Dwell on the past and you'll lose an eye; forget the past and you'll lose both eyes

We met our project deadline at work. I added my final two documents to the build at 11:15, 45 minutes ahead of schedule. Relieved and congratulatory emails richocheted around the group for the rest of the afternoon. We also learned that the sales group closed another large account, giving us additional work for the coming year. We made it. We can use the long weekend to breathe and then get going again.

My manager let us out early. So, Sandra and I went to visit with Adam, Jennie, and Lily. We had our first visit to their new house, a log cabin on eight acres in one of the hill towns just a bit further west. It's a nifty place, with both warmth and openess. Lily will start at her new school on Tuesday; the family will move a few weeks later. After the visit, we went to one of Lily's favorite restaurants, a Mongolian barbeque place in Hadley. Although there were no Mongolians to be seen, we dined well and had lots of good talk and laughter.

Today we hope to gather up some of Mike and Lynn's kids to go to the latest Harry Potter movie.

Snow is in the forecast for this evening, making travel even more treacherous. Tonight is amateur night, a time when lots of otherwise well-behaved people get drunk. The serious drunks are apt to take the night off, preferring to show their stuff when everyone least expects it, like some Tuesday morning in March. Anyway, the serious drunks have known for a long time that there's no cure for a hangover; here's the science. If you want to avoid a hangover, don't take that first drink.

In case you were wondering, Hiatchi claims that The Hard Drive is the New Bling.

It's nice of people to share their dreams with us. This guy, for example, wanted to set the record for the longest ear hair. And, this guy implanted an RFID chip in himself.

[The title for this entry comes from an Russian proverb, quoted by Solzhenitsyn at the start of The Gulag Archipelago.]

As I've mentioned in the past, I don't typically make New Year's resolutions. If a good habit is worth starting, any day is fine. It was 20 years ago yesterday, I just remembered, when I had my last cigarette. Here are, nevertheless, some tips for setting goals, whether those goals are set tomorrow on New Year's Day or some Thursday in November or some Tuesday in March.

Stuff left in the toe of the Christmas stocking

We're putting in some long days this week as we head toward our project deadline of noon on Friday. There are times during the day when a nap would be helpful, but it's not to be. We'll just hope that the coffee supply holds up.

It's election season in Canada. A question that I'd never asked once, let alone frequently: "Is someone allowed to eat a ballot?" (Hint: No.)

And when we're through wondering what our neighbors to the north are doing for the future of civilization, we look across the pond and find that Sienna Miller is the most admired woman among teenaged British girls. Paris Hilton was #8 on the list. Paris Hilton. My theory is that Alistair Cook's bones weren't stolen, but that the spinning in his grave sent the bones too deep to be found.

Another holiday recipe - Creamy Spam Broccoli Casserole. Nice touch - skim milk and low-fat cheese to go with the Spam.

Finally, during flu season, never let anyone lick your keyboard.

I'm pretty sure that the pogo stick isn't ours

We're awakening to a quiet house, a light rain falling outside and fog rolling over the snow. Inside, there's a lot to pick up, clean up, and put away. There are several half-pies on the table and lots of leftovers in both refrigerators. And then there's the pogo stick, still in its box, "Lots of good healthy fun and exercise, indoors and outdoors." And, as the fog lifts, I can see two snowboards in the back yard.

It was a great party and everyone contributed. Sandra did most of the planning and lots of the cooking. People helped us fill the dishes before the meal and wash the dishes afterward. (Marley did his party, pre-washing many of the serving dishes and pans.)

I've kept people posted about our lives through this journal. Niece Lori asked, "So, who is Blaugustine?" I explained that Liz and I had worked together for several years at a previous company and that we now kept in touch via email and blogs. Juliet's health concerns became part of the dinner conversations.

While I was in our office, showing Michael and Joe how to put music files on their MP3 players, our granddaughters and Jennie's sister, Julie, were playing hide-and-go-seek around the house.

Folks left a bit after six. We fed 35 people. We'd parked our cars at the drug store parking lot about a quarter mile away, giving us more room in our driveway. Sandra, Marley, and I walked down to get the cars, enjoying the cool and quiet night.

Today we'll visit my father, bringing him a couple of meals of leftovers. We bought him a pair of Yaktrax so that he can walk across the ice more easily to get to his wood pile.

Bark us all bow-wows of folly

We went to Mike and Lynn's for a bit of Christmas Eve gift-giving and a dinner of Chinese food (nothing like this on the menu, though). Before the meal, we (Sandra and her parents and yours truly) drove around to see the Christmas lights. Some families have done put up glorious displays. Several years ago, we spent Christmas at Prince Edward Island. There the lights on the houses were even more hopeful because the houses are so far apart, the only bits of color and light in a dark night.

As Curly said, I have a cold and I don't smell so good. Soon the house will be filled with the smells of beef and turkey and veggies and pies and stuff(ing). People will arrive around noon and we expect to eat at 2:00. The weather is nice, so the kids can play in the yard, using their new sleds on the crusty snow.

Our kitchen is in the middle of our house. Even though I'll spend most of my time cooking, everyone has to pass through the kitchen on their way to anywhere else, so I'll get to see everyone and talk with most.

This is a needed time for a break from work. We have a very big deal deadline at noon on Friday. (If we don't deliver, the company doesn't get paid.) I have a rule that I can give one 70-hour week in each release. With Christmas weekend, I'll have long days, but I'll have a chance to recuperate. It means that I get to work my 40 hours in three days, instead of five.

We received lots of nice Christmas cards and newsletters. We're going to write back; at least we want to. The mailings may not get out until Groundhog's Day, though. As a friend observes - Don't be sorry. Change.

My Blackberry arrived and I've had a chance to play with a bit. Lots of features that I'm sure will be fun to play with while observing the posted speed limits on our interstate highways. The biggest deal about the Blackberry, I think, came when I was placing the order. I was trying to decide between a one-year and two-year contract. There was a significant savings in placing a two-year order, but I was hesitant because I wasn't sure if my job would be around in two years. "Don't worry," said our office administrator, confidently. I placed a two-year order.

The rest of the lyrics for Deck Us All With Boston Charlie/Bark Us All Bow-Wows of Folly are here.

In the time-honored tradition ...

The Red Sox let another of their best players get away, to the Yankees no less. There's no question that Johnny Damon is getting a lot of money from New York, more than $50M over four years. (Although he'll have to cut his hair and beard to get it.) The Red Sox could afford it and they need a high-energy guy like Damon to spark the team. I didn't mind losing Wade Boggs or Roger Clemens to the Yankees because they were arrogant and self-centered ballplayers. Damon, we'll miss. A lot.

Nothing says that you're celebrating Jesus' birth like:

• iPod boxer shorts
• Coyote fur hat
• Bacon-cooking alarm clock

And, of course, interesting opportunities keep showing up in my automated searches for technical documentation jobs:

• Looking for Cosmetolgist or Barber for a fun, relaxed sports enviorment [sic]
  
• CAREER BELLS RING, ARE YOU LISTENING? GM/CHEF OPENINGS NOW! (a sing-along)

The four candidates seeking the Canadian prime minister's post had a debate in French in Vancouver last week. They'll have a debate in English in Québec.

With the amount that I'm traveling for work, I'll be getting a Blackberry. The folks who make the Blackberry, Research in Motion (RIM), have been in a nasty legal dispute with NTP regarding patents that may or may not have been infringed. It's doubtful that RIM would let the Blackberries go dark; there are too many users and there is too much money involved. But, then, the Red Sox did let Johnny Damon get away.

Dice - Position 237

My automated job searches for a technical documentation position turned up this one: Dice - Position 237: "Heliarc Welder - local candidates need only apply". It's a job that my father could easily do, but he enjoys his retirement too much.

Canadian Cottage Holidays - Cottage rental and resort listings across Canada

Canadian Cottage Holidays - Cottage rental and resort listings across Canada: "from the hot sand dunes of Prince Edward Island..."

PEI, the new Malibu.

Messages as we find them

Seeing my mother's handwriting and reading her affirmations is just like hearing her voice. And she loved Papermate pens with the blue ink.

Collateral damage in a field of white

We picked up better than a foot of snow on Friday, the bulk of it coming in just a few hours. I worked from home and learned via email that the office was closed by mid-afternoon. The snow was light and the snowblower moved it away easily until the end. We cover the snowblower with a tarp during the off-hours. When it's time to start the cleanup, I remove the tarp and set it aside on top of the snow on the lawn. As I was returning the snowblower to its place, my glasses were covered with snow and, well, the snowblower inhaled the tarp, thick blue plastic wrapped around the auger. Yesterday morning, I spent nearly an hour cutting away the tarp, leaving a ground cover of blue confetti.

A couple of weeks ago, my father was getting his Jeep ready for the season. It started, but sounded a bit rough. He removed the air filter and found that it was filled with acorns.

Can you hear me now? Woof.

Gmail, Google's mail service, has a new feature called Web Clips. It presents links to news stories and, occasionally, advertisements. Gmail has a very good junk mail filter and puts all suspected junk mail into a Spam folder. When I go to clean out that folder, I also get a link for Spam recipes, such as Gingered Spam Salad.

