Ryan: (Walking up the stairs) I hate it when I wake up late, now I'm not going to be tired tonight.
Sydney: It's 1 o'clock!
Ryan: Sydney, don't judge!
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Saturday, January 30, 2016
This is supposed to be set in the future, but NASA is still using GoPro Hero 3's
After skipping the first indoor soccer season (due to us being in California for Ryan's surgery) Sydney is back to playing indoor soccer again, which means we have a game each Saturday. This year, they are playing in a Charter School on tile. I'd rather she not play on tile, but there are not any other options. Today her game was at 9:30am. They are still playing boys, so the competition is pretty tough. I think the score today was 12 to 3 or something like that. Sydney was able to score once and enjoyed that.
As we left soccer, Ryan was driving. Deni pulled the 'I don't have my license, so I can't sit in the front to supervise Ryan' bit. So I was in the front seat with him. He knew what city we were in and which city we needed to go to. Ryan struggles knowing where he is and where to go most times, however we had just driven there an hour ago, so I figured it would be a good time to let him find his way home. As we approached I-15, Ryan was in a lane that would have taken him North (instead of South). I didn't say a word but just watched and giggled to myself. As the light turned green, he realized he was in the wrong lane and slowly made his way into the right lane.
Of course, because Sydney scored a goal, she wanted ice cream. So Ryan pulled into Culver's and they both jumped out to get ice cream. I'm not wasting calories on ice cream if I can have real food (like Cubby's tonight)
After we got home, it began snowing and snowed for most of the day. The weatherman predicted anywhere from 10 to 20 inches of snow. We got about 6 inches. The good news is our snow blower is working again, which is nice as the snow was quite heavy today.
Deni and I went on a dinner date to Cubby's. The roads were still pretty messy and slick. Because the FJ is back wheel drive, we slipped and slid around most of the roads. I finally put it in 4 wheel drive to keep from sliding as much. The only thing I've ever eaten at Cubby's are Tri-tip Sandwich and Sweet Potato fries. They are amazing and I can't see myself ordering anything different, EVER.
After dinner we came home, to watch a movie. Sydney went to the neighbors so we decided to watch The Martian. We rented it off of Google Play (by the way, I'm pretty impressed with the ease of renting a movie from Google Play, as this was my first time.) We had Ryan join us for the movie as he didn't have plans. We weren't into the movie a few minutes before Ryan says "....so this is supposed to be set in the future, but NASA is still using GoPro 3's ....really?" He had a few other concerns with the 'science' Hollywood was portraying as he didn't feel it was accurate enough. Only Ryan.
Thursday, January 28, 2016
Starting a Business
A few years back we bought the ryansbees.com internet domain. At that time, Ryan wanted to have his own bee hive, harvest and sell all of the honey. So we bought the domain, setup a little website and bought Ryan a package of honeybees. (At the time I already had beehives, but this was his own hive to make his own money.) We quickly found that on a small scale, owning a bee hive is expensive, labor intensive and not really a good business for Ryan (or of us.) While we still have the domain and a few bee hives, 98% of the honey we extract is kept for our family. Beekeeping is a hobby, not a business for us.
For some time Deni and I had talked about how we could make more lasting memories with our kids. We want to make memories like we made when we went to London for Ryan's Make a Wish trip. The whole family enjoyed our travel abroad and we look forward to other future travels. Ryan has even told us the next place he wants to travel to. Spain.
Spain is a good goal and one I'd like to help make possible for him. The biggest problem is that Spain, or really all international travel, is fairly expensive especially when there are 4 of us traveling.
Over the years, Deni has talked about getting a side/night job to help pay for some of these 'extra' things, however I have always felt that it is far more important for Deni to be in our home with our kids while they are growing up. In my opinion, the benefits of having Deni in the home far outweigh any amount of money or international travel she would provide through working.
With that being said, we had also been kicking around the idea to start a small side business to help bring in a little extra. A business that Deni could run while the kids were at school or on weekends when we could all chip in and help. This business would help us fund trips and other 'teenage' things, such as Syd playing on a competitive soccer league or Ryan going to California for a debate trip. The 'teenage' things that cost hundreds of dollars that weren't really planned. In Oct 2014 we were in Arizona at a corn maze with Deni's family. At the corn maze was a gentleman selling Kettle Corn. He had some yummy Kettle corn and had quite the setup to make and sell it. Deni got his contact information and we began wondering if starting a small Kettle Corn business of our own would be something we should do in Utah.
We thought about the possibility for a few months, then in early 2015, we decided to make the plunge and buy Kettle Corn equipment and start a Kettle Corn business. We ordered the equipment and began planning for future events.
There were a lot of things we needed to do. Pick a company name, register with the city and State. Get State and Federal Tax id numbers and the list goes on and on. It's much more than just making and selling Kettle Corn. Since we had 'Ryan's Bees' we thought we'd go with something related to Sydney. And our new company was born: Syd's Kettle Corn, LLC
Once we had the Kettle Corn equipment ordered, we realized we also needed quite a bit more to actually be successful. The equipment was delivered and it was massive. We had seen videos and pictures of the equipment, however when it was sitting our garage, it was massive. We needed a trailer to house our equipment and a truck to pull the trailer. We bought a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer as well as a used 2008 FJ Cruiser to pull the trailer. As we looked into the State/County regulations, we also found we had to have an enclosed tent since we were "cooking" food. Popup's are relatively inexpensive, however popup's with 3 enclosed walls, in a custom color and our business name printed on all four sides, isn't so cheap. We needed the tent to be legit, so we ordered it. In the beginning, we had a general idea of the things we needed to do and buy, however there was a lot of learning by discovery and getting started was pretty rough.
In Feb 2015, we signed up to be a food vendor for the week long city festival in July. The booth fee $375.00. That's a lot of Kettle Corn to sell to just pay the booth fee back, however we thought the only way we'd know if it was worth it was by trying it. We learned a lot that week, what worked, what didn't. We made corrections as we went. The days were long and hard work, but we were doing it as a family. The kids worked 10 hour days, Deni and I worked longer than that. We would let the kids sleep in and then ride their bikes down later as the festival was just a few miles away from our house. All in all it was a long week but good for our brand new business. We decided we'd come again next year.
