Posts tagged Family
How cold is too cold for bubbles?
Dec 10th
Negative 6 degrees is cold. As The Wyf and I stared out at the cold night, my eyes landed on a bottle of bubbles the geeklets had left out. Hmm…I wonder what happens to bubbles when it’s really cold? So, The Wyf and I stepped outside to test our ideas. (As an FYI, -6 is really, really, really cold. Even the dog wouldn’t hang out with us.)
We blew bubbles and I assumed they would just pop when they started to freeze. But they didn’t. If they were mid air when the froze (5-10 seconds) they dropped and broke. If they landed on something before they froze, they would stick and you could watch them freeze. They looked a little crinkly with dents in them when the warm air inside them cooled and compressed. Some would crack when they froze, but still retained their shape, so it looked like a broken egg.
That was fun. 
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My first few weeks of Entrepreneurship
Dec 1st
It’s been three weeks since I changed my life. For those of you wondering what happens when a former software engineer leaves his job and comes home to start his own business (surrounded by his lovely wife and three charming daughters), here it is: fantastic and frustrating all at the same time.
The Wyf is a writer and works from home, and we just started homeschooling the geeklets. To say we have a full house most of the day is an understatement. The Wyf and I trade off during the day with homeschooling and activities with/for the kids so we can both get some work done The geeklets are pretty good about allowing the ‘off-duty’ parent to work (noise canceling headphones help). However, it does feel that there is not enough time in the day to get everything done that I want. I have come to the conclusion that even if I could work 24hrs every day, I would still not get it all done. Part of the challenge of working from home is that wherever you go, there work is.
The biggest struggle has been setting tasks and deadlines. I have a list of over 100 things that are all important, and probably a list 20-30 business pursuits I would like to tackle… and who am I to boss myself around. It’s hard enough for me to keep track of all these tasks, much less prioritize them. When I was an employee, someone else was in charge of the overall big picture and I just worked away at my smaller picture, my tasks defined by what was due next on the calendar that I didn’t set. As the business owner, my ability to prioritize will define whether or not I can make the mortgage payment in a few months. I am working with 15 years of employee skills, but my entrepreneur skills are improving every day. Now if I can just make enough to live on… :0).
I like to use the goal planning techniques of another fellow entrepreneur and dad, David Cheong . I also get great information from a fellow blogger and dad David Risley.
After three weeks I have to say I can’t imagine going back to a job. Our family loves being together. With both of us working from home now we have a great deal more flexibility. I have been able to spend more time with my beautiful bride and the geeklets–more then I have been able to in a long, long time. Such fantastic conversations and memories already. I am glad I made the decision to do this now and not when the kids were all grown up.
The future looks bright even if the in-between details seem unsure. Providence has been upon us from the beginning of this journey, so I am continuing my leap of faith. Now it’s time to just run.
For more about my journey of starting my own business click here.
The Geek
Solio Deo Gloria (The SDG Group Inc)
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Our live in maid
Nov 10th
We have a live-in maid. She is short and kinda pudgy. In addition to providing endless entertainment and amusement, she does floors . Well, that’s all she does, actually. She is an iRobot Roomba, affectionately nicknamed the ‘Room-bug’. We love her.
About two years ago I got one for The Wyf for her birthday. Yes, I broke that one cardinal rule of husband-to-wife gift-giving; No appliances! It was a bit selfish on my part–ok a lot selfish. At the time I was the one who did most of the vacuuming (we live in a multi-level home and it was either move the heavy vacuum between levels or just do the vacuuming myself). The wyf did roll her eyes a bit when I got it, assuming that my intentions were mostly geek-lust. While their may have been some (smallish!) truth to that, she totally loves it now. I think I’ve been forgiven. She said it herself [here].
If you don’t have a Roomba, it’s kinda like a cell phone or a DVR–you can’t imagine ever going back.
Watching the Room-bug zip around the room is mesmerizing. We’ve spent quite a bit of time watching her work and seeing if she is going to move around things (she does) or if she will fall down the stairs (only once, but that’s another story). Knowing you don’t have to do the vacuuming is awesome. And, seriously, what’s cooler than having a robot do your floors?
(There are some tricks that make life with a Roomba easier—keep an eye out for my post on that.)
You can get more info about the iRobot Roomba here.
© 2009, The Geek. All rights reserved. Click here for the Disclosure Statement
