Introducing the Pebble Time:
I simply LOVE THIS WATCH and want one in the worst way…
The problem? I’m too cheap to pay more than the lowest price…
Solution? I’m asking anyone that wants to get the Pebble Time when it gets released for $169 instead of $179 (for one watch if there are any left at that price) to let me know in the comments.
(It would be nice to get one from Pebble themselves for review, but I’m not nearly important enough to have that happen…)
I’m president of a local homebrew (beer) club, and we are looking for 4-6 bottles of Samuel Smith’s Taddy Porter direct from its homeland… If anyone could bring some over, we could trade for 4-6 bottles (or a growler) of fine craft beer from Michigan (home of Bell’s and Founders Breweries among others).
In fact, if you have any porters (or other ‘great but hard to get in the US’ beers) you would be interested in parting with or trading, let me know! Thanks!
After the evening, night and morning that I had, I was surprised by a text message by my brother, Devin Olson:
Congratulations Champ!
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/blogs/ibmchampion/entry/announcing_the_2015_class_of_ibm_champions_for_ics?lang=en
Needless to say (but saying anyway), I am SO HUMBLED and HONORED to have been selected as a 2015 IBM Champion for ICS! Last year was a complete whirlwind of energy, excitement, and knowledge sharing. I thought that I would be ‘one and done’, and I was okay with that! With this honor, I will not only continue to ‘learn and share’, ‘collaborate and teach’ and ‘exchange knowledge and ideas’ to the community at large.
One way I’m hoping to do this is by bringing back and enhancing a user group here in Michigan! There have been a couple of them over the years, including my ‘home’ UG, Detroit Notes Professionals, but they have really been in need of some attention. In 2015, they will get that attention… at least from me!
Congratulations also go out to my friends and fellow IBM Champions, and welcome to the new IBM Champions selected for 2015!!! See you all at IBM ConnectED 2015! (The rest of you are coming, right? If not, you should… register HERE!)
Thank you to Amanda Bauman (IBM Champion Program Manager) and Oliver Heinz (ICS Community Manager) for all of their hard work in 2014. Let the fun (and hard work) continue in 2015!
I need to raise ‘bail’, and I NEED YOUR HELP! Please click on the link below and help me!
http://www2.mda.org/site/TR/Lock-Up/11-578-DetroitAreaDistrict?px=2456084&pg=personal&fr_id=13329
Like many of my IT brethren that are going out and following their individual passions (also known as ‘things that keep them happy and sane’), I am also following their lead and getting more into the hobby of making my own beer, wine and spirits (also known as zymurgy). I wanted to keep track of the things I see, do and taste, so of course, I’m going to blog it.
Because I didn’t want to change this blog, or add content that might not be technologically related, I created a new blog, so I proudly introduce to you…
You Drink Some, You Brew Some – http://www.drinksomebrewsome.com
As I stated on my first blog post,
My goal for this blog is to take my passion and share it with the world. I want to do product reviews, book reviews, recipes, stories, beer tastings and anything else I can do, but only about beer.
Of course, as I get more into wine and spirits, I’ll add to that as well.
Why am I doing this now? Tomorrow I leave for Grand Rapids to attend the National Homebrewers Conference. I’m hoping to learn a lot, see a lot, drink a bit, and most importantly, share it all with you (on my new blog).
Who knows where this may lead me, but so far, I’m loving the journey…
Cheers!
I was at a loss yesterday when I heard about Tim from Scott Hooks. I’m still doing some soul searching, but since a lot of the ‘collaboration family’ is sharing their thoughts, I thought that I’d share mine.
As some of you know, I’m primarily an administrator, and I refer to myself only as a ‘closet developer’. I used to believe that when referring to administrators versus developers, it’s was ‘us vs. them’. That all changed the first time I met Tim.
I knew that Tim was a development rockstar, but had no idea how much of a nice person he was until I was just sitting one day with a few developer friends, and Tim walked into the room. All of a sudden, all eyes and ears were on him, and I too found myself moving closer and closer to listen in to some of the most eloquent code being discussed and some of the most far out ideas being discussed as though it was one line of code away from reality. (As it usually turned out, it was only one or two lines away from reality!) As I sat there, I found myself asking questions and Tim was usually the first one to answer me. When many of the ‘developer rockstars’ talk to me about what they’re doing, they talk over my head or talk down to me… Tim would talk over my head about his ideas, but then he would then explain what he just said in a way that I would understand AND he would never look down on me as ‘one of those admins’. It was Tim that helped me realize that we’re all in the same boat, but just rowing on each side of it.
