Here are a few pictures from our recent visit to my parents in Parkersburg.

Mimi, Peepaw, Jojo and Parker

Parker and Jojo

Jojo and Parker

Mimi, Peepaw, Jojo, Parker and Lily.
You can see the whole set at Flickr.com

My wife and I were fortunate enough to win a trip to Costa Rica to a resort called Latitude 10. We had a wonderful time hanging out at the resort, relaxing and adventuring into the surrounding area. Latitude 10 describes themselves as follows:

It was designed to be small with beautifully arranged private casitas, so that guests may purchase the whole resort and enjoy with friends or families, and individual guests and couples can come knowing that they will feel like they have their own room on the beach with every amenity they could wish for, close at hand. Set on natural gardens, the whole eco-resort was created around the principles of sustainability so that you can enjoy this level of luxury while knowing the surrounding wildlife and nature is being protected. No trees were cut down to build Latitude 10 and we will be happy to show you our sustainable initiatives that guide our operations.

I would sum it up as “luxury camping.” Your casita is completely open to the elements and hidden from the other casitas. The shower and toilet are outdoors (which is pretty nice once you get used to it). They clean your room twice a day including setting up your mosquito net and lighting candles at night. There is a fridge in the room and a nice couch to relax on.

But… you are definitely outside. At night they close panels to keep the elements out, but you are still very close to nature.

Here are 10 tips for enjoying your stay at the Latitude 10 Resort:

1. Fans – This is the most important tip. As soon as you book your trip, request a fan for the duration of your stay. Our trip was really divided in to two parts – the nights we slept and the nights we didn’t. Costa Rica is hot. It’s also very humid. The fans on the ceilings of the master casita we stayed in did nothing to move the air. Once we got the bed-side fan (they only have a few) it was 100 percent different.
2. Itinerary and the beaches – The folks at Latitude 10 are great about staying on top of your activities during your stay. Lean on them to help you find plenty of things to do. They were always prompt at returning my emails before I went and kept us on schedule while we were there. Also, you can’t really swim on the beaches at the resort (see rocky shore pictures below). At high tide it looks harmless enough, but at low tide you can see why it is so dangerous. Make sure you talk to the Latitude 10 folks about where you can go to safely swim or surf.




3. Internet Access – There is very spotty Internet access at Latitude 10. They told me they are improving it soon, but currently they share access with the resort next door. Bad Internet access is actually a bonus, allowing you to enjoy your vacation by sucking up nature, rather than surfing Facebook. If you do need the Internet, the best access in the area is at a cafe called “The Bakery” in town. Latitude 10 offers safes in the room, and my 17 inch laptop easily fit.



4. Look out for flying fruit and lizards There are really funny red squirrels who hang out in the trees near the “clubhouse.” They like to take the fruit/nuts off the trees and throw them down at the people hanging around the pool. Also, were tons of lizards all over the resort and throughout Costa Rica. I ventured around the resort taking lizard photos and put a few of my favorites below.



5. Order a “Pina” – One of the gentleman who worked the bar/restaurant made awesome pineapple smoothies. I had one or two a day, a great way to relax by the pool (pictured below).



6. Get up early – The best pictures come of the resort and the surrounding area happen during the “golden hour” (an hour after sunrise). As the day goes on, the air becomes very steamy and sight-seeing and photography becomes much harder (not to mention that it gets very hot). If you get up early enough you may see these funny little orange and purple crabs (picture below). During the time we were there it was egg laying season. You can see in the picture all of the eggs this crab was ready to hide in the sand.



7. Bring mosquito sting relief – The resort provides natural/organic bug spray and sunscreen. Unfortunately, the bug spray didn’t work too well for Amanda and she ended up spotted like a Dalmatian. Be sure to bring some sort of lotion to combat the bites you do get.
8. Bring several good books – Amanda and I typically run all over the place when we are on vacation. Now that Parker is around, I’m sure we’ll spend much of our vacation time bouncing between zoos, aquariums and amusement parks (all good by me). This vacation was different. We spent the majority of our time sitting on the beach, swimming in the pool and generally relaxing. There isn’t a ton to do in the area if you don’t like surfing, so take advantage of the quiet time to kick back.



9. Rent an ATV – Amanda and I had a great time driving from the resort to Santa Teresa and then around the horn to Montezuma. This is a scenic route on mostly dirt roads (all of the roads in this area of Costa Rica are dirt and poorly maintained). From Montezuma to Mal Pais you can either go back the way you came or take this very adventurous road with tons of very steep roads and treacherous drop-offs. This route is NOT for the feint of heart, but is fun if you want an adventure.



