"A Box of Doughnuts"

What is something you can bring to the work environment to benefit the group?

The question was asked in all seriousness at one of our training sessions. It was one of those things meant to get people to think about their skills and abilities in relation to organizational goals. If you've ever been to corporate training, you're familiar with the drill. I wasn't there. Neither was the person telling me the story. According to my source, the respondent was completely serious. Knowing the person who allegedly made the statement, I'm wondering if the people there missed the sarcasm. The Human Resources rep (we always have one in our training) was apparently trying to kill him with her eyes from across the room. The more I think about the story, the more I doubt it was a serious response. It's still very inappropriate.

The reason I heard the story (I'm telling everything in reverse - it's a literary technique), is that I'm being asked to offer some thoughts on the intern program for our internal newsletter. Our public affairs office puts it together. My number one goal: don't screw up. When I fail that, my new goal is to keep my job after the interview gets posted. I'm hoping they rely heavily on the other 4 or 5 interns they're interviewing, and my name just gets mentioned in passing.

An actual new TV season is a great thing, even if it means I get nothing done. More tomorrow.

And Boom Goes the Dynamite

Nice, relaxing weekend. Even cutting the yard wasn't so bad. I only had to cut the back yard (thank you, cooler weather), so it was more "good exercise" and less "almost killing myself." Tennessee went 1-1 this weekend, so that could have been better (Vols lost, Titans won).

Don't forget tomorrow is Chili's "Donate Our Profits Day" benefitting St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. More tomorrow.

Mmmmm, Steak

I have now pan-seared a steak. The taste was very good - not quite as good as grilled (nothing beats grilling), but the searing part had some _issues_. The smoke generated when I put the oil-coated steak on the scorching hot pan set off all of my smoke alarms. I already had the windows open and started a fan going, but the smoke alarms decided they needed some exercise. That was annoying. If I can solve that problem, it's hard to beat a steak that tasty in about 10 minutes (I cooked longer than the recipe called for, I prefer something closer to medium-well). Grilling a steak, I have to start the grill before anything else. Pan searing, I just about finished everything else before I even started the steak. Another key is to completely thaw the steak. Lee's was still a little frozen in the middle and had to be re-cooked just to get to medium. No harm, no foul, just delayed things.

Work is quiet . . . too quiet. Something is going to blow up (in a bad way) very soon. I can feel it. Part of it is that they're going to try to hand the ground testing over to me. No one has said that, but I'm about to be the only government guy working on ground tests. There's a contractor in ground tests, and flight tests are handled by two contractors (no government lead), but I can just feel them trying to put me in charge. I don't wanna be in charge.

I like watching Food TV. It gives me good ideas. Sometimes the ideas are crazy, but, like the pan-seared steaks, some ideas are worth trying. More tomorrow.

Congratulatoriations

Lee and Jennifer are engaged. And everyone yawned. It's not that we're not happy for them. It's just that we all saw this coming. They're perfect for each other (and after 4 years, we all acknowledge this), and it was time for some life-changing decisions. So good for them.

I also had a good weekend. Well, Saturday morning was no fun (cleaning up my parents' new house they're building). And Saturday afternoon was no fun (the University of Florida needs to be washed into the Gulf). And Sunday was no fun (no complaints, just needed to be parallel to the other statements). Saturday night, though, was good. I'd say more, but I don't know you well enough to go into details here.

Nappy time. More tomorrow.

I Am the One I've Been Waiting For

I had training all day today. It was stupid. I snarked the whole time. It was the smallest intern class we've had - 11 people. 5 of them were new (3 with about 6 weeks on the job, 1 who started yesterday, and someone else). One of them thought I was hilarious (she's clearly very smart). Another was an aerospace engineer (she got lost on the way to the building this morning, always a good sign). David (the guy who started yesterday) seems like a nice enough guy, except he said he had an engineering degree and is now doing cost estimating. I don't trust people who abandon their engineering.

Tonight, I've been watching the last of Heroes Season 1. I'd been watching it with my dad to introduce him to the show, but I wanted to finish it before I start Season 2, which I want to finish before Season 3 premieres Monday. I forgot how awesome the end of Season 1 was.

