There’s a gym out there called Gym Jones run by a guy named Mark Twight. Twight is a climber, writer, cyclist, and fitness guru who says lotsa smart and challenging stuff. He hates posers (don’t we all) and respects honesty…..read his stuff and you get the sense that he holds himself accountable…Period. His gym is a place for serious exertive meditation and discovery. One thing he said is “you can’t push the river”…

Water is heavy and strong. Water is, besides being crucial for life as we know it, one of the primary shapers of our landscapes. It carves canyons with silt and erodes caverns with disolution…shapes our landscapes. My thoughts tonight are of rivers: Immeasurably strong, timelessly patient, soures of commerce and transportation, shapers of landscapes and life. One particular river on my mind is the San Marcos River.

The source of the San Marcos river is Aquarena Springs in San Marcos, TX. Since before written history the cool fresh clear waters of the Edwards Aquifer have surfaced at this spring and flowed into the Gulf of Mexico….never in recorded history has the San Marcos River run dry. Think about that, for as long as humans have lived in this region on Earth this spring (and this river) has flowed through it and sustained life as it’s snaked its way through Central and South Texas. It’s not a big river with high flow rates but rather a cool gentle green ribbon. Gently heavy and strong.

This past weekend we had the pleasure of staying two nights in a secluded cabin on this river and also had the very cool opportunity to canoe, kayak, and tube several stretches. The canoe/kayak portion of this excursion began at the Scull Bridge in Martindale and then downstream though tranquil cypress-shaded bliss to the Martindale Dam where, as we portaged this obstacle, we took turns rope-swinging into the calm flat deep cool water. Below the dam, however, the nature of the San Marcos River makes a dramatic change from a slow & deep lazy river to a quickly flowing energetic river! In fact, the dramatic change had an immediate impact on us….Yikes!!

The very first rapid, immediately after portaging the dam, looks small and tame as you approach it but actually requires a fairly quick and purposeful maneuver, mid-rapid, to avoid a large boulder in the middle of the stream. {Disclaimer: We are neophyte canoeists with very casual whitewater experience…} The two kayaks shot the rapid in front of us while we drifted, unable to execute the boulder-avoiding maneuver, straight into the rock, dumping our canoe into the water! The canoe was positioned such that the force of the rushing water pinned it firmly onto the rock…we struggled for perhaps 20+ minutes to free the canoe and were lucky the canoe wasn’t broken by the force & weight of the water. It made a HUGE impression on me. Water is Heavy and Strong!

“You can’t push the river” means many different things. In a very literal sense one cannot push a river because the river is heavy and strong and unrelentingly patient and persistent and the water rushes through and past your hands…to navigate the river requires one to work within the current.

In a broader sense, the river represents the current of the Universe which is immeasurably stronger than all the mightiest rivers combined times Infinity! The current of the Universe is the life-force of all living things and it encompasses all Matter and traverses all Time forward and back…you can’t push the river. The only way to navigate this current is to work within…within ourselves and within the Universe. That requires careful and purposeful attention and often times it requires us to just float along and enjoy the magic of the Journey.

ciao, Scott 512-947-2688 www.DiscoveryAustin.com Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com

Following are general rambling thoughts about life in ATX…as I know it.

It’s HOT.   H.O.T….even by Central Texas standards.   And dry too.   Lake Travis is near historical record low levels for this time of year.   May is generally our wettest month and all the lakes, rivers, and creeks are near-full until they drop though August and September leading to our usual Fall/Winter respite from dry-hot.   This year however, May was dry….and June has only given us an inch or so…the result is we’re headed into Full-Blown Summer with low lakes, slow rivers, and dry creeks.   If history proves correct we’ll have a hurricane or a tropical depression that’ll flood us and break this drought…until then we’ll survive..parched.

Barefoot running, while it feels very healthy and natural, initially causes big blisters.   Who would have figured??   However, nothing heals like Time so after 10 or so days of shoe-shod exercise my tootsies are well and the barefoot running resumes!   Further updates soon!

It’s waaaaaay easier to stay in shape than it is to get back into shape.  
Repeat this ten thousand times daily and/or tattoo it onto  the inside of your  eyelids.

