Most of you know that I read a lot. I have a hard time explaining sometimes why I read so much, nor why I get a certain pleasure in just amassing books. I have approximately 780 books in my house; I say approximately not because I guessed, but because I may have missed a few while counting. I won’t say I have read them all, but I have probably read at least 90% of them. Suffice to say, I like reading.

When I have headache, I read and the headache goes away. When I’m pissed at the world, I find a book and a dark cave and chill in a pleasant elsewhere. Forget about the knowledge and ideas passed along via the written word, reading a book brings a calm to my crazy NADD-driven world.

That is from a blog I read, Rands in Repose from a guy who is a software manager. But that is irrelevant to this discussion. He sums up how I feel about books quite well.

As vices or habits or neurosis go, collecting books is one I can be proud of. I hope I never stop. What am I reading now? The Player of Games by Ian M. Banks. Before that? The Last Theorem by Aurthur C. Clarke and Frederick Pohl. What’s next? I can’t wait to find out.

A month or so back I proposed that I would post entries on the topics of this election that concern me, comparing the main party candidates. As should be obvious, I have not done so. The reasons for this are immaterial but should not imply a lack of interest in these topics. A simple example as to why is that I am on a flight to Iowa right now that I booked less than 4 hours ago.

The election is now less than two weeks away. The competition has brought about many suprises; the first African American is running for president, Virginia seems likely to vote Democratic, it seems likely both of our Senate seats will be held by Democrats. The presidential contest seems to represent a generational shift in politics. On my way to the airport I heard a statistic saying that the 18-24 demographic favors Senator Obama by a 56% to 32% margin. Quite an indicator as to the direction of the country. Something that makes me happy.

As my readers should know, this matches my feelings. While I respect Senator McCain (I supported him in the last Republican primary against Bush), I find that to become “electable” in the eyes of the Republican base, he has compromised the things he stood for. He has fallen to playing the game of “politics of fear” as it has been called. The tone of his campaign has turned so ugly it is just disrespectful; so much so that at times he even appears embarrassed by it.

I believe that it is time for the next generation of politicians to take the lead. That is not to say that they are perfect, they are human like the rest of us. I have hope that Senator Obama will be a good president. He needs to be as we have many challenges ahead of us.

A nice view of Chicago. Hopefully it came out.

The trip to Europe was amazing. Between the relaxation, the great food (fresh ingredients are so awesome), the beautiful sites, and the wonderful company, I could not have asked for more. Tiffany did a great job of chronicling our trip and we both have lots of pictures posted. Go visit the links below while I contemplate how I can get back there :)

• My pictures
• Tiffany’s first day entry - Just click to further days for the rest of the trip
• Tiffany’s flickr page - Look for day by day galleries

[Posting this nearly a week after writing it but first wifi I have found for free. In a McDonalds on Zurich.]

On my way to Zurich right now. Just finishing up dinner. Had a nice Caesar salad followed by a mustard thyme chicken. Accompaneed by a very nice glass of Malbec (ok, 3 glasses, I think). Now I have a slice of caramel tiramasu with a glass of port. Mmm.

Soon I will try the lie flat seats.

If you have to fly, this is the way. See you in Zurich!

[update: approximstely 4 hours later or so.]

Lie flat seats good. I actually slept. I don’t know how long exactly but we are about 2 hours from landing and I’m guessing takeoff plus dinner took 2 hours so that means I slept for almost 4 hours. Not perfect for sleep but should enable me to make it through Tuesday to get onto to Europe time. I must trick my body into thinking it is now almost 6am.

With this year’s presidential election coming on fast, it is getting to the point where I am starting to think about more than just the general overtones of the presidential positions. While I am pretty sure where my decision will land, I don’t like the idea of an uninformed decision, or worse, a reactionary one. While talking with Tiffany on a longish drive yesterday, I realized that what I need to do is make a list of the issues that are important to me and then see where the candidates stood on each of them. This will force me to identify what I think is important rather than let the media, pundits, politicians, friends, whomever, dictate what is important.