The pace of work is picking up. We have a major project due on the 30th, with a contract payment contingent on product delivery. People have been even-tempered, a nice turn. I have had a couple of engineers provide helpful reviews of the documents I'm writing. In turn, I have a few cycle to help another team. I'll go White Plains for a couple of days to determine how best I can help with the other project.

We've started planning our family Christmas dinner. We'd originally counted 34 people, but several won't be able to join us. We have our menu planned. We're fortunate that Christmas comes on a Sunday, giving us an extra day for preparation. But, we're most fortunate that we have a family that wants to join us for the holiday. We have many blessings.

Goodle Good News - Funny Stuff - David McCandless

Goodle. Good news doesn't come easily; someone has to make it happen.

Well, there goes the neighborhood

A few cubicles opened up near my manager, so my co-workers and I moved recently. I did my best to clean my old cube before I moved and expect that the former tenant did the same. That said, there was an empty "Break The Curse" cookie package along with clear evidence that mice had dined well.

This new area is noisier than my previous location, all the more reason to crank up the tunes. I record broadcasts from radio stations over the Internet and then listen to them on my own schedule. Lately there have been a lot of tributes to the guitar great, Link Wray, who died last month.

You'd think that New York would have world-class TV news. It is, after all, the largest city in the country, the media capital, and the home of newspapers such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Nope. The TV news, at least what I've seen of the morning and evening offerings, isn't much better than the hyperventilated happy talk that we get locally. Heck, the small market stations, such as Manchester NH or Springfield MA, do just as well. And, with the local stations, you stand a chance of seeing clips from high school football games.

Next week we're having a holiday party at work. (Oh, bliss.) We were asked to bring foods from our ethnic traditions. I persuaded my boss that it wouldn't be a good idea to bring Finnish cuisine to a civilized gathering. I remember avoiding the pickled herring and baked turnip, but that's just the beginning. This article, for example, offers such gastronomic bombshells as fish aspic and lamprey. A cousin has had a business exporting dried reindeer meat, the perfect appetizer for a Christmas gathering. "Here, friends, have some Rudolph."

Happy 92nd Birthday, Huck.

Human Edge Software - First Class Overview

Human Edge Software - First Class Overview: "
First Class is synonymous with timetabling excellence."

...in case you were wondering.

Ice and snow and away we go

The weather forecast is calling for a stormy week, with wind and rain on Tuesday, possibly mixing with ice or snow, and then more precipitation that could give us snow cover by Thanksgiving. Today I'll bring the snow blower from behind the back shed and get it ready, just in case.

The ponds and sheltered portions of the lakes have a skim coat of ice. Yesterday we talked with someone who works at Mt. Wachusett, the ski area, not the college, She said that there was a chance that the mountain would be open for skiing this week. They've been making snow for a few days, covering several trails.

Sandra's parents returned from PEI on Friday and are settling for winter in Holden. It's nice to have them around. They're good company and good housemates.

It will be nice not to travel this week. I've gone to White Plains for five of the eight weeks in my new job, enough for me to know my way around the supermarkets, parking lots, and highways. The hotels that we use a typical business hotels, nicer than a Motel 6, but not a Trump Tower. High-speed Internet access is becoming standard, like air conditioning. With IBM nearby, White Plains is something of a technology center, but that doesn't stop politicians from making silly proposals. Most of the time, I buy my supper at Whole Foods, a natural food store, and go back to my room. One night I went out to dinner with some of the systems engineers who travel something like 40 weeks a year. They've been on the road too long and live at a pace that's too much for me.

My automated searches for technical documentation jobs are still finding some gems: Sensory Science Research Associate. "The successful candidate will set up and run sensory panels used to evaluate edible oils, food and beverages....Our Client develops, manufactures and sells naturally produced products from microalgae and fungi."

I've dressed pretty much the same way since high school - button-down shirts, slacks, loafers, ooccasionally a pocket protector. Most of my co-workers dress comparably, with a just a few folks in jeans and t-shirts. The IT industry, as rule, however, is pretty badly dressed. At Digital, one of the engineers wore red, flannel pajamas to work. (I don't think that they were the kind with the feet and the drop seat.)

As you prepare for Christmas, don't forget your USB-powered Christmas tree. (Google translation of the page is here.)

They shall not grow old

They shall not grow old: "They shall not grow old, as we who are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We shall remember them. "

Thank a veteran today, if only in your remembrances.

Like a dog circling before it lies down, we're getting ready for winter. The outdoor furniture is put away. The storm windows are in place. The little heater that keeps the birdbath ice-free is plugged in. Sandra's parents will be returning from PEI next week. John Gardner talked about locking time, that time in November when things start to freeze up in New England. It's been mild this fall, so things are running a week to 10 days late. The big maple next to our house usally drops its leaves by Halloween; it's just now shedding the last. It was 25 this morning, so we're still moving toward winter.

Grandson Joe broke his arm Wednesday night. In a pig pile with his cousins, his arm went south while he went north. We saw him briefly last night and he was comfortable, able to give that great Joe smile.

Things are returning to normal in Ottawa. Mysterious radio signals were causing automatic garage doors to misbehave. The Canadians were blaming the American embassy. Someone could make a nice living selling tin-foil hats in the capital.

In today's almost-a-good-idea department: what could let drivers pay even less attention to the road ahead? A chance to watch traffic videos on their cell phones.

The other night, we had high winds which seem to have unsettled Marley. He was barking often through the night. It may be time to order an Anxiety Wrap for him. He's too big for a hoodie bed.

SI.com - MLB - Phils' Urbina arrested on attempted murder charges - Tuesday November 8, 2005 11:23AM

SI.com - MLB - Phils' Urbina arrested on attempted murder charges - Tuesday November 8, 2005 11:23AM: According to published reports, last month, Ugueth Urbina and a group of men allegedly wielded machetes at several employees at his family's ranch, and poured gasoline on them in an attempt to set them on fire. Urbina is a former Red Sox reliever. Urbina's lawyer said, "This of course can in some way hurt his career as a professional ballplayer..."

Notes from an area

A couple of times each year, I return to my college for some alumni work. This year, there was a mix-up and the stuff that I was to do didn't happen. Instead, I spent a couple of hours on a college campus, decades after I belong here. It's hard to get a sense of the mood on campus in just a couple of hours. The students seemed earnest, perhaps a bit too much so for a Saturday evening. Upstairs in the campus center, a band was rehearsing, playing old songs such as Piece of My Heart, Dixie Chicken, and Life During Wartime. They weren't very good. The rhythm section was ok, but the singers, one male and one female, each needed at least another half octave of range.

A sign on the southbound side of I-684:

Next Area
13 Miles

The next time that you fail to deliver on expectations at work, you can follow the example of Patrick Byrne, president of Overstock.com. "Q3 was rough. My bad."

The Red Sox will probably recover from the loss of GM Theo Epstein, but not quickly. With so many key players eligible for free agency and Manny being Manny, it'll be a challenge to put a contending team on the field next year. It was dumb to let him get away.

Yesterday on NPR's Morning Edition, Lynn Neary reported on an illustrated edition of Strunk and White's Elements of Style. The samples that I've seen on the NPR site are cute, but don't add to my appreciation of the elegant little original.

Happy 1st birthday, Cassandra.

Nice mask

We're gettting a nice stretch of Indian Summer with blue skies and mild breezes. On Saturday the eastern part of the state picked up as much as three inches of snow while we had none.

This will be a nice evening for trick-or-treaters. We don't get many. The neighborhood has just a few young kids. This year I only bought one (though large) bag of candy so we won't have a lot of leftovers. (We like 'em, but don't need 'em.)

I've long believed that the best way to deal with competitors is to send them new computers. Their productive will go into the tank and stay there for weeks as they get their new systems configured properly. Before my last trip to White Plains, I had to return one laptop that I'd borrowed and take another loaner with me on the trip. When I returned, my new laptop was ready. I'm still adding small programs and setting configurations. I expect that it will be Thanksgiving before I'm done.

I've added some new music to my weekly listening. WAMU, a public radio station in Washington, D.C., has a Sunday morning show called Stained Glass Bluegrass. The sound quality isn't great, sounding muddy like a cheap AM radio, but the music is fine.

Happy Birthday, Jane Pauley.

Test Day

Today is the last day of a week of network management training in White Plains. This afternoon, we'll have a two-hour test, 90 questions on the material we've covered. I've been reviewing my notes during breaks and am reasonably confident that I'll do ok.

Some folks in the class have spent most of their class times reading and writing email, surfing the web to plan their vacations, and shopping. They seem to know know their stuff, so who am I to judge?

The sky is clouding over and it looks like rain for the ride home. There was a frost last night in parts of north central Massachusetts, a late first frost this year. We still don't have much color in the trees, either. An odd season, this.

Happy 14th Birthday, Matt.

Snippets

One of the standard tests of culture is being able to listen to the William Tell Overture and not think of th Lone Ranger. The local classical station has been advertising a production of Rossini's The Barber of Seville. Naturally, my thoughts go to Bugs Bunny or Alfalfa from The Little Rascals.

