Flying vs. Driving

Flight planning, flight planning, and more flight planning.

When I learned to fly, I thought it would be like boating. Sure, I knew maintenance would be expensive, but I imagined jumping into my plane, at a moment's notice, and heading off into the wild blue yonder.

It turns out, while driving and boating can be relaxing, flying is a bit more stressful on a complex level. For starters, when flying, I have to always be "on," meaning highly attentive, lest I make a catastrophic mistake. Even when cruising on autopilot, I have to continually monitor the instruments while talking to air traffic controllers; and they're not patient if you miss their calls more than once or twice. Driving tends to be very linear, in a single direction. A driver maneuvers based on what's directly ahead. Rarely does a driver worry about what's coming from the sides, never mind above or below as is the case when flying through three dimensions. What's more is that most of the flying I do is to keep my skills and plane from getting rusty. I'd love to fly for leisure, every day, but that's not realistic.

A couple months ago, I noticed the big difference between flying and driving on a trip to Cupertino for a speaking engagement on Apple's design and marketing philosophies. My intent was to fly myself into San Jose Airport. I did my usual planning, the night before, and drove out to the airport at noon. As soon as I got out of my car I noticed it was eerily quiet; like the calm in the eye of a hurricane. Something didn't seem right since the airport, which is usually a whirlwind of activity, was too still. After a minute or two I heard several F/A-18s flying fast, low, and loud. I pulled up a digital chart (map) of the airport and saw that it was under temporary flight restrictions (TFR). I hand't noticed the pending TFR, the night before, which seemed odd. I called the airport operations manager and he confirmed my concerns. The airport had suspended operations while the Blue Angels practiced for the next day's airshow. He also mentioned that the TFR was a moving target since the times kept changing leading up to when it went into effect. The TFR began about 30 minutes before I arrived at the airport and it would be in effect for nearly six hours.

Buttoned up since I was driving instead of flying.

I took a few minutes to do some mental math as I sat in my car listening to the silence, pierced by the roar of jet engines. Flying commercial, on short notice, was prohibitively expensive. My next option was to wait until 5 PM, pick up my flight clearance, and then depart, along with many other flights. That would probably get me to Silicon Valley around 9 PM. My final option was to hit the road and drive for eight hours. That would get me to my destination around 8 PM. I chose to drive.

As I headed up the 5, I couldn't help but notice my immediate mental shift from being outwardly focused on flying to being inwardly focused on me, myself, and I as I daydreamed through LA traffic.

Telling a Great Story

My Silas Wood 6th grade teacher, Ms. Cooke, speaking about South Huntington Schools Hall of Fame inductee and Bank of America executive, Kieth Cockrell. 

What's the secret to telling a great story? It depends on a lot of things. Mostly, though, it's important to know your audience. The topic of your story doesn't even have to be interesting, rather, how you tell a story is key. A little levity and drama is helpful, when appropriate. Great storytellers have a way to pull in their audience without shutting them out; and the latter part is key – think about great mysteries with surprise endings.

A few years ago, I began writing fiction. I simply sat down at my computer and wrote a few short stories. And I made some classic mistakes, such as beginning a story with weather and writing the cliche story about a divorced woman and a sick dog.

I had no idea if my storytelling was good, so I went to a professional, Joyce Maynard. Joyce's biography always begins with the fact that she wrote her first book while living with the author of The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger. What adds to the allure of this tale is that, at the time, Joyce was 19 years old and Salinger was 53. But it was truly the high quality of her writing that got the attention of Salinger when, at 18, her article, "An 18-Year-Old Looks Back On Life" was the cover story of The New York Times Magazine in 1972. A key thing I learned from Joyce is that the story behind the story can be more interesting than the story, itself, since it's more exciting to show people what's going on behind the curtain.

The Cooke's In

Even more important is the storytelling technique of summarization that I learned from my sixth grade teacher, Ms. Cooke.

Last weekend, I had a chance to spend a couple days with Ms. Cooke – something I hadn't done for five years – and it was highly enthralling.

I, along with several other 6th grade classmates, still connect with Ms. Cooke because she had (and still has) a strong presence in our lives. She cared about us as students and she was a great storyteller. She's a smart, independent person who neither tolerates fools nor stupidity. As a teacher, she wanted to teach her students not only book smarts, but also key lessons in life. The quintessential "teach a person to fish" by showing us critical thinking skills.

After more than 30 years in the classroom she retired and opened The Cooke's In restaurant for more than a dozen years. Shortly after retiring from her restaurant, in 2009, I spent a couple days at her house scanning school photos covering three decades, followed by a mini 6th grade reunion where we got to hear more of her stories.

Ms. Cooke preparing her spectacular jerk chicken.

Fast forward to two weeks ago, the night before my 30th high school reunion, when about half a dozen of us from my 6th grade class descended on a classmate's house in Amagansett, NY, in the Hamptons, for a couple days of reminiscing. Of course, Ms. Cooke joined us and prepared her spectacular jerk chicken.

While listening to her speak, I learned another key storytelling secret: keep your story short and to the point. As we hung out in the kitchen and spoke about how good her food was Ms. Cooke said, "You know that the secret is to running a restaurant? Expediting."

