For reference, here is The Meaning, of why am on this journey of mine
And the Video (HUGE thanks Julie!):
Monday, June 30, 2014
Another piece of the puzzle
A wonderful colleague of mine just shared this video. This video is a small piece of why am on this journey of mine. I haven't been focused on learning everything I need to just yet as it will all come when am ready for it.
For reference, here is The Meaning, of why am on this journey of mine
And the Video (HUGE thanks Julie!):
For reference, here is The Meaning, of why am on this journey of mine
And the Video (HUGE thanks Julie!):
Sunday, June 29, 2014
Savannah and odd meeting in FL
So, not really an odd meeting, but more of a coincidence, and I believe there is no such thing as coincidences in life.
I forgot his name, but met a fellow blogger, sfomoto, under a bridge while enroute to Bern's Steakhouse. Was really great talking to him and we were both camped out under the bridge waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. I was just putting helmet on again to get going when saw another bike come under the shelter so thought would wait to see who it was, and then we got to talking until rain lightened up.
We traded stories about each others bikes, and the joy/love of riding, and then he asked me what I did.... Am guessing he saw my out of state (from far away) plates on the scooter. So we started talking about the RV lifestyle and how great it is, and what the limiting factor(s) are.
It is my belief, and I could be mistaken (ssshhh), that the main limitation to living the RV Lifestyle (or any LifeStyle you want to), is in our minds. Once we clear up the gunk in the mind then we'll realize anything is possible, so long as we can truly believe in it, such as the lofty goal of putting humans on Mars!
So, it is with hope that he reads this, clears out the gunk in mind, and gets on with his dreams...
Wasn't expecting much from Savannah, but some people told me to check out Forsyth Park and all the little squares in the area, as this is one of the areas which "define" Savannah. There were couple other places I was told to check out, but forgot where they were, ooops.
This park is amazing, there was even a wedding about to take place as was walking around, by a big fountain of sorts. Plenty of trees and it was a nice temperate day, very enjoyable. One thing that really stood out was a nice looking Bed and Breakfast which borders the park called Forsyth Park Inn. I was able to go in and take a look around and was very impressed. If am ever in the area again, without my RV, will definitely stop here as it's in a wonderful location!
From the park just wandered around town, walking to the River Walk and back to the park. The River Walk area is very active and, while it has touristy stuff, there looks to be quite a few nice restaurants and plenty of things to gaze at. Plenty of bars too if that's your thing.
Scattered throughout Savannah is a campus for one college, in small buildings here and there. The college is SCAD, Savannah College of Arts and Design. They have little stores too where can buy some the students, or alumni?, creations. Took a peek through some of the windows and talked with people coming out, and very impressed. Supposedly this college is well known among the Arts and Design people.
While wandering around town ran into an old friend used to work with. It was amazing and great to see him here. Ran into him, and his partner, at some sort of neighborhood block party stumbled across and turns out that they live within spitting distance of the Forsyth Park Inn was admiring earlier. It's a small world indeed! They pretty much just arrived in the city a couple months ago after moving from Chicago! It was super awesome to meet up with them, and they make the bestest green stuff (pesto I think) have ever had!!!!
There are quite a few more things to talk about this wonderful little town, but somethings just have to be discovered on our own! There are plenty of things to do, at least for an extended stay, and it's a very walkable (or bicycleable) city and easy to get around in.
Will repeat!
EDIT: 07/12/2014 Forgot to add link to sfomoto's blog, and looks like he hasn't updated it in a little while. He is a really awesome guy and would enjoy talking to him again when our paths cross again.
I forgot his name, but met a fellow blogger, sfomoto, under a bridge while enroute to Bern's Steakhouse. Was really great talking to him and we were both camped out under the bridge waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. I was just putting helmet on again to get going when saw another bike come under the shelter so thought would wait to see who it was, and then we got to talking until rain lightened up.
We traded stories about each others bikes, and the joy/love of riding, and then he asked me what I did.... Am guessing he saw my out of state (from far away) plates on the scooter. So we started talking about the RV lifestyle and how great it is, and what the limiting factor(s) are.
It is my belief, and I could be mistaken (ssshhh), that the main limitation to living the RV Lifestyle (or any LifeStyle you want to), is in our minds. Once we clear up the gunk in the mind then we'll realize anything is possible, so long as we can truly believe in it, such as the lofty goal of putting humans on Mars!
So, it is with hope that he reads this, clears out the gunk in mind, and gets on with his dreams...
Savannah!
Wasn't expecting much from Savannah, but some people told me to check out Forsyth Park and all the little squares in the area, as this is one of the areas which "define" Savannah. There were couple other places I was told to check out, but forgot where they were, ooops.
