My flight from Chicago was delayed by nearly three hours, mostly the result of bad weather in the East. We were, as has become typical, crammed in, with all of the overhead bins full. I had to check my suitcase at the gate. As the flight attendants wheeled the beverage cart from the back of the plane, they politely, but resolutely, let us know that extremities in the aisle were in harm's way. The plane ride was somewhat bumpy as we neared the coast, but not too bad. The Logan parking garage has one four-story elevator that doesn't go to floors one and two and a seven-story elevator that only covers floors one through four. I parked my car in Row Z-1 which is right next to Row S-1.
There was a foot of snow on the ground when I left on Monday morning. Now it's gone. Who took it? And why?
Hot dogs and beans are the traditional New England Saturday night supper. After our trip to Britain a few years ago, Sandra and I have been having eggs and beans. In either case, whether served with hot dogs or with eggs, beans are best served with not very much bird head.
On the plane ride home, I sat behind a guy who was preparing a presentation with PowerPoint. He was copying the text, including pictures and tables, from a Microsoft Word document, and then hacking and stuffing to make the content fit into the slides. I pity the folks who have to sit through that presentation. A Google search of "Death by PowerPoint" comes up with 47,000 matches. In one case, we might have a clue about why the war in Iraq is going as it is. An American government worker acquired an insurgency training manual from a web site, translated it, converted it to PowerPoint, and posted it on a web site to make it available to U.S. troops. Whatever was retained from the translation from Arabic to English was squeezed into sloganeering by the time it was brought into PowerPoint.
(There's an interesting thread coming from this story. The insurgency web site, Al-Rashid.com, is a bit of an odd name for a domain in Iraq. They'd have to do business at some point with U.S. domain registrars. And, now, that site points to a escort service in the U.K.)
We have a long weekend (President's Day) and a somewhat quiet week in the office. Several co-workers are taking the week off to be with their kids who are on school vacation. Sandra and I have a list of fun things to do and will get to more than a few of them in these three days.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Friday, February 17, 2006
Homeward bound
The Chevy Impala used to be a great car - big, comfortable, stylish. I'm driving one this week. Avis calls it full-sized, I can't tell it apart from the Hyundais, Kias, and other Camry wannabes. If it wasn't for the remote door opener that flashes the lights on the car, I'd never be able to pick it out in a parking lot.
Think nice thoughts about your water. Did you know that "water registers and faithfully transmits any frequency it is exposed to?" Did you know that the vibrational frequency of the label on your bottle of water is so important? Are you surprised that all this comes from California?
Technology has given the whole world access to the best that America has to offer. As a result, a prime-time slot on ESPN had an hour of flag football.
I'm flying home later today. No meal on the two-and-a-half-hour flight, just beverages and a bag of pseudo-snacks. On the flight out on Monday morning, we received a packet of cookies. You know that brown pegboard that we use in our cellars and garages so we can hang things on hooks? Well, these cookies were the same color and density as that brown board, but not as tasty.
Instead of letting passengers board from back to front, some airlines, including United, are having the passengers board by seat assignments. After the royalty boards, window seat passengers board next, followed by middle seaters, and then those on the aisle. The boarding process does seem to be smoother, except for the aforementioned goofiness that's endemic among the traveling population.
The weather forecast calls for strong winds by the time we get to Boston, suggesting a bumpy ride into Logan.
Set mode=grovel. Happy Belated Birthday to Jennie.
Think nice thoughts about your water. Did you know that "water registers and faithfully transmits any frequency it is exposed to?" Did you know that the vibrational frequency of the label on your bottle of water is so important? Are you surprised that all this comes from California?
Technology has given the whole world access to the best that America has to offer. As a result, a prime-time slot on ESPN had an hour of flag football.
I'm flying home later today. No meal on the two-and-a-half-hour flight, just beverages and a bag of pseudo-snacks. On the flight out on Monday morning, we received a packet of cookies. You know that brown pegboard that we use in our cellars and garages so we can hang things on hooks? Well, these cookies were the same color and density as that brown board, but not as tasty.
Instead of letting passengers board from back to front, some airlines, including United, are having the passengers board by seat assignments. After the royalty boards, window seat passengers board next, followed by middle seaters, and then those on the aisle. The boarding process does seem to be smoother, except for the aforementioned goofiness that's endemic among the traveling population.
