I am a huge fan of John McCain. I am old enough to respect his service for his country and the FIVE years he spent as a prisoner of war... Obama is doing a fine job for someone I had never heard of until a year ago. And every single time a vote goes out, we spend energy asking ourselves if he's getting the black vote. Well, DUH. Is this a surprise? What an awesome opportunity to have a candidate who will give serious consideration to racial issues. What I don't understand is why every single black person in the U.S. isn't registered to vote and voting for him. My issue with Obama is not that he isn't good, it's that Hillary is better. Yeah yeah yeah. I love Hillary cause she's a woman, you bet your ass I do, and so do all the other women who are voting for her. But consider this, she's damn smart, and I am a huge fan of intellect. The problems facing the world and our country are so much more complex than the common voter understands, if i had my choice, I would pick the smartest person I could find, one who knows what he or she is doing, one who has the gravitas to walk the tough path and make the right decisions, not just for the sound bite, but with a long range vision. And consistency, Hillary has been campaigning for universal health care since her college days, it's not just a popular choice to help her get elected. I know she's committed to that, even if it never happens. Now Barak is a nice looking guy, he has a great smile, he gives a great speech, but when he went head-to-head in the debates with Hil, he just didn't have it, and no amount of spinning could save him. He was trounced. Again. And again. But I won't cry any crocodile tears if Obama gets the nod, we do live in a democracy. Although if he runs against McCain, I might just vote Republican. Decisions decisions, and any way you look at it, we get a President I admire...for a change.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Super Tuesday Makes Me Super Happy
This is a fine day for Americans! That of course is my opinion, and I'm not so dense as to assume that my opinion can be substituted in any form for fact, or that my opinion outranks yours due to some mystical alignment of the stars, and yet, I am rather fond of my own opinion. Sooooo, the results of the primaries has ensured that no matter who gets elected, I will get my way!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Helping Others
This could be long or this could be short, it really depends on my attention span. Those who know me know all about the evils of my rapidly evaporating attention span. I don't finish sentences and i don't listen to my voicemail. I look to see who's called, or I listen long enough to get your voice, and that's all the message I need. Oh, but we're not on about that right now...short tangent rant full stop.
Ok, do you like to help others? Lots of people do, it gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, "I'm a good person" mantra. Yadda Yadda Yadda. So yeah, my mom taught me to help others, just like your mom did. Usually this manifests itself in holding open doors, giving your seat to pregnant women and people of the previous generation. It can show up as giving a buck to the homeless guy on that corner or the bell ringer at your mall. Some people do more, i mean they actually schedule charity time as a lifestyle. A woman here at work, Brenda, does great things with the youth group from her church. Another woman I know, Anna, does amazing things with troubled young women, giving them a chance to take back a derailed life. These people I admire almost above all others. I haven't made volunteerism a part of my life...I'd like to hope "yet". But I do stop to help when i can, and I do it in what some think are the oddest of ways. Certainly odd things have happened as a result of my reaching out.
I used to have a big black German Shepard named Cody. He was about as scary as a dog can be to look at, but he was a big puppy full of love and joy. He and I used to go around to bus stops on Christmas eve and load up as many people in my Ford Explorer as we could fit and take people where they needed to be. I no longer have Cody or the Explorer, but I still stop at bus stops, especially when it's raining, and pick up people. Unfortunately, I only take women these days without Cody to scare the bad guys into behaving. I've never had a bad experience, just some funny looks when I pull up beside a bus stop and ask if anyone needs a ride. Try it some time, I can tell you that it will sure be appreciated.
Ahhhhh, and now, before we've even gotten to the meat of the story, I've grown weary of the topic :) So, three very brief encounters that have happened while trying to help others:
One, saw an elderly gentleman whose old car had broken down, offered him a lift home and he decided to make a pass at me, took every single minute of the 20 min ride home to tell me what a great life we could have on his $600 a month pension. I can't believe I let that opportunity pass me by!
Two, met a hungry homeless person on a bus who followed me home and I felt bad for him and fed him, which he took as a sign that i was madly in love with him and wanted to make boom boom with him. Had a hell of a time getting him out of the apartment, didn't want to hurt him, but COME ON!
