I'm a Web Guy, Internet Marketer, Downtowner, and Apple Fanboy. I live in Colorado Springs and blog about things like the Web, Technology, and Business. I also have a wife, two daughters, and three sons that keep me busy!A Father’s Perspective on Homebirth
If you know me well, you probably know my family is a home birth family. Which means, of course, that we choose to give birth our children at home with a midwife in attendance. If you didn’t know that about me, congrats! You will now learn all about a huge aspect of my life.
I have five children, ages seven and under, and I’ve only been married for just under eight years, so for the entirety of my wife’s and my marriage, we’ve been consumed with all things related to babies, birth, and children. We’re just now starting to relax now that our child bearing years are behind us. Sometimes I feel like we should take a vacation and do nothing but sleep for a month!
Guest Post: Parkour is Not a Crime
[Note: This is a guest post, from my little brother, Ryan Stauffer. He's 17, and lives outside Pueblo, Colorado. As you will see, he clearly has a passion for Freerunning and Parkour. Slightly edited for brevity, I'm sharing an essay he wrote to help him spread the word here. -Ron]
My name is Ryan Stauffer. I am 17 years old, and I am what you call a “freerunner”, or “traceur.” This means that I practice the art of Parkour. I have been training in parkour for over three years.
It is my mission to show the true purpose of parkour; to differentiate between extreme movement and recklessness, and show you why I believe parkour should be an important part of every community. To begin, let’s look at what this art is: Parkour is the discipline of getting from point A to point B in the fastest and most efficient way possible, using only the human body and the environment. The goal of parkour is to get you over, around, or past any obstacles in your path. The modern name “parkour” is actually a variation of the french “le parcours,” though in its early days it was called “L’art du deplacement,” meaning “The Art of Displacement” or “The Art of Movement”. Continue Reading →
Volunteering at The Colorado Springs Police Dept
Have you ever wondered how it is Police Officers know that people are drunk just by looking at their eyes or watching them walk on a line during a field sobriety test?
When I took the Colorado Springs Police Department’s Citizen’s Academy last year, I found out exactly how this is done: they practice, with volunteers. The police cadets learn how to conduct sobriety tests with “real live drunk people” who are local citizens who volunteer to be picked up by the police van Continue Reading →
Free Parking in Downtown Colorado Springs
Did you know there’s a free parking lot right in Downtown Colorado Springs? There actually two areas right in the heart of Downtown that most people don’t know about where you can park for free without any permits and there aren’t any parking meters to worry about. The funniest part about this, is it’s right in the middle of the other metered parking, and only a block or two away from several very expensive parking garages. But because they’re right out in plain view, you might not even notice them.
Free Parking Area #1:
The first free parking area is along the median in the middle of the the East/West road E. Vermijo right between Continue Reading →
My Experience Going Back To School, 10 Years Later
I was recently asked on Quora to answer a question relating to entrepreneurship and school:
“Given the diverse and unique challenges faced by a startup, is it really worth it for an entrepreneur to invest heavily in an MBA, especially when this investment has two facets: 1) finances and 2) valuable time which can alternatively be utilized to grow a startup through real life learning experience?”
I love this question. And I love the thought process behind the question. It’s one I’ve struggled with many times myself. Here’s a link to my answer, if you’d like to read it. However, this question has really sparked in me the desire to finally write the blog post I’ve wanted to for several months: a post about my going back to college after taking a few years off. So here it is… I’ve finally gotten around to writing down my thoughts. Continue Reading →
“Would You Like To Drive Home In A Ford Today?”
About seven years ago, right after my wife and I were married, we went on our very first shopping trip as a married couple, to furnish our brand new apartment. We bought all the essentials, like a broom, a doormat, a coffeemaker, toilet paper, sugar, and other things you never think of until you move into a new place. When we went out to the parking lot, I tried to start my car, but it wouldn’t start. But it didn’t just need a jump or a tow, it was totally dead—broken beyond repair, as we found out.
Anyone who remembers that little blue 1989 Ford Escort hatchback I drove wouldn’t have been surprised that it died—just about everything else on it was already broken by that point. So there I was, stranded in the parking lot, with my new bride, wanting to head back to our new home with a car full of groceries. Fortunately, my wife had a car as well, so we just drove hers back to the house and planned what to do next. Continue Reading →
A Caribbean Cruise: My Experience
In January of this year, I took a 7-day cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. Due to a very special friend of mine, I didn’t even have to pay—it was a Christmas gift. (Christmas miracles do happen, I’m now convinced). Since I’ve gotten back, so people have asked “how was the cruise?” that I decided to write down all my thoughts, mainly so I wouldn’t forget them, but also to answer a lot of people all at the same time. So, in case you wondered, here are the details!
The Best Ad of Super Bowl 2013
Ok, I confess: I didn’t watch the Superbowl on Sunday. Actually, I haven’t watched a Super Bowl in several years—the last one I actually watched all the way through with interest was Super Bowl XXXI, when the Green Bay Packers killed the Patriots 35-21 back in 1997. And even then, I still didn’t care that much, since my favorite team (The Miami Dolphins) wasn’t playing.
However, since that time, even though my interest in football has waned, I have avidly watched most Super Bowls… not for the game, but (ironically) for the commercials that play during the game. I say ironic because for most other people with sanity, the point of watching TV is Continue Reading →
I’m a Sucker for Print Magazines
I’m a digital guy. I’m part of the digital generation that grew up with computers and cell phones. Technology is my friend! When I want to read the news, I get it online. When I need to write something down, I whip out my iPhone and jot down whatever comes to mind in my Notes app. (Or, since I got my iPhone 5, I just tell Siri to write down my notes for me!) When I want to talk to someone, I email or text them. When I want to set an appointment in the future, I open up iCal and book it in my electronic calendar on my iPhone or Mac. I have never subscribed to any newspaper, Continue Reading →
Rackspace Cloud U Certification
I recently took an exam about Cloud Computing from Rackspace, to test my knowledge in how Cloud Computing works, who the big players are, what the benefits are, and more. Since this is a topic I’m already extremely familiar with, I took it in a weekend and got a 90%. The exam focused on the different kinds of Cloud services offered these days: Platform as a Service (Paas), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and the much more well-known Software as a Service (SaaS). Continue Reading →