The weather forecast calls for strong winds by the time we get to Boston, suggesting a bumpy ride into Logan.
Set mode=grovel. Happy Belated Birthday to Jennie.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Rain, wind, snow, flying cows
We have a rain/snow mix, along with thunder, ahead of a cold front. The frontal passage (aka fropa, for the weather nerds) will bring strong winds and much colder air here this evening and tomorrow night back home.
After a time of travel, my physical and mental shirt pockets eventually fill up with scraps of paper. And so, lucky reader, it's time to dump the scraps onto the desk.
There was a cocktail party last night, sponsored by one of the vendors. I didn't go and am grateful for my choice. This morning's reports include cell-phone video clips of conga line and pleas for more scotch.
Speaking of phones, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal mentioned a product, called CellStik, that lets you back up your cell phone contacts to a USB drive.
On the way to the airport the other day, I heard a bit of flotsam from the Bosstown Sound-era - Sacrifice of the Moon by Ultimate Spinach. There's a good reason why I hadn't heard it since the late 1960s.
From the Department of the Flippin' Obvious: a study informs us that people use the Internet for fun.
Canada has a program to discourage people from letting their cars idle too long. Walking past the neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts, it's amazing that there aren't more cars stolen.
South Koreans are fighting back against bird flu with kimchi.
In several meetings, I've been sitting with a fellow who reminds me a great deal of a former co-worker. This person has the same kind of accent, same sardonic view of the world, and similar physical features, all the way that he clears his nose. Both have a quick and clever wit. Both are very smart. The fellow here calculated 26^6 in his head as a part of a discussion on acronyms. At the start of the day, he spent 10 minutes talking with his broker, so we now know how his investments are going.
After a time of travel, my physical and mental shirt pockets eventually fill up with scraps of paper. And so, lucky reader, it's time to dump the scraps onto the desk.
There was a cocktail party last night, sponsored by one of the vendors. I didn't go and am grateful for my choice. This morning's reports include cell-phone video clips of conga line and pleas for more scotch.
Speaking of phones, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal mentioned a product, called CellStik, that lets you back up your cell phone contacts to a USB drive.
On the way to the airport the other day, I heard a bit of flotsam from the Bosstown Sound-era - Sacrifice of the Moon by Ultimate Spinach. There's a good reason why I hadn't heard it since the late 1960s.
From the Department of the Flippin' Obvious: a study informs us that people use the Internet for fun.
Canada has a program to discourage people from letting their cars idle too long. Walking past the neighborhood Dunkin' Donuts, it's amazing that there aren't more cars stolen.
South Koreans are fighting back against bird flu with kimchi.
In several meetings, I've been sitting with a fellow who reminds me a great deal of a former co-worker. This person has the same kind of accent, same sardonic view of the world, and similar physical features, all the way that he clears his nose. Both have a quick and clever wit. Both are very smart. The fellow here calculated 26^6 in his head as a part of a discussion on acronyms. At the start of the day, he spent 10 minutes talking with his broker, so we now know how his investments are going.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Valentine's Day in the heartland
It's no fun being away from home on Valentine's Day.
When I was here three weeks ago, there was a half a foot of fresh-fallen snow on the ground. Now, except in the shadiest of places, there's none. One of my co-workers wasn't able to get out of New Jersey yesterday because of the weekend storm; he'll arrive this morning.
Nonetheless, there's no surer sign of spring than the Red Sox equipment van leaving Boston on its way to spring training. Even though the team's management be idiots, letting Johnny Damon and Doug Mirabelli get away, it's still baseball and it's still good.
They're all Conelandians now.
The Four Horsemen are making sure that their horses are fed and watered and ready for the ride: Paris Hilton to play Mother Teresa.
If you have some spare time and spare bandwidth, this site may entertain and will perplex you. Having the sound on is helpful, but not essential. Being able to parse Korean marketing speak into semi-English is required. It's so difficult to choose between the jade pillow and the laser pillow.
Today's automated search for a technical documentation job brings a list for a Blood Bank Supervisor.