Being in the city festival made a name for us as well as opened doors for us. We had people inquire if we would do weddings (which we did once this year.) We were later invited to the local Farmer's Market and another city event in the Fall. All of these events we did as a family with the exception of one event. We ended up hiring a young man from our neighborhood to help us for a few hours one day when we had a conflict with one of Syd's soccer games, but other than that we worked together.
We learned a lot in year one. We decided early on we needed professional Tax help and hired a CPA to help us navigate the business and our taxes. We paid our share of taxes and fees throughout the year, however a few things caught us off guard at the end of the year. First was a "restaurant tax" at we owed. The tax was 1% of our gross sales, however it was 1% we didn't know we would have to pay (oh and we're not a restaurant). The second thing that caught us off guard at the end of 2015 was paying sale tax on the equipment we had purchased to use for our business (as it wasn't collected at the time of sale.) We'll be ready for those expenses next year.
We started Syd's Kettle Corn to allow our family to be able to do some of the 'extra' things. In time it will provide those things, however one of the added benefits we saw this year was that it taught our kids how to work hard. It helped Ryan fundraise for his Eagle Project and have an amazing successful Eagle Project. It has also given our kids a way to earn income they would not have been able to earn otherwise as young teenagers. While the first year was a little rough, as expected, we hope to see Syd's Kettle Corn grow and help fund a trip to Spain by summer 2018.
For some time Deni and I had talked about how we could make more lasting memories with our kids. We want to make memories like we made when we went to London for Ryan's Make a Wish trip. The whole family enjoyed our travel abroad and we look forward to other future travels. Ryan has even told us the next place he wants to travel to. Spain.
Spain is a good goal and one I'd like to help make possible for him. The biggest problem is that Spain, or really all international travel, is fairly expensive especially when there are 4 of us traveling.
Over the years, Deni has talked about getting a side/night job to help pay for some of these 'extra' things, however I have always felt that it is far more important for Deni to be in our home with our kids while they are growing up. In my opinion, the benefits of having Deni in the home far outweigh any amount of money or international travel she would provide through working.
With that being said, we had also been kicking around the idea to start a small side business to help bring in a little extra. A business that Deni could run while the kids were at school or on weekends when we could all chip in and help. This business would help us fund trips and other 'teenage' things, such as Syd playing on a competitive soccer league or Ryan going to California for a debate trip. The 'teenage' things that cost hundreds of dollars that weren't really planned. In Oct 2014 we were in Arizona at a corn maze with Deni's family. At the corn maze was a gentleman selling Kettle Corn. He had some yummy Kettle corn and had quite the setup to make and sell it. Deni got his contact information and we began wondering if starting a small Kettle Corn business of our own would be something we should do in Utah.
We thought about the possibility for a few months, then in early 2015, we decided to make the plunge and buy Kettle Corn equipment and start a Kettle Corn business. We ordered the equipment and began planning for future events.
There were a lot of things we needed to do. Pick a company name, register with the city and State. Get State and Federal Tax id numbers and the list goes on and on. It's much more than just making and selling Kettle Corn. Since we had 'Ryan's Bees' we thought we'd go with something related to Sydney. And our new company was born: Syd's Kettle Corn, LLC
Once we had the Kettle Corn equipment ordered, we realized we also needed quite a bit more to actually be successful. The equipment was delivered and it was massive. We had seen videos and pictures of the equipment, however when it was sitting our garage, it was massive. We needed a trailer to house our equipment and a truck to pull the trailer. We bought a 6 x 12 enclosed trailer as well as a used 2008 FJ Cruiser to pull the trailer. As we looked into the State/County regulations, we also found we had to have an enclosed tent since we were "cooking" food. Popup's are relatively inexpensive, however popup's with 3 enclosed walls, in a custom color and our business name printed on all four sides, isn't so cheap. We needed the tent to be legit, so we ordered it. In the beginning, we had a general idea of the things we needed to do and buy, however there was a lot of learning by discovery and getting started was pretty rough.
In Feb 2015, we signed up to be a food vendor for the week long city festival in July. The booth fee $375.00. That's a lot of Kettle Corn to sell to just pay the booth fee back, however we thought the only way we'd know if it was worth it was by trying it. We learned a lot that week, what worked, what didn't. We made corrections as we went. The days were long and hard work, but we were doing it as a family. The kids worked 10 hour days, Deni and I worked longer than that. We would let the kids sleep in and then ride their bikes down later as the festival was just a few miles away from our house. All in all it was a long week but good for our brand new business. We decided we'd come again next year.
Being in the city festival made a name for us as well as opened doors for us. We had people inquire if we would do weddings (which we did once this year.) We were later invited to the local Farmer's Market and another city event in the Fall. All of these events we did as a family with the exception of one event. We ended up hiring a young man from our neighborhood to help us for a few hours one day when we had a conflict with one of Syd's soccer games, but other than that we worked together.
We learned a lot in year one. We decided early on we needed professional Tax help and hired a CPA to help us navigate the business and our taxes. We paid our share of taxes and fees throughout the year, however a few things caught us off guard at the end of the year. First was a "restaurant tax" at we owed. The tax was 1% of our gross sales, however it was 1% we didn't know we would have to pay (oh and we're not a restaurant). The second thing that caught us off guard at the end of 2015 was paying sale tax on the equipment we had purchased to use for our business (as it wasn't collected at the time of sale.) We'll be ready for those expenses next year.
We started Syd's Kettle Corn to allow our family to be able to do some of the 'extra' things. In time it will provide those things, however one of the added benefits we saw this year was that it taught our kids how to work hard. It helped Ryan fundraise for his Eagle Project and have an amazing successful Eagle Project. It has also given our kids a way to earn income they would not have been able to earn otherwise as young teenagers. While the first year was a little rough, as expected, we hope to see Syd's Kettle Corn grow and help fund a trip to Spain by summer 2018.
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
I've been living a lie
When I got married in 1997, I think I weighed 135 lbs. Over the years I've slowly gained weight. Nothing too dramatic, but I've added pound by pound over the years. My current Drivers License says I weigh 155 lbs. That's a lie. That may have been true in the year 2000 or maybe in 2005, however that is not true in 2015.
