LA Trip- Part 4- "The Green Truck"

A great story from the wedding is that the wedding party was taken from the church to the reception in an old green truck.Now, this wasn't any old green truck. The story behind the truck is that Andrea's brother, who unfortunately passed away a few years ago, along with his best friend rebuilt the truck together over a lot of years. Little by little they refurbished the whole thing. The last time it was used was at his funeral. It was a touching moment to pay tribute to him.

My dad was really moved by this story and in talking to the guy driving in the picture about the story, he offered my dad an opportunity to drive it. He was really touched by the moment.

LA Trip- Part 5- "No sir, we've never lost a car"

Right outside of our hotel was the Squaw Valley Cable Car. Bringing you from the base of the valley up to their "High Camp". From here, there are some tremendous views including some of the lake. Due to the fires in the area, Lake Tahoe was tough to see but it didn't cloud some of the great scenery near by.

On first trip back down, there were only a few people in the car. My dad pipes up with a great question to ask very high off the ground, "Ever lost a car?" The operation responds, "No sir, we've never lost a car." On the second trip, the conversation went in a completely different direction. Keep in mind, it's the same operator:

(After passing one of the towers) Operator: Be prepared for a small swing as the car passes the tower. (Side note: Yep, the car swings and it's as scary as it sounds)

Random Person: So one of these cars ever drop?

Operator: Nope, the cars have never fallen.

Random Person #2: What about what happened in '78?

(Now, I do ok with heights. Didn't as a kid but after some of the jobs I've had, I've become ok. But the silence after this question was asked was way too long for anyone, fear of heights or not)

Random Person #2: Oh sorry man, didn't mean to call you out there.

Operator: (silent)

Me: No really, what happened back in '78?

Operator: Ok, so on April 15, 1978 we had an incident with one of the cars in which one of the cables dislocated from the tower and struck the car. 4 people died, 32 were injured including one who fell from the car. He actually only suffered a broken rib and was able to walk away thanks to snow breaking his fall (Side note- There wasn't any snow underneath the car).

In continuing to tell the story, he stay selective with his words but tells some awesome stories of the rescue operations including one guy who actually walked down the cables to the car without any safety equipment but carrying rescue supplies.

And that will be the last time Jeffrey will be riding the cable car...

From 8600 feet above sea level, here are some pics from the two trips:

LA Trip- Part 6- "Mile High Golf"

I've had the opportunity to play golf at some great places, but this one rivals all of them. Thanks to my Uncle and cousin for organizing this outing. Amazing surroundings and amazing weather for a great round of golf. Here are some pics:

Chris won the long distance drive contest. He was pounding the ball out there.

LA Trip- Part 7- "The Trip Back"

Not as long as the last one but still memorable...

12:17pm-Everybody welcome Stacy to the car.

So we pile in after Amy, my Dad, and I getting off our second cable car ride.

12:20- Still trying to figure out seats. Can't find gps. We claim we don't need it. Let's see how this goes. Stacy asks the first "Are we there yet?".

12:23- we're off.

(cue crazy drive through the mountains)

2:16- Just got done with a little In N Out. Real simple menu but what I didn't realize are all the secret items you can order. Check them out here. Stacy is now in the driver seat. Does she know what she's in for?

3:34- Man, this is boring. No drama. Everyone is keeping their mouths shut. Quick stop Lodi, CA.

5:40- How can a McDonalds not have ice? Even with the 97 degrees outside, they don't even have ice in the drive through. I move to the back back of van.

6:04- It took till now for the Spain family car to erupt into a political discussion.

8:15- Arrive at my brother’s apartment. It’s a nice place in a good area. The deli on the corner sells Coke products in the old glass bottles. Here are a few pics:

LA Trip- Part 8- "I Love This Pier"

After driving back to Los Angeles, my family got to spend some time on Chris, Stacy, and Amy's home turf. The trip included a stop at the Athletic Club Chris and Stacy belong to, another round of golf, a stop at the law firms my brother and sister work at, and a trip to my mom's favorite spot. Here are some pics from that part of the trip:

I think if it were possible, my mom would live on this pier at Manhattan Beach.

The whole gang, me, Amy, Janice (my mom), Jeff (my dad), Stacy, and Chris

While waiting for my luggage...

