Where is John Wilson?

by John Wilson

Lately I’ve been remembering some funny stories of things my family did when I was little, and my son and wife are always making me laugh. I thought I’d share some of those stories as I think of them.

The Wilson Pants Theorem

Children’s pants have two legs. Therefore, there is a 50% chance that the correct leg will go in the correct hole the first time. Actual findings: there is a 100% chance that the initial leg goes in the wrong hole, or both legs go in the same hole.

Protecting Your Movie Rental

When I was little my dad, brother and I would drive or walk down to the Kom-Pak on Staunton Avenue to rent movies. On those times that we drove, my dad would always take the VCR tape, in the big plastic container and cram it under the seat for the drive home. Sometimes we’d have to make other stops like the gas station or the Corner Cafe, but it was always very important that we stuffed the tapes under the car seat. The rational was that if people saw the tape in our car, they would immediately lose control of their will and break into our Buick LaSabre to steal our copy of “Howard the Duck,” “Harry and the Hendersons” or “Chopping Mall.”

I had completely forgot about this until an incident a day or two back. I was coming home from work when I stopped at the local branch of my bank to hit the ATM, rented a movie at Blockbuster and then purchased a new game at GameStop. When I got to my house I couldn’t find the movie I rented anywhere. Someone totally stole my movie rental! I would be out $80 or whatever the lost video fee was. My dad was right. The thief totally ignored my $3,500 work laptop, the cash sitting in the bank envelope, my GPS, some Disney CDs, and went right for the video.

As I put my head down in my hands to sulk, there it was, jammed under the driver’s seat. I had subconsciously put the video there to keep anyone from stealing it. The nut doesn’t fall too far from the tree, I guess.

by John Wilson

Due to accidental mishap, I was forced to shop for a new lens for my camera. I dropped my 18 – 55mm “kit” lens that came with my Canon XSi. It was a great little lens that met it’s maker too soon. To replace the lens I started on amazon.com and b&h.com but didn’t see anything in my price range. Fortunately, I found a nice lady on Craigslist who was selling her gently used Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM Standard Zoom Lens for Canon SLR Cameras. This is a super convenient “walking around lens” giving both zoom and wide-angle possibilities.

She also sold me a nice Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II Camera Lens which is great for “available light” photos and very clear shots (it doesn’t zoom so the lens is much simpler).

My wife and I also took advantage of the nice weather to take my my son to the park nearby. Yesterday was one of the first days since mid-december that it has been warm enough to go outside and play. Here are some of the photos from the park. You can see the whole set here.

Parker is very close to walking. Here is him on the track pushing his new car he got for Christmas.

We (me included) crawled all over the field playing soccer and taking pictures

We also got to play with sand. The first time since Parker was very small.

by John Wilson

When I started traveling frequently for my job, it became difficult for my wife and I to keep all of our activities straight. Between my business travel and the countless events she manages, it wasn’t effective enough for her to keep a calendar in her purse and for me to keep my Outlook calendar.

We tried a printable calendar for each month, but the dates changed too frequently and it was inaccessible if you weren’t standing in front of the fridge.

We tried a large whiteboard style yearly calendar but the dates were too small and it was as inaccessible as the printed calendars. When Parker (our son) came into the mix, it was obvious that we needed a digital solution to keep everyone going in the right direction.

Enter – Google Calendar.

Amanda didn’t have a Google Account (a requirement for entry) but it was easy enough to set one up for her. The benefits of an online, browser-based calendar are innumerable. Here are a few of the benefits we’ve experienced over the past year:

• We can each have our own personal calendar and share them to coordinate schedules (easier than it sounds)
• Each of our accounts is color coordinated to make it obvious who entered what event
• Event entry is simple, click, enter a description, save
• We can plan years in advance, especially for vacationing (which my wife loves)
• It’s easy to block off walls of time for family coming to visit – sort of like a reservation system
• I created a third account, colored it green, and put in when all of the monthly bills come out of the checking account
• Amanda’s work schedule is flexible, so she can see when I am at home, and schedule herself accordingly
• Recurring events make it easy to capture birthdays that will remind you every year, forever
• You never need to miss another sports event – importing college or professional sports calendars is two clicks away

These are just a few of the uses of a shared Google Calendar. I highly suggest it for anyone who travels, has a ever-changing schedule or needs to keep track of one or multiple children, or just needs a reminder from time to time about an upcoming sporting event, movie release, etc.

You can start using the calendar by clicking “calendar” at the top of your Gmail account. Don’t have a Gmail account? Click here to get started. Let me know if you have any questions and leave any tips or tricks in the comments below.