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Musings from California

Think I'll Build My Own Website... WHAT WAS I THINKING?

2008-03-31T20:21:00.000-07:00

OK. So I must have too much time on my hands or something. But I really don't. But I did it anyway. WHOA. Let me list a couple of reasons this made sense to me.

1. I'd like to have a website. How tough can it be?

2. OK. So I'll just make it myself. I can get a copy of Dreamweaver from my son -- Can't be THAT TOUGH of a program to learn.

3. I don't really want to get a web person to do it all for me cuz then I can't get in there and tweak and adjust as I want to. (I'd have to call him, explain what I want, have him maybe get it right and then send me a bill.)

REALITY CHECK...

Dreamweaver is a HUGE and VERY sophisticated program.

At the start:

I didn't know a single thing about web design.
I had not a clue about the difference between HTML and XHTML
I wouldn't have known a SPRYWIDGETMENU if it walked up and slapped me in the face.
I didn't know what an FTP Upload was.
I didn't know a thing about web browser compatability.
AND... I really didn't have any idea just what it took just to keep track of what page is going where and linking to what other pages. JEEEEEEEEEEEESH !

ok... I think I'm ok now.... Breathe deeply. Pant, blow, pant, blow (no wait, that was 30 years ago in Lamaze Class)

Well as of this writing, I just finished my 3rd web page. (well, it's really a little more than that cuz I uploaded a bunch of copies of one page optimized for certain cities and zip codes in my area.)(I don't think I even know what that means....) AND....with the use of the SPRYtabbedPANELSgroup tool in Dreamweaver, those 3 pages have a LOT OF CONTENT.

I'm just about out of gas from correcting the same page of links for the 8th time, 26 links on each page. Well maybe I'm exagerating, BUT NOT MUCH.

Really though, it's a very rewarding and challenging experience. I wouldn't wish it on anyone... :)

cheers...

Oh by the way, take a look if you'd like. I'd appreciate your ideas, comments or words of consolation.

It's a Good Life !

Email: Dennis@DennisVolz.com

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Musings from California

Oh my Aching Body and my Soaring Soul

2008-03-16T08:18:00.000-07:00

I'm 57 these days. Most days I feel like I'm about 35. I keep myself in as good shape as I can considering I love snacky foods, beer and ice cream. I get out walking for 45 min to an hour most days and finish off with a little free-weight session and rolling on one of those exercise balls for 20 min or so.

The last couple of days I helped my daughter and son-in-law (Wendy and Nathan) install some Pergo flooring in their condo -- the ENTIRE downstairs (except for the kitchen and bathroom)

I'm thinking, this will be a long couple of days, but what the heck. I love to hang out with them, love to help them, love the challenge of doing something new so it can't get better than this.

We started Friday morning about 9 moving out the furniture... ALL OF IT! Some to the garage, some to the lawn, some to the patio outside which doubled as the TABLE SAW area.

We finally got the floor cleared, ripped up the Berber carpeting, scraped the pad off, scraped of some left over linoleum, and pains-takingly removed all the tack strips that had been nailed into the concrete for the carpeting.

I'm 57 remember.... In pretty good shape.

Well then we started to plan the first row of flooring. VERY IMPORTANT because you can't come out with any strip less than 2 inches way on the other end of the project. Of course there are about 7 different lengths from the start wall to the differing points on the far side of the room. We work through 3-4 pieces of paper, several different kinds of measurements and calculations before we're reasonably sure that cutting 3 inches off the first row will keep us above the deadly 2 inches territory. Then, of course, being the meticulous workers we are, we do it all over again just to check our math and measurements once again. THEN....one more check just because....well, because we've NEVER done this before and don't really know what the hell we're doing. Nearly an hour into this, we're ready to make the first cut and lay the first plank.

Finally we start to rip the lengths of the flooring (8 of them) for the critical FIRST ROW. We decide on which side (the tongue side or the groove side) gets the 4-5/8 inches removed (each plank is 7-5/8 inches wide. (Why would they pick such a WEIRD measurement?????) Just after I finish cutting board #8 I hear, "STOP CUTTING!" I walk inside and there is Wendy, my daughter, reading the directions. I'm NOT having a good feeling about this right now. She says, "Dad...."
I say, "Yes...."
"I'm not sure we cut off the right side."
"How NOT SURE are you?"
"Well, not really sure at all."

Well, they had watched the video and I was sure they knew which side went against the wall and which didn't.

