A long month...

It's been a month since I've posted, if you've been keeping up, sorry about that. You'll see why as you read on.

Random Thoughts
Friends in the new era. I have had alot of friends in my years. Several to be exact. I had friends from all different cliques, backgrounds, and interests. I had friends in High School, College, Fraternity, work, and elsewhere. It's not so true any more. Don't get me wrong, I still have lot's of friends. I had a 15 year class reunion, and all my old friends were still there, and we essentially picked up where we left off (a sign of true friendship BTW). I saw Fraternity brothers at homecoming. Again, we took up where we'd left off. Colleagues and other friends are still near and dear as well.

However, we are not the same friends we were in the past. My everyday friends have been reduced to a mere few. I'm certain it's because of lifestyle changes. Some of us choose to start families, or have careers, or some other focus in life. All of the above in my case. My wife and beautiful daughter are my new best friends. My career is a focus, and most recently, school is a front runner.

To pose the question, do we reduce our everyday set of friends because of a difference in traits, ideals, and outlooks? Or does the cliche hold true, "I am too busy"?? Alternatively, do we shift our focus in life from friendship to the other things? I'm still not sure, but it makes me sad at times. I sometimes wish Campbell Street, midnight hockey, and Ken's parties were things of the present rather than the past.

At any rate, I am confident that my true friends will remain so forever. Regardless if we became friends in 4th grade, or last month.

Maybe it's perfectly normal that I miss my youth...

Anyhow, that's my random thought for this post.

(If any of my current, old, or ex friends are reading, I meant nothing negative about my comments. I trust that if you are a true friend, you understand)

Events / Encounters
Where do I begin? In the past month I have endured or experienced work, real life, 2 classes, 2 exams, assignments, a trip to the parents, a class reunion, a visit from the FIL, bar nights, and most importanly time with my daughter (no offense to the wife of course ;-)

Out of the list, I'll hit the highlights.

1) Time with my daughter - Wow, a great experience everytime I see her. Her new vocabulary, her new actions, her moods, her personality. Simply amazing!!
2) My wife - what a trooper! She put up with me finishing my bachelors, and is now living through my masters. She has earned both degrees, twice over. (THANK YOU!!)
3) Class reunion - now this was a trip. Everyone was still the same, but different. I was most impressed by the dicks that are now cool. Some of my least favorite people were genuinely nice, and eager to shake my hand. I remain impressed, and happy to have seen them again. On the flip side, my old gang was intact. I was very anxious to see them, and they did not dissappoint. Unfortunately there were some absences, but what can you do...
4) Exams. 2 800 level exams in a week. I haven't studied like that in a long time, if ever. 1 was even a blue book! So glad that's over. Ask me about telecom theory and you will either get your ear talked off, or physically abused. Ask at your own risk.
5) Real life. After all the above, it turns out that laundry, dishes, and cleaning still need to be done, crazy eh...

And last but not least:

Suggestions
Patience and understanding (PAU) are the words for today. I have a wife and a little girl. I obviously have to be a PAU person (Disclaimer: I recognize that others need PAU with me as well). I have learned, through quite an ordeal of trial and error, that PAU can get you through. With the wife, I realize that we are neither the same, nor perfect. Therefore I realize that we will have a little scrum now and then. I can blow my top as easy as the next, but a little PAU can go a long way. Relax, let her do her thing, then address it. I hope she does the same with me. We can try at least...

With the little girl, PAU is crucial, if not absolutely necessary, to not losing your mind. When she wants to throw her bowl on the floor, screaming WILL NOT help the situation. Staying calm and giving a simple "No No" will suffice. If she keeps up, PAU comes into play. Realizing that she is less than 2 years old, and really doesn't know better is a very important step. PAU my friend...

Also, this mindset works in other situations as well. Picture being behind a slow or erratic driver. Do you get all bent out of shape and ruin your day? Or do you display a little PAU, pass when appropriate, and go on to have a great day? That's my suggestion for today.

To conclude: "You know, Bill, there's one thing I learned in all my years. Sometimes you just gotta say, "What the f***, make your move." (Bonus points if you can name the movie)

A whirlwind, to say the least

Random Thoughts
The world is changing, I just noticed it. The problem is, I don't know how to keep up. Things are different than they were before, and I just realized that this is not unique to me, or my lifetime.

My parent's saw civil rights and Vietnam. My grandparents saw Henry Ford, 2 wars, and the question of alcohol. When we run into things and we question "Why is that new law there?" or "Why do we have a new procedure?" It's because things have really changed.

Take for instance copyright laws. 10 years ago, nobody cared if you copied a CD or a VHS tape. With the technological changes we've seen in the last decade, copying , downloading, or redistributing any copyrighted media is generally considered illegal. Unheard of as a kid...

I have really had a problem with this change lately and I can't figure out if I have just reached a point in my life that I've hit critical mass (family, career, education, etc) Or have I hit an upper limit of my acceptance of change? Not sure, but one thing is for certain, I have to get used to it.

To conclude, I have a suspicion that "technology" is behind the whole thing. I intend to do my thesis on some flavor of this idea, I'll keep you posted...

Events / Encounters
The last week has taken it's toll on my soul. To begin, I had a problem at work I had to address and I had to stand tall in front of the man to report on this problem and fill him in. The research and info gathering was taxing to say the least. Friday afternoon brought a conclusion to this issue and I put it behind me.

During all of this work stress, I had to write / prepare a presentation on a "Scholarly Article" regarding globalization in networks / telecommunications. Monday evening (about 2 hours ago) brought a conclusion to this issue and I put it behind me.

Unfortunately I didn't get a single blade of grass cut, or a single speck of spackle (taping / mudding) done in the basement. This week will be dedicated to that.

