Regression of Project Management

San Rafael California
What am I doing in Cali? Click here.

Mind Map Done With MINDOMO

To run an efficient life is no easy task. Especially for someone like me, who may be on the cusp of ADHD. This may be why I love planning and planner software and all the associated items that go with. Follow through is especially tough for me. Without my gadgets I think I'd be especially disorganized. I wrote a blog entry back in April of 2009 pertaining to how I manage information. You can read that engaging post by clicking here. Above is a JPG of a mind map I have been working with in trying to develop some essay themes for this coming semester. You can sign up and use this web based software for free. Just click here and check out MINDOMO.COM. I find the use of mind maps very helpful at the beginning phase of a project. It's a brainstorming tool to help flush out ideas and find the connections or dislocation of ideas and lists. You can easily share the mind map and collaborate with someone across the planet, even in real time. But I have found the mind map only works for me in planning. Once put into motion the ideas or tasks brainstormed must be transferred from the map into a more traditional work list. If I don't, the practical steps of getting things done plummets.

Enter ToDo for iPad. I bought this APP from the iTunes Store for a punishing $4.99. It's fantastic. Since iPad is a touch screen it acts just like an old school paper style planner. I set up important things I must accomplish or appointments with email reminders that blast off to my Blackberry Curve as a tickler. Yes I may have a problem. To much multi-tasking.  I move ideas and taskers developed within the mind map to the iPad in an effort to actually complete tasks.

Recently I have been having meetings with people and found myself bumbling around with note taking. I don't want to be a bumbler. Important things were being conveyed and I had no easy way to capture the info. I did not find the iPad good enough for note taking and what not. The iPad and ToDo APP is stellar while sitting in a coffee shop and even better when siting up in bed, but will be substandard in a class room or meeting setting. Enter the Franklin Covey Planner System.

As I mentioned in my April 09 post, the Coast Guard paid for a week's course for myself and my shipmates in the use of Franklin System. I used it consistently my entire career, but abandoned it when I retired. I'm back in the Franklin Covey saddle. I purchased a refill (as I still have my now 18 year old leather binder) and am using the old tried and true, old school style system.

If you look closely at my mind map JPG above, you will see I'm thinking of writing a 20 page essay on organizational change within the Coast Guard. Generally speaking, I dislike change. The Coast Guard is obsessed with change. I found many times a change would be set in motion only to come full circle a few years later, with the latest change being the original policy that never should have been changed in the first place. Kind of like maybe I should never have changed my planning system in the first place!

So to recap, Allaire does the following:

1. Large scale projects are tackled originally using mind mapping.

2. Tasks developed are transferred to both iPad and Franklin Covey.

3. Tracking and Progress are monitored using both electronic and paper system.

Sound like a pain? You bet! But is seems to work for me.

Capt Chris

PS: I wonder if anyone finds this stuff remotely interesting. Of course I'm absorbed by it.

Me at 43 Years

Marin County California

It is my birthday today. Maybe I'll start an annual self-portrait project. Kind of puts things in better perspective. An annual check on how your using your time kind of thing.

Capt Chris

German Coast Guard Trainee

This video provided endless entertainment while I was in the Coast Guard. Found it again the other and laughed just like before! Wonder if you need to be a coastie to appreciate it.



Capt Chris

Way Into Libraries

Mill Valley Library, Mill Valley California

I love visiting libraries and always make it a point when traveling to check out the local scene. You can derive alot about a community based on their library system. Here I am at the Boston Library. Love the "Free to All" etched in stone.

Boston Library

And again, here I am at the New York City Library in Midtown Manhattan.

My favorite library thus far in life has to be the Nantucket Public Library, pictured below.

Nantucket Library

In my current location in California, I have two gems to choose from. The first is the Alemany Library on the campus of Dominican University. I blogged recently of the beautiful and peaceful nature of the campus. The library is the same. Wireless, an art gallery, plenty of seating and great views outside giant windows. Below is my base of operations I've been setting up on some days. The chairs are comfy and functional. Blam!

On most days, I head about 8 miles south to Mill Valley to take a yoga class. This works well as the library is just a stones throw away. Now Mill Valley Library is in hard running with the top spot of my favorite library. The place is stellar in terms of its services and beauty. It sits in a small red wood forest, with full on picnic tables, small theatrical stage and babbling brook to boot. It also has a wooden deck where you can sit outside in the sun and soak. Lots of folks falling asleep on the deck......and cell phone chatterers too. Here are some pictures I took just the other day.

Mill Valley Library

Enjoy!

Capt Chris

What Motivates?

Typing to you from sunny California

Just recently I wrote about a philosophical topic regarding my wrestling with curriculum choice for college starting in August. You can read that engaging post by clicking here. The topic of what motivates me now compared to what use to motivate has occupied much grey matter as of late. This fall I will be required to write a longish essay, 20 pages give or take on a topic of my choice, but must contain some aspects of moral/ethics or other philosophy nuggets. I've been spending my afternoons in the library thinking and sketchy many things, among those things is narrowing down an essay proposal to my academic adviser. During my research I stumbled upon this very cool video. It contains some interesting information about motivation, but more so the video presentation is what really captured me. As many know I've taken an interest in video and video editing. In fact I've had a fantasy of making a documentary as my senior project down the road. A little premature on that. But it's a thought.

