Smartphone Photos

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving when people will sit down at the dinner table and eat an incredible amount of food all in the name of giving thanks for our many blessings. In order to prepare for the festivities, my youngest son and I went for a rather lengthy hike today. We covered about 10.2 miles and wore my son's dog out. The dog is sleeping soundly on the couch and snoring loudly.

I had hoped to pick up a trail map from the visitor's center of the state park where we hiked today but found it closed because of the coming holiday. Instead I opted to take a photo of the map with my smartphone so I always had it with us even if we lost phone service on the hike, which we did. While I prefer to have a piece of paper for a map, the photo served us well.

This is not the first time I have used a picture on my phone to replace a map. It won't be the last either. As I think about it, a phone picture is a lot better for the environment as paper maps often turn into litter require a lot more resources to create.

A few years ago I took my kids and their spouses to Moab for a family vacation. One of the activities for the trip included rock climbing. We had a guidebook for the area we planned to climb. As we scoped out the area, a couple of other climbers not familiar with the area came and took a smartphone picture from the guidebook of another climbing area next to ours. It worked out well for all. They went to an area away from us so we didn't have to compete for climbing routes and the photo provided important information needed for the climbs.

Taking a picture of a map at the beginning of your hike or of pages out of a guidebook allow you to carry important information in the palm of your hand. All it takes is a little practice on using the photo and a phone with a charged battery. After all, the phone won't do you any good if it won't turn on.

The Power of Mentoring

I spent the past weekend in Moab, Utah with my youngest daughter and wife. It was a lot of fun and even though I have been to Moab a number of times, managed to do some very different things. Normally we go down and make sure to visit Arches National Park. This time we bypassed it and spent most of our time in the Sand Flats Recreation Area. It was a lot of fun.

I made reservations for the hotel several months ago and let my good buddy Brett know that we would be in one of his favorite parts of the world. He asked if he could come along and maybe invite a few friends. They all made arrangements to stay in the same hotel and I thought it would be fun to take my wife's Jeep on some of the world-famous Jeep trails in Moab. My youngest daughter did not like all of the company. Furthermore she wanted to hike to some of the well-visited sites inside of Arches and thought Jeeping would be boring.

While I am an expert skier, I am a novice when it comes to four wheeling. Brett has a lot of experience taking guys like me and helping them build their courage. He also brought along another expert to help with the learning process as well as another novice to coach. All us novice guys had to do was to follow the experts up and down the right lines. It was great having proper coaching and by the end of the trip I was much more confident in my off-road driving abilities. More importantly, I was watching my daughter in the rear-view mirror and she had a constant grin. Half-way through the trip I asked her if she wanted to stop riding in the Jeep and go hiking. Nope, she wanted to keep going.

So what does this have to do with computers? Any time you find yourself trying to learn something new with respect to technology, try to find yourself someone who can mentor you. You will progress much faster than if you try to figure it out on your own. It will also be a lot more fun.

Cyberwidows

When the Internet exploded about a decade ago and everyone started putting up Websites, somebody coined the term "Cyberwidow." It referred to wives that were neglected in the evening because husbands were busy playing online games or surfing the Internet. As someone who works in the video game industry, I fear I only help contribute to the problem. Therefore I feel it is appropriate for me to help provide my own personal remedy.

About a month ago I was talking with one of my friends. We were talking about our wives and he mentioned that it is important to get away for a weekend, without the kids, and go do something fun. His recommendation included a quarterly time-frame. I have to say that I agree. My kids are grown and all moved out so it is just me and my wife. Yet we still try to get away once a year. Conincidently we were having the conversation just after I returned from a weekend in San Diego and so I felt like I was doing my part. That was back in September.

Now it is November and a different quarter. This past weekend I took my wife to Moab, Utah. One of my favorite national park is Arches and it is spectacular. I think it ranks right up there with Yellowstone and Yosemite. Arches National Park is located just outside of Moab and has some adventurous hikes with amazing scenery. Moab also happens to be mountain bike capital of the world and at the same time, four-wheel-drive capital of the world. It just so happens that I recently bought my wife a brand new Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We used the trip to do a bit of hiking and break in my wife's new car. It was fun and most importantly, nothing broke.

The whole weekend was very inexpensive. We opted to stay in a hotel where breakfast was included in the price of the room. They had a hot tub and pool that felt rejuvenating even though it was only 45 degrees Fahrenheit outside overnight. Throw in gas for the Jeep, eating at restaurants, and entry into the park for a total cost under $200. Remember that a happy wife equals a happy life. Life is pretty good for me right now.