Three, stopped to help a man passed out in his car, thought he was having a heart attack, turns out he was drop dead drunk. He was a sheriff and his uniform was hanging up in the back seat. Felt safe taking him home as I was with a co-worker, but he wouldn't tell me where he lived, instead, we took him back to work, at an Air Force chapel, where he proceeded to take the entire staff hostage at gunpoint because a female chaplain refused to go out with him. I didn't get any commendation medals for that one!
So helping people is good, and helping some people is good for a laugh :)
Ok, do you like to help others? Lots of people do, it gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, "I'm a good person" mantra. Yadda Yadda Yadda. So yeah, my mom taught me to help others, just like your mom did. Usually this manifests itself in holding open doors, giving your seat to pregnant women and people of the previous generation. It can show up as giving a buck to the homeless guy on that corner or the bell ringer at your mall. Some people do more, i mean they actually schedule charity time as a lifestyle. A woman here at work, Brenda, does great things with the youth group from her church. Another woman I know, Anna, does amazing things with troubled young women, giving them a chance to take back a derailed life. These people I admire almost above all others. I haven't made volunteerism a part of my life...I'd like to hope "yet". But I do stop to help when i can, and I do it in what some think are the oddest of ways. Certainly odd things have happened as a result of my reaching out.
I used to have a big black German Shepard named Cody. He was about as scary as a dog can be to look at, but he was a big puppy full of love and joy. He and I used to go around to bus stops on Christmas eve and load up as many people in my Ford Explorer as we could fit and take people where they needed to be. I no longer have Cody or the Explorer, but I still stop at bus stops, especially when it's raining, and pick up people. Unfortunately, I only take women these days without Cody to scare the bad guys into behaving. I've never had a bad experience, just some funny looks when I pull up beside a bus stop and ask if anyone needs a ride. Try it some time, I can tell you that it will sure be appreciated.
Ahhhhh, and now, before we've even gotten to the meat of the story, I've grown weary of the topic :) So, three very brief encounters that have happened while trying to help others:
One, saw an elderly gentleman whose old car had broken down, offered him a lift home and he decided to make a pass at me, took every single minute of the 20 min ride home to tell me what a great life we could have on his $600 a month pension. I can't believe I let that opportunity pass me by!
Two, met a hungry homeless person on a bus who followed me home and I felt bad for him and fed him, which he took as a sign that i was madly in love with him and wanted to make boom boom with him. Had a hell of a time getting him out of the apartment, didn't want to hurt him, but COME ON!
Three, stopped to help a man passed out in his car, thought he was having a heart attack, turns out he was drop dead drunk. He was a sheriff and his uniform was hanging up in the back seat. Felt safe taking him home as I was with a co-worker, but he wouldn't tell me where he lived, instead, we took him back to work, at an Air Force chapel, where he proceeded to take the entire staff hostage at gunpoint because a female chaplain refused to go out with him. I didn't get any commendation medals for that one!
So helping people is good, and helping some people is good for a laugh :)
Thursday, May 17, 2007
See Scott Run
Have you ever wondered why places that appear bright and shiny in your childhood memories seem dull and drab when you revisit them as adults? What a sad reality! Because my father was in the military, most of my childhood places remain as distant memories, and I think that's the way I like them. That's just a random thought and not really the purpose of this story.
When I was in 3rd grade, I went to a bright and shiny school in NYC on Governor's Island. We had recently moved to NY from CA, and unlike my school in CA, this school was indoors and all the rooms opened inwards into these large carpeted corridors, it was like the classrooms only had 3 walls and the 4th wall was the corridor.
Soooo, I was in my class and I remember we were sitting around the floor, I guess for story time, and we hear a commotion before we see anything. A female voice is yelling at someone to STOP RIGHT NOW! As our collective gaze riveted on the corridor, a small body goes tearing past my classroom closely pursued by an elderly teacher with white hair in a bun livid by the disobedience and defiance of the wayward youth. It was my older brother Scott. Older by 17 months. We were transfixed by the wonder of it all; the reversal of authority, we would have applauded if not restrained by the threat of censure.
I was thrilled by the audacity, I'll never forget that feeling, like a caged bird viewing the essence of freedom. Of course, he lived to regret that behavior and eventually learned the value of conformity, but that spirit lives in all of us.
When I was in 3rd grade, I went to a bright and shiny school in NYC on Governor's Island. We had recently moved to NY from CA, and unlike my school in CA, this school was indoors and all the rooms opened inwards into these large carpeted corridors, it was like the classrooms only had 3 walls and the 4th wall was the corridor.
