But this trip has me as excited about the trip as it has me worried about missing my pup. I’ll be gone for many many days in a trip to Bali for some Scuba Wedding Celebration for an old College Housemate, then off to Bangkok to connect for a trek across Bhutan, then back to Bangkok and a final return to visit Ubud Bali before returning to the grand old U. S. of A. Fortunately a good friend is going to house sit and keep my four footed friend company. It’s me who will be a mess.

But on to the good part, the trip itself. I don’t think I’ll be posting much of anything during the trek but I did get a “Find Me Spot” GPS to share the trip with family and friends. The link to track the trip for those who are curious is here. I’ll be able to post more later. But then who knows, perhaps I’ll get a photo or two uploaded. The trip starts September 17th. Of course even the Find Me Spot folks don’t know how much coverage I’ll have in the areas I’ll be going to. Only one way to find out. The practice blips are from a hike on Shrine Pass and then dog walks in Commons Park.

Explore the world I say, and who knows how long Bhutan will stay the way it is.

I am having trouble avoiding interruption.

I first began not simply noticing this, but focusing on this over the past week. I realized that I was spending far too much of my day checking email or performing some other technology tool task. While out walking my dog, I am checking email. When I first wake up I check email. While writing or working I am checking email. I find it is more than a bit distracting. Maybe it is the nature of my career over the many years where things were always moving so quickly. Or, as those of you who have been reading this blog for some time remember me posting, it is because my iphone or whatever technology toy it might be makes it so easy. At that time it was me singing praises to my iphone for all it allowed me to do and how easily it allowed me to do it.  Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.  Now my habit of welcoming interruption is becoming too much.  And it is something I want to change. A lifestyle that promotes focus without interruption can be a very good thing.

My first steps took place this past winter with the revolutionary idea of not taking my cell phone. For a few peaceful hours I didn’t keep checking my messages or answering my phone. Meanwhile this was the typical discussion I heard around me…

PHONE: “Ring Ring” (actually it was probably some song but this is easier)

PERSON ON SKI LIFT WRESTLES WITH THEIR GLOVES, THEN THEIR COAT POCKET, TRYING TO REACH THEIR PHONE

PHONE: “Ring Ring”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT: “Hello…. Hey dude…. Yeah I am skiing in Vail… I am just riding the lift up…. Yes its great up here today”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT’S FINGERS ARE STARTING TO FROSTBITE AS THEY TALK

PERSON ON SKI LIFT: “I am not sure what we are doing this weekend, lets totally grab a beer on Saturday… No I didn’t hear if Sue was going…. really….. she was looking good on Tuesday man…. Okay….. Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha….. um yeah I love that show…. Okay later”

PERSON ON SKI LIFT PUTS PHONE AWAY WITH CRAMPED, FROZEN HANDS AND THEN GOES BACK TO LOOKING AT THE PRETTY SNOW

Of course this is the simpler version. The funniest is the person in the act of skiing who stops to take the call. Not only does this throw off their rhythm but it totally stops whatever Zen moment with nature they might have been having. I respect this works for some. It is just not the choice for me.

So now I am trying to bring this philosophy off the slopes.

The New York Times had an article this past week “Lost in Email, Tech Firms Face Self Made Beast” discussing the new trend for technology companies to be building tools to combat the “beast” of their own creation. I thought this was an especially interesting quote…

“A typical information worker who sits at a computer all day turns to his e-mail program more than 50 times and uses instant messaging 77 times, according to one measure by RescueTime, a company that analyzes computer habits. The company, which draws its data from 40,000 people who have tracking software on their computers, found that on average the worker also stops at 40 Web sites over the course of the day.

The fractured attention comes at a cost. In the United States, more than $650 billion a year in productivity is lost because of unnecessary interruptions, predominately mundane matters, according to Basex. The firm says that a big chunk of that cost comes from the time it takes people to recover from an interruption and get back to work.”

Now I am not sure how this translates to me personally, but I believe my habits ensure some greater level of productivity loss in what is most important to me. And I certainly don’t want to miss any of the company or scenery around me during something as simple and nice as an early morning dog walk.

