Day 271 - Nickelodeon Universe

160.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4 of them ran, and 150/100.

So today we had the first discovery meeting regarding that opportunity I mentioned a few days ago, so I can now reveal what it is! We've been engaged so far to the point that we can get a firm estimate for approval to move forward with the full Nickelodeon Universe website! Woooooo!

If you weren't aware, the theme park at the Mall of America (formerly Knott's Camp Snoopy) is being rethemed to be Nickelodeon Universe. The logo has been unveiled and the park is already under some major construction.

Needless to say, this is a perfect opportunity for us, and we're really really really excited about it. Stay tuned.

SpongeBob-o-Rama

Check out all this crazy SpongeBob stuff!

I want the monitor.

(thanks Ryan!)

Day 270 - Not Much To Talk About

160.5 on the scale. No exercise (day off).

Day 269 - Don't Take That Monkey!

160.5 on the scale. 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

40 degrees this morning, and I was wearing shorts! Brrrrrrr!

So I stopped at Caribou as I usually do in the mornings, and as I was standing at the register ordering my coffee, a guy in front of the other register turned and said to me, "Hey! You're the Ham & Eggs Guy?".

I turned and recognized him instantly as a guy I talked to in that very Caribou well over a month ago while I was working on some stuff. I poked jovially at him and said, "Yeah! It's Ham in the Fridge, but you remembered! Nice!"

When we talked last time, we talked about business stuff and our roles at our companies. Turns out the guy was layed off from the small company he was at since I last talked to him and is searching for his next management position.

Today he recommended an article from the Harvard Business Review that reminded him of me and where HAM was as a company, from last time we talked. It's about how managers have to be very conscious about "taking the monkey off the back" of an employee when he or she approaches you with a problem. Our role is not to take that monkey, but to validate, redirect, or advise an employee to deal with the monkey in the best way themselves, which is what we hired them to do.

He was gonna scan it and email it to me so I can actually read it. It sounds interesting, and something that I think would be very helpful to read.

It's very easy to take everyone else's monkeys off their backs and end up with too many on your own, and in my experience, it happens for a couple of reasons:

1) You sympathize with the struggle the employee is having and wish they weren't having it, and so you want to help alleviate the stress. You take the monkey.

2) More often than not, you're strapped for time, and sometimes it feels faster and more efficient in the short term to deal with something ourselves rather than take the time to explain or instruct the employee to manage it on their own. You take the monkey.

I'm pretty lucky in that most of my employees are sensitive to the fact that I historically take too goddamn many monkeys that perhaps I shouldn't, but every now and then when we're really busy they and I forget and we fall into the trap that ultimately amounts to balls getting dropped and me being a stopgap in the organization.

So, I continue to work hard at not taking the monkeys, and work on advising them and validating their ideas about how to carry the load themselves. More often than not, they have the right answer, they just need validation.

Day 268 - Stunted Day

160.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4 of them ran, and 150/100.

Today was a short day. I did some little catch up stuff at home this morning, got into the office at 11:00 for a brief discussion about a proposal we're trying to tweak to get a job we want, and then headed out to a lunch with Ben at M&S Grille.

It was good to connect with him again, and it sounds like the Target decision was ultimately a good one for him. Oh, and the Blackened Catfish is awesome.

So then I rushed back and got to an internal review a few minutes late (sorry!!) for a couple great game ideas that we're cooking up and are gonna pitch to Adult Swim early next week. Man, what a fun thing we do. And what a great team we have doing it!

THEN, we had an interview with an internship candidate to be taken under Matt's wing, then I had to rush out at 3:00 to be home by 3:30 to be there when the kids got home, 'cause Jo and Mom were out shopping all day with Jo's mom.

Dad got back to town around 6:00 or so, and I spent the afternoon cooking some lo mein (or the closest thing to it I could make with what I had around the house), which turned out pretty well, all things considered.

I also trouble-shot some stuff with the email server on our web server. I swear, HAM needs to get out of the email hosting business, completely. I'm gonna put that on my to do list.

