To my friends, business associates, and people who know me only as Nate & Ethan’s dad,
As Alisa and I finish our 4th year of parenthood, I can happily report we’re both still somewhat sane. Parenthood is way overdue for some serious process improvement; it’s no wonder that most modern democracies have negative birth rates. All I can say is that we’re getting off this train before we need a third row seat.
My primary duty as the father in 2008 was to spend time with the boys on Saturday mornings. The boys and I would pack up the Jeep with a month’s supply of clothes, shoes, toys, and snacks and then venture out into the harsh and dangerous world to forage until nap time. Sometimes we’d visit our friend’s ranch in the hill country or perhaps spend some time at the gym, where you can check your kids in and drink coffee in the attached café. But most of the time, our Saturdays were spent at breakfast meetings with the other dads at Waterloo Icehouse while the kids were free to play and eat.
After breakfast activities, our next stop was usually the local amusement park, also known as Home Depot. Seriously, if it came down to Home Depot or Disney World, Mickey looses. Just think about it: multiple locations open 24 hours a day, free rides (carts), free popcorn, shiny things, air-conditioned, forklifts and people that are paid to answer endless questions. The riding tractor section alone can kill a half hour. First you sit on every tractor outside, then each one inside, then…
The true genius of Home Depot didn’t strike me until I started giving the kids money. Face it; if you walk into a store with kids, it’s going to cost you something to get out. You might as well preempt the whole thing by establishing a budget up-front. You give them 5 coins and everything costs a coin, unless it’s expensive or life threatening, those special items cost 20 coins. This also has the benefit of establishing plausible deniably which comes in handy with your better half when you show up at home with the florescent orange spray paint. I don’t know, the 2 year old bought it. I find our kids have a lot of pride in their purchases. It’s been at least 6 months and Nate’s room is still lit by the high efficiency orange party light he needed. Ethan’s a bit more pragmatic with a large collection of screws and nails he meticulously picked out with the advice of the local talent who knew that galvanized nails were better for space ship construction.
Alisa and I had our first vacation without kids this year. Just a few days in Lake Tahoe was a pleasant break. It combined a great sunset on the lake, a little bit of hiking and a visit to the Donner Party museum to find a cookbook. I even got to spend some time at a computer conference.
Alisa continues her adventures in motherhood. After several years of complements on how cute the little ones are and how they must look like me, she took matters into her own hands and dyed her hair blond. She also started the year out with our version of a stimulus package for the local economy. First, it was the kitchen update featuring an electrician who didn’t know how to wire up a light so he just left. Then there was the scary plumber flooding the kitchen, some mold, scope creep, and it's no wonder there's a jackhammer in our master bath. I'm just hoping for a working shower by summer.
Alisa also got involved with local politics this year as a block leader and state delegate. This is basically the person who encourages people to actually vote and more importantly keeps the stash of yard signs. We even had a sign escalation going on in our yard for a while. But when the neighbor pulled out the “Unborn babies for Palin” with little handprints, it seemed like a good time to let it go.
Ethan’s now about to turn 5 and continues to grow up quickly. While a year is a long time for a child, it’s the mental changes that strike me the most. It’s a fascinating process as a child really starts to understand the world. We spent a good chunk of the summer on our “airplane” project. This started as a collection of scrap wood and Home Depot items and eventually evolved into an airplane swing that we built out back. We drilled holes, sanded wood, painted, and hung it from the top of the deck. It was the perfect summer activity for a little boy. Recently he adopted a puppy; fortunately it lives inside the computer which is just the kind of pet we can handle these days.
Nate is finishing up the terrible twos and is very proud of his 5 favorite things: penguins, the color orange, rainbows, strawberry milk, and berries. But since he’s hard to understand, most people stop at the penguin part. As a result his holiday presents all had a black and white theme, stuffed penguins, penguin blankets, penguin books, penguin lawn ornaments, etc. I only mention this in case he develops a penguin psychosis later in life; this information might be helpful.
Nate also continues to be an enthusiastic participant in life. Some of the highlights include the two week phase where he didn’t like wearing clothes. These things are mostly harmless as other parents don’t blink an eye, but it can be a tad shocking when you’re out shopping and suddenly realize that he’s naked. He also has the dubious honor of leaving his second violin lesson bleeding. Somehow in all the excitement he tried to bow while watching "the bow" and stuck himself between the eyes. He’s clearly a natural.
I am struck by how much childhood has changed since I was little. No ring around the rosy, no dodge ball, and definitely no peanut products. Kids today ride around in 5 point safety seats, carrying laptop lunches/bento boxes instead of brown bags (actually a food delivery system that came with a user’s manual), and wearing what can only be described as brightly colored plastic clown shoes. I can’t wait for teenagers.
