Monkey Bars

Here is Alice's first attempt at the monkey bars all by herself. Not to shabby for a three year old.

Here is a great song by Jurassic 5 called Monkey Bars as well: http://www.last.fm/music/Jurassic+5/_/Monkey+Bars

WORKMOSPHERE

Perceptive Software has a tradition at Friday morning meetings to get some of the new hires up in front of 400-500 people and makes them answer questions and tell everyone a little bit about themselves. As palm sweating as this exercise can be it is a big part of creating our "workmosphere". What the hell are you talking about? Workmosphere? That's not a word. It will be.

We recently acquired a new company called Palace Athena out of the Netherlands and today a handful of their employees were made to get up in front and share. We have one question that is asked every time to every new employee and it is this, "if you could have any superpower, what would it be." One of our fine Dutch brethren shared this nugget.

"I have been in Shawnee for a few weeks, learning about the company, learning about your solutions, and if I could have any superpower it would be to take the 'workmosphere' from this place and take it back to the Netherlands."

Pretty powerful stuff. As the global economic uncertainty continues and as we continue to grow in 2012 it is reassuring to know that not only do I work in one of the best place in the United States, I work in one of the best places globally. One dash culture, one dash environment, one heaping spoonful of people, bake at 400 degrees, and out comes our worksmosphere.

Ruckus Run Kansas City

I should have written this post about a week ago but life has a tendency to get in the way of writing. Not today. I competed in the 2011 Ruckus Run Kansas City on the 5th of November. It was held out at  Valley Speedway in Grain Valley, Missouri. You can see the course for yourself here: http://www.runruckus.com/kc-course.html

For those of you pondering doing an obstacle style race, similar to Warrior Dash or Tough Mudder this is a good place to start. The race itself is four miles long with around twenty five obstacles. In this particular incantation, the course was flat but very muddy, so the speed during the times between the obstacles was tempered by the caked shoes and bleeding legs (more on that later). The race is also divided into waves, starting at 9:00am and going off every thirty minutes until 1:30pm. They scheduled a championship heat for 2:15pm. In order to qualify for the finals you had to finish in the top 10% of your division, not wave. My division was 0-44 men with the majority coming from the ranks of the 20-30 age bracket.

My race started at 10:30am and lucky for me because we got lost on the way there and missed the 10:00am wave that I hoped to run in. I wanted that one because my company, Perceptive Software, had organized a team of twenty people that were going to run together. I can tell you right now, my intention was to start with the team, but my goal was to beat all of their asses. As we lined up at the start the usual butterflies abounded in my belly as I jumped and shook the chill out of my legs. It was overcast, around forty five degrees, and had rained a few days before so I would say conditions were ideal. As I looked around it became rather apparent that I was grossly underdressed for this endeavor. All around me dudes had on gloves, high socks, trail running shoes, goggles, for a moment I had an oh crap moment but at that point what can you do. Also, in front of me were around ten guys, a few of them had various KCFD shirts on and looked rather serious. I was wearing my race running shorts, t-shirt, and mandatory headband. Not mandatory from the race officials, mandatory to my personal racing philosophy. As last minute instructions were blarred out from the starters megaphone, I could think only of how long it was going to take me to pass these fools.

BANG! Off we go! We started out with some baricades and then through a long straightaway calve deep mud, once we got through that we hit some walls and then up a steep slope with a rope. I had to have some help from the back on this one, as I chose the middle route (they were yelling at us not to take it) and some gent had to shove me hard on the backside so I could scamper up to the top. Once that debacle was behind me it was smooth sailing. After a variety of obstacles I was out in front and by myself after about a mile. The rest of the race alternated between completing an obstacle (walls, ropes, nets, mud, ramps) and running. I felt like I was carrying a good pace but I couldn't tell without mile markers and my watch was covered in mud it made me focus on how many foot strikes I was making per minute. While I do love math, it becomes difficult to do calculations when you are schimming along 15 foot high ranger bars.

Somewhere between mile two and three, I just started passing people from the previous heat. That must be discouraging. I am of the belief that you don't speak unless you are spoken to if you are passing someone. That is not to say you don't say, "excuse me" or "on your left" if you have to but telling someone, "good job" or "keep it up" when they are struggling or looking terrible is just pouring salt on your wound.

The finishing area on for this event was pretty cool. Both participants and spectators had to walk under one of the obstacles to get to the finishing area. My girls thought that was so cool. Watching grown people flounder around on netting while dripping mud was a sight to behold. Ruby kept remarking that mud was falling on her as she laughed and ran under the obstacle again. I saw my wife and kids when I entered that last area and they cheered me on. I flashed Emily the, I'm in first place sign, and she started pumping me up. I literally felt like I was dominating the obstacles, skipping ropes and just running up things. As I passed the final ropes and hit the finish line a rush of satisfaction hit me. I won my heat.

Regarding posting results, the Ruckus beats every other race I have ever ran. Literally five minutes after I finished they had updated and posted results. At that time I was fourth overall and second in my division. That meant I had qualified for the finals. I didn't run in them. Basically, I thought I had to work at the bar that night (ended up getting texted that I didn't need to come in) so I didn't think it made sense to make the family wait around for me to run just to race back home as soon as we were done. In hindsight, I should have done it. I think I would have gotten second place overall. I ended up 13th overall and 11th in my age group: http://racewire.com/ruckus_kansascity_results.php?firstname=&lastname=Keefe&town=&bibnumber=

The first place guy ran a 24:41 and I ran a 31:44. That dude was seriously hauling tail. You have to think it took at least four minutes to compete over twenty obstacles so that mean in actuality he wasn't running six minute miles but five minute miles. That ridiculous. The second place guy ran 28 minutes, I could have caught him if I was racing.

