Some might say you are a car enthusiast if you have ever opened up the hood of your car for something other than adding fluids (note, I said adding not changing). My own definition of a car enthusiast is a little more discriminating than that.

You know you’re a car enthusiast when…

• you’ve changed out your steering wheel
• you can name more than three wheel manufacturers
• you’ve added gauges to the interior of your car
• you know why you added said gauges

I think you get the idea.

Undoubtedly, many of you are shaking your heads or raising your hand – you’re a car enthusiast.

Well, have I got a cool product to show you. Earlier today, one of my blogging buddies, David Pitlyuk sent me a link to one of the coolest child car seats that I have ever seen.

That’s right – a carbon fiber car seat modeled after the well-known Sparco racing seats that many of you enthusiasts may already have in your car. Take a look at this prototype and tell me it is not one of the sweetest things you have seen.

This seat, designed by Rory Craig, is a prototype but I can see something like this being a huge hit with the car enthusiasts. Even the proposed name is a great fit – Wing Man!

Jump on over to Carbon Fiber Gear to see a few more pictures and learn a little bit more about the creation of this carbon fiber car seat.

Thanks for the heads-up Dave!

Photo courtesy of Carbon Fiber Gear

In the event that you are not familiar with the show, “No Reservations” is hosted by chef and author Anthony Bourdain as he travels the globe sharing insights into the food and culture of unique destinations. The sometimes foul-mouthed chef might rub some people the wrong way but he certainly does not shy away from the outrageous cuisine or experiences that he encounters along the way.

The new season kicks off with Bourdain visiting Laos, where he will discover exotic cuisines as well as a mysteriously haunting history. Take a look at the following sneak peek to see what else the new season will deliver.

If you’re a fan of the show, which airs on Monday evenings on the Travel Channel, you might also want to follow @NoReservations on twitter to stay current with news on the show or check out Anthony’s blog – although with less than one post per month there isn’t too much to follow there.

Given that Anthony recently had a baby daughter, it would be interesting to get an interview on work life balance from a world-traveler to give us insight into the man we see on screen.

Are you a fan of the show “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations“?

After celebrating a safe and happy 4th of July weekend (for those of us here in the United States), check out the new season on Monday and let me know what you think.

Today is the last full day of school for our kids – they have to attend school tomorrow as well but only for a couple of hours to satisfy the state requirements. Even though our oldest son has a broken wrist, he and his younger brother already have grand plans for summer.

Hopefully our kids are still a little too young for what you are about to see, although they do have their own Flip Video Camera that they love to play with so we cannot be too comfortable.

As your kids begin their summer vacation, be on the lookout for any unusual behavior as you don’t want to find yourself on display at YouTube or Break like this mom. You have to give credit to these kids though as they pulled this off flawlessly.

Two Little Kids Prank Their Mom – Watch more free videos

To the kids everywhere, enjoy your summer but give mom and dad a break!

My level of expertise with regard to cooking can basically be summed up by saying that if you spend enough time in the kitchen, eventually you will produce a meal that is edible – by someone or something.

Although my kids will tell you that I make the best box of macaroni and cheese within a 5,000 mile radius.

After a recent bout with an unidentified virus that would have killed the average man, last night seemed like a good time to punish reward the family with a home-cooked meal from dad.

Ok – I’ll be honest here – I was really just heading out to buy myself something for lunch since I finally felt like eating and thought that I better make dinner before my wife really does kill me.

A quick stop at the grocery store – since I had no idea what we had in the refrigerator or freezer – and I was ready to dazzle the family with grilled chicken breast, green beans, and some pasta.

Did I mention that almost all of my cooking involves the grill?

As I plowed a path through the snow drifts on the patio to reach the grill, I began to think that I should really go all out and do something a little different than the standard grilled chicken.

Turning to my friendly computer, I soon – defined as thirty minutes after being sidetracked by email – stumbled upon a great list of recipes for a variety of meals that appeared to be easy enough that even I could not screw them up.

It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the Recipe Center at Tyson Foods.

Thank you…thank you…please note the tip jar on the far counter.

Within mere minutes I had found the recipe that I would use for our meal – brown sugar rubbed chicken – and it even recommended the grill!

