A juggling technophile shares personal stories, challenges, humor and perhaps some political commentary.
Ramblings, often stream of conscious, journaling the events of my life.
Dad: "Are you nervous?"
Noah: "I don’t know."
Dad: "Your mother asked you to clean your room and you didn’t. Why?"
Sarah: "I don’t know."
Dad: "Do you have any homework?"
Tommy: "I don’t know."
Dad: "What did you do in school today?"
Amy: "I don’t know."
Dad: "Are you hungry?"
Evan: "Diiiink"
It would appear that tonight I need to be gruff, caustic, very direct and cold, rough and walk with a limp. Thank you Hugh Laurie for the role playing opportunity!
Noah crossed over from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts last night. He has worked hard and I am proud of him!
I ran out of coffee Monday morning. I have no tea. I wonder if I can fool myself into thinking hot water is a drink for productivity.
And http://popurls.com/ appears down. Arrgh!
I know my stress is up. I am having dizzy spells again and I am out of coffee.
Wish their clothes would grow with them. At least I am not alone. A parent at karate was complaining about her children all wearing "floods" which made me feel a little less bad about Noah’s high waters.
Today the white noise is horrible. I can hear the flame of the candle on my desk flicker. The hum of the compressor on the heat pump fan outside is nearly unbearable. My cpu fan has an extra click today that was not there yesterday. The light footsteps upstairs echo through my spine. Some unidentified high pitch whine makes me think I still have one up on the teens. My very thoughts ring in my ears. The unbearable cold of this office enhances the distractions and makes focus so much more difficult.
Today I should insulate the backdoor and sand on the walls in the bedroom. Instead, I shall code and code and wish I had time for administrative duties.
The wife implied that if we get snowed in we might get to do something adult! I dust off the supplies to find we have two winter coats. Woot! We are prepared to be snowed in for weeks!
So I thought I would peruse the Intertubes and brush up on my etiquette. Hmm. Apparently I’m not doing so well missing 3 out of 4 of The Big Don’ts for iced in and trying to stay warm exercises. Let’s examine.
Number One Don’t
Jump immediately up and run to the bathroom
Has someone been spying on us?
Number Two Don’t
Turn to one side of the bed and immediately sleep
That directly conflicts with The Man Manual!
Number Three Don’t
Make any sarcastic or joking remarks about the previous moments
Not fair! Natural noises, cramps, children’s footsteps on the stairs, curious pets, and light sleeping babies can turn what should be a feature length drama/action adventure with great special effects into a high speed, 3 minute YouTube comedy. How could one not joke?
Number Four Don’t
Check your mobile phone for messages or missed calls
Not a problem there. We just take the calls and keep going! Let your imagination wander next time we talk…
I started college as a computer science student. I switched to the college of engineering because I knew "electrical engineers make all the money." One of the professors (actually, I think he was a department head) tried to convince me to stay in computers or "at least take one more class" to which I declined and he said, "you’ll be back." True to his word I returned, battered and bruised with a diminished gpa, to the college of liberal arts to study computer science. I asked why out of 500 students he tried to encourage me in such a way. He simply said, "you have a knack for computers." That remains on of the biggest compliments I have received.
I read more frequently articles that reference programmers and non-programmers. I read one that documented my case claiming that early in an intro to computer science course you can separate which students will succeed as programmers and the ones that will never understand.
But the dirty little secret of the software development industry is that this is also true even for people who can program: there’s a vast divide between good developers and mediocre developers. A mediocre developer can program his or her heart out for four years, but that won’t magically transform them into a good developer. And the good developers always seem to have a natural knack for the stuff from the very beginning. [Source]
I don’t have the ego to say I am a great programmer but my work frequently has me altering code done by lesser programmers and, although the teacher in me wants to reach out to them, I have to wonder if they wouldn’t be better served by a career change.
Two days ago I woke at 1:23am and 3:33am. I just think it is neat to look up at the clock and see those kinds of numbers.
Today I rose at 3:40 and pulled myself from bed at 4am. It is difficult to get moving but once up and about being active at this time of day is fantastic. It is quiet and productive! I give early rising a high recommendation.
Doug: "What can I do to make you happy, honey?"
Cathy: "Not a thing."
Ah! Marriage.
So you are standing in the kitchen thinking, "ice cream would be nice" but if you go downstairs and don’t have ice cream for her then you will be walking back upstairs to get her Phish Food. Of course, if you take ice cream down there she will give you an ugly look because Evan won’t be asleep yet and she will have to glare at you while you eat your ice cream and hers melts. Of course, you could always walk back upstairs and put hers in the freezer then return downstairs to eat yours then go upstairs to get hers. Or you could walk downstairs and ask if she wants some then go upstairs and get yours then come downstairs.
Or do the manly thing and just go to sleep…
Sarah used to leave for her bus at 7:25.
Dad: "Sarah, it’s 7:15."
Sarah: *grunt*
Dad: "Sarah, it’s 7:27."
Sarah: *grunt* sits up. lays back down.
Dad: walks away.
Sarah, finally dressed: "Can I get something off iTunes real quick?"
Dad, shocked: "You do know it is 7:54 don’t you?"
Sarah: "She’s [the bus driver] been coming later."
Dad adjusts schedule in head to accommodate dropping Sarah off at school but apparently she made the bus by some miracle.
Yes. I have collected clothing and too much of it. So yes. I have two sock drawers but there is a method to my madness. In one sock drawer I have all my white socks rolled up on the left. Long white socks to the back. Short white socks to the front. On the right side of the drawer I have gray and blue socks. Gray to the back. Blue to the front. The other sock drawer has brown, tan, and black socks. On the left, rolled and toward the back, are the brown socks. Tan socks are left and front. Black socks are on the right.
With this system, if I have not laid out my clothing for the next day (and I rarely do), I can find the appropriate socks completely in the dark! Despite my description of "imagine if I were blind," this system drives my wife ape. Or maybe it is that I have two sock drawers to her one.. hmm.
Last night Cathy recounted for me something Amy did yesterday. Amy went to the wardrobe and pulled out her kindergarten mat and my stretching book. See I use the mat when stretching. I haven’t stretched or exercised in a year or two. Amy is four. She randomly opened the book, studied it, and declared, "I’m going to do number seven" then proceeded to put her hands on the floor and butt in the air. Amy prompted Mom for a quality check and sure enough, she was doing exactly what stretch number seven on that page instructed. What a great girl!
The lesson in this story is that our tiniest actions have long lasting impressions on our children. How will the loss of temper over something insignificant impact their lives when something as mundane and second nature as a stretching routine has such significance to them. I teach when I do not know that I am teaching. I can lecture my children until they cry and those words will be meaningless against my actions if I do not heed my own advice. Do as I say not as I do does not fly! I can preach organization and avoiding procrastination but as long as my desk is cluttered and projects behind schedule they will get the wrong lesson. Show your children acts of kindness. Live by example for what you are they will become.
