July 28, 2000
Robert wrote yesterday to tell me that the entry for the 18th was cut off. Very strange, that. The copy here was fine, so I just re-uploaded it. You can read the rest of the tale now, Robert. Sorry to have caused you all that suspense. (And thanks again for the note!)
What is with the power failures around here lately? We only had 1 or 2 in the first few years I was here but I think we've had at least 4 in the past 6 months. At least this one occurred in the middle of the day, when we had people around who could deal with it. Unfortunately, that also means that there's really nothing to do for a few hours. At least a few folks managed to squeeze a game of Settlers in, so the afternoon wasn't a total loss.
We have a pretty decent thunderstorm rolling through again right now. I hope this doesn't last all day, as one of my teams is working on a big project. They need every extra minute they can get for last minute tweaking, polishing, and testing, since this project had an incredibly short deadline. Keep your fingers crossed for us.
Thank you Steph and Jeff for the wonderful book! It really is one of my all-time favorites, and I've read it every couple of years since I was a youngster. Or I did until I wore out my last copy and couldn't find a new one. Karen is the story of a little girl born with cerebral palsy back in the 40's. It is an even better read now, because of the advances medical science has made since that time. Back then, it took a long time for the family to even get a diagnosis. When they finally did, they were told by some doctors that the best thing to do was "put her away", because nothing could ever be done for her. Others said things like, "In ancient times, such children would be taken to the top of a hill and left there." Can you imagine? This wasn't all that long ago, and these were doctors. It's a great story about hope, perserverance and faith. I can hardly wait to read it again. :)
Speaking of books, I found out that Paul Dickson, who wrote "The Official Rules" and "The Official Explanations", has written 40 odd other books as well, including one called "Family Words". Looks like I'm going to have to order this one, since the sample pages really tickled me. I was a bit surprised to see back wash listed, since that's one my sister used to use when her kids were young and I assumed it was fairly common. (Although I always thought it was a single word.) Hopefully, the book won't have as many typos as the web pages do though.
For those not familiar with the term, back wash often occurs when a child drinks from a glass. They tend to take some of the liquid into their mouth and then put it back into the glass, creating back wash (or backwash). I can still remember offering a drink to my nephew and when I reached to take it back, my sister shaking her head at me. "No, don't drink that. Backwash." Bleah.
I'm also going to order the new edition of "The Official Rules and Explanations", I think. This is a collection of those rules about life and work and technology that are so important. It includes things like the Peter Principle (In any corporation, people tend to rise to their level of incompetence) and Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong, at the worst possible time), among many, many others. It's a fun read and I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the updated version.
As you may have guessed, I don't have any great insights or events to share today. I'm just enjoying the sound of the thunder and the site of Chelsea lying on the floor next to me while I tap out these random thoughts and contemplate the weekend.
Busy weeks are good. They go quickly and then you're back at the weekend again. And so, here we are. Hope yours is a good one. :)
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