No Chickens Were Harmed...

All Done

2007-02-12T10:14:00.000-05:00

As much as I've enjoyed the last 6 months or so of blogging, I'm taking a hiatus. Its become something I think about, but don't really get around to. There's lots of stuff I'd like to share, but its just not happening. So, instead of expending mental energy on it, but just doing a post every-so-often, I'll just enjoy the fruits of other other's blog-labor for now.

Give that chimp a job!

2007-01-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

So a chimp escapes from her cage at the Little Rock zoo and decides to use her new-found freedom to... raid the fridge and clean the toilet. Hmm... seems like the zookeepers shouldn't have been so quick to sedate her and get her back in the cage.

But one has to wonder how dirty a toilet needs to be before a chimp feels compelled to escape to clean it....

A less shiny Apple

2007-01-19T09:53:00.000-05:00

It seems that the folks over at Apple have gotten then stupids this year. I don't think its infected the creative class yet, but the business types have certainly lost their mind.

Exhibit A: Even though a very large company (Cisco) has already registered the trademark & announced a product using the name, they are are going to call their new phone the iPhone. Guess the lawyers were bored and they didn't think that consumers would be confused by 2 major products carrying the same name (not to mention that there's another company in Canada using the name). There's also the strange decision to attempt to sell a hifalutin $500 device that doesn't support their chosen carrier's highest speed network.

Exhibit B: We're just Apple. Not Apple Computer. Just Apple. Whatever. Wonder if that means the music company gets to try to sue them again.

Exhibit C: Now there is word that the accountants are requiring Apple notebook PC customers to pay to download updated WiFi drivers which enable higher speed operation, because the accountants say they have to. That's the most bizarre thing I've ever heard. At $1.99, I don't know what they are trying to do, but keep the accountants (like they aren't busy enough working on the stock options fiasco) happy seems unlikely.

2007-01-15T21:50:00.000-05:00

Sometimes my kids make me think about things that I wouldn't ordinarily think much about. As I was tucking in my kindergarten-age daughter last night, I said something about having so much fun this weekend, that she gets to have another day off! With her best "silly daddy" look, she said, "no, daddy, tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr Day!"

During the course of the conversation that followed, it struck me as to how incredibly hard, 40+ years hence, it is to explain segregation. It never really made sense to me growing up, but I lived in a largely homogeneous place. My kids have had the benefit of living in a more heterogeneous environment - especially in their schools - and it really really doesn't make sense to them. Madelyn understands that segregation means that her "dark skinned" friend couldn't be in her class. And that would make her sad.

So this got me to thinking. I'm sure segregation made at least some sense to somebody several decades ago, even though I can't make sense of it now. But this makes me wonder what social injustice is our current society imposing that won't make any sense to the kids getting tucked in in fifty years?

The good side of global warming?

2007-01-15T09:43:00.000-05:00

While folks in the Plains and out west may disagree, for those of us in NC, this global warming thing made for an amazingly nice January weekend!

Seriously though, it really annoys me when "weather" gets confused with "climate". While they are related, the link is not nearly so direct as implied.

2007-01-11T15:08:00.000-05:00

Not many posts lately because life has been really really busy ever since Time named me Person of the Year. Its amazing. Here I thought I was just this lowly blogger, whispering my thoughts into the broad ether of the Internet. But wow, the interview requests and the time spent redoing my resume to add Person of the Year to it has been nearly overwhelming...

So what exactly was accomplished there?

2006-12-30T17:10:00.000-05:00

Saddam is dead. We hung him. Ok, the Iraqis hung him. Whatever. What good exactly did that do? Show that we can be as vengeful as he could? Somehow it reminds me of the logic my preschooler uses when he hits his big sister.

The silver lining is that I suppose this means that those guards who were busy making sure Saddam didn't make an embarrassing escape are now free to join in the attempt to keep the rest of the violence in Iraq down. May it be so.

On "home"

2006-12-27T21:47:00.000-05:00

The first part of our holiday travels have taken us home. Susan's family's home that is, but after better than a dozen years of coming here regularly, it feels quite at home to me as well. There actually isn't one particular home - there's mom's house, dad's house, a sister's house, and the farm. The farm. I remember when Susan first spoke of the farm (then also the home of her grandparents), shortly after I met her; this city-boy-from-Illinois conjured up images straight out of the flatlands of the midwest. But its not at all like that. There hasn't been a crop grown here in decades - just some hay and usually some cows. And hills, ridges, creeks, and valleys with plenty of woods. And the lake. Lake is really more than it deserves - its really a pond, but it is called the lake. Close enough to the house to be easily accessible even on a quick trip on a day where the weather isn't so great, but far enough away to be transforming. Ducking through the woods off the upper field is almost like going thru the Wardrobe. No snow though, at least this time.

Since the house is empty most of the time and we are now four of us, we have been staying at the farm on our longer trips here, which has only served in increase my appreciation. For when one is staying here, sunrise & sunset, the coming and going of the moon, dew (or frost) on the grass, the general stillness; all are more thoroughly experienced. It is good to go home, even if it is an adopted one.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T16:09:00.001-05:00

Aaah, vacation. The holidays. Ok, since we live 500+ miles away from any other portion of our family and have 2 young kids, I'm not sure that vacation and holidays belong in the same paragraph. They are quite fun (mostly), but, well, let's just say that my definition of "vacation" still needs a bit of adjusting. Quiet times of contemplation, resting, and sleeping these are not. But as my dear wife reminds me, this is but a short stage of life. A time will soon be here when Christmas is all too quiet. So I try to absorb and enjoy, not merely endure. Our kids are at the age where so much of the holiday season (and any season) is Wonder. The excitement is palpable. They are beginning to recognize traditions in our family. They are looking forward to seeing cousins and grandparents. And they know a few Christmas songs too. Benjamin was very excited to hear two of the songs he learned in preschool on the car radio. But in their 4 & 5 year-old way, they Get It, too. This isn't about them. This is about Jesus. They don't totally get what that means, I'm sure, but maybe, just maybe, there is a foundation building there. Merry Christmas.

