revisited

it's been such a long time since I blogged here. it's been a rough 3 months. lost motivation to keep writing, even though it does me so much good to write.

but sitting here at my son's favorite indoor playground, as he burns off major energy, I feel that after the next week, I'll have made it through the year and will have a new set of things to talk about.

Whereupon clarity is delivered

Interviewer: Glenn Beck, thanks for joining us.

Glenn Beck: Peace be with you, my son.

I: I'm sorry?

GB: Peace be with you.

I: Yes, about that.

GB: About what? My proselytizing?

I: Yes, exactly.

GB: I truly believe that people who don't agree with me have lost the plot, and have turned away from God.

I: Hmmm. How exactly would you divine this?

GB: "Divine". Very well done. You see, it's quite simple. I simply look at what other people have been reported as saying, ignore it, and make up what I think they said.

I: And that works?

GB: Works a bloody treat. I'm always right!

I: But what happens when someone actually challenges what you have said with facts?

GB: My dear chap, I haven't got to where I am today by being beholden to facts.

I: You haven't?

GB: Haven't you seen my show? Half-truths, innuendo, giant leaps of logic completely unsupported by the facts. And that's just the first half!

I: What's in the second half?

GB: I can't give away all my secrets.

I: If we could go back to where we started...

GB: Right-o: In the beginning, there was Reagan...

I: Sorry, back to the start of this interview. So your basic point is that people who don't agree with you aren't believers in God?

GB: I don't think it's too strong a phrase to say "Godless heathens".

I: But aren't you a Mormon?

GB: (Sotto voce) Yes.

I: Wouldn't that make the rest of the Christian world...

GB: A bunch of Godless heathens, yes.

I: Oh dear.

GB: Look what happens when you apply logic to what I say! I won't be able to use the air conditioning for at least a month now!

I: Glenn Beck, thanks for your time.

GB: We'll never get the smell out now!

Where things get a little (more) surreal

Interviewer: Glenn Beck, thanks for joining us.

Glenn Beck: You're more than welcome, you're welcome. I think it's time we took back this interview, the honor of this interview, and recognized this interview for what it is.

I: And that would be?

GB: The beginning of a new interview... a restoration of what interviews should be.. an awakening, if you will, of a New American Interview. That's gold, right there, "New American Interview". Gotta write that one down, that's trademarked by the way.

I: I see. Mr Beck, that does lead me to the obvious question about your rally "Restoring Honor".

GB: Right. Tremendous outpouring of completely ad-hoc and organic belief in America.

I: Ad-hoc?

GB: Exactly! Americans coming together on the spur of the moment to demonstrate their completely unscripted and patriotic love of their nation.

I: But you've been talking about this for a year on Fox News and your radio program, as well as blog posting and interviews with anyone who will listen?

GB: I'm not going to allow you to subvert my First Amendment right to talk about what I believe in! Laura Schlesinger and I are in complete lock-step on this.

I: Interesting, but you're missing my point. How can you claim on one hand that this is an outpouring of belief in America when all you've done is promote it on the media channels you control, and stir up the reactions on the ones you don't control.

GB: Ah, it would seem that you've caught on to me.

I: I'm sorry?

GB: It would seem that you're the one person actually paying attention to what's going on here. Sarah didn't get it, and she's up there speaking!

I: Sarah Palin doesn't realize what's going on?

GB: Nope! Got her completely foxed. She thinks this is a Tea Party related event!

I: But it's not?

GB: Hell no! This is the kickoff of Beck Enterprises "Make tons of cash" Fall Money Drive.

I: It's not about restoring honor or turning to God?

GB: My dear chap, why would I want that? If people actually did believe in my vision of the United States or in God they wouldn't give me the time of day!

I: They wouldn't?

GB: Of course not! I'm busy tearing down the current Administration's policies but not telling anyone what the world would be like if the GOP was in power, or God forbid, the Tea Party. It would be armed insurrection and corporate capitalism gone mad! Noone would buy a corporate-apocalypse zombie world. It's far more palatable to just describe the current situation as bad and trust that everyone will think it'll be better if it's a change.

I: And the God part?

GB: That's the thing: If every Christian looked at the message I'm giving, they'd realize that it's far more Old Testament than New Testament, and frankly, Mel Gibson is only one vote. I need a lot more than that.

I: I see. So "Restoring Honor" is neither restoration nor honorable?

