1. Wireless access is at  HFA-Guest  /  <password listed on the fridge>  .. no the password is not “password listed on the fridge” .. don’t bitch about the password, it’s free WiFi bro!
2. Don’t adjust the temperature!  If you’re cold, put on a sweater, toque (beanie if you’re south of the 49th parallel).  If you’re hot, have a drink with ice, and if that doesn’t help, then piss off.
3. Austin tunes over-ride. Period. Don’t care you want to listen to some wimpy East Coast, West Coast, Popular rock or Northerner crap.
4. If there is a NFL game on, then the game is ON .. don’t expect much else.
5. Don’t suck up *all* the bandwidth in pr0n, dude. Really? I know it’s you. Remember what I do for a living?? Yes there are “proxies” on friend’s free Internet connections. Duh.
6. GPS (aka TomTom or Garvin) HIGHLY recommended for out-of-town-ers.
7. GPS (aka TomTom or Garvin) HIGHLY recommended for in-towners.
8. Be energy conscious. Rinse your damn dishes (don’t be lazy) – that’s what the drying rack is for. Duh.
9. You consume the last bottle of _______, REPLACE it. Damn, there is a Tarjay (Target for our American friends), or H-E-B, or Randall’s within walking distance!
10. Do NOT put your drinks on my Red’s Porch tab. Food is negotiable.
11. You MUST have a valid reason to go to another joint than Red’s
12. Yes, it IS a shower curtain rod like Marriott’s.  No, I didn’t steal it. Nice, eh? That’s another 5.5″ of room in the shower!!
13. No you don’t have to come run with me in the morning at 5am.  Nor do I .. but sometimes I’d appreciate the encouragement out of bed.
14. Recycling bin is in the pantry.  Just cuz y’all are too lazy to actually walk outside and dump your junk in the recycle bucket out back. Just sayin’. By the way .. organics hit the bucket at the BACK .. if you give a cr@p about that stuff.
15. Yes, I do offer a taxi service at 5am to the AUS airport.  It’s $50,000 per one way.  Your choice, but it’s COB bud.
16. Don’t touch the Henkle knife (knives) .. I have to sacrifice  goat entrails to keep it sharp.  Pretty sure you don’t want any part of that. Just sayin’. You get the steak knives.
17. NEVER turn off the Cranberries. EVER. See rule #3.
18. Whoever gets to the music remote wins. Except when Rule #3 applies. That means Al wins. All the time. Damn dude don’t cry.

Ok, you get the point. Be responsible. Recycle. Use less energy. Don’t be lazy. Book your stay. (It’s only uncomfortable for those of you who don’t and wind up sleeping in the same guest bed .. y’all are NOT sleeping with me).

Oh .. ya, I’m sure you’ll have fun here .. no problems, mate. Yes the lights in the back yard are a secret. DON’T tell Amanda.

• The getting lost was worth the coming home. 

• What I fear, I can create.  We must be willing to let go of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

Imagine setting out on a journey without a map and signposts. That’s what it would be like if you tried to do your job without feedback from customers, partners, members of your team, and other key stakeholders, said Piau-Phang (PP) Foo, managing director and senior vice president of Global Sales, Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), in a recent Leading Ideas webcast.

Feedback can be a powerful tool to foster learning and drive better performance. “When executed well and on a consistent basis, it helps get people on track,” said Foo. “It serves as a guide to assist people to know how they are doing and how others perceive their performance.”

Foo cited research that shows that companies that provide frequent feedback energize and motivate their workforce to better performance. They have higher levels of customer satisfaction, hire and retain the best talent, and have better business outcomes.

But giving and receiving feedback, which Foo said is “an objective message about behavior and consequences,” can be challenging. And if you’re like many others, you’ve likely had at least one negative experience when feedback degraded into a verbal wrestling match, an argument about who’s right and wrong.

It doesn’t have to be this way, said Foo. With a little bit of knowledge and preparation, all of us can get better at giving and receiving feedback.