The folks in the back room at the National Weather Service get to wax poetic every once in a while. Remarking on the diminished strength of Tropical Storm Vince, they wrote, "As the short happy life of Vince is now over...this will be the last advisory."

Now that the two-month lockout at the CBC has ended, we can keep up with the news about our northern brethren who are trying to gather the potato harvest in the rain.

There's been some good reaction in the tech press to IBM's announcement that it will donate a portion of the Rational Unified Process to the open source Eclipse Foundation.

Apple didn't release an 80GB iPod, as had been rumored, opting for a video iPod instead. Dunno. Maybe there's a market for it, but not with me.

Belief in God may be the result of evolution.

Treating depression in the workplace may make good business sense.

And the rains came

When I left the camp on Sunday, I did what they tell you not to do - drive on a road that's covered with water. A stream had overflowed, covering the road with a half foot of water. It's the first time that I've seen flooding on this stream. This flooding was mild compared to what hit southern New Hampshire, which, in turn, was a flicker compared to Guatemala. And, through it all, the ground stayed firm and steady, unlike Kashmir.

Fortunately, I brought in a supply of wood last week, so we have plenty of dry stuff for the stove. Wood prices are up about 30% this year. Last week I placed an order for green wood that will be dry by late spring if we need it.

It's been said that folks in Boston are not baseball fans; they're Red Sox fans. They're not football fans; they're Patriots fans. And so on. With the Yankees dispatched, I doubt that there will be much interest in the White Sox-Angels series. Maybe this is the year for the White Sox; they're certainly due.

I settled in and got some good work done yesterday, finishing off a tools assignment from my previous job and starting on plans for the upcoming release. The new project cycles between "This is manageable." to "The wheels are coming off and we have three more hills to climb." It's now on the manageable side of the cycle. It was raining mid-day, so Sandra and I walked indoors. Going to all sections of the building, we covered about a mile. Sandra and I sit two aisles apart.

Reports have it that Apple will announce new iPods this week, including a top-of-the-line 80GB beast.

I don't need to look for a job, but I've kept my automated searches running just to see what's out there. So, in my automated search for a technical documentation position, I received a lead on a position as Directory, Stewardship and Foundations for Focus on the Family.

In the late color

A low fog tumbles across the lake, the cold wind skimming over the (relatively) warmer water. You wouldn’t know that the water is warmer by standing it, however. I had some work to do on the boat and was in and out of the water for a half hour or so. Now I’m sitting next to the wood stove, warming and drying.

The rain has let up for a while now. During the night, the wind shifted to the northwest and bringing buckets of rain until early morning. Columbus Day weekend is usually the peak for foliage viewing, but not this year. The color is late and what color we have is dull.

Sandra and Marley are driving back from PEI and will be home this afternoon. It’s a long drive to make in a weekend. The connection to her parents and to the Island is important.

For many people, tomorrow is a holiday, Columbus Day in the States, Thanksgiving in Canada. We’re working, but many people will take the day off because the kids are out of school. Last week, when I was in White Plains, there were many kids around the office. Some schools in the New York area close during Rosh Hashanah.  

After I close up the camp this morning, I’ll go to my father’s house. He left his cane here when he came by here yesterday for coffee. A couple of weeks ago, he slipped while going up the cellar stair at his house. He bumped his shoulder in just the right way and chipped his collarbone. Generally, he’s been doing pretty well these past few months. This latest bump has meant that he hasn’t been able to get the mower deck off his tractor so he can work on the steering. It’s also nearing the time when he will have to get the Jeep ready for winter.

As I go into the third week of my new job, I am enjoying the people but am anxious about the amount of work. I’ve had difficulty concentrating while reading. I have a doctor’s appointment on Tuesday and will talk about it more then. I don’t know if the difficulties are the result of the meds or the condition that the meds are trying to treat. I’ll be in the local office all of this week and then back to White Plains for the next.

In a white room

A quick post from a hotel in White Plains, New York. I'm here for a couple of days of meetings with my new project team. The team is a mix of stand-at-home engineers, testers, and writers and a troupe of traveling consultants and sales people. It's a good group of people.

Downtown White Plains is a dense cluster of tar and concrete. The ride here, about three hours, isn't bad, although I can see how it could jam up quickly in bad weather. I'm glad to be going home this afternoon.

Happy Birthday, Lily. Good luck to Adam, Jennie, and Lily in their new adventure.

Five years

The past five years have given us two presidential elections, the September 11th attacks, the tsunami, Hurricaine Katrina, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. My mother would have found these events fascinating. It would have been heart-rending for her to watch us go to war, but she would have followed the details all the same. She would have been bouyed by the program of peace studies at her alma mater. "I'm planting winter wheat," she'd said of projects that might not be completed in her lifetime.

It's been five years since my mother died and we still miss her. Not only do we miss her good humor, generosity, and eclectic spirit, but we also miss the way that she help us understand the world in a different way. Each day held something interesting. Each person brought something new. Each idea connected her with someone important in her life. She lived as she died, surrounded by friends and family, in her room and in her heart.

Re-entry

It's not good that vacation's over, but it's good to be home. Well, the part where Marley got sprayed by a skunk last night wasn't so good. We got through it pretty well. A combination of tomato juice, and then soap and water, and then a concoction that we got from the vet's the last time he was sprayed (the time that he had the skunk in his mouth) gave us a dog that smells pretty much like a dog. My co-workers may notice a slight fragrance that isn't Old Spice, but that shouldn't last more than a few days. Marley was very tentative when he went out this morning and was glad to get back inside to lie in front of the stove.

We finished our time at the camp in fine style. Adam, Jennie, and Lily came for a visit. We toured the lake in the boat. Adam showed his chops as a water-skier and demonstrated his prowess at pie-baking (blueberry).

At home, we shuffled through the big box of mail that the post office had held for us, a couple of letters, many bills, a few magazines, a lot of catalogs. The world missed us.

So now there are tinges of orange in the maples and it's dark earlier each day. With the bright blue sky this morning, it's uneasily like that bright and cool morning four years ago when so much changed.

Angles of the sun

There are two small windows on the east side of the camp, on the same side as the fireplace. At this time of year, and again in early spring, the rising sun sends beams of light through the window and straight across the room to the kitchen counter on the opposite wall.

We need a fire in the stove every morning now. We have our breakfast at the table near the stove, rather than on the porch. We went for a swim yesterday afternoon and noticed the layer of cold water on the bottom. That cold water hadn’t been there even a few days ago.

Today we’ll go for a walk at local nature preserve, a nice path a couple of miles long up and then down a wooded hillside. Marley will have a good run. We’ll then have lunch at the Petersham General Store. This afternoon I’ll sharpen the chain saw so that we can continue to cut up the scrap wood that’s around.

Mike and Lynn brought their family here on Monday. We had a wonderful time with the boat and with each other’s company. The tube that we pull behind the boat can hold three people, so everyone in their family, except for Cassandra, had a chance to ride. Mike, Michael, and Matt each had their turns with water-skiing with minimal loss of blood. Adam, Jennie, and Lily will be here on Saturday.

I met with a new doctor on Tuesday and we sketched out a new plan to get me on track. I enjoyed the visit. The doctor is very pleasant and very smart.

When my new job starts in a couple of weeks, I don’t know how much time or energy I’ll have for this kind of writing. I’ve enjoyed this a lot, enjoyed the chance to sort out my thoughts and to stay in touch with family and friends.

Windows on the world

For the seven years that we’ve been taking our vacations at the camp, we’ve kept a list of our vacation activities. Some years are quiet and our list records canoeing, walks, and rest. Others have interrupted by external events, such as my mother’s health in 2000, a trip to take a friend to detox, or replacing a water pump. This year’s list includes an offer of a permanent job, an offer that I received on Monday and accepted yesterday. It’s a job with the company where I’ve worked as a contractor, although with a different group. I’ll start on September 26th, giving me a couple of weeks to wrap up my current assignments.

It’s exciting. I’m very grateful to the people who helped me get this job and who have supported me during the transition. I’m a fortunate guy.

And what else is on the vacation list? Well, we do have a new boat. There’s always work to do, wood to split and stack, brush that needs clearing, objects of various sizes and shapes that need painting. It’s not all work, though. Hardly. We get to visit some favorite restaurants and farm stands. We get to swim whenever we want. With Marley back with us again, walks through the woods are more lively.

Storms are around, spin-offs from what’s left of Katrina. There are fresh breezes that have knocked down a few branches. We’ll keep the windows open until the rains get heavy. We open more windows more while we’re at the camp. It’s a reminder that we’re in the woods, even if there’s a laptop and phone line in one corner of the room and a TV in the other corner, showing pictures of the devastation down south.

Autumn skies

Driving home in yesterday's sun and showers, I could see that the sky has taken its turn toward autumn. It is, recalling Emily Dickinson, that slant of light, and the cold air above that's a richer blue, even as the thunderclouds roil upwards. We'll get our share of hot days, to be sure, but they won't last. The shorter daylight hours can't sustain a heat wave. It's definitely fall on the way. You can see touches of red and orange on the swamp maples.

