June 22, 2009
Darwin Wins in the Central Valley
I am not one to make light of others misfortune (ok, sometimes I am), but in this particular case… it was a past neighbor who made the standard dumbass move of the summer - lighting the BBQ with an accelerant… .
However, it is not possible to just sit idly by when you have a nearly first hand account of Darwin at work. So, what happened?
Let’s start with some backstory: the particular neighbor I am talking about moved into the house across the street and three houses down the cul-de-sac. They kept to themselves for the most part, even actively not reciprocating our friendly waves and hellos. The husband was easily recognized around town, as he was essentially bald (by choice), huge, and had a pair of eyes tattoed on the back of his head…. not sure if it was a marking designed to warn off predators… it did creap out us and apparently others.
At some point, this couple decided to buy the house they had been renting… and found that the Realtor and owner weren’t interested in making a deal. They moved out and few weeks ago and bought another house. This tragedy thankfully did not happen in my cul-de-sac.
It was at their new house that our previous neighbor thought it wise to dump gun powder on a BBQ to get it lit up quicker. Apparently he made his own ammunition (when I learned this, I was happy he had left the area). The dumping of gunpowder resulted in an explosion and the poor guy was engulfed in flames… presumably burning his head and torso.
His wife was so freaked out she could not explain to the 911 dispatcher where to send the ambulance. It, amazingly, was the husband that calmly told them where to come and get him. As it turned out, he inhaled alot of the burning gas, searing his lungs fatally. He died later that night.
A tragically sad event that I would not wish upon my most recalcitrant enemy. However, the gene pool has been saved from an anti-social gun nut procreating, which is a good thing.
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March 30, 2009
Ah, the uncomplicated life of a blog ignored…
OK… so I haven’t posted in months. That does not mean I haven’t been thinking about it… far from the contrary.
I have:
- migrated this blog from an old hunking piece of PIII/266MHz to a shiny “new” PIV 2.4GHz.
- move my complete network from what was straight DSL with a wireless DSL router to a U-Verse network with a full house gateway.
- think about moving this blog to a new version of Wordpress. maybe, maybe later.
- probably going to simply redirect my top-level HTML page to this blog and link to the other pages through it… makes more sense, since I have not updated the top level page in a coon’s age.
Regardless, from a blog’s point of view, I am certain StarkBlog is just thankful to have a little attention.
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November 4, 2008
I Voted
Just guess for whom and for what….
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October 22, 2008
Connor Turns 10!
Double digits, man he seems to grow up quickly.
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October 22, 2008
Amusing and not-so-amusing consequences of a typo
Christina recently went to the doctor for outpatient surgery. Prior to the procedure, during registration, they do the normal pre-surgery workup - height, weight, blood pressure, temperature, etc.
Somehow the receiving nurse put Christina’s height down as 6″ instead of 6′… and when I was purusing the data listed on the sheet, it said her BMI was about 4500! I chuckled to myself, and was caught by the nurse and Christina. I said that according to the NIH, she was a house.
Now, although this was amusing, it could have real consequences…
- imagine that an automated system in the HMO propagates that data to an insurance agency.
- this leads to either an increase in fees, or cancellation of the policy
- what if an automated system determined the dosing of anesthetic based on faulty data like this, it could be ouch or death!
Typos can do more than make your wife into a humungous boat of a human.
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October 22, 2008
Man, what a few months I just had….
Stress.
No, really, it has been seriously stressful.
After my last post, Jupiter had a run up to my last major trade show while in charge of marketing, InfoComm. It was a serious effort and it came out beautifully: booth was great, attendance was great, and our new product announcement and demonstration won an award (Best New Control Room Product). Not to mention we put into play a new booth that took 6 people 4 days to build and test… whew!
