Sometimes the most well-intentioned plans can
go awry. My wife, who doesn't get off work until 8PM, thought it would be nice to
take our new daughter-in-law out to dinner since she's leaving for 10 weeks of
military training. She agreed, it was a nice thought, and invited her parents to
come along. Problem is, they couldn't wait until Lynn was finished at work, so
off they all went without us. On top of that, I'm leaving later today for a
pleasure weekend with my parents in North Carolina. Again, Lynn can't go because of
her job. How do you console someone you love who rightly feels her odd work schedule
gets in the way of everything? I'm afraid I'm not doing it very well. Apparently contemporary miracles are conducted
with less dramatic flair than during Biblical time. While waiting at the auto
repair shop today, in drives this big shiny chrome tow truck with an air-brushed
picture of Christ and "Jesus Saves" painted on the side. Fortunate accident victim.
Let the appeals begin.
Among the millions of quotes today, this one does a good job of summarizing my opinion
of the Microsoft anti-trust matter: "Any country that will screw a company that's
created more wealth in the last 10 years is crazy — completely nuts." The recent story of a
Chicago cocktail waitress
receiving a $10,000 tip for a $9 bar tab got me thinking about service. Obviously
the service by this particular student moonlighter impressed the patron, but
certainly luck played a big part. Imagine if she had been in a grumpy mood. There is a restaurant chain where you can frequently
find me for lunch. Popular in the Southeast, they have great food at reasonable prices,
but they also have a friendly, helpful service staff. The waitresses call me honey
or sweety and ask how I've been. They always make sure my glass is full and talk me
into eating some veggies instead of fries. I return again and again, as much for the
polite and cordial service I receive, as for the meal. Don't have $10,000, but if
I did... Kitty props. What will
she think of next? I did some serious thinking through the whole
job change thing today. I am better prepared for decision making, but have even
more possibilities to consider. Was it a productive exercise? Yes, probably.
I feel a bit more at peace with the total process, yet no less confused about
the potential. However, I am developing a sense of acceptance toward change,
always a good thing. Acceptance is an enormous stress reliever. Most importantly, though, I am in control of my
own destiny. I wasn't sure of that before today. I have now seemingly rationalized
even negative outcomes and determined ways to spin them to my advantage. I am not
a commodity to be bought or traded — instead, I am a valuable human resource
that will go to the most provocative bidder. Isn't it ironic? The Internet was originally
created by U.S. research and military establishments — infrastructure built on
university campuses — yet when you explore the Web today's mainstream search
engines are not operated with scientists in mind. Technologies under development should improve
this unfortunate aspect of web evolution. As
reported by Nature, enhancements to web development will also augment
research of scientific manuscripts. XML, inference engines, and prototype neural
networks will make searching the entire web by keyword a thing of the past within
five years. If these efforts succeed in weaving a seamless web from the scientific
literature, researchers should find that the hours spent trawling through pages of
irrelevant search returns are consigned to history. This bodes well for the layman in us all. What
the scientists develop and deploy will become conventional soon afterward. Imagine
the day your search for lucid confusion will prove once and for all what an
incongruous oxymoron I am. The nuclear family is all screwed up. It seems
that no one lives with who they're supposed to anymore. Today I attended the
wedding of my step-grandson's mother. Think about that for a minute. He is my
step-grandson because he's my step-son's son, not my son's son, but my step-son's
son. Yet I didn't say I attended my step-son's wedding, because that was back in
January to someone who isn't my step-grandson's mother. If you've been paying close
attention, you should now also realize my step-grandson's mother married someone
today who isn't her son's father.
Got that? Just checking. Congratulations to Terry Estep, a fellow West
Virginian, whose Random Notes
journal was a quarterly winner in
The Diarist Awards. Told you the links over there ---> were good stuff. 28may00—03jun00
9th of June 2000
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You're not as young as you used to be. But you're not as old as you're going to be. So watch it.
Men are from Earth. Women are from Earth. Deal with it.
A couple had been married for 25 years and were celebrating their 60th
birthdays, which fell on the same day. During the celebration a fairy appeared
and said that because they had been such a loving couple for all 25 years, she
would give them one wish each.
The wife wanted to travel around the world. The fairy waved her hand,
and Boom! She had the tickets in her hand. Next, it was the husband's turn. He
paused for a moment, then said shyly, "Well, I'd like to have a woman 30 years
younger than me."
The fairy picked up her wand, and Boom! He was ninety.