This year's birthday post

On Thursday I said a stupid thing at work and I continue to hear those words in my head--as my brother Muleskinner said during our phone call on Friday (He always calls Johnny-on-the-spot for my birthdays.) that words always hurt more than sticks and stones . . . and they bounce around in your memory for a lot longer. I apologized for my stupidity and I hope it'll be okay.

The kids did very well during Lynda's absence. They try harder (I think) to be good listeners and they play more willingly with each other when L goes on a business trip. It like they know to cut the home-bound parent a little slack when he's a man down. (That also means that they don't feel the need to be so conscientious when we're both here, I guess.) The fact remains that they are, without a doubt, excellent kids.

I took my birthday off from work (something I have not done in past years). I planned to have fun and relax, but my plans were changed for me when the van began showing symptoms of brake problems--ABS dash light kept coming on and a slight shuddering resistance one time when I depressed the brake. So, I "took advantage" of my day off and promptly threw it away by spending the hours between 9 and 1 sitting in the service center's lobby. I listened to podcasts (four of them, totaling 2.5 hours) and read two issues of Newsweek. But I was still staring at four walls in a small waiting area for the entire morning. Finally the mechanic said the brake pads and rotors were in good shape and didn't require changing for another 6 to 8 months and that the dash light is too intermittent to indicate a specific problem. The computer for the van indicated that it was a left rear wheel speed sensor (????) that was acting up and that I should let the issue turn into a "hard fail" permanent dashboard light warning before fixing. So, I only had to pay $33--along with the additional expense of my entire morning.

I resurrect the rest of my day off, I decided to get lunch at a new chicken restaurant close to the office that I hoped would bring back memories of my favorite college-era chicken restaurant. (The verdict? A pretty close match.) However, I discovered that because this was the opening week of the restaurant, a free food promotion was going on that day. It was, of course, monetarily good for me but the crowd in the parking lot made it less smooth than I was hoping for. Is it a sign of the economic times that people were lined up so far for free chicken or just an indicator that people love new fast food novelty and friend chicken? (Given the enormous lines at Chipotle before the 2nd Great Depression began, I'm choosing the second option. But keep on "committing to be fit Columbus!"

I got my free chicken and went home to watch "Good Night and Good Luck." It was a good movie, but now I feel like a putz for watching TV for enjoyable pablum all these years of my life rather than letting it educate and en-noble me. Thanks, George Clooney and ghost of Edward R. Murrow! 

Post Debate breakdown

My fellow Americans, earlier today I took on the challenge of using Twitter to continuously post my reactions to the final debate between John McCain and Barack Obama.

I am proud to say that I successfully completed this task . . . despite the misstatements from my blogging opponent and his HTML cronies. I KNOW what it is like to blog for an hour and a half. My opponent is not ready to type like I am. My opponent wants to take away your right to blog. My opponent's position on blogging is a threat to the fundamentals of democracy itself.

I can proudly report the following facts . . . and the facts are these  . . . and they cannot be in dispute:

Senator McCain only called himself a maverick ONCE. I call that an October Surprise.

Senator McCain only used the phrase "my friends" once, but it was of course, bestowed on the suddenly ubiquitous Joe the Plumber. 

William Ayers featured prominently for about ten minutes in the debate. But reports are clarifying the accusation by McCain that Obama "launched his campaign" in Ayers' living room. It was, in fact, launched from a Ramada Inn. Perhaps Ayers was living in the Ramada at the time? (kidding . . . REALLY!)

McCain only used the word cronies once I think and he didn't tie said cronies directly to Obama.

Obama "uh'ed" and said "look" countless times. I didn't keep a definitive count, but did specifically mark 40 separate instances.

Obama came out strong and mentioned the middle class tax cut twice, but it was early on and later topics veered away from that.

Obama said something about McCain being honorable and in agreement with him on two instances.

I only heard the word fundamental used once.

There you go. I think McCain was strongest in this debate than in the previous two. Will it shift the polls? What ARE the polls? What's Wall Street going to say? What's Main Street going to say?

Tonight's presidential debate coverage--UPDATE

UPDATE: I am getting ready to begin the Twittering for the debate, which is only eighteen minutes away. If you don't know, Twitter only allows 140 characters per entry, so don't expect deep reflections on statements, but visceral reactions and quickly tossed off reactions. (Given that, I wonder why I can't get paid by MSNBC or CNN for their post-debate coverage.