As a tip to all of you dads that are more the style of Chef Boyardee – such as myself – than the style of Chef <insert French name here/>, all you need to do is search for a recipe that has no more than five or six ingredients.

When you see a long list of ingredients just keep on moving – trust me.

Roughly 35 minutes – and one cut thumb – later, our family sat down to a nice meal that included brown sugar rubbed chicken, green beans, pasta, and some lightly baked Italian bread sprinkled with mozzarella and shredded parmesan cheese.

Of course the kids asked that next time I just make the macaroni and cheese!

I never really did until just this week when I mysteriously discovered the ability to travel forward in time – although I only seem to be able to travel a few hours at a time.

By now you are probably wondering exactly what I have been smoking over the holidays or maybe you are thinking that I simply ate the sweet potatoes that had been left out too long on Christmas Day.

Time travel isn’t possible – or is it?

I’m about to share with you the five steps that I have taken to travel in time and I encourage you to try them yourself to see if you too can discover the ability to arrive hours into the future in a mere blink of the eye.

1. Verify that your wife and kids are sound asleep for the night – time travel is possible while they are awake but it is much easier when everyone else is sleeping.
2. Turn on your television.
3. Attach a white rectangular device to your wrist.
4. Press the small button with an orange glow located on a larger white rectangular box near your television.
5. Sit back and enjoy.

By following these simple steps, I guarantee that you will find yourself three or four hours in the future in what seems like only a few seconds. Last night I began this process at 9:00pm and instantly I traveled in time to 1:00am before I was able to disengage from the white box.

What is that? You don’t have a white rectangular box near your television?

If you find yourself wanting to travel in time but don’t have one of these white rectangular boxes, I can share a secret codeword with you that should help you obtain one of the boxes.

Get your pen and paper…ready? Nintendo Wii.

You might have to wait awhile before you are able to find a store that will accept this secret codeword, as it seems there are quite a few dads that have discovered this secret of time travel.

If you find yourself longing for time travel and cannot wait until the secret codeword unlocks the portal to a new dimension, I’ve got a backup codeword that Cory Huff from A Good Husband recently shared with his readers – Xbox 360.

Just be careful if you decide to attempt time travel as it can seriously impact your ability to be productive. I’ve had a difficult time resisting the temptation to travel in time and that has resulted in a quiet week on my blogs.

You’ve been warned – travel in time at your own risk!

The world population is in the ballpark of 6.6 billion people, which means that approximately 132 million people can solve this problem. Since both my friend and I successfully solved the puzzle, I’d be happy to hear from the other 131,999,998 people that know the answer to Einstein’s Logic Puzzle.

Give it a try and send me an email if you think you have the answer. You can also leave your answer in the comments but that might ruin the fun for everyone else that wants to try.

Background
There are 5 houses each with a different color. Their owners, each with a unique heritage, drinks a certain type of beverage, smokes a certain brand of cigarette, and keep a certain variety of pet. None of the owners have the same pet, smoke the same brand of cigarette or drink the same beverage.

Clues

• The Brit lives in the red house.
• The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
• The Dane drinks tea.
• The green house is just to the left of the white house.
• The green house’s owner drinks coffee.
• The person who smokes Pall Malls raises birds.
• The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
• The man living in the center house drinks milk.
• The Norwegian lives in the first house.
• The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
• The man who keeps a horse lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
• The owner who smokes Bluemasters also drinks beer.
• The German smokes Prince.
• The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
• The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.

Who owns the fish?

I’m sure that you are thinking that my challenge doesn’t sound all that difficult, as many people will be devouring a turkey at some point tomorrow.

However, I am not referring to the type of turkey that you eat.

Bowling.

Bowling on Thanksgiving?

I thought the same thing at one time. When my wife and I were dating, I learned that her family had a tradition of bowling after Thanksgiving dinner.

In my family, everyone usually prefers to sit around on the couch and sleep so this was certainly new to me. But I loved it. We have since done it with our kids a couple of times and they thought it was really cool as well.

So what about this challenge?

My challenge to all of you is to get out there and give bowling a try this Thanksgiving. Not only can it be a fun family tradition and a source of memories for years to come, you will get a little exercise as well and that is always a good thing.