Do you see what she did there? She summarized her entire story – a story she had yet to tell – in a single word that drew us all in.

"What do you mean?" we asked.

She told us that running a restaurant is about coming up with a recipe and being able to make it the exact same way, every time, and to do that quickly. She told us the obvious, but it carries more weight when spoken by the voice of experience. She told us just enough to pull in our attention and then she answered our question without waste of time or words. We speak about "active writing," but active talking is equally important since it's a key essence of storytelling, regardless if it's fact, fiction or marketing.

Blogging On a 1928 Underwood Typewriter

Last month, I blogged about tweeting on my "new" 1928 Underwood typewriter.

Today, with too much time on my hands, I moved up from tweeting to blogging on the typewriter. That was painful and unforgiving. Looking back on what I typed was even more painful since it's a hardcopy and it reads like it was written by a writer with 25 IQ points less than I have. It's no wonder there were no bloggers 100 years ago. ;^D

As the old-timers will point out, I didn't use the requisite two spaces after each period. But, after all the flack they've received for continuing to use two spaces after a period, when writing e-mails, they deserve to have some fun at the expense of us "mono-space kids."

Writing can hardly get more real-time than typing on a typewriter.

Too Perfect To Fly Casual

Today seemed like the perfect day to go flying, sunny and mid-70s. It turns out it was too perfect to fly casual.

It was unusual when I taxied up to the runway and there was only one plane ahead of me and none behind as I did my runup. I figured they'd be a lot of pilots looking to take advantage of today's weekend weather. But it turns out I was ahead of the rush as we departed on a 25 minute flight from Montgomery Field to Palomar Airport.

As I entered Palomar Airport's traffic pattern, the control tower asked me to make a right 360°, meaning they had a lot of planes in the traffic pattern. A standard rate 360° turn takes two minutes. After completing my turn I proceeded downwind for a minute or two when the airport tower asked me to repeat the maneuver. There were some mountains less than a mile to my right and higher than me that I kept an eye on since my navigation system kept giving me terrain alerts.

After my second 360°, the tower controller had me continue downwind a few more miles before turning base to make my final approach. One 360° means the airport traffic pattern is congested, two 360° turns tells me they're very busy. But it all worked out.

Flying Home

Flying back to Montgomery Field was even more congested. The busiest airspaces are designed as Class B, also known as bravo airspace, surrounding the most active airports. San Diego's Lindbergh Field and the Marine Corps' Miramar Air Station, both surrounded by bravo airspace, are eight miles apart. About halfway in between these two airports is my home airport, Montgomery Field. Getting in and out of Montgomery Field, without going through bravo airspace, requires a little finesse. Two alternatives are to ask for a clearance into the bravo airspace or to request an IFR clearance. An IFR clearance is like having a second sets of eyes (air traffic control) looking out for my well being; but it also means I'd have to follow their flying instructions which isn't always the most direct route.

When I reached the outer edge of the bravo airspace, I began orbiting the Del Mar Racetrack as I tuned in air traffic control. It was virtually impossible to get a word in edgewise. The air traffic controller was continually giving instructions to the airlines flying into and out of Lindbergh Field. After a long several minutes there was a pause. I asked for clearance into the bravo airspace and she immediacy said, "Unable." I continued to orbit for a few more minutes, hoping she'd call me back, but that never happened.

I began heading back to Carlsbad so I'd be in a less busy area as I dialed in a new air traffic control frequency and requested an IFR clearance to get me into Montgomery Field. Air traffic control issued me my clearance, gave me a heading to fly, an altitude to climb to, and a new frequency to switch to. It seamed that the air traffic controller and I were the only two people on this frequently. The same was true for the next frequency I switched to. Those were good signs that things were not busy where I was being routed to as I began my approach to Montgomery Field.

The last air traffic controller began lining me up with the runway about eight miles from the airport. Normally, from this point, it's smooth sailing to touch down, especially since the weather was clear. Once I was lined up I tuned in Montgomery tower to let them know I was approaching the airport. The tower asked me if I could cancel my IFR clearance and fly VFR. This seemed unusual, but I told her that I could do it. She then told me to make right 360° turns. Next, she told about six aircraft, on the ground, waiting to take off, to hold their requests for six minutes until she cleared out the inbound traffic.

As I completed my first 360° the tower cleared me to land where I could see a line of planes, leading to the runway, waiting for their departure clearances. That's when I realized the reason for the congestion at Montgomery Field was due to the fact that the airport has three runways and two were under construction. Usually, the two parallel runways at the airport are in use, simultaneously. With the beautiful weather bringing out private pilots, like me, and every plane vying for the same runway, it made flying a bit more exciting. Unlike driving, flying alway yields new learning experiences.

The Medium is the Message

The medium is the message. Sometimes that medium is specific, like an advertisement or newspaper, and other times it's general such as a person or environment.

Leaders who pride themselves on not being politically correct are entertainers since they've forgone the actual issue to choose form over substance. We have an expectation that respected politicians, who are to be taken seriously, will be politically correct; hence the plain English description: politically correct. While this phrase is usually used as a pejorative, it can also connote tact. And tact, coupled with good intentions, are the lubricants of human relationships.