Finally, this race offered a couple of other things that were first times for us. Ruby got to run in the kids mini-ruckus. She tore it up but was disappointed because there were no mud pits. I was disappointed as well because there were no mud pits. Come on, these are kids they love mud. After hosing myself off and doing my best to get somewhat cleaned up I kept having this nagging feeling that the inside of my ankles were burning. Well this is what remains of a rope burn from ten days ago.

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Sorry for the picture but words to not do it justice. I have this on both legs. One of the obstacles was a rope that you had to hook your legs around and pull with your arms to cross a span of about twenty feet. Who knew that rope burn was possible? I came to that realization when in the shower I thought someone had set fire to my ankles. 

I look forward to running this again and I already signed up for my next adventure, the Tough Mudder Missouri. You can get shocked by 10,000 volts in one of their obstacles. Sounds fun!

Tough Mudder Missouri 2012

Thank You Sporting Kansas City

It hasn't been twenty four hours since we lost the Eastern Conference Championship in our gem LiveStrong Sporting Park. Yes, I am that fan. I say we, our, us, etc., Some might say success has already came to Sporting when fans start to use those words and take ownership of the team. A vested interest has taken hold among casual fans and diehards alike where the wins and losses are felt deep down and take a few days to move past. This loss amazingly has taken me less than twenty four hours to get over and you know why, because Sporting gave me way more than I put in and for that I am grateful.

It started years ago, when I moved to Kansas City. At that time the Wizards played at Arrowhead and were basically viewed as a niche player in the sports and entertainment landscape. I played soccer for a long time and it is my favorite sport and it has long been my dream to have world class soccer in the town I live. We have that now. I watched games at Arrowhead, Community America Ballpark, and now LiveStrong Park and I have never in my life been in an sports environment like what I sat in last night. It was special and I will never forget the hours I spent singing, cheering, cursing, and praying for the boys on the field to get it done. Alas, it was not meant to be but this is a new day for soccer in Kansas City and as a resident of the metro, I would like to say thank you for a ton of things.

Thanks for not giving up on Kansas City as a soccer town. We love soccer here we just needed a home.

Thanks for the new home. I could belabor the point but it's not necessary. Take one step into LiveStrong Park or hell just look at it from outside and you can easily see that this is a cathedral to soccer. My daughter and I call it the house that Robb built but sometimes we say God.

Thanks for the new name. We love the Wiz and our chants prove it but it was almost like the re-branding was like a new birth. I know it is new, glitzy, and hot right now and that's good. It's better than starting slow but it seems extremely well thought out, professional, and classy. Stay classy.

Thanks to the account executives, marketing talent, sales staff, ticket takers, parking attendants, guitar pick girls, merchandise sellers, concessionaires, cooks, and janitors. These people and those behind the scenes make the experience at LiveStrong Park second to none. From the moment you arrive to the moment you leave you are taken care of and you can feel it.

Thanks to security both uniformed, plain clothed, and private. I sit in the Cauldron and you allow us to police ourselves. I never once felt unsafe, worried, or uncomfortable, even when the refs were blowing it and I thought we would strangle them.

Thanks to the owners, Neal, Cliff, Greg, Pat, and Robb. I mean no disrespect by not using your last name but it's actually a honor. We feel like you are part of us. You are fans, you live here, you come to the games, you spent a load of money to get to this point and deserve to reap the benefits of all your hard work.

Thanks to Robb. As you walk by the Cauldron before the game, with beer in hand, beard on face, and are yelling at us to get pumped that is amazing. You should hear what we say about you. "Here goes a real owner or hey here's Robb, and talk about a guy who wants to win. This guy gets it."

Thanks to the players. Jimmy, Michael, Korede, Matt, Omar, Teal, Julio, Aurelien, Daneil, Birahim, Kevin, Roger, Jeferson, Peterson, Kei, Jon, Eric, Scott, Chance, Lawrence, Craig, Soony, C.J., Luke, Seth, Milos, Shavar, Konrad, and Graham. You fellas are why we almost made it to the top of the mountain and you are the reason we will get there next year.

Thanks to the fans. I spend my games in the Member's Stand and certainly feel a part of something bigger than myself when I am there. As we sing and dance, hug and cry, the agony of the loss and the joy of the wins are so much better when you have friends to share it with.

This was the most enjoyable summer and fall I have had in years and Sporting Kansas City was the reason why. I can't wait for next season.

Thank God for Sporting Kansas City.

MOVEMBER - My quest for a mustache

Hello Amazing People,

I am growing a mustache and it needs help. More specifically, my mustache needs your support. My face, focused directly on my upper lip, is on a quest to raise money for cancer research. You may be asking yourself, "Ben, while I know the will of your face is tremendous how will this help cancer research?" Great question.

The more money you donate to my mustache the more research, administration, overhead, development can go into finding new treatments, drugs, services, or programs to help fight cancers that effect men. Great answer.

You can learn more by visiting here: http://mobro.co/beingbenkeefe

It boils down to this, I need, "Mo money, mo money, mo money." This is not a reference to 'In Living Color' which is returning for two more shows. FINALLY http://www.ontheredcarpet.com/In-Living-Color-returns-to-FOX--produced-by-Keenan-Ivory-Wayans/8413199

So help me out, donate five bucks, and get updates on the status of my mustache. If nothing else my family Thanksgiving photos are going to be tremendous this year. Possibly just a sweet head-shot of me is going to be our Christmas card. Maybe I can superimpose a picture of the kids somewhere in it.

This video pretty much sums it up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTuKOgHI7GA

Please send this to your friends.

You can follow my adventure on twitter @beingbenkeefe

Peace,

Ben