This park is amazing, there was even a wedding about to take place as was walking around, by a big fountain of sorts. Plenty of trees and it was a nice temperate day, very enjoyable. One thing that really stood out was a nice looking Bed and Breakfast which borders the park called Forsyth Park Inn. I was able to go in and take a look around and was very impressed. If am ever in the area again, without my RV, will definitely stop here as it's in a wonderful location!
From the park just wandered around town, walking to the River Walk and back to the park. The River Walk area is very active and, while it has touristy stuff, there looks to be quite a few nice restaurants and plenty of things to gaze at. Plenty of bars too if that's your thing.
Scattered throughout Savannah is a campus for one college, in small buildings here and there. The college is SCAD, Savannah College of Arts and Design. They have little stores too where can buy some the students, or alumni?, creations. Took a peek through some of the windows and talked with people coming out, and very impressed. Supposedly this college is well known among the Arts and Design people.
While wandering around town ran into an old friend used to work with. It was amazing and great to see him here. Ran into him, and his partner, at some sort of neighborhood block party stumbled across and turns out that they live within spitting distance of the Forsyth Park Inn was admiring earlier. It's a small world indeed! They pretty much just arrived in the city a couple months ago after moving from Chicago! It was super awesome to meet up with them, and they make the bestest green stuff (pesto I think) have ever had!!!!
There are quite a few more things to talk about this wonderful little town, but somethings just have to be discovered on our own! There are plenty of things to do, at least for an extended stay, and it's a very walkable (or bicycleable) city and easy to get around in.
Will repeat!
EDIT: 07/12/2014 Forgot to add link to sfomoto's blog, and looks like he hasn't updated it in a little while. He is a really awesome guy and would enjoy talking to him again when our paths cross again.
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Healthy Home Improvement
One of the wonderful things about the Nikken Organization, either being an advocate/consumer, or just knowing about them, is the wonderful work they do in regards to bringing forth healthy living, and not just simply by using their products, though they are wonderful.
It is their partnerships, specifically with the Healthy Child organization, that a significant portion of the good work is done. It is all being informed on how toxic our environment is and steps to be taken to improve it.
Without further ado, this is the e-book that the Healthy Child organization just released. It is all about being mindful how go about home improvement by watching products put into the home and looking at what's in the home at every step of the home improvement process. This also applies to my situation of living in an RV.
The Healthy Child organization has quite a few different relationships with a large variety of companies and organizations, but it's all about creating a healthy environment for adults, children, and even pets, anyone who lives in a building.
This message is for everyone, not just those who have children.
And, a bonus video of Life in Balance, totally goes with this message!
It is their partnerships, specifically with the Healthy Child organization, that a significant portion of the good work is done. It is all being informed on how toxic our environment is and steps to be taken to improve it.
Without further ado, this is the e-book that the Healthy Child organization just released. It is all about being mindful how go about home improvement by watching products put into the home and looking at what's in the home at every step of the home improvement process. This also applies to my situation of living in an RV.
The Healthy Child organization has quite a few different relationships with a large variety of companies and organizations, but it's all about creating a healthy environment for adults, children, and even pets, anyone who lives in a building.
This message is for everyone, not just those who have children.
And, a bonus video of Life in Balance, totally goes with this message!
Friday, June 20, 2014
Good and Cheap
This sounds like a weird title for a cookbook, but it truly looks good and cheap. The KickStarter project explains it all!
The current PDF file can be downloaded for free right now, though she'll be adding more recipe's later after the KickStarter ends.
In other news:
While don't have any pictures, will have a nice writeup on my visit in Georgia, Savannah specifically, it is an awesome little city!
The current PDF file can be downloaded for free right now, though she'll be adding more recipe's later after the KickStarter ends.
In other news:
- In Connecticut right now hanging out. No real campgrounds per se worth noting, but here for other reasons
- Have started pulling up the icky blue carpet and replacing with a linoleum tile thing. Looks much nicer than it sounds, hopefully lasts in an RV environment
- Got my RigitBot 3D printer! Will assemble it after floor is down and couch is in!
While don't have any pictures, will have a nice writeup on my visit in Georgia, Savannah specifically, it is an awesome little city!
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Scattering leaders in Panama City, FL
I left Orlando, FL and made a beeline to Panama City, FL to attend a self improvement course sponsored by Nikken. They are truly a corporation that cares about people, which is increasingly harder to find lately, even from ones we have trusted in the past. People make corporations, corporations don't make people..
The course itself I've mentioned in the past, is called Humans Being More. That link is to a brief description of what the course is all about. It focuses on improving ourselves and highlighting our Five Pillars for our success. These are having a Healthy Body, Mind, Family, Society and Finances.