Austin is  participating in the St. Stephen’s Summer strength and conditioning program and is getting ripped.   Uh, more accurately,  as a 14 y.o. freakishly active human he’s actually just refining his already present ripped-ness. while I languish with a multi-modal struggle to  find motivation/time/energy/mojo/etc to stay on my lifelong quest  to be ripped.   Honestly assessed, I’m in pretty good shape…but watching how strong Austin works I’m humbled and recharged!!

Formula One auto racing is coming to ATX next year!!!!   This is HUGE news and a potential windfall for ATX as we might just explode on the Worldwide Stage for the first time in our history.   The race itself will bring lotsa $$$ to our local economy but the “real” windfall, in my mind, is the residual investment over time that will come to ATX.   By hosting another set of visitors from around the globe (like SXSW for example but with a very different demographic) ATX can more firmly assert it’s badass-ness as a City gaining cultural and social marketshare on an Earth-wide level!

Real Estate in ATX is holding steady in my sphere.   Commercial leasing activity is still robust, raw/development land deals are gaining traction, subdivision dirt is emerging (Finally!), I’m ramping up my referral-generation machine(mostly to residential Realtors with commercial referrals)  with positive results, and business is picking up steam!!

Ciao, Scott                 512-947-2688                Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com                 www.DiscoveryAustin.com

Out.   The theme today is Out.

It’s been awhile since my last blog entry.   I’ve been Out of pocket and Out of sorts:   Busy with family, business, baseball, Scott-stuff, life, etc…   I hope to begin anew in regular blog postings; no promises, just a hopeful re-awakening.   Catharsis is a good thing for Scott.   Out with the old and in with the new.

Lights Out:   Austin, our 14 y.o. son is Living Large!   He has recently been admitted, in a very very competitive arena, to St. Stephen’s School for high school!!!   This is a game-changer in his life, our lives, and probably (given the educational opportunities he’ll gain) the Earth.   We’re beside ourselves with gratefullness and excitement!!!   Austin is also Lghts Out in his baseball development.   Yesterday he pitched a 7 inning complete game and, although we lost a 1-0 heartbreaker, Austin had 11 strikeouts and only 2 batters reached 1st base until the last inning.   It was a phenomenal performance and very fun to watch.

Out of my mind:   Referencing yesterday’s game…especially the way it ended.   (sigh)   I was “that Dad” who loses it and screams at the umpires.     Obviously, at the time I felt 100% justified, but this morning I have the hangover of remorse with a side dose of embarrassment.   The field ump was horrible all game and missed several calls (on both sides of the ball…to be fair) but two blown calls in the 7th and last inning of a hard-fought game put me over the edge.   Although our team  had numerous opportunities throughout the game  to score runs that would have won us the game the TWO 7th inning calls killed us!   As the  umpire  crew left the diamond I followed them and derided them….”you owe all those kids an apology”….”you’re getting paid, so do your job”…”if you don’t wanna do your job, stay at home”……etc, etc….you get the point.   I vow to complain in a more appropriate manner in the future.   Notice I did not vow to be quiet, only to use more discretion.  

Out of the box:   Uprightly mobile bi-pedal mammals have  essentially been long-distance runners for +/-6,000,000 years, right?    Right.   And over that time period the foot has developed into an amazingly functional and efficient shock absorbing tool.   Note that for most of these  +/-6,000,000 years there were not shoes on these feet.   So, in our “advancement” we’ve  invented shoes, for the sake of this discussion, specifically, running shoes which “stabilze” and “cushion” our  poor vulnerable feet from the dangerous rigors of running.     Hmmmm.   So a smart friend of mine with  PhD expertise in biomechanics brought this  to my attention recently and I’ve decided to  test the waters of Barefoot Running as a treatment for  my  newly developed nagging Plantar Fascitis foot pain.   Last night I ran 3 miles barefoot and it felt remarkably good.   Stay tuned for updates.      

Out of the norm:   Much has been written lately about the economic Recovery (or not) and of the rumored and dreaded “Double-Dip” Recession phenomena.    I’m happy to report that ATX has continued to buck the national trend in that job creation is strong, property values are holding steady, and  the local  economy is flourishing!!   ATX remains a Great place to do business….tell all your friends!!

