Facebook privacy starts with you...

If you are on Facebook long enough, you're going to see a friend's status start something like this...

"Warning!!!  FACEBOOK HAS CHANGED THEIR PRIVACY SETTINGS!"

Have you ever received a phone call saying you just won a cruise?  Got an email saying you won millions of pounds?  Will get thousands of dollars for forwarding a message because you're helping some software company test tracking software?  Have you ever been the victim of a practical joke?

What follows this statement is a list of instructions of what they would like you to do to help them keep their privacy, and it MUST be done by you (sometimes upon threat of becoming an ex-friend)!  They suddenly have no control over their account privacy settings because Facebook configured it that way.  Ok, stop...  Let's think about this a minute.  Does Facebook really want to upset people like that?  Hmm, they did force Timeline on us despite much outcry...  Alright, maybe they could be that dumb...  Back in our post, the last request is to copy said post and paste the message to your status and post it and the poster will be kind enough to help you out in the same way.  Thanks, you're so kind!  But then, you just followed the message, right?

Inspiring creativity in my two year old...

My two year old loves to be creative.  She's far more creative than I was at her age I think.  Much has changed in the 35 years that separate us as far as activities go.  At that time, computers definitely didn't fit in your hand, where Abby has shown me how to do things I didn't even know I could do in her little paint program on my Samsung Galaxy Ace.  Ok, she's left me with more than one puzzle to try and figure out how to reverse, including disabling my Swype keyboard...  But it's fun to watch her not be afraid to push buttons and learn.  Ok, replace fun with frightening and you'll have a better picture of my feelings at times.

Abby packing a picnic in her tackle box.

How to inspire her creativity though?  I want to give her the best experiences I can for her childhood, and I WANT to be a part of it, be it doing puzzles with her, having a picnic, and the like.  I don't want to be one of those deadbeat dads that leaves their kids in front of the TV to be raised.  It rather frightens me how zombified she becomes when the TV is on and she's watching a show she loves.  There's no distracting her.  She's pulled right in.

Initial thoughts on Village, Agricola All Creatures, and Small World.

Well, I've gotten all the boxes open now from our Christmas games I mentioned last post.  I have to say the overall quality of the pieces in cardboard and wood, plus game boards have been great as expected.  Small world has loads of cardboard pieces, and the other two have their fair share as well.  Agricola has the standard wooden pieces like its larger counterpart, and Village comes with a large assortment of colored wood pieces as well.  I was a little disappointed by the size of the 'cubes' in Village.  They are pretty small, and because of that, will likely be easy to lose.  I would have preferred something about twice the size, similar to those in Agricola.

Z-Man Games' Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small packs a lot of pieces into a small box, and as such, I didn't expect a lot of ability to organize.  They have two ziplock bags of wooden pieces, plus 4 cardboard forms of punch outs.  No problem, and I don't think there will be any major setup issues.  The rules aren't lengthy, and I expect that this will be a fun go-to game for my wife and I when we have a little time to play.  The regular version is always fun, and our only lament is the time it takes to set up.  I'm hoping they caught the same magic in this smaller version.

German Board Games make the best Christmas Gifts...

Every Christmas Gwen and I try to get a game we can play together.  We don't spend lots on each other, but would rather get something that will help us spend time together.  We were first introduced to Settlers of Catan many years ago and our games closet has had less and less room in it each year ever since.  Last year was the first year we missed out on the tradition, so we made up for it this year.

Board games make a great pastime because not only do you get to exercise your mind, you get to have fun doing it while enjoying the company of others.  We've introduced our youth group to them and so far we haven't found anyone that dislikes the games we've introduced.  There's a German board game out there for everyone, from the complex to the simple.  I love introducing people to good board games and have given them for birthday and Christmas presents.  People seem to shy away from board games these days - they don't give enough entertainment and are boring is often the claim.  Most are thinking of the golden oldie standbys like Risk, Monopoly, Sorry, Clue, and the like that have been around for years and at least one lies in every family closet.  Once introduced to the new breed of board games, people realize why there is a growing interest in board games again.

Family and Hobbies DO mix...

Parked comfortably at a campsite.

Two years ago we took a vacation on Lake Temagami where we live.  Why go away when you are already in the most beautiful place around?  We packed up the family on one of our houseboats at our family houseboat rentals business.  We headed to Cross Lake and found a nice secluded campsite and started to relax.

Yes, I had an work to do while out there, but it was fun work.  That was the first year I had decided to start a small web series on fishing in the area.  We're almost finished cutting all the footage we took that summer, and it has been a fun ride.  So fun we videoed more episodes this summer...

The Start to a Blog

I've long thought about starting a blog.  I've thought about starting a lot of things.  The problem is time.  As a father to a wonderful two year old girl, I want to spend time with her and help shape her into the wonderful woman I know she can become.  I already have many projects already on the go.  And yet...  A Blog.

Kayaking with Abby

Often I find myself wanting to write something about a day's events, or some thought that weights heavy on my mind with no avenue to do it.  I suppose that's where this blog will come in.  Who am I?  In a lot of ways, nobody of importance to any of you.  I'm just a guy that loves his daughter, fishing, computers and technology, photography, playing with video, gaming, and most of all, God.  While I may not be important to any of you, I know I am important to God, because He sent His Son to die for my sins, something I am thankful for each and every day.  Because each and every day I realize that I am so very far from perfect...

So you'll probably see ramblings on many of these subjects...  Will they be important to you?  Maybe not.  But if the ramblings of a geek fishing dad can help anyone, they'll be here.