Soooo, I was in my class and I remember we were sitting around the floor, I guess for story time, and we hear a commotion before we see anything. A female voice is yelling at someone to STOP RIGHT NOW! As our collective gaze riveted on the corridor, a small body goes tearing past my classroom closely pursued by an elderly teacher with white hair in a bun livid by the disobedience and defiance of the wayward youth. It was my older brother Scott. Older by 17 months. We were transfixed by the wonder of it all; the reversal of authority, we would have applauded if not restrained by the threat of censure.
I was thrilled by the audacity, I'll never forget that feeling, like a caged bird viewing the essence of freedom. Of course, he lived to regret that behavior and eventually learned the value of conformity, but that spirit lives in all of us.
My Brag Book
This covers my contributions to the world, and if taken as a whole, I might look like an upstanding citizen, but remember that I've hidden all those stupid or mean or petty behaviors that have also populated my personal history. Forget about that, this is what I'd like to remember:
1974 - 2nd Grade Reading - so advanced that I sat alone in a separate room doing anything I wanted while the class learned to read...already reading at high school graduate level.
1977 - 5th Grade Art - more pictures on the wall than anyone!
1978 - 6th Grade straight A's - the teacher (Mr. Ridgel, Hamilton Elementary) had never given straight A's before and actually tried to give me a B+, but I petitioned for an A and he agreed!
1979 - 7th Grade - selected to give Spanish puppetry show on Parent's night by Spanish teacher
1981 - My freshman year of HS - started on road to academic success, actually my least successful year as I received one B+
1982 - My favorite subject of all time, Geometry, scored so high that I had to be taken off the curve or the next highest grade would be a C...loved the logic
1983 - Chosen as a delegate for our school's contingent in the state academic decathlon in rhetoric; unfortunately the only glory was being chosen because i made no effort and didn't even read the rules or prepare, I think I was an embarrassment :)
1984 - Highest achievement in my school on SATs
1985 - Salutatorian of class...not #1????
1985 - voted Best in Math & Science by HS faculty & received Faculty Scholarship
1985 - President California Scholarship Federation
1985 - Joined AF - got honor graduate in boot camp and again in Tech School
1986 - Commendation by AF Inspector General Team - best books in the AF (I was a bookkeeper) and got a 3-day pass
1987 - Accepted at Air Force Academy; lots of stuff here, Most Improved Volleyball, Basketball, Rugby, CO all-state rugby team, Wing Champs at Team Handball, Best in Math, Dean's List, yadda yadda yadda - I did NOT like the AFA, and then i left in 1990.
1993 - Graduated Cal Poly, 120 units of my 4-year 198 unit degree in 1 year with 3.5 GPA...damn i'm good :)
1994 - moved to Sacto and got hired by Transamerica Info Mgmt Svcs, worked for the best boss in the world, Darryl DeBond
1994 - 6 mos later, got promoted to Mgr, youngest mgr in company
1995 - got promoted to Director, 30 people working for me, youngest sr mgr in company
1996 - selected as one of top young managers in transamerica corp and sent to Darden Executive training
1996 - highest ranked mgr at TIMS in 360-degree review performed by outside firm
1997 - left TIMS to jump on web bandwagon...woo-hoo
1998 - moved to Guam to essentially play soccer, scuba dive and do enough web design to pay the rent (about 10hrs a month)
1999 - got lured back to the states for the dotcom craze, ridiculous salaries, profit-sharing, etc.
2000 - went to work for a startup, 1GlobalPlace.com, fantastic company, smart people. Managed dev group and lead all major projects for a year before we got bought out by Verisign
2001 - Took all my liquid assets and poured it into education software company, Schoolbygolly, still love that name. Developed the s/w for a year, took it to trade shows, couldn't live w/o capital and fund-raising efforts were unsuccessful. Really great reception of interface at tradeshows, but closed the doors in 2002.
2002 - Went to bootcamp to learn .net - got hired as bootcamp trainer while at bootcamp; taught bootcamp with no practical experience in .net (yikes)
2003 - Almost died, sister saved my life, took me to emergency room in the middle of the night because i had refused to go to the dr for what i thought were flu symptoms. turns out my body was septic and was shutting down.
2003 - Popped out 1st Beautiful Child in August
2003 - Got married...REALLY??? how did that happen??? Robert's fault entirely
2004 - Got a gig writing c# and XML with no practical experience, I somewhat winged the interview and exagerrated past exposure to these technologies. Learned that google was my friend and favorite search term started like "VB C# equivalent..."
