My Blog is Moving... or combining at any rate

Since 2007 I have maintained both a personal and a professional blog. My friends and family have primarily visited my personal blog at http://paulsencolumn.blogspot.com and my professional network has primarily visited www.jacobspaulsen.com

Today I made the decision to combine the two into one. I will no longer be posting content at paulsencolumn.blogspot.com and will instead be putting everything at www.jacobspaulsen.com Those who have followed my professional blog will now be forced to hear occasionally more personal stories, and those who followed my personal blog will (should they be inclined to follow me over to jacobspaulsen.com) be forced to hear about my professional rantings about personal development and marketing.

While I apologize to those who this might disrupt I figure I do it all for me in the end anyway :)

If you are only interested in seeing my more personal posts on the new site then bookmark this link: http://www.jacobspaulsen.com/category/personal

Jacob S Paulsen

PROTECT YOURSELF ONLINE!!! Google Opt-Out is Here

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

Shooting with Big Guns

My neighbor has a class 3 license so he has several assault rifles and silencers to go with. We had a really fun afternoon up at the Provo city gun range up Squaw Peak road.

Utah Brazilian Festival

Ami & I decided to head up to the Utah Brazilian Festival today. I went 2 years ago and it was a lot of fun. It was at the Gateway this year and so we had fun walking around and seeing all the people and activities. Simon even got a balloon and that made his day.

We also spent a quick moment in the "Discovery at the Gateway" children's building. We had fun pushing the buttons that made bubbles rise in the big tubes hanging from the ceiling.

Braille on Signs

So I've always wondered about the logic of putting braille on signs that are on walls in building etc. I mean wouldn't you suppose that blind people wouldn't know that there was a sign there at all or even where to look for one at best?

So this week I updated my status on facebook and I tweeted the following: "Does anyone else thinks its ironic when they put brail on signs? I mean how do blind people know there is a sign there at all?"

These were the comments that I got from friends on facebook:

Germaine Brown

This is something I was thinking about a few days ago. Lolz

Peter Chip Cannon

How about brail on a drive up atm??

Adam Finch

thats messed up

Kekai Kimura

now thats down right wrong!

Bradford Huntsman

I sold a deaf guy a cell phone the other day. Completely deaf.. wanted a phone.

Travis Savage

I've been asking the same question for years!

Christian Eyring

I have taken it upon my self to memorize locations with brail on them just in case I go blind. Its that or I put my hands on everything once I go blind.

Kirt Christensen

@brad I have 2 deaf ladies that come into my dry cleaner all the time and they use their cell phones to text with each other instead of sign language... other than that i'm not sure what they're for...

Here is the single response that I got from someone on Twitter:

maria6289@jacobspaulsen U mean like signs 4 room #s, bathrooms, in elevators? We know they're there b/c we expect them 2 b there 4 benefit of sighted folks as well. As 4 where they are, it's question of logical sense, room signs would b on/near door, elevator on some wall, prob across from door. Also placement should b pretty consistent if places r fully ADA compliant. i.e., door signs should b on wall nearest the door hamdle of door. Also lots of blind ppl can read the print if it's grooved/raised enough. And not super tiny, though Braille is def. needed 2 b ADA-compliant. And as 4 actually locating, I and others use a wavy motion in approximate area where sign is expected when touching wall 4 1st time 2 effectively cover area/find what I'm looking 4. Same trick when doing some other stuff like locating door handle on unfamiliar door.

So in case you were wondering... now you know!

Old Stomping Grounds

This weekend we traveled to Rock Springs WY to visit family. Saturday night we decided to take a small trip down Jacob memory lane. We drove over to "my side" of town and went through my old neighborhood. As to my house (where I spent the first 18 years of my life) I'm glad to report that they have a huge garden... other than that they seem slightly trashy to me.
We drove all around the area and generally I would say the condition of things has improved. We stopped quickly at a small little park not far from the Civik Center where we would often play as kids. This was the only park within bike distance that didn't require crossing a major road and thus we were there a lot playing in the bushes and trees more than the playground equipment which has been replaced since. Just for good measure Ami and I hid a geocache at the park. We entered it online Saturday night around 11pm and by 12:04am someone who goes by Dr.Tom had already found it :) Here is the link to the geocache.

Coyote Gulch Backpacking Trip

I had my doubts about the need to travel 7 hours just to have a good backpacking trip with the young men in the ward. All my doubts disappeared once we got there. As you can see from the pictures... GORGIOUS!

Too get into the gulch we had to drop our packs over a ledge with rope and then squeeze through a narrow crack down into the valley. I'd show you a picture but we did it in the dark!

On our first night I upset a swarm of bees or hornets (once again it was too dark to be sure) but otherwise we came out of it without any real hiccups. The hike is mostly through a stream of water with occassional sand trails on the bank. We saw 4 different arches and some indian ruins. A once in a lifetime experience that I'm hoping to duplicate with my family.