Day 267 - Singing In The Rain

163.0 on the scale (yikes!). 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

Not much to report today other than the end of the day saw me rushing to get to a new families reception at the kid's new school, and on the way to the car the skies opened up and completely soaked me. I mean sopping wet soaked.

So I was a damp dad for the short reception. Thank goodness it was short.

The other thing to report, Heroes season premier was tonight, and it was TASTY! Brilliant writers, I'm tellin' ya.

Day 266 - One Last Hurrah

Not sure what I weigh (maybe I don't wanna know after the meatfest last night), but 5 miles on the trails, 4 of them ran, 150/100. Abs still hurtin'.

This morning Mom and Dad escaped to a coffee shop for a newspaper and some time to themselves, so I took advantage of that time to go out biking on the long path while Jo and the kids did their own thing.

Then around noonish, we had a bite to eat and then hooked the boat up and Mom, Dad, Cory, Cole and I went out for one last hurrah on the lake. Jo stayed home to catch up with her perpetual to do list, and we explored Lake Minnetonka.

I was hell bent on jumping in the lake even though it was gonna be cold, and managed to get each kid to jump in with me after I did it by myself a couple of times. That became a photo opp for Mom, and so all three of us jumped in a few times until she could get the perfect shot!



We were on the lake for about 3 hours, then headed home to get cleaned up to go over to Aunt Laurie's for a barbecue. So as if I didn't get enough to eat last night, I ate a BUNCH of chips and dip and a steak and a chicken breast and a baked potato... I don't wanna step on the scale tomorrow.

It was good to see them again, and nice to hear about Matt's plans to travel the world again. He's going into the Peace Corps around Jan or Feb, and will probably end up in Africa somewhere. I hit him up to be my FaceBook friend so I can keep track of him on his travels.

Back to the grind tomorrow again!

Quote of the Day

Optorectomy: That's where they cut the nerve that runs from your asshole to your eyes. It takes care of your shitty outlook on life.

Day 265 - Holy Churrascaria!

160.5 on the scale, 14.0 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

On Friday, I started doing these leg lift things instead of crunches for the middle set of 50, and deeeeanngg!! My abs freakin' hurt.

So today was pretty low key (but I've been saying that a lot lately). I spent the morning making a big breakfast for the fam -- banana/oatmeal pancakes, eggs, home fries, vegetarian sausage patties -- the works!

I don't usually eat breakfast, but I did today.

Then midday I got up on the roof of the treehouse and did some more shingling. I'd say it's just over half done now. The challenges thusfar have been to work around the tree trunks that jut right through the roof, but coming soon will be another challenge. Shingling the trap door in a way that a) blends with the rest of the roof shingles when closed and b) closes in a way that prevents water from coming in.

Then, the highlight of the day (especially for Cole) was the trip to Fogo de Chao, the Brazilian Churrascaria restaurant in City Center. We all went, Mom and Dad and the four of us.

For those that have not partaken, it is a kinda chaotic experience in which you're encouraged to eat as much meat as is humanly possible. You have this little paper disc that is red on one side and green on the other. Green means "Bring on the meat!" and red means "Holy crap, slow down!".

There's also a really big salad/vegetable bar that you go through buffet style, with lots of marinated vegetables and salads, etc that was pretty tasty. That was the whole of Cole's meal. The rest of us had a plate of salad first, and then Cory was the first to break the meat seal, getting some bottom sirloin, top sirloin, parmesan-encrusted pork medallions, and more! I think his goal was to sample at least 7 of the 15 meats they were running around with. He accomplished his goal.

I think all of us were pretty stuffed after the repeated rounds of visits to the table by pleasant meat-wielding Gauchos, especially when you threw in the fried bananas, polenta, potatoes and cheesy buns they relentlessly kept replenishing at the table.

We also got a bottle of wine that Mom was terribly uncomfortable with, because it was $41 a bottle. She enjoyed it though.

The total bill for the six of us ended up being around $300, so it is not a restaurant if you're at the end of your budget allowance and feel like going out.