The video gave me a little perspective on my thirst for monetary rewards taking a back seat to other interests. I can't say I endorse everything contained in the video, for the simple reason that I haven't researched or thought out the counter arguments. I just like the video and thought I'd post it.



Capt Chris

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The BUMS Have Bought Another Boat!

Currently preparing for college In California
Weather is brilliant sunshine, 80 degree's in Marin County

Most bloggers are avid blog readers. I'm no different. In my opinion the true pioneers in the adventuring blogging business have been Pat and Ali from Bumfuzzle. What an inspiration. I have been following them since inception in 2003. While that is only 7 years, as far I'm concerned it is a life-time. I've noted before that there is a high atrophy rate in the blogosphere. It simply takes alot of effort to blog several times a week. After awhile people plum run out of fresh ideas.

Bumfuzzle is rarely if ever short of things to write about. They sailed around the planet at break neck speed, raced a 1965 Porsche across god knows where and then spent two years and 28 countries in a 58 VW Bus.

Then Ali got preggers and so they moved to Mexico and had a little daughter. Now I'm happy to pass along that they bought another boat and will taking to sea again.

I've never met the Bums but am fans none the less. Their website is a cut above, Pat's writing is awesome and the photography is stellar too. So good luck to Pat and Ali from Bumfuzzle!

Capt Chris

Levi Leipheimer GranFondo Cycling Event

Dominican University of California Library

This past February I wrote a blog entry announcing my intention to ride in a big ole cycling event held in Santa Rosa California. You can read that blog entry by clicking here. Over the past week or two I've been taking the road bike to Mill Valley and riding trails leading across the Golden Gate Bridge. Not easy cycling with the constant breeze and remarkably chilly temps on the bridge. But yesterday I was a bit humbled as I road a small portion of the course for the GranFondo. Below is the map of the 65 mile route I will be riding come October 9th 2010.


View GranFondo Medio Cycle Route in a larger map

The beauty is an incredible treat. I am new to cycling and what I found difficult, aside from the killer hills to climb is the simple pounding on the body. The tires are inflated to 130psi and the frame is stiff. Some portions of the road are smooth and others not so smooth. It now is a process of getting my body used to being on a bike for extended periods and then increasing my endurance to go the distance.

I'm pretty excited about my first event in October. I've never cycled in a crowd and certainly not 65 miles. The guy who organizes the whole shebang is Levi Leipeimer, who hails from Santa Rosa and is a big deal in the cycling world. He is Lance Armstrong's right hand man at this years Tour de France and is a very accomplished rider.

I didn't bring my camera on yesterday's ride as I haven't figured out how to carry the dern thang when riding. So I pulled the following pictures off the Internet of the cycling route. Stand by to be jealous because yesterday's ride looked just like these pictures!

Enjoy!

Capt Chris

Recent Trip to Sonoma

San Rafael Yacht Harbor, Marin County California

I recently slipped north to my little diamond in the rough located in Glen Ellen to re-sign my renters for a few more months. It really is a beautiful part of our country. Here are some pictures of the surrounding countryside.

Enjoy!
Capt Chris

Learning For Learnings Sake. An Outdated Concept?

San Rafael Yacht Harbor, Marin County California

Raphael's School of Athens

After writing my blog post entitled "What to Do for a Second Career", I got to thinking hard about the topic. I was further spurred along after Mike, formerly of sailing vessel Two Lazy Dogs sent me a long and thoughtful email about the topic.

Am I career minded? I do not necessarily want to proceed through my coming college education with an end state in mind. To attend for the sole purpose of being hired at company X Y or Z has been described as "commidification of a degree." An end state goal may even sabotage my college experience by distracting me from areas of interest that are not qualifications based. If my end state was to earn decent sums of money, I wouldn't need to go to college. I'm confident enough that I could make it happen with my current resume and stock pile of wisdom and life experience. But I do think that learning for learning's sake is out of reach for most.

I absolutely don't look down on anyone who strives to make serious bank. Bank is good. In fact I'd love make some bank myself, but the method for me is critical. The method of earning for me trumps all.

To an extent learning for learning's sake is an outdated concept as it applies to attending an institution of Higher Learning. To attend school is so expensive and only the wealthy can afford to attend just for the satisfaction one gets by learning. Us mortals likely will have to take some of this knowledge and apply it to earning a living. Which means some sort of career focus courses are required. The practicality of the situation demands schools loans to be paid and housing costs met ect.

The shame of this is that to live a richer and fuller life requires knowledge and passion for things that don't necessarily translate directly into dollars. A bicycle enthusiast can enjoy a day long bike ride through surrounding hills and really enjoy it. But someone who has knowledge of geography can marvel at the lay of the land and someone who has taken a cellular biology class will enjoy the burn of the ride that much more having knowledge of ATP transport. The addition of information creates a level of enjoyment not realized by the uneducated. This example applies across the gamet of living a life.