When I was here three weeks ago, there was a half a foot of fresh-fallen snow on the ground. Now, except in the shadiest of places, there's none. One of my co-workers wasn't able to get out of New Jersey yesterday because of the weekend storm; he'll arrive this morning.
Nonetheless, there's no surer sign of spring than the Red Sox equipment van leaving Boston on its way to spring training. Even though the team's management be idiots, letting Johnny Damon and Doug Mirabelli get away, it's still baseball and it's still good.
They're all Conelandians now.
The Four Horsemen are making sure that their horses are fed and watered and ready for the ride: Paris Hilton to play Mother Teresa.
If you have some spare time and spare bandwidth, this site may entertain and will perplex you. Having the sound on is helpful, but not essential. Being able to parse Korean marketing speak into semi-English is required. It's so difficult to choose between the jade pillow and the laser pillow.
Today's automated search for a technical documentation job brings a list for a Blood Bank Supervisor.
Idus Februarius
There's a lot bright moonlight on the fresh snow. Yesterday afternoon I measured 14", although it was difficult to find a place where the snow hadn't drifted. We waited until four in the afternoon to start the cleanup. It took less than two hours, with the help of Mike and Matt's plowing. The snow was light and the wind swirling, so that much of the snow that came out of the snow blower's chute wound up on me.
The first two flights to Chicago this morning have been cancelled. So far, mine, at nine o'clock, is still scheduled. I'll leave early for the airport to thread my way through the crowds with the hope of claiming what I'm told is a confirmed seat. The meetings in the midlands start at two this afternoon.
It was only a matter of time before companies would require implantation of RFID chips for their employees. Twenty years ago, when magnetic card readers were installed at all of the computer labs at Digital, there was a lot of concern that the management could keep track of how much time an employee did or didn't spend in the lab. With my Blackberry, it would be possible for my boss to track where I am at all times. She won't, though, because she's a full-time job already and knows that if she starts micro-managing like that, productivity for the both of us will plummet.
Your tax dollars at work; Rus, the surfin squirrel, Stanley Stat, Pie-Chart Pam, and Ginger's CIA Adventure, and a special offering for Dick Cheney, Darrell and Shirley talk about gun safety.
If you plan to go to any of the World Cup games in Germany, well, remember that the Germans may not share your sense of humor about the war.
In the Roman calendar, the Ideas came on the 13th in short months, on the 15th in long month. February, though it feels like a long month, is short. More here.
Happy 16th Birthday, Michael Francis.
The first two flights to Chicago this morning have been cancelled. So far, mine, at nine o'clock, is still scheduled. I'll leave early for the airport to thread my way through the crowds with the hope of claiming what I'm told is a confirmed seat. The meetings in the midlands start at two this afternoon.
It was only a matter of time before companies would require implantation of RFID chips for their employees. Twenty years ago, when magnetic card readers were installed at all of the computer labs at Digital, there was a lot of concern that the management could keep track of how much time an employee did or didn't spend in the lab. With my Blackberry, it would be possible for my boss to track where I am at all times. She won't, though, because she's a full-time job already and knows that if she starts micro-managing like that, productivity for the both of us will plummet.
Your tax dollars at work; Rus, the surfin squirrel, Stanley Stat, Pie-Chart Pam, and Ginger's CIA Adventure, and a special offering for Dick Cheney, Darrell and Shirley talk about gun safety.
If you plan to go to any of the World Cup games in Germany, well, remember that the Germans may not share your sense of humor about the war.
In the Roman calendar, the Ideas came on the 13th in short months, on the 15th in long month. February, though it feels like a long month, is short. More here.
Happy 16th Birthday, Michael Francis.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
If we're quiet, will you promise not to call FEMA?
The quiet before the storm.
We're expecting a foot of snow, drifted by high winds. The southeast part of the state, including the Cape, will get more of both, enough for the storm to be classified as a blizzard. We have a couple of events planned for today and expect that they'll be called off. It will be a good day to read through the stack of magazine that's in my in-basket. The bottom layer of the magazines is turning to coal.
In the meantime, the local TV stations are in full disaster mode. It's snowing. In February. In New England
We visited Adam, Jennie, and Lily at their new home yesterday. It's a really nice place, a log cabin on eight mostly-wooded acres, three-quarters of a mile from the center of a very small town. It has a great view of the low hills stretching off to the east. As you drive up the winding highway that leads to the town, the temperature drops by three to five degrees. Cell phone signals (Verizon's, anyway) get tired at the town line and have to sit by the side of the road for a rest.