Turns out that we did cut these 8 boards backward (there's 8 boards in a box at $40 per box). We agonized over wasting $40 on their pastor (him) and part-time teacher (her) salaries. Well, cheaper than hiring someone who DOESN'T make mistakes we reasoned.

Laying the rest of the floor went smoothly. But all that up and down and kneeling and measuring and cutting and hammering the grooves together. By the end of the first day, we're about halfway along the floor and probably 2/3 done with the job. Remember we spent nearly an hour just figuring the first row. We're still hoping to use some of those MISTAKE BOARDS along the way or in the very last row.

I'm on my way home in my car and can hardly move. Hurting in places I didn't know I had. Too tired to even eat dinner I shower, sip a couple of Bud Lights and hit the hay. I'm not COMPLETELY sure I'll be able to get out of bed the next morning.

Saturday morning rolls around and I'm out of bed at 4. Just done sleeping, I guess. I decide that a nice long walk is what I need so I get my walkin' clothes on and head to the local lake. Forty-five minutes into my walk I'm thinking THIS was the perfect idea. I'm looser and feeling ready for another day. By 830 I'm walking to the door of their house ready to go.

The day goes smoothly with the rest of the job. Wendy and Nathan are the most wonderful couple to be around. They have given my wife and me our first grandson (Noah) about 9 months earlier. They are hard workers, kind to everyone around them, thankful for our presence there to help. My wife helped by watching Noah all day thus allowing Wendy to work right along with Nathan and me.

We ended up ONE BOARD SHORT.

There were 5 boards in the corner cut in half (remember those 8 from the beginning) that we couldn't use. We had to break into one box (they'll try to return it today for some kind of credit) and finally the job was done. I'll help Wendy over the next week or 2 do the molding and door jams, etc. But this job really had nothing to do with the boards and the floor and the work and MY ACHING BODY.

I knew going into the event that it was going to be all about about spending time with this wonderful family.

We raised Wendy. Spent 24 some years of her daily life with her until we passed her hand to Nathan. We've come to know and love Nathan as our own son. And then Noah came along. We are sometimes overwhelmed by the pride and love and empathy and compassion and shared-joy we feel when we're around them. We lead and help them in many ways. Nathan needs help with housey stuff. Sometimes they need a little financial help. Wendy needs some help and guidance occasionally with Noah. But they teach us so much too. They are so kind and patient and loving to Noah. They are always kind and thoughtful to each other. My wife and are like that most of the time but I don't think we were this mature when we had Wendy (our first).

It's just a wonderful story playing out before our eyes and we relish every minute of it.

Yes, I'm still SORE ALL OVER as I write this to you. My hands hurt, I cringe a little every time I get up and down from the chair I'm sitting in, my back just hurts all over and the back of my knees hurt from the binding that held the knee pads I was foresightful enough to wear (less the FRONT of my knees feel like hamburger today.)

I am also feeling some kind of high from the experience of engaging, struggling, and enjoying that 'completion' feeling with this family -- this small piece of me that will live on long after I'm gone. I love that vision and the sense of the possibility that my wife and I may have made a small investment in the future of the world and made it a better place because of Wendy, Nathan and Noah.

THESE are the good old days.....

It's a Good Life !

Email: Dennis@DennisVolz.com

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My First Concert

2008-03-04T05:43:00.000-08:00

I grew up in Los Angeles. Very cool. Hip. It was all happening there: The Oscars, Graumans Chinese Theatre, Hollywood Blvd with the WALK OF FAME. It was all there.

Had occasion so see lots of very hip, cool and in groups (this hip and cool theme is leading somewhere....I promise)

Managed to get to see Neil Diamond, The Turtles, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, Joe Cocker w/ Mad Dogs and Englishmen, and John Denver (a most magical night by the way @ The Universal Amphitheater).

But none of these were my FIRST CONCERT.

My first concert experience was Liberace. OK... I'll say it again. My first concert experience was Mr Sequin and Candelabra himself: Liberace. This was probably 1963. I was 12 or 13. Went with my mom and some of her friends. I think my dad was home working on the car or watching a football game or some other manly endeavor of the 60's

Now, please don't misunderstand me. I liked music. I LOVED music at that point in my life. My parents had a respectable collection of LP's (The Mills Brothers, Dean Martin, Bobby Darrin, lots of musicals like Sound of Music, Student Prince, etc.) and I could sing along with most of them. I was just building my collection: The Beatles, Chad & Jeremy, CCR, etc.

The concert was at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. This is a MAGNIFICENT theatre. Complete with GINORMOUS Chandeliers, velvet curtains, private boxes that line the sides of the theatre and at least 16 levels of seats rising up from the stage to the cieling. Yep, I sat way at the top.