Sandra's driving to PEI today. She called from the border and reported a good trip so far. She'll visit with her parents and return with Marley on Monday. We'll spend the next two weeks at the camp. We have a day trip to Boston planned; we'll meet a long-time friend of Sandra's whose daughter is starting at BU. We also have one day planned in town for a doctor's appointment for me.

Work is going well. I made a presentation at my boss's staff meeting yesterday. For those who care about such things, I demonstrated how one can make a graphical representation of the topic layout in a FrameMaker document. I've been able to work full days this week for the time in quite a while.

Late yesterday I received a background clearance form from the recruiter who's been handling my latest job prospect. I'll take this as a sign of progress. I don't think that they'd be doing a background check if I hadn't passed the first couple of rounds of interviews.

The FDA is considering regulations regarding the use of leeches and maggots. Leeches, maggots, Washington bureaucrats: <Insert your own joke here.>

I bought my first $40 tankful of gas yesterday. When I was a teenager, the school lunch, a pack of cigarettes, and a gallon of gas were about the same price (close to 25¢). Kids would skip lunch and buy one or the other.

Outside the gas station, a guy had a guitar and small amp and was singing Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone, his voice as out of tune as his guitar.

What does this thing do?

So we now own a boat. It's a 17' Larson with a motor big enough for water skiing. We still have some paperwork to complete on the registration, followed by a trip to the Registry. (In order to obtain a registration, you're supposed to have a pencil tracing of the hull identification number. The ID number is etched faintly on an aluminum strip on the stern.)

We bought the boat in a private sale from a co-worker. He arranged for his dealer to clean and deliver the boat to us. Sandra waited at the camp all day on Friday while the dealer didn't deliver the boat (and didn't call to let us know) because the seller hadn't been paid the dealer for the cleaning. Finally, on Saturday morning, the dealer sent Homer and Jethro to deliver the boat. They got the truck stuck as they were pulling the empty trailer from the water. Jethro and I pushed the truck out, although Jethro was smoking a cigarette and doing mostly heavy leaning. After they left, we found something that looked suspiciously like a drain plug in one of the cup holders. In the meantime, we noticed that the bilge pump wasn't keeping up with the water coming in. We learned in phone call to the dealer that we needed to get the plug into place immediately or we'd ruin the motor and, that, yes, they took out the plug, but it wasn't their responsibility to put it back in. ("If you had purchased your boat from a reputable dealer, you wouldn't have had these problems." Anyone know of a reputable dealer?) We located the drain hole, put in the plug, and resumed pumping.

As the result of a labo(u)r dispute, the CBC has locked many of its workers. As a result, we have to turn to the BBC to learn about Canada's antics in the high arctic, sending two warships to assert its claim over an uninhabited island that's also claimed by Greenland (Denmark). The CBC web site in PEI hasn't provided news for several weeks. The locked-out employees are preparing plans for a strike web site. In the meantime, we can still rely on the Guardian ("Covers Prince Edward Island like the Dew") for our Island news. The first gay couple married on the Island last Friday.

After reading Pat Roberston's latest screed, that we should assassinate Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, I thought it important to find some sane resources on religion. The Theology Resources (via Lockergnome) site is one of the better ones that I've found, including lots of good reference material.

Last week we learned that the husband of a former co-worker is gravely ill. We use our spare moments to reflect on our gratitude for what we've received, knowing how quickly things can change.

To be treated by a nerd, you must think like a nerd

Yesterday The New York Times published an article how patients are treated in hospitals and other medical settings. When I met with my doctor yesterday afternoon, he said that the article had been forwarded to everyone in the clinic at least three times and was causing a lot of discussion among the staff. In brief, the article says that we're treated pretty much as meat with an insurance card.

Later in the day, I had another appointment with another doctor. I had to ask him three times to write down the name of a medication that we were considering so that I could do some research. Finally, when I provided an index card from the pack that I carry in my shirt pocket, he seemed pleased that he was dealing with a nerd like him and wrote both the brand and generic names of the medication.

The other day I mentioned that Joe and his friend, Seth, caught fish with buckets. They weren't just being resourceful. In the boathouse, we have some very old fishing poles, but no working tackle. The next time we go to Wal-Mart, we'll pick up a cheap rod, reel, line, and hook, nothing stylish like this. We might even get licenses. A friend used to promote fishing as a way to serenity, only occasionally interrupted by the actual catching of fish.

During the overnight, the BBC had a story about the 400th anniversary of the publication of Don Quixote. Earlier in the year Venezuela gave away thousands of free copies of the book to mark the event. One of the points that I learned in college, and which was discussed in this radio piece, was the pronunciation of the title. Most often, we pronounce it Don Ki-ho-ti. Even the Spanish speakers pronounced it this way. There is, however, some evidence that Cervantes pronounced Kwix-oat. We use the word quixotic, for example. Some citations even have it as Don Quijote. Y'see, if you give academicians something like this to fuss about, they'll leave you alone for quite a while.

You can now write blogs from Microsoft Word and post them to Blogger with a new Word plug-in. I'll stick to the web interface for now. Word is too slow and bloated for quick notes such as these, IMO. Also, I can't imagine that all of that Word-generated HTML can be healthy for Blogger's diet.

I have a second interview this morning. This one will be by telephone with the manager in White Plains. The challenge will be finding a place where I can talk freely. Conference rooms are hard to find on short notice. I may have to hide in plain sight and take the call on my cell phone while I'm in the cafeteria or outside at one of the picnic tables.

My current job is good and, if there was an opportunity to stay with it as a permanent employee, I would stay. I'm not chasing a lot of job leads at this point and so don't need a subterfuge like this to make it look like I'm doing real work.

The start of the season of wood

The air is cool this morning. Someone in the neighborhood has a wood fire going. Which reminds me that I need to order some wood for next year. The prices on seasoned wood are jumping up along with the prices for home heating oil. I'm hoping that the prices for green wood won't be climbing as much, but our wood guy is having to pay a lot more for fuel when he cuts and delivers. Mike delivered a half-truck load to the camp - oak and maple that will be good for sauna.

This installment of "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" comes from NPR's Talk of the Nation. Last week, they had a segment about great car chases. (Bullitt and Blues Brothers naturally were among the favorites.) Several minutes were devoted to playing clips from the movies. On the radio.

Elvis left the building on this date in 1977. As I mentioned on his birthday, my favorite material is the kind of backstage mix of rockabilly and gospel that formed the foundation of his music. When he was in that element, he was never better. So, if you see him pumping gas someplace, don't ask for Vegas show tunes. Ask for 'Brown-Eyed Handsome Man' or 'Peace in the Valley.' You'll get an earful that'll last a long time.

If cats want to travel, they get to stay in luxury. For dogs, it's the same old story: pack in, pack out.

Ye shall be fishers of fish

The party on Saturday was a fine one indeed. It was hot, so everyone stayed near or in the water as much as they could.

All of us like our toys, be it Xbox, iPod, power boats, or whatever, but it's good to be reminded that we can be delighted by nature as well. We have wild blueberries growing on our shore. During the party Sandra and I swam the shore with Tess and Krista and ate blueberries until we were blue in the teeth. Joe and his friend, Seth, stayed overnight on Saturday. The next morning, we had blueberry pancakes made with the wild blueberries. After breakfast, they went down to the water with the leftover hot dog and hamburger rolls to feed the fish. Using just a couple of buckets, they caught seven fish, kivvers and one small bass. The fishermen in the boat out in the cove, with their fancy lures and depth finders, laughed in disbelief.

Job leads seem to come in bunches. Over the weekend, a friend sent me a referral regarding prospects at a large computer company. In addition, my automated searches turned up a couple of interesting prospects, each at companies where I know at least one person.

The weekend mail brought news that a former manager, who moved to Seattle last year to work at Amazon, has retired. He's seeing the sights of the Northwest and enjoying the leisurely life.

The big European mobile phone company, Vodafone, is onto something with their new product called Vodafone Simply. They have designed a simpler interface for their mobile phones, using text instead of cryptic icons to indicate when a text message has arrived, when the battery is low, or if you have a good signal. Although they don't really say so in their promotional materials, they're targeting the older market. This service is not available in the U.S. yet. Vodafone owns about 45% of Verizon Wireless, so we might see something before too long.

If you have to check the spelling on this word, you're either not comfortable using it or you're way too comfortable.

Big thunderstorms rolled through the state yesterday afternoon and evening. We were spared the worst, but many towns lost trees and limbs and were flooded. This morning, cool fresh air is filling the house.

The skies are alive

Today's interview went well. The hiring manager said that I was an excellent candidate. She'll set up a second round of telephone interviews for next week. (The rest of the team is in White Plains, New York.) The project feels a lot like the Rational Suite team that I joined several years ago. For the first month or two, I would spend a couple of days each week in White Plains; the rest of the time, I'd have an office locally.

In the meantime, a few interesting problems landed on my desk - accessing the Windows registry from a script and helping a customer with a problem.

