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Jonas and Me

2008-02-24T18:18:23-05:00

Are You a Geek?

2008-01-22T22:30:49-05:00

When I was maybe 11 or 12, I had a poster on my wall that said "Are
You a Geek?" The poster had a picture of a very nerdy looking male
with a pocket full of pens, glasses, etc.

Ed came with me to see customers in Houston. We just left the hotel
room on our way to Chuy's when I notice what he's wearing.

There are no less than 4 pens in his pocket, a key ring thingy on his
belt, and a USB FLASH DRIVE hanging from his neck.

A USB FLASH DRIVE!

Ed at Olive Garden

2008-01-20T21:46:57-05:00

photo.jpg,

I'm in Texas right now visiting customers. Here is a shot of my friend, Ed Parris, filling his face at Olive Garden.

This picture was taken and uploaded via my iPhone because Ed didn't think I could do it!

Spiderman Panties

2007-10-26T10:53:01-04:00

Anna came in the bathroom this morning as I was getting out of the shower. Upon observing a thread-worn pair of boxers I had discarded in the bin (second pair this week), she said "Daddy, you need a new pair of panties. I'm going to get you a new pair of Spiderman Panties for my birthday, when I'm four." She is a generous, thoughtful little girl.

My Sweet Daughter

2007-10-20T18:47:20-04:00

Today I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch, made especially for me by my eldest daughter. She is five. She was going to make one for herself and asked if I would like one too. Did I mention she is five?

*all child labor comments will be deleted :-)

Men are from MARS!

2007-10-13T01:10:33-04:00

Our friend and babysitter, Megan, comes over to watch Tivo'd episodes of Lost and the occasional movie as her busy schedule permits. While the cast of Lost is hard at work in beautiful Hawaii to bring us the next season, we decided to give Journeyman a look since it was too late to start a movie.

The three of us had just finished watching the pilot of Journeyman. It had an interesting sci-fi time travel kind of plot, so I enjoyed it. The show ended with the guy proving to his wife, who was convinced he was on drugs, that he really was traveling through time. My thoughts after this scene were that I'd like to watch the next episode to see how they open up the plot and elaborate on the whole time travel angle.

The first post-show comment I heard was Megan reassuring Margaret, "well, at least now she knows," which prompted a rehash of all the inter-character relationships and emotional issues they would each face given the storyline that had developed.

As a Martian, I cannot imagine watching this show and then at the end turning to a buddy and saying, "well, Ed, at least he convinced his wife he wasn't really on drugs. It's too bad he wrecked the Mustang and had to tear up the patio.. He was probably feeling a lot of stress from all the time traveling and the strained relationship with his brother and his boss at work. Poor guy. Oh, and did you notice the shoes?"

And its not just this one show, but pretty much after every episode of Lost I'll have to hear about how Kate must feel being torn between Jack and Sawyer blah blah blah...

...women are from Venus.

Anna's Goatee

2007-10-07T11:21:50-04:00

Anna's Goatee,

Anna was running around outside this morning and planted her chin into the sidewalk. That's a Dora bandaid on her chin, forming a pointy goatee!

Z at Beaners

2007-09-25T18:53:30-04:00

Here's a shot of Z relaxing in a comfy chair at Beaner's. Its a nice place to hang out for a little while to unwind at the end of the day. My favorite drink right now is a short vanilla breve latte with two shots of espresso poured over the top. Yum.

Some of you will be happy to know that I finally took the time to figure out how to take a picture with the iPhone and then post it with comments to the website. Lots of websites now are putting out special pages designed for the iPhone. Slick.

Halo 3

2007-09-24T21:58:30-04:00

I thought I'd catch a late show tonight.. The show starts at 10, ends at 11:40, and tonight just happens to be the night they are releasing Halo 3. What perfect timing.. I'll get out of the show just in time to pick up what is certain to be my next favorite game on the xbox 360.

Given the game's popularity, I guess I should not be surprised to find there are 75 people (and counting) with the exact same idea, and they got here first. Should I wait?

UPDATE: I came out of the theater to find about 200 people standing in the parking lot outside of GameStop. Seriously.

1+1=6

2007-06-04T10:55:50-04:00

We have a new baby! Jonas Russell Winn was born May 6, 2007, weighing 9 lbs and 21" tall. Mom and baby are doing well. Me? Well, I'm just really glad the whole birth thing is over. It's no fun at all, and my job is the easy part. I can't imagine how women have more than one baby.. it seems that after the first they'd know for sure they didn't want to do that again!

Very Proud of Herself

2007-04-14T21:51:18-04:00

Scott Winn

AppleTV

2007-04-09T18:35:09-04:00

It will come as no surprise to anyone reading this blog that I went out and bought an AppleTV the day it became available in the Apple store. I was # 8 to get one for the day. I assure you it was purely coincidence that I happened to be in Grand Rapids that day and looking for something to do before catching a movie.. it was in no way planned.. REALLY!

