April 2007 Archives

I will be unemployed . . . temporarily . . . for the weekend, that is.

Monday morning, at nine am, I will show up for my new job. Everyone asks me if I am excited. Well, I don't really know that I'm really excited. That is, I don't know if excited is the right word to use to explain what it is that I'm feeling. I imagine I should be excited.

Before I finished grad school in 2000 everyone and his brother's dog had an ingenious idea for the next, hippest, biggest, money-making startup that would bring in millions of dollars at the drop of a hat. My goal, even though I lived in the Midwest ( as far from Silicon Valley as you can get ), was to be involved with some kind of Internet, start-up venture. Sure, money was a part of that. But it wasn't the whole thing on my mind. I was drawn to the the prospect of being involved with a venture that had a desire to push the limits of technology, wasn't afraid of making mistakes and breaking the rules, and wanted to "try something new." Monday that's exactly what I will be doing.

By their own definition:

If you are looking to make a change and are creative, like to take risks and want to work at a place full of opportunity and excitement, this is the place for you!

I'm leaving behind some great people that I've enjoyed working with over the last five years. Although I'll miss seeing them and trading sarcastic emails, they'll hardly be forgotten. If I'm not excited it's because I'm not excited to leave them behind.

It's been a while since I've posted a random photo. Mostly because I'm not terribly good at remembering to take my camera with me when I go places. I've tried, intermittently, to remind myself to no avail. Today, however, I snapped a few pictures of the rain.

Every year, at about this time, along with getting the yard in shape I have to do something that absolutely terrifies me. I admit, I'm not a big, huge guy with rippling muscles and machismo that would make Chuck Norris' knees buckle, but I'm no pencil-neck geek either.

However, if there's anything that will make me run for the hills it is spiders. I hate spiders. They give me the heeby jeebys. Speaking of spiders . . . I'm glad I didn't see these really beautiful pictures of a Black Widow before I went down to clean out our storm shelter. I may not have been able to do it fearing a spider jumping on my back and sinking it's poisonous little fangs into my neck.

Because the local weather guys are anticipating some fairly strong storms tonight capable of producing hail, strong, staight-line winds, and ( quite possibly ) tornadoes, I had to put my fears aside and clean out the storm shelter. I really should have posted a picture so that a person can appreciate where I'm coming from. The storm shelter in our backyard is a concrete bunkerish kind of mini basement situated about twenty feet from our back door. It rises, just enough from beneath the ground to appear as if someone crashed a softball-looking spaceship from outer space and embedded it into out backyard such that three quarters of the ball became buried. I say spaceship because there are two aluminum vents in the top that I had to fix so that rain didn't fall into the shelter and a double-sided door about five feet long that runs from one edge to the center.

The shelter just might be large enough to accommodate two adults and two kids or two large adults. A very tall adult would probably have to bow their head even when standing in the center inside of it. A couple years ago I had to clean that thing out. There was garbage, stinking, foul water, and about an inch of some silty kind of disgusting substance covering the bottom of the floor. So, I spent a large portion of the day getting all the crap out of there and cleaning it in the event it would be needed.

Installing the vents on top has proven to keep the shelter from filling up with standing water, but the side effect is that it is a nice, cool, dry place now. So, if you know anything about spiders then you know that they are grateful for all my hard work and have moved in. So I have to take a broom down there and kick their eight-legged asses out every once in a while. Thankfully we've never had to use it. I really hate the thought of it.

Which would I rather face? The potentially 200+ mph winds and debris driven by tornadic winds or the eight-legged predator of my nightmares? It's a tough choice.

I've often ridiculed the place I live - Topeka, KS. While I really don't particularly care for it, there are a few things here and there that I find make living here tolerable. But I'm not going to bore you with the positive things that I could possibly write about tonight.

Hell no!

Recently, the City of Topeka paid $150K for a survey, completed by some consulting group out of Atlanta, GA, to tell them what they need to do to improve the city and make it more attractive to businesses and people. The findings of the survey essentially say that Topeka is unattractive and it "has no sense of place."

"From an outsider's perspective, the community does not show well and does not present a strong sense of place and identity," according to the report. "While community entry corridors (the roads leading into the city) contribute to this impression, it is the city's lack of a strong city core that is the biggest challenge. There is no sense of vibrancy and no center of gravity that a new-urban center of arts, entertainment and housing would provide."

