November 28, 2003

Thankful

I have been working very long hours recently and have found myself unable to find the time to do anything: watch a movie, spend time with my wife, see my family, etc. All I do is work. Coming up on Thanksgiving I only took one day off and only saw my family for a little while. It was a little hard to feel thankful this year, but someone slapped me in the face so now I feel better:

• I have a secure job.
• I have a great wife and family.
• Sure I have to work long hours, but I have a 'mental', 'inside' job not a 'physical', 'outside' job where I have to work long hours.
• I have my health.
• In a few months I will have a house.
• I have everything I could ever want, and I don't deserve any of it.

Thank you.

02:23 PM part of personal

November 21, 2003

favorite place

It had a sense of history about it, and it had the right angle, which is a lot. The window faced in a way so that you didn't have to turn your head to look down on people on the sidewalk. I would just sit and watch people for hours, pages not turning, nothing getting written. The place had a sense of personal history; my grandfather's old office was visible from it, my father, brother, mother, and sister had probably all walked past that very ledge. For that matter, I had known hundreds of people who were familiar with it; had grown up around it in a literal or figurative sense.

And speaking of that, there were all sorts of things that you could make up about how it was symbolic. The main drag that split the university from downtown lofts and coffeeshops could be any number of things: the transition from boy to man, from education to real world. The students crossing over to work internships with hip small companies was a progression, a growing-up. So was the drunk stumbling down the stairs of his loft - late for class, crossing over the other way.

And they served really good coffee.

04:14 PM part of unavoidable sadness

November 19, 2003

Driving home in the dark and it is pouring.
When you hit large puddles it sounds
like running over gravel
the pieces hitting the underside of your car
slowing you down.

12:37 PM part of personal

November 10, 2003

I am sitting in my cubicle, surrounded by people talking on telephones, listening in but trying not to, not coding, not typing, sitting.

01:32 PM part of personal

November 07, 2003

Working late.
It is dark when you get to work.
It is dark when you leave work.
So you sit in your car at lunch with the windows down.
Just breathing.

08:41 PM part of personal

November 04, 2003


validate_and_update_work_order()
validate_and_add_work_order()

How about a common validate fxn?

07:21 PM part of software hall of shame

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."

Benjamin Franklin

12:59 PM part of inspiration