Yet most people I know or observe are busy scrawling on their electronic devices while out at dinner with friends, enjoying happy hour with their team, or simply in a public and social setting. I can’t complain, I do it too. Now I am trying to stop, slow down, smell the roses along the way and save my email catchup for a specific time and place. So here are a few tricks I am trying to break my interruption habit:

1. First, I turned off my email accounts (yep, not just one) on my iphone. I can always turn them back on when I go out of town but do I really need updated email every fifteen minutes, twenty-four hours a day, three hundred sixty five days of the year. This is probably the single biggest change.
2. Next is to break the habit of constantly checking my phone. I am periodically leaving my iphone (this is going to sound like blasphemy to some) hidden away charging versus having it on me or right next to me. I want to focus on the task at hand without interruption, or temptation of interruption. Barring an expected call I need to wait for there is no reason to not create some “quiet time”. That goes equally for a non phone zone while joining friends for dinner, or taking my dog for a walk, or many other brief tasks. I know that there is the risk of an emergency. Fortunately, everyone around me will have a phone I can borrow. And this doesn’t have to be a long term strategy, just long enough to break the habit of constantly checking my device. But I think being out of touch for a couple hours at a time will still allow the world to keep turning. I can barely remember, but I am pretty sure I lived without a cell phone at one time.
3. I am turning off that little flag that tells me every time I have a new email on my computer/laptop. The darn thing goes off every 30 seconds it seems, and they are never critical. But of course…. it might be really important so I have to stop what I am doing to check it. Enough!

Do you have any other suggestions for how you prevent interruptions? Or do you have a pro argument for the virtues of an interruption rich life. That has been my habit for quite some time.

What about your habits? Here is a poll to ask that question and see how the populations checks in on this one. Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

By the way, in the few minutes it took to write this my email box is showing a red alert flag that I have three new messages. I better hurry and check them!

It’s almost June and we have barely started the polls for 2008 so expect a series of them over the them to start now.

The first neighborhood pool is to talk about what neighborhood is the most dog friendly. If your dog got a vote on where you live, as mine does, what neighborhood would be picked. Think about access to parks, nice paths for strolling on, and of course playtime with others.

I’m not sure what the reason was, but this weekend a helicopter did some very low and very slow circles over Riverfront Park and Commons Park. They would cruise right by Glass House, sit for a bit, drop over Commons Park, sit for a bit, and then loop around Riverfront Tower.

Again, and again, and again.

Okay… Top 10 reasons the copter was hanging around Riverfront Park

10: Hillary or Obama picking out a picnic site during the convention
9: The mayors increased dog leash enforcement poll
8: The city doing an analysis of rezoning Commons’ park for a Wal Mart
7: Someone getting some “lovin” in Glass House and the pilot kept looping to check it out.
6: Homeland Security practice drills
5: 9 News heard that naked protesters had taken over the park
4: Naked protesters planning their DNC takeover of the park
3: Obama rented out the penthouse in Glass House and his taxi heli was looping for a pickup
2: City is late on Common’s Park mortgage and bank is planning foreclosure
1: ? Let’s hear your ideas

BCS BOWL GAMES

National Championship (January 7, 2008)- Ohio State Buckeyes vs. LSU Tigers, FOX 8PM EST

Orange Bowl (January 3, 2008) – Virginia Tech Hookies vs. Kansas Jayhawks, FOX 8PM EST

Fiesta Bowl (January 2, 2008) – Oklahoma Sooners vs. West Virginia Mountaineers, FOX 8PM EST

Rose Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Southern California Trojans vs. Illinois Fighting Illini, ABC 4:30PM EST

Sugar Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Georgia Bulldogs vs. Hawaii Warriors, FOX 8:30PM EST
Poinsettia Bowl (December 20, 2007) – Utah vs. Navy, ESPN 9PM EST

New Orleans Bowl (December 21, 2007) – Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis, ESPN2 8PM EST

Las Vegas Bowl (December 22, 2007) – UCLA vs. BYU, ESPN 8PM EST

New Mexico Bowl (December 22, 2007) – New Mexico vs. Nevada, ESPN 4:30PM EST

PapaJohns.com Bowl (December 22, 2007) – Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss, ESPN2 1:00PM EST

Hawaii Bowl (December 23, 2007) – Boise State vs. East Carolina, ESPN 8PM EST

Motor City Bowl (December 26, 2007) – Central Michigan vs. Purdue, ESPN 7:30PM EST

Holiday Bowl (December 27, 2007) – Arizona State vs. Texas, ESPN 8PM EST

Emerald Bowl (December 28, 2007) – Maryland vs. Oregon State, ESPN 8:30PM EST

Champs Sports Bowl (December 28, 2007) – Boston College vs. Michigan State, ESPN 5PM EST

Texas Bowl (December 28, 2007) – Texas Christian vs. Houston, NFL NET 8PM EST

Alamo Bowl (December 29, 2007) – Penn State vs. Texas A&M, ESPN 8PM EST

Liberty Bowl (December 29, 2007) – Central Florida vs. Mississippi State, ESPN 4:30PM EST