C & Es

2006-12-20T17:12:00.000-05:00

While wandering in Emergent Village I stumbled across a link to an interesting column by Marianne Mead Ward in in the Toronto Sun. While there's several interesting comments about the Emergent Church - of which I consider our Emmaus Way community to be attempting to be - it was her opening question that struck me most:

It's that time of year when churches try to woo the "seasonal" believers -- those folk who go to church only once a year, maybe twice, including Easter. I'm not sure whether this is a phenomenon experienced in other faiths -- do some Muslims go to the mosque only during Ramadan? Do some Jews only show up in the synagogue for Hannukah?

Growing up, my church called them "C & Es" - as in folks who only came to church on Christmas and Easter. It was a mixed blessing for a young'un like me - they packed the pews which made the likelihood of sitting next to a stranger and not being able to squirm much both highly likely... but they also ensured that any message was not too long and not too controversial. My favorite part for a few years was that the words to songs were printed in the bulletin, rather than sung from hymnals. The whole skipping lines thing was pretty confusing to me as I was beginning to read.

Anyway, I digress. Is there a Muslim or Jewish equivalent of C & Es? I wonder.

Does this sound like anyone you know...?

2006-12-17T20:21:00.000-05:00

From the this week's lectionary text (Zephaniah 3:1-5):

"The city that wouldn't take advice, wouldn't accept correction, Wouldn't trust God, wouldn't even get close to her own god! Her very own leaders are rapacious lions, Her judges are rapacious timber wolves out every morning prowling for a fresh kill. Her prophets are out for what they can get. They're opportunists - you can't trust them. Her priests desecrate the Sanctuary. They use God's law as a weapon to maim and kill souls..." (translation from The Message)

Apologies for ripping scripture out of context, but there are times when the ancient words strike very close to home.

In this season of Advent, preparing for the celebration of the coming birth of our Lord and Savior, may we also pray for peace.

It was probably worth it...

2006-12-13T00:22:00.000-05:00

I'm soooo jealous... driving a Zamboni is one of my life ambitions. Doing a drive-thru with one is just genius!

Idaho Zamboni drivers fired after trip to fast-food drive-thru.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) - A slow run for some fast food in Boise, Idaho, has cost two city workers their jobs.

They were spotted on their Zamboni ice rink machines in a Burger King drive-through earlier this month.

The Zambonis are chunky vehicles with rubber tires that hit a top speed of five miles-an-hour. The drivers had to get through at least one traffic light to make the midnight "run" -- covering a mile and a-half, round-trip.

Neither the $75,000 Zambonis nor their $10,000 blades appeared damaged.

A city official say the two temporary city workers didn't seem to understand "the seriousness" of what they did.

Sgt Pepper

2006-12-07T14:39:00.000-05:00

Its getting to that time of year again. When everyone publishes their "best-of" list and their year-in-review. I'm not sure if its driven by a great human need to reflect back on periods gone by, or more from a lack of media content to fill the pages & airwaves during the holiday season. Regardless, most of the time it drives me nuts and I ignore them.

I've also never been one for celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries, and the like. I realize that many folks (my wife for one) enjoy marking the days with celebration, and that's fine. For me, its just fine to know that people are thinking of me and that's about all.

However, I have this bizarre habit of remembering random anniversaries. Not so much of people, but of events. Like today is the 2nd anniversary of the announcement that eventually freed me from Big Blue and made me an employee of Lenovo. Overall, its been a good thing... although there are still those here who like to point out that the anniversary also coincides with that of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Oh yeah... and I'm not sure if anything really important happened 20 years ago today, but for some reason the song popped into my head when I started thinking about anniversaries.

One of the many reasons I love Durham

2006-12-03T20:19:00.000-05:00

Gotta love a town that is comfortable enough with itself to allow a pawn shop to have a float in the Christmas parade! :)

Sorry, no picture - camera is in the shop :(

More evidence that money is the root of all evil?

2006-11-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

Money and Me, Me, Me

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1116/3

By Greg Miller
ScienceNOW Daily News

It's often said that money changes people. Now a team of experimental psychologists has found that just thinking of money changes people. With money on their minds, experimental subjects became more focused on themselves--in both good ways and bad.

Psychologist Kathleen Vohs says she started thinking about the psychology of money when she moved from a postdoctoral position to her first faculty job. The big salary increase meant she could hire a mover instead of relying on help from friends. It certainly made the move easier, Vohs says, but she missed the camaraderie of sharing pizza and beer after a big group effort. The experience led her to hypothesize that while money makes people more independent, it can also act as an isolating social barrier.

To examine this idea in a more controlled setting, Vohs, now at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, and colleagues recruited several hundred college students to participate in a variety of experiments. In each experiment, the researchers subtly prompted half the volunteers to think of money--by having them read an essay that mentioned money, for example, or seating them facing a poster depicting different types of currency--before putting them in a social situation. In one experiment, the researchers gave volunteers a difficult puzzle and told them to ask for help at any time. People who had been reminded of money waited nearly 70% longer to seek help than those who hadn't. People cued to think of money also spent only half as much time, on average, assisting another person who asked for their help with a word problem and picked up fewer pencils for someone who'd dropped them.

The antisocial behavior didn't end there. Volunteers reminded of money preferred working alone even if sharing the task with a co-worker resulted in substantially less work. They also chose solitary leisure activities on a questionnaire--preferring a private cooking lesson, for instance, over a dinner for four. And when asked to set up two chairs for a get-to-know-you chat with another volunteer, subjects who'd seen a money-themed computer screensaver placed the chairs further apart than subjects who'd seen a fish screensaver, Vohs and colleagues report in tomorrow's issue of Science. Taken together, Vohs says, the findings suggest that thinking of money puts people in a frame of mind in which they don't want to depend on others and don't want others to depend on them.

"It's a provocative set of findings," says Tom Gilovich, a psychologist at Cornell University. "The notion that you can prime people, even subliminally, and get these effects is kind of stunning." The study may have implications for routine decisions such as whether to give your children an allowance, adds Stephen Lea, an economic psychologist at the University of Exeter, U.K. An allowance might foster self-sufficiency, Lea says, but it might discourage cooperation at the same time. "It's not an easy decision, but you need to recognize that if you monetize a relationship, you change it."

