Ainsley Elaine Bale was born last Wednesday August 15th at 8:24 PM. Everyone is doing very well. We're back at home now, feeding her every 3 or so hours, changing diapers more often than that, and loving every minute of it.

10 years ago today was my first day of work at Cummins. I just received my company logo tie tack with an emerald, to go next to my 5-year sapphire version. During this time I've:

• had 5 different jobs
• had 8 different bosses
• had jobs where I spent more time in the field than at my desk
• had jobs where I spent
• had jobs where I spent 100% of my time at my desk
• gained experience in engine performance and design, control systems, product validation. new product launches, project management with small/large suppliers, interaction with small/large customer, IT project manage/specification/validation/launch, and financial reporting/forecasting
• switched from service engineering, to field test engineering, to design engineering, to product manager, to financial performance manager
• experienced the worst down-cycle in company history (a few years ago)
• experienced the highest up-cycle in company history (now)

Like any big company, there are some things that are done very well and some frustrating inefficiencies that are baffling. But take one look at the stock performance and you will see that, in the areas where it counts, the company has made all the right decisions in the past few years. I'm particularity impressed by the improvements in products and launches: 10 years ago: late launches, unreliable, not the ideal product for the market segment. Now: early launches, high reliability, the right product for the market segment.

Truthfully, I never thought I'd be here 10 years. The first wave of change happened when people who started at the same time I did started leaving the company. The second wave of change happened a few years later when people I hired started leaving the company. I can see why people leave but I also (obviously) see why they stay.

Sometimes I think that I would love to work for a smaller, more nimble company where I could have a more dramatic impact and better help forge the direction of the company. It's sometimes frustrating at a large company to force your influence on a large, common, legacy-influenced processes that seem unmovable at times. But as my friend Jayson told me, there is the opposite frustration at smaller companies. The direction can change frequently and with little warning; this can cause you to through away months of work and force you to jump onboard the new bandwagon you didn't see coming. The grass is always greener, it seems.

Will I be around for my 15-year pin? Well, my instinct is to say "no way," but history would say otherwise.

Here's a clip from The Office that really hit home:

That little ticker is going strong. It's always a little nerve-racking just before a doctors visit, but everything is perfect. In 3 weeks, we'll know the answer to the boy/girl question.

We experienced a loss in my family today and my wife Nicole wrote a beautiful post about it.

Nicole visited the doctor again today. It was just a quick check-up and not a big deal. They made sure speck is still growing and checked the heart beat. Everything is just fine.

Nicole got a bit worried when the nurse couldn't find the heartbeat, but the doctor was much more skilled and found it within a few seconds. Too bad she had to endure 5 minutes of stress and uncertainty. Anyway, all is well. Looking forward to the next checkup.

In 2004, the Colts were red hot but I watched them to the New England Patriots (after a long, cold drive home after the heater in my car quit.) It was a long, cold, miserable terrible night.

In 2005, the Colts were on fire but I watched them lose to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Colts were rusty and disappointing.

Before each of these post seasons, my wife and I agreed that we'd get a flat screen TV in our family room (in addition to the front projector in the home theater room) to watch the Super Bowl if the Colts made it. But they didn't.

In 2006, the Colts got off to a great start but sputtered later in the regular season, losing to weak teams. I thought they'd missed their chance. At our house, there was no talk of getting that new TV. That is, until the Colts won the AFC championship in spectacular fashion. We hadn't talked about it in over a year and I somewhat jokingly I asked Nicole "Can I go get that new TV now?" I was expecting at least a little debate, but really wasn't all that surprised by her too-good-to-be-true Super Wife response: "Yep." End of discussion!

It was a somewhat unlikely year for the Colts to make it to and win the Super Bowl, but I'm glad they did and I'm glad I'm in Indianapolis to experience it. It's been an interesting few years since 1999 when I started dating and eventually married a Colts fan. I think back to those Sunday afternoon I spent watching football with my wife-to-be. I was an instant convert (because there are no NFL team in Kentucky). I was worried they'd never make it to the Super Bowl and that Nicole and I would never be able to celebrate such a victory together. They did and we did. Go Colts!!!

Nicole just sent me a message on my phone - our little spec just "kicked" for the first time!

Nicole had another doctors appointment today. Since it was going to be a multi-hour ordeal and I was working, I didn't go with her. She called me and I was nervous as to whether or not it would be good news or bad news. I was afraid to ask and we talked for a minute or two before she casually mentioned that she heard the heart beat. I can't believe it — our little speck has a heart beat! I could hardly speak I was so surprised and excited! This is definitely good news!

I was curious what our little speck was like, so I looked-up some info on wikipedia:

Week 4 (6th week of pregnancy)

• The embryo measures 4 mm (1/8 inch) in length and begins to curve into a C shape.
• Somites, the divisions of the future vertebra, form.
• The heart bulges, further develops, and begins to beat in a regular rhythm.
• Branchial arches, grooves which will form structures of the face and neck, form.
• The neural tube closes.
• The ears begin to form as otic pits.
• Arm buds and a tail are visible

It was Warren Buffett that summed it up best:

The odds for me to have been born in the US were 1 in 50. I won the ovarian lottery. If I had been born in Bangladesh, the chances are that I would not have had such great opportunity.

If you don't believe him, visit GlobalRichList.com.  Spoiler Alert: if you earn $850/year, you are more wealthy than half of the worlds population. The idea of the site seemed a bit snobbish at first, but the purpose of it is to show people that they earn much more than they think they do, to encourage charity.

I don't own a Mac but Steve Jobs makes me wish I did every time I see one of his keynote addresses.  Today my friend Luke sent me this link to a non-Apple speech Jobs gave at Stanford in 2005.  Although I'm somewhat skeptical of inspirational speeches give by the 0.00001% who become extremely successful (while ignoring the other 99.99999%), I couldn't help but feel inspired.