Think back to all of the lessons you learned as a growing child. There are those lessons that we all invariably have to learn the hard way. Stoves are unforgiving when they are glowing. Hard, outdoor surfaces often make good abrasives. Sliding on a wood floor is an art, not a science. There’s a really good reason for the “no jumping in the tub” rule. And then there’s my personal favorite…
I was a little disturbed at the sight. My arms were side by side in my lap, and they didn’t look the same. Bilateral symmetry is something most people find attractive in a person, so you can understand my disappointment over losing a piece of mine. What on earth would make one arm more tan than the other? And then it hit me… I’ve been driving my car without the services of my air…
Alert messages cascaded through the office like dominos. First, applications that no one had heard of were causing errors and being terminated by Windows. Then certain network applications stopped working. Next, the clipboard didn’t work. Finally, we were alerted that our system detected a virus and had no cure. We were calling out the progression of system failures to one another, a kind of…
As Beth has grown, Cheryl has taken no pleasure in noting that Beth “is just like you John.” Beth saying something smart. Beth sitting in strange, contorted positions while watching TV. Beth exploring the limits of her abilities, improvising when necessary to achieve a goal (usually something that Cheryl doesn’t want her to do). These are all examples of when Cheryl might invoke the…
I was listening to a story on the radio the other day. They were talking about a video taped message released by an Iraqi group. I don’t recall who released the message, or for that matter what the message was. All I recall is that this was supposed to be some heretofore anonymous group of Iraqi citizens expressing their anger. The individual on the videotape was doing so with a Kalashnikov…
While I’m in no hurry to end Beth’s summer vacation, I can’t wait for the season to change. In Florida, the season changes sometime around Halloween. About one quarter of the leaves fall off the oak tree out front, so we don’t get the full fall treatment. But the temperatures do cool off a bit. By then football season is in full swing, followed by basketball and hockey season. So to sum it…
The site is running on our own server. I walk past it every time I enter my home. I give it a loving pat on the head every time I walk past. There have been no problems so far. I relish the cool factor of the whole thing – even if no one else particularly cares. One thing must change though; I’ve got to work on Cheryl. One way or another, Cheryl will embrace the home server idea. She WILL pay…
One of my favorite commercials of all time is an Office Depot add. A man and his children are walking through the isles of Office Depot with a familiar Christmas season tune playing in the background – setting the mood. The father is happily lip-syncing the words to the song as he glides down the isle. The children are dragging each step as if they are being led to their own execution. The male…
I take it all back. I don’t want to be sick. A vanilla fever is o.k., but headaches are hell. Since my last post I’ve had the kind of chronic sinus headache that makes you want a “big gun” pain killer. For me, that big gun is a combination of Motrin and Sudafed. Tragically, I was Motrin free at the office today. What’s worse that not having any Motrin? Not having the Sudafed either.
Here…
Taking a sick day is a wonderful thing. Get beyond the whole “sick” thing and a sick day is a marvelous void in an otherwise busy life. This was my lot in the grand scheme of life on this day. For half the day nothing interrupted my quiet, peaceful delirium. Laying peacefully in a darkened, cool room with nothing to keep me company but my confused, vacant thoughts… ah, there’s nothing…