On the professional side, I’ve signed up for another leadership role with the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO) as Texas Area Director. My job is to work with chapter leaders in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston to continue to strengthen EO in Texas. EO continues to be a great experience, every time I figure something out there’s a new challenge. Other than visiting the chapter in Texas, my EO adventures included attending the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, a party in the St. Louis Arch, an evening in the Vancouver harbor, and playing a live action game / scavenger hunt in the streets of San Francisco (thegogame.com). Who knows what 2009 will hold.
Meanwhile, I continue to try and overcome my Yankee heritage and get full Texas citizenship. As with most things, it’s the small lessons that are memorable: remember to keep your hands inside the roll cage (it’s there for a reason), when firing automatic weapons it’s considered bad form to let the hot shell casing drop down your neighbor’s shirt, and when burning enough brush to darken the sky, it’s best to give the local fire department a heads up. And then there’s the minor issue of most of Texas thinking Austin’s really a piece of CA. This could take a lifetime.
As for the rest of the Austin business scene, I had to cut back a few things due to EO, but I’m still active in the Angel Investment Group (CTAN) as well as attending an alphabet soup of events (ATC, Bootstrap, TiE, RCIC/ETF, ABJ, MIT, RICE Alliance, YPO, Texas Round-Up, CCAPC, AEA, Leadership Forum, and organizing the All-Board event). For continuing education, I’ve finished the second of three years as part of the EO/MIT Entrepreneurial Master's Program.
My other activity was the Design Verification Club (www.dvclub.org). Thanks to all the speakers and volunteers who helped make this happen. We recently added a chapter in Bristol UK to the existing chapters in the US and India. So who wants to present this year?
I’ve also waded into uncharted waters recently with my newest cause. I’m not really a superstitious person, but I do find the universe to be full of a mostly enjoyable level of irony. But even I have a limit. Like when your coworkers want to add sarcasm to the company’s core values or when you start to pay attention to the local schools and find out Texas is flirting with adding Creationism into the science curriculum.
The whole Creationism thing was really the last straw for a lot of reasons. Being from Pennsylvania, I’ve seen this whole game before as part of the Dover, PA lawsuit. Now I’m a bit of a science & technology geek, so the last 8 years of the “War on Science”, where facts and reason took a back seat to ideology, was troubling. So when I learned that Texas had been targeted as a key state in this issue due to its size and the logistics of the textbook market, I knew that it had just become time to put up or shut up.
I teamed up with other business leaders, educators, scientists, clergy, and parents to try and get a reasonable science standard passed before Texas gets embarrassed on the international stage. The thought of Austin being the next Kansas or Dover, PA is just not a fair representation of Texas. I can just see it now, years of hoopla and jokes about Texas on the late night talk shows. Anyway, I’m off to try the ounce of prevention path and will testify at the public hearings later in this month. If you’re a friend of science or have any advice on how to pull this off, drop me a line. If you want to know more about the back story, search google for “Texas evolution” or “Texas evolution Dunbar” if you live in Austin.
Life at our little startup, Obsidian, is kicking off year 12. Despite the world appearing to collapse, business is strong. We hope to take advantage of the turmoil and pick up a few great people. Currently, we have an opening for an ops person and we’re always looking for co-ops. Beyond that, let me know if you’re on the market, I might know of something. The sea is a bit stormy, but long term there’s always a shortage of great talent. We’re also thinking of moving, perhaps somewhere by Zilker Park that will let my coworker bring her 100 lb rodent to work from time to time. http://www.myspace.com/caplinrous
My Obsidian partners Rob Gowin and Becky Cavanaugh continue down the kid path also. Becky’s the very proud mother of baby boy, Charlie. At a distance he seems a lot like I remember my little one. Perhaps it’s all the hand-me-downs. I bet I could claim him as a dependent. Anyway, up close they are definitely different, and I don’t remember mine ever sitting still or being quiet. As for Rob, nobody’s really sure what’s he’s up to, and that’s the way he likes it;) I do know he’s caught the running bug again, so if you’re down in Zilker Park, keep an eye out for him.
Eric at Hennenhoefer dot org
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Hennenhoefer's 2008
Ethan
Nate Turns 2!
Epcot
Marshall Ranch
With Cousins
Can you find all 3 penguins?
South Texas Bench
Making cake for Mommy
Picking flowers for Mommy
A moment of quiet
Fireside with cousin
Marshall Ranch
Ethan first lesson
Nate and the buttercups
Ethan turns 4 at NASA
Nate's very serious about berries
Ethan's flying his airplane
Nate at Granddaddies CO ranch
Looking for candy
Brown bag lunch these days
Lake Tahoe
