Reunions can be either traumatic or a lot of fun depending on your expectations going in. Advice I’d give, go into a “reunion” situation with NO expectations. That way, anything is great. However, it’s really good when you’re the other half going to your spouses reunion and not knowing a soul. Of course, it helps being an extrovert and not worrying too much about where you are in life. Plus, it’s a good time when you get along with your spouses friends “Other Halves”. In this case, the other halves were Randy and Dave. We had a great time cracking up. We found, when you have nothing to loose worrying about what everyone else thinks, you can actually have a great time.

Jodi decided to attend her 20th school reunion back in Omaha. Technically, she didn’t graduate with the ones holding the reunion. However, she did spend 11 years at this school and more importantly with a number of those that were going to attend. So, technically, she went to see a few of those she held the fondest memories. She had a great time and reconnected with the ones that counted and she was very sad to say good-bye. On the trip home, she said she could easily live close to these friends Marla and Patty and spend more time with them and their families.

We had a great time and truth be told, I had a lot of fun hanging with the other halves. We made fun of people we didn’t know, reading the bio’s was hilarious and made for a great chuckle. We cracked up, took some wacky pictures and had a great time. Going in, I figured as long as there was a bar, then I was good. However, having a good time with the guys made it even better. All-in-all a good time by all.

If Randy or Dave read this, I’m putting it in writing. You have a standing invite to our house in Colorado anytime!!! Just give us a few hours notice.

Scoop - aka Shane Cooper

Posted: July 31st, 2006 under Personal.
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It’s been almost a week since we returned from Mexico. More specifically, Riviera Maya area. It’s amazing how in just a few short days sitting by the pool, ordering cerveza’s and hiking in the jungles of Mexican Yucatan, you can get your mind as far away from the “real” world as possible. Initial day at the resort I was still tense and a bit wound up with all of the projects and things going on back home bouncing around in my head. By the second day, I was immersed in a book, worrying more about what SPF sunscreen to apply and had practically forgot where we lived, much less what else was going on back in my old hectic world.

Fast-forward to a week after the return. Usually there’s the after vacation blues, which were present a little, but it’s hard to get the blues when you live in Colorado. However, the mind-set part is still lingering. Getting going in the morning is hard and I’m really not as motivated or energetic as usual. Truth is, I’m not all that pressed into getting back to the head-spinning, not enough time to get it all done, mode. Ah, the joys of vacation, especially when it’s in Mexico.

Posted: July 21st, 2006 under Personal, Travel.
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After two years, we decided to basically kick our guests down to the basement. From day one, we’ve had the third bedroom setup as a “guest” room. After 6 years, we figured, it’s been used maybe 4 times. So, since it basically sits there in the dark and frankly has the best westerly view of the mountains, we decided to gut the furniture, put it all in storage and move the office up to the third floor.

We’re now kicking ourselves wondering why we didn’t do this sooner. We have a lot more room to stretch out and the “cave” feeling is gone. Don’t get me wrong, the basement is awesome in it’s own right, however, for hours of work on our computers, it was just getting old. It was located in the corner of the basement between the “entertainment” area and the exercise equipment. Of course, having the office down there computers near the work-out area was more convenient, but then again, it was annoying when Jodi was running on the treadmill and I was trying to work.

Needless to say, the office being upstairs and having a window with a view is much, much more pleasant and enjoyable for long work sessions, writing, surfing or anything related to spending time on my laptop.

Scoop - AKA Shane Cooper

Posted: July 3rd, 2006 under Business, Personal.
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Mexico is on the brain. Yeah, I have work to do, yes, I have to plan on a trip to a customers later in the week and sure, I have to pack, but it’s hard to concentrate on those things knowing that in a week we’re outta here. This years Mexico trip will take us to Cancun. Our time share, Mayan Resorts, has 5 main resort areas and the one in Cancun is actually at Playa del Carmen which is about 45 minutes from Cancun. We were originally going with Jodi’s sister, Vicki, and the family, but they bailed. Once we got over the shock and annoyance, we realized that we’d have the entire suite to ourselves. However, after throwing it out to a friend of ours, John Eric, on a whim, he and Kathleen decided to jump at the opportunity. So, now they’re coming down with us and it’ll be a blast.

So, next week at this time, Monday, we’ll be just coming in from sitting on the beach, snorkeling and preparing to go out to some nice restaurant either in Playa or back in Cancun. Sucks to have to go, but someone has to do it.

Hasta - Scoop AKA Shane Cooper

Posted: July 3rd, 2006 under Personal, Travel.
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I’ve been feverishly working on several web site concepts and am finding the process of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) a bit complex. Not that I don’t understand it, but that while attempting to sort out all of the articles, density and keywords, search engines seem to take for ever to crawl the sites. I’ve read tons of information about “Content Is King”. Well, that’s fine except that it’s kind of hard to write content specifically targeting keywords and trying to keep “density” in mind.

I’ve also noticed that on some sites, namely my own personal blog, here, that it moves all over the place on Google. One day, it’s top 5, then a few days later, I can’t find it to save my life. I’ve found that if I slack off and don’t post anything for a few days, it drops like a stone in water. Go figure. But, then there’s a few “Shane” sites that haven’t been updated in months and it stays on top. It’s kind of hard to figure out frankly.

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Posted: July 3rd, 2006 under Software, Software, Technology, Web Site.
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