This weekend is pretty busy. A beginner BMX clinic for my daughter and soccer games for both my kids Saturday and Sunday. Lots of running around to keep me busy.

So far my son's team won and my daughter's team experienced their first loss this season. I actually thought they would go undefeated, but things just weren't clicking for them today. It was a difficult game for the girls today. They played a team that is one of the better teams. They've beat them before, but today just wasn't their day. Whenever that team and my daughter's team gets on the field together things get a little rough. Both of the teams have some aggressive players. There's pushing and shoving, and the ref doesn't catch all of it. As you can probably guess, whatever the ref doesn't catch he's going to get a lot of grief over at the hands of angry soccer moms and dads.

For example, today one of the coaches/dads from the opposing team at my daughter's game became so perturbed that he began yelling, "Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ!" from across the field. I think what bothered him was that the ref didn't call a foul that the guy thought he should have called. This was followed by some confusion about who should be throwing in after the ball had gone out of bounds. Thank goodness he didn't decide to get all violent over it. At one point he did come onto the field and was trying to argue with the ref. It's real easy to sit back and classify that guy as a major prick who is trying to live his life vicariously through his kid and since he never accomplished much he's not going to let his little girl grow up to be like him. But that wouldn't really be very nice to think of someone like that. Would it? Perhaps he doesn't realize that by behaving the way he does he'll probably guarantee that she does grow up to be just like him because he's teaching her exactly how to do it.

In case you hadn't noticed . . . I didn't post yesterday. More than likely, you probably don't care so I won't waste my time writing a lame excuse trying to hide the fact that I was just too damn lazy ( even though that's not the case ).

What's more, you get a great benefit from this because you won't be wasting your time reading it. See, us fortywhat?! guys really realize how important time can be. Well, that and food. What most people don't really realize about fortywhat?! guys is that food plays a very special part in our lives. I won't go off on any exercise in rationalization and try to explain how food is better than sex . . . because, well, it isn't - at least from what I remember?

But, when all else fails, food is the best thing that can warm my heart. Everyone has their favorites. The best food is that which satisfies after a bit of gratifying work in the yard. To put this in context, allow me to tell you a little story about a fortywhat?! guy who ignorantly decided to skip lunch yesterday only to be forced to fend for himself.

It's a sad story, but it has a happy ending.

My faith in the American, television audience has been restored.

The boy capable of brining tears to young, adolescent girls is being sent home . . . thank goodness. Yes. I'm talking about Sanjay.

I couldn't believe Blake was in the bottom three. My wife thinks Melinda's going to win. I think it will be Jordan. Who's your pick?

Last week I mentioned that I interviewed for a new job.

As I said, I felt pretty good about how the interview went. It's always kind of hard to tell exactly how things go during an interview. The interviewee is always put into a position where there is a limited amount of time to make that first impression. You can usually tell if you answer the "real" questions well or not.

I mean real questions as opposed to those fluffy, filler-type questions like, "What do you consider your weaknesses to be?" I'm always tempted to answer, "Well, I really can't function without downing a fifth of vodka first thing in the morning while I surf porn on the Internet," followed by one of those uncomfortable smiles - like when you silently fart in a really crowded room and slyly slip away.

I've always wondered why people still ask those questions. I know the standard answer to that, but I mean, why do they really ask those questions? There are countless resources available that people can use as a guide for the best responses. Are interviewers really that lazy that they can't come up with their own questions? I suppose they do serve some purpose. They expose the people who are too lazy to really prepare for an interview and learn the preferred responses.

Enough with the rant, I suppose. The good news is that I was offered the job. We had to do a little negotiation with regard to the salary, but in the end it worked out. I'll start working for them the 30th of this month. In the meantime, I've been asked to help select my replacement. So, for my remaining days I'll be reading resumes and interviewing candidates.

Where'd I leave those links to the fluffy, filler-type questions?

In case you haven't heard, although I'm quite confident you have, some deranged psycho shot and killed 30-some people on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, Virginia.

Although the identity and motive are not yet known, I imagine they will be as bizarre as any other mass murder in history.

As I grew up and went through school an event like this occurring was the farthest thing from my mind. I do remember once, in eighth grade, a kid brought a handgun to show off to his friends. He was expelled from school because someone told on him. But no one ever worried about some social outcast or nut who skipped his meds coming into the school and snuffing out the lives of a few innocent people whose only mistake was to be in the worst possible place at the worst possible time.