This all sounds pretty highfalutin. And it is. But what's wrong with a little highfalutin? I wonder at 43 does my college purpose differ from someone just entering from High School? In practical terms it does (make a difference) simply due to the difference in financial condition. But in terms of gaining knowledge to live a healthy and flourishing life it should not. But everyone is different. When I graduated from High School I had zero context and the notion that knowledge of art could lead to happiness was as foreign and upsetting as a Boy George concert. While for others it was less foreign, just enough to give a good teacher an opening to let them see the light early on.

I am very grateful that I have seen the light, even if a bit late. Maybe everyone starts to do some deeper thinking when they hit their 40's. My situation allows me an assist from a university environment and hopefully I can find the mean between fulfilling a need for specialized training for future employment and my desire to acquire knowledge for knowledge sake.

Capt Chris

Christa Resides Marina Side

San Rafael, Marin County California

I was launched and had the mast re-stepped simultaneously late last week. I've had a great experience using San Rafael Yacht Harbor for all my boating needs. I saved some dough by switching last minute to SRYH in lieu of KKMI shipyard.

San Rafael Yacht Harbor

 I'll wait a bit to give more details on my surroundings and other boat related issues. Suffice to say now, that it is wonderful to be in a slip, in a marina with 3 Starbucks, 1 Peets Coffee, 1 Whole Foods, 1 Trader Joe's and a Border's all less than a mile away. Convenience is well convenient.

Admissions Office Dominican University of California

 Speaking of convenient. I've managed to situate my living arrangements within a mile of Dominican University campus. And what a campus it is. Pictured above is the admissions office. The best way to describe the campus is to say it's like walking around an arboretum. The campus resides among huge Red Woods, with small wooden bridges spanning stream beds and wooden benches sprinkled through out. Large groomed grass lawns circled by restored buildings from the late 1890's, to ultra modern multi-million dollar science and engineering centers.

A student can't help but glide down what amounts to the Yellow Brook Road. The Humanities Chair, Dr Harlen remarked to me during our skull session that the campus is a major selling point. And it is. I felt pretty smart just striding and gliding around.

Science Center

 Since splashing Christa, I've been up to the university several times to meet with my academic adviser to map out my future. Here is some detail on what I have gotten myself into. I have entered a program called Pathways. Pathways is an adult education driven program designed for working adults with more than six years of post high school employment and at least 50 transferable credits. But here is the bonus. Given Dominicans small size (roughly 2500 students total) it allows the school mucho flexibility and one on one instruction and advice. The Pathways program has several paths to choose from. One path involves what they call a cohort. 25 adult students form a cohort and follow a course of instruction that is set in stone, both academically and schedule wise. The cohort stays together for two full years and graduate with an Applied Humanities Degree. Emphasis on applied. With heavy guidance from several Professor's, the cohort applies in the real world things they are taught while in class. The cohort decides on the direction or emphasis in consultation with the PHD people. For example, one of the classes is a Sustainable Communities class. So somewhere along the line the cohort will devise a project involving sustainability and apply it in the community, document it and then give a presentation on the results. While all this stuff sounds pretty cool I have decided to go in a  more traditional direction.

I am in the Pathways Flex program, which still is an adult type program, but allows me to take classes during the day with the younger traditional crowd, hence the word flex. I will earn a Humanities and Cultural Studies degree with an emphasis of my choosing in consultation with the academic adviser. What is going on is, the university pokes and prods the student (me) to try and flush out what the career goal is post degree. Armed with this information, a set of instruction is crafted to give the student the most cutting edge information and the degree to go with it; so the student is uber marketable and prepared. But, the university has built in flexibility, so as the student is exposed to multiple fields of study (and in turn future occupations) a course correction is possible. For example, I think I'd like to be a teacher. In the near term I will be exposed to some classroom scenario and if I decide it's not my gig and I would like to explore the world of start-ups in Silicon Valley, a business degree plan is easily implemented. Clearly the earlier things are identified the more expeditious the education and the less money spent.

Having said all that, my initial thought is an emphasis on philosophy and pre-Law or maybe history. It simply is to early for me to make decisions. But I have registered for my first term starting August 23, 2010. My three classes are Foundations of Adult Learning, Advanced Writing and Critical Inquiry and an Art Class for a total of 9 credit hours. But during the term I will also be writing an essay that could be credited as 3 credit hours if it is up to snuff. So maybe I'm taking a full course load deemed 12 credits. Depends on how you look at it. The essay can be deferred and is part of the flex in case a new student is overwhelmed after not being in college for perhaps many years.

This is the culmination of one goal and the beginning of a new one. I have such a deep satisfaction after registering today for my coming program. It was no small step to decide while in the Eastern Caribbean to change direction, apply to school, get accepted, work the financial piece and then journey to San Rafael. It took over a year to accomplish just that aspect. I must continue to plow ahead and make the best decisions with the information at hand.

I'll report soon on the many other things I have been doing or thinking about.

Capt Chris

PS: Fully 3/4 of the student population is female. I may need a course of instruction on how to negotiate that fact.