GB: Only in as far as I can buy either of them with the scads of cash that are going to be rolling in from this little shindig.

I: Glenn Beck, thanks for your time.

GB: That'll be $27.50, but don't send any money now, I'll get it from your wallet myself.

I: Glenn Beck, thanks for your time.

GB: Thank you, comrade.

In defence of marriage

No, not that abomination that is DOMA, or any state Constitutional amendment attempting to enforce religious views on the law.

My niece (by marriage) Beth got married last night, and it struck me as quite wonderful that the pastor engaged the audience to be a part of their lives by virtue of being witness to their marriage. It would seem to me that one of the most important things that marriage does, other than allowing those who love one another to be a part of each others lives as spouses, is that you bring other people into that equation as parts of their married life.

It would seem to me that opponents of marriage, which is really what opponents to gay marriage are in a very confusing way, are so quick to deny others the ability to engage their families and friends in that most cherished of ways, a marriage, which is one of the injustices that they seek to inflict on other humans.

Either you are for marriage or you are against it; there is no "separate but equal".

There are two signs by my treadmill.

"Tempus Fugit" and "There are no good excuses". I really need to start running again.

That, and put up the 3rd in my series of motivational posters: "Shut up and run."

Notice I'm eschewing the typical "HTFU" or "Pain is weakness leaving the body" dreck. Latin and direct challenge to my psyche are best.

My mind is stronger than my body right now, but it is patient. With that patience comes the knowledge that I will make my body as strong as my mind, and peace will follow.

May 2011: Kansas City Triathlon. (long course)
July 2011: Shawnee Mission Triathlon. (long course)
August 2011: Jackson County Triathlon. (long course)

I'm going to make this perfectly clear once more

41% of Republican respondents to a poll think the President was born in another country

Seriously. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. There's no hope for this country, not because of the "liberal spending agenda", but because our idiocracy is well on it's way to realization.

On dreck

So one thing that I did notice creeping out of the general malaise regarding the Chelsea Clinton wedding is a fairly steady drumbeat of "she's not pretty".

I just don't understand why this is even a matter of discussion, even in the rags that make their trade from this kind of thing. I don't know Chelsea Clinton nor any of the Clinton clan, but I certainly don't have the ingraciousness to comment on the attractiveness of a bride at her or any other wedding. This is almost right up there with people commenting about how much was spent on the wedding.

Who cares? I don't. You shouldn't either.

Riiiiight

Palin blames media for poor rating amongst independent voters.

Of course! It's the media's fault for actually reporting her positions, and not spinning them like.... her... employer.

Really. You can't have it both ways: you can't blame the media for not doing your bidding while being a part of it. No matter how Fox spins is, it's mainstream. So she's blaming Fox for her poor rating? Oh Uncle Rupert, there's one inside the gates, Sir.

Once more, there's a word for this...

Former Alaska Governor, Sarah Palin, has pronounced that the current President is not man enough to enforce border security with the nation of Mexico. Once more, Republican hypocrisy comes to the fore.

I have a little authority to speak here, I'm a legal immigrant; a US citizen who wasn't born in the USA. What stuns me about this is that the Party of Business in a brazenly (cojones-ly?) hypocritical way, in one full breath decries the President's lack of action while both ignoring the impotence of previous Presidents (Democrat and Republican alike) and the direct economic benefit that illegal immigrants bring.

Once again: is the GOP for big business or against labor? I'm just asking.

I know what word should be used to describe this

So let me get this straight. Republicans are so concerned at the state of the economy that they won't, nay can't, allow jobless benefits to be continued because of the damage to the deficit, but somehow are OK with extending tax cuts that contribute $2.2 TRILLION dollars to the federal deficit because... why again?


How are Democrats not making more of this? This is the kind of hypocrisy that is absolute gold in an election year, if only to sow the seed of "they can't make up their minds if they're for rich people or against the jobless."

This kind of dreck just really cannot go on. I'm not going to listen to another Republican who is supposedly deathly afraid of the deficit until they admit that it's OK to deficit spend and fund tax cuts instead of jobless benefits. Let's at least be honest about what's going on here.

It's been itching at me for a while now

But it finally bubbled to the surface. Ignoring the dreck that's surrounding the incident itself, what's bothering most about the USDA racism affair is that everyone is giving Breitbart a free pass because he's an 'activist'. It's almost like "you should have known better" is the defence that's being offered, rather than "it should never have been put up in the first place".