Harry Potter all wrapped up again

Last night I finished listening to all the Harry Potter books again. I think it is becoming a summer tradition of sorts but I'm far from sick of the story. I feel drawn in by a strong saga of good vs evil and the unlikely hero in Harry. Perhaps what I like most about Harry compared to other epic novels is our ability to see him grow up and mature from age 11 to 17. He grows and learns and while its sometimes even painful to read it remains inspiring.

I am going to publish a series of personal development articles on www.jacobspaulsen.com about principles from the books. I wrote the first one about a week ago and am hoping to publish the rest soon!

I would encourage anyone who hasn't read the Harry Potter books to begin immediatly. The book that has been translated into more languages than any other book in history (including the bible) must have something to offer everyone.

Jacob S Paulsen

Provo River 1/2 Marathon

Back in March of this year I publicly declared my goal to run in a 1/2 marathon at the end of the summer. I registered for a race on August 8th and have been training all summer. I had some good stretches of training and some times where I was less faithful.

Every single time I went for a training run I recorded the data on www.buddyrunner.com/jacob and also updated my status on twitter and facebook to keep myself accountable to my online community.

Yesterday was the day of the race and I'm pleased to report that I survived! This is without any question the longest distance I have ever run at 13.1 miles. I am sore everywhere and even a day later my legs still feel like jelly.

We had to meet at the finish line at 4:45am to be shuttled in school buses into Provo canyon up South Fork Road. Being on the first bus up I had to wait in the cold and dark for two hours until the race started at 7am. The whole course was beautiful and peaceful as we would through Provo canyon along the river.

I estimate that there were over 3000 runners and this was a different type of runner than I'm used to seeing in my 5K and even 10K races in the past. These were serious runners. No baggy basketball shorts, a lot of heart monitors, and GPS tracking watches.

My wonderful wife Ami, son Simon, and parents were at the finish line along with my sister Shannon and her family. It was really great to have so much support. They had watermelon, pancakes, and granola bars for the runners at the finish line, but my dad brought me a couple of snickers bars (that or he happen to have a couple on it at the time) and a good thing too because I was weak and famished.

I finished in 1 hour 52 minutes and 33 seconds which is about 25 minutes faster than I had hoped for. This put me in 502nd place overall and 32nd in my age group 25-30.

All around a very satisfying experience!

Pioneer Day

Had a good time at my first ever 10K race last Friday. This was a good prep race for my 1/2 marathon on the 8th of August.

Simple Service Project

On Saturday the teacher's quorum and I built a deck for a couple in the ward who live in a RV. The man can't get in and out of the RV anymore because of the steep and small stairs. We spent the last couple of Tuesday nights measuring for and buying supplies for the deck and on Saturday we put it all together. It took us about 6 hours and I must say I am quite proud of us. It turned out quite well.

Sunday Peace @ The Gallivan Center

Today despite it being Sunday I'm working a 12 hour security shift in Salt Lake's Gallivin Center Plaza. I don't like working Sunday but I am a part of an industry which demands 24/7 work and it's important for me to take my turn.

I've been warned about watching for loonies and homeleass people but so far the last 8 hours have been pleasant and peaceful. I've never been here before today and for being in the middle of downtown it is amazingly gorgious. There is a large reflection pool, a huge sundial thingy, an amplitheatre with stage, bird aviary (though currently empty of birds), a small river with waterfall effect, and a lot of tree cover, etc.

The river has a poem written in the stone behind it and there is also a long story written on stone tablets that requires walking most of the park to finish reading.

It makes me want to bring Ami and Simon back next Sunday after church so we can enjoy it as a family. Here you see some of the pictures of the place.

Me Doing Security for Thurl Bailey

While doing executive protection work this weekend I bumped into Thurl Bailey. This guy is awesome. Tons of fun and super friendly

Sundays with Simon

Ami is right when she says that the only thing we get out of church are the blessings that come from obedience in being there. It could be compared to reading scriptures at a rock concert.

Right now it is sacrament meeting. This usually consists of Ami and I taking turns running around with Simon either through the gym or outside around the church.

Because Ami is still having ankle problems I'm taking the full duty today and so I find myself walking around the church with Simon blogging about it from my phone.

In one month Simon will go to nurshry and we will be back to enjoying part of church. This is a hard stage for us because Simon is too old to be quietly entertained with books and snacks, but too young to be taught right and wrong or consequences.

This routine will continue during the second block of meetings while Ami tries to get most of her primary calling done. Then we switch and while I teach priesthood she will chase Simon around the gym, hallways etc.

At least I get some good pictures out of this eh?