I'm looking forward to the weekend, and not just because it's another weekend. More tomorrow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Michael Phelps

The Shatner just showed up during Michael Phelps' monologue. I think they knew they needed to do something to liven him up. I'm not going to watch any more, I just wanted to see a few minutes of it. I'm not interested in their brand of political "humor."

Nothing to report, either yesterday or today. More tomorrow.

Nine Eleven

People alive in 1963 remember exactly where they were when they heard the news that President Kennedy had been shot in Dallas. People alive on September 11, 2001 feel the same way.

It was a Tuesday. I hadn't been in college that long. I was still living at home. My routine was to get up, eat breakfast, dress for school, then watch TV before I left for CBU. I was on a news kick at the time, so I turned on Fox News. They were already showing live pictures of the World Trade Center burning, and there were confused reports that a plane had struck the building. As reports started to come in that _something_ had happened at the Pentagon, I stood in my living room and watched the second plane fly into the Twin Towers. At first, I thought it was some footage they found of the first plane, but then I realized that you could see the first building on fire while the second plane struck.

Around this time, pictures started coming in from the Pentagon, then reports that it, too, had been struck by an airplane. In 2001, no one's first thought was "terrorist attack," not until we started to see how coordinated, how planned this was. The first tower to fall came down about the time I was leaving for school. 7 years removed, I don't remember if I saw it live or heard it on the radio then saw a video, but I still have that image in my mind. I drove to CBU with the news on every radio station. When I got to class, Dr. Brown was just putting a sign on the door that class was cancelled. I still had my peer counselling class that afternoon, but I emailed the PC that I wouldn't be there and then drove home. The news was still on the radio, but I had to turn it off. The news of another plane crash, somewhere in Pennsylvannia, was out there, but I was too drained to keep listening. I don't remember much else from that day. The next vivid memory of the events is when President Bush went down to Ground Zero. The now lampooned exchange where the President began speaking and someone shouted "we can't hear you." President Bush's reply, of course, was the "the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us pretty soon" line. At that point, I think everyone was expecting another attack, and sooner rather than later.

It's been 7 years. There have been attacks elsewhere in the world. Domestic terrorists have attacked here at home. There has not been a single successful attack by foreign terrorists on American soil. Nearly 3,000 people were killed that day. Among them were heroes, fighting with their last breath to save just one more life. Also included were average people, doing nothing more than showing up for work. Buildings came down, symbols were damaged, but you don't poke a lion just because it's snoozing. As a nation, we came together in grief and sorrow and pain.
No politics today. No regular blog entry. More tomorrow.

Just a Typo Away

From being the ultimate junior high joke.

The Large Hadron Collider began operation today (actually 11:30 last night, my time), and the world keeps going on. No strange matter converting all the other matter it touches (like some kind of sub-atomic Mormons). No mini-black holes that keep growing and growing, eventually swallowing the universe (but think, no more landfill problems). No whatever else the crazies were worried about happening. Just one big phallic joke.

In other news: The Oprah has decided that presenting opposing viewpoints to hers is unfair. I love that logic: I've made up my mind, so none of the rest of you would benefit from more information. The implication is that if you're a fan of the Oprah (and she has an audience of millions), then you should vote the same way she does. Which is why I hate celebrity endorsements. They get all holier-than-thou about it.

In still other news: John McCain is polling ahead of B. Hussein Obama in several national polls. Traditional thinking is that the first convention gives that candidate a bounce, then the second convention gives that candidate a bounce to net to about zero. Before the conventions, McCain was about 5 points behind. After the Democrats' convention, Barry led by 8 - 12, depending on the poll, for about a 5-point bounce. In some recent polls, McCain made up 20 points to go from about 8 down to as much as 12 up. Most have him leading by about 4 - 6 points. The only poll that matters is the unscientific one conducted on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November (that would be the election), but I think it's clear that the choice of Sarah Palin was a wise one. Well, and Obamessiah and Slow Joe keep running their mouths. Lipstick on a pig? Really? Even if you didn't mean it the way _everyone_ took it (and I don't grant that), your great skill and experience at campaigning didn't tell you this was a bad idea?