As a result of our being stuffed, we were all also quite gaseous when we got home. HummelFumes a'plenty!

Day 264 - Where'd The Good Tunes Go?

160.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4 of them ran, and 150/100.

Boy, the iPod was just not in tune with my rhythms today. It played crappy song after crappy song!

Maybe I need to clean some shit off of it.

Day 263 - Wait, I Know You!

159.5 on the scale. 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

I've been seeing John a lot on the trails again lately. For a long while I didn't cross paths with him, and had to wonder if he was alright. He's old. Ya never know what might have happened.

But not to fret. He's fine!

Also on the path today on the return trip I whizzed by a woman pushing a stroller, and in my usual fashion, made eye contact and said "Hi!". In the brief second or so I looked at her some synapses were tickled or something, and when I was past her, thought, "Wait, I know you!".

I didn't stop, but spent the next 50 feet or so placing her as someone I worked with 11 years ago. I couldn't tell you her name, but I am sure she was a 3D designer, designing fixtures and displays and stuff. I'm pretty sure I worked with her at John Ryan Company, my first job out of college.

Anyway, if I see her again, I'll have to stop her and jog her memory and ask her name again!

Other than that, I had a pretty low-key day today.

I made ribs on the grill tonight, mashed potatoes and corn. Cole had vegetarian riblets. Was the first time we tried the fully cooked rack of ribs from Target, and they proved to be tasty and quite easy to make! Um, yum.

Mom and Dad made it to the house right around the time we were tucking the boys in, and after we got settled, the adults played a game of zilch. Mom won. And rubbed it in all our faces.

Dad leaves Sunday for business and leaves Mom here with us until Tuesday or Wednesday when he swings back through to pick her back up.

Cole had his first day of Wings today, and he enjoyed it immensely, to say the least. He learned about how airplanes fly: lift, drag, etc. Sounds like the program will be right up his alley.

Day 262 - HummelNoodle

159.0 on the scale. 7.4 miles walking on the path, and 150/100.

Both boys were tested today for the High Potential program at school. I'm proud to say both made it in with flying colors! Cole actually starts right away tomorrow, Cory next week.

That helps alleviate any concerns about either of them being bored in school! I think all four of us are feeling quite good about the decision to change schools.

Day 261 - Revelations

160.5 on the scale. No exercise, because it was pouring in the morning and again at night.

Not much to share about the work day, except for the fact that I got my hands dirty in Actionscript 2.0 code to upgrade the capabilities engine I'd created awhile back to handle swfs. It was fun!

And then, the really good part of the day.

Alexis came in to let me know she and Angela had just learned that one of the project managers we work with a lot at Target.com is also a Vikings cheerleader. So, of course, I get on the net to verify this.

Indeed, we work with a Vikings cheerleader. Who knew??

But, no. Oh no, no, no. It doesn't stop there.

Not only is she a Vikings cheerleader, she was on Fear Factor, the Vegas episode. Remember the spunky blonde who had to eat the African spiders? Um, yeah. That's her.



Enjoy.

Day 260 - One Week to Heroes

158.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4 of them ran, and 150/100.

That's right folks, only one more week until season 2 of Heroes starts.

Tonight we had a Curriculum Night at the boy's new school. I got to meet their teachers for the first time and hear about what they're doing this year.

I always thought we made the right choice switching them, but now I'm sure.

Day 259 - Post Wedding Woe

No idea what I weigh, and no exercise, on account of having too much fun last night.

Yeah, I drank too much last night. Not only last night, but all day.

So lemme tell you about yesterday.

The wedding started at 11:00, and it was requested that we be there early, at 10:00. I'd been tapped on the shoulder to videotape the wedding with her parent's camera, so had to set up.

First, lemme give you the setting.

This was at St. Paul College Club on Summit (next door to the governor's mansion), and the wedding was outdoors on the grounds behind the mansion.

It was really a beautiful setup, except it is September, and it was a bit brisk in the morning. Like 51 degrees when we first got there, after a frost the night before. So I was in my shirt and tie, no coat, and had situated myself in the optimal spot to shoot the wedding, which happened to be in the shade. So I was cooooooooolddd.

