The team is amazing in the things we get done, especially considering we mostly all live in different cities and even countries. I feel lucky to be a part of it.

I’ve been using it all this week for all my computer working time and I’m on it right now writing this. I’m walking at a 1.5 MPH pace right now and I expect to try and get that up to 2.0 MPH over the next couple of months. I’m taking it slow and steady so as to not overdo it, and that seems to be paying off. I find that my concentration and focus level is higher and my mind isn’t getting distracted as much. The only real challenge has been drinking coffee and walking at the same time. Marching band experience to the rescue there!

One of the great things about having a treadmill desk is it means that I’m never missing my chance to burn calories. Previously, like Jeff, I’d have some client deadline that that would make time spent at the gym feel like I was putting myself further behind since I wasn’t getting anything done while I worked out. Now, I get my calorie burning and client work in at the same time. Win-win!

Jeff’s plans are good and are easy to follow, although I made a few changes and have a few tips:

1. I ended up needing a couple of pipe wrenches getting my pipes unscrewed when I messed up a little and then I used them again to tighten things together before attaching to the wood.

2. My short cross pieces of pipe are about 17″ instead of 20″ so that the tops of the supports more easily fit to the edge of the wood.

3. I’m 5′ 11″, so I went with 22″ pipe lengths for the legs instead of 23″.

4. I put the center of the guy wire holes 1.5″ in from side and back. These measurements aren’t marked on Jeff’s diagram, so I guessed and this seems to work well.

5. A swaging tool, used properly, makes crimping the wire very easy. Both Lowe’s and the Home Depot have them on the isle with the wire rope. It’s going to run you about $20-$30. Linking them here as I had a hard time finding them in the stores.

6. Jeff’s Lowe’s must be awesome to carry the 1 1/4″ thick boards for this project, but mine didn’t, so I went with 1″ thick. No problems holding all my computing stuff. You’ll find them on the moulding and furniture building isle. They are NOT in lumber (they’ll just stare at you blankly if you ask).

7. The treadmill comes almost fully assembled, but be careful taking it out of the box. The console comes attached and can drop and yank out the wires when you lift it out. I had to send my first one back because this happened to me.

8. Be prepared to spend some time on this project, it’s not easy or quick. And I’d get the wood work done and painted to dry while you wait for the treadmill to be shipped. You really want to give the paint a couple of days to dry.

I’m so glad Brenden got to go this year. The extra year of maturity really showed. He was making friends and running around with other kids and generally having a blast. Both kids were really well behaved and we had a great time together.

It was also good to talk with other parents of kids with similar hand differences about the things going on as their kids get older. The funny thing is, we all realize that the hand differences are almost zero of our challenges. Our challenges come from the fact we have kids. It’s like an extra bonus parenting support group to know we’re going through the same things as others raising their kids.

And here are a few pictures from the weekend:

What an amazingly crafted video.

(via Jim Dovey)

The worst offender for me is Time Warner Cable. Over the summer I switched to their high speed cable internet service because it offered much better download and, more importantly to me, upload speeds over my existing U-Verse internet service. Since then, at least once a month, I get a phone call from them trying to up-sell me on subscribing to cable or their phone service. The worst part of this is the opening line of that call: “We’d like to extend an offer to you, one of our best customers”.

My response last time was that if they called me again to try and up-sell me, I wouldn’t be one of their customers at all. I immediately got the “do not call list” spiel and was told I shouldn’t be called again. Since then, I haven’t had a call from them. I don’t want to cancel my cable internet service, but I also don’t want to be up-sold for products I don’t care about. I’m very aware of their other products, and if I wanted them, I would have already have them.

So companies, please take note, when you have someone already on the line, just be grateful you have them and find more customers elsewhere.

Shipping something via a UPS Store location means only that location can call UPS about any issues with your shipment. You’re stuck talking through a middleman. Nowhere in their store or on their receipts do they mention this. From now on, I’m shipping only via USPS or FedEx.

The sordid tale:

A few weeks ago I shipped a package using UPS via “The UPS Store”. I’ve used this location several times for shipping, notary services, and US Mail drop off. The clerk, who later turned out to be the manager, let me know that Ground shipping would get my package to its destination overnight. I was pretty happy with that. I notified the recipient and sent them the tracking number.

