This is one of those posts where I’m setting a marker for when the sh** hits the fan, so to speak. There are no deep dark secrets revealed here, though there is some geek talk after the jump. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
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All’s Quiet
The kid’s are at their Grandparents for the close of their Summer Vacation, making for a quiet house. One of the unusual abilities of the brain is to adjust itself and create a “new normal.” So prolonged time at sea gives one sea legs; prolonged exposure to dark results in increased sensitivity to light; and prolonged exposure to kids results in … accepting certain level of chaos as normal.
They are old enough now that they can be lightly monitored. Usually, silence is an indicator that they’re up to something. Screaming, arguing, laughing and general havoc and running around is the norm. There’s a certain threshold that has to be crossed before parental intervention becomes necessary. Even then, they’re clever enough now that I know the more aggrieved of the two is engineering the intervention. Such is the life of the parent of post-toddlers.
Perhaps a more succinct way of stating it is that, their absence is noticeable.
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Always Ask
In resolving the lass’ school situation for the coming year, we reaffirmed the old maxim “It’s worth a shot.” The local public school has a pre-K program which we did not bother to enroll her for. We had no reason- her progress at the pre-K we sent her to was fantastic. Why mess with a good thing?
Well, we know how that turned out. Initially, we were kicking ourselves for not at least entering her in the lottery. Our assumption at this point was that she had no chance for getting in. After all, they hold a lottery to put kids into it in the first place. So with-holding the kids from the lottery and then calling last minute like for a spot just seemed like such an easy way to game the system, that I assumed it couldn’t possibly work.
We called anyway. And, as luck would have it, they had room. So her schooling for this year is all set. As it happens, news of the change does not seem to have bothered her one bit. In fact, the prospect of riding the bus home from school was almost too much for her to take. Despite her seemingly strong feelings for her previous teachers, the prospect of going somewhere else didn’t even register a hiccup.
Glad we asked.
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Time for a Reset
With the President’s and Democrat’s popularity plummeting, a thought develops that perhaps a political reset of sorts is in order. More specifically, that politicians should stop claiming credit regarding the country’s economic condition.
Even though I’m not a fan of the current President, and even less so the Democrats at large, I don’t entirely blame them for the current economic doldrums. I think what ails the economy right now is something that is, and was, unavoidable.
The economy is too vast. There are too many variables and forces to be quantified and accounted for. There are “unknown unknowns.” So, in my humble opinion, anyone declaring that they know how to “fix” the economy is over estimating their knowledge domain by at least an order of magnitude. Probably several.
So, given the complexity of the economy, I also believe that attempts to control it are fated for disaster. Or, at the least, failure. And here’s where I hope that the political parties might, out of their own self-interest, start to actively distance themselves from such notions.
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Curveballs
At the end of this past school year, we thought we were in a good situation regarding school for the kids. The boy was no problem- he’s a grade schooler now and established in the local school system. The lass, on the other hand, is not. But, we were very impressed with the Catholic School pre-K program she was in and we enthusiastically reserved her spot for the coming year.
Alas, it was not meant to be. Or at least, not meant to be a sure thing.
The first inkling of trouble was a letter in July that the school’s principal had resigned. After 1 year. The letter introduced a new principal and stated unequivocally that it was steady-as-she-goes for the coming school year.
Then we had the message this Friday past. The K-8 portion of the school was going to be closing. The pre-K was still being offered, but without a secretary or school nurse available. They were investigating moving the class to another Catholic School in the area. Were we interested?
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More Oracle versus Google
This here post is certainly comprehensive and well hedged. The first half or so can safely be skipped if all you’re curious about is an analysis of the alleged patent violations.
The author’s bottom line is that Android will remain. The question being whether and how-much Google will have to cough up to Oracle. After reading the analysis, I inclined to believe that lawyers have a helluva time understanding the nature of software; thus, Oracle may well have bitten off more than it can chew.
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Favre BAck
I suppose the title says it all. His season last year was much better than I thought him capable of. The man does seem to be made of different stuff than any other quarterback I can think of. So I guess I’ll leave it at wishing him luck for the coming season. Having the Super Bowl as the marker for success or failure makes for a long road.
But I have to admit, he’s probably the one guy you’d want for the job.
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Blago Trial Verdict
It would seem that Rod Blagojevich has dodged all but one of the charges against him. The total would be guilty on 1 count(not sure which one) and 23 others were declared mistrials.
I’m not a lawyer, so I’m pretty sure I’m completely unqualified to offer the opinion that the fact that this guy could not be found guilty of any wrong doing means that the justice system as it pertains to politicians is a joke. A very big, very unfunny joke.