At one point in my life, when I was eighteen or so, I had these idealistic beliefs that I was prepared to die in the defense of my country and the foundations upon which it was built. However, I never had to worry about whether or not I would be shot to death in math class, in the shopping mall, or in a college dorm. I know this will sound a little melodramatic, but it really is a different world we live in.

Not long ago I posted a link to a series of short movies on YouTube about a cult of hateful people who just happen to live in Topeka. These people call themselves the Westboro Baptist Church.

You may have heard of them ever since they decided to start picketing the funerals of soldiers from Afghanistan and Iraq. I learned a lot about them by watching those videos. I still cannot agree with their message or the manner in which they spread it. What I didn't know is that they have been protesting here in Topeka for the last fifteen years.

For a long time the citizens of Topeka decided to ignore them. They clued in to the fact that these people enjoyed the attention they received. When they stopped getting the attention from Topeka they decided to branch out and preach hatred at the funerals ( of homosexuals ) in other states. Then along came 911 and Afghanistan and Iraq. To them it must have appeared they won the lottery.

Since that time several states have enacted laws to prevent the picketing of funerals. Kansas can finally say that they are taking steps in the right direction. Yesterday our Governor, Kathleen Sebelius, signed a bill that will address picketing funerals.

Under the Kansas statute, picketing would be prohibited within 150 feet of a funeral one hour before, during and two hours after a service. The penalty for the misdemeanor offense is a maximum six months in jail and $1,000 fine. The law also contains a provision allowing family members to file civil lawsuits against people who defame the dead.

As I've pointed out before, I'd love to link to Topeka's newspaper website so you could read cjonline's version of the story. But, the Capital-Journal hasn't yet learned that there are other, much better, news outlets on the Internet that understand people don't want to be forced to sign up just to read a news article.

As much as I would like to say, "Bravo!" and give them a standing ovation, all I can seem to muster at this time is, "It's about time." Kansas became the 33rd state in the nation to enact this kind of legislation. The 33rd! Yet they've not only been harboring the very people that this legislation is meant to address, they've also been tolerating it from them for 15 years. The only drawback is the our Governor has directed the Attorney General to mount a court battle against the bill in order to test the constitutionality of it.

Who knows how long that will take?

My 11 year-old son is trying his hand at stop-motion animation.

I loaned him my camera and tripod and we created a short ( about 7 seconds or so ) little film with Windows Movie Maker. He did all the clay and animation stuff with a little help from his little sister. She manned the camera for a while. I helped out with uploading the pictures and figuring out the movie maker software.

For now, the windows movie file resides on the web host's server. But, I think we are going to look at uploading the video to You Tube and see if that works better for him. We're learning a few things by doing this and I think it would be kind of cool if he started sharing his experiences while doing this.

There's bit of a story behind this bird . . . we found it wandering in our backyard and adopted it. We didn't have to chase it down or anything like that. It's exceptionally tame and very friendly. We have yet to name it so I'm throwing it out there. Anyone who would like to suggest a name is more than welcome to do so by simply commenting. My kids will pick the name from the suggestions.

Late last year David Pogue commented about an observation he made. Frankly, it went something like this:

But what's really stunning is how hostile *ordinary* people are to each other online these days.

Most recently, a popular blooger by the name of Kathy Sierra was threatened on her blog. She decided to cancel some presentations. She was afraid to leave her house. However, an interesting thing has happened. Tim O'Reilly put out a call for a blogger's code of conduct. It is still a work in progress. You can see that it has generated a lot of input and discussion from a variety of people.

While a lot of the discussion centers around the legal responsibilities, I think it would be much simpler if we just resorted to one simple thing . . . treat others as you would like to be treated. I know that's much too simple. You're probably wondering if I still believe in Santa Claus and if I still put my teeth under my pillow in anticipation of the Tooth Fairy. Well, er, uh, no. Of course not. I learned the truth about Santa Claus a long time ago . . .

Evidently I've been tagged by Jen to participate in a little meme. I'm a good sport so I think I'll go ahead and play along.

The idea of this meme, as described by Alex, is to list your best, most exclusive, and over-the-top goals. The funny thing for me is that I haven't really set any "goals" since finishing graduate school. Since then, it has been just going to work and paying the bills. So, I guess my goals have mostly consisted of dreams that I can say I am working toward, but finding time to make them become reality has proved to be difficult.

