The Dichotomy of a Two Year Old

Feb

27th

2008

Filed Under Parenting
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Tonight my son said two completely opposite things that 1) totally surprised me and 2) almost made me cry.

First, as we were sitting on the floor coloring Grover yellow and purple, he looked up at me, stood up, and said in a very forceful voice “GO AWAY, DADDY!”. I had never heard him say anything like that, and am still a little confused on where he picked that up. Regardless, it shocked me.

An hour or so later, we were hunting for dinosaurs. I sat down on the couch to rest (because dinosaur hunting is so very exhausting, mainly because of the large spear you have to carry around), and my boy walked up to me, wrapped his arms around me, looked up, and said “I love you, Daddy“. He’s said that before, but the manner in which he said it was completely different.

So, for the past hour, I’ve been searching my brain trying to figure out these two opposite statements and how they fit in to his little mindset of how things work in this big world. Initially, I shrugged it off as him just simply repeating words he has heard before as he seems to be at the age where his mind is a sponge that is soaking up new words every day.

But, I think the manner in which he said them and his body language discounts the sponge theory. He knew to put some force behind the “go away” words, and he hugged me when he told me he loved me. His concept of the context these phrases belong in is right on target.

I can completely understand him telling me that he loves me. His mom and I tell him that all the time, and we were having a blast at the moment just prior to his expression. However, we were having fun coloring too, yet he felt he needed to tell me to go away. I don’t know what it was the prompted him to say that. I’ll probably never know for sure.

Maybe I’ll be more careful about coloring Grover’s nose green next time.

Parent Hacks

Feb

26th

2008

Filed Under Parenting
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I just ran across a great post on ZenHabits about another blog called ParentHacks. A quick glance at some of the information and advice revealed a lot of good stuff. It’s definitely going on my read list!

Square Watermelons

Feb

25th

2008

Filed Under Engineering
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I believe this article originated on CNN.com back in 2001, but it just got passed to me in an email from a member of my senior management at work. It seemed fitting and interesting, so here it is…

Japanese grocery stores had a problem. They are much smaller than their US counterparts and therefore don’t have room to waste. Watermelons, big and round, wasted a lot of space. Most people would simply tell the grocery stores that watermelons grow round and there is nothing that can be done about it. That is how I would assume the vast majority of people would respond. But some Japanese farmers took a different approach. If the supermarkets wanted a square watermelon, they asked themselves, “How can we provide one?” It wasn’t long before they invented the square watermelon.

The solution to the problem of round watermelons wasn’t nearly as difficult to solve for those who didn’t assume the problem was impossible to begin with and simply asked how it could be done. It turns out that all you need to do is place them into a square box when they are growing and the watermelon will take on the shape of the box.

This made the grocery stores happy and had the added benefit that it was much easier and cost effective to ship the watermelons. Consumers also loved them because they took less space in their refrigerators which are much smaller than those in the US meaning that the growers could charge a premium price for them.

What does this have do with anything besides square watermelons? There are a few lessons that can you can take away from this story which help you in all parts of your life. Here are a few of them:

Don’t Assume: The major problem was that most people had always seen round watermelons so they automatically assumed that square watermelons were impossible before even thinking about the question. Things that you have been doing a certain way your entire life have taken on the aura of the round watermelon and you likely don’t even take the time to consider if there is another way to do it. Breaking yourself from assuming this way can greatly improve your overall life as you are constantly looking for new and better ways to do things. This was one of the most difficult things for me to do because most of the assumptions I make, I don’t even realize that I’m making them. They seem perfectly logical on the surface, so I have to constantly make an effort to question them.

Question habits: The best way to tackle these assumptions is to question your habits. If you can make an effort to question the way you do things on a consistent basis, you will find that you can continually improve the way that you live your life. Forming habits when they have been well thought out is usually a positive thing, but most of us have adopted our habits from various people and places without even thinking about them. I have changed a large number of habits that I have had after taking the time to question them and continue to do so. Some of them I have know idea where they came from while others I can trace to certain people or instances in my life. It’s a never ending process, but by doing this, you can consistently strive toward making all aspects of your life more enjoyable instead of defaulting to what you have now.

Be creative: When faced with a problem, be creative in looking for a solution. This often requires thinking outside the box. Most people who viewed this question likely thought they were being asked how they could genetically alter water melons to grow square which would be a much more difficult process to accomplish. By looking at the question from an alternative perspective, however, the solution was quite simple. Being creative and looking at things in different ways in all portions of your live will help you find solutions to many problems where others can’t see them. I am not a creative person, but I’ve found that the more that you look at things from different perspectives, the more creative I have become. It’s a learned art and builds upon itself.

Look for a better way: The square watermelon question was simply seeking a better and more convenient way to do something. The stores had flagged a problem they were having and asked if a solution was possible. It’s impossible to find a better way if you are never asking the question in the first place. I try to ask if there is a better way of doing the things that I do and I constantly write down the things I wish I could do (but currently can’t) since these are usually hints about steps I need to change. Get into the habit of asking yourself, “Is there a better way I could be doing this?” and you will find there often is.

Impossibilities often aren’t: If you begin with the notion that something is impossible, then it obviously will be for you. If, on the other hand, you decide to see if something is possible or not, you will find out through trial and error.

Take away the lessons from the square watermelons and apply them to all areas in your life (work, finances, relationships, etc) and you will find that by consistently applying them, you will constantly be improving all aspects of your life.

External Trigger Hack for Cameras

Feb

21st

2008

Filed Under Photography
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Here’s a neat little trick on instructables.com for making an external camera trigger from a microphone/earbud that would normally be used for a cell phone. It’s cheap and easy (even for those of you who are not electrical engineers).

This type of gadget is especially useful for long exposures where the camera has to be very still while the shutter is open.

Unfortunately it’s not compatible with every camera…especially my Nikon D80. You should check your camera jack before doling out the $3 for the microphone.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Remote-shutter-trigger-for-Canon-Cameras/