When corporations help their people better themselves in all walks of life, it can only benefit the corporation, individual, and society, as a whole. This is one of the primary reasons for this self improvement course. Sadly it is something which corporate America seems to be lacking, in spades, lately.
The instructor we had was from Tallahassee (and a former Navy SEAL), which is in the general area, and he (and his wife) have had the pleasure of doing this for the past 17 years, wow. They gave several handouts and will be covering them in later posts. However, there is one which will benefit everyone!
Regarding this list, my personal view (a little biased of course), is that I have mastered 3 out of 4 Super Critical Skills. The other one, Giving Effective Instructions, am well over 75%.
Out of the Highly Critical Section I have a solid four of those skills to where I consider them excellent, with the rest in various stages of excellence.
Out of the Critical Section it's looking more sparse, but that is primarily to me not being in Management.
It's my belief that have avoided management due to me being more of a leader than a manager, as identified in this Wall Street Journal article. It is hard for me to do the minute day to day stuff when I would rather be making a difference instead of filling out forms in triplicate.
This is just one small tidbit that got from that weekend.
After driving till about 2 am (time zone change too) from Orlando to Panama City, and having to stop enroute twice for support calls, made it to a Walmart close by and spent the night. After arrived went in groggily and verified was OK to stay. Some places won't let you, primarily due to town/city regulations.
Next morning the alarm goes off nice and early, so start the GPS and head down the road, following it very precisely in a 35+ food land whale (as Paul Wheaton calls them), and GPS guides me someplace but it doesn't look right. I pull down this skinny access road behind a hotel (wrong one turns out) and pull over far as I can to stare and gawk at the GPS, silently, or not so silently, wondering what mess am in now.
Then start creeping forward to get my bearings when I spot this couple walking away from me. Just at the right moment they look back and I look at them, and can tell we needed to talk, for some unknown reason. So at the same time I stop and they start walking towards me. With engine still running, go to side door and see what the feeling was about.
One of the first words out of their mouths was "Do you want a kitten"... Talk about a deer in the headlight look.
I hemmed and hawed as have Mia still, and they gave me a story, which I presume is true, that they can't take this kitten in that they just rescued. If I can't take the kitten, they say it will go to the shelter (as they have a dog), and who knows what happens there. Once they said that knew what had to do.
Stepped out of the RV and took the kitten. Of course, the first thing kitten tries to do is claw it's way out of my arms, onto my shoulder, or any other part of me, to try and escape. Finally got kitten under control, and as was going back into RV, turned around and asked couple a question.
"What do you think I should name kitten?" (couldn't tell at time if male or female) First thing that came to their mind was Scatter, as kitten was hard to catch and would always scatter when they tried. I got the feeling they didn't do this all the time. I thanked them and we parted ways.
One other thing to note is that, according to them, they tried to find the home for kitten, and everyone said it wasn't theirs. After accepting kitten/Scatter, I noticed clearly how underweight and flea ridden kitten is.
Immediately brought her to other cat (Mia) to see how it would go... BOY oh BOY, it wasn't pretty, lots of hissing involved, but no claws! And I had a class to attend.... Interesting times ahead is my thought.
Put kitten down in back and proceeded to find correct hotel (passed it on the way), and then get moving as running out of time. Scatter stayed back as a little unsure of surroundings.
Once parked made sure both of them were somewhat OK before heading inside to HBM. . Scatter, at this point, was still a little skittish, as is expected.
During every break over the two days, would make a beeline to the RV and check how everything was going. Scatter would be resting underneath one of the captains chairs, and Mia would be resting on my passenger's seat. Always in the same spot and every time would come in Scatter would almost immediately pop head out and expect some attention. Could never spend longer than 5 or 10 minutes but would make effort each time to check and make sure there wasn't any blood shed, and there was none!
Prologue: A day and two weeks later Scatter seems to have grown at least 50% (closer to twice as big I think) in size and fleas are mostly gone! Brought scatter outside last night and wasn't entirely happy. It also turns out that am 99% certain that scatter is now a BOY as see dangly bits forming underneath and only one opening at the rear.
And, one picture, the first one, contained in the album:
The course itself I've mentioned in the past, is called Humans Being More. That link is to a brief description of what the course is all about. It focuses on improving ourselves and highlighting our Five Pillars for our success. These are having a Healthy Body, Mind, Family, Society and Finances.
When corporations help their people better themselves in all walks of life, it can only benefit the corporation, individual, and society, as a whole. This is one of the primary reasons for this self improvement course. Sadly it is something which corporate America seems to be lacking, in spades, lately.