10. Eat at Koji’s – This was easily the best restaurant we visited in Costa Rica and probably the best sushi I’ve ever had. Order the “Koji Roll.”

The last “tip” would be to get to know the people who work there. They are all very nice, speak clear English and can tell you all about this fascinating section of the world.

Latitude 10 was a great resort to relax – I 100 percent recommend it. Check back later for more posts about our experience in Costa Rica.

I’m getting my pictures ready from my recent trip to Costa Rica, but in the mean time, I found a nice article by Miss Eco Glam with a great description of our resort.

Stay tuned for my pictures coming soon.

Perspective

If you’re an adult, and you fall down and skin your knee, that is THE MOST IMPORTANT THING that will happen to you that day. Maybe that whole week. You’ll be embarrassed initially. Eventually, you’ll tell your friends and coworkers. You may call your mom. If you have a visible injury like a scratch, or a scab, EVERYONE will ask you about it. Really, falling down one time will be the most important thing that happens to you that week.
My son will fall down 104 times today.

Circa 1992

Today is a friend of mine’s child’s picture day at school. Hearing this reminded the group of people I sit with how cool the free plastic combs were on picture day. I remember standing in line at Jefferson Elementary School in Parkersburg, WV, waiting for my teacher to walk down the single-file line and give us each our very own plastic comb. There was nothing better than slicking back your hair and slamming that comb in the back pocket of your corduroys.

As I tried to find a picture of a black plastic comb, I found this hilarious post that shows the other end perspective of the dreaded grooming device: The Desperate Housemommy. The article is a little long, but it’s really funny. Ha-ha funny, not bad hair funny.

Arriba!

Did you know that burrito translates to, “Little Donkey?” Proof.

The name burrito possibly derives from the appearance of a rolled up wheat tortilla, which vaguely resembles the ear of its namesake animal, or from bedrolls and packs that donkeys carried. – Wikipedia

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.

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.

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.

I love New Years resolutions and new beginnings. I’ve always been the kind of person who gets in a fight with his wife/mom/friend and then wakes up the next day completely over it. I’m not sure if it is the lack of energy for fighting and grudge-holding, a throwback to my athletic/coaching background or a very naive way to get through life. Either way, it works for me.

These are my personal goals for 2011. They don’t include family goals (who doesn’t want their kid to grow up healthy and smart?) and they don’t include work goals (need to nail that tech deep dive presentation). Some of these goals are measurable, many are not (I’m aware of the consequences of non-quantifiable goals). I am putting them in writing to keep track of them, and to hold myself accountable to them.

1. Lose 42 pounds. Totally doable and well overdue. Recently inspired by Tim Ferriss’s “4 Hour Body” book. The uneven number is so that I can remember how many. This goal includes some sub-goals:
   • Cut out soda, 100% (I did this successfully in 2008)
   • Take my lunch to work 80% of the time
   • Workout every night I’m in a hotel (I travel a lot)
2. Read at least 24 books in 2011 – I got a Kindle for Christmas so I’m going to use to take advantage of all that flight time
• Read 10 Presidential Auto/biographies – and have always wanted to read more about our Presidential history. This is the year to do it. I finished Decision Points and am about through with “His Excellency: George Washington.”
• Read five well-selected professional development books. This has never been an issue for me, but it’s noted regardless.
• Read five fiction books – I ALWAYS enjoy reading fiction and it’s a great escape from work stuff. I still need to finish Atlas Shrugged form last year’s goals.
3. Learn more about Venture Capital and the process of starting a “Start Up.”
4. Take more photographs – I took A LOT in 2010, I want to take better ones in 2011.
5. One post per week on this blog – not an average, but one per week to keep it fresh.
6. Spend half the time I do on Facebook – not that it’s that much, anyways, currently.
7. Join a Board of Directors.

That’s it for now. I may add a few as the year goes on, but I probably won’t remove any.

Photo by John Wilson

If you live in South Carolina, you can’t help but make the choice between the two state football teams, Clemson and Univ. of South Carolina (USC). My closest friends down here are USC fans, so that is the team I adopted. This Saturday, USC is playing in the SEC Championship against the heavily favored Auburn Tigers. I’m looking forward to watching the game, but like most USC fans, I’m not holding my breath.

At the request of a friend of mine, my dad made a custom USC “cornhole” set as a birthday present. This was the first time he ever mailed me one, so I took detailed pictures of the unboxing process, so he could see how they wrapped it at UPS and show everyone else how they turned out. You can see the whole set on my flickr page here.

Thanks for being “Fragile” UPS

Soft Styrofoam

Finished Product