Anyway, the strings and flute trio began playing, and when most everyone was in their chairs and the wedding was about to start, we all heard KDWB begin to blast from the backyard of the governor's digs. Like echoing-off-of-surrounding-buildings blasting.

Who does he think he is? The governor or something??? How rude!

Since I was close to the door, I let the personal attendant know, and then saw Jeremy, the groom, rushing inside to get the College Club peeps to go wrangle the gov to muzzle his tunes.

After that had been addressed, the wedding went very smoothly, and I got it all on tape, hopefully to the couple's liking.

Afterwards, around noon:15 the reception started inside, and drinks were on the couple. I started with a glass of wine. Then another. And later, yet another. I was, of course, on official business, socially lubricating so I could get in front of the crowd for our hostly duties.

Of course.

After adequate lubrication, Jo and I got in front and I got on the mic to let people know what to expect in terms of timing and stuff. When the champagne was poured, we introduced the best man and the maid of honor to do the toasts, then I got to start to direct the tables to the buffet, which was haphazard and fun, thankyouverymuch.

At one point a wedding planner tried to take over, but by then, I was plenty socially lubricated and was having fun, and I wasn't about to hand over that mic!

The reception ended around 2:15 or so, and then we got in the limo with the wedding party. There were beers, champagne, and youbetcha, the bottles of Apple Pie Whiskey came out. We stopped at a few bars where more drinks were had, and at some point we were convinced to call home and clear it with my parents to just get a room for the night where the wedding party was staying, and where we were gonna end up after the limo ride.

We got the official OK.

Well then I really threw caution to the wind and said "yes!" far more than I should have, and to make an already long story shorter... Tequila shots, more Apple Pie Whiskey, more beer. All on top of not having eaten any supper.

And that, my friends, is why my head hurts today.

Quote of the Day

Courtesy of Justin Hagel, brother of the bride and one-day senator, while in the limo - "If you're not a Journey fan, you're a LIAR."

Day 257 - Crashing A Rehearsal Dinner

159.5 on the scale. No exercise.

Today I fleshed (yes, fleshed) out the outline for the MIMA presentation. I'm sure if there's anybody even reading this that you're sick of me talking about it. But it is fun. And I like it. And it is gonna be a good presentation.

Had another review lunch today, this time Eric. I'm getting close to being done with the marathon spurt of reviews, and hopefully getting back into just a handful of Fridays. I also decided it is time to alternate the quarterly reviews between me and their team leader, who is not me (except for the team leaders themselves -- they're stuck with me).

Later on in the day, I played some Wii with all those at HAM that weren't working from home or had left early for the day, up until the point that Jo came to the office to pick me up for the rehearsal.

We got invited to Denise and Jeremy's rehearsal dinner (thanks guys!) because we're host and hostess for the reception after the wedding tomorrow. Jo picked me up and we drove to St. Paul to Axel's Bonfire, where we had a deeelicious meal and a few drinks, and met a few of the wedding party from Jeremy's side.

They handed out some gifts too! Jo got a bottle of wine, and I got a bottle of the famous Hagel homebrew: Apple Pie Whiskey. Wooooo!

Anyway, thanks to Bruce, and Mom and Dad Hummel for watching the kids for us. My parents came into town around 7:00 and picked them up from Jo's parents, then drove them to our house. They'll be our babysitters most of tomorrow too! Thanks!

However, I guess it could be considered payment for the free room and board too, eh? Eh?

Day 256 - Molassess

160.5 on the scale. 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/0.

I SO did not wanna get up this morning. And my legs SO did not want to be peddling.

However, I did both.

Today was a relatively quiet day. I had a meeting with Adam, Kate, and Brad in the morning to go over the beginnings of my outline for the MIMA presentation and get their input on the back 2/3rds of it. So, after some great discussion, I was armed to flesh out the rest, and flesh it out I shall.

On that note, do you say "flesh it out" or "flush it out"? A longstanding debate, I'm just curious...