Instead of creating problems, we need more leaders who can solve problems. And, sometimes, we need leaders who know how to follow – in other words, we need leaders who are team players, not dictators.

Underwood Typewriter

A century of keyboarding.

I've been looking to acquire a working mechanical typewriter since I saw one for sale in Annapolis, last year.

A few months ago, I added my name to a waitlist at a local shop that receives typewriters, from time to time. A couple weeks later, I got an e-mail from the shop about one they had, but, by the time I got there, it was gone. Earlier this week, I received another e-mail that three were in stock, so, yesterday, I biked over to check them out.

"Dear Mom,"

Antique mechanical typewriters are not cheap, especially if they're in working condition. I fell in love with the first one I saw, today, and bought it. It was manufactured in 1928 by the Underwood Typewriter Company which produced the first widely successful, modern typewriter. When Underwood was in its heyday as the world's largest typewriter manufacturer, it was turning out typewriters at the rate of one per minute

In the Internet age of instant gratification, real-time is a big deal. Surprisingly, it doesn't get anymore real-time than pressing a key and seeing a character appear on paper, instantly. Obviously, mechanical typewriters are too real-time, and unforgiving. Perhaps my keyboarding skills have deteriorated, but I am overly conscience of making typos as I press each key.

I took my new toy home last night and wrote my first typewritten note. Today, I sealed it in an envelop, put a stamp on it, and mailed it to my mother. It has been decades since I last did that.

After mailing the letter, I couldn't resisted using my typewriter to send out a tweet.

Tweeting with a typewriter.

A Perfect Gentleman's Guide to Dating

One of life's necessities when dating past your 40s.

Guys, are you having problems getting a second date with a lady? Do you ask yourself, “Why am I always struggling to meet women?” or “What’s the secret to getting past the first date?” or “Is there something I can do to improve my odds?” The good news is, yes, there are many things you can do. It took me some time, but here are the things I learned about dating.

For starters, it doesn’t matter if you’re heterosexual, homosexual, transsexual, or pan-sexual; you get good at dating by going on dates and learning the do's and don’ts. As a man, my expertise is in heterosexual relationships, so  that’s the context in which I’ll frame my advice. (It's not my intent to ignore today's historic SCOTUS decision on Obergefell v. Hodges which is a victory for same-sex marriage.)

1. Time

Don't be late to the date. No excuses. Guys, we can have six months’ notice for a date, but we don’t start getting ready until six minutes before the date. She’ll already be a little nervous about meeting you for the first time and arriving late just adds to the stress. If you’ve never been to the place where you're meeting then get there early or reconnoiter it well before the date. Don’t arrive two minutes before the date only to find that parking’s a problem. Amateurs think tactics, professionals think logistics. There’s nothing wrong with arriving an hour early to read a book while you’re waiting. You’ll be prompt and look intelligent.

2. Dress

Dress clean. Wrinkled or smelly shirts don’t cut it. Dress sharp, yet appropriate. Grunge clothes, ripped jeans, and worn out shirts are fine if that’s you – but they still should be clean. Dress for where you want to go and make sure it’s appropriate. My pet peeve is seeing a beautiful woman, dressed to the nines at a nice restaurant with a guy in dirty jeans and a decade old rock concert t-shirt.

3. Smell

You need to smell good, in body and breath. Shower as close to the date as possible, always within four hours of your date. Smell is important – very important. You have to love the way she smells and she has to love the way you smell to have a fighting chance. It doesn't matter if you’re smelling each other’s cologne, perfume, soap, detergent or simply each other; it has to be pleasant, and this is subjective. It’s part of the whole experience and less good smell is better than any bad smell. The name of the game is chemistry. Looking good opens the door, smelling good keeps you in the room.

4. Money

Guys, if you're so broke that transportation and dinner could break the bank then you may want to reconsider your dating options. Even modest, non-gold-digging ladies will find the fact that you’re a professional, white-collar adult and broke a turn off if they can sense it. Keep in mind, if you're going on a traditional date, that she'll probably expect the guy to pay. On the flip side, don't shower her with expensive gifts to show off your riches. That could make her feel like she’s being bought. Presume she wants to learn about you, not your money, three homes, boat or plane. Spending 200% of your planned budget on the date probably won't get you closer to the goalpost. Don't put a lot of pressure on your first date. Keep it low key. Lunch, coffee, or simply a walk are great options, especially if money’s an issue for you.

5. Food

Don't show up for your date starving otherwise you may get “hangry" when things aren't going perfect with parking, traffic, your dinner reservation, etc. Also, don't eat too much on the date. Nerves and disagreeable food don't go well together.

6. Drink

Watch your drinking. A couple drinks can lighten the mood and take off the edge. But don’t get sloshed or pressure her to drink more than she wants to. Also, if you think you’re only enjoyable when you're buzzed then you have to fix that before dating.

7. Talk

Talk little about yourself without being secretive or evasive. Let her dig out the fact that you're a millionaire CEO who used to be an astronaut. Actually, astronauts are the perfect role model since, when you meet them in a bar, they'll never tell you they're an astronaut (true story). They have the world’s coolest job and they’re genuinely the most humble people you’ll ever meet.