They had recently gone with Jennie's mother to see Cirque Du Soleil, an event for the February birthday celebrants. Lily brought her small CD player from her room and played a CDS disc, eerie and compelling music.
The purpose of the trip, in addition to visiting, was to bring a grandfather's clock that, by no coincidence, was made by my grandfather. A bit more than 30 years ago, my grandfather, living alone for a year after the death of my grandmother, was building the clock in the cellar of his house. His house was next door to my father's. One day, my grandfather showed my father the progress that he'd made on the clock. "I guess you'll have to finish this," my grandfather said. A few days later, maybe a bit more, my grandfather died.
My father finished it and, one Christmas, brought it to our house. It's been in our dining room, a bit finicky on these old uneven and sometimes unsteady floors. We've all had a hand in getting the clock going and keeping it going, with Adam having the best touch. My father was pleased when we told him that we were bringing the clock to their new home.
On the way back, we made a few shopping stops. There are many February birthdays and anniversaries in our extended family, but only one for each person. When a gift is called for, getting the right gift is important. We tried not too look too clueless as we bought a lacrosse stick and accessories.
We also stopped at Dave's and picked up some special food for Marley. (His 10th birthday is later this month.) This morning he had duck and sweet potato. In Japan, he might be having whale meat.
Belated Happy Anniversary to Mike and Lynn.
We still remember you, Don.
We're expecting a foot of snow, drifted by high winds. The southeast part of the state, including the Cape, will get more of both, enough for the storm to be classified as a blizzard. We have a couple of events planned for today and expect that they'll be called off. It will be a good day to read through the stack of magazine that's in my in-basket. The bottom layer of the magazines is turning to coal.
In the meantime, the local TV stations are in full disaster mode. It's snowing. In February. In New England
Nor'easter On Its Way; Extreme Team Has You CoveredI've yet to find a web site that provides school closings and related information for the Worcester area. One radio station promises information about cancellations, but a click of the link results in a "Sorry, the feed you are looking for does not exist." Some of the Boston news outlets manage to include news from the provinces, but that material rarely makes it onto the web. I guess it's good that some traditions don't change. Our grandkids get to listen to the same lame AM radio stations as we did, where announcers read from a long list at five and thirty-five minutes past the hour.
We visited Adam, Jennie, and Lily at their new home yesterday. It's a really nice place, a log cabin on eight mostly-wooded acres, three-quarters of a mile from the center of a very small town. It has a great view of the low hills stretching off to the east. As you drive up the winding highway that leads to the town, the temperature drops by three to five degrees. Cell phone signals (Verizon's, anyway) get tired at the town line and have to sit by the side of the road for a rest.
They had recently gone with Jennie's mother to see Cirque Du Soleil, an event for the February birthday celebrants. Lily brought her small CD player from her room and played a CDS disc, eerie and compelling music.
The purpose of the trip, in addition to visiting, was to bring a grandfather's clock that, by no coincidence, was made by my grandfather. A bit more than 30 years ago, my grandfather, living alone for a year after the death of my grandmother, was building the clock in the cellar of his house. His house was next door to my father's. One day, my grandfather showed my father the progress that he'd made on the clock. "I guess you'll have to finish this," my grandfather said. A few days later, maybe a bit more, my grandfather died.
My father finished it and, one Christmas, brought it to our house. It's been in our dining room, a bit finicky on these old uneven and sometimes unsteady floors. We've all had a hand in getting the clock going and keeping it going, with Adam having the best touch. My father was pleased when we told him that we were bringing the clock to their new home.
On the way back, we made a few shopping stops. There are many February birthdays and anniversaries in our extended family, but only one for each person. When a gift is called for, getting the right gift is important. We tried not too look too clueless as we bought a lacrosse stick and accessories.
We also stopped at Dave's and picked up some special food for Marley. (His 10th birthday is later this month.) This morning he had duck and sweet potato. In Japan, he might be having whale meat.
Belated Happy Anniversary to Mike and Lynn.
We still remember you, Don.
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