Monuments to the important

2006-11-27T19:09:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time, we named significant buildings and stadiums after significant people. As pointed out by Thomas Vinciguerra in an editorial in The Week (incidentally, one of my very favorite things to read) that tradition continues to fall away in favor of selling off naming rights to the highest (usually corporate) bidder, with Shea Stadium in New York recently being renamed in honor(?) of Citibank. I find this particularly sad in cases like this when someone gets bumped. Not that I actually knew who Shea was before reading this article, despite literally a lifetime of following one of the Mets major rivals in baseball futility, the Cubs.

Here in the Triangle, people hadn't really gotten to the point of remembering the name Raleigh Sports and Entertainment Complex before the negotiations with RBC bank concluded and it was forever (or at least until the next bidder comes along) dubbed the "RBC Center". The only whining here, I believe, was over who got how much of the cash and when. Oh, and "what the heck is RBC?"

I first thought about this probably 10 years ago when I briefly held the naive misconception that the new United Center in my hometown of Chicago was named in some sort of altruistic unity movement rather than the airline based there. Ha!

Anyway, I've also noticed in our travels that more and more roads, bridges, and highways have small signs saying that they are commemorating someone who was from that town. So rather than naming buildings and stadiums after the significant people in a town, we are naming sections of roadways. Maybe its fitting, given our obsession with driving. Or maybe its just a step along the progression and next DOTs around the country will be selling naming rights to roads too, in an attempt to raise the funding required to build them. Hmmm, now there's maybe an idea....

Happy Thanksgiving!

2006-11-23T13:42:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is a big deal in our family. Growing up, I think I even looked forward to it more than Christmas! Even as my brother and I have started families of our own, most years have found most of us together for Thanksgiving. Often at my parent's house, but sometimes at one of us kids' place. Even sometimes with some or all of the dear family friends with whom we shared so many of those Thanksgivings in the 80s and 90s. Last year, that crowd that used to be 8 was all together again and had grown to a crowd of 18!

But this year is different. Through various circumstances - some planned and some not - we are not only home for Thanksgiving, but not having any of my family here. Don't worry - Susan's dad & wife, will be here and at least one friend, so we will have many to share the feast with. I do find just a little twinge of sadness at a tradition being disrupted, though, if just for a year. I don't miss the traveling insanity, but I do miss the family.

On a different note, there is one pseudo-tradition that bit the dust this year. The kids and I spent a couple minutes this morning watching the Macy's Parade. I stress that it was just a couple minutes. The parade wasn't that engaging for the kids, but worse still were the ads that ABC was playing every couple minutes. Not only were they annoyingly disruptive, but they were not at all suitable for kid viewing. They were mostly promotions for upcoming shows, but they were, without exception, too violent, scary, or risque for me to be comfortable. I understand that this is a major cross-promotion opportunity for the network, but I really felt like I had taken my kids to a "G" movie and gotten the "R" previews. Guess that's what passes for television "entertainment" these days. The channel went back over to PBS and they watched Dragon Tales for a while.

Can we be different while being the same?

2006-11-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

To tie you over until my inspiration returns, I thought I'd cross-post my contribution to a conversation over on the blog of our church Emmaus Way.

I've been thinking a lot about what it means to live as a Christian in the upper-middle-class suburban American world that I live in. In many ways, we're about as stereotypical as it comes - sheltered suburban house, 2 kids, 2 cars (yes, even a mini-van, but its really not our fault... that's a different story for a different place), and even some semblance of a picket fence. But once you get beyond the demographics, can you tell that we are trying to live differently? Or, more scary, is it possible for one in these demographics live as a Christian?

Collectively, we tell ourselves that we can. That we must be able to live in these demographics as a Christian - as a voice in the darkness, proclaiming the love of Christ to our neighbors, kids' friend's parents, etc. But is it all a cop-out? Is it a way to have our cake and eat it too?

The discussion this week on the tension between hospitality and purity started to address this and hopefully its a discussion that can continue thru this series. I still don't totally grok the "exile" thing, but I get this tension. At least I think I do. Its about time, money, security, and lots of other things... but how much is it about love and Christ?

There's so many balancing acts just in area of time that its really unbelievable until you live there, but we are trying. Susan & I are are very intentional with how we attempt to balance kid needs, parent needs, learning, playing, and just being. But we're not always that good at it. Having our kids as involved in "non-kid" things is hard. Its the balance between the kids being really a part of the Emmaus Way community and, well, being tired, bored, and disruptive pre-schoolers. Its deciding which opportunities we are willing to follow - my kids have gleened sweet potatoes, but my 4-year-old son doesn't know the difference between football, baseball, and basketball. (Yes, I feel guilty about this at times).

I also wrestle with things like how can we build a college fund for the kids (which might pay for a single textbook by the time they get there, but again I digress), or a 401k for our retirement, but also strongly believe in social justice and helping the poor? Where does the hospitality of sharing the gifts of the Lord with those in need end? (don't get me started on tithing percentages, net vs gross, the church vs all charity). Where does the purity of trusting the Lord to provide end? Is socking away savings for a life even beyond the 50 year jubillee timeframe unfaithful?

I don't know the answer, but it was even reassuring to hear it spoken out loud that there is a tension there. The question is how we are called to be radically different, and how to find that balance point for our individual situations.

Waiting

2006-11-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

As the song (Led Zeppelin?) goes... been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time.

Since my last post, I've been out of town 9 days on two different trips. Not an excuse, but a fact. One would think, with all the time I've spent sitting around, that some utterly brilliant blog posts would have sprouted from my keyboard. Although my keyboard may be gross enough to actually sprout something, it hasn't learned to create blog posts on its own... at least not yet. I am switching to a new notebook though, just in case :-)

As I've sat and waited, I've been thinking some, but mostly just being. Maybe its the somewhat perpetual state of tiredness I've found myself in, or just the large quantities of thinking that I've been doing between times of sitting around, but I've been uncharacteristically lumpy, as it were. Just being.

Why is this disturbing to me? Isn't "just being" every once in a while a good thing? I'll get some rest and let you know.

