July 13, 2012

There were 3 posts published on July 13, 2012 (this is page 1 of 1).

Mr. Grump

I had a grumpy day today, start to finish. And it sucks. I should have felt better about things but I did not.

My work day started off with a bang as I discovered my laptop had a virus or two on it. I spent the majority of my workday carefully getting rid of those viruses and trying to determine how they got me. It made me curse the Windows laptop I have to use instead of the far more secure Linux one I’d prefer.

Though I finally got that problem solved, I spent the rest of the day stressing about all the other things I’ve got going on. This upcoming week has meeting after meeting and it’s got me looking ahead to next month’s vacation. Ordinarily this wouldn’t be a big deal but the kids’ being out of school has upended our home’s usual schedule and thrown me completely out of my comfort zone. This is the first summer we’ve had two working parents in the family and it’s taken a while to work things out.

Tomorrow is another day, however. The sun will come up, and I will find reason to sing again. I always do, you know.

Letters to Grandma: 3 February 1990

[Note: Read this post first for an introduction.]

This letter to Grandma was sent at the start of my first deployment. By “rocky start” I believe this refers to the loss of most of the ship’s freshwater making capability, leaving the crew showerless and shaveless for two weeks. I was dreading six months of those shenanigans but we got things patched up during our visit to Pearl Harbor.

What strikes me about this short letter is the enthusiasm it contains for what I’m doing. I believe I was sincere with my “getting paid to do this” remark. In spite of this, though, it’s clear I’m still looking forward to attending college, though returning after college as a junior officer was still something I was considering.

Saturday, 3 February 1990 [age:21]

Dear Grandma,

Thank you so much for your card for my birthday, and for Charlie’s letter in it. His handwriting is so much better than mine. I bet he’s really grown. I remember seeing the tape Dad took when the family was at your house last summer – but it really has been a while since he’s seen me.
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On the anti-government crowd

You’ve had your tax breaks for 10 years, where are the jobs?

I shared this provocative photo on my Facebook page on Tuesday and it sparked a spirited discussion drawing over 25 comments between my friends who see the value in government and those who don’t. I woke up with this on my mind and the whole debate drives me nuts.

I used to buy into the whole libertarian outlook over a decade ago and admit on paper it makes a lot of sense. One of the problems is that it assumes that everyone starts on a level playing field when they most assuredly do not. The other problem is that it’s predicated on some Pollyanna world where everyone can be taken at his word and as we’ve seen time and time again that does not match reality. Let’s take a look at the lying scumbags problem first.

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