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On Professional Holdouts
In general, I’ve always held holdouts in professional sports with disdain. My view, based on circumstance, will fall along familiar lines of honoring the contract terms or what does these athletes need more money for. So I guess, another way to say it is that I’ve never really thought about it much, but just didn’t have any sympathy for the athlete.
Having read this article by Bill Simmons, I realize there’s a lot more to it. Simmons is usually more of a humor writer, but this time around he does a nice job of presenting an argument. Highly recommended read for sports fans.
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Oracle vs Google
Well, this story will likely be the tech talk of the day. Oracle, which purchased Sun Microsystems and now owns the Java programming language, had sued Google for IP infringement. I haven’t found any more detailed analysis at this point, but it’ll be interesting, to say the least. The only thing at stake is the fate of Android OS, that’s all.
I recall reading (ahh, here it is) an article on how Google had cleverly avoided violating (at the time) Sun’s licensing. The gist, if I understand it correctly, is the virtual machine used in Android does not interpret normal Java bytecode, but an entirely different byte code. So they are just using the Java syntax, but not claiming it to be a Java platform and, in fact, it’s not because of the Dalvik VM. Thus, they’ve side stepped the licensing.
I don’t know enough about the patents surrounding Java to know if the language itself is considered IP. Further, I believe that Java has been open sourced- although I don’t know if Oracle’s purchase of Sun change that. Again, no idea how that fits (or if it does at all) into the equation.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for some analysis.
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Dear Boy and Lass
Yes. I could hear you. Yes. I was ignoring you.
Remember, this morning? When I was mowing the lawn, right in front of you while you played on the swing? You kept calling me and calling me and I kept not responding? Yeah, then. I could hear you the whole time. Despite the racket from the mower. And the ear plugs in my ears.
Of course, I couldn’t tell what you were saying, other than “DAD!!” But I was able to infer that it was not terribly important. How? Well, because the entire time you were yelling for me, and I was ignoring you, you guys never left the play gym. And since it was obvious that neither of you was injured, and you’re both toilet trained so it wasn’t a potty emergency, I decided that it was in everyone’s best interest if you waited. So I let the earplugs and the mower noise serve as a pretense for my inability to “not hear you.”
Why was it in everyone’s best interest?
Well, I wanted to get the lawn mowed. If I answered you every time you called for me I’d still be mowing it now, about 2 hours later. Heck, I might still be mowing it tomorrow.
Why was it in your best interest? Well, I think it afforded you the opportunity to learn any one of a number of lessons:
- Courtesy- when someone is working, and your need is not dire, let them complete their task before asking something more of them
- Respect for someone else’s time. I know you think every little thing that pops into your mind needs to be serviced now, Now, NOW! But it’s just not the case.
- Patience- I think we’ve already covered that your “need” could wait.
- Self-Initiative- maybe you could have dealt with the problem yourself.
I’m aware that you can’t read or understand this letter at this time, but soon you will be capable. Perhaps someday you’ll discover this little corner of the world and stumble across this letter. Hopefully, by then, you’ll have absorbed the afore mentioned lessons and get a kick out of the antics of your past selves. Plus, you’ll know for sure how “Dad” dealt with you in this one instance.
You can do with that knowledge as you will.
Love- Dad
PS- Yes. Other people can read this.
PPS- Yes. Grandma and Grandpa and Memere and Grandpa read hear. I can’t say for sure if they’ve read this particular letter. Your Uncles and Aunts as well.
PPPS- No, you can’t play the Wii.
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He May Yet End up Like Bush
A couple of days ago, Robert Gibbs had some uncharitable things to say about the “professional left” which I guess means journalists, bloggers and op ed writers. In a nutshell, it was a kind of whiny “There’s only so much we can do you bunch of ungrateful jerks.”
Well, the reviews are in and they aren’t good. It struck me because, at the end of Bush’s term, he had basically no support left from anyone, even his base. Judging by the responses from his base, I wonder if President Obama isn’t headed for an identical fate.
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When did that happen?
I remember the big hullabaloo when Urban Meyer resigned for health reasons from Florida. As I was reading through some blurbs about pre-season college rankings, the one on Florida mentioned him as the coach.
Huh?
Some quick searching revealed that his assistants convinced him to “un-resign” and take a leave-of-absence instead. Since then, he found out he had a crappy diet and he’s been spending more time with his family. He’s fixed the diet thing and he’s back from the leave. Apparently, his family time is also a permanent fix as well.
Of course, this is all well and good. I’m just wondering how the heck I whiffed on this particular news in the first place.
UPDATE: While on the subject, good for Nick Saban and Urban Meyer for telling agents and scouts to take a hike for the time being. If their kids can’t be disciplined enough to stay away and the agents, particularly, won’t practice some decency and stay away, then this is a good step. At least they’re sending the message to their players that they really do need to think twice about contact with agents. Especially considering the penalties that the program can face as a result of violations.
