Nick's Blog » family

Thankful

Nick — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 13:30:49 +0000

It’s been a great year with so much to be thankful for. I figure Thanksgiving is a good a time as any to reflect on all the blessings we have. Happy and healthy. Still self-employed. Wonderful friends and family. Couldn’t ask for much more.

And then there was the food

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Home Again

Nick — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 13:30:47 +0000

Back to the ‘Quah this weekend, 4th trip this summer. Hope the lake is still warm! Related posts:Seattle Weekend Had a great weekend in Seattle / Issaquah. Hope to... New York Invasion This weekend was a quick trip to NY for Charlie’s... It Might Look Like a Dump, But It’s Home There’s a sign on Waste Management trucks [...] Related posts:

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Smart vs. Effective

Nick — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:00:06 +0000

The passage below is an excerpt from Mike Garvey’s article in the Spring 2009 UW Foster School of Business magazine. I thought it was a great story to keep in mind the next time someone calls you “smart.”

When an academic or lawyer calls someone “smart,” it is meant as a compliment. It usually means that the person is good at developing abstractions from a complicated mass of data, is articulate, is able to reason persuasively and often is quick with numbers.

However, when a businessman calls someone “smart,” it is not necessarily a compliment. While he means the same thing, the term “smart” misses what is important to the businessman: effectiveness. If good things don’t happen over which the person is responsible, it doesn’t matter how smart the person is; he is ineffective. I have often heard a businessman describe a manager who he has fired as “really smart.” So don’t try to be smart; try and be effective.

And obviously he’s not suggesting we be stupid either, but just that “smart-ness” alone doesn’t deliver results. And results are what matters, whether you’re trying to save the world, build a business, or both.

It also reminds me of a conversion I had with Chris a long time ago discussing someone with good grades. I, perhaps mistakenly, said the student was “smart.” Chris sought clarification: “Is she smart, or does she work hard?” Not that someone can’t be both smart and hard-working, but his argument was that in terms of getting good grades (effective results) in high school, either one of the two characteristics would suffice.

Time to go be effective.

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South Cove Run

Nick — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:00:07 +0000

On Sunday I had to do a 5 mile run as part of my Half-Marathon training plan, so I asked Dad for a recommended route.

What I got back was great. The instructions included all these reference points like the “blackberry” park –where we used to go and pick blackberries, and friends’ houses who hopefully have all moved out by now. I don’t even know how many of their parents still live there. The neighborhood was pretty static for a long time, but 20 years is quite a while to be in the same house.

Also gone are all the familiar cars. Short of seeing our former neighbors out working in their yards, the cars would have been my only clue as to who still lives there. And to the folks that moved into our old house: It looks like hell! What did you do to the place?

In some ways it would be nice for the place you grew up to always stay the same, but on the other hand it’s probably best to let a new generation have their fun with it and make it their own, just like we did.

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Home for the Weekend

Nick — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:00:02 +0000

Heading home today for Memorial Day weekend in Seattle and deucejing’s wedding. Unfortunately, Mochi won’t be making the trip and Dad is in Brazil so it won’t quite be a full family reunion. But it’s always good to go home and I’m looking forward to it.

Mochi on his way to Club K-9. Never quite grew into that tongue.

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Training Wheels

Nick — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 19:46:42 +0000

This weekend was our first adventure into overnight babysitting. The victims were our neighbors, Isabel and Zoe, ages 4 and 2. They’re really good kids but we were pretty much worn out by the end. Kudos to mom and dad for doing it every other day of the year.

We shut down the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum, had a fun-filled dinner at Red Robin, got frozen yogurt at First Treat in Livermore, watched the first half of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang twice, colored, played Wii, and dyed Easter eggs. And after Auntie Bryn bribed Zoe with strawberries, she went potty in the toilet, which was a big deal. Turned out her method was far more effective than my, “now this is your last diaper so you’re going to want to keep it clean,” pep talk.

I think in the end we learned we could be pretty ok parents when the time comes. But that it would also be pretty ok if that time didn’t come for awhile.

