It finally got hot here in Rochester and we actually had 3 days in a row without rain. Woot! I spent most of July building a wiki site about Rochester’s hopping entertainment district, quite a good project and one that really got me excited about how well some of the online content management systems work. Though I haven’t been doing the social media thing as frequently lately, I count building 120 pages of original content as a social media activity.

The CMS I’m using is Wetpaint and I’m becoming a default power-user. I highly recommend this platform. It has pretty powerful photo-editing software built-in (Picnic), supports widgets for things like slideshows, makes internal linking really fast and easy and makes SEO a snap with constant reminders to add tags. When I launched the site on its own URL it only took two weeks to get to 55% of visitors coming from organic searches. My SEO peeps will appreciate what this means- basically that Google likes the site!

I’m already building another site on the platform that will soon reside at WaterfrontRochester.com. It features all of Rochester’s varied waterfront neighborhoods- we have a lot of water: Lake Ontario, Irondequoit Bay, the Erie Canal, the Genesee River. When I’m done some lucky Realtor will be invited to sponsor this thing. Then I’m on to WaterfrontFingerLakes.com. If you’ve never been to the Finger Lakes you have to go- absolutely spectacular wine country, beautiful properties, rolling hills with vineyards, boating, skiiing, all within 60 miles of our airport. People from Napa have been buying up acreage at quite a clip with prices quadrupling in the past few years.

That’s my summer activity- tomorrow I get on a train and go to visit the girl in Albany!

Can you go totally all out for 20-30 seconds of riding or swimming, rest for four minutes and repeat 3 more times? And do this three times week? New studies show that this kind of very intense interval training can produce results equal to six hours per week of ordinary riding or swimming.

The key to this is total, exhausting effort in short bursts. You can’t just speed up, you must go full tilt to the point where you cannot continue for more than 20-30 seconds. That’s one the reasons running may not be suited to this as they don’t know the effect of the pounding on your feet that this kind of sprinting might have.

I don’t do enough aerobic activity. I walk 2-3 miles every day, as much to clear my head as for exercise, and I have a resistance routine at the gym. I’m going to try this interval method in the pool.

If this works no one has any excuse for not getting in shape. None of us want to have the health problems we see in seniors who didn’t take care of themselves when they were our age- it’s a quality of life issue.

If you try it let me know how it works for you.

For the past week I’ve had a friend from out of town staying with me. She grew up in the Rochester area but left many years ago- though she still has family here. Her visits have been confined to business and family matters and she really hasn’t seen much of the city in the past 20 years. This past week was the Rochester International Jazz Festival, a huge event that fills downtown Rochester with music and music lovers. Since I live within walking distance I took Toni out on several evenings of the fest, including an ad hoc tour of the changes our town has gone through.

Her response was enlightening to me. As we walked by the dozens of restaurants, stores, theaters, galleries, coffee shops, loft developments and more that have opened in the last ten years she could not get over what a different city she was experiencing. It didn’t hurt that there were thousands of people enjoying free and paid jazz, eating and drinking in outdoor cafes and simply socializing in public. We ate at several great restaurants (Good Luck, One Ryan, 2Vine, Pier 45) and had a great time.

On Sunday, when the rain cleared away, we went to Turning Point Park in the Genesee River gorge and walked the amazing boardwalk all the way to the Lake Ontario outlet. There were sailboats everywhere for a big regatta. The city has done an amazing job with the entire Charlotte/River neighborhood. It felt like being on vacation in some hip city!

Rochesterians are known for poo-pooing our city’s ability to change or become a destination. Toni’s reaction was one of continual wonder at how much has changed in significant ways. Her impression was that we live in a very hip and happening place, not the boring and rundown Rochester she remembered. Her perspective cleared my perspective as I got excited showing her all the great things in this town. Sometimes when change is taking place gradually you lose perspective. Take some time to see things from a newcomer’s eyes and you may find that your world is a whole new place.

I’m a techie guy but I am not an early adopter of new technology- and, as a result, I’ve saved thousands over the years. I recently bought a 24″ LCD monitor for $250. A year ago the equivalent product was over $500. My new digital camera was $150; I couldn’t have touched its feature set a year ago for under $300. I’m pretty glad I did not buy the second gen iPhone for $300 a year ago now that I can buy it for $100…You get the idea.

There is almost always a buying option that delivers the same features and capabilities at half the price. Buying a 3 year old car coming off a lease is a great example. With less than 36000 miles this is practically a new car. Housing is another example- very often the same house in a neighborhood perceived as being less posh but actually no different in amenities and quality of life can save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I really don’t think there is an exception to this rule. In our society we are trained by marketing to buy based on desire and status and this results in recessions like the one we’re experiencing right now. When we want something so bad that we mortgage our lives to get it we are likely to eventually crash and burn. When we collectively mortgage our society to get things we don’t need, society will eventually crash and burn.

For most people, by the time we hit our forties we pretty much have everything we need. We’ve been accumulating both necessities and luxuries for over twenty years. It’s now time to look at what we have and what we want and make adjustments. Get of rid of things you don’t need. If there are things you always wanted to pursue like learning new skills or traveling, then look at what you spend your time on and adjust so you find the time you need to follow those pursuits. Downsize anything you can and put the dollars you save to working improving your life.

It’s not rocket science. When I moved to a less expensive but nicer apartment I realized a lot of things. I wanted to go to NY more often to see art and enjoy the city. With the money I save on rent and utilities I can add a NY trip in six more times a year- or travel for a month! This is an incredible improvement in my lifestyle without spending any more money.