Jacob S. Paulsen

Food Challenges - My New Hobby

Ok, so I've always wondered about the food challenges that you always see in restrauntants. It usually consists of: Eat "insert massive amount of food" and get your picture on the wall and a free t-shirt. It intrigues me. I have always been able to eat entire cows in one sitting and why not get a t-shirt for it?

My friend Chad Ricks told me a couple weeks ago that he had successfully completed the Sensious Sandwich challenge (2-foot sub). I was super jealous that I hadn't been there and told him that we should do the next one together. He called on Wednsday!

We went to Fudruckers in Orem, UT. The requirement: 1, 1-pound burger, a side, and a shake. I ordered the bacon cheddar 1 pound burger, with a side of wedge fries, and a Reeses Peanut Butter shake.

I really wan't too nervous going in and felt quite confident throughout. Chad finished before me and I thought I had it in the bag until after I finished the burger and fries and started to polish off the shake. I ran into something I didn't see coming. At the bottom of the shake glass there was a lot of solid reeses peanut butter chunks. That was super difficult to put down but I did it.

Thats right we both completed the challenge. Here is the sad part. At Fudruckers you have to do the challenge three times in order to get your picture on the wall and get the tshirt. They gave us a little card and stamped it to reflect our single victory. We will be going back again in May and June to finish it off.

Looking back I have decided to make this a new hobby. I want Simon to grow up knowing that his dad's picture is on the wall of several local eating joints. This is a great new part of our Paulsen Family Culture:)

Porter's Place

Today is Ami's birthday. We celebrated yesterday by going swimming at this really cool pool and doing other stuff.

For lunch we went to Porter's Place. I've been dying to go there since I found out it existed. Porter's Place is a restaurant that has been handed down generation to generation through Orrin Porter Rockwell's family. It isn't situated in the same location as it once was since the state tore down the original building to erect the state penn.

It still has a western saloon type look and feel which was quite pleasant. The menu was quite large and I greatly enjoyed the Rockwell Revelation burger! In case you didn't already know Porter Rockwell in my all time hero. His biography is among my 10 favorite books and I want Simon to be just like him (shhhh don't tell Ami).

We really enjoyed lunch there and they didn't even think it weird that I was walking around taking pictures of everything. I highly recommend the experience!

Jacob S Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Springtime is Arriving

We have had an exciting couple of weeks. I'm trying to make it a goal to get out of the house with Simon and Ami as often as possible. Last week we decided to go see Stonehenge. As famous as it is we weren't super impressed, but Simon had a good time climbing on the stones.
We also took an outing to the local pet store on center street. They didn't have any puppies but Simon still loved the birds, pigs, rodents, and very much so the fish. That was a good time.

Last weekend we had a lot going on. We had all of Ami's girl friends here between sessions. I call them Ami's friends but truthfully they are our friends since I knew them all in high school also. Here is a picture of Ami and the gals:

The next day Kody came by between sessions to hang out a little while before driving back home to Laramie! Great times were had!

I'm grateful to good friends of both the past and present. Spring is a busy season for me but an enjoyable one also. Simon loves being outside and we do too. I'm starting to get more serious about training for my half marathon later this summer. I'm so pumped to both get ready for it and to actually do it. Its going to be awesome!

My child really is a monkey

Man he is all over the place climbing things he really shoudn't

Posted via Pixelpipe.

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This review is not my own personal "Last Lecture." The temptation is great after reading this book to sit down and create your very own last lecture. All of us have a great desire to pass on our own golden nuggets of wisdom to others. I will use my personal journal for that purpose and leave all of you with a simple book review.



I really enjoyed this book. Not just because Randy had some great things to share with the world but also because this proves that everyone has great things to share. Its not just the muilt-billionaires and mother Teresa that can contribute good advice to us. I'm not trying to insult Randy but simply say that the most extrodinary thing about this book is how ordinary the guy is.



He did some extremely extraordinary things, but hey most of us do! This book was easy to read (listen in my case). It made me want to finish the story and did make me reflect on my own dreams and childhood.



I don't know if I will ever read it again, but I can say I really enjoyed it.



link: Buy On Amazon Now


View all my reviews.

The First Day of Spring

As you will see by the pictures below Simon & I enjoyed the first day of spring. We celebrated by making our back yard appear as it did in the fall. I used the leaf blower to blow all the leaves off of the back fence area into the grass where we will in turn mow them up. (Way to lazy to rake) We meant to do this in the fall by just were too lazy then also.

The first day of spring was the end to the cold I've been fighting for about 10 days. It was unfortunately the first day of Ami getting the cold that I've kicked. Simon & I were able to hang out all day while Ami rested. I'm quite glad to be healthy again since I haven't been able to get out and run for over a week.