I don't disagree for a moment that more vetting of the supposed incident should have been done, and SecAg over-reacted, but putting that to one side: where is the outrage that a blatant lie created from an out-of-context quote allows Breitbart any form of credibility? Why should any news organization that have any interest in its credibility even give him the time of day, let alone time in the news cycle?

When does the line of 'activist' get turned into 'smear merchant' or 'muck raker'?

I don't wish to alarm anyone

but the case 12 pack of Coke Zero that's in the house has remained undrunk by me.

This might be a sign of the apocalypse.

The power of technology

I was dinking around on Google Maps today, and after a bit of aimless wandering, I ended up at my home town of Riverton,. I was amazed to find that Street View had mapped out the town, and this brought me to a little part of my personal history that I hadn't thought of in a while.

I retraced the route I took on my 8th birthday when my sister was newly born and Mum was still in the hospital with her. My sister and I are December babies, 5 days apart. I have no antipathy towards her, and it's oddly comforting that there is someone else in my family who has a December birthday.

The road is now paved versus the dirt road that it was in 1980, but I can still remember parking at the curb and looking up and seeing my Mum holding my sister and waving to me out the window. It's a memory of a different time, and one that I feel has been lost somehow. I remember summers where from dawn to dusk, we were just Out. At the swimming pool, fossicking through the dump, only pausing long enough for some Vegemite sandwiches and something to drink and then back out on bikes for the rest of the day. Things that my son will not be able to do, because the world has moved on somewhat.

Thanks, Google. Thanks for bringing an important memory back to me.

Can traffic shape your moods?

For about 5 years, I lived north of the river in Kansas City and commuted to Lenexa. It's about 36 miles each way, but through mostly undeveloped areas.

For the last 4 years, I've been living in a different part of the north Kansas City area, and commuting to Overland Park. It's thankfully not more distance, but it's far more congested.

For the last 6 months, I've had the chance to work at a facility in Lee's Summit. It's about 10 miles shorter commute, and it's less traffic all around.

What I've noticed is: before I was relocated to Overland Park, and the days that I work at the Lee's Summit facility, my mood and energy level when I get home is much improved over the days I have to commute to Overland Park. I'm trying to come up with the variables: I tend to leave both the house and work at about the same time. I do tend to do be a little less pressed for time during the days that I'm not in Overland Park, but I'm thinking that the improved traffic situation and the more relaxed pace is making the majority of the improvement in my mood.

On pondering

I had a pretty surreal conversation when I walked out of the building last night, post-work.

A couple of co-workers and I were just bs-ing, and both of them asked me why I was still here. After the requisite pretending-I-don't-know-what-you're-talking-about-I'm-walking-to-the-parking-garage-aren't-I?, I didn't really have a good answer. It's not like this is the most mentally challenging job I've had, but I think there's a deeper problem.

I think deep-down, I have no way to recognize that I'm actually good at what I do when I don't get to see it from the outside. In the old days, pre-economic crisis, getting to a conference and talking to people would help provide context. But not having that outside peer review of what we're doing (and how I'm doing) makes it difficult to know how well what I can do will translate to the outside world.

More to ponder

It strikes me from time to time

How very Ancient Roman the United States is becoming.

The strange case of the to-do list

I'm a somewhat organized person. As I'm a mobile worker, I have time every morning after I've run the cable lock and power brick for my laptop into the wall to update my to-do list.

I tried a Franklin Covey organizer, but what I've found is a standard wire bound notebook plus a modified Covey scheme for tracking items is just as useful and 2/3s as bulky.

Here's how my system works:

1) ALWAYS update this list in the morning. It's the very first thing I do when I am waiting for my laptop to boot: update the list. It mentally refreshes me as to what I have outstanding to do, and frequently generates some additional things that I want to get done today.

Why does this work for me? I, through long experience and trial and error, have come to realize that I have a working set of tasks that I keep in the forefront of my mind that are things that I need to do or have associated some higher value to. By refreshing that mental list with the previous list of things, I can prioritize and de-prioritize activities, and most important, have a traceable line back to when something became a to-do. It's sometimes as important to know when something went on the list as it is what is on the list.