Instead of talking about yourself, talk about your date, listen to her, and be genuinely supportive of her thoughts and dreams. When a lady tells you about one of her problems on a date, don't try to solve it for her on the spot. Instead, simply listen. Listen. She's not looking for you to solve her problems. She’s looking for someone to listen and be her cheerleader. Don't try to fix her.

Keep the conversation upbeat and non-controversial. Everything you tell her will fall into one of three categories. Either be positive (“Did you see last night’s beautiful sunset?”), neutral (“Would you like to order dessert?”), or negative (“My landlord is such an idiot, he never fixes anything. The world is a trash can.”) Don’t focus on the negative issues in your life lest you be a Debbie Downer. It should go without saying that pontificating on politics, religion, or sex are a no-no for a first date.

Be honest. Tell her what you think, without being confrontational or opinionated. Tell her what you like about her, just a little. Don't pressure her with anything and don't play games: "She didn't return my call or answer my texts, yesterday, so I'm ignoring her today."

As a guy, it's not about being smarter or stronger. If you think you are, then move along. Seriously, if you're so much “smarter” than all the women you meet then do you really need someone "that dumb" to complement you? Let her see how smart you are by your actions. You don't need to tell her. If you continually find yourself dating “dumber” women then I’m betting you’re really the problem with your dates, not the ladies.

Also, don’t interrupt. People on a date get nervous. We all do since we're being judged. So chill out and let her talk all she wants. If she doesn't stop herself to ask you questions then that may be a warning sign for you.

8. Chivalry

She should have to discover your blessings by your actions, not talk. Don’t tell her how wonderful you are, she should see it. Open the car door for her except when the valet's doing it. Help her put on her coat or jacket except in situations where that would be obscenely awkward. When walking down the sidewalk, put yourself between her and the street without her noticing. Like a classical novel, filled with symbolism, let her discover that you stand for chivalry. You want to be thoughtful, not show-off-full. How thoughtful and selfless can you be without being a martyr?

9. Endgame

If your date is going swimmingly then you might be the man she’s looking for, so continue thinking of her needs and desires. Be thoughtful. You’ll need to figure out her speed and match it. Too fast, with too much pressure for the next date, and you’ll scare her off. Too slow and she’ll drift away. The people you date will always be a mystery, at first. So, think like a Boy Scout: Be Prepared.

And always be a gentleman. If she was your daughter, would you want her dating a guy like you? If you want to kiss her at the end of the date then ask. Those are her lips, not yours. So ask permission. You’d be surprised how much women appreciate the advanced notice.

Remember that women want to be treated like the subject of love, not the object. To paraphrase Maya Angelou, people won't always remember what you say and they won't always remember what you do, but they will remember how you made them feel; so leave the ladies feeling lovely.

Finally, keep in mind that even if you do everything right it doesn’t mean it will always work out. Some things are not meant to be.

Triggers to Live Life on Your Own Terms

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and
look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Last night I went to an event where Gary Ware chatted about following your life's dreams. What would you do if you didn't have to work on a daily basis? Nearly everything he mentioned I was already doing.

I left corporate America in 2007. Since then I've written code, prose, and poems. I've been a journalist, blogger, and author; on my own terms. I learned how to fly and bought an airplane. After reflecting on this I wondered if Gary was living his dream? Perhaps he is, I only met him last night. But that thought, in turn, led me to a more important realization. Why or how did I end up doing nothing? That's when I realized the jump from corporate rat race to peaceful bliss, where everyday is a Saturday, requires a trigger. In my case several triggers.

Ready, Aim...

My first trigger was about 15 years ago when I was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. Realizing there was a real possibility my life could end before it started made me focus on doing things I enjoyed. (Miraculously, after six months of chemo, I was 100% cured, to the point that it's like I was never sick.) They key is to do the things you enjoy without being selfish. This means not doing something that lessens someone else's quality of life or satisfaction. A great way to avoid this is to find the good in people and cheer them on. But it has to be genuine.

The second trigger was ten years ago when I was doing humanitarian missions in East Africa where I saw people living simply. Yes, they were poor, living on less than $3/day, but there was a beauty in their lives. In the traditional corporate career you work hard. Nowadays, we work harder than ever before. Luckily our society makes the rest of our life easier since we don't have to milk the cows or harvest the fields. But we replaced that free time with more work. So, we feel we have to keep moving up the corporate ladder to make more money. But... and here's the key question... why do we need to make more money? On the surface, we think it's so we can have more financial freedom. But what happens is we end up buying more stuff that adds more complexity to our lives. A bigger house, a new car with more technology, etc. It actually makes our lives more complicated. The more complex our life becomes, the more brittle and fragile it ends up being. If you lose a high paying job you'll have to find another high paying job to be satisfied with your lifestyle.

Hiking Torrey Pines is a fine way to begin each week.

My third and final trigger was two fold. It was working at Apple when my father unexpectedly passed away. Since then, I focus on turning a crisis into an opportunity. Working at Apple was key because they went from near bankruptcy, the year before I joined them, to the biggest company in the world. Also, Apple was my trigger for understanding simplicity. More than anything else, Steve Jobs cared about making great products and he did that by simplifying them. Instead of engineer-ugly products with every possible feature, I learned the supreme elegance of simple design.

