Intro:

Technology has always been a large part of my life.  It’s probably mostly playing with the cool gadgets that draws me to it, but it’s also been my means to making a living for my family over the last 8+ years.  While I find myself looking for ways to challenge myself, I also find myself in ruts with just walking through the daily motion of keeping the systems running; at times I think my way challenging myself is akin to driving down a bumpy logging road and confronting a large mud puddle covering the ruts.  I challenge myself to make it through, though often staying in the submerged ruts, and continuing on the ruts on the other side.

I haven’t quite understood the big social media thing, sure it was cool to catch up with some old friends, but anyone who knows me I’m a pretty private guy and don’t share a whole lot until I have built a strong relationship.  Facebook kinda comes and goes, but twitter has become an interesting way of gleaning information off many folks.  I started following an old friend @chownage, as he started impressing me with his business, which led me to follow many of his mentors, friends, and associates; all of whom so far appear to be good Christian leaders.  While I may not agree with some of their beliefs when it comes to Bible doctrine, I believe they have some great life lessons.

Looking back over 2009, I’ve decided I want to get out of the rut.  It may continue to involve technology and it may not, but it’s at least brought me to the realization that there are things that need to change and things that need to improve, and things that need to GO AWAY.

Lesson One: read.

Harry Truman said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”  I believe most of that quote is true, but if you are a man, and have a family, guess what, your a leader whether you like it or not and whether you read or not.  I just finished a great book,  Point Man – How a Man Can Lead His Family One of the most influential points was how important reading/studying the Bible is.  Author Steve Farrar was speaking in regards to reading the Bible and taking the much needed time to do so.  I’m paraphrasing and don’t have the book infront of me, but it was a long the lines of:

It will not come easy at first, but it takes training, just like working out….

Starting out by devoting 30 minutes to reading and studying and 30 minutes to prayer every other day is a great start…..

It will become easier…..

It doesn’t have to be from 4am to 12pm to be effective….

In 2010 growing and desiring the solid food that God has for everyone (Hebrews 5:14) and keeping myself from growing dull will be a goal.  (Listen to a great message from 12/27/09 regarding this passage http://www.tfabend.com/teachings/audio/.)  I’ve only started really devoting 30 minutes of my morning, but the rewards are great and I look forward to seeing what is to come.

I’ve enjoyed a few books here and there for entertainment (Tom Clancy being one who can really draw me in), I’m really shooting for reading through 10 or more books this year.  And not reading for the sake of reading, but discerning and applying.  If anyone has a good list of books that they’ve enjoy’d I’d love some recommendations.

Working on a new feature as I can find the time.  I think you’ll all enjoy it.

Seriously.  Ever since middle school I’ve been addicted obsessed infatuated with finding unique, funny, vintage tee-shirts.  I have to admit, some of the fun is found in digging through the racks at the thrift stores, but it seems selections are getting thin and what’s left is not always wearable.  I hesitate to share what I just happened across (I’d hate to show up to church with someone wearing the same tee-shirt as me), but since there are like 2 readers of my blog I doubt much harm will be done.  Check out http://www.desteenation.com/, they specialize in “Real shirts from real places”.  Need I say more?  Here’s what they have to say about themselves:

Destee-Nation’s T-Shirt Scouts seek out authentic t-shirts from cultural landmarks across the country. These are all real t-shirts from real places, and we give a percentage of each sale back to the locally-owned establishments they represent.

How cool is that?  The awesome selection of Hawaiian shirts would certainly compliment my three or four shelves of tee-shirts that I proudly own and wear.  In fact, the founder grew up in Hawaii and has certainly created a collection that represents some of the greatest parts of the islands.

Waiting for the new version has been like having to wait for the salmonflys on the Deschutes!  It’s finally here again and I’m really excited about the new release!  Make sure to check out the updated version of The Hatch 2 for your iPhone or iPod Touch!  Version 2.0.4 boasts a new logo and PICTURES, and lots of them!

