Comments? No.

Some hyperactive spam bots found my business blog (this blog, people). After deleting over three hundred would be spamments (spam + comments = spamment… no, not working, but you heard it here first) I shut off the option to leave comments. But then I compromised; if you create an account you can still post a comment. I figured very few blog spam bots would be interested in an account and it would derail their attempts to peddle junk here. So far, so good.

Been awhile since my last post. I have no good excuse except that when I work too hard to start to ooze a foul smelling pus. In order to avoid this I’ve been relaxing a little more than I used to. But I had the pus sack removed this past week and will be working harder than ever now. I’ve got a post coming up about how to fit in. Sorry- it’s not going to be a feel good story about a boy named Charlie who finds a way to make friends despite his speech impediment and stink pus. The post will have info about how to cram your business into an existing market place.  Leave a web browser window open and keep clicking your refresh button.

Boaterrific

We took the plunge (that might be a pun- we’ll have to see). A couple of weeks ago we bought ourselves a boat. We’d been contemplating Jetskis for years, but it never felt quite right.  Then one magical day (which you can read about over here on Fran’s Blog) we decided to swing by Taylor’s Boats on the way to Ikea. A boat is like a floating living room so it wasn’t too hard to convince Fran that it was the perfect thing for family bonding  (and it is!).  We settled on a Cobalt 202, Cobalt’s smallest model. The boat is 21′ which, so far, we’ve found to be an ideal size. We’re super picky about colors and so we were thrilled that the boat we liked matched our truck and house (we’re not freaks- we just like things to be color coordinated! Okay, it’s mostly me! Fine, I’m a freak!).

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We’ve gone out at least twice each week so far.  We generally launch from the American Fork (AF) Harbor. It’s a little annoying that we can’t get a yearly membership because we don’t live in AF. In Provo anyone can get an annual pass for $75.  But the AF harbor is more convenient (and relatively nice) so we deal with it.

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We’ve taken out some of our friends nearly each time we’ve gone and I think it’s a fun way to spend time together.  So far the only thing I can do is tube. Not to hard to flop onto a big pillow and hold on. Well, no- it’s gets really hard to hold on when some people drive. I’ll probably get skis this week, but save wakeboarding until next year. The kids love the boat. Mike wants us to stop every few minutes so he can jump in the water (the lake must seem like a never ending swimming pool). Claire sits up front in the bow and rocks back and fourth to the music while we cruise. We had a boat picnic the other day too. And I’m finally getting a tan.

As always Utah Lake has claimed a bunch of our stuff. Two pairs of sunglasses and some truck keys so far. Last year we lost a pair of sunglasses, a contact lens and a shirt. I wish the lake was a smidgen less muddy- then maybe we could find some of our stuff.  I know a lot of people who don’t like Utah Lake much but it’s really pretty nice.  The water temperature is generally upwards of 70 degrees this time of year. And the dirt washes right off….

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So far the neighborhood reactions have been positive, which is nice since we’ve had to park the boat on the street (a no no!)  for the last week while our driveway extension dries.  Since I generally leave the truck hitched to the boat people notice that the boat is about twice the size of the truck. Inevitably everyone’s’ first question is, “Can your truck pull the boat okay?” I’ve got an ’06 Toyota Tacoma– I’m not a big truck kinda guy.  That was one of my first questions too. Despite it’s small size the Tacoma can haul 6500lbs (surprise!) and pulls the boat with only some minor picketing and threats of a strike.

We’re planning to rent the boat out a few times each week. We’re just going to keep it local and provide drop off and pick up services at Utah Lake. If we’re do this right we’ll end up with a free boat and some gas money! If we do it wrong we’ll have a sweet underwater hideout. We were hoping to get our rental operation off the ground this year, but I think we’re going to have to shoot for next year instead. Ah well.

A big thanks to Tom Allen who showed us that the nautical life was the life. Tom’s rabid sexism, testosterone fueled spirit and and unquenchable urge to speak his mind have made him a Hughes family favorite.

The Perfect Spot

Fran’s parents are in town. For those of you not in the know, this is a big deal. They aren’t exactly from around here (they hail from Reunion Island). Since they have to travel half way around the world to visit we only get to see them every few years. In order to achieve maximum togetherness everyone here in the USA related to Fran’s parents gets together and goes camping.

I am not a camper. I don’t like camping and I don’t pretend to. The fun many people seem to have while absent from all forms of human comfort baffles me. Anyway- I went in the name of love. We went up to a camping area near one of the Payson lakes. It’s quite pretty and the temperature was nice. And we found…

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…the perfect spot. There was a large grove of trees and right in the middle was this perfect spot to pitch a tent. Up it went. Full shade, a good deal of privacy and when it rained our spot stayed almost completely dry. It was kind of like being in a fort.

I don’t think I’ll ever enjoy camping, but everyone had a good time. Maybe we can go again in three or four years.

The Biggest Pain

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This post has been a long time coming… I’m guessing most of the world’s population is familiar with Facebook. And I’m guessing most of the Facebook users have heard of an annoying little game called “The Biggest Brain.” My brother, Greg, actually turned me onto the game a few months back.  “Check this out.” he said in a way which belayed the fact that my life was about to change forever.

A game of Biggest Brain consists of four rounds which test different portions of your brain. You get a score for each round based on how well you did. Once you finish all four rounds you get a cumulative tally and are then assigned a brain type based on that tally.  Looking over the brain type list you immediately notice some undesirable brains sizes like “snail” or “cat. The brain type that caught my eye belonged to a cute little fellow called “Calcubot.” His face consisted of mathematical signs-adorabley alluring. So that was my goal- 3100 points to get a Calcubot brain.  One happy day I made it. It was over. And then…

An upgrade came along. The game developers added new brain types and shifted the scoring requirements for the Calcubot brain. I needed another 200 points. Not fair. But for $10 I could get four exciting new mini games and a “practice” mode. I am such a sucker. I forked over the $10 and away I went. Embarrassingly, it’s taken a good amount of effort and time, but just a few days ago I reclaimed my Calcubot brain. Thank you.

If you haven’t already, give the game shot. It’s fun, it’s free, and it may just keep you from getting Alzheimer’s (or make you furious and give you a stress headache)..