Simplification is the ultimate sophistication

But, to be truly appreciated, all this has to be earned, not given. So, today, I enjoy life. I really enjoy it and have been for as long as I can remember. I wake up early or sleep in. I read, write, and snap photos or attend events. I enjoy sunsets, food, friends, and family. It's a good life with simple pleasures. It doesn't mean I'll never go back to working a job where I've had scores of people reporting up to me, but it's nice to have life options rather than career obligations.

Virtual Credit Card Numbers

Have you ever wanted to try out a new online service or sign up for a subscription but were weary about giving out your credit card number? Perhaps it's a legitimate cable TV or satellite radio company, but you've heard rumors about it being difficult to cancel the service. Enter virtual credit card numbers to save the day. Most major credit card companies have a simple way for you to log in to your account and create a temporary card number with a credit limit and expiration date from two to twelve months.

It's almost like putting a stop on a check making it a very good solution.

If you've ever used Apple Pay then you're already using this behind the scenes. Next time your run an Apple Pay transaction, take a look at the last four digits on your paper receipt and you'll see it does not match your actual credit card. Why not? Because your credit card company assigned you a virtual credit card number on the fly as part of the Apple Pay payment.

Buy and be safe.

Looking for God

In the dead of the night, seemingly simple soft sounds travel far. A fallen leaf moving across concrete in a quiet breeze or rustling tree branches as a gentle rain falls upon them. While I'm a heavy sleeper, something out of the ordinary will wake me up with a feather's touch.

Last night, I slept with my bedroom window open. This morning, at 4 AM, I awoke to the gentle rustling of plastic bags about 50 feet away. It's a sound I occasionally hear. I immediately knew it was a homeless person dumpster diving. I went outside and asked him what he was looking for. He stared at me for a moment and, in an annoyed tone, he said, "I'm looking for God." I told him that he should move along. I went back inside and he was on his way.

After he left I began wondering what he was really looking for. The seemingly obvious answer would be recyclables. Yet he wasn't going through the bottle and can bin next to the dumpster, nor did I hear any clanging or banging of glass and metal. He was simply opening plastic bags, mostly, if not all, bags of Starbucks trash. Perhaps he was looking for food. But there are better restaurants, nearby, to scavenge.

He was definitely not looking for hard-goods, and he was a pro at being as quiet as possible. What could he – as many I've heard before him – be looking for?

The Absolute Best Place to Live

"As humans we need to remember that we live in one of the absolute best places in the universe. I say, 'absolute best,' because the average temperature of the universe is just 2° or 3° above absolute zero. Meanwhile, here on earth, the average temperature is 287° Kelvin."

Personal Digital Emissions

We, as individuals, are responsible for our own personal emissions.

Emissions like sound (how loud we speak or the noise we generate) and smell (cologne, body odor, cigarettes, etc.) are obvious. But, over the past 20 years a new category has emerged: personal digital emissions. In the mid-1990s I began teaching time management training classes. While researching time management strategies I read two excellent books that addressed information overload: Data Smog and Information Anxiety. A lot of our digital emissions causes and is caused by stress.

Digital emissions are the electronic information we emit. There are two types, passive and active.

The passive emissions aren't a big problem. These are the digital emissions such as my phone checking a mail server for new e-mail. These emissions usually interact with other devices or servers.

Rather, it's the active emissions – our emissions that interrupt someone else – which quickly get out of control. So much so that I feel it necessary to post this reminder. Every e-mail and text message sent, and every phone call made, will be an interruption in someone's day. It's worth taking the time to think before acting. Is your digital emission urgent and important enough to justify interrupting someone? Frequency and timing are a factor, too. Equally important is your response to someone's digital emission. Did you take the time to fully read and understand before responding? I just made this mistake, myself, last week, when responding to an e-mail from a friend and professional colleague. Good etiquette, clear communications, and time management techniques are important work and life traits.

I've seen people load up on app after app and tool after tool thinking they've found the silver bullet for time management. Truth be told, it's not the tools that make or break us. Rather, it's our own personal habits and self-discipline. You shouldn't need to worry about forgetting the things you need to do. Instead, you should simply organize in a way so tasks and events come in front of you at the appropriate time.

Here's some advice for refining your digital emissions.

Texting Etiquette

Sending multiple text messages, on the same topic, within a minute or two, is annoying. At least I find it annoying. My phone will ding and vibrate so I'll pull it out of my pocket to read the message. I'll either respond or not and then put it away only to pull it out 30 seconds later when the next message arrives. You may be lying in bed with nothing to do when sending your text message, but what's the recipient doing? Are they working, driving, or in a meeting? A simple text message can be distracting. Multiple texts in a short period are very distracting. Many times the sender only needed to wait 60 seconds to collect his or her thoughts to compose a clear message. Don't text me: "It's Jane's birthday next week," followed 30 seconds later with, "What do you think we should do?" followed another 20 seconds later with, "Are you there?" Please don't ask me to respond, with a sense of urgency, to something that's not pressing.