The instructor we had was from Tallahassee (and a former Navy SEAL), which is in the general area, and he (and his wife) have had the pleasure of doing this for the past 17 years, wow. They gave several handouts and will be covering them in later posts. However, there is one which will benefit everyone!
20 Critical Management Competencies
That Produce 80% of Management's Results:
Super Critical
1. Listening Skills
2. Giving Effective Instructions
3. Accepting Responsibility
4. Identifying Real Problems
Highly Critical
5. Time Management
6. Reinforcing Excellent Performance
7. Communication Decisions
8. Speaking Effectively
9. Establishing Priorities
10. Explaining Work
11. Giving Feedback
Critical
12. Writing Effectively
13. Prepare Action Plans
14. Defining Job Qualifications
15. Adopting Organizational Change
16. Promoting Cost Reduction
17. Operating Within Budget18. Developing Written Goals
19. Justifying New Resources
20. Developing Yourself ContinuouslyGiving Feedback
from a BYU research project, replicated by UCF
Regarding this list, my personal view (a little biased of course), is that I have mastered 3 out of 4 Super Critical Skills. The other one, Giving Effective Instructions, am well over 75%.
Out of the Highly Critical Section I have a solid four of those skills to where I consider them excellent, with the rest in various stages of excellence.
Out of the Critical Section it's looking more sparse, but that is primarily to me not being in Management.
It's my belief that have avoided management due to me being more of a leader than a manager, as identified in this Wall Street Journal article. It is hard for me to do the minute day to day stuff when I would rather be making a difference instead of filling out forms in triplicate.
This is just one small tidbit that got from that weekend.
A surprise!
After driving till about 2 am (time zone change too) from Orlando to Panama City, and having to stop enroute twice for support calls, made it to a Walmart close by and spent the night. After arrived went in groggily and verified was OK to stay. Some places won't let you, primarily due to town/city regulations.
Next morning the alarm goes off nice and early, so start the GPS and head down the road, following it very precisely in a 35+ food land whale (as Paul Wheaton calls them), and GPS guides me someplace but it doesn't look right. I pull down this skinny access road behind a hotel (wrong one turns out) and pull over far as I can to stare and gawk at the GPS, silently, or not so silently, wondering what mess am in now.
Then start creeping forward to get my bearings when I spot this couple walking away from me. Just at the right moment they look back and I look at them, and can tell we needed to talk, for some unknown reason. So at the same time I stop and they start walking towards me. With engine still running, go to side door and see what the feeling was about.
One of the first words out of their mouths was "Do you want a kitten"... Talk about a deer in the headlight look.
I hemmed and hawed as have Mia still, and they gave me a story, which I presume is true, that they can't take this kitten in that they just rescued. If I can't take the kitten, they say it will go to the shelter (as they have a dog), and who knows what happens there. Once they said that knew what had to do.
Stepped out of the RV and took the kitten. Of course, the first thing kitten tries to do is claw it's way out of my arms, onto my shoulder, or any other part of me, to try and escape. Finally got kitten under control, and as was going back into RV, turned around and asked couple a question.
"What do you think I should name kitten?" (couldn't tell at time if male or female) First thing that came to their mind was Scatter, as kitten was hard to catch and would always scatter when they tried. I got the feeling they didn't do this all the time. I thanked them and we parted ways.
One other thing to note is that, according to them, they tried to find the home for kitten, and everyone said it wasn't theirs. After accepting kitten/Scatter, I noticed clearly how underweight and flea ridden kitten is.
Immediately brought her to other cat (Mia) to see how it would go... BOY oh BOY, it wasn't pretty, lots of hissing involved, but no claws! And I had a class to attend.... Interesting times ahead is my thought.
Put kitten down in back and proceeded to find correct hotel (passed it on the way), and then get moving as running out of time. Scatter stayed back as a little unsure of surroundings.
Once parked made sure both of them were somewhat OK before heading inside to HBM. . Scatter, at this point, was still a little skittish, as is expected.
During every break over the two days, would make a beeline to the RV and check how everything was going. Scatter would be resting underneath one of the captains chairs, and Mia would be resting on my passenger's seat. Always in the same spot and every time would come in Scatter would almost immediately pop head out and expect some attention. Could never spend longer than 5 or 10 minutes but would make effort each time to check and make sure there wasn't any blood shed, and there was none!
Prologue: A day and two weeks later Scatter seems to have grown at least 50% (closer to twice as big I think) in size and fleas are mostly gone! Brought scatter outside last night and wasn't entirely happy. It also turns out that am 99% certain that scatter is now a BOY as see dangly bits forming underneath and only one opening at the rear.
And, one picture, the first one, contained in the album:
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