Ten tips for giving feedback

In his webcast, Foo offered HP leaders a range of practical and inspiring ideas for making feedback a competitive advantage, starting with giving feedback:

1. Set expectations.When someone new joins his team, Foo lets that person know that he typically offers prompt feedback. At the same time, he invites the new employee (and everyone else on his team) to give him prompt feedback, as well.
2. Make it informal.Foo tries to make feedback a regular occurrence. “Feedback works best if it is a continual process and not something you do only once or twice a year in a formal session,” he said. “Sometimes, I say to one of my subordinates, ‘Hey, let’s grab a quick lunch so I can give you some feedback.’”
3. Stay focused.Foo says that it is important to focus on just one or two topics at a time—maybe three at the most—so the person receiving feedback is not overwhelmed.
4. Discuss actions, not attributes.People tend to be more open to practical ideas and suggestions that could enhance their job performance than they are to feedback related to aspects of their personality.
5. Be specific.Convey the facts in an objective way, said Foo. For example, describe how an employee’s actions have had an impact on a customer or another member of the team. Avoid expressing emotions and feelings, which can put the other person on the defensive.
6. Check your assumptions.If you plan to give feedback based on something you’ve heard, be sure to investigate the situation for yourself so you can understand the bigger picture and have more empathy. Careless feedback can harm a relationship. “Whatever feedback you give, make sure it’s correct,” Foo said.
7. Be aware of your motivation.People sometimes use “feedback” as a way to get even with or belittle someone. But that’s not true feedback, said Foo. If you are upset about something, take a time out. “Cool down a little bit. Don’t overreact,” he advised.
8. Be balanced.Don’t just focus on the negative. Take a look over a period of time and give specific examples of what the person receiving feedback has done well. Acknowledge his or her contributions to customers and the team.
9. Suggest ways to improve.It’s easy to say that something’s wrong, but the person giving feedback should spend time in advance thinking about ways to improve. “It’s not up to you to come up with all the solutions, but you can start the process,” said Foo.
10. Agree on a time to follow up. Following up can help make feedback stick, but rather than imposing a timeframe, Foo suggests asking the person receiving feedback when he or she would like to talk about the matter again.

Five tips for receiving feedback

Foo also offered practical insights for receiving feedback:

1. Go beyond welcoming feedback; ask for it.If you really want to benefit from feedback, seek it, Foo advised. “Make an effort. It can be as simple as sending a quick email to a colleague and saying, ‘How did I do?’”
2. Manage your emotions.Many of us find it easy to receive feedback when it is positive, but the moment we hear something challenging, we tend to get defensive. “You really need to manage your emotions,” said Foo. “Evaluate the situation before you respond.”
3. Don’t argue, deny, or try to justify.If the feedback you receive catches you by surprise, try to understand the other person’s point of view before you react. Ask for specific examples. For instance, you could say, “When did you see me doing that?”
4. Keep the proper perspective.Feedback usually relates to a specific area of your life, and now you have the opportunity to do something about it. Remember that it’s not about your entire life or you as a person.
5. Take action. After receiving feedback, you have to make a choice: Are you going to act on it, or are you going to ignore it? “I think we have to take action,” said Foo. “If people are willing to give us feedback and we make an effort, it makes an impression.”

Creating a culture of feedback

Feedback can help us learn, grow, and be more fulfilled in our jobs. It can help our team reach higher levels of performance. For these reasons, Foo suggests letting others know that you are open to receiving feedback. Those who might offer you helpful suggestions include people on your team, others in HP, partners and customers.

“Feedback is one of the cheapest, most flexible, yet most powerful tools available to everybody for personal and business success,” said Foo. “It is also perhaps the most underused tool that we have to facilitate learning. I would encourage everybody to use it more often.”

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Remembrance of those who lost their lives and those who gave their lives in the line of duty is an important act that we all should honor.

 We will be doing our most difficult cross country mountain bike ride and will give a minute of silence at the top in honor of those who lost their lives as well as in support of the survivors.