During the month of Dec 2015 it became apparent, I needed a change. My clothes, specifically my pants, were tight around the waist and it was uncomfortable. I didn't want to buy bigger pants (partially because I don't want to own bigger pants and partially because I'd rather spend my money on other things). The alternative? Diet and Exercise. I began watching what I eat and exercising in hopes of my pants fitting like they did before.
The Weigh in:
Dec 28, 2015: 177.7 (12 stone, 9)
On a side note, I'm not sure why we don't use the measurement of 'Stone' in the United States. It sounds way cooler than saying pounds. Plus no one knows how much you actually weigh without looking it up.
Fast forward to today. It's been one month of counting EVERY calorie that has gone in my mouth. I've exercised at least 5 days a week for 45 minutes or more. The last few weeks, I've been doing cardio for 45 minutes then lifting weights (alternating upper and lower body every other day) for another 15 minutes.
Today's Weigh in:
Jan 27, 2016: 166.6 (11 stone, 2)
I've lost 11.1 pounds in one month and about 2 inches in my waist. I'm feeling amazed about the results. I didn't do anything extreme. I simply watched what I ate (portion control through counting calories) and exercised. I would check my phone before eating something to see how it would impact my remaining calories for the day. It's not a new concept to me as I do the same thing when spending money (check my phone app (YNAB) to see how the purchase will impact my future budget and spending.) But it's working for me. I've got a bit more to go, but well on my way.
During the month of Dec 2015 it became apparent, I needed a change. My clothes, specifically my pants, were tight around the waist and it was uncomfortable. I didn't want to buy bigger pants (partially because I don't want to own bigger pants and partially because I'd rather spend my money on other things). The alternative? Diet and Exercise. I began watching what I eat and exercising in hopes of my pants fitting like they did before.
The Weigh in:
Dec 28, 2015: 177.7 (12 stone, 9)
On a side note, I'm not sure why we don't use the measurement of 'Stone' in the United States. It sounds way cooler than saying pounds. Plus no one knows how much you actually weigh without looking it up.
Fast forward to today. It's been one month of counting EVERY calorie that has gone in my mouth. I've exercised at least 5 days a week for 45 minutes or more. The last few weeks, I've been doing cardio for 45 minutes then lifting weights (alternating upper and lower body every other day) for another 15 minutes.
Today's Weigh in:
Jan 27, 2016: 166.6 (11 stone, 2)
I've lost 11.1 pounds in one month and about 2 inches in my waist. I'm feeling amazed about the results. I didn't do anything extreme. I simply watched what I ate (portion control through counting calories) and exercised. I would check my phone before eating something to see how it would impact my remaining calories for the day. It's not a new concept to me as I do the same thing when spending money (check my phone app (YNAB) to see how the purchase will impact my future budget and spending.) But it's working for me. I've got a bit more to go, but well on my way.
Monday, January 25, 2016
Ronald McDonald Dinner
When Ryan started looking for an Eagle project, he thought of the organizations that had helped our family through the years. The organization that came to the top of the list was The Ronald McDonald House (RMH). We have stayed in the RMH in Los Angeles, CA, Salt Lake City, UT, and most recently in Palo Alto, CA. These 'homes' have been a huge blessing to our family. To see what Eagle projects RMH had, we took Ryan to SLC and he inquired what he could do for an Eagle project. The answer was for him to provide a meal for the residents of the house for his Eagle project.
Ryan decided that we would have serve a Pasta Bar with multiple Pastas and Sauces, green salad and end with Sydney's signature cupcakes for dessert. Pastas were: Spaghetti, BowTie, and shells. Sauces: Red sauce, Red sauce w/ hamburger, Alfredo, and Creamy Pesto. We went as a family to buy the ingredients at Macey's. It was fun to see Ryan and Sydney carefully spend the remaining money, trying to 1.) get the right amount of ingredients and 2.) get the best price to maximize the amount of food they could provide. Some things wouldn't fit in our refrigerator, so Deni had a few things she had to pick up the next day, but we were able to get the majority of the ingredients together.
Ryan did a great job supervising and making sure we all had things to do.
Sydney and her friend got to working making Syd's famous Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes.
We pulled into town about 10:30pm. A late night for some of the kids on a school night, but it's an experience they will not forget.
Ryan wasn't too excited with the idea of providing a meal as an Eagle project. He thought it was too easy of an Eagle project. Matter of fact, he knew he didn't want to do that. He was thinking bigger. As he thought more about his project, he thought it would be a better idea to provide Chromebooks to the Ronald McDonald House. Many times when people stay in the Ronald McDonald House, bringing their laptop is the last thing they think about. Those that have used the RMH for extended stays, it's nice to be able to keep in touch (chat, facebook, even video chat). Ryan thought providing Chromebooks would help families stay in touch with those other family members which are at home.
Ryan has a Chromebook and uses it for school and keeping in touch with friends. It's almost become a necessity for him. Ryan set his sights on providing 5 Chromebooks (at about $200 per chromebook), with a stretch goal of providing 10. Ryan got his Eagle project approved and began working to fundraise.
Ryan has a Chromebook and uses it for school and keeping in touch with friends. It's almost become a necessity for him. Ryan set his sights on providing 5 Chromebooks (at about $200 per chromebook), with a stretch goal of providing 10. Ryan got his Eagle project approved and began working to fundraise.
As he began fundraising, it quickly became apparent that he was going to blow past his stretch goal. In the end, Ryan raised enough money to buy THIRTY Chromebooks for the RMH. Ryan sold Kettle Corn at our Farmer's Market, in front of Sam's Club and to those in neighborhood. He also got some sizeable donations from friends, family, and even a few strangers.
After the purchase of the Chromebooks on Amazon, the price came down a little and we reached out to Amazon and our Credit Card to recoup some of different in price, while they didn't refund the whole difference, they both provided some money back on the purchases. The problem with recouping some of that cost, was that 100% of all the donated money needed to be spent before he could finalize and complete his Eagle.
Ryan in August at the Farmer's Market
After the purchase of the Chromebooks on Amazon, the price came down a little and we reached out to Amazon and our Credit Card to recoup some of different in price, while they didn't refund the whole difference, they both provided some money back on the purchases. The problem with recouping some of that cost, was that 100% of all the donated money needed to be spent before he could finalize and complete his Eagle.
