Bog Blog

Love the days when I'm able to work from the home office.  Used to be that it was a fairly common thing.  With my project assignment, the past six months have made it more important to be working around my colleagues face-to-face from my office in Issaquah, WA, so it's more rare to be here at home.

Home office working bring in all sorts of interesting dynamics, and the primary lesson I've learned is to 'go with the flow' and take a great attitude into any interruptions and the unexpected.

Today, B had a little mishap with her diaper.  I was in the middle of a cross-team call with a lot of interaction and discussion.  But it was clear that the little mini-crisis at home couldn't wait, and that I needed to address it.  Our little chick-a-dee just needed some comfort and reassurance, and that's easy to provide.  One ear in the meeting, a little cleanup at home, a smile, and approaching it with a chuckle.

The other thing about working from home office is that I see things I'd otherwise miss as a work-from-the-office dad, memories that come and go like clouds, maybe returning one day but never quite in the same form.  Here's one that happened recently -- P has been playing the keyboard trying to figure it out, and he's decided that he needs an audience, or maybe a friend.  I'd never have seen this cordoned away in office-cube land, with some of the weekend catch-up work that inevitibly needs to get done.

Thinking I'll do better to home-office-work more often, even if there's inconvenience.  Totally worth it.

Kindergarten is so cool!  I love when Sydney brings home one of her creations.  Yesterday she came home with  -- cow jumping over the moon, dish running away with the spoon.  The true simple life.

I admit it - I've been a terrible blogger.  There, whew.  Feels a lot better.

Like more than a few folks who are involved in technology and have been for a while, I've dabbled in new computing and Internet stuff as it's appeared.  Some things have worked out, others haven't, and still others it's taken me a while to figure out how to make work best for how I do stuff.  But it's really hard to keep up with everything with a growing family and a desire to just get off the computer when I'm not working.

One of those things has been figuring out how to keep two work blogs, a family blog, and a family picture site up to date and relevant.  Who reads or looks at this stuff anyway?  (In fact, who will read this? [asking myself as I'm typing])  For the work blogs, everyone is busy, so reading a colleague's blog is usually extracurricular.  For the family & personal, maybe the occasional friend or family member around the holidays or a major event - but that's about it.  And new sites, styles, and technologies are constantly appearing, so investing a lot of time in any one is more than a bit of a commitment.

So, I probably mostly maintain them for my own peace of mind -- and for the family blog and pics, because where else are we going to scrapbook what's going on over the weeks and months and years.

Lately I've been finding that mixing the family blog where we share photos and what's happening in our lives in Snoqualmie and beyond has mingled a lot with my interests in technology, the outdoors, traveling, what's happening in the world, and all sorts of other things I like to investigate.  And honestly, if I were a friend or family member, would I really want to read Dan's take on the etymology of the latest cool word I've heard someone say, or my excitement about what new technology is now connecting to what old technology?

It's past time to separate the family-o-rama site from the personal interest random-nimity.  I may regret trying to separate things like that, and if  I do, I suppose I'll combine them again later.

So -- here's where I'll be spending my time on the 'net, for the half dozen or so who will ever read this post <g>

• family site
• family photoshows
• interest site
• zune social
• xbox live
• twitter
• facebook
• work blogs -> (they're on corpnet; contact me if you work at Microsoft and want to read 'em)
• email & IM -> dangrady@live.com

(I've kept my non-work posts on Live Spaces, just to keep things clean and simple.  I like to use Live Writer for blogging and even though it will post well to any blog site, the email-IM-spaces chain hooks well together with the setup I have... and the support escalation engineers work on the floor above me, not that I'd ever go to them directly.)

So we started these NASCAR fantasy leagues at work last year, after lamenting that the NFL fantasy league we faithfully participate in ends too soon.  "What else can we do that doesn't take a lot of time and that's a pretty level playing field?"  It pretty much came down to either golf or NASCAR, and since golf is, well, a little snoozy at times, "why not NASCAR"

A few friends (OK, more than a few) raise their eyebrows when I mention I'm part of two NASCAR fantasy leagues, not that it comes up much.  But I've gotta say, they've turned out to be a ton of fun, and not too much in the time-sink department.

The week pretty much goes:

• Read the "expert analysis" on the site on Wednesday or Thursday
• Make driver selections before qualifying on Friday
• Lament your choices late Friday when you realize none of the drivers who will win the race care too much about qualifying well
• For the Yahoo! league, make final driver selections on Saturday
• If it's a rainy/cold day outside, maybe catch the race on Sunday
• Check out results late Sunday or on Monday, and celebrate or grieve accordingly
• Repeat 36 times in the year, ending just in time for the middle of the NFL season

I'm in both a Foxsports league and a Yahoo! league.  Subtle differences in the two, and not sure which I like better yet since I'm only three weeks in to being in two different types of leagues.  Both are fun though.

This article got my attention.  I don't usually post many tech-related stories on our family blog site, but since we're hosted by Live.com...  Now if I could only direct some of that traffic to our blog, at least the visitors who may be friends or family. <g>

http://thenextweb.org/2008/02/19/livecom-bigger-than-google-in-september-2008

(The commentary reveals more about the stats - just like the college professors said, there are lies, darn lies, and then statistics.)

Low-hanging clouds had drifted into the valley this morning, undulating and colored by a palette of gray and white, leaving behind fingers of mist and snow on the mountains and foothills.

Stacey's culinary skills swung into full action as she seared stew meat for a couple of meals she'll be delivering later today.  No one should have to wake to such incredibly tempting scents.  Thankfully, she allowed me to sneak slivers of the quiche she'd baked last night for her this-morning's mom's meeting. The caramelized onions make all the difference.

There's no way I could swap the beautiful smells of the kitchen and sights of the valley for the office just yet, so I swung by my favorite haunt Zoka for this morning's fare, after a quick drop-off of the kids at their school.

Zoka's specialty Rwanda blend was waiting, steaming hot; it's an incredibly complex and smooth coffee when brewed well (which they always do).

After long, long days to start the week, a satisfying way to get the creativity flowing.