Tonight is the night for the Persied meteor showers. We will have hazy and cloudy skies so the viewing won't be good. One night about 20 years ago, Sandra and the boys met me at Logan Airport when I was returning from a business trip. We drove to Prince Edward Island through the night. In the dark skies of northern Maine, the sky was alive with meteors.

Mike's construction business has a web site.

The weather remains hot and will get hotter still over the weekend. A good time for a party at the camp tomorrow.

Happy Birthday, Joe. Happy Birthday, Marian.

Getting things done

Last night I received a call from a recruiter regarding a permanent job. The position is a senior individual contributor on a high-visibility project. (The CEO of the company follows the project closely.) I have an interview with the hiring manager tomorrow morning. I'll trust that the process will lead me to the right decision.

Today's automated search for a documentation position turned up this one:

Position: Software/Firmware Developer
Location: Gardner, MA (MUST BE OKAY WITH LOCATION TO APPLY!!!)

I was talking with a couple recently about some ways to help ensure that their teenagers were using the computer and Internet properly. One way was to have the computer in an open part of the house. The parents agreed that it was a good idea. Until they could move the computer, however, they found another approach. The father was keeping the keyboard and mouse in the back of his truck, at least until school starts.

It's been easy to get overwhelmed by my assignments lately. I've taken to writing things on index cards and adding a time estimate for each task. If it's less than five minutes, I'll try to complete it then and there. If it's less than 15 minutes, I'll prioritize it and put it in a queue. If it's more than 15 minutes of work, I'll try to break it into 15-minute chunks and schedule those. My desk has the look of a large ransom note, but the system seems to be working.

give(peace(chance(1)));

When I was traveling a lot, I would usually take the red-eye flight home from the west coast. I had a small MP3 player that held two hours of music. Most of the time, I listened to Buena Vista Social Club. Ibrahim Ferrer, who died last Saturday, was featured on the Buena Vista recording. What I know of Spanish wouldn't get me a shoe shine, but no matter. His smooth, rich tenor voice will always remind me of a ride home, half asleep in the darkness, in the sky.

Today's automated job search for a technical documentation position brought a listing for an Explosive Inspector. It reminds me of the bomb squad t-shirt that read, "If you see me running, try to keep up."

Here's some interesting summary findings about stress and how it affects the brain and other parts of the body.

Our Middle East policy, written as a UNIX shell script, reminds us, as always, to read the fine manual.

Chain saws and the Eucharist

On Saturday we went to the funeral of our co-worker's husband, mentioned here last Monday. The church was full. The evening before, winds from a severe thunderstorm had uprooted trees and broken branches throughout the area. So, while the mourners gathered for the funeral Mass on that warm summer morning, the rest of the town was cleaning up, cutting away the broken limbs and dragging brush to the roadside for the chippers. After the Mass, we went the airport to pick up Mike and Lynn.

M&L had a wonderful time, meeting people, seeing sights. We dropped them off at their house where they could exchange cuddles and kisses with their children and then we went off to the camp. We were tired from the week and it was barely dark when we went to bed.

There was an interesting, if somewhat flawed article in yesterday's BostonWorks about depression and work. It's flawed because some of the facts about depression aren't presented quite right. The article claims that 15% of clinically depressed people commited suicide; it's more likely that 15% attempt suicide. The author also mixes up anxiety attacks with depression; they are related, but separate illnesses. The article cites a book named Working in the Dark: Keeping Your Job While Dealing With Depression, which I have ordered.

Anyway, it's an interesting piece, made more so for me because I had a chat with my manager about my health last week. I needed to have that talk because my health was starting to have an affect, at least from my perspective, on my ability to do my work. He was very supportive and assured me that my performance was still what he was expecting of me. That was encouraging. When I look back at my time at my previous, I can see that I was starting to go into a skid during my last couple of years there. I made some bad decisions and dug myself into a few holes. Had I known and been able to talk about it, I might have saved my manager and myself some embarrassment.

In one more example of Google not being like the rest of us, think about what Google expects of its chef the next time you go to lunch at your place of employment. BTW, C|Net got into some trouble with Google for this story

I was working at a diner on August 8, 1974 when Richard Nixon announced his resignation. The restaurant, which would normally be fairly busy, was empty, except for the two waitresses, the dishwasher, and yours truly. We listened on the radio as this Shakespearean character stepped from the stage, an odd, misshapen, seemingly friendless man who could see poetry in the histrionics of Mao and Zhou.

That was the week that was ...

and what a week it was.

Sandra kept a careful journal that she'll share with Mike and Lynn when they return from their week-long trip to Ireland, but, in sum, we kept our promise. There were six kids at the start of the week at the beginning of the week and there are six kids at week's end. We spent five nights at their house and were wide-eyed with wonder as the household whipped around us. We got to know little Cassandra, what made her happy and what made her annoyed. Matt and Joe started football practice, Michael is in weight-training after work each day, and Krista and Tess stayed with friends for most of the week. All the while, the supply depot kept churning food and milk and clean clothes. At a minimum, Sandra estimated, there were two loads of laundry a day and we never had a full complement of kids in the house for a whole day. It was a blessing to be in the middle of a whirlwind of energy and love and fun and humor.

While Mike and Lynn were in Ireland, they hung out with Paul Hill, the story whose incarceration was told in the movie In the Name of the Father. M&L will have other stories to bring back as well, but we knew that they'd befriend all whom they'd meet.

In the "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" Department: a recent edition of the The Connection radio show had, as its featured guest, Marcel Marceau. In what I can only guess is an unrelated event, The Connection is going off the air today.

A tragedy wide and deep

Last night the husband of a co-worker and friend died of a heart attack. He was a young man. Please give someone you love a hug and think of a young woman who has lost her husband and girl who has lost her father and friends who have lost their friend.

2005 Irish Ploughshares in showrooms today

We don't get much good news these days, so we should celebrate when we can. The decision of the IRA to put its arms beyond use is a great one. It doesn't wipe clean the misery caused by the decades of terrorism nor does it ensure justice for people of Ulster, but it's a start. More than 3000 people have been killed in the name of Jesus. It was brave of the IRA to make a step toward peace.

There is some interesting research news out of Harvard Medical School, supporting earlier work that indicated that the prefrontal cortex is one of the areas of the brain most affected by depression. This may lead to treatments that are faster-acting and more specific for each patient.

Twenty or so years ago, the computers we used (VAX/VMS) had a program called Phone. With Phone, you could send a brief message to another who was logged in. Almost no one used it. It was intrusive when you were logged in and useless when you weren't. We preferred email. Roll the calendar ahead a couple of decades. We still prefer email, we of a certain age, at least that's what the polls tell us. Young people like instant messaging, which is basically Phone with baggy shorts, a hat on sideways, and a skateboard.

Dinner by candlelight

Sonoma is small, elegant restaurant tucked in a small, undistinguished strip mall just over the town line in Princeton, Mass. It's a fine place for a special dinner. Sandra and I went there last night to celebrate her birthday. We had just finished our starter courses when, outside, a thunderstorm was unloading noise and lightning and rain. We asked our server if they'd ever lost power while serving dinner. She said that it had happened once a long time ago, just after a number of meals had been served.

Sandra had the lamb and I had ahi tuna. Both came with colorful and tasty sides of mushrooms, root vegetables (beets, potatoes, carrots, turnip), and a flavorful risoto. We were glad that we had a few minutes to see our food because, in a short while, the power flickered once, came back, and then went out for good. (I don't remember the exact number, but a hardware engineer told me that if the power is out for more than about seven seconds, it's going to be out for a long time. It takes about seven seconds for a circuit breaker to reset itself. If the reset doesn't work, then a repair crew needs to fix it.) The staff brought extra candles to the tables and we ate in the dim light. Even the whispers of "What am I eating?" didn't diminish the romantic mood.

On a special day

The temperature just stepped over the 90° mark. The wicker rocking chairs on the front porch are, um, rocking in the strong breeze. Heavy thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon and evening, but the radar shows nothing right now. It's quiet here, just the low hum of the room air conditioner.

I'm working from home today. I have a number of tasks that can be done at home just as well as in the office. With vacations during this month, several of the regularly scheduled meetings have been called off. I finished one bit of tidying up and am now taking a break for lunch.

Yesterday I learned of a permanent job at the company where I'm working. The job is with a group in White Plains, but they seem to be amenable to having someone working from afar. I've started my resume through the channels. In the meantime, I guess I should keep working as though I have a permanent job. A co-worker asked me if I'd be interested if I'd like to participate in a project that will take place in October. I said that I would if my contract is extended. She said that my contract would probably last long enough for me to retire.

How grateful I am that I don't travel this world of work, of home, of family, or of life, alone. Happy Birthday, Sandra.

Alt-Tab, the boss is coming

Today, it's back to whatever passes for normal. I have a good bit of work work to address, along with some more personal business, so it's going to be a busy day. In the discussion of the report about goofing off at work, mentioned here a couple of weeks ago, a TV commentator noted the concept of the at-work personal day. Often, we're starting work earlier and staying later, such that we need time during the work day to get the stuff done that we can't get done at home - banking, web-based shopping, calls to the plumber, personal correspondence. I'm in the process of moving from one web hosting company to another and need a chunk of time to complete the task.

