the mexican food from last night)?

This year, Spencer was thoughtful enough to get me not just one, but two Star Wars lego kits: the Emperor's Shuttle and a Snowspeeder, with plenty of minifigs to boot (13 between the two kits). Spencer even got me out of bed Saturday morning at 7am to share his little secret and give me my presents.

Garrett must really understand my fanaticsm with my iPod, as he had the insight to get me the Bose SoundDock for my iPod mini. Great sound (had sampled it at the Apple Store over in Bellevue), and what a great way to play an entire music collection. Set up a playlist and enjoy. Way cool.

On a side note, we have a move date set: July 5th. Gives us a couple more weeks in this apartment. Not a bad place, and we like the location, but we are getting antsy to get into a home and get things going there. Dying to see the state of all the stuff we currently have stored in Tacoma. Hope most of it made it in one piece!

Some pictures

Haven't posted pictures in a while, so here's a hodge podge of pictures over the last week.



We'll take Spencer's sleep whenever, and wherever, we can get it.



Garrett is eating cereal now (started about three days ago).



Garrett is also starting to balance himself. Pretty tough for him given his size. Hey Bren, recognize the outfit? =)



We've become members of the Children's Museum (the Seattle Aquarium, too). The Children's Museum is part of Seattle Center; Spencer loves to take the Monorail there. The Monorail is within walking distance of our apartment.

Here's a weird thought: Garrett has spent 20% of his life in Seattle. Yeah, I'm a data guy.

A year without the NHL

So this is the time of year someone is hoisting Lord Stanley's trophy, and I think the NHL will find the same thing that MLB found back in 1994 - you can't not have a championship. Who knows, maybe NHL will figure out a way to use steroids to get the fans back as MLB did, but I think they have a steeper hill to climb. I don't think there are that many die hard fans, even the core base of Canada, the East Coast, and Chicago/Detroit have their share of bandwagoners. I'm guessing the southern teams will lose quite a bit of their following.

I definitely missed the playoffs this year, although I was surprised I didn't turn to the NBA to catch those playoffs to fill the gap.

A good pickup for the Lions

Lions added a little more depth in the secondary with the addition of R.W. McQuarters. Will put the pressure on Chris Cash, Andre Goodman, and Stanley Wilson to perform if they want to be in the nickel and dime packages.

Call me crazy, but I like the Lions' chances this year of breaking .500 and possibly the playoffs. A little weak on the offensive line, but a strong set of skilled position players should keep defenses on their toes. And of course a GAPING hole at Quarterback. Harrington is just about useless (personally I would trade him for a sleeve of Gatorade cups and consider that a big win). Jeff Garcia? We'll see. With a good crop of receivers and a strong running game, maybe he'll put up the numbers that he put up in San Francisco.

Ah, if we could only rewind to the Scott Mitchell days. At least the Lions were regulars in the playoffs then =)

Will be weird flipping on the tube and catching the Lions just after breakfast out here.

Our new humble abode

Modest home in Snoqualmie, at a premium price! Nice house, I like it, Amy likes it. Two years old, and a sizeable backyard for the area (no, I'm not kidding). And it looks like it has enough room to store all our crap (Move-in sale, anyone?).



Area is great for families. Reminds me of Granger, Indiana, in that regard (Granger is a good ol' typical suburban American community). Commute shouldn't be too bad - about a half hour drive into downtown Seattle.

Even better news, the walk-through on our home in Michigan City went ok, so tomorrow we close there. Looking forward to seeing some cash in our bank account, not to mention debt-free, if only for a month.

Congrats to AWS

Amazon.com Web Services has won an award from the Software & Information Industry Association for Best Web Services Solution. Congrats to my colleagues on the AWS team!

Heard back from the seller

And they accepted our offer. Just after the 4th of July we will hopefully take up residence at 6624 Silent Creek Ave SE in Snoqualmie. One more item off the stress list =)

Our second offer on a house

Interesting piece isn't that we're offering on a house (how boring), it's how FAST this market moves.

Amy saw the house on Friday, I saw it at 1:30 on Saturday, offer drafted at 6pm Saturday, presented by our realtor at 8pm, and the sellers have until noon today (two hours away) to accept. Wow. Less than 24 hours after I saw the house we'll have an answer.

We love the area, and the house is very nice albeit a wee bit outside our original target price range.

Should have some news by this afternoon =)