Oh, and here's a Missile Defense editorial: Wall Street Journal

For Lee, since he was asking about a transcript of the Bill O'Rielly / Barack Obama interview:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

[Note: Time adjusted for my convenience.]

More tomorrow.

Cameron <3 John

Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles returned tonight with a bang. Several of them, in fact. Cameron, the terminator sent by future John Conner to protect young John Conner, (and, incidentally, named after the key grip from the first three films) declared her love for the future leader of the human resistance. Then, things got weird.

I have nothing to do at work this week. It means there's nothing to mess up, but it also makes for a very long 40 hours. I guess I could try to get some information to do the stupid thing my boss wants (he's on vacation this week, but I bet he'll ask for it next week at the staff meeting). I have two degrees in mechanical engineering, and he wants me to compile people's vacation and travel into a calendar. I've made the calendar, I just haven't bugged people for the information to fill it in. These people have real work to be doing, and I just . . . don't care. Lee, what does Dilbert say about this situation?

Politics. I may have a project to keep me busy. I need to hear back. I received a request for topics of interest for teaching middle school-aged kids how to look at politics for themselves. I sent about 25 - 30 items and volunteered to help fit them to a curriculum. The trick is to do so fairly with a conservative slant. Raising little Republicans is the goal.

Back to my book. More tomorrow.

I Missed You Guys

Well, not really. But this is what happens when I'm left to my own devices for blogging - several days, no updates.

I'm a little disappointed in myself, actually. Last year, I was done with The Sunrise Lands by Saturday afternoon after its release. This year, I'm not done on Sunday night with The Scourge of God. Granted, "real job" isn't quite the same as "grad school job," but I should have been done by now. I lost some momentum with a night I felt bad, and I just haven't picked up steam again.

Then this weekend, I've been watching a USA marathon of season 1 of House. I can waste time with the best of them.

I cooked tonight. Grilled marinated chicken, mashed potatoes, butterpeas, cornbread. It was tasty. I'm going to try to pick back up with the cooking. My timing is off - some food done way too early for other food. Also, leftovers are better for lunch than deli ham.

For the record, I hate cutting my yard. More tomorrow.

Sarah Palin - The Pit Bull

I'm taking a break from reading to watch the Palin speech. I stopped a little early because Rudy Guiliani was speaking, and I'm glad I did. Rudy's speech was amazing. He and I don't agree on everything politically, but this speech was perfect.

And now, Sarah speaks. Shhh, I'm listening.

The accent is odd to my ear, but the words are pure music. If they let me, I'm going to vote twice or three times.

She's forceful and authentic. She's hitting a little harder at the Dems than I thought she would, but I'm not complaining. As a matter of fact, as she goes on, I'm starting to wear out my hands from clapping. Here, alone in my house, I'm clapping, cheering, and yelling. I liked the choice of Sarah Palin before. Now, I love the choice.

I'm tearing up during the part about McCain's heroism. That stuff gets to me.

I want to end with two quotes I typed quickly during the speech:

"There are those who use change to promote their careers, and there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change."

"Do you know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick."

More tomorrow.

The Scourge of God

For some odd reason, this morning I planned to write a real blog entry tonight. This afternoon, however, I picked up the next book in my series. I've been waiting almost a year for this book, so no more from me tonight. More tomorrow.

Stupid Placekicker

You have one job on the team. One. Job. They set the ball on the ground; you kick it between the tall yellow things. While everyone else is practicing real skills like passing and tackling, you set the ball on the ground and kick it between the tall yellow things. I realize if it were easy, everyone would be a placekicker, but that's YOUR JOB. 1 out of 4 ain't gonna cut it.

David Tran Hates the Mexicans

Ask Sheena, she heard him say so at the wedding. Context is unimportant - the Asian guy dislikes Mexicans.

I'm back in Harvest, AL. Nice drive again. Actually, the whole weekend has been pretty good. Of course, leaving early Friday is always nice, and the drive was pleasant. Saturday went well. Sunday was relaxing. I could have done without the packing and loading and unloading today, but it was all my stuff, so I'm the only one to blame.

I'm thinking about spending some time before the election detailing some of the big issues, as I see them. Feel free to offer suggestions in the comments.

Now, I'm watching football. Go Vols! More tomorrow.