With about $130 in Amazon credit and about $280 in cash, Ryan looked back to how we could help the Ronald McDonald House. While we were in Palo Alto last Nov, it was very nice to have meals provided. After one meal in particular, they played bingo afterwards and 'winners' won games and/or toys. Ryan decided to do something similar and buy games (Uno, Skipbo, Pass the Pigs, etc) as well as some books, like the Percy Jackson Series and donate them to RMH to use for the residents as they wanted to. Amazon credit spent. Next, spending the remaining cash. Ryan decided that it would be fun to also provide a meal. (he just didn't want that to be the ONLY thing he did).
We signed up to provide a meal on a Friday night, but that ended up conflicting with a debate tournament of Ryan's, so we called and moved it to a Monday night. Originally they asked us to prepare for 60 people, however about a week before our meal, RMH contacted us and said their room attendance was up and we should plan for 60-70 people for dinner.
Ryan decided that we would have serve a Pasta Bar with multiple Pastas and Sauces, green salad and end with Sydney's signature cupcakes for dessert. Pastas were: Spaghetti, BowTie, and shells. Sauces: Red sauce, Red sauce w/ hamburger, Alfredo, and Creamy Pesto. We went as a family to buy the ingredients at Macey's. It was fun to see Ryan and Sydney carefully spend the remaining money, trying to 1.) get the right amount of ingredients and 2.) get the best price to maximize the amount of food they could provide. Some things wouldn't fit in our refrigerator, so Deni had a few things she had to pick up the next day, but we were able to get the majority of the ingredients together.
Ryan invited some of his friends to come help us, however most weren't as committed to the idea when it came down to actually showing up and serving. We originally planned on taking about 15 people (including our family), however we ended up only taking 10. (Three of Ryan's friends, one of Sydney's and my parents.) 10 in total, so we fit into two cars.
We left right after school (about 3pm) and headed to Salt Lake City to prepare the meal.
Familia y Amigos Berger
Ryan did a great job supervising and making sure we all had things to do.
Sydney and her friend got to working making Syd's famous Chocolate and Vanilla cupcakes.
Frosting the cupcakes. Syd looks like she could be a contestant on Cupcake Wars.
When Ryan wasn't supervising, he helped the rest of us prepare the meal.
Dinner was to be served at 6pm. We had just under 2 hours to get the meal ready and we used every minute of it. We were busy, but it was fun experience. One I'd like to do again. Ryan's friends and Grandparents were a tremendous help. We could not have done it without them. (Thank you).
The friends that made dinner possible.
We immediately started cleaning up (about 7pm). Two hours later we finished cleaning up. A few pictures and then an hour drive home.
The friends that made dinner possible.
We immediately started cleaning up (about 7pm). Two hours later we finished cleaning up. A few pictures and then an hour drive home.
We pulled into town about 10:30pm. A late night for some of the kids on a school night, but it's an experience they will not forget.
Friday, January 22, 2016
Dinner (when Deni is away)
I'm pretty spoiled. Deni does 99.8% of the cooking for our family, however when she's gone (like she was tonight to a Debate tournament with Ryan) I have two choices. Make something or go hungry. I didn't have any ideas for dinner, nor did Sydney. Actually Sydney did have an idea but it was to go out for dinner.
Since I've been watching/counting calories, I've been amazed at how many calories are in common meal served in fast food restaurants. Counting calories has definitely opened my eyes. For example, today at work we had our once a month team birthday celebration, complete with ice cream and cupcakes. Jokingly I asked how many calories were in one cupcake. The answer to my question was 760 calories. I thought he was joking, so I picked one up and ate it. It wasn't until later when I was trying to log my calories, I searched and found that ONE SINGLE CUPCAKE was 760 calories.
Back to what to have for dinner. When in doubt, use the Blendtec to make dinner. We decided to make homemade Jamba Juices, which technically isn't cooking, but we didn't go hungry.
Since I've been watching/counting calories, I've been amazed at how many calories are in common meal served in fast food restaurants. Counting calories has definitely opened my eyes. For example, today at work we had our once a month team birthday celebration, complete with ice cream and cupcakes. Jokingly I asked how many calories were in one cupcake. The answer to my question was 760 calories. I thought he was joking, so I picked one up and ate it. It wasn't until later when I was trying to log my calories, I searched and found that ONE SINGLE CUPCAKE was 760 calories.
Back to what to have for dinner. When in doubt, use the Blendtec to make dinner. We decided to make homemade Jamba Juices, which technically isn't cooking, but we didn't go hungry.
My Homemade Jamba Juice Recipe:
- 1 Yoplait Light Yogurt (I chose Strawberry/Banana yogurt) - 90 calories
- 1 small banana - 80 calories
- 1 Orange - 88 calories
- 1/2 cup blueberries - 43 calories
- 1 cup strawberries - 54 calories
- 2 heaping tablespoons of Protein powder - 80 calories
The recipe makes one almost overflowing quart jar (32 ounces) and by my calculations, it's about 435 calories.
Thursday, January 21, 2016
Goodbye Novell (sign)
It's official, after a little over 5 years and two different acquisitions, the 'Novell' sign has finally been removed from building H. For about 14 of my 15 years at 'Novell' I've worked in the East Bay campus. I've driven north on I-15 and could see the familiar building H, with it's red neon Novell sign on top. Currently it looks a little bare, however it will be replaced with 'Micro Focus' very soon.
Below: Taken from the 8th floor looking down (North side of Building H).
It's very apparent (now) that when Attachmate bought Novell in 2010, all Attachmate wanted to do was to suck as much cash out of the company. They were quite successful at this cash sucking procedure. Attachmate sucked the one billion in cash we (Novell) had at the time of acquisition. Attachmate also began selling anything and everything they could. They sold a large portion of our patent portfolio, including a patent a co-worker and I submitted to the US Patent office (which is now owned by Oracle).
Attachmate also sold all the buildings in the East Bay campus, including Building H and locked 'Novell' into a 10+ year lease at a crazy rate. Attachmate didn't care as they weren't in it for the long haul, they were just in it long enough to pull the cash they wanted and run.
When Micro Focus bought Novell (and Attachmate Group from Attachmate) in 2014, it was refreshing. Micro Focus quickly went to work reviewing the company and began investing in people and products.
