Recovering Baptist

In my younger friends I entertained my friends by pretending to be a musician. We did learn one important lesson that anyone who gets in front of people should memorize - always leave them wanting more. I found out today that doesn’t apply to golf.

The tournament was nice enough. It was Phil Niekro’s annual charity tournament, and the location was Chateau Elan. We played the Chateau course, and it was beautiful, despite the heavy morning frost. Knucksie brings in a lot of former pro players and personalities, and my hopes were raised when I saw Ernie Johnson Sr.’s name on one of the carts, but he never showed up. I hope that’s not a sign of failing health.

I figured that a best-ball tournament like this one would be perfect for me. I’d have a chance to get to play a few of my balls while overlooking my mostly horrible play, and I thought I could put my putting to good use. Little did I know that this tournament had a “par or better” rule. We couldn’t score worse than par on any hole, so that meant that if we didn’t make birdie or better then we just went on to the next hole. There really isn’t anything less fulfilling than not hearing the ball hit the bottom of the cup, even if it’s from someone else on your team.

The day wasn’t a total loss. I did have a good time, and I learned more about how to improve my game, but given the choice next year, I think I’ll pass on this tournament. If I want to help a charity, I think I’ll just give a donation and then go play a round on my own. At least then I probably won’t run out of beer and Cokes.

Today marks exactly 13 months after my first meeting with the customer in Hawaii. I think I’ve spent almost half of the past 13 months preparing for this project and writing the contract, but today it paid off. I now have a signed contract in my inbox, and that means that I’m definitely heading back to the islands.

My first trip is mix November, and I’ll also spend the first week of December there, as well. I don’t know when or if I’ll get to return, but it looks like I’ll be working my ass off over the next 18 months or so. Oh yeah, if this project is successful, my next assignment will probably take me west of there to places I’d really like to see, such as Guam.

But now I’m getting ready to head to north Georgia for a few days.

Aloha!

My wife used to call me Captain Crunch. It’s not that I have a large white moustache or anything. I just used to be one of the most outdoorsy people she knew. A lot of our dates took place in the North Georgia mountains, and I proposed to her in a canoe in south Georgia. And up until we had kids a lot of our weekends and vacations were spent in our tent. But we’ve only camped once or twice in the last four years, which corresponds to the time our kids have been around.

Well, no more. Tonight we introduce our tenderfoots to the joys of camping. Granted, we’re going to the fairly plush private Enota campground, but it’s a start. It’s hard to find a better weekend for camping; cool weather and little chance of rain. And the campsite ought to be great - it’s right on the creek and we’ll have a nice fire. So we’ve got all the elements for a spectacularly great or a spectacularly rough weekend - cool temps, water, fire, and mud. No matter whether they enjoy it, I bet the first thing we’ll do when we get home is throw everyone in the tub for an hour or so.

It seems like every company has to come up with some sort of flash game advertisement. Samsung’s latest is plenty of fun and a little annoying.

It’s not as satisfying as the time we lit an old VCR on fire and dropped it out a fourth floor window, but it still serves to release a little bit of frustration.

Thanks Digg.

Few things make a geek’s Saturday morning like a cardboard box delivered by UPS. That’s doubly true when the box contains a shiny new laptop. Duo core 2.19 Ghz processor and 2GB RAM. Of course, now the real “fun” begins as I’ve got to install all my usual applications and move all my data over from the old PC. It’s probably going to take me a week to get everything the way I want it, and I’m guessing it’ll take a month before I’m used to the new keyboard. But hey, at least I’m not putting it in the freezer.

I’m sure I’ve written a post like this every year that I’ve been blogging, but since I’ve lost my old posts, everything is new again, so what the hey.

Is there anything better than a fine September day in Atlanta? I’m now working in my outside office listening to the birds fly overhead and enjoying the fresh air. That, combined with the chance to enjoy my pipe while I work, makes the problems of the day a little more bearable. The only thing that would make it better would be a game of ultimate, but you can’t have everything, I guess.

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.

Some people are beach people, and others are mountain people. My wife and I have figured out that we’re definitely mountain people. I don’t think we’ve chosen on our own to take a vacation to the beach in the nearly nine years we’ve been married. But if someone’s going to offer us a free place to stay on the beach for a week, well, who are we to turn that down? In the case of last week, calling the place “on the beach” couldn’t be any more correct. When we arrived on Tuesday night the water was against the sea wall which formed the foundation of the house as a result of hurricane Dean. And one of the cool things about Cape San Blas is that you can see water on both sides of the condo - the Gulf of Mexico to our west and the St. Joe Bay to the east.

The catch to this trip is that it was with my parents. Friends and readers of my blog know that they’re Baptists, and I’m not, which means there’s plenty of tension between us. There are a couple of highlights which I’ll probably write about later. But right now I’m still enjoying the mental images of the pelicans flying in a line and the school of dolphins we watched from our balcony.

I can understand the local fascination with Michael Vick. After all, he’s the face of our franchise and once represented hope for our beleaguered Falcons. His fall from grace probably means that we’re facing another 4 years of sub-mediocre performance. Those of us who aren’t pulling for his downfall keep wishing for another reality, but that’s not to be. And now that he’s pleaded guilty, it’s time for him to be punished. Like I said, I can understand our fascination.

Could someone please explain to me, though, why Kornheiser and the gang couldn’t talk about the game for even 10 minutes last night? Because of ESPN’s enthrallment with Vick we missed a large part of a decent pre-season game. The highlight was the sideline interview with a damned legal analyst right after Rossum’s kickoff return took the ball past the 50. There are times when the producer should cancel the next scheduled interview, but apparently the game (including a nice sideline catch and run for a touchdown) did nothing more than provide a few hours for them to fill with talking heads. You know, I think ESPN should create a show outside of the game where so called experts could talk about sports without ruining the game itself. The show could feature highlights from a bunch of different games from different sports, and there could be entire segments devoted to the special story of the day. Hmmm, intriguing…