Archive for December, 2006
December 27, 2006 at 11:01 · Filed under life, sport
I have to say, I am challenged by the exciting story of Dean Karnazes, who completed running 50 marathons in 50 days in 50 states this past November. (and then decided he wanted to run home from New York to San Francisco.. apparently!!!) Marathons still seem a far off dream for me, well… somewhat of a dream. The 26.2 miles seems to be a sort of mythical distance that I can never seem to get to. I ran 21km (half a marathon) recently and was kinda long… Maybe I should hit 30km before attempting the great 42.1km run.
At any rate, this guy inspires me because he has the guts to push himself past where most would go. In this article, I read a quote of his I like. “Somewhere along the line, we seem to have confused comfort with happiness”. Yeah, so get off your butt. Get out of your comfort zone. I think most of us could do with hearing that.
December 25, 2006 at 20:06 · Filed under life
We are in Italy! It is beautiful here, with moderate temperatures above average for this time of year. We survived the hollywood-like “Christmas rush” of the Geneva and Roma airports, and enjoyed a nice drive north along the west coast, 1.5hrs to Orbetello, just south of Grosseto.
Harriet and I are taking full advantage of being pampered, eating healthy food, and running in very fresh air, in an amazing nature-filled area of Italy. (By the way, it is also wonderful to see Nelusco, Maggie, Elisa and Joey!!)
Today we all enjoyed a marvelous Christmas Day here in Tuscany. We took it really easy, ate lots and generally enjoyed each other’s company. I always take part in some of the longest lunches on record (well… in our family at any rate!!) when I am here, sitting down at 1:30pm, and often times not getting up until close to 4pm!
An image gallery of today’s “festivities” will soon be online (so look for a link to the right) but for the moment, I include a couple choice pics.
December 19, 2006 at 19:07 · Filed under life
Today I found THE thing I have been looking for. As an avid Google homepage user, I love being able to browse all of my “daily’s” in once place, accessing an article only if it looks interesting to me at the time. I have several news “feeds”, sports, computer, business and friends blogs all on this one homepage.
Every morning, my wife and I look out the window wondering what the weather is going to be like. I have now found a weather feed which uses Google maps for its cartography! This is what I have been waiting for for a long time! Run by a group called Weather Bonk, they do not dissappoint, and even include traffic or weather related cameras if they exist in your area.
Source: lifehacker through Google Operating System
December 18, 2006 at 12:07 · Filed under business, things to share
Now, I am still early in the game when it comes to start-ups, but I appreciate the insight found in this article. 10 principles start-ups can embrace in order to be successful in their endeavors. (This relates specifically to a computer orientated start-up although the author does say it can apply to any start-up. So anyhow, 10 things for a start-up to “be”:
- narrow
- different
- picky
- casual
- user-centric
- self-centered
- greedy
- tiny
- agile
- balanced
- wise (this eleventh one is given by me, free of charge)
Why greedy? You’ll have to check the article for details.
Source: evhead
I also have been listening to some great interviews called: “Change Artists: a CEO/CIO conversation”. Promoted by HP, One of the main goals of the show is to pick the brains of some of the worlds best business leaders, specifically in terms of how they manage and pioneer change in today’s competitive marketplace. (In their case, towing behind them huge enterprises) (Obviously promoting HP among Fortune 500s is also on the agenda) This has been extremely interesting for me and I have really enjoyed watching and absorbing years of wisdom and insight from some of today’s big heavyweights! I highly recommend you watch!
December 17, 2006 at 2:31 · Filed under things to share
I came across a great little article on bettering your presentation skills. Definitely worth a read. In essence, the author hits on two points: One - Apologizing at any point during your presentation can be one of the worst things you can do — even if it IS going horribly! Two - Pauses after being asked a question can be used with extreme success; don’t be pressured to answer too quickly! (Read more at 37signals)
December 14, 2006 at 21:33 · Filed under life
Pay as you go mobile phones? So last year.
Pay as you go computer? Wow, breaking news! (But also last year, apparently!) Microsoft is exploring pay as you go computing, and in this article, describes a project it undertook in 2005, trialling the system in Brazil. Apparently, it was a massive success in developing countries.
Secondly, for all you (USA/Canada) Skype users, Skype is apparently offering a WHOLE YEAR of Skype Out calls for $14.95. (thats amazing value.. really) (source)
And… finally… (thank you Dave for this), an ‘actual’ article from “Housekeeping Monthly” from 1955… I am impressed.
OK. I’d be most impressed if someone had the ball– guts, to write some of this stuff today. My wife informs me it was common practice back then. (I guess she is older than I thought.) Please note that neither LABELME.org or the Kibbe family necessarily endorse any parts of this Housekeeping article!
