Woke up this morning on a Scout Camping trip.  Wesley and I made out way over to the lake where he went fishing for the first time.  He learned to use the spin caster reel in about 10 minutes and earned himself the fishing pole.  we didn;t catch anything but you wouldn’t know that by the smile on his face.

June 5, 2010

Got the tent up for our Cub Scout Campout. Wesley’s first camping trip.

Tucker is ready for the boys to go back to school.

June 2, 2010

 Being home sick from school for two days is making the boys a little stir crazy.  Here they are engaged in the Kovacs version of a Cage Match!

Today Aiden and Wesley both stayed home from school.  They are coughing and have temperatures like many of their classmates apparently so it was a lazy rainy day on the couch, playing Wii.  Mommy was the only one who didn’t get a day off.

June 1, 2010

 Aiden also missed his first baseball game of the end of season tournament.  Hopefully the Garner Ice House Hooks win so Aiden can get back ou on the field one more time.

So my 101 in 1001 Project is nearing its end and I really thought I would have gotten a few more things done from my list, but I guess it’s the day to day life that defines who we are and not our glamourized todo list.  But it still makes me wonder what was I doing in all those 1001 days that prevented me from getting to all of the items on my list.  Well that’s just what my new project intends to document. 

So starting today and concluding on June 1 2011, I’m going to post one photograph from my day to day life that captures the “what” for that day.  In addition to posting the photo, I’ll add some notes about the busy lives the Kovacs’ are living.  This new project will be a kind of photo journal that tracks a year in the life.

So let’s start with today:

May 31, 2010

Memorial Day - May 31, 2010

 

It’s Memorial Day … good thing that we celebrated with everyone yesterday as a little rain had developed this afternoon.  Aiden is still battling some strange bug giving him pretty good fevers but no other signficant symptoms.  Back to work and school tomorrow.

There’s a growing chorus of reporters and talking heads on the right beginning to attempt some how link the ecological disaster that is occurring in the Gulf of Mexico with what they are calling a slow response from the federal government and specifically the Obama Administration. 

Nine days ago a British petroleum drilling rig 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana exploded and the effects of that explosion and now apparently the efforts to subdue the ensuing fire caused the burning hulk to capsize and sink into the depths below.  One mile below the surface in fact.  Millions of pounds of steel crashing down on itself and the well head.  During this unparalleled sequence of events the flow from the well has continued to flow releasing 5000 barrels of oil a day into the gulf.  An environmental disaster on a scale that we’ve never seen in this county before.  In the 9 days following the explosion we’ve known that some oil was escaping but we couldn’t be sure how much.  BP was working with the Coastal Guard to simultaneously shut-off the well and contain the oil that is now floating on the surface of the ocean. 

Despite their efforts the true scope of the disaster is just beginning to be understood.  And some are now saying if the Obama administration had only acted more quickly this disaster could have been averted.  Much like how George Bush was crucified in the press for not acting more quickly during Katrina.  The fact is in both cases these men are the victims of not knowing what everyone else didn’t know.  And neither of them is responsible for the scope of the disaster, they can only ensure that once the true scope is known they move as quickly as possible to provide the resources necessary to minimize future damage and get the aid/support we have to the people who need it.

But we somehow believe that these men should like the Wizard of Oz and be the all-knowing and all-powerful … they are not they are just men.

No Obama is not responsible for this disaster.  We don’t know yet what caused the explosion on the rig.  Whatever it was caused the disaster.  And George Bush is not responsible for Katrina, Mother Nature was.

So Saturday afternoon we were heading up to our first Durham Bulls game with my Cousin Steve visiting from Toronto.  As we  were driving on the highway Wesley calls from the back seat of van and says.

“Daddy, I know what you call a HOT girl.”

There was a moment of disbelief which hung in the van.  No one could believe his was coming from our 6 year old.

I responded, “Wesley what do you mean by HOT?”

“I mean when a girl is very beautiful Daddy, not like when she is warm.”

Still silence hung in the air.  I know I shouldn’t have but I had to ask. “Wesley. what do you call a very beautiful girl?”

“A Hottie!”

