2011 has been one hell of a year. So many things as life whizzes by.
Unfortunately in August, things went a little haywire with life and in early September my Father-in-Law passed away suddenly.
Since then it's been even more hectic as this came totally out of the blue. I've tried to be supportive to my wife and her family and a lot of time has been spent helping out my Mother-in-Law adjust to all of these changes as well as some personal ones she's going through.
So I do love posting to the blog but I have to be honest, it will likely stay quiet for a little bit longer until we can get things finally under control.
I am very thankful for all the support, love, laughter and insight that my family, friends and co-workers have given to me in 2011 and I endeavor to give back to them, more than they give to me in 2012.
Happy New Year everyone. Be safe and enjoy life.
31 December 2011
05 October 2011
Ode to a Genius (one of a million going out tonight)
I will never EVER forget the impact of the commercial your company made for the 1984 Superbowl. I was a Senior in High School and had about 2 years of BASIC programming skills under my belt which I unfortunately learned NOT on Apple products.
My first Mac was the Mac Plus (1988) with an external 45MB Seagate hard drive. Imagine my jaw dropping moment when I pulled the shroud off that Mac Plus to upgrade the RAM (anyone remember SIMM cards?) to see the signatures, engraved in the resin, of the Apple employees who created it, including YOURS.
The YEARS I spent arguing MacOS v Windows are years I'll never get back, but at the end of the day, you made a box full of capacitors, electronics and complexity accessible for ANYONE to use. The fact that your product opened an entire world to my Father at 55 years of age that now allows he and my Mother to have Skype calls with their Grandson every Saturday or Sunday during the winters is just pure magic.
These things, which to some may be small, shaped my life and made me into the early technology adopter that I became and continue to be. Although at times, well, many times, I cursed your business model, you stayed the visionary that you always were and when you went back to Apple, you saved it and made it even better. I still argue with the business model, but who the hell am I to argue with that level of success.... clearly I had no clue.
02 August 2011
Time is fleeting...
Wowzers.
We got a letter from Aidan's school that by the end of August he's going to move on to the next room, Pre-school II. Sort of came as a surprise because we though that he wouldn't move on until his 4th birthday but it's making sense that the changes now will happen in line with the normal school year schedule.
As much as we want him to stay this loveable little boy, which, he challenges us about every single night as of late with antics to avoid going to sleep, he's growing and it's going much faster than we ever thought it would. EVERYONE tells us this but you just want to believe that he'll stay this adorable little man forever.
And it has been challenging. One minute you can have almost an adult type conversation with him and the next he's making silly noises to try to drown you out as you talk to him about getting in his pj's to go to bed.
We continue to try to instill loving, thoughtful behavior into his life and he reflects that with things he says and does. But he definitely has the fighting spirit of his Mommy and Daddy. I know I can be tough on him but it's just me holding on to the last shreds of hope that I can protect him from everything bad in the world. Unrealistic as hell but yet, based on my own life experiences.
Don't get me wrong, we're not trying to change him, nor are we the worst stage-parents in the world, but we all know that these formative years will set him on his path and we just want him to have the best shot at it all.
You know when your Mother threatens you that she wishes you have a child "just like you"? Well, I'm glad he's just like us.
We got a letter from Aidan's school that by the end of August he's going to move on to the next room, Pre-school II. Sort of came as a surprise because we though that he wouldn't move on until his 4th birthday but it's making sense that the changes now will happen in line with the normal school year schedule.
As much as we want him to stay this loveable little boy, which, he challenges us about every single night as of late with antics to avoid going to sleep, he's growing and it's going much faster than we ever thought it would. EVERYONE tells us this but you just want to believe that he'll stay this adorable little man forever.
And it has been challenging. One minute you can have almost an adult type conversation with him and the next he's making silly noises to try to drown you out as you talk to him about getting in his pj's to go to bed.
We continue to try to instill loving, thoughtful behavior into his life and he reflects that with things he says and does. But he definitely has the fighting spirit of his Mommy and Daddy. I know I can be tough on him but it's just me holding on to the last shreds of hope that I can protect him from everything bad in the world. Unrealistic as hell but yet, based on my own life experiences.
Don't get me wrong, we're not trying to change him, nor are we the worst stage-parents in the world, but we all know that these formative years will set him on his path and we just want him to have the best shot at it all.
You know when your Mother threatens you that she wishes you have a child "just like you"? Well, I'm glad he's just like us.
28 July 2011
Has the banking industry learned?
Likely not, but I was presently surprised at the outcome of two calls to credit card companies yesterday.
In one case we were closing out a card we've had for many years, with a high credit limit, but one that carried a $60/year service fee. We were prepared to be begged, beaten and fought the whole way but instead, the customer service rep gave us a solution to a problem we mentioned, gave it one try to keep us on and then listened to the customer and immediately closed the account.
In the other case, in a response to an email that offered 12 months interest free if making a purchase by May 31st, we made a large purchase. 2 months into the deal we received interest charges on the most recent statement. Customer service rep looked at, said it made sense and immediately filed an internal claim to get things fixed. Even when I offered to send the proof, she said that it likely wasn't needed and that this has happened before. The only issue was that it could take up to 10 business days for the solution but yet, there was no arguing or repeating the "obvious" problem that happened (which is that the vendor billed our card each time they shipped part of the order versus billing it all when we made the purchase).
Maybe I'm punchy tired, but for a moment I thought that the Financial Industry is actually being thankful to the public for bailing them out and treating people they've extended credit to as human beings.
Who knows, we can only hope.
In one case we were closing out a card we've had for many years, with a high credit limit, but one that carried a $60/year service fee. We were prepared to be begged, beaten and fought the whole way but instead, the customer service rep gave us a solution to a problem we mentioned, gave it one try to keep us on and then listened to the customer and immediately closed the account.
In the other case, in a response to an email that offered 12 months interest free if making a purchase by May 31st, we made a large purchase. 2 months into the deal we received interest charges on the most recent statement. Customer service rep looked at, said it made sense and immediately filed an internal claim to get things fixed. Even when I offered to send the proof, she said that it likely wasn't needed and that this has happened before. The only issue was that it could take up to 10 business days for the solution but yet, there was no arguing or repeating the "obvious" problem that happened (which is that the vendor billed our card each time they shipped part of the order versus billing it all when we made the purchase).
Maybe I'm punchy tired, but for a moment I thought that the Financial Industry is actually being thankful to the public for bailing them out and treating people they've extended credit to as human beings.
Who knows, we can only hope.
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