You can find it over on iTunes: http://www.itunes.com/apps/thehatch

Make sure you check out the new website for the app over at http://www.thehatchapp.com

An update to the lite version will be coming shortly, so hang in there.

A couple weeks ago I got out on the Metolius in search of some bull trout.  The Kokanee were in spawn mode, the bull’s were just done with spawning and that is generally a good combination.  I hit the usual spots and landed a few decent trout.  Streamers and egg patterns worked well.

I picked up one of those camera’s that can go underwater, so I played with taking pictures of a few of the Kokanee that were spawning.  I wish the camera wasn’t so automatic, it’ll be interesting to learn the nuances of it.  No pictures of the bulls, but one showing a nice bend in the 8weight.

View the gallery for larger images:

Some of you may have noticed “The Hatch” isn’t on the app store right now, well, your right.  Unfortunately I had to pull it from the App Store due to an issue with the logo.  A new version has been submitted to Apple, and now it’s just the waiting game until it’s approved.

Sorry for the inconvenience, it should be resolved shortly.  I think most everyone will be very excited for the next version 2.0.4….can anyone say “pictures”?

Much to Hayden and I’s surprise, Danielle was able to score some tickets to the big Ducks/Trojan’s game this past weekend.  Hayden has never been to a game, and this was such a great game to be a first!

We made sure to hit up the Ducks store to browse, and in the mean time the marching band, cheerleaders, and players were taking their walk around.

Hayden got to meet the Duck and give him a big ol’ hug!

USC arrived with some of their fans to greet them.  Hayden thought it was pretty funny because the team busses started rocking back and forth, nearly pulling tires off the ground.  Pete Carrol was getting heckled pretty good from the whole student section lined up next to us.

We got to the our seats early after a lot of walking and standing.  Hayden enjoyed watching the warmups and practice.  Quite overwhelmed with being there.

It was a great time, high scoring, loud and crazy through the game.  Thanks for the tickets honey! Except I think you’ve turned Hayden into an addict!

The whole stadium started jingling their keys.  Was a cool sound in the stadium.

And you can’t tell by his face, but I think this may have been his favorite part, getting to stand on the “O” in the middle of the field.  We walked around for quite a while checking out the end zone and goal posts.

Over the past couple weeks there has been a number of blogs and sites mentioning The Hatch 2.  It’s certainly fun to see that people are enjoying it enough and willing to take a good look at it!  Many of these are great blogs that certainly deserve a spot on your RSS feed if not already!

The following is a list of where you can find various reviews and posts:

http://www.flyfishingnotes.com/2009/08/20/hatch-2-0-ipod-and-iphone-app/

http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=102

http://thesierranevadas.com/?cat=6

http://wcflies.com/blog/2009/08/yeah-theres-an-app-for-that/

http://www.otterbox.com/employee-spotlight-mary-knaus/

http://www.dsflyfishing.com/fishing-blog/the-hatch-2-fly-fishing-app-for-iphone.html

http://www.kiene.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17442

http://www.moldychum.com/home-old/2009/10/6/hatch-chart-app-on-itunes.html

http://eastcoastangler.blogspot.com/2009/10/best-iphone-fly-fishing-app-hatch.html

http://www.facebook.com/fishpond.usa?ref=mf

http://blog.fishykid.org/10/07/2009/112

http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/2009/10/iphone-hatch-app.html

http://thenorthernangler.blogspot.com/2009/10/hatch-2-for-iphone.html

http://flyfishingsherpa.com/the-hatch-2-for-fly-fishing-theres-an-iphone-app-for-that/

http://mouching.wordpress.com/2009/11/14/la-bonne-mouche-est-au-bout-du-fil/

There is a new front page for The Hatch 2!

Check out http://www.thehatchapp.com

A blog dedicated to The Hatch 2 will be coming along in the future.

There’s a new site coming for The Hatch app.  It’ll be dedicated to The Hatch, created by Brisk Studios, it’ll showcase the app and provide news and information related to it.