Meineke Car Bowl (December 29, 2007) – Wake Forest vs. Connecticut, ESPN 1PM EST

Independence Bowl (December 30, 2007) – Colorado vs. Alabama, ESPN 8PM EST

Insight Bowl (December 31, 2007) – Oklahoma State vs. Indiana, NFL NET 5:30PM EST

Chick-Fil-A Bowl (December 31, 2007) – Auburn vs. Clemson, ESPN 7:30PM EST

Music City Bowl (December 31, 2007) – Kentucky vs. Florida State, ESPN 4PM EST

Humanitarian Bowl (December 31, 2007) – Fresno State vs. Georgia Tech, ESPN2 2PM EST

Sun Bowl (December 31, 2007) – Oregon vs. South Florida, CBS 2PM EST

Armed Forces Bowl (December 31, 2007) – California vs. Air Force, ESPN 12:30PM EST

Capital One Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Michigan vs. Florida, ABC 1PM EST

Gator Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Virginia vs. Texas Tech, CBS 12PM EST

Cotton Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Arkansas vs. Missouri, FOX 11:30AM EST

Outback Bowl (January 1, 2008) – Wisconsin vs. Tennessee, ESPN 11AM EST

International Bowl (January 5, 2008) – Rutgers vs. Ball State, ESPN2 12:30PM EST

GMAC Bowl (January 6, 2008) – Bowling Green vs. Tulsa, ESPN 8PM EST

Just thought a nice wrap up to this weekend would be to highlight some of this cities beauty. Now back to the work week… dang!!

That’s right, the City of Denver is going to allow dogs on cafes. The rules are simple, self serve only. That means that a coffee shop where you grab your coffee and go is fair game for our lovable pups but if a waiter comes out to greet you forget.

One small step for man, one huge leap for puppy kind.

Read the notice below

I was told I can walk away from my computer screen, go grab a shower, and relax for at least the rest of the evening. No more ticket sales this afternoon, or this evening. At the earliest it will be tomorrow. I still recommend you wait until 5 PM to hear the official release but that is the unofficial official scoop.

As you can tell, I am pretty excited about the opportunity to go to see the Rockies play in the World Series.

I was an early believer. Before everyone fully started a feeding frenzy I got online and bought tickets through every game I could. Maybe it was hope, maybe it was rooting for the local underdog team no one thought would make it. Maybe I am just sentimental. Or maybe I just loved going to the rare Rockies games I could catch, sitting in the sun and enjoying the game, and the thought of that same team having a shot at the series got me pumped up.

I was also a late believer. Other fans have been buying season tickets year after year, season after season. They were going to games when Coors Field would almost be empty. These folks are not fair weather. They are true to the team and have been for years.

I mention this because something about this online ticket sales process bothers me. 8.5 million hits is alot. My chances of getting any seats is terrible. And there are folks out there who are only buying them to scalp them. I still have hope of course. But part of me was hoping they would have opened the windows at the stadium and started selling to the fans who mobbed Coors Field. These are probably the same folks that have been going year after year and are the real fans.

And what about the folks who bought in for the Division and National Series or who bought regular season tickets. Maybe they aren’t full season holders, but they were fans before the Series became a reality. Wouldn’t it be nice to reach into that database and somehow give all those folks a first shot before it gets opened up to the world. Granted, I am one of those people, so I am biased.

But I would like to think that the earlier you started believing in the Rockies the better your odds of getting a ticket were. Maybe that is where Karma plays in and it will all work out. Whether I am watching them in the stands or on TV I’ll still be rooting them on.

But my record for good Karma while sitting in the stands is good with me The games I went to… all wins. The game I missed, the one loss. In fact here is a quick summary of my past week. To start off the week I was at the final game in the Sweep by the Rockies. WOW!!!! What an amazing experience. I don’t know what more I can say about how amazing it was to be there.

Out r in pre game bloody mary: $6
Streeside vendor gyro with the works: $7
OSU team jersey: $70
Celebrating a Buckeye homecoming victory in the stadium for my first time in over 10 years: priceless

Then it was off to Columbus, Ohio for my first Homecoming game in over 10 years. Heck, it’s my first Ohio State game in over 10 years but the fact that it was Homecoming made it even more special. I even almost got teary eyed with the traditional script Ohio and songs. There is something special about going to your alumni games years after. I got a chance to laugh with old friends, visit old favorite spots, and travel back in time for a day. Plus we beat Michigan State (24-17) which is always a plus, although the 3rd quarter almost gave me an ulcer.