[The subject line refers to the trick of switching between programs, such as between your web browser and word processor, by pressing the Alt and Tab keys at the same time. That way, you can look like you're working when you've just been making your way through the American Girl web site for a birthday gift for your niece.]

Construction is underway for the new road at the camp. Many trees are down, bringing bright sunlight into the back of the camp. The contractor could very well have the work completed by the of this week. Adam and Lily spent the night at the camp on Saturday. Mike and Lynn will take the family to there for supper and swim this afternoon. It's good that the place is getting use.

My father's back is still bothering him from his fall last week. I went to his house to mow his lawn. He sat on the front steps and watched while I mowed. After a few minutes, he came over and pointed out a couple of things that I wasn't doing quite right. He went back to his observation post for a while longer and then, either satisfied or resigned, went inside.

Today's automated search for technical documentation jobs turned up listings for Gap Store Director, VP of Edication (their typo, not mine), Catering Manager, and Java Jedi.

Congratulations and a dose of virtual Vitamin I to friend Tania for completing the 2005 Ford Ironman USA in Lake Placid yesterday.

Home again

The guy at the sub shop was good-natured when I tried to pay for my order with a Canadian $20. I mumbled tiredly that we were just getting back from Canada and that my money was mixed up in my wallet. The guy was good-natured and said nice things about his trips to Canada, but still stood there waiting for American money.

The vist to the Island was brief, but delightful. Sandra's parents are wonderfully warm and generous. We talked about family and friends and the tragedies abroad.

Sandra's parents rose to prepare us breakfast and see us off. Our trip back started before dawn, with fog stretching across the farm fields. We saw shots of lightning across the Island, drove through heavy rain and some strong wind on the bridge, and reached sunshine just outside of Moncton mid-morning. It was sunny and fresh the rest of the way. There's a wildlife preserve near Calais, Maine, where we saw baby eagles sitting in their nests, getting ready for their first flights.

Gasoline prices huddle around the C$1.00/litre, about US$3.00/gallon. Prices are bit lower on PEI because the prices are changed just once a month and so lag behind the general market.

As if we needed more reminders that the flatlanders rule U.S. 1 in Maine, we saw an old farm house converted into a bakery and espresso bar.

On the way home we paid a long-overdue visit to our dear friends, Pete and Mildred, in Maine. In our honor, Pete had arranged the delivery of a new lime and fertilizer composite which he had dumped on the hay field on the approach to their old farm house.

We listened to the rest of 1776 and discussed the improbability that the Americans would have won Revolutionary War. The year 1776 hadn't gone very well at all, with the loss of New York and large numbers of people signing oaths to the King. As with other recent histories of those times, the founders of this nation were keenly aware that what they were doing and saying was shaping the future. They were establishing something bigger than even they could imagine. Sandra and I listened to this history as we drove through the places where many loyalists had landed in southwestern New Brunswick.

One afternoon, while Sandra and Marian went visiting, I walked around downtown Montague. This town of a few thousand people improbably supports two large supermarkets, a car dealership, several other large, and many other small businesses. At the center of it all, of course, is the Tim Horton's shop on Main Street. I learned there that another building on Main Street was sold for $300,000 and that the local MLA had arranged for a new federal building to be built on that site. "The old boy network pays off again," remarked one of the patron.

To bring it to a decent size, the local phone book for the east end of PEI includes a reverse listing (by phone number) as well as the traditional listing by name.

Marley, who's looking fit and trim and is having a great summer, gave us quite a scare. After supper one night, he and I went for a walk to the shore. I'll skip the full details, but he became suddenly and severely sick accented with convulsions. After a few minutes, he crawled underneath a thick spruce hedge where he stayed, with labored breathing. We thought we were going to lose him. I was able to drag him from the hedge. As we prepared to get him to vet's, he rallied, stirring a bit and eventually gettting to his feet. He was quiet for the rest of the evening and into the next day, but was otherwise alright, eating his breakfast when the time came. Our best guess, based only on the fact that it makes a better story, is that he ate one of the small jellyfish that drift along near the shore.

We leave at first light

The car is packed, save for the Thermos bottles of coffee and our toothbrushes. We'll leave at 4:30. When Woody was a boy, the trip to PEI would take three days. Now, anything over 12 hours for the 650 mile trek is regarded as dawdling.

We have one recorded book, David McCullough's 1776, and my iPod for some music. The sandwiches are packed (pb&j). We have apple and raisins for snacks and water. We plan to stop no more than three times - the first rest area on the Maine Turnpike, at the Border to fill up on American petrol, and in Sussex NB.

Did you know that USB key chain drives can withstand a washer cycle?

RoasterBoy in the wilderness

This is the first RoasterBoy post from the camp. The telephone installer completed his work a few minutes ago and left behind a copper wire that connects us to the great net.

Progress sometimes comes unexpectedly on the shoulders of a somewhat unrelated event. For example, the 19th-century road graders ledt to smooth roads and allowed for reliable mail service that led to mail-order services such as Sears and Roebucks. This camp received its electrical service as a reseulf to the New Deal's Rural Electrification project. Those poles made it affordable for us to install a telephone. Our thanks to FDR, then, for this connection.

It's warm and sticky and there's barely a breeze. I might have time for a quick swim before leave to I check in my father and then go back home. He seems to be doing ok. I'll change the bandages on his arm. He's to go to doctor's office to have them changed on Thursday.

Postings will be infrequent, if at all, for the next few days. We're going to PEI to visit with Woody and Marian and Marley. We hope to see our friends, Pete and Mildred, on the way home. I may be online for a bit while I do some work on MRM's computer.

And that's why we call them patients

It was a step he'd made many thousands of times, from the boathouse to the ground. This time, though, with the ground softened by so much rain, he didn't slip so much as he lost his balance. He fell backwards, between the boathouse and the little stone wall at the back of the flowerbed. Naturally, I was most concerned when my father hit his head, but that turned out to be a lesser bruise. He said his arm was uncomfortable. He'd hit that against the stones, too.

We went up to the camp and cut away the sleeve of his sweatshirt to reveal an arm that looked like it had met up with a dull and determined potato peeler. He agreed that a doctor should see it. He wanted, however, to have coffee first. And we did. So, 20 minutes later, we drove to one of the community hospitals in the area.

(The insurance companies have us pretty well trained. We don't ask ourselves, "What's the nearest hospital?" We ask, "What's the nearest hospital that's a member of my insurance plan?")

The medical staff was pleasant, professional, never giving the impression that they were terribly understaffed. The waiting room was full to overflowing during the time that we were there. There was only one doctor in the ER. The triage nurse examined my father as soon as we arrived and put some bandages on the wounds. It would two hours before we would get inside the ER. Then, treatment was thorough, but slow, another three hours. He received a tetanus shot which lasts for another 5-10 years. It wouldn't surprise me if he got another one then.

So, he's home now with no further treatment other that change the dressings daily and respect the law of gravity. I'll check in with him by phone today and in person tomorrow.

I'm glad that we went, but if we knew that it was going to take five hours, we probably wouldn't have gone.

"Hello, World" redux

One of the women with whom I work is retiring next week. She and her husband have built a retirement home in New Hampshire. She's the second person to leave the group, both voluntarily, in the time that I've been there. The other person transferred to another group with an office closer to her home. I picked up one of the retiree's assignments, that of managing the software upgrades for the servers that we use for our testing. She's very energetic and out-going. So, retiring she is and retiring she isn't.

Through a professional society, I am able to obtain a discount on long-term disability insurance. The cost is surprisingly modest for the quality of coverage.

If you're using the Firefox browser, there's a nifty new extension that lets you send a text message to any cell phone directly from the browser. Give it a try if you're using Firefox and you have my cell phone number. BTW, Firefox 1.0.5 is available. This is a bug-fix release. Version 1.1 is nearing beta.

I'm in the process of moving my QueenLake domains (.com, .net, and .org) to a new hosting company. There are many safeguards that are designed to prevent domain hijacking. They also make it difficult for a legitimate owner to make a change. If the next step goes well, I should be on my new server by early next week. I don't expect that there will be any changes visible to the readers of these notes.

Not long ago, a former co-worker had hear bypass surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital. One of his biggest complaints was that the hospital didn't have Internet access for the patients. Which is interesting, because Children's Hospital, across town, is among the 100 most wired hospitals in the country. For more reasons that one, sometimes it doesn't pay to grow up.

As I've mentioned before, because I am not a programmer by trade, I am easily confused when I move between programming languages . 'Hello, World' is usually the first, small program that a person would write when learning a new language. This page shows how various languages would handle this simple task.

Huck's stories - the well

From time to time, I'll record some of Huck's stories. My father is one of the best story-tellers around. His stories are good and he tells them well.

The camp sits on top of a small hill that's mostly ledge. In order to dig a well, my father and his friends had to use dynamite, much more easily obtained in the 1940s. There were several guys hanging around helping with the construction of the camp after WW II, members of the 52-20 club. The government was paying returning veterans $20 for 52 weeks. They dug as far as they could by hand and then drilled holes in the side of the well wall. They packed the holes with dynamite and attached blasting caps and wires. They put old cotton mattresses on top of the hole and laid heavy chains on top of the mattresses to hold the broken rock in after the explosion. Using a car battery, they set off the charge. Seconds later, the trees were filled with cotton stuffing.

