My youngest daughter had her birthday a week ago and so my wife joined me in the Uinta Mountains to spend time with her. This daughter is the director of climbing for a summer camp and spends her weekdays teaching Boy Scouts how to climb. On Friday nights they will do night climbs and last week's evening of fun happened to fall right on my daughter's birthday.
My daughter had explained night climbs before but I had no idea what a party the evenings turn out to be. My daughter's boss has a set of outdoor speakers that he sets up with the help of stored music on his smartphone. Then all of the boys show up headlamps ready to climb about 50 feet. When I first heard of the event, I thought there might be 10 or so boys. Nope, imagine the entire camp showing up. Throw in the loud music, bobbing headlamps, and excitement of 14 to 18 year old boys. The sight impressed me and seemed like a lot of fun.
Last week my wife and I really enjoyed our evening watching our daughter celebrate her birthday. Our daughter enjoyed herself as well. In a world where I imagine most teenage boys enjoy video games and technology, it pleased me to see such a large group outside having good clean fun.
Thursday, July 20, 2017
Thursday, July 13, 2017
Famous in Japan
I had a visitor from Japan at my office this week as we continue to wind down a project I have been working on for the past 5 years. We went to dinner the other night and started talking about all of the people we have worked with on the project. One of my good friends in Tokyo has made quite a name for himself. He moved his family to Nagano, Japan a little over a year ago. He commutes to Tokyo every Monday and then heads home on weekends. While in Tokyo, he stays with his parents. This allows his family to have a very comfortable lifestyle in the mountains.
The business press in Japan has found out about his commuting lifestyle and has written articles about him. All the press has made him a bit of a business celebrity. One of the questions he is constantly asked is how he came up with such a unique lifestyle. His response is that there is a manager in the United States that lives in Utah near a ski resort and commutes to San Francisco every week.
I had to laugh when my associate told me this story. My friend from Nagano has always thanked me for showing that technology allows us to live where we want even though it may be far from our place of work. He seems to be doing a good job capitalizing on my example as now there are a lot of companies that admire him and want him to work for them. So if he is famous and credits me for the idea that made him a celebrity, does that mean I am famous too?
The business press in Japan has found out about his commuting lifestyle and has written articles about him. All the press has made him a bit of a business celebrity. One of the questions he is constantly asked is how he came up with such a unique lifestyle. His response is that there is a manager in the United States that lives in Utah near a ski resort and commutes to San Francisco every week.
I had to laugh when my associate told me this story. My friend from Nagano has always thanked me for showing that technology allows us to live where we want even though it may be far from our place of work. He seems to be doing a good job capitalizing on my example as now there are a lot of companies that admire him and want him to work for them. So if he is famous and credits me for the idea that made him a celebrity, does that mean I am famous too?
Wednesday, July 12, 2017
My 2017 Vacation From Technology
I spent last week high in the mountains while the rest of the country celebrated Independence Day. One benefit of my trip is that I didn't have mobile phone service at all. I thought I would have technology withdrawls but surprisingly did not. I actually enjoyed not having to carry a phone around with me.
I had a number of different activities to choose from last week and didn't know what to do until the last minute. Finally I decided to spend a week with my youngest daughter in the Uinta mountains of Utah. She is the director of rock climbing at a summer camp and I figured it would be fun to spend more time with her. I packed up some clothes along with my guitar and headed to the camp.
One advantage of the holiday during the week is that most of the camp staff went on vacation. While my daughter normally shares her cabin with 4 other young women staff, she had it to herself. That meant that I could join her and didn't have to worry about sleeping in a tent all week. I also took the opportunity to join a session of leadership training known as Wood Badge that is put on by the Boy Scouts of America. I highly recommend the course as it is worth the cost and teaches skills useful in most careers as well as when dealing with young men or boys.
The week provided me with a lot of fun. I didn't even notice the lack of Internet connection. This allowed me to practice my guitar in the evenings and form lasting friendships with those around me. I miss some of those friends now and found it very difficult to go back to work. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and I found myself catching my usual Monday morning flight at 6:25am earlier this week. This was not my first vacation from technology and definitely won't be my last. I kind of enjoy getting away and hopefully you do as well.
I had a number of different activities to choose from last week and didn't know what to do until the last minute. Finally I decided to spend a week with my youngest daughter in the Uinta mountains of Utah. She is the director of rock climbing at a summer camp and I figured it would be fun to spend more time with her. I packed up some clothes along with my guitar and headed to the camp.
One advantage of the holiday during the week is that most of the camp staff went on vacation. While my daughter normally shares her cabin with 4 other young women staff, she had it to herself. That meant that I could join her and didn't have to worry about sleeping in a tent all week. I also took the opportunity to join a session of leadership training known as Wood Badge that is put on by the Boy Scouts of America. I highly recommend the course as it is worth the cost and teaches skills useful in most careers as well as when dealing with young men or boys.
The week provided me with a lot of fun. I didn't even notice the lack of Internet connection. This allowed me to practice my guitar in the evenings and form lasting friendships with those around me. I miss some of those friends now and found it very difficult to go back to work. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and I found myself catching my usual Monday morning flight at 6:25am earlier this week. This was not my first vacation from technology and definitely won't be my last. I kind of enjoy getting away and hopefully you do as well.
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