I am still on the look out for people who want to run a 1/2 marathon with me in August. Jeff, my brother is still on board and that makes me happy :)

As for Simon, he is quite energetic these days and wants nothing more than to be outside all day long. He either wants to be walking around the back yard or in his stroller on walks around the neighborhood. His vocab is expanding very slowly. I think a complete list would include: mooo, woof woof, dog, duck, ball, car, dada, mama, and on a single occasion the words Jesus and candy.

As for work things continue to go well. Agel is flourishing & the spring means an increase in my JPTees and JP Squared business. Recently I was contracted by a local reseller of the Magic Jack product to do some self-improvement newsletters and webinars and that has been fun.

Hope you like the pictures of our "fall-looking" spring backyard.

Big Hairy Audacious Goals

Sometimes we have to stretch ourselves a little. How often do we really stick out our own necks to perform? In an effort to both make the goal and publically declare it I am writing this post. On August 8th, 2008 I will run a half marathon here in Provo, Utah. The Provo River Trail ½ Marathon is an annual event along the Provo River in the canyon. Even though I’ve always been a runner this will be by far the longest race I’ve ever run. Up until now my morning runs consisted of 2-4 mile jogs and my longest competitive race was a 5K.

I’m pumped. I’m not excited about running 13.1 miles but rather I’m excited about doing something audacious. I’m pumped about bending my own limits and pushing it past the comfort zone. What I’m wondering is what each of you are going to do to stretch yourselves this year? What are you willing to publicly declare?

Here is a picture of the stretch of trail where I'll be running my race!

This is the view I woke up to on Saturday morning. I went on a ice fishing trip with the young men from the church this weekend. We went to the current creek reservoir which is close to strawberry reservoir in central Utah. The first adventure came when one of the boys informed me that the clothes he had on his back was all that he brought with him. This consisted of tennis shoes, jeans, t-shirt, and pullover hoodie. For camping in the mountains in February this was going to be a disaster. Luckily for him enough boys had enough spare coats, gloves, snow pants, etc to donate to his cause.

Ami made me a phenomenal tin-foil dinner which consisted of diced chicken and potatoes. I was the only one to cook mine in the fire as the other boys either brought subway or cooked their dinners over the propane grill. Back in my day...

Several of the boys were convinced they were going to build snow caves to sleep in and though several made valiant attempts only one 12 yr old was able to craft something big enough for him to sleep in it. The sad thing is that he was the only one who got any sleep at all. The rest of us spent the night trying to dream of warm climates and thicker clothing. Even in my thermals, snow pants, heavy winter coat, gloves, beanie, and LL Bean mummy sleeping bag I was freezing cold!!! We guesstimate that temps reached 20 below that night. It was horrible.

The next morning was exciting as we did a little ice fishing. We shuttled the boys across the reservoir on snow mobiles (my first experience driving one) where we dug small holes in the ice (about 8" deep) and put in our lines. This was my first time ice fishing also. There were a total of 4 fish caught between the 18 of us. The most excited moment was when one of the boys was reeling in a fish. I got next to his hole to grab the fish when he brought it out and just as it was coming out of the water it managed to jump off the hook and back into the water. I reaching in after him with my right hand and managed to grab him as he was swimming off. I pulled him out and chucked him onto the ice. It was some sort of reaction and I swear I'm not making this up. It was almost ninja like.

Jacob Paulsen

Picture of Mastermind session with Andrew James

We are working on a huge project for the portuguese/brazilian market

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Picture of Phenomenal Dinner!

Ami is such a gifted cook and I just couldn't resist sharing a picture of this delicious Shrimp Scampi.

Posted via Pixelpipe.

Social Media Revolution

Hey friends. I'm been absolutely amazed lately about how much time and money are going into the social media websites like Facebook, Myspace, YouTube, etc. Here is a short video I prepared to put on my website introducing it.

Life Continues

The last few weeks have been adventurous for us. Last weekend we were in Wyoming for the funeral of Cathy Higgins; the mother of Allison Higgons who is a good friend of Ami's. The trip went smoothly, but was less than super happy.

Our family has been sick of late. The cycle goes like this. Simon gets sick because the wind blows wrong. Then Ami gets sick because she spends all day with Simon. By the time Simon is getting over it and Ami is at the worst stages I get it. This go around Ami got it the worst of anyone being basically stuck in bed for two days over the weekend.

My most precious material possession (my cell phone) suffered a semi-fatal end. The earpiece went out the day before we left for Wyoming. I was "forced" to buy the brand new G1 for t-mobile. So far it has been a great transition. I would say we have had a crazy new year so far but we are looking forward to better times.

On a good note I have been extra busy lately teaching concealed carry classes. There is a strong rumor going around Utah that Obama is going to take away guns and concealed carry permits and that if you get it now yours will be grandfathered in. This is so ridiculous it makes me giggle when I'm falling asleep but it sure has been good for business.

Jacob Paulsen
www.jacobspaulsen.com