Of all the concerts I've seen since this first one, I can honestly say, I've NEVER enjoyed a concert more.

Liberace was a phenomenal showman. By the end of the concert all 93 million of us sitting in that grand and cavernous theater felt like we were just hangin' around in his living room.

For all his eccentricities and his dozens of costume changes, Liberace was, on stage at least, a very kind and gracious performer who loved his music as much as his audience. Always smiling and laughing WITH us as he offered up classical, popular, oldies and contemporary pieces that were familiar to us all.

I remember (imagine I REMEMBER after some 45 years) he broke into LET ME CALL YOU SWEETHEART complete with glissandos, crescendos, and grace notes while a smattering of the crowd began to sing along. While he continued with the song he said with his classic LIBERACE SMILE, "Of course, you all can sing this one." And we did.

I'll never forget that near the end of his concert while he was playing some BEAUTIFUL something with his hands dancing and running up and down the keyboard he said,

"You know, ladies and gentlemen, you have been such a WONDERFUL audience, I don't know when I've EVER had this much fun! I've had so much fun in fact.... I'm almost embarrassed to take the money...." then with a big smile and a sparkle in his eye he said... "but I will."

Not one of us questioned that he deserved every penny. None of us had ever had more fun either.

It's a Good Life !

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All I Really Need to Know I Learned From The Bible

2008-03-01T12:58:00.000-08:00

Life can get complicated. Very complicated.

The overload of information available to us is staggering. I simply typed wisdom into my search engine for the World Wide Web. There are 108,000,000 sites where I can go to learn more about wisdom.

I used to think an encyclopedia was overwhelming. Thought it was the standard of what any educated person needed to know. Mine has twenty-one volumes and an index. It all fits on one shelf.

I once read about a man who read the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica. A to Z. It was his hobby. I thought now here’s a worthy endeavor. I’ll read through the series. No rush. Might take me several years, but think of what a hit I’d be at pot lucks!

“Gee, I don’t know, but let’s go ask Dennis. You know, he’s read the whole encyclopedia.”

I got through about a third of the A’s. As my middle child says when confronted of the idea of learning for fun. “Too much information.” It was interesting, certainly that was true. But just how much does a person really need to know? Let me tell you. Not that much!

Information can come from a variety of sources. Text books contain a lot of information. The World Wide Web holds all of the information. There are sources that have more wisdom than information. The great writings of Walt Whitman, Saint Francis of Assisi, Socrates, and Peanuts are rich in wisdom.

The Bible has wisdom. Lots of it. It’s somewhat unique in it’s construction. Took over 1600 years to write it, over forty different authors, written in three different languages, over three continents, by people from every kind of occupation you could imagine. There were a couple of kings, a few slaves, a shepherd, a fishermen, a doctor, an IRS agent, and even a tent maker. Yet they all sing the same song. Amazing.

I’ve read most of it by now. Some parts of it over and over and over.

I’m saving Leviticus until they make it into a movie. Don’t laugh, they’ve done Exodus, Judges, John, Mark, Luke, parts of Acts. They even made musicals about Joseph and the Gospel of Matthew. Trust me, Leviticus is coming.

The Bible; aka The Good Book is simple, you know. Practical. Something you can use everyday of your life. It seems to be unaffected by changing fashion, the stock market, Star Wars, or opinions. It’s full of stories that teach us how to live simply in a complicated world. Simple stories and ideas that tell us all we really need to know about living. About happiness. About giving. About joy. About getting along. About making a difference.

They’re all there. I know. I made a list.

Adam – Obey the rules. Someone might be watching.

Cain and Abel – Learn to play nice with your brothers and sisters.
Noah – Check the weather. Be prepared if it looks like rain
Moses – Be careful not to lose your temper. Speak softly and carry a big stick.
Nebuchadnezzar – Take care not to ignore your dreams.
Joseph (the one with the coat) – Always do your very best, wherever you are.
David – God is always there with you, even when the odds don’t look so good
Daniel – Always keep the courage of your convictions.
The Psalms – Take time to be alone and reflect.
Mary – Sometimes the things we don’t understand can turn out in the most wonderful way.
John and Andrew – Fishing is okay, but the hearts and souls of people is where it’s at.
Martha – Don’t work too much or you’ll miss too many special moments.
Peter – Failure is never final.
Paul – Follow your dreams, travel a little bit, and write letters to people you love.
Judas – Don’t betray your friends.