• Financial Security - I'm sure you'll find this at the top of most people's list. It's pretty simple. It would be nice to be able to stockpile a little money, save enough to pay for my kids' education ( so they don't have to do the student loan thing like I did ), and retire comfortably.
• A business of my own - This kind of goes in hand with my first goal. I've been working towards my own software business for some time. Money, time, and the right idea have always been elusive, but I haven't given up.
• Publish a novel - I've already written one when I participated in NaNoWriMo. However, I never edited it.
• Move to a better climate - The Midwest isn't a bad place to live. You get to see all the seasons. However, it always seems to be at either extreme. Someplace like San Diego that has a pretty consistent climate would be my choice.
• Strong family - I want my family to have a better relationship than my parents' family.
• Independent Kids - I want my kids to become strong, independent adults with the tools to be successful in everything they do.
• Visit Europe and Australia - I've always wanted to see Europe. All of it. Traveling down under is something I've wanted to do as well for a long time.

So that's pretty much it. I think I've made a lot of progress towards many of them. Now here's a few other people I've tagged:

• Zep over at In-Sect
• Ian at Living in Canberra
• Gina at Brainfizzles
• Wonder Woman at Disjointed Intelligence
• Lady Banana

This Sunday, April 8th, the last season is set to begin of one of my favorite television shows of all time . . . The Sopranos.

Last season ended with viewers wondering, "What's gonna happen next?" Uncle Junior shot Tony in what appeared as an Alzheimer's induced confusion. Carmella's continuing questions about Adriana's disappearance were subdued after she found out that she would be able to continue working on her spec house. AJ has a new love as does Chris. But Chris' new love is an old fling of Tony's and she brings some old problems of Chris' back to reality. Phil is in the hospital after a heart attack and Tony visits him to impart a little wisdom from his near death experience as well as make an attempt to bring peace between the two. Agent Harris tells Tony that there is trouble brewing . . . someone may be in danger. But, we never find out who is in danger. Paulie may have cancer. There's certainly enough drama, lies, and secrets to make for a memorable final season. But how will it all end?

• If anyone's going to be whacked, it will probably be Chris. With his heroin problem starting up again and with him fooling around with an old flame of Tony's, I think he's really pushing the limits of Tony's patience. Furthermore, if Carmella pushes about the Adriana problem Chris may be seen as even more of a liability.
• What is AJ's future? I think there's a chance that AJ might try to get a spot for himself in the family business. Even though Tony doesn't want him to do it, and AJ doesn't really have the right constitution for it, we may see that Tony allows it. I still think it's a long shot however.
• Will the FBI move in again? If Tony has real problems I believe this is where they will come from. I think problems from Phil and Johnny have been avoided, but that doesn't mean they won't flip on Tony.
• Does Paulie have cancer? Yes. And I think we'll see a change in Paulie as a result.
• What of Meadow? I think a very dramatic ending to The Sopranos would be that Meadow returns home to run the family. I know this is pretty doubtful, but think about it . . . Meadow is smart . . . very smart. She's hot. Combine the two and I think there would be one hell of a powerful woman. Most likely, this won't happen. Maybe she'll marry her dentist-to-be boyfriend and move off to the burbs?
• Will Carmella finish her spec house? That all depends. If Tony is brought up on charges and put in prison, I doubt it. Also, if the whole Adriana mess comes out into the open . . . who knows? Maybe Carmella will get whacked if she keeps pressing.

Are you a Sopranos fan? What are your predictions?

First off - a bit of a disclaimer. I neither condemn nor condone homosexuality. You live your life and I'll live mine. I won't judge you if you don't judge me. I believe in the right to express your opinion. After all, I wouldn't be blogging with the freedom I have if I didn't. I also don't go to church on a regular basis.

I attended Catholic schools for a portion of my life and it's kind of hard to buy into what great people priests are when they condone the kind of violent behavior I saw ( and witnessed first hand ) while in school. Perhaps it screwed up my faith a little.

I want people to know that the beliefs of the Westboro Baptist Church are not my own.

I didn't post this so that I could further their cause. They also do not reflect the beliefs of the vast majority of Kansas or the United States. I find the behavior of the people in this video rather despicable. You really have to wonder what has to happen to someone in their life to cause a deep hatred for others.

