3 years, three lessons
- When you can’t help, stop trying (I struggle with this everyday.)
- Live your life. (It’s just that simple.)
- If it hurts, stop it.
Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
Episodes
In the words of a dear friend, ‘no one is the bad guy in the story of their own life.’ In the words of Santa Fe resident, George R. R. Martin, ‘no one is the villain in their own story.’ Aristotle said, ‘because of pleasure we do bad things and for fear of pain we avoid noble ones.’
Adventures in Landlording #547 Part 2
Weelllll, looks like the second spraying will happen Monday…
Death to the Tussocks!! We shall prevail!
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;…. In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man. As modest stillness and humility.”
(WS H5 A3S1)
Fuc*&ng Caterpillars – Adventures in Landlording #547
Fucking caterpillars. Silicon Valley has been invaded by a nasty and destructive moth, borne from the pupa of an exotic caterpillar. To be exact, the Western Tussock Moth: https://web.stanford.edu/~siegelr/insects/tussock.html
Previous tenants failed to alert me to the first and second infestations, but last year I hired a local company to trim the tree and spray this year. They are making a fortune spraying and it takes weeks to get on their schedule. (FF) Finally the tree has been sprayed; phew. Hopefully the tree will survive and I won’t have to spend 10K to have the tree removed…
Elizabeth Houck
Someone wrote this introduction for a talk I was giving. It should have started with the last bit. “She travel hacks her way around the world when she’s not unceremoniously telling start-ups why they will fail to scale.”
Elizabeth Houck is an innovative senior marketing professional in hardware and software Project Management, skunkworks R & D, go-to-market wizardry. Before entering technology in 1995, Ms. Houck worked in television and film with CBS, NBC, Warner Bros., Castle Rock, Viacom, Paramount, and Harpo Productions. Aging parents returned her to Silicon Valley where she worked on content streaming and cloud computing with Philips and Sun Microsystems. Ms. Houck is Principal of Blue Egg Partners and provides consulting services in cross-functional team leadership, process evolution and management, enabling her clients to bring new products and services to market on plan. Ms. Houck holds a BCS, College of Santa Fe, Santa Fe, New Mexico, UC Berkeley’s, Haas School of Business – Product Management Certification, member of the Project Management Institute and speaker on process management and travel hacking.
5 Keys to scaling your start-up.
You are in the customer service business – yes, yes you are.
You are successful if your employees and customers are successful.
You know your goals.
You innovate.
You reward success.
A tale of two Wine and Roses…
Expedia, oh, Expedia, how can you give me wine and roses and not give me wine and roses…
You know, if it weren’t about the money it would be a funny story…
On my travels, I booked via my iphone on Expedia.com place in Lodi called wine and roses. This was after searching google for it. Unfortunately after clicking on the correct wine and roses expedia link I booked the wrong wine and roses property. I ended up in with a booking at w/r in Australia! A fact not lost on the desk staff in lodi (where I had booked a non-refundable massage and dinner.) Who said, if you have enough money to buy your way out of a problem, you don’t have a problem? On this day of wine and roses it was me; albeit an expensive lesson!
Jet Lag Journal LHR – ABQ
Home after 25 days and return travel of 25 hours.
Travel Day: Drive from Stratford Upon Avon to LHR (London Heathrow Airport) return rental car, catch shuttle, check in, go through security, hit a bit of duty free to get rid of the last 20 Pounds, hit two airport lounges, board, fly back to US, clear customs (Global Entry,) go through security again, hit the club lounge for 4 hours, board plane, fly to ABQ, shuttle bus to rental car, pick up rental car, drive 1 hour and 15 minutes home. Left at 7am UK time Arrived home around 1:15am plus 7 hours.
Day 1: Asleep at 2:30am up at 7:30 – 5 hours sleep – good but felt like a zombie by 5pm. Ran a few errands and only got into the wrong side of the car once, but also tried to drive on the left once… ooops.
Not really functional after 8pm; 11pm to sleep.
Day 2: Awake at 5:15am, 6:15 hours sleep, ;-). By 11am I have a headache and feel like a zombie. Only tried to get into the wrong side of the car once. But also tried to downshift and clutch my automatic Prius. Asleep at 9pm.
Day 3: Awake at 4am – most excellent. I think I’m about done with a mild case of jet lag, no sleeping aides.
Friends coming into town tomorrow!
Ooops: screwed up dates – twice – blame it on the lag…
Cuba – 2nd world country, 4th world life. Tips and tales from 7 days in Havana.
Time is the least thing we have of.
– Hemingway
My impressions of Havana Cuba January 2017
Arriving and exchange of money is pretty standard – they will x-ray your bags on arrival. TIPS: if there is a line currency exchange (and there will be a line,) in Terminal 1, go upstairs, a fraction of the line and time spent! Also, make sure you know your Terminal – getting dropped off at Terminal 3 for your return flight will result in trying to wrestle-up a way to Terminal 1 at 6am that won’t eat into your Exit Tax* and your wait to Check-in* 😉
I hitched a ride from the airport to my first of 3 Airbnbs, with two American teacher gals, who arranged to meet later in the week.
My first Havana Airbnb was up 60 steps on the 3rd floor of an ancient, slightly decrepit building, near Avenue 23 – a main road into the old town. The ‘hostess’ was a gal in her 20’s, who was not there or helpful, but her 87 year old grandmother was so loving and sweet, kissing me and hugging me every time we met with a gleeful exuberance and a swiftly flowing river of Spanish, where only a few familiar words surfaced. My second up 75 stairs, no kidding, but a lovely view and rooftop patio!
General hint: All beds in Havana are hard and slightly lumpy and all your hosts will tell you they are new, and by new, they mean within the last few years. Some will have a plastic mattress cover, all will have painfully thin sheets, but apparently newer than new (think mattress new) and a Janka Hardness scale rivaling Macassar Ebony.
*Exit Tax: Save 25 CUC to pay upon departure, OR confirm your Exit Tax is included in your ticket – mine was, but saved extra money Just In Case.
*Check-in: You will have to check-in, you will have to wait in line, there is no ‘elite’ line, you will not be able to change your ticket in a way that will involve money (upgrade, early boarding.)
Rooster on Plaza Vieja