Jesus – When all else fails, show love and give all that you have.

The Bible. That old, wonderful, timeless collection of truth. Kind of your One Stop for Wisdom kind of book.

Not 108,000,000 sources.

Just one.

It's a Good Life !

Email: Dennis@DennisVolz.com

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THESE are the Good ol' Days

2008-02-24T08:38:00.000-08:00

Life was amazing and more fun than allowed by law for me and my wife during the "growing up" years (GUY). But it's been quite some time since I:

attended a soccer game
patched up a skinned knee
explained a quadratic equation
was the only dad on the field trip to the zoo
played tag in the rain
read THE INDIAN IN THE CUPBOARD around the beach campfire
couldn't wait for the kids bed time
have been looked up to as the smartest man in the world
gone to 7-11 just for a round of Slurpies
could carry my kids up the stairs

My 3 kids now range in age from 22-28. Two are married, one's engaged. One (of the married ones) have a baby boy, Noah. And life in these Life with Adult Children (LAC) is STILL amazing and more fun than allowed by law.

They come over all the time and love to be together as a group. When the kids and their SO's (significant others)(have to use that till my son is married then I can just say spouses....) Anyway, they're all here w/ their SO's and Noah (the 8 mo grandson) and they really have fun together. For some reason they don't squabble anymore like they did when they were younger.

And I ALWAYS just sit and enjoy listening to them have a blast together. I am SO thankful, so blessed and so happy that I know that will go on for long after I'm gone.

In my business and my life I always try to at least know why something is working well, just in case I want to repeat it. I can't be sure why the kids all get along so well and REALLY look forward to getting together. Here's a couple of my best guesses.

THEN: (GUY)
• We always tried to create positive situations we could share as a family.
⁃ Family Vacations - camping mostly, some to Disneyland (could afford the Disneyland Hotel once... :)
⁃ Lots of day trips to the beach, museums, zoo, Sea World, etc
⁃ Lots of fun times around the house - Family Night, birthdays were always special, everyone was there, favorite dinner for the b'day person.
⁃ We had to flex a lot as they got older and "change it up"
⁃ One year the kids got into swing dancing so we hauled all the furniture out to the back yard and made a huge dance floor in the family room.
⁃ Dinners out more often cuz kids were older.
⁃ Always invited their friends to come along
⁃ Just kept asking ourselves... What can we do to celebrate this event. Didn't matter how small or big the event - make it special, honor the celebrant and HAVE FUN, and we

Kept a BIG reminder on the Fridge.....

*THESE* are the good old days.

NOW (LAC)
• We've had to keep flexing. Go to the plays they're in, sermons they preach, milestones they celebrate. We join in whenever they're on some new "thing" and support their efforts. ALWAYS.
• Have everyone over for birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, (they all have dogs now.. we invite them too)
• Try to go on a 'family vacation'. We did a cruise one year, Palm Springs the next (took the tram up and hiked around), We pay for it. Yes, it gets expensive. But I can't tell you the wonderful memories we've created.
• Always help when they're moving, painting, needing baby/dog sitters, shopping for something special, decorating, overwhelmed, underpaid, sick, etc. And we still

KEEP the BIG reminder on the Fridge.....

*THESE* are the good old days.

All these things aren't all that out of the ordinary or over the top. They're not expensive or tremendously self-sacrificial. But occasionally they're all or one of those.

I just want to encourage you that if you're in the younger kids phase, all the work you're doing now and feeling so exhausted over is so meaningful and important. If your kids are older or even MUCH older, keep the steam on the wheel and know them well enough to help and support them. Sometimes that means giving them some space to learn on their own or just to be on their own.

It's a wonderful journey. The challenges are many and the blessings are too numerous to count.

...and you know what?

THESE are the good old days.

It's a Good Life !

Email: Dennis@DennisVolz.com

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Rage, Rage

2008-02-21T02:26:00.000-08:00

We've all heard the phrase, "Road Rage" -- That 20th century phenomenon of rude, risky, violent behavior on the road.
It's infancy, best as I can remember, was in Los Angeles, CA in the late 80's when people started getting shot by other motorists on southern California freeways. Everybody blamed everybody else because of some roadway foibles. It spawned the popular bumper sticker,

"COVER ME, I’M CHANGING LANES."

It even motivated the lawmakers to propose a "drive with a gun, go to state prison" legislation. I don't know if it ever passed.

Through the 90's the behavior broadened to include all kinds of weird, aggressive actions taken, one human being to another, within the integument mask of their automobiles. Odd how people will do things in their cars that they'd never dream of face to face. People are funny that way.