That said, it struck me that actually writing this all down would be beneficial; and what better place than to blog about it. So that is my plan. To try to lay out the items that are important to me and see how each candidate’s positions make me feel about them. I will be almost exclusively relying on the positions that are outlined on the Obama and McCain websites. I make no promises on how often I will write about this, nor what topics I’ll cover as I have not decided myself. I think my first will be on technology issues, but that may change.

Stay tuned.

From a resume I receieved:

Facilitated development of cross-LOB solutions that combined knowledge of particular business processes and issues, general technological options, and process facilitation techniques.

Can anyone tell me what this says? In English?

My last entry covered my flight from Richmond to Chicago. Now I an on my way back from Chicago to Richmond. I always check in to my flights online the day before and this trip was no exception. But this time something new was offered; United gave me the option to upgrade to first class for quite a reasonable amount (with my trip per diem I still am coming out ahead). So, I said “what the heck, why not?” and did it.

Damn. I could get really used to this. The steward seems happy to keep my glass of wine full (yes, an actual glass). I just had to stop him so i can actually drive home The seat is actually comfy. Hell, I even have a phone. Why do I need a phone?

And coincidentally, one of the stewardesses is also a Tolkien nut lie me. She brought my exact complaint about the movies (to the level of what they did to twist Faramir).

I could detail my trip, but it was not much fun and I don’t want to spoil the mood.

Hey everyone!

I figured I would try the Wordpress iPhone app while I was on the plane. I am on my way to exciting Cedar Falls, IA to visit a new Target facility. This site represents the final project for me to get my hands around at Swisslog. Exciting at a certain level.

This past week has been a very busy one. Tiffany had oneof her best friends from her undergrad years in town all week so there was much socialness. I think we did something every night. From fondue at The Melting Pot to meat on swords at Texas de Brazil. It was quite fun but more social interaction than I have had in quite a while. By the end of the week I was ready for quiet time. Not sure a business trip is the answer but it is what I have.

For all I hate flying and do so with the assistance of modern medicine, I must admit that the view is amazing. A short while after I took the photo below, I was amazed to see a complete circular rainbow surrounding the shadow of our plane. I wish I had been able to get a picture. Even for one as I who has a difficult time with the idea of the divine it is easy to see how the simple beauty of the world can inspire people. The richness and variety of the view is just amazing.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Hello everyone who is still reading my blog. I am not dead, although it has felt like a possibility a few times lately. I would apologize for not posting, but I doubt anyone really is bothered all that much. I will use the standard excuse that life has been quite busy. Busy in good ways as well as stressful ways. I prefer not to complain about the frustrations online, and the personal things are, well, personal

But a few things I can mention that have happened in the last few months. The biggee, I guess, is that I graduated. I am now the proud owner of a Master’s degree in Computer Science. It only took 6 years. My final project is available online here: Improving NAT/Software compatibility through Flexible NAT Emulation Software. It is odd how I have mixed feelings already about being done. On one hand, I am thrilled to be done with the degree (and have the degree), but on the other hand, I think I am going to miss being in school just a little.

I have been traveling pretty extensively for work. In the 3.5 months since I started at Swisslog, I have been to Minnesota twice, Florida twice, and Texas once. This is really helping me get through my fear of flying (with the help of choice pharmaceuticals). I will not say that I will ever enjoy the process of flying, but it is becoming a smaller obstacle to my life. I am hoping to use this new-found freedom to actually go on vacation one of these days, I hope.

Other random things:

• I bought a tent! (Haven’t been camping in it yet)
• I’m playing more volleyball
• The plaid wallpaper is gone (but the painting is not done)
• I get to go to Germany in September
• I might go to a week-long cooking school
• I’ve seen a few movies
• I’ve gotten sucked into a few more TV shows
• I want to go kayaking again this summer and I found a place to rent them
• I’m sure more has happened, but this list is long enough now

Cya!