It will take a little time to get use to the new 'Micro Focus' sign, but it is a welcome change.
Below: Taken from the 8th floor looking down (North side of Building H).
It's very apparent (now) that when Attachmate bought Novell in 2010, all Attachmate wanted to do was to suck as much cash out of the company. They were quite successful at this cash sucking procedure. Attachmate sucked the one billion in cash we (Novell) had at the time of acquisition. Attachmate also began selling anything and everything they could. They sold a large portion of our patent portfolio, including a patent a co-worker and I submitted to the US Patent office (which is now owned by Oracle).
Attachmate also sold all the buildings in the East Bay campus, including Building H and locked 'Novell' into a 10+ year lease at a crazy rate. Attachmate didn't care as they weren't in it for the long haul, they were just in it long enough to pull the cash they wanted and run.
When Micro Focus bought Novell (and Attachmate Group from Attachmate) in 2014, it was refreshing. Micro Focus quickly went to work reviewing the company and began investing in people and products.
It will take a little time to get use to the new 'Micro Focus' sign, but it is a welcome change.
Wednesday, January 20, 2016
Time to buy more guns
This is a picture of Syd from last summer. I guess it's time to buy more guns. I also need to buy a shirt that says 'Guns don't kill people, Dad's with pretty daughters do.' I'm pretty sure I'll be wearing that shirt and be cleaning my gun when she turns 16 and goes out on her first date.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
RSL jersey day
For Christmas 2014, our family present was one pair of Real Salt Lake Season tickets. The kids were shocked we got them and we all really enjoyed going to the games throughout the year. When it came time to renew our tickets, we really didn't want to buy them again for Christmas (2015).
However, we really enjoyed the one on one time it gave us with the kids and with each other and it didn't hurt we got to do something we really enjoy. So we renewed our season tickets and then held on to them. I blogged about buying them about 2 weeks ago. The kids don't read my blog so I wasn't worried about them finding out.
This last week, I've been working on cleaning up my blog, adding pictures that got lost when I migrated my blog to it's own domain and back to blogger. While doing that, I've read some funny stories I had forgotten and have shared them with the kids. Sydney, in particular, enjoyed hearing the funny things she did 7 or 8 years ago. Yesterday she asked me the address for my blog. I didn't respond, as I knew if I gave it to her, she'd find out about the RSL tickets. She asked a few more times, so I told her the address.
For about 15 minutes she was reading and looking through old blog posts. I was keeping an eye on her as I knew she would see the post about us renewing the RSL tickets. Sure enough, a few minutes later she giggles to herself and I can tell she read the post. She sat on the couch trying to figure out what to do. She looked and me and smiled. I asked her why she was smiling and she said that she had read my blog.
I told her to call Ryan in and read it out loud, so she did. They were both excited to learn that we have tickets once again.
Fast forward to today. I woke up and picked out my White RSL away jersey. As I was getting breakfast, Ryan came up with his RSL jersey on. Finally Sydney came up stairs with her RSL jersey on. Pretty funny we all decided to wear our jerseys today.
Now we wait until March, which is the first home game.
Saturday, January 16, 2016
You are growing old too fast
This morning while I was laying in bed, Sydney came in and layed next to me. I said "Sydney, you are growing up too fast." Sydney replied with "You are growing old too fast."
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
The day I almost died
A few months ago, I had a co-worker fly in from out of the country. He needed a ride to the SLC airport, so I drove him. As we were driving (my co-worker) Rik mentioned how many gun stores we had passed on I-15. We began talking about guns and he told me in his country they were not able to own guns AND he had never shot a gun. Ever! However it was on his bucket list to do. I said we should go shooting the next time he was in town.
Rik was in Provo all this week for some training, so I invited him over for dinner and then to go Shotgun shooting.
Syd had indoor soccer training from 5pm to 6pm. After soccer, Syd and I headed back to work to pick up Rik. Dinner was amazing, as usual. Then we headed off to the Gun Club to do some shooting. It's obviously January in Utah. 7:30pm, dark, snowy, and cold, but we were the only ones shooting, so it was great.
I borrowed two shotguns from my Dad. One of the two guns is my favorite gun. It is a break barrel single shot shotgun with no padding. Just a simple shotgun which happened to be my Grandpa Berger's. I've been shooting this gun for years. Because there is no padding, when I shoot it, it always gives me little bruises on my left shoulder from the kick. Matter of fact, when I was in Jr High school, I removed all the wood from the gun, sanded it down, stained it and added a clear coat and then put it back together.
I took the first shot with my Grandpa's gun. I didn't even get to shoot at the first clay pigeon that was thrown, as the gun had a hard time pulling the external hammer back. (which was odd, as that had never happened to me). After a few times of pulling the external hammer back, I pulled it back and it clicked into to place. I yelled 'pull' and hit the clay pigeon dead center and it exploded into dust. It felt good to shoot and hit the first thrown clay pigeon. My next few shots were the same, I was on a roll. We took turns shooting, every other shot.
At about my 5th shot, I yelled 'pull', aimed and pulled the trigger. I'm not sure I hit that one, because as soon as I pulled the trigger and the gun went off, I felt the barrel of the gun in my right hand fall to the right, while the stock in my left hand go the opposite way. The gun was now in two different pieces.
I was shocked. This isn't supposed to happen. The metal cast just blew apart. Even more shocking, was that I wasn't harmed. I stood there for a few seconds (which felt like a few minutes) looking at the gun and replaying the event in my head. After I realized the gun was beyond repair. I went ahead and set the gun down and continued with the 2nd gun the rest of the night.
We each got about 20 shots in. After a bit, Rik honed in his shooting skills and began hitting the clay pigeons. Impressive for his first time shooting, but then again he had a great teacher. :)
After shooting, I drove Rik back to his Provo hotel. I forgot how much I really like shooting shotguns. I need to get out more.
Rik was in Provo all this week for some training, so I invited him over for dinner and then to go Shotgun shooting.
Syd had indoor soccer training from 5pm to 6pm. After soccer, Syd and I headed back to work to pick up Rik. Dinner was amazing, as usual. Then we headed off to the Gun Club to do some shooting. It's obviously January in Utah. 7:30pm, dark, snowy, and cold, but we were the only ones shooting, so it was great.
