Dossy's Blog

Tonight, driving home from dinner, the subject of Mother Nature came up. Charlie, my 7-year-old daughter, asked, “What about houses?” We explained that houses are man-made, to which my daughter explained without hesitation, “Oh, that must be Father Nature, then”–which logically follows since fathers are men.

I am constantly reminded of how I want to be as smart as she is when I grow up.

I’m on vacation with the family this week and we’re back in Ocean City, MD. We were here in September 2005 at the Club Ocean Villas II, at which time the Hilton Suites Ocean City Oceanfront was still being built. We all really liked Ocean City, so we wanted to check it out. I’m a bit wary of trying out a brand new resort so I said we should try to get in for 2007, this way you avoid all the early growing pains.

Like last time, we came down the Garden State Parkway to the end and took the Cape May/Lewes Ferry across. The traffic was very kind to us and we made the drive in great time. The Hilton is situated between 32nd and 33rd Street. Checking in at the hotel was pleasant and uneventful, and our room was ready and waiting for us.

Here’s the view from our suite, #614. The view is fantastic, looking out over the ocean and the two outdoor pools.

Of course, while this is a vacation for the family, in the evenings I’m busy getting work done. Fortunately, there’s fully wired Ethernet in the suite and wireless networks set up in the lobby area. Out of curiousity, I decided to try a quick speed test to see what kind of bandwidth they’re offering:

My outbound connections are coming from 74-95-78-21-delmarva.hfc.comcastbusiness.net (74.95.78.21). It appears that I’m getting 512 Kbps down, 128 Kbps up–not amazing bandwidth, but totally adequate for teleworking.

It’s still early in the vacation, but unless something goes radically wrong, this is definitely a place I hope to be able to come back to again. It’s definitely a plush, five-star resort and a great way to enjoy the Ocean City beach.

Tags: Hilton Suites, Ocean City, Maryland, vacation

Recently I’ve been recounting some very wise words my father shared with me when I asked him how to be successful. I left this comment on a friend’s (protected) blog entry, but I want to repeat it here for others to read:

Oh, K___ … in a sense, you’re lucky you’re only feeling this way now. I went through the “epiphany of stupidity” when I was a young teenager–realizing that I was smart but lazy and when the smart wears off, you start feeling really dumb and incapable.

The beauty and strength of this situation is that you are actually still very smart but now your goals lie outside the bounds of your natural laziness. Being lazy isn’t necessarily bad: it’s what drives really smart people to innovate.

My father, who didn’t complete a formal education, is one of the more successful people I know. One day, I asked him the secret to success and his answer was:

“Don’t be too smart. Be just stupid enough to not realize you’re failing. Then, just keep doing something until you succeed.”

Wiser words were never spoken.

You are fortunate in that you were and still are an exceptionally bright person. The upside here is that you now have the wisdom of your ignorance: you can now see the dirty spots that need cleaning that you couldn’t see before. Set your mind on a goal and be tenacious and persistent until success comes to you. Your ability to achieve is truly without limit.

Tags: wisdom, success, inspiration, quote

Tonight, at bedtime, my daughter Charlie decided to read a chapter out of one of her favorite book series, Phantom Stallion by Terri Farley.

We’ve made reading before bed a ritual with our kids since long before they could even speak. Perhaps its no coincidence, but both Charlie and Suzie are very advanced readers for their age.

Normally, I do the reading at bedtime so the kids can just relax and get ready to doze off, but tonight Charlie wanted to do the reading. As she read through the chapter, she yawned and said, “Boy, they sure can fit a lot of words on a page.”

I could only reply, “Yes, they sure can, sweetie.” My girls constantly amaze me at the depth of their keen observations. I hope they can hold onto their ability to discover things with such ease, and I can remain in awe of them.

My oldest daughter Charlie has been riding western-style horseback for the past three and a half years, and she’s been participating in the gymkhana’s that her teacher, Troy Roberto, organizes. This past Friday, she rode with five other students and she did a fantastic job! Here’s her smiling as she receives her ribbons:

Here’s a short clip of her finishing up her pole bending event:

(You’ll need JavaScript and Shockwave Flash to view this video.)

Of course, Suzie finds something fun and creative to do while she cheers her big sister on. She decided to create a fun rock sculpture, which she explained was “a painter artist” which was holding his own palette with small rock arms.

I’m so proud of my girls!

Tags: family, horseback riding, gymkhana, omoksee