Fatherhood Remixed

Just pondering…

Posted on June 15, 2017 by Workshop Joe

What is success?

I’m sitting here in my shared office at work. I took yesterday off with a day’s notice so I could spend time with my family. This morning I came in early so I could be on a conference call with client in Germany. I’ve been working on reports all morning but that’s done and now I’m letting my random thoughts drift through my mind.

To be honest I love my job. I have zero stress and great colleagues. I have more freedom than I’ve ever had at work and I’m able to learn new things all the time. I honestly feel like this is the best job I’ve ever had and yet this morning I feel like a failure.

I had a friend send me a text that I’m sure was well intentioned but it triggered this sort of anxiety that I suppose if pretty typical for a 35 year old male who’s married with 4 kids. I felt stuck. He mentioned the possibility of a job opportunity. It had amazing benefits and seemed like it might actually be better than this one. But it was in a different city. Could I really uproot my family just to chase money? Money. Something I try not to care about but it’s something I need to.

Storm Chasing

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Workshop Joe

If you have never done it before you should. For those of us that call the central coast home it doesn’t happen very often which makes it even more of a treat. This past weekend we were treated to one of the greatest light shows you will ever see. The tricky part is knowing when and where to watch it. I have a good friend that loves lightning like a fat kid loves cake. I heard rain drops falling on Saturday and rushed outside to cover my Bronco. I happen to take the top off earlier this month because there was no way it would rain and of course here comes the remains of a hurricane. Go figure. Anyway, the rain drops that were falling where big fat ones and the air was hot and humid. As I attached the last bungee cord I saw a flash in the clouds to the south. I smiled and knew George would be texting me soon. As I walked through my front door I heard my phone go off. Sure enough, it was George. He asked If I was down to go storm chasing and I answered, “Of course.” He was watching weather patterns and radar images to see when we should head out. It so hard to predict an electrical storm! The elements have to be just right and they can vanish just as fast as they start. The weather forecast said the main part of the storm cell should arrive here around 4 am. He called at midnight and said it was time to roll. With our cell phones, portable chargers and a GoPro we set out to see what we could find. The lightning had started but it was to the north and we were trying to decide which was the best direction to follow it.

D.I.Y.

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Workshop Joe

I gave my wife a new nickname yesterday. I call her Bob. It’s short for Bob Vila or Bob the Builder. Take your pick. She can and will build just about anything out of anything. She must have been an engineer in a past life. With sites like Instructables and the DIY Network it’s no wonder so many people are able to take on projects they never thought they could. One place this doesn’t work is music for your event. With easy access to unlimited libraries of music through Google Play, Pandora and Spotify some people might even consider just hooking up their Iphone to a PA system and hitting shuffle. But there is so much more to a proper DJ than just playing music. When you hire a professional you are able to rely on their expertise to keep your event running smoothly. They will be there to help direct the crowd and make announcements. In case there is a technical difficulty they will have the know how to correct things without downtime. We have been working as a team to make sure we can deliver the best experience possible. I take care of all the technical details and John is the life of the party. One thing we also put a big emphasis on is making sure that what is being played is appropriate for the event. The last thing you want in grandma being told to put her back in to it or your CEO that money ain’t a thing. You want to have an awesome time and we want to make sure that happens. So the next time you have an event leave it to the professionals. There are lots of D.I.Y projects out there. The DJ isn’t one of them.

Sunshine & Rainbows

Posted on July 3, 2015 by Workshop Joe

A great boxer once said, “It ain’t about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” When I first heard those words spoken by a battered veteran of pugilism I knew he was probably right. I also knew he was speaking about a lot more than the boxing ring. He was speaking about life. Now I must confess that I’m talking about a fictional character. A figment of someone’s imagination but it doesn’t make those words any less true. I imagine that most people look to self-help books or blogs by inspiring writers for their inspiration. I could be wrong but based on the number of self-help books published every year I don’t think I’m that far off. Now I know I was supposed to share how inspired I was by a blog post and share that with you but I don’t read blogs. If it weren’t for a certain class assignment I wouldn’t even be writing this one. But here we are and I did happen to find a blog post with my favorite scene from Rocky Balboa in it. Whether you view the clip at Joseph Michael’s blog or on Youtube the message should be the same. As Mr. Michael summarizes, “Success isn’t determined by how smart, talented, or skilled you are; it is determined by how hard you can persevere through challenges.”

Batman & Robin

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Workshop Joe

Fatherhood can be a doozy. You have all these ideas on how it’s going to work out, what you’re going to do and what your plans are but it never quite works out that way. As I sit here writing I have ribs on the barbeque, I’m trying to get homework done so we can go to the drive in, my family is tye dying shirts in the backyard and I can’t forget about those ribs. Somewhere between 14 years of marriage, 4 kids and a career 2 Dads Music was formed. It’s literally 2 dads, their families and a lot of craziness. John and I (Joe if you didn’t know that) collided into a seismic friendship that must have been destined to happen. We are like Batman and Robin, butter and toast, chow mein and orange chicken. Ok, that last one was a little strange but you get the idea. Read More