I borrowed two shotguns from my Dad. One of the two guns is my favorite gun. It is a break barrel single shot shotgun with no padding. Just a simple shotgun which happened to be my Grandpa Berger's. I've been shooting this gun for years. Because there is no padding, when I shoot it, it always gives me little bruises on my left shoulder from the kick. Matter of fact, when I was in Jr High school, I removed all the wood from the gun, sanded it down, stained it and added a clear coat and then put it back together.
I took the first shot with my Grandpa's gun. I didn't even get to shoot at the first clay pigeon that was thrown, as the gun had a hard time pulling the external hammer back. (which was odd, as that had never happened to me). After a few times of pulling the external hammer back, I pulled it back and it clicked into to place. I yelled 'pull' and hit the clay pigeon dead center and it exploded into dust. It felt good to shoot and hit the first thrown clay pigeon. My next few shots were the same, I was on a roll. We took turns shooting, every other shot.
At about my 5th shot, I yelled 'pull', aimed and pulled the trigger. I'm not sure I hit that one, because as soon as I pulled the trigger and the gun went off, I felt the barrel of the gun in my right hand fall to the right, while the stock in my left hand go the opposite way. The gun was now in two different pieces.
I was shocked. This isn't supposed to happen. The metal cast just blew apart. Even more shocking, was that I wasn't harmed. I stood there for a few seconds (which felt like a few minutes) looking at the gun and replaying the event in my head. After I realized the gun was beyond repair. I went ahead and set the gun down and continued with the 2nd gun the rest of the night.
We each got about 20 shots in. After a bit, Rik honed in his shooting skills and began hitting the clay pigeons. Impressive for his first time shooting, but then again he had a great teacher. :)
After shooting, I drove Rik back to his Provo hotel. I forgot how much I really like shooting shotguns. I need to get out more.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
4 little kisses
Counting calories isn't the most fun thing I've done, however it has given me awareness of what I consume. Pre-counting calories, I would have consumed most of a bag of hershey kisses without thinking twice. Now any time I want to eat something, I check the MyFitnessPal app on my phone before eating it. This is especially true towards the end of the day. The MyFitnessPal app is becoming like my Money Management app. I look at the MyFitnesspal app first to make sure I can 'purchase' those calories before I consume them.
One hershey kiss is 22 calories. Twenty-two yummy calories.
Each night I open the MyFitnessPal app in hopes of seeing at least 88 calories remaining for the day. Most nights I have 88 calories remaining, so I go to my closet, take down the 330 piece bag of hershey kisses I got for Christmas (take out 4 hershey kisses) and then slowly eat them.
I've been able to stay under my calorie allotment for the last 2 weeks, except for one day, where I was just a few calories over, so for 5 minutes I walked up and down the stairs. Maybe a little extreme, but I wanted to be able to continue to achieve my goal of staying within my calorie allotment. .
One hershey kiss is 22 calories. Twenty-two yummy calories.
Each night I open the MyFitnessPal app in hopes of seeing at least 88 calories remaining for the day. Most nights I have 88 calories remaining, so I go to my closet, take down the 330 piece bag of hershey kisses I got for Christmas (take out 4 hershey kisses) and then slowly eat them.
I've been able to stay under my calorie allotment for the last 2 weeks, except for one day, where I was just a few calories over, so for 5 minutes I walked up and down the stairs. Maybe a little extreme, but I wanted to be able to continue to achieve my goal of staying within my calorie allotment. .
Friday, January 08, 2016
When in doubt, Deni's right
At work we had a lunch meeting that talked about some of the changes in our benefits for the coming year. One of the changes is that the company will now reimburse up to $150 per year for "wellness/fitness" type things. For example, they will pay for a gym membership or if fitness equipment, etc.
Since I've been watching what I eat and working out, I've wanted to be able to also monitor my heart rate during workouts. After hearing my company would reimburse me for such a device, I did a few quick google searches and found the Garmin vivosmart HR, which looked like what I wanted. I also remembered I had a $20 gift card to Best Buy that I wasn't sure what I would use it for.
I had been chatting with Deni about it all and she asked me on a date. So we went to dinner and then headed to Best Buy to check out the Garmin.
I liked it in person, so decided to buy it.
As we were looking at them, Deni was laughing to herself. Apparently sometime in my past, Deni mentioned how cool it would be to have a fitbit and I apparently said something not as supportive, or possibly even negative, however I don't remember what was said. So we'll leave it at that. :)
I've been eating a lot of my words lately. "Why would anyone want to wear a fitbit?" or "I'll never count calories." The list goes on and on. Actually years ago, I remember saying "Who would want to ride a bike for 12 miles?" and "Who would want to do triathlons?" - both things Deni did and I followed. I guess the moral of the story is that when in doubt, Deni is right. I'm slow and usually wrong. I've come to accept that it takes me longer to come to the same 'right' conclusions as Deni.
I had been chatting with Deni about it all and she asked me on a date. So we went to dinner and then headed to Best Buy to check out the Garmin.
I liked it in person, so decided to buy it.
As we were looking at them, Deni was laughing to herself. Apparently sometime in my past, Deni mentioned how cool it would be to have a fitbit and I apparently said something not as supportive, or possibly even negative, however I don't remember what was said. So we'll leave it at that. :)
I've been eating a lot of my words lately. "Why would anyone want to wear a fitbit?" or "I'll never count calories." The list goes on and on. Actually years ago, I remember saying "Who would want to ride a bike for 12 miles?" and "Who would want to do triathlons?" - both things Deni did and I followed. I guess the moral of the story is that when in doubt, Deni is right. I'm slow and usually wrong. I've come to accept that it takes me longer to come to the same 'right' conclusions as Deni.
Wednesday, January 06, 2016
Personalized Real Salt Lake shirts
We didn't get to pick which numbers the kids pictures were on, however Sydney ended up on the 2,with Ryan ending up on the 6. For Syd, that worked out great, as we were able to get the number she wears when she plays soccer. Plus that is also the number for Aaron Maund.
For Ryan, we decided to use the 2 (where Syd is) and then the 6, which is where his picture resides. If you look in the redboxes, you'll see where the kids pictures are. Ryan - #6. The pictures are tiny and you have to look really close to see them.
Sydney is on the #2. Syd's picture is a little more noticeable.