So, you'll get lots of quick reactions. Add it all up and see if anything matters in the end. 

The biggest problem with doing this is that I can't go to the bathroom . . . and I have to sit through the whole thing.

sigh

But I do it for you.

********

As I teased a few days ago, I am planning to "live blog" tonight's final presidential debate via my Twitter page.

So, if you are watching tonight and you get tired of listening to Bob Schieffer complain that the candidates are not following the rule structures designed by their campaign staffs, then flip on over to my page to get bored with me instead.

Things I might track:

1. number of times McCain says "my friends"
2. number of references to William Ayers or terrorists
3. number of times McCain calls himself a maverick
4. number of times Obama's "cronies" are mentioned. (Seriously, the guys been in Congress about five years . . . how many cronies can he have yet?)
5. number of times Obama says "look" or "uh"
6. number of times Obama says "middle class tax cut"
7. number of times Obama says that "McCain is an honorable man, but . . ."
8. number of times either candidate uses the word fundamental

I'll take any/all other suggestions.

Tune in tonight @ 9 pm and watch the civic hilarity ensue!

WWY Work Together?!

No, this isn't the announcement of a new blog that I have created.

Rather, this is to let my five faithful readers know that tonight (Mon. 10/13 @ 10 pm) I'll be doing my best to unite my disparate digital presences to do something entirely pointless.

That pointless thing will be using my Twitter page to "live blog" reactions to the NBC premiere of "My Own Worst Enemy." Maybe you don't care about this, but it will serve as a test case for more useful Live Blog topics in the future--such as the final presidential debate between McCain and Obama later this week, the Academy Awards later on, the Super Bowl, the Season 5 LOST premiere in January . . . you get the picture.

So, check out my Twitter page here tonight at 10 pm and join in with the fun. (Hopefully I won't totally stink at this.)

A long awaited post in which I attempt to make up for weeks of neglect by dumping idea after idea down and wondering if any sort of theme emerges.

So . . . how is everyone?

I've been okay. 

My workload has increased more in recent weeks just as I suspected that it might. As the main part of my current project proceeds nearer to its conclusion, the secondary and tertiary phases are beginning. While this is normal and causes a certain amount of overlapping, this year's project--dependant as it is upon Election Results--end-loads the heavy lifting even more than normal. What I'm saying is that much of the new content can't be written and proofed until after 11/4, and it's all got to be done and printed by mid-January. So, my holidays (what I have of them) should be more hectic than I want them to be. Such hangs the head of the Project Manager.

That said, I am also involved in two or three additional technology endeavors that serve to confuse my sense of what I should be focusing on each day. I need to work in a few different directions each day, but for the last ten days I succeeded in singlemindedly ignoring all but one task.

I don't complain because 1) these other tasks are very interesting and have potential to be very exciting and dynamic additions to our future product line. And 2) I've got a job. Given the state of the economy, I'm holding onto it.

Speaking of the economy, I've done more thinking about the economy and attempting to understand words and phrases like financial instruments, mark-to-market, commercial paper market, than ever in my past. Amazingly, I might be soaking in some basic knowledge through osmosis. Primarily I've been listening to NPR's new Planet Money podcast and reading their blog pretty much every day. Additionally, I've relied on two excellent episodes of the This American Life podcast that presented the ins-and-outs of the growing crisis in simpler terms. Of course, things are changing every day, so what was informative last weekend is already old news.

I decided to create a "group" for the Planet Money podcast on my Facebook page and it led to an interesting message from some of the actual NPR producers of the podcast. It seems I created my Facebook group before they had gotten around to it. Rather than sic'ing their lawyers on me or something like that, they were very nice and appreciative and wanted me to know that they had just created the Official Group. I'll admit, sheepishly, that I secretly (or not so secretly now, I guess) wonder if this slight breath of notice from Actual Media Types in Important Places might be the mysterious tipping point that propels me from anonymity to digital stardom. Now, what I might even DO with such (phantom) stardom is likely nothing . . . but it is fun to fantasize about it just the same. Naturally, talking about it negates any chance of it occurring. And that is as it should be. Send the fame to the people who are willing to grab it by the collar and ride it to ruin. I would likely do neither. 

