Swimming with alligators
I came upon this recently. Something I wrote down in January 2003 and forgot about on my hard drive.
My family use to go to Canyon Lake in Texas in the summer. I remember as a child that I had mixed feelings about the trips. I wanted to go, since it was fun. I was also filled with trepidation at what my father would pull, or try to pull.
I was usually alright as long as I didn't go into the water. I couldn't swim, so the jokes my dad like to play held no amusement for me. My situational awareness was honed to a high degree by the need to keep an eye out for him at all time, and sometimes for my brother. A source of amusement for them was to sneak up on me and drag me into the deeper water. Since I couldn't swim, you can imagine what was going through my mind.
Whenever I forgot myself and really started to enjoy myself in the water, I would notice them sneaking up on me in the water. It reminded me of those nature films of the alligator slowly stalking an animal drinking on the riverbank. It was bad if either of them was between me and the shore. Usually we were both parallel to the shore, so I could get away.
Now, other than that, it wasn't so bad. There was a lot to do at Canyon Lake other than swim, and children could wander out of sight of their parents. The lake wasn't build up extensively. There was beachfront, rocky shores where the forest met the water, a dock for boats, and lots of other attractions. There were usually other kids around that my brother and I could play with. We liked to move around while my father fished and my mother read books.
We took our dogs with us as well, which was always fun. I remember one day in particular when an angry pair of birds kept diving at our German Shepherd because she was too near their nest. She couldn't figure out why they were attacking her, but she didn't like it one bit.
They were good times, but I think I would have enjoyed them more if I was able to go into the water without worrying about alligators.
My sense of humor
I was having a conversation with Anne the other day, and we were talking about my sense of humor. She said that some of what I say isn't funny, and that others don't or wouldn't find it funny. I had one of those quick comeback moments, you know the ones where you have a snappy comeback that just comes out of nowhere and is completely appropriate, unlike the norm where you think of it an hour later. My answer to her was I wasn't trying to amuse others with my humor, I was amusing myself. If others found it funny, well and good, but it wasn't for them.
Does that make me an artist?
Ash’s Music Library
Here's a link to Ash’s Music Library. Now, she was always the cooler of the two of us. For example, she has an iPod, I don't. Though we both use Macs, she doesn't touch Windows machines, while I have to use one at work. Her Mac is faster and has more memory than mine as well. She played RuneQuest before I did. The list goes on.
She's also pretty cool when compared to the general population (re: iPod and uses a Mac). This just took her to another level.
She has so many songs in her iTunes library it just boggles my mind. I'd say I'm impressed, but anyone who knows me knows I'm easily impressed. A lot of these are from our CD collection, but a lot are also from the iTunes store.
I just needed to say how much cooler she is now than she was an hour ago before she posted this web page.
How's that, baby?
My recent trip to San Jose
A couple of weeks ago, I went on a business trip to San Jose. I was going to a workshop for some software we use and which I use extensively at work. The software is called Agile, and is used for Product Data Management, or PDM.
One of the things I like about traveling is the travel. I like to see new places. One of the things I hate about traveling is going to the airport. These days, a trip to the airport is like a glimpse into the future and I hate it. These days, traveling for me is becoming more of a hassle than its worth.
I didn't really mind going through a metal detector, since I've always had to go through one. That is really the problem, though, isn't it? Our children are going to be used to the even more invasive and intrusive searches we have to endure these days. Can anyone name three terrorists we've caught at our new "better" security checkpoints? I can't. I think we'd have heard about it.
Anyway, San Jose was really nice. I got a nice hotel room with a kitchen I didn't use. The bed was extremely comfortable. Best of all, I didn't have to pay for anything. That's always nice when my company direct bills everything. I did the workshop, learned some new information, met some people in person who I've only ever spoken to on the phone, and got to see my old boss again. All in all a wonderful trip.
The flight back was actually the best I've ever had. I had an entire row to myself and got to sleep for almost all of the trip.
The Unix Philosophy Explained
I'm not really a programmer, but maybe someday. I like this article.
What gender is your brain?
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Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male |
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You are both sensitive and savvy Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve |
Well, now I know. I guess the question is, does everyone else get the same result. I found this on J-Walk Blog and my result was exactly the same as his.
Did my email post work?
This is my attempt to write a blog post via email. If it works then I
rock! If not, then I need to RTFM a little better.
I do rock!