The other rule 1): Only I can add things to this to-do list. Notwithstanding the occasional funny addition from co-workers, this is a rule I've held from when I first became a sysadmin and had my to-do list on the whiteboard in my office. Controlling the work via the to-do list is vital to making sure that you're keeping in sync with the list and also keeping most of your sanity. It's one thing to be asked to do something, it's something completely different to allow others to task you with something. For me, the mental gate of committing to doing something is when it makes it onto my to-do list.

2) Each left hand page is the to-do list. Starts with the date on top. I move forward all open Action Items from the previous to-do list, and once they're moved forward, drive a line under the number. Anything that gets added below that line is New Work. That way, I can see immediately what I've been carrying and what I've been adding.

3) Items are marked as follows:
a) Not started/new, there is nothing to the left of the number.
b) When an item is complete, it is marked with an X to the left of the number.
c) When an item is waiting on someone else, an arrow pointing to the left of the page is marked.
d) When an item is deleted, the number is crossed out.

4) The facing page (and subsequent pages as necessary) are work pages. I jot notes, doodle, and generally work on the other pages. I used to start the to-do list on the right hand page, but I found myself flipping back and forth to the to-do list, so a simple change to start the list on the left page and work on the right made it so simple and easy to get a look at my day.

5) Calendar is not something I want to keep on paper. My calendar changes too much that a printout is useless. Meetings appear or disappear, are updated, have information in them updated or something else happens that I can't possibly keep up. That's what my phone is for.

Sound a little OCD? It probably is. But in the end, trying to work inside someone else's mental layout is always going to cause friction, so I modified it to work for me.

It finally gelled in my head

Arizona just passed a bill into law requiring that Presidential candidates present their birth certificates when running for office. This, in and of itself, is a little odd. The Federal Election Commission regulates such matters, so I'm not quite sure how a state law interacts with that, but that's not what I'm concerned about.

Clearly, the Arizona Legislature is full of conspiracy theorists.

Let's run the scenario that President Obama presents his birth certificate to anyone who wants to inspect it. What then? What standard of proof would those people who question his citizenship apply that is greater than that of the FEC?

The answer is: they wouldn't accept it. Ok, so we go to the next step: the President presents his birth certificate that is then authenticated by the Registrar of Births in Hawai'i. Is that enough proof? The answer will be: no. See the sentence about conspiracy theorists.

That's what makes the birther movement so... strange. Here you have a President, duly elected by the populace in accordance with the laws concerning elections, with a birth certificate authenticated by the appropriate State authority, and it's STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH.

At which point does the demand for authenticity cross over into conspiracy? If you reason this it out, this means that at some point since 1961, President Obama hatched a plot to be illegally elected as President of the United States by defrauding the FEC, and conspired with every official in the Great State of Hawai'i that is involved with births to continue the charade that he was actually born in Honolulu Hawai'i. Further than that, the DNC conspired to keep this deception quiet, and the FEC itself was complicit in the coverup.

I have to admit, it sounds pretty far-fetched even for my deranged mind. Arizona: you need to take a leaf out of New Mexico's book and locate Area 52 in the borders of your state. That way we can get back to the tried and true conspiracy that the Government is covering up UFOs.

There's just something about thunderstorms

So today was one of those days in the Midwest where the thunderstorms were rolling in. I was late out of the office and should have been home earlier, but I was driving north admiring the line of thunderstorms in front of me. It brought back such an awesome memory.

We were living in our old house, and I was headed home northbound on I-435 and there's a thunderstorm rolling from the east, and I have the windows rolled down on the Focus and "Back in Black" is cranked on the radio and I can see the lightning strike hit the transformer and the line of them go up as Brian Johnson hits the right note.

I love thunderstorms.

Cognitive dissonance

So on this Sunday, after sharing my breakfast of oatmeal and yoghurt with a hungry 3 year old, I settled in to catch up on what passes for journalism in the current age. Setting for CNN.com, I was intrigued by the ticker: Palin: Take back our country.

Not really being one to ignore a good call to patriotism, imagine my dismay when I read the following:

"encouraging disgruntled Americans to "take back our country" while attacking what she called the "Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending spree.""

Oh. If you could see the disappointment on my face, you'd know what I am about to say.

So here, the resigned Governor of Alaska is inciting Americans to take back America from... who exactly? Are other Americans really the Great Evil here? Who is she really saying is the problem here? Because surely, Bush 43 embodied all that was great and important about the modern Conservative? Are we really about to have the statement-furore-apology-but-not-really cycle about questioning other American citizens' patriotism because they don't agree with some claptrap from the Tea Partiers? When do the purges in their ranks begin, David Frum?