We had a great time last year going to the games. Although we only had 2 tickets, it was a great Christmas gift that kept on giving, all the way through October. We'd take turn going to games. Most times it was either Deni or I with one of the kids, however there were a few weeknight games that Deni and I made a date out of it and went together. RSL didn't have that great of a season, but it was fun to watch a lot of soccer.
We didn't give the kids Season Passes for 2016, however we did purchase them and are excited to be able to watch the games in person in 2016. There have been a few "it's too bad we didn't get tickets for this year" comments, so the kids will be really excited when they find out we bought a pair of Season Tickets for 2016 too. We're not sure how we're going to tell them yet.
Monday, January 04, 2016
My personal chef
The three most hated words in our house are 'What's for dinner?"
With the our recent shift to have lower calorie meals, I've tried to help find ideas.
So today I sent Deni a link to a blog with a possible dinner idea. This is what the dinner idea looked like. Coconut Curry Shrimp, Green Beans with Brown Rice.
When I got home, Deni had created an almost EXACT replica of this meal. I could have taken a picture and it would have looked almost identical, iron skillet an all. It was amazingly yummy. It's nice having an amazing personal chef that can cook anything. Tasty and Low Calorie.
With the our recent shift to have lower calorie meals, I've tried to help find ideas.
So today I sent Deni a link to a blog with a possible dinner idea. This is what the dinner idea looked like. Coconut Curry Shrimp, Green Beans with Brown Rice.
When I got home, Deni had created an almost EXACT replica of this meal. I could have taken a picture and it would have looked almost identical, iron skillet an all. It was amazingly yummy. It's nice having an amazing personal chef that can cook anything. Tasty and Low Calorie.
Sunday, January 03, 2016
Tamale Sunday
I love Cafe Rio Pork Tamales, except they are only available on Thursday's, unless you have Deni.
I have a Deni and she can make amazing meals. Matter of fact, she often tells the story that when we were dating that I'd tell her I didn't want to go out to eat, but I would offer to buy all the ingredients and she'd cook for us. First of all, that doesn't sound like me 20 years ago. Second, I think she is stretching the truth a little with that story, (it may have happened once) however if there is one thing that I know I like, it's Deni's cooking. So if it actually did happen, it's only because she was a better cook than what we would have eaten at a restaurant that night.
It's been a while since we've made homemade tamales. And it's only Sunday (at least 4 days away from Tamale Thursday at Cafe Rio).
Deni got the pork prepared, masa made and corns husks soaking in water, then went to help Sydney with a 'parent project' that was due the first day back from Christmas Break. On a side note, what kind of teacher gives a parent project over Christmas break that is due the day after 2 week break.
Ryan and I stepped in to complete the Tamales. I put the masa on the corn husk, added the pork, then gave it to Ryan to roll it and tie. We were a tamale making machine.
We made about 30 tamales tonight and threw them in the pressure cooker for 15 minutes to cook. The best part of making Tamales is the kids won't eat them. I'm not sure why, because they are delicious. I had two tamales for dinner and we'll freeze the rest for other meals. Ryan is turning into quite the cook, first making Lasagna and now Tamales.
Saturday, January 02, 2016
That's what $10 buys these days
I'm going to have a hard time going back to work after close to a two week winter vacation. I've enjoyed my time at home. I didn't accomplish much of anything, but I was home and enjoyed being around the family.
Deni and I again went hiking today. I recommended that we try the Spanish Fork Camping grounds up by the Gun Club. When we arrived at the lower gate, it was closed with a no trespassing sign. I convinced Deni the sign was referring to the Gun Club and surely the trails on public land were open. As we hiked up, we got to the Spanish Fork Reservoir, we were met with another yet another gate and a "closed" sign. We walked past that too. Finally there was one last gate we walked by, which said the camping sites were closed. Others has been up there, as I could see the feet prints in the snow, so we continued on. The snow wasn't as packed down as the trail is in Mapleton. At times we'd sink 6 inches or more as we walked, but we pushed on anyway. While the trails had been walked on recently with snow shoes, etc - the snow was soft and loose but we had a good hour hike.
Sydney was going crazy at home so Deni suggested that I take her out on a Daddy Daughter date. After lots of discussion, we decided we'd go to the nickel arcade in Springville. We got $10 in nickels, in two bags with $5 in each bag. It was apparent that Sydney was there to obtain tickets which could be traded in for inexpensive toys and items . All the games she 'played' were put a few nickels in, if you landed in a certain space you'd get a ticket, or two, or five. I went for the more classic games like Frogger and Pac Man Pinball.
Sydney blew threw her $5 bag of nickels fairly quickly and then came to me while I had only used a handful of nickels playing actual arcade games. I split the rest of my nickels with her and she was off again to obtain more tickets.
She quickly ran out again, and asked if she could use some of her allowance to get more nickels, which I declined. With my remaining nickels, I challenged her to a game of Air Hockey. Even though she is smiling, my score was the 7 and she was the 4. She had a really good come back and for a second, I thought I was going to lose. :)
Next she challenged me to one of the side by side car racing games. She won the first game, but lost the second. Again, I took pictures of her losing, not winning.
Sydney checked in her tickets and had 598 tickets to spend at their store. She got a glow in the dark mood ring, little ball and handful of candy. That's what $10 buys these days. My guess is that the things she 'bought' with her tickets cost a couple of dollars at most. But, she enjoyed the time winning the tickets and I was glad to be able to spend some one on one time with her doing something she enjoyed to do.
After the Nickel Arcade, we went to Costco to pick up some photos Ryan is putting in his thank you cards for his Eagle Project. On top of Ryan's Eagle project of buying 30 Chromebooks for Ronald McDonald house, he's also providing a meal at the Ronald McDonald house. While driving to Costco, I had a thought that Sydney should be in charge of making her world famous cupcakes as dessert. We figured she need to make about 150 or more cupcakes, so while we were at Costco, we priced out all the ingredients she would need. She is excited at the thought of baking in a commercial kitchen (at the Ronald McDonald House) and having Ryan's friends be her assistants in making cupcakes for dessert. When we got home, Ryan agreed that it would be a great idea to have Sydney be in charge of dessert.