I've rather enjoyed being able to access all my geeky computer-downloaded content on my television. This would include a large music collection, pictures, some ripped DVDs, a few shows downloaded from iTunes.. oh, and PODCASTS. The video podcasts I can now watch on the AppleTV are the bees knees. You probably have no idea how many video podcasts are available on iTunes absolutely free, and the quality of these (amateur?) productions is steadily increasing as more people figure out how to monetize the whole free video podcast concept.

Right now, the available video podcasts appeal mostly to technology enthusiasts, but you can also find videos on other subjects, such as travel. Taking a trip and exploring the world is pure bliss for me. Travelistic has video podcasts about all sorts of interesting places, and today I found they have a pretty spiffy website too.

You can download video podcasts from iTunes (free) without an AppleTV.. but you'll want one eventually as more content becomes available and you get really hooked like I am.

Technorati Tags: travelistic, video podcast

Another Birthday

2007-04-03T01:00:54-04:00

For those of you wondering how my birthday was celebrated this year, after last year's excitement, you'll be disappointed to know it was rather uneventful. I avoided smoothies with green powder and oil and other healthy stuff and took the kids to see Meet the Robinsons, topped off with a large slice of chocolate cake with milk chocolate icing (my favorite). And, no, I am not 40...

Charlottesville, Virginia

2007-04-03T00:45:10-04:00

Monday I explored Charlottesville, Virginia, and the surrounding area. It's very hilly here and quite green. Everything is in bloom this time of year and it was a pleasant 78 degrees with a slight hint of humidity in the air.

I spent the morning working from Java Java, a java joint in the downtown pedestrian mall area of Charlottesville (nice place). Everyone I met today was asked how they like living here, how humid is it in the summer, and how bad are the mosquitoes. They all agreed that Charlottesville is a great place to live, but that it's sticky in a hot and humid kind of way in the summer (yuck). The Java Java coffee dude told me he feels like a "mosquito buffet." One lady warned me that "those mosquitoes will carry you away, honey." There was another guy who didn't think it was too humid and said the mosquitoes weren't that bad, but he was from Florida and of course he'd say that.

Review: Super Mercado De Guanajuato

2007-03-31T12:29:14-04:00

Oh how I love Chicken Enchiladas with green sauce from an AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurant, and who would ever believe that I found such an establishment in Ionia, Michigan of all places? Enter Super Mercado De Guanajuato on Main Street and step into a little Mexican grocery store. Mexican DVDs on display, a Spanish soap opera on the television, those little packages of gum the kids try to sell you when you cross the border, corn tortillas wrapped in paper, it's like you are THERE.

I had driven by this place several times and never stopped. One day, being particularly hungry for some good Mexican food, I noticed the sign had "tacos" on it and thought how tacos aren't the kind of thing you normally find in a grocery store. I stopped in and inquired, in my most convincing Spanish accent, "Hola Senor, que est de word 'tacos' ona tu sign? Dos tu serva de lunch ora justa groceries?" Pointing to the rear of the store he said, "de restaurante in back".

What a pleasant surprise. Indeed, in the back of the store was a smallish eating area which I would commonly refer to as a "hole in the wall." It's not fancy. Several booths and tables filled the space and on one wall was a dry erase board listing the day's specialties. Next to the menu is a pass through window where you place your order directly with Alberto who does his best job at understanding your first year of high school Spanish (in my case it was Latin). Just like in Mexico, you don't order chicken fajitas here, you want real Mexican food. "Enchiladas de pollo con green sauce, por favor." Alberto understands my pathetic attempt at his language and nods a confirmation, then we sit down and watch Spanish music videos for 20 minutes.

Since I'm only pretending to be a restaurant critic, I won't go on with impressive descriptions of how wonderful the food was. I took pictures! It is seriously the best Mexican food I have had north of New Mexico and highly recommend it. I went there twice last week on consecutive days. The Cokes are even bottled in Mexico, so you know it's the real deal!

Now don't go there and order chicken fajitas and post on here that they aren't anything like Don Pablos. Well, duh. They won't serve you chips and salsa when you sit down, and nobody seats you and asks for your order. Keep your orders to the cook really simple unless English is your second language, and take my advice: stay away from anything that sounds like "Lengua" or "Tripas".

Mental Break

2007-03-20T13:41:29-04:00

What a break that turned out to be! I'm referring of course to the lack of posts on here since October or so. For those who are curious, here's the condensed version.

I was really busy back in October. We took a trip to Atlanta to visit some friends and around that time I got a big portfolio to work on which kept me occupied through the end of November. I was spending a lot of time getting the work stuff done and just didn't have the mental energy for the fun computer stuff at the end of the day.

It occurred to me that there were only maybe three people reading this blog and that they surely wouldn't even notice the lack of updates, so I kinda got out of the habit of posting regularly. I even stopped taking pictures of the kids, our trips, etc. and the pictures I did take didn't get transferred to the computer. You're thinking, "How Bizarre! How unlike you, Scott! Bring back that other dude.. he was cooler." Ok, so maybe all three of you reading this blog aren't thinking that, but my friend Ed actually said those things to me.