This brings me to my second point, one of which I have made numerous times to people in my office. Pop quiz: name the two greatest non-healthcare contributors to the debt? If you said the stimulus, you fail epically and should be probably calling into Rush or Levin or whoever to complain bitterly about the entitlements you already receive being under attack.

The two greatest non-healthcare contributors to the nation's debt are:

1) Iraq and Afghanistan;
2) Unfunded 01/03 tax cuts.

Don't believe me? Hit the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
and check out their Budget - Federal section. It's all there.

This brings me to my ultimate question: Does Former Gov. Palin really think I'm not paying attention to this drivel? If you cannot articulate directly who your enemy is and you can't accurately depict the true factors behind long term debt, then how am I supposed to take you seriously?

Wait wait, maybe that's it! Maybe we've completely gone on the wrong track: The Tea Party Express is a comedy tour, deep with irony, and that she's really just doing a stand-up routine?

And then, it hurt.

I have been a bad boy. I haven't been to the dentist since 1990. Throw HFCS-laced treats now. I have paid for that in spades the past two weeks, through the torture that is Scaling and Root Planing.

Let's put it this way: I didn't realize my teeth were connected to my shoulder and/or anus, because one hurt right after the appointment, the other when the obvious was occurring. Who knew?

But it's in a good cause: the Little Man needs to have a strong, positive role model for going to the dentist. That's worth getting tortured for.

Let's be clear about this

The GOP does not care about abortion in the context of the House vote tonight. It was merely a means to execute a parliamentary procedure to kill the bill.

Tactics versus principle. We should be wary of one being sold as the other by our politicians.

On this day

Congress voted to change the United States for the better. Now, we must make it better.

Want to improve your mood? Poop.

During the week, I'm a pretty good pooper. It's partially the earlier start, the coffee on the commute, but more specifically, as I am mobile I have to pack my lunch and snacks for the day. That means I end up snacking on carrots and apples, and that means fiber. So during the week, no problem in retaining the evil and therefore the bad moods that accompany said retention.

It's at this point that I must acknowledge my mother's genius. When I was growing up, Mum's first question should I profess to feeling unwell was "Did you poo today?". More often than not, taking care of that took care of the unwell feeling. Pure genius.

On the weekends, however, the discipline of the week is simply not applied. I eat lighter and less well, and the odds of a timely bowel movement decrease the further into the weekend it goes.

I noticed today that my mood had steadily grown worse as the weekend had progressed. I found myself getting angry over things that I normally would have let slide. As the warning signals were sent out from Down Below as the Little Man was in the bath, I knew that my mood was in part due to the fact that Saturday and most of Sunday had been free of poop expellation.

Once I had him out, dried, dressed for bed and safely ensconced in the night-time ritual, I headed to the bathroom and emerged with my mood greatly improved. I'm not all sunshine and rainbows, but no-one's going to die.

Listen to my Mum: if you don't feel well, poop.

Michael Steele, your hypocrisy is showing

So Michael Steele wrote an "opinion" piece at Politico today. You can read it here: Simple Truths of Obamacare.

In it is the single reason that I cannot take anything the GOP says seriously. Here's the line:

"Are we willing to let a Constitution-shredding Democrat Congress and a President obsessed with the fate of his presidency take us one step closer to crippling our economy and mortgaging our children’s future?"

I have a real problem with this statement. Why? Let me tell you a back story.

I, like many Americans, am an immigrant. I came to the US on an H-1B visa to work, which was changed to a Permanent Residency status through marrying my wonderful wife, and I became a citizen in 2008. So I have a particular sensitivity to immigration related matters, which is where the Military Commissions Act comes into focus. Until the Supreme Court gently coughed and reminded the Bush White House of the Constitution and the 14th Amendment contained therein, The MCA allowed the Government to deem a person, citizen or not, an "Enemy Combatant" and hold them indefinitely without charge or trial.

Just consider that for a second: you, sitting in your living room or office reading this, could have been tapped on the shoulder in the middle of the night and hauled off to Guantanamo Bay for the rest of your life. Even IF you were a Citizen of the United States. In complete violation of the Constitution of the United States. How's that for Constitution shredding!

