Spare Time?  What is that?  Some of the activities that I like to do when I'm not geeking-out with technology include:

Girls-Softball Coaching

While I started somewhat reluctantly, coaching softball has become one of my very favorite activities.  It's been a very satisfying experience over the last several years to be involved with a variety of teams and situations.  Every team has been special and has had it's own set of positives and maybe a negative or two.  At the end of each season I have been sad to see it go.  I've judged my success or failure with the season not by how many victories that my teams had, but by how much fun the girls had.  It's a great feeling to have the players tell me that they enjoyed the season and that they are going to continue to play.  As silly as it sounds, the cards that I have received from players are near and dear to my heart and I've kept every one of them.

Last year I was lucky enough to be able to manage a group of great girls for a post-season tournament team.  The competition was bit higher and the intensity was wrenched up a bit.  The interesting thing is that while this group of girls was just a group of in-house players that came together for this short season, they played to a high level and hung in there with much more seasoned teams.  I had some great coaches to help them get better, but the key was the team spirit and the heart that this team had.  I'm hoping to be able to capture this again in the future!  Go Fusion!

The future is now!  I've been lucky enough to be able to manage a girls softball team, the Eich's / PAC Twisters Columbia 14U team.  I've great some great coaches too, with Derek Holmes and Larry Keys doing most of the real work.  The girls are trying hard and are progressing well and we'll see what we do in the 2011 summer season.  Checkout our website at www.twisters-softball.com!

PAC - Co-Commissioner of Travel Softball

I've been involved with the Plainfield Athletic Club as a coach of both Baseball and Softball teams for many years now.  I've managed a good number of teams as well.  PAC is a great organization, with people that really care that are running the show.  Countless hours are spent by volunteers each year to make sure that there is a good program for the kids.  A couple of years ago I volunteered to be a commission for 12u softball.  Last year it was 10u softball and it was a good experience.  It has been nice to help other Dads just like me be involved with their children by managing or coaching a team.  Sure there is sometimes an angry coach or parent to help with a problem.  I continually focus on the fact that everyone is here for the same reasons and that there is almost always a friendly solution to any issue.  This year I moved into the travel ball side and hope to make it easier for new teams to come online in the future.

Softball - My Team

Some years ago my friend Carl Jensen asked me if I wanted to play softball on a neighborhood team in the Joliet Park District league.  I said I would, but let him know that I'd never really played organized ball before.  That was the start of something fun for me.  For the last six years now I've played softball with a great group of guys.  We're out there to have fun, but to still compete to our best ability.  It's been a lot of fun, and we've even won some games along the way.  I'm hoping I can play until I'm 70 or 80 years old.  It's been my pleasure to irritate my team-mates by naming the team the #1 Team.  I figured that then our opponent could say that they are going to be playing the #1 Team that night.  This is on hold for now, since I'm pretty busy with the travel ball.  Not forever, just for now.

Aviation

My dad had an airplane while I was growing up, so I've spent a lot of time in the air.  Flying around for the long flight from Chicago's Midway Airport out to Clow International Airport on a regular basis.  Sometimes we'd take longer flights up to Canada or to Oshkosh Wisconsin for the big airshow.  We even flew one time from Chicago to the Bahamas, through the Bermuda Triangle!

That has lead to my being a perpetual student pilot.  At first limited by the expenses of taking the lessons, but now more by my lack of time.  I really enjoy it, and the newer Sport Pilot certificate is my end goal for now.  I'll spend more time on this after my children are involved in high school sports rather than on teams that I can help coach.  I've been taking lessons off and on from a skilled instructor, Roger Kellog, in a Thorp T211 airplane.  It's a great plane to fly.  Small and powerful.  Easy to fly.

I had the opportunity to solo under the direction of Bud Cushing in 2008.  It was my first solo, and what an honor to be soloed by such an icon.  Mr. Cushing has had over 25,000 hours of flight time and has flown airliners and all kinds of other craft.  He was the captain of a Constellation - a famous and distinctive four engine prop-driven airliner as well as some jet airliners.

X-Box Gaming

Recently I've gone back to playing a game or two on an X-Box 360.  My primary motivation is my children who, of course, are spending a bit of time playing.  I've found it a great way to bond with them on another level.  We spend the occasional dinner discussing what weapon package is the best in Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare.  We've recently moved on to Black Ops.