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After 10 Years…

Nick — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:43:34 +0000

Bryn and I are engaged! No immediate plans for a wedding, but at least she’s got a shiny ring.

This is a fun timeline. Watch as she just gets prettier and prettier, while I just lose more hair. Good thing I’ve got her locked in now!

1999 – Hanging out back in the day

2000 – College visits, with a side-trip to Disneyland

2001 – The prom, graduation, co-valedictorians, Hawaii, starting UW.

2002 – Go Huskies, College Works Painting ruined my life (in a good way).

2003 – We lived 3 floors apart in Terry hall

2004 – Europe trip, Bryn interning in CA. Shoe biz in infancy.

2005 – Florida trip, UW graduation, I went to Costa Rica, then moved to DC for Ford. Bryn went to Nor-Cal for work, then back to Seattle for her Master’s program. In December I got transferred to Atlanta.

2006 – Long distance relationship all year. Lots of flying: many Seattle trips, plus Vegas and DC. Other people are starting to get married. Shoes ‘R Us went live.

2007 – Got transferred to Nor-Cal, finally removing the “long-distance” from our relationship. Bought a townhouse with incredibly poor market-timing, went to Puerto Vallarta to celebrate. Bryn brought home a little bundle of joy called Mochi.

2008 – Big year… skiing in Utah, Vegas and Detroit again with Ford, “retired” at 25, got shut down by Google the next day, fought back in time for the holidays, went to Peru with Chris, and Dad joined us in Chile for some August skiing in the Andes. Went to the Netherlands in November to visit Charlie. Weekend trips to Tahoe, Monterey, Sonoma, and Southern Cal along the way. Then drove 19 hrs up hwy 101 to get home for Christmas.

2009 – New Year’s Resolutions to floss and to shave my head. So far I’ve kept both. Vegas, Tahoe, and Phoenix, with lots more travel planned. And I managed to keep a secret for once and surprise the girl in Cabo for our 10 year anniverary.

Looking forward to many more years of memories together. Who knows, maybe in another 10 we’ll really tie the knot. I obviously have committment issues.

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I Finally Did It

Nick — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 03:43:46 +0000

Nobody likes going bald, and I think I’ve been losing my hair since I was 18. Too much gel, too many bleach-jobs, and too much time spent in baseball hats are my best guesses at the cause. That, and there’s always genetics, which is hit-or-miss in my family when it comes to hair. Either way, I’ve been wanting to cut it off for years but could never bring myself to do it. So I made a New Year’s resolution and did it while Bryn was at work that first day back from vacation. She was not too happy at first but I think it’s growing on her.

I’ve joined my cousin, who sells sustainable office supplies, and these other famous bald folks:

Maybe it will come back someday. The weirdest thing is how cold it is. Apparently what they say about you losing all your heat through your head is true. I’ve been rocking the beanie a lot lately.

I was surprised when I went to the store and couldn’t even find shaving cream anymore; only fancy shaving gels. I’ve been using an electric razor for probably the last 10 years to shave my face, so I had no idea we’d made that transition.

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Tahoe Ski Weekend

Nick — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:16:57 +0000

“Double Black Diamond” Bryn and I headed for the hills this weekend for three days of skiing at South Lake Tahoe with the fam. It was our first family vacation (where mom got to come– us boys have been on lots of ski trips — Montana, Utah, Chile) in 8 years.

The weather was beautiful the whole time, and we hit up Sierra-at-Tahoe, Kirkwood, and Heavenly. They could still use a little more snow on some sections, so we mostly stayed on the groomed and did lots of cruisers. Except for when Chris led us down a narrow double diamond chute, where Bryn was a champ and earned her new nickname. I was proud.

Then we got home and she made this video like in 10 seconds. Crazy Mac kids.

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This is Chris

Nick — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 00:07:40 +0000

This is my brother Chris. We can communicate in a strange dialect of Spanglish and Simpsons quotes that no one else understands.

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