Ugh

2006-11-03T11:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I suppose one good part of going to Beijing again next week means that I miss a little of the sniping that passes for pre-election political discussion these days. Unfortunately, I get to hear most of it as I don't leave until Monday.

In this age that nearly everything that is said by a public figure is recorded and/or published, its not surprising that politicians get caught making stupid statements. What's really annoying is the legions of folks who seem to have stooped to the level that all they do is listen for the stupidity and/or potentially offensive comments in their opponents speeches, so they can howl. Forget actually discussing the... gasp... issues. Let's just talk about how awful everyone is and that a slip of the tongue obviously means that deep down inside they are really terrible people who hate something/someone that they shouldn't.

I wonder if these are the same people who complain about how pre-packaged all of our candidates are? Why would you actually speak off the cuff when you are ostricized for any statement that isn't completely benign? Having leaders who are able to speak in public is important, but there's a limit. I'd rather have a leader who also has convictions and a clue too, even if I don't agree with all of them.

2006-10-25T14:17:00.000-04:00

If a blog has no new posts, but nobody reads it anyway, does it make a sound? Er, um, something like that. I've been AWOL for a while. Just one of those weeks. Or a couple of them actually. That doesn't mean that there hasn't been a lot of blog-worthy stuff rattling around my little brain (ok, I admit that "blog-worthy" isn't a very high bar). Maybe as the current crush of odd-hour conference calls with Asia calms down, you may get to read some of them.

A definite theme has been the odd juxtaposition of different cultures and values. Just a few... a day at the NC State Fair (no, we did NOT try the fried Coke, fried Twinkees, or fried anything else); gleaning sweet potatos to feed the local hungry; a somewhat contentious few meetings with my Beijing colleagues at work, based on differing expectations, ways of working, and interest in sticking one's neck out; some wonderful small-group discussions about parenting... vs the actual act of parenting. Sigh. I fall so far short of the goal.

The Quiet Voice in the Darkness

2006-10-06T21:22:00.000-04:00

The best quote of the day was the first thing I heard... a quiet, even timid voice coming from our little guy... "Mommy Daddy, when is it going to be morning?"

It was 7:15 and time for the family to get moving, but it was still pretty dark as our string of beautiful fall days was interrupted by a cool front bringing in some rain falling from thick, low clouds. Just another sign that the end of daylight savings time is near. Sigh. If it wasn't for hurricanes, I'd wish that Septembers would last forever.

The Bigger World, Part I

2006-10-05T10:58:00.000-04:00

I've been thinking a lot about "emerging markets" lately. At least that's what we call it at work. At church, we use other, less capitalist-minded terms. But I've been thinking about it as it relates to both my work and my faith.

On the work side, one of the interesting things that I have been thinking about started with conversations from our dear Kenyan friends Kyama and Wambui, who lived here with us for a year in 2004-05. I learned much from them, but one of the lessons which came early on related to our disposition in America to do things ourselves. This is partially due to our strongly-ingrained independence, but is also a matter of economics; its very expensive to hire someone to do many things that you can do yourself (even if, in my case, it often means doing it twice!) In Kenya (and, I've learned, in many other parts of the developing world), there is plentiful cheap labor, so it doesn't make sense for most middle-class folks to do home maintenance themself.

This has gotten me to thinking about a driving force in a lot of the innovation we have here - much of it is about saving labor. People are expensive, so we do lots of things to cut down on the amount of time we have to pay someone to do something. For example, taking a phone call on a toll-free help line is expensive - averaging $25-50 a pop, for even a short call. Hence, many organizations try to drive as much as possible to the web. The guy changing the lightbulbs in your office building is much more expensive than the florescent tubes, so rather than wait for each light to burn out to fix them, they go through and replace all the bulbs in a given area at the same time. Self-checkout lanes - ugh! There are many more examples.

But what happens when labor is cheap and plentiful? How does that impact the macro-economics of a country? What drives innovation there? I've also wondered how economies structure themselves when labor is cheap but materials cost nearly as much as they do here. I suppose some non-trival amount of the cost of many items we purchase is related to the cost of transportation and the associated labor selling it to me, but how does that ripple thru an economy and what's the impact of this on buying power... and selling power.

Maybe I need to go get a PhD in Economics. Or not. Like my house needs another degree.

Relief

2006-10-04T17:09:00.000-04:00

Its a well-worn cliche about a well-worn cliche. But given my pathetic ability to talk to strangers and acquaintances, I'm as guilty of using it as the next guy. I'm talking about talking about the weather.

But its Autumn in NC, so humor me. After the long steamy summer, the weather man has to go back to work. Gone are the 5-day forecasts showing each day with a high of 92, low of 72 and a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. And our thermometer has been reintroduced to the 60s... and even the 50s!

There's lots I like about these days, but I especially cherish the perfectly clear blue skies (sorry Carolinians, its Kentucky blue, not Carolina or, gasp, Dook blue) and the return of Sunsets. Around here, the sun doesn't actually set in the summer. No, NC is not part land of the midnight sun. And yes, it does actually get dark in the summer. Its just that the sun merely fades into the haze sometime in the late summer afternoon. But in the fall, the humidity drops and sun actually goes back to actually meeting the horizon... often in brilliant blazes of orange and pink streaking clouds. And the silleotte of trees against the darkening skies, and the coolness of the evening air. Aaaah.

Open your window tonight.

Is this the same John Kerry who ran for President in 2004?

2006-09-27T23:49:00.000-04:00

Wow. I just stayed up way too late watching this speech that Sen. John Kerry gave at Pepperdine Univ earlier this month. But its worth it. He not only puts words to my feelings frustration with the American political/religious "debate" today, but he also gives me hope that among all the sound-bite sniping across party lines that there actually are very smart, very compassionate people who share my values in Congress. Or at least they are good at pretending.
Video (includes some good Q&A after the speech)

Text (only the prepared language)

Creative Fundraising

2006-09-26T16:03:00.000-04:00

I've been to and involved with many different fundraisers in my life, ranging from cheesy (literally) to fancy banquets. But this weekend, the family participated one I hadn't run into before: a rubber ducky race. It was great fun! Gold star to the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle!