The weekend brought a much needed break in the form of family. I had an Aunt in town from Mississippi for her 50th class reunion. 50 years out of high school? Wow! My 15th is in 2 weeks and I think that is ridiculous.

Any way, my aunt was in town so we made a weekend of heading back to the Port Huron area. My parents house was full of family visiting all weekend and my mom was loving every minute. We caught up, talked / watched football (Go state!), and ate too much. My daughter (22 months) had a ball seeing everyone and impressed them all with her animal vocabulary. She knows most of them but monkey and elephant are definitely the best!

Sunday night brought more home work and a late bedtime...

Suggestions (quite philosophical, beware!)
Drama, Stress, Negativity, and your "Soul".

I'll start backwards. I'm not a praying man, nor do I have a clue about the whole God / Jesus / intelligent design thing. I don't think I'm smart enough to figure it all out, and I can't just take it all on faith (maybe more on this later), but the soul I refer too is the universal sense of self you have. Some days it's great, other days it's worn pretty thin. Take care to keep yours from stretching thin. It's not a good feeling, but a relaxing weekend, or a hug from your child can help.

Negativity, keep it away, make it go far away. You do not need negative people in your life or near your family. If you are a negative person, I urge you to double check things. Life really is better than that.

Stress, see negativity.

Drama, see stress and negativity. This one I don't get because the people that say that they don't want drama are the ones who have the most. Always something going on, always bellyaching about someone else, always keeping the rumor chatter going. Ugh...

Ok, this is the end of today's post. I think It was quite a mouthful. Now I understand how these things get so long. Stay tuned next week for another adventure into my life and times.

To conclude...Be excellent to each other, and party on dude...

Me and Gilbert

I finally got around to find the picture of me and Gilbert Gottfried.
(and it gives away the vendors from my previous post I just noticed)

Post #1

Here goes, my first post...

Random thoughts:
Has political correctness gone to far? I believe it has as the following article suggests. This is about a very popular coffee shop that was established in East Lansing 15 years ago. Turns out "Beaners" is a derogatory term, similar to "Cracker Barrel". It seems to me that if this was an issue, it would have been addressed 15 years ago. East Lansing is a pretty diverse area, I'm sure someone noticed then. I guess now someone wants publicity or money.

http://lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070915/NEWS03/709150334

Encounters / Events:
This last week was a fun one. On Tuesday I flew to San Diego to attend a conference for a vendor I work with. It's an annual event and this is my forth time attending. Every being as fun, and unique as the first. Upon arrival I wanted to get to my room and crash for a bit as this event is never an `early to bed` kind of thing. I checked in around noon (Manchester Grand Hyatt), but my room wasn't quite ready yet. What do you do when your room isn't ready? You sit at the bar for 2 hours. This set the stage for the remainder of the week.

The pre conference expo started at 6:00 Tuesday night and provided drinks and appetizers. Afterwards I went dinner with my boss at Joe's Crab Shack (very good btw), then proceeded to Shout, a piano bar in the Gas Lamp District. I didn't stay there too long and decided it was time for bed. I had been up 20 hours at this point and had very little sleep. After 2-3 more in the hotel bar with other colleagues and vendors, I headed to bed.

Wednesday morning brought a quick breakfast, lots of coffee, and the start of sessions. The sessions are usually pretty dry and offer very little new information. The biggest goal of attending is networking with others, picking their brains, and sharing your own experiences.

Wednesday night brought the Welcome Reception at the pool which had, you guessed it, drinks and appetizers. After that, we proceeded to a hosted evening at the Harbor House. A couple vendors had rented out the entire restaurant with once again, open bar and food.

Thursday brought a whole new experience. The day was the same as Wednesday, but the night was a very unique experience. 2 more vendors rented out a bar called "On Broadway". Very trendy bar in the gas lamp (Yes, drinks and food were provided).

First, the vendor comes out as Darth Vader with 4 stormtroopers at his side with the theme playing. Being the geek that he is, he takes the vader mask off, talks for a few minutes, then puts the mask back on and walks off stage.

Then...Gilbert Godfried comes out and does about a 5 minute set and goes up to the emcee's booth to heckle the karaoke singers. After a few singers sing, the first "headliner" comes out. William Hung... This vendor apparently has a thing for hiring William Hung to his parties. "I Hung with vendor name" is what the motto usually is. Godfried (still in the emcee booth) tears Hung apart. Comments like "You look like that Korean dictator", and "When you meet a woman, do you tell her `Hi, I'm Hung`". The latter being funny because he didn't get the joke.

A little later, Godfried heads downstairs for the backstage photoshoot I had a pass for. I shook his hand and said hi before being posed for the picture then whisked away. Apparently he doesn't like crowds.

The funny part of being in the room with Gilbert was William Hung's mother was looking for William and waited for him in the room with Gilbert. Apparently she goes to all the shows with him.

After all of this concludes, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy comes out to play and played for about 2 hours. The cool thing was that they also had 6 pro swing dancers to come out and "teach" the crowd how to dance to swing. I deferred on the dancing and decided to drink the free beer.

Then, after all that was done, we all came back to the hotel and I drank on vendor's tabs. I finally made it to bed after closing the lobby bar (2:00am).

Friday I flew home, Saturday I watched football all day (Go State!) and played with my daughter that I missed immensely.

All in all a great week. Met great people, enjoyed southern California, and actually learned a thing or two.

Suggestions:
Balance - Live your life in balance. For me that is balancing my career, education, family, and myself. The myself part is the hardest in my case because the other facets are responsibilities and duties while the latter is afforded time only if any is left over. I do try very hard to leave myself a few hours every week that is just mine. Whether that is sitting in the lay-z-boy doing nothing, or having a few cold ones at the local watering hole, I try to fit everything into my day.