Lights Out Reprised:   Ryan, our 30 y.o. son is Living Large also!!   He is engaged to a lovely lady, Natalie, and they are expecting a baby within a very very short timeframe….this month!!!   The Nicholson Clan is spreading across the Western Hemisphere!!!   Ryan has also recently been hired as an English professor at a large university in Cusco, Peru….so his new and growing family will be relocating to Cusco in July!   Ryan is the connector of our entire family (he introduced Laura and I together when he was 9) and I’m VERY proud of him and happy beyond description for him…and I also owe him an eternal debt for helping to build our family!!

 More ponderings in the coming days…..stay tuned….!!!

 ciao, scott……512-947-2688…….scott@DiscoveryAustin.com………www.DiscoveryAustin.com    

What follows is an interesting recent article by Tony DeLisi of the Austin Chamber of Commerce.   Interesting read!

 Ciao…..scott       512-947-2688(m)       scott@discoveryaustin.com             www.DiscoveryAustin.com __________________________________________________________________________________________

OK, I haven’t been trapped in  a wrecked airplane fuselage high in the Andes, and I haven’t been detained by the authorities…at least not lately, and  as far as I can tell I haven’t been in a coma or anything  for the past  few months.    

Instead, I’ve had my head down, working hard, making an exciting transition in my business!!    

In May of this year I left KW Commercial (Keller Williams),  shelved my Discovery Realty Group, and accepted a partnership offer from an Austin-based  commercial broker, Karl Koebel, to help build and grow Marketplace Real Estate Group!  

The Marketplace Real Estate Group is a unique composition of real estate brokers dedicated to providing our clients with comprehensively researched and creative problem-solving solutions to acheive your real estate goals and desires.   We are well versed, seasoned and experienced experts, and we share a collective passion in all aspects of Real Estate Investing.

We have an uncommon  offer:    Expertise, not merely experience.  Expertise across the entire spectrum of commercial real estate using a  co-op of like-minded real estate experts.    As  real estate investors ourselves we bring an invaluable and rare mindset to your deal….we underwrite  each deal as if we are utilizing our own personal capital.    

You go do your business and We’ll Handle the Real Estate.

Thank you for being a part of my network and therefore a part of my success!

And, as always,  

Stay Tuned……

Ciao…scott        512-947-2688(m)              Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com       www.DiscoveryAustin.com  

Seriously, I used to write a regular blog.   Lotsa people read it and I even “won” a prize in a big blog contest.   My blog was even selected as a “Top 10″ by Relocation.com once upon a time.   it was a fantastic outlet for my brain and a way for me to share with the World stuff that was important to me.

So, it’s logical that I’d stop writing and let my blog die a slow, painful, inglorious death, right?   It’s a crying shame……and I’m ashamed.

However, like the Phoenix rises from the ashes, I will attempt to resurrect my blog.   Nay, I will not “attempt” to resurrect it, I WILL resurrect it….Starting NOW with a brief synopsis of the time passed while my blog was silent…

Life:   Life is good.   We’re busy with Austin’s baseball.   His team has had a good season with many tournaments played, games won we should have lost, and games lost wew should have won.   All the boys have improved and learned many baseball (and life) lessons.   Austin has pitched like a maniac and has done very very well…..stats and stories to follow in soon-to-be-posted blog posts!   Ryan, in Peru, is contemplating a move in November/December to another country in South America…right now the leading location-candidate seems to be Colombia!  

Exercise:  Those of you within eyeshot of this post may remember that I have a running addiction as well as an addiction to workouts and the by-products thereof.   Well, I’m glad to report that I am still steadily and regularly running and working out!   Laura has become “infected” with the running bug also and has been running 3-5 times/week and seems to be enjoying the benefits!   Some additional exciting developments have evolved in Scott’s Workout Universe which will be forthcoming soon!!!

Business:   I am no longer with Keller Williams/KW Commercial as of mid-May 2010.   I was offered a partnership role in the expansion of Marketplace Real Estate Group and am neck-deep in the planning, strategy, and execution of a major expansion of this Great company!!   Basically, we’re forming a co-op of experienced Brokers who will create a synergy-base to gather substantial marketshare over the coming months as  the real estate market in the Austin MSA begins to wiggle back to life….AND…we’ll be pooling our resources to enter the market as an investment player as well.   I’m very very very excited about this Fantastic opportunity and will post updates soon!!  

Please check back for regular blog posts.   I know, I know, some of you have heard this before but I mean it this time!  

ciao…..scott       512-947-2688      Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com      www.DiscoveryAustin.com

Dunno where to start exactly.