We bought a duck for each kid, they decorated it at home, then their ducks joined about 1500 others to "race" down the "water feature" at the American Tobacco campus. No prizes for us, but it was fun!

Not Knowing What to Do

2006-09-25T21:54:00.000-04:00

There is a homeless man who is often found on corner on our way to church. He stands there mostly unobtrusively, but in a matter such that he also lets you know that he's accepting donations. Sometimes he has a sign, but often not. And he definitely looks the part.

Of course, the kids have noticed him and have asked us many questions. That is a good thing and has brought up a few good conversations. But usually we don't give him anything. Why? Because we are uncompassionate hard-hearted snobs who, although being on our way to church, don't feel a need to. Ok, hopefully not quite that bad (but probably closer to the truth than I want to admit). Its really a combination of several things:

Skepticism regarding his actual need for a handout (fed by reports of people making a good living thru standing at street corners)
Unwillingness to provide cash, due to its potential use to buy things other than "necessities"
Presumption that he really doesn't want to accept non-packaged food or beverage, lest it be tainted

But I think it really comes down to discomfort in knowing that anything we give him will be inadequate, or at least less than we have been called to do for "the least of these".

I admit that I'm a wimp. At least I could find out his name and invite him to come with us to church. Maybe next week.

Not quite unstuck

2006-09-18T10:06:00.000-04:00

Lots of things rattling around my little head these days, but I just haven't been sufficiently motivated to get down on paper, err, umm bits, in this case, I guess.

While wandering around one of Durham's cool arts & community festivals yesterday, there was great pleasure of enjoying a beautiful day, some cool art, and just being with those I love (well, ok, the kids were being a bit whiny as they came down from a birthday-party-induced sugar high). But then something hit me in the gut and gave me that sinking feeling that is so yuck.

In the midst of this nice little festival, two grown men were yelling & pointing fingers at each other. I believe it had something to do with the content of the booth they were in front of - the one presented by "911 Truth". I don't know much about these folks, but from a quick look at their signs, it appears that they believe that 9/11 is a conspiracy by our own government. Ugh. Of all the things that I do not like about our current national "leadership" and of all that makes me embarassed and saddened by our collective national behavior, having a shouting match in the middle of a community festival is so much misplaced and misused energy.

No, I haven't heard their case. I would have been mildly interested in hearing it, but the environment they created was obviously not safe for stopping, especially since I had both kids in tow. I'm not sure what these folks were hoping to prove with their exhibit, although I'm sure it has something to do with avoiding the right-wing media conspiracy that's keeping their story from being told.

Just once, can we stop yelling at each other long enough to listen?

Stuck

2006-09-11T10:27:00.000-04:00

So I've tried several times to write this post about my gut reaction to all the 9/11 Anniversary stuff, but I haven't been able to put adequate words to it, so I'm officially giving up.

Maybe next year.

Politically Incorrect

2006-09-10T22:46:00.000-04:00

In the "from the mouths of babes..." category, one from each of the kids yesterday.

Friend: "Gee, you're skinny"
Madelyn: "No, I'm not skinny! Mommy doesn't like skinny people and she likes me!"

Before you get to thinking bad things about my dear wife, please know that this is likely from comments made about images of unhealthily (or impossibly) skinny women... e.g. Barbie.

Worse yet... my son, taking off his shirt, says "look, I'm an Indian!"

One word: Spirit

Sigh. We try. Really, we do.

Get my posts via email!

2006-09-07T22:47:00.000-04:00

So I haven't been very prolific lately. Its that fall time of year, I guess. Anyway, if you would rather get my posts via email rather than have to check the web page, I direct your attention to the bottom part of the right column of the page... just type your email address into the box under "Get my blog via Email!" and then click "Subscribe Me" and Feedblitz will deliver my posts to your inbox.

Ain't technology wonderful?

What are we so busy doing?

2006-09-05T23:25:00.000-04:00

Its been a while since I've posted. My apologies to my reader.

So why haven't I posted in a while? I've been busy. Which has gotten me to thinking a bit about what we are all so busy doing. Because everyone is busy, or so it seems. But what bugs me is that it seems there's a bit of counter-evidence available: for example, TV watching is bemoaned as a national habit and the amount of mostly useless information available on the web (including blogs) is soaring. I wonder what the definition of "busy" really is. (By the way, I'd look up the statistics to prove my above points, but well, I don't have time. :-)

So this got me to thinking that maybe, just maybe, we're all so busy because we're being told that we're all so busy all the time and therefore just believe it. It makes us seem more important. But why else would it be useful for us to believe that we're so busy all the time? So we're more likely to be willing to purchase all the time-saving products that manufacturers are creating all the time.

Just think of all of the time- and labor-saving devices and products that are marketed to us. And what are we doing with all that extra time and energy? Rotting our brains out watching reality TV and creating myspace.com pages? We should be ashamed of ourselves. Maybe everyone buying a convenience product should be required to provide some sort of proof that they are doing something socially redeeming with all the time they are saving by using that product.

But, of course, we're too busy for that.

Re-humanization

2006-08-25T17:39:00.000-04:00

Its been discussed and written about ad-nauseum, but so often forgotten. Our "enemies" are people too. In conflicts of all types, the idea is to de-humanize your adversary, so as to make it easier to make their defeat more palletable. Americans today must recognize and respect the humanity of everyone. We don't have to like them. We don't have to agree with them. But we must treat them with dignity and respect. And, as a Christian, I must love them. We live in a polarized country and a polarized world. Demonization doesn't help anyone but besides the media & the war-mongers.

I saw a quote from Kerry Patterson (of Crucial Conversations fame) in an email this week:

I learned that if I put grandpa’s fedora on a stranger—instantly transforming him or her into a person I loved dearly—the stranger became someone worthy of my care and attention. Putting a face on the faceless masses, assigning a name to a crime or war victim, thinking of the people who cause you grief —thinking of them as real people with children of their own—well, this humanizing act has a dramatic impact on how you first think about and then treat them.

Who do you need to re-humanize?