The three adults in the car were trying to maintain our composure.  But I had to respond, after all his Mother is now snickering in the passenger seat, looking at me with the “You Wanted to Have All Boys” look again.”

“Wes, it’s not appropriate for you to call any girl HOT or a HOTTIE, they don’t like that. It’s disrespectful.  They want you to see them as ……”

Wesley interrupts, “Does that mean I shouldn’t whistle at them either?”  and then he let out a wolf whistle.

“No Wesley, that is also disrespectful.”

I turned to Lauren and said, “We’ve got a little Hugh Hefner in the back seat”. 

We are in sooo much trouble.

With opening day just 4 days away, I wanted to make sure I had a easily accessible link to the Yankess 2010 Broadcast Schedule so here it is:

http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/schedule/broadcast/index.jsp?c_id=nyy

When you don’t live in NY and you don;t get the YES Network it can be hard to catch a live game so this list will help you see the Yanks on Fox, ESPN and TBS.

Go Yankees! 
26 27 Time World Champions!

Is it just me or does it seem that the past few days have been filled with ominous government warnings about Toyota vehicles and today the newspapers are filled with stories about the quality of Japanese vehicles eroding while American car companies are building better cars then ever.  Today Toyota’s stock dropped 7% when Obama’s Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood said American’s should stop driving their Toyota’s until they all fixed. 

 

So the United States Government makes the unprecedented statement that Toyota drivers of recalled vehicles should immediately stop driving their cars.  They never made such a statement when Ford Explorers were rolling over in what seemed like everyday.  What could their motivation be …… maybe, just maybe it’s because the very same Federal Government owns 60% of GM?  Could someone in the Obama administration be pressuring government officials to trash the most respected car maker in the world in an effort to improve the return on their $30 billion investment in an effort to hide the fact that GM still cannot make a car people want? 

We do not own Toyota stock (we do own Ford stock so this is oddly helpful …but still wrong)… but I do own two Toyota vehicles and thy and one’s I’ve owned before have always been heads and shoulders better then anything GM could produce. 

Some say Toyota’s decision to halt production of these vehicles as an admission of some kind of widespread problem, I disagree.  The culture of Toyota demands that you stop to fix a problem.  For some time I’ve kept this list at my desk the 14 Management Principles of Toyota or the Toyota Way … check out number 5: 

The 4 Sections and the 14 principles of the Toyota Way 

I. Having a long-term philosophy that drives a long-term approach to building a learning organization 

1.  Base your management decisions on a long-term philosophy, even at the expense of short-term financial goals 

II. The right process will produce the right results 

2.  Create a continuous process flow to bring problems to the surface 

3.  Use “pull” systems to avoid overproduction 

4.  Level out the workload (heijunka). (Work like the tortoise, not the hare) 

5.  Build a culture of stopping to fix problems, to get quality right the first time 

6.  Standardized tasks and processes are the foundation for continuous improvement and employee empowerment 

7.  Use visual control so no problems are hidden 

8.  Use only reliable, thoroughly tested technology that serves your people and processes 

III. Add value to the organization by developing its people and partners 

9.  Grow leaders who thoroughly understand the work, live the philosophy, and teach it to others 

10.  Develop exceptional people and teams who follow your company’s philosophy 

11.  Respect your extended network of partners and suppliers by challenging them and helping them improve 

IV. Continuously solving root problems to drive organizational learning 

12.  Go and see for yourself to thoroughly understand the situation (Genchi Genbutsu). 

13.  Make decisions slowly by consensus, thoroughly considering all options; implement decisions rapidly (Nemawashi). 

14.  Become a learning organization through relentless reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (Kaizen). 

I think we should follow the money and understand who has the most to gain by trying to beatup on Toyota … I think we will find their their motivations are far from genuine.  I applaud Toyota for sticking to their principles and putting safety before financial gain.  There can be no other explanation when you see how their principles are guiding them through this problem. 

BTW.  I dare say that I may be picking up some Toyota stock tomorrow.  Symbol TM.  They are going to bounce back much bigger and better than GM will. 

Toyota FTHS - What Real Innovation Looks Like