From that initial day, we were friends. Whenever we caught up with each other, he would still talk way over my head, but I always seemed to hang on and keep up with what he was saying and doing. In some ways, he reminded me of my father, he was soft-spoken, but when he spoke, you listened, not because he forced you to listen, but that you wanted to listen. Every word he said was significant, whether it was about a piece of development code, current events, or anything in between.
Those of you that had the honor of knowing him better than I did should be thankful for those nuggets of time, because you are all better for knowing him. I know that I am….
Thank you, Tim, for speaking with me that first time… My life is better for knowing you and calling you friend.
HAPPY 2014 EVERYONE! This is the time of year when people come out with their annual resolutions, and in the past, I was one of them. This year, I’m thinking more realistic… I’m setting GOALS! Brian Brushwood (website, Twitter, Facebook, Google+) has helped me see the light! Because of his guidance, I’ve decided to set GOALS for 2014, so without further delay, here are my GOALS for 2014:
Exercise 4 times a week
Brew a batch of beer every 2 weeks
Lose 50 pounds by 31 December 2014
Have a ‘date night’ with Jennifer every two weeks
Have 1 family activity every month
Write down my angry feelings (including date/time) in Evernote AND LET IT GO!
Create a respectable bar, including the correct liquors and glasses
Plan a family trip to another state by 31 October 2014
Learn Domino application development and create an application
Set up my man cave
By placing them out in the open, I’m now held accountable, and I hope YOU will help me with this. Feel free to ping me, call me, text me, call me out… I promise to work hard on making these real and measurable.
Here is Brian Brushwood’s video that inspired me to write this post. Hopefully it will inspire you as well:
Have a Happy and Successful 2014!
You were a good car… and I hope that your new owner enjoys you as much as we did…
Via con Dios!
At my first Lotusphere, I was nervous, shy and unsure of what I was doing. I was reading blogs by other people, and knew of Bruce Elgort from his blog, and this incredible site called NotesOSS.org (now known as OpenNTF.org) that he and Nathan Freeman put together. Imagine… open source Notes applications and code, all ready to use. I knew that I needed to meet these guys and thank them for making my life easier.
As it turned out, when I introduced myself to Bruce, he immediately started introducing me to everyone else… all my Notes ‘heroes’, and immediately began to make me feel comfortable and welcomed. That’s the kind of guy Bruce Elgort is…
Flash forward to a dark time in my life when I thought that I would not only be denied funding for Lotusphere, but thought about leaving the Notes/Domino world completely. Along comes Bruce Elgort with a proposition for me… OpenNTF.org needed a booth babe, and I needed a ticket to Lotusphere, and before I knew it, I was one of the ugliest booth babes in the planet, spending my nights and weekends before the big event downloading the OpenNTF.org apps and trying them out so I could be a subject matter expert on their functionality. I was able to do this a couple of times for the organization, which kept my Notes/Domino batteries recharged until I was able to find a better job. That’s the kind of guy Bruce Elgort is…
I’ve made comments on Twitter, Facebook and my blog, and immediately received a ping from Bruce consoling me, congratulating me, advising me or just saying hello. That’s the kind of guy Bruce Elgort is…
I consider Bruce and Gayle Elgort two of the most important people in my life, whether they realize it or not. I’m not just talking in my technical world, but in my life overall! My wife knows this, so much so that she started following Gayle and Bruce in social media when I wasn’t keeping her up on how my trips to Florida were going. Bruce has a way of embracing us all and making us feel like family… including the good natured teasing! Only family could do that! That’s the kind of guy Bruce Elgort is…
Bruce, THANK YOU for OpenNTF, for IdeaJam, for everything you’ve done for the community, for your calls, for your emails, for your pings, for your love and zest for life and the good in all of us, and most of all, for your friendship! #ThanksBruce
…thanks to the new Google Maps app!