Driving 85

2006-08-24T22:53:00.000-04:00

I'm driving 85 in the mini-van this week. Not just on the highway, but in our subdivision too. No, not I-85. Or even 85 mph. I'm actually driving E85. As in Ethanol-85. That means what's in the gas tank is only 15% traditional gasoline and 85% ethanol.

A few weeks ago, Durham got its first E85 pump at a gas station easily between work & home. I'd read the news accounts with curiousity, but not much else until I noticed a sticker on the gas lid of the van, indicating that E85 was an acceptable fuel for it. Cool! So I did some poking around to find out what to expect (this link has a wealth of information) and filled it up. And what's it like to drive 85? Well, not very different. The van seems to be driving pretty normally, with one big caveat. Fuel efficiency is about 20-25% less than with "pure" gasoline. So given that the E85 was only a little cheaper than gas, I'm paying more per mile.

But, looking at it another way, I've reduced the amount of gas used in the US by about 1 barrel's worth over the 2 weeks that it'll take me to go thru the tank. For those keeping score at home, that's about 0.0000004% of the gas used in this country during that time. Give or take.

Ok, its not much, but I suppose its a start.

Clueless, insensitive, or careless?

2006-08-18T00:21:00.000-04:00

I haven't really been following the saga of Northwest Airlines very closely. They aren't a major player at RDU and given that they rate as the absolute least favorite airline of my dear wife (who has some ugly air war stories to justify it), their woes just don't make it onto my radar screen.

Anyway, it seems that bankruptcy hasn't gotten NWA back to a viable business, so there is talk of additional layoffs and potential strikes. And as if things weren't bad enough between mgmt and employees, it seems last week an "employment assistance company" (management rule #1: blame it on the consultants) passed on some helpful tips to some machinists who are about to be layed off, titled "101 Ways To Save Money".

Unfortunately, the tips fail any miniscule test of sensitivity towards these employees. For example, #46: Don't be shy about pulling something you like out of the trash. Now I'm pretty cheap. Ok, really cheap. And the list has some good ideas in it. In fact, I do some of those things. But sensitively presented or suggested they are not. Speaking as someone who's just gone thru this, this is in no way the type of thing you give to folks about to be layed off. Google shows me that the same list appeared on the web page of the San Franciso Credit Counseling Center, which seems like a more receptive audience for the tips as presented - folks who are actively & desparately looking for ways to cut back, not ones who just got hit in the head by a 2x4 by their union and their employer.

I can see how this happened though - some poor guy (who has probably been sacked & in real need of the list right now) was trying to be helpful, found a list somewhere out in cyberspace and did a quick cut and paste. But didn't read it. Nor did the person putting together the packet at the consulting firm. Nor did anyone at Northwest.

Or at least let's hope that nobody read it before it was distributed, because if anyone did and actually thought this was a good idea, they should be the ones getting layed off.

A Vocational Crisis

2006-08-17T19:59:00.000-04:00

I had a major career crisis today. Actually, I suppose it would be better described as a vocational crisis. The difference being a career crisis is one of those quite frequent "what do I want to be when I grow up?" moments. A vocational crisis is much more rare; its one of those "am I really an engineer?" moments. And given that I've wandered a bit off the pure nerd path, gotten an MBA, and have just done some management, this is a bit of a soft spot for me, even though I am really an engineer to the core of my being.

Anyway, the crisis is all Jodi's fault. She sent out an email with the Subject line: "So Many People Just Won't Get This . . ." If that isn't a challenge, what is? So I opened the email with the full expectation of "getting it" and having a good chuckle. Jodi usually sends out funny stuff. Upon opening, the email contained this Dilbert cartoon and, well, I Didn't Get It. Or, what I think I got just didn't make any sense. Uh oh.

This precipitated the crisis. Not only was I looking at the archetypical diary (hmm, is that an oxymoron? can a diary be architypical?) of the life of an engineer in a large company and not understanding what the venerable Mr. Adams was writing about today, my friend Jodi Got It. My friend Jodi, the sole non-technical person in our house of 9 folks during senior year of college. My friend Jodi, who... well, let's just say that she didn't really need to be subjected to the frozen tundra of Houghton, Michigan and its gaggles of geeks and nerds, other than she was married to one of them.

In the midst of my crisis, I stopped in for some validation from a longtime friend on my hallway at work who was definitely an engineer. She has not one, but two engineering degrees. And deals with Linux all day in her current job. Definitely an engineer. So explained my dilemma and showed her the cartoon. She told me what she thought it meant and well, I'd understood it. The problem is that it just wasn't funny. But there's that nagging feeling there, since Jodi found it funny. Funny enough to send around to all her friends.

It was engineering management. Really.

Seen on a t-shirt

2006-08-15T16:31:00.000-04:00

"The voices may not be real, but they do have some good ideas"

Long range forecasting

2006-08-10T05:21:00.000-04:00

There was a weather forecast in the newspaper yesterday: "The possibility of rain... is between 30 and 40 per cent. If it does rain, it will most likely be only a drizzle." Its not so unusual for a newspaper to carry a weather forecast. What was unusual about this forecast was

(a) it was made by a government official who had nothing to do with the Chinese equivalent of the weather service, and

(b) it was for two years in the future, August 8, 2008. Greg Fishel, eat your heart out.

And why the interest in that day? August 8, 2008 is the day the XXIX Olympiad opens here in Beijing.

So is it the power of positive thinking or one of the advantages of a planned economy?

P.S. Aug 8, 2008 also happens to be the 20th anniversary of the first attempted night game at Wrigley Field.

Tastes like chicken?

2006-08-08T20:51:00.000-04:00

As I mentioned in my last post, I'm in China this week for work. Beijing to be exact. The heart of the beast, some would say. Life is very different here, although some of the differences have more to do with being in a city of 10-12 million people vs the Triangle. Not that there are nearly so many bikes in Manhattan (probably wouldn't hurt though!)

My Lenovo colleagues have been typically gracious hosts, treating us to a couple of excellent meals. The food is radically different though - and very good, especially, I find, if you don't insist on asking what everything is before eating it. I've decided that when your Chinese host says "I don't know how to translate the name of that food," it really means "you don't want to know".