Deni and I have talked many times about how we want to prepare our kids for the real world. Mainly knowing how to cook, to work hard, to budget. To my surprise, when we got home Deni said that Ryan had made Lasagna for dinner of us all by himself (with Deni watching over his sholder of course.) The lasagna was edible. Actually it was more than edible, it was amazing and yummy. Two points to Deni for helping Ryan learn to cook yummy things.
To round out the day right, Deni and I went on a date to a movie in town. We saw The Intern. It was a good movie. I enjoyed laughing with my wife. When we got home the kids were having a blast together. Music was blaring and I believe we interrupted a heated dance off. A great end to a long winter vacation.
Deni and I again went hiking today. I recommended that we try the Spanish Fork Camping grounds up by the Gun Club. When we arrived at the lower gate, it was closed with a no trespassing sign. I convinced Deni the sign was referring to the Gun Club and surely the trails on public land were open. As we hiked up, we got to the Spanish Fork Reservoir, we were met with another yet another gate and a "closed" sign. We walked past that too. Finally there was one last gate we walked by, which said the camping sites were closed. Others has been up there, as I could see the feet prints in the snow, so we continued on. The snow wasn't as packed down as the trail is in Mapleton. At times we'd sink 6 inches or more as we walked, but we pushed on anyway. While the trails had been walked on recently with snow shoes, etc - the snow was soft and loose but we had a good hour hike.
Sydney was going crazy at home so Deni suggested that I take her out on a Daddy Daughter date. After lots of discussion, we decided we'd go to the nickel arcade in Springville. We got $10 in nickels, in two bags with $5 in each bag. It was apparent that Sydney was there to obtain tickets which could be traded in for inexpensive toys and items . All the games she 'played' were put a few nickels in, if you landed in a certain space you'd get a ticket, or two, or five. I went for the more classic games like Frogger and Pac Man Pinball.
Sydney blew threw her $5 bag of nickels fairly quickly and then came to me while I had only used a handful of nickels playing actual arcade games. I split the rest of my nickels with her and she was off again to obtain more tickets.
She quickly ran out again, and asked if she could use some of her allowance to get more nickels, which I declined. With my remaining nickels, I challenged her to a game of Air Hockey. Even though she is smiling, my score was the 7 and she was the 4. She had a really good come back and for a second, I thought I was going to lose. :)
Next she challenged me to one of the side by side car racing games. She won the first game, but lost the second. Again, I took pictures of her losing, not winning.
Sydney checked in her tickets and had 598 tickets to spend at their store. She got a glow in the dark mood ring, little ball and handful of candy. That's what $10 buys these days. My guess is that the things she 'bought' with her tickets cost a couple of dollars at most. But, she enjoyed the time winning the tickets and I was glad to be able to spend some one on one time with her doing something she enjoyed to do.
After the Nickel Arcade, we went to Costco to pick up some photos Ryan is putting in his thank you cards for his Eagle Project. On top of Ryan's Eagle project of buying 30 Chromebooks for Ronald McDonald house, he's also providing a meal at the Ronald McDonald house. While driving to Costco, I had a thought that Sydney should be in charge of making her world famous cupcakes as dessert. We figured she need to make about 150 or more cupcakes, so while we were at Costco, we priced out all the ingredients she would need. She is excited at the thought of baking in a commercial kitchen (at the Ronald McDonald House) and having Ryan's friends be her assistants in making cupcakes for dessert. When we got home, Ryan agreed that it would be a great idea to have Sydney be in charge of dessert.
Deni and I have talked many times about how we want to prepare our kids for the real world. Mainly knowing how to cook, to work hard, to budget. To my surprise, when we got home Deni said that Ryan had made Lasagna for dinner of us all by himself (with Deni watching over his sholder of course.) The lasagna was edible. Actually it was more than edible, it was amazing and yummy. Two points to Deni for helping Ryan learn to cook yummy things.
To round out the day right, Deni and I went on a date to a movie in town. We saw The Intern. It was a good movie. I enjoyed laughing with my wife. When we got home the kids were having a blast together. Music was blaring and I believe we interrupted a heated dance off. A great end to a long winter vacation.
Friday, January 01, 2016
A 5 year haitus
I really enjoy looking back and re-reading things that have happened in my life on this blog. Except, I haven't written in 5 years. Luckily, Deni captured some of those happenings.
Syd is growing up. Of course, she's trying to look taller than she is in this picture, but she's not too far off from me.
How things have changed since I blogged last. (Ryan was 10 and Sydney was 7. Sad, I know.)
Ryan (15): Over the Christmas break he had a surprise birthday party for one of his friends at our house. He invited a number of young men and young women over for the surprise party. However only young women showed up. Girl after girl showed up. He finally came up stairs when there were 5 young women in the basement. He looked at me and said, "I invited guys too, but I guess they aren't coming." Tough life. Ryan's got a great group of friends and is really becoming a social butterfly. He's also driving now. He's a pretty good driver, but he still scares me most of the time.
Syd's (12): life mostly revolves around Soccer and Baking (cupcakes are her favorite). She's about an inch taller than Deni now too. Syd is a beehive, so most mutual nights are quiet around here without Ryan and Syd.
About a week ago I finally decided that I needed to begin being more careful with my calorie intake. It turns out that you can't eat what you want AND look like you want. I don't like making new year's resolutions. Actually, when I've changed or tried to make health changes in years past, I typically have made them in in Oct/Nov, so my changes have become habit by the time New Year's comes around. That didn't happen this year.
By watching what I'm eating, I've learned a few things. First, I've probably been eating at least twice what I should in a day. Second, my wife is wise beyond her years. Over the years, she's tried to replace certains foods with healthier versions, however I resisted. Turns out, she was right. Wheat bread for White bread, Brown rice for White rice, ...and the list could go on forever.
For the past two days, Deni and I have driven to Mapleton to hike up to Whiting campground. Deni bought us Yaktrax last year but I didn't get much use out of them. Yaktrax are little booties that give you amazing traction when hiking or walking on snow or ice. Just pull them over your existing shoes and hike. It takes us about 1 hour round trip and is an amazing hike. Today it was breezy, which combined with the teen temperatures made for a cold hike. Two of my favorite people (pic taken on our hike today.)
Syd is growing up. Of course, she's trying to look taller than she is in this picture, but she's not too far off from me.
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