On a low level, SMS text messages may be limited to 160 characters. But this is no longer an issue since wireless carriers can seamlessly stitch together multiple texts into a single message. So please collect all your thoughts on a single subject into a single text message.

I have a name for this type of texter. I call them the, "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" texter. Or, more formally, I refer to it as the "Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Look at me! Daddy! Daddy! Daddy. Pay attention to me! Daddy! Daddy!" texter.

There are some people who I don't even want to text with. Three texts, about the same nothing, all within 90 seconds is a bit too much. Take a deep breath and gather your thoughts instead of texting me your stream of consciousness.

E-mail Etiquette

We've all read an e-mail and forgotten to respond. But, some people are terrible at managing their e-mail.

Some people are notorious about going off half-cocked. Or, even more annoying are the partial and vague responders. These people seem to lack communications skills across the board. When corresponding with these people, I'm very careful to only put one action item per e-mail. When asking them multiple questions via e-mail, I list each in a numbered bullet format. Yet, still, they'll partially respond thinking they'll get back to my other questions later. But, they have no time management system for doing this. They'll read an e-mail now and neither respond nor write down the task, and then forget about it. You don't need to respond to every e-mail, only the ones you intend to.

As a general rule, when someone sends me an e-mail with multiple topics and questions, I'll copy and paste each item and write my response below it. This makes my responses clear and it helps me ensure that I didn't overlook any items.

Joe,
Do you think we'll finish this product on schedule? What about the budget?
Have we finished the security and privacy evaluation?
—Tom

My response:

Tom,
>Do you think we'll finish this product on schedule? What about the budget?

Yes it'll be on time but the budget funding source is still in question. I've reviewed the schedule with the team and they're comfortable that we'll deliver it to QA by the deadline. I met with the comptroller and he had a concern about source of the funding. He'll be meeting with the CFO to ask for more direction on the funding and get back to us by Monday.

>Have we finished the security and privacy evaluation?

Yes. I've attached the approved risk evaluation. Both our security consultant and in-house counsel have signed off on it.

—Joe

Remember in elementary school when we had to respond to a written question by including a portion of the original question in our answer? That wasn't sadistic punishment, rather it was to develop our communications skills.

Once last point is to consider is using the To and CC lines appropriately, especially if you omit a salutation in your e-mail.

Whew, now I feel better.

Apple Rant™ – The Failure of Technology

Technology has come to life. It has come to life in such a way that it's failing us due to its complexity. Technology should be the lubricant of life, not the friction and now everything is broken.

The most anticipated Apple keynote since the iPhone, announcing the Apple Watch, was an abortion. From an inaccessible live feed to 45 minutes of listening to an Asian translator is not the best possible customer experience.

Apple Watch

"Soup Nazi:" No Keynote for you: two hours.

Here's a key problem with the Apple Watch: it doesn't replace anything – rather, it adds. It adds another device to manage thereby adding complexity to my life. The iPhone replaced my cell phone, iPod, and, to a certain degree, my computer when it came to e-mail and surfing the web. Nowadays, when I travel on business, I feel it necessary to bring my iPhone, MacBook Air, and iPad. Six months from now, will I need to bring a fourth item, too? Sure, this is great for the Apple investor; but I want to simplify my life. We all do.

Apple Epidemic

On top of this, I'm a bit frustrated after spending half an hour failing to download the new U2 album. Then I spent ten minutes figuring out how to submit a support request about the U2 album because the web form had a bug.

Forty years ago, when we changed the channel on our TV, the new station tuned in instantly. I'm at a loss, when explaining to my mother, why using an app has a lag, especially when network connectivity isn't a factor. What good are billions of cycles of CPU power that make me wait. I shouldn't have to wait longer and longer due to launching, buffering, syncing, I/O and latency.

My 500 GB MacBook Air hard drive is full. Each time it drops below 10 GB I have to find something else to delete. You'd think 7 GB sounds like a lot of space. But, after a day or so it dwindles down to a few hundred megabytes and OS X becomes unusable until I reboot. Am I really expected to delete my personal photos?

Duplicated iOS Note of this blog post draft.

Why is Siri worse today than in 2011? Or perhaps it is the same, but the novelty has worn off? Why did my Time Capsule wireless base station freeze, requiring a restart, resulting in this iOS Note being duplicated multiple times?

Here's the kicker, Apple solves these First World grievances of mine better than any other company. Yet I am more and more frustrated. Technology must move out of the way to enhance our lives, not complicate it.

Technology is alive and it's not just getting a cold, it's getting cancer. As a consumer, I want to live my life and focus on my passions, not my technology. As a software engineer, I'll deal with all the technical headaches, but I won't tolerate it as a consumer. Technology seems to be failing us faster than it's helping us.

Apple Epilogue

Obviously, I've reconsidered some things I've said in the previous 24 hours. Dave's right, Apple Pay is the big deal. Or, technology that's embedded in my body, as he suggested, would be very interesting.

The Hidden Gems of San Diego

I've lived in San Diego, on and off, for close to 20 years and I'm always on the lookout for new places to explore. This past weekend I uncovered several gems.

Friday: Latino Film Festival

Instructions Not Included

Friday night's showing of Instructions Not Included at the Jacobs Center was a pleasant surprise, especially since I don't speak Spanish.