Just getting back from the ACUHO-I conference and figured I post a few updates:

• You can't help but smile when you're down at Disney World. No matter what's going on in a person's life, everywhere you turn there is a kid and/or adult smiling. One smile that I don't think will drop from my mind for some time is when I first got there. Disney provides a shuttle service from the airport to any of their resorts. I hop on after being greeted by a number of different Disney people and take my seat. After finally being able to sit down and relax I hear a familiar song in the background ("You can fly" from Peter Pan) and close my eyes. Some rustling continues around me, bus driver comes on and says they'll be playing a video welcoming us to the park. I open my eyes back up to find an family with a young boy, maybe 9 or 10, sitting in front of me. I do the polite Jeff Spain nod and get ready for the video. The Disney theme starts up and I catch myself cracking a nostalgic smile. As I do, the kid in front of me, turns to his family, gives them an excited smile, then peers through the crack between the seats and flashes a smile my way. It'll be hard to forget until I have my own kids. Can't wait.
• A shoutout to Scott Victor who is participating in the Disney Internship program. Scott will be donning a cowboy hat everyday and saying "Howdy" as he greets visitors at the Fort Wilderness campground. Scott was the RA for the Business Leaders of Tomorrow group I advised this year. Was able to catch up with him and even got a tour of the campground and other parts of the property.
• If you are involved in any management or leadership development profession, take a look at how Disney does things. Part of the conference was a session about the Disney style of management and leadership and there are some great things that can be "borrowed" to help any manager or leader.
• How many people can say they've been to Disney World and Disneyland in the same week? You can tentatively add me to that list because tomorrow morning it's out to Los Angeles for some much needed family time including my cousin's wedding. An early congrats to Patrick and Andrea Manion!

Off to get my luggage thanks to flying standby on an earlier flight. Hope that it gets here! I'll have more updates next week from that side of the country. Until then, keep smiling:-) It's a small curve that can straighten a thousand things.

It's Time

Two reasons for this post:

1) Every August for the past 10 years has meant one thing, RA training. Each year it's a different experience filled with meeting new people, sharing ideas, and listening to new ways of how I can build my professional self piece by piece. There are a lot of presentations I remember from labeling exercises to the numerous (and rockin' good) tech talks I've given.

Last August was a little different. I think it was the keynote speech for the 2007 training where a woman who works at RIT named Colette Shaw came in and talked about the development of a book she wrote. To write a book takes a lot of work but what got her through it was by telling people about it. She recommended to the students to tell people about their goals but be prepared because you'll be accountable to them.

2) Just finished reading "The Last Lecture" by Randy Pausch. It's one of those books that I'm going have to read again with a highlighter or set of post-its to capture some of the great sentences and anecdotes that he wrote. Highly recommend putting it on your reading list. With it's focus not necessarily being on that life is short, it's more about living life with a purpose and to it's fullest extent.

Now, from here, this post could take on a stereotypical, "I'm going to tell you everything in my head" type writing. But, as I've mentioned before, I don't want to live my life through a blog. A big part of my life has been connecting with people 1-1. Can't really see who's reading this. Can't ask them what they thought. I don't believe I can truly connect with people without getting to them face to face.

So I'm going to be a little selfish and use this blog for my own good. Putting Colette's words into action (but not giving away all the cards (goals) in my hand(head)) and having realized something else from reading that book (read it yourself (I'll let you borrow my copy!) and you may find some clues as to what I'm talking about) I'm posting two, count em, two goals for the world to call me on:

1. Before the winter is here, I want to be able to run 4 miles without looking like a tomato when I'm finished. Just want to be able to do it with a little bit of ease
2. Lose 20 or more pounds in six months (edited to be more specific)

I've got some plans in place and have been working on them already (lost 15 pounds) but now that these are out there, it's a whole new ball game. I don't want to let you down.

Happy Father's Day 2008

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers I know out there. Thanks especially to my Dad, Grandpa, and Pa for their support over the years!

Two updates

- Yep, it was a hot one:

- After the t-shirt gun expereience, a few people sent me this link to Bud Light's tribute. Enjoy:-)

http://www.allowe.com/Humor/audio/BudLite/Mr%20T-Shirt%20Launcher%20Inventor.mp3