Anyway, I gots to get it to the summit committee tomorrow! But then the cool thing is it will kinda cover a lot of our philosophy about stuff, and possibly be good content for the new website (eventually) too!

Around the lunch hour I went across the street for another review, Adam. We had a long lunch at Monte Carlo (where I once saw Patty Wetterling and on a separate occasion, Walter Mondale), and then after a half hour at the office, I was off to another meeting.

Days get eaten up, don't they?

Day 255 - No Meetings

158.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4 of them ran, and 150/100.

Today was the extreme rarity. I had NO meetings on the calendar. It was awesome.

I spent the day collecting my thoughts on the presentation I'm giving for the MIMA Summit on October 3rd.

Also went to lunch with the design team to Sawatdee, and ordered my Som Tam the "authentic" way (with a healthy healthy dose of shrimp paste). My friend Alexis who was sitting across from me didn't hesitate to tell me that my food (or me) stank.

I hastened to brush my teeth when I got back to the office.

I pulled in the driveway late after work to find that Jo and the boys had found and caged another mouse. We almost have enough for an appetizer skewer now.

Pass the shrimp paste!

Day 254 - A Poke And A Smile

159.5 on the scale. About 14 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

This morning, I had a lab appointment to get my lipids tested. In a little before 9, a quick poke, and I was outta there in like 5 minutes. They're testing to see if I need to be on Lipitor again after I ran out of the samples about a month ago.

I then went to Caribou on 55 to work on the outline for the MIMA presentation I'm giving. Their internet was not functioning, but that was probably good. Allowed me to focus on the blank page in front of me and get some good stuff rolling.

I then had a lunch review with Pete, and later in the day, a draft pick for our fantasy football league at HAM. No, I don't know much about football players or teams, but that's not stopping me. Check out my team, the Hamheads.

Day 253 - Marathon o' Meetings

158.0 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, 4.0 of them ran, 150/100.

So I spent from 9:30 to about 2:30 in the conference room today, in a spree of meetings.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

One of the meetings was a birthday/welcome celebration at which I got to stuff my face with Pizza Luce, so...

Then I attended to some communications of the email sort, and some company email archiving and such.

Pretty quiet day all-in-all, which was just fine with me.

Day 252 - Ugly Dates Need Love Too

160.0 on the scale. No exercise.

I worked on the treehouse roof again most of the day. Got the felt down and then pulled the spare shingles that have been sitting in the garage forever down and then up onto the roof to see how they work.

After some experimentation and on-the-job-learning, I got about 3 rows of shingles down before I ran out. SO, I had to head to my-nards (Menards) and buy a couple additional bundles of something similar. Color might not be exactly what I already used, but pretty much only the birds and the squirrels will notice (and me when I'm up on the roof of the house putting the x-mas lights on).

So I ultimately found a date for The Flaming Lips show, although it would have been nice if I could have found someone considerably prettier. My date was severely lacking in that department.

Jason Rysavy and I went, and the show was great.

So they do some really simple but freakin' cool things on stage, and blast confetti like it is going out of style. They handed out little laser pointers to everyone in the place and we got to participate in the show. Was really really cool to see.

Yeah, I'd see 'em again.

Quote of the Day

From Wayne, the lead singer, at The Flaming Lips show:

"Songs don't change the world. Songs change you. Then it's up to you to go out and change the world."

Day 251 - Man vs. Mouse

Dunno what I weigh, but 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

Today was full of fun little episodes. So I'm gonna post in three separate chunks. Here's Episode I:

After making some pancakes for the boys mid-morning, I decided I was gonna finally tackle the roof on the treehouse. After getting back from a supplies trip to Home Depot, I climbed up on the roof and started removing the green tarp that's been on it since last fall.

To my surprise, in the middle of the roof, I found a family of mice. A mom mouse scurried away with three babies clinging to her backside, scurrying along behind her to hide again in an unturned part of the tarp. Another little guy was separated from momma and scurried another direction, when I saw the big fluffy (and stinky) nest.

I didn't exactly know what to do.