My father went into the well with a sledgehammer to continue breaking up the rubble. After hammering for a while, he discovered (insert sound of blood draining from face) that one of the sticks of dynamite hadn't exploded. It was still in the well wall, blasting cap intact.

Thereafter, when they had to blast, they would only put one stick of dynamite in at a time so that they knew if it had exploded or not.

Stop reading this and get back to work

Some of the systems at work don't have solitaire installed at all or, if they do, it's installed in an obscure place. How do I know this, you ask? A study on salary.com reports that people goof off at work, that they goof off more than management and HR think that they goof off. I'm pretty respectful about separating work and personal business, taking and making personal phone calls on my cell phone, for example. I do read and write some personal email during the day and follow some news web sites. No, my time-wasting doesn't come from solitaire or www.nationalenquirer.com. My time-wasting results from spending a half day to write a script that automates a 10-minute, one-time task.

I watched the first few innings of the All-Star game last night. Manny didn't have a good night, but Johnny and David showed why baseball is fun in Boston.

Only Fox would have a new series called "The War at Home" start on September 11th.

My sleep has been particularly bad for the past couple of weeks, waking at 2 or 3, and sometimes earlier. I'm keeping a journal to record what changes in medication, diet, exercise, or stress affect my sleep or mood. So far I've been doing better than I should. I have a couple of project tasks due by the end of the day today, so I'll see how I do under a bit of pressure.

We gave this chain-saw sculpture, made by friend John K., to my father for his birthday several years ago. We keep the cat at the camp. The mice, as we've seen, are not intimidated at all.

Working for wages for a year

Today marks a year in my current contract job. It's been the right job for me at this time. The work can be very interesting and the people are nice. For those who care about such things, yesterday I prepared a set of use cases in UML for a project meeting. That was something I'd learned in my previous job, but hadn't applied much. Here it's something new and exotic. I am, however, quite detached from most the politics and strategy of the business. I've done that and done that pretty well in previous jobs, but that's not what's needed now. Although my job title is technical writer, my work is mostly that of an engineer or technical analyst.

In the past year, I've come to think differently about work. At IBM, I thought quite a bit about career paths. At companies before that, companies that were growing, I was excited at the prospect of building something. Now, largely because my contract limits me to 40 hours per week, I just want to make sure that I'm giving good value for what I'm receiving. Long-range thinking is setting a project deadline for some time in a month or more.

Language grows, evolves, sheds dead skin. What was once radical is now sweet. But never underestimate the power of the business world to hijack language and make it do a nasty dance. This site, weaselwords, has one of my favorites: capacity release, meaning, get rid of people.

This would be a great name for a rock band, Deathwish Piano Movers, if they weren't already a company that, um, moves pianos. They've been in business for a long time and I've long liked their name.

Holden's population is a bit more than 15,000, a town large enough to have its share of drama. From a recent police log:

• Caller received copy of Telegram and Gazette in his drive without his permission; advised to call news paper to stop complimentary copies; caller says he will seek criminal complaint against paper.
• Female came into station with snake she found; assisted and discarded snake for her.
  
• Port-a-potty stolen from Eagle Lake.

Coffee for Buddha

Sandra occasionally has her nails done at a salon nearby. The salon is run by a Vietnamese woman with other Vietnamese women in her employ. They always greet Sandra warmly and are especially reverent to Sandra's mother. Each morning the owner brings a cup of coffee and places it before the status of Buddha that sits on a small shrine in the shop. Buddha likes coffee with milk.

And when we don't go to Buddha, we go to Google. You can use Google as a quick currency converter. For example, recently, we learned that a Canadian prescription cost about $C74. That translates to about $USD56 or so. More here on how to use it.

The first time you try it, you and your partner are apt to be clumsy, uncoordinated, and unexpectedly wet. Doubles kayaking isn't for everyone. We rented a twin kayak over the weekend and learned that, for a variety of reasons, that's not what we want.

My father may have a buyer for his sail boat. He was sad. As he was looking it over to prepare for the potential buyer, he inspected each of the pulleys, stays, and spreaders. He knew he could have spent all day tinkering with it, but finally just had to walk away. Even if Sandra and I agreed to take the boat and readied it for the water, it wouldn't change the fact that his sailing days are drawing to a close.

We attended the annual lake association meeting on Saturday morning. Sandra is assistant treasurer and I'm on the board of directors. Her job requires much more work than mine. Most of the discussion revolved around inappropriate and, in some cases, illegal, boating practices on the lake. (The ne'er-do-wells, of course, don't attend the meetings or don't speak in their defense.) The beavers keep plugging the dam. The police chief said a couple of times that, "the complexion of the town is changing."

There are lots of reasons that bring people to vegetarianism - religion, politics, health, preference, the after-effects of a trip to a meat or poultry processing facility, or any or all. Well, for those who don't eat meat because of the way that the meat industry treats its animals, here's something to thing about - lab-grown meat.

We have friends who don't particularly enjoy dairy products. They have their morning cereal with orange juice. I may try it, but will do so with a skeptic's palate.

Other than Karl who took over Mike's landscaping business, I can sometimes go for years without bumping into another Karl with a K. Here's the science: the relative popularity of baby names over the last 120 years.

Last week I mentioned that Google had invested in a company that was planning to deliver high-speed Internet access over power lines. News reports this morning indicate that IBM is moving into this area as well. In the meantime, we now have a POTS (plain old telephone service) line to the outside wall of the camp. We might be connected this week. Or not.

What rough beast, indeed.

The Underground withstood the German onslaught, the tunnels deep and sheltered from the bombs. It mattered not that the escalators were made of wood and were a hazard for fire. The Underground helped Londoners win a war by wearing out their adversary. A new adversary, this time, turned the depth and strength of the Underground against the people, leaving no place for the destructive explosion to go but through the railroad cars.

I wasn't able to recite all of the lines from The Second Coming by Yeats, from which the title comes. So, I did a Google search for Slouching toward Bethlehem Yeats. The Google ads on the right side of the page showed several links for treatment of bad posture.

To quote Dave Barry, regarding 7/7, it's best that I leave the reporting to the real journalists. It's probably best for this blog to go back to doing what it does best. Whatever that is.
--
ZDNet is reporting that Google, among other companies, is investing in a company that delivers broadband of Internet access over power lines. I like this concept a lot because, unlike cable and like wireless, it offers the prospect of ubiquitous, networked computing.

Recently, we learned that a one-month supply of a commonly prescribed medicine that costs $C70 in Canada and, with an American HMO, $US15. Uninsured price in both places is about $US160.

In the meantime, a Canadian government panel is recommending that the Canadian government consider restrictions on the distributions of ibuprofen. Basically, they'd like to make sure that doctors and patients discuss the risks related to heart attacks before embarking on a Vitamin I regimen.

They say that it's Psalms 33:12. I say it's Exodus 3:5.

Wired and wireless

I hadn't been in the Starbuck's in Worcester for several months. They've added electrical outlets. People who were using the wireless Internet access often had to share a single outlet to recharge their laptops.

On this date in 1896, the U.S. annexed Hawaii. Kona coffee, the only coffee grown in this country, is among the best in the world. It has the sweet acidity of the east African coffees (Kenyan, Moka). Adam and Jennie brought some Kona for us. It's often the case that the Kona available on the mainland isn't pure Kona, but Kona-style Kona-blend. The real stuff is expensive and rare. Thanks to A & J.

I am certainlyl not familiar with the many state and federal judges who would be qualified for the Supreme Court. One person came to mind as an interesting prospect - Senator Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. He is quite conservative; there's no doubt about that. But, he's a guy you can talk to. He and Ted Kennedy are buddies. Hatch is sharp and he understands the role of technology in society.

President Nixon nominated Harold Carswell to the Supreme Court. Carswell was a man of, ahem, modest intellect and abilities. Senator Roman Hruska, R-Nebraska, rose to Carswell's defense, declaring that, even if Carswell was mediocre, there were plenty of mediocre people in this country who needed representation.

In addition to these notes, I'm going to resume a journal to record my sleep patterns and what medications, vitamins, exercise, diet, and other goings-on. My sleep has been very irregular. My mood has generally been better during the last couple of weeks.

[The Blogger spellchecker offers 'strabismus' as an alternative to Starbuck's.]

If you hear bongos behind you, it's too late.

During the night, when there is no moon, the sound of bongo drums echo across Queen Lake. Years ago, the southeast side of the lake was a summer camp for girls from New York. There was a very mean sailing instructor named Herbert. Herbert would steal the kids' lunches, make them sail even when there were thunderstorms on the lake, and censor their letters when they wrote home to complain. Herbert was so mean that he smoked, even in his bunk, because everyone was afraid to tell him that he couldn't.