And then as a final wrap up I flew out of Columbus yesterday morning and headed to Denver to watch the Broncos play the Steelers. I felt a little remorse about picking on the Steelers too bad (great game) because I hod gotten my Ohio State ticket from an old friend of mine who is a die hard Steelers fan.

That makes it a pretty special sports week for me. I’d like to carry that momentum on for the Rockies World Series. I’ll keep my fingers crossed and wherever I am you will hear me cheer.

Wow, this was one incredible Fourth of July and there was no more exciting place to be than the Glass House.

But lets just document the day in order

Starting the morning of the fourth a slow growth of individual party camps began popping up across the green grass of commons park. With mini grills set up and the smell of bar-b-q in the air Commons Park become center stage for running dogs, frisbee tosses, and volleyball.

One group, which was doing it right, got there among the very first and set up their own tent on the top of the mound commanding the highest views in the Park.

On my quick dog walk through the park I saw so many happy faces, and even more happy dogs, enjoying and getting prepared for the great evening ahead.

As the sun set we headed over to Glass House to join in what had to be the biggest party of the year. The lobby was pulsing with excitement as people flowed in and out of both towers. Caterers arrived with food in hand. Residents and guests arrived carrying, pulling, toting and dragging everything from fine wine to PBR, fried chicken and burgers to cheese trays. This place was hot. There were even folks in the lobby holding signs to assist people in finding their party. And no one I met was planning on attending just one.

Our first stop was the pool deck with our first party in one of the spectacular terrace units. These folks have it made with their own outdoor party space plus spill out to the pool level. I talked to a few of the folks I new who were staking out the pool and found out that many had been out here since the early am hours. They had come in groups and laid claim to their own individual kingdoms, taking turns patrolling their zones and chilling out with drinks while others in the group migrated throughout the building visiting other parties or taking on supply responsibilities to refill the coolers. But all was still cool and relaxed, with everyone respecting the building and each other. So far so good.

Before dusk we headed up to a bit more quiet spot overlooking the city and the pool deck. It was a cool night, just a few sprinkles of rain, and great views out to the city and Coors Field. As the night went on we got perhaps the most unexpected of all treats. From Glass House the other fireworks across the city and in the burbs were visible. From every directions we got a periodic treat of fire and color.

And then of course we got our grand show right in front of us with Denver’s awesome fireworks show. Here are a couple of some of my favorite shots from the night.

To improve our wonderful show mother nature joined in and gave us some wonderful heat lighting across the sky. With flashes of white brilliance in the sky the lightning created the most powerful show of all. The haze and smoke from our man made fireworks only allowed mother nature to create even more of a glow with every burst. I tried to capture a few shots of this as well and got a bit lucky, but as you know lightning is impossible to predict.

And of course, I had to geek out on the great glow that the fireworks and everything did against the panes of glass and with the night photos. Here are a few of those favorites.

And then, of course, a few folks start to take things even farther. These folks jumped in the pool still with their clothes on. Guess when you forget your suit you just have to make do.

.But of course the end of the fireworks gets crazier than the show itself. Lines of traffic stretched across town and the massive exodus of everyone leaving the show clogged not only elevators but streets and sidewalks. Off for more partying, the happy residents and visitors of downtown took off for their next event.

Myself, I just chilled out scanned back through the shots and thought what a wonderful visual the city and this night was. Hope you all enjoyed your fourth as well. Lets hope the rest of the events over the night shared the same respect and civility I saw at the beginning of the night. But I have heard that there were some folks, there always are, who may have gotten a bit out of hand.

The ability to have such a wonderful night, to celebrate with friends and neighbors so openly, and to be able to relax through it all with a smile and a laugh we need to be able to trust each other. I heard that a very few (and you know who you are) might have forgotten your manners. Don’t. This city rocks. The people are awesome. And we all want to have as much fun (or more) next year too in this wonderful community we live in.

With that I wish you all a happy belated independence day. Let’s celebrate everyones right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Later!

In yesterday’s Denver Post there was the saddest article about a sweet pooch that might have to be put down due to the suffering they are experiencing from the recent Dog and Cat Food poisoning accident.

This is terrible. I can’t imagine, can’t even conceive, of how awful this must be. If you have a loved family member of the canine or feline persuasion and haven’t heard about this visit this link. Tainted pet food products are being recalled and have claimed lives already. This isn’t brand new and most of you know, but on the off chance that someone out there hasn’t heard I wanted to spread the word.