So after a brief pause, I left them alone for a bit and worked on unlatching another part of the tarp. When that was done, I was able to free more of it, which revealed a fifth little guy that scurried out of the nest finally.

Mom freaked, jumped onto a branch of a tree with the babies literally dangling from her backside over the edge, and one of the separated ones did a suicide dive off the roof. Dunno what happened to him. I didn't see where the last guy went, but I'd successfully removed the tarp and tossed it to the ground, and it was time to get down and get a broom to sweep it off.

Well, when I came to the tree I needed to use to help me down the ladder, I found him. The last little guy. He was clinging to the backside of the tree.

When I reached my hand towards him and he barely flinched, I got the crazy idea to try to pick him up. I was surprised when he let me, and let me wrap my fingers around him in my hand to keep him in there as I climbed down.

I was afraid I was gonna get bit, but no such thing happened, so mouse in hand, I called the family out to see what I'd found.




Adorable little fella, ain't he? He's now in a cage with the original nest and some food and water until we figure out what we're gonna do with him.

Day 251 - The Race Is On

For Episode II, early in the afternoon the boys packed their hamster and guinea pig up, exercise balls in hand, and we headed to the Hamster & Critter Derby at Petco. Cory's hamster, Sneezy didn't fare well in his race and was eliminated quickly. After the hamsters raced they raced the miscellaneous critters: a mouse, and Cole's guinea pig, Fluffball.

When they said "Ready, Set, Go!" they let go of their balls and let them start running. The mouse tore off, making good speed towards the finish line.

Fluffball, not so much. She just sat there.

Despite that, she took second place, and Cole got a ribbon and a prize.

Day 251 - What Was Lost Has Been Found (x2)

Almost home from some errands after the derby, we heard a gasp from the back seat when Cory said in a panicked sort of voice, "Oh no! Sneezy got out!"

He'd neglected to fasten his cage properly, and he climbed right out at some point on the way home.

When we pulled into the driveway, that started an hour-long episode of tearing the van completely apart to find this tiny little teddybear hamster that could be anywhere.

He wasn't under the seats, he hadn't climbed up into the chairs themselves, he wasn't in the side door pockets, he hadn't climbed into the frame that was open in the back from last weekend's boating, he wasn't in the console between the front seats. He was nowhere to be found.

So, Jo called Home Depot — one of the errand stops — to see if they'd gotten a report of a hamster running around the parking lot.

No such luck, but I'm sure the Home Depot crew got a good laugh.

When she'd reached the end of her wits and had pretty much decided to take the van to the dealer and have them tear it apart further, she pulled open the least-likely drawer under the stereo in the front dash.

There he was, sleeping soundly on his back, disturbed that someone had the audacity to open that drawer and shed light on his beady little eyes.

Needless to say, everyone was relieved. Cory too, but mostly Mommy.

And now that the van was torn apart, Mommy saw fit to give Cory the job of vacuuming out the collected kid-crap that was everywhere, as penance for his irresponsibility.

Cory loved that. NOT.

Turns out this whole thing happened for a good cosmic reason.

I'd lost my wedding ring on the cabin trip a few weeks ago, and it still hadn't turned up anywhere.

Well, it turned up today, in a cup holder in the back of the van.

Remember that day Jo let me out at Itasca State Park and I biked back? Yeah, I changed in the back of the van, took my ring off, and instead of putting it in my shorts pocket like I usually do, I dropped it in the cup holder.

So one hamster lost, two items found.

Day 250 - Thai It, You'll Like It

159.0 on the scale. 5.0 miles on the path, a little over 3 of them ran, and 150/100.

Man, I had another virtually sleepless night last night. I think the longest block I went was no more than 1.5 hours, and that wasn't until after 4:30. I don't know what's going on but I'm not sure I like it.

Instead of the usual depth charge on the way to work, I kicked it up a notch (I think) with a large Americano.

That did the trick for mid-morning and through a great meeting with a potential new client. I don't wanna say too much yet for fear I'll jinx it, but it is something we really want. We're gonna make it happen.

