Category: Personal

One Year on the PortfolioMinder Team

Claire Giordano wrote a great post about habits and getting back in the habit of writing blog entries. I know I really want to start writing regularly again. My excuse is that I have been incredibly busy at work. At first I wrote "I’ve been busy at the new job" but I can’t really say that any more. I’ve been at Intuit a year now. It has been one of the busiest if not the busiest year of my working life. When I look at our progress on a day to day basis it seems slow. But when I look back over the past year the PortfolioMinder team has accomplished a lot. We  launched PortfolioMinder and are supporting automatic downloads from Schwab and TD Ameritrade.  We are building a customer base and most importantly we are learning a lot about the financial adviser market.

I am especially proud of the customer care team and the support we are providing. Since I am the Customer Care Manager for PortfolioMinder I may be biased but I think the support team we have created for PortfolioMinder is awesome. The team is a virtual team who are mainly financial planners and are located all over the U.S.  The expertise we are developing and the understanding the team has of the needs of advisers is very special. I really enjoy working with this team of great people.

I often think about what it takes to develop habits. In addition to getting back in the blogging habit I would like to get in the habit of lifting weights and exercising daily. I have been in this habit in the past but I let it slip. I really need to focus again on what is important. Exercising must certainly be on that list. I don’t understand why it is so difficult.

Ronni Bennett wrote about habits today in her Time Goes By Blog. She recently moved and says that moving spurs you to change your habits. I wonder what else is a catalyst to changing habits and what catalyst I can use.

A Fitness Trend?

I wonder if the over 70 market is a growing market for fitness clubs? I was surprised and inspired to see the number of 70+ people working out when I  accompanied my Mom to her gym the last few days. The gym, Personally Fit, in Rancho Bernardo also provides physical therapy.  They have lots of bicycles, treadmills and weight machines and most of them were in use  by older people when I was there.

I wish I had taken my camera so I could show you a picture of my Mom (I won’t reveal her age but she is over 70) working out on the weight machines.  Exactly a year ago Mom had a small stroke. After she got home she had balance problems and had real difficulties being up and around. Her neighbor recommended the trainer at her gum and Mom started going. The change is amazing. Mom has gone out for a walk every day we have been here and at Shannon’s recent graduation she maneuvered steps and sat in the bleachers. The improvement in her mobility is inspiring.

Claudia, Mom’s personal trainer  is great. She has her doing cardio vascular, strength, and balance training. Mom says that Claudia has several clients over 90. 

Escondido

I am in Escondido right now visiting my Mother while my Dad is in Canada on his annual fishing trip Mylies Place at Lake of the Woods.   I talked to him yesterday and he had already caught a 24 inch 4 pound  walleye. He is having a good time!

I arrived here on Saturday night. The plane was supposed to land in San Diego about 9:30. About 10 minutes out the pilot came on and said the weather was clear and warm,. About 5 minutes out he came on again and said the fog had come in and they were changing runways. Then 10 minute later he came on a third time and said that the visibility was so bad that we couldn’t land and were on our way to the Ontario airport which, for those to don’t know southern California, is in the LA area.

Southwest Airlines was very efficient. Within an hour they had us on a bus headed to San Diego (a 2 hour drive). We got to the airport there at about 1am. On the way we went right by my parent’s house! Mom and  Allison were at the airport to meet us and we finally got to the house about 1:45. Since then we have been relaxing, enjoying the peace and quiet, shopping, cooking, gardening and taking Mom to the gym. It is a nice vacation.

A Legacy of love

My former mother-in-law passed away this morning. She had been fighting Alzheimer’s for sometime so in many ways it was blessing but still it is a very sad day for all of us. I owe her a lot. She was a wonderful giving person. Almost 25 years ago when Allison was born it wasn’t nearly as common as it is today for women to go out on maternity leave and go back to work.  Going back to work after she was born was harder than I ever imagined it would be. Pat took care of Allison for the first three months of her life while I worked. She did the same thing for Shannon when she was born. At that time we were living in Carmel so she drove down from San Jose every Sunday night and back home every Friday night. She also  took care of the girls whenever they were sick. Raising children and working full time is really hard and I don’t think I could have done it without Pat.

Pat and Lloyd were very giving people. Lloyd passed away back in 1998. They loved and cared for their grandchildren in tangible ways that made them a very real part of who their grandchildren have become.  As the girls got older, Lloyd was the taxi service for the girls. The girls were involved in a multitude of after school activities. Lloyd always talked about driving the girls by saying that he was driving Miss Daisy. Allison remembers how how all the St Francis cheerleaders knew her grandfather because he came to all their football games and Shan remembers him coming to all her soccer games. Even after the divorce Lloyd and Pat never stopped supporting their grandchildren and me. Pat and Lloyd leave behind a legacy of love that will never be forgotten by the many people whose lives they touched.