Personal

Solar Eclipse 2017

in personal    5 min. read

August 21, 2017

I had been planning on driving down to see the eclipse for a few months. My wife’s aunt lives directly in the totality region. We were unsure until the last day if we could make the trip, but headed down on Sunday. We were able to visit and have a nice slow Monday morning, before the big show.

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I Miss You, Dad

in personal    3 min. read

May 15, 2011

My father fought cancer for decades. He was the strongest man I have ever known. It was hard to see him wither with a body not able to do what his will desired. His suffering finally ended during the early morning of April 20th. Despite knowing that the cancer was terminal and preparing for it. Death is never easy. It tears a hole through you. The storm was heavy. No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep the ship from going down.

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Dark Chocolate Dipped Ginger Altoids

in personal    3 min. read

August 28, 2008

Dark Chocolate Dipped Ginger Altoids. Yes, it sounds weird. I don’t understand how they made it through marketing. I don’t think they had any type of focus group for these. I have a rule that I will try anything once, as long as there isn’t a high likelihood of death. I think this is why blowfish is so expensive, for the malpractice insurance for those that die after eating it. I don’t plan on trying blowfish any time soon.

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What an Engagement!

in personal    3 min. read

March 18, 2008

Today I read of an engagement gone seriously wrong. Although, reading through the article I realized that had I been in that situation, things would have gone differently. Amy and I are a little different than the two in the article. The incident started with a man concealing his $12,000 engagement ring in a helium balloon, with the idea of actually ‘popping’ the question. I don’t understand why he had not attached the balloon to something of a greater weight than the buoyancy.

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Happy Birthday To Me

in personal    1 min. read

March 7, 2008

Hurray for me. Today is my birthday. Last night, I decided to make a German Chocolate Cake. Amy thought I shouldn’t have to make my own cake, but I wanted to try one from scratch. The cake used real melted chocolate and I folded in whipped egg whites. The frosting was pretty standard fare with egg yolks, evaporated milk, sugar, etc. I didn’t have a piece until tonight. I cooked the cake a little too much and it was slightly dry.

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30,000 Hours Later...I'm Engaged

in personal    8 min. read

February 26, 2008

On September 24th, 2004, I met Amy for the first time on our date at Acapulco Joe’s in Downtown Indianapolis. Amy’s car broke down just before we met, so she was driving her dad’s old Ford Ranger. We have been seeing each other since. On Feb 26th, we were going to reach an obscure and geeky anniversary. We will have known each other for exactly 30,000 hours. About two months ago, I targeted this date for something I had been planning for almost a year.

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Leveraging Your Strengths

in personal    1 min. read

February 21, 2008

Unfortunately, I am easily bored. My mind wandered during a meeting at work today as we were talking about leveraging your strengths. So I started drawing on my notepad.

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2^1 / 2^2 / 2^3 2^4 : 2^5

in personal    1 min. read

February 4, 2008

I’m a geek, no doubt about it. Only a geek would notice that today is special. The date is 2^1⁄2^2⁄2^3 or 2/4/08. At 4:32 PM or 16:32, we have a time of 2^4:2^5. Sadly there are not 64 seconds. Yes, and I AM aware that most places that describe dates in a sane way (like everywhere but the US), will have this day in April. :) So enjoy a fun power of two date/time sequence that will not happen again for a hundred years.

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These things I wish

in personal    3 min. read

April 18, 2006

This is something often attributed to Paul Harvey. While Paul often read material from this author, he was not the author. This was written by Lee Pitts in People Who Live at the End of Dirt Roads that appeared in the 2000 Chicken Soup for the Golden Soul. For my grandchildren, I’d like better. I’d really like for them to know about hand-me-down clothes, homemade ice-cream and meat loaf sandwiches. I really would.

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