In the game of bowling, the term turkey refers to when a bowler scores three consecutive strikes. In many bowling alleys, you will be treated to a picture of a turkey on the overhead monitors and you might even win yourself a prize such as free drinks or a free pizza.

If any of you score a turkey at the bowling alley, snap a picture of the moment and send it to me. I’ll compile a post-Thanksgiving bowling recap and give everyone their proper credit for getting a turkey on Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone has a Happy & Healthy Thanksgiving!

Photo credit: ronnieb

While I still get out and play football or basketball with my friends from time to time, my playing days have essentially passed me by. However, one of my favorite things to do with my two boys is to get outside and play sports with them.

Toss the football around. Shoot baskets. Ride skateboards.

The actual activity isn’t all that important as I just love being outside with my kids sharing my passion of sports with them. I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I was when my kids got to the age where they could actually make a basket without being lifted to the rim or they could throw the ball back to me without rolling it three-quarters of the way.

This weekend my kids asked if I would play football with them. At the time I was wrapping up a post on my personal blog and told them I would be right there.

A few minutes later we were out in the front yard and I was directing the kids around in various pass patterns and hitting them with precision passes. It was a thing of beauty – NFL scouts would have been lining up to sign a long-term deal and the kids were playing pretty well too.

Then it happened.

One of the kids from down the street came outside and as soon as my kids spotted him, they asked if they could go down and play with him instead of sticking around to play football with me. It was official – I had been demoted to second string.

Time with dad took a back seat to playing with a friend.

I cannot say that I wasn’t expecting that this day would arrive but that didn’t make it any easier. As I tried to digest what my kids had just asked, they asked me again as I had yet to actually respond.

After telling them that they could go down and play, I tried to convince my wife to throw the ball around with me but she wasn’t having any part of that.

Then it happened again.

As I sat there on a crisp Saturday afternoon trying to drown my sorrows in a cold beer, my kids came racing down the street and asked me if I would come down and play football with them. They wanted me to be the “all-time quarterback” in a game of two-on-two football. Heck yeah, I want to play. I yelled to my wife that I was heading down the street to play football with the kids. My neighbor came out as well and each of us acted as the quarterback for one team.

We played until the sun had set and everyone had a good time.

Even though I experienced the disappointment of being demoted to second string, I am still lucky enough to have the opportunity to share one of my passions with my children. It may not be as often as I would like and I have come to realize that there will be times when playing with friends will take precedence over playing with me, but I still feel like a first string dad!

As I debated my starting lineup yesterday and digested the stats and scores from around the league, I came up with 5 signs that you’re addicted to fantasy football.

1. You picked up Sage – and I don’t mean at the grocery store. Sage Rosenfels orchestrated an unbelievable come from behind effort as he directed the Houston Texans back from a 32-7 deficit. Unfortunately the Tennessee Titans pulled out the victory in the closing seconds on Rob Bironas’ NFL record-setting 8th field goal of the game. If you even thought of picking up Sage Rosenfels for your team, you’re addicted to fantasy football.
   
   
2. You know the names of more than three tight ends in the NFL. When you can rattle off the names of not only the starting tight ends for each team but you also know many of the backup tight ends, you’re addicted to fantasy football.
   
   
3. You wake up early on Sunday morning to submit a question to the ESPN fantasy chat about which kicker you should start. When you are asking other people for feedback on which kicker you should use to replace Nate Kaeding, you’re addicted to fantasy football.
   
   
4. You know more about Rudi Johnson’s hamstring than you do about what your kids did last week. When it comes to your starting lineup each week it is important to know about any injuries. But when you know more about a stranger’s hamstring, knee, or back, you’re addicted to fantasy football.
   
   
5. You have ever rooted against your favorite team. While I’ve never wanted to see my favorite team lose, I’ve been guilty of hoping for an offensive explosion with my team on the victorious side. If you’ve ever found yourself regretting the success of a player on your favorite team, you’re addicted to fantasy football.
   
   

I’d love to share more with you but I need to go check the latest injury news and see if there is anyone I need to add from the waiver wire!

Even though the PGA will not be knocking on your door any time soon, being able to play golf is a great skill to have.

Whether you work in an office or run your own business from home, there is a pretty good chance that at some point you will be asked to hit the links for a little fun. You don’t want to look completely clueless out on the golf course with the executives of your company or that big client that you just landed so it helps to have at least played the game before.