It is the breathtaking hypocrisy of Chairman Steele to invoke some form of Constitutional moral high ground in the debate over health care without acknowledging that abuse of the Constitution was most egregious under the stewardship of his party. Let's not forget the Patriot Act, the use of rendition and waterboarding by the CIA under the false shell of Yoo-ian Department of Justice "guidance".

This is what I really don't get about the Tea Party activists. You're all mad about the health care reform done in your names and sooooooooo mad about the Constitutional implications, yet it's like collective amnesia is applied to anything that happened before Obama 44 that was even more hurtful to the Constitution. Not to mention the fact that Citizens United vs F.E.C has brought the inevitable end of the individual voice one step closer at the hands of conservative presidential appointed Justices of the Supreme Court. Allowing corporations to assume some of the characteristics of a person is dangerous territory, and if the Tea Partiers think it's hard to get your voice heard, wait until a corporation decides to drown you out.

How about the Bush 43 first and second tax cuts that were passed under Reconciliation and completely unfunded, and are a much higher contributor to the "mortgaging of our children's future" than health care reform? What about that, Chairman Steele? How about acknowledging that while HCR is a problem, so is spending by Congress on BOTH SIDES. Let's not play this stupid game of constructing a false reality where the only bad things that are done are done by the opposing party.

Where is the indignation at those abuses? Where is the outrage?

Oooh ooooh oooh ahh ahh ahh!

My Little Man is a delight. We're going through a Curious George phase right now, and so the DVR is coming in useful to replay episodes that KCPT churns out every weekday morning. But what makes it so adorable is this:

When the theme music comes on, there's a wonderful little dance that goes on, courtesy of the Little Man. He's a blur of speed and laughter as the theme music goes on, and then finishes with him jumping somewhere to cap off the theme music appropriately.

Does the soul good to see him so happy.

Living the digital nomad lifestyle

So the $VB_TELCO I work for is an interesting maelstrom of mixed messages right now, but the topic today is "mobile workforce".

About 3 months ago, a email came out stating that we would be replacing our VOIP desk phones with a headset that would be integrated in with our IM system (Microsoft Office Communicator) and we would truly become "mobile workers". "The last phone number you'll ever have", "wherever you work, you can be reached", etc etc. Then there was the restacking of the buildings on my corporate HQ campus, and the selfless act of giving up a place to go to work every day was committed by your current interlocutor.

Practically? My office now fits into my backpack. I pack my office everywhere I go now. The backpack I use includes the following:

1 laptop
1 power cord
1 mobile mouse
1 VOIP headset
1 charging cable for my mobile phone
1 security cable
1 Franklin Covey organizer
1 ethernet cable

My lunch bag has the days food and tea supply in it, and then with the addition of a steel water bottle, I'm set! I can, in theory, work anywhere and be productive.

In truth? I am far more productive going to the same building where the people I interact with are, and the only opportunity I had to mess with them is to be able to move around and not be in the same place twice. It's good for them: gets them up and moving. And who says the game of Marco Polo doesn't have a place in the modern workplace?

Tea

I've been a varying level of caffeine addict (or recovering caffeine addict) for probably 3/4 of my life. It began at around ten years old when I, seeking to emulate my parents, requested coffee before bedtime. This is a clear mimic of their post-evening-prandial coffee consumption, and they thoughtfully negotiated down to "milky coffee", which was a concoction of roughly 99 parts warm milk and the merest hint of a teaspoon of "instant coffee".

Instant coffee is a bane of my existence, as it were. I don't have any in the house primarily because I hate the taste, but also because it helps control my consumption. I digress.

Like most teenagers, I graduated to cola, replacing most other liquids consumed, and ended up probably borderline hyperactive courtesy of the sugar and the caffeine I was consuming. The only thing that was probably more deleterious to my health were the Coles generic salt-and-vinegar chips that were acidic enough to strip the skin off of your mouth with a single chip, let along the bags of them that would be consumed as we gamed our way through the weekend.

In University, it was bad cups of instant coffee from vending machines for those late night sessions IRCing. This was followed by the JOLT years. It wasn't enough to be consuming JOLT cola, Tony and I would freeze it so that it would crystallize the water leaving the syrup to be consumed. Incidentally, this is where I had my first palpitations from caffeine and sugar, and my first period of abstinence from caffeine altogether for almost a year.