 It’s been a loooong time since my last blog entry.   I’m sorta down on myself for caving in to the “don’t write” thoughts and one of my Determinations for  2010  (I’m  not doing Resolutions anymore…) is to  blog on  at least a weekly basis. So, to that end I’ll take a minute to bring us up-to-date and then share some  of my recent ponderings….and Health Care Reform and Real Estate.

I caught some weird flu bug back in late October 2009 that had me running a fever for a few days and then coughing and hacking for a few weeks and unable to work out or run.   Then, as I was finally almost back to full-speed I dislocated  the little finger or my right hand  playing basketball with Austin and  his  friend, Travis.   I  poked my hand out to deflect a pass and  ”Pow”!    It hurt like hell, was bent crazy-like, looked broken,  and freaked me out so I had Laura  drive me to Seton Northwest to get it fixed.

 About 45 minutes and $4500 later we left the hospital…OUCH!!!   Each X-Ray was $400 (that comes to an hourly rate of about $25,000/hour) and the ice pack (which never got cold enough to replace my homemade ziplock and ice-cube ice pack) was about $300 I believe.   The Doc charged me about $1,000 for +/-15 seconds of actual “treatment (hourly rate estimated to be in the $250,000/hour range!) and that seems a little high to me.   I’m more than a little pissed off about the whole experience!   :-0

so, anyone wonder what’s wrong with our healthcare system??   Oh, did I mention that I have insurance too??   Our monthly payment is about $500 for our family’s health insurance coverage.  

I propose that the  we  Americans don’t have  the need for  Health Care Reform (the care I received was above-average) but we very badly need  Health Insurance Reform!!  

Real Estate:    Keep me iin mind for all your real estate needs and refer  all your family, friends, co-workers, relatives, acquaintances, in-laws, facebook friends, classmates, cellmates,  butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers to me for Unparalleled service!!

ciao….scott       Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com           512-947-2688(m)       www.DiscoveryAustin.com                    

Inflation

We all hear the word but do we all know what œinflation means?   When most people think of inflation they think œhigher prices.   Well, that is true¦but sorta backwards¦   Prices are higher during times of inflation but let™s talk about what is really happening.Prices are higher during times of inflation not because œthings are worth more¦it™s because dollars are worth less!   It takes more dollars to buy œthings because each dollar is worth less¦!   So, if a shirt costs $10.00 today and we go through an inflationary cycle and the Dollar loses 10% of it™s value that same shirt effectively costs $11.00.   The œcost of the shirt goes up 10% because the purchasing power of every Dollar in your wallet (or bank account, or 401K, or SEP, or Money Market, etc, etc) drops by 10%!   Prices are forced to rise because it takes more Dollars to purchase goods during inflation.Inflation sucks!   It sucks because while we sleep/eat/live our money & savings lose value¦.and we are virtually powerless to stop it.   When money is produced at a more rapid pace than a given economy grows the value of that money (currency) drops.  Our national economy is slowing lately and there has been a tremendous amount of currency thrown onto the market lately.  

Inflation, while not currently imminent is certainly forecast¦¦ouch!   The best way to hedge yourself against the loss of value in your savings brought on by inflation is to buy real estate or other œhard  commodities.   Some people buy gold or silver¦but I propose that you™re better off buying real estate.  

Consider¦.

• Real Estate is œreal¦ie, it doesn™t ever completely lose it™s value.  
• Real Estate usually experiences appreciation over time.   I™m not talking about artificially high appreciation rates like those we™ve seen over the past 5-10 years¦I™m talking a reasonable appreciation rate of 5%-10% annually.  
• Real Estate ownership has some very advantageous tax implications¦.depreciation, expense deductions, etc¦
• Real Estate can create income in addition to the tax benefits & appreciation.
• Real Estate provides pride of ownership.   Sure you can own stocks or bonds but you can actually drive by and see your real estate investment!
• Real Estate purchases can be leveraged.   Buyers with clean credit and sufficient income can leverage their cash wiith a mortgage loan to purchase & own real estate.

All the  experts are warning that we™re in for a bout of inflation¦nobody knows when or for how long¦.this recent Worldwide Financial Shakeup has everyone sorta bamboozled!  When inflation strikes the best strategy is to invest in Real Estate!!!   The real estate you buy with Today™s Dollar will automatically be worth more œdollars during an inflationary cycle¦.because each inflation-striken dollar is worth less!!BUY REAL ESTATE NOW!!!!