I highly recommend this English subtitled movie. It's the highest-grossing Spanish-language film released in the United States. This movie is an unpredictable comedy that will tug at your heartstrings so keep a tissue handy.

The Jacobs Center for Innovation community center is a hidden gem I'd never been to. I can see myself attending more events at this venue.

Saturday: Kate Sessions Park

Kate Sessions Park

Last week's celebration of coworking culminated with a BBQ at Kate Sessions Park. I've never been here before. It has panoramic views of downtown San Diego, including the Coronado Bay Bridge and Mission Bay. This would be the perfect place to watch Fourth of July fireworks or simply seek solitude and inspiration.

Sunday Morning: Black's Beach

The way to Black's Beach

In the mid-1990s I had a running mentor, Harry Hunt, at the Orange County Track Club. He talked me into my first ultra-marathon in 1996 – the 50K Mule Run in Bishop, California. On the roadtrip to Bishop, Harry told me about his experiences frolicking in waters of the Pacific at Black's Beach. For nearly 20 years this item was on my bucket list.

Getting to Black's Beach is not a casual walk in the park. It's a secluded beach requiring a hike down the cliffs beneath the Torrey Pines Glider Port. After all, one does need privacy in these matters. It seemed that nearly everyone at the beach was a content provider, but it is optional.

Swimming in the Pacific under these conditions is quite liberating. A few things stood out. First, the regulars are well groomed and have very even tans, especially compared to my farmer's tan. Second, there's simply no way to casually stand in knee-deep water without looking awkward. I was surprised how unnatural we look in our natural state. And, finally, I made no eye contact with my fellow frolickers – this takes some getting used to.

Sunday Afternoon: In the Heights

In the Heights

This musical, performed at the San Diego Junior Theatre in Balboa Park, was remarkable. At first I thought the performers were college students. After the intermission I learned that they were in high school or younger – one of the leads was only 13 years old. With beards and gray hair they looked like full grown adults. It was only after the play was over, when I met the cast, that I fully appreciated they were simply kids in makeup and costume.

Sunday Evening: Ice Cream Social

Beer floats made with Guinness

There's no better way to end a summer weekend than with my fellow co-workers from 3rd Space at an ice cream social where I tried my first beer float. To be honest, it was meh. It tasted like beer and ice cream mixed together. Imagine if a pancake tasted like flower, baking powder, milk, etc, instead of an actual pancake. But we were just winging it. I hear that my neighborhood chocolatier, Eclipse Chocolate, does justice to a beer float.

Finally, I have to thank Junvi, not only for photobombing my beer float picture, but also for the great Q&A write up she gave me last week.

A Typical Wednesday

Today I was answering questions for an article interview. The interviewer asked me what my day looked like. I'm fond of saying, "I do nothing," but she deserved a better answer, so I gave her my highlights from today.

8:30 – 10:30: Attended One Million Cups, downtown San Diego.

11:00 – 1:00: Attended Tech Coffee Meetup, where I snapped this photo, Solana Beach.

1:00 – 1:30: Stopped by the San Diego Electric Bike Company to buy a saddle bag, Solana Beach.

1:30 – 3:00: Answered interview questions at Third Space, Hillcrest.

3:00 – 5:00: Fixed Swift syntax bugs as a result of latest Xcode beta release changes, Golden Hill.

5:00 – 6:30: Attended EvoNexus Wing Wednesday Meetup, downtown San Diego.

6:30 – 8:00: Enjoyed an adult beverage at the Tipsy Crow, Gaslamp Quarter.

8:00 – 9:00: Stalked a fellow, former, Apple coworker on Foursquare to a restaurant, South Park.

9:00...: Kicked back with some homemade limoncello.

Update: Here's the published piece.

The US Used to Have Hundreds of Time Zones?

It is fascinating how technology impacts us on a cultural level. I especially find the history of time zones interesting. Today, we take for granted that computers and phones keep accurate time down to the second. It's now simple for computers to keep precise time since they all maintain universal coordinated time (UTC), sometimes referred to as Greenwich Mean Time. Basically, every computer maintains one time, UTC, and then offsets it based on the local time zone.

Hundreds of Time Zones

Two hundred years ago, America had hundreds of time zones. As odd as that sounds, it makes sense since noon was when the sun was at its zenith in a given location. High noon in Boston might be seven minutes earlier than New York which might be three minutes earlier than Philadelphia. Having hundreds of time zones wasn't an issue since these cities weren't connected until the railroads needed to run on time schedules.

PS – For the record, it's daylight saving time, not daylight savings time. We're saving daylight by moving it to the end of the day. We're not saving daylight like money in a savings account. :^D

Circle of Grief

USNA 1993 classmates lost in the line of duty.

I enjoy being the president of the USNA class of 1993. Reunions, networking events, and trips back to Annapolis, MD make it all worth it. But there's a sad side I deal with every few years when a classmate or spouse passes away.

In the past I've made some mistakes in my haste to get the news out to my classmates. The key lesson I've learned is to respect the family's wishes. The only way I can know their wishes is for me to reach out to the family and ask. This is not an easy task for me to do, but it pales in comparison to what the grieving friends and family are going through.