I entered the tracking number into Delivery Status (a great app for your iOS device for tracking packages) so I could watch the shipment’s progress. As expected, it was “Out for delivery” the next morning. It was “Out for delivery” at 10 PM when the recipient contacted me to make sure they had the right tracking number as they didn’t have the package yet. That night, Deliver Status updated the status for the tracking number with “Out for delivery” again. When the package hadn’t arrived by 10 PM the second day, I called UPS.

After a brief wait on hold, I got a nice lady on the phone who was ready to help me. I gave her the tracking number and then she asked if I was with The UPS Store. I told her that I was not, but that I was the person who shipped the package at The UPS Store. At this point, the helpfulness stops. I’m told that The UPS Store became the shipper of record as they were the last ones to touch the package and it was shipped under their UPS account. I clarify a couple of times that despite the fact I paid for the shipping and it was my package, I was powerless to initiate anything to find the package and that only The UPS Store I used could do so. Of course, being so late at night, I’d have to wait until the next morning to go to the UPS Store to get things sorted out.

I was very upset.

After those tweets, the UPS help twitter account replied with essentially the same information I’d been given over the phone. It really bugged me that this wasn’t explained anywhere in the store or on the receipt you get when you ship there.

First thing the next morning, I went to the store and the same clerk was on duty. I told her that I had problem with a package I had shipped and gave her the tracking number. She looked it up in the computer and came to the same conclusion that I did: “Something’s not right”. She then calls UPS in front of me and gives them the tracking number and says she’s the manager of the UPS Store that shipped the package. They then start asking her questions about the package. She has to relay those questions to me because, being the shipper, I actually know the answers UPS needs to know. After about 5 minutes of this back and forth, UPS initiates a trace on the package. I’m told it will take 5-7 business days to complete the trace.

Needless to say, after having to use a intermediary to conduct the phone call I tried to do the night before, I was fuming. Trying to remain calm, I ask the manager what’s the deal with why I have to have her make that call for me. And she replies with “that’s just the way it’s setup. It’s stupid”. To which I responded that yes, it is stupid and it’d just cost her and UPS a customer. I asked where in the store or on any receipt I was given that it was stated that I’d no longer be the responsible party for the package. She said there wasn’t anywhere that was posted. I then informed here that it should be in huge red letters on a banner behind the counter. Or at the very least on the huge receipt they print out. I haven’t returned to the store since`.

My biggest frustration here is that I entered a place with the UPS logo on it and shipped a package via UPS under the impression that UPS would be the one helping me. It turns out, each UPS Store location is an independent franchisee. The problem seems to stem from the fact that UPS bought Mailboxes, Etc and turned them into The UPS Store without changing their previous relationship. I’m willing to bet that any normal person would assume that shipping a package at The UPS Store would be just like dropping it off at a UPS warehouse for shipping. Incidentally, shipping at a UPS warehouse is the only place where you remain the shipper of record and can initiate package traces.

This UPS policy also applies when you drop your package off for shipping at a Staples that’s an authorized UPS shipping center. I was told this on the phone with UPS and verified it at my local Staples. So beware there as well.

To check and see if this was FedEx’s policy, I went to my local FedEx Office and asked them if I shipped something through them via FedEx if I’d be able to deal with FedEx directly or have to come to them in the store. To my relief, I was informed that I would be able to handle any shipping issues directly with FedEx. From now on, I’m only shipping with FedEx and the US Postal Service. I suggest you do the same.

And for those wondering, after a few days, the package finally arrive to where I shipped it, so there’s at least that one bright spot.

Steve’s vision and his company’s products are the reason I have a career at all. From programming on my friend’s Apple IIe, to my first Mac, to the iPhones and iPads I work on now, Steve has affected so much of my professional life. So many others have written great pieces about Steve, and I’ll cede the floor to them, but I just wanted to say: Thank you Steve.

The Pixar Gates	Giant Luxo and Ball
Me standing next to Woody and Buzz Lightyear made out of Lego	The Awards cabinet with the Oscars and other awards
Me as a Toy Story 3 Action Figure	The Toy Story Aliens
Pixar Lobby	Me with Sulley and Mike from Monsters Inc.

The lobby is truly awesome. On the left is the cafeteria, on the right are the company store, the mailroom, the playroom and a kitchen. The building was designed by Steve Jobs and is setup to make “chance encounters” happen between people from different departments. It’s an incredible working environment. I wish I could show you what I saw once we went upstairs, but I’d hate to get myself and my employee friend in trouble. If you ever get the chance to tour the Pixar Studio, do it!