Did you know that playing golf could be a great networking opportunity?

Playing the game of golf is a great tool for networking. For the dad working in an office, you will have a chance to spend a few hours with people that you may not interact with on a daily basis, possibly even the upper echelon of executives. For the dad running his own business, you will be presented an opportunity to share time with past, current and/or prospective customers.

When you spend a few hours on the golf course, you will be forming a bond with the other members of your foursome. Before you head out for an afternoon on the golf course, take a few minutes to remember the following tips:

• Don’t Talk Business. When out on the course, leave the business talk at the first tee. You don’t want to try and close the deal on the course, instead you want to build a strong relationship that may assist you close the deal down the road.
• Turn Off The Phone. You can make it a few hours without your phone connected to your hip. The people you are with will realize that they have your full attention and you will avoid the embarrassing situation of your phone ringing right as your client is swinging their club.
• Know The Rules. It is important to at least have a basic understanding of the rules as this will demonstrate that you have a respect for the game. You will project a positive image if you handle yourself properly on the course.
• Control Your Emotions. When you hit the ball in the “drink” or lose one in the woods, do not lose your temper. If your boss or client sees you lose control on the golf course, what will they think about you when it is crunch time on the big project?

If you haven’t played golf in quite awhile or maybe you have never played before, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Start out by visiting the driving range at a nearby course to hit a few buckets of balls.

You can certainly take lessons if you desire but from a networking perspective, your performance on the course is not nearly as important as the simple act of being out there and sharing the experience.

Once you’ve visited the driving range a few times, you can stop by the course to play a round of golf. You don’t need an organized golf outing to take advantage of the networking opportunities.

Typically the golf course will try to match you up with a few other people to keep everyone in groups of three or four golfers. This is a great opportunity to meet some new people and possibly open the door to a future business deal.

A few words of warning – the game of golf can become very addicting. Before you know it, you’ll be visiting the pro shops to check out the latest driver or putter to find the one that is just right for you. You’ll be trying different golf balls to see which one works best for your game – who knew that there were so many differences between golf balls?

The important thing is to get out there, have some fun and take advantage of the opportunity to network.

Do you have any stories of success or disaster on the golf course? Please share!

Am I the only one that is struggling to think of that hobby?

Unless I want to consider things like doing laundry and helping the kids with their homework as a hobby, I am not sure that I can tell you when the last time was that I actively pursued one of my hobbies.

What Is A Hobby?

Before going too much further, it may be worthwhile to discuss the definition of a hobby.

Taking a look at Wikipedia, we see the definition of a hobby as:

…a spare-time recreational pursuit. Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward.

This is a pretty good definition of what constitutes a hobby, although each person will likely have their own slightly unique interpretation.

As an example, my own interpretation of this definition is that a hobby is an activity that I pursue beyond the time I spend with my family. While some may consider an activity such as playing with the kids as a hobby, I consider that to be an integral part of my life and that takes precedence over my hobbies.

The reason that I mentioned not knowing when the last time I pursued one of my hobbies, such as riding my motorcycle, is because I’ve been spending my time outside of work trying to enjoy the last bit of summer with my family.

Why Are Hobbies Important?

As nice as it sounds to have a hobby, there are times when it seems like you just don’t have enough time in the day to pursue a hobby. Does that mean you should just ignore your hobbies?

Absolutely not!

Hobbies are a very important part of your life and can bring a great deal of enjoyment and help keep your body and mind strong. Consider the following potential benefits of having a hobby in your life:

• Meet new people. Depending on your hobby, you may have the opportunity to meet new people and with the importance of networking this is always a good thing.
• Reduce stress. When you take time to involve yourself in an enjoyable activity, you will find that you often lose track of your worries and live in the moment.
• Have fun. Life is too short to always be worrying about work or other concerns. Hobbies provide an opportunity to laugh, get a little crazy and recharge.

As you think about the hobbies that you enjoy, be sure to make an effort to set aside a little time each day, each week or each month to pursue your hobby.

Today I will be making the time to enjoy one of my hobbies and there is a good chance that as you are reading this post, I’ll be cruising down the road on my motorcycle!