2004 - Popped out 2nd Beautiful Child in Oct
2005 - Started working at www.guidance.com as s/w architect, great company
2006 - Popped out 3rd Beautiful Child in Sep (it's a girl!!)
2007 - Lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks on Body for Life program
2007 - created Guidance Seminar Series
...and there's more to come...always more to come
1974 - 2nd Grade Reading - so advanced that I sat alone in a separate room doing anything I wanted while the class learned to read...already reading at high school graduate level.
1977 - 5th Grade Art - more pictures on the wall than anyone!
1978 - 6th Grade straight A's - the teacher (Mr. Ridgel, Hamilton Elementary) had never given straight A's before and actually tried to give me a B+, but I petitioned for an A and he agreed!
1979 - 7th Grade - selected to give Spanish puppetry show on Parent's night by Spanish teacher
1981 - My freshman year of HS - started on road to academic success, actually my least successful year as I received one B+
1982 - My favorite subject of all time, Geometry, scored so high that I had to be taken off the curve or the next highest grade would be a C...loved the logic
1983 - Chosen as a delegate for our school's contingent in the state academic decathlon in rhetoric; unfortunately the only glory was being chosen because i made no effort and didn't even read the rules or prepare, I think I was an embarrassment :)
1984 - Highest achievement in my school on SATs
1985 - Salutatorian of class...not #1????
1985 - voted Best in Math & Science by HS faculty & received Faculty Scholarship
1985 - President California Scholarship Federation
1985 - Joined AF - got honor graduate in boot camp and again in Tech School
1986 - Commendation by AF Inspector General Team - best books in the AF (I was a bookkeeper) and got a 3-day pass
1987 - Accepted at Air Force Academy; lots of stuff here, Most Improved Volleyball, Basketball, Rugby, CO all-state rugby team, Wing Champs at Team Handball, Best in Math, Dean's List, yadda yadda yadda - I did NOT like the AFA, and then i left in 1990.
1993 - Graduated Cal Poly, 120 units of my 4-year 198 unit degree in 1 year with 3.5 GPA...damn i'm good :)
1994 - moved to Sacto and got hired by Transamerica Info Mgmt Svcs, worked for the best boss in the world, Darryl DeBond
1994 - 6 mos later, got promoted to Mgr, youngest mgr in company
1995 - got promoted to Director, 30 people working for me, youngest sr mgr in company
1996 - selected as one of top young managers in transamerica corp and sent to Darden Executive training
1996 - highest ranked mgr at TIMS in 360-degree review performed by outside firm
1997 - left TIMS to jump on web bandwagon...woo-hoo
1998 - moved to Guam to essentially play soccer, scuba dive and do enough web design to pay the rent (about 10hrs a month)
1999 - got lured back to the states for the dotcom craze, ridiculous salaries, profit-sharing, etc.
2000 - went to work for a startup, 1GlobalPlace.com, fantastic company, smart people. Managed dev group and lead all major projects for a year before we got bought out by Verisign
2001 - Took all my liquid assets and poured it into education software company, Schoolbygolly, still love that name. Developed the s/w for a year, took it to trade shows, couldn't live w/o capital and fund-raising efforts were unsuccessful. Really great reception of interface at tradeshows, but closed the doors in 2002.
2002 - Went to bootcamp to learn .net - got hired as bootcamp trainer while at bootcamp; taught bootcamp with no practical experience in .net (yikes)
2003 - Almost died, sister saved my life, took me to emergency room in the middle of the night because i had refused to go to the dr for what i thought were flu symptoms. turns out my body was septic and was shutting down.
2003 - Popped out 1st Beautiful Child in August
2003 - Got married...REALLY??? how did that happen??? Robert's fault entirely
2004 - Got a gig writing c# and XML with no practical experience, I somewhat winged the interview and exagerrated past exposure to these technologies. Learned that google was my friend and favorite search term started like "VB C# equivalent..."
2004 - Popped out 2nd Beautiful Child in Oct
2005 - Started working at www.guidance.com as s/w architect, great company
2006 - Popped out 3rd Beautiful Child in Sep (it's a girl!!)
2007 - Lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks on Body for Life program
2007 - created Guidance Seminar Series
...and there's more to come...always more to come
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