Think about it.   Power and Endurance are two very different  species with 98.9% common DNA.   Lemme tell you  about it  on  a multi-platform scenario….I’ve been thinking alot about this stuff lately.  

Power happens NOW while Endurance happens LONG.

Another way to think about it is that Endurance is comprised of many many  short-term Power events, or that Power is  a demonstration of the maximum short-term Endurance one can muster.   Either way you break it down they’re inextricably linked even while they’re distinctly seperate.    And, as such, each can be trained simultaneously.

Power is the  inspirational motivation that compells me to write, for instance.   Endurance is the committment & discipline to write regularly.   Power is  Love and Endurance is the committment & discipline to a relationship.  

Power is Belief and Endurance is  Faith.   Call the ability to sustain Power for Endurance….Stamina.

 In the gym, as in everyday life,  it hurts to train ‘em.    Hard work Power for  long time Endurance.   It’s painful.

Following is a great example of a Power Endurance (Stamina)  gym workout which we did several weeks ago…courtesy of Rob Shaul.

Warm up: 3 Rounds
                                  Mini Leg Blaster
                                  5x Mr. Spectacular
                                  10x Seated Russian Twist @ 25#

Training:

15 Rounds
10x Jingle Jangles (5x round trips)
10x Alligator Push up
5x Sandbag Getups (10x total, M-65#, W-45#)
5x Pull ups (3x Women)
10x Dips (5x Women)

ciao…….scott             Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com                 512-947-2688           www.DiscoveryAustin.com        

….like a great song.   Tell me important stuff, in a unique/creative/concrete way, so that it’s profound and familiar yet amazing and real-life-happens-daily-invisible.   It leaves you shaking and nodding your head at the same time and more often than not, you either laugh or cry (or both) when you hear it.   We all know songs like that, right?

That’s how  our workouts are…  

Rob Shaul (the  smart guy behind  MtnAthlete.com)  composes fantastic workout/songs!   Seriously,  I won’t try to fully break  down his philosophy on strength and conditioning…because I’m not capable…but I’ll try to give you my best take down  on why Shaul’s workouts are such beautiful compositions.   We almost always laugh…but we always wanna  cry.      

My partner in  my Quest to Get Ripped  is my friend Ricky.   He’s currently the  Head Athletic  Trainer at St. Stephen’s Academy and we use their gym for our workouts.   Ricky has a huge background in strength & conditioning…including the University of Texas Longhorn Football Program and  the 1996 Atlanta Olympics…bottom-line…he knows his shit.   He’s the ideal workout partner!  

OK.   So I “discovered” MtnAthlete.com about 9 months ago and immediately went to Ricky so we  could check it out together.    The workouts were too intense for us to jump right into so we  began doing our own hybrid versions and had great results….we  got  noticeably stronger and our aerobic endurance increased dramatically!   Those of you who’ve been reading my blog during the last 8 months may remember my mention that my running has gotten stronger as my overall fitness has increased..  

After about 6 months we started trying to do  Rob’s workouts in their entirety….OUCH!    We stuck to it and struggled through it and now have  been following the daily workouts exactly as they are published!!!      The strength and endurance we’ve gained is  Off The  Hook!!   Amen..!

My interpretation of the genius  choreography is this:   Build a strong core and a strong aerobic base and reinforce those in every workout as you add the strength-training component!   The subtle (or not-so-subtle) aspects of Rob Shaul’s training philosophy  are just dawning on me as we’ve progressed into our current phase of  Total Immersion into the MtnAthlete.com workouts.   I’ll provide concrete examples over the coming weeks but the general concept is one of active stressful recovery.  

Looks like this:   Do a hard heavy set of a metabolic fullbody  movement that makes you gasp for breath…then….immediately go into a less intense exercise that, although less intense, causes you to tense your core & torso (restricting your ability to take deep breaths) when you most want/need to take deep breaths!   Voila!   Active & stressful recovery…very very painful but also very very effective in getting  your ass into shape!!!   Akin to running hard intervals but in a weightroom setting.   Genius!

More later………gotta go revel in  my post workout  Dopa-Dorph-Aline buzz!

ciao……scott               Scott@DiscoveryAustin.com         512-947-2688(m)           www.DiscoveryAustin.com