Researchers have now found various excuses for these nefarious drivers. Some say they're not to blame because the lanes end and merge too quickly; turns are too sharp. Others contend that the exits and entrances are too crowded. We all know that freeway traffic is often slow or stopped which leads to tension, anger, aggressive driving, road rage. Well, of course.

I wonder if during the horse and buggy days they suffered from Buggy Rage. I can see it clearly. Jeb, is taking a leisurely ride to the general store to pick up some candle wax and new butter churner . He's suddenly overtaken on a narrow portion of the road by young Billy-bob who is trying to impress his friends with daddy's new surrey complete with isinglass curtains you can roll right down, in case there's a change in the weather.

He leans on the hooter to get Jeb to shake it on up the road a little faster. Jeb isn't quick enough to respond and suddenly Billy-bob whips the horses and passes Jeb on the right shouting obscenities as he goes by slinging mud and rocks in his wake. Sound ridiculous? That's because it is.

I read just the other day about a new 20th century phenomenon. Desk Rage. "In today's pressure-cooked work place, stress can be a breeding ground for Desk Rage." I'm not kidding. I really read it. Half of all workers claim they're victims of regular yelling and verbal abuse in their workplaces. Nearly one-fourth of them have been driven to tears.

One manager who was the object of numerous complaints about his excessive foul language responded, "I' m tired of walking on $*%&# eggshells, trying to make people happy around here," Well, isn't that poetic.

Researchers have found excuses for them as well. It's the stress, they say. People are just pushed too hard at the office. The experts say that longer hours, bigger work loads, smaller cubicles all are responsible for desk rage. And with people using cel phones now even the commute is a place for desk rage. Or would we be back to road rage? I'm confused.
And oh the consequences. One man lost his management job he'd held for over 20 years because of his inability to control his language. Another spent time in jail for brandishing a gun during a roadway dispute. One woman has received company-paid psychological counseling for the verbal abuse she's received. On and on and on.

As confused as we may be about the politically correct terminology, we shouldn't be confused about the process of self-control and consequences or how to respond to it. Seems that we've given a lot of fancy names and convoluted excuses for the simple act of people losing their temper. That's what they called it when I grew up. And there were no excuses.

"Now keep your temper," my mother would say, "I'm sure nobody else wants it."

And I learned that nobody did.

It's a Good Life !

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Options - Life Options

2008-02-20T05:16:00.000-08:00

Options. aka Choices.

We face them every day. Options of speech, options of behavior, options of fast food places, and options of attitude.

I’ve been learning about other options lately. Options in the stock market. Kind of a hobby of mine. Here’s that I’ve learned so far. Options are risky. Options are unpredictable. Options can soak your cash in a heartbeat. While they’re all of those, they’re not all that complicated.

Skip this easy-to-understand explanation of options is you already understand them...
An option is the right, but not the obligation to purchase a stock at a given price. You buy the option for a given period of time and if you don’t exercise the option in that time, your option expires worthless. Let’s say I like IBM this week and I think their stock is about to move upward. I can buy 100 shares of the stock at $110 per share ($11,000), or for about $2 per share ($200) I can purchase just the option to buy the stock at $110 per share. With the option I’ve bought the right, not the obligation to purchase the stock at $110 per share. The option will expire in several weeks, but if the stock increases to $120 I can exercise my option and buy the stock at $110 and immediately sell it for $120. If the stock goes down to $100 per share I wouldn’t want to use my option to buy the stock at $110 when I can get it for $100. My option would be almost worthless. I can also sell the option itself which is more valuable than when I bought it. It might e worth $11 per share and I can sell it for $1,100 instead of the $200 I paid for it.

There’s just a LOT of things I can to. I guess that’s why they call them options. By participating in the game, I have options -- choices. It’s also my option to leave my $200 in the savings account and skip the whole scenario. Or I could take my $200 and buy a DVD player, a pair of tennis shoes for my son, or a new painting for the living room.

Options, options, options.

While you may NOT be an option trader, you are presented with Options every day -- Life Options. Life options are more important than money options. Money options determine the way you live with (or part with) your cash. Life options determine how you decide to cash in on living.

Here's a good one. The best selling book of all time tells us to "be kind to one another." Seems clear enough. Not complicated. Probably the kind of habit that's so unmistakably elementary that it's beyond us. It's not that we can't do it, we just forget. You see, kindness is a habit. Just like harshness.

We have an option -- A choice.

It's a Good Life !

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