Definitely no chickens were harmed in the writing of this post... nor, unfortunately, in the making of my dinner.

Anyone who says "the world is shrinking" has never flown non-stop to China

2006-08-08T20:49:00.000-04:00

I flew to China on Sunday. And most of Monday for that matter too. While its an amazing feat of engineering to create an aircraft that can carry hundreds of people over 5000 miles, I couldn't help but wonder (sometime during hour 11 or so of the flight) whether actually doing it was a good thing. There's something unnatural about packing a bunch of folks into a hunk of metal and zooming a 6 miles up into the air to go around the world. This definitely falls into the category of "just because we can, does that make it good"?

Still, I admit, its pretty cool. I had a window seat this time. A window seat in business class (with huge thanks to a very clueless check-in agent at RDU). And even better yet, that seat was on the upper deck of a 747. I'd never been in the upper deck of a 747. Check off something else on my list of things to do before I die.

Yeah, what he (she?) said

2006-08-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

I don't know who wrote it, but this post on the blog "Religious but not Right" puts voice to many of my thoughts on the latest mid-east chaos and the war on terror in general. Its reproduced below (cutting a brief rant about unequal media treatment, which I've heard coming from both sides).

What is the proper, appropriate response of a nation to violent attacks by "radical extremists"? We have seen one model illustrated in the response of the British government to last year's attacks on London's public transportation system, in which 52 people were killed and 700 injured. The British rightly understood the attacks as terrorist acts, but responded in a measured manner, dealing both with the investigation of the terrible crime and the need for enhanced security in its wake. But, pointedly, the British military attacked no sovereign nation in reprisal.

Similarly, when seven blasts rocked suburban trains in Mumbai this summer, India refrained from a knee-jerk confrontation with Pakistan over the violence (as opposed to the war that nearly erupted when India sent troops to the Pakistani border following the 2001 attack on India's parliament building). This time, again pointedly, India refused to allow the acts of terror to provoke it into a war footing.

We have also, of course, seen an altogether different model of response, perhaps most clearly exemplified by the U.S. invasion of two countries -- one of which was arguably an actual source of the terror -- following the horrors of Sept. 11, 2001.

It has obviously been in the latter spirit that Israel responded to terror attacks in the past fortnight. Provoked by the Hamas kidnapping of an Israeli soldier, Israel not only invaded the northern Gaza Strip but also destroyed a significant portion of Gaza's infrastructure, including airstrikes against Gaza's power grid. Likewise, days later, when the Syrian-backed terror group Hezbollah seized the opportunity to raid northern Israel and capture two Israeli soldiers, Israel responded with a massive attack on Lebanon's civilian structures, from the Beirut airport to a dairy factory, civilian buses, bridges, power stations, and medical facilities, according to reports. Hezbollah, for its part, responded with rocket fire into northern Israel. And the result, not surprisingly, has been the death of many civilians.

Israel's rush to war in response to acts of terror raises many questions. The most important, perhaps, revolves around the issue of legitimate self defense vs. collective punishment. Israel is indeed surrounded by sworn enemies, including many who are demonstrably willing to violently destroy Israel. But does the real need for security justify the massively disproportionate response to an act of terror? Is the collective punishment of an entire population morally and ethically justified?

Even apart from the ethical questions raised by Israel's massive retaliation, there are significant issues of efficacy: Does it work? Is Israel made more secure by its militaristic approach? Israel has destroyed 42 bridges in Lebanon this week, along with 38 roads, communications equipment, factories, runways and fuel depots at the Beirut airport, and the main ports of Beirut and Tripoli. Does the destruction of much of Lebanon's civilian infrastructure, so painstakingly rebuilt after years of civil war and occupation by both Israeli and Syrian forces, bode well for future peace between the neighboring states? In sum, will the Israeli attacks bring long-term security for Israel, or will they ensure that the next generation of Lebanese (and the next generation of Palestinians) grow up with a undying hatred in their hearts?...

One of the most difficult aspects of trying to be a peacemaker in the Middle East context is the "separation wall" of understanding between the two peoples. The very definition of what is happening is understood in vastly different ways by the two sides. Supporters of Israel see the country attacked by its sworn enemies, and see in its response a necessary and justified act of national self-defense. Others see the region's most powerful military force illegally occupying their homeland and engaging in massive, disproportionate attacks on innocent civilians.

As Christians committed to the cause of peace, our role is not to "take sides" in the struggle, in the traditional sense, but rather to constantly stand for the "side" of a just peace. We can ignore neither the horror of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians nor the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. We must have the vision and courage to stand against the acts of violence by terrorist organizations, as well as the massive state violence by the region's military superpower, while avoiding the trap of positing a false "equivalency" between actions that are not at all equivalent.

And we cannot allow ourselves to be paralyzed by the political, strategic, and moral complexity of the situation to stand back and do nothing. The well-being of millions of people in the region -- and, frankly, peace throughout the world -- requires that people of faith and conscience be actively and conscientiously engaged, for "all it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing."

How do you say VIC Card in Spanish?

2006-07-24T17:37:00.000-04:00

So some academic types did some research and put some words around something that's been bugging me for a while... What the Naive Consumers Don't Know, Can Help You - New York Times

Of course, they were a lot more sophisticated about their investigation and not nearly as disturbed as I, but it essentially comes down to retailers taking advantage of the poor, uneducated, or unsavvy consumer. Maybe it bugs me because I'm grade-A cheap and am always looking for ways to save money, but it just doesn't seem fair. Based on this article, I should be happy, because these folks are the ones are subsidising my discounts. But retailers are making it so that the folks who don't have the means or the planning skills to jump thru the necessary hoops to get a good deal are getting screwed. Retailers seem to make things as complicated as possible in order to get discounts sometimes. Buy 1 and pay regular price, buy 2 and get a huge discount is unfair. 'Loyalty cards" (a subject for a future rant, I'm sure!) are a pain. Collecting scraps of paper from the cash register to turn in after 7, 8, 15 whatever weeks is ridiculous.

So what's my point? That the system is being stacked against those who don't have the means or the English skills to find the deals... meaning the poor end up subsidizing the discounts of the rest of us. Hmm... I haven't heard that point come up in the recent immigration debates.

