Life
I have a list of seven things I want to accomplish while I am on vacation. I finished one this morning: Cleaning out the cul-de-sac of my L-shaped bedroom. I had had a big, wobbly desk back there for as long as I had lived here, and I have finally
Life
During the summers when I was a kid, I would watch two old television shows every weekday: Perry Mason and The Twilight Zone. The first one would have been no surprise: I loved mysteries and puzzles, and had an unhealthy fascination with Los Angeles. The latter one, though…I have
Life
My next day at work will be September 2, the day after Labor Day. I will be staying in town, working on projects around the house and starting to get ready for Portland-to-Coast 2009.
Life
When I was in 1st and 2nd grade, I would look at the kids who had allergies—struggling to breathe, wrestling with their inhalers—and think, "I'm so glad I don't have allergies." It seemed like the most miserable fate in the world. Somewhere
Life
There seems to be a hierarchy in the computer world, with the elite programmers as the superstars and the help desk and documentation folks as the untouchables. The principle seems to be that those who can make the machines do their will are those most worthy of our applause. In
Life
One positive to riding home this evening on a packed, slow-moving TriMet bus in 102-degree heat while wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt: When I got home, weeding the shaded side yard in 90-to-95-degree heat for an hour and a half seemed like a vacation. Was that one positive worth
Life
Several weeks ago, I bought a tarot deck and checked out a book about it because I was intrigued by the idea of learning how to give readings. The book's author recommended going through the deck and reflecting on how the archetype of each card relates to my
Life
I picked up the mothership of all Brita pitchers from the Deadhead Fred a couple of days ago. Yep. Brita calls it the "Ultramax", I suppose because it is the largest they could make a pitcher and still have it fit through the Panama Canal. No more of
Life
After eight years with it, I closed my io.com account today. I opened the account shortly after I moved to Houston to take my first professional job, and realized that the college I went to work for did not provide dialup access (how spoiled Ohio State and Texas had
Life
Some say that we need to focus on teaching students computer skills. Some say that we need to focus on teaching students basic science. Some say that we need to focus on teaching students how to get along with each other. But that woman on the 15 this morning with
Life
So I'd been putting off writing a Visual Basic macro for months. "I don't know where to start". "It'll be hard." "It'll take hours and be really frustrating." This afternoon, I had about an hour and
Books
The two best books I have read so far this year are Cultural Amnesia by Clive James and Austerity Britain by David Kynaston. Both books deal at great length with the effects of World War II on their main subjects (for James, the culture of Mitteleuropa; for Kynaston, British daily