I had dream last night that U2 released an album of nothing but the sound of car crashes. It was hugely popular.

I just got through reading Walter Issacson’s biography of Benjamin Franklin. What can I say? I knew the story of how “Dr. Franklin” was a printer, helped tame electricity, invented bifocals, was a world-class diplomat among other things. What I didn’t realize is just how pivotal he was in inventing the United States of America Why if it wasn’t for Poor Richard, we’d all be speaking English!

Franklin had a curiosity which served him well. He was not a masterful writer, but wrote to his favorite audience: the common man.

Last night I searched around for a link to Wildwoods apartments to add to my previous post about Lake Johnson. I was amused when the results listed my own post as the third result!

Man, where would the Internet be without me?

Number 1. Italy! Of course you knew that our May trip to Italy would be the biggest event of 2005. While I’ve been to many places in my lifetime, our family trip to Italy will always stand out.

It was about this time of year that we began planning it. Kelly’s parents were visiting, there was plenty of bustle, and the idea was bantered around. I heard the plans but it didn’t really register with me. I guess I assumed it would never really happen. Travis was all of two months old at the time. I mean, how could we think of pulling off something like this?

But it did happen! We got our passports, purchased our tickets, picked out a farmhouse apartment outside of Siena, and soon we were counting down the days. Travis turned six months old right before we left and seemed jolly enough to reasonably make the flight. Hallie we had no question about, naturally!

The flight was a smooth one up until the very end. We all had a blast marching around the countryside and cobblestone streets; there was much pasta, wine, and gelato consumed; and we enjoyed living life like the Italians do for our lucky two weeks. Heck, we even took readers of the Raleigh News and Observer along, too. Aside from Travis’s unexpected visit to a Siena hospital, we couldn’t have asked for more (though the hospital visit was enlightening as well).

The flight back was fraught with obstacles. Perhaps the universe was suggesting we stay! We left Florence two hours late and missed our connecting flight in Paris, forcing us to stay overnight. It was terrible … listening to the fun the rest of our group had while Kelly and I were stuck in the hotel with the kids!

Oh well. Paris deserves more than a half-day. One day we’ll do it right.

Oh, and missing our Paris to Washington flight meant missing our flight from Washington to Raleigh, too. Rather than spend the night in the DC area, we rented a car and drove the six hours back home. I guess we couldn’t get enough of traveling.

As the new year kicks off, I find myself longing to be back in Tuscany. I suppose it gets in your blood. We vow to return some day, when the kids are a bit older and can better appreciate it. I’m sure it will have aged like the fine wine grown in its spectacular countryside.

Remote Viewing Class. That February class rocked my world.

3. Employer Change. Two thousand five will be marked by an employer change. Unlike other changes, this time my job stayed the same and the company changed. After my previous employer shut its doors, I got a chance to join its reincarnated form, 0culan Systems. I joined four other refugees of the previous company and together we put the wheels on the new company.

It was a busy but fun time. At one point I wore five hats: support manager, sales engineer, IT manager, training manager, and facilities manager. The things I didn’t know from the previous company I had to learn as I went. It was a wonderfully enriching experience.

The new owners were cool Minnesota venture capitalists. They set up another office in Minneapolis for the other half of the team, a group of new folks that meshed well with our original team. In March, our northern team had just moved into new space when the company president flew down with some important news.

The company was being sold. We had been full-time employees for all of three months.

This news sent our young team scattering. We lost all of the Minnesota staff and half of our Raleigh staff. All that progress stalled as we tried to integrate with the new company. It was lonely there for a little while.

Eventually things picked up. We hired more great people (including some to take some of the hats I’d been wearing!), and progress was made on a new office (we’re moving in this week). The new company offers exciting new opportunities with the potential to take the product places the old company could only dream about. I like where things are heading. We are set to grow quite a bit.

In spite of this success, I will always look back fondly on those days spent in the ratty blue “sensory deprivation” cubicles, freezing in the winter mornings and cursing at the crappy phone service I slapped together. I’ll miss the oh-so-politically-incorrect discussions shared over those cube walls. I’ll miss the feeling that everything is riding on your shoulders: that you have to be the hero because nobody else will do it.

In short, I’ll miss the startup stuff. That stuff can be hard to find in a twenty-year-old global company.

That’s not to say it can’t be found here. Our being acquired could infuse some of that startup energy into the existing company. That’s what makes this year so exciting: the course of the combined company is still being charted.

It will be what we make it.

4. Fingertip Fun. Number four on the highlights of 2005 is the incident where I almost lost my fingertip while testing our new attic fan. I couldn’t leave well enough alone once the darn thing was put up. In an effort to feel the airflow, my hand got too close and whack! The fan came to a sickening stop.

Fortunately I remained calm (though Kelly may differ on that) and drove myself to the local Doc In A Box (the “local” part was relative, however, as what we thought was the nearest urgent care center has bankers hours). The doctor at the clinic did a fantastic job stitching me up. The clinic itself was worthy of a soap opera, with all the drama taking place. The doc was literally arguing with the staff while he sewed me up.

The finger was painful much longer than I expected, though I probably underestimated the amount of nerves that needed to reconnect. Eventually the pain went away and my finger is now fully healed.

I’ve had some injuries before: more concussions than I care to admit, bagel-slicing incidents, and others. I’ve got scars all over. I value my fingers, though. I won’t put them in jeopardy again.

5. TriLUG Election. I’ve been associated with the Triangle Linux Users Group since its inception. I value it for its educational presentations and its networking opportunities. There are a lot of smart people in TriLUG. There’s never a shortage of stuff to learn.

During my time with TriLUG, I’ve also become a presenter, providing talks on OpenLDAP, hardware emulators, and the Asterisk PBX. I’ve even done a class. These opportunities to speak have provided me with enormous confidence in my public speaking. I have also made a name for myself within the membership for having skills that businesses need. It has led to plenty of opportunities which otherwise would not have happened.

Thus it was a great honor when I was elected to a TriLUG position in October. Now I have a chance to give back even more to this wonderful association.

7. If You Blog It They Will Come. This year showed me some of the power of my writing. After 60 Minutes covered the CIA spy plane in March, I wrote about the plane’s connection to North Carolina. Two months later, I got a call from a reporter from the New York Times who wanted to see what else I knew. While I wasn’t a source for the article that came out later, it did make me realize that what I write here could gain attention, and quickly.

I got another reminder of that when my former neighbor Ronnie Williams became mayor of Garner. Ronnie found my post via Google and stopped by to say hello. Behold the power of Google!

Google itself was the topic of a series of posts when bloggers discovered them visiting the Triangle. I posted a few more articles before the story appeared in the papers. Soon after it appeared Google was setting up a sales office and not hiring any useful employees! (Disclaimer: I work in sales, too, so nyah.)

[Update 18 Sep 2017: I have chosen to remove any discussion of the murder case here as things have run their course.]

The year 2005 has given me more confidence in my writing. It has shown that blogs can be worthy news sources, especially given their timely nature. Y’all really do read the stuff I write up here. Thanks for allowing me to entertain and inform you. Sometimes even accurately!