On the Inside

What's worse than being on the outside, looking in, is to be on the inside experiencing it. Emotions are high and fragile. Seemingly minor things can set people off. Most of us have seen or experienced this as some level. Fortunately, there's a simple lesson to help us deal with this known, by several different names, as the Circle of Grief, The Ring Theory of Kvetching, or How Not To Say The Wrong Thing In A Crisis.

Comfort In, Dump Out.

The Circle of Grief starts at the center with the person in crisis. Everyone in that person’s life is placed in concentric circles starting at the center with the people who are closest to the crisis (i.e. spouse, parent), moving out to the people in our lives who more distant.

The person in the center ring can say anything they want to anyone, anywhere. They
can kvetch and complain and whine and moan and curse the heavens and say, “Life is unfair” and “Why me?” That’s the one payoff for being in the center ring.

Everyone else can say those things too, but only to people in outer rings.

When you are talking to a person in an inner ring – someone closer to the crisis – the goal is to help.

Comfort In, Dump Out.

At some point, we'll get our turn at being in the center of the ring.

Live Indians, Dead Puppies, and Fake Sea-Monkeys

When I was a kid I bought a Native American stone arrowhead at a Boy Scout event.

One Saturday afternoon I was sitting next to the shed in my backyard where we kept our trashcans when I found the arrowhead in the dirt. I thought my mother dropped it on the way to the trash thinking it was just a rock in my bedroom. I picked up the arrowhead and went to put it where it belonged when I discovered that the original arrowhead I'd purchased was right where it belonged in my room.

The arrowhead I found in my backyard was a real life archeological discovery from hundreds of years ago.

While my arrowheads are long gone this brought back a memory of when my namesake cousin found a dead puppy in Brooklyn when he was a kid and created his own archeological piece of history. He and his friends took the dead dog down an alley to a construction site and gave the pup a proper burial.

It turns out that the building being built was a public library and the construction workers later uncovered the bones of the dead dog. When the library opened, they had a contest for kids to write about what they thought the bones were. My cousin, Joe, was a sharp kid. He wrote about what had happened. He figured he was a shoo–in with his unfair advantage.

Did my cousin win? Nope, he wasn't even close. The kid who won wrote about how the dinosaurs roamed the earth hundreds of millions of years ago while wearing eyeglasses and taking vitamins.

As a kid, we learn, quickly, about truth in advertising and to never let the facts get in the way of telling a good story. Whether it's the pair of x-ray glasses we bought which really don't see through things or the sea-monkeys which don't look anything like the comic book ad. Everyone loves a good story.

The New Ruins of Carlsbad

Poinsettia Fire advancing east toward Alga Norte Community Park

Last week, I visited the "Ruins of Golden Hill." This week, I saw the ruins of the Poinsettia Wildfire in the making as it burned two dozen homes and apartment units.

When I last experienced wildfires, in 2007, I left my wife, safe and sound, in Santa Cruz to return to our home in Carlsbad. About 20 minutes before getting home I saw the power of these infernos when I drove through the Horno Fire as it jumped the 5 Freeway at Camp Pendleton.

This week's Poinsettia Fire, along with the other San Diego County wildfires, were tiny compared to 2007. But, size doesn't matter if it's your home that burns.

I first heard of the Poinsettia Fire when I was about 20 minutes away in Del Mar at a Tech Coffee meetup. My wife left school to get her mother and evacuate. I went to see how close the #PoinsettiaFire was to our house.

I watched the fire fight for two hours at the intersection of Poinsettia Lane and Alicante Road (yellow X). Several helicopters continuously scooped up water from the La Costa golf course and dropped it on the fire a couple thousand feet away. It didn't take long to halt the fire's easterly advance --- mainly due to the Johnny-on-the-spot skilled airborne fire fighters along with the shifting winds and small fire line threatening to jump Alicante Road.

 

Arson?

The Poinsettia Fire had one fatality discovered by firefighters while checking for hot spots. What's odd about this fire is where it started. This area of Carlsbad hasn't had a major wildfire in 40 years which begs the question, "How did it start?"

The Ruins of Golden Hill

The century-old Golden Hill Fountain Grotto ruins.

Yesterday was too nice of a day to pass up so I walked to Balboa Park to read some Hemingway. On my way there I did a little exploring and happened upon the ruins of the Golden Hill Fountain Grotto. It's easier to spot this landmark from a satellite photo than on foot since it's below ground level. Surprisingly, I've run within feet of the ruins scores of times I but never knew it existed.

Water hasn't flowed from this century old fountain since before World War II. It's highly neglected, but still worthy of spurting water. Its rock and stone construction is the key reason it remains. The accompanying wooden benches, built along with the fountain, have long since crumbled.

The oval shaped ruins, dead center.

The City of San Diego owns the ruins, but they obviously haven't done much upkeep. Nowadays, it's an ideal teenage hangout with its graffiti and cigarette butts. The City has tentative plans to fix up the fountain, but, as of last fall, they haven't pegged a cost for the restoration.

I always find it a bit exciting to discover treasures like this – something that's always been there, but I never knew. History under my nose.