One weekend, the kids had collected fireworks for a Fourth of July celebration. Herbert found out about it and confiscated all the goods. "There will be no parties around here," he barked. He put all of the fireworks in his footlocker. The rest of the camp on the lake were shooting off their fireworks, but it was quiet at the camp as darkness settled in.

Herbert had one last cigarette, as he usually did, while lying on his bunk. This night, though, he fell asleep and the bed caught fire and then the foot locker. The fireworks exploded. Herbert was on fire. Screaming, he ran to the lake, his skin falling away. As soon as he hit the water, he met up with a great snapping turtle. He pushed the turtle out of its shell and made the shell his new skin.

Thereafter, he lived in the lake and, from time to time, would seek his revenge by capturing a camper and dragging the poor soul back into the dark waters. He would signal that he had caught his prey by reaching back and pounding on his shell, as though he was tapping on bongos.
Some years later, the camp closed and the property divided up for house lots. Still Herbert, now known among the lake residents as Bongo Boy, is restless. Over the weekend, we heard the sound of bongos at a camp across the cove.

Mike is taking Tess and Krista to the camp this evening, along with some friends. I wonder who will get the top bunk.

With apologies to Ira Glass, the Tappett Brothers, and campers everywhere

---

President Jacques Chirac was reported to have commented: "We can't trust people who have such bad food. After Finland, it's the country with the worst food". And the Finns, gnawing on a piece of reindeer jerky, are wondering why they're being dragged into an international row.

Our lake association meeting is scheduled for Saturday morning at 9AM. Sandra noticed in yesterday's paper that a funeral is scheduled in the church for 10AM. I suspect that we're in for a quick meeting. The biggest issue of past years, a pit bull at one of the camps on the lake, is no longer a problem. The dog is gone. The dog's owners continue to rent the camp. A couple of weeks ago, when we were on the canoe ride with Lily, we saw one of the residents having beer for breakfast while preparing for a day of fishing.

The new Coke Zero tastes like they collected the spray from a skunk that drank a bunch of Moxie.

A local NPR station, WBUR, often uses a Rolling Stones tunes, 2120 South Michigan Avenue, as its exit theme on its Morning Edition show. The address is the home of the old Chess studio in Chicago. We visited the place, which is privately owned now, on a trip to Chicago in the 1980s. The tune was also used as an outtro on WBCN by morning guy Mississippi Harold Wilson, aka Mississippi Fats. He's no longer in radio, instead running a restaurant in Roxbury, the primarily African-American part of Boston.

Palms of victory

The centerpiece of a truly delightful weekend was our trip to Tanglewood in the Berkshires to see a live performance of Prairie Home Companion. We saw nearly all of it. (More on that in a moment.)

The Shed at Tanglewood, open on three sides, can seat more than 5,000. An equal number can sit on the lawn and listen to the show on a fine sound system. We had tickets for seats in the shed.

Moving 10,000 people in an out of a town is a considerable task. The Lenox police, assisted by the Berkshire County sheriff's Department, did a spectacularly bad job managing the traffic flow to the Tanglewood site. Granted, the route to Tanglewood takes you along some narrow roads and through the village of Lenox, but the volume of traffic is well known. They've been hosting such events, several times a week, for 65 years. The ride from the camp to the Lee exit on the Pike took just about two and a half hours, including a stop at Whole Foods in Hadley to pick up our dinner. It took us a bit more than an hour to complete the remaining seven miles, from Lee to Tanglewood. We had our tasty dinner of Thai slaw, French bread, potato salad, and coconut chicken in the car. I thought that three-and-a-half hours would be plenty of time to get us there. I was mistaken. We arrived about 10 minutes late, but, fortunately, had aisle seats.

Garrison had recently relearned a brief hymn from an aunt. He taught the hymn to us and which we reprised throughout the show:

Palms of victory
Crowns of glory
Palms of victory
We shall wear [emended @ 10:20AM]

He taught it in four parts. Peter Schickle led the bases and I found myself singing along. It fit nicely in my three-quarter octave range. I also sang the National Anthem, but spared everyone my attempts at the high notes.

The song, Palms of Victory, is a old tune. Bob Dylan used something similar in an outtake on the Times They Are A-Changin' album, Paths of Victory.

Why do right-handed people finger stringed instruments with their left hands?

There's a running joke in the MacGregor family. When Woody would go to a Red Sox game, he'd invariably leave at the 7th inning stretch and listen to the rest of the game on the radio on the way home. Often, they'd miss some dramatic comebacks. People were leaving right after the News from Lake Wobegon to get a jump on traffic. We hung around the grounds and heard a full half hour of encore music. One of my favorite performers, a regular on the show, is Prudence Johnson. She has such a clear, sweet voice. She doesn't record much, but brings a wealth of musical experience and expression to the show. She was featured during the encores. I bought a couple of Gillian Welch CDs in the gift shop.

We've attended three PHC shows and this was, IMO, the best. The music was first rate, the writing crisp. And, he read our card. I brought greetings for Huck from three of us and handed the card to Garrison at the stage.

So Prairie Home Companion has become the Lawrence Welk show for the Boomers. There were some people under 40 there, on their own, but not many. We sat next to a teenager, attending the show with her parents. She exuded the excruciating boredom that only teenagers can produce. Her parents tried to buy her things, but she would have preferred an evening at the orthodontist office. Our parents watch reruns of Lawrence Welk every chance they get. It wouldn't surprise me that standard issue for nursing homes in 2015 will be a can of Ensure, a pair of no-slip slippers, and a Garrison Keillor musical implant.

Getting out of town wasn't much better. The folks at the Department of Homeland Security should study the behavior of exiting crowds if we can ever hope to have orderly evacuations in the case of disasters of any magnitude. We had to walk along the side of the road to get to our parking area in the field. A woman honked at Sandra so that she could hurry along and wait in the line ahead.

We saw fireworks in various towns on the ride home, including private fireworks on the Connecticut River.

But we got back to the camp safely. The sky was clear, the lake was calm, and you could see the constellations reflected on the smooth water. A couple of years ago, Sandra and I took a course on astronomy, learning enough to pick out some basic features of the northern sky. We're pretty small, but we're where we belong.

The weekend weather was as perfect as you could get, warm when it was supposed to be, cool where it was supposed to be. We did experience a bit of news withdrawal. The world we'd left behind had a Supreme Court justice resignation, continued war in Iraq, the Live 8 concerts, G-8 meetings, continued famines and strife in Africa, and the missing-white-girl-of-the-week story. Naturally, then, channel 5, the best of the lot in Boston TV, had a story about a horse that was frightened by fireworks and ran away. But it came back.

That night, Sunday, we heard the eerie sounds of Bongo Boy out on the lake. More about him in another note.

Sandra will drive Phyllis to the airport shuttle station in Framingham and we will all make our way to our respective places this morning.

Good luck on your new job, Jennie.

O little town of Hackensack, How still we hear thee snore;

The picture on the right is an overhead view of our cove. The pushpin denotes the roof of the camp. By comparison, the site that looks like a runway is our neighbor's year-round home. The neighbors don't understand why my father didn't like what they did to the property.

Below is the perspective that a hawk would have on our house and yard as it's approaching from the south.

All images are courtesy of Google Earth. With the Google Earth software, I can tilt, zoom, and circle around. The images are based on an amazing array of GIS, satellite, and aerial data covering the U.S.

We had a large meeting at work yesterday regarding a reorganization. The major impact was felt by some managers who have new bosses as of today. The individual contributors are largely unaffected for now. I did talk with one manager who is in the process of forming a software tools group. He's still resolving issues regarding his budgets. He knows that I'm interested in such a job and that I'd likely be good at it.

This morning's automated search for a technical documentation position provides a lead on a Principle Internal Auditor. "And how are your principles doing this morning, Dilbert?"

Moving my work computer so that it faces the opening in my cube at work has had the desired effect. Not only are people not sneaking up on me, but people are stopping by to talk. If I really need to concentrate on something, I can take my laptop and work in a conference room or in the cafeteria. Most of the time, though, it's more important that I talk with people.

Every hour or so I get up and walk around the building. It's about a 1/5th of a mile. I walk clockwise. My friend Brownie used to like to have discussions proceed around a table clockwise. He said that, because that's the direction that high pressure systems circulate in the Northern Hemisphere, it brings fair weather to the meeting.

Sandra's at the camp with her cousin Phyllis. I'll go there this evening. It should be a quiet day at work and we may even be sent home early. Traffic was heavy yesterday afternoon, with people getting an early start on the early start.

Speaking of which, in a GMAC study of driver knowledge, or lack thereof, we're #2!

On Saturday evening we'll see the Prairie Home Companionshow at Tanglewood. Gillian Welch, one of my favorite singers, is performing, along with the usual cast. An added treat is the appearance of Professor Peter Schickele. We can only hope that he will pull another rancid gym sock from laundry bag that is the repertoire of one P.D.Q. Bach. (The title of today's entry is from P.D.Q.'s Christmas carol O Little Town of Hackensack.) We have seats in the shed.

Sunday night we'll watch the fireworks on the lake. The weather promises to be good. We will probably watch from Elden's lawn where there's a better view of the whole lake.

Happy Canada Day.