I first heard of the Westboro Baptist Church when my family and I lived in Omaha. A student at an Omaha high school had committed suicide and the members of Westboro decided it would benefit society to picket the kid's funeral . . . because the kid was gay. I debated publishing this post because I really don't want to give these people any more publicity than they already get at the expense of human emotion. However, I'm one of those kinds of people that believes knowledge is power.

Well, that and the fact that I have to at least try and answer the question of, "What screwed these people up so badly?"

When I heard about a University of Kansas Student who created a documentary about Westboro I was really interested in the film. However, the night it was to be shown to the public we had an ice storm and the 35 mile trip to Lawrence was out of the question.



So, when I found this documentary by the BBC on You Tube, named, "The Most Hated Family in America," I just had to watch it. I watched the entire thing - it's a seven part series of videos that will consume about an hour of your time.

I'm still waiting for an opportunity to see K. Ryan Jones' documentary. I just haven't had one that works as well as watching it over the Internet.

Ever find yourself thinking, remembering, reminiscing about growing up and the things you miss? Here are a few that I remember. Some of them are still around; others gone forever:

• GI Joe with the Kung-Fu Grip - No kid could resist one of these.
• Big Jim's Rescue Rig - My favorite. I had a few other Big Jim toys as a kid. They fueled many a Saturday morning adventure.
• The smell of fresh-baked rolls drifting through the school hallways just before lunch. Olfactory memories stick with us the longest. Even if you didn't like school lunches, I'm sure this smell would take you back.
• Fall Preview show of the Saturday Morning cartoon lineup. - Remember Hong Kong Phooey? How about Captain Caveman? Run Joe Run? Land of the Lost?
• Pick-up baseball in the street.
• Playing post-office. I played the first time with the girl across the street. I think her name was Kathy. We were both in the second or third grade. It's never been the same since.
• The first day of school. It was always filled with optimism. You got to wear your brand new "school clothes" that sat in the closet until the day you picked your favorite to wear on that very day.
• The last day of school. It was filled with absolutely nothing. Usually we had a field day and got to have recess the majority of the day. The excitement built over the entire day ultimately erupting into a rush for the doors at the final bell.
• Creature Feature. It was always on during the weekends starting around 8 pm. I would watch cheesy, old horror flicks into the night. My favorite host was the Son of Svengoolie.
• The Fonz - He was the definition of "cool" when I was a kid.

How about you? Anything you remember that really takes you back?

Here it is. Tuesday morning. Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. The temperatures soared to eighty-something and I got the Jeep washed over lunch. The dealer I bought the Jeep from gave me a coupon for thirty days of free washes at an touchless car wash. Although the coupon only gives you the basic wash, I splurged and had the wheels shined. Before picking up the kids at the bus top I put the top down. It was great.

Since we had to go out for another of my daughter's soccer games it made for a good evening cruising around with the top down till almost 8 pm after my daughter's team kicked the snot out of the other team.

Now, the temperature's dropped to near sixty. It's gray and rainy. The forecast includes snow later this week.

Mother Nature is a skanky tease.

With two tasks at hand this morning at work I'm trying to find the motivation to begin either of them. The same old thing.

After interviewing last week for a new job, I expected that I might find out where I stood as early as Friday of last week. I imagine that there is still the possibility that I am being considered for the position, but as the days add up this week my optimism is dwindling. They did contact my current employer. To me that's a sign that I am a contender, but it is kind of a double edge sword. With the cat out of the bag, so to speak, now my employer knows I'm looking. There are some that would fire me just for even thinking about it. Fortunately, that's not the case here. But, if they're going to call my employer I think they better be prepared to offer me the job. After all, I did give them three other personal references related to the kind of work I do that would have sufficed instead of calling my boss.

Regardless, I need to get this crap done so that at least I project an image that is consistent with someone doing their job.

Another installment in the random photo series. This is my son's rat-dog, Precious. She's a Chihuahua mixed with Jack Russell Terrier in there somewhere.

It's been a busy weekend of soccer games - three of them to be exact. My daughter's team won both of their games on Saturday and Sunday. My son's team lost, but they played incredibly against the top ranked team in their league.

Whoever may say that girl's soccer is boring or lacks intensity as compared to boy's soccer hasn't been to one of my daughter's games. My daughter isn't in the picture below, but it does demonstrate that they're not afraid to follow the ball into the goal regardless of the goalie being in the way or not.


So far my daughter's team is undefeated. They're really starting to show that they are beginning to understand the game. Hats off to their coach on the start of a great season.

Note - no little girls were harmed as a result of this play.