Recovering Baptist

One of my side hobbies is photography. I’m not a good photographer, but once in a while I’m pretty pleased with the things I capture. Of course, the challenge to modern photography is that seeing a good shot, using the right settings, and actually pushing the button are only part of the requirements for a good picture. You now have to add the old skill of good cropping to that of image manipulation (I love gimp, but that’s because I’m cheap).

So here are a few pictures from my recent vacation. I woke up on our last morning there and spent about an hour with my camera.

One of the strange things about this part of the Gulf Coast is that the beach erosion has uncovered countless stumps. While they make body surfing a bit dangerous, they’re fun to photograph.
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Today is the first full day of school for our boys. It’s basically preschool, half days, and two or three days a week (two for the younger one). I know so many parents wipe a tear when their kids walk through that door; kids grow up so fast. I’m almost at a loss for words, but I think what nearly came out of my mouth when the car drove away was “who-hoo!”
It is kind of weird sitting here in the home office knowing that I could leave my door open if I wanted to and I wouldn’t hear the first sound from Elmo or Barney. It’s weird in that good, quiet sort of way.

Here we go again. ESPN is managing to ruin yet another game by focusing on everything besides the game. Last time it was Vick and the Falcons; this time it’s Virginia Tech. Yes, this is an important game, because it represents a return to normality in Blacksburg. But the reason things are returning to normal is because of the football game. It’s time for ESPN to stop dwelling on the horrible events of the past and start focusing on a game that’s scary close for the Hokies at the half.
And no, I’m not just grumpy because I didn’t get much sleep last night; I’m always a curmudgeon.

When I worked for the telephone company I came to have a respect for our union guys. The unions in the south are very different from what I’ve heard about the ones in the north. One major difference is that here the guys are ultimately more loyal to the company and the customer than they are to the union. Despite being management, I hate a great working relationship with my union linemen, and that’s one of my badges of honor from my telco years.
But I’ve heard crazy stupid stories about other union environments. My favorite one is of industrious employees. When an upstart union employee starts being too productive or working too hard the others start making it clear that needs to stop. The story goes that if one person is shown to be more productive then the company can use that as leverage, forcing the lazy folks to start earning their living for a change. The story usually leaves it to the listener’s imagination as to what the repercussions are of violating this unwritten code of ethics.
I couldn’t work in that sort of environment. It’s two o’clock in the AM and I just checked my email. I wish I hadn’t, because now I found out that our data delivery to Singapore wasn’t as expected. Since it’s my project, that bothers me. What bothers me more is that I think I know how to fix it, so I’m about to spend the next hour writing SQL and sending emails to the other side of the globe. I hope none of you are working this Labor Day weekend - the unions wouldn’t approve.