DISQUS

Put the boots to 'em!

I think the great teachers are the ones that leave you with lessons that you carry through life.

My best teacher was a guy named John Ward. I was a bright young smartass who slacked my way through school, only finishing enough of my assignments to get a pass. Sure, what little I did was usually pretty good, but he saw right away what my M.O. was. For a solid year he kept me after school, day after day untill I had finished my assignments. Under his guidance, I learned what it means to give a project 100%.

I've carried the work ethic he taught me into many fields and it has never let me down. I hated his guts at the time, but now I wish he was still around so I could shake his hand and thank him for making such a profound influence in my life.

It's funny isn't it? We think we are the world's leading experts on our own kids and then something happens to show us how big our blind spots are.

I remember how floored I was when my eldest son related to me how terrified he used to get on our family canoe trips. Swimming wasn't the problem; he'd had lessons since he was a toddler and could swim like a fish. But being on a tiny boat out in deep water scared him silly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked.
"I didn't want to ruin everyone's fun." was his reply.
Right then, I felt like the world's worst dad. How could I have missed it? Thankfully, he's conquered his fear now and is prepping up to enter the coast guard.

A wide smile can camouflage a multitude of fears. You can't really take anything for granted when you're a parent. Some kids can have a really lonely secret life going on.

Wow! Congrats to Dancergirl !
A perfect score is a rare thing in any endeavor. And now the Open Championships - she must have worked her tail off.

LOL. I'll see you your ALR and Compaq and raise you with an Kaypro II and a 6800 prototyping breakout board :D

Awww :)

Congratulations to the two of you!

Although over the years I have made ruthless efforts to shed myself of the habit (e.g. bravely tossing out boxes without even looking in them), I am afraid that I too am a life-long hoarder. I actually have a small pile of old 486's - still ready to boot - with old data on them gathering dust.

The other day I came across an old floppy for a C-64 and I felt quite embarrased about it. It's time to get ruthless again, I think.

Relational databases have been with us for decades now. I fail to see why we still have to carry so many pieces of individual ID in this day and age.

If having an ID is (sadly) becoming mandatory, I say tie everything to the SS number. I think the potential savings in time and expense be enormous.

I think I haven't squealed with delight since I was eleven years old (OK, there was that one time when that beer truck overturned on the highway, but hey - I'm a guy).

Seriously though, I think it's possible to appreciate someones work on a deep and respectful level without trumpeting the fact to the world. I would even go so far as to suggest many celebrities might even prefer it that way.

The few famous people I have met over the years all seemed to be down-to-earth types, more interested in a good conversation than receiving any sort of loud adulation.
Just my 2 cents...

Congratulations:)
I'm a latecomer to your blog, but I have been having an interesting read catching up on all your old articles. It's a blog worth reading.

A good female friend of mine got involved with computers about the same time as I did, around 1982. Half of my IT staff was female at my last job. I truely believe women are on the internet in larger numbers than conventional wisdom allows.

I've noticed that women online tend to choose nicknames which don't give away their sex. As to whether this is simply reflecta a desire to not get hit on, or perhaps a more complex reason, I cannot tell you.

But they're there. Oh yea, they're there:)

By and large, science works. It's a self-correcting system that has been proven over the ages. Sure, it may take a while for the corrections to kick in at times, but when they do, it's based on a huge body of evidence, not wishful thinking.

Scientology dresses up quackery as dogma and then spins their dogma as 'real science'. Then they prey on people who are looking for a quick fix, with sad, sometimes (as you've pointed out) tragic results.

They also have a history of scouring the net and trying to suppress anybody with a negative opinion of their methods. I wouldn't be surprised if you end up welcoming some trolls to your blog in the near future.

If they do, I'll be there to man the barricades:)

I love Flickr for the same reasons as you do. It reminds me of the "old internet" of the early 90's, before the advent of spam and obligatory flame wars. It's a place where civil discourse is the norm, rather than the exception. Something to be treasured.

I feel so happy for that guy. He has moxie. I've been following his journey since he began it.

Life is as busy as we make it.
Sometimes we wind our lifestyles up so much that we're in danger of being sucked in by the centrifugal force of it when we decide to have a break. I suspect that is what you're feeling now. Your touch of depression is caused by the feeling that you set too many things in motion and you didn't have time to do them all perfectly.

Perhaps if you delegate a bit more and not try to "wind things up" so high, you can find a more relaxing rhythm for yourself. A happy mom makes a happy family. Is a happy family not the real goal behind all the tasks you set for yourself?

Wow, there are some creepy headgames going on there.