Just post InfoComm, riding the high of the show… devastation. My boss, mentor, and friend, Wayne Wahlenmeier, died suddenly of a heart attack. No words can adequately describe the role this man played in my life - both professionally and personally - his loss has left a huge hole. I cannot begin to count the number of times I have sought his sage advice, had one too many a drink with him at some far-flung locale, commiserated over issues of the day, or had long political/philosophical/religious discussions … where business was concerned we were completely in sync, politically we were at opposite ends of the spectrum. Our differences certainly made it interesting. I have and had great respect for him and I would like to say we relied on each other and in doing so generated a very successful symbiotic relationship for each other and Jupiter.
Every time I have a Grand Marnier or Gin’n'Tonic, I raise the glass in his memory.
Wayne’s death and funeral in Charleston, South Carolina was just the beginning of a couple-of-month-long odyssey of travel.. first having to postpone the beginning of my vacation to attend a funeral is no way to start off. and it was a long-needed vacation.
That said, once on vacation, I let much of the stress of work slip away.
I made my way back to Montreal to rejoin my family and took a couple of weeks to unwind …eventually we made it to a cottage on the Riviere Mauricie, close to Shawinigan, Quebec. The place was great…
Christina, Connor (is he calling me a loser?!), Manon, Alyssa, and Celina.
A good book, a cup of coffee (or adult beverage), an enclosed gazebo (Quebec bugs are big and hungry!), and time… ahhh!
A little kayaking
Dinner al fresco every night.
I could have kept going…. but alas the real world was calling and I need to get back to work.
I have since changed positions at Jupiter… and am getting my feet under me to help carry our current and new products forward into the next year.
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June 8, 2008
Catching up…
Well, I feel like I have been ignoring my little blog… actually, I have been, but only due to business and other stuff taking up so much time. This blog is principally for family and friends, so I have no intention of entertaining you, the reader, with fabulous stories of familial adventures…. but I will at least fill in some of the details of what we have done over the past couple of months:
1) Connor has finished grade 4 - on the Principal’s Honor Roll. Way to go Connor!
2) Connor has also started taking a 2 hour Chinese language class on Saturday’s - amazingly, he wanted to do it and we are more than happy to have him learn a third language.
3) BTW - in case anyone close to us did not know, Connor’s basketball team placed third in the NJB end-of-season Tournament. Connor’s bball skillz switch turned on (just like the Celtic’s Powe did tonight against the Lakers) and he finished strong with 14 points and 10 rebounds… helping get his team a very hard fought win.
4) I finally got my wife to come camping with Connor and I, and we spent a great weekend camping on the floor of Yosemite Valley - crowded but gorgeous weather and a gorgeous place. I am not sure Christina enjoyed it all that much, but she had to enjoy the weather and the views:
5) Finally getting the pool together as the weather is getting warm and it is time to start thinking about swimming!
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March 9, 2008
NJB Tournament
Live blogging…
First two games yesterday were 1-1, with the Lakers in the lost bracket- but they redeemed thmselves with a great game and a double double by Connor (11 and 10).
Today they are playing a team they had played twice before - both double overtime game. But both times they won.
And they win! 38-37, no overtime this time, but Connor scored 9 points in the 4th period to single handedly kept us in the game. Another double double for Connor.
They are playing for third place this afternoon. .. Since their first game in the tournament
Exciting!
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January 27, 2008
The Internets are a dangerous place for probulation
Nice title, but…. the other day my son had borrowed my laptop to surf the ‘net, principally to hang out at nick.com. This is, of course, ok.
What happened next is worth noting… he decided to, like other little boys, try out some other domain names to see what they had in them, specifically www.pee.com and www.poo.com. Well, you can guess the results… not good. I commend him in that he brought my attention to the sites he visited and said he found them “bad” (that will last for another 2-3 years, max)… but it still provides me a sobering reminder to watch what your kids do on the ‘net.
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January 13, 2008
Basketball letdown…
Well, I shouldn’t have spoken out of turn, as Connor’s team faced a serious opponent today… and lost (41-34). Connor was recovering from a cold and a bout of digestive “liquidation”… and as a result was a little run down and it showed. Still, he scored 6 points and was a positive force on the floor.
I am sure they will turn it around for the next game…
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