We traveled this year from mid-December through the end of February. Two or three weeks were spent with my family in Texas and the rest of the time was divided between friends in New Mexico and exploring New Mexico and Colorado. Yes, it was a blast! By the end of December friends and family were starting to ask if everything was OK since I hadn't posted in while.. which of course was a surprise since I didn't think they looked at my blog.

We had extended stays in Fort Worth, El Paso, Albuquerque, and Boulder. Truthfully, although we have really good friends in El Paso that I was looking forward to seeing, the thought of spending much time in El Paso was not appealing. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that El Paso was much nicer than I remembered from my last brief visit in 1990. The weather was pretty great the whole time (for January) and the mexican food was awesome. I have developed a new love for GREEN CHILE's and Chicken Enchilada's with Green Chile sauce... SOOOOO good.

The warm weather and seeing so many people outside walking and biking was appealing. It's not a lifestyle a person living in Michigan can easily embrace in January. It seems that walking and biking are becoming much more common modes of transportation in the cities we visited in New Mexico, but even up into Colorado we saw bike racks full of bikes and people out walking even though it was a tad chilly.

Our favorite spots on the trip were Fort Collins, Colorado and Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, I think I could pick up and move to either of these places pretty easily. The landscape in New Mexico is pretty dry. Most people have rock yards and there is little grass or trees, so that doesn't interest me. What I really like is the weather: mid 40's in January, 60's in March, not too hot in July (the dry air helps a bunch). Fort Collins was a very cool college town, but more about that in another post....

Baby, would you like espresso with that catfish?

2006-10-27T00:50:20-04:00

We've been in Georgia this week visiting some friends. Today Tim took me by a "local" coffee shop for a change of pace since Starbucks here seem to outnumber everyone else by 10 to 1. It looked like a typical coffee place from the outside, but walking up to the front door I noticed a piece of paper taped to the window advertising the Wednesday night All-You-Can-Eat Catfish special.

Amused, I prepare myself for what will surely be a blast of deep-fried stuffy air and open the door. Things look more coffee shop-ish on the inside than the catfish teaser in front would lead you to believe, so I make my way to the back to place my order. "Hey Darlin'" is the greeting I receive from the dark-haired flannel shirt wearing southern woman behind the counter. My amusement has turned into a full blown grin. "Hi there", I said. "I'd like a double vanilla breve latte with the espresso poured over the top." She replied with a puzzled, "You want what, baby?"

We became well acquainted in the five minutes it took her to prepare my fix, and she was most appreciative that I had explained what a breve is and how it just isn't kosher to have catfish and espresso served in the same establishment. "Be carefull, doll, it's really hot" she drawled, and carefully handed me the lidless 175 degree beverage.

What a friendly, hospitable place. Where else but Georgia can you be called darlin', baby, and doll, and then be served espresso and catish?

Too Slick

2006-09-17T21:56:23-04:00

Last week I met a "wealth manager" after a conference over in Birmingham, Michigan (cool place). Out in the lobby after the conference, he sat down next to me and another guy and started chatting about the conference, what we all do for a living, if we had any kids, etc. I mentioned I have three precious kiddos at home, at which point he said "hey, let me show you a picture of my kids."

Ok, I'm thinking.. he's a proud dad. That's great. I should probably carry around pictures of my kids in my wallet, or in something less nerdy than on my cell phone (does that make me a bad dad?).

He begins to flip through a three ringer binder, pointing to pictures of celebrities and "important looking" people (presumably some of his clients) and finally gets to a picture of his teenage children. Then he tells us that he put $32,000 into a fund that he manages and that it's appreciated to some astronomical figure over the last three months, 500% growth or something like that. I'm being pitched.

Anyone who can start with "let me show you a picture of my kids" and ends with "results like this, of course, are not guaranteed, but I mange [name drop] and [name drop] and blah blah blah options, and blah blah blah futures, and here's my card if you're interested in blah blah" is too slick for me.

Today's Funny

2006-09-16T22:06:08-04:00

Today's laugh was produced by the following snippet. I'm sure it was forwarded a billion times, and I haven't a clue where it originated. (And, no, it's NOT ok to add me to a joke-of-the-day list):

A man and his ever-nagging wife went on vacation to Jerusalem . While
they were there, the wife passed away. The undertaker told the husband,
"You can have her shipped home for $5,000, or you can bury her here, in
the Holy Land , for $150." The man thought about it and told him he
would just have her shipped home.

The undertaker asked, "Why would you spend $5,000 to ship your wife
home, when it would be wonderful to be buried here and you would spend
only $150?"

The man replied, "Long ago a man died here, was buried here, and three
days later he rose from the dead. I just can't take that chance."

Movie Review: The Illusionist

2006-09-09T02:45:04-04:00

Tonight I went to see The Illusionist staring Edward Norton (Fight Club) and Jessica Biel. GREAT movie. It's a little dark, mysterious, almost creepy. I really enjoyed it. The setting, characters, and plot were all excellent. I was really into the story and it seemed like it was going to have a ho-hum ending, and then it all came together at once to complete the story with the happy ending spin to boot. Go see it.