Regarding Internet and Fame--

I have been trying to balance the ever increasing number of digital locations that I am a part of. Since you are here reading this (aren't you . . . still?), you already know about Why Won't You Grow?! the blog. But I have dabbled off and on with a Facebook page and I just a few days ago jumped on the exhaust fumes of the Twitter bandwagon that passed by around ten months ago. You can gain access to these David-related offshoots in the sidebar to the right. (They are, naturally, headed Why Won't You Facebook?! and WWYTwitter?!

You might wonder if it is advisable for me to spread my digital self so thinly when I can't even manage a blog post on a daily basis. But I defend myself in this way--a) they are all free in a monetary sense . . . I haven't and won't calculate the time cost of all this digital narcissism; b) it has become--for better or for worse--my "other" hobby alongside TV watching; c) there would be no chronicle of my children's achievements, thoughts, or development without it. That alone makes at least the blog beneficial. And I think that Facebook is replacing my musty Flickr page as the go-to location for my family photos. The procedure for uploading photos to my Facebook page is much easier than Flickr and I have forgotten the passwords necessary to get back onto Flickr. It's an imperfect system, but it was all created ad hoc. (Kind of like the sub-mortgage problem, right?)

So, what am I to do with all of these digital places? I want to keep up with them because they sort of play different roles. WWYG?!, as a blog is best suited for long form thoughts and ramblings like this one. WWYFacebook?! might do lots of things, but I mostly use it to update my status with pithy reflections of my awesomeness. Facebook also give one the voyeuristic thrill of seeing what's up with those you are connected to. I'm still getting used to Twitter, but it distills the main use of Facebook down to the status updates and nothing else. 

I am quite certain that if I had an iPhone, I could better utilize these sites on a more frequent, Tourettes-like basis. (One can only look forward to that debilitating future!) But I DO think that we need a Digital Einstein--someone who can unite these many disparate web environments in a Unified Theory of Digital Existence. Someone smart and connected to a Venture Capitalist needs to Get This Done! 

Other random stuff I want to toss out opinions on--

I. It is interesting enough to know that civilian Richard Garriott is going into space. But, he's taking the DNA of Stephen Colbert! My geek past is tied to Garriott--a.k.a. "Lord British" of the Ultima computer games and I always wanted to fly in space. (At least ever since I was impersonating Han Solo in my backyard.) But the thrill of this is diminished a bit by connecting it to Colbert. It makes it seem more like a David Blaine-esque stunt. 

II. This bit of news made me sad. I was a very big fan of Bloom County back during the Reagan years. (I even would have voted for Bill and Opus if I had been old enough.) Not being a regular subscriber to any newspaper, I haven't kept up with Outland or Opus, but a part of my childhood is going away.

III. My wife and my friend Shirtless will be interested to read this link and not just because they have an affinity towards math. I can't say more about it here--since it edges towards the dangers of being Dooced.

IV. What does it say about me that I was EXTREMELY excited while viewing this video?

V. I am glad that work is progressing on the Hobbit movies but I am glad that I am not alone in my concerns that they are trying to create a movie where one should not exist. And please don't try to make a parallel between this decision to create two Tolkien films with Warner Brother's decision to split Harry Potter movie 7 into two parts. (I am a great proponent of splitting up Deathly Hallows.) Critics will say that Warner Brothers (like the Hobbit guys) are attempting to generate extra money with two films. But the Deathly Hallows book is very large and splitting it in two ensures the best chance of getting as much of the book's plot in as possible. This is a very good and quite essential think, in my opinion. I don't think you need to do the same to a movie about The Hobbit. The story and necessary plotting don't require more than two hours to do correctly. And the decision to create additional plot (from where exactly?) to create a bridge between Hobbit movie and Peter Jackson's LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring movie is unnecessary.

VI. Have I told you about my grass-growing prowess? (And no, sorry, it's not that kind of grass.)

VII. If you are still trying to catch up with my memorial readings of the late David Foster Wallace, you can use this useful link to a fan-gathered collection of his works. I'm sure I'll be referring back to this soon again very soon.

VIII. Finally, as a reward for making it this far, here is a seasonally-appropriate photographic blast from my past.