It seems that this whole crazy “blogging” thing has made it to Nashville. My sister, Michelle Uhri has started a little blog at 10thousandwords.blogspot.com

I look forward to a little sibling rivalry… perhaps it will spur me on over here at uhri.com.

As we headed back to our car, my wife commented on the “sport” of geocaching: “Its like the Amazing Race… for junk.” We just found our first cache near our local sledding hill. It was a blue tupperware container hidden near a rock and covered with a pile of sticks. Both of the kids stepped on it when we found it.

In the cache were a number of trinkets and a log book. I signed the log book and the kids traded items with the cache. Our eldest put in a golf ball and took a mini deck of cards. Our youngest, dissapointed he couldn’t keep the whole cache, traded a Hot Wheels car for an M&M coin purse.

We were happy to find the cache. Our first attempt was a bust and we had only the time to look for one more before dinner. Our eldest said he likes geocaching because you can trade things you don’t like for things that you do. My wife enjoys getting outside and the thrill of finding the caches… she’s pretty competitive and likes puzzles, so geocaching is right up her alley.

The goal for me? My goal is to spend more quality time with my kids. Being together outside and working to find a cache is all the more I need.

Oh, and GPS nerdiness.

And feeling like a pirate.

Arrrr!!! Buried Treasure!

I’m not sure what it is, but there is something about the Israeli Army and working on a kibbutz that seems to make for good software companies. First, Joel Spolsky has mentioned that he spent time as a paratrooper with Israel’s army and then time in a kibbutz to get time out of uniform. His company, Fog Creek seems like a great place to work with a ginormous amount of cool benefits.

Now it seems that there’s another army/kibbutz combo – Motek in Beverly Hills. Motek writes warehouse administration software. Here, too, open policies, generous benefits and trust are cornerstones to the company’s success. Motek boasts one of the highest revenue per employee numbers in their niche market.

Having spent a bit of time at a Jewish retreat in upstate New York, I can see the practical benefits of such openness. When we were there for a weekend-long wedding, we were slightly shocked to find our room had no locks on the door. We were to trust those around us. It wasn’t truly a kibbutz, but the warmth and the openness of the others at the wedding helped us Gentiles fit in a bit better.

As a company, I wonder how those not traditionally used to the communal philosophy could embrace some of these ideas.

Hat tip: Positive Sharing