After the meeting, which ran long, I got back to the office and took Ross out to lunch for his performance review. He made it too easy on us by choosing Panera, where I had a garden salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

I reviewed a couple projects and tied up some loose ends while I fought through the cloud of drowsiness that overtook me in the afternoon.

After work we met Jo's parents and a couple of guests of theirs at Sawatdee in Maple Grove. It was the boy's first experience with Thai food and they both seemed to like it. Cole even liked the stir-fried tofu in his dish.

Afterwards everyone came over to our house to partake in the apple crisp that Diana made. I took a Unisom which started to kick in just about the time they left, around 9:30.

Unfortunately, it did not kick in enough for me to actually fall asleep, hence this post.

Day 249 - Mini-Summit Day

160.5 on the scale. 10.75 miles biking on the path, 150/100.

We had our Mini-Summit today at HAM. For those that don't know, we periodically gather everyone from the company in for a full day (Summit) or a half day (Mini-Summit) to talk about business direction and stuff — recaps of where we've been, where we're going, what might be changing, and most importantly an open forum where people can voice ideas they've had about the business or process or something. Really just an opportunity to direct attention inwards and get everyone on the same page.

Today was an afternoon half-day with lunch delivered in from Famous Dave's. We recapped what's happened since the last Mini-Summit (lots of improvements), and then had each team present what they've been up to. There were a couple of great discussions after the Producers and the Developers, then it was the Designer's turns.

They presented the new direction for our branding, which I'm happy to say got everyone pretty excited. Brad even pushed himself away from the table a bit afterwards and said, "I'm damn glad I have a job here at Ham in the Fridge!".

What better reaction than that?

Alright, Did Some Back-Posting

All up to date. *takes a deep bow*

Day 248 - More Human Than Human

159.5 on the scale. 5.0 miles running on the path, 1 of them walked, and 150/100.

Was happy to see a number under 160 again. I was concerned after the extended "fair diet" I've been on that I was gonna have to open an account on weightwatchers.com again.

Good thing, just have to watch my p's and q's a little bit more, which I'm doing.

Man, I feel WAY better today, more my usual sparkly self – exercising in the morning is the way to go.

I'll probably be "back-posting" some of the days I missed. There's some good stuff in some of them, with pictures so stay tuned!

Day 247 - Sick Day & First Day Of School

163.5 on the scale, no exercise.

I didn't sleep a wink last night. I tossed and turned up until about 5:00 am when the headache that overtook me at 4:00 became a nuisance I couldn't ignore any longer, and took some ibuprofen. I piddled around the internets for an hour or so while I waited for the pills to kick in, and though they never really did, I hit the hay again around 6:00 am.

I tossed and turned another couple hours until I decided I was gonna be a wreck if I went into work like that, and threw up the "sick day" flag while Jo walked the boys to the bus stop for their first day of school. Bus pass in hand, they boarded.

They had a lot of firsts today. First day of school. First day in a new school. First time on a school bus. First school lunch -- a choice of pepperoni pizza or cheese pizza which worked great for Cole. They seemed to have a great day, which was awesome.

My day was spent dozing in and out of consciousness up until about 3:15, when I got up, showered, and walked to the bus stop to greet the boys after their day of firsts.

After we heard some about their day, I got in the car and headed to my doctor's appointment early. Stopped at Borders on the way there to check out a book and have a cuppa decaf (so as not to fuck up tonight's sleep).

Anyway, I thought about hitting the bike again tonight, but considering that might have been part of what kept me up all night last night, I didn't wanna risk it. I'll start endeavoring to exercise only in the mornings on weekdays.

Day 246 - The LAST Day of Summer

164.0 on the scale. 14 miles biking on the paths, and 150/100.

Today was supposed to be the laid back day of the long weekend. No real plans. Get stuff done around the house, relax, get the kids ready for their first day of school.

I think we managed to do all of that, which makes it a good day.

First thing after waking, I up and shaved my beard back to a goatee which was very satisfying. Yeah, much more better. I'd pretty much decided on Friday to ditch it at some point this weekend. (How 'bout that boat hair, eh?)