Stop the Madness!

2006-07-24T08:42:00.000-04:00

There's so many things about the latest Israeli-Palestinian violence that disturbs me its hard to know where to start. I'm not Muslim or Jewish, nor a historian, but I suppose I know more than the average Joe on the American street about the who/where/what of over there (thanks to an interest started by a great 8th grade geography teacher). This round of insanity, like those in the past, just puts a pit in my stomach when I think about it.

This isn't a fight between armies on some remote battlefield somewhere. This is fighting going on mostly amidst real people just trying to live their life as best they can. I don't claim they are all innocents, but many of them are. I can't imagine what its like to be living in Haifa, Beruit, or the other cities involved.

What makes me saddest is the so-called "asymmetry" of the fight. This isn't a tit-for-tat fight. For each pinch that Hezbollah inflicts on Israel, Israel comes in a breaks a few bones. The death toll is 10-1 Lebanese vs Israelis. And that doesn't begin to tell the story. Beruit, just starting to prosper after the last go-round in the 80s & 90s, has been bombed back 50 years, and well on its way to the stone age.

What makes me maddest is the continued unequivical backing of Israel by the U.S. government. We could end this quickly by threatening to withhold the billions of dollars of aid we give to Israel. That "aid" puts blood on our hands - my hands - in just the place and time where we can hardly afford to be seen as more of a bully.

Let's pray that Condi Rice can make some progress today.

What day is it?

2006-07-16T20:27:00.000-04:00

We've been home from our travels for a week now. Seems like an eternity. But its been just seven days. Amazing how an unexpectedly busy week at work, combined with the realities of a family schedule - even one slowed by the summer - makes our time at the farm seem to be in the distant past. I have found myself actually a bit confused as to what month or date it actually is. Maybe its the various plans for events in August that have been happening, the discussions of Kindergarten with Madelyn (and the very exciting "practice run" on the school bus on Saturday!) Its still very strange, as we are in a time of year where I'm usually very aware of the date.

Indeed, generically, a time of year when most folks are very aware of the date. You see, my birthday is in less than a week. In many years, that day served as the day upon which all other things in July were based off of - something would be happening a week before or a few days after my birthday, rather than on the specific date indicated by the calendar. Not so this year. Maybe it is because I'm getting older & my birthday is becoming less of a celebration and more of an acknowledgement of the passing years.

I'm definitely slowing down & starting to get those aches and pains that one associates with getting old. I associate them more with having a desk job and a severe lack of motivation to get any exercise lately. But you get the idea. I'm sure there is little I could add to the volumes written about getting old that hasn't already been said, so I will suffice to leave the discussion at "I've noticed it"...

Certainly, I haven't been out chasing any chickens.

On the Road Again...

2006-07-10T22:42:00.000-04:00

We've been traveling. That's how I've had the extra brain ergs to actually start writing this blog, which I've been pondering doing for quite a while.

Yes, I take a computer with me on vacation. We actually sometimes take 2 or 3. Don't ask - I'm a nerd.

Although my dear wife might disagree, I don't really have this undying devotion to my work which means that I must check in constantly for fear that the entire operation is going to fall apart without me. Quite the contrary. First of all, my employer (Lenovo) is an organization with some 10,000 employees worldwide and enough revenue for it to be well up the Fortune 500 list (although not sure if they actually are on the list since we're not listed on a US stock exchange). They do quite fine without me there.

Bringing the laptops with us is a combination of addiction to being connected, relief from the tedium of hours on the Interstate system, and the ability to skimp on vacation time taken. Oh yeah - and an occasional DVD for the kids.

Summer is a time when the media trots out their reports about how Americans can't take vacation, and when they do, they can't disconnect, and on and on. One I heard the other day said something along the lines that the "typical" American doesn't use 4 of their entitled vacation days each year, even though we get less days than folks in most other countries do. While I'm sure in some ways I would be a prime example for these reports, I don't think its all that clear cut.

I like being connected. I get a lot of my information from the Internet, whether it be at home or at work - weather, news, what time the museum opens, or what have you. I stay in touch with friends scattered around the world as well. I have a keyboard under my fingers or very close by most of the day. Its just easier to click to the information I'm looking for than dig out a phone book or turn on the TV and do it the old fashioned way. Its just part of my life. If I continue that while on vacation, does that make me a bad person? It doesn't seem like being connected is all that terrible. Especially when I can choose whether to connect to work or not while on the computer. I don't have a Crackberry - just an old fashioned laptop. And a cool array of toys which make it possible to connect from the highway or wherever. Maybe that makes it different, in that I'm connected on my terms, not someone else's. I find cell phone calls much more intruding than Instant Messages or emails retrieved while on vacation.

A nerd, but maybe a wierder than normal one. Oh, and no chickens were harmed in the writing of this post.

Ready or Not, Here I Come

2006-07-07T16:16:00.000-04:00

So I'm not so sure how to go about this blogging thing. But I have the urge to share some of the cool things that I learn about & write down some of these random thoughts that I have... so naturally figured that rather than doing so in a more private or traditional way, it seems sharing them with a bazillion strangers is a much better way to go. Maybe I just won't tell anyone that this exists... what's the blog equivalent of the old line about a tree falling in a forest? You tell me. Or maybe the real reason is that I'm a nerd to the very core of my being and am much more likely to blather on electronically rather than using pen and paper.

Note that I am identifying myself as a nerd quite specifically, as opposed to a geek. There is a long history here which may or may not be subject to future postings, but according to Dictionary.com, geek is defined as "A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken". Really. Check it out. (wow, a link... in my first-ever blog posting... aren't you impressed?) Ok, its also A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. -- a definition which is also cited as applying to nerd. I'm actually socially inept enough to not know whether other people feel that I'm socially inept, but I definitely consider myself to be socially inept. But regardless, I have never, and never intend to do anything like biting the head off of a live chicken.

Oh yeah, and I dare you to tell Ozzy Ozborne that he's a geek to his face.

Welcome to my blog, and be assured that no chickens were harmed in the writing of this post.