Sydney, and free coffee as well as a cafe culture and soon I was starting my day with a latte from a cafe, punctuating it with instant coffee at work, and then finishing it with either Mocona instant or a Coke once I'd downed tools and headed back to my apartment. This somewhat translated when I upped stakes to Kansas City, with the change to brewed coffee over latte until I moved to the corporate HQ which had on-site cafe's that would whip up a sugar and caffeine laden piece of heaven named a White Mocha. Mmmm, white mocha. 700 calories in a cup.

Suffice it to say, I am happy now to have modified my caffeine intake markedly, where coffee is consumed to get me through the commute and then tea is consumed for the rest of the day, accompanied by voluminous amounts of water.

I am a loyal Twinings customer, if you must know. I am a consumer of most of their range, and provide the following users guide to their tea range.

Irish Breakfast Tea: stunningly good tea. Robust flavor, steeps to a wonderful orange liquor, is perfect with or without milk or sugar. I take mine with sugar, and it's my go-to morning tea.

English Breakfast Tea: good, solid, predictable. Black tea that needs just a hint of sugar to finish it. One of my two alternates to Irish Breakfast.

Ceylon Orange Pekoe Tea: good, complex tea. Black tea that needs just a dash of milk and sugar to bring out it's full character. A solid contender to replace both Irish and English breakfast teas if you're in the mood for something different.

Earl Grey Tea: Bergamot is the main difference here, and this is my default early afternoon tea. It's delightfully delicate without being watery, and with a little sugar it's pretty much as good as it gets.

Lady Grey Tea: Bergamot and a citrus touch make this a lighter tea than Earl Grey by itself. I am really torn about this tea. I love to drink it, but for some reason (the citrus, I think) I generally end up feeling rather bad after a cup. Not all the time, but sometimes it just leaves me feeling very unhappy.

English Afternoon Tea: a new favorite. Good solid black tea, really shines when you add milk and sugar. Quickly becoming a favorite.

Chai Tea: A nod to the Indian chai is ok, but nowhere near as good as the real thing. Bergamot makes an appearance. Not a daily drinker, but definitely a good change.

Fujian White Tea: Such a light, delicate tea. It's a white tea, so it's easy to abuse it by allowing it to steep too long is very easy. It's a late afternoon tea for me, as it's practically caffeine free.

Tea good. Coffee good, tea doable.

It's all about the snacks

I do it mostly for the snacks. I suppose that probably needs some explanation.

My son, aka the Little Man, is one of the two lights of my life. He's very much a routine driven 3 year old, which is not unusual for this age. But as She Who Must be Obeyed (SWMBO) and I have discovered, interrupting that routine is akin to opening the Gates of Hell, Unleashing the Dogs of War, and/or summoning the love-child of Chucky and Linda Blair. It might be an overstatement, but when it's in progress, it seems like it.

Anyway, I digress. I've handled nighttime duties for as long as the Little Man has been with us. I truly don't mind spending the hours between coming home from the office and his bedtime hanging out. That gives SWMBO time to decompress with me playing man-to-man coverage, and I get to see the Little Man for more than an hour or two. It also means I get to deal with the stresses of a toddler attempting to assert his independence when it comes to bedtime, but that's a different post.

One of the rituals he has is cookies and milk before bedtime, that's then followed up with giving Mama a hug and a kiss, washing hands and face, and brushing teeth. This is reward sticker driven behavior, and it seems to be working. After he gets to bed (post changing of diaper and reading books), I normally have an hour or two to spend before I go to bed. And I take care of the leftover cookies, thankyouverymuch.

My real point in discussing this is that understanding that my Little Man is routine driven has caused me to examine my own routines and to see clearly that I am also a routine driven person. Maybe not to the same extent that he is, but there are routines that I am now aware of that if they are disrupted, I am disrupted for the whole day. The biggest one that I am fully aware of (but had not appreciated fully until now) is that if I am even out of sequence for a moment in the morning, it completely throws me off and I'm basically on edge for the rest of the day. If I swap shaving and toothbrushing, I'm done. If I have to go downstairs to get clothing to wear, if I do my lunch the night before instead of assembling while I'm in the kitchen fixing coffee for the day, I'm completely cactus for the day.

It does make me wonder that if there's a real dividing line between routine driven and being obsessive. I do understand the difference between obsessive and OCD, but it does seem to me that there's a lot more grey there than I would probably have expected.

Renamed

I renamed the blog to the title of what is quickly becoming a themesong for my life.



I'm going to be blogging more. The content burbles inside me.