We got out on the boat for what could be the final dose of sun and tubing for the season, and spent about 2.5 hours out there, just long enough to almost get a sunburn, which I did (no sunscreen).

After we got back and I got the boat covered and put back in its place, I made some penne for dinner and then hit the trail on the bike.

With the little bit of sunlight that was left, Jo and I spray painted circles around the sprinkler heads in preparation for the aeration that they'll be doing this week sometime.

Boy, we need to get a lot of those sprinkler heads replaced. We haven't used the sprinkler at all this summer because we didn't want it hitting the house and the new siding and staining it with our lovely rusty water, but there are a number of broken heads from when they put the driveway in, and some of them are like 20 years old. May be a project for next year.

Anyway, Jo spent time getting the boy's bags all lined up for school in the morning while I was out biking, so they're all nervously and excitedly ready to go!

Wish them luck!

Because I said I would, here's a pic of me with a beard. You see why I shaved it back to the goatee?

Day 245 - I'm A Lumberjack

164.5 on the scale (cripes!), walked about 9 miles today in two spells, 150/100.

I didn't much wanna get out of bed this morning, so I kinda didn't. :) When I woke up, I read a little bit, and when I finally got stirring, I decided to go for a walk, probably a long one since I didn't exercise yesterday.

Partway through the walk towards Excelsior, I got the idea to call Jo and have her meet me for lunch while the kids were still away. So, I walked all the way to Dunn Bros in Excelsior, grabbed a coffee, and then went to the Lakeside Grille to meet Jo. So, while enjoying the company of my wife, I had me an indulgent buffalo chicken salad with blue cheese dressing. I'm already 164.5, who the hell cares right?

After we finished, I started my walk back. Since I still had some change in my pockets from the coffee, when a lemonade stand appeared alongside the path manned by two eager and hopeful kids, I bought a refreshing cup for 50¢, then continued on my merry way.

Then, I fired up the chain saw again. I had to cut down a nearly-dead tree close to the treehouse that was wobbly like a loose tooth before it fell and clipped the powerlines and/or the treehouse. I cut the branches off, but left the trunks wholly intact for Jo to use at some point for borders on the trail she intends to build through the forest.

I also cut up some morosely dead trees that we'd pulled down this spring, but I never got around to cutting. They were nice and dry so I fired up a good bonfire and started burning some of those along with the remnants of the honey locust tree that fell a few weeks back.

So by late afternoon I was a sweaty, smokey, stinky mess. Yum! I cleaned myself up around 4:30 or so since we'd made plans to meet Lisa and David for supper back in Excelsior at Maynards at 5:30. That was fun, had a few beers and mostly behaved with French Onion soup and Jo and I split a fancy salad.

The boys were dropped off again at the house around 7:30 or so after a good day and a half with Gramma & Grandpa.

Quote of the Day

Jo: "Your cat tries my patience."

Bret: "Everything tries your patience."

Day 244 - So a Taxidermist, a Park Ranger and an Animator Are Sitting Around a Fire...

163.5 on the scale. No exercise, unless I count the 1.5 miles that is mowing our lawn.

Generally quiet day today. Mowed the lawn. Stuck some orange flags in the grass next to clumps of dog poop. You know, that kinda stuff.

Grandma and Grandpa picked up Cory and Cole around 1:00 to go on an undetermined excursion with them and then stay overnight. Boys are always eager to spend some time at Grandma & Grandpa's.

I also repaired a cupboard door that had come loose, and hung a mirror in the bathroom. Oh, and napped.

Despite the nap, I figured I'd done enough husbandly duty for one day, and had enough credit, I think, to go out to a spontaneously-thrown BBQ/campfire party in Shad's backyard.

That's where the title comes in. It sounds like the beginning of a bad joke, but no!

There were a handful of industry people there, some of whom I knew and some who's names I knew and who I'd exchanged emails with, but hadn't met in person. And a taxidermist, (Rogue Taxidermist at that). And a Park Ranger for the metropolitan Mississippi.

Add some beer, and you had some great conversation.