I was playing a racquetball game when I was around 8. I had only just begun learning to play. I wasn’t particularly good, but better than average. Good enough to think I could play better players and beat them.
I was wrong but I refused to admit that to myself. The result was my calling frequent timeouts and being next to tears in the corner of the court, frustrated at my inability to beat my opponent.
I came up with an improved means of handling my own exception classes. Er, well, improved for me anyway. More capable programmers than I probably do even more interesting stuff.
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PSA- Do Not Call Registry
Got an email this morning about cell phone numbers soon becoming available to telemarketers. So, in a fit of curiosity, I decided to do a little research and turned up this blurb. Basically, the email is a bit misleading. Yes, you an add cell phones numbers to the registry by calling the number. But no, telemarketers are not allowed to call cell phone numbers, or more specifically, they can’t use robo-callers to call cell phone numbers.
So, basically, participation is optional.
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The Importance of Parenting
There were a couple of articles out earlier this week regarding preschool and kindergarten education and the impacts thereof on the child’s later life. Here is the one on preschool and here is the one on kindergarten.
I’d meant to comment on these, but other duties continually get in the way. The thrust of the article on kindergarten is that a good teacher at that level can make a staggering difference in the future success of the children they teach. The pre-school article links to a study which shows similar findings, but approaches it from a non-IQ standpoint. Characteristics such as self-restraint and perseverance are learned in the early childhood years.
Most of the commentary I’ve read related to the article centers on what these studies might mean regarding public policy. Perhaps we should be spending more on early-years education and the like. But this misses the 800-lb gorilla in the room- what these studies really demonstrate is the importance of good parenting. A point that the vast majority of commentary I read doesn’t bother to make.
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The New Toy
Ever since we picked up the new TV, we’ve been considering a Blue Ray player to go along with it. Earlies this week, we finally followed through with a player from LG.
What really sealed the deal, speaking personally, was the extra features of the player itself. We can subscribe to online movies from NetFlix, use Pandora Radio, and several other online features. Obviously, the NetFlix thing is intriguing since for a flat monthly rate, we can watch as many movies as we want. Very cool.
Not that we’ll be watching movies ’til our eyes dry up and fall out, but I suppose we could.
Anyway, the kids christened it with The Sword in the Stone and now the Wife and I are getting our turn with Sherlock Holmes. I’ve also tested the Pandora application and it works swimmingly. We’ll give the NetFlix thing a go in a week or two.
So Alabama is the number one team in the country, according to the preseason coaches poll.
So, given the accuracy of past college preseason polling, I guess that settles it. No need to play the games. It’s all been figured out already.
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“MY TOOF!?!”
“My tooth came out!!”
I heard the words and it didn’t register for a second, then she declared “LOOK!”
We’re in the car and the Wife has just called my Mom to check in and chit-chat. We had just finished our biweekly outing where we go to a chiropractor to get straightened out and then go out for a quick bite. The chiro is a good 45 minute drive for use. But then, so is everything else.
The Wife had returned from a trip late last night and was too tired to decide on mundane things like where to eat, so we went to a Mexican joint which happens to be across the parking lot from a Best Buy. After scarfing Mexican we went into the Best Buy to walk off our meal and ogle at cool electronics. Actually, we did a bit more than ogle as we walked out with a Blue Ray player as well as some new DVD’s for the kids.
We had barely made it to the light less than a half-mile from the parking lot when she declared her tooth was out. After overcoming my initial shock at the words, my mind immediately jumped to the only logical possibility- she was pulling a fast one. I mean, it had only been this morning at 8 when she had come down and had me check and verify that the tooth was, in fact, loose. It was definitely loose, but not that loose.
Apparently, the apple was more effective than I had imagined.
Once the reality of the situation struck us, the Wife turned to me with a deadly serious expression and said “I hope the Tooth Fairy is ready.”
“The Tooth Fairy is always ready.” I calmly lied in reply. The Tooth Fairy had been caught with her wings folded this time.
“I just remembered that I have to get something from Kohl’s” she returned.
So as I’m sitting in the parking lot with the kids, the boy starts giving advice on what to do with the tooth, going so far as to offer his tooth box so she would have something to stash the tooth in for the Fairy’s visit. They also discussed possible gifts she might get.
When the Wife returned “empty handed” she let the lass tell Grandpa about her tooth coming out. Then she got to tell Memere and Grandpa as well. So as to insure the tooth’s safe passage back home (after all, no tooth- no Tooth Fairy) she had relinquished the tooth to the Wife who wrapped it in a tissue and placed it in her purse. When we finally arrived home, she was fast asleep.
With visions of Tooth Fairies dancing in her head.
Done.