Visit www.911day.org and tell the nation what you’ll be doing on 9/11/11.

Update: At 6,398′ on Moose Mountain, we gave a moment of silence.

John:

Mom was the quiet strength behind our family.

We grew up in a very busy household, first on the Acreage then at Vicary Place. The activities that we participated in while growing up, be it; academic, sport or social were facilitated by Mom.

Throughout my life friends have expressed surprise when they learn that I can cook dinner, wash the dishes, clean the bathroom, iron my shirts, and take out the trash. Of course I can, Mom would not have had it any other way.

I started mountaineering when I was young. Dad introduced it as one of the many activities the 31^St Tiger Scout Troup was involved in. Climbing became a passion of mine, for many years I spent weekends and the summers climbing at Alpine Club camps or with a few friends. It was Mom that made sure that it was all possible, she made gorpe for breakfasts, she made biscuit and meat bars for my lunches, and she dehydrated everything required for suppers. Mom arranged transportation until I was old enough to drive, she then gave up her own car until I had my own.

The winters where for skiing, again it was Mom that made all the parts come together. Mom sewed gaiters for us. She then taught us to operate the sewing machine so we could make our down jackets and pants.

Mom had that ability to keep all of us kids under her protective umbrella while living a very busy and rich life herself.

It was not until a little later in life when I truly appreciated just how special Mom was. Mom rarely showed or gave voice to her fears about our life style choices. Although it did poke its head up a few times. Once, I was very late coming down off a particular climb on Yamnuska because we got had gotten off the route, a little lost. When the two of us were sitting behind the car taking off our climbing boots a RCMP cruiser pulled up, the constable rolled down his window and asked “Are you Pomeroy” I said “Yes”, and I got told “Call your Mother”.

Whatever I did in life Mom supported it, both the failures as well as the successes.

I consider myself very blessed to have been Janet Pomeroy’s son. I feel like I will always be under her umbrella as I continue through the journey that is my life.

I am very grateful that I was able to return a little bit of that protective care as Mom needed it.

Good Bye Mom.

Allen:

People say that parents set the value and moral goal posts and hope their kids develop the ability to make judgment decisions that would make the parents proud. Jan did it.

Mom could cook. The whole gamut. For example .. Fresh bread right out of the oven; the kids slicing the heel off both sides of the loaf (before we got caught) .. of course smothered in butter and sometimes, brown sugar. Her famous Pomeroy family chili. The chili was just another example of Mom’s consideration for others. If the dinner table included guests that didn’t appreciate the Pomeroy level of spice, she made both Family and Company chili. Jan just did it.

Mom exhibited traits that we kids wanted to emulate .. humour, kindness, loyalty, class, complexity and yes .. clairvoyance. She almost always anticipated what was troubling us or what kind of trouble we got into. Mom’s really do have eyes in the back of their heads .. or maybe they are just very good at reading child behavior. As it turns out, sometimes those forensics really didn’t have to very good .. she just had to look for the abnormally clean house to know there was a party while the parents were away. Then Jan really did it.

Mom really knew how to do things. Whether it was her kids or her long time friends asking for help or advice on how to tackle a particular problem, we all thought: “Jan will know”. Of course. Jan’s done it.

Mom was the organizational glue that held the family and her friends together whether it was camping, skiing, hiking, making wine, or just keeping all of the kids in line, Jan did it.

Mom could make all of us kids (including Dad) and her friends succeed by quietly and gracefully supporting and encouraging us to do the right things. Jan just did it.

Mom will be missed, but she leaves a rich legacy: her kids and grandkids can cook, hike, camp, make beer, build houses and companies, perform forensics, engineer, and continually strive for more education and growth. I know her family and friends are richer because of her influence.

Now we all do it.

I would like to take this chance to extend a deep thank you to all the out-of-town travelers, our in-town friends and family, as well as the skilled and caring staff at EMS, Foothills Medical Centre Unit 100 and Chinook Hospice.