… and finally — I did NOT circle the last part. Have a good night. (and don’t share this with you wife if you want to sleep safely tonight.
Oh wait. Maybe I should put up one more important piece of information for men. Here you go:
[youtube]deW2c0anmTc[/youtube]
December 9, 2006 at 15:31 · Filed under life
Like most households in the Geneva area late this past summer, some unexpected and unwelcomed guests made an appearance in everyone’s houses. Fruit flies. Yes, they were annoying. We couldn’t have fruit anywhere, so we ended up only purchasing food if we would be eating it within 24 hours. Wonderful.
As the days got a bit colder, these little bad boys went away. Unfortunately, something else happened in our house: Their little cousins burst onto the scene, in somewhat dramatic fashion. At first, it was barely noticed, as the occasional bug would zzzzzuuuubb past your nose. You’d swing at it and probably squish it. More recently, we have realized that they aren’t interested in leaving house. I decided to take affirmative action. My house being free from wife this weekend, i have been going undercover, attempting to find where they live and how they always seem to multiply, no matter how many we kill. (I must admit, it was getting annoying having a conversation with Harriet (or anyone for that matter) at night, because you could bet on being interrupted almost every minute by a little annoying nat thing.
So anyhow, i got my “Raid moustique” out and have attacked some of their hiding places. I have only met one bug since the shock and awe of last night. We will succeed.
December 7, 2006 at 23:43 · Filed under life
I am off to Madrid tomorrow!! I am so excited to see Wany and her gorgeous daughter Sofia, and Mrs Lucy D’Onofrio!again! Finally, we will be able to sit down and have a civilized chat during our two-day (nearly) catching-up session.
What am I going to do without my beloved and adorable and devoted husband? (Christmas) Shopping, eat out, go out and generally have some girl time (his being male is often an obstacle to this 
) I am surprised at how much I am going to miss him! Going to places is really something you want to share with the person who are going to spend the rest of your life with and the person who knows you best. But this has been, from the outset a girly weekend, so that is the way it’ll have to be.
If anyone is free and wants to take Stuart out and do something exciting, his skype name is “stuartkibbe”!
take care!
December 4, 2006 at 11:23 · Filed under ministry
ICF has a new ministry, dubbed the “Mr Clean Team”, which serves all Sunday ministries by overseeing the cleaning of the building after church. (This used to fall on the shoulders of several teams who would clean the building after an entire afternoon and evening of preparation and other work) The team aims to model and encourage excellence at every level of service, whether it be in the spotlight or behind the scenes.
Yesterday, we unveiled our new ministry logo.
December 4, 2006 at 10:38 · Filed under sport
With all the craze of the Escalade, I forgot to mention that I managed a decent finish in a local race a week prior! The race “NovioduRun” (www.noviodurun.ch) took place in Nyon. Four 2km loops zig-zagging through the old town, the central shopping area, through a small “bois” (forest), leading down to the lake front, and then finally up the steep slope past the Roman ruins back to the Nyon castle, where the start and finish both are.
I strategically chose to run the first two laps easy, and then slowly accelerate on the third and fourth lap. Total distance was 8.1km. The hill at the end of each loop was v steep and probably measures around 200-300m if you include all the zigging and zagging.
I finished 26th overall in a humble time of 31:55. Not too bad considering that I have only done a few weeks of speed (4) this year. The winner ran 25:39, and then one of my tri buddies flew in, in around 27 and change.
Photos here. (flash required)
Results here. (my age group is page 7)
December 2, 2006 at 21:45 · Filed under sport
Harriet ran in the Escalade for the first time in her life. It was quite an experience! I have never seen so many people in the same place in Geneva before - in fact, its the most people I have seen together in one place in Switzerland since I was in Zurich to “experience” the Lake Parade.. yeah. I really enjoyed myself — Seeing my wife flying along during the race, (she even smiled at me once) and … the amazing speed of the elite runners (women running 4.8km in 15:08!!! and the men running 7.2km in 20:01!!!!!!!!!!)
Here is Harriet’s take on the day: I was so nervous but was pleased with my pace for the first half, the second half was more difficult and at times I really just wanted to stop! How unathletic of me… But it ended eventually, thank goodness! I ran 4.8km in 25,44 mins… not great but considering the fact that I had been sick all week and hadn’t really done any serious training, I am quite pleased. Sure I can do better next year!
Stu took some photos of the race; you can view them here:
www.LABELME.org/family/photos/